Historic Buildings Lynchburg Area surveys
Text
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB NO. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete theNational Register
of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "xu in the appropriate box or by entering the information
requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architecturalclassification, materials, and
a r e a of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form
10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
Edge Hill
other names/site number Green Hills. Walker's Ford Sawmill (#005-0174); VDHR #005-0005
2. Location
street & number 1380 Edgehill Plantation Road
city or town
Gladstone
state Virginia
code VA county
Amherst
code
005
not for publication N/A
vicinity X
Zip
24553
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination
r e q u e s t for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant -nationally -statewide X
locally.
See continuation s p e t for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying ohcial
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
/
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( - See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
eligible for the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
-d e t e z n e d
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
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5. Classification
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Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X__ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
__X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__7__
__3__
__2__
__0___
_12__
Noncontributing
___1_ buildings
__0___ sites
__0___ structures
__0__ objects
___1_ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
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6. Function or Use
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Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: ___Single Dwelling____________
___ Domestic _________________
______Secondary Structure_______
_____Cemetery________________
___Funerary__________________
_____Storage
_Agriculture/Subsistence________
Sawmill_________________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________
_ Agriculture/Subsistence_______
______Agricultural Field_________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: __Single Dwelling____________
______Secondary Structure______
___ Domestic _________________
____Cemetery_________________
___Funerary__________________
____________________________ ____________________________
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7. Description
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Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
__Federal__________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation __ Brick_________________________
roof ___Standing-Seam Metal_________________
walls ______Brick_________________________
other ___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
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NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
8. Statement of Significance
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Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National
Register listing)
____ A
____ B
_X _ C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the
work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A
____ B
____ C
____ D
____ E
____ F
____ G
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)____Architecture________________
Period of Significance _ 1801-1947___________
Significant Dates _1801; 1833; c. 1947_______
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)_____N/A__________________________
Cultural Affiliation ____N/A____________________________
Architect/Builder _Walker, Isaac W. ; Clark, Pendleton S. ___________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
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9. Major Bibliographical References
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Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________________
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10. Geographical Data
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Acreage of Property __71 acres______
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1 17 683102E 4152710N 2 17 682914E 4152380N 3 17 683564E 4152263N 4 17 683869E 4152420N
5 17 683671E 4152725N 6 17 683529E 4152801N 7 17 683402E 4152674N
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
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11. Form Prepared By
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name/title:
Sandra F. Esposito
Organization: ______________________________________________________ date__10/22/07__________
street & number: __140 Cradon Hill Lane____________________________ telephone_434-946-7496______
city or town_____Amherst____________________________________ state_VA___ zip code _24521_________
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Additional Documentation
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Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
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Property Owner
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(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name __Warren G. Teates_______________________________________________________________
street & number__1380 Plantation Road_______________________________ telephone_434-933-8382________
city or town___Gladstone__________________________________ state_VA____ zip code _24553_________
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Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties
for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in
accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form
to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _1___
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7. Summary Description:
Edge Hill is an 1833 Federal style, I-house built on a bluff overlooking the James River in Amherst County, Va.
It is near the villages of Walker’s Ford and Riverville and was built by Isaac W. Walker. The two-story house is
constructed of oil brick laid in Flemish bond and it has a standing-seam metal, gable roof. There are two interior end
chimneys on the parapeted gable ends decorated with elliptical wooden panels and horizontal wooden panels.
Facing the river, the principle elevation has a one-story porch with a hip roof of standing seam metal. Additions to
the house include the c. 1801 overseer’s house originally connected to the central brick structure by a breezeway
until c. 1947, when the breezeway was enclosed. A c. 1900 porch addition was remodeled around 1947, and this
addition was incorporated into the 1995 addition, enlarging the guesthouse for the neighboring paper mill company,
Virginia Fibre.
The interior of the house retains its Federal-style wood trim, stair and mantels. Immediately surrounding the
house are deciduous trees, including a Hackberry believed to have been of the same rootstock as those of Monticello,
and there are two nineteenth century landscape features: one is a raised circular flower bed located in front of the
main house and the other is a series of concentric and intersecting brick paths with planting beds, located west of the
main house. There are four c. 1833 outbuildings near the house: an office, pumphouse, corncrib, and log-framed
barn. Below the bluff, adjacent to the railroad and near the James River, are four additional outbuildings: an 1865
sawmill and shed, a nineteenth century tobacco barn, and a c. 1947 post and beam two-story cattle barn. Several
potential archaeological sites on the farm are slave quarters, additional outbuildings and a slave cemetery known to
have been on the hillside above the river. This was the Walker family home until the 1940s when it was bought and
renovated by the Suhling family. In the 1980s, the house was purchased and remodeled into a guesthouse by
Virginia Fibre/Greif Brothers Corporation, who used it until 2004 when Edge Hill was sold to the current owners.1
Architectural Description: Exterior
The main portion of Edge Hill was built c. 1833 in the Federal style. The main block is a two-story, single pile,
I-house built on a bluff overlooking the James River in the southeast part of Amherst County. The main block of the
house was built of oil brick laid in Flemish bond. The house has parapeted gable ends with interior chimneys and
wooden elliptical panels inset in the gable above narrow wooden horizontal panels inset at cornice height. The
interior of the house features Federal-style mantels and wood trim. The house has three additions dating from c.
1801, c. 1900 and c. 1995. The oldest addition was the first known house on the property and was connected to the
main block of the house by an enclosed breezeway c. 1947. The c. 1900 addition was incorporated into the 1995
addition to adapt the house for use as a corporate guesthouse.
The principle elevation faces south, overlooking the James River. It has three symmetrical bays on both stories.
On the first story, the central entry is a double-leaf door of four raised panels topped with a three-light transom.
Most of the earlier windows on both stories were six-over-six double-hung sash windows. These earlier windows
were replaced with vinyl replicas during the 1984 renovation. All window openings in the brick section of the house
have Federal-style wooden lintels with square end blocks. The elevation has an entry porch accessed by concrete
steps and floored with new planking that replaced the wood. The porch has a shallow-pitched hip roof of standingseam metal supported by square columns. This remodeled porch is deeper than the earlier porch and was completed
in 1984.
The east elevation was first altered around 1900 when a porch with a screened kitchen was added. Around 1947
the porch was remodeled, then incorporated into the 1995 addition. Originally this gable end had only the parapet
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
and the wooden elliptical and horizontal panels near the top of the gable, and was identical to the west elevation.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _2___
=====================================================================================
The north elevation of the main block originally mirrored the south elevation with three symmetrical bays on
each story. The house was connected to the earlier c. 1801 house by means of a covered breezeway connecting the
two buildings. The breezeway was fully enclosed around 1947. The north elevation was covered with vinyl in
1984.
The west elevation of the main block has the gable end wall with parapet and wooden elliptical and horizontal
panels inset near the top of the gable. There is a frame structure with a standing-seam gable roof that sheltered an
old entry to the basement. This has been sealed and is now accessible only from the interior as a storage area.
Architectural Description: Interior
The interior of the main block of the house has a central hall plan. The house is two stories with a basement.
Each room has a fireplace, including those in the basement. Most of the original wood floors are of wide heart pine
planks. Throughout the house are Federal-style, wide, single-leaf doors each with six raised panels. Most of the
wooden door trim, baseboard and chair rail is of simple Federal style.
The basement has little decorative woodwork. It is accessed from the first story and the staircase has a closed
stringer with square balusters and a simple square newel post. Both basement rooms have mantels of simple Federal
style. The west room mantel has a plain frieze and the east room mantel has stylized pilasters with a plain frieze.
Information from various sources state these rooms were used as the kitchen and dining room of the house until
around 1900.2
The center hall has a chair rail. There is an open dogleg staircase with decorative scrollwork; the balusters
are square and the turned newel is of simple Federal design. In 1947, an entry to the half-story room of the c. 1801
house was created and is accessed by two wooden risers at the stair landing.
The west parlor or living room has simple baseboard, chair rail, window, and crown molding. The Federal-style
mantel in this room has fluted pilasters on either side of the firebox; the five-part frieze has an undecorated raised
centerpiece, while the end plinths are decorated with a rope motif between flutes, and bead and reel molding runs
beneath the molded shelf.
The east parlor or dining room has decorative trim similar to that of the west parlor. The mantel in this room
has marble surrounding the firebox; the wooden surround has fluted pilasters with reeds, and the five-part frieze has
a raised and undecorated centerpiece with reeded end plinths. In the northeast corner there is a c. 1900 built-in
cabinet with double-leaf doors and horizontal panels.
The second floor once consisted of a hall and two bedrooms. Both bedrooms retain their similar Federal-style
mantels with pilasters and an undecorated frieze. In 1984, closets were constructed in both bedrooms and the stair
hall was altered to accommodate a bathroom.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _3___
=====================================================================================
Architectural Description: Additions
C. 1801 house and c. 1947 enclosed breezeway
This section of the north elevation was originally a residence built on the site, circa 1801, when the Walker
family moved to Buckingham, now Appomattox County across the James River. This one-and-one-half story,
vernacular, frame building has a stone foundation and a single, exterior end stone chimney with brick at the top of
the stack. The standing seam gable roof has a steep extended pitch on the north elevation. This house likely served
as the overseer’s cottage until the Walker family returned to Amherst in the 1830s, and the central brick house was
complete by 1833. The weatherboard siding was covered by vinyl in 1984. The interior plan of the building cannot
be determined due to many changes over time. Currently the main story is a large bedroom with a fireplace and a
large bathroom area, and the half-story room is an open bedroom. The first story wooden mantel is simple Early
Classical Revival style, and, according to owners, Delft tiles are behind the hand-painted firescreen that seals the
firebox . The firescreen is a hand-painted trompe l'oeil design showing Delft tiles and was created by Carl Taylor,
the former manager of the house for the paper mill. The half-story of the house once accessed by means of a
stepladder is now accessed from the interior center hall stair.3
The house was attached to the main house by means of an open breezeway that was enclosed around 1947. The
breezeway is two stories and is frame with a brick foundation and a slate gambrel roof. A standing seam metal
canopy covers the concrete stair to the basement entry on the east elevation of the breezeway. There is a single
dormer window on each of the east and west elevations at the second story. Bathrooms were installed in the
basement and second story of the breezeway,. A hall from the main stair landing connects the half-story room to the
main house. The open breezeway of the main story had an outdoor sink with a copper faucet. When local
Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark created the enclosed breezeway, the faucet was kept and enclosed within a
cabinet as part of the shelving.
C. 1900 addition and 1995 addition
The style of the doors in the dining room indicates that the first addition to the east elevation was built circa
1900. The one-story frame addition had a hand-made brick foundation laid in four-course American bond. It
consisted of a kitchen with a screened porch and a wooden stair to the basement. In 1995, this area was
remodeled and enlarged by Virginia Fibre Company in a style reflecting the main house. The new one-story
wing was brick laid in five-course American bond and has a standing-seam metal roof. The new wing was
erected perpendicular to the main house and the south elevation of the wing has a parapet influenced by those of
the main house. It also has a large bay window. The east elevation has two six-over-six double-hung sash
windows and French doors that access the wooden patio. The north elevation has a triple set of paired windows
each containing twelve lights.
The interior of the c. 1900 addition was completely remodeled in 1995 with the addition of the new wing.
The basement of this area contains the utility room, three bedrooms and three baths. On the main level is a hall
area with cabinets, sink and dishwasher, a large kitchen and the wing is an open room formerly used as a
conference room.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _4___
=====================================================================================
Currently, the entire house has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It was used as a guesthouse until
about 2003, when the executives of the paper mill thought the upkeep expenses were too costly and they sold
the house to the current owners in 2004.
Surrounding Landscape
Near the house, according to family lore, the Walker family created two flowerbeds in the nineteenth century.
Both are contributing sites. The first, on the South lawn, is a raised low, circular mound that was created with the
dirt dug from the well during construction of the brick house, c. 1833. The center of the mound has a fountain with
mythological figures. Virginia Fibre planted roses around the base of the mound and current owners have replaced
these with boxwoods.4
The second flowerbed, west of the main house, has three brick concentric circles intersected by four straight
paths; the areas between the paths are the planting beds. The north yard has a dry-laid stone wall fragment. The
entire yard contains many mature deciduous trees including the Hackberry on the south elevation that is, according
to local lore, from the same rootstock as those of Monticello. The house sits on a bluff overlooking the James River
and the surrounding farmland remains open.5
Outbuildings
The outbuildings on the property range in dates from c. 1833 to 2005. The oldest contributing buildings and
structures, c. 1833, are located southwest of the main house and include an office, pumphouse, corncrib and barn.
There is also a 2005 metal, non-contributing barn in the same area as the older outbuildings. Below and east of the
house is the area where the cemetery was located. Below the bluff, near the river and on the creek, are the 1865
sawmill, shed and nineteenth-century tobacco barn and the c. 1947 cattle barn. This area is adjacent to land sold by
the Walker family to the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. In the 1870s, the canal company sold the land
to the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad. The railroad laid rail lines on the old canal towpath. The house overlooks
the James River, once the main travel route between Richmond and Lynchburg.
Office/Schoolhouse- c. 1833 contributing building
The c. 1833 office or schoolhouse is a frame, one-story structure with weatherboard siding on a brick
foundation. In 1984, the earlier weatherboard was replaced. The building has a standing seam, metal gable roof and
a chimney on the gable end of the north elevation. This chimney, like that of the c. 1801 house is constructed of
stone with brick at the top of the stack. On the east and south elevations, there is a six-over-six double-hung sash
window. The entry is on the west elevation. A standing seam metal door hood is supported by brackets and
protects the single-leaf Dutch batten door. The interior was not accessed but is only one room.
Pumphouse- c. 1833 contributing structure
The pumphouse is a one-story frame structure on a rock foundation with a pyramid shaped roof of asphalt
shingles. There is a rock step into the structure. The main entry is a herringbone patterned wooden door. The
interior was not accessed.
Section _7___
Page _5___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Corncrib (labeled as Smokehouse)-c. 1833 contributing structure
Virginia Fibre labeled the corncrib as a Smokehouse; construction and shape is similar to a corncrib. The
building was constructed on dry-laid rock piers, like the log-frame barn. The internal framing is unknown, as the
current batten siding dates from 1984. The building has a standing-seam metal roof and a single-leaf batten entry
on the gable end.
Log-frame Barn-c. 1833 contributing building
The barn is one-and-one-half stories with two shed extensions. The central portion and western shed extension
both have dry-laid stone foundations. The central portion of the barn is log-framed, the framing is exposed beneath
the eastern shed extension. In 1984, batten siding was applied to the exterior of the barn. The barn is currently used
for equipment storage.
Metal Barn-c. 2005 non-contributing building
The metal barn is located northeast of the main house and older outbuildings. It is constructed of metal framing
with vinyl siding with a gable roof. It is a non-contributing building and was not accessed.
Cemetery- date unknown-contributing site
The cemetery, according to a 1980 survey, was located on the hillside southeast of the main house. An early
survey suggests that slaves were buried in the area. The Walker family owned many slaves according to the1850 and
1860 census records. This cemetery, and slave quarters also mentioned in the survey, have been lost.6
Sawmill and Shed - 19th century contributing buildings
Samuel Branch Walker built the sawmill and its associated Shed in the mid to late 19th century. These
buildings are located southeast of the main house below the bluff, on an unnamed creek near the James River. The
sawmill is a single-room, rectangular, frame structure built on “a series of wooden posts with mortise-and-tenon
braces, spaced approximately eight feet apart.” The building, as described in a 1980 survey, retains most of its
features such as the sawn, random-width vertical boards. Machinery, beneath the floorboards of the mill, included
the leather belts and iron pulleys, wheels, and rods. It is possible this mill, like a nearby mill built by Benjamin P.
Walker, was a coal-fed steam-powered mill. The entry, a single-leaf batten door, is accessed by means of rungs
nailed to one of the posts beneath the gable end. The building has a standing-seam metal, gable roof with exposed
rafters. The structure is deteriorated and unused. This a good example of a surviving 19th century sawmill. Lumber
was a major industry in Amherst County after the Civil War until the early twentieth century, and few, if any, of the
many known sawmills survive, including the nearest one at Walker’s Ford (about 1 mile from Edge Hill). Benjamin
P. Walker built the Walker’s Ford sawmill in 1867. It was built on Lime Kiln Creek, today Walker’s Ford Creek.
This mill and surrounding land eventually came into the possession of Samuel Branch Walker in the late 19th
century. Few examples of 19th sawmills exist in Amherst County.7
Adjacent to the mill is a supporting shed of the same frame construction with batten siding. This building has no
foundation and a standing-seam gable roof. The building has a sliding batten door.
Section _7___
Page _6___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Log Tobacco Barn-19th century contributing building
The tobacco barn is located south of the sawmill and nearer to the river. The structure is built of logs on a
foundation covered by plant growth. It has a standing-seam metal gable roof and batten siding in the gable ends.
The barn is deteriorated and was not accessed.8
Cattle Barn-c. 1947 contributing building
The two-story cattle barn is north of the sawmill and was built about the time Gerhard Suhling was farming the
land. It is post-and-beam construction on a wood and concrete foundation. The standing-seam metal barn has a
central gable roof with extended shed roofs on either side. On the gable end at the second story is an overhang
gable at the hayloft. Beneath the extended roof areas cattle were housed. The structure is deteriorated and was not
accessed.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _7___
=====================================================================================
8. Statement of Significance
Edge Hill is significant under Criterion C for architecture. The house, constructed 1833, is a well-preserved
example of Federal-style architecture in Amherst County. Its significant exterior Federal-style features include the
decorative lintels on the main elevation and the parapets and wooden inserts on the gable ends. On the interior, the
decorative mantels were influenced by pattern books of the day such as Asher Benjamin’s The American Builder’s
Companion. Other significant features of the property include the use of oil bricks for construction. Oil bricks, laid
in Flemish bond, were generally used for facades, as was done at the Pavilions at the University of Virginia.
However, the main section of Edge Hill used oil bricks for the entire exterior, not just the façade, as at Bremo
Plantation in Fluvanna County. Attached to the main house is the earliest structure on the property, a c. 1801 house.
Surrounding the house are what appear to be the remains of 19th century formal gardens: the circular mound in
front of the house and a concentric circular garden on its west side. The property retains several of its outbuildings
and among these is the only remaining Amherst County 19th–century sawmill with its machinery. This property -both the house with its intact architectural features and the surrounding grounds and outbuildings -- retains much of
its historical integrity despite changes and alterations over time and serves as a tangible reminder of 19th-century life
in Amherst County. Edge Hill was the property of the Walker Family from 1801 to 1947. In 1984, Virginia
Fibre/Greif Brothers purchased the house for use as a corporate guesthouse, and in 2004 Edge Hill again became a
private residence.
Historical Significance
Edge Hill is located on land patented to the Christian family around 1743. The Christian family home,
Rosedale, c. 1780 (DHR # 005-0015), is a neighboring house on the same road as Edge Hill. The land of Edge Hill
passed through two generations of the Christian family, James Christian Sr. (1715-1758) and his son, John Harvey
Christian (1746-1801). John Harvey Christian and wife Joyce had only one child, Susan (1776-1845). In 1790,
Susan married John Merriwether Walker (1772-1830) and together they lived with her parents at Rosedale as noted
in the early census records.9
In 1801, when John Harvey Christian died, he left his land to his son-in-law, John Merriwether Walker, who
owned Oakland, across the James River in Buckingham County, now Appomattox County. John and Susan Walker
moved to Oakland. They left their Amherst lands in the hands of an overseer who likely lived in the c. 1801 house,
which is now the northern wing of the house. The Edge Hill property became Walker family land and remained in
the Walker family until 1947.10
John Merriwether and Susan Walker had three sons: Benjamin, Samuel J., and Isaac W. Walker. John Walker
died in 1830. His will no longer exists but it is assumed that he divided his lands between his sons, with his elder
sons receiving the Buckingham County lands across the river from Edge Hill. The entire area around the river is
known as Walkers Ford, an easily crossed area of the James River. The homes of the brothers were of frame
construction and still exist; one in particular is Locust Grove, home of Samuel J. Walker (1809-1866), which was the
earliest guesthouse of Virginia Fiber/Greif Brothers.11
Isaac W. Walker (1810-1839) received the Amherst property and began construction on his home soon after his
father’s death. Edge Hill was completed by 1834 1833?. The house was built as a traditional single-pile, two-story
I-house with Federal-style details and transitional Greek molding profiles that were influenced by popular building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _8___
=====================================================================================
manuals at that time, including The American Builder’s Companion by Asher Benjamin. In particular, the parapets
on the main house are reflective of those of a town house building on plate 33 and the mantels have decorative
influences similar to plate 28 of the same manual. Walker used oil brick to construct the entire building rather than
using frame construction or hand-made bricks. Oil brick was readily available from Lynchburg. Oil brick is
characteristically uniform in shape, size and color. The process for making oil brick was perfected in the early 19th
century, but by the Civil War the emerging technology of the brick press had rendered oil brick obsolete.
Isaac Walker married Sarah Branch (1811-1904) and they likely lived in the overseer’s cottage until the brick
house was complete. Their only son, Samuel Branch Walker (1832-1906) was born at Edge Hill farm. In 1839,
Isaac Walker died and his will stated that should his wife remarry Edge Hill was to be held until Samuel was of age.
Sarah Branch remarried in 1843 and she and her son moved to Appomattox and the house of her husband, Dr.
Reuben D. Palmer. Dr. Palmer administered the Edge Hill property until Samuel reached age 18.12
In 1859, Samuel Branch Walker married Mary Venable (1837-1913) and census records have them at Edge Hill
in 1860. They raised six children on the farm. After the death of her husband, Sarah Branch continued to live at
Edge Hill and it is believed that she lived in the overseer’s cottage.13
After the Civil War, two sawmills were built in the Walker’s Ford area of Amherst County. The northern
sawmill was built and operated by Samuel Branch Walker. It was built on an unnamed creek below Edge Hill and it
still remains today. The southern sawmill was built near what became Walker’s Ford Depot on Lime Kiln Creek
(now Walker’s Ford Creek) and no longer survives. Benjamin P. Walker, uncle of Samuel, built this mill in 1867and
it was located about a mile upriver from the Edge Hill mill. Benjamin Walker sold his mill in 1867, and Samuel
bought an interest in this mill from then owner Peter Shearer. Samuel eventually owned the land as additional
holdings to the Edge Hill property. There are no surviving records for the operational period of either mill. 14
Edge Hill remained in the Walker family until Samuel Walker’s daughter, Sallie Mundy, died in 1946; the
family sold the property in 1947. 15 While still in possession of the Walker family, the main house was altered about
1900 by the addition of a wing on the east side to house the kitchen which was relocated from the basement.
W. Gerhard Suhling (1898-1971) bought the farm in 1947, renamed it Greenhills, and hired noted Lynchburg
architect, architect Pendleton S. Clark, to renovate the deteriorated house. He and his family occupied the overseer’s
cottage during the work. The brick house was completely restored, plumbing was added, and the breezeway was
enclosed. The Suhlings also erected the cattle barn. Suhling was a former OSS agent, a World War II veteran, and
President of Suhling Tobacco Company. He also ran the farm , likely raising tobacco and livestock. As part of a
government program to help displaced Europeans after WWII, Suhling sponsored a Romanian family who helped to
work the farm; this family later moved to Michigan. After the death of his wife, Suhling sold the farm.16
Virginia Fibre, known today as Greif Brothers, bought the property in 1984. Virginia Fibre/Greif Brothers is a
corrugated paper mill on the James River and their land joins Edge Hill. The house was purchased for use as a
guesthouse. It replaced their former guesthouse, Locust Grove, the home of Isaac Walker’s brother, Samuel. In
1984, the company restored the house and updated the utility systems, and in 1995 erected a new wing. They took
great pains to restore and retain as much of the historic materials as possible. They were also careful to restore and
retain the outbuildings as well as the gardens. The caretaker, Carl Taylor, researched the history of the house and
contacted remaining family members to help guide the restoration.17
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _9___
=====================================================================================
In 2004, Greif Brothers could no longer afford to maintain the building and sold it to the current owners, Warren
18
This couple cherishes the history of their house and wish to preserve it for the
Teates and Caroline Emswiler.
future. Edge Hill is a well-preserved example of a 19th century farm and sawmill. Despite renovations, Edge Hill
retains much of its Federal-style details such as the exterior decoration on the gable end walls and the interior
woodwork and mantels. The house continues to overlook the James River and its surrounding farmland, as it has
done since its construction. The sawmill, near the river, is one of the few surviving examples of a 19th-century
sawmill in Amherst County. Edge Hill’s unique architecture, construction materials, gardens and outbuildings
make it a significant property in Amherst County.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _10___
=====================================================================================
9. Major Bibliographical References
Baber, David W., “Edgehill,” Virginia Historic Landmark Survey, 1 November 1978.
Hibbert, Meg, “Edgehill,” Amherst New Era Progress, Amherst, Va.: 17 July 1986.
Loth, Calder, “The Making of Oil Brick in Virginia,” Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol.
II, No. 3, 1979, available online from www.jstor.org.
McCarthy, Joe. Telephone interview by Sandra Esposito, 19 March 2007.
Kerns, Wilmer L., Ph.D., Waltons of Old Virginia and Sketches, Willow Bend Books, Wilmington, Md.
Phillips, Susan, “Edge Hill: Changes through the years only superficial peace remains,” The News & Daily Advance,
Lynchburg, Va.: 31 July 1983.
Scott, Gloria E., “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey, August 1980
Suhling, Edward. Telephone interview by Sandra Esposito, 4 April 2007.
Suhling, William Gerhard.
www.healthsystem.virginia.edu.
Information
online
available
at
www.lib.virginia.edu
Private Files of Owners includes:
Edgehill Plantation, Walker’s Ford Plantation. undated manuscript.
Herncall, Dan E., Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 10 August 1983.
Langhorne, Elizabeth A., Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 17 April 1986.
Langhorne, Elizabeth A., Letter to Carl Taylor, 11 April 1994.
McAlister, Ann L. Transcription of Article by Branch Walker. Article available at Jones Memorial Library.
Sears, Robert A. Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 10 August 1983.
Taylor, Carl. Various undated and handwritten notes.
Abstracts of Albemarle County Will Book 2, Antient Press.
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p. 260.
and
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _11___
=====================================================================================
Amherst County Deed Book 70, p. 407.
Amherst County Deed Book 74, p. 530.
Amherst County Deed Book 130, p. 429.
Amherst County Deed Book 210, p. 127.
Amherst County Deed Book 211, p. 407.
Amherst County Deed Book 512, p. 287.
Amherst County Deed Book 989, p. 711.
Amherst County Will Book 10, pp. 207, 211.
Amherst County Will Book 29, p. 130.
Virginia Land Grant, 1798 to John Harvey Christian available online from Library of Virginia at www.lib.va.us.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1798-1805, Reel 17, available at Jones Memorial Library.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1806-1833, Reel 18, available at Jones Memorial Library.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1833-1854, Reel 19, available at Jones Memorial Library.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _10, Photographic Data___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _12___
=====================================================================================
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
The property being nominated is identified as # A 8 on tax parcel map 143 for Amherst County, Virginia. This
is the same property deeded to Warren Teates and identified in Amherst County Deed Book 989, page 711 dated
29 October 2004.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
The boundary includes all historic resources historically and currently owned and known as Edge Hill in
Amherst County.
Photographs
The following is the same for all the photographs:
Edge Hill, Amherst County, Virginia #005-0005
Photos taken by Sandi Esposito in October 2007
Negatives stored at the Virginia Department of historic Resources
Photo 1 of 8
Facing North, main elevation, neg. 23701
Photo 2 of 8
Facing West, showing 1984 addition, neg. 23701
Photo 3 of 8
Facing East, interior stair, neg. 23703
Photo 4 of 8
Facing West, interior west parlor mantel, neg. 23702
Photo 5 of 8
Facing North, circular garden landscape, neg. 23705
Photo 6 of 8
Facing Northwest, outbuildings in northeast yard, neg. 23701
Photo 7 of 8
Facing North, outbuildings near river, neg. 23704
Photo 8 of 8
Facing Northeast, sawmill, neg. 23704
Section _Endnotes for Sections 7 and 8___
Page _13___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Endnotes
1
David W. Baber, “Edgehill,” Virginia Historic Landmark Survey Form dated 1 November 1978, DHR No. 05-0005
2
Information for the use of the rooms comes from Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; the owners
and Susan Phillips, “Edge Hill,” 31 July 1983, pp. B5-B6.
3
Wilmer L. Kerns, Ph.D., Waltons of Old Virginia and Sketches, (Willow Bend Books, Wilmington, Md.) pp.321-336
and 429-434; Virginia County Land Tax Records, Amherst County 1806-1833 and 1834-1850, microfilm available from Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia; and Information from owners.
4
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corp. dated 17 April 1986
5
6
Ibid.
Baber, “Edgehill.”
7
Sherrie and William McLeRoy, More Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia (Heritage Books,
Lynchburg, VA: 1995), pp. 105-114; Gloria E. Scott, “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey dated August
1980, DHR No.05-174; the 1980 survey accurately described the Edge Hill mill but the survey history described the mill at
Walker’s Ford; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 260, 19 December 1871; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 530; Amherst
County Plat Book A p. 291; Amherst County Plat Book F p. 63; and Amherst County Deed Book 229 p. 250.
8
Several other structures are seen and these were once associated with the property and are now owned by the Virginia
Fibre such a tobacco barn and the ruins of a lockkeeper’s house.
9
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, survey files sent by email to author on Rosedale; Christian Family
Information from the files of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society and Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336
and 429-434.
10
Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336 and 429-434; Ann L. McAlister, “Walker Summary,” February 1982 from
files of current owners; Carl Taylor, Various notes; Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; and Susan Phillips,
“Edge Hill,” 31 July 1983, pp. B5-B6.
11
Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336 and 429-434; and Carl Taylor, Various notes.
12
Amherst County Will Book 10, pp. 207 (30 May 1837) and 211 (16 March 1840); and Elizabeth A. Langhorne,
Letter dated 17 April 1986.
13
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; Liz Langhorne, Letter to Carl Taylor dated 11 April 1994
from the files of current owners.
14
Sherrie and William McLeRoy, More Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia (Heritage Books,
Lynchburg, VA: 1995), pp. 105-114; Gloria E. Scott, “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey dated August
1980, DHR No.05-174; the 1980 survey accurately described the Edge Hill mill but the survey history described the mill at
Walker’s Ford; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 260, 19 December 1871; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 530; Amherst
County Plat Book A p. 291; Amherst County Plat Book F p. 63; and Amherst County Deed Book 229 p. 250.
Section _Endnotes for Sections 7 and 8___
Page _14___
=====================================================================================
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
15
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; Liz Langhorne, Letter to Carl Taylor dated 11 April 1994 from
the files of current owners; Joe McCarthy, 19 March 2007, telephone interview by author [Joe McCarthy is the son of Alma
Walker McCarthy (1906-2004) the last Walker born at Edge Hill]; Amherst County Will Book 24, p. 67 (1 February 1898);
Amherst County Will Book 29, p.130 (18 May 1939); Amherst County Deed Book 70, p. 407 (11 December 1913); Amherst
County Deed Book 74, p. 530 (3 April 1916); and Amherst County Deed Book 130, p. 429 (24 Sept 1946).
16
Amherst County deed Book 130, p. 429 (24 Sept 1946); Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; William
Gerhard Suhling, information online at www.lib.virginia.edu and www.healthsystem.virginia.edu and files of University of
Virginia; A Cuban resident, John G. Dewitt bought the house in 1959 and resold it in 1961. The Dulas, John and Mary, came to
own the land and John worked as a cattle farmer while his wife was an educator in Amherst County and later in Lynchburg.
John Dula developed an allergy to bees, he gave up the cattle and began a tree farm. The Dulas sold the farm in 1984; Amherst
County Deed Book 210, p.127 (2 November 1959); Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; Susan Phillips, “Edge
Hill,” pp. B5-B6; Meg Hibbert, “Edgehill,” 17 July 1986; Amherst County Deed Book 211, p. 407 (17 April 1961); Amherst
County Deed Book 512, p. 287 (10 October 1984); and Information from owners.
17
Carl Taylor, Various notes; and Information from owners.
18
Amherst County Deed Book 989 p. 711 (29 October 2004).
OMB NO. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete theNational Register
of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "xu in the appropriate box or by entering the information
requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architecturalclassification, materials, and
a r e a of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form
10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
Edge Hill
other names/site number Green Hills. Walker's Ford Sawmill (#005-0174); VDHR #005-0005
2. Location
street & number 1380 Edgehill Plantation Road
city or town
Gladstone
state Virginia
code VA county
Amherst
code
005
not for publication N/A
vicinity X
Zip
24553
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination
r e q u e s t for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant -nationally -statewide X
locally.
See continuation s p e t for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying ohcial
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
/
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( - See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
eligible for the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
-d e t e z n e d
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
5. Classification
=====================================================================================
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X__ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
__X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__7__
__3__
__2__
__0___
_12__
Noncontributing
___1_ buildings
__0___ sites
__0___ structures
__0__ objects
___1_ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
=====================================================================================
6. Function or Use
=====================================================================================
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: ___Single Dwelling____________
___ Domestic _________________
______Secondary Structure_______
_____Cemetery________________
___Funerary__________________
_____Storage
_Agriculture/Subsistence________
Sawmill_________________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________
_ Agriculture/Subsistence_______
______Agricultural Field_________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: __Single Dwelling____________
______Secondary Structure______
___ Domestic _________________
____Cemetery_________________
___Funerary__________________
____________________________ ____________________________
=====================================================================================
7. Description
=====================================================================================
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
__Federal__________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation __ Brick_________________________
roof ___Standing-Seam Metal_________________
walls ______Brick_________________________
other ___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
=====================================================================================
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
8. Statement of Significance
=====================================================================================
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National
Register listing)
____ A
____ B
_X _ C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the
work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A
____ B
____ C
____ D
____ E
____ F
____ G
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)____Architecture________________
Period of Significance _ 1801-1947___________
Significant Dates _1801; 1833; c. 1947_______
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)_____N/A__________________________
Cultural Affiliation ____N/A____________________________
Architect/Builder _Walker, Isaac W. ; Clark, Pendleton S. ___________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
=====================================================================================
9. Major Bibliographical References
=====================================================================================
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________________
=====================================================================================
10. Geographical Data
=====================================================================================
Acreage of Property __71 acres______
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1 17 683102E 4152710N 2 17 682914E 4152380N 3 17 683564E 4152263N 4 17 683869E 4152420N
5 17 683671E 4152725N 6 17 683529E 4152801N 7 17 683402E 4152674N
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
=====================================================================================
11. Form Prepared By
=====================================================================================
name/title:
Sandra F. Esposito
Organization: ______________________________________________________ date__10/22/07__________
street & number: __140 Cradon Hill Lane____________________________ telephone_434-946-7496______
city or town_____Amherst____________________________________ state_VA___ zip code _24521_________
=====================================================================================
Additional Documentation
=====================================================================================
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
=====================================================================================
Property Owner
=====================================================================================
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name __Warren G. Teates_______________________________________________________________
street & number__1380 Plantation Road_______________________________ telephone_434-933-8382________
city or town___Gladstone__________________________________ state_VA____ zip code _24553_________
=====================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties
for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in
accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form
to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _1___
=====================================================================================
7. Summary Description:
Edge Hill is an 1833 Federal style, I-house built on a bluff overlooking the James River in Amherst County, Va.
It is near the villages of Walker’s Ford and Riverville and was built by Isaac W. Walker. The two-story house is
constructed of oil brick laid in Flemish bond and it has a standing-seam metal, gable roof. There are two interior end
chimneys on the parapeted gable ends decorated with elliptical wooden panels and horizontal wooden panels.
Facing the river, the principle elevation has a one-story porch with a hip roof of standing seam metal. Additions to
the house include the c. 1801 overseer’s house originally connected to the central brick structure by a breezeway
until c. 1947, when the breezeway was enclosed. A c. 1900 porch addition was remodeled around 1947, and this
addition was incorporated into the 1995 addition, enlarging the guesthouse for the neighboring paper mill company,
Virginia Fibre.
The interior of the house retains its Federal-style wood trim, stair and mantels. Immediately surrounding the
house are deciduous trees, including a Hackberry believed to have been of the same rootstock as those of Monticello,
and there are two nineteenth century landscape features: one is a raised circular flower bed located in front of the
main house and the other is a series of concentric and intersecting brick paths with planting beds, located west of the
main house. There are four c. 1833 outbuildings near the house: an office, pumphouse, corncrib, and log-framed
barn. Below the bluff, adjacent to the railroad and near the James River, are four additional outbuildings: an 1865
sawmill and shed, a nineteenth century tobacco barn, and a c. 1947 post and beam two-story cattle barn. Several
potential archaeological sites on the farm are slave quarters, additional outbuildings and a slave cemetery known to
have been on the hillside above the river. This was the Walker family home until the 1940s when it was bought and
renovated by the Suhling family. In the 1980s, the house was purchased and remodeled into a guesthouse by
Virginia Fibre/Greif Brothers Corporation, who used it until 2004 when Edge Hill was sold to the current owners.1
Architectural Description: Exterior
The main portion of Edge Hill was built c. 1833 in the Federal style. The main block is a two-story, single pile,
I-house built on a bluff overlooking the James River in the southeast part of Amherst County. The main block of the
house was built of oil brick laid in Flemish bond. The house has parapeted gable ends with interior chimneys and
wooden elliptical panels inset in the gable above narrow wooden horizontal panels inset at cornice height. The
interior of the house features Federal-style mantels and wood trim. The house has three additions dating from c.
1801, c. 1900 and c. 1995. The oldest addition was the first known house on the property and was connected to the
main block of the house by an enclosed breezeway c. 1947. The c. 1900 addition was incorporated into the 1995
addition to adapt the house for use as a corporate guesthouse.
The principle elevation faces south, overlooking the James River. It has three symmetrical bays on both stories.
On the first story, the central entry is a double-leaf door of four raised panels topped with a three-light transom.
Most of the earlier windows on both stories were six-over-six double-hung sash windows. These earlier windows
were replaced with vinyl replicas during the 1984 renovation. All window openings in the brick section of the house
have Federal-style wooden lintels with square end blocks. The elevation has an entry porch accessed by concrete
steps and floored with new planking that replaced the wood. The porch has a shallow-pitched hip roof of standingseam metal supported by square columns. This remodeled porch is deeper than the earlier porch and was completed
in 1984.
The east elevation was first altered around 1900 when a porch with a screened kitchen was added. Around 1947
the porch was remodeled, then incorporated into the 1995 addition. Originally this gable end had only the parapet
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
and the wooden elliptical and horizontal panels near the top of the gable, and was identical to the west elevation.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _2___
=====================================================================================
The north elevation of the main block originally mirrored the south elevation with three symmetrical bays on
each story. The house was connected to the earlier c. 1801 house by means of a covered breezeway connecting the
two buildings. The breezeway was fully enclosed around 1947. The north elevation was covered with vinyl in
1984.
The west elevation of the main block has the gable end wall with parapet and wooden elliptical and horizontal
panels inset near the top of the gable. There is a frame structure with a standing-seam gable roof that sheltered an
old entry to the basement. This has been sealed and is now accessible only from the interior as a storage area.
Architectural Description: Interior
The interior of the main block of the house has a central hall plan. The house is two stories with a basement.
Each room has a fireplace, including those in the basement. Most of the original wood floors are of wide heart pine
planks. Throughout the house are Federal-style, wide, single-leaf doors each with six raised panels. Most of the
wooden door trim, baseboard and chair rail is of simple Federal style.
The basement has little decorative woodwork. It is accessed from the first story and the staircase has a closed
stringer with square balusters and a simple square newel post. Both basement rooms have mantels of simple Federal
style. The west room mantel has a plain frieze and the east room mantel has stylized pilasters with a plain frieze.
Information from various sources state these rooms were used as the kitchen and dining room of the house until
around 1900.2
The center hall has a chair rail. There is an open dogleg staircase with decorative scrollwork; the balusters
are square and the turned newel is of simple Federal design. In 1947, an entry to the half-story room of the c. 1801
house was created and is accessed by two wooden risers at the stair landing.
The west parlor or living room has simple baseboard, chair rail, window, and crown molding. The Federal-style
mantel in this room has fluted pilasters on either side of the firebox; the five-part frieze has an undecorated raised
centerpiece, while the end plinths are decorated with a rope motif between flutes, and bead and reel molding runs
beneath the molded shelf.
The east parlor or dining room has decorative trim similar to that of the west parlor. The mantel in this room
has marble surrounding the firebox; the wooden surround has fluted pilasters with reeds, and the five-part frieze has
a raised and undecorated centerpiece with reeded end plinths. In the northeast corner there is a c. 1900 built-in
cabinet with double-leaf doors and horizontal panels.
The second floor once consisted of a hall and two bedrooms. Both bedrooms retain their similar Federal-style
mantels with pilasters and an undecorated frieze. In 1984, closets were constructed in both bedrooms and the stair
hall was altered to accommodate a bathroom.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _3___
=====================================================================================
Architectural Description: Additions
C. 1801 house and c. 1947 enclosed breezeway
This section of the north elevation was originally a residence built on the site, circa 1801, when the Walker
family moved to Buckingham, now Appomattox County across the James River. This one-and-one-half story,
vernacular, frame building has a stone foundation and a single, exterior end stone chimney with brick at the top of
the stack. The standing seam gable roof has a steep extended pitch on the north elevation. This house likely served
as the overseer’s cottage until the Walker family returned to Amherst in the 1830s, and the central brick house was
complete by 1833. The weatherboard siding was covered by vinyl in 1984. The interior plan of the building cannot
be determined due to many changes over time. Currently the main story is a large bedroom with a fireplace and a
large bathroom area, and the half-story room is an open bedroom. The first story wooden mantel is simple Early
Classical Revival style, and, according to owners, Delft tiles are behind the hand-painted firescreen that seals the
firebox . The firescreen is a hand-painted trompe l'oeil design showing Delft tiles and was created by Carl Taylor,
the former manager of the house for the paper mill. The half-story of the house once accessed by means of a
stepladder is now accessed from the interior center hall stair.3
The house was attached to the main house by means of an open breezeway that was enclosed around 1947. The
breezeway is two stories and is frame with a brick foundation and a slate gambrel roof. A standing seam metal
canopy covers the concrete stair to the basement entry on the east elevation of the breezeway. There is a single
dormer window on each of the east and west elevations at the second story. Bathrooms were installed in the
basement and second story of the breezeway,. A hall from the main stair landing connects the half-story room to the
main house. The open breezeway of the main story had an outdoor sink with a copper faucet. When local
Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark created the enclosed breezeway, the faucet was kept and enclosed within a
cabinet as part of the shelving.
C. 1900 addition and 1995 addition
The style of the doors in the dining room indicates that the first addition to the east elevation was built circa
1900. The one-story frame addition had a hand-made brick foundation laid in four-course American bond. It
consisted of a kitchen with a screened porch and a wooden stair to the basement. In 1995, this area was
remodeled and enlarged by Virginia Fibre Company in a style reflecting the main house. The new one-story
wing was brick laid in five-course American bond and has a standing-seam metal roof. The new wing was
erected perpendicular to the main house and the south elevation of the wing has a parapet influenced by those of
the main house. It also has a large bay window. The east elevation has two six-over-six double-hung sash
windows and French doors that access the wooden patio. The north elevation has a triple set of paired windows
each containing twelve lights.
The interior of the c. 1900 addition was completely remodeled in 1995 with the addition of the new wing.
The basement of this area contains the utility room, three bedrooms and three baths. On the main level is a hall
area with cabinets, sink and dishwasher, a large kitchen and the wing is an open room formerly used as a
conference room.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _4___
=====================================================================================
Currently, the entire house has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It was used as a guesthouse until
about 2003, when the executives of the paper mill thought the upkeep expenses were too costly and they sold
the house to the current owners in 2004.
Surrounding Landscape
Near the house, according to family lore, the Walker family created two flowerbeds in the nineteenth century.
Both are contributing sites. The first, on the South lawn, is a raised low, circular mound that was created with the
dirt dug from the well during construction of the brick house, c. 1833. The center of the mound has a fountain with
mythological figures. Virginia Fibre planted roses around the base of the mound and current owners have replaced
these with boxwoods.4
The second flowerbed, west of the main house, has three brick concentric circles intersected by four straight
paths; the areas between the paths are the planting beds. The north yard has a dry-laid stone wall fragment. The
entire yard contains many mature deciduous trees including the Hackberry on the south elevation that is, according
to local lore, from the same rootstock as those of Monticello. The house sits on a bluff overlooking the James River
and the surrounding farmland remains open.5
Outbuildings
The outbuildings on the property range in dates from c. 1833 to 2005. The oldest contributing buildings and
structures, c. 1833, are located southwest of the main house and include an office, pumphouse, corncrib and barn.
There is also a 2005 metal, non-contributing barn in the same area as the older outbuildings. Below and east of the
house is the area where the cemetery was located. Below the bluff, near the river and on the creek, are the 1865
sawmill, shed and nineteenth-century tobacco barn and the c. 1947 cattle barn. This area is adjacent to land sold by
the Walker family to the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. In the 1870s, the canal company sold the land
to the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad. The railroad laid rail lines on the old canal towpath. The house overlooks
the James River, once the main travel route between Richmond and Lynchburg.
Office/Schoolhouse- c. 1833 contributing building
The c. 1833 office or schoolhouse is a frame, one-story structure with weatherboard siding on a brick
foundation. In 1984, the earlier weatherboard was replaced. The building has a standing seam, metal gable roof and
a chimney on the gable end of the north elevation. This chimney, like that of the c. 1801 house is constructed of
stone with brick at the top of the stack. On the east and south elevations, there is a six-over-six double-hung sash
window. The entry is on the west elevation. A standing seam metal door hood is supported by brackets and
protects the single-leaf Dutch batten door. The interior was not accessed but is only one room.
Pumphouse- c. 1833 contributing structure
The pumphouse is a one-story frame structure on a rock foundation with a pyramid shaped roof of asphalt
shingles. There is a rock step into the structure. The main entry is a herringbone patterned wooden door. The
interior was not accessed.
Section _7___
Page _5___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Corncrib (labeled as Smokehouse)-c. 1833 contributing structure
Virginia Fibre labeled the corncrib as a Smokehouse; construction and shape is similar to a corncrib. The
building was constructed on dry-laid rock piers, like the log-frame barn. The internal framing is unknown, as the
current batten siding dates from 1984. The building has a standing-seam metal roof and a single-leaf batten entry
on the gable end.
Log-frame Barn-c. 1833 contributing building
The barn is one-and-one-half stories with two shed extensions. The central portion and western shed extension
both have dry-laid stone foundations. The central portion of the barn is log-framed, the framing is exposed beneath
the eastern shed extension. In 1984, batten siding was applied to the exterior of the barn. The barn is currently used
for equipment storage.
Metal Barn-c. 2005 non-contributing building
The metal barn is located northeast of the main house and older outbuildings. It is constructed of metal framing
with vinyl siding with a gable roof. It is a non-contributing building and was not accessed.
Cemetery- date unknown-contributing site
The cemetery, according to a 1980 survey, was located on the hillside southeast of the main house. An early
survey suggests that slaves were buried in the area. The Walker family owned many slaves according to the1850 and
1860 census records. This cemetery, and slave quarters also mentioned in the survey, have been lost.6
Sawmill and Shed - 19th century contributing buildings
Samuel Branch Walker built the sawmill and its associated Shed in the mid to late 19th century. These
buildings are located southeast of the main house below the bluff, on an unnamed creek near the James River. The
sawmill is a single-room, rectangular, frame structure built on “a series of wooden posts with mortise-and-tenon
braces, spaced approximately eight feet apart.” The building, as described in a 1980 survey, retains most of its
features such as the sawn, random-width vertical boards. Machinery, beneath the floorboards of the mill, included
the leather belts and iron pulleys, wheels, and rods. It is possible this mill, like a nearby mill built by Benjamin P.
Walker, was a coal-fed steam-powered mill. The entry, a single-leaf batten door, is accessed by means of rungs
nailed to one of the posts beneath the gable end. The building has a standing-seam metal, gable roof with exposed
rafters. The structure is deteriorated and unused. This a good example of a surviving 19th century sawmill. Lumber
was a major industry in Amherst County after the Civil War until the early twentieth century, and few, if any, of the
many known sawmills survive, including the nearest one at Walker’s Ford (about 1 mile from Edge Hill). Benjamin
P. Walker built the Walker’s Ford sawmill in 1867. It was built on Lime Kiln Creek, today Walker’s Ford Creek.
This mill and surrounding land eventually came into the possession of Samuel Branch Walker in the late 19th
century. Few examples of 19th sawmills exist in Amherst County.7
Adjacent to the mill is a supporting shed of the same frame construction with batten siding. This building has no
foundation and a standing-seam gable roof. The building has a sliding batten door.
Section _7___
Page _6___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Log Tobacco Barn-19th century contributing building
The tobacco barn is located south of the sawmill and nearer to the river. The structure is built of logs on a
foundation covered by plant growth. It has a standing-seam metal gable roof and batten siding in the gable ends.
The barn is deteriorated and was not accessed.8
Cattle Barn-c. 1947 contributing building
The two-story cattle barn is north of the sawmill and was built about the time Gerhard Suhling was farming the
land. It is post-and-beam construction on a wood and concrete foundation. The standing-seam metal barn has a
central gable roof with extended shed roofs on either side. On the gable end at the second story is an overhang
gable at the hayloft. Beneath the extended roof areas cattle were housed. The structure is deteriorated and was not
accessed.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _7___
=====================================================================================
8. Statement of Significance
Edge Hill is significant under Criterion C for architecture. The house, constructed 1833, is a well-preserved
example of Federal-style architecture in Amherst County. Its significant exterior Federal-style features include the
decorative lintels on the main elevation and the parapets and wooden inserts on the gable ends. On the interior, the
decorative mantels were influenced by pattern books of the day such as Asher Benjamin’s The American Builder’s
Companion. Other significant features of the property include the use of oil bricks for construction. Oil bricks, laid
in Flemish bond, were generally used for facades, as was done at the Pavilions at the University of Virginia.
However, the main section of Edge Hill used oil bricks for the entire exterior, not just the façade, as at Bremo
Plantation in Fluvanna County. Attached to the main house is the earliest structure on the property, a c. 1801 house.
Surrounding the house are what appear to be the remains of 19th century formal gardens: the circular mound in
front of the house and a concentric circular garden on its west side. The property retains several of its outbuildings
and among these is the only remaining Amherst County 19th–century sawmill with its machinery. This property -both the house with its intact architectural features and the surrounding grounds and outbuildings -- retains much of
its historical integrity despite changes and alterations over time and serves as a tangible reminder of 19th-century life
in Amherst County. Edge Hill was the property of the Walker Family from 1801 to 1947. In 1984, Virginia
Fibre/Greif Brothers purchased the house for use as a corporate guesthouse, and in 2004 Edge Hill again became a
private residence.
Historical Significance
Edge Hill is located on land patented to the Christian family around 1743. The Christian family home,
Rosedale, c. 1780 (DHR # 005-0015), is a neighboring house on the same road as Edge Hill. The land of Edge Hill
passed through two generations of the Christian family, James Christian Sr. (1715-1758) and his son, John Harvey
Christian (1746-1801). John Harvey Christian and wife Joyce had only one child, Susan (1776-1845). In 1790,
Susan married John Merriwether Walker (1772-1830) and together they lived with her parents at Rosedale as noted
in the early census records.9
In 1801, when John Harvey Christian died, he left his land to his son-in-law, John Merriwether Walker, who
owned Oakland, across the James River in Buckingham County, now Appomattox County. John and Susan Walker
moved to Oakland. They left their Amherst lands in the hands of an overseer who likely lived in the c. 1801 house,
which is now the northern wing of the house. The Edge Hill property became Walker family land and remained in
the Walker family until 1947.10
John Merriwether and Susan Walker had three sons: Benjamin, Samuel J., and Isaac W. Walker. John Walker
died in 1830. His will no longer exists but it is assumed that he divided his lands between his sons, with his elder
sons receiving the Buckingham County lands across the river from Edge Hill. The entire area around the river is
known as Walkers Ford, an easily crossed area of the James River. The homes of the brothers were of frame
construction and still exist; one in particular is Locust Grove, home of Samuel J. Walker (1809-1866), which was the
earliest guesthouse of Virginia Fiber/Greif Brothers.11
Isaac W. Walker (1810-1839) received the Amherst property and began construction on his home soon after his
father’s death. Edge Hill was completed by 1834 1833?. The house was built as a traditional single-pile, two-story
I-house with Federal-style details and transitional Greek molding profiles that were influenced by popular building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _8___
=====================================================================================
manuals at that time, including The American Builder’s Companion by Asher Benjamin. In particular, the parapets
on the main house are reflective of those of a town house building on plate 33 and the mantels have decorative
influences similar to plate 28 of the same manual. Walker used oil brick to construct the entire building rather than
using frame construction or hand-made bricks. Oil brick was readily available from Lynchburg. Oil brick is
characteristically uniform in shape, size and color. The process for making oil brick was perfected in the early 19th
century, but by the Civil War the emerging technology of the brick press had rendered oil brick obsolete.
Isaac Walker married Sarah Branch (1811-1904) and they likely lived in the overseer’s cottage until the brick
house was complete. Their only son, Samuel Branch Walker (1832-1906) was born at Edge Hill farm. In 1839,
Isaac Walker died and his will stated that should his wife remarry Edge Hill was to be held until Samuel was of age.
Sarah Branch remarried in 1843 and she and her son moved to Appomattox and the house of her husband, Dr.
Reuben D. Palmer. Dr. Palmer administered the Edge Hill property until Samuel reached age 18.12
In 1859, Samuel Branch Walker married Mary Venable (1837-1913) and census records have them at Edge Hill
in 1860. They raised six children on the farm. After the death of her husband, Sarah Branch continued to live at
Edge Hill and it is believed that she lived in the overseer’s cottage.13
After the Civil War, two sawmills were built in the Walker’s Ford area of Amherst County. The northern
sawmill was built and operated by Samuel Branch Walker. It was built on an unnamed creek below Edge Hill and it
still remains today. The southern sawmill was built near what became Walker’s Ford Depot on Lime Kiln Creek
(now Walker’s Ford Creek) and no longer survives. Benjamin P. Walker, uncle of Samuel, built this mill in 1867and
it was located about a mile upriver from the Edge Hill mill. Benjamin Walker sold his mill in 1867, and Samuel
bought an interest in this mill from then owner Peter Shearer. Samuel eventually owned the land as additional
holdings to the Edge Hill property. There are no surviving records for the operational period of either mill. 14
Edge Hill remained in the Walker family until Samuel Walker’s daughter, Sallie Mundy, died in 1946; the
family sold the property in 1947. 15 While still in possession of the Walker family, the main house was altered about
1900 by the addition of a wing on the east side to house the kitchen which was relocated from the basement.
W. Gerhard Suhling (1898-1971) bought the farm in 1947, renamed it Greenhills, and hired noted Lynchburg
architect, architect Pendleton S. Clark, to renovate the deteriorated house. He and his family occupied the overseer’s
cottage during the work. The brick house was completely restored, plumbing was added, and the breezeway was
enclosed. The Suhlings also erected the cattle barn. Suhling was a former OSS agent, a World War II veteran, and
President of Suhling Tobacco Company. He also ran the farm , likely raising tobacco and livestock. As part of a
government program to help displaced Europeans after WWII, Suhling sponsored a Romanian family who helped to
work the farm; this family later moved to Michigan. After the death of his wife, Suhling sold the farm.16
Virginia Fibre, known today as Greif Brothers, bought the property in 1984. Virginia Fibre/Greif Brothers is a
corrugated paper mill on the James River and their land joins Edge Hill. The house was purchased for use as a
guesthouse. It replaced their former guesthouse, Locust Grove, the home of Isaac Walker’s brother, Samuel. In
1984, the company restored the house and updated the utility systems, and in 1995 erected a new wing. They took
great pains to restore and retain as much of the historic materials as possible. They were also careful to restore and
retain the outbuildings as well as the gardens. The caretaker, Carl Taylor, researched the history of the house and
contacted remaining family members to help guide the restoration.17
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _9___
=====================================================================================
In 2004, Greif Brothers could no longer afford to maintain the building and sold it to the current owners, Warren
18
This couple cherishes the history of their house and wish to preserve it for the
Teates and Caroline Emswiler.
future. Edge Hill is a well-preserved example of a 19th century farm and sawmill. Despite renovations, Edge Hill
retains much of its Federal-style details such as the exterior decoration on the gable end walls and the interior
woodwork and mantels. The house continues to overlook the James River and its surrounding farmland, as it has
done since its construction. The sawmill, near the river, is one of the few surviving examples of a 19th-century
sawmill in Amherst County. Edge Hill’s unique architecture, construction materials, gardens and outbuildings
make it a significant property in Amherst County.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _10___
=====================================================================================
9. Major Bibliographical References
Baber, David W., “Edgehill,” Virginia Historic Landmark Survey, 1 November 1978.
Hibbert, Meg, “Edgehill,” Amherst New Era Progress, Amherst, Va.: 17 July 1986.
Loth, Calder, “The Making of Oil Brick in Virginia,” Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol.
II, No. 3, 1979, available online from www.jstor.org.
McCarthy, Joe. Telephone interview by Sandra Esposito, 19 March 2007.
Kerns, Wilmer L., Ph.D., Waltons of Old Virginia and Sketches, Willow Bend Books, Wilmington, Md.
Phillips, Susan, “Edge Hill: Changes through the years only superficial peace remains,” The News & Daily Advance,
Lynchburg, Va.: 31 July 1983.
Scott, Gloria E., “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey, August 1980
Suhling, Edward. Telephone interview by Sandra Esposito, 4 April 2007.
Suhling, William Gerhard.
www.healthsystem.virginia.edu.
Information
online
available
at
www.lib.virginia.edu
Private Files of Owners includes:
Edgehill Plantation, Walker’s Ford Plantation. undated manuscript.
Herncall, Dan E., Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 10 August 1983.
Langhorne, Elizabeth A., Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 17 April 1986.
Langhorne, Elizabeth A., Letter to Carl Taylor, 11 April 1994.
McAlister, Ann L. Transcription of Article by Branch Walker. Article available at Jones Memorial Library.
Sears, Robert A. Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corporation, 10 August 1983.
Taylor, Carl. Various undated and handwritten notes.
Abstracts of Albemarle County Will Book 2, Antient Press.
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p. 260.
and
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _11___
=====================================================================================
Amherst County Deed Book 70, p. 407.
Amherst County Deed Book 74, p. 530.
Amherst County Deed Book 130, p. 429.
Amherst County Deed Book 210, p. 127.
Amherst County Deed Book 211, p. 407.
Amherst County Deed Book 512, p. 287.
Amherst County Deed Book 989, p. 711.
Amherst County Will Book 10, pp. 207, 211.
Amherst County Will Book 29, p. 130.
Virginia Land Grant, 1798 to John Harvey Christian available online from Library of Virginia at www.lib.va.us.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1798-1805, Reel 17, available at Jones Memorial Library.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1806-1833, Reel 18, available at Jones Memorial Library.
Virginia Land Tax Records for Amherst County 1833-1854, Reel 19, available at Jones Memorial Library.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _10, Photographic Data___
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
Page _12___
=====================================================================================
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
The property being nominated is identified as # A 8 on tax parcel map 143 for Amherst County, Virginia. This
is the same property deeded to Warren Teates and identified in Amherst County Deed Book 989, page 711 dated
29 October 2004.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
The boundary includes all historic resources historically and currently owned and known as Edge Hill in
Amherst County.
Photographs
The following is the same for all the photographs:
Edge Hill, Amherst County, Virginia #005-0005
Photos taken by Sandi Esposito in October 2007
Negatives stored at the Virginia Department of historic Resources
Photo 1 of 8
Facing North, main elevation, neg. 23701
Photo 2 of 8
Facing West, showing 1984 addition, neg. 23701
Photo 3 of 8
Facing East, interior stair, neg. 23703
Photo 4 of 8
Facing West, interior west parlor mantel, neg. 23702
Photo 5 of 8
Facing North, circular garden landscape, neg. 23705
Photo 6 of 8
Facing Northwest, outbuildings in northeast yard, neg. 23701
Photo 7 of 8
Facing North, outbuildings near river, neg. 23704
Photo 8 of 8
Facing Northeast, sawmill, neg. 23704
Section _Endnotes for Sections 7 and 8___
Page _13___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
=====================================================================================
Endnotes
1
David W. Baber, “Edgehill,” Virginia Historic Landmark Survey Form dated 1 November 1978, DHR No. 05-0005
2
Information for the use of the rooms comes from Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; the owners
and Susan Phillips, “Edge Hill,” 31 July 1983, pp. B5-B6.
3
Wilmer L. Kerns, Ph.D., Waltons of Old Virginia and Sketches, (Willow Bend Books, Wilmington, Md.) pp.321-336
and 429-434; Virginia County Land Tax Records, Amherst County 1806-1833 and 1834-1850, microfilm available from Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia; and Information from owners.
4
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter to William M. Slagle of Virginia Fibre Corp. dated 17 April 1986
5
6
Ibid.
Baber, “Edgehill.”
7
Sherrie and William McLeRoy, More Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia (Heritage Books,
Lynchburg, VA: 1995), pp. 105-114; Gloria E. Scott, “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey dated August
1980, DHR No.05-174; the 1980 survey accurately described the Edge Hill mill but the survey history described the mill at
Walker’s Ford; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 260, 19 December 1871; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 530; Amherst
County Plat Book A p. 291; Amherst County Plat Book F p. 63; and Amherst County Deed Book 229 p. 250.
8
Several other structures are seen and these were once associated with the property and are now owned by the Virginia
Fibre such a tobacco barn and the ruins of a lockkeeper’s house.
9
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, survey files sent by email to author on Rosedale; Christian Family
Information from the files of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society and Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336
and 429-434.
10
Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336 and 429-434; Ann L. McAlister, “Walker Summary,” February 1982 from
files of current owners; Carl Taylor, Various notes; Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; and Susan Phillips,
“Edge Hill,” 31 July 1983, pp. B5-B6.
11
Wilmer L. Kerns, Waltons, pp.321-336 and 429-434; and Carl Taylor, Various notes.
12
Amherst County Will Book 10, pp. 207 (30 May 1837) and 211 (16 March 1840); and Elizabeth A. Langhorne,
Letter dated 17 April 1986.
13
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; Liz Langhorne, Letter to Carl Taylor dated 11 April 1994
from the files of current owners.
14
Sherrie and William McLeRoy, More Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia (Heritage Books,
Lynchburg, VA: 1995), pp. 105-114; Gloria E. Scott, “Walker’s Ford Mill,” Virginia Historic Landmarks Survey dated August
1980, DHR No.05-174; the 1980 survey accurately described the Edge Hill mill but the survey history described the mill at
Walker’s Ford; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 260, 19 December 1871; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 530; Amherst
County Plat Book A p. 291; Amherst County Plat Book F p. 63; and Amherst County Deed Book 229 p. 250.
Section _Endnotes for Sections 7 and 8___
Page _14___
=====================================================================================
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Edge Hill
Amherst County, VA
15
Elizabeth A. Langhorne, Letter dated 17 April 1986; Liz Langhorne, Letter to Carl Taylor dated 11 April 1994 from
the files of current owners; Joe McCarthy, 19 March 2007, telephone interview by author [Joe McCarthy is the son of Alma
Walker McCarthy (1906-2004) the last Walker born at Edge Hill]; Amherst County Will Book 24, p. 67 (1 February 1898);
Amherst County Will Book 29, p.130 (18 May 1939); Amherst County Deed Book 70, p. 407 (11 December 1913); Amherst
County Deed Book 74, p. 530 (3 April 1916); and Amherst County Deed Book 130, p. 429 (24 Sept 1946).
16
Amherst County deed Book 130, p. 429 (24 Sept 1946); Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; William
Gerhard Suhling, information online at www.lib.virginia.edu and www.healthsystem.virginia.edu and files of University of
Virginia; A Cuban resident, John G. Dewitt bought the house in 1959 and resold it in 1961. The Dulas, John and Mary, came to
own the land and John worked as a cattle farmer while his wife was an educator in Amherst County and later in Lynchburg.
John Dula developed an allergy to bees, he gave up the cattle and began a tree farm. The Dulas sold the farm in 1984; Amherst
County Deed Book 210, p.127 (2 November 1959); Edward Suhling, 4 April 2007, telephone interview; Susan Phillips, “Edge
Hill,” pp. B5-B6; Meg Hibbert, “Edgehill,” 17 July 1986; Amherst County Deed Book 211, p. 407 (17 April 1961); Amherst
County Deed Book 512, p. 287 (10 October 1984); and Information from owners.
17
Carl Taylor, Various notes; and Information from owners.
18
Amherst County Deed Book 989 p. 711 (29 October 2004).
Text
G,!('?'
NP!
Form 10.900
(7a1)
VLR
- 13 '14:R'
fl Rd7- Z/!~LL
123
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?,+-r,
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EXP. l2:31:34
United States bepartment of the Interior
National ;ark Service
-?--?.IS-
-p,m
-Tq+-e--l
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\
-
s or rips use nly
1.
7
National Register of Historic P
alces
-Inventory-Nomination Form
r
----L
--.
See instructions i n How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
1. Name
GEDDES
historic
ODES
andlor common
2. Location
-,I<
Clifford
city, town
NL
not
Afor publication
700
street & number
.\r
,'c.
Virginia
state
XX vicinity of
51
code
county
Amherst
009
code
-
3. Classification
Category
-district
X building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
Ownership
-public
private
-both
Public Acqrrisltion
-in process
-being considered
N/ A
Status
occupied
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
X
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-museum
park
private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
4. Owner of P r o n e r t ~
name
Mrs. Jane Claibome Calkins
street & number
city, town
N/A
,
E L vicinity of
Clifford
,tate
Virginia
24533
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
lq/A
Amherst
COUlIty
C0~rthouse
'
Ad'erst
city, town
state
Virginia
6. Representation in Existing Surveys (2) (see Continuation Sheet ill)
(1) Virginia Historic Ladmarks C d s s i o n
title
date
Survey
has this property been determined eligible?
citv, town
e
s
A no
-federal X state -county -local
Septgnber 1980
dewsitorv tor survey records
y
221 Governor Street
f i ~ h ~ ~ ~ d
state
Virginia
23219
Condition
excellent
good
X fair
-
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
NIA
Doscribe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
S r n Y DESCRIPTION
Geddes stands in a shallow valley amidst open f i e l d s and pastures t h a t provide the
house with panormic views of the Blue Ridge h t a i n s to the north. Long referred to
as the oldest house i n Amherst County by area residents, Geddes i s an important mrvivirig
9 l e of frame construction dating £ran the 18th century. Typical of rrany small
18th-century dwellings, the house was enlarged during the early 19th century, giving
the building its elongated appearance and creating the present center h a l l plan.
DETAILED ARCHITECI'URAL AFULYSIS
The l+story, single-pile, hipped roof fraroe house was built in several stages
between the third quarter of the 18th century and mid-19th century with only slight
d i f i c a t i o n s made to the b u i l d i q since that the. The e a r l i e s t portion of the house
consists of the two e a s t roans, with the h a l l and west roan added by the earlv 19th cenfxry.
Within a few years, the snall roan n w on the west end was joined t o the house. In the
mid-19th century the front and rear porches were constructed and a shed-roof frame ell
was added t o the northeast corner of the house.
The dwelling of post and beam construction sits on a randan rubble foundation,the
house sheathed in plain riven and sawn weatherboards dating £ran the early 19th century.
Orieinally covered w i t h a d - s k i r g l e roof, the present standing seam metal roof was
added in the 20th century. A box cornice outlines the perimeter of the roof l i n e . Interior brick chimneys r i s e above the hause. Tne east chimey i s L-shaped consisting of
a corbeled brick cap above a stone base. The snaller chimey on the w e s t erad is canposed
entirely of brick and abuts the m e y in the west addition creating rhe present T-shaped
appearance.
Tne n!ain entrance located on the south elevation consists of double recessed rectargular paneled doors crowned by a three-light transan. A single door is located directly
opposite on the north elevation. Cross-gable porches which appear t o have been added
contaporaneously in the mid-19th century shelter the front and rear entrances. The
south (front) porch i s three bays wide w i t h beaded boxed posts supporting a cross-gable
r h . The building's cornice wraps around the gable end t o create a pediment. A diizmnd
shaped window w i t h architrave t r i m embellishes the W t . The north (rear) porch is
four bays wide with a s n a l l m a t roan b u i l t into the west bay. Tapered d posts support
a cross-gable roanwith a six/six double-hqg window centered in the gable end.
Fenestration thraughout the main block consists of six/nine double-hmg sash flanked
by louvred shutters. Gabled darmers on both the xlorth and south slopes of the roof
light the a t t i c story.
Tne i n t e r i o r displays a center hall plan created by the addition of the h a l l and
west roans t o the original s t r u c t w e . A t the time the addition was made ca. 1800, the
interior was retrirrmed. All of the f i r s t - f l o o r rocms have their early 19th-catxry
plaster walls and pine floors, beaded baseboards, chair r a i l s , and quirk ovolo architrave
trim a t door and windaJ openings. Most of the doors have s i x recessed rectangular panels
with carpenter locks, however, three 18th-century raised panel doors a r e located in the
additions. The doors and s t a i r &bit
early feather gaining.
(See C o + i m a t i o n Sheet $/I)
8 . Siclnif icance
Period
Armas of Slgnificanc.--Check
and justify -low
-prehistoric -archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape architecturereligion
-1400-1499 -archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-1500-1599 -agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
-1600-1699
2architecture
-education
-military
-social1
iL 1700-1799 -art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
_X 1800-1899
-commerce
-IC exploration/settlement -philosophy
-theater
-190G
-communications
-Industry
-politicslgovernment -transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
S p ~ c l f i cdates
Late 18th
S1atmment of s~mifkancG-
- Md-lgth
BuiidmrIArchltect
&h
bse
parmarapk)
Geddes, a vernacular late-Colonial frame building, has survived virtually intact
since an early 19th-century enlargement. The oldest portion of the house was b u i l t
ca. 1762 f o r Hugh Rose, the third son of Acglican cland diarist Robert Rose,
to whan the house is traditionally attributed. A m i l i t i a colonel who represented Amherst
County both in the f i e l d and in the General A s s d l y during the Revolution, Hugh Rose
i s best remwbered as the friend of 'Emas Jefferson who looked a f t e r Jefferson's family
a t Geddes during the British raid on Charlottemille in 1781. The umsual form of the
house, created by the early 19th-century addition of the h a l l and two w e s t roans, was the
work of Rose descendants, who have continued t o own the Geddes property t o the present.
The house with i t s d i s t i n c t aura of antiquity, i s one of Amherst County's f e w buildings
dating £run the Colonial period.
HISTOWc4L E!AmxmllI
In 1744, the Reverend Robert Rose patented a large t r a c t of land in what was then
Albanarle County and i s m Amherst County, Virginia. Parson Rose was an active Anglican
clergyman wSlo had served the Tidewater parish of S t . Anne's i n Essex County before
mving his f d l y t o Albm-arle in 1748. One of h i s mst valuable legacies t o posterity
is a detailed diary kept f o r three years between 1746 and 1751 describing the l i f e and
times of the mid-cantwry Virginia colony. Aside from his p r i e s t l y h t i e s , Parson Rose
was indefatigable as an amateur physician, lawyer, landholder, and inventor. He settled
h i s family i n present day lJelson County a t the confluence of the Tye and Piney rivers
on a plantation he called Bear Garden. Amxlg his other other holdiqgs in the area was
the t r a c t l a t e r t o be IU-IC~J~as the Geddes plantation.
Parson Rose died in 1751 while on a v i s i t to ESdzmsd and i s buried in the churchyard of St. Jotm's Clmrch. His w i l l , recorded in W i l l Book One of Altxmarle C m t y ,
instructs h i s widow t o have " c m e n i e n t houses built" f o r each of h i s sons' estates i n
the area. HL@I Rose (1743-1795), his thrid son, was a l l o t t e d the Geddes t r a c t . k c h i tectural evidence suggests that the oldest portion of the Geddes house was probably
b u i l t in the 1760s, perhaps follawing Hugh Rose's marriage in 1761 t o Caroline Matilda
Jordan.
Hugh Rose was mvmg Amherst County's xmre praninent citizens. Ke served as a vestryman of i t s parish and as a colonel in i t s m i l i t i a during the Revolution. & t r i e s in his
account book as well as county tax records indicate that Hugh Rose amssed a considerable
f o r m . He also represented Anherst County in the Virginia Assembly of 1780-81. His
friends included Thanas Jefferson who wrote in January of 1781 t h a t he took his family
to Colonel Hugh Rose's hane in Amherst during Tarleton's r a i d of Charlottesville. Jefferson
(See Contirution Sheet 1/21
-9.
Major Bibliographical References (See
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet j13)
A l b a m r l e C c e r n t y , W i l l Book One, 1751.
Amherst h t v . Deed
I.
- - Books
-~
~
- , L. M. X.
Amherst h
t$
Land
;Tax Books, 1782-1863.
Amherst County, v
r
t
y Tax Books, 1809-1821.
-. ~.
-
10. Geoara~hical
Data
.
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name &-ton,
UMT Refarancea
A
Quadrangle scale 1: 24000
VA
JlI'
L617171612101L4111710161310)
Eastlng
Northing
Zone
C
E
acres
(lr7)
161717151610l ( 4 1 1 1 7 1 ~ ( 2 1 9 1 ~ 1
Earting
Northlng
Zone
16I717I41810J 1 4 1 1 ( 710121210]
D
161717141310j14r117101613
F
uu
H
IG1717141010J~ 4 1 1 ~ 7 1 0 ~ 2 1 2 1 0 j
W
W
U
uu
Verbal boundary description and juatlflcation Bcnmdary J u s t i f i c a t i o n : The ncminated acreage f o r
Geddes c o n s i s t s o f 13 acres including t h e p r i v a t e d r i v e lea*
t o the house and a narrow
s t r i p o f land on =ither s i d e o f t h i s d r i v e as w e l l a s t h e enclosed y a r d i m n e d i a t e l y
surrmdirg the house.
(See Continuation Sheet jI3)
LIat all states and cvunties for properties overl8pplns stat. or county boundaries
atate
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
11 Form Prepared By
nameitltte
Virginia H i s t o r i c Landnarks C d s s i o n S t a f f
Organlzatlon V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c
street & number
c~ ortown
221
Ladnarks
Cunnission
Governor S t r e e t
date
October 1982
telephone
Rickmmd
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
h e
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated slgnlficance of this property withln the state is:
-national
-- X
state
-local
-~~~
Act of 1966
~ -lPubllc
---. - Law
8%
As the deslgnated State Hlstorlc Preservatlon Officer for the National Historic Praaewation
Reglster and cmrlity that It hssbeen evaluated
Park Sewlca.
.
~
665), 1 hereby nomlnate thls property for Inclusion In the
according to the crlterla and orocedures set forth bv the
State Hlstoric Prerervation Officer signature
H. Bryan M i t c h e l l . E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
~~
NPS F-
O M B NO.
1 0 . ~ .
BIO
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
1024-0018
EXP . 10/3 1 I 8 4
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
O D E S , AWERST CCXNR, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 6, 7
6 . . REPRESENTATION IN MISTING SURVEYS
(2) HABS
1957
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
7.
DESCRIPTION
-- Architectural
Analysis
The entrance h a l l contains the steep single-f l i g h t , open-striqy s t a i r with winders
i n the northeast corner. A square newel and two square balusters per tread carry the
senicircular handrail.
Located a t of' the hall and raised approxhately s i x inches above the grade of the
r d n d e r of the f i r s t - f l o o r roans are the dining roan and a bedroan. These roans can> r i s e the original 18th-centvq two-roan structure. Floorboards which m e been ~ a t c h e d
along the south wall indicate original access t o the second floor. Tne fireplaces in
the two roans a r e decorated with tall, Federal mantels having recessed paneled pilasters
and blocks that support a molded shelf. Connecting the roans north of the fireplace i s
a built-in "press" cupboard in each of the roans. Both have nniLti-light q b o a r d doors
above vertical rectangular paneled doors. The mid-19th-centwry rear addition opening
off of the dining roan was converted into a kitchen during the 1880s.
Opposite the center h a l l i s the parlor finished similarly t o the east rincluding
an identical Federal m t e l . According t o family tradition the f a r w e s t roan was added
t o the structure before Hugh Rose's death f o r use as his study. Flanked by closets, the
mantel i n t h i s roan i s canposed of plain pilasters below a plain f r i e z e and mIded shelf.
Unlike the other f i r s t - f l o o r roans the study has no c e l l a r .
The a t t i c story has been finished f o r two bedrocms plus a roan in each of the
cross gables. The Federal mantel in the west bedroan is intact with its early marbleizing.
A t one time nunerous outbuildings surrounded the Geddes yard creating a farm c q l e x .
The mer recalls the locations of slave quarters, a double werseer's house, henhouses,
stable, tobacco barns, carriage house, and kitchen. Today a wood rail fence encloses
the shaded yard separating the house £ran the only survivirg outbuilding, a springhouse,
which stands southeast of the yard.
NP~.--
nn,
lo.rn.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
O M B NO. 1024-0018
EXP . 1313 1/54
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
GZDDES , AMHERST C O W , VA
Continuation sheet {/2
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
Item number 8
Historical Background
also noted that he l a t e r rejoined h i s famil a t Colonel Rose's before proceeding t o
Poplar Forest, Jefferson's hane i n Bedford.
'I
Hugh Rose died in 1795 leah i s widow Caroline and eleven children. His y w 3 e s t
child, Gustavus, was named i n his w i l l a s heir t o "Geddes, the house I now l i v e in."2
Gustavus born in 1789, would have only been s i x a t the t h e and it can be ass&
that
Rose's widow, Caroline, continued t o reside i n the Geddes house u n t i l her death i n 1809.
Gustam went on t o become a doctor and resident of Lynchburg. Tne Amherst records a r e
inconclusive as t o the exact disposition of Hugh Rose's estate; h e v e r it seems that
Charles Rose, younger brother of h g h , ultimately became ayrw of the Geddes house t r a c t .
-sta
County records indicate that the children of Hugh Rose f i l e d a s u i t t o overturn
their m t h e r ' s w i l l . Since there i s no dl1 entered i n the o f f i c i a l records for Caroline
In any case, a deed
Matilda Rose, it can be a s s m d that their s u i t was s u ~ c e s s f u l . ~
fran Charles R. Rose i n 1812 t o W i l l i a m Sterling and Charles Buller Claibome i s probably
for the lam1 on which Geddes stands. It describes the a a c t a s being in-Amherst County
on the Piney River. The daughter of Charles Rose, Jane, m i e d Sterling Claiborne in
1808 and their two sons, W i l l i a m Sterling anc Charles Buller, were the recipients of the
It is possible that Charles Rose was responsible f o r the substantial
Geddes property.
19th-century i q r o v m t s t o Geddes that architectural evidence suggests date t o the
antebellum period. Sterling Claiborne acquired by deed fran varions trustees of Kugh
Rose's e s t a t e several other parcels of land that were part of the Geddes t r a c t .
The Amherst County Land Tax Books f a i l t o record what building improvanents stood
on the Geddes t r a c t prior t o the C i v i l W a r ; although thejj indicate that the property
remined throughout the period in Sterling Claibome's family. The only specific reference
to the house prior t o the W a r is contained in a deed to secure a debt from Charles Buller
t o his father, Sterling, in 1840. The deed describes the 1200 acre t r a c t a s "The Geddes
It i s also not clear who actually lived i n
Tract whereon the old Geddes house stands."
the Geddes house during the period £ran 1820 t o 1860 since the U.S. census reshow
for those decades that Sterling Claiborne continued t o reside in Nelson County. However,
it is reasonable t o assme that either his sons o c c ~ i e dthe house or it was used as a
second haw f o r mwbers of the Claiborne f m i l y . Unfortunately, Sterling Claiborne's
w i l l recorded in Nelson County in 1856 gives no clue as t o the tenureship of Geddes.
Since 1856 Geddes has continued t o renain the property of Claiborne's descendants,
and stands today a s one of the few tangible reminders of a notable Virginia family who
participated in the movanent of population fran Tidewater t o the western areas of the
colony in the years just prior t o the American Revaluation.
l ~ u l i a nP. Boyd, ed. , The Papers of Thcnas Jefferson, Vol. 4.
University of Virginia, 1951) , p. 261.
2~mherstGnmty W i l l Book 3, 1795, p . 328.
(See Continuation Sheet $/3)
(Charlottesville:
I
0 M B NO. 1024-0018
United Stateb Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP . 13131/84
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
GEDDES, AMHERST COUNTY, VA
Continuation sheet 113
Item number
8, 9,
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical ~ackground (Footnotes continued)
3 ~ m Chalkley, ed., Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish i
n Virginia, Vol. 11. (Zaltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 19651, p. 40.
4Amherst County Deed Book X, 1840, p . 301.
Amherst County, Will Book 3, 1795.
Boyd, Julian P., ed. The Papers of 'Ihanas Jefferson. Vol. 4,p. 261. Charlottesville:
University of Virginia, 1951.
Chalkley , Lyr;~m,ed. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in Virginia. Vol. 11. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co . , Inc. , 1965.
"Claiborne Genealogies ,"Genealogies of Virginia Families. Vol . 11. Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Ccmpany, Inc. 1381.
Davis, Bailey Fulton. Amherst C a m t y , Virginia Marriage Bonds and Returns, 1801-1857.
Amherst Courthouse, 1965.
Nelson County, Personal Property Tax Books, 1805-1821.
Nelson County, Will Book K, 1856.
Rose, Christine, canp. Reverend Robert Rose Fmily of Scotland and Virginia. S w Jose,
California: Privately Printed by Rose Family Bulletin, 1972.
Rose, Robert. The Diary of Robert Rose, 1746-1751. Edited and Annotated by Ralph Ehnett
Fall, Verona, Virginia: McClure Press, 1977.
10. -1CAL
DATA
--
Verbal Fkmdary Description
Beginnkg at a point on IJ side of VA 700 approximately 1600' N of the intersection of VA
Routes 600 and 662; thence extending appraximately 250' W; thence extending aprohtelv
1350' N; thence extending approximately 600' E; thence extending ap?roximately 1150' S to
a point on the W side of VA 700; thence extending apprcocimately 400' SW along said side of
VA 700 to point of origin.
NP!
Form 10.900
(7a1)
VLR
- 13 '14:R'
fl Rd7- Z/!~LL
123
,-,;;<-,'ra;jl3
'!?
?,+-r,
-.d-
EXP. l2:31:34
United States bepartment of the Interior
National ;ark Service
-?--?.IS-
-p,m
-Tq+-e--l
d?
\
-
s or rips use nly
1.
7
National Register of Historic P
alces
-Inventory-Nomination Form
r
----L
--.
See instructions i n How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
1. Name
GEDDES
historic
ODES
andlor common
2. Location
-,I<
Clifford
city, town
NL
not
Afor publication
700
street & number
.\r
,'c.
Virginia
state
XX vicinity of
51
code
county
Amherst
009
code
-
3. Classification
Category
-district
X building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
Ownership
-public
private
-both
Public Acqrrisltion
-in process
-being considered
N/ A
Status
occupied
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
X
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-museum
park
private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
4. Owner of P r o n e r t ~
name
Mrs. Jane Claibome Calkins
street & number
city, town
N/A
,
E L vicinity of
Clifford
,tate
Virginia
24533
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
lq/A
Amherst
COUlIty
C0~rthouse
'
Ad'erst
city, town
state
Virginia
6. Representation in Existing Surveys (2) (see Continuation Sheet ill)
(1) Virginia Historic Ladmarks C d s s i o n
title
date
Survey
has this property been determined eligible?
citv, town
e
s
A no
-federal X state -county -local
Septgnber 1980
dewsitorv tor survey records
y
221 Governor Street
f i ~ h ~ ~ ~ d
state
Virginia
23219
Condition
excellent
good
X fair
-
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
NIA
Doscribe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
S r n Y DESCRIPTION
Geddes stands in a shallow valley amidst open f i e l d s and pastures t h a t provide the
house with panormic views of the Blue Ridge h t a i n s to the north. Long referred to
as the oldest house i n Amherst County by area residents, Geddes i s an important mrvivirig
9 l e of frame construction dating £ran the 18th century. Typical of rrany small
18th-century dwellings, the house was enlarged during the early 19th century, giving
the building its elongated appearance and creating the present center h a l l plan.
DETAILED ARCHITECI'URAL AFULYSIS
The l+story, single-pile, hipped roof fraroe house was built in several stages
between the third quarter of the 18th century and mid-19th century with only slight
d i f i c a t i o n s made to the b u i l d i q since that the. The e a r l i e s t portion of the house
consists of the two e a s t roans, with the h a l l and west roan added by the earlv 19th cenfxry.
Within a few years, the snall roan n w on the west end was joined t o the house. In the
mid-19th century the front and rear porches were constructed and a shed-roof frame ell
was added t o the northeast corner of the house.
The dwelling of post and beam construction sits on a randan rubble foundation,the
house sheathed in plain riven and sawn weatherboards dating £ran the early 19th century.
Orieinally covered w i t h a d - s k i r g l e roof, the present standing seam metal roof was
added in the 20th century. A box cornice outlines the perimeter of the roof l i n e . Interior brick chimneys r i s e above the hause. Tne east chimey i s L-shaped consisting of
a corbeled brick cap above a stone base. The snaller chimey on the w e s t erad is canposed
entirely of brick and abuts the m e y in the west addition creating rhe present T-shaped
appearance.
Tne n!ain entrance located on the south elevation consists of double recessed rectargular paneled doors crowned by a three-light transan. A single door is located directly
opposite on the north elevation. Cross-gable porches which appear t o have been added
contaporaneously in the mid-19th century shelter the front and rear entrances. The
south (front) porch i s three bays wide w i t h beaded boxed posts supporting a cross-gable
r h . The building's cornice wraps around the gable end t o create a pediment. A diizmnd
shaped window w i t h architrave t r i m embellishes the W t . The north (rear) porch is
four bays wide with a s n a l l m a t roan b u i l t into the west bay. Tapered d posts support
a cross-gable roanwith a six/six double-hqg window centered in the gable end.
Fenestration thraughout the main block consists of six/nine double-hmg sash flanked
by louvred shutters. Gabled darmers on both the xlorth and south slopes of the roof
light the a t t i c story.
Tne i n t e r i o r displays a center hall plan created by the addition of the h a l l and
west roans t o the original s t r u c t w e . A t the time the addition was made ca. 1800, the
interior was retrirrmed. All of the f i r s t - f l o o r rocms have their early 19th-catxry
plaster walls and pine floors, beaded baseboards, chair r a i l s , and quirk ovolo architrave
trim a t door and windaJ openings. Most of the doors have s i x recessed rectangular panels
with carpenter locks, however, three 18th-century raised panel doors a r e located in the
additions. The doors and s t a i r &bit
early feather gaining.
(See C o + i m a t i o n Sheet $/I)
8 . Siclnif icance
Period
Armas of Slgnificanc.--Check
and justify -low
-prehistoric -archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape architecturereligion
-1400-1499 -archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-1500-1599 -agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
-1600-1699
2architecture
-education
-military
-social1
iL 1700-1799 -art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
_X 1800-1899
-commerce
-IC exploration/settlement -philosophy
-theater
-190G
-communications
-Industry
-politicslgovernment -transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
S p ~ c l f i cdates
Late 18th
S1atmment of s~mifkancG-
- Md-lgth
BuiidmrIArchltect
&h
bse
parmarapk)
Geddes, a vernacular late-Colonial frame building, has survived virtually intact
since an early 19th-century enlargement. The oldest portion of the house was b u i l t
ca. 1762 f o r Hugh Rose, the third son of Acglican cland diarist Robert Rose,
to whan the house is traditionally attributed. A m i l i t i a colonel who represented Amherst
County both in the f i e l d and in the General A s s d l y during the Revolution, Hugh Rose
i s best remwbered as the friend of 'Emas Jefferson who looked a f t e r Jefferson's family
a t Geddes during the British raid on Charlottemille in 1781. The umsual form of the
house, created by the early 19th-century addition of the h a l l and two w e s t roans, was the
work of Rose descendants, who have continued t o own the Geddes property t o the present.
The house with i t s d i s t i n c t aura of antiquity, i s one of Amherst County's f e w buildings
dating £run the Colonial period.
HISTOWc4L E!AmxmllI
In 1744, the Reverend Robert Rose patented a large t r a c t of land in what was then
Albanarle County and i s m Amherst County, Virginia. Parson Rose was an active Anglican
clergyman wSlo had served the Tidewater parish of S t . Anne's i n Essex County before
mving his f d l y t o Albm-arle in 1748. One of h i s mst valuable legacies t o posterity
is a detailed diary kept f o r three years between 1746 and 1751 describing the l i f e and
times of the mid-cantwry Virginia colony. Aside from his p r i e s t l y h t i e s , Parson Rose
was indefatigable as an amateur physician, lawyer, landholder, and inventor. He settled
h i s family i n present day lJelson County a t the confluence of the Tye and Piney rivers
on a plantation he called Bear Garden. Amxlg his other other holdiqgs in the area was
the t r a c t l a t e r t o be IU-IC~J~as the Geddes plantation.
Parson Rose died in 1751 while on a v i s i t to ESdzmsd and i s buried in the churchyard of St. Jotm's Clmrch. His w i l l , recorded in W i l l Book One of Altxmarle C m t y ,
instructs h i s widow t o have " c m e n i e n t houses built" f o r each of h i s sons' estates i n
the area. HL@I Rose (1743-1795), his thrid son, was a l l o t t e d the Geddes t r a c t . k c h i tectural evidence suggests that the oldest portion of the Geddes house was probably
b u i l t in the 1760s, perhaps follawing Hugh Rose's marriage in 1761 t o Caroline Matilda
Jordan.
Hugh Rose was mvmg Amherst County's xmre praninent citizens. Ke served as a vestryman of i t s parish and as a colonel in i t s m i l i t i a during the Revolution. & t r i e s in his
account book as well as county tax records indicate that Hugh Rose amssed a considerable
f o r m . He also represented Anherst County in the Virginia Assembly of 1780-81. His
friends included Thanas Jefferson who wrote in January of 1781 t h a t he took his family
to Colonel Hugh Rose's hane in Amherst during Tarleton's r a i d of Charlottesville. Jefferson
(See Contirution Sheet 1/21
-9.
Major Bibliographical References (See
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet j13)
A l b a m r l e C c e r n t y , W i l l Book One, 1751.
Amherst h t v . Deed
I.
- - Books
-~
~
- , L. M. X.
Amherst h
t$
Land
;Tax Books, 1782-1863.
Amherst County, v
r
t
y Tax Books, 1809-1821.
-. ~.
-
10. Geoara~hical
Data
.
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name &-ton,
UMT Refarancea
A
Quadrangle scale 1: 24000
VA
JlI'
L617171612101L4111710161310)
Eastlng
Northing
Zone
C
E
acres
(lr7)
161717151610l ( 4 1 1 1 7 1 ~ ( 2 1 9 1 ~ 1
Earting
Northlng
Zone
16I717I41810J 1 4 1 1 ( 710121210]
D
161717141310j14r117101613
F
uu
H
IG1717141010J~ 4 1 1 ~ 7 1 0 ~ 2 1 2 1 0 j
W
W
U
uu
Verbal boundary description and juatlflcation Bcnmdary J u s t i f i c a t i o n : The ncminated acreage f o r
Geddes c o n s i s t s o f 13 acres including t h e p r i v a t e d r i v e lea*
t o the house and a narrow
s t r i p o f land on =ither s i d e o f t h i s d r i v e as w e l l a s t h e enclosed y a r d i m n e d i a t e l y
surrmdirg the house.
(See Continuation Sheet jI3)
LIat all states and cvunties for properties overl8pplns stat. or county boundaries
atate
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
11 Form Prepared By
nameitltte
Virginia H i s t o r i c Landnarks C d s s i o n S t a f f
Organlzatlon V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c
street & number
c~ ortown
221
Ladnarks
Cunnission
Governor S t r e e t
date
October 1982
telephone
Rickmmd
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
h e
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated slgnlficance of this property withln the state is:
-national
-- X
state
-local
-~~~
Act of 1966
~ -lPubllc
---. - Law
8%
As the deslgnated State Hlstorlc Preservatlon Officer for the National Historic Praaewation
Reglster and cmrlity that It hssbeen evaluated
Park Sewlca.
.
~
665), 1 hereby nomlnate thls property for Inclusion In the
according to the crlterla and orocedures set forth bv the
State Hlstoric Prerervation Officer signature
H. Bryan M i t c h e l l . E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
~~
NPS F-
O M B NO.
1 0 . ~ .
BIO
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
1024-0018
EXP . 10/3 1 I 8 4
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
O D E S , AWERST CCXNR, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 6, 7
6 . . REPRESENTATION IN MISTING SURVEYS
(2) HABS
1957
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
7.
DESCRIPTION
-- Architectural
Analysis
The entrance h a l l contains the steep single-f l i g h t , open-striqy s t a i r with winders
i n the northeast corner. A square newel and two square balusters per tread carry the
senicircular handrail.
Located a t of' the hall and raised approxhately s i x inches above the grade of the
r d n d e r of the f i r s t - f l o o r roans are the dining roan and a bedroan. These roans can> r i s e the original 18th-centvq two-roan structure. Floorboards which m e been ~ a t c h e d
along the south wall indicate original access t o the second floor. Tne fireplaces in
the two roans a r e decorated with tall, Federal mantels having recessed paneled pilasters
and blocks that support a molded shelf. Connecting the roans north of the fireplace i s
a built-in "press" cupboard in each of the roans. Both have nniLti-light q b o a r d doors
above vertical rectangular paneled doors. The mid-19th-centwry rear addition opening
off of the dining roan was converted into a kitchen during the 1880s.
Opposite the center h a l l i s the parlor finished similarly t o the east rincluding
an identical Federal m t e l . According t o family tradition the f a r w e s t roan was added
t o the structure before Hugh Rose's death f o r use as his study. Flanked by closets, the
mantel i n t h i s roan i s canposed of plain pilasters below a plain f r i e z e and mIded shelf.
Unlike the other f i r s t - f l o o r roans the study has no c e l l a r .
The a t t i c story has been finished f o r two bedrocms plus a roan in each of the
cross gables. The Federal mantel in the west bedroan is intact with its early marbleizing.
A t one time nunerous outbuildings surrounded the Geddes yard creating a farm c q l e x .
The mer recalls the locations of slave quarters, a double werseer's house, henhouses,
stable, tobacco barns, carriage house, and kitchen. Today a wood rail fence encloses
the shaded yard separating the house £ran the only survivirg outbuilding, a springhouse,
which stands southeast of the yard.
NP~.--
nn,
lo.rn.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
O M B NO. 1024-0018
EXP . 1313 1/54
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
GZDDES , AMHERST C O W , VA
Continuation sheet {/2
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
Item number 8
Historical Background
also noted that he l a t e r rejoined h i s famil a t Colonel Rose's before proceeding t o
Poplar Forest, Jefferson's hane i n Bedford.
'I
Hugh Rose died in 1795 leah i s widow Caroline and eleven children. His y w 3 e s t
child, Gustavus, was named i n his w i l l a s heir t o "Geddes, the house I now l i v e in."2
Gustavus born in 1789, would have only been s i x a t the t h e and it can be ass&
that
Rose's widow, Caroline, continued t o reside i n the Geddes house u n t i l her death i n 1809.
Gustam went on t o become a doctor and resident of Lynchburg. Tne Amherst records a r e
inconclusive as t o the exact disposition of Hugh Rose's estate; h e v e r it seems that
Charles Rose, younger brother of h g h , ultimately became ayrw of the Geddes house t r a c t .
-sta
County records indicate that the children of Hugh Rose f i l e d a s u i t t o overturn
their m t h e r ' s w i l l . Since there i s no dl1 entered i n the o f f i c i a l records for Caroline
In any case, a deed
Matilda Rose, it can be a s s m d that their s u i t was s u ~ c e s s f u l . ~
fran Charles R. Rose i n 1812 t o W i l l i a m Sterling and Charles Buller Claibome i s probably
for the lam1 on which Geddes stands. It describes the a a c t a s being in-Amherst County
on the Piney River. The daughter of Charles Rose, Jane, m i e d Sterling Claiborne in
1808 and their two sons, W i l l i a m Sterling anc Charles Buller, were the recipients of the
It is possible that Charles Rose was responsible f o r the substantial
Geddes property.
19th-century i q r o v m t s t o Geddes that architectural evidence suggests date t o the
antebellum period. Sterling Claiborne acquired by deed fran varions trustees of Kugh
Rose's e s t a t e several other parcels of land that were part of the Geddes t r a c t .
The Amherst County Land Tax Books f a i l t o record what building improvanents stood
on the Geddes t r a c t prior t o the C i v i l W a r ; although thejj indicate that the property
remined throughout the period in Sterling Claibome's family. The only specific reference
to the house prior t o the W a r is contained in a deed to secure a debt from Charles Buller
t o his father, Sterling, in 1840. The deed describes the 1200 acre t r a c t a s "The Geddes
It i s also not clear who actually lived i n
Tract whereon the old Geddes house stands."
the Geddes house during the period £ran 1820 t o 1860 since the U.S. census reshow
for those decades that Sterling Claiborne continued t o reside in Nelson County. However,
it is reasonable t o assme that either his sons o c c ~ i e dthe house or it was used as a
second haw f o r mwbers of the Claiborne f m i l y . Unfortunately, Sterling Claiborne's
w i l l recorded in Nelson County in 1856 gives no clue as t o the tenureship of Geddes.
Since 1856 Geddes has continued t o renain the property of Claiborne's descendants,
and stands today a s one of the few tangible reminders of a notable Virginia family who
participated in the movanent of population fran Tidewater t o the western areas of the
colony in the years just prior t o the American Revaluation.
l ~ u l i a nP. Boyd, ed. , The Papers of Thcnas Jefferson, Vol. 4.
University of Virginia, 1951) , p. 261.
2~mherstGnmty W i l l Book 3, 1795, p . 328.
(See Continuation Sheet $/3)
(Charlottesville:
I
0 M B NO. 1024-0018
United Stateb Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP . 13131/84
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
GEDDES, AMHERST COUNTY, VA
Continuation sheet 113
Item number
8, 9,
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical ~ackground (Footnotes continued)
3 ~ m Chalkley, ed., Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish i
n Virginia, Vol. 11. (Zaltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 19651, p. 40.
4Amherst County Deed Book X, 1840, p . 301.
Amherst County, Will Book 3, 1795.
Boyd, Julian P., ed. The Papers of 'Ihanas Jefferson. Vol. 4,p. 261. Charlottesville:
University of Virginia, 1951.
Chalkley , Lyr;~m,ed. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in Virginia. Vol. 11. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co . , Inc. , 1965.
"Claiborne Genealogies ,"Genealogies of Virginia Families. Vol . 11. Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Ccmpany, Inc. 1381.
Davis, Bailey Fulton. Amherst C a m t y , Virginia Marriage Bonds and Returns, 1801-1857.
Amherst Courthouse, 1965.
Nelson County, Personal Property Tax Books, 1805-1821.
Nelson County, Will Book K, 1856.
Rose, Christine, canp. Reverend Robert Rose Fmily of Scotland and Virginia. S w Jose,
California: Privately Printed by Rose Family Bulletin, 1972.
Rose, Robert. The Diary of Robert Rose, 1746-1751. Edited and Annotated by Ralph Ehnett
Fall, Verona, Virginia: McClure Press, 1977.
10. -1CAL
DATA
--
Verbal Fkmdary Description
Beginnkg at a point on IJ side of VA 700 approximately 1600' N of the intersection of VA
Routes 600 and 662; thence extending appraximately 250' W; thence extending aprohtelv
1350' N; thence extending approximately 600' E; thence extending ap?roximately 1150' S to
a point on the W side of VA 700; thence extending apprcocimately 400' SW along said side of
VA 700 to point of origin.
Text
>rm No. 10-300
REV. (9/77)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl'vlENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
\TA TIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
NAME
HISTORIC
Red Hill Farm
AND/OR COMMON
LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
Route 647
_NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY. TOWN
Pedlar Mills
_VICINITYOF
Sixth (M. Caldwell Butl~r~)_ _ _ _ _ __
CODE
STATE
Virginia
COUNTY
51
CODE
Amherst
009
CLASSIFI CATI ON
CATEGORY
_DISTRICT
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
-'-PUBLIC
PRESENT USE
-OCCUPIED
-AGRICULTURE
_MUSEUM
_COMMERCIAL
_PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
.XPRIVATE RESIDENCE
X..BUILDING(S}
XPRIVATE
X UNOCCUPIED .
_STRUCTURE
_BOTH
-WORK IN PROGRESS
PUBLIC ACQU.ISITION
_SITE
_OBJECT
_IN PROCESS
_BEING CONSIDERED
ACCESSIBLE
-ENTERTAINMENT
-RELIGIOUS
X...YES: RESTRICTED
_GOVERNMENT
_SCIENTIFIC
-YES: UNRESTRICTED
_INDUSTRIAL
_TRANSPORTATION
....'....NO
_Ml,LITARY
_OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Mr. Edward Lewis, ·Mr. Edward A. Lewis
Red Hill Farm/Lewismont, Route 2
···-- ----· - - - · - - - - - - - - - · - . - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _S_T_A-TE-----z-i-p-c-o-d"-e--
CITY.TOWN
Virg inia
Monroe
24574
LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Ambers t county Courthouse
STREET & NUMBER
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Virginia
Amherst
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2) (See Continuation Sheet. /fl)
TiTLE
(1) Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
DATE
Has this property been determined eligible? X y
1957
~FEDERAL _STATE _COUNTY _LOCAL - -
-~~~~~----~~~~--------~~~~~~~~~~-
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
CITY. TOWN
Library of Congress
··----···----- --------·-
Washington
______________
N
_____________
.:....._
DESCRIPTION
CHECK ONE
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
-EXCELLENT
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
~ORIGINAL SITE
.MiOOD
_RUINS
LLTERED
-MOVED
-FAIR
_UNEXPOSED
----------------~----··~·--~·
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGll':.JAL Ip: ·vr,,n\A1!\D P~YSJ.CA,1
DAT-----
APPEARANCE
Red Hill, an imposing Federal residence, is rleasantLy s1.te'd on a fi1.ll off Route 647 near
the village of Pedlar Mills in Amherst County. The· brick 5~' x 42' > 2~-s tory. house was built
a.1824-25. The present front (east) portico was added in 1932 and replaces a stylistically
similar example. The building is executed in brick laid in a very even Flemish bond and
is set on a brick foundation. A portion of the east wall sheltered by the portico shows
evidence of penciled joints . . The hip roof is covered with slate shingles. In addition to
the removal of the original main· portico, the rear (west) portico was removed at an
unknown date in the 19th century . . A one-story Doric columned porch, the length of the
elevation, replaced it. This. porch was removed by the present owner in the 1970s. Its
replacement is presently in _the des~gn stage. The north and south walls each have two
interior end chimneys.
The main (east) doorway has paneled double doors contained within a simply executed
architrave. The door ·is a 20th~century replacement of a- similar door. The architrave is
flanked by sideligh.t$ and is ,topped by a blind transom. The transom is reeded and is ·
capped by._a lintel ,with.,turr:ied. corner blocks. The ,west doorway is· similarly treated ·and .
retains its original paneled, double doors.· The north elevation has a twelve-pane'glass and
wood panel door installed during the. present restoration. The simply executed archi:travs .is _topped by a lintel with turned corner blocks. The east and west elevations contain
second-story doorways similar to those below. The doors have twelve-pane glass tops.
Lintels with turned corner blocks rest on the simply executed architraves.
Fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows within simply executed architraves also
topped by lintels with turned corner blocks. Basement windows of six-pane sash ~re
similarly treated. A few basement windows retain their wooden diagonal bars. Most firstand seco'!ld-sto_!y windows .r~tain their louvred shutters held by iron hinges and hooks.
The eaves course is'embellished by a Doric cornice with mutules and <lentils, portions of
which have rotted o~t on the north ?levat;ion.
Red Hill contains a daub.le-pile, central-hall plan. The hall is graced by; an openwell stair, the design of which is inspired by Plates 31 and 35 of Owen Biddle's Young
carpenter's Assistant. Plate 35 includes instructions for the veneering of handrails.
Along with its veneered handrail, the stair has paneled spandrels, a scrolled newel, scrollsawn brackets, and square balusters. A number of iron balusters are used randomly for addi-.
tional structural support. A secondary stair to the attic is found on the second floor in
the southwest chamber and has a paneled spandrel, square newel, rounded handrail, and two
square b~lusters to a tread. The house retains its original pine flooring. The walls and
ceilings are plastered.
First- and second-floor doorways and windows are framed by syrrunetrical molded architraves with turned corner blocks. Secondary openings have simpler three-part archit;:taves
Most of the original six-paneled doors survive throughout the house. Original cupboards and
wardrobes on ~oth_fl6ors feature finely __ paneled double doors. Evidence of the original
painted graining has been found on a door frame. Most of the first-floor woodwork is
presently covered with a dark stain. It is believed that the stain was applied over the
original painted graining during the latter part of the 19th century. The house contains
notable mantels that appear to have been part of the original interior trim. The mantel
in the northeast parlor, consisting of paired columns supporting a Doric entablature, may
have been influenced by a more elaborate example in Biddle's Young Carpenter's Assistant,
Plate 22. A former first-floor mantel presently stored in the basement demonstrates an
(See Continuation Sheet 1fl)
SIGNIFICANCE
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
PERIOD
_PREHISTOHIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
_1400-1499
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
_ 1500-1599
-AGRICULTUR~
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
_1600-1699
XARCHITECTU RE
-EDUCATION
_MILITARY
-SOCIA UHUMANITARIAN
_1700-1799
-ART
-ENGINEERl~G
_MUSIC
_THEATER
X..1 aoo-1 s99
XcoMMERCE
_EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
_1900·
_COMMUNICATIONS
_INDUSTRY
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_QTHER (SPECIFY)
-RELIGION
_JNVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1824-5
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
Unknown
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Red Hill, originall Y the Ell is family homestead, is the finest
Federal-style house in Amherst County, A formal cou_ntry residence, the house was built from
the profits of the family's mercantile interests both in the county and in Richmond. Ihe
quality and sophistication of the dwelling reflect the pervasive custom of early me·rchants
to make significant investment in the construction and embellishment of .their residences.
The house shows the influence of Owen Biddle's. :The Ydurlgi'.Carpenter 's Ass is tant of 1810, an
architectural pattern book known to have been;·sold in· Richtnbhd and widely employed by master
builders throughout the state .. · The Adaw.esque detailing; finely executed stair·, and spacious
plan suggest that the family was ·familiar with the 'fine residences being erected in Richmond
and adapt~d their refined lines for.their county residence~.
Red Hill stands on land that had been in the Ellis family since the mid-18th century~
Charles Ellis was the first of the family to live in Amherst County. He moved there from the
eastern part of the state around 1754. He died in 1759 leaving his widow, Susannah,and
several children including a son, Josiah. Susannah Ellis then married John Beckley, and a
:ourt decision in 1769 assigned him the dower rights of his new bride. Charles's son Josiah,
Jorn in 1746 in Henrico County, became .heir to most of his father·•s property in Amherst, with
~he exception of 143 acres.which was his mother's dower. Josiah remained in Amherst and was
1ery active in the affairs of St. Luke's Church. He served as a delegate to the Diocesan
~ouncil from Pedlar Mills. In addition to his successful farming activities, he established
1 merchant mill -at, Pedlar Mills.
He died intestate in 1810 leaving· a substantial estate,
Lncluding the acreage on which the present house stands.
Josiah's son, Charles, had gone to Richmond in the late 18th century arid., formed a part1ership with John Allan (Allen), a leading merchant and foster parent of Edgar Allan Poe.
Che men served as brokers in the flour, tobacco ahd lµmber markets and conducted other
·ental and retail operations.. It was the success of Charles that enabled Richard S. Ell is
:o build a new house in Amherst County.
Richard Shelton Ellis, the third son of Josiah (bp 1775), remained in Amherst and
.nherited the Red H~ll property. Richard operated the farming and mercantile operations of
he Ellis family in Amherst and built the present Red Hill dwelling around 1824 to serve as
.is residence and as a summer home for his brother Charles~ Sited on a hill, the house would
ave proven attractive for a summer's visit with its view of the countryside and the neighborng village of Pedlar Mills,
(~ee continuaticin sheet #1)
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
erst County 1,a.nd-Tax.Boo.ks.,.· 1782..,,.1833.
\mherst County Personal. Property Tax Books, 1806-1842,
~herst County Will Books 5 (1811) and 12 (1847-50).
Biddle, Owen. The Young Carpenter's Assistant. 1810.
Ellis, Thomas H. A.. Memorandum of the Ellis Family. Richmond, Va .. , 1849"
:ichnioJJd~· ya.t,. ':irg;i.:n{q. Hiqtofric L<:imdmarks: commiss_ion Archives 1 Amhers.t Coll.- nty File ·E.ed Hill
arm ,OJ- 4J, ,1.ncluct1.ng in ormat1.on supp 1 1.ed _by the present owner, Mr. E_ctward Lewis).
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
138 acres
Big Island, Va.
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
QUADRANGLENAME.
QUADRANGLE SCALE
UTM REFERENCES
1: 24000
I61 s, 3f 51 s, ol h J. hs, zl 9, 3, ~
. NORTHING
Dlh.z.J I 6 I s, 3 lo, 1, oJ I 4, 11 s, 71 41 61 of
F LhzJ I6 I5 I 2 b t 6 I OI 14, 1 l s I s I s 1 6 t ol
Hw
II I II I Il I l ,II I j
I615_13111 81 ol I4, 11 s, sl s, 1, oJ
EASTING
.
NORTHING
c l.uiJ Itd s , 1 I 6 1a1aI J 4, 1 I s , zlz, 2, QI
E l!..i.zJ r6 I5 t 2 I 6 I 6 I OI I4 I 1 f 5 j 8' 1, 2 t O'
GLL.j l I ' l I I l I I I ' I I 'I I J
ALu.zj
slh_zj
ZONE
.ZONE . EASTING
~~~~-,--~~:-:-:::-~:-:-::--=-::~-:-.:::-:-::---c
VERBALBOUNDARY,f;)ESCijlPTI.ON. , a point on" N side of State Route. 647
about 500' W of
..·Beg:i,.r1ning at,
·
'
.
intersection with Route_ oJ); :thence extending about 2300' SW along said side.to NE corner of
intersection of 647 and farm road; thence extending about 360.0' }..T1;,J along E side of said road;
thence extending about 800' N, jnto wooded area to SW side of Feeder creek to Pedlar (See
LIST All STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES Continuation
· · Sheet 112)
STATE
CODE'
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE·
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE··
ORGANIZATION
March 1980
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Virginia 23219
Richmond
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION.
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE: IS:
LOCAL _ _
STATE~
NATIONAL_
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the Natiom;d Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for inclusion. in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated ac.cording to the
t f~.. by ti;)
criteria and procedur
STATE HISTOAI
TITLE
~~
ESERVATION
·
al Park Service.
FFICER SIGNATURE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
:
DATE
MAR l 8 1980
:;:
,,
.::
,,'
'•;'
·:
,::
.:·
:·...:,·
.,·
:::..
,:
GPO 921·803
:-HR-8-300A
)1/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY ... NOMINATION FORM
Re¢1 Hill Farm, Amherst County, Virginia
ITEM NUMBER l 8
PAGE 1. 1
1
Adamesque character. It consists of fluted pilasters supporting a classical entablature
with applied <lentils and elliptical sunbursts. Second-floor mantels are simpler in
execution~ The southeast parlor retains its original chair rail di:stinguJ.shed by carv-ed
chevron decoration. Remaining chair raU.s are less elaborate in execution.
The southwest
parlor is presently being converted into a kitchen. Most of the original hardware has
been removed.
CONTINUATION SHEET
Ped Hill preserves a number of its original outbuildings. Located to the rear (~est)
of the house is the kitchen, a two-story building executed in three--course-.lunerican-bond
brick and covered by a hip roof. Acquired by the present owners in a state of extensive
deterioration, the structure
underwent a _maj.or restoration that involved the total
rebuilding of the east wall and south exterior end chimney. Openings are distinguished by
lintel heads with turned corner blocks, like those found on the main house.
Round Top, the traditional late 18th·-century overseer's residence, is located
approximately a half mile to the north of the main house. It is a l~-story, wood·-frame
structure covered by a gable roof. The building is flanked by two exterior end ch·imneys
executed in stone and Flemish-bond brick. Fenestration consists ~f 6/6 hung-sash windows
within a simple three-part architrave. The building sits on a stone foundation. Several
barns and tenants' houses are found on the farm. They were constructed after 1930 and are
scattered throughout the property. According to local tradition, Red Hill contained rather
extensive gardens located to the south of the main house. A brick wall, p~esently under
restoration, is all that remains of the garden plan.
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The Red Hill Farm nomination includes 13.8 acres. The acreage is a
fraction of the original Ellis family holdings of 638 acres including Josiah Ellis's
holdings at Round Top. The nominated acreage provides a scenic setting for the farm and
includes the main house, Round Tqp, and numerous farm buildings that date to the 20th
century. The buildings contribute to the ambiance of the farm. The hill upon which the
house was built is part of the nominated property and includes the drive to the house and
its outbuildings.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE - The Ellis family was largE;ly responsible for the building ,
. of the srna_ll village of Pedlar Mills. The rui!ral area supplied the raw materials such as
grain, tobac.co, and lumber to the urban merchants and manufacturers~ The local store. in
Amherst, operated by R. S. Ellis for over twenty-five years,acted as the conduit ·for the
dispersal of local and urban goods.
Richard Shelton Ellis died in 1846, at which point most of the Ellis property had to
be sold to pay off debts. A second house, Round 'lop, the traditional overseer's quarters
remained in the Ellis family. From 1852 to 1898 the property was under several ownerships,
the longest of which was that of Robert L. Dabney. Dabney was a noted Presbyterian
(See continuation sheet #2)
::HR-8-300A
:11178)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY .... NOMINATION FORM
Red Hill Farm, Amherst County, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
2
ITEM NUMBER 8 ,6 &10 PAGE
2, 1
• theologian, author, and teacher who acquired the property in 1869 from the proceeds of his
Life of ~tonewalU Jackson. Dabney, an architect whose most noted buildings inciude the
College Chapel at Hampden-Sydney and Tinkling Springs Church, Augusta County, is known to
have added several outbuildings and enclosures to his nearly 700··acre estate. In 1898
Dabney's heirs sold Red Hill to John E. Ellis, grandson of Joshua Ellis of Round Top.
The house remained in the Ellis family until 1912 when it was sold at auction. The present
owners acquired the property in 1966 and are carefully restoring the house and garden.
MTP/RCC
6. REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
LO.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1968, 1979
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCPJPTION
River; thence extending Ethen SE for about 5,000', then continuing about 100'
S to N side of 647, point of origin.
(scale:1:24000)
1965 ·
HILL FARM, Amherst County, Va.
References:
UTM
A- 17/653180/4158510 B- 17/653580/4157930
C- 17/653680/4157720 D- 17/653070/4157460
E- 17/652660/4158120 F- 17/652760/4158560
VIRGINIA H!STOR1C l MlDMARKS COMfuUSSWN
221 GOVERN OR STREET
RICHMOND, VIRGlNiA 23219
··RED HILL
Amherst County, VA
, Credit: VA Historic Landmarks Commission
1979
Negative Filed: VA State Library
View of east (main) ·elevation
4985
l of 1
REV. (9/77)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl'vlENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
\TA TIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
NAME
HISTORIC
Red Hill Farm
AND/OR COMMON
LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
Route 647
_NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY. TOWN
Pedlar Mills
_VICINITYOF
Sixth (M. Caldwell Butl~r~)_ _ _ _ _ __
CODE
STATE
Virginia
COUNTY
51
CODE
Amherst
009
CLASSIFI CATI ON
CATEGORY
_DISTRICT
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
-'-PUBLIC
PRESENT USE
-OCCUPIED
-AGRICULTURE
_MUSEUM
_COMMERCIAL
_PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
.XPRIVATE RESIDENCE
X..BUILDING(S}
XPRIVATE
X UNOCCUPIED .
_STRUCTURE
_BOTH
-WORK IN PROGRESS
PUBLIC ACQU.ISITION
_SITE
_OBJECT
_IN PROCESS
_BEING CONSIDERED
ACCESSIBLE
-ENTERTAINMENT
-RELIGIOUS
X...YES: RESTRICTED
_GOVERNMENT
_SCIENTIFIC
-YES: UNRESTRICTED
_INDUSTRIAL
_TRANSPORTATION
....'....NO
_Ml,LITARY
_OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Mr. Edward Lewis, ·Mr. Edward A. Lewis
Red Hill Farm/Lewismont, Route 2
···-- ----· - - - · - - - - - - - - - · - . - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _S_T_A-TE-----z-i-p-c-o-d"-e--
CITY.TOWN
Virg inia
Monroe
24574
LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Ambers t county Courthouse
STREET & NUMBER
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Virginia
Amherst
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2) (See Continuation Sheet. /fl)
TiTLE
(1) Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
DATE
Has this property been determined eligible? X y
1957
~FEDERAL _STATE _COUNTY _LOCAL - -
-~~~~~----~~~~--------~~~~~~~~~~-
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
CITY. TOWN
Library of Congress
··----···----- --------·-
Washington
______________
N
_____________
.:....._
DESCRIPTION
CHECK ONE
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
-EXCELLENT
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
~ORIGINAL SITE
.MiOOD
_RUINS
LLTERED
-MOVED
-FAIR
_UNEXPOSED
----------------~----··~·--~·
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGll':.JAL Ip: ·vr,,n\A1!\D P~YSJ.CA,1
DAT-----
APPEARANCE
Red Hill, an imposing Federal residence, is rleasantLy s1.te'd on a fi1.ll off Route 647 near
the village of Pedlar Mills in Amherst County. The· brick 5~' x 42' > 2~-s tory. house was built
a.1824-25. The present front (east) portico was added in 1932 and replaces a stylistically
similar example. The building is executed in brick laid in a very even Flemish bond and
is set on a brick foundation. A portion of the east wall sheltered by the portico shows
evidence of penciled joints . . The hip roof is covered with slate shingles. In addition to
the removal of the original main· portico, the rear (west) portico was removed at an
unknown date in the 19th century . . A one-story Doric columned porch, the length of the
elevation, replaced it. This. porch was removed by the present owner in the 1970s. Its
replacement is presently in _the des~gn stage. The north and south walls each have two
interior end chimneys.
The main (east) doorway has paneled double doors contained within a simply executed
architrave. The door ·is a 20th~century replacement of a- similar door. The architrave is
flanked by sideligh.t$ and is ,topped by a blind transom. The transom is reeded and is ·
capped by._a lintel ,with.,turr:ied. corner blocks. The ,west doorway is· similarly treated ·and .
retains its original paneled, double doors.· The north elevation has a twelve-pane'glass and
wood panel door installed during the. present restoration. The simply executed archi:travs .is _topped by a lintel with turned corner blocks. The east and west elevations contain
second-story doorways similar to those below. The doors have twelve-pane glass tops.
Lintels with turned corner blocks rest on the simply executed architraves.
Fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows within simply executed architraves also
topped by lintels with turned corner blocks. Basement windows of six-pane sash ~re
similarly treated. A few basement windows retain their wooden diagonal bars. Most firstand seco'!ld-sto_!y windows .r~tain their louvred shutters held by iron hinges and hooks.
The eaves course is'embellished by a Doric cornice with mutules and <lentils, portions of
which have rotted o~t on the north ?levat;ion.
Red Hill contains a daub.le-pile, central-hall plan. The hall is graced by; an openwell stair, the design of which is inspired by Plates 31 and 35 of Owen Biddle's Young
carpenter's Assistant. Plate 35 includes instructions for the veneering of handrails.
Along with its veneered handrail, the stair has paneled spandrels, a scrolled newel, scrollsawn brackets, and square balusters. A number of iron balusters are used randomly for addi-.
tional structural support. A secondary stair to the attic is found on the second floor in
the southwest chamber and has a paneled spandrel, square newel, rounded handrail, and two
square b~lusters to a tread. The house retains its original pine flooring. The walls and
ceilings are plastered.
First- and second-floor doorways and windows are framed by syrrunetrical molded architraves with turned corner blocks. Secondary openings have simpler three-part archit;:taves
Most of the original six-paneled doors survive throughout the house. Original cupboards and
wardrobes on ~oth_fl6ors feature finely __ paneled double doors. Evidence of the original
painted graining has been found on a door frame. Most of the first-floor woodwork is
presently covered with a dark stain. It is believed that the stain was applied over the
original painted graining during the latter part of the 19th century. The house contains
notable mantels that appear to have been part of the original interior trim. The mantel
in the northeast parlor, consisting of paired columns supporting a Doric entablature, may
have been influenced by a more elaborate example in Biddle's Young Carpenter's Assistant,
Plate 22. A former first-floor mantel presently stored in the basement demonstrates an
(See Continuation Sheet 1fl)
SIGNIFICANCE
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
PERIOD
_PREHISTOHIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
_1400-1499
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
_ 1500-1599
-AGRICULTUR~
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
_1600-1699
XARCHITECTU RE
-EDUCATION
_MILITARY
-SOCIA UHUMANITARIAN
_1700-1799
-ART
-ENGINEERl~G
_MUSIC
_THEATER
X..1 aoo-1 s99
XcoMMERCE
_EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
_1900·
_COMMUNICATIONS
_INDUSTRY
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_QTHER (SPECIFY)
-RELIGION
_JNVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1824-5
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
Unknown
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Red Hill, originall Y the Ell is family homestead, is the finest
Federal-style house in Amherst County, A formal cou_ntry residence, the house was built from
the profits of the family's mercantile interests both in the county and in Richmond. Ihe
quality and sophistication of the dwelling reflect the pervasive custom of early me·rchants
to make significant investment in the construction and embellishment of .their residences.
The house shows the influence of Owen Biddle's. :The Ydurlgi'.Carpenter 's Ass is tant of 1810, an
architectural pattern book known to have been;·sold in· Richtnbhd and widely employed by master
builders throughout the state .. · The Adaw.esque detailing; finely executed stair·, and spacious
plan suggest that the family was ·familiar with the 'fine residences being erected in Richmond
and adapt~d their refined lines for.their county residence~.
Red Hill stands on land that had been in the Ellis family since the mid-18th century~
Charles Ellis was the first of the family to live in Amherst County. He moved there from the
eastern part of the state around 1754. He died in 1759 leaving his widow, Susannah,and
several children including a son, Josiah. Susannah Ellis then married John Beckley, and a
:ourt decision in 1769 assigned him the dower rights of his new bride. Charles's son Josiah,
Jorn in 1746 in Henrico County, became .heir to most of his father·•s property in Amherst, with
~he exception of 143 acres.which was his mother's dower. Josiah remained in Amherst and was
1ery active in the affairs of St. Luke's Church. He served as a delegate to the Diocesan
~ouncil from Pedlar Mills. In addition to his successful farming activities, he established
1 merchant mill -at, Pedlar Mills.
He died intestate in 1810 leaving· a substantial estate,
Lncluding the acreage on which the present house stands.
Josiah's son, Charles, had gone to Richmond in the late 18th century arid., formed a part1ership with John Allan (Allen), a leading merchant and foster parent of Edgar Allan Poe.
Che men served as brokers in the flour, tobacco ahd lµmber markets and conducted other
·ental and retail operations.. It was the success of Charles that enabled Richard S. Ell is
:o build a new house in Amherst County.
Richard Shelton Ellis, the third son of Josiah (bp 1775), remained in Amherst and
.nherited the Red H~ll property. Richard operated the farming and mercantile operations of
he Ellis family in Amherst and built the present Red Hill dwelling around 1824 to serve as
.is residence and as a summer home for his brother Charles~ Sited on a hill, the house would
ave proven attractive for a summer's visit with its view of the countryside and the neighborng village of Pedlar Mills,
(~ee continuaticin sheet #1)
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
erst County 1,a.nd-Tax.Boo.ks.,.· 1782..,,.1833.
\mherst County Personal. Property Tax Books, 1806-1842,
~herst County Will Books 5 (1811) and 12 (1847-50).
Biddle, Owen. The Young Carpenter's Assistant. 1810.
Ellis, Thomas H. A.. Memorandum of the Ellis Family. Richmond, Va .. , 1849"
:ichnioJJd~· ya.t,. ':irg;i.:n{q. Hiqtofric L<:imdmarks: commiss_ion Archives 1 Amhers.t Coll.- nty File ·E.ed Hill
arm ,OJ- 4J, ,1.ncluct1.ng in ormat1.on supp 1 1.ed _by the present owner, Mr. E_ctward Lewis).
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
138 acres
Big Island, Va.
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
QUADRANGLENAME.
QUADRANGLE SCALE
UTM REFERENCES
1: 24000
I61 s, 3f 51 s, ol h J. hs, zl 9, 3, ~
. NORTHING
Dlh.z.J I 6 I s, 3 lo, 1, oJ I 4, 11 s, 71 41 61 of
F LhzJ I6 I5 I 2 b t 6 I OI 14, 1 l s I s I s 1 6 t ol
Hw
II I II I Il I l ,II I j
I615_13111 81 ol I4, 11 s, sl s, 1, oJ
EASTING
.
NORTHING
c l.uiJ Itd s , 1 I 6 1a1aI J 4, 1 I s , zlz, 2, QI
E l!..i.zJ r6 I5 t 2 I 6 I 6 I OI I4 I 1 f 5 j 8' 1, 2 t O'
GLL.j l I ' l I I l I I I ' I I 'I I J
ALu.zj
slh_zj
ZONE
.ZONE . EASTING
~~~~-,--~~:-:-:::-~:-:-::--=-::~-:-.:::-:-::---c
VERBALBOUNDARY,f;)ESCijlPTI.ON. , a point on" N side of State Route. 647
about 500' W of
..·Beg:i,.r1ning at,
·
'
.
intersection with Route_ oJ); :thence extending about 2300' SW along said side.to NE corner of
intersection of 647 and farm road; thence extending about 360.0' }..T1;,J along E side of said road;
thence extending about 800' N, jnto wooded area to SW side of Feeder creek to Pedlar (See
LIST All STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES Continuation
· · Sheet 112)
STATE
CODE'
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE·
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE··
ORGANIZATION
March 1980
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Virginia 23219
Richmond
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION.
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE: IS:
LOCAL _ _
STATE~
NATIONAL_
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the Natiom;d Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for inclusion. in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated ac.cording to the
t f~.. by ti;)
criteria and procedur
STATE HISTOAI
TITLE
~~
ESERVATION
·
al Park Service.
FFICER SIGNATURE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
:
DATE
MAR l 8 1980
:;:
,,
.::
,,'
'•;'
·:
,::
.:·
:·...:,·
.,·
:::..
,:
GPO 921·803
:-HR-8-300A
)1/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY ... NOMINATION FORM
Re¢1 Hill Farm, Amherst County, Virginia
ITEM NUMBER l 8
PAGE 1. 1
1
Adamesque character. It consists of fluted pilasters supporting a classical entablature
with applied <lentils and elliptical sunbursts. Second-floor mantels are simpler in
execution~ The southeast parlor retains its original chair rail di:stinguJ.shed by carv-ed
chevron decoration. Remaining chair raU.s are less elaborate in execution.
The southwest
parlor is presently being converted into a kitchen. Most of the original hardware has
been removed.
CONTINUATION SHEET
Ped Hill preserves a number of its original outbuildings. Located to the rear (~est)
of the house is the kitchen, a two-story building executed in three--course-.lunerican-bond
brick and covered by a hip roof. Acquired by the present owners in a state of extensive
deterioration, the structure
underwent a _maj.or restoration that involved the total
rebuilding of the east wall and south exterior end chimney. Openings are distinguished by
lintel heads with turned corner blocks, like those found on the main house.
Round Top, the traditional late 18th·-century overseer's residence, is located
approximately a half mile to the north of the main house. It is a l~-story, wood·-frame
structure covered by a gable roof. The building is flanked by two exterior end ch·imneys
executed in stone and Flemish-bond brick. Fenestration consists ~f 6/6 hung-sash windows
within a simple three-part architrave. The building sits on a stone foundation. Several
barns and tenants' houses are found on the farm. They were constructed after 1930 and are
scattered throughout the property. According to local tradition, Red Hill contained rather
extensive gardens located to the south of the main house. A brick wall, p~esently under
restoration, is all that remains of the garden plan.
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The Red Hill Farm nomination includes 13.8 acres. The acreage is a
fraction of the original Ellis family holdings of 638 acres including Josiah Ellis's
holdings at Round Top. The nominated acreage provides a scenic setting for the farm and
includes the main house, Round Tqp, and numerous farm buildings that date to the 20th
century. The buildings contribute to the ambiance of the farm. The hill upon which the
house was built is part of the nominated property and includes the drive to the house and
its outbuildings.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE - The Ellis family was largE;ly responsible for the building ,
. of the srna_ll village of Pedlar Mills. The rui!ral area supplied the raw materials such as
grain, tobac.co, and lumber to the urban merchants and manufacturers~ The local store. in
Amherst, operated by R. S. Ellis for over twenty-five years,acted as the conduit ·for the
dispersal of local and urban goods.
Richard Shelton Ellis died in 1846, at which point most of the Ellis property had to
be sold to pay off debts. A second house, Round 'lop, the traditional overseer's quarters
remained in the Ellis family. From 1852 to 1898 the property was under several ownerships,
the longest of which was that of Robert L. Dabney. Dabney was a noted Presbyterian
(See continuation sheet #2)
::HR-8-300A
:11178)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY .... NOMINATION FORM
Red Hill Farm, Amherst County, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
2
ITEM NUMBER 8 ,6 &10 PAGE
2, 1
• theologian, author, and teacher who acquired the property in 1869 from the proceeds of his
Life of ~tonewalU Jackson. Dabney, an architect whose most noted buildings inciude the
College Chapel at Hampden-Sydney and Tinkling Springs Church, Augusta County, is known to
have added several outbuildings and enclosures to his nearly 700··acre estate. In 1898
Dabney's heirs sold Red Hill to John E. Ellis, grandson of Joshua Ellis of Round Top.
The house remained in the Ellis family until 1912 when it was sold at auction. The present
owners acquired the property in 1966 and are carefully restoring the house and garden.
MTP/RCC
6. REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
LO.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1968, 1979
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCPJPTION
River; thence extending Ethen SE for about 5,000', then continuing about 100'
S to N side of 647, point of origin.
(scale:1:24000)
1965 ·
HILL FARM, Amherst County, Va.
References:
UTM
A- 17/653180/4158510 B- 17/653580/4157930
C- 17/653680/4157720 D- 17/653070/4157460
E- 17/652660/4158120 F- 17/652760/4158560
VIRGINIA H!STOR1C l MlDMARKS COMfuUSSWN
221 GOVERN OR STREET
RICHMOND, VIRGlNiA 23219
··RED HILL
Amherst County, VA
, Credit: VA Historic Landmarks Commission
1979
Negative Filed: VA State Library
View of east (main) ·elevation
4985
l of 1
Text
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
VLR Listed: 9/21/2017
NRHP Listed: 11/24/2017
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Other names/site number:
DHR No. 005-0016
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 3788 Buffalo Springs Turnpike
City or town: Monroe
State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ __A
___B
_X__C
_X__ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
__Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _ meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____3________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____4________
______0________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_______________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
MID 19TH CENTURY: Greek Revival
LATE VICTORIAN: Gothic Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE; WOOD; METAL;
CONCRETE_____________________
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located in the remote, rural, southwestern area of Amherst
County known as Pedlar Mills. The church is one of the few remaining historic buildings in
Pedlar Mills, a once-thriving industrial milling community of the nineteenth century. St. Luke’s
stands on a hillside west of and facing the Pedlar River and Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State
Route 635). The circa 1837, one-story, Greek Revival style church is one of the oldest extant
religious buildings in the county. It has a random stone foundation, brick walls, a standing-seam
gable roof and a wooden portico supported by four Tuscan order columns. The interior plan has a
nave separated from the chancel by a wood, pedimented arch. The nave has a double-aisle
arrangement and the original wooden pews. The interior walls are decorated with marble
memorial markers. Immediately north of the church and covering the hillside is the cemetery
(contributing site) consisting of more than 85 burials. The earliest burials are marked by
fieldstones; the remaining burials have etched, mostly granite, upright and lawn-level markers
dating from 1901 to 2016. The cemetery has decorative iron fencing with decorative iron gate at
the entry; the remaining three sides are enclosed by chain-link fencing. Both the church and
cemetery remain in use and are well-preserved and maintained. The property has two other
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
contributing sites, that of a former town hall and a former rectory, both of which were
demolished but the foundations and below-ground features were not disturbed.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
St Luke’s Episcopal Church is located in rural Amherst County on the west side of Buffalo
Springs Turnpike (State Route 635). It is one of the oldest remaining buildings on the outskirts of
Pedlar Mills, a once-thriving industrial milling community of the nineteenth century. The church
and associated cemetery are on a 14-acre, sloping parcel dotted with large trees. The heavily
rolling topography in this vicinity is characteristic of Virginia’s western Piedmont region, which
to its west gives way to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The church has a deep setback from the road
and is accessed via an unpaved driveway that leads up the slope to the building’s west side. The
drive curves left toward the site of the former rectory, a contributing site located at the property’s
eastern edge. The site of a town hall is east of the church and is largely covered with vegetation.
Primary Building (contributing)
The one-story, front-gabled building measures 28 by 30 feet. It has a random stone
foundation, 4:1 common bond brick walls and a standing-seam metal gable roof. Two brick
chimney flues rise from the roof (one on the east slope and one on the west). The building was
constructed in the Greek Revival style and features tall, rectangular window and door bays with
wooden lintels with simple square corner blocks. The main mass of the building was constructed
around 1837. A rear brick extension, measuring 15 by 12 feet, was added around 1871. In 1926,
a 9-by-20-foot portico was built onto the south (primary) facade, possibly replacing an earlier
example (however, no designs of a previous portico are known). The interior of the church
underwent renovations between 1871 and 1874, in the Gothic Revival style. 1
The principal elevation of the church faces south. A 1926 concrete stair leads to the
portico’s concrete deck with brick floor. The wooden pediment is supported by four
symmetrically placed wooden columns of the Tuscan order. The two symmetrically placed front
entries have double-leaf wooden doors with each leaf having three recessed panels.
The east and west side elevations both have two symmetrically placed stained-glass
windows. A wooden handicap ramp along the southwest side of the building leads to the front
portico.
The rear (north) elevation features gable-end returns on the main block of the building.
The circa 1871-1874 rear addition is centered on the main block and has a random stone
foundation, not tied to the earlier building. The brick walls are laid in 4:1 common bond and the
east and west elevations have three-course corbels at the eaves. On each of the addition’s two
1
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the…annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Virginia, 1831-1839, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org; Telephone interview with Sr.
Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (February 2017); and History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates n.d.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
side elevations is a small, rectangular, stained-glass window placed abruptly into the junction
between the addition and main block. On the addition’s east elevation, there is also a single-leaf
entry with a five-panel door. The addition’s north wall has a single 6/6 double-hung sash window
with a simple brick lintel.
Interior
The interior plan is composed of the nave with a small chancel area to the rear. The
flooring is heart pine. The nave has a double-aisle arrangement with three sets of painted oak
pews. These pews likely date to the church’s original construction based on their simple
construction. The pews of the outside aisles are about six feet long and the center rows are
twelve feet long. The pulpit area is raised from the main floor and the chancel is raised from the
pulpit area. Separating the nave from the chancel is a Greek Revival pediment, likely dating to
the church’s original construction. The interior was renovated during a period from 1871-1874.
The renovations feature Gothic Revival elements such as the stained-glass exterior windows that
feature lancets with trefoils and crosses and the lancet doors in the chancel. 2 Other late
nineteenth-century elements include the bead-board wainscot in the nave and bead-board walls in
the chancel. Three marble memorial plaques are displayed in the nave, one on the wall between
the entry doors and one on each of the side walls. 3
About 1923, a lancet-arched chancel window was installed between the lancet doors of
the rear chancel wall. It is a tripartite window featuring the image of Christ in prayer. It bears the
maker’s mark of Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was
established in 1887.4 Both the doors and window in the chancel are hidden on the exterior by the
small gable-roofed addition, which has a room with simple decoration and an exterior entry. It
was used as the place for the minister to prepare and dress for the service. It also served as a
storage area.
Cemetery (contributing site)
The cemetery is north of and adjacent to the church. Spanning the hillside above the
church, the cemetery contains at least 85 burials. On its south side, at the front of the cemetery, is
a decorative iron fence with decorative gate; the remaining sides of the cemetery have typical
chain-link fencing. The earliest two marked burials, at the gate, have simple fieldstones. The
earliest burial with an etched stone is dated 1901. The headstones are mostly granite upright
tablets or lawn-level stones and some graves have granite footstones. The headstone of Louisa
Ray (1831-1903) is unusual because it is made of metal to appear as stone. There are possibly
some unknown burials in the cemetery. Senior Warden Tom Wallace mentioned that once a
burial was unearthed when digging a new grave, before the cemetery was mapped. 5
2No
maker’s marks were found on the windows.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the…annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Virginia, vol. 76-79, 1871-1834, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org
4 Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works, availble online from Corning Museum of Glass at cmog.org; and Polk's
Wisconsin State Gazetteer & Business Directory 1921, p. 1811.
5
Tom Wallace, Senior Warden, mentioned the cemetery in a conversation, October 2016.
3
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Contributing Sites
Two late-nineteenth-century buildings once shared the church grounds and their
respective sites are contributing to the property. The first, which stood close to the church’s east
side, was a frame two-story building known as the Town Hall, according to Senior Warden Tom
Wallace.6 It was razed during the 1970s but fragments of the stone foundation remain in the yard.
The second building, the rectory, was constructed around 1878. It was a two-story, front-gabled
house with a one-story porch. It stood about 50-75 yards from the church along the church’s west
boundary. After being abandoned for many years, in April 2017, the rectory was razed due to
safety concerns and its poor condition.
Both sites were left relatively undisturbed after demolition of the buildings. As a result, it
is likely that each has intact subsurface cultural deposits related to their historic use. Future
investigations may yield additional information about each building’s history and, in the case of
the Town Hall, the history of Pedlar Mill. Having the location of each site documented
contributes to understanding the historic development and evolution of both the community and
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
6
Senior Warden, Tom Wallace stated, in a telephone interview (February 2017), that he never remembered the
building ever being used.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
X
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
__ARCHITECTURE__
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
_ca. 1837–ca.1926____
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
___ca. 1837–ca.1839__
___ca. 1871–ca.1874__
___ca.1926__________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_____ N/A __________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
______ N/A _________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown ______
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture and meets Criteria Consideration A because its significance is based on its
architectural significance. The property’s period of significance spans from construction of the
church, circa 1837, to its last significant exterior alteration, the portico, circa 1926. The church is
a well-preserved example of a Greek Revival temple-form building featuring an imposing 1926
portico with a simple, pedimented gable supported by Tuscan order columns and symmetrically
placed, tall window and door bays with wooden lintels and corner blocks. Today St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church is one of two remaining Greek Revival style churches in Amherst County; and
is one of only six churches built before 1850 that remain in the county. The interior of St. Luke’s
shows a combination of the Greek Revival and Gothic Revival ornamentation that illustrates the
building’s evolution from construction through a renovation that took place between 1871 and
1874. Significant interior features include the Greek Revival, pedimented arch that separates the
nave from the 1870s chancel, which has Gothic Revival lancet doors and stained-glass windows,
as well as original simple wooden pews, bead-board wainscot, and, along both side walls, the
1870s stained-glass windows that feature lancets with trefoils and crosses and are set within the
building’s original tall, rectangular window openings. The property’s historical development
mirrors the life of the Pedlar Mills community. In addition to now being one of the few
remaining historic buildings in the village, St. Luke’s was the only church built in Pedlar Mills.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is significant to Amherst County as one of the county’s six
remaining churches built before 1850 and one of the few remaining historic buildings associated
with the Pedlar Mills village. It is one of two brick, Greek Revival style churches built in the
county during the 1830s and is the second-oldest extant church of the Episcopal faith in Amherst.
The early nineteenth-century churches of Amherst included three Episcopal churches, two
Methodist, and one Baptist.
The Episcopal churches active in Amherst County during the early to mid-nineteenth
century were Bent Chapel, which burned and was never replaced; Elon, which was disbanded at
an unknown time; and St. Matthew’s or Rucker’s Chapel, which was torn down around 1860 and
the congregation moved to Ascension. 7
Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church (circa 1836, DHR # 005-5080) is now the only other
Greek Revival church in Amherst County. It, unlike St. Luke’s, is a simple building with little
7
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1841-1871, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org; W.
Scott Smith, Research Brief on Rucker’s Chapel: Amherst County, Virginia, 16 July 2008 (unpublished); Smith,
PIF of Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009.
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decoration. Both are of brick construction and have the temple form and tall, narrow window and
door bays; only St. Luke’s has a portico, decorative lintels, and double entry.
In addition to Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church, the six documented historic churches
in Amherst County still extant today are St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (ca.1814, DHR #0050017, built of brick), St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (ca. 1837, DHR # 005-0016, built of brick),
Mt. Horeb Methodist Church (1844, DHR# 005-5255, frame construction), Ascension Episcopal
Church (1847, DHR# 163-0006, built of brick), and New Prospect Baptist Church (1847, DHR#
005-5273, frame construction). Most have been expanded or remodeled over time.
The construction date of St. Luke’s was determined by field investigation, the use of
Diocesan records, and an unpublished church history written by former church minister Rev.
Paul A Walker.8 The original church records were burned in a house fire around the 1960s. The
Diocesan records for the church show that, in 1837, they spent $1,500 to construct a new brick
building, which agrees with basic information in the Walker history and on-site observation. 9
A discrepancy between church lore, the Diocesan records, and on-site observation occurs
in the history between 1871 and 1874, at which time the church lore states the entire 1837
building was torn down and reconstructed using the same materials. 10 The Diocesan records,
however, in 1871 noted the church had raised $500 towards building repair; and meanwhile, in
1873, a visiting minister from another parish noted a new building on the site of old St. Luke’s in
“Pedlar Valley.” Two records in 1874 involve the church. The first, from the Bishop’s notes,
states a “substantial new brick building, occupying the place where, on my last visit, stood the
old”; and secondly, the Diocesan records showed they had completed a new church with building
costs of $1,200.11 Another indication of major changes to the building is that the church was
known as St. Luke’s and Pedlar Church until 1876, when, after renovations, it was officially
consecrated on 11 May 1876 as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
It does not make sense that a building originally constructed in 1837 at a cost of $1,500
could be totally rebuilt at a cost of $1,200 in 1874, even considering the effects of inflation or
deflation and the poor economy across most of Virginia after the Civil War. Newer building
materials were not observed in the earliest section of the building, which would be expected if
they had actually torn the earlier building down and rebuilt; there would naturally be a loss of
original material. However, the rear addition on the building appears to be from a later era as it is
not tied into the original building either at the walls or foundation. The darker color of the brick
also is different from that of the earlier building. If the 1837 building had been rebuilt, then
8
Rev. Paul A Walker was the parish minister from 1955-1966 and he wrote the multi-page paper as part of the 1957
Jamestown House Tour of Amherst County.
9
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1831-1839, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org;
Telephone interview with Sr. Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (October 2016 and February 2017).
10
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957, and Telephone
interview with Sr. Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (October 2016 and February 2017).
11
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, vol. 76-79 (1871-1874), Richmond, VA., available online from
babel.hathitrust.org,
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
logically the rear section would have been included as part of the 1870s reconstruction and tied
into the front section. Also not all of the original building’s bricks likely would have survived the
rebuilding process and the darker 1870s bricks would have been used as needed to reconstruct
the building. Another detail suggesting the rear addition dates to the late nineteenth century is the
rear, exterior, five-panel door, a style that was commonly used during the late nineteenthcentury. Thus it appears that the rear addition postdates the main building. It is not known if an
earlier chancel once occupied this space but, given the elaborate Greek Revival arch at the
chancel opening, it is possible that such a space was replaced or extensively remodeled and
enlarged to create the current chancel. A late nineteenth-century element that ties together the
two sections aesthetically is the bead-board wainscot in the nave and bead-board walls in the
chancel.
The stained-glass windows along the side walls are significant features of the church.
Every exterior window has the same pattern with a lancet containing a draped trefoil at its peak,
elongated crosses on the sides and a stylized floral decoration at the bottom. No maker’s marks
were found on the windows. Three marble memorial plaques are displayed in the nave, one on
the wall between the entry doors and one on each of the side walls The memorials were soldered
in place at an unknown date.
Another significant feature is the memorial window in the chancel’s north (rear) wall,
which is obscured from exterior view by the rear addition’s storage room. This window, with the
image of Christ praying, was created sometime around 1923, based on the dates within the
window. The maker’s mark on the glass identifies “Milwaukee M & Glass Works” as the
manufacturer.12
In 1926, the congregation built a wooden portico on the front of the building. A
description of the earliest appearance of the main elevation has not yet been found. However, the
portico’s unadorned portico and Doric columns echo the original building’s Greek Revival style.
The portico also has a central concrete stair from the ground to the concrete deck, with the date
1926 etched into the concrete. This was the last significant exterior modification to the building.
Later updates to the building include electrification in the 1930s-1940s and the installation of
baseboard heat along with the removal of coal stoves in 1976.
As explained in the Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era
to 1940 style guide, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church displays character-defining aspects of Greek
Revival style, such as its temple form, balanced, symmetrical façade, entrance portico with
pedimented gable and Doric columns, and symmetrical fenestration. Even its relatively austere
ornamentation is in keeping with Greek Revival, which was seen as a reaction against the more
exuberant Rococo that earlier had prevailed in Europe. The building’s 1837 construction date
coincides with the style’s height of popularity in the United States. The style was inspired by
archaeological discoveries occurring in Greece and other parts of the ancient world during the
12
Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works, availble online from Corning Museum of Glass at cmog.org; and Polk's
Wisconsin State Gazetteer & Business Directory 1921, p. 1811.The Wiconsin firm opened in 1887 and operated into
the early twentieth-century.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
eighteenth and early nineteenth century. British architects James Stuart and Nicholas Revett
published Antiquities of Athens in 1762, which remained influential for decades thereafter. Later
pattern books that included examples of Greek Revival elements, such as moldings, doors,
windows, and columns, also contributed to the style’s pervasive use on numerous types of
buildings, from churches and houses to schools, hospitals, and government buildings. 13
Similarly, the 1870s renovations to St. Luke’s in the Gothic Revival style matched that
era’s national tastes in architecture. Various iterations of the Gothic Revival styles proliferated in
Virginia between the 1830s and 1940s.14 Whereas Greek Revival often demonstrates horizontal
massing, Gothic Revival emphasized verticality; hence, St. Luke’s has the interesting
juxtaposition of its original rectangular windows holding stained glass windows designed to
mimic the appearance of lancet arches. On the interior, the 1870s lancet doors from the chancel
to the storage area and the 1923 memorial stained glass window in the chancel are juxtaposed
with the Gothic Revival arch separating the nave and chancel and the original front doors.
Today St. Luke’s is a well-preserved example of a nineteenth-century Greek Revival
temple-form Protestant church with later Gothic Revival elements. Since 1926, the building has
not been significantly altered or enlarged, although its electrical and heating systems have been
modernized. The building currently stands as one of the oldest remaining buildings of Pedlar
Mills and one of the oldest churches in Amherst County.
Historic Background
The congregation of St. Luke’s was organized around 1790. The minister of this postAmerican Revolution Episcopalian church was Rev. Charles Crawford (1765-1815). He was
native to Amherst County and one of the first ordained ministers after the war; he served the
Lexington parish until his retirement in 1815. 15 From its beginnings, St. Luke’s was supported by
the Ellis family, major land holders of the area. The earliest services are known to have been
held in a tobacco barn, which was likely on Ellis land. The church was built on a site below the
Ellis home place, known as Red Hill.16
The Ellis family was a founding family of Pedlar Mills. A commercial mill was built
sometime around 1800 and was soon followed by a mercantile store and a post office. The
commercial mill, which milled flour for overseas sale, was owned by Charles Ellis (1772-1840)
who partnered with John Allan in the import/export firm of Ellis and Allan of Richmond,
Virginia. Ellis also held farmland in Amherst County, on which was grown wheat and tobacco.
Tobacco, in particular, was the county’s primary cash crop at this time, and was also shipped
13
Chris Novelli, Melina Bezirdjian, Calder Loth, and Lena Sweeten McDonald, Classic Commonwealth: Virginia
Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940 (Richmond, VA: Department of Historic Resources, 2015), 45-46.
14
Novelli et al. 49.
15
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957. Lexington was
the name given to the parish by the Diocese in memory of the battle during the Revolutionary War.
16 Red Hill (DHR # 005-0016); and Amherst County Deed Books AA/336, BB/ 366; and Amherst County Will
Book 12/420;
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
overseas. Charles Ellis’s lands were managed by John Ellis (1767-1826) and Richard Ellis
(1774-1846), his brothers. John and Richard Ellis jointly operated a mercantile store in Pedlar
Mills. They bought and sold merchandise to Charles Ellis and John Allan. John Ellis also was the
village Postmaster from 1807 to 1814. Ellis and Allen of Richmond was a family business and
included another brother, Josiah Ellis, Jr. (1777-1836), who traveled for the firm in Europe. Two
additional brothers were Joshua (1787-1825) and Powhatan (1790-1863) Ellis. Joshua Ellis
handled the family holdings which were still part of their father, Josiah’s (1746-1810), estate and
Powhatan Ellis, later in life, became a Mississippi Supreme Court Justice and U. S. Senator from
Mississippi.17
Pedlar Mills, as a community and milling center, grew rapidly from its population of 56
in 1835 to 600 in the 1890s. The village was located on the major travel route between
Lynchburg and Lexington (known today as the Buffalo Springs Turnpike) and included, at its
height, four grain mills, three sawmills, a hotel, several doctors, a dentist, general and specialty
stores, a tannery, blacksmith, undertaker, and a private school. Toward the end of the nineteenth
century and into the twentieth, the village began to lose its mills due to economic changes that
reduced demand for the village’s products and to natural phenomenon. Three major floods
affected the area in 1884, 1942, and 1969; with the last effectively killing the milling industry in
this area. Today, the area, once known as Pedlar Mills, is rural and many farms surround the old
village center. Few of the historic buildings remain; these include several houses, the tavern
(005-0019), St. Luke’s Episcopal church, and several neglected store buildings. Additionally,
mill ruins remain undisturbed in the village.18
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was an integral part of Pedlar Mills and the community’s
population growth corresponded to an increasing church membership. Church history and
Diocesan records note this growth and regular services held by the minister of the Parish, who
traveled a circuit of churches until the Civil War. The St. Luke’s congregation allowed the local
Baptist and Presbyterian congregations, who did not have their own meetinghouses, to hold
services in their building. The Diocesan records between 1865 and 1870 show the congregation
grew despite a lack of regular church services. One record notes the congregants were unable to
travel to other Parish churches due to their distance from Pedlar Mills and it further states their
building was going “to ruin.” 19 By 1871, the congregation became financially able to support
their own minister and they began renovations to the church. After renovations, the church was
17
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957; Smith, PIF of
Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009; and Sandra Esposito, Edgar Allan Poe: His Connections to Amherst County,
15 September 2015, (unpublished presentation). In Smith’s work he mentions Charles Ellis (1719-1759) the
partiarch of the family in Amherst County as the man in partnership with John Allan (1779-1834), however it was
his grandson Charles. The Ellis and Allan company(founded in 1800) was funded in part by William Galt (17351825) one of the wealthiest men in Virginia at the time. Galt was also the uncle of John Allan and both Allan and
Ellis worked as clerks for Galt before startin their own firm. John Allan is also of note as the foster father of Edgar
Allan Poe.
18
Smith, PIF of Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009
19
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, (1839-1876), Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org;
The nearest parish church was Elon 6-10 miles away with St. Marks in Clifford being 23 miles from Pedlar Mills.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
officially consecrated on 11 May 1876 as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Before this, the church
had been known as St. Luke’s and Pedlar Church. 20
Originally the church property included just one acre but in 1878, the congregation
acquired an additional thirteen acres that allowed space for a cemetery and a rectory. By 1879,
the two-story, frame, gable-front rectory stood about 50-75 yards west of the church, near a creek
that flowed into the Pedlar River. Unfortunately, the village began to die and with it the church
finances. They were no longer able to support a full-time minister and the rectory was
abandoned. The church razed the rectory in April 2017. 21
The church interior contains memorials to several former congregants, consisting of the
stained-glass windows and three marble plaques. The plaques and several windows are dedicated
to various members of several generations of the Ellis family. The remaining windows honor the
Minor, Turner, Woods, and Pleasants families. The most recent of the dedications is a memorial
to George T. and Mary Pleasants, both of whom died in a house fire in 1963. 22
Today, St. Luke’s continues to hold regular services despite a severely reduced
membership. The small congregation actively works to maintain the building and cemetery and
to keep the church alive.
20
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, (1839-1876), Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org
Amherst County Deed Book RR/167; Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1879-1889, Richmond, VA.,
available online from babel.hathitrust.org; and Smith, PIF, 2009.
22
This is probably the family who had possession of the early records which burned; Va. Death certificates for the
Pleasants available on ancestry.com.
21
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Book AA/336, BB/366 and RR/167.
Amherst County Will Book 12/420.
Amherst County Heritage Book Committee. Amherst County Virginia Heritage 1761-1999.
n.d.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society. "St. Luke's Episcopal Church Files." n.d.
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. "Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report July 2010." 2010.
Meade, William. Old Churches in Virginia, Vol. 2. 1861. books.google.com (accessed 2016).
Novelli, Chris, Melina Bezirdjian, Calder Loth, and Lena Sweeten McDonald. Classic
Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940. Richmond, VA:
Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge. “Pedlar Mills Rural Historic District (005-5025).” 2009.
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Church History. n.d. stlukespedlarmills.net (accessed 2016).
Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “St. Luke's Episcopal Church (005-0012)
Archive.” n.d.
Virginia Diocese of Protestant Episcopal Church. Journals of Councils of Protestant
Episcopal Church 1790-1880. various. babel.hathitrust.org (accessed 2017).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. “Red Hill (005-0014).” 1980. Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, VA.
Walker, Rev. Paul A. "History of St. Luke's Church at Pedlar Mills." Unpublished, 1957.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
__X__ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA___________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _DHR# 005-0016_________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property ___14 acres___________
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84: __________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.559390
Longitude: -79.254962
2. Latitude: 37.559380
Longitude: -79.254263
3. Latitude: 37.557421
Longitude: -79.253384
4. Latitude: 37.556621
Longitude: -79.257670
5.. Latitude: 37.557795
Longitude -79.254704
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property are coterminous with the tax parcel lines recorded as
Amherst County Tax Map 105 A 12, available at the Amherst County Government Building
and online at countyofamherst.com. The true and correct historic boundaries are shown on
the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries encompass the property’s historic setting as well as all known
historic resources. Further, these boundaries reflect the property’s boundaries as they have
been recorded since 1878.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: __Sandra F. Esposito_________________________________________
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number: __140 Cradon Hill Ln____________________________________
city or town: _Amherst_________________ state: _VA_________ zip code: _24521______
e-mail: _espositosf@earthlink.net__________________________
telephone: __434-346-7496____________________
date: ______6 June 2017_______________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
City or Vicinity: Pedlar Mills
County: Amherst County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: October 2016
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch_0001
View: Primary building, south elevation, camera facing northeast
2 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0002
View: Primary building, west elevation, camera facing east
3 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0003
View: Primary building, north and west elevations, camera facing south
4 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0004
View: Primary building, east elevation, camera facing west
5 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0005
View: Primary building, south and east elevations, camera facing northwest
6 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0006
View: Cemetery, camera facing north
7 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0007
View: Cemetery, camera facing east
8 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0008
View: Cemetery, camera looking northeast
9 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0009
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing northwest
10 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0010
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing south
11 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0011
View: Interior, primary building, detail of chancel, camera facing north
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time
for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this
burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849
C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
VLR Listed: 9/21/2017
NRHP Listed: 11/24/2017
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Other names/site number:
DHR No. 005-0016
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 3788 Buffalo Springs Turnpike
City or town: Monroe
State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ __A
___B
_X__C
_X__ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
__Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _ meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____3________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____4________
______0________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_______________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
MID 19TH CENTURY: Greek Revival
LATE VICTORIAN: Gothic Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE; WOOD; METAL;
CONCRETE_____________________
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located in the remote, rural, southwestern area of Amherst
County known as Pedlar Mills. The church is one of the few remaining historic buildings in
Pedlar Mills, a once-thriving industrial milling community of the nineteenth century. St. Luke’s
stands on a hillside west of and facing the Pedlar River and Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State
Route 635). The circa 1837, one-story, Greek Revival style church is one of the oldest extant
religious buildings in the county. It has a random stone foundation, brick walls, a standing-seam
gable roof and a wooden portico supported by four Tuscan order columns. The interior plan has a
nave separated from the chancel by a wood, pedimented arch. The nave has a double-aisle
arrangement and the original wooden pews. The interior walls are decorated with marble
memorial markers. Immediately north of the church and covering the hillside is the cemetery
(contributing site) consisting of more than 85 burials. The earliest burials are marked by
fieldstones; the remaining burials have etched, mostly granite, upright and lawn-level markers
dating from 1901 to 2016. The cemetery has decorative iron fencing with decorative iron gate at
the entry; the remaining three sides are enclosed by chain-link fencing. Both the church and
cemetery remain in use and are well-preserved and maintained. The property has two other
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
contributing sites, that of a former town hall and a former rectory, both of which were
demolished but the foundations and below-ground features were not disturbed.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
St Luke’s Episcopal Church is located in rural Amherst County on the west side of Buffalo
Springs Turnpike (State Route 635). It is one of the oldest remaining buildings on the outskirts of
Pedlar Mills, a once-thriving industrial milling community of the nineteenth century. The church
and associated cemetery are on a 14-acre, sloping parcel dotted with large trees. The heavily
rolling topography in this vicinity is characteristic of Virginia’s western Piedmont region, which
to its west gives way to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The church has a deep setback from the road
and is accessed via an unpaved driveway that leads up the slope to the building’s west side. The
drive curves left toward the site of the former rectory, a contributing site located at the property’s
eastern edge. The site of a town hall is east of the church and is largely covered with vegetation.
Primary Building (contributing)
The one-story, front-gabled building measures 28 by 30 feet. It has a random stone
foundation, 4:1 common bond brick walls and a standing-seam metal gable roof. Two brick
chimney flues rise from the roof (one on the east slope and one on the west). The building was
constructed in the Greek Revival style and features tall, rectangular window and door bays with
wooden lintels with simple square corner blocks. The main mass of the building was constructed
around 1837. A rear brick extension, measuring 15 by 12 feet, was added around 1871. In 1926,
a 9-by-20-foot portico was built onto the south (primary) facade, possibly replacing an earlier
example (however, no designs of a previous portico are known). The interior of the church
underwent renovations between 1871 and 1874, in the Gothic Revival style. 1
The principal elevation of the church faces south. A 1926 concrete stair leads to the
portico’s concrete deck with brick floor. The wooden pediment is supported by four
symmetrically placed wooden columns of the Tuscan order. The two symmetrically placed front
entries have double-leaf wooden doors with each leaf having three recessed panels.
The east and west side elevations both have two symmetrically placed stained-glass
windows. A wooden handicap ramp along the southwest side of the building leads to the front
portico.
The rear (north) elevation features gable-end returns on the main block of the building.
The circa 1871-1874 rear addition is centered on the main block and has a random stone
foundation, not tied to the earlier building. The brick walls are laid in 4:1 common bond and the
east and west elevations have three-course corbels at the eaves. On each of the addition’s two
1
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the…annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Virginia, 1831-1839, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org; Telephone interview with Sr.
Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (February 2017); and History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates n.d.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
side elevations is a small, rectangular, stained-glass window placed abruptly into the junction
between the addition and main block. On the addition’s east elevation, there is also a single-leaf
entry with a five-panel door. The addition’s north wall has a single 6/6 double-hung sash window
with a simple brick lintel.
Interior
The interior plan is composed of the nave with a small chancel area to the rear. The
flooring is heart pine. The nave has a double-aisle arrangement with three sets of painted oak
pews. These pews likely date to the church’s original construction based on their simple
construction. The pews of the outside aisles are about six feet long and the center rows are
twelve feet long. The pulpit area is raised from the main floor and the chancel is raised from the
pulpit area. Separating the nave from the chancel is a Greek Revival pediment, likely dating to
the church’s original construction. The interior was renovated during a period from 1871-1874.
The renovations feature Gothic Revival elements such as the stained-glass exterior windows that
feature lancets with trefoils and crosses and the lancet doors in the chancel. 2 Other late
nineteenth-century elements include the bead-board wainscot in the nave and bead-board walls in
the chancel. Three marble memorial plaques are displayed in the nave, one on the wall between
the entry doors and one on each of the side walls. 3
About 1923, a lancet-arched chancel window was installed between the lancet doors of
the rear chancel wall. It is a tripartite window featuring the image of Christ in prayer. It bears the
maker’s mark of Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was
established in 1887.4 Both the doors and window in the chancel are hidden on the exterior by the
small gable-roofed addition, which has a room with simple decoration and an exterior entry. It
was used as the place for the minister to prepare and dress for the service. It also served as a
storage area.
Cemetery (contributing site)
The cemetery is north of and adjacent to the church. Spanning the hillside above the
church, the cemetery contains at least 85 burials. On its south side, at the front of the cemetery, is
a decorative iron fence with decorative gate; the remaining sides of the cemetery have typical
chain-link fencing. The earliest two marked burials, at the gate, have simple fieldstones. The
earliest burial with an etched stone is dated 1901. The headstones are mostly granite upright
tablets or lawn-level stones and some graves have granite footstones. The headstone of Louisa
Ray (1831-1903) is unusual because it is made of metal to appear as stone. There are possibly
some unknown burials in the cemetery. Senior Warden Tom Wallace mentioned that once a
burial was unearthed when digging a new grave, before the cemetery was mapped. 5
2No
maker’s marks were found on the windows.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the…annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Virginia, vol. 76-79, 1871-1834, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org
4 Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works, availble online from Corning Museum of Glass at cmog.org; and Polk's
Wisconsin State Gazetteer & Business Directory 1921, p. 1811.
5
Tom Wallace, Senior Warden, mentioned the cemetery in a conversation, October 2016.
3
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Contributing Sites
Two late-nineteenth-century buildings once shared the church grounds and their
respective sites are contributing to the property. The first, which stood close to the church’s east
side, was a frame two-story building known as the Town Hall, according to Senior Warden Tom
Wallace.6 It was razed during the 1970s but fragments of the stone foundation remain in the yard.
The second building, the rectory, was constructed around 1878. It was a two-story, front-gabled
house with a one-story porch. It stood about 50-75 yards from the church along the church’s west
boundary. After being abandoned for many years, in April 2017, the rectory was razed due to
safety concerns and its poor condition.
Both sites were left relatively undisturbed after demolition of the buildings. As a result, it
is likely that each has intact subsurface cultural deposits related to their historic use. Future
investigations may yield additional information about each building’s history and, in the case of
the Town Hall, the history of Pedlar Mill. Having the location of each site documented
contributes to understanding the historic development and evolution of both the community and
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
6
Senior Warden, Tom Wallace stated, in a telephone interview (February 2017), that he never remembered the
building ever being used.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
X
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
__ARCHITECTURE__
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
_ca. 1837–ca.1926____
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
___ca. 1837–ca.1839__
___ca. 1871–ca.1874__
___ca.1926__________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_____ N/A __________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
______ N/A _________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown ______
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture and meets Criteria Consideration A because its significance is based on its
architectural significance. The property’s period of significance spans from construction of the
church, circa 1837, to its last significant exterior alteration, the portico, circa 1926. The church is
a well-preserved example of a Greek Revival temple-form building featuring an imposing 1926
portico with a simple, pedimented gable supported by Tuscan order columns and symmetrically
placed, tall window and door bays with wooden lintels and corner blocks. Today St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church is one of two remaining Greek Revival style churches in Amherst County; and
is one of only six churches built before 1850 that remain in the county. The interior of St. Luke’s
shows a combination of the Greek Revival and Gothic Revival ornamentation that illustrates the
building’s evolution from construction through a renovation that took place between 1871 and
1874. Significant interior features include the Greek Revival, pedimented arch that separates the
nave from the 1870s chancel, which has Gothic Revival lancet doors and stained-glass windows,
as well as original simple wooden pews, bead-board wainscot, and, along both side walls, the
1870s stained-glass windows that feature lancets with trefoils and crosses and are set within the
building’s original tall, rectangular window openings. The property’s historical development
mirrors the life of the Pedlar Mills community. In addition to now being one of the few
remaining historic buildings in the village, St. Luke’s was the only church built in Pedlar Mills.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is significant to Amherst County as one of the county’s six
remaining churches built before 1850 and one of the few remaining historic buildings associated
with the Pedlar Mills village. It is one of two brick, Greek Revival style churches built in the
county during the 1830s and is the second-oldest extant church of the Episcopal faith in Amherst.
The early nineteenth-century churches of Amherst included three Episcopal churches, two
Methodist, and one Baptist.
The Episcopal churches active in Amherst County during the early to mid-nineteenth
century were Bent Chapel, which burned and was never replaced; Elon, which was disbanded at
an unknown time; and St. Matthew’s or Rucker’s Chapel, which was torn down around 1860 and
the congregation moved to Ascension. 7
Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church (circa 1836, DHR # 005-5080) is now the only other
Greek Revival church in Amherst County. It, unlike St. Luke’s, is a simple building with little
7
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1841-1871, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org; W.
Scott Smith, Research Brief on Rucker’s Chapel: Amherst County, Virginia, 16 July 2008 (unpublished); Smith,
PIF of Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009.
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decoration. Both are of brick construction and have the temple form and tall, narrow window and
door bays; only St. Luke’s has a portico, decorative lintels, and double entry.
In addition to Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church, the six documented historic churches
in Amherst County still extant today are St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (ca.1814, DHR #0050017, built of brick), St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (ca. 1837, DHR # 005-0016, built of brick),
Mt. Horeb Methodist Church (1844, DHR# 005-5255, frame construction), Ascension Episcopal
Church (1847, DHR# 163-0006, built of brick), and New Prospect Baptist Church (1847, DHR#
005-5273, frame construction). Most have been expanded or remodeled over time.
The construction date of St. Luke’s was determined by field investigation, the use of
Diocesan records, and an unpublished church history written by former church minister Rev.
Paul A Walker.8 The original church records were burned in a house fire around the 1960s. The
Diocesan records for the church show that, in 1837, they spent $1,500 to construct a new brick
building, which agrees with basic information in the Walker history and on-site observation. 9
A discrepancy between church lore, the Diocesan records, and on-site observation occurs
in the history between 1871 and 1874, at which time the church lore states the entire 1837
building was torn down and reconstructed using the same materials. 10 The Diocesan records,
however, in 1871 noted the church had raised $500 towards building repair; and meanwhile, in
1873, a visiting minister from another parish noted a new building on the site of old St. Luke’s in
“Pedlar Valley.” Two records in 1874 involve the church. The first, from the Bishop’s notes,
states a “substantial new brick building, occupying the place where, on my last visit, stood the
old”; and secondly, the Diocesan records showed they had completed a new church with building
costs of $1,200.11 Another indication of major changes to the building is that the church was
known as St. Luke’s and Pedlar Church until 1876, when, after renovations, it was officially
consecrated on 11 May 1876 as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
It does not make sense that a building originally constructed in 1837 at a cost of $1,500
could be totally rebuilt at a cost of $1,200 in 1874, even considering the effects of inflation or
deflation and the poor economy across most of Virginia after the Civil War. Newer building
materials were not observed in the earliest section of the building, which would be expected if
they had actually torn the earlier building down and rebuilt; there would naturally be a loss of
original material. However, the rear addition on the building appears to be from a later era as it is
not tied into the original building either at the walls or foundation. The darker color of the brick
also is different from that of the earlier building. If the 1837 building had been rebuilt, then
8
Rev. Paul A Walker was the parish minister from 1955-1966 and he wrote the multi-page paper as part of the 1957
Jamestown House Tour of Amherst County.
9
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1831-1839, Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org;
Telephone interview with Sr. Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (October 2016 and February 2017).
10
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957, and Telephone
interview with Sr. Warden of St. Luke’s, Tom Wallace (October 2016 and February 2017).
11
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, vol. 76-79 (1871-1874), Richmond, VA., available online from
babel.hathitrust.org,
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
logically the rear section would have been included as part of the 1870s reconstruction and tied
into the front section. Also not all of the original building’s bricks likely would have survived the
rebuilding process and the darker 1870s bricks would have been used as needed to reconstruct
the building. Another detail suggesting the rear addition dates to the late nineteenth century is the
rear, exterior, five-panel door, a style that was commonly used during the late nineteenthcentury. Thus it appears that the rear addition postdates the main building. It is not known if an
earlier chancel once occupied this space but, given the elaborate Greek Revival arch at the
chancel opening, it is possible that such a space was replaced or extensively remodeled and
enlarged to create the current chancel. A late nineteenth-century element that ties together the
two sections aesthetically is the bead-board wainscot in the nave and bead-board walls in the
chancel.
The stained-glass windows along the side walls are significant features of the church.
Every exterior window has the same pattern with a lancet containing a draped trefoil at its peak,
elongated crosses on the sides and a stylized floral decoration at the bottom. No maker’s marks
were found on the windows. Three marble memorial plaques are displayed in the nave, one on
the wall between the entry doors and one on each of the side walls The memorials were soldered
in place at an unknown date.
Another significant feature is the memorial window in the chancel’s north (rear) wall,
which is obscured from exterior view by the rear addition’s storage room. This window, with the
image of Christ praying, was created sometime around 1923, based on the dates within the
window. The maker’s mark on the glass identifies “Milwaukee M & Glass Works” as the
manufacturer.12
In 1926, the congregation built a wooden portico on the front of the building. A
description of the earliest appearance of the main elevation has not yet been found. However, the
portico’s unadorned portico and Doric columns echo the original building’s Greek Revival style.
The portico also has a central concrete stair from the ground to the concrete deck, with the date
1926 etched into the concrete. This was the last significant exterior modification to the building.
Later updates to the building include electrification in the 1930s-1940s and the installation of
baseboard heat along with the removal of coal stoves in 1976.
As explained in the Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era
to 1940 style guide, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church displays character-defining aspects of Greek
Revival style, such as its temple form, balanced, symmetrical façade, entrance portico with
pedimented gable and Doric columns, and symmetrical fenestration. Even its relatively austere
ornamentation is in keeping with Greek Revival, which was seen as a reaction against the more
exuberant Rococo that earlier had prevailed in Europe. The building’s 1837 construction date
coincides with the style’s height of popularity in the United States. The style was inspired by
archaeological discoveries occurring in Greece and other parts of the ancient world during the
12
Milwaukee Mirror and Art Glass Works, availble online from Corning Museum of Glass at cmog.org; and Polk's
Wisconsin State Gazetteer & Business Directory 1921, p. 1811.The Wiconsin firm opened in 1887 and operated into
the early twentieth-century.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
eighteenth and early nineteenth century. British architects James Stuart and Nicholas Revett
published Antiquities of Athens in 1762, which remained influential for decades thereafter. Later
pattern books that included examples of Greek Revival elements, such as moldings, doors,
windows, and columns, also contributed to the style’s pervasive use on numerous types of
buildings, from churches and houses to schools, hospitals, and government buildings. 13
Similarly, the 1870s renovations to St. Luke’s in the Gothic Revival style matched that
era’s national tastes in architecture. Various iterations of the Gothic Revival styles proliferated in
Virginia between the 1830s and 1940s.14 Whereas Greek Revival often demonstrates horizontal
massing, Gothic Revival emphasized verticality; hence, St. Luke’s has the interesting
juxtaposition of its original rectangular windows holding stained glass windows designed to
mimic the appearance of lancet arches. On the interior, the 1870s lancet doors from the chancel
to the storage area and the 1923 memorial stained glass window in the chancel are juxtaposed
with the Gothic Revival arch separating the nave and chancel and the original front doors.
Today St. Luke’s is a well-preserved example of a nineteenth-century Greek Revival
temple-form Protestant church with later Gothic Revival elements. Since 1926, the building has
not been significantly altered or enlarged, although its electrical and heating systems have been
modernized. The building currently stands as one of the oldest remaining buildings of Pedlar
Mills and one of the oldest churches in Amherst County.
Historic Background
The congregation of St. Luke’s was organized around 1790. The minister of this postAmerican Revolution Episcopalian church was Rev. Charles Crawford (1765-1815). He was
native to Amherst County and one of the first ordained ministers after the war; he served the
Lexington parish until his retirement in 1815. 15 From its beginnings, St. Luke’s was supported by
the Ellis family, major land holders of the area. The earliest services are known to have been
held in a tobacco barn, which was likely on Ellis land. The church was built on a site below the
Ellis home place, known as Red Hill.16
The Ellis family was a founding family of Pedlar Mills. A commercial mill was built
sometime around 1800 and was soon followed by a mercantile store and a post office. The
commercial mill, which milled flour for overseas sale, was owned by Charles Ellis (1772-1840)
who partnered with John Allan in the import/export firm of Ellis and Allan of Richmond,
Virginia. Ellis also held farmland in Amherst County, on which was grown wheat and tobacco.
Tobacco, in particular, was the county’s primary cash crop at this time, and was also shipped
13
Chris Novelli, Melina Bezirdjian, Calder Loth, and Lena Sweeten McDonald, Classic Commonwealth: Virginia
Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940 (Richmond, VA: Department of Historic Resources, 2015), 45-46.
14
Novelli et al. 49.
15
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957. Lexington was
the name given to the parish by the Diocese in memory of the battle during the Revolutionary War.
16 Red Hill (DHR # 005-0016); and Amherst County Deed Books AA/336, BB/ 366; and Amherst County Will
Book 12/420;
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
overseas. Charles Ellis’s lands were managed by John Ellis (1767-1826) and Richard Ellis
(1774-1846), his brothers. John and Richard Ellis jointly operated a mercantile store in Pedlar
Mills. They bought and sold merchandise to Charles Ellis and John Allan. John Ellis also was the
village Postmaster from 1807 to 1814. Ellis and Allen of Richmond was a family business and
included another brother, Josiah Ellis, Jr. (1777-1836), who traveled for the firm in Europe. Two
additional brothers were Joshua (1787-1825) and Powhatan (1790-1863) Ellis. Joshua Ellis
handled the family holdings which were still part of their father, Josiah’s (1746-1810), estate and
Powhatan Ellis, later in life, became a Mississippi Supreme Court Justice and U. S. Senator from
Mississippi.17
Pedlar Mills, as a community and milling center, grew rapidly from its population of 56
in 1835 to 600 in the 1890s. The village was located on the major travel route between
Lynchburg and Lexington (known today as the Buffalo Springs Turnpike) and included, at its
height, four grain mills, three sawmills, a hotel, several doctors, a dentist, general and specialty
stores, a tannery, blacksmith, undertaker, and a private school. Toward the end of the nineteenth
century and into the twentieth, the village began to lose its mills due to economic changes that
reduced demand for the village’s products and to natural phenomenon. Three major floods
affected the area in 1884, 1942, and 1969; with the last effectively killing the milling industry in
this area. Today, the area, once known as Pedlar Mills, is rural and many farms surround the old
village center. Few of the historic buildings remain; these include several houses, the tavern
(005-0019), St. Luke’s Episcopal church, and several neglected store buildings. Additionally,
mill ruins remain undisturbed in the village.18
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was an integral part of Pedlar Mills and the community’s
population growth corresponded to an increasing church membership. Church history and
Diocesan records note this growth and regular services held by the minister of the Parish, who
traveled a circuit of churches until the Civil War. The St. Luke’s congregation allowed the local
Baptist and Presbyterian congregations, who did not have their own meetinghouses, to hold
services in their building. The Diocesan records between 1865 and 1870 show the congregation
grew despite a lack of regular church services. One record notes the congregants were unable to
travel to other Parish churches due to their distance from Pedlar Mills and it further states their
building was going “to ruin.” 19 By 1871, the congregation became financially able to support
their own minister and they began renovations to the church. After renovations, the church was
17
Rev. Paul A. Walker, History of St. Luke’s Church at Pedlar Mills, Virginia, (unpublished) 1957; Smith, PIF of
Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009; and Sandra Esposito, Edgar Allan Poe: His Connections to Amherst County,
15 September 2015, (unpublished presentation). In Smith’s work he mentions Charles Ellis (1719-1759) the
partiarch of the family in Amherst County as the man in partnership with John Allan (1779-1834), however it was
his grandson Charles. The Ellis and Allan company(founded in 1800) was funded in part by William Galt (17351825) one of the wealthiest men in Virginia at the time. Galt was also the uncle of John Allan and both Allan and
Ellis worked as clerks for Galt before startin their own firm. John Allan is also of note as the foster father of Edgar
Allan Poe.
18
Smith, PIF of Pedlar Mills (DHR # 005-5025), 2009
19
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, (1839-1876), Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org;
The nearest parish church was Elon 6-10 miles away with St. Marks in Clifford being 23 miles from Pedlar Mills.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
officially consecrated on 11 May 1876 as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Before this, the church
had been known as St. Luke’s and Pedlar Church. 20
Originally the church property included just one acre but in 1878, the congregation
acquired an additional thirteen acres that allowed space for a cemetery and a rectory. By 1879,
the two-story, frame, gable-front rectory stood about 50-75 yards west of the church, near a creek
that flowed into the Pedlar River. Unfortunately, the village began to die and with it the church
finances. They were no longer able to support a full-time minister and the rectory was
abandoned. The church razed the rectory in April 2017. 21
The church interior contains memorials to several former congregants, consisting of the
stained-glass windows and three marble plaques. The plaques and several windows are dedicated
to various members of several generations of the Ellis family. The remaining windows honor the
Minor, Turner, Woods, and Pleasants families. The most recent of the dedications is a memorial
to George T. and Mary Pleasants, both of whom died in a house fire in 1963. 22
Today, St. Luke’s continues to hold regular services despite a severely reduced
membership. The small congregation actively works to maintain the building and cemetery and
to keep the church alive.
20
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, (1839-1876), Richmond, VA., available online from babel.hathitrust.org
Amherst County Deed Book RR/167; Episcopal Church. Diocese of Virginia, 1879-1889, Richmond, VA.,
available online from babel.hathitrust.org; and Smith, PIF, 2009.
22
This is probably the family who had possession of the early records which burned; Va. Death certificates for the
Pleasants available on ancestry.com.
21
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Book AA/336, BB/366 and RR/167.
Amherst County Will Book 12/420.
Amherst County Heritage Book Committee. Amherst County Virginia Heritage 1761-1999.
n.d.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society. "St. Luke's Episcopal Church Files." n.d.
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. "Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report July 2010." 2010.
Meade, William. Old Churches in Virginia, Vol. 2. 1861. books.google.com (accessed 2016).
Novelli, Chris, Melina Bezirdjian, Calder Loth, and Lena Sweeten McDonald. Classic
Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940. Richmond, VA:
Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge. “Pedlar Mills Rural Historic District (005-5025).” 2009.
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Church History. n.d. stlukespedlarmills.net (accessed 2016).
Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “St. Luke's Episcopal Church (005-0012)
Archive.” n.d.
Virginia Diocese of Protestant Episcopal Church. Journals of Councils of Protestant
Episcopal Church 1790-1880. various. babel.hathitrust.org (accessed 2017).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. “Red Hill (005-0014).” 1980. Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, VA.
Walker, Rev. Paul A. "History of St. Luke's Church at Pedlar Mills." Unpublished, 1957.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
__X__ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA___________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _DHR# 005-0016_________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property ___14 acres___________
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84: __________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.559390
Longitude: -79.254962
2. Latitude: 37.559380
Longitude: -79.254263
3. Latitude: 37.557421
Longitude: -79.253384
4. Latitude: 37.556621
Longitude: -79.257670
5.. Latitude: 37.557795
Longitude -79.254704
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property are coterminous with the tax parcel lines recorded as
Amherst County Tax Map 105 A 12, available at the Amherst County Government Building
and online at countyofamherst.com. The true and correct historic boundaries are shown on
the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries encompass the property’s historic setting as well as all known
historic resources. Further, these boundaries reflect the property’s boundaries as they have
been recorded since 1878.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: __Sandra F. Esposito_________________________________________
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number: __140 Cradon Hill Ln____________________________________
city or town: _Amherst_________________ state: _VA_________ zip code: _24521______
e-mail: _espositosf@earthlink.net__________________________
telephone: __434-346-7496____________________
date: ______6 June 2017_______________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
City or Vicinity: Pedlar Mills
County: Amherst County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: October 2016
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch_0001
View: Primary building, south elevation, camera facing northeast
2 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0002
View: Primary building, west elevation, camera facing east
3 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0003
View: Primary building, north and west elevations, camera facing south
4 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0004
View: Primary building, east elevation, camera facing west
5 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0005
View: Primary building, south and east elevations, camera facing northwest
6 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0006
View: Cemetery, camera facing north
7 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0007
View: Cemetery, camera facing east
8 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0008
View: Cemetery, camera looking northeast
9 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0009
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing northwest
10 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0010
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing south
11 of 11: VA_ AmherstCounty_St.LukesEpiscopalChurch _0011
View: Interior, primary building, detail of chancel, camera facing north
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
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C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 19
Text
'
I
Forr, 10-rn
1
i
\
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
( J @ b 1969)
STATE?
Virninia
COUNTY:
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
Amhers t
-
(Type all e n t r i e s
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
- complete a p p l i c a b l e sections)
I
.
Sweet Briar House
AND/OR HISTORIC:
Briar; Locust Ridge
A
N
c
~
.8 ~m i~. NW
~
~of r Rt.
29, .l m i . SW o f i n t e r s e c t i o n with Rt. 624.
~
i
C I T Y O R TOWN:
S w e e t Briar
I
STATE
a
CODE
145
ICOUNTY-
1
CODE
lo09
Amherst
L
CATEGORY
(Check One)
(Zg Building
District
,
Site
Oblect
PRESENT USE
0
Public
rn
Structure
0
STATUS
OWNERSHIP
Public Acquisition:
Priva'e
Both
Occupied
i n Process
Being Considered
a Unoccupied
Preservation work
i n progress
ACCESSIBLE
~b THE PUBLIC
Yes:
@J Restricted
Unrostrictod
17 NO
(Check One or ~ o ; e a8 Appmpti~Yte)
Agricultural
Government
Park
Commercial
Industrial
Private Residence
Educational
Military
Religious
Entertainment
Museum
Scientific
Transportation
Comments
Other ( s p r c f ~ )
I!?
2
Sweet Briar College
W
2
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
w
VI
STATE:
C I T Y O R TOWN:
Sweet Briar
Virginia.
k,,
L~CA~~~~~FFTEIGX~DECRI
Pt
ION
ICOURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY O F
DEEDS. E T C :
n
Amherst County Court House
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
n
m
C I T Y O R TOWN:
STATE
Visa
Amhers t
k,REPRESENTATION i~EXISTING SURVEYS
I T I T L EO F
CODE
->...
45
g/
, ,_,
!
L
-I
Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
1957
DEPOSITORY F O R SURVEY RECORDS:
Library o f Cpngresa
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
rt
,
SURVEY:
DATE OF SURVEY:
'
Federal
n
State
County
Local
"
z
0
c Z
I
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IP
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0
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5
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0
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Washington
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CONDITION
Fi G o d
Ex=.lI.nt
0Fdr
0-nriaond
Ruins
(check One)
A1ter.d
IJ Unolhr.d
D S S C R I B E T H E P R E S E N T A N D O W I O I N A L (Ifh
-)
Ulr.ros.d
(Cheek Om.)'
Mo-d
&ioiml
sin
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
A s o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t Sweet B r i a r was a t y p i c a l Piedmont F e d e r a l - s t y l e
b r i c k farmhouse, f e a t u r i n g a hipped r o o f , a two-level pedimented p o r t i c o ,
and e x t e r i o r end chimneys. Although t h e o l d e s t s e c t i o n of t h e house h a s
a s i n g l e p i l e p l a n , i t has a c e n t e r e d two-story r e a r e l l which may be
o r i g i n a l . I n 1851, t h e house underwent a n e x t e n s i v e remodelling i n a n
a t t e m p t t o transform i t i n t o a n I t a l i a n a t e V i l l a - s t y l e c o u n t r y house.
The o r i g i n a l p o r t i c o was removed and s u b s t i t u t e d by a two-level arcaded
p o r t i c o w i t h a o n e - s t o r y verandah a c r o s s t h e facade. The p l a i n molded
c o r n i c e was r e p l a c e d by a simple m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e . At t h e ends of t h e
house were placed two t h r e e - s t o r y I t a l i a n a t e towers of s l i g h t l y uneqcT,
h e i g h t and form. Both towers, however, f e a t u r e t h r e e - p a r t windows o n t h e upper l e v e l s and ornamental i r o n b a l c o n i e s . Botli towers a l s o a r e
topped by shallow hipped r o o f s . The e n t i r e house was p a i n t e d a uniform
cream c o l o r w i t h w h i t e t r i m .
Following t h e s e a l t e r a t i o n s and a d d i t i o n s ,
t h e house received f u r t h e r a d d i t i o n s on t h e r e a r a t d i f f e r e n t times, p a r t
of which may d a t e from t h e e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
Most of t h e i n t e r i o r t r i m o f t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n s u r v i v e s , a l t h o u g h some
of t h e mantels have been r e p l a c e d by V i c t o r i a n ones. 'Ihe o r i g i n a l woodwor
i s of t h e s i m p l e s t type, w i t h no o u t s t a n d i n g d e t a i l s . Much of t h e t r i m
i n the e n t r a n c e h a l l was r e p l a c e d a s a r e s u l t of a f i r e i n 1927. The
simple t r i m i n t h e tower rooms complements t h e f i n e V i c t o r i a n f u r n i t u r e ,
much of which was purchased by t h e F l e t c h e r family i n P h i l a d e l p h i a and
New York e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h e house. The f i r s t f l o o r tower rooms are
f u r t h e r enhanced by e l a b o r a t e bronze c h a n d e l i e r s and marble mantels.
*.
-Many ~ l e t c h e rp i e c e s remain i n t h e r e s t of i h e house,' m a k i n g t h e p l a c e
an . important
document of mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y i n t e r i o r d e c o. r, a t i o n .
.
The house i s s e t i n a s p a c i o u s informal park f e a t u r i n g ornamental t r e e s
a n d numerous l a r g e boxwood. ' Boxw6od' i n f r o n t of t h e house that
o r i g i n a l l y l i n e d a c i r c u l a r d r i v e have g r a m t o g r e a t h e i g h t and make
a handsome frame f o r t h e facade. I n t h e ' r e a r of t h e house is a n
e a r l y b u t l a r g e l y r e b u i l t o u t b u i l d i n g t h a t belonged t o t h e o r i g i n a l farm
complex.
V)
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s h e e t ~ r i a r~ o & ewaeprobably b u i l t i n t h e f i r s t q u a r t e r of the
nineteenth century by the Crews (or Crouse) family a s a six-room,
T-shaped farmhouse. The land on which the house was b u i l t was
p a r t of a grant by the ~r;jihi"EoGeorge Carrington i n 1770. A t a
public auction i n 1830, the property, known a s Locust Ridge, was
bought by E l i j a h Fletcher, a New England school teacher who had
come t o Virginia i n 1810.
E l i j a h Fletcher was the owner and publisher of The Virginian, a
Whig newspaper i n Lynchburg; he a l s o served a s the mayor of t h a t c i t y .
Mrs. Fletcher, the former Maria Antoinette Crawford of nearby Tusculum,
changed the name of the property t o Sweet Briar, f o r the abundance
of wild roses t h a t grew there. A t f i r s t a weekend r e t r e a t , the
F l e t c h e r s made Sweet Briar t h e i r permanent home i n 1846. I n the spring
of 1851, Fletchel; began the
enlargelpent
by thy a d d i t i o n
I ..'. ,
.., , o f t h e. ,house
. . , ..
of 'tiie't'ower wings i r i d ' t h e conne'cting a;c'ided p o r t i c o i n t h e talia an
V i l l a s t y l e . The p r o j e c t was completed i n about eighteen months.
After F l e t c h e r ' s death i n 1858, h i s daughter Indiana i n h e r i t e d t h e
house. I n 1865 she married Ja&s Henry Williams; an Episcopal
clergyman, and two years f a t e r t h e i r only c h i l d , Daisy, was born.
Daisy died when only sevdnteen years old, and i t was i n h e r d m o r y
t h a t her sorrowing parents m d e plans t o found a school f o r g i r l s
and young women. The c o l l e g e was e s t a b l i s h e d i n accordance with
provisions of Mrs. ~ i l l i a m s 'w i l l ; i t s c h a r t e r was granted by the
Commonwealth of Virginia i n 1901; and the f i r s t students matriculated
i n 1906. The house now serves a s t h e residence f o r the president of
Sweet B r i a r College, one of the n a t i o n ' s most p r e s t i g i o u s women's
colleges.
As a r e s u l t of the 1851 remodelling, Sweet Briar House stands today
a s a major example of the I t a l i a n V i l l a s t y l e i n Virginia. I n a sense
Sweet Briar achieved i t s picturesque e f f e c t i n much the same manner
a s i t s prototype, the vernacular I t a l i a n farmhouse - through a l t e r a t i o n s
and a d d i t i o n s . Unfortunately t h e a r c h i t e c t of the remodelling i s
unknown, although an unsigned contemporary rendering of t h e facade
showing i t s a d d i t i o n s survives i n the College Library. Not only is
the q u a l i t y of the picturesque evident i n t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e
house, but the informal gardens o r i g i n a l l y l a i d out by E l i j a h Fletcher
d i s p l y a roarrntic i n s i r a t i o n as w e l l . The many l a r g e boxwoode have
long t e e n a f a v o r i t e a t t r a c t i o n .
.
M R BlBLlOGRAPH1CAL REFERENCES
O'Neal, William B . , Architecture ,& Virginia. New York: 1968.
Stohlman, Martha Lou, The Story of Sweet Briar Collene. A l m a e
Association of Sweet Briar College, 1956.
Sweet Briar I n s t i t u t e . 1904 (pamphlet).
I n f o r m t i o n provided by Martha von Briesen, D i r e c t o r , Public Relations
Office, Sweet Briar College, Sweet B r i a r , Virginia.
--
I
L
,
,
I
FORMPREPAREDBY
S t a f f , Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Conmission, James
W. Moody, Jr.. Directoc
DITE
OROINIIATION
. - , . A p r i l ,21. 1970
Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Comnission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e Office Building
I
STATE
1
Richmond
I hi
W o N A L REGtsleR VeRIFtcATmN
I
..
As the designated State Liaison Officer for the NP.
tion.1
Historic Preservation Act of 19h6 (Public I.aw
Nati-l
in the National Register and certify that it has been
evaluated according to the criteria and procemres s e t
forth by the National Perk Service. Th,e recommended
level of significance of this nomination is:
n
N O ~ ~ O ~ I
state
LOCUI
Nam
L
Reghter.
Chief, Offlce of Archeolo&!y
0
....-
I
;
and Hlatoric Preservatlm
I : . . .,,,..;
Ds tc
-10
ATTEST:
. ,.,
D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairnnn
TitleVirginia H i s t o r i c Landuarks Comi s i o n
.,
.
1
I hereby certify that thia property Is included in the
89465). 1 hereby nominate t h i s property far i n c l u a i ~ n
cn
V
112. STATE LIAISON OFFICER C ~ R T I F I C A IION
,.
c
K n p e r of The NaHmaf Raalaler
#,
8
I
1
0
Z
S T R E E T I N 0 NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOWN:
n
!
;
i
I
Forr, 10-rn
1
i
\
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
( J @ b 1969)
STATE?
Virninia
COUNTY:
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
Amhers t
-
(Type all e n t r i e s
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
- complete a p p l i c a b l e sections)
I
.
Sweet Briar House
AND/OR HISTORIC:
Briar; Locust Ridge
A
N
c
~
.8 ~m i~. NW
~
~of r Rt.
29, .l m i . SW o f i n t e r s e c t i o n with Rt. 624.
~
i
C I T Y O R TOWN:
S w e e t Briar
I
STATE
a
CODE
145
ICOUNTY-
1
CODE
lo09
Amherst
L
CATEGORY
(Check One)
(Zg Building
District
,
Site
Oblect
PRESENT USE
0
Public
rn
Structure
0
STATUS
OWNERSHIP
Public Acquisition:
Priva'e
Both
Occupied
i n Process
Being Considered
a Unoccupied
Preservation work
i n progress
ACCESSIBLE
~b THE PUBLIC
Yes:
@J Restricted
Unrostrictod
17 NO
(Check One or ~ o ; e a8 Appmpti~Yte)
Agricultural
Government
Park
Commercial
Industrial
Private Residence
Educational
Military
Religious
Entertainment
Museum
Scientific
Transportation
Comments
Other ( s p r c f ~ )
I!?
2
Sweet Briar College
W
2
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
w
VI
STATE:
C I T Y O R TOWN:
Sweet Briar
Virginia.
k,,
L~CA~~~~~FFTEIGX~DECRI
Pt
ION
ICOURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY O F
DEEDS. E T C :
n
Amherst County Court House
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
n
m
C I T Y O R TOWN:
STATE
Visa
Amhers t
k,REPRESENTATION i~EXISTING SURVEYS
I T I T L EO F
CODE
->...
45
g/
, ,_,
!
L
-I
Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
1957
DEPOSITORY F O R SURVEY RECORDS:
Library o f Cpngresa
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
rt
,
SURVEY:
DATE OF SURVEY:
'
Federal
n
State
County
Local
"
z
0
c Z
I
m
IP
a
0
cn
5
rn
0
z
r
Washington
!
i
(r(
-<
.
D~SCR~PT~OH
,+
%
ccnod o
n.)
CONDITION
Fi G o d
Ex=.lI.nt
0Fdr
0-nriaond
Ruins
(check One)
A1ter.d
IJ Unolhr.d
D S S C R I B E T H E P R E S E N T A N D O W I O I N A L (Ifh
-)
Ulr.ros.d
(Cheek Om.)'
Mo-d
&ioiml
sin
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
A s o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t Sweet B r i a r was a t y p i c a l Piedmont F e d e r a l - s t y l e
b r i c k farmhouse, f e a t u r i n g a hipped r o o f , a two-level pedimented p o r t i c o ,
and e x t e r i o r end chimneys. Although t h e o l d e s t s e c t i o n of t h e house h a s
a s i n g l e p i l e p l a n , i t has a c e n t e r e d two-story r e a r e l l which may be
o r i g i n a l . I n 1851, t h e house underwent a n e x t e n s i v e remodelling i n a n
a t t e m p t t o transform i t i n t o a n I t a l i a n a t e V i l l a - s t y l e c o u n t r y house.
The o r i g i n a l p o r t i c o was removed and s u b s t i t u t e d by a two-level arcaded
p o r t i c o w i t h a o n e - s t o r y verandah a c r o s s t h e facade. The p l a i n molded
c o r n i c e was r e p l a c e d by a simple m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e . At t h e ends of t h e
house were placed two t h r e e - s t o r y I t a l i a n a t e towers of s l i g h t l y uneqcT,
h e i g h t and form. Both towers, however, f e a t u r e t h r e e - p a r t windows o n t h e upper l e v e l s and ornamental i r o n b a l c o n i e s . Botli towers a l s o a r e
topped by shallow hipped r o o f s . The e n t i r e house was p a i n t e d a uniform
cream c o l o r w i t h w h i t e t r i m .
Following t h e s e a l t e r a t i o n s and a d d i t i o n s ,
t h e house received f u r t h e r a d d i t i o n s on t h e r e a r a t d i f f e r e n t times, p a r t
of which may d a t e from t h e e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
Most of t h e i n t e r i o r t r i m o f t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n s u r v i v e s , a l t h o u g h some
of t h e mantels have been r e p l a c e d by V i c t o r i a n ones. 'Ihe o r i g i n a l woodwor
i s of t h e s i m p l e s t type, w i t h no o u t s t a n d i n g d e t a i l s . Much of t h e t r i m
i n the e n t r a n c e h a l l was r e p l a c e d a s a r e s u l t of a f i r e i n 1927. The
simple t r i m i n t h e tower rooms complements t h e f i n e V i c t o r i a n f u r n i t u r e ,
much of which was purchased by t h e F l e t c h e r family i n P h i l a d e l p h i a and
New York e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h e house. The f i r s t f l o o r tower rooms are
f u r t h e r enhanced by e l a b o r a t e bronze c h a n d e l i e r s and marble mantels.
*.
-Many ~ l e t c h e rp i e c e s remain i n t h e r e s t of i h e house,' m a k i n g t h e p l a c e
an . important
document of mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y i n t e r i o r d e c o. r, a t i o n .
.
The house i s s e t i n a s p a c i o u s informal park f e a t u r i n g ornamental t r e e s
a n d numerous l a r g e boxwood. ' Boxw6od' i n f r o n t of t h e house that
o r i g i n a l l y l i n e d a c i r c u l a r d r i v e have g r a m t o g r e a t h e i g h t and make
a handsome frame f o r t h e facade. I n t h e ' r e a r of t h e house is a n
e a r l y b u t l a r g e l y r e b u i l t o u t b u i l d i n g t h a t belonged t o t h e o r i g i n a l farm
complex.
V)
m
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Archimctun
q SwieI/H--
,
:
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,l?h:?*'(I!
Ilnien
u Tkoi..
a Trpn~p~hll~n
s h e e t ~ r i a r~ o & ewaeprobably b u i l t i n t h e f i r s t q u a r t e r of the
nineteenth century by the Crews (or Crouse) family a s a six-room,
T-shaped farmhouse. The land on which the house was b u i l t was
p a r t of a grant by the ~r;jihi"EoGeorge Carrington i n 1770. A t a
public auction i n 1830, the property, known a s Locust Ridge, was
bought by E l i j a h Fletcher, a New England school teacher who had
come t o Virginia i n 1810.
E l i j a h Fletcher was the owner and publisher of The Virginian, a
Whig newspaper i n Lynchburg; he a l s o served a s the mayor of t h a t c i t y .
Mrs. Fletcher, the former Maria Antoinette Crawford of nearby Tusculum,
changed the name of the property t o Sweet Briar, f o r the abundance
of wild roses t h a t grew there. A t f i r s t a weekend r e t r e a t , the
F l e t c h e r s made Sweet Briar t h e i r permanent home i n 1846. I n the spring
of 1851, Fletchel; began the
enlargelpent
by thy a d d i t i o n
I ..'. ,
.., , o f t h e. ,house
. . , ..
of 'tiie't'ower wings i r i d ' t h e conne'cting a;c'ided p o r t i c o i n t h e talia an
V i l l a s t y l e . The p r o j e c t was completed i n about eighteen months.
After F l e t c h e r ' s death i n 1858, h i s daughter Indiana i n h e r i t e d t h e
house. I n 1865 she married Ja&s Henry Williams; an Episcopal
clergyman, and two years f a t e r t h e i r only c h i l d , Daisy, was born.
Daisy died when only sevdnteen years old, and i t was i n h e r d m o r y
t h a t her sorrowing parents m d e plans t o found a school f o r g i r l s
and young women. The c o l l e g e was e s t a b l i s h e d i n accordance with
provisions of Mrs. ~ i l l i a m s 'w i l l ; i t s c h a r t e r was granted by the
Commonwealth of Virginia i n 1901; and the f i r s t students matriculated
i n 1906. The house now serves a s t h e residence f o r the president of
Sweet B r i a r College, one of the n a t i o n ' s most p r e s t i g i o u s women's
colleges.
As a r e s u l t of the 1851 remodelling, Sweet Briar House stands today
a s a major example of the I t a l i a n V i l l a s t y l e i n Virginia. I n a sense
Sweet Briar achieved i t s picturesque e f f e c t i n much the same manner
a s i t s prototype, the vernacular I t a l i a n farmhouse - through a l t e r a t i o n s
and a d d i t i o n s . Unfortunately t h e a r c h i t e c t of the remodelling i s
unknown, although an unsigned contemporary rendering of t h e facade
showing i t s a d d i t i o n s survives i n the College Library. Not only is
the q u a l i t y of the picturesque evident i n t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e
house, but the informal gardens o r i g i n a l l y l a i d out by E l i j a h Fletcher
d i s p l y a roarrntic i n s i r a t i o n as w e l l . The many l a r g e boxwoode have
long t e e n a f a v o r i t e a t t r a c t i o n .
.
M R BlBLlOGRAPH1CAL REFERENCES
O'Neal, William B . , Architecture ,& Virginia. New York: 1968.
Stohlman, Martha Lou, The Story of Sweet Briar Collene. A l m a e
Association of Sweet Briar College, 1956.
Sweet Briar I n s t i t u t e . 1904 (pamphlet).
I n f o r m t i o n provided by Martha von Briesen, D i r e c t o r , Public Relations
Office, Sweet Briar College, Sweet B r i a r , Virginia.
--
I
L
,
,
I
FORMPREPAREDBY
S t a f f , Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Conmission, James
W. Moody, Jr.. Directoc
DITE
OROINIIATION
. - , . A p r i l ,21. 1970
Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Comnission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e Office Building
I
STATE
1
Richmond
I hi
W o N A L REGtsleR VeRIFtcATmN
I
..
As the designated State Liaison Officer for the NP.
tion.1
Historic Preservation Act of 19h6 (Public I.aw
Nati-l
in the National Register and certify that it has been
evaluated according to the criteria and procemres s e t
forth by the National Perk Service. Th,e recommended
level of significance of this nomination is:
n
N O ~ ~ O ~ I
state
LOCUI
Nam
L
Reghter.
Chief, Offlce of Archeolo&!y
0
....-
I
;
and Hlatoric Preservatlm
I : . . .,,,..;
Ds tc
-10
ATTEST:
. ,.,
D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairnnn
TitleVirginia H i s t o r i c Landuarks Comi s i o n
.,
.
1
I hereby certify that thia property Is included in the
89465). 1 hereby nominate t h i s property far i n c l u a i ~ n
cn
V
112. STATE LIAISON OFFICER C ~ R T I F I C A IION
,.
c
K n p e r of The NaHmaf Raalaler
#,
8
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S T R E E T I N 0 NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOWN:
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Text
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
N a t i o d Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
1. Name of Property
historic name
other nameslsite number
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
Tusculum
VDHR File No. 005-0020
2077 N. Amherst Highway (US29)
Amherst
code VA county
Amherst
code
009
N/A not for publication
NIA vicinity
zip code
2452 1
3. StatelFederal A g m y Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify
that this X nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for
registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets - does not meet the National
Register Criteria. 1 recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide 3
locally. ( -See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature .of certifying o%ciall~itle
-
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( - See continuation
sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official1Title
Date
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
Action
entered in the National Register.
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the National Register.
- See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register.
removed from the National Register.
other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date
of
Amherst Co.. Va,
Tusculum
CmrsdStar
NlmcOfRoPrry
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Cmknmravbmcal~sg~b~
(WW===bor)
c o o m ~ ~ ~ w ~ h ~ m u n . )
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
li building(s)
Contributing
1
-district
-site
-structure
-object
Name of related multiple property listing
(MLI'NIKifpopcnyirMpuraf&rnu4ipkmti~.)
0
Noncontributing
0
0
0
0
0
buildings
sites
structures
objects
1
0
Total
0
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Eaarrargoics fmm i d m )
(aara~~flmiamamhu)
megL"Y
Subcategory
Category
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
W O R K IN PROGRESS
Architectural Classification
(Em,m
a horn i d - )
Georgian
Federal
Narrative Description
mgdbe~hilorilorimd-~mndidaaaf~~aoonrmmacmadoln~ib~.)
Subcategory
Materials
(8aarstleoierfmmim"ah)
foundation
walls
Stone
Wood
roof
other
Asphalt
Brick
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
mt.r'x'inon.mmonb=faaebe~W~
tac pmpny f a N
W Re@w bdn8.1
W'X'indlbhbrnnthst8ppb.)
Prapstv it:
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
(Emmes&s fmm imnruuim)
Ca. 1750-1815
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
(CampMWOaaimBirmulad~)
ArchitectlBuilder
r
Sherman (brickmason)
Narrative Statement of Significance
(E~l.inhdbaifrmr~&pmpsryrmoncaaaemodnvmOaibaa.)
>
'or Bi 1'
9
Bibliography
(Cite w kc&, d d s . sxd m h '
~QYM
YXd
in pnntrioe thin fmo m me a
-
~~1l6nu6tio
ah-.)
a
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been reauested
-pre&ously listed in the ~ationalRegister
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
- Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
- Other
Name of repository:
Amherst Co.. Va,
--'-
approximately Q&5 acres
Acreage of Property
UTM References
( P ~ ~ d m - a a .
m,6mmtb nbm)
Zone Easting Northing
1 1 676700 4167140
2 1
-S
Zone Easting Northing
3 1
4 1
c c ~ s b c a .
Verbal Boundary Description
,p-+*mcbmndlr*aorth~oa.eomin~*.)
Boundary Justification
( E ~ ~ ~ t b C ~ a l d c a c d m ~ ~ l d m 3 h a l . )
11. Form Prepared By
3 Daniel Pezzoni
nameltitle
organization
street & number
city or town
Landmark Preservation Associa@ date
6 Houston St.
telephone
Lexington
State Y.4
zip code
biiv 27.2004
464-5315
&%5Q
Additional Documentation
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic distticts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
,'3?&limthsHFQmPPofo.~~aliamr)
Property Owner
name
street & number
city or town
elidB.lbrss-:
m. 6s. D k a
~ m e o md
t B!dgc(.
. .
..
The Associauon for the Preservation of Virgma Anb'auities (contact: N. Gordon L o w
204 W. Franklin St telephone
GKkw&u@648-1889
Richmond
state VA zip code
23220-5 102
Pubk~gboldcnfarthilformil.dmadm~-18.1~ps~~biagthtimefan*inria~im~8,p~mdrmmoinmgdn,.nlrmspl~gmd
01 my upcct d thia 6s to t
k a d ,Cbicf,smdsmd Ssvias Division. N W PI* M a ,P.O. Bm 37127. Wmbinslm. DC m13-1127: md tbC QREs of
RIdurdar
~ImndOl8).W.lhmgtoo. DC 20503.
m m k g &r bmdm enimne
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7Page L
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Tusculum is located off US Highway 29 in eastern Amherst County, Vuginia. The two-story
Georgian and Federal frame house was built in two principal phases (see Exhibit A). The
two-room-deep side-passage-plan north section of the house was built during the third quarter
of the eighteenth century, perhaps in the 1750s. The one-room-plan south section was added
in the early nineteenth century, possibly about 1805. The house features stone and brick
foundations, plain and beaded weatherboard siding, exterior gable-end brick chimneys (the
addition chimney is flanked by pents), and a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. The
three-bay original section has a one-story entry porch on the east side; a similar porch on the
west side was replaced by a small addition in the mid-twentieth century. A breezeway
separates the first stories of the original section and addition and continues as a porch along
the east (rear) elevation of the two-bay addition. The interim is little altered, with Georgian
and Federal mantels (which have been placed in storage preparatory to moving the house), a
stair with turned balusters, chair rails, wood floors, and plaster-and-lath walls and ceilings
(replaced or sheathed with plasterboard in some rooms).
Near the house stand a mature Norway spruce and several other deciduous and coniferous
species (a large Norway spruce has stood on the east side of the house since ca. 1900). There
are many overgrown boxwoods including four large clumps in a diamond-shaped arrangement
off the north end of the house. Four outbuildings were observed in association with the
house; one, located to the southwest, incorporates timbers from a mid-nineteenth century (or
earlier) granary. (Outbuildings and landscaping are not included in the nominated area, which
is limited to the footprint of the house.) Historic photographs show a number of outbuildings
located off the south end of the house, of which archaeological evidence is believed to
survive.
Exterior
Historically, Tusculum faced west, but with the replacement of the front entry porch on the
west elevation of the original section with a small addition (probably done in the 1950s
before 19571, the matching east-elevation entry porch became the principal entry. The east
entry porch is distinguished by slightly tapered chamfered posts with decorative caps, a
pediment with basal and raking narrow cornices and wide flush-board sheathing in the
tympanum, and a frieze with an undulating scalloped lower edge. At the base of the posts
runs a solid railing enclosed with plain weatherboards. The present weatherboards are
modern, although a solid railing has been the treatment since at least 1900 (a historic
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Section number 7 Page 2
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
photograph shows one on the former west entry porch). The lower ends of most or all of the
posts have been replaced, and the porch ceiling and floor boards are modem. The porch is
reached by concrete steps with mid-twentieth century metal railings.
The porch shelters an entry with a molded surround and a six-panel door with molded and
raised panels (such doors are typical throughout the house, and doors and windows typically
have molded surrounds). The original section has 919 windows on the first-story east
elevation, replacement 212 windows on the first-story west elevation, and 619 windows on the
second stories of both elevations. The mid-twentieth century west elevation addition has 616
windows. The early nineteenth century addition has 9/9 sash on the first story,2/2 sash in the
second story, and small four-pane windows in each of the shed-roofed pents. The historic
window openings on the original section and addition have louvered wood shutters painted
green, held open by wrought iron shutter dogs. The north elevation was windowless until
small windows were inserted at the west corner to serve twentieth century bathrooms on the
first and second floors. The first-story bathroom window has an aluminum sash. The secondstory bathroom window has a small four-pane sash.
The original section and the addition are mostly sheathed with plain weatherboards that were
probably added in the late nineteenth century, as suggested by nail chronology. (Perhaps the
original beaded weatherboards were mostly replaced when the house changed hands in 1898.)
Beaded weatherboards attached with rose-headed wrought nails survive at protected locations
such as under the breezewaylporch and in the south gable of the addition. The house was
described as painted white in an early 1810s account.
A pair of chimneys rise on the south gable end of the original section. The west chimney is
constructed of brick laid in American bond, and the east chimney is Flemish bond. (The west
chimney may have been rebuilt.) The tops of both of these chimneys, which have stepped
shoulders, appear to have been rebuilt. The addition has a single American bond brick
chimney on its south gable end. This chimney has stepped shoulders but the ends of the
bricks are sloped giving the shoulders a paved appearance. Also, the brickwork is laid in
stretcher bond near the shoulders. Initials are carved into the bricks near the bottom of the
addition chimney including T.K., AP, and J(J?)W (probably John Jay Williams Jr., who was
a boy about 1900).
The original section foundation was originally constructed of Flemish-bond brick above stone
below grade. Extensive American-bond brick repairs have been made, and the northeast
NPS Form 10-900s
(am
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Section number L Page 3
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
comer has been rebuilt in stone. The foundation of the small addition on the west elevation
has reused old bricks laid in stretcher bond. The addition foundation is constructed of brick
laid in American bond. Both the original section and the addition have rectangular foundation
vents with square wood bars set into mortise-and-tenoned and pegged frames with beaded
inner edges. At least one vent (on the north elevation of the original section) has Roman
numeral builder marks on the outside face of the frame.
The opening to the breezeway on the west elevation is spanned by a double-ogee board, a
decorative treatment that recalls the scalloped friezeboards of the east entry porch. Wooden
steps rise to modem screening and screen door set back into the opening. On the north side
of the opening, abutting the west chimney of the original section, is a box-like feature
constructed of brick with a wood lid. A ca. 1900 photograph shows a wooden box-lie
feature of the same dimensions at this location. The wooden feature and its post-1900
replacement may be associated with evidence for a former cellar entry at the location, or they
may have served as spaces for over-wintering house and porch plants analogous to the
flowerhouses of the period. The porch along the east side of the addition has mid-twentieth
century screening with a solid weatherboarded railing. A solid railing has been the porch
treatment since at least the early twentieth century, as shown in historic photographs. The
south end of the porch formeriy had ogee-pattern trim boards like the breezeway opening.
Stone steps capped with concrete inscribed on one tread VIB or VIS and with a mid-twentieth
century metal railing descend from the south end of the porch. The breezeway has a plaster
ceiling and the porch has a sloped ceiling sheathed with beaded boards. These differences and
other evidence suggest the porch is not original to the addition, although the breezeway is.
Rising at the northeast comer of the addition is an open, two-run stair that conforms to the
coma. The lower run and landing of the stair are under the porch and the upper run rises
through the space of the breezeway. The stair has closed strings, square newels with small
molded caps, square balusters, and molded handrails. The sloping underside of the upper run
has a plaster-and-lath treatment like that of the breezeway ceiling. Under the landing and
lower run is a closet with horizontal board enclosure and a short door that is a twentieth
century replacement of the original door. The fact that the beaded weatherboards of the
addition inside this stair closet are unpainted indicates the stair is original to the addition.
(Presumably its landing and lower run formerly projected outside the shelter of the
breezeway, or were sheltered under a small pent roof or other covering.)
OM6 Appvml No. 10244318
NFS Fom 1~~
fkss)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7Page 4
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
Interior
The front and rear entries of the original section open (or opened) into a side passage
occupied by a two-run closed-string stair. The stair features square newels with molded caps,
molded handrails and strings, and turned walnut balusters of columnar form. The side passage
has a flush board wainscot with molded chair rail and baseboard at top and bottom (similar
wainscots appear in other rooms) and a ca. 1930s comer water closet finished with recycled
baseboard and chair rail. Two doors in the passage and other doors in the house are hung on
HL hinges with leather washers. The door into the small addition (originally the front entry)
has staples that formerly received a cross bar for securing the door.
The larger front (east) fust-floor room and the smaller room behind it both have Georgian
mantels with architrave fueplace surrounds and overmantels with cornices. At the turn of the
twentieth century the front room served as a living room ("sitting room"), and the room
behind it was then used for storage, although it may originally have function as a dining
room since it has an original exterior doorway on the south wall that may once have
communicated with a detached kitchen. The front room overmantel has a denticulated
cornice, and both overmantels are described as formerly having "3-ply" mirrors. A
photograph from the turn of the twentieth century shows one of these mirrors in the front
room--a conventional early nineteenth century three-part mirror with a turned and gilt frames-as well as dark mantel and trim paint color and wallpaper on the wall and wainscot with a
pattern of circles (wreaths?). Other features of the two rooms include a plaster wainscot in
the front room; a front room fueplace with an iron lintel and scoring on the fireplace
surround that probably once received plaster; an early or original closet next to the chimney
in the rear room; and an area of exposed chimney brick above the overmantel.
The first floor of the addition is occupied by a single large room that apparently served as a
dining room. It features a GeorgianlFederal mantel with fluted pilasters and fluted pilasterlike tablets at the ends of a plain frieze. The mantel has miniature denticulation and staggered
gougework in the cornice above the frieze and a decorative band at the bottom of the frieze.
The decorative band, which wraps around the tops of the pilasters, has alternating horizontal
reeding and small nested squares. The chair rail has intermittent reeding that coordinates with
the mantel. To each side of the mantel are low six-panel doors that open into closets in the
two pents. Each closet has original or early shelves supported by a variety of wooden
brackets. The sections of wall between the closets and the room are nogged. The east closet
has two small rectangular niches set into the chimney. During investigative demolition prior
OMB ~pprrnlNo. I W 1 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number L Page L
Tuscdum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
to the moving of the house the room was determined to have L-section or "hog-trough"
corner posts and split lath attached with wrought-headed nails. No bricks were observed in
the few visible wall cavities, suggesting the nogging is limited to the pent closets.
The second floor is similar in basic plan and character to the first floor, with molded door
and window surrounds, six-panel doors on HL hinges with leather washers, chair rails, wood
floors, plaster walls, and plaster or plasterboard ceilings. The Georgian mantels in the front
and rear rooms are similar in form, and they are smaller than the downstairs mantels. They
have architrave fireplace surrounds below tall frieze-like panels capped with moldings. The
fireplace openings themselves are segmental arched, and the arch fonn is reflected in the cutout lower edges of the mantels. When the mantel in the front room was removed, a signed
brick was revealed on the face of the chimney inscribed "EHC." The second-floor room in
the addition has a low chair rail and a Georgian mantel with an architrave fireplace surround,
a frieze with a single long recessed panel, and a molding above the frieze terminated at the
ends by small decorative boards. Over the breezeway are a small room and an even smaller
vestibule at the top of the stairs. The six-panel door between the room and vestibule has iron
staples for a cross bar that secured the door.
The roof structures over the original section and addition are basically similar, with common
rafters pegged at the ridge and stiffened by collars that are lapped and nailed to the rafters.
No builders marks have been observed in either attic. Most framing in the original section
attic is pit-sawn and wrought-nailed. The rafters are mortise-and-tenoned at the top and
fastened with long spike-like pegs. The ceiling joists, of which one or more are hewn, do not
extend the depth of the house but are interrupted by an off-center hewn plate. Protruding
through the pit-sawn roof boards are three generations of nails, the earliest of which are
wrought. The nails attached wood shingles to the roof boards; a broken wood shingle with a
round butt (visible end) found in the northwest comer of the addition attic may have belonged
to the original section roof at the time the addition was made. The addition roof structure has
pit-sawn and sash-sawn framing mostly cut-nailed. The rafters are lapped and pegged at the
ridge. Protruding through the pit-sawn roof boards are two types of cut nails for the
attachment of square-butt wood shingles, of which a few examples have been found in the
attic.
The cellar has three spaces that correspond to the side passage and two rooms above; the
space under the rear first-floor room is unexcavated. Stone infill at the southwest corner, the
location of the formerly frame and presently brick box-like feature on the exterior, suggests
OMB A
m
No. LOZCM18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
2.Page _h
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
the location of an original bulkhead entrance. The cellar is presently accessed by a modern
stair that has been created in the closet under the side-passage stair. Sills, joists, and beams
are hewn or pit-sawn, and many wrought nails have been observed. The addition basement
has brick walls and occupies the entirety of the space. It has log joists mortised into the sills
and a fireplace large enough to have served for cooking or other work. Presumably the
basement functioned as a winter kitchen, and it may also have been used as living space for a
cook of other servant. The addition basement is entered at the southeast comer through an xbraced tongue-and-groove batten door. On the parged base of the chimney just inside the
doorway are scratched initials and names from the turn of the twentieth century including
TSW, SCHUY, and Willims, the first two presumably written by Thomas Schuyler Williams,
a son of John Jay Williams.
Outbuildings
The nominated area, which corresponds to the footprint of the house, does not include
outbuildings; however, several historic and modem outbuildings exist and are described here.
There are four one-story frame outbuildings. One is located in the southeast comer of the
yard behind Tusculum, the other three are located in the pasture to the south and west of the
house.
The outbuilding in the yard appears to dak to the early twentieth century and may have
functioned as a workshop. It is in ruinous, partly collapsed condition with vertical board
siding, a side-gable roof with asphalt roll roofing, a batten door, and two window openings
in the south gable end. At least one of the siding boards on the south gable end is reused; a
few cut nails are nailed into it. Inside are work shelves attached to the exposed circular-sawn
wire-nailed studs, a dirt floor, and exposed common rafters that incorporate reused timbers.
The reused timbers are pit-sawn rafters with notches for former collar beams that were nailed
(rather than pegged) to the rafters.
Of the three outbuildings in the pasture, the one nearest to the house is the most recent. This
gambrel-roofed storage shed dates to the last quarter of the twentieth century and has TI-11
siding, asphalt roof shingles, two-leaf barn-style doors with cross bracing on the west end, an
aluminum jalousie window on the east end, and exposed framing members on the interior.
Beyond the gambrel-roofed shed is what appears to be a tractor garage dating to the 1940s or
1950s. The garage has board-and-batten siding, a metal-sheathed front-gable roof, a shed
o m A,,pd
Nu. 1 m C U ) I B
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page L
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
wing on the south side, and a structure consisting of log posts with butted and nailed sapling
rafters. Inside the gabled section is a Federal mantel suspended upside-down on the wall.
Possibly this mantel once belonged to a now vanished outbuilding on the property. In the side
wing are built-in work tables, old motors, and other evidence of use for machinery repairs.
The largest outbuilding and the one farthest from the house, located to the southwest of the
house at the edge of a woods, is a mid-twentieth century barn that incorporates part of what
appears to have been a granary dating to the mid-nineteenth century, if not earlier. The
granary comprises the west half of the barn, the east half is the more modem section, and the
whole is covered by a metal-sheathed front-gable roof supported on sapling rafters. The
granary has circular-sawn vertical board siding cut-nailed to a heavy timber mortise-andtenoned frame. The frame has massive hewn plates on a crude stone foundation. The plates
have multiple notches for former floor joists; the evidence for a floor suggests the building
served as a granary rather than a stock barn, or that it was the granary section of a formerly
larger barn. This latter possibility is suggested by evidence at the top of the frame for tie
beams that would have linked the frame to another structural unit (perhaps the tie beams
spanned the center drive-through or threshing floor of a barn). Roman numeral builder marks
occur at the connections between comer posts, girts (some of which are sash sawn), and
diagonal braces. A pair of door openings have iron pintles. The twentieth century part of the
building is constructed of log posts with sapling girts and metal siding. A roughly linear pile
of stones extends from the west side of the barn, possibly a former foundation. Elsewhere on
or adjoining the property is a family cemetery.
Integrity Statement
Tusculum possesses very good integrity. It retains its overall historic form; exterior historic
finishes such as beaded weatherboard siding; most of its historic exterior features including
chimneys, pent rooms, porches, and breezeway; and interior historic features including stair
detail, mantels, and chair rails. The only significant loss is the front (west side) entry porch,
which was replaced by the present one-room wing in the mid-twentieth century. At the time
of s w e y in February-March 2004, the mantels had been stored off site to protect them from
theft. Tusculum's setting of ornamental yard, pasture, and woods preserves the basic
character of its historic surroundings, and except for Highway 29 visible in the distance
through woods to the east of the house, there are virtually no modem intrusions. The
outbuildings depicted in photographs from the turn of the twentieth century, some of which
may have been contemporary with the house and its early nineteenth century addition, are
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
gone, and only the much altered granary located at some distance from the house survives
from the nineteenth century.
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Tusculum
Amherst Co ., Va .
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Tusculum is one of Amherst County, Virginia's most historic properties. The original section
of the two-story Georgian and Federal-style frame house was apparently built in the third
quarter of the eighteenth century for a member of the Crawford family. The house was later
associated with Amherst County Clerk of Court William Sidney Crawford (1760-1815), who
transacted county business from the "master's office" formerly located in Tusculum's yard.
Crawford added a two-story dining roodguest chamber wing that is separated from the
original section by a fust-story breezeway, the most unusual architectural feature of the
house. Tusculum has early mantels, six-panel doors on HL hinges with leather washers, a
side-passage stair with turned walnut balusters, and a pedimented entry porch with chamfered
posts and scalloped friezeboards. In 1815 control of the property passed to Elijah Fletcher, a
Vermont-born schoolmaster who wed William's daughter Maria Crawford in 1813. The
Fletchers lived primarily in Lynchburg, where Elijah published The Virginian newspaper and
where he served as mayor in the 1830s. They later owned Sweet Briar plantation, which their
daughter Indiana Fletcher Williams gave for the establishment of Sweet Briar College. For
most of the second half of the nineteenth century Tusculum was occupied by the Fletchers'
son, Dr. Sidney Fletcher, and for much of the twentieth century it was the home of the
Williams family. Threatened with demolition at its present site, Tusculum was recently
acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, which plans to move
the house and restore it.
Applicable Criteria
Tusculum is eligible under Criterion C with significance in the area of architecture as a well
preserved example of eighteenth and early nineteenth century Georgian and Federal-style
domestic architecture in Amherst County, and for such notable features as the breezeway
connector, dining roomiguest chamber addition, and well preserved decorative features. The
period of significance extends from ca. 1750 to 1815, embracing the likely period of
construction of the original section of the house during the third decade of the eighteenth
century, and terminating with the death of William S. Crawford, who enlarged the house
between 1802 and 1815. Tusculum is eligible at the local level of significance.
A number of organizations and individuals assisted in the preparation of this report. Foremost
among these is the owner of the house, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Antiquities, represented by the APVA's Director of the Revolving Fund N. Gordon Lohr,
and Travis C. McDonald with the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest, who led a team
with the 2003 Poplar Forest Restoration Field School to document the house and to prepare
the investigation report that forms the basis of this nomination. Contributions to the Poplar
Forest effort were made by intern Sydnor Scholer and Christian Carr, Director of the Sweet
Briar College Museum, and Field School participants Kathy Beatty, Alenya Becker, Kathryn
Coutier, Elizabeth Flora, Dusty Fowler, Melvin Lester, Heather Plaza-Manning, and Jenna
Solomon. Others who provided assistance included FletcherIWilliams family descendent
Jackie Williams Beidler; Holly Wilhelm, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society;
architectural historian S. Allen Chambers; George Collins of the Andrew Johnson Museum,
Greeneville, Tennessee; and Ann Andrus, Calder Loth, Chris Stevenson, and Jack Zehmer of
the Virginii Department of Historic Resources.
Historic Context
According to architectural historian Travis C. McDonald, uncredited documentary history
asserts that Tusculum's original section was built by David Crawford II (1662-1762) in 17545. According to this history, Crawford moved to what is now Amherst County about 1754 to
join his son David Crawford I11 (1699-1766), who had moved to the area about 1752. David
Crawford I1 married Elizabeth Smith (1665-1766) and David Crawford 111 married Ann
Anderson (1708-ca. 1803). Two Crawford family researchers (Charles B. Lampkin and
Edward K. Williams) have questioned whether David Crawford I1 or III in fact moved to
what is now Amherst County, suggesting instead that they lived in present-day Nelson County
(both counties were part of Albemarle County in the 1750s). Lampkin states that David 111
was living on the Rockfish River in Nelson County at the time of his death in the Summer of
1766. Also, there are accounts that credit David Crawford III with the construction of the
house. Whatever the particulars of Crawford family movements during the period, and
whichever Crawford built Tusculum, Travis McDonald notes that "Physical evidence would
indicate that the house was constructed prior to the 1770s."I
McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Lampkin, Descendants of John Craoford, 5-6; Williams,
"David Crawford 111;" and Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 12, 1936. Fleming McMullin
Jr., the researcher who prepared the Historic American Buildings Survey report on the house
in 1957, assumed a ca. 1755 date of consbruction. A number of sources give earlier dates; for
example, historians Emmie Ferguson Farrar and Emilee Hines state that the house was built
I
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Statement of Significance (continued)
Tusculum's owner (or steward) during the late eighteenth century may have been David
Crawford W (1734-1802), who matried Lucy Henderson prior to 1760. A David Crawford,
presumably David IV, was active in Amherst County government and in the defense of the
county during the Revolutionary War, and in 1779 a Capt. David Crawford of Amherst
County led troops against Indians in Kentucky. Leonora Sweeny, a historian of Amherst
County during the Revolutionary War, describes Tusculum as the home of Capt. David
Crawford (David Crawford ID has also been described as having the rank of captain).
According to county land tax records, David Crawford IV was a large landowner, possessing
nearly 900 acres at the time of his death. Despite evidence that points to David Crawford IV
as the owner of Tusculum until 1802, Travis McDonald cites earlier research in writing that
David IV's son, William Sidney Crawford (1760-1815), inherited Tusculum from his greatgrandfather David I1 upon the latter's death in 1762, when William would have been two
years old. This research may be a misinterpretation of David Crawford II's 1761 will, which
left "my Plantation whereon I now live with Two Hundred and Eighty Actes of Land joining
Thereto during her widdohood [sic]."After his widow's death, David II's land was to go to
his granddaughter Susannah Barnet. The will further stated that should Susannah not have any
heirs, "the Land above mention[ed] to Descend to William Crawford Son of David Crawford
to him and his heirs forever." David II had a grandson William, the son of David Crawford
111, who was born in 1750 and died unmanied. This may be the William referred to in David
11's will.2
Whether William S. Crawford acquired Tusculum from David I1 or David IV, it appears that
about 1735 in OM Virginia Houses in the Piedmont (p. 103).
Sweeny, Amherst County, Wrginia in the Revolution, 2, after 68, 75, 180-181;
"Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum;" "Descendants of John Crawford;"
Crawford-Oppenheimer, "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages," 30; Amherst County Land
Tax Records and Will Book 1, pp. 6, 76; and McDonald et al, "Tusculum." It is possible
that there were multiple, perhaps distantly related David Crawfords during the period.
Further complicating the picture is an 1810 article of agreement between William S.
Crawford and "Elizabeth Crawford relict and widow of David Crawford" (a second wife?)
who had a life right to the "Plantation whereon [David Crawford] in his life time lived . . .
adjoining the Tobaccorow Mountain" (Amherst County Deed Book M, p. 293). Tobacco Row
Mountain, as it is presently defined, is located six miles west of Tusculum.
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
he gained control of the property in 1802.William S. Crawford was an executor of the estate
of his father, who died between March 14 and September 20, 1802 (one account states
August 1802). On July 7, 1802 William insured Tusculum with the Mutual Assurance Society
(MAS), an action that suggests he had come into control of Tusculum upon David Crawford
IV's death or imminent demise. Travis McDonald cites a 1802 MAS policy (Exhibit B) as the
first known occurrence of the name Tusculum, which ultimately derives from the Roman
Tusculum, a resort near Rome where Cicero and other Roman statesmen had villas.
Presumably because of its association with Roman republican government, the name was
chosen for the ca. 1773 residence of John Witherspoon, the president of the College of New
Jersey (now Princeton) and later a signer of the Declaration of Independence. William S.
Crawford was educated at Princeton, and it seems likely that he adopted the name of the
well-known Princeton president's house for the Crawford family home.3
Most evidence points to William S. Crawford as the individual who enlarged Tusculum to its
present size, before 1815, by adding the two-story dining room and breezeway wing to the
south gable end of the original house. The dining room was an increasingly important focus
of domestic life among the Virginia elite of the eighteenth century, and William S.
Crawford's future son-in-law Elijah Fletcher records several occasions of formal dining at
Tusculum during the early 1810s. The exact date or period of Crawford's dining room
addition is open to question. The 1802 MAS policy described Tusculum as a "Wooden
dwelling House two Stories High 30 by 30 feet 2 Porches 12 by 14 feetn valued at $1,200.A
second MAS policy, issued to Crawford on June 25, 1805 (Exhibit C), described the house as
"A wooden Dwelling house Two stories high 31 feet long by 31 feet wide" valued at $2,000.
The dimensions suggest that no addition had been made, but the substantial increase in value
suggests a major modification to the house. Also, the actual footprint of the house depicted
on the 1805 policy is rectangular at a 2:l ratio, approximately the ratio of the enlarged
house, which is roughly 30-112 feet by 67 feet including the pents. (The 1802 policy had
shown the house as square, in accordance with the pre-addition dimensions.) If one discounts
the second 31 foot dimension in the 1805 policy as an error, then the weight of evidence
points to the addition of the dining room wing between 1802 and 1805, most likely nearer the
' Amherst County Will Book 4, p. 49, and Deed Book M, p. 293; CrawfordOppenheimer, "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages, " 30; McDonald et al, "Tusculum;"
George Collins personal communication; Home and Garden Television website; and Princeton
Township website.
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
later date.4
William S. Crawford served as Amherst County's fourth Clerk of Circuit Court during the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Crawford operated the clerk's office from the
"master's office" that formerly stood in Tusculum's yard. At the time, Tusculum was
centrally located for county residents, for it was not until 1807 that Nelson County was split
from Amherst. According to a 1936 newspaper article that drew upon family tradition,
Crawford stored the county records in a trunk under his bed before the office was
constructed. An appraisernent of Crawford's estate made on September 17, 1815 describes
furnishings "at the County Office" including three tables, five split bottom chairs, three
"Poppler Benches," two pairs of dog irons (andirons?), an ink stand, and two pairs of money
scales and weights. Photographs from the turn of the twentieth century show several onestory frame buildings in the yard south and east of the house; one of these may have been the
clerk's office. Like his forebears, Crawford was a large landowner-in 1810 he owned nearly
4,000 acres--and 1804 county personal tax records show fifteen adult male black tithes
(slaves) in his household. The 1815 appraisement suggests he owned a total of thmty-four
slaves that year.5
William S. Crawford married Sophia Pem (ca. 1761?-1844?), and among their children was
Maria Antoinette Crawford (1792-1853). In the early 1810s a Vermont school teacher named
Elijah Fletcher (1789-1858) became acquainted with the family. Fletcher came to Amherst
County in 1811 to serve as principal of the New Glasgow Academy, located near Tusculum
in the town of New Glasgow. Maria Crawford enrolled as one of Fletcher's pupils and soon
teacher and student were courting. Fletcher wrote his father that he hoped to many
Crawford, "a most amiable accomplished sensible Lady--of one of the most rich extensive
' Wenger, "Dining Room in Early Virginia;" McDonald et al, "Tusculum" including
facsimiles of MAS policies (reproduced as Exhibits C and D). County tax records are
unhelpful in determining the date of the enlargement. Travis McDonald gives greater weight
to the negative evidence of the 31 foot dimension and suggests "probably 1805-1811" as the
most likely period for the construction of the addition.
' Beidler,
"Tusculum;" Lynchburg Daily Advunce, October 12, 1936; McDonald et al,
"Tusculum;" and Amherst County personal property tax records, land tax records, and Will
Book A-1, pp. 14, 19.
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
respectable families in the State." Elijah and Maria wed in 1813, and the following year
Elijah wrote his father that he was "cultivating a plantation," that of his father-in-la~.~
William S. Crawford died in early 1815 and Elijah Fletcher was made administrator of his
estate. Fletcher wrote:
The management of all Mr. Crawford's affairs devolving upon me makes my task
arduous--He was a man of extensive concerns and great estate--He left his affairs
much deranged and unsettled which renders the settlement of his concerns doubly
troublesome.
Fletcher's accounts, preserved in the Amherst County records, contain a wealth of
information about Tusculum. The slaves were divided among four plantations; about half of
them were children or infants. The estate also comprised horses, oxen, cattle, sheep, and
swine, and there were an additional three plantations rented out. The accounts mention a
carriage, silver tea and coffee utensils, a pianoforte, numerous items of furniture, and "A
quantity of Blue Paper Hangings." (Before his marriage Fletcher had written his father that
the Crawfords "live in a two story upright house painted white. They have their carpets on
the floors and eveqthmg in the genteelest style.") On a number of occasions Fletcher paid
workmen to make upgrades to buildings, including a house that was presumably Tusculum.
Wiatt Smith was paid for whitewashing and a man named Wilson was paid $2.00 for
"covering [roofing] stable one side." Ezekiel Gilbert was paid $12.50 for "Carpenters Work"
in 1816 and a man named Sherman was paid $6.00 for "Brick work underpining [sic] Porch"
the same year. During this period Tusculum was occupied by Elijah and Maria Fletcher,
Sophia Crawford (who moved to Kentucky in 1837), and several of Sophia and William's
other children. Elijah Fletcher purchased Tusculum from the Crawford heirs in a number of
' Von Briesen,
"Elijah Fletcher; " "Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum;"
and McDonald et al, "Tusculum." Fletcher also wrote to his father about Maria's relative
William Harris Crawford, who was prominent in Georgia and national politics during the
period and who ran for President in 1824. W. H. Crawford was born in what is now Nelson
County in 1772; some accounts erroneously report that he was born at Tusculum
(Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress website).
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significauce (continued)
transfers during the period 1824 to 1842.7
The Fletchers moved to Lynchburg in the late 1810s. Elijah was a founder of Z%e Virginia
newspaper in 1825 and was active in Lynchburg civic affairs, working to establish the city's
water supply, supporting railroad and industrial development, and serving as mayor in the
1830s. The Fletchers continued to visit Tusculum, which was only twenty miles from
Lynchburg. In 1830 Elijah Fletcher purchased the Sweet Briar plantation between Lynchburg
and Tusculum as a summer residence, and he and his wife lived there almost exclusively after
1846. Fletcher nevertheless kept close tabs on his Tusculum plantation. In 1845 he noted in a
letter that the Tusculum fields were "desolate and worn out" but the house was "neatly kept."
The outbuildings, he added, "are nicely white washed-so are the garden pailings and the
fence around the yard and every thing presents a neat and nice appearance. "'
Tobacco, corn, and wheat were the principal agricultural products of Tusculum during the
1810s and 1820s. By all accounts, Elijah Fletcher made a successful transition from
schoolmaster to plantation manager. John Livingston's Pomaits and Memoirs of Eminent
Americans (1854) describes Fletcher's agricultural methods, techniques that would have been
applied at Tusculum:
Mr. Fletcher began to teach practically how easy it was to resuscitate these worn-out
lands, and restore them to their natural fertility. He introduced deep plowing, drained
the wet land, leveled the gullies and ravines [and sowed clover. He] began to import
the best improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and hogs, paying no attention to the fine
blooded race-horse which had been the only animal of cost and care in the country.
His early efforts in the agricultural pursuits were looked upon by many as the
visionary theory of a book farmer, but the practical results were so striking that all
who saw were convinced, and one after another of his neighbors began to follow his
example.
' Von Briesen, "Elijah Fletcher;" Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 16; Amherst
County Will Book A-1, pp. 14-46; and McDonald et al, "Tusculum."
' McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Chambers, Lynchburg, 189; and Stohlman, Story of
Sweet Briar College, 17-18.
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Elijah Fletcher was presumably the main source for Livingston's ac~ount.~
Elijah and Maria Fletcher's son Sidney Fletcher (1821-98) was given the responsibility of
managing the Tusculum plantation in 1841 upon his graduation from Yale. During the 1840s
he divided his time between Tusculum and medical studies in Richmond and Paris. In 1850,
after an unsuccessful stint in the California gold fields, he was given ownership of the
property. The 1850 federal census identified him as an "MD" with $12,000 in real estate.
Ten years later he was identified as a farmer with $68,000 in real estate and $20,000 in
personal estate. The personal estate value reflected Fletcher's large slaveholding. The 1860
slave schedules list him as the owner of thirty-three slaves outright, and a marginal note
beside an additional forty-one slaves suggests they had been hired out to Fletcher. His
fanning enterprises were so extensive, as recorded in the 1860 agricultural schedules, that the
census-taker broke them down into ten separate headings. The first heading probably
represents the core Tusculum farm, with 900 improved acres, 400 unimproved, and a value
of $41,000. On this parcel and one other--the only parcels of the ten for which agricultural
production was recorded--Fletcher raised horses, cattle, oxen, sheep (86), and swine (90) and
produced wheat (1,300 bushels), corn (5,000 bushels), oats (3,500 bushels), tobacco (2,100
pounds), orchard products ($250 worth), hay (50 tons), and grass seed (35 bushels). One
parcel of five acres was identified as the "Tanyard," which was either defunct in 1860 or too
small to be recorded in the industrial schedules. Another parcel has the marginal note
"executor" (Fletcher's father had died two years before) and another, consisting of 1,464
unimproved acres and 80 improved acres, has a marginal note that may identifl it as being
located on Cold Mountain, a section of the Blue Ridge where the Appalachian Trail passes
today. Presumably this mostly unimproved mountain parcel was used for summer-time
pasture. The 1860 free population schedules note that Sidney Fletcher's household included
25-year-old William Bowles, his 20-year-old wife, and their two young children (Fletcher
never married).1°
In the 1890s, as Sidney Fletcher grew old, he realized he needed assistance in maintaining the
farm. He invited John Jay Williams (1876-1943) of Chatham, New York, the great-grandson
Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 17-19.
lo Semi-centennial; Beidler, "Tusculum;' and U.S. census. The 1860 Amherst County
agricultural schedules are faint and difficult to read in areas.
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Statement of Significance (continued)
of Elijah Fletcher's sister Lucy, and John's wife Clara Schuyler Babcock Williams (18751962) to move to Amherst County to assist in the management of the family properties.
These included Tusculum, a property in what is now Madison Heights known as the Silk
Farm, and Sweet Briar. The latter property was owned by Sidney Fletcher's sister Indiana
Fletcher Williams (1828-1900). According to Indiana's wishes, after her death it was
developed as Sweet Briar College, which would become one of Virginia's leading institutions
of female education. (Interestingly, as Travis McDonald comments, Elijah Fletcher had once
proposed that Indiana and her sister open "a sort of a nunnery of a school at Tu~culum.")~'
Shortly after the Williamses arrived in Amherst County, Sidney Fletcher died (in April
1898). To the surprise of his young relations, Fletcher gave John Williams a life interest to
the profits of Tusculum with the property to go to Williams's heirs, and he left the Silk Farm
outright to Williams. The Wiamses moved from their initial home at the Silk Farm to
Tusculum where they raised five sons. Soon after gaining control of Tusculum, John Jay
Williams was paid a protracted Christmas visit by his brother Charles, who described the
house and grounds in a memoir many years later (directional descriptors corrected):
Their house was unlike any I had ever before seen. It was of frame construction,
painted white, facing the Blue Ridge Mountains. The [north] end of the building
seemed to have been the main dwelling, with large living room, with a hall at the
[north] end, with front and back porches. A beautiful winding stairway led from the
hall to the sleeping rooms. An open porch ran right through the building from [front
to back]. To the [south] of the porch, there was a large dining mom with a large fireplace. Over this was a sleeping-room, also with a large tire-place. [The sleepingroom's windows] looked across the garden into an oak forest. That was to be my
room, and I loved it. In addition to the stairway at the [north] end of the building,
there was also a winding stairway from the big porch up to the landing at the [south]
end. From the landing, one turned to the left into the large bedroom as described
ahove, and to the right, there was a small hall leading into a bedroom, directly above
the open porch. Occasionally, to accommodate overnight guests, I moved into that
room Lie. the hallway] and I cw truthfully say that with a cold wind blowing in
January or February, it resembled sleeping in a refrigerator. The air funneled through
" Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 24; McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Beidler,
"Tusculurn;" and Jackie Williams Beidler collection and personal communication.
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
the wide open porch below the flooring, and rushed across the roof, above. I often
thought of it as being a "hanging icehouse" in the very cold months.
Charles Williams also described the kitchen, or "cook-house" as he termed it, which was
situated about twenty-five feet from the dining room addition. Williams recalled that the
office "in which had been transacted all business affairs for many years" was "Out in the
North-East end of the front yard . . . well removed from the house." Charles Williams's
sense of direction, recalled after the span of half a century, was confused at various points in
his account, although he seems to have considered the yard on the east side of the house to be
the front yard ("The yard was large, with many old box-wood and other varieties of trees and
shrubs"). If so then the building that may have served as William S. Crawford's county
clerk's office would have stood off the north-east end of T~sculum.'~
Charles Williams described turkey hunting at Tusculum, the comings and goings of Christmas
visitors--some of whom were likely the overnight guests who lodged over the dining room-and the family cook, probably the same Mary Banks shown in old photographs, who lived in
a house on the property. Another description of Tusculum appeared in the October 12, 1936
issue of the Lynchburg Daily Advance. The article remarked on the unusual form of the
house, and it described the room over the dining room as the "guest chamber." The kitchen
had burned or was tom down in the early twentieth century, probably in the 1910s, and its
chimney had been left standing until a few years before the article. "Gone also is the master's
office, where Amherst county records were kept" by William S. Crawford, who the article
stated had served as clerk of court from 1792 to 1814. On the grounds were "huge boxwood
bushes and evergreen trees" and "traces of a former greater symmetry." The 1936 article
identified the yard on the west side of the house as the Eront yard.
Clara Williams lived into the 1960s at Tusculum. The house passed to her son Thomas
Schuyler (Tim) Williams. In a 1986 interview, T. S. Williams and his wife Grace Hudson
Williams related how they met at a dance at Tusculum and married in 1923, and they recalled
l2 Davis, Abstract (vol. 2), 6; Williams, "Trip to Viginia." Charles Williams's visit may
have occurred about 1905, rather than immediately after his brother inherited the property in
1898. Since Williams traveled to New Glasgow by train, it appears that he first approached
Tusculum from the east, which may account for his perception of the east elevation as the
front.
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Statement of Significance (continued)
the change from B&H lanterns to Aladdin lamps and, in 1945, to electric lighting. After T.
S. Williams's death in 1987 ownership passed out of the intermarried CrawfordIFletcherl
Williams family. In 2203 Tusculum (the house alone) was acquired by the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities to prevent its demolition. There are plans to move the
house to an appropriate new location in Amherst Comty.I3
Architectoral Analysis
Tusculum is a well preserved example of an evolved GeorgianlFederal plantation house. It
retains most of its eighteenth and early nineteenth century exterior and interior features
including sections of beaded weatherboard siding, a pedimented rear entry porch, pent rooms,
turned walnut stair balusters, and intricately carved mantels. Of special interest is the
breezeway connector between the original section of the house and the early nineteenth
century addition. The breezeway is a common feature in western Virginia houses of the
nineteenth century where it is typically located between the main body of the house and a rear
dining andlor kitchen wing. In the usual context the breezeway's function appears to have
been to prevent food odors and kitchen heat from entering the main house. It is possible tbat
breezeways were also intended as partial firebreaks, or that in an evolutionary and
morphological sense they perpetuated the traditional separation of house and kitchen as two
buildings (principally a fire precaution). Breezeways, like back porches, also made
comfortable work areas during warm weather, and in this regard they are similar to the dog
trots of vernacular Southern architecture. Like a dog trot, the Tusculum breezeway probably
creates a Venturi effect that would have promoted natural cooling. Dog trots--also known as
possum trots--are most common in double-pen log dwellings and are rare in frame houses."
The Tusculum breezeway may have been intended to serve one or more of these functions. It
would have prevented food odors from entering the house from the dining room, although,
because the summer kitchen was located in an outbuilding, the Tusculum breezeway was
probably not intended as a buffer from kitchen heat. Photographs from the turn of the
Beidler, "Tusculum;" Amherst New Era-Progress, July 17, 1986; and N. Gordon Lohr
personal communication.
l3
Jordan, Texas Log Buildings, 15; Bish'u and Southern, Guide to the Historic
Architecture of Eastern North Carolina, 443.
l4
OMB Appmvll No. 1024418
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Seetion number L Page 20
Statement of Significance (continued)
twentieth century show the breezeway being used as a sitting area, and after 1898 the
Williams family dined in the breezeway during warm weather. In this respect the breezeway
may be regarded as an especially open center passage, a well cross-ventilated interior plan
feature of the finer Virginia houses that occasionally served as living space during warm
weather.'*
At Tusculum the breezeway and related features of the addition may have a social explanation
as well. The second floor of the addition was described as a "guest chamber" in 1936, a
function it is known to have served from at least the turn of the twentieth century. These
references date to the period of the Williams family residence at Tusculum beginning in
1898, and there is only a tenuous connection between the Williams and preceding Fletcher
families. Nevertheless, the guest room use may be assumed to perpetuate nineteenth century
usage, and the architectural separation of the addition and other features support such an
interpretation. l6
Certain early nineteenth century Virginia houses have plan features that served to isolate
guests from family members. One example is the 1822-23 Bowling and Mildred Eldridge
House (formerly located in Halifax County), which has a second-floor room in the main body
of the house that was walled off from the center passage and could be reached only by a
winder stair from the fust floor of the ell. Another example is the 1839 Finney-Lee House in
Franklin County, which has a second-floor "travelers room" that was also originally walled
off fiom the center passage and could be reached only by a boxed winder stair that rose from
the dining room below,. The second floor of the Tusculum addition is served by a separate
stair from the breezeway, and although it can be accessed from the original section at the
second-floor level, the doorway at the top of the stair could be secured by cross bar against
unauthorized entry into the original section (the door into the room over the dining room has
no such feature)."
Hospitality was a virtue in traditional Virginia society, and the elite often entertained
'' Lynchburg News,January 10, 1982; Isaac, Transformation of
Virginia, 75.
l6
Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 12, 1936; Williams, "Trip to Virginia."
"
Pezzoni, "Bowling Eldridge House;" Pezzoni, "Finney-Lee House."
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page 21
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
strangers in their homes. Given the fact that individuals from throughout the county and
beyond traveled to Tusculum to conduct county business, it may be that the second-floor
room of the addition was used for their lodging. If so, the cross-barred door and the spatial
separation of the breezeway would have differentiated the public space of the addition from
the private space of the residence, protecting the family (William and Sophia Crawford had
young daughters during the period) and valuables from intruders, and also perhaps from
disturbance that might result from any boisterousness occurring in the dining room and
putative lodging room. It may be that Tusculum's dual front entries--the porch entry to the
original section now occupied by the mid-twentieth century wing, and the decoratively framed
opening to the addition breezeway--reflected a privatelpublic division of the house.
The names of the craftsmen principally involved in the construction of Tusculum and its
addition have not been discovered, although a clue to the brickmason who built or rebuilt the
west chimney of the original section is provided by the aforementioned inscribed brick, which
was imprinted when wet with flowing cursive letters that read "EHC." Somewhat more is
known about the Ezekiel Gilbert who was paid for unspecified carpentry work in 1816.
Presumably this was Ezekiel B. Gilbert Jr., a physician at the time of his death in 1850.
Gilbert was a resident of Amherst County in 1810 and 1820, as was his father, Dr. Ezekiel
Gilbert (d. 1823), who may have been a resident of the county from at least the 1770s."
Sweeny, Arnhersr Counry, Virginia In the Revolution, 84;Amherst County Will Book
6, p. 463, and Will Book 12, p. 407; and U. S. census. It is remotely possible EHC stands
for Ezekiel Gilbert, if the C is in fact a G, although both Ezekiel Sr. and Jr. apparently
shared the letter B as their middle initial.
l8
OMB A&
No. 1024418
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number L Page - 2 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amherst County deed, land tax, and will records. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst,
Va., and Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Amherst County Heritage Book Committee. Amherst County, Virginia. Amherst, Va. : 1999.
Amherst New Era-Progress (Amherst, Va.).
Beidler, Jaclcie Williams. "Tusculum. " In Amherst County Heritage Book Committee.
Amherst Counry, Virginia. Amherst, Va.: 1999.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website (www.bioguide.congress.gov).
Bishir, Catherine W., and Michael T. Southern. A Guide to the Historic Architecture of
Eastern North Carolina. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University Press of North Carolina,
1996.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: University
Press of Virginia, 1981.
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and its People. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Co., 1900.
"Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum. " Undated typescript.
Crawford-Qppenheimer, Christine. "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages." In The Crawford
Exchange vol. 16 issue 1 (Fall 1994): 30.
Davis, Bailey Fulton, comp. An abstract of all item in will boob of Amherst County,
Virginia. 3 volumes. 1961-67.
"Descendants of John Crawford." Report, n.d., in files of Amherst County Museum and
Historical Society, Amherst, Va.
Farrar, Emmie Ferguson, and Emilee Hines. Old Virginia Houses: The Piedmont. New York,
N.Y. : Hastings House, ca. 1955.
Home and Garden Television website (www .hgtv.com).
OMB A@
NFS R m 10-
No. lWMrll8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 4_ Page 2 3 -
Tusculnm
Amherst Co., Va.
Major Bibiiographical References (continued)
Isaac, Rhys. R e Transfom'on of lrirginia, 1740.1790. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University
of North Carolina Press, 1982.
Jordan, Teny G. Texas Log BuiMings: A Folk Architecture. Austin, Tx.: University of
Texas Press. 1978.
Lampkin, Charles Barnett. Descendants of John Crawford, 1643. Miami, Fl.: Acme Press,
1970.
Loth, Calder. The Virginia Landrnarh Register. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 1999 (fourth edition).
Lynchburg Daily Advance (Lynchburg, Va.).
Lynchburg News (Lynchburg, Va.).
McDonald, Travis C., et al. "Tusculum." Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest 2003 Restoration
Field School Investigation Report, 2003.
McLeRoy, Sheme S., and William R. McLeRoy. More Passages: A New History of Amherst
County, Virginia. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc., 1995.
McMullin, Fleming Jr. Tusculum Historic American Buildings Survey Report. 1957.
Pewni, J. Daniel. "Bowling Eldridge House." National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 1993.
. "Finney-Lee House." National Register of Historic Places Registration Form,
1996.
Princeton [N ..ITownship
.]
website (www. princetontwp.org).
SemGCentennial Historical and Biographical Record ofthe Class of 1841--Yale University.
New Haven, Cn.: 1892.
Stohlman, Martha Lou Lemmon. The Story of Sweet Briar College. Sweet Briar, Va.:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number P Page 24
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
Sweet Briar Alumnae Association, 1956.
Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. Amherst Counry, Virginia in the Revolurion. 1951.
United States Census.
Von Briesen, Martha. "Elijah Fletcher: Vermont Schoolmaster to Virginia Planter. "
The Iron Worker 22:1 (Winter 1957-58): 1-13.
Wenger, Mark R. "The Dining Room in Early Virginia." In Thomas Carter and Bernard L.
Herman, eds. Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, 111. Columbia, Mo.:
University of Missouri Press, 1989.
Williams, Charles. "Trip to Virginia." Posted on the website www.cocomysteries.coml
articles/CHATHAM/chaslTrip-To-Virginia.
Williams, Edward K. "David Crawford 111." In Amherst County Heritage Book Committee.
Amhersf County, Virginia. Amherst, Va.: 1999.
O m Appmvd No. l W 1 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10 Page 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated area is equivalent to the footprint of the house Tusculum, as portrayed in
Exhibit A.
Boundary Justification
The nominated area is d e w as the footprint of the house Tusculum in anticipation of the
house being moved to an appropriate new location in Amherst County (to be determined).
Removal of Tusculum from its historic location was a requirement of the transfer of the
house to the ownership of the Association for the Presewatioa of Virginia Antiquities.
Otherwise the house would have been demolished at its present location.
OMB A
NPS Fmo 1OKG-a
v
l
No. IDUlOOlB
(8-M)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number EIuk? Page 26
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
1.
1. Subject: Tusculum (same for all photos)
2. Location: Amherst Co., Va. (same for all photos)
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
5. O r i m negative archived at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Va. (same for all photos)
6. Description of view: North and west elevations. View looking southeast.
7. Photograph number appears at beginning of entry (same for all photos)
2.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. South and east elevations. View looking northwest.
3.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezwni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. Breezeway stair.
4.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. Base of interior stair, first floor of original section.
5.
3. Photographer: David W. Baber
4. Photo date: February 1979
6. Mantel in first-floor front room of original section
omA
m
No. I o l M m I 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number ExhiW Page 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Tusculun
1st Floor
Exhibit A: Tusculum First-floor Plan. Drawn by Travis C. McDonald from McDonald et al,
"Tusculum." Scale: 1 inch equals approx. 11 feet. The nominated area is equivalent to the
footprint of the house. Number and direction of view of exterior photographs indicated by
triangular markers.
7 9 00'
\A
,
Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey
1
Control by USGS and NOSlNOAA
IWO
~~~~~~~~h~by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs
taken 1959. n e l d checked 1961. Revised from aerial
photographs taken 1968. Field checked 1969
5
CONTOUR
NATIONAL GEODETI
polyconic projection. 10.000-foot grid based on Virginia coordinate
zone. 1000-meter Universal Transverse Mercator
system,
grid ticks, zone 17, shown in blue. 1927 North American Datum
place
on the predicted North American Datum 1983 move the
projection lines 10 meters south and 22 meters west as shown by
bashed corner ticks
UTM GRID AND 1980 MAGNETIC NORTH
DECLINATION AT CENTER OF SHEET
~i~~
red dashed lines indicate fence and field lines where,
on aerial photographs. This information 1s unchecked
~
shown
~
i n purple
~
compiled
i
in ~
cooperation
i with Commonwealth
~
~
of virginiaagencies from aerial photographs taken 1979 and
other source data. his information not field checked. Map edited 1980
0
~
THIS MAP COMPLIESWIT[
FOR SALE BY I
DENVER, COLORADO 8
AND VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL
A FOLDER DESCRIBINGTOPOGRAPHll
National Park Service
N a t i o d Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
1. Name of Property
historic name
other nameslsite number
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
Tusculum
VDHR File No. 005-0020
2077 N. Amherst Highway (US29)
Amherst
code VA county
Amherst
code
009
N/A not for publication
NIA vicinity
zip code
2452 1
3. StatelFederal A g m y Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify
that this X nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for
registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets - does not meet the National
Register Criteria. 1 recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide 3
locally. ( -See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature .of certifying o%ciall~itle
-
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( - See continuation
sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official1Title
Date
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
Action
entered in the National Register.
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the National Register.
- See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register.
removed from the National Register.
other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date
of
Amherst Co.. Va,
Tusculum
CmrsdStar
NlmcOfRoPrry
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Cmknmravbmcal~sg~b~
(WW===bor)
c o o m ~ ~ ~ w ~ h ~ m u n . )
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
li building(s)
Contributing
1
-district
-site
-structure
-object
Name of related multiple property listing
(MLI'NIKifpopcnyirMpuraf&rnu4ipkmti~.)
0
Noncontributing
0
0
0
0
0
buildings
sites
structures
objects
1
0
Total
0
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Eaarrargoics fmm i d m )
(aara~~flmiamamhu)
megL"Y
Subcategory
Category
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
W O R K IN PROGRESS
Architectural Classification
(Em,m
a horn i d - )
Georgian
Federal
Narrative Description
mgdbe~hilorilorimd-~mndidaaaf~~aoonrmmacmadoln~ib~.)
Subcategory
Materials
(8aarstleoierfmmim"ah)
foundation
walls
Stone
Wood
roof
other
Asphalt
Brick
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
mt.r'x'inon.mmonb=faaebe~W~
tac pmpny f a N
W Re@w bdn8.1
W'X'indlbhbrnnthst8ppb.)
Prapstv it:
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
(Emmes&s fmm imnruuim)
Ca. 1750-1815
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
(CampMWOaaimBirmulad~)
ArchitectlBuilder
r
Sherman (brickmason)
Narrative Statement of Significance
(E~l.inhdbaifrmr~&pmpsryrmoncaaaemodnvmOaibaa.)
>
'or Bi 1'
9
Bibliography
(Cite w kc&, d d s . sxd m h '
~QYM
YXd
in pnntrioe thin fmo m me a
-
~~1l6nu6tio
ah-.)
a
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been reauested
-pre&ously listed in the ~ationalRegister
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
- Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
- Other
Name of repository:
Amherst Co.. Va,
--'-
approximately Q&5 acres
Acreage of Property
UTM References
( P ~ ~ d m - a a .
m,6mmtb nbm)
Zone Easting Northing
1 1 676700 4167140
2 1
-S
Zone Easting Northing
3 1
4 1
c c ~ s b c a .
Verbal Boundary Description
,p-+*mcbmndlr*aorth~oa.eomin~*.)
Boundary Justification
( E ~ ~ ~ t b C ~ a l d c a c d m ~ ~ l d m 3 h a l . )
11. Form Prepared By
3 Daniel Pezzoni
nameltitle
organization
street & number
city or town
Landmark Preservation Associa@ date
6 Houston St.
telephone
Lexington
State Y.4
zip code
biiv 27.2004
464-5315
&%5Q
Additional Documentation
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic distticts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
,'3?&limthsHFQmPPofo.~~aliamr)
Property Owner
name
street & number
city or town
elidB.lbrss-:
m. 6s. D k a
~ m e o md
t B!dgc(.
. .
..
The Associauon for the Preservation of Virgma Anb'auities (contact: N. Gordon L o w
204 W. Franklin St telephone
GKkw&u@648-1889
Richmond
state VA zip code
23220-5 102
Pubk~gboldcnfarthilformil.dmadm~-18.1~ps~~biagthtimefan*inria~im~8,p~mdrmmoinmgdn,.nlrmspl~gmd
01 my upcct d thia 6s to t
k a d ,Cbicf,smdsmd Ssvias Division. N W PI* M a ,P.O. Bm 37127. Wmbinslm. DC m13-1127: md tbC QREs of
RIdurdar
~ImndOl8).W.lhmgtoo. DC 20503.
m m k g &r bmdm enimne
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7Page L
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Tusculum is located off US Highway 29 in eastern Amherst County, Vuginia. The two-story
Georgian and Federal frame house was built in two principal phases (see Exhibit A). The
two-room-deep side-passage-plan north section of the house was built during the third quarter
of the eighteenth century, perhaps in the 1750s. The one-room-plan south section was added
in the early nineteenth century, possibly about 1805. The house features stone and brick
foundations, plain and beaded weatherboard siding, exterior gable-end brick chimneys (the
addition chimney is flanked by pents), and a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. The
three-bay original section has a one-story entry porch on the east side; a similar porch on the
west side was replaced by a small addition in the mid-twentieth century. A breezeway
separates the first stories of the original section and addition and continues as a porch along
the east (rear) elevation of the two-bay addition. The interim is little altered, with Georgian
and Federal mantels (which have been placed in storage preparatory to moving the house), a
stair with turned balusters, chair rails, wood floors, and plaster-and-lath walls and ceilings
(replaced or sheathed with plasterboard in some rooms).
Near the house stand a mature Norway spruce and several other deciduous and coniferous
species (a large Norway spruce has stood on the east side of the house since ca. 1900). There
are many overgrown boxwoods including four large clumps in a diamond-shaped arrangement
off the north end of the house. Four outbuildings were observed in association with the
house; one, located to the southwest, incorporates timbers from a mid-nineteenth century (or
earlier) granary. (Outbuildings and landscaping are not included in the nominated area, which
is limited to the footprint of the house.) Historic photographs show a number of outbuildings
located off the south end of the house, of which archaeological evidence is believed to
survive.
Exterior
Historically, Tusculum faced west, but with the replacement of the front entry porch on the
west elevation of the original section with a small addition (probably done in the 1950s
before 19571, the matching east-elevation entry porch became the principal entry. The east
entry porch is distinguished by slightly tapered chamfered posts with decorative caps, a
pediment with basal and raking narrow cornices and wide flush-board sheathing in the
tympanum, and a frieze with an undulating scalloped lower edge. At the base of the posts
runs a solid railing enclosed with plain weatherboards. The present weatherboards are
modern, although a solid railing has been the treatment since at least 1900 (a historic
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Section number 7 Page 2
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
photograph shows one on the former west entry porch). The lower ends of most or all of the
posts have been replaced, and the porch ceiling and floor boards are modem. The porch is
reached by concrete steps with mid-twentieth century metal railings.
The porch shelters an entry with a molded surround and a six-panel door with molded and
raised panels (such doors are typical throughout the house, and doors and windows typically
have molded surrounds). The original section has 919 windows on the first-story east
elevation, replacement 212 windows on the first-story west elevation, and 619 windows on the
second stories of both elevations. The mid-twentieth century west elevation addition has 616
windows. The early nineteenth century addition has 9/9 sash on the first story,2/2 sash in the
second story, and small four-pane windows in each of the shed-roofed pents. The historic
window openings on the original section and addition have louvered wood shutters painted
green, held open by wrought iron shutter dogs. The north elevation was windowless until
small windows were inserted at the west corner to serve twentieth century bathrooms on the
first and second floors. The first-story bathroom window has an aluminum sash. The secondstory bathroom window has a small four-pane sash.
The original section and the addition are mostly sheathed with plain weatherboards that were
probably added in the late nineteenth century, as suggested by nail chronology. (Perhaps the
original beaded weatherboards were mostly replaced when the house changed hands in 1898.)
Beaded weatherboards attached with rose-headed wrought nails survive at protected locations
such as under the breezewaylporch and in the south gable of the addition. The house was
described as painted white in an early 1810s account.
A pair of chimneys rise on the south gable end of the original section. The west chimney is
constructed of brick laid in American bond, and the east chimney is Flemish bond. (The west
chimney may have been rebuilt.) The tops of both of these chimneys, which have stepped
shoulders, appear to have been rebuilt. The addition has a single American bond brick
chimney on its south gable end. This chimney has stepped shoulders but the ends of the
bricks are sloped giving the shoulders a paved appearance. Also, the brickwork is laid in
stretcher bond near the shoulders. Initials are carved into the bricks near the bottom of the
addition chimney including T.K., AP, and J(J?)W (probably John Jay Williams Jr., who was
a boy about 1900).
The original section foundation was originally constructed of Flemish-bond brick above stone
below grade. Extensive American-bond brick repairs have been made, and the northeast
NPS Form 10-900s
(am
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Section number L Page 3
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
comer has been rebuilt in stone. The foundation of the small addition on the west elevation
has reused old bricks laid in stretcher bond. The addition foundation is constructed of brick
laid in American bond. Both the original section and the addition have rectangular foundation
vents with square wood bars set into mortise-and-tenoned and pegged frames with beaded
inner edges. At least one vent (on the north elevation of the original section) has Roman
numeral builder marks on the outside face of the frame.
The opening to the breezeway on the west elevation is spanned by a double-ogee board, a
decorative treatment that recalls the scalloped friezeboards of the east entry porch. Wooden
steps rise to modem screening and screen door set back into the opening. On the north side
of the opening, abutting the west chimney of the original section, is a box-like feature
constructed of brick with a wood lid. A ca. 1900 photograph shows a wooden box-lie
feature of the same dimensions at this location. The wooden feature and its post-1900
replacement may be associated with evidence for a former cellar entry at the location, or they
may have served as spaces for over-wintering house and porch plants analogous to the
flowerhouses of the period. The porch along the east side of the addition has mid-twentieth
century screening with a solid weatherboarded railing. A solid railing has been the porch
treatment since at least the early twentieth century, as shown in historic photographs. The
south end of the porch formeriy had ogee-pattern trim boards like the breezeway opening.
Stone steps capped with concrete inscribed on one tread VIB or VIS and with a mid-twentieth
century metal railing descend from the south end of the porch. The breezeway has a plaster
ceiling and the porch has a sloped ceiling sheathed with beaded boards. These differences and
other evidence suggest the porch is not original to the addition, although the breezeway is.
Rising at the northeast comer of the addition is an open, two-run stair that conforms to the
coma. The lower run and landing of the stair are under the porch and the upper run rises
through the space of the breezeway. The stair has closed strings, square newels with small
molded caps, square balusters, and molded handrails. The sloping underside of the upper run
has a plaster-and-lath treatment like that of the breezeway ceiling. Under the landing and
lower run is a closet with horizontal board enclosure and a short door that is a twentieth
century replacement of the original door. The fact that the beaded weatherboards of the
addition inside this stair closet are unpainted indicates the stair is original to the addition.
(Presumably its landing and lower run formerly projected outside the shelter of the
breezeway, or were sheltered under a small pent roof or other covering.)
OM6 Appvml No. 10244318
NFS Fom 1~~
fkss)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7Page 4
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
Interior
The front and rear entries of the original section open (or opened) into a side passage
occupied by a two-run closed-string stair. The stair features square newels with molded caps,
molded handrails and strings, and turned walnut balusters of columnar form. The side passage
has a flush board wainscot with molded chair rail and baseboard at top and bottom (similar
wainscots appear in other rooms) and a ca. 1930s comer water closet finished with recycled
baseboard and chair rail. Two doors in the passage and other doors in the house are hung on
HL hinges with leather washers. The door into the small addition (originally the front entry)
has staples that formerly received a cross bar for securing the door.
The larger front (east) fust-floor room and the smaller room behind it both have Georgian
mantels with architrave fueplace surrounds and overmantels with cornices. At the turn of the
twentieth century the front room served as a living room ("sitting room"), and the room
behind it was then used for storage, although it may originally have function as a dining
room since it has an original exterior doorway on the south wall that may once have
communicated with a detached kitchen. The front room overmantel has a denticulated
cornice, and both overmantels are described as formerly having "3-ply" mirrors. A
photograph from the turn of the twentieth century shows one of these mirrors in the front
room--a conventional early nineteenth century three-part mirror with a turned and gilt frames-as well as dark mantel and trim paint color and wallpaper on the wall and wainscot with a
pattern of circles (wreaths?). Other features of the two rooms include a plaster wainscot in
the front room; a front room fueplace with an iron lintel and scoring on the fireplace
surround that probably once received plaster; an early or original closet next to the chimney
in the rear room; and an area of exposed chimney brick above the overmantel.
The first floor of the addition is occupied by a single large room that apparently served as a
dining room. It features a GeorgianlFederal mantel with fluted pilasters and fluted pilasterlike tablets at the ends of a plain frieze. The mantel has miniature denticulation and staggered
gougework in the cornice above the frieze and a decorative band at the bottom of the frieze.
The decorative band, which wraps around the tops of the pilasters, has alternating horizontal
reeding and small nested squares. The chair rail has intermittent reeding that coordinates with
the mantel. To each side of the mantel are low six-panel doors that open into closets in the
two pents. Each closet has original or early shelves supported by a variety of wooden
brackets. The sections of wall between the closets and the room are nogged. The east closet
has two small rectangular niches set into the chimney. During investigative demolition prior
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Tuscdum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
to the moving of the house the room was determined to have L-section or "hog-trough"
corner posts and split lath attached with wrought-headed nails. No bricks were observed in
the few visible wall cavities, suggesting the nogging is limited to the pent closets.
The second floor is similar in basic plan and character to the first floor, with molded door
and window surrounds, six-panel doors on HL hinges with leather washers, chair rails, wood
floors, plaster walls, and plaster or plasterboard ceilings. The Georgian mantels in the front
and rear rooms are similar in form, and they are smaller than the downstairs mantels. They
have architrave fireplace surrounds below tall frieze-like panels capped with moldings. The
fireplace openings themselves are segmental arched, and the arch fonn is reflected in the cutout lower edges of the mantels. When the mantel in the front room was removed, a signed
brick was revealed on the face of the chimney inscribed "EHC." The second-floor room in
the addition has a low chair rail and a Georgian mantel with an architrave fireplace surround,
a frieze with a single long recessed panel, and a molding above the frieze terminated at the
ends by small decorative boards. Over the breezeway are a small room and an even smaller
vestibule at the top of the stairs. The six-panel door between the room and vestibule has iron
staples for a cross bar that secured the door.
The roof structures over the original section and addition are basically similar, with common
rafters pegged at the ridge and stiffened by collars that are lapped and nailed to the rafters.
No builders marks have been observed in either attic. Most framing in the original section
attic is pit-sawn and wrought-nailed. The rafters are mortise-and-tenoned at the top and
fastened with long spike-like pegs. The ceiling joists, of which one or more are hewn, do not
extend the depth of the house but are interrupted by an off-center hewn plate. Protruding
through the pit-sawn roof boards are three generations of nails, the earliest of which are
wrought. The nails attached wood shingles to the roof boards; a broken wood shingle with a
round butt (visible end) found in the northwest comer of the addition attic may have belonged
to the original section roof at the time the addition was made. The addition roof structure has
pit-sawn and sash-sawn framing mostly cut-nailed. The rafters are lapped and pegged at the
ridge. Protruding through the pit-sawn roof boards are two types of cut nails for the
attachment of square-butt wood shingles, of which a few examples have been found in the
attic.
The cellar has three spaces that correspond to the side passage and two rooms above; the
space under the rear first-floor room is unexcavated. Stone infill at the southwest corner, the
location of the formerly frame and presently brick box-like feature on the exterior, suggests
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
the location of an original bulkhead entrance. The cellar is presently accessed by a modern
stair that has been created in the closet under the side-passage stair. Sills, joists, and beams
are hewn or pit-sawn, and many wrought nails have been observed. The addition basement
has brick walls and occupies the entirety of the space. It has log joists mortised into the sills
and a fireplace large enough to have served for cooking or other work. Presumably the
basement functioned as a winter kitchen, and it may also have been used as living space for a
cook of other servant. The addition basement is entered at the southeast comer through an xbraced tongue-and-groove batten door. On the parged base of the chimney just inside the
doorway are scratched initials and names from the turn of the twentieth century including
TSW, SCHUY, and Willims, the first two presumably written by Thomas Schuyler Williams,
a son of John Jay Williams.
Outbuildings
The nominated area, which corresponds to the footprint of the house, does not include
outbuildings; however, several historic and modem outbuildings exist and are described here.
There are four one-story frame outbuildings. One is located in the southeast comer of the
yard behind Tusculum, the other three are located in the pasture to the south and west of the
house.
The outbuilding in the yard appears to dak to the early twentieth century and may have
functioned as a workshop. It is in ruinous, partly collapsed condition with vertical board
siding, a side-gable roof with asphalt roll roofing, a batten door, and two window openings
in the south gable end. At least one of the siding boards on the south gable end is reused; a
few cut nails are nailed into it. Inside are work shelves attached to the exposed circular-sawn
wire-nailed studs, a dirt floor, and exposed common rafters that incorporate reused timbers.
The reused timbers are pit-sawn rafters with notches for former collar beams that were nailed
(rather than pegged) to the rafters.
Of the three outbuildings in the pasture, the one nearest to the house is the most recent. This
gambrel-roofed storage shed dates to the last quarter of the twentieth century and has TI-11
siding, asphalt roof shingles, two-leaf barn-style doors with cross bracing on the west end, an
aluminum jalousie window on the east end, and exposed framing members on the interior.
Beyond the gambrel-roofed shed is what appears to be a tractor garage dating to the 1940s or
1950s. The garage has board-and-batten siding, a metal-sheathed front-gable roof, a shed
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National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page L
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
wing on the south side, and a structure consisting of log posts with butted and nailed sapling
rafters. Inside the gabled section is a Federal mantel suspended upside-down on the wall.
Possibly this mantel once belonged to a now vanished outbuilding on the property. In the side
wing are built-in work tables, old motors, and other evidence of use for machinery repairs.
The largest outbuilding and the one farthest from the house, located to the southwest of the
house at the edge of a woods, is a mid-twentieth century barn that incorporates part of what
appears to have been a granary dating to the mid-nineteenth century, if not earlier. The
granary comprises the west half of the barn, the east half is the more modem section, and the
whole is covered by a metal-sheathed front-gable roof supported on sapling rafters. The
granary has circular-sawn vertical board siding cut-nailed to a heavy timber mortise-andtenoned frame. The frame has massive hewn plates on a crude stone foundation. The plates
have multiple notches for former floor joists; the evidence for a floor suggests the building
served as a granary rather than a stock barn, or that it was the granary section of a formerly
larger barn. This latter possibility is suggested by evidence at the top of the frame for tie
beams that would have linked the frame to another structural unit (perhaps the tie beams
spanned the center drive-through or threshing floor of a barn). Roman numeral builder marks
occur at the connections between comer posts, girts (some of which are sash sawn), and
diagonal braces. A pair of door openings have iron pintles. The twentieth century part of the
building is constructed of log posts with sapling girts and metal siding. A roughly linear pile
of stones extends from the west side of the barn, possibly a former foundation. Elsewhere on
or adjoining the property is a family cemetery.
Integrity Statement
Tusculum possesses very good integrity. It retains its overall historic form; exterior historic
finishes such as beaded weatherboard siding; most of its historic exterior features including
chimneys, pent rooms, porches, and breezeway; and interior historic features including stair
detail, mantels, and chair rails. The only significant loss is the front (west side) entry porch,
which was replaced by the present one-room wing in the mid-twentieth century. At the time
of s w e y in February-March 2004, the mantels had been stored off site to protect them from
theft. Tusculum's setting of ornamental yard, pasture, and woods preserves the basic
character of its historic surroundings, and except for Highway 29 visible in the distance
through woods to the east of the house, there are virtually no modem intrusions. The
outbuildings depicted in photographs from the turn of the twentieth century, some of which
may have been contemporary with the house and its early nineteenth century addition, are
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National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7Page 1L
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Description (continued)
gone, and only the much altered granary located at some distance from the house survives
from the nineteenth century.
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Continuation Sheet
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Tusculum
Amherst Co ., Va .
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Tusculum is one of Amherst County, Virginia's most historic properties. The original section
of the two-story Georgian and Federal-style frame house was apparently built in the third
quarter of the eighteenth century for a member of the Crawford family. The house was later
associated with Amherst County Clerk of Court William Sidney Crawford (1760-1815), who
transacted county business from the "master's office" formerly located in Tusculum's yard.
Crawford added a two-story dining roodguest chamber wing that is separated from the
original section by a fust-story breezeway, the most unusual architectural feature of the
house. Tusculum has early mantels, six-panel doors on HL hinges with leather washers, a
side-passage stair with turned walnut balusters, and a pedimented entry porch with chamfered
posts and scalloped friezeboards. In 1815 control of the property passed to Elijah Fletcher, a
Vermont-born schoolmaster who wed William's daughter Maria Crawford in 1813. The
Fletchers lived primarily in Lynchburg, where Elijah published The Virginian newspaper and
where he served as mayor in the 1830s. They later owned Sweet Briar plantation, which their
daughter Indiana Fletcher Williams gave for the establishment of Sweet Briar College. For
most of the second half of the nineteenth century Tusculum was occupied by the Fletchers'
son, Dr. Sidney Fletcher, and for much of the twentieth century it was the home of the
Williams family. Threatened with demolition at its present site, Tusculum was recently
acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, which plans to move
the house and restore it.
Applicable Criteria
Tusculum is eligible under Criterion C with significance in the area of architecture as a well
preserved example of eighteenth and early nineteenth century Georgian and Federal-style
domestic architecture in Amherst County, and for such notable features as the breezeway
connector, dining roomiguest chamber addition, and well preserved decorative features. The
period of significance extends from ca. 1750 to 1815, embracing the likely period of
construction of the original section of the house during the third decade of the eighteenth
century, and terminating with the death of William S. Crawford, who enlarged the house
between 1802 and 1815. Tusculum is eligible at the local level of significance.
A number of organizations and individuals assisted in the preparation of this report. Foremost
among these is the owner of the house, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Antiquities, represented by the APVA's Director of the Revolving Fund N. Gordon Lohr,
and Travis C. McDonald with the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest, who led a team
with the 2003 Poplar Forest Restoration Field School to document the house and to prepare
the investigation report that forms the basis of this nomination. Contributions to the Poplar
Forest effort were made by intern Sydnor Scholer and Christian Carr, Director of the Sweet
Briar College Museum, and Field School participants Kathy Beatty, Alenya Becker, Kathryn
Coutier, Elizabeth Flora, Dusty Fowler, Melvin Lester, Heather Plaza-Manning, and Jenna
Solomon. Others who provided assistance included FletcherIWilliams family descendent
Jackie Williams Beidler; Holly Wilhelm, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society;
architectural historian S. Allen Chambers; George Collins of the Andrew Johnson Museum,
Greeneville, Tennessee; and Ann Andrus, Calder Loth, Chris Stevenson, and Jack Zehmer of
the Virginii Department of Historic Resources.
Historic Context
According to architectural historian Travis C. McDonald, uncredited documentary history
asserts that Tusculum's original section was built by David Crawford II (1662-1762) in 17545. According to this history, Crawford moved to what is now Amherst County about 1754 to
join his son David Crawford I11 (1699-1766), who had moved to the area about 1752. David
Crawford I1 married Elizabeth Smith (1665-1766) and David Crawford 111 married Ann
Anderson (1708-ca. 1803). Two Crawford family researchers (Charles B. Lampkin and
Edward K. Williams) have questioned whether David Crawford I1 or III in fact moved to
what is now Amherst County, suggesting instead that they lived in present-day Nelson County
(both counties were part of Albemarle County in the 1750s). Lampkin states that David 111
was living on the Rockfish River in Nelson County at the time of his death in the Summer of
1766. Also, there are accounts that credit David Crawford III with the construction of the
house. Whatever the particulars of Crawford family movements during the period, and
whichever Crawford built Tusculum, Travis McDonald notes that "Physical evidence would
indicate that the house was constructed prior to the 1770s."I
McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Lampkin, Descendants of John Craoford, 5-6; Williams,
"David Crawford 111;" and Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 12, 1936. Fleming McMullin
Jr., the researcher who prepared the Historic American Buildings Survey report on the house
in 1957, assumed a ca. 1755 date of consbruction. A number of sources give earlier dates; for
example, historians Emmie Ferguson Farrar and Emilee Hines state that the house was built
I
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Tusculum's owner (or steward) during the late eighteenth century may have been David
Crawford W (1734-1802), who matried Lucy Henderson prior to 1760. A David Crawford,
presumably David IV, was active in Amherst County government and in the defense of the
county during the Revolutionary War, and in 1779 a Capt. David Crawford of Amherst
County led troops against Indians in Kentucky. Leonora Sweeny, a historian of Amherst
County during the Revolutionary War, describes Tusculum as the home of Capt. David
Crawford (David Crawford ID has also been described as having the rank of captain).
According to county land tax records, David Crawford IV was a large landowner, possessing
nearly 900 acres at the time of his death. Despite evidence that points to David Crawford IV
as the owner of Tusculum until 1802, Travis McDonald cites earlier research in writing that
David IV's son, William Sidney Crawford (1760-1815), inherited Tusculum from his greatgrandfather David I1 upon the latter's death in 1762, when William would have been two
years old. This research may be a misinterpretation of David Crawford II's 1761 will, which
left "my Plantation whereon I now live with Two Hundred and Eighty Actes of Land joining
Thereto during her widdohood [sic]."After his widow's death, David II's land was to go to
his granddaughter Susannah Barnet. The will further stated that should Susannah not have any
heirs, "the Land above mention[ed] to Descend to William Crawford Son of David Crawford
to him and his heirs forever." David II had a grandson William, the son of David Crawford
111, who was born in 1750 and died unmanied. This may be the William referred to in David
11's will.2
Whether William S. Crawford acquired Tusculum from David I1 or David IV, it appears that
about 1735 in OM Virginia Houses in the Piedmont (p. 103).
Sweeny, Amherst County, Wrginia in the Revolution, 2, after 68, 75, 180-181;
"Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum;" "Descendants of John Crawford;"
Crawford-Oppenheimer, "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages," 30; Amherst County Land
Tax Records and Will Book 1, pp. 6, 76; and McDonald et al, "Tusculum." It is possible
that there were multiple, perhaps distantly related David Crawfords during the period.
Further complicating the picture is an 1810 article of agreement between William S.
Crawford and "Elizabeth Crawford relict and widow of David Crawford" (a second wife?)
who had a life right to the "Plantation whereon [David Crawford] in his life time lived . . .
adjoining the Tobaccorow Mountain" (Amherst County Deed Book M, p. 293). Tobacco Row
Mountain, as it is presently defined, is located six miles west of Tusculum.
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
he gained control of the property in 1802.William S. Crawford was an executor of the estate
of his father, who died between March 14 and September 20, 1802 (one account states
August 1802). On July 7, 1802 William insured Tusculum with the Mutual Assurance Society
(MAS), an action that suggests he had come into control of Tusculum upon David Crawford
IV's death or imminent demise. Travis McDonald cites a 1802 MAS policy (Exhibit B) as the
first known occurrence of the name Tusculum, which ultimately derives from the Roman
Tusculum, a resort near Rome where Cicero and other Roman statesmen had villas.
Presumably because of its association with Roman republican government, the name was
chosen for the ca. 1773 residence of John Witherspoon, the president of the College of New
Jersey (now Princeton) and later a signer of the Declaration of Independence. William S.
Crawford was educated at Princeton, and it seems likely that he adopted the name of the
well-known Princeton president's house for the Crawford family home.3
Most evidence points to William S. Crawford as the individual who enlarged Tusculum to its
present size, before 1815, by adding the two-story dining room and breezeway wing to the
south gable end of the original house. The dining room was an increasingly important focus
of domestic life among the Virginia elite of the eighteenth century, and William S.
Crawford's future son-in-law Elijah Fletcher records several occasions of formal dining at
Tusculum during the early 1810s. The exact date or period of Crawford's dining room
addition is open to question. The 1802 MAS policy described Tusculum as a "Wooden
dwelling House two Stories High 30 by 30 feet 2 Porches 12 by 14 feetn valued at $1,200.A
second MAS policy, issued to Crawford on June 25, 1805 (Exhibit C), described the house as
"A wooden Dwelling house Two stories high 31 feet long by 31 feet wide" valued at $2,000.
The dimensions suggest that no addition had been made, but the substantial increase in value
suggests a major modification to the house. Also, the actual footprint of the house depicted
on the 1805 policy is rectangular at a 2:l ratio, approximately the ratio of the enlarged
house, which is roughly 30-112 feet by 67 feet including the pents. (The 1802 policy had
shown the house as square, in accordance with the pre-addition dimensions.) If one discounts
the second 31 foot dimension in the 1805 policy as an error, then the weight of evidence
points to the addition of the dining room wing between 1802 and 1805, most likely nearer the
' Amherst County Will Book 4, p. 49, and Deed Book M, p. 293; CrawfordOppenheimer, "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages, " 30; McDonald et al, "Tusculum;"
George Collins personal communication; Home and Garden Television website; and Princeton
Township website.
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
later date.4
William S. Crawford served as Amherst County's fourth Clerk of Circuit Court during the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Crawford operated the clerk's office from the
"master's office" that formerly stood in Tusculum's yard. At the time, Tusculum was
centrally located for county residents, for it was not until 1807 that Nelson County was split
from Amherst. According to a 1936 newspaper article that drew upon family tradition,
Crawford stored the county records in a trunk under his bed before the office was
constructed. An appraisernent of Crawford's estate made on September 17, 1815 describes
furnishings "at the County Office" including three tables, five split bottom chairs, three
"Poppler Benches," two pairs of dog irons (andirons?), an ink stand, and two pairs of money
scales and weights. Photographs from the turn of the twentieth century show several onestory frame buildings in the yard south and east of the house; one of these may have been the
clerk's office. Like his forebears, Crawford was a large landowner-in 1810 he owned nearly
4,000 acres--and 1804 county personal tax records show fifteen adult male black tithes
(slaves) in his household. The 1815 appraisement suggests he owned a total of thmty-four
slaves that year.5
William S. Crawford married Sophia Pem (ca. 1761?-1844?), and among their children was
Maria Antoinette Crawford (1792-1853). In the early 1810s a Vermont school teacher named
Elijah Fletcher (1789-1858) became acquainted with the family. Fletcher came to Amherst
County in 1811 to serve as principal of the New Glasgow Academy, located near Tusculum
in the town of New Glasgow. Maria Crawford enrolled as one of Fletcher's pupils and soon
teacher and student were courting. Fletcher wrote his father that he hoped to many
Crawford, "a most amiable accomplished sensible Lady--of one of the most rich extensive
' Wenger, "Dining Room in Early Virginia;" McDonald et al, "Tusculum" including
facsimiles of MAS policies (reproduced as Exhibits C and D). County tax records are
unhelpful in determining the date of the enlargement. Travis McDonald gives greater weight
to the negative evidence of the 31 foot dimension and suggests "probably 1805-1811" as the
most likely period for the construction of the addition.
' Beidler,
"Tusculum;" Lynchburg Daily Advunce, October 12, 1936; McDonald et al,
"Tusculum;" and Amherst County personal property tax records, land tax records, and Will
Book A-1, pp. 14, 19.
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
respectable families in the State." Elijah and Maria wed in 1813, and the following year
Elijah wrote his father that he was "cultivating a plantation," that of his father-in-la~.~
William S. Crawford died in early 1815 and Elijah Fletcher was made administrator of his
estate. Fletcher wrote:
The management of all Mr. Crawford's affairs devolving upon me makes my task
arduous--He was a man of extensive concerns and great estate--He left his affairs
much deranged and unsettled which renders the settlement of his concerns doubly
troublesome.
Fletcher's accounts, preserved in the Amherst County records, contain a wealth of
information about Tusculum. The slaves were divided among four plantations; about half of
them were children or infants. The estate also comprised horses, oxen, cattle, sheep, and
swine, and there were an additional three plantations rented out. The accounts mention a
carriage, silver tea and coffee utensils, a pianoforte, numerous items of furniture, and "A
quantity of Blue Paper Hangings." (Before his marriage Fletcher had written his father that
the Crawfords "live in a two story upright house painted white. They have their carpets on
the floors and eveqthmg in the genteelest style.") On a number of occasions Fletcher paid
workmen to make upgrades to buildings, including a house that was presumably Tusculum.
Wiatt Smith was paid for whitewashing and a man named Wilson was paid $2.00 for
"covering [roofing] stable one side." Ezekiel Gilbert was paid $12.50 for "Carpenters Work"
in 1816 and a man named Sherman was paid $6.00 for "Brick work underpining [sic] Porch"
the same year. During this period Tusculum was occupied by Elijah and Maria Fletcher,
Sophia Crawford (who moved to Kentucky in 1837), and several of Sophia and William's
other children. Elijah Fletcher purchased Tusculum from the Crawford heirs in a number of
' Von Briesen,
"Elijah Fletcher; " "Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum;"
and McDonald et al, "Tusculum." Fletcher also wrote to his father about Maria's relative
William Harris Crawford, who was prominent in Georgia and national politics during the
period and who ran for President in 1824. W. H. Crawford was born in what is now Nelson
County in 1772; some accounts erroneously report that he was born at Tusculum
(Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress website).
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Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significauce (continued)
transfers during the period 1824 to 1842.7
The Fletchers moved to Lynchburg in the late 1810s. Elijah was a founder of Z%e Virginia
newspaper in 1825 and was active in Lynchburg civic affairs, working to establish the city's
water supply, supporting railroad and industrial development, and serving as mayor in the
1830s. The Fletchers continued to visit Tusculum, which was only twenty miles from
Lynchburg. In 1830 Elijah Fletcher purchased the Sweet Briar plantation between Lynchburg
and Tusculum as a summer residence, and he and his wife lived there almost exclusively after
1846. Fletcher nevertheless kept close tabs on his Tusculum plantation. In 1845 he noted in a
letter that the Tusculum fields were "desolate and worn out" but the house was "neatly kept."
The outbuildings, he added, "are nicely white washed-so are the garden pailings and the
fence around the yard and every thing presents a neat and nice appearance. "'
Tobacco, corn, and wheat were the principal agricultural products of Tusculum during the
1810s and 1820s. By all accounts, Elijah Fletcher made a successful transition from
schoolmaster to plantation manager. John Livingston's Pomaits and Memoirs of Eminent
Americans (1854) describes Fletcher's agricultural methods, techniques that would have been
applied at Tusculum:
Mr. Fletcher began to teach practically how easy it was to resuscitate these worn-out
lands, and restore them to their natural fertility. He introduced deep plowing, drained
the wet land, leveled the gullies and ravines [and sowed clover. He] began to import
the best improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and hogs, paying no attention to the fine
blooded race-horse which had been the only animal of cost and care in the country.
His early efforts in the agricultural pursuits were looked upon by many as the
visionary theory of a book farmer, but the practical results were so striking that all
who saw were convinced, and one after another of his neighbors began to follow his
example.
' Von Briesen, "Elijah Fletcher;" Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 16; Amherst
County Will Book A-1, pp. 14-46; and McDonald et al, "Tusculum."
' McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Chambers, Lynchburg, 189; and Stohlman, Story of
Sweet Briar College, 17-18.
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Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Elijah Fletcher was presumably the main source for Livingston's ac~ount.~
Elijah and Maria Fletcher's son Sidney Fletcher (1821-98) was given the responsibility of
managing the Tusculum plantation in 1841 upon his graduation from Yale. During the 1840s
he divided his time between Tusculum and medical studies in Richmond and Paris. In 1850,
after an unsuccessful stint in the California gold fields, he was given ownership of the
property. The 1850 federal census identified him as an "MD" with $12,000 in real estate.
Ten years later he was identified as a farmer with $68,000 in real estate and $20,000 in
personal estate. The personal estate value reflected Fletcher's large slaveholding. The 1860
slave schedules list him as the owner of thirty-three slaves outright, and a marginal note
beside an additional forty-one slaves suggests they had been hired out to Fletcher. His
fanning enterprises were so extensive, as recorded in the 1860 agricultural schedules, that the
census-taker broke them down into ten separate headings. The first heading probably
represents the core Tusculum farm, with 900 improved acres, 400 unimproved, and a value
of $41,000. On this parcel and one other--the only parcels of the ten for which agricultural
production was recorded--Fletcher raised horses, cattle, oxen, sheep (86), and swine (90) and
produced wheat (1,300 bushels), corn (5,000 bushels), oats (3,500 bushels), tobacco (2,100
pounds), orchard products ($250 worth), hay (50 tons), and grass seed (35 bushels). One
parcel of five acres was identified as the "Tanyard," which was either defunct in 1860 or too
small to be recorded in the industrial schedules. Another parcel has the marginal note
"executor" (Fletcher's father had died two years before) and another, consisting of 1,464
unimproved acres and 80 improved acres, has a marginal note that may identifl it as being
located on Cold Mountain, a section of the Blue Ridge where the Appalachian Trail passes
today. Presumably this mostly unimproved mountain parcel was used for summer-time
pasture. The 1860 free population schedules note that Sidney Fletcher's household included
25-year-old William Bowles, his 20-year-old wife, and their two young children (Fletcher
never married).1°
In the 1890s, as Sidney Fletcher grew old, he realized he needed assistance in maintaining the
farm. He invited John Jay Williams (1876-1943) of Chatham, New York, the great-grandson
Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 17-19.
lo Semi-centennial; Beidler, "Tusculum;' and U.S. census. The 1860 Amherst County
agricultural schedules are faint and difficult to read in areas.
0?4B A w d No. ! W l 8
NPS km ! m a
(ssm
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
continuation Sheet
7
Section number _S Page 1
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
of Elijah Fletcher's sister Lucy, and John's wife Clara Schuyler Babcock Williams (18751962) to move to Amherst County to assist in the management of the family properties.
These included Tusculum, a property in what is now Madison Heights known as the Silk
Farm, and Sweet Briar. The latter property was owned by Sidney Fletcher's sister Indiana
Fletcher Williams (1828-1900). According to Indiana's wishes, after her death it was
developed as Sweet Briar College, which would become one of Virginia's leading institutions
of female education. (Interestingly, as Travis McDonald comments, Elijah Fletcher had once
proposed that Indiana and her sister open "a sort of a nunnery of a school at Tu~culum.")~'
Shortly after the Williamses arrived in Amherst County, Sidney Fletcher died (in April
1898). To the surprise of his young relations, Fletcher gave John Williams a life interest to
the profits of Tusculum with the property to go to Williams's heirs, and he left the Silk Farm
outright to Williams. The Wiamses moved from their initial home at the Silk Farm to
Tusculum where they raised five sons. Soon after gaining control of Tusculum, John Jay
Williams was paid a protracted Christmas visit by his brother Charles, who described the
house and grounds in a memoir many years later (directional descriptors corrected):
Their house was unlike any I had ever before seen. It was of frame construction,
painted white, facing the Blue Ridge Mountains. The [north] end of the building
seemed to have been the main dwelling, with large living room, with a hall at the
[north] end, with front and back porches. A beautiful winding stairway led from the
hall to the sleeping rooms. An open porch ran right through the building from [front
to back]. To the [south] of the porch, there was a large dining mom with a large fireplace. Over this was a sleeping-room, also with a large tire-place. [The sleepingroom's windows] looked across the garden into an oak forest. That was to be my
room, and I loved it. In addition to the stairway at the [north] end of the building,
there was also a winding stairway from the big porch up to the landing at the [south]
end. From the landing, one turned to the left into the large bedroom as described
ahove, and to the right, there was a small hall leading into a bedroom, directly above
the open porch. Occasionally, to accommodate overnight guests, I moved into that
room Lie. the hallway] and I cw truthfully say that with a cold wind blowing in
January or February, it resembled sleeping in a refrigerator. The air funneled through
" Stohlman, Story of Sweet Briar College, 24; McDonald et al, "Tusculum;" Beidler,
"Tusculurn;" and Jackie Williams Beidler collection and personal communication.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 1
Page _18
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
the wide open porch below the flooring, and rushed across the roof, above. I often
thought of it as being a "hanging icehouse" in the very cold months.
Charles Williams also described the kitchen, or "cook-house" as he termed it, which was
situated about twenty-five feet from the dining room addition. Williams recalled that the
office "in which had been transacted all business affairs for many years" was "Out in the
North-East end of the front yard . . . well removed from the house." Charles Williams's
sense of direction, recalled after the span of half a century, was confused at various points in
his account, although he seems to have considered the yard on the east side of the house to be
the front yard ("The yard was large, with many old box-wood and other varieties of trees and
shrubs"). If so then the building that may have served as William S. Crawford's county
clerk's office would have stood off the north-east end of T~sculum.'~
Charles Williams described turkey hunting at Tusculum, the comings and goings of Christmas
visitors--some of whom were likely the overnight guests who lodged over the dining room-and the family cook, probably the same Mary Banks shown in old photographs, who lived in
a house on the property. Another description of Tusculum appeared in the October 12, 1936
issue of the Lynchburg Daily Advance. The article remarked on the unusual form of the
house, and it described the room over the dining room as the "guest chamber." The kitchen
had burned or was tom down in the early twentieth century, probably in the 1910s, and its
chimney had been left standing until a few years before the article. "Gone also is the master's
office, where Amherst county records were kept" by William S. Crawford, who the article
stated had served as clerk of court from 1792 to 1814. On the grounds were "huge boxwood
bushes and evergreen trees" and "traces of a former greater symmetry." The 1936 article
identified the yard on the west side of the house as the Eront yard.
Clara Williams lived into the 1960s at Tusculum. The house passed to her son Thomas
Schuyler (Tim) Williams. In a 1986 interview, T. S. Williams and his wife Grace Hudson
Williams related how they met at a dance at Tusculum and married in 1923, and they recalled
l2 Davis, Abstract (vol. 2), 6; Williams, "Trip to Viginia." Charles Williams's visit may
have occurred about 1905, rather than immediately after his brother inherited the property in
1898. Since Williams traveled to New Glasgow by train, it appears that he first approached
Tusculum from the east, which may account for his perception of the east elevation as the
front.
OMB A-
No. 102HY)18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
9
Section number _S Page 1
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
the change from B&H lanterns to Aladdin lamps and, in 1945, to electric lighting. After T.
S. Williams's death in 1987 ownership passed out of the intermarried CrawfordIFletcherl
Williams family. In 2203 Tusculum (the house alone) was acquired by the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities to prevent its demolition. There are plans to move the
house to an appropriate new location in Amherst Comty.I3
Architectoral Analysis
Tusculum is a well preserved example of an evolved GeorgianlFederal plantation house. It
retains most of its eighteenth and early nineteenth century exterior and interior features
including sections of beaded weatherboard siding, a pedimented rear entry porch, pent rooms,
turned walnut stair balusters, and intricately carved mantels. Of special interest is the
breezeway connector between the original section of the house and the early nineteenth
century addition. The breezeway is a common feature in western Virginia houses of the
nineteenth century where it is typically located between the main body of the house and a rear
dining andlor kitchen wing. In the usual context the breezeway's function appears to have
been to prevent food odors and kitchen heat from entering the main house. It is possible tbat
breezeways were also intended as partial firebreaks, or that in an evolutionary and
morphological sense they perpetuated the traditional separation of house and kitchen as two
buildings (principally a fire precaution). Breezeways, like back porches, also made
comfortable work areas during warm weather, and in this regard they are similar to the dog
trots of vernacular Southern architecture. Like a dog trot, the Tusculum breezeway probably
creates a Venturi effect that would have promoted natural cooling. Dog trots--also known as
possum trots--are most common in double-pen log dwellings and are rare in frame houses."
The Tusculum breezeway may have been intended to serve one or more of these functions. It
would have prevented food odors from entering the house from the dining room, although,
because the summer kitchen was located in an outbuilding, the Tusculum breezeway was
probably not intended as a buffer from kitchen heat. Photographs from the turn of the
Beidler, "Tusculum;" Amherst New Era-Progress, July 17, 1986; and N. Gordon Lohr
personal communication.
l3
Jordan, Texas Log Buildings, 15; Bish'u and Southern, Guide to the Historic
Architecture of Eastern North Carolina, 443.
l4
OMB Appmvll No. 1024418
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Seetion number L Page 20
Statement of Significance (continued)
twentieth century show the breezeway being used as a sitting area, and after 1898 the
Williams family dined in the breezeway during warm weather. In this respect the breezeway
may be regarded as an especially open center passage, a well cross-ventilated interior plan
feature of the finer Virginia houses that occasionally served as living space during warm
weather.'*
At Tusculum the breezeway and related features of the addition may have a social explanation
as well. The second floor of the addition was described as a "guest chamber" in 1936, a
function it is known to have served from at least the turn of the twentieth century. These
references date to the period of the Williams family residence at Tusculum beginning in
1898, and there is only a tenuous connection between the Williams and preceding Fletcher
families. Nevertheless, the guest room use may be assumed to perpetuate nineteenth century
usage, and the architectural separation of the addition and other features support such an
interpretation. l6
Certain early nineteenth century Virginia houses have plan features that served to isolate
guests from family members. One example is the 1822-23 Bowling and Mildred Eldridge
House (formerly located in Halifax County), which has a second-floor room in the main body
of the house that was walled off from the center passage and could be reached only by a
winder stair from the fust floor of the ell. Another example is the 1839 Finney-Lee House in
Franklin County, which has a second-floor "travelers room" that was also originally walled
off fiom the center passage and could be reached only by a boxed winder stair that rose from
the dining room below,. The second floor of the Tusculum addition is served by a separate
stair from the breezeway, and although it can be accessed from the original section at the
second-floor level, the doorway at the top of the stair could be secured by cross bar against
unauthorized entry into the original section (the door into the room over the dining room has
no such feature)."
Hospitality was a virtue in traditional Virginia society, and the elite often entertained
'' Lynchburg News,January 10, 1982; Isaac, Transformation of
Virginia, 75.
l6
Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 12, 1936; Williams, "Trip to Virginia."
"
Pezzoni, "Bowling Eldridge House;" Pezzoni, "Finney-Lee House."
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page 21
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
strangers in their homes. Given the fact that individuals from throughout the county and
beyond traveled to Tusculum to conduct county business, it may be that the second-floor
room of the addition was used for their lodging. If so, the cross-barred door and the spatial
separation of the breezeway would have differentiated the public space of the addition from
the private space of the residence, protecting the family (William and Sophia Crawford had
young daughters during the period) and valuables from intruders, and also perhaps from
disturbance that might result from any boisterousness occurring in the dining room and
putative lodging room. It may be that Tusculum's dual front entries--the porch entry to the
original section now occupied by the mid-twentieth century wing, and the decoratively framed
opening to the addition breezeway--reflected a privatelpublic division of the house.
The names of the craftsmen principally involved in the construction of Tusculum and its
addition have not been discovered, although a clue to the brickmason who built or rebuilt the
west chimney of the original section is provided by the aforementioned inscribed brick, which
was imprinted when wet with flowing cursive letters that read "EHC." Somewhat more is
known about the Ezekiel Gilbert who was paid for unspecified carpentry work in 1816.
Presumably this was Ezekiel B. Gilbert Jr., a physician at the time of his death in 1850.
Gilbert was a resident of Amherst County in 1810 and 1820, as was his father, Dr. Ezekiel
Gilbert (d. 1823), who may have been a resident of the county from at least the 1770s."
Sweeny, Arnhersr Counry, Virginia In the Revolution, 84;Amherst County Will Book
6, p. 463, and Will Book 12, p. 407; and U. S. census. It is remotely possible EHC stands
for Ezekiel Gilbert, if the C is in fact a G, although both Ezekiel Sr. and Jr. apparently
shared the letter B as their middle initial.
l8
OMB A&
No. 1024418
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number L Page - 2 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amherst County deed, land tax, and will records. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst,
Va., and Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Amherst County Heritage Book Committee. Amherst County, Virginia. Amherst, Va. : 1999.
Amherst New Era-Progress (Amherst, Va.).
Beidler, Jaclcie Williams. "Tusculum. " In Amherst County Heritage Book Committee.
Amherst Counry, Virginia. Amherst, Va.: 1999.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website (www.bioguide.congress.gov).
Bishir, Catherine W., and Michael T. Southern. A Guide to the Historic Architecture of
Eastern North Carolina. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University Press of North Carolina,
1996.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: University
Press of Virginia, 1981.
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and its People. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Co., 1900.
"Crawford Genealogy [sic] As It Concerns Tusculum. " Undated typescript.
Crawford-Qppenheimer, Christine. "Some Crawford Henderson Marriages." In The Crawford
Exchange vol. 16 issue 1 (Fall 1994): 30.
Davis, Bailey Fulton, comp. An abstract of all item in will boob of Amherst County,
Virginia. 3 volumes. 1961-67.
"Descendants of John Crawford." Report, n.d., in files of Amherst County Museum and
Historical Society, Amherst, Va.
Farrar, Emmie Ferguson, and Emilee Hines. Old Virginia Houses: The Piedmont. New York,
N.Y. : Hastings House, ca. 1955.
Home and Garden Television website (www .hgtv.com).
OMB A@
NFS R m 10-
No. lWMrll8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 4_ Page 2 3 -
Tusculnm
Amherst Co., Va.
Major Bibiiographical References (continued)
Isaac, Rhys. R e Transfom'on of lrirginia, 1740.1790. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University
of North Carolina Press, 1982.
Jordan, Teny G. Texas Log BuiMings: A Folk Architecture. Austin, Tx.: University of
Texas Press. 1978.
Lampkin, Charles Barnett. Descendants of John Crawford, 1643. Miami, Fl.: Acme Press,
1970.
Loth, Calder. The Virginia Landrnarh Register. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 1999 (fourth edition).
Lynchburg Daily Advance (Lynchburg, Va.).
Lynchburg News (Lynchburg, Va.).
McDonald, Travis C., et al. "Tusculum." Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest 2003 Restoration
Field School Investigation Report, 2003.
McLeRoy, Sheme S., and William R. McLeRoy. More Passages: A New History of Amherst
County, Virginia. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc., 1995.
McMullin, Fleming Jr. Tusculum Historic American Buildings Survey Report. 1957.
Pewni, J. Daniel. "Bowling Eldridge House." National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 1993.
. "Finney-Lee House." National Register of Historic Places Registration Form,
1996.
Princeton [N ..ITownship
.]
website (www. princetontwp.org).
SemGCentennial Historical and Biographical Record ofthe Class of 1841--Yale University.
New Haven, Cn.: 1892.
Stohlman, Martha Lou Lemmon. The Story of Sweet Briar College. Sweet Briar, Va.:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number P Page 24
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
Sweet Briar Alumnae Association, 1956.
Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. Amherst Counry, Virginia in the Revolurion. 1951.
United States Census.
Von Briesen, Martha. "Elijah Fletcher: Vermont Schoolmaster to Virginia Planter. "
The Iron Worker 22:1 (Winter 1957-58): 1-13.
Wenger, Mark R. "The Dining Room in Early Virginia." In Thomas Carter and Bernard L.
Herman, eds. Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, 111. Columbia, Mo.:
University of Missouri Press, 1989.
Williams, Charles. "Trip to Virginia." Posted on the website www.cocomysteries.coml
articles/CHATHAM/chaslTrip-To-Virginia.
Williams, Edward K. "David Crawford 111." In Amherst County Heritage Book Committee.
Amhersf County, Virginia. Amherst, Va.: 1999.
O m Appmvd No. l W 1 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10 Page 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated area is equivalent to the footprint of the house Tusculum, as portrayed in
Exhibit A.
Boundary Justification
The nominated area is d e w as the footprint of the house Tusculum in anticipation of the
house being moved to an appropriate new location in Amherst County (to be determined).
Removal of Tusculum from its historic location was a requirement of the transfer of the
house to the ownership of the Association for the Presewatioa of Virginia Antiquities.
Otherwise the house would have been demolished at its present location.
OMB A
NPS Fmo 1OKG-a
v
l
No. IDUlOOlB
(8-M)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number EIuk? Page 26
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
1.
1. Subject: Tusculum (same for all photos)
2. Location: Amherst Co., Va. (same for all photos)
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
5. O r i m negative archived at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Va. (same for all photos)
6. Description of view: North and west elevations. View looking southeast.
7. Photograph number appears at beginning of entry (same for all photos)
2.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. South and east elevations. View looking northwest.
3.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezwni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. Breezeway stair.
4.
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pezzoni
4. Photo date: March 2004
6. Base of interior stair, first floor of original section.
5.
3. Photographer: David W. Baber
4. Photo date: February 1979
6. Mantel in first-floor front room of original section
omA
m
No. I o l M m I 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number ExhiW Page 2
Tusculum
Amherst Co., Va.
Tusculun
1st Floor
Exhibit A: Tusculum First-floor Plan. Drawn by Travis C. McDonald from McDonald et al,
"Tusculum." Scale: 1 inch equals approx. 11 feet. The nominated area is equivalent to the
footprint of the house. Number and direction of view of exterior photographs indicated by
triangular markers.
7 9 00'
\A
,
Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey
1
Control by USGS and NOSlNOAA
IWO
~~~~~~~~h~by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs
taken 1959. n e l d checked 1961. Revised from aerial
photographs taken 1968. Field checked 1969
5
CONTOUR
NATIONAL GEODETI
polyconic projection. 10.000-foot grid based on Virginia coordinate
zone. 1000-meter Universal Transverse Mercator
system,
grid ticks, zone 17, shown in blue. 1927 North American Datum
place
on the predicted North American Datum 1983 move the
projection lines 10 meters south and 22 meters west as shown by
bashed corner ticks
UTM GRID AND 1980 MAGNETIC NORTH
DECLINATION AT CENTER OF SHEET
~i~~
red dashed lines indicate fence and field lines where,
on aerial photographs. This information 1s unchecked
~
shown
~
i n purple
~
compiled
i
in ~
cooperation
i with Commonwealth
~
~
of virginiaagencies from aerial photographs taken 1979 and
other source data. his information not field checked. Map edited 1980
0
~
THIS MAP COMPLIESWIT[
FOR SALE BY I
DENVER, COLORADO 8
AND VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL
A FOLDER DESCRIBINGTOPOGRAPHll
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed
VLR: 6/16/2016
NRHP: 8/15/2016
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Brightwells Mill Complex
Other names/site number: Baldocks Mill; Mays Mill; DHR Nos. 005-0035
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 586 Brightwells Mill Road
City or town: Madison Heights State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____6________
______4_______
buildings
_____4________
______0_______
sites
_____4________
______2_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
____14_________
______6________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility: Mill
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling; Shed
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing: Smokehouse; Storage: Corn Crib
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Animal Facility: Chicken House; Brooding House
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Agricultural Outbuilding: Barn; Shed
FUNERARY: Cemetery
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling; Shed
FUNERARY: Cemetery
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Agricultural Outbuilding: Barn; Shed
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER: Grist Mill
NO STYLE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: STONE; WOOD; METAL; CONCRETE:
Concrete Block; SYNTHETICS: Vinyl
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Brightwells Mill Complex is located along Brightwells Mill Road (County Road 663) from the
intersection with Beck Creek Road (County Road 648) to the intersection with Red Hill Lane.
This area is in southeast Amherst County, near the James River. It is rural with steep hills and
fast-running creeks. The complex of 110 acres consists of two main areas: the mill area adjacent
to Beck Creek and the farm area on the hill, north of the mill. The mill area consists of a threestory frame grist mill, dam, bridge and three outbuildings. The farm area includes the miller’s
house, barns, sheds, chicken house, and higher on the hill above the house is the cemetery. There
has been a mill on the site since before 1826; the current building was rebuilt in 1942 when a
flash flood destroyed both the dam and mill. The reconstructed mill incorporates salvaged
material from the earlier mill and mill machinery from another county mill affected by the same
storm. The mill stopped milling for human consumption about 1965. The log section of the
miller’s house was also built before 1826 and was expanded and remodeled in the 1940s. The
property has a total of 14 contributing resources and 6 non-contributing resources. Brightwells
Mill Complex retains integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, feeling, and
association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Setting
Brightwells Mill Complex is located in rural Amherst County where the topography is generally
rolling and features numerous creeks. The mill complex stands close to the three-point
intersection of Brightwells Mill Road (County Road 663) (which passes through the complex),
Beck Creek Road (County Road 648), and Red Hill Lane. From Red Hill Lane, entry to complex
is via a bridge that crosses Beck Creek. The mill building is a visually prominent feature at the
intersection, with Beck Creek running along the mill’s south side and a frame corn crib and
chicken house east of the mill. At a point a short distance southwest of the mill, a dam extends
across Beck Creek. The mill area also includes a workshop.
Proceeding into the complex by way of Brightwells Mill Road, the farm area consists of the
miller’s house and various farm buildings including barns and sheds. A cemetery is at the
northernmost edge of the property and on the hill above the house.
Resources associated with Brightwells Mill Complex were evaluated as contributing or noncontributing to the property based on their association with the property’s period and areas of
significance and their integrity. In the following inventory, the resources are numbered to match
their locations on the accompany sketch map.
Mill Area
1. Mill Dam-1942 Contributing Structure
The mill dam, originally constructed of log and earth, was breeched in a 1942 flash flood
and was completely rebuilt in concrete by H. L. Brightwell and his sons. The concrete was
reinforced with available scrap metal, including an old car axle. Etched in the concrete at the
north edge of the dam is “H L Brightwell and Sons 1942.” The dam and mill are connected with
an enclosed sluice or flume constructed of metal.
2. Mill-1942 Contributing Building
The grist mill is a vernacular three-story frame building. H. L. Brightwell constructed the
1942 building using salvaged material from the original mill, lumber milled on-site, and the
machinery from the nearby Sandidges Mill (005-5069). This new building was larger than the
original mill.
The original mill was built by William Burford before 1826. It was a two-story frame
building with a random stone foundation and a side-gable roof with cedar shake shingles. It was
expanded some time during the 19th century with a one-story addition to the north or main
elevation of the building. After 1920, Brightwell enlarged the addition to two stories and added a
standing-seam metal roof. It was a grist mill set up for the milling of grains for local area
farmers, a type also known as a plantation or custom mill. There were two sets of milling stones,
one for corn and one for wheat. The mill wheel also powered a sawmill.1
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The current frame mill was built in 1942 on what remained of the random stone
foundation of the earlier building. This three-story mill is of platform frame construction with
weatherboard siding on the exterior. Some of the interior support beams are the hand-planed
original timbers, salvaged from the earlier building. The side-gable roof has exposed rafter tails
and is sheathed with standing-seam metal. Typical windows have 6/6, wood, double-hung sash.
The third floor of the north and south elevations has open bays with metal screen. There is a onestory office addition at the northwest corner. Since 2012, the mill has been undergoing
restoration.
The main elevation faces north. It has three symmetrically placed bays on each story. The
first-story bays are covered by a shed-roofed canopy of standing-seam metal supported by wood
braces. The porch is wood and spans most of the elevation to the office. The main entry has a
wide single-leaf Dutch door.
The office, in the northwest corner, has a shed roof of standing-seam metal. Its east
elevation has a single-leaf Dutch door and a window. The north elevation is without fenestration,
while the west elevation has a typical 6/6 window centered along the wall.
The mill’s east elevation faces the road intersection. The first and second stories have
three symmetrical bays. The third-story window is centered within the gable. The south elevation
contains the metal overshot mill wheel; it is in the southwest corner of the elevation. The first
story has two bays symmetrically placed to the east of the wheel. The second- and third-story
bays mirror those of the east elevation.
The mill’s west elevation faces the dam. Its first story has two symmetrically placed bays.
There is a single bay on the third story in the gable.
Interior
The interior of the mill has an open plan on all three floors. The walls of the first floor are
sheathed with plywood; the framing of the second and third floors is exposed. An open staircase
is in the southeast corner of each floor. The center area of each floor contains the mill machinery
that came from Sandidges Mill. The second and third floors have grain bins along the west,
north, and east walls.
3. Bridge #6059-2013 Noncontributing Structure
The bridge inventoried by the Virginia Department of Transportation as #6059 is located
east of the mill and was reconstructed in 2013. This bridge spans Beck Creek, and is constructed
of a standardized, cast-in-place concrete deck with metal guard rails. The current bridge replaced
an earlier bridge built in 1932.
4. Corn Crib-c.1942 Contributing Structure
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The corncrib sits north of the road intersection; it is east of the mill and next to the
chicken house. It is on concrete piers and has horizontal wood siding that alternates each slat,
one on the exterior and one on the interior. This allows space for air circulation. The shed roof,
which slants to the north, has standing-seam metal sheathing. The main elevation faces south and
has a centered single-leaf entry of vertical boards.
5. Chicken house with attached Outhouse-c.1942 Contributing Building
The frame building is two stories and replaced the building that was washed away by the
1942 freshet. It was built into the hillside on the opposite side of the road from the mill. It has a
random stone foundation. The exterior is clad with weatherboard and the shed roof is covered
with standing-seam metal. The main elevation faces south. The first story has a centered entry
with a single-leaf door of vertical boards. The second story has an entry with a single-leaf door
of vertical boards; it is located in the southeast corner. The east elevation is higher than the west.
The siding covers the bottom half of each story, above which there are 14 open bays with wire
on each story. The north elevation faces the hillside. On the ground level, an outhouse is attached
to the building. On the second story, at the northeast corner, there is a an entry with a single-leaf
solid wood door and an aluminum storm door. The outhouse is clad with a vertical board and has
a shed roof of standing-seam metal. The west elevation, on both stories, has four open bays with
wire and horizontal bars.
6. Workshop-c.1980 Noncontributing Building
The workshop is located immediately north of the mill. It was built by Esmond
Brightwell. It has a solid concrete slab foundation with concrete block walls. The side-gable roof
is clad with standing-seam metal. It has an interior chimney flue of concrete block in the
northwest corner. The main elevation faces south. It has two bays: a single-leaf metal door and a
top opening 3/3 metal sash window. The west and north elevations are inaccessible. The east
elevation has two bays, a solid single-leaf metal door and a window with a top opening 3/3 metal
sash. The building was damaged and the masonry walls were cracked when a piece of heavy
machinery ran into the wall. Brightwell used it to work on wood and metal projects.
Farm Area
7. Pump House-c.1980 Noncontributing Structure
This structure is located between the mill and house, along the east side of Brightwells
Mill Road. It has a concrete slab foundation, concrete block walls and a shed roof of corrugated
metal. There is a centered entry with a single-leaf vertical board door on the west elevation. This
structure houses the pump that supplies water to the house.
8. Miller’s House-c. 1826, c. mid-19th century, and 1947-Contributing Building
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The house is on a hill above the mill to the north. The farm yard is south of the house.
The house is set apart from the barns and sheds by a natural wood three-rail fence. Within the
fenced area are mature hardwood trees, English boxwoods and a Magnolia tree. There are
foundation plantings around the house.
The vernacular miller’s house was constructed in three campaigns. The earliest was a log
section that is one-and-a-half stories with a hall parlor plan and an enclosed stair. From historic
photographs, there was a porch with a wooden floor (same size as the current porch) and square
wood posts supporting the shed roof. The side-gable roof with a simple boxed cornice and the
porch roof were covered with cedar shakes, like those of the original mill building. Sometime
during the 19th century, the house was enlarged with a one-story ell added to the east side at the
northeast corner. In 1947, the house was enlarged to its present state with a one-story addition to
the southeast corner of the original building and running to the rear of the mid-19th century
addition. At this time, the interior was also remodeled.
The foundation of the original building and first addition are random stone. The 1947
addition has a concrete block foundation. The building has vinyl siding and the entire roof
system is clad with standing-seam metal. There is an exterior random stone chimney on the north
elevation of the c. 1826 section, a concrete-block, interior flue in the 19th century section, and an
interior concrete-block flue near the east elevation. Most windows in the house have 6/6 doublehung sash.
The main elevation faces west. This is the oldest section of the house. It is one-and-a-half
stories. There are two symmetrically placed bays on the first story; a single-leaf entry and a
window with typical 6/6 sash. The entry has a solid wood door with three rectangular lights set
diagonally in the upper section; it dates to c. 1947. The three-bay porch spans most of the
elevation, it covers the doorway but the window is exposed. The foundation of the porch is
random stone with a concrete slab floor. The shed roof is supported by brick piers topped with
round metal posts. Between the piers is an iron railing with twisted balusters. There is a brick
stair with two risers from the ground to the porch.
The north elevation exhibits all three periods of construction to the building. The western
end is the oldest section. There is a random stone exterior end chimney with two shoulders. One
window is east of the chimney on the first story; at the half story, there are two smaller 2/2 sash
on either side of the chimney. The windows have exterior glass louvers. The central section of
the elevation is the mid-19th century addition. There are two sets of two 6/6 double-hung sash
windows. The eastern section of the elevation has a shed roof. There is a single-pane sash and a
sliding window with two single panes.
The dwelling’s east elevation has a window with a single-pane sash and two sets of
sliding windows with two single panes at the north end of the elevation. The south end of the
elevation is spanned by a shed-roofed porch; the roof is supported at the southeast corner by a
round metal post. The porch deck is a concrete slab. Extending down from the eaves and
surrounding the porch is a two-foot trellis. Access to the rear of the house is via a concrete stoop
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
with seven risers leading to a single-leaf, south-facing entry with an aluminum screen door. The
stoop has a metal pipe railing. Beneath the roof, on the east elevation is a typical window with
6/6 sash.
The south elevation consists of the original section of the house and the 1947 addition.
The 1947 addition is offset about a foot to the south from the c. 1826 section. There is an entry
with a single-leaf door featuring three horizontal panels in the lower half and nine lights in the
upper half. There is a concrete stoop with a gable over-door with wood braces. Flanking the
entry on the east are three 6/6 double-hung sash windows and on the west are two 6/6 doublehung sash windows. At the west end, the oldest section of the elevation, there is a typical
window with 6/6 sash on the first story and at the half story is a 2/2 sash with glass louvers on
the exterior.
Interior
The interior of the house has five main rooms and the hall on the first floor and one room
at the half story. The house was remodeled in 1947. An archway was placed between the original
hall and parlor. The mantel and fireplace were redone and the current mantel is a simple
vernacular type. The c. 1826 section of the dwelling retains unadorned board window trim. The
wood paneling throughout the house as well as the wood flooring dates to the mid-20th century.
The kitchen, located on the rear (north) side of the house, has c. 1947 cabinetry made by Esmond
Brightwell and the metal, free-standing wood stove was also made by Esmond Brightwell in the
early 1970s.
9. Smokehouse-c. 1947 Contributing Structure
The smokehouse is southeast of the house. The fully enclosed area of the building is
within the fenced yard; an addition on its south side is outside the fence. The structure’s framing
dates to the nineteenth century, but Brightwell redid the building by putting it on a concrete slab
with a ramp on the west. The main elevation faces west and has a centered entry with a wood
single-leaf, six-panel door that was cut to fit an earlier opening. The north elevation has a small
four-pane sash window. The south side is open.
10. Railroad Building-c.1900-1920 Contributing Building
The building was a shanty used by the railroad during the early twentieth century, and
was brought to the farm around 1947 for use as a farm shed. It is in the area near the eastern edge
of the hill and east of the Brooding House. It does not have a foundation. The building has a
gable-front roof and is covered with corrugated metal. The main elevation faces north, and has a
ramp from the ground to a centered entry with a wood single-leaf door. The door has louvers in
the lower half and wood board filling the area that was once glass.
11. Brooding House-c.1950 Contributing Building
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The large post-in-ground building, south of the house, was used for the chicks. It has
vinyl siding, a shed roof of standing-seam metal and a central interior chimney of concrete block.
The east elevation has 10 bays of various sizes; two are vertical board doors and the remainder
are open with chicken wire. There are three open bays along the west elevation; these have
chicken wire in them.
12. Three-part Barn-c.1950s Contributing Building
The three-part barn has three different, but adjoined construction methods. It is located
south of the brooding house. The north section has corrugated metal siding and a gable-front,
standing-seam metal roof and, on the north elevation, has two sets of double-leaf metal doors.
The middle section is frame with weatherboard siding, a side-gable corrugated metal roof and an
interior, brick chimney flue, and its west elevation has an open bay with chicken wire. The rear
(southern) section is post-in-ground with a shed roof of standing-seam metal and corrugated
metal siding on its south elevation and on part of the east elevation.
13. Shed-c.1940s Noncontributing Building
The shed is located in the southeastern section of the farm yard. It is partially fallen, but
once had a shed roof of standing-seam metal, two open bays on the west elevation , and vertical
board siding on the north, east, and south elevations.
14. Barn-1984 Noncontributing Building
The current barn, located in the southernmost section of the farm yard, replaced an earlier
one that burned in 1984. It has a large center section with a gable-front roof and shed roofs to
either side. The building has standing-seam metal roofing and patterned metal siding on the sides
that rise above the shed roofs. The lower walls have vertical board siding. On the main (north)
elevation is a double-leaf sliding metal door in the center and a small single-leaf metal door in
the lower sections.
15. Pole Shed-c.1950s Contributing Structure
This shed is located across Brightwells Mill Road in the pasture to the northeast of the
miller’s house. It is post-in-ground construction. The main section is open with three bays. The
standing-seam metal roof slants to the west. The south end of the building is lower, has a shed
roof of standing-seam metal and is enclosed with corrugated metal.
16. Shed-c.2012 Noncontributing Building
This building is northeast of the pole shed in the same pasture. It is small and sits on the
ground. It has vertical board siding and a side-gable, asphalt-shingle roof. The main (west)
elevation has a centered entry with a single-leaf vertical board door.
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
17. Cemetery- Contributing Site
This is commonly known as the Baldock family cemetery. It is located on the hill north
of the pole shed, near Red Hill Road. It is overgrown but has a small cedar tree. There are
approximately nine burials, but only seven are marked. The earliest burial dates to 1894 and the
last, by the Brightwell family, to 1935.
Ruins
18. Ruins of former two-story Chicken House-c.1940s, Contributing Site
The remains of this building are located on the hillside immediately north of the mill. It is
seen in many historic Brightwell family photos. The site is overgrown with bamboo.
19. Tobacco Barn-19th c., Contributing Site
The tobacco barn once sat in the northeast pasture, to the east of the pole shed. A few
foundation timbers remain. It is known that tobacco was grown by John Baldock, according to
the 1880 agricultural census. The family used the barn for storage until it was taken down by
Esmond Brightwell.
20. Ice House-19th c., Contributing Site
The ice house was located in the northeast pasture, next to the road and west of the pole
shed. The ice pond was below the miller’s house on the west and ice was collected and stored in
the ice house.
Possible Site for Future Identification
Oscar Baldock’s Store-c.1900
Historic photos show a two-story frame store located on the property, but its site is
unknown. It is speculated to have been somewhere close to the mill.
Integrity Statement
Brightwells Mill Complex retains much of its integrity of location, setting, form, function,
materials, and workmanship in the individual buildings of the complex but the historical and
architectural significance is best conveyed as whole group. The farm and mill stand on a site
which has been used for these purposes since early settlement of Amherst County. The buildings,
especially the mill, are traditional in form and design according to their function. Most of the
exteriors of the buildings remain unaltered. The mill retains historic machinery and its interior
plan is unaltered since 1942. The complex is a rare example of an intact farm and milling
complex in Amherst County.
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1826-1965
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1826
1942
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Brightwell, Harmon L. (1891-1951)
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Brightwells Mill Complex is locally significant to Amherst County for the period
1826-1965. It is significant under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Commerce. The mill
was a community center where grain crops and lumber were brought by local farmers for
processing; the farm provided food and additional income for the miller’s family. The mill
complex is significant under Criterion C as an example of a vernacular 19th- to mid-20th century
farming and milling complex with intact examples of a historic mill, miller’s dwelling, and
assorted support buildings that have significance as a group greater than the sum of their
individual parts. The property’s period of significance begins in 1826 with construction of the
earliest section of the frame dwelling and ends in 1965, when the mill ceased processing grains
for human consumption.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Significance in Industry and Commerce
Amherst County, in the late 18th through 19th century, had many mills along its
numerous fast and dependable creeks. Many sites were ideal, with steep hillsides and easy access
to roads or the James River. Most of the mills were small plantation or custom mills that ground
grain for nearby farms. Many of these became the center of a small community with businesses
based on providing goods and services to local farmers. There were two noted, larger,
commercial mills along the James River that ground wheat for export: Stapleton Mill (c. 1823,
now a ruin) and Galts Mill (DHR# 005-0036). These were within five miles of Brightwells Mill
and, at different times, Brightwells was a companion mill (either owned or run by the same
miller) to both Stapleton and Galts. Today, only four mill buildings remain standing in the
county: Galts, Sandidges (DHR # 005-5069), Amherst (c. 1813, still operational) and Brightwells
(1942). 2
Brightwells is located in the southeast section of the county on Beck Creek (historically
known as Stovall’s Creek) and inland from the James River about three miles. It is an area that
remains rural and somewhat isolated from the growth of the town of Madison Heights. It sits at
the intersection of Brightwell Mill Road and Beck Creek Road. This was an intersection of two
historically important roads: the road from Lynchburg that led to a tavern in central Amherst
called “the Folly;” and the Galts Mill Road (now Beck Creek Road) that led to both Galts and
Stapleton Mills, running along the James River.3
Milling and farming operations at the nominated property have been taking place since at
least the 1820s. The original mill was built before 1826 by William Burford (1759-1833). He
also built the c. 1826 original log section of the miller’s house around the same time; it was the
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
mansion house for his landholdings according to an 1833 plat. Burford sold the mill and farm to
his son-in-law, Charles Mays (1763-1848). Mays Mill, as it was first known historically,
remained in the Mays family until 1872, when Elijah B. Mays (1828-1910), son of Charles, sold
the mill to his nephew, Samuel J. Bailey (1836-1915).4
In 1873, Bailey sold the mill to John H. Baldock (1836-1894), from whom the mill
acquired its second historical name, and from 1873 to 1881 it was the companion mill to
Stapleton. John Baldock was listed as the miller at Stapleton for 1870 and 1880 according to
federal industry census records. In the same records, the miller at Mays/Baldocks Mill was
William Brook (b. 1811). In 1881, the Stapleton Mill was sold to the Central Virginia Iron
Company and mill operation ceased. John Baldock moved to Baldocks Mill until his death and
was the first burial in the cemetery on the hill above the miller’s house. 5
Oscar Baldock (1864-1911) returned to the area after his father, John’s, death. Oscar
Baldock had been living in Campbell County. John Baldock’s will stated the mill was to be sold
at public auction. In 1896, it was bought by William McLaughlin (1856-1939), who lived and
worked in Lynchburg. In 1900, Edgar J. Turner (1862-1943), owner of Galts Mill, bought
Baldocks Mill and from 1900-1908 it was the companion mill to Galts. During this period, we
know that Oscar Baldock was working at the mill and in 1902 he was listed as postmaster at
Baldocks. Oscar also built and operated a store; it was located near the mill but the exact site is
unknown. In 1908, Oscar Baldock purchased the mill and farm from Turner. At his death, like
his father, he was buried in the cemetery above the miller’s house. 6
After Oscar Baldock’s death there was a succession of owners, Solomon Johns, E. M.
Moore, and H. E. Graves, for whom little information exists. Graves sold the mill and farm to H.
L Brightwell in 1920. Harmon L. Brightwell (1891-1951) was a third-generation miller. He and
his wife, Lessie (1895-1963), began expansion of both the mill and the farm operation. The mill
building had a one-story addition that became two stories and two chicken houses were built for
a small business which Lessie ran by selling her eggs to nearby stores.7
In 1942, a storm caused a freshet which breached the mill’s 19th-century earthen and log
dam. The flood washed the old mill building and one of the chicken houses down Beck Creek.
The mill stones and the mill wheel were all that remained. It was a catastrophic loss of both
unprocessed and processed grain and chickens. This was during a period when materials were
rationed during World War II so everything that could be salvaged from the early building was
reused, including some of the support timbers. The concrete of the dam was reinforced with
whatever scrap metal was nearby including an old car axle. The milling machinery was acquired
from Sandidges Mill (DHR #005-5069) after the same storm destroyed its mill race and the mill
closed permanently. After the sawmill was restored, lumber was milled onsite and the new mill
was constructed; within a year it reopened. Harmon Brightwell also constructed new buildings
on the property and he remodeled and expanded the miller’s house.8
Harmon Brightwell died in 1951. Esmond, Harmon’s youngest son, took over milling. In
1965, he stopped grinding for human consumption due to competition from large-scale mills and
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
government regulations; he continued to grind for livestock feed into the 1990s. Esmond
Brightwell continues to live in the miller’s house. His children began restoration of the mill in
2012 and it has evolved into a community effort with volunteers working on the building and
support by fundraising for materials. They hope to fully restore and make the mill operational.9
For more than 150 years, Brightwells Mill contributed to the production and commercial
processing of grains in Amherst County and was a companion mill to other commercial mills
nearby. It was the focal point of a small community of surrounding farms. In the early through
mid-20th century, Brightwells was one of a few mills still open and the farmers from the
surrounding counties of Bedford, Campbell, and Nelson came to have their corn and wheat
milled, as shown in a ledger from the 1960s. By this time, it also was one of the last waterpowered mills in the county.10
Significance in Architecture
The Brightwells Mill Complex is an intact complex of 19th- and 20th-century domestic,
agriculture, and industry buildings. The collection is architecturally significant as an example of
a mill and farm complex with buildings of traditional type and form. Each building within the
complex serves a particular function or purpose.
Historically, a miller worked a farm to feed his household and supplement his income
with a cash crop. At Brightwells, some of the older buildings were repurposed when the cash
crop of the farm changed. In the late 19th century the modest farm grew tobacco, but by the early
20th century, livestock such as cattle and poultry replaced tobacco as the cash crop of the farm.
Older log barns were reused and additional barns, sheds, and coops were constructed for the
cows and chickens and to store their food. The forms of the buildings are typical of many seen
and used on farms throughout Amherst County. Most of the buildings were built with wood from
the farm that was prepared at the mill. The mill building is traditional in form and size. It was
rebuilt using materials salvaged for the original mill and farm-cut lumber. Today’s mill is larger
than the original because it was built to accommodate the machinery of the Sandidges Mill (0055069). The mill further is distinguished for its retention of this historic milling equipment and
machinery. In total, this property is an example of the increasingly rare milling and farming
complexes that hold a significant place in Amherst County’s history.11
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Books. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst, VA, Various Books and
Dates.
Amherst County Land Tax Records. Available on microfilm from Library of Virginia,
various dates and rolls.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society. Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst
County, VA. Revised Edition 1999. Amherst County, VA: Amherst County Museum
and Historical Society, 1999.
Amherst County Property Tax Records 1930-1988. Amherst Commissioner of Revenue
Office.
Ancestry.com Various Genealogical Records.
Brightwell Family Files and Photographs. Various dates and years.
Brightwell, Ricky, interview by Sandra Esposito. Personal Knowledge of Brightwell Mill
History (Various dates 2015).
Brighwell Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
Classical Milling Instructions. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Descendants of Terisha Turner. melissagenealogy.stormpages.com (accessed December 2,
2015).
Esposito, Sandra F. Galts Mill Historic District (005-5037). dhr.virginia.gov. (accessed
December 2, 2015).
Flour Milling in America, A General Overview. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Galts Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
Historically: How to Site a Mill. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
The History of Flour Milling in Early America. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report. 2010.
Hobbs, T. Gibson, Jr. The Canal on the James. Lynchburg, Va.: Blackwell Press, 2009. pp.
10, 28, and 121-123.
Staples or Stapleton Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 005-0035
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property approx.. 110.6 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
a. Latitude: 37.275665N
Longitude: 79.025721W
b. Latitude: 37.275077N
Longitude: 79.024531W
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
c. Latitude: 37.275034N
Longitude: 79.024276W
d. Latitude: 37.274648N
Longitude: 79.024292W
e. Latitude: 37.274302N
Longitude: 79.023496W
f. Latitude: 37.273051N
Longitude: 79.024090W
g. Latitude: 37.272962N
Longitude: 79.024929W
h. Latitude: 37.272980N
Longitude: 79.025423W
i. Latitude: 37.273998N
Longitude: 79.030578W
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The true and correct historic boundary is shown on the attached Tax Parcel Map, and
encompasses Amherst County parcel number 150 A 35, as maintained by the Amherst
County Commissioner of Revenue Office.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries are drawn to encompass the entirety of the acreage historically
associated with the milling complex as well as all known historic resources, including the
mill, miller’s house, agricultural outbuildings, and agriculture fields, as well as the setting of
the historic property.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Sandra F. Esposito
organization:
N/A
street & number: 140 Cradon Hill Ln.
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
city or town: Amherst state: VA
zip code: 24521
e-mail: espositosf@earthlink.net
telephone: 434-946-7496
date: 1/22/2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Brightwells Mill Complex
City or Vicinity: Madison Heights
County: Amherst
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: November 2015
State: VA
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 29. Mill Area, facing W.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0001
2 of 29. Farm Area, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0002
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3 of 29. Cemetery, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0003
4 of 29. Mill and Dam, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0004
5 of 29. Bridge, Chicken House and Corn Crib, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0005
6 of 29. Mill Sluice and Dam, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0006
7 of 29. Dam Detail, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0007
8 of 29. Mill, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0008
9 of 29. Mill, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0009
10 of 29. Mill interior, first floor, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0010
11 of 29. Mill interior, framing detail between second and third floors, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0011
12 of 29. Corn Crib, facing W.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0012
13 of 29. Chicken House with Outhouse, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0013
14 of 29. Workshop, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0014
15 of 29. Pumphouse, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0015
16 of 29. Miller’s House, Main elevation, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0016
17 of 29. Miller’s House, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0017
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
18 of 29. Miller’s House, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0018
19 of 29. Miller’s House, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0019
20 of 29. Smokehouse, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0020
21 of 29. Railroad Building, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0021
22 of 29. Brooding House, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0022
23 of 29. Three-Part Barn, facing S/SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0023
24 of 29. Three-Part Barn, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0024
25 of 29. Shed, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0025
26 of 29. Barn, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0026
27 of 29. Pole Shed and Shed, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_027
28 of 29. Cemetery, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_028
29 of 29. Cemetery, detail, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_029
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Image – Brightwells Mill Building As It Appeared in 1943.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
1
The original mill is known through historic photographs and the oral history of the Brightwell family.
2
Historically: How to Site a Mill, angelfire.com; Flour Milling in America, A General Overview, angelfire.com;
Staples or Stapleton Mill file, Amherst County Museum files; Esposito, Galts Mill Historic District Nomination;
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates, Sandidges PIF, 2010.
3
Amherst County Deed Book 1132, p. 267.
4
Amherst County Deed Book R, p.169; Amherst County Will Book 8, p. 327; Amherst County Deed Book Z,
p.596; Burford sold the mill to Charles, however it was noted in Burford’s 1833 will that the land was to be kept for
the benefit of his daughter’s, Francis (d. 1826), children. Elijah, son of Frances and Charles, bought the mill from his
father’s estate. Elijah specified in deeds that the mill was to be held in trust for his wife’s, Cassandra Turner Mays
(1828-1872) benefit with the trust held by their nephew, Samuel J. Bailey. Elijah and Cassandra moved during the
Civil War to Missouri and after her death the mill was sold. Elijah never returned to Virginia; Amherst County Deed
Book DD, p.351; Amherst County Deed Book EE, p.429; Amherst County Deed Book GG, p.53; Amherst County
Deed Book HH, p.463; Amherst County Land Tax Records microfilm reels 18, 19, 387, and 388; Ancestry.com
Census Records and Birth, Marriage and Death Records; and Descendants of Terisha Turner.
5
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p.128; 1870 and 1880 Industry Census; Ancestry.com Census Records and Birth,
Marriage and Death Records; Amherst County Deed Book NN, pp. 1-4; and Amherst County Land Tax Records
microfilm reels 599, 730, 791, and 882; and Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, p. 70.
6
Postmaster Records, Ancestry.com Census Records and Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Amherst County Will
Book 23, p. 287; Amherst County Deed Book WW, pp.238-9; Esposito; Amherst County Deed Book ZZ, p.302;
Amherst County Deed Book 61, p.70; Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years. There is an
article from The Amherst Progress, Vol 5, No 27, dated 11 June 1908, p 3; it describes a shooting in which Baldock
shot a man, formerly employed by Baldock, who had threatened Baldock and his family, available online from
virginiachronicle.com. In 1910, the lumber for the construction of Oakdale Baptist Church, a neighborhood church,
was milled at Baldocks/Brightwells Mill (Conversations with Ricky Brightwell and Amherst County Heritage Book,
Vol I, 1761-1999, p. 58.)
7
Amherst County Deed Book 65, p.500; Amherst County Deed Book 75, p.197; Amherst County Deed Book 74,
p.282; Amherst County Deed Book 82, p.282; Brighwell Mill file, Amherst County Museum; Interview with Ricky
Brightwell, various dates 2015; and Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years.
8
Brighwell Mill file; Brightwell interview, 2015; Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years;
and History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates, 2010.
9
Amherst County Deed Book 152, p.362; Amherst County Deed Book 228, p.279; and Brightwell interview, 2015
10
Brighwell Mill file.
11
1880 Nonpopulation Census (Agriculture) for John Baldock and oral history of Ricky Brightwell concerning
H.L. Brightwell.
Sections 9-end page 24
Polygon lat/long coordinates:
a. 37.275665N
b. 37.275077N
c. 37.375034N
d 37.274648N
e. 37.274302N
f. 37.273051N
g. 37.272962N
h. 37.272980N
i. 37.273998N
79.025721W
79.024531W
79.024276W
79.024292W
79.023496W
79.024090W
79.024929W
79.025423W
79.030578W
i
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A PUMPttOUSt
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed
VLR: 6/16/2016
NRHP: 8/15/2016
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Brightwells Mill Complex
Other names/site number: Baldocks Mill; Mays Mill; DHR Nos. 005-0035
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 586 Brightwells Mill Road
City or town: Madison Heights State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____6________
______4_______
buildings
_____4________
______0_______
sites
_____4________
______2_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
____14_________
______6________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility: Mill
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling; Shed
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing: Smokehouse; Storage: Corn Crib
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Animal Facility: Chicken House; Brooding House
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Agricultural Outbuilding: Barn; Shed
FUNERARY: Cemetery
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling; Shed
FUNERARY: Cemetery
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Agricultural Outbuilding: Barn; Shed
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER: Grist Mill
NO STYLE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: STONE; WOOD; METAL; CONCRETE:
Concrete Block; SYNTHETICS: Vinyl
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Brightwells Mill Complex is located along Brightwells Mill Road (County Road 663) from the
intersection with Beck Creek Road (County Road 648) to the intersection with Red Hill Lane.
This area is in southeast Amherst County, near the James River. It is rural with steep hills and
fast-running creeks. The complex of 110 acres consists of two main areas: the mill area adjacent
to Beck Creek and the farm area on the hill, north of the mill. The mill area consists of a threestory frame grist mill, dam, bridge and three outbuildings. The farm area includes the miller’s
house, barns, sheds, chicken house, and higher on the hill above the house is the cemetery. There
has been a mill on the site since before 1826; the current building was rebuilt in 1942 when a
flash flood destroyed both the dam and mill. The reconstructed mill incorporates salvaged
material from the earlier mill and mill machinery from another county mill affected by the same
storm. The mill stopped milling for human consumption about 1965. The log section of the
miller’s house was also built before 1826 and was expanded and remodeled in the 1940s. The
property has a total of 14 contributing resources and 6 non-contributing resources. Brightwells
Mill Complex retains integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, feeling, and
association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Setting
Brightwells Mill Complex is located in rural Amherst County where the topography is generally
rolling and features numerous creeks. The mill complex stands close to the three-point
intersection of Brightwells Mill Road (County Road 663) (which passes through the complex),
Beck Creek Road (County Road 648), and Red Hill Lane. From Red Hill Lane, entry to complex
is via a bridge that crosses Beck Creek. The mill building is a visually prominent feature at the
intersection, with Beck Creek running along the mill’s south side and a frame corn crib and
chicken house east of the mill. At a point a short distance southwest of the mill, a dam extends
across Beck Creek. The mill area also includes a workshop.
Proceeding into the complex by way of Brightwells Mill Road, the farm area consists of the
miller’s house and various farm buildings including barns and sheds. A cemetery is at the
northernmost edge of the property and on the hill above the house.
Resources associated with Brightwells Mill Complex were evaluated as contributing or noncontributing to the property based on their association with the property’s period and areas of
significance and their integrity. In the following inventory, the resources are numbered to match
their locations on the accompany sketch map.
Mill Area
1. Mill Dam-1942 Contributing Structure
The mill dam, originally constructed of log and earth, was breeched in a 1942 flash flood
and was completely rebuilt in concrete by H. L. Brightwell and his sons. The concrete was
reinforced with available scrap metal, including an old car axle. Etched in the concrete at the
north edge of the dam is “H L Brightwell and Sons 1942.” The dam and mill are connected with
an enclosed sluice or flume constructed of metal.
2. Mill-1942 Contributing Building
The grist mill is a vernacular three-story frame building. H. L. Brightwell constructed the
1942 building using salvaged material from the original mill, lumber milled on-site, and the
machinery from the nearby Sandidges Mill (005-5069). This new building was larger than the
original mill.
The original mill was built by William Burford before 1826. It was a two-story frame
building with a random stone foundation and a side-gable roof with cedar shake shingles. It was
expanded some time during the 19th century with a one-story addition to the north or main
elevation of the building. After 1920, Brightwell enlarged the addition to two stories and added a
standing-seam metal roof. It was a grist mill set up for the milling of grains for local area
farmers, a type also known as a plantation or custom mill. There were two sets of milling stones,
one for corn and one for wheat. The mill wheel also powered a sawmill.1
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The current frame mill was built in 1942 on what remained of the random stone
foundation of the earlier building. This three-story mill is of platform frame construction with
weatherboard siding on the exterior. Some of the interior support beams are the hand-planed
original timbers, salvaged from the earlier building. The side-gable roof has exposed rafter tails
and is sheathed with standing-seam metal. Typical windows have 6/6, wood, double-hung sash.
The third floor of the north and south elevations has open bays with metal screen. There is a onestory office addition at the northwest corner. Since 2012, the mill has been undergoing
restoration.
The main elevation faces north. It has three symmetrically placed bays on each story. The
first-story bays are covered by a shed-roofed canopy of standing-seam metal supported by wood
braces. The porch is wood and spans most of the elevation to the office. The main entry has a
wide single-leaf Dutch door.
The office, in the northwest corner, has a shed roof of standing-seam metal. Its east
elevation has a single-leaf Dutch door and a window. The north elevation is without fenestration,
while the west elevation has a typical 6/6 window centered along the wall.
The mill’s east elevation faces the road intersection. The first and second stories have
three symmetrical bays. The third-story window is centered within the gable. The south elevation
contains the metal overshot mill wheel; it is in the southwest corner of the elevation. The first
story has two bays symmetrically placed to the east of the wheel. The second- and third-story
bays mirror those of the east elevation.
The mill’s west elevation faces the dam. Its first story has two symmetrically placed bays.
There is a single bay on the third story in the gable.
Interior
The interior of the mill has an open plan on all three floors. The walls of the first floor are
sheathed with plywood; the framing of the second and third floors is exposed. An open staircase
is in the southeast corner of each floor. The center area of each floor contains the mill machinery
that came from Sandidges Mill. The second and third floors have grain bins along the west,
north, and east walls.
3. Bridge #6059-2013 Noncontributing Structure
The bridge inventoried by the Virginia Department of Transportation as #6059 is located
east of the mill and was reconstructed in 2013. This bridge spans Beck Creek, and is constructed
of a standardized, cast-in-place concrete deck with metal guard rails. The current bridge replaced
an earlier bridge built in 1932.
4. Corn Crib-c.1942 Contributing Structure
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The corncrib sits north of the road intersection; it is east of the mill and next to the
chicken house. It is on concrete piers and has horizontal wood siding that alternates each slat,
one on the exterior and one on the interior. This allows space for air circulation. The shed roof,
which slants to the north, has standing-seam metal sheathing. The main elevation faces south and
has a centered single-leaf entry of vertical boards.
5. Chicken house with attached Outhouse-c.1942 Contributing Building
The frame building is two stories and replaced the building that was washed away by the
1942 freshet. It was built into the hillside on the opposite side of the road from the mill. It has a
random stone foundation. The exterior is clad with weatherboard and the shed roof is covered
with standing-seam metal. The main elevation faces south. The first story has a centered entry
with a single-leaf door of vertical boards. The second story has an entry with a single-leaf door
of vertical boards; it is located in the southeast corner. The east elevation is higher than the west.
The siding covers the bottom half of each story, above which there are 14 open bays with wire
on each story. The north elevation faces the hillside. On the ground level, an outhouse is attached
to the building. On the second story, at the northeast corner, there is a an entry with a single-leaf
solid wood door and an aluminum storm door. The outhouse is clad with a vertical board and has
a shed roof of standing-seam metal. The west elevation, on both stories, has four open bays with
wire and horizontal bars.
6. Workshop-c.1980 Noncontributing Building
The workshop is located immediately north of the mill. It was built by Esmond
Brightwell. It has a solid concrete slab foundation with concrete block walls. The side-gable roof
is clad with standing-seam metal. It has an interior chimney flue of concrete block in the
northwest corner. The main elevation faces south. It has two bays: a single-leaf metal door and a
top opening 3/3 metal sash window. The west and north elevations are inaccessible. The east
elevation has two bays, a solid single-leaf metal door and a window with a top opening 3/3 metal
sash. The building was damaged and the masonry walls were cracked when a piece of heavy
machinery ran into the wall. Brightwell used it to work on wood and metal projects.
Farm Area
7. Pump House-c.1980 Noncontributing Structure
This structure is located between the mill and house, along the east side of Brightwells
Mill Road. It has a concrete slab foundation, concrete block walls and a shed roof of corrugated
metal. There is a centered entry with a single-leaf vertical board door on the west elevation. This
structure houses the pump that supplies water to the house.
8. Miller’s House-c. 1826, c. mid-19th century, and 1947-Contributing Building
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The house is on a hill above the mill to the north. The farm yard is south of the house.
The house is set apart from the barns and sheds by a natural wood three-rail fence. Within the
fenced area are mature hardwood trees, English boxwoods and a Magnolia tree. There are
foundation plantings around the house.
The vernacular miller’s house was constructed in three campaigns. The earliest was a log
section that is one-and-a-half stories with a hall parlor plan and an enclosed stair. From historic
photographs, there was a porch with a wooden floor (same size as the current porch) and square
wood posts supporting the shed roof. The side-gable roof with a simple boxed cornice and the
porch roof were covered with cedar shakes, like those of the original mill building. Sometime
during the 19th century, the house was enlarged with a one-story ell added to the east side at the
northeast corner. In 1947, the house was enlarged to its present state with a one-story addition to
the southeast corner of the original building and running to the rear of the mid-19th century
addition. At this time, the interior was also remodeled.
The foundation of the original building and first addition are random stone. The 1947
addition has a concrete block foundation. The building has vinyl siding and the entire roof
system is clad with standing-seam metal. There is an exterior random stone chimney on the north
elevation of the c. 1826 section, a concrete-block, interior flue in the 19th century section, and an
interior concrete-block flue near the east elevation. Most windows in the house have 6/6 doublehung sash.
The main elevation faces west. This is the oldest section of the house. It is one-and-a-half
stories. There are two symmetrically placed bays on the first story; a single-leaf entry and a
window with typical 6/6 sash. The entry has a solid wood door with three rectangular lights set
diagonally in the upper section; it dates to c. 1947. The three-bay porch spans most of the
elevation, it covers the doorway but the window is exposed. The foundation of the porch is
random stone with a concrete slab floor. The shed roof is supported by brick piers topped with
round metal posts. Between the piers is an iron railing with twisted balusters. There is a brick
stair with two risers from the ground to the porch.
The north elevation exhibits all three periods of construction to the building. The western
end is the oldest section. There is a random stone exterior end chimney with two shoulders. One
window is east of the chimney on the first story; at the half story, there are two smaller 2/2 sash
on either side of the chimney. The windows have exterior glass louvers. The central section of
the elevation is the mid-19th century addition. There are two sets of two 6/6 double-hung sash
windows. The eastern section of the elevation has a shed roof. There is a single-pane sash and a
sliding window with two single panes.
The dwelling’s east elevation has a window with a single-pane sash and two sets of
sliding windows with two single panes at the north end of the elevation. The south end of the
elevation is spanned by a shed-roofed porch; the roof is supported at the southeast corner by a
round metal post. The porch deck is a concrete slab. Extending down from the eaves and
surrounding the porch is a two-foot trellis. Access to the rear of the house is via a concrete stoop
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
with seven risers leading to a single-leaf, south-facing entry with an aluminum screen door. The
stoop has a metal pipe railing. Beneath the roof, on the east elevation is a typical window with
6/6 sash.
The south elevation consists of the original section of the house and the 1947 addition.
The 1947 addition is offset about a foot to the south from the c. 1826 section. There is an entry
with a single-leaf door featuring three horizontal panels in the lower half and nine lights in the
upper half. There is a concrete stoop with a gable over-door with wood braces. Flanking the
entry on the east are three 6/6 double-hung sash windows and on the west are two 6/6 doublehung sash windows. At the west end, the oldest section of the elevation, there is a typical
window with 6/6 sash on the first story and at the half story is a 2/2 sash with glass louvers on
the exterior.
Interior
The interior of the house has five main rooms and the hall on the first floor and one room
at the half story. The house was remodeled in 1947. An archway was placed between the original
hall and parlor. The mantel and fireplace were redone and the current mantel is a simple
vernacular type. The c. 1826 section of the dwelling retains unadorned board window trim. The
wood paneling throughout the house as well as the wood flooring dates to the mid-20th century.
The kitchen, located on the rear (north) side of the house, has c. 1947 cabinetry made by Esmond
Brightwell and the metal, free-standing wood stove was also made by Esmond Brightwell in the
early 1970s.
9. Smokehouse-c. 1947 Contributing Structure
The smokehouse is southeast of the house. The fully enclosed area of the building is
within the fenced yard; an addition on its south side is outside the fence. The structure’s framing
dates to the nineteenth century, but Brightwell redid the building by putting it on a concrete slab
with a ramp on the west. The main elevation faces west and has a centered entry with a wood
single-leaf, six-panel door that was cut to fit an earlier opening. The north elevation has a small
four-pane sash window. The south side is open.
10. Railroad Building-c.1900-1920 Contributing Building
The building was a shanty used by the railroad during the early twentieth century, and
was brought to the farm around 1947 for use as a farm shed. It is in the area near the eastern edge
of the hill and east of the Brooding House. It does not have a foundation. The building has a
gable-front roof and is covered with corrugated metal. The main elevation faces north, and has a
ramp from the ground to a centered entry with a wood single-leaf door. The door has louvers in
the lower half and wood board filling the area that was once glass.
11. Brooding House-c.1950 Contributing Building
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The large post-in-ground building, south of the house, was used for the chicks. It has
vinyl siding, a shed roof of standing-seam metal and a central interior chimney of concrete block.
The east elevation has 10 bays of various sizes; two are vertical board doors and the remainder
are open with chicken wire. There are three open bays along the west elevation; these have
chicken wire in them.
12. Three-part Barn-c.1950s Contributing Building
The three-part barn has three different, but adjoined construction methods. It is located
south of the brooding house. The north section has corrugated metal siding and a gable-front,
standing-seam metal roof and, on the north elevation, has two sets of double-leaf metal doors.
The middle section is frame with weatherboard siding, a side-gable corrugated metal roof and an
interior, brick chimney flue, and its west elevation has an open bay with chicken wire. The rear
(southern) section is post-in-ground with a shed roof of standing-seam metal and corrugated
metal siding on its south elevation and on part of the east elevation.
13. Shed-c.1940s Noncontributing Building
The shed is located in the southeastern section of the farm yard. It is partially fallen, but
once had a shed roof of standing-seam metal, two open bays on the west elevation , and vertical
board siding on the north, east, and south elevations.
14. Barn-1984 Noncontributing Building
The current barn, located in the southernmost section of the farm yard, replaced an earlier
one that burned in 1984. It has a large center section with a gable-front roof and shed roofs to
either side. The building has standing-seam metal roofing and patterned metal siding on the sides
that rise above the shed roofs. The lower walls have vertical board siding. On the main (north)
elevation is a double-leaf sliding metal door in the center and a small single-leaf metal door in
the lower sections.
15. Pole Shed-c.1950s Contributing Structure
This shed is located across Brightwells Mill Road in the pasture to the northeast of the
miller’s house. It is post-in-ground construction. The main section is open with three bays. The
standing-seam metal roof slants to the west. The south end of the building is lower, has a shed
roof of standing-seam metal and is enclosed with corrugated metal.
16. Shed-c.2012 Noncontributing Building
This building is northeast of the pole shed in the same pasture. It is small and sits on the
ground. It has vertical board siding and a side-gable, asphalt-shingle roof. The main (west)
elevation has a centered entry with a single-leaf vertical board door.
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
17. Cemetery- Contributing Site
This is commonly known as the Baldock family cemetery. It is located on the hill north
of the pole shed, near Red Hill Road. It is overgrown but has a small cedar tree. There are
approximately nine burials, but only seven are marked. The earliest burial dates to 1894 and the
last, by the Brightwell family, to 1935.
Ruins
18. Ruins of former two-story Chicken House-c.1940s, Contributing Site
The remains of this building are located on the hillside immediately north of the mill. It is
seen in many historic Brightwell family photos. The site is overgrown with bamboo.
19. Tobacco Barn-19th c., Contributing Site
The tobacco barn once sat in the northeast pasture, to the east of the pole shed. A few
foundation timbers remain. It is known that tobacco was grown by John Baldock, according to
the 1880 agricultural census. The family used the barn for storage until it was taken down by
Esmond Brightwell.
20. Ice House-19th c., Contributing Site
The ice house was located in the northeast pasture, next to the road and west of the pole
shed. The ice pond was below the miller’s house on the west and ice was collected and stored in
the ice house.
Possible Site for Future Identification
Oscar Baldock’s Store-c.1900
Historic photos show a two-story frame store located on the property, but its site is
unknown. It is speculated to have been somewhere close to the mill.
Integrity Statement
Brightwells Mill Complex retains much of its integrity of location, setting, form, function,
materials, and workmanship in the individual buildings of the complex but the historical and
architectural significance is best conveyed as whole group. The farm and mill stand on a site
which has been used for these purposes since early settlement of Amherst County. The buildings,
especially the mill, are traditional in form and design according to their function. Most of the
exteriors of the buildings remain unaltered. The mill retains historic machinery and its interior
plan is unaltered since 1942. The complex is a rare example of an intact farm and milling
complex in Amherst County.
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1826-1965
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1826
1942
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Brightwell, Harmon L. (1891-1951)
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Brightwells Mill Complex is locally significant to Amherst County for the period
1826-1965. It is significant under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Commerce. The mill
was a community center where grain crops and lumber were brought by local farmers for
processing; the farm provided food and additional income for the miller’s family. The mill
complex is significant under Criterion C as an example of a vernacular 19th- to mid-20th century
farming and milling complex with intact examples of a historic mill, miller’s dwelling, and
assorted support buildings that have significance as a group greater than the sum of their
individual parts. The property’s period of significance begins in 1826 with construction of the
earliest section of the frame dwelling and ends in 1965, when the mill ceased processing grains
for human consumption.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Significance in Industry and Commerce
Amherst County, in the late 18th through 19th century, had many mills along its
numerous fast and dependable creeks. Many sites were ideal, with steep hillsides and easy access
to roads or the James River. Most of the mills were small plantation or custom mills that ground
grain for nearby farms. Many of these became the center of a small community with businesses
based on providing goods and services to local farmers. There were two noted, larger,
commercial mills along the James River that ground wheat for export: Stapleton Mill (c. 1823,
now a ruin) and Galts Mill (DHR# 005-0036). These were within five miles of Brightwells Mill
and, at different times, Brightwells was a companion mill (either owned or run by the same
miller) to both Stapleton and Galts. Today, only four mill buildings remain standing in the
county: Galts, Sandidges (DHR # 005-5069), Amherst (c. 1813, still operational) and Brightwells
(1942). 2
Brightwells is located in the southeast section of the county on Beck Creek (historically
known as Stovall’s Creek) and inland from the James River about three miles. It is an area that
remains rural and somewhat isolated from the growth of the town of Madison Heights. It sits at
the intersection of Brightwell Mill Road and Beck Creek Road. This was an intersection of two
historically important roads: the road from Lynchburg that led to a tavern in central Amherst
called “the Folly;” and the Galts Mill Road (now Beck Creek Road) that led to both Galts and
Stapleton Mills, running along the James River.3
Milling and farming operations at the nominated property have been taking place since at
least the 1820s. The original mill was built before 1826 by William Burford (1759-1833). He
also built the c. 1826 original log section of the miller’s house around the same time; it was the
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
mansion house for his landholdings according to an 1833 plat. Burford sold the mill and farm to
his son-in-law, Charles Mays (1763-1848). Mays Mill, as it was first known historically,
remained in the Mays family until 1872, when Elijah B. Mays (1828-1910), son of Charles, sold
the mill to his nephew, Samuel J. Bailey (1836-1915).4
In 1873, Bailey sold the mill to John H. Baldock (1836-1894), from whom the mill
acquired its second historical name, and from 1873 to 1881 it was the companion mill to
Stapleton. John Baldock was listed as the miller at Stapleton for 1870 and 1880 according to
federal industry census records. In the same records, the miller at Mays/Baldocks Mill was
William Brook (b. 1811). In 1881, the Stapleton Mill was sold to the Central Virginia Iron
Company and mill operation ceased. John Baldock moved to Baldocks Mill until his death and
was the first burial in the cemetery on the hill above the miller’s house. 5
Oscar Baldock (1864-1911) returned to the area after his father, John’s, death. Oscar
Baldock had been living in Campbell County. John Baldock’s will stated the mill was to be sold
at public auction. In 1896, it was bought by William McLaughlin (1856-1939), who lived and
worked in Lynchburg. In 1900, Edgar J. Turner (1862-1943), owner of Galts Mill, bought
Baldocks Mill and from 1900-1908 it was the companion mill to Galts. During this period, we
know that Oscar Baldock was working at the mill and in 1902 he was listed as postmaster at
Baldocks. Oscar also built and operated a store; it was located near the mill but the exact site is
unknown. In 1908, Oscar Baldock purchased the mill and farm from Turner. At his death, like
his father, he was buried in the cemetery above the miller’s house. 6
After Oscar Baldock’s death there was a succession of owners, Solomon Johns, E. M.
Moore, and H. E. Graves, for whom little information exists. Graves sold the mill and farm to H.
L Brightwell in 1920. Harmon L. Brightwell (1891-1951) was a third-generation miller. He and
his wife, Lessie (1895-1963), began expansion of both the mill and the farm operation. The mill
building had a one-story addition that became two stories and two chicken houses were built for
a small business which Lessie ran by selling her eggs to nearby stores.7
In 1942, a storm caused a freshet which breached the mill’s 19th-century earthen and log
dam. The flood washed the old mill building and one of the chicken houses down Beck Creek.
The mill stones and the mill wheel were all that remained. It was a catastrophic loss of both
unprocessed and processed grain and chickens. This was during a period when materials were
rationed during World War II so everything that could be salvaged from the early building was
reused, including some of the support timbers. The concrete of the dam was reinforced with
whatever scrap metal was nearby including an old car axle. The milling machinery was acquired
from Sandidges Mill (DHR #005-5069) after the same storm destroyed its mill race and the mill
closed permanently. After the sawmill was restored, lumber was milled onsite and the new mill
was constructed; within a year it reopened. Harmon Brightwell also constructed new buildings
on the property and he remodeled and expanded the miller’s house.8
Harmon Brightwell died in 1951. Esmond, Harmon’s youngest son, took over milling. In
1965, he stopped grinding for human consumption due to competition from large-scale mills and
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
government regulations; he continued to grind for livestock feed into the 1990s. Esmond
Brightwell continues to live in the miller’s house. His children began restoration of the mill in
2012 and it has evolved into a community effort with volunteers working on the building and
support by fundraising for materials. They hope to fully restore and make the mill operational.9
For more than 150 years, Brightwells Mill contributed to the production and commercial
processing of grains in Amherst County and was a companion mill to other commercial mills
nearby. It was the focal point of a small community of surrounding farms. In the early through
mid-20th century, Brightwells was one of a few mills still open and the farmers from the
surrounding counties of Bedford, Campbell, and Nelson came to have their corn and wheat
milled, as shown in a ledger from the 1960s. By this time, it also was one of the last waterpowered mills in the county.10
Significance in Architecture
The Brightwells Mill Complex is an intact complex of 19th- and 20th-century domestic,
agriculture, and industry buildings. The collection is architecturally significant as an example of
a mill and farm complex with buildings of traditional type and form. Each building within the
complex serves a particular function or purpose.
Historically, a miller worked a farm to feed his household and supplement his income
with a cash crop. At Brightwells, some of the older buildings were repurposed when the cash
crop of the farm changed. In the late 19th century the modest farm grew tobacco, but by the early
20th century, livestock such as cattle and poultry replaced tobacco as the cash crop of the farm.
Older log barns were reused and additional barns, sheds, and coops were constructed for the
cows and chickens and to store their food. The forms of the buildings are typical of many seen
and used on farms throughout Amherst County. Most of the buildings were built with wood from
the farm that was prepared at the mill. The mill building is traditional in form and size. It was
rebuilt using materials salvaged for the original mill and farm-cut lumber. Today’s mill is larger
than the original because it was built to accommodate the machinery of the Sandidges Mill (0055069). The mill further is distinguished for its retention of this historic milling equipment and
machinery. In total, this property is an example of the increasingly rare milling and farming
complexes that hold a significant place in Amherst County’s history.11
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Books. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst, VA, Various Books and
Dates.
Amherst County Land Tax Records. Available on microfilm from Library of Virginia,
various dates and rolls.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society. Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst
County, VA. Revised Edition 1999. Amherst County, VA: Amherst County Museum
and Historical Society, 1999.
Amherst County Property Tax Records 1930-1988. Amherst Commissioner of Revenue
Office.
Ancestry.com Various Genealogical Records.
Brightwell Family Files and Photographs. Various dates and years.
Brightwell, Ricky, interview by Sandra Esposito. Personal Knowledge of Brightwell Mill
History (Various dates 2015).
Brighwell Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
Classical Milling Instructions. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Descendants of Terisha Turner. melissagenealogy.stormpages.com (accessed December 2,
2015).
Esposito, Sandra F. Galts Mill Historic District (005-5037). dhr.virginia.gov. (accessed
December 2, 2015).
Flour Milling in America, A General Overview. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Galts Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
Historically: How to Site a Mill. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
The History of Flour Milling in Early America. angelfire.com (accessed December 2, 2015).
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report. 2010.
Hobbs, T. Gibson, Jr. The Canal on the James. Lynchburg, Va.: Blackwell Press, 2009. pp.
10, 28, and 121-123.
Staples or Stapleton Mill file. Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 005-0035
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property approx.. 110.6 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
a. Latitude: 37.275665N
Longitude: 79.025721W
b. Latitude: 37.275077N
Longitude: 79.024531W
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
c. Latitude: 37.275034N
Longitude: 79.024276W
d. Latitude: 37.274648N
Longitude: 79.024292W
e. Latitude: 37.274302N
Longitude: 79.023496W
f. Latitude: 37.273051N
Longitude: 79.024090W
g. Latitude: 37.272962N
Longitude: 79.024929W
h. Latitude: 37.272980N
Longitude: 79.025423W
i. Latitude: 37.273998N
Longitude: 79.030578W
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The true and correct historic boundary is shown on the attached Tax Parcel Map, and
encompasses Amherst County parcel number 150 A 35, as maintained by the Amherst
County Commissioner of Revenue Office.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries are drawn to encompass the entirety of the acreage historically
associated with the milling complex as well as all known historic resources, including the
mill, miller’s house, agricultural outbuildings, and agriculture fields, as well as the setting of
the historic property.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Sandra F. Esposito
organization:
N/A
street & number: 140 Cradon Hill Ln.
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
city or town: Amherst state: VA
zip code: 24521
e-mail: espositosf@earthlink.net
telephone: 434-946-7496
date: 1/22/2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Brightwells Mill Complex
City or Vicinity: Madison Heights
County: Amherst
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: November 2015
State: VA
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 29. Mill Area, facing W.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0001
2 of 29. Farm Area, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0002
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3 of 29. Cemetery, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0003
4 of 29. Mill and Dam, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0004
5 of 29. Bridge, Chicken House and Corn Crib, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0005
6 of 29. Mill Sluice and Dam, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0006
7 of 29. Dam Detail, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0007
8 of 29. Mill, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0008
9 of 29. Mill, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0009
10 of 29. Mill interior, first floor, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0010
11 of 29. Mill interior, framing detail between second and third floors, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0011
12 of 29. Corn Crib, facing W.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0012
13 of 29. Chicken House with Outhouse, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0013
14 of 29. Workshop, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0014
15 of 29. Pumphouse, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0015
16 of 29. Miller’s House, Main elevation, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0016
17 of 29. Miller’s House, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0017
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
18 of 29. Miller’s House, facing SW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0018
19 of 29. Miller’s House, facing NW.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0019
20 of 29. Smokehouse, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0020
21 of 29. Railroad Building, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0021
22 of 29. Brooding House, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0022
23 of 29. Three-Part Barn, facing S/SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0023
24 of 29. Three-Part Barn, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0024
25 of 29. Shed, facing SE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0025
26 of 29. Barn, facing S.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_0026
27 of 29. Pole Shed and Shed, facing E.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_027
28 of 29. Cemetery, facing NE.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_028
29 of 29. Cemetery, detail, facing N.
VA_AmherstCounty_BrightwellMillComplex_029
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Image – Brightwells Mill Building As It Appeared in 1943.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Brightwells Mill Complex
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
1
The original mill is known through historic photographs and the oral history of the Brightwell family.
2
Historically: How to Site a Mill, angelfire.com; Flour Milling in America, A General Overview, angelfire.com;
Staples or Stapleton Mill file, Amherst County Museum files; Esposito, Galts Mill Historic District Nomination;
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates, Sandidges PIF, 2010.
3
Amherst County Deed Book 1132, p. 267.
4
Amherst County Deed Book R, p.169; Amherst County Will Book 8, p. 327; Amherst County Deed Book Z,
p.596; Burford sold the mill to Charles, however it was noted in Burford’s 1833 will that the land was to be kept for
the benefit of his daughter’s, Francis (d. 1826), children. Elijah, son of Frances and Charles, bought the mill from his
father’s estate. Elijah specified in deeds that the mill was to be held in trust for his wife’s, Cassandra Turner Mays
(1828-1872) benefit with the trust held by their nephew, Samuel J. Bailey. Elijah and Cassandra moved during the
Civil War to Missouri and after her death the mill was sold. Elijah never returned to Virginia; Amherst County Deed
Book DD, p.351; Amherst County Deed Book EE, p.429; Amherst County Deed Book GG, p.53; Amherst County
Deed Book HH, p.463; Amherst County Land Tax Records microfilm reels 18, 19, 387, and 388; Ancestry.com
Census Records and Birth, Marriage and Death Records; and Descendants of Terisha Turner.
5
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p.128; 1870 and 1880 Industry Census; Ancestry.com Census Records and Birth,
Marriage and Death Records; Amherst County Deed Book NN, pp. 1-4; and Amherst County Land Tax Records
microfilm reels 599, 730, 791, and 882; and Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, p. 70.
6
Postmaster Records, Ancestry.com Census Records and Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Amherst County Will
Book 23, p. 287; Amherst County Deed Book WW, pp.238-9; Esposito; Amherst County Deed Book ZZ, p.302;
Amherst County Deed Book 61, p.70; Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years. There is an
article from The Amherst Progress, Vol 5, No 27, dated 11 June 1908, p 3; it describes a shooting in which Baldock
shot a man, formerly employed by Baldock, who had threatened Baldock and his family, available online from
virginiachronicle.com. In 1910, the lumber for the construction of Oakdale Baptist Church, a neighborhood church,
was milled at Baldocks/Brightwells Mill (Conversations with Ricky Brightwell and Amherst County Heritage Book,
Vol I, 1761-1999, p. 58.)
7
Amherst County Deed Book 65, p.500; Amherst County Deed Book 75, p.197; Amherst County Deed Book 74,
p.282; Amherst County Deed Book 82, p.282; Brighwell Mill file, Amherst County Museum; Interview with Ricky
Brightwell, various dates 2015; and Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years.
8
Brighwell Mill file; Brightwell interview, 2015; Brightwell Family Files and Photographs Various dates and years;
and History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates, 2010.
9
Amherst County Deed Book 152, p.362; Amherst County Deed Book 228, p.279; and Brightwell interview, 2015
10
Brighwell Mill file.
11
1880 Nonpopulation Census (Agriculture) for John Baldock and oral history of Ricky Brightwell concerning
H.L. Brightwell.
Sections 9-end page 24
Polygon lat/long coordinates:
a. 37.275665N
b. 37.275077N
c. 37.375034N
d 37.274648N
e. 37.274302N
f. 37.273051N
g. 37.272962N
h. 37.272980N
i. 37.273998N
79.025721W
79.024531W
79.024276W
79.024292W
79.023496W
79.024090W
79.024929W
79.025423W
79.030578W
i
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A PUMPttOUSt
Text
United States Department of the Intcrior
National Park Service
flflIF
NATIONAL REGISTER OF YIlSTORTC PLACES
REGlSTRATIUN FORM
3h+/a
This form is Tor use in nominating or roqursilnpdcrcrminatinn~
for lndfividuel propertics and dlsn~cts.Sce jnswucilons In H w to CmpletelhENafim-l
R ~ I S I C TO S I I ~ S ~ OPI~IWH : Regismtt~nPnrm (Nauonnl Reg~skrBulltt~nIhA) Complete each hiem by m a r k ~ n g " m
~ "thc appmpintc b x o r by cnterink
Ihc iniormatwn requcstcd If any llcm docs nor amly m fhc property beiaedocumcnied, en~cr' WA" for "not appSicsblc " k o r fr~ncl~ortn
architectural
class1fica1ion.mntenah. and a w s of~~gn~ficance,
sntcr only cnregnr~es~ n suhcatejinr~tsfrom
d
rhc inslruct~ons Slacerdd~l~onal
c n t n a ~ n dnamtlvt
ncmr on corrlenwation sheFfs (WPS Form f0-WOa) Use a lypewrltcr, wnrrl proca<or.ur cornputcr. Ic, complete nll Items
1. Nnme of Property
historic narnc Edqewood (Massie HOIIS~]
other nameslsite number
Boulder Springs. #W5-0
158
street & number
59 E Pupw Creek Road
city or t o m
Amhemt
state
Vir~inia
code VA County
hmhersr
code _
not for publication
NJA
vicinity
NIA
005
Zip 24521
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As thc desiyated aurhority under the h'ntional Historic Preserva~ionAct of 1986, as amended, 1 hereby certify that this
- X nomination
request for determination o f eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
p r a ~ i eins the National Register oFHistoric Placerr and rnectt the procedural and professionnl rcquircments s t t fort11in
36 CFR Part 60. In my epiuion, the properzy -Xmeets -does not meet the National Register Crjtwia. I
recommend that this property he
sidered significant -nationally-statewide -X- locally. (
See continuation
-
sheet for additional comments.)
S~gnatureo f certifying aficial
-
V i r ~ n i aDepartment of Historic Resources
Srazc a>rI:cdcrnl agency and hurcau
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meel ihe National Register criteria.( - See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
.Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. Nstioasl Park Service Certification
I, berchy ccrtifi, that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-Scc continuatiorr sIleet.
-determined eligible for the National Register
Signatme of Keeper
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the Nntional Register
-removed Erom the National Register
-other (explain):
Dntc of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
__3__
__0__ buildings
__8__
__0__ sites
__2__
__1__ structures
__0__
__0__ objects
__13__
__1__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: ___Domestic________________ Sub: _single dwelling______________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________ __processing________________
_______ __________________
___storage _________________
____________________________ ___agricultural field__________
____________________________ ___animal facility____________
____________________________ ____agricultural outbuilding___
___ Funerary _________________ ____ cemetery _______________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: ___single dwelling____________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________ ___agricultural field___________
___Funerary__________________ ____cemetery________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_____Greek Revival__________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation __brick ________________________
roof _____copper___________________________
walls ____brick___________________________
other ___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
____ A
____ B
__X_ C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A
____ B
____ C
____ D
____ E
____ F
____ G
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ___Architecture___________________________
Period of Significance
_ca. 1800 (approx. date of property’s earliest resource) - 1927 (last major alteration to main house)________
Significant Dates ___1858-1868; 1900-1927_____
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)_______N/A________________________
Cultural Affiliation ______N/A__________________________
Architect/Builder ___ Massie, Joseph Hardin (1828-1915)___
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: __Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __1030 acres________
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 662787 4168630 2 17 662792 4167959 3 17 663813 4167827 4 17 662894 4165295
5 17 661594 4166446 6 17 662199 4166913 7 17 661752 4167528
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Sandra F. Esposito
Organization: ______________________________________________________ date_08/11/2007___________
street & number: _____140 Cradon Hill Lane______________________ telephone__434-946-7496_________
city or town____Amherst_________________________________ state_VA___ zip code __24521________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name _____Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Massie, Jr._____________________________________________________
street & number____PO Box 80______________________________ telephone__(434)__946-7181_________
city or town____Amherst_________________________________ state__VA___ zip code ___24521_______
==================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section _7___
7.
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __1__
Summary Description
Edgewood is the Greek- Revival style house located on Boulder Springs, a working farm of
over 1000 acres. This farm is located in central Amherst County, Virginia and includes bottomland as
well as part of the Tobacco Row Mountains and a natural cave in the mountain. Edgewood’s builder,
Joseph Hardin Massie, started the house in 1858 and completed it in 1868, and gave the two-story brick
house its name. This was one of the first houses completed in the County after the Civil War. The
house has a T-shaped plan, a copper-clad gable roof, and three chimneys. Massie built the house to
replace his father’s wood-framed house known as Upper Place. Upper Place was located east of
Edgewood on the same property and burned before Edgewood was complete.
Edgewood is constructed of handmade bricks laid in four-course American bond on all but the
south or principal elevation. This elevation is laid in an interesting pattern of six courses of stretchers
separated by a single course of Flemish bond possibly using pressed bricks. Alterations to the house
occurred between 1900 and 1927. The interior retains most of its simple Greek Revival detailing,
including the mantels and wood trim. Surrounding the house are several outbuildings, structures and
sites associated with the farm and family. These include a c. 1920 bank barn, a 19th century corn crib,
c. 1920 cattle corral, a 19th century log house, a family cemetery and the ruins of outbuildings and
secondary dwellings In 1949 the farm was recognized as a Master Farm Family of Virginia. Current
owners are the sixth generation of the Massie family to occupy the house.1
Architectural Description – Exterior
Boulder Springs is the farm on which the historic house known as Edgewood is sited. The farm
includes bottomland on Puppy Creek and rises to the top of a mountain. It is located in central Amherst
County, and Edgewood is a two-story Greek Revival house built between 1858 and 1868; it was one of
the first houses in the County completed after the Civil War. Joseph Hardin Massie built the house and
it replaced the older house known as Upper Place occupied by his father, Charles, located on the higher
land of the same property. Edgewood has a T-shaped plan with a copper side-gable roof and a crossgabled rear wing. It is built of handmade bricks fired on-site; the bricks used on the façade may be
pressed. The house has three interior end chimneys, one at each gable end. Typical Greek Revival
detailing includes symmetrical arrangement of the bays, six-over-six double-hung sash windows and the
main entry with its single-leaf door surrounded by sidelights and a transom.
The south or principal elevation of the house has three bays. The one-story porch across the
elevation dates from 1927 and replaced an earlier, smaller entry porch. The current full-width porch has
a shed roof of standing- seam copper with six wooden Doric columns for support. The brick pattern of
the principle elevation is six-course all-stretcher bond with every seventh course in Flemish bond; these
bricks appear quite uniform in size and shape and could be pressed. The uniformity of the bricks and
the straightness of the mortar joints on the front elevation are finer than that found on the other
elevations, which is not uncommon. The main entry is centered on the first story and flanked by a bay
on either side. Originally these flanking bays held single six-over-six double-hung sash windows like
those of the second-story; however the original windows were replaced with paired six-over-six doublehung sashes in 1927. Greek Revival detailing of sidelights and a transom, each with three panes of
original glass, flank the single-leaf entry. Facing this entry, on the left, in one of the sidelights is an
etching reading “Dec 28;” additional etchings on the same light can be read from the interior and reads
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
as follows:
Section _7___
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __2__
“Sandidges,” “WPM,” “AFM,” “Dec 28, 1889,” “CW Massie June 22nd 1890,” “Sallie Feb 22 1890,”
and other indecipherable initials.
The east and west gable-end elevations of the main block of the house originally lacked
fenestration on the first and second stories. A small four-light casement window is located in the east
gable in front of the chimneystack. These elevations are laid in 4:1 common bond and feature boxed
cornice returns. In 1918, a one-story addition was added to the east elevation.
The original two-story rear ell projects just off-center from the north elevation of the main
block. The ell is laid in 4:1 common bond and continues the simple, boxed cornice of the main block.
Two vertically aligned, six-over-six double-hung windows are found on the west elevation of the ell,
while the east elevation is concealed by a two-story porch that runs the full depth of the ell. The north
gable end of the ell features a door and a modified window opening on the first story, and boxed cornice
returns in the gable. The north elevation of the main block of the house originally featured vertically
aligned windows, one on each story, flanking the ell. Those windows to the west of the ell survived;
those to the east were turned into doors when the rear porch was added.
Additions - Rear porch c. 1900
Around 1900, a two-story porch was added that ran along the north elevation of the main block
to the ell and down the east elevation of the ell. This porch terminated in a small one story, brick
addition on the first story at the end of the ell. The porch features two open stairs, one from the first
story to the second story and one from the first story to the basement. When the porch was added, the
second-story windows that looked out onto the porch were turned into doors, allowing exterior access
into most rooms of the house. Access to this area is from a cement stoop, c. 1921. The porch is
supported by square posts and features a solid balustrade clad in weatherboard.
Additions c. 1920
In 1918, a one-story frame addition was erected on the east gable end of the main block. This
addition wrapped around and enclosed the porch on the north elevation of the main block on both the
first and second stories. The foundation of the addition is stuccoed and scored, the low-pitch hip roof is
copper clad. Soon after, in 1921 the house was plumbed and a bathroom was installed in the addition.
At the same time, the portion of the porch above the small brick addition was also enclosed with brick
and several windows. At the same time electricity was installed. The electric power was provided by a
gas-powered machine with batteries manufactured by the Delco Company. Both the bathroom fixtures
and the interior ceiling lights are original to this time. On the south elevation, also in 1921, the current
paired, double-hung windows replaced the single, double-hung windows. In 1927 the current, one-story
full-width porch replaced the earlier smaller porch.
Architectural Description – Interior
The house features a central-hall plan with a parlor on the east and west sides of the central hall;
beyond the hall to the north is the dining room with the kitchen on the extreme north end of the house.
The central hall has its original open quarter-turn stair with turned balusters and large, turned Greek
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Revival newel post. According to family tradition this stair was ordered from Britain and when it
arrived
Section _7___
Page __3__
it was larger than the space allowed but was installed. As a result of this larger staircase, a corner of the
doorway into the east parlor is partially obscured. The original plaster of the hall and parlors was
repaired and restored in 1989 by the current owners. The original wide plank pine flooring of the hall
and the parlors was replaced in 1927 due to extreme wear. The current wooden floor has narrow gauge
planks. In the hall and in other rooms of the house, many furnishings of the earlier generations remain
and are still in use.2
The east and west parlors are very similar in decoration. The original plaster and wooden
detailing remains, including the original mantels. These mantles and the others throughout the house
have simple Greek Revival detailing, with pilasters on either side of the firebox and an undecorated
frieze. These rooms also have their original lighting fixtures dating to the installation of electricity in
the house in 1921. The original windows in both rooms were altered to the paired six-over-six doublehung sash windows facing south. In the west parlor, shelves were built on either side of the chimney.
In the east parlor, around 1900, a single-leaf, sash door with four lights and two horizontal lower panels
replaced the earlier window allowing access to the exterior access porch.
The dining room, north of the central hall, retains its original wide plank flooring of heart pine;
the original mantel is similar to those of the parlors. This room retains its 1921 light fixture and 1940s
wallpaper. There is an exterior door with four raised panels and nineteenth century hardware on the east
wall, likely original to construction of the house. The kitchen beyond the dining room has been updated
for modern use and the fireplace is no longer in use.
Bolted to the wall in the stair hall between the first and second stories there is a large painting of
Robert E. Lee on his horse, Traveller. This 1947 oil painting was painted by Sid Onig and is based on a
photograph titled “Robert E. Lee on Traveller” by Michael Miley with Adam Plecker, circa 1866-68. 3
On the second story there are four bedrooms. The bedrooms with access to the east exterior
access porch all have sash doors. The second floor retains its original flooring, wooden details
including mantles and the 1921 lighting fixtures. In the west bedroom the ceiling paper remains from
the 1940s.
Surrounding Landscape and Outbuildings
The surrounding landscape contains bottomland on Puppy Creek and rises to the top of a
mountain and includes a natural cave. There are eleven natural springs on the property supplying water
to the house and providing inspiration for the modern name of the farm, Boulder Springs. Immediately
surrounding the house are mature trees and shrubs including a large deciduous tree on the west side that,
according to family lore, was planted by the house builder Joseph Hardin Massie. The boxwoods on
the north side of the house were planted by James Hardin Massie’s wife, Sallie, in the 1940s. Most of
the outbuildings immediately surrounding the house were beyond repair and were razed in the late
twentieth century. The foundations of the following buildings still exist and are counted as
contributing sites: an icehouse, rainwater collection container, and a TB house for those suffering from
tuberculosis. Other contributing archaeological sites on the farm include burned ruins of Upper Place, a
tenant house and a tobacco barn.4
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Two other contributing sites are the north yard surrounding the house, which includes the
boxwoods, and the family cemetery. The three contributing buildings are the main house, bank barn
and
Section _7___
Page __4__
the log cabin/packing shed. The two contributing structures are the corncrib and corral.
The one non-contributing structure on the property is the new bridge. It was built c. 2000 and
designed to reflect the historic nature of the property. It has four brick piers each topped by a small
model of a cannon. It serves as the main gate and security for the farm.
Corncrib 19th century-Contributing structure & site of 19th century Tobacco Barn
The log corncrib is south of the main house. It is no longer used but is preserved. The logs are
saddle-notched and placed on top of a foundation of stone piers to allow air to circulate around the
building. The front gable roof is of standing seam metal. There is a single-leaf, batten door on the east
elevation. A log tobacco barn, now destroyed, was contemporary with the corncrib and located directly
across the farm road, north of the corncrib. The owners dutifully preserved the structure until a
windstorm in 2006 caused the building to collapse.
Bank Barn and Corral c. 1920-Contributing building and structure
The bank barn, located south of the house, features post and beam construction and is covered
with weatherboard. It is two stories high with a standing-seam gable roof and double cupolas (vents) at
the roof peak. The lower floor, built into a bank, is the area used for equipment storage. Most of the
bays of the lower section are single-leaf batten doors. On the main story of the barn the original double
batten doors remain on the west elevation as do the double batten doors of the hayloft. On the north
elevation is a set of sliding double batten doors. The east elevation door was replaced by a new set of
double glass doors when the barn was renovated in 1987. At the same time wooden decks were built on
the east and west elevations.5
In 1987 the interior of the barn was renovated; the original beams, flooring and barn machinery
remain. The interior was remodeled into a recreation room and entertaining area. Adjacent to the barn
is the corral that was used when cattle were raised on the farm.
Cemetery- Contributing site
The family cemetery is located southeast of the main house on a steep hillside of about half an
acre. The family estimates there are at least one hundred burials including relatives, slaves and servants.
There are many unmarked stones all over the wooded hillside. The cemetery suffered damage when
cattle were allowed to graze in the area; some of the stones were overturned or moved. In the late
twentieth century the current owners changed the cattle pasture grounds to preserve the cemetery. This
cemetery is also the possible place on the property that the Rev. John Young was buried in 1817. The
two inscribed stones in the cemetery are a grave with a footstone engraved “Dr. JPM”, marking the
grave of Dr. Joseph Page Massie; and the other is an obelisk with inscription on two sides.
One side reads: “Charles Massie/His wife/Francis Dodd/Massie/His children/Dr. John
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Massie/Lucy Massie/ Tyree/Joseph Massie/His grandchildren/Fannie Tyree/Joseph Davis/Massie/Emma
L. Millner/Clyde Millner.” The reverse reads: “Savior Lead Me/Joseph H/Massie/Born/Nov 30
1828/Died/Dec 14 1915/Sophie P/Massie/His wife/Born/Nov 28 1829/Died/Aug 19 1889.”
Section _7___
Page __5__
Log House/Packing Shed ca. 1800 - Contributing building
East of the main house, on the side of the mountain, is an area known as the orchard, where
apples were grown during the 1940s and ‘50s. At this site is a V- notched log house with a standingseam metal gable roof and an exterior dry-laid stone chimney and a dry-laid stone foundation. It is one
and one-half stories and may be the oldest surviving building on the property. This house could possibly
have been the home of the Rev. John Young who bought the property in 1799. The cabin has a singleleaf batten door on the east elevation. The south elevation has a small window opening. The west side
was altered when the family used the cabin as a packing house during the period they produced apples.
It appears that the west elevation was identical to the east since a part of a doorframe remains. On the
interior the fireplace remains intact and on the south side is a wooden stepladder that allowed access to
the half story.6
Tenant House Ruins 19th century-Contributing site
The site of the tenant house is east of the main house on a trail between the cemetery and log
cabin. It is also near the site of Upper Place. This house appears to have been a double-pen log cabin
with a dry-laid stone foundation and a dry-laid stone chimney; the top of the chimney stack is brick.
This chimney was centrally located between the pens and had a hearth in each pen. The cabin seems to
have been constructed of smaller and rounder logs than the hewn logs used for the Log House/Packing
Shed. Due to its location close to Upper Place it is possible that this building served as the slave
quarters for the farm of Charles Massie. The owners maintain and preserve all these structures and sites.
Inventory
Edgewood Building, 1858
Bank Barn Building, 1920
Log Cabin/Packing Shed Building, c. 1800
Icehouse Site, 19c
Rainwater Collection Container Site, 19c
TB House Site, 19c
Ruins of Upper Place Site, 19c
Tenant House Site, 19c
Tobacco Barn Site, 19c
North Yard with Boxwoods Site, 19c
Family Cemetery Site, possibly 1817
Corncrib Structure, 19c
Corral Structure, 1920
NC - Bridge Structure, 2000
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section __8___
8.
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page _6____
Statement of Significance
Boulder Springs in Amherst County, Virginia, is significant under Criterion C for Architecture.
The farm retains a collection of buildings, structures and sites that are evidence of the continued
habitation and changes in agricultural land use over time that occurred on the farm and in Amherst
County from the early 19th century to the present. The period of significance is 1800, based on the
approximate date of the earliest resource on the property, to 1927 when the full-width porch was added
to the main house. The main house, Edgewood, built between 1858 and 1868 was one of the first
houses completed in the County after the Civil War. It is a well-preserved example of Greek Revival
architecture. It is of brick construction with a T-shaped plan and the bond found on the front façade is
an excellent example of the local mason’s craft. This type of bond, sometimes referred to as “American
bond with Flemish variant,” is used in only one other known house in the County, Fairview, c. 1867
(VA DHR file no. 005-0006), but more examples likely exist as it became a popular type of bond
beginning in 1840 and lasting through the 1870s, and several other examples are documented in
neighboring counties.
Edgewood retains much of its historical integrity and sense of place since the land remains
open, as it was historically when it was being farmed. Other buildings and structures on the farm
exemplify the changes in habitation and agricultural use over time. The 19th century log cabin/packing
shed was abandoned and later reused in the twentieth century to store apples. The 19th century log
house, possibly the slave quarters, was eventually abandoned when it was no longer needed. The site of
Upper Place, the first Massie house on the property, burned in the mid-nineteenth century and remains
undisturbed, but noted by the family. Other existing structures and sites are associated with the
property’s agricultural use such as the 19th century corncrib and site of the tobacco barn, which are
associated with the earliest practices of growing the cash crop of tobacco and subsistence farming.
Around 1920 the cash crop of the farm was livestock. Then in the mid-twentieth century fruit, primarily
apples and peaches, were major cash crops in the Amherst area. In 1949, the farm was recognized as a
Master Farm Family of Virginia. This fine brick house and the collection of buildings on the farm
demonstrate how several generations of the Massie family lived and used their land from the eighteenth
to the twentieth centuries.7
Historical Background
Boulder Springs has been in the Massie family for six generations with five of those generations
living in the manor house known as Edgewood. One of the earliest owners of the land was Rev. John
Young, a minister once jailed for his preaching, who served as the second minister of Mount Moriah
Church located a number of miles from Edgewood. The Massie family and previous owners of the
property are connected to Mount Moriah, the oldest Baptist congregation in the County. Members of the
Massie family from three generations farmed the land at Boulder Springs and several from three
generations were elected to the Virginia House of Delegates representing Amherst County.8
The Massie house, Edgewood, was completed in 1868. Before that time several other houses
are known to have existed on the property and the earliest could have been built c. 1780 when Edward
Ware received a land grant for 250 acres. Edward Ware (c. 1710-1786) was living in the County as
early as 1761. He came to Amherst from Caroline County, Virginia to escape religious persecution as
he was a known dissident rejecting the Anglican religion, the state supported church. Ware served the
County of Amherst as sheriff in 1767 and amassed a large amount of land in the central portion of the
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
County. His holdings, approximately 1100 acres, were divided between his sons Mark Ware, James
Powell, William
Section __8___ Page _7____
Powell, John Powell and Edmund Powell. The names of the sons in the will were cited using their
mother’s name because their parent’s marriage in a dissident church by an unlicensed minister was not
officially recognized.9
James Powell (1745-1822) inherited 400 acres of land on Puppy Creek from his father, Edward
Ware, in 1786. Ware’ s will noted that James was living on the property. James Powell and his wife,
Mary, moved to Georgia sometime afterward and Powell appointed his brother, Edmund as Power of
Attorney to sell his Amherst lands. 10
John Clarkson (dates unknown) purchased the 400 acres in 1793. There is little information
available on Clarkson except that he is referred to as a bondsman and guardian in several wills probated
in the County in the late 1780s and 1790s. He is another suspected member of a dissident church as his
signature appears on a 1785 Amherst County petition to the Virginia General Assembly protesting a
proposed bill creating provisions for Teachers of Christian Religion.11
In 1799, Clarkson sold his land to Rev. John Young (1739-1817). Rev. Young came to the
County from Caroline County, Virginia where he had been imprisoned for preaching and not
conforming to the state religion. Young began preaching in 1770 and he was ordained in 1773 at
Reed’s Church in Caroline County. Today, in Caroline County, a monument for religious freedom
memorializes him along with others who were persecuted for their beliefs.12
In 1800, Rev. Young became the second minister to Mount Moriah Church in Amherst County.
He was a popular minister and his congregation grew. In one year, 1813, 100 members were baptized.
This church was established about 1745 under the name of Buffalo Baptist and was constructed of logs.
When a brick church was erected, the name was changed to Mount Moriah and it is the mother church
of the oldest active Baptist congregations in the County. Today the building serves as the meeting hall
of the Freemasons.13
Young died in 1817 and his request to be buried in an unmarked grave on his land was honored.
Since the Massie family was associated with Mount Moriah Church they might have known their
minister’s burial place and possibly continued to use the same area for their family cemetery once they
acquired the property.14
Charles Massie (1785-1880) purchased the land from Rev. Young’s estate in two tracts between
1829 and 1830. He referred to his farm as Upper Place due to its location on the upward slope of the
mountain. The house in which he lived was frame and it burned, according to family tradition, before
Edgewood was completed. Charles Massie was an active member of Mount Moriah Church and was
likely raised in that church. His father, John Massie (1756-1800), was tutor to the Rev. John Duncan
who is credited with introducing the Baptist faith to the County and starting the church.15
Upper Place was the childhood home of Joseph Hardin Massie (1828-1915), eldest son of
Charles. He married Sophie McCaul (1829-1886). It was Joseph who inherited the farm and increased
its size with the purchase of the lower lands, near Puppy Creek, in 1871. Joseph decided to build his
house on a knoll located lower on the mountain. He began Edgewood, as he referred to it, in 1858 and
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
it was completed in 1868. Most of the bricks for the house were made on-site, and slave labor was
likely responsible for the construction, given that the family owned twenty slaves according to both the
1850
Section __8___ Page _8____
and 1860 US Federal Census-Slave Schedules. Family tradition states that the house was near
completion when Upper Place burned, forcing the family to move prematurely into Edgewood.16
Joseph Hardin Massie was a veteran of the Civil War. He served in two separate companies.
From 1861 through 1862, he was a member of Co. C 13th Va. Infantry. From 1864 until the close of the
war, he was in Co. I 19th Va. Infantry. After the war, Joseph returned home to farm and completed
construction on his house that had been delayed due to his military service. In Chaitaigne’s Business
Directory of 1888-1889, he is noted as a principal farmer in the Sandidges community. He was elected
to the Virginia General Assembly for the sessions of Oct. 1869, Feb.-July 1870, Oct.-Nov. 1870 and
Dec. 1870-Mar. 1871. Little is known about his service there. Within the local community he served as
a school trustee from the Pedlar district and was active at Mount Moriah Church. He was a Deacon and
in 1884 he was the church treasurer. He was also instrumental in helping colored members of Mount
Moriah to establish their own church, Piney Grove Baptist Church. In 1898, he gave the trustees of
Piney Grove Baptist Church half an acre of his farmland near Puppy Creek Road on which to build.
Piney Grove Baptist remains an active church today.17
Walter Price Massie (1857-1930) bought the farm from his father’s estate around 1916. He was
the second son and primarily a farmer and married Ida Taliaferro (1863-1925). His elder brother Charles
William was a physician, as was a younger brother, Joseph Page.
Walter was an active member of Mount Moriah and was Sunday School Superintendent until
1906.By this time the surrounding community of Sandidges had grown, and he and his neighbors
wanted a church closer to home, instead of traveling the five to ten miles of rough roads to Mount
Moriah. They met and formed Emmanuel Baptist Church; a building was erected in 1907 on land that
the church bought from Walter Massie. He was a charter member as well as one of the first appointed
Deacons. He also served as an Assistant Sunday School Superintendent. This remains an active church
and many of the Massie descendants continue to worship there. In the twentieth century Mount Moriah
ceased to exist and Emmanuel received the communion service used at Mount Moriah.18
Walter Massie served in the House of Delegates for the sessions of 1912, 1914-1915 and 1928.
During his service he worked principally to improve the roads in the County.19
Extended family members and others were sometimes housed at Edgewood. The rear two-story
porch was built to accommodate these lodgers or boarders. The census records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and
1930 list lodgers at Edgewood. One of these was Dr. Joseph Page Massie, who returned home to
practice medicine in the area. He was a well-trained physician and well noted in Virginia, especially for
his ability to diagnose cases. He resided with the family until he succumbed to the flu in the epidemic
of 1918. Other lodgers, including in-laws, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are listed in the census
records. One in particular, John S. Tyree (b. 1845), is noted as a lodger in 1900 and a cousin in 1920.
Both census records list his occupation as farmer. Two unusual lodgers listed in the 1930 census are
Mary M. Puckett, a white female, age 20, with no occupation listed and Joseph Eubank, a black male,
age 16, whose occupation is listed as choirboy. No other information is known about them.20
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Walter’s son, James Harden Massie (1887-1986) acquired the farm from the family estate.
Under his ownership, the farm produced several different crops including tobacco (until the 1940s),
apples and cattle. The farm was recognized in 1949 as a Master Farm Family of Virginia. 21
Section __8___ Page _9____
James and his wife, Sallie (1891-1967) were also very active in the local community and
Emmanuel Church. James was a member of the County Advisory Board, School Trustee, Electoral
Board, Agriculture Committee, Committee of War Board, Amherst-Nelson Fruit Growers Association,
State Horticultural Society, and Director of the Federal Land Bank of Amherst. Sallie was a public
school teacher and member of the local Home Demonstration Club.
Both husband and wife worked in the church as Sunday school teachers and James was
Superintendent of Sunday school and, for forty years, Chairman of the Deacon board. The couple is
honored in the County with a room in the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society named for
them.22
The Massies had eight children; the youngest son, Samuel P. Massie (b. 1928) and his wife
Ruth acquired the family farm. It was then purchased by their son, Sam Massie, Jr. (b 1958) and his
wife, Sharon (b. 1961) in 1993. They carefully restored the house and created trails around the farm to
enjoy its many different features. Today corn and hay are grown on the farm. This is the Massie
homeplace and Sam and Sharon see themselves as the caretakers for the family heritage and wish to see
it preserved for the future.23
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section __9__
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __10___
9. Major Bibliographical References
DeGidio, Wanda Ware, Ware Family History, Xlibris Co., US, 2003.
Emmanuel Baptist Church, unpublished material in files of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society.
Farrar, Eugenia, Interview by Sandra Esposito, October 2006.
Genealogy Files of the Massie Family, unpublished material in the files of the Amherst County Museum and
Historical Society.
Historical of the Churches of the Piedmont Baptist Association, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, VA,
1976.
Journal of the House of Delegates of Virginia, 1869-1871, 1912, 1914-1915, and 1928.
Massie Family Papers, private collection of the Massie family.
Taylor, James B., Virginia Baptist Ministers, University of Michigan, MI, reprint of 1859 edition.
Ware, Joe, Email to Sandra Esposito, 27 September 2006.
Wingfield, Marshall, A History of Caroline County, Clearfield, MD, 2005 reprint.
“Virginia Land Office Patents E,” 1775-1776, 1780-1781 (v.2 p.463-930), p. 310 (Reel 46) available online from
Library of Virginia.
Amherst County Deed Book F, p. 624.
Amherst County Deed Book G, p. 42; p.256.
Amherst County Deed Book H, p. 479.
Amherst County Deed Book T, p. 8, p. 239.
Amherst County Deed Book GG, p. 441.
Amherst County Deed Book HH, p. 398.
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p. 406.
Amherst County Deed Book PP, p. 186.
Amherst County Deed Book XX, p. 376.
Amherst County Deed Book 72, p. 324, p. 401.
Amherst County Deed Book 80, p. 490.
Amherst County Deed Book 94, p. 500.
Amherst County Deed Book 100, p. 517.
Amherst County Deed Book 101, p. 586.
Amherst County Deed Book 169, p. 222.
Amherst County Deed Book 438, p. 301.
Amherst County Deed Book 445, p. 249.
Amherst County Deed Book 666, p. 60.
Amherst County Will Book 2, p. 202.
Amherst County Will Book 3, p. 9, p. 100.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Amherst County Will Book 5, p. 649.
Amherst County Will Book 19, p. 374.
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section 10, Photographic Data
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page 11
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The property being nominated is identified as # 41, 42 and 43 on tax parcel map 62 for Amherst County,
Virginia. This is the same property deeded to Samuel P. and Sharon Massie and identified in Amherst
County Deed Book 666, page 60 dated 21 October 1993.
Boundary Justification
This is the same property deeded to Samuel P. and Sharon Massie and identified in Amherst County
Deed Book 666, page 60 dated 21 October 1993.
Photographic Data
The following information is the same for all photographs:
Property name: Edgewood/Massie House/Boulder Springs (005-0158)
Location: Amherst County, Virginia
Photographer: Sandra Esposito
Photograph Date: July 2007
Digital images stored at Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Photo 1 of 10—Facing North—Main House
Photo 2 of 10—Facing Southwest—East Elevation
Photo 3 of 10—Facing South—Interior Center Hall
Photo 4 of 10—Facing West—West Parlor
Photo 5 of 10—Facing Northeast—Dining Room
Photo 6 of 10—Facing West—Barn
Photo 7 of 10—Facing Southwest—Corncrib
Photo 8 of 10—Facing West—Bridge
Photo 9 of 10—Facing North—Obelisk
Photo 10 of 10—Facing Northwest—Log Cabin
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section _7, 8 Endnotes___
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page _12____
ENDNOTES
1
Information from owners Sam Massie, Jr. and Sharon; Sherrie S. and William R. McLeRoy, More
Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia, (MD: Heritage Books, 1995) p. 103; and Landmark Survey
Form (Archives of VA Dept. of Historic Resources, unknown date).
2
Massie Family papers, various dates; and information from owners.
3
Original photo is preserved at the Virginia Historical Society and information is available online at
www.vahistorical.org/milay/miley.htm. No information was found on artist Sid Onig.
4
Information from owners.
5
Information from owners.
6
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and Ellis-Jennings-Burford House, Amherst County,
Va.,VA DHR File 005-0159, the PIF for the EJB House to soon be submitted for review.
7
Fairview, Amherst County, Va., VA DHR File 005-0006, PIF being researched.
8
James B. Taylor, Virginia Baptist Ministers (MI: University of Michigan, reprint of 3rd edition) pp179-180
and Massie family papers.
9
His marriage to Letitia Powell (1728-1779) was not considered valid due to his beliefs. Joe Ware, Email
to Sandra Esposito (27 Sept 2006); Land Office Patents E, 1775-1776, 1780-1781 (v.2 p.463-930), p. 310 (Reel 46)
available online from Library of Virginia; Plats of Albermarle County, Plat Book 1 p. 65 (20 Apr 1761); Amherst
County Deed Book B p.184 (4 May 1767); Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 9 (3 July 1786); Wanda Ware DeGidio,
Ware Family History (US: Xlibris Co., 2003) pp. 79-81 and 154; and Virginia Legislative Petitions, 13 October
1778, Library of Virginia Microfilm Reel #9, Box 11, Folders 10-11.
10
Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 9 (3 July 1786); Amherst County Deed Book G p.42 (3 Oct 1791);
Amherst County Deed Book F p.624 (11 Apr 1791); and Amherst County Deed Book G p. 256 (28 Jan 1793).
11
Amherst County Will Book 2 p. 202 (1 Nov 1784); Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 100 (7 Apr 1789);
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and Virginia Legislative Petitions, October 25, 1785, Library of
Virginia Microfilm #9, Box 11, Folder 35.
12
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and James B. Taylor, Virginia Baptist Ministers (MI:
University of Michigan, reprint of 3rd edition) pp179-180; Marshall Wingfield, A History of Caroline County (MD:
Clearfield, 2005 reprint) pp. 52, 316-317, 319-321, and 343; and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist
Association (VA: Southern Baptist Convention, 1976).
13
History of Baptist Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association.
14
Ibid.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Section _7, 8 Endnotes___ Page _13____
__________________________________________________________________________
15
Amherst County Will Book 5 p. 649 (20 May 1817); Amherst County Deed Book T p. 8 (29 Aug 1829);
Amherst County Deed Book T p. 239 (9 Oct 1830); Massie Family papers; Information from owners; Information
from Eugenia Farrar, interview October 2006 by Sandra Esposito (Mrs. Farrar is the aunt of current owners);
Amherst County Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004 (Lynchburg, Va.) p. 56; and History of Churches in the
Piedmont Baptist Association.
16
Massie Family papers; Landmark Survey Form; Information from owners, History of Churches in the
Piedmont Baptist Association; Amherst County Deed Book GG p. 441 (14 Apr 1869); Amherst County Deed Book
HH p. 398 (20 Dec 1871); US Federal Census Records for 1850 and 1860 –Slave Schedules, available online from
ancestry.com.
17
Massie Family papers; Chataigne’s Business Directory 1888-1889,available from
http://www.ls.net/~newriver/va/amher88.htm; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 406 (3 Nov 1874); and Amherst
County Deed Book XX p. 376 (13 Jan 1898); and Journals of the House of Delegates of Virginia 1869, and 1870
1871 (Richmond: Library of Virginia); and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association.
18
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Deed Book PP p. 186 (28 Jul 1884);Amherst
County Will Book 19 p. 374 (31 Dec 1895); Amherst County Deed Book 72 p. 324 (13 Jan 1915); Amherst County
Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004, pp.51-52,and 56; Emmanuel Baptist Church, undated information from the files
of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society; and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist
Association.
19
Journals of the House of Delegates of Virginia 1912, 1914-1915, and 1928 (Richmond: Library of
Virginia).
20
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004
(Lynchburg, Va.) p. 56; and US Federal Census Records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930, available online from
ancestry.com.
21
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 401 (17 Jan 1916); Amherst
County Deed Book 94 p. 500(5 Mar 1927); and Amherst County Deed Book 80 p. 490 (29 Nov 1918); Amherst
County Deed Book 100 p.517 (1 Aug 1930); Amherst County Deed Book 101 p. 586 (26 Aug 1931); and Amherst
County Deed Book 169 p. 222 (2 Jan 1952).
22
Information from owners; and Massie Family File, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society,
undated.
23
Information from owners; Massie Family papers; Amherst County Deed Book 438 p. 301 (28 Nov 1979);
Amherst County Deed Book 445 p. 249 (21 Feb 1980); and Amherst County Deed Book 666 p. 60 (21 Oct 1993).
National Park Service
flflIF
NATIONAL REGISTER OF YIlSTORTC PLACES
REGlSTRATIUN FORM
3h+/a
This form is Tor use in nominating or roqursilnpdcrcrminatinn~
for lndfividuel propertics and dlsn~cts.Sce jnswucilons In H w to CmpletelhENafim-l
R ~ I S I C TO S I I ~ S ~ OPI~IWH : Regismtt~nPnrm (Nauonnl Reg~skrBulltt~nIhA) Complete each hiem by m a r k ~ n g " m
~ "thc appmpintc b x o r by cnterink
Ihc iniormatwn requcstcd If any llcm docs nor amly m fhc property beiaedocumcnied, en~cr' WA" for "not appSicsblc " k o r fr~ncl~ortn
architectural
class1fica1ion.mntenah. and a w s of~~gn~ficance,
sntcr only cnregnr~es~ n suhcatejinr~tsfrom
d
rhc inslruct~ons Slacerdd~l~onal
c n t n a ~ n dnamtlvt
ncmr on corrlenwation sheFfs (WPS Form f0-WOa) Use a lypewrltcr, wnrrl proca<or.ur cornputcr. Ic, complete nll Items
1. Nnme of Property
historic narnc Edqewood (Massie HOIIS~]
other nameslsite number
Boulder Springs. #W5-0
158
street & number
59 E Pupw Creek Road
city or t o m
Amhemt
state
Vir~inia
code VA County
hmhersr
code _
not for publication
NJA
vicinity
NIA
005
Zip 24521
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As thc desiyated aurhority under the h'ntional Historic Preserva~ionAct of 1986, as amended, 1 hereby certify that this
- X nomination
request for determination o f eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
p r a ~ i eins the National Register oFHistoric Placerr and rnectt the procedural and professionnl rcquircments s t t fort11in
36 CFR Part 60. In my epiuion, the properzy -Xmeets -does not meet the National Register Crjtwia. I
recommend that this property he
sidered significant -nationally-statewide -X- locally. (
See continuation
-
sheet for additional comments.)
S~gnatureo f certifying aficial
-
V i r ~ n i aDepartment of Historic Resources
Srazc a>rI:cdcrnl agency and hurcau
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meel ihe National Register criteria.( - See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
.Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. Nstioasl Park Service Certification
I, berchy ccrtifi, that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-Scc continuatiorr sIleet.
-determined eligible for the National Register
Signatme of Keeper
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the Nntional Register
-removed Erom the National Register
-other (explain):
Dntc of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
__3__
__0__ buildings
__8__
__0__ sites
__2__
__1__ structures
__0__
__0__ objects
__13__
__1__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: ___Domestic________________ Sub: _single dwelling______________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________ __processing________________
_______ __________________
___storage _________________
____________________________ ___agricultural field__________
____________________________ ___animal facility____________
____________________________ ____agricultural outbuilding___
___ Funerary _________________ ____ cemetery _______________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Domestic_________________ Sub: ___single dwelling____________
_Agriculture/Subsistence________ ___agricultural field___________
___Funerary__________________ ____cemetery________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_____Greek Revival__________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation __brick ________________________
roof _____copper___________________________
walls ____brick___________________________
other ___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
____ A
____ B
__X_ C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A
____ B
____ C
____ D
____ E
____ F
____ G
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ___Architecture___________________________
Period of Significance
_ca. 1800 (approx. date of property’s earliest resource) - 1927 (last major alteration to main house)________
Significant Dates ___1858-1868; 1900-1927_____
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)_______N/A________________________
Cultural Affiliation ______N/A__________________________
Architect/Builder ___ Massie, Joseph Hardin (1828-1915)___
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: __Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __1030 acres________
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 662787 4168630 2 17 662792 4167959 3 17 663813 4167827 4 17 662894 4165295
5 17 661594 4166446 6 17 662199 4166913 7 17 661752 4167528
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Sandra F. Esposito
Organization: ______________________________________________________ date_08/11/2007___________
street & number: _____140 Cradon Hill Lane______________________ telephone__434-946-7496_________
city or town____Amherst_________________________________ state_VA___ zip code __24521________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name _____Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Massie, Jr._____________________________________________________
street & number____PO Box 80______________________________ telephone__(434)__946-7181_________
city or town____Amherst_________________________________ state__VA___ zip code ___24521_______
==================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section _7___
7.
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __1__
Summary Description
Edgewood is the Greek- Revival style house located on Boulder Springs, a working farm of
over 1000 acres. This farm is located in central Amherst County, Virginia and includes bottomland as
well as part of the Tobacco Row Mountains and a natural cave in the mountain. Edgewood’s builder,
Joseph Hardin Massie, started the house in 1858 and completed it in 1868, and gave the two-story brick
house its name. This was one of the first houses completed in the County after the Civil War. The
house has a T-shaped plan, a copper-clad gable roof, and three chimneys. Massie built the house to
replace his father’s wood-framed house known as Upper Place. Upper Place was located east of
Edgewood on the same property and burned before Edgewood was complete.
Edgewood is constructed of handmade bricks laid in four-course American bond on all but the
south or principal elevation. This elevation is laid in an interesting pattern of six courses of stretchers
separated by a single course of Flemish bond possibly using pressed bricks. Alterations to the house
occurred between 1900 and 1927. The interior retains most of its simple Greek Revival detailing,
including the mantels and wood trim. Surrounding the house are several outbuildings, structures and
sites associated with the farm and family. These include a c. 1920 bank barn, a 19th century corn crib,
c. 1920 cattle corral, a 19th century log house, a family cemetery and the ruins of outbuildings and
secondary dwellings In 1949 the farm was recognized as a Master Farm Family of Virginia. Current
owners are the sixth generation of the Massie family to occupy the house.1
Architectural Description – Exterior
Boulder Springs is the farm on which the historic house known as Edgewood is sited. The farm
includes bottomland on Puppy Creek and rises to the top of a mountain. It is located in central Amherst
County, and Edgewood is a two-story Greek Revival house built between 1858 and 1868; it was one of
the first houses in the County completed after the Civil War. Joseph Hardin Massie built the house and
it replaced the older house known as Upper Place occupied by his father, Charles, located on the higher
land of the same property. Edgewood has a T-shaped plan with a copper side-gable roof and a crossgabled rear wing. It is built of handmade bricks fired on-site; the bricks used on the façade may be
pressed. The house has three interior end chimneys, one at each gable end. Typical Greek Revival
detailing includes symmetrical arrangement of the bays, six-over-six double-hung sash windows and the
main entry with its single-leaf door surrounded by sidelights and a transom.
The south or principal elevation of the house has three bays. The one-story porch across the
elevation dates from 1927 and replaced an earlier, smaller entry porch. The current full-width porch has
a shed roof of standing- seam copper with six wooden Doric columns for support. The brick pattern of
the principle elevation is six-course all-stretcher bond with every seventh course in Flemish bond; these
bricks appear quite uniform in size and shape and could be pressed. The uniformity of the bricks and
the straightness of the mortar joints on the front elevation are finer than that found on the other
elevations, which is not uncommon. The main entry is centered on the first story and flanked by a bay
on either side. Originally these flanking bays held single six-over-six double-hung sash windows like
those of the second-story; however the original windows were replaced with paired six-over-six doublehung sashes in 1927. Greek Revival detailing of sidelights and a transom, each with three panes of
original glass, flank the single-leaf entry. Facing this entry, on the left, in one of the sidelights is an
etching reading “Dec 28;” additional etchings on the same light can be read from the interior and reads
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
as follows:
Section _7___
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __2__
“Sandidges,” “WPM,” “AFM,” “Dec 28, 1889,” “CW Massie June 22nd 1890,” “Sallie Feb 22 1890,”
and other indecipherable initials.
The east and west gable-end elevations of the main block of the house originally lacked
fenestration on the first and second stories. A small four-light casement window is located in the east
gable in front of the chimneystack. These elevations are laid in 4:1 common bond and feature boxed
cornice returns. In 1918, a one-story addition was added to the east elevation.
The original two-story rear ell projects just off-center from the north elevation of the main
block. The ell is laid in 4:1 common bond and continues the simple, boxed cornice of the main block.
Two vertically aligned, six-over-six double-hung windows are found on the west elevation of the ell,
while the east elevation is concealed by a two-story porch that runs the full depth of the ell. The north
gable end of the ell features a door and a modified window opening on the first story, and boxed cornice
returns in the gable. The north elevation of the main block of the house originally featured vertically
aligned windows, one on each story, flanking the ell. Those windows to the west of the ell survived;
those to the east were turned into doors when the rear porch was added.
Additions - Rear porch c. 1900
Around 1900, a two-story porch was added that ran along the north elevation of the main block
to the ell and down the east elevation of the ell. This porch terminated in a small one story, brick
addition on the first story at the end of the ell. The porch features two open stairs, one from the first
story to the second story and one from the first story to the basement. When the porch was added, the
second-story windows that looked out onto the porch were turned into doors, allowing exterior access
into most rooms of the house. Access to this area is from a cement stoop, c. 1921. The porch is
supported by square posts and features a solid balustrade clad in weatherboard.
Additions c. 1920
In 1918, a one-story frame addition was erected on the east gable end of the main block. This
addition wrapped around and enclosed the porch on the north elevation of the main block on both the
first and second stories. The foundation of the addition is stuccoed and scored, the low-pitch hip roof is
copper clad. Soon after, in 1921 the house was plumbed and a bathroom was installed in the addition.
At the same time, the portion of the porch above the small brick addition was also enclosed with brick
and several windows. At the same time electricity was installed. The electric power was provided by a
gas-powered machine with batteries manufactured by the Delco Company. Both the bathroom fixtures
and the interior ceiling lights are original to this time. On the south elevation, also in 1921, the current
paired, double-hung windows replaced the single, double-hung windows. In 1927 the current, one-story
full-width porch replaced the earlier smaller porch.
Architectural Description – Interior
The house features a central-hall plan with a parlor on the east and west sides of the central hall;
beyond the hall to the north is the dining room with the kitchen on the extreme north end of the house.
The central hall has its original open quarter-turn stair with turned balusters and large, turned Greek
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Revival newel post. According to family tradition this stair was ordered from Britain and when it
arrived
Section _7___
Page __3__
it was larger than the space allowed but was installed. As a result of this larger staircase, a corner of the
doorway into the east parlor is partially obscured. The original plaster of the hall and parlors was
repaired and restored in 1989 by the current owners. The original wide plank pine flooring of the hall
and the parlors was replaced in 1927 due to extreme wear. The current wooden floor has narrow gauge
planks. In the hall and in other rooms of the house, many furnishings of the earlier generations remain
and are still in use.2
The east and west parlors are very similar in decoration. The original plaster and wooden
detailing remains, including the original mantels. These mantles and the others throughout the house
have simple Greek Revival detailing, with pilasters on either side of the firebox and an undecorated
frieze. These rooms also have their original lighting fixtures dating to the installation of electricity in
the house in 1921. The original windows in both rooms were altered to the paired six-over-six doublehung sash windows facing south. In the west parlor, shelves were built on either side of the chimney.
In the east parlor, around 1900, a single-leaf, sash door with four lights and two horizontal lower panels
replaced the earlier window allowing access to the exterior access porch.
The dining room, north of the central hall, retains its original wide plank flooring of heart pine;
the original mantel is similar to those of the parlors. This room retains its 1921 light fixture and 1940s
wallpaper. There is an exterior door with four raised panels and nineteenth century hardware on the east
wall, likely original to construction of the house. The kitchen beyond the dining room has been updated
for modern use and the fireplace is no longer in use.
Bolted to the wall in the stair hall between the first and second stories there is a large painting of
Robert E. Lee on his horse, Traveller. This 1947 oil painting was painted by Sid Onig and is based on a
photograph titled “Robert E. Lee on Traveller” by Michael Miley with Adam Plecker, circa 1866-68. 3
On the second story there are four bedrooms. The bedrooms with access to the east exterior
access porch all have sash doors. The second floor retains its original flooring, wooden details
including mantles and the 1921 lighting fixtures. In the west bedroom the ceiling paper remains from
the 1940s.
Surrounding Landscape and Outbuildings
The surrounding landscape contains bottomland on Puppy Creek and rises to the top of a
mountain and includes a natural cave. There are eleven natural springs on the property supplying water
to the house and providing inspiration for the modern name of the farm, Boulder Springs. Immediately
surrounding the house are mature trees and shrubs including a large deciduous tree on the west side that,
according to family lore, was planted by the house builder Joseph Hardin Massie. The boxwoods on
the north side of the house were planted by James Hardin Massie’s wife, Sallie, in the 1940s. Most of
the outbuildings immediately surrounding the house were beyond repair and were razed in the late
twentieth century. The foundations of the following buildings still exist and are counted as
contributing sites: an icehouse, rainwater collection container, and a TB house for those suffering from
tuberculosis. Other contributing archaeological sites on the farm include burned ruins of Upper Place, a
tenant house and a tobacco barn.4
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Two other contributing sites are the north yard surrounding the house, which includes the
boxwoods, and the family cemetery. The three contributing buildings are the main house, bank barn
and
Section _7___
Page __4__
the log cabin/packing shed. The two contributing structures are the corncrib and corral.
The one non-contributing structure on the property is the new bridge. It was built c. 2000 and
designed to reflect the historic nature of the property. It has four brick piers each topped by a small
model of a cannon. It serves as the main gate and security for the farm.
Corncrib 19th century-Contributing structure & site of 19th century Tobacco Barn
The log corncrib is south of the main house. It is no longer used but is preserved. The logs are
saddle-notched and placed on top of a foundation of stone piers to allow air to circulate around the
building. The front gable roof is of standing seam metal. There is a single-leaf, batten door on the east
elevation. A log tobacco barn, now destroyed, was contemporary with the corncrib and located directly
across the farm road, north of the corncrib. The owners dutifully preserved the structure until a
windstorm in 2006 caused the building to collapse.
Bank Barn and Corral c. 1920-Contributing building and structure
The bank barn, located south of the house, features post and beam construction and is covered
with weatherboard. It is two stories high with a standing-seam gable roof and double cupolas (vents) at
the roof peak. The lower floor, built into a bank, is the area used for equipment storage. Most of the
bays of the lower section are single-leaf batten doors. On the main story of the barn the original double
batten doors remain on the west elevation as do the double batten doors of the hayloft. On the north
elevation is a set of sliding double batten doors. The east elevation door was replaced by a new set of
double glass doors when the barn was renovated in 1987. At the same time wooden decks were built on
the east and west elevations.5
In 1987 the interior of the barn was renovated; the original beams, flooring and barn machinery
remain. The interior was remodeled into a recreation room and entertaining area. Adjacent to the barn
is the corral that was used when cattle were raised on the farm.
Cemetery- Contributing site
The family cemetery is located southeast of the main house on a steep hillside of about half an
acre. The family estimates there are at least one hundred burials including relatives, slaves and servants.
There are many unmarked stones all over the wooded hillside. The cemetery suffered damage when
cattle were allowed to graze in the area; some of the stones were overturned or moved. In the late
twentieth century the current owners changed the cattle pasture grounds to preserve the cemetery. This
cemetery is also the possible place on the property that the Rev. John Young was buried in 1817. The
two inscribed stones in the cemetery are a grave with a footstone engraved “Dr. JPM”, marking the
grave of Dr. Joseph Page Massie; and the other is an obelisk with inscription on two sides.
One side reads: “Charles Massie/His wife/Francis Dodd/Massie/His children/Dr. John
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Massie/Lucy Massie/ Tyree/Joseph Massie/His grandchildren/Fannie Tyree/Joseph Davis/Massie/Emma
L. Millner/Clyde Millner.” The reverse reads: “Savior Lead Me/Joseph H/Massie/Born/Nov 30
1828/Died/Dec 14 1915/Sophie P/Massie/His wife/Born/Nov 28 1829/Died/Aug 19 1889.”
Section _7___
Page __5__
Log House/Packing Shed ca. 1800 - Contributing building
East of the main house, on the side of the mountain, is an area known as the orchard, where
apples were grown during the 1940s and ‘50s. At this site is a V- notched log house with a standingseam metal gable roof and an exterior dry-laid stone chimney and a dry-laid stone foundation. It is one
and one-half stories and may be the oldest surviving building on the property. This house could possibly
have been the home of the Rev. John Young who bought the property in 1799. The cabin has a singleleaf batten door on the east elevation. The south elevation has a small window opening. The west side
was altered when the family used the cabin as a packing house during the period they produced apples.
It appears that the west elevation was identical to the east since a part of a doorframe remains. On the
interior the fireplace remains intact and on the south side is a wooden stepladder that allowed access to
the half story.6
Tenant House Ruins 19th century-Contributing site
The site of the tenant house is east of the main house on a trail between the cemetery and log
cabin. It is also near the site of Upper Place. This house appears to have been a double-pen log cabin
with a dry-laid stone foundation and a dry-laid stone chimney; the top of the chimney stack is brick.
This chimney was centrally located between the pens and had a hearth in each pen. The cabin seems to
have been constructed of smaller and rounder logs than the hewn logs used for the Log House/Packing
Shed. Due to its location close to Upper Place it is possible that this building served as the slave
quarters for the farm of Charles Massie. The owners maintain and preserve all these structures and sites.
Inventory
Edgewood Building, 1858
Bank Barn Building, 1920
Log Cabin/Packing Shed Building, c. 1800
Icehouse Site, 19c
Rainwater Collection Container Site, 19c
TB House Site, 19c
Ruins of Upper Place Site, 19c
Tenant House Site, 19c
Tobacco Barn Site, 19c
North Yard with Boxwoods Site, 19c
Family Cemetery Site, possibly 1817
Corncrib Structure, 19c
Corral Structure, 1920
NC - Bridge Structure, 2000
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section __8___
8.
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page _6____
Statement of Significance
Boulder Springs in Amherst County, Virginia, is significant under Criterion C for Architecture.
The farm retains a collection of buildings, structures and sites that are evidence of the continued
habitation and changes in agricultural land use over time that occurred on the farm and in Amherst
County from the early 19th century to the present. The period of significance is 1800, based on the
approximate date of the earliest resource on the property, to 1927 when the full-width porch was added
to the main house. The main house, Edgewood, built between 1858 and 1868 was one of the first
houses completed in the County after the Civil War. It is a well-preserved example of Greek Revival
architecture. It is of brick construction with a T-shaped plan and the bond found on the front façade is
an excellent example of the local mason’s craft. This type of bond, sometimes referred to as “American
bond with Flemish variant,” is used in only one other known house in the County, Fairview, c. 1867
(VA DHR file no. 005-0006), but more examples likely exist as it became a popular type of bond
beginning in 1840 and lasting through the 1870s, and several other examples are documented in
neighboring counties.
Edgewood retains much of its historical integrity and sense of place since the land remains
open, as it was historically when it was being farmed. Other buildings and structures on the farm
exemplify the changes in habitation and agricultural use over time. The 19th century log cabin/packing
shed was abandoned and later reused in the twentieth century to store apples. The 19th century log
house, possibly the slave quarters, was eventually abandoned when it was no longer needed. The site of
Upper Place, the first Massie house on the property, burned in the mid-nineteenth century and remains
undisturbed, but noted by the family. Other existing structures and sites are associated with the
property’s agricultural use such as the 19th century corncrib and site of the tobacco barn, which are
associated with the earliest practices of growing the cash crop of tobacco and subsistence farming.
Around 1920 the cash crop of the farm was livestock. Then in the mid-twentieth century fruit, primarily
apples and peaches, were major cash crops in the Amherst area. In 1949, the farm was recognized as a
Master Farm Family of Virginia. This fine brick house and the collection of buildings on the farm
demonstrate how several generations of the Massie family lived and used their land from the eighteenth
to the twentieth centuries.7
Historical Background
Boulder Springs has been in the Massie family for six generations with five of those generations
living in the manor house known as Edgewood. One of the earliest owners of the land was Rev. John
Young, a minister once jailed for his preaching, who served as the second minister of Mount Moriah
Church located a number of miles from Edgewood. The Massie family and previous owners of the
property are connected to Mount Moriah, the oldest Baptist congregation in the County. Members of the
Massie family from three generations farmed the land at Boulder Springs and several from three
generations were elected to the Virginia House of Delegates representing Amherst County.8
The Massie house, Edgewood, was completed in 1868. Before that time several other houses
are known to have existed on the property and the earliest could have been built c. 1780 when Edward
Ware received a land grant for 250 acres. Edward Ware (c. 1710-1786) was living in the County as
early as 1761. He came to Amherst from Caroline County, Virginia to escape religious persecution as
he was a known dissident rejecting the Anglican religion, the state supported church. Ware served the
County of Amherst as sheriff in 1767 and amassed a large amount of land in the central portion of the
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
County. His holdings, approximately 1100 acres, were divided between his sons Mark Ware, James
Powell, William
Section __8___ Page _7____
Powell, John Powell and Edmund Powell. The names of the sons in the will were cited using their
mother’s name because their parent’s marriage in a dissident church by an unlicensed minister was not
officially recognized.9
James Powell (1745-1822) inherited 400 acres of land on Puppy Creek from his father, Edward
Ware, in 1786. Ware’ s will noted that James was living on the property. James Powell and his wife,
Mary, moved to Georgia sometime afterward and Powell appointed his brother, Edmund as Power of
Attorney to sell his Amherst lands. 10
John Clarkson (dates unknown) purchased the 400 acres in 1793. There is little information
available on Clarkson except that he is referred to as a bondsman and guardian in several wills probated
in the County in the late 1780s and 1790s. He is another suspected member of a dissident church as his
signature appears on a 1785 Amherst County petition to the Virginia General Assembly protesting a
proposed bill creating provisions for Teachers of Christian Religion.11
In 1799, Clarkson sold his land to Rev. John Young (1739-1817). Rev. Young came to the
County from Caroline County, Virginia where he had been imprisoned for preaching and not
conforming to the state religion. Young began preaching in 1770 and he was ordained in 1773 at
Reed’s Church in Caroline County. Today, in Caroline County, a monument for religious freedom
memorializes him along with others who were persecuted for their beliefs.12
In 1800, Rev. Young became the second minister to Mount Moriah Church in Amherst County.
He was a popular minister and his congregation grew. In one year, 1813, 100 members were baptized.
This church was established about 1745 under the name of Buffalo Baptist and was constructed of logs.
When a brick church was erected, the name was changed to Mount Moriah and it is the mother church
of the oldest active Baptist congregations in the County. Today the building serves as the meeting hall
of the Freemasons.13
Young died in 1817 and his request to be buried in an unmarked grave on his land was honored.
Since the Massie family was associated with Mount Moriah Church they might have known their
minister’s burial place and possibly continued to use the same area for their family cemetery once they
acquired the property.14
Charles Massie (1785-1880) purchased the land from Rev. Young’s estate in two tracts between
1829 and 1830. He referred to his farm as Upper Place due to its location on the upward slope of the
mountain. The house in which he lived was frame and it burned, according to family tradition, before
Edgewood was completed. Charles Massie was an active member of Mount Moriah Church and was
likely raised in that church. His father, John Massie (1756-1800), was tutor to the Rev. John Duncan
who is credited with introducing the Baptist faith to the County and starting the church.15
Upper Place was the childhood home of Joseph Hardin Massie (1828-1915), eldest son of
Charles. He married Sophie McCaul (1829-1886). It was Joseph who inherited the farm and increased
its size with the purchase of the lower lands, near Puppy Creek, in 1871. Joseph decided to build his
house on a knoll located lower on the mountain. He began Edgewood, as he referred to it, in 1858 and
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
it was completed in 1868. Most of the bricks for the house were made on-site, and slave labor was
likely responsible for the construction, given that the family owned twenty slaves according to both the
1850
Section __8___ Page _8____
and 1860 US Federal Census-Slave Schedules. Family tradition states that the house was near
completion when Upper Place burned, forcing the family to move prematurely into Edgewood.16
Joseph Hardin Massie was a veteran of the Civil War. He served in two separate companies.
From 1861 through 1862, he was a member of Co. C 13th Va. Infantry. From 1864 until the close of the
war, he was in Co. I 19th Va. Infantry. After the war, Joseph returned home to farm and completed
construction on his house that had been delayed due to his military service. In Chaitaigne’s Business
Directory of 1888-1889, he is noted as a principal farmer in the Sandidges community. He was elected
to the Virginia General Assembly for the sessions of Oct. 1869, Feb.-July 1870, Oct.-Nov. 1870 and
Dec. 1870-Mar. 1871. Little is known about his service there. Within the local community he served as
a school trustee from the Pedlar district and was active at Mount Moriah Church. He was a Deacon and
in 1884 he was the church treasurer. He was also instrumental in helping colored members of Mount
Moriah to establish their own church, Piney Grove Baptist Church. In 1898, he gave the trustees of
Piney Grove Baptist Church half an acre of his farmland near Puppy Creek Road on which to build.
Piney Grove Baptist remains an active church today.17
Walter Price Massie (1857-1930) bought the farm from his father’s estate around 1916. He was
the second son and primarily a farmer and married Ida Taliaferro (1863-1925). His elder brother Charles
William was a physician, as was a younger brother, Joseph Page.
Walter was an active member of Mount Moriah and was Sunday School Superintendent until
1906.By this time the surrounding community of Sandidges had grown, and he and his neighbors
wanted a church closer to home, instead of traveling the five to ten miles of rough roads to Mount
Moriah. They met and formed Emmanuel Baptist Church; a building was erected in 1907 on land that
the church bought from Walter Massie. He was a charter member as well as one of the first appointed
Deacons. He also served as an Assistant Sunday School Superintendent. This remains an active church
and many of the Massie descendants continue to worship there. In the twentieth century Mount Moriah
ceased to exist and Emmanuel received the communion service used at Mount Moriah.18
Walter Massie served in the House of Delegates for the sessions of 1912, 1914-1915 and 1928.
During his service he worked principally to improve the roads in the County.19
Extended family members and others were sometimes housed at Edgewood. The rear two-story
porch was built to accommodate these lodgers or boarders. The census records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and
1930 list lodgers at Edgewood. One of these was Dr. Joseph Page Massie, who returned home to
practice medicine in the area. He was a well-trained physician and well noted in Virginia, especially for
his ability to diagnose cases. He resided with the family until he succumbed to the flu in the epidemic
of 1918. Other lodgers, including in-laws, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are listed in the census
records. One in particular, John S. Tyree (b. 1845), is noted as a lodger in 1900 and a cousin in 1920.
Both census records list his occupation as farmer. Two unusual lodgers listed in the 1930 census are
Mary M. Puckett, a white female, age 20, with no occupation listed and Joseph Eubank, a black male,
age 16, whose occupation is listed as choirboy. No other information is known about them.20
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Walter’s son, James Harden Massie (1887-1986) acquired the farm from the family estate.
Under his ownership, the farm produced several different crops including tobacco (until the 1940s),
apples and cattle. The farm was recognized in 1949 as a Master Farm Family of Virginia. 21
Section __8___ Page _9____
James and his wife, Sallie (1891-1967) were also very active in the local community and
Emmanuel Church. James was a member of the County Advisory Board, School Trustee, Electoral
Board, Agriculture Committee, Committee of War Board, Amherst-Nelson Fruit Growers Association,
State Horticultural Society, and Director of the Federal Land Bank of Amherst. Sallie was a public
school teacher and member of the local Home Demonstration Club.
Both husband and wife worked in the church as Sunday school teachers and James was
Superintendent of Sunday school and, for forty years, Chairman of the Deacon board. The couple is
honored in the County with a room in the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society named for
them.22
The Massies had eight children; the youngest son, Samuel P. Massie (b. 1928) and his wife
Ruth acquired the family farm. It was then purchased by their son, Sam Massie, Jr. (b 1958) and his
wife, Sharon (b. 1961) in 1993. They carefully restored the house and created trails around the farm to
enjoy its many different features. Today corn and hay are grown on the farm. This is the Massie
homeplace and Sam and Sharon see themselves as the caretakers for the family heritage and wish to see
it preserved for the future.23
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section __9__
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page __10___
9. Major Bibliographical References
DeGidio, Wanda Ware, Ware Family History, Xlibris Co., US, 2003.
Emmanuel Baptist Church, unpublished material in files of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society.
Farrar, Eugenia, Interview by Sandra Esposito, October 2006.
Genealogy Files of the Massie Family, unpublished material in the files of the Amherst County Museum and
Historical Society.
Historical of the Churches of the Piedmont Baptist Association, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, VA,
1976.
Journal of the House of Delegates of Virginia, 1869-1871, 1912, 1914-1915, and 1928.
Massie Family Papers, private collection of the Massie family.
Taylor, James B., Virginia Baptist Ministers, University of Michigan, MI, reprint of 1859 edition.
Ware, Joe, Email to Sandra Esposito, 27 September 2006.
Wingfield, Marshall, A History of Caroline County, Clearfield, MD, 2005 reprint.
“Virginia Land Office Patents E,” 1775-1776, 1780-1781 (v.2 p.463-930), p. 310 (Reel 46) available online from
Library of Virginia.
Amherst County Deed Book F, p. 624.
Amherst County Deed Book G, p. 42; p.256.
Amherst County Deed Book H, p. 479.
Amherst County Deed Book T, p. 8, p. 239.
Amherst County Deed Book GG, p. 441.
Amherst County Deed Book HH, p. 398.
Amherst County Deed Book JJ, p. 406.
Amherst County Deed Book PP, p. 186.
Amherst County Deed Book XX, p. 376.
Amherst County Deed Book 72, p. 324, p. 401.
Amherst County Deed Book 80, p. 490.
Amherst County Deed Book 94, p. 500.
Amherst County Deed Book 100, p. 517.
Amherst County Deed Book 101, p. 586.
Amherst County Deed Book 169, p. 222.
Amherst County Deed Book 438, p. 301.
Amherst County Deed Book 445, p. 249.
Amherst County Deed Book 666, p. 60.
Amherst County Will Book 2, p. 202.
Amherst County Will Book 3, p. 9, p. 100.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Amherst County Will Book 5, p. 649.
Amherst County Will Book 19, p. 374.
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section 10, Photographic Data
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page 11
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The property being nominated is identified as # 41, 42 and 43 on tax parcel map 62 for Amherst County,
Virginia. This is the same property deeded to Samuel P. and Sharon Massie and identified in Amherst
County Deed Book 666, page 60 dated 21 October 1993.
Boundary Justification
This is the same property deeded to Samuel P. and Sharon Massie and identified in Amherst County
Deed Book 666, page 60 dated 21 October 1993.
Photographic Data
The following information is the same for all photographs:
Property name: Edgewood/Massie House/Boulder Springs (005-0158)
Location: Amherst County, Virginia
Photographer: Sandra Esposito
Photograph Date: July 2007
Digital images stored at Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Photo 1 of 10—Facing North—Main House
Photo 2 of 10—Facing Southwest—East Elevation
Photo 3 of 10—Facing South—Interior Center Hall
Photo 4 of 10—Facing West—West Parlor
Photo 5 of 10—Facing Northeast—Dining Room
Photo 6 of 10—Facing West—Barn
Photo 7 of 10—Facing Southwest—Corncrib
Photo 8 of 10—Facing West—Bridge
Photo 9 of 10—Facing North—Obelisk
Photo 10 of 10—Facing Northwest—Log Cabin
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Section _7, 8 Endnotes___
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Page _12____
ENDNOTES
1
Information from owners Sam Massie, Jr. and Sharon; Sherrie S. and William R. McLeRoy, More
Passages: A New History of Amherst County, Virginia, (MD: Heritage Books, 1995) p. 103; and Landmark Survey
Form (Archives of VA Dept. of Historic Resources, unknown date).
2
Massie Family papers, various dates; and information from owners.
3
Original photo is preserved at the Virginia Historical Society and information is available online at
www.vahistorical.org/milay/miley.htm. No information was found on artist Sid Onig.
4
Information from owners.
5
Information from owners.
6
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and Ellis-Jennings-Burford House, Amherst County,
Va.,VA DHR File 005-0159, the PIF for the EJB House to soon be submitted for review.
7
Fairview, Amherst County, Va., VA DHR File 005-0006, PIF being researched.
8
James B. Taylor, Virginia Baptist Ministers (MI: University of Michigan, reprint of 3rd edition) pp179-180
and Massie family papers.
9
His marriage to Letitia Powell (1728-1779) was not considered valid due to his beliefs. Joe Ware, Email
to Sandra Esposito (27 Sept 2006); Land Office Patents E, 1775-1776, 1780-1781 (v.2 p.463-930), p. 310 (Reel 46)
available online from Library of Virginia; Plats of Albermarle County, Plat Book 1 p. 65 (20 Apr 1761); Amherst
County Deed Book B p.184 (4 May 1767); Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 9 (3 July 1786); Wanda Ware DeGidio,
Ware Family History (US: Xlibris Co., 2003) pp. 79-81 and 154; and Virginia Legislative Petitions, 13 October
1778, Library of Virginia Microfilm Reel #9, Box 11, Folders 10-11.
10
Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 9 (3 July 1786); Amherst County Deed Book G p.42 (3 Oct 1791);
Amherst County Deed Book F p.624 (11 Apr 1791); and Amherst County Deed Book G p. 256 (28 Jan 1793).
11
Amherst County Will Book 2 p. 202 (1 Nov 1784); Amherst County Will Book 3 p. 100 (7 Apr 1789);
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and Virginia Legislative Petitions, October 25, 1785, Library of
Virginia Microfilm #9, Box 11, Folder 35.
12
Amherst County Deed Book H p. 479 (14 Jan1799); and James B. Taylor, Virginia Baptist Ministers (MI:
University of Michigan, reprint of 3rd edition) pp179-180; Marshall Wingfield, A History of Caroline County (MD:
Clearfield, 2005 reprint) pp. 52, 316-317, 319-321, and 343; and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist
Association (VA: Southern Baptist Convention, 1976).
13
History of Baptist Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association.
14
Ibid.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Edgewood
Amherst County, Virginia
Section _7, 8 Endnotes___ Page _13____
__________________________________________________________________________
15
Amherst County Will Book 5 p. 649 (20 May 1817); Amherst County Deed Book T p. 8 (29 Aug 1829);
Amherst County Deed Book T p. 239 (9 Oct 1830); Massie Family papers; Information from owners; Information
from Eugenia Farrar, interview October 2006 by Sandra Esposito (Mrs. Farrar is the aunt of current owners);
Amherst County Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004 (Lynchburg, Va.) p. 56; and History of Churches in the
Piedmont Baptist Association.
16
Massie Family papers; Landmark Survey Form; Information from owners, History of Churches in the
Piedmont Baptist Association; Amherst County Deed Book GG p. 441 (14 Apr 1869); Amherst County Deed Book
HH p. 398 (20 Dec 1871); US Federal Census Records for 1850 and 1860 –Slave Schedules, available online from
ancestry.com.
17
Massie Family papers; Chataigne’s Business Directory 1888-1889,available from
http://www.ls.net/~newriver/va/amher88.htm; Amherst County Deed Book JJ p. 406 (3 Nov 1874); and Amherst
County Deed Book XX p. 376 (13 Jan 1898); and Journals of the House of Delegates of Virginia 1869, and 1870
1871 (Richmond: Library of Virginia); and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association.
18
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Deed Book PP p. 186 (28 Jul 1884);Amherst
County Will Book 19 p. 374 (31 Dec 1895); Amherst County Deed Book 72 p. 324 (13 Jan 1915); Amherst County
Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004, pp.51-52,and 56; Emmanuel Baptist Church, undated information from the files
of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society; and History of Churches in the Piedmont Baptist
Association.
19
Journals of the House of Delegates of Virginia 1912, 1914-1915, and 1928 (Richmond: Library of
Virginia).
20
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Heritage Book, Vol. II: 1761-2004
(Lynchburg, Va.) p. 56; and US Federal Census Records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930, available online from
ancestry.com.
21
Information from Mrs. Farrar and owners; Amherst County Deed Book 74 p. 401 (17 Jan 1916); Amherst
County Deed Book 94 p. 500(5 Mar 1927); and Amherst County Deed Book 80 p. 490 (29 Nov 1918); Amherst
County Deed Book 100 p.517 (1 Aug 1930); Amherst County Deed Book 101 p. 586 (26 Aug 1931); and Amherst
County Deed Book 169 p. 222 (2 Jan 1952).
22
Information from owners; and Massie Family File, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society,
undated.
23
Information from owners; Massie Family papers; Amherst County Deed Book 438 p. 301 (28 Nov 1979);
Amherst County Deed Book 445 p. 249 (21 Feb 1980); and Amherst County Deed Book 666 p. 60 (21 Oct 1993).
Text
OM0 No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
( J c t . 1990)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE8
REGISTRATION FORM
his form is for we in &ling
or -ling
C w k t c each item by marking 'x' in tk
c h i f i m t i q mtcrinla, d PM.of eipifior ccmputcr, lo o
x
q
k all ilcras.
VLR- 1/15!95
dc(crminsti-
for idivkh!d
pm6cfiica
pod
districts. Sac htnrtiam in How to ~ - L t c tk Nsti-1 kgistcr of Hktoric Placu Rc&tmtim Form (Nsti-I
Rcgistcr Bdktin 16A).
If any ilnn d a d M apply to tk pnpcny king d - d ,
c m r 'N/A" for 'na applicable.' For h i o m , archimursl
enld nurmliYC ilmm m ~ I I I I I 8P k~U )~ (NPS
~
Form IO-900P). U&a t)pCwritcr, word prcusor,
+tox or by entering tk infmnn.tim rrqucllted.
&I
Drily cstcgorLa pod subcstcgorics f m lk imttnniam. Plna sdditi-1
...............................................................................
I. Name of Property
...............................................................................
historic name
Sweet Briar College Historic District
other nameslsite number -VDHR File No. 05-219
street & number-Sweet Briar Drive, % mi. W of US 29- not for publication N/A
city or town
Amherst
vicinity x
state ~ i r g i n i a code VA
county Amherst
code 009
zip code 2 4 3 9 3
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
3. StatelFederal Agency certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
-
As t h e designated a u t h o r i t y under t h e N a t i o n a l H i s t o r i c Preservation Act o f 1986, as amended, I hereby c e r t i f y t h a t t h i s -x- nomination
request f o r determination o f e l i g i b i l i t y meets t h e docunentation standards f o r r e g i s t e r i n g p r o p e r t i e s i n t h e N a t i o n a l Register o f
H l s t o r i c Places and meets t h e procedural and p r o f e s s i o n a l requirements set f o r t h i n 36 CFR P a r t 60. I n my opinion, t h e p r o p e r t y
x- meets -does n o t meet t h e N a t i o n a l Register C r i t e r i a . I recorrmend t h a t t h i s p r o p e r t y be considered s i g n i f i c a n t - n a t i o n a l l y
-x- statewide - Locally. ( - See c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
ff icial/Title
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
I n my opinion, t h e p r o p e r t y - meets - does n o t meet the National
Register c r i t e r i a . (
See c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
-
Signature o f c m n t i n g o r o t h e r o f f i c i a l
Date
S t a t e o r Federal agency and bureau
-----------------...-------------------..............................................................................
4. National Park service Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
I, hereby c e r t i f y t h a t t h i s p r o p e r t y i s :
- entered
i n t h e National Register
See cont jnuat i o n sheet.
- dFErmined
e l i g i b l e f o r the
National Register
see c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet.
- dFErrnlned
not e l i g i b l e f o r the
National Register
- removed f r o m - t h e National Register
- other ( e x p l a i n ) :
signature or Keeper
uate
of Action
Sweet Briar Colleue Historic District
Amherst County, Vircrinia
.......................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
--5. Classification
-----
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
-x- prlvate
public-local
- public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
building(s)
-x- district
site
structure
- object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
0
buildings
- 0-0sites
-0-0structures
-0-0objects
7
2
- 0- - Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register -022
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of
a multiple property listing.)
N/A
-------
..........................................................
6. Function or use
.............................
-----------------------------------
A
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: College
Cat: EDUCATION
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: EDUCATION
Sub: College
7. Description
.....................................................................
.............................
....................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
LATE 19TH AND 2OTH CENTURY REVIVALS:
Colonial Revival
Materials (Enter catesories from instructions)
foundation -S+ONE
walls
BRICK
roof
other
SUTE
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property
on one or more continuation sheets.)
-Sweet
Briar Colleae Historic District
Amherst Countv. Virainia
-----------------------------------8. Statement of Significance
...........................
.........................
----
m l i c a b l e Yati-1
R w i s t e r C r i t e r i a (Mark "x" i n one o r . m r e
boxes for the c r i t e r i a q u a l i f y i n g the property for N a t ~ o n a l
Register l i s t i n g )
-A
-s
x L
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of ar
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-
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-A
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Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1906-1942
Significant Dates -N/A-
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
-Cram,
Ralph Adams
-Clark, Pendleton 8.
-Gillette, Charles
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
.............................
--------------...............................................................
-------
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docunentation on f i l e (NPS)
- preliminary determination of i n d i v i d u a l l i s t i n g (36 CFR 67)
has been requested.
- previously l i s t e d i n the National Register
- previously determined e l i g i b l e by the National Register
- designated a National H i s t o r i c Landnark
- recorded by H i s t o r i c h r i c a n 8ui ldings Survey #
- recorded by H i s t o r i c h r i c a n Engineering Record Y -
Primary Location of Additional Data
Office
-x- State H i s t o r i c Preservation
- Other State agency
- Federal agency
- Local g o v e r m n t
- University
- Other
Name of repository:
-sweet Briar Colleae Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
--------- ----
----------------
lo. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
-27.2
acres-
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
-x-
Zone Easting N o r t h i n g
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
...............................................................................
name/title
Geoffrey B. Henry
organizationoreenhorn & O'Mara, Inc.
street & number-9001
Edmonston Road
city or townGreenbelt
date -Feb.
18, 1994telephone -301-982-2800
state-MD- zip code
20770
-
-
...............................................................................
Additional Documentation
...............................................................................
Submit the followtng ilems with the complcled form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the propeny's loeation.
A sketch map for hisloric districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources
Photographs
Rrprerenmtive black and while photographs of the properly.
Additional items
(Check
with the SHPO or FPO for any additional ilems)
-
- - - -
Property Cmder
...................................................................
.............................
--------------(Complete thls item at
name/title
Board
street & number-Sweet
city or townSweet
the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
of Directors
Briar College
telephone
state-VA- zip code
Briar
----------------24595-
..................................................................................
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Page1
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
=------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sveet Briar College Historic District consists of 27.22 acres on the
campus of Sveet Briar College. Sveet Briar College is located on a rural
3.300-acre campus one mile south of Amherst in Amherst County.
The
nominated boundaries include 22 contributing buildings--residential.
academic. and administrative--constructed betveen 1906 and 1931 from the
design of architects Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and his firm of Cram.
Goodhue h Ferguson and/or Pendleton Clark of Lynchburg, Virginia: portions
of the original campus plan designed by Cram betveen 1901 and 1942; and the
landscaping designed between 1929 and 1961 by landscape architect Charles
Gillette of Richmond.
The nominated boundaries vere drawn to exclude
buildings that predate or antedate Cram's aasociacion vith Sveet Briar
College, or that are not integral features of his campus plan.
The campus plan is strongly influenced by Beaux Arts theories of design and
is organized around several intersecting axes. Many of the buildings are
connected to each other by colonnades or stone balustrades.
The
contributing resources are three- and four-story, hip-roofed buildings in
the Georgian Revival style laid in Flemish bond vith glazed headers and
limestone or vood trim. They consist of six dormitories (1906-1925). the
former refectory (1906). the library (1929). tvo administration/classroom
buildings (1906-1925). a gymnasium (1931). a student health center (1925).
and ten faculty residences/apartments (1906-circa 1913). While most of the
buildings have gone through several interior renovations, the exteriors
have remained largely unchanged.
The five noncontributing resources
consist of the admissions office (Hill House), designed by Clark in the
1920s and later faced vith brick, the chapel (1966). tvo dormitories (19561961), and a dining hall (1981) and are not associated with Cram, although
several of them are situated as originally planned by the architect.
-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
?age&
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
=---s-----------------.-----------.--------------------------------~-~---
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The Sveet Briar College Historic District consists of 27.22 acres on the
campus of Sveet Briar College.
The historic resources at Sveet Briar
College are located on a rural 3.300-acre campus. one-half mile south of
Amherst, in Amherst County in south-central Virginia.
The surrounding
landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills vith both open and
forest land.
The principal entrance to the college campus is on the east, from U.S.
Route 29, through a pair of brick gateposts. Sweet Briar Drive, a oneand-one-half-mile paved road, leads vest from the gate and loops to the
north of the nominated resources before terminating in a parking lot on the
vest side of the campus. An unnamed secondary road runs east of most of
the
nominated
resources
and
circles
around
the
faculty
residences/apartments on the southeast.
These roads define the north.
east. and vest boundaries, vith a line folloving a change in elevation and
treeline serving as the south and southwest boundary.
The nominated boundaries include 22 contributing buildings--residential.
academic, and administrative--constructed betveen 1906 and 1931 from the
design of noted architect Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and the firm of Cram,
Goodhue & Ferguson and Pendleton Clark of Lynchburg; portions of the
original campus plan designed and revised by Cram betveen 1901 and 1942;
and the landscaping designed betveen 1929 and 1961 by landscape architect
Charles Gillette.
The campus plan, despite several changes. has remained generally true to
Cram's original scheme.
Strongly influenced by Beaux-Arts theories of
design, the plan is organized around several intersecting ares, and a
strict hierarchy of spaces (see the accompanying perspective plan).
The
principal axis, marked by a paved sidewalk. runs east-vest and terminates
in the chapel (#B on the accompanying perspective plan) on the east and a
roundabout on the vest.
Two smaller axes run north-south from the
refectory ( # 5 ) and the library ( # 7 ) . The faculty residences are grouped on
either side of a secondary axis that extends southeast from the main
academic group.
The 22 contributing buildings consist of six dormitories, the former
refectory (now an art gallery and library), the library, tvo
administration/classroom buildings. a gymnasium, a student health center.
and ten faculty residences/apartments.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page3
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
===-*=-=I=-P---==-==--=-=-=-P=~=~=~=~*Ps=======~-==~s====-=======~=~==~==
The contributing buildings are tvo- and three-story red brick structures
built in the Georgian Revival style and are in a good state of
presenration.
They feature Flemish-bond brickvork vith glazed headers.
wood and/or limestone trim. and much classical decoration on both the
interior and exterior. Many of the buildings are connected to each other
by colonnades or stone balustrades. Vhile most of the buildings have gone
through several interior renovations, the exteriors have remained largely
unchanged. Four dormitories vere built as the northern half of a quadrangle
on the far eastern side of the campus. Moving east to vest these buildings
are :
Randolph dormitory (built in 1908--11 on the accompanying perspective plan)
is a three-story-and-basement, nine-bay-long, three-bay-deep brick building
vith a slate hipped roof and tvo chimneys vith corbelled caps. There are
slightly projecting gable-roofed bays at the north and south ends and at
each corner. There is a vide classical vooden cornice, as vell as stone
and brick belt courses marking each story.
The principal entrance is on
the vest, entered under a brick colonnade: it consists of a central door
vith sidelights.
There are additional entrances on the east and north
elevations. All vindovs are topped by brick jack arches and have stone
trim and ledges. Vindovs on the second story are set vithin brick blind
arches. some of them stuccoed, and have either double-hung sash or are tripartite. The interior features tvo sitting rooms, a central stair hall. and
bedrooms on the first floor, vith bedrooms on the second and third floors.
The south sitting room has a fireplace vith Georgian Revival-style mantel.
Manson dormitory (built in 1910--#2 on the plan) is connected to Randolph
by a tvo-story colonnade. It is a three-story-and-basement, nine-bay-long.
three-bay-deep brick building vith a slate hipped roof and tvo chimneys
vith corbelled caps. There are slightly projecting gable-roofed bays at
the east and vest ends and at each corner. There is a vide classical
cornice, as vell as stone and brick belt courses marking each story. The
principal entrance is on the south, entered under a brick colonnade, and
consists of a central door vith sidelights. There are additional entrances
on the east and vest ends. A11 vindovs are topped by brick jack arches and
have stone trim and ledges. Vindovs on the second story are set vithin
brick blind arches, some of them stuccoed, and either have double-hung sash
or are tripartite.
The interior features tvo sitting rooms, a central
stair hall, and bedrooms on the first floor, vith bedrooms on the second
and third floors. There is a mail room and post office in the basement.
Carson dormitory (built in 1906--#3 on the plan) is a six-bay long. threebay deep.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page4
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
=------~*-----=---------------*--~--~------------------------.~~=~~-~~-~-
three-story, brick building with a slate-covered hipped roof, paired end
chimneys, and entrances on all four elevations.
There are slightly
projecting gable-roofed bays at the east and vest ends and at each corner.
There is a vide classical vooden cornice and stone belt course, as vell as
stone keystones above some of the vindovs. Windovs on the first story have
either double-hung sash or are tripartite and are set vithin stuccoed blind
arches. A pedimented portico on the north is a 1991 addition.
Gray dormitory (built in 1906--14 on the plan) is connected to Carson
dormitory by a colonnade. The dormitory is a six-bay long, three-bay deep,
three-story, brick building vith a slate-covered hipped roof. paired end
chimneys, and entrances on four elevations. There are slightly projecting
gable-roofed bays at the north and south ends and at each corner. There is
a vide classical vooden cornice and stone belt course, as vell as stone
keystones above the vindovs on the first and second stories. Windovs on
the first story either have double-hung sash or are tripartite and are set
vithin stuccoed blind arches. Windovs on the first and third stories lack
the arches. A brick arcade topped by a stone balustrade connects Gray
dormitory vith the bell tover popularly knovn as the Cupola, an open brickand-stone pavilion vith a copper domed roof.
Equidistant betveen Randolph and Gray dormitories and connected to them by
arched colonnades, is the former Refectory (built in 1906--15 on the plan).
nov the Anne Gary Pannell Center, containing classrooms, an art gallery.
and offices.
The refectory is a tall, three-story, gable-roofed brick
building oriented north-south. It features a three-bay pedimented facade
vith brick pilasters topped by stone Ionic capitals marking each bay. The
first story is clad vith cut stone laid in regular courses. The central
entrance has a metal double door and is topped by a flat'architrave.
Vindovs on the second story have 20/20 double-hung sash set vithin stuccoed
blind arches topped by a stone keystone. The vindovs on the third story
are round and have stone trim. Short false fronts project on either side
of the main section, and have brick aedicules, presumably designed to hold
sculptures. Atop the building is a tall vooden tover vith classical trim.
arched louvered vindovs, and a domed top.
The interior of this building
vas remodeled in 1986 for use as an art gallery and library.
To the vest of Gray dormitory is Benedict Hall (built 1906--#6 on the
plan). a handsome Georgian Revival-style three-story, nine-bay, brick
structure vith a shallov-pitched roof and a stone balustrade along the roof
line. A brick colonnade distinguishes the south elevation of the first
story, vith tvo entrances set vithin the colonnade. The second and third
stories are designed as a piano nobile vith the seven central bays recessed
behind a porch of stone Ionic columns. The columns are echoed to the rear
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Page5
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
---------------------------.-----of the porch by stone pilasters. One-bay-vide projections vith a central
arched vindov topped by a round vindov vith Gibbes surround are at the east
and vest ends of this building. The interior has been completely remodeled
and now contains an auditorium, classrooms, and offices. To the south of
Benedict Hall is a courtyard vith balustrade and stone steps leading to a
terrace.
The Mary Eelen Cochran Library (built in 1929--C7 on the plan) is to the
vest of Benedict Hall and is set back behind a small grassed courtyard.
This three-story, seven-bay, hip-roofed, brick building has flanking tvobay, tvo-story vings. The most ornate of the academic buildings designed
by Cram, the library features Corinthian pilasters alternating vith arched
vindovs on the south facade. a roof-top balustrade, and elaborate stone
Georgian Revival-style decoration over the two entrances. These entrances
are flanked by engaged stone pilasters and are topped by a broken
segmental-arched head, in the center of vhich is a stone cartouche with
swags and garlands. A tvo-story brick wing vas added to the rear of the
library in 1967. The interior is also quite elaborately decorated. The
main reading hall has a plaster ceiling vith garland and svag decorations.
a two-story gallery on the south end, and paneled reading rooms on the
first and second floors.
The reading rooms feature fireplaces vith
Georgian-style mantels and floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
To the vest of the library is Fletcher Hall (built 1925--C8 on the plan), a
three-story brick building, different in only minor details from Benedict
Ball. The three-story, nine-bay, brick building features an arched and
colonnaded first story with a two-story loggia above and a balustraded
roofline.
Some vood trim vas used around vindovs, a departure from
Benedict Hall. The interior still features a central entrance hall with
handsome Georgian Revival panelling. Administrative offices and classrooms
are also located in this building.
There is no enclosed courtyard or
terrace on the south as there is vith Benedict.
At the southern terminus of the axis leading from the refectory is Pergus
Reid dormitory (built 1925--#9 on the plan), a three-story. fourteen-bay,
brick building vith a pedimented entrance portico on the north. This
entrance portico features an arched entrance vith flanking arched windows.
The vindows on the first story are set vithin blind arches and are topped
by stone keystones. There are paired chimneys at the east and vest ends of
the building. as well as modified Palladian windows. The interior is the
most architecturally sophisticated of all the dormitories and features a
large entrance hall vith full-height Georgian Revival paneling and tvo
sitting rooms, the vest one vith a fireplace vith a Georgian-style mantel.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page6
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
=------------------=---=-----~--~~-~------------------~-----~-=-~~~~~-~~~
Flanking Fergus Reid dormitory and connected to it by arched colonnades are
Grammar (built 1906--110 on the plan) and Dev (built 1956--#C on the plan)
dormitories. Grammar is a three-story, hip-roofed. Georgian-style, brick
building vith an entrance on the vest elevation. The dormitory has a vide
classical cornice, stone-and-brick belt courses marking each bay, and
paired end chimneys. Slightly projecting gable-roofed bays are at the
north and south ends, at the corners, and at the entrance. Dew dormitory is
a noncontributing resource and is described elsevhere in this nomination.
The Daisy Williams Gymnasium (built in 1931--411 on the plan) stands at the
far vest end of the academic group and is a large, gable-roofed. brick
building vith an entrance on the north and simplified classical limestone
detailing around the central entrance and vindovs.
A brick natatorium
with an exterior marked by blind arches and shallov aedicules is on the
vest.
The interior of the gymnasium has offices, a basketball court vith
A bronze roundel vith a bust of Daisy
stands. and changing rooms.
Williams. in vhose memory Sveet Briar College vas founded in 1901. is set
above the central stair hall.
Immediately to the southeast of the academic group is the Mary Harley
Student Health Center (1925--112 on the plan) a tvo-and-one-half-story,
five-bay, hip-roofed, brick building vith a pedimented entrance portico on
the north facade and paired chimneys on the east and vest ends. There are
secondary entrances on the east and south elevations. The central entrance
is set vithin an arch vith an Adam-style fanlight and is flanked by vindovs
set vithin stuccoed blind arches.
Ten faculty residences/apartnents--#13-15. 17-22, including the house known
as the Deanery (#16), vere built betveen 1906 and 1913, and are located in
a double rov to the southeast of the student health center. The houses on
the east of the main road are large and imposing tvo-and-one-half-story,
hip-roofed. Georgian Revival-style. brick, double residences vith dormer
vindovs, stone and vood trim, and one-story porches vith elaborate
classical detailing. The houses on the vest side are considerably simpler
in style and appearance. They are two-story, hip-roofed, stuccoed frame
buildings in the American Four-Square mode, vith a central dormer vindov on
the front facade, and front and back porches.,
Most of the elaborate planting and landscape features envisioned by Cram
for the campus vere never realized. Instead, the campus is marked by
naturalistic plantings of native trees and shrubs and vide expanses of
grass. Beginning in the late 1920s. landscape architect Charles Gillette
prepared a number of plans for roadvays, a monumental entrance, and
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
National Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF H I S T O R I C PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
7
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
--*----------------------------------------------------------------------
Section
P a g e 7
p l a n t i n g ~ . Most of t h e s e plans s u r v i v e and i n d i c a t e t h e gradual move avay
from a formal e n t r a n c e and approach t o t h e campus t o v a r d t h e p r e s e n t one i n
vhich t h e academic b u i l d i n g s a r e a c c e s s e d from t h e r e a r o r n o r t h .
The f i v e n o n c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g s a r e l o c a t e d a t d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s
throughout t h e campus.
None vere d e s i g n e d by Cram, b u t s e v e r a l of them
s t a n d a t t h e l o c a t i o n s o r i g i n a l l y d e s i g n a t e d by t h e a r c h i t e c t .
The
b u i l d i n g s i n c l u d e B i l l House ( b u i l t i n t h e 1920s--#A on t h e p l a n ) , a tvos t o r y b r i c k b u i l d i n g v i t h an e n t r a n c e on t h e s o u t h s e w i n g a s t h e
admissions and f i n a n c i a l a i d o f f i c e .
The house has been e x t e n s i v e l y
remodeled on t h e i n t e r i o r and r e f a c e d v i t h b r i c k on t h e e x t e r i o r . Memorial
Chapel ( b u i l t i n 1966--10 on t h e p l a n ) t e r m i n a t e s t h e e a s t e r n end of t h e
main a x i s .
The c h a p e l i s b u i l t i n t h e Georgian s t y l e v i t h a pedimented
p o r t i c o . c l a s s i c a l e n t r a n c e , and t a l l c e n t r a l t o v e r and s t e e p l e . Dew ( b u i l t
i n 1956--#C on t h e p l a n ) and kleta G l a s s ( b u i l t i n 1962--11) on t h e p l a n )
dormitories a r e three-story,
brick.
Georgian-style
dormitories t h a t
completed t h e s o u t h e r n h a l f of t h e q u a d r a n g l e . To t h e v e s t of Glass
dormitory i s P r o t h r o Commons ( b u i l t i n 1981--#El a b r i c k and g l a s s modified
Georgian- s t y l e d i n i n g h a l l .
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
National Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
A
P a g e 8
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County, V i r g i n i a
--------------------------------STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The p o r t i o n of t h e Sweet B r i a r College campus nominated t o the National
R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s i s s i g n i f i c a n t on t h e s t a t e l e v e l as t h e vork
of a r c h i t e c t Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and h i s f i r m of Cram. Goodhue &
Ferguson. Cram (1863-1942). one of t h e foremost American a r c h i t e c t s of t h e
20th c e n t u r y , e x e c u t e d s e v e r a l p r e s t i g i o u s commissions f o r e c c l e s i a s t i c a l
and academic b u i l d i n g s d u r i n g h i s c a r e e r , i n c l u d i n g t h e designs f o r t h e
Cathedral of S t . John t h e Divine i n Nev York C i t y , t h e chapels a t Vest
Point Academy and P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y , and campus p l a n s f o r Princeton and
Rice I n s t i t u t e .
The b u i l d i n g s executed t o Cram's d e s i g n s a t Sveet B r i a r
College. vhere he s e r v e d a s a r c h i t e c t betveen 1901 and 1942. a r e among t h e
fev examples of h i s vork i n V i r g i n i a , and t h e only c l a s s i c a l ensemble by
him i n t h e s t a t e .
They a l s o comprise h i s f i r m ' s f i r s t l a r g e - s c a l e
commission f o r a c o l l e g e .
Although p r i m a r i l y knovn a s a n exponent of t h e
Gothic Revival s t y l e . Cram produced a complex o f Georgian Revival b u i l d i n g s
f o r Sveet B r i a r t h a t h a s s e t t h e s t a n d a r d f o r c o l l e g i a t e a r c h i t e c t u r e i n
V i r g i n i a f o r t h e r e s t of t h e c e n t u r y .
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
3 Page9
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
.........................................................................
HISTORY
Sveet Briar College, one of the first four-year liberal arts colleges for
vomen in the South, vas founded in 1901 through the bequest of Mrs. Indiana
Fletcher Williams as a memorial to her only child, Daisy. The school is
situated in Amherst County on the 3,300-acre Fletcher plantation knovn as
Sveet Briar. from vhich the college takes its name.
The original
plantation house, k n o w as Sveet Briar House, vas built in the early 19th
century and vas remodeled in 'the Italianate style betveen 1851 and 1852.
Nov the residence of the president of Sweet Briar College. the house is
listed individually on the National Register of Historic placesL and is
outside the boundaries of the College Historic District.
In early 1901 the first Board of Trustees for the college (then knovn as
Sveet Briar Institute) contracted vith architect Ralph Adams Cram of Boston
to prepare an architectural plan for the nev school, anticipated to house
Most of the original
and educate approximately 400 female students.
trustees vere Episcopalian clergymen and vere familiar vith Cram through
his extensive vritings on ecclesiastical architecture. In particular Dr.
John McBryde. first president of the Sweet Briar Institute Board of
Trustees and chairman of its Executive Committee, had been impressed vith
an article by Cram in an issue of a e Nev church ma^.^
At McBryde's request. Cram journeyed to Amherst County in early 1901 to
assess the site. During their first meeting, McBryde indicated a strong
preference for the Georgian style of architecture for the nev school, a
decision vith vhich Cram concurred; in the architect's vords, "history.
tradition, and architectural style predetermined the course to follov. " 3
There followed a discussion as to vhether yellov or red bricks should be
used for the construction of the campus buildings. McBryde questioned the
use of red brick, as he had no vish to see "red splotches on the
landscape.4 Samples of clay from the Sveet Briar property vere brought to
Blacksburg to be fired into bricks. The resulting color, a muted pink-red.
supposedly was pleasing to HcBryde and as a result "the Board ordered
estimates and plans from Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson of Boston for two
dormitories, an academic building, and a refectory. "5
Cram's dravings for the proposed Sweet Briar Institute campus vere
completed in 1902 and displayed in Lynchburg, the nearest large t o m , in
the vindovs of the Lynchburg Traction and Light Company vhere, according to
a contemporary newspaper account, "they can be seen by all persons vho may
be interested in the best of architecture and in modern ideas for
educational institutions.
These pictures are exceedingly handsome and
attractive in appearance. That they will be greatly admired by the public
United S t a t e s Department o f t 2 e I n t e r i o r
National Park S e r v i c e
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Page10
i s a foregone c o n c l ~ s i o n . ' ~;he d r a v i n g s v e r e a l s o p u b l i s h e d i n t h e August
23 and 30, 1 9 0 2 , i s s u e s of American A r c h i t e c t and Building Nevs. i n d i c a t i n g
t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e a t t a c h e d t o h i s d e s i g n s by h i s p e e r s .
The p l a n prepared by Cram f o r t h e new c o l l e g e was s t r i k i n g i n i t s
s o p h i s t i c a t i o n and o r i g i n a l i t y .
The o r i g i n a l scheme vas f o r a grand
c l a s s i c a l arrangement of 1 7 Georgian R e v i v a l b r i c k b u i l d i n g s around a g r e a t
quadrangle v i t h p a r t e r r e s and f o r m a l p l a n t i n g s , f o u n t a i n s , and pools.
'dhile i t was n o t s t r i c t l y symmetrical, t h e p l a n was formal and a x i a l . The
p r i n c i p a l a x i s ran e a s t - v e s t and t e r m i n a t e d on t h e e a s t end v i t h a c h a p e l .
Tvo s m a l l e r axes ran north-south.
The e a s t e r n s i d e of t h e campus vas
designed t o be l a r g e l y r e s i d e n t i a l : t h e v e s t e r n s i d e vas dominated by t h e
academic b u i l d i n g s , i n c l u d i n g a r e f e c t o r y . l i b r a r y , f i n e a r t s c e n t e r , and a
"commencement h a l l . "
D o n i t o r i e s v e r e organized i n a quadrangle
arrangement;
each
dormitory
group
vas
bilaterally
symmetrical.
Commencement H a l l , designed v i t h a n impressive dome and connected t o
f l a n k i n g b u i l d i n g s by colonnades, s e r v e d aa t h e c e n t r a l focus of t h e
a r c h i t e c t u r a l complex. A secondary a x i s r a n s o u t h from t h e h a l l t o a semic i r c u l a r c o u r t . around vhich v e r e a s c i e n c e b u i l d i n g , l i b r a r y , gymnasium,
and i n d u s t r i a l b u i l d i n g .
The c e n t r a l f o c u s of Cram's landscape p l a n was t h e o v a l pond and roundabout
a t t h e south end of t h e composition.
Arcades and colonnades d e f i n e d and
e n c l o s e d t h e composition and p r o v i d e d a t r a n s i t i o n between t h e b u i l d i n g s
and t h e b a l u s t r a d e d t e r r a c e s .
The p r i n c i p a l e n t r a n c e t o t h e campus was
from t h e s o u t h , by vay of a road t h a t c i r c l e d around t h e campus from t h e
n o r t h and v e s t .
Cram's o r i g i n a l p l a n sav many a l t e r a t i o n s and he vas f o r c e d t o r e d e s i g n t h e
campus Layout s e v e r a l times d u r i n g h i s t e n u r e a s a r c h i t e c t f o r t h e c o l l e g e .
This vas l a r g e l y due t o l a c k of f u n d s , a s v e l l a s a g e n e r a l p r e f e r e n c e on
t h e p a r t of Sweet B r i a r o f f i c i a l s and t h e p r e s i d e n t f o r a s i m p l e r , less
formal l a y o u t . Thus, although many o f t h e b u i l d i n g s a s o r i g i n a l l y planned
v e r e executed, t h e formal approach and l a n d s c a p i n g v e r e l a r g e l y abandoned.
The s t y l e chosen by Cram f o r t h e b u i l d i n g s a t Sweet B r i a r v a s Georgisn, n o t
a s t y l e f o r v h i c h he was p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l knovn during h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l
c a r e e r , but t h e only one he f e l t v a s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r a school i n r u r a l
Virginia.
Cram d e s c r i b e d V i r g i n i a ' s Georgian s t y l e a s "ample, courteous
and g e n e r a l l y a r i s t o c r a t i c . '
and t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e antebellum
Southeast a s " t h e s t y l e t h a t may r e a l l y be c a l l e d almost indigenous t o
America."'
On t h e o t h e r hand, he shunned meticulous copying of e a r l i e r
American c o l o n i a l p r o t o t y p e s and regarded b u i l d i n g s t h a t attempted
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archeological accuracy as "stupid." Instead. Cram designed the buildings
at Sveet Briar to be individualistic. yet united by a sure sense of
proportion. classical detail, and quality of execution.
H. Stafford Bryant, in his article "Classical Ensemble." suggested several
English prototypes as inspiration for some of the buildings designed by
Cram for Sveet Briar College.
The small domed brick pavilion that
terminates the colonnade leading from Gray dormitory, the so-called
"cupola.' has been compared to Lord Pembroke's bridge at Yilton built to
the design of Robert Morris. Fletcher and Academic (nov Benedict) Halls
shov similarities vith the Queen's House at Greenvich and the Banqueting
House in London, both designed by Inigo Jones. Both the refectory, built
in 1906, and the library. built in 1928. feature a giant order of pilasters
alternating vith arched vindovs, similar to the Senate House at Cambridge.
dating from 1 7 2 2 . ~
The inspiration for Cram's campus plan and layout for Sveet Briar College
is more difficult to trace and is based on both the history of college
architecture in the United States and then-popular Beaux Arts theories of
design. Cram, vho made many detailed studies of American campus designs
throughout his career, vas influenced by Nev England prototypes as vell as
several southern colleges, particularly South Carolina College at Columbia,
and Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia.
The campuses of most New England schools are arranged around either a
quadrangle, as at Hanrard University, or along a rov, as at Yale
University.
Some colleges, such as Dartmouth College (originally
constructed along a rov) combined features of both plans. The plan of such
southern colleges as Washington College (later Washington h Lee University)
and South Carolina College also combined features of the rov plan and
quadrangle popular at several Nev England colleges.
At the University of Virginia a strongly architectural focal point vas
established at the Rotunda, from vhich the academic and residential
buildings developed on either side of a long allee. Not only vas the
comprehensive and cohesive arrangement of spaces at University of Virginia
revolutionary for its time, but the symbolic and didactic qualities of the
Roman classical architecture chosen by Jefferson made it a uniquely
personal architectural masterpiece.
Partly due to Stanford White's reconstruction of the Rotunda and subsequent
additions to the college grounds. the University of Virginia was "rediscovered"by architects at the turn of the century. Many followers of
the Beaux Arts school of design admired Jefferson's vision of a unified
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vhole created out of a vide variety of classical parts. as vell as the
inspired use of a central unifying focus. To Jefferson's single-axis plan.
they often added a series of cross axes and secondary spaces to create a
hierarchy of spaces and reinforce the primacy of the central focus. Some
early examples of collegiate architecture that follow these principles
include the American University in Washington. D.C.. by Henry Ives Cobb
(1899), and the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (1900) by Henry
~ornbostel.~Another variation, developed at New York University, rotated
the axis of the space so that it vas perpendicular to the axis of the
principal building.
This plan vas generally folloved by Cram at Sweet
Briar. vith Commencement Hall placed near (but not directly at the center)
of the long axis.
Cram admired the plan of Jefferson's University of Virginia and
incorporated the colonnades of that school into the design of Sveet Briar.
Hovever, he generally deplored the architecture at the University of
Virginia. describing the buildings as having 'unnecessarily unreasonable
classical porticoes vith columns, entablatures, and pediments complete--and
all built of pine boards framed up in the semblance of a nevly discovered
paganism."1°
To him, the ideal was what he considered the more refined
classical architecture of Columbia University or Stanford White's Nev York
University:
Cram described Columbia as "the noblest type of the pure
classical idea."ll Cram also undoubtedly studied the campus plans of such
colleges as Stanford University in California and Trinity College in
Washington, D.C.. vhich vere both largely executed from the design of a
single architect.
Cram's original intentions for Sweet Briar College were followed in many
respects but modified in others.
The individual building designs were
generally folloved, although building materials were sometimes altered; for
example, wood vas substituted for limestone trim in some of the later
buildings. Considerations of cost necessitated the scaling back of the
original extensive campus plans, and several buildings were never erected.
including Cram's pivotal Commencement Hall. Other buildings, including the
chapel, vhich vas built in 1966 long after Cram's death, were built on the
sites planned by the architect and closely folloved the architect's
original designs.
The most significant changes occurred in Cram's
landscape plan, vhich from the beginning was considered overly formal and
ill-suited to a rural setting; one early account acknowledged that there
vas a "diversity of opinion about having a quadrangle out in the
country."12
The design for clipped hedges and tall cedars, elaborate
pools, and flower gardens was abandoned in favor of a more naturalistic
English style of landscaping.
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The Richmond landscape architect Charles Gillette, who was employed by
Sveet Briar beginning in 1929, may have been responsible for this
naturalistic appearance.
The influence of the Beaux Arts school was
evident in the way in which Cram subdued natural changes in terrain under
rigid terraces and flights of stairs. Instead, these hills and slopes vere
simply alloved to grov over in grass and descend gently from the southern
end of the campus. Most importantly. Cram's grand entrance from the south
was never attempted (visitors today approach the college from the north and
their first vievs are the backs of the buildings); instead a more leisurely
and less formal approach is made from the vest, and the campus buildings
nov look out upon cultivated fields and lavns. It is unlikely that this
approach will be abandoned in favor of a new approach from the south.
With Cram's architectural dravings accepted by the college authorities in
1902, initial cost estimates and contracts vere prepared. According to a
history of Sveet Briar College, vhen Cram's first estimates for the college
buildings arrived, they seemed inordinately high to the college
authorities. Dr. McBryde knew a contractor in Blacksburg. Virginia, to
whom he submitted the plans and got an estimate that vas approximately half
. (the
that of Cram's. When Cram came for a visit "he was astounded at
lov price of the vork) as compared vith the cost of similar vork in the
North." l3 Despite the contractor's reasonable prices, he vas soon replaced
(for no knovn reason) by J. P. Pettyjohn, of Lynchburg. One of Lynchburg's
most prominent builders and contractors, Pettyjohn may have been
responsible for suggesting the appointment of Pendleton S. Clark, also of
Lynchburg, as associate architect for Sveet Briar College.
Clark.
sometimes vith his associate Walter Crove. served in this capacity
throughout Cram's association vith the college.
After Cram's death in
1942, Clark's firm of Clark. Nexson & Owen continued as principal architect
for Sweet Briar until the recent present.
. .
From the original scheme. four college buildings--the Refectory. Academic
(now Benedict Hall), and Gray and Carson dormitories--plus four faculty
houses. service buildings, and several temporary roads vere completed by
1906 vith the funds immediately available. Brick for the buildings vas
manufactured on the Sveet Briar property from local clay. Dr. Mary K.
Benedict, first president of Sveet Briar College, described her initial
impressions of the college on her arrival in 1906:
Hy first trip through the huildings made it clear that there was
much to be done on the material side before September. I remember
especially my first sight of the inside of academic building.
There was nothing in it except piles of plaster on the unstained
floor. not even a blackboardl .
. Most of the buildings were
.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF H I S T O R I C PLACES
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s u f f i c i e n t l y ready by t h e opening of c o l l e g e i n September (1906) t o
make us c o m f o r t a b l e , but i t vas n e c e s s a r y t o c o n t i n u e vork on t h e
m a t e r i a l s i d e during t h e f i r s t y e a r t o g e t t h e n e c e s s i t i e s of
l i v i n g t o run smoothly.14
The n o r t h e a s t e r n c o r n e r of t h e dormitory quadrangle vas f i l l e d o u t by 1910
v i t h t h e completion of Randolph and Manson d o r m i t o r i e s .
I n 1912. Grammar
dormitory began t h e s o u t h e a s t e r n r e s i d e n t i a l group vhich was n o t completed
u n t i l 1962. vhen Meta Glass dormitory vas f i n i s h e d .
F l e t c h e r H a l l ( a c l o s e twin of Benedict H a l l ) , vhich b a l a n c e s one s i d e of
t h e n o r t h - s o u t h a x i s l e a d i n g from t h e proposed l i b r a r y , was completed i n
1925, beginning a second p e r i o d of growth a t Sveet B r i a r . I t vas b u i l t on
t h e s i t e d e s i g n a t e d on t h e 1902 p l a n a s t h e Fine A r t s Building.
Both
Benedict and F l e t c h e r h a l l s may have been based on t h e d e s i g n of I n i g o
J o n e s ' s Queen's House: t h i s p r o t o t y p e vas a l s o used by Cram i n h i s d e s i g n
of t h e l i b r a r y a t Vheaton C o l l e g e i n Massachusetts.
A rather drastic
a l t e r a t i o n t o Cram's o r i g i n a l campus p l a n o c c u r r e d v i t h t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of
Pergus Reid dormitory, v h i c h he d e s i g n e d i n 1928.
Located i n t h e
s o u t h e a s t e r n dormitory group, i t e n c l o s e d t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e of t h e
composition.
This r e s u l t e d i n t h e dormitory s t a n d i n g i n t h e l i n e of v h a t
was t o have been a v i s t a from t h e R e f e c t o r y . Vith t h e v i s t a c l o s e d , t h e
e a s t e r n end o f t h e campus began t o resemble a c o u r t y a r d and i s c a l l e d " t h e
Quadrang1e"today.
The dormitory a l s o d i f f e r s i n appearance from t h e
e a r l i e r ones i n i t s s i m p l e r e x t e r i o r d e t a i l i n g and i t s c l e a n e r massing.
The i n t e r i o r , v i t h i t s High Georgian e n t r y h a l l . i s a l s o d i f f e r e n t from t h e
more r e s t r a i n e d and i n s t i t u t i o n a l Georgian s t y l e of Gray and Carson
dormitories.
Three more development p l a n s f o r Sweet B r i a r College v e r e d r a m d u r i n g
Cram's t e n u r e a s a r c h i t e c t ( a f t e r 1913 t h e f i r m vas known a s Cram &
Perguson, Bertram Goodhue having l e f t t h e firm i n t h a t y e a r ) , each one
shoving a tendency tovards g r e a t e r s i m p l i c i t y .
While t h e y became l e s s
formal, t h e scheme f o r a g r e a t quadrangle c o n t a i n i n g s m a l l e r c o u r t y a r d s
remained, and i s a c e n t r a l f e a t u r e of t h e p r e s e n t campus. The d e s i g n s f o r
t h e b u i l d i n g s continued t o be designed i n t h e English c l a s s i c a l v e i n - - " a
v e i n t h a t became p u r e r and p u r e r
a s t h e t e e n s gave vay t o t h e
By t h a t time, t h e r e f e r e n c e s i n Cram's vork t o I n i g o Jones and
1920s. "5
Andrea P a l l a d i o became more e x p l i c i t .
. . .
The l a s t major b u i l d i n g program c a r r i e d o u t under Cram's l e a d e r s h i p began
v i t h t h e appointment of Meta Glass a s c o l l e g e p r e s i d e n t i n 1925.
She
suggested t h a t Cram's b u i l d i n g p l a n s i n c l u d e a l i b r a r y , a n a u d i t o r i u m , and
a gymnasium, a s v e l l a s t h e c h a p e l t h a t had been planned f o r t h e e a s t e r n
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end of the campus but remained as yet unbuilt. In Cram's campus plan of
1928, the auditorium vas placed on the site formerly reserved for a chapel,
the chapel vas placed at the vestern end of the campus, and a nev entrance
vas proposed betveen Randolph dormitory and the auditorium. Most of this
plan was never carried to fruition. vith the exception of the library. The
library vas built on the site of the never-executed Commencement Hall. at
one time the focus of Cram's original campus plan. The Fine Arts and
Science buildings vere shifted slightly from their original arrangement.
but continued to anchor the vestern half of the campus.
The Mary Helen Cochran Library, completed in 1929, vas the most ornate of
Cram's buildings at Sveet Briar. and bears many similarities vith his
design of 1922 for Chapin Hall at Williams College in Massachusetts.
Originally designed as a close copy of the refectory building, this plan
vss abandoned on the request of President ~lhss. According to one account,
both Cram and Hiss Glass sat on high stools in his Boston office vhile he
sketched a nev design for the library.16
The Mary Harley Student Health Center and the Daisy Williams Gymnasium vere
designed by Pendleton Clark vith assistance from and approval by Cram and
Ferguson. Both are Georgian-style buildings vith limestone and vood trim
and are similar, if simpler. versions of the earlier Cram buildings at
Sveet Briar. Clark continued his association vith Sveet Briar after Cram's
death in 1942, although Cram's successor firm has also supplied designs for
more recent construction at the school.
The sophistication and exquisite craftsmanship of Cram's buildings at Sveet
Briar College undoubtedly exercised a decisive influence on local and
Virginia architects.
Cram ia knovn to have submitted a design for an
academic building at nearby Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg.
many of vhose campus buildings vere designed by Lynchburg architect
Stanhope Johnson. Johnson, vhose scholastic vork also included commissions
at Chatham Hall Girls School in Chatham. Virginia, as vell as Lynchburg
College in Lynchburg. designed in a restrained and competent version of the
Georgian style, that varies only slightly from Cram's vork. The Georgian
Revival became the style of choice for campuses throughout Virginia in the
1920s and 1930s including Mary Vashington College, Washington & Lee
University, Woodberry Forest School. Virginia Episcopal School. Ferrum
College, and Episcopal High School.
Cram's designs for Sveet Briar College vere depicted in a number of
contemporary architectural magazines and journals in addition to the aforementioned 1902 issues of Architect and Building Nevs. These included the
January 1911 issue of Architectural Record; the July 1906. July 1907. and
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November 1919 issues of Brick Builder; and an article Cram vrote for the
f
in May 1912 entitled "Recent
University Architecture in the United States."
Critical evaluations of the architecture and plan of Sveet Briar College
have been uniformly favorable from the beginning.
President Benedict
observed that Cram's dravings vere "a visualization of our plans for the
future. and Mr. Cram's vision vas one of the things that inspired us. The
fact that we had a plan for a harmonious group of buildings from the
beginning saved much discussion that the erection of a nev building often
occasions in a college, and kept the unity of architecture vhich is always
to be desired. "17
According to one critic, the success of Sveet Briar's design was obvious
and yet subtle: "This campus vorks because of the continuity provided by
its recurring classicism, its careful placement of structures. and the
physical relationship emphasized by the texture of balustrade covered
arcades. "18
Another vrote that Sweet Briar "vas one of the most successful exercises in
that [Georgian] style--in perfect scale, much of it highly learned and
'authentic' in its attention to archeological sources, amenable, and
attractive. "I9
The design of Sveet Briar has even been contrasted favorably with the
University of Virginia:
"The element of unification furnished by
Jefferson's colonnades and arcades and much of vhat is best in Jefferson's
designs is taken up in the plans for Sveet Briar College .
, a truly
American campus .
the vhole constituting vhat ma appear a design more
pleasing, lighter, and freer than Jefferson's vork. - 2 9
..
..
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
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Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
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---------1-----1--------------------------------.------------------------
1. N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s Nomination Form f o r Sveet B r i a r
House (1976) i n f i l e s of V i r g i n i a Department of H i s t o r i c Resources.
2. Martha Lou Lemmon Stohlman. _The S t o r v of Sveet B r i a r C o l l e e e . (Anherst.
Va: The Alumnae A s s o c i a t i o n of Sweet B r i a r C o l l e g e ) . 1956. Page 53.
3 . Ralph Adams Cram.
Co.). 1932.
Mv L i f e i n A r c h i t e c t u r e (Boston: L i t t l e . Brovn &
4 . Stohlman. pages 53-54.
5. i b i d , page 53.
6. S .
Allen Chambers.
Jr.
b n c h b u r n : An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y
( C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , Va.: U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a P r e s s ) , 1981. Page 370.
7. Ralph Adams Cram.
C o . ) , 1936. Page 131.
8 . H.
l4v L i f e
i n Architecture.
(Boston: L i t t l e .
S t a f f o r d Bryant. Jr.. " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble," A r t s i n V i r g i n i a .
Pages 24-25.
Brovn 6
(Volume
1 1 1 , Winter 1971.
9. Thomas A.
C i t y ) , 1991.
Gaines.
m e Camous a s a Work of Art.
Page 191.
( P r a e g e r : Nev York
1 0 . Ralph Adams Cram.
'8ave I a Philosophy of Design?" P e n c i l P o i n t % ,
(Volume 13. No. 1 1 , November 1932. Page 730.
11. Ralph Adams Cram.
"Recent U n i v e r s i t y A r c h i t e c t u r e i n the United
States."
Journal of t h e Royal I n s t i t u t e of B r i t i s h A r c h i t e c t s . (Volume
XIX) 25 May 1912. Page 510.
1 2 . Mary K. Benedict.
"Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916" Sveet B r i a r College Alumnae
Nevs (December 1 9 3 7 ) . Page 5 .
-
13. Stohlman.
Sveet B r i a r C o l l e g e , page 55.
1 4 . Benedict. Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916..
page 5
15. Bryant, " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble", page 22.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e i n t e r i o r
National Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
a
Page 19
Sweet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
==C==9=~.=~=PS=PP===IE--=====-=~*=--==*~=P====~-==~~=~==~==~===-==-=~.-===
1 6 . "Ralph Adams Cram" ( o b i t u a r y n o t i c e ) Sveet B r i a r Alumnae Nevs.
17. Benedict. "Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916". page 5 .
1 8 . Gaines.
Camuus a s Work o f A r t , page 191.
19. Bryant. " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble', page 1 8 .
2 0 . Werner
Hegemann and E l b e r t
A r c h i t e c t ' s Handbook o f Civic Act
110-111.
Peets,
The American V i t r u v i u s :
An
(Nev York: L i t t l e Page). 1 9 2 2 .
Pages
United S t a t e s Department o f t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL EGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
9
Page19
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
=--I-~-----*--------~~~~~~~.----~------~s-~---~-----------------~.----~--
Benedict, Mary K.
"Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916."
December 1 9 3 7 .
.
Bryant. H . S t a f f o r d . J r .
11. Winter 1971.
" C l a s s i c a l Ensemble.* A r t s i n V i r e i n i a .
Chambers.
S.
Allen,
Jr.
C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e . Virginia:
Cram. Ralph Adams.
Co. 1936.
1 3 , No. 1.
Sveet B r i a r Colleee Alumnae
Volume
Lvnchbure.
An
Architectural
Historv.
U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a P r e s s . 1981.
Uv L i f e i n A r c h i t e c t u r e .
Boston: L i t t l e Brown &
"Have I a Philosophy of Design?" P e n c i l P o i n t s , Volume
November 1932.
"Recent U n i v e r s i t y A r c h i t e c t u r e i n t h e United S t a t e s . "
J o u r n a l of t h e Royal I n s t i t u t e o f B r i t i s h A r c h i t e c t s .
Volume X I X . 25
May 1912.
Gaines, Thomas.
1991.
The Cam~usa s a Work of Art.
New York: Praeger C O .
Hegemann, Werner and E l b e r t P e e t s . The American V i t r u v i u s : An A r c h i t e c t ' s
Handbook o f C i v i c Art. Nev York: L i t t l e , Page & Co. 1922.
Lanford. Sarah Drummond.
Raloh Adams Cram a s Colleee A r c h i t e c t :
An
H i s t o r i c i s t ' s A o ~ r o a c h . Masters T h e s i s . U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a School
of A r c h i t e c t u r e . May 1981.
N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s Nomination Form.
1976.
F i l e d a t t h e V i r g i n i a Department of
Richmond. V i r g i n i a .
"Sveet B r i a r House."
H i s t o r i c Resources,
Stohlman, Martha Lou Lemmon.
The S t o r v of Sveet B r i a r C o l l e e e . Amherst.
Virginia:
The Alumnae A s s o c i a t i o n of Sveet B r i a r College. 1956.
Von
Briesen. Martha.
H
.
Richmond: W h i t t e t & Shippersen. 1971.
NPS Form 10-900-a
[*I6 No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United S t a t e s Department o f t h e I n t e r i o r
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-I0-
Page
-20-
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
UTM References (cont'd):
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundary of the nominated property is delineated by the polygon whose vertices are marked
by the following UTM reference points:
Boundary Justification
The nominated boundaries were drawn to include buildings that date to Ralph Adams Cram's
association with Sweet Briar College, or are integral features of his campus plan. The
boundaries exclude those which antedate or postdate Cram's association or are not contained in
his master plan for the campus.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Photo
Page
21
SVEET BRIAR COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
AMHERST COUNTY, V I R G I N I A
=-==~~--~~~I-~=~-==~---~---~~-
A l l Photographs a r e o f :
SVEET B R I A R COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
Amherst County, V i r g i n i a
VDHR F i l e No. 05-219
n e g a t i v e s a r e s t o r e d w i t h t h e Department of
c o l l e c t i o n a t t h e V i r g i n i a S t a t e L i b r a r y and Archives.
All
DATE:
June 1993
Benedict and F l e t c h e r
b u i l d i n g s : view looking
northwest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 1 of 17
V I E V OF:
DATE: JUNE 1993
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y and
Fletcher building: viev
looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 2 of 17
Historic
Resources
DATE: June 1993
V I E V OF:
former R e f e c t o r y ;
view
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. N O . :
13844
PHOTO 6 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: F l e t c h e r b u i l d i n g ;
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO. : 13844
PHOTO 7 of 17
view
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Benedict b u i l d i n g : view
DATE: June 1993
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO.:
VIEW OF: former Refectory ( l e f t ) .
13844
Randolph Dormitory ( r i g h t - c e n t e r ) , PHOTO 8 of 1 7
and Hernorial Chapel ( r i g h t ) ;
view looking n o r t h
DATE: June 1993
NEG. NO.:
13844
VIEW OF: Fergus Reid b u i l d i n g ;
PHOTO 3 of 17
viev looking soutvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
DATE: June 1993
PHOTO 9 of 1 7
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y ; v i e v
looking n o r t h e a s t
DATE: JUNE 1993
NEG.NO.:
13844
VIEW OF: Manson Dormitory: v i e v
PHOTO 4 of 17
looking northwest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 1 0 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y southwest
entrance: v i e v looking n o r t h e a s t DATE: June 1993
NEG. NO.:
VIEV OF: B e l l Tower and Gray
13844
PHOTO 5 of 17
Dormitory; view looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 11 of 17
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
Section
Photo
Page
2
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
AMERST COUNTY. V I R G I N I A
=-~--~---~-~--~--~---------~---------~---------~-----.--~-----~.---~-----
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: B e l l Tover and Gray
Dormitory: v i e v looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 12 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Mary Harley Student Health
Center: v i e v looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO.:
13844
PBOTO 1 3 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Deanery ( F a c u l t y
Apartments); v i e v looking
northvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 14 of 1 7
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Memorial Chapel:
looking south
13844
NEG. NO.:
PHOTO 15 of 1 7
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Dew Dormitory:
looking southvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PBOTO 1 6 of 1 7
viev
viev
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Daisy Williams Gymnasium:
v i e v looking v e s t
13844
NEG. NO.:
PHOTO 1 7 of 1 7
13- 15. Fiiculty Residences & Apast111ents
16,
lleanesy
17-22. Faculty Residences & Apal-tn~ents
SWEET BR
Idill 1 ioi~se
Memorial Chapel
Dew
Meta Glass
Prothro Commons
SWEET BR AR COLLEGE H
NPS Form 10-900
( J c t . 1990)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE8
REGISTRATION FORM
his form is for we in &ling
or -ling
C w k t c each item by marking 'x' in tk
c h i f i m t i q mtcrinla, d PM.of eipifior ccmputcr, lo o
x
q
k all ilcras.
VLR- 1/15!95
dc(crminsti-
for idivkh!d
pm6cfiica
pod
districts. Sac htnrtiam in How to ~ - L t c tk Nsti-1 kgistcr of Hktoric Placu Rc&tmtim Form (Nsti-I
Rcgistcr Bdktin 16A).
If any ilnn d a d M apply to tk pnpcny king d - d ,
c m r 'N/A" for 'na applicable.' For h i o m , archimursl
enld nurmliYC ilmm m ~ I I I I I 8P k~U )~ (NPS
~
Form IO-900P). U&a t)pCwritcr, word prcusor,
+tox or by entering tk infmnn.tim rrqucllted.
&I
Drily cstcgorLa pod subcstcgorics f m lk imttnniam. Plna sdditi-1
...............................................................................
I. Name of Property
...............................................................................
historic name
Sweet Briar College Historic District
other nameslsite number -VDHR File No. 05-219
street & number-Sweet Briar Drive, % mi. W of US 29- not for publication N/A
city or town
Amherst
vicinity x
state ~ i r g i n i a code VA
county Amherst
code 009
zip code 2 4 3 9 3
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
3. StatelFederal Agency certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
-
As t h e designated a u t h o r i t y under t h e N a t i o n a l H i s t o r i c Preservation Act o f 1986, as amended, I hereby c e r t i f y t h a t t h i s -x- nomination
request f o r determination o f e l i g i b i l i t y meets t h e docunentation standards f o r r e g i s t e r i n g p r o p e r t i e s i n t h e N a t i o n a l Register o f
H l s t o r i c Places and meets t h e procedural and p r o f e s s i o n a l requirements set f o r t h i n 36 CFR P a r t 60. I n my opinion, t h e p r o p e r t y
x- meets -does n o t meet t h e N a t i o n a l Register C r i t e r i a . I recorrmend t h a t t h i s p r o p e r t y be considered s i g n i f i c a n t - n a t i o n a l l y
-x- statewide - Locally. ( - See c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
ff icial/Title
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
I n my opinion, t h e p r o p e r t y - meets - does n o t meet the National
Register c r i t e r i a . (
See c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
-
Signature o f c m n t i n g o r o t h e r o f f i c i a l
Date
S t a t e o r Federal agency and bureau
-----------------...-------------------..............................................................................
4. National Park service Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
I, hereby c e r t i f y t h a t t h i s p r o p e r t y i s :
- entered
i n t h e National Register
See cont jnuat i o n sheet.
- dFErmined
e l i g i b l e f o r the
National Register
see c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet.
- dFErrnlned
not e l i g i b l e f o r the
National Register
- removed f r o m - t h e National Register
- other ( e x p l a i n ) :
signature or Keeper
uate
of Action
Sweet Briar Colleue Historic District
Amherst County, Vircrinia
.......................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
--5. Classification
-----
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
-x- prlvate
public-local
- public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
building(s)
-x- district
site
structure
- object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
0
buildings
- 0-0sites
-0-0structures
-0-0objects
7
2
- 0- - Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register -022
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of
a multiple property listing.)
N/A
-------
..........................................................
6. Function or use
.............................
-----------------------------------
A
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: College
Cat: EDUCATION
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: EDUCATION
Sub: College
7. Description
.....................................................................
.............................
....................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
LATE 19TH AND 2OTH CENTURY REVIVALS:
Colonial Revival
Materials (Enter catesories from instructions)
foundation -S+ONE
walls
BRICK
roof
other
SUTE
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property
on one or more continuation sheets.)
-Sweet
Briar Colleae Historic District
Amherst Countv. Virainia
-----------------------------------8. Statement of Significance
...........................
.........................
----
m l i c a b l e Yati-1
R w i s t e r C r i t e r i a (Mark "x" i n one o r . m r e
boxes for the c r i t e r i a q u a l i f y i n g the property for N a t ~ o n a l
Register l i s t i n g )
-A
-s
x L
PrqS*
of ar
Y vmYvd anlboav h,kh d
u,q.
-
.
.ipniTm movihuim lo ih b.alp,*m
C r i t e r i a C m s i d e r a t i m s (mark .Xm i n a l l t h e boxes t h a t m l y . )
-A
-s
C
PrqSmi.~wxiultbilmolpnm.i&nMi.aup,.
Ynp",
-m
ur a"-
s mP-.cw
l
l
.rnl ol.
JIlWvmOr w W
*Y
01.
PY.D.b@
*rum
-8.
U
-
I,
w.
x
,c
,d.
or mum ,"-wr,
.nut*. WLD. or v ..I@LnLUY
_
L
d ty a r r ~ ~ i imtim~"
ar
n ud in rrliun. m.
i m iu onlid imtim.
re-
biehoc
.
o~
pmx.
rmY"
.la-,-
luhs,
m)reLa m
,. r.
mRxnsrv l u k d r y & Jvlvrum
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1906-1942
Significant Dates -N/A-
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
-Cram,
Ralph Adams
-Clark, Pendleton 8.
-Gillette, Charles
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
.............................
--------------...............................................................
-------
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docunentation on f i l e (NPS)
- preliminary determination of i n d i v i d u a l l i s t i n g (36 CFR 67)
has been requested.
- previously l i s t e d i n the National Register
- previously determined e l i g i b l e by the National Register
- designated a National H i s t o r i c Landnark
- recorded by H i s t o r i c h r i c a n 8ui ldings Survey #
- recorded by H i s t o r i c h r i c a n Engineering Record Y -
Primary Location of Additional Data
Office
-x- State H i s t o r i c Preservation
- Other State agency
- Federal agency
- Local g o v e r m n t
- University
- Other
Name of repository:
-sweet Briar Colleae Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
--------- ----
----------------
lo. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
-27.2
acres-
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
-x-
Zone Easting N o r t h i n g
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
...............................................................................
name/title
Geoffrey B. Henry
organizationoreenhorn & O'Mara, Inc.
street & number-9001
Edmonston Road
city or townGreenbelt
date -Feb.
18, 1994telephone -301-982-2800
state-MD- zip code
20770
-
-
...............................................................................
Additional Documentation
...............................................................................
Submit the followtng ilems with the complcled form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the propeny's loeation.
A sketch map for hisloric districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources
Photographs
Rrprerenmtive black and while photographs of the properly.
Additional items
(Check
with the SHPO or FPO for any additional ilems)
-
- - - -
Property Cmder
...................................................................
.............................
--------------(Complete thls item at
name/title
Board
street & number-Sweet
city or townSweet
the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
of Directors
Briar College
telephone
state-VA- zip code
Briar
----------------24595-
..................................................................................
w
: W idomdm il h i m
W f a r p p l i 4 i l o IhN a ! h d k & e r of Hrlonc P l n m 10 m m V r ~
-n*.
f a li.%n&eexY@ LUL-.
RC.Y1 LbY IO(FIY I#
& V)dUm. &fit In
YilhIh Nmtiolrl Hblonc P r r r ~ An.
h u uccm+d (I6 U.S.C. 410 rt -1.
E s h l o d Evdrn Suanra: PA!k -&
hrdcs for ibi.hxm ialun&d
lo a w n y 18.1 bmm pr rapl.o k h d u Ihlior f a rw%ewiq k t & - ,
WriU s d
&cd aonrnu r
c&
LbY b.h.d a .m uga d LbY fm. lo Ih Cbtf. Mmid.uuir S c n i Oiwim. Nali-l
Put SDIYiDC. P.O. Ba 3712l. W-un,
S d g e ~Pnmpmrak kdPr~+d (ImLml81, W-un,
EC aDY)3.
PapwmL Rcdunim A* S
elidtilw f n B l l , lo Bl-rtk,
ud lo md
d rr"leIhform.
EC Z03131122 d IhO f fof M s v s p m a ud
dam, d
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Page1
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
=------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sveet Briar College Historic District consists of 27.22 acres on the
campus of Sveet Briar College. Sveet Briar College is located on a rural
3.300-acre campus one mile south of Amherst in Amherst County.
The
nominated boundaries include 22 contributing buildings--residential.
academic. and administrative--constructed betveen 1906 and 1931 from the
design of architects Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and his firm of Cram.
Goodhue h Ferguson and/or Pendleton Clark of Lynchburg, Virginia: portions
of the original campus plan designed by Cram betveen 1901 and 1942; and the
landscaping designed between 1929 and 1961 by landscape architect Charles
Gillette of Richmond.
The nominated boundaries vere drawn to exclude
buildings that predate or antedate Cram's aasociacion vith Sveet Briar
College, or that are not integral features of his campus plan.
The campus plan is strongly influenced by Beaux Arts theories of design and
is organized around several intersecting axes. Many of the buildings are
connected to each other by colonnades or stone balustrades.
The
contributing resources are three- and four-story, hip-roofed buildings in
the Georgian Revival style laid in Flemish bond vith glazed headers and
limestone or vood trim. They consist of six dormitories (1906-1925). the
former refectory (1906). the library (1929). tvo administration/classroom
buildings (1906-1925). a gymnasium (1931). a student health center (1925).
and ten faculty residences/apartments (1906-circa 1913). While most of the
buildings have gone through several interior renovations, the exteriors
have remained largely unchanged.
The five noncontributing resources
consist of the admissions office (Hill House), designed by Clark in the
1920s and later faced vith brick, the chapel (1966). tvo dormitories (19561961), and a dining hall (1981) and are not associated with Cram, although
several of them are situated as originally planned by the architect.
-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
?age&
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
=---s-----------------.-----------.--------------------------------~-~---
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The Sveet Briar College Historic District consists of 27.22 acres on the
campus of Sveet Briar College.
The historic resources at Sveet Briar
College are located on a rural 3.300-acre campus. one-half mile south of
Amherst, in Amherst County in south-central Virginia.
The surrounding
landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills vith both open and
forest land.
The principal entrance to the college campus is on the east, from U.S.
Route 29, through a pair of brick gateposts. Sweet Briar Drive, a oneand-one-half-mile paved road, leads vest from the gate and loops to the
north of the nominated resources before terminating in a parking lot on the
vest side of the campus. An unnamed secondary road runs east of most of
the
nominated
resources
and
circles
around
the
faculty
residences/apartments on the southeast.
These roads define the north.
east. and vest boundaries, vith a line folloving a change in elevation and
treeline serving as the south and southwest boundary.
The nominated boundaries include 22 contributing buildings--residential.
academic, and administrative--constructed betveen 1906 and 1931 from the
design of noted architect Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and the firm of Cram,
Goodhue & Ferguson and Pendleton Clark of Lynchburg; portions of the
original campus plan designed and revised by Cram betveen 1901 and 1942;
and the landscaping designed betveen 1929 and 1961 by landscape architect
Charles Gillette.
The campus plan, despite several changes. has remained generally true to
Cram's original scheme.
Strongly influenced by Beaux-Arts theories of
design, the plan is organized around several intersecting ares, and a
strict hierarchy of spaces (see the accompanying perspective plan).
The
principal axis, marked by a paved sidewalk. runs east-vest and terminates
in the chapel (#B on the accompanying perspective plan) on the east and a
roundabout on the vest.
Two smaller axes run north-south from the
refectory ( # 5 ) and the library ( # 7 ) . The faculty residences are grouped on
either side of a secondary axis that extends southeast from the main
academic group.
The 22 contributing buildings consist of six dormitories, the former
refectory (now an art gallery and library), the library, tvo
administration/classroom buildings. a gymnasium, a student health center.
and ten faculty residences/apartments.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page3
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
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The contributing buildings are tvo- and three-story red brick structures
built in the Georgian Revival style and are in a good state of
presenration.
They feature Flemish-bond brickvork vith glazed headers.
wood and/or limestone trim. and much classical decoration on both the
interior and exterior. Many of the buildings are connected to each other
by colonnades or stone balustrades. Vhile most of the buildings have gone
through several interior renovations, the exteriors have remained largely
unchanged. Four dormitories vere built as the northern half of a quadrangle
on the far eastern side of the campus. Moving east to vest these buildings
are :
Randolph dormitory (built in 1908--11 on the accompanying perspective plan)
is a three-story-and-basement, nine-bay-long, three-bay-deep brick building
vith a slate hipped roof and tvo chimneys vith corbelled caps. There are
slightly projecting gable-roofed bays at the north and south ends and at
each corner. There is a vide classical vooden cornice, as vell as stone
and brick belt courses marking each story.
The principal entrance is on
the vest, entered under a brick colonnade: it consists of a central door
vith sidelights.
There are additional entrances on the east and north
elevations. All vindovs are topped by brick jack arches and have stone
trim and ledges. Vindovs on the second story are set vithin brick blind
arches. some of them stuccoed, and have either double-hung sash or are tripartite. The interior features tvo sitting rooms, a central stair hall. and
bedrooms on the first floor, vith bedrooms on the second and third floors.
The south sitting room has a fireplace vith Georgian Revival-style mantel.
Manson dormitory (built in 1910--#2 on the plan) is connected to Randolph
by a tvo-story colonnade. It is a three-story-and-basement, nine-bay-long.
three-bay-deep brick building vith a slate hipped roof and tvo chimneys
vith corbelled caps. There are slightly projecting gable-roofed bays at
the east and vest ends and at each corner. There is a vide classical
cornice, as vell as stone and brick belt courses marking each story. The
principal entrance is on the south, entered under a brick colonnade, and
consists of a central door vith sidelights. There are additional entrances
on the east and vest ends. A11 vindovs are topped by brick jack arches and
have stone trim and ledges. Vindovs on the second story are set vithin
brick blind arches, some of them stuccoed, and either have double-hung sash
or are tripartite.
The interior features tvo sitting rooms, a central
stair hall, and bedrooms on the first floor, vith bedrooms on the second
and third floors. There is a mail room and post office in the basement.
Carson dormitory (built in 1906--#3 on the plan) is a six-bay long. threebay deep.
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CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
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Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
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three-story, brick building with a slate-covered hipped roof, paired end
chimneys, and entrances on all four elevations.
There are slightly
projecting gable-roofed bays at the east and vest ends and at each corner.
There is a vide classical vooden cornice and stone belt course, as vell as
stone keystones above some of the vindovs. Windovs on the first story have
either double-hung sash or are tripartite and are set vithin stuccoed blind
arches. A pedimented portico on the north is a 1991 addition.
Gray dormitory (built in 1906--14 on the plan) is connected to Carson
dormitory by a colonnade. The dormitory is a six-bay long, three-bay deep,
three-story, brick building vith a slate-covered hipped roof. paired end
chimneys, and entrances on four elevations. There are slightly projecting
gable-roofed bays at the north and south ends and at each corner. There is
a vide classical vooden cornice and stone belt course, as vell as stone
keystones above the vindovs on the first and second stories. Windovs on
the first story either have double-hung sash or are tripartite and are set
vithin stuccoed blind arches. Windovs on the first and third stories lack
the arches. A brick arcade topped by a stone balustrade connects Gray
dormitory vith the bell tover popularly knovn as the Cupola, an open brickand-stone pavilion vith a copper domed roof.
Equidistant betveen Randolph and Gray dormitories and connected to them by
arched colonnades, is the former Refectory (built in 1906--15 on the plan).
nov the Anne Gary Pannell Center, containing classrooms, an art gallery.
and offices.
The refectory is a tall, three-story, gable-roofed brick
building oriented north-south. It features a three-bay pedimented facade
vith brick pilasters topped by stone Ionic capitals marking each bay. The
first story is clad vith cut stone laid in regular courses. The central
entrance has a metal double door and is topped by a flat'architrave.
Vindovs on the second story have 20/20 double-hung sash set vithin stuccoed
blind arches topped by a stone keystone. The vindovs on the third story
are round and have stone trim. Short false fronts project on either side
of the main section, and have brick aedicules, presumably designed to hold
sculptures. Atop the building is a tall vooden tover vith classical trim.
arched louvered vindovs, and a domed top.
The interior of this building
vas remodeled in 1986 for use as an art gallery and library.
To the vest of Gray dormitory is Benedict Hall (built 1906--#6 on the
plan). a handsome Georgian Revival-style three-story, nine-bay, brick
structure vith a shallov-pitched roof and a stone balustrade along the roof
line. A brick colonnade distinguishes the south elevation of the first
story, vith tvo entrances set vithin the colonnade. The second and third
stories are designed as a piano nobile vith the seven central bays recessed
behind a porch of stone Ionic columns. The columns are echoed to the rear
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
---------------------------.-----of the porch by stone pilasters. One-bay-vide projections vith a central
arched vindov topped by a round vindov vith Gibbes surround are at the east
and vest ends of this building. The interior has been completely remodeled
and now contains an auditorium, classrooms, and offices. To the south of
Benedict Hall is a courtyard vith balustrade and stone steps leading to a
terrace.
The Mary Eelen Cochran Library (built in 1929--C7 on the plan) is to the
vest of Benedict Hall and is set back behind a small grassed courtyard.
This three-story, seven-bay, hip-roofed, brick building has flanking tvobay, tvo-story vings. The most ornate of the academic buildings designed
by Cram, the library features Corinthian pilasters alternating vith arched
vindovs on the south facade. a roof-top balustrade, and elaborate stone
Georgian Revival-style decoration over the two entrances. These entrances
are flanked by engaged stone pilasters and are topped by a broken
segmental-arched head, in the center of vhich is a stone cartouche with
swags and garlands. A tvo-story brick wing vas added to the rear of the
library in 1967. The interior is also quite elaborately decorated. The
main reading hall has a plaster ceiling vith garland and svag decorations.
a two-story gallery on the south end, and paneled reading rooms on the
first and second floors.
The reading rooms feature fireplaces vith
Georgian-style mantels and floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
To the vest of the library is Fletcher Hall (built 1925--C8 on the plan), a
three-story brick building, different in only minor details from Benedict
Ball. The three-story, nine-bay, brick building features an arched and
colonnaded first story with a two-story loggia above and a balustraded
roofline.
Some vood trim vas used around vindovs, a departure from
Benedict Hall. The interior still features a central entrance hall with
handsome Georgian Revival panelling. Administrative offices and classrooms
are also located in this building.
There is no enclosed courtyard or
terrace on the south as there is vith Benedict.
At the southern terminus of the axis leading from the refectory is Pergus
Reid dormitory (built 1925--#9 on the plan), a three-story. fourteen-bay,
brick building vith a pedimented entrance portico on the north. This
entrance portico features an arched entrance vith flanking arched windows.
The vindows on the first story are set vithin blind arches and are topped
by stone keystones. There are paired chimneys at the east and vest ends of
the building. as well as modified Palladian windows. The interior is the
most architecturally sophisticated of all the dormitories and features a
large entrance hall vith full-height Georgian Revival paneling and tvo
sitting rooms, the vest one vith a fireplace vith a Georgian-style mantel.
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
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Flanking Fergus Reid dormitory and connected to it by arched colonnades are
Grammar (built 1906--110 on the plan) and Dev (built 1956--#C on the plan)
dormitories. Grammar is a three-story, hip-roofed. Georgian-style, brick
building vith an entrance on the vest elevation. The dormitory has a vide
classical cornice, stone-and-brick belt courses marking each bay, and
paired end chimneys. Slightly projecting gable-roofed bays are at the
north and south ends, at the corners, and at the entrance. Dew dormitory is
a noncontributing resource and is described elsevhere in this nomination.
The Daisy Williams Gymnasium (built in 1931--411 on the plan) stands at the
far vest end of the academic group and is a large, gable-roofed. brick
building vith an entrance on the north and simplified classical limestone
detailing around the central entrance and vindovs.
A brick natatorium
with an exterior marked by blind arches and shallov aedicules is on the
vest.
The interior of the gymnasium has offices, a basketball court vith
A bronze roundel vith a bust of Daisy
stands. and changing rooms.
Williams. in vhose memory Sveet Briar College vas founded in 1901. is set
above the central stair hall.
Immediately to the southeast of the academic group is the Mary Harley
Student Health Center (1925--112 on the plan) a tvo-and-one-half-story,
five-bay, hip-roofed, brick building vith a pedimented entrance portico on
the north facade and paired chimneys on the east and vest ends. There are
secondary entrances on the east and south elevations. The central entrance
is set vithin an arch vith an Adam-style fanlight and is flanked by vindovs
set vithin stuccoed blind arches.
Ten faculty residences/apartnents--#13-15. 17-22, including the house known
as the Deanery (#16), vere built betveen 1906 and 1913, and are located in
a double rov to the southeast of the student health center. The houses on
the east of the main road are large and imposing tvo-and-one-half-story,
hip-roofed. Georgian Revival-style. brick, double residences vith dormer
vindovs, stone and vood trim, and one-story porches vith elaborate
classical detailing. The houses on the vest side are considerably simpler
in style and appearance. They are two-story, hip-roofed, stuccoed frame
buildings in the American Four-Square mode, vith a central dormer vindov on
the front facade, and front and back porches.,
Most of the elaborate planting and landscape features envisioned by Cram
for the campus vere never realized. Instead, the campus is marked by
naturalistic plantings of native trees and shrubs and vide expanses of
grass. Beginning in the late 1920s. landscape architect Charles Gillette
prepared a number of plans for roadvays, a monumental entrance, and
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Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
--*----------------------------------------------------------------------
Section
P a g e 7
p l a n t i n g ~ . Most of t h e s e plans s u r v i v e and i n d i c a t e t h e gradual move avay
from a formal e n t r a n c e and approach t o t h e campus t o v a r d t h e p r e s e n t one i n
vhich t h e academic b u i l d i n g s a r e a c c e s s e d from t h e r e a r o r n o r t h .
The f i v e n o n c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g s a r e l o c a t e d a t d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s
throughout t h e campus.
None vere d e s i g n e d by Cram, b u t s e v e r a l of them
s t a n d a t t h e l o c a t i o n s o r i g i n a l l y d e s i g n a t e d by t h e a r c h i t e c t .
The
b u i l d i n g s i n c l u d e B i l l House ( b u i l t i n t h e 1920s--#A on t h e p l a n ) , a tvos t o r y b r i c k b u i l d i n g v i t h an e n t r a n c e on t h e s o u t h s e w i n g a s t h e
admissions and f i n a n c i a l a i d o f f i c e .
The house has been e x t e n s i v e l y
remodeled on t h e i n t e r i o r and r e f a c e d v i t h b r i c k on t h e e x t e r i o r . Memorial
Chapel ( b u i l t i n 1966--10 on t h e p l a n ) t e r m i n a t e s t h e e a s t e r n end of t h e
main a x i s .
The c h a p e l i s b u i l t i n t h e Georgian s t y l e v i t h a pedimented
p o r t i c o . c l a s s i c a l e n t r a n c e , and t a l l c e n t r a l t o v e r and s t e e p l e . Dew ( b u i l t
i n 1956--#C on t h e p l a n ) and kleta G l a s s ( b u i l t i n 1962--11) on t h e p l a n )
dormitories a r e three-story,
brick.
Georgian-style
dormitories t h a t
completed t h e s o u t h e r n h a l f of t h e q u a d r a n g l e . To t h e v e s t of Glass
dormitory i s P r o t h r o Commons ( b u i l t i n 1981--#El a b r i c k and g l a s s modified
Georgian- s t y l e d i n i n g h a l l .
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A
P a g e 8
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County, V i r g i n i a
--------------------------------STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The p o r t i o n of t h e Sweet B r i a r College campus nominated t o the National
R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s i s s i g n i f i c a n t on t h e s t a t e l e v e l as t h e vork
of a r c h i t e c t Ralph Adams Cram of Boston and h i s f i r m of Cram. Goodhue &
Ferguson. Cram (1863-1942). one of t h e foremost American a r c h i t e c t s of t h e
20th c e n t u r y , e x e c u t e d s e v e r a l p r e s t i g i o u s commissions f o r e c c l e s i a s t i c a l
and academic b u i l d i n g s d u r i n g h i s c a r e e r , i n c l u d i n g t h e designs f o r t h e
Cathedral of S t . John t h e Divine i n Nev York C i t y , t h e chapels a t Vest
Point Academy and P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y , and campus p l a n s f o r Princeton and
Rice I n s t i t u t e .
The b u i l d i n g s executed t o Cram's d e s i g n s a t Sveet B r i a r
College. vhere he s e r v e d a s a r c h i t e c t betveen 1901 and 1942. a r e among t h e
fev examples of h i s vork i n V i r g i n i a , and t h e only c l a s s i c a l ensemble by
him i n t h e s t a t e .
They a l s o comprise h i s f i r m ' s f i r s t l a r g e - s c a l e
commission f o r a c o l l e g e .
Although p r i m a r i l y knovn a s a n exponent of t h e
Gothic Revival s t y l e . Cram produced a complex o f Georgian Revival b u i l d i n g s
f o r Sveet B r i a r t h a t h a s s e t t h e s t a n d a r d f o r c o l l e g i a t e a r c h i t e c t u r e i n
V i r g i n i a f o r t h e r e s t of t h e c e n t u r y .
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3 Page9
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
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HISTORY
Sveet Briar College, one of the first four-year liberal arts colleges for
vomen in the South, vas founded in 1901 through the bequest of Mrs. Indiana
Fletcher Williams as a memorial to her only child, Daisy. The school is
situated in Amherst County on the 3,300-acre Fletcher plantation knovn as
Sveet Briar. from vhich the college takes its name.
The original
plantation house, k n o w as Sveet Briar House, vas built in the early 19th
century and vas remodeled in 'the Italianate style betveen 1851 and 1852.
Nov the residence of the president of Sweet Briar College. the house is
listed individually on the National Register of Historic placesL and is
outside the boundaries of the College Historic District.
In early 1901 the first Board of Trustees for the college (then knovn as
Sveet Briar Institute) contracted vith architect Ralph Adams Cram of Boston
to prepare an architectural plan for the nev school, anticipated to house
Most of the original
and educate approximately 400 female students.
trustees vere Episcopalian clergymen and vere familiar vith Cram through
his extensive vritings on ecclesiastical architecture. In particular Dr.
John McBryde. first president of the Sweet Briar Institute Board of
Trustees and chairman of its Executive Committee, had been impressed vith
an article by Cram in an issue of a e Nev church ma^.^
At McBryde's request. Cram journeyed to Amherst County in early 1901 to
assess the site. During their first meeting, McBryde indicated a strong
preference for the Georgian style of architecture for the nev school, a
decision vith vhich Cram concurred; in the architect's vords, "history.
tradition, and architectural style predetermined the course to follov. " 3
There followed a discussion as to vhether yellov or red bricks should be
used for the construction of the campus buildings. McBryde questioned the
use of red brick, as he had no vish to see "red splotches on the
landscape.4 Samples of clay from the Sveet Briar property vere brought to
Blacksburg to be fired into bricks. The resulting color, a muted pink-red.
supposedly was pleasing to HcBryde and as a result "the Board ordered
estimates and plans from Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson of Boston for two
dormitories, an academic building, and a refectory. "5
Cram's dravings for the proposed Sweet Briar Institute campus vere
completed in 1902 and displayed in Lynchburg, the nearest large t o m , in
the vindovs of the Lynchburg Traction and Light Company vhere, according to
a contemporary newspaper account, "they can be seen by all persons vho may
be interested in the best of architecture and in modern ideas for
educational institutions.
These pictures are exceedingly handsome and
attractive in appearance. That they will be greatly admired by the public
United S t a t e s Department o f t 2 e I n t e r i o r
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C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
8
S v e e t B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
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Page10
i s a foregone c o n c l ~ s i o n . ' ~;he d r a v i n g s v e r e a l s o p u b l i s h e d i n t h e August
23 and 30, 1 9 0 2 , i s s u e s of American A r c h i t e c t and Building Nevs. i n d i c a t i n g
t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e a t t a c h e d t o h i s d e s i g n s by h i s p e e r s .
The p l a n prepared by Cram f o r t h e new c o l l e g e was s t r i k i n g i n i t s
s o p h i s t i c a t i o n and o r i g i n a l i t y .
The o r i g i n a l scheme vas f o r a grand
c l a s s i c a l arrangement of 1 7 Georgian R e v i v a l b r i c k b u i l d i n g s around a g r e a t
quadrangle v i t h p a r t e r r e s and f o r m a l p l a n t i n g s , f o u n t a i n s , and pools.
'dhile i t was n o t s t r i c t l y symmetrical, t h e p l a n was formal and a x i a l . The
p r i n c i p a l a x i s ran e a s t - v e s t and t e r m i n a t e d on t h e e a s t end v i t h a c h a p e l .
Tvo s m a l l e r axes ran north-south.
The e a s t e r n s i d e of t h e campus vas
designed t o be l a r g e l y r e s i d e n t i a l : t h e v e s t e r n s i d e vas dominated by t h e
academic b u i l d i n g s , i n c l u d i n g a r e f e c t o r y . l i b r a r y , f i n e a r t s c e n t e r , and a
"commencement h a l l . "
D o n i t o r i e s v e r e organized i n a quadrangle
arrangement;
each
dormitory
group
vas
bilaterally
symmetrical.
Commencement H a l l , designed v i t h a n impressive dome and connected t o
f l a n k i n g b u i l d i n g s by colonnades, s e r v e d aa t h e c e n t r a l focus of t h e
a r c h i t e c t u r a l complex. A secondary a x i s r a n s o u t h from t h e h a l l t o a semic i r c u l a r c o u r t . around vhich v e r e a s c i e n c e b u i l d i n g , l i b r a r y , gymnasium,
and i n d u s t r i a l b u i l d i n g .
The c e n t r a l f o c u s of Cram's landscape p l a n was t h e o v a l pond and roundabout
a t t h e south end of t h e composition.
Arcades and colonnades d e f i n e d and
e n c l o s e d t h e composition and p r o v i d e d a t r a n s i t i o n between t h e b u i l d i n g s
and t h e b a l u s t r a d e d t e r r a c e s .
The p r i n c i p a l e n t r a n c e t o t h e campus was
from t h e s o u t h , by vay of a road t h a t c i r c l e d around t h e campus from t h e
n o r t h and v e s t .
Cram's o r i g i n a l p l a n sav many a l t e r a t i o n s and he vas f o r c e d t o r e d e s i g n t h e
campus Layout s e v e r a l times d u r i n g h i s t e n u r e a s a r c h i t e c t f o r t h e c o l l e g e .
This vas l a r g e l y due t o l a c k of f u n d s , a s v e l l a s a g e n e r a l p r e f e r e n c e on
t h e p a r t of Sweet B r i a r o f f i c i a l s and t h e p r e s i d e n t f o r a s i m p l e r , less
formal l a y o u t . Thus, although many o f t h e b u i l d i n g s a s o r i g i n a l l y planned
v e r e executed, t h e formal approach and l a n d s c a p i n g v e r e l a r g e l y abandoned.
The s t y l e chosen by Cram f o r t h e b u i l d i n g s a t Sweet B r i a r v a s Georgisn, n o t
a s t y l e f o r v h i c h he was p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l knovn during h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l
c a r e e r , but t h e only one he f e l t v a s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r a school i n r u r a l
Virginia.
Cram d e s c r i b e d V i r g i n i a ' s Georgian s t y l e a s "ample, courteous
and g e n e r a l l y a r i s t o c r a t i c . '
and t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e antebellum
Southeast a s " t h e s t y l e t h a t may r e a l l y be c a l l e d almost indigenous t o
America."'
On t h e o t h e r hand, he shunned meticulous copying of e a r l i e r
American c o l o n i a l p r o t o t y p e s and regarded b u i l d i n g s t h a t attempted
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
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archeological accuracy as "stupid." Instead. Cram designed the buildings
at Sveet Briar to be individualistic. yet united by a sure sense of
proportion. classical detail, and quality of execution.
H. Stafford Bryant, in his article "Classical Ensemble." suggested several
English prototypes as inspiration for some of the buildings designed by
Cram for Sveet Briar College.
The small domed brick pavilion that
terminates the colonnade leading from Gray dormitory, the so-called
"cupola.' has been compared to Lord Pembroke's bridge at Yilton built to
the design of Robert Morris. Fletcher and Academic (nov Benedict) Halls
shov similarities vith the Queen's House at Greenvich and the Banqueting
House in London, both designed by Inigo Jones. Both the refectory, built
in 1906, and the library. built in 1928. feature a giant order of pilasters
alternating vith arched vindovs, similar to the Senate House at Cambridge.
dating from 1 7 2 2 . ~
The inspiration for Cram's campus plan and layout for Sveet Briar College
is more difficult to trace and is based on both the history of college
architecture in the United States and then-popular Beaux Arts theories of
design. Cram, vho made many detailed studies of American campus designs
throughout his career, vas influenced by Nev England prototypes as vell as
several southern colleges, particularly South Carolina College at Columbia,
and Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia.
The campuses of most New England schools are arranged around either a
quadrangle, as at Hanrard University, or along a rov, as at Yale
University.
Some colleges, such as Dartmouth College (originally
constructed along a rov) combined features of both plans. The plan of such
southern colleges as Washington College (later Washington h Lee University)
and South Carolina College also combined features of the rov plan and
quadrangle popular at several Nev England colleges.
At the University of Virginia a strongly architectural focal point vas
established at the Rotunda, from vhich the academic and residential
buildings developed on either side of a long allee. Not only vas the
comprehensive and cohesive arrangement of spaces at University of Virginia
revolutionary for its time, but the symbolic and didactic qualities of the
Roman classical architecture chosen by Jefferson made it a uniquely
personal architectural masterpiece.
Partly due to Stanford White's reconstruction of the Rotunda and subsequent
additions to the college grounds. the University of Virginia was "rediscovered"by architects at the turn of the century. Many followers of
the Beaux Arts school of design admired Jefferson's vision of a unified
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
9
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
=1-~~~1-1~~--~~-==--==-------------~~---~~--------------~-----=--=--~-~--
vhole created out of a vide variety of classical parts. as vell as the
inspired use of a central unifying focus. To Jefferson's single-axis plan.
they often added a series of cross axes and secondary spaces to create a
hierarchy of spaces and reinforce the primacy of the central focus. Some
early examples of collegiate architecture that follow these principles
include the American University in Washington. D.C.. by Henry Ives Cobb
(1899), and the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (1900) by Henry
~ornbostel.~Another variation, developed at New York University, rotated
the axis of the space so that it vas perpendicular to the axis of the
principal building.
This plan vas generally folloved by Cram at Sweet
Briar. vith Commencement Hall placed near (but not directly at the center)
of the long axis.
Cram admired the plan of Jefferson's University of Virginia and
incorporated the colonnades of that school into the design of Sveet Briar.
Hovever, he generally deplored the architecture at the University of
Virginia. describing the buildings as having 'unnecessarily unreasonable
classical porticoes vith columns, entablatures, and pediments complete--and
all built of pine boards framed up in the semblance of a nevly discovered
paganism."1°
To him, the ideal was what he considered the more refined
classical architecture of Columbia University or Stanford White's Nev York
University:
Cram described Columbia as "the noblest type of the pure
classical idea."ll Cram also undoubtedly studied the campus plans of such
colleges as Stanford University in California and Trinity College in
Washington, D.C.. vhich vere both largely executed from the design of a
single architect.
Cram's original intentions for Sweet Briar College were followed in many
respects but modified in others.
The individual building designs were
generally folloved, although building materials were sometimes altered; for
example, wood vas substituted for limestone trim in some of the later
buildings. Considerations of cost necessitated the scaling back of the
original extensive campus plans, and several buildings were never erected.
including Cram's pivotal Commencement Hall. Other buildings, including the
chapel, vhich vas built in 1966 long after Cram's death, were built on the
sites planned by the architect and closely folloved the architect's
original designs.
The most significant changes occurred in Cram's
landscape plan, vhich from the beginning was considered overly formal and
ill-suited to a rural setting; one early account acknowledged that there
vas a "diversity of opinion about having a quadrangle out in the
country."12
The design for clipped hedges and tall cedars, elaborate
pools, and flower gardens was abandoned in favor of a more naturalistic
English style of landscaping.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section .
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County. Virginia
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The Richmond landscape architect Charles Gillette, who was employed by
Sveet Briar beginning in 1929, may have been responsible for this
naturalistic appearance.
The influence of the Beaux Arts school was
evident in the way in which Cram subdued natural changes in terrain under
rigid terraces and flights of stairs. Instead, these hills and slopes vere
simply alloved to grov over in grass and descend gently from the southern
end of the campus. Most importantly. Cram's grand entrance from the south
was never attempted (visitors today approach the college from the north and
their first vievs are the backs of the buildings); instead a more leisurely
and less formal approach is made from the vest, and the campus buildings
nov look out upon cultivated fields and lavns. It is unlikely that this
approach will be abandoned in favor of a new approach from the south.
With Cram's architectural dravings accepted by the college authorities in
1902, initial cost estimates and contracts vere prepared. According to a
history of Sveet Briar College, vhen Cram's first estimates for the college
buildings arrived, they seemed inordinately high to the college
authorities. Dr. McBryde knew a contractor in Blacksburg. Virginia, to
whom he submitted the plans and got an estimate that vas approximately half
. (the
that of Cram's. When Cram came for a visit "he was astounded at
lov price of the vork) as compared vith the cost of similar vork in the
North." l3 Despite the contractor's reasonable prices, he vas soon replaced
(for no knovn reason) by J. P. Pettyjohn, of Lynchburg. One of Lynchburg's
most prominent builders and contractors, Pettyjohn may have been
responsible for suggesting the appointment of Pendleton S. Clark, also of
Lynchburg, as associate architect for Sveet Briar College.
Clark.
sometimes vith his associate Walter Crove. served in this capacity
throughout Cram's association vith the college.
After Cram's death in
1942, Clark's firm of Clark. Nexson & Owen continued as principal architect
for Sweet Briar until the recent present.
. .
From the original scheme. four college buildings--the Refectory. Academic
(now Benedict Hall), and Gray and Carson dormitories--plus four faculty
houses. service buildings, and several temporary roads vere completed by
1906 vith the funds immediately available. Brick for the buildings vas
manufactured on the Sveet Briar property from local clay. Dr. Mary K.
Benedict, first president of Sveet Briar College, described her initial
impressions of the college on her arrival in 1906:
Hy first trip through the huildings made it clear that there was
much to be done on the material side before September. I remember
especially my first sight of the inside of academic building.
There was nothing in it except piles of plaster on the unstained
floor. not even a blackboardl .
. Most of the buildings were
.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF H I S T O R I C PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page14
Sweet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
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=-------------.-------------------~--~~-~~--~~~-----------~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~
s u f f i c i e n t l y ready by t h e opening of c o l l e g e i n September (1906) t o
make us c o m f o r t a b l e , but i t vas n e c e s s a r y t o c o n t i n u e vork on t h e
m a t e r i a l s i d e during t h e f i r s t y e a r t o g e t t h e n e c e s s i t i e s of
l i v i n g t o run smoothly.14
The n o r t h e a s t e r n c o r n e r of t h e dormitory quadrangle vas f i l l e d o u t by 1910
v i t h t h e completion of Randolph and Manson d o r m i t o r i e s .
I n 1912. Grammar
dormitory began t h e s o u t h e a s t e r n r e s i d e n t i a l group vhich was n o t completed
u n t i l 1962. vhen Meta Glass dormitory vas f i n i s h e d .
F l e t c h e r H a l l ( a c l o s e twin of Benedict H a l l ) , vhich b a l a n c e s one s i d e of
t h e n o r t h - s o u t h a x i s l e a d i n g from t h e proposed l i b r a r y , was completed i n
1925, beginning a second p e r i o d of growth a t Sveet B r i a r . I t vas b u i l t on
t h e s i t e d e s i g n a t e d on t h e 1902 p l a n a s t h e Fine A r t s Building.
Both
Benedict and F l e t c h e r h a l l s may have been based on t h e d e s i g n of I n i g o
J o n e s ' s Queen's House: t h i s p r o t o t y p e vas a l s o used by Cram i n h i s d e s i g n
of t h e l i b r a r y a t Vheaton C o l l e g e i n Massachusetts.
A rather drastic
a l t e r a t i o n t o Cram's o r i g i n a l campus p l a n o c c u r r e d v i t h t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of
Pergus Reid dormitory, v h i c h he d e s i g n e d i n 1928.
Located i n t h e
s o u t h e a s t e r n dormitory group, i t e n c l o s e d t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e of t h e
composition.
This r e s u l t e d i n t h e dormitory s t a n d i n g i n t h e l i n e of v h a t
was t o have been a v i s t a from t h e R e f e c t o r y . Vith t h e v i s t a c l o s e d , t h e
e a s t e r n end o f t h e campus began t o resemble a c o u r t y a r d and i s c a l l e d " t h e
Quadrang1e"today.
The dormitory a l s o d i f f e r s i n appearance from t h e
e a r l i e r ones i n i t s s i m p l e r e x t e r i o r d e t a i l i n g and i t s c l e a n e r massing.
The i n t e r i o r , v i t h i t s High Georgian e n t r y h a l l . i s a l s o d i f f e r e n t from t h e
more r e s t r a i n e d and i n s t i t u t i o n a l Georgian s t y l e of Gray and Carson
dormitories.
Three more development p l a n s f o r Sweet B r i a r College v e r e d r a m d u r i n g
Cram's t e n u r e a s a r c h i t e c t ( a f t e r 1913 t h e f i r m vas known a s Cram &
Perguson, Bertram Goodhue having l e f t t h e firm i n t h a t y e a r ) , each one
shoving a tendency tovards g r e a t e r s i m p l i c i t y .
While t h e y became l e s s
formal, t h e scheme f o r a g r e a t quadrangle c o n t a i n i n g s m a l l e r c o u r t y a r d s
remained, and i s a c e n t r a l f e a t u r e of t h e p r e s e n t campus. The d e s i g n s f o r
t h e b u i l d i n g s continued t o be designed i n t h e English c l a s s i c a l v e i n - - " a
v e i n t h a t became p u r e r and p u r e r
a s t h e t e e n s gave vay t o t h e
By t h a t time, t h e r e f e r e n c e s i n Cram's vork t o I n i g o Jones and
1920s. "5
Andrea P a l l a d i o became more e x p l i c i t .
. . .
The l a s t major b u i l d i n g program c a r r i e d o u t under Cram's l e a d e r s h i p began
v i t h t h e appointment of Meta Glass a s c o l l e g e p r e s i d e n t i n 1925.
She
suggested t h a t Cram's b u i l d i n g p l a n s i n c l u d e a l i b r a r y , a n a u d i t o r i u m , and
a gymnasium, a s v e l l a s t h e c h a p e l t h a t had been planned f o r t h e e a s t e r n
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
9
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Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
=----------------------------------------------------*--------------.-*--
end of the campus but remained as yet unbuilt. In Cram's campus plan of
1928, the auditorium vas placed on the site formerly reserved for a chapel,
the chapel vas placed at the vestern end of the campus, and a nev entrance
vas proposed betveen Randolph dormitory and the auditorium. Most of this
plan was never carried to fruition. vith the exception of the library. The
library vas built on the site of the never-executed Commencement Hall. at
one time the focus of Cram's original campus plan. The Fine Arts and
Science buildings vere shifted slightly from their original arrangement.
but continued to anchor the vestern half of the campus.
The Mary Helen Cochran Library, completed in 1929, vas the most ornate of
Cram's buildings at Sveet Briar. and bears many similarities vith his
design of 1922 for Chapin Hall at Williams College in Massachusetts.
Originally designed as a close copy of the refectory building, this plan
vss abandoned on the request of President ~lhss. According to one account,
both Cram and Hiss Glass sat on high stools in his Boston office vhile he
sketched a nev design for the library.16
The Mary Harley Student Health Center and the Daisy Williams Gymnasium vere
designed by Pendleton Clark vith assistance from and approval by Cram and
Ferguson. Both are Georgian-style buildings vith limestone and vood trim
and are similar, if simpler. versions of the earlier Cram buildings at
Sveet Briar. Clark continued his association vith Sveet Briar after Cram's
death in 1942, although Cram's successor firm has also supplied designs for
more recent construction at the school.
The sophistication and exquisite craftsmanship of Cram's buildings at Sveet
Briar College undoubtedly exercised a decisive influence on local and
Virginia architects.
Cram ia knovn to have submitted a design for an
academic building at nearby Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg.
many of vhose campus buildings vere designed by Lynchburg architect
Stanhope Johnson. Johnson, vhose scholastic vork also included commissions
at Chatham Hall Girls School in Chatham. Virginia, as vell as Lynchburg
College in Lynchburg. designed in a restrained and competent version of the
Georgian style, that varies only slightly from Cram's vork. The Georgian
Revival became the style of choice for campuses throughout Virginia in the
1920s and 1930s including Mary Vashington College, Washington & Lee
University, Woodberry Forest School. Virginia Episcopal School. Ferrum
College, and Episcopal High School.
Cram's designs for Sveet Briar College vere depicted in a number of
contemporary architectural magazines and journals in addition to the aforementioned 1902 issues of Architect and Building Nevs. These included the
January 1911 issue of Architectural Record; the July 1906. July 1907. and
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page 16
Sveet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
-------------*-----------------------------------------------------------
November 1919 issues of Brick Builder; and an article Cram vrote for the
f
in May 1912 entitled "Recent
University Architecture in the United States."
Critical evaluations of the architecture and plan of Sveet Briar College
have been uniformly favorable from the beginning.
President Benedict
observed that Cram's dravings vere "a visualization of our plans for the
future. and Mr. Cram's vision vas one of the things that inspired us. The
fact that we had a plan for a harmonious group of buildings from the
beginning saved much discussion that the erection of a nev building often
occasions in a college, and kept the unity of architecture vhich is always
to be desired. "17
According to one critic, the success of Sveet Briar's design was obvious
and yet subtle: "This campus vorks because of the continuity provided by
its recurring classicism, its careful placement of structures. and the
physical relationship emphasized by the texture of balustrade covered
arcades. "18
Another vrote that Sweet Briar "vas one of the most successful exercises in
that [Georgian] style--in perfect scale, much of it highly learned and
'authentic' in its attention to archeological sources, amenable, and
attractive. "I9
The design of Sveet Briar has even been contrasted favorably with the
University of Virginia:
"The element of unification furnished by
Jefferson's colonnades and arcades and much of vhat is best in Jefferson's
designs is taken up in the plans for Sveet Briar College .
, a truly
American campus .
the vhole constituting vhat ma appear a design more
pleasing, lighter, and freer than Jefferson's vork. - 2 9
..
..
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page 17
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County, V i r g i n i a
---------1-----1--------------------------------.------------------------
1. N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s Nomination Form f o r Sveet B r i a r
House (1976) i n f i l e s of V i r g i n i a Department of H i s t o r i c Resources.
2. Martha Lou Lemmon Stohlman. _The S t o r v of Sveet B r i a r C o l l e e e . (Anherst.
Va: The Alumnae A s s o c i a t i o n of Sweet B r i a r C o l l e g e ) . 1956. Page 53.
3 . Ralph Adams Cram.
Co.). 1932.
Mv L i f e i n A r c h i t e c t u r e (Boston: L i t t l e . Brovn &
4 . Stohlman. pages 53-54.
5. i b i d , page 53.
6. S .
Allen Chambers.
Jr.
b n c h b u r n : An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y
( C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , Va.: U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a P r e s s ) , 1981. Page 370.
7. Ralph Adams Cram.
C o . ) , 1936. Page 131.
8 . H.
l4v L i f e
i n Architecture.
(Boston: L i t t l e .
S t a f f o r d Bryant. Jr.. " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble," A r t s i n V i r g i n i a .
Pages 24-25.
Brovn 6
(Volume
1 1 1 , Winter 1971.
9. Thomas A.
C i t y ) , 1991.
Gaines.
m e Camous a s a Work of Art.
Page 191.
( P r a e g e r : Nev York
1 0 . Ralph Adams Cram.
'8ave I a Philosophy of Design?" P e n c i l P o i n t % ,
(Volume 13. No. 1 1 , November 1932. Page 730.
11. Ralph Adams Cram.
"Recent U n i v e r s i t y A r c h i t e c t u r e i n the United
States."
Journal of t h e Royal I n s t i t u t e of B r i t i s h A r c h i t e c t s . (Volume
XIX) 25 May 1912. Page 510.
1 2 . Mary K. Benedict.
"Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916" Sveet B r i a r College Alumnae
Nevs (December 1 9 3 7 ) . Page 5 .
-
13. Stohlman.
Sveet B r i a r C o l l e g e , page 55.
1 4 . Benedict. Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916..
page 5
15. Bryant, " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble", page 22.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e i n t e r i o r
National Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
a
Page 19
Sweet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
==C==9=~.=~=PS=PP===IE--=====-=~*=--==*~=P====~-==~~=~==~==~===-==-=~.-===
1 6 . "Ralph Adams Cram" ( o b i t u a r y n o t i c e ) Sveet B r i a r Alumnae Nevs.
17. Benedict. "Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916". page 5 .
1 8 . Gaines.
Camuus a s Work o f A r t , page 191.
19. Bryant. " C l a s s i c a l Ensemble', page 1 8 .
2 0 . Werner
Hegemann and E l b e r t
A r c h i t e c t ' s Handbook o f Civic Act
110-111.
Peets,
The American V i t r u v i u s :
An
(Nev York: L i t t l e Page). 1 9 2 2 .
Pages
United S t a t e s Department o f t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL EGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
9
Page19
Sveet B r i a r College H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t
Amherst County. V i r g i n i a
=--I-~-----*--------~~~~~~~.----~------~s-~---~-----------------~.----~--
Benedict, Mary K.
"Sveet B r i a r 1906-1916."
December 1 9 3 7 .
.
Bryant. H . S t a f f o r d . J r .
11. Winter 1971.
" C l a s s i c a l Ensemble.* A r t s i n V i r e i n i a .
Chambers.
S.
Allen,
Jr.
C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e . Virginia:
Cram. Ralph Adams.
Co. 1936.
1 3 , No. 1.
Sveet B r i a r Colleee Alumnae
Volume
Lvnchbure.
An
Architectural
Historv.
U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a P r e s s . 1981.
Uv L i f e i n A r c h i t e c t u r e .
Boston: L i t t l e Brown &
"Have I a Philosophy of Design?" P e n c i l P o i n t s , Volume
November 1932.
"Recent U n i v e r s i t y A r c h i t e c t u r e i n t h e United S t a t e s . "
J o u r n a l of t h e Royal I n s t i t u t e o f B r i t i s h A r c h i t e c t s .
Volume X I X . 25
May 1912.
Gaines, Thomas.
1991.
The Cam~usa s a Work of Art.
New York: Praeger C O .
Hegemann, Werner and E l b e r t P e e t s . The American V i t r u v i u s : An A r c h i t e c t ' s
Handbook o f C i v i c Art. Nev York: L i t t l e , Page & Co. 1922.
Lanford. Sarah Drummond.
Raloh Adams Cram a s Colleee A r c h i t e c t :
An
H i s t o r i c i s t ' s A o ~ r o a c h . Masters T h e s i s . U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a School
of A r c h i t e c t u r e . May 1981.
N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r of H i s t o r i c P l a c e s Nomination Form.
1976.
F i l e d a t t h e V i r g i n i a Department of
Richmond. V i r g i n i a .
"Sveet B r i a r House."
H i s t o r i c Resources,
Stohlman, Martha Lou Lemmon.
The S t o r v of Sveet B r i a r C o l l e e e . Amherst.
Virginia:
The Alumnae A s s o c i a t i o n of Sveet B r i a r College. 1956.
Von
Briesen. Martha.
H
.
Richmond: W h i t t e t & Shippersen. 1971.
NPS Form 10-900-a
[*I6 No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United S t a t e s Department o f t h e I n t e r i o r
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-I0-
Page
-20-
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Amherst County, Virginia
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
UTM References (cont'd):
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundary of the nominated property is delineated by the polygon whose vertices are marked
by the following UTM reference points:
Boundary Justification
The nominated boundaries were drawn to include buildings that date to Ralph Adams Cram's
association with Sweet Briar College, or are integral features of his campus plan. The
boundaries exclude those which antedate or postdate Cram's association or are not contained in
his master plan for the campus.
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Photo
Page
21
SVEET BRIAR COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
AMHERST COUNTY, V I R G I N I A
=-==~~--~~~I-~=~-==~---~---~~-
A l l Photographs a r e o f :
SVEET B R I A R COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
Amherst County, V i r g i n i a
VDHR F i l e No. 05-219
n e g a t i v e s a r e s t o r e d w i t h t h e Department of
c o l l e c t i o n a t t h e V i r g i n i a S t a t e L i b r a r y and Archives.
All
DATE:
June 1993
Benedict and F l e t c h e r
b u i l d i n g s : view looking
northwest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 1 of 17
V I E V OF:
DATE: JUNE 1993
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y and
Fletcher building: viev
looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 2 of 17
Historic
Resources
DATE: June 1993
V I E V OF:
former R e f e c t o r y ;
view
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. N O . :
13844
PHOTO 6 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: F l e t c h e r b u i l d i n g ;
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO. : 13844
PHOTO 7 of 17
view
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Benedict b u i l d i n g : view
DATE: June 1993
looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO.:
VIEW OF: former Refectory ( l e f t ) .
13844
Randolph Dormitory ( r i g h t - c e n t e r ) , PHOTO 8 of 1 7
and Hernorial Chapel ( r i g h t ) ;
view looking n o r t h
DATE: June 1993
NEG. NO.:
13844
VIEW OF: Fergus Reid b u i l d i n g ;
PHOTO 3 of 17
viev looking soutvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
DATE: June 1993
PHOTO 9 of 1 7
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y ; v i e v
looking n o r t h e a s t
DATE: JUNE 1993
NEG.NO.:
13844
VIEW OF: Manson Dormitory: v i e v
PHOTO 4 of 17
looking northwest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 1 0 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Cochran L i b r a r y southwest
entrance: v i e v looking n o r t h e a s t DATE: June 1993
NEG. NO.:
VIEV OF: B e l l Tower and Gray
13844
PHOTO 5 of 17
Dormitory; view looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 11 of 17
United S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l Park S e r v i c e
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
Section
Photo
Page
2
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
AMERST COUNTY. V I R G I N I A
=-~--~---~-~--~--~---------~---------~---------~-----.--~-----~.---~-----
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: B e l l Tover and Gray
Dormitory: v i e v looking n o r t h
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 12 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Mary Harley Student Health
Center: v i e v looking n o r t h e a s t
NEG. NO.:
13844
PBOTO 1 3 of 17
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Deanery ( F a c u l t y
Apartments); v i e v looking
northvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PHOTO 14 of 1 7
DATE: June 1993
VIEW OF: Memorial Chapel:
looking south
13844
NEG. NO.:
PHOTO 15 of 1 7
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Dew Dormitory:
looking southvest
NEG. NO.:
13844
PBOTO 1 6 of 1 7
viev
viev
DATE: June 1993
VIEV OF: Daisy Williams Gymnasium:
v i e v looking v e s t
13844
NEG. NO.:
PHOTO 1 7 of 1 7
13- 15. Fiiculty Residences & Apast111ents
16,
lleanesy
17-22. Faculty Residences & Apal-tn~ents
SWEET BR
Idill 1 ioi~se
Memorial Chapel
Dew
Meta Glass
Prothro Commons
SWEET BR AR COLLEGE H
Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual
prop!rties anci districts. See instructions in How ta Complete the National
Regi.;terof Historic Places Registration For-m (National Register Bulletin 16A).
Comp-ete each item by marking "xN in the appropriate box or by entering the
information requested.
If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A1'for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and
subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form SO-900ai.
Use a typewriter, word
processor, or computer, to complete all items.
...............................................................................
1. Name of Property
..............................
--------_-----_---------------=====--------------............................................
historic name
BEAR MOUNTAIN INDIAN MISSION SCHOOL
other names/site number -VDHR
FILE No. 05-230
--
................................................................................
..................................................
2. Location
street
&
number _SW corner, intersection of Rt , 6 4 3
-
city or town
.Smherst
state V i r g i n l a
zip cade -24574-
code -VA-
county
&
Rt.7 8 0 - not for ~ublicationN / A
vicinity -XAmherst
code -009
..............................................................................
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
As the deslgr.ared authority under the National Historic Presrr7:ation Act of 1986,
as amended,
hereby certify that this _X_ nomination
request for
deterrnicatio~: 3f eligibility meets the documentation stanaarjs for registering
properc~esin the :lational Register of Historic Places and rneets the procedural
and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 6 0 . In my opinion, the
property
meets __ does not meet the National P.eglster Criteria. I
recormend
tkis
property be considered significart
nationally state'2:lae & locaily. ( - See continuation sheet far additionai comments.)
?kz
Signature of zsrtifying officiZY
V!i D e p t . of Historic * P S " , I T C
State sr Fede-a1 agency and bureau
~ ~
USDI/NPS NRHP 3egistration Form
Bear Mountair. Indian Mission School
Amherst Counr;;., Virginia
meets
does not meet the National Register
In my opinicr.. -he property
criteria. < - See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenEing or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
..............................................................................
4. National ;ark Service Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
I, hereby cerrlfy that this property is:
entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Resister
- removed from the National Register
-
-
\-
other
?:<plain) :
Signature of Keeper
Date
of Action
Ownership of ?roperty (Check as many boxes as apply)
-X- private
- public-local
- public-State
public-Federal
Categar:; of Fzs3erty (Check only one box)
:< building (s)
~- - district
- site
- structure
- object
Number of Reizxrces within Property
-
Contrrhutinq
.-
--
-
~-
- .-- -
Number of co-:rlbuting
Register -Noza-
Noncontributina
-o- buildings
-0 - sites
-0structures
.- 0 - objects
.- 0 - Total
resources previously listed in
he rratlonal
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part
USDI/MPS NRHP Registration Form
Bear Mountaln Indian Mission School
Amherst County, i'irginla
0
f
a
m u l t i p l e
p r o p e r t y
l i s t i n g . )
USDIINPS NRHP Reglstratlon Form
Bear Mountaln Indlan Mlsslon School
Amherst Csunty, 1l:rglnla
................................................................................
................................................................................
6. Function or Use
.................................................................................
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: -school
Cat: -EDUCATION
-RELIGION
-religious fasliity
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -VACPNT/NOT IN USE
Sub:
-EDUCATION
school
-RELIGION
-religious facility
-
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
7. Description
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
-OTHER: horizontal log building
-OTHER
Materials (Enter cateqories from instructions)
foundat lon
roof
METAL
walls
WOOD: log
WOOD: weatherboard
ccher
CONCRETE
STONE
Narrative Description ~3escribe the historic and ci;rr?l?t zcndltion of the
property on one or more continuation sheets.)
USD;/NPS NREE Registration Form
Bear Mountalr Indian Mission School
Amherst Coun::-,
7irginia
.................................................................................
---.-------------------------------------------------8. Statemenr zf Significance
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
Applicable ?;a::onal
Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the
crit?rla quaLlfying the property for National Register listing)
-
.z
7-aperty is associated with events that h.ave made
22ntribution to the broad patterns of our history.
-
B
;roperty is associated with the lives of persons significant in our
??.St.
- C
:-operty embodies the distinctive characterlstlcs of a txype, period,
_.
.- method of construction or representls tne work of a master, or
-,_ssesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entitywhose components lack individual distinction.
-D
3
significant
-
;roperty has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in
or history.
,.-history
.~.=
Criteria Ccns~derations [Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
-<: - 4
x n e d by a religious institution or used for religious :xrposes
-B
.+noved from its original location.
c
--
~lrthplaceor a grave
3
:
2
2
-
:ommemorative property
z
C,
zernetery.
reconstructed building, object,or structure
than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past
years.
1-3s
-.
Areas of S:?r:flcance
[Enter categories from lnstructlons)
-ETHNIC HERITAGE: Natlve Amerl-312
-EDUCATION
Sign;ilcanc ;+-son (Complete if Criterion B is marked anovel
?/A
Cult~ralAffiliation -Monacan
USDIINPS NRHP 'egistration Form
Bear Plountalr. Indian Mission School
Arnherst Count:-, Virginla
USDI/NPS NRHP 2egistration Form
Bear Mountaln Indian Mission School
Amherst Count-., TJlrginla
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................................
9. :4a]or
Bibl~ographicai References
............................................................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------====
(Cite the b o o ~ s ,articies, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docur,entation on file (NPS)
- preliminary determination of individual listing ( 3 6 CFR 67) has been
requested.
listed in the National Register
- previously determined eligible by the National Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
- recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey d
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Record A
- previously
Primary Location of Additional Data
State Historic Preservation Office
- Other Stace agency
- Federal agency
- Local uovernment
- Universit-:- Other
Name of reposlccry:
-X-
Acreage of Property
-3.25-0.5-
UTM References :Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eastlng Northing
1
17
-
665380
4159860
Zone Easting Northlng
3
-
-
. . .-
p~
.
-
See continuation sheet.
Verbai Soundar.:. Descristion
contlnuatlon sneer.i
Boundary Justlficatlon
concinl:atlo:1 7 h s e ~!.
(Describe the boundaries
(Explain why
the
boundaries
2f
che property on a
,were selected
on
a
USDIINPS NRHP Reglstratlon Form
Bear Mountaln Indlan Mlsslon School
.-erst
Councy. 'Jlrglnla
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
11. Form Prepared By
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
name,title-:,Tartin
street
2
number-105
C. ?erdue
King William ~ r l v e
city or town-Wllllamsburg
telephone-7557)
221-7202-
state-VA- zlp code -23188-1920-
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
Adcltionai Documentation
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
Subnut the following items with the complered form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map 17.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
n sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage
or numerous resources.
Photagraphs
Representatlve black and white photographs of the property
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
(Conplete thls item at the request of the S3PO or FPO.)
name M o n a c a n Indian Tribal Association c 3 Phyllis iiicks
street
h.
number-P.
c1ry 3 r town
:13rroe
0. Box 112
telephone-1804) 929.6929state-5.JA_ :lp cziz -24574-
.- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-.-.-.- -.-.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-...- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-.=.=. .=.=. . . . . . . . . .
---Paper:v'ork Reduction Act Statement: This rnformation 1- s2lr.g csllected for
appllcatlons to the Natlonal Register of Hlstoric Places t.3 :2ominare properties
for ::sting
o r "etermlne eligibility for ::sting,
to list ?ropersies, and to
amend exlstlng listings. Response to this request is requllxc ro 3uta.m a benefit
in acc-rdance .dlth the National Historic Preservation Act. ,is amended (16 U.S.C.
47C it seq.i
Esc::nated Bur.den Statement: Public rewortlnq
fcrm is estimated
- burden fsr SI.'.:
to a:-erage 18.1 hours per response including the time for revlewlng instructions,
gat5,ering and maintaining data, and completing and rexriewlng the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect c; ti-s for- :o the Chief,
Adrn~n~stratir? Services Division, National Park Servl-e. P . O . Sox 37127,
Washington, 33 L3013-7127; and the Office sf Management .,nu 9..:dget, Paperwork
Reductions Plo]ec~ (1024-0018i,Washingtcn. DC 20503.
NPS Torm 1 0 - 9 2 0 - a
OMB NO. 1024-0018
(8-861
Unrtea States 3spar~mentof the Interlor
Nat~cnalPark Ser-rice
NAT CNAL REGISTER CF HISTORIC PLACES
CONlINUATION CXEET
Sectlan
-~
-
age
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School
.:.:?herst County, -;-.rgln;a
-1-
Architectural Description
The Bear [flour-tainIndian Mission School is a single-story, one-room,
horizontal icc hililiing.
It is situated about 4 miles from the town of
Amherst, Virginia, on Route 643 (Xenmore Road) in the rural foothills along
the southeastern base of Bear Mountain.
The original mission, consisting of
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church and the misslan workers' house, occupies a
quarter-acre plot defined by Route 643 and two converging branches 3f Falling
The school building and a newer concrete-block school annex are
Rock Creek.
locatsd on a narrozi wedge of land between Falling Rock Creek and Roi!te 780
(Indlzn l4iss:zn
Rcaii.
&out
2D
yards soutkdest of the church, a large
concrecs-blo:.: bull-lng was recently built ;s the Parlsh IIall and Monacan
Indian T r ~ b a lLssoclation Center.
tc
onL? ar.ot12.?: 111
hllis an
t!~e
5:.
3sc
All five buildings are in closz proximity
area of something less than an acr%
:~lrrcu::ied by wooded
:-.orth,and east, and EleAds to the s o u m
-3.cross :he creek, west of the mission school, lies saint Paul's
Epis:~pzl
2uilt for the mission, tl:e church ~ 3 ,.s zsccann.ular wood
C':I::;:~.
palxred white with a hint of gothic detailing in triangular
frame k1.:1lc1::::
lights abo\-e ::ne e;sr
side :.ere al;:
was f e d
:
was
8
e. t
+.
;:e:<
:-::la:.
:
The three windows in che north
r z c ~ e dwlth triangular arches. A small dl,itnond shaped window
.:-
serve6 2s a
and the east window.
:
1
the yzanite a s r .
of the east gable ana above this a : . sx-r?sc :all
According to Peter 1iou;~'s histor:/
~
3
cross
the Monacans, it
f
slxty-two feet, was underpinned with fleld stone down to
It would hold two hundred people."- Thls churc-. and the
Peter Xouck, Indian Island in Amherst County (Lynchburg, Tla.: Lynchburg
Histor~calResearck. Company, 1984): 95.
NPS Form 1 C -
C - i
(8-861
Unlted Statss Jeparrment of the Interior
National Parj-:Service
NATIONAL REGIZTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATICX I i E E T
page
Section
Bear Mountain Indlan Mission school
Amherst County, -::rginla
-2-
adjacent hcuse far mission workers, are contributing resources since they were
built during :he period of significance.
The original chnrch caught fire in
the wlnter of 1930 and was completely destroyed, taklng w:~n
mission house.
it the nearby
The church was immediately rebuilt and the mission workers'
house was repiaced shortly thereafter, presumably within txo or three years
after the f;zc?.
The church, as it appears now, is quite similar In form and style to the
original strcc:-.-e.
It is a long, wood frame building wit.? a gable roof
covered wlth aschalt or composite shingles.
doors
the west gable end.
center?:^ 1:;
The entrance is through double
Above the doors is a ~rlangulartransom
:
:
:
a
.
and a gabls5 .
Over this hood a circular window, zbour three feet in
diameter, tai :-::en
the place of the diamond-shaped openlnq of the original
church. The 15s: gable end is lit with three tall, narrow, pointed arch
.'::
windows.
vestibule.
::
s
:I
north corner of the east snd is a small, ~ ~ b lroofed
s
1;
lit with an arched window in the east ;ri.
door ro the --+sr:bule is in h e north side .and, in ketpl!:.:
The minister's
.:;L~!I
r:lr vernacular
gothlc detall-::=, it is also Lopped with a small triangular transom.
The c:-.+r:-~c m:sslon
dwel1:r.g
workers' house 1s a small L-piax, vooc trame
~-s~r:::c: on a concrete block foundation.
It
1s
sheathed illth
horizonral ::zc- sldlng and the gable roof is covered wlth isphalt or composite
shinglss.
2.. +::closed porch :?as been added to the norrhea:;:
the hcuse ,I:
;mar?
to the
SOUL!:
::~de tnd parts Of
::-en resheathed with modern synthetic :xat;.r:ils
::zent
school building, also
:f :he
log school.
?,
sontribuclng resource, was built
This building appears to .late from the 1930s.
Is a plain ;ra:ne building, sheathed in weatherboard, with a standing-seam
NPS Form 10-q00-a
3MB No. 1024-0018
18-861
Unlted Staces Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF XISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIO?J SHEET
Bear Mountaln Zndlan Mlsslon School
Amherst County, .:lrginra
metal roof
The plan of the log mission school house measures 17'2" by 19'1".
carried on a low stone foundation. The walls are abou:
5 to 6 inches thick
The logs have been hewn flat on
and appear to be constructed of pine logs.
the inside and outside surfaces and are joined at the corners with "V"
notches.
The Interstices, or spaces between the logs, are filled with a mud
and lime chinking.
repairs.
Some of the mortar appears to have been added during later
The walls are painted white, presumably over earlier coats of
?here are a number of places where planks have been nailed over
whitewash.
the logs, apparently co.JerIng areas of decay and repall
The gable roof is
covered wlth standing-seam metal over boards supportea b : ~ elght rafters.
There 1s no ridge pole; however, the rafters appear ts oe railed together.
The maln faczds of the school faces east onto Route 7 8 0 !Indian Mission Road)
The door is roughly in the center of this wall with a .,nndowon e ~ t h e rside.
Both wlndows fire slx-over-slx double-hung sash.
and t.riln ar? i i l painted gray.
643 (Kenmorc ?;ad).
The north tficade is
The center of this wai:
sir double-l1u::g sash.
The noor and wlndow frames
;
,
features
To the east of this window is
5
concrete-bloci: flue chat presumably replaced an earll.::
. x b l ? e!;d
facing Route
; ilndow,
,also six-over-
L--:rich-square
I'l.~e
ar scove-pipe.
The .Jest slde faces Saint Paul's Episcopal church and is also lit by only One
window, of
2::;
directl:; oc
r
fenestration
-,:.:er-s~:.: double-hung sash.
The foundar:3n :lnder this wall lies
i.?~gegranite outcrop above Falling Roc.: :reek.
3:
:
gives access :
The
t!le south end of the log pen is a sincle ce:ltlril door that
LL
smali storage area.
Attached to the s o c ~ hend of the log
schoolhouse :s a frame addition consisting of a storaoe room and an open
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Unlzsd States Department of the In:erlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATI3NAL P E G i S T E ? OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTIIJJATION SHEZT
SecL;on
porcn.
--
-
Page
-4-
Bear Mounta1;l Ins-an :.ilssion School
,mnersc Cou-cy, ':~ralnla
Thls wlng is sald to have Deen addea by Arthur Gray in 1908.
The
interior walls of the log schoolhouse have been refinished wlth modern
sheerrock p a ~ n t e da light hlue-green. The floor is l3id wick 2 " planking.
The low celllng is covered with board and batten, with the strips running
parallel to the ridge.
Cn either side of the door in the south end there are
slates and a blackboard.
NPS ?orm 1 ; i0-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-861
Unlzed Stacsz Department of the Interior
Natlonal ?a:-=: Service
NATIONAL REZISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIC:: -2XEET
Sect~on i
Page
,-
-5-
Bear Mountain Indian ;.lisslonSchool
,Amherst :3unty, 'iirginia
Statement of Significance
Bear '::,~ntalr. and its vicinity is regarded b:i the Vonacans as their
historica;, rscial, and spiritual center; one which has been occupled by them
he
since prehistory.'
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School is one of the few
sur>:iving nlrsion schools for Native Americans in 'Jirginia and it is unique
for its assz.::ation
with the Monacan people.
It is an artifact of an era of
segregated public education following Reconstruction in the South.
For these
reasons, t k . 2 sear Mountain Indian Mission School is considered significant at
the local 15--21as regards National Register Criterion A for ethnic history as
Historical 3ackground
When :..z~peancolonists first set tosc in North .America the Monacans
lived thrc..:-:-.sutmuch of the mountains and upper ~ i e d m o n taf Virginia.
Acczrding r : :eter Houck they were linguist~callyaffiliatci ..clth SIOUX from
the 2hic . - . i ? y .
They were primarily hunters and z=Taulc i r :::e sense that
the;- peri;?.'
moved their villages according t3 the a-.r,?llabilit.fof game.
They- often :t:zied
the tall
The Monacans practiced some agriculture, but not to the extent
:I:-.-
of :swharsr.
along the branches and tributaries of pledmont rlvers above
ilqonquins to the east.
The influence sf co:z111::ing Suropeans
was ;ncreas::~.qiy
telt by the Monacans in tnr iate seventeenti: century.
mosr slgr.:5:rint
result came indirectly, t!~rough escaiat~l~.:r i ~ d s13).
The
the
' A :.?:qooa, recent work on the prei~istoricand contact era Monacans is
Jeffrey L. X-ntman, "Between Powhatan an3 Quirank:
Reconstructing Monacan
CulSure and :-::story in the Context of Jamestown," American Anthropologist 92, No.
3 {Septernbez 1990) : 676-690.
NPS Form 10-330-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
Unlted States Department of rhe Interior
Natlonal P a r - Servlce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC ?LACES
CONTINUATIO?! 2ilEET
s
Section
page
-p
Iroquois fr-1 ~ h e
norch.
-6-
Erar Mountaln Indian I4ission School
Amherst County, .lirginia
The Iroquois were in part also reactlng to the
pressures of sxpandlng whlte settlement. According to Houck:
Somet::-:r after 1671, rhe Tutelos and Saponis were drl-?en south by the
Iroquols to join their Monacan kin, the Ocaneechis, who camped on an
island . . . at the confluence of the Dan and Staunton rivers near
Clarksvllle. This group was later forced into North Carolina, where
they had a testy relationship with the neighboring Tuscarora. After ten
years zf constant agitation, the Saponis, a name the English now applied
col1ecz;vely to all Monacans, returned north to Virglnia to be given
protection by the whites at Fort Christiana in Brunswick County. But
furthey ieterioration in cultural relationships led to the hanging of
one of :he chiefs. They thus made a reluctant peace wlth their hated
enemy, :he Iroquois, and joined them in Pennsylvania as their Sixth
Nation
During the .;-??-isanRevolutior., the Monacans, along xlth tile ,:tiler Iroquois
nations, ~-.?z:;ated to Canada.
in 1871.
a Tutelo, ii;:.<
Soc
It is beiie-?i that the last ,-cf these Monacans,
sf the Monacans ended up in Canada.
L t - l
A handful remained behind
in the -:;cl::-=-.-. ~ fEear I.lountaln In Amherst County. For 3.'er
:li:;.s
Monacans a::S
Incorporate5 z
James Tlver
1391 Eethel '<as located 2c :he
:3o!;t.
3:
mouth :f SAL: Cr?ek on the
;?as MOunSJln
By the ild-nineteenth entury
1
:
and the d?c-l:e
-in ... . .:
:I:
site of an
-T.?
ccns1;ted
tavern, s t c ~ e f?rry, a few houses, and faslllties for
water transrz-:.
century
lnterrarrzed and li-.ec c~gether5 : : the --=c~::;t>,
of Bethel.
. 2ut seven :rilles southwest
early tradl:::
3
af a mill,
preparing
tobacco for
The town disappeared with the advent of Fallroad shipping
st the Kana.dha Canal
=-doMonacan slsters had a do,~bleweddlxg ;n Eethel; Nancy Evans
iild Molly Z'rans to William .Jshns. In 1833 ::~lllam Johns
to Ned Srar.b.=.--:,
' Peter :suck, I n d i a n I s l a n d i n Amherst C o u n t y ILynchburg, ':a.:
Historical ?.?search Company, 1984) 27-28.
Lynchburg
NPS Form 10-"00-a
(8-86)
JMB No. ;024-0018
United Staces Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIOli SHEET
Section
3
Page
-
Bear Mountaln :ndian Mission School
.Amherst Court:., -:irginia
-7p
bought 400 acres on Bear Mountain where he moved with his wife, four sons, and
father-in-law. This tract, which was referred to as che 'Johns Settlement,'
became the refuge of Monacan descendants with such famlly names as:
Evans, Branham, Redcross, and Beverly.
Johns,
When Will Johns died in 1856 the tract
was subdivided among his sons and heirs.
By the end of the nineteenth century
much of the tract had been sold or lost "through failcre to pay property taxes
and exploitation by land-hungry neighbors.""
In the segregated, racially hierarchical society of the South during the
nineteenth-century Natlve Americans suffered various forms of discrimination.
According ts Ylrginia law passed in 1823 the product of Natlve American and
white marrzacqes, as well as the children of white and dfrlcan-American unions,
were labellid "mulattoes." In other words, Native Atr+ri,zan descendants were
legally den2.d
claim to their heritage as
i
distinct -rasp.
Dr. ?lalter A.
Plecker, the zlrst regls-rar of the Vlrglnla State Bl.reau ot Vltal Statistics,
promoted 1egl;latlon wnlch dld further harm to Natlve Arnerlcans.
In 1924 he
helped drarc rhe l?lrgin:a
Racial Integrity Law which :-ad, In
!
;
,
shall be u:-._,iwEul for a
white person in thls State rs marry save a white
UJL~C,
that "It
person, cr a pel-son with no other admixture of blood :ran white or American
Indian.
For .:he
purposes cf this act, the term 'whiz.: uzrsor.' shall apply
only to t h e :,erson who ?.as no trace whatsoa-..,er of an:- ~ I a o aother than
Caucasian; 2~.:- persons .;;nohave one-sixteenth or less ;f
tlle
blood of an
Petel- 3ouck. Indian Island in Amherst County (Ll-nchhurg,"a,: Lynchburg
Historical 'rsearch Coxeany, 1994) 54.
See Helen Rountree, The Powhatan Indians of Virginia (Norman, Ok.:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1989); and Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amberst
County (Lynchburg, V a . : Lynchburg Historical Researc?. Csmpan:#, 1984).
NPS Form 10-900-a
IMB
Na.
1324-0018
(8-86)
Unlted States Department of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL F.EGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Secrion
-_
8
Page
Bear Mountaln Inalan ;llsslon School
.:,nherst County, .:lrginla
-8-
American Indian.". Plecker compiled lists of surnames of fimliies judged to
be non-white. In 1934 his list to Amherst County of ;?eople
-2 r e
banned from
whice facliities lncluaed the names of Jonr.s, Branhan~,Hici,:c, :;a:n;iton, and
In the vicinity of Bear Mountain there were descendants of Momcam
Adcox.
who were "phenotypically white . . . who wanted to be identified as white, and
there were also pnenotypic Indians who were proud of their Indlan pedigree."'
Plecker's legislation denied the heritage of both groups.
He clalmed that
there .were no descendants of Native Americans in Virginia wl~hou: AfricanAmerican blood, thus they were all classified as "mulattoes." %ether
considered themselves white or Monacan, th? descendants cf ti:=.
they
.;shns
setclement d % ~ elegally defined as mulat~s
There was llttle or no access for these people to schools and churches
in :he
late 11i:leteenth and early tj;entiet.i centuries, Some, .-ncsename or
appearance qualified them as 'white,' caul- attend whzte .sc:-.?ols and colleges,
but this meant denying their Monacan anccsrry.
thac :he),
J i d not belong in the schools sz7an:zed
At tk? Sam% c ~ n e ,others felt
for .-!f-~c-:~:-.:.-r~cans. The
:.-:I-.-,ity, both
early t:<enrleth century was also a time zf ~ z t e n s emlzsiz:7a~-..
donest-c azd international.
Missionaries sfcen filled a gap
im~averisnedand diseni-anchised overlooeec or neglecced
assisting the
1-
h>!. I a x s
and public
inszlt,~t~o::s. In 1907 a few well-meaning :-esldentscf Am;:ersz Czunty, John J.
Ambier III, ,:apta:n
Edgar Whitehead, and
I;.?...
.
Arthur :Fa-.-:.I,--.--.- .:em, decided
2s ouo-ed 1:: Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst County
Lycchburg Historical Research Company, 1533-r 7 3 .
::::..chburg,
- Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst C o u n t y (L:;nchburg,
His~orlcalResearch Company. 1984) 73-74.
a
:
Va. :
Lynchburg
NP5 Form 1C-900-a
3MB No. 1024-0018
18-86)
Unltea Statss Department of the Interlor
Natlonai Parx Ser:,lce
NATIONAL ZZZISTE?. 3F HISTORIC PLACES
CONrINUATI??? SHEZT
Sec':ion -3-
Page
Eea- Mountaln Indian Mlssion School
Amherst County, vlrginia
9 -
to build an Episcopal mission for the Monacan Indians of the Johns Settlement
on Bear Mnz:lzaln.
A young oraduate of tb.e -2niversit.~,f
'lil-qlnla,Arthur Gray
J r . , was o?rsuaded by his father to operace the mlsslrn.
3n January 1, 1908,
Ambler, with Eiisha Willis, William Adcox, and Richard Lawiess, acquired a
It was a smal; triangular lot
quarter-acrs parcei of land for the mission.
bounded on the north by Route 643 and on the east and west by the confluence
of two tributaries of Falling Rock Creek.
Later that year, member:: of the
Bear Mounraln Monacan community, together with Arthur Gray, m i l t the Saint
Paul's Mlsslon c h ~ r c hon a large rock outcl-cpping betxeen the two creeks.
was also
19,J8 =hat Gray, .#ith the ald f:
;:.
extansi;::
the Monacans, nddcd t.he frame
rile .:chooll~ouse. Gray secur-6
:;
It
teacher ind
i
csaconess and the
work ci ti?? -:issics began in earnest
The -:?-room log mlsslon school had ~rportedlyoccup~edits srte for
forry !:?arc
-rior
of lonstr1:~::on
bu1idi::q : . ;
people
:::
-3
the advent of the mission.'
to about 1868.
In additlzr ro functl=:11:-~q
.;s a school, the
1se6 as a meetinghouse.
r:.?
This would place its date
It
.:.?<:
coo snail
.ccasior.:;,v11s1:--."a;.
ant
preachers ' s
cczciaczli~gservrces, people .could fii:
iti wir:ao:-::
.
. - aisund it ~,;tslde. :::::i
ZL-
were prc-lczc 3 y :.?e
basis.
Ti-.:s-gh h;s
r!;e
::ma:i school-house,
Arthul :ri?.- ,~:.-:id, teachers
councy sporadically, end sometimes cnl.:, 3n
successful
persuasion
riy 350
.-.._A
;.c!n-unlcy ~t srl.r-sc',. On
;:lc
+--I.
.-;-=
...- 7.....
7.:3
and lobbying
to seccl.? --cendable teachers fcr che sce.3: 1 .
part-time
eft?^-t~, ;ray
The schioi i,::l;cilng
. .
lay outsla? rhe boundaries of the missior. r:r.ril July, 1924 .when
CI
managed
actually
deed was
Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst county !Lynchburg, ':a.:
Historical 'ssearc3 Company, 19841: 87.
Lynchburg
NPS Form 10-900-a
,MB iic
L334-0018
(8-861
United Stacss :rpartRent
National ?ark zervice
of rhe Interior
NATIONAL REGISTER OF XISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATICN S:SZET
Section
5,-
Page
Zear Mounts::: Inaian :"<issionSchool
. .
.-~m?srst
co.,::.~:.,-:rgl:lia
_LO_
made conveying rle scnool tract to the misslon trustess, perhaps in response
to the
~~~~~~~~~a
Raclal Integrity Law.
This ;;as the f:rsr
was mentioned In the ~ e e ab o o ~ s ,and it was :aguely n.:teci
time
that the school
z-at it had "been
used for a number of years by the School Board of Amherst for a school."
The
school building and property belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern
Virglnla: w e e s the teachers were, at least in the later years, employees
of the courcy school board.
This arrangement suffices to p r o v ~ d eeducation to
members of Ehe aear Mountain Monacan communlcy for nearly a century.
The
little school finally closed its doors in 1964 when Integration laws made it
obsolete.
Xh:ls
the nlssion school may represent a p a ~ n r x ; ,
rsclst
past it is
also rega~asd=.s a s,:cbol
of community, cer:traiity, a : ::nesion
who were ;c-nclei there.
Apart from the rebuilt chur:.!?.,?ni mlsslon house, it
is also
:
s
sur.::.:ing
remnant of arch;~.::tural
by the people
i: rl-.I.-:?..~,hlc.l:
can be
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
3ME N o .
1024-0018
United States Department cf the Interlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL ZEGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
3-
Page
-11-
Bear Mounta::l
I;idian Mission School
Amherst Court)-, .'~rgin~a
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Deed dated January 1, 1908.
Virginia.
Deed dated July 19, 1924.
Deed Book 9 3 , p. 373.
Deed dated october 25, 1928.
Deed dated May 8 , 1945.
Deed Book 6 0 , pp. 302-303.
Deed dated October 2 3 , 1951.
Vlrglnla
Amherst County, 'Jirginia.
Deed Book 97, p. 255.
Deed Book 126, p. 185.
.Antherst County,
knherst County, Virginia
Amherst County, Virginia.
Deed Book 154, pp. 492-413
Amherst COUnty,
Monacan and Native American History and Prehistory:
Bushnell, cavid I . , Jr. "'The Indian Grave'--AMonacan Sits in Albemarle
County, 'jirginla." William and Mary Quarterly - 2 , Ns. 2 , ser. 1
iOcrcber, 1914) : 106-112.
Bushnell, C a v ~ dI . , Jr. "The Native Tribes of Virgini3." Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography 3 0 , No. 2 p r , 1922 : l L 3 - 1 3 2 .
Bushneli, David I . , Jr. "The Indian Inhabitants of the Valley of Virginia."
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 34, 1 : . -1 ,iOctober. 1926):
295-298,
Cohen, 3a-.-13 Steven. Folk Legacies Revisited. New ; I
, :
Rutgers
Unl...
,c~slty
. .
Press, 1995. See Chapter I , "Emergz::~!:it~ve m e r i c a n Groups
In New J e r s e y , ?p. 13-30.
constructing Monacan
Hantman, Jeffrey L. "5etween Powhatan and Quirank:
Cult:!re and Hiszory in the Context of Jamestown. ' American
Anthropologist 92, No. 3 (September, 1990): 6 7 6 - - 5 9 2 .
H o u c ~ ,Pet?-. Indian Island in Amherst County.
Historical Research Company, 1984.
McL%Ro:,', :;l-lerrle,and :!illiam McLeRoy.
County. 1977.
Passages:
Lynci-.~ul-g,
I.',?.
:
A
History of Amherst
Pugiisi. Mary .an. "Monacans Return to Natural Bridqe
CRM 1 3 , No. 4 :1445i: 18-19.
Rountree, Helen. The Powhaean Indians of Virginia.
of Oklahoma Press. 1989.
Lynchburg
:-rr;t
:..nnual POWWOW."
:;arman, Ok.: University
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
IMB No. 1c24-0018
Unlted States Department of the Iz-erlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL P-EGISTER ?F HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINEATIGN SHEET
Section
-9-
Page
-12-
Eear Mounta~ni:lllai; :i;ssion
m n e r s t CourEy, .lraixla
School
Schoolhouses and Education:
Gulliford. .Andrew. America's Country Schoois.
Preservation Press, 1984.
;iashinc~~rcn,
T.C.:
Heath, Kingston. "A Dying Herirage: One-Room Schools of Gallatln County,
Montana." Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. Camille Wells, ed.
.mnapolis, Md. : Vernacular Architecture Forum, 1982. Pp. 201-216.
Link, !.iiiliam A . A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and
Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870-1920. The Fred P I . i4orrison Series in
Southern Studies. Chapel Bill, NC: University of Nortn Carolina Press,
1986.
A
Select Listing on Log Architecture:
Carter, Thomas. "The Joel Cock House: 1885, Meadows ~i Can, Patrick County,
Vlrglnla." Southern Folklore Quarterly 39, No. I December, 1975):
329-i40.
Cooper, Patrlcia Irvin. "Tennessee Places--Cabins anc Deerskins: Log
auilding and the Charles Town Indian Trade." Tennessee Historical
Quarterly 5 3 , No. 4 (Winter, 1994) : 272-279.
Glassle, Henry. "The Smaller Octb~lldingss f the Sourkey-n :.!c;::lta=!ls.
Mountain Life and Work 40. a . 1 (Spring, 2.9641 : 2 1 - 2 5 ,
'I
Glassie, Henry. 'The T n e s of the Southerr Mountain ,Cabin.''The Study of
American Folklore: An Introduction. 2an B a r o i B~u:~::a:lc'. . -5d. New
.r.or::. I J Y : ;:.ti. ?:orton & :;-?any,
Inc., I?68. .?Pc:?oL:: . ~ ' .1.2. 338-370.
Hutslar, Zcnald 2 . The Architecture of Migration: Log Construction in the
Ohio Country, 1750-1850. .:.:hens,
Oh. . Ohio Un:.ers:c?.
?1.;.ss,
1986.
Hutslar, Ccnala %: .
The Log Architecture of Ohio.
Bistcrlcal Sociefy, 1972.
C c l ~ m b u s ,a h . :
Jeffers, Jaci.:. "Cabins in the 3l;e Ridge: R Photographic Essa:..'
Cavalcade 24. No. 3 IWin~er,1975): 116-123.
Ohio
Virginia
Jordan, Terry G .
"Alplne, Alemannic, and i.merican Log Arci:~tecrure." Annals
of the Association of American Geographers 70, >:o. 2 :June, 1980):
154-180.
Jordan, Terry G. American Log Buildings: An Old Worid Heritage.
Hill, NC: Unlversity of North Carolina Press, -385.
Chapel
:.
NPS Form
(8-86)
2
U n i t e c i t a : ? r 'epartment
N a t i o n a i 7 : . Service
NAT::OS.L.L .:.I :IS"ER '
0
CONYIKUTI:::
SIqEET
s e c t ic::
~-
-~
Jordan,
of
zh.e
No.
1:;-0018
Interior
IIISTORIC PLACES
?age
153i Mo-z~a;n I n d i a n P l l s s ~ o nS c h o o l
.~-.mherst :ZUI?:~.
.J:zqinia
-:3-
; L o g Corner-Timberlng
10761 : 8 - 1 8
-:%>-:.-
ar:.:..
.-
.
?::-a
1:l
'Texas.
P i o n e e r America 8 , No. 1
J o r d a n , :-rr-. :,I l o r a v l a n . S c h w e n k f e l d e r . and A-er:-:~n L.og <I;:-.;tzuction."
P e n n s y l v a n i a F o l k l i f e 3 3 , No. 3 (Spring, 15241 : j8-121.
Jordan, '
.
Unl-:eri:zy
T e x a s Log B u i l d i n g s :
of T e x a s P r e s s , 1 9 7 8 .
A Folk A r c h i t e c t u r e .
AusKln, T x . :
J o r d a n . :?I:~:-J . , a n d MaKti Kaups.
The American Backwoods F r o n t i e r :
An
E t h n i c and E c o l o g i c a l I n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
Ba1t;more. I.ld.: ,Johns Hopkins
Tress ~ 3 8 9 .
J o r d a r , ':+LL-:
:. , M a t t i Kaups a n d R i c h a r d I . L i e f = z r ; .
"'-. . - w ~ \ - _ ; 1 e c c eon t h e
S u : c r + i n O r i g i n of P e n n s y l v a n i a V N o t c h i n g . "
Pennsylvania F o l k l i f e 3 6 ,
.... . .:..:tumn, 1986) : 20.31.
.,.,
- -. 1.
. ..
:
.~
. ,., ~. .
iff^ :..,
-
I. . :
Kniffe:..
-. 'T:;ne
L9hi;j
Ja::.. .
Lc.wls.
~
..I. .~
~
~
P i o n e e r America
1 , Nc. I . J a n u a r y ,
.: .
:
.:'I-G6
N . . ec.
Cl1erol:ee
. , :, 6L
- -~
0-6
~
1.
.. ,.,. ....
.
'
H.?nr..- C - L a s s l e .
"Buildl::7 111 Woci n
: tn.2 East.??:-. S n i t e d
- > l a c e 2erspeczive. "
Geographical Review
No. 1
: : I
.
.
.
O n Corner-Timbering.
I ~ d .
~
-
'
Log :'iillns. '
Tennessee A r c h a e o l o g i s t 7 .
. :-.1. ~ '.L c q a u l l d l n g s I:; Lhe 'jail-:;' of ~ : ~ z g : : . . ~ ~ Roanoke V a l l e y
X l s t o r z c a l S o c i e t y 8 . No. 1 ::?711 :
.;-3:.
Mart~:-
~
.
..
~
.. .- ... .
.. . . ..
~...
~~
.
Nabokc-:.
,
.... .
..
'
"Alkbama-Cousnat:a
Bu1li:ngs.''
B u ~ l tI n T e x a s .
Francls
., :<:.
P ~ . l i : l l c a t i o n s 5 zile T % n , i .
.
.
: l e t y Number
i - i i e a x t ?rpss, i 5 - i . .
?p. ::I:i
. -, l e -.., , . .
..
-.;
..
,.
.-r2.:
.
~.~:
,/..
rob err.^
.
z * r : ~ -.i~?I I I . ~ L - ~ ci ~o ~a : .. . Iilnter:.%ur P o r t f o l i o 2 1 , Xo. -1 il.:ii:r=:-,
~
Roberts. .
~
3zw York.
i:ld ?.obert X a s t o n .
N a t i v e American A r c h i t e c t u r e
E'lress, 1983
... -.
~,I:I..'%L-S:~;,-
~.
... .,,
2 .
1985
.
:
.
,,,.
.;i
.7-1
Log B u i l d i n g s o f S o u t h e r n I n d i a n a .
1984
;.~,
::..
.ioon,-..-.. .-
..
Indiana.
"
.n. :
. ~ --.. .- - =.. ~ >re:;s,
~
~
Weslac;?:
.
.
?rese.?r.
I 2..
The Log Cabin i n America:
From P i o n e e r Days t o t h e
New B r u n s w l c k , N J :
R u t g e r c U n i v e r s l t 2 1 % ~ I?".
~ .
.. Weslagel,
.LA.
"Log Houses i n Virg1::la Dur:-g
:!I€ Sever.L;ei?~h C e n t u r y . "
Q u a r t e r l y B u l l e t i n o f t h e A r c h a e o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i r g i n i a 9 , No. 2
~
.
?
--I
Z ~ 8 .
NPS Form -:-
1: 3 -
;.I9
A
Nc.
'
:-0018
(8-86)
United ;t:+,
Nationa;
.,?a~~rm?nr ?:,
~F.Y.:
NATIONAL :t!'315:S9
CONTINUATI?:: :'.:EST
Secticn
-
p~
Willis, Starie;:.
Constr.:.z::or.
.
Wonders, .:.
-1.:-
Inter-o:
i+sx:~c:e
10"
HIST0P.I:
'age
- .
_---_
PLACES
[:ear Mounta..n I:idlar. ibllsslon School
.:mhe:-st 2 . : : : J::_g;n;a
Houses in Southwest Virginla: :ools Used in Their
' V i r g i n i a Cavalcade 21, N o , 4 (S;;~.:ng, 11721 : 3 6 - 4 7 .
'L3g
.:.::I
C . L ~ ? ? Z-::slilngs in Ci::zdlan i'ol::
:c I
.. '
AnJIals of
.
.
the Association of A m e r i c a n Geographers 6 9 , :;3. . d u : : ~ ,
'91 : 187-207.
~
NPS Form 1:-900-a
(8-86)
3MB No. 1324-0018
United Statss Deparnmenr of the Interlor
Natlonai lark Servlce
NATIONAL ?~EGISTEROF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINU>.T;'I:.:; SXEET
Section
L O-
Page
Bear Mountain Indlan i.llssion School
Amherst County, 7irglnia
-15-
..............................................................................
_-____---------------_----------------------------c--------------------------Verbal Boundary Description.
The nominated property consists of a triangular plot sf about 0,;s to 0.5
acres accsrdlng to Amherst County, Virginia, Deed Book 60, pp. i0:-303
amended in Deed Book 93. p. 373.
and
The eastern boundary begins at the
intersection of Route 643 (Kenmore Road1 and Route 7 R C :Indian Mission Road--
formerly Coleman Road) and proceeds south along Route 780 for a length of 217
feet.
At this point the boundary continues for a distance of 136 feet
northwest
the intersection of the wesLern fork of Falling Rocii Creek and
tcl
Route 643.
From here the northern boundary follows Ronte 643 east for about
190 feet r 3 z t a !stJ.rt~ngpoint at the intersection wirh Koute 7 3 0
Boundary Justification.
The Monaci;? Indian Tribal .'issociation now owns the se--?nacres sf Land
surroundirq the tnission on the south and Fast and are soon to be ceded the
Bear Ilour!tal!l
Zndian Mission School building by the Ec~scopalDlDcese of
Southuesrer? ' : ~ r g ~ : ? . ~ aXowever,
.
the 0.2: to 0 . 5 acre nropeit:
Sect1011 1 3 .
proper;;.
7.3
_ ~ - b a L3ou::dary
.
I
the sc:..s:,i
':;1-,
:;A:
.
i
;as firs: defined for the rhurch and 1::;slo:l
(Amherst :;l::t;, '::.;glr-:a,
1924
Description," represenns
-ci;ng
Deed Book 60, pp. 332-303'
'::rglnia,
Deed Book 93, p. 3731
s
I:I
~s!I*
:a
lescribed in
: lnlssion
.,;r.uary 1, 1908
.'::1*?::ci?m
in July 19,
ret~ci:r;-:ely
include
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Unnlted States Department of the :nterlor
Natlonal ?ark Ser-::ce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PL.LCES
CONTIIUZTATIO1J SHEET
Secrion
~hotc
Page
1
6
Sear Xountal:; a : :
sslon School
, ~ -...-.. x.
-~nersc
Counry,
A11 photograpns are of:
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School and Vicinity
.Xmhers~County, -;irglnia
VDHR File Number: 0 5 - 2 3 0
PhoLographed by Martin C. Perdue in September,
All negatives are stored with the Department of Historic Resources collection
at the Virqlnia Staze Library and Archives.
VIEW OF: mission school srte. The
new mlssion school building is to
the iefc (south) and the mission
worker's house and church are seen
on the right (west);view looking
south-:+st.
-NEG. : : 5 : :482-~--,
P H O T I O F 16
VIEW C F :
east, :?aln, elevation;
view iooking southwest.
NEG. 0 . : I : 8 L 7 1 2
PHOTZ 2 0-r .'i
VIEV CF: east, .-laln,elevation:
vie:..;
:.coi:lng ;c,.lch:n,est
NEG. :3.:
l4819-33
PHOTO : OF lG
I .
.;;uc!: ;;:;ie
end wlth _J3!ls
frar,% OO~C?.~ n d
stnrase room: vie.^
look::-.q n c r t h ~ . ~ ~ e s r
NEG. IT'3. : L4827-5
PHOTZ 4 CP i ::
VIEW OF: west e1evat:sn of mission
schooi; view l o o ~ i s c--st.
NEG. NO.: 1*827-32
PHOTO 7 OF 15
VIEW OF: interior of ::~lssion
school; vie,.,.looking szuth.
NEG. NO.: 14829-1e
PHOTO 8 OF 1 VIEW OF: i:izerior '.era11 of roof
Eratnins in -.le ,.iss:
::: ::hool.
11~i.1OF: :$.+ste~el:ilz::::,
detail of
,window;viei lco:,::nc --st
:JEG. NO. :
L839--.:
'
'
VIE:.; :?:
, + . i i : t . ':,::I,
.
.
vie:$ -ccb:i::c~
- ,:c::::.:>est
NEG. :;5.:
. . .> ,b-S-Y
PHOTC 5 3 F - 5
elevat~o~~:
VIE:.) ?F: n c r ~ hcjaule end of mlssion
school; 1
G
O
: southeast
NEG. :TO.: -4827-24
~ ~ 0 e,
7 07
3 -6
,I:.v
OF: w
e
:
nodern repa.:
:
:
!
l
s
l
:
:
:
:
:
pa:cil
over ~?te:-lil:ci=+.:
:csking easc.
:JEG. NO.: . 1 9 2 5 t i
5
' 11 OF , J
.
sf
F : :
.. -notch
:
~
PHOTO 12
O F I6
:
ri
.
, detail of
of a plank
logs; view
::%I-,
detail
view
NPS Form i C - 3 3 0 - 5
(8-86'8
United Statss Ee;zrrment
Nationai Par;: Ser--:ze
of the Interior
NNFIONZL 2.EC-ISTEZ - 7 HISTORIC Z:..3CES
COliTIWJATIC?J SXEET
Set,tion
P!:^~zo
?age
2
VIEW OF: mission school site from
Kenmare Road incl:"llng the west side
of the schcci anz :k.e eastern ;:ld of
S a i n ~Paul'z Zplszspal church in the
right ;n;ddle-jrs::.::
view iook;;lg
east.
NEG. NO.: 1 4 8 2 7 - 3 5
PHOTO 13 OF 16
VIEW OF: west gable end of Saint
Paul's Episcopal ciurch, note the
mission school in zne left
background; siew l2oking northeast
NEG. NO. : ; 4 @ 2 8 - E
PHOTO 14 OF 16
VIEW OF: n!l;s~c:-. :zhool slte. From
left t 3 ~193: '
:
a
:
;z.z seen: the
misslsIlt,.c:r:-;,:.*
.
se; a smali
bridge oxr?:- :
FOCI< Creek; Sear
Mouncsin :
:i
n zchool ; ind
the new miss:;:-,
i:.zol bulldlng;
view looklcq :-.,zr:r;ast.
PIEG. NO.: : L R 2 8 - Y
!'HOT0 ;5 OF I J
VIEW CF: .. - ..-..
._..,
.~
,..--le
- front of the
.
Parlsil Hal: :
a
Csnter; --lew
look~xqsou:-. n n r .n the nominated
area j
-.. ..
NEG. :.
:
PHC'r: .S :.'
~
Sear Mountaln Tndian klisslon School
Xmherst Cocncy. :':rglnii
BEAR MOUNTAIN INDIAN MISSION SCHOOL
Amherst, Virginia
Sketch Site Plan - Martin C. Perdue - September, 1994
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual
prop!rties anci districts. See instructions in How ta Complete the National
Regi.;terof Historic Places Registration For-m (National Register Bulletin 16A).
Comp-ete each item by marking "xN in the appropriate box or by entering the
information requested.
If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A1'for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and
subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form SO-900ai.
Use a typewriter, word
processor, or computer, to complete all items.
...............................................................................
1. Name of Property
..............................
--------_-----_---------------=====--------------............................................
historic name
BEAR MOUNTAIN INDIAN MISSION SCHOOL
other names/site number -VDHR
FILE No. 05-230
--
................................................................................
..................................................
2. Location
street
&
number _SW corner, intersection of Rt , 6 4 3
-
city or town
.Smherst
state V i r g i n l a
zip cade -24574-
code -VA-
county
&
Rt.7 8 0 - not for ~ublicationN / A
vicinity -XAmherst
code -009
..............................................................................
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
As the deslgr.ared authority under the National Historic Presrr7:ation Act of 1986,
as amended,
hereby certify that this _X_ nomination
request for
deterrnicatio~: 3f eligibility meets the documentation stanaarjs for registering
properc~esin the :lational Register of Historic Places and rneets the procedural
and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 6 0 . In my opinion, the
property
meets __ does not meet the National P.eglster Criteria. I
recormend
tkis
property be considered significart
nationally state'2:lae & locaily. ( - See continuation sheet far additionai comments.)
?kz
Signature of zsrtifying officiZY
V!i D e p t . of Historic * P S " , I T C
State sr Fede-a1 agency and bureau
~ ~
USDI/NPS NRHP 3egistration Form
Bear Mountair. Indian Mission School
Amherst Counr;;., Virginia
meets
does not meet the National Register
In my opinicr.. -he property
criteria. < - See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenEing or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
..............................................................................
4. National ;ark Service Certification
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
I, hereby cerrlfy that this property is:
entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Resister
- removed from the National Register
-
-
\-
other
?:<plain) :
Signature of Keeper
Date
of Action
Ownership of ?roperty (Check as many boxes as apply)
-X- private
- public-local
- public-State
public-Federal
Categar:; of Fzs3erty (Check only one box)
:< building (s)
~- - district
- site
- structure
- object
Number of Reizxrces within Property
-
Contrrhutinq
.-
--
-
~-
- .-- -
Number of co-:rlbuting
Register -Noza-
Noncontributina
-o- buildings
-0 - sites
-0structures
.- 0 - objects
.- 0 - Total
resources previously listed in
he rratlonal
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part
USDI/MPS NRHP Registration Form
Bear Mountaln Indian Mission School
Amherst County, i'irginla
0
f
a
m u l t i p l e
p r o p e r t y
l i s t i n g . )
USDIINPS NRHP Reglstratlon Form
Bear Mountaln Indlan Mlsslon School
Amherst Csunty, 1l:rglnla
................................................................................
................................................................................
6. Function or Use
.................................................................................
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: -school
Cat: -EDUCATION
-RELIGION
-religious fasliity
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -VACPNT/NOT IN USE
Sub:
-EDUCATION
school
-RELIGION
-religious facility
-
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
7. Description
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
-OTHER: horizontal log building
-OTHER
Materials (Enter cateqories from instructions)
foundat lon
roof
METAL
walls
WOOD: log
WOOD: weatherboard
ccher
CONCRETE
STONE
Narrative Description ~3escribe the historic and ci;rr?l?t zcndltion of the
property on one or more continuation sheets.)
USD;/NPS NREE Registration Form
Bear Mountalr Indian Mission School
Amherst Coun::-,
7irginia
.................................................................................
---.-------------------------------------------------8. Statemenr zf Significance
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
Applicable ?;a::onal
Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the
crit?rla quaLlfying the property for National Register listing)
-
.z
7-aperty is associated with events that h.ave made
22ntribution to the broad patterns of our history.
-
B
;roperty is associated with the lives of persons significant in our
??.St.
- C
:-operty embodies the distinctive characterlstlcs of a txype, period,
_.
.- method of construction or representls tne work of a master, or
-,_ssesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entitywhose components lack individual distinction.
-D
3
significant
-
;roperty has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in
or history.
,.-history
.~.=
Criteria Ccns~derations [Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
-<: - 4
x n e d by a religious institution or used for religious :xrposes
-B
.+noved from its original location.
c
--
~lrthplaceor a grave
3
:
2
2
-
:ommemorative property
z
C,
zernetery.
reconstructed building, object,or structure
than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past
years.
1-3s
-.
Areas of S:?r:flcance
[Enter categories from lnstructlons)
-ETHNIC HERITAGE: Natlve Amerl-312
-EDUCATION
Sign;ilcanc ;+-son (Complete if Criterion B is marked anovel
?/A
Cult~ralAffiliation -Monacan
USDIINPS NRHP 'egistration Form
Bear Plountalr. Indian Mission School
Arnherst Count:-, Virginla
USDI/NPS NRHP 2egistration Form
Bear Mountaln Indian Mission School
Amherst Count-., TJlrginla
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................................
9. :4a]or
Bibl~ographicai References
............................................................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------====
(Cite the b o o ~ s ,articies, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docur,entation on file (NPS)
- preliminary determination of individual listing ( 3 6 CFR 67) has been
requested.
listed in the National Register
- previously determined eligible by the National Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
- recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey d
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Record A
- previously
Primary Location of Additional Data
State Historic Preservation Office
- Other Stace agency
- Federal agency
- Local uovernment
- Universit-:- Other
Name of reposlccry:
-X-
Acreage of Property
-3.25-0.5-
UTM References :Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eastlng Northing
1
17
-
665380
4159860
Zone Easting Northlng
3
-
-
. . .-
p~
.
-
See continuation sheet.
Verbai Soundar.:. Descristion
contlnuatlon sneer.i
Boundary Justlficatlon
concinl:atlo:1 7 h s e ~!.
(Describe the boundaries
(Explain why
the
boundaries
2f
che property on a
,were selected
on
a
USDIINPS NRHP Reglstratlon Form
Bear Mountaln Indlan Mlsslon School
.-erst
Councy. 'Jlrglnla
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
11. Form Prepared By
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
name,title-:,Tartin
street
2
number-105
C. ?erdue
King William ~ r l v e
city or town-Wllllamsburg
telephone-7557)
221-7202-
state-VA- zlp code -23188-1920-
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
Adcltionai Documentation
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
Subnut the following items with the complered form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map 17.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
n sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage
or numerous resources.
Photagraphs
Representatlve black and white photographs of the property
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
(Conplete thls item at the request of the S3PO or FPO.)
name M o n a c a n Indian Tribal Association c 3 Phyllis iiicks
street
h.
number-P.
c1ry 3 r town
:13rroe
0. Box 112
telephone-1804) 929.6929state-5.JA_ :lp cziz -24574-
.- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-.-.-.- -.-.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-...- .- -.-.-.- .- -.-.-.-.- -.-.=.=. .=.=. . . . . . . . . .
---Paper:v'ork Reduction Act Statement: This rnformation 1- s2lr.g csllected for
appllcatlons to the Natlonal Register of Hlstoric Places t.3 :2ominare properties
for ::sting
o r "etermlne eligibility for ::sting,
to list ?ropersies, and to
amend exlstlng listings. Response to this request is requllxc ro 3uta.m a benefit
in acc-rdance .dlth the National Historic Preservation Act. ,is amended (16 U.S.C.
47C it seq.i
Esc::nated Bur.den Statement: Public rewortlnq
fcrm is estimated
- burden fsr SI.'.:
to a:-erage 18.1 hours per response including the time for revlewlng instructions,
gat5,ering and maintaining data, and completing and rexriewlng the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect c; ti-s for- :o the Chief,
Adrn~n~stratir? Services Division, National Park Servl-e. P . O . Sox 37127,
Washington, 33 L3013-7127; and the Office sf Management .,nu 9..:dget, Paperwork
Reductions Plo]ec~ (1024-0018i,Washingtcn. DC 20503.
NPS Torm 1 0 - 9 2 0 - a
OMB NO. 1024-0018
(8-861
Unrtea States 3spar~mentof the Interlor
Nat~cnalPark Ser-rice
NAT CNAL REGISTER CF HISTORIC PLACES
CONlINUATION CXEET
Sectlan
-~
-
age
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School
.:.:?herst County, -;-.rgln;a
-1-
Architectural Description
The Bear [flour-tainIndian Mission School is a single-story, one-room,
horizontal icc hililiing.
It is situated about 4 miles from the town of
Amherst, Virginia, on Route 643 (Xenmore Road) in the rural foothills along
the southeastern base of Bear Mountain.
The original mission, consisting of
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church and the misslan workers' house, occupies a
quarter-acre plot defined by Route 643 and two converging branches 3f Falling
The school building and a newer concrete-block school annex are
Rock Creek.
locatsd on a narrozi wedge of land between Falling Rock Creek and Roi!te 780
(Indlzn l4iss:zn
Rcaii.
&out
2D
yards soutkdest of the church, a large
concrecs-blo:.: bull-lng was recently built ;s the Parlsh IIall and Monacan
Indian T r ~ b a lLssoclation Center.
tc
onL? ar.ot12.?: 111
hllis an
t!~e
5:.
3sc
All five buildings are in closz proximity
area of something less than an acr%
:~lrrcu::ied by wooded
:-.orth,and east, and EleAds to the s o u m
-3.cross :he creek, west of the mission school, lies saint Paul's
Epis:~pzl
2uilt for the mission, tl:e church ~ 3 ,.s zsccann.ular wood
C':I::;:~.
palxred white with a hint of gothic detailing in triangular
frame k1.:1lc1::::
lights abo\-e ::ne e;sr
side :.ere al;:
was f e d
:
was
8
e. t
+.
;:e:<
:-::la:.
:
The three windows in che north
r z c ~ e dwlth triangular arches. A small dl,itnond shaped window
.:-
serve6 2s a
and the east window.
:
1
the yzanite a s r .
of the east gable ana above this a : . sx-r?sc :all
According to Peter 1iou;~'s histor:/
~
3
cross
the Monacans, it
f
slxty-two feet, was underpinned with fleld stone down to
It would hold two hundred people."- Thls churc-. and the
Peter Xouck, Indian Island in Amherst County (Lynchburg, Tla.: Lynchburg
Histor~calResearck. Company, 1984): 95.
NPS Form 1 C -
C - i
(8-861
Unlted Statss Jeparrment of the Interior
National Parj-:Service
NATIONAL REGIZTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATICX I i E E T
page
Section
Bear Mountain Indlan Mission school
Amherst County, -::rginla
-2-
adjacent hcuse far mission workers, are contributing resources since they were
built during :he period of significance.
The original chnrch caught fire in
the wlnter of 1930 and was completely destroyed, taklng w:~n
mission house.
it the nearby
The church was immediately rebuilt and the mission workers'
house was repiaced shortly thereafter, presumably within txo or three years
after the f;zc?.
The church, as it appears now, is quite similar In form and style to the
original strcc:-.-e.
It is a long, wood frame building wit.? a gable roof
covered wlth aschalt or composite shingles.
doors
the west gable end.
center?:^ 1:;
The entrance is through double
Above the doors is a ~rlangulartransom
:
:
:
a
.
and a gabls5 .
Over this hood a circular window, zbour three feet in
diameter, tai :-::en
the place of the diamond-shaped openlnq of the original
church. The 15s: gable end is lit with three tall, narrow, pointed arch
.'::
windows.
vestibule.
::
s
:I
north corner of the east snd is a small, ~ ~ b lroofed
s
1;
lit with an arched window in the east ;ri.
door ro the --+sr:bule is in h e north side .and, in ketpl!:.:
The minister's
.:;L~!I
r:lr vernacular
gothlc detall-::=, it is also Lopped with a small triangular transom.
The c:-.+r:-~c m:sslon
dwel1:r.g
workers' house 1s a small L-piax, vooc trame
~-s~r:::c: on a concrete block foundation.
It
1s
sheathed illth
horizonral ::zc- sldlng and the gable roof is covered wlth isphalt or composite
shinglss.
2.. +::closed porch :?as been added to the norrhea:;:
the hcuse ,I:
;mar?
to the
SOUL!:
::~de tnd parts Of
::-en resheathed with modern synthetic :xat;.r:ils
::zent
school building, also
:f :he
log school.
?,
sontribuclng resource, was built
This building appears to .late from the 1930s.
Is a plain ;ra:ne building, sheathed in weatherboard, with a standing-seam
NPS Form 10-q00-a
3MB No. 1024-0018
18-861
Unlted Staces Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF XISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIO?J SHEET
Bear Mountaln Zndlan Mlsslon School
Amherst County, .:lrginra
metal roof
The plan of the log mission school house measures 17'2" by 19'1".
carried on a low stone foundation. The walls are abou:
5 to 6 inches thick
The logs have been hewn flat on
and appear to be constructed of pine logs.
the inside and outside surfaces and are joined at the corners with "V"
notches.
The Interstices, or spaces between the logs, are filled with a mud
and lime chinking.
repairs.
Some of the mortar appears to have been added during later
The walls are painted white, presumably over earlier coats of
?here are a number of places where planks have been nailed over
whitewash.
the logs, apparently co.JerIng areas of decay and repall
The gable roof is
covered wlth standing-seam metal over boards supportea b : ~ elght rafters.
There 1s no ridge pole; however, the rafters appear ts oe railed together.
The maln faczds of the school faces east onto Route 7 8 0 !Indian Mission Road)
The door is roughly in the center of this wall with a .,nndowon e ~ t h e rside.
Both wlndows fire slx-over-slx double-hung sash.
and t.riln ar? i i l painted gray.
643 (Kenmorc ?;ad).
The north tficade is
The center of this wai:
sir double-l1u::g sash.
The noor and wlndow frames
;
,
features
To the east of this window is
5
concrete-bloci: flue chat presumably replaced an earll.::
. x b l ? e!;d
facing Route
; ilndow,
,also six-over-
L--:rich-square
I'l.~e
ar scove-pipe.
The .Jest slde faces Saint Paul's Episcopal church and is also lit by only One
window, of
2::;
directl:; oc
r
fenestration
-,:.:er-s~:.: double-hung sash.
The foundar:3n :lnder this wall lies
i.?~gegranite outcrop above Falling Roc.: :reek.
3:
:
gives access :
The
t!le south end of the log pen is a sincle ce:ltlril door that
LL
smali storage area.
Attached to the s o c ~ hend of the log
schoolhouse :s a frame addition consisting of a storaoe room and an open
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Unlzsd States Department of the In:erlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATI3NAL P E G i S T E ? OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTIIJJATION SHEZT
SecL;on
porcn.
--
-
Page
-4-
Bear Mounta1;l Ins-an :.ilssion School
,mnersc Cou-cy, ':~ralnla
Thls wlng is sald to have Deen addea by Arthur Gray in 1908.
The
interior walls of the log schoolhouse have been refinished wlth modern
sheerrock p a ~ n t e da light hlue-green. The floor is l3id wick 2 " planking.
The low celllng is covered with board and batten, with the strips running
parallel to the ridge.
Cn either side of the door in the south end there are
slates and a blackboard.
NPS ?orm 1 ; i0-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-861
Unlzed Stacsz Department of the Interior
Natlonal ?a:-=: Service
NATIONAL REZISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIC:: -2XEET
Sect~on i
Page
,-
-5-
Bear Mountain Indian ;.lisslonSchool
,Amherst :3unty, 'iirginia
Statement of Significance
Bear '::,~ntalr. and its vicinity is regarded b:i the Vonacans as their
historica;, rscial, and spiritual center; one which has been occupled by them
he
since prehistory.'
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School is one of the few
sur>:iving nlrsion schools for Native Americans in 'Jirginia and it is unique
for its assz.::ation
with the Monacan people.
It is an artifact of an era of
segregated public education following Reconstruction in the South.
For these
reasons, t k . 2 sear Mountain Indian Mission School is considered significant at
the local 15--21as regards National Register Criterion A for ethnic history as
Historical 3ackground
When :..z~peancolonists first set tosc in North .America the Monacans
lived thrc..:-:-.sutmuch of the mountains and upper ~ i e d m o n taf Virginia.
Acczrding r : :eter Houck they were linguist~callyaffiliatci ..clth SIOUX from
the 2hic . - . i ? y .
They were primarily hunters and z=Taulc i r :::e sense that
the;- peri;?.'
moved their villages according t3 the a-.r,?llabilit.fof game.
They- often :t:zied
the tall
The Monacans practiced some agriculture, but not to the extent
:I:-.-
of :swharsr.
along the branches and tributaries of pledmont rlvers above
ilqonquins to the east.
The influence sf co:z111::ing Suropeans
was ;ncreas::~.qiy
telt by the Monacans in tnr iate seventeenti: century.
mosr slgr.:5:rint
result came indirectly, t!~rough escaiat~l~.:r i ~ d s13).
The
the
' A :.?:qooa, recent work on the prei~istoricand contact era Monacans is
Jeffrey L. X-ntman, "Between Powhatan an3 Quirank:
Reconstructing Monacan
CulSure and :-::story in the Context of Jamestown," American Anthropologist 92, No.
3 {Septernbez 1990) : 676-690.
NPS Form 10-330-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
Unlted States Department of rhe Interior
Natlonal P a r - Servlce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC ?LACES
CONTINUATIO?! 2ilEET
s
Section
page
-p
Iroquois fr-1 ~ h e
norch.
-6-
Erar Mountaln Indian I4ission School
Amherst County, .lirginia
The Iroquois were in part also reactlng to the
pressures of sxpandlng whlte settlement. According to Houck:
Somet::-:r after 1671, rhe Tutelos and Saponis were drl-?en south by the
Iroquols to join their Monacan kin, the Ocaneechis, who camped on an
island . . . at the confluence of the Dan and Staunton rivers near
Clarksvllle. This group was later forced into North Carolina, where
they had a testy relationship with the neighboring Tuscarora. After ten
years zf constant agitation, the Saponis, a name the English now applied
col1ecz;vely to all Monacans, returned north to Virglnia to be given
protection by the whites at Fort Christiana in Brunswick County. But
furthey ieterioration in cultural relationships led to the hanging of
one of :he chiefs. They thus made a reluctant peace wlth their hated
enemy, :he Iroquois, and joined them in Pennsylvania as their Sixth
Nation
During the .;-??-isanRevolutior., the Monacans, along xlth tile ,:tiler Iroquois
nations, ~-.?z:;ated to Canada.
in 1871.
a Tutelo, ii;:.<
Soc
It is beiie-?i that the last ,-cf these Monacans,
sf the Monacans ended up in Canada.
L t - l
A handful remained behind
in the -:;cl::-=-.-. ~ fEear I.lountaln In Amherst County. For 3.'er
:li:;.s
Monacans a::S
Incorporate5 z
James Tlver
1391 Eethel '<as located 2c :he
:3o!;t.
3:
mouth :f SAL: Cr?ek on the
;?as MOunSJln
By the ild-nineteenth entury
1
:
and the d?c-l:e
-in ... . .:
:I:
site of an
-T.?
ccns1;ted
tavern, s t c ~ e f?rry, a few houses, and faslllties for
water transrz-:.
century
lnterrarrzed and li-.ec c~gether5 : : the --=c~::;t>,
of Bethel.
. 2ut seven :rilles southwest
early tradl:::
3
af a mill,
preparing
tobacco for
The town disappeared with the advent of Fallroad shipping
st the Kana.dha Canal
=-doMonacan slsters had a do,~bleweddlxg ;n Eethel; Nancy Evans
iild Molly Z'rans to William .Jshns. In 1833 ::~lllam Johns
to Ned Srar.b.=.--:,
' Peter :suck, I n d i a n I s l a n d i n Amherst C o u n t y ILynchburg, ':a.:
Historical ?.?search Company, 1984) 27-28.
Lynchburg
NPS Form 10-"00-a
(8-86)
JMB No. ;024-0018
United Staces Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATIOli SHEET
Section
3
Page
-
Bear Mountaln :ndian Mission School
.Amherst Court:., -:irginia
-7p
bought 400 acres on Bear Mountain where he moved with his wife, four sons, and
father-in-law. This tract, which was referred to as che 'Johns Settlement,'
became the refuge of Monacan descendants with such famlly names as:
Evans, Branham, Redcross, and Beverly.
Johns,
When Will Johns died in 1856 the tract
was subdivided among his sons and heirs.
By the end of the nineteenth century
much of the tract had been sold or lost "through failcre to pay property taxes
and exploitation by land-hungry neighbors.""
In the segregated, racially hierarchical society of the South during the
nineteenth-century Natlve Americans suffered various forms of discrimination.
According ts Ylrginia law passed in 1823 the product of Natlve American and
white marrzacqes, as well as the children of white and dfrlcan-American unions,
were labellid "mulattoes." In other words, Native Atr+ri,zan descendants were
legally den2.d
claim to their heritage as
i
distinct -rasp.
Dr. ?lalter A.
Plecker, the zlrst regls-rar of the Vlrglnla State Bl.reau ot Vltal Statistics,
promoted 1egl;latlon wnlch dld further harm to Natlve Arnerlcans.
In 1924 he
helped drarc rhe l?lrgin:a
Racial Integrity Law which :-ad, In
!
;
,
shall be u:-._,iwEul for a
white person in thls State rs marry save a white
UJL~C,
that "It
person, cr a pel-son with no other admixture of blood :ran white or American
Indian.
For .:he
purposes cf this act, the term 'whiz.: uzrsor.' shall apply
only to t h e :,erson who ?.as no trace whatsoa-..,er of an:- ~ I a o aother than
Caucasian; 2~.:- persons .;;nohave one-sixteenth or less ;f
tlle
blood of an
Petel- 3ouck. Indian Island in Amherst County (Ll-nchhurg,"a,: Lynchburg
Historical 'rsearch Coxeany, 1994) 54.
See Helen Rountree, The Powhatan Indians of Virginia (Norman, Ok.:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1989); and Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amberst
County (Lynchburg, V a . : Lynchburg Historical Researc?. Csmpan:#, 1984).
NPS Form 10-900-a
IMB
Na.
1324-0018
(8-86)
Unlted States Department of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL F.EGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Secrion
-_
8
Page
Bear Mountaln Inalan ;llsslon School
.:,nherst County, .:lrginla
-8-
American Indian.". Plecker compiled lists of surnames of fimliies judged to
be non-white. In 1934 his list to Amherst County of ;?eople
-2 r e
banned from
whice facliities lncluaed the names of Jonr.s, Branhan~,Hici,:c, :;a:n;iton, and
In the vicinity of Bear Mountain there were descendants of Momcam
Adcox.
who were "phenotypically white . . . who wanted to be identified as white, and
there were also pnenotypic Indians who were proud of their Indlan pedigree."'
Plecker's legislation denied the heritage of both groups.
He clalmed that
there .were no descendants of Native Americans in Virginia wl~hou: AfricanAmerican blood, thus they were all classified as "mulattoes." %ether
considered themselves white or Monacan, th? descendants cf ti:=.
they
.;shns
setclement d % ~ elegally defined as mulat~s
There was llttle or no access for these people to schools and churches
in :he
late 11i:leteenth and early tj;entiet.i centuries, Some, .-ncsename or
appearance qualified them as 'white,' caul- attend whzte .sc:-.?ols and colleges,
but this meant denying their Monacan anccsrry.
thac :he),
J i d not belong in the schools sz7an:zed
At tk? Sam% c ~ n e ,others felt
for .-!f-~c-:~:-.:.-r~cans. The
:.-:I-.-,ity, both
early t:<enrleth century was also a time zf ~ z t e n s emlzsiz:7a~-..
donest-c azd international.
Missionaries sfcen filled a gap
im~averisnedand diseni-anchised overlooeec or neglecced
assisting the
1-
h>!. I a x s
and public
inszlt,~t~o::s. In 1907 a few well-meaning :-esldentscf Am;:ersz Czunty, John J.
Ambier III, ,:apta:n
Edgar Whitehead, and
I;.?...
.
Arthur :Fa-.-:.I,--.--.- .:em, decided
2s ouo-ed 1:: Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst County
Lycchburg Historical Research Company, 1533-r 7 3 .
::::..chburg,
- Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst C o u n t y (L:;nchburg,
His~orlcalResearch Company. 1984) 73-74.
a
:
Va. :
Lynchburg
NP5 Form 1C-900-a
3MB No. 1024-0018
18-86)
Unltea Statss Department of the Interlor
Natlonai Parx Ser:,lce
NATIONAL ZZZISTE?. 3F HISTORIC PLACES
CONrINUATI??? SHEZT
Sec':ion -3-
Page
Eea- Mountaln Indian Mlssion School
Amherst County, vlrginia
9 -
to build an Episcopal mission for the Monacan Indians of the Johns Settlement
on Bear Mnz:lzaln.
A young oraduate of tb.e -2niversit.~,f
'lil-qlnla,Arthur Gray
J r . , was o?rsuaded by his father to operace the mlsslrn.
3n January 1, 1908,
Ambler, with Eiisha Willis, William Adcox, and Richard Lawiess, acquired a
It was a smal; triangular lot
quarter-acrs parcei of land for the mission.
bounded on the north by Route 643 and on the east and west by the confluence
of two tributaries of Falling Rock Creek.
Later that year, member:: of the
Bear Mounraln Monacan community, together with Arthur Gray, m i l t the Saint
Paul's Mlsslon c h ~ r c hon a large rock outcl-cpping betxeen the two creeks.
was also
19,J8 =hat Gray, .#ith the ald f:
;:.
extansi;::
the Monacans, nddcd t.he frame
rile .:chooll~ouse. Gray secur-6
:;
It
teacher ind
i
csaconess and the
work ci ti?? -:issics began in earnest
The -:?-room log mlsslon school had ~rportedlyoccup~edits srte for
forry !:?arc
-rior
of lonstr1:~::on
bu1idi::q : . ;
people
:::
-3
the advent of the mission.'
to about 1868.
In additlzr ro functl=:11:-~q
.;s a school, the
1se6 as a meetinghouse.
r:.?
This would place its date
It
.:.?<:
coo snail
.ccasior.:;,v11s1:--."a;.
ant
preachers ' s
cczciaczli~gservrces, people .could fii:
iti wir:ao:-::
.
. - aisund it ~,;tslde. :::::i
ZL-
were prc-lczc 3 y :.?e
basis.
Ti-.:s-gh h;s
r!;e
::ma:i school-house,
Arthul :ri?.- ,~:.-:id, teachers
councy sporadically, end sometimes cnl.:, 3n
successful
persuasion
riy 350
.-.._A
;.c!n-unlcy ~t srl.r-sc',. On
;:lc
+--I.
.-;-=
...- 7.....
7.:3
and lobbying
to seccl.? --cendable teachers fcr che sce.3: 1 .
part-time
eft?^-t~, ;ray
The schioi i,::l;cilng
. .
lay outsla? rhe boundaries of the missior. r:r.ril July, 1924 .when
CI
managed
actually
deed was
Peter Houck, Indian Island in Amherst county !Lynchburg, ':a.:
Historical 'ssearc3 Company, 19841: 87.
Lynchburg
NPS Form 10-900-a
,MB iic
L334-0018
(8-861
United Stacss :rpartRent
National ?ark zervice
of rhe Interior
NATIONAL REGISTER OF XISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATICN S:SZET
Section
5,-
Page
Zear Mounts::: Inaian :"<issionSchool
. .
.-~m?srst
co.,::.~:.,-:rgl:lia
_LO_
made conveying rle scnool tract to the misslon trustess, perhaps in response
to the
~~~~~~~~~a
Raclal Integrity Law.
This ;;as the f:rsr
was mentioned In the ~ e e ab o o ~ s ,and it was :aguely n.:teci
time
that the school
z-at it had "been
used for a number of years by the School Board of Amherst for a school."
The
school building and property belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern
Virglnla: w e e s the teachers were, at least in the later years, employees
of the courcy school board.
This arrangement suffices to p r o v ~ d eeducation to
members of Ehe aear Mountain Monacan communlcy for nearly a century.
The
little school finally closed its doors in 1964 when Integration laws made it
obsolete.
Xh:ls
the nlssion school may represent a p a ~ n r x ; ,
rsclst
past it is
also rega~asd=.s a s,:cbol
of community, cer:traiity, a : ::nesion
who were ;c-nclei there.
Apart from the rebuilt chur:.!?.,?ni mlsslon house, it
is also
:
s
sur.::.:ing
remnant of arch;~.::tural
by the people
i: rl-.I.-:?..~,hlc.l:
can be
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
3ME N o .
1024-0018
United States Department cf the Interlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL ZEGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
3-
Page
-11-
Bear Mounta::l
I;idian Mission School
Amherst Court)-, .'~rgin~a
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Deed dated January 1, 1908.
Virginia.
Deed dated July 19, 1924.
Deed Book 9 3 , p. 373.
Deed dated october 25, 1928.
Deed dated May 8 , 1945.
Deed Book 6 0 , pp. 302-303.
Deed dated October 2 3 , 1951.
Vlrglnla
Amherst County, 'Jirginia.
Deed Book 97, p. 255.
Deed Book 126, p. 185.
.Antherst County,
knherst County, Virginia
Amherst County, Virginia.
Deed Book 154, pp. 492-413
Amherst COUnty,
Monacan and Native American History and Prehistory:
Bushnell, cavid I . , Jr. "'The Indian Grave'--AMonacan Sits in Albemarle
County, 'jirginla." William and Mary Quarterly - 2 , Ns. 2 , ser. 1
iOcrcber, 1914) : 106-112.
Bushnell, C a v ~ dI . , Jr. "The Native Tribes of Virgini3." Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography 3 0 , No. 2 p r , 1922 : l L 3 - 1 3 2 .
Bushneli, David I . , Jr. "The Indian Inhabitants of the Valley of Virginia."
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 34, 1 : . -1 ,iOctober. 1926):
295-298,
Cohen, 3a-.-13 Steven. Folk Legacies Revisited. New ; I
, :
Rutgers
Unl...
,c~slty
. .
Press, 1995. See Chapter I , "Emergz::~!:it~ve m e r i c a n Groups
In New J e r s e y , ?p. 13-30.
constructing Monacan
Hantman, Jeffrey L. "5etween Powhatan and Quirank:
Cult:!re and Hiszory in the Context of Jamestown. ' American
Anthropologist 92, No. 3 (September, 1990): 6 7 6 - - 5 9 2 .
H o u c ~ ,Pet?-. Indian Island in Amherst County.
Historical Research Company, 1984.
McL%Ro:,', :;l-lerrle,and :!illiam McLeRoy.
County. 1977.
Passages:
Lynci-.~ul-g,
I.',?.
:
A
History of Amherst
Pugiisi. Mary .an. "Monacans Return to Natural Bridqe
CRM 1 3 , No. 4 :1445i: 18-19.
Rountree, Helen. The Powhaean Indians of Virginia.
of Oklahoma Press. 1989.
Lynchburg
:-rr;t
:..nnual POWWOW."
:;arman, Ok.: University
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
IMB No. 1c24-0018
Unlted States Department of the Iz-erlor
Natlonal Park Servlce
NATIONAL P-EGISTER ?F HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINEATIGN SHEET
Section
-9-
Page
-12-
Eear Mounta~ni:lllai; :i;ssion
m n e r s t CourEy, .lraixla
School
Schoolhouses and Education:
Gulliford. .Andrew. America's Country Schoois.
Preservation Press, 1984.
;iashinc~~rcn,
T.C.:
Heath, Kingston. "A Dying Herirage: One-Room Schools of Gallatln County,
Montana." Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. Camille Wells, ed.
.mnapolis, Md. : Vernacular Architecture Forum, 1982. Pp. 201-216.
Link, !.iiiliam A . A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and
Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870-1920. The Fred P I . i4orrison Series in
Southern Studies. Chapel Bill, NC: University of Nortn Carolina Press,
1986.
A
Select Listing on Log Architecture:
Carter, Thomas. "The Joel Cock House: 1885, Meadows ~i Can, Patrick County,
Vlrglnla." Southern Folklore Quarterly 39, No. I December, 1975):
329-i40.
Cooper, Patrlcia Irvin. "Tennessee Places--Cabins anc Deerskins: Log
auilding and the Charles Town Indian Trade." Tennessee Historical
Quarterly 5 3 , No. 4 (Winter, 1994) : 272-279.
Glassle, Henry. "The Smaller Octb~lldingss f the Sourkey-n :.!c;::lta=!ls.
Mountain Life and Work 40. a . 1 (Spring, 2.9641 : 2 1 - 2 5 ,
'I
Glassie, Henry. 'The T n e s of the Southerr Mountain ,Cabin.''The Study of
American Folklore: An Introduction. 2an B a r o i B~u:~::a:lc'. . -5d. New
.r.or::. I J Y : ;:.ti. ?:orton & :;-?any,
Inc., I?68. .?Pc:?oL:: . ~ ' .1.2. 338-370.
Hutslar, Zcnald 2 . The Architecture of Migration: Log Construction in the
Ohio Country, 1750-1850. .:.:hens,
Oh. . Ohio Un:.ers:c?.
?1.;.ss,
1986.
Hutslar, Ccnala %: .
The Log Architecture of Ohio.
Bistcrlcal Sociefy, 1972.
C c l ~ m b u s ,a h . :
Jeffers, Jaci.:. "Cabins in the 3l;e Ridge: R Photographic Essa:..'
Cavalcade 24. No. 3 IWin~er,1975): 116-123.
Ohio
Virginia
Jordan, Terry G .
"Alplne, Alemannic, and i.merican Log Arci:~tecrure." Annals
of the Association of American Geographers 70, >:o. 2 :June, 1980):
154-180.
Jordan, Terry G. American Log Buildings: An Old Worid Heritage.
Hill, NC: Unlversity of North Carolina Press, -385.
Chapel
:.
NPS Form
(8-86)
2
U n i t e c i t a : ? r 'epartment
N a t i o n a i 7 : . Service
NAT::OS.L.L .:.I :IS"ER '
0
CONYIKUTI:::
SIqEET
s e c t ic::
~-
-~
Jordan,
of
zh.e
No.
1:;-0018
Interior
IIISTORIC PLACES
?age
153i Mo-z~a;n I n d i a n P l l s s ~ o nS c h o o l
.~-.mherst :ZUI?:~.
.J:zqinia
-:3-
; L o g Corner-Timberlng
10761 : 8 - 1 8
-:%>-:.-
ar:.:..
.-
.
?::-a
1:l
'Texas.
P i o n e e r America 8 , No. 1
J o r d a n , :-rr-. :,I l o r a v l a n . S c h w e n k f e l d e r . and A-er:-:~n L.og <I;:-.;tzuction."
P e n n s y l v a n i a F o l k l i f e 3 3 , No. 3 (Spring, 15241 : j8-121.
Jordan, '
.
Unl-:eri:zy
T e x a s Log B u i l d i n g s :
of T e x a s P r e s s , 1 9 7 8 .
A Folk A r c h i t e c t u r e .
AusKln, T x . :
J o r d a n . :?I:~:-J . , a n d MaKti Kaups.
The American Backwoods F r o n t i e r :
An
E t h n i c and E c o l o g i c a l I n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
Ba1t;more. I.ld.: ,Johns Hopkins
Tress ~ 3 8 9 .
J o r d a r , ':+LL-:
:. , M a t t i Kaups a n d R i c h a r d I . L i e f = z r ; .
"'-. . - w ~ \ - _ ; 1 e c c eon t h e
S u : c r + i n O r i g i n of P e n n s y l v a n i a V N o t c h i n g . "
Pennsylvania F o l k l i f e 3 6 ,
.... . .:..:tumn, 1986) : 20.31.
.,.,
- -. 1.
. ..
:
.~
. ,., ~. .
iff^ :..,
-
I. . :
Kniffe:..
-. 'T:;ne
L9hi;j
Ja::.. .
Lc.wls.
~
..I. .~
~
~
P i o n e e r America
1 , Nc. I . J a n u a r y ,
.: .
:
.:'I-G6
N . . ec.
Cl1erol:ee
. , :, 6L
- -~
0-6
~
1.
.. ,.,. ....
.
'
H.?nr..- C - L a s s l e .
"Buildl::7 111 Woci n
: tn.2 East.??:-. S n i t e d
- > l a c e 2erspeczive. "
Geographical Review
No. 1
: : I
.
.
.
O n Corner-Timbering.
I ~ d .
~
-
'
Log :'iillns. '
Tennessee A r c h a e o l o g i s t 7 .
. :-.1. ~ '.L c q a u l l d l n g s I:; Lhe 'jail-:;' of ~ : ~ z g : : . . ~ ~ Roanoke V a l l e y
X l s t o r z c a l S o c i e t y 8 . No. 1 ::?711 :
.;-3:.
Mart~:-
~
.
..
~
.. .- ... .
.. . . ..
~...
~~
.
Nabokc-:.
,
.... .
..
'
"Alkbama-Cousnat:a
Bu1li:ngs.''
B u ~ l tI n T e x a s .
Francls
., :<:.
P ~ . l i : l l c a t i o n s 5 zile T % n , i .
.
.
: l e t y Number
i - i i e a x t ?rpss, i 5 - i . .
?p. ::I:i
. -, l e -.., , . .
..
-.;
..
,.
.-r2.:
.
~.~:
,/..
rob err.^
.
z * r : ~ -.i~?I I I . ~ L - ~ ci ~o ~a : .. . Iilnter:.%ur P o r t f o l i o 2 1 , Xo. -1 il.:ii:r=:-,
~
Roberts. .
~
3zw York.
i:ld ?.obert X a s t o n .
N a t i v e American A r c h i t e c t u r e
E'lress, 1983
... -.
~,I:I..'%L-S:~;,-
~.
... .,,
2 .
1985
.
:
.
,,,.
.;i
.7-1
Log B u i l d i n g s o f S o u t h e r n I n d i a n a .
1984
;.~,
::..
.ioon,-..-.. .-
..
Indiana.
"
.n. :
. ~ --.. .- - =.. ~ >re:;s,
~
~
Weslac;?:
.
.
?rese.?r.
I 2..
The Log Cabin i n America:
From P i o n e e r Days t o t h e
New B r u n s w l c k , N J :
R u t g e r c U n i v e r s l t 2 1 % ~ I?".
~ .
.. Weslagel,
.LA.
"Log Houses i n Virg1::la Dur:-g
:!I€ Sever.L;ei?~h C e n t u r y . "
Q u a r t e r l y B u l l e t i n o f t h e A r c h a e o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i r g i n i a 9 , No. 2
~
.
?
--I
Z ~ 8 .
NPS Form -:-
1: 3 -
;.I9
A
Nc.
'
:-0018
(8-86)
United ;t:+,
Nationa;
.,?a~~rm?nr ?:,
~F.Y.:
NATIONAL :t!'315:S9
CONTINUATI?:: :'.:EST
Secticn
-
p~
Willis, Starie;:.
Constr.:.z::or.
.
Wonders, .:.
-1.:-
Inter-o:
i+sx:~c:e
10"
HIST0P.I:
'age
- .
_---_
PLACES
[:ear Mounta..n I:idlar. ibllsslon School
.:mhe:-st 2 . : : : J::_g;n;a
Houses in Southwest Virginla: :ools Used in Their
' V i r g i n i a Cavalcade 21, N o , 4 (S;;~.:ng, 11721 : 3 6 - 4 7 .
'L3g
.:.::I
C . L ~ ? ? Z-::slilngs in Ci::zdlan i'ol::
:c I
.. '
AnJIals of
.
.
the Association of A m e r i c a n Geographers 6 9 , :;3. . d u : : ~ ,
'91 : 187-207.
~
NPS Form 1:-900-a
(8-86)
3MB No. 1324-0018
United Statss Deparnmenr of the Interlor
Natlonai lark Servlce
NATIONAL ?~EGISTEROF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINU>.T;'I:.:; SXEET
Section
L O-
Page
Bear Mountain Indlan i.llssion School
Amherst County, 7irglnia
-15-
..............................................................................
_-____---------------_----------------------------c--------------------------Verbal Boundary Description.
The nominated property consists of a triangular plot sf about 0,;s to 0.5
acres accsrdlng to Amherst County, Virginia, Deed Book 60, pp. i0:-303
amended in Deed Book 93. p. 373.
and
The eastern boundary begins at the
intersection of Route 643 (Kenmore Road1 and Route 7 R C :Indian Mission Road--
formerly Coleman Road) and proceeds south along Route 780 for a length of 217
feet.
At this point the boundary continues for a distance of 136 feet
northwest
the intersection of the wesLern fork of Falling Rocii Creek and
tcl
Route 643.
From here the northern boundary follows Ronte 643 east for about
190 feet r 3 z t a !stJ.rt~ngpoint at the intersection wirh Koute 7 3 0
Boundary Justification.
The Monaci;? Indian Tribal .'issociation now owns the se--?nacres sf Land
surroundirq the tnission on the south and Fast and are soon to be ceded the
Bear Ilour!tal!l
Zndian Mission School building by the Ec~scopalDlDcese of
Southuesrer? ' : ~ r g ~ : ? . ~ aXowever,
.
the 0.2: to 0 . 5 acre nropeit:
Sect1011 1 3 .
proper;;.
7.3
_ ~ - b a L3ou::dary
.
I
the sc:..s:,i
':;1-,
:;A:
.
i
;as firs: defined for the rhurch and 1::;slo:l
(Amherst :;l::t;, '::.;glr-:a,
1924
Description," represenns
-ci;ng
Deed Book 60, pp. 332-303'
'::rglnia,
Deed Book 93, p. 3731
s
I:I
~s!I*
:a
lescribed in
: lnlssion
.,;r.uary 1, 1908
.'::1*?::ci?m
in July 19,
ret~ci:r;-:ely
include
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Unnlted States Department of the :nterlor
Natlonal ?ark Ser-::ce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PL.LCES
CONTIIUZTATIO1J SHEET
Secrion
~hotc
Page
1
6
Sear Xountal:; a : :
sslon School
, ~ -...-.. x.
-~nersc
Counry,
A11 photograpns are of:
Bear Mountain Indian Mission School and Vicinity
.Xmhers~County, -;irglnia
VDHR File Number: 0 5 - 2 3 0
PhoLographed by Martin C. Perdue in September,
All negatives are stored with the Department of Historic Resources collection
at the Virqlnia Staze Library and Archives.
VIEW OF: mission school srte. The
new mlssion school building is to
the iefc (south) and the mission
worker's house and church are seen
on the right (west);view looking
south-:+st.
-NEG. : : 5 : :482-~--,
P H O T I O F 16
VIEW C F :
east, :?aln, elevation;
view iooking southwest.
NEG. 0 . : I : 8 L 7 1 2
PHOTZ 2 0-r .'i
VIEV CF: east, .-laln,elevation:
vie:..;
:.coi:lng ;c,.lch:n,est
NEG. :3.:
l4819-33
PHOTO : OF lG
I .
.;;uc!: ;;:;ie
end wlth _J3!ls
frar,% OO~C?.~ n d
stnrase room: vie.^
look::-.q n c r t h ~ . ~ ~ e s r
NEG. IT'3. : L4827-5
PHOTZ 4 CP i ::
VIEW OF: west e1evat:sn of mission
schooi; view l o o ~ i s c--st.
NEG. NO.: 1*827-32
PHOTO 7 OF 15
VIEW OF: interior of ::~lssion
school; vie,.,.looking szuth.
NEG. NO.: 14829-1e
PHOTO 8 OF 1 VIEW OF: i:izerior '.era11 of roof
Eratnins in -.le ,.iss:
::: ::hool.
11~i.1OF: :$.+ste~el:ilz::::,
detail of
,window;viei lco:,::nc --st
:JEG. NO. :
L839--.:
'
'
VIE:.; :?:
, + . i i : t . ':,::I,
.
.
vie:$ -ccb:i::c~
- ,:c::::.:>est
NEG. :;5.:
. . .> ,b-S-Y
PHOTC 5 3 F - 5
elevat~o~~:
VIE:.) ?F: n c r ~ hcjaule end of mlssion
school; 1
G
O
: southeast
NEG. :TO.: -4827-24
~ ~ 0 e,
7 07
3 -6
,I:.v
OF: w
e
:
nodern repa.:
:
:
!
l
s
l
:
:
:
:
:
pa:cil
over ~?te:-lil:ci=+.:
:csking easc.
:JEG. NO.: . 1 9 2 5 t i
5
' 11 OF , J
.
sf
F : :
.. -notch
:
~
PHOTO 12
O F I6
:
ri
.
, detail of
of a plank
logs; view
::%I-,
detail
view
NPS Form i C - 3 3 0 - 5
(8-86'8
United Statss Ee;zrrment
Nationai Par;: Ser--:ze
of the Interior
NNFIONZL 2.EC-ISTEZ - 7 HISTORIC Z:..3CES
COliTIWJATIC?J SXEET
Set,tion
P!:^~zo
?age
2
VIEW OF: mission school site from
Kenmare Road incl:"llng the west side
of the schcci anz :k.e eastern ;:ld of
S a i n ~Paul'z Zplszspal church in the
right ;n;ddle-jrs::.::
view iook;;lg
east.
NEG. NO.: 1 4 8 2 7 - 3 5
PHOTO 13 OF 16
VIEW OF: west gable end of Saint
Paul's Episcopal ciurch, note the
mission school in zne left
background; siew l2oking northeast
NEG. NO. : ; 4 @ 2 8 - E
PHOTO 14 OF 16
VIEW OF: n!l;s~c:-. :zhool slte. From
left t 3 ~193: '
:
a
:
;z.z seen: the
misslsIlt,.c:r:-;,:.*
.
se; a smali
bridge oxr?:- :
FOCI< Creek; Sear
Mouncsin :
:i
n zchool ; ind
the new miss:;:-,
i:.zol bulldlng;
view looklcq :-.,zr:r;ast.
PIEG. NO.: : L R 2 8 - Y
!'HOT0 ;5 OF I J
VIEW CF: .. - ..-..
._..,
.~
,..--le
- front of the
.
Parlsil Hal: :
a
Csnter; --lew
look~xqsou:-. n n r .n the nominated
area j
-.. ..
NEG. :.
:
PHC'r: .S :.'
~
Sear Mountaln Tndian klisslon School
Xmherst Cocncy. :':rglnii
BEAR MOUNTAIN INDIAN MISSION SCHOOL
Amherst, Virginia
Sketch Site Plan - Martin C. Perdue - September, 1994
Text
NPS Form 10-900
0MB
No. 1G24-0C18
;Rev. 10-90)
Vlf- &/g/0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
fJ fZJi-f ojII/v
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the
mform~lion requested.
If any item does not apply to the property being documen1ed, enler "NfN for "not applicable."
For functions, arc:hitect1..'fal
classification. materials. and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructiOns. Place additional entries and narraUve items
on cont:nuation sheets (Nf-'S Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, YIOl'd processor, or corrputer, to complete arr items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
other names/site number
Oak Lawn
Burford House· DHR file no. 005-5029
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state
Virginia
155 Winridge Drive
Madison Heights
code
VA
county Amherst
NIA not for publication
X vicinity
code
009
zip code
24572-6150
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under lhe National Histortc Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that lhis _x_ nomination _
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _x meets_
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant _
locally. ( _
nationally _
statewide
_x_
See continuatio sheet for additional comments.)
Da(e
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( _
See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other officialrTitle
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
__ determined not eligible for the National Register.
__ removed from the National Register.
other (explain): _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature of the K e e p e r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Date of Action
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property Category of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
X building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Contributing
2
0
0
0
2
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
Noncontributing
1
buildings
0
sites
0
structures
0
objects
1
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions)
Georgian
Greek Revival
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
walls
roof
other
Stone, Brick
Wood
Metal
Glass
Concrete
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying
the property for National Register listing.)
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
____ A Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
_X__ B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
_X__ C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of
a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
____ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past fifty years.
Period of Significance
Ca. 1810-1881
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
INDUSTRY
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Burford, Sylvester L.
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
___ preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National
Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
# ____________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
# ____________
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository:
____________________________________
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 6.181 acres
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663600 4149980
3
2
4
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
J. Daniel Pezzoni
Landmark Preservation Associates
6 Houston St.
Lexington
state VA
date
March 23, 2005
telephone
(540) 464-5315
zip code
24450
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
Richard B. and Janet H. Wills
street & number
704 Libbie Avenue
city or town
Richmond
state
telephone
Virginia
(804) 330-4204
zip code
23226
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to
nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is
required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for
reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden
estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC
20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
1
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Oak Lawn is a two-story frame house located at 155 Winridge Drive (SR 795) in western Amherst
County, Virginia. The house and its grounds, which are shaded by large oaks, stand near the crest
of a ridge at nearly 800 feet in elevation. The wooded east side of the 6.181-acre parcel on which
the house stands slopes down to the bed of the CSX Railroad, originally the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad constructed in the late 1850s. To the north of the house are views over a
modern subdivision to the valley of Harris Creek, a tributary of the James River, and Tobacco
Row Mountain, an outlier of the Blue Ridge.
The original section of the house dates to the first two decades of the nineteenth century and was
enlarged into the present house ca. 1857. The house has weatherboard siding, a metal-sheathed
gable roof, 6/6 windows, an entry with a transom and sidelights, a stone and brick foundation, and
four gable-end chimneys (two on each gable end). The two-room-deep center-passage-plan interior
has plaster wall and ceiling finishes, wood floors, Late Georgian and Greek Revival mantels, a
center-passage stair, and several doorways with crossetted surrounds. A latticed well house dating
to the late nineteenth century stands in a corner of the front yard and a modern shed stands to the
rear.
Inventory
1. Oak Lawn. Ca. 1810; ca. 1857. Contributing building.
2. Well house. Late 19th century. Contributing building.
3. Shed. Late 20th c. Noncontributing building.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
2
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
Exterior
The foundation is brick or fieldstone under different sections of the house with cinder block under
part of the rear shed. The foundation has been painted and parts of it appear to have been parged.
The four nineteenth century masonry chimneys with detached stacks were encased in concrete in the
early twentieth century and given large corbelled brick caps. The northeast chimney, which serves
the original section of the house, appears to have been lowered in height when the house was
remodeled ca. 1857. It is partially of stone construction. The roof has three glass globe and metal
lightning arrestors, half-round galvanized gutters, and full-round galvanized downspouts. The
mortise-and-tenon frame walls have weatherboard siding. Most of the weatherboards are plain edged
and probably date to the enlargement of the house ca. 1857. At least two boards at the south corner
of the east gable end appear to have beaded edges and may date to original construction in the early
nineteenth century (if so they were moved to their present position). The plain edged weatherboards
were painted gray originally or at an early date. Later paint layers and the present layer are white.
The six-over-six windows have nineteenth century louvered wood shutters. The southeast corner of
the house formerly had square casement windows with Craftsman three-light sash that were
probably added when the space inside was upgraded as a kitchen in the second quarter of the
twentieth century. The three-light windows were replaced with the present one-over-one doublehung sash windows as part of the present rehabilitation. The front entry has a four-panel door,
sidelights, and a transom in a simple Greek Revival surround. At the back of the center passage is a
four-panel door (the upper panels are glazed) that opens onto an enclosed porch and has a screen
door. The one-story front porch, which shelters only the front entry, has a shallow hip roof, thick
turned wood posts, a beaded tongue-and-groove ceiling, and a twentieth century concrete floor tinted
red and with a greenstone border and brick step. The balustrade incorporates ca. 1857 beaded
handrails although the square balusters and bottom rail date to the twentieth century. The posts
appear to have been painted gray and black at different times before their present white color. Wood
steps rise to the back porch entry. On the east side between the two chimneys is a mud room in the
form of a small shed-roofed vestibule. It has four-light windows and a wood and glass panel door.
The enclosed back porch occupies the middle part of the rear shed and has six-light awning
windows, a wood and glass panel door, weatherboarded interior walls, and a board ceiling.
Interior
The interior, rehabilitated beginning in 2003, retains its character-defining features. Much of the
original plaster-and-lath wall and ceiling finishes had been damaged by the application of drywall in the
late twentieth century and was subsequently replaced with drywall. Sections of original plaster-and-lath
were retained in the center passage. The single-run center-passage stair has square newels with
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
3
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
turned finials, rectangular balusters, and a rounded handrail. Under it is a closet accessed through
a two-panel door. Doors are typically four-panel, mostly with plain panels although one first-floor
door has molded panels. They are hung on butt hinges and have metal, crystal, or porcelain knobs.
On both floors are Greek Revival door surrounds consisting of stepped fillet moldings on plinth
blocks. The door surrounds in the first-floor center passage are crossetted. One door surround off
the center passage, the one in the first-floor northwest room, is also crossetted. Window trim is
asymmetrically molded.
The evolution of the house is most apparent in the style of the mantels. The mantels in the first- and
second-floor northeast rooms (the original early nineteenth century section) are Late Georgian in
character with double panels in the friezes and dentil moldings under the bed molds. The mantels do
not have well-defined pilasters although they do have plinth blocks at their two outer corners that
suggest pilaster bases. The first-floor mantel has beaded panels and a shelf that is apparently a
replacement. The second-floor mantel has plain panels and a replacement bed mold. In the four firstand second-floor rooms on the west side of the house (the ca. 1857 addition) are Greek Revival postand-lintel mantels. The mantel in the front parlor has a heavy bed mold built up of stacked fillet
moldings and pilasters with molded bases and caps. The mantel in the room behind also has a stepped
bed mold but is more delicate in its proportions. The upstairs mantels have canted bed molds and
pilasters with molded bases and caps.
Prior to rehabilitation the house had first- and second-floor bathrooms added in the twentieth century,
which have been retained and updated, and a kitchen located in the southeast corner of the first-floor.
The kitchen had beaded tongue-and-groove wall and ceiling sheathing and over-counter Craftsman
windows dating to the second quarter of the twentieth century as well as late twentieth century
appliances, cabinets, fireplace treatment, and utility room. A doorway with a swinging door
communicated with the dining room. During the rehabilitation the kitchen was modernized with new
appliances, cabinets, and an island. The fireplace was walled over to allow for the placement of a
stove top and ovens and beaded tongue-and-groove wainscoting and tile wall finishes were added to
sections of the wall. A third bathroom was added in the rear shed wing. The roof structure, visible
through a small hatch in the ceiling of the second-floor center passage, appears to date wholly to the
1850s. It has straight-sawn common rafters that meet at the top at a ridge board. Diagonal struts
support the rafters, giving the structure a truss form. These and the ceiling joists and roof boards are
straight-sawn. The struts and rafters are joined with cut nails and several roof boards have cut nails
projecting through them, evidence of former wood shingle roofing.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
4
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
Grounds
A modern board fence separates the front yard from Winridge Drive. A mid- to late twentieth century
greenstone flagstone walkway leads from the fence to the front porch. Along the fence stand two large
oak trees. Between them is a block of quarried granite that may once have served as a carriage stone.
At the east end of the fence is a one-story well house of cut-nailed frame construction. The building
has a metal-sheathed gable roof with weatherboards in the gables and a small gabled ventilator (now
closed up) on the ridge. The four sides have lattice over heavy corner timbers with knee braces. The
two doors are also latticed. The foundation, which is poured concrete, may be an early twentieth
century replacement of an earlier foundation. The well opening in the whitewashed interior is covered
by plywood. The roof is constructed of circular-sawn common rafters that are butted and nailed at the
ridge. Under the roof is a beam that probably formerly supported a winch for raising water. Behind the
house is a modern frame shed with T1-11 siding and an asphalt-shingled gable roof. The shed
originally stood near a small fenced wildflower garden to the east of its present site. To the south,
beyond the nomination boundaries, is a collapsed log and frame barn dating to the nineteenth century.
The barn adjoins a road trace that leads from Winridge Drive southward across the west end of the
nominated area.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
5
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Oak Lawn, located in Amherst County, Virginia, is an evolved frame house in the Georgian and
Greek Revival styles. The original section was probably built by Ambrose Burford in the first two
decades of the nineteenth century and was expanded by his son Sylvester L. Burford about 1857. The
entrepreneurial Sylvester Burford was identified as a carriage maker in federal censuses, but he was
also a mill and store owner, a coffin maker and undertaker, and an inventor. During the Civil War he
patented a wooden shoe sole with the Confederate Patent Office. Burford’s two-story house is
distinguished by four gable-end chimneys, Georgian and Greek Revival mantels, and crossetted Greek
Revival door frames. The house remained in the intermarried Burford and Wortham families until
the 1930s and is now undergoing rehabilitation by the present owners.
Applicable Criteria
Oak Lawn is eligible under Criteria B and C in the areas of Industry and Architecture. Under
Criterion B the property is significant for its association with local industrialist and inventor Sylvester
L. Burford. Under Criterion C the property is significant for its Georgian and Greek Revival stylistic
characteristics. The period of significance extends from the approximate date of construction of the
original section of the house during the first two decades of the nineteenth century (“ca. 1810”)
through the approximate date of the house’s enlargement ca. 1857 until the year of Sylvester Burford’s
death in 1881. Oak Lawn is eligible at the local level of significance.
Acknowledgments
The nomination was sponsored by Oak Lawn’s owners, Richard and Janet Wills, who provided many
of the historical documents used in the nomination’s preparation. Dick Wills also conducted post
1850 tax records research. Assistance was also provided by the Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg
and Ann Andrus, Quatro Hubbard, Jean McRae and Marc Wagner of the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
6
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historic Context
According to Amherst County land tax records, in 1820 Ambrose Burford (ca. 1774-1835) owned 270
acres on the waters of Harris Creek and buildings valued at $400. His first recorded land purchase of
eighty-four acres was in 1802, not long after his marriage to Nancy Tinsley in 1796. Presumably this
tract and later ones acquired by Burford were in the vicinity of Oak Lawn for they are described as a
single tract in tax records from the 1810s. Also, a purchase of fifty-three acres made by Burford in
1811 was described as being located on both sides of Harris Creek, which flows just to the north of
Oak Lawn. The fact that the value of buildings on Burford’s land remained constant at $400 through
and after the year of his death in 1835, coupled with the Late Georgian style of the mantels in the
oldest part of Burford’s house, suggest Ambrose Burford built the original section of Oak Lawn prior
to 1820.1
In November 1835 Nancy Burford was made the administrator of her late husband’s estate. An
inventory and appraisement filed the following month provides information on the Burford family’s
slaveholding and farm. The appraisers counted eleven slaves including four men, two women, four
girls, and one boy. A barn or stable, a corn house or granary, and possibly a blacksmith shop and a
loom house are suggested by the enumeration of ox and horse carts, “40 barrels corn in House,”
blacksmith tools, and three spinning wheels and “1 loom and warping mill,” the latter items
enumerated separately from household furnishings. One third of Ambrose Burford’s personal estate
was set aside for Nancy as her “portion” or “widow’s dower.” A subsequent deed suggests that the
female slaves were allotted to Nancy although the division of the estate recorded in November 1836
notes that Nancy received Caleb, Maria and Wiatt. Shortly after the division in December 1836,
Ambrose and Nancy’s son Sylvester L. Burford (1808-81) purchased the interests of other heirs in the
“mansion house tract of land” of Ambrose Burford. The property continued to be listed as the estate
of Ambrose Burford until 1846 when it was transferred to Sylvester Burford and A. Cox. Burford
appears to have enlarged the house to its present size about 1857 as noted below in the architectural
discussion.2 As a side note, Douglas Southall Freeman, famed Robert E. Lee biographer, was born
from Bettie Allen Hamner and Walker Buford Freeman. Walker was the son of Garland Hurt
Freeman and his second wife Thormuthis “The” Burford, who was a sister to Sylvester L. Burford. 3
Sylvester L. Burford was a carriage maker according to the federal censuses of 1850, 1870 and 1880.
He married Susan Cox (ca. 1805-69) in 1830 and the couple had eight children: Archer, Annie E.,
Emily J., Frances, Elizabeth, Powhatan, Robert Milton, and Jane. The 1850 census lists most of the
children as living in Sylvester and Susan’s household joined by young carriage makers Sylvester M.
Burford, age twenty-five, perhaps a nephew, and James A. Fulcher, age twenty-three. The elder
Burford may have been assisted in his carriage business by certain of his slaves (in 1860 he owned
twenty-two slaves). By 1870 most of the children had left home and Susan Burford had died the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
7
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
previous year, yet two of Sylvester’s daughters, their husbands, and three young granddaughters lived
with him. These were Emma Jane Wortham (1840-81) and her husband Richard Beverly Wortham
(1840-1918) and Annie E. Fairfax (b. ca. 1833) and her husband Raymond Fairfax (b. 1829). Both
husbands were Confederate States Army veterans—Wortham was a lieutenant and Fairfax a captain—
and both married their wives in 1865. The census listed several African American members of the
household: domestic servants Ellen and Eliza Field, both age forty, and Orney Field, age sixteen; and a
blacksmith named James Johnson. Although Burford gave his occupation as carriage maker in the
1870 population schedules, the 1870 industrial schedules list him as the owner of a grist mill and
sawmill. Both mills were comparatively small enterprises located on nearby Harris Creek. The grist
mill utilized a single set of water-powered burr stones to produce $5,050 worth of corn meal, $2,400
worth of bran, $1,400 worth of shorts, and $420 worth of flour. (By comparison, the Amherst County
mill of Small & Staples produced $19,998 worth of flour alone.) The sawmill cut 6,500 feet of lumber
valued at $270 with a water-powered vertical saw. Burford’s Mill, as it was known, was in existence
during the 1860s and probably during the Civil War. It is believed to have ceased operations in the
1920s and to have been torn down in the mid-twentieth century.4
Sylvester Burford was involved in a number of other small-scale industrial and business enterprises.
One venture of particular note occurred during the Civil War. In May 1863 Burford filed a patent with
the Confederate Patent Office for a “wooden shoe sole,” one of 266 patents known to have been
registered with the office from 1861 through 1864. His invention reflected both his expertise in
woodworking and the pressing need of the Confederacy for footwear. There is the possibility that
Burford may have planned to manufacture the patented shoe soles, in which case his proximity to the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which was constructed through his property in the 1850s, may have
been relevant. Burford was not the only inventor to address the Confederacy’s footwear shortage—E. S.
Collins of Aspinwall, Virginia, patented a “wooden soled shoe” in 1862. Unfortunately, nothing more
can be learned about Burford’s invention from the Confederate Patent Office records since the
records were destroyed in 1865 during Richmond’s Evacuation Fire or shortly thereafter.5
A 1961 article in the Amherst New Era-Progress credited Sylvester Burford with being the first
stationmaster at Burford’s Station. A number of Burford’s activities were described:
The Harris Creek postoffice was located in Burford’s general merchandise store. Nearby, on
Harris Creek, was Burford’s Mill where people for miles around had their wheat and corn
ground. Usually a certain amount of corn and wheat was paid for this service. The undertaker’s
establishment was owned and operated by members of the Burford family. This was a large
one room building where caskets and wooden boxes were made. On one end of the building
was a closed-in shed where the hearse was kept. Caskets were made of walnut and shaped to
the body, small at the head and feet and large in the middle, and cost about ten dollars. The
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
8
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
hearse was drawn by two horses named Sam and Angus. This was patronized by everyone in
the surrounding territory.
The account of Burford’s coffin making and undertaking business is corroborated by an 1881 estate
inventory which references a hearse, an “undertaker shop,” and “coffin material and unfinished work.”
The general store was operated by Burford’s son-in-law R. B. Wortham in 1870—Wortham was
described as a grocer in the census of that year—and stood to the west of the house until it burned in
the early 1950s. The Burford Post Office may have operated from it. The store has been described by
someone who remembered it as a child as having a center entry flanked by large windows. According
to another account the “wheel and blacksmith shop” was located across Winridge Drive from the
house and the undertaker shop was located down the road to the east. Something of the layout of the
property is hinted at in an 1864 Confederate States Army map of Lynchburg and its vicinity that shows
the Burford property at the extreme north edge of the area portrayed. The map shows a relatively
large building on the south side of present Winridge Drive—the main house—and a row of three
smaller buildings on the north side of the road. The row of buildings has the appearance of a quarter.
In addition to the blacksmith shop, which was manned by an African American blacksmith in 1870, it
may have included one or more slave dwellings.6
Like their father-in-law Sylvester, R. B. Wortham and Raymond Fairfax worked for the railroad.
Fairfax was described as a baggage master in the 1870 census and Wortham was listed as “Clerk R.
Road” in the 1880 census. In 1888 he relocated to Roanoke where he worked for the Norfolk and
Western Railroad as a conductor and time keeper. Other members of the family carried on other
aspects of Sylvester Burford’s varied business enterprises. An 1893 state business directory listed S. M.
Burford of Harris Creek as a coach and wagon builder and S. M. Burford and Company as an
undertaking firm. This was Sylvester M. Burford, the assistant carriage maker of the 1850 census, and
the information was out of date when published since Burford died in December 1892. Sylvester M.
Burford may also have operated the general store after R. B. Wortham moved away. The house itself
was acquired by Sylvester L. Burford’s son Robert Milton Burford, who sold it in 1900 to Alice L.
Wortham. It remained in the Wortham family until 1928. In 1954, after a succession of owners, the
property was acquired by Harrison and Elizabeth Nesbit, who owned it until 1989. Oak Lawn was
acquired by present owners Dick and Janet Wills in 2002.7
Architectural Discussion
The original section of Oak Lawn is Late Georgian in style. The mantels in the first- and second-floor
rooms rely on paneling and dentil moldings for their visual effect—both treatments typical of the
vernacular Georgian style of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century—and they lack the
tripartite symmetry, attenuated forms, and characteristic delicate ornamentation of the succeeding
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
9
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
Federal style. The Federal style is well documented from the mid- and late 1810s in nearby
Lynchburg. Based on this evidence alone one would assume Oak Lawn is earlier, although Georgian
influence may have persisted in the context of rural Amherst County, at least until the 1820s by which
time the Federal style had become well established throughout the rural areas of the state.8
Oak Lawn was two stories in height during the first half of the nineteenth century and it may originally
have had a one-room plan as suggested by the distribution of surviving Late Georgian fabric. During
rehabilitation evidence for a winder stair in the northwest corner of the original first-floor room was
discovered, which adds weight to the possibility that the original house had the tower-like “one room
up, one room down” form that was often used in the southwestern Piedmont during the antebellum
period. The 1835 inventory of Ambrose Burford’s estate sheds some light on the question of the
dwelling’s original form since it enumerates “5 Chests up stairs” and a total of five beds in the house.
These items and many others in the inventory seem more than a two-room house could
accommodate. Perhaps other sections now missing or incorporated into the 1850s addition existed, at
least by the mid-1830s. During rehabilitation work in 2003 and 2004 evidence was found that suggests
the present kitchen area may have been a one-story wing of the original house. A hewn sill and aspects
of the fieldstone foundation under this section hint at an early date. The size of Sylvester and Susan
Burford’s family and the presence of two of Burford’s employees in the household in 1850 suggest a
house of more than two rooms (although the employees may have lived elsewhere on the property).9
Amherst County land book records analyzed by Dick Wills suggest Oak Lawn was enlarged to its
present size about 1857. Buildings on the property were valued at $250 for much of the 1840s and
1850s. Tax records for 1857 combined all of Burford’s land holdings (a total of 527.33 acres) and
listed the value of buildings as $2,500. This was well in excess of the total value of buildings listed
separately in 1856 and suggests construction activity, presumably the enlargement of the house in 1856
and/or 1857. The 1857 listing has the marginal note “12A + 26P off for RR Drainage.” This indicates
the sale of twelve acres and twenty-six poles of land to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It may be,
as Dick Wills suggests, that Burford used the proceeds from the railroad right-of-way sale to finance
the enlargement of Oak Lawn. The Greek Revival character of the additions to the house is in keeping
with a date of construction in the 1850s, although alternate interpretations of the historic record that
would point to construction earlier and also conceivably later than ca. 1857 are possible.10
The ca. 1857 addition has several notable features. The post-and-lintel mantels and crossetted door
surrounds are simple but competent renditions of more high-style Greek Revival details. The fact that
Sylvester L. Burford operated a carriage making shop during the period suggests the possibility that he
or his coworkers may have produced some of the house’s decorative features. The furniture-like form
and narrow proportions of the turned finials on the stair newels suggest they were fashioned by
someone with woodworking skills but not professional building expertise. The porch posts too have a
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
10
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
naïve quality as though they are turned approximations of professionally made classical columns
(rather than the Victorian turned posts that they superficially resemble).
Endnotes
1. Amherst County land books; Amherst County Deed Book I p. 361; Deed Book K p. 293; Deed
Book M p. 59; Amherst County Will Book 9 pages 135 and 213; Wood, Rucker Family Genealogy,
114; Burford Family File.
2. Amherst County Will Book 9 pages 213 and 252; Amherst County Deed Book W pages 60, 62, 63
and 64; Amherst County land books. The slaves listed with their ages in the December 1835 inventory
were: 1) Caleb (age 29); 2) Elijah (37); 3) Daniel (40); 4) Jim (60); 5) “1 woman named Maria and child
Wiatt 23 years old;” 6) Betty (50); 7) Mary (9); 8) Eliza (8); 9) Carolina (5); 10) Doshia (4).
3. Johnson, Douglas Southall Freeman, 16.
4. U.S. census; Wills, “History of Oak Lawn;” Wills, “Oak Lawn Recollections;” Wills, “RB
Wortham;” Wills, “Capt. Raymond Fairfax, CSA;” Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County, 92;
Dwight, “Map of Nelson and Amherst counties;” Hotchkiss and Robinson, “Map of Amherst
County;” Nixon, “Buford’s Mill,” 63. The 1850 Amherst County industrial schedules do not survive.
Burford does not appear in the 1860 industrial schedules.
5. Dobyns, Patent Office Pony, 130, 213, 226; “Confederate Patent Office.”
6. Becky Fox personal communication; Amherst New Era-Progress, October 12, 1861; Amherst
County, Virginia, vol. 1, 25; “Lynchburg and vicinity;” Nixon, “Burford,” 11; U.S. census. Formerly an
icehouse may have been associated with the house. Ice is said to have been cut on Harris Creek near
Burford’s Mill and stored on the property (Dick Wills personal communication).
7. U.S. census; Chataigne’s Virginia Business Directory . . . 1893-94, 199, 203; Wills, “RB Wortham;”
Wills, “History of Oak Lawn;” Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County, 91.
8. Chambers, Lynchburg, 66, 72, 73, 74.
9. Wills, “Oak Lawn Recollections;” Amherst County Will Book 9 p. 252.
10. Dick Wills personal communication; Amherst County land books.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
11
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Bibliography
Amherst County deed, tax and will records. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst, Va., and Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Amherst County, Virginia. 2 vols. Amherst, Va.: Amherst County Heritage Book Committee,
1999-2004.
Amherst Museum and Historical Society Records. Amherst, Va.
Amherst New Era-Progress (Amherst, Va.).
Burford Family File. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: University
Press of Virginia, 1981.
Chataigne’s Virginia Gazetteer and Classified Business Directory, 1893-94. Richmond, Va.:
J. H. Chataigne, 1893.
“Confederate Patent Office.” Wikipedia website (www.en.wikipedia.org).
Dobyns, Kenneth W. The Patent Office Pony: A History of the United States Patent Office.
Author: 1994.
Dwight, C. S. “Map of Nelson and Amherst counties, Virginia.” 1860s.
Fox, Becky, personal communication with Dick Wills. February 23, 2004.
Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County Virginia, Revised Edition. Amherst, Va.: Amherst
County Museum and Historical Society, 1999.
Hotchkiss and Robinson. “Map of Amherst County, Virginia.” 1866.
Johnson, David E. Douglas Southall Freeman. Gretna, La: Pelican Publishing Company, 2002.
“Lynchburg and vicinity.” Map, 1864. Jeremy Francis Gilmer Collection, Virginia Historical Society,
Richmond, Va.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
12
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Bibliography (Continued)
Neblett, Emily, Lyndelle H. Hume, and Mrs. Roy C. McIvor. The History of Monroe, Virginia.
Monroe, Va.: Monroe Home Demonstration Club, 1961.
Nixon, Florence Foster. “Burford.” Amherst County, Virginia. Vol. 1. Amherst, Va.: Amherst
County Heritage Book Committee, 1999.
________. “Burford’s Mill.” Amherst County, Virginia. Vol. 2. Amherst, Va.: Amherst County
Heritage Book Committee, 2004.
Wills, Dick. “Capt. Raymond Fairfax, CSA.” Report, ca. 2004.
________. “History of Oak Lawn.” Report, 2004.
________. “Oak Lawn.” Virginia Department of Historic Resources Preliminary Information Form,
2003.
________. “Oak Lawn Recollections.” Report, 2006.
________. “RB Wortham.” Report, 2004.
Wills, Dick, and J. Daniel Pezzoni. “Oak Lawn.” Historic Preservation Certification Application
Part 2, 2005.
Wood, Sudie Rucker, comp. The Rucker Family Genealogy with their Ancestors, Descendants and
Connections. Richmond, Va.: Old Dominion Press, 1932.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
13
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries correspond to Amherst County Tax Map Section 147 Parcel ((A)) 86, the present
parcel on which Oak Lawn stands.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries correspond to the parcel on which the house stands and exclude modern resources
and a historically associated nineteenth century barn ruins located on adjacent parcels not owned by
the nomination’s sponsor.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Photos
Page
14
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs are of:
OAK LAWN
Amherst County, Virginia
DHR file no. 005-5029
J. Daniel Pezzoni, Photographer
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: North (front) and west sides of house.
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 1 OF 5
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: South and east sides of house.
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 2 OF 5
DATE: January 2006
VIEW OF: Dining room with Georgian mantel.
NEG. NO.: 22394
PHOTO 3 OF 5
DATE: January 2006
VIEW OF: Living room with Greek Revival mantel.
NEG. NO.: 22394
PHOTO 4 OF 5
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: Well house and front yard
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 5 OF 5
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the
mform~lion requested.
If any item does not apply to the property being documen1ed, enler "NfN for "not applicable."
For functions, arc:hitect1..'fal
classification. materials. and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructiOns. Place additional entries and narraUve items
on cont:nuation sheets (Nf-'S Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, YIOl'd processor, or corrputer, to complete arr items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
other names/site number
Oak Lawn
Burford House· DHR file no. 005-5029
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state
Virginia
155 Winridge Drive
Madison Heights
code
VA
county Amherst
NIA not for publication
X vicinity
code
009
zip code
24572-6150
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under lhe National Histortc Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that lhis _x_ nomination _
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _x meets_
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant _
locally. ( _
nationally _
statewide
_x_
See continuatio sheet for additional comments.)
Da(e
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( _
See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other officialrTitle
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
__ determined not eligible for the National Register.
__ removed from the National Register.
other (explain): _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature of the K e e p e r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Date of Action
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property Category of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
X building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Contributing
2
0
0
0
2
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
Noncontributing
1
buildings
0
sites
0
structures
0
objects
1
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions)
Georgian
Greek Revival
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
walls
roof
other
Stone, Brick
Wood
Metal
Glass
Concrete
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying
the property for National Register listing.)
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
____ A Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
_X__ B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
_X__ C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of
a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
____ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past fifty years.
Period of Significance
Ca. 1810-1881
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
INDUSTRY
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Burford, Sylvester L.
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
___ preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National
Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
# ____________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
# ____________
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository:
____________________________________
Oak Lawn
Name of Property
Amherst County, Virginia
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 6.181 acres
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663600 4149980
3
2
4
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
J. Daniel Pezzoni
Landmark Preservation Associates
6 Houston St.
Lexington
state VA
date
March 23, 2005
telephone
(540) 464-5315
zip code
24450
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
Richard B. and Janet H. Wills
street & number
704 Libbie Avenue
city or town
Richmond
state
telephone
Virginia
(804) 330-4204
zip code
23226
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to
nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is
required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for
reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden
estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC
20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
1
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Oak Lawn is a two-story frame house located at 155 Winridge Drive (SR 795) in western Amherst
County, Virginia. The house and its grounds, which are shaded by large oaks, stand near the crest
of a ridge at nearly 800 feet in elevation. The wooded east side of the 6.181-acre parcel on which
the house stands slopes down to the bed of the CSX Railroad, originally the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad constructed in the late 1850s. To the north of the house are views over a
modern subdivision to the valley of Harris Creek, a tributary of the James River, and Tobacco
Row Mountain, an outlier of the Blue Ridge.
The original section of the house dates to the first two decades of the nineteenth century and was
enlarged into the present house ca. 1857. The house has weatherboard siding, a metal-sheathed
gable roof, 6/6 windows, an entry with a transom and sidelights, a stone and brick foundation, and
four gable-end chimneys (two on each gable end). The two-room-deep center-passage-plan interior
has plaster wall and ceiling finishes, wood floors, Late Georgian and Greek Revival mantels, a
center-passage stair, and several doorways with crossetted surrounds. A latticed well house dating
to the late nineteenth century stands in a corner of the front yard and a modern shed stands to the
rear.
Inventory
1. Oak Lawn. Ca. 1810; ca. 1857. Contributing building.
2. Well house. Late 19th century. Contributing building.
3. Shed. Late 20th c. Noncontributing building.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
2
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
Exterior
The foundation is brick or fieldstone under different sections of the house with cinder block under
part of the rear shed. The foundation has been painted and parts of it appear to have been parged.
The four nineteenth century masonry chimneys with detached stacks were encased in concrete in the
early twentieth century and given large corbelled brick caps. The northeast chimney, which serves
the original section of the house, appears to have been lowered in height when the house was
remodeled ca. 1857. It is partially of stone construction. The roof has three glass globe and metal
lightning arrestors, half-round galvanized gutters, and full-round galvanized downspouts. The
mortise-and-tenon frame walls have weatherboard siding. Most of the weatherboards are plain edged
and probably date to the enlargement of the house ca. 1857. At least two boards at the south corner
of the east gable end appear to have beaded edges and may date to original construction in the early
nineteenth century (if so they were moved to their present position). The plain edged weatherboards
were painted gray originally or at an early date. Later paint layers and the present layer are white.
The six-over-six windows have nineteenth century louvered wood shutters. The southeast corner of
the house formerly had square casement windows with Craftsman three-light sash that were
probably added when the space inside was upgraded as a kitchen in the second quarter of the
twentieth century. The three-light windows were replaced with the present one-over-one doublehung sash windows as part of the present rehabilitation. The front entry has a four-panel door,
sidelights, and a transom in a simple Greek Revival surround. At the back of the center passage is a
four-panel door (the upper panels are glazed) that opens onto an enclosed porch and has a screen
door. The one-story front porch, which shelters only the front entry, has a shallow hip roof, thick
turned wood posts, a beaded tongue-and-groove ceiling, and a twentieth century concrete floor tinted
red and with a greenstone border and brick step. The balustrade incorporates ca. 1857 beaded
handrails although the square balusters and bottom rail date to the twentieth century. The posts
appear to have been painted gray and black at different times before their present white color. Wood
steps rise to the back porch entry. On the east side between the two chimneys is a mud room in the
form of a small shed-roofed vestibule. It has four-light windows and a wood and glass panel door.
The enclosed back porch occupies the middle part of the rear shed and has six-light awning
windows, a wood and glass panel door, weatherboarded interior walls, and a board ceiling.
Interior
The interior, rehabilitated beginning in 2003, retains its character-defining features. Much of the
original plaster-and-lath wall and ceiling finishes had been damaged by the application of drywall in the
late twentieth century and was subsequently replaced with drywall. Sections of original plaster-and-lath
were retained in the center passage. The single-run center-passage stair has square newels with
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
3
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
turned finials, rectangular balusters, and a rounded handrail. Under it is a closet accessed through
a two-panel door. Doors are typically four-panel, mostly with plain panels although one first-floor
door has molded panels. They are hung on butt hinges and have metal, crystal, or porcelain knobs.
On both floors are Greek Revival door surrounds consisting of stepped fillet moldings on plinth
blocks. The door surrounds in the first-floor center passage are crossetted. One door surround off
the center passage, the one in the first-floor northwest room, is also crossetted. Window trim is
asymmetrically molded.
The evolution of the house is most apparent in the style of the mantels. The mantels in the first- and
second-floor northeast rooms (the original early nineteenth century section) are Late Georgian in
character with double panels in the friezes and dentil moldings under the bed molds. The mantels do
not have well-defined pilasters although they do have plinth blocks at their two outer corners that
suggest pilaster bases. The first-floor mantel has beaded panels and a shelf that is apparently a
replacement. The second-floor mantel has plain panels and a replacement bed mold. In the four firstand second-floor rooms on the west side of the house (the ca. 1857 addition) are Greek Revival postand-lintel mantels. The mantel in the front parlor has a heavy bed mold built up of stacked fillet
moldings and pilasters with molded bases and caps. The mantel in the room behind also has a stepped
bed mold but is more delicate in its proportions. The upstairs mantels have canted bed molds and
pilasters with molded bases and caps.
Prior to rehabilitation the house had first- and second-floor bathrooms added in the twentieth century,
which have been retained and updated, and a kitchen located in the southeast corner of the first-floor.
The kitchen had beaded tongue-and-groove wall and ceiling sheathing and over-counter Craftsman
windows dating to the second quarter of the twentieth century as well as late twentieth century
appliances, cabinets, fireplace treatment, and utility room. A doorway with a swinging door
communicated with the dining room. During the rehabilitation the kitchen was modernized with new
appliances, cabinets, and an island. The fireplace was walled over to allow for the placement of a
stove top and ovens and beaded tongue-and-groove wainscoting and tile wall finishes were added to
sections of the wall. A third bathroom was added in the rear shed wing. The roof structure, visible
through a small hatch in the ceiling of the second-floor center passage, appears to date wholly to the
1850s. It has straight-sawn common rafters that meet at the top at a ridge board. Diagonal struts
support the rafters, giving the structure a truss form. These and the ceiling joists and roof boards are
straight-sawn. The struts and rafters are joined with cut nails and several roof boards have cut nails
projecting through them, evidence of former wood shingle roofing.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
4
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Description (continued)
Grounds
A modern board fence separates the front yard from Winridge Drive. A mid- to late twentieth century
greenstone flagstone walkway leads from the fence to the front porch. Along the fence stand two large
oak trees. Between them is a block of quarried granite that may once have served as a carriage stone.
At the east end of the fence is a one-story well house of cut-nailed frame construction. The building
has a metal-sheathed gable roof with weatherboards in the gables and a small gabled ventilator (now
closed up) on the ridge. The four sides have lattice over heavy corner timbers with knee braces. The
two doors are also latticed. The foundation, which is poured concrete, may be an early twentieth
century replacement of an earlier foundation. The well opening in the whitewashed interior is covered
by plywood. The roof is constructed of circular-sawn common rafters that are butted and nailed at the
ridge. Under the roof is a beam that probably formerly supported a winch for raising water. Behind the
house is a modern frame shed with T1-11 siding and an asphalt-shingled gable roof. The shed
originally stood near a small fenced wildflower garden to the east of its present site. To the south,
beyond the nomination boundaries, is a collapsed log and frame barn dating to the nineteenth century.
The barn adjoins a road trace that leads from Winridge Drive southward across the west end of the
nominated area.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
5
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Oak Lawn, located in Amherst County, Virginia, is an evolved frame house in the Georgian and
Greek Revival styles. The original section was probably built by Ambrose Burford in the first two
decades of the nineteenth century and was expanded by his son Sylvester L. Burford about 1857. The
entrepreneurial Sylvester Burford was identified as a carriage maker in federal censuses, but he was
also a mill and store owner, a coffin maker and undertaker, and an inventor. During the Civil War he
patented a wooden shoe sole with the Confederate Patent Office. Burford’s two-story house is
distinguished by four gable-end chimneys, Georgian and Greek Revival mantels, and crossetted Greek
Revival door frames. The house remained in the intermarried Burford and Wortham families until
the 1930s and is now undergoing rehabilitation by the present owners.
Applicable Criteria
Oak Lawn is eligible under Criteria B and C in the areas of Industry and Architecture. Under
Criterion B the property is significant for its association with local industrialist and inventor Sylvester
L. Burford. Under Criterion C the property is significant for its Georgian and Greek Revival stylistic
characteristics. The period of significance extends from the approximate date of construction of the
original section of the house during the first two decades of the nineteenth century (“ca. 1810”)
through the approximate date of the house’s enlargement ca. 1857 until the year of Sylvester Burford’s
death in 1881. Oak Lawn is eligible at the local level of significance.
Acknowledgments
The nomination was sponsored by Oak Lawn’s owners, Richard and Janet Wills, who provided many
of the historical documents used in the nomination’s preparation. Dick Wills also conducted post
1850 tax records research. Assistance was also provided by the Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg
and Ann Andrus, Quatro Hubbard, Jean McRae and Marc Wagner of the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
6
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historic Context
According to Amherst County land tax records, in 1820 Ambrose Burford (ca. 1774-1835) owned 270
acres on the waters of Harris Creek and buildings valued at $400. His first recorded land purchase of
eighty-four acres was in 1802, not long after his marriage to Nancy Tinsley in 1796. Presumably this
tract and later ones acquired by Burford were in the vicinity of Oak Lawn for they are described as a
single tract in tax records from the 1810s. Also, a purchase of fifty-three acres made by Burford in
1811 was described as being located on both sides of Harris Creek, which flows just to the north of
Oak Lawn. The fact that the value of buildings on Burford’s land remained constant at $400 through
and after the year of his death in 1835, coupled with the Late Georgian style of the mantels in the
oldest part of Burford’s house, suggest Ambrose Burford built the original section of Oak Lawn prior
to 1820.1
In November 1835 Nancy Burford was made the administrator of her late husband’s estate. An
inventory and appraisement filed the following month provides information on the Burford family’s
slaveholding and farm. The appraisers counted eleven slaves including four men, two women, four
girls, and one boy. A barn or stable, a corn house or granary, and possibly a blacksmith shop and a
loom house are suggested by the enumeration of ox and horse carts, “40 barrels corn in House,”
blacksmith tools, and three spinning wheels and “1 loom and warping mill,” the latter items
enumerated separately from household furnishings. One third of Ambrose Burford’s personal estate
was set aside for Nancy as her “portion” or “widow’s dower.” A subsequent deed suggests that the
female slaves were allotted to Nancy although the division of the estate recorded in November 1836
notes that Nancy received Caleb, Maria and Wiatt. Shortly after the division in December 1836,
Ambrose and Nancy’s son Sylvester L. Burford (1808-81) purchased the interests of other heirs in the
“mansion house tract of land” of Ambrose Burford. The property continued to be listed as the estate
of Ambrose Burford until 1846 when it was transferred to Sylvester Burford and A. Cox. Burford
appears to have enlarged the house to its present size about 1857 as noted below in the architectural
discussion.2 As a side note, Douglas Southall Freeman, famed Robert E. Lee biographer, was born
from Bettie Allen Hamner and Walker Buford Freeman. Walker was the son of Garland Hurt
Freeman and his second wife Thormuthis “The” Burford, who was a sister to Sylvester L. Burford. 3
Sylvester L. Burford was a carriage maker according to the federal censuses of 1850, 1870 and 1880.
He married Susan Cox (ca. 1805-69) in 1830 and the couple had eight children: Archer, Annie E.,
Emily J., Frances, Elizabeth, Powhatan, Robert Milton, and Jane. The 1850 census lists most of the
children as living in Sylvester and Susan’s household joined by young carriage makers Sylvester M.
Burford, age twenty-five, perhaps a nephew, and James A. Fulcher, age twenty-three. The elder
Burford may have been assisted in his carriage business by certain of his slaves (in 1860 he owned
twenty-two slaves). By 1870 most of the children had left home and Susan Burford had died the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
7
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
previous year, yet two of Sylvester’s daughters, their husbands, and three young granddaughters lived
with him. These were Emma Jane Wortham (1840-81) and her husband Richard Beverly Wortham
(1840-1918) and Annie E. Fairfax (b. ca. 1833) and her husband Raymond Fairfax (b. 1829). Both
husbands were Confederate States Army veterans—Wortham was a lieutenant and Fairfax a captain—
and both married their wives in 1865. The census listed several African American members of the
household: domestic servants Ellen and Eliza Field, both age forty, and Orney Field, age sixteen; and a
blacksmith named James Johnson. Although Burford gave his occupation as carriage maker in the
1870 population schedules, the 1870 industrial schedules list him as the owner of a grist mill and
sawmill. Both mills were comparatively small enterprises located on nearby Harris Creek. The grist
mill utilized a single set of water-powered burr stones to produce $5,050 worth of corn meal, $2,400
worth of bran, $1,400 worth of shorts, and $420 worth of flour. (By comparison, the Amherst County
mill of Small & Staples produced $19,998 worth of flour alone.) The sawmill cut 6,500 feet of lumber
valued at $270 with a water-powered vertical saw. Burford’s Mill, as it was known, was in existence
during the 1860s and probably during the Civil War. It is believed to have ceased operations in the
1920s and to have been torn down in the mid-twentieth century.4
Sylvester Burford was involved in a number of other small-scale industrial and business enterprises.
One venture of particular note occurred during the Civil War. In May 1863 Burford filed a patent with
the Confederate Patent Office for a “wooden shoe sole,” one of 266 patents known to have been
registered with the office from 1861 through 1864. His invention reflected both his expertise in
woodworking and the pressing need of the Confederacy for footwear. There is the possibility that
Burford may have planned to manufacture the patented shoe soles, in which case his proximity to the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which was constructed through his property in the 1850s, may have
been relevant. Burford was not the only inventor to address the Confederacy’s footwear shortage—E. S.
Collins of Aspinwall, Virginia, patented a “wooden soled shoe” in 1862. Unfortunately, nothing more
can be learned about Burford’s invention from the Confederate Patent Office records since the
records were destroyed in 1865 during Richmond’s Evacuation Fire or shortly thereafter.5
A 1961 article in the Amherst New Era-Progress credited Sylvester Burford with being the first
stationmaster at Burford’s Station. A number of Burford’s activities were described:
The Harris Creek postoffice was located in Burford’s general merchandise store. Nearby, on
Harris Creek, was Burford’s Mill where people for miles around had their wheat and corn
ground. Usually a certain amount of corn and wheat was paid for this service. The undertaker’s
establishment was owned and operated by members of the Burford family. This was a large
one room building where caskets and wooden boxes were made. On one end of the building
was a closed-in shed where the hearse was kept. Caskets were made of walnut and shaped to
the body, small at the head and feet and large in the middle, and cost about ten dollars. The
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
8
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
hearse was drawn by two horses named Sam and Angus. This was patronized by everyone in
the surrounding territory.
The account of Burford’s coffin making and undertaking business is corroborated by an 1881 estate
inventory which references a hearse, an “undertaker shop,” and “coffin material and unfinished work.”
The general store was operated by Burford’s son-in-law R. B. Wortham in 1870—Wortham was
described as a grocer in the census of that year—and stood to the west of the house until it burned in
the early 1950s. The Burford Post Office may have operated from it. The store has been described by
someone who remembered it as a child as having a center entry flanked by large windows. According
to another account the “wheel and blacksmith shop” was located across Winridge Drive from the
house and the undertaker shop was located down the road to the east. Something of the layout of the
property is hinted at in an 1864 Confederate States Army map of Lynchburg and its vicinity that shows
the Burford property at the extreme north edge of the area portrayed. The map shows a relatively
large building on the south side of present Winridge Drive—the main house—and a row of three
smaller buildings on the north side of the road. The row of buildings has the appearance of a quarter.
In addition to the blacksmith shop, which was manned by an African American blacksmith in 1870, it
may have included one or more slave dwellings.6
Like their father-in-law Sylvester, R. B. Wortham and Raymond Fairfax worked for the railroad.
Fairfax was described as a baggage master in the 1870 census and Wortham was listed as “Clerk R.
Road” in the 1880 census. In 1888 he relocated to Roanoke where he worked for the Norfolk and
Western Railroad as a conductor and time keeper. Other members of the family carried on other
aspects of Sylvester Burford’s varied business enterprises. An 1893 state business directory listed S. M.
Burford of Harris Creek as a coach and wagon builder and S. M. Burford and Company as an
undertaking firm. This was Sylvester M. Burford, the assistant carriage maker of the 1850 census, and
the information was out of date when published since Burford died in December 1892. Sylvester M.
Burford may also have operated the general store after R. B. Wortham moved away. The house itself
was acquired by Sylvester L. Burford’s son Robert Milton Burford, who sold it in 1900 to Alice L.
Wortham. It remained in the Wortham family until 1928. In 1954, after a succession of owners, the
property was acquired by Harrison and Elizabeth Nesbit, who owned it until 1989. Oak Lawn was
acquired by present owners Dick and Janet Wills in 2002.7
Architectural Discussion
The original section of Oak Lawn is Late Georgian in style. The mantels in the first- and second-floor
rooms rely on paneling and dentil moldings for their visual effect—both treatments typical of the
vernacular Georgian style of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century—and they lack the
tripartite symmetry, attenuated forms, and characteristic delicate ornamentation of the succeeding
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
9
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
Federal style. The Federal style is well documented from the mid- and late 1810s in nearby
Lynchburg. Based on this evidence alone one would assume Oak Lawn is earlier, although Georgian
influence may have persisted in the context of rural Amherst County, at least until the 1820s by which
time the Federal style had become well established throughout the rural areas of the state.8
Oak Lawn was two stories in height during the first half of the nineteenth century and it may originally
have had a one-room plan as suggested by the distribution of surviving Late Georgian fabric. During
rehabilitation evidence for a winder stair in the northwest corner of the original first-floor room was
discovered, which adds weight to the possibility that the original house had the tower-like “one room
up, one room down” form that was often used in the southwestern Piedmont during the antebellum
period. The 1835 inventory of Ambrose Burford’s estate sheds some light on the question of the
dwelling’s original form since it enumerates “5 Chests up stairs” and a total of five beds in the house.
These items and many others in the inventory seem more than a two-room house could
accommodate. Perhaps other sections now missing or incorporated into the 1850s addition existed, at
least by the mid-1830s. During rehabilitation work in 2003 and 2004 evidence was found that suggests
the present kitchen area may have been a one-story wing of the original house. A hewn sill and aspects
of the fieldstone foundation under this section hint at an early date. The size of Sylvester and Susan
Burford’s family and the presence of two of Burford’s employees in the household in 1850 suggest a
house of more than two rooms (although the employees may have lived elsewhere on the property).9
Amherst County land book records analyzed by Dick Wills suggest Oak Lawn was enlarged to its
present size about 1857. Buildings on the property were valued at $250 for much of the 1840s and
1850s. Tax records for 1857 combined all of Burford’s land holdings (a total of 527.33 acres) and
listed the value of buildings as $2,500. This was well in excess of the total value of buildings listed
separately in 1856 and suggests construction activity, presumably the enlargement of the house in 1856
and/or 1857. The 1857 listing has the marginal note “12A + 26P off for RR Drainage.” This indicates
the sale of twelve acres and twenty-six poles of land to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It may be,
as Dick Wills suggests, that Burford used the proceeds from the railroad right-of-way sale to finance
the enlargement of Oak Lawn. The Greek Revival character of the additions to the house is in keeping
with a date of construction in the 1850s, although alternate interpretations of the historic record that
would point to construction earlier and also conceivably later than ca. 1857 are possible.10
The ca. 1857 addition has several notable features. The post-and-lintel mantels and crossetted door
surrounds are simple but competent renditions of more high-style Greek Revival details. The fact that
Sylvester L. Burford operated a carriage making shop during the period suggests the possibility that he
or his coworkers may have produced some of the house’s decorative features. The furniture-like form
and narrow proportions of the turned finials on the stair newels suggest they were fashioned by
someone with woodworking skills but not professional building expertise. The porch posts too have a
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
10
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
naïve quality as though they are turned approximations of professionally made classical columns
(rather than the Victorian turned posts that they superficially resemble).
Endnotes
1. Amherst County land books; Amherst County Deed Book I p. 361; Deed Book K p. 293; Deed
Book M p. 59; Amherst County Will Book 9 pages 135 and 213; Wood, Rucker Family Genealogy,
114; Burford Family File.
2. Amherst County Will Book 9 pages 213 and 252; Amherst County Deed Book W pages 60, 62, 63
and 64; Amherst County land books. The slaves listed with their ages in the December 1835 inventory
were: 1) Caleb (age 29); 2) Elijah (37); 3) Daniel (40); 4) Jim (60); 5) “1 woman named Maria and child
Wiatt 23 years old;” 6) Betty (50); 7) Mary (9); 8) Eliza (8); 9) Carolina (5); 10) Doshia (4).
3. Johnson, Douglas Southall Freeman, 16.
4. U.S. census; Wills, “History of Oak Lawn;” Wills, “Oak Lawn Recollections;” Wills, “RB
Wortham;” Wills, “Capt. Raymond Fairfax, CSA;” Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County, 92;
Dwight, “Map of Nelson and Amherst counties;” Hotchkiss and Robinson, “Map of Amherst
County;” Nixon, “Buford’s Mill,” 63. The 1850 Amherst County industrial schedules do not survive.
Burford does not appear in the 1860 industrial schedules.
5. Dobyns, Patent Office Pony, 130, 213, 226; “Confederate Patent Office.”
6. Becky Fox personal communication; Amherst New Era-Progress, October 12, 1861; Amherst
County, Virginia, vol. 1, 25; “Lynchburg and vicinity;” Nixon, “Burford,” 11; U.S. census. Formerly an
icehouse may have been associated with the house. Ice is said to have been cut on Harris Creek near
Burford’s Mill and stored on the property (Dick Wills personal communication).
7. U.S. census; Chataigne’s Virginia Business Directory . . . 1893-94, 199, 203; Wills, “RB Wortham;”
Wills, “History of Oak Lawn;” Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County, 91.
8. Chambers, Lynchburg, 66, 72, 73, 74.
9. Wills, “Oak Lawn Recollections;” Amherst County Will Book 9 p. 252.
10. Dick Wills personal communication; Amherst County land books.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
11
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Bibliography
Amherst County deed, tax and will records. Amherst County Courthouse, Amherst, Va., and Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Amherst County, Virginia. 2 vols. Amherst, Va.: Amherst County Heritage Book Committee,
1999-2004.
Amherst Museum and Historical Society Records. Amherst, Va.
Amherst New Era-Progress (Amherst, Va.).
Burford Family File. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: University
Press of Virginia, 1981.
Chataigne’s Virginia Gazetteer and Classified Business Directory, 1893-94. Richmond, Va.:
J. H. Chataigne, 1893.
“Confederate Patent Office.” Wikipedia website (www.en.wikipedia.org).
Dobyns, Kenneth W. The Patent Office Pony: A History of the United States Patent Office.
Author: 1994.
Dwight, C. S. “Map of Nelson and Amherst counties, Virginia.” 1860s.
Fox, Becky, personal communication with Dick Wills. February 23, 2004.
Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County Virginia, Revised Edition. Amherst, Va.: Amherst
County Museum and Historical Society, 1999.
Hotchkiss and Robinson. “Map of Amherst County, Virginia.” 1866.
Johnson, David E. Douglas Southall Freeman. Gretna, La: Pelican Publishing Company, 2002.
“Lynchburg and vicinity.” Map, 1864. Jeremy Francis Gilmer Collection, Virginia Historical Society,
Richmond, Va.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
12
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Bibliography (Continued)
Neblett, Emily, Lyndelle H. Hume, and Mrs. Roy C. McIvor. The History of Monroe, Virginia.
Monroe, Va.: Monroe Home Demonstration Club, 1961.
Nixon, Florence Foster. “Burford.” Amherst County, Virginia. Vol. 1. Amherst, Va.: Amherst
County Heritage Book Committee, 1999.
________. “Burford’s Mill.” Amherst County, Virginia. Vol. 2. Amherst, Va.: Amherst County
Heritage Book Committee, 2004.
Wills, Dick. “Capt. Raymond Fairfax, CSA.” Report, ca. 2004.
________. “History of Oak Lawn.” Report, 2004.
________. “Oak Lawn.” Virginia Department of Historic Resources Preliminary Information Form,
2003.
________. “Oak Lawn Recollections.” Report, 2006.
________. “RB Wortham.” Report, 2004.
Wills, Dick, and J. Daniel Pezzoni. “Oak Lawn.” Historic Preservation Certification Application
Part 2, 2005.
Wood, Sudie Rucker, comp. The Rucker Family Genealogy with their Ancestors, Descendants and
Connections. Richmond, Va.: Old Dominion Press, 1932.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
13
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries correspond to Amherst County Tax Map Section 147 Parcel ((A)) 86, the present
parcel on which Oak Lawn stands.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries correspond to the parcel on which the house stands and exclude modern resources
and a historically associated nineteenth century barn ruins located on adjacent parcels not owned by
the nomination’s sponsor.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Photos
Page
14
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs are of:
OAK LAWN
Amherst County, Virginia
DHR file no. 005-5029
J. Daniel Pezzoni, Photographer
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: North (front) and west sides of house.
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 1 OF 5
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: South and east sides of house.
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 2 OF 5
DATE: January 2006
VIEW OF: Dining room with Georgian mantel.
NEG. NO.: 22394
PHOTO 3 OF 5
DATE: January 2006
VIEW OF: Living room with Greek Revival mantel.
NEG. NO.: 22394
PHOTO 4 OF 5
DATE: February 2006
VIEW OF: Well house and front yard
NEG. NO.: 22787
PHOTO 5 OF 5
Oak Lawn
Amherst County, Virginia
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Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
LISTED:
VLR: 12/14/2017
NRHP: 4/20/2018
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
El Bethel Methodist Church
Other names/site number: El Bethel Church; DHR# 005-5259
Name of related multiple property listing:
_____________N/A______________________________________________
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 925 Buffalo Springs Turnpike
City or town: Amherst
State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
___A
___B
_X__C
_X_ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources____________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______1_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______2_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ______0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
SOCIAL: meeting hall
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20th CENTURY REVIVALS: Late Gothic Revival
LATE 19TH AND 20th CENTURY REVIVALS: Classical Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: WOOD, CONCRETE, METAL
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
El Bethel Church, historically known as El Bethel Methodist Church, is located among
the rolling hills of central Amherst County. It is one of just two remaining public buildings of
Allwood, a rural community located along the Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State Route 635). The
building stands on a natural rise in an open yard and appears to be on a temple mount. At the
base of the rise is a stone retaining wall flanking a concrete stair with concrete walkway leading
to the stepped portico entry of the church. Shrubs and perennial plantings camouflage the wall
and emphasize the stair. The present building, built circa 1930, is the second church of the same
name to be built on the site. The first was constructed around 1857 and was razed in 1930 to
build a smaller space with materials recycled from the earlier church. The circa 1930 frame
building is an eclectic mix of Classical Revival and Late Gothic Revival styles. The temple-form
edifice has a poured concrete foundation, weatherboard siding, and a standing-seam metal gable
roof. Notable exterior features are the portico and the lancet window and door bays. Interior
features include a barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The Allwood Cemetery,
behind the church, is historically associated with the church and contains many interments of
former members. It is still an active cemetery and contains over 300 burials. The headstones are
generally etched, upright or lawn-level, granite markers. This is the largest burial ground in this
section of the county. Overall the property retains high integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, materials, feeling, and association; integrity of design is largely intact as well, but
for a 1960s redesign of the pulpit area.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Site and Setting Description
El Bethel Church is located on the eastern side of Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State Route
635). It is in the heart of a community in central Amherst County known as Allwood. This is a
rural farming community characterized by its rolling hills. The building sits on a natural rise in
an open yard. The site is landscaped to make it appear as a temple mount. At the base is an
uncoursed stone retaining wall flanking a concrete stair with a concrete walkway and additional
steps rising to the stepped portico entry of the building. Shrubs and perennial plantings hide the
retaining wall on either side of the stair. The cemetery, behind the church, is open and enclosed
with an uncoursed stone wall on the west, at the entry and the remainder by a triple-rail wooden
fence. The cemetery follows the natural rise of the land.
Detailed Building Description
Exterior Description
El Bethel Church was constructed in 1930 to replace an earlier 1857 church building. The
new construction included the use of materials recycled from the earlier building, likely the
framing and siding materials.1 The present El Bethel Church is a frame, gable-front edifice with
a poured concrete foundation, weatherboard siding, and a standing-seam metal gable roof. The
44-by-28-foot main block is a Classical Revival temple form with a three-bay inset portico
measuring six feet deep by 28 feet wide, under an extension of the main roof, supported by four
fluted Doric columns. Within the front gable field is a lunette-shaped louvered vent. Each of the
building’s elevations has three symmetrically spaced Gothic Revival, lancet-arched bays. The
windows and transoms are stained-glass and the windows have hopper-style sash. The exterior of
the building remains unaltered since its construction. The principal entry, centered within the
portico, is flanked by two windows. The double-leaf doors of the entry each have two flat panels
identifiable to the early twentieth century.
The north and south side elevations are identical, with three tall, narrow lancet windows.
The eaves of both elevations have exposed rafter tails. The rear (east) elevation has three
windows; the center window is larger than those that flank it. In the gable field there is a
rectangular, louvered vent. Near the northwest corner of the rear elevation is a concrete-block
chimney flue and a concrete-block bulkhead with double doors. The bulkhead leads to an
underground storage space.
Interior Description
The interior has a center-aisle arrangement and the nave is separated from the chancel by
a partition with three lancet arches. There are nine rows of twelve-foot pews with stylized lancets
1
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 50-5; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County
Museum and Historical Society.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
on the ends to either side of the aisle. The original medium-gauge wooden flooring is exposed
beneath the pews; all other floor areas are carpeted. The barrel-vaulted ceiling appears to be
unique among extant Amherst County churches. An original 1930s pendant lights hang from the
ceiling.
The pulpit is in front of the arched partition and the center aisle continues to the chancel
through the pulpit area. The pulpit area rises from the main floor and is marked by rails with
square balusters on either side of the aisle. The aisle step, in the pulpit to the chancel, is flanked
by solid paneled rails. This area was reconfigured in the 1960s by member Hal Myers, Jr. (19252004). The extent of the redesign and reasoning for it remains unknown. The church’s historical
records are lost.2 The chancel, behind the arched partition, is one level and contains the altar
table, choir pews, and piano.
The collection of eleven stained-glass hopper-style windows and the stained-glass
transom are significant interior features. The windows are unsigned. All windows feature a
different image in the center of the window, and all but one are Christian symbols. There are
three window patterns. The six side windows have crosses at the arch peak, a background of
yellow with red diamonds, an oval center image, and the memorials at the bottom are contained
within stylized Latin crosses. The three chancel windows have stylized flowers in the arch peaks,
solid backgrounds, central images in a four-sided figure with rounded corners, draped, stylized
flowers below the central image, and memorials within a scroll design. The two windows and
transoms of the west wall have crosses within an oval at the arch peak and the memorials are
within a framed area. The windows each have a background with a white elongated shape with
blue between the shapes; the center images are contained within ovals. The northern window of
the west wall features an image generally referred to as the Confederate flag.3 This window is a
memorial to Confederate veteran, John H. Parr and his wife, Betty. John Parr died in 1899 and
was the first to be buried in the Allwood Cemetery.4
Cemetery Description
The Allwood Community Cemetery is located behind the church. It is enclosed by an
uncoursed stone wall on the west and by a wooden triple-rail fence on the remaining three sides.
The overall plan of the cemetery is rectilinear, with grassy paths defining square or rectangular
clusters of burials. The cemetery remains open for new interments, and currently contains over
2
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51. Church Records are not filed with Mount Pleasant or
with the larger Methodist organizational library; they have been lost as some point.
3
This is the rectangular flag used late in the Civil War by the Confederate Navy. The square form was the Battle
flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. The design, by William Porcher Miles (1822-1899), was submitted to the
government, but was rejected.
4
John H. Parr (1836-1899) was a Confederate veteran. He was a clerk with the rank of Adjutant for the 7th
Regiment, Virginia Infantry and was wounded at Gettysburg. He operated the Allwood store and served as a
Supervisor for Amherst County. He was mortally wounded in a shootout/duel at the Amherst County Courthouse.
He got into a dispute with the sheriff and it escalated to violence with both men, in the open, shooting at each other.
Seven shots were fired. The sheriff was grazed and Parr was struck in the lungs. He returned home and died soon
thereafter. (Information from Ancestry.com, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, and Virginian Pilot,
Thurs. 20 Apr 1899, p. 8, available online at newspapers.com)
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
300 burials. The cemetery was historically linked to the church because many former members
are interred therein; later, other community members were also interred. Originally, it was the
Parr family burying ground. The first burial, that of John H. Parr, also has an unusual upright
granite marker. His headstone has the masonic emblem and the same flag depicted in the
aforementioned church window.
The cemetery grew in the early twentieth century as the Parr family began allowing their
neighbors to use the burial ground. It is now the largest cemetery in this area of the county. In
1950, Morris Parr, son of John Parr, reserved two acres for a burial ground in a deed of sale of
some of the family’s land. The family deeded the same two acres to the Allwood Cemetery
Association in 1963. Most of the inscribed markers are either upright or lawn-level granite
stones.5
5
Amherst County Deed Books 1187, p. 360; 456, p. 369; 231, p. 81; and 148, p. 306.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
X
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
X
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
ca. 1930
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
ca. 1930
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
____N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
____N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
___Unknown_______
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
El Bethel Methodist Church is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture. Constructed circa 1930, the church’s design is a combination of Classical Revival
and Late Gothic Revival elements. It is one of just two remaining public buildings of the oncethriving Allwood community and is one of Amherst County’s two extant, Great Depression-era
churches. The current edifice is the second church building on the site and was constructed with
materials recycled from the earlier building, which dated to circa 1857. Significant features
include the property’s site design, temple form with portico, barrel-vaulted ceiling, and
collection of stained-glass windows. El Bethel Methodist Church held regular church services in
the building until 1989, when the greatly reduced membership merged with the Mount Pleasant
Church and abandoned the El Bethel. In 1999, the Pedlar Ruritan Club adopted the building as a
community improvement project and it was repaired and restored. The same year, the Methodist
Church deeded the property to the El Bethel Community Association. It is now used for
community and special events. The only alteration to the building since 1930 was the redesign of
the pulpit during the 1960s. Otherwise, the church retains its original materials and is an
excellent example of Great Depression-era construction in Amherst County. The Allwood
Cemetery, behind the church, is historically associated with the church and contains many
interments of former members. It is the only active public burial ground in the area and contains
over 300 burials. El Bethel Methodist Church meets Criteria Consideration A for religious
properties because its significance is derived from its architecture. The property meets Criteria
Consideration D for cemeteries because the cemetery contributes to the property’s overall
historical significance, as it has been in continuous use since 1899; and it retains characterdefining features such as granite grave markers and the overall layout that consists of a
rectilinear plan with grassy paths neatly defining clusters of burials.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
El Bethel Methodist Church is an unusual ecclesiastical edifice dating to the Great
Depression in Amherst County. The combined Classical Revival and Late Gothic Revival
elements make the building architecturally significant, yet the source of its design inspiration is
unknown and its historical records are unfortunately lost. The church historical background is
based in-part on bits of local lore.6 The building’s high integrity of workmanship and materials
and reuse of mid-19th-century structural and decorative elements also encapsulate vernacular
construction methods of the 1930s.
El Bethel is the only church in Amherst County that features a temple-mount site design,
while the 1930 building also features a character-defining, modestly scaled, one-story, frontgabled form with entrance portico, which was a form commonly used for rural churches
6
Church Records are not filed with Mount Pleasant or with the larger Methodist organizational library and are lost.
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
throughout Amherst County from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century. The
decorative details, stylistic influences, elevated site, and building form may have been inspired
by the earlier 1857 church; this supposition is based on the only known description of the
building, which states it was a larger building with a double entry and double-aisle arrangement.
However, documented examples of other churches in rural Amherst County suggest that
inspiration for El Bethel’s design could have come from nearby churches also located along the
Buffalo Springs Turnpike, namely St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Pedlar Mills (ca. 1837, DHR
# 005-0016) and New Prospect Baptist Church (1847, DHR# 005-5273). St Luke’s is south of
Allwood and has the classical temple form with a portico, while New Prospect in the neighboring
community of Pleasant View north of Allwood has Gothic style lancet windows. All three are
one-story, front-gabled buildings of modest scale, although New Prospect has been enlarged to
include a rear ell.
Many early-twentieth-century church buildings in Amherst County, including others that
dated to the Great Depression era, were replaced by larger ones constructed later in the twentieth
century. El Bethel and Madison Heights Christian Church are the only two dating to the 1930s
that are known to remain extant today. Madison Heights Christian Church was constructed in
1932 with recycled materials from the former Westminster Presbyterian Church of Lynchburg. It
is a Late Gothic Revival, brick church with lancet windows in the nave.7 The only common
characteristics between El Bethel and Madison Heights are their construction using recycled
materials and their lancet windows.
El Bethel Church historically was at the heart of the Allwood community. The latenineteenth and early-twentieth century community once included a general merchandise store,
mill, carpentry shop, undertaker, and the 1939 school. The school, built on property adjacent to
the church, is now a residential building. El Bethel is the only other still-extant public building in
use in Allwood and its cemetery is the only community burial ground in this area of Amherst
County.8
Historic Background
The congregation of El Bethel Methodist Church was organized in 1837. The Reverend
Pitt Woodroof (1810-1898) was an early minister memorialized in one of the stained-glass
windows as its first trustee. Woodroof was a circuit rider who preached at churches within a
particular area. After organization, the congregants met at several places in the Allwood vicinity
until circa 1857. At that point, they were able to purchase land and construct a new
meetinghouse. No photographs or detailed descriptions of the first church building have been
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 54; Madison Heights Christian Church History available
online at madisonheightschristian.com.
8
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; and “El Bethel Church” and “Allwood” files from the
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society.
7
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
found. Local lore describes the earlier church as having been larger than its replacement, with
double entries and double aisles. The congregation used this building regularly until 1930.9
In 1930, the congregation decided to raze the circa 1857 building and replace it with a
smaller space. Some materials of the old building, likely the framing and siding materials, were
reused in erecting the new building to save money, for it was the Great Depression, an era of
many shortages.
From 1930 to 1989, regularly held services continued. At some point, the membership
began to decline and in 1989 it had reached a point where the existing congregation could no
longer financially maintain the church. They merged with the larger Mount Pleasant Methodist
Church of Amherst and abandoned El Bethel. In 1999, the Pedlar Ruritan Club adopted the
property for a community improvement project and repaired and restored the building. The
community convinced the Methodist Church (Mount Pleasant Charge) to deed the building to the
newly formed El Bethel Community Association. Today, the association maintains the building
and opens it for special events.10
9
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County Museum
and Historical Society; and Amherst County Deed Book DD, p. 456. El Bethel Methodist Church’s historical
records are lost and are not filed with Mount Pleasant or with the larger Methodist organizational library.
10
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County
Museum and Historical Society; and Amherst County Deed Books 815, p. 189; and 221, p. 436.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Book, various books.
“Amherst County Heritage 1791-1999.” Vol. I., pp. 50-51.
“Amherst County Heritage 1791-2004.” Vol. II., pp. 25, 78.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, “El Bethel Church” and “Allwood”files.
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. "Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report July 2010." 2010.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR# 005-5259
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 3 acres
Sections 9-end page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.645370 N
Longitude: -79.220920 W
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property coincide with the perimeters of three adjoined tax
parcels recorded by Amherst County as parcels 61 A 7, 61 A 7A, and 61 A 7B. The true and
correct boundaries are shown on the attached Aerial View and Tax Parcel Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries coincide with the legal boundaries associated with the church
property since construction of the first church building in 1857. The boundaries encompass
the properties historic setting and all known historic resources. Parcel maps are available at
the Amherst County Government Building and online at countyofamherst.com
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Sandra F. Esposito
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number:
140 Cradon Hill Ln.
city or town: Amherst
state: VA
zip code: 24521
e-mail: espositosf@earthlink.net
telephone: 434-946-7496
date: October 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sections 9-end page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: El Bethel Methodist Church
City or Vicinity: Amherst (vicinity)
County: Amherst County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: October 2016
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ElBethelMethodistChurch_0001
View: Primary building, west elevation, camera facing east
2 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0002
View: Primary building, west elevation detail, camera facing east
3 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0003
View: Primary building, north and west elevations, camera facing southeast
4 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0004
View: Primary building, north and east elevations, camera facing southwest
5 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0005
View: Primary building, east and south elevations, camera facing northwest
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
6 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0006
View: Primary building, south and west elevations, camera facing northeast
7 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0007
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing east
8 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0008
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing west
9 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0009
View: Interior, primary building, detail of pews
10 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0010
View: Interior, primary building, window detail, camera facing west
11 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0011
View: Cemetery, camera facing northwest
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 16
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
AERIAL VIEW MAP/ SKETCH MAP
Historic Boundary
ElLegend
Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 005-5259
Resources
A. El Bethel Church, Contributing
Building
B. Cemetery, Contributing Site
Location Coordinates:
Latitude:
37.645370
N
1 Lat 37.64537N
Lon -79.22092W
B
Longitude: -79.220920 W
A
1
Title: El Bethel
Date: 6/30/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
PHOTO KEY
TAX PARCEL MAP
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 005-5259
Historic Boundary includes tax parcels 61 A 7, 61 A 7A, and 61 A 7B.
Historic Boundary
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
LISTED:
VLR: 12/14/2017
NRHP: 4/20/2018
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
El Bethel Methodist Church
Other names/site number: El Bethel Church; DHR# 005-5259
Name of related multiple property listing:
_____________N/A______________________________________________
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 925 Buffalo Springs Turnpike
City or town: Amherst
State: VA
County: Amherst
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
___A
___B
_X__C
_X_ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources____________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______1_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______2_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ______0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION: religious facility
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
SOCIAL: meeting hall
FUNERARY: cemetery
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20th CENTURY REVIVALS: Late Gothic Revival
LATE 19TH AND 20th CENTURY REVIVALS: Classical Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: WOOD, CONCRETE, METAL
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
El Bethel Church, historically known as El Bethel Methodist Church, is located among
the rolling hills of central Amherst County. It is one of just two remaining public buildings of
Allwood, a rural community located along the Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State Route 635). The
building stands on a natural rise in an open yard and appears to be on a temple mount. At the
base of the rise is a stone retaining wall flanking a concrete stair with concrete walkway leading
to the stepped portico entry of the church. Shrubs and perennial plantings camouflage the wall
and emphasize the stair. The present building, built circa 1930, is the second church of the same
name to be built on the site. The first was constructed around 1857 and was razed in 1930 to
build a smaller space with materials recycled from the earlier church. The circa 1930 frame
building is an eclectic mix of Classical Revival and Late Gothic Revival styles. The temple-form
edifice has a poured concrete foundation, weatherboard siding, and a standing-seam metal gable
roof. Notable exterior features are the portico and the lancet window and door bays. Interior
features include a barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The Allwood Cemetery,
behind the church, is historically associated with the church and contains many interments of
former members. It is still an active cemetery and contains over 300 burials. The headstones are
generally etched, upright or lawn-level, granite markers. This is the largest burial ground in this
section of the county. Overall the property retains high integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, materials, feeling, and association; integrity of design is largely intact as well, but
for a 1960s redesign of the pulpit area.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Site and Setting Description
El Bethel Church is located on the eastern side of Buffalo Springs Turnpike (State Route
635). It is in the heart of a community in central Amherst County known as Allwood. This is a
rural farming community characterized by its rolling hills. The building sits on a natural rise in
an open yard. The site is landscaped to make it appear as a temple mount. At the base is an
uncoursed stone retaining wall flanking a concrete stair with a concrete walkway and additional
steps rising to the stepped portico entry of the building. Shrubs and perennial plantings hide the
retaining wall on either side of the stair. The cemetery, behind the church, is open and enclosed
with an uncoursed stone wall on the west, at the entry and the remainder by a triple-rail wooden
fence. The cemetery follows the natural rise of the land.
Detailed Building Description
Exterior Description
El Bethel Church was constructed in 1930 to replace an earlier 1857 church building. The
new construction included the use of materials recycled from the earlier building, likely the
framing and siding materials.1 The present El Bethel Church is a frame, gable-front edifice with
a poured concrete foundation, weatherboard siding, and a standing-seam metal gable roof. The
44-by-28-foot main block is a Classical Revival temple form with a three-bay inset portico
measuring six feet deep by 28 feet wide, under an extension of the main roof, supported by four
fluted Doric columns. Within the front gable field is a lunette-shaped louvered vent. Each of the
building’s elevations has three symmetrically spaced Gothic Revival, lancet-arched bays. The
windows and transoms are stained-glass and the windows have hopper-style sash. The exterior of
the building remains unaltered since its construction. The principal entry, centered within the
portico, is flanked by two windows. The double-leaf doors of the entry each have two flat panels
identifiable to the early twentieth century.
The north and south side elevations are identical, with three tall, narrow lancet windows.
The eaves of both elevations have exposed rafter tails. The rear (east) elevation has three
windows; the center window is larger than those that flank it. In the gable field there is a
rectangular, louvered vent. Near the northwest corner of the rear elevation is a concrete-block
chimney flue and a concrete-block bulkhead with double doors. The bulkhead leads to an
underground storage space.
Interior Description
The interior has a center-aisle arrangement and the nave is separated from the chancel by
a partition with three lancet arches. There are nine rows of twelve-foot pews with stylized lancets
1
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 50-5; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County
Museum and Historical Society.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
on the ends to either side of the aisle. The original medium-gauge wooden flooring is exposed
beneath the pews; all other floor areas are carpeted. The barrel-vaulted ceiling appears to be
unique among extant Amherst County churches. An original 1930s pendant lights hang from the
ceiling.
The pulpit is in front of the arched partition and the center aisle continues to the chancel
through the pulpit area. The pulpit area rises from the main floor and is marked by rails with
square balusters on either side of the aisle. The aisle step, in the pulpit to the chancel, is flanked
by solid paneled rails. This area was reconfigured in the 1960s by member Hal Myers, Jr. (19252004). The extent of the redesign and reasoning for it remains unknown. The church’s historical
records are lost.2 The chancel, behind the arched partition, is one level and contains the altar
table, choir pews, and piano.
The collection of eleven stained-glass hopper-style windows and the stained-glass
transom are significant interior features. The windows are unsigned. All windows feature a
different image in the center of the window, and all but one are Christian symbols. There are
three window patterns. The six side windows have crosses at the arch peak, a background of
yellow with red diamonds, an oval center image, and the memorials at the bottom are contained
within stylized Latin crosses. The three chancel windows have stylized flowers in the arch peaks,
solid backgrounds, central images in a four-sided figure with rounded corners, draped, stylized
flowers below the central image, and memorials within a scroll design. The two windows and
transoms of the west wall have crosses within an oval at the arch peak and the memorials are
within a framed area. The windows each have a background with a white elongated shape with
blue between the shapes; the center images are contained within ovals. The northern window of
the west wall features an image generally referred to as the Confederate flag.3 This window is a
memorial to Confederate veteran, John H. Parr and his wife, Betty. John Parr died in 1899 and
was the first to be buried in the Allwood Cemetery.4
Cemetery Description
The Allwood Community Cemetery is located behind the church. It is enclosed by an
uncoursed stone wall on the west and by a wooden triple-rail fence on the remaining three sides.
The overall plan of the cemetery is rectilinear, with grassy paths defining square or rectangular
clusters of burials. The cemetery remains open for new interments, and currently contains over
2
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51. Church Records are not filed with Mount Pleasant or
with the larger Methodist organizational library; they have been lost as some point.
3
This is the rectangular flag used late in the Civil War by the Confederate Navy. The square form was the Battle
flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. The design, by William Porcher Miles (1822-1899), was submitted to the
government, but was rejected.
4
John H. Parr (1836-1899) was a Confederate veteran. He was a clerk with the rank of Adjutant for the 7th
Regiment, Virginia Infantry and was wounded at Gettysburg. He operated the Allwood store and served as a
Supervisor for Amherst County. He was mortally wounded in a shootout/duel at the Amherst County Courthouse.
He got into a dispute with the sheriff and it escalated to violence with both men, in the open, shooting at each other.
Seven shots were fired. The sheriff was grazed and Parr was struck in the lungs. He returned home and died soon
thereafter. (Information from Ancestry.com, Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, and Virginian Pilot,
Thurs. 20 Apr 1899, p. 8, available online at newspapers.com)
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
300 burials. The cemetery was historically linked to the church because many former members
are interred therein; later, other community members were also interred. Originally, it was the
Parr family burying ground. The first burial, that of John H. Parr, also has an unusual upright
granite marker. His headstone has the masonic emblem and the same flag depicted in the
aforementioned church window.
The cemetery grew in the early twentieth century as the Parr family began allowing their
neighbors to use the burial ground. It is now the largest cemetery in this area of the county. In
1950, Morris Parr, son of John Parr, reserved two acres for a burial ground in a deed of sale of
some of the family’s land. The family deeded the same two acres to the Allwood Cemetery
Association in 1963. Most of the inscribed markers are either upright or lawn-level granite
stones.5
5
Amherst County Deed Books 1187, p. 360; 456, p. 369; 231, p. 81; and 148, p. 306.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
X
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
X
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
ca. 1930
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
ca. 1930
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
____N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
____N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
___Unknown_______
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
El Bethel Methodist Church is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture. Constructed circa 1930, the church’s design is a combination of Classical Revival
and Late Gothic Revival elements. It is one of just two remaining public buildings of the oncethriving Allwood community and is one of Amherst County’s two extant, Great Depression-era
churches. The current edifice is the second church building on the site and was constructed with
materials recycled from the earlier building, which dated to circa 1857. Significant features
include the property’s site design, temple form with portico, barrel-vaulted ceiling, and
collection of stained-glass windows. El Bethel Methodist Church held regular church services in
the building until 1989, when the greatly reduced membership merged with the Mount Pleasant
Church and abandoned the El Bethel. In 1999, the Pedlar Ruritan Club adopted the building as a
community improvement project and it was repaired and restored. The same year, the Methodist
Church deeded the property to the El Bethel Community Association. It is now used for
community and special events. The only alteration to the building since 1930 was the redesign of
the pulpit during the 1960s. Otherwise, the church retains its original materials and is an
excellent example of Great Depression-era construction in Amherst County. The Allwood
Cemetery, behind the church, is historically associated with the church and contains many
interments of former members. It is the only active public burial ground in the area and contains
over 300 burials. El Bethel Methodist Church meets Criteria Consideration A for religious
properties because its significance is derived from its architecture. The property meets Criteria
Consideration D for cemeteries because the cemetery contributes to the property’s overall
historical significance, as it has been in continuous use since 1899; and it retains characterdefining features such as granite grave markers and the overall layout that consists of a
rectilinear plan with grassy paths neatly defining clusters of burials.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
El Bethel Methodist Church is an unusual ecclesiastical edifice dating to the Great
Depression in Amherst County. The combined Classical Revival and Late Gothic Revival
elements make the building architecturally significant, yet the source of its design inspiration is
unknown and its historical records are unfortunately lost. The church historical background is
based in-part on bits of local lore.6 The building’s high integrity of workmanship and materials
and reuse of mid-19th-century structural and decorative elements also encapsulate vernacular
construction methods of the 1930s.
El Bethel is the only church in Amherst County that features a temple-mount site design,
while the 1930 building also features a character-defining, modestly scaled, one-story, frontgabled form with entrance portico, which was a form commonly used for rural churches
6
Church Records are not filed with Mount Pleasant or with the larger Methodist organizational library and are lost.
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
throughout Amherst County from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century. The
decorative details, stylistic influences, elevated site, and building form may have been inspired
by the earlier 1857 church; this supposition is based on the only known description of the
building, which states it was a larger building with a double entry and double-aisle arrangement.
However, documented examples of other churches in rural Amherst County suggest that
inspiration for El Bethel’s design could have come from nearby churches also located along the
Buffalo Springs Turnpike, namely St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Pedlar Mills (ca. 1837, DHR
# 005-0016) and New Prospect Baptist Church (1847, DHR# 005-5273). St Luke’s is south of
Allwood and has the classical temple form with a portico, while New Prospect in the neighboring
community of Pleasant View north of Allwood has Gothic style lancet windows. All three are
one-story, front-gabled buildings of modest scale, although New Prospect has been enlarged to
include a rear ell.
Many early-twentieth-century church buildings in Amherst County, including others that
dated to the Great Depression era, were replaced by larger ones constructed later in the twentieth
century. El Bethel and Madison Heights Christian Church are the only two dating to the 1930s
that are known to remain extant today. Madison Heights Christian Church was constructed in
1932 with recycled materials from the former Westminster Presbyterian Church of Lynchburg. It
is a Late Gothic Revival, brick church with lancet windows in the nave.7 The only common
characteristics between El Bethel and Madison Heights are their construction using recycled
materials and their lancet windows.
El Bethel Church historically was at the heart of the Allwood community. The latenineteenth and early-twentieth century community once included a general merchandise store,
mill, carpentry shop, undertaker, and the 1939 school. The school, built on property adjacent to
the church, is now a residential building. El Bethel is the only other still-extant public building in
use in Allwood and its cemetery is the only community burial ground in this area of Amherst
County.8
Historic Background
The congregation of El Bethel Methodist Church was organized in 1837. The Reverend
Pitt Woodroof (1810-1898) was an early minister memorialized in one of the stained-glass
windows as its first trustee. Woodroof was a circuit rider who preached at churches within a
particular area. After organization, the congregants met at several places in the Allwood vicinity
until circa 1857. At that point, they were able to purchase land and construct a new
meetinghouse. No photographs or detailed descriptions of the first church building have been
Amherst County Heritage Book 1761-1999, Vol I, p. 54; Madison Heights Christian Church History available
online at madisonheightschristian.com.
8
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; and “El Bethel Church” and “Allwood” files from the
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society.
7
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
found. Local lore describes the earlier church as having been larger than its replacement, with
double entries and double aisles. The congregation used this building regularly until 1930.9
In 1930, the congregation decided to raze the circa 1857 building and replace it with a
smaller space. Some materials of the old building, likely the framing and siding materials, were
reused in erecting the new building to save money, for it was the Great Depression, an era of
many shortages.
From 1930 to 1989, regularly held services continued. At some point, the membership
began to decline and in 1989 it had reached a point where the existing congregation could no
longer financially maintain the church. They merged with the larger Mount Pleasant Methodist
Church of Amherst and abandoned El Bethel. In 1999, the Pedlar Ruritan Club adopted the
property for a community improvement project and repaired and restored the building. The
community convinced the Methodist Church (Mount Pleasant Charge) to deed the building to the
newly formed El Bethel Community Association. Today, the association maintains the building
and opens it for special events.10
9
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County Museum
and Historical Society; and Amherst County Deed Book DD, p. 456. El Bethel Methodist Church’s historical
records are lost and are not filed with Mount Pleasant or with the larger Methodist organizational library.
10
Amherst County Heritage, 1791-1999, Vol I, p. 50-51; “El Bethel Church” file from the Amherst County
Museum and Historical Society; and Amherst County Deed Books 815, p. 189; and 221, p. 436.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Deed Book, various books.
“Amherst County Heritage 1791-1999.” Vol. I., pp. 50-51.
“Amherst County Heritage 1791-2004.” Vol. II., pp. 25, 78.
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, “El Bethel Church” and “Allwood”files.
History Tech and Landmark Preservation Associates. "Amherst County Historic Resources
Survey Report July 2010." 2010.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Amherst, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR# 005-5259
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 3 acres
Sections 9-end page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.645370 N
Longitude: -79.220920 W
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property coincide with the perimeters of three adjoined tax
parcels recorded by Amherst County as parcels 61 A 7, 61 A 7A, and 61 A 7B. The true and
correct boundaries are shown on the attached Aerial View and Tax Parcel Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries coincide with the legal boundaries associated with the church
property since construction of the first church building in 1857. The boundaries encompass
the properties historic setting and all known historic resources. Parcel maps are available at
the Amherst County Government Building and online at countyofamherst.com
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Sandra F. Esposito
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number:
140 Cradon Hill Ln.
city or town: Amherst
state: VA
zip code: 24521
e-mail: espositosf@earthlink.net
telephone: 434-946-7496
date: October 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sections 9-end page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: El Bethel Methodist Church
City or Vicinity: Amherst (vicinity)
County: Amherst County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: October 2016
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ElBethelMethodistChurch_0001
View: Primary building, west elevation, camera facing east
2 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0002
View: Primary building, west elevation detail, camera facing east
3 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0003
View: Primary building, north and west elevations, camera facing southeast
4 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0004
View: Primary building, north and east elevations, camera facing southwest
5 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0005
View: Primary building, east and south elevations, camera facing northwest
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
6 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0006
View: Primary building, south and west elevations, camera facing northeast
7 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0007
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing east
8 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0008
View: Interior, primary building, camera facing west
9 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0009
View: Interior, primary building, detail of pews
10 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0010
View: Interior, primary building, window detail, camera facing west
11 of 11: VA_AmherstCounty_ ElBethelMethodistChurch _0011
View: Cemetery, camera facing northwest
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 16
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
AERIAL VIEW MAP/ SKETCH MAP
Historic Boundary
ElLegend
Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 005-5259
Resources
A. El Bethel Church, Contributing
Building
B. Cemetery, Contributing Site
Location Coordinates:
Latitude:
37.645370
N
1 Lat 37.64537N
Lon -79.22092W
B
Longitude: -79.220920 W
A
1
Title: El Bethel
Date: 6/30/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
PHOTO KEY
TAX PARCEL MAP
El Bethel Methodist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 005-5259
Historic Boundary includes tax parcels 61 A 7, 61 A 7A, and 61 A 7B.
Historic Boundary
Text
NFS Form 1MOO
OWB No. 1024-O01S
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
I 9 /98g
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines
for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials,
and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets
(Form 10-900a). Type all entries.
1. Name of Property
historic name
APPnMATTnY rnriPT unn^F
other names/site number APPOM ATTnY ^HITBT HHTTC;P MATTDMAT
HISTOPICAT. PARK
2. Location
street & nurnberAPPOMATTOX COUPT
" HOUSE NATIONAL HISTO RICAL PAR , :_| not for publication
v| vicinity
city, town APPOMATTOX
code " ~ "*
Q I T_
zip code 2^579
state
TrrnrrxTTA
code
CH
county
APPnMATTnY
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
a private
public-local
1 1 public-State
f_xl public-Federal
Category of Property
n building(s)
B district
site
1 1 structure
CH object
Name of related multiple property listing:
None_________
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
31
3
buildings
Q
sites
1 fl
structures
1
objects
lit
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
0_____
4. State/Federal Agency Certification
Asjhe designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this
Sd nomination I I request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the
National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property CH meets LDdoes not meet the National Register criteria. LJsee continuation sheet.
L7
'
Signature of certifying official
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property I
I meets LJ does not meet the National Register criteria. LJ See continuation sheet.
Date
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal agency and bureau
5. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
f_Ij entered in the National Register.
| | See continuation sheet.
I | determined eligible for the National
Register. | ] See continuation sheet.
I | determined not eligible for the
National Register.
I 1/emoved from the National Register.
(2fother, (explain:)
V
e of the Keeper
&_
Date of Action'
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions)
nOMF.STTr./s|ngle dwelling_______
T)OMESTICifesfecondary structure
GOVERNMENT court hou
7. Description
*-»
Architectural Classification
(enter categories from instructions)
Current Functions (enter categories from instructions)
RECREATION AND CULTURE/outdoor rec.
RECREATION AND CULTURE/museum
RECREATION AND CULTURE/monument/marker
LANDSCAPE/park
AGRICULTURE/agricultural field
Materials (enter categories from instructions)
foundation BRICK; STONE/Sandstone. pieldstorM
walls BRICK: WOOD/L^gi WOOD/Weat.herboard
OTHER
roof WOOD/ShingT?' MFTAT./Tin; WOQD/Shake
other WOOD/ C'pOTChp''
fpTtrp^j______________
gTHMF./cr-ran-i tp
fN.far. Monument.
Describe present and historic physical appearance.
Appomattox <3ourt House National Historical Park is a unit of the
National Park System maintained as a restored nineteenth century
rural Virginia community commemorating the surrender of Confederate
General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Union
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. The Park is
located in the rolling piedmont of south central Virginia, three
miles northeast of the town of Appomattox in Appomattox County. It
comprises a 1,325-acre landscape of pasture, field, and mixed
hardwood and mature Virginia pine woodland. Approximately 438 acres
are used for agricultural purposes, and 650 acres are wooded.
Rolling in character, the terrain rises from drainage areas formed
by the Appomattox River and its Plain Run Branch (elevation 645
feet), to the highest ridge lines (elevation 830 feet). The village
of Appomattox Court House is on the crest of a 770-foot high ridge.
The village and other historic resources are preserved in much the.
same appearance they presented in 1865-1870. It was a scene
dominated by open fields with trees surrounding the streets and
homes of the residents. The main street circles the Courthouse.
Clustered around the village are thirteen restored and fourteen
reconstructed buildings. Several are operated as museums open to
the public. While the village was a center for county government,
and contained the homes of judges, clerks, and small-business
operators, it was also an agricultural community with field slaves.
Retention of the open fields along Virginia 24, a major two-lane
highway which bisects the Park, is an important factor in
interpretation of the historic scene resembling that of 1865. (In
the 1950s, the highway was rerouted to its present location away
from the center of the village.) This is accomplished by cattle
grazing and crop rotation of grasses, corn, and silage. The area
to the southwest, west, and north of the village has more trees
thati in 1865. This is a result of a management decision to screen
modern visual encroachments which would otherwise adversely affect
the historic scene.
IH See continuation sheet
8. Statement of Significance
Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties:
[H nationally
D statewide
Q locally
Applicable National Register Criteria
J0B
[~~1D
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions)
Period of Significance
RCHITECT
Significant Dates
1 8 fi S______
1Q?Q______
i Q^- An
MTT.TTARY_______________________
______________________
Cultural Affiliation
M/ fl________
Significant Persons
Let*
Grant, Ulysses S.
Architect/Builder
Ra-i-pp Charles foriginal Me Lean House)
Patterson, Alexander (Clnyftr Hi 11 Tavp-rn)
"Mg "h i rm a 1
PavV
f-»p*T^ri p A_______________
State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.
On April 9, 1865, in the village of Appomattox Court House,
Appomattox County, Virginia, population one hundred, General Robert
E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, General-in-Chief of the Armies
of the United States.
The surrender signaled the defeat of the
Confederate States of America. Across the unoccupied areas of the
South, Confederate commanders realized the futility of further
resistance, and, like Lee, surrendered their troops. Four years
of civil war were over.
In 1892, Brigadier General George B. Davis, Chairman of the
Commission for Publication of the Official Records of the War of
the Rebellion, received a report from an aide on the condition of
the historic features at Appomattox Court House. By that time the
McLean House, site of the surrender meeting between Lee and Grant,
had been dismantled prior to its planned reerection as an exhibit
at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (its structural members were
to be re-assembled in Washington, D.C., to house a Civil War
museum); the Courthouse had burned; and Grant's headquarters had
disappeared. Davis transmitted this disturbing news to Secretary
of War Daniel S. Lament, and recommended that these and other
important sites at Appomattox be permanently marked by tablets.
After Lament's approval, Davis had these and other sites marked
with cast iron tablets, in 1893. Upon visiting Appomattox in 1902,
Davis found the markers to be in excellent condition except for
need of painting. He testified before the House Military Affairs
Committee that if Congress concluded that land acquisition was
desirable, 150 acres would be sufficient to encompass all the main
i continuation sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
1. Dodd, John B. Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, List of
Classified Structures. March 31, 1976.
2. Hosmer, Charles B. , Jr. Preservation Comes of Agj^ From Williamsburg
to the National Trust, 1926-194?T 2 vols. Charlottesville , Va.
The University of Virginia Press for the Preservation Press,
National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States.
1981.
3. Lee, Ronald F. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
Office of Park Historic Preservation. "The Origin and Evolution
of the National Military Park Idea." Washington, D.C.: 1973.
4. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of Publications. Appomattox Court Hous e : Appomattox Court House Natonal Historical Park",
" Virginia, National Park Service Handbook
109. Washington, D.C. : 1980.
ee continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
I I preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67)
has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings
Survey # __________________________
I I recorded by Historic American Engineering
Primary location of additional data:
I I State historic preservation office
d] Other State agency
60 Federal agency
I I Local government
f~l University
CD Other
Specify repository:
NPS 3 Mirlr At 1 apt i r Bpginnal Office ,
Record #__________________________
Phila.. Pa.
f MARCH
_________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of property
1.525.08
USGS Quadrangle
UTM References
A ll i7l
Zone
Ifi IQI fil 4. ?0l
Easting
Vera and Appomattox, Va,
14 ill 4i 0" 5i4iOl
Northing
C 11,71 1619,612,4,01 j 4,115.8 17.6 .0 I
Scale
B ll i7l
Zone
1:24,000
16 19, 617 ,Qi d
I 4,1 U.nl?. Q, Ol
Easting
Northing
D LhTJ 15 19 iSlSifiiOl 14,115! 7l9.fi.0l
K~1 See continuation sheet
Justification
The Congressionally-authorized boundary includes the village core around the
Courthouse; outlying historic buildings and sites, including Lee's Headquarters in the extreme northeast, Grant's Headquarters in the extreme southwest,
and the Battle of Appomattox Court House in the west center; and the farm
fields and forests representative of those .JwJlich surrounded the historic
LJ See continuation sheet
village in 1865.
Verbal Boundary Description
i continuation sheets
11. Form Prepared By
nameAitle Jon B. Montgomery/Superintendent; Reed Engle/Act.Reg.Hist .Arch. Clifford Tnhias/
Rpg. Hist-orfan
organization Montgomery-APCO; Engle r Tobias-MARO________ date May §, 1989
street & number MARQ: U.S. Custom House, 2nd & Chestnut St.4alephoneF.ng1p; (91 SKQ7-sn?«; Tnhiac : city or town
Philadelphia________________________state
Pa._______ zip code 1Q1Q6
9970
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Page
ITEM No. 6 Historic Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE/agricultural field
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE/processing
DEFENSE/battle site
TRANSPORTATION/road-related (vehicles)
FUNERARY/cemetery
GOVERNMFNT/correctional facility
RECREATION AND CULTURE/monument/marker
Current Functions
FUNERARY/cemetery
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
OTHER/park administration
UnKed States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Appomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Section number
7
Page
2
Materials
other METAL/cast iron (War Department Tablets)
EARTH (roads)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
~i
..
..
GH^^*
COntiniiatlOn OneCt
Section number
7
page
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
?i—
Architecture and Landscape
If the modest village of Appomattox Court House is considered a
museum, its architectural significance lies in the breadth and
depth of its collection of late eighteenth and nineteenth century
buildings, structures, and sites. The collection had breadth
because it includes a wide range of public and private structures,
depth because these buildings are supplemented by a large number
of ancillary structures that typically punctuated the rural
Virginia landscape of that era. And there is a framework to this
assemblage; historic roads, fences, hedgerows, and fields
demonstrate a pattern of ownership, occupation, and use, thereby
creating a framework cultural landscape in which the historical
events of 1865 may be interpreted.
The residential buildings at Appomattox Court House represent a
wide range of styles, from settlement cabins to the homes of
prosperous judges and court officials. The J. N. Williams and
Sweeney-Connor Cabins are typical of "hall" type, one room and loft
above, log cabins that were indigenous to the rural Virginia
landscape in the nineteenth century. Many are still extant, but in
a state of disrepair or sheathed in modern materials that conceal
their humble origins. A step up the economic ladder within
settlement era structures is typified by the "hall" house of
Charles Sweeney. Only slightly larger than the nearby log cabins,
Sweeney built his cabin of more "finished" materials, a post and
beam frame sheathed in beaded weatherboard. Although still one room
and a loft, the simple structure made attempts at elegance by
including a sophisticated cornice molding, carefully detailed door
panels, and the evident intent that the interior would one day be
plastered.
The Kelly House, not unlike Sweeney in size, scale, materials, and
simplicity, includes an element of vernacular pretension in the
front elevation "Georgian" porch, but the facade is weakened by the
incorporation of only a single additional bay, thereby denying
symmetry. The zenith of residential construction in Appomattox
Court House is seen in the Bocock-Isbell House. Built for two
brothers, the residence was later owned by a country judge and must
therefore have been considered a prestigious structure. The
exterior incorporates Greek Revival allusions in the templeform
porches, but as in most vernacular structures, adds elements of
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox court House
National Historical Park,
oonimuauon aneei
Appomattox
county, va.
fVkntinilfltinn Qtu»Pt
Section number
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Page —4—
Roman Classicism (the raised podium), and the Southern Colonial
type (the exterior closet addition). The interiors, although
simple, convey quiet prosperity in the use of an extensive range
of millwork profiles and combinations.
The public buildings at Appomattox Court House reflect the modest
prosperity of the Bocock-Isbell House. The Clover Hill Tavern and
the McLean House are public parallels to the private residence.
They are larger in scale and plan; their porches and entryways are
defined in a broader way; and the number of dependency structures
reflects the demands of greater use. But the modest structural and
architectural details of the interiors indicate the accommodation
to the needs and tastes of middle class travelers. Elaboration of
treatment was limited to the application of grained, stencilled,
and painted surfaces, a visual degree of elegance. The Courthouse
itself typifies this solid, businesslike approach to construction.
Raised high on its classical podium, and the court rooms approached
by costly stone steps flanked by iron rails and balusters, the
balance of the structure betrays the simplicity of local brick
construction. As with the fenestration and iron bars on the new
Jail, a few exterior details define the public purpose of the
building.
The residences at Appomattox Court House are typically sited in
relation to the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, to its secondary
circulation, or to the Courthouse "square." The public and
commercial buildings cluster tightly against the public focus, the
Courthouse, and to an extent, the greater the distance from this
center, the lesser the degree of structural pretension. This
gradation in scale and detail is evident also in ancillary
structures and elaborate picket and paling fences yielding to
horizontal boards and eventually to snake (worm) enclosures.
Many "historic" villages retain their major buildings, but few
still exhibit the clutter of the outbuildings extant at Appomattox
Court House. Wellhouses, quarters, kitchens, stables, privies,
guesthouses, and smokehouses add a richness of density and detail
to the domestic and public landscape. These buildings also show
the transition
from modest and unnecessary ornamentation
(trellises, bargeboards, and brackets), to utilitarian simplicity
as a visitor moves away from the center of the village.
United State* Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Pa
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Page
Individually, the buildings at Appomattox Court House are fine
examples of their type; collectively, the landscape of which they
are a part provides a strong statement of economic and political
power within a small, rural, southern community.
Contributing Resources
The following resources, either original or reconstructed,
contribute to the Park's National Register qualities. Most are
entered on the National Park Service's List of Classified
Structures (LCS). Those which are currently entered on the LCS have
the LCS Identification Number, followed by the LCS Park Structure
Number, in parentheses beside the structure name. The Structure
Numbers have been added to the accompanying site maps (Park Folder
[1981], which depicts the village and shows the entire Park in an
insert; Village Plan [1976]; and General Development Plan Existing
Conditions [19£<J], which shows the entire Park).
I. Buildings [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and Sketch Maps
"B," "C," and "E"]
A. Clover Hill Tavern (00049 04)
The tavern was built by Alexander Patterson in 1819 for
travelers on the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, and was
restored in 1954. Constructed of local brick laid in flemish
bond, the 39' x 23" 2-story building has a full attic and no
cellar. The south (front) elevation has 4 bays on each
principal floor, and is bisected by a full-length porch. The
porch is supported on brick foundation piers, and has a
random board floor and ceiling, wood shingle roof, ends
enclosed with random horizontal boards, a simple box cornice,
and 5 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 box columns. The second floor has 4 6/9
sash with 10" x 12" lights; the first floor has 2 9/9 sash
(10" x 12" lights) on the west of the entry door, and a
single sash on the east. The entry door has 5 recessed
panels, square edged, and a soffit of 1/4" flutes and beaded
edges. The door is surmounted by a 6-pane fanlight. All
windows have 2-panel, non-operable, louvered windows.
The east and west (gable) elevations have external, centered,
brick chimneys with single steps at the attic level, and
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
National Historical Pai
Continuation Sheet
APP omattox county, va .
/%__»l_-._»l__% Ot*AA+
Section number
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Page
four-course, corbelled drips. The chimneys are flanked by 9light inward-opening casements. The west elevation has an
entry door on the first floor, north of the chimney; the door
frame and fanlights match that on the front elevation. The
east elevation has no openings. The rear (north) elevation
is identical to the front, but reversed.
The wood shingle roof is supported by a corbelled brick
cornice on the main elevations and by denticulated rakes on
the gables.
The first floor is partitioned into 2 rooms. That to the west
is the smaller, but has a 39"-high brick fireplace with a
84"-wide and 60"-high wood surround featuring a fluted mantel
and dentils. The first floor trim is 6 1/2" baseboards with
3/8" quirks and 5' 4"-wide door and window trim with a 1/4"
inner quirk bead, step with 3/8" molding, and 1/2"-wide edge
moldings with raised beads. The doors are 5-panel, 1 1/4"
thick, with beaded flush panels with no molding on the
reverse. The trim on the fanlight arches of all 3 exterior
doors features transverse fluting on the soffits, and 7
simple, chisel-cut, 8-pointed starts. The stairs are unusual
as they are centered on the partition dividing the floor and
are approached from both rooms. The stair is enclosed with
random vertical boards within the western room, and access
is through a 5-panel door. Within the eastern room, the stair
is open and flanked by turned balusters, a handrail with
fluted edge, and a turned newel with flared cap. The treads
have fretted stair brackets and cove moldings below their
nosing.
Of particular note is the original stencilling and painting
exposed on the plaster and in the western room stair
enclosure, and the evidence of original graining on all
interior trim. The building houses a representative exhibit
of the printing of thousands of parole passes for the
surrendered Confederate soldiers. Recent research has
suggested that in fact the paroles may have been printed in
the wooden dining room wing at the Tavern's west end, which
no longer exists.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APPomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page _Z———
B. Tavern Kitchen and Guest House (00052 04A)
The 2-story tavern kitchen was built in 1819 and was restored
in 1953. Located northeast of the Tavern, the local brick is
laid in common bond with the mud/lime mortar joints
highlighted by white pencilling. The 32' x 18' dependency
has a full attic but no cellar. The south (front) elevation
has 4 bays on the second floor and 3 on the first. The second
floor has 2 central doors, board and batten with exterior
face beads, flanked by 6/6, double-hung windows with 10" x
12" lights. The first floor has a 6/9 sash on the west end
and 2 central doors below those above. An eastern window was
eliminated because it would have been bisected by the extant
flight of 13 steps that provide access to the open second
floor porch. The porch is supported by 3 8"-square box
columns, and has random (3 1/4"-6") t&g flooring and a
ceiling of random beaded boards. All windows have 2-panel,
non-operating, louvered shutters. The side elevations have
no fenestration or door openings and are relieved only by the
projection of the centered, internal chimneys. Both chimneys
have 4-course corbelled drips.
The wood, clipped-corner, shingle roof is supported by simple
beaded rake boards on the gables and by a box cornice with
applied molding at the eaves. The first and second floors
are divided into 2 rooms each. The longer of the first floor
rooms has a large (5 1 6 l/2"-wide x 58"-high) fireplace with
an original iron crane; it has no trim or mantel; the smaller
room has an untrimmed fireplace 48" x 39". The interior
baseboards are 5 1/2" high with a quirk bead, as are the sill
aprons. The doors and windows are plain. There is no interior
stair. Tradition holds that the second floor rooms were used
as extra housing for tavern guests; the first floor provided
food. The building houses the sales outlet for the Eastern
National Park and Monument Association.
C. Clover Hill Tavern Guest House (00053 04B)
The 1819 Tavern Guest House is a 3-story brick structure with
a finished attic and no cellar. It would be a simple and
common vernacular building were it not for the fact that its
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APPomattox court House
Onntinilfltinn fihf*fit
VAJnuIIumUJII ^IIC'S *
Section number
7
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Page _J——
use by guests of the Tavern dictated that the upper floors
were reached by separate exterior stairs. The unusual
character of the building is thus defined by the complexity
of stairs, porches, roof overhangs, and support posts. The
brick masonry is laid in common bond; pencilled joints
highlight all but the east and a portion of the south
elevations, which are whitewashed. The masonry core of the
structure measures 20' wide (north and south elevations) and
22' on the east and west.
The north elevation includes the external chimney with 2
steps and a corbelled brick drip. Because of the chimney, the
brick masonry extends upward as a full masonry gable. The
south elevation gable is wood above the third floor joists;
the masonry also stops at the third floor joist level on the
east and west elevations. There is a 5' roof overhang on the
east and west elevations and a 4'6" overhang on the south.
The overhang protects the porches, steps, and entry doors
below, and provides additional floor area in the third floor
room.
The front (east) elevation lower level has 2 doors with 5
flush-beaded, recessed panels. The reveals have 2 flushbeaded panels, as do the single-panel soffits. The first
floor has a similar, but larger entry door and a 6/6 sash.
The dominant feature on the elevation is, however, the porch.
Six octagonal posts, formed from chamfered square ones,
support the second floor deck and first floor ceiling,
composed of random boards. Thirteen open treads form the
stairs to the second floor deck and are centered on the roof,
not on the masonry portion of the building. The simple beaded
handrails continue onto the porches. The second floor porch
has 4 posts, the center 2 being eliminated as the
cantilevered third floor joists support the roof overhang.
The south elevation has 3 windows: 2 6/6 sash on the first
floor, and a single 6/6 sash above. An eastern window is
eliminated because of the stairs that extend from the east
elevation second floor porch to the balcony formed by the
extended overhang of the third floor gable. On the east and
west ends of the gable, the areas beyond the lower masonry
are sheathed with random horizontal beads as is that portion
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of the gable above the ceiling of the balcony. The interior
wall of the balcony rests on the masonry and has a centered
door similar to those on the lower floors. The west side of
the elevation has 2 2-story octagonal columns; one supports
the outer corner of the roof; the other is aligned with the
southern extension of the west wall masonry and falls
directly below the edge of the balcony above.
The west elevation has 2 bays. There are 2 6/6 sash on the
second floor above a single 6/6 sash on the western side of
the first floor, and a board and batten door on the east. A
2-story octagonal post supports the overhanging corner of
the roof on the north and on the south. On the north
elevation, 2 4-light casements flank the chimney on the third
floor. A single 6/6 double-hung sash window east of the
chimney on the second floor is the only other fenestration.
The interior has been extensively adapted since construction
and the restoration/rehabilitation of 1959. The fabric is of
questionable integrity.
D. Marian Wright House (00041 20)
The Marian Wright House was built by Pryor Wright in 1823
and inherited by his wife, Mariah, on his death in 1851. On
the morning of April 9, 1865, Brigadier General Joshua
Chamberlain's Union
infantry was
advancing
on the
Confederates through the village, and his right flank had
reached the Wright House when a flag of truce came out from
the Confederate lines. The exterior was restored in 1965, at
which time a concrete cellar was added. The interior was
unfinished, and the building is not open to the public.
The building is 40'6" (north/south) by 18', exclusive of the
porches, on the east and west elevations. The post and beam
structure sits on a raised foundation of rubble-stone with
a raised grapevine pointing. The siding is of beaded pine
weatherboards.
Centered external gable chimneys are
fieldstone to the second floor level, stepped back in stone,
and continuing upward as free-standing brick stacks with
corbelled drips accented with a whitewashed course just below
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the drip.
The west elevation has a full-length porch supported by 6
square posts bearing on stone piers separated by diagonal
lattice trellises. The shallow pitch shed porch roof and
gable roof are covered with wood shingles. Plain square
balusters and railing surround the porch, which is approached
by 4 centered steps. Within the porch, 3 6/6 sash are
separated by 2 entry doors; the doors have 6 panels with
raised centers with edge moldings cut out in a concave,
quarter-round shape.
The east elevation has a central porch (16'6" wide x 7'6"
deep), supported on stone piers joined by a diagonal lattice
trellis. Five posts support the wood-shingled shed roof
enclosed with random boards on the ends. Five steps with
closed risers approach the porch. Within the porch are 2
entry doors constructed as those on the west elevation.
Centered on the spaces external to and flanking the porch
are single, 6/6 double-hung sash.
The south elevation has 2 4-light casements flanking the
chimney on the second floor, and a narrow, 4/4 double-hung
sash adjacent to the west edge of the chimney below. An entry
door approached by 6 open treads is tight against the chimney
to the east. The door is of the same construction as the
others.
The north elevation replicates the south, but has a second
4/4 double-hung sash instead of the first floor door.
E. Bocock-Isbell House (07787 13)
This house was built by brothers Thomas S. and Henry F.
Bocock in 1849-50. Thomas was Speaker of the Confederate
House of Representatives, and Henry was Clerk of the Court
for Appomattox County from 1845 to 1860. (A third brother,
Willis, was Virginia Attorney General in 1853.) Lewis Isbell,
the Commonwealth Attorney for Appomattox County during the
Civil War, lived in the house at the time of the surrender.
The building was restored in 1949. It now serves as Park
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Headquarters; previously it was used for quarters.
The 2-story post and beam house includes a raised basement
of local brick laid in common bond. It measures 19' (north/
south) by 50', exclusive of the porches, and has 2 brick
external chimneys with single steps and corbelled drips. The
frame is sheathed with weatherboards having 4 3/4" - 5 1/8"
exposures.
The north (front) elevation has 3 bays on the first and
second floors and 2 on the raised basement. The 2 6/6 doublehung sash on the first floors are separated by the 14'-wide
x 10'6" entry porch, raised on brick piers and approached by
9 steps. The stair and porch railing is made of 1 1/8" x 7/8"
balusters, solid 4" x 4" newels with ball stops, and a builtup rail. The 4 paired porch columns and 2 half pilasters are
10 1/2"-square box posts. The porch floor is part t & g, part
random butted boards; the ceiling, random boards with quirk
beads. The flat-seam tin roof supports a balustrade
reflective of the columns and balusters below. A box cornice
and fascia have simple moldings. Within the porch, the
centered entry door has 4 panels with raised centers and
ovolo moldings. Surmounting the door is a 15-light transom
divided into a border of square and narrow, rectangular panes
and larger inner panes.
The second floor has windows directly over those on the first
floor, but these have 6/6 sash. The center bay, centered on
the porch, has a door providing access to the porch deck. The
door is half-glass, a pair of 6 lights divided by a heavy
muntin. The door is surmounted by a narrow single-light,
rectangular transom. The single cellar windows flanking the
porch are almost entirely above grade and both are 6/6
double-hung, with 12" x 14" lights.
A simple box cornice with a crown molding supports the
overhang of the wood shingle roof at the eaves; a rakeboard
with crown on the gables. The west elevation is without
fenestration, and the east has a single, double-hung sash
north of the chimney. The east elevation also has a "closet
extension" projecting outward 2'2", flush with the rear
elevation and north to the chimney. Probably not original -
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- the original cornerboard is still in place
the 2-story
addition allows for closets within the southeast rooms. The
addition has a simple, wood-shingled shed roof.
The south (rear) elevation is similar to the north elevation.
The second floor has 3 6/6 sash; the door on the front
elevation replaced here with a window. The first floor has
2 6/6 sash flanking the central porch that here is 20' wide
and 10'6" deep with a low pitch wood-shingled shed roof. The
entry door within the porch is constructed in the same manner
as the one on the front elevation second floor. The 4 porch
posts and 2 pilasters are 9 1/4" x 9" box columns; the 2
central posts offset to the east and flanking the flight of
7 closed-riser steps.
The raised basement has 2 6/6 sash flanking the porch and an
areaway beneath the porch incorporating an entry to the
cellar.
F. Bocock-Isbell Smokehouse (07788 13A)
Built ca. 1849-50, and restored in 1949, this 12' x 12' post
and beam structure is raised on brick piers, sheathed in
weatherboards with a 6 1/2" exposure, and has a wood shingle
roof with a plain box cornice on the eaves and plain rakes.
The door on the north elevation is made of random-width
butted boards with interior battens.
G. Bocock-Isbell Outside Kitchen (07789 13B)
Built ca. 1849-50, and restored in 1959, this 16' x 18' post
and beam dependency has weatherboards with 6 1/2" exposure,
a single 4/4 double-hung sash, and a 4-light entry door on
the north elevation. It has a single 4/4 sash on the south.
A single step brick chimney with corbelled drip is centered
on the east gable. The wood shingle roof is supported by a
plain box cornice with shaped end boards at the eaves and
rakes with quirk beads on the gables. The interior has no
integrity.
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H. Plunkett-Meeks Store (00051 09)
This 36' x 20' structure was built in 1852 by John H.
Plunkett and was purchased in the early 1860s by Francis
Meeks, who served as the local postmaster and druggist. It
was later the home of a Presbyterian minister who presented
it to his church for use as a manse.
While a store, the
building was one of the social centers of village life. It
was restored in 1959. The first floor interior is a single
room furnished and interpreted as a general store and post
office; it appears to originally have been 2 rooms. Fitted
with period shelving and counters, the store's depleted stock
of goods is intended to show the effects of the war upon the
rural village. The second floor has no integrity.
The store is a 2-story post and beam structure with a full
attic and a full cellar.
It is sheathed in weatherboards
with a 6" exposure, and the cellar foundation of deeply
pointed rubble fieldstone is exposed for approximately 32"
above grade.
The east (front) elevation is dominated by the 8 1 x 18' first
floor templeform entry porch. Reached by 4 steps, the porch
is supported on 4 brick piers and has 4 equally spaced 7 1/2"
x 7 1/2" box column posts. Simple 1 1/2" square balusters
under the shaped handrail connect the columns.
The porch
gable is faced with clapboards; the fascia on the eaves and
gable is capped with a crown mold.
Within the porch the
entry is a pair of 4-panel doors flanked by single 9/9
double-hung sash with 10" x 12" lights. The second floor has
6/9 sash over those on the first floor. The attic gable has
no windows.
The second floor of the south elevation has 2 6/9 sash; the
first floor has 2 6/9 sash east of the 8-panel single door
matching that on the front. It is reached by a flight of 5
open-riser steps leading to a small stoop.
The west rear elevation has a 6/9 sash on the second floor
directly above a 9/9 double-hung window.
The cellar
bulkhead, covered with a pair of board and batten doors,
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penetrates the foundation below the windows.
The north elevation is complex for it incorporates a centered
16' x 5' enclosed porch on the second floor approached on the
east by a flight of 15 open-riser steps. Windows, 6/9, flank
the porch and 2 4-light casements penetrate the north porch
siding. The first floor has single 9/9 double-hung sash at
the west end.
The roof of the building is covered in round-butt wood
shingles supported by returned box cornices with cove
moldings on the eaves, and rakes with coves on the gable.
The internal brick chimney is centered on the structure and
has a 5-course corbelled drip. The first floor sash has 3panel solid shutters; the second floor windows lack shutters.
I. Plunkett-Meeks Store Storage Building (07784 09B)
Constructed ca. 1850 by John Plunkett, this 1-story structure
was relocated slightly on the property and restored in 1959.
The 14' x 16' post and beam building is elevated on deeplypointed, rough cut sandstone piers, and is sheathed in
weatherboards having approximately 5 1/2" exposure.
The
clipped-corner wood shingle roof has slightly tapered
rakeboards at the gables.
The west (rear) elevation has a 4-panel door approached by
3 open-riser wood steps and a 6/6 double-hung sash to the
south.
The south elevation has a 4-panel door; the east
elevation has another 6/6 double-hung sash.
The north
elevation has no openings.
J. Plunkett-Meeks Store Stable (17260 09F)
Constructed ca. 1850 and restored in 1949, this barn is 21"
wide and 20' 6" long, with sheds on both the east and west
elevations. The main body of the structure is covered with
weatherboards, 6" to the weather, the sheds with butted
vertical boards. The roof is of wood shingles with square
butts. Board and batten doors in both gables provide access
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to the loft haymow.
K. New County Jail (00036 08)
The New County Jail is directly across Main Street from the
site of the first County Jail.
Begun about 1860 but not
completed until after the Civil War in 1870, the New County
Jail is a 20' x 40', 3-story brick structure. The exterior
walls are of local brick laid in common bond with half-brick
vent holes into the crawl space below the first floor level.
The sills and lintels on the outer east and west elevation
windows on the second and third floors (the cell windows),
are of cut local sandstone; the central windows on these
floors and those on the first floor have wooden sills and
lintels. The internal end chimneys are centered on the ridge
and have a 2-course and corbelled drip. The standing seam
tin roof is supported by a corbelled brick cornice on the
eaves and plain wooden rakes, broken by chimneys, on the
gables.
The north (front) elevation has 3 bays on each floor. The
first floor has 2 6/6 double-hung windows (10" x 12" lights) ,
flanking the central 4-panel with raised center door that is
surmounted with a simple 4-light transom.
The second and
third floors have centered 6/6 (8 1 x 10") double-hung windows
faced by a triple set of vertical and/or horizontal iron bars
set into frames tied to the sandstone lintels and sills. The
south elevation is identical except that there are no second
or third floor windows and no transom above the first floor
entry door. The gable ends have no fenestration.
The interior reflects the exterior, 2 rooms flanking the
center hall on each floor. The sheriff's office and quarters
were on the first floor, and the cells were on the top
floors.
The windows on the central bay of the north
elevation light the stairway within the central hall. The
first floor central hall is floored in brick, the adjacent
office and quarters with blind-nailed random boards.
The
second and third floors are covered with random boards 4"-5
3/4", face nailed with wrought nails. The walls and ceilings
of the first floor are plastered on the brick; those on the
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top floors against iron bars 8" o. c. (1 1/2" x 1/2") , bolted
to the exterior masonry. The first floor rooms retain simple
fireplaces without trim; the cells have no provision for
heat.
From 1870 until the county seat was moved in 1892, the
building served its original function. From that time until
1940, the building was used as the polling station for the
Clover Hill magisterial district. The structure was restored
in 1959.
L. Woodson Law Office (07786 09A)
This 12'6" x 14'6" 1-story frame building without attic or
cellar was built as early as 1851. In 1856 it was purchased
by John W. Woodson, one of several lawyers who practiced in
the village. It served him until he died of typhoid on July
1, 1864. Built on brick piers, the post and beam building
is sheathed in weatherboard with a 6" exposure.
The east
gable (front) elevation, has an 8-panel door with a simple
ogee molding on the panels and a simple 4"-wide surround.
The north and south elevations have single 6/6 double-hung
sash with 10" x 12" lights and single full-width shutters
with exterior faces of beaded boards laid diagonally. The
west elevation has an external common bond brick chimney with
a single step and a 5-course corbelled drip. The standing
seam tin roof is supported by a rake with bead and canted
molding on the gables, and by a box cornice with bead and
crown molding that returns at the eaves. The building, which
was restored in 1959, is plainly furnished and is typical of
the country lawyers' offices found in Virginia county seats
of the period.
M. Peers House (07790 16)
This frame house was built by 1855, when it was sold by a Mr.
McDearmon to William Abbitt, who sold it to D. A. Plunkett
in 1856.
George Peers, clerk of the court for Appomattox
County for 40 years, lived there at the time of the
Surrender.
He bought the house at public auction after
NK tan, KUDO.
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Plunkett's death in 1870.
The 34' x 18' house has striking similarities to the nearby
Bocock-Isbell House, being post and beam, constructed on a
brick "raised" basement 68" above grade, finished with a
narrow wood siding (4 3/4" exposure), and having single-step,
external end chimneys with 3-course corbelled drips.
The west (front) elevation has a templeform entry porch
raised to the first floor level by brick piers and reached
by closed-riser wood steps. The balusters (1 3/8" x 1") ,
square newels, and plain hand rail connect the 6" box posts.
The square-butt wood shingles over the simple pedimented
gable are echoed on the main roof; that is supported by a box
cornice with crown molding at the eaves and a rake with quirk
molding at the gables. The second floor has 2 exterior 8/8
sash with 10" x 12" lights; the first floor has 2 8/12
windows.
The porch covers the 4-panelled centered entry
door.
The south elevation has a single 6/9 sash on the first floor
west of the chimney and a cellar bulkhead to the east. The
north elevation has no fenestration. The east elevation has
a 9'6" x 16' porch offset to within 6' of the southeast
corner. The porch is supported by brick piers connected with
a diagonal lattice trellis, and has 4 7" box post columns
beneath the wood shingled shed roof. A single 6/9 window is
located north of the porch on the first floor, 2 6/6 sash on
the second, and a single 6/6 window on the north end of the
raised basement.
Restored in 1954, the Peers House interior has been adapted
for staff housing, but much of the original trim remains.
N. Kelly House (00396 17)
This 21'6" by 17'6" post and beam house was constructed for
Lorenzo D. Kelly, a wheelwright, probably between 1845 and
1860.
The exterior was restored in 1963.
The one-story
house has a full, raised cellar and attic, and the exterior
is sheathed in unpainted weatherboards with 5"-5 1/2"
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exposure. The roof is covered with round-butt wood shingles
and is supported by a box cornice with crown molding at the
eaves and a rake with a simple ogee on the gables. The west
elevation external chimney is centered on the ridge and is
constructed of rough-dressed sandstone extending upward to
include the second floor fireplace; above that level, a freestanding common-bond, brick stack continues and terminates
in a 3-course corbelled drip. Adjacent to, and south of, the
chimney, is a shed-roof enclosed entry to the cellar, and
flanking the chimney on the second floor are 2 square 4-light
casements. The east elevation has a 6/6, double-hung sash
in the loft, a similar 6/9 window on the principal floor, and
a pair of 4-light upward-swinging casements in the cellar.
The south (rear) elevation has a centered 4-panel door
providing access to the first floor, and another pair of
cellar casements, these being 3-light.
The north (front)
entrance has a simple porch with facing pediment covered in
clapboards, 2 6"-square posts, and 2 6' x 3" pilasters,
simple 1» 1/8" by 3/4" balusters, a heavy rounded rail on the
side only, and 4 open riser steps. Flanking the porch to the
west is a 6/9 window.
All windows are shutterless.
The
interior has not been restored and retains little integrity.
After the war, John Robinson, a Black shoemaker, and his wife
lived here. They are buried in a small graveyard behind the
house.
O. Sweeney Prizery (00045 28)
This 36' by 16"6" structure is of one story with a loft, and
a full, partially above-grade cellar. It has been assigned
a construction date during the 1790s as a residence and a
prizery (a tobacco packing house), for Alexander Sweeney.
It was owned by Major Joel W. Flood in 1865. The structure
has been stabilized and "mothballed" since 1975.
The prizery is built into a bank. The grade on the front
(northwest) elevation is but slightly below the level of the
first floor; the rear (southwest) elevation exposes the full
height of the rough-hewn sandstone cellar walls.
Stone
external one-step chimneys without drips are centered on both
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gable ends.
The cellar prizery has no exterior openings
except the 3 located on the southeast elevation: 2 doors and
a paired upward-opening casement. The door jambs and doors
are absent although rough sills and lintels remain.
The
window frame is extant; the sash are missing.
The front
elevation of the first floor (northwest) is penetrated by
only 2 door openings: that to the west retains its original
random board and batten door; the eastern has been replaced
with a door constructed of late 19th century "fence boards."
The west elevation retains only the from of a probable 4light casement on the first floor south of the chimney. The
rear elevation originally had 2 windows; only the frames
remain of what appear to have been 6/6 double-hung sash. The
east elevation has no first floor fenestration. The interior
studs indicate that each gable originally had a small
casement window.
The interior is divided into 2 rooms on each level by a
narrow stair and horizontal plank partition. The ceilings
are unplastered and the supports heavily whitewashed. The
exterior weatherboards are covered on the interior by board
sheathing:
horizontal butted boards in the western first
floor room; vertical boards with battens, possibly not
original, in the eastern.
P.
Charles Sweeney Cabin (80,016 # to be assigned)
Believed to have been constructed ca. 1840 for Charles
Sweeney, the cabin was purchased in 1980 and was restored in
1987-88.
The 20'3" by 18'2" post and beam hall house on
rough fieldstone piers is covered with non-tapered, beaded
weatherboards with exposures of 4 l/2"-5 1/2". The roof of
oak shakes, square-butted, is supported at the eaves by a box
cornice with the ends covered with scribed end boards. The
gable ends have tapered rake boards.
The west elevation is broken by the rough, crudely quoined,
fieldstone chimney that extends upward to the top of the
second floor fireplace; above this, a brick stack corbels
inward and away from the weatherboard gable end until the
chiney terminates in a 4-course corbelled drip. The second
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floor section of the chimney is flanked by small 4-light,
inward-opening casements. The south (front) elevation has
3 bays, and a central 4-panelled entry door flanked by 6/6
double-hung sash. The east elevation has a single centered
4-panel door on the first floor, below a 6-light (8 1 x 12")
casement. The north elevation has a single 6/6 double-hung
sash offset slightly to the east of center.
The interior of the cabin is of interest because it retains
a high degree of integrity. One room and a loft above, the
structural frame is whitewashed and exposed to view. Hewn
oak, L-form corner posts, knee braces, and principal studs
alternate with secondary members of pine. The window and
door casings and trim indicate the cabin was intended to be,
but never was, plastered. The open "dog-leg" stairway in the
northwest corner has many of its original balusters, trim on
the stringers, and square newel and rail formed from a planed
oak branch.
The small closet under the stairs has its
original 4-panel door with concave, quarter-circle, corners
on the raised panels
an elegant detail that is also found
on the doors of the Mariah Wright House.
Q. Sweeney-Connor Cabin (80,052 # to be assigned)
This simple "hall" type cabin measures 16 "3" by 18'3" and is
supported by a deeply-pointed fieldstone foundation. It is
believed to have been built for Jennings W. Connor and his
bride Missouri Sweeney between 1860 and 1865. The exterior
was restored in 1986-87, and the building is retained as a
landscape element typical of early settlement. The interior
retains little integrity to the period of construction. The
cabin is constructed of 6" x 9" logs, V-notched at the
corners, and originally shimmed and sheathed with l/2"-thick,
non-tapered, sawn and random weatherboards with exposures of
5 l/4"-6 1/2".
The split-shake roof is supported by a plain box cornice at
the eaves and a tapered rakeboard on the gables. The cabin's
east elevation has a centered fieldstone chimney that after
stepping inward at a level just above the second floor
fireplace, continues upward in stone to terminate in
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fieldstone drip.
Flanking the chimney in the gable are 2
small 4-light casement sash. The east (front) elevation has
a single opening, a board and batten door. The only opening
on the west elevation is the small gable casement. The west
(rear) elevation retains a central window frame suitable for
a 6/6 sash; the original sash is not extant.
R. J. N. Williams Cabin (80,
# to be assigned)
The construction date of the 16' by 18'1" Williams Cabin is
not known, but contemporary documents indicate that it had
been built by 1865.
It is similar to the Connor-Sweeney
Cabin in that it is constructed of logs (6" by 8") , V-notched
at the corners, and supported on a fieldstone foundation.
Unlike the other cabin, this was never sheathed in clapboards
except for the gable ends above the level of the eaves. The
external chimney, rough fieldstone below the top of the loft
fireplace, steps inward and is replaced by common bond brick
corbelling inward at the top. The west (front) elevation has
a simple board and batten entry to the south of a 6/6 doublehung sash. The chimney is flanked to the east by a similar
6/6 window on the first floor, and the west by a 6-light
casement. The east elevation has another entry door, and the
north elevation only a 6-light casement in the loft. The
original wood shingles on pole rafters are now covered with
tin roofing supported at the eaves by a simple box cornice,
and at the gables by tapered rake boards.
S. Courthouse
(00038 01)
The original Courthouse was constructed in 1846, one year
after Appomattox County was established.
The Courthouse
played no role in the Surrender, for it was closed that day,
Palm Sunday. In 1892 the building burned, and the citizens
voted to move the county seat to nearby Appomattox Station,
now Appomattox.
The existing building and square were
reconstructed in 1963-64 as the Park Visitor Center and the
focus of the village.
The
2-story,
hip-roofed,
running-bond
brick
Courthouse
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Appomattox court House
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measures 50' on its main east/west elevations, and 40' on
each side. The second floor, the principal level, has raised
entry porches on the main elevations. The centered porches
have 2 slightly tapered doric columns and 2 half-column
pilasters supporting the pedimented roof. The porches are
approached by flights of 16 cast-stone treads on high brick
foundation walls. The stair rails, newels, and balusters are
cast iron.
The doors within the porches are paired, 4panelled, and the porches are flanked by 12/12 double-hung
sash with 2-panel, non-operable, louvered shutters.
The
principal elevation first floors also have 3 bays, and a
central, smaller paired, 4-panel door between 8/8 double-hung
sash with 2-panelled, non-operable, louvered shutters. All
of the windows have wooden lintels with protruding rosettes
and limestone sills.
The side (north and south) elevations are identical. Each
has 2 internal chimneys projecting above the roof on the
plane of the exterior wall; all have 3-course, corbelled
drips. The first floors has 2 8/8 double-hung sash outward
from the chimneys; the second floor has 3 windows, adding a
central 8/8.
The flat-seamed tin roof is supported by an
elaborate 2-level cornice, each level with a crown mold, and
dentils at the head of the fascia.
The interior of the
building is adaptively used and has modern finishes.
T. Courthouse Well House (07780 01A)
This 10' by 8'6" wood structure was reconstructed over the
original well in 1963-64. A brick foundation wall supports
8 square posts that carry the round-butt, wood shingle, ridge
roof with gable ends finished in random weatherboards. The
posts are joined at all but the 2 entry points by 2 1/4" by
3/8" diagonally applied trellis.
The wood enclosed well
housing sits upon a butted plank (9 1/4" x 1 1/2") floor.
U. McLean House (00050 02)
The building was built by Charles Raine as a tavern in 1848,
and was purchased by Wilmer McLean in 1863. It was the site
>4*m*MPi MM40M
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National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
Section number
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National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
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of Lee's surrender to Grant on April 9, 1865. In 1892 the
building was dismantled in an abortive attempt to exhibit it
at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; its
structural members were to be re-assembled in Washington,
D.C., to house a Civil War museum. It was reconstructed on
its original site in 1948, and was dedicated on April 16,
1950, with Robert E. Lee IV and General Ulysses S. Grant III
as guests of honor.
The house is 50' wide and 22' deep (exclusive of the
porches), and has 3 stories and a full attic. Constructed
of brick, the principal north (front) elevation floors are
of flemish bond; the lower front level, sides, and rear are
of common bond. The roof is covered with square-butt wood
shingles, supported by a box cornice with crown molding and
returns at the eaves, and by a molded rake on the gables.
Internal chimneys are centered on each gable and have 4course, corbelled drips.
The north (front) elevation is
dominated by the full length, 2-story porch supported by
brick columns that extend from the full cellar areaway to
support the 6 12"-square box columns on the first floor. The
columns are joined by a plain rail supporting 1 1/4" x 7/8"
balusters.
The rail continues down the 15'-wide porch
staircase composed of 8 steps. The porch is surmounted by
a second floor balustrade of an open, horizontal, diamond
lattice design. The 3 bay openings of the front elevation
are stacked; the first and cellar levels with central doors
(the cellar door has 4 panels; the first floor door is a pair
of 2-panel doors surmounted by a 15-light transom) flanked
by windows (12/12 on the first floor; 3 8/8 below) .
The
second floor has 3 8/8 sash.
The rear (south) elevation
replicates the front except that the porch is a simpler
pedimented one supported on the first floor by 4 box post
columns (10" x 11"), and 2 half-column pilasters bearing
brick piers at the cellar level. The side elevations have
no fenestration.
The interior is devoted to interpretation and is largely
conjectural, except for the "Surrender Room," which is a
reconstruction based on a contemporary oil painting.
The
house is furnished with items typical of those owned by
McLean, but none are believed to be original. Many of the
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parlor furnishings are copies of the originals.
V. McLean Well House (07781 02A)
A 10' by 9' well house supported on a brick foundation over
and around the original McLean well.
Eight square posts
support the wood shingle ridge roof and butted broad cupola.
The sides and rear of the structure are screened by a wood
lattice trellis applied diagonally toward the center posts
to create a "V" pattern.
The well house was originally
constructed in 1848, and was reconstructed in 1950.
W. McLean Ice House (00242 02B)
Originally constructed
in 1848,
this structure was
reconstructed in 1^55 within a'nd upon the original pit. It
is comprised of 2 elements: a pit, approximately 5' deep,
lined with logs and floored with sand; and the roof and gable
superstructure.
The latter consists of 2 courses of logs
supported by fieldstones and extends 20" above grade.
The
logs form a foundation 16' wide by 18' long sheathed in
random (10"-12") weatherboards, and penetrated by the short
door opening; the south gable has no openings.
The roof,
covered in wood shingles, extends downward almost to grade,
and projects out over the gable ends.
On the north
elevation, the roof edge has a purely decorative bargeboard
formed of 2 rows of "saw tooth" planks; no barge is used on
the south elevation gable.
X. McLean Privy (07782 02F)
Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed on site in
1968, this simple 4'2" by 4'2" "one-holer" is built of butted
vertical board, on grade. It has a board and batten door,
and a square-butt, wood shingle roof.
Y. McLean Outside Kitchen (00043 02C)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox Court House
Continuation Sheet
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Section number _Z__ Page —*.__
Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed in 1^65.
It is composed of the main 1-story, exposed "V"-notched log
building (20' by 16'), and the rear (south) elevation, 1story frame addition (20' by 16'), constructed on a
foundation of 6 courses of stretcher-bond brick laid upon a
rough fieldstone foundation.
The north elevation has a full-length shed roof porch
supported by 4 5" x 5" solid posts. The porch shelters the
centered board and batten door, and 6/6 double-hung window
to the west. On the west elevation, a board and batten door
adjacent to the porch flanks the common-bond chimney with 1
inward step and a 4-course corbelled drip. Above eave level,
the logs are replaced by weatherboards on frame that
incorporates 4-light casements on either side of the chimney.
The rear shed has a similar, but smaller brick chimney and
a board and batten door to the north. The east elevation is
broken by 3 windows: a 4-light casement in the log kitchen
gable, a 6/6 sash below, and a 6/6 double-hung sash centered
on the rear shed. The south elevation of the shed, raised
high on its stretcher-bond foundation, has a single centered
6/6 window.
The interior, interpreted as a first floor kitchen and second
floor residence, is entirely conjectural.
Z. McLean Slave Quarters (00044 02D)
Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed in 1965.
This 1-story, double crib log quarters is constructed of 8
l/2"-9 1/2" logs with "V"-notched corners and an interior
transverse log partition, all supported on brick piers. The
roof is covered with clipped-corner wood shingles and is
penetrated by the brick chimney with corbelled drip centered
on the cabin and the ridge. The south (front) elevation has
2 board and batten doors; the north elevation, 2 6/6 doublehung sash. The clapboard east gable and log wall below has
no fenestration; the west elevation has only a 4-light
casement in the gable.
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AA. Clover Hill Tavern Slave Quarters (07783 04F)
Originally constructed in 1819, and reconstructed in 1953-54
as public toilets and utility rooms. The 1-story 15' by 28'
building is sheathed in random boards and battens, and is
roofed with square-butt wood shingles broken by a central
internal brick chimney with 2-course drip. The south (front)
elevation has 4 bays, with 2 external board and batten doors
flanking 2 4/4 (8" x 9 3/4" lights) double-hung windows, each
with single, full-width board and batten shutters. The east
and west elevations are identical, having louvered gable
"windows" above 4/4 double-hung, shuttered sash. The north
elevation has a board and batten door slightly to the east
of center with a typical 4/4 sash and shutters to the west.
The roof is finished with plain box cornices and rakeboards.
BB. Clover Hill Tavern Privy (80,
# to be assigned)
Originally built in 1819, and reconstructed in 1968, this 2compartment "necessary" is built of vertical butted boards,
a square-butt wood shingle roof, and has 2 board and batten
doors. As the privy is windowless, ventilation is through
the space between the rafters on the eaves, and no cornice
is present.
CC. Plunkett-Meeks Store Privy (07785 09G)
Reconstructed in 1968, this 4' by 4' "one-holer" is built ongrade from vertical butted boards, and is covered with
square-butt wood shingles. The board and batten door is on
the south elevation.
DD. Bocock-Isbell House Stable (00037 13C)
Originally constructed in 1849, and reconstructed in 1964.
This 24' by 21' wood frame structure is sheathed with
weatherboards of 6"-6 1/2" exposure, and has a simple box
cornice and tapered rake boards below the square-butt wood
shingle roof. The longer north and south elevations have no
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openings. The east (front) elevation has a pair of modern
8'-wide garage doors with diagonally applied boards forming
inverted "V" patterns. A board and batten door in the gable
provides haymow access. The west elevation has an identical
haymow door, and a door on the lower level, offset to the
south, of random boards with quirk beads.
EE. Kelly Well House (00040 17A)
Originally constructed in 1855, this small open well covering
was reconstructed in 1963. The wood deck on grade supports
corner posts (5 1/2" square with chamfered edges) , with plain
upper braces for the rounded wood shingle ridge roof. The
roof gables are sheathed with weatherboards.
II. Structures - Fences
The quality of the restored and reconstructed village at
Appomattox Court House is in no small part strengthened by
the myriad of restored and/or reconstructed fences.
Most
significant are those around the Courthouse, the McLean
property, the Clover Hill Tavern, and the Bocock-Isbell
House, because of their architectural merit and the fact that
they define the property boundaries of the village in 1865.
Other fences also add a richness to the cultural landscape.
A. Courthouse Yard Fence
Five horizontal rails with graduated spacing and heavy posts.
The top rail and posts are covered with a continuous flat
board cap. Entry into the Courthouse yard is over a 3-step
stile, not through a gate. Reconstructed in 1948.
B. McLean House Fence
Vertical paling with a top rail and skirt board at grade.
Heavy gateposts with caps; intermediate posts lighter and
terminating below the top rail. Posts and palings covered
with a bevelled capboard. Reconstructed in 1948.
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C. Clover Hill Tavern Fence
Same as McLean House Fence; reconstructed in 1954.
D. Bocock-Isbell House Fence
Square pickets extending above the top rail and with a skirt
board at grade. Restored/reconstructed in 1949.
E. Plunkett-Meeks Store Fence
The narrow pointed top pickets extend above and below the
cross
rails.
Heavy gateposts with
square
caps.
Restored/reconstructed in 1949.
F. Kelly House Fence
Heavy rectangular pickets extending above and below the two
cross rails. The post and picket tops are covered with a
continuous board cap with "broken" edges. Reconstructed in
1963.
II. Structures - Roadways [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and
Sketch Maps "B" and "E"]
The Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road appears on a map of
Virginia published in 1799, establishing it as one of the
earlier roads of the state. Evidence suggests that it was
the first line of public transportation across Virginia. The
road ran through the village of Appomattox Court House and
was instrumental in its founding. It was a second class road
supported and maintained by public funds in the form of
statute labor. The road had an earth surface, and like all
Virginia roads was required (in the Code of 1860) to be 30'
wide with no more than a five percent grade. This highway
served as the principal village street, and it was along this
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section of the Stage Road that Lee and Grant travelled to and
from the McLean House.
The Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, the Prince Edward Court
House Road, and the Oakville Road were all locally important
transportation routes. There appears to have been a surge
of building in the village about the middle of the nineteenth
century, resulting in the making of lanes to connect houses
within the village, or to provide links with the already
existing roads. Tibbs Lane, Sears Lane, Wright Lane, Trent
Lane, Williams Lane, and Pryor Wright Lane were private lanes
in use during the Civil War.
As Appomattox Court House declined in regional importance
with the growth of the town of Appomattox, and with the
disruptions in the regional economy resulting from the Civil
War and the depression of the 1890s, many of these roads and
lanes were either rerouted or completely abandoned.
The
Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, now Virginia Highway 24,
underwent various changes before its final rerouting around
Appomattox Court House. Alignment, grade, and width were all
changed at various times.
Along a section between the
Appomattox River and the village, four alignments are visible
today. Although features of the other roads and lanes have
undoubtedly also changed through time, none of the changes
are so visible today nor so well documented in either local
and county records or in oral histories.
In 1964 a resurfacing of the historic roads in the village
was completed.
The roadbed construction consisted of a
gravel base, a seal coat of asphalt, and over this, a layer
of yellow stone.
This treatment was not historically
accurate nor was it economical, since the gravel washed away
after each heavy rain. In 1973-74 the Park developed a road
treatment plan that is compatible with the historic scene.
The asphalt covering was left in place (to control weed
growth and allow use by emergency vehicles), and was covered
with a 4-inch sand/clay mixture native to the Park.
This
treatment restored the roads to their original 1865
appearance, and substantially cut maintenance expenses. The
historic roads and trails outside the village are of ungraded
natural materials and will remain in that condition.
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A. Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road (00047 RD-54)
Somewhat: overgrown and deteriorated as it climbs the hill
from the Appomattox River to the village, its cleared width
varies from 35' down to 12', and the surface is grass and
exposed soil. As it nears the level terrain of the village,
its cleared width stabilizes at about 30".
For a short
distance it defined the north side of the Surrender Triangle,
where Confederate troops laid down their arms on April 12,
1865. Through the village, the roadbed varies between 13'
and 9', with wide grass verges and various forms of fencing
along its boundaries. Total length in Park, 1 mile.
B. Prince Edward Court House Road (07793 RD-54A)
Another 1790s roadway, this was a link between the village
and neighboring settlements. It crosses roughly from south
to north at the east end of the village, where, for a short
distance, it forms the base of the Surrender Triangle.
Immediately south of present SR 24, its original trace is
lost under the modern highway and other disturbances; as it
mounts the hill towards the village, its trace becomes
identifiable, but it has suffered from grading and farm
operations and merges somewhat with the surrounding field.
Total length in Park, 1,200'.
C. Back Lane (07794 RD-54B)
This mid-nineteenth century road ran along the back sides of
the properties developing along the south side of the Stage
Road, from which it deviated at the western end of the
village. There it headed in a southeasterly direction at an
oblique angle from the Stage Road, and joined Prince Edward
Court House Road on the eastern edge of the village. It is
only partially discernible at its western end, having been
ploughed under in field operations; where it reaches the area
of the McLean House, it has a mainly grassy surface. Further
east, after intersecting Market Lane, as it runs behind the
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Courthouse and the County Jail, the roadbed is readily
visible, with a grassy surface. In its most easterly section
it is much less discernible, and beyond its junction with
Bocock Lane, it has suffered field disturbance. Total length
in Park, 1,800'.
D. Market Lane (07795 RD-54C)
This mid-nineteenth century road runs 350'
from the
Courthouse circle south to Back Lane; it is 25' wide and has
6 1 grass verges on each side.
E. Bocock Lane (07796 RD-54D)
This mid-nineteenth century road in the eastern part of the
village is less formal than Market Lane; it runs 650' from
the southwestern corner of the Surrender Triangle south to
the Mariah Wright House.
About 10' wide, it has grassy
verges about 5 1 wide on each side.
F. Sears Lane (07797 RD-54E)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road lies beyond the western
edge of the village area.
It runs roughly south southwest
from the Stage Road, which it connected with the J. Sears
farm, across present SR 24, to the Park boundary (and on to
the farmhouse).
Its surface varies and it is eroded in
sections of its 2,000' length within the Park.
G. Oakville Road (not on LCS)
Ran northwest from the Stage Road west of the village.
a small portion of the Park boundary.
Forms
H. Trent Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road parallels Sears Lane
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to the west; it connected the T. Trent farm with the Stage
Road.
I. Tibbs Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road was an extension of
Back Lane which ran northwest beyond the Stage Road to link
with the J. Tibbs farm.
J. Wright Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road ran just east of the
Park's western boundary, where it connected the Wright farm
with the Stage Road.
K. Williams Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road was an extension of
Bocock Lane which ran north across the Stage Road and the
river to the J. N. Williams House.
L. Pryor-Wright Lane (not on LCS)
No information available; this lane evidently served the
Pryor-Wright House, which stood on Market Lane immediately
southwest of the Courthouse.
III. Sites - Cemeteries (see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and
Sketch Maps "C" and "D"]
A. Grave of Lafayette Meeks (07791 CM-9D)
Lafayette Meeks, son of (storeowner) Albert Francis and Maria
Weeks, was buried in the field west of the Plunkett-Meeks
Store following his death in October 1861, near Fairfax Court
House.
Lafayette was a young private in "H" Company, 2nd
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Virginia Cavalry, when he died of typhoid fever.
Albert
Francis Meeks is said to be buried somewhere in the same
field, possibly beneath the steps of the former saddler's
shop, today identified as the Storage Building. The board
fence around Lafayette' s grave was erected by the Park to
protect the site from grazing cattle.
The grave is marked by a white marble headstone, 24 1/2" wide
and 50" high (arched to 53"), and set in concrete to prevent
further deterioration.
A gray granite footstone, 13 1/4"
wide, 17" high, and 2" thick, is incised with the initials
"L. W. M." The headstone carries a bas-relief at the top
which is badly eroded but appears to be the "tree of life"
design. The inscription reads as follows:
LAFAYETTE W. MEEKS
SON OF
FRANCIS & MARIA MEEKS
BORN MARCH 2, 1843
AND DIED IN THE DEFENCE
OF HIS COUNTRY
OCTOBER 4, 1861 AT
FAIRFAX C.H., VA
(The following cemeteries are not on the LCS; numbers will be
assigned:)
B. Confederate Cemetery
Located west of the village and just north of SR 24, this
property is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy
(UDC). Here are buried 19 soldiers
18 Confederate and 1
Union
who died in the final fighting of April 8 and 9,
1865. Established in 1866, the cemetery is maintained by the
UDC; the Park maintains the surrounding area. Only 8 of the
names of the interred soldiers are known; all are
Confederates.
C. Raine Cemetery
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South of SR 24, not far from the Confederate Cemetery, is the
Raine family cemetery, a private inholding.
The Raine
Monument was established by Charles J. Raine"s son, C. Hunter
Raine, ca. 1910, in memory of his father, and to mark the
site of the family cemetery. Eight graves are identified.
No living members of the Raine family are known. The Park's
1962 Historical Base Map shows a slave plot just east of the
family plot.
D. O'Brien Cemetery
Located northeast of SR 656 near the eastern boundary of the
Park, this cemetery is in use and contains 23 grave markers,
mostly from the O'Brien family.
Two former Confederate
soldiers, Jennings Conner and John H. O'Brien, are buried
here.
E. Robinson Cemetery
The reputed site of the Robinson family burial ground is
surrounded by a rough board fence in the enclosed field
behind the Kelly House. The Robinsons were post-Civil War
owners of the property.
F. Wright Cemetery
The Wright family cemetery is reputedly located somewhat
south of the west porch of the Mariah Wright House.
Any
graves here are unmarked.
G. Herman Methodist Church Cemetery
The cemetery of the Old Herman Methodist Church is located
on the right-of-way of SR 24 near the entrance to the North
Carolina Monument. The church building was moved before the
turn of the century to the foot of Piney Mountain elsewhere
in Appomattox County (see "Vera" USGS Quadrangle). Still in
use, the cemetery contains the grave of the Park's first
»*pmM"lto. MM40M
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Section number
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Superintendent, Hubert Gurney, Sr.
H. Presbyterian Church Cemetery
The cemetery of the old Presbyterian Church located southeast
of the Kelly House, was surrounded years ago, by a "baby
doll" fence.
This cemetery, difficult to locate, is now
marked.
I. Patteson-Hix Cemetery
The Patteson-Hix Cemetery, a private inholding located in a
fenced area behind the Clover Hill Tavern Slave Quarters, is
the burial ground for members of the Alexander Patteson and
Wilson Hix families.
William and Lucy Hix's graves are
marked, as are those of 2 children of Edward Hix. Another
grave is marked "A. E. H." Five rough fieldstones mark other
graves.
III. Sites - Ruins and Building Sites [see Park Folder/Sketch Map
"A" ]
A. Union Academy Dwelling Ruins (07799 25)
A foundation site west of the Grave of Lafayette Meeks,
across the Stage Road from the McLean House, consisting of
the cellar remains of a house standing at the close of the
Civil War.
The house was built in 1856.
The cellar
depression is approximately 32' on the east/west axis
(parallel to the Stage Road), and 14' on the north/south
axis.
A mound of rubble fieldstone and brick is probably
chimney debris.
B. Robinson-Glover Store Ruin (07800 07)
A foundation site consisting of the cellar remains of a store
which stood east of the Clover Hill Tavern in 1865.
The
construction date is unknown.
The cellar appears to have
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been approximately 42' long on the east/west (front) axis,
and 27' long on the side. The store is believed to have been
a 2-story brick structure.
The partially filled cellar
retains the outline of the foundations but it is somewhat
obliterated by the erosion of the sides of the depression.
A 1988 archeological test excavation confirmed the site.
C. Layne House Ruins (07798 18)
A foundation site consisting of the cellar of a house which
stood at the extreme eastern edge of the village, east of the
Prince Edward Court House Road, in 1865. The Layne House,
a 2-story frame structure measuring 16' by 30', was probably
built ca.1850, and was demolished ca. 1915. The foundation
is reduced to an oval depression about 38' long and 18' wide
with the sides eroded, and with the long axis running
north/south.
A mound of brick lies at grade at the north
end, suggesting the remains of the chimney.
There is a
similar pile of broken bricks within the cellar area, also
at the north end.
D. Old Jail Site Ruin (80,
# to be assigned)
The original Appomattox County Jail was constructed in 184647 on the north side of the Stage Road, east of the
Courthouse. It burned in 1867. Its location, directly across
from the New County Jail, is now marked by 4 brick corners,
situated on the original 39'6" by 18'6" foundation.
Other known sites in village area:
E. Clover Hill Tavern Bar
The Tavern Bar was located immediately east of the Tavern.
F. Clover Hill Tavern Dining Room
The Tavern Dining Room was located immediately west of the
Tavern.
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G. Clover Hill Tavern Icehouse
The Tavern Icehouse was located north of the Guesthouse and
west of the Kitchen.
H. Clover Hill Tavern Smokehouse
The Tavern Smokehouse was located west of the Icehouse.
1988 archeological test excavation confirmed the site.
A
I. William Rosser House
The William Rosser House was located on the north side of the
Stage Road, east of the original Jail.
J. William Rosser Shop
The William Rosser Shop was located immediately east of the
William Rosser House.
K. William Rosser Blacksmith Shop
The William Rosser Blacksmith Shop was located immediately
east of the William Rosser Shop.
L. Old Raine Tavern
The Old Raine Tavern was located on the south side of the
Stage Road, north of the McLean House, and east of the McLean
Well House.
M. McLean House Smokehouse
The McLean House Smokehouse was located at the southwest
corner of the McLean House.
N. McLean House Stable
The McLean House Stable was located south of Back Lane,
across from the McLean House Slave Quarters.
O. Pryor-Wright House
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APPomattox court House
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The Pryor-Wright House was located on the east side of Market
Lane, southwest of the Courthouse.
P. Plunkett-Meeks Store Outbuilding
A previously undocumented outbuilding of the Plunkett-Meeks
Store was archeologically excavated west of the Store in the
summer of 1978. The excavation was backfilled.
Q. Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop
The Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop was located on the south
side of the Stage Road, east of its junction with Back Lane.
R. Charles H. Diuguid Blacksmith Shop
The Charles H. Diuguid Blacksmith Shop was located on the
north side of the Stage Road, east of its junction with Back
Lane, across from the Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop.
S. Robertson-Hix Shop
The Robertson-Hix Shop was located on the north side of the
Stage Road, east of its junction with Tibbs Lane/Back Lane,
west of the Diuguid Blacksmith Shop.
T. Willis Inge Cabin
The Willis Inge Cabin was located on the east side of Bocock
Land, at the southwest corner of the Surrender Triangle.
U./V. Peers House Outbuildings - Kitchen and Stable
An archeological test excavation in 1988 confirmed the
location of an outbuilding just east of the Peers House. It
is believed that this was the Kitchen rather than the Stable,
which is now believed to have been closer to the Stage Road,
near the Site of the Lee-Grant Meeting on April 10, 1865.
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W. Union Academy
Union Academy was located on the east side of the Prince
Edward Court House Road, near its junction with Back Lane.
III. Sites - Civil War Events [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A,"
and Sketch Map "C"]
A. The Surrender Triangle
The Surrender Triangle is where 28,000 Confederate soldiers
of the Army of Northern Virginia laid down their arms on
April 12, 1865. (Lee did not participate in the ceremony.)
The site is bounded by Prince Edward Court House Road on the
east, the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road on the north and
west, and Main Street on the south. It is planted in grass
and contains several mature trees.
The Park Service has
added a low brick wall and a wayside exhibit/audio station.
B. Lee's Headquarters
The site of Lee' s Headquarters is on the History/Nature Trail
just east of SR 24 near the Park's northeastern boundary.
There is a parking area, a short loop trail, and 4
interpretive markers.
C. Grant's Headquarters
The site of Grant's Headquarters is at the western end of the
History/Nature Trail, south of SR 24 near the Park's western
boundary.
There is a parking area and 2 interpretive
markers.
D. Site of Last Battle
The site of the Battle of Appomattox Court House is in the
west central area of the Park north of SR 24 and northwest
of the Confederate Cemetery.
E. Apple Tree Site (The Apple Orchard)
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The Apple Tree Site, where Lee awaited a reply from Grant,
is on the History/Nature Trail just east of SR 24, north of
the Appomattox River.
There is a parking area and an
interpretive marker.
F. Poplar Tree Site
The Poplar Tree Site is where Lee addressed his men.
G. Confederate Artillery Park
The Confederate Artillery Park is on the History/Nature Trail
just north of the Appomattox River and east of SR 24, south
of the Apple Tree Site.
IV. Objects
A. North Carolina Monument (07792 MN-53)
Dedicated on April 9, 1905, the monument was sponsored by the
North Carolina General Assembly to honor the firing of the
last shots at Appomattox Court House by Brigadier General W.
R. Cox's brigade of Grimes' Division on April 9, 1865. Major
General Bryan Grimes of North Carolina planned the last
battle fought by the Army of Northern Virginia, and commanded
the infantry, most of whom were North Carolinians.
The
marker is 7'2" long, 3'2" wide, and 5'1" high, and is placed
upon a pyramidal mound of crushed stone 15" above adjacent
grade.
The monument is tripartite.
Outer piers 20" x 24"
and 43" high are constructed of a block of rusticated gray
granite cut to resemble a composite of 5 separate stones, the
uppermost deeply scored to create the effect of battlements.
The piers flank a central recessed granite tablet 38" long,
12" thick, and 42" high at its peaked center. The memorial
stands on plinth 12" high and projecting 7" beyond all faces
of the upper elements.
The monument is located on the History/Nature Trail south of
SR 24 in the western part of the Park.
The property was
deeded to the United States by North Carolina in April 1943.
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There is a parking area.
The North Carolina Monument also includes 2 small outlying
light gray granite markers, 3 "6" long, 2'3" wide, and 8"
thick with slight cants, on stone and concrete bases. They
are located on the north shoulder of the Richmond-Lynchburg
Stage Road near the Confederate Cemetery at the junction with
SR 24. The markers are about 800" apart. The western one
marks the location of the last Federal battery (taken by
North Carolina cavalry); the eastern one marks the site of
the last skirmish of the North Carolina infantry.
B. Confederate Cemetery Marker
A granite marker at the Confederate Cemetery is owned by the
UDC and was moved there from its original location on the
Courthouse site when the Courthouse was reconstructed in
1963-64.
The marker was placed on the Courthouse site on
June 11, 1926.
C. War Department Tablets (80,
#s to be assigned)
Four original cast iron tablets placed by the War Department
in 1893 as the first markers on the battlefield are still
extant. One is at Lee's Headquarters; one marks the site of
the Lee-Grant meeting north of the Peers House on April 10,
1865; one marks the right flank of the Union troops alongside
the Stage Road, who received the Confederate surrender of
arms on April 12, 1865; and one marks the site in front of
the Peers House where the last Confederate cannon was fired
on April 9, 1865.
Noncontributing Features
I. Buildings
A. Ferguson House
Located about 1 mile east of the Courthouse, the Ferguson
United States Department of the Interior
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House, built ca. 1920, is a 2-story frame house used as
quarters.
It is 27' by 32' plus a 12" by 12'6" enclosed
porch. It was rehabilitated in 1978 and 1983.
B. Maintenance Shop Building
A 1-story concrete block building located in the Maintenance
Area east of the village. Built in 1954 (50' x 24)', with
a 50' addition in 1964, and a 25' addition in 1971, giving
current dimensions of 125' x 24'.
C. Maintenance Storage Building
A 1-story open fronted concrete block storage building located
in the Maintenance Area. Built in 1954 with an 8'6" addition
in 1970, and a 26' addition in 1978, giving current dimensions
of 84'6" X 22'.
II. Structures [see Sketch Map "D"]
A. Park Entrance Road and Main Parking Lot
The Park Entrance Road runs north from SR 24 to the Main
Parking Lot southwest of the village.
The total area is
approximately 5,700 square yards of chip and seal surface
over asphalt.
B. Grant's Headquarters Parking Lot
South of SR 24 near the Park's western boundary, an area of
approximately 1,313 square yards of chip and seal surface
over asphalt.
C. North Carolina Monument Parking Lot
A chip and seal surface of approximately 550 square yards.
D. Confederate Cemetery Parking Lot
A chip and seal surface over asphalt of approximately 870
square yards.
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E. Lee's Headquarters Parking Lot
East of SR 24 near the Park's northeastern boundary, a chip
and seal surface over asphalt of approximately 1,217 square
yards.
F. Apple Orchard Parking Area
G. Park Maintenance Yard
A chip and seal surface of approximately 1,560 square yards.
H. Park Service Road
A paved service road runs north from SR 24 and connects with
the Maintenance Yard.
I. History/Nature Trail
A 6-mile long trail which traverses much of the Park and
links many of the historic sites.
J. Sewage Lagoon
There is a sewage lagoon on the south side of SR 24 opposite
the entrance to the Park Service Road.
K. Picnic Area
A wayside picnic area along SR 24 at the Appomattox River is
largely owned by the Park Service, but is operated by the
Virginia Department of Highways.
L. Fire Road
The Park is surrounded by a fire road which serves as a
partial firebreak, an access point for firefighting, and a
buffer for neighboring properties.
M./N. Utility Corridors
NFS Tarn 1»«l»«
OMiJ(wiJ»i***. »•*••»»
(M«
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Page —1^_
There are 2 40'-wide utility corridors in the Park, both of
which accommodate overhead power and telephone cables. One
corridor straddles the Park's eastern boundary north from SR
627; the other, shorter corridor runs into the Park from the
longer corridor, crossing SR 24, terminating at the
Maintenance Area.
II. Objects
A. Raine Monument
This privately-placed monument has no direct relationship to
the Park's areas of significance.
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National Historical Park,
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points of interest, rather than the 2,500 acres proposed in pending
legislation.
As it developed, no action was taken on Appomattox
Court House at that time.
The legislative history of the property clearly establishes the
original and primary Area of Significance as "Military" (the system
of defending the territory and sovereignty of a people), and the
Period of Significance and Significant Date as "1865." In 1926
Congress authorized a commission "to inspect the battle fields and
surrender grounds in an around old Appomattox Court House,
Virginia, in order to ascertain the feasibility of preserving and
marking 2 for historical and professional military study such
fields."
On the basis of the commission's recommendation,
Congress passed in 1930 an Act which authorized and directed the
Secretary of War to acquire approximately one acre of land at
Appomattox Court House to erect a monument "for the purpose of
commemorating the termination of the War between the States which
was brought about by the surrender ... on April 9, 1865, and for
the further purpose of honoring those who engaged in this
tremendous conflict, . . . . "
Initially, the property
under the designation "Appomattox
Battlefield Site"
was administered by the Department of War.
On August 10, 1933, it was among those properties transferred to
the Department of the Interior's renamed Office of National Parks,
Buildings, and Reservations, under the terms of Executive Order
6166 (June 10, 1933).* In 1935 Congress changed the name of the
property to "Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument,"
authorized the rebuilding of the McLean House, and provided for
Ronald F. Lee, "The Origin and Evolution of the National
Military Park Idea," Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, Office of Park Historic
Preservation, 1973, p. 41.
2Act of February 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 9).
3Act of June 18, 1930 (46 Stat. 777).
Executive Order #6166 (June 10, 1933).
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enlarging the Park. 5 On April 10, 1940, Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes, acting under the provisions of the 1935
legislation, formally established the Park with a land base of
approximately 970 acres, including land which had been acquired by
the Resettlement Administration.
In 1954 Congress changed the
Park's designation to "National Historical Park."7 By 1980 the
authorized land area reached its present 1,325 acres.
The actions of Congress in 1930 and 1935 marked legislative
recognition of the Area of Significance now called "Conservation"
(the preservation, maintenance, and management of natural or
manmade resources).
From mid-1937 through 1939, preliminary
National Park Service planning took place on the assumption that
the Secretary of the Interior might seek to develop the Park. The
most ambitious view was that the tiny hamlet of Appomattox Court
House could be restored to interpret rural Virginia society. The
conservative approach opposed reconstruction efforts, but since
Congress had already authorized and appropriated money for
rebuilding the McLean House, and local public opinion was strongly
in favor of rebuilding both the McLean House and the Courthouse,
the Park Service had little choice but to move ahead. Accordingly,
after the Park's official establishment in 1940, a fullscale multidisciplinary study involving archeology, architecture, and history
commenced.
The collaborative effort, a model historic research
program, resulted in plans to reconstruct the McLean House. The
final report, "Collaborative Justification for Reconstruction of
the McLean House at Appomattox," was, in the words of historian of
the preservation movement Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., "the first joint
document of this kind ever prepared," and in the view of Park
Service professionals, it represented "a peak of professional
5Act of August 13, 1935, amending the Act of June 18, 1930 (49
Stat. 613).
'Department Order, April 10, 1940 (5 FR 1520) .
Executive Order #8057 (February 23, 1939) (4 FR 1025).
7Act of April 15, 1954 (68 Stat. 54).
See also
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competence never before equaled." 8
Although the implementation of the project was delayed by World War
II, the Park Service had embarked on one of the major American
conservation efforts of the mid-twentieth century
the
restoration of the village of Appomattox Court House and its
ultimate interpretation as not only the symbolic scene of the end
of the Civil War, but also as a representation of rural Virginia
of the mid-nineteenth century.
This fact, in turn, establishes the third Area of Significance,
"Architecture" (the practical art of designing and constructing
buildings and structures to serve human needs).
As stated by
Regional Historical Landscape Architect Reed Engle in Section 7,
above.
If the modest village of Appomattox Court House is
considered a museum, its architectural significance lies
in the breadth and depth of its collection of late
eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, structures,
and sites.
The collection has breadth because it
includes a wide range of public and private structures,
depth because these buildings are supplemented by a large
number of ancillary structures that typically punctuated
the rural Virginia landscape of that era. And there is
a framework to this assemblage; historic roads, fences,
hedgerows, and fields demonstrate a pattern of ownership,
occupation, and use, thereby creating a framework
cultural landscape in which the historical events of 1865
may be interpreted.
Individually,
fine examples
of which they
economic and
the buildings at Appomattox Court House are
of their type; collectively, the landscape
are a part provides a strong statement of
political power within a small, rural,
8Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., Preservation Comes of Age;
From
Williamsburg to the National Trust.
1926-1949.
2 vols.
(Charlottesville, Va.: The University of Virginia Press for The
Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation in the
United States, 1981), 1:620-26; 2:733-35, 948-50 (quotations, 949).
>taPm*Mgi MM4PM
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southern community.
Thus, Appomattox Court House manifests three of the National
Register Criteria:
A
by virtue of being the site of the surrender of the
Confederacy's supreme military commander and its principal field
army, the property represents the effectual end of the Civil War;
B
by virtue of being associated with General Robert E. Lee,
C.S.A., and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, U.S.A., future
President of the United States, and their major subordinate
commanders; and
C
by embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type,
period, and method of construction, and by representing a
significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack
individual distinction.
The Park also manifests at least three Criteria Considerations
(Exceptions):
B
at least one structure (the Plunkett-Meeks Store Storage
Building), was relocated a short distance within the property;
D
there are nine historic cemetery sites, including one
individual grave, the Confederate Cemetery, and several family and
church burial grounds, which derive their primary significance from
their association with the historic events represented by the Park;
E
thirteen buildings, including the McLean House and the
Courthouse, together with, in several instances, their fences, have
been reconstructed in a suitable environment and presented in a
dignified manner as part of the Parks's restoration master plan.
The Road to Appomattox
Beginning in June 1864, Grant, exercising personal command over
the Armies of the Potomac and the James, besieged Lee and the Army
of Northern Virginia at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. The
Union forces applied constant pressure on the Confederate lines,
and by the fall of 1864 three of the four railroad lines into
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National Historical Park,
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Petersburg had been cut. The Southside Railroad remained as the
only means of rail transportation into Petersburg. Its inevitable
loss would force Lee to evacuate his positions. During the fall
and winter of 1864-65 Grant gradually cut off Lee's supply lines
from the south.
By February, Union armies under Major Generals
William T. Sherman and John M. Schofield were advancing in the
Carolinas, threatening to link with Grant's troops arrayed against
Lee.
The Confederate commander was forced to remain in the
trenches throughout March due to muddy roads and the poor condition
of his horses.
On March 29, Major General Philip H. Sheridan's
cavalry and the V Corps began moving toward the Confederate right
flank and the Southside Railroad. On April 1 the siege was broken
when the Confederate right flank was shattered at Five Forks. The
next day Grant went on an all-out offensive against the Confederate
lines. With his supply lines cut, Lee had to evacuate Richmond and
Petersburg on the night of April 2-3.
Moving over predetermined routes, the Army of Northern Virginia
headed west, looking for supplies.
Lee hoped to link up with
General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, which was
retreating north through the Carolinas. The immediate objective
was to reach Amelia Court House, where rations which had been sent
from Richmond were to be distributed. But when Lee reached Amelia
Court House on the 4th, he found only ordnance supplies, not
rations.
The shaken Lee was forced to have his men forage for
subsistence for themselves and their horses, but the local farmers
had little to spare.
This lost day gave the pursuing Federal
troops time to catch up. Leaving Amelia Court House on the 5th,
Lee found his route of march blocked by Union forces at
Jetersville.
Forced to turn west again, Lee moved toward
Lynchburg, hoping to find supplies at Farmville on the Southside
Railroad.
Northern cavalry attacked the Confederate wagon train
at Paineville, destroying a large number of wagons. The exhausted,
hungry Southern troops, who had been marching day and night, began
falling out rank. Gaps developed in the line of march.
At Sayler's Creek, a few miles east of Farmville, the Union forces
finally caught up with the retreating Confederates, capturing
thousands, including eight generals, one of them Lee's son Custis.
The next day, April 7, the survivors of the Army of Northern
Virginia finally reached Farmville, where rations awaited them.
But the Federal troops were right behind, and Lee had to keep
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moving west, hoping that he could be supplied at Appomattox
Station. While in Farmville on the 7th, Grant sent a letter to
Lee, asking for him to surrender. One of Lee's Corps commanders,
Lieutenant General James Longstreet, advised him not to do so.
In his reply Lee declined to surrender, but asked Grant for his
surrender terms. Grant, in turn, replied that peace was his great
desire, and that his only condition was that the officers and men
of the Army of Northern Virginia would be disqualified from taking
up arms again unless exchanged [for Union prisoners].
Grant
offered to meet with Lee to arrange surrender terms, or have
designated officers accomplish the task.
By the evening of the 8th, the Confederate columns had halted a
mile east of Appomattox Court House. That night the red glow of
the Union campfires could be seen from Appomattox Station to the
southwest, meaning that Lee's last possible link with the Southside
Railroad had been lost. Meeting that night with his generals, Lee
was persuaded that one last attempt should be made to reach the
rail line and escape toward Lynchburg. Lee wrote back to Grant,
saying that he would be pleased to meet at 10:00 A.M. the next
morning, but only to discuss the restoration of peace, not the
surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
At dawn on the 9th, Lieutenant General John B. Gordon's Corps
attacked the dismounted Federal cavalry blocking the RichmondLynchburg Stage Road. But Union infantry rebuffed the Confederate
thrust. Lee's last chance to escape had been dashed. There, at
the Battle of Appomattox Court House, the Army of Northern Virginia
and Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac had clashed
for the last time.
Meanwhile, Grant replied to Lee's overture for a meeting by stating
that he had no authority to discuss the subject of peace, although,
of course, he and the entire North were anxious for it.
Peace
could be achieved by the South laying down its arms.
After
Gordon's failure to break through the Union lines, there would be
no more quibbling about arranging a meeting to surrender the Army
of Northern Virginia.
Although urged by some of his staff to
disperse the army and fight a guerrilla war, Lee believed that
surrender was now inevitable. He wrote again to Grant, requesting
a meeting to discuss surrender terms. The message reached Grant
and his staff shortly before noon, as they were riding around the
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Confederate forces to meet with Sheridan and Army of the James
commander Major General Edward E. C. Ord.
Grant agreed to a
meeting, allowing Lee to decide on the location.
Colonel Orville Babcock of Grant's staff took the reply and rode
off to find Lee and his staff resting under an apple tree near the
Appomattox River.
Lee mounted "Traveller" and set off for the
village.
Riding ahead, Lee's aide, Lieutenant Colonel Charles
Marshall, looked for a suitable meeting place.
He saw Wilmer
McLean near the courthouse, which was locked on Sunday.
McLean
took Marshall to a dilapidated house which lacked furniture.
Marshall rejected that site, and McLean then offered his own home.
Ironically, McLean had moved to quiet, remote Appomattox Comrt
House from Manassas, Virginia, where his house stood ^fl£*xhe
battlefield.
Now the Civil War, which had driven him from his
original home, was to end in his front parlor.
The Surrender
Lee and Babcock soon arrived, entered the McLean House, and chatted
as they waited for Grant.
Meeting Sheridan and Ord, Grant was
cautioned that it was all a ruse; he should let them keep fighting.
But Grant trusted Lee, and rode to the McLean House for the fateful
meeting. Accompanied by most of his staff, Grant, wearing a mudspattered field uniform, arrived to meet Lee, who had worn a new
dress uniform for the occasion. After talking of their experiences
in the Mexican War, Lee finally raised the issue at hand, the terms
of surrender.
Grant repeated what he had written to Lee on the
previous day. The Confederate leader asked Grant to put his terms
in writing.
The Union commander wrote that rolls of all the
officers and men of the Army of Northern Virginia were to be made.
Officers were to give their individual paroles (pledges) not to
take up arms against the United States unless exchanged, and
company and regimental commanders were to sign general paroles for
their troops.
Arms, artillery, and public property were to be
stacked and turned in. Officers could retain their sidearms and
personal horses and baggage. Each officer and soldier could then
return home and would not be disturbed by United States authorities
as long as they observed their paroles and local laws.
Lee was very pleased, but requested that the enlisted cavalrymen
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and artillerists, who, in the Confederate army, owned their own
mounts, be allowed to retain them.
Grant would not change the
written terms of surrender, but would instruct his officers to
allow Confederates who claimed to own a horse or mule to take the
mounts home to work on the family farm.
Again, Lee was very
gratified by Grant's decision. In a short note, he then formally
accepted the terms of surrender. The conversation turned to the
Confederates' lack of provisions. Lee was unable to even guess at
the total number of troops still under his command. Grant then
offered to provide 25,000 rations, which Lee gratefully accepted.
Lee shook hands again with Grant, bowed to the other officers, and
left to ride off to his army, which greeted him with cheers.
Grant departed and rode to his new headquarters, just west of the
village, stopping to write to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton,
to inform him of the surrender. At the headquarters of the Army
of the Potomac, everyone from General Meade himself to the common
soldiers went wild with joy. Bands played, and cannon were fired.
But Grant ordered the firing stopped; he wanted no demonstrations.
Union soldiers shared their rations with their former enemies.
Back at the McLean House, souvenir hunters scrambled for mementoes
of the historic event, either by buying artifacts from Wilmer
McLean, or simply by taking or vandalizing whatever they could get
their hands on.
On the morning of April 10, Grant and Lee met for the last time.
Between the two armies, they chatted alone for over thirty minutes
while still mounted. Grant hoped that Lee would use his influence
with the Southern people and soldiers to urge the other field
armies to surrender. But Lee declined, saying that he would have
to consult with the President [Jefferson Davis] first. After the
meeting Grant broke camp and left for Washington. After a chat
with Meade, Lee returned to his headquarters and prepared a
farewell message to the troops, praising their courage and devotion
to duty.
Meanwhile, the six senior officers appointed by Grant and Lee to
arrange the details of the surrender met at Clover Hill Tavern.
But Major General John Gibbon, commander of the XXIV Corps,
suggested that they adjourn to the parlor of the McLean House.
There the final surrender agreement was prepared and signed. It
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specifically allowed enlisted men of the artillery and cavalry, and
couriers, to retain their own horses. Printing presses were set
up in Clover Hill Tavern to produce the thousands of necessary
parole passes. But the presses broke down and the operation was
moved to Lynchburg.
The formal surrender ceremony was held on the damp, chilly morning
of April 12.
Union soldiers lined the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage
Road from the western edge of the village to a point near the
river. Led by General Gordon (Lee took no part in the ceremony),
the Confederates marched between the Union lines to lay down their
arms and those flags which had not been burned. Brigadier General
Joshua L. Chamberlain, former commander of the fabled 20th Maine
Infantry, was given the honor of commanding the Union forces at the
surrender ceremony.
Out of respect for his former foes,
Chamberlain ordered his men to present arms.
Gordon had the
marching Southerners return the salute. After surrendering their
weapons, the Confederates marched back to their camps, and then
started for home, carrying their parole passes. That afternoon Lee
left for Richmond. Appomattox Court House had taken its place in
American history.
On April 26 near Durham, North Carolina, Johnston surrendered to
Sherman, and by May 26 Confederate forces in the trans-Mississippi
west had given up the fight. The example set by Robert E. Lee at
Appomattox was thus repeated wherever Confederate troops remained
in the field.
9This account of the surrender is based primarily upon
Appomattox Court House; Appomattox Court House National Historical
Park. Virginia, National Park Service Handbook 109 (Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
Division of Publications, 1980).
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
APPomattox court House
£ ^llfcl^y ? va"ark '
Section number _^__ Page _J__
5. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service
Center. General Management Plan, Appomattox Court House National
Historical Park, Virginia. Denver: September 1977.
6. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic
Regional Office, Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services,
and Harpers Ferry Center. Interpretive Prospectus, Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park, Virginia. Philadelphia:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
in
UTM References
E 17 694670
F 17 693400
G 17 693100
4137730
4138640
4138310
H 17 694150
I 17 694030
J 17 694360
4138660
4138820
4139290
K
L
M
N
695140
695060
695200
694850
4139220
4139550
4140030
4140460
0 17 695450
4140560
P 17 695520
4140900
17
17
17
17
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 3
Verbal Boundary Description
United States of America
(National Park Service)
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park
Date:
March 15, 1985
MARO
Boundary Description
All that certain tract or parcel of land known as the Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park, situated in Cloverhill Magisterial
District, Appomattox County, Commonwealth of Virginia, and being more
particularly described as follows:
BEGINNING at a monument, found at a point on or near the centerline
of State Route 701 (Old Mill Road) at its intersection with southerly
right-of-way line of Virginia State Highway No. 24; thence along
the centerline of Route 701, South 57° 25' 12" East 106.09 feet to
a point; thence, along the arc of a circle to the left with a
radius of 108.00 feet, an arc length of 118.10 feet, a chord
bearing and distance of South 88° 44' 46" East 112.30 feet to a
point; thence North 59° 55' 40" East 110.53 feet to a point at the
intersection of the centerline of an old road scar with the centerline
of the said Route 701; thence, still with the centerline of the
said Route, the following bearings and distances:
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 103.57
feet, an arc length of 125.78 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 85° 16' 54" East 118.19 feet to a point; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 357.41
feet, an arc length of 232.54 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 31° 51' 08" East 228.46 feet to a point; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the left with a radius of 573.40
feet, an arc length of 522.00 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 39° 17' 37" East 504.16 feet to a point; thence
South 65° 22' 25" East 473.57 feet to a monument, found;
thence, leaving said road,
South 21° 09' 24" West 2562.81 feet to a monument set; thence
South 21° 09' 24" West 55.00 feet to a point in the Appomattox
River; thence
South 01° 36' 36" East 50.00 feet to a monument, set; thence
South 01° 36' 36" East 273.59 feet to a monument, found;
thence
South 04° 44' 00" West 140.36 feet to a monument, found;
thence
Page 1 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 4
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
South 18° 02' 19" West 1962.80 feet to a monument, found;
thence
South 38° 48' 15" West 2131.31 feet to a monument set; thence
South 38° 48' 15" West 50.00 feet to a point on the northerly
right-of-way line of Virginia State Highway No. 627; thence, crossing
the said State highway and with the lands of the Hunting Hills
Subdivision, South 51° 02' 12" West 339.80 feet to a monument,
found; thence South 44° 43' 52" West 1136.81 feet to a concrete
monument and cap, found; thence South 82° 28' 25" West 2680.29 feet
to a monument, set in or near Plain Run Branch; thence, in and
along the said branch, the following bearings and distances:
South 63° 23' 17" West 65.99 feet to a point;
South 30° 53' 17" West 382.77 feet to a point;
South 79° 23' 17" West 171.59 feet to a point;
North 68° 36' 43" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 66° 38' 17" West 349.77 feet to a point;
South 82° 38* 17" West 554.35 feet to a point;
North 28° 21' 43" West 270.58 feet to a point;
South 82° 08' 17" West 237.58 feet to a point;
North 68" 21' 43" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 83° 53' 17" West 633.55 feet to a point;
South 68° 23' 17" West 699.54 feet to a point;
South 67* 53' 17" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 88° 53' 17" West 237.58 feet to a point;
North 73° 49' 50" West 182.05 feet to a point;
North 75° 01' 21" West 151.79 feet to a point;
North 49° 16' 21" West 72.59 feet to a point;
North 83° 16' 21" West 263.98 feet to a point; and
South 62° 43' 39" West 250.24 feet to a point; thence leaving
said branch,
Page 2 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 5
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
North 22° 21' 27" West passing a monument set at a distance of
50.00 feet, a concrete monument and cap found at a distance of
1277.92 (from the last mentioned monument) and continuing in all a
total distance of 1971.02 feet to concrete monument and cap, found;
thence
North 21° 51' 31" West 132.41 feet to a monument, found on the
southerly right-of-way line of the aforementioned Highway No. 24;
thence, crossing said Highway No. 24,
North 22° 16' 34" West 357.31 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 63° 14* 31" East 51.80 feet to a monument; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 3475.73
feet, an arc length of 836.63 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
North 70° 08' 16" East 834.61 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 77° 02' 00" East 2024.51 feet to a monument, set; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 11158.19
feet, an arc length of 692.16 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
North 75° 15' 22" East 692.05 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 73° 28' 45" East 270.47 feet to a monument, set on or
near the northeasterly line of an old road scar; thence, in and
along the said road and a fence line, North 44° 23' 49" West 766.47
feet to a twin poplar tree; thence
North 36° 35" 32" East 1845.41 feet to a monument, set on or
near an old road scar; thence
South 82° 41' 10" East 593.96 feet to a monument set; thence
South 87° 11' 36" East 249.04 feet to a monument set; thence
South 81° 17' 17" East 1816.97 feet to a monument set; thence
North 28° 26' 36" West 691.24 feet to a triple hickory tree;
thence
North 00° 10' 19" East 625.49 feet to an oak tree; thence
recrossing the Appomattox River,
North 28° 11' 29" East 323.39 feet to a dead tree; thence
North 06° 39' 25" East 960.44 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 39° 39' 00" East 374.18 feet to a monument, set at a
fence corner; thence
Page 3 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
CONIINUAILON bHhbl
Section number 10
Page 6 Verbal Boundary Description
Appcmiattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
North 40° 47' 20" West 283.40 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 41° 02' 23" West 318.05 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 33° 02' 22" West 828.93 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 25° 43' 20" West, crossing a gravel road, 343.97 feet to
a monument; thence
North 83° 48' 09" East 1998.72 feet to a point on or near the
centerline of State Secondary Route No. 656; thence along the
centerline of said Route, North 69° 58' 02" West 117.25 feet to a
point; thence along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius
of 507.23 feet, an arc length of 310.81 feet, a chord bearing and
distance of North 52° 24' 46" West 305.97 feet to a point; thence
leaving the said Route, North 42° 02' 29" East 816.20 feet to a
monument, set on an old road scar; thence South 66° 16* 51" East
108.37 feet to a monument, set; thence North 00° 23' 18" East
280.74 feet to a gum tree; thence South 68° 06' 54" East 2746.79
feet to a monument, set on the northerly right-of-way line of
Virginia State Highway No. 24; thence on a line recrossing the said
Highway No. 24, South 36° 56' 59" West 856.28 feet to the True
Point of Beginning.
All bearings and distances are based on the Virginia State Plane
Coordinate System, South Zone.
EXCEPTING THEREFROM the right-of-way for Virginia State Highway
No. 24.
ALSO EXCEPTING THEREFROM that certain tract of land known as the
Hermon Cemetery,
Page 4 of 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Aomatto
va ar '
Section numberp_HOHb_ Page
Bocock-Isbell House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSW (200 degrees)
7. 13
Prince Edward Court House Road
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing S (190 degrees)
7. RD-54A
Clover Hill Tavern
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing N (0 degrees)
7. 04
Mariah Wright House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSW (250 degrees)
7. 20
Plunkett-Meeks Store
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing WNW (320 degrees)
7. 09
Clover Hill Tavern Kitchen
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing N (5 degrees)
7. 04A
MeLean House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SW (220 degrees)
7. 02
Kelly House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSE (170 degrees)
7. 17
Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road (+ Courthouse 01 f, Plunkett-Meeks Store 0'))
3. Jon Montgomery
Surrender Triangle
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
3. Jon Montgomery
6. Facing E (90 degrees)
4.
June 27, ]<)85
7. Rn-54
Clover Hill Tavern Guest House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing W (270 degrees)
7. 04B
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing T- (90 degrees)
7.
X
(NOTE: L.C.S. Park Structure Numbers
are used as Photograph Numbers, except
for the Surrender Triangle, for which
Number "X" has been assigned.)
Woodson Law Office (•*• Plunkett-Meeks Store 09)
3. Jon Montgomery
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
4. June 27, 1985
6. Facing WSW (240 degrees)
7
09A
OWB No. 1024-O01S
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
I 9 /98g
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines
for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials,
and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets
(Form 10-900a). Type all entries.
1. Name of Property
historic name
APPnMATTnY rnriPT unn^F
other names/site number APPOM ATTnY ^HITBT HHTTC;P MATTDMAT
HISTOPICAT. PARK
2. Location
street & nurnberAPPOMATTOX COUPT
" HOUSE NATIONAL HISTO RICAL PAR , :_| not for publication
v| vicinity
city, town APPOMATTOX
code " ~ "*
Q I T_
zip code 2^579
state
TrrnrrxTTA
code
CH
county
APPnMATTnY
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
a private
public-local
1 1 public-State
f_xl public-Federal
Category of Property
n building(s)
B district
site
1 1 structure
CH object
Name of related multiple property listing:
None_________
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
31
3
buildings
Q
sites
1 fl
structures
1
objects
lit
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
0_____
4. State/Federal Agency Certification
Asjhe designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this
Sd nomination I I request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the
National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property CH meets LDdoes not meet the National Register criteria. LJsee continuation sheet.
L7
'
Signature of certifying official
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property I
I meets LJ does not meet the National Register criteria. LJ See continuation sheet.
Date
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal agency and bureau
5. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
f_Ij entered in the National Register.
| | See continuation sheet.
I | determined eligible for the National
Register. | ] See continuation sheet.
I | determined not eligible for the
National Register.
I 1/emoved from the National Register.
(2fother, (explain:)
V
e of the Keeper
&_
Date of Action'
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions)
nOMF.STTr./s|ngle dwelling_______
T)OMESTICifesfecondary structure
GOVERNMENT court hou
7. Description
*-»
Architectural Classification
(enter categories from instructions)
Current Functions (enter categories from instructions)
RECREATION AND CULTURE/outdoor rec.
RECREATION AND CULTURE/museum
RECREATION AND CULTURE/monument/marker
LANDSCAPE/park
AGRICULTURE/agricultural field
Materials (enter categories from instructions)
foundation BRICK; STONE/Sandstone. pieldstorM
walls BRICK: WOOD/L^gi WOOD/Weat.herboard
OTHER
roof WOOD/ShingT?' MFTAT./Tin; WOQD/Shake
other WOOD/ C'pOTChp''
fpTtrp^j______________
gTHMF./cr-ran-i tp
fN.far. Monument.
Describe present and historic physical appearance.
Appomattox <3ourt House National Historical Park is a unit of the
National Park System maintained as a restored nineteenth century
rural Virginia community commemorating the surrender of Confederate
General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Union
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. The Park is
located in the rolling piedmont of south central Virginia, three
miles northeast of the town of Appomattox in Appomattox County. It
comprises a 1,325-acre landscape of pasture, field, and mixed
hardwood and mature Virginia pine woodland. Approximately 438 acres
are used for agricultural purposes, and 650 acres are wooded.
Rolling in character, the terrain rises from drainage areas formed
by the Appomattox River and its Plain Run Branch (elevation 645
feet), to the highest ridge lines (elevation 830 feet). The village
of Appomattox Court House is on the crest of a 770-foot high ridge.
The village and other historic resources are preserved in much the.
same appearance they presented in 1865-1870. It was a scene
dominated by open fields with trees surrounding the streets and
homes of the residents. The main street circles the Courthouse.
Clustered around the village are thirteen restored and fourteen
reconstructed buildings. Several are operated as museums open to
the public. While the village was a center for county government,
and contained the homes of judges, clerks, and small-business
operators, it was also an agricultural community with field slaves.
Retention of the open fields along Virginia 24, a major two-lane
highway which bisects the Park, is an important factor in
interpretation of the historic scene resembling that of 1865. (In
the 1950s, the highway was rerouted to its present location away
from the center of the village.) This is accomplished by cattle
grazing and crop rotation of grasses, corn, and silage. The area
to the southwest, west, and north of the village has more trees
thati in 1865. This is a result of a management decision to screen
modern visual encroachments which would otherwise adversely affect
the historic scene.
IH See continuation sheet
8. Statement of Significance
Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties:
[H nationally
D statewide
Q locally
Applicable National Register Criteria
J0B
[~~1D
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions)
Period of Significance
RCHITECT
Significant Dates
1 8 fi S______
1Q?Q______
i Q^- An
MTT.TTARY_______________________
______________________
Cultural Affiliation
M/ fl________
Significant Persons
Let*
Grant, Ulysses S.
Architect/Builder
Ra-i-pp Charles foriginal Me Lean House)
Patterson, Alexander (Clnyftr Hi 11 Tavp-rn)
"Mg "h i rm a 1
PavV
f-»p*T^ri p A_______________
State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.
On April 9, 1865, in the village of Appomattox Court House,
Appomattox County, Virginia, population one hundred, General Robert
E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, General-in-Chief of the Armies
of the United States.
The surrender signaled the defeat of the
Confederate States of America. Across the unoccupied areas of the
South, Confederate commanders realized the futility of further
resistance, and, like Lee, surrendered their troops. Four years
of civil war were over.
In 1892, Brigadier General George B. Davis, Chairman of the
Commission for Publication of the Official Records of the War of
the Rebellion, received a report from an aide on the condition of
the historic features at Appomattox Court House. By that time the
McLean House, site of the surrender meeting between Lee and Grant,
had been dismantled prior to its planned reerection as an exhibit
at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (its structural members were
to be re-assembled in Washington, D.C., to house a Civil War
museum); the Courthouse had burned; and Grant's headquarters had
disappeared. Davis transmitted this disturbing news to Secretary
of War Daniel S. Lament, and recommended that these and other
important sites at Appomattox be permanently marked by tablets.
After Lament's approval, Davis had these and other sites marked
with cast iron tablets, in 1893. Upon visiting Appomattox in 1902,
Davis found the markers to be in excellent condition except for
need of painting. He testified before the House Military Affairs
Committee that if Congress concluded that land acquisition was
desirable, 150 acres would be sufficient to encompass all the main
i continuation sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
1. Dodd, John B. Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, List of
Classified Structures. March 31, 1976.
2. Hosmer, Charles B. , Jr. Preservation Comes of Agj^ From Williamsburg
to the National Trust, 1926-194?T 2 vols. Charlottesville , Va.
The University of Virginia Press for the Preservation Press,
National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States.
1981.
3. Lee, Ronald F. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
Office of Park Historic Preservation. "The Origin and Evolution
of the National Military Park Idea." Washington, D.C.: 1973.
4. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of Publications. Appomattox Court Hous e : Appomattox Court House Natonal Historical Park",
" Virginia, National Park Service Handbook
109. Washington, D.C. : 1980.
ee continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
I I preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67)
has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings
Survey # __________________________
I I recorded by Historic American Engineering
Primary location of additional data:
I I State historic preservation office
d] Other State agency
60 Federal agency
I I Local government
f~l University
CD Other
Specify repository:
NPS 3 Mirlr At 1 apt i r Bpginnal Office ,
Record #__________________________
Phila.. Pa.
f MARCH
_________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of property
1.525.08
USGS Quadrangle
UTM References
A ll i7l
Zone
Ifi IQI fil 4. ?0l
Easting
Vera and Appomattox, Va,
14 ill 4i 0" 5i4iOl
Northing
C 11,71 1619,612,4,01 j 4,115.8 17.6 .0 I
Scale
B ll i7l
Zone
1:24,000
16 19, 617 ,Qi d
I 4,1 U.nl?. Q, Ol
Easting
Northing
D LhTJ 15 19 iSlSifiiOl 14,115! 7l9.fi.0l
K~1 See continuation sheet
Justification
The Congressionally-authorized boundary includes the village core around the
Courthouse; outlying historic buildings and sites, including Lee's Headquarters in the extreme northeast, Grant's Headquarters in the extreme southwest,
and the Battle of Appomattox Court House in the west center; and the farm
fields and forests representative of those .JwJlich surrounded the historic
LJ See continuation sheet
village in 1865.
Verbal Boundary Description
i continuation sheets
11. Form Prepared By
nameAitle Jon B. Montgomery/Superintendent; Reed Engle/Act.Reg.Hist .Arch. Clifford Tnhias/
Rpg. Hist-orfan
organization Montgomery-APCO; Engle r Tobias-MARO________ date May §, 1989
street & number MARQ: U.S. Custom House, 2nd & Chestnut St.4alephoneF.ng1p; (91 SKQ7-sn?«; Tnhiac : city or town
Philadelphia________________________state
Pa._______ zip code 1Q1Q6
9970
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Page
ITEM No. 6 Historic Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE/agricultural field
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE/processing
DEFENSE/battle site
TRANSPORTATION/road-related (vehicles)
FUNERARY/cemetery
GOVERNMFNT/correctional facility
RECREATION AND CULTURE/monument/marker
Current Functions
FUNERARY/cemetery
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
OTHER/park administration
UnKed States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Appomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Section number
7
Page
2
Materials
other METAL/cast iron (War Department Tablets)
EARTH (roads)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
~i
..
..
GH^^*
COntiniiatlOn OneCt
Section number
7
page
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
?i—
Architecture and Landscape
If the modest village of Appomattox Court House is considered a
museum, its architectural significance lies in the breadth and
depth of its collection of late eighteenth and nineteenth century
buildings, structures, and sites. The collection had breadth
because it includes a wide range of public and private structures,
depth because these buildings are supplemented by a large number
of ancillary structures that typically punctuated the rural
Virginia landscape of that era. And there is a framework to this
assemblage; historic roads, fences, hedgerows, and fields
demonstrate a pattern of ownership, occupation, and use, thereby
creating a framework cultural landscape in which the historical
events of 1865 may be interpreted.
The residential buildings at Appomattox Court House represent a
wide range of styles, from settlement cabins to the homes of
prosperous judges and court officials. The J. N. Williams and
Sweeney-Connor Cabins are typical of "hall" type, one room and loft
above, log cabins that were indigenous to the rural Virginia
landscape in the nineteenth century. Many are still extant, but in
a state of disrepair or sheathed in modern materials that conceal
their humble origins. A step up the economic ladder within
settlement era structures is typified by the "hall" house of
Charles Sweeney. Only slightly larger than the nearby log cabins,
Sweeney built his cabin of more "finished" materials, a post and
beam frame sheathed in beaded weatherboard. Although still one room
and a loft, the simple structure made attempts at elegance by
including a sophisticated cornice molding, carefully detailed door
panels, and the evident intent that the interior would one day be
plastered.
The Kelly House, not unlike Sweeney in size, scale, materials, and
simplicity, includes an element of vernacular pretension in the
front elevation "Georgian" porch, but the facade is weakened by the
incorporation of only a single additional bay, thereby denying
symmetry. The zenith of residential construction in Appomattox
Court House is seen in the Bocock-Isbell House. Built for two
brothers, the residence was later owned by a country judge and must
therefore have been considered a prestigious structure. The
exterior incorporates Greek Revival allusions in the templeform
porches, but as in most vernacular structures, adds elements of
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox court House
National Historical Park,
oonimuauon aneei
Appomattox
county, va.
fVkntinilfltinn Qtu»Pt
Section number
7
Page —4—
Roman Classicism (the raised podium), and the Southern Colonial
type (the exterior closet addition). The interiors, although
simple, convey quiet prosperity in the use of an extensive range
of millwork profiles and combinations.
The public buildings at Appomattox Court House reflect the modest
prosperity of the Bocock-Isbell House. The Clover Hill Tavern and
the McLean House are public parallels to the private residence.
They are larger in scale and plan; their porches and entryways are
defined in a broader way; and the number of dependency structures
reflects the demands of greater use. But the modest structural and
architectural details of the interiors indicate the accommodation
to the needs and tastes of middle class travelers. Elaboration of
treatment was limited to the application of grained, stencilled,
and painted surfaces, a visual degree of elegance. The Courthouse
itself typifies this solid, businesslike approach to construction.
Raised high on its classical podium, and the court rooms approached
by costly stone steps flanked by iron rails and balusters, the
balance of the structure betrays the simplicity of local brick
construction. As with the fenestration and iron bars on the new
Jail, a few exterior details define the public purpose of the
building.
The residences at Appomattox Court House are typically sited in
relation to the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, to its secondary
circulation, or to the Courthouse "square." The public and
commercial buildings cluster tightly against the public focus, the
Courthouse, and to an extent, the greater the distance from this
center, the lesser the degree of structural pretension. This
gradation in scale and detail is evident also in ancillary
structures and elaborate picket and paling fences yielding to
horizontal boards and eventually to snake (worm) enclosures.
Many "historic" villages retain their major buildings, but few
still exhibit the clutter of the outbuildings extant at Appomattox
Court House. Wellhouses, quarters, kitchens, stables, privies,
guesthouses, and smokehouses add a richness of density and detail
to the domestic and public landscape. These buildings also show
the transition
from modest and unnecessary ornamentation
(trellises, bargeboards, and brackets), to utilitarian simplicity
as a visitor moves away from the center of the village.
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National Historical Park,
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Individually, the buildings at Appomattox Court House are fine
examples of their type; collectively, the landscape of which they
are a part provides a strong statement of economic and political
power within a small, rural, southern community.
Contributing Resources
The following resources, either original or reconstructed,
contribute to the Park's National Register qualities. Most are
entered on the National Park Service's List of Classified
Structures (LCS). Those which are currently entered on the LCS have
the LCS Identification Number, followed by the LCS Park Structure
Number, in parentheses beside the structure name. The Structure
Numbers have been added to the accompanying site maps (Park Folder
[1981], which depicts the village and shows the entire Park in an
insert; Village Plan [1976]; and General Development Plan Existing
Conditions [19£<J], which shows the entire Park).
I. Buildings [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and Sketch Maps
"B," "C," and "E"]
A. Clover Hill Tavern (00049 04)
The tavern was built by Alexander Patterson in 1819 for
travelers on the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, and was
restored in 1954. Constructed of local brick laid in flemish
bond, the 39' x 23" 2-story building has a full attic and no
cellar. The south (front) elevation has 4 bays on each
principal floor, and is bisected by a full-length porch. The
porch is supported on brick foundation piers, and has a
random board floor and ceiling, wood shingle roof, ends
enclosed with random horizontal boards, a simple box cornice,
and 5 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 box columns. The second floor has 4 6/9
sash with 10" x 12" lights; the first floor has 2 9/9 sash
(10" x 12" lights) on the west of the entry door, and a
single sash on the east. The entry door has 5 recessed
panels, square edged, and a soffit of 1/4" flutes and beaded
edges. The door is surmounted by a 6-pane fanlight. All
windows have 2-panel, non-operable, louvered windows.
The east and west (gable) elevations have external, centered,
brick chimneys with single steps at the attic level, and
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four-course, corbelled drips. The chimneys are flanked by 9light inward-opening casements. The west elevation has an
entry door on the first floor, north of the chimney; the door
frame and fanlights match that on the front elevation. The
east elevation has no openings. The rear (north) elevation
is identical to the front, but reversed.
The wood shingle roof is supported by a corbelled brick
cornice on the main elevations and by denticulated rakes on
the gables.
The first floor is partitioned into 2 rooms. That to the west
is the smaller, but has a 39"-high brick fireplace with a
84"-wide and 60"-high wood surround featuring a fluted mantel
and dentils. The first floor trim is 6 1/2" baseboards with
3/8" quirks and 5' 4"-wide door and window trim with a 1/4"
inner quirk bead, step with 3/8" molding, and 1/2"-wide edge
moldings with raised beads. The doors are 5-panel, 1 1/4"
thick, with beaded flush panels with no molding on the
reverse. The trim on the fanlight arches of all 3 exterior
doors features transverse fluting on the soffits, and 7
simple, chisel-cut, 8-pointed starts. The stairs are unusual
as they are centered on the partition dividing the floor and
are approached from both rooms. The stair is enclosed with
random vertical boards within the western room, and access
is through a 5-panel door. Within the eastern room, the stair
is open and flanked by turned balusters, a handrail with
fluted edge, and a turned newel with flared cap. The treads
have fretted stair brackets and cove moldings below their
nosing.
Of particular note is the original stencilling and painting
exposed on the plaster and in the western room stair
enclosure, and the evidence of original graining on all
interior trim. The building houses a representative exhibit
of the printing of thousands of parole passes for the
surrendered Confederate soldiers. Recent research has
suggested that in fact the paroles may have been printed in
the wooden dining room wing at the Tavern's west end, which
no longer exists.
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B. Tavern Kitchen and Guest House (00052 04A)
The 2-story tavern kitchen was built in 1819 and was restored
in 1953. Located northeast of the Tavern, the local brick is
laid in common bond with the mud/lime mortar joints
highlighted by white pencilling. The 32' x 18' dependency
has a full attic but no cellar. The south (front) elevation
has 4 bays on the second floor and 3 on the first. The second
floor has 2 central doors, board and batten with exterior
face beads, flanked by 6/6, double-hung windows with 10" x
12" lights. The first floor has a 6/9 sash on the west end
and 2 central doors below those above. An eastern window was
eliminated because it would have been bisected by the extant
flight of 13 steps that provide access to the open second
floor porch. The porch is supported by 3 8"-square box
columns, and has random (3 1/4"-6") t&g flooring and a
ceiling of random beaded boards. All windows have 2-panel,
non-operating, louvered shutters. The side elevations have
no fenestration or door openings and are relieved only by the
projection of the centered, internal chimneys. Both chimneys
have 4-course corbelled drips.
The wood, clipped-corner, shingle roof is supported by simple
beaded rake boards on the gables and by a box cornice with
applied molding at the eaves. The first and second floors
are divided into 2 rooms each. The longer of the first floor
rooms has a large (5 1 6 l/2"-wide x 58"-high) fireplace with
an original iron crane; it has no trim or mantel; the smaller
room has an untrimmed fireplace 48" x 39". The interior
baseboards are 5 1/2" high with a quirk bead, as are the sill
aprons. The doors and windows are plain. There is no interior
stair. Tradition holds that the second floor rooms were used
as extra housing for tavern guests; the first floor provided
food. The building houses the sales outlet for the Eastern
National Park and Monument Association.
C. Clover Hill Tavern Guest House (00053 04B)
The 1819 Tavern Guest House is a 3-story brick structure with
a finished attic and no cellar. It would be a simple and
common vernacular building were it not for the fact that its
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use by guests of the Tavern dictated that the upper floors
were reached by separate exterior stairs. The unusual
character of the building is thus defined by the complexity
of stairs, porches, roof overhangs, and support posts. The
brick masonry is laid in common bond; pencilled joints
highlight all but the east and a portion of the south
elevations, which are whitewashed. The masonry core of the
structure measures 20' wide (north and south elevations) and
22' on the east and west.
The north elevation includes the external chimney with 2
steps and a corbelled brick drip. Because of the chimney, the
brick masonry extends upward as a full masonry gable. The
south elevation gable is wood above the third floor joists;
the masonry also stops at the third floor joist level on the
east and west elevations. There is a 5' roof overhang on the
east and west elevations and a 4'6" overhang on the south.
The overhang protects the porches, steps, and entry doors
below, and provides additional floor area in the third floor
room.
The front (east) elevation lower level has 2 doors with 5
flush-beaded, recessed panels. The reveals have 2 flushbeaded panels, as do the single-panel soffits. The first
floor has a similar, but larger entry door and a 6/6 sash.
The dominant feature on the elevation is, however, the porch.
Six octagonal posts, formed from chamfered square ones,
support the second floor deck and first floor ceiling,
composed of random boards. Thirteen open treads form the
stairs to the second floor deck and are centered on the roof,
not on the masonry portion of the building. The simple beaded
handrails continue onto the porches. The second floor porch
has 4 posts, the center 2 being eliminated as the
cantilevered third floor joists support the roof overhang.
The south elevation has 3 windows: 2 6/6 sash on the first
floor, and a single 6/6 sash above. An eastern window is
eliminated because of the stairs that extend from the east
elevation second floor porch to the balcony formed by the
extended overhang of the third floor gable. On the east and
west ends of the gable, the areas beyond the lower masonry
are sheathed with random horizontal beads as is that portion
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National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
Section number
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Appomattox County, Va.
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of the gable above the ceiling of the balcony. The interior
wall of the balcony rests on the masonry and has a centered
door similar to those on the lower floors. The west side of
the elevation has 2 2-story octagonal columns; one supports
the outer corner of the roof; the other is aligned with the
southern extension of the west wall masonry and falls
directly below the edge of the balcony above.
The west elevation has 2 bays. There are 2 6/6 sash on the
second floor above a single 6/6 sash on the western side of
the first floor, and a board and batten door on the east. A
2-story octagonal post supports the overhanging corner of
the roof on the north and on the south. On the north
elevation, 2 4-light casements flank the chimney on the third
floor. A single 6/6 double-hung sash window east of the
chimney on the second floor is the only other fenestration.
The interior has been extensively adapted since construction
and the restoration/rehabilitation of 1959. The fabric is of
questionable integrity.
D. Marian Wright House (00041 20)
The Marian Wright House was built by Pryor Wright in 1823
and inherited by his wife, Mariah, on his death in 1851. On
the morning of April 9, 1865, Brigadier General Joshua
Chamberlain's Union
infantry was
advancing
on the
Confederates through the village, and his right flank had
reached the Wright House when a flag of truce came out from
the Confederate lines. The exterior was restored in 1965, at
which time a concrete cellar was added. The interior was
unfinished, and the building is not open to the public.
The building is 40'6" (north/south) by 18', exclusive of the
porches, on the east and west elevations. The post and beam
structure sits on a raised foundation of rubble-stone with
a raised grapevine pointing. The siding is of beaded pine
weatherboards.
Centered external gable chimneys are
fieldstone to the second floor level, stepped back in stone,
and continuing upward as free-standing brick stacks with
corbelled drips accented with a whitewashed course just below
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the drip.
The west elevation has a full-length porch supported by 6
square posts bearing on stone piers separated by diagonal
lattice trellises. The shallow pitch shed porch roof and
gable roof are covered with wood shingles. Plain square
balusters and railing surround the porch, which is approached
by 4 centered steps. Within the porch, 3 6/6 sash are
separated by 2 entry doors; the doors have 6 panels with
raised centers with edge moldings cut out in a concave,
quarter-round shape.
The east elevation has a central porch (16'6" wide x 7'6"
deep), supported on stone piers joined by a diagonal lattice
trellis. Five posts support the wood-shingled shed roof
enclosed with random boards on the ends. Five steps with
closed risers approach the porch. Within the porch are 2
entry doors constructed as those on the west elevation.
Centered on the spaces external to and flanking the porch
are single, 6/6 double-hung sash.
The south elevation has 2 4-light casements flanking the
chimney on the second floor, and a narrow, 4/4 double-hung
sash adjacent to the west edge of the chimney below. An entry
door approached by 6 open treads is tight against the chimney
to the east. The door is of the same construction as the
others.
The north elevation replicates the south, but has a second
4/4 double-hung sash instead of the first floor door.
E. Bocock-Isbell House (07787 13)
This house was built by brothers Thomas S. and Henry F.
Bocock in 1849-50. Thomas was Speaker of the Confederate
House of Representatives, and Henry was Clerk of the Court
for Appomattox County from 1845 to 1860. (A third brother,
Willis, was Virginia Attorney General in 1853.) Lewis Isbell,
the Commonwealth Attorney for Appomattox County during the
Civil War, lived in the house at the time of the surrender.
The building was restored in 1949. It now serves as Park
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Headquarters; previously it was used for quarters.
The 2-story post and beam house includes a raised basement
of local brick laid in common bond. It measures 19' (north/
south) by 50', exclusive of the porches, and has 2 brick
external chimneys with single steps and corbelled drips. The
frame is sheathed with weatherboards having 4 3/4" - 5 1/8"
exposures.
The north (front) elevation has 3 bays on the first and
second floors and 2 on the raised basement. The 2 6/6 doublehung sash on the first floors are separated by the 14'-wide
x 10'6" entry porch, raised on brick piers and approached by
9 steps. The stair and porch railing is made of 1 1/8" x 7/8"
balusters, solid 4" x 4" newels with ball stops, and a builtup rail. The 4 paired porch columns and 2 half pilasters are
10 1/2"-square box posts. The porch floor is part t & g, part
random butted boards; the ceiling, random boards with quirk
beads. The flat-seam tin roof supports a balustrade
reflective of the columns and balusters below. A box cornice
and fascia have simple moldings. Within the porch, the
centered entry door has 4 panels with raised centers and
ovolo moldings. Surmounting the door is a 15-light transom
divided into a border of square and narrow, rectangular panes
and larger inner panes.
The second floor has windows directly over those on the first
floor, but these have 6/6 sash. The center bay, centered on
the porch, has a door providing access to the porch deck. The
door is half-glass, a pair of 6 lights divided by a heavy
muntin. The door is surmounted by a narrow single-light,
rectangular transom. The single cellar windows flanking the
porch are almost entirely above grade and both are 6/6
double-hung, with 12" x 14" lights.
A simple box cornice with a crown molding supports the
overhang of the wood shingle roof at the eaves; a rakeboard
with crown on the gables. The west elevation is without
fenestration, and the east has a single, double-hung sash
north of the chimney. The east elevation also has a "closet
extension" projecting outward 2'2", flush with the rear
elevation and north to the chimney. Probably not original -
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- the original cornerboard is still in place
the 2-story
addition allows for closets within the southeast rooms. The
addition has a simple, wood-shingled shed roof.
The south (rear) elevation is similar to the north elevation.
The second floor has 3 6/6 sash; the door on the front
elevation replaced here with a window. The first floor has
2 6/6 sash flanking the central porch that here is 20' wide
and 10'6" deep with a low pitch wood-shingled shed roof. The
entry door within the porch is constructed in the same manner
as the one on the front elevation second floor. The 4 porch
posts and 2 pilasters are 9 1/4" x 9" box columns; the 2
central posts offset to the east and flanking the flight of
7 closed-riser steps.
The raised basement has 2 6/6 sash flanking the porch and an
areaway beneath the porch incorporating an entry to the
cellar.
F. Bocock-Isbell Smokehouse (07788 13A)
Built ca. 1849-50, and restored in 1949, this 12' x 12' post
and beam structure is raised on brick piers, sheathed in
weatherboards with a 6 1/2" exposure, and has a wood shingle
roof with a plain box cornice on the eaves and plain rakes.
The door on the north elevation is made of random-width
butted boards with interior battens.
G. Bocock-Isbell Outside Kitchen (07789 13B)
Built ca. 1849-50, and restored in 1959, this 16' x 18' post
and beam dependency has weatherboards with 6 1/2" exposure,
a single 4/4 double-hung sash, and a 4-light entry door on
the north elevation. It has a single 4/4 sash on the south.
A single step brick chimney with corbelled drip is centered
on the east gable. The wood shingle roof is supported by a
plain box cornice with shaped end boards at the eaves and
rakes with quirk beads on the gables. The interior has no
integrity.
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H. Plunkett-Meeks Store (00051 09)
This 36' x 20' structure was built in 1852 by John H.
Plunkett and was purchased in the early 1860s by Francis
Meeks, who served as the local postmaster and druggist. It
was later the home of a Presbyterian minister who presented
it to his church for use as a manse.
While a store, the
building was one of the social centers of village life. It
was restored in 1959. The first floor interior is a single
room furnished and interpreted as a general store and post
office; it appears to originally have been 2 rooms. Fitted
with period shelving and counters, the store's depleted stock
of goods is intended to show the effects of the war upon the
rural village. The second floor has no integrity.
The store is a 2-story post and beam structure with a full
attic and a full cellar.
It is sheathed in weatherboards
with a 6" exposure, and the cellar foundation of deeply
pointed rubble fieldstone is exposed for approximately 32"
above grade.
The east (front) elevation is dominated by the 8 1 x 18' first
floor templeform entry porch. Reached by 4 steps, the porch
is supported on 4 brick piers and has 4 equally spaced 7 1/2"
x 7 1/2" box column posts. Simple 1 1/2" square balusters
under the shaped handrail connect the columns.
The porch
gable is faced with clapboards; the fascia on the eaves and
gable is capped with a crown mold.
Within the porch the
entry is a pair of 4-panel doors flanked by single 9/9
double-hung sash with 10" x 12" lights. The second floor has
6/9 sash over those on the first floor. The attic gable has
no windows.
The second floor of the south elevation has 2 6/9 sash; the
first floor has 2 6/9 sash east of the 8-panel single door
matching that on the front. It is reached by a flight of 5
open-riser steps leading to a small stoop.
The west rear elevation has a 6/9 sash on the second floor
directly above a 9/9 double-hung window.
The cellar
bulkhead, covered with a pair of board and batten doors,
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penetrates the foundation below the windows.
The north elevation is complex for it incorporates a centered
16' x 5' enclosed porch on the second floor approached on the
east by a flight of 15 open-riser steps. Windows, 6/9, flank
the porch and 2 4-light casements penetrate the north porch
siding. The first floor has single 9/9 double-hung sash at
the west end.
The roof of the building is covered in round-butt wood
shingles supported by returned box cornices with cove
moldings on the eaves, and rakes with coves on the gable.
The internal brick chimney is centered on the structure and
has a 5-course corbelled drip. The first floor sash has 3panel solid shutters; the second floor windows lack shutters.
I. Plunkett-Meeks Store Storage Building (07784 09B)
Constructed ca. 1850 by John Plunkett, this 1-story structure
was relocated slightly on the property and restored in 1959.
The 14' x 16' post and beam building is elevated on deeplypointed, rough cut sandstone piers, and is sheathed in
weatherboards having approximately 5 1/2" exposure.
The
clipped-corner wood shingle roof has slightly tapered
rakeboards at the gables.
The west (rear) elevation has a 4-panel door approached by
3 open-riser wood steps and a 6/6 double-hung sash to the
south.
The south elevation has a 4-panel door; the east
elevation has another 6/6 double-hung sash.
The north
elevation has no openings.
J. Plunkett-Meeks Store Stable (17260 09F)
Constructed ca. 1850 and restored in 1949, this barn is 21"
wide and 20' 6" long, with sheds on both the east and west
elevations. The main body of the structure is covered with
weatherboards, 6" to the weather, the sheds with butted
vertical boards. The roof is of wood shingles with square
butts. Board and batten doors in both gables provide access
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to the loft haymow.
K. New County Jail (00036 08)
The New County Jail is directly across Main Street from the
site of the first County Jail.
Begun about 1860 but not
completed until after the Civil War in 1870, the New County
Jail is a 20' x 40', 3-story brick structure. The exterior
walls are of local brick laid in common bond with half-brick
vent holes into the crawl space below the first floor level.
The sills and lintels on the outer east and west elevation
windows on the second and third floors (the cell windows),
are of cut local sandstone; the central windows on these
floors and those on the first floor have wooden sills and
lintels. The internal end chimneys are centered on the ridge
and have a 2-course and corbelled drip. The standing seam
tin roof is supported by a corbelled brick cornice on the
eaves and plain wooden rakes, broken by chimneys, on the
gables.
The north (front) elevation has 3 bays on each floor. The
first floor has 2 6/6 double-hung windows (10" x 12" lights) ,
flanking the central 4-panel with raised center door that is
surmounted with a simple 4-light transom.
The second and
third floors have centered 6/6 (8 1 x 10") double-hung windows
faced by a triple set of vertical and/or horizontal iron bars
set into frames tied to the sandstone lintels and sills. The
south elevation is identical except that there are no second
or third floor windows and no transom above the first floor
entry door. The gable ends have no fenestration.
The interior reflects the exterior, 2 rooms flanking the
center hall on each floor. The sheriff's office and quarters
were on the first floor, and the cells were on the top
floors.
The windows on the central bay of the north
elevation light the stairway within the central hall. The
first floor central hall is floored in brick, the adjacent
office and quarters with blind-nailed random boards.
The
second and third floors are covered with random boards 4"-5
3/4", face nailed with wrought nails. The walls and ceilings
of the first floor are plastered on the brick; those on the
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National Park Service
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top floors against iron bars 8" o. c. (1 1/2" x 1/2") , bolted
to the exterior masonry. The first floor rooms retain simple
fireplaces without trim; the cells have no provision for
heat.
From 1870 until the county seat was moved in 1892, the
building served its original function. From that time until
1940, the building was used as the polling station for the
Clover Hill magisterial district. The structure was restored
in 1959.
L. Woodson Law Office (07786 09A)
This 12'6" x 14'6" 1-story frame building without attic or
cellar was built as early as 1851. In 1856 it was purchased
by John W. Woodson, one of several lawyers who practiced in
the village. It served him until he died of typhoid on July
1, 1864. Built on brick piers, the post and beam building
is sheathed in weatherboard with a 6" exposure.
The east
gable (front) elevation, has an 8-panel door with a simple
ogee molding on the panels and a simple 4"-wide surround.
The north and south elevations have single 6/6 double-hung
sash with 10" x 12" lights and single full-width shutters
with exterior faces of beaded boards laid diagonally. The
west elevation has an external common bond brick chimney with
a single step and a 5-course corbelled drip. The standing
seam tin roof is supported by a rake with bead and canted
molding on the gables, and by a box cornice with bead and
crown molding that returns at the eaves. The building, which
was restored in 1959, is plainly furnished and is typical of
the country lawyers' offices found in Virginia county seats
of the period.
M. Peers House (07790 16)
This frame house was built by 1855, when it was sold by a Mr.
McDearmon to William Abbitt, who sold it to D. A. Plunkett
in 1856.
George Peers, clerk of the court for Appomattox
County for 40 years, lived there at the time of the
Surrender.
He bought the house at public auction after
NK tan, KUDO.
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Plunkett's death in 1870.
The 34' x 18' house has striking similarities to the nearby
Bocock-Isbell House, being post and beam, constructed on a
brick "raised" basement 68" above grade, finished with a
narrow wood siding (4 3/4" exposure), and having single-step,
external end chimneys with 3-course corbelled drips.
The west (front) elevation has a templeform entry porch
raised to the first floor level by brick piers and reached
by closed-riser wood steps. The balusters (1 3/8" x 1") ,
square newels, and plain hand rail connect the 6" box posts.
The square-butt wood shingles over the simple pedimented
gable are echoed on the main roof; that is supported by a box
cornice with crown molding at the eaves and a rake with quirk
molding at the gables. The second floor has 2 exterior 8/8
sash with 10" x 12" lights; the first floor has 2 8/12
windows.
The porch covers the 4-panelled centered entry
door.
The south elevation has a single 6/9 sash on the first floor
west of the chimney and a cellar bulkhead to the east. The
north elevation has no fenestration. The east elevation has
a 9'6" x 16' porch offset to within 6' of the southeast
corner. The porch is supported by brick piers connected with
a diagonal lattice trellis, and has 4 7" box post columns
beneath the wood shingled shed roof. A single 6/9 window is
located north of the porch on the first floor, 2 6/6 sash on
the second, and a single 6/6 window on the north end of the
raised basement.
Restored in 1954, the Peers House interior has been adapted
for staff housing, but much of the original trim remains.
N. Kelly House (00396 17)
This 21'6" by 17'6" post and beam house was constructed for
Lorenzo D. Kelly, a wheelwright, probably between 1845 and
1860.
The exterior was restored in 1963.
The one-story
house has a full, raised cellar and attic, and the exterior
is sheathed in unpainted weatherboards with 5"-5 1/2"
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exposure. The roof is covered with round-butt wood shingles
and is supported by a box cornice with crown molding at the
eaves and a rake with a simple ogee on the gables. The west
elevation external chimney is centered on the ridge and is
constructed of rough-dressed sandstone extending upward to
include the second floor fireplace; above that level, a freestanding common-bond, brick stack continues and terminates
in a 3-course corbelled drip. Adjacent to, and south of, the
chimney, is a shed-roof enclosed entry to the cellar, and
flanking the chimney on the second floor are 2 square 4-light
casements. The east elevation has a 6/6, double-hung sash
in the loft, a similar 6/9 window on the principal floor, and
a pair of 4-light upward-swinging casements in the cellar.
The south (rear) elevation has a centered 4-panel door
providing access to the first floor, and another pair of
cellar casements, these being 3-light.
The north (front)
entrance has a simple porch with facing pediment covered in
clapboards, 2 6"-square posts, and 2 6' x 3" pilasters,
simple 1» 1/8" by 3/4" balusters, a heavy rounded rail on the
side only, and 4 open riser steps. Flanking the porch to the
west is a 6/9 window.
All windows are shutterless.
The
interior has not been restored and retains little integrity.
After the war, John Robinson, a Black shoemaker, and his wife
lived here. They are buried in a small graveyard behind the
house.
O. Sweeney Prizery (00045 28)
This 36' by 16"6" structure is of one story with a loft, and
a full, partially above-grade cellar. It has been assigned
a construction date during the 1790s as a residence and a
prizery (a tobacco packing house), for Alexander Sweeney.
It was owned by Major Joel W. Flood in 1865. The structure
has been stabilized and "mothballed" since 1975.
The prizery is built into a bank. The grade on the front
(northwest) elevation is but slightly below the level of the
first floor; the rear (southwest) elevation exposes the full
height of the rough-hewn sandstone cellar walls.
Stone
external one-step chimneys without drips are centered on both
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gable ends.
The cellar prizery has no exterior openings
except the 3 located on the southeast elevation: 2 doors and
a paired upward-opening casement. The door jambs and doors
are absent although rough sills and lintels remain.
The
window frame is extant; the sash are missing.
The front
elevation of the first floor (northwest) is penetrated by
only 2 door openings: that to the west retains its original
random board and batten door; the eastern has been replaced
with a door constructed of late 19th century "fence boards."
The west elevation retains only the from of a probable 4light casement on the first floor south of the chimney. The
rear elevation originally had 2 windows; only the frames
remain of what appear to have been 6/6 double-hung sash. The
east elevation has no first floor fenestration. The interior
studs indicate that each gable originally had a small
casement window.
The interior is divided into 2 rooms on each level by a
narrow stair and horizontal plank partition. The ceilings
are unplastered and the supports heavily whitewashed. The
exterior weatherboards are covered on the interior by board
sheathing:
horizontal butted boards in the western first
floor room; vertical boards with battens, possibly not
original, in the eastern.
P.
Charles Sweeney Cabin (80,016 # to be assigned)
Believed to have been constructed ca. 1840 for Charles
Sweeney, the cabin was purchased in 1980 and was restored in
1987-88.
The 20'3" by 18'2" post and beam hall house on
rough fieldstone piers is covered with non-tapered, beaded
weatherboards with exposures of 4 l/2"-5 1/2". The roof of
oak shakes, square-butted, is supported at the eaves by a box
cornice with the ends covered with scribed end boards. The
gable ends have tapered rake boards.
The west elevation is broken by the rough, crudely quoined,
fieldstone chimney that extends upward to the top of the
second floor fireplace; above this, a brick stack corbels
inward and away from the weatherboard gable end until the
chiney terminates in a 4-course corbelled drip. The second
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floor section of the chimney is flanked by small 4-light,
inward-opening casements. The south (front) elevation has
3 bays, and a central 4-panelled entry door flanked by 6/6
double-hung sash. The east elevation has a single centered
4-panel door on the first floor, below a 6-light (8 1 x 12")
casement. The north elevation has a single 6/6 double-hung
sash offset slightly to the east of center.
The interior of the cabin is of interest because it retains
a high degree of integrity. One room and a loft above, the
structural frame is whitewashed and exposed to view. Hewn
oak, L-form corner posts, knee braces, and principal studs
alternate with secondary members of pine. The window and
door casings and trim indicate the cabin was intended to be,
but never was, plastered. The open "dog-leg" stairway in the
northwest corner has many of its original balusters, trim on
the stringers, and square newel and rail formed from a planed
oak branch.
The small closet under the stairs has its
original 4-panel door with concave, quarter-circle, corners
on the raised panels
an elegant detail that is also found
on the doors of the Mariah Wright House.
Q. Sweeney-Connor Cabin (80,052 # to be assigned)
This simple "hall" type cabin measures 16 "3" by 18'3" and is
supported by a deeply-pointed fieldstone foundation. It is
believed to have been built for Jennings W. Connor and his
bride Missouri Sweeney between 1860 and 1865. The exterior
was restored in 1986-87, and the building is retained as a
landscape element typical of early settlement. The interior
retains little integrity to the period of construction. The
cabin is constructed of 6" x 9" logs, V-notched at the
corners, and originally shimmed and sheathed with l/2"-thick,
non-tapered, sawn and random weatherboards with exposures of
5 l/4"-6 1/2".
The split-shake roof is supported by a plain box cornice at
the eaves and a tapered rakeboard on the gables. The cabin's
east elevation has a centered fieldstone chimney that after
stepping inward at a level just above the second floor
fireplace, continues upward in stone to terminate in
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fieldstone drip.
Flanking the chimney in the gable are 2
small 4-light casement sash. The east (front) elevation has
a single opening, a board and batten door. The only opening
on the west elevation is the small gable casement. The west
(rear) elevation retains a central window frame suitable for
a 6/6 sash; the original sash is not extant.
R. J. N. Williams Cabin (80,
# to be assigned)
The construction date of the 16' by 18'1" Williams Cabin is
not known, but contemporary documents indicate that it had
been built by 1865.
It is similar to the Connor-Sweeney
Cabin in that it is constructed of logs (6" by 8") , V-notched
at the corners, and supported on a fieldstone foundation.
Unlike the other cabin, this was never sheathed in clapboards
except for the gable ends above the level of the eaves. The
external chimney, rough fieldstone below the top of the loft
fireplace, steps inward and is replaced by common bond brick
corbelling inward at the top. The west (front) elevation has
a simple board and batten entry to the south of a 6/6 doublehung sash. The chimney is flanked to the east by a similar
6/6 window on the first floor, and the west by a 6-light
casement. The east elevation has another entry door, and the
north elevation only a 6-light casement in the loft. The
original wood shingles on pole rafters are now covered with
tin roofing supported at the eaves by a simple box cornice,
and at the gables by tapered rake boards.
S. Courthouse
(00038 01)
The original Courthouse was constructed in 1846, one year
after Appomattox County was established.
The Courthouse
played no role in the Surrender, for it was closed that day,
Palm Sunday. In 1892 the building burned, and the citizens
voted to move the county seat to nearby Appomattox Station,
now Appomattox.
The existing building and square were
reconstructed in 1963-64 as the Park Visitor Center and the
focus of the village.
The
2-story,
hip-roofed,
running-bond
brick
Courthouse
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measures 50' on its main east/west elevations, and 40' on
each side. The second floor, the principal level, has raised
entry porches on the main elevations. The centered porches
have 2 slightly tapered doric columns and 2 half-column
pilasters supporting the pedimented roof. The porches are
approached by flights of 16 cast-stone treads on high brick
foundation walls. The stair rails, newels, and balusters are
cast iron.
The doors within the porches are paired, 4panelled, and the porches are flanked by 12/12 double-hung
sash with 2-panel, non-operable, louvered shutters.
The
principal elevation first floors also have 3 bays, and a
central, smaller paired, 4-panel door between 8/8 double-hung
sash with 2-panelled, non-operable, louvered shutters. All
of the windows have wooden lintels with protruding rosettes
and limestone sills.
The side (north and south) elevations are identical. Each
has 2 internal chimneys projecting above the roof on the
plane of the exterior wall; all have 3-course, corbelled
drips. The first floors has 2 8/8 double-hung sash outward
from the chimneys; the second floor has 3 windows, adding a
central 8/8.
The flat-seamed tin roof is supported by an
elaborate 2-level cornice, each level with a crown mold, and
dentils at the head of the fascia.
The interior of the
building is adaptively used and has modern finishes.
T. Courthouse Well House (07780 01A)
This 10' by 8'6" wood structure was reconstructed over the
original well in 1963-64. A brick foundation wall supports
8 square posts that carry the round-butt, wood shingle, ridge
roof with gable ends finished in random weatherboards. The
posts are joined at all but the 2 entry points by 2 1/4" by
3/8" diagonally applied trellis.
The wood enclosed well
housing sits upon a butted plank (9 1/4" x 1 1/2") floor.
U. McLean House (00050 02)
The building was built by Charles Raine as a tavern in 1848,
and was purchased by Wilmer McLean in 1863. It was the site
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of Lee's surrender to Grant on April 9, 1865. In 1892 the
building was dismantled in an abortive attempt to exhibit it
at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; its
structural members were to be re-assembled in Washington,
D.C., to house a Civil War museum. It was reconstructed on
its original site in 1948, and was dedicated on April 16,
1950, with Robert E. Lee IV and General Ulysses S. Grant III
as guests of honor.
The house is 50' wide and 22' deep (exclusive of the
porches), and has 3 stories and a full attic. Constructed
of brick, the principal north (front) elevation floors are
of flemish bond; the lower front level, sides, and rear are
of common bond. The roof is covered with square-butt wood
shingles, supported by a box cornice with crown molding and
returns at the eaves, and by a molded rake on the gables.
Internal chimneys are centered on each gable and have 4course, corbelled drips.
The north (front) elevation is
dominated by the full length, 2-story porch supported by
brick columns that extend from the full cellar areaway to
support the 6 12"-square box columns on the first floor. The
columns are joined by a plain rail supporting 1 1/4" x 7/8"
balusters.
The rail continues down the 15'-wide porch
staircase composed of 8 steps. The porch is surmounted by
a second floor balustrade of an open, horizontal, diamond
lattice design. The 3 bay openings of the front elevation
are stacked; the first and cellar levels with central doors
(the cellar door has 4 panels; the first floor door is a pair
of 2-panel doors surmounted by a 15-light transom) flanked
by windows (12/12 on the first floor; 3 8/8 below) .
The
second floor has 3 8/8 sash.
The rear (south) elevation
replicates the front except that the porch is a simpler
pedimented one supported on the first floor by 4 box post
columns (10" x 11"), and 2 half-column pilasters bearing
brick piers at the cellar level. The side elevations have
no fenestration.
The interior is devoted to interpretation and is largely
conjectural, except for the "Surrender Room," which is a
reconstruction based on a contemporary oil painting.
The
house is furnished with items typical of those owned by
McLean, but none are believed to be original. Many of the
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parlor furnishings are copies of the originals.
V. McLean Well House (07781 02A)
A 10' by 9' well house supported on a brick foundation over
and around the original McLean well.
Eight square posts
support the wood shingle ridge roof and butted broad cupola.
The sides and rear of the structure are screened by a wood
lattice trellis applied diagonally toward the center posts
to create a "V" pattern.
The well house was originally
constructed in 1848, and was reconstructed in 1950.
W. McLean Ice House (00242 02B)
Originally constructed
in 1848,
this structure was
reconstructed in 1^55 within a'nd upon the original pit. It
is comprised of 2 elements: a pit, approximately 5' deep,
lined with logs and floored with sand; and the roof and gable
superstructure.
The latter consists of 2 courses of logs
supported by fieldstones and extends 20" above grade.
The
logs form a foundation 16' wide by 18' long sheathed in
random (10"-12") weatherboards, and penetrated by the short
door opening; the south gable has no openings.
The roof,
covered in wood shingles, extends downward almost to grade,
and projects out over the gable ends.
On the north
elevation, the roof edge has a purely decorative bargeboard
formed of 2 rows of "saw tooth" planks; no barge is used on
the south elevation gable.
X. McLean Privy (07782 02F)
Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed on site in
1968, this simple 4'2" by 4'2" "one-holer" is built of butted
vertical board, on grade. It has a board and batten door,
and a square-butt, wood shingle roof.
Y. McLean Outside Kitchen (00043 02C)
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Appomattox County, Va.
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Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed in 1^65.
It is composed of the main 1-story, exposed "V"-notched log
building (20' by 16'), and the rear (south) elevation, 1story frame addition (20' by 16'), constructed on a
foundation of 6 courses of stretcher-bond brick laid upon a
rough fieldstone foundation.
The north elevation has a full-length shed roof porch
supported by 4 5" x 5" solid posts. The porch shelters the
centered board and batten door, and 6/6 double-hung window
to the west. On the west elevation, a board and batten door
adjacent to the porch flanks the common-bond chimney with 1
inward step and a 4-course corbelled drip. Above eave level,
the logs are replaced by weatherboards on frame that
incorporates 4-light casements on either side of the chimney.
The rear shed has a similar, but smaller brick chimney and
a board and batten door to the north. The east elevation is
broken by 3 windows: a 4-light casement in the log kitchen
gable, a 6/6 sash below, and a 6/6 double-hung sash centered
on the rear shed. The south elevation of the shed, raised
high on its stretcher-bond foundation, has a single centered
6/6 window.
The interior, interpreted as a first floor kitchen and second
floor residence, is entirely conjectural.
Z. McLean Slave Quarters (00044 02D)
Originally constructed in 1848, and reconstructed in 1965.
This 1-story, double crib log quarters is constructed of 8
l/2"-9 1/2" logs with "V"-notched corners and an interior
transverse log partition, all supported on brick piers. The
roof is covered with clipped-corner wood shingles and is
penetrated by the brick chimney with corbelled drip centered
on the cabin and the ridge. The south (front) elevation has
2 board and batten doors; the north elevation, 2 6/6 doublehung sash. The clapboard east gable and log wall below has
no fenestration; the west elevation has only a 4-light
casement in the gable.
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AA. Clover Hill Tavern Slave Quarters (07783 04F)
Originally constructed in 1819, and reconstructed in 1953-54
as public toilets and utility rooms. The 1-story 15' by 28'
building is sheathed in random boards and battens, and is
roofed with square-butt wood shingles broken by a central
internal brick chimney with 2-course drip. The south (front)
elevation has 4 bays, with 2 external board and batten doors
flanking 2 4/4 (8" x 9 3/4" lights) double-hung windows, each
with single, full-width board and batten shutters. The east
and west elevations are identical, having louvered gable
"windows" above 4/4 double-hung, shuttered sash. The north
elevation has a board and batten door slightly to the east
of center with a typical 4/4 sash and shutters to the west.
The roof is finished with plain box cornices and rakeboards.
BB. Clover Hill Tavern Privy (80,
# to be assigned)
Originally built in 1819, and reconstructed in 1968, this 2compartment "necessary" is built of vertical butted boards,
a square-butt wood shingle roof, and has 2 board and batten
doors. As the privy is windowless, ventilation is through
the space between the rafters on the eaves, and no cornice
is present.
CC. Plunkett-Meeks Store Privy (07785 09G)
Reconstructed in 1968, this 4' by 4' "one-holer" is built ongrade from vertical butted boards, and is covered with
square-butt wood shingles. The board and batten door is on
the south elevation.
DD. Bocock-Isbell House Stable (00037 13C)
Originally constructed in 1849, and reconstructed in 1964.
This 24' by 21' wood frame structure is sheathed with
weatherboards of 6"-6 1/2" exposure, and has a simple box
cornice and tapered rake boards below the square-butt wood
shingle roof. The longer north and south elevations have no
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openings. The east (front) elevation has a pair of modern
8'-wide garage doors with diagonally applied boards forming
inverted "V" patterns. A board and batten door in the gable
provides haymow access. The west elevation has an identical
haymow door, and a door on the lower level, offset to the
south, of random boards with quirk beads.
EE. Kelly Well House (00040 17A)
Originally constructed in 1855, this small open well covering
was reconstructed in 1963. The wood deck on grade supports
corner posts (5 1/2" square with chamfered edges) , with plain
upper braces for the rounded wood shingle ridge roof. The
roof gables are sheathed with weatherboards.
II. Structures - Fences
The quality of the restored and reconstructed village at
Appomattox Court House is in no small part strengthened by
the myriad of restored and/or reconstructed fences.
Most
significant are those around the Courthouse, the McLean
property, the Clover Hill Tavern, and the Bocock-Isbell
House, because of their architectural merit and the fact that
they define the property boundaries of the village in 1865.
Other fences also add a richness to the cultural landscape.
A. Courthouse Yard Fence
Five horizontal rails with graduated spacing and heavy posts.
The top rail and posts are covered with a continuous flat
board cap. Entry into the Courthouse yard is over a 3-step
stile, not through a gate. Reconstructed in 1948.
B. McLean House Fence
Vertical paling with a top rail and skirt board at grade.
Heavy gateposts with caps; intermediate posts lighter and
terminating below the top rail. Posts and palings covered
with a bevelled capboard. Reconstructed in 1948.
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C. Clover Hill Tavern Fence
Same as McLean House Fence; reconstructed in 1954.
D. Bocock-Isbell House Fence
Square pickets extending above the top rail and with a skirt
board at grade. Restored/reconstructed in 1949.
E. Plunkett-Meeks Store Fence
The narrow pointed top pickets extend above and below the
cross
rails.
Heavy gateposts with
square
caps.
Restored/reconstructed in 1949.
F. Kelly House Fence
Heavy rectangular pickets extending above and below the two
cross rails. The post and picket tops are covered with a
continuous board cap with "broken" edges. Reconstructed in
1963.
II. Structures - Roadways [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and
Sketch Maps "B" and "E"]
The Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road appears on a map of
Virginia published in 1799, establishing it as one of the
earlier roads of the state. Evidence suggests that it was
the first line of public transportation across Virginia. The
road ran through the village of Appomattox Court House and
was instrumental in its founding. It was a second class road
supported and maintained by public funds in the form of
statute labor. The road had an earth surface, and like all
Virginia roads was required (in the Code of 1860) to be 30'
wide with no more than a five percent grade. This highway
served as the principal village street, and it was along this
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section of the Stage Road that Lee and Grant travelled to and
from the McLean House.
The Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, the Prince Edward Court
House Road, and the Oakville Road were all locally important
transportation routes. There appears to have been a surge
of building in the village about the middle of the nineteenth
century, resulting in the making of lanes to connect houses
within the village, or to provide links with the already
existing roads. Tibbs Lane, Sears Lane, Wright Lane, Trent
Lane, Williams Lane, and Pryor Wright Lane were private lanes
in use during the Civil War.
As Appomattox Court House declined in regional importance
with the growth of the town of Appomattox, and with the
disruptions in the regional economy resulting from the Civil
War and the depression of the 1890s, many of these roads and
lanes were either rerouted or completely abandoned.
The
Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, now Virginia Highway 24,
underwent various changes before its final rerouting around
Appomattox Court House. Alignment, grade, and width were all
changed at various times.
Along a section between the
Appomattox River and the village, four alignments are visible
today. Although features of the other roads and lanes have
undoubtedly also changed through time, none of the changes
are so visible today nor so well documented in either local
and county records or in oral histories.
In 1964 a resurfacing of the historic roads in the village
was completed.
The roadbed construction consisted of a
gravel base, a seal coat of asphalt, and over this, a layer
of yellow stone.
This treatment was not historically
accurate nor was it economical, since the gravel washed away
after each heavy rain. In 1973-74 the Park developed a road
treatment plan that is compatible with the historic scene.
The asphalt covering was left in place (to control weed
growth and allow use by emergency vehicles), and was covered
with a 4-inch sand/clay mixture native to the Park.
This
treatment restored the roads to their original 1865
appearance, and substantially cut maintenance expenses. The
historic roads and trails outside the village are of ungraded
natural materials and will remain in that condition.
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A. Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road (00047 RD-54)
Somewhat: overgrown and deteriorated as it climbs the hill
from the Appomattox River to the village, its cleared width
varies from 35' down to 12', and the surface is grass and
exposed soil. As it nears the level terrain of the village,
its cleared width stabilizes at about 30".
For a short
distance it defined the north side of the Surrender Triangle,
where Confederate troops laid down their arms on April 12,
1865. Through the village, the roadbed varies between 13'
and 9', with wide grass verges and various forms of fencing
along its boundaries. Total length in Park, 1 mile.
B. Prince Edward Court House Road (07793 RD-54A)
Another 1790s roadway, this was a link between the village
and neighboring settlements. It crosses roughly from south
to north at the east end of the village, where, for a short
distance, it forms the base of the Surrender Triangle.
Immediately south of present SR 24, its original trace is
lost under the modern highway and other disturbances; as it
mounts the hill towards the village, its trace becomes
identifiable, but it has suffered from grading and farm
operations and merges somewhat with the surrounding field.
Total length in Park, 1,200'.
C. Back Lane (07794 RD-54B)
This mid-nineteenth century road ran along the back sides of
the properties developing along the south side of the Stage
Road, from which it deviated at the western end of the
village. There it headed in a southeasterly direction at an
oblique angle from the Stage Road, and joined Prince Edward
Court House Road on the eastern edge of the village. It is
only partially discernible at its western end, having been
ploughed under in field operations; where it reaches the area
of the McLean House, it has a mainly grassy surface. Further
east, after intersecting Market Lane, as it runs behind the
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Courthouse and the County Jail, the roadbed is readily
visible, with a grassy surface. In its most easterly section
it is much less discernible, and beyond its junction with
Bocock Lane, it has suffered field disturbance. Total length
in Park, 1,800'.
D. Market Lane (07795 RD-54C)
This mid-nineteenth century road runs 350'
from the
Courthouse circle south to Back Lane; it is 25' wide and has
6 1 grass verges on each side.
E. Bocock Lane (07796 RD-54D)
This mid-nineteenth century road in the eastern part of the
village is less formal than Market Lane; it runs 650' from
the southwestern corner of the Surrender Triangle south to
the Mariah Wright House.
About 10' wide, it has grassy
verges about 5 1 wide on each side.
F. Sears Lane (07797 RD-54E)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road lies beyond the western
edge of the village area.
It runs roughly south southwest
from the Stage Road, which it connected with the J. Sears
farm, across present SR 24, to the Park boundary (and on to
the farmhouse).
Its surface varies and it is eroded in
sections of its 2,000' length within the Park.
G. Oakville Road (not on LCS)
Ran northwest from the Stage Road west of the village.
a small portion of the Park boundary.
Forms
H. Trent Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road parallels Sears Lane
United States Department of the Interior
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Appomattox County, Va.
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to the west; it connected the T. Trent farm with the Stage
Road.
I. Tibbs Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road was an extension of
Back Lane which ran northwest beyond the Stage Road to link
with the J. Tibbs farm.
J. Wright Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road ran just east of the
Park's western boundary, where it connected the Wright farm
with the Stage Road.
K. Williams Lane (not on LCS)
This mid-nineteenth century farm road was an extension of
Bocock Lane which ran north across the Stage Road and the
river to the J. N. Williams House.
L. Pryor-Wright Lane (not on LCS)
No information available; this lane evidently served the
Pryor-Wright House, which stood on Market Lane immediately
southwest of the Courthouse.
III. Sites - Cemeteries (see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A," and
Sketch Maps "C" and "D"]
A. Grave of Lafayette Meeks (07791 CM-9D)
Lafayette Meeks, son of (storeowner) Albert Francis and Maria
Weeks, was buried in the field west of the Plunkett-Meeks
Store following his death in October 1861, near Fairfax Court
House.
Lafayette was a young private in "H" Company, 2nd
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National Historical Park,
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Virginia Cavalry, when he died of typhoid fever.
Albert
Francis Meeks is said to be buried somewhere in the same
field, possibly beneath the steps of the former saddler's
shop, today identified as the Storage Building. The board
fence around Lafayette' s grave was erected by the Park to
protect the site from grazing cattle.
The grave is marked by a white marble headstone, 24 1/2" wide
and 50" high (arched to 53"), and set in concrete to prevent
further deterioration.
A gray granite footstone, 13 1/4"
wide, 17" high, and 2" thick, is incised with the initials
"L. W. M." The headstone carries a bas-relief at the top
which is badly eroded but appears to be the "tree of life"
design. The inscription reads as follows:
LAFAYETTE W. MEEKS
SON OF
FRANCIS & MARIA MEEKS
BORN MARCH 2, 1843
AND DIED IN THE DEFENCE
OF HIS COUNTRY
OCTOBER 4, 1861 AT
FAIRFAX C.H., VA
(The following cemeteries are not on the LCS; numbers will be
assigned:)
B. Confederate Cemetery
Located west of the village and just north of SR 24, this
property is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy
(UDC). Here are buried 19 soldiers
18 Confederate and 1
Union
who died in the final fighting of April 8 and 9,
1865. Established in 1866, the cemetery is maintained by the
UDC; the Park maintains the surrounding area. Only 8 of the
names of the interred soldiers are known; all are
Confederates.
C. Raine Cemetery
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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South of SR 24, not far from the Confederate Cemetery, is the
Raine family cemetery, a private inholding.
The Raine
Monument was established by Charles J. Raine"s son, C. Hunter
Raine, ca. 1910, in memory of his father, and to mark the
site of the family cemetery. Eight graves are identified.
No living members of the Raine family are known. The Park's
1962 Historical Base Map shows a slave plot just east of the
family plot.
D. O'Brien Cemetery
Located northeast of SR 656 near the eastern boundary of the
Park, this cemetery is in use and contains 23 grave markers,
mostly from the O'Brien family.
Two former Confederate
soldiers, Jennings Conner and John H. O'Brien, are buried
here.
E. Robinson Cemetery
The reputed site of the Robinson family burial ground is
surrounded by a rough board fence in the enclosed field
behind the Kelly House. The Robinsons were post-Civil War
owners of the property.
F. Wright Cemetery
The Wright family cemetery is reputedly located somewhat
south of the west porch of the Mariah Wright House.
Any
graves here are unmarked.
G. Herman Methodist Church Cemetery
The cemetery of the Old Herman Methodist Church is located
on the right-of-way of SR 24 near the entrance to the North
Carolina Monument. The church building was moved before the
turn of the century to the foot of Piney Mountain elsewhere
in Appomattox County (see "Vera" USGS Quadrangle). Still in
use, the cemetery contains the grave of the Park's first
»*pmM"lto. MM40M
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Section number
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Superintendent, Hubert Gurney, Sr.
H. Presbyterian Church Cemetery
The cemetery of the old Presbyterian Church located southeast
of the Kelly House, was surrounded years ago, by a "baby
doll" fence.
This cemetery, difficult to locate, is now
marked.
I. Patteson-Hix Cemetery
The Patteson-Hix Cemetery, a private inholding located in a
fenced area behind the Clover Hill Tavern Slave Quarters, is
the burial ground for members of the Alexander Patteson and
Wilson Hix families.
William and Lucy Hix's graves are
marked, as are those of 2 children of Edward Hix. Another
grave is marked "A. E. H." Five rough fieldstones mark other
graves.
III. Sites - Ruins and Building Sites [see Park Folder/Sketch Map
"A" ]
A. Union Academy Dwelling Ruins (07799 25)
A foundation site west of the Grave of Lafayette Meeks,
across the Stage Road from the McLean House, consisting of
the cellar remains of a house standing at the close of the
Civil War.
The house was built in 1856.
The cellar
depression is approximately 32' on the east/west axis
(parallel to the Stage Road), and 14' on the north/south
axis.
A mound of rubble fieldstone and brick is probably
chimney debris.
B. Robinson-Glover Store Ruin (07800 07)
A foundation site consisting of the cellar remains of a store
which stood east of the Clover Hill Tavern in 1865.
The
construction date is unknown.
The cellar appears to have
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been approximately 42' long on the east/west (front) axis,
and 27' long on the side. The store is believed to have been
a 2-story brick structure.
The partially filled cellar
retains the outline of the foundations but it is somewhat
obliterated by the erosion of the sides of the depression.
A 1988 archeological test excavation confirmed the site.
C. Layne House Ruins (07798 18)
A foundation site consisting of the cellar of a house which
stood at the extreme eastern edge of the village, east of the
Prince Edward Court House Road, in 1865. The Layne House,
a 2-story frame structure measuring 16' by 30', was probably
built ca.1850, and was demolished ca. 1915. The foundation
is reduced to an oval depression about 38' long and 18' wide
with the sides eroded, and with the long axis running
north/south.
A mound of brick lies at grade at the north
end, suggesting the remains of the chimney.
There is a
similar pile of broken bricks within the cellar area, also
at the north end.
D. Old Jail Site Ruin (80,
# to be assigned)
The original Appomattox County Jail was constructed in 184647 on the north side of the Stage Road, east of the
Courthouse. It burned in 1867. Its location, directly across
from the New County Jail, is now marked by 4 brick corners,
situated on the original 39'6" by 18'6" foundation.
Other known sites in village area:
E. Clover Hill Tavern Bar
The Tavern Bar was located immediately east of the Tavern.
F. Clover Hill Tavern Dining Room
The Tavern Dining Room was located immediately west of the
Tavern.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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G. Clover Hill Tavern Icehouse
The Tavern Icehouse was located north of the Guesthouse and
west of the Kitchen.
H. Clover Hill Tavern Smokehouse
The Tavern Smokehouse was located west of the Icehouse.
1988 archeological test excavation confirmed the site.
A
I. William Rosser House
The William Rosser House was located on the north side of the
Stage Road, east of the original Jail.
J. William Rosser Shop
The William Rosser Shop was located immediately east of the
William Rosser House.
K. William Rosser Blacksmith Shop
The William Rosser Blacksmith Shop was located immediately
east of the William Rosser Shop.
L. Old Raine Tavern
The Old Raine Tavern was located on the south side of the
Stage Road, north of the McLean House, and east of the McLean
Well House.
M. McLean House Smokehouse
The McLean House Smokehouse was located at the southwest
corner of the McLean House.
N. McLean House Stable
The McLean House Stable was located south of Back Lane,
across from the McLean House Slave Quarters.
O. Pryor-Wright House
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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The Pryor-Wright House was located on the east side of Market
Lane, southwest of the Courthouse.
P. Plunkett-Meeks Store Outbuilding
A previously undocumented outbuilding of the Plunkett-Meeks
Store was archeologically excavated west of the Store in the
summer of 1978. The excavation was backfilled.
Q. Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop
The Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop was located on the south
side of the Stage Road, east of its junction with Back Lane.
R. Charles H. Diuguid Blacksmith Shop
The Charles H. Diuguid Blacksmith Shop was located on the
north side of the Stage Road, east of its junction with Back
Lane, across from the Nowlin Sears Blacksmith Shop.
S. Robertson-Hix Shop
The Robertson-Hix Shop was located on the north side of the
Stage Road, east of its junction with Tibbs Lane/Back Lane,
west of the Diuguid Blacksmith Shop.
T. Willis Inge Cabin
The Willis Inge Cabin was located on the east side of Bocock
Land, at the southwest corner of the Surrender Triangle.
U./V. Peers House Outbuildings - Kitchen and Stable
An archeological test excavation in 1988 confirmed the
location of an outbuilding just east of the Peers House. It
is believed that this was the Kitchen rather than the Stable,
which is now believed to have been closer to the Stage Road,
near the Site of the Lee-Grant Meeting on April 10, 1865.
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W. Union Academy
Union Academy was located on the east side of the Prince
Edward Court House Road, near its junction with Back Lane.
III. Sites - Civil War Events [see Park Folder/Sketch Map "A,"
and Sketch Map "C"]
A. The Surrender Triangle
The Surrender Triangle is where 28,000 Confederate soldiers
of the Army of Northern Virginia laid down their arms on
April 12, 1865. (Lee did not participate in the ceremony.)
The site is bounded by Prince Edward Court House Road on the
east, the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road on the north and
west, and Main Street on the south. It is planted in grass
and contains several mature trees.
The Park Service has
added a low brick wall and a wayside exhibit/audio station.
B. Lee's Headquarters
The site of Lee' s Headquarters is on the History/Nature Trail
just east of SR 24 near the Park's northeastern boundary.
There is a parking area, a short loop trail, and 4
interpretive markers.
C. Grant's Headquarters
The site of Grant's Headquarters is at the western end of the
History/Nature Trail, south of SR 24 near the Park's western
boundary.
There is a parking area and 2 interpretive
markers.
D. Site of Last Battle
The site of the Battle of Appomattox Court House is in the
west central area of the Park north of SR 24 and northwest
of the Confederate Cemetery.
E. Apple Tree Site (The Apple Orchard)
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The Apple Tree Site, where Lee awaited a reply from Grant,
is on the History/Nature Trail just east of SR 24, north of
the Appomattox River.
There is a parking area and an
interpretive marker.
F. Poplar Tree Site
The Poplar Tree Site is where Lee addressed his men.
G. Confederate Artillery Park
The Confederate Artillery Park is on the History/Nature Trail
just north of the Appomattox River and east of SR 24, south
of the Apple Tree Site.
IV. Objects
A. North Carolina Monument (07792 MN-53)
Dedicated on April 9, 1905, the monument was sponsored by the
North Carolina General Assembly to honor the firing of the
last shots at Appomattox Court House by Brigadier General W.
R. Cox's brigade of Grimes' Division on April 9, 1865. Major
General Bryan Grimes of North Carolina planned the last
battle fought by the Army of Northern Virginia, and commanded
the infantry, most of whom were North Carolinians.
The
marker is 7'2" long, 3'2" wide, and 5'1" high, and is placed
upon a pyramidal mound of crushed stone 15" above adjacent
grade.
The monument is tripartite.
Outer piers 20" x 24"
and 43" high are constructed of a block of rusticated gray
granite cut to resemble a composite of 5 separate stones, the
uppermost deeply scored to create the effect of battlements.
The piers flank a central recessed granite tablet 38" long,
12" thick, and 42" high at its peaked center. The memorial
stands on plinth 12" high and projecting 7" beyond all faces
of the upper elements.
The monument is located on the History/Nature Trail south of
SR 24 in the western part of the Park.
The property was
deeded to the United States by North Carolina in April 1943.
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There is a parking area.
The North Carolina Monument also includes 2 small outlying
light gray granite markers, 3 "6" long, 2'3" wide, and 8"
thick with slight cants, on stone and concrete bases. They
are located on the north shoulder of the Richmond-Lynchburg
Stage Road near the Confederate Cemetery at the junction with
SR 24. The markers are about 800" apart. The western one
marks the location of the last Federal battery (taken by
North Carolina cavalry); the eastern one marks the site of
the last skirmish of the North Carolina infantry.
B. Confederate Cemetery Marker
A granite marker at the Confederate Cemetery is owned by the
UDC and was moved there from its original location on the
Courthouse site when the Courthouse was reconstructed in
1963-64.
The marker was placed on the Courthouse site on
June 11, 1926.
C. War Department Tablets (80,
#s to be assigned)
Four original cast iron tablets placed by the War Department
in 1893 as the first markers on the battlefield are still
extant. One is at Lee's Headquarters; one marks the site of
the Lee-Grant meeting north of the Peers House on April 10,
1865; one marks the right flank of the Union troops alongside
the Stage Road, who received the Confederate surrender of
arms on April 12, 1865; and one marks the site in front of
the Peers House where the last Confederate cannon was fired
on April 9, 1865.
Noncontributing Features
I. Buildings
A. Ferguson House
Located about 1 mile east of the Courthouse, the Ferguson
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
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county, Va .
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House, built ca. 1920, is a 2-story frame house used as
quarters.
It is 27' by 32' plus a 12" by 12'6" enclosed
porch. It was rehabilitated in 1978 and 1983.
B. Maintenance Shop Building
A 1-story concrete block building located in the Maintenance
Area east of the village. Built in 1954 (50' x 24)', with
a 50' addition in 1964, and a 25' addition in 1971, giving
current dimensions of 125' x 24'.
C. Maintenance Storage Building
A 1-story open fronted concrete block storage building located
in the Maintenance Area. Built in 1954 with an 8'6" addition
in 1970, and a 26' addition in 1978, giving current dimensions
of 84'6" X 22'.
II. Structures [see Sketch Map "D"]
A. Park Entrance Road and Main Parking Lot
The Park Entrance Road runs north from SR 24 to the Main
Parking Lot southwest of the village.
The total area is
approximately 5,700 square yards of chip and seal surface
over asphalt.
B. Grant's Headquarters Parking Lot
South of SR 24 near the Park's western boundary, an area of
approximately 1,313 square yards of chip and seal surface
over asphalt.
C. North Carolina Monument Parking Lot
A chip and seal surface of approximately 550 square yards.
D. Confederate Cemetery Parking Lot
A chip and seal surface over asphalt of approximately 870
square yards.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APPomattox court House
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E. Lee's Headquarters Parking Lot
East of SR 24 near the Park's northeastern boundary, a chip
and seal surface over asphalt of approximately 1,217 square
yards.
F. Apple Orchard Parking Area
G. Park Maintenance Yard
A chip and seal surface of approximately 1,560 square yards.
H. Park Service Road
A paved service road runs north from SR 24 and connects with
the Maintenance Yard.
I. History/Nature Trail
A 6-mile long trail which traverses much of the Park and
links many of the historic sites.
J. Sewage Lagoon
There is a sewage lagoon on the south side of SR 24 opposite
the entrance to the Park Service Road.
K. Picnic Area
A wayside picnic area along SR 24 at the Appomattox River is
largely owned by the Park Service, but is operated by the
Virginia Department of Highways.
L. Fire Road
The Park is surrounded by a fire road which serves as a
partial firebreak, an access point for firefighting, and a
buffer for neighboring properties.
M./N. Utility Corridors
NFS Tarn 1»«l»«
OMiJ(wiJ»i***. »•*••»»
(M«
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APPomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
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Page —1^_
There are 2 40'-wide utility corridors in the Park, both of
which accommodate overhead power and telephone cables. One
corridor straddles the Park's eastern boundary north from SR
627; the other, shorter corridor runs into the Park from the
longer corridor, crossing SR 24, terminating at the
Maintenance Area.
II. Objects
A. Raine Monument
This privately-placed monument has no direct relationship to
the Park's areas of significance.
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Section number
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National Historical Park,
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2
points of interest, rather than the 2,500 acres proposed in pending
legislation.
As it developed, no action was taken on Appomattox
Court House at that time.
The legislative history of the property clearly establishes the
original and primary Area of Significance as "Military" (the system
of defending the territory and sovereignty of a people), and the
Period of Significance and Significant Date as "1865." In 1926
Congress authorized a commission "to inspect the battle fields and
surrender grounds in an around old Appomattox Court House,
Virginia, in order to ascertain the feasibility of preserving and
marking 2 for historical and professional military study such
fields."
On the basis of the commission's recommendation,
Congress passed in 1930 an Act which authorized and directed the
Secretary of War to acquire approximately one acre of land at
Appomattox Court House to erect a monument "for the purpose of
commemorating the termination of the War between the States which
was brought about by the surrender ... on April 9, 1865, and for
the further purpose of honoring those who engaged in this
tremendous conflict, . . . . "
Initially, the property
under the designation "Appomattox
Battlefield Site"
was administered by the Department of War.
On August 10, 1933, it was among those properties transferred to
the Department of the Interior's renamed Office of National Parks,
Buildings, and Reservations, under the terms of Executive Order
6166 (June 10, 1933).* In 1935 Congress changed the name of the
property to "Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument,"
authorized the rebuilding of the McLean House, and provided for
Ronald F. Lee, "The Origin and Evolution of the National
Military Park Idea," Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, Office of Park Historic
Preservation, 1973, p. 41.
2Act of February 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 9).
3Act of June 18, 1930 (46 Stat. 777).
Executive Order #6166 (June 10, 1933).
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APP omattox court House
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enlarging the Park. 5 On April 10, 1940, Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes, acting under the provisions of the 1935
legislation, formally established the Park with a land base of
approximately 970 acres, including land which had been acquired by
the Resettlement Administration.
In 1954 Congress changed the
Park's designation to "National Historical Park."7 By 1980 the
authorized land area reached its present 1,325 acres.
The actions of Congress in 1930 and 1935 marked legislative
recognition of the Area of Significance now called "Conservation"
(the preservation, maintenance, and management of natural or
manmade resources).
From mid-1937 through 1939, preliminary
National Park Service planning took place on the assumption that
the Secretary of the Interior might seek to develop the Park. The
most ambitious view was that the tiny hamlet of Appomattox Court
House could be restored to interpret rural Virginia society. The
conservative approach opposed reconstruction efforts, but since
Congress had already authorized and appropriated money for
rebuilding the McLean House, and local public opinion was strongly
in favor of rebuilding both the McLean House and the Courthouse,
the Park Service had little choice but to move ahead. Accordingly,
after the Park's official establishment in 1940, a fullscale multidisciplinary study involving archeology, architecture, and history
commenced.
The collaborative effort, a model historic research
program, resulted in plans to reconstruct the McLean House. The
final report, "Collaborative Justification for Reconstruction of
the McLean House at Appomattox," was, in the words of historian of
the preservation movement Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., "the first joint
document of this kind ever prepared," and in the view of Park
Service professionals, it represented "a peak of professional
5Act of August 13, 1935, amending the Act of June 18, 1930 (49
Stat. 613).
'Department Order, April 10, 1940 (5 FR 1520) .
Executive Order #8057 (February 23, 1939) (4 FR 1025).
7Act of April 15, 1954 (68 Stat. 54).
See also
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competence never before equaled." 8
Although the implementation of the project was delayed by World War
II, the Park Service had embarked on one of the major American
conservation efforts of the mid-twentieth century
the
restoration of the village of Appomattox Court House and its
ultimate interpretation as not only the symbolic scene of the end
of the Civil War, but also as a representation of rural Virginia
of the mid-nineteenth century.
This fact, in turn, establishes the third Area of Significance,
"Architecture" (the practical art of designing and constructing
buildings and structures to serve human needs).
As stated by
Regional Historical Landscape Architect Reed Engle in Section 7,
above.
If the modest village of Appomattox Court House is
considered a museum, its architectural significance lies
in the breadth and depth of its collection of late
eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, structures,
and sites.
The collection has breadth because it
includes a wide range of public and private structures,
depth because these buildings are supplemented by a large
number of ancillary structures that typically punctuated
the rural Virginia landscape of that era. And there is
a framework to this assemblage; historic roads, fences,
hedgerows, and fields demonstrate a pattern of ownership,
occupation, and use, thereby creating a framework
cultural landscape in which the historical events of 1865
may be interpreted.
Individually,
fine examples
of which they
economic and
the buildings at Appomattox Court House are
of their type; collectively, the landscape
are a part provides a strong statement of
political power within a small, rural,
8Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., Preservation Comes of Age;
From
Williamsburg to the National Trust.
1926-1949.
2 vols.
(Charlottesville, Va.: The University of Virginia Press for The
Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation in the
United States, 1981), 1:620-26; 2:733-35, 948-50 (quotations, 949).
>taPm*Mgi MM4PM
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Section number
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National Historical
Historical Park
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southern community.
Thus, Appomattox Court House manifests three of the National
Register Criteria:
A
by virtue of being the site of the surrender of the
Confederacy's supreme military commander and its principal field
army, the property represents the effectual end of the Civil War;
B
by virtue of being associated with General Robert E. Lee,
C.S.A., and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, U.S.A., future
President of the United States, and their major subordinate
commanders; and
C
by embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type,
period, and method of construction, and by representing a
significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack
individual distinction.
The Park also manifests at least three Criteria Considerations
(Exceptions):
B
at least one structure (the Plunkett-Meeks Store Storage
Building), was relocated a short distance within the property;
D
there are nine historic cemetery sites, including one
individual grave, the Confederate Cemetery, and several family and
church burial grounds, which derive their primary significance from
their association with the historic events represented by the Park;
E
thirteen buildings, including the McLean House and the
Courthouse, together with, in several instances, their fences, have
been reconstructed in a suitable environment and presented in a
dignified manner as part of the Parks's restoration master plan.
The Road to Appomattox
Beginning in June 1864, Grant, exercising personal command over
the Armies of the Potomac and the James, besieged Lee and the Army
of Northern Virginia at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. The
Union forces applied constant pressure on the Confederate lines,
and by the fall of 1864 three of the four railroad lines into
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APPomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
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National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va,
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Petersburg had been cut. The Southside Railroad remained as the
only means of rail transportation into Petersburg. Its inevitable
loss would force Lee to evacuate his positions. During the fall
and winter of 1864-65 Grant gradually cut off Lee's supply lines
from the south.
By February, Union armies under Major Generals
William T. Sherman and John M. Schofield were advancing in the
Carolinas, threatening to link with Grant's troops arrayed against
Lee.
The Confederate commander was forced to remain in the
trenches throughout March due to muddy roads and the poor condition
of his horses.
On March 29, Major General Philip H. Sheridan's
cavalry and the V Corps began moving toward the Confederate right
flank and the Southside Railroad. On April 1 the siege was broken
when the Confederate right flank was shattered at Five Forks. The
next day Grant went on an all-out offensive against the Confederate
lines. With his supply lines cut, Lee had to evacuate Richmond and
Petersburg on the night of April 2-3.
Moving over predetermined routes, the Army of Northern Virginia
headed west, looking for supplies.
Lee hoped to link up with
General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, which was
retreating north through the Carolinas. The immediate objective
was to reach Amelia Court House, where rations which had been sent
from Richmond were to be distributed. But when Lee reached Amelia
Court House on the 4th, he found only ordnance supplies, not
rations.
The shaken Lee was forced to have his men forage for
subsistence for themselves and their horses, but the local farmers
had little to spare.
This lost day gave the pursuing Federal
troops time to catch up. Leaving Amelia Court House on the 5th,
Lee found his route of march blocked by Union forces at
Jetersville.
Forced to turn west again, Lee moved toward
Lynchburg, hoping to find supplies at Farmville on the Southside
Railroad.
Northern cavalry attacked the Confederate wagon train
at Paineville, destroying a large number of wagons. The exhausted,
hungry Southern troops, who had been marching day and night, began
falling out rank. Gaps developed in the line of march.
At Sayler's Creek, a few miles east of Farmville, the Union forces
finally caught up with the retreating Confederates, capturing
thousands, including eight generals, one of them Lee's son Custis.
The next day, April 7, the survivors of the Army of Northern
Virginia finally reached Farmville, where rations awaited them.
But the Federal troops were right behind, and Lee had to keep
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox Court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Page _Z_____
moving west, hoping that he could be supplied at Appomattox
Station. While in Farmville on the 7th, Grant sent a letter to
Lee, asking for him to surrender. One of Lee's Corps commanders,
Lieutenant General James Longstreet, advised him not to do so.
In his reply Lee declined to surrender, but asked Grant for his
surrender terms. Grant, in turn, replied that peace was his great
desire, and that his only condition was that the officers and men
of the Army of Northern Virginia would be disqualified from taking
up arms again unless exchanged [for Union prisoners].
Grant
offered to meet with Lee to arrange surrender terms, or have
designated officers accomplish the task.
By the evening of the 8th, the Confederate columns had halted a
mile east of Appomattox Court House. That night the red glow of
the Union campfires could be seen from Appomattox Station to the
southwest, meaning that Lee's last possible link with the Southside
Railroad had been lost. Meeting that night with his generals, Lee
was persuaded that one last attempt should be made to reach the
rail line and escape toward Lynchburg. Lee wrote back to Grant,
saying that he would be pleased to meet at 10:00 A.M. the next
morning, but only to discuss the restoration of peace, not the
surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
At dawn on the 9th, Lieutenant General John B. Gordon's Corps
attacked the dismounted Federal cavalry blocking the RichmondLynchburg Stage Road. But Union infantry rebuffed the Confederate
thrust. Lee's last chance to escape had been dashed. There, at
the Battle of Appomattox Court House, the Army of Northern Virginia
and Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac had clashed
for the last time.
Meanwhile, Grant replied to Lee's overture for a meeting by stating
that he had no authority to discuss the subject of peace, although,
of course, he and the entire North were anxious for it.
Peace
could be achieved by the South laying down its arms.
After
Gordon's failure to break through the Union lines, there would be
no more quibbling about arranging a meeting to surrender the Army
of Northern Virginia.
Although urged by some of his staff to
disperse the army and fight a guerrilla war, Lee believed that
surrender was now inevitable. He wrote again to Grant, requesting
a meeting to discuss surrender terms. The message reached Grant
and his staff shortly before noon, as they were riding around the
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
Page
§
Confederate forces to meet with Sheridan and Army of the James
commander Major General Edward E. C. Ord.
Grant agreed to a
meeting, allowing Lee to decide on the location.
Colonel Orville Babcock of Grant's staff took the reply and rode
off to find Lee and his staff resting under an apple tree near the
Appomattox River.
Lee mounted "Traveller" and set off for the
village.
Riding ahead, Lee's aide, Lieutenant Colonel Charles
Marshall, looked for a suitable meeting place.
He saw Wilmer
McLean near the courthouse, which was locked on Sunday.
McLean
took Marshall to a dilapidated house which lacked furniture.
Marshall rejected that site, and McLean then offered his own home.
Ironically, McLean had moved to quiet, remote Appomattox Comrt
House from Manassas, Virginia, where his house stood ^fl£*xhe
battlefield.
Now the Civil War, which had driven him from his
original home, was to end in his front parlor.
The Surrender
Lee and Babcock soon arrived, entered the McLean House, and chatted
as they waited for Grant.
Meeting Sheridan and Ord, Grant was
cautioned that it was all a ruse; he should let them keep fighting.
But Grant trusted Lee, and rode to the McLean House for the fateful
meeting. Accompanied by most of his staff, Grant, wearing a mudspattered field uniform, arrived to meet Lee, who had worn a new
dress uniform for the occasion. After talking of their experiences
in the Mexican War, Lee finally raised the issue at hand, the terms
of surrender.
Grant repeated what he had written to Lee on the
previous day. The Confederate leader asked Grant to put his terms
in writing.
The Union commander wrote that rolls of all the
officers and men of the Army of Northern Virginia were to be made.
Officers were to give their individual paroles (pledges) not to
take up arms against the United States unless exchanged, and
company and regimental commanders were to sign general paroles for
their troops.
Arms, artillery, and public property were to be
stacked and turned in. Officers could retain their sidearms and
personal horses and baggage. Each officer and soldier could then
return home and would not be disturbed by United States authorities
as long as they observed their paroles and local laws.
Lee was very pleased, but requested that the enlisted cavalrymen
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places APP omattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number
a
Page
9
and artillerists, who, in the Confederate army, owned their own
mounts, be allowed to retain them.
Grant would not change the
written terms of surrender, but would instruct his officers to
allow Confederates who claimed to own a horse or mule to take the
mounts home to work on the family farm.
Again, Lee was very
gratified by Grant's decision. In a short note, he then formally
accepted the terms of surrender. The conversation turned to the
Confederates' lack of provisions. Lee was unable to even guess at
the total number of troops still under his command. Grant then
offered to provide 25,000 rations, which Lee gratefully accepted.
Lee shook hands again with Grant, bowed to the other officers, and
left to ride off to his army, which greeted him with cheers.
Grant departed and rode to his new headquarters, just west of the
village, stopping to write to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton,
to inform him of the surrender. At the headquarters of the Army
of the Potomac, everyone from General Meade himself to the common
soldiers went wild with joy. Bands played, and cannon were fired.
But Grant ordered the firing stopped; he wanted no demonstrations.
Union soldiers shared their rations with their former enemies.
Back at the McLean House, souvenir hunters scrambled for mementoes
of the historic event, either by buying artifacts from Wilmer
McLean, or simply by taking or vandalizing whatever they could get
their hands on.
On the morning of April 10, Grant and Lee met for the last time.
Between the two armies, they chatted alone for over thirty minutes
while still mounted. Grant hoped that Lee would use his influence
with the Southern people and soldiers to urge the other field
armies to surrender. But Lee declined, saying that he would have
to consult with the President [Jefferson Davis] first. After the
meeting Grant broke camp and left for Washington. After a chat
with Meade, Lee returned to his headquarters and prepared a
farewell message to the troops, praising their courage and devotion
to duty.
Meanwhile, the six senior officers appointed by Grant and Lee to
arrange the details of the surrender met at Clover Hill Tavern.
But Major General John Gibbon, commander of the XXIV Corps,
suggested that they adjourn to the parlor of the McLean House.
There the final surrender agreement was prepared and signed. It
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox Court House
Continuation Sheet
Section number _J__ Page
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
10
specifically allowed enlisted men of the artillery and cavalry, and
couriers, to retain their own horses. Printing presses were set
up in Clover Hill Tavern to produce the thousands of necessary
parole passes. But the presses broke down and the operation was
moved to Lynchburg.
The formal surrender ceremony was held on the damp, chilly morning
of April 12.
Union soldiers lined the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage
Road from the western edge of the village to a point near the
river. Led by General Gordon (Lee took no part in the ceremony),
the Confederates marched between the Union lines to lay down their
arms and those flags which had not been burned. Brigadier General
Joshua L. Chamberlain, former commander of the fabled 20th Maine
Infantry, was given the honor of commanding the Union forces at the
surrender ceremony.
Out of respect for his former foes,
Chamberlain ordered his men to present arms.
Gordon had the
marching Southerners return the salute. After surrendering their
weapons, the Confederates marched back to their camps, and then
started for home, carrying their parole passes. That afternoon Lee
left for Richmond. Appomattox Court House had taken its place in
American history.
On April 26 near Durham, North Carolina, Johnston surrendered to
Sherman, and by May 26 Confederate forces in the trans-Mississippi
west had given up the fight. The example set by Robert E. Lee at
Appomattox was thus repeated wherever Confederate troops remained
in the field.
9This account of the surrender is based primarily upon
Appomattox Court House; Appomattox Court House National Historical
Park. Virginia, National Park Service Handbook 109 (Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
Division of Publications, 1980).
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
APPomattox court House
£ ^llfcl^y ? va"ark '
Section number _^__ Page _J__
5. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service
Center. General Management Plan, Appomattox Court House National
Historical Park, Virginia. Denver: September 1977.
6. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic
Regional Office, Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services,
and Harpers Ferry Center. Interpretive Prospectus, Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park, Virginia. Philadelphia:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
in
UTM References
E 17 694670
F 17 693400
G 17 693100
4137730
4138640
4138310
H 17 694150
I 17 694030
J 17 694360
4138660
4138820
4139290
K
L
M
N
695140
695060
695200
694850
4139220
4139550
4140030
4140460
0 17 695450
4140560
P 17 695520
4140900
17
17
17
17
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 3
Verbal Boundary Description
United States of America
(National Park Service)
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park
Date:
March 15, 1985
MARO
Boundary Description
All that certain tract or parcel of land known as the Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park, situated in Cloverhill Magisterial
District, Appomattox County, Commonwealth of Virginia, and being more
particularly described as follows:
BEGINNING at a monument, found at a point on or near the centerline
of State Route 701 (Old Mill Road) at its intersection with southerly
right-of-way line of Virginia State Highway No. 24; thence along
the centerline of Route 701, South 57° 25' 12" East 106.09 feet to
a point; thence, along the arc of a circle to the left with a
radius of 108.00 feet, an arc length of 118.10 feet, a chord
bearing and distance of South 88° 44' 46" East 112.30 feet to a
point; thence North 59° 55' 40" East 110.53 feet to a point at the
intersection of the centerline of an old road scar with the centerline
of the said Route 701; thence, still with the centerline of the
said Route, the following bearings and distances:
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 103.57
feet, an arc length of 125.78 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 85° 16' 54" East 118.19 feet to a point; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 357.41
feet, an arc length of 232.54 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 31° 51' 08" East 228.46 feet to a point; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the left with a radius of 573.40
feet, an arc length of 522.00 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
South 39° 17' 37" East 504.16 feet to a point; thence
South 65° 22' 25" East 473.57 feet to a monument, found;
thence, leaving said road,
South 21° 09' 24" West 2562.81 feet to a monument set; thence
South 21° 09' 24" West 55.00 feet to a point in the Appomattox
River; thence
South 01° 36' 36" East 50.00 feet to a monument, set; thence
South 01° 36' 36" East 273.59 feet to a monument, found;
thence
South 04° 44' 00" West 140.36 feet to a monument, found;
thence
Page 1 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 4
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
South 18° 02' 19" West 1962.80 feet to a monument, found;
thence
South 38° 48' 15" West 2131.31 feet to a monument set; thence
South 38° 48' 15" West 50.00 feet to a point on the northerly
right-of-way line of Virginia State Highway No. 627; thence, crossing
the said State highway and with the lands of the Hunting Hills
Subdivision, South 51° 02' 12" West 339.80 feet to a monument,
found; thence South 44° 43' 52" West 1136.81 feet to a concrete
monument and cap, found; thence South 82° 28' 25" West 2680.29 feet
to a monument, set in or near Plain Run Branch; thence, in and
along the said branch, the following bearings and distances:
South 63° 23' 17" West 65.99 feet to a point;
South 30° 53' 17" West 382.77 feet to a point;
South 79° 23' 17" West 171.59 feet to a point;
North 68° 36' 43" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 66° 38' 17" West 349.77 feet to a point;
South 82° 38* 17" West 554.35 feet to a point;
North 28° 21' 43" West 270.58 feet to a point;
South 82° 08' 17" West 237.58 feet to a point;
North 68" 21' 43" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 83° 53' 17" West 633.55 feet to a point;
South 68° 23' 17" West 699.54 feet to a point;
South 67* 53' 17" West 191.38 feet to a point;
South 88° 53' 17" West 237.58 feet to a point;
North 73° 49' 50" West 182.05 feet to a point;
North 75° 01' 21" West 151.79 feet to a point;
North 49° 16' 21" West 72.59 feet to a point;
North 83° 16' 21" West 263.98 feet to a point; and
South 62° 43' 39" West 250.24 feet to a point; thence leaving
said branch,
Page 2 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 10
Page 5
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
North 22° 21' 27" West passing a monument set at a distance of
50.00 feet, a concrete monument and cap found at a distance of
1277.92 (from the last mentioned monument) and continuing in all a
total distance of 1971.02 feet to concrete monument and cap, found;
thence
North 21° 51' 31" West 132.41 feet to a monument, found on the
southerly right-of-way line of the aforementioned Highway No. 24;
thence, crossing said Highway No. 24,
North 22° 16' 34" West 357.31 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 63° 14* 31" East 51.80 feet to a monument; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 3475.73
feet, an arc length of 836.63 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
North 70° 08' 16" East 834.61 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 77° 02' 00" East 2024.51 feet to a monument, set; thence
Along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius of 11158.19
feet, an arc length of 692.16 feet, a chord bearing and distance of
North 75° 15' 22" East 692.05 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 73° 28' 45" East 270.47 feet to a monument, set on or
near the northeasterly line of an old road scar; thence, in and
along the said road and a fence line, North 44° 23' 49" West 766.47
feet to a twin poplar tree; thence
North 36° 35" 32" East 1845.41 feet to a monument, set on or
near an old road scar; thence
South 82° 41' 10" East 593.96 feet to a monument set; thence
South 87° 11' 36" East 249.04 feet to a monument set; thence
South 81° 17' 17" East 1816.97 feet to a monument set; thence
North 28° 26' 36" West 691.24 feet to a triple hickory tree;
thence
North 00° 10' 19" East 625.49 feet to an oak tree; thence
recrossing the Appomattox River,
North 28° 11' 29" East 323.39 feet to a dead tree; thence
North 06° 39' 25" East 960.44 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 39° 39' 00" East 374.18 feet to a monument, set at a
fence corner; thence
Page 3 of 4
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
CONIINUAILON bHhbl
Section number 10
Page 6 Verbal Boundary Description
Appcmiattox Court House
National Historical Park,
Appomattox County, Va.
North 40° 47' 20" West 283.40 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 41° 02' 23" West 318.05 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 33° 02' 22" West 828.93 feet to a monument, set; thence
North 25° 43' 20" West, crossing a gravel road, 343.97 feet to
a monument; thence
North 83° 48' 09" East 1998.72 feet to a point on or near the
centerline of State Secondary Route No. 656; thence along the
centerline of said Route, North 69° 58' 02" West 117.25 feet to a
point; thence along the arc of a circle to the right with a radius
of 507.23 feet, an arc length of 310.81 feet, a chord bearing and
distance of North 52° 24' 46" West 305.97 feet to a point; thence
leaving the said Route, North 42° 02' 29" East 816.20 feet to a
monument, set on an old road scar; thence South 66° 16* 51" East
108.37 feet to a monument, set; thence North 00° 23' 18" East
280.74 feet to a gum tree; thence South 68° 06' 54" East 2746.79
feet to a monument, set on the northerly right-of-way line of
Virginia State Highway No. 24; thence on a line recrossing the said
Highway No. 24, South 36° 56' 59" West 856.28 feet to the True
Point of Beginning.
All bearings and distances are based on the Virginia State Plane
Coordinate System, South Zone.
EXCEPTING THEREFROM the right-of-way for Virginia State Highway
No. 24.
ALSO EXCEPTING THEREFROM that certain tract of land known as the
Hermon Cemetery,
Page 4 of 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Appomattox court House
Continuation Sheet
Aomatto
va ar '
Section numberp_HOHb_ Page
Bocock-Isbell House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSW (200 degrees)
7. 13
Prince Edward Court House Road
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing S (190 degrees)
7. RD-54A
Clover Hill Tavern
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing N (0 degrees)
7. 04
Mariah Wright House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSW (250 degrees)
7. 20
Plunkett-Meeks Store
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing WNW (320 degrees)
7. 09
Clover Hill Tavern Kitchen
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing N (5 degrees)
7. 04A
MeLean House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SW (220 degrees)
7. 02
Kelly House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing SSE (170 degrees)
7. 17
Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road (+ Courthouse 01 f, Plunkett-Meeks Store 0'))
3. Jon Montgomery
Surrender Triangle
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
3. Jon Montgomery
6. Facing E (90 degrees)
4.
June 27, ]<)85
7. Rn-54
Clover Hill Tavern Guest House
3. Jon Montgomery
4. June 27, 1985
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing W (270 degrees)
7. 04B
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
6. Facing T- (90 degrees)
7.
X
(NOTE: L.C.S. Park Structure Numbers
are used as Photograph Numbers, except
for the Surrender Triangle, for which
Number "X" has been assigned.)
Woodson Law Office (•*• Plunkett-Meeks Store 09)
3. Jon Montgomery
5. Appomattox Court House NHP
4. June 27, 1985
6. Facing WSW (240 degrees)
7
09A
Text
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
OMB NO. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete theNational
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "xuin the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter " N I P for "notapplicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories 6om the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name A~uornattoxRiver Bridee
other nameslsite number Route 24 Bridce: Structure No. 1002 NDHR 006-0048)
2. Location
street & number Route 24 over the Avvomattox River
city or town
state Virginia
code=
county Apwomattox
not for publication
vicinity
code 01 1
Zip 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in
36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend
See continuation sheet for
that this property be considered significant-nationally X statewide-locally. (
additional comments.)
-
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property - meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( See continuation sheet for
additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
___ private
___ public-local
_X public-State
___ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
___ building(s)
___ district
___ site
_X structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__0___
__0___
_ 1___
__0___
__1__
Noncontributing
__0__ buildings
__0__ sites
__0 _ structures
__0__ objects
___0__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Transportation______________ Sub: Road-Related______________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Transportation______________ Sub: Road-Related________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_Other________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _N/A_ ____________________________
roof _N/A____________________________________
walls N/A___________________________________
____________________________________
other Concrete___________________________________
___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
_X__ A
____ B
_X C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Transportation, Architecture______
______________________________
Period of Significance _1930 - 1955 _________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Significant Dates _1930_______
________
________
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
_______________________________
Cultural Affiliation _N/A_______________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Architect/Builder _William R. Glidden, Designer ________
__Virginia State Highway Commission, Builder______
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _0.79_________
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
1 17 0695721 4139531 2 __ ______ _______
3 __ ______ ________ 4 __ ______ _______
___ See continuation sheet.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title Molly Meredith, Architectural Historian
Organization: _Virginia Department of Transportation, Lynchburg District______ date _March, 2005__
street & number: 4219 Campbell Avenue_______________________ telephone 434-856-8317__
city or town Lynchburg________________________________________ state VA__ zip code 24501__________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name Philip A. Shucet, Commissioner; Virginia Department of Transportation
street & number_1401 East Broad Street, Annex 3rd__________________ telephone_(804) 786-2701____
city or town Richmond___________________________________ state VA___ zip code __23219________
==================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
Section _7___
Page _1___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
7. Summary Description:
The Appomattox River Bridge is a unique example of the common single-span, T-beam, non-arched
concrete bridges constructed in Virginia from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Concrete slabs and Tbeams became the predominant bridge types in Virginia by the 1930s with all bridge elements
following standard Virginia Department of Highways plan elements.1 Built in 1930, the two-lane
Appomattox River Bridge has unique cast-in-place concrete rails incorporating stylized designs
recalling the Confederate battle flag and the stars and stripes of the Union, with concrete obelisks at
the four corners.2 The bridge carries Route 24 across the Appomattox River in the Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park.
Detailed Description
The Appomattox River Bridge (Structure No. 1002) is located in the Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park, near a sign declaring “Appomattox, where our nation was reunited.” The
bridge carries Route 24 over the Appomattox River and bisects the Appomattox Wayside. The
commemorative bridge is a single-span, T-beam, non-arched concrete structure built in 1930.
The bridge is 33 feet in length, 38 feet in overall width and stands 11 feet above the river. One
bridge rail measures 32 feet 6 inches in length and 3 feet ½ inch in height and consists of three
sections of nine specially designed panels. A section measures 10 feet 5 inches and a single panel
measures 3 feet 1 ¾ inches. Four 12-inch posts separate the sections. Each section is comprised of
three alternating panels displaying stylized designs recalling the Confederate battle flag and the
Union’s stars and stripes flag. The crossed bars of the battle flag design measure 6 inches in
diameter and contain five stars measuring 4-1/2 inches in diameter. Three 4-1/2-inch stars pierce a 7
inch horizontal bar over five vertical “stripes” recalling the Union flag. One “stripe” measures 2-7/8
inches. The four concrete obelisks rest on a 9-foot base on top of the bridge abutments and stand 3
feet 6 inches tall. Each obelisk measures 16 inches in diameter at its base, tapering to 9 inches at its
pyramidal head.
Between 1970-1971, the bridge was widened from 30 feet to 38 feet to accommodate increasing
traffic. The design of the bridge was preserved as much as possible by removing the original 1930
railings intact, and resetting them. The four concrete obelisks and end posts were recast, replicating
the originals.3 Remnants of a white plaster coating were discovered on the star points when the
railings were removed for the widening. The purpose of the coating is unknown, and there is no
Section _7, 8____ Page __2___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
record of similar coatings on any other bridge.4 The ca. 1930 photograph (Exhibit A) portrays an
isolated bridge illuminated by the white coating.
8. Statement of Significance
The Appomattox River Bridge (VDHR 006-0048) is eligible for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion C for Architecture and Criterion A for Transportation, as an
especially unique bridge constructed from standard plans using a common concrete bridge type
constructed in Virginia from about 1910 until the 1930s. The Appomattox River Bridge (Structure
No. 1002) was recommended eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places by the
Historic Structures Task Group in November 1995, and confirmed by the Virginia State Historic
Preservation Officer and the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Commissioner on October 23,
1997.5 The bridge retains a high degree of integrity from its original construction despite the 1971
widening.
Historical Background
The earliest known reinforced concrete bridges constructed in Virginia date to the first part of the
20th century. Engineering advances in calculating the amount of reinforcing bar and concrete needed
to carry loads safely were developed at that time which led to the implementation of standard plans
for most of the common non-arched concrete bridge types.6 Concrete T-beam spans are a very
common bridge type and were constructed in Virginia starting in the 1910s. The first standard Tbeam bridge plans in Virginia date from 1924, and T-beams were a dominant concrete bridge design
from the late 1920s through the late 1960s. T-beams are easy to widen, however deck replacement is
impossible.7
The specially designed Appomattox River Bridge and adjoining Wayside were built on the former
Route 306 near the Appomattox Court House Surrender Grounds in 1930, the same year
Appomattox Court House was designated a U.S. War Department Battlefield Site.8 State Bridge
Engineer William Roy Glidden is credited with designing the Appomattox River Bridge.9 Copies of
the 1930 plans for the bridge exist. It was constructed at an estimated cost of $3,976.92. The
superstructure’s design estimated the use of 8,470 lbs of reinforcing steel, and 44.5 cubic yards of
Class A concrete.10 The 1971 widening of the bridge was completed at a cost of $37,500.11
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _8____ Page__3___
Of the seven pre-1950 non-arched concrete bridges in Appomattox County inventoried by the
Department of Transportation, only the Appomattox River Bridge over Rt. 24 received a grade of A,
signifying that the bridge has some unusual or distinguishing features or is a relatively uncommon
type. A total of 99 bridges in Virginia were tentatively graded A. Of the 1,420 non-arched concrete
bridges built before 1950, fewer than a dozen were found individually eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places by the Historic Structures Task Group.
William Roy Glidden (1889-1969) was Virginia’s first bridge engineer. Glidden worked for the
highway department for 43 years until his retirement in 1959. A Massachusetts native, he earned a
bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1912. Before joining the Virginia State Highway Commission in 1916, Glidden worked for the
Boston and Maine Railroad, the Massachusetts Highway Commission, and the Metropolitan Water
and Sewerage Commission in Boston. Glidden was promoted to Assistant Chief Engineer for the
Virginia Department of Highways in 1952. From 1954-1955, Glidden served as President of the
American Society of Civil Engineers.12
Virginia’s roadside development program was created in 1930 to “provide for the safety and comfort
of those who travel our highways.” Historical markers placed at important points along the highways
required safe parking places for tourists and formed the beginnings of the wayside park system. The
Appomattox Wayside was the first developed wayside park in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The
Highway Department’s Landscape Engineer, Howard J. Neale, professionally landscaped the
wayside area around the memorial bridge. Neale’s design included damming the Appomattox River
to create a small reflection pool, further enhancing the uniqueness of the bridge. Confederate and
Federal cannons were placed on both sides of the bridge to serve as interpretive features.13
In 1940, The National Park Service and the Virginia Highway Department began corresponding
regarding the Appomattox Wayside. The Park Service requested that the wayside be turned over to
the Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument. The Highway Department declined,
citing potential changes to Route 24.14 In 1950, Highway Commissioner J.A. Anderson offered to
transfer the wayside to the Park Service, but was advised, “No lands may be added to the
Monument…without Congressional approval.” A 1951 letter from the Park Service to the Highway
Department indicated that the Appomattox Wayside could be accepted under the authority of the
Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935, although Legislation would be needed to enlarge the
Monument boundaries to include the wayside.15
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _8____ Page__4___
In 1954, Superintendent Hubert A. Gurney of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
wrote to the Highway Department suggesting the Appomattox Wayside be relocated to “a new site at
any point west of the Appomattox River Bridge between your right of way on new Route 24 and the
branch identified as Plain Run.” District Engineer J. H. Phillips opined in an internal memo that
relocating the wayside “would be no improvement on the present location and…would be located
away from the special design bridge which is one of the principle attractions of that wayside.” Both
The Park Service and the Highway Department agreed to study the situation before a decision was
made about the wayside.16 In 1958, the Virginia Department of Highways deeded the Appomattox
Wayside to the National Park Service.17
The Appomattox River Bridge remains in service today, undergoing periodic maintenance as
necessary.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _9____ Page__6___
Bibliography
Allen, Thomas J. Photocopy of Letter to J.A. Anderson, 25 May 1951.
Anderson, J.A. Photocopy of Letter to Thomas J. Allen, 6 November 1950.
Anonymous. American Civil War web site. Found at
http://www.americancivilwar.com/south/conflag/southflg.html
Appomattox County Deed Book. Clerk’s Office, Appomattox Circuit Court, Appomattox,
Virginia. 69:23.
Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Highways, Richmond, Virginia. Bridge Plans
for Proposed Bridge Over Appomattox River, 12 May 1930.
“Developing the Roadsides”. The Commonwealth, Vol.VI, No.10, October 1939, p. 20.
Leech, Charles B. Jr. Photocopy of Letter to C.S. Mullen, 2 June 1931.
Lisle, E. M. Photocopy of Letter to J.A. Anderson, 16 November 1950.
Gurney, Hubert A. Photocopy of Letter to K.G. McWane, 5 December 1940.
Gurney, Hubert A. Photocopy of Letter to H.W. Runkle, 16 November 1954.
Hicks, E.A. Photocopy of Inter-Departmental Memorandum to H.J. Neale, 15 December 1954.
Hundley, R.L. Photocopy of Letter to W.P. Tucker, 27 December 1979.
Marvel, William. A Place Called Appomattox. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North
Carolina Press, 2000.
Miller, Ann B., McGeehan, Daniel D. and Kenneth M. Clark. Survey of Non-Arched Historic
Bridges in Virginia Constructed Prior to 1950. Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia
Transportation Research Council, 1996.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _9____ Page__7___
Bibliography (continued)
Miller, Ann B., Clark, Kenneth M. and Matthew W. Grimes. A Management Plan For Historic
Bridges In Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research
Council, 2001.
Mullen, C.S. Photocopy of Letter to K.G. McWane, 10 December 1940.
“Obituaries.” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 35, No.9. September 1969.
Pawlette, Nathaniel Mason. Photocopy of Letter to Thomas F. Lester, 22 September 1994.
Phillips, J.H. Photocopy of Inter-Departmental Memorandum to H. J. Neale, 18 November 1954.
“The Past Preserved.” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No.7. July, 1971.
Virginia Department of Highways. Bridge Form H.C.7-12-21-25-500, 12 May 1930.
Virginia Department of Highways. Personnel Roster Card for William Roy Glidden.
Virginia Transportation Research Council photograph collection. Charlottesville.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _10____ Page__8___
Verbal Boundary Description
Heading in a clockwise direction starting from the south end of the bridge and traveling 80 feet
south; from that point measuring 140 feet from the center of the road is the first VDOT marker.
Traveling 210 feet northeast from the first marker, bearing 32 degrees northeast is the second VDOT
boundary. From the second boundary location, traveling 230 feet northwest, bearing 305 degrees
northwest is the third VDOT boundary. From the third VDOT boundary, traveling southwest 210
degrees for 210 feet is the fourth VDOT marker. From the fourth VDOT marker, traveling 95 feet
and bearing 112 degrees southeast to the center of the road.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries of the nominated parcel include the Route 24 Bridge and the Virginia Department of
Transportation’s right-of-way. There are no other contributing or non-contributing structures,
buildings, or sites on the parcel.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _Photo____
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Page __9___
PHOTOGRAPHS
The following information is the same for all photographs:
Property: Appomattox River Bridge, VDHR File No. 006-0048
Location: Appomattox County, VA
Photographer: Molly Meredith
Date: March 11, 2003
Negatives Filed: VA. Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
PHOTO 1 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, southeast elevation.
NEG. NO.: VDHR # 20891
PHOTO 2 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, east elevation.
NEG. NO.: VDHR # 20892
PHOTO 3 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, east elevation
NEG. NO.: 20893
PHOTO 4 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, detail of railings
NEG. NO.: 20893
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _Exhibit A Page __10___
Exhibit A: Historic Photograph depicting the Appomattox River Bridge Ca. 1930.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 7 and 8__Endnotes__
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Page __5___
1
Ann B. Miller, Daniel D. McGeehan and Kenneth M. Clark, Survey of Non-Arched Historic Bridges in Virginia
Constructed Prior to 1950.Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 1996), p.14.
2
Ann B. Miller, Kenneth M. Clark and Matthew W. Grimes, A Management Plan For Historic Bridges In Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2001), p.41. See also Anonymous, American
Civil War, http://www.americancivilwar.com/south/conflag/southflg.html.
3
“The Past Preserved,” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 7. July 1971 p. 21.
4
Pawlett, Nathaniel Mason, Letter to Thomas F. Lester, 22 September 1994.
5
Ann B. Miller, Kenneth M. Clark and Matthew W. Grimes, A Management Plan For Historic Bridges In Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2001), p.41.
6
Ann B. Miller, Daniel D. McGeehan and Kenneth M. Clark, Survey of Non-Arched Historic Bridges in Virginia
Constructed Prior to 1950.Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 1996), pp.12-13.
7
Ibid., p.20.
8
William Marvel, A Place Called Appomattox. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. P. 317.
9
“The Past Preserved”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol.37, No. 7. July 1971. p. 21.
10
Virginia Department of Highways. Bridge Form H.C. 7-12-25-500, 12 May 1930.
11
“The Past Preserved”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 7. July 1971. p.21.
12
“Obituaries”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol.35, No. 9. September 1969. p.37
13
The Commonwealth, Vol. VI, No.10. October 1939. pp. 20, 22.; Hundley, R.L., Letter to W.P. Tucker, 27
December 1979.
14
Gurney, H.A. Letter to K.G. McWane, 5 December 1940.; Mullen, C.S. Memo to K.G. McWane, 10 December
1940.
15
Anderson, J.A. Letter to T.J. Allen, 6 November 1950.; Lisle, E.M. Letter to J.A. Anderson, 16 November 1950.;
Allen, T.J. Letter to J.A. Anderson, 25 May 1951.
16
Gurney, H.A. Letter to H.W. Runkle, 16 November 1954.; Phillips, J.H. Memo to H.J. Neale, 18 November 1954.;
Hicks, E.A. Memo to H.J. Neale, 15 December 1954.
17
Appomattox County Deed Book 69:23.
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QUADRANGLE LOCATION
Revisions shown in pirrple and woodland compiled in coop1 ,ation with
Commonwealth of Virginia agencies from aerral photograpfl taken 1979
and other source data. This information not field checked. Map edited 1980
VERA, VA.
NE/4
APPOMATTOX 15' QUADRANGLE
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB NO. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete theNational
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "xuin the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter " N I P for "notapplicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories 6om the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name A~uornattoxRiver Bridee
other nameslsite number Route 24 Bridce: Structure No. 1002 NDHR 006-0048)
2. Location
street & number Route 24 over the Avvomattox River
city or town
state Virginia
code=
county Apwomattox
not for publication
vicinity
code 01 1
Zip 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in
36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend
See continuation sheet for
that this property be considered significant-nationally X statewide-locally. (
additional comments.)
-
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property - meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( See continuation sheet for
additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
___ private
___ public-local
_X public-State
___ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
___ building(s)
___ district
___ site
_X structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__0___
__0___
_ 1___
__0___
__1__
Noncontributing
__0__ buildings
__0__ sites
__0 _ structures
__0__ objects
___0__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0 ___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Transportation______________ Sub: Road-Related______________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Transportation______________ Sub: Road-Related________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_Other________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _N/A_ ____________________________
roof _N/A____________________________________
walls N/A___________________________________
____________________________________
other Concrete___________________________________
___________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
_X__ A
____ B
_X C
____ D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Transportation, Architecture______
______________________________
Period of Significance _1930 - 1955 _________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Significant Dates _1930_______
________
________
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
_______________________________
Cultural Affiliation _N/A_______________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Architect/Builder _William R. Glidden, Designer ________
__Virginia State Highway Commission, Builder______
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _0.79_________
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
1 17 0695721 4139531 2 __ ______ _______
3 __ ______ ________ 4 __ ______ _______
___ See continuation sheet.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title Molly Meredith, Architectural Historian
Organization: _Virginia Department of Transportation, Lynchburg District______ date _March, 2005__
street & number: 4219 Campbell Avenue_______________________ telephone 434-856-8317__
city or town Lynchburg________________________________________ state VA__ zip code 24501__________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name Philip A. Shucet, Commissioner; Virginia Department of Transportation
street & number_1401 East Broad Street, Annex 3rd__________________ telephone_(804) 786-2701____
city or town Richmond___________________________________ state VA___ zip code __23219________
==================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
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this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
Section _7___
Page _1___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
7. Summary Description:
The Appomattox River Bridge is a unique example of the common single-span, T-beam, non-arched
concrete bridges constructed in Virginia from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Concrete slabs and Tbeams became the predominant bridge types in Virginia by the 1930s with all bridge elements
following standard Virginia Department of Highways plan elements.1 Built in 1930, the two-lane
Appomattox River Bridge has unique cast-in-place concrete rails incorporating stylized designs
recalling the Confederate battle flag and the stars and stripes of the Union, with concrete obelisks at
the four corners.2 The bridge carries Route 24 across the Appomattox River in the Appomattox
Court House National Historical Park.
Detailed Description
The Appomattox River Bridge (Structure No. 1002) is located in the Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park, near a sign declaring “Appomattox, where our nation was reunited.” The
bridge carries Route 24 over the Appomattox River and bisects the Appomattox Wayside. The
commemorative bridge is a single-span, T-beam, non-arched concrete structure built in 1930.
The bridge is 33 feet in length, 38 feet in overall width and stands 11 feet above the river. One
bridge rail measures 32 feet 6 inches in length and 3 feet ½ inch in height and consists of three
sections of nine specially designed panels. A section measures 10 feet 5 inches and a single panel
measures 3 feet 1 ¾ inches. Four 12-inch posts separate the sections. Each section is comprised of
three alternating panels displaying stylized designs recalling the Confederate battle flag and the
Union’s stars and stripes flag. The crossed bars of the battle flag design measure 6 inches in
diameter and contain five stars measuring 4-1/2 inches in diameter. Three 4-1/2-inch stars pierce a 7
inch horizontal bar over five vertical “stripes” recalling the Union flag. One “stripe” measures 2-7/8
inches. The four concrete obelisks rest on a 9-foot base on top of the bridge abutments and stand 3
feet 6 inches tall. Each obelisk measures 16 inches in diameter at its base, tapering to 9 inches at its
pyramidal head.
Between 1970-1971, the bridge was widened from 30 feet to 38 feet to accommodate increasing
traffic. The design of the bridge was preserved as much as possible by removing the original 1930
railings intact, and resetting them. The four concrete obelisks and end posts were recast, replicating
the originals.3 Remnants of a white plaster coating were discovered on the star points when the
railings were removed for the widening. The purpose of the coating is unknown, and there is no
Section _7, 8____ Page __2___
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
record of similar coatings on any other bridge.4 The ca. 1930 photograph (Exhibit A) portrays an
isolated bridge illuminated by the white coating.
8. Statement of Significance
The Appomattox River Bridge (VDHR 006-0048) is eligible for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion C for Architecture and Criterion A for Transportation, as an
especially unique bridge constructed from standard plans using a common concrete bridge type
constructed in Virginia from about 1910 until the 1930s. The Appomattox River Bridge (Structure
No. 1002) was recommended eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places by the
Historic Structures Task Group in November 1995, and confirmed by the Virginia State Historic
Preservation Officer and the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Commissioner on October 23,
1997.5 The bridge retains a high degree of integrity from its original construction despite the 1971
widening.
Historical Background
The earliest known reinforced concrete bridges constructed in Virginia date to the first part of the
20th century. Engineering advances in calculating the amount of reinforcing bar and concrete needed
to carry loads safely were developed at that time which led to the implementation of standard plans
for most of the common non-arched concrete bridge types.6 Concrete T-beam spans are a very
common bridge type and were constructed in Virginia starting in the 1910s. The first standard Tbeam bridge plans in Virginia date from 1924, and T-beams were a dominant concrete bridge design
from the late 1920s through the late 1960s. T-beams are easy to widen, however deck replacement is
impossible.7
The specially designed Appomattox River Bridge and adjoining Wayside were built on the former
Route 306 near the Appomattox Court House Surrender Grounds in 1930, the same year
Appomattox Court House was designated a U.S. War Department Battlefield Site.8 State Bridge
Engineer William Roy Glidden is credited with designing the Appomattox River Bridge.9 Copies of
the 1930 plans for the bridge exist. It was constructed at an estimated cost of $3,976.92. The
superstructure’s design estimated the use of 8,470 lbs of reinforcing steel, and 44.5 cubic yards of
Class A concrete.10 The 1971 widening of the bridge was completed at a cost of $37,500.11
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _8____ Page__3___
Of the seven pre-1950 non-arched concrete bridges in Appomattox County inventoried by the
Department of Transportation, only the Appomattox River Bridge over Rt. 24 received a grade of A,
signifying that the bridge has some unusual or distinguishing features or is a relatively uncommon
type. A total of 99 bridges in Virginia were tentatively graded A. Of the 1,420 non-arched concrete
bridges built before 1950, fewer than a dozen were found individually eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places by the Historic Structures Task Group.
William Roy Glidden (1889-1969) was Virginia’s first bridge engineer. Glidden worked for the
highway department for 43 years until his retirement in 1959. A Massachusetts native, he earned a
bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1912. Before joining the Virginia State Highway Commission in 1916, Glidden worked for the
Boston and Maine Railroad, the Massachusetts Highway Commission, and the Metropolitan Water
and Sewerage Commission in Boston. Glidden was promoted to Assistant Chief Engineer for the
Virginia Department of Highways in 1952. From 1954-1955, Glidden served as President of the
American Society of Civil Engineers.12
Virginia’s roadside development program was created in 1930 to “provide for the safety and comfort
of those who travel our highways.” Historical markers placed at important points along the highways
required safe parking places for tourists and formed the beginnings of the wayside park system. The
Appomattox Wayside was the first developed wayside park in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The
Highway Department’s Landscape Engineer, Howard J. Neale, professionally landscaped the
wayside area around the memorial bridge. Neale’s design included damming the Appomattox River
to create a small reflection pool, further enhancing the uniqueness of the bridge. Confederate and
Federal cannons were placed on both sides of the bridge to serve as interpretive features.13
In 1940, The National Park Service and the Virginia Highway Department began corresponding
regarding the Appomattox Wayside. The Park Service requested that the wayside be turned over to
the Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument. The Highway Department declined,
citing potential changes to Route 24.14 In 1950, Highway Commissioner J.A. Anderson offered to
transfer the wayside to the Park Service, but was advised, “No lands may be added to the
Monument…without Congressional approval.” A 1951 letter from the Park Service to the Highway
Department indicated that the Appomattox Wayside could be accepted under the authority of the
Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935, although Legislation would be needed to enlarge the
Monument boundaries to include the wayside.15
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _8____ Page__4___
In 1954, Superintendent Hubert A. Gurney of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
wrote to the Highway Department suggesting the Appomattox Wayside be relocated to “a new site at
any point west of the Appomattox River Bridge between your right of way on new Route 24 and the
branch identified as Plain Run.” District Engineer J. H. Phillips opined in an internal memo that
relocating the wayside “would be no improvement on the present location and…would be located
away from the special design bridge which is one of the principle attractions of that wayside.” Both
The Park Service and the Highway Department agreed to study the situation before a decision was
made about the wayside.16 In 1958, the Virginia Department of Highways deeded the Appomattox
Wayside to the National Park Service.17
The Appomattox River Bridge remains in service today, undergoing periodic maintenance as
necessary.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _9____ Page__6___
Bibliography
Allen, Thomas J. Photocopy of Letter to J.A. Anderson, 25 May 1951.
Anderson, J.A. Photocopy of Letter to Thomas J. Allen, 6 November 1950.
Anonymous. American Civil War web site. Found at
http://www.americancivilwar.com/south/conflag/southflg.html
Appomattox County Deed Book. Clerk’s Office, Appomattox Circuit Court, Appomattox,
Virginia. 69:23.
Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Highways, Richmond, Virginia. Bridge Plans
for Proposed Bridge Over Appomattox River, 12 May 1930.
“Developing the Roadsides”. The Commonwealth, Vol.VI, No.10, October 1939, p. 20.
Leech, Charles B. Jr. Photocopy of Letter to C.S. Mullen, 2 June 1931.
Lisle, E. M. Photocopy of Letter to J.A. Anderson, 16 November 1950.
Gurney, Hubert A. Photocopy of Letter to K.G. McWane, 5 December 1940.
Gurney, Hubert A. Photocopy of Letter to H.W. Runkle, 16 November 1954.
Hicks, E.A. Photocopy of Inter-Departmental Memorandum to H.J. Neale, 15 December 1954.
Hundley, R.L. Photocopy of Letter to W.P. Tucker, 27 December 1979.
Marvel, William. A Place Called Appomattox. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North
Carolina Press, 2000.
Miller, Ann B., McGeehan, Daniel D. and Kenneth M. Clark. Survey of Non-Arched Historic
Bridges in Virginia Constructed Prior to 1950. Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia
Transportation Research Council, 1996.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _9____ Page__7___
Bibliography (continued)
Miller, Ann B., Clark, Kenneth M. and Matthew W. Grimes. A Management Plan For Historic
Bridges In Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research
Council, 2001.
Mullen, C.S. Photocopy of Letter to K.G. McWane, 10 December 1940.
“Obituaries.” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 35, No.9. September 1969.
Pawlette, Nathaniel Mason. Photocopy of Letter to Thomas F. Lester, 22 September 1994.
Phillips, J.H. Photocopy of Inter-Departmental Memorandum to H. J. Neale, 18 November 1954.
“The Past Preserved.” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No.7. July, 1971.
Virginia Department of Highways. Bridge Form H.C.7-12-21-25-500, 12 May 1930.
Virginia Department of Highways. Personnel Roster Card for William Roy Glidden.
Virginia Transportation Research Council photograph collection. Charlottesville.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _10____ Page__8___
Verbal Boundary Description
Heading in a clockwise direction starting from the south end of the bridge and traveling 80 feet
south; from that point measuring 140 feet from the center of the road is the first VDOT marker.
Traveling 210 feet northeast from the first marker, bearing 32 degrees northeast is the second VDOT
boundary. From the second boundary location, traveling 230 feet northwest, bearing 305 degrees
northwest is the third VDOT boundary. From the third VDOT boundary, traveling southwest 210
degrees for 210 feet is the fourth VDOT marker. From the fourth VDOT marker, traveling 95 feet
and bearing 112 degrees southeast to the center of the road.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries of the nominated parcel include the Route 24 Bridge and the Virginia Department of
Transportation’s right-of-way. There are no other contributing or non-contributing structures,
buildings, or sites on the parcel.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _Photo____
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Page __9___
PHOTOGRAPHS
The following information is the same for all photographs:
Property: Appomattox River Bridge, VDHR File No. 006-0048
Location: Appomattox County, VA
Photographer: Molly Meredith
Date: March 11, 2003
Negatives Filed: VA. Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
PHOTO 1 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, southeast elevation.
NEG. NO.: VDHR # 20891
PHOTO 2 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, east elevation.
NEG. NO.: VDHR # 20892
PHOTO 3 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, east elevation
NEG. NO.: 20893
PHOTO 4 of 4: Appomattox River Bridge, detail of railings
NEG. NO.: 20893
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Section _Exhibit A Page __10___
Exhibit A: Historic Photograph depicting the Appomattox River Bridge Ca. 1930.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 7 and 8__Endnotes__
Appomattox River Bridge
Appomattox County, VA
Page __5___
1
Ann B. Miller, Daniel D. McGeehan and Kenneth M. Clark, Survey of Non-Arched Historic Bridges in Virginia
Constructed Prior to 1950.Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 1996), p.14.
2
Ann B. Miller, Kenneth M. Clark and Matthew W. Grimes, A Management Plan For Historic Bridges In Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2001), p.41. See also Anonymous, American
Civil War, http://www.americancivilwar.com/south/conflag/southflg.html.
3
“The Past Preserved,” Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 7. July 1971 p. 21.
4
Pawlett, Nathaniel Mason, Letter to Thomas F. Lester, 22 September 1994.
5
Ann B. Miller, Kenneth M. Clark and Matthew W. Grimes, A Management Plan For Historic Bridges In Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2001), p.41.
6
Ann B. Miller, Daniel D. McGeehan and Kenneth M. Clark, Survey of Non-Arched Historic Bridges in Virginia
Constructed Prior to 1950.Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 1996), pp.12-13.
7
Ibid., p.20.
8
William Marvel, A Place Called Appomattox. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. P. 317.
9
“The Past Preserved”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol.37, No. 7. July 1971. p. 21.
10
Virginia Department of Highways. Bridge Form H.C. 7-12-25-500, 12 May 1930.
11
“The Past Preserved”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 7. July 1971. p.21.
12
“Obituaries”, Virginia Highway Bulletin, Vol.35, No. 9. September 1969. p.37
13
The Commonwealth, Vol. VI, No.10. October 1939. pp. 20, 22.; Hundley, R.L., Letter to W.P. Tucker, 27
December 1979.
14
Gurney, H.A. Letter to K.G. McWane, 5 December 1940.; Mullen, C.S. Memo to K.G. McWane, 10 December
1940.
15
Anderson, J.A. Letter to T.J. Allen, 6 November 1950.; Lisle, E.M. Letter to J.A. Anderson, 16 November 1950.;
Allen, T.J. Letter to J.A. Anderson, 25 May 1951.
16
Gurney, H.A. Letter to H.W. Runkle, 16 November 1954.; Phillips, J.H. Memo to H.J. Neale, 18 November 1954.;
Hicks, E.A. Memo to H.J. Neale, 15 December 1954.
17
Appomattox County Deed Book 69:23.
1000
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ROAD, CLASSIFICATION
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hard surface
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Light.duty road, all weather,
improved surface
Unimproved road, fair-or dry
weather
-- - - - - - - --
,
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P.L 10 FEET
:AL DATUM OF 1929
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- MAP ACCURACY STANDARDS
RVEY, RESTON, VIRGINIA 22092
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22903
ID SYMBOLS IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
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State Route
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I R G I N N ~, 'J
QUADRANGLE LOCATION
Revisions shown in pirrple and woodland compiled in coop1 ,ation with
Commonwealth of Virginia agencies from aerral photograpfl taken 1979
and other source data. This information not field checked. Map edited 1980
VERA, VA.
NE/4
APPOMATTOX 15' QUADRANGLE
N3722.5-W7845/7.5
1968
P H O T O R E V I S E D 1980
DMA 5258 I V NE-SERIES V834
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Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Expires 513112012)
OMB No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
VLR
09/18/2008
NRHP 10/31/2012
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entrles, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Holliday Lake State Park
other nameslsite number
Holiday Lake State Park; Holiday Lake Recreational Area; VDHR No. 006-0051
not for publication
street & number 2759 State Park Road
city or town
state
Appomattox
Virginia
vicinity
code
VA
county Appomattox
code
011
zip code 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic PreservationAct, as amended,
x
nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
I hereby certify that this
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
In my opinion, the p r o p e r t y x meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
1 -national
x statewide
-local
1I - -
Signature of certiiin~oficialKitle
I Vlrgjn~aJepartrnent of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria
I Signature of commenting official
1
Title
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
I
1
entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-
-other
(explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
(Check only one box.)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
x
private
public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
x
building(s)
district
site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
Contributing
1
1
8
0
10
Noncontributing
16
1
2
0
19
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs,
Including CCC and WPA
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor recreation
RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor recreation
LANDSCAPE/Park
LANDSCAPE/Park
TRANSPORTATION/Road-related
TRANSPORTATION/Road-related
TRANSPORTATION/Pedestrian-related
TRANSPORTATION/Pedestrian-related
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/
Waterworks
Waterworks
DOMESTIC/Camp
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions.)
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER/ Rustic
foundation:
OTHER/ Post-Modern
walls:
BRICK; WOOD
roof:
ASPHALT
CONCRETE
other:
2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
A winding dirt and gravel road from Virginia State Route 15 leads to Holliday Lake State Park, located near the center of the
Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest. The park encompasses almost 255 acres, the center of which is the 150-acre manmade
lake, one of the largest in the area. In addition to the lake, the park’s resources include a 30-site campground, a large shaded
picnic area, two picnic shelters, two playgrounds, a boat ramp, a seasonal full-service concession stand, restroom facilities, a
camp store, and boat houses/sheds for canoe, rowboat and paddle boat rentals. Trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding cut
through the park. The lake and adjoining beach area offers swimming and fishing. In addition, the park includes a single cabin
used for Young Women’s Christian Council activities, two residences for park rangers, a park office, two maintenance sheds, and
a well house. Additional structures contained within the park include bridges, a dam, and a spillway.
The park was one of four recreational development areas (RDAs) developed by the Virginia Division of Forestry (now the
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation) working in conjunction with New Deal organizations, including the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. While built
during the same period as many of the National Park Service’s state parks, Holliday Lake was not held to the same strict design
standards. Still, the influence of the National Park Service’s design and layout can be seen at Holliday Lake State Park.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The topography of the park consists largely of gently sloping hills and some low-lying areas around the lake and beach. In general
the layout of the park creates discrete areas for particular activities. Recreational activities such as swimming, boating, and fishing
are concentrated around the lake area and campgrounds. The major unifying elements at Holliday Lake as well as the other
recreational demonstration areas were similar to those at the six CCC state parks created from 1933 to 1936. For Holliday Lake,
the major park components consist of the vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems, the beach and swimming areas, the picnic
areas, the dam and spillway, and the campgrounds.
The vehicular circulation system was designed in such a manner as to carefully follow the contours of the land, using a minimum
amount of cut and fill. The circulation system was also designed to take the maximum advantage of possible views. In keeping
with the overall design of the other state parks, a main road with a long entry drive that passes through extensive and undeveloped
park land leads directly from the entrance of the park to the center of the park activity, that is the beach/swimming area at
Holliday Lake. From the park’s main road branched a series of secondary and tertiary loop roads that pass through the
campground and maintenance areas. This system allowed daytime park visitors to travel directly to the day use area. With the
addition of the campground area by 1972, the road system provided campers with greater privacy and quiet. All of the major
roads as well as the minor ones with severe slopes were lined with stone culverts, of which one survives today, as well as coursed
rubble-constructed retaining walls.
Right before entering the main recreational area of the park, located at the top of a slightly sloping hill is the park office. Built
c.1980, the one-story, four-bay, frame and vinyl-sided building rests on a concrete block foundation. The side-gable roof has a
raking cornice and slightly overhanging eaves; a small square metal vent is located in the gable ends. The off-center entrance
door on the southeast corner of the south wall consists of a single-leaf wood paneled door with nine-lights. A similar door is
located to the west of the main entrance. Window openings consist of long single vertical lights. To the west of the park office is
one of the few historic buildings in the park: a one-story, one-bay, well house built in 1939. Constructed of brick laid in stretcher
bond and resting on a low concrete foundation, the building has a front-gable roof covered with slate shingles, slightly
overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and exposed rafter tails. The slightly inset, off-center entrance consists of a wood, single-leaf
door with two raised panels and six-lights. A single four-over-four wood sash window with a rowlock brick sill is located on the
east wall.
The central water feature at Holliday Lake is the 150-acre manmade lake. Like Virginia’s other New Deal-era state parks, the
central water feature played an important role as an organizing element in the overall design. Since the beach area was planned to
be the focus of park activity, the main park road and many of the paths and trails were designed to lead directly to the water,
3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
providing alluring glimpses of it along the way. The picnic areas at all of the parks were also located directly on the water but
often away from the central swimming area, providing the opportunity to see a different view of the water feature. The basic
components of the Holliday Lake beach area include a guarded swimming area and a central concession and bathhouse located in
one building. There is also a new dock area with a boathouse and storage buildings nearby. All of these buildings were
constructed over a period from the 1970s to 2007.
According to NPS park designs, picnic areas were to be sited near the water, to take advantage of both views and cool breezes.
The focal point of the picnic areas at all the RDAs was the picnic shelter. The typical picnic shelter was an open, side-gableroofed structure built of rough-hewn timbers, with a built-in seating area at both ends, and a slate stone floor. There are two
picnic shelters at Holliday Lake. Shelter #1 was constructed in the Rustic style. This style stressed simplicity in design, use of
native building materials, and avoidance of overly perfect construction lines to evoke a look not unlike something built by a
pioneer craftsman. The building is constructed of heavy, hewn, undressed rounded logs, using mortise and tenon construction,
heavy nails and wood pegs. The side-gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice, and
rounded exposed rafter tails. The roof’s interior features exposed beam construction with heavy log king trusses in the gable ends.
Small log braces are found at each corner of the structure, and the corner posts are connected by a simple log railing. The interior
of the picnic shelter includes built-in wood benches, a heavy slate floor, and a small grouping of picnic tables. Shelter #2, built
sometime during the 1970s, is a simple, one-story, side-gable-roofed picnic shelter constructed of large square wood posts with
simple wood braces. The side-gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and
exposed rafter tails. The gable ends are covered with vertical boards. The shelter rests on a concrete slab foundation. Freestanding stone fireplaces for cookouts were often provided, as well as matching stone incinerators for safe and convenient ash and
trash disposal.
In 1972, the park added a campground area and became the Holliday Lake State Park. In creating the campground area, the park
followed previous design plans that placed the campground area off the main road, removed from the activity and noise of the day
use areas of the park. Initially, tent and trailer camping areas were situated in separate but adjacent locations; however, later park
designs have both tents and trailers sharing the same area.
Maintenance areas at all state parks were separated from the central recreational area. Maintenance yards at most parks included a
garage, shop, storage buildings, boathouse or blacksmith shop, oil house, water tower, filtration building, net house, and pump
house. Typically, these buildings were placed in a rectangular arrangement around an open work yard accessible to both cars and
larger trucks. Maintenance structures in the Virginia state parks were characteristically modest, gable-roofed, board-and-batten
structures painted a dull tan color, with a minimal number of doors and windows. At Holliday Lake, however, the maintenance
area is much smaller, consisting of only two garage/shop buildings that were built during the 1970s.
Dwellings were constructed at all of the parks for the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and park rangers. The chief
ranger’s house and the rangers’ bunkhouse were typically located immediately adjacent to the maintenance area. At Holliday
Lake, the chief ranger’s house is found directly to the north of the maintenance area. The dwelling, a c. 1939 bungalow-styled
building, was originally located much closer to the lake area. The building was moved to its current site sometime during the
1970s. The superintendent’s residence, built during the 1990s, lies to the north of this dwelling, located not far from the main
park entrance. Both dwellings are far removed from the center of park activity.
Inventory of Resources:
The following inventory of resources was conducted in 2008 and reflects resources that are contributing and noncontributing to the historic district based on the period of significance and the integrity of the resources.
Picnic Shelter #1, DHR # 006-0051-0001
Contributing (1-Structure)
This small, one-story, 1930s picnic shelter is a vernacular interpretation of the Rustic style. It is constructed of heavy,
hewn, undressed rounded logs, using mortise and tenon construction, heavy nails and wood pegs. The side-gable roof
covered with asphalt shingles has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice, and rounded exposed rafter tails. The roof’s
interior features exposed beam construction with heavy log king trusses in the gable ends; small log braces are found at
each corner of the structure; the corner posts are connected by a simple log railing. The interior of the picnic shelter
includes wood, built-in benches, a heavy slate floor and a small grouping of picnic tables.
4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Picnic Shelter #2, DHR # 006-0051-0002
NC (1-Structure)
This c.1970 simple one-story, side-gabled picnic shelter is constructed of large square wood posts with simple wood
braces. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and exposed
rafter tails. The gable ends are covered with vertical boards. The shelter rests on a concrete slab foundation.
Wellhouse, DHR # 006-0051-0003
Contributing (1-Building)
This c. 1939, one-story, one-bay well house is constructed of brick laid in stretcher bond and rests on a low concrete
foundation. The front-gabled roof is covered with slate shingles, and has slightly overhanging eaves, a raking cornice
and exposed rafter tails. The slightly inset, off-center entrance consists of a wood, single-leaf door with two raised
panels and six lights. A single four-over-four wood sash window with a rowlock brick sill is located on the east wall.
Dam/Spillway/Bridge/Lake, DHR # 006-0051-0004
Contributing (3-Structure, 1-Site)
The bridge, dam and spillway are one of the three contributing elements that helped create the central water feature
of the Holliday Lake State Park. The bridge, along with the dam and spillway, was an important element in the
overall park design of which the water feature, in this case the manmade lake, provided the central focus. The dam
and bridge are of concrete construction.
Observation Deck, DHR # 006-0051-0005
NC (1-Structure)
Overlooking the lake is a large, rectangular observation deck constructed of recycled wood. A simple square wood
railing encloses the deck.
Boathouse, DHR # 006-0051-0006
NC (3-Building)
Part of a small grouping of marine-related buildings is this one-story, one-bay, frame boat house, sheathed in vinyl
“novelty” siding. The side-gabled roof has overhanging eaves and is covered with asphalt shingles; a small ventilator
is found on the north slope of the roof. A single-leaf modern metal door with nine-lights is located on the north wall;
small one-over-one vinyl sash windows are located on the west wall. A small enclosed shed addition is attached to
the south wall of the building with a sliding window. To the east of the boathouse are a frame shed and a frame,
gable-front roof storage building. Both buildings are clad in the same type of vinyl siding. All were constructed c.
2005.
Concession Building, DHR # 006-0051-0007
NC (1-Building)
This c.1972, large, one-story, L-shaped, frame building is covered with vinyl “novelty” siding and rests on a low, slab
concrete foundation. The shed roof is covered with asphalt shingles. A shed-roofed pent marks concession windows;
the slightly inset entrance has double-leaf commercial metal and glass doors.
Restroom, DHR # 006-0051-0008
NC (1-Building)
This c.1972, one-story, two-bay, frame, vinyl-sided building rests on a low concrete slab foundation. The side-gabled
roof features a slight pent on either gable end. Two privacy fences mark the single-leaf metal entrance doors on the
north and south walls of the building. On the west wall are two window openings.
Park Office, DHR # 006-0051-0009
NC (1-Building)
This main office, built c.1979, is a one-story, four-bay, frame, vinyl-sided building resting on a concrete block
foundation. The side-gabled roof has a raking cornice and slightly overhanging eaves; a small square metal vent is
located in the gable ends. The off-center entrance door on the southeast corner of the south wall consists of a single-leaf
wood paneled door with nine-lights. A similar door is located to the west of the main entrance. Window openings
consist of long single vertical lights.
Drainage Culvert, DHR # 006-0051-0010
Contributing (2-Structure)
One of the few surviving road-related historic resources in the park are slate drainage culverts. They are one example of
5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the type of internal improvements and construction employed by the CCC/WPA in building the state parks’ circulation
systems in Virginia during the Great Depression. There are two culverts that remain at the property. Both are located
under State Park Road, and consist of a corrugated metal pipe surrounded on three sides by rocks.
Retaining Wall, DHR # 006-0051-0011
Contributing (1-Structure)
This random rubble rock retaining wall is located underneath the west side of the main park road.
Cabin, DHR # 006-0051-0012
NC (4-Buildings)
This c. 2007, one-story, three-bay single-wide trailer is covered with a wood log-type veneer. The side-gabled roof has
slightly overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and is covered with standing seam metal. The slightly off-center entrance
door on the west wall consists of a single-leaf wood paneled door. Window openings have vinyl six-over-six sash.
Attached to the rear of the cabin is a modern wood deck and stairs. This cabin/bunkhouse is one example of a newly
stylized “rustic” style seen in the early twenty-first century state park buildings and structures using single-wide trailers
and log veneer. The cabin is the main building in a small compound that includes a frame, side-gabled picnic shelter, a
frame, side-gabled bathhouse, and a small frame, gable-front shed.
Restroom, DHR # 006-0051-0013
NC (1-Building)
This c. 1975 one-story, five-bay, frame building is sheathed in vinyl siding and rests on a low slab concrete
foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingle and has overhanging eaves. A slightly projecting,
shed-roofed block with vinyl-covered privacy walls marks the single-leaf metal entrance doors on the east wall. A
central single-leaf metal door marks a closet area. On either side of each entrance is a small bank of windows. To the
north of the shed-roofed block is another privacy wall that contains a vending machine.
Contact Station, DHR # 006-0051-0014
NC (1-Building)
Marking the formal entrance to the park is this one-story, two-bay frame contact station, sheathed in vinyl siding and
resting on a poured concrete slab foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has a boxed
cornice. On the east and west walls are a slightly off-center single-leaf wood entrance door with a sliding glass
window to one side.
Maintenance/Shop Sheds, DHR # 006-0051-0015
NC (2-Buildings)
Standing side-by-side are two, one-story, side-gabled machine shops/sheds. The larger of the two is frame, covered
with corrugated metal siding; the side-gabled roof is covered with corrugated metal. On the east wall are two large
garage door bays. The north wall and the southeast corner of the east wall have sliding glass windows. To the south of
this first shed is a frame and corrugated metal shed with one large bay opening. Its side-gabled roof is covered with
asphalt shingles.
Head Ranger House, DHR # 006-0051-0016
NC (1-Building)
This c.1939 one-story, three-bay, frame, single-family bungalow dwelling is covered with vinyl siding and rests on a
raised concrete block foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles; an interior brick chimney with
metal vent is located on the rear east slope of the roof. Located in each gable end is a triangular metal vent. A onestory, shed-roofed porch is supported by square wood posts; the central entrance is marked by a single-leaf wood door.
Window openings have vinyl six-over-six sash. Attached to the rear northeast corner of the house is a small shedroofed addition. A one-story, side-gabled addition is attached to the north wall of the house.
The house has undergone major alteration, as seen in the porch with the addition of a new wood balustrade and
handicapped ramp, new windows, and the addition of a rear deck. The house has also been moved from its original
location near the lake to its present site.
Park Superintendent House, DHR # 006-0051-0017
NC (1-Building)
This c.2005, one-story, four-bay, frame, vinyl-sided Minimal Traditional dwelling rests on a low concrete block
6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingle and has slightly overhanging eaves; on the north wall
is an exterior brick chimney with corbelled cap. A two-bay cut-away engaged porch is supported by square wood posts
connected to a simple wood balustrade and is located on the northwest corner of the façade. The off-center entrance has
a single-leaf wood paneled door. Window openings consist of single and paired six-over-six vinyl sash.
Cemetery, DHR # 006-0051-0018
NC (1-Site)
Located near the lake and to the west of Picnic Shelter #1 is the Jones family burying ground. The small cemetery
consists of six stones marking gravesites dating from the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The cemetery is not
associated with Holliday Lake State Park and is a non-contributing resource to the Holliday Lake State Park Historic
District.
Circulation System, DHR # 006-0051-0019
Contributing (1-Structure)
The circulation system at Holliday Lake State Park consists of a main roadway that enters the park and circles
around the northernmost edge of Holliday Lake. In addition, running to the west of the main road and contact station
is a small series of interconnecting roads for the campsite area. Other resources included within the circulation
system include gutters, curbs, and steps. Pedestrian circulation consists of a series of walking trails that run to the
east and west of the park’s main area, concrete walkways to the concession area and restroom, and a gravel walkway
that leads to Picnic Shelter #1.
7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing.)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1937-1942
Significant Dates
1939
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
A
Owned by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Period of Significance (justification)
The period of significance encompasses the original construction of Holliday Lake as a recreational development area
during the New Deal.
Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary)
N/A
8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance and
applicable criteria.)
The area encompassing Holliday Lake State Park and the surrounding state forest was originally settled and farmed in the earlyto-mid-nineteenth century. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government, through the newly-formed
Resettlement Administration, began buying area farms in the hopes of reforesting the land and creating a recreational
development area (RDA). Construction of a dam was begun at Fish Pond Creek, then relocated to Holliday Creek where a lake
could be developed. Unlike state parks, which were created based on master plans prepared in conjunction with the National Park
Service, RDAs such as Holliday Lake were designed and built without formal plans. Both national and state parks employed the
style known as Rustic architecture. This style stressed simplicity in design, use of native building materials, and avoidance of
overly perfect construction lines to evoke a look not unlike something built by a pioneer craftsman. The end result at informally
planned RDAs was a more vernacular expression of the Rustic architecture designs and workmanship than what was seen in the
national parks. The efforts of the Forestry Service and the CCC/WPA were focused on clearing and restoring the park lands,
resulting in very few buildings and structures at Holliday Lake. Those buildings and structures that still remain from this period,
while appearing crudely built, are still excellent examples of Rustic-inspired design and craftsmanship and illustrate the
development of Virginia state parks during the Great Depression. The park is eligible for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with CCC and WPA park development projects and Criterion C for its park
plan The park retains statewide significance with a period of significance of 1937-1942 and is being listed under the Virginia
State Parks Built by New Deal Programs, including CCC and WPA Multiple Property Document.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)
The Formation of Recreational Demonstration Areas and the CCC
By 1933, as the United States grappled with the economic and human toll of the Great Depression, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt entertained a number of ideas to offer relief and hope to the American people. The most daunting task facing the
president was to create meaningful jobs for the large numbers of unemployed Americans. Of particular concern was the lack of
employment opportunities for young men.
On April 17, 1933, Roosevelt implemented one of the most successful programs of his administration: the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC). Unlike the National Relief Agency (NRA), the CCC did more than offer aid. The CCC provided jobs through a
variety of projects that included the rehabilitation and development of national and state parks and other recreation facilities. The
impact of these efforts was profound as countless young men helped shape the physical and cultural landscape of the nation’s
parks.
On May 6, 1935, Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 734 forming the Works Projects Administration. In 1939 the
organization was renamed the Works Progress Administration. The WPA had two functions: to organize small projects with
tangible results across the nations, creating work for the unemployed, and to coordinate the Works Program. Unlike the CCC,
which employed only men between the ages of 18 and 25, the WPA employed mostly middle aged men, and some women. The
WPA workers were typically recruited from nearby locations for specific projects.
The efforts of the Roosevelt administration to deal with parks fell under the auspices of another agency, the Public Works
Administration (PWA). In July 1933, a National Planning Board, later called the National Resources Board, was charged with
planning “recreational requirements” and “recreational procedures,” particularly with regard to national parks. The board also
wanted to be as inclusive as possible and, by 1934 and 1935, enlisted the help of states to form their own planning boards to
begin creating recreation projects that would, among other things, utilize the CCC and WPA. 1
Recreational demonstration areas (RDAs) were established during President Roosevelt’s tenure in addition to the new state parks.
These facilities were the brainchild of Roosevelt’s Land Planning Committee and the National Park Service. Both agencies
agreed that one of the most pressing needs in many urban areas were large natural areas to provide recreational outlets for people,
9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
particularly those of lower and middle incomes. This need would be filled with the creation of the RDAs, a concept that was
enthusiastically supported by the Land Planning Committee. Unlike the state parks, the emphasis of the RDAs was on large group
recreational activities, rather than family outings or day trips. Lodges and cabins that could accommodate groups of campers for
extended periods were constructed and used by civic or welfare organizations that provided recreation for disadvantaged children.
The NPS envisioned the creation of large natural areas ranging in size from 2,000 to 10,000 acres in which low-maintenance
camping and picnic facilities would be built.2
Acquiring the land for new parks and RDAs initiated a controversial experiment in the relocation of people and the reclamation of
land. Carried out under the auspices of the Land Planning Committee (and later the Rural Resettlement Administration), the program
would reclaim thousands of acres of land exhausted from ruinous farm practices, particularly in the American South, and that had
become a tax burden to the state. Some of these lands were earmarked for recreational demonstration areas, to be absorbed into the
state and National Park Systems. Estimates suggest that approximately 100 million acres, on which as many as 650,000 families
lived a marginal existence, could be reclaimed for public use. Approximately $25 million from the Public Works Administration was
appropriated for land acquisition.3
In Virginia, government assistance and rural rehabilitation programs under the Resettlement Administration moved hundreds of
families off the land. But not everyone found the government’s actions laudable. The human cost could be devastating as the
programs forced small farmers and their families to seek other kinds of work, which in many cases they were ill-suited or illequipped to do. Legal battles lasting for years were frequent, as the state struggled to move reluctant landowners off property now
desired by the government. Eventually the state won the authority to condemn occupied land and evict the families living there.4
Between 1933 and 1948, four RDAs—Bear Creek Lake, Holliday Lake, Goodwin Lake, and Prince Edward Lake—were
developed by the Forest Service and built by the WPA and CCC. Although these sites were not developed within the design
framework of the NPS, they share some design features and approaches to planning, including long entry drives, organizing water
features, and structures built out of natural materials meant to blend with the landscape.
The design of the four Virginia RDAs was in large part influenced by the conservation guidelines, aesthetics, and planning
processes developed by the National Park Service for use in the National Parks and later in Virginia state parks. The NPS park
design process, known as the Master Plan process, was developed over the course of several years as a way to accommodate the
NPS’s dual obligations of conservation of natural resources and provision of those resources for human enjoyment. CCC and
WPA personnel and park administrators in Virginia drew on the existing Master Plan process, as well as NPS personnel, to
develop master plans for the first six CCC Virginia State Parks. These master plans were then modified and implemented to some
degree when the Virginia State Park Service began drawing up plans to create four recreational sites, one of which was Holliday
Lake State Park.
The Virginia RDAs have a number of elements and approaches first developed or planned for the national and state parks. Like
the parks, the RDAs were to be no more than a day’s drive from a major population center. A body of water (in the case of the
RDAs, a manmade body of water) provided a central organizing feature as well as the site of several types of recreation. Like the
state parks, the RDAs were also discrete in their organization, separating the various uses of the area such as day use, service
areas, ranger buildings, active recreational areas, and campsites.
In addition, the landscape and architectural aesthetics of the National Park Service guided the creation of the RDAs in Virginia.
These ideas shaped relations between the natural and man-made landscape. Local materials and building traditions, such as
rough-hewn log picnic shelters or concrete block buildings, were used. Paths, stairs, trails, and bridges were unobtrusively built
into the landscape with local stones. Dams, retaining walls, and spillways suggested natural forms without imitating them. Single
entrance points into the parks were along carefully planned curving roads with intermittent views of open landscape. The
conformity of the aesthetic and planning principles in the Virginia parks to those of national parks was underscored by the
inclusion of buildings from the Virginia parks in the three-volume 1938 edition of Albert H. Good’s Parks and Recreation
Structures.
The CCC in Virginia undertook a massive construction effort in building not only six state parks, but with the WPA also laid the
ground work for the four RDAs. Unlike the six state parks that relied heavily on the labor of CCC, the four RDAs had more
limited CCC/WPA input. In some cases, the efforts of the CCC/WPA primarily focused on initial construction of the
RDA road systems or in clearing or reforesting the land.
10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Park Design Concepts and Recreational Area Design
Despite the less grand nature of the Recreational Development Areas, they were still influenced to a great degree by
the master plan designs drawn up by the NPS. Although simpler in execution and perhaps even cruder in
architectural expression, the RDAs still captured the essence of what the national parks and Virginia state parks were
trying to accomplish.
The first impression of the park and its associated buildings and natural areas were important in the planning process. As such, it
was important that the road system work successfully in the overall design of the RDAs. The RDAs, like the state parks, had
roadways and circulation systems that emphasized and preserved the natural beauty of the area. In addition, the circulation system
organized the park and connected the various areas of the RDAs to the main entrance. In general, the impact of the roadways on
the surrounding environment was to be minimal and was to blend in with the natural features of the park. The roads were also to
have a minimal impact on existing landforms. The RDA road systems were organized into major and minor roadways. The major
roadways were comprised to the park’s entrance road and roads leading to major recreational features in the park. The minor
roads were spurs off the major road, did not connect to other roadways, and terminated at dead ends. These minor roads were also
not designed to accommodate heavy traffic. Examples of major roadways are the roads leading to natural areas, to the beach and
lake area, and the entrance road. Minor roadways are those leading to camping areas, cabin areas, park residences, and
maintenance and shop areas.
An integral part of the park layout and use was the creation of a trail system, which allowed visitors to view the natural beauty of
the park. The main purpose of the park, in addition to providing locations for sleeping, was to provide recreation. The variety of
recreation provided depended on the park. As parks were to be planned preferably near a body of water, the park could provide
water recreation such as swimming, fishing, and boating. These recreational activities required bath houses and the construction
of piers and boat ramps. These buildings and structures were erected based upon the number of visitors expected at the park. The
trails were developed based on available land and accessibility for hikers.
The picnic grounds at the recreational areas were all located in shaded locations near the water in order to take advantage of the
spectacular views and cool breezes. Facilities at the four recreational areas included picnic shelters, fireplaces, toilets, and some
maintenance buildings, though only Prince Edward State Park had the typical CCC design for maintenance areas that included a
shop, a garage, and sundry storage buildings.
Perhaps the most important distinction that separated the RDAs from the state parks was that the recreational areas were initially
never intended for overnight use. As a result, certain types of buildings, such as ranger’s quarters, offices, bathhouses and
concessions areas, were never part of the original design plans. Also many of the construction details, such as stone culverts,
retaining walls and steps, are sparse or even absent from the recreational areas. In essence, even though the RDAs borrowed many
of the basic design elements found in the state parks, the four RDAs tended to be more modest undertakings.
The Formation of Holliday Lake State Park
The area encompassing Holliday Lake State Park and the surrounding state forest was originally settled and farmed in the early to
mid-nineteenth century. Little remains of this period except for a small family cemetery, located near the lake and boathouse area.
The small enclosed plot contains six stones marking the graves of the William A. Jones family, who came to the area in the 1830s
in search of gold. By the beginning of the Depression, the area remained largely agricultural and poor. As part of the ongoing
resettlement effort by the federal and state government, area farms were bought or seized in the hopes of reforesting the land and
creating a recreational area. The land used to create the Holliday Lake was owned by a local farming family, the Hollidays.
Construction of a 55-foot dam was begun at Fish Pond Creek in 1937, then damming efforts were relocated to Holliday Creek,
where a 150-acre manmade lake was completed a year later. Co-sponsoring the dam construction was the United States Navy,
which planned to use the area as an inland emergency landing base. However, the original height of the dam was abandoned with
the discovery of the Jones family burial ground. Because the owners could not be located to move the graves, the Navy
abandoned its original plan and the height of the dam was scaled back. Construction of park facilities was done by local residents
11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
through the WPA program. A WPA camp, now the site of the Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, located across from the park, housed the
workers. The camp included several wood frame cabins and a dining hall.5 The WPA camp was slightly less militaristic in its
design and function than the CCC camps. The camp also did not provide as much housing because many of the WPA workers
commuted from their local residences to build the dam and reforest the land at and near Holliday Lake. In 1942, the
Commonwealth of Virginia, through an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, received a 99-year lease and
took over the management of the recreational area. In 1972, with the addition of campgrounds, the recreational area became
Holliday Lake State Park.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
Endnotes
i
Ney C.Landrum, The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review (Columbia: University of Missouri Press,
2004), 143.
Landrum, 144-145; Land and Community Associates, “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and
Recreation” (July 1988), 42-43.
2
Landrum, p. 144; Jennifer Catherine Reut et al., “Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs, including CCC
and WPA, 1929-1936,” Multiple Property Document Form (2012), 9-11.
3
4
Reut et al., 11.
5
National Register Nomination, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, 2010, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 0065009.
12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Association of Southeastern State Park Directors. Histories of Southeastern State Parks. Printed for the Southeastern
State Park Directors, 1977.
Carr, Ethan. "Wilderness By Design: Landscape Architecture and the National Park Service." Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1998.
Clancy, Patrick. “Conserving the Youth: The Civilian Conservation Corps Experience in the Shenandoah National
Park.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 1997 105(4): 439-472.
Clark, Thomas D. The Greening of the South: The Recovery of Land and Forest. Lexington: The University Press of
Kentucky, 1984.
Cutler, Phoebe. The Public Landscape of the New Deal. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
Degler, Carl N. Ed. The New Deal. Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Books, 1970.
Heinemann, Ronald L. Depression and the New Deal in Virginia: The Enduring Dominion. Charlottesville:
University of Virginia Press, 1983.
Hudgins, R.B. “Holliday Lake,” 2001 Appomattox County Virginia Heritage Book, Appomattox VA: Appomattox
Historical Society, 2001.
Land and Community Associates. “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and Recreation.” July 1988.
Landrum, Ney C. The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review. Columbia: University of Missouri Press,
2004.
Reut, Jennifer Catherine, Amy Ross Moses, Lena Sweeten McDonald, Bryan Clark Green, Jean Olstad McRae, and
Marc Christian Wagner. Multiple Property Documentation Form, Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs,
Including CCC and WPA. 2012. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 134-5088.
Ruffin, Charlotte and Celeste T. Buccola, eds. C.C.C. Memories. Chesterfield, Virginia: Pocahontas Chapter 124,
NACCCA, 1996.
Virginia Division of Parks and Recreation. Fifty Years and Still Growing. Richmond: Information Office, Division
of Parks and Recreation, n.d.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. “Holliday Lake State Park.”
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/hol.shtml.
Wagner, Marc C., and Robert R. Meadows. National Register Nomination, Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center.
2010. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 006-5009.
13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested)
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
x State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources,
Name of repository: Richmond, VA
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR no. 006-0051
10. Geographical Data
255.29 (includes 150Acreage of Property acre lake)
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage.)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
Datum 27
1 17
Zone
708280
Easting
4142055
Northing
3 17
Zone
708960
Easting
4142100
Northing
2
17
Zone
708860
Easting
4142110
Northing
4 17
Zone
709475
Easting
4141900
Northing
5
17
Zone
709535
Easting
4141640
Northing
7 17
Zone
709160
Easting
4140650
Northing
6
17
Zone
709265
Easting
4140725
Northing
8
708835
Easting
4140680
Northing
9
17
Zone
708295
Easting
4141680
Northing
17
Zone
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary is shown as 255.29 acres on the scaled survey map from January 9, 1991, as prepared by Charles H. Fleet
& Associates, PC, and recorded in the Appomattox County Clerk’s Office as Plat Book 9, Page 73. The boundary
encompasses all that which is known as Holliday Lake State Park and roughly surrounds Holiday Lake, with most of the
eastern edge bounded by Holiday and Forbes Creeks, and the western edge bounded by Sanders Creek
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundary for the Holliday Lake State Park is all that which was owned and operated as the Holliday Lake State Park
by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation within the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest in
Appomattox County, Virginia, along the Buckingham County line at the time the nomination was prepared. The boundary
encompasses all of the architecturally and historically significant features and events associated with the Holliday Lake
State Park during its period of significance.
14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Meg Greene Malvasi/ DHR Staff
organization William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research/
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
August 2008/September 2012
date
street & number 13803 Sterlings Bridge Road/ 2801 Kensington
Avenue
804-763-3595/ 804-482-6439
telephone
city or town Midlothian/ Richmond
VA
state
23112/
zip code 23221
e-mail
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi (pixels per inch)
or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
All photographs taken by Meg Greene Malvasi, April 29, 2008
Digital images stored at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, East view
1 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, Roof detail
2 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, Interior detail
3 of 15
View:
Photo:
Well House, West view
4 of 15
View:
Photo:
Drainage Area, South view
5 of 15
View:
Retaining Wall, East view
15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo:
6 of 15
View:
Photo:
Contact Station, East elevation
7 of 15
View:
Photo:
Cabin, West elevation
8 of 15
View:
Photo:
Holliday Lake Beach Area and Lake, South view
9 of 15
View:
Photo:
Bridge, South view
10 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Area, Southwest view
11 of 15
View:
Photo:
Concession Building, North elevation
12 of 15
View:
Photo:
Jones Family Cemetery, South view
13 of 15
View:
Photo:
Lake and Dock, South view
14 of 15
View:
Photo:
Park Office, South and west elevations
15 of 15
Property Owner:
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
street & number 203 Governor Street
telephone 800-933-7275
city or town Richmond
state
VA
zip code
23219
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
1: A Critical Review, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004, p. 143.
2 Landrum, pp. 144-145, Land and Community Associates, “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and Recreation,” July 1988, pp. 42-43.
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OMB No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
VLR
09/18/2008
NRHP 10/31/2012
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entrles, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Holliday Lake State Park
other nameslsite number
Holiday Lake State Park; Holiday Lake Recreational Area; VDHR No. 006-0051
not for publication
street & number 2759 State Park Road
city or town
state
Appomattox
Virginia
vicinity
code
VA
county Appomattox
code
011
zip code 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic PreservationAct, as amended,
x
nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
I hereby certify that this
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
In my opinion, the p r o p e r t y x meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
1 -national
x statewide
-local
1I - -
Signature of certiiin~oficialKitle
I Vlrgjn~aJepartrnent of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria
I Signature of commenting official
1
Title
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
I
1
entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-
-other
(explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
(Check only one box.)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
x
private
public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
x
building(s)
district
site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
Contributing
1
1
8
0
10
Noncontributing
16
1
2
0
19
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs,
Including CCC and WPA
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor recreation
RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor recreation
LANDSCAPE/Park
LANDSCAPE/Park
TRANSPORTATION/Road-related
TRANSPORTATION/Road-related
TRANSPORTATION/Pedestrian-related
TRANSPORTATION/Pedestrian-related
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/
Waterworks
Waterworks
DOMESTIC/Camp
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions.)
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER/ Rustic
foundation:
OTHER/ Post-Modern
walls:
BRICK; WOOD
roof:
ASPHALT
CONCRETE
other:
2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
A winding dirt and gravel road from Virginia State Route 15 leads to Holliday Lake State Park, located near the center of the
Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest. The park encompasses almost 255 acres, the center of which is the 150-acre manmade
lake, one of the largest in the area. In addition to the lake, the park’s resources include a 30-site campground, a large shaded
picnic area, two picnic shelters, two playgrounds, a boat ramp, a seasonal full-service concession stand, restroom facilities, a
camp store, and boat houses/sheds for canoe, rowboat and paddle boat rentals. Trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding cut
through the park. The lake and adjoining beach area offers swimming and fishing. In addition, the park includes a single cabin
used for Young Women’s Christian Council activities, two residences for park rangers, a park office, two maintenance sheds, and
a well house. Additional structures contained within the park include bridges, a dam, and a spillway.
The park was one of four recreational development areas (RDAs) developed by the Virginia Division of Forestry (now the
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation) working in conjunction with New Deal organizations, including the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. While built
during the same period as many of the National Park Service’s state parks, Holliday Lake was not held to the same strict design
standards. Still, the influence of the National Park Service’s design and layout can be seen at Holliday Lake State Park.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The topography of the park consists largely of gently sloping hills and some low-lying areas around the lake and beach. In general
the layout of the park creates discrete areas for particular activities. Recreational activities such as swimming, boating, and fishing
are concentrated around the lake area and campgrounds. The major unifying elements at Holliday Lake as well as the other
recreational demonstration areas were similar to those at the six CCC state parks created from 1933 to 1936. For Holliday Lake,
the major park components consist of the vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems, the beach and swimming areas, the picnic
areas, the dam and spillway, and the campgrounds.
The vehicular circulation system was designed in such a manner as to carefully follow the contours of the land, using a minimum
amount of cut and fill. The circulation system was also designed to take the maximum advantage of possible views. In keeping
with the overall design of the other state parks, a main road with a long entry drive that passes through extensive and undeveloped
park land leads directly from the entrance of the park to the center of the park activity, that is the beach/swimming area at
Holliday Lake. From the park’s main road branched a series of secondary and tertiary loop roads that pass through the
campground and maintenance areas. This system allowed daytime park visitors to travel directly to the day use area. With the
addition of the campground area by 1972, the road system provided campers with greater privacy and quiet. All of the major
roads as well as the minor ones with severe slopes were lined with stone culverts, of which one survives today, as well as coursed
rubble-constructed retaining walls.
Right before entering the main recreational area of the park, located at the top of a slightly sloping hill is the park office. Built
c.1980, the one-story, four-bay, frame and vinyl-sided building rests on a concrete block foundation. The side-gable roof has a
raking cornice and slightly overhanging eaves; a small square metal vent is located in the gable ends. The off-center entrance
door on the southeast corner of the south wall consists of a single-leaf wood paneled door with nine-lights. A similar door is
located to the west of the main entrance. Window openings consist of long single vertical lights. To the west of the park office is
one of the few historic buildings in the park: a one-story, one-bay, well house built in 1939. Constructed of brick laid in stretcher
bond and resting on a low concrete foundation, the building has a front-gable roof covered with slate shingles, slightly
overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and exposed rafter tails. The slightly inset, off-center entrance consists of a wood, single-leaf
door with two raised panels and six-lights. A single four-over-four wood sash window with a rowlock brick sill is located on the
east wall.
The central water feature at Holliday Lake is the 150-acre manmade lake. Like Virginia’s other New Deal-era state parks, the
central water feature played an important role as an organizing element in the overall design. Since the beach area was planned to
be the focus of park activity, the main park road and many of the paths and trails were designed to lead directly to the water,
3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
providing alluring glimpses of it along the way. The picnic areas at all of the parks were also located directly on the water but
often away from the central swimming area, providing the opportunity to see a different view of the water feature. The basic
components of the Holliday Lake beach area include a guarded swimming area and a central concession and bathhouse located in
one building. There is also a new dock area with a boathouse and storage buildings nearby. All of these buildings were
constructed over a period from the 1970s to 2007.
According to NPS park designs, picnic areas were to be sited near the water, to take advantage of both views and cool breezes.
The focal point of the picnic areas at all the RDAs was the picnic shelter. The typical picnic shelter was an open, side-gableroofed structure built of rough-hewn timbers, with a built-in seating area at both ends, and a slate stone floor. There are two
picnic shelters at Holliday Lake. Shelter #1 was constructed in the Rustic style. This style stressed simplicity in design, use of
native building materials, and avoidance of overly perfect construction lines to evoke a look not unlike something built by a
pioneer craftsman. The building is constructed of heavy, hewn, undressed rounded logs, using mortise and tenon construction,
heavy nails and wood pegs. The side-gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice, and
rounded exposed rafter tails. The roof’s interior features exposed beam construction with heavy log king trusses in the gable ends.
Small log braces are found at each corner of the structure, and the corner posts are connected by a simple log railing. The interior
of the picnic shelter includes built-in wood benches, a heavy slate floor, and a small grouping of picnic tables. Shelter #2, built
sometime during the 1970s, is a simple, one-story, side-gable-roofed picnic shelter constructed of large square wood posts with
simple wood braces. The side-gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and
exposed rafter tails. The gable ends are covered with vertical boards. The shelter rests on a concrete slab foundation. Freestanding stone fireplaces for cookouts were often provided, as well as matching stone incinerators for safe and convenient ash and
trash disposal.
In 1972, the park added a campground area and became the Holliday Lake State Park. In creating the campground area, the park
followed previous design plans that placed the campground area off the main road, removed from the activity and noise of the day
use areas of the park. Initially, tent and trailer camping areas were situated in separate but adjacent locations; however, later park
designs have both tents and trailers sharing the same area.
Maintenance areas at all state parks were separated from the central recreational area. Maintenance yards at most parks included a
garage, shop, storage buildings, boathouse or blacksmith shop, oil house, water tower, filtration building, net house, and pump
house. Typically, these buildings were placed in a rectangular arrangement around an open work yard accessible to both cars and
larger trucks. Maintenance structures in the Virginia state parks were characteristically modest, gable-roofed, board-and-batten
structures painted a dull tan color, with a minimal number of doors and windows. At Holliday Lake, however, the maintenance
area is much smaller, consisting of only two garage/shop buildings that were built during the 1970s.
Dwellings were constructed at all of the parks for the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and park rangers. The chief
ranger’s house and the rangers’ bunkhouse were typically located immediately adjacent to the maintenance area. At Holliday
Lake, the chief ranger’s house is found directly to the north of the maintenance area. The dwelling, a c. 1939 bungalow-styled
building, was originally located much closer to the lake area. The building was moved to its current site sometime during the
1970s. The superintendent’s residence, built during the 1990s, lies to the north of this dwelling, located not far from the main
park entrance. Both dwellings are far removed from the center of park activity.
Inventory of Resources:
The following inventory of resources was conducted in 2008 and reflects resources that are contributing and noncontributing to the historic district based on the period of significance and the integrity of the resources.
Picnic Shelter #1, DHR # 006-0051-0001
Contributing (1-Structure)
This small, one-story, 1930s picnic shelter is a vernacular interpretation of the Rustic style. It is constructed of heavy,
hewn, undressed rounded logs, using mortise and tenon construction, heavy nails and wood pegs. The side-gable roof
covered with asphalt shingles has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice, and rounded exposed rafter tails. The roof’s
interior features exposed beam construction with heavy log king trusses in the gable ends; small log braces are found at
each corner of the structure; the corner posts are connected by a simple log railing. The interior of the picnic shelter
includes wood, built-in benches, a heavy slate floor and a small grouping of picnic tables.
4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Picnic Shelter #2, DHR # 006-0051-0002
NC (1-Structure)
This c.1970 simple one-story, side-gabled picnic shelter is constructed of large square wood posts with simple wood
braces. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and exposed
rafter tails. The gable ends are covered with vertical boards. The shelter rests on a concrete slab foundation.
Wellhouse, DHR # 006-0051-0003
Contributing (1-Building)
This c. 1939, one-story, one-bay well house is constructed of brick laid in stretcher bond and rests on a low concrete
foundation. The front-gabled roof is covered with slate shingles, and has slightly overhanging eaves, a raking cornice
and exposed rafter tails. The slightly inset, off-center entrance consists of a wood, single-leaf door with two raised
panels and six lights. A single four-over-four wood sash window with a rowlock brick sill is located on the east wall.
Dam/Spillway/Bridge/Lake, DHR # 006-0051-0004
Contributing (3-Structure, 1-Site)
The bridge, dam and spillway are one of the three contributing elements that helped create the central water feature
of the Holliday Lake State Park. The bridge, along with the dam and spillway, was an important element in the
overall park design of which the water feature, in this case the manmade lake, provided the central focus. The dam
and bridge are of concrete construction.
Observation Deck, DHR # 006-0051-0005
NC (1-Structure)
Overlooking the lake is a large, rectangular observation deck constructed of recycled wood. A simple square wood
railing encloses the deck.
Boathouse, DHR # 006-0051-0006
NC (3-Building)
Part of a small grouping of marine-related buildings is this one-story, one-bay, frame boat house, sheathed in vinyl
“novelty” siding. The side-gabled roof has overhanging eaves and is covered with asphalt shingles; a small ventilator
is found on the north slope of the roof. A single-leaf modern metal door with nine-lights is located on the north wall;
small one-over-one vinyl sash windows are located on the west wall. A small enclosed shed addition is attached to
the south wall of the building with a sliding window. To the east of the boathouse are a frame shed and a frame,
gable-front roof storage building. Both buildings are clad in the same type of vinyl siding. All were constructed c.
2005.
Concession Building, DHR # 006-0051-0007
NC (1-Building)
This c.1972, large, one-story, L-shaped, frame building is covered with vinyl “novelty” siding and rests on a low, slab
concrete foundation. The shed roof is covered with asphalt shingles. A shed-roofed pent marks concession windows;
the slightly inset entrance has double-leaf commercial metal and glass doors.
Restroom, DHR # 006-0051-0008
NC (1-Building)
This c.1972, one-story, two-bay, frame, vinyl-sided building rests on a low concrete slab foundation. The side-gabled
roof features a slight pent on either gable end. Two privacy fences mark the single-leaf metal entrance doors on the
north and south walls of the building. On the west wall are two window openings.
Park Office, DHR # 006-0051-0009
NC (1-Building)
This main office, built c.1979, is a one-story, four-bay, frame, vinyl-sided building resting on a concrete block
foundation. The side-gabled roof has a raking cornice and slightly overhanging eaves; a small square metal vent is
located in the gable ends. The off-center entrance door on the southeast corner of the south wall consists of a single-leaf
wood paneled door with nine-lights. A similar door is located to the west of the main entrance. Window openings
consist of long single vertical lights.
Drainage Culvert, DHR # 006-0051-0010
Contributing (2-Structure)
One of the few surviving road-related historic resources in the park are slate drainage culverts. They are one example of
5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the type of internal improvements and construction employed by the CCC/WPA in building the state parks’ circulation
systems in Virginia during the Great Depression. There are two culverts that remain at the property. Both are located
under State Park Road, and consist of a corrugated metal pipe surrounded on three sides by rocks.
Retaining Wall, DHR # 006-0051-0011
Contributing (1-Structure)
This random rubble rock retaining wall is located underneath the west side of the main park road.
Cabin, DHR # 006-0051-0012
NC (4-Buildings)
This c. 2007, one-story, three-bay single-wide trailer is covered with a wood log-type veneer. The side-gabled roof has
slightly overhanging eaves, a raking cornice and is covered with standing seam metal. The slightly off-center entrance
door on the west wall consists of a single-leaf wood paneled door. Window openings have vinyl six-over-six sash.
Attached to the rear of the cabin is a modern wood deck and stairs. This cabin/bunkhouse is one example of a newly
stylized “rustic” style seen in the early twenty-first century state park buildings and structures using single-wide trailers
and log veneer. The cabin is the main building in a small compound that includes a frame, side-gabled picnic shelter, a
frame, side-gabled bathhouse, and a small frame, gable-front shed.
Restroom, DHR # 006-0051-0013
NC (1-Building)
This c. 1975 one-story, five-bay, frame building is sheathed in vinyl siding and rests on a low slab concrete
foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingle and has overhanging eaves. A slightly projecting,
shed-roofed block with vinyl-covered privacy walls marks the single-leaf metal entrance doors on the east wall. A
central single-leaf metal door marks a closet area. On either side of each entrance is a small bank of windows. To the
north of the shed-roofed block is another privacy wall that contains a vending machine.
Contact Station, DHR # 006-0051-0014
NC (1-Building)
Marking the formal entrance to the park is this one-story, two-bay frame contact station, sheathed in vinyl siding and
resting on a poured concrete slab foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles and has a boxed
cornice. On the east and west walls are a slightly off-center single-leaf wood entrance door with a sliding glass
window to one side.
Maintenance/Shop Sheds, DHR # 006-0051-0015
NC (2-Buildings)
Standing side-by-side are two, one-story, side-gabled machine shops/sheds. The larger of the two is frame, covered
with corrugated metal siding; the side-gabled roof is covered with corrugated metal. On the east wall are two large
garage door bays. The north wall and the southeast corner of the east wall have sliding glass windows. To the south of
this first shed is a frame and corrugated metal shed with one large bay opening. Its side-gabled roof is covered with
asphalt shingles.
Head Ranger House, DHR # 006-0051-0016
NC (1-Building)
This c.1939 one-story, three-bay, frame, single-family bungalow dwelling is covered with vinyl siding and rests on a
raised concrete block foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingles; an interior brick chimney with
metal vent is located on the rear east slope of the roof. Located in each gable end is a triangular metal vent. A onestory, shed-roofed porch is supported by square wood posts; the central entrance is marked by a single-leaf wood door.
Window openings have vinyl six-over-six sash. Attached to the rear northeast corner of the house is a small shedroofed addition. A one-story, side-gabled addition is attached to the north wall of the house.
The house has undergone major alteration, as seen in the porch with the addition of a new wood balustrade and
handicapped ramp, new windows, and the addition of a rear deck. The house has also been moved from its original
location near the lake to its present site.
Park Superintendent House, DHR # 006-0051-0017
NC (1-Building)
This c.2005, one-story, four-bay, frame, vinyl-sided Minimal Traditional dwelling rests on a low concrete block
6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
foundation. The side-gabled roof is covered with asphalt shingle and has slightly overhanging eaves; on the north wall
is an exterior brick chimney with corbelled cap. A two-bay cut-away engaged porch is supported by square wood posts
connected to a simple wood balustrade and is located on the northwest corner of the façade. The off-center entrance has
a single-leaf wood paneled door. Window openings consist of single and paired six-over-six vinyl sash.
Cemetery, DHR # 006-0051-0018
NC (1-Site)
Located near the lake and to the west of Picnic Shelter #1 is the Jones family burying ground. The small cemetery
consists of six stones marking gravesites dating from the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The cemetery is not
associated with Holliday Lake State Park and is a non-contributing resource to the Holliday Lake State Park Historic
District.
Circulation System, DHR # 006-0051-0019
Contributing (1-Structure)
The circulation system at Holliday Lake State Park consists of a main roadway that enters the park and circles
around the northernmost edge of Holliday Lake. In addition, running to the west of the main road and contact station
is a small series of interconnecting roads for the campsite area. Other resources included within the circulation
system include gutters, curbs, and steps. Pedestrian circulation consists of a series of walking trails that run to the
east and west of the park’s main area, concrete walkways to the concession area and restroom, and a gravel walkway
that leads to Picnic Shelter #1.
7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing.)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1937-1942
Significant Dates
1939
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
A
Owned by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Period of Significance (justification)
The period of significance encompasses the original construction of Holliday Lake as a recreational development area
during the New Deal.
Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary)
N/A
8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance and
applicable criteria.)
The area encompassing Holliday Lake State Park and the surrounding state forest was originally settled and farmed in the earlyto-mid-nineteenth century. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government, through the newly-formed
Resettlement Administration, began buying area farms in the hopes of reforesting the land and creating a recreational
development area (RDA). Construction of a dam was begun at Fish Pond Creek, then relocated to Holliday Creek where a lake
could be developed. Unlike state parks, which were created based on master plans prepared in conjunction with the National Park
Service, RDAs such as Holliday Lake were designed and built without formal plans. Both national and state parks employed the
style known as Rustic architecture. This style stressed simplicity in design, use of native building materials, and avoidance of
overly perfect construction lines to evoke a look not unlike something built by a pioneer craftsman. The end result at informally
planned RDAs was a more vernacular expression of the Rustic architecture designs and workmanship than what was seen in the
national parks. The efforts of the Forestry Service and the CCC/WPA were focused on clearing and restoring the park lands,
resulting in very few buildings and structures at Holliday Lake. Those buildings and structures that still remain from this period,
while appearing crudely built, are still excellent examples of Rustic-inspired design and craftsmanship and illustrate the
development of Virginia state parks during the Great Depression. The park is eligible for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with CCC and WPA park development projects and Criterion C for its park
plan The park retains statewide significance with a period of significance of 1937-1942 and is being listed under the Virginia
State Parks Built by New Deal Programs, including CCC and WPA Multiple Property Document.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)
The Formation of Recreational Demonstration Areas and the CCC
By 1933, as the United States grappled with the economic and human toll of the Great Depression, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt entertained a number of ideas to offer relief and hope to the American people. The most daunting task facing the
president was to create meaningful jobs for the large numbers of unemployed Americans. Of particular concern was the lack of
employment opportunities for young men.
On April 17, 1933, Roosevelt implemented one of the most successful programs of his administration: the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC). Unlike the National Relief Agency (NRA), the CCC did more than offer aid. The CCC provided jobs through a
variety of projects that included the rehabilitation and development of national and state parks and other recreation facilities. The
impact of these efforts was profound as countless young men helped shape the physical and cultural landscape of the nation’s
parks.
On May 6, 1935, Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 734 forming the Works Projects Administration. In 1939 the
organization was renamed the Works Progress Administration. The WPA had two functions: to organize small projects with
tangible results across the nations, creating work for the unemployed, and to coordinate the Works Program. Unlike the CCC,
which employed only men between the ages of 18 and 25, the WPA employed mostly middle aged men, and some women. The
WPA workers were typically recruited from nearby locations for specific projects.
The efforts of the Roosevelt administration to deal with parks fell under the auspices of another agency, the Public Works
Administration (PWA). In July 1933, a National Planning Board, later called the National Resources Board, was charged with
planning “recreational requirements” and “recreational procedures,” particularly with regard to national parks. The board also
wanted to be as inclusive as possible and, by 1934 and 1935, enlisted the help of states to form their own planning boards to
begin creating recreation projects that would, among other things, utilize the CCC and WPA. 1
Recreational demonstration areas (RDAs) were established during President Roosevelt’s tenure in addition to the new state parks.
These facilities were the brainchild of Roosevelt’s Land Planning Committee and the National Park Service. Both agencies
agreed that one of the most pressing needs in many urban areas were large natural areas to provide recreational outlets for people,
9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
particularly those of lower and middle incomes. This need would be filled with the creation of the RDAs, a concept that was
enthusiastically supported by the Land Planning Committee. Unlike the state parks, the emphasis of the RDAs was on large group
recreational activities, rather than family outings or day trips. Lodges and cabins that could accommodate groups of campers for
extended periods were constructed and used by civic or welfare organizations that provided recreation for disadvantaged children.
The NPS envisioned the creation of large natural areas ranging in size from 2,000 to 10,000 acres in which low-maintenance
camping and picnic facilities would be built.2
Acquiring the land for new parks and RDAs initiated a controversial experiment in the relocation of people and the reclamation of
land. Carried out under the auspices of the Land Planning Committee (and later the Rural Resettlement Administration), the program
would reclaim thousands of acres of land exhausted from ruinous farm practices, particularly in the American South, and that had
become a tax burden to the state. Some of these lands were earmarked for recreational demonstration areas, to be absorbed into the
state and National Park Systems. Estimates suggest that approximately 100 million acres, on which as many as 650,000 families
lived a marginal existence, could be reclaimed for public use. Approximately $25 million from the Public Works Administration was
appropriated for land acquisition.3
In Virginia, government assistance and rural rehabilitation programs under the Resettlement Administration moved hundreds of
families off the land. But not everyone found the government’s actions laudable. The human cost could be devastating as the
programs forced small farmers and their families to seek other kinds of work, which in many cases they were ill-suited or illequipped to do. Legal battles lasting for years were frequent, as the state struggled to move reluctant landowners off property now
desired by the government. Eventually the state won the authority to condemn occupied land and evict the families living there.4
Between 1933 and 1948, four RDAs—Bear Creek Lake, Holliday Lake, Goodwin Lake, and Prince Edward Lake—were
developed by the Forest Service and built by the WPA and CCC. Although these sites were not developed within the design
framework of the NPS, they share some design features and approaches to planning, including long entry drives, organizing water
features, and structures built out of natural materials meant to blend with the landscape.
The design of the four Virginia RDAs was in large part influenced by the conservation guidelines, aesthetics, and planning
processes developed by the National Park Service for use in the National Parks and later in Virginia state parks. The NPS park
design process, known as the Master Plan process, was developed over the course of several years as a way to accommodate the
NPS’s dual obligations of conservation of natural resources and provision of those resources for human enjoyment. CCC and
WPA personnel and park administrators in Virginia drew on the existing Master Plan process, as well as NPS personnel, to
develop master plans for the first six CCC Virginia State Parks. These master plans were then modified and implemented to some
degree when the Virginia State Park Service began drawing up plans to create four recreational sites, one of which was Holliday
Lake State Park.
The Virginia RDAs have a number of elements and approaches first developed or planned for the national and state parks. Like
the parks, the RDAs were to be no more than a day’s drive from a major population center. A body of water (in the case of the
RDAs, a manmade body of water) provided a central organizing feature as well as the site of several types of recreation. Like the
state parks, the RDAs were also discrete in their organization, separating the various uses of the area such as day use, service
areas, ranger buildings, active recreational areas, and campsites.
In addition, the landscape and architectural aesthetics of the National Park Service guided the creation of the RDAs in Virginia.
These ideas shaped relations between the natural and man-made landscape. Local materials and building traditions, such as
rough-hewn log picnic shelters or concrete block buildings, were used. Paths, stairs, trails, and bridges were unobtrusively built
into the landscape with local stones. Dams, retaining walls, and spillways suggested natural forms without imitating them. Single
entrance points into the parks were along carefully planned curving roads with intermittent views of open landscape. The
conformity of the aesthetic and planning principles in the Virginia parks to those of national parks was underscored by the
inclusion of buildings from the Virginia parks in the three-volume 1938 edition of Albert H. Good’s Parks and Recreation
Structures.
The CCC in Virginia undertook a massive construction effort in building not only six state parks, but with the WPA also laid the
ground work for the four RDAs. Unlike the six state parks that relied heavily on the labor of CCC, the four RDAs had more
limited CCC/WPA input. In some cases, the efforts of the CCC/WPA primarily focused on initial construction of the
RDA road systems or in clearing or reforesting the land.
10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Park Design Concepts and Recreational Area Design
Despite the less grand nature of the Recreational Development Areas, they were still influenced to a great degree by
the master plan designs drawn up by the NPS. Although simpler in execution and perhaps even cruder in
architectural expression, the RDAs still captured the essence of what the national parks and Virginia state parks were
trying to accomplish.
The first impression of the park and its associated buildings and natural areas were important in the planning process. As such, it
was important that the road system work successfully in the overall design of the RDAs. The RDAs, like the state parks, had
roadways and circulation systems that emphasized and preserved the natural beauty of the area. In addition, the circulation system
organized the park and connected the various areas of the RDAs to the main entrance. In general, the impact of the roadways on
the surrounding environment was to be minimal and was to blend in with the natural features of the park. The roads were also to
have a minimal impact on existing landforms. The RDA road systems were organized into major and minor roadways. The major
roadways were comprised to the park’s entrance road and roads leading to major recreational features in the park. The minor
roads were spurs off the major road, did not connect to other roadways, and terminated at dead ends. These minor roads were also
not designed to accommodate heavy traffic. Examples of major roadways are the roads leading to natural areas, to the beach and
lake area, and the entrance road. Minor roadways are those leading to camping areas, cabin areas, park residences, and
maintenance and shop areas.
An integral part of the park layout and use was the creation of a trail system, which allowed visitors to view the natural beauty of
the park. The main purpose of the park, in addition to providing locations for sleeping, was to provide recreation. The variety of
recreation provided depended on the park. As parks were to be planned preferably near a body of water, the park could provide
water recreation such as swimming, fishing, and boating. These recreational activities required bath houses and the construction
of piers and boat ramps. These buildings and structures were erected based upon the number of visitors expected at the park. The
trails were developed based on available land and accessibility for hikers.
The picnic grounds at the recreational areas were all located in shaded locations near the water in order to take advantage of the
spectacular views and cool breezes. Facilities at the four recreational areas included picnic shelters, fireplaces, toilets, and some
maintenance buildings, though only Prince Edward State Park had the typical CCC design for maintenance areas that included a
shop, a garage, and sundry storage buildings.
Perhaps the most important distinction that separated the RDAs from the state parks was that the recreational areas were initially
never intended for overnight use. As a result, certain types of buildings, such as ranger’s quarters, offices, bathhouses and
concessions areas, were never part of the original design plans. Also many of the construction details, such as stone culverts,
retaining walls and steps, are sparse or even absent from the recreational areas. In essence, even though the RDAs borrowed many
of the basic design elements found in the state parks, the four RDAs tended to be more modest undertakings.
The Formation of Holliday Lake State Park
The area encompassing Holliday Lake State Park and the surrounding state forest was originally settled and farmed in the early to
mid-nineteenth century. Little remains of this period except for a small family cemetery, located near the lake and boathouse area.
The small enclosed plot contains six stones marking the graves of the William A. Jones family, who came to the area in the 1830s
in search of gold. By the beginning of the Depression, the area remained largely agricultural and poor. As part of the ongoing
resettlement effort by the federal and state government, area farms were bought or seized in the hopes of reforesting the land and
creating a recreational area. The land used to create the Holliday Lake was owned by a local farming family, the Hollidays.
Construction of a 55-foot dam was begun at Fish Pond Creek in 1937, then damming efforts were relocated to Holliday Creek,
where a 150-acre manmade lake was completed a year later. Co-sponsoring the dam construction was the United States Navy,
which planned to use the area as an inland emergency landing base. However, the original height of the dam was abandoned with
the discovery of the Jones family burial ground. Because the owners could not be located to move the graves, the Navy
abandoned its original plan and the height of the dam was scaled back. Construction of park facilities was done by local residents
11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
through the WPA program. A WPA camp, now the site of the Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, located across from the park, housed the
workers. The camp included several wood frame cabins and a dining hall.5 The WPA camp was slightly less militaristic in its
design and function than the CCC camps. The camp also did not provide as much housing because many of the WPA workers
commuted from their local residences to build the dam and reforest the land at and near Holliday Lake. In 1942, the
Commonwealth of Virginia, through an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, received a 99-year lease and
took over the management of the recreational area. In 1972, with the addition of campgrounds, the recreational area became
Holliday Lake State Park.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
Endnotes
i
Ney C.Landrum, The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review (Columbia: University of Missouri Press,
2004), 143.
Landrum, 144-145; Land and Community Associates, “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and
Recreation” (July 1988), 42-43.
2
Landrum, p. 144; Jennifer Catherine Reut et al., “Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs, including CCC
and WPA, 1929-1936,” Multiple Property Document Form (2012), 9-11.
3
4
Reut et al., 11.
5
National Register Nomination, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, 2010, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 0065009.
12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Association of Southeastern State Park Directors. Histories of Southeastern State Parks. Printed for the Southeastern
State Park Directors, 1977.
Carr, Ethan. "Wilderness By Design: Landscape Architecture and the National Park Service." Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1998.
Clancy, Patrick. “Conserving the Youth: The Civilian Conservation Corps Experience in the Shenandoah National
Park.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 1997 105(4): 439-472.
Clark, Thomas D. The Greening of the South: The Recovery of Land and Forest. Lexington: The University Press of
Kentucky, 1984.
Cutler, Phoebe. The Public Landscape of the New Deal. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
Degler, Carl N. Ed. The New Deal. Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Books, 1970.
Heinemann, Ronald L. Depression and the New Deal in Virginia: The Enduring Dominion. Charlottesville:
University of Virginia Press, 1983.
Hudgins, R.B. “Holliday Lake,” 2001 Appomattox County Virginia Heritage Book, Appomattox VA: Appomattox
Historical Society, 2001.
Land and Community Associates. “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and Recreation.” July 1988.
Landrum, Ney C. The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review. Columbia: University of Missouri Press,
2004.
Reut, Jennifer Catherine, Amy Ross Moses, Lena Sweeten McDonald, Bryan Clark Green, Jean Olstad McRae, and
Marc Christian Wagner. Multiple Property Documentation Form, Virginia State Parks Built by New Deal Programs,
Including CCC and WPA. 2012. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 134-5088.
Ruffin, Charlotte and Celeste T. Buccola, eds. C.C.C. Memories. Chesterfield, Virginia: Pocahontas Chapter 124,
NACCCA, 1996.
Virginia Division of Parks and Recreation. Fifty Years and Still Growing. Richmond: Information Office, Division
of Parks and Recreation, n.d.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. “Holliday Lake State Park.”
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/hol.shtml.
Wagner, Marc C., and Robert R. Meadows. National Register Nomination, Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center.
2010. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Archives File 006-5009.
13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested)
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
x State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources,
Name of repository: Richmond, VA
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR no. 006-0051
10. Geographical Data
255.29 (includes 150Acreage of Property acre lake)
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage.)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
Datum 27
1 17
Zone
708280
Easting
4142055
Northing
3 17
Zone
708960
Easting
4142100
Northing
2
17
Zone
708860
Easting
4142110
Northing
4 17
Zone
709475
Easting
4141900
Northing
5
17
Zone
709535
Easting
4141640
Northing
7 17
Zone
709160
Easting
4140650
Northing
6
17
Zone
709265
Easting
4140725
Northing
8
708835
Easting
4140680
Northing
9
17
Zone
708295
Easting
4141680
Northing
17
Zone
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary is shown as 255.29 acres on the scaled survey map from January 9, 1991, as prepared by Charles H. Fleet
& Associates, PC, and recorded in the Appomattox County Clerk’s Office as Plat Book 9, Page 73. The boundary
encompasses all that which is known as Holliday Lake State Park and roughly surrounds Holiday Lake, with most of the
eastern edge bounded by Holiday and Forbes Creeks, and the western edge bounded by Sanders Creek
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundary for the Holliday Lake State Park is all that which was owned and operated as the Holliday Lake State Park
by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation within the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest in
Appomattox County, Virginia, along the Buckingham County line at the time the nomination was prepared. The boundary
encompasses all of the architecturally and historically significant features and events associated with the Holliday Lake
State Park during its period of significance.
14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Meg Greene Malvasi/ DHR Staff
organization William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research/
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
August 2008/September 2012
date
street & number 13803 Sterlings Bridge Road/ 2801 Kensington
Avenue
804-763-3595/ 804-482-6439
telephone
city or town Midlothian/ Richmond
VA
state
23112/
zip code 23221
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi (pixels per inch)
or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
All photographs taken by Meg Greene Malvasi, April 29, 2008
Digital images stored at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, East view
1 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, Roof detail
2 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Shelter #1, Interior detail
3 of 15
View:
Photo:
Well House, West view
4 of 15
View:
Photo:
Drainage Area, South view
5 of 15
View:
Retaining Wall, East view
15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
Holliday Lake State Park
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo:
6 of 15
View:
Photo:
Contact Station, East elevation
7 of 15
View:
Photo:
Cabin, West elevation
8 of 15
View:
Photo:
Holliday Lake Beach Area and Lake, South view
9 of 15
View:
Photo:
Bridge, South view
10 of 15
View:
Photo:
Picnic Area, Southwest view
11 of 15
View:
Photo:
Concession Building, North elevation
12 of 15
View:
Photo:
Jones Family Cemetery, South view
13 of 15
View:
Photo:
Lake and Dock, South view
14 of 15
View:
Photo:
Park Office, South and west elevations
15 of 15
Property Owner:
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
street & number 203 Governor Street
telephone 800-933-7275
city or town Richmond
state
VA
zip code
23219
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
1: A Critical Review, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004, p. 143.
2 Landrum, pp. 144-145, Land and Community Associates, “Survey of State-Owned Properties: Division of Parks and Recreation,” July 1988, pp. 42-43.
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed On
VLR: 12/14/2017
NRHP: 04/27/2018
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Gilliam-Irving Farm
Other names/site number: VDHR # 006-5006
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2012 Swan Road (State Route 600)
City or town: Pamplin
State: VA
County: Appomattox
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
___A
___B
_X_C
_x_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
__Virginia Department of Historic Resources________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
criteria.
x meets
does not meet the National Register
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____15______
______0______
buildings
______2______
______0______
sites
______0______
______0______
structures
______0______
______0______
objects
_____17______
______0______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ______0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
Domestic/single dwelling = House
Domestic/multiple dwelling = Duplex
Domestic/secondary structure = Milk House
Domestic/secondary structure = Smokehouse
Agriculture/animal facility = Chicken House
Agriculture/processing = Tobacco Barn
Agriculture/storage = Corn Crib
Agriculture/agricultural outbuilding = Shed
Agriculture/processing = Tobacco Barn
Funerary/cemetery = Cemetery
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
Domestic/single dwelling = House
Domestic/secondary structure = Shed
Funerary/cemetery = Cemetery
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EARLY REPUBLIC: Other
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: STONE, WOOD, METAL
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Gilliam-Irving Farm occupies a 109-acre tract bounded by Swan Road (State Route 600) to
the west and to the east by Vaughan’s Creek (a tributary of the Appomattox River), which also
serves as the dividing line between Appomattox and Prince Edward Counties. The farm consists
of two distinct groupings of resources, each clustered around a home site. The Gilliam-Irving
House group includes twelve contributing resources (ten buildings and two cemeteries) with
construction dates spanning from 1817 to 1940. Most buildings in this cluster are frame, with a
smaller number being of log construction. The second group of resources consists of a tenant
house and four outbuildings (all frame) built circa 1910. The entire site retains its character as a
19th and early 20th century family-run farmstead.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Inventory of Resources
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the nominated property. All
resources have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the area of
significance identified under Criterion C: Architecture, and based upon the period of significance
spanning the period 1817 to 1940.
1. Gilliam-Irving House
ca. 1817
Contributing Building
2. Gilliam-Irving Family Cemetery
ca. 1840
Contributing Site
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Slave Cemetery
4. Tobacco Barn No. 1
5. Smokehouse
6. Blacksmith Shop
7. Tobacco Barn No. 2
8. Tool Shed
9. Workshop
10. Milk House
11. Tenant Chicken House
12. Tenant Corn Crib
13. Tenant House
14. Tenant Shed
15. Tenant Smokehouse
16. Tractor Shed
17. Chicken House
ca. 1840
ca. 1840
ca. 1860
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1930
ca. 1940
Contributing Site
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
The property’s acreage consists of a mix of wooded areas and hay fields. Two hundred feet south
of the house is an earthen-dammed pond with an area of seven-tenths of an acre, and an old dirt
farm road meanders through the property in an irregular “U” shape. This road, which provides
access to the property from Swan Road, runs along the edge of a field, passes the family
cemetery, and then makes a sharp westward turn as it nears the main house. The road then
crosses a ravine to the west of the main house and passes a small tenant house before it
reconnects with Swan Road. The village of Hixburg (formerly known as Walker’s Church) is
three miles to the north, and the town of Pamplin City (also known as Pamplin’s Depot or
Merriman’s Shop) lies two miles to the south.
Gilliam-Irving House
ca. 1817
Contributing Building
Facing north, the Gilliam-Irving House is a one-and-a-half story frame dwelling resting on an
English basement of fieldstone. The gable roof is covered in standing-seam metal, and the entire
house is clad in smooth weatherboard siding. The façade (north elevation) features a full-width,
one-story hipped-roof porch, and an off-center single-leaf entry is flanked by a pair of two-overtwo double-hung sash windows. Above the porch is a shed-roofed dormer that occupies almost
the entire width of the house. The dormer is fenestrated by a single central two-over-two doublehung sash window with paired two-over-two windows on each side.
The east (left) gable end contains a massive double-shouldered chimney of dressed sandstone as
well as a basement entrance that is sheltered by a small shed roof. The south elevation is
dominated by a tall-narrow gable-roofed ell that projects from the main house. A one-story,
shed-roofed porch with internal staircase fills the right (east) side of this elevation, and permits
access to the main house via a single-leaf door. On the west (left) side of the ell is a low, shedroofed addition that forms a mudroom off the basement. The west gable end of the house
features a smaller, off-center, single-shoulder chimney constructed of hewn (but rougher than the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
main chimney) fieldstone. A single-leaf entry accessed by stone steps provides egress from the
rear room of the first floor.
The house rests on a high English basement which is divided into two rooms. The larger east
room contains a large cooking fireplace with stone arch, and exposed ceiling beams display
mortise-and-tenon construction techniques as well as pit saw and adze marks. A dogleg winding
staircase in the southwest corner of the main room leads up to the main floor.
The main floor contains three rooms. The parlor is accessed from the outside via two single-leaf
doorways; one on the north (front) wall and one on the south. The fireplace is on the east wall,
and is adorned by a simple molded shelf mantel flanked by a pair of six-panel closet doors. The
room is surrounded by wainscoting, and a staircase occupies the southwest corner. One unusual
feature of the house’s woodwork is the balustrade, which consists of balusters turned on their
axes to form a diamond, rather than square. A somewhat smaller room (perhaps originally a
dining room) occupies the rear of the right side of the house, contains a small fireplace, and is
rimmed by wainscoting and picture molding. A doorway from this room leads to an even smaller
room that occupies the front right side of the house.
The garret level contains two bedrooms separated by a hallway. The east bedroom contains a
fireplace which is flanked by a pair of six-panel casement windows. Most woodwork on this
floor level corresponds to the installation of the shed-roofed dormer, which provides light and
ventilation to these two bedrooms.
Gilliam-Irving Family Cemetery
ca. 1840
Contributing Site
Located approximately 250 feet northwest of the main house, the family cemetery occupies one
half of an acre on the west side of the drive leading from Swan Road to the house. It contains
seventy-one identified graves and at least twelve graves marked with only fieldstones. The
earliest known burial is that of James Gilliam, Jr. in 1841, and the latest burial is that of Martha
Kay Gilliam Settle in 2015.
Most footstones were removed by a caretaker and are stored in the tree line at the edge of the
cemetery. Notable graves include:
Name
James Gilliam, Jr.
Martha Mathews Gilliam
Born Died
1776 1841
1781 1872
Charles Henry Gilliam
Martha Jane Hurt Gilliam
1824 1906
1832 1907
Edward A. Irving
Lillie Gilliam Irving
1859 1917
1866 1940
Section 7 page 6
Note
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Capt. Edward James Irving
Frank McKinney Irving
William Jennings “died at Ligon”
Willis Seth Ligon
Unknown
Slave Cemetery
1919 1945
1891 1973
1864
Shot down in North Pacific
Civil War soldier
1821 1888
1865
ca. 1840
Civil War Soldier (Federal)
Contributing Site
Just to the west of the family cemetery is a cemetery purported to contain the graves of
approximately ten to fifteen enslaved persons. The burials are identifiable only by the
depressions in the field.
Tobacco Barn No. 1
ca. 1840
Contributing Building
The oldest section of this tobacco barn measures twenty-one feet square, and is constructed of a
mixture of hewn and round logs (both with v-notched corners). The gable roof is covered in
standing seam metal, and the building rests on a stone foundation. The vertical space is divided
into five “rooms” which are delineated by round logs with flattened ends that fit neatly between
the wall logs (this prevented the tier poles from rolling when workers were standing on them
[these flattened ends are thought to be an unusual feature for the area]). A later gable-roofed
frame addition projects from the north (right) gable end of the barn. This barn likely began its
life as a dry-curing house before being converted to fire-curing by an increase in height to the
overall structure. According to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Ronald L.
Giese, Ph.D., this is potentially an important transitional building between the air and fire
tobacco curing processes in this area of Piedmont Virginia.1
Smokehouse
ca. 1860
Contributing Building
This diminutive log building lies just to the west of the milk house. The round-notched logs are
chinked with boards and mud, and the gable roof is covered in standing seam tin. There is a lowheight board-and-batten door on the north side, and a small window opening on the east end.
Blacksmith Shop
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
This gable-fronted frame building is covered by a roof of standing-seam metal, and is clad in
vertical board siding with horizontal board siding in the gables. There is a board-and-batten door
on the east end, and an open shed-roofed addition projects from the north side.
Tobacco Barn No. 2
ca. 1900
Section 7 page 7
Contributing Building
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This large building measures approximately twenty by forty feet, and lies along the farm road
that connects the main house with the tenant house. It is divided into two sections, and the lower
portion of each section is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboards, while the upper portions are
clad in vertical-board siding. The entire building is covered by a standing-seam metal roof. Two
large, square openings with sliding doors provide access to the interior.
Tool Shed
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
Similar in form to the milk house, the tool shed is a rectangular, gable-ended frame building with
a standing seam metal roof and vertical board siding. A single vertical board door is on the north
side.
Workshop
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
The workshop is a small, gable-fronted building covered in standing seam metal and clad in
vertical board-and-batten siding. A single door constructed of the siding material is located on
the north end.
Milk House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The milk house is a small frame shed with a side gable roof covered in standing seam metal. The
walls of the building are clad in vertical board-and-batten siding. A single board-and-batten door
provides access to the interior space.
Tenant Chicken House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The largest of the tenant house outbuildings, the chicken house is a frame, gable-fronted building
clad in vertical board-and-batten siding. The roof is covered in standing seam metal, and a small
board-and-batten door is located on the north gable end. An open shed-roofed addition projects
from the east side of the building.
Tenant Corn Crib
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
This small frame building is similar in form to the smokehouse, in that it is square, has a shallow
shed roof, and is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard siding. An open doorway is located on
the building’s east end, and several small window openings are on the other elevations.
Tenant House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
Built in the early twentieth century, the tenant house lies approximately 425 feet southwest of the
main house, and is a one-and-a-half-story frame dwelling resting on stone piers. The side-gable
roof is covered in standing-seam metal, and the house is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard
siding. The four-bay façade consists of a pair of entry doors (the house was built as a duplex)
flanked by a six-over-six double-hung sash window on each side. A three-quarter-width shed
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
roof covers a one-story porch on the front of the house. A full-width, one-story shed-roofed
addition projects from the rear of the building.
The house contains a brick central flue chimney, but the portion above the roof has been
removed. Each half of the main block of the house has a single room downstairs and a single
room upstairs. Interior walls are clad in horizontal beaded matchboard, and doors have five
horizontal panels. A single door (contemporary with the others) connects both halves of the
house.
Tenant Shed
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
This small gable-fronted frame shed is covered by a standing seam metal roof and is clad in
vertical board siding. A board-and-batten door is on its west elevation, and a shed addition is on
its west elevation.
Tenant Smokehouse
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The tenant smokehouse is a small, square frame building covered by a shallow shed roof of
standing-seam metal and is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard siding. A single board-andbatten door is on the south elevation.
Tractor Shed
ca. 1930
Contributing Building
This long, low pole barn is largely open, except for its western and northeastern ends, which are
enclosed by vertical board siding. The building is covered by a three-part shed roof of standing
seam metal.
Chicken House
ca. 1940
Contributing Building
This low, one-story building is constructed of concrete masonry units and is covered by a
shallow shed roof of standing-seam metal. A single five-panel door provides access from the
north elevation, and the building is fenestrated by a combination of one-pane fixed-sash windows
and two-over-two, double-hung sash windows.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
Ca. 1817 – Ca. 1940
Significant Dates
Ca. 1817
1840
1910
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Constructed circa 1817 for James Gilliam, Jr. (1776-1841), the Gilliam-Irving Farm is one of the
earliest extant examples of an evolved middle-class farmstead in Appomattox County. The frame
house features restrained but elegant interior finishes and a massive chimney of dressed
sandstone. In addition to the main house, the property contains fourteen standing secondary
buildings and two known cemeteries. The Gilliam-Irving Farm has a period of significance
ranging from circa 1817 to circa 1940, beginning with the approximate date of the house’s initial
construction and ending with the period in which the last major alterations were made to the
house. It is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture for its distinct
original fabric, including fine stonework, unusual stair balusters, and a mid-nineteenth century
air-dried tobacco curing house with distinctive construction features. The property maintains
integrity of location, setting, materials, and workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historic Context
Formal English settlement along Vaughan’s Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River, began
in 1738 with patents of 2,000 and 2,630 acres issued to Charles Hudson and Michael Holland,
respectively, followed by numerous smaller patents over the next few decades. By the 1750s, the
population in western Amelia County had grown to necessitate the formation of a new county. In
1754, Prince Edward County was established with a court house at the village of Worsham.2
In 1817, William and Polly Black sold to James Gilliam, Jr., 266.5 acres along the “Charlotte
Road” (Swan Road) on the west side of Vaughan’s Creek for $2,400.00.3 Born in Goochland
County in 1776, Gilliam married Martha (Patsy) Mathews, daughter of the Reverend Philip
Mathews in 1798. The Mathews family was well-entrenched in the Vaughan’s Creek area,
having begun acquiring land there in the 1740s.4 Family history states that Gilliam’s father,
James Gilliam, Sr., made plans to move to Tennessee, but Reverent Mathews urged his son-inlaw (James Gilliam, Jr.) to remain in Prince Edward County so that his daughter Martha would
not be so far removed from home. Gilliam acquiesced and purchased the previously-mentioned
tract from William Black.5
According to family history, James and Martha Gilliam built the extant house soon after
purchasing the property, and indeed, when Prince Edward County land tax records began
specifically mentioning buildings in 1821, improvements valued at $600.00 were already
present; this value remained constant for the next three decades.6
By the early 1840s, the population density of western Prince Edward County had increased
considerably, and residents began petitioning for the establishment of a new county in order to
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
enjoy more convenient access to the courts. In April 1841, a referendum was held to decide if a
new county would be formed, and James Gilliam, Jr. voted against the measure at his local
polling place of Mathews’ Store at Walker’s Church (Hixburg). Gilliam, along with other
landowners along Vaughan’s Creek, likely had little to gain from a county division, as they lived
only thirteen miles from the present county seat at Worsham, and subdividing the county might
create a less convenient situation for them. Despite Gilliam’s vote, the General Assembly passed
a resolution in 1845 to create Appomattox County from portions of Prince Edward, Buckingham,
Charlotte, and Campbell Counties. The dividing line between Appomattox and Prince Edward
County was Vaughan’s Creek, bisecting the Gilliam family’s real estate interests in the
neighborhood.7
James Gilliam, Jr. died at the age of sixty-five in December 1841, leaving all his real and
personal property (including sixteen slaves) to his wife Martha.8 As a widow, she would continue
to successfully operate the farm at the subsistence level for three additional decades. In 1850,
Martha shared the house with Emma Gilliam, her four-year-old granddaughter. During the
1840s, Martha sold portions of the home farm, and by 1850 it consisted of only 100 acres, just
thirty-seven percent of the farm’s original size. Sixty acres of the farm were “improved,” or
planted, and were farmed by five slaves. She owned a small herd of livestock, which included
one horse, five head of cattle, six sheep, and twenty pigs. Crop production was minimal,
consisting of thirty-eight bushels of wheat, 225 bushels of corn, and 125 bushels of oats.9
By 1860, Martha had increased the arable acreage of her farm to seventy-five, but the production
remained like the previous decade, with one significant exception: the farm was now producing
1,000 pounds of tobacco. Since the number of slaves owned by Martha had decreased to three, it
is likely that the tobacco crop was being farmed by slaves owned by another family member.10 It
is probable that the appearance of tobacco on the 1860 Agricultural Census signified the reintroduction of the crop to the Gilliam Farm, as the tobacco barn on the property is thought to
have been constructed between 1830 and 1850. As described in a 2004 survey report of Virginia
tobacco houses, the barn possesses several characteristics that are unusual for the area, including
the horizontally-installed lap siding at the gables and the lack of square-hewn top plates as found
on area buildings constructed in the later nineteenth century.11
While the Gilliam-Irving Farm lies in a relatively isolated location today, its neighborhood was
the scene of much activity during the 1860s. Then known as the “Charlotte Road,” Swan Road
(State Route 600), which forms the western boundary of the farm, was the main road connecting
the village of Hixburg (three miles to the north) with Charlotte Court House (sixteen miles to the
south). Price Lane (State Route 656) in Prince Edward County ran along an east-west route, and
in the nineteenth century, crossed Vaughan’s Creek and intersected with Swan Road about 2,000
feet north of the Gilliam House. At this intersection was Kelso’s “Old Store,” and just two miles
south of the house was Pamplin’s Depot (formerly known as Merriman’s Shop) which served as
a small, but bustling, stop along the newly-constructed South Side Railroad. This proximity to
regional transportation corridors would attract unwanted attention to the farm by the mid-1860s.
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Like many families in the area, the Civil War left a lasting impression on the Gilliam Family.
Martha’s youngest son, Charles H. Gilliam, enlisted in Company H of the 18th Virginia Regiment
as a third sergeant in 1861. According to family history, he returned home (without permission
of his commanding officer) to oversee the harvest. When he returned to duty, he was demoted to
private and subsequently fought in the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862.12 Family cemetery
records indicate that a soldier named William Jennings, who “died at Ligon” in 1864 is buried in
the cemetery on the property. Details on this soldier’s service have not been located, but it is
likely that he died of illness at the neighboring farm of Willis Seth Ligon, whose family shared
use of the cemetery.
On April 8, 1865, United States cavalry under the command of General George Crook captured
Confederate supply trains at Pamplin’s Depot, just two miles south of the Gilliam Farm. These
trains contained valuable rations, including 40,000 servings of bread, 80,000 servings of
cornmeal, whole hams, and dried French soup packaged in tin foil. These critical rations were
intended to rendezvous at Appomattox Station (ten miles to the west) with Robert E. Lee’s army,
which was retreating from its loss to the Federal Army at Sailor’s Creek on April 6th. Also on
April 8th, thousands of Federal troops, including Sheridan’s cavalry, the V Corps, and the Army
of the James (XXIV-XXV Corps) passed through Hixburg (also known as Walker’s Church) just
three miles north of the farm (General Ulysses Grant would follow the next morning). Family
history states that Federal officers quartered in the Gilliam-Irving House during this time, and
that an unknown soldier, sick with measles, was left behind to be cared for by the family. He
died soon after and was buried just outside the family cemetery. On April 9, 1865, Lee
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House.13
In 1870, Martha was sharing the house with Bettie Willard, a fifty-eight year-old Caucasian
housekeeper. Marth died two years later in 1872, and Charles Henry Gilliam soon moved into
the house with his family. In 1896, Charles and his wife Martha Jane sold the 113-acre “home
place” to their only surviving daughter, Lillie (their other daughter, Rose Virginia, had died
earlier in the year.). Shortly thereafter, Lillie married Edward A. Irving, widower of her sister
Rose.
Around 1910, Edward and Lillie constructed the tenant house located on a rise south of the main
dwelling. The primary occupants of the tenant house were members of the Edwards family
(initially Peyton and Pattie Edwards followed [at least through 1940] by their son Rosser
Edwards and his wife Mary).
Edward Irving died in 1917, and in 1924, Lillie Gilliam Irving sold the farm to her son-in-law,
Frank McKinney Irving.14 Frank and his wife Lacie Jamerson were already living in the house,
sharing it with their son Edward, Lillie Gilliam, and Early Haines, a nine-year-old Caucasian
listed as a “servant” in the 1920 Census. In addition to running the farm, Frank worked as a mail
carrier. Frank and Lacie’s son, Edward Jamerson Irving, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in
1941, rose to the rank of captain, and served as a pilot in the 77th Bombardment Squadron, which
saw heavy action in the Northern Pacific during the late spring of 1945. On June 9, 1945,
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Irving’s B-25 aircraft was shot down over Cape Lopatka, and the bodies of the bomber’s crew
members were buried by Soviet soldiers, who were stationed nearby.15 In 1949, Irving’s body
was exhumed and was re-buried in the family cemetery at the Gilliam-Irving Farm. Irving was
honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross during his service and, posthumously, the Purple
Heart.
Lacie and Frank Irving continued to live on the farm for decades after the death of their only
child Edward, but the mood at the farm had changed. Frank and Lacie intended to leave the farm
to Edward so that he could operate it and keep it in the family, but with Edward’s untimely
death, there was no direct descendant to take over. Frank died in 1973, and Lacie moved to
Westminster Canterbury in nearby Lynchburg in 1990. At her death in 1996, she willed the farm
to her nephews, Edward and Donald Crews. The property was then sold to Harold and Deborah
Lester in 2004, and to Charles and Lynette Schindler in 2011. The house has recently been
restored and is used by the Schindler family as a weekend residence.16
National Register Criterion C: Architecture
Information on architectural context in Appomattox and Prince Edward Counties is sparse; a
comprehensive architectural survey has not been compiled for either locality, and to date, no
Appomattox County dwellings have been individually-listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.
The most significant extant collection of residential buildings dating to the period of the GilliamIrving House can be found at Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. The circa 1823
Mariah Wright House displays some features in common with the Gilliam-Irving House. Both
are one-and-a-half story, single-pile frame houses, but the Wright dwelling is flanked by a pair of
centered rough fieldstone and brick chimneys, while the Gilliam House’s oldest chimney is more
massive and constructed completely of dressed stone. The interior woodwork of the GilliamIrving House is considerably more refined than that of the Mariah Wright House.17 Other extant
buildings at the park are of a later period, different form, or were constructed for a non-domestic
purpose.
The Gilliam-Irving House’s overall form is not dissimilar from other homes of the period in
Appomattox, Prince Edward, and Charlotte Counties, but it possesses several features that make
it unusual, if not unique, in the area. First, the entry door is off-center, which better serves the
interior floorplan, but disturbs the symmetry of the façade. Both the north (front) and south (rear)
doorways provide entry the home’s main chamber (instead of a hallway), which is spaceefficient but creates an informal atmosphere. The massive gable-end chimney on the east
elevation is constructed of dressed sandstone, and is representative of the finest stone chimneys
is the region. Lastly, the interior woodwork is restrained but elegant, and of particular note are
the stair railings that consist of square balusters turned forty-five degrees on their axis, which is a
rare feature for homes in the area.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Also significant is the circa 1830-1850 tobacco barn (identified as Tobacco Barn No. 1), which
displays evidence of being altered to accommodate new varieties of tobacco (the number of
interior tiers was reduced from six to five, likely to allow for longer plant lengths). The height of
the original hewn-log barn was raised with round logs to allow for a transition from air-curing to
fire-curing. According to Ronald L. Giese, Ph.D., further professional analysis may confirm that
this barn marks “an important transition building between air-cured and fire-cured structures.”18
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Appomattox County, Virginia Records, Clerk of Court, Appomattox, Virginia
Deed Book 24, page 341; Instrument Number 200400331;
Instrument Number 201200063
Land Tax Records, 1845, 1848, 1849, 1850
Burrell, Charles Edward. A History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Richmond, VA: The
Williams Printing Company, 1922.
Calkins, Christopher M. From Petersburg to Appomattox. Farmville, Virginia: Farmville
Herald, 1983.
Calkins, Christopher M. The Final Bivouac: The Surrender Parade at Appomattox and the
Disbanding of the Armies, April 10 – May 20, 1865. Lynchburg, Virginia: H. E. Howard,
Inc., 1988.
Carson, Janet, ed. A Cavalryman under Custer ’64 – ’65, Reminiscences of the Civil War,
Corporal E. M. Johnson. Crown Point, New York: Penfield Homestead Museum, 2005.
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the
State of Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration.
“Friendly fire in the North Pacific,” http://www.norpacwar.com/friendly-fire (website
accessed on September 2, 2016).
Giese, Ronald L. Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese,
2004.
Montgomery, Jon B. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park National Register of
Historic Places Nomination. 1989. Section 7, pp. 9-10.
Prince Edward County, Virginia Records, Clerk of Court, Farmville, Virginia
Deed Book 16, page 287; Deed Book 11, page 437
Land Tax Records, 1820, 1821, 1824, 1830, 1840, 1841
Will Book 1, page 126; Will Book 8, page 253
Schroder, Patrick A. “Pamplin Depot and the Final Days of the War in Virginia.”
Unpublished monograph on file at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Schroeder, Patrick A. “Pamplin’s Depot – On the Road to Appomattox.” Unpublished
monograph on file at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.
United States Census for Appomattox County, Virginia
Agriculture Schedule, 1850, 1860, 1870
Population Schedule, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
Slave Schedule, 1850, 1860
Virginia Land Office Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Virginia Patent Book 28, page 279.
Weiland, Nancy Jamerson. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. Unpublished manuscript
on file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X_ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR # 006-5006
__________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
109.12
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.291020
Longitude: -78.660320
2. Latitude: 37.288270
Longitude: -78.655100
3. Latitude: 37.283150
Longitude: -78.659390
4. Latitude: 37.284140
Longitude: -78.667120
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property are coterminous with the lot lines of the parcel
recorded by Appomattox County as tax parcel 103-A-4. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Tax Parcel Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass the entirety of the acreage currently associated with the GilliamIrving Farm, and largely represent the acreage associated with the farm since approximately
1850. The property’s historic setting as well as all known historic resources are included
within the boundaries.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Smith
organization: HistoryTech
street & number: 622 Harrison Street
city or town: Lynchburg
state:
VA
zip code: 24504
e-mail: wsbsmith@gmail.com
telephone: 434-401-3995
date: 16 September 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
Gilliam-Irving Farm
City or Vicinity:
Pamplin Vicinity
County:
Appomattox
State: Virginia
Photographer: W. S. Smith
Date Photographed: 31 May 2015
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0001
Façade (north elevation) (camera pointed to south)
Photo 2 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0002
East elevation (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 3 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0003
West elevation (camera pointed to east)
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 4 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0004
First floor parlor (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0005
First floor parlor (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 6 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0006
First floor parlor, stair detail (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 7 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0007
First floor dining room (camera pointed to west)
Photo 8 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0008
Basement fireplace (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 9 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0009
Tenant house (camera pointed to east)
Photo 10 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0010
Tobacco Barn No. 1 (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 11 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0011
Tobacco Barn No. 2 (camera pointed to south)
Photo 12 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0012
Gilliam-Irving Cemetery (camera pointed to south)
Photo 13 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0013
Martha Mathews Gilliam Headstone (camera pointed to west)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
57-58.
2
Charles Edward Burrell, A History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Richmond, VA: The Williams
Printing Company, 1922.p. 39
3
Deed Book 16, page 287, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court. Black acquired the tract on 1 July 1800
from Francis and Sarah Porter (Deed Book 11, page 437, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court).
4
Virginia Patent Book 28, page 279. Patent to Samuel Mathews, 11 October 1747, 400 acres on both
sides of the Mill Fork of Vaughans Creek. Reverend Philip Mathews’ parents were Samuel and Anne
Mathews. Samuel Mathews willed his son Philip the plantation on which he lived along with an
additional 140 acres (Prince Edward County Will Book 1, page 126).
5
Nancy Jamerson Weiland. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. p. 4.
6
1820, 1821, 1824, 1830, 1840, 1841 Prince Edward County Land Tax Records; 1845, 1848, 1849, 1850
Appomattox County Land Tax Records.
7
Weiland, 1.
8
Will Book 8, page 253, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court.
9
1850 Census, population and agriculture
10
1860 Census, population and agriculture
11
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
56-58.
12
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of
Virginia
13
Christopher M. Calkins. From Petersburg to Appomattox. Farmville, Virginia: Farmville Herald, 1983.
Map 5.
14
Deed Book 24, page 341. Appomattox County Clerk of Court.
15
“Friendly fire in the North Pacific,” http://www.norpacwar.com/friendly-fire
16
Nancy Jamerson Weiland. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. p. 2; Instrument Number 200400331
and 201200063, Appomattox County Clerk of Court.
17
Jon B. Montgomery. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park National Register of Historic
Places Nomination. 1989. Section 7, pp. 9-10.
18
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
34-35, 109-111.
1
Sections 9-end page 22
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP - AERIAL
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
USGS GIS Place
names
Appomattox
County,
County Boundaries VA
DHR No. 006-5006
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
1. Latitude: 37.291020 Longitude:
-78.660320
2. Latitude: 37.288270 Longitude:
-78.655100
3. Latitude: 37.283150 Longitude:
-78.659390
4. Latitude: 37.284140 Longitude:
-78.667120
1
2
4
3
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Latitude:
37.291020
Longitude:
-78.660320
Latitude:
37.288270
Longitude:
-78.655100
Latitude:
37.284140
Longitude:
-78.667120
Latitude:
37.283150
Longitude:
-78.659390
SKETCH MAP/ PHOTO KEY
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
DHR No. 006-5006
(C)
(C)
(C)
TAX PARCEL MAP
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
103 A 4
103 A 5
Historic Boundary
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
AERIAL
LegendVIEW SHOWING FARM
FIELDS
AND
WOODLOTS
USGS
GIS Place
names
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
County Boundaries
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Q
J
AERIAL
LegendVIEW - DOMESTIC AND
AGRICULTURAL
USGS GIS Place COMPLEX
names
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
County Boundaries
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
List of Resources
A. House, ca. 1817
B. Tobacco Barn No. 1, ca. 1840
C. Milk House, ca. 1910
D. Smokehouse, ca. 1860
E. Chicken House, ca. 1940
F. Tool Shed, ca. 1900
G. Workshop, ca. 1900
H. Tobacco Barn No. 2, ca. 1900
I. Blacksmith Shop, ca. 1900
J. Tractor Shed, ca. 1930
K. Tenant House, ca. 1910
L. Tenant Smokehouse, ca. 1910
M. Tenant Chicken House, ca. 1910
N. Tenant Corn Crib, ca. 1910
O Tenant Shed, ca. 1910
P. Family Cemetery, ca. 1840
Q. Slave Cemetery, ca. 1840
P
I
B
A
H
D
F
C
G
E
N
K
M
L
O
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed On
VLR: 12/14/2017
NRHP: 04/27/2018
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Gilliam-Irving Farm
Other names/site number: VDHR # 006-5006
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2012 Swan Road (State Route 600)
City or town: Pamplin
State: VA
County: Appomattox
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: X
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
___A
___B
_X_C
_x_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
__Virginia Department of Historic Resources________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
criteria.
x meets
does not meet the National Register
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____15______
______0______
buildings
______2______
______0______
sites
______0______
______0______
structures
______0______
______0______
objects
_____17______
______0______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ______0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
Domestic/single dwelling = House
Domestic/multiple dwelling = Duplex
Domestic/secondary structure = Milk House
Domestic/secondary structure = Smokehouse
Agriculture/animal facility = Chicken House
Agriculture/processing = Tobacco Barn
Agriculture/storage = Corn Crib
Agriculture/agricultural outbuilding = Shed
Agriculture/processing = Tobacco Barn
Funerary/cemetery = Cemetery
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
Domestic/single dwelling = House
Domestic/secondary structure = Shed
Funerary/cemetery = Cemetery
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EARLY REPUBLIC: Other
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: STONE, WOOD, METAL
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Gilliam-Irving Farm occupies a 109-acre tract bounded by Swan Road (State Route 600) to
the west and to the east by Vaughan’s Creek (a tributary of the Appomattox River), which also
serves as the dividing line between Appomattox and Prince Edward Counties. The farm consists
of two distinct groupings of resources, each clustered around a home site. The Gilliam-Irving
House group includes twelve contributing resources (ten buildings and two cemeteries) with
construction dates spanning from 1817 to 1940. Most buildings in this cluster are frame, with a
smaller number being of log construction. The second group of resources consists of a tenant
house and four outbuildings (all frame) built circa 1910. The entire site retains its character as a
19th and early 20th century family-run farmstead.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Inventory of Resources
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the nominated property. All
resources have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the area of
significance identified under Criterion C: Architecture, and based upon the period of significance
spanning the period 1817 to 1940.
1. Gilliam-Irving House
ca. 1817
Contributing Building
2. Gilliam-Irving Family Cemetery
ca. 1840
Contributing Site
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Slave Cemetery
4. Tobacco Barn No. 1
5. Smokehouse
6. Blacksmith Shop
7. Tobacco Barn No. 2
8. Tool Shed
9. Workshop
10. Milk House
11. Tenant Chicken House
12. Tenant Corn Crib
13. Tenant House
14. Tenant Shed
15. Tenant Smokehouse
16. Tractor Shed
17. Chicken House
ca. 1840
ca. 1840
ca. 1860
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1900
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1910
ca. 1930
ca. 1940
Contributing Site
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
The property’s acreage consists of a mix of wooded areas and hay fields. Two hundred feet south
of the house is an earthen-dammed pond with an area of seven-tenths of an acre, and an old dirt
farm road meanders through the property in an irregular “U” shape. This road, which provides
access to the property from Swan Road, runs along the edge of a field, passes the family
cemetery, and then makes a sharp westward turn as it nears the main house. The road then
crosses a ravine to the west of the main house and passes a small tenant house before it
reconnects with Swan Road. The village of Hixburg (formerly known as Walker’s Church) is
three miles to the north, and the town of Pamplin City (also known as Pamplin’s Depot or
Merriman’s Shop) lies two miles to the south.
Gilliam-Irving House
ca. 1817
Contributing Building
Facing north, the Gilliam-Irving House is a one-and-a-half story frame dwelling resting on an
English basement of fieldstone. The gable roof is covered in standing-seam metal, and the entire
house is clad in smooth weatherboard siding. The façade (north elevation) features a full-width,
one-story hipped-roof porch, and an off-center single-leaf entry is flanked by a pair of two-overtwo double-hung sash windows. Above the porch is a shed-roofed dormer that occupies almost
the entire width of the house. The dormer is fenestrated by a single central two-over-two doublehung sash window with paired two-over-two windows on each side.
The east (left) gable end contains a massive double-shouldered chimney of dressed sandstone as
well as a basement entrance that is sheltered by a small shed roof. The south elevation is
dominated by a tall-narrow gable-roofed ell that projects from the main house. A one-story,
shed-roofed porch with internal staircase fills the right (east) side of this elevation, and permits
access to the main house via a single-leaf door. On the west (left) side of the ell is a low, shedroofed addition that forms a mudroom off the basement. The west gable end of the house
features a smaller, off-center, single-shoulder chimney constructed of hewn (but rougher than the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
main chimney) fieldstone. A single-leaf entry accessed by stone steps provides egress from the
rear room of the first floor.
The house rests on a high English basement which is divided into two rooms. The larger east
room contains a large cooking fireplace with stone arch, and exposed ceiling beams display
mortise-and-tenon construction techniques as well as pit saw and adze marks. A dogleg winding
staircase in the southwest corner of the main room leads up to the main floor.
The main floor contains three rooms. The parlor is accessed from the outside via two single-leaf
doorways; one on the north (front) wall and one on the south. The fireplace is on the east wall,
and is adorned by a simple molded shelf mantel flanked by a pair of six-panel closet doors. The
room is surrounded by wainscoting, and a staircase occupies the southwest corner. One unusual
feature of the house’s woodwork is the balustrade, which consists of balusters turned on their
axes to form a diamond, rather than square. A somewhat smaller room (perhaps originally a
dining room) occupies the rear of the right side of the house, contains a small fireplace, and is
rimmed by wainscoting and picture molding. A doorway from this room leads to an even smaller
room that occupies the front right side of the house.
The garret level contains two bedrooms separated by a hallway. The east bedroom contains a
fireplace which is flanked by a pair of six-panel casement windows. Most woodwork on this
floor level corresponds to the installation of the shed-roofed dormer, which provides light and
ventilation to these two bedrooms.
Gilliam-Irving Family Cemetery
ca. 1840
Contributing Site
Located approximately 250 feet northwest of the main house, the family cemetery occupies one
half of an acre on the west side of the drive leading from Swan Road to the house. It contains
seventy-one identified graves and at least twelve graves marked with only fieldstones. The
earliest known burial is that of James Gilliam, Jr. in 1841, and the latest burial is that of Martha
Kay Gilliam Settle in 2015.
Most footstones were removed by a caretaker and are stored in the tree line at the edge of the
cemetery. Notable graves include:
Name
James Gilliam, Jr.
Martha Mathews Gilliam
Born Died
1776 1841
1781 1872
Charles Henry Gilliam
Martha Jane Hurt Gilliam
1824 1906
1832 1907
Edward A. Irving
Lillie Gilliam Irving
1859 1917
1866 1940
Section 7 page 6
Note
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Capt. Edward James Irving
Frank McKinney Irving
William Jennings “died at Ligon”
Willis Seth Ligon
Unknown
Slave Cemetery
1919 1945
1891 1973
1864
Shot down in North Pacific
Civil War soldier
1821 1888
1865
ca. 1840
Civil War Soldier (Federal)
Contributing Site
Just to the west of the family cemetery is a cemetery purported to contain the graves of
approximately ten to fifteen enslaved persons. The burials are identifiable only by the
depressions in the field.
Tobacco Barn No. 1
ca. 1840
Contributing Building
The oldest section of this tobacco barn measures twenty-one feet square, and is constructed of a
mixture of hewn and round logs (both with v-notched corners). The gable roof is covered in
standing seam metal, and the building rests on a stone foundation. The vertical space is divided
into five “rooms” which are delineated by round logs with flattened ends that fit neatly between
the wall logs (this prevented the tier poles from rolling when workers were standing on them
[these flattened ends are thought to be an unusual feature for the area]). A later gable-roofed
frame addition projects from the north (right) gable end of the barn. This barn likely began its
life as a dry-curing house before being converted to fire-curing by an increase in height to the
overall structure. According to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Ronald L.
Giese, Ph.D., this is potentially an important transitional building between the air and fire
tobacco curing processes in this area of Piedmont Virginia.1
Smokehouse
ca. 1860
Contributing Building
This diminutive log building lies just to the west of the milk house. The round-notched logs are
chinked with boards and mud, and the gable roof is covered in standing seam tin. There is a lowheight board-and-batten door on the north side, and a small window opening on the east end.
Blacksmith Shop
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
This gable-fronted frame building is covered by a roof of standing-seam metal, and is clad in
vertical board siding with horizontal board siding in the gables. There is a board-and-batten door
on the east end, and an open shed-roofed addition projects from the north side.
Tobacco Barn No. 2
ca. 1900
Section 7 page 7
Contributing Building
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This large building measures approximately twenty by forty feet, and lies along the farm road
that connects the main house with the tenant house. It is divided into two sections, and the lower
portion of each section is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboards, while the upper portions are
clad in vertical-board siding. The entire building is covered by a standing-seam metal roof. Two
large, square openings with sliding doors provide access to the interior.
Tool Shed
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
Similar in form to the milk house, the tool shed is a rectangular, gable-ended frame building with
a standing seam metal roof and vertical board siding. A single vertical board door is on the north
side.
Workshop
ca. 1900
Contributing Building
The workshop is a small, gable-fronted building covered in standing seam metal and clad in
vertical board-and-batten siding. A single door constructed of the siding material is located on
the north end.
Milk House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The milk house is a small frame shed with a side gable roof covered in standing seam metal. The
walls of the building are clad in vertical board-and-batten siding. A single board-and-batten door
provides access to the interior space.
Tenant Chicken House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The largest of the tenant house outbuildings, the chicken house is a frame, gable-fronted building
clad in vertical board-and-batten siding. The roof is covered in standing seam metal, and a small
board-and-batten door is located on the north gable end. An open shed-roofed addition projects
from the east side of the building.
Tenant Corn Crib
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
This small frame building is similar in form to the smokehouse, in that it is square, has a shallow
shed roof, and is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard siding. An open doorway is located on
the building’s east end, and several small window openings are on the other elevations.
Tenant House
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
Built in the early twentieth century, the tenant house lies approximately 425 feet southwest of the
main house, and is a one-and-a-half-story frame dwelling resting on stone piers. The side-gable
roof is covered in standing-seam metal, and the house is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard
siding. The four-bay façade consists of a pair of entry doors (the house was built as a duplex)
flanked by a six-over-six double-hung sash window on each side. A three-quarter-width shed
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
roof covers a one-story porch on the front of the house. A full-width, one-story shed-roofed
addition projects from the rear of the building.
The house contains a brick central flue chimney, but the portion above the roof has been
removed. Each half of the main block of the house has a single room downstairs and a single
room upstairs. Interior walls are clad in horizontal beaded matchboard, and doors have five
horizontal panels. A single door (contemporary with the others) connects both halves of the
house.
Tenant Shed
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
This small gable-fronted frame shed is covered by a standing seam metal roof and is clad in
vertical board siding. A board-and-batten door is on its west elevation, and a shed addition is on
its west elevation.
Tenant Smokehouse
ca. 1910
Contributing Building
The tenant smokehouse is a small, square frame building covered by a shallow shed roof of
standing-seam metal and is clad in smooth horizontal weatherboard siding. A single board-andbatten door is on the south elevation.
Tractor Shed
ca. 1930
Contributing Building
This long, low pole barn is largely open, except for its western and northeastern ends, which are
enclosed by vertical board siding. The building is covered by a three-part shed roof of standing
seam metal.
Chicken House
ca. 1940
Contributing Building
This low, one-story building is constructed of concrete masonry units and is covered by a
shallow shed roof of standing-seam metal. A single five-panel door provides access from the
north elevation, and the building is fenestrated by a combination of one-pane fixed-sash windows
and two-over-two, double-hung sash windows.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
Ca. 1817 – Ca. 1940
Significant Dates
Ca. 1817
1840
1910
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Constructed circa 1817 for James Gilliam, Jr. (1776-1841), the Gilliam-Irving Farm is one of the
earliest extant examples of an evolved middle-class farmstead in Appomattox County. The frame
house features restrained but elegant interior finishes and a massive chimney of dressed
sandstone. In addition to the main house, the property contains fourteen standing secondary
buildings and two known cemeteries. The Gilliam-Irving Farm has a period of significance
ranging from circa 1817 to circa 1940, beginning with the approximate date of the house’s initial
construction and ending with the period in which the last major alterations were made to the
house. It is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture for its distinct
original fabric, including fine stonework, unusual stair balusters, and a mid-nineteenth century
air-dried tobacco curing house with distinctive construction features. The property maintains
integrity of location, setting, materials, and workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historic Context
Formal English settlement along Vaughan’s Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River, began
in 1738 with patents of 2,000 and 2,630 acres issued to Charles Hudson and Michael Holland,
respectively, followed by numerous smaller patents over the next few decades. By the 1750s, the
population in western Amelia County had grown to necessitate the formation of a new county. In
1754, Prince Edward County was established with a court house at the village of Worsham.2
In 1817, William and Polly Black sold to James Gilliam, Jr., 266.5 acres along the “Charlotte
Road” (Swan Road) on the west side of Vaughan’s Creek for $2,400.00.3 Born in Goochland
County in 1776, Gilliam married Martha (Patsy) Mathews, daughter of the Reverend Philip
Mathews in 1798. The Mathews family was well-entrenched in the Vaughan’s Creek area,
having begun acquiring land there in the 1740s.4 Family history states that Gilliam’s father,
James Gilliam, Sr., made plans to move to Tennessee, but Reverent Mathews urged his son-inlaw (James Gilliam, Jr.) to remain in Prince Edward County so that his daughter Martha would
not be so far removed from home. Gilliam acquiesced and purchased the previously-mentioned
tract from William Black.5
According to family history, James and Martha Gilliam built the extant house soon after
purchasing the property, and indeed, when Prince Edward County land tax records began
specifically mentioning buildings in 1821, improvements valued at $600.00 were already
present; this value remained constant for the next three decades.6
By the early 1840s, the population density of western Prince Edward County had increased
considerably, and residents began petitioning for the establishment of a new county in order to
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
enjoy more convenient access to the courts. In April 1841, a referendum was held to decide if a
new county would be formed, and James Gilliam, Jr. voted against the measure at his local
polling place of Mathews’ Store at Walker’s Church (Hixburg). Gilliam, along with other
landowners along Vaughan’s Creek, likely had little to gain from a county division, as they lived
only thirteen miles from the present county seat at Worsham, and subdividing the county might
create a less convenient situation for them. Despite Gilliam’s vote, the General Assembly passed
a resolution in 1845 to create Appomattox County from portions of Prince Edward, Buckingham,
Charlotte, and Campbell Counties. The dividing line between Appomattox and Prince Edward
County was Vaughan’s Creek, bisecting the Gilliam family’s real estate interests in the
neighborhood.7
James Gilliam, Jr. died at the age of sixty-five in December 1841, leaving all his real and
personal property (including sixteen slaves) to his wife Martha.8 As a widow, she would continue
to successfully operate the farm at the subsistence level for three additional decades. In 1850,
Martha shared the house with Emma Gilliam, her four-year-old granddaughter. During the
1840s, Martha sold portions of the home farm, and by 1850 it consisted of only 100 acres, just
thirty-seven percent of the farm’s original size. Sixty acres of the farm were “improved,” or
planted, and were farmed by five slaves. She owned a small herd of livestock, which included
one horse, five head of cattle, six sheep, and twenty pigs. Crop production was minimal,
consisting of thirty-eight bushels of wheat, 225 bushels of corn, and 125 bushels of oats.9
By 1860, Martha had increased the arable acreage of her farm to seventy-five, but the production
remained like the previous decade, with one significant exception: the farm was now producing
1,000 pounds of tobacco. Since the number of slaves owned by Martha had decreased to three, it
is likely that the tobacco crop was being farmed by slaves owned by another family member.10 It
is probable that the appearance of tobacco on the 1860 Agricultural Census signified the reintroduction of the crop to the Gilliam Farm, as the tobacco barn on the property is thought to
have been constructed between 1830 and 1850. As described in a 2004 survey report of Virginia
tobacco houses, the barn possesses several characteristics that are unusual for the area, including
the horizontally-installed lap siding at the gables and the lack of square-hewn top plates as found
on area buildings constructed in the later nineteenth century.11
While the Gilliam-Irving Farm lies in a relatively isolated location today, its neighborhood was
the scene of much activity during the 1860s. Then known as the “Charlotte Road,” Swan Road
(State Route 600), which forms the western boundary of the farm, was the main road connecting
the village of Hixburg (three miles to the north) with Charlotte Court House (sixteen miles to the
south). Price Lane (State Route 656) in Prince Edward County ran along an east-west route, and
in the nineteenth century, crossed Vaughan’s Creek and intersected with Swan Road about 2,000
feet north of the Gilliam House. At this intersection was Kelso’s “Old Store,” and just two miles
south of the house was Pamplin’s Depot (formerly known as Merriman’s Shop) which served as
a small, but bustling, stop along the newly-constructed South Side Railroad. This proximity to
regional transportation corridors would attract unwanted attention to the farm by the mid-1860s.
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Like many families in the area, the Civil War left a lasting impression on the Gilliam Family.
Martha’s youngest son, Charles H. Gilliam, enlisted in Company H of the 18th Virginia Regiment
as a third sergeant in 1861. According to family history, he returned home (without permission
of his commanding officer) to oversee the harvest. When he returned to duty, he was demoted to
private and subsequently fought in the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862.12 Family cemetery
records indicate that a soldier named William Jennings, who “died at Ligon” in 1864 is buried in
the cemetery on the property. Details on this soldier’s service have not been located, but it is
likely that he died of illness at the neighboring farm of Willis Seth Ligon, whose family shared
use of the cemetery.
On April 8, 1865, United States cavalry under the command of General George Crook captured
Confederate supply trains at Pamplin’s Depot, just two miles south of the Gilliam Farm. These
trains contained valuable rations, including 40,000 servings of bread, 80,000 servings of
cornmeal, whole hams, and dried French soup packaged in tin foil. These critical rations were
intended to rendezvous at Appomattox Station (ten miles to the west) with Robert E. Lee’s army,
which was retreating from its loss to the Federal Army at Sailor’s Creek on April 6th. Also on
April 8th, thousands of Federal troops, including Sheridan’s cavalry, the V Corps, and the Army
of the James (XXIV-XXV Corps) passed through Hixburg (also known as Walker’s Church) just
three miles north of the farm (General Ulysses Grant would follow the next morning). Family
history states that Federal officers quartered in the Gilliam-Irving House during this time, and
that an unknown soldier, sick with measles, was left behind to be cared for by the family. He
died soon after and was buried just outside the family cemetery. On April 9, 1865, Lee
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House.13
In 1870, Martha was sharing the house with Bettie Willard, a fifty-eight year-old Caucasian
housekeeper. Marth died two years later in 1872, and Charles Henry Gilliam soon moved into
the house with his family. In 1896, Charles and his wife Martha Jane sold the 113-acre “home
place” to their only surviving daughter, Lillie (their other daughter, Rose Virginia, had died
earlier in the year.). Shortly thereafter, Lillie married Edward A. Irving, widower of her sister
Rose.
Around 1910, Edward and Lillie constructed the tenant house located on a rise south of the main
dwelling. The primary occupants of the tenant house were members of the Edwards family
(initially Peyton and Pattie Edwards followed [at least through 1940] by their son Rosser
Edwards and his wife Mary).
Edward Irving died in 1917, and in 1924, Lillie Gilliam Irving sold the farm to her son-in-law,
Frank McKinney Irving.14 Frank and his wife Lacie Jamerson were already living in the house,
sharing it with their son Edward, Lillie Gilliam, and Early Haines, a nine-year-old Caucasian
listed as a “servant” in the 1920 Census. In addition to running the farm, Frank worked as a mail
carrier. Frank and Lacie’s son, Edward Jamerson Irving, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in
1941, rose to the rank of captain, and served as a pilot in the 77th Bombardment Squadron, which
saw heavy action in the Northern Pacific during the late spring of 1945. On June 9, 1945,
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Irving’s B-25 aircraft was shot down over Cape Lopatka, and the bodies of the bomber’s crew
members were buried by Soviet soldiers, who were stationed nearby.15 In 1949, Irving’s body
was exhumed and was re-buried in the family cemetery at the Gilliam-Irving Farm. Irving was
honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross during his service and, posthumously, the Purple
Heart.
Lacie and Frank Irving continued to live on the farm for decades after the death of their only
child Edward, but the mood at the farm had changed. Frank and Lacie intended to leave the farm
to Edward so that he could operate it and keep it in the family, but with Edward’s untimely
death, there was no direct descendant to take over. Frank died in 1973, and Lacie moved to
Westminster Canterbury in nearby Lynchburg in 1990. At her death in 1996, she willed the farm
to her nephews, Edward and Donald Crews. The property was then sold to Harold and Deborah
Lester in 2004, and to Charles and Lynette Schindler in 2011. The house has recently been
restored and is used by the Schindler family as a weekend residence.16
National Register Criterion C: Architecture
Information on architectural context in Appomattox and Prince Edward Counties is sparse; a
comprehensive architectural survey has not been compiled for either locality, and to date, no
Appomattox County dwellings have been individually-listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.
The most significant extant collection of residential buildings dating to the period of the GilliamIrving House can be found at Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. The circa 1823
Mariah Wright House displays some features in common with the Gilliam-Irving House. Both
are one-and-a-half story, single-pile frame houses, but the Wright dwelling is flanked by a pair of
centered rough fieldstone and brick chimneys, while the Gilliam House’s oldest chimney is more
massive and constructed completely of dressed stone. The interior woodwork of the GilliamIrving House is considerably more refined than that of the Mariah Wright House.17 Other extant
buildings at the park are of a later period, different form, or were constructed for a non-domestic
purpose.
The Gilliam-Irving House’s overall form is not dissimilar from other homes of the period in
Appomattox, Prince Edward, and Charlotte Counties, but it possesses several features that make
it unusual, if not unique, in the area. First, the entry door is off-center, which better serves the
interior floorplan, but disturbs the symmetry of the façade. Both the north (front) and south (rear)
doorways provide entry the home’s main chamber (instead of a hallway), which is spaceefficient but creates an informal atmosphere. The massive gable-end chimney on the east
elevation is constructed of dressed sandstone, and is representative of the finest stone chimneys
is the region. Lastly, the interior woodwork is restrained but elegant, and of particular note are
the stair railings that consist of square balusters turned forty-five degrees on their axis, which is a
rare feature for homes in the area.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Also significant is the circa 1830-1850 tobacco barn (identified as Tobacco Barn No. 1), which
displays evidence of being altered to accommodate new varieties of tobacco (the number of
interior tiers was reduced from six to five, likely to allow for longer plant lengths). The height of
the original hewn-log barn was raised with round logs to allow for a transition from air-curing to
fire-curing. According to Ronald L. Giese, Ph.D., further professional analysis may confirm that
this barn marks “an important transition building between air-cured and fire-cured structures.”18
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Appomattox County, Virginia Records, Clerk of Court, Appomattox, Virginia
Deed Book 24, page 341; Instrument Number 200400331;
Instrument Number 201200063
Land Tax Records, 1845, 1848, 1849, 1850
Burrell, Charles Edward. A History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Richmond, VA: The
Williams Printing Company, 1922.
Calkins, Christopher M. From Petersburg to Appomattox. Farmville, Virginia: Farmville
Herald, 1983.
Calkins, Christopher M. The Final Bivouac: The Surrender Parade at Appomattox and the
Disbanding of the Armies, April 10 – May 20, 1865. Lynchburg, Virginia: H. E. Howard,
Inc., 1988.
Carson, Janet, ed. A Cavalryman under Custer ’64 – ’65, Reminiscences of the Civil War,
Corporal E. M. Johnson. Crown Point, New York: Penfield Homestead Museum, 2005.
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the
State of Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration.
“Friendly fire in the North Pacific,” http://www.norpacwar.com/friendly-fire (website
accessed on September 2, 2016).
Giese, Ronald L. Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese,
2004.
Montgomery, Jon B. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park National Register of
Historic Places Nomination. 1989. Section 7, pp. 9-10.
Prince Edward County, Virginia Records, Clerk of Court, Farmville, Virginia
Deed Book 16, page 287; Deed Book 11, page 437
Land Tax Records, 1820, 1821, 1824, 1830, 1840, 1841
Will Book 1, page 126; Will Book 8, page 253
Schroder, Patrick A. “Pamplin Depot and the Final Days of the War in Virginia.”
Unpublished monograph on file at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Schroeder, Patrick A. “Pamplin’s Depot – On the Road to Appomattox.” Unpublished
monograph on file at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.
United States Census for Appomattox County, Virginia
Agriculture Schedule, 1850, 1860, 1870
Population Schedule, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
Slave Schedule, 1850, 1860
Virginia Land Office Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Virginia Patent Book 28, page 279.
Weiland, Nancy Jamerson. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. Unpublished manuscript
on file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X_ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA;
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR # 006-5006
__________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
109.12
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.291020
Longitude: -78.660320
2. Latitude: 37.288270
Longitude: -78.655100
3. Latitude: 37.283150
Longitude: -78.659390
4. Latitude: 37.284140
Longitude: -78.667120
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundaries of the property are coterminous with the lot lines of the parcel
recorded by Appomattox County as tax parcel 103-A-4. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Tax Parcel Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass the entirety of the acreage currently associated with the GilliamIrving Farm, and largely represent the acreage associated with the farm since approximately
1850. The property’s historic setting as well as all known historic resources are included
within the boundaries.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Smith
organization: HistoryTech
street & number: 622 Harrison Street
city or town: Lynchburg
state:
VA
zip code: 24504
e-mail: wsbsmith@gmail.com
telephone: 434-401-3995
date: 16 September 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
Gilliam-Irving Farm
City or Vicinity:
Pamplin Vicinity
County:
Appomattox
State: Virginia
Photographer: W. S. Smith
Date Photographed: 31 May 2015
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0001
Façade (north elevation) (camera pointed to south)
Photo 2 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0002
East elevation (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 3 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0003
West elevation (camera pointed to east)
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 4 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0004
First floor parlor (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0005
First floor parlor (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 6 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0006
First floor parlor, stair detail (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 7 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0007
First floor dining room (camera pointed to west)
Photo 8 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0008
Basement fireplace (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 9 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0009
Tenant house (camera pointed to east)
Photo 10 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0010
Tobacco Barn No. 1 (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 11 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0011
Tobacco Barn No. 2 (camera pointed to south)
Photo 12 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0012
Gilliam-Irving Cemetery (camera pointed to south)
Photo 13 of 13:
View:
VA_AppomattoxCounty_GilliamIrvingFarm_0013
Martha Mathews Gilliam Headstone (camera pointed to west)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
57-58.
2
Charles Edward Burrell, A History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Richmond, VA: The Williams
Printing Company, 1922.p. 39
3
Deed Book 16, page 287, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court. Black acquired the tract on 1 July 1800
from Francis and Sarah Porter (Deed Book 11, page 437, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court).
4
Virginia Patent Book 28, page 279. Patent to Samuel Mathews, 11 October 1747, 400 acres on both
sides of the Mill Fork of Vaughans Creek. Reverend Philip Mathews’ parents were Samuel and Anne
Mathews. Samuel Mathews willed his son Philip the plantation on which he lived along with an
additional 140 acres (Prince Edward County Will Book 1, page 126).
5
Nancy Jamerson Weiland. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. p. 4.
6
1820, 1821, 1824, 1830, 1840, 1841 Prince Edward County Land Tax Records; 1845, 1848, 1849, 1850
Appomattox County Land Tax Records.
7
Weiland, 1.
8
Will Book 8, page 253, Prince Edward County Clerk of Court.
9
1850 Census, population and agriculture
10
1860 Census, population and agriculture
11
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
56-58.
12
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of
Virginia
13
Christopher M. Calkins. From Petersburg to Appomattox. Farmville, Virginia: Farmville Herald, 1983.
Map 5.
14
Deed Book 24, page 341. Appomattox County Clerk of Court.
15
“Friendly fire in the North Pacific,” http://www.norpacwar.com/friendly-fire
16
Nancy Jamerson Weiland. The Gilliam-Irving House, 1811-1996. p. 2; Instrument Number 200400331
and 201200063, Appomattox County Clerk of Court.
17
Jon B. Montgomery. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park National Register of Historic
Places Nomination. 1989. Section 7, pp. 9-10.
18
Ronald L. Giese, Historic Virginia Tobacco Houses. Middleton, Wisconsin: Ronald L. Giese, 2004. pp.
34-35, 109-111.
1
Sections 9-end page 22
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP - AERIAL
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
USGS GIS Place
names
Appomattox
County,
County Boundaries VA
DHR No. 006-5006
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
1. Latitude: 37.291020 Longitude:
-78.660320
2. Latitude: 37.288270 Longitude:
-78.655100
3. Latitude: 37.283150 Longitude:
-78.659390
4. Latitude: 37.284140 Longitude:
-78.667120
1
2
4
3
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Latitude:
37.291020
Longitude:
-78.660320
Latitude:
37.288270
Longitude:
-78.655100
Latitude:
37.284140
Longitude:
-78.667120
Latitude:
37.283150
Longitude:
-78.659390
SKETCH MAP/ PHOTO KEY
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
DHR No. 006-5006
(C)
(C)
(C)
TAX PARCEL MAP
Gilliam-Irving Farm
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
103 A 4
103 A 5
Historic Boundary
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
AERIAL
LegendVIEW SHOWING FARM
FIELDS
AND
WOODLOTS
USGS
GIS Place
names
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
County Boundaries
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Q
J
AERIAL
LegendVIEW - DOMESTIC AND
AGRICULTURAL
USGS GIS Place COMPLEX
names
Gilliam-Irving
Farm
County Boundaries
Appomattox County, VA
DHR No. 006-5006
List of Resources
A. House, ca. 1817
B. Tobacco Barn No. 1, ca. 1840
C. Milk House, ca. 1910
D. Smokehouse, ca. 1860
E. Chicken House, ca. 1940
F. Tool Shed, ca. 1900
G. Workshop, ca. 1900
H. Tobacco Barn No. 2, ca. 1900
I. Blacksmith Shop, ca. 1900
J. Tractor Shed, ca. 1930
K. Tenant House, ca. 1910
L. Tenant Smokehouse, ca. 1910
M. Tenant Chicken House, ca. 1910
N. Tenant Corn Crib, ca. 1910
O Tenant Shed, ca. 1910
P. Family Cemetery, ca. 1840
Q. Slave Cemetery, ca. 1840
P
I
B
A
H
D
F
C
G
E
N
K
M
L
O
Title:
Date: 3/2/2018
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Text
OM0 No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department o f the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED IN:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
06/17/2010
03/15/2011
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items o n continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
historic name
other namestsite number
Surrender Grounds Forest, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, VDHR File #006-5009
street & number 1267 4-H Camp Road; Route 2, Box 630
city or town
state
not for publication
X
Appomattox
Virginia
code
011
county Appomattox
code
vicinity
zip code 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for
registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements
set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I
In my opinion, the property
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at th5 following level(s) of significance:
A
I Signa'iure
of certifying offica
-
local
u
Virainia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
V
In my opinion, the property
1
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria
Signature of commenting official
Date
Title
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Sewice Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
I1
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
private
public - Local
X public - State
public - Federal
building(s)
X district
site
structure
building(s)
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
Contributing
23
2
1
0
0
26
Noncontributing
3
0
6
0
0
9
buildings
sites
structures
objects
buildings
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
N/A
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Domestic: Institutional Housing, Camp
Domestic: Camp
Commerce/Trade: Organizational
Commerce/Trade: Business
Government: Public Works
Social: Meeting Hall/Civic
Industry/Processing/Extraction: Waterworks
Education: Research Facility, Education-Related
Recreation/Culture: Theater, Outdoor Recreation
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Other
foundation:
Brick
walls:
Wood
roof:
Asphalt Shingle
other:
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
Architecture
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
Education
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
Landscape Architecture
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
Period of Significance
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
Entertainment/Recreation
1937 – 1960
Significant Dates
1937-Camp Construction
1940- 4-H begins use of Camp
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Period of Significance (justification)
The historic core of Holiday Lake 4-H Camp was built by the Works Progress Administration workers (in
association with the Resettlement Administration) in 1937 as part of a multi-year Reforestation Project in west
central Virginia. Since the earliest buildings can be dated to this period, 1937 is chosen for the beginning of the
Period of Significance. The 4-H Club took over the camp in 1941 (some camping most likely occurred in 1940)
and has used and expanded the facility up to the present. Since the history of the 4-H Club has ongoing
significance, the fifty-year point, 1960, is chosen for the end of the period of significance.
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
Not Applicable
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned):
_____________________________________________________________________
See Continuation Sheets
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
11.17 acres
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17 S
Zone
708845
Easting
4140797
Northing
3
17 S
Zone
708979
Easting
4140410
Northing
2
17 S
Zone
709151
Easting
4140751
Northing
4
17 S
Zone
708773
Easting
4140415
Northing
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
Beginning at the southernmost point, on the east side of the Camp peninsula, the boundary follows the edge of
the land on Holliday Lake except for where there are two boat docks. The boundary follows the edges of both
docks. The water‘s edge creates the boundary on southeast, east and north sides of the Camp‘s peninsula. The
western edge follows a wetlands area in a straight line from northeast to southwest, until that line intersects with
the southern edge of the entrance road. The boundary follows the road edge for about 50 feet and then jogs
around a building constructed within the last 20 years, and heads due south to the starting point. (See attached
maps).
The precise boundary is recorded on an aerial that is at 1 inch equals 200 feet scale. The aerial was produced on
ESRI 2010 software using mapping data provided by Virginia Geographic Information Network. The aerial
image dates to 2002. Note that the photorevised Holiday Lake USGS Quadrangle map shows less of the
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
peninsula land form than the actual aerial so the boundary appears include lake area on the USGS quad., but
there is no area of the lake included in the boundary. The boundary follows the land edge.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The boundary includes all historic resources that relate to the period of signficance, 1937 to 1960. The
boundary includes the core 1930s camp area and excludes areas that are not essential for understanding the
residential camp environment. While the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Resettlement
Administration (RA) both worked throughout the wooded area, reforesting, building roads, and improving
drainage, in the Camp, the State Park, and State Forest, these areas were not included since these activities were
not residential camp areas for WPA, RA.or 4-H. The area included is the present center of operations and
activities for the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Marc C. Wagner VDHR and Dr. Robert R. Meadows, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
organization Virginia Department of Historic Resources
date May 16, 2010
street & number 2801 Kensington Avenue
telephone 804-367-2323 X-115
city or town Richmond
state
e-mail
Virginia
zip code 23228
Marc.Wagner@dhr.virginia.gov
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property: Holiday Lake 4-H Eduational Center
County: Appomattox County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Marc C. Wagner
Date Photographed: March 9, 2010
13 Photographs
1. Activity Field, terracing
2. Lawson Dining Center
3. Pavilion
4 Amphitheatre
5. Outdoor Classroom-Gathering Area
6. WPA Office
7. Boys‘ Bath House
8. Girls‘ Bunk House
9. Girls‘ Cabins, general view
10. Buckingham Cabin (Boy‘s side)
11. Rear View of Boy‘s Cabin from ravine
12. Cabin Interior showing 4 bunks and storage
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
13. Cabin site on Boy‘s Cabin side
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 1
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Architectural Description
Summary Architectural Description:
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center Historic District is a 11.33 acre historic section of the 158-acre camp
situated in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest (Virginia Department of Forestry land), in Appomattox
County, Virginia. The original part of the camp is adjacent to Holliday Lake, part of Holliday Lake State Park
(listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in September 18, 2008). Constructed by Works Progress
Administration (WPA) workers, who may have been working with the Resettlement Administration, in 1937,
the current historic residential camp is comprised of 34 buildings/structures/sites that comprise a scenic wooded
landscape adjacent to the 150 acre Holliday Lake. Both State Park and 4-H Educational Center are surrounded
by 19,808 acres of forest land. The residential camp was built in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)-era,
and there are similarities to the more commonly known rustic designed architecture of the CCC. This WPA
complex was completed to house workers whose main tasks were to build Holliday Lake and conduct
reforestation activities in a area of old farmstead properties. The core of the camp is planned between two low
ridges that surround a manmade terraced field. In an approximately symmetrical arrangement, fifteen, small,
eight-bunk cabins, were built along the ridges above the activity field. A large activity building/dining hall sits
at the south-western end of the field, atop the terraced area, facing Holliday Lake. When the Farm Security
Administration (successor to the Resettlement Administration) had completed operations in the early 1940s, the
lake, park, and WPA camp (and forest area) were transferred to the state within several years. The unusually
intact WPA camp survives today because it was used by local 4-H as early as 1940 and officially became a 4-H
camp in 1941. The continuity of operations at the site has preserved the 1930s camp and as the 4-H educational
center has grown over the years, the oldest section of the institution with its highly intact 1930s landscape has
survived as a rare example of a very complete WPA-built complex in Virginia. Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C
for its association with the Works Progress Administration, Resettlement Administration/Farm Security
Administration and 4-H history in Virginia, and its integrity of design in its camp plan and buildings. (One will
note that the state park uses the ―Holliday‖ name with two Ls, after a family that owned land in the area. The 4H Camp uses the ―Holiday‖ spelling with one L.)
The complex includes a dining center (one contributing building), fifteen (8 bunk) cabins and associated cabin
site (fifteen contributing buildings and one contributing site), a girl‘s bunk house and boy‘s bunk house (two
contributing buildings), a boy‘s bath house and girl‘s bath house (one non-contributing building and one
contributing building), a main office building (one contributing building), a covered open-air pavilion (one
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 2
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
contributing building), a covered open-air amphitheatre (one contributing building), an uncovered seating area
(one contributing structure), three sheds (one contributing and two non-contributing buildings) , two canoe racks
(two non-contributing structures), a campfire circle (a non-contributing structure), two boat docks (two noncontributing structures), and a wooden bridge crossing a drainage trench at the beach area (a non-contributing
structure). The landscape includes paths, terracing, drainage, road traces and other manmade land features and
counts as a contributing site. There are twenty three contributing buildings and three non-contributing
buildings; two contributing sites; one contributing structure and six non-contributing structures.
Detailed Architectural Description
Camp Landscape and Setting
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center Historic District was initially planned as part of a Demonstration Forest
Project by the Resettlement Administration beginning in Oct 1935 1, however, construction of the camp appears
to have taken place in 1937-1938 and was likely completed by Works Progress Administration workers.
Appomattox County is within the Piedmont physiographic area, a broad, elevated belt situated between the
Coastal Plain and Blue Ridge geographic areas that extends from Alabama to New Jersey. The Piedmont is
essentially a plateau with mature stream development and erosion-resistant hills or mountains which
occasionally appear in level terrain, promoting a rolling landscape. Elevations in the county vary from
approximately 460 feet above sea level at the point where the Appomattox River flows into Prince Edward
County to 1,151 feet on the top of Piney Mountain. Most of the county, however, lies between 500 and 800
feet.2 Holliday Lake‘s surface is at 445 feet and surrounding hills, immediate to the lake, range from 500 to
nearly 650 feet.
The Camp is accessed by a State Route 732 from the north-northwest. This is the only paved access road into
the camp. The road passes through the post 1950s period area of the site (not included in the district) and
terminates at a small loop within the historic area. The landscape of the historic section of the camp is partially
natural, but there are distict manmade/designed features at the core. The Camp is surrounded by lake and creek
beds on all sides. Cemetery Creek is at the northwestern edge, the lake is at northern and east-southeast edges.
A small creek (or wetlands area runs across the northwestern side (possibly a branch of Cemetery Creek). The
camp site chosen was elevated on dry ridge land that now forms a double point peninsula at the southern end of
Holliday Lake. All primary buildings were built on higher ground. The Camp is located about 500 feet west of
the concrete Holliday Lake dam.
The Rachel F. Lawson Family Dining Center (1937) was and is the current central building in the Camp. It is
sited at the head of an open field, facing Holliday Lake. The Dining Center‘s design is locked into a central axis
position by virtue of its simple, but substantial, one-story porch, which reads as a simple central portico. The
view from the Lawson Center is framed by the two ridges that surround the field, forming a protected area: a
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 3
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
natural bowl effect. The field in front of the Lawson Center descends towards the lake in three manmade
terraces. A campfire amphitheatre is situated at one of the lower terraces, close to the lake. A ceremonial triple
flagpole stand has been built at the edge of the highest terrace, centered on the Lawson Center. The ground
drops off behind the Lawson Center, towards the southwest, where access loop and car parking are located.
Two lines of frame gable-front cabins are sited along the two ridges above (and facing) the terraced activity
field. The cabins on the northern ridge are used for boys and those on the southern ridge for girls. All of these
cabins were completed by 1937. Currently, there are six 8-bunk cabins on the northwestern ridge line. A
seventh cabin –at the northern-most end of the ridge -- was destroyed by fire, but the concrete footers survive
marking the site. The southeastern ridge, which reaches further northward into Holliday Lake, features nine 8bunk cabins, identical in design to the cabins that line the northwestern ridge. Both lines of cabins are accessed
by well worn wide paths that traverse each ridge line. The path on the southeastern ridge continues past the
cabins and terminates at the end of the ridge at an outdoor seating area with wood planks on blocks, a site that
appears to have been used for outdoor teaching and Sunday services.
Adjacent to the Dining Center are several more primary buildings. On the northwestern side, a 1940s-50s Boys‘
Bunk House is located next to a recently built Boys‘Bath House. The Main Office, which is essentially a small
simply detailed cottage, is just south of the Boys‘Bunkhouse. On the southeastern side of the Dining Center, the
row of Girls‘Cabins terminates at the 1930s Girls‘Bath House. A c. 1955 covered open-air pavilion and 1930s
store/clinic is located between the Dining Center and the first four Girls‘ cabins.
The southern-most section of the historic area, south of the loop road and parking areas, includes the
Girls‘Bunk House and a covered open-air Amphitheatre (most likely contemporary with the 1950s Pavilion).
The primary swimming activity area and beach during the early 4-H period (1941-1960s) was at the bottom of
the terraced lawn in front of the Dining Center. Photographs from the 1940s and 50s show a sandy beach
between the two ridges and some road traces or terraced areas at each side of the beach on the northwest and
southeast. This area now has a campfire circle and terminates at water‘s edge in grass. The beach has been
relocated to the southern edge of the historic area (c. 1980), where the is a slight inlet on a narrow branch of the
lake. The beach features a V-shaped concrete block retaining wall, two recently built wooden boat docks, and
two recent wood frame canoe racks.
There are three frame sheds in the historic district. The two non-contributing frame sheds appear to have been
built in the past twenty years. One is by the campfire circle at the northern section of the district—while the
building is not historic, it features a horizontal panel door identical to those on the cabins. It is most likely
reused from one of the 1930s buildings. This shed is used for miscellaneous storage. A modern frame shed
(non-contrinuting) is located next to the Girls‘ Bunk House. The contribributing shed, located near the parking
area at the Main Office, has been identified as the original WPA Office for the Recreation Area construction
project. Though currently referred to a as shed, the building has two rooms with a separate door for each space.
It is likely that these two rooms had specialized office functions.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 4
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Architectural Design/Style and Physical Integrity:
There are primary design themes throughout the 4-H Camp. In general, the collection of buildings exhibit Rustic
style similar to that used at National and State recreation parks that were built in 1930s Virginia. There is some
tendency towards utilitarian construction, but not as simple as military or Civilian Conservation Corps barracks.
Based on the inspection of historic photographs that have been provided by the 4-H Educational Center3 and
photos available on the internet site Virginia Tech ImageBase4, it is possible to make direct comparison with the
near original conditions of the oldest buildings and note the physical evolution of buildings and landscape over
70 years.
The original buildings were wired for electricity in 1941, when the local 4-H Club started preparing the Camp
for their use. In early 4-H photographs, very few improvements are shown. The predominant design motif
throughout the Camp is an exterior wall cladding that features board and batten lower sections and
weatherboard upper sections. The patterns appear to be half and half on all exteriors of buildings built in the
1930s. The Covered Open-Air Amphitheatre and the Boys‘Bath House also share this design pattern though
they were built later. The early color scheme shown in black and white photos shows a dark color used on the
lower board and batten and a light color on the upper weatherboard. The Covered Open-Air Pavilion has a
board and batten patterned half wall on all sides. Early photos show roofs, on all buildings, clad in composite
material, perhaps asbestos or asphalt shingle.
Three buildings have undergone substantial renovation over the years. The Dining Center (used by WPA as a
mess hall and most likely general assemby area), the Store/Clinic, and the Main Office. All three buildings have
been clad with vertical groove panels and have significant rear additions.
Dining Center: Photographs dating to the 1950s show this core Camp building set on piers,without foundation
walls and operating with flap up shutters that were locked in open position by an angled rods, resting on a
fixture on the lower wall of the building. The openings were most likely screened. The interior photographs of
the Dining Center show simple exposed structural elements in the building with wall-attached fold down tables
that stowed up against the walls when not in use. Over the recent decades, the building has been weatherized
and updated with interior finishes (c. 1976). The updated materials include permanent glass windows and
modern vertical groove board cladding. The original plan of the WPA mess hall was 24‘ x 120‘, a large
rectangle. The rear of the building has an original long kitchen ell. All of these sections are still in place with
the addition of a significant two-story frame area that fills in the area from the kitchen ell out to the northwest
corner of the Dining Center. This recent rear addition is not as visible from the front of the Dining Center. The
multiple gallery porches, on the back and side of this addition, are visible from the loop road and parking areas.
Because the essential form of building is intact, and it still acts as the center of the complex, as it faces towards
Holliday Lake and the primary activitiy field, the Dining Center still conveys enough integrity to support
Criterion A significance of the Camp.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 5
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Store/Clinic Building: The Store/Clinic Building appears in early photographs as having the typical Camp
exterior wall pattern: board and batten upper with weatherboard lower wall pattern. It has been resided recently
with vertical groove paneling and has a large rear addition. The front eleveation appears with a screened porch
in early photos and still mantains this appearance. The building is a contributing building in the district because
it generally maintains its form and its primary elevation still appears as it did in the 1940s and 50s, despite the
change in material treatment. The rear addition does not affect the appearance of the building as viewed from
the primary activity field.
Main Office: The Main Office has been updated with recent vertical groove paneling. This building may date
to the 1930s or1940s, and may not have had the board and batten lower and weatherboard upper exterior wall
pattern. This building maintains its form despite updating and is a critical building for supporting the Criterion
A significance relating to the 4-H camp period.
Cabins: The fifteen cabins possess a high level of integrity. The only minor changes that have been made are
the removal of low brick flues at the central roof ridge and replacement of porch post supports. There are
sections of brick flues surviving in rafter areas of the cabins. The use of heating stoves dates to the WPA use of
the buildings. Since 4-H use of the cabins was limited to warmer months, the stoves and lower sections of the
flues were removed. The cabin chimnies still appear in historic photographs from the late 1950s. Photogrpahs
from the 1930s, ‗40s and ‗50s show porch posts (two on each cabin) thicker at the bottom, trimmed with a collar
at about 3 feet above the deck, and smaller from the collar to the porch ceiling. These have been replaced with
single dimension posts.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 1
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inventory of Resources:
The following inventory of resources was developed during a survey that was conducted on March 9, 2010 and
documents Camp resources that are contributing and non-contributing to the historic district.
Circulation System
The vehicle circulation system consists of a loop driveway with parking areas at the end of State Route 723.
The road is part of the general setting and is not singled out as an individual resource.
Landscape
The integration of the buildngs and site design for Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center is critical for
understanding the evolution of the resources in the WPA and 4-H periods. There was careful thought behind the
approximate symmetry of the Dining Center, the terraced lawn and flanking lines of cabins. The terracing
towards the lake is manmade, and during the early 4-H period, it transitioned the activity field from the core
Dining Hall/Activity Building to a flag stand, to beach, ending at lake‘s edge. The more recent Campfire Circle
has replaced the beach at lake‘s edge. There are other features that were not definitely dated to the period of
significance, such as drainage trenches, that may be part of the contributing landscape. While it is unclear how
much of the land between the two parallel ridges was filled in to create the terracing, with the substantial
equipment that was used for creating Holliday Lake, it is possible that the field may have been a low area that
was filled in from soil excavated during lake construction.
Date: 1937-1960
DHR Number 006-5009
CONTRIBUTING (1 – site)
Carol F. Lawson Dining Center (WPA Mess Hall/Interior Assembly)
When built by the WPA workers, the Mess Hall, now the Dining Center, was the largest buildng at the Camp. It
was and still is the largest interior gathering area in the 4-H Educational Center. The Dining Center is a onestory, 13-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. There are square attic vents in the
gable peaks and the rafter tails are no longer exposed (assumed to be in the boxed soffit). The primary elevation
features a large, deep-eave, gable-front porch that shelters the central entrance and flanking windows. The
building has one-over-one single-pane, double-hung sash windows. The exterior walls feature a more recent
vertical-groove panel cladding. The rear of the building has an orginal kitchen ell, which is still the kitchen. It
has multiple steel exhaust cowls on the gable roof ridge and on side walls. The foundation is parged concrete
block. The one-story kitchen ell is connected to the 2002 two-story rear addition which sits at the northwestern
side of the main block. The frame addition has double-level gallery porches (with slant-out railings) along south
and west walls and exterior stairs. The interior of the Dining Center is still used for dining and general
activities. The 2002 addition, includes more dining space on the first floor and activity space on the second
floor. While the oldest section of this building has been updated for year around use, wallboard and insulation
added, the open interior roof structure has been left exposed in the oldest part of the building, as it appeared in
earlier periods.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 2
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number DHR Number 006-5009-0002
CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Cabins-Fifteen Identical Buildings
The residental cabins are sited along two ridges that overlook the activity field, flag stand, and Dining Center.
There are currently six boys‘ cabins on the northwestern ridge and nine girls‘ cabins on the southeastern ridge.
There was a seventh boys‘ cabin that burned and it is now a site with concrete footers. The footers show the
former cabin matching dimensions with the extant examples. The cabins were built with maximum air
circulation in mind. All cabins are placed at the edge of each ridge so that most of the buildings are supported
on posts over a slope area, without foundation walls, allowing air to circulate under the cabin frame. When in
use by the WPA workers, the cabins had heating stoves with brick flues at the center of the roof ridge. The flue
tops have been removed and there has been some minor replacement and repair work, but in general these are
the most intact buildings in the complex. Each cabin has eight bunks, four on each side of a single room. With
the original sixteen cabins, there would have been housing for 128 men. All bunks have flap-up shutters with
screened openings. Originally, the flaps were on the exterior, now shutters are in the interior. All cabin
buildings are one-story, frame, with front gable, asphalt-shingle, roofs that have deep eaves with exposed rafter
tails, and deep front porches supported on two posts, set on wood decks. The siding maintains the design motif
of board and batten lower and weatherboard upper cladding. All cabins have wooden screen doors and wooden
five-horizontal-panel doors. The screen doors may have been updated, but all panel doors are original. The
interiors are designed for basic functionality with four bunks on each side wall and a built-in four storage unit
shelf inbetween each bunk stack. A second exit is provided at the rear of each cabin with a wood ladder that
reaches the ground. At the steepest points of the slope, some of the cabins have a rear height of nearly ten feet
above ground. Eleven cabins have been assigned county names for the 4-H service area. The names are on
wood panels in the front gable peak area, with cabin number. The Boys‘ Cabin row originally had seven
buildings. The last cabin at the north end of the row burned, but the concrete footers survive, above ground.
The cabin site is contributing to the district.
Girls‘ Cabins (from southwest to northeast)
Cabin # 1-Charlotte County (close to the activity building complex, this cabin has a wooden handicap access
ramp).
Cabin #2- Nelson County
Cabin #3- Nottoway County
Cabin #4- Prince Edward County
Cabin #5- Campbell County
Cabin #6- Louisa County
Cabin #7- No Label
Cabin #8- No Label
Cabin #9- No Label
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 3
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Boys‘ Cabins (from southwest to northeast)
Cabin # 10-Appomattox County
Cabin #11- Amherst County
Cabin #12- Amelia County
Cabin #13- Fluvana County
Cabin #14- Buckingham County
Cabin #15- No Label
Cabin Site
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (15– buildings)
CONTRIBUTING (1- site)
Boys’ Bunkhouse
The Boys‘Bunkhouse is at the southeastern end of the Boys‘ Cabin row. Its placement is near the Boys‘
Bathhouse and close to the Dining Center. With four rooms in this house, there are multiple bunks in each room
and, currently, the 4-H can house as many as 35 campers in this building. The Bunkhouse is built into the ridge
on a concrete block foundation. The basement of the building is a functioning space accessed from a lower
ground level. The Bunkhouse is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof.
The rafter tails are not exposed (and there are no early images of this building that show its design). The
primary elevation features a large, deep eave, gable-front porch supported on two metal posts, above a concrete
deck. The building has two-over-two double-horizontal-pane, double-hung sash windows. The exterior walls
feature the camp motif lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. There are no additions on this
building.
Date: c. 1940s-1955
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Boys’ Bathhouse
The Boys‘ Bathhouse was completed in 2008 and replaced the frame 1937 WPA building that was similar, if not
nearly identical, to the existing Girls‘ Bathhouse. The new building was designed to blend and match with other
buildings in the complex, including the use the exterior wall motif, board and batten lower and weatherboard
upper cladding. The Bathhouse is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable
roof. There are no rafter tails, but the deep eaves match the predominent camp design. The primary elevation
features a large, shed-roof porch supported on two heavy, bracketed, rustic, clear-coated, wooden posts, above a
concrete deck. The building has single pane modern windows. There are square attic vents and the entry
features a two-leaf metal panel door system with upper glass panels. The foundation is solid masonry.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 4
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 2008
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Girls’ Bunkhouse
The Girls‘Bunkhouse is further away from the core complex, on the far side of the entrance loop, south of the
Dining Hall. The building is frame, but placed on a high concrete block basement. With two large rooms
upstairs and two downstairs, the Bunkhouse has current housing for up to 64 campers. The Bunkhouse is an 8bay wide, two-story frame building, set on a high concrete block basesment, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable
roof. The rafter tails are exposed and there are square attic vents in each gable peak.. The primary elevation
features a large, deep eave, gable-front porch supported on two wooden posts, above a wood deck. The entrance
to the seond floor is from a tall set of stairs at the porch. All entrances have screen doors. The building has oneover-one, double-hung sash windows. Photographs from the 1950s show that the building had flap up wooden
shutters, and most likely, screened openings, on both upper and lower floors. The exterior walls (on the frame
portion of the building) feature the camp motif lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. Decks
have been extended to each side of the original entry porch, full length of the building. The rear of the building
also features a full-length deck with two stair access points. The rear deck is most likley a later feature. There
are no additions to this building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Girls’ Bathhouse
The Girls‘ Bathhouse is adjacent to the Store/Clinic Buildng and Girls‘ Cabin #1/Charlotte County. The
Bathhouse is a one-story, 2-bay wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. The roof rafter
tails are exposed. The entrance is at the northwest corner of the building and features a ramp and concrete
decking. The entrance has a screen door. The building does not have sash. The original horizontal openings are
screened and would most likely have had flap up covers originally. The exterior walls feature the camp motif
lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. The foundation is parged concrete block. There are no
additions in this building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Store/Clinic Building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 5
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The Store/Clinic Building is located inbetween Girls‘ Cabin #1/Charlotte County and the Dining Center. Partial
views of the front of this building appear in 1950s photographic images. The Store/Clinic is a one-story, about
2-3 bays wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. The building has a wide, shed-roof,
screened-in porch with a solid halfwall. In 1950s images, the porch did not have a half wall. The windows are
one-over-one, recent double-hung sash with clip in muntins. The exterior walls are clad in 1990s vertical
groove panels, indentical to those that clad the Dining Center and the Main Office. The foundation is concrete
block. There is a large rear addition with shed-form roof.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Main Office Building
The Main Office Building is located adjacent to the Boys‘Bunkhouse and Bathhouse, on the road loop, near a
parking lot and the Dining Center. There were no historic images of this building located during research for
this nomination. The Main Office Building appears to have nearly identical dimensions and form with the
Store/Clinic Building. The Main Office is a one-story, 3-bays wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle
clad gable roof. The small square attic vent at the south gable peak is original. The north gable has a exterior
access door to the attic with exterior stairs and decking. The building has a wide shed-roof front porch set on 3
square posts. The rafter tails are still visible in several areas at the roof edge. A concrete block flue is on the
primary elevation, extending though the porch roof. The windows are two-over-two, horizontal, double-hung
sash (1960s). The exterior walls are clad in 1990s vertical groove panels, indentical to those that clad the
Dining Center and the Store/Clinic Building. The foundation is parged concrete block. There is a rear addition
with shed-form roof.
Date: c. 1937 (or 1940s)
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Pavilion Building
The Pavilion Building is located adjacent to the Boys‘ Cabins, on the southeast side of the camp, near the
Dining Center. Historic images of this building show that it was built c. 1954-55 and that it was preceded by
activities that were conducted in a large pole-supported tent on the same site. The Pavilion Building is a onestory frame building, 3-bays wide at ends with 6-bays on the sides. It is covered by an asphalt-shingle clad
gable roof. The small square attic vent at the south gable peak is original. The sides are open with grooved
board half walls topped by a railing. The support posts have simple brackets. The gable roof structure has
weatherboarded gable ends and an exposed structural system on the interior. The building sits in a concrete slab.
The entrances are open areas in the half wall. The roof structure is comprised of flat board frames with a ―W‖
bracing pattern.
Date: c. 1955
DHR Number 006-5009-
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 6
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Amphitheatre (Covered)
The Amphitheatre Building is located adjacent to the Girls‘ Bunkhouse and the more recent beach/boating area,
at the south end of the historic district. There were no historic images of the building located at the time of this
research. The building is built into a hill and has three open sides and a stage and enclosed area in the fourth
side. The Amphitheatre is a tall one-story frame building, 3-bays wide at the upper end, with an asphalt-shingle
clad gable roof. The closed end of the building features the Camps‘ design motif: board and batten lower and
weatherboard upper cladding. There are several access doors and covered window openings, simple vertical
board door and shutters. The support posts are simple (telephone pole size). The gable roof structure has
weatherboarded gable ends and an exposed structural system on the interior. There is a round fan vent in the
southern gable. The foundation is not visible. The stage is a simple wooden platform backed by a vertical board
wall that exhibits a round panel with the 4-H Club symbol. There are 2 seating sections separated by an aisle
with 11 rows of board benches that sit atop round wood supports.
Date: c. 1955
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
WPA Project Office (Tool Shed)
The building is referred to in DHR records as the WPA Project Office and is currently used for tool storage. It
is located near the current Main Office Building, adjacent to a parking lot. This was originally a two room
office. Along with the cabins, this building has high physical integrity to the 1930s period, and is the least
altered historic building at the Camp. There were no historic images of this building located during research for
this nomination. The Office is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof.
There are small square attic vents in both gable peaks. The rafter tails are intact. There is no surviving stove
flue (though this building may not have been heated). The windows are six-over-six, double-hung sash. The
exterior walls are clad in the Camp design motif of board and batten on lower wall and weatherboard on upper
wall. The building still sits on concrete piers. There are no additions to the building. The offices were of equal
size, each with a five horizontal-panel door and a window on the front and back of the building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Outdoor Assembly Area
The path that crosses the southeastern ridge, where the Girls‘ Cabins are located, terminates at the top of the
hill, on the larger of the two camp peninsulas that extends into Holliday Lake. Photographs taken in the 1950s
show religious services being held at this site. The site has not changed since the the earliest photograph found
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 7
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
during research for this nomination (1954). There are two areas of seating (eleven rows in each) with a central
aisle. The seats are plank boards resting on concrete blocks. The seating faces a presentation table. The site
was most likely graded for use.
Date: c. 1954 (or earlier)
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – site)
Canoe Racks (Two)
There are two wood canoe racks adjacent to the more recent beach/boating area, at the southern end of the
Historic District. Both racks have identical design: three square posts, in a line, that support a metal panel
gable roof. Cross beams on the three posts support a total of 6 canoes per rack. There are corner posts at one
end of each rack providing stability.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2 – structures)
Bridge
A rustic wooden bridge with a plank deck, four heavy round post rail supports (set in concrete footers), with
simple hand rail, is located at the beach/boating area. It crosses over a drainage trench, providing easy access to
boat docks.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1 – structure)
Boat Docks (Two)
Two recently built boat docks are at the more recent beach area. Both docks are set on round posts and have
plank decks. At opposite sides of the small beach, both docks extend about 50 feet into Holliday Lake.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2 – structures)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 8
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Campfire Circle
A recent Campfire Circle is located adjacent to Holliday Lake, at the northern end of the historic district.
Historic photographs dating to 1958, show that this area was a well-established beach that was nestled between
the two peninsula points in a gentle ―U‖ plan. The beach no longer exists, but a semi-circular Campfire Circle
now occupies the area that is adjacent to the lake‘s edge. The structure is built into the hill so that seating
generally faces the lake and the flat sandy area where wood is burned. There are six levels of seating, created by
concrete beams. The overall shape is a semi-circle. Small drainage trenches around the structure guides water
away from the structure. Photos from the 1940s and 50s show another area of the Camp being used for
campfire activities.
Date: c. 1990
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1– site)
Tool Sheds (Two)
There are two frame tool sheds, both have shed roofs and single doors. One shed is located to the northwest of
the Campfire Circle. Despite being a modern shed, there is one feature of note, it has a 1930s door that matches
the type found on the cabins. The second shed is located just south of the Girls‘ Bathhouse. It is also of recent
construction.
Date: c. 2000
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2–buildings)
Endnotes-Section 7
1
Times-Virgnian, October 17th, 1935.
2
Appomattox Community Development Plan, A Guidebook for Elected Officials,
Government Staff, Civic Groups,and Concerned Citizens of Appomattox County and the Towns of Appomattox and Pamplin, 2003, p.
III-2.
3
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, DHR File Number 006-5009, file photographs for Preliminary Information Form.
4
Virginia Tech Imagebase, http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/index.php. Search for ―Holiday Lake‖ yields 70 images of the Camp that span
nearly 20 years.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 13
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
The Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion
A, in the area of Social History, for New Deal agency and 4-H Club activities, and under Criterion C, for its
Depression Era and 4-H period rustic camp architecture. The Camp is eligible at state level of significance
because it relates to a multi-county Resettlement Administration project, Surrender Grounds Forest, and the 4-H
Club with campers who were (and still are) drawn from a large region of Virginia, during the complete period of
significance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center was built as part of a New Deal reforestation demonstration project,
which was initiated in 1935. Embedded in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, and adjacent to Holliday
Lake, the 1937 buildings in the Camp housed Works Progress Administration workers (WPA) who built the
adjacent Holliday Lake State Park, and also took part in reforestation of the surrounding, then depleted,
farmland. At the completion of the federal project, the Camp was turned over to the state of Virginia for use as a
park and state forest. Local interest resulted in the 4-H Club taking over the Camp in 1941.
The Camp is significant under Criterion A because it conveys the history of two progressive American
movements in Virginia, the encouragement of good land management in the 1930s by the New Deal programs,
and the history of 4-H organization in Virginia with Agricultural Extension training offered by Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University (from 1941 to 1960). The history is manifested by the survival of the
camp, in its buildings, sites, and manmade landscape.
The Camp is also significant under Criterion C, because the plan and manmade landscape of the camp are
notable. At the time that the camp was transferred from federal to state hands, twenty-four buildings were on the
site. Most of these buildings survive to convey the WPA history. Buildings added since 1941 (and before 1960);
convey the history of the 4-H use of the Camp. Built in a design that was more sophisticated than the many
military-like Civilian Conservation Corps barracks-style camps, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp is a rare example of a
largely complete WPA worker camp. The 4-H buildings added later enhance the rustic nature of the early
complex, and were built to meet the camping and educational needs of 4-H Club programs.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
Camp Origins and Construction in New Deal Era
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center was built as part of a large New Deal-era federal government
demonstration project that had reforestation and recreation goals. Built in the latter part of 1937 and the early
part of 1938, by the Resettlement Administration as one of the temporary relief measures instigated to afford
employment, the project included construction of a lake and was co-sponsored by the Navy, which planned to
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 14
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
use the lake as an inland emergency landing base. The original plan to construct a dam 55 feet high had to be
abandoned when a private cemetery was discovered and the owners/relatives could not be located so that
permission to move the bodies could be obtained. The dam was completed at 48 feet (the depth of the water at
the dam is 35 feet) and the lake was smaller than originally planned and was not made into the Navy emergency
landing base. The conversion from a landscape of old farms to forest, park and camp was accomplished
between 1935 and 1942. In the early 1940s, the Federal Government gave the State a 99-year lease on the entire
forest area of between 25,000 and 28,000 acres - about half in Appomattox County and half in Buckingham
County.
Resettlement Administration Virginia Projects
There are several significant Resettlement Administration projects that occurred in Virginia during the 1930s,
including the Surrender Ground Forest. In July 1933, Section 208 of the National Industrial Recovery Act
created the Subsistence Homestead Division, which was placed in the Department of the Interior. The
subsistence homesteads undertaking was considered one of the most innovative and utopian resettlement
programs of the New Deal era. The division resettled families that had little hope of escaping poverty into new
communities. The resettlement program was, however, one of the most controversial of the New Deal, and was
often labeled communistic by its critics. After June 1935, the programs and projects of the division were
transferred to the newly created Resettlement Administration (RA), and in 1937, the Farm Security
Administration (FSA), the successor to the RA, assumed its functions. About a hundred subsistence homesteads
were constructed nationwide, with two of them located in Virginia. Shenandoah Homesteads was built to house
the mountain families who lost their land to Shenandoah National Park.1 Aberdeen Gardens, a community built
for African-American workers in the city of Hampton, who were primarily employed at the nearby shipyards,
was designed by notable African American architect Hilyard Robinson. Built by many of those who would
become residents in the community, the scheme included super blocks that allowed room for small farm plots
and chickens. For a short period, the community had a green belt farm nearby. 2
The Surrender Ground Forest Project, managed by the RA and FSA did not result in the construction of a new
community within the project area, but it did involve employing the labor of many residents who were in the
project area and Appomattox and Buckingham County region. On October 17, 1935, a ―Demonstration Forest
Project‖ was announced in Appomattox‘s Times-Virginian. James M. Gray, the Director of the RA Land
Utilization announced that $229,000 had been approved for acquiring land in Appomattox and Buckingham
Counties. The land had been offered for sale voluntarily. The project area had been identified as a ―problem
area‖ in Virginia‘s Central Piedmont. The area had been farmed and lumbered to the point where farmers were
abandoning land with depleted soils and areas of high erosion. The RA proposed to buy the land and redevelop
it with new roads, campgrounds, fish propagation facilities, game sanctuaries, feed and cover crops, artificial
lakes and a fire protection system. It was reported that 125 of the 150 families living in the project area where to
be resettled on more fertile farms in the neighboring region.3
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 15
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The Surrender Grounds project was also associated with the development of the National Historic Park at the
Appomattox Surrender Grounds, the area that was adjacent to the Town of Appomattox, about ten miles away
from the Appomattox-Buckingham Demonstration Project. The park centered on the historic Appomattox Court
House and the site of Robert E. Lee‘s surrender in 1865. Established by law on August 3, 1935, efforts were
being made in October to purchase land from owners in the historic area. Eventually two Civilian Conservation
Corps Companies (CCC) worked in Appomattox, Company 1351, comprised of African American World War I
veterans, and Company 2391.4 Company 1351 had worked in Vermont in 1933, and at Colonial Parkway in
James City County in 1934.5 Company 2391 worked in Appomattox in 1935 and by 1940, they had moved on
to Lexington.5 The CCC worked at Appomattox Court House developing the National Historic Park in 1941 and
they built Camp Lee-Grant near the project site.6 Given the proximity of the National Historic Park and
Surrender Ground Forest projects, the CCC may have assisted with some of the RA forestry work and
construction of the Camp to house WPA workers.
The Surrender Ground Forest project was well under way by 1936, but all indications were that most of the RA
workers were not living at the project site. The local newspaper reported, ―All available relief workers within
commuting distance of the project are being transported by government trucks to work in the morning and
returned to their home at night.‖7 The RA Camp was built in 1937 and construction of the lake and park was
finished by 1939, when Holliday Lake opened to the public. By 1940, the public was using Holliday Lake,
though in June of that year, the bathhouse still needed electric lighting and was closed to the public.8
Still owned by the Federal government‘s Department of Agriculture in 1941, but operated by the State
Conservation Commission, the WPA camp was not in use. CCC camps were usually demolished or buildings
were sometimes converted for reuse, and occasionally buildings were moved for reuse. The Appomattox Lions
Club approached the State Conservation Commission in February 1941 to ask for improved roads at Holiday
Lake, the completion of cottages and dining hall, and completion of REA (Rural Electrification Administration)
work in the area. As reported, there is indication that the camp needed completion, but this may have just meant
that repair or conversion work was in progress to remodel the buildings for their new use. By this point, the ―24
cottages‖ had been inspected for 4-H Camp use for summer of 1941. Gordon Elean of the State 4-H Club had
visited the site with Randolph Odell of the State Conservation Commission.9 The Camp was wired in the spring
and on June 23, the first 4-H Camp took place.
The federal government transferred ownership of the Appomattox-Buckingham Forest and Holliday Lake Park
to the state completely by 1954. The 4-H Club currently leases the Camp from the State Department of Forestry.
Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps Architecture
The Holiday Lake camp is a rare surviving example of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) camp in
Virginia and most likely a rare example in the eastern United States.10 While Virginia has numerous examples of
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 16
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) craftsmanship and project work, the residential camp complexes
and related facilities that were used by the workers rarely survive. Built as temporary facilities, most camps were
disassembled by the 1950s. In some rare cases individual buildings were moved or spared from demolition, but
complexes were not retained for the most part. While there has not been a thorough state survey to locate all
surviving camps11, there are two that have been identified as mostly intact: Holiday Lake WPA camp and the
former CCC camp that is now called the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correction Center in Rockbridge County.
Both surviving camps have design and plan similarities. Membership and organization of WPA and CCC
differed. The WPA workers were drawn from the local region, some commuting to the project site, and the
average worker age was close to middle age. In some cases the WPA program employed women, but not for the
construction or forestry projects. The CCC, on the other hand, employed men between the ages of 18-25 who
often lived long distances from the project sites, very often from across the state or from another state. The CCC
men were organized into companies, in military style organization, and where led by reserve officers.
Each of these ―Rigid Construction Camps‖ (as opposed to tent camps) generally consisted of residence areas,
cabins or barracks, a kitchen/mess hall (that doubled as a meeting hall in many instances), showers/washroom
building, an infirmary building, administrative building, shop building(s), garage building(s) and some camps
included a recreation building. Since the CCC camps were run by military officers, they had officers quarters.12 It
is not clear whether there were separate accommodations for the superintendents/managers of the WPA camps.
The CCC core of the Natural Bridge camp features large military barracks-form buildings, rectangular in plan
with gable roofs. The buildings tightly surround a parade ground. The Holiday Lake camp is more free form and
features individual cabins (sleeping eight per cabin—relatively small) and one larger barracks building. The
Holiday Lake WPA Mess Hall (now the Lawson Dining Center) faces an open area that resembles a parade
ground (most likely used for recreation, but the cabins are set back in the woods, atop two parallel ridges. In
both cases, at Natural Bridge and Holiday Lake, some buildings have been upgraded from less substantial
―temporary‖ to weatherized permanent buildings.
As built, the buildings that were used for CCC and WPA camps were designed for short-term use. The first
stages of these organized camps usually had tent housing until buildings could be finished. Most CCC camps
where designed to house workers in long gable-roofed frame barracks-form buildings. Many were clad in
tarpaper that was attached with vertical wooden strips (battens). The plans for CCC camps/buildings were based
on Army prototypes. 13 The Natural Bridge Station buildings most likely had this type of exterior cladding.
Holiday Lake had more substantial siding from the start. At both sites, window openings were most likely
screened, but there were no sash, just shutter-style solid board covers. The cabins at Holiday Lake are essentially
in 1930s conditions (with some maintenance updates). Early images of Holiday Lake 4-H Camp show the Mess
Hall on an open pier foundation. Today, the Lawson Center is a year-round facility. New exterior siding has
replaced the original, and the interior is finished with modern sheet rock over insulation. In the early 4-H years,
camping was seasonal and not conducted in the winter. The cabins originally had wood stoves for the WPA use
during cold weather. The stoves were removed during the 4-H period. Early images of the Mess Hall/Lawson
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 17
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Center building show screened windows and no interior wall finishes, just rafters and studs.14 The rare survival
of both of these complexes has occurred because of continuity of use. At Natural Bridge, the camp became a
Federal correctional facility, later passing into state ownership. The transition from WPA use to 4-H camp may
have just occurred within a few months since 4-H camping appears to have started in 1940.
Endnotes – Pre-1941/4-H Camp Period
1. Ronald L. Heinemann, Depression and New Deal in Virginia: the enduring dominion, p. 123.
2.Aberdeen Gardens National Register of Historic Places nomination, VDHR File Number 143-0146, John S. Salmon and Marc C.
Wagner. December 22, 1993.
3. ―Demonstration Forest Project Started Here‖ Times-Virginian, October 17, 1935.
4. CCC Legacy website: Virginia Camps- http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
5. ―When the Veterans Came to Vermont: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Winooski River Flood Control Project‖, Thomas
W. Patton, Vermont Historical Society Journal, p.166.
http://www.vermonthistory.org/journal/73/06_Patton.pdf
6. ―Progress of Program is Reviewed,‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
7. ―Progress of Program is Reviewed,‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
8. ―Holiday Lake Drawing Large Crowds So Far‖ Times-Virginian, June 20, 1940.
9. ―Lions ask for Holiday Lake Development‖ Times-Virginian, February 20, 1941.
10. An email poll was conducted by Marc Wagner with all State Historic Preservation Offices in July 2010 and no complete examples
of surviving camps were identified. At best there are some fragments of camps and buildings that do survive, but no complete camps.
Further research may reveal other examples. This was not an exhaustive and complete study on the matter.
11. The Civilian Conservation Corps website CCC Legacy has identified 178 CCC camps that were related to projects throughout the
state. Whether all of these had substantial buildings and structures is not known. Some of the camps may have been to support short
term projects and tents may have housed the men during the project duration. There is no readily available list of WPA camps. A
systematic survey of all 178 camps has never been conducted. This link lists the 178 Virginia camps:
http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
12. A detailed description of CCC camps can be found in the internet book: ―The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps‖:
1933-42/ Chapter 12- Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Features and Land Use Improvements
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/ccc/chap12.htm
13. Website: ―The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-42/ Chapter 13-George Washington National Forest.‖
This was according to James R. Wilkins CCC Camp Superintendent in western Virginia.
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/ccc/index.htm
14. The Virginia Tech Imagebase website has 70 images that show the camp in the 1940s and 1950s. The Mess Hall/Lawson Center
appeared to be unchanged from the 1930s in a set of photographs that date to 1950 and 1954:
http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/browse.php?folio_ID=/vaes/boxtw/holi
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 13
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The following historical narrative was written by Dr. Robert R. Meadows, Associate Director, 4-H Virginia
Cooperative Extension, Virginia Polytechic Institute and State University. The section used for establishing
significance and reporting history in this nomination was excerpted from Dr. Meadows doctoral dissertation:
A History of Virginia’s 4-H Camping Program: A Case Study on Events Leading to the Development of the
4-H Educational Centers. Dr. Meadows has graciously given permission for the use of this research and
dissertation in support of listing the Camp Holiday 4-H Educational Center.
Holiday Lake 4-H Camp and Educational Center History
Although Holiday Lake 4-H Camp was established as the second camp in the state in 1941, it is the oldest 4-H
camp located on its original site. Prior to its establishment, 4-H'ers in this region were involved in 4-H camptype programs at Hampden-Sydney College near Farmville, from 1926-1940, and other nearby facilities. An
early example of one of these camps was the Goochland County 4-H Camp that was conducted June 15-19,
1925 at the Sabot Hill Farm in that county. "Classes in foods and room improvement work were taught...‖
As part of the Resettlement Administration of the United States government's plan to relocate owners from low
production farms to more productive land, forest land was purchased from 1934 to 1939 in what is now known
as the Buckingham-Appomattox State Forest. Farming in this area had been marginal because of unproductive
soil types and many farms had delinquent tax levies. This forest contains 19,210 acres with 10,428 located in
Appomattox County, and 8,782 in Buckingham. "In order to provide employment, the Resettlement
Administration determined that the construction of a dam would serve as a temporary work relief measure and
also provide a recreational area for this area of the state. The Navy Department co-sponsored the planning of the
lake which was to serve as an emergency inland landing base." The construction of the lake began in late 1937
and was completed in early 1938. Located in both Appomattox and Buckingham counties, the lake is 150 acres
and is fed by three streams of water with the main one being Holliday Creek, named for a family of that name.
The dam built to form the lake has a normal depth of water of about 35 feet.
On December 28, 1940, a meeting took place in Appomattox for the purpose of leasing a campsite for 4-H
youth in that area. Representatives from Appomattox,Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, and Campbell
counties were present as were those from the State 4-H Club Department of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr.
William Skelton was serving as Appomattox County 4-H club agent during this time. As a result of this
meeting, a lease on land and buildings in good condition from the previously used WPA Camp, which had been
built during the Depression years by the work relief program, was secured for the purpose of building a district
4-H camp. The property was located on land joining the newly built Holliday Lake. During the spring of that
year,"E. T. Swink, an Agricultural Engineer and W. E. Skelton, Extension Agent and Agricultural Engineer
were assisted by 4-H boys from Appomattox, Campbell, Buckingham and Prince Edward Counties in wiring the
camp.‖ The original lease was for 19 1/2 acres of land and included 16 cabins, a dining hall, kitchen, and two
bathhouses.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 14
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Opening officially for 4-H camps in 1941, the first group of 4-H'ers participated in camp the week of June 23,
1941 and included campers from Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, and Prince Edward counties. During that
summer, a total of four camp weeks were provided for the counties and cities of Amherst, Appomattox,
Bedford, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Campbell, Franklin, Fluvanna, Goochland, Halifax, Henry,
Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Nelson, and Patrick. In 1963, the camp was increased to 62 acres. In 1974, the
lease was made for twenty-five years with the option of renewal for an additional twenty-five years. The
decision was made in 1976 by the 4-H camp board to convert the camp into a winterized, year-round 4-H
educational center, thus becoming the fourth 4-H educational center to be established in the state. In 1980, the
state legislature authorized the State Commission of Conservation and Economic Development to lease 157.8
acres of land for 99 years.
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center serves the counties and cities of Albemarle/Charlottesville, Amelia,
Amherst, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa,
Lunenburg, Lynchburg, Mechlenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, and Prince Edward. The center operates under the
supervision of a director and is managed by a board of directors. Currently, the center has 159 acres of land and
is valued at $1.5 million. The site has facilities that can accommodate approximately 260 campers per week.
Today, while day as well as overnight programs are offered at the center, the major program is the summer camp
program that annually provides educational service in the outdoor setting to over 2,000 youth from 17 counties
and the cities of Lynchburg and Charlottesville. Forestry Camp, conducted by the Virginia Department of
Forestry, a Shooting Education Camp and a Family Camp are also a part of the summer camping program.
Other major programs include a Natural Education Program for youth during the spring and fall. This program
offers training for educators, schools and other youth in the areas of forestry, wildlife, lake and stream ecology,
orienteering, astronomy, herpetology, entomology, natural resources, soil studies, water quality and weather
investigation. The 4-H Center also serves as the host for the Virginia Tech Forestry School Spring Camp during
the month of April each year, offering the students an opportunity to practice forest management techniques in
the working forest. Currently over 10,500 participants pass through the various programs each year.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Section 9-Bibliography
Resettlement Administration/Works Progress Administration/Civilian Conservation Corps Section
2007 Annual Report, Holiday lake Forestry Camp, DOF web site print out September 2009
Appomattox Community Development Plan, A Guidebook for Elected Officials,
Government Staff, Civic Groups,and Concerned Citizens of Appomattox County and the Towns of Appomattox and Pamplin, 2003, p.
III-2.
CCC Legacy website: Virginia Camps-http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, DHR File Number 006-5009, file photographs for Preliminary Information Form.
The Impact of the New Deal on the National Park Service; A. Emergency Conservation Work--Civilian Conservation Corps,
September, 1983, website version: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/unrau-williss/adhi3a.htm
Patton ,Thomas W. ―When the Veterans Came to Vermont: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Winooski River Flood Control
Project‖. Vermont Historical Society Journal, p.166. Summer/Fall 2005. http://www.vermonthistory.org/journal/73/06_Patton.pdf
Times-Virginian Articles:
―Demonstration Forest Project Started Here‖ Times-Virginian, October 17, 1935.
―Progress of Program is Reviewed‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
―Holiday Lake Drawing Large Crowds So Far‖ Times-Virginian, June 20, 1940.
―Lions ask for Holiday Lake Development‖ Times-Virginian, February 20, 1941.
Unrau , Harlan D. and G. Frank Williss. Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s: Administrative History, Chapter Three:
Virginia Tech Imagebase, http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/index.php. Search for ―Holiday Lake‖ yields 70 images of the Camp that span
nearly 20 years.
4-H Camp History Section
Agricultural 4-H Club Letter, 1925, August
Bullard, D.L. (1979). An Investigation of 4-H Camping Programs
in the Unites States and Their Contribution to the Growth
and Development of Youth. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
College of the Fields: Some Highlights of the Virginia Cooperative
Extension Service 1914-1980. (1987). Blacksburg, VA:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pp. 3;
6; 24; 26; 58; 164-166; 169-171; 180-185; 210; 232-233; 238240; 243-244; 251; 258.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Douglas, P.B. (1979). A History of the Development of the
Southwest Virginia 4-H Center: 20 Year History.
Elcan, G.A. & Hughes, H.L. (1939). History of 4-H Club Work,
1909-1939. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
pp. 1-3; 5; 8.
Farrell, G.E. (1926). Boys' and Girls' 4-H Club Work Under The Smith-Lever Act, 1914-1924. Washington,
DC: United States Department of Agriculture, pp. 12; 43-44.
History: Holiday Lake 4-H Club Camp. (no date). pp. 1-2
Horne, H.H. (1910). The Philosophy of Education. New York:
Millin Company, p. 165.
Interview with Dr. William E. Skelton. (August 19, 1996).
Blacksburg, VA.
Jamestown 4-H Camp: Past and Present. (1946), p. 3.
Martin, O.B. (1941). The Demonstration Work. San Antonio, TX:
The Naylor Company, pp. 3-4; 29; 227.
Rasmussen, W.D. (1989). Taking the University to the People.
Ames, IA: Iowa State University, p. 33; 90; 176.
Sanders, H.C. (1972). Instruction in the Cooperative Extension Service. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana StateUniversity, pp. 7;56-57.
Ulrich, R. (1950). History of Educational Thought. New York:
American Book Company, p. 319.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1918). Agricultural Club
Letter. Vol. 1, No 2, July-August, pp. 1-2.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1919). Agricultural Club
Letter. Vol. 2, No. 5, September, pp. 1; 3-4.
Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. (1989). Cloverview.
Vol. 7, No. 1. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, pp. 1-2; 26.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, (1947). Head, Heart, Hands,
and Health of Virginia. Vol. 30, No. 10, October, p. 3.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1940). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIX, No. 2, June, pp. 1; 3-4.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1941). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIV, No. 4, August, pp. 1-2.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1941). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIV, No. 6, October, p. 3.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1944). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. 27, No. 9, September, p. 1.
Wessel, T. & Wessel, M. (1982). 4-H: An American Idea 19001980. Chelsea, MI: BookCrafters, pp. 3-5; 15; 44.
~ " ' .."1'dl
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center (Camp) Historic District
11.17 Acres; 006-5009
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Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center (Camp) Historic District
11.17 Acres; 006-5009
1 inch = 200 feet
Created By: D. Bascone January 21 , 2011
Sources: VDHR 2011 , ESRI 2010
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Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center (Camp) Historic District
11.17 Acres; 006-5009
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Created By: D. Bascone January 21, 201 1
Sources: VDHR 2011 , ESRI 2010
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HOLI DAY LAKE, VA.
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NPS Form 10-900
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department o f the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED IN:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
06/17/2010
03/15/2011
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items o n continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
historic name
other namestsite number
Surrender Grounds Forest, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, VDHR File #006-5009
street & number 1267 4-H Camp Road; Route 2, Box 630
city or town
state
not for publication
X
Appomattox
Virginia
code
011
county Appomattox
code
vicinity
zip code 24522
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for
registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements
set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I
In my opinion, the property
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at th5 following level(s) of significance:
A
I Signa'iure
of certifying offica
-
local
u
Virainia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
V
In my opinion, the property
1
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria
Signature of commenting official
Date
Title
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Sewice Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
I1
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
private
public - Local
X public - State
public - Federal
building(s)
X district
site
structure
building(s)
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
Contributing
23
2
1
0
0
26
Noncontributing
3
0
6
0
0
9
buildings
sites
structures
objects
buildings
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
N/A
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Domestic: Institutional Housing, Camp
Domestic: Camp
Commerce/Trade: Organizational
Commerce/Trade: Business
Government: Public Works
Social: Meeting Hall/Civic
Industry/Processing/Extraction: Waterworks
Education: Research Facility, Education-Related
Recreation/Culture: Theater, Outdoor Recreation
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Other
foundation:
Brick
walls:
Wood
roof:
Asphalt Shingle
other:
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
Architecture
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
Education
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
Landscape Architecture
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
Period of Significance
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
Entertainment/Recreation
1937 – 1960
Significant Dates
1937-Camp Construction
1940- 4-H begins use of Camp
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Period of Significance (justification)
The historic core of Holiday Lake 4-H Camp was built by the Works Progress Administration workers (in
association with the Resettlement Administration) in 1937 as part of a multi-year Reforestation Project in west
central Virginia. Since the earliest buildings can be dated to this period, 1937 is chosen for the beginning of the
Period of Significance. The 4-H Club took over the camp in 1941 (some camping most likely occurred in 1940)
and has used and expanded the facility up to the present. Since the history of the 4-H Club has ongoing
significance, the fifty-year point, 1960, is chosen for the end of the period of significance.
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
Not Applicable
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned):
_____________________________________________________________________
See Continuation Sheets
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
11.17 acres
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17 S
Zone
708845
Easting
4140797
Northing
3
17 S
Zone
708979
Easting
4140410
Northing
2
17 S
Zone
709151
Easting
4140751
Northing
4
17 S
Zone
708773
Easting
4140415
Northing
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
Beginning at the southernmost point, on the east side of the Camp peninsula, the boundary follows the edge of
the land on Holliday Lake except for where there are two boat docks. The boundary follows the edges of both
docks. The water‘s edge creates the boundary on southeast, east and north sides of the Camp‘s peninsula. The
western edge follows a wetlands area in a straight line from northeast to southwest, until that line intersects with
the southern edge of the entrance road. The boundary follows the road edge for about 50 feet and then jogs
around a building constructed within the last 20 years, and heads due south to the starting point. (See attached
maps).
The precise boundary is recorded on an aerial that is at 1 inch equals 200 feet scale. The aerial was produced on
ESRI 2010 software using mapping data provided by Virginia Geographic Information Network. The aerial
image dates to 2002. Note that the photorevised Holiday Lake USGS Quadrangle map shows less of the
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
peninsula land form than the actual aerial so the boundary appears include lake area on the USGS quad., but
there is no area of the lake included in the boundary. The boundary follows the land edge.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The boundary includes all historic resources that relate to the period of signficance, 1937 to 1960. The
boundary includes the core 1930s camp area and excludes areas that are not essential for understanding the
residential camp environment. While the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Resettlement
Administration (RA) both worked throughout the wooded area, reforesting, building roads, and improving
drainage, in the Camp, the State Park, and State Forest, these areas were not included since these activities were
not residential camp areas for WPA, RA.or 4-H. The area included is the present center of operations and
activities for the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Marc C. Wagner VDHR and Dr. Robert R. Meadows, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
organization Virginia Department of Historic Resources
date May 16, 2010
street & number 2801 Kensington Avenue
telephone 804-367-2323 X-115
city or town Richmond
state
Virginia
zip code 23228
Marc.Wagner@dhr.virginia.gov
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property: Holiday Lake 4-H Eduational Center
County: Appomattox County
State: Virginia
Photographer: Marc C. Wagner
Date Photographed: March 9, 2010
13 Photographs
1. Activity Field, terracing
2. Lawson Dining Center
3. Pavilion
4 Amphitheatre
5. Outdoor Classroom-Gathering Area
6. WPA Office
7. Boys‘ Bath House
8. Girls‘ Bunk House
9. Girls‘ Cabins, general view
10. Buckingham Cabin (Boy‘s side)
11. Rear View of Boy‘s Cabin from ravine
12. Cabin Interior showing 4 bunks and storage
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
13. Cabin site on Boy‘s Cabin side
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 1
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Architectural Description
Summary Architectural Description:
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center Historic District is a 11.33 acre historic section of the 158-acre camp
situated in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest (Virginia Department of Forestry land), in Appomattox
County, Virginia. The original part of the camp is adjacent to Holliday Lake, part of Holliday Lake State Park
(listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in September 18, 2008). Constructed by Works Progress
Administration (WPA) workers, who may have been working with the Resettlement Administration, in 1937,
the current historic residential camp is comprised of 34 buildings/structures/sites that comprise a scenic wooded
landscape adjacent to the 150 acre Holliday Lake. Both State Park and 4-H Educational Center are surrounded
by 19,808 acres of forest land. The residential camp was built in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)-era,
and there are similarities to the more commonly known rustic designed architecture of the CCC. This WPA
complex was completed to house workers whose main tasks were to build Holliday Lake and conduct
reforestation activities in a area of old farmstead properties. The core of the camp is planned between two low
ridges that surround a manmade terraced field. In an approximately symmetrical arrangement, fifteen, small,
eight-bunk cabins, were built along the ridges above the activity field. A large activity building/dining hall sits
at the south-western end of the field, atop the terraced area, facing Holliday Lake. When the Farm Security
Administration (successor to the Resettlement Administration) had completed operations in the early 1940s, the
lake, park, and WPA camp (and forest area) were transferred to the state within several years. The unusually
intact WPA camp survives today because it was used by local 4-H as early as 1940 and officially became a 4-H
camp in 1941. The continuity of operations at the site has preserved the 1930s camp and as the 4-H educational
center has grown over the years, the oldest section of the institution with its highly intact 1930s landscape has
survived as a rare example of a very complete WPA-built complex in Virginia. Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C
for its association with the Works Progress Administration, Resettlement Administration/Farm Security
Administration and 4-H history in Virginia, and its integrity of design in its camp plan and buildings. (One will
note that the state park uses the ―Holliday‖ name with two Ls, after a family that owned land in the area. The 4H Camp uses the ―Holiday‖ spelling with one L.)
The complex includes a dining center (one contributing building), fifteen (8 bunk) cabins and associated cabin
site (fifteen contributing buildings and one contributing site), a girl‘s bunk house and boy‘s bunk house (two
contributing buildings), a boy‘s bath house and girl‘s bath house (one non-contributing building and one
contributing building), a main office building (one contributing building), a covered open-air pavilion (one
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 2
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
contributing building), a covered open-air amphitheatre (one contributing building), an uncovered seating area
(one contributing structure), three sheds (one contributing and two non-contributing buildings) , two canoe racks
(two non-contributing structures), a campfire circle (a non-contributing structure), two boat docks (two noncontributing structures), and a wooden bridge crossing a drainage trench at the beach area (a non-contributing
structure). The landscape includes paths, terracing, drainage, road traces and other manmade land features and
counts as a contributing site. There are twenty three contributing buildings and three non-contributing
buildings; two contributing sites; one contributing structure and six non-contributing structures.
Detailed Architectural Description
Camp Landscape and Setting
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center Historic District was initially planned as part of a Demonstration Forest
Project by the Resettlement Administration beginning in Oct 1935 1, however, construction of the camp appears
to have taken place in 1937-1938 and was likely completed by Works Progress Administration workers.
Appomattox County is within the Piedmont physiographic area, a broad, elevated belt situated between the
Coastal Plain and Blue Ridge geographic areas that extends from Alabama to New Jersey. The Piedmont is
essentially a plateau with mature stream development and erosion-resistant hills or mountains which
occasionally appear in level terrain, promoting a rolling landscape. Elevations in the county vary from
approximately 460 feet above sea level at the point where the Appomattox River flows into Prince Edward
County to 1,151 feet on the top of Piney Mountain. Most of the county, however, lies between 500 and 800
feet.2 Holliday Lake‘s surface is at 445 feet and surrounding hills, immediate to the lake, range from 500 to
nearly 650 feet.
The Camp is accessed by a State Route 732 from the north-northwest. This is the only paved access road into
the camp. The road passes through the post 1950s period area of the site (not included in the district) and
terminates at a small loop within the historic area. The landscape of the historic section of the camp is partially
natural, but there are distict manmade/designed features at the core. The Camp is surrounded by lake and creek
beds on all sides. Cemetery Creek is at the northwestern edge, the lake is at northern and east-southeast edges.
A small creek (or wetlands area runs across the northwestern side (possibly a branch of Cemetery Creek). The
camp site chosen was elevated on dry ridge land that now forms a double point peninsula at the southern end of
Holliday Lake. All primary buildings were built on higher ground. The Camp is located about 500 feet west of
the concrete Holliday Lake dam.
The Rachel F. Lawson Family Dining Center (1937) was and is the current central building in the Camp. It is
sited at the head of an open field, facing Holliday Lake. The Dining Center‘s design is locked into a central axis
position by virtue of its simple, but substantial, one-story porch, which reads as a simple central portico. The
view from the Lawson Center is framed by the two ridges that surround the field, forming a protected area: a
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 3
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
natural bowl effect. The field in front of the Lawson Center descends towards the lake in three manmade
terraces. A campfire amphitheatre is situated at one of the lower terraces, close to the lake. A ceremonial triple
flagpole stand has been built at the edge of the highest terrace, centered on the Lawson Center. The ground
drops off behind the Lawson Center, towards the southwest, where access loop and car parking are located.
Two lines of frame gable-front cabins are sited along the two ridges above (and facing) the terraced activity
field. The cabins on the northern ridge are used for boys and those on the southern ridge for girls. All of these
cabins were completed by 1937. Currently, there are six 8-bunk cabins on the northwestern ridge line. A
seventh cabin –at the northern-most end of the ridge -- was destroyed by fire, but the concrete footers survive
marking the site. The southeastern ridge, which reaches further northward into Holliday Lake, features nine 8bunk cabins, identical in design to the cabins that line the northwestern ridge. Both lines of cabins are accessed
by well worn wide paths that traverse each ridge line. The path on the southeastern ridge continues past the
cabins and terminates at the end of the ridge at an outdoor seating area with wood planks on blocks, a site that
appears to have been used for outdoor teaching and Sunday services.
Adjacent to the Dining Center are several more primary buildings. On the northwestern side, a 1940s-50s Boys‘
Bunk House is located next to a recently built Boys‘Bath House. The Main Office, which is essentially a small
simply detailed cottage, is just south of the Boys‘Bunkhouse. On the southeastern side of the Dining Center, the
row of Girls‘Cabins terminates at the 1930s Girls‘Bath House. A c. 1955 covered open-air pavilion and 1930s
store/clinic is located between the Dining Center and the first four Girls‘ cabins.
The southern-most section of the historic area, south of the loop road and parking areas, includes the
Girls‘Bunk House and a covered open-air Amphitheatre (most likely contemporary with the 1950s Pavilion).
The primary swimming activity area and beach during the early 4-H period (1941-1960s) was at the bottom of
the terraced lawn in front of the Dining Center. Photographs from the 1940s and 50s show a sandy beach
between the two ridges and some road traces or terraced areas at each side of the beach on the northwest and
southeast. This area now has a campfire circle and terminates at water‘s edge in grass. The beach has been
relocated to the southern edge of the historic area (c. 1980), where the is a slight inlet on a narrow branch of the
lake. The beach features a V-shaped concrete block retaining wall, two recently built wooden boat docks, and
two recent wood frame canoe racks.
There are three frame sheds in the historic district. The two non-contributing frame sheds appear to have been
built in the past twenty years. One is by the campfire circle at the northern section of the district—while the
building is not historic, it features a horizontal panel door identical to those on the cabins. It is most likely
reused from one of the 1930s buildings. This shed is used for miscellaneous storage. A modern frame shed
(non-contrinuting) is located next to the Girls‘ Bunk House. The contribributing shed, located near the parking
area at the Main Office, has been identified as the original WPA Office for the Recreation Area construction
project. Though currently referred to a as shed, the building has two rooms with a separate door for each space.
It is likely that these two rooms had specialized office functions.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 4
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Architectural Design/Style and Physical Integrity:
There are primary design themes throughout the 4-H Camp. In general, the collection of buildings exhibit Rustic
style similar to that used at National and State recreation parks that were built in 1930s Virginia. There is some
tendency towards utilitarian construction, but not as simple as military or Civilian Conservation Corps barracks.
Based on the inspection of historic photographs that have been provided by the 4-H Educational Center3 and
photos available on the internet site Virginia Tech ImageBase4, it is possible to make direct comparison with the
near original conditions of the oldest buildings and note the physical evolution of buildings and landscape over
70 years.
The original buildings were wired for electricity in 1941, when the local 4-H Club started preparing the Camp
for their use. In early 4-H photographs, very few improvements are shown. The predominant design motif
throughout the Camp is an exterior wall cladding that features board and batten lower sections and
weatherboard upper sections. The patterns appear to be half and half on all exteriors of buildings built in the
1930s. The Covered Open-Air Amphitheatre and the Boys‘Bath House also share this design pattern though
they were built later. The early color scheme shown in black and white photos shows a dark color used on the
lower board and batten and a light color on the upper weatherboard. The Covered Open-Air Pavilion has a
board and batten patterned half wall on all sides. Early photos show roofs, on all buildings, clad in composite
material, perhaps asbestos or asphalt shingle.
Three buildings have undergone substantial renovation over the years. The Dining Center (used by WPA as a
mess hall and most likely general assemby area), the Store/Clinic, and the Main Office. All three buildings have
been clad with vertical groove panels and have significant rear additions.
Dining Center: Photographs dating to the 1950s show this core Camp building set on piers,without foundation
walls and operating with flap up shutters that were locked in open position by an angled rods, resting on a
fixture on the lower wall of the building. The openings were most likely screened. The interior photographs of
the Dining Center show simple exposed structural elements in the building with wall-attached fold down tables
that stowed up against the walls when not in use. Over the recent decades, the building has been weatherized
and updated with interior finishes (c. 1976). The updated materials include permanent glass windows and
modern vertical groove board cladding. The original plan of the WPA mess hall was 24‘ x 120‘, a large
rectangle. The rear of the building has an original long kitchen ell. All of these sections are still in place with
the addition of a significant two-story frame area that fills in the area from the kitchen ell out to the northwest
corner of the Dining Center. This recent rear addition is not as visible from the front of the Dining Center. The
multiple gallery porches, on the back and side of this addition, are visible from the loop road and parking areas.
Because the essential form of building is intact, and it still acts as the center of the complex, as it faces towards
Holliday Lake and the primary activitiy field, the Dining Center still conveys enough integrity to support
Criterion A significance of the Camp.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 5
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Store/Clinic Building: The Store/Clinic Building appears in early photographs as having the typical Camp
exterior wall pattern: board and batten upper with weatherboard lower wall pattern. It has been resided recently
with vertical groove paneling and has a large rear addition. The front eleveation appears with a screened porch
in early photos and still mantains this appearance. The building is a contributing building in the district because
it generally maintains its form and its primary elevation still appears as it did in the 1940s and 50s, despite the
change in material treatment. The rear addition does not affect the appearance of the building as viewed from
the primary activity field.
Main Office: The Main Office has been updated with recent vertical groove paneling. This building may date
to the 1930s or1940s, and may not have had the board and batten lower and weatherboard upper exterior wall
pattern. This building maintains its form despite updating and is a critical building for supporting the Criterion
A significance relating to the 4-H camp period.
Cabins: The fifteen cabins possess a high level of integrity. The only minor changes that have been made are
the removal of low brick flues at the central roof ridge and replacement of porch post supports. There are
sections of brick flues surviving in rafter areas of the cabins. The use of heating stoves dates to the WPA use of
the buildings. Since 4-H use of the cabins was limited to warmer months, the stoves and lower sections of the
flues were removed. The cabin chimnies still appear in historic photographs from the late 1950s. Photogrpahs
from the 1930s, ‗40s and ‗50s show porch posts (two on each cabin) thicker at the bottom, trimmed with a collar
at about 3 feet above the deck, and smaller from the collar to the porch ceiling. These have been replaced with
single dimension posts.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 1
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inventory of Resources:
The following inventory of resources was developed during a survey that was conducted on March 9, 2010 and
documents Camp resources that are contributing and non-contributing to the historic district.
Circulation System
The vehicle circulation system consists of a loop driveway with parking areas at the end of State Route 723.
The road is part of the general setting and is not singled out as an individual resource.
Landscape
The integration of the buildngs and site design for Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center is critical for
understanding the evolution of the resources in the WPA and 4-H periods. There was careful thought behind the
approximate symmetry of the Dining Center, the terraced lawn and flanking lines of cabins. The terracing
towards the lake is manmade, and during the early 4-H period, it transitioned the activity field from the core
Dining Hall/Activity Building to a flag stand, to beach, ending at lake‘s edge. The more recent Campfire Circle
has replaced the beach at lake‘s edge. There are other features that were not definitely dated to the period of
significance, such as drainage trenches, that may be part of the contributing landscape. While it is unclear how
much of the land between the two parallel ridges was filled in to create the terracing, with the substantial
equipment that was used for creating Holliday Lake, it is possible that the field may have been a low area that
was filled in from soil excavated during lake construction.
Date: 1937-1960
DHR Number 006-5009
CONTRIBUTING (1 – site)
Carol F. Lawson Dining Center (WPA Mess Hall/Interior Assembly)
When built by the WPA workers, the Mess Hall, now the Dining Center, was the largest buildng at the Camp. It
was and still is the largest interior gathering area in the 4-H Educational Center. The Dining Center is a onestory, 13-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. There are square attic vents in the
gable peaks and the rafter tails are no longer exposed (assumed to be in the boxed soffit). The primary elevation
features a large, deep-eave, gable-front porch that shelters the central entrance and flanking windows. The
building has one-over-one single-pane, double-hung sash windows. The exterior walls feature a more recent
vertical-groove panel cladding. The rear of the building has an orginal kitchen ell, which is still the kitchen. It
has multiple steel exhaust cowls on the gable roof ridge and on side walls. The foundation is parged concrete
block. The one-story kitchen ell is connected to the 2002 two-story rear addition which sits at the northwestern
side of the main block. The frame addition has double-level gallery porches (with slant-out railings) along south
and west walls and exterior stairs. The interior of the Dining Center is still used for dining and general
activities. The 2002 addition, includes more dining space on the first floor and activity space on the second
floor. While the oldest section of this building has been updated for year around use, wallboard and insulation
added, the open interior roof structure has been left exposed in the oldest part of the building, as it appeared in
earlier periods.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 2
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number DHR Number 006-5009-0002
CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Cabins-Fifteen Identical Buildings
The residental cabins are sited along two ridges that overlook the activity field, flag stand, and Dining Center.
There are currently six boys‘ cabins on the northwestern ridge and nine girls‘ cabins on the southeastern ridge.
There was a seventh boys‘ cabin that burned and it is now a site with concrete footers. The footers show the
former cabin matching dimensions with the extant examples. The cabins were built with maximum air
circulation in mind. All cabins are placed at the edge of each ridge so that most of the buildings are supported
on posts over a slope area, without foundation walls, allowing air to circulate under the cabin frame. When in
use by the WPA workers, the cabins had heating stoves with brick flues at the center of the roof ridge. The flue
tops have been removed and there has been some minor replacement and repair work, but in general these are
the most intact buildings in the complex. Each cabin has eight bunks, four on each side of a single room. With
the original sixteen cabins, there would have been housing for 128 men. All bunks have flap-up shutters with
screened openings. Originally, the flaps were on the exterior, now shutters are in the interior. All cabin
buildings are one-story, frame, with front gable, asphalt-shingle, roofs that have deep eaves with exposed rafter
tails, and deep front porches supported on two posts, set on wood decks. The siding maintains the design motif
of board and batten lower and weatherboard upper cladding. All cabins have wooden screen doors and wooden
five-horizontal-panel doors. The screen doors may have been updated, but all panel doors are original. The
interiors are designed for basic functionality with four bunks on each side wall and a built-in four storage unit
shelf inbetween each bunk stack. A second exit is provided at the rear of each cabin with a wood ladder that
reaches the ground. At the steepest points of the slope, some of the cabins have a rear height of nearly ten feet
above ground. Eleven cabins have been assigned county names for the 4-H service area. The names are on
wood panels in the front gable peak area, with cabin number. The Boys‘ Cabin row originally had seven
buildings. The last cabin at the north end of the row burned, but the concrete footers survive, above ground.
The cabin site is contributing to the district.
Girls‘ Cabins (from southwest to northeast)
Cabin # 1-Charlotte County (close to the activity building complex, this cabin has a wooden handicap access
ramp).
Cabin #2- Nelson County
Cabin #3- Nottoway County
Cabin #4- Prince Edward County
Cabin #5- Campbell County
Cabin #6- Louisa County
Cabin #7- No Label
Cabin #8- No Label
Cabin #9- No Label
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 3
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Boys‘ Cabins (from southwest to northeast)
Cabin # 10-Appomattox County
Cabin #11- Amherst County
Cabin #12- Amelia County
Cabin #13- Fluvana County
Cabin #14- Buckingham County
Cabin #15- No Label
Cabin Site
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (15– buildings)
CONTRIBUTING (1- site)
Boys’ Bunkhouse
The Boys‘Bunkhouse is at the southeastern end of the Boys‘ Cabin row. Its placement is near the Boys‘
Bathhouse and close to the Dining Center. With four rooms in this house, there are multiple bunks in each room
and, currently, the 4-H can house as many as 35 campers in this building. The Bunkhouse is built into the ridge
on a concrete block foundation. The basement of the building is a functioning space accessed from a lower
ground level. The Bunkhouse is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof.
The rafter tails are not exposed (and there are no early images of this building that show its design). The
primary elevation features a large, deep eave, gable-front porch supported on two metal posts, above a concrete
deck. The building has two-over-two double-horizontal-pane, double-hung sash windows. The exterior walls
feature the camp motif lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. There are no additions on this
building.
Date: c. 1940s-1955
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Boys’ Bathhouse
The Boys‘ Bathhouse was completed in 2008 and replaced the frame 1937 WPA building that was similar, if not
nearly identical, to the existing Girls‘ Bathhouse. The new building was designed to blend and match with other
buildings in the complex, including the use the exterior wall motif, board and batten lower and weatherboard
upper cladding. The Bathhouse is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building with an asphalt-shingle clad gable
roof. There are no rafter tails, but the deep eaves match the predominent camp design. The primary elevation
features a large, shed-roof porch supported on two heavy, bracketed, rustic, clear-coated, wooden posts, above a
concrete deck. The building has single pane modern windows. There are square attic vents and the entry
features a two-leaf metal panel door system with upper glass panels. The foundation is solid masonry.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 4
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 2008
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Girls’ Bunkhouse
The Girls‘Bunkhouse is further away from the core complex, on the far side of the entrance loop, south of the
Dining Hall. The building is frame, but placed on a high concrete block basement. With two large rooms
upstairs and two downstairs, the Bunkhouse has current housing for up to 64 campers. The Bunkhouse is an 8bay wide, two-story frame building, set on a high concrete block basesment, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable
roof. The rafter tails are exposed and there are square attic vents in each gable peak.. The primary elevation
features a large, deep eave, gable-front porch supported on two wooden posts, above a wood deck. The entrance
to the seond floor is from a tall set of stairs at the porch. All entrances have screen doors. The building has oneover-one, double-hung sash windows. Photographs from the 1950s show that the building had flap up wooden
shutters, and most likely, screened openings, on both upper and lower floors. The exterior walls (on the frame
portion of the building) feature the camp motif lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. Decks
have been extended to each side of the original entry porch, full length of the building. The rear of the building
also features a full-length deck with two stair access points. The rear deck is most likley a later feature. There
are no additions to this building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Girls’ Bathhouse
The Girls‘ Bathhouse is adjacent to the Store/Clinic Buildng and Girls‘ Cabin #1/Charlotte County. The
Bathhouse is a one-story, 2-bay wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. The roof rafter
tails are exposed. The entrance is at the northwest corner of the building and features a ramp and concrete
decking. The entrance has a screen door. The building does not have sash. The original horizontal openings are
screened and would most likely have had flap up covers originally. The exterior walls feature the camp motif
lower board and batten and upper weatherboard cladding. The foundation is parged concrete block. There are no
additions in this building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Store/Clinic Building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 5
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The Store/Clinic Building is located inbetween Girls‘ Cabin #1/Charlotte County and the Dining Center. Partial
views of the front of this building appear in 1950s photographic images. The Store/Clinic is a one-story, about
2-3 bays wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof. The building has a wide, shed-roof,
screened-in porch with a solid halfwall. In 1950s images, the porch did not have a half wall. The windows are
one-over-one, recent double-hung sash with clip in muntins. The exterior walls are clad in 1990s vertical
groove panels, indentical to those that clad the Dining Center and the Main Office. The foundation is concrete
block. There is a large rear addition with shed-form roof.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Main Office Building
The Main Office Building is located adjacent to the Boys‘Bunkhouse and Bathhouse, on the road loop, near a
parking lot and the Dining Center. There were no historic images of this building located during research for
this nomination. The Main Office Building appears to have nearly identical dimensions and form with the
Store/Clinic Building. The Main Office is a one-story, 3-bays wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle
clad gable roof. The small square attic vent at the south gable peak is original. The north gable has a exterior
access door to the attic with exterior stairs and decking. The building has a wide shed-roof front porch set on 3
square posts. The rafter tails are still visible in several areas at the roof edge. A concrete block flue is on the
primary elevation, extending though the porch roof. The windows are two-over-two, horizontal, double-hung
sash (1960s). The exterior walls are clad in 1990s vertical groove panels, indentical to those that clad the
Dining Center and the Store/Clinic Building. The foundation is parged concrete block. There is a rear addition
with shed-form roof.
Date: c. 1937 (or 1940s)
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Pavilion Building
The Pavilion Building is located adjacent to the Boys‘ Cabins, on the southeast side of the camp, near the
Dining Center. Historic images of this building show that it was built c. 1954-55 and that it was preceded by
activities that were conducted in a large pole-supported tent on the same site. The Pavilion Building is a onestory frame building, 3-bays wide at ends with 6-bays on the sides. It is covered by an asphalt-shingle clad
gable roof. The small square attic vent at the south gable peak is original. The sides are open with grooved
board half walls topped by a railing. The support posts have simple brackets. The gable roof structure has
weatherboarded gable ends and an exposed structural system on the interior. The building sits in a concrete slab.
The entrances are open areas in the half wall. The roof structure is comprised of flat board frames with a ―W‖
bracing pattern.
Date: c. 1955
DHR Number 006-5009-
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 6
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Amphitheatre (Covered)
The Amphitheatre Building is located adjacent to the Girls‘ Bunkhouse and the more recent beach/boating area,
at the south end of the historic district. There were no historic images of the building located at the time of this
research. The building is built into a hill and has three open sides and a stage and enclosed area in the fourth
side. The Amphitheatre is a tall one-story frame building, 3-bays wide at the upper end, with an asphalt-shingle
clad gable roof. The closed end of the building features the Camps‘ design motif: board and batten lower and
weatherboard upper cladding. There are several access doors and covered window openings, simple vertical
board door and shutters. The support posts are simple (telephone pole size). The gable roof structure has
weatherboarded gable ends and an exposed structural system on the interior. There is a round fan vent in the
southern gable. The foundation is not visible. The stage is a simple wooden platform backed by a vertical board
wall that exhibits a round panel with the 4-H Club symbol. There are 2 seating sections separated by an aisle
with 11 rows of board benches that sit atop round wood supports.
Date: c. 1955
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
WPA Project Office (Tool Shed)
The building is referred to in DHR records as the WPA Project Office and is currently used for tool storage. It
is located near the current Main Office Building, adjacent to a parking lot. This was originally a two room
office. Along with the cabins, this building has high physical integrity to the 1930s period, and is the least
altered historic building at the Camp. There were no historic images of this building located during research for
this nomination. The Office is a one-story, 3-bay wide, frame building, with an asphalt-shingle clad gable roof.
There are small square attic vents in both gable peaks. The rafter tails are intact. There is no surviving stove
flue (though this building may not have been heated). The windows are six-over-six, double-hung sash. The
exterior walls are clad in the Camp design motif of board and batten on lower wall and weatherboard on upper
wall. The building still sits on concrete piers. There are no additions to the building. The offices were of equal
size, each with a five horizontal-panel door and a window on the front and back of the building.
Date: c. 1937
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – building)
Outdoor Assembly Area
The path that crosses the southeastern ridge, where the Girls‘ Cabins are located, terminates at the top of the
hill, on the larger of the two camp peninsulas that extends into Holliday Lake. Photographs taken in the 1950s
show religious services being held at this site. The site has not changed since the the earliest photograph found
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 7
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
during research for this nomination (1954). There are two areas of seating (eleven rows in each) with a central
aisle. The seats are plank boards resting on concrete blocks. The seating faces a presentation table. The site
was most likely graded for use.
Date: c. 1954 (or earlier)
DHR Number 006-5009CONTRIBUTING (1 – site)
Canoe Racks (Two)
There are two wood canoe racks adjacent to the more recent beach/boating area, at the southern end of the
Historic District. Both racks have identical design: three square posts, in a line, that support a metal panel
gable roof. Cross beams on the three posts support a total of 6 canoes per rack. There are corner posts at one
end of each rack providing stability.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2 – structures)
Bridge
A rustic wooden bridge with a plank deck, four heavy round post rail supports (set in concrete footers), with
simple hand rail, is located at the beach/boating area. It crosses over a drainage trench, providing easy access to
boat docks.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1 – structure)
Boat Docks (Two)
Two recently built boat docks are at the more recent beach area. Both docks are set on round posts and have
plank decks. At opposite sides of the small beach, both docks extend about 50 feet into Holliday Lake.
Date: c. 2005
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2 – structures)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 8
Section number 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Campfire Circle
A recent Campfire Circle is located adjacent to Holliday Lake, at the northern end of the historic district.
Historic photographs dating to 1958, show that this area was a well-established beach that was nestled between
the two peninsula points in a gentle ―U‖ plan. The beach no longer exists, but a semi-circular Campfire Circle
now occupies the area that is adjacent to the lake‘s edge. The structure is built into the hill so that seating
generally faces the lake and the flat sandy area where wood is burned. There are six levels of seating, created by
concrete beams. The overall shape is a semi-circle. Small drainage trenches around the structure guides water
away from the structure. Photos from the 1940s and 50s show another area of the Camp being used for
campfire activities.
Date: c. 1990
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (1– site)
Tool Sheds (Two)
There are two frame tool sheds, both have shed roofs and single doors. One shed is located to the northwest of
the Campfire Circle. Despite being a modern shed, there is one feature of note, it has a 1930s door that matches
the type found on the cabins. The second shed is located just south of the Girls‘ Bathhouse. It is also of recent
construction.
Date: c. 2000
DHR Number 006-5009NON-CONTRIBUTING (2–buildings)
Endnotes-Section 7
1
Times-Virgnian, October 17th, 1935.
2
Appomattox Community Development Plan, A Guidebook for Elected Officials,
Government Staff, Civic Groups,and Concerned Citizens of Appomattox County and the Towns of Appomattox and Pamplin, 2003, p.
III-2.
3
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, DHR File Number 006-5009, file photographs for Preliminary Information Form.
4
Virginia Tech Imagebase, http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/index.php. Search for ―Holiday Lake‖ yields 70 images of the Camp that span
nearly 20 years.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 13
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
The Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion
A, in the area of Social History, for New Deal agency and 4-H Club activities, and under Criterion C, for its
Depression Era and 4-H period rustic camp architecture. The Camp is eligible at state level of significance
because it relates to a multi-county Resettlement Administration project, Surrender Grounds Forest, and the 4-H
Club with campers who were (and still are) drawn from a large region of Virginia, during the complete period of
significance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center was built as part of a New Deal reforestation demonstration project,
which was initiated in 1935. Embedded in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, and adjacent to Holliday
Lake, the 1937 buildings in the Camp housed Works Progress Administration workers (WPA) who built the
adjacent Holliday Lake State Park, and also took part in reforestation of the surrounding, then depleted,
farmland. At the completion of the federal project, the Camp was turned over to the state of Virginia for use as a
park and state forest. Local interest resulted in the 4-H Club taking over the Camp in 1941.
The Camp is significant under Criterion A because it conveys the history of two progressive American
movements in Virginia, the encouragement of good land management in the 1930s by the New Deal programs,
and the history of 4-H organization in Virginia with Agricultural Extension training offered by Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University (from 1941 to 1960). The history is manifested by the survival of the
camp, in its buildings, sites, and manmade landscape.
The Camp is also significant under Criterion C, because the plan and manmade landscape of the camp are
notable. At the time that the camp was transferred from federal to state hands, twenty-four buildings were on the
site. Most of these buildings survive to convey the WPA history. Buildings added since 1941 (and before 1960);
convey the history of the 4-H use of the Camp. Built in a design that was more sophisticated than the many
military-like Civilian Conservation Corps barracks-style camps, Holiday Lake 4-H Camp is a rare example of a
largely complete WPA worker camp. The 4-H buildings added later enhance the rustic nature of the early
complex, and were built to meet the camping and educational needs of 4-H Club programs.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
Camp Origins and Construction in New Deal Era
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center was built as part of a large New Deal-era federal government
demonstration project that had reforestation and recreation goals. Built in the latter part of 1937 and the early
part of 1938, by the Resettlement Administration as one of the temporary relief measures instigated to afford
employment, the project included construction of a lake and was co-sponsored by the Navy, which planned to
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 14
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
use the lake as an inland emergency landing base. The original plan to construct a dam 55 feet high had to be
abandoned when a private cemetery was discovered and the owners/relatives could not be located so that
permission to move the bodies could be obtained. The dam was completed at 48 feet (the depth of the water at
the dam is 35 feet) and the lake was smaller than originally planned and was not made into the Navy emergency
landing base. The conversion from a landscape of old farms to forest, park and camp was accomplished
between 1935 and 1942. In the early 1940s, the Federal Government gave the State a 99-year lease on the entire
forest area of between 25,000 and 28,000 acres - about half in Appomattox County and half in Buckingham
County.
Resettlement Administration Virginia Projects
There are several significant Resettlement Administration projects that occurred in Virginia during the 1930s,
including the Surrender Ground Forest. In July 1933, Section 208 of the National Industrial Recovery Act
created the Subsistence Homestead Division, which was placed in the Department of the Interior. The
subsistence homesteads undertaking was considered one of the most innovative and utopian resettlement
programs of the New Deal era. The division resettled families that had little hope of escaping poverty into new
communities. The resettlement program was, however, one of the most controversial of the New Deal, and was
often labeled communistic by its critics. After June 1935, the programs and projects of the division were
transferred to the newly created Resettlement Administration (RA), and in 1937, the Farm Security
Administration (FSA), the successor to the RA, assumed its functions. About a hundred subsistence homesteads
were constructed nationwide, with two of them located in Virginia. Shenandoah Homesteads was built to house
the mountain families who lost their land to Shenandoah National Park.1 Aberdeen Gardens, a community built
for African-American workers in the city of Hampton, who were primarily employed at the nearby shipyards,
was designed by notable African American architect Hilyard Robinson. Built by many of those who would
become residents in the community, the scheme included super blocks that allowed room for small farm plots
and chickens. For a short period, the community had a green belt farm nearby. 2
The Surrender Ground Forest Project, managed by the RA and FSA did not result in the construction of a new
community within the project area, but it did involve employing the labor of many residents who were in the
project area and Appomattox and Buckingham County region. On October 17, 1935, a ―Demonstration Forest
Project‖ was announced in Appomattox‘s Times-Virginian. James M. Gray, the Director of the RA Land
Utilization announced that $229,000 had been approved for acquiring land in Appomattox and Buckingham
Counties. The land had been offered for sale voluntarily. The project area had been identified as a ―problem
area‖ in Virginia‘s Central Piedmont. The area had been farmed and lumbered to the point where farmers were
abandoning land with depleted soils and areas of high erosion. The RA proposed to buy the land and redevelop
it with new roads, campgrounds, fish propagation facilities, game sanctuaries, feed and cover crops, artificial
lakes and a fire protection system. It was reported that 125 of the 150 families living in the project area where to
be resettled on more fertile farms in the neighboring region.3
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 15
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The Surrender Grounds project was also associated with the development of the National Historic Park at the
Appomattox Surrender Grounds, the area that was adjacent to the Town of Appomattox, about ten miles away
from the Appomattox-Buckingham Demonstration Project. The park centered on the historic Appomattox Court
House and the site of Robert E. Lee‘s surrender in 1865. Established by law on August 3, 1935, efforts were
being made in October to purchase land from owners in the historic area. Eventually two Civilian Conservation
Corps Companies (CCC) worked in Appomattox, Company 1351, comprised of African American World War I
veterans, and Company 2391.4 Company 1351 had worked in Vermont in 1933, and at Colonial Parkway in
James City County in 1934.5 Company 2391 worked in Appomattox in 1935 and by 1940, they had moved on
to Lexington.5 The CCC worked at Appomattox Court House developing the National Historic Park in 1941 and
they built Camp Lee-Grant near the project site.6 Given the proximity of the National Historic Park and
Surrender Ground Forest projects, the CCC may have assisted with some of the RA forestry work and
construction of the Camp to house WPA workers.
The Surrender Ground Forest project was well under way by 1936, but all indications were that most of the RA
workers were not living at the project site. The local newspaper reported, ―All available relief workers within
commuting distance of the project are being transported by government trucks to work in the morning and
returned to their home at night.‖7 The RA Camp was built in 1937 and construction of the lake and park was
finished by 1939, when Holliday Lake opened to the public. By 1940, the public was using Holliday Lake,
though in June of that year, the bathhouse still needed electric lighting and was closed to the public.8
Still owned by the Federal government‘s Department of Agriculture in 1941, but operated by the State
Conservation Commission, the WPA camp was not in use. CCC camps were usually demolished or buildings
were sometimes converted for reuse, and occasionally buildings were moved for reuse. The Appomattox Lions
Club approached the State Conservation Commission in February 1941 to ask for improved roads at Holiday
Lake, the completion of cottages and dining hall, and completion of REA (Rural Electrification Administration)
work in the area. As reported, there is indication that the camp needed completion, but this may have just meant
that repair or conversion work was in progress to remodel the buildings for their new use. By this point, the ―24
cottages‖ had been inspected for 4-H Camp use for summer of 1941. Gordon Elean of the State 4-H Club had
visited the site with Randolph Odell of the State Conservation Commission.9 The Camp was wired in the spring
and on June 23, the first 4-H Camp took place.
The federal government transferred ownership of the Appomattox-Buckingham Forest and Holliday Lake Park
to the state completely by 1954. The 4-H Club currently leases the Camp from the State Department of Forestry.
Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps Architecture
The Holiday Lake camp is a rare surviving example of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) camp in
Virginia and most likely a rare example in the eastern United States.10 While Virginia has numerous examples of
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 16
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) craftsmanship and project work, the residential camp complexes
and related facilities that were used by the workers rarely survive. Built as temporary facilities, most camps were
disassembled by the 1950s. In some rare cases individual buildings were moved or spared from demolition, but
complexes were not retained for the most part. While there has not been a thorough state survey to locate all
surviving camps11, there are two that have been identified as mostly intact: Holiday Lake WPA camp and the
former CCC camp that is now called the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correction Center in Rockbridge County.
Both surviving camps have design and plan similarities. Membership and organization of WPA and CCC
differed. The WPA workers were drawn from the local region, some commuting to the project site, and the
average worker age was close to middle age. In some cases the WPA program employed women, but not for the
construction or forestry projects. The CCC, on the other hand, employed men between the ages of 18-25 who
often lived long distances from the project sites, very often from across the state or from another state. The CCC
men were organized into companies, in military style organization, and where led by reserve officers.
Each of these ―Rigid Construction Camps‖ (as opposed to tent camps) generally consisted of residence areas,
cabins or barracks, a kitchen/mess hall (that doubled as a meeting hall in many instances), showers/washroom
building, an infirmary building, administrative building, shop building(s), garage building(s) and some camps
included a recreation building. Since the CCC camps were run by military officers, they had officers quarters.12 It
is not clear whether there were separate accommodations for the superintendents/managers of the WPA camps.
The CCC core of the Natural Bridge camp features large military barracks-form buildings, rectangular in plan
with gable roofs. The buildings tightly surround a parade ground. The Holiday Lake camp is more free form and
features individual cabins (sleeping eight per cabin—relatively small) and one larger barracks building. The
Holiday Lake WPA Mess Hall (now the Lawson Dining Center) faces an open area that resembles a parade
ground (most likely used for recreation, but the cabins are set back in the woods, atop two parallel ridges. In
both cases, at Natural Bridge and Holiday Lake, some buildings have been upgraded from less substantial
―temporary‖ to weatherized permanent buildings.
As built, the buildings that were used for CCC and WPA camps were designed for short-term use. The first
stages of these organized camps usually had tent housing until buildings could be finished. Most CCC camps
where designed to house workers in long gable-roofed frame barracks-form buildings. Many were clad in
tarpaper that was attached with vertical wooden strips (battens). The plans for CCC camps/buildings were based
on Army prototypes. 13 The Natural Bridge Station buildings most likely had this type of exterior cladding.
Holiday Lake had more substantial siding from the start. At both sites, window openings were most likely
screened, but there were no sash, just shutter-style solid board covers. The cabins at Holiday Lake are essentially
in 1930s conditions (with some maintenance updates). Early images of Holiday Lake 4-H Camp show the Mess
Hall on an open pier foundation. Today, the Lawson Center is a year-round facility. New exterior siding has
replaced the original, and the interior is finished with modern sheet rock over insulation. In the early 4-H years,
camping was seasonal and not conducted in the winter. The cabins originally had wood stoves for the WPA use
during cold weather. The stoves were removed during the 4-H period. Early images of the Mess Hall/Lawson
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 17
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Center building show screened windows and no interior wall finishes, just rafters and studs.14 The rare survival
of both of these complexes has occurred because of continuity of use. At Natural Bridge, the camp became a
Federal correctional facility, later passing into state ownership. The transition from WPA use to 4-H camp may
have just occurred within a few months since 4-H camping appears to have started in 1940.
Endnotes – Pre-1941/4-H Camp Period
1. Ronald L. Heinemann, Depression and New Deal in Virginia: the enduring dominion, p. 123.
2.Aberdeen Gardens National Register of Historic Places nomination, VDHR File Number 143-0146, John S. Salmon and Marc C.
Wagner. December 22, 1993.
3. ―Demonstration Forest Project Started Here‖ Times-Virginian, October 17, 1935.
4. CCC Legacy website: Virginia Camps- http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
5. ―When the Veterans Came to Vermont: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Winooski River Flood Control Project‖, Thomas
W. Patton, Vermont Historical Society Journal, p.166.
http://www.vermonthistory.org/journal/73/06_Patton.pdf
6. ―Progress of Program is Reviewed,‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
7. ―Progress of Program is Reviewed,‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
8. ―Holiday Lake Drawing Large Crowds So Far‖ Times-Virginian, June 20, 1940.
9. ―Lions ask for Holiday Lake Development‖ Times-Virginian, February 20, 1941.
10. An email poll was conducted by Marc Wagner with all State Historic Preservation Offices in July 2010 and no complete examples
of surviving camps were identified. At best there are some fragments of camps and buildings that do survive, but no complete camps.
Further research may reveal other examples. This was not an exhaustive and complete study on the matter.
11. The Civilian Conservation Corps website CCC Legacy has identified 178 CCC camps that were related to projects throughout the
state. Whether all of these had substantial buildings and structures is not known. Some of the camps may have been to support short
term projects and tents may have housed the men during the project duration. There is no readily available list of WPA camps. A
systematic survey of all 178 camps has never been conducted. This link lists the 178 Virginia camps:
http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
12. A detailed description of CCC camps can be found in the internet book: ―The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps‖:
1933-42/ Chapter 12- Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Features and Land Use Improvements
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/ccc/chap12.htm
13. Website: ―The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-42/ Chapter 13-George Washington National Forest.‖
This was according to James R. Wilkins CCC Camp Superintendent in western Virginia.
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ccc/ccc/index.htm
14. The Virginia Tech Imagebase website has 70 images that show the camp in the 1940s and 1950s. The Mess Hall/Lawson Center
appeared to be unchanged from the 1930s in a set of photographs that date to 1950 and 1954:
http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/browse.php?folio_ID=/vaes/boxtw/holi
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 13
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The following historical narrative was written by Dr. Robert R. Meadows, Associate Director, 4-H Virginia
Cooperative Extension, Virginia Polytechic Institute and State University. The section used for establishing
significance and reporting history in this nomination was excerpted from Dr. Meadows doctoral dissertation:
A History of Virginia’s 4-H Camping Program: A Case Study on Events Leading to the Development of the
4-H Educational Centers. Dr. Meadows has graciously given permission for the use of this research and
dissertation in support of listing the Camp Holiday 4-H Educational Center.
Holiday Lake 4-H Camp and Educational Center History
Although Holiday Lake 4-H Camp was established as the second camp in the state in 1941, it is the oldest 4-H
camp located on its original site. Prior to its establishment, 4-H'ers in this region were involved in 4-H camptype programs at Hampden-Sydney College near Farmville, from 1926-1940, and other nearby facilities. An
early example of one of these camps was the Goochland County 4-H Camp that was conducted June 15-19,
1925 at the Sabot Hill Farm in that county. "Classes in foods and room improvement work were taught...‖
As part of the Resettlement Administration of the United States government's plan to relocate owners from low
production farms to more productive land, forest land was purchased from 1934 to 1939 in what is now known
as the Buckingham-Appomattox State Forest. Farming in this area had been marginal because of unproductive
soil types and many farms had delinquent tax levies. This forest contains 19,210 acres with 10,428 located in
Appomattox County, and 8,782 in Buckingham. "In order to provide employment, the Resettlement
Administration determined that the construction of a dam would serve as a temporary work relief measure and
also provide a recreational area for this area of the state. The Navy Department co-sponsored the planning of the
lake which was to serve as an emergency inland landing base." The construction of the lake began in late 1937
and was completed in early 1938. Located in both Appomattox and Buckingham counties, the lake is 150 acres
and is fed by three streams of water with the main one being Holliday Creek, named for a family of that name.
The dam built to form the lake has a normal depth of water of about 35 feet.
On December 28, 1940, a meeting took place in Appomattox for the purpose of leasing a campsite for 4-H
youth in that area. Representatives from Appomattox,Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, and Campbell
counties were present as were those from the State 4-H Club Department of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr.
William Skelton was serving as Appomattox County 4-H club agent during this time. As a result of this
meeting, a lease on land and buildings in good condition from the previously used WPA Camp, which had been
built during the Depression years by the work relief program, was secured for the purpose of building a district
4-H camp. The property was located on land joining the newly built Holliday Lake. During the spring of that
year,"E. T. Swink, an Agricultural Engineer and W. E. Skelton, Extension Agent and Agricultural Engineer
were assisted by 4-H boys from Appomattox, Campbell, Buckingham and Prince Edward Counties in wiring the
camp.‖ The original lease was for 19 1/2 acres of land and included 16 cabins, a dining hall, kitchen, and two
bathhouses.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 14
Section number 8
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Opening officially for 4-H camps in 1941, the first group of 4-H'ers participated in camp the week of June 23,
1941 and included campers from Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, and Prince Edward counties. During that
summer, a total of four camp weeks were provided for the counties and cities of Amherst, Appomattox,
Bedford, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Campbell, Franklin, Fluvanna, Goochland, Halifax, Henry,
Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Nelson, and Patrick. In 1963, the camp was increased to 62 acres. In 1974, the
lease was made for twenty-five years with the option of renewal for an additional twenty-five years. The
decision was made in 1976 by the 4-H camp board to convert the camp into a winterized, year-round 4-H
educational center, thus becoming the fourth 4-H educational center to be established in the state. In 1980, the
state legislature authorized the State Commission of Conservation and Economic Development to lease 157.8
acres of land for 99 years.
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center serves the counties and cities of Albemarle/Charlottesville, Amelia,
Amherst, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa,
Lunenburg, Lynchburg, Mechlenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, and Prince Edward. The center operates under the
supervision of a director and is managed by a board of directors. Currently, the center has 159 acres of land and
is valued at $1.5 million. The site has facilities that can accommodate approximately 260 campers per week.
Today, while day as well as overnight programs are offered at the center, the major program is the summer camp
program that annually provides educational service in the outdoor setting to over 2,000 youth from 17 counties
and the cities of Lynchburg and Charlottesville. Forestry Camp, conducted by the Virginia Department of
Forestry, a Shooting Education Camp and a Family Camp are also a part of the summer camping program.
Other major programs include a Natural Education Program for youth during the spring and fall. This program
offers training for educators, schools and other youth in the areas of forestry, wildlife, lake and stream ecology,
orienteering, astronomy, herpetology, entomology, natural resources, soil studies, water quality and weather
investigation. The 4-H Center also serves as the host for the Virginia Tech Forestry School Spring Camp during
the month of April each year, offering the students an opportunity to practice forest management techniques in
the working forest. Currently over 10,500 participants pass through the various programs each year.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Section 9-Bibliography
Resettlement Administration/Works Progress Administration/Civilian Conservation Corps Section
2007 Annual Report, Holiday lake Forestry Camp, DOF web site print out September 2009
Appomattox Community Development Plan, A Guidebook for Elected Officials,
Government Staff, Civic Groups,and Concerned Citizens of Appomattox County and the Towns of Appomattox and Pamplin, 2003, p.
III-2.
CCC Legacy website: Virginia Camps-http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_virginia.htm
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, DHR File Number 006-5009, file photographs for Preliminary Information Form.
The Impact of the New Deal on the National Park Service; A. Emergency Conservation Work--Civilian Conservation Corps,
September, 1983, website version: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/unrau-williss/adhi3a.htm
Patton ,Thomas W. ―When the Veterans Came to Vermont: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Winooski River Flood Control
Project‖. Vermont Historical Society Journal, p.166. Summer/Fall 2005. http://www.vermonthistory.org/journal/73/06_Patton.pdf
Times-Virginian Articles:
―Demonstration Forest Project Started Here‖ Times-Virginian, October 17, 1935.
―Progress of Program is Reviewed‖ Times-Virginian, January 9, 1936.
―Holiday Lake Drawing Large Crowds So Far‖ Times-Virginian, June 20, 1940.
―Lions ask for Holiday Lake Development‖ Times-Virginian, February 20, 1941.
Unrau , Harlan D. and G. Frank Williss. Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s: Administrative History, Chapter Three:
Virginia Tech Imagebase, http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/index.php. Search for ―Holiday Lake‖ yields 70 images of the Camp that span
nearly 20 years.
4-H Camp History Section
Agricultural 4-H Club Letter, 1925, August
Bullard, D.L. (1979). An Investigation of 4-H Camping Programs
in the Unites States and Their Contribution to the Growth
and Development of Youth. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
College of the Fields: Some Highlights of the Virginia Cooperative
Extension Service 1914-1980. (1987). Blacksburg, VA:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pp. 3;
6; 24; 26; 58; 164-166; 169-171; 180-185; 210; 232-233; 238240; 243-244; 251; 258.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Douglas, P.B. (1979). A History of the Development of the
Southwest Virginia 4-H Center: 20 Year History.
Elcan, G.A. & Hughes, H.L. (1939). History of 4-H Club Work,
1909-1939. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
pp. 1-3; 5; 8.
Farrell, G.E. (1926). Boys' and Girls' 4-H Club Work Under The Smith-Lever Act, 1914-1924. Washington,
DC: United States Department of Agriculture, pp. 12; 43-44.
History: Holiday Lake 4-H Club Camp. (no date). pp. 1-2
Horne, H.H. (1910). The Philosophy of Education. New York:
Millin Company, p. 165.
Interview with Dr. William E. Skelton. (August 19, 1996).
Blacksburg, VA.
Jamestown 4-H Camp: Past and Present. (1946), p. 3.
Martin, O.B. (1941). The Demonstration Work. San Antonio, TX:
The Naylor Company, pp. 3-4; 29; 227.
Rasmussen, W.D. (1989). Taking the University to the People.
Ames, IA: Iowa State University, p. 33; 90; 176.
Sanders, H.C. (1972). Instruction in the Cooperative Extension Service. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana StateUniversity, pp. 7;56-57.
Ulrich, R. (1950). History of Educational Thought. New York:
American Book Company, p. 319.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1918). Agricultural Club
Letter. Vol. 1, No 2, July-August, pp. 1-2.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1919). Agricultural Club
Letter. Vol. 2, No. 5, September, pp. 1; 3-4.
Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. (1989). Cloverview.
Vol. 7, No. 1. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, pp. 1-2; 26.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, (1947). Head, Heart, Hands,
and Health of Virginia. Vol. 30, No. 10, October, p. 3.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1940). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIX, No. 2, June, pp. 1; 3-4.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center
Appomattox County, VA
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Page 27
Section number 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1941). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIV, No. 4, August, pp. 1-2.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1941). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. XXIV, No. 6, October, p. 3.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (1944). Virginia 4-H Club
Letter. Vol. 27, No. 9, September, p. 1.
Wessel, T. & Wessel, M. (1982). 4-H: An American Idea 19001980. Chelsea, MI: BookCrafters, pp. 3-5; 15; 44.
~ " ' .."1'dl
Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
Center (Camp) Historic District
11.17 Acres; 006-5009
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11.17 Acres; 006-5009
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Created By: D. Bascone January 21 , 2011
Sources: VDHR 2011 , ESRI 2010
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Holiday Lake 4-H Educational
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U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E
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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
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E T C ;
Bedford County Court House
S T R E E T
H*
i-t
00
S T A T E ;
D.
C.
08
••
(Check One)
CONDITION
Excellent
|
|
Good
E^l
Fair
|
|
Deteriorated
|
|
Ruins
|
INTEGRITY
Altered
S
|
Unexposed
|
|
(Check One)
- (C/iec/c
Unaltered
Moved
|
|
Original Site
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (If known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Poplar Forest is a brick one-story building, octagonal in shape, set on
a high basement with tetrastyle pedimented Tuscan porticoes, on low
arcades, on the entrance and rear facades. As a result of a fire in 1845,
only the walls, chimneys, and possibly the columns are original. From a
drawing, circa 1820 (now in the Alderman Library, University of Virginia),
by Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter, Cornelia Randolph, the original desigi
of the exterior can be reasonably determined. The drawing shows the house
crowned by a deck on an octagonal hipped roof surrounded at its base by a
balustrade. Below the balustrade is a Tuscan cornice which encircles the
entire house.
The original interior plan of the house is intact, and consists of four
elongated octagonal rooms around a square central hall which was
originally lighted from above. Two of the rooms were divided in the middl
by bed alcoves, similar to that in Jefferson's bedroom at Monticello.
Unfortunately, there is almost no evidence indicating the appearance
of the original woodwork.
Jefferson refers to an office wing, 110 feet long "...in the manner of
those at Monticello, with a flat roof in the level of the house." While
no trace above ground remains of this wing, a kitchen and smokehouse
still stand. On either side of the house, the two original octagonal
privies are discreetly hidden by artificial mounds.
m
on
H
70
C
n
o
z
on
PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate)
Pre-Columbian
|
|
16th Century
|
|
18th Century
15th Century
Q
17th Century
Q
19th Century
20th Century
SPECIFIC DATE(s) (If Applicable and Known)
AREAS OF SI GNI FI C AN C E
(Check One or More as Appropriate)
Abor igina!
Education
I
I
Political
Urban Planning
I
Prehistoric
| |
Engineering
|
|
Religion/Phi-
Other
H
Historic
Q
Industry
Q
Agriculture
| |
Invention
|
Art
jg]
|
Landscape
losophy
Science
Sculpture
Commerce
| |
|
|
Communications
|
|
Literature
|
|
Conservation
]
j
Military
Q
Theater
Music
n
Transportation
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Architecture
(Specify)
I
a
a
a
History________
Social/Humanitarian
a
a
|
|
(Include Personages, Dates, Events, Etc.)
Poplar Forest was designed and built by Thomas Jefferson on his Bedford
County plantation as a "pleasant retreat" from the social pressures of
Monticello. Construction on the house began in .1806 and continued
as late as 1819. Jefferson visited Poplar Forest as much as four times
a year, often remaining there as long as a month. Originally the house
had been designed for Jefferson's daughter, Maria, to be built in
Albemarle County, but she died in 1804.
U
z>
o:
Ico
•z.
LLJ
UJ
CO
Although burned and substantially rebuilt, Poplar Forest ranks among
the most important of Jefferson's architectural designs. In it he was
able to indulge his fancy for compact forms and geometric shapes, and
stated that it was "inferior only to Monticello".
||||l||i|:||||ii^RAPHlCAL REFERENCES
'"
....
.
..,-..,
O'Neal, William B., Architecture in Virginia, New York:
Company, Inc., 1968.
'
,..,:
Walker and
Watson, Lucille McWane, "Thomas Jefftarson's Other Home", Antiques, April,
1957, pp. 342-346.
|||||lpO[|pHICALDATA. ...
.
'x
. -,
LATITUDE. AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES'
DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY
CORNER
LATITUDE
37 °
37°
37°
37 g
21 •
21 •
20'
20'
3030"
10"
10 "
17
, 15
15
17
•
•
•
'
'" ,'""
,,:": '
..:f:
Degrees
O
GO30."
30 •
00 -
' C^-M,
LO NGI TUDE
LATITUDE
Degrees Minutes Seconds
79°
79°
79°
79°
^'
, LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY
1
•
OF LESS THAN ONE ACRE
'
LONGITUDE
Degrees Minutes Seconds
NW
NE
SE
sw
1
*'
_ •
3
|J
,:
Minutes
.
Seconds
•
Degrees
o
I Minutes
Seconds
J .' '
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
W&%$$$&fa&#% PAR|||lli!:: ^ :;:L x' ; : ;:'; ;: ' :•: :' '"::
'v"l:;l:-S: *-:^
>- • -^i': :-;''! '?^I:l4€* J:f£^
'-';:
NAME AND TITLE:
Staff, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, James W. Moody, Jr . , Director
ORGANIZATION
DATE
June 2, 1969
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
STREET AND NUMBER:
Room 1116, Ninth Street State Office Building
CITY OR TOWN:
STATE
Richmond
45
Virginia
• :?: ,- ;p.: ?'- : ' : -' ' N AYjdNA 1?" R E Gi Sf 6 f? V E'R-INi
it$$ltll^
As the designated State Liaison Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion
in the National Register and certify that it has been
evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set
forth by the National Park Service.
The recommended
level of significance of this nomination is:
National
CODE
[X]
State
Q
Local
I hereby certify that this property is included in the
National Register.
/$ wLT /(ill/i
/Hit (n>
*, i
LMtt
t A mi ft n/i
Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Presentation
n
Date
ATTEST:
Dr. Edward P. Alexander, Crrairman
Title Virginia Historic Landmarks Comm.
//
f
# 4l
Keeper of fae National Rei 5/sfer
Bate
tO-
7-
(*^
OCT231 969
Form 10-300a
(Dec. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Number all entries)
Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
1958
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code:
Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
(Continuation Sheet)
6.
Virginia
COUNTY
08
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Report #09-27
1968
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth Street State Office Building
Richmond, Virginia
23219
Code: 760 ;.
Form 10-300q
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
(TVumber alt entries)
STATE
Virginia
COUNTY
__ Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
69-11-45-0093
11/1269
Poplar Forest
Statement of Significance
Thomas Jefferson displayed throughout his life a fascination
with unusual architectural shapes and volumes. In this he shared
an interest with the professionally trained architects of his
age. Both the oval rooms in the rotunda of the University of
Virginia and octagons and semi-octagon incorporated into the final
version of Monticello are fine examples of this.
Between 1806 and 1819 a fully mature Jefferson decided to
build a retreat in the rural seclusion of Bedford County Virginia.
He named his hermitage Poplar Forest. In its design he gave full
reign to his fancy and planned a one story octagonal house over
a raised basement. In plan the house has four perfectly symmetrical
principal spaces in the shape of elongated octagons arranged around
a large square central room lit by a central skylight. In planning
the grounds Jefferson was also his most fanciful and created
minature hills in the garden to screen the view of the octagonal
out-houses from the main house.
Poplar Forest was completely gutted by fire in 1845 and
immediately repaired. However no attempt was made to recapture
the original decoration., Only the basie shapes of the rooms
remain. The roof was reconstructed without the skylight or the
original balustrade.
In spite of the fact that Poplar Forest is an intensely personal
example of Thomas Jefferson's architectural taste and, in that
regard, is second only to Monticello, the 1845 fire and subsequent
rebuilding have significantly reduced the buildings importance.
(20'
Isorm K)-300a
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
Virginia
Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
(Number all entries)
Poplar Forest property description:
Beginning on New London Road approximately 1950 feet from the intersection
of New London Road and Waterlick Road, and following the road for approximate!;
1U90 feet; Thence S k9° 12* E, 190 feet; thence N 6h° 18• E, 370 feetj
thence N 23° 12 ! W, 1*80 feet; thence N 18° 18» E, 23 feet; thence
N 1*2° 2? 1 W, 52 feet; thence N 31° 3 1 E, 555 feet; thence N 58* U2« W,
200 feet; thence N 2lf 1*2' W, 255 feet; thence S 31* 3 ! W, 5l5 feet;
thence N 12° 20« W, 750 feet; thence N 37° 20' W, 5l5 feet; thence
N 31° 3' E, 750 feet) thence following the Norfolk and Western Railway
Low Grade Belt Line approximately £100 feet; thence about N 28° W,
approximately 1200 feet; thence S 67° 19' W approximately 1050 feet;
thence S llf 39* E, 218 feet to North Fork of Tomahawk Greek; thence S
8° 2i| ! E, 2957 feet to Up Branch Creek; thence following Up Branch and the
South Fork of the Tomahawk Creek approximately 1313' feet; thence S 23°
36 ! W, 725 feet; thence S 7$" 5V E, approximately 1115 feet; thence S
28° 6 1 W, approximately 1200 feet; thence approximately N 78° W about
1800 feet; thence N 22*1*0» W, 530 feet; thence S U7°20' W, 1U6 feet;
thence N 16° 10' W, 1089 feet; thence N 17° 28' W, 963 feet; thence N
62° 12' W, 6U1 feet; thence W 67° U9 1 W, 761 feet to beginning.
GPO 901.082
i* 30"
4124000m 1^
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20'l
I*
INTEplOR — GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. I W A S H I N G T O N '
R V I N G T O N
h Ml
MR 2 9 2 n
37°15'
( D e c . 1968)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
i T A T E :
INTERIOR
Virginia
COUNTY:
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
Bedford
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
E N T R Y
(Type
all entries
— complete
applicable
sections)
N U M B E R
^fi'(/^'m^
1/ l^^'r
COMMON:
Poplar Forest
AN D / O R
HISTORl C:
Poplar Forest
2, LOCATtON
STREET AND NUMBER: .2 m i . N of Timber' LsifcB.» .9 m i . S of R t . 661, .5 m i . S of
i n t e r s e c t i o n of R t . 661 and R t . 460.
CITY
OR^TOWN
COUNTY:
Vairginia
Bedford
45
019
CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
(Check
District
Site
Building
|3
Public
•
Structure
Q
Private
In Process
Both
Being Considered
Object
IU
z
•
A.
•
Public A c q u i s i t i o n :
•
•
ACCESSIBLE
TO T H E P U B L I C
STATUS
OWNERSHIP
One)
® Yes:
Restricted
Occupied
•
P R E S E N T USE
(Che ck One or More as Apprrypriate)
Agricultural
•
Government
•
Park
Commercial
•
Industrial
•
Private
Educational
•
Military
•
Religious
•
Entertainment
•
Museum
•
Scientific
•
Q
Unoccupied
O
S
Unrestricted
Preservation work
in progress
I I No:
Transportation_^^ —->P
•
Comments
•
•
If
Residence
V
OWNER O F P R O P E R T Y
OWNERS
NAME:
Mr. and Mrs. James 0 . Watts. J r .
S T R E E T
AND
NUMBER:
\
Poplar Forest
CITY
S T A T E :
O R TOWN;
Forest
f'$,
V ^
Vlr^lnla^
45
L O C A T T O N O F L E G A L DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE,
REGISTRY
O F DEEDS,
CITY
AND
1-1.
01
N U M B E R :
O R TOWN;
Bedford
Virginia
APPROXIMATE
<S.
ACREAGE
OF NOMINATED
PROPERTY:
A5_
950
TITLE
O F SURVEY;
Historic American Buildings Survey
D A T E OF S U R V E Y :
DEPOSITORY
FOR
]^941
SURVEY
Federal
^
State
•
County
•
Local
•
RECORDS:
L i b r a r y of Congress
S T R E E T
AND
N U M B E R ;
OR TOWN;
Washington
n>
Ml
o
ti
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N fN EXISTING S U R V E Y S
CITY
>
-1
m
3
E T C ;
Bedford County Court House
S T R E E T
H*
i-t
00
S T A T E ;
D.
C.
08
••
(Check One)
CONDITION
Excellent
|
|
Good
E^l
Fair
|
|
Deteriorated
|
|
Ruins
|
INTEGRITY
Altered
S
|
Unexposed
|
|
(Check One)
- (C/iec/c
Unaltered
Moved
|
|
Original Site
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (If known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Poplar Forest is a brick one-story building, octagonal in shape, set on
a high basement with tetrastyle pedimented Tuscan porticoes, on low
arcades, on the entrance and rear facades. As a result of a fire in 1845,
only the walls, chimneys, and possibly the columns are original. From a
drawing, circa 1820 (now in the Alderman Library, University of Virginia),
by Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter, Cornelia Randolph, the original desigi
of the exterior can be reasonably determined. The drawing shows the house
crowned by a deck on an octagonal hipped roof surrounded at its base by a
balustrade. Below the balustrade is a Tuscan cornice which encircles the
entire house.
The original interior plan of the house is intact, and consists of four
elongated octagonal rooms around a square central hall which was
originally lighted from above. Two of the rooms were divided in the middl
by bed alcoves, similar to that in Jefferson's bedroom at Monticello.
Unfortunately, there is almost no evidence indicating the appearance
of the original woodwork.
Jefferson refers to an office wing, 110 feet long "...in the manner of
those at Monticello, with a flat roof in the level of the house." While
no trace above ground remains of this wing, a kitchen and smokehouse
still stand. On either side of the house, the two original octagonal
privies are discreetly hidden by artificial mounds.
m
on
H
70
C
n
o
z
on
PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate)
Pre-Columbian
|
|
16th Century
|
|
18th Century
15th Century
Q
17th Century
Q
19th Century
20th Century
SPECIFIC DATE(s) (If Applicable and Known)
AREAS OF SI GNI FI C AN C E
(Check One or More as Appropriate)
Abor igina!
Education
I
I
Political
Urban Planning
I
Prehistoric
| |
Engineering
|
|
Religion/Phi-
Other
H
Historic
Q
Industry
Q
Agriculture
| |
Invention
|
Art
jg]
|
Landscape
losophy
Science
Sculpture
Commerce
| |
|
|
Communications
|
|
Literature
|
|
Conservation
]
j
Military
Q
Theater
Music
n
Transportation
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Architecture
(Specify)
I
a
a
a
History________
Social/Humanitarian
a
a
|
|
(Include Personages, Dates, Events, Etc.)
Poplar Forest was designed and built by Thomas Jefferson on his Bedford
County plantation as a "pleasant retreat" from the social pressures of
Monticello. Construction on the house began in .1806 and continued
as late as 1819. Jefferson visited Poplar Forest as much as four times
a year, often remaining there as long as a month. Originally the house
had been designed for Jefferson's daughter, Maria, to be built in
Albemarle County, but she died in 1804.
U
z>
o:
Ico
•z.
LLJ
UJ
CO
Although burned and substantially rebuilt, Poplar Forest ranks among
the most important of Jefferson's architectural designs. In it he was
able to indulge his fancy for compact forms and geometric shapes, and
stated that it was "inferior only to Monticello".
||||l||i|:||||ii^RAPHlCAL REFERENCES
'"
....
.
..,-..,
O'Neal, William B., Architecture in Virginia, New York:
Company, Inc., 1968.
'
,..,:
Walker and
Watson, Lucille McWane, "Thomas Jefftarson's Other Home", Antiques, April,
1957, pp. 342-346.
|||||lpO[|pHICALDATA. ...
.
'x
. -,
LATITUDE. AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES'
DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY
CORNER
LATITUDE
37 °
37°
37°
37 g
21 •
21 •
20'
20'
3030"
10"
10 "
17
, 15
15
17
•
•
•
'
'" ,'""
,,:": '
..:f:
Degrees
O
GO30."
30 •
00 -
' C^-M,
LO NGI TUDE
LATITUDE
Degrees Minutes Seconds
79°
79°
79°
79°
^'
, LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY
1
•
OF LESS THAN ONE ACRE
'
LONGITUDE
Degrees Minutes Seconds
NW
NE
SE
sw
1
*'
_ •
3
|J
,:
Minutes
.
Seconds
•
Degrees
o
I Minutes
Seconds
J .' '
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
W&%$$$&fa&#% PAR|||lli!:: ^ :;:L x' ; : ;:'; ;: ' :•: :' '"::
'v"l:;l:-S: *-:^
>- • -^i': :-;''! '?^I:l4€* J:f£^
'-';:
NAME AND TITLE:
Staff, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, James W. Moody, Jr . , Director
ORGANIZATION
DATE
June 2, 1969
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
STREET AND NUMBER:
Room 1116, Ninth Street State Office Building
CITY OR TOWN:
STATE
Richmond
45
Virginia
• :?: ,- ;p.: ?'- : ' : -' ' N AYjdNA 1?" R E Gi Sf 6 f? V E'R-INi
it$$ltll^
As the designated State Liaison Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion
in the National Register and certify that it has been
evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set
forth by the National Park Service.
The recommended
level of significance of this nomination is:
National
CODE
[X]
State
Q
Local
I hereby certify that this property is included in the
National Register.
/$ wLT /(ill/i
/Hit (n>
*, i
LMtt
t A mi ft n/i
Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Presentation
n
Date
ATTEST:
Dr. Edward P. Alexander, Crrairman
Title Virginia Historic Landmarks Comm.
//
f
# 4l
Keeper of fae National Rei 5/sfer
Bate
tO-
7-
(*^
OCT231 969
Form 10-300a
(Dec. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Number all entries)
Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory
1958
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code:
Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
(Continuation Sheet)
6.
Virginia
COUNTY
08
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Report #09-27
1968
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth Street State Office Building
Richmond, Virginia
23219
Code: 760 ;.
Form 10-300q
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
(TVumber alt entries)
STATE
Virginia
COUNTY
__ Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
69-11-45-0093
11/1269
Poplar Forest
Statement of Significance
Thomas Jefferson displayed throughout his life a fascination
with unusual architectural shapes and volumes. In this he shared
an interest with the professionally trained architects of his
age. Both the oval rooms in the rotunda of the University of
Virginia and octagons and semi-octagon incorporated into the final
version of Monticello are fine examples of this.
Between 1806 and 1819 a fully mature Jefferson decided to
build a retreat in the rural seclusion of Bedford County Virginia.
He named his hermitage Poplar Forest. In its design he gave full
reign to his fancy and planned a one story octagonal house over
a raised basement. In plan the house has four perfectly symmetrical
principal spaces in the shape of elongated octagons arranged around
a large square central room lit by a central skylight. In planning
the grounds Jefferson was also his most fanciful and created
minature hills in the garden to screen the view of the octagonal
out-houses from the main house.
Poplar Forest was completely gutted by fire in 1845 and
immediately repaired. However no attempt was made to recapture
the original decoration., Only the basie shapes of the rooms
remain. The roof was reconstructed without the skylight or the
original balustrade.
In spite of the fact that Poplar Forest is an intensely personal
example of Thomas Jefferson's architectural taste and, in that
regard, is second only to Monticello, the 1845 fire and subsequent
rebuilding have significantly reduced the buildings importance.
(20'
Isorm K)-300a
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
Virginia
Bedford
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
(Number all entries)
Poplar Forest property description:
Beginning on New London Road approximately 1950 feet from the intersection
of New London Road and Waterlick Road, and following the road for approximate!;
1U90 feet; Thence S k9° 12* E, 190 feet; thence N 6h° 18• E, 370 feetj
thence N 23° 12 ! W, 1*80 feet; thence N 18° 18» E, 23 feet; thence
N 1*2° 2? 1 W, 52 feet; thence N 31° 3 1 E, 555 feet; thence N 58* U2« W,
200 feet; thence N 2lf 1*2' W, 255 feet; thence S 31* 3 ! W, 5l5 feet;
thence N 12° 20« W, 750 feet; thence N 37° 20' W, 5l5 feet; thence
N 31° 3' E, 750 feet) thence following the Norfolk and Western Railway
Low Grade Belt Line approximately £100 feet; thence about N 28° W,
approximately 1200 feet; thence S 67° 19' W approximately 1050 feet;
thence S llf 39* E, 218 feet to North Fork of Tomahawk Greek; thence S
8° 2i| ! E, 2957 feet to Up Branch Creek; thence following Up Branch and the
South Fork of the Tomahawk Creek approximately 1313' feet; thence S 23°
36 ! W, 725 feet; thence S 7$" 5V E, approximately 1115 feet; thence S
28° 6 1 W, approximately 1200 feet; thence approximately N 78° W about
1800 feet; thence N 22*1*0» W, 530 feet; thence S U7°20' W, 1U6 feet;
thence N 16° 10' W, 1089 feet; thence N 17° 28' W, 963 feet; thence N
62° 12' W, 6U1 feet; thence W 67° U9 1 W, 761 feet to beginning.
GPO 901.082
i* 30"
4124000m 1^
/a Mi. r o
i.?t >'
20'l
I*
INTEplOR — GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. I W A S H I N G T O N '
R V I N G T O N
h Ml
MR 2 9 2 n
37°15'
Text
FHR\l°tJi-1~ r:;/19,/ s-i.
I\J~+\ r- q I~ /82-
united States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
For HCRS use only
National Register of Historic Places
nnventory-Momination Form
received
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
·
1. Name
historic
Federal Hill
Same
and/or common
2. Location
NL.A_ not for publication
VA Route 623
street & number
city, town
Forest
state
Virginia
_K_ vicinity of
51
code
county
Campbell
031
code
3. Classification
Ownership
_public
__K_ private
_both
Public Acquisition
_ i n process
being considered
Category
_district
__K_ building(s)
_structure
_site
_object
Status
____K_ occupied
_
unoccupied
_
work in progress
Accessible
-X- yes: restricted
_
yes: unrestricted
_no
NIA
4. Owner of Property
name
_museum
_park
_x private residence
_religious
_
scientific
_
transportation
_other:
Tinsley Carter
street & number
city, town
Present Use
_
agriculture
_
commercial
_
educational
_
entertainment
_
government
_
industrial
_military
Federal Hill
NJ.A_ vicinity of
Forest
state
Virginia
state
Virginia
24551
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
Campbell COLill.ty Courthouse
N/A
Rustburg
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(D Historic .American Buildings Survey
tit(e
Inventory
date
--X- federal _
1958
depository for survey records
city, town
(2)(See Continuation Sheet #1)
has this property been determined elegible?
Washington
state
_
Library of Congress
state
OC
_
--X- no
yes
county
_
local
7. Description
Condition
_excellent
-1lgood
_fair
_
deteriorated
_
ruins
_unexposed
Check one
_
unaltered
_x_ altered
Check one
_x_ original site
_
moved
date - - " ' I - ~ - - - - - - - -
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Federal Hill is a three-part, wood-frame, Palladian-type house built in 1782 in
what is now Campbell Cmmty. The main block consists of a 2Ji,-story pedimented gable
roof flanked by one-story wings. While the original plan ranains virtually intact, a
=sery and small annex were added to the north wing in the mid-19th century, and a
one-story brick kitchen wing was added to the south wing in 1955-56. The present two-tier,
pedimented portico is a ca. 1930 rebuilding of an earlier one.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The main entrance to the wood-frame, weatherboarded house is on the west elevation.
The entrance consists of the original paneled double doors framed by two-part architrave
trim. The entry is sheltered by a two-tier pedimented gable portico that was constructed
ca. 1930 to replace an earlier, if not the original, portico. The present portico has
rmmd colunns, a first- and second-story balustrade with turned balusters, and a <lentil
and modillion cornice. The pediment's tympanum has a lurtette window within a plain frame
encased in shiplap siding. A single-door, second-story entrance to the balcony also has
a two-part architrave stn:rmmd. The portico is set on a brick platfonn that replaces an
earlier wooden one. Secondary entrances are found on all the ranaining elevations. The
single-door entrances have modern multiple-paned-glass and wood-panel doors framed by
molded architrave trim. The door (south) leading fran the dining roan to the kitchen
wing was originally an exterior door and retains its original exterior stone step.
The principal fenestration consists of 9/9 hung-sash windows framed by two-part
architraves. Some of the windows retain louvred shutters. During the 19th century a
"=sery" and annex were added to the north wing. Here, the principal fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows flanked by louvred shutters. The exterior end chimneys
of the north and south wings show extremely well-executed brickwork laid in Flam.sh bond
with rodded mortar joints. The south chimney was altered when the kitchen wing was added
in 1955-56. The chimney on the east (rear) elevation is not the original and is inferior
in workmanship to the side chimneys.
Federal Hill's plan is inspired by Palladian fonns as interpreted in 18th-century
English pattern books and is typical of such plans adapted to Virginia three-part houses.
The first-floor plan consists of an entry hall that contains the main stair, a rear
assanbly hall, and a flanking parlor and dining roan. The second floor contains bedroans.
The stair is located on the east and south walls of the hall and ascends to the second
floor, its flight broken by a landing. The stair has a square newel, turned balusters,
and an oval handrail. A wainscot runs along the stair to the second floor. The wainscot is repeated in the entry hall. The door frames in the hall have two-part architrave
trim; the doors are paneled. The assanbly hall is the most elaborate room in the house.
The roan has a double-paneled wainscot that features small recessed panels above larger
ones and a molded chair rail. A dentiled cornice runs the perimeter of the roan. The
mantel is Federal in style, having fluted pilasters, a tall frieze, and a cornice shelf.
A portrait of James Steptoe in the Bedford County Courthouse may have been painted in
this roan, as suggested by the treatlnent of the paneled wainscot in the portrait. The
north parlor, now a bedroan, also has a paneled wainscot. The doors and windows are
framed by molded architraves. The mantel also has a tall frieze and cornice shelf and
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
a.
Significance
Period
_
prehistoric
_1400-1499
_1500-1599
---v- 1600-1699
_ 4_ 1700-1799
_1800-1899
_1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance-Check and justify below
_
archeology-prehistoric _
community planning
_
archeology-historic
_
conservation
agriculture
_
economics
~ architecture
_
education
_
art
_
engineering
_
commerce
_x_ exploration/settlement
_
communications
_
Industry
_invention
1782 ; 1772 clerk's
office
Builder/Architect
_
landscape architecture_ religion
_
science
_sculpture
literature
_social/
military
music
humanitarian
philosophy
_theater
_
transportation
politics/government
_
other (specify)
_.K_ law
_
_
_
_
_
Unknown
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICAOCE
Federal Hill, a tripartite Palladian-type house, is historically significant as
the residence of James Steptoe, the second clerk of Bedford County and lifelong friend
of Thanas Jefferson. When Steptoe built the house in 1782, Bedford County stood on the
cutting edge of Virginia's moving frontier. Fortunately for Steptoe, Jefferson's Bedford
County retreat, Poplar Forest, was located only a few miles fran Federal Hill, and Jefferson visited with Steptoe whenever he was in the area. Thus, it may have been Jefferson's
guiding architectural influence that led Steptoe to adopt Federal Hill's Palladian-dcrived
plan. Such a plan was favored by Jefferson in his first designs for Monticello and
continued to be advocated by Jefferson for the residences of friends and associates. Still
standing adjacent to the dwelling is the second clerk's office of Bedford County, used by
Steptoe throughout his long service to Bedford County.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
James Steptoe (1750-1826), the builder of Federal Hill, was born at Hominy Hall,
Wcsnooreland County, the son of James Steptoe, Sr., a Wesnooreland justice of the peace
and manber of the vestry of Cople Parish. The progenitor of the family in America was
Anthony Steptoe who settled on the Northern Neck in Northumberland County in 1697. James
Steptoe, Jr., was a contanporary of Thanas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary
where the two began a lifelong friendship. On January 17,
1772, Thomas Nelson, Secretary
of the Colony, appointed Steptoe as the second clerk of Bedford County, succeeding Benjamin Howard who had served as clerk since the county was formed fran Lunenburg in 1753.
On the eve of the American Revolution, Bedford remained a sparsely settled wilderness,
lacking the social amenities that Steptoe had enjoyed in the Tidewater region. Consequently, Steptoe' s :imnediate reaction upon his arrival was to seek another appointment in
a more settled region. His attanpts proved unsuccessful, however, and he ranained in
Bedford County where he became a respected manber of the local carmunity. In 1781 he
married Frances Callaway (1760-1807), the daughter of Col. James Callaway (1736-1809), a
praninent Bedford County citizen. In the county's history Callaway has been described
as "a man of wealth and influence -- a leading citizen of Bedford County, where he lived
and died. " 1 Marriage llll.lSt have made life on the frontier more agreeable to Steptoe,
since shortly thereafter he was engaged in building a new dwelling house for his bride.
According to the land tax books of Campbell County, fonned from Bedford in 1782,
Steptoe in 1782 owned 365 acres valued at£ 85.187; in 1783 the same acreage is valued
at£ 187 which suggests a substantial improvement to Steptoe' s property and thus the
construction of his new residence. In plan Federal Hill consists of a small entrance
and stair hall that fronts a larger assanbly hall, the two-story center block flanked
by one-story wings containing a parlor and dining roan. Palladian in inspiration, the
plan may have been derived fran Robert Morris's Select Architecture, then one of the
(See Continuation Sheet 112)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Ackerly,~ and Parker, lilla. Our Kin. Harrisonburg, Va.: C.J. Carrier Co., 1976.
Campbell County land Tax Books, 1782-1826.
Early, Ruth H. Campbell Chronicles. Baltllll)re: Regional Publishing Co., 1978.
Jolmston, Frederick. Mamrials of Old Virginia Clerks. Lynchburg, Va. : J.P. Bell Co. , 1888.
1 O. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
Forest,
40 acres
Quadrangle scale __l_:_2_4_0_0_0_ _~
Va.
UMT References
Aw
C
E
1615l212IOIOI
4 1 3 ,o 6
1 1 1
1
Northing
Zone
Easting
i..!.JZ.J
l6j512i21010i 14 11 13 1o i3
6
1
1 15 1 17 {>
I 1411
w
e
GWll1l
11I
I
I
s oI
B
1 1
l.:..{J
Zone
6 s 2 3 2 oI
1 1 1 1 1 1
Easting
,s ,o I
Peeee1
II I
II
I
Northing
Is 11 lz ,s 10 I I 41 tj 31 d 2J 91 ol
IS ,1j916 ,o I 1411131017 18 lo I
16
16
I '
14 11 13 10 1s ,o 1oI
I
I
I I
I I
I
I
I
I
I I
I
Beginning at a point on W side of VA 623, about 1,950'
460; thence extending about 150' SW to 820' contour, then continuing W
along said contour to county line; thence about 1,500' NE along said line; thence about 850' ESE to
~ side of Va. 623; thence about 750' SE along said side to point of origin. (See Continuation Sheet
Verbal boundary description and justification
:,w of intersection with US
List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries
# 3)
stale
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Virginia Historic Landmarks Ccmnission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Landmarks Ccmnission
date
May 1982
street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Ridmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
_
national
~ state
_
local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the.,National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8~
665), t hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the N tional Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the erit e Conservation and Ae eation Service.
GPO
9311 835
r ·, '
NPS Form 10-900-a
(7:81)
' .. :
i-
• ,. ··-.
, . , ....4
.... - - ·
.;
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL HTIL, CAMPBELL COUNIY, VA
Continuation sheet
6.
. Item number 6 , 7
Page
1,1
Representation in Existing Surveys
(2)
7.
4rl
Virginia HistoriG Lanchnarks Carmission Survey
1967, 1981
State
Virginia Historic Lanchnarks Ccmnission
221 Governor Street
Riclnond, Virginia 23219
Description -- Architectural Analysis
ornamental gouge work that consists of small circles above rectangles. A dentiled
cornice similar to that in the assanbly hall encircles the roan. The dining roan has
a plain wainscot, topped by a rrx:,lded chair rail. Like the assanbly hall and parlor, a
<lentil cornice runs the perimeter of the roan and a Federal-style mantel ornaments the
fireplace. The doors and wind= are framed by molded architraves. The ·woodwork in the
nursery is undistinguished.
The second-floor plan consists of u,JO halls running north and south and east and
west. The bedcharnbers are located off the halls and are less elaborate than the firstfloor rooms. The halls and bedcharnbers have wainscoting topped by molded chair rails.
The architraves in the hall are similar to those below. The second-floor mantels have
plain architrave surrounds topped by handsanely molded shelves.
Located to the south of the main house is an early clerk's office of Bedford
County. The office is reputed to have been built in 1772 by James Steptoe after his
appointment as the county's second clerk. The office is a 1\-story, wood-frame,
weatherboarded building covered by a gable roof. An outstanding feature of the office
is its exterior brick chimney which daninates the building's west elevation. The chimney
is laid in Flani.sh bond with rodded joints. 'The front (north) elevation has a double
entrance, the paneled doors sheltered by a 20th-century shed roof. Dating to the 20th
century, the fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows. A small casement window
is found near the chimney. To the east of the main house is a smokehouse which was
built in the 20th century.
Federal Hill sits on a small hill amidst the gently rolling countryside of Campbell
County. The present 100-acre tract of farmland and timberland preserves a sense of the
site at the time of its occupation by James Steptoe.
RCC
" 1.
I '"··
NPS Fom 10.900-a
(7--11)
'"/4 ·u018
... ,_:_
i •
EXP. 10/31/84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL Hill., CAMPBELL COUNTI, VA
Continuation sheet
8.
ifo2
. Item number8
Page
1
Significance - - Historical Background
nore popular Palladian-inspired English builder's guides available in Virginia. An avid
disciple of Palladio, Jefferson may also have influenced Steptoe's selection of the plan.
In his first plan of Monticello, Jefferson followed the ideas of Palladio whan he often
recarrnended as an architectural source for friends and associates. For example, in a
conversation with Isaac Coles in February 1816, Jefferson went so far as to state that
Palladio "was the bible," certainly the prime source for his own architecture. Whatever
its source Federal Hill is a distinguished wood-frame, Palladian-derived residence.
That Federal Hill is built of wood rather than brick, the material advocated by
Jefferson in his Notes, reflects the prodigious ammmt of virgin timber then available
to builders on the frontier. Wood was also anployed by Jefferson's friend Joseph Cabell,
of Nelson County, when Cabell built his five-part, Palladian-plan residence, Edgewood,
in the last quarter of the 18th century. Like Steptoe, Cabell was also a William and
Mary alumnus and friend of Jefferson. Since both houses were considerably larger than
others built in the same area, it would seen that wealth and prosperity as well as the
influence of Palladio played a large part in their isolated construction.
Following the erection of Federal Hill, Steptoe continued to serve his caimmity
as both the county clerk and the clerk of the district court for the cmmties of Bedford,
Franklin, Campbell, Pittsylvania, and Henry imtil 1797. In his MEJ:IDrials of Old Virginia
Clerks, Frederick Johnston wrote of Steptoe:
The character of James Steptoe may be described in a few words -integrity, independence and the strictest form of Republican simplicity; as to the last of which he seems to have made Mr. Jefferson
his model and prototype ... As a clerk, he was everything that could
be desired; polite and obliging; careful and attentive in the business of his office and in court, and ready a all times to give information and advice to those who needed it.
2
Among the more famous persons that came to Steptoe for infonnation and advice was the
British agronomist William Stickland, who was referred to Steptoe by Jefferson when
Stickland traveled through western Virginia on a tour of the United States in 1795.
In 1826, the year of his death, Steptoe had his portrait painted by Harvey Mitchell.
Steptoe is seated at his desk, above which hangs an engraved portrait of Jefferson. Behind the seventy-six-year-old clerk is a copy of the Frye-Jefferson map of Virginia. The
open window shows a distant view of the Peaks of Otter, once the imsettled wilderness of
Steptoe's Bedford Cmmty frontier. It is evident £ran the portrait that Steptoe remained
until the end very IIl.lch the devotee of Jefferson, Federal Hill's IIKJst distinguished
visitor. Following Steptoe' s death, Federal Hill became the property of his eldest son,
James C. Steptoe, who also succeeded his father as the clerk of Bedford Cmmty for one
year. In addition to his son James, Steptoe was survived by four sons and four daughters.
His daughter Frances married Henry S. ~home fran which union came Steptoe' s most
praninent descendant, Nancy Ianghorne, later Vicountess Astor.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
NPS Form 10·900-•
(7-a1)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL HIIL, CAMPBELL COONTY, VA
Continuation sheet
#3
· Item number
8 : 1b
Page2
8.. Significance -- Historical Backgrmmd
Federal Hill continued to be occupied by the Steptoe family tmtil 1850 when it was
sold to the Carter family of Fredericksburg, in the hands of whose descendants the house
and 100 acres remain. With the adjacent second clerk's office of Bedford County, built
ca. 1772 also by James Steptoe, the Federal Hill property is a tangible raninder of the
life, work, and friendship of one of the lower Piedmont's most praninent early citizens.
RCC
1Mary Denham Ackerly and Lula E.J. Parker, Our Kin, p. 296.
2Frederick Johnston, Memorials of Old Virginia Clerks, p. 77.
10. Geographic Data - Boundary Justification
The nominated property for Federal Hill consists of 40 acres. This includes the main
house, smoke house, and·the clerk's office. The southern boundary line follows the natural
contour line; the western boundary line follows the boundary line between Campbell and
Bedford counties; the northern line connects the county line with Route 623, which forms
the eastern boundary. The 40 acres are a fraction of the original Federal Hill estate
which from 1782 to 1826 consisted of 365 acres. The elevation of the house is preserved
within the 40 acres.
I\J~+\ r- q I~ /82-
united States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
For HCRS use only
National Register of Historic Places
nnventory-Momination Form
received
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
·
1. Name
historic
Federal Hill
Same
and/or common
2. Location
NL.A_ not for publication
VA Route 623
street & number
city, town
Forest
state
Virginia
_K_ vicinity of
51
code
county
Campbell
031
code
3. Classification
Ownership
_public
__K_ private
_both
Public Acquisition
_ i n process
being considered
Category
_district
__K_ building(s)
_structure
_site
_object
Status
____K_ occupied
_
unoccupied
_
work in progress
Accessible
-X- yes: restricted
_
yes: unrestricted
_no
NIA
4. Owner of Property
name
_museum
_park
_x private residence
_religious
_
scientific
_
transportation
_other:
Tinsley Carter
street & number
city, town
Present Use
_
agriculture
_
commercial
_
educational
_
entertainment
_
government
_
industrial
_military
Federal Hill
NJ.A_ vicinity of
Forest
state
Virginia
state
Virginia
24551
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
Campbell COLill.ty Courthouse
N/A
Rustburg
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(D Historic .American Buildings Survey
tit(e
Inventory
date
--X- federal _
1958
depository for survey records
city, town
(2)(See Continuation Sheet #1)
has this property been determined elegible?
Washington
state
_
Library of Congress
state
OC
_
--X- no
yes
county
_
local
7. Description
Condition
_excellent
-1lgood
_fair
_
deteriorated
_
ruins
_unexposed
Check one
_
unaltered
_x_ altered
Check one
_x_ original site
_
moved
date - - " ' I - ~ - - - - - - - -
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Federal Hill is a three-part, wood-frame, Palladian-type house built in 1782 in
what is now Campbell Cmmty. The main block consists of a 2Ji,-story pedimented gable
roof flanked by one-story wings. While the original plan ranains virtually intact, a
=sery and small annex were added to the north wing in the mid-19th century, and a
one-story brick kitchen wing was added to the south wing in 1955-56. The present two-tier,
pedimented portico is a ca. 1930 rebuilding of an earlier one.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The main entrance to the wood-frame, weatherboarded house is on the west elevation.
The entrance consists of the original paneled double doors framed by two-part architrave
trim. The entry is sheltered by a two-tier pedimented gable portico that was constructed
ca. 1930 to replace an earlier, if not the original, portico. The present portico has
rmmd colunns, a first- and second-story balustrade with turned balusters, and a <lentil
and modillion cornice. The pediment's tympanum has a lurtette window within a plain frame
encased in shiplap siding. A single-door, second-story entrance to the balcony also has
a two-part architrave stn:rmmd. The portico is set on a brick platfonn that replaces an
earlier wooden one. Secondary entrances are found on all the ranaining elevations. The
single-door entrances have modern multiple-paned-glass and wood-panel doors framed by
molded architrave trim. The door (south) leading fran the dining roan to the kitchen
wing was originally an exterior door and retains its original exterior stone step.
The principal fenestration consists of 9/9 hung-sash windows framed by two-part
architraves. Some of the windows retain louvred shutters. During the 19th century a
"=sery" and annex were added to the north wing. Here, the principal fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows flanked by louvred shutters. The exterior end chimneys
of the north and south wings show extremely well-executed brickwork laid in Flam.sh bond
with rodded mortar joints. The south chimney was altered when the kitchen wing was added
in 1955-56. The chimney on the east (rear) elevation is not the original and is inferior
in workmanship to the side chimneys.
Federal Hill's plan is inspired by Palladian fonns as interpreted in 18th-century
English pattern books and is typical of such plans adapted to Virginia three-part houses.
The first-floor plan consists of an entry hall that contains the main stair, a rear
assanbly hall, and a flanking parlor and dining roan. The second floor contains bedroans.
The stair is located on the east and south walls of the hall and ascends to the second
floor, its flight broken by a landing. The stair has a square newel, turned balusters,
and an oval handrail. A wainscot runs along the stair to the second floor. The wainscot is repeated in the entry hall. The door frames in the hall have two-part architrave
trim; the doors are paneled. The assanbly hall is the most elaborate room in the house.
The roan has a double-paneled wainscot that features small recessed panels above larger
ones and a molded chair rail. A dentiled cornice runs the perimeter of the roan. The
mantel is Federal in style, having fluted pilasters, a tall frieze, and a cornice shelf.
A portrait of James Steptoe in the Bedford County Courthouse may have been painted in
this roan, as suggested by the treatlnent of the paneled wainscot in the portrait. The
north parlor, now a bedroan, also has a paneled wainscot. The doors and windows are
framed by molded architraves. The mantel also has a tall frieze and cornice shelf and
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
a.
Significance
Period
_
prehistoric
_1400-1499
_1500-1599
---v- 1600-1699
_ 4_ 1700-1799
_1800-1899
_1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance-Check and justify below
_
archeology-prehistoric _
community planning
_
archeology-historic
_
conservation
agriculture
_
economics
~ architecture
_
education
_
art
_
engineering
_
commerce
_x_ exploration/settlement
_
communications
_
Industry
_invention
1782 ; 1772 clerk's
office
Builder/Architect
_
landscape architecture_ religion
_
science
_sculpture
literature
_social/
military
music
humanitarian
philosophy
_theater
_
transportation
politics/government
_
other (specify)
_.K_ law
_
_
_
_
_
Unknown
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICAOCE
Federal Hill, a tripartite Palladian-type house, is historically significant as
the residence of James Steptoe, the second clerk of Bedford County and lifelong friend
of Thanas Jefferson. When Steptoe built the house in 1782, Bedford County stood on the
cutting edge of Virginia's moving frontier. Fortunately for Steptoe, Jefferson's Bedford
County retreat, Poplar Forest, was located only a few miles fran Federal Hill, and Jefferson visited with Steptoe whenever he was in the area. Thus, it may have been Jefferson's
guiding architectural influence that led Steptoe to adopt Federal Hill's Palladian-dcrived
plan. Such a plan was favored by Jefferson in his first designs for Monticello and
continued to be advocated by Jefferson for the residences of friends and associates. Still
standing adjacent to the dwelling is the second clerk's office of Bedford County, used by
Steptoe throughout his long service to Bedford County.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
James Steptoe (1750-1826), the builder of Federal Hill, was born at Hominy Hall,
Wcsnooreland County, the son of James Steptoe, Sr., a Wesnooreland justice of the peace
and manber of the vestry of Cople Parish. The progenitor of the family in America was
Anthony Steptoe who settled on the Northern Neck in Northumberland County in 1697. James
Steptoe, Jr., was a contanporary of Thanas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary
where the two began a lifelong friendship. On January 17,
1772, Thomas Nelson, Secretary
of the Colony, appointed Steptoe as the second clerk of Bedford County, succeeding Benjamin Howard who had served as clerk since the county was formed fran Lunenburg in 1753.
On the eve of the American Revolution, Bedford remained a sparsely settled wilderness,
lacking the social amenities that Steptoe had enjoyed in the Tidewater region. Consequently, Steptoe' s :imnediate reaction upon his arrival was to seek another appointment in
a more settled region. His attanpts proved unsuccessful, however, and he ranained in
Bedford County where he became a respected manber of the local carmunity. In 1781 he
married Frances Callaway (1760-1807), the daughter of Col. James Callaway (1736-1809), a
praninent Bedford County citizen. In the county's history Callaway has been described
as "a man of wealth and influence -- a leading citizen of Bedford County, where he lived
and died. " 1 Marriage llll.lSt have made life on the frontier more agreeable to Steptoe,
since shortly thereafter he was engaged in building a new dwelling house for his bride.
According to the land tax books of Campbell County, fonned from Bedford in 1782,
Steptoe in 1782 owned 365 acres valued at£ 85.187; in 1783 the same acreage is valued
at£ 187 which suggests a substantial improvement to Steptoe' s property and thus the
construction of his new residence. In plan Federal Hill consists of a small entrance
and stair hall that fronts a larger assanbly hall, the two-story center block flanked
by one-story wings containing a parlor and dining roan. Palladian in inspiration, the
plan may have been derived fran Robert Morris's Select Architecture, then one of the
(See Continuation Sheet 112)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Ackerly,~ and Parker, lilla. Our Kin. Harrisonburg, Va.: C.J. Carrier Co., 1976.
Campbell County land Tax Books, 1782-1826.
Early, Ruth H. Campbell Chronicles. Baltllll)re: Regional Publishing Co., 1978.
Jolmston, Frederick. Mamrials of Old Virginia Clerks. Lynchburg, Va. : J.P. Bell Co. , 1888.
1 O. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
Forest,
40 acres
Quadrangle scale __l_:_2_4_0_0_0_ _~
Va.
UMT References
Aw
C
E
1615l212IOIOI
4 1 3 ,o 6
1 1 1
1
Northing
Zone
Easting
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I
Beginning at a point on W side of VA 623, about 1,950'
460; thence extending about 150' SW to 820' contour, then continuing W
along said contour to county line; thence about 1,500' NE along said line; thence about 850' ESE to
~ side of Va. 623; thence about 750' SE along said side to point of origin. (See Continuation Sheet
Verbal boundary description and justification
:,w of intersection with US
List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries
# 3)
stale
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Virginia Historic Landmarks Ccmnission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Landmarks Ccmnission
date
May 1982
street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Ridmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
_
national
~ state
_
local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the.,National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8~
665), t hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the N tional Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the erit e Conservation and Ae eation Service.
GPO
9311 835
r ·, '
NPS Form 10-900-a
(7:81)
' .. :
i-
• ,. ··-.
, . , ....4
.... - - ·
.;
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL HTIL, CAMPBELL COUNIY, VA
Continuation sheet
6.
. Item number 6 , 7
Page
1,1
Representation in Existing Surveys
(2)
7.
4rl
Virginia HistoriG Lanchnarks Carmission Survey
1967, 1981
State
Virginia Historic Lanchnarks Ccmnission
221 Governor Street
Riclnond, Virginia 23219
Description -- Architectural Analysis
ornamental gouge work that consists of small circles above rectangles. A dentiled
cornice similar to that in the assanbly hall encircles the roan. The dining roan has
a plain wainscot, topped by a rrx:,lded chair rail. Like the assanbly hall and parlor, a
<lentil cornice runs the perimeter of the roan and a Federal-style mantel ornaments the
fireplace. The doors and wind= are framed by molded architraves. The ·woodwork in the
nursery is undistinguished.
The second-floor plan consists of u,JO halls running north and south and east and
west. The bedcharnbers are located off the halls and are less elaborate than the firstfloor rooms. The halls and bedcharnbers have wainscoting topped by molded chair rails.
The architraves in the hall are similar to those below. The second-floor mantels have
plain architrave surrounds topped by handsanely molded shelves.
Located to the south of the main house is an early clerk's office of Bedford
County. The office is reputed to have been built in 1772 by James Steptoe after his
appointment as the county's second clerk. The office is a 1\-story, wood-frame,
weatherboarded building covered by a gable roof. An outstanding feature of the office
is its exterior brick chimney which daninates the building's west elevation. The chimney
is laid in Flani.sh bond with rodded joints. 'The front (north) elevation has a double
entrance, the paneled doors sheltered by a 20th-century shed roof. Dating to the 20th
century, the fenestration consists of 6/6 hung-sash windows. A small casement window
is found near the chimney. To the east of the main house is a smokehouse which was
built in the 20th century.
Federal Hill sits on a small hill amidst the gently rolling countryside of Campbell
County. The present 100-acre tract of farmland and timberland preserves a sense of the
site at the time of its occupation by James Steptoe.
RCC
" 1.
I '"··
NPS Fom 10.900-a
(7--11)
'"/4 ·u018
... ,_:_
i •
EXP. 10/31/84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL Hill., CAMPBELL COUNTI, VA
Continuation sheet
8.
ifo2
. Item number8
Page
1
Significance - - Historical Background
nore popular Palladian-inspired English builder's guides available in Virginia. An avid
disciple of Palladio, Jefferson may also have influenced Steptoe's selection of the plan.
In his first plan of Monticello, Jefferson followed the ideas of Palladio whan he often
recarrnended as an architectural source for friends and associates. For example, in a
conversation with Isaac Coles in February 1816, Jefferson went so far as to state that
Palladio "was the bible," certainly the prime source for his own architecture. Whatever
its source Federal Hill is a distinguished wood-frame, Palladian-derived residence.
That Federal Hill is built of wood rather than brick, the material advocated by
Jefferson in his Notes, reflects the prodigious ammmt of virgin timber then available
to builders on the frontier. Wood was also anployed by Jefferson's friend Joseph Cabell,
of Nelson County, when Cabell built his five-part, Palladian-plan residence, Edgewood,
in the last quarter of the 18th century. Like Steptoe, Cabell was also a William and
Mary alumnus and friend of Jefferson. Since both houses were considerably larger than
others built in the same area, it would seen that wealth and prosperity as well as the
influence of Palladio played a large part in their isolated construction.
Following the erection of Federal Hill, Steptoe continued to serve his caimmity
as both the county clerk and the clerk of the district court for the cmmties of Bedford,
Franklin, Campbell, Pittsylvania, and Henry imtil 1797. In his MEJ:IDrials of Old Virginia
Clerks, Frederick Johnston wrote of Steptoe:
The character of James Steptoe may be described in a few words -integrity, independence and the strictest form of Republican simplicity; as to the last of which he seems to have made Mr. Jefferson
his model and prototype ... As a clerk, he was everything that could
be desired; polite and obliging; careful and attentive in the business of his office and in court, and ready a all times to give information and advice to those who needed it.
2
Among the more famous persons that came to Steptoe for infonnation and advice was the
British agronomist William Stickland, who was referred to Steptoe by Jefferson when
Stickland traveled through western Virginia on a tour of the United States in 1795.
In 1826, the year of his death, Steptoe had his portrait painted by Harvey Mitchell.
Steptoe is seated at his desk, above which hangs an engraved portrait of Jefferson. Behind the seventy-six-year-old clerk is a copy of the Frye-Jefferson map of Virginia. The
open window shows a distant view of the Peaks of Otter, once the imsettled wilderness of
Steptoe's Bedford Cmmty frontier. It is evident £ran the portrait that Steptoe remained
until the end very IIl.lch the devotee of Jefferson, Federal Hill's IIKJst distinguished
visitor. Following Steptoe' s death, Federal Hill became the property of his eldest son,
James C. Steptoe, who also succeeded his father as the clerk of Bedford Cmmty for one
year. In addition to his son James, Steptoe was survived by four sons and four daughters.
His daughter Frances married Henry S. ~home fran which union came Steptoe' s most
praninent descendant, Nancy Ianghorne, later Vicountess Astor.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
NPS Form 10·900-•
(7-a1)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
FEDERAL HIIL, CAMPBELL COONTY, VA
Continuation sheet
#3
· Item number
8 : 1b
Page2
8.. Significance -- Historical Backgrmmd
Federal Hill continued to be occupied by the Steptoe family tmtil 1850 when it was
sold to the Carter family of Fredericksburg, in the hands of whose descendants the house
and 100 acres remain. With the adjacent second clerk's office of Bedford County, built
ca. 1772 also by James Steptoe, the Federal Hill property is a tangible raninder of the
life, work, and friendship of one of the lower Piedmont's most praninent early citizens.
RCC
1Mary Denham Ackerly and Lula E.J. Parker, Our Kin, p. 296.
2Frederick Johnston, Memorials of Old Virginia Clerks, p. 77.
10. Geographic Data - Boundary Justification
The nominated property for Federal Hill consists of 40 acres. This includes the main
house, smoke house, and·the clerk's office. The southern boundary line follows the natural
contour line; the western boundary line follows the boundary line between Campbell and
Bedford counties; the northern line connects the county line with Route 623, which forms
the eastern boundary. The 40 acres are a fraction of the original Federal Hill estate
which from 1782 to 1826 consisted of 365 acres. The elevation of the house is preserved
within the 40 acres.
Text
Form 10-300
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
(Doc. 1968)
-
STATE:
Virginia
COUNTY.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
lNVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
-
(Type all entries
I!.,
- complete applicable sections)
Campbell
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
D A T E
I
NAME
C OMMON:
Green H i l l
AND/OR
HISTORIC:
Green H i l l
LOCATION
S'TREET
A N D NUMBER:
Commercial
Educational
.5 m i . N of Staunton River, a t end of R t . 728, .3 m i . S o f
d R t . 728. 1.6 m i . SW of Lone I s l a n d .
Industrial
Military
Private Residence
The Green H i l l house i s a Flemish bond b r i c k , two-story s t r u c t u r e w i t h a
g a b l e r o o f , modillioned c o r n i c e and two i n t e r i o r end chimneys. The c e n t r a l
e n t r a n c e o f t h e five-bay f r o n t has double doors w i t h a two row transom.
A r c h i t r a v e moldings frame t h e nine-over-nine s a s h windows b u t o n l y a c o u r s e
of rowlock-laid b r i c k s e r v e s a s t h e l i n t e l . The r e a r e l l is one s t o r y
b u t a l s o has a g a b l e roof w i t h modillioned c o r n i c e and t h e brickwork
c l o s e l y follows t h e techniques of t h e main block. Were i t n o t f o r t h e
obvious break a t t h e connection of t h e two u n i t s one.would assume t h a t
they both had been b u i l t a t t h e same time. The r e a r e l l a l s o has a
double door on t h e e a s t f r o n t which i s s h e l t e r e d by a f u l l - l e n g t h porch
supported by rounded b r i c k columns.
The i n t e r i o r i s based on a s t a n d a r d c e n t r a l h a l l p l a n b u t n o t only is t h e r e
The west room has a f u l l y
paneled chimney w a l l w i t h cupboards and g l a s s doors t o e i t h e r s i d e .
P i l a s t e r s frame t h e f i r e p l a c e and support a c o r n i c e s h e l f . The e n t a b l a t u r
which was around t h e t o p of t h e w a l l is of a n extremely p r o v i n c i a l d e s i g n
i n c l u d e s reeding and a c u t - o u t s e c t i o n i n the form of e c a l l o p i n g . The roo
i n t h e r e a r e l l f e a t u r e s a magnificent mantel design on t h e n o r t h wall w i t
t h r e e l e v e l s of c o r n i c e s h e l f and t h r e e - s e c t i o n e d f r i e z e r i s i n g t o t h e
c e i l i n g . The c a b l e d e s i g n is used h e r e i n t h e c o r n i c e d e s i g n s a s w e l l a s
the chair rail.
a s t a i r i n t h i s h a l l b u t a l s o i n t h e e a s t room.
The numerous o u t b u i l d i n g s f o r t h e most p a r t a r e l o c a t e d on two " s t r e e t s " ,
t h e f i r s t being t h e approach from t h e south and t h e second, t h e l a n e
running t o t h e e a s t . On t h i s e a s t e r n f r o n t a r e l o c a t e d a r a t h e r r e s i d e n t i a l
looking b r i c k s t r u c t u r e , a frame o u t b u i l d i n g w i t h a p a r t i a l l y enclosed
stone
shed porch i n f r o n t , a b r i c k duck house, a n i c e house, a k i t c h e n ,
laundry and a frame s l a v e q d a r t e r s . The frame k i t c h e n has a magnificent
s t o n e chimney which c o n t a i n s t h r e e s e p a r a t e f i r e p l a c e openings and is
e i g h t e e n f e e t wide, t h e f u l l l e n g t h of t h e gable end. The mounting block
i s a l s o l o c a t e d c l o s e t o t h e house on t h i s s i d e . On t h e south f r o n t a l o n g
t h e approach a r e two log barns composed of hewn timbers and t h e r u i n s of a
r a t h e r l a r g e s t o n e s t a b l e . A few hundred yards t o t h e s o u t h e a s t o f t h e
main house s t a n d s a l a r g e tobacco barn, f i f t y by s i x t y f e e t , and a granary,
b o t h being composed of s t o n e and wood. Linking t h i s complex o f s t r u c t u r e s
t o g e t h e r i s a network of s t o n e walkways, s i x f e e t wide w i t h curbing, most
o f which remains uncovered.
,
.
',
. .,..,
i
front section added soon after. It was built by Samuel Pannill on land
in Campbell County north of the Staunton River, the original portion of
which he bought in 1797. Pannill was a member of the Virginia General
~ s s e m b ifrom
~ Campbell County, on the Board of Public Works, and
president of the Roanoke Navigation Company. The Green Hill plantation
,
.
,
,,,.'
,
I
I
1
1
1
Sketches; Embracing
Lynchburg, Va. : 1927
-1926.
I
I
!
9FPI.NINa A
RECTA
!
I T A L L STATE,
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As the designeted State Liaison Officer lor tht .
:N
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Lew
89665). 1 hereby nomlnate t h i s property for inclusion
In the Nstionel Reglater and certify that it h a s been
evaluated according to t h e criteria end procebres set
forth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of Significance of this nomination la:
National
State
I herebv certify that thin p r o p r t y ia included in the
National Rsgbter.
Chlot O W c e of Archeology end Historic Prsaervatldn
Local
Date
Name
ATTEST:
D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairman
y
i
r
P
i
n
i
a
i
Ksepsr of Tha N a t f m a l Redlater
-
Date
-
-
:
1
Dets
iv
-
I
i
For& 10-3000
(Dee. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
-
(Continuation Sheet)
(Numb..
6.
.It ."l,l..)
H i s t o r i c American Buildings Survey Inventory
1958
Federal
L i b r a r y o f Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code: 08
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Report #15-5
1969
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e Building
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
Code: 45
t
STATE
Virginia
COUNTV
Campbe 11
FOR NPS USE ONLY
KNTRVNUMl)ER
DATE
I
I ~ o t r n10-301
(Dee. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERlOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
PROPERTY MAP FORM
-
(Type all entries attach to or enclose with map)
1. Property broundorlss. where required.
2. North orrow.
3. Latitude and longitude reference.
-
-----
_ _ _ _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ I - - - - - - - -
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM
(Type all entries -attach to or enclose with photograph)
ENTRY NUMBER
DATE
I
Green H i l l
Green H i l l
. .
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:,:,:::>j.:.;:>;y:,:;::j!:;!;;;?;::;F:!i;:;,;>
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. ....,.,..........
,, .. ... . ,.. ... .. ..,.,. ...
... ... . ..... .. .
.
]COMMON:
IAND~OR
1
HISTORIC:
'
:
ISTREET
.5 m i . N of Staunton River, a t end of R t . 728, .3 m i . S of
A N D NUMBER:
STATE:
CODE
irainia
03 1
~ P H O T D CREDIT^
D A T E O F PHOTO:
EGATIVE
T
~
~
,
FILED
C
A
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
1969
AT: Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
~ici;mond, Virginia
V
I
~
~ ~ S C ~ R I ~ E - V I E
DY
l m~ e. C T l O N , C T C .
View of Kitchen outbuilding and main house from the Southeast.
q
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
(Doc. 1968)
-
STATE:
Virginia
COUNTY.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
lNVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
-
(Type all entries
I!.,
- complete applicable sections)
Campbell
FOR NPS USE ONLY
ENTRY NUMBER
D A T E
I
NAME
C OMMON:
Green H i l l
AND/OR
HISTORIC:
Green H i l l
LOCATION
S'TREET
A N D NUMBER:
Commercial
Educational
.5 m i . N of Staunton River, a t end of R t . 728, .3 m i . S o f
d R t . 728. 1.6 m i . SW of Lone I s l a n d .
Industrial
Military
Private Residence
The Green H i l l house i s a Flemish bond b r i c k , two-story s t r u c t u r e w i t h a
g a b l e r o o f , modillioned c o r n i c e and two i n t e r i o r end chimneys. The c e n t r a l
e n t r a n c e o f t h e five-bay f r o n t has double doors w i t h a two row transom.
A r c h i t r a v e moldings frame t h e nine-over-nine s a s h windows b u t o n l y a c o u r s e
of rowlock-laid b r i c k s e r v e s a s t h e l i n t e l . The r e a r e l l is one s t o r y
b u t a l s o has a g a b l e roof w i t h modillioned c o r n i c e and t h e brickwork
c l o s e l y follows t h e techniques of t h e main block. Were i t n o t f o r t h e
obvious break a t t h e connection of t h e two u n i t s one.would assume t h a t
they both had been b u i l t a t t h e same time. The r e a r e l l a l s o has a
double door on t h e e a s t f r o n t which i s s h e l t e r e d by a f u l l - l e n g t h porch
supported by rounded b r i c k columns.
The i n t e r i o r i s based on a s t a n d a r d c e n t r a l h a l l p l a n b u t n o t only is t h e r e
The west room has a f u l l y
paneled chimney w a l l w i t h cupboards and g l a s s doors t o e i t h e r s i d e .
P i l a s t e r s frame t h e f i r e p l a c e and support a c o r n i c e s h e l f . The e n t a b l a t u r
which was around t h e t o p of t h e w a l l is of a n extremely p r o v i n c i a l d e s i g n
i n c l u d e s reeding and a c u t - o u t s e c t i o n i n the form of e c a l l o p i n g . The roo
i n t h e r e a r e l l f e a t u r e s a magnificent mantel design on t h e n o r t h wall w i t
t h r e e l e v e l s of c o r n i c e s h e l f and t h r e e - s e c t i o n e d f r i e z e r i s i n g t o t h e
c e i l i n g . The c a b l e d e s i g n is used h e r e i n t h e c o r n i c e d e s i g n s a s w e l l a s
the chair rail.
a s t a i r i n t h i s h a l l b u t a l s o i n t h e e a s t room.
The numerous o u t b u i l d i n g s f o r t h e most p a r t a r e l o c a t e d on two " s t r e e t s " ,
t h e f i r s t being t h e approach from t h e south and t h e second, t h e l a n e
running t o t h e e a s t . On t h i s e a s t e r n f r o n t a r e l o c a t e d a r a t h e r r e s i d e n t i a l
looking b r i c k s t r u c t u r e , a frame o u t b u i l d i n g w i t h a p a r t i a l l y enclosed
stone
shed porch i n f r o n t , a b r i c k duck house, a n i c e house, a k i t c h e n ,
laundry and a frame s l a v e q d a r t e r s . The frame k i t c h e n has a magnificent
s t o n e chimney which c o n t a i n s t h r e e s e p a r a t e f i r e p l a c e openings and is
e i g h t e e n f e e t wide, t h e f u l l l e n g t h of t h e gable end. The mounting block
i s a l s o l o c a t e d c l o s e t o t h e house on t h i s s i d e . On t h e south f r o n t a l o n g
t h e approach a r e two log barns composed of hewn timbers and t h e r u i n s of a
r a t h e r l a r g e s t o n e s t a b l e . A few hundred yards t o t h e s o u t h e a s t o f t h e
main house s t a n d s a l a r g e tobacco barn, f i f t y by s i x t y f e e t , and a granary,
b o t h being composed of s t o n e and wood. Linking t h i s complex o f s t r u c t u r e s
t o g e t h e r i s a network of s t o n e walkways, s i x f e e t wide w i t h curbing, most
o f which remains uncovered.
,
.
',
. .,..,
i
front section added soon after. It was built by Samuel Pannill on land
in Campbell County north of the Staunton River, the original portion of
which he bought in 1797. Pannill was a member of the Virginia General
~ s s e m b ifrom
~ Campbell County, on the Board of Public Works, and
president of the Roanoke Navigation Company. The Green Hill plantation
,
.
,
,,,.'
,
I
I
1
1
1
Sketches; Embracing
Lynchburg, Va. : 1927
-1926.
I
I
!
9FPI.NINa A
RECTA
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As the designeted State Liaison Officer lor tht .
:N
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Lew
89665). 1 hereby nomlnate t h i s property for inclusion
In the Nstionel Reglater and certify that it h a s been
evaluated according to t h e criteria end procebres set
forth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of Significance of this nomination la:
National
State
I herebv certify that thin p r o p r t y ia included in the
National Rsgbter.
Chlot O W c e of Archeology end Historic Prsaervatldn
Local
Date
Name
ATTEST:
D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairman
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Ksepsr of Tha N a t f m a l Redlater
-
Date
-
-
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Dets
iv
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For& 10-3000
(Dee. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
-
(Continuation Sheet)
(Numb..
6.
.It ."l,l..)
H i s t o r i c American Buildings Survey Inventory
1958
Federal
L i b r a r y o f Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code: 08
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Report #15-5
1969
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e Building
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
Code: 45
t
STATE
Virginia
COUNTV
Campbe 11
FOR NPS USE ONLY
KNTRVNUMl)ER
DATE
I
I ~ o t r n10-301
(Dee. 1968)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERlOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
PROPERTY MAP FORM
-
(Type all entries attach to or enclose with map)
1. Property broundorlss. where required.
2. North orrow.
3. Latitude and longitude reference.
-
-----
_ _ _ _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ I - - - - - - - -
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM
(Type all entries -attach to or enclose with photograph)
ENTRY NUMBER
DATE
I
Green H i l l
Green H i l l
. .
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1
HISTORIC:
'
:
ISTREET
.5 m i . N of Staunton River, a t end of R t . 728, .3 m i . S of
A N D NUMBER:
STATE:
CODE
irainia
03 1
~ P H O T D CREDIT^
D A T E O F PHOTO:
EGATIVE
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Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
1969
AT: Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
~ici;mond, Virginia
V
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l m~ e. C T l O N , C T C .
View of Kitchen outbuilding and main house from the Southeast.
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Text
!,*-.
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
.c.
IRBII-"--
-
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For HCRS use only
t
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
rece
date entered
.'-
See instructions in H o w t o Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
Shady Grove
historic
Same
andlor common
2. Location
street & number
VA Route 650
not for publication
N/A
Gladys
city, town
Virginia
state
vicinity of
51
code
county
Cqbell
031
code
3. Classification
Category
-district
2building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
Ownership
Status
Present U s e
-public
-occupied
-agriculture
-commercial
-educational
-museum
-park
entertainment
government
-industrial
-military
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
2private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N /A
4. Owner
name
-X, unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
X private residence
of Property
1%. Hugh H. Dotson, e t a l .
street & number
city, town
P.0. Box 163
Rustburg
N&
vicinity of
state
Virginia
24588
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street 81number
Cinrrpbell b q C ~ t h o U 3 e
NIA
Rustburg
citv. town
ets,
Virginia
24588
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(1)Historic American lhildings Survey
hventory
title
date
1958
depository for survey records
city, town
(2)See Continuation Sheet j/l
has this property been determined elegible? -yes
Washington
federal -state
-county
Library of C ~ e s s
state
DC
2no
-local
I
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
L C good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-unaltered
-ruins
-unexposed
2altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (ifknown1 ~ h v s i c aal m e a r a n c e
Shady Grove, a handsanely proportioned and detailed Federal farmhouse, i s situated
on Route 650, two miles e a s t of Gladys. The 1%-story, 52' x 40' structure i s executed
in F l d s h bond on the facade and three-course American bond on the raraining walls.
The house was b u i l t i n 1825 by Paulina Cabell Henry, daughter of D r . George Cabell of
Point of Honor in Lynchburg. The i n t e r i o r is arrarged in a double-pile, center- assa age
plan and features an elaborate carved provincial mantel based on a parlor mantel i n Point
of Honor.
ARcHITEC?URAZ, ANALYSIS
Shady Grove is daninated by a gable roof and i s s e t on an English basement. Its
facade is l a i d i n Flanish-bond brick, and its side and rear elevations a r e executed i n
three-course American bond. The main entrance is located on the south elevation and
consists of a sanicircular-arched doorway that retains its original double doors. Tne
doorway has fluted p i l a s t e r s and a fanlight window with intersecting Gothic-type tracery.
The canred extrados of the arch has fluting and gauge work which features .mall s t a r s
and circles. A beaded keystone i s applied t o the top of the arch. Tne doorway i s sheltered by a mall pedimented porch. The porch i s supported on four chamfered square posts,
a balustrade w i t h square balusters, and a dentiled cornice. The t y m p m has shiplap
siding. Both the rear (north) and e a s t elevations also have porches, although each porch
lacks the d e n t i l cornice and balustrade and has only two posts. The rear porch i s currently without steps. Entrances t o the English basement a r e found on the side (east and
west) elevations. The single door on the west elevation i s contained within an enclosed
porch covered by a gable roof.
Fenestration on the f i r s t story consists of 919 11w-sash windows within molded
are topped by one-course jack
architraves flanked by lowred shutters. The op-s
arches consisting of ordinary as opposed t o gauged bricks. Wrought-iron s c r o l l s h t t e r
windms on the facade have 316 hung-sash
holders r a i n i n place. The English bas-t
also have jack
i n mlded architraves flanked by shutters. The tops of the OD-s
arches. The b a s m t w i n d m on the rear elevation lack the shutters and jack arches
and have 414 sliding-sash windows t o the east of the entrance. The raining basement
windows have horizontal bars. A 616 hung-sash window on the east elevation i s a l a t e r
modificatiun. The a t t i c story has gabled dormers on the north and south elevations with
616 hung sash; the dormers a r e embellished with pilasters and have d e n t i l cornices. The
a t t i c openings on the east and west elevations have 616 hung-sash windows. Both the
east and w e s t elevations have s d - e x t e r i o r end chimneys executed in varying courses of
American-bond brick. The finely molded brick chinmey caps a r e original. Both the north
and south elevations have a wooden Doric c d c e with dentils and holes bored i n the
plancer as r e c d e d in Asher Benjamin's The American Builder's Canpanion of 1806.
Shady Grave has a central passage that runs north and south and a l a t e r a l p a s s e e
mmhg east and west. The main passage contains the principal stair. The open-string
s t a i r has square balusters, scroll-sawn brackets, and a paneled spandrel and is broken
by a landing. Its turned newel i s circled by balusters. A molded chair r a i l parallels
(See Continuition Sheet $11)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1 499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1 799
1800-1899
-1900-
Specific d a t e s
Areas of S i g n i f i c a n c e c h e c k and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
2 architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
-industry
-politicslgovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-other (specify)
-invention
1825
BuilderlArchitect
U&-,mJn
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
Shady Grove, a C a q b e l l County landnark, was b u i l t i n 1825 by Paulina Cabell H e n r y
on land inherited f r a n her father, Dr. George Cabell of Point of Honor, Lynchburg . The
house derives its significance a s an a m p l e of the interpretation of highly sophisticated and acadanic architectural d e l l i s h n e n t s by country craftmen. It appears that
Paulina Cabell Henry was attempting at Shady Grove t o duplicate the richness of detailing
found in her childhood hane,Point of Honor. The resulting i n t e r i o r work, the product
of an unidentified a r t i s a n , is naive in i t s execution, possessing a charm and v i t a l i t y
not fomd in m r e academic counterparts. Like the i n t e r i o r work, Shady Grove's exterior
has an elegance and formality that transcend i t s provincialism.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The land on f i c h Shady Grove stands was purchased by D r . George Cabell of Point
of Honor f r a n Dudley Jones in 1823. Cabell died the same year, and according t o the
terms of h i s w i l l recorded in D e c d e r 1823, his e s t a t e was distributed equally among
h i s children with h i s wife minther residence a t the Lynchburg hanestead. His
daughter, Paulina Cabell H e . , who i n 1814 had married Alexander Spotswood Henry, son
of Patrick H e n r y , received 820 acres "on Mollys Creek" i n Campbell County. It would
appear that the couple had been residing with the Cabells a t Point of Honor. b,
a change in the Mollys Creek property value in 1825 is not s q r i s i n g , as it records
f o r the f i r s t time a building valuation of $4,000. Moreover, Alexander Spotswood
Henry's name appears f o r the first time in the Caqbell County Personal Property Tax
Book i n 1825.
The couple's timing was prudent since George Cabell's widow, Sarah, died in 1826,
and t h e i r youngest son, W i l l i a m J. Lewis Cabell, inherited Point of Honor, soon bringing
his bride t o the Lynchburg hane. The residence William inherited was among the m s t
fashionable i n Lynchburg with most of i t s i n t e r i o r woodwork based on plates in Oxen
Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant, published in Philadelphia in 1805 and subsequeritly sold in Riclnwnd.
For her new haw, Shady Grove, Paulina Cabell H e n r y attempted t o copy the Biddleinspired parlor mantel in Point of Honor. The resulting work, similar in the arrangement of its elments,appears a s an almost folk interpretation. The canpote in the
center t a b l e t of the Point of Honor rrantel i s rendered a s a basket of f r u i t , whereas
Shady Grove's i s f a r m r e stylized, similar t o decoration on Pennsy1vmi.a Genam frakturs.
LikaJise , the pineapples are exaggerated and stylized, a s i s the surrounding carving.
Although the carving lacks the refinement of the Point of Honor mantel, it does possess
a s p i r i t and v i t a l i t y m t c h e d in the area. Renvxred fran h i s bookish source, the
carver r e l i e d on h i s sense of canposition and scale t o achieve a mst f i t t i n g mantel f o r
Paulina's best parlor a t Shady Grcnre.
(See Contimation Sheet 82)
9. Major Bibliographical References
,-tion
Sheet a2)
Benjamin, Asher. 'Ihe American Builder's Cqanion. Boston, 1806.
Biddle, Owen. The Young Carpenter's Assistant. Philadelphia, 1805.
B r m , Alexander. The Cabells and Their Kin. Virginia, 1935; r e p r i n t ed. K i c m ~ d : G a r r e t t
and Massie, I n c . , 1939.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property A
Quadrangle name
UMT References
3
1-
A11171
Zone
Eastlng
Va.
Quadrangle scale
[411~115~71310j
Northing
1:24000
( 6 1 7 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 0 _~( 4 1 1 ~ 1 1 5 ( 3 1 2 1 ~ ~
Easting
Northing
Zone
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
Virginia Historic Landmarks Comnission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n
street
number
city or town
date
May 1982
221 Governor Street
telephone
Rictnmnd
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
X
-state
-local
-national
--
As the deslgnated State Hlstoric Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in
Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by
Conservation and R e c r a i o n Service.
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
b8' dw
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive Director
Virginia Historic ~ a d m r k sCarmission
h
J
? MAY 123 i982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
SHADY GROVE. CAMPBELL CCUhTY. VA
#l
Continuation sheet
6.
paae 1 , 1
Representation i n Fxisting Surveys
(2)
7.
--
Item number 6,7
Virginia Historic Ianchmrks Carmission Survey
1967, 1981
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n
221 Governor Street
R i c h d , Virginia 23219
Description
--
Architectural Analysis
the s t a i r r a i l . The hall contains a paneled wainscot topped by a molded chair r a i l ; the
panels of the chair rail a r e defined by applied beading. The hall doors a r e framed by
molded architrave surrounds w i t h turned corner blocks. A secondary, closed-striqg s t a i r
is f
d in the northeast chzonber. The s t a i r has been blocked by plywood. The southwest parlor i s the most elaborate roan i n the house, with i t s focal point beits
carved mantel. The mantel consists of paired engaged colonettes that support an entablature. The f r i e z e has carved pineapples and swags that flank a basket of grapes and
strawberries. The r a a i d n g canposition has tassels and a guilloche that runs across
the mantel shelf. The mantel i s based on a mantel in the parlor of Point of Honor in
Lynchburg, which is in turn adapted f r a n Plate 22 of &en Diddle's The Younp, Camenter's
Assistant. The roan contains a paneled and fluted wainscot, again with applied beading
as in the hall. The door and windm surrounds have molded architrave trim with turned
corner blocks. Those on the door frame have carved flowers within the comer blocks.
The northwest parlor is less elaborate and has a Federal-style mantel, a paneled wainscot, and molded architrave t r i m framing door and window openings. The roans east of
the h a l l a r e similarly treated. The second-floor chambers a r e less elaborate than the
f i r s t . The roans have baseboards, nmlded chair r a i l s and architrave surromds, and
Federal-style mantels. The basement has been extensively renovated and houses a modern
kitchen.
A one-story, wood-frame, weatherboarded smokehouse located t o the east of the main
house i s a l l that remains of Shady Grove's early danestic outbuildings. A mall c q l e x
of l a t e r farm buildings i s located t o the north of the main house. The c m l e x includes
three barns, a car and m c k shed, and a general purpose shed. A two-story, wood-frame
barn i s located t o the northwest of the main house.
L i t t l e i n the way of 19th-century landscaping survives a t Shady Grove. The house
stands in a yard of tall trees amid the gently rolling countryside of Campbell County,
i t s brickwork providing a strong color contrast t o the open f i e l d s . The family cemetery
i s across the road and contains the Henry family graves.
qi.p : ?
NPS F m tDRIO.
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United State& Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
SHADY GROVE, CAMPBELZ. CWNIY, VA
Cont~nwttonsheet $12
8.
Significance
--
Item number8> 9
Page 1, 1
Historical Baclqround
I n contrast t o the parlor mantel, the r e s t of the house, i n t e r i o r and exterior, i s
rather restrained. It stands chiefly a s an elegantly proportioned and detailed exmple
of provincial Federal architecture, p a r t of a body of works found fran central Virginia
through Kentucky and Tennessee.
Paulina's enjoyment of her new hcme and its architectural embellishnents was shortlived; she died in 1833, survived by her husband and ten children. Throughout her l i f e
the t i t l e t o Shady Grove had r a i n e d in her name, and upon her death the e s t a t e passed
into a rather canplicated division among her husband and children. One reason that the
property never was formally transferred into Alexander Spotswood Henry's hand i s suggested by h i s profligate l i f e style. Ruth Early, i n her Cmpbell Chronicles of 1927
describes Henry:
He owned a f i n e l i b r a r y t o which he devoted much time and a t t e n t i o n
and t h i s caused him t o b e regarded as a gentleman of l e i s u r e , hence
t h e r e o r i g i n a t e d , i n h i s own community, t h e saying " c l e r k i n g t o Capt a i n Henry," intended t o convey t h e meaning t h a i t h e person t o whom
i t was a p p l i e d was w i t h o u t a p p a r e n t occupation.
Henry's rather careless l i f e s t y l e ultimately took i t s t o l l , and by the l a t e 1830s he
found hinself unable.to pay h i s a c c m l a t e d debts, resulting i n the loss of Shady Grove
by the Henry family i n 1838. The deed of conveyance t o Richard Morgan was o f f i c i a l l y
recorded on Novanber 10, 1841.
Richard Morgan w e d the 820-acre Shady Grove t r a c t u n t i l 1862 when it was sold
t o William C . Perrm f o r $7,536, a t which time the t r a c t w a s reduced t o 628 acres.
Accordiw t o the United States Census of 1850, Alexander S p o t s w d Henry, aged 62, was
residine, i n Lynchburg, his occupation l i s t e d a s "none" and with no property of value.
Three children, aged 18 t o 25, were living with him, the r a i n i n g seven children
scattered throughout Southside and western Virginia.
The property i s presently owned by Kugh H. Dotson of C a p b e l l County.
l ~ u t hEarly, Cmpbell Chronicles and Family Sketches. (Lynchbur::,
r e ~ r i n ted. Baltimore: Regional P u b l i s m Co., 1978), p.427.
9.
Va . , 1927;
Bibliographical References
C q b e l l Co. Deed Books 11,21,22-24, 33; Iand Tax Books 1807-1843; Personal Property
Tax 1810-1832.
Early-th
H. Campbell Chronicles ,and Family Sketches. Lynchbmg, Va. , 1927; reprint ed.
Baltimore: Regional Publishing CO . , 1978.
Kc-,
Va. Virginia Historic L a n W k s Cannission Archives. Lynchburg f i l e A118-14,
Point of Honor; Charlotte County f i l e 1/19-27, Red H i l l .
(See Cantimatian Sheet $13)
NPS F m 1ORa.
Pdll
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number 9
Page 2
9. Bibliographical References
Virginia Historical Society. ?he Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. R i c b m d ,
1894-1979, Vols. 5, 35.
Continuation sheet
9.
#3
Item number 9.10
Bibliographical References
Virginia Historical Society.. 'Ihe Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Riclnwnd,
1894-1979, Vols. 5, 35.
10. GEOGRAPHICAL
DATA -
Verbal Boundary D e s c r i p t i o n ( c o n t ' d )
about 900'NE; thence c o n t . NE t o 690' contour; thence f o l l o w i n g s a i d , c o n t o u r about 1,600'
NE; thence a b o u t 150'SE t o p o i n t of o r i g i n . J u s t i f i c a t i o n : The nominated p r o p e r t y of
Shady Grove c o n s i s t s of 27 a c r e s on both s i d e s of VA 650. The p r o p e r t y i n c l u d e s t h e
house and i t s o u t b u i l d i n g s a s w e l l a s t h e Henry f a m i l y cemetery Qn t h e e a s t s i d e of VA
650. The t r a c t i s a f r a c t i o n of t h e o r i g i n a l e s t a t e of P a u l i n a C . Henry t h a t c o n s i s t e d
of 820 a c r e s . The 820-acre t r a c t was the. same upon which t h e house was b u i l t and
remained w i t h ' t h a t a c r e a g e u n t i l 1862 when i t was s o l d t o William C. Perrow. The
boundaries f o l l o w t h e n a t u r a l contour l i n e s t h a t e l e v a t e t h e house s i t e above t h e
neighboring farmlands.
9. Major Bibliographical References
Sheet 82)
Benjamin, Asher. The American Builder's Caq~anion. Boston, 1806.
Biddle, &en. The Y
Carpenter's Assistant. Philadelphia, 1805.
Brown, Alexander. T h T a b e l l s and Their Kin. Virginia, 1935; r e p r i n t ed. Richd:Gan-ett
and Massie, Inc., 1939.
--
.
10. Geoaraohical
Data
--
-
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Gladys, Va.
UMT References
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1 6 ] 7 ; 3 1 5 1 5 1 0 1 14i111i517i3i01
Easting
Nortli~ng
1:24000
1617131314i01 ) 4 i 1 ~ 1 1 5 ~ 3 i 2 1 0 ]
Easting
Northing
Zone
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Beginning a t a p o i n t on w s i d e of VA 650,
about 2,3501N of i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h VA 652; thence extending about 800'SW along s a i d s i d e t o
710' contour; thence f o l l o w i n g s a i d c o n t o u r SE a c r o s s VA 650 t h e n curving W, c r o s s i n g VA 650
a g a i n , a l l f o r about 1,900';
thence c o n t . NW t o 700' contour; thence following s a i d contour
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries ( s e e C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet 3 )
state
NIA
code
county
N/A
code
state
?J /A
code
countv
N/ A
code
p~
~
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitie
Virginia Historic Landnarks Carmission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic h n d ~ ~ Carmission
~ks
street
a number
city or town
date
May 1982
221 Governor Street
telephone
Richrnmd
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
national
X
-state
l o c a l
As the degianated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 h e r ~ i ;nominate
~
this property for inclusion in
Register and certify that it has been evaluated
Conserwtion and RecreGion Service.
according to the crlteria and procedures set forth by
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Brvan Mitchell. Executive Director
~ i r i i r r i aHistoric' Iandrmrks Carmission
J
title
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lVlHI I O I J O r
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
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IRBII-"--
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For HCRS use only
t
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
rece
date entered
.'-
See instructions in H o w t o Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
Shady Grove
historic
Same
andlor common
2. Location
street & number
VA Route 650
not for publication
N/A
Gladys
city, town
Virginia
state
vicinity of
51
code
county
Cqbell
031
code
3. Classification
Category
-district
2building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
Ownership
Status
Present U s e
-public
-occupied
-agriculture
-commercial
-educational
-museum
-park
entertainment
government
-industrial
-military
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
2private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N /A
4. Owner
name
-X, unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
X private residence
of Property
1%. Hugh H. Dotson, e t a l .
street & number
city, town
P.0. Box 163
Rustburg
N&
vicinity of
state
Virginia
24588
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street 81number
Cinrrpbell b q C ~ t h o U 3 e
NIA
Rustburg
citv. town
ets,
Virginia
24588
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(1)Historic American lhildings Survey
hventory
title
date
1958
depository for survey records
city, town
(2)See Continuation Sheet j/l
has this property been determined elegible? -yes
Washington
federal -state
-county
Library of C ~ e s s
state
DC
2no
-local
I
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
L C good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-unaltered
-ruins
-unexposed
2altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (ifknown1 ~ h v s i c aal m e a r a n c e
Shady Grove, a handsanely proportioned and detailed Federal farmhouse, i s situated
on Route 650, two miles e a s t of Gladys. The 1%-story, 52' x 40' structure i s executed
in F l d s h bond on the facade and three-course American bond on the raraining walls.
The house was b u i l t i n 1825 by Paulina Cabell Henry, daughter of D r . George Cabell of
Point of Honor in Lynchburg. The i n t e r i o r is arrarged in a double-pile, center- assa age
plan and features an elaborate carved provincial mantel based on a parlor mantel i n Point
of Honor.
ARcHITEC?URAZ, ANALYSIS
Shady Grove is daninated by a gable roof and i s s e t on an English basement. Its
facade is l a i d i n Flanish-bond brick, and its side and rear elevations a r e executed i n
three-course American bond. The main entrance is located on the south elevation and
consists of a sanicircular-arched doorway that retains its original double doors. Tne
doorway has fluted p i l a s t e r s and a fanlight window with intersecting Gothic-type tracery.
The canred extrados of the arch has fluting and gauge work which features .mall s t a r s
and circles. A beaded keystone i s applied t o the top of the arch. Tne doorway i s sheltered by a mall pedimented porch. The porch i s supported on four chamfered square posts,
a balustrade w i t h square balusters, and a dentiled cornice. The t y m p m has shiplap
siding. Both the rear (north) and e a s t elevations also have porches, although each porch
lacks the d e n t i l cornice and balustrade and has only two posts. The rear porch i s currently without steps. Entrances t o the English basement a r e found on the side (east and
west) elevations. The single door on the west elevation i s contained within an enclosed
porch covered by a gable roof.
Fenestration on the f i r s t story consists of 919 11w-sash windows within molded
are topped by one-course jack
architraves flanked by lowred shutters. The op-s
arches consisting of ordinary as opposed t o gauged bricks. Wrought-iron s c r o l l s h t t e r
windms on the facade have 316 hung-sash
holders r a i n i n place. The English bas-t
also have jack
i n mlded architraves flanked by shutters. The tops of the OD-s
arches. The b a s m t w i n d m on the rear elevation lack the shutters and jack arches
and have 414 sliding-sash windows t o the east of the entrance. The raining basement
windows have horizontal bars. A 616 hung-sash window on the east elevation i s a l a t e r
modificatiun. The a t t i c story has gabled dormers on the north and south elevations with
616 hung sash; the dormers a r e embellished with pilasters and have d e n t i l cornices. The
a t t i c openings on the east and west elevations have 616 hung-sash windows. Both the
east and w e s t elevations have s d - e x t e r i o r end chimneys executed in varying courses of
American-bond brick. The finely molded brick chinmey caps a r e original. Both the north
and south elevations have a wooden Doric c d c e with dentils and holes bored i n the
plancer as r e c d e d in Asher Benjamin's The American Builder's Canpanion of 1806.
Shady Grave has a central passage that runs north and south and a l a t e r a l p a s s e e
mmhg east and west. The main passage contains the principal stair. The open-string
s t a i r has square balusters, scroll-sawn brackets, and a paneled spandrel and is broken
by a landing. Its turned newel i s circled by balusters. A molded chair r a i l parallels
(See Continuition Sheet $11)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1 499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1 799
1800-1899
-1900-
Specific d a t e s
Areas of S i g n i f i c a n c e c h e c k and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
2 architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
-industry
-politicslgovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-other (specify)
-invention
1825
BuilderlArchitect
U&-,mJn
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
Shady Grove, a C a q b e l l County landnark, was b u i l t i n 1825 by Paulina Cabell H e n r y
on land inherited f r a n her father, Dr. George Cabell of Point of Honor, Lynchburg . The
house derives its significance a s an a m p l e of the interpretation of highly sophisticated and acadanic architectural d e l l i s h n e n t s by country craftmen. It appears that
Paulina Cabell Henry was attempting at Shady Grove t o duplicate the richness of detailing
found in her childhood hane,Point of Honor. The resulting i n t e r i o r work, the product
of an unidentified a r t i s a n , is naive in i t s execution, possessing a charm and v i t a l i t y
not fomd in m r e academic counterparts. Like the i n t e r i o r work, Shady Grove's exterior
has an elegance and formality that transcend i t s provincialism.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The land on f i c h Shady Grove stands was purchased by D r . George Cabell of Point
of Honor f r a n Dudley Jones in 1823. Cabell died the same year, and according t o the
terms of h i s w i l l recorded in D e c d e r 1823, his e s t a t e was distributed equally among
h i s children with h i s wife minther residence a t the Lynchburg hanestead. His
daughter, Paulina Cabell H e . , who i n 1814 had married Alexander Spotswood Henry, son
of Patrick H e n r y , received 820 acres "on Mollys Creek" i n Campbell County. It would
appear that the couple had been residing with the Cabells a t Point of Honor. b,
a change in the Mollys Creek property value in 1825 is not s q r i s i n g , as it records
f o r the f i r s t time a building valuation of $4,000. Moreover, Alexander Spotswood
Henry's name appears f o r the first time in the Caqbell County Personal Property Tax
Book i n 1825.
The couple's timing was prudent since George Cabell's widow, Sarah, died in 1826,
and t h e i r youngest son, W i l l i a m J. Lewis Cabell, inherited Point of Honor, soon bringing
his bride t o the Lynchburg hane. The residence William inherited was among the m s t
fashionable i n Lynchburg with most of i t s i n t e r i o r woodwork based on plates in Oxen
Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant, published in Philadelphia in 1805 and subsequeritly sold in Riclnwnd.
For her new haw, Shady Grove, Paulina Cabell H e n r y attempted t o copy the Biddleinspired parlor mantel in Point of Honor. The resulting work, similar in the arrangement of its elments,appears a s an almost folk interpretation. The canpote in the
center t a b l e t of the Point of Honor rrantel i s rendered a s a basket of f r u i t , whereas
Shady Grove's i s f a r m r e stylized, similar t o decoration on Pennsy1vmi.a Genam frakturs.
LikaJise , the pineapples are exaggerated and stylized, a s i s the surrounding carving.
Although the carving lacks the refinement of the Point of Honor mantel, it does possess
a s p i r i t and v i t a l i t y m t c h e d in the area. Renvxred fran h i s bookish source, the
carver r e l i e d on h i s sense of canposition and scale t o achieve a mst f i t t i n g mantel f o r
Paulina's best parlor a t Shady Grcnre.
(See Contimation Sheet 82)
9. Major Bibliographical References
,-tion
Sheet a2)
Benjamin, Asher. 'Ihe American Builder's Cqanion. Boston, 1806.
Biddle, Owen. The Young Carpenter's Assistant. Philadelphia, 1805.
B r m , Alexander. The Cabells and Their Kin. Virginia, 1935; r e p r i n t ed. K i c m ~ d : G a r r e t t
and Massie, I n c . , 1939.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property A
Quadrangle name
UMT References
3
1-
A11171
Zone
Eastlng
Va.
Quadrangle scale
[411~115~71310j
Northing
1:24000
( 6 1 7 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 0 _~( 4 1 1 ~ 1 1 5 ( 3 1 2 1 ~ ~
Easting
Northing
Zone
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
Virginia Historic Landmarks Comnission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n
street
number
city or town
date
May 1982
221 Governor Street
telephone
Rictnmnd
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
X
-state
-local
-national
--
As the deslgnated State Hlstoric Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in
Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by
Conservation and R e c r a i o n Service.
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
b8' dw
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive Director
Virginia Historic ~ a d m r k sCarmission
h
J
? MAY 123 i982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
SHADY GROVE. CAMPBELL CCUhTY. VA
#l
Continuation sheet
6.
paae 1 , 1
Representation i n Fxisting Surveys
(2)
7.
--
Item number 6,7
Virginia Historic Ianchmrks Carmission Survey
1967, 1981
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n
221 Governor Street
R i c h d , Virginia 23219
Description
--
Architectural Analysis
the s t a i r r a i l . The hall contains a paneled wainscot topped by a molded chair r a i l ; the
panels of the chair rail a r e defined by applied beading. The hall doors a r e framed by
molded architrave surrounds w i t h turned corner blocks. A secondary, closed-striqg s t a i r
is f
d in the northeast chzonber. The s t a i r has been blocked by plywood. The southwest parlor i s the most elaborate roan i n the house, with i t s focal point beits
carved mantel. The mantel consists of paired engaged colonettes that support an entablature. The f r i e z e has carved pineapples and swags that flank a basket of grapes and
strawberries. The r a a i d n g canposition has tassels and a guilloche that runs across
the mantel shelf. The mantel i s based on a mantel in the parlor of Point of Honor in
Lynchburg, which is in turn adapted f r a n Plate 22 of &en Diddle's The Younp, Camenter's
Assistant. The roan contains a paneled and fluted wainscot, again with applied beading
as in the hall. The door and windm surrounds have molded architrave trim with turned
corner blocks. Those on the door frame have carved flowers within the comer blocks.
The northwest parlor is less elaborate and has a Federal-style mantel, a paneled wainscot, and molded architrave t r i m framing door and window openings. The roans east of
the h a l l a r e similarly treated. The second-floor chambers a r e less elaborate than the
f i r s t . The roans have baseboards, nmlded chair r a i l s and architrave surromds, and
Federal-style mantels. The basement has been extensively renovated and houses a modern
kitchen.
A one-story, wood-frame, weatherboarded smokehouse located t o the east of the main
house i s a l l that remains of Shady Grove's early danestic outbuildings. A mall c q l e x
of l a t e r farm buildings i s located t o the north of the main house. The c m l e x includes
three barns, a car and m c k shed, and a general purpose shed. A two-story, wood-frame
barn i s located t o the northwest of the main house.
L i t t l e i n the way of 19th-century landscaping survives a t Shady Grove. The house
stands in a yard of tall trees amid the gently rolling countryside of Campbell County,
i t s brickwork providing a strong color contrast t o the open f i e l d s . The family cemetery
i s across the road and contains the Henry family graves.
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NPS F m tDRIO.
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United State& Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
SHADY GROVE, CAMPBELZ. CWNIY, VA
Cont~nwttonsheet $12
8.
Significance
--
Item number8> 9
Page 1, 1
Historical Baclqround
I n contrast t o the parlor mantel, the r e s t of the house, i n t e r i o r and exterior, i s
rather restrained. It stands chiefly a s an elegantly proportioned and detailed exmple
of provincial Federal architecture, p a r t of a body of works found fran central Virginia
through Kentucky and Tennessee.
Paulina's enjoyment of her new hcme and its architectural embellishnents was shortlived; she died in 1833, survived by her husband and ten children. Throughout her l i f e
the t i t l e t o Shady Grove had r a i n e d in her name, and upon her death the e s t a t e passed
into a rather canplicated division among her husband and children. One reason that the
property never was formally transferred into Alexander Spotswood Henry's hand i s suggested by h i s profligate l i f e style. Ruth Early, i n her Cmpbell Chronicles of 1927
describes Henry:
He owned a f i n e l i b r a r y t o which he devoted much time and a t t e n t i o n
and t h i s caused him t o b e regarded as a gentleman of l e i s u r e , hence
t h e r e o r i g i n a t e d , i n h i s own community, t h e saying " c l e r k i n g t o Capt a i n Henry," intended t o convey t h e meaning t h a i t h e person t o whom
i t was a p p l i e d was w i t h o u t a p p a r e n t occupation.
Henry's rather careless l i f e s t y l e ultimately took i t s t o l l , and by the l a t e 1830s he
found hinself unable.to pay h i s a c c m l a t e d debts, resulting i n the loss of Shady Grove
by the Henry family i n 1838. The deed of conveyance t o Richard Morgan was o f f i c i a l l y
recorded on Novanber 10, 1841.
Richard Morgan w e d the 820-acre Shady Grove t r a c t u n t i l 1862 when it was sold
t o William C . Perrm f o r $7,536, a t which time the t r a c t w a s reduced t o 628 acres.
Accordiw t o the United States Census of 1850, Alexander S p o t s w d Henry, aged 62, was
residine, i n Lynchburg, his occupation l i s t e d a s "none" and with no property of value.
Three children, aged 18 t o 25, were living with him, the r a i n i n g seven children
scattered throughout Southside and western Virginia.
The property i s presently owned by Kugh H. Dotson of C a p b e l l County.
l ~ u t hEarly, Cmpbell Chronicles and Family Sketches. (Lynchbur::,
r e ~ r i n ted. Baltimore: Regional P u b l i s m Co., 1978), p.427.
9.
Va . , 1927;
Bibliographical References
C q b e l l Co. Deed Books 11,21,22-24, 33; Iand Tax Books 1807-1843; Personal Property
Tax 1810-1832.
Early-th
H. Campbell Chronicles ,and Family Sketches. Lynchbmg, Va. , 1927; reprint ed.
Baltimore: Regional Publishing CO . , 1978.
Kc-,
Va. Virginia Historic L a n W k s Cannission Archives. Lynchburg f i l e A118-14,
Point of Honor; Charlotte County f i l e 1/19-27, Red H i l l .
(See Cantimatian Sheet $13)
NPS F m 1ORa.
Pdll
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number 9
Page 2
9. Bibliographical References
Virginia Historical Society. ?he Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. R i c b m d ,
1894-1979, Vols. 5, 35.
Continuation sheet
9.
#3
Item number 9.10
Bibliographical References
Virginia Historical Society.. 'Ihe Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Riclnwnd,
1894-1979, Vols. 5, 35.
10. GEOGRAPHICAL
DATA -
Verbal Boundary D e s c r i p t i o n ( c o n t ' d )
about 900'NE; thence c o n t . NE t o 690' contour; thence f o l l o w i n g s a i d , c o n t o u r about 1,600'
NE; thence a b o u t 150'SE t o p o i n t of o r i g i n . J u s t i f i c a t i o n : The nominated p r o p e r t y of
Shady Grove c o n s i s t s of 27 a c r e s on both s i d e s of VA 650. The p r o p e r t y i n c l u d e s t h e
house and i t s o u t b u i l d i n g s a s w e l l a s t h e Henry f a m i l y cemetery Qn t h e e a s t s i d e of VA
650. The t r a c t i s a f r a c t i o n of t h e o r i g i n a l e s t a t e of P a u l i n a C . Henry t h a t c o n s i s t e d
of 820 a c r e s . The 820-acre t r a c t was the. same upon which t h e house was b u i l t and
remained w i t h ' t h a t a c r e a g e u n t i l 1862 when i t was s o l d t o William C. Perrow. The
boundaries f o l l o w t h e n a t u r a l contour l i n e s t h a t e l e v a t e t h e house s i t e above t h e
neighboring farmlands.
9. Major Bibliographical References
Sheet 82)
Benjamin, Asher. The American Builder's Caq~anion. Boston, 1806.
Biddle, &en. The Y
Carpenter's Assistant. Philadelphia, 1805.
Brown, Alexander. T h T a b e l l s and Their Kin. Virginia, 1935; r e p r i n t ed. Richd:Gan-ett
and Massie, Inc., 1939.
--
.
10. Geoaraohical
Data
--
-
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Gladys, Va.
UMT References
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1 6 ] 7 ; 3 1 5 1 5 1 0 1 14i111i517i3i01
Easting
Nortli~ng
1:24000
1617131314i01 ) 4 i 1 ~ 1 1 5 ~ 3 i 2 1 0 ]
Easting
Northing
Zone
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Beginning a t a p o i n t on w s i d e of VA 650,
about 2,3501N of i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h VA 652; thence extending about 800'SW along s a i d s i d e t o
710' contour; thence f o l l o w i n g s a i d c o n t o u r SE a c r o s s VA 650 t h e n curving W, c r o s s i n g VA 650
a g a i n , a l l f o r about 1,900';
thence c o n t . NW t o 700' contour; thence following s a i d contour
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries ( s e e C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet 3 )
state
NIA
code
county
N/A
code
state
?J /A
code
countv
N/ A
code
p~
~
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitie
Virginia Historic Landnarks Carmission Staff
organization
Virginia Historic h n d ~ ~ Carmission
~ks
street
a number
city or town
date
May 1982
221 Governor Street
telephone
Richrnmd
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
national
X
-state
l o c a l
As the degianated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 h e r ~ i ;nominate
~
this property for inclusion in
Register and certify that it has been evaluated
Conserwtion and RecreGion Service.
according to the crlteria and procedures set forth by
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Brvan Mitchell. Executive Director
~ i r i i r r i aHistoric' Iandrmrks Carmission
J
title
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date
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lVlHI I O I J O r
Text
Listed On:
,
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ST/\TE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK ScRVICE
F """ 10-300
(Rev. 6-72)
015-00\9
VLR 02/18/1975
NRHP 07/24/1975
r
I
J_ Virginia __________ _
!COUNTY·
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
II Campbel~l----~
FOR NPS USE ONLY
!"e:NTRV D .. TE
(Ty/JC all entries - complete i:ipplicable sections)
11·
NAME
f COMMON;
-·-··-·· --------------------
Mount Athos
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KX No
- ' - - - - - - . -- . --- . --- -
d
O
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Transportation
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· QCommenh
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unused land
Religious
Scientific
z
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DESCRIPTION
E
0
CONDITION
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-
IKX Alterad
-------·-·--·-·---,---------------t
(Ch•clrO,t•J
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·(Ch•t:fr OnrJ
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DESc-Ftio£THE-PHESEN·r A~G7NAL7iTir";.ownJ
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De,.rlorcni,d
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·-------.---------·---------1
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Orltinal Sit.
P_H_Y_S-IC_A_L_A_f'_P_E~Al'I_A_N-C:£
Mount Athos is
• The ridge rises about
400 feet above the river
panoramic views of the
Blue Ridge Mountains
, as well as the seven
hills of Lynchburg
Originally cleared for farming. the
top of the ridge was allowed to grow into timber in the present century.
The timber was cut about a decade ago, and the ridge is now covered by .an
unsupervised growth of und~rbrush and young trees of various varieties. The
house ruins are located at the most praninent po.int of the ridge's middle.
The ground around them is covered by a thick blanket of periwinkle 1 and
several remaining tree boxwoods and terraces sloping away from the ruins
indicate former extensive ~ardens.
The ruins consist of rubble sandstone walls, approximately fifteen-feet high
irt varicolored shades of tan. The walls .are about two-feet thick throughout
and except for a relatively_ recent cave-in at the southeastern corner, they
have deteriorated surprisingly little since the house burned nearly a hundred years ago. The house's outside dimensions are approximately 44' x 54'.
An early drawing made before the fire shows that it had one story on a high
basement and was covered by a hipped roof. The drawing also showed a tetrastyle pedimented portico (probably with wodden columns) on the house's north
west front. From the ruins it is evident that the first-floor plan consisted of six rooms with a central passage and a fireplace in each room.
The structure's most distinctive architectural feature is the octagonalended projection at each corner of the house's southeastern end. The rooms
lighted by these projections were each heated by a chimney located in the
southeastern wall> leaving no room .for windows on that end of the house.
Joist holes in that end wall indicate that the centered door there was
reached by a simple wooden porch and stair. The remaining rooms were heate
by two interior chimneys located on a lateral wall. These chimneys still
stand about 25' high and are in a fairly good state of preservation. Vestiges of plaster remain on some portions of the walls and indentations for
shelving can be seen in the plaster in one a·rea. The other portions of the
walls have an eight-inch ledge to carr~ the first-floor joists. Some unsupervised excavations have taken place in certain areas of the ruins 1 but
most of the archaeological evidence appears undisturbed.
Near the house's southwest side is a large raised cistern; a second cistern.
possibly an icehouse, is situated somewhat farther from the house to the
southeast. Both of these large rectangular holes are quite deep and have
thick stone linings. A stone chimney about 200 yards from the house's rear
and another to the southwest containing first- mdsecond-story hearths are
all that remain of two substantial outbuildings; one of which was probably
the schoolhouse referred to in early correspondence relating to the propert •
The graveyard of the Robertson family, enclosed by an ante-bellum cast-iron
fence, is east of the house, I.ts stones have either been removed or arc
covered by a thick growth. The Lewis grave, originally a brick vault
covered by a large marble slab which has since been removed 1 lies about a
quarter mi~e from the house along the ridge to the northeast.
CCL
....
-··- ..
--·-···--·--------------------
m
m
z
-I
::0
C
n
-I
0
z
"· SIGNIFICANCE
•EAIOCI
(Cher.Ir 011e w ll<H• •• _.,.,.,..,-l1tl•J
0
O
O
Pra•Columl,lon I
[) lSth Century
SPECIFIC DA'TEISI
0
18th C•ntu,,.
17th Centurr
lQf
19th Canru'll'
(J 20th Century
(ltAppllc•l>la MldKn-)
AREAS ()F SIGNIFICANCE
(Check Ono.,,
Abo, iginal
D
0
16th Centurr
p,.lsi,to,ic
Hluoric
0 A9ric11lhno
KK Architaclur•
O Ari
0 Co•m••c•
0 Communication1
0 Consa,volion
O
O
O
/IIOr••• /tpproprl•t•J
0
0
Political
0
0
Science
D
Secial/H....,on-
0
0
Architecture
Li'9rature
Mili10,,
Theater
D
Muaic
D
D
0
0
Education
En9inaerin11
lnduur,
fnwontio,,
Landscape
Reli9ion/Phi.
0
0
Url,ao, P/a.,,,ing
Other (Spaclt,)
losophr
Sculplu19
ito,ion
Tronspo,tarion
..
..
Mount Athos is a highly picturesque and enigmatic ruin dramatically sited
atop a steep ridge overlooking the James River. When completed around
1800, it was one of the most prominent plantation houses in the region,
and its commanding position gav.e .i.t an especially monumental character.
The-mountain-top sit~, combined with the house's one-story plan, classical
portico, and octagonal-ended projections, has led many to speculate that
Thomas Jefferson was involv~d with its design since·these features are
characteristic of many of Jefferson's residential works, both executed
and unexecuted. This speculation is supported by the assertion of Anne
Montgomery Barksdale ,Bolling, granddaughter of the house's builder, who
he~self ~as raised at Mount Athas, that her grandfather, William J. Lewis,
was a friend of Jefferson and that Jefferson supplied a design for the
family house. Although no connection with Jefferson has yet been documented, it is not unreasonable to assume either a direct or indirect influence.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
X
0
t-
u
::,
a:
t'%
w
UJ
The Mount Athos plantation was originally part of a grant known as Buffalo
Lick Plantation, patented about 1740 by John Bolling, Jr., and included
lands on either side of the James River in what are now Amherst and Campbell Counties. Upon Bolling's death in l757, the tract was inherited by
his son Archibald who in 1796 sold it to William J. Lewis for 2,200 pounds.
Lewis completed the stone plantation house around 1800 and renamed the
place Mount Athos after the monastic peninsula in Greece. Lewis served
in the state legislature and narrowly missed being elected governor. He
also served in the r.ongressional session of 1817-1819.
In 1822 Lewis sold all his land other than that connected with the house
and a mill at the bottom of the mountain to Judge John Robertson of Richmond, husband of Lewis's niece. The Robertsons inherited the remainder of
the land at Lewis's death in 1828. Judge Robertson made Mount Athos his
residence until his death in 1873; his widow as well as her .only living
son and his family continued to reside there until the house burned in
1876. An article appea,ring in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian January 15,
1876, described the fire:
The cal.amity occurred on Thursday night, and was the result of an
accident. The fire caught in the .roof and spread so rapidly that
the work of destruction was soon completed.· Besides the furniture
the house contained a great many valuable paintings. and a fine
(see continuation sheet fl)
form 10-3000
(Julr 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HA TIONAL PARK SERVICE .
NATIOMA.L REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
(Coatinuation Sheet) fftl
8.
aT.r.Te:
· Vir2inia
COUNTY
Camobell
FOR HPS USE OHL:;:,Y....-----1
ENTRY NUMBER
I
DATE
I
SIGNIFICANCE
library •••• It is sad to see an ancient abode of so much refinement, elegance, and hospitality thus swept away.
Although financial circumstances prevented the Robertsons from rebuilding the
house within the walls, members of the family continued to live on the place
until 1892. In that year it was sold to Henry Logan whose heirs split the
plantation into several parcels.
Today, the ruins of this architecturally significant dwelling present a
romantic, and nostalgic scene. Efforts are underway by local preservation
groups to secure the property and stabilize the walls against further
deterioration.
..
CCL
GPO Ul,724
19.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICALP.EFERENCES
"Destruction by Fire of the Late Judge Robertson's .Residence," Lynchburg
Daily Virginian, Lynchburg, Va., January 15, 1876.
Dunn, William R., "Mount Athos: Where History and Progress Unite, 11 ~
IE£!! Worker, Vol. 33, No. 3, Suamer 1969, pp. 22-23.
Wyndha1Robertson Papers, University of Chicago.
Unpublished selection in Virginia Historic Landmarks Conmission files from
James S. Patton, Gay }lont, Rappahannock, Va.
J~i
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LATITUDE ANO L rlNGITUOE COORDINATES
DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATtNC THE PRODFRTV
CORNER
LATITUDE
LONGITUDE
0
R
L'TITUl'E A"IC' L<' .. C.IT'JOE COOROIN ... TE5
OEFINING Tf-i~ '-t:.r•T:i.PC POrN, Of:' A :>rtOPERTY
OF LESS TH AN TFN ACRES
----------,.-----------LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
Mlnut•s
S.c:onds
Degrees
Min11tes
S.condw
APPROXIMATE AC~EACE OF NOMINATED PROP'ltRTY:
jLIST "LL ST ... TE:5 ANO COUNTIES FOR PROPtRTIE5 OVERLAPPl..,G STATE OR COUNTY
m
STATE:
CODE
COU..,TY
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COU..,TY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
coot,:
:z
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
-t
m
"'
:;u
;1)//FORM PREPARED BY
C:
MA.ME ANO Tl TLE:
n
Vir inia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
-t
DAT£
ORGANIZATION
Vir inia Histor.ic Landmarks Commissi~o~n:..._~~~~~~~~-~-'-J_a_n_u~a_r...__1~9_7_5~~-;
z
21 Gove nor Street
CITY OR TOWN:
p.
0
STREET ANO NUMBER:
CODE
STATE
51
Virginia
d
< ::: N.t.trONAL REGISTER V~RIFfCATION '.
STATE LIAISOl'J OFFI.CER C. R~IFfCA:l'.1.0.111: '.
"'
I
I
As the designMted Stote Lirtison Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act o( 1966 (Public J,aw
8Q-06S), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion
I hereby certify that this property is included in the
N.,tiona I Register.
I
I
I
i
in lhe National Register and certify that it has been
1
f"valualcd accord in~ to the c·iteria and procecitres set
I
forth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of ,;i.,:nificanc-" of thi1< nomin11tion is:
Nationa I
[~l
State X2Q
l.<>cel
I
Director, 01/U:• ol Arch11olt>ll)' and Hi•roric Preeervation
[]
I>,!e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N&.1100
Juniu~s--.R~.--F"i~-srhTb_u_r_n_e-,-~J~r-.-.~E~x~e-·c-.~D~i~r_e_c_t_o_
Virginia Historic Landmarks Conunission
Titt.t
ATTl::ST:
----·
J
I/,
I
---------
'·
FEB 18 1975
Dute
l
I
l
f111te - - - - - - - · - - - - - - - - - - - -
-ti U.S. GOVERNMENT PklttTING
on·,cr :
1973-7l:9•147/144.:? 3•1
,
__ .,,,
ST/\TE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK ScRVICE
F """ 10-300
(Rev. 6-72)
015-00\9
VLR 02/18/1975
NRHP 07/24/1975
r
I
J_ Virginia __________ _
!COUNTY·
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
II Campbel~l----~
FOR NPS USE ONLY
!"e:NTRV D .. TE
(Ty/JC all entries - complete i:ipplicable sections)
11·
NAME
f COMMON;
-·-··-·· --------------------
Mount Athos
ANO/on HISTOR1C:
--------------------- --······--------·····--·····-------··--------------------- -------------------------------1
I
----------------
·--·-1
ioU
Oo:::::Sd __li.: ~;,~,::e:L~C
~
z
0
In Process
0
0
D
0
0
D
A9ricuhuro!
c·"",merciol
Edue-,tionol
D
D
D
E ntertoinrnenf
Govt,rom&nf
lndustriol
Military
Mu5eum
D
D
D
D
ACCESSIBLE
noccup,e
Being Con5ide-re
O Unr~5tticted
in progress
KX No
- ' - - - - - - . -- . --- . --- -
d
O
Pork
0
Ptii.<ote Resicl&nce
IX]
Pre5ervation work
Transportation
Other
· QCommenh
(Sp,.clly)
unused land
Religious
Scientific
z
w
w
l-"~~~;~-~~:v~:storic Landmarks Commission Archaeological Survt;..'L
1~_6-J________
<>ATE OF SURVl:Y:
u~~':;L~-~~-,;J,i
Cl
F~~"~o.!___
ix_
su;~;:cRE::;::arks C0mmission
?.? I Cov<,rnor Strv':;!_t__
Cl l ,r
1 ,'~WI ii
!{ .i c I u:1und
c~~.."~~ ---
CJ
Local
i
1
5
STfiFLl~-,~i"i.iM1:~~.. !
S!ofe ···-
----~------------~------~-
-----
r>·r
<\ t t
L_'{i ,-,\iI]J,l
.
' 51 .. -1
···-····--------~-
0
DESCRIPTION
E
0
CONDITION
Excellenl
-
IKX Alterad
-------·-·--·-·---,---------------t
(Ch•clrO,t•J
O
D
Good
·(Ch•t:fr OnrJ
D
DESc-Ftio£THE-PHESEN·r A~G7NAL7iTir";.ownJ
Cl
De,.rlorcni,d
Xll:t) Ruins
D Une•pDHd
·-------.---------·---------1
Foir
n
Un.. lterad
(C"9clr OneJ
M-·d
D
Orltinal Sit.
P_H_Y_S-IC_A_L_A_f'_P_E~Al'I_A_N-C:£
Mount Athos is
• The ridge rises about
400 feet above the river
panoramic views of the
Blue Ridge Mountains
, as well as the seven
hills of Lynchburg
Originally cleared for farming. the
top of the ridge was allowed to grow into timber in the present century.
The timber was cut about a decade ago, and the ridge is now covered by .an
unsupervised growth of und~rbrush and young trees of various varieties. The
house ruins are located at the most praninent po.int of the ridge's middle.
The ground around them is covered by a thick blanket of periwinkle 1 and
several remaining tree boxwoods and terraces sloping away from the ruins
indicate former extensive ~ardens.
The ruins consist of rubble sandstone walls, approximately fifteen-feet high
irt varicolored shades of tan. The walls .are about two-feet thick throughout
and except for a relatively_ recent cave-in at the southeastern corner, they
have deteriorated surprisingly little since the house burned nearly a hundred years ago. The house's outside dimensions are approximately 44' x 54'.
An early drawing made before the fire shows that it had one story on a high
basement and was covered by a hipped roof. The drawing also showed a tetrastyle pedimented portico (probably with wodden columns) on the house's north
west front. From the ruins it is evident that the first-floor plan consisted of six rooms with a central passage and a fireplace in each room.
The structure's most distinctive architectural feature is the octagonalended projection at each corner of the house's southeastern end. The rooms
lighted by these projections were each heated by a chimney located in the
southeastern wall> leaving no room .for windows on that end of the house.
Joist holes in that end wall indicate that the centered door there was
reached by a simple wooden porch and stair. The remaining rooms were heate
by two interior chimneys located on a lateral wall. These chimneys still
stand about 25' high and are in a fairly good state of preservation. Vestiges of plaster remain on some portions of the walls and indentations for
shelving can be seen in the plaster in one a·rea. The other portions of the
walls have an eight-inch ledge to carr~ the first-floor joists. Some unsupervised excavations have taken place in certain areas of the ruins 1 but
most of the archaeological evidence appears undisturbed.
Near the house's southwest side is a large raised cistern; a second cistern.
possibly an icehouse, is situated somewhat farther from the house to the
southeast. Both of these large rectangular holes are quite deep and have
thick stone linings. A stone chimney about 200 yards from the house's rear
and another to the southwest containing first- mdsecond-story hearths are
all that remain of two substantial outbuildings; one of which was probably
the schoolhouse referred to in early correspondence relating to the propert •
The graveyard of the Robertson family, enclosed by an ante-bellum cast-iron
fence, is east of the house, I.ts stones have either been removed or arc
covered by a thick growth. The Lewis grave, originally a brick vault
covered by a large marble slab which has since been removed 1 lies about a
quarter mi~e from the house along the ridge to the northeast.
CCL
....
-··- ..
--·-···--·--------------------
m
m
z
-I
::0
C
n
-I
0
z
"· SIGNIFICANCE
•EAIOCI
(Cher.Ir 011e w ll<H• •• _.,.,.,..,-l1tl•J
0
O
O
Pra•Columl,lon I
[) lSth Century
SPECIFIC DA'TEISI
0
18th C•ntu,,.
17th Centurr
lQf
19th Canru'll'
(J 20th Century
(ltAppllc•l>la MldKn-)
AREAS ()F SIGNIFICANCE
(Check Ono.,,
Abo, iginal
D
0
16th Centurr
p,.lsi,to,ic
Hluoric
0 A9ric11lhno
KK Architaclur•
O Ari
0 Co•m••c•
0 Communication1
0 Consa,volion
O
O
O
/IIOr••• /tpproprl•t•J
0
0
Political
0
0
Science
D
Secial/H....,on-
0
0
Architecture
Li'9rature
Mili10,,
Theater
D
Muaic
D
D
0
0
Education
En9inaerin11
lnduur,
fnwontio,,
Landscape
Reli9ion/Phi.
0
0
Url,ao, P/a.,,,ing
Other (Spaclt,)
losophr
Sculplu19
ito,ion
Tronspo,tarion
..
..
Mount Athos is a highly picturesque and enigmatic ruin dramatically sited
atop a steep ridge overlooking the James River. When completed around
1800, it was one of the most prominent plantation houses in the region,
and its commanding position gav.e .i.t an especially monumental character.
The-mountain-top sit~, combined with the house's one-story plan, classical
portico, and octagonal-ended projections, has led many to speculate that
Thomas Jefferson was involv~d with its design since·these features are
characteristic of many of Jefferson's residential works, both executed
and unexecuted. This speculation is supported by the assertion of Anne
Montgomery Barksdale ,Bolling, granddaughter of the house's builder, who
he~self ~as raised at Mount Athas, that her grandfather, William J. Lewis,
was a friend of Jefferson and that Jefferson supplied a design for the
family house. Although no connection with Jefferson has yet been documented, it is not unreasonable to assume either a direct or indirect influence.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
X
0
t-
u
::,
a:
t'%
w
UJ
The Mount Athos plantation was originally part of a grant known as Buffalo
Lick Plantation, patented about 1740 by John Bolling, Jr., and included
lands on either side of the James River in what are now Amherst and Campbell Counties. Upon Bolling's death in l757, the tract was inherited by
his son Archibald who in 1796 sold it to William J. Lewis for 2,200 pounds.
Lewis completed the stone plantation house around 1800 and renamed the
place Mount Athos after the monastic peninsula in Greece. Lewis served
in the state legislature and narrowly missed being elected governor. He
also served in the r.ongressional session of 1817-1819.
In 1822 Lewis sold all his land other than that connected with the house
and a mill at the bottom of the mountain to Judge John Robertson of Richmond, husband of Lewis's niece. The Robertsons inherited the remainder of
the land at Lewis's death in 1828. Judge Robertson made Mount Athos his
residence until his death in 1873; his widow as well as her .only living
son and his family continued to reside there until the house burned in
1876. An article appea,ring in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian January 15,
1876, described the fire:
The cal.amity occurred on Thursday night, and was the result of an
accident. The fire caught in the .roof and spread so rapidly that
the work of destruction was soon completed.· Besides the furniture
the house contained a great many valuable paintings. and a fine
(see continuation sheet fl)
form 10-3000
(Julr 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HA TIONAL PARK SERVICE .
NATIOMA.L REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
(Coatinuation Sheet) fftl
8.
aT.r.Te:
· Vir2inia
COUNTY
Camobell
FOR HPS USE OHL:;:,Y....-----1
ENTRY NUMBER
I
DATE
I
SIGNIFICANCE
library •••• It is sad to see an ancient abode of so much refinement, elegance, and hospitality thus swept away.
Although financial circumstances prevented the Robertsons from rebuilding the
house within the walls, members of the family continued to live on the place
until 1892. In that year it was sold to Henry Logan whose heirs split the
plantation into several parcels.
Today, the ruins of this architecturally significant dwelling present a
romantic, and nostalgic scene. Efforts are underway by local preservation
groups to secure the property and stabilize the walls against further
deterioration.
..
CCL
GPO Ul,724
19.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICALP.EFERENCES
"Destruction by Fire of the Late Judge Robertson's .Residence," Lynchburg
Daily Virginian, Lynchburg, Va., January 15, 1876.
Dunn, William R., "Mount Athos: Where History and Progress Unite, 11 ~
IE£!! Worker, Vol. 33, No. 3, Suamer 1969, pp. 22-23.
Wyndha1Robertson Papers, University of Chicago.
Unpublished selection in Virginia Historic Landmarks Conmission files from
James S. Patton, Gay }lont, Rappahannock, Va.
J~i
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LATITUDE ANO L rlNGITUOE COORDINATES
DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATtNC THE PRODFRTV
CORNER
LATITUDE
LONGITUDE
0
R
L'TITUl'E A"IC' L<' .. C.IT'JOE COOROIN ... TE5
OEFINING Tf-i~ '-t:.r•T:i.PC POrN, Of:' A :>rtOPERTY
OF LESS TH AN TFN ACRES
----------,.-----------LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
Mlnut•s
S.c:onds
Degrees
Min11tes
S.condw
APPROXIMATE AC~EACE OF NOMINATED PROP'ltRTY:
jLIST "LL ST ... TE:5 ANO COUNTIES FOR PROPtRTIE5 OVERLAPPl..,G STATE OR COUNTY
m
STATE:
CODE
COU..,TY
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COU..,TY:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
coot,:
:z
STATE:
CODE
COUNTY:
CODE
-t
m
"'
:;u
;1)//FORM PREPARED BY
C:
MA.ME ANO Tl TLE:
n
Vir inia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
-t
DAT£
ORGANIZATION
Vir inia Histor.ic Landmarks Commissi~o~n:..._~~~~~~~~-~-'-J_a_n_u~a_r...__1~9_7_5~~-;
z
21 Gove nor Street
CITY OR TOWN:
p.
0
STREET ANO NUMBER:
CODE
STATE
51
Virginia
d
< ::: N.t.trONAL REGISTER V~RIFfCATION '.
STATE LIAISOl'J OFFI.CER C. R~IFfCA:l'.1.0.111: '.
"'
I
I
As the designMted Stote Lirtison Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act o( 1966 (Public J,aw
8Q-06S), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion
I hereby certify that this property is included in the
N.,tiona I Register.
I
I
I
i
in lhe National Register and certify that it has been
1
f"valualcd accord in~ to the c·iteria and procecitres set
I
forth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of ,;i.,:nificanc-" of thi1< nomin11tion is:
Nationa I
[~l
State X2Q
l.<>cel
I
Director, 01/U:• ol Arch11olt>ll)' and Hi•roric Preeervation
[]
I>,!e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N&.1100
Juniu~s--.R~.--F"i~-srhTb_u_r_n_e-,-~J~r-.-.~E~x~e-·c-.~D~i~r_e_c_t_o_
Virginia Historic Landmarks Conunission
Titt.t
ATTl::ST:
----·
J
I/,
I
---------
'·
FEB 18 1975
Dute
l
I
l
f111te - - - - - - - · - - - - - - - - - - - -
-ti U.S. GOVERNMENT PklttTING
on·,cr :
1973-7l:9•147/144.:? 3•1
Text
•
l. · · --- -·vt-R ;; -;;._/tb /11· · ~~ ~-:-gfrohiLf)-·--1\fR"ttr-- s/3t/r1- -· --- ----·Form No. 10-300
.,
\~e-.-
,o-1
~
1,
1
/
.
.
Ui'\ITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAi. PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
3]NAME
Blenheim . ...
HISTORIC
AND/OR COMMON
tE1LOCATI0N 2.4 miles SW of Spring Mills;
.5 mile . W of Falling River; .3 mile E
1.1 miles SE of intersection of State R~utes 648
of State Route 648.
and 604.
r.·
STREET & NUMBER
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY. TOWN
Spring Mills
STATE
'
_x VICINITY OF
Fifth (W.
COUNTY
CODE
)
Virginia
51
~CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
c.
Daniel)
CODE
031
CawpbeJ J
')
OWNERSHIP
PRESENT USE
STATUS
_DISTRICT
_PUBLIC
~OCCUPIED
~GRICULTURE
__ MUSEUM
XBUILDING(S)
XPRIVATE
_UNOCCUPIED
_COMMERCIAL
_PARK
_STRUCTURE
_BOTH
_WORK IN PROGRESS
-EDUCATIONAL .
_SITE
PUBLiC ACQUISITION
_OBJECT
ACCESSIBLE
x_PRIVATE RESIDENCE
_ENTERTAINMENT ,. _:RELIGIOUS
_IN PROCESS
_YES: RESTRICTED
_GOVERNMENT
_SCIENTIFIC
_BEING CONSIDERED
-
_INDUSTRIAL
_TRANSPORTATION
_MILITARY
_OTHER;
YES: UNRESTRICTED
~.NO
t'mOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A. Crowther
STREET & NUMBER
Blenheim Farm, Route 1
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Concord
_
VICINITY OF
ir~inja
24538
~LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE,
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Campbell County Courthouse
STREET & NUMBER
CITY. TOWN
STATE
Rustburg
Virg inia
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
DATE
\
.
\
-FEDERAL
1975
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission,
CITY. TOWN
I
_COUNTY
_lOCAL
221 Governor Street
STATE
Richmond
'
~STATE
Virginia
23219~~~~~
B DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
X EXCELLENT
-DElERIORA.lEO
~UNALTERED
~RIGINALSITE
-GOOD
_RUINS
......ALTERED
-MOVED
-FAIR
-UNEXPOSED
DATE _ _ __
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Blenheim is a large farm situated in the rolling Campbell County .Piedmont. The
small early nineteenth-century frame house is set ~ell back from the road and is approached
by a _long·· winding drive.
The house is a long, five-bay, single-pile, story-and-a-half structure with small
wings at either end and is set on a basement built of brick laid in four-course American
bond. It is sheathed with beaded weatherboards and covered with a standing-seam sheet
metal roof broken by three pedimented dormers with six-over-six sash. The main block
is lit by nine-over-nine windows with louvred blinds, and there are six-over-six sash
and louvred blinds in the wings. Brick exterior end chimneys mark the ends of the main
block; the"wes t chimney is rebuilt.
The distinctive feature of Blenheim is its delicate woodwork. The box cornice is
decorated with <lentils, cable ~old,ings, · and ·&tyl-ized machicolations, · ·which··
are returned aroun<;l the ends of the box. An elaborate doorway marks the front entrance.
Fluted pilasters of undetermined order are set on high pedestals and embellished with a
broad necking with gouged swags and a guilloche. band on their caps. This band is carried
across the door head and recessed to form the imposts for the semicircular fanlight and,
recessed still further, to form the bottom rail of the fanlight, which protrudes into the
tympanum of a shallow pediment supported on entablature blocks with reeded architraves and
friezes composed of stylized leaves. Both the .front and rear entrances are sheltered by
pedimented porches with chamfered posts and dentil cornices.
As in many other houses of the Piedmont area, the basement at Blenheim is an important
living space. The house is thus, in reality, a two-and-one-half-story, central-passage
nr" house.
The basement rooms are decorated plainly, with a simple Federal mantel in the west
room. This consists of a mantel shelf supported on unadorned entablature and frieze
blocks which in turn rest upon the architrave enframement of the opening. This design is
similar to Plate XXI of Owen Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant (1810).
The first floor contains a wealth of fine woodwork. The open-well stair has a closed
s.tring decorated with moldings and applied sawn brackets, to suggest an open string, and
with an elaborate arrangement of rectilinear and triangular molded panels in the spandrel.
At the landing, the frieze is decorated with alternating reeded panels and gouged sixpointed stars. The simple turned balusters that rest on the string course in each of
the stairs's flights are supported at the landing on a baseboard decorated with a guilloche
band enriched with
six-pointed applied flowers. The elliptical banister is ramped
and eased at the newels, which are turned to bulbous profiles. A molded-panel dado is
carried up the stairs, with a chair rail and highly attenuated pilasters echoing the
banister il,t;d .pewel posts.
The~ room (parlor) is the most elaborately decorated chamber in the house. The
mantel, which is loosely based upon another model in Plate XXI of Biddle I s work, consists
of slender, fluted pilasters supporting recessed-panel entablature blocks and central
tablet; there is a molded shelf above. Flanking the mantel are doors leading to a closet
and to one of the wings. Their architrave frames are surmounted by complex, naively
concei.ved bu.t masterfully executed entablatures, each with a central molded panel which
has no lower edge but which terminates at the door head. These panels are framed by
symmetrically molded entablature blocks supporting a flat cornice broken out in an exaggerated manner over the blocks and with a machicolated fascia. An intervening band
of molding at the top of the frieze consists of strips of fluting separated by gouged
eight-pointed stars. Recessed-panel wainscoting with the fluting-and-star design of
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
•
Form No. 10·300•
IAew. 10-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01' THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
BLENHEIM, Campbell County, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
1
ITEM NUMBER
fl]
PAGE
l
DESCRIPTION
(7)
the door heads used on,the chair rail, is carried around the room. The windows
have aedicule frames similar to, but less elaborate than, the door frames.
Slender· reeded pilasters without bases or capitals decorate the jambs and support
·a plain frieze and flat machicolated cornice. The pilasters are supported on outsized fluted pedes~als in the dado. .
The dining (~eel) room is a plainer version of the parlor. The mantel
resembles the parlor mantel, but the pilasters have recessed panels; the entablature
blocks and tablet are undecorated. Doors to a closet and to the wing, with plain
architrave frames, flank the mantel, and recessed-panel wainscoting with a beaded
chair rail is carried around the room.
A frame stable, probably dating from the late nineteenth century, survives
to the .aet: of the house.
v. ~;e'.":l\
DTU
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The Register bounds are rectangular and are bounded on the southwest by the
drive and on the other three sides by imaginary lines. These boundaries enclose
the house and early stable.
•
'D SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-1400-1499
--ARCHEOlOGV-HISTOAIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-1500-1599
---AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
-1600-1699
~RCHITECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
-SOCIAlJHUMAN\TAfUAN
-1700-1799
~RT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
!..1soo-1ess
_COMMERCE
_EXPLORATIONISETILEMENT
-1900-
_COMMUNICATIONS
_JNOl)STRY
, _PHILOSOPHY
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_RELIGION
_TRANSPORTATION
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
_jNVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
, )llenheim, situated in the rolling Piedmont hills of Campbell County, is notable for
its elaborate, provincially conceived but skillfully executed, woodwork. While generally
rare, decoration.so profusely applied is characteristic of the best quality houses in
Piedmont Virginia. ,Normal'ly ,it would not be found in a dwelling with so modest an exterior
as Blenheim. Probably built by the Jones family sometime after 1810, Blenheim is a monument
to the rural craftsman's art.
In 1809 John Reid sold 345 acres of land on the Falling River to William Jones, the
son of his neighbor Major Jones. This land included the present Blenheim. The house may
have been erected soon after Jones'spurchase of the land; it seems likely, at any rate,
that he lived there from the time he acquired the property, for no other land is charged
to him in the county tax books. It is more likely, however, that the present house was
erected as late as 1828, when the tax assessment for Blenheim's improvements was raised
from $600 to $2000, with the cryptic notation "altered."
The decoration at Blenheim, while highly original as a whole, does show a debt to
Owen Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant {Philadelphia, Richmond, and Lexington, Ky.,
1810), a book which was used in the design of Point of Honor, an elegant house in nearby
Lynchburg. In particular, the basement mantel at Blenheim adheres quite closely to a
design illustrated in Plate XXI of Biddle's book. Other aspects of the woodwork show a
more general debt to the book and are illustrative of the very free manner in which the best
provincial craftsmen used the published :zesources available to them,
Jones died in 1858, and the property passed to his wife. In 1869 William Jones's
aon Lamech sold Blenheim to E. C, Randolph, who quickly conveyed it to John Devereux.
Devereux gave the property its present name.
After passing through several subsequent owners, Blenheim has been renovated by its
present owners, Mr. and Mrs, Douglas Crowther.
DTU/MTP
_..,_
_____ ··--·-------·- -"-"---------··-
•-
·-·-
----.
IJMAJOR BIBUOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Biddle, Owen.
The Young Carpenter's Assistant.
Philadelphia, Pa., 1810.
Campbell County Deed Books 8, 35.
Campbell County Land Tax Books.
Campbell County Will Book 12.
II!JGEOGRAPHICALDATA
QUADRANGLE NAME: Mike, Va.
QUADRANGLE SCALE: 1 :24000
3 acres
ACREA~E OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
! 6! S, lj
AlhlJ
ZONE
EASTING
cw I I
i
I
I
71 11
I I
g ! 4. J.12t111, 2. cj
NORTHING
III I
I
I
I
I
I
BL.J I I , I
ZONE
INORTHING
I I I I
EASTING
.DLlll1 I
II[I
I
I
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning at a .point: on N side of private drive,. about. 2400' SE ·of intersec,.tion of
said drive wi.th State Route ·648; thence extending about 300' NE to 540' contour;
thence extending about 480' SE; thence extending about 350' SW to N side of private
drive; thence following said side of said drive about 600 1 NW to point of origin.
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
cooE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
mFORM PREPARED BY
.
NAME/ TITLE
.
.
!
Virginia ' Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
ORGANIZATION
DATE
January 1977
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
STREET & NUMBER
J .1')
TELEPHONE
804-786-3144
221 Governor Street
CJTYORTOWN
STATE
· Richmond
Virginia
23219
[f3STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STAff.L_
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this proi-~ for incl "ion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
f hb h
ional Park Service.
criteria and procedM
STATE HISTORIC P
E
ON OFFICER SIGNATURE
TITLE Juni s R. Fishburne, Jr., Executive Director
DATE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
f0RNPSUSEONLY
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAl'Tfl(S PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER ·
DATE
DIRECTOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY ANO HISTORIC PRESERVATION
ATTEST:
DATE
KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER
GPO 892. 453
I
'
l. · · --- -·vt-R ;; -;;._/tb /11· · ~~ ~-:-gfrohiLf)-·--1\fR"ttr-- s/3t/r1- -· --- ----·Form No. 10-300
.,
\~e-.-
,o-1
~
1,
1
/
.
.
Ui'\ITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAi. PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
3]NAME
Blenheim . ...
HISTORIC
AND/OR COMMON
tE1LOCATI0N 2.4 miles SW of Spring Mills;
.5 mile . W of Falling River; .3 mile E
1.1 miles SE of intersection of State R~utes 648
of State Route 648.
and 604.
r.·
STREET & NUMBER
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY. TOWN
Spring Mills
STATE
'
_x VICINITY OF
Fifth (W.
COUNTY
CODE
)
Virginia
51
~CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
c.
Daniel)
CODE
031
CawpbeJ J
')
OWNERSHIP
PRESENT USE
STATUS
_DISTRICT
_PUBLIC
~OCCUPIED
~GRICULTURE
__ MUSEUM
XBUILDING(S)
XPRIVATE
_UNOCCUPIED
_COMMERCIAL
_PARK
_STRUCTURE
_BOTH
_WORK IN PROGRESS
-EDUCATIONAL .
_SITE
PUBLiC ACQUISITION
_OBJECT
ACCESSIBLE
x_PRIVATE RESIDENCE
_ENTERTAINMENT ,. _:RELIGIOUS
_IN PROCESS
_YES: RESTRICTED
_GOVERNMENT
_SCIENTIFIC
_BEING CONSIDERED
-
_INDUSTRIAL
_TRANSPORTATION
_MILITARY
_OTHER;
YES: UNRESTRICTED
~.NO
t'mOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A. Crowther
STREET & NUMBER
Blenheim Farm, Route 1
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Concord
_
VICINITY OF
ir~inja
24538
~LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE,
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Campbell County Courthouse
STREET & NUMBER
CITY. TOWN
STATE
Rustburg
Virg inia
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
DATE
\
.
\
-FEDERAL
1975
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission,
CITY. TOWN
I
_COUNTY
_lOCAL
221 Governor Street
STATE
Richmond
'
~STATE
Virginia
23219~~~~~
B DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
X EXCELLENT
-DElERIORA.lEO
~UNALTERED
~RIGINALSITE
-GOOD
_RUINS
......ALTERED
-MOVED
-FAIR
-UNEXPOSED
DATE _ _ __
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Blenheim is a large farm situated in the rolling Campbell County .Piedmont. The
small early nineteenth-century frame house is set ~ell back from the road and is approached
by a _long·· winding drive.
The house is a long, five-bay, single-pile, story-and-a-half structure with small
wings at either end and is set on a basement built of brick laid in four-course American
bond. It is sheathed with beaded weatherboards and covered with a standing-seam sheet
metal roof broken by three pedimented dormers with six-over-six sash. The main block
is lit by nine-over-nine windows with louvred blinds, and there are six-over-six sash
and louvred blinds in the wings. Brick exterior end chimneys mark the ends of the main
block; the"wes t chimney is rebuilt.
The distinctive feature of Blenheim is its delicate woodwork. The box cornice is
decorated with <lentils, cable ~old,ings, · and ·&tyl-ized machicolations, · ·which··
are returned aroun<;l the ends of the box. An elaborate doorway marks the front entrance.
Fluted pilasters of undetermined order are set on high pedestals and embellished with a
broad necking with gouged swags and a guilloche. band on their caps. This band is carried
across the door head and recessed to form the imposts for the semicircular fanlight and,
recessed still further, to form the bottom rail of the fanlight, which protrudes into the
tympanum of a shallow pediment supported on entablature blocks with reeded architraves and
friezes composed of stylized leaves. Both the .front and rear entrances are sheltered by
pedimented porches with chamfered posts and dentil cornices.
As in many other houses of the Piedmont area, the basement at Blenheim is an important
living space. The house is thus, in reality, a two-and-one-half-story, central-passage
nr" house.
The basement rooms are decorated plainly, with a simple Federal mantel in the west
room. This consists of a mantel shelf supported on unadorned entablature and frieze
blocks which in turn rest upon the architrave enframement of the opening. This design is
similar to Plate XXI of Owen Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant (1810).
The first floor contains a wealth of fine woodwork. The open-well stair has a closed
s.tring decorated with moldings and applied sawn brackets, to suggest an open string, and
with an elaborate arrangement of rectilinear and triangular molded panels in the spandrel.
At the landing, the frieze is decorated with alternating reeded panels and gouged sixpointed stars. The simple turned balusters that rest on the string course in each of
the stairs's flights are supported at the landing on a baseboard decorated with a guilloche
band enriched with
six-pointed applied flowers. The elliptical banister is ramped
and eased at the newels, which are turned to bulbous profiles. A molded-panel dado is
carried up the stairs, with a chair rail and highly attenuated pilasters echoing the
banister il,t;d .pewel posts.
The~ room (parlor) is the most elaborately decorated chamber in the house. The
mantel, which is loosely based upon another model in Plate XXI of Biddle I s work, consists
of slender, fluted pilasters supporting recessed-panel entablature blocks and central
tablet; there is a molded shelf above. Flanking the mantel are doors leading to a closet
and to one of the wings. Their architrave frames are surmounted by complex, naively
concei.ved bu.t masterfully executed entablatures, each with a central molded panel which
has no lower edge but which terminates at the door head. These panels are framed by
symmetrically molded entablature blocks supporting a flat cornice broken out in an exaggerated manner over the blocks and with a machicolated fascia. An intervening band
of molding at the top of the frieze consists of strips of fluting separated by gouged
eight-pointed stars. Recessed-panel wainscoting with the fluting-and-star design of
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
•
Form No. 10·300•
IAew. 10-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01' THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
BLENHEIM, Campbell County, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
1
ITEM NUMBER
fl]
PAGE
l
DESCRIPTION
(7)
the door heads used on,the chair rail, is carried around the room. The windows
have aedicule frames similar to, but less elaborate than, the door frames.
Slender· reeded pilasters without bases or capitals decorate the jambs and support
·a plain frieze and flat machicolated cornice. The pilasters are supported on outsized fluted pedes~als in the dado. .
The dining (~eel) room is a plainer version of the parlor. The mantel
resembles the parlor mantel, but the pilasters have recessed panels; the entablature
blocks and tablet are undecorated. Doors to a closet and to the wing, with plain
architrave frames, flank the mantel, and recessed-panel wainscoting with a beaded
chair rail is carried around the room.
A frame stable, probably dating from the late nineteenth century, survives
to the .aet: of the house.
v. ~;e'.":l\
DTU
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The Register bounds are rectangular and are bounded on the southwest by the
drive and on the other three sides by imaginary lines. These boundaries enclose
the house and early stable.
•
'D SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-1400-1499
--ARCHEOlOGV-HISTOAIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-1500-1599
---AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
-1600-1699
~RCHITECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
-SOCIAlJHUMAN\TAfUAN
-1700-1799
~RT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
!..1soo-1ess
_COMMERCE
_EXPLORATIONISETILEMENT
-1900-
_COMMUNICATIONS
_JNOl)STRY
, _PHILOSOPHY
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_RELIGION
_TRANSPORTATION
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
_jNVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
, )llenheim, situated in the rolling Piedmont hills of Campbell County, is notable for
its elaborate, provincially conceived but skillfully executed, woodwork. While generally
rare, decoration.so profusely applied is characteristic of the best quality houses in
Piedmont Virginia. ,Normal'ly ,it would not be found in a dwelling with so modest an exterior
as Blenheim. Probably built by the Jones family sometime after 1810, Blenheim is a monument
to the rural craftsman's art.
In 1809 John Reid sold 345 acres of land on the Falling River to William Jones, the
son of his neighbor Major Jones. This land included the present Blenheim. The house may
have been erected soon after Jones'spurchase of the land; it seems likely, at any rate,
that he lived there from the time he acquired the property, for no other land is charged
to him in the county tax books. It is more likely, however, that the present house was
erected as late as 1828, when the tax assessment for Blenheim's improvements was raised
from $600 to $2000, with the cryptic notation "altered."
The decoration at Blenheim, while highly original as a whole, does show a debt to
Owen Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant {Philadelphia, Richmond, and Lexington, Ky.,
1810), a book which was used in the design of Point of Honor, an elegant house in nearby
Lynchburg. In particular, the basement mantel at Blenheim adheres quite closely to a
design illustrated in Plate XXI of Biddle's book. Other aspects of the woodwork show a
more general debt to the book and are illustrative of the very free manner in which the best
provincial craftsmen used the published :zesources available to them,
Jones died in 1858, and the property passed to his wife. In 1869 William Jones's
aon Lamech sold Blenheim to E. C, Randolph, who quickly conveyed it to John Devereux.
Devereux gave the property its present name.
After passing through several subsequent owners, Blenheim has been renovated by its
present owners, Mr. and Mrs, Douglas Crowther.
DTU/MTP
_..,_
_____ ··--·-------·- -"-"---------··-
•-
·-·-
----.
IJMAJOR BIBUOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Biddle, Owen.
The Young Carpenter's Assistant.
Philadelphia, Pa., 1810.
Campbell County Deed Books 8, 35.
Campbell County Land Tax Books.
Campbell County Will Book 12.
II!JGEOGRAPHICALDATA
QUADRANGLE NAME: Mike, Va.
QUADRANGLE SCALE: 1 :24000
3 acres
ACREA~E OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
! 6! S, lj
AlhlJ
ZONE
EASTING
cw I I
i
I
I
71 11
I I
g ! 4. J.12t111, 2. cj
NORTHING
III I
I
I
I
I
I
BL.J I I , I
ZONE
INORTHING
I I I I
EASTING
.DLlll1 I
II[I
I
I
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning at a .point: on N side of private drive,. about. 2400' SE ·of intersec,.tion of
said drive wi.th State Route ·648; thence extending about 300' NE to 540' contour;
thence extending about 480' SE; thence extending about 350' SW to N side of private
drive; thence following said side of said drive about 600 1 NW to point of origin.
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
cooE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
mFORM PREPARED BY
.
NAME/ TITLE
.
.
!
Virginia ' Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
ORGANIZATION
DATE
January 1977
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
STREET & NUMBER
J .1')
TELEPHONE
804-786-3144
221 Governor Street
CJTYORTOWN
STATE
· Richmond
Virginia
23219
[f3STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STAff.L_
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this proi-~ for incl "ion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
f hb h
ional Park Service.
criteria and procedM
STATE HISTORIC P
E
ON OFFICER SIGNATURE
TITLE Juni s R. Fishburne, Jr., Executive Director
DATE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
f0RNPSUSEONLY
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAl'Tfl(S PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER ·
DATE
DIRECTOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY ANO HISTORIC PRESERVATION
ATTEST:
DATE
KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER
GPO 892. 453
I
'
Text
United States Department of the Interior
v
3
For HCRS use onlypp XFWYT
t""-
Heritage Conservation and Wecreati~nService
National Register of Historic Places
!~rventory-h!omilaaaion Form
received
date entered
II
I
See instructions i n H o w t o Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
I. Name
Avoca
historic
and/or common N/A
2. Location
street & number
city, town
Altavista
state
Virginia
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
X
-.
,
U.S. Business b ~ t 29
e
N/A
X vicinity of
code
Ynership
-publ~c
5l
county
Status
occupied
unoccupied
w o r k in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
y e s : unrestricted
-no
ft
-private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N/A
not for publication
otr
campbell
031
code
Present U s e
-agriculture
-museum
-park
commercial
-educational
-entertainment
government
-industrial
-military
-private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
X other:vacant
4. Owner off Property
name
Town of Altavista, c/o Mayor
street & number
P. 0 . Box 552
&A
!
Altavis ta
citv. town
vicinitv of
state
Virginia
state
Virginia
24517
5. Location off Legal Descrbtion
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
Campbell County Courthouse
N/A
Rustburg
city, town
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
title
date
Virginia Historic L a n k k s C d s s i o n
S~zrvev
1981
de~ositorvfor survey records
city, town
E ~ h n d
has this property been determined elegible? -yes & no
-federal
X state
-countv
-local
Virginia Historic Lasldmarks Carmission, 221 Governor Street
state
Virginia
23219
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
-good
X fair
-deteriorated
' -ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
-original
site
-moved
date
x
N/A
Describe t h e present and original (ifknown) physical appearance
!iXJWBRY DESCRIFTION
Avoca, the principal architectural landmark of the town of Altavista, i s a quintesent i a l l y American queen Anne-style house. The asymnetrical, 2%-story mod-frame residence
i s skirted by a veranda and i s covered by a hipped roof interrupted by a tower, dormers,
and projections. B u i l t i n 1901 after the plans of John ?Enor Botts Lewis, a Lynchburg
architect, the structure i s s e t i n a large yard dotted w i t h shade trees, which i n turn is
surrounded by fields and pasture. Although built as a country house, Avoca i s m r e akin
to the type of house appearing i n American towns and suburbs i n the period with standardized
architectural elanents ordered fran cannercialwoc&orking cmpanies.
,
A R C H I T E C W ANALYSIS
Avoca i s setback f r a n themain road, U.S. Route 29, by a pasture. The rear of the
house faces the road, while the more stylish facade looks to the rolling countryside. The
rectangular mass of the house's main block i s broken by several projections; these include
a three-story corner tmer to the south, a service wing and tower to the north, and the
extension of part of the rear. The facade (west) has a one-story veranda that continues
to the south elevation. The veranda has paired unfluted columns that are joined to a wooden
balustrade with turned balusters. The porch i s covered by a shed roof that i s pedimented a t
the main entrance. A Doric entablature n m s along the porch's eaves. The tympanum of the
pediment has an applied classical-style wreath with applied foliage on the frieze of the
entablature imnediately belm i t . A small balcony with a balustrade of paneled newels and
turned urns further distinguishes the facade a t the main entrance. The entrance consists
of a transan and sidelight door. The transans, Colonial Revival i n style, have sunburstand diamond-patterned mllions. The original door and screen door survive. The doorway
i s framed by plain architrave trim. The reax (east) elevation has a two-tier porch with
square colwrns and a balustrade with unturned blausters. The original rear transan-light
doorway with i t s large clear-glass and multi-paned, colored-glass door remains intact. The
rear screen door also survives. Tile first-story windows on the facade to the north of the
main entrance have applied wooden window heads with swag docoration. The openings have 212
hung sash with plain trim flanked by lowred shutters. With sane exceptions l o w e d shutters
and hung-sash windows are found on a l l the principal f i r s t - and second-story openings. Above
the main entrance, m the second story i s a tri-part window topped by a transan. The transom niullions have the same sunbmst ;onfiguration as that found on the transan above the
four casgnent windows with halfmain entrance. Above the windm is a hipped dormer ha*
circle transans. The north elevation has a two-story tower topped by a hipped roof. ?he
tmer has round-headed openings and casement! ~Uidows~ i t intertscting
h
mullions, and i t s
a t t i c level features casanent windms with sunburst mullions. The extensive variety of
windows i s a characteristic of the best Queen Anne-style residences. The hipped roof has
m t a l c r e s t i q . The roof line i s broken by multi-flued, paneled chinmeys. A conical roof
covers the corner tower. The house's exterior wall is covered by horizontal weatherboarding.
Horizontal and vertical boards outline the weatherboarding and articulate the comers of
the building. The house s i t s on a stretcher-bond brick foundation.
(See Continuation Sheet $/1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
Areas of Significance-Check and justify below
planning
-archeology-prehistoric -community
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-1600-1699 _X
-agriculture
architecture
-1700-1799 -art
1800-1899
-commerce
K 1900-1901 -communications
Specific dates
1901
-landscape
architecturereligion
-law
-science
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
-education
-military
-social/
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
& expiorationlsettiement-philosophy
-theater
-industry
-politicslgovernment -transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
BuilderIArchitect
John Minor Botts Lewis
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
...
,,
S T A W OF SIrnICANCE
bcated north of Altavista in Campbell County, Avoca stands as one of Virginia's best
q l e s of the Queen h e - s t y l e country residence. The house was designed i n 1901by the
Lynchbmg architect John Minor Botts M s for Thanas and Mary Fauntleroy . Associated fran
colonial times with the Lynch family, who were p r d n e n t early settlers of Virginia's lower
Piedrraont, the Avoca property i s the s i t e of two earlier dwellirgs, including Green Level,
the home of the local Revolutionary \Jar patriot Col. Charles Lynch. It w a s a t the Lynch
for their allegiance to the
hamestead that local Tories received floggings
Eritish cram &ring the Revolution.
HISTORICAL LL4OGWUNll
Avoca reflects an architectural development that began in England in 1868 with Leyswood,
a Sussex residence designed by the then-popular English architect Richard N o m Shaw. The
Queen h e style, as Leyswood's influence came to be ham,mde i t s official debut i n America in 1876 when the British govenment erected two half-timbered buildings i n the mode a t
the Philadelphia Centennial. The style caught on quickly in America and became popular i n
both the city and the countryside, although leading c r i t i c s of h i c a n architecture f e l t
t h a t the style proved most compatible with a bucolic setting such as Avoca's in the countryside of Campbell County. The American Builder might well have had Avoca in mind when it
remarked i n a late-19th century a r t i c l e on the Queen Anne style, "But the chief thing that
will strike the observant eye in this s t y l e ' i s i t s wpnderful adaptability to this country,
not to the towns, indeed, but to the land a t large." Ultimately, the style becane associated with the Colonial Revival, deriving nuch of i t s detailing fran America's 18th-century
architecture.
B u i l t in 1901 for Thanas and Mary Fauntleroy, Avoca is the c d s s i o n e d work of the
Lynchburg arckitect John Minor Botts Lewis. LEwis was born in Culpeper County and graduated £ran the engineering school of the University of Virginia i n 1891. He worked for a
period of time for the C & 0 Railroad, before mwing to Lynchburg where he established himself as an architect and consulting engineer. During this period he designed the Lynchburg
Cotton M i l l and Woodberry Forest School in Madison County. He also built wooden and iron
bridges and roof trusses i n Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In 1902 he
entered into parhership with William R. B u m h m i n the firm of Lewis Wlmham, which was
'~uotedi n Marcus Whiffen, American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969)' p. 118.
(See Continuation Sheet
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
Continuation sheet
7.
Description
Item number
--
7, 8
Architectural Analysis (contimed)
Avoca has a center-hall plan, with the main s t a i r i n the hall.
The open-well s t a i r
has turned balusters, a molded handrail, and a paneled newel. Between the f i r s t and second
floors, the s t a i r run i s broken by a smicircular balcony that overlooks the hall. A less
elaborate s t a i r i s found i n a lateral hall t h a t nms between the dining roan and a f i r s t floor b e d c w e r . The principal rwns,on the f i r s t floor are the parlor, sitting rocm,
dining roan, and bedc-er.
The roans have mantels and mirrored overmntels, with the ,
doors and windms f r d by mlded t r i m . For increased ventilation, the doors have glass
nansans that may be opened during the smmx mnths. S i m i l a r transoms are found on the
second floor. The second-story bedroanmantels are similar i n treatment to those found on
the f i r s t but lack the mirrored ovennantels. The door and window t r i m i s similar to that
found on the f i r s t floor. A round arch distinguishes the master bedroan and frames the
space created by the comer bay.
A number of outbuildings survive £run previous houses on the s i t e . They include a 1%story brick kitchen, executed i n seven-course-American-bond brick. The gable roof structure
was built i n the third quarter of the 19th century. Adjacent to the kitchen i s a wood-frame
mkehouse, covered with weatherboarding. Tne smkehouse dates to the l a t e 19th century.
The milkhouse i s also wood frame, covered by a gable roof. Fran i t s machine-cut nails and
lath and plasteredwalls, it appears to date to the third quarter of the 19th century. A
tenants house and office were built i n two stages and are connected by a hyphen. The office
dates to the 1870s, and the tenants house was traditionally added i n 1900 for use by the
family before the m i n house was built. Both are wood frame covered with weatherboarding.
The office has a shed roof; the house a gable roof.
The Lynch family canetery, enclosed by a stone wall, i s located to the rear of the
house.
8.
Significance
--
Historical Background
dissolved i n 1912. Lewis then practiced alone until 1918, when he left the field of architecture for the presidency of a local manufacturing canpany. He died i n 1950.
Lewis's design for Avoca i s a prime example of the Queen Anne style as it had evolved
by the turn of the century. m i c a 1 of the best Queen Anne houses of the period Avoca's
irregularity of mssing with i t s towers and other projections b r e a m the central rectanylar core. I t s fenestration i s similarly irregular, the residence displaying a variety
of window types. Wre indicative of the course which the style had taken i n i t s l a t t e r
phase, however, is the treatment of the windm cornices on the f i r s t story. These are
Colonial Revival in style, w i t h similar Revival detailfound on the transans and sidelights of the main entrance. Lewis's allusion to a past American elanentray have been
deliberate, given the history of the property and its connection with the same family since
the second quarter of the 18th century.
(See C o n t b t i o n Sheet #2)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
82
Item number 8
Continuation sheet
8.
Significance
--
Historical Background
The residence stands on a p a r t of the original land t r a c t patented i n the 1740s by
Charles Lynch, the progenitor of the family i n America. The present structure i s situated
on the s i t e of a colonial dwelling called k e e n Level b u i l t by Col. Charles Lynch, son of
Charles, during t h e l a s t half of the 18th century.
'
Col. Charles Lynch figured m s t praninently i n the history of the Avoca s i t e . Of
Revolutionary War fame, Lynch s e t t l e d i n the area i n 1755 and during the next twenty years
greatly enlarged h i s previously inherited land t r a c t . As a praninent local citizen, Lynch
represented Bedford County i n the House of Burgesses i n 1769, 1774 and 1775 and was one of
the signers of the n o r - i q o r t a t i o n agreanent. Lynch served on General Greene's staff i n
the Continental Army's Southern campaign and attained the rank of Colonel. He was an energetic recruiter of Besord County enlistees and was l i s t e d among those who furnished supp l i e s t o the Continental Army. Lynch was also superintendent of the lead mines i n Montganery
County which provided raw materials f o r the arsenals.
As a revolutionary, Colonel Lynch i s best ranembered f o r h i s suppression of British
loyalists during the administration of Governor Thanas Jefferson. By July 20, 1780, Continental spies unearthed evidence that Tory underground was well organized with a carefully
detailed p l o t f o r the British t o take Virginia's western lead mines and arsenals i n order
t o arm and l i b e r a t e thousands of w a r prisoners held near Charlottesville. A double agent
obtained a l i s t of Tory leaders west of the Blue Ridge and t h e i r plans of action. These
discoveries reinforced Governor Jefferson's concerns about the possibility of a successful
coordinated British attack i n Virginia. Jefferson issued blank c d s s i o n s to the com~anders
of the county m i l i t i a inMontganery and Bedford t o enable than t o increase t h e i r strength
and round up Tory leaders. Evidence against sane was strong enough t o require treason
t r i a l s in R i c h m d ; others accused of Toryism were t r i e d under the law i n magistrates' court;
the r e s t not actually indicted were t o be t r i e d by martial law outlined i n the Fmergency
Act of t h ~ ~ k g i s l a t u which
re
s e t "up the machinery t o handle either invasions and/or insurrections.
Under this law, which took effect on August 1 , 1780, many of the court-martial
and magistcates' court case. were held a t Green Level by Colonel Lynch, who carmanded the
Bedford County Militia. Those found guilty were t i e d t o a t r e e and flogged thirty-nine
lashes. The whip could be stopped any time the guilty person called out, "Liber-cy forever ."
This confession would change his sentence to eight months i n the Virginia Militia or the
Continental Army.
A t h i s death i n 1796, Lynch's holdings consisted of 1,579 acres. His oldest son,
Anselm, was appointed executor of the e s t a t e , a position that he held u n t i l h i s death i n
1826. Anselmwas a captain i n the M i l i t i a and l a t e r a justice of the peace. He served in
the General Assanbly f r a n 1809 through 1813. It was Anselm who developed Green Level i n t o
a very valuable and successful plantation.
2Alfred Percy, Virginia's L
i
n
s
w Victory in the Revolution.
The Percy Press, 196q , p. 13.
(See Continuation Sheet $133)
(Madison Heights, Va. :
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
83
Cont~nuationsheet
8.
Significance
--
Item number
8, 9, 10
Page
3, 1 , 1
Historical Background
After the death of h e l m , the property r a i n e d i n the Lynch family, the t i t l e to
the house passing i n 1842 t o h i s son, Charles H. Lynch. Lynch added mre land t o the
e s t a t e and m d e considerable inprovanents t o the house. Charles H. Lynch was a h e r
of the General Assgnbly in 1850 and was instnmental i n obtaining subscriptions t o help
finance the Lynchburg and Danville Railroad. To honor h i s success, "Lynch Station" was
named f o r him. His w i l l was recorded i n 1874. He had never married and bequeathed Green
k v e l with 429% acres t o h i s niece, Mary D. Fauntleroy. It was she who changed the name
t o Avoca, a f t e r the vale of Avoca i n the Lynch family's native Ireland, meaning "the
meeting of waters." The house b m e d ca. 1879 and was replaced by another house which
was destroyed by f i r e i n 1900. The wife of the builder of the present house, Mary D.
Fauntleroy was Colonel Lynch' s great-granddaughter.
Avoca passed t o Mrs. Gladys Fauntleroy Winston, a daughter of kk. and Mrs. T h m s
Fauntleroy. A t her death it was inherited by her son, D r . Lindley M. Winston who presented
the house and a parcel of seven acres t o the t a m of Altavista i n 1981. The house i s
presently abandoned, its future use uncertain.
9.
Bibliographical References
-bell
County Deed Book 24; Land Tax Books 1782-1870; 1875, 1879, 1880, 1901. Personal
Property Tax Books 1815-1-8x11
Books 7 , 14, 35.
Early, Ruth H. Cmpbell Chronicles and ~~y
Sketches. Baltimre: Genealogical Publishine Co.. 1978.
~ y n c h b & ~~, a City
.
Directories 1896-1926.
Lynchburg, Va. Jones Manorial Library. Fauntleroy Papers.
Percy, Alfred. Virginia' s Unsurg Victory in the Revolution. Madison Heights, Va. : The
Percy Press, 1964.
Rhodes, R. Wayne, Research Librarian, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchbmg, Va. Telephone
interviews, January 1982.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide t o the Styles. Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1969.
William and Mary Quarterly. 1st Series, Vol. 13, p. 205; Vol. 16, pp. 123, 286, 287; Vol.
20, p. 18; Vol. 27, p. 298; 2nd Series, Vol. 8, p. 119.
10. Geographical Data -- Boundary Justification
Boundary Justification: The ncmimted property f o r Avoca consists of three acres,
including the main house, a l l outbuildings, and the Lynch fanily canetery. When the present house was constructed, the e s t a t e contained 429% acres and included extensive farm
and pasture lands. The acreage was reduced considerably in the 20th century, u n t i l the
main house and outbuildings were presented t o the town i n 1981 on a t r a c t of less than ten
acres. Tne n d n a t e d property extends f r a t the main road, U.S. Route 29, t o the tenants
house.
9. Major Bibliographical References
Blunt, Ruth H. "The Revolutionary Heritage of Campbell County." Lynchburg Historical Society
and % e m .
Vol. VIII, No. 5, August 1972.
Calendar of Virginia S t a t e Papers. Vol. 2, p. 28; Vol. 1, pp. 567, 265; Vol. 3 , pp. 156,
189-190, 434, 479, 547; Vol. 4, pp. 28, 372.
10. Geographical Data
3
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name L ~ c Statim,
h
UMT References
acres
VA
"
]615131618101
1111 11 1015t010)
A
Zone
Easting
Zone
Northing
LLLLd w
E Wu
w
c
w
~
w
o
w
Quadrangle scale
Easting
1:24000
Northing
uu
F Wuu -,. *
wWuLd-LuJ
H
u
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Beginnix a t a point on W s i d e of B-R 29, about 1400'
NE of intersection of VA 714 and B-R 29; thence extending about 250' SW alorg said s i d e t o N
s i d e of p r i v a t e drive; thence about 400' NW, then about 200' W, a l l along said s i d e of drive
thence about 200' NE; thence about 600' t o point of origin. (See Continuation Sheet 1/3 ) .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
countv
N/A
code
11
Form Prepared BY
name,title
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Iandmrks C d s s i o n
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
~
~
n
date
March 1982
telephone
d
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
X state
-
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officer f o d h e National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89National Register and certify that il has been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in t
accordincl
- to the criteria and procedures set forth by HeMage Conservation an*FJecreation Service.
$!
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Bman Mitchell, Executive Director
//
mn n n I r- ~ n n n
1
MILE
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
I
4000
_
i
5000
1
6000
7000 FEET
,
Heavy-duty
I
1 KILOMETER
Med~um-duty
I
4L 20 FEET
:AL
,
,I
L~ght-duty
Un~mprovedd ~ r =t = = = = = = =.
,
: U. S. Route
State Route
DATUM OF 1929
LYNCH STATION, VA.
MAP ACCURACY STANDARDS
WEY, RESTON, VIRGINIA 22092
ICES, CHARLOTTESVILLE,VIRGINIA 22903
D SYMBOLS IS AVAILABLE O N REQUEST
QUADRANGLE LOCATION
NE/4 ALTAVISTA 1 5 ' QUADRANGLE
N3707.5-W7915/7.5
1966
P H O T O R E V I S E D 1978
AMS 5158 111 NE-SERIES V834
.:',
'@,"+.
+**A
"
O+
c\,
v
3
For HCRS use onlypp XFWYT
t""-
Heritage Conservation and Wecreati~nService
National Register of Historic Places
!~rventory-h!omilaaaion Form
received
date entered
II
I
See instructions i n H o w t o Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
I. Name
Avoca
historic
and/or common N/A
2. Location
street & number
city, town
Altavista
state
Virginia
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
X
-.
,
U.S. Business b ~ t 29
e
N/A
X vicinity of
code
Ynership
-publ~c
5l
county
Status
occupied
unoccupied
w o r k in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
y e s : unrestricted
-no
ft
-private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N/A
not for publication
otr
campbell
031
code
Present U s e
-agriculture
-museum
-park
commercial
-educational
-entertainment
government
-industrial
-military
-private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
X other:vacant
4. Owner off Property
name
Town of Altavista, c/o Mayor
street & number
P. 0 . Box 552
&A
!
Altavis ta
citv. town
vicinitv of
state
Virginia
state
Virginia
24517
5. Location off Legal Descrbtion
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
Campbell County Courthouse
N/A
Rustburg
city, town
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
title
date
Virginia Historic L a n k k s C d s s i o n
S~zrvev
1981
de~ositorvfor survey records
city, town
E ~ h n d
has this property been determined elegible? -yes & no
-federal
X state
-countv
-local
Virginia Historic Lasldmarks Carmission, 221 Governor Street
state
Virginia
23219
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
-good
X fair
-deteriorated
' -ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
-original
site
-moved
date
x
N/A
Describe t h e present and original (ifknown) physical appearance
!iXJWBRY DESCRIFTION
Avoca, the principal architectural landmark of the town of Altavista, i s a quintesent i a l l y American queen Anne-style house. The asymnetrical, 2%-story mod-frame residence
i s skirted by a veranda and i s covered by a hipped roof interrupted by a tower, dormers,
and projections. B u i l t i n 1901 after the plans of John ?Enor Botts Lewis, a Lynchburg
architect, the structure i s s e t i n a large yard dotted w i t h shade trees, which i n turn is
surrounded by fields and pasture. Although built as a country house, Avoca i s m r e akin
to the type of house appearing i n American towns and suburbs i n the period with standardized
architectural elanents ordered fran cannercialwoc&orking cmpanies.
,
A R C H I T E C W ANALYSIS
Avoca i s setback f r a n themain road, U.S. Route 29, by a pasture. The rear of the
house faces the road, while the more stylish facade looks to the rolling countryside. The
rectangular mass of the house's main block i s broken by several projections; these include
a three-story corner tmer to the south, a service wing and tower to the north, and the
extension of part of the rear. The facade (west) has a one-story veranda that continues
to the south elevation. The veranda has paired unfluted columns that are joined to a wooden
balustrade with turned balusters. The porch i s covered by a shed roof that i s pedimented a t
the main entrance. A Doric entablature n m s along the porch's eaves. The tympanum of the
pediment has an applied classical-style wreath with applied foliage on the frieze of the
entablature imnediately belm i t . A small balcony with a balustrade of paneled newels and
turned urns further distinguishes the facade a t the main entrance. The entrance consists
of a transan and sidelight door. The transans, Colonial Revival i n style, have sunburstand diamond-patterned mllions. The original door and screen door survive. The doorway
i s framed by plain architrave trim. The reax (east) elevation has a two-tier porch with
square colwrns and a balustrade with unturned blausters. The original rear transan-light
doorway with i t s large clear-glass and multi-paned, colored-glass door remains intact. The
rear screen door also survives. Tile first-story windows on the facade to the north of the
main entrance have applied wooden window heads with swag docoration. The openings have 212
hung sash with plain trim flanked by lowred shutters. With sane exceptions l o w e d shutters
and hung-sash windows are found on a l l the principal f i r s t - and second-story openings. Above
the main entrance, m the second story i s a tri-part window topped by a transan. The transom niullions have the same sunbmst ;onfiguration as that found on the transan above the
four casgnent windows with halfmain entrance. Above the windm is a hipped dormer ha*
circle transans. The north elevation has a two-story tower topped by a hipped roof. ?he
tmer has round-headed openings and casement! ~Uidows~ i t intertscting
h
mullions, and i t s
a t t i c level features casanent windms with sunburst mullions. The extensive variety of
windows i s a characteristic of the best Queen Anne-style residences. The hipped roof has
m t a l c r e s t i q . The roof line i s broken by multi-flued, paneled chinmeys. A conical roof
covers the corner tower. The house's exterior wall is covered by horizontal weatherboarding.
Horizontal and vertical boards outline the weatherboarding and articulate the comers of
the building. The house s i t s on a stretcher-bond brick foundation.
(See Continuation Sheet $/1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
Areas of Significance-Check and justify below
planning
-archeology-prehistoric -community
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-1600-1699 _X
-agriculture
architecture
-1700-1799 -art
1800-1899
-commerce
K 1900-1901 -communications
Specific dates
1901
-landscape
architecturereligion
-law
-science
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
-education
-military
-social/
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
& expiorationlsettiement-philosophy
-theater
-industry
-politicslgovernment -transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
BuilderIArchitect
John Minor Botts Lewis
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
...
,,
S T A W OF SIrnICANCE
bcated north of Altavista in Campbell County, Avoca stands as one of Virginia's best
q l e s of the Queen h e - s t y l e country residence. The house was designed i n 1901by the
Lynchbmg architect John Minor Botts M s for Thanas and Mary Fauntleroy . Associated fran
colonial times with the Lynch family, who were p r d n e n t early settlers of Virginia's lower
Piedrraont, the Avoca property i s the s i t e of two earlier dwellirgs, including Green Level,
the home of the local Revolutionary \Jar patriot Col. Charles Lynch. It w a s a t the Lynch
for their allegiance to the
hamestead that local Tories received floggings
Eritish cram &ring the Revolution.
HISTORICAL LL4OGWUNll
Avoca reflects an architectural development that began in England in 1868 with Leyswood,
a Sussex residence designed by the then-popular English architect Richard N o m Shaw. The
Queen h e style, as Leyswood's influence came to be ham,mde i t s official debut i n America in 1876 when the British govenment erected two half-timbered buildings i n the mode a t
the Philadelphia Centennial. The style caught on quickly in America and became popular i n
both the city and the countryside, although leading c r i t i c s of h i c a n architecture f e l t
t h a t the style proved most compatible with a bucolic setting such as Avoca's in the countryside of Campbell County. The American Builder might well have had Avoca in mind when it
remarked i n a late-19th century a r t i c l e on the Queen Anne style, "But the chief thing that
will strike the observant eye in this s t y l e ' i s i t s wpnderful adaptability to this country,
not to the towns, indeed, but to the land a t large." Ultimately, the style becane associated with the Colonial Revival, deriving nuch of i t s detailing fran America's 18th-century
architecture.
B u i l t in 1901 for Thanas and Mary Fauntleroy, Avoca is the c d s s i o n e d work of the
Lynchburg arckitect John Minor Botts Lewis. LEwis was born in Culpeper County and graduated £ran the engineering school of the University of Virginia i n 1891. He worked for a
period of time for the C & 0 Railroad, before mwing to Lynchburg where he established himself as an architect and consulting engineer. During this period he designed the Lynchburg
Cotton M i l l and Woodberry Forest School in Madison County. He also built wooden and iron
bridges and roof trusses i n Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In 1902 he
entered into parhership with William R. B u m h m i n the firm of Lewis Wlmham, which was
'~uotedi n Marcus Whiffen, American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969)' p. 118.
(See Continuation Sheet
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
Continuation sheet
7.
Description
Item number
--
7, 8
Architectural Analysis (contimed)
Avoca has a center-hall plan, with the main s t a i r i n the hall.
The open-well s t a i r
has turned balusters, a molded handrail, and a paneled newel. Between the f i r s t and second
floors, the s t a i r run i s broken by a smicircular balcony that overlooks the hall. A less
elaborate s t a i r i s found i n a lateral hall t h a t nms between the dining roan and a f i r s t floor b e d c w e r . The principal rwns,on the f i r s t floor are the parlor, sitting rocm,
dining roan, and bedc-er.
The roans have mantels and mirrored overmntels, with the ,
doors and windms f r d by mlded t r i m . For increased ventilation, the doors have glass
nansans that may be opened during the smmx mnths. S i m i l a r transoms are found on the
second floor. The second-story bedroanmantels are similar i n treatment to those found on
the f i r s t but lack the mirrored ovennantels. The door and window t r i m i s similar to that
found on the f i r s t floor. A round arch distinguishes the master bedroan and frames the
space created by the comer bay.
A number of outbuildings survive £run previous houses on the s i t e . They include a 1%story brick kitchen, executed i n seven-course-American-bond brick. The gable roof structure
was built i n the third quarter of the 19th century. Adjacent to the kitchen i s a wood-frame
mkehouse, covered with weatherboarding. Tne smkehouse dates to the l a t e 19th century.
The milkhouse i s also wood frame, covered by a gable roof. Fran i t s machine-cut nails and
lath and plasteredwalls, it appears to date to the third quarter of the 19th century. A
tenants house and office were built i n two stages and are connected by a hyphen. The office
dates to the 1870s, and the tenants house was traditionally added i n 1900 for use by the
family before the m i n house was built. Both are wood frame covered with weatherboarding.
The office has a shed roof; the house a gable roof.
The Lynch family canetery, enclosed by a stone wall, i s located to the rear of the
house.
8.
Significance
--
Historical Background
dissolved i n 1912. Lewis then practiced alone until 1918, when he left the field of architecture for the presidency of a local manufacturing canpany. He died i n 1950.
Lewis's design for Avoca i s a prime example of the Queen Anne style as it had evolved
by the turn of the century. m i c a 1 of the best Queen Anne houses of the period Avoca's
irregularity of mssing with i t s towers and other projections b r e a m the central rectanylar core. I t s fenestration i s similarly irregular, the residence displaying a variety
of window types. Wre indicative of the course which the style had taken i n i t s l a t t e r
phase, however, is the treatment of the windm cornices on the f i r s t story. These are
Colonial Revival in style, w i t h similar Revival detailfound on the transans and sidelights of the main entrance. Lewis's allusion to a past American elanentray have been
deliberate, given the history of the property and its connection with the same family since
the second quarter of the 18th century.
(See C o n t b t i o n Sheet #2)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
82
Item number 8
Continuation sheet
8.
Significance
--
Historical Background
The residence stands on a p a r t of the original land t r a c t patented i n the 1740s by
Charles Lynch, the progenitor of the family i n America. The present structure i s situated
on the s i t e of a colonial dwelling called k e e n Level b u i l t by Col. Charles Lynch, son of
Charles, during t h e l a s t half of the 18th century.
'
Col. Charles Lynch figured m s t praninently i n the history of the Avoca s i t e . Of
Revolutionary War fame, Lynch s e t t l e d i n the area i n 1755 and during the next twenty years
greatly enlarged h i s previously inherited land t r a c t . As a praninent local citizen, Lynch
represented Bedford County i n the House of Burgesses i n 1769, 1774 and 1775 and was one of
the signers of the n o r - i q o r t a t i o n agreanent. Lynch served on General Greene's staff i n
the Continental Army's Southern campaign and attained the rank of Colonel. He was an energetic recruiter of Besord County enlistees and was l i s t e d among those who furnished supp l i e s t o the Continental Army. Lynch was also superintendent of the lead mines i n Montganery
County which provided raw materials f o r the arsenals.
As a revolutionary, Colonel Lynch i s best ranembered f o r h i s suppression of British
loyalists during the administration of Governor Thanas Jefferson. By July 20, 1780, Continental spies unearthed evidence that Tory underground was well organized with a carefully
detailed p l o t f o r the British t o take Virginia's western lead mines and arsenals i n order
t o arm and l i b e r a t e thousands of w a r prisoners held near Charlottesville. A double agent
obtained a l i s t of Tory leaders west of the Blue Ridge and t h e i r plans of action. These
discoveries reinforced Governor Jefferson's concerns about the possibility of a successful
coordinated British attack i n Virginia. Jefferson issued blank c d s s i o n s to the com~anders
of the county m i l i t i a inMontganery and Bedford t o enable than t o increase t h e i r strength
and round up Tory leaders. Evidence against sane was strong enough t o require treason
t r i a l s in R i c h m d ; others accused of Toryism were t r i e d under the law i n magistrates' court;
the r e s t not actually indicted were t o be t r i e d by martial law outlined i n the Fmergency
Act of t h ~ ~ k g i s l a t u which
re
s e t "up the machinery t o handle either invasions and/or insurrections.
Under this law, which took effect on August 1 , 1780, many of the court-martial
and magistcates' court case. were held a t Green Level by Colonel Lynch, who carmanded the
Bedford County Militia. Those found guilty were t i e d t o a t r e e and flogged thirty-nine
lashes. The whip could be stopped any time the guilty person called out, "Liber-cy forever ."
This confession would change his sentence to eight months i n the Virginia Militia or the
Continental Army.
A t h i s death i n 1796, Lynch's holdings consisted of 1,579 acres. His oldest son,
Anselm, was appointed executor of the e s t a t e , a position that he held u n t i l h i s death i n
1826. Anselmwas a captain i n the M i l i t i a and l a t e r a justice of the peace. He served in
the General Assanbly f r a n 1809 through 1813. It was Anselm who developed Green Level i n t o
a very valuable and successful plantation.
2Alfred Percy, Virginia's L
i
n
s
w Victory in the Revolution.
The Percy Press, 196q , p. 13.
(See Continuation Sheet $133)
(Madison Heights, Va. :
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
AVOCA, ALTAVISTA, VA
83
Cont~nuationsheet
8.
Significance
--
Item number
8, 9, 10
Page
3, 1 , 1
Historical Background
After the death of h e l m , the property r a i n e d i n the Lynch family, the t i t l e to
the house passing i n 1842 t o h i s son, Charles H. Lynch. Lynch added mre land t o the
e s t a t e and m d e considerable inprovanents t o the house. Charles H. Lynch was a h e r
of the General Assgnbly in 1850 and was instnmental i n obtaining subscriptions t o help
finance the Lynchburg and Danville Railroad. To honor h i s success, "Lynch Station" was
named f o r him. His w i l l was recorded i n 1874. He had never married and bequeathed Green
k v e l with 429% acres t o h i s niece, Mary D. Fauntleroy. It was she who changed the name
t o Avoca, a f t e r the vale of Avoca i n the Lynch family's native Ireland, meaning "the
meeting of waters." The house b m e d ca. 1879 and was replaced by another house which
was destroyed by f i r e i n 1900. The wife of the builder of the present house, Mary D.
Fauntleroy was Colonel Lynch' s great-granddaughter.
Avoca passed t o Mrs. Gladys Fauntleroy Winston, a daughter of kk. and Mrs. T h m s
Fauntleroy. A t her death it was inherited by her son, D r . Lindley M. Winston who presented
the house and a parcel of seven acres t o the t a m of Altavista i n 1981. The house i s
presently abandoned, its future use uncertain.
9.
Bibliographical References
-bell
County Deed Book 24; Land Tax Books 1782-1870; 1875, 1879, 1880, 1901. Personal
Property Tax Books 1815-1-8x11
Books 7 , 14, 35.
Early, Ruth H. Cmpbell Chronicles and ~~y
Sketches. Baltimre: Genealogical Publishine Co.. 1978.
~ y n c h b & ~~, a City
.
Directories 1896-1926.
Lynchburg, Va. Jones Manorial Library. Fauntleroy Papers.
Percy, Alfred. Virginia' s Unsurg Victory in the Revolution. Madison Heights, Va. : The
Percy Press, 1964.
Rhodes, R. Wayne, Research Librarian, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchbmg, Va. Telephone
interviews, January 1982.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide t o the Styles. Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1969.
William and Mary Quarterly. 1st Series, Vol. 13, p. 205; Vol. 16, pp. 123, 286, 287; Vol.
20, p. 18; Vol. 27, p. 298; 2nd Series, Vol. 8, p. 119.
10. Geographical Data -- Boundary Justification
Boundary Justification: The ncmimted property f o r Avoca consists of three acres,
including the main house, a l l outbuildings, and the Lynch fanily canetery. When the present house was constructed, the e s t a t e contained 429% acres and included extensive farm
and pasture lands. The acreage was reduced considerably in the 20th century, u n t i l the
main house and outbuildings were presented t o the town i n 1981 on a t r a c t of less than ten
acres. Tne n d n a t e d property extends f r a t the main road, U.S. Route 29, t o the tenants
house.
9. Major Bibliographical References
Blunt, Ruth H. "The Revolutionary Heritage of Campbell County." Lynchburg Historical Society
and % e m .
Vol. VIII, No. 5, August 1972.
Calendar of Virginia S t a t e Papers. Vol. 2, p. 28; Vol. 1, pp. 567, 265; Vol. 3 , pp. 156,
189-190, 434, 479, 547; Vol. 4, pp. 28, 372.
10. Geographical Data
3
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name L ~ c Statim,
h
UMT References
acres
VA
"
]615131618101
1111 11 1015t010)
A
Zone
Easting
Zone
Northing
LLLLd w
E Wu
w
c
w
~
w
o
w
Quadrangle scale
Easting
1:24000
Northing
uu
F Wuu -,. *
wWuLd-LuJ
H
u
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Beginnix a t a point on W s i d e of B-R 29, about 1400'
NE of intersection of VA 714 and B-R 29; thence extending about 250' SW alorg said s i d e t o N
s i d e of p r i v a t e drive; thence about 400' NW, then about 200' W, a l l along said s i d e of drive
thence about 200' NE; thence about 600' t o point of origin. (See Continuation Sheet 1/3 ) .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
countv
N/A
code
11
Form Prepared BY
name,title
Virginia Historic Landmarks C d s s i o n Staff
organization
Virginia Historic Iandmrks C d s s i o n
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
~
~
n
date
March 1982
telephone
d
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
X state
-
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officer f o d h e National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89National Register and certify that il has been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in t
accordincl
- to the criteria and procedures set forth by HeMage Conservation an*FJecreation Service.
$!
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Bman Mitchell, Executive Director
//
mn n n I r- ~ n n n
1
MILE
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
I
4000
_
i
5000
1
6000
7000 FEET
,
Heavy-duty
I
1 KILOMETER
Med~um-duty
I
4L 20 FEET
:AL
,
,I
L~ght-duty
Un~mprovedd ~ r =t = = = = = = =.
,
: U. S. Route
State Route
DATUM OF 1929
LYNCH STATION, VA.
MAP ACCURACY STANDARDS
WEY, RESTON, VIRGINIA 22092
ICES, CHARLOTTESVILLE,VIRGINIA 22903
D SYMBOLS IS AVAILABLE O N REQUEST
QUADRANGLE LOCATION
NE/4 ALTAVISTA 1 5 ' QUADRANGLE
N3707.5-W7915/7.5
1966
P H O T O R E V I S E D 1978
AMS 5158 111 NE-SERIES V834
.:',
'@,"+.
+**A
"
O+
c\,
Text
OMB
(Re*. 10.90)
y**
No. IIllbOOlS
13fb1,kq
United States Department of the Interior
I
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
'Ibis form is fa we m nomimUing a rrquesting dctaminatian f
a individual p r q d h and d i e . See h l t u c l h in H m n, Caplne he h'abnd Regi.nw o f E h r i c Pbm RqimmMl Form ( N MR e g h x Bulktin 16A).
Comphe each item by marking 'x' in the appmpriab box a by eobring fJx h
cinforma[ioa. If aag item das na appIy W the pmpay being documemcd, emcr 'NIA' fa 'ad 8pplicdbk.' Fa fun~iom,archiamrral
cl&fic&m. materials. and mwa of significance, cnM onlyea(escriesand s ~ b m e g u k f m mCbe m m U h Place additbd maia r n d m r d w items 00 cuminlbcm (NPS Pam I&WQ). Ux a rppwrim, uwd pmasar.
u complter, ta complete all items.
1. Name of Propertv
historic name
other nameslsite number
Walnut Hill
VDHR frle no. 015-5012
2. Location
Rt. 2 Box 303 (Lawyers Road; SR 683)
street & number
city or town Lynchburg
state Virginia
code VA county
Campbell
code 031
not for publication NIA
vicinity X
zip code
24501
3. StatelFederal Aeency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that
this
nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide X locally. ( - See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other officiaYTitle
Date
Stsb a M agency and bmem
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register.
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the National Register.
- See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the National Register.
removed from the National Register.
other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Walnut Hill
Carnobell Co.. Va.
h d -
-lad-
Ownership of Property
( k t a -Y
bmcr a w b )
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
Category of Proper6
(m
m b m bm)
2.Lbuilding@)
-district
-site
-structure
-object
Name of related multiple property listing
m a r ' N I A ' a ~ b a w d . ~ p m p . n ~ . l
Number of Resources within Property
( m r m w h & ~ w ~ h s ~ ~ - . )
Contributing
Noncontributing
3
2
0
0
Q
Q
Q
Q
buildings
sites
structures
objects
5
Q
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
5. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Easap*rhaiartb.)
( E l.='dmha )-
megoo'
Subcategory
megory
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
AGRICULTURE
FUNERARY
single dwelling
secondary structure
animal facility
cemetery
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
FUNERARY
single dwelling
secondary structure
cemetery
Architectural Classification
Materials
(hap*rhaimmc+m
(E*
Georgian
foundation
walls
Stone
Metal (Aluminum)
roof
other
Metal
Narrative Description
-*h*arudsrrramahlod*-moropm~h.)
.='dmh )-
Wood
Carn~beUCo.. Va,
Walnut Hill
CmmY..dsa
~OfRopcny
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
(Mmt.~.i.momoebolafoa-ahsYwif%ag
tbh pmpan fa N M R*
I)-.
[Mut'X'b.UtkbmaM.pph.)
-D
.- a
-P
-a
Areas of Significance
-
.Eemctry.
a
bui*,
aim,o
.mmmemPdrcpxpm.
-.
* r ~ ~ ~ y a d ~ o r ~ = ~ * ( b . p l f a t y ) ~ n .
Period of Significance
( B a a asro*a tmm)- i
1802-ca. 1900
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
~Comp*cif~Bhm&dlbac~
NIA
ArchitdBuilder
Mr.
bro-r(
. Edwar. .
.. .
Narrative Statement of Significance
(B&na-d*dIbe-omFa--d=a)
9. Major B i b l i v e s
Bibliography
laeIkboJb.msh.d*avrcpdi.plpri.I&f-oma-~h.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
- previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-Other
Name of repository:
Walnut Hill
N m e d Ropsn
10. W p h i c a l Data
Acreage of Property
UTM References
approximately 195.67 acres
( P ( n ~ L . M ~ c a * m a d ~ s k a )
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
3 17 658050 4126120
1 17 657360 4127200
2 17 658110 4126710
X Sac-
'
4 17 658390 4125860
*.
Verbal Boundary Description
(rrmklkbaMd.r*ldlkmqm,m.~ska.)
Boundary Justification
(Erpldarhytbrbmd?&a-cLcldm~~&a.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
organization
street & number
city or town
J. Daniel Peuoai
&Uu&m&
I&&gm state YB
date
telephone
zip code
-
%.45!2
Additional Documentation
Continuation Sheets
Mar's
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(CLdwit*SHPOoPPO(om-ka)
Property Owner
name
street & number
city or town
N. Le-
Rt. 2 Box 303
L,y&hg
telephone
state Ykgiak
w
zip code
&B!u
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7 Page 1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary and Setting
Walnut Hill is located in northern Campbell County, Virginia, among the fields, woods, and
hillsides of the valley through which flows Flat Creek, a tributary of the Otter and Staunton
(Roanoke) rivers. Samuel and Judith Clark Moorman were the home's original owners; later
occupants included their son Samuel Tucker Moorman, daughter Lucy Frances Leftwich, and
son-in-law Col. Joel Breckenridge Ldwich. The story-and-a-half dwelling was built in several
phases beginning with the south wing, an 1802 log dwelling with an internal gable-end stone
chimney. Slightly later, probably before 1820, a two-room-plan frame addition was built onto
the north end of the log dwelling; this became the main or front section of the house. One-story
frame additions were made ca. 1870, in 1948-1950, and again in 1984. The house has stone
chimneys and foundations, metal-sheathed gable roofs, and aluminum siding over weatherboards.
The early sections have Georgian interior treatments, winder stairs, and unusual batten doors
with moldings applied to one face to give them the appearance of panel doors.
Next to the house stand two saddlelv-notched log outbuildings--a smokehouse and a
chickenhouse--and a stone chimney that swives from a log kitchen and cook's dwelling. A small
brook flows behind these resources; once it served them as a water supply. Situated on a ridge
to the west of the house is the Moorman-Leftwich Cemetery, enclosed by a stone wall with an
unusual cantilevered stile and containing a range of vernacular and professionally carved
monuments. Walnut Hill's yard features old specimen trees including large cedars, a 1913
sycamore, a pre-1900 catalpa, and a pre-1900 walnut that is said to have inspired the property's
name. Elevations in the nominated parcel range from just under 700 feet above sea level along
Flat Creek, the southeast border of the parcel, to 861 feet at the crest of a hill that occupies the
parcel's wooded northern end. The parcel's arable acreage, approximately a third of the total
extent, is presently in hay. A portion of the low ground along Flat Creek at the southeast end
of the parcel is identified as a drill field or muster ground that was used during the Civil War.
The nineteenth-century course of Lawyers Road (SR 683), which connects Lynchburg and
Evington, touches the parcel at its northern tip.
Inventory
1. Walnut Hill. 1802; first quarter 19th c.; ca. 1870; 1948-1950; 1984. Contributing building.
2. Kitchen chimney. Earlylmid-19th c. Contributing site.
3. Meathouse. 19th c. Contributing building.
4. Chickenhouse. 19th c. Contributing building.
5. Cemetery. Mid-19th c. through present. Contributing site.
ous Appwd No. ImCGllK
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 2
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
Exterior
Walnut Hill's evolution is clearly defined on its exterior. The various sections are distinguished
one from the other by changes in massing and roofline. The steepest roof is that over the original
log section. This has a shed dormer on the west side and small windows in the gable. The top
of a chimney constructed of tabular sandstone blocks protrudes from the south end of the ridge.
The log section roof joins the more shallow-pitched roof of the early frame addition at a right
angle. The two gable-end chimneys of the early frame section rise on the exterior; like the log
section chimney, they too are carefully constructed of tabular sandstone blocks. The first-story
windows of both early sections have six-over-nine double-hung sash. Most of these sash appear
to date to the 1948-1950 rehabilitation, although a few early sash may survive.
Smaller wings and porches added to the house after the initial phases of construction had
deteriorated by the time of the 1948-1950 rehabilitation and were reworked or removed. A falsefronted shed-roofed wing was added to the south gable end of the o r i g h l section about 1870 for
use by Samuel T. Moorman upon his retirement. The room was joined to the original section by
a shed-roofed porch. In 1948-1950 the shed-roofed wing was given a cinder-block foundation
and stove flue, and the original square-section wooden columns of the porch were replaced in
kind. A shed-roofed kitchen was added to the west gable end of the early addition in the
nineteenth century. This was remodeled in 1948-1950and given a gable roof. Next to the kitchen
is a small engaged porch and exterior concrete steps that separate it from a gabled bathroom wing
added in 1948-1950. The kitchen and bathroom wings have cioder-block foundations with a
laundry room under the kitchen and storage under the bathroom, exterior doors with glazed upper
portions, double-hung windows for the kitchen, and a jalousie window for the bathroom. The
1984 addition, which contains a bedroom and bathroom, has a cinder-block foundation, a brick
furnace flue, six-over-six windows, and a deck.
Interior
Typical treatments in the early sections include wood board floors, plaster over split lath walls
and ceilings attached with cut nails and some reinforcing wire nails, some replacement drywall
finishes, beaded baseboards, molded door and window trim, and (in most of the fm-floor
rooms) beaded chair rails set flush or nearly flush with the plaster. The focal point of the first
floor of the log section, which has and appears always to have had a two-bay one-room plan, is
the south fireplace wall. The exposed stonework of the fireplace slip and segmental arch are
painted white and are framed by a Georgian architrave mantel with a single-panel frieze. (The
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
woodwork of this mantel and of most doors in the early sections were stripped and varnished in
the mid-twentieth century.) The mantel abuts flanking four-panel closet doors hung on
reproduction HL hinges. Above the right-hand door is a cabinet; above the left-hand door is a
recessed shelf. To the extreme left is a modem gtrtzed &frame
daor that opens into a steep
winder stair that rises in the space to the left of the chimney. The entry on the east wall has a
batten door constructed with hand-headed nails and, above, a rifle rack constructed of forked
sticks.
A doorway with a step up leads into the west downstairs room of the early frame addition. This
doorway is hung with a cleverly cmtructed batten door with molding strips attached to one side
creating a four-panel pattern. The door has been stripped, but there may be a suggestion of
former decorative painting to accent the paneled effect. The same wall occupied by this doorway
has a beaded corner post and plate that project into the mom--a struchu;ll solution that obviated
the need for redundant framing members against the log section. The room also features a plain
mantel with a bed molding under the shelf and a modem stove insat in the fxeplace. A doorway
to the right of the mantel leads into the modern kitchen, which is dominated by the stuccoed
mass of the gable-end chimney.
The east downstairs room of the early frame section features a mantel similar to that in the west
room but taller and with a single-pami frieze. The Georgian design of this mantel, plus handheaded nails observed in the early frame section, together suggest that the addition was made
relatively shortly after the construction of the original log section. In a corner of the mom rises
an open stair with risers at the bottom, a tall newel post with a molded cap, and a closet
underneath (now made into a cabinet and an air conditioning duct). The stair originally lacked
balusters; the present square-section balusters were added by Otto Neuhaus in the third quarter
of the twentieth century. The east dowmtah room has two exterior panel doors, one of which
opens onto the porch that m along the east side of the originat log section, and the other--now
leading to the 1984 addition--which served as the main entry to the house after the constsuction
of the early frame addition. The 1984 addition has drywall walk and ceilings (the latter with a
textured finish) and wood or carpeted floors.
The garret over the o r i g ~ section
~I
has a solid railing above the winder stair, a small fireplace
without mantel set into the stuccoed mass of the chimney, and a board partition forming a storage
area at the north end of the room. From this storage area is visible the roof stmcture, comprised
of sawn (probably straight-sawn) rsfters pegged at the ridge and wide roof boards. The garret
ceiling is attached to half-round log joists or nailers that are suspended from collar beams.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of ~ i s t o r i cPlaces
Continuation Sheet
Section number L Page 4
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
The upstairs of the addition contains two rooms separated by the stairwell and landing. The
rooms are entered through false-panel batten doors like the one downstah, one of which is hung
on HL hinges attached with hand-headed nails driven through leather washers. The east upstairs
room has a low mantel shelf with a beaded edge, indicating the former existence of a small
fueplace. The west room may have had a similar arrangement. Under the eaves are storage areas
entered through batten doors; in these spaces is evident the straight-sawn frame structure of the
addition. The only fully excavated basement area is focated under the west end of the addition.
This room has a segmental-arched cooking fueplace and a concrete floor. Overhead are straightsawn floor joists. The log section has half-round log floor joists.
Outbddings and Cemetery
To the west of the house stand three historic resources associated with the day-&day operation
of the household. A large chimney constructed of tabular sandstone blocks represents the remains
of a nineteenth-century log kitchen and cook's dweiling that had fallen into disrepair by the time
of the property's rehabilitation in the late 1940s and was tom down shortly ther&.
The
chimney has large tireplaces with iron lintels on both sides, suggesting it was once shared by the
two halves of a building, although a ca. 1948 photograph shows the kitchen occupying only the
south side of the chimey.
Near the chimney stand two buildings of d e - or crude v-notched log construction suggesting
they were built at roughly the same time. The southernmost of the pair served as a meathouse;
the northern one as a chickenhouse. Both have gable roofs covered with asphalt roll roofing (the
smokehouse roof is a modern reconstruction), weatherboard or vertical-board in the gables,
white-painted exteriors, and both are in poor condition. The smokehottse stands on stone footen
and has a side shed addition.
The Moom-Lefbvich Cemetery occupies a steepsided ridge above the house. The rectangulat
cemetery is enclosed by a coursed rubble wall with large cap stones and, on the east side, a stile
(steps) formed by sets of three cantilevered blocks on each side of the wall. The oldest
headstones have vernacular tripartite tops andlor are carved from local grayish freestone
(probably soapstone). One, the headstone of William Henry Moonaan (d. 1842), is more discoid
in character, that is, it has a round headlike top, a type that is more often encountered in the
North Carolina Piedmont than in the Virginia Piedmont for the peiiod. Totnbstones from the
mid- to late nineteenth century are carved from imported marble and typically feature segmental
tops and circular panels with conventional bible, anchor, willow, rose, and cross-and-crown
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
k t i o n number
7 Page -5-
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
Description (continued)
carvings. Most headstones are accompaeied by smaller footstones. A new entry was cut through
the wall in the late 1990s to accommodate the above-ground granite vault of Frances Leftwich
Miller (1950-1997), the daughter of William Edward Leftwich Jr. and Helga Neuhaus Lefhvich
the present owner. The cemetery is planted with yucca, boxwood, and periwinkle.
Integrity Statement
The house, outbuildings, cemetery, and landscape at Walnut H i possess sufficient integrity for
listing in the National Register. The original, early-nineteenth-century sections of the house retain
their overall form and character-defining elements, including a wealth of strttctural and decorative
details on the interior. The 1948-1950 additions to the house do not fall within the period of
significance, but they are, for the most part, fifty years old or older, were made to the rear of
the house, are relatively small in scale, and do not obscure earlier c s - d e f i n i n g features.
The two principal modern alterations to the house are the additim of the north wing in 1984 and
the instabtion of aluminum siding over the weathehoar&. The cemetery, too, preserves its
original character despite two signtficant modern atteratio~~:
the reworking of the south wall to
form a new entrance and the addition of the LeftwicWMiller vault. Walnut H i ' s setting
possesses a high degree of integrity. It retains the mix of forest and open arable acreage that
would have characterized it historically, and it is almost entirely free of modern visual intrusions
from surrounding parcels.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Section number _B Page _h
-
-
-
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Walnut Hill has stood for two centuries among the picturesque fields and woodlands of Campbell
Countv's Flat Creek vallev. The original one-room loe section of the house was built for Samuel
and ~ i d i t hClark ~ o m ink1 8 ~ Shortly
T
aftenvak a new front of frame construction was
added to the log dwelling; both sections are detailed in the Georgian style with notable
architectural features such as false-panel batten doors. The property was later owned by Samuel
and Judith's son Samuel Tucker Moorman, a Methodist minister who spent most of his later life
in Richmond but retired to Walnut Hill. In 1883 Moorman sold the house to Col. Joel
Breckemidge Leftwich, a Civil War veteran and two-term delegate to the Virginia General
Assembly (1859-1861 and 1883-1884). Leftwich had lived at Walnut Hill since his mamage in
1842 to Lucy Frances Moorman, sister of Samuel Tucker Moorman and daughter of Samuel and
Judith Clark Moorman. Joel Leftwich and other members of the Leftwich and Moorman families
lie buried on a ridgetop stone-walled cemetery with a notable cantilevered stile.
Applicable Criteria
The Walnut Hilt property is eligible under Criterion C in the architecture area of significance for
the Georgian-style interior finishes and other notable architectwal features of its ca. 1800 house,
and also for the construction and artistry of the property's stone-walled nineteenth-century
cemetery. The period of significance extends from 1802 to ca. 1900, embracing the initial
construction dates of the contributing resources on the property. Walnut Hill is eligible at the
local level of significance. Information in support of designation appears throughout the historic
context.
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals and organizations assisted in the preparation of this report. Foremost
among these were the owner of the property and the nomination's sponsor, Helga N. Leftwich,
and her daughter Helga L. Leftwich. Others who provided assistance included the staffs of the
Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg and the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Library,
Emily Salmon of the Library of Virginia, Ashley Neville, and Ann Andrus, June Ellis, John
Salmon, Marc Wagner, and Jack Zehmer of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _B Page L
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historic Context
Walnut Hill's original log section was built for Samuel Moorman (ca. 1771-1835) and his wife
Judith Clark Moorman (ca. 1774-1868) after their marriage in 17%. The house was most likely
built in 1802, the year Samuel Moorman acquired 450 acres on Flat Creek--his fust large land
purchase--from members of the Goggin family. The land may originally have belonged to the
Clark family; Judith's father John Clark (d. 1819) and her brother Micajah lived on adjoining
tracts. In 1806 Moorman purchased an additional sixty acres from his brother-in-law Micajah,
and by 1820 Moorman had erected $800 in improvements on his 510 acres. The $800 figure
probably included the value of the original log house plus an early frame addition; both sections
are detailed in the Georgian style and are constructed with hand-headed nails, in agreement with
dates of construction before 1820.'
Samuel Moorman was descended from English Quakers who first settled in the Campbell County
area in the mid-1700s. He owned two slaves in 1799, a holding that increased to at least fifteen
by the year of his death in 1835. Walnut Hill, l i e most antebellum plantations of the region,
was a general farming operation supporting a mix of animals (cattle, oxen, swine, horses and
sheep) and crops with an emphasis on tobacco cultivation: 4,800 pounds of the leaf were
harvested in 1835. The Moormans raised ten children to adulthood. The grave of one, William
Henry (d. 1842), represent one of the oldest marked burials in the farm cemetery. Other children
were Samuel Tucker Moorman (1803-1887), who served as a Methodist minister in Richmond
and elsewhere, and Lucy Frances Moorman (1817-1889), who married Joel Breckenridge
Leftwich (1816-1890) in 1842.'
Judith Clark Moorman outlived her husband by thirty-three years. It appears that her daughter
and son-in-law Lucy and Col. Joel Leftwich lived with her and helped manage the farm,
although Samuel T. Moonnan was the property's legal owner after Judith's death. Joel B.
' Campbell County Deed Book 7, pp. 271,540; Campbell County Land Books for the period
17% through 1825; Early, Campbell Chronicles, 463; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill;" and Helga L.
Leftwich personal communication. A Leftwich family tradition maintains that the land on which
Walnut Hill stands was part of a land grant from King George 111 to the Clark family.
' Early, Campbell Chronicles, 463; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill;" and Campbell County Will
Book 7, p. 379.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number A Page A
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Leftwich was the grandson of General Joel Leftwich of Bedford County, a veteran of the
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. During the Civil War, Joel B. rose from the rank of
Captain of Infantry to Colonel of Reserves in the Confederate States Army. A "drill field" or
muster ground is said to have existed at Walnut Hill during the war, located on the low ground
along Flat Creek at the southeast end of the property. Graves in the Moorman-Leftwich
Cemetery suggest that members of the Hoffman family lived on the farm during the period,
including David Hoffman (1792-1861) and his son Edwin W. Hoffman (1826-1861). Joel B.
Leftwich practiced law and represented Campbell County in the General Assembly sessions of
1859-1861 and 1883-1884. Although he lived at Walnut Hill beginnine in 1842. Leftwich did
not acquire ownership until 1 8 8 3 . 6 Leftwich's death in 1890 aGcul&al production at Walnut
Hill had declined from antebellum levels. The core area of the farm had assumed its present size
of approximately 200 acres.'
"As compensation for work he has done for me and for which he has not been paid," Col. Joel
Leftwich left Walnut Hill to his son William Edward Leftwich (1852-1913). William married
Frances "Fannie" Crawley (1864-1942) in 1897 and in 1900 they had a son, William Edward
Jr. (1900-1965). Living with the family in 1910 was William Sr.'s unmarried sister Lura (18541937). On his death in 1913 William Sr. left the property to his wife in trust for their thirteenyear-old son. Fannie and Lura continued to farm the property with the aid of tenants. In 1914,
according to an account of William Sr.'s estate, a carpenter named J. E. Foster was paid for
building a house, probably a tenant house. This house appears to have stood along the approach
drive to the north of the main house; a well with a concrete curb marked the dwelling's site in
the third quarter of the twentieth century. The Twiddy family worked as tenants on the farm and
lived in the tenant house until the 1930s.'
William Edward Leftwich Jr. graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1921 and he received
Gilmer Map of Campbell County; Hopkins, Lefrwich-rimer Fumilies, 153; Campbell
County Will Book 17, p. 35; and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication.
' Hopkins, Lefnvrch-rimer Families, 154; Campbell County Will Book 17, p. 35 and Will
Book 21, pp. 86,322; 1910 U.S.census Campbell County population schedules; and Helga N.
Leftwich and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication. No dwellings other than the main
house presently survive at Walnut Hill, although an early log house formerly associated with the
farm stands on an adjoining parcel at the Walnut Hill turn-off on Lawyers Road.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _S Page 9.-
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
a certificate in mathematics and history from Harvard University in 1923. During the mid-1920s
he taught at the college and high school levels and in 1926 he joined the bonding and brokerage
fum Pierce and Company of Chicago. Leftwich received a commission in World War I, although
the war ended before he saw combat, and after his mother's death in 1942 he re-enlisted. At the
end of the Second World War, then Captain Leftwich conducted graves registration work in the
Allied and Russian-occupied areas of Germany. In Germany he met Helga Emmi Neuhaus, and
the two married in 1948.'
While William Ir. was abroad members of the Garbee family, who lived on an adjoining farm
which was originally part of Walnut Hill and was sold to the Garbees about 1913, cultivated
Walnut Hill (they still do) and maintained the house. Albert Garbee replaced wd-shingle
roofmg with metal in the 1940s. Despite critical maintenance, Walnut Hill had declined when
William Leftwich returned to America with his wife Helga Neuhaus Leftwich in 1948. The
Lefhviches occupied the house during the summer of 1949, using oil lamps for lighting, but then
moved to Washington for the winter of 1949-1950. With assistance from a contractor named
Goad, William Leftwich completed a rehabilitation that included the remodeling of the kitchen
wing, the addition of a bathroom, the replacement in kind of many windows, wiring for
electricity, and replastering and installing sheet rock on deteriorated interior walls and ceilings.
The Leftwiches moved back in May 1950 and in 1958 they covered the weathehoards with
aluminum siding. William remned to teaching at local high schools; he passed away in 1%5.
Helga continues to live at Walnut Hill. In more recent years the property has been toured by
members of the Lefhvich Historical As~ociation.~
The original log and frame sections of Walnut Hill possess a number of notable architectural
features. The grouping of a paneled architrave fireplace and closet and cabinet doors on the
fireplace wall of the log section represents an economical evocation of the full-wall paneling of
more grandiose Georgian houses in Virginia. In the same vein, the false paneling of batten doors
in both sections of the house is a clever and thrifty use of available technology to create the
appearance of much finer finishes. The log section's two-bay front elevation, with widely-spaced
' Hopkins, LLjhvich-mmer Families, 154; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill."
Helga N. Leftwich and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication.
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number A Page _1I1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
window and door, typifies the asymmetrical and parsimonious placement of openings in most
vernacular dwellings of the region during the period.
The Moorman-Leftwich Cemetery, with its traditional elevated siting, is notable itself for its
cantilevered stile and for the artistry of the monuments it contains. A perennial concern of
cemetery stewards in rural as well as wban contexts before the modem era was the exclusion of
free-ranging livestock that might disturb graves. A common solution was to enclose the cemetery
with a fence or wall with a gate to control access. Stiles were soother traditional form of ingress.
Sometimes these were in the form of wooden steps, such as the reconstmted example at the
Waterford Union Cemetery in Waterford, Loudoun County, or stone steps as at the stone-walled
Lynch Cemetery at Avoca, Altavista, Campbell County and--also near Walnut Hill--the
Callaway-Steptoe Cemetery in the New Loodon vicinity of Bedford County. Stiles consisting of
stone blocks cantilevered from the wall have been encounted by the author only at Walnut Hill
in his investigationsof Virginia cemeteries (numbering over one-hundred c e e e s documented
to date). The Moonnan-Leftwich Cemetery stile is a wonderful demonstration of technical
prowess on the part of the unknown stonemason who built the cemetery wall.
--OMB A&
No. lmL0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Section number 4_ Page L
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell County deed, plat. tax, and will records. Campbell County Courthouse complex,
Rustburg, and microfilm at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg.
Early, Ruth Hairston. CMtpbell Chronicles and Fdty
Company, 1927.
Sketckes. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell
Gilmer Map of Campbell County, Virginia, 1864 (reproduction).
Hopkins, Walter Lee. Lefnvich-rimer Families of Virginia and Their Connections.
Harrisonburg, Va. : C. J. Carrier Company, 1980.
Leftwich, Helga Lura. Personal communication with author, Raleigh, N .C., 1999.
Leftwich, Helga Neuhaus. "Family Line of Frances Emma Leftwich Miller and Lura Helga
Leftwich. " Typescript, n.d.
. Personal communication with author, Campbell Co.,
1999.
Leftwich, William Edward. "Leftwich Notebook." 1948-ca. 1955. Private collection,
Campbell Co., Va.
. "Walnut Hill. " Typescript, n.d.
Loth, Calder, ed.
Virginia LMdrnarks Register. Third edition. Charlottesville, Va.:
University Press of Virginia, 1986.
"Lynchburg, Va." USGS 15-minute quadrangle, 1944 (revised 1951).
United States Census. Free popdatioo schedules for Campbell County for the years 1850 and
1910. bdk~fifmat Roanoke Public Libnuy , Roanoke, Va.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _U3_ Page _12_
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
UTM References (continued)
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries for the Walnut Hill nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the
property, designated Campbell County tax map 31 parcel ((A)) 22.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries for the Walnut Hill nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the
property and include all known contributing resources associated with the historic core area of
the farm and associated acreage.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number EBQta Page
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
1.
1. Subject: Walnut Hill (same for all photos)
2. Loeation: Campbell Co., Va.(same for all photos)
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pevoni (same for all photos)
4. Photo date: February 1999 (same for all photos)
5. original negative (VDHR # 17313) archived at the Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond (same for all photos)
6. Description of view: house and surrounding acreage. View looking southeast.
7. Photograph number appears at beginning of entry (same for all photos)
2.
6. original section of house (left), early addition (middle), and modern addition (right,
behind early addition. View looking west.
3.
6. House and outbuildings. View looking north.
4.
6. Cemetery (cantilevered stile visible halfway down left side). View looking south.
5.
6. Fireplace or south wall of first floor of original section.
6.
6 . Stair in first floor of early addition.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
4
Section number Exhibit Page 1
Walnut Hi1
Campbell Co., Va.
Exhibit A: The south end of the Walnut Hill nominated parcel showing the relationship of the
various resources, which we keyed by number to the inventory. Number and direction of view
of photographs indicated by triangular markers. Scale: 1" = approx. 700'. North is up. The map
is based on Campbell County tax map 31 parcel ((A)) 22.
Mapped. edited, and published by the Geological Survey
i'
<@+"
<.!
+
5'
+G
Control by USGS and NOSINOAA
Topography by photogrammetric methods from aerial
photographs taken 1962. Field checked 1963
SIW
o
N W ~
SCALE
(Re*. 10.90)
y**
No. IIllbOOlS
13fb1,kq
United States Department of the Interior
I
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
'Ibis form is fa we m nomimUing a rrquesting dctaminatian f
a individual p r q d h and d i e . See h l t u c l h in H m n, Caplne he h'abnd Regi.nw o f E h r i c Pbm RqimmMl Form ( N MR e g h x Bulktin 16A).
Comphe each item by marking 'x' in the appmpriab box a by eobring fJx h
cinforma[ioa. If aag item das na appIy W the pmpay being documemcd, emcr 'NIA' fa 'ad 8pplicdbk.' Fa fun~iom,archiamrral
cl&fic&m. materials. and mwa of significance, cnM onlyea(escriesand s ~ b m e g u k f m mCbe m m U h Place additbd maia r n d m r d w items 00 cuminlbcm (NPS Pam I&WQ). Ux a rppwrim, uwd pmasar.
u complter, ta complete all items.
1. Name of Propertv
historic name
other nameslsite number
Walnut Hill
VDHR frle no. 015-5012
2. Location
Rt. 2 Box 303 (Lawyers Road; SR 683)
street & number
city or town Lynchburg
state Virginia
code VA county
Campbell
code 031
not for publication NIA
vicinity X
zip code
24501
3. StatelFederal Aeency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that
this
nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide X locally. ( - See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other officiaYTitle
Date
Stsb a M agency and bmem
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register.
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the National Register.
- See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the National Register.
removed from the National Register.
other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Walnut Hill
Carnobell Co.. Va.
h d -
-lad-
Ownership of Property
( k t a -Y
bmcr a w b )
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
Category of Proper6
(m
m b m bm)
2.Lbuilding@)
-district
-site
-structure
-object
Name of related multiple property listing
m a r ' N I A ' a ~ b a w d . ~ p m p . n ~ . l
Number of Resources within Property
( m r m w h & ~ w ~ h s ~ ~ - . )
Contributing
Noncontributing
3
2
0
0
Q
Q
Q
Q
buildings
sites
structures
objects
5
Q
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
5. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Easap*rhaiartb.)
( E l.='dmha )-
megoo'
Subcategory
megory
Subcategory
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
AGRICULTURE
FUNERARY
single dwelling
secondary structure
animal facility
cemetery
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
FUNERARY
single dwelling
secondary structure
cemetery
Architectural Classification
Materials
(hap*rhaimmc+m
(E*
Georgian
foundation
walls
Stone
Metal (Aluminum)
roof
other
Metal
Narrative Description
-*h*arudsrrramahlod*-moropm~h.)
.='dmh )-
Wood
Carn~beUCo.. Va,
Walnut Hill
CmmY..dsa
~OfRopcny
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
(Mmt.~.i.momoebolafoa-ahsYwif%ag
tbh pmpan fa N M R*
I)-.
[Mut'X'b.UtkbmaM.pph.)
-D
.- a
-P
-a
Areas of Significance
-
.Eemctry.
a
bui*,
aim,o
.mmmemPdrcpxpm.
-.
* r ~ ~ ~ y a d ~ o r ~ = ~ * ( b . p l f a t y ) ~ n .
Period of Significance
( B a a asro*a tmm)- i
1802-ca. 1900
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
~Comp*cif~Bhm&dlbac~
NIA
ArchitdBuilder
Mr.
bro-r(
. Edwar. .
.. .
Narrative Statement of Significance
(B&na-d*dIbe-omFa--d=a)
9. Major B i b l i v e s
Bibliography
laeIkboJb.msh.d*avrcpdi.plpri.I&f-oma-~h.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
- previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-Other
Name of repository:
Walnut Hill
N m e d Ropsn
10. W p h i c a l Data
Acreage of Property
UTM References
approximately 195.67 acres
( P ( n ~ L . M ~ c a * m a d ~ s k a )
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
3 17 658050 4126120
1 17 657360 4127200
2 17 658110 4126710
X Sac-
'
4 17 658390 4125860
*.
Verbal Boundary Description
(rrmklkbaMd.r*ldlkmqm,m.~ska.)
Boundary Justification
(Erpldarhytbrbmd?&a-cLcldm~~&a.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
organization
street & number
city or town
J. Daniel Peuoai
&Uu&m&
I&&gm state YB
date
telephone
zip code
-
%.45!2
Additional Documentation
Continuation Sheets
Mar's
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(CLdwit*SHPOoPPO(om-ka)
Property Owner
name
street & number
city or town
N. Le-
Rt. 2 Box 303
L,y&hg
telephone
state Ykgiak
w
zip code
&B!u
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7 Page 1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary and Setting
Walnut Hill is located in northern Campbell County, Virginia, among the fields, woods, and
hillsides of the valley through which flows Flat Creek, a tributary of the Otter and Staunton
(Roanoke) rivers. Samuel and Judith Clark Moorman were the home's original owners; later
occupants included their son Samuel Tucker Moorman, daughter Lucy Frances Leftwich, and
son-in-law Col. Joel Breckenridge Ldwich. The story-and-a-half dwelling was built in several
phases beginning with the south wing, an 1802 log dwelling with an internal gable-end stone
chimney. Slightly later, probably before 1820, a two-room-plan frame addition was built onto
the north end of the log dwelling; this became the main or front section of the house. One-story
frame additions were made ca. 1870, in 1948-1950, and again in 1984. The house has stone
chimneys and foundations, metal-sheathed gable roofs, and aluminum siding over weatherboards.
The early sections have Georgian interior treatments, winder stairs, and unusual batten doors
with moldings applied to one face to give them the appearance of panel doors.
Next to the house stand two saddlelv-notched log outbuildings--a smokehouse and a
chickenhouse--and a stone chimney that swives from a log kitchen and cook's dwelling. A small
brook flows behind these resources; once it served them as a water supply. Situated on a ridge
to the west of the house is the Moorman-Leftwich Cemetery, enclosed by a stone wall with an
unusual cantilevered stile and containing a range of vernacular and professionally carved
monuments. Walnut Hill's yard features old specimen trees including large cedars, a 1913
sycamore, a pre-1900 catalpa, and a pre-1900 walnut that is said to have inspired the property's
name. Elevations in the nominated parcel range from just under 700 feet above sea level along
Flat Creek, the southeast border of the parcel, to 861 feet at the crest of a hill that occupies the
parcel's wooded northern end. The parcel's arable acreage, approximately a third of the total
extent, is presently in hay. A portion of the low ground along Flat Creek at the southeast end
of the parcel is identified as a drill field or muster ground that was used during the Civil War.
The nineteenth-century course of Lawyers Road (SR 683), which connects Lynchburg and
Evington, touches the parcel at its northern tip.
Inventory
1. Walnut Hill. 1802; first quarter 19th c.; ca. 1870; 1948-1950; 1984. Contributing building.
2. Kitchen chimney. Earlylmid-19th c. Contributing site.
3. Meathouse. 19th c. Contributing building.
4. Chickenhouse. 19th c. Contributing building.
5. Cemetery. Mid-19th c. through present. Contributing site.
ous Appwd No. ImCGllK
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 2
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
Exterior
Walnut Hill's evolution is clearly defined on its exterior. The various sections are distinguished
one from the other by changes in massing and roofline. The steepest roof is that over the original
log section. This has a shed dormer on the west side and small windows in the gable. The top
of a chimney constructed of tabular sandstone blocks protrudes from the south end of the ridge.
The log section roof joins the more shallow-pitched roof of the early frame addition at a right
angle. The two gable-end chimneys of the early frame section rise on the exterior; like the log
section chimney, they too are carefully constructed of tabular sandstone blocks. The first-story
windows of both early sections have six-over-nine double-hung sash. Most of these sash appear
to date to the 1948-1950 rehabilitation, although a few early sash may survive.
Smaller wings and porches added to the house after the initial phases of construction had
deteriorated by the time of the 1948-1950 rehabilitation and were reworked or removed. A falsefronted shed-roofed wing was added to the south gable end of the o r i g h l section about 1870 for
use by Samuel T. Moorman upon his retirement. The room was joined to the original section by
a shed-roofed porch. In 1948-1950 the shed-roofed wing was given a cinder-block foundation
and stove flue, and the original square-section wooden columns of the porch were replaced in
kind. A shed-roofed kitchen was added to the west gable end of the early addition in the
nineteenth century. This was remodeled in 1948-1950and given a gable roof. Next to the kitchen
is a small engaged porch and exterior concrete steps that separate it from a gabled bathroom wing
added in 1948-1950. The kitchen and bathroom wings have cioder-block foundations with a
laundry room under the kitchen and storage under the bathroom, exterior doors with glazed upper
portions, double-hung windows for the kitchen, and a jalousie window for the bathroom. The
1984 addition, which contains a bedroom and bathroom, has a cinder-block foundation, a brick
furnace flue, six-over-six windows, and a deck.
Interior
Typical treatments in the early sections include wood board floors, plaster over split lath walls
and ceilings attached with cut nails and some reinforcing wire nails, some replacement drywall
finishes, beaded baseboards, molded door and window trim, and (in most of the fm-floor
rooms) beaded chair rails set flush or nearly flush with the plaster. The focal point of the first
floor of the log section, which has and appears always to have had a two-bay one-room plan, is
the south fireplace wall. The exposed stonework of the fireplace slip and segmental arch are
painted white and are framed by a Georgian architrave mantel with a single-panel frieze. (The
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
woodwork of this mantel and of most doors in the early sections were stripped and varnished in
the mid-twentieth century.) The mantel abuts flanking four-panel closet doors hung on
reproduction HL hinges. Above the right-hand door is a cabinet; above the left-hand door is a
recessed shelf. To the extreme left is a modem gtrtzed &frame
daor that opens into a steep
winder stair that rises in the space to the left of the chimney. The entry on the east wall has a
batten door constructed with hand-headed nails and, above, a rifle rack constructed of forked
sticks.
A doorway with a step up leads into the west downstairs room of the early frame addition. This
doorway is hung with a cleverly cmtructed batten door with molding strips attached to one side
creating a four-panel pattern. The door has been stripped, but there may be a suggestion of
former decorative painting to accent the paneled effect. The same wall occupied by this doorway
has a beaded corner post and plate that project into the mom--a struchu;ll solution that obviated
the need for redundant framing members against the log section. The room also features a plain
mantel with a bed molding under the shelf and a modem stove insat in the fxeplace. A doorway
to the right of the mantel leads into the modern kitchen, which is dominated by the stuccoed
mass of the gable-end chimney.
The east downstairs room of the early frame section features a mantel similar to that in the west
room but taller and with a single-pami frieze. The Georgian design of this mantel, plus handheaded nails observed in the early frame section, together suggest that the addition was made
relatively shortly after the construction of the original log section. In a corner of the mom rises
an open stair with risers at the bottom, a tall newel post with a molded cap, and a closet
underneath (now made into a cabinet and an air conditioning duct). The stair originally lacked
balusters; the present square-section balusters were added by Otto Neuhaus in the third quarter
of the twentieth century. The east dowmtah room has two exterior panel doors, one of which
opens onto the porch that m along the east side of the originat log section, and the other--now
leading to the 1984 addition--which served as the main entry to the house after the constsuction
of the early frame addition. The 1984 addition has drywall walk and ceilings (the latter with a
textured finish) and wood or carpeted floors.
The garret over the o r i g ~ section
~I
has a solid railing above the winder stair, a small fireplace
without mantel set into the stuccoed mass of the chimney, and a board partition forming a storage
area at the north end of the room. From this storage area is visible the roof stmcture, comprised
of sawn (probably straight-sawn) rsfters pegged at the ridge and wide roof boards. The garret
ceiling is attached to half-round log joists or nailers that are suspended from collar beams.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of ~ i s t o r i cPlaces
Continuation Sheet
Section number L Page 4
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Description (continued)
The upstairs of the addition contains two rooms separated by the stairwell and landing. The
rooms are entered through false-panel batten doors like the one downstah, one of which is hung
on HL hinges attached with hand-headed nails driven through leather washers. The east upstairs
room has a low mantel shelf with a beaded edge, indicating the former existence of a small
fueplace. The west room may have had a similar arrangement. Under the eaves are storage areas
entered through batten doors; in these spaces is evident the straight-sawn frame structure of the
addition. The only fully excavated basement area is focated under the west end of the addition.
This room has a segmental-arched cooking fueplace and a concrete floor. Overhead are straightsawn floor joists. The log section has half-round log floor joists.
Outbddings and Cemetery
To the west of the house stand three historic resources associated with the day-&day operation
of the household. A large chimney constructed of tabular sandstone blocks represents the remains
of a nineteenth-century log kitchen and cook's dweiling that had fallen into disrepair by the time
of the property's rehabilitation in the late 1940s and was tom down shortly ther&.
The
chimney has large tireplaces with iron lintels on both sides, suggesting it was once shared by the
two halves of a building, although a ca. 1948 photograph shows the kitchen occupying only the
south side of the chimey.
Near the chimney stand two buildings of d e - or crude v-notched log construction suggesting
they were built at roughly the same time. The southernmost of the pair served as a meathouse;
the northern one as a chickenhouse. Both have gable roofs covered with asphalt roll roofing (the
smokehouse roof is a modern reconstruction), weatherboard or vertical-board in the gables,
white-painted exteriors, and both are in poor condition. The smokehottse stands on stone footen
and has a side shed addition.
The Moom-Lefbvich Cemetery occupies a steepsided ridge above the house. The rectangulat
cemetery is enclosed by a coursed rubble wall with large cap stones and, on the east side, a stile
(steps) formed by sets of three cantilevered blocks on each side of the wall. The oldest
headstones have vernacular tripartite tops andlor are carved from local grayish freestone
(probably soapstone). One, the headstone of William Henry Moonaan (d. 1842), is more discoid
in character, that is, it has a round headlike top, a type that is more often encountered in the
North Carolina Piedmont than in the Virginia Piedmont for the peiiod. Totnbstones from the
mid- to late nineteenth century are carved from imported marble and typically feature segmental
tops and circular panels with conventional bible, anchor, willow, rose, and cross-and-crown
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
k t i o n number
7 Page -5-
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
Description (continued)
carvings. Most headstones are accompaeied by smaller footstones. A new entry was cut through
the wall in the late 1990s to accommodate the above-ground granite vault of Frances Leftwich
Miller (1950-1997), the daughter of William Edward Leftwich Jr. and Helga Neuhaus Lefhvich
the present owner. The cemetery is planted with yucca, boxwood, and periwinkle.
Integrity Statement
The house, outbuildings, cemetery, and landscape at Walnut H i possess sufficient integrity for
listing in the National Register. The original, early-nineteenth-century sections of the house retain
their overall form and character-defining elements, including a wealth of strttctural and decorative
details on the interior. The 1948-1950 additions to the house do not fall within the period of
significance, but they are, for the most part, fifty years old or older, were made to the rear of
the house, are relatively small in scale, and do not obscure earlier c s - d e f i n i n g features.
The two principal modern alterations to the house are the additim of the north wing in 1984 and
the instabtion of aluminum siding over the weathehoar&. The cemetery, too, preserves its
original character despite two signtficant modern atteratio~~:
the reworking of the south wall to
form a new entrance and the addition of the LeftwicWMiller vault. Walnut H i ' s setting
possesses a high degree of integrity. It retains the mix of forest and open arable acreage that
would have characterized it historically, and it is almost entirely free of modern visual intrusions
from surrounding parcels.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Section number _B Page _h
-
-
-
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Walnut Hill has stood for two centuries among the picturesque fields and woodlands of Campbell
Countv's Flat Creek vallev. The original one-room loe section of the house was built for Samuel
and ~ i d i t hClark ~ o m ink1 8 ~ Shortly
T
aftenvak a new front of frame construction was
added to the log dwelling; both sections are detailed in the Georgian style with notable
architectural features such as false-panel batten doors. The property was later owned by Samuel
and Judith's son Samuel Tucker Moorman, a Methodist minister who spent most of his later life
in Richmond but retired to Walnut Hill. In 1883 Moorman sold the house to Col. Joel
Breckemidge Leftwich, a Civil War veteran and two-term delegate to the Virginia General
Assembly (1859-1861 and 1883-1884). Leftwich had lived at Walnut Hill since his mamage in
1842 to Lucy Frances Moorman, sister of Samuel Tucker Moorman and daughter of Samuel and
Judith Clark Moorman. Joel Leftwich and other members of the Leftwich and Moorman families
lie buried on a ridgetop stone-walled cemetery with a notable cantilevered stile.
Applicable Criteria
The Walnut Hilt property is eligible under Criterion C in the architecture area of significance for
the Georgian-style interior finishes and other notable architectwal features of its ca. 1800 house,
and also for the construction and artistry of the property's stone-walled nineteenth-century
cemetery. The period of significance extends from 1802 to ca. 1900, embracing the initial
construction dates of the contributing resources on the property. Walnut Hill is eligible at the
local level of significance. Information in support of designation appears throughout the historic
context.
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals and organizations assisted in the preparation of this report. Foremost
among these were the owner of the property and the nomination's sponsor, Helga N. Leftwich,
and her daughter Helga L. Leftwich. Others who provided assistance included the staffs of the
Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg and the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Library,
Emily Salmon of the Library of Virginia, Ashley Neville, and Ann Andrus, June Ellis, John
Salmon, Marc Wagner, and Jack Zehmer of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _B Page L
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historic Context
Walnut Hill's original log section was built for Samuel Moorman (ca. 1771-1835) and his wife
Judith Clark Moorman (ca. 1774-1868) after their marriage in 17%. The house was most likely
built in 1802, the year Samuel Moorman acquired 450 acres on Flat Creek--his fust large land
purchase--from members of the Goggin family. The land may originally have belonged to the
Clark family; Judith's father John Clark (d. 1819) and her brother Micajah lived on adjoining
tracts. In 1806 Moorman purchased an additional sixty acres from his brother-in-law Micajah,
and by 1820 Moorman had erected $800 in improvements on his 510 acres. The $800 figure
probably included the value of the original log house plus an early frame addition; both sections
are detailed in the Georgian style and are constructed with hand-headed nails, in agreement with
dates of construction before 1820.'
Samuel Moorman was descended from English Quakers who first settled in the Campbell County
area in the mid-1700s. He owned two slaves in 1799, a holding that increased to at least fifteen
by the year of his death in 1835. Walnut Hill, l i e most antebellum plantations of the region,
was a general farming operation supporting a mix of animals (cattle, oxen, swine, horses and
sheep) and crops with an emphasis on tobacco cultivation: 4,800 pounds of the leaf were
harvested in 1835. The Moormans raised ten children to adulthood. The grave of one, William
Henry (d. 1842), represent one of the oldest marked burials in the farm cemetery. Other children
were Samuel Tucker Moorman (1803-1887), who served as a Methodist minister in Richmond
and elsewhere, and Lucy Frances Moorman (1817-1889), who married Joel Breckenridge
Leftwich (1816-1890) in 1842.'
Judith Clark Moorman outlived her husband by thirty-three years. It appears that her daughter
and son-in-law Lucy and Col. Joel Leftwich lived with her and helped manage the farm,
although Samuel T. Moonnan was the property's legal owner after Judith's death. Joel B.
' Campbell County Deed Book 7, pp. 271,540; Campbell County Land Books for the period
17% through 1825; Early, Campbell Chronicles, 463; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill;" and Helga L.
Leftwich personal communication. A Leftwich family tradition maintains that the land on which
Walnut Hill stands was part of a land grant from King George 111 to the Clark family.
' Early, Campbell Chronicles, 463; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill;" and Campbell County Will
Book 7, p. 379.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number A Page A
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Leftwich was the grandson of General Joel Leftwich of Bedford County, a veteran of the
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. During the Civil War, Joel B. rose from the rank of
Captain of Infantry to Colonel of Reserves in the Confederate States Army. A "drill field" or
muster ground is said to have existed at Walnut Hill during the war, located on the low ground
along Flat Creek at the southeast end of the property. Graves in the Moorman-Leftwich
Cemetery suggest that members of the Hoffman family lived on the farm during the period,
including David Hoffman (1792-1861) and his son Edwin W. Hoffman (1826-1861). Joel B.
Leftwich practiced law and represented Campbell County in the General Assembly sessions of
1859-1861 and 1883-1884. Although he lived at Walnut Hill beginnine in 1842. Leftwich did
not acquire ownership until 1 8 8 3 . 6 Leftwich's death in 1890 aGcul&al production at Walnut
Hill had declined from antebellum levels. The core area of the farm had assumed its present size
of approximately 200 acres.'
"As compensation for work he has done for me and for which he has not been paid," Col. Joel
Leftwich left Walnut Hill to his son William Edward Leftwich (1852-1913). William married
Frances "Fannie" Crawley (1864-1942) in 1897 and in 1900 they had a son, William Edward
Jr. (1900-1965). Living with the family in 1910 was William Sr.'s unmarried sister Lura (18541937). On his death in 1913 William Sr. left the property to his wife in trust for their thirteenyear-old son. Fannie and Lura continued to farm the property with the aid of tenants. In 1914,
according to an account of William Sr.'s estate, a carpenter named J. E. Foster was paid for
building a house, probably a tenant house. This house appears to have stood along the approach
drive to the north of the main house; a well with a concrete curb marked the dwelling's site in
the third quarter of the twentieth century. The Twiddy family worked as tenants on the farm and
lived in the tenant house until the 1930s.'
William Edward Leftwich Jr. graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1921 and he received
Gilmer Map of Campbell County; Hopkins, Lefrwich-rimer Fumilies, 153; Campbell
County Will Book 17, p. 35; and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication.
' Hopkins, Lefnvrch-rimer Families, 154; Campbell County Will Book 17, p. 35 and Will
Book 21, pp. 86,322; 1910 U.S.census Campbell County population schedules; and Helga N.
Leftwich and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication. No dwellings other than the main
house presently survive at Walnut Hill, although an early log house formerly associated with the
farm stands on an adjoining parcel at the Walnut Hill turn-off on Lawyers Road.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _S Page 9.-
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
a certificate in mathematics and history from Harvard University in 1923. During the mid-1920s
he taught at the college and high school levels and in 1926 he joined the bonding and brokerage
fum Pierce and Company of Chicago. Leftwich received a commission in World War I, although
the war ended before he saw combat, and after his mother's death in 1942 he re-enlisted. At the
end of the Second World War, then Captain Leftwich conducted graves registration work in the
Allied and Russian-occupied areas of Germany. In Germany he met Helga Emmi Neuhaus, and
the two married in 1948.'
While William Ir. was abroad members of the Garbee family, who lived on an adjoining farm
which was originally part of Walnut Hill and was sold to the Garbees about 1913, cultivated
Walnut Hill (they still do) and maintained the house. Albert Garbee replaced wd-shingle
roofmg with metal in the 1940s. Despite critical maintenance, Walnut Hill had declined when
William Leftwich returned to America with his wife Helga Neuhaus Leftwich in 1948. The
Lefhviches occupied the house during the summer of 1949, using oil lamps for lighting, but then
moved to Washington for the winter of 1949-1950. With assistance from a contractor named
Goad, William Leftwich completed a rehabilitation that included the remodeling of the kitchen
wing, the addition of a bathroom, the replacement in kind of many windows, wiring for
electricity, and replastering and installing sheet rock on deteriorated interior walls and ceilings.
The Leftwiches moved back in May 1950 and in 1958 they covered the weathehoards with
aluminum siding. William remned to teaching at local high schools; he passed away in 1%5.
Helga continues to live at Walnut Hill. In more recent years the property has been toured by
members of the Lefhvich Historical As~ociation.~
The original log and frame sections of Walnut Hill possess a number of notable architectural
features. The grouping of a paneled architrave fireplace and closet and cabinet doors on the
fireplace wall of the log section represents an economical evocation of the full-wall paneling of
more grandiose Georgian houses in Virginia. In the same vein, the false paneling of batten doors
in both sections of the house is a clever and thrifty use of available technology to create the
appearance of much finer finishes. The log section's two-bay front elevation, with widely-spaced
' Hopkins, LLjhvich-mmer Families, 154; Leftwich, "Walnut Hill."
Helga N. Leftwich and Helga L. Leftwich personal communication.
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number A Page _1I1
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
window and door, typifies the asymmetrical and parsimonious placement of openings in most
vernacular dwellings of the region during the period.
The Moorman-Leftwich Cemetery, with its traditional elevated siting, is notable itself for its
cantilevered stile and for the artistry of the monuments it contains. A perennial concern of
cemetery stewards in rural as well as wban contexts before the modem era was the exclusion of
free-ranging livestock that might disturb graves. A common solution was to enclose the cemetery
with a fence or wall with a gate to control access. Stiles were soother traditional form of ingress.
Sometimes these were in the form of wooden steps, such as the reconstmted example at the
Waterford Union Cemetery in Waterford, Loudoun County, or stone steps as at the stone-walled
Lynch Cemetery at Avoca, Altavista, Campbell County and--also near Walnut Hill--the
Callaway-Steptoe Cemetery in the New Loodon vicinity of Bedford County. Stiles consisting of
stone blocks cantilevered from the wall have been encounted by the author only at Walnut Hill
in his investigationsof Virginia cemeteries (numbering over one-hundred c e e e s documented
to date). The Moonnan-Leftwich Cemetery stile is a wonderful demonstration of technical
prowess on the part of the unknown stonemason who built the cemetery wall.
--OMB A&
No. lmL0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
Section number 4_ Page L
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell County deed, plat. tax, and will records. Campbell County Courthouse complex,
Rustburg, and microfilm at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg.
Early, Ruth Hairston. CMtpbell Chronicles and Fdty
Company, 1927.
Sketckes. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell
Gilmer Map of Campbell County, Virginia, 1864 (reproduction).
Hopkins, Walter Lee. Lefnvich-rimer Families of Virginia and Their Connections.
Harrisonburg, Va. : C. J. Carrier Company, 1980.
Leftwich, Helga Lura. Personal communication with author, Raleigh, N .C., 1999.
Leftwich, Helga Neuhaus. "Family Line of Frances Emma Leftwich Miller and Lura Helga
Leftwich. " Typescript, n.d.
. Personal communication with author, Campbell Co.,
1999.
Leftwich, William Edward. "Leftwich Notebook." 1948-ca. 1955. Private collection,
Campbell Co., Va.
. "Walnut Hill. " Typescript, n.d.
Loth, Calder, ed.
Virginia LMdrnarks Register. Third edition. Charlottesville, Va.:
University Press of Virginia, 1986.
"Lynchburg, Va." USGS 15-minute quadrangle, 1944 (revised 1951).
United States Census. Free popdatioo schedules for Campbell County for the years 1850 and
1910. bdk~fifmat Roanoke Public Libnuy , Roanoke, Va.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _U3_ Page _12_
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co.. Va.
UTM References (continued)
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries for the Walnut Hill nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the
property, designated Campbell County tax map 31 parcel ((A)) 22.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries for the Walnut Hill nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the
property and include all known contributing resources associated with the historic core area of
the farm and associated acreage.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number EBQta Page
Walnut Hill
Campbell Co., Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
1.
1. Subject: Walnut Hill (same for all photos)
2. Loeation: Campbell Co., Va.(same for all photos)
3. Photographer: J. Daniel Pevoni (same for all photos)
4. Photo date: February 1999 (same for all photos)
5. original negative (VDHR # 17313) archived at the Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond (same for all photos)
6. Description of view: house and surrounding acreage. View looking southeast.
7. Photograph number appears at beginning of entry (same for all photos)
2.
6. original section of house (left), early addition (middle), and modern addition (right,
behind early addition. View looking west.
3.
6. House and outbuildings. View looking north.
4.
6. Cemetery (cantilevered stile visible halfway down left side). View looking south.
5.
6. Fireplace or south wall of first floor of original section.
6.
6 . Stair in first floor of early addition.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
4
Section number Exhibit Page 1
Walnut Hi1
Campbell Co., Va.
Exhibit A: The south end of the Walnut Hill nominated parcel showing the relationship of the
various resources, which we keyed by number to the inventory. Number and direction of view
of photographs indicated by triangular markers. Scale: 1" = approx. 700'. North is up. The map
is based on Campbell County tax map 31 parcel ((A)) 22.
Mapped. edited, and published by the Geological Survey
i'
<@+"
<.!
+
5'
+G
Control by USGS and NOSINOAA
Topography by photogrammetric methods from aerial
photographs taken 1962. Field checked 1963
SIW
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N W ~
SCALE
Text
--------------\)Lf'-- 12-5-0\
\\j1<J-\f'- ,:, /6'
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102~18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This fonn is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A ). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented. enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items,
1. Name of Property
historic name
Oak Grove
othernames/site number VDHR # 15-5103
2. Location
street & number 73 78 Gladys Road
not for publication N/A
city or town ~A~l~ta~v~i~st=a~-----------------------state Virginia
code VA county_,C~am,...p.,b"'e"'ll~---- code _,0~3~1_ _ _ __
vicinity
Zip 24517
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
_X_ nomination _ _ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in
36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X_ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register Criteria, I
recommend that this property be considered significant __ nationally_ statewide _X locally, ( __ See continuation
shee
Signature of certi ing official
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property _ _ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register criteria, ( __ See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):--------
- - - - - - - - - - - - Signature ofKeeper
Date of Action _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
--
- - -------------- - --------
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
_X_private
_ public-local
_ public-State
_ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X building( s)
d1Strict
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
_o_ buildings
_l_
_3_
_O_sites
(cemetery, kitchen, ice house)
_5_
_O_ structures (smokehouse, slave quarter, grain shed, hay barn, privy)
_o_ _O_objects
_9_
_O_Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register_ O_
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: Single dwellin~-----Cat: DOMESTIC
_DOMESTJC
Secondary structure_ _ _ __
_ AGRICULTURAL/SUBSJSTENCE Agricultural field; storage _ __
_ FUNERARY
Cemetery_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: WORK IN PROGRESS
Sub:-----------
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
name of property
location
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC Federal,_ _ _ _ _ __
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _Fieldstone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
roof _Standing seam tin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
walls_Weatherboard._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
other Chimneys of local fieldstone; Wooden p o r c h e s ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
A
B
_X_C
D
Property is associated with events that have made a sigrtificant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or a grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Architecture _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
__Agriculture _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
0MB No. 1024-4018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Period ofSignificance_l750-1951 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Significant Dates _1750_ __
1784_ _
1833_ __
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion Bis marked above)
Cultural A f f i l i a t i o n - - - - - - - - - - - - - Architect/Builder _Unknownc__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_X_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
_ previously listed in the National Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # _ _ _ __
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_ Federal agency
_Local government
_
University
_Other
Name of repository:
IO. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _ _8_ __
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
____ 2
1
3
4
_X_ See contmuat10n sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10·900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Bonndary Jnstification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Margaret Roberts
Organization:
date_9/21/0l _ _ _ __
stree! & number: _601 Spring Slreet Apt. B, _ _ _ _ _ _ _telephone 804 644 0785,_ _ _ _ __
city or town__Richmond._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA__ zip code _23220_ _ __
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and propenies having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
narne __V. Cassel Adamson _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
street & number_65 l O Three Chopt Rd. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _----'telephone 804 288 8951 _ _ _ _ __
city or town_Richmond_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA_ zip code _23226,_ _ __
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended ( 16 V.S.C. 470 et seq.}.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this fonn is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the fonn. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this fonn to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project ( 1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
0MB No. 1024--0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _2_
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Oak Grove's eastern wing is built of logs and mortar. The remainder of the house is frame
construction resting on a fieldstone foundation. The entire structure is clad in wood siding and has a
standing-seam tin roof. Windows to the east of the central front door are haphazardly spaced and uneven
in size. There are three double-hung six-over-six windows in the first story of the east wing, none of which
are the same size or sit on the same level. On the second floor of the east wing a six-over-six dormer
window bears some resemblance to the windows directly below it while two four-over-four windows stand
on either side of a fieldstone chimney.
The symmetrical west wing, ca. 1833, stands in sharp contrast to the remainder of the structure. Its
three evenly spaced bays contain five six-over-six windows and a front door in the eastern bay. This
entrance consists of double doors with a rectangular transom above. The contrast between Oak Grove's
east and west wings becomes more marked on the rear elevation. Here the east wing juts out and is
bisected by a second fieldstone chimney. A narrow central section links the east and west wings. Here a
lone six-over-six window stands west of a second-story dormer. The rear elevation of the west wing
mirrors the main elevation. Today traces of gable-roofed front porches are found at both the house's front
and back doors. These features, which appear to date from Philip M. Payne's residency, have been
removed and are in the process of being restored.
Oak Grove's interior echoes its irregular exterior. Located in the third bay of the west wing, the
front door opens onto a spacious entrance hall. To the west stands a large room that probably served as a
parlor following the final expansion of the house in 1833. To the east a second room contains stairs
leading to two attic bedrooms at the east side of the house. Originally, these chambers stood separate from
rooms to the west, but now a door in the existing wall provides access across the second floor.
Returning to the first floor and continuing east, one enters a second large room that probably
served as the original parlor. A stair in the room's southwest corner provides additional access to upstairs
bedrooms. Another rooms stands to the south of the original parlor. To the east a shed-roofed porch later
enclosed two rooms that will serve as a bathroom and kitchen following Oak Grove's current renovation.
Oak Grove retains a number of its original decorative features. These include the matching double
doors at the front and rear entrances and cove and bead molding throughout the house. Four mantels
dating from the late Federal period survive, and two found in the west wing have excellent false marbling.
Significant examples of false graining also survive on interior doors in the west wing.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section_7_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page_3_
Oak Grove also boasts a variety of intricate stone work. Its two eastern chinmeys are built of
fieldstone that was probably found on the property. The fireboxes of all three chinmeys are built of stone
from Leesville, a small town west of Oak Grove along the Staunton River. The hearth in the original
living room was made of local soapstone, and sandstone pavers in the front yard appear to have come from
a local quarry.
Many of Oak Grove's original outbuildings still stand. The smokehouse to the southeast of the
main residence appears to date from the late eighteenth century. Like the log core of Oak Grove's east
wing, the smokehouse is constructed of notched logs flattened on one side with angle cut comers. A slave
quarter facing the east wing shares similar construction but is clad in wood siding. This building has short
six-foot door frames and tiny windows like those found in the original section of the main house.
A grain shed and a hay barn stand to the northeast of the house. These frame structures have mortared
stone bases and appear to date from the early twentieth century. A privy stands at the far southwestern
edge of the outbuilding complex. It too appears to date from the twentieth century.
The remains of a kitchen and an icehouse stand to the southeast of the main house. Traces of
Leesville stone found in the kitchen's chinmey suggest that building dates from the time of Philip H.
Payne's residency. Situated between the smokehouse and the grain shed, the icehouse now consists of a
deep round hole six feet in diameter. The Payne family cemetery stands 300 yards beyond these ruins.
Philip M. Payne is buried in this rectangular, overgrown site alongside many of his descendants.
0MB No. 1024--0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 8 _
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ I _
8- Statement of Significance
Oak Grove in Campbell County, Virginia qualifies for the National Register under criterion C, for
its varied architectural elements capture the gradual evolution of Virginia architecture from preRevolutionary times through the early National period. Built in stages between the 1750s and 1833, Oak
Grove began as a two-story dog-trot log structure built around 1750 by tobacco farmer John Payne. When
Payne's son Philip inherited the property in 1784, he enlarged the house to serve as a new home for
himself and his family. Philip's son, Philip M. Payne, completed Oak Grove around 1833 by adding a
west wing-a classic three bay structure containing a large hall and a parlor on the first floor and a stair
hall and two bedrooms on the second. Today Oak Grove remains much as it was in the time of Philip M.
Payne. Five outbuildings also survive-a smokehouse, a slave quarter, a grain shed, a hay barn, and a
privy as well as the remains of a kitchen and an icehouse.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-90()..a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 2 _
ffiSTORICAL BACKGROUND
Largely unchanged as a dwelling place since 1833, Oak Grove retains the imprints of its earliest
occupants. It is still possible to see patterns of land use introduced by tobacco prospector Henry Chiles.
Small plots of wheat and grain continue to grow on the highlands to the north and west of the house. To
the south boundaries of lowland tobacco fields remain visible along the Staunton 's banks. The log cabin
built ca. 1750 by Oak Grove's founder, John Payne, lies beneath wooden siding in the east wing of the
main house while Oak Grove's spacious western addition ca. 1833 recalls the easy prosperity of Payne's
grandson, Philip Matthews Payne. Each generation left its mark on Oak Grove. Today these physical and
architectural traces recall the rise of a family and a nation.
Oak Grove stands on a hill overlooking the Staunton River. Once the territory of Native American
tribes like the Sapony and the Monacan, the site piqued the interest of settlers during the early eighteenth
1
century. Due to the ad hoc nature of the colonial land grant process, the land that became Oak Grove
belonged to two other patent holders before being re-assigned to Henry Chiles in 1746.2 Chiles was a
colonel in the King William County Militia who took an active interest in Indian issues and the opening of
land for settlement. In 1737 he moved to what is now Prince Edward and Buckingham Counties with his
wife and children. There he began to explore the possibility of raising tobacco along the banks of the
Staunton River.
Unlike the Appomattox River, which also flowed through Prince Edward and Buckingham
Counties, the Staunton had enormous potential. The Appomattox was too narrow to support
transportation, and its floods were rarely dramatic enough to replenish surrounding lowlands. The
Staunton, however, was wide and deep. It was navigable, and its nourishing floods supported fertile
lowland fields. Chiles quietly eyed three hundred acres along the north side of the Staunton. In 1746 he
received one portion of the land through the standard land grant process. 3 But when Chiles realized he was
dying, he made arrangements to acquire the remainder of the property for his children. In his will Chiles
outlined the complicated patent history of additional parcels he wanted to obtain and then reassigned his
rights to particular heirs. When Chiles' children and widow claimed clear title to their plots, they
4
conveyed their grants to John Payne.
Born in 1713 in Goochland County, John Payne seems to have been one of Chiles' closest friends.
Like Chiles, Payne served as a colonel in his local militia. The two may have met during one of the era's
many frontier conflicts. Later Payne and Chiles appear to have planned occasional reunions in
Williamsburg, for records of their unrelated land dealings appear consecutively in land grant books kept in
the governor's office.' At some point Chiles must have told Payne that he wanted to start a large-scale
tobacco farm along the Staunton River, and Payne must have liked the concept. Before he died, Chiles
began the paper process required to make his dream a reality. With the land conveyed to him by Chiles'
children, Payne started a small tobacco farm along the north side of the Staunton River. Bounded by Hills
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 3 _
Creek to the east and Cheese Creek to the west, this verdant site with its towering oaks eventually became
Oak Grove. 6
John Payne had to build a house on the property within three years to comply with his land grant.
But Oak Grove was also a satellite operation, and Payne needed a place to stay on the property when he
came in from White Hall, his primary residence in Goochland County. A simple log structure offered the
perfect solution. This small house serves as the core of Oak Grove's east wing. It is unclear if this
building is the original structure built by John Payne around 1750, but it stands parallel to Oak Grove's
former slaves' quarters-a common configuration on eighteenth century Virginia settlements. 7 The house
is also symmetrically placed with respect to the smokehouse, the kitchen, and other outbuildings. The
relationship between these structures indicates that the structure may have been the original focal point of
the property. Moreover, the rustic cabin seems suited to the modest needs of a military man like John
Payne.
Payne remained active in Goochland affairs until his death. He served as a member of the House
of Burgesses from 1752 to 1768, and as revolutionary sentiment grew, he became a member of the
Committee of Safety of Goochland. These activities did not diminish his commitment to Oak Grove.
Slowly, Payne transformed Chiles' woody plots into a prosperous tobacco farm. By 1782 he owned 1600
acres along the Staunton and was active in local politics. When local landowners began to lobby for the
subdivision of Bedford County in 1779, Payne joined the cause. Together the group drafted over a dozen
petitions to the Virginia Assembly which resulted in the passage of an act creating Campbell County in
1781.
When John Payne died in 1784, he left Oak Grove to his son Philip. Apparently, the fledgling
tobacco plantation was more valuable than Payne's other holdings, for Philip had to pay a small fee to
collect his inheritance. For a driven young man with powerful connections, this would be a small price to
pay. In 1784 Philip Payne had just married Elizabeth Dandridge. Between them the couple had blood ties
to three Royal Governors including Alexander Spotswood, George Matthews, and John West. In addition
Philip's sister-in-law was married to Patrick Henry. Famous relations did not spare them from an age-old
dilemma, however-Philip and Eliza had a new baby, and they needed a place to live.
As he did not own another large estate, Philip Payne might have seen Oak Grove as the perfect
starter home. He expanded his father's log house to make it more suitable for his genteel young bride and
their growing family. During his occupancy, Payne raised door heights and closed the central passage in
the dog trot house. He removed one of the interior log walls and the house's original stair, covered interior
walls in plaster, built a new central stair, and encased the structure in wood siding. Tax records imply that
Payne's renovation may have been carried out over a fifteen-year period. In 1786 Philip owned 1080 acres
... ---------------------------
0MB No. 102-18
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _4_
valued at $2,900. By 1796 the property's value had leapt to $9,670.
As he improved the house at Oak Grove, Philip Payne transformed his father's fledgling farm into
a small empire. Following a series of deft land acquisitions, Oak Grove grew from 1080 acres worked by
35 slaves in 1786 to 6000 acres worked by 250 slaves in 1800. Payne also worked to improve Campbell
County's infrastructure. He served as an officer on the Roanoke River Navigation Company and invested
in local mills.
By 1803 Payne realized he needed a new center of operations. He moved his family to Airy Mont, a
plantation located five miles downriver where the Staunton flows around a highland called Brown's
Mountain before separating into wide low grounds. From this strategic location Payne could keep an eye
on his ever-expanding interests. It is not know who lived at Oak Grove after Payne's move to Airy Mount
until 1819 when Philip Payne deeded Oak Grove to his twenty-one-year-old son Philip Matthews Payne.
Philip M. Payne followed the family tradition of serving in the local militia and gradually expanded his
holdings. He seems to have remained in the updated house until 1832 when he married Mary Mitchell.
Married life inspired Payne to improve and expand his family's home. A tax assessment from
1833 notes building improvements. By this time Payne had probably completed Oak Grove's new west
wing. Linked to his father's home on the east, this two-story structure introduced a classical, Federal style
main block to the irregular building. Its three-bay fa9ade, which faced north, included a new main
entrance.
Philip M. Payne's appreciation for the fmer things in life was reflected in the decorative details of
Oak Grove's new west wing. The hall of this new addition was lined with fashionable wallpaper, some of
which survives today. Interior doors adorned with intricate false graining attest to Payne's refined taste as
do marbleized mantels. One dining room mantel dating from Payne's occupancy even includes a handcarved rope pattern in its moldings. Payne also seems to have had a marked interest in stone. Large slabs
of fieldstone forming the foundation of his new western addition appear to have been harvested from
outcroppings on his property. These rough blocks of quarried stone stood in marked contrast to the small
field stones supporting the log house.
Many of the house's decorative details also centered around stonework. This may have been the
result of Payne's relationship with his brother-in-law John Peerman. Peerman owned a quarry three miles
west of Oak Grove where he harvested and processed soapstone and sandstone. A soapstone hearth in the
living room and a sandstone paved walk in the front yard seem to date from Philip M. Payne's residency
and appear to have come from Peerman's quarry. Peerman may have also advised Philip M. to use
Leesville stone in fireboxes and chimneys throughout the house since it was both colorful and fire
resistant.' These insets remain intact today. Philip M. Payne may have arranged the stone's shipment
along the Staunton River from Leesville as his father had served as an officer in the Roanoke River
- -
-···------
---
0MB No. 102-18
NPS Form W-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _s_
Company. Traces of Leesville stone may also be found in the west wing's end chimney, in the slave
quarter chimney, and in the remains of the kitchen chimney.
Philip M. Payne owned Oak Grove until 1867 when he conveyed the property to his daughter
Helen K. Payne. The Civil War and Reconstruction marked the beginning of a new era for Payne's estate.
Without slaves the labor-intensive process of tobacco farming was abandoned, and Oak Grove became
simply a family home. Helen K. Payne mortgaged the property with the note held by other Payne relatives,
and in 1886 the note holders conveyed the property to John L. Lee. The Lee family held the property for
two generations before conveying it to J. H. Adams in the 1950s. Adams' executor sold the property to the
present owner in 1989.
Fortunately, subsequent owners outside the Payne family respected the house and left it virtually
unchanged. As a result, Oak Grove remains a well-preserved document of the Federal era and the cultural
changes that shaped America in that period.
'Ruth Hairston Early, Campbell County Chronicles and Family Sketches (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company,
1978) X.
2
Amelia County Will Book 1, p. 40. Brunswick County Patent Book 24, p. 286.
3
Amelia County Will Book 1, p. 40. Brunswick County Patent Book 24, p. 286.
4
Lunenburg County Deed Book 2; p. 217, Deed Book 3, p.254; Deed Book 5 p.161.
5
Virginia Patent Book 18, p.164-165.
6
Henry Chiles' daughter Ann also believed in the economic potential of the Staunton River. Following her father's
death, she and her husband John Ward amassed large holdings immediately west of Oak Grove.
7
Diane Popek, Tracks Along the Staunton (Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1984) 31.
8
Soapstone was suitable for fireplace hearths and paving stones but could not sustain extreme heat without damage.
For this reason, heat resistant Leesville stone was used to line fireplace boxes.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900.a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ I _
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clement, Maud Carter. The History ofPittsylvania County Virginia. Lynchburg, VA:
J.P. Bell Company, 1929.
Fitzgerald, Madalen Vaden. Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past. Danville, VA:
Womack Press, 1974.
The Historical Committee of the Bicentennial Commission of Campbell County,
Virginia. Lest It Be Forgotten: A Scrapbook of Campbell County Virginia.
Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1976.
Meyer, Virginia M. and John Frederick Dorman. Adventurers of Purse and Person:
Virginia 1607-1624/5. Richmond: Order of First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/5, 1987.
"Paynes Acquired Land. " The New Campbell County Chronicles. Published for the
Campbell County Bicentennial, 1982, p. 89.
Payne, Brooke. The Paynes of Virginia. Harrisonburg, VA: C.J. Carrier Company,
1977.
"The Payne Family of Goochland," Virginia Historical Magazine 79-83; 174; 200; 313317.
Popek, Diane. Tracks Along the Staunton. Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1984.
Weeks, Elie. "Hickory Hill." Goochland County Historical Society Magazine Autumn
1977: 3-11.
0MB No. 1024~018
~PS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _10_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 1 _
UTM Reference
UTM Reference Point 657 597 E, 4 I 09 198 N
Verbal Boundary Description
Oak Grove's boundary is defined by letters A-Das marked on the USGS map attached.
Boundary Justification
The area nominated contains all surviving secondary buildings associated with Oak Grove. These include
five outbuildings to the east of the house and three sites to the east and southeast. Please see sketch map
attached.
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photos enclosed are of Oak Grove in Campbell County, Virginia. All were taken by Margaret Roberts on
September 15, 2001. For negatives please contact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Photo Key
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
IO
II
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Northern elevation, main house
Southern elevation, main house
Eastern elevation, main house
Western elevation, main house
Smokehouse
Slave quarter
Grain shed
Haybam
Privy
Kitchen remains
lcehouse remains
Cemetery
Parlor, first floor, east wing
Parlor, first floor, west wing
Bedroom, second floor, east wing
View east from bedroom, second floor, west wing
Graining on interior door, first floor
Marbeling on fireplace, parlor, first floor, west wing
OIIIB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form I0-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
10_
Page_2_
Negative Key
Roll 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
I2
I3
I4
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Northern elevation, main house
Northern elevation, main house
Smokehouse with granary beyond
Eastern elevation, main house
Hay barn
Slave quarter
Cemetery
Cemetery
Porch from main house
Western elevation, main house
Detail, east wing
Parlor, east wing
Stair, east wing, main house
False grained door leading to west wing, main house
False grained door leading to west wing, main house
Entrance hall
Parlor, first floor, west wing
False graining
Landing, second floor, west wing
View east from bedroom, second floor, west wing
Parlor, east wing
Parlor, east wing
Windows to be repaired
Fieldstone
Roll 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Smokehouse
Smokehouse, detail
Granary
Jcehouse remains
Slave quarter
House and slave quarter from southeast
Privy
Oak Grove
Campbell County
0MB No. 10'.l44t01S
NPS form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
10
Page_3_
Negative Key
Roll 2 continued
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Southern elevation, main house
Cemetery
Cemetery
Main house from cemetery
Kitchen remains
House foundation
Chimney, east wing
Porch
Stairs, east wing
Basement
False grained door, west wing
False grained mantel, west wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Basement
Landscape
Oak Grove
Campbell County
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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
79°15'
37°07'30"
COMMONWEALl
DIVISION OF MIN
JAMES L. CALVER,
\\j1<J-\f'- ,:, /6'
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102~18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This fonn is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A ). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented. enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items,
1. Name of Property
historic name
Oak Grove
othernames/site number VDHR # 15-5103
2. Location
street & number 73 78 Gladys Road
not for publication N/A
city or town ~A~l~ta~v~i~st=a~-----------------------state Virginia
code VA county_,C~am,...p.,b"'e"'ll~---- code _,0~3~1_ _ _ __
vicinity
Zip 24517
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
_X_ nomination _ _ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in
36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X_ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register Criteria, I
recommend that this property be considered significant __ nationally_ statewide _X locally, ( __ See continuation
shee
Signature of certi ing official
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property _ _ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register criteria, ( __ See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):--------
- - - - - - - - - - - - Signature ofKeeper
Date of Action _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
--
- - -------------- - --------
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
_X_private
_ public-local
_ public-State
_ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X building( s)
d1Strict
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
_o_ buildings
_l_
_3_
_O_sites
(cemetery, kitchen, ice house)
_5_
_O_ structures (smokehouse, slave quarter, grain shed, hay barn, privy)
_o_ _O_objects
_9_
_O_Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register_ O_
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Sub: Single dwellin~-----Cat: DOMESTIC
_DOMESTJC
Secondary structure_ _ _ __
_ AGRICULTURAL/SUBSJSTENCE Agricultural field; storage _ __
_ FUNERARY
Cemetery_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: WORK IN PROGRESS
Sub:-----------
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
name of property
location
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC Federal,_ _ _ _ _ __
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _Fieldstone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
roof _Standing seam tin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
walls_Weatherboard._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
other Chimneys of local fieldstone; Wooden p o r c h e s ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
A
B
_X_C
D
Property is associated with events that have made a sigrtificant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or a grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Architecture _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
__Agriculture _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
0MB No. 1024-4018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Period ofSignificance_l750-1951 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Significant Dates _1750_ __
1784_ _
1833_ __
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion Bis marked above)
Cultural A f f i l i a t i o n - - - - - - - - - - - - - Architect/Builder _Unknownc__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_X_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
_ previously listed in the National Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # _ _ _ __
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_ Federal agency
_Local government
_
University
_Other
Name of repository:
IO. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _ _8_ __
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
____ 2
1
3
4
_X_ See contmuat10n sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
0MB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10·900
(Rev. 10-90)
name of property
location
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Bonndary Jnstification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Margaret Roberts
Organization:
date_9/21/0l _ _ _ __
stree! & number: _601 Spring Slreet Apt. B, _ _ _ _ _ _ _telephone 804 644 0785,_ _ _ _ __
city or town__Richmond._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA__ zip code _23220_ _ __
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and propenies having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
narne __V. Cassel Adamson _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
street & number_65 l O Three Chopt Rd. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _----'telephone 804 288 8951 _ _ _ _ __
city or town_Richmond_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA_ zip code _23226,_ _ __
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended ( 16 V.S.C. 470 et seq.}.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this fonn is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the fonn. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this fonn to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project ( 1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
0MB No. 1024--0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _2_
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Oak Grove's eastern wing is built of logs and mortar. The remainder of the house is frame
construction resting on a fieldstone foundation. The entire structure is clad in wood siding and has a
standing-seam tin roof. Windows to the east of the central front door are haphazardly spaced and uneven
in size. There are three double-hung six-over-six windows in the first story of the east wing, none of which
are the same size or sit on the same level. On the second floor of the east wing a six-over-six dormer
window bears some resemblance to the windows directly below it while two four-over-four windows stand
on either side of a fieldstone chimney.
The symmetrical west wing, ca. 1833, stands in sharp contrast to the remainder of the structure. Its
three evenly spaced bays contain five six-over-six windows and a front door in the eastern bay. This
entrance consists of double doors with a rectangular transom above. The contrast between Oak Grove's
east and west wings becomes more marked on the rear elevation. Here the east wing juts out and is
bisected by a second fieldstone chimney. A narrow central section links the east and west wings. Here a
lone six-over-six window stands west of a second-story dormer. The rear elevation of the west wing
mirrors the main elevation. Today traces of gable-roofed front porches are found at both the house's front
and back doors. These features, which appear to date from Philip M. Payne's residency, have been
removed and are in the process of being restored.
Oak Grove's interior echoes its irregular exterior. Located in the third bay of the west wing, the
front door opens onto a spacious entrance hall. To the west stands a large room that probably served as a
parlor following the final expansion of the house in 1833. To the east a second room contains stairs
leading to two attic bedrooms at the east side of the house. Originally, these chambers stood separate from
rooms to the west, but now a door in the existing wall provides access across the second floor.
Returning to the first floor and continuing east, one enters a second large room that probably
served as the original parlor. A stair in the room's southwest corner provides additional access to upstairs
bedrooms. Another rooms stands to the south of the original parlor. To the east a shed-roofed porch later
enclosed two rooms that will serve as a bathroom and kitchen following Oak Grove's current renovation.
Oak Grove retains a number of its original decorative features. These include the matching double
doors at the front and rear entrances and cove and bead molding throughout the house. Four mantels
dating from the late Federal period survive, and two found in the west wing have excellent false marbling.
Significant examples of false graining also survive on interior doors in the west wing.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section_7_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page_3_
Oak Grove also boasts a variety of intricate stone work. Its two eastern chinmeys are built of
fieldstone that was probably found on the property. The fireboxes of all three chinmeys are built of stone
from Leesville, a small town west of Oak Grove along the Staunton River. The hearth in the original
living room was made of local soapstone, and sandstone pavers in the front yard appear to have come from
a local quarry.
Many of Oak Grove's original outbuildings still stand. The smokehouse to the southeast of the
main residence appears to date from the late eighteenth century. Like the log core of Oak Grove's east
wing, the smokehouse is constructed of notched logs flattened on one side with angle cut comers. A slave
quarter facing the east wing shares similar construction but is clad in wood siding. This building has short
six-foot door frames and tiny windows like those found in the original section of the main house.
A grain shed and a hay barn stand to the northeast of the house. These frame structures have mortared
stone bases and appear to date from the early twentieth century. A privy stands at the far southwestern
edge of the outbuilding complex. It too appears to date from the twentieth century.
The remains of a kitchen and an icehouse stand to the southeast of the main house. Traces of
Leesville stone found in the kitchen's chinmey suggest that building dates from the time of Philip H.
Payne's residency. Situated between the smokehouse and the grain shed, the icehouse now consists of a
deep round hole six feet in diameter. The Payne family cemetery stands 300 yards beyond these ruins.
Philip M. Payne is buried in this rectangular, overgrown site alongside many of his descendants.
0MB No. 1024--0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 8 _
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ I _
8- Statement of Significance
Oak Grove in Campbell County, Virginia qualifies for the National Register under criterion C, for
its varied architectural elements capture the gradual evolution of Virginia architecture from preRevolutionary times through the early National period. Built in stages between the 1750s and 1833, Oak
Grove began as a two-story dog-trot log structure built around 1750 by tobacco farmer John Payne. When
Payne's son Philip inherited the property in 1784, he enlarged the house to serve as a new home for
himself and his family. Philip's son, Philip M. Payne, completed Oak Grove around 1833 by adding a
west wing-a classic three bay structure containing a large hall and a parlor on the first floor and a stair
hall and two bedrooms on the second. Today Oak Grove remains much as it was in the time of Philip M.
Payne. Five outbuildings also survive-a smokehouse, a slave quarter, a grain shed, a hay barn, and a
privy as well as the remains of a kitchen and an icehouse.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-90()..a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 2 _
ffiSTORICAL BACKGROUND
Largely unchanged as a dwelling place since 1833, Oak Grove retains the imprints of its earliest
occupants. It is still possible to see patterns of land use introduced by tobacco prospector Henry Chiles.
Small plots of wheat and grain continue to grow on the highlands to the north and west of the house. To
the south boundaries of lowland tobacco fields remain visible along the Staunton 's banks. The log cabin
built ca. 1750 by Oak Grove's founder, John Payne, lies beneath wooden siding in the east wing of the
main house while Oak Grove's spacious western addition ca. 1833 recalls the easy prosperity of Payne's
grandson, Philip Matthews Payne. Each generation left its mark on Oak Grove. Today these physical and
architectural traces recall the rise of a family and a nation.
Oak Grove stands on a hill overlooking the Staunton River. Once the territory of Native American
tribes like the Sapony and the Monacan, the site piqued the interest of settlers during the early eighteenth
1
century. Due to the ad hoc nature of the colonial land grant process, the land that became Oak Grove
belonged to two other patent holders before being re-assigned to Henry Chiles in 1746.2 Chiles was a
colonel in the King William County Militia who took an active interest in Indian issues and the opening of
land for settlement. In 1737 he moved to what is now Prince Edward and Buckingham Counties with his
wife and children. There he began to explore the possibility of raising tobacco along the banks of the
Staunton River.
Unlike the Appomattox River, which also flowed through Prince Edward and Buckingham
Counties, the Staunton had enormous potential. The Appomattox was too narrow to support
transportation, and its floods were rarely dramatic enough to replenish surrounding lowlands. The
Staunton, however, was wide and deep. It was navigable, and its nourishing floods supported fertile
lowland fields. Chiles quietly eyed three hundred acres along the north side of the Staunton. In 1746 he
received one portion of the land through the standard land grant process. 3 But when Chiles realized he was
dying, he made arrangements to acquire the remainder of the property for his children. In his will Chiles
outlined the complicated patent history of additional parcels he wanted to obtain and then reassigned his
rights to particular heirs. When Chiles' children and widow claimed clear title to their plots, they
4
conveyed their grants to John Payne.
Born in 1713 in Goochland County, John Payne seems to have been one of Chiles' closest friends.
Like Chiles, Payne served as a colonel in his local militia. The two may have met during one of the era's
many frontier conflicts. Later Payne and Chiles appear to have planned occasional reunions in
Williamsburg, for records of their unrelated land dealings appear consecutively in land grant books kept in
the governor's office.' At some point Chiles must have told Payne that he wanted to start a large-scale
tobacco farm along the Staunton River, and Payne must have liked the concept. Before he died, Chiles
began the paper process required to make his dream a reality. With the land conveyed to him by Chiles'
children, Payne started a small tobacco farm along the north side of the Staunton River. Bounded by Hills
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 3 _
Creek to the east and Cheese Creek to the west, this verdant site with its towering oaks eventually became
Oak Grove. 6
John Payne had to build a house on the property within three years to comply with his land grant.
But Oak Grove was also a satellite operation, and Payne needed a place to stay on the property when he
came in from White Hall, his primary residence in Goochland County. A simple log structure offered the
perfect solution. This small house serves as the core of Oak Grove's east wing. It is unclear if this
building is the original structure built by John Payne around 1750, but it stands parallel to Oak Grove's
former slaves' quarters-a common configuration on eighteenth century Virginia settlements. 7 The house
is also symmetrically placed with respect to the smokehouse, the kitchen, and other outbuildings. The
relationship between these structures indicates that the structure may have been the original focal point of
the property. Moreover, the rustic cabin seems suited to the modest needs of a military man like John
Payne.
Payne remained active in Goochland affairs until his death. He served as a member of the House
of Burgesses from 1752 to 1768, and as revolutionary sentiment grew, he became a member of the
Committee of Safety of Goochland. These activities did not diminish his commitment to Oak Grove.
Slowly, Payne transformed Chiles' woody plots into a prosperous tobacco farm. By 1782 he owned 1600
acres along the Staunton and was active in local politics. When local landowners began to lobby for the
subdivision of Bedford County in 1779, Payne joined the cause. Together the group drafted over a dozen
petitions to the Virginia Assembly which resulted in the passage of an act creating Campbell County in
1781.
When John Payne died in 1784, he left Oak Grove to his son Philip. Apparently, the fledgling
tobacco plantation was more valuable than Payne's other holdings, for Philip had to pay a small fee to
collect his inheritance. For a driven young man with powerful connections, this would be a small price to
pay. In 1784 Philip Payne had just married Elizabeth Dandridge. Between them the couple had blood ties
to three Royal Governors including Alexander Spotswood, George Matthews, and John West. In addition
Philip's sister-in-law was married to Patrick Henry. Famous relations did not spare them from an age-old
dilemma, however-Philip and Eliza had a new baby, and they needed a place to live.
As he did not own another large estate, Philip Payne might have seen Oak Grove as the perfect
starter home. He expanded his father's log house to make it more suitable for his genteel young bride and
their growing family. During his occupancy, Payne raised door heights and closed the central passage in
the dog trot house. He removed one of the interior log walls and the house's original stair, covered interior
walls in plaster, built a new central stair, and encased the structure in wood siding. Tax records imply that
Payne's renovation may have been carried out over a fifteen-year period. In 1786 Philip owned 1080 acres
... ---------------------------
0MB No. 102-18
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _4_
valued at $2,900. By 1796 the property's value had leapt to $9,670.
As he improved the house at Oak Grove, Philip Payne transformed his father's fledgling farm into
a small empire. Following a series of deft land acquisitions, Oak Grove grew from 1080 acres worked by
35 slaves in 1786 to 6000 acres worked by 250 slaves in 1800. Payne also worked to improve Campbell
County's infrastructure. He served as an officer on the Roanoke River Navigation Company and invested
in local mills.
By 1803 Payne realized he needed a new center of operations. He moved his family to Airy Mont, a
plantation located five miles downriver where the Staunton flows around a highland called Brown's
Mountain before separating into wide low grounds. From this strategic location Payne could keep an eye
on his ever-expanding interests. It is not know who lived at Oak Grove after Payne's move to Airy Mount
until 1819 when Philip Payne deeded Oak Grove to his twenty-one-year-old son Philip Matthews Payne.
Philip M. Payne followed the family tradition of serving in the local militia and gradually expanded his
holdings. He seems to have remained in the updated house until 1832 when he married Mary Mitchell.
Married life inspired Payne to improve and expand his family's home. A tax assessment from
1833 notes building improvements. By this time Payne had probably completed Oak Grove's new west
wing. Linked to his father's home on the east, this two-story structure introduced a classical, Federal style
main block to the irregular building. Its three-bay fa9ade, which faced north, included a new main
entrance.
Philip M. Payne's appreciation for the fmer things in life was reflected in the decorative details of
Oak Grove's new west wing. The hall of this new addition was lined with fashionable wallpaper, some of
which survives today. Interior doors adorned with intricate false graining attest to Payne's refined taste as
do marbleized mantels. One dining room mantel dating from Payne's occupancy even includes a handcarved rope pattern in its moldings. Payne also seems to have had a marked interest in stone. Large slabs
of fieldstone forming the foundation of his new western addition appear to have been harvested from
outcroppings on his property. These rough blocks of quarried stone stood in marked contrast to the small
field stones supporting the log house.
Many of the house's decorative details also centered around stonework. This may have been the
result of Payne's relationship with his brother-in-law John Peerman. Peerman owned a quarry three miles
west of Oak Grove where he harvested and processed soapstone and sandstone. A soapstone hearth in the
living room and a sandstone paved walk in the front yard seem to date from Philip M. Payne's residency
and appear to have come from Peerman's quarry. Peerman may have also advised Philip M. to use
Leesville stone in fireboxes and chimneys throughout the house since it was both colorful and fire
resistant.' These insets remain intact today. Philip M. Payne may have arranged the stone's shipment
along the Staunton River from Leesville as his father had served as an officer in the Roanoke River
- -
-···------
---
0MB No. 102-18
NPS Form W-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _s_
Company. Traces of Leesville stone may also be found in the west wing's end chimney, in the slave
quarter chimney, and in the remains of the kitchen chimney.
Philip M. Payne owned Oak Grove until 1867 when he conveyed the property to his daughter
Helen K. Payne. The Civil War and Reconstruction marked the beginning of a new era for Payne's estate.
Without slaves the labor-intensive process of tobacco farming was abandoned, and Oak Grove became
simply a family home. Helen K. Payne mortgaged the property with the note held by other Payne relatives,
and in 1886 the note holders conveyed the property to John L. Lee. The Lee family held the property for
two generations before conveying it to J. H. Adams in the 1950s. Adams' executor sold the property to the
present owner in 1989.
Fortunately, subsequent owners outside the Payne family respected the house and left it virtually
unchanged. As a result, Oak Grove remains a well-preserved document of the Federal era and the cultural
changes that shaped America in that period.
'Ruth Hairston Early, Campbell County Chronicles and Family Sketches (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company,
1978) X.
2
Amelia County Will Book 1, p. 40. Brunswick County Patent Book 24, p. 286.
3
Amelia County Will Book 1, p. 40. Brunswick County Patent Book 24, p. 286.
4
Lunenburg County Deed Book 2; p. 217, Deed Book 3, p.254; Deed Book 5 p.161.
5
Virginia Patent Book 18, p.164-165.
6
Henry Chiles' daughter Ann also believed in the economic potential of the Staunton River. Following her father's
death, she and her husband John Ward amassed large holdings immediately west of Oak Grove.
7
Diane Popek, Tracks Along the Staunton (Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1984) 31.
8
Soapstone was suitable for fireplace hearths and paving stones but could not sustain extreme heat without damage.
For this reason, heat resistant Leesville stone was used to line fireplace boxes.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900.a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ I _
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clement, Maud Carter. The History ofPittsylvania County Virginia. Lynchburg, VA:
J.P. Bell Company, 1929.
Fitzgerald, Madalen Vaden. Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past. Danville, VA:
Womack Press, 1974.
The Historical Committee of the Bicentennial Commission of Campbell County,
Virginia. Lest It Be Forgotten: A Scrapbook of Campbell County Virginia.
Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1976.
Meyer, Virginia M. and John Frederick Dorman. Adventurers of Purse and Person:
Virginia 1607-1624/5. Richmond: Order of First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/5, 1987.
"Paynes Acquired Land. " The New Campbell County Chronicles. Published for the
Campbell County Bicentennial, 1982, p. 89.
Payne, Brooke. The Paynes of Virginia. Harrisonburg, VA: C.J. Carrier Company,
1977.
"The Payne Family of Goochland," Virginia Historical Magazine 79-83; 174; 200; 313317.
Popek, Diane. Tracks Along the Staunton. Altavista, VA: Altavista Printing Co., 1984.
Weeks, Elie. "Hickory Hill." Goochland County Historical Society Magazine Autumn
1977: 3-11.
0MB No. 1024~018
~PS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _10_
Oak Grove
Campbell County
Page _ 1 _
UTM Reference
UTM Reference Point 657 597 E, 4 I 09 198 N
Verbal Boundary Description
Oak Grove's boundary is defined by letters A-Das marked on the USGS map attached.
Boundary Justification
The area nominated contains all surviving secondary buildings associated with Oak Grove. These include
five outbuildings to the east of the house and three sites to the east and southeast. Please see sketch map
attached.
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photos enclosed are of Oak Grove in Campbell County, Virginia. All were taken by Margaret Roberts on
September 15, 2001. For negatives please contact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Photo Key
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
IO
II
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Northern elevation, main house
Southern elevation, main house
Eastern elevation, main house
Western elevation, main house
Smokehouse
Slave quarter
Grain shed
Haybam
Privy
Kitchen remains
lcehouse remains
Cemetery
Parlor, first floor, east wing
Parlor, first floor, west wing
Bedroom, second floor, east wing
View east from bedroom, second floor, west wing
Graining on interior door, first floor
Marbeling on fireplace, parlor, first floor, west wing
OIIIB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form I0-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
10_
Page_2_
Negative Key
Roll 1
0
1
2
3
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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
I2
I3
I4
15
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17
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22
23
Northern elevation, main house
Northern elevation, main house
Smokehouse with granary beyond
Eastern elevation, main house
Hay barn
Slave quarter
Cemetery
Cemetery
Porch from main house
Western elevation, main house
Detail, east wing
Parlor, east wing
Stair, east wing, main house
False grained door leading to west wing, main house
False grained door leading to west wing, main house
Entrance hall
Parlor, first floor, west wing
False graining
Landing, second floor, west wing
View east from bedroom, second floor, west wing
Parlor, east wing
Parlor, east wing
Windows to be repaired
Fieldstone
Roll 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Smokehouse
Smokehouse, detail
Granary
Jcehouse remains
Slave quarter
House and slave quarter from southeast
Privy
Oak Grove
Campbell County
0MB No. 10'.l44t01S
NPS form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
10
Page_3_
Negative Key
Roll 2 continued
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
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20
21
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23
Southern elevation, main house
Cemetery
Cemetery
Main house from cemetery
Kitchen remains
House foundation
Chimney, east wing
Porch
Stairs, east wing
Basement
False grained door, west wing
False grained mantel, west wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Second floor bedroom, east wing
Basement
Landscape
Oak Grove
Campbell County
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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
79°15'
37°07'30"
COMMONWEALl
DIVISION OF MIN
JAMES L. CALVER,
Text
I Y ~ Drorrn -IU-YWU
OMB NO. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter " N I P for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Carters Run Rural Historic District
Other nameslsite number: VDHR File No. 030-5603
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/ A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
LISTED ON:
VLR: 3/20/2014
NRHP: 5/15/2014
2. Location
Street & number: Generally centered along, Carters Run Road (Route 691) and extending
west along Scotts Road (Route 719), and east side of Free State Road (Route 721)
City or town: Marshall
State: VA
County: Fauquier
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
N/A
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this J
- nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria.
In my opinion, the property X
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
X local
-national
-statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
(
Date
Vir~iniaDepartment of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____37______
_____8_______
buildings
_____13 _____
_____0_______
sites
_____ 8_______
_____0________
structures
_____1______
_____2________
objects
____59________
_____10_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___6______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing, Storage, Agricultural Field, Agricultural
Outbuilding, Animal Facility
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
FUNERARY: Cemetery
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
LANDSCAPE: Natural Feature
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing, Storage, Agricultural Field, Agricultural
Outbuilding, Animal Facility
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
FUNERARY: Cemetery
LANDSCAPE: Natural Feature, Conservation Area
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
MID 19th CENTURY: Greek Revival
LATE VICTORIAN
MODERN MOVEMENT: Neo-French
OTHER: Hall-parlor, Vernacular
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: WOOD: Weatherboard, Log, Shake; BRICK;
STONE: Limestone, Slate; METAL; STUCCO
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Carters Run Rural Historic District encompasses approximately 4,400 acres in the northern
section of Fauquier County. The historic district, situated in the Upper Piedmont region of
Virginia, lies about three miles south of the Town of Marshall and about 13 miles northwest of
Warrenton, the county seat. Carters Run Road (Route 691) extends north-to-south through the
center of the district with active agricultural land and wooded parcels to either side. The only
other public roadways in the district are Free State Road (Route 721), which runs along the
western edge of the district and the unpaved Scotts Road (Route 719), which extends east-towest between the two paved roadways. An interior network of unpaved farm roads also is present
on the properties included in the district. The historic district derives its name from the waterway
that courses through the center of the district and which played a major role in the settlement
patterns, agricultural activities, and industry of the region.
The historic district boundaries generally follow current property lines, extending to the
Rappahannock Mountains on the east and along the Free State Road (Route 721) on the west, but
also rely on visual boundaries such as tree lines and mountain ridges. The district is adjacent to
the state and nationally registered Morgantown Historic District (030-5322) on the west side, as
well, which encompasses an area that was established by African-American residents in the late
nineteenth century on property deeded from the Morgan family. The boundaries for the Carters
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Run Rural Historic District include the significant early-nineteenth-century landholdings of
James Morgan. Morgan’s acquisitions included the southern portion of Lord Fairfax’s 1727 grant
to the Rev. Alexander Scott, as well as a portion of the Manor of Leeds purchased by Morgan in
1811 from John and James Marshall. The land has been in sustained agricultural use since that
time. The broad views through the valley—from the Rappahannock Mountains on the east to the
Blue Ridge Mountains on the west—remain intact with few non-historic visual intrusions. No
commercial buildings are located in the district. Rolling hills, open pastures, and cultivated fields
edged by mature woodlands, dwellings, and agricultural and domestic outbuildings characterize
this area, which retains a very high level of physical integrity. The picturesque scenery is
enhanced by prominently sited houses and barns located to either side of Carters Run Road.
There are 75 total resources in the district, including 6 previously listed in the National Register
of Historic Places.1 Of these, 65 are contributing resources and 10 are non-contributing
resources. Of the 37 contributing buildings, 18 are primary or secondary dwellings and the
remainder is domestic and agricultural outbuildings. The 9 contributing structures in the district
resources include dry-laid fieldstone walls, which historically marked property lines and
delineated pastures, manmade ponds, a historic road trace, and cisterns and wells. The 13
contributing sites in the district include mid-nineteenth century mill sites, sites of known
domestic or agricultural outbuildings, one small family cemetery, and one cultural landscape site
(mounting stones at Barrymore). The 3 objects in the district are gatepost entry markers—one is
contributing and two are non-contributing. The 8 non-contributing buildings in the district are
original dwellings that either were significantly remodeled (Barrymore) or were rebuilt on an
older foundation (Seager House), or are dwellings and outbuildings that have been constructed
within the last 50 years.
The dwellings in the historic district display a diversity of architectural styles including examples
of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century log and stone vernacular houses, earlynineteenth-century Greek Revival-style dwellings, and a late-twentieth-century Neo-French-style
house. The district comprises several large-acreage farms that include a variety of nineteenth and
early-twentieth-century domestic agricultural buildings such as barns, silos, springhouses, and
meat houses. Contributing dwellings are of log, brick, or stone construction. The masonry
examples often feature a stucco exterior finish. The majority of the outbuildings are of frame
construction, although log and stone examples are present.
Together, the district’s architectural resources, open pastures, cropland, and wooded tracts
combine to reflect the occupational activities of people engaged in the traditional work of
agriculture over two centuries (from circa 1790 to 1950). The district includes notable examples
of high-style dwellings and agricultural buildings, as well as examples of the county’s early
vernacular buildings.
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Landscape and Setting
The landscape of the Carters Run Rural Historic District is generally of a rolling nature with
open pastures, cultivated fields, and wooded tracts. Carters Run runs north-to-south through the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
historic district and Carters Run Road, which roughly parallels its namesake waterway, is the
major transportation route through the region. Free State Road (Route 721) partially borders the
district on its west side. Interior roadways include the unpaved Scotts Road (Route 719) and
unpaved farm roads. The presence of Route 17 (Winchester Road) to the east and Interstate 66 to
the north has not altered the character of this bucolic, pastoral region. Although the route of
Carters Run Road was altered in the early twentieth century (moved slightly to the east), it
remains the central organizing roadway in the valley. The former route, which remains visible on
the landscape, extends through Waveland and Clover Hill and more closely followed the path of
the creek than the present roadway. Most of the large dwellings in the district are set back from
the road and are accessed by long, winding driveways sometimes marked by entrance piers or
property signage. Waveland, which currently sits near the east side of Carters Run Road,
historically would have been set a good distance from the road and overlooked it to the west.
Later dwellings front directly onto the road, especially along Scotts Road.
The Rappahannock Mountains, including the wooded ridge of Wildcat Mountain, are located to
the east and foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains are located to the west. Much of the land in
the historic district, as well as much of the bordering land, is held in conservation easement. The
wooded areas in the historic district exhibit a combination of oak, hickory, beech, maple, pines
and other native species. In evaluating one of the Carters Run Valley properties it holds in
easement, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation described the tree cover in the Carters Run Valley
as one of the “finest remaining examples of an intact Piedmont hardwood forest.” 2
The approximately 4,400-acre rural historic district is characterized by active agricultural use
with the land engaged in cattle grazing, as well as crop production. At present, hay, sorghum,
and soybeans are primary crops in the area, but historically farms grew a great diversity of crops
including tobacco, wheat, oats, and a myriad of vegetables and fruits. Grains could be ground at
local grist mills, including the mill on Scotts Road, and vegetables and fruits were harvested and
put up at the end of the season. Historically, this region was known for its cattle production and
area farmers also raised sheep and hogs. Early on, horses, a mainstay on Fauquier County farms,
were used primarily for farm work or travel, but in the early twentieth century foxhunting grew
in popularity in the area and riding and jumping horses were also raised here.
Architectural Analysis
The architectural resources in the Carters Run Rural Historic District date from circa 1790
through the turn of the twenty-first century. The 75 resources include 65 contributing and 10
non-contributing elements. The latter include buildings and structures that are not yet 50 years of
age or resources that have been significantly modified or altered. The contributing buildings
include primary and second dwellings and associated complexes of domestic and agricultural
outbuildings. The contributing dwellings date from circa 1790 to 1950 and most reflect
vernacular forms of hall-parlor plans, center-passage dwellings, and early-twentieth-century
bungalow forms; several dwellings are banked into the their hillside sites, taking advantage of
the area’s topography. Two of the dwellings are executed in the Greek Revival style—the main
dwelling at Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003), which is individually listed in the National
Register, and the main dwelling at Clover Hill (030-0516/030-5306-0005). Both dwellings were
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
constructed circa 1835. Agricultural buildings on these properties range in date from circa 1850
to the mid-twentieth century. The largest and oldest of these are barns erected for livestock
shelter and hay storage; the most recent buildings are associated with modern equipment and
machine storage. The district also contains one small family cemetery, two mill sites, the known
sites of historic outbuildings, and landscape features including entry gateposts fieldstone walls
and farm ponds.5
The earliest architectural resources located in the district are examples of typical Fauquier
County dwellings of the period and are modest dwellings constructed from readily available
materials such as stone and log. Limestone was a common construction material in Fauquier
County and most often was used in foundations, chimneys, and exterior walls of dwellings and
outbuildings, including barns, and in walls that marked property and field divisions. Fieldstone
walls and foundations were generally dry laid uncoursed, random rubble. Stones used as
thresholds, window and door lintels or sills, and at building corners tend to be somewhat more
finished or dressed. It was common to clad the exterior of the stone buildings of this period with
stucco, which was also produced from the local supply of limestone. In some cases, latetwentieth-century owners have removed the stucco or have not replaced failed stucco, revealing
the stonework below. The interior of these dwellings, and some of the barns and outbuildings,
also were plastered.3
Log dwellings are also common and tend to have been clad at construction or soon thereafter
with horizontal weatherboard and in some cases stucco.4 Log dwellings commonly sat on stone
foundations and had exterior-end stone chimneys. In Fauquier County, this form persisted into
the nineteenth century. Again, relying on the local materials, frame buildings were erected using
timber cut by local saw mills.
Early vernacular dwellings typically took on the modest form of a one-and-a-half-story, hallparlor (two-room) dwelling. Some single-room cabins also were constructed. Both forms were
added to as soon as resources allowed. In addition to the common vernacular forms, the district
contains high-style architectural examples, most notably two circa 1835 temple-front Greek
Revival-style dwellings—Waveland and Clover Hill. The former is constructed of brick and the
latter is of brick construction clad with stucco. These dwellings are the finest in the valley and
are associated with the ownership of the Morgan family, which extend through the midnineteenth century. These prominent landowners also were slaveholders and although no
examples remain, slave quarters were among the historic architectural complexes on district-area
farms.
During the colonial era, the area within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the
five million-acre Northern Neck Proprietary that was inherited by Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax.
Large portions of this vast landholding were leased or granted by Fairfax’s agent, Robert Carter.
Fairfax retained title to 160,000 acres of the estate, which remained unleased and which he
named the Manor of Leeds. The northern and eastern portions of the Carters Run Rural Historic
District were part of a large grant made in 1727 to Reverend Alexander Scott, who in 1711
became minister of Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, and resided in that county. Upon his
death in 1738, the Rev. Scott left to his brother James, who was also a minister and lived in
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Stafford County, over 8,600 acres of land in Stafford, Fauquier, and Fairfax counties and 30
slaves. In 1762, James conveyed the Fauquier holdings (“2,823 acres on Carters Run”) and 33
slaves to his son, James.6
The western part of the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the Manor of Leeds,
which in 1793 was purchased by John and James Marshall and others. From his apportionment
of the manor, John Marshall had given each of his sons a large estate. In 1820, Marshall deeded
his son, John, Jr., the 2,375-acre Mont Blanc parcel, which extended from near the town of
Hume as far east as Carters Run and adjacent to the Scott landholdings.7 Marshall’s heirs
retained ownership of the property into the nineteenth century and maintained a system of
leaseholding on the property.
Architectural resources in the district that date to this early settlement period in the region
include the stucco-over-stone former overseer’s house located on the Barrymore estate (0305603-0002). This one-and-a-half-story dwelling, believed to date to circa 1790, originally
featured a single large room with a centrally located stair that led to a loft above. Hewn timbers
are present on the interior and large stone chimneys are located on either end of the dwelling.
The house is banked slightly into the hillside, which provides a cellar space below that is
accessed only from the exterior. The interior has been altered by moving the stair to the southeast
corner of the first-floor space, but the building retains its rustic character and overall original
form.
The Morgantown House is an early log dwelling located in the district. Located on the western
edge of the vast Waveland estate (030-512/030-5603-0003), the house is so-named for its
proximity to the African-American settlement of Morgantown. This dwelling predates the
Morgan ownership of the Waveland property by several years and likely was occupied by a lease
holder or tenant. Located on a high hill above Carters Run, it was originally a one-and-a-halfstory, two-bay log dwelling with a large exterior end chimney. Later, a two-story frame addition
and an exterior stone chimney were constructed to the north end of the house, resulting in a
center-passage, single-pile (I-house) plan. This evolution is evident on the exterior in the
weatherboard seams and window opening arrangement. The house is clad with weatherboards
and the doorways are Victorian in character with round-top sidelights and windows.
Dendrochronological investigations conducted in spring 2013 indicate “that the original structure
was built of yellow pine logs that were felled in the winter of 1806/7 and that the roof was built
of oak timbers that were felled in the spring of 1807.”8 Although presently in a deteriorated
condition, the building retains sufficient historical material to convey its construction evolution
and appearance. In recent months, the owner has undertaken significant stabilization efforts
especially with regard to the roof and foundation. In addition, interior stabilization and clean up
is underway.
During the early nineteenth century, brothers William and James Morgan owned much of the
land in the Carters Run Valley, which they had acquired from the Scott landholdings, as well as
the Marshalls. Around 1815, James Morgan built his home, Southern View (030-0663/030-56030007) above Carters Run. The earliest section of the dwelling, located on top of a hill on the east
side of present-day Scott’s Road, likely began as a one-and-a-half-story, hall-parlor plan
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
dwelling. According to a Virginia Historical Inventory report (1937), this section was of frame
construction and the interior featured wainscoting, fine woodwork, plaster walls, and a handsome
stairway.9 The house site overlooked the mill (now only a ruin site, 030-5603-0013) located at
the base of the hill on the west side. This original section, now on the north side of the house,
appears to have been raised to two stories in the late nineteenth century (circa 1878) and clad
with stucco. At the same time, the side-gable north wing was added. This addition has since
become the formal front of the dwelling. Large stone chimneys are present on the exterior ends
of the dwelling. The exterior was clad with stucco in the 1940s. Two historic outbuildings, the
kitchen and meat house, survived into the late twentieth century, but have since been
demolished. Two twentieth-century frame bank barns are present on the property and contribute
to the agricultural context of the property.
Around 1830, Thomas Payne occupied a lease hold on the Marshall property located east of
present-day Free State Road. The one-and-a-half-story, two-room, log dwelling Payne built was
set on a stone foundation with large exterior-end stone chimneys. The house was covered by a
side-facing gable roof and was clad with weatherboards. Later additions include a one-room log
section and additional stone chimney on the south end of the dwelling and a frame addition and
porch on the east side. Tax records indicate that Payne purchased 122 acres “of Mont Blanc”
from Ashton A. Marshall in 1857 with a value for buildings listed at $100. Payne does not
appear to have obtained full ownership of the land until 1870, when the property is listed in tax
records under his name.10 Fauquier County tax records for 1900 list a valuation for the property’s
buildings at $245, which may reflect the date of the additions to the dwelling. After Thomas
Payne died in 1907, the property remained in the extended Payne family through 1958, when the
present owner acquired the land. At present, the dwelling is in fair condition and is used
seasonally. The dwelling retains its simple, vernacular form and character and its heavily
wooded, rustic setting is intact. A small family cemetery is located south of the dwelling and
contains two late-nineteenth-century graves.
The most notable architectural resources in the district were built around 1835 by the heirs of
James Morgan. When their father died, each of the three Morgan siblings acquired large parcels
of his Carters Run Valley property. The handsome Greek Revival-style brick dwelling at
Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003), located near the center of the district on the east side of
Carters Run Road, was built by Morgan’s daughter, Caroline, and her husband Dr. James H.
Loughborough.11 Waveland was listed on the state and national registers in 2004 for its national
and local significance in the areas of conservation and architecture. Waveland is associated with
John Augustine Washington III, the great-great nephew of George Washington, who owned the
property after the Loughboroughs. The dwelling retains excellent interior and exterior integrity.
Waveland, a two-and-a-half-story dwelling, originally consisted of the three-bay-wide and fivebay-deep section that features a pedimented temple front. The temple front, laid in a five-course
American brick bond pattern, features a molded cornice, and brick in the tympanum, which also
holds a lunette window. Tall brick chimneys are located on the interior slopes of the front-gable
roof of the house. The interior features a hall that extends across the front of the dwelling and
holds the staircase to the upper floor. Woodwork exhibits Greek Revival styling, such as that
seen in period pattern books by Asher Benjamin.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1859, John Augustine Washington III purchased Waveland and enlarged the house with a sixbay-wide addition on the back (east), resulting in the present footprint. Washington hired
Baltimore-based architect Edmund G. Lind to design the rear addition.12 Washington also added
a front porch, which likely replaced a smaller entry porch and extended over secondary entrances
located on the north and south sides of the building. The wraparound porch was removed in
1938, but the present one-story front porch retains the character of the Washington-era porch and
is detailed with square, Italianate-style columns, decorative brackets, and a diamond-pattern
railing. Bay windows located on the side elevations, also added by Washington, were removed in
1928 and the original six-over-six sash replicated. A frame porch raised on stone piers extends
across the width of the east (rear) elevation of the addition and features the same diamondpattern railing that is present on the front porch. Washington made another major addition to the
house with the installation of three interior bathrooms, the earliest known in Fauquier County,
that were equipped with a watersystem similar to that installed at the White House in 1859. “A
hydraulic Ram pump pushed water from the stone springhouse in the southeast field uphill
through underground pipes up to the water tank Augustine installed in the attic of his addition.”13
The system may have been augmented by water from the still-extant cistern located at the back
of the house.
The outbuilding complex associated with Waveland is the most impressive in the district and
includes numerous domestic and agricultural outbuildings that date from the early nineteenth
through the mid-twentieth century. Among the notable buildings is the brick meat house located
behind the main dwelling, which appears to date to the 1835 construction of the main house. The
meat house features a tall wooden cornice and a pyramidal roof clad with wooden shakes. The
interior features hewn timbers and plaster walls. The exterior also shows evidence of plastering,
but the brick is now exposed and closely resembles the brick on the front of the dwelling. As
mentioned, the cistern and a springhouse were also contemporary with the initial building period
of the house, although the latter is now a ruinous site in the field located southeast of the house.
Slave quarters would also have been a prominent feature of the mid-nineteenth-century farm
landscape. The Morgans and Loughboroughs were slaveholders and in 1860, Washington owned
33 slaves, and these farm residents would have been housed in the estate’s eight slaves' houses.14
The stone foundation of one of these houses is located in the field south of the main dwelling and
is a tangible reminder of that era of the estate’s history.
The majority of the agricultural outbuildings lie north and east behind the main dwelling and
date from the early to the mid-twentieth century. The buildings include several machine sheds
and a scales building, but the most prominent buildings are the barns that continue to be used for
hay storage and as livestock shelter. The “Red Cow Barn,” built around 1930 and located in the
field directly behind (east of) the house, is a two-story, frame building clad with wide
weatherboard siding, is set on a stone foundation, and is covered by a side-facing gable roof of
standing-seam metal. A concrete silo, no longer extant, was located at the northeast corner of the
barn. The small, gable-roofed addition on the north end of the barn, which is clad with vertical
wood boards, likely served as the hyphen connecting the two structures. The circa 1948 horse
barn, located northeast of the house, is a tall, two-story barn of concrete block construction that
is covered by a metal-clad gambrel roof. The ground level of the barn holds a centrally located
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
aisle with stalls to either side and the upper level loft is used for hay storage. The “White Cow
Barn,” located on the west side of Carters Run Road and set atop a high hill, was constructed
around 1950 as a wedding present from George Thompson II to his wife, Eleanor Glascock
Thompson. The placement of the barn on the west side of the farm, rather than within the
complex on the east side of the estate, was chosen in order to place a barn convenient to the
fields and livestock on that portion of the property.15 The gambrel-roofed barn was built using
poplar wood harvested from the Waveland forests. The three-bay-wide barn features a center
aisle with livestock areas to either side, which are now used for hay and equipment storage. The
vaulted space of the upper level is used for hay storage. A concrete silo stands at the northwest
(rear) corner of the barn. Because of its prominent location, the White Cow Barn is a visual
landmark from many vantage points in the district. Cultivated fields surround the barn site,
which is accessed by one of the farm’s unpaved interior roads.
The Waveland estate also includes several tenant houses that date from the mid-nineteenth to the
mid-twentieth century and that exhibit various vernacular forms. The oldest of these is the
“Morgantown House,” described above and dating to circa 1806. The “Orchard House,” so
named for its proximity to Washington’s apple and peach orchard, was constructed around 1860
and is located north of the main Waveland dwelling. It is a two-story, stucco-over-stone, threebay dwelling, set on a stone foundation, and covered by a metal-clad side-facing gable roof. The
house is banked into the hillside and faces west into the field behind it. The “Baltimore House,”
located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Carters Run Road and Scotts Road, is a oneand-a-half-story concrete block dwelling that is covered by a gable roof of asphalt shingles. This
modest circa 1950 house features a three-bay front (south) with a centrally located entrance
flanked by window openings.
Clover Hill (030-0516/030-5603-0005), located across (west) Carters Run Road from Waveland,
is another estate that was owned by the Morgan family. James Morgan’s daughter, Mary, and her
husband John Baker likely built Clover Hill around 1835. The two-and-a-half-story dwelling is
accessed by a long, winding gravel driveway that leads through cultivated fields to the fenced
house yard. The main dwelling faces north and exhibits a pedimented gable-front design that is
further enhanced by a fine Greek Revival-style portico. The large fluted Doric columns on the
porch at Clover Hill present an elegant interpretation of the style and may have been inspired by
period publications such as Asher Benjamin’s pattern book The Architect, or Practical House
Carpenter (1830). In particular, the “Doric Order, Example No. 3” portrayed in that volume
(Plate VI) illustrates the fluted columns, triglyphs, mutules, guttae, and metopes that are
displayed on the Clover Hill porch.16 The porch also features fluted and plain pilasters and a
single-leaf entrance door with deeply recessed sidelights. This arrangement may be an adaptation
of Benjamin’s more ornate designs for a front door shown in The Architect (Plates 37 and 38).
Large, six-over-six double-hung windows flank the entrance porch and exhibit the attenuated
muntins also associated with the Greek Revival style. Two tall brick chimneys are located along
the rear (south) parapet wall of the house. Door locations on the sides and rear of the house
indicate that small porches may also have been located there originally. Smooth, white stucco
was applied to the exterior walls of the brick house to enhance the temple-like image then
associated with the original Grecian temples. A similar house, John Marshall’s Oak Hill (0300044), was constructed around 1820 and is located nearby just west of Marshall.17
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The intact interior plan at Clover Hill exhibits a front hall that extends the full width of the
building, similar to the one at Waveland. Two large parlors lay beyond the hall with pocket doors
between them. The woodwork reflects typical Greek Revival-style molding with bull’s-eye
corner blocks at door and window openings.
Clover Hill does not retain as extensive a collection of outbuildings as Waveland, but there are
two extant buildings that are notable. The stone springhouse located west of the main house at
the bottom of the hill is unusual for its octagon-shaped plan. The building, believed to be
contemporaneous with the main house, was covered by a pyramidal roof (now collapsed) and
featured a single interior space with plastered walls. The stucco-clad stone overseer’s house,
located south of the main house, may have been constructed around 1800, predating the main
dwelling. The house has been remodeled in recent years, but retains the majority of original
materials and its historical form. The two-story, three-bay dwelling is set on a stone foundation
and is covered by a side-facing gable roof with a large exterior stone chimney on the south end.
The house is located within the fenced yard of the main dwelling, but faces east towards Carters
Run Road.
Wheatland (030-0501/030-5603-0006), located on the east side of Carters Run Road and
adjacent to the south side of the Waveland property, is a more modest example of an earlynineteenth century house, but is also unusual in its own way. The two-story, four-bay-wide
dwelling set on a high stone (English) basement was built in two phases: the two southern bays
were built around 1830 and the northern two bays were added around 1853. The original (twobay) hall-parlor plan dwelling was set on a stone basement, and featured a stone chimney on the
exterior south end. Previous survey noted that the framing on the original section of the house
employs half-dovetail joints on the large downbrace into the sill and L-shaped cornerposts.18
Exterior chimneys are located on the ends of the house and are stone with brick stacks. The
random rubble chimneys were later clad with stucco and scored to resemble coursed stone—a
technique often employed in Greek Revival-style buildings.
Although it is not uncommon to find hall-parlor houses in the county that were later enlarged to
appear as a center-passage house, what distinguishes Wheatland is the retention of the earlier
hall, as well as the construction of a second hall, creating side-by-side halls divided by a wall.
Both halls were retained rather than creating a single, broad passage. The new hall contained
stairs to the basement and the stairs to the second floor were retained in the original hall. The
front entrance (on the west side) opened into the new hall.
The Wheatland property, formerly a part of James Morgan’s holdings, was owned by Morgan’s
daughter Mary and her husband, John Baker, until 1853 when Marshall Lake, a prominent
Fauquier County farmer, purchased the land and dwelling. Although no outbuildings remain
extant on the property, the stone foundation ruins of a kitchen and meat house are located north
of the house. The site of the former carriage house is located south of the house, although at
present it is heavily overgrown.
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
It is likely that Marshall Lake enlarged the dwelling soon after his purchase of the land; it also
appears that Lake enlarged the stone and frame “cow house,” as it is referenced on historic plats,
located west across the road from the dwelling. The Lake Barn is one of the most impressive
agricultural buildings in the district, not only for its age, but also for the sheer size of the
building. Local residents state that over 100 head of cattle could be fed in the barn at one time.
The building’s size, measuring nearly 225 feet long, reflects the expansive cattle production
undertaken at the property during the late nineteenth century. The earliest section of the barn (the
first nine bays on the east end) was likely constructed around 1850 with additions constructed in
the 1870s following the Civil War. With the addition, the barn was 19 bays long (east to west).
In form and function, the barn can be described generally as a modified bank barn that lacks the
usual projecting forebay associated with Pennsylvania bank barns. The early 1850s seem a likely
construction date since the Manassas Gap Railroad was finished through Marshall (then Salem)
at that time. The large herd accommodated by this barn would have been taken to market by rail
car rather than drive across land to markets in Alexandria or Falmouth.19
The Lake Barn is a two-level timber building that is banked into the hill on the north side. The
supporting posts and beams consist of hand-hewn and sawn members. The building was
constructed with pegged timber joinery including mortise-and-tenon joints, cross-lap, half-lap
splice, and stop-splayed and under squinted scarf joints. Supporting posts on the north side of the
barn (banked section) are approximately six-by-six inches and on the south side are
approximately twelve-by-twelve inches. Some of the south posts appear to be hand hewn, but
most appear to be sawn and exhibit straight saw marks running perpendicular to the grain of the
wood; these may be later replacements. Both handmade and factory made nails were observed on
the barn. The exterior vertical wood sheathing exhibits circular saw marks. It is assumed that the
sheathing and the roof were modified or heavily repaired in the late nineteenth or early twentieth
century. It is also assumed that the cross-gable bay on the north side of the barn was constructed
in 1924, about the time that the two concrete silos were erected at the northwest corner of the
barn.20
The barn is three bays deep with a narrow central passage on the interior that is flanked by wider
bays on the north and south. The upper level was primarily used for hay storage, but a large
granary is also present. Ensilage was moved by iron-wheeled cart to the granary. Later, a hay
fork was installed and the original collar ties were cut and lower braces were installed in the
framing so that the hay on the fork could clear the aisle. On the lower, ground level of the barn,
the bays open to the south onto rock outcroppings located there and the creek beyond. Livestock
feeding occurred on the lower level where there are stalls and separate feeding areas and a fenced
barnyard was located on the south side of the building. A continuous, metal-clad gable roof
covers the entire length of the barn. The barn is set on a foundation of solid stone (on the east)
and stone piers (on the west). Special attention was given to dressing the stone corners of the
solid foundation. Several bays on the western end of the barn have collapsed. The building
retains good overall integrity, although some sections lack structural stability. The barn retains
excellent integrity with regard to setting and is surrounded by open fields, rolling hills, and
active farmland. Carter’s Run extends along the west side of the barn and Carter’s Run Road lies
to the east. The presence of this barn significantly contributes to the historic context of the
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Wheatland house, as well as to the overall district’s theme of nineteenth- and twentieth-century
agricultural practices.
The Barrymore property (030-0502/030-5603-0002), located at the northeastern corner of the
district, consists of several nineteenth century buildings. The oldest building on the property, the
stone overseer’s house, is described above. The main dwelling has undergone several
manifestations, although the house site appears to have remained constant. William B. Wright,
who purchased the property in 1810, probably built the original main dwelling between 1810 and
1820. No records have been found that describe that building, which is said to have been
destroyed in the late nineteenth century.21 At that time, during the ownership of Henry deButts
Norris and later, his son George W. Norris, a Colonial Revival-style dwelling was built on the
old foundations. A circa 1940 real estate pamphlet for the property shows a photograph of the
dwelling as a two-story frame dwelling covered by a hipped roof. The three-bay façade was
fronted by a projecting, pedimented two-story porch that was supported by stout, paired, doubleheight Ionic columns.
This house was modified to its present appearance in the late twentieth century by Middleburgbased architect William “Billy” Dew. At present, the one-and-a-half-story, stucco-clad house
exhibits a Neo-French style. The center section is three bays wide and holds the centrally
located, projecting entrance block. Three segmentally arched dormers pierce the metal-clad
mansard roof. Windows are six-over-six wooden sash. Tall stucco-clad chimneys project on the
east, west, and south sides of the house. The wings that extend to the east and west of the center
section of the house were added over time. The use of the same architectural style, detail, and
materials, however, provide continuity in the appearance of the additions. The current owner
states that a portion of the original house is located at the center of the building.22 The main
dwelling at Barrymore is one of the few non-contributing buildings in the district. The recently
constructed (2000) tenant dwelling at Barrymore, a one-story, vinyl-clad house, also is a noncontributing building.
A 1928 plat of the Barrymore property indicates that at the time, several domestic outbuildings
stood to the rear (south of) the house (Figure 1). These included a shop and shed, a stable, a
lighting plant (likely a Delco battery building), a milk house, an outhouse, a wood shed and an
“old mansion,” which may have been the old Wright house or another dwelling.23 Of these, the
wood shed, also later used as a meat house, is the only extant resource. The one-and-a-half-story,
stucco-clad stone building is covered by a side-facing gable roof of slate with louvered vents in
the gable ends. The building, located west of the main house, holds two separate earthen-floor
spaces that are currently used for tool storage and a generator house. Deep door openings are
present on the east side of the building. Other non-extant buildings also depicted on the plat
include a hay shed and several tenant houses that were located within the surrounding farm
fields.
Section 7 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. 1928 Plat of the Barrymore Estate Showing Locations of Former Outbuildings. Source: Fauquier County Deed
Book 132:97.
The most outstanding architectural resource on the Barrymore property is the two-and-a-halfstory stone barn that was likely built between 1880 and 1890 during the Norris ownership.
Referred to as a “stock barn” on the 1928 plat, the building was originally used to house
carriages and riding horses. Grain and hay storage occurred on the upper floor, which also had
finished domestic spaces. The barn is covered by a side-facing gable roof clad with slate; colored
slates have been applied in a decorative flower motif band across the roof. A centrally located
intersecting gable roof projects to the east and west. Large wooden brackets are present beneath
the roof eave and a wide frieze board surrounds the building. The barn is banked into the hillside
on the east side and the unpaved gravel drive leads past the front of the barn. The stonework of
the barn is in good condition and large stones are present throughout the exterior walls and as
window and door lintels. Stone arches are located above the window and door openings on the
first floor level. The windows are large, six-over-six wooden sash and have deep sills on the
interior.
On the interior, the barn holds a carriage space on the south and box stalls on the north of the
first floor level. Originally, there were six box stalls to either side of a center aisle. These are
Section 7 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
defined by beaded-board half walls with vertical rail screens above. The outside walls in both
sections of this floor appear to have been plastered. The second floor of the barn is accessed from
the carriage area via an enclosed stair at the southeast corner. The upper floor holds three large
spaces that were used for hay and grain storage and as domestic space. Floors are wooden, and
ceilings and walls are plastered. The northern half of the space holds the grain bins, as well as
drop boxes into the stall area below. Two doorways on the east side of the second floor were
formerly equipped with hay rigs and pulleys. Historical photographs show wooden railings
partially filling the doorways. There is also an attic level that is accessed by an enclosed stair
leading up from the hay storage area.
The ground floor of the barn (basement) is accessed from the north and south ends through large
swinging doors and originally held 14 stalls. These may have been ox or cow stalls, but later on
were modified for milking stalls. The basement walls appear also to have been plastered, but the
floor is earthen. Windows line the west side of the space, providing the partly below-grade space
with light.
The architectural features of the Barrymore stone barn are intact and the building is in very good
condition. Research suggests that this barn was likely copied or adapted from designs publicized
in period agricultural journals. Many such periodicals and booklets, such as those promulgated
by agricultural progressive Orange Judd, encouraged good design in farm buildings and
proposed both floor plans and exterior elevations. Based on review of existing documentation
and interviews with local farmers and building specialists, this barn may be unique among
Fauquier County resources and warrants preservation and continued research.24
More modest, vernacular dwellings in the district include the Bud Carter House (030-0513/0305603-0010), located on Scott’s Road, and the Margaret Wright House (030-5603-0001), located
on the west side of Carters Run Road. Both of these two-story dwellings appear to have been
built in the late nineteenth century and are of stone construction clad with stucco. The houses
take advantage of the rolling topography and are banked into their hillside sites. The Griffith
House (030-5603-0008) and the Gray House (030-5603-0009) sit adjacent to one another on the
east side of Scotts Road. They are sited at the base of the hill below the Southern View dwelling.
The houses, built around 1920 and named for former owners, are gable-front, bungalow-style
dwellings executed in stone and stucco-over-frame. Although these dwellings are modest and
lack overt architectural detailing, they, like the tenant dwellings and outbuildings on the large
surrounding estates, contribute to the architectural and historical context of the district.
The land within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was held by a relatively few owners
during the first part of the nineteenth century. The pattern of development in the area followed
that seen in the other parts of the county where wealthy landowners owned large tracts of
adjacent land. As such, the number of architectural resources is low relative to the acreage.
Although the majority of the architectural resources are domestic and agricultural in nature, ruins
of grist and saw mills are also present. These industries supported the surrounding agriculture
and provided building materials for nearby structures. The district buildings also are united by
the commonality of building materials, which relied on locally available supplies of stone and
timber, and the reliance on traditional building forms.
Section 7 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
CARTERS RUN RURAL HISTORIC DISTRICT INVENTORY
The following is a list of resources located within the Carters Run Rural Historic District boundaries. The
resources are listed alphabetically by road and chronologically by address number. The common or
current name of the property is included, as are VDHR ID numbers of previously surveyed resources. In
the following inventory all resources, both primary and secondary, have been considered either
contributing or non-contributing based upon the areas of significance identified under Criteria A and C as:
Agriculture, Architecture, Exploration and Settlement, and Military History, and based upon the period of
significance identified as circa 1790 to 1950. All non-contributing resources have therefore been so noted
for postdating the period of significance or as having no integrity left to represent the period and areas of
significance, unless otherwise noted.
CARTERS RUN ROAD
4610 Carters Run Road “Martha Wright House”
030-5603-0001
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1880
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Road Trace (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Contributing Total: 1
4611-4613 Carters Run Road “Barrymore” 030-0502 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0002
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Other, Ca 1820
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Animal Shelter/Kennel (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pond (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Non-contributing Total: 1
4883-5061 Carters Run Road “Waveland” 030-0512
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0003
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Greek Revival, Ca 1835
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chicken House/Poultry House
(Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Cistern (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Privy (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Secondary Resource: Shed, Machine (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Spring/Spring House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
Section 7 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
5134 Carters Run Road
“Seager House” 030-5603-0004
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1969
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
5200 Carters Run Road “Clover Hill” 030-0516 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0005
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Greek Revival, Ca 1835
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Secondary Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Spring/Spring House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
5445 Carters Run Road “Wheatland” 030-0501 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0006
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1830
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
FREE STATE ROAD
5559 Free State Road “Payne House” 030-0507 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0012
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1830
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Cemetery (Site)
Contributing Total: 1
5809 Free State Road “Devonstone” 030-0506 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0011
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1820
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chicken House/Poultry House
(Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pond (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Free State Road, East side of “Mill Ruins”
030-5603-0014
Primary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site), Stories 0, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca. 1850
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Dam (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chimney (Site)
Contributing Total: 1
SCOTTS ROAD
4604 Scotts Road “Southern View” 030-0663
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0007
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Other, Ca 1800
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Section 7 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Secondary Resource: Shed, Equipment (Building)
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Contributing Total: 2
Contributing Total: 1
Non-contributing Total: 1
4661 Scotts Road
“Griffith House”
030-5603-0008
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, 1929
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Non-contributing, Total: 2
4663 Scotts Road
“Gray House”
030-5603-0009
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, 1929
Contributing Total: 1
4712 Scotts Road “Bud Carter House”
030-0513
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0010
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1890
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Outbuilding, Domestic (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Well (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Scotts Road, Northwest Side of “Shackelford’s Mill Ruins”
030-5603-0013
Primary Resource: Foundation (Site) Stories 0, Style: No discernible Style, Pre 1853
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Mill (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
X
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
MILITARY
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
circa 1790-1950
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1727____________
1806____________
1811____________
ca. 1835_________
1859____________
1864____________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
Mosby, Col. John Singleton
______________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A________________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Lind, Edmund G. (Waveland)_
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Located in the northern section of Fauquier County, the Carters Run Rural Historic District
encompasses approximately 4,400 acres of pristine landscape and is eligible for listing in the
National Register on a local level under Criteria A, B, and C with a period of significance
extending from circa 1790, the date of the earliest documented resource, to 1950, representing
the latest contributing resource that retains its integrity. Under Criterion A, the district is locally
significant in the areas of areas of agriculture, exploration and settlement, and military. Under
Criterion B, the district’s local significance is in the area of military for the activities of Col.
John Singleton Mosby. Finally, the district is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
architecture.
The rural landscape is the most prominent feature of the Carters Run Rural Historic District and
reflects the use of the land in the traditional occupation of farming. Continued, active farming
has ensured the integrity of the rural landscape, which is evidenced through the area’s historic
property lines, pastures, and wooded lots, as well as through the built environment. Carters Run
runs north-to-south near the center of the rural historic district.
The 75 architectural resources in Carters Run Rural Historic District are domestic and
agricultural in nature and date from the late eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century
(circa 1790 to 1950). The 65 contributing resources include dwellings that are associated with
complexes of outbuildings containing barns, silos, meat houses, machine sheds, and other
functional buildings. Late-nineteenth- and early-to-mid-twentieth century tenant houses
associated with these large farms dot the landscape. Together, these resources reflect the growth
and development of the traditionally agriculturally based and self-sufficient society that has
occupied the Carters Run Valley for over 200 years. The 10 non-contributing elements are latetwentieth-century resources postdating the period of significance or historic buildings that have
been significantly altered. These resources do not disrupt the general pattern of development in
the valley and reflect the general forms and materials typical of the area.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criteria Justification
The district is locally significant under Criterion A for its contribution to the broad patterns of
Fauquier County history and possesses significance in the areas of agriculture, exploration and
settlement, and military. The district is significant in the area of exploration and settlement for its
association with the Northern Neck Proprietary (as part of the Manor of Leeds) and with the
pattern of ownership and settlement that resulted from that system of land management. During
the eighteenth century, large parcels were often granted to landowners who lived elsewhere in
the state and who did not establish residences on the land. As these large grants were divided and
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sold in relatively smaller parcels, or divided through inheritance, dwellings, farm buildings, and
other buildings were erected. A majority of the land in the district was part of a 1727 grant to the
Rev. Alexander Scott, whose heirs divided and sold large parcels to area residents such as James
Morgan (1806). Morgan increased his holdings in 1811 by purchasing adjacent land from the
Marshall family’s Manor of Leeds. The pattern of large-acreage estates with relatively few built
resources remains intact on the landscape. Properties and fields retain many of their original
boundaries—some of which are delineated by fence lines, tree lines, and stone walls.
Because the land has continued in agricultural use for over 200 years, it is also locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of agriculture. The daily patterns of agricultural life can be gleaned
from nineteenth-century agricultural census data, as well as the late-nineteenth-century farm
diaries of Lawrence Washington, owner of Waveland and son of John Augustine Washington III.
Washington’s daily entries detail the sowing, harvesting, and storing that occurred on his farm,
as well as activities on other farms in the area. Washington noted significant events in the
neighborhood, such as deaths and births, and recorded the annual rhythms of rural life. He also
provided historians with the names of laborers on the farm, many of whom lived in the area and
were descended from African Americans formerly enslaved by valley residents. Historically,
area farming was subsistent and relied on the production of wheat and other grains and the
raising of livestock for local consumption. After the Civil War, production increased and farmers
in the area, such as Marshall Lake of Wheatland, were well known for raising large herds of
high-quality beef cattle. Many of these animals were shipped to larger markets via the Manassas
Gap Railroad that ran through Marshall. Sheep and pigs were also raised on valley farms, but
today, livestock production in the area focuses solely on beef cattle.
The district’s local significance in the area of military under Criterion B is associated with Col.
John S. Mosby during the period of the American Civil War. Several of the properties in the
valley are known to have been frequented by Col. Mosby and his Confederate Rangers during
the Civil War. Carters Run Valley was located in the Fauquier County area known as part of
“Mosby’s Confederacy,” Personal memoirs and histories recount Mosby’s and his men’s forays
into the area and their visits to area houses. The secluded location of Carters Run Valley on the
back of the Rappahannock Mountains and off of the main road provided a safe haven for Mosby
and his men, and it was there that Mosby convalesced several days after being shot by Union
soldiers in December 1864.
The district is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of architecture for its array of
buildings dating from the late-eighteenth through the mid-twentieth century, which reflect
traditional Fauquier County building materials and a variety of architectural styles. Although the
majority of buildings in the district represent vernacular forms, there are also two Greek Revivalstyle temple-form dwellings and two traditional hall-parlor-plan houses from the early nineteenth
century. As was typical with the latter forms, they were enlarged later in the nineteenth century
as residents’ families and prospects grew. A visitor to the valley would see few architectural
resources, however, since many of these buildings are located away from the roadside. The low
number of buildings relative to the large acreage in the valley recommends this area as an intact
rural landscape with little developmental intrusion. Most notable among the residences in the
valley are the Greek Revival temple-style dwellings at Waveland (ca. 1835) and Clover Hill (ca.
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1835). Significant agricultural buildings include the mid-nineteenth century barn located at
Wheatland and the early-twentieth century barns at Waveland. In the late twentieth century, the
main dwelling at Barrymore was modified in a Neo-French style by Middleburg-based architect
William Dew, Jr. The late-nineteenth-century, four-level, stone barn, however, retains its original
Victorian-era detailing and is another of the district’s impressive agricultural resources.
Exploration and Settlement
During the colonial era, the area within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the
five-million-acre Northern Neck Proprietary that was inherited by Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax.
Large portions of this vast landholding were leased or granted by Fairfax’s agent, Robert Carter.
Fairfax retained title to 160,000 acres of the estate, which he named the Manor of Leeds. The
northern and eastern portions of the Carters Run Rural Historic District were part of a large grant
made to Reverend Alexander Scott, who in 1711 became minister of Overwharton Parish,
Stafford County, and resided in that county. Rev. Scott was considered a “shrewd speculator in
frontier lands” and in 1715 received a grant from the proprietary of 450 acres in the upper
Rappahannock River area on the Horsepen branch, also known as Marr’s branch of Marsh Run
in the southern part of present-day Fauquier County.26
Looking to extend his holdings into the more remote areas of the region, Rev. Scott later took
two grants in the vicinity of the future Winchester Road. In 1726, Scott received a grant for 781
acres “on the branches of Broad run above the Thoroughfair [through the Bull Run Mountains].”
Rappahannock River called Carter’s run in King George County and on the head of a branch of
the Broad run of Occuquan River in Stafford County.” The latter grant included the future site of
the town of Salem, now Marshall. Later surveys found that the grant actually encompassed 3,533
acres. Upon his death in 1738, the Rev. Scott left his brother James, who was also a minister and
lived in Stafford County, over 8,600 acres of land in Stafford, Fauquier, and Fairfax counties and
30 enslaved persons. In 1762, James conveyed the Fauquier holdings (“2,823 acres on Carters
Run”) and 33 slaves to his son, James.27 No architectural resources from this very early period
exist within the valley, reflecting the fact that these owners lived elsewhere and that these
holdings were speculative in nature.
In the 1803 division of James Scott’s estate, his land was apportioned into five lots. Scott’s 62
enslaved labor forces also were divided among his heirs. From his father’s 3,152-acre estate,
Cuthbert H. Scott received a 599.75-acre parcel (Lot 4) on the southernmost section of the
original 1727 grant. In 1806, Cuthbert Scott conveyed that tract to James Morgan, formerly of
Alexandria.28 Five years later (1811), Morgan added to his Carters Run Valley holdings by
purchasing 1,860 acres from John Marshall and his wife Mary, and James Marshall and his wife
Hetty. This conveyance notes that the land conveyed was part of the Manor of Leeds and lay
adjacent to the land “Morgan purchased of Cuthbert Scott” (Figure 2).29
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 2. Map Showing Landholdings Around Salem [Marshall] in 1800. Cuthbert Scott’s
portion of Scott’s Division is at the bottom center and the Leeds Manor parcel is located
to the west. James Morgan purchased the Rector parcels between these two parcels, as
well, including Southern View. Source: John K. Gott, High in Old Virginia's Piedmont: A
History of Marshall (formerly Salem), Fauquier County, Virginia, 1987, page 3.
Architecture
James Morgan and his brother William appear to have been partners in several business
endeavors and owned property together. The brothers were partners in the grist and saw mill
operated on James’ Clover Hill tract in the Carters Run Valley, and also operated still-house,
warehouse, and area leaseholds. In 1806, William moved to Lynchburg, where he became a
partner in local mercantile businesses and between 1810 and 1811, the brothers divided their
interests, which conferred ownership of the Fauquier property to James. James stated that he was
content to live as a farmer in Fauquier and to “sell a few goods” locally.30
It is believed that James Morgan built the earliest section of Southern View (030-0663/0305603-0007) during the first decade of the nineteenth century. Morgan had worked in the port of
Alexandria and was a wealthy man when he arrived in Fauquier. Not only did he own vast tracts
of land, he also owned a large number of enslaved African Americans. The 1810 census recorded
50 individuals in the Morgan household, 41 of whom were enslaved. In the division of property
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
between James and his brother William, several of these individuals were named and their trades
listed. Among them were skilled laborers such as blacksmiths and carpenters.31
In the early 1830s, James Morgan died and in 1832, a court-ordered division of his estate was
completed. Morgan’s wife Caroline received a dower that included Southern View. Morgan’s
heirs were his daughters Caroline, who married Dr. James H. Loughborough, and Mary, who
married John Baker, and son William J. Morgan. The division assigned a 900-acre tract to
William, which encompassed much of present-day Waveland. Daughter Caroline received
Southern View, and Mary received part of the southern section now known as Clover Hill. In
1833, the Loughboroughs purchased 253 acres from John Wright that was adjacent to Williams’
land on the east and proceeded to construct their Greek Revival dwelling known as Waveland.32
The partition of the Morgan land is a pivotal moment in the developmental history of the Carters
Run Valley. Held by a single owner until about 1830, the land was sub-divided, which in turn
resulted in the construction of several of the valley’s most prominent dwellings. The dwellings
constructed about this time include Waveland, Clover Hill, and the earliest section of Wheatland.
While Wheatland was executed in the locally popular vernacular hall-parlor form, Waveland and
Clover Hill were executed in the Greek Revival style, which was gaining national popularity
during the 1830s.
In 1844, the Loughboroughs left Fauquier and moved to Louisiana to a large sugar plantation
near New Orleans. It is likely that Loughborough took his enslaved workforce of 45 persons with
him to work that plantation. The Loughboroughs sold the Waveland mansion and surrounding
253 acres to Caroline’s brother William, who was living with their mother at Southern View.33
Encountering financial difficulties, William divested himself of his landholdings, including the
Waveland parcel and his 900-acre inheritance between 1851 and 1853. After passing through
several owners, the estate was purchased in 1858 by John Augustine Washington, III, great-great
nephew of George Washington. In 1859, Washington engaged Baltimore-based architect
Edmund G. Lind to enlarge the Waveland mansion by constructing a large, two-story rear
addition to the house. Washington’s brief tenure in the valley was marked by highly productive
cultivation of the land and livestock husbandry. Washington, who served with the Confederacy
during the Civil War, was killed in 1861.34 His son, Lawrence, inherited the farm and during the
1880s and 1890s continued the agricultural operations on the farm.
Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003) is the only property in the district that has been previously
listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The
property is nationally significant in the areas of architecture and conservation with a period of
significance from 1835 to 1861.25 The 2004 National Register eligibility statuses of the
Waveland resources, many of which were considered non-contributing for that nomination, have
been re-evaluated within the areas of significance and period of significance for the Carters Run
Rural Historic District.
Agriculture
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1810, William B. Wright purchased 592.5 acres that were formerly a part of the James Scott
estate. This large holding, located north of Waveland, became known as Barrymore. The stone
overseer’s house on Barrymore, believed to date to about 1790, is the earliest documented
building in the district. Like the Morgans, Wright owned several slaves who worked his farm and
maintained his household. The 1850 census records 11 enslaved persons on the Morgan property.
Although Wright constructed a large dwelling on the farm, it did not survive past the midnineteenth century and may have been destroyed during the Civil War.36
Between 1856 and 1905, Barrymore was owned by Mary Wright Norris, her husband George,
and their heirs. During this period, the farm regained its splendor and numerous agricultural and
domestic outbuildings were constructed, including the Victorian-style stone barn that is the
centerpiece of the farm. The fine stonework and interior woodwork indicate that the barn was
intended for sheltering riding horses, although cattle may have been sheltered in the lower level.
The barn may have been constructed by Henry deButts Norris, whose ownership extended
between 1883 to his death around 1898. Norris’ will and the settlement of his estate indicate that
he held large numbers of livestock and that his farm was highly productive. Mrs. Norris is
credited with much of the agricultural achievements of the farm and was listed among the
prominent farmers in the area in an 1884 business directory.37
After the Civil War, residents resumed farming and made a quick recovery relative to other areas
in the state. It is notable that unlike other regions in the county, the land in the Carters Run
Valley remained in local ownership. After the war, many of Fauquier County’s large farms were
purchased by Northerners who were drawn to the pristine rural area for its cheap land and open
fields that accommodated their favorite recreational pursuit of foxhunting. Although these
owners maintained the character of the land, they were often only seasonal residents. In the
Carters Run Valley, the resident-owners occupied and worked the land with local laborers
throughout the year and participated in the active community life of nearby Salem (Marshall).
As noted, in 1875, Lawrence Washington inherited his allotment of the Waveland farm and
engaged in a highly productive agricultural enterprise. The court division allotted Lawrence
437.5 acres of the improved farm, and his brother George was allotted the 425.5 acres on the
western side of the estate. Although devoted to the land, Washington does not appear to have
been a successful farmer and was heavily in debt by 1895, resulting in the sale of the property.
Washington’s farm diaries from this period, however, provide a significant account of farming
activities and the cycles of typical agrarian life.38
Throughout the summer months, crops in the field were tended, as were the vegetable gardens.
Summer was also an active time for livestock trading. On July 7, 1885, Washington recorded that
he received returns for “11 cattle shipped Saturday, weighing 8,740 lbs & netting 8,240 in
Baltimore 4.35, bringing in $325.44 net.” A few days later, Washington recorded that he
received returns for “9 lambs and 2 sheep bringing $34.42.” In August 1885, Washington
recorded that he received returns for “496 13/60 bu wheat shipped to Beckham, netting
$424.06.” In October 1885, Washington again shipped cattle to Baltimore. On that trip he
shipped 60 head weighing 50,230 pounds and netting $1,490.21. Other summer and fall tasks
included mowing and hauling in wheat and weeding the cornfields. Waveland’s laborers hand
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
cut shingles for buildings, made cider from the farm’s apples, cleared, plowed, and sowed fields,
cut ice, hauled coal, killed and dressed livestock, cut wood, shelled corn, built fences, grubbed
out stumps, and threshed oats and rye. Spring began the cycle all over again and fields and
gardens were cleared of debris, plowed, and readied for planting.
Washington recorded cash payments to his laborers, who were also paid in pork, corn, and flour.
Listed among the many Waveland workers is Rev. Asbury Pinkett, who was a pastor in
Morgantown, the African-American settlement adjoining the west side of Waveland.
Morgantown traces it roots to deeds recorded in 1871 from Ann R. Morgan and her children to
seven Negro freedmen who may have been William J. Morgan's former slaves. William
Williams was a plastered by trade and may have helped Washington maintain the many buildings
on the farm.39 Other laborers included Joe Riley, Hez Nickens, John Palmer, Will Deans, Ed
Grant, Zed Nelson, Bob Furr, and others. Some laborers are listed in the diary by only a first or
last name.
Washington recorded interactions with his neighbor to the south, Marshall Lake. Washington
purchased livestock from Lake, who was one of the area’s most successful livestock men. In
1853, Mary Morgan Baker, heir of James Morgan, and her husband John sold to brothers
William H. and Marshall Lake 500 acres “lying on the waters of Carter Run adjacent to lands of
Wm. J. Morgan.” In 1858, the Bakers and William Morgan sold to the Lake brothers 36 acres,
which were described as “all land on which Jn. Baker now resides...adj. lands to Wm Morgan
and Marshall Lake.” The Bakers sold the Lakes one additional parcel of land containing 143
acres “adj. lands of Enoch Jeffries, J. Blackwell, and others...lying on the top of Rappahannock
Mountain.” Together, these parcels make up the area now occupied by the Wheatland house,
which Marshall Lake enlarged, and the parcel across present-day Carters Run Road where
Lake’s “cow house” was built.35
Lake was from a prominent Fauquier County family who had settled near the community of
Atoka (Rectors Crossroads). In the 1850 and 1860 censuses Marshall was listed in the household
with his older brother William and his wife Sarah. Both brothers were listed as farmers and
Sarah was listed as keeping house. In 1860, William, as head of house, was listed with $34,500
in real estate value and $14,015 in personal property. The 1860 slave schedule listed William’s
household including 14 enslaved persons, six of whom were over the age of 20. This number
would place William Lake squarely within the “middling” farmer category, as compared to
William Morgan who owned 45 slaves and John Baker who owned five.
In 1861, Marshall Lake enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 6th VA Cavalry, where he obtained
the rank of Captain and served with the Quartermaster Department. He took the Oath of
Allegiance on April 22, 1865, in Winchester and returned to his Carters Run Valley farm.40
In 1871, William H. Lake sold to his brother Marshall his interest in the three parcels they had
purchased together. It appears that Marshall came into his own during this period and continued
to purchase additional parcels for his farming operations throughout the 1870s and 1880s. It also
appears that Lake enlarged his “cow house,” the large frame barn located west of the Wheatland
Section 8 page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
house. This barn, a two-level feeding and hay storage barn, is the largest known in the region and
clearly reflects the increased fortunes of its owner during the late nineteenth century.
In the 1870 and 1880 censuses Marshall (51 years old) was listed as a head of house and farmer
with Helen Lake as his spouse (his second wife). In 1870 Lake’s real estate holdings were valued
at $27,000 and his personal property was valued at $6,000. James Strother, who was listed as a
black laborer, and his family were included in the Lake household. By 1880, Lake owned about
750 acres in the Carters Run Valley with the land valued at $42,000 and livestock valued at
$9,000. These valuations reflect a highly productive, well-maintained, and efficiently operated
farming enterprise.
Marshall Lake died November 24, 1888 (60 years old) and was buried at the Sharon Cemetery in
Middleburg. Marshall’s will asked that in order to pay all of his debts his executors continue
farming his land until the fall of 1889 and then hold a public sale of his personal property.41 He
asked that the proceeds be shared equally between his children (Charles and Marshall). Lake’s
neighbor, Lawrence Washington, was the Justice of the Peace who swore in Robert Beverly,
Henry Glascock, and B.F. Skinner as commissioners to appraise the estate. The appraisal reflects
the wealth Lake had accumulated following the war through his agricultural pursuits. Among his
livestock holdings, Marshall owned numerous cattle (cows, calves, and bulls), sheep, pigs, oxen,
horses, and bees. His farm implements included ox carts, wagons, sledgehammers, shovels,
maddox, harrow, plow drill, wheat fan, buggy and harness, carriage and double harness, and
spreaders. Marshall’s household items included bookcases, lamps, tables, and a settee. At the
time, Lake held 200 acres that had been seeded in wheat and 37 acres seeded in rye. The estate
was appraised at $6,505.43.42
Lake was both a successful farmer and a contributing member to his community. He served one
term on the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors and his death was reported in the Alexandria
Gazette and Virginia Advertiser, which called Lake “one of the largest and best farmers in the
county.”43 Lawrence Washington recorded in his farm diary that he attended Lake’s funeral on
November 26, 1888, and that the weather that day was “a regular blizzard.”
Industry
Historic industrial pursuits are represented in the district by the presence of two mill sites. One of
these was a grist mill (030-5603-0013) on Scotts Road, which was likely built by William
Morgan and continued operations into the 1940s. The presence of this mill meant that farmers
did not have to leave the valley to grind their wheat, rye, and corn. The other mill was located
east of Free State Road but actually sited along Carters Run on the Clover Hill parcel. This mill,
presented by a stone-lined waterwheel pit and a dry laid stone dam across the creek, operated as
a saw mill during the nineteenth century. Again, the presence of this mill meant that area
residents could harvest and mill their building lumber within the Carters Run Valley.
Military
Section 8 page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The district’s military significance is associated with the period of the American Civil War. In
addition to the above noted military service of the Carters Run Valley residents, the dwellings
along Carters Run Road also served as “safe houses” for Confederate Col. John S. Mosby and his
unit of Rangers. Postwar memoirs and reminiscences by some of Mosby’s men record visits to
valley homes such as Waveland Clover Hill, and Wheatland. Many of those visits are
characterized as “social” calls, but in December 1864, Mosby sought out the refuge of the
Carters Run Valley for more serious reasons. On December 21, 1864, Col. Mosby was wounded
by the 13th New York Cavalry while at Ludwell Lake’s home, “Lakeland.”44 Mosby removed
and hid his Army coat and gave a false name when the Federals entered the house. Seeing his
wound, which they believed to be mortal, the Union officers left the unidentified Mosby for
dead.
His men moved Mosby to Rockburn, the nearby home of Aquilla Glascock, and then devised a
plan to move Mosby out of Fauquier to his family home in Amherst County. From Rockburn, he
was moved to another Glascock residence, Glen Welby, then to Waveland, the Washington
family home on Carter’s Run Road. After a few days, Mosby was moved further south down the
valley to Wheatland.
According to the 43rd Battalion history, Wheatland was located at the base of Wildcat Mountain
“a rugged, wild area, where the wounded colonel could be easily hidden if necessary. The
colonel remained a day or two at ‘Wheatland’ to allow him to regain his strength for the next
segment of the journey. Leaving Marshall Lake’s, he was moved to Culpeper Courthouse and
eventually to his father’s residence near McIvor’s Station.”45
Present Ownership
At present, the majority of the land within the Carters Run Rural Historic District is owned by
the Glascock-Thompson family through various landholding entities. This ownership represents
the fourth generation of the family to own the valley property. In the late nineteenth century,
Fauquier County farmer Bedford Glascock owned much of the land in the Carters Run Valley
that presently encompasses the Waveland and Clover Hill tracts. Glascock leased the farm to
John R. Fishback, who lived at the Waveland mansion with his family. This owner-tenant
relationship continues today over 100 years later. When Bedford Glascock died in 1929, his
daughter Eleanor Glascock Thompson inherited the land. Mrs. Thompson, married to G. Richard
Thompson, held a degree in agriculture from the University of Wisconsin. Her detailed ledgers
and property notes on the Carters Run Valley have assisted in the compilation of this nomination.
The Barrymore Estate, as noted, was in the ownership of Thomas Tunstall Adams until 1928,
when Bedford Fishback purchased the farm. From 1943 to 1962, Barrymore was owned by
Helen M. Meade, who made a deed of gift of the property to Jane Sprague DeButts. Mrs.
DeButts’ son now owns the farm, which in 2004 was placed in a conservation easement.
The generations-wide family ownership of the farms in the Carters Run Valley promotes the
consistent agricultural use of the land, as well as its continued maintenance. The preservation of
the land in the proposed district, however, has not always been assured. In the late twentieth
Section 8 page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
century, the Clover Hill property was platted for development of 117 house lots. In 2004, the
present owners purchased the 1,193-acre farm and placed it into an easement with The Nature
Conservancy. The eastern edge of the property abuts the Nature Conservancy’s Wildcat
Mountain Refuge—the first held by the conservancy in Virginia. In evaluating the area, the
director of the conservancy described it as “a little valley that’s pretty much untouched. You turn
off [Interstate] 66 and it’s like you’re somewhere two decades ago.” The organization also noted
that the property “lies at the heart of a largely intact 16,500-acre forest identified by the
conservancy as one of the best remaining examples of a thriving hardwood forest in the
Piedmont.”46
The Carters Run Rural Historic District possesses the characteristics of a rural landscape as
defined in the National Register Bulletin 30: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural
Historic Landscapes. These include land uses and activities (farming and milling); patterns of
spatial organization (historic land divisions, historic road system); response to natural
environment (use of natural resources [stone and wood] in construction, use of land for pasture,
pattern of roadways); cultural traditions (continuation of farming); circulation networks (historic
roads, farm roads, waterways); vegetation related to land use (pastureland, cropland, woodland);
buildings, structures, and objects (domestic, agricultural examples); clusters (large and small
examples of agricultural and domestic complexes); small scale elements (stone walls, board
fences); and archaeological sites (sites of mills, tenant houses, domestic and agricultural
outbuildings). Evaluated as a whole, these elements create a cohesive collection that reflect the
occupational activities of people engaged in the traditional work of agriculture and associated
industrial activities. The effect of these elements is enhanced by the contiguous nature of the
parcels, which results in a seamless rural vista of farmland, woodland, and open pastures.
Property owners in the district have placed much of the land in conservation easements in an
effort to preserve the rural character of the area for future generations.
The landscape and architectural resources in the Carters Run Rural Historic District illustrate the
historic use of the land for agricultural and domestic purposes and the diversity of high-style and
vernacular building forms also reflects the historic economic status of the owners and residents
who lived there. The close-knit complexes of barns and outbuildings around main dwellings
reflect the efficient manner in which these estates were operated—a tradition carried into the
present. The valley provided an ideal location for agriculture with its rich soil, gently rolling
hillsides, and an abundance of natural resources that was well-watered by area streams.
Dwellings paced on prominent hilltops afforded residents a panoramic view of surrounding
farmland. Barns and other functional buildings were placed in nearby fields near the work and
livestock. These were working farms that display functional landscape agricultural patterns.
Read together, the elements in the Caters Run Valley provide an impression of this agricultural
region that is largely unchanged from its historic appearance.
At present, the district does not meet Criterion D since no comprehensive archaeological survey
has been undertaken within the district boundaries. The area does appear to possess potential for
the existence of historical cultural deposits given that little land disturbing activity has taken
place in the area except for agricultural activities and limited road construction. It is a reasonable
assumption that archaeological investigations could yield underground information such as
Section 8 page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
locations of former buildings, material cultural and lifeways as related to domestic and
agricultural resources, and African-American culture, as well as artifacts related to the Civil War.
It is also likely that prehistoric deposits may lie within the valley and along the waterways.
Section 8 page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Benjamin, Asher. The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter (1830). 1844. Reprint, New York: Dover
Publications, Inc. 1988.
Dickinson, Josiah Look. The Fairfax Proprietary, the Fairfax manors, and beginnings of Warren County
in Virginia. Front Royal, VA: Warrant Press, [ca. 1959].
Duncan, Patricia B. 1850 Fauquier County & Loudoun County, Virginia, Slave Schedule. [Westminster,
MD]: Willow Bend Books: Heritage Books, 2003.
Evans, Thomas J. and James M. Moyer. Mosby’s Confederacy: A Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel
John Singleton Mosby. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Company, Inc., 1991.
Fauquier County Deed Books, Will Books, and Land Tax Books (ca. 1830-1950). Various dates. Office
of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Warrenton, VA, and Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Gott, John. High in Old Virginia’s Piedmont: A History of Marshall (formerly Salem), Fauquier County,
Virginia. Marshall, VA: Marshall National Bank & Trust Company, 1987.
Groome, H.C. Fauquier During the Proprietorship: A Chronicle of the Colonization and Organization of
a Northern Neck County. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2002.
Halstead, Doct. Byron D., ed., Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings. Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene
Press, 1977. Reprint of the 1881 ed. published by Orange Judd, New York.
Hayden, Rev. Horace Edwin. Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland and
Virginia. Wilke-Barre, PA: E.B. Yordy, 1885.
Keen, Hugh C. and Horace Mewborn, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry Mosby’s Command. Lynchburg,
VA: H.E. Howard, Inc. 1993.
Lanier, Gabrielle M. and Bernard L. Herman. Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at
Buildings and Landscapes. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
MacLeod, Cynthia. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey Forms. 1978-1980. Copies on file,
Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archives, Richmond.
Moffett, Lee. Water Powered Mills of Fauquier County. [Warrenton, Virginia]: [1972].
Musick, Michael P. 6th Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990.
Shepherd, Cheryl Hanback. National Register Nomination “Waveland.”
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond.
Sections 9-end page 33
Copy on file at Archives,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Washington, Lawrence. Farm Diaries, July 1885-December 1888. As transcribed by Debbie Cornwell,
Marshall, Virginia. Courtesy of George R. Thompson, Jr.
Wayland, John W. The Washingtons and Their Homes. 1944. Reprint, Berryville, VA: Virginia Book
Company, 1973.
White, Karen Hughes. Presentation on Waveland. Manuscript shared with author [2013].
Williams, Kimberly Prothro. A Pride of Place: Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia.
Charlottesville: Published for Fauquier County by the University of Virginia Press, 2003.
Worthington, Michael J. and Jane I Seiter. “The Tree-Ring Dating of Morgantown House, Marshall,
Virginia.” Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory, Report 2013/10. June 2013.
Personal Communication
McClane, Debra A. Interviews with George R. Thompson Jr., Marshall, April 2013-November 2013.
---. Interview with John Metz, Library of Virginia, Richmond, 16 October 2013.
---. Interview with G. Edward Ashby, Jr., Telephone Interview, 25 November 2013; Electronic mail
messages, 13 December 2013.
---. Interview with Karen Hughes White, The Plains, 29 October 2013.
---. Interview with Henry and Jane DeButts and Helen Christian, Barrymore, 28 October 2013.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
_X_ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File No. 030-5306
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property Approximately 4,400 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 38.502734 N
Longitude: 77.525719 W
2. Latitude: 38.505838 N
Longitude: 77.505854 W
3. Latitude: 38.495388 N
Longitude: 77.502362 W
4. Latitude: 38.475584 N
Longitude: 77.511398 W
5. Latitude: 38.481022 N
Longitude: 77.523385 W
6. Latitude: 38.475775 N
Longitude: 77.542261 W
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the nominated Carters Run Rural Historic District is delineated on the
attached map prepared by the Fauquier County GIS Department at a scale of 1 inch = 1,000
feet and titled “Carters Run Rural Historic District.”
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the Carters Run Rural Historic District were drawn to include the largest
concentration of rural historic buildings and active farmland in the area and are generally
described as lying on either side (east and west) of a portion of Carters Run Road, either side
(north and south) of a portion of Scotts Road, and the east side of Free State Road, as well as
the tax parcel lines of included properties. The district boundaries also were selected using
natural features (mountains, prominent tree lines) as visual boundaries. The selected area
abuts the Morgantown Historic District to the west.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Debra A. McClane______________________________________________
organization: Debra A. McClane, Architectural Historian______________
street & number: 4711 Devonshire Road___________________________________
city or town: Richmond________________ state: __VA________ zip code: 23225____
e-mail: dmcclane1@verizon.net________
telephone: 804/233-3890____________
date: November 29, 2013_________
__________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Sections 9-end page 36
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
City or Vicinity:
County: Fauquier
Photographer:
Date Photographed:
Carters Run Rural Historic District
near Marshall
State: Virginia
Debra A. McClane/Adam Burke
July 2013, October 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0001
Morgantown House on Waveland property, view looking SW
Photo 2 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0002
Front of Waveland mansion, view looking SE
Photo 3 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0003
Front of Clover Hill mansion, view looking S
Photo 4 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0004
Front of Devonstone dwelling, view looking S
Photo 5 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0005
Front of Bud Carter House, view looking W
Photo 6 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0006
Rear of Orchard House on Waveland property, view from Carters Run
Road looking E
Photo 7 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0007
Baltimore House on Waveland property, view looking N
Photo 8 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0008
Marshall Lake barn associated with Wheatland property,
view looking NE
Sections 9-end page 37
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 9 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0009
Stone outbuilding at Seager House property, view looking SE
Photo 10 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0010
Stone barn on Barrymore property, view looking WNW
Photo 11 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0011
White Cow Barn on Waveland property, view looking W
Photo 12 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0012
Horse barn and scales building on Waveland property, view looking E
Photo 13 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0013
Red cattle barn on Waveland property, view looking ESE
Photo 14 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0014
View looking S along the paved Carters Run Road near intersection with
Scotts Road. Waveland property is located on either side of the road and
the mansion sits in the grove of trees on the left of the photograph.
Photo 15 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0015
View looking E along the unpaved Scotts Road.
Photo 16 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0016
View lookingW along unpaved farm road on Waveland property at
intersection with Carters Run Road. Waveland’s White Cow Barn can be
seen in the middle background.
Photo 17 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0017
View looking N at Carters Run as it courses through the Waveland
property.
Photo 18 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0018
View from Clover Hill looking S towards boundary of historic district.
The Marshall Lake barn associated with the Wheatland property can be
seen in the left middle ground. Part of the farm’s Angus cattle herd is
visible in the field in the middle ground.
Photo 19 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0019
View looking NE from the White Cow Barn on the Waveland property.
The dwelling at Barrymore is visible in the left background and the
Waveland mansion is visible near the middle background. The farm’s
soybean crop is visible in this photograph.
Photo 20 of 22
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0022
Sections 9-end page 38
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View:
View looking E towards the northern end of Wildcat Mountain.
Photo 21 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0021
View looking E across Waveland field towards Wildcat Mountain. Part of
the farm’s Angus cattle herd can be seen in the field.
Photo 22 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0022
View looking ENE from Barrymore towards the farm pond.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 39
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
(Section 7)
1. Waveland was listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The nominated
property contained 3 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 1 contributing structure (the 6
previously listed resources noted in Section 5). In addition, 11 non-contributing buildings were
documented. All but one of the resources at Waveland are considered contributing to the themes and
period of significance for the Carters Run Rural Historic District. Cheryl Hanback Shepherd, National
Register Nomination for “Waveland,” 17 July 2003. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
2. Virginia Outdoors Foundation, “Barrymore Baseline Documentation Report.” 2006. Copy courtesy of
Helen Christian, Marshall, VA.
3. Kimberly Prothro Williams, A Pride of Place: Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia
(Charlottesville: Published for Fauquier County by the University of Virginia Press, 2003), 12-13.
4. Ibid.
5. No comprehensive archaeological survey has been completed in the valley. Noted archaeological sites
were determined by surface scatters, landowner information, and historical maps and plats.
6. Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland
and Virginia (Wilke-Barre, PA: E.B. Yordy, 1885), 591-595. The younger Scott was known as “Captain
James Scott.”
7. Josiah Look Dickinson, The Fairfax Proprietary, the Fairfax manors, and beginnings of Warren
County in Virginia (Front Royal, VA: Warrant Press, [ca. 1959]), 21.
8. Michael J. Worthington and Jane I Seiter, “The Tree-Ring Dating of Morgantown House, Marshall,
Virginia.” (Baltimore, MD: Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory, Report 2013/10) n.p.
The analysis was based on samples taken from logs in four different areas of the dwelling and two areas
of the roof rafters. Although dendrochronology cannot precisely determine when a building was
constructed, it can date when a tree has been felled, presumably in anticipation of construction. As the
report notes “...it is common practice to build timber-framed structures with green or unseasoned timber
and therefore construction usually took place within twelve to eighteen months of felling.”
9. Francis B. Foster, Virginia Historical Inventory Survey Report “Southern View,” 12 August 1937.
Copy on file, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Although the interior was not accessed for the
present project, these interior features are believed to remain intact.
10. Fauquier County Land Tax Records 1857, 1870.
11. Shepherd, 2004: Section 8, page 8. The 866-acre Waveland property lies on either side (east and west)
of present-day Carters Run Road.
12. Ibid; John E. Wells and Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary (Richmond, VA: The New South Architectural Press, 1997).
13. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 13.
14. Patricia B. Duncan, 1850 Fauquier County & Loudoun County, Virginia, Slave Schedule
([Westminster, MD]: Willow Bend Books: Heritage Books, 2003); Fauquier County, Slave Schedule,
1860. Personal communication, Karen White Hughes, 29 October 2013.
15. Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr.
16. Asher Benjamin, The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter (1830) (Boston: L. Coffin, 1844).
Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1988.
17. EHT Traceries, Inc., Preliminary Information Form for Oak Hill (030-0044), 2002. Oak Hill is also
included in the Cromwell’s Run Rural Historic District (030-5434-0006), listed in the National Register
of Historic Places in 2007; Gabrielle M. Lanier and Bernard L. Herman, Everyday Architecture of the
Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1997), 139.
Sections 9-end page 40
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
18. Cynthia MacLeod with Dell Upton, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey Form
“Wheatland,” 030-501, January and March 1979. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
19. Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr. Personal communication, G. Edward Ashby, Jr.
Mr. Ashby is a resident of the Carters Run Valley and has owned and operated a local masonry firm for
30 years (Ashby Masonry, Inc.). He has worked on numerous historic buildings in the county and
specializes in traditional construction methods.
20. Physical Inspection of the Lake Barn was conducted by Adam Burke, Rutledge Farm employee, on 11
July 2013 and conveyed to the author in a memorandum of the same date. Silo dating and other barn
details were provided through personal communication with Edward Ashby,
21. Williams, 154. John K. Gott, High in Old Virginia’s Piedmont: A History of Marshall (formerly
Salem), Fauquier County, Virginia (Marshall, VA: Marshall National Bank & Trust Company, 1987), 65.
Gott states that the house may have been destroyed during the Civil War, but this is not recorded in any
postwar memoirs or remembrances reviewed so far.
22. Personal communication, Henry and Jane DeButts and Helen Christian.
23. Fauquier County Deed Book 132:97.
24. Doct. Byron D. Halstead, ed., Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings (Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene
Press, 1977). Reprint of the 1881 ed. Published by Orange Judd, New York.
Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr. Personal communication Edward Ashby. Personal
communication John Metz.
(Section 8)
25. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 8. The National Register nomination for Waveland is a very thorough
record of the ownership history, farming record, and architectural evolution of the main dwelling and its
associated buildings.
26. H.C. Groome, Fauquier During the Proprietorship: A Chronicle of the Colonization and
Organization of a Northern Neck County (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2002), 89. This grant is
recorded in Northern Neck Land Grant Book 5, folio 122.
27. Groome, 102. These latter two grants are recorded respectively in Northern Neck Land Grant Book A,
folio 213 and Book B, folio 85.
28. Fauquier County Will Book 3:443, 20 December 1803, “Scott’s Division.” The other Scott heirs and
their part of the division included: William and Nancy Brown (1,488 acres 7 poles and 11 slaves);
Alexander Scott (514.25 acres and 16 slaves); Gustavus B. and Frances Horner (671 acres 32 poles and
11 slaves); and Lawrence and Elizabeth Ashton (592.25 acres 38 poles and 10 slaves). The will provides
names of each of the slaves conveyed. Upon his death, Cuthbert Scotts slaves were divided among his
heirs (Fauquier County Will Book 8:86, 26 June 1821); Fauquier County Deed Book 16:551 (6 December
1806), Scott to Morgan.
29. Fauquier County Deed Book 18:237 (20 December 1911), Marshall to Morgan.
30. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, pages 8-9; Fauquier County Chancery Suit 1824-027. Letter from James
Morgan to William Morgan, 21 August 1810, in response to William’s suggestion that the brothers
“settle” their businesses between them, and “Article of Agreement” 11 February 1811, stating that lands
in Fauquier County were primarily in the name of James.
31. Karen White Hughes, Presentation on Waveland. Manuscript shared with author, [2013].
32. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 9. Fauquier County Deed Book 33:220, Division of Morgan Estate.
33. Hughes, [2013]. Ms. Hughes presented a letter written by Jacob Cooper, who accompanied the
Loughboroughs to Louisiana. In 1908, the formerly enslaved Cooper wrote of his service to the family
and his nine years at Waveland.
Fauquier County Deed Book 44:349, Loughborough to Morgan.
34. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 14. John W. Wayland, The Washingtons and their homes (1944;
repr., Berryville, VA: Virginia Book Co., 1973), 303. Wayland states that Washington served as an aid to
Sections 9-end page 41
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the campaigns in West Virginia. He was killed at the Elkwater in
Randolph County, September 13, 1861.
35. Fauquier County Deed Book 53:132; Fauquier County Deed Book 57:336; Fauquier County Deed
Book 57:339.
36. Gott, 65.
37. Fauquier County Will Book 42:337; The Virginia Gazetteer and Classified Business Directory, 18841885 (Richmond, VA: J.H. Chataigne, 1885).
38. The author is indebted to Debbie Cornwell, who has painstakingly transcribed Washington’s
handwritten dairies, and to George R. Thompson, Jr. for providing access to these transcripts.
39. Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters, National Register Nomination for “Morgantown Historic
District,” 30 July 2003. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond;
Hughes, [2013].
40. Michael P. Musick, 6th Virginia Cavalry (Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990).
41. Fauquier County Will Book 39:322, Marshall Lake Will.
42. Fauquier County Will Book 39:331, Commissioners Appraisal of Marshall Lake Estate.
43. “Letter from Fauquier, Orlean, Nov. 25” in Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser, 27 November
1888.
44. Lakeland (30-5434-0070) is located south of Atoka and is within the Cromwell’s Run Rural Historic
District; Ludwell Lake was the father of Marshall Lake, who owned Wheatland in Carters Run Valley.
Two of Ludwell Lake’s other sons--Ludwell Jr. and William--were Rangers in Mosby’s unit.
45. Hugh C. Keen and Horace Mewborn, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry Mosby’s Command (Lynchburg,
VA: H.E. Howard, Inc. 1993), 240; Thomas J. Evans and James M. Moyer, Mosby’s Confederacy: A
Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel John Singleton Mosby (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane
Publishing Company, Inc. 1991), 18.
46. Rusty Dennen, “Fauquier Deal Shrinks Subdivision,” in Fredericksburg Free Lance Star, 27
December 2004.
Sections 9-end page 42
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Sections 9-end page 43
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6067
0446
7833
7615
2277
1197
5289 9180
1097 5041
0965
7817
7082
9802
6548
8788
9614 1549
6316 9337
9136
4605
3551
3475
1208
0451
5837
1989
8871
1883
7704
4334
1129
6963
7689
7792
6766
2781
7659
1804
0588
9901
9517
1520
3833
4280
1301
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8542
7294
8200
6230
6767
1609
0899
5004
8396
8058
2187
5112
3554
4424
3250
0016
1990
0317
9205
4127
2152
7086
6823
5458
8500
7357
5099
2184
7176
9102
5868
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8476
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1075
9949
7471
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0063
2362
2228
7061
0759
Ü
0823
9628
5005
5569
1 inch = 1,000 feet
7547
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2607
7425
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9801
6377
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7324
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9805
8738
1206
3409
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9250
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1133
7575
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1957
9729
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0278
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1935
8325
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5210
5072
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5850
1696
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1654
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9260
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6368
6956
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2017
1757
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2776
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9286
7241
6108
8140
7834
8418
6603
5545
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9702
1611
6744
4457
9285
3814
0028
5867
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4276
8705
3103
8838
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2018
3128
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2604
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6420
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1887
2290
3955
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4764
4872
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1887
1471
6413
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8937
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5310
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3802
1301
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9209
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0417
9042
3504
7343
6275
2095 5904
7966
8077
7679
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4859
3153
1635
3597
8487
1964
2995
2809
9548
1004
5453
5845
4684
6951
9928
0911
1972
6786
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9125
0228
7152
5438
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6013
7566
2780
1606
5297 8345
2200
6630
8964
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5453
7498
3223
4341
5507
4254
9953
3408
8457
5985
0302
9604
3549
0656
1438
HISTORIC
BOUNDARY
8215
7570
9290
5882
6105
0820
9100
5643
9484
2717
1608
3975
9903
7867
0589
5421
2943
4153
5882
4143
2200
1115
8727
6616
2258
6794
9059
6439
4530
9207
4211
8088
0202
5898
1768
9174
4518
2852
6411
7902
3846
9309
6239
1331
2212
0843
2688
1822
6780
1996
5208
8920
1607
5534
4909
7915
5515
3764
6725
4780
2752
7468
3282
9028
9930
5450
9362
9762
7083
2891
5567
3493
7281
9146 1059 3161
7758
7089
2672
2232
7036
6891
4483
0738
8683
2290
5202
5876
7874
2385
9059
8774
7025
2864 4942 6917
9547
4067
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7138
3193
9985
0415
7734
8264
3813
5442
5225
4977
3127
5640
1059
1460
1115
9138
7259
6861
4117
5334
1909
8451
3477
5490
7349
4817
6882
5099
0654
8780
5527
3434
3127
8109
8811
1936
5864
8109
9207
0666
7421
5289
1597
2447
7267 0311
9157
7019
1028
9004
0990
9728
1909
7471
5351
8234
1944
0719
3337
0470
3190
7892
6605
5216
7113
3760
0692
5526
5488
6067 8973
3818
5776
2707
9737
2885
3188
9214
6436
3219
8870
4307
8113
6651
2004
3558
5492
1861
1672
1342
4200
5137
0997
4969
6618
0798
6623
0486
9191
9052
1098
6874
5803
0567
2882
3188
6428
3530
6405
8153
2994
4914
4469
0552
4332
7399
2075
2828
6835
5698
9055
1096
9058
6749
5153
5567
6496
5490
5317
1765
2819
7765
9773
5917
8991
7780
0777
6634
5354
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4469
3188
1397
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1198
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5822
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0293
1130
3057
9050
5742
8528
4698
9780
2430
2169
9943
6103
5948
1881
5765
1619 3715
9790
8511
3028
3820
7707
6876
8870
0740
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0367
2198
9023
7485
3734
4639
5454
7430
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0620
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7754
6830
1358
5189
1273
8644
2459
6910
1257
6838
8771
3182
6478
2153
5196
7782
1872
8765
3621
5008
9344
1974
1237
3335
3936
6274
4086
9636
9107
1004
1273
7385
1119
0731
1857
3646
8952
4138
0179
1564
8435
2236
8666 1526
7670
0656 3660
1750
5641
1518 3538
7661
2831
8562
2560 5438
9403 1467 4578
9405 0583 3550
9632
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0412 2480 4315 6335
5472
7472 0464
5420
7339
9463
1347
5384
9357 2207 4258
6381
9248 2310
0236
6248
4246 7118 8254
3293
6273
3241
7261
1212
1253
9290
8114
5168
3128
6175
5250
2150
1068 3096
6059
7039
8017 0094
2016 4074
4083
8033
8050
3028
5047
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9016
6054
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3977
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2953 5896
5854 7895 0802
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6764 7882
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0609 2766
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1656 3647
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9425 1461 3553
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8376
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9279 2311
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1166 4276
7270
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1250
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7244
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5103 7107 7085
2101
3088
7045
4096
6009 7005
2052
8929
3002
4916
6944
2902
3902
7985
6990
1960
3873 5777
8870
4713
2693
4698
4684
1620
0976
4930
4846
1822
8716
6279
0230
7134
6741
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9100
2057
2545 2155
8972
9989
4380
2256
7397
1253
6722
5874
2074
9146
3481
7817
7817
OMB NO. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter " N I P for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Carters Run Rural Historic District
Other nameslsite number: VDHR File No. 030-5603
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/ A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
LISTED ON:
VLR: 3/20/2014
NRHP: 5/15/2014
2. Location
Street & number: Generally centered along, Carters Run Road (Route 691) and extending
west along Scotts Road (Route 719), and east side of Free State Road (Route 721)
City or town: Marshall
State: VA
County: Fauquier
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
N/A
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this J
- nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria.
In my opinion, the property X
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
X local
-national
-statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
(
Date
Vir~iniaDepartment of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____37______
_____8_______
buildings
_____13 _____
_____0_______
sites
_____ 8_______
_____0________
structures
_____1______
_____2________
objects
____59________
_____10_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___6______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing, Storage, Agricultural Field, Agricultural
Outbuilding, Animal Facility
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
FUNERARY: Cemetery
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
LANDSCAPE: Natural Feature
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Processing, Storage, Agricultural Field, Agricultural
Outbuilding, Animal Facility
DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
FUNERARY: Cemetery
LANDSCAPE: Natural Feature, Conservation Area
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
MID 19th CENTURY: Greek Revival
LATE VICTORIAN
MODERN MOVEMENT: Neo-French
OTHER: Hall-parlor, Vernacular
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: WOOD: Weatherboard, Log, Shake; BRICK;
STONE: Limestone, Slate; METAL; STUCCO
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Carters Run Rural Historic District encompasses approximately 4,400 acres in the northern
section of Fauquier County. The historic district, situated in the Upper Piedmont region of
Virginia, lies about three miles south of the Town of Marshall and about 13 miles northwest of
Warrenton, the county seat. Carters Run Road (Route 691) extends north-to-south through the
center of the district with active agricultural land and wooded parcels to either side. The only
other public roadways in the district are Free State Road (Route 721), which runs along the
western edge of the district and the unpaved Scotts Road (Route 719), which extends east-towest between the two paved roadways. An interior network of unpaved farm roads also is present
on the properties included in the district. The historic district derives its name from the waterway
that courses through the center of the district and which played a major role in the settlement
patterns, agricultural activities, and industry of the region.
The historic district boundaries generally follow current property lines, extending to the
Rappahannock Mountains on the east and along the Free State Road (Route 721) on the west, but
also rely on visual boundaries such as tree lines and mountain ridges. The district is adjacent to
the state and nationally registered Morgantown Historic District (030-5322) on the west side, as
well, which encompasses an area that was established by African-American residents in the late
nineteenth century on property deeded from the Morgan family. The boundaries for the Carters
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Run Rural Historic District include the significant early-nineteenth-century landholdings of
James Morgan. Morgan’s acquisitions included the southern portion of Lord Fairfax’s 1727 grant
to the Rev. Alexander Scott, as well as a portion of the Manor of Leeds purchased by Morgan in
1811 from John and James Marshall. The land has been in sustained agricultural use since that
time. The broad views through the valley—from the Rappahannock Mountains on the east to the
Blue Ridge Mountains on the west—remain intact with few non-historic visual intrusions. No
commercial buildings are located in the district. Rolling hills, open pastures, and cultivated fields
edged by mature woodlands, dwellings, and agricultural and domestic outbuildings characterize
this area, which retains a very high level of physical integrity. The picturesque scenery is
enhanced by prominently sited houses and barns located to either side of Carters Run Road.
There are 75 total resources in the district, including 6 previously listed in the National Register
of Historic Places.1 Of these, 65 are contributing resources and 10 are non-contributing
resources. Of the 37 contributing buildings, 18 are primary or secondary dwellings and the
remainder is domestic and agricultural outbuildings. The 9 contributing structures in the district
resources include dry-laid fieldstone walls, which historically marked property lines and
delineated pastures, manmade ponds, a historic road trace, and cisterns and wells. The 13
contributing sites in the district include mid-nineteenth century mill sites, sites of known
domestic or agricultural outbuildings, one small family cemetery, and one cultural landscape site
(mounting stones at Barrymore). The 3 objects in the district are gatepost entry markers—one is
contributing and two are non-contributing. The 8 non-contributing buildings in the district are
original dwellings that either were significantly remodeled (Barrymore) or were rebuilt on an
older foundation (Seager House), or are dwellings and outbuildings that have been constructed
within the last 50 years.
The dwellings in the historic district display a diversity of architectural styles including examples
of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century log and stone vernacular houses, earlynineteenth-century Greek Revival-style dwellings, and a late-twentieth-century Neo-French-style
house. The district comprises several large-acreage farms that include a variety of nineteenth and
early-twentieth-century domestic agricultural buildings such as barns, silos, springhouses, and
meat houses. Contributing dwellings are of log, brick, or stone construction. The masonry
examples often feature a stucco exterior finish. The majority of the outbuildings are of frame
construction, although log and stone examples are present.
Together, the district’s architectural resources, open pastures, cropland, and wooded tracts
combine to reflect the occupational activities of people engaged in the traditional work of
agriculture over two centuries (from circa 1790 to 1950). The district includes notable examples
of high-style dwellings and agricultural buildings, as well as examples of the county’s early
vernacular buildings.
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Landscape and Setting
The landscape of the Carters Run Rural Historic District is generally of a rolling nature with
open pastures, cultivated fields, and wooded tracts. Carters Run runs north-to-south through the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
historic district and Carters Run Road, which roughly parallels its namesake waterway, is the
major transportation route through the region. Free State Road (Route 721) partially borders the
district on its west side. Interior roadways include the unpaved Scotts Road (Route 719) and
unpaved farm roads. The presence of Route 17 (Winchester Road) to the east and Interstate 66 to
the north has not altered the character of this bucolic, pastoral region. Although the route of
Carters Run Road was altered in the early twentieth century (moved slightly to the east), it
remains the central organizing roadway in the valley. The former route, which remains visible on
the landscape, extends through Waveland and Clover Hill and more closely followed the path of
the creek than the present roadway. Most of the large dwellings in the district are set back from
the road and are accessed by long, winding driveways sometimes marked by entrance piers or
property signage. Waveland, which currently sits near the east side of Carters Run Road,
historically would have been set a good distance from the road and overlooked it to the west.
Later dwellings front directly onto the road, especially along Scotts Road.
The Rappahannock Mountains, including the wooded ridge of Wildcat Mountain, are located to
the east and foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains are located to the west. Much of the land in
the historic district, as well as much of the bordering land, is held in conservation easement. The
wooded areas in the historic district exhibit a combination of oak, hickory, beech, maple, pines
and other native species. In evaluating one of the Carters Run Valley properties it holds in
easement, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation described the tree cover in the Carters Run Valley
as one of the “finest remaining examples of an intact Piedmont hardwood forest.” 2
The approximately 4,400-acre rural historic district is characterized by active agricultural use
with the land engaged in cattle grazing, as well as crop production. At present, hay, sorghum,
and soybeans are primary crops in the area, but historically farms grew a great diversity of crops
including tobacco, wheat, oats, and a myriad of vegetables and fruits. Grains could be ground at
local grist mills, including the mill on Scotts Road, and vegetables and fruits were harvested and
put up at the end of the season. Historically, this region was known for its cattle production and
area farmers also raised sheep and hogs. Early on, horses, a mainstay on Fauquier County farms,
were used primarily for farm work or travel, but in the early twentieth century foxhunting grew
in popularity in the area and riding and jumping horses were also raised here.
Architectural Analysis
The architectural resources in the Carters Run Rural Historic District date from circa 1790
through the turn of the twenty-first century. The 75 resources include 65 contributing and 10
non-contributing elements. The latter include buildings and structures that are not yet 50 years of
age or resources that have been significantly modified or altered. The contributing buildings
include primary and second dwellings and associated complexes of domestic and agricultural
outbuildings. The contributing dwellings date from circa 1790 to 1950 and most reflect
vernacular forms of hall-parlor plans, center-passage dwellings, and early-twentieth-century
bungalow forms; several dwellings are banked into the their hillside sites, taking advantage of
the area’s topography. Two of the dwellings are executed in the Greek Revival style—the main
dwelling at Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003), which is individually listed in the National
Register, and the main dwelling at Clover Hill (030-0516/030-5306-0005). Both dwellings were
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
constructed circa 1835. Agricultural buildings on these properties range in date from circa 1850
to the mid-twentieth century. The largest and oldest of these are barns erected for livestock
shelter and hay storage; the most recent buildings are associated with modern equipment and
machine storage. The district also contains one small family cemetery, two mill sites, the known
sites of historic outbuildings, and landscape features including entry gateposts fieldstone walls
and farm ponds.5
The earliest architectural resources located in the district are examples of typical Fauquier
County dwellings of the period and are modest dwellings constructed from readily available
materials such as stone and log. Limestone was a common construction material in Fauquier
County and most often was used in foundations, chimneys, and exterior walls of dwellings and
outbuildings, including barns, and in walls that marked property and field divisions. Fieldstone
walls and foundations were generally dry laid uncoursed, random rubble. Stones used as
thresholds, window and door lintels or sills, and at building corners tend to be somewhat more
finished or dressed. It was common to clad the exterior of the stone buildings of this period with
stucco, which was also produced from the local supply of limestone. In some cases, latetwentieth-century owners have removed the stucco or have not replaced failed stucco, revealing
the stonework below. The interior of these dwellings, and some of the barns and outbuildings,
also were plastered.3
Log dwellings are also common and tend to have been clad at construction or soon thereafter
with horizontal weatherboard and in some cases stucco.4 Log dwellings commonly sat on stone
foundations and had exterior-end stone chimneys. In Fauquier County, this form persisted into
the nineteenth century. Again, relying on the local materials, frame buildings were erected using
timber cut by local saw mills.
Early vernacular dwellings typically took on the modest form of a one-and-a-half-story, hallparlor (two-room) dwelling. Some single-room cabins also were constructed. Both forms were
added to as soon as resources allowed. In addition to the common vernacular forms, the district
contains high-style architectural examples, most notably two circa 1835 temple-front Greek
Revival-style dwellings—Waveland and Clover Hill. The former is constructed of brick and the
latter is of brick construction clad with stucco. These dwellings are the finest in the valley and
are associated with the ownership of the Morgan family, which extend through the midnineteenth century. These prominent landowners also were slaveholders and although no
examples remain, slave quarters were among the historic architectural complexes on district-area
farms.
During the colonial era, the area within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the
five million-acre Northern Neck Proprietary that was inherited by Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax.
Large portions of this vast landholding were leased or granted by Fairfax’s agent, Robert Carter.
Fairfax retained title to 160,000 acres of the estate, which remained unleased and which he
named the Manor of Leeds. The northern and eastern portions of the Carters Run Rural Historic
District were part of a large grant made in 1727 to Reverend Alexander Scott, who in 1711
became minister of Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, and resided in that county. Upon his
death in 1738, the Rev. Scott left to his brother James, who was also a minister and lived in
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Stafford County, over 8,600 acres of land in Stafford, Fauquier, and Fairfax counties and 30
slaves. In 1762, James conveyed the Fauquier holdings (“2,823 acres on Carters Run”) and 33
slaves to his son, James.6
The western part of the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the Manor of Leeds,
which in 1793 was purchased by John and James Marshall and others. From his apportionment
of the manor, John Marshall had given each of his sons a large estate. In 1820, Marshall deeded
his son, John, Jr., the 2,375-acre Mont Blanc parcel, which extended from near the town of
Hume as far east as Carters Run and adjacent to the Scott landholdings.7 Marshall’s heirs
retained ownership of the property into the nineteenth century and maintained a system of
leaseholding on the property.
Architectural resources in the district that date to this early settlement period in the region
include the stucco-over-stone former overseer’s house located on the Barrymore estate (0305603-0002). This one-and-a-half-story dwelling, believed to date to circa 1790, originally
featured a single large room with a centrally located stair that led to a loft above. Hewn timbers
are present on the interior and large stone chimneys are located on either end of the dwelling.
The house is banked slightly into the hillside, which provides a cellar space below that is
accessed only from the exterior. The interior has been altered by moving the stair to the southeast
corner of the first-floor space, but the building retains its rustic character and overall original
form.
The Morgantown House is an early log dwelling located in the district. Located on the western
edge of the vast Waveland estate (030-512/030-5603-0003), the house is so-named for its
proximity to the African-American settlement of Morgantown. This dwelling predates the
Morgan ownership of the Waveland property by several years and likely was occupied by a lease
holder or tenant. Located on a high hill above Carters Run, it was originally a one-and-a-halfstory, two-bay log dwelling with a large exterior end chimney. Later, a two-story frame addition
and an exterior stone chimney were constructed to the north end of the house, resulting in a
center-passage, single-pile (I-house) plan. This evolution is evident on the exterior in the
weatherboard seams and window opening arrangement. The house is clad with weatherboards
and the doorways are Victorian in character with round-top sidelights and windows.
Dendrochronological investigations conducted in spring 2013 indicate “that the original structure
was built of yellow pine logs that were felled in the winter of 1806/7 and that the roof was built
of oak timbers that were felled in the spring of 1807.”8 Although presently in a deteriorated
condition, the building retains sufficient historical material to convey its construction evolution
and appearance. In recent months, the owner has undertaken significant stabilization efforts
especially with regard to the roof and foundation. In addition, interior stabilization and clean up
is underway.
During the early nineteenth century, brothers William and James Morgan owned much of the
land in the Carters Run Valley, which they had acquired from the Scott landholdings, as well as
the Marshalls. Around 1815, James Morgan built his home, Southern View (030-0663/030-56030007) above Carters Run. The earliest section of the dwelling, located on top of a hill on the east
side of present-day Scott’s Road, likely began as a one-and-a-half-story, hall-parlor plan
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
dwelling. According to a Virginia Historical Inventory report (1937), this section was of frame
construction and the interior featured wainscoting, fine woodwork, plaster walls, and a handsome
stairway.9 The house site overlooked the mill (now only a ruin site, 030-5603-0013) located at
the base of the hill on the west side. This original section, now on the north side of the house,
appears to have been raised to two stories in the late nineteenth century (circa 1878) and clad
with stucco. At the same time, the side-gable north wing was added. This addition has since
become the formal front of the dwelling. Large stone chimneys are present on the exterior ends
of the dwelling. The exterior was clad with stucco in the 1940s. Two historic outbuildings, the
kitchen and meat house, survived into the late twentieth century, but have since been
demolished. Two twentieth-century frame bank barns are present on the property and contribute
to the agricultural context of the property.
Around 1830, Thomas Payne occupied a lease hold on the Marshall property located east of
present-day Free State Road. The one-and-a-half-story, two-room, log dwelling Payne built was
set on a stone foundation with large exterior-end stone chimneys. The house was covered by a
side-facing gable roof and was clad with weatherboards. Later additions include a one-room log
section and additional stone chimney on the south end of the dwelling and a frame addition and
porch on the east side. Tax records indicate that Payne purchased 122 acres “of Mont Blanc”
from Ashton A. Marshall in 1857 with a value for buildings listed at $100. Payne does not
appear to have obtained full ownership of the land until 1870, when the property is listed in tax
records under his name.10 Fauquier County tax records for 1900 list a valuation for the property’s
buildings at $245, which may reflect the date of the additions to the dwelling. After Thomas
Payne died in 1907, the property remained in the extended Payne family through 1958, when the
present owner acquired the land. At present, the dwelling is in fair condition and is used
seasonally. The dwelling retains its simple, vernacular form and character and its heavily
wooded, rustic setting is intact. A small family cemetery is located south of the dwelling and
contains two late-nineteenth-century graves.
The most notable architectural resources in the district were built around 1835 by the heirs of
James Morgan. When their father died, each of the three Morgan siblings acquired large parcels
of his Carters Run Valley property. The handsome Greek Revival-style brick dwelling at
Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003), located near the center of the district on the east side of
Carters Run Road, was built by Morgan’s daughter, Caroline, and her husband Dr. James H.
Loughborough.11 Waveland was listed on the state and national registers in 2004 for its national
and local significance in the areas of conservation and architecture. Waveland is associated with
John Augustine Washington III, the great-great nephew of George Washington, who owned the
property after the Loughboroughs. The dwelling retains excellent interior and exterior integrity.
Waveland, a two-and-a-half-story dwelling, originally consisted of the three-bay-wide and fivebay-deep section that features a pedimented temple front. The temple front, laid in a five-course
American brick bond pattern, features a molded cornice, and brick in the tympanum, which also
holds a lunette window. Tall brick chimneys are located on the interior slopes of the front-gable
roof of the house. The interior features a hall that extends across the front of the dwelling and
holds the staircase to the upper floor. Woodwork exhibits Greek Revival styling, such as that
seen in period pattern books by Asher Benjamin.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1859, John Augustine Washington III purchased Waveland and enlarged the house with a sixbay-wide addition on the back (east), resulting in the present footprint. Washington hired
Baltimore-based architect Edmund G. Lind to design the rear addition.12 Washington also added
a front porch, which likely replaced a smaller entry porch and extended over secondary entrances
located on the north and south sides of the building. The wraparound porch was removed in
1938, but the present one-story front porch retains the character of the Washington-era porch and
is detailed with square, Italianate-style columns, decorative brackets, and a diamond-pattern
railing. Bay windows located on the side elevations, also added by Washington, were removed in
1928 and the original six-over-six sash replicated. A frame porch raised on stone piers extends
across the width of the east (rear) elevation of the addition and features the same diamondpattern railing that is present on the front porch. Washington made another major addition to the
house with the installation of three interior bathrooms, the earliest known in Fauquier County,
that were equipped with a watersystem similar to that installed at the White House in 1859. “A
hydraulic Ram pump pushed water from the stone springhouse in the southeast field uphill
through underground pipes up to the water tank Augustine installed in the attic of his addition.”13
The system may have been augmented by water from the still-extant cistern located at the back
of the house.
The outbuilding complex associated with Waveland is the most impressive in the district and
includes numerous domestic and agricultural outbuildings that date from the early nineteenth
through the mid-twentieth century. Among the notable buildings is the brick meat house located
behind the main dwelling, which appears to date to the 1835 construction of the main house. The
meat house features a tall wooden cornice and a pyramidal roof clad with wooden shakes. The
interior features hewn timbers and plaster walls. The exterior also shows evidence of plastering,
but the brick is now exposed and closely resembles the brick on the front of the dwelling. As
mentioned, the cistern and a springhouse were also contemporary with the initial building period
of the house, although the latter is now a ruinous site in the field located southeast of the house.
Slave quarters would also have been a prominent feature of the mid-nineteenth-century farm
landscape. The Morgans and Loughboroughs were slaveholders and in 1860, Washington owned
33 slaves, and these farm residents would have been housed in the estate’s eight slaves' houses.14
The stone foundation of one of these houses is located in the field south of the main dwelling and
is a tangible reminder of that era of the estate’s history.
The majority of the agricultural outbuildings lie north and east behind the main dwelling and
date from the early to the mid-twentieth century. The buildings include several machine sheds
and a scales building, but the most prominent buildings are the barns that continue to be used for
hay storage and as livestock shelter. The “Red Cow Barn,” built around 1930 and located in the
field directly behind (east of) the house, is a two-story, frame building clad with wide
weatherboard siding, is set on a stone foundation, and is covered by a side-facing gable roof of
standing-seam metal. A concrete silo, no longer extant, was located at the northeast corner of the
barn. The small, gable-roofed addition on the north end of the barn, which is clad with vertical
wood boards, likely served as the hyphen connecting the two structures. The circa 1948 horse
barn, located northeast of the house, is a tall, two-story barn of concrete block construction that
is covered by a metal-clad gambrel roof. The ground level of the barn holds a centrally located
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
aisle with stalls to either side and the upper level loft is used for hay storage. The “White Cow
Barn,” located on the west side of Carters Run Road and set atop a high hill, was constructed
around 1950 as a wedding present from George Thompson II to his wife, Eleanor Glascock
Thompson. The placement of the barn on the west side of the farm, rather than within the
complex on the east side of the estate, was chosen in order to place a barn convenient to the
fields and livestock on that portion of the property.15 The gambrel-roofed barn was built using
poplar wood harvested from the Waveland forests. The three-bay-wide barn features a center
aisle with livestock areas to either side, which are now used for hay and equipment storage. The
vaulted space of the upper level is used for hay storage. A concrete silo stands at the northwest
(rear) corner of the barn. Because of its prominent location, the White Cow Barn is a visual
landmark from many vantage points in the district. Cultivated fields surround the barn site,
which is accessed by one of the farm’s unpaved interior roads.
The Waveland estate also includes several tenant houses that date from the mid-nineteenth to the
mid-twentieth century and that exhibit various vernacular forms. The oldest of these is the
“Morgantown House,” described above and dating to circa 1806. The “Orchard House,” so
named for its proximity to Washington’s apple and peach orchard, was constructed around 1860
and is located north of the main Waveland dwelling. It is a two-story, stucco-over-stone, threebay dwelling, set on a stone foundation, and covered by a metal-clad side-facing gable roof. The
house is banked into the hillside and faces west into the field behind it. The “Baltimore House,”
located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Carters Run Road and Scotts Road, is a oneand-a-half-story concrete block dwelling that is covered by a gable roof of asphalt shingles. This
modest circa 1950 house features a three-bay front (south) with a centrally located entrance
flanked by window openings.
Clover Hill (030-0516/030-5603-0005), located across (west) Carters Run Road from Waveland,
is another estate that was owned by the Morgan family. James Morgan’s daughter, Mary, and her
husband John Baker likely built Clover Hill around 1835. The two-and-a-half-story dwelling is
accessed by a long, winding gravel driveway that leads through cultivated fields to the fenced
house yard. The main dwelling faces north and exhibits a pedimented gable-front design that is
further enhanced by a fine Greek Revival-style portico. The large fluted Doric columns on the
porch at Clover Hill present an elegant interpretation of the style and may have been inspired by
period publications such as Asher Benjamin’s pattern book The Architect, or Practical House
Carpenter (1830). In particular, the “Doric Order, Example No. 3” portrayed in that volume
(Plate VI) illustrates the fluted columns, triglyphs, mutules, guttae, and metopes that are
displayed on the Clover Hill porch.16 The porch also features fluted and plain pilasters and a
single-leaf entrance door with deeply recessed sidelights. This arrangement may be an adaptation
of Benjamin’s more ornate designs for a front door shown in The Architect (Plates 37 and 38).
Large, six-over-six double-hung windows flank the entrance porch and exhibit the attenuated
muntins also associated with the Greek Revival style. Two tall brick chimneys are located along
the rear (south) parapet wall of the house. Door locations on the sides and rear of the house
indicate that small porches may also have been located there originally. Smooth, white stucco
was applied to the exterior walls of the brick house to enhance the temple-like image then
associated with the original Grecian temples. A similar house, John Marshall’s Oak Hill (0300044), was constructed around 1820 and is located nearby just west of Marshall.17
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The intact interior plan at Clover Hill exhibits a front hall that extends the full width of the
building, similar to the one at Waveland. Two large parlors lay beyond the hall with pocket doors
between them. The woodwork reflects typical Greek Revival-style molding with bull’s-eye
corner blocks at door and window openings.
Clover Hill does not retain as extensive a collection of outbuildings as Waveland, but there are
two extant buildings that are notable. The stone springhouse located west of the main house at
the bottom of the hill is unusual for its octagon-shaped plan. The building, believed to be
contemporaneous with the main house, was covered by a pyramidal roof (now collapsed) and
featured a single interior space with plastered walls. The stucco-clad stone overseer’s house,
located south of the main house, may have been constructed around 1800, predating the main
dwelling. The house has been remodeled in recent years, but retains the majority of original
materials and its historical form. The two-story, three-bay dwelling is set on a stone foundation
and is covered by a side-facing gable roof with a large exterior stone chimney on the south end.
The house is located within the fenced yard of the main dwelling, but faces east towards Carters
Run Road.
Wheatland (030-0501/030-5603-0006), located on the east side of Carters Run Road and
adjacent to the south side of the Waveland property, is a more modest example of an earlynineteenth century house, but is also unusual in its own way. The two-story, four-bay-wide
dwelling set on a high stone (English) basement was built in two phases: the two southern bays
were built around 1830 and the northern two bays were added around 1853. The original (twobay) hall-parlor plan dwelling was set on a stone basement, and featured a stone chimney on the
exterior south end. Previous survey noted that the framing on the original section of the house
employs half-dovetail joints on the large downbrace into the sill and L-shaped cornerposts.18
Exterior chimneys are located on the ends of the house and are stone with brick stacks. The
random rubble chimneys were later clad with stucco and scored to resemble coursed stone—a
technique often employed in Greek Revival-style buildings.
Although it is not uncommon to find hall-parlor houses in the county that were later enlarged to
appear as a center-passage house, what distinguishes Wheatland is the retention of the earlier
hall, as well as the construction of a second hall, creating side-by-side halls divided by a wall.
Both halls were retained rather than creating a single, broad passage. The new hall contained
stairs to the basement and the stairs to the second floor were retained in the original hall. The
front entrance (on the west side) opened into the new hall.
The Wheatland property, formerly a part of James Morgan’s holdings, was owned by Morgan’s
daughter Mary and her husband, John Baker, until 1853 when Marshall Lake, a prominent
Fauquier County farmer, purchased the land and dwelling. Although no outbuildings remain
extant on the property, the stone foundation ruins of a kitchen and meat house are located north
of the house. The site of the former carriage house is located south of the house, although at
present it is heavily overgrown.
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
It is likely that Marshall Lake enlarged the dwelling soon after his purchase of the land; it also
appears that Lake enlarged the stone and frame “cow house,” as it is referenced on historic plats,
located west across the road from the dwelling. The Lake Barn is one of the most impressive
agricultural buildings in the district, not only for its age, but also for the sheer size of the
building. Local residents state that over 100 head of cattle could be fed in the barn at one time.
The building’s size, measuring nearly 225 feet long, reflects the expansive cattle production
undertaken at the property during the late nineteenth century. The earliest section of the barn (the
first nine bays on the east end) was likely constructed around 1850 with additions constructed in
the 1870s following the Civil War. With the addition, the barn was 19 bays long (east to west).
In form and function, the barn can be described generally as a modified bank barn that lacks the
usual projecting forebay associated with Pennsylvania bank barns. The early 1850s seem a likely
construction date since the Manassas Gap Railroad was finished through Marshall (then Salem)
at that time. The large herd accommodated by this barn would have been taken to market by rail
car rather than drive across land to markets in Alexandria or Falmouth.19
The Lake Barn is a two-level timber building that is banked into the hill on the north side. The
supporting posts and beams consist of hand-hewn and sawn members. The building was
constructed with pegged timber joinery including mortise-and-tenon joints, cross-lap, half-lap
splice, and stop-splayed and under squinted scarf joints. Supporting posts on the north side of the
barn (banked section) are approximately six-by-six inches and on the south side are
approximately twelve-by-twelve inches. Some of the south posts appear to be hand hewn, but
most appear to be sawn and exhibit straight saw marks running perpendicular to the grain of the
wood; these may be later replacements. Both handmade and factory made nails were observed on
the barn. The exterior vertical wood sheathing exhibits circular saw marks. It is assumed that the
sheathing and the roof were modified or heavily repaired in the late nineteenth or early twentieth
century. It is also assumed that the cross-gable bay on the north side of the barn was constructed
in 1924, about the time that the two concrete silos were erected at the northwest corner of the
barn.20
The barn is three bays deep with a narrow central passage on the interior that is flanked by wider
bays on the north and south. The upper level was primarily used for hay storage, but a large
granary is also present. Ensilage was moved by iron-wheeled cart to the granary. Later, a hay
fork was installed and the original collar ties were cut and lower braces were installed in the
framing so that the hay on the fork could clear the aisle. On the lower, ground level of the barn,
the bays open to the south onto rock outcroppings located there and the creek beyond. Livestock
feeding occurred on the lower level where there are stalls and separate feeding areas and a fenced
barnyard was located on the south side of the building. A continuous, metal-clad gable roof
covers the entire length of the barn. The barn is set on a foundation of solid stone (on the east)
and stone piers (on the west). Special attention was given to dressing the stone corners of the
solid foundation. Several bays on the western end of the barn have collapsed. The building
retains good overall integrity, although some sections lack structural stability. The barn retains
excellent integrity with regard to setting and is surrounded by open fields, rolling hills, and
active farmland. Carter’s Run extends along the west side of the barn and Carter’s Run Road lies
to the east. The presence of this barn significantly contributes to the historic context of the
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Wheatland house, as well as to the overall district’s theme of nineteenth- and twentieth-century
agricultural practices.
The Barrymore property (030-0502/030-5603-0002), located at the northeastern corner of the
district, consists of several nineteenth century buildings. The oldest building on the property, the
stone overseer’s house, is described above. The main dwelling has undergone several
manifestations, although the house site appears to have remained constant. William B. Wright,
who purchased the property in 1810, probably built the original main dwelling between 1810 and
1820. No records have been found that describe that building, which is said to have been
destroyed in the late nineteenth century.21 At that time, during the ownership of Henry deButts
Norris and later, his son George W. Norris, a Colonial Revival-style dwelling was built on the
old foundations. A circa 1940 real estate pamphlet for the property shows a photograph of the
dwelling as a two-story frame dwelling covered by a hipped roof. The three-bay façade was
fronted by a projecting, pedimented two-story porch that was supported by stout, paired, doubleheight Ionic columns.
This house was modified to its present appearance in the late twentieth century by Middleburgbased architect William “Billy” Dew. At present, the one-and-a-half-story, stucco-clad house
exhibits a Neo-French style. The center section is three bays wide and holds the centrally
located, projecting entrance block. Three segmentally arched dormers pierce the metal-clad
mansard roof. Windows are six-over-six wooden sash. Tall stucco-clad chimneys project on the
east, west, and south sides of the house. The wings that extend to the east and west of the center
section of the house were added over time. The use of the same architectural style, detail, and
materials, however, provide continuity in the appearance of the additions. The current owner
states that a portion of the original house is located at the center of the building.22 The main
dwelling at Barrymore is one of the few non-contributing buildings in the district. The recently
constructed (2000) tenant dwelling at Barrymore, a one-story, vinyl-clad house, also is a noncontributing building.
A 1928 plat of the Barrymore property indicates that at the time, several domestic outbuildings
stood to the rear (south of) the house (Figure 1). These included a shop and shed, a stable, a
lighting plant (likely a Delco battery building), a milk house, an outhouse, a wood shed and an
“old mansion,” which may have been the old Wright house or another dwelling.23 Of these, the
wood shed, also later used as a meat house, is the only extant resource. The one-and-a-half-story,
stucco-clad stone building is covered by a side-facing gable roof of slate with louvered vents in
the gable ends. The building, located west of the main house, holds two separate earthen-floor
spaces that are currently used for tool storage and a generator house. Deep door openings are
present on the east side of the building. Other non-extant buildings also depicted on the plat
include a hay shed and several tenant houses that were located within the surrounding farm
fields.
Section 7 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. 1928 Plat of the Barrymore Estate Showing Locations of Former Outbuildings. Source: Fauquier County Deed
Book 132:97.
The most outstanding architectural resource on the Barrymore property is the two-and-a-halfstory stone barn that was likely built between 1880 and 1890 during the Norris ownership.
Referred to as a “stock barn” on the 1928 plat, the building was originally used to house
carriages and riding horses. Grain and hay storage occurred on the upper floor, which also had
finished domestic spaces. The barn is covered by a side-facing gable roof clad with slate; colored
slates have been applied in a decorative flower motif band across the roof. A centrally located
intersecting gable roof projects to the east and west. Large wooden brackets are present beneath
the roof eave and a wide frieze board surrounds the building. The barn is banked into the hillside
on the east side and the unpaved gravel drive leads past the front of the barn. The stonework of
the barn is in good condition and large stones are present throughout the exterior walls and as
window and door lintels. Stone arches are located above the window and door openings on the
first floor level. The windows are large, six-over-six wooden sash and have deep sills on the
interior.
On the interior, the barn holds a carriage space on the south and box stalls on the north of the
first floor level. Originally, there were six box stalls to either side of a center aisle. These are
Section 7 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
defined by beaded-board half walls with vertical rail screens above. The outside walls in both
sections of this floor appear to have been plastered. The second floor of the barn is accessed from
the carriage area via an enclosed stair at the southeast corner. The upper floor holds three large
spaces that were used for hay and grain storage and as domestic space. Floors are wooden, and
ceilings and walls are plastered. The northern half of the space holds the grain bins, as well as
drop boxes into the stall area below. Two doorways on the east side of the second floor were
formerly equipped with hay rigs and pulleys. Historical photographs show wooden railings
partially filling the doorways. There is also an attic level that is accessed by an enclosed stair
leading up from the hay storage area.
The ground floor of the barn (basement) is accessed from the north and south ends through large
swinging doors and originally held 14 stalls. These may have been ox or cow stalls, but later on
were modified for milking stalls. The basement walls appear also to have been plastered, but the
floor is earthen. Windows line the west side of the space, providing the partly below-grade space
with light.
The architectural features of the Barrymore stone barn are intact and the building is in very good
condition. Research suggests that this barn was likely copied or adapted from designs publicized
in period agricultural journals. Many such periodicals and booklets, such as those promulgated
by agricultural progressive Orange Judd, encouraged good design in farm buildings and
proposed both floor plans and exterior elevations. Based on review of existing documentation
and interviews with local farmers and building specialists, this barn may be unique among
Fauquier County resources and warrants preservation and continued research.24
More modest, vernacular dwellings in the district include the Bud Carter House (030-0513/0305603-0010), located on Scott’s Road, and the Margaret Wright House (030-5603-0001), located
on the west side of Carters Run Road. Both of these two-story dwellings appear to have been
built in the late nineteenth century and are of stone construction clad with stucco. The houses
take advantage of the rolling topography and are banked into their hillside sites. The Griffith
House (030-5603-0008) and the Gray House (030-5603-0009) sit adjacent to one another on the
east side of Scotts Road. They are sited at the base of the hill below the Southern View dwelling.
The houses, built around 1920 and named for former owners, are gable-front, bungalow-style
dwellings executed in stone and stucco-over-frame. Although these dwellings are modest and
lack overt architectural detailing, they, like the tenant dwellings and outbuildings on the large
surrounding estates, contribute to the architectural and historical context of the district.
The land within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was held by a relatively few owners
during the first part of the nineteenth century. The pattern of development in the area followed
that seen in the other parts of the county where wealthy landowners owned large tracts of
adjacent land. As such, the number of architectural resources is low relative to the acreage.
Although the majority of the architectural resources are domestic and agricultural in nature, ruins
of grist and saw mills are also present. These industries supported the surrounding agriculture
and provided building materials for nearby structures. The district buildings also are united by
the commonality of building materials, which relied on locally available supplies of stone and
timber, and the reliance on traditional building forms.
Section 7 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
CARTERS RUN RURAL HISTORIC DISTRICT INVENTORY
The following is a list of resources located within the Carters Run Rural Historic District boundaries. The
resources are listed alphabetically by road and chronologically by address number. The common or
current name of the property is included, as are VDHR ID numbers of previously surveyed resources. In
the following inventory all resources, both primary and secondary, have been considered either
contributing or non-contributing based upon the areas of significance identified under Criteria A and C as:
Agriculture, Architecture, Exploration and Settlement, and Military History, and based upon the period of
significance identified as circa 1790 to 1950. All non-contributing resources have therefore been so noted
for postdating the period of significance or as having no integrity left to represent the period and areas of
significance, unless otherwise noted.
CARTERS RUN ROAD
4610 Carters Run Road “Martha Wright House”
030-5603-0001
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1880
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Road Trace (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Contributing Total: 1
4611-4613 Carters Run Road “Barrymore” 030-0502 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0002
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Other, Ca 1820
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Animal Shelter/Kennel (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pond (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Non-contributing Total: 1
4883-5061 Carters Run Road “Waveland” 030-0512
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0003
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Greek Revival, Ca 1835
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chicken House/Poultry House
(Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Cistern (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Privy (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Secondary Resource: Shed, Machine (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Spring/Spring House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
Section 7 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
5134 Carters Run Road
“Seager House” 030-5603-0004
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1969
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Smoke/Meat House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
5200 Carters Run Road “Clover Hill” 030-0516 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0005
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Greek Revival, Ca 1835
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Secondary Dwelling (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Spring/Spring House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
5445 Carters Run Road “Wheatland” 030-0501 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0006
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1830
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Contributing Total: 3
FREE STATE ROAD
5559 Free State Road “Payne House” 030-0507 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0012
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1830
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Cemetery (Site)
Contributing Total: 1
5809 Free State Road “Devonstone” 030-0506 Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0011
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1820
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chicken House/Poultry House
(Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pond (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Free State Road, East side of “Mill Ruins”
030-5603-0014
Primary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site), Stories 0, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca. 1850
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Dam (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chimney (Site)
Contributing Total: 1
SCOTTS ROAD
4604 Scotts Road “Southern View” 030-0663
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0007
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Other, Ca 1800
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
Section 7 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Secondary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Secondary Resource: Shed, Equipment (Building)
Secondary Resource: Gateposts (Object)
Contributing Total: 2
Contributing Total: 1
Non-contributing Total: 1
4661 Scotts Road
“Griffith House”
030-5603-0008
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, 1929
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Non-contributing, Total: 2
4663 Scotts Road
“Gray House”
030-5603-0009
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, 1929
Contributing Total: 1
4712 Scotts Road “Bud Carter House”
030-0513
Other DHR Id#: 030-5603-0010
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1890
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Outbuilding, Domestic (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Well (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Landscape, Stone wall (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Scotts Road, Northwest Side of “Shackelford’s Mill Ruins”
030-5603-0013
Primary Resource: Foundation (Site) Stories 0, Style: No discernible Style, Pre 1853
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Mill (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
X
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
MILITARY
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
circa 1790-1950
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1727____________
1806____________
1811____________
ca. 1835_________
1859____________
1864____________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
Mosby, Col. John Singleton
______________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A________________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Lind, Edmund G. (Waveland)_
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Located in the northern section of Fauquier County, the Carters Run Rural Historic District
encompasses approximately 4,400 acres of pristine landscape and is eligible for listing in the
National Register on a local level under Criteria A, B, and C with a period of significance
extending from circa 1790, the date of the earliest documented resource, to 1950, representing
the latest contributing resource that retains its integrity. Under Criterion A, the district is locally
significant in the areas of areas of agriculture, exploration and settlement, and military. Under
Criterion B, the district’s local significance is in the area of military for the activities of Col.
John Singleton Mosby. Finally, the district is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
architecture.
The rural landscape is the most prominent feature of the Carters Run Rural Historic District and
reflects the use of the land in the traditional occupation of farming. Continued, active farming
has ensured the integrity of the rural landscape, which is evidenced through the area’s historic
property lines, pastures, and wooded lots, as well as through the built environment. Carters Run
runs north-to-south near the center of the rural historic district.
The 75 architectural resources in Carters Run Rural Historic District are domestic and
agricultural in nature and date from the late eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century
(circa 1790 to 1950). The 65 contributing resources include dwellings that are associated with
complexes of outbuildings containing barns, silos, meat houses, machine sheds, and other
functional buildings. Late-nineteenth- and early-to-mid-twentieth century tenant houses
associated with these large farms dot the landscape. Together, these resources reflect the growth
and development of the traditionally agriculturally based and self-sufficient society that has
occupied the Carters Run Valley for over 200 years. The 10 non-contributing elements are latetwentieth-century resources postdating the period of significance or historic buildings that have
been significantly altered. These resources do not disrupt the general pattern of development in
the valley and reflect the general forms and materials typical of the area.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criteria Justification
The district is locally significant under Criterion A for its contribution to the broad patterns of
Fauquier County history and possesses significance in the areas of agriculture, exploration and
settlement, and military. The district is significant in the area of exploration and settlement for its
association with the Northern Neck Proprietary (as part of the Manor of Leeds) and with the
pattern of ownership and settlement that resulted from that system of land management. During
the eighteenth century, large parcels were often granted to landowners who lived elsewhere in
the state and who did not establish residences on the land. As these large grants were divided and
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sold in relatively smaller parcels, or divided through inheritance, dwellings, farm buildings, and
other buildings were erected. A majority of the land in the district was part of a 1727 grant to the
Rev. Alexander Scott, whose heirs divided and sold large parcels to area residents such as James
Morgan (1806). Morgan increased his holdings in 1811 by purchasing adjacent land from the
Marshall family’s Manor of Leeds. The pattern of large-acreage estates with relatively few built
resources remains intact on the landscape. Properties and fields retain many of their original
boundaries—some of which are delineated by fence lines, tree lines, and stone walls.
Because the land has continued in agricultural use for over 200 years, it is also locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of agriculture. The daily patterns of agricultural life can be gleaned
from nineteenth-century agricultural census data, as well as the late-nineteenth-century farm
diaries of Lawrence Washington, owner of Waveland and son of John Augustine Washington III.
Washington’s daily entries detail the sowing, harvesting, and storing that occurred on his farm,
as well as activities on other farms in the area. Washington noted significant events in the
neighborhood, such as deaths and births, and recorded the annual rhythms of rural life. He also
provided historians with the names of laborers on the farm, many of whom lived in the area and
were descended from African Americans formerly enslaved by valley residents. Historically,
area farming was subsistent and relied on the production of wheat and other grains and the
raising of livestock for local consumption. After the Civil War, production increased and farmers
in the area, such as Marshall Lake of Wheatland, were well known for raising large herds of
high-quality beef cattle. Many of these animals were shipped to larger markets via the Manassas
Gap Railroad that ran through Marshall. Sheep and pigs were also raised on valley farms, but
today, livestock production in the area focuses solely on beef cattle.
The district’s local significance in the area of military under Criterion B is associated with Col.
John S. Mosby during the period of the American Civil War. Several of the properties in the
valley are known to have been frequented by Col. Mosby and his Confederate Rangers during
the Civil War. Carters Run Valley was located in the Fauquier County area known as part of
“Mosby’s Confederacy,” Personal memoirs and histories recount Mosby’s and his men’s forays
into the area and their visits to area houses. The secluded location of Carters Run Valley on the
back of the Rappahannock Mountains and off of the main road provided a safe haven for Mosby
and his men, and it was there that Mosby convalesced several days after being shot by Union
soldiers in December 1864.
The district is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of architecture for its array of
buildings dating from the late-eighteenth through the mid-twentieth century, which reflect
traditional Fauquier County building materials and a variety of architectural styles. Although the
majority of buildings in the district represent vernacular forms, there are also two Greek Revivalstyle temple-form dwellings and two traditional hall-parlor-plan houses from the early nineteenth
century. As was typical with the latter forms, they were enlarged later in the nineteenth century
as residents’ families and prospects grew. A visitor to the valley would see few architectural
resources, however, since many of these buildings are located away from the roadside. The low
number of buildings relative to the large acreage in the valley recommends this area as an intact
rural landscape with little developmental intrusion. Most notable among the residences in the
valley are the Greek Revival temple-style dwellings at Waveland (ca. 1835) and Clover Hill (ca.
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1835). Significant agricultural buildings include the mid-nineteenth century barn located at
Wheatland and the early-twentieth century barns at Waveland. In the late twentieth century, the
main dwelling at Barrymore was modified in a Neo-French style by Middleburg-based architect
William Dew, Jr. The late-nineteenth-century, four-level, stone barn, however, retains its original
Victorian-era detailing and is another of the district’s impressive agricultural resources.
Exploration and Settlement
During the colonial era, the area within the Carters Run Rural Historic District was part of the
five-million-acre Northern Neck Proprietary that was inherited by Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax.
Large portions of this vast landholding were leased or granted by Fairfax’s agent, Robert Carter.
Fairfax retained title to 160,000 acres of the estate, which he named the Manor of Leeds. The
northern and eastern portions of the Carters Run Rural Historic District were part of a large grant
made to Reverend Alexander Scott, who in 1711 became minister of Overwharton Parish,
Stafford County, and resided in that county. Rev. Scott was considered a “shrewd speculator in
frontier lands” and in 1715 received a grant from the proprietary of 450 acres in the upper
Rappahannock River area on the Horsepen branch, also known as Marr’s branch of Marsh Run
in the southern part of present-day Fauquier County.26
Looking to extend his holdings into the more remote areas of the region, Rev. Scott later took
two grants in the vicinity of the future Winchester Road. In 1726, Scott received a grant for 781
acres “on the branches of Broad run above the Thoroughfair [through the Bull Run Mountains].”
Rappahannock River called Carter’s run in King George County and on the head of a branch of
the Broad run of Occuquan River in Stafford County.” The latter grant included the future site of
the town of Salem, now Marshall. Later surveys found that the grant actually encompassed 3,533
acres. Upon his death in 1738, the Rev. Scott left his brother James, who was also a minister and
lived in Stafford County, over 8,600 acres of land in Stafford, Fauquier, and Fairfax counties and
30 enslaved persons. In 1762, James conveyed the Fauquier holdings (“2,823 acres on Carters
Run”) and 33 slaves to his son, James.27 No architectural resources from this very early period
exist within the valley, reflecting the fact that these owners lived elsewhere and that these
holdings were speculative in nature.
In the 1803 division of James Scott’s estate, his land was apportioned into five lots. Scott’s 62
enslaved labor forces also were divided among his heirs. From his father’s 3,152-acre estate,
Cuthbert H. Scott received a 599.75-acre parcel (Lot 4) on the southernmost section of the
original 1727 grant. In 1806, Cuthbert Scott conveyed that tract to James Morgan, formerly of
Alexandria.28 Five years later (1811), Morgan added to his Carters Run Valley holdings by
purchasing 1,860 acres from John Marshall and his wife Mary, and James Marshall and his wife
Hetty. This conveyance notes that the land conveyed was part of the Manor of Leeds and lay
adjacent to the land “Morgan purchased of Cuthbert Scott” (Figure 2).29
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 2. Map Showing Landholdings Around Salem [Marshall] in 1800. Cuthbert Scott’s
portion of Scott’s Division is at the bottom center and the Leeds Manor parcel is located
to the west. James Morgan purchased the Rector parcels between these two parcels, as
well, including Southern View. Source: John K. Gott, High in Old Virginia's Piedmont: A
History of Marshall (formerly Salem), Fauquier County, Virginia, 1987, page 3.
Architecture
James Morgan and his brother William appear to have been partners in several business
endeavors and owned property together. The brothers were partners in the grist and saw mill
operated on James’ Clover Hill tract in the Carters Run Valley, and also operated still-house,
warehouse, and area leaseholds. In 1806, William moved to Lynchburg, where he became a
partner in local mercantile businesses and between 1810 and 1811, the brothers divided their
interests, which conferred ownership of the Fauquier property to James. James stated that he was
content to live as a farmer in Fauquier and to “sell a few goods” locally.30
It is believed that James Morgan built the earliest section of Southern View (030-0663/0305603-0007) during the first decade of the nineteenth century. Morgan had worked in the port of
Alexandria and was a wealthy man when he arrived in Fauquier. Not only did he own vast tracts
of land, he also owned a large number of enslaved African Americans. The 1810 census recorded
50 individuals in the Morgan household, 41 of whom were enslaved. In the division of property
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
between James and his brother William, several of these individuals were named and their trades
listed. Among them were skilled laborers such as blacksmiths and carpenters.31
In the early 1830s, James Morgan died and in 1832, a court-ordered division of his estate was
completed. Morgan’s wife Caroline received a dower that included Southern View. Morgan’s
heirs were his daughters Caroline, who married Dr. James H. Loughborough, and Mary, who
married John Baker, and son William J. Morgan. The division assigned a 900-acre tract to
William, which encompassed much of present-day Waveland. Daughter Caroline received
Southern View, and Mary received part of the southern section now known as Clover Hill. In
1833, the Loughboroughs purchased 253 acres from John Wright that was adjacent to Williams’
land on the east and proceeded to construct their Greek Revival dwelling known as Waveland.32
The partition of the Morgan land is a pivotal moment in the developmental history of the Carters
Run Valley. Held by a single owner until about 1830, the land was sub-divided, which in turn
resulted in the construction of several of the valley’s most prominent dwellings. The dwellings
constructed about this time include Waveland, Clover Hill, and the earliest section of Wheatland.
While Wheatland was executed in the locally popular vernacular hall-parlor form, Waveland and
Clover Hill were executed in the Greek Revival style, which was gaining national popularity
during the 1830s.
In 1844, the Loughboroughs left Fauquier and moved to Louisiana to a large sugar plantation
near New Orleans. It is likely that Loughborough took his enslaved workforce of 45 persons with
him to work that plantation. The Loughboroughs sold the Waveland mansion and surrounding
253 acres to Caroline’s brother William, who was living with their mother at Southern View.33
Encountering financial difficulties, William divested himself of his landholdings, including the
Waveland parcel and his 900-acre inheritance between 1851 and 1853. After passing through
several owners, the estate was purchased in 1858 by John Augustine Washington, III, great-great
nephew of George Washington. In 1859, Washington engaged Baltimore-based architect
Edmund G. Lind to enlarge the Waveland mansion by constructing a large, two-story rear
addition to the house. Washington’s brief tenure in the valley was marked by highly productive
cultivation of the land and livestock husbandry. Washington, who served with the Confederacy
during the Civil War, was killed in 1861.34 His son, Lawrence, inherited the farm and during the
1880s and 1890s continued the agricultural operations on the farm.
Waveland (030-0512/030-5603-0003) is the only property in the district that has been previously
listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The
property is nationally significant in the areas of architecture and conservation with a period of
significance from 1835 to 1861.25 The 2004 National Register eligibility statuses of the
Waveland resources, many of which were considered non-contributing for that nomination, have
been re-evaluated within the areas of significance and period of significance for the Carters Run
Rural Historic District.
Agriculture
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1810, William B. Wright purchased 592.5 acres that were formerly a part of the James Scott
estate. This large holding, located north of Waveland, became known as Barrymore. The stone
overseer’s house on Barrymore, believed to date to about 1790, is the earliest documented
building in the district. Like the Morgans, Wright owned several slaves who worked his farm and
maintained his household. The 1850 census records 11 enslaved persons on the Morgan property.
Although Wright constructed a large dwelling on the farm, it did not survive past the midnineteenth century and may have been destroyed during the Civil War.36
Between 1856 and 1905, Barrymore was owned by Mary Wright Norris, her husband George,
and their heirs. During this period, the farm regained its splendor and numerous agricultural and
domestic outbuildings were constructed, including the Victorian-style stone barn that is the
centerpiece of the farm. The fine stonework and interior woodwork indicate that the barn was
intended for sheltering riding horses, although cattle may have been sheltered in the lower level.
The barn may have been constructed by Henry deButts Norris, whose ownership extended
between 1883 to his death around 1898. Norris’ will and the settlement of his estate indicate that
he held large numbers of livestock and that his farm was highly productive. Mrs. Norris is
credited with much of the agricultural achievements of the farm and was listed among the
prominent farmers in the area in an 1884 business directory.37
After the Civil War, residents resumed farming and made a quick recovery relative to other areas
in the state. It is notable that unlike other regions in the county, the land in the Carters Run
Valley remained in local ownership. After the war, many of Fauquier County’s large farms were
purchased by Northerners who were drawn to the pristine rural area for its cheap land and open
fields that accommodated their favorite recreational pursuit of foxhunting. Although these
owners maintained the character of the land, they were often only seasonal residents. In the
Carters Run Valley, the resident-owners occupied and worked the land with local laborers
throughout the year and participated in the active community life of nearby Salem (Marshall).
As noted, in 1875, Lawrence Washington inherited his allotment of the Waveland farm and
engaged in a highly productive agricultural enterprise. The court division allotted Lawrence
437.5 acres of the improved farm, and his brother George was allotted the 425.5 acres on the
western side of the estate. Although devoted to the land, Washington does not appear to have
been a successful farmer and was heavily in debt by 1895, resulting in the sale of the property.
Washington’s farm diaries from this period, however, provide a significant account of farming
activities and the cycles of typical agrarian life.38
Throughout the summer months, crops in the field were tended, as were the vegetable gardens.
Summer was also an active time for livestock trading. On July 7, 1885, Washington recorded that
he received returns for “11 cattle shipped Saturday, weighing 8,740 lbs & netting 8,240 in
Baltimore 4.35, bringing in $325.44 net.” A few days later, Washington recorded that he
received returns for “9 lambs and 2 sheep bringing $34.42.” In August 1885, Washington
recorded that he received returns for “496 13/60 bu wheat shipped to Beckham, netting
$424.06.” In October 1885, Washington again shipped cattle to Baltimore. On that trip he
shipped 60 head weighing 50,230 pounds and netting $1,490.21. Other summer and fall tasks
included mowing and hauling in wheat and weeding the cornfields. Waveland’s laborers hand
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
cut shingles for buildings, made cider from the farm’s apples, cleared, plowed, and sowed fields,
cut ice, hauled coal, killed and dressed livestock, cut wood, shelled corn, built fences, grubbed
out stumps, and threshed oats and rye. Spring began the cycle all over again and fields and
gardens were cleared of debris, plowed, and readied for planting.
Washington recorded cash payments to his laborers, who were also paid in pork, corn, and flour.
Listed among the many Waveland workers is Rev. Asbury Pinkett, who was a pastor in
Morgantown, the African-American settlement adjoining the west side of Waveland.
Morgantown traces it roots to deeds recorded in 1871 from Ann R. Morgan and her children to
seven Negro freedmen who may have been William J. Morgan's former slaves. William
Williams was a plastered by trade and may have helped Washington maintain the many buildings
on the farm.39 Other laborers included Joe Riley, Hez Nickens, John Palmer, Will Deans, Ed
Grant, Zed Nelson, Bob Furr, and others. Some laborers are listed in the diary by only a first or
last name.
Washington recorded interactions with his neighbor to the south, Marshall Lake. Washington
purchased livestock from Lake, who was one of the area’s most successful livestock men. In
1853, Mary Morgan Baker, heir of James Morgan, and her husband John sold to brothers
William H. and Marshall Lake 500 acres “lying on the waters of Carter Run adjacent to lands of
Wm. J. Morgan.” In 1858, the Bakers and William Morgan sold to the Lake brothers 36 acres,
which were described as “all land on which Jn. Baker now resides...adj. lands to Wm Morgan
and Marshall Lake.” The Bakers sold the Lakes one additional parcel of land containing 143
acres “adj. lands of Enoch Jeffries, J. Blackwell, and others...lying on the top of Rappahannock
Mountain.” Together, these parcels make up the area now occupied by the Wheatland house,
which Marshall Lake enlarged, and the parcel across present-day Carters Run Road where
Lake’s “cow house” was built.35
Lake was from a prominent Fauquier County family who had settled near the community of
Atoka (Rectors Crossroads). In the 1850 and 1860 censuses Marshall was listed in the household
with his older brother William and his wife Sarah. Both brothers were listed as farmers and
Sarah was listed as keeping house. In 1860, William, as head of house, was listed with $34,500
in real estate value and $14,015 in personal property. The 1860 slave schedule listed William’s
household including 14 enslaved persons, six of whom were over the age of 20. This number
would place William Lake squarely within the “middling” farmer category, as compared to
William Morgan who owned 45 slaves and John Baker who owned five.
In 1861, Marshall Lake enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 6th VA Cavalry, where he obtained
the rank of Captain and served with the Quartermaster Department. He took the Oath of
Allegiance on April 22, 1865, in Winchester and returned to his Carters Run Valley farm.40
In 1871, William H. Lake sold to his brother Marshall his interest in the three parcels they had
purchased together. It appears that Marshall came into his own during this period and continued
to purchase additional parcels for his farming operations throughout the 1870s and 1880s. It also
appears that Lake enlarged his “cow house,” the large frame barn located west of the Wheatland
Section 8 page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
house. This barn, a two-level feeding and hay storage barn, is the largest known in the region and
clearly reflects the increased fortunes of its owner during the late nineteenth century.
In the 1870 and 1880 censuses Marshall (51 years old) was listed as a head of house and farmer
with Helen Lake as his spouse (his second wife). In 1870 Lake’s real estate holdings were valued
at $27,000 and his personal property was valued at $6,000. James Strother, who was listed as a
black laborer, and his family were included in the Lake household. By 1880, Lake owned about
750 acres in the Carters Run Valley with the land valued at $42,000 and livestock valued at
$9,000. These valuations reflect a highly productive, well-maintained, and efficiently operated
farming enterprise.
Marshall Lake died November 24, 1888 (60 years old) and was buried at the Sharon Cemetery in
Middleburg. Marshall’s will asked that in order to pay all of his debts his executors continue
farming his land until the fall of 1889 and then hold a public sale of his personal property.41 He
asked that the proceeds be shared equally between his children (Charles and Marshall). Lake’s
neighbor, Lawrence Washington, was the Justice of the Peace who swore in Robert Beverly,
Henry Glascock, and B.F. Skinner as commissioners to appraise the estate. The appraisal reflects
the wealth Lake had accumulated following the war through his agricultural pursuits. Among his
livestock holdings, Marshall owned numerous cattle (cows, calves, and bulls), sheep, pigs, oxen,
horses, and bees. His farm implements included ox carts, wagons, sledgehammers, shovels,
maddox, harrow, plow drill, wheat fan, buggy and harness, carriage and double harness, and
spreaders. Marshall’s household items included bookcases, lamps, tables, and a settee. At the
time, Lake held 200 acres that had been seeded in wheat and 37 acres seeded in rye. The estate
was appraised at $6,505.43.42
Lake was both a successful farmer and a contributing member to his community. He served one
term on the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors and his death was reported in the Alexandria
Gazette and Virginia Advertiser, which called Lake “one of the largest and best farmers in the
county.”43 Lawrence Washington recorded in his farm diary that he attended Lake’s funeral on
November 26, 1888, and that the weather that day was “a regular blizzard.”
Industry
Historic industrial pursuits are represented in the district by the presence of two mill sites. One of
these was a grist mill (030-5603-0013) on Scotts Road, which was likely built by William
Morgan and continued operations into the 1940s. The presence of this mill meant that farmers
did not have to leave the valley to grind their wheat, rye, and corn. The other mill was located
east of Free State Road but actually sited along Carters Run on the Clover Hill parcel. This mill,
presented by a stone-lined waterwheel pit and a dry laid stone dam across the creek, operated as
a saw mill during the nineteenth century. Again, the presence of this mill meant that area
residents could harvest and mill their building lumber within the Carters Run Valley.
Military
Section 8 page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The district’s military significance is associated with the period of the American Civil War. In
addition to the above noted military service of the Carters Run Valley residents, the dwellings
along Carters Run Road also served as “safe houses” for Confederate Col. John S. Mosby and his
unit of Rangers. Postwar memoirs and reminiscences by some of Mosby’s men record visits to
valley homes such as Waveland Clover Hill, and Wheatland. Many of those visits are
characterized as “social” calls, but in December 1864, Mosby sought out the refuge of the
Carters Run Valley for more serious reasons. On December 21, 1864, Col. Mosby was wounded
by the 13th New York Cavalry while at Ludwell Lake’s home, “Lakeland.”44 Mosby removed
and hid his Army coat and gave a false name when the Federals entered the house. Seeing his
wound, which they believed to be mortal, the Union officers left the unidentified Mosby for
dead.
His men moved Mosby to Rockburn, the nearby home of Aquilla Glascock, and then devised a
plan to move Mosby out of Fauquier to his family home in Amherst County. From Rockburn, he
was moved to another Glascock residence, Glen Welby, then to Waveland, the Washington
family home on Carter’s Run Road. After a few days, Mosby was moved further south down the
valley to Wheatland.
According to the 43rd Battalion history, Wheatland was located at the base of Wildcat Mountain
“a rugged, wild area, where the wounded colonel could be easily hidden if necessary. The
colonel remained a day or two at ‘Wheatland’ to allow him to regain his strength for the next
segment of the journey. Leaving Marshall Lake’s, he was moved to Culpeper Courthouse and
eventually to his father’s residence near McIvor’s Station.”45
Present Ownership
At present, the majority of the land within the Carters Run Rural Historic District is owned by
the Glascock-Thompson family through various landholding entities. This ownership represents
the fourth generation of the family to own the valley property. In the late nineteenth century,
Fauquier County farmer Bedford Glascock owned much of the land in the Carters Run Valley
that presently encompasses the Waveland and Clover Hill tracts. Glascock leased the farm to
John R. Fishback, who lived at the Waveland mansion with his family. This owner-tenant
relationship continues today over 100 years later. When Bedford Glascock died in 1929, his
daughter Eleanor Glascock Thompson inherited the land. Mrs. Thompson, married to G. Richard
Thompson, held a degree in agriculture from the University of Wisconsin. Her detailed ledgers
and property notes on the Carters Run Valley have assisted in the compilation of this nomination.
The Barrymore Estate, as noted, was in the ownership of Thomas Tunstall Adams until 1928,
when Bedford Fishback purchased the farm. From 1943 to 1962, Barrymore was owned by
Helen M. Meade, who made a deed of gift of the property to Jane Sprague DeButts. Mrs.
DeButts’ son now owns the farm, which in 2004 was placed in a conservation easement.
The generations-wide family ownership of the farms in the Carters Run Valley promotes the
consistent agricultural use of the land, as well as its continued maintenance. The preservation of
the land in the proposed district, however, has not always been assured. In the late twentieth
Section 8 page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
century, the Clover Hill property was platted for development of 117 house lots. In 2004, the
present owners purchased the 1,193-acre farm and placed it into an easement with The Nature
Conservancy. The eastern edge of the property abuts the Nature Conservancy’s Wildcat
Mountain Refuge—the first held by the conservancy in Virginia. In evaluating the area, the
director of the conservancy described it as “a little valley that’s pretty much untouched. You turn
off [Interstate] 66 and it’s like you’re somewhere two decades ago.” The organization also noted
that the property “lies at the heart of a largely intact 16,500-acre forest identified by the
conservancy as one of the best remaining examples of a thriving hardwood forest in the
Piedmont.”46
The Carters Run Rural Historic District possesses the characteristics of a rural landscape as
defined in the National Register Bulletin 30: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural
Historic Landscapes. These include land uses and activities (farming and milling); patterns of
spatial organization (historic land divisions, historic road system); response to natural
environment (use of natural resources [stone and wood] in construction, use of land for pasture,
pattern of roadways); cultural traditions (continuation of farming); circulation networks (historic
roads, farm roads, waterways); vegetation related to land use (pastureland, cropland, woodland);
buildings, structures, and objects (domestic, agricultural examples); clusters (large and small
examples of agricultural and domestic complexes); small scale elements (stone walls, board
fences); and archaeological sites (sites of mills, tenant houses, domestic and agricultural
outbuildings). Evaluated as a whole, these elements create a cohesive collection that reflect the
occupational activities of people engaged in the traditional work of agriculture and associated
industrial activities. The effect of these elements is enhanced by the contiguous nature of the
parcels, which results in a seamless rural vista of farmland, woodland, and open pastures.
Property owners in the district have placed much of the land in conservation easements in an
effort to preserve the rural character of the area for future generations.
The landscape and architectural resources in the Carters Run Rural Historic District illustrate the
historic use of the land for agricultural and domestic purposes and the diversity of high-style and
vernacular building forms also reflects the historic economic status of the owners and residents
who lived there. The close-knit complexes of barns and outbuildings around main dwellings
reflect the efficient manner in which these estates were operated—a tradition carried into the
present. The valley provided an ideal location for agriculture with its rich soil, gently rolling
hillsides, and an abundance of natural resources that was well-watered by area streams.
Dwellings paced on prominent hilltops afforded residents a panoramic view of surrounding
farmland. Barns and other functional buildings were placed in nearby fields near the work and
livestock. These were working farms that display functional landscape agricultural patterns.
Read together, the elements in the Caters Run Valley provide an impression of this agricultural
region that is largely unchanged from its historic appearance.
At present, the district does not meet Criterion D since no comprehensive archaeological survey
has been undertaken within the district boundaries. The area does appear to possess potential for
the existence of historical cultural deposits given that little land disturbing activity has taken
place in the area except for agricultural activities and limited road construction. It is a reasonable
assumption that archaeological investigations could yield underground information such as
Section 8 page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
locations of former buildings, material cultural and lifeways as related to domestic and
agricultural resources, and African-American culture, as well as artifacts related to the Civil War.
It is also likely that prehistoric deposits may lie within the valley and along the waterways.
Section 8 page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Benjamin, Asher. The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter (1830). 1844. Reprint, New York: Dover
Publications, Inc. 1988.
Dickinson, Josiah Look. The Fairfax Proprietary, the Fairfax manors, and beginnings of Warren County
in Virginia. Front Royal, VA: Warrant Press, [ca. 1959].
Duncan, Patricia B. 1850 Fauquier County & Loudoun County, Virginia, Slave Schedule. [Westminster,
MD]: Willow Bend Books: Heritage Books, 2003.
Evans, Thomas J. and James M. Moyer. Mosby’s Confederacy: A Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel
John Singleton Mosby. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Company, Inc., 1991.
Fauquier County Deed Books, Will Books, and Land Tax Books (ca. 1830-1950). Various dates. Office
of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Warrenton, VA, and Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Gott, John. High in Old Virginia’s Piedmont: A History of Marshall (formerly Salem), Fauquier County,
Virginia. Marshall, VA: Marshall National Bank & Trust Company, 1987.
Groome, H.C. Fauquier During the Proprietorship: A Chronicle of the Colonization and Organization of
a Northern Neck County. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2002.
Halstead, Doct. Byron D., ed., Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings. Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene
Press, 1977. Reprint of the 1881 ed. published by Orange Judd, New York.
Hayden, Rev. Horace Edwin. Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland and
Virginia. Wilke-Barre, PA: E.B. Yordy, 1885.
Keen, Hugh C. and Horace Mewborn, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry Mosby’s Command. Lynchburg,
VA: H.E. Howard, Inc. 1993.
Lanier, Gabrielle M. and Bernard L. Herman. Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at
Buildings and Landscapes. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
MacLeod, Cynthia. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey Forms. 1978-1980. Copies on file,
Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archives, Richmond.
Moffett, Lee. Water Powered Mills of Fauquier County. [Warrenton, Virginia]: [1972].
Musick, Michael P. 6th Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990.
Shepherd, Cheryl Hanback. National Register Nomination “Waveland.”
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond.
Sections 9-end page 33
Copy on file at Archives,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Washington, Lawrence. Farm Diaries, July 1885-December 1888. As transcribed by Debbie Cornwell,
Marshall, Virginia. Courtesy of George R. Thompson, Jr.
Wayland, John W. The Washingtons and Their Homes. 1944. Reprint, Berryville, VA: Virginia Book
Company, 1973.
White, Karen Hughes. Presentation on Waveland. Manuscript shared with author [2013].
Williams, Kimberly Prothro. A Pride of Place: Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia.
Charlottesville: Published for Fauquier County by the University of Virginia Press, 2003.
Worthington, Michael J. and Jane I Seiter. “The Tree-Ring Dating of Morgantown House, Marshall,
Virginia.” Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory, Report 2013/10. June 2013.
Personal Communication
McClane, Debra A. Interviews with George R. Thompson Jr., Marshall, April 2013-November 2013.
---. Interview with John Metz, Library of Virginia, Richmond, 16 October 2013.
---. Interview with G. Edward Ashby, Jr., Telephone Interview, 25 November 2013; Electronic mail
messages, 13 December 2013.
---. Interview with Karen Hughes White, The Plains, 29 October 2013.
---. Interview with Henry and Jane DeButts and Helen Christian, Barrymore, 28 October 2013.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
_X_ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File No. 030-5306
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property Approximately 4,400 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 38.502734 N
Longitude: 77.525719 W
2. Latitude: 38.505838 N
Longitude: 77.505854 W
3. Latitude: 38.495388 N
Longitude: 77.502362 W
4. Latitude: 38.475584 N
Longitude: 77.511398 W
5. Latitude: 38.481022 N
Longitude: 77.523385 W
6. Latitude: 38.475775 N
Longitude: 77.542261 W
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the nominated Carters Run Rural Historic District is delineated on the
attached map prepared by the Fauquier County GIS Department at a scale of 1 inch = 1,000
feet and titled “Carters Run Rural Historic District.”
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the Carters Run Rural Historic District were drawn to include the largest
concentration of rural historic buildings and active farmland in the area and are generally
described as lying on either side (east and west) of a portion of Carters Run Road, either side
(north and south) of a portion of Scotts Road, and the east side of Free State Road, as well as
the tax parcel lines of included properties. The district boundaries also were selected using
natural features (mountains, prominent tree lines) as visual boundaries. The selected area
abuts the Morgantown Historic District to the west.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Debra A. McClane______________________________________________
organization: Debra A. McClane, Architectural Historian______________
street & number: 4711 Devonshire Road___________________________________
city or town: Richmond________________ state: __VA________ zip code: 23225____
e-mail: dmcclane1@verizon.net________
telephone: 804/233-3890____________
date: November 29, 2013_________
__________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Sections 9-end page 36
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
City or Vicinity:
County: Fauquier
Photographer:
Date Photographed:
Carters Run Rural Historic District
near Marshall
State: Virginia
Debra A. McClane/Adam Burke
July 2013, October 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0001
Morgantown House on Waveland property, view looking SW
Photo 2 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0002
Front of Waveland mansion, view looking SE
Photo 3 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0003
Front of Clover Hill mansion, view looking S
Photo 4 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0004
Front of Devonstone dwelling, view looking S
Photo 5 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0005
Front of Bud Carter House, view looking W
Photo 6 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0006
Rear of Orchard House on Waveland property, view from Carters Run
Road looking E
Photo 7 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0007
Baltimore House on Waveland property, view looking N
Photo 8 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0008
Marshall Lake barn associated with Wheatland property,
view looking NE
Sections 9-end page 37
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 9 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0009
Stone outbuilding at Seager House property, view looking SE
Photo 10 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0010
Stone barn on Barrymore property, view looking WNW
Photo 11 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0011
White Cow Barn on Waveland property, view looking W
Photo 12 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0012
Horse barn and scales building on Waveland property, view looking E
Photo 13 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0013
Red cattle barn on Waveland property, view looking ESE
Photo 14 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0014
View looking S along the paved Carters Run Road near intersection with
Scotts Road. Waveland property is located on either side of the road and
the mansion sits in the grove of trees on the left of the photograph.
Photo 15 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0015
View looking E along the unpaved Scotts Road.
Photo 16 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0016
View lookingW along unpaved farm road on Waveland property at
intersection with Carters Run Road. Waveland’s White Cow Barn can be
seen in the middle background.
Photo 17 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0017
View looking N at Carters Run as it courses through the Waveland
property.
Photo 18 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0018
View from Clover Hill looking S towards boundary of historic district.
The Marshall Lake barn associated with the Wheatland property can be
seen in the left middle ground. Part of the farm’s Angus cattle herd is
visible in the field in the middle ground.
Photo 19 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0019
View looking NE from the White Cow Barn on the Waveland property.
The dwelling at Barrymore is visible in the left background and the
Waveland mansion is visible near the middle background. The farm’s
soybean crop is visible in this photograph.
Photo 20 of 22
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0022
Sections 9-end page 38
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View:
View looking E towards the northern end of Wildcat Mountain.
Photo 21 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0021
View looking E across Waveland field towards Wildcat Mountain. Part of
the farm’s Angus cattle herd can be seen in the field.
Photo 22 of 22
View:
VA_FauquierCounty_CartersRunRuralHistoricDistrict_0022
View looking ENE from Barrymore towards the farm pond.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 39
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
(Section 7)
1. Waveland was listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The nominated
property contained 3 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 1 contributing structure (the 6
previously listed resources noted in Section 5). In addition, 11 non-contributing buildings were
documented. All but one of the resources at Waveland are considered contributing to the themes and
period of significance for the Carters Run Rural Historic District. Cheryl Hanback Shepherd, National
Register Nomination for “Waveland,” 17 July 2003. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
2. Virginia Outdoors Foundation, “Barrymore Baseline Documentation Report.” 2006. Copy courtesy of
Helen Christian, Marshall, VA.
3. Kimberly Prothro Williams, A Pride of Place: Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia
(Charlottesville: Published for Fauquier County by the University of Virginia Press, 2003), 12-13.
4. Ibid.
5. No comprehensive archaeological survey has been completed in the valley. Noted archaeological sites
were determined by surface scatters, landowner information, and historical maps and plats.
6. Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland
and Virginia (Wilke-Barre, PA: E.B. Yordy, 1885), 591-595. The younger Scott was known as “Captain
James Scott.”
7. Josiah Look Dickinson, The Fairfax Proprietary, the Fairfax manors, and beginnings of Warren
County in Virginia (Front Royal, VA: Warrant Press, [ca. 1959]), 21.
8. Michael J. Worthington and Jane I Seiter, “The Tree-Ring Dating of Morgantown House, Marshall,
Virginia.” (Baltimore, MD: Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory, Report 2013/10) n.p.
The analysis was based on samples taken from logs in four different areas of the dwelling and two areas
of the roof rafters. Although dendrochronology cannot precisely determine when a building was
constructed, it can date when a tree has been felled, presumably in anticipation of construction. As the
report notes “...it is common practice to build timber-framed structures with green or unseasoned timber
and therefore construction usually took place within twelve to eighteen months of felling.”
9. Francis B. Foster, Virginia Historical Inventory Survey Report “Southern View,” 12 August 1937.
Copy on file, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Although the interior was not accessed for the
present project, these interior features are believed to remain intact.
10. Fauquier County Land Tax Records 1857, 1870.
11. Shepherd, 2004: Section 8, page 8. The 866-acre Waveland property lies on either side (east and west)
of present-day Carters Run Road.
12. Ibid; John E. Wells and Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary (Richmond, VA: The New South Architectural Press, 1997).
13. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 13.
14. Patricia B. Duncan, 1850 Fauquier County & Loudoun County, Virginia, Slave Schedule
([Westminster, MD]: Willow Bend Books: Heritage Books, 2003); Fauquier County, Slave Schedule,
1860. Personal communication, Karen White Hughes, 29 October 2013.
15. Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr.
16. Asher Benjamin, The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter (1830) (Boston: L. Coffin, 1844).
Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1988.
17. EHT Traceries, Inc., Preliminary Information Form for Oak Hill (030-0044), 2002. Oak Hill is also
included in the Cromwell’s Run Rural Historic District (030-5434-0006), listed in the National Register
of Historic Places in 2007; Gabrielle M. Lanier and Bernard L. Herman, Everyday Architecture of the
Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1997), 139.
Sections 9-end page 40
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
18. Cynthia MacLeod with Dell Upton, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey Form
“Wheatland,” 030-501, January and March 1979. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
19. Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr. Personal communication, G. Edward Ashby, Jr.
Mr. Ashby is a resident of the Carters Run Valley and has owned and operated a local masonry firm for
30 years (Ashby Masonry, Inc.). He has worked on numerous historic buildings in the county and
specializes in traditional construction methods.
20. Physical Inspection of the Lake Barn was conducted by Adam Burke, Rutledge Farm employee, on 11
July 2013 and conveyed to the author in a memorandum of the same date. Silo dating and other barn
details were provided through personal communication with Edward Ashby,
21. Williams, 154. John K. Gott, High in Old Virginia’s Piedmont: A History of Marshall (formerly
Salem), Fauquier County, Virginia (Marshall, VA: Marshall National Bank & Trust Company, 1987), 65.
Gott states that the house may have been destroyed during the Civil War, but this is not recorded in any
postwar memoirs or remembrances reviewed so far.
22. Personal communication, Henry and Jane DeButts and Helen Christian.
23. Fauquier County Deed Book 132:97.
24. Doct. Byron D. Halstead, ed., Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings (Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene
Press, 1977). Reprint of the 1881 ed. Published by Orange Judd, New York.
Personal communication, George R. Thompson, Jr. Personal communication Edward Ashby. Personal
communication John Metz.
(Section 8)
25. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 8. The National Register nomination for Waveland is a very thorough
record of the ownership history, farming record, and architectural evolution of the main dwelling and its
associated buildings.
26. H.C. Groome, Fauquier During the Proprietorship: A Chronicle of the Colonization and
Organization of a Northern Neck County (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2002), 89. This grant is
recorded in Northern Neck Land Grant Book 5, folio 122.
27. Groome, 102. These latter two grants are recorded respectively in Northern Neck Land Grant Book A,
folio 213 and Book B, folio 85.
28. Fauquier County Will Book 3:443, 20 December 1803, “Scott’s Division.” The other Scott heirs and
their part of the division included: William and Nancy Brown (1,488 acres 7 poles and 11 slaves);
Alexander Scott (514.25 acres and 16 slaves); Gustavus B. and Frances Horner (671 acres 32 poles and
11 slaves); and Lawrence and Elizabeth Ashton (592.25 acres 38 poles and 10 slaves). The will provides
names of each of the slaves conveyed. Upon his death, Cuthbert Scotts slaves were divided among his
heirs (Fauquier County Will Book 8:86, 26 June 1821); Fauquier County Deed Book 16:551 (6 December
1806), Scott to Morgan.
29. Fauquier County Deed Book 18:237 (20 December 1911), Marshall to Morgan.
30. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, pages 8-9; Fauquier County Chancery Suit 1824-027. Letter from James
Morgan to William Morgan, 21 August 1810, in response to William’s suggestion that the brothers
“settle” their businesses between them, and “Article of Agreement” 11 February 1811, stating that lands
in Fauquier County were primarily in the name of James.
31. Karen White Hughes, Presentation on Waveland. Manuscript shared with author, [2013].
32. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 9. Fauquier County Deed Book 33:220, Division of Morgan Estate.
33. Hughes, [2013]. Ms. Hughes presented a letter written by Jacob Cooper, who accompanied the
Loughboroughs to Louisiana. In 1908, the formerly enslaved Cooper wrote of his service to the family
and his nine years at Waveland.
Fauquier County Deed Book 44:349, Loughborough to Morgan.
34. Shepherd, 2004, Section 8, page 14. John W. Wayland, The Washingtons and their homes (1944;
repr., Berryville, VA: Virginia Book Co., 1973), 303. Wayland states that Washington served as an aid to
Sections 9-end page 41
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the campaigns in West Virginia. He was killed at the Elkwater in
Randolph County, September 13, 1861.
35. Fauquier County Deed Book 53:132; Fauquier County Deed Book 57:336; Fauquier County Deed
Book 57:339.
36. Gott, 65.
37. Fauquier County Will Book 42:337; The Virginia Gazetteer and Classified Business Directory, 18841885 (Richmond, VA: J.H. Chataigne, 1885).
38. The author is indebted to Debbie Cornwell, who has painstakingly transcribed Washington’s
handwritten dairies, and to George R. Thompson, Jr. for providing access to these transcripts.
39. Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters, National Register Nomination for “Morgantown Historic
District,” 30 July 2003. Copy on file at Archives, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond;
Hughes, [2013].
40. Michael P. Musick, 6th Virginia Cavalry (Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990).
41. Fauquier County Will Book 39:322, Marshall Lake Will.
42. Fauquier County Will Book 39:331, Commissioners Appraisal of Marshall Lake Estate.
43. “Letter from Fauquier, Orlean, Nov. 25” in Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser, 27 November
1888.
44. Lakeland (30-5434-0070) is located south of Atoka and is within the Cromwell’s Run Rural Historic
District; Ludwell Lake was the father of Marshall Lake, who owned Wheatland in Carters Run Valley.
Two of Ludwell Lake’s other sons--Ludwell Jr. and William--were Rangers in Mosby’s unit.
45. Hugh C. Keen and Horace Mewborn, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry Mosby’s Command (Lynchburg,
VA: H.E. Howard, Inc. 1993), 240; Thomas J. Evans and James M. Moyer, Mosby’s Confederacy: A
Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel John Singleton Mosby (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane
Publishing Company, Inc. 1991), 18.
46. Rusty Dennen, “Fauquier Deal Shrinks Subdivision,” in Fredericksburg Free Lance Star, 27
December 2004.
Sections 9-end page 42
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carters Run Rural Historic District
Fauquier County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Sections 9-end page 43
n
0
1 inch = 1.000feet
'9
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s+rvchrI-c
Carters Run Rural Historic District 03 o- 5603
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Carters Run Rural Historic District
CARTERS RUN RURAL HISTORIC DISTRICT, FAUQUIER COUNTY, VIRGINIA DHR NO. 030-5603, TAX PARCEL MAP
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Text
,
-7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
1':.
.,
' L~-;J,.;
-. _..
.b++
National Register of Historic Placeg-.
Inventory-Nomination Form
8,
6
,....+-
. u,.2P
. received
..C-3 ., .. .
b
,
-7
,
rr3cr-
&&&
1
:.;,. :"
.r
date
entered - :
.
.-:LLLb
'
See lnstrtfctions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries- complete applicable sections
.-----I---
.:
., . For NPS use only
-.
4 .
*
-
"
<&.--A2.:..5.
.' ;\'
"I Name
and/or common
Graves Mill, (Clay % Mill, Tomahadc M i l l ) , Johsun Cottage, Rosedale
2= Location
N side of Old Graves Mill Read (State Route 1263, -25 m i ,
a number SlJ of intersection with Graves Mill Road (State h t e %not
675)
w v i c i n i t y of
city, town Lynchburg
-street
+
Virginia
state
code
51
county
(In city)
for publlcaticn
680
code
3, Ciassification
Ownership
Category
-public
-dislrlct
7
A bulldlng(g) 36 private
-structure
-site
-abject :
b o t h
Public Acquisition
-In process
being considered
-
Status
occupied
-unoccupied
-work
In progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
no
4. owner of Property
N/A
name
.
Present Use
agriculture
-commercial
-educational
entertainment
government
-Industrial
-military
-x-
-museum
-park
2 private residence
-religious
-sclentlflc
-transportation
-other:
M r . and Mrs. Paul G. Graves
street & number
city, town
1220 Graves Mill Road
Lynchburg
U v i c ~ n i t yof
state
24502
Virginia
5 , Location of Lecaal Descsligtion
courthouse, reglstry of deeds, s
street & number
t c c h b m g C i t y Hall
N/A
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(1) Historic American Engineering Record
*ttl@ Lynchburg Inventon
( r a i n s of mill)
-'
date
1973
depository for survey records
-
city, town
Washington
(,,
,,(
has this properly been determined eligible?
Sheet iF
y
e
s
no
2federal -state -county
-- -local
m,US
D c p ~ h I m tof the I n t e r i o r
state
,
7: , Description
Condition
~
excellent
_
good
_fair
-X deteriorated
_
_
ruins (mill)
unexposed
C~ ck on•
_
unaltered
_ altered
C~ kone
_
origlnal site
N/A
_
moved
date - -- - - - - - - . , - -
DescrJR>. the pres•nt and original (If knownt physic al appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
TI1e Rosedale property contains ~ buildings of major importance, the ruins of an
18th-century grist mill, and numerous subsidiary fann t'rui ldi ngs. All of the structures
are contained within a forested, hilly area whi ch rises above the banks of Tanahawk Creek.
Extensive 19th-century landscaping surrOtU1ds the two hc'iuses, and arrong the featured plants
are boxwood, lilacs, and Kentucky coffee bean trees. E:eyond the landscaped yard are
pastures and woodland. Although the canplex fortunatE!ly presents an appearance little
changed fran its 19th-century aspect, it is now within the Lynchburg city limits and is
being encroached upon by conmercial and resi dential de'.i'elornient. TI1e property lies only
a quarter-mile from a major traffic intersecti on on the. Lynchburg Expressway. Because
of the hilly nature of the terrain, none of this nearby develoµnent has yet had any
yisual .iropac t on the Rosedale property.
ARCHI'IECTURAL ANALYSIS
The earliest structure remaining is the Christopher Johnson Cottage, presumably
dating £ran ca. 1764 to 1774. The small , story-arid- a- half frame structure has long .
been known as the Johnson Cottage and that term fits it well. It is a remarkably unaltered example of a late 18th-century yeanan's cottag~. more than likely typical of a
number of vernacular structures erected by the first colonial settlers of this section
of Piechnont Virginia. The cottage rests on a full basement, constructed of fieldstone,
· ·and has fieldstone chilmeys at either end. 9verall dimensions of the cottage are 32 '
,: x 23', including the front porch, which is covered by ah extension of the gabled roof.
The protected front wall of the house i s sheathed with !flush, wide sidi ng, while the
other walls have weatherboards. Inside is a typical hall and parlor plan, with the
front door leading directly into the larger of the two '.COans, the hall . The stair
ascends, with winders, fran the hall to the second story . First- floor rooms have a
.. generous 9' -9" height, while the second story rooms hav/= a maximum height of 6' - 311 •
On the first floor, both roans );lave a beaded wainscot dapped with a molded chair. The
mantel in the hall is quite elaborate, and may not be ah origi nal feature. Basicall y
Adanesque, or Federal in style, it has a f r ieze decorat(:d with festoons carved with
bowknots. Other than this one itan, trim is minimal an'tl sinple in both styl e and execution.
In 1934, the Johnson Cottage was t:J::l.e only Lynchburg arefa. structure to be measured and
·
drawn by the first team. Today the house serves as a guesthouse.
A hundred feet to the northeast of the Jolmson Cot1:age is the Rosedale mansion
erected in 1836 by Odin Clay . PA.lilt on a higher elevation than the Jolmson Cottage,
the mansion dcmi.nates the cluster of buildings on the p1::'0perty. The original portion of
the mansion is a two-story, three-bay, bri ck r ectangle r'nea.suring some 45' x 20' . The walls
are laid in extranely well executed Flam.sh bond, and t~J the right of the entrance, the
date 1836 is cut into one of the strie tchers. Fenestration of both stories consists of
large six-over- six double-hung sash. The windows are t0pped with flat wooden lintels,
wi th corner blocks decorated with paterae, or rosettes. A one- story, tetrastylar porch
with square pillars and a plain f rieze and cornice centers the facade. Although there
was undoubtedly sane sort of porch or stoop originally, the detailing of the present one
indicates that it may be a later feature. The railing , which consists of curvili near,
(See Continuation Sheet :{fol)
.8. Significance
Period
_
prehistoric
_140~1499
_
150~1599
_
160~1699
.JL 170~1799
..,X_ 180~1899
_190~
Area• of Significance-Check and juatify below
_
archeology-prehistoric _
community planning
_
archeology-historic
_
conservation
_
agriculture
_
economics
_x_ architecture
_
education
_art
engineering
-~ommerce
.JL exploration/settlemen't
_
communications
_
Industry
Invention
Specific date•
ca. 1764-1774, 1838
Butlder/Archltect
__ landscape architecture_
_
law
_
_
literature
_
military
_
music
_
philosophy
_
_
polltlcs/government
_
_
rellglon
science
sculpture
soclal/
humanitarian
theater
transportation
other (specify)
N/A
Statement of Significance (In one paragraph)
STATEMENI' OF SIGNIFICANO~
· Rosedale encanpasses several related structures of gre.at significance in the historical and architectural development of the Bedford/Cirmpbell County section of Piedrront
Virginia. The oldest structure, the Christopher Johns~m Cottage, was built ca. 1767 and
is one of the few renaining from the mid-18th-century (1~er migration fran eastern
Virginia to what was then the colony's frontier. The sdmple vernacular lines of the
Johnson Cottage contrast eloquently with the more form?Ll mass of the adjacent mansion,
Rosedale. Built ca. 1838 for the first president of tlte Virginia and Termessee Railroad,
Rosedale is one of the earliest houses in the are.a to clisplay Greek Revival details
obviously copied from mid-19th-cenrury architectural himdbooks. With the nearby r~ns
of an 18th-century mill, the nunerous subsidiary fann buildings surrounding the two
houses and its hilly, forested terrain, the Rosedale p~\operty presents the rare survival
of a significant and picturesque rural ensemble on the fringe of encroaching urban
developnent.
,, ,•
HISTORICAL BACKGROJND
In 1764, Christopher Johnson, one of the early ~ker settlers in Virginia I s
Piedrront, purchased an extensive tract of land in Bedford County, described in the deed
as 11569 acres on both sides of Tomahawk, a branch of Bli.ackwater Creek." Ten years later,
Johnson and a kinsman were "granted leave" by the count.y court to build a mill on Tcmahawk
Creek. Presumably, his small house situated on a steep, bluff above the mill site was
built during the decade between 1764 and 1774. wng known as the Johnson Cottage, the
house remains in an essentially unaltered state and is an excellent example of the simple,
vernacular structures erected by the first Quaker settl1ers of the area. Unfortunately,
the grist mill which Johnson erected near the cottage has not survived. Only the stone
f0tmdation walls and traces of the millrace nrnain after a disastrous fire on July 28,
1967. '·
In 1830 , Cxlin G. Clay purchased the present Rosedale property in two parcels:
one containing 167 acres fran Captain James Martin, who had resided on the mill parcel
since 1811, and a smaller parcel fran the heirs of Chri,stopher Johnson. The cottage
probably stood on the larger. parcel, serving in later y.ears as a dependency to the larger
dwelling which Clay canpleted on a site above the cottage by 1838. This house, which
Clay named -Rosedale, also remains in excellent conditio'n and affords an instructive ·
architectural contrast with its earlier neighbor. Valued upon its canpletion at $2000.
Rosedale is a three-bay , two-story brick dwelling typical of the mid-19th-century cfanestic
architecture of the area. A degree of sophistication npt generally fotmd i n area houses
is seen in the front door and interior stair trim. Both feature motifs most likely derived from Asher Benjamin handbooks, including a Greek Key fret on the stair landing.
(See C,ontinuation Sheet #3)
1 O. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
LYnchburg , VA
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
Quadrangle scale l_:_2_40-0=-0=--- -
City Farm, VA
Lk1l L~.s, q 91 3, g
Zone
22 5 acres
1/
1 41 31~
Northing
Easting
o1s10/
B
l!.i_J
I~ s1 6/ 91q9 I 41 ~ 31 7161 4r 01
Zone
ll.JzJ ~ Is 16 17 A- p I 14 ~~v~ e P\
eLL.J I I I
I I I I I L' , I
o l.i..J I I I I I I I I I I I I I ' I
Easting
Northing
l!iJ I 6j s, 6j 7, j OJ I 41 ~ 31 ~ \ o1 9
Fu_j I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I
Hu_j j j 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I
c
D
Beginning at a p)():int on S side of Tanahawk Creek and
approximately 1100' NNW of the i ntersection of VA Ro1i1tes 126 and 675; thence extendi ng
approximately 1500 ' SSW following a tree line E of Tci,mahawk Creek and cross ing VA 126;
thence extending approxirmtely 650' W; thence extend~ng approximately 1500' NNE , again
(See Continuation Sheet fl3
List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or co'.u nty boundaries
Verbal boundary description and justificati on
I,
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
-
I
11. Form .P repared By
name/title
s.
Alien Chambers
N/.A
organization
street & number
city or town
da;te
1237 31st Street
October 1982
tel~phone
(202) 272- 3533
oc
Washingt on
12. State Historic Preservation
...
fficer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property wit hin the state Is:
_
national
..x__state
_
local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer tor the atlonal Hlstotlc Preservation Act of 1966 (Publlc Law 89665), I hereby nominate this property for Inclusion in the N onal Register ttnd certify that it has be.n evaluated
according to the criteria a~d procedures set forth by the
ti
I Park S~lce.
/.
State Historic: Preservation Officer signature
H. Bryan Mit e e
tltle
• Executive i r ector
Virgi nia His t oric Landmarks Corrrnission
.
0MB NO. 1024-0018
EXP . IO/ 31 /84
NPS Form 10,900,a
(7,81)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Pl•ces
Inventory-Nomination Form
ROSEDAIE, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
6. . (2)
(3)
7.
f!l
· Item numl:>\,~ 6 , 7
Historic American Buildings Survey
(Christopher Johnson Cottage)
1934, 1936
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
20540
HABSI
(Rosec3ale). (Graves Mill)
1958 .
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
20540
Page
1, 1
(L~) Virginia Historic Landmarks Corrmission
1968 · '·
22l ·Go:vernor Street
Ricbm::>nd, VA 23219
(Christopher Johnson Cottage)
DESCRIPI'ION -- Architectural Analysis
jigsaw elements between the bottan and top rails, is a still
cornice of the house is decorated both with <lentils and with
of a type found in several early and mid-19th-century houses
shallow gabled roof is covered with standing seam metal. At
single chimney.
later modification. The
attenuated, stylized modillions
in the vicinity. Above, a
ea.ch end of the roof is a
In its mass .and general proportions, Ro.s edale is not tmlike many vernacular houses
of its time and place. In its details, however, the ho'use displays a number of the
earliest known Greek Revival motifs found in the area. On the exterior, this is roost
noticeable in the front door surround. The single leaf, six-panel door is framed with
rectangular side lights and topped with a rectangular tJransan. Glazing patterns consist
of narrow rectangular and square lights surrounding lar~er rectangles; an arranganent
identical to ·one shown in plate 27 of Asher Benjamin' s !The · Practical House Cdlfuenter
(Boston, 1830). The door and lights are capped with a !shalla-1 triangular pe :unent, with
corner blocks embellished with rosettes , as was noted i 'n the window lintels.
The plan of the original portion of Rosedale is a simple, single-pile, center-hall
arrangarent. The most impressive interior feature is the reverse flight stairway. The
initial rtm ascends :in fourteen risers against the rig~t side wall to a landing eKtending
the full width of the center hall. Against the left wall, a shorter rtm continues to
the second floor. Plain, rectangular balusters, set tw'o to a tread, support a molded
handrail. An unadorned, rotmded newel on the initial tread is surrotmded by a nunber
of the rectangular balusters. The spandr.e l funned by ~he first rtm of the stair is
ornamented with alternating square and rectangular panels, ea.ch vertical row of which
is capped with a triangular panel following the slope o!f the stair rtm. While this
arrangement can be fotmd in many houses in the neighborhood dating fran the first decades
of the 19th century, the panels at Rosedale contain rooltlings with flatter, more Grecian
profiles than is nonnally the case. Tread ends of the stairs are decorated with a typical
"vine-and-bud" motif. The Greek Key fret on the face O:f the stair landing is the most
obvious Greek Revival interior feature. The patten-1, which could have derived fran a
rrumber of sources, ·is identical to motifs found in plat·e s 35, 51, and 52 of Benjamin's
The Practical House Carpenter. Other trim in the original portion of the house is
relatively simple. Door and window frames have fluted :a rchitrave tr:im, with corner
(See Contirruation Sheet 1/2)
0MB NO. 1024·0018
NPS Fonn t0,900-•
q.at)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP. 10/31/84
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ROSEDAIB, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
·
1/2
· Item number
7
Page 2
7. . DESCRIPI'ION -- Architectural Analysis
rosettes. Window soffits are. paneled. The two first-:Hoor roans have identical mantels
with three-quarter colunns supporting plain friezes . 'l'he unadorned, heavy mantel
shelves may be replacanents. 'The two original roans on the first floor are now furnished
as a living roan to the left of the hall, and a bedrcxn,i to the right.
·
.
To the simple rectangular body of the original hot:'ls e, several additions have been
~ e over the years. Fortunately, they do little to di.sfigure the appearance or proportions of the original construction. The frame additior:tS to the rear and right side
were built by the Graves family early :in the 20th century. To the rear, this addition
contains the dining roan, rear hall, and kitchen. The ·dining roan, directly behind the
living roan, is accessible £ran it through a framed opening, fonnerly a window. ·The
rear hall is entered from the stair hall through a door under the landing. This doorway,
an original feature,· was originally an exterior door. The kitchen is behind the firstfloor bedroon, but not connected to it. On the first floor, the front portion of the
frame addition to the right of the house contains a bath, dressing area, ·and an enclosed
stair to the second floor. Behind this front portion of the addition is a rear service
area and laundry connecting with the kitchen. On the second floor, this addition contains
another bath and dressing area. On the rear, a bedrocm and bath are over the dining
roan/kitchen area. This portion of the second floor is entered frcm the main stair landing, 'Where anoth~ /o'l."ll'ia'. window has been converted into a framed opening.
,',
AnJther early 20th-century addition, W'w fortunately ranoved, was a sleeping porch
directly above the front porch. This porch, which was shingled to a height of about
three feet and screened above, shows in severa+ early photographs as an extranely disfiguring addition to the facade.
In 1929; a three-bay brick wing was constructed to the left of the original house.
Designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, this addition is slightly recessed
frcm the front wall of the earlier section and hanmnizes well with it . Among the
details copied directly from the original portion are the window lintels, with their
corner blocks trimned with rosettes, and the cornice. The door which centers the facade
of the first floor of the wing, however, is capped with an arched fanlight, giving a
pron0tmced Federal flavor · to the canposition. On the first floor, this wing contains
a library with bookcases flanking a mantel on the end wall. Set two steps below the
level of the adjoining living roan in the original house, the library is entered frcm
the house through a door to the left of the living roan mantel, with the steps protruding
slightly into the new room. On the second floor, this wing contains a bed/sitting roan.
!).iring the 1970s, the current owner/occupants, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Graves, restored
the original portion of the house to a condition approximating the original. Disfi.guring
elements such as the sleeping porch were rerroved. Needed repairs were made to the
additions, and new ph.1mbing and kitchen fixtures were installed.
Until it was burned in 1967, the grist mill on Tanahawk Creek was among the major
features of the canplex. A lruge, five-story structure of frame construction above the
stone first story, it contained elanents which are.thought to have dated f:cn the
original construction by Christopher Johnson. As 1.t ~ppeared at the time it b°:11ed,
however, the mill displayed features added both by Ochn Clay and the· Graves family. Today ,
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
NPS Form 10·90Ch
i7..1)
United States Depa rtment of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB NO . 1024 -0018
EXP . 10 / 31/84
National Register of Historic Places
lnventorv-Nomination Form
ROSEDALE, LYNCHBt'.rRG, VA
Continuation sheet
1/3
· Item number 7 , 8 , 9 , 10
Page
3, 1, 1 1
7 . . DESCRIPTI ON -- Architectural Anal ysi s
only the stone foundations and traces of the millrace ranain.
The two houses and mill ruins are canplanented by a runber of outbuildings of various
dates and functions . While the majori ty of these are not of sufficient :4nportance to
describe :in detail, they are generall y. wel l-maintained, and contribute to the integrity
of this rural historic property .
8.
SIGNIFICk~CE - - Historical Background
The builder of Rosedale was one of the most outstanding figures of hi s time ·i n the
Pi edroont. Fran 1827 to 1847 Odin Clay served in the Virginia House of Del egates, and
in 1849 became the f i rst presi dent of the Virginia and T~nnessee Railroad, the forerurmer
of the Norfol k and Western systan. Clay also had an interest in the mill, and was
apparently responsible for enlarging it to a f i ve- story structure. Clay ·died in 1882,
and the property was sold by his hei rs in 1893 to the Graves family. The property was
used by the Graveses as a sumnerhane tmtil the 1970s when it became t he permanent hane
of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Graves, the current o;.mers . Early in t.1-ie 20th century , the Graves
family built several frame additions, and i n 1929 buil t a side wing of brick. Recently
sane of the later addi tions, including a scr eened sleeping porch over the front porch,
have been rerovec:L restoring the house to a ~ondi tion close to i ts original state.
In addition to the cottage, house, and mil l foundation, the Rosedale property includes
sev~ral small outbuildings . Sane of these are of log constructi on, and preSU':'.ably date
at l east fran the Clay tenure if not earli er . Now within the city limits o~ Lync.hburg 1
and only a quarter of a mile fran a major highway artery, Rosedale has retamed a setting
almost unchanged £ran the mid-19th century.
SAC
9.
MAJOR BIBLICCRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Hensley, Paul Brent.
10.
Graves ' Mill : 'A Symbol of the Past.
Lynchburg, 1967 .
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Verbal Boundary Descri ption and Justification
crossing VA 126, a l ong a fence line; thence extending approximat ely 650 ' E al ong a
fence l i ne to point of origin.
The 22:s acres included in the nanination is a portion of the
landelongi ng to the Rosedale tract. The acreage con:,ist s of pasture and wooded areas
to provide .a nd maintain a rural setting for the house.cottage; mi ll site, and other
structures incl uded· in the. nomination.
·
Boun~ Justi fication:
Lynchburg (city), VA
UTM Re;ference;s :
A 17/656930/4138080
B 17/656900/4137640
USGS 7. 5' guadrangles
Lynchburg lcity) , VA
City Farm. VA
Iqii Bo"~o~'t
C 17/656710/4137660
17/656740/4138100
D
(scale: 1:24000)
1963 (PR 1978)
1963 (PR 1978)
ROSEDALE
(city), VA
OirM Refer enc es :
A
B
I
..__
-.-..-.....
,....
United 8tatN DefNiibtNNtt of the Interior
N~tionat Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _ __..,3_ Page_...___
Rosedale, Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Amendment
3.
State/Federal Agency Certification
As tne designated autnority under the National Historic Presel\lahon Act. as amended, l hereby certify that this O nomination
C request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties ,n the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements .MIi tonh in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the p,OQerty
[j meets D does not meet the National Register criteria. t recommend that this propeny be considered significant
Ci nationally O statewide IIi locally. (Ci See conrinua1t0n sheet tor additional comments.)
Date
z
Historic Resource&
In my opinion, the property
comments.)
D
meets
O does not meet the Natrona! Regi&ter criteria. (::: See conunuation sheet tor additional
-
. . . Forni 1NIJO.e
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Page -=-1_ _
· Section number _..::.3_
Contributing Resources
Buildings
Sites
Structures
Objects
Total
6
1
1
,>
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
_1_Ame_ ndment
Rosedale, Lynchburg, Virginia
UTMs
A 17/656620/4138400
B 17/656920/4138080
C 17/657030/4137720
D 17/656390/4137280
E 17/656140/4137820
F 17/656160/4138140
Verbal Boundary Description
Beginning at a point UTM reference a 17/656620/4138400 proceed southeast 1200' to a point
delineated by UTM reference B 17/656920/4138080, then proceed south approximately 1200'
to a point delineated by UTM reference C 17/657030/4137720, then proceed southwest
approximately 2500'to a point delineated by UTM reference D 17/656390/4137280, then
proceed northwest approximately 1800' to a point delineated by UTM reference E
l 7/656140/4137820, then proceed north approximately 1100' to a point delineated by UTM
reference F 17/656160/4138140, thence northeast approximately 2100' to the point of
beginning.
Boundary Justification
The nominated property contains the acreage and outbuildings historically associated with
Rosedale.
-
A
11-/IP'>f->(pk/'-tnf?tlo~
f3 Ir/ l,s <:,C,;. o /
1.113 ioBO
E1-1 /tt,, r.r 14c/ 1i~ 71,.1 o
f=" l?/'1$",lfo0/'-i13-r111(,)
c
~i. ····'-'~~~
(=7-/(p5 707,o /t11
... "'~~~~~
nno :~
~e
left
oo
O ,~/6s{. 3'"to/ L./1) 1,l@:)
ltlll
oJr--N.
t
--~---·- - -- - - -- -- - - - -- --
4141
390000
FEET
4140
4139
lD.SEDt1L-E
,I (
6-"'-.....,
JH-R-
I
. .:.:_--~~
·, -· .. ,,
·......., lo,,,,) ·-•_,
I
<#
/-1;!39
3 7 ° 2 2' 30!'-f-~-L___-'--'~-''--------~-~L--_:_.___ccc;="":>-.""''"-11d::__-----'-'-----'-__::'""'~-__.,,__ _~-'--79 _"' l 5' '.
656
657
'1790000FEET
658
12'
Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey
Control by USGS and NOS/NOAA
*
"'j G>
Topography by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs
taken 1962. Field checked 1963
Polyconic projection. 10,000-foot grid ticks based on Virginia
coordinate system, south zone
1000-meter Universal Transverse Mercator grid ticks,
mne 17, shown in blue
1927 North American Datum
To place on the predicted North American Datum 1983
move the projection lines 10 meters south and
22 meters west as shown by dashed corner ticks
Fine red dashed lines indicate selected fence and field lines where
generally visible on aerial photographs. This information is unchecked
Red tint indicates areas in which only landmark buildings are shown
I:
r
,
124 M~: ,' 1°06"
Ii, 20 MILS
I I
,,
1.1:
I
UTM GRID ANO 1984 MAGNETIC NORTH
DECLINATION AT CENTER OF SHEET
-----
----
/.
/.
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
'57
C----'--
4136
,---",
·_ff~
.. '
,;> ~·., \
..
.. .
~-~~-,.
4135 ••
,
'1
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....
,.
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L
-7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
1':.
.,
' L~-;J,.;
-. _..
.b++
National Register of Historic Placeg-.
Inventory-Nomination Form
8,
6
,....+-
. u,.2P
. received
..C-3 ., .. .
b
,
-7
,
rr3cr-
&&&
1
:.;,. :"
.r
date
entered - :
.
.-:LLLb
'
See lnstrtfctions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries- complete applicable sections
.-----I---
.:
., . For NPS use only
-.
4 .
*
-
"
<&.--A2.:..5.
.' ;\'
"I Name
and/or common
Graves Mill, (Clay % Mill, Tomahadc M i l l ) , Johsun Cottage, Rosedale
2= Location
N side of Old Graves Mill Read (State Route 1263, -25 m i ,
a number SlJ of intersection with Graves Mill Road (State h t e %not
675)
w v i c i n i t y of
city, town Lynchburg
-street
+
Virginia
state
code
51
county
(In city)
for publlcaticn
680
code
3, Ciassification
Ownership
Category
-public
-dislrlct
7
A bulldlng(g) 36 private
-structure
-site
-abject :
b o t h
Public Acquisition
-In process
being considered
-
Status
occupied
-unoccupied
-work
In progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
no
4. owner of Property
N/A
name
.
Present Use
agriculture
-commercial
-educational
entertainment
government
-Industrial
-military
-x-
-museum
-park
2 private residence
-religious
-sclentlflc
-transportation
-other:
M r . and Mrs. Paul G. Graves
street & number
city, town
1220 Graves Mill Road
Lynchburg
U v i c ~ n i t yof
state
24502
Virginia
5 , Location of Lecaal Descsligtion
courthouse, reglstry of deeds, s
street & number
t c c h b m g C i t y Hall
N/A
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
(1) Historic American Engineering Record
*ttl@ Lynchburg Inventon
( r a i n s of mill)
-'
date
1973
depository for survey records
-
city, town
Washington
(,,
,,(
has this properly been determined eligible?
Sheet iF
y
e
s
no
2federal -state -county
-- -local
m,US
D c p ~ h I m tof the I n t e r i o r
state
,
7: , Description
Condition
~
excellent
_
good
_fair
-X deteriorated
_
_
ruins (mill)
unexposed
C~ ck on•
_
unaltered
_ altered
C~ kone
_
origlnal site
N/A
_
moved
date - -- - - - - - - . , - -
DescrJR>. the pres•nt and original (If knownt physic al appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
TI1e Rosedale property contains ~ buildings of major importance, the ruins of an
18th-century grist mill, and numerous subsidiary fann t'rui ldi ngs. All of the structures
are contained within a forested, hilly area whi ch rises above the banks of Tanahawk Creek.
Extensive 19th-century landscaping surrOtU1ds the two hc'iuses, and arrong the featured plants
are boxwood, lilacs, and Kentucky coffee bean trees. E:eyond the landscaped yard are
pastures and woodland. Although the canplex fortunatE!ly presents an appearance little
changed fran its 19th-century aspect, it is now within the Lynchburg city limits and is
being encroached upon by conmercial and resi dential de'.i'elornient. TI1e property lies only
a quarter-mile from a major traffic intersecti on on the. Lynchburg Expressway. Because
of the hilly nature of the terrain, none of this nearby develoµnent has yet had any
yisual .iropac t on the Rosedale property.
ARCHI'IECTURAL ANALYSIS
The earliest structure remaining is the Christopher Johnson Cottage, presumably
dating £ran ca. 1764 to 1774. The small , story-arid- a- half frame structure has long .
been known as the Johnson Cottage and that term fits it well. It is a remarkably unaltered example of a late 18th-century yeanan's cottag~. more than likely typical of a
number of vernacular structures erected by the first colonial settlers of this section
of Piechnont Virginia. The cottage rests on a full basement, constructed of fieldstone,
· ·and has fieldstone chilmeys at either end. 9verall dimensions of the cottage are 32 '
,: x 23', including the front porch, which is covered by ah extension of the gabled roof.
The protected front wall of the house i s sheathed with !flush, wide sidi ng, while the
other walls have weatherboards. Inside is a typical hall and parlor plan, with the
front door leading directly into the larger of the two '.COans, the hall . The stair
ascends, with winders, fran the hall to the second story . First- floor rooms have a
.. generous 9' -9" height, while the second story rooms hav/= a maximum height of 6' - 311 •
On the first floor, both roans );lave a beaded wainscot dapped with a molded chair. The
mantel in the hall is quite elaborate, and may not be ah origi nal feature. Basicall y
Adanesque, or Federal in style, it has a f r ieze decorat(:d with festoons carved with
bowknots. Other than this one itan, trim is minimal an'tl sinple in both styl e and execution.
In 1934, the Johnson Cottage was t:J::l.e only Lynchburg arefa. structure to be measured and
·
drawn by the first team. Today the house serves as a guesthouse.
A hundred feet to the northeast of the Jolmson Cot1:age is the Rosedale mansion
erected in 1836 by Odin Clay . PA.lilt on a higher elevation than the Jolmson Cottage,
the mansion dcmi.nates the cluster of buildings on the p1::'0perty. The original portion of
the mansion is a two-story, three-bay, bri ck r ectangle r'nea.suring some 45' x 20' . The walls
are laid in extranely well executed Flam.sh bond, and t~J the right of the entrance, the
date 1836 is cut into one of the strie tchers. Fenestration of both stories consists of
large six-over- six double-hung sash. The windows are t0pped with flat wooden lintels,
wi th corner blocks decorated with paterae, or rosettes. A one- story, tetrastylar porch
with square pillars and a plain f rieze and cornice centers the facade. Although there
was undoubtedly sane sort of porch or stoop originally, the detailing of the present one
indicates that it may be a later feature. The railing , which consists of curvili near,
(See Continuation Sheet :{fol)
.8. Significance
Period
_
prehistoric
_140~1499
_
150~1599
_
160~1699
.JL 170~1799
..,X_ 180~1899
_190~
Area• of Significance-Check and juatify below
_
archeology-prehistoric _
community planning
_
archeology-historic
_
conservation
_
agriculture
_
economics
_x_ architecture
_
education
_art
engineering
-~ommerce
.JL exploration/settlemen't
_
communications
_
Industry
Invention
Specific date•
ca. 1764-1774, 1838
Butlder/Archltect
__ landscape architecture_
_
law
_
_
literature
_
military
_
music
_
philosophy
_
_
polltlcs/government
_
_
rellglon
science
sculpture
soclal/
humanitarian
theater
transportation
other (specify)
N/A
Statement of Significance (In one paragraph)
STATEMENI' OF SIGNIFICANO~
· Rosedale encanpasses several related structures of gre.at significance in the historical and architectural development of the Bedford/Cirmpbell County section of Piedrront
Virginia. The oldest structure, the Christopher Johns~m Cottage, was built ca. 1767 and
is one of the few renaining from the mid-18th-century (1~er migration fran eastern
Virginia to what was then the colony's frontier. The sdmple vernacular lines of the
Johnson Cottage contrast eloquently with the more form?Ll mass of the adjacent mansion,
Rosedale. Built ca. 1838 for the first president of tlte Virginia and Termessee Railroad,
Rosedale is one of the earliest houses in the are.a to clisplay Greek Revival details
obviously copied from mid-19th-cenrury architectural himdbooks. With the nearby r~ns
of an 18th-century mill, the nunerous subsidiary fann buildings surrounding the two
houses and its hilly, forested terrain, the Rosedale p~\operty presents the rare survival
of a significant and picturesque rural ensemble on the fringe of encroaching urban
developnent.
,, ,•
HISTORICAL BACKGROJND
In 1764, Christopher Johnson, one of the early ~ker settlers in Virginia I s
Piedrront, purchased an extensive tract of land in Bedford County, described in the deed
as 11569 acres on both sides of Tomahawk, a branch of Bli.ackwater Creek." Ten years later,
Johnson and a kinsman were "granted leave" by the count.y court to build a mill on Tcmahawk
Creek. Presumably, his small house situated on a steep, bluff above the mill site was
built during the decade between 1764 and 1774. wng known as the Johnson Cottage, the
house remains in an essentially unaltered state and is an excellent example of the simple,
vernacular structures erected by the first Quaker settl1ers of the area. Unfortunately,
the grist mill which Johnson erected near the cottage has not survived. Only the stone
f0tmdation walls and traces of the millrace nrnain after a disastrous fire on July 28,
1967. '·
In 1830 , Cxlin G. Clay purchased the present Rosedale property in two parcels:
one containing 167 acres fran Captain James Martin, who had resided on the mill parcel
since 1811, and a smaller parcel fran the heirs of Chri,stopher Johnson. The cottage
probably stood on the larger. parcel, serving in later y.ears as a dependency to the larger
dwelling which Clay canpleted on a site above the cottage by 1838. This house, which
Clay named -Rosedale, also remains in excellent conditio'n and affords an instructive ·
architectural contrast with its earlier neighbor. Valued upon its canpletion at $2000.
Rosedale is a three-bay , two-story brick dwelling typical of the mid-19th-century cfanestic
architecture of the area. A degree of sophistication npt generally fotmd i n area houses
is seen in the front door and interior stair trim. Both feature motifs most likely derived from Asher Benjamin handbooks, including a Greek Key fret on the stair landing.
(See C,ontinuation Sheet #3)
1 O. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
LYnchburg , VA
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
Quadrangle scale l_:_2_40-0=-0=--- -
City Farm, VA
Lk1l L~.s, q 91 3, g
Zone
22 5 acres
1/
1 41 31~
Northing
Easting
o1s10/
B
l!.i_J
I~ s1 6/ 91q9 I 41 ~ 31 7161 4r 01
Zone
ll.JzJ ~ Is 16 17 A- p I 14 ~~v~ e P\
eLL.J I I I
I I I I I L' , I
o l.i..J I I I I I I I I I I I I I ' I
Easting
Northing
l!iJ I 6j s, 6j 7, j OJ I 41 ~ 31 ~ \ o1 9
Fu_j I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I
Hu_j j j 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I
c
D
Beginning at a p)():int on S side of Tanahawk Creek and
approximately 1100' NNW of the i ntersection of VA Ro1i1tes 126 and 675; thence extendi ng
approximately 1500 ' SSW following a tree line E of Tci,mahawk Creek and cross ing VA 126;
thence extending approxirmtely 650' W; thence extend~ng approximately 1500' NNE , again
(See Continuation Sheet fl3
List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or co'.u nty boundaries
Verbal boundary description and justificati on
I,
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
-
I
11. Form .P repared By
name/title
s.
Alien Chambers
N/.A
organization
street & number
city or town
da;te
1237 31st Street
October 1982
tel~phone
(202) 272- 3533
oc
Washingt on
12. State Historic Preservation
...
fficer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property wit hin the state Is:
_
national
..x__state
_
local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer tor the atlonal Hlstotlc Preservation Act of 1966 (Publlc Law 89665), I hereby nominate this property for Inclusion in the N onal Register ttnd certify that it has be.n evaluated
according to the criteria a~d procedures set forth by the
ti
I Park S~lce.
/.
State Historic: Preservation Officer signature
H. Bryan Mit e e
tltle
• Executive i r ector
Virgi nia His t oric Landmarks Corrrnission
.
0MB NO. 1024-0018
EXP . IO/ 31 /84
NPS Form 10,900,a
(7,81)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Pl•ces
Inventory-Nomination Form
ROSEDAIE, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
6. . (2)
(3)
7.
f!l
· Item numl:>\,~ 6 , 7
Historic American Buildings Survey
(Christopher Johnson Cottage)
1934, 1936
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
20540
HABSI
(Rosec3ale). (Graves Mill)
1958 .
Federal
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
20540
Page
1, 1
(L~) Virginia Historic Landmarks Corrmission
1968 · '·
22l ·Go:vernor Street
Ricbm::>nd, VA 23219
(Christopher Johnson Cottage)
DESCRIPI'ION -- Architectural Analysis
jigsaw elements between the bottan and top rails, is a still
cornice of the house is decorated both with <lentils and with
of a type found in several early and mid-19th-century houses
shallow gabled roof is covered with standing seam metal. At
single chimney.
later modification. The
attenuated, stylized modillions
in the vicinity. Above, a
ea.ch end of the roof is a
In its mass .and general proportions, Ro.s edale is not tmlike many vernacular houses
of its time and place. In its details, however, the ho'use displays a number of the
earliest known Greek Revival motifs found in the area. On the exterior, this is roost
noticeable in the front door surround. The single leaf, six-panel door is framed with
rectangular side lights and topped with a rectangular tJransan. Glazing patterns consist
of narrow rectangular and square lights surrounding lar~er rectangles; an arranganent
identical to ·one shown in plate 27 of Asher Benjamin' s !The · Practical House Cdlfuenter
(Boston, 1830). The door and lights are capped with a !shalla-1 triangular pe :unent, with
corner blocks embellished with rosettes , as was noted i 'n the window lintels.
The plan of the original portion of Rosedale is a simple, single-pile, center-hall
arrangarent. The most impressive interior feature is the reverse flight stairway. The
initial rtm ascends :in fourteen risers against the rig~t side wall to a landing eKtending
the full width of the center hall. Against the left wall, a shorter rtm continues to
the second floor. Plain, rectangular balusters, set tw'o to a tread, support a molded
handrail. An unadorned, rotmded newel on the initial tread is surrotmded by a nunber
of the rectangular balusters. The spandr.e l funned by ~he first rtm of the stair is
ornamented with alternating square and rectangular panels, ea.ch vertical row of which
is capped with a triangular panel following the slope o!f the stair rtm. While this
arrangement can be fotmd in many houses in the neighborhood dating fran the first decades
of the 19th century, the panels at Rosedale contain rooltlings with flatter, more Grecian
profiles than is nonnally the case. Tread ends of the stairs are decorated with a typical
"vine-and-bud" motif. The Greek Key fret on the face O:f the stair landing is the most
obvious Greek Revival interior feature. The patten-1, which could have derived fran a
rrumber of sources, ·is identical to motifs found in plat·e s 35, 51, and 52 of Benjamin's
The Practical House Carpenter. Other trim in the original portion of the house is
relatively simple. Door and window frames have fluted :a rchitrave tr:im, with corner
(See Contirruation Sheet 1/2)
0MB NO. 1024·0018
NPS Fonn t0,900-•
q.at)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP. 10/31/84
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ROSEDAIB, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
·
1/2
· Item number
7
Page 2
7. . DESCRIPI'ION -- Architectural Analysis
rosettes. Window soffits are. paneled. The two first-:Hoor roans have identical mantels
with three-quarter colunns supporting plain friezes . 'l'he unadorned, heavy mantel
shelves may be replacanents. 'The two original roans on the first floor are now furnished
as a living roan to the left of the hall, and a bedrcxn,i to the right.
·
.
To the simple rectangular body of the original hot:'ls e, several additions have been
~ e over the years. Fortunately, they do little to di.sfigure the appearance or proportions of the original construction. The frame additior:tS to the rear and right side
were built by the Graves family early :in the 20th century. To the rear, this addition
contains the dining roan, rear hall, and kitchen. The ·dining roan, directly behind the
living roan, is accessible £ran it through a framed opening, fonnerly a window. ·The
rear hall is entered from the stair hall through a door under the landing. This doorway,
an original feature,· was originally an exterior door. The kitchen is behind the firstfloor bedroon, but not connected to it. On the first floor, the front portion of the
frame addition to the right of the house contains a bath, dressing area, ·and an enclosed
stair to the second floor. Behind this front portion of the addition is a rear service
area and laundry connecting with the kitchen. On the second floor, this addition contains
another bath and dressing area. On the rear, a bedrocm and bath are over the dining
roan/kitchen area. This portion of the second floor is entered frcm the main stair landing, 'Where anoth~ /o'l."ll'ia'. window has been converted into a framed opening.
,',
AnJther early 20th-century addition, W'w fortunately ranoved, was a sleeping porch
directly above the front porch. This porch, which was shingled to a height of about
three feet and screened above, shows in severa+ early photographs as an extranely disfiguring addition to the facade.
In 1929; a three-bay brick wing was constructed to the left of the original house.
Designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, this addition is slightly recessed
frcm the front wall of the earlier section and hanmnizes well with it . Among the
details copied directly from the original portion are the window lintels, with their
corner blocks trimned with rosettes, and the cornice. The door which centers the facade
of the first floor of the wing, however, is capped with an arched fanlight, giving a
pron0tmced Federal flavor · to the canposition. On the first floor, this wing contains
a library with bookcases flanking a mantel on the end wall. Set two steps below the
level of the adjoining living roan in the original house, the library is entered frcm
the house through a door to the left of the living roan mantel, with the steps protruding
slightly into the new room. On the second floor, this wing contains a bed/sitting roan.
!).iring the 1970s, the current owner/occupants, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Graves, restored
the original portion of the house to a condition approximating the original. Disfi.guring
elements such as the sleeping porch were rerroved. Needed repairs were made to the
additions, and new ph.1mbing and kitchen fixtures were installed.
Until it was burned in 1967, the grist mill on Tanahawk Creek was among the major
features of the canplex. A lruge, five-story structure of frame construction above the
stone first story, it contained elanents which are.thought to have dated f:cn the
original construction by Christopher Johnson. As 1.t ~ppeared at the time it b°:11ed,
however, the mill displayed features added both by Ochn Clay and the· Graves family. Today ,
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
NPS Form 10·90Ch
i7..1)
United States Depa rtment of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB NO . 1024 -0018
EXP . 10 / 31/84
National Register of Historic Places
lnventorv-Nomination Form
ROSEDALE, LYNCHBt'.rRG, VA
Continuation sheet
1/3
· Item number 7 , 8 , 9 , 10
Page
3, 1, 1 1
7 . . DESCRIPTI ON -- Architectural Anal ysi s
only the stone foundations and traces of the millrace ranain.
The two houses and mill ruins are canplanented by a runber of outbuildings of various
dates and functions . While the majori ty of these are not of sufficient :4nportance to
describe :in detail, they are generall y. wel l-maintained, and contribute to the integrity
of this rural historic property .
8.
SIGNIFICk~CE - - Historical Background
The builder of Rosedale was one of the most outstanding figures of hi s time ·i n the
Pi edroont. Fran 1827 to 1847 Odin Clay served in the Virginia House of Del egates, and
in 1849 became the f i rst presi dent of the Virginia and T~nnessee Railroad, the forerurmer
of the Norfol k and Western systan. Clay also had an interest in the mill, and was
apparently responsible for enlarging it to a f i ve- story structure. Clay ·died in 1882,
and the property was sold by his hei rs in 1893 to the Graves family. The property was
used by the Graveses as a sumnerhane tmtil the 1970s when it became t he permanent hane
of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Graves, the current o;.mers . Early in t.1-ie 20th century , the Graves
family built several frame additions, and i n 1929 buil t a side wing of brick. Recently
sane of the later addi tions, including a scr eened sleeping porch over the front porch,
have been rerovec:L restoring the house to a ~ondi tion close to i ts original state.
In addition to the cottage, house, and mil l foundation, the Rosedale property includes
sev~ral small outbuildings . Sane of these are of log constructi on, and preSU':'.ably date
at l east fran the Clay tenure if not earli er . Now within the city limits o~ Lync.hburg 1
and only a quarter of a mile fran a major highway artery, Rosedale has retamed a setting
almost unchanged £ran the mid-19th century.
SAC
9.
MAJOR BIBLICCRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Hensley, Paul Brent.
10.
Graves ' Mill : 'A Symbol of the Past.
Lynchburg, 1967 .
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Verbal Boundary Descri ption and Justification
crossing VA 126, a l ong a fence line; thence extending approximat ely 650 ' E al ong a
fence l i ne to point of origin.
The 22:s acres included in the nanination is a portion of the
landelongi ng to the Rosedale tract. The acreage con:,ist s of pasture and wooded areas
to provide .a nd maintain a rural setting for the house.cottage; mi ll site, and other
structures incl uded· in the. nomination.
·
Boun~ Justi fication:
Lynchburg (city), VA
UTM Re;ference;s :
A 17/656930/4138080
B 17/656900/4137640
USGS 7. 5' guadrangles
Lynchburg lcity) , VA
City Farm. VA
Iqii Bo"~o~'t
C 17/656710/4137660
17/656740/4138100
D
(scale: 1:24000)
1963 (PR 1978)
1963 (PR 1978)
ROSEDALE
(city), VA
OirM Refer enc es :
A
B
I
..__
-.-..-.....
,....
United 8tatN DefNiibtNNtt of the Interior
N~tionat Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _ __..,3_ Page_...___
Rosedale, Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Amendment
3.
State/Federal Agency Certification
As tne designated autnority under the National Historic Presel\lahon Act. as amended, l hereby certify that this O nomination
C request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties ,n the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements .MIi tonh in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the p,OQerty
[j meets D does not meet the National Register criteria. t recommend that this propeny be considered significant
Ci nationally O statewide IIi locally. (Ci See conrinua1t0n sheet tor additional comments.)
Date
z
Historic Resource&
In my opinion, the property
comments.)
D
meets
O does not meet the Natrona! Regi&ter criteria. (::: See conunuation sheet tor additional
-
. . . Forni 1NIJO.e
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Page -=-1_ _
· Section number _..::.3_
Contributing Resources
Buildings
Sites
Structures
Objects
Total
6
1
1
,>
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
_1_Ame_ ndment
Rosedale, Lynchburg, Virginia
UTMs
A 17/656620/4138400
B 17/656920/4138080
C 17/657030/4137720
D 17/656390/4137280
E 17/656140/4137820
F 17/656160/4138140
Verbal Boundary Description
Beginning at a point UTM reference a 17/656620/4138400 proceed southeast 1200' to a point
delineated by UTM reference B 17/656920/4138080, then proceed south approximately 1200'
to a point delineated by UTM reference C 17/657030/4137720, then proceed southwest
approximately 2500'to a point delineated by UTM reference D 17/656390/4137280, then
proceed northwest approximately 1800' to a point delineated by UTM reference E
l 7/656140/4137820, then proceed north approximately 1100' to a point delineated by UTM
reference F 17/656160/4138140, thence northeast approximately 2100' to the point of
beginning.
Boundary Justification
The nominated property contains the acreage and outbuildings historically associated with
Rosedale.
-
A
11-/IP'>f->(pk/'-tnf?tlo~
f3 Ir/ l,s <:,C,;. o /
1.113 ioBO
E1-1 /tt,, r.r 14c/ 1i~ 71,.1 o
f=" l?/'1$",lfo0/'-i13-r111(,)
c
~i. ····'-'~~~
(=7-/(p5 707,o /t11
... "'~~~~~
nno :~
~e
left
oo
O ,~/6s{. 3'"to/ L./1) 1,l@:)
ltlll
oJr--N.
t
--~---·- - -- - - -- -- - - - -- --
4141
390000
FEET
4140
4139
lD.SEDt1L-E
,I (
6-"'-.....,
JH-R-
I
. .:.:_--~~
·, -· .. ,,
·......., lo,,,,) ·-•_,
I
<#
/-1;!39
3 7 ° 2 2' 30!'-f-~-L___-'--'~-''--------~-~L--_:_.___ccc;="":>-.""''"-11d::__-----'-'-----'-__::'""'~-__.,,__ _~-'--79 _"' l 5' '.
656
657
'1790000FEET
658
12'
Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey
Control by USGS and NOS/NOAA
*
"'j G>
Topography by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs
taken 1962. Field checked 1963
Polyconic projection. 10,000-foot grid ticks based on Virginia
coordinate system, south zone
1000-meter Universal Transverse Mercator grid ticks,
mne 17, shown in blue
1927 North American Datum
To place on the predicted North American Datum 1983
move the projection lines 10 meters south and
22 meters west as shown by dashed corner ticks
Fine red dashed lines indicate selected fence and field lines where
generally visible on aerial photographs. This information is unchecked
Red tint indicates areas in which only landmark buildings are shown
I:
r
,
124 M~: ,' 1°06"
Ii, 20 MILS
I I
,,
1.1:
I
UTM GRID ANO 1984 MAGNETIC NORTH
DECLINATION AT CENTER OF SHEET
-----
----
/.
/.
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
'57
C----'--
4136
,---",
·_ff~
.. '
,;> ~·., \
..
.. .
~-~~-,.
4135 ••
,
'1
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...... ·.'
....
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L
Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. Aug. 2002)
OM6 No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
LISTED ON:
VLR
NRHP
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
12/05/2007
06/24/2010
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and disbicts. See insbuctions in How to Complete the NationalRegister of
Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each Item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information
requested. If any item does not apply to the properly being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classificalion, materials, and
areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategoriesfrom the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuationsheets (NPS
Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
Presbyterian Omhans Home
Presbyterian Homes & Familv Services, Inc. N i r q i n i a DHR File # 118-5240)
historic name
other nameslsite number
- -
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virqinia
not for publication nla
150 Linden Avenue
Lvnchburs
vicinity nla
code VA
county - Citv of Lvnchburcl
code 680
zip code
24503
-
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this -X-
nomination r e q u e s t
for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets d o e s not meet
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the properly -Xthe National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant -nationally
-X- locally. (See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
-statewide
Signatfie of d i i f y i n g official
Virainia ~epartmentof Historic Resources
,State or Federal Agency or Tribal government
In my opinion, the p r o p e r t y m e e t s d o e s not meet the National Register criteria. (-See
Signature of commenting officialrritle
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
e n t e r e d i n the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
r e m o v e d from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
5. Classification
Category of Property (Check only one box)
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
building(s)
_x_ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
15
3
buildings
1
1
sites
2
0
structures
0
0
Objects
18
4
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
N/A
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
Sub:
RELIGION
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
RECREATION
Institutional Housing
Church School
Animal Facility
Agricultural Outbuilding
Sports Facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
Sub:
RELIGION
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
RECREATION
Institutional Housing
Church School
Animal Facility
Agricultural Outbuilding
Sports Facility
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Georgian Revival
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Greek Revival
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Vernacular
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
BRICK
roof
STONE: Slate
METAL: Tin
ASPHALT
walls
BRICK
WOOD: Weatherboard
SYNTHETICS: Vinyl
other
N/A
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
_X__ A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
C
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
__ _ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
SOCIAL HISTORY
Period of Significance
1911-1959 (last building to be constructed on the horseshoe)
Significant Dates
1911, 1913, 1928, 1939, 1959
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
N/A
Architects: John Minor Botts Lewis (Lewis & Burnham), Pendleton S. Clark (Clark & Crowe)
Landscape Architects: Warren H. Manning, Charles F. Gillette
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_x_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
X State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
X__ Other
Name of repository: Archives, Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Lynchburg, VA; Charles F. Gillette Archives,
Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA; Virginia Department of Historic Resources
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
166 ± acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
2 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
3 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
4 __ ______ _______
_x__ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
Emmett W. Lifsey, AIA; Amanda G. Adams, Assoc. AIA; W. Scott Smith, Consultant
date 13 September 2009
Calloway Johnson Moore & West, P.A.
telephone 434-847-6564
1030 Main Street
state VA
zip code 24504
Lynchburg
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
street & number
city or town
Robert S. Dendy, Jr., President & CEO, Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
telephone
434-384-3131
150 Linden Avenue
state VA
zip code
24503
Lynchburg
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for
listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
1
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Presbyterian Orphans Home is located on Linden Avenue, adjacent to the Peakland neighborhood of the City of
Lynchburg. The 166-acre property is roughly bounded on the east by V.E.S. (Virginia Episcopal School) Road and on
the west by Trents Ferry Road. US 501 (Boonsboro Road) lies to the south. Construction on the masterfully-planned
“cottage style” institution began in 1911, and a campus of more than a dozen contributing structures remains in active
use today.
Contributing resources include six residence halls, a superintendent’s house, an executive building (all constructed of
brick in the Georgian Revival style) and a Greek Revival gymnasium. Other contributing resources include a brick
vernacular power plant, two frame, two-story farm houses, and a cluster of four frame agricultural buildings. The
pastoral campus surroundings include two ponds, several pastures, numerous wooded copses, and two streams:
Brickyard Branch and Pigeon Creek (both of which flow into the James River, just to the north.). In addition to
quality neighborhoods dating from the first half of the 20th century, the Presbyterian Orphans Home is a neighbor to
two other institutions: Virginia Episcopal School (National Register of Historic Places) and Westminster Canterbury
of Lynchburg, a retirement community.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The Presbyterian Orphans Home consists of a central group of two-and-a-half story, brick, Georgian Revival
buildings with slate roofs forming a horseshoe configuration around a central green of approximately two acres. A
tree-lined drive assists in defining the arc, and subsidiary buildings are clustered to the rear (north) of the massive
Administration Building, which forms the core of the horseshoe. This central cluster of buildings is situated on a
gentle prominence, and is surrounded by open fields on three sides. The campus was initially constructed in 1911,
with the placement of the Administration Building, Scruggs Cottage, Shelton Cottage, Terry Cottage and the brick
Maintenance Building. Paxton and Caskie Cottages were added in 1913, followed by two farmhouses in 1914, and
Noble Cottage in 1928. Subsequent structures include Megginson Gymnasium (1939) and DeWitt Cottage (1959). A
host of accessory buildings and structures, including farm buildings, group homes, and recreational facilities, dot the
landscape and continue to support Presbyterian Homes & Family Services’ mission and objectives.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
2
Resource Inventory
RESOURCE NAME:
Bain-Wood Administration Building (Executive Building)
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659465
N 4146024
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: offices, dining hall, chapel; current: offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
This building is named after Edna & Bernard Bain and Edna & Bass Wood, who were administrators
and benefactors, respectively. The appearance and layout of this building generally follows the form
and function of the structure designated as the “Executive Building” in the Lewis & Burnham
drawings. The two-story Georgian Revival building is constructed of load-bearing brick (laid up in sixcourse American bond), and features a seven-bay façade with eight-over-eight double-hung windows
capped by cement jack arches. Access into the building from the front is facilitated by a pair of glazed
doors, surrounded by pilasters which support a dentiled pediment. The windows that flank the entry
doors are recessed into shallow alcoves, topped with brick header arches with cement keystones.
Above the entry door is a tripartite window unit consisting of an eight-over-eight window flanked by a
pair of four-over-four windows. The three central bays are slightly recessed, and covered by a twostory portico. Corners of the structure are highlighted by brick quoins that alternate in height between
four and three courses. The two pairs of bays that flank the portico are trimmed with horizontal cement
panels located between the first and second floor windows. A dentiled cornice is capped by a hipped
roof covered with slate shingles and copper ridge caps. Topping off the Executive Building is an
octagonal cupola covered by a copper dome. Each bay of the octagon is trimmed with an arch, which is
in turn filled by wooden ventilation louvers.
The interior of the building is marked by an entry lobby which is flanked by a pair of L-shaped
staircases. This area is adorned by wainscot, chair rail, crown molding, and door and window trim
typical of structures of the period. A deep plastered arch leads visitors deeper into the building via a
double-loaded corridor with offices. The two left bays of the first floor are occupied by an alumni
room, and the right two bays house offices. Offices are also located on the second floor. Two additions
(built in 1921 and 1950) project from the rear (north façade) of the Executive Building, and are
stylistically similar to and compatible with the original structure. The primary distinction between the
two additions and the original structure is that the additions are built with brick laid up in a five (rather
than six) course American bond. The 1921 addition is two stories, while the 1950 wing is one story in
height. In 1921, an original chapel wing was razed, and an addition that originally housed a dining hall
on the first floor and a chapel on the second floor was constructed. The second floor chapel was
converted to offices in the 1980s.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0001
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
3
RESOURCE NAME:
Scruggs Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659506
N 4145999
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Scruggs Cottage was built in 1911 and named for R.M. Scruggs, who made (up to that point) the largest
donation towards founding the Presbyterian Orphanage. This building, along with Shelton Cottage, formed
the design basis for most of the residence halls on the site. The Lewis & Burnham drawings describe this as
“Dormitory No. 1.”
Scruggs Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows, which appear to be
original, are generally eight-over-two double hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by
cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two doublehung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. To the right of the front entrance is an eight-overfour window (which appears to be a replacement). A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate, and
add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space. The roof is
accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay of
the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of
sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two
pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico,
and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin
roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and has another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses three brick chimneys, two of which can be found on each side of the building (the
right chimney is false). The third chimney is located in the rear wing. The primary living room on the first
floor has a relatively small corner fireplace, which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a
simple mantel which displays elements of the Italianate and Colonial Revival styles. The first floor also
contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. Five bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory
are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to usable space (recreation room, and kitchen)
in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer
windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0002
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
4
RESOURCE NAME:
Shelton Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659432
N 4145976
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Shelton Cottage was built in 1911, according to the building’s plaque, by Mrs. F.X. Burton of Danville,
Virginia in memory of her father, W.N. Shelton. Willoughby N. Shelton was a wealthy tobacco merchant,
and was largely responsible for the erection of what is now known as Shelton Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Danville. This building, along with Scruggs Cottage, formed the design basis for most of the
residence halls on the site. The Lewis & Burnham drawings describe this as “Dormitory No. 1.”
Shelton Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows, which appear to be
original, are generally eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by
cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two doublehung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in
each of the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in
slate, and add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space.
The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the
middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a
pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A modern storm door has been affixed to the front
entry. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers the middle three bays of the dormitory,
and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the building. A balustrade
consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects
the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear
stair hall and rear wing, and includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses three brick chimneys, two of which can be found on each side of the building (the
right chimney is false). The third chimney is located in the rear wing. The primary living room on the first
floor has a relatively small corner fireplace, which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a
simple mantel which displays elements of the Italianate and Colonial Revival styles. The first floor also
contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. A rear stair leads to the second floor.
Five bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to
usable space (recreation room, kitchen, and laundry) in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The
full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0003
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
5
RESOURCE NAME:
Terry Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659559
N 4145954
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Probably Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Terry Cottage was built as the superintendent’s residence in 1911. A new home for the superintendent was
constructed at 115 Linden Avenue in 1923, and this building became housing for teachers. It now serves as
administrative and dormitory space. The building was later dedicated by Bertha Terry in memory of R.
Stockton Terry, who was Vice President of the Presbyterian Orphans Home between 1912 and 1917. In
1931, architect Pendleton Clark made an addition of four rooms to the rear of the house.
This building was designed and built to serve as a single-family residence, and is smaller and more intimate
than the other buildings that comprise the main campus. The cottage is a two-bay, two-and-a-half-story,
Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing brick laid up in a five-course American bond
pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps
around the building. The windows, which appear to be original, are generally eight-over-two double-hung
sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. A single, blank, cement panel is set into
the brick between the two second story windows on the front façade.
A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of the two dormers on the front façade of the hipped
roof. These gabled dormers are clad in slate. The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper
gutters. The front entry is located in the left bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a
transom window and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A modern glazed
storm door has been affixed to the front entry. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
both bays of the cottage, and is supported by three Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the
building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of
concrete steps connects the house to the sidewalk. The cottage has one extant chimney, which vents the
basement furnace.
The interior of the building features an open rail stairway on the left (north) side of the house with a landing
illuminated by two windows, and a relatively open floor plan in the public space of the home, which
consists of the foyer and living room, whose spaces are delineated by two columns. Towards the rear of the
first floor are a contemporary “eat-in” kitchen, three offices, and a lavatory. Four bedrooms, two offices,
and two lavatories are located on the second floor, and a recreation room, laundry, and mechanical room are
located in the basement. A two-story porch on the rear contains a covered exterior staircase that provides
egress from the first and second levels of the house.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0004
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
6
RESOURCE NAME:
Caskie Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659538
N 4145981
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1913
ARCHITECT:
After plans by Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Caskie Cottage was built in 1913 and named for George Evans Caskie, a local attorney, who served as
President of the institution from 1904 to 1919. This building is based on the Lewis & Burnham drawings for
“Dormitory No. 1,” with one notable stylistic change made by N.B. Handy (a member of the Building
Committee), being a change in the muntin pattern around the entry door sidelights. This alteration was made
in order to ease maintenance of broken window panes. Handy also recommended that the basement be
excavated and an entrance be installed to access it from the exterior.
Caskie Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally eight-overtwo double hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The second floor
window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double hung sash flanked by a pair of
four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of the three dormers on the
front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate, and add visual interest to the
hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space. The roof is accented by a dentiled
cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay of the building and
consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which are
anchored by a raised panel. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers the middle three
bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the
building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of
concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is
accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses two brick chimneys which can be found on each side of the building, and a third
serving the rear wing. The primary living room on the first floor has a relatively small corner fireplace,
which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a simple mantel which displays elements of the
Italianate style. The first floor also contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. Five
bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to usable
space (recreation room, kitchen, and laundry) in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The full attic
is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0005
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
7
RESOURCE NAME:
Paxton Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659415
N 4145943
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1913
ARCHITECT:
After plans by Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Paxton Cottage was built in 1913 and named by John C. (a lime kiln manager) and Rebecca R. Paxton
of Woodstock, Virginia in memory of their daughter Margaret Robinson Paxton. This building is based
on the Lewis & Burnham drawings for “Dormitory No. 1,” with one notable stylistic change made by
N.B. Handy (a member of the Building Committee), being a change in the muntin pattern around the
entry door sidelights. Handy also recommended that the basement be excavated and an entrance be
installed to access it from the exterior.
Paxton Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of loadbearing brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins,
which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally
eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The
second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash
flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate,
and add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space.
The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the
middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked
by a pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin
roof portico covers the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in
the front and two pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail
surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A onestory, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and
includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses two brick chimneys, which can be found on each side of the building. The
primary living room on the first floor has a relatively small corner fireplace. As in Scruggs, Shelton
and Caskie Cottages, a rear stair hall provides access to the second floor and rear porch. The floor plan
of Paxton Cottage is identical to that of Caskie Cottage. The basement was converted to usable space in
the 1950s. The full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0006
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
8
RESOURCE NAME:
Noble Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659571
N 4145920
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1928
ARCHITECT:
Clark & Crowe; Contractor: J.A. Fix & Sons
DESCRIPTION:
Noble Cottage was built in 1928 with monies donated by C. Tate Scott in memory of his maternal
grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. John D. Noble. This building is generally based on the “Dormitory No. 1,”
design. A condition of C. Tate Scott’s will was that a sunroom be built as a part of Noble Cottage. In
an attempt at balancing financial concerns with Scott’s wishes, a one-story polygonal bay that projects
from the south façade of the structure was added.
Noble Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of loadbearing brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins,
which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally
eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The
second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash
flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A one-over-one double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These dormers are clad in slate. The roof is
accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay
of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of
sidelights, which rise from the threshold. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two
pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the
portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk.
The building has one brick chimney on the right side of the building, which is corbelled, unlike the
earlier four cottages. While the exterior of Noble Cottage is similar to the others, the interior floor plan
is different. Instead of entering directly into the living room, visitors arrive in a central foyer that
includes a staircase and doors leading the way to the living room on the right, an office on the left, and
additional offices and domestic space towards the rear. This stair configuration differs from the first
four cottages, which have staircases relegated to the rear hallway. The second floor is occupied by
individual bedrooms. The half-basement features a recreation room, and the full attic is unfinished.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0007
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
9
Megginson Gymnasium/Webster Student Center
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659491
N 4146063
Greek Revival
Institution: Orphanage (historic: gymnasium;
(current: gymnasium, student center)
1939, 1998
1939- Pendleton Clark, Clark & Crowe, Lynchburg
1998- Morrissette Architecture, Virginia Beach
DESCRIPTION:
Megginson Gymnasium was constructed as the first recreational and manual workshop building for the
Presbyterian Orphans Home. It is sited to the north of the Executive Building, and was situated on a 45
degree axis from the rear door of the 1921 addition to that building.
The design of this building, while compatible with the older buildings on campus, does not hold true to
the strict Georgian Revival style specified in the extant architectural rendering by Pendleton Clark, but
rather possesses elements of Greek Revival conventions. If built as rendered, Megginson might today
resemble an early 18th century Tidewater Virginia Anglican church, with a hipped roof, pedimented
entry on the narrow end of the building, and five large windows running down each side. The roof
change from hipped to gable better accommodates its function as a basketball court.
The one-story, gable-roofed building is built of brick laid-up in five-course American bond. The southfacing gable end features double entry doors surrounded by a pilaster-supported pediment and a
twelve-light transom. A pair of large windows capped by cement jack arches flank the entry doors, and
a large lunette window breaks the monotony of the gable space. Instead of brick quoins, the corners are
supported by brick pilasters with capitals that connect with the rake moulding to create a classic Greek
cornice return.
The 1939 section of the building features a single large room with a hardwood floor and an open-truss
ceiling, suitable for basketball and other indoor sports. Windows on the north and east walls have been
filled with brick due to the adjacent addition. The basement consists of four workrooms, an access hall,
and a former stair hall that provided access to the main floor. These stairs were removed in 1998 as
part of the Webster addition and renovations.
The west side of the building is pierced by five very large (forty-two light) windows that provide
illumination for the gymnasium. The east side now contains a 1998 addition, which is referred to as the
Webster Student Center. This building is faced in running bond brick and has a low gable roof. It
contains office, classroom, dining, and assembly space for the campus.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0008
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
10
RESOURCE NAME:
DeWitt Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659412
N 4145907
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1959
ARCHITECT:
Clark, Nexsen & Owen
DESCRIPTION: DeWitt Cottage was built in 1959 utilizing funds donated by Mrs. Maggie DeWitt in memory of her
husband, Herbert E. DeWitt, who was prominent in the area lumber industry. This building is generally
based on the design of Noble Cottage, except that the living room and foyer are not divided.
This five-bay, two-and-a-half-story building has corners trimmed by brick quoins and is encircled by a
cement water table. The windows are generally eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement
jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite
design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A one-overone double-hung window is located in each of the three slate-clad dormers on the front façade of the
hipped roof. The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is
located in the middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window
and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which rise from the threshold. A one-story, tin roofed portico
covers the middle three bays, and is supported by four Tuscan columns and two pilasters. A turned
spindle balustrade surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects to the sidewalk.
Two interior, false brick chimneys are located just off (and on each side) of the main hipped ridge.
DeWitt’s construction marks a significant shift in building technology, moving from load-bearing brick
masonry to concrete masonry units with brick veneer. The evolution of building technology as it
relates to fire safety is further marked by DeWitt being the first dormitory to have a second interior
staircase that served as a fire escape. However, the front and side elevations clearly and faithfully
mimic the Lewis & Burnham “Dormitory No. 1” design, including the six-course American bond
pattern in the brick veneer and Tuscan columns, as well as supporting the formal planning principles
established by Manning’s and Gillette’s plans. The inclusion of DeWitt on the west side of the
horseshoe balances the massing on the east side, and also brackets the period of significance as DeWitt
was the last building to be constructed on the horseshoe and central green.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0009
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
11
Maintenance Building
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659443
N 4146058
Vernacular
Institution: Orphanage (historic: heating plant & laundry);
(current: maintenance shop)
circa 1920
Unknown
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
This building was built by 1920, and lies directly behind (north of) the Executive Building. It is a long,
low brick building (five course American bond), with a gable roof (now covered with asphalt shingles).
A gable-roofed cupola or clerestory tops the building, and once provided light and ventilation to the
interior. Nine-over-nine windows capped by three brick high header arches illuminate the interior from
the south (side) facade. Also on the south façade, an entry door with six horizontal panels is protected
from the elements by a gable-roofed stoop.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0010
RESOURCE NAME:
Swimming Pool
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659492
N 4145909
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: swimming pool; current: swimming pool)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1947
ARCHITECT:
Unknown
DESCRIPTION:
On May 10, 1944, two boys from the Presbyterian Orphans Home drowned while swimming in the
James River near Reusens. That year, the board of the Home endorsed raising funds for a swimming
pool, but technical matters dealing with water supply delayed the project until three years later, when it
was dedicated in June of 1947. The rectangular pool is of typical concrete construction, measures
twenty two feet by seventy five feet, and lies to the south of the central green of the campus. Its depth
ranges from two feet to ten feet. This recreational facility was renovated in 1976 with the installation of
a new liner, and the condition of the original pool structure below is unknown. While the location of
the pool on axis and at the radial point of the horseshoe is appropriate, the actual design detailing of
this pool does not support the dominant Georgian Revival style of the central green, and distracts
visually.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0011
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
12
RESOURCE NAME:
Farmhouse #1
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659708
N 4145641
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Victorian Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1914
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This frame, two-story, gable-fronted house rests on a secluded site southeast of the main campus, and
originally was built for staff relating to the farming operation. This simple, vinyl-siding-clad, tinroofed, building features a two bay façade with one-over-one (replacement) windows. According to a
2007 appraisal report, the original wood clapboards remain underneath the vinyl siding. A shed roofed
porch covers one bay of the first story. Interior woodwork includes an Italianate-style mantel and
bull’s-eye blocks on the door surrounds.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0012
RESOURCE NAME:
Farmhouse #2
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659795
N 4145746
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Victorian Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1914
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This frame, two-story, gable-fronted house rests on a secluded site southeast of the main campus, and
originally was built for staff relating to the farming operation. This simple, vinyl-siding-clad, tinroofed, building features a two bay façade with one-over-one (replacement) windows. According to a
2007 appraisal report, the original wood clapboards remain underneath the vinyl siding. A shed roofed
porch covers one bay of the first story. An open (modern) deck wraps around the house, and connects
the front porch with a small addition to the rear of the structure which features a screened-in porch.
The floor plan and exterior fenestration is the mirror image of Farmhouse #1. Interior woodwork
includes an Italianate-style mantel in the living room.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0013
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
13
RESOURCE NAME:
Dairy Barn
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659766
N 4145774
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dairy barn; current: storage)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1930-1950
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This story-and-a-half, gambrel-roofed barn was likely built for dairy operations in the mid-20th century.
According to Sanborn Insurance maps, this replaced an earlier brick dairy on the same site that was built
during the first phase of construction at the orphanage. It is clad with wood novelty siding and covered with
a standing seam metal roof. Two large aluminum turbines vent air from the attic area of the building. The
barn is built on a foundation of concrete masonry units (cinder blocks), and appears to have been built in
two phases, with a one-story, shed-roofed addition being added later. Access to the building is provided by
several simple sliding doors, and windows are not glazed, rather covered with square mesh wire. A boom
for block and tackle and a cargo door can be found in the southeastern gable end, providing access to attic
storage. The interior consists of a large, concrete-floored, open space, with a loft providing storage above
the main section.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0014
RESOURCE NAME:
Stable
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659837
N 4145861
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: stable; current: stable)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1920
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
The Stable is currently leased from Presbyterian Homes & Family Services by an equestrian instructional
operation. It is a simple stable, which lies in the complex of agricultural buildings found to the southeast of
the main campus. The primary portion of this building is a one-and-a-half-story, gable-roofed block,
surrounded by one-story, hipped-roof sections. The stable is clad primarily in board and batten siding with
some clapboard siding. A standing seam metal roof covers the building, and unglazed windows with board
and batten shutters illuminate and ventilate the horse bays. According to a 1920 Sanborn Insurance map,
this building began its life as a hay and corn crib with a one-story addition on its north side. By 1930, it was
expanded to its current configuration, with shed additions that wrap around all but its west façade. The
slanted, slatted walls of the original corn crib section remain.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0015
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
14
RESOURCE NAME:
Barn
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659850
N 4145881
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: barn; current: barn)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1920
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This massive, frame barn is an excellent example of early 20th century agricultural vernacular
architecture. Rising a full two-and-a-half stories above the pastures and paddocks that surround it, this
barn is clad in clapboard and covered by a standing-seam metal gable roof. A (probably later) one-anda-half-story wing projects out of the eastern end of the barn, and a row of board and batten windows
provide ventilation to the interior space. Also serving this function is a long, gable-roofed cupola with
louvers on the main roof. Cargo doors provide access to the attic spaces of both sections. The interior
of the main block is divided by a raised platform that serves animal pens along both sides.
This barn appears on a 1920 Sanborn Insurance map, and, along with the corn & hay crib (now stable),
was likely associated with a mid-to-late 19th-century frame farmhouse (demolished) which stood to the
southeast of these buildings.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0016
RESOURCE NAME:
Entry Gates
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659418
N 4145634
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: landscape element, current: landscape element)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1925
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A pair of brick columns, each eight feet in height, supported by low, curved walls, mark the facility’s
original entry via Linden Avenue at the southern terminus of the campus. Cement caps with magnolia buds
adorn each column. A brass plaque reading “Presbyterian Home 1903” marks the right (south) column.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0020
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
Campus Circle
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659487
n/a
Institution: Orphanage (historic: central campus green;
current: central campus green)
N 4145955
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
15
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911, 1923
ARCHITECT:
Warren G. Manning, Charles F. Gillette
DESCRIPTION:
The central landscape element of the campus is an open 1.8 acre green space with the primary
structures (Administration Building and seven cottages) arranged around it in a horseshoe
configuration. A formal planting scheme of maple trees form a buffer along the eastern side of the
circle, and the main access lane, with some parking areas, defines the east, north, and west boundaries.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0021
1 CONTRIBUTING SITE________________________________________________________________________
RESOURCE NAME:
Tractor Shed
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659821
N 4145898
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: tractor shed)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1970
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This one-story, long, low building serves as storage for motorized farm equipment. It is primarily
constructed of concrete masonry units, with sections of T-111 (or similar) wood siding added. Five
metal garage doors are located on the east side of the building, and a large wooden sliding door
provides access to the southern gable end. A metal roof covers the barn.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0017
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
Lynchburg Group Home
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659562
N 4145699
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
20th Century Ranch
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: group home)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1970
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A relatively recent addition to the Presbyterian Home grounds, this one-story brick veneer (running
bond) ranch style house lies to the south of the main campus. It features four irregularly spaced bays, a
poured concrete porch, an asphalt shingle gable roof, and a relatively massive chimney on the front
façade. The interior floor plan consists of a living area, a kitchen/dining area with a corridor leading to
living areas.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0018
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
16
RESOURCE NAME:
Genesis House
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659267
N 4145751
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
20th Century Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: group home)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1991
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
Genesis House is located at the southwesterly end of the site with a separate entrance drive that spurs
off of the main access roadway near the Linden Avenue entrance. This multi-resident dwelling is
constructed of brick-veneered exterior walls on a partial basement defined by poured concrete
perimeter foundation. The building is topped with a complex gable roof covered with composition
shingles and drained by metal gutters and downspouts. Entrance into this dwelling is under a one-story
front porch that leads to a foyer. The interior floor plan consists of a living area, a kitchen/dining area
with flanking corridors leading to living areas.
118-5240-0019
DHR ID#:
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
Recreational Facilities
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659505
N 4145876
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: tennis courts)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1980 - 2005
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A collection of non-contributing facilities, including an amphitheatre with wood benches,
wooden picnic pavilion, a children’s jungle-gym, and tennis-turned-basketball courts lie to the southwest of the
Campus Circle.
DHR ID#:
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING SITE
118-5240-0022
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
17
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Presbyterian Orphans Home is significant as a well-executed, “cottage style” orphanage designed and built in the
Georgian Revival architectural style. The Presbyterian Orphans Home’s period of significance begins in 1911, when
the school relocated to its present site, and ends in 1959, when the construction of DeWitt Cottage completed the
primary “horseshoe” arc of buildings that comprise the main campus.
The Presbyterian Orphans Home meets National Register Criterion A because of its early 20th century development as
one of the initial “cottage style” orphanages in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The utilization of this method of
operating an orphanage had a significant impact on social history, as it organized children into relatively small family
units, with a “cottage mother” in each building, and an atmosphere more like the homes that they left, or, in some
cases, never had. Promoted during the White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909, this
system was thought to transform young boys and girls into individuals who were far more likely to become productive
members of society than those who were churned out of the larger “institutional style” orphanages that packed
children into dormitories in mammoth buildings.
In addition, the Presbyterian Orphans Home meets National Register Criterion C due to its intact collection of
contributing buildings, which serve as an excellent example of the Georgian Revival style as executed by architects
Lewis & Burnham and Clark & Crowe, and of the campus layout, which was designed by notable landscape architects
Warren H. Manning and Charles F. Gillette.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 1899, the Presbyterian Synod of Virginia met in Huntingon, West Virginia and appointed a committee to study the
need for an orphan’s home within its jurisdiction. This action came as a result of the request of the Reverend
Columbus Wirt Maxwell, who noted that his parishioners had to donate monies to orphanages outside of Virginia, as
the Presbyterians operated none within the state. During this period, only the Masons and Baptists operated such
facilities, and land for a Methodist orphanage in Richmond had just been purchased. The next year, the committee
recommended to the Synod that an orphanage be established, and Rev. Maxwell was appointed chairman of the
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
18
fundraising committee. At the Synod’s 1901 meeting, twelve men were appointed to the Board of Trustees. The
proposed facility was authorized to accept orphaned or destitute white children who resided within the
Commonwealth of Virginia, with preference given to children of Presbyterian families. A later profile indicated that
most of the Home’s children lost at least one of their parents through death. The Home did not accept children under
the age of four, and it did not make its children available for adoption, as it questioned the motives of couples seeking
to adopt older children (often these couples were only seeking unpaid labor)
The school was officially established in 1903 by charter from the General Assembly, and the Synod appointed a
committee which initiated a state-wide search for an appropriate site. Multiple sites throughout Virginia (including
Staunton, Lexington, Giles County, and Richmond) were reviewed, but Lynchburg was chosen as the most agreeable
site due to the proposals as well as the financial assistance offered by the City. Lynchburg’s proposals were
sponsored by local attorney George Evans Caskie and businessman John W. Craddock. Caskie was a well known
lawyer in the area, who founded the “Caskie Firm” in 1896. (Thirty years later, George’s son, James, formed a
partnership with Marshall Frost. The firm of Caskie & Frost remains active today, well into the 21st century.) John W.
Craddock was the organizer of the Craddock-Terry Shoe Company, one of Lynchburg’s largest manufacturers.
The two Lynchburg properties that were originally proposed were designated as the “West Lynchburg” and “Jaeger”
tracts. The location/identity of the Jaeger property is unknown at this time. The West Lynchburg tract was the former
Westover Hotel, a rambling resort hotel built by the West Lynchburg Land Company in the 1890s. (This hotel was
later purchased as the founding structure for what is now known as Lynchburg College; the hotel itself was
demolished in 1970.) It is not clearly known why these two tracts were passed over. Instead the Board purchased the
317-acre Ivey farm at the northwestern side of Lynchburg. The site was considerably larger than the 30 acres
originally sought, but the property was very desirable and within their budget. This farmland was owned by a father
and his son who were prominent businessmen in the community. In addition to Mr. Caskie’s and Mr. Craddock’s
likely persuasiveness, this sale enabled the son, Edwin Ivey, to build a very handsome residence near his father,
William Christopher Ivey, on the very fashionable Rivermont Avenue – Lynchburg’s first planned streetcar
community.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
19
At its January 12, 1905 board meeting, it was decided to adopt “what is known as the cottage plan of buildings,
including a building, or buildings, for industrial training.” The Board President, Mr. Caskie, was directed to appoint a
subcommittee to secure architectural and landscape plans, and to visit other institutions as he saw fit. The concept for
the “cottage plan” likely came from C.W. Maxwell, the first superintendent of the Home. In a later (1921) letter from
Maxwell to then superintendent William Megginson regarding the beginning of the Home, Maxwell noted that the
board purchased the 317 acre Ivey tract with the purpose of selling off “all but the required amount. I [Maxwell] went
to see Dr. W.P. [William Plumer] Jacobs of Thornwell Orphanage [Clinton, SC] and asked his advise [sic] about the
amount of land that we should keep. He replied, ‘don’t sell an acre. You will soon have there an institution worth half
a million dollars and will need all the land.’ It seemed a wild prophecy to me, but was nearer the truth than I thought.”
Maxwell’s correspondence and relationship with Jacobs is important. In 1875, Jacobs pioneered the development of
the cottage plan of orphanage operation and layout when he developed the Thornwell Orphanage. 3&4 By organizing
the children (referred to as “inmates”) in cottage-sized clusters, the staff of orphanages felt that they could reduce the
childrens’ negative (peer pressure) impact on each other, while strengthening the role of the adult staffer (called the
“cottage mother” at the Presbyterian Orphans Home). This living situation was intended to mimic a traditional family
unit in the hope that the children would experience a more normal childhood. The children went to school and
performed assigned chores during the day just like children living in traditional family arrangements. Early 20th
century reformers in the adoption/orphanage field felt that the institutional orphanages were more akin to prisons that
were likely to breed poor behavior and lifestyles in the children. The cottage plan allowed for segregation of the
children by their characteristics, conduct, and habits, and did not stifle the development of individual character as
larger, institutional models were charged with doing. 5
The utilization of the cottage plan in Lynchburg, and all of Virginia, for that matter, was a relatively new concept.
The Virginia Conference Orphanage in Richmond, opened by the Methodists in 1902, may be the first cottage-plan
facility in the Commonwealth. Its layout was remarkably similar to what would become the form of the Presbyterian
Orphan’s Home: a central administrative building flanked by cottages (all built in the Georgian Revival style), with all
arranged around an elliptical green and driveway. Nationally, the cottage plan was a relatively rare form in Methodist
circles as late as 1917. Dr. Burdette Brown, Secretary of the Methodist Child Welfare Society, reported that of the
sixty
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institutions in the Methodist Church, only six were “conducted on the cottage plan, the children living in cottages
accommodating about 25.” Twenty-one were on the congregate, or institutional, plan, and the remaining facilities
were on the “partial cottage plan, a few of the children living in one or more cottages and the majority in a large
central building.” 6 The Presbyterian Orphans Home’s resemblance to the Methodist Orphanage is probably not a
coincidence; photographs and a prospectus from the Richmond institution can be found tucked into the 1906 minute
book in the archives of the Presbyterian Orphans Home.
Within the Catholic sphere of influence, the cottage plan was still a new concept into the 1920s. In 1924, Sister Rose
Smith, superior of St. Joseph’s Villa in Richmond, attended a Catholic Charities convention in Washington, D.C.
There, a paper detailing the cottage plan was read. At the close of the lecture, Sister Rose asked for examples of
institutions that were following the principles of the cottage plan. She recounted that the speaker “did not know. It
was just Utopia then.” Construction for St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Richmond, based on the cottage plan, commenced
in 1930. 7
In January of 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt convened the White House Conference on the Care of Dependent
Children. The event was attended by more than two hundred authorities in the field of child welfare. The conference
made thirteen recommendations that significantly shaped child welfare policy for the remainder of the century. The
fourth of these recommendations was that “institutions should be on the cottage plan with small units, as far as
possible.” 8 Today, the St. Joseph’s Villa web site proudly, but erroneously, claims that it is “the first cottage-plan
orphanage in the East.” That a Virginian institution that opened as late as 1930 can carry on the claim that it is the
first cottage plan orphanage on the East Coast for almost eighty years gives credence to the concept that the plan was
rare in Virginia.
At the time, Lynchburg had at least two other orphanages; the Odd Fellows’ Orphanage and the Lynchburg Female
Orphan’s Asylum, chartered 1849 and now known as the Miller Home for Girls. Both were built using the
institutional plan, as evidenced by their massive buildings and concentrations of children in dense dormitories, but the
Miller Home eventually transitioned to the cottage plan in the 20th century. (The 1872 Miller Home was demolished
in
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the 1950’s, and the Odd Fellows’ Home in 1967.) Also a product of the charity of Lynchburg merchant Samuel
Miller, the Miller Manual Labor School (now known as the Miller School) was founded in 1878 and features a large,
single structure now known as “Old Main” that contained quarters as well as educational space. While not an
orphanage, another example of the institutional style campus of the period was the Blackstone School for Girls,
established in 1894 and touted as the “leading training school for girls in Virginia.” Its main campus consisted of a
large, three-story, seventeen-bay edifice connected to a second building of similar scale.
That first year of operation, the Home received three large donations. The original Ivey farmhouse was named for the
Home’s first donor, Mr. R. M. Scruggs of St. Louis, Missouri. Shelton Memorial Cottage was constructed with funds
received from Mrs. F.X. Burton of Danville, Virginia in memory of her father. Paxton Cottage was constructed with
funds received from Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan C. Paxton of Tom’s Brook, Virginia in memory of their daughter,
Margaret. 9 Local architects Frye & Chesterman drew the plans for these two additional cottages.10 The Presbyterian
Orphans Home operated from 1903 to 1910, utilizing these three buildings. On October 26, 1909, a fire in Shelton
Memorial Cottage claimed the lives of five young girls and severely damaged the building.11
Landscape Architect Warren H. Manning (1860-1938) of Boston (who apprenticed with Frederick Law Olmsted for
eight years between 1888 and 1896)12 was engaged to design a greatly expanded symmetrical campus around the
original Ivey Farmhouse (then designated as Scruggs Farmhouse or Cottage, and now a private dwelling known as
105 Briarwood Street). This was essentially the Presbyterian Home’s first master plan. Unlike other institutions such
as Thornwell, the leadership of the Presbyterian Home developed a master plan and vision for the facility’s
development early in the construction process. His nine page typewritten letter dated February 1910 is remarkable for
the foresight and design judgment exhibited nearly one hundred years ago; this document is in the possession of
Presbyterian Homes & Family Services. In it, he wrote that the property was “very valuable, in line with the finest
residential development in the city, includes all heads of important stream valley that connects to the river. City
should devise a park (park land) reservation system before it is too late. I believe the time will come when the
Presbyterian Orphans Home will have a parkway approach that will still further increase your values.” He went on to
say that the Presbyterian Orphans Home should “sell now the land along main highway [Lexington
Turnpike/Boonsboro Road]
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indicated in red on the blueprint. A boundary road should be built such that houses of the future will face your
property, not back up to it.” Manning proposed a bell-shaped layout with “an Administration Building and gate lodge
close to the present entrance, then a group of buildings including a dining hall at one end next to the main highway, a
gymnasium at the opposite end next to a proposed playground and athletic field, with cottage dormitories on either
side of the court between this dining hall and gymnasium.” He also proposed an alternate site on a hilltop about 1500
feet away and to the north, but did not recommend this due to the expense of the new road and the exposure of the
site.
Less than six months later, by deed dated July 12, 1910, the Presbyterian Orphans Home sold 105 acres to the
Peakland Corporation for $65,000.13 Peakland Place was a suburban development and an extension of the local
streetcar line from the terminus of Rivermont Boulevard and VES Road at Oakwood Country Club. This purchase
left the fledging Presbyterian Orphans Home without any buildings but with a substantial cash fund to build their ideal
Orphanage.
This also shifted the focus of Manning’s plan. Instead of building around the Ivey Farmhouse, the Presbyterian
Orphans Home would have an opportunity to develop its campus from “scratch,” more toward the center of its
property, near the “alternate site” proposed by Manning. Drawings that specifically show the horseshoe-shaped layout
of buildings on the new site have not been located in Manning’s papers, but it is important to note that Manning’s
February 1910 drawings titled “Existing Conditions”, “Proposed Conditions”, and “Connection of Presbyterian
Orphan’s Home Property with City Plan” are not located in the Manning archives either, but rather in the papers of his
apprentice, Charles F. Gillette. It is likely that Gillette obtained copies of the drawings to assist him in working on the
project a decade later. Because of the short timeframe between Manning’s first drawings (February 1910), the sale of
the 105 acres to the Peakland Corporation (July 1910) and the construction of the first round of buildings on the new
site (1911), there would not be enough time to retain a new landscape architect and develop additional plans. It is
assumed that Manning created the layout that is in evidence today shortly after the property sale became apparent.
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County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
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In addition to the overall site plan, Manning designed a sample dormitory building, which possessed elements of the
classic 18th and early 19th century Virginia vernacular central-hall, story-and-a-half house with chimneys on each
gable end, along with features found in bungalows of the day, and a long piazza reminiscent of structures of the
Louisiana low country. This building design was not selected by the board, which consisted of members who were
probably strongly attached to the Georgian Revival fashion that was gaining popularity in Virginia at the time.
The plan that was executed called for a central administration building, flanked by residence cottages in a horseshoe
formation. A semicircular drive provided access to these buildings in the front, and a service road wrapped around the
rear of the campus, leading to a heating plant immediately north of the administration building. Maple trees lined the
driveway, and many of these are still in place today. Rather than designing a series of intricately sculpted gardens, as
is often associated with the work of landscape architects, Manning developed the overall layout of the structures on
the site, and added just enough trees and shrubs to reinforce the site’s formality. It is probable that he chose to
highlight the juxtaposition between the formal arrangement of campus buildings with the open and pastoral landscape
that surrounded it. Warren Manning was an early and strong proponent of the “wild garden” concept, whereby
emphasis was placed on native plants in naturalistic groupings by “selective thinning, grubbing, and trimming, instead
of by destroying all natural ground cover or modifying the contour, character, and water context of existing soil.” 14
The first buildings erected in 1911 were the Executive Building, the Superintendent’s Residence (Terry Cottage), and
two dormitories: Scruggs Cottage (for boys) and Shelton Cottage (for girls). John Minor Botts Lewis of Lewis &
Burnham was the architect for these Georgian Revival Buildings. In 1913, two additional dormitories (Caskie and
Paxton Cottages) were constructed using the original “Dormitory No. 1” plans. Lewis (1869-1950) received his
education in architecture from the University of Virginia. Between 1909 and 1912, he was associated with William R.
Burnham as Lewis & Burnham, and was skilled in the execution of Georgian Revival style.
During the first decade of operation at the new site, significant attempts were made to establish a sense of routine and
normalcy for the resident children. In July of 1911, it was noted that it was “vacation time at the Home. The boys have
laid aside the book for the hoe. The girls have their daily tasks. Dora has her broods of chickens to care for, Verna, the
milk and butter; Martha is the head ironer, Janie is always ready to search the fields for berries, Fannie and Corinne
fill
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County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
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in here and there. Julia and Myrtle are away at friends for a month’s stay… …Mary and Hattie are with their mother;
Raymond writes cheerful letters from the sanatorium, where he is slowly coming back to health and strength.”
Raymond Edmonston died at the Catawba Sanatorium one year later. The August 1912 Bulletin from the Orphan’s
Home reported that Raymond was not very strong when he came to the Home in 1908. He was the first child to die at
the Home since the fire.
Despite Edmonston’s death, there were medical victories during this period. Dr. John Walker, who contained a
typhoid epidemic in 1907, was able to subdue an outbreak of measles in the spring of 1912 without any deaths. 15
By January of 1912, Shelton and Paxton Cottages were ready for occupancy. The next year, the Lynchburg News &
Advance boasted the Home as “one of the best equipped institutions of its character in the State” and “probably the
best equipped church orphanage in the Southern States.” The Presbyterian Church of the United States owned thirteen
homes for children during this period, and the facility in Lynchburg was only one of five such institutions that
provided a separate bed for each child.
At the November 9, 1920 Synod meeting, the Board of the Presbyterian Home reported that “plans for enlargement
and beautifying of the place were submitted to the board, which authorized the employment of a landscape architect to
lay out the grounds for planting, building future structures, locating playgrounds, etc. An architect was employed,
who has made a complete layout of the premises, locating trees, shrubs, walks, buildings, playgrounds, giving us a
plan for any future development. This will ensure harmony and convenience in any enlargement we may make.”
The architect and location of this plan mentioned in 1920 is unknown, but in January of 1923, N.B. Handy advised the
Executive Committee that J. Scott Parrish, a member of the board, “was acquainted with a landscape architect of
ability, and advised that he be engaged through Mr. Parrish to come to the Home and make a lay-out of the grounds,
suggesting a location for any and all future buildings, to that the symmetry and harmony of the plant could be
preserved.” The language of this passage is confusingly similar to the report given to the Synod several years earlier.
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At any rate, it is highly likely that the “landscape architect of ability” was Charles F. Gillette, who had performed
work for Parrish at his town house at 2315 Monument Avenue in Richmond, and Miniboyra (or Minneboyra), the
Parrish Family’s retreat in Chesterfield County. 16
In 1923, a second master plan was created by Manning’s former apprentice Charles F. Gillette. Gillette had settled in
Virginia after being sent to oversee the construction of the University of Richmond campus. This second plan guided
development between 1928 and 1959, but was never fully realized due to restricted financial circumstances related to
the economy and World War II. Gillette first conducted a topographical survey of the site, noting existing conditions.
By this time, the horseshoe design was well in effect, consisting of the administration building, four residence
cottages, and the superintendent’s quarters. Other structures in the central campus included the “engine house” (now
known as the Maintenance Building), a hen house (demolished) and the creamery-turned-high school (demolished).
Several structures in the “farm group” were also noted. Gillette also noted a combination of extant Elm and Maple
trees anchoring the horseshoe.
Gillette’s Master Plan generally called for a halt of development along the horseshoe, and additional boys buildings to
be erected along a line between the main campus and the farm group. Northeast of the new boys’ cottages were the
proposed locations of future tennis courts, basketball courts, and a combination baseball, hockey, and football field.
West of the horseshoe was the proposed location of additional girls’ cottages, along with future tennis courts,
basketball courts, and a field hockey field. Due to financial hardships, Gillette’s plan was never fully executed, and
two subsequent cottages (Noble-1928 and DeWitt-1959) were built along the horseshoe instead. It is thought that the
only items from Gillette’s plan that was put into place were the football and baseball fields, where the famous
Presbyterian Orphans Home football team - the “Shoeless Wonders” - later played, and also small indications of
cutting and vegetable gardens between the Cottages. The Shoeless Wonders were renowned for their bare feet and
undefeated records. This Lynchburg-based team dominated the city high school league from the 1920s through the
1950s. The athletic fields that they played on are no longer there, but aerial photography reveals the lines and
location. (Future master plan initiatives call for these fields to be re-developed.)
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County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
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By 1920, the orphanage had almost tripled in size in ten years, with 116 children in residency.17 As a response to this
growth, and to a specific bequest by C. Tate Scott, Noble Cottage was built as an additional dormitory in 1928. As
previously mentioned, the Presbyterian Orphans Home did not have the financial means to act on Gillette’s
recommended site expansion, so Noble Cottage was built on the horseshoe arc. The Home’s growth reached
somewhat of a plateau, as the 1930 United States Census indicates that 122 children were living on site in five
household units. Girls occupied two cottages (probably Shelton and Paxton), and boys resided in the remaining three
(most likely Scruggs, Caskie, and Noble). Ten teachers and a dietician lived in a sixth building, probably Terry
Cottage, which had served as the Superintendent’s Residence until 1923. 18
The Home established a high school curriculum in 1922. The first class graduated in June of 1926, and the first
inmate, Charles Nelson, entered college (Virginia Military Institute) that September. Classes were small, and
individualized curricula were designed for each student, if needed. The principal, R. Cuyler Moore, and three other
professional teachers taught the high school courses, which included math, chemistry, science, Latin, English, history,
French, and Bible. The State Board of Education accredited the Presbyterian Home’s school in 1928.
Architect Pendleton Clark of Clark & Crowe designed Megginson Gymnasium in 1939 as a result of a call for
recreational and rainy-day workshop space from the Board. Pendleton S. Clark (1895-1975) received his education
from the University of Pennsylvania. He formed a partnership with Walter R. Crowe that lasted from 1921 until
Clark’s service during World War II. After the War, Clark returned to Lynchburg and reestablished his architectural
practice with Walter R. Nexsen and John D. Owen. Clark’s commissions were extensive and varied.
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Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
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On May 10, 1944, two boys from the Presbyterian Orphans Home drowned while swimming in the James River near
Reusens. That year, the board of the Home endorsed raising funds for a swimming pool, but technical matters dealing
with water supply delayed the project until three years later, when it was dedicated in June of 1947.19 The last building
to be constructed within the main “horseshoe” shaped row of buildings was DeWitt Cottage in 1959. DeWitt, while
newer, was built and sited to be compatible in style and massing with the other structures that form the Home’s core
campus, and helps balance the “horseshoe.” Without DeWitt Cottage, the arrangement of buildings would be offcenter, and the east side of the horseshoe would appear to be “heavier” and more massive than the west side. While
the development of the campus is the work of at least three designers over almost fifty years, DeWitt’s placement
gives some confirmation that Manning’s original plan for the site was respected.
The most recent development that has occurred in the main campus area is the addition of Webster Student Center to
Megginson Gymnasium in 1998.
As evidenced by the pastoral landscape and agricultural buildings surrounding the Home, farming has been a key
element of the orphanage’s program and operation since its beginning. The remaining 166 acres of land belonging to
the institution is largely comprised of open space, and has been that way since before the end of the 19th century. In
June of 1910, it was reported to the Presbyterian Orphans Home Board of Directors that the farm had employed three
men (one as foreman), and that turnips, potatoes, wheat, and corn (half a crop due to drought) were raised. There were
four work horses, one pony, eleven milk cows, twelve other cattle, and twenty hogs. That year, the farm produced
2,000 pounds of pork, 500 pounds of beef, 400 bushels of potatoes, 400 bushels of turnips, 325 bushels of wheat, and
an unnamed quantity of milk, butter, and eggs. In 1910, the orphanage’s connection to agriculture was strengthened
by a commitment from Mrs. Cyrus McCormick to donate $2,000.00 (about $43,000.00 in 2006) toward building the
new campus.
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In his 1912 report, the Superintendent of the orphanage announced that, among the buildings in the main campus area,
a “cow barn with feed house”, a horse barn, corn house, and implement house, “all of which are very well built,” were
in place. He also noted that the “two cottages for farm hands” had been repaired. In 1914, it was reported that these
two houses were located on land that was being sold, and that two new “farmers’ houses” were being built, and would
be ready for occupancy by August of that year. These are assuredly the two farmhouses (118-5240-0012 and 1185240-1113) located on the property today. Older boys assisted the farmhands with daily chores, which primarily
focused on the dairy farm activities. Under the supervision of a staff member, they cared for the animals and helped
with the planting and harvesting of grain and vegetables. They milked the cows twice a day, and milk, butter, cream,
and cheese was produced for use at the Home. The boys also were responsible for stoking the furnace at the heating
plant. The older girls worked in the kitchen and laundry, where they helped prepare and serve meals and wash and
iron clothing.
The Presbyterian Orphans Home is significant as a cohesive and well-preserved example of an early 20th century,
cottage-style orphanage, as executed in the dignified Georgian Revival style, following the horseshoe arc around a
central campus green. Its pastoral setting contrasting with the formal campus stands as a graceful institution, still
functioning in its original purpose of residential care for children in need. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services is a
public charity, and contributions qualify as tax deductible to an IRS 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Endnotes Combined for Sections 7 and 8
1
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 7.
S. Allen Chambers. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Page 395.
3
John Wells & Susan Pickens. Thornwell/Presbyterian College Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination. Pages 2-5
4
William Cooper. Laurens County Information & History.
5
Matthew A. Cresson. Building the Invisible Orphanage: A Prehistory of the American Welfare System. Page 147
6
DePuy, William Harrison. The Methodist Year-Book, 1918. New York: The Methodist Book Concern. 1918. pages
214-215.
7
Richmond Times-Dispatch, 4 November 1934. Accessed at www.richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/StJoseph’s-Villa-News.html
2
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8
Myers, John E.B. Child Protection in America: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
pages 58-59.
9
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 3.
10
Library of American Landscape History, Biographical Sketch of Warren G. Manning
11
Campbell County Clerk of Court. Deed Book 88, Page 281.
12
Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn, Nature and Ideology: Natural Garden Design in the Twentieth Century. pp 113-177.
13
Gillette, Charles F. Charles Freeman Gillette (1886-1969), Papers, 1918-1969, Business Records
Collection, Accession 344728 United States Census, 1930, Population Schedule, City of Lynchburg, Virginia.
14
United States Census, 1920, Population Schedule, Campbell County, Virginia.
15
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 12-14
16
United States Census, 1930, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia.
17
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 58
Major Bibliographical References
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Cooper, William. Laurens County Information & History. Electronic Document.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/4492/lcinfo.htm (Accessed September 2007)
Crenson, Matthew A. Building the Invisible Orphanage: A Prehistory of the American Welfare System. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
DePuy, William Harrison. The Methodist Year-Book, 1918. New York: The Methodist Book Concern. 1918.
Gillette, Charles F. Charles Freeman Gillette (1886-1969), Papers, 1918-1969, Business Records
Collection, Accession 34472. Richmond, VA. Library of Virginia.
Jacobs, Thornwell (ed.). Diary of William Plumer Jacobs. Atlanta, GA. Oglethorpe University Press. 1937.
Library of American Landscape History, Biographical Sketch of Warren G. Manning. Electronic Document.
http://www.lalh.org/manningBioMain.html (accessed August 2007)
Longest, George C. Genius in the Garden: Charles F. Gillette and Landscape Architecture in Virginia. Richmond, VA,
Library of Virginia. 1992.
Lynn, Reverend L. Ross. The Story of Thornwell Orphanage, Clinton, South Carolina, 1875-1925. Richmond, VA.
Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 1924.
Myers, John E.B. Child Protection in America: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
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CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
9
Page
30
Pendleton, Donald G. Summary Appraisal Report for Property of the Presbyterian Orphans Home. Lynchburg, VA.
Consensus Real Estate Services, LLC. 2007.
Presbyterian Orphans Home Archives 1903-1940. Lynchburg, VA. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
Sadler, Mary Harding & Hensley, Llewellyn. St. Catharine’s School National Register of Historic Places Nomination.
Richmond, VA. Sadler & Whitehead Architects, PLC. 2006
Shannon, Mary Jo. Feed My Lambs: A History of Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc., 1903-2003.
Lynchburg, VA. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc. 2003.
Smith, W. Scott. Research Report: 105 Briarwood St, Lynchburg, VA. Lynchburg, VA. The Antiquaries, LC. 2006.
Thornwell Orphanage. A History of God’s Work Through His People for the Thornwell Orphanage. Clinton, SC.
Thornwell Orphanage Press. 1888.
United States Census
1910 Schedule 1, Population
1920 Schedule 1, Population
1930 Schedule 1, Population
Wells, John & Pickens, Susan. Thornwell/Presbyterian College Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination. Columbia, SC. South Carolina Department of Archives & History. 1981.
Wolschke-Bulmahn, Joachim. Nature and Ideology: Natural Garden Design in the Twentieth Century. Washington,
DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees for Harvard University, 1997.
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GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
UTM Coordinates for Approximate Property Boundaries
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
E 0659894
E 0659778
E 0659257
E 0658897
E 0659133
E 0659443
E 0659740
E 0660134
N 4145263
N 4145258
N 4145598
N 4145849
N 4145994
N 4146483
N 4146395
N 4145822
Verbal Boundary Description
Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc. is located at 150 Linden Avenue in Lynchburg, VA. The property being
nominated to the National Register of Historic Places is identified by the City of Lynchburg and recorded as Parcel
Numbers 06801005 (addressed as 150 Linden Avenue and last recorded on 1/1/1980) and 18507001 (addressed as
4301 Williams Road and last recorded on 1/1/1900). More generally, it is bounded by Virginia Episcopal School
(V.E.S.) Road and Pigeon Creek to the east, Peakland Place to the south, Trents Ferry Road to the west, and Williams
Road and Brickyard Branch to the north.
Boundary Justification
The proposed boundaries of this nomination consist of the legal limits of the current Presbyterian Homes & Family
Services property, except a <1 acre tract at 4401 Williams Road which contains a late 20th century home. This 166±
acre tract contains the remnants of the original Presbyterian Orphans Home property. The boundary contains the land
now associated with the historic institutional structures, recreational facilities, agricultural facilities, and open spaces.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
Photos
Page
32
All Photographs are common to:
PROPERTY: Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
LOCATION: City of Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR FILE NUMBER: 118-5240
PHOTOGRAPHER: Amanda G. Adams, Jim C. Dumminger, W. Scott Smith (consultant)
DATE: May to August 2007
ELECTRONIC IMAGES: Stored at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
Photo 1 of 12
View Of:
Agricultural Complex looking towards main campus
Photo 2 of 12
View Of:
Agricultural Complex from main campus
Photo 3 of 12
View Of:
Executive Building South and West Facade
Photo 4 of 12
View Of:
Executive Building Interior – Foyer
Photo 5 of 12
View Of:
Scruggs Cottage Front Facade
Photo 6 of 12
View Of:
Scruggs Cottage – Entry Door Detail
Photo 7 of 12
View Of:
Paxton Cottage Memorial Plaque
Photo 8 of 12
View Of:
Megginson Gymnasium/Webster Student Center Front Facade
Photo 9 of 12
View Of:
DeWitt Cottage Front Façade
Photo 10 of 12
View Of:
Farmhouse #2 Front Façade
Photo 11 of 12
View Of:
Dairy Barn South and East Facades
Photo 12 of 12
View Of:
Entrance Gate Overall
2bm;
wcl,\A
I
[FORMER F.P.
1
FRONT PORCH
BASEMENT
FIRST FLOOR
1.076 S.F.f
1.600 S.F.f
SECOND FLOOR
1,600 S.F.f
2/3 FULL ATTIC ABOVE
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I 18-5240-0004
T e r y Cottage
DATE: 19 3,1911,1931
ARCHITECT: PROBABLY LEWIS 8 BURNHAM
BASEMFNT
FIRST FLOOR
1,485 S.F.f
3,036 S.F.f
SECOND FLOOR
FULL ATTIC
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #ll8--5240-0007
2,970 S.F.f
AWE
Noble Cottage
DATE: 1928
ARCHITECT: CLARK & CROWE
LEST.
Sll0.T
CENTER ADDITION
(l998) BY
MORRISSEITE
BASEMENT
-
3,150 5.F.f
FIRST FLOOR
3,150 S.F.f
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I
18--5240-0008
Megginson
Gym1
-.
Webster Student Center
DATE: 1939,1998
ARCHITFCT. CI ARK R CRnWF
I
V
RECREATION
ROOM
I
BOILER ROOM
FRONT PORCH
BASEMENT
2,826 S.F.f
FIRST FLOOR
SECOND
. FLOOR
-.
2.826 S.F.f
2.826 S.F.f
U L L ATTIC ABOVE
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I
18-5240-0009
DeWitt Cottage
DATE: 1959
ARCHITECT: CLARK NEXSEN & OWEN
g *,
"&
%:'
UNITED S T A T E S
DEPARTMENT O F T H E INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
COMMONWEA
DIVISION OF M
Historic Preservation Commission
City Hall, 900 Church Street
Lynchburg, Virginia 24504 (434) 455-3900
FAX (434) 845-7630
December 11,2007
Marc Christian Wagner
Director, Resource Information Division
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Dear Marc,
Subject: Presbyterian Orphans Home, 150 Linden Avenue, Lynchburg
The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) reviewed the National Register Nomination for the subject property on
November 19, 2007. Amanda Adams and Emmett Lifsey, UMW,Main Street, and Jan Garfield, Presbyterian
Home, were present and spoke to the request. Chair Devening, Commissioners Calhoun and McDonald and I
toured the facility on November 13.
Ms. Adams gave the history and significance of the facilities as well as the grounds. She said plans were to
renovate the buildings and bring them up to current code for handicap accessibility using the rehabilitation tax
credits.
Commissioners commented that after reviewing the Nomination, taking the tour and hearing the full history, it
would be most appropriate for the property to be nominated to the National Register. It was suggested that the
owners consider local historic district designation for additional protection.
After further discussion, Commissioner Mundy made the following motion which was seconded by Commissioner
H a ~ e and
y passed by the following vote:
MOTION: "That the HPC recommends the inclusion of the Presbyterian Orphans Home, 150 Linden
Avenue, in the National Register of Historic Places and in the Virginia Landmarks Register."
AYES: Calhoun, Devening, Harris, Harvey, Mundy
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT: Glass, McDonald
I f you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Annette M. Chenault
Planner I1 and Secretary to the HPC
PC:
L. Kimball Payne, 111, City Manager
Tom Martin, City Planner
HPC
COMMONWEALTH of VHRCjILaJHA
L. Preston Blyant, Jr.
Secretary of Natural Resources
r
II
Kathleen s K~lpatnck
D~rector
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Vi
October 22,200- - - I
Re: Presbyterian Orphans Home, City of Lynchburg
Tel: (804) 367-2323
. Fax. (804) 367-2391
2280
,
JAN I 0 2008
TDD. (804) 367-2386
www.dhr.v~rginia.gov
Dear Adjacent Property Owner:
The Department of Historic Resources has been asked to recommend the above
referenced property to the National Register of Historic Places and to include it in the Virginia
Landmarks Register. The national and state registers are official lists of places recognized as
having architectural, archaeological or historical significance at the local, state or national
level.
Local tax records indicate that you are the owner of a property adjacent to the
boundaries of the nominated property as shown on the map included. I welcome your
comments as an adjacent owner who may be interested in this nomination proposal. Enclosed
is information on the results of listing on both the national and state registers.
The State Review Board and the Virginia Historic Resources Board will be
considering the nomination at their Wednesday, December 5, 2007, meeting in the Halsey
Lecture Hall of the Virginia Historical Society located at 428 North Boulevard in Richmond,
Virginia, 23221. Please send your comments to us prior to this meeting in order to be
considered with the nomination. You are also welcome to attend the meeting, which will
begin at 10 a.m.
If you have any questions or need additional information prior to the meeting please
contact Ms. Ann Andrus in the Capital Region Preservation Office at 804-367-2323,
extension 133.
Sincerely,
m.
Marc Christian Wagner
Director, Resource Information Division
Administralive Services
10 Courthouse Avenue
Petersburg, VA 23803
Tel: (804) 863-1624
Fax: (804) 862-6196
\it%
~ y \ & b ~TidcJater
n Reg~on
~ /2493
Office
Capital egion Office
2801 ~ h n s j n ~ t Ave.
on
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
I4415 Old Counhouse Way: 2" Floor
Newpon News, VA 23608
Tel: (757) 886-2807
Fax: (757) 886-2808
Roanoke Region Office
I030 Penmar Ave., SE
Roanoke, VA 24013
Tel: (540) 857-7585
Fax: (540) 857-7588
Northern Region Office
5357 Main Street
POBox 519
Stephens C~ry,VA22655
Tel: (540) 868-7031
Fax: (540) 868-7033
501 V.E.S. Road
Lynchburg, VA 24503
(434) 386-3500
l ( 8 0 0 ) 962-3520
~c.
www.wclynchburg.org
Westminster
Canterburv
Lynchburg
Hunsdon Cary I11
President & CEO
November 1,2007
Marc Christian Wagner, Director
Resource Information Division
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
RE:
Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg
Dear Mr: Wagner:
On behalf of Westminster Canterbury of Lynchburg, Inc., an adjacent property owner to
the Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg, I write to convey its support to have the
Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg, added to the National Register of Historic
Places and included in the Virginia Landmark Register.
C:
Robert Dendy, PHFS
George P. Ramsey, Jr.
Herschel V. Keller, Esq.
(Rev. Aug. 2002)
OM6 No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
LISTED ON:
VLR
NRHP
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
12/05/2007
06/24/2010
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and disbicts. See insbuctions in How to Complete the NationalRegister of
Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each Item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information
requested. If any item does not apply to the properly being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classificalion, materials, and
areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategoriesfrom the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuationsheets (NPS
Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
Presbyterian Omhans Home
Presbyterian Homes & Familv Services, Inc. N i r q i n i a DHR File # 118-5240)
historic name
other nameslsite number
- -
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virqinia
not for publication nla
150 Linden Avenue
Lvnchburs
vicinity nla
code VA
county - Citv of Lvnchburcl
code 680
zip code
24503
-
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this -X-
nomination r e q u e s t
for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets d o e s not meet
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the properly -Xthe National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant -nationally
-X- locally. (See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
-statewide
Signatfie of d i i f y i n g official
Virainia ~epartmentof Historic Resources
,State or Federal Agency or Tribal government
In my opinion, the p r o p e r t y m e e t s d o e s not meet the National Register criteria. (-See
Signature of commenting officialrritle
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
e n t e r e d i n the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
r e m o v e d from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
5. Classification
Category of Property (Check only one box)
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
building(s)
_x_ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
15
3
buildings
1
1
sites
2
0
structures
0
0
Objects
18
4
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
N/A
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
Sub:
RELIGION
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
RECREATION
Institutional Housing
Church School
Animal Facility
Agricultural Outbuilding
Sports Facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
Sub:
RELIGION
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
RECREATION
Institutional Housing
Church School
Animal Facility
Agricultural Outbuilding
Sports Facility
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Georgian Revival
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Greek Revival
EARLY 20th CENTURY: Vernacular
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
BRICK
roof
STONE: Slate
METAL: Tin
ASPHALT
walls
BRICK
WOOD: Weatherboard
SYNTHETICS: Vinyl
other
N/A
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
_X__ A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
C
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
__ _ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
SOCIAL HISTORY
Period of Significance
1911-1959 (last building to be constructed on the horseshoe)
Significant Dates
1911, 1913, 1928, 1939, 1959
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
N/A
Architects: John Minor Botts Lewis (Lewis & Burnham), Pendleton S. Clark (Clark & Crowe)
Landscape Architects: Warren H. Manning, Charles F. Gillette
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_x_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
X State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
X__ Other
Name of repository: Archives, Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Lynchburg, VA; Charles F. Gillette Archives,
Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA; Virginia Department of Historic Resources
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
166 ± acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
2 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
3 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
4 __ ______ _______
_x__ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
Emmett W. Lifsey, AIA; Amanda G. Adams, Assoc. AIA; W. Scott Smith, Consultant
date 13 September 2009
Calloway Johnson Moore & West, P.A.
telephone 434-847-6564
1030 Main Street
state VA
zip code 24504
Lynchburg
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
street & number
city or town
Robert S. Dendy, Jr., President & CEO, Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
telephone
434-384-3131
150 Linden Avenue
state VA
zip code
24503
Lynchburg
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for
listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
1
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Presbyterian Orphans Home is located on Linden Avenue, adjacent to the Peakland neighborhood of the City of
Lynchburg. The 166-acre property is roughly bounded on the east by V.E.S. (Virginia Episcopal School) Road and on
the west by Trents Ferry Road. US 501 (Boonsboro Road) lies to the south. Construction on the masterfully-planned
“cottage style” institution began in 1911, and a campus of more than a dozen contributing structures remains in active
use today.
Contributing resources include six residence halls, a superintendent’s house, an executive building (all constructed of
brick in the Georgian Revival style) and a Greek Revival gymnasium. Other contributing resources include a brick
vernacular power plant, two frame, two-story farm houses, and a cluster of four frame agricultural buildings. The
pastoral campus surroundings include two ponds, several pastures, numerous wooded copses, and two streams:
Brickyard Branch and Pigeon Creek (both of which flow into the James River, just to the north.). In addition to
quality neighborhoods dating from the first half of the 20th century, the Presbyterian Orphans Home is a neighbor to
two other institutions: Virginia Episcopal School (National Register of Historic Places) and Westminster Canterbury
of Lynchburg, a retirement community.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The Presbyterian Orphans Home consists of a central group of two-and-a-half story, brick, Georgian Revival
buildings with slate roofs forming a horseshoe configuration around a central green of approximately two acres. A
tree-lined drive assists in defining the arc, and subsidiary buildings are clustered to the rear (north) of the massive
Administration Building, which forms the core of the horseshoe. This central cluster of buildings is situated on a
gentle prominence, and is surrounded by open fields on three sides. The campus was initially constructed in 1911,
with the placement of the Administration Building, Scruggs Cottage, Shelton Cottage, Terry Cottage and the brick
Maintenance Building. Paxton and Caskie Cottages were added in 1913, followed by two farmhouses in 1914, and
Noble Cottage in 1928. Subsequent structures include Megginson Gymnasium (1939) and DeWitt Cottage (1959). A
host of accessory buildings and structures, including farm buildings, group homes, and recreational facilities, dot the
landscape and continue to support Presbyterian Homes & Family Services’ mission and objectives.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
2
Resource Inventory
RESOURCE NAME:
Bain-Wood Administration Building (Executive Building)
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659465
N 4146024
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: offices, dining hall, chapel; current: offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
This building is named after Edna & Bernard Bain and Edna & Bass Wood, who were administrators
and benefactors, respectively. The appearance and layout of this building generally follows the form
and function of the structure designated as the “Executive Building” in the Lewis & Burnham
drawings. The two-story Georgian Revival building is constructed of load-bearing brick (laid up in sixcourse American bond), and features a seven-bay façade with eight-over-eight double-hung windows
capped by cement jack arches. Access into the building from the front is facilitated by a pair of glazed
doors, surrounded by pilasters which support a dentiled pediment. The windows that flank the entry
doors are recessed into shallow alcoves, topped with brick header arches with cement keystones.
Above the entry door is a tripartite window unit consisting of an eight-over-eight window flanked by a
pair of four-over-four windows. The three central bays are slightly recessed, and covered by a twostory portico. Corners of the structure are highlighted by brick quoins that alternate in height between
four and three courses. The two pairs of bays that flank the portico are trimmed with horizontal cement
panels located between the first and second floor windows. A dentiled cornice is capped by a hipped
roof covered with slate shingles and copper ridge caps. Topping off the Executive Building is an
octagonal cupola covered by a copper dome. Each bay of the octagon is trimmed with an arch, which is
in turn filled by wooden ventilation louvers.
The interior of the building is marked by an entry lobby which is flanked by a pair of L-shaped
staircases. This area is adorned by wainscot, chair rail, crown molding, and door and window trim
typical of structures of the period. A deep plastered arch leads visitors deeper into the building via a
double-loaded corridor with offices. The two left bays of the first floor are occupied by an alumni
room, and the right two bays house offices. Offices are also located on the second floor. Two additions
(built in 1921 and 1950) project from the rear (north façade) of the Executive Building, and are
stylistically similar to and compatible with the original structure. The primary distinction between the
two additions and the original structure is that the additions are built with brick laid up in a five (rather
than six) course American bond. The 1921 addition is two stories, while the 1950 wing is one story in
height. In 1921, an original chapel wing was razed, and an addition that originally housed a dining hall
on the first floor and a chapel on the second floor was constructed. The second floor chapel was
converted to offices in the 1980s.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0001
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
3
RESOURCE NAME:
Scruggs Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659506
N 4145999
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Scruggs Cottage was built in 1911 and named for R.M. Scruggs, who made (up to that point) the largest
donation towards founding the Presbyterian Orphanage. This building, along with Shelton Cottage, formed
the design basis for most of the residence halls on the site. The Lewis & Burnham drawings describe this as
“Dormitory No. 1.”
Scruggs Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows, which appear to be
original, are generally eight-over-two double hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by
cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two doublehung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. To the right of the front entrance is an eight-overfour window (which appears to be a replacement). A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate, and
add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space. The roof is
accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay of
the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of
sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two
pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico,
and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin
roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and has another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses three brick chimneys, two of which can be found on each side of the building (the
right chimney is false). The third chimney is located in the rear wing. The primary living room on the first
floor has a relatively small corner fireplace, which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a
simple mantel which displays elements of the Italianate and Colonial Revival styles. The first floor also
contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. Five bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory
are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to usable space (recreation room, and kitchen)
in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer
windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0002
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
4
RESOURCE NAME:
Shelton Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659432
N 4145976
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Shelton Cottage was built in 1911, according to the building’s plaque, by Mrs. F.X. Burton of Danville,
Virginia in memory of her father, W.N. Shelton. Willoughby N. Shelton was a wealthy tobacco merchant,
and was largely responsible for the erection of what is now known as Shelton Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Danville. This building, along with Scruggs Cottage, formed the design basis for most of the
residence halls on the site. The Lewis & Burnham drawings describe this as “Dormitory No. 1.”
Shelton Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows, which appear to be
original, are generally eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by
cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two doublehung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in
each of the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in
slate, and add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space.
The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the
middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a
pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A modern storm door has been affixed to the front
entry. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers the middle three bays of the dormitory,
and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the building. A balustrade
consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects
the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear
stair hall and rear wing, and includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses three brick chimneys, two of which can be found on each side of the building (the
right chimney is false). The third chimney is located in the rear wing. The primary living room on the first
floor has a relatively small corner fireplace, which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a
simple mantel which displays elements of the Italianate and Colonial Revival styles. The first floor also
contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. A rear stair leads to the second floor.
Five bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to
usable space (recreation room, kitchen, and laundry) in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The
full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0003
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
5
RESOURCE NAME:
Terry Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659559
N 4145954
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911
ARCHITECT:
Probably Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Terry Cottage was built as the superintendent’s residence in 1911. A new home for the superintendent was
constructed at 115 Linden Avenue in 1923, and this building became housing for teachers. It now serves as
administrative and dormitory space. The building was later dedicated by Bertha Terry in memory of R.
Stockton Terry, who was Vice President of the Presbyterian Orphans Home between 1912 and 1917. In
1931, architect Pendleton Clark made an addition of four rooms to the rear of the house.
This building was designed and built to serve as a single-family residence, and is smaller and more intimate
than the other buildings that comprise the main campus. The cottage is a two-bay, two-and-a-half-story,
Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing brick laid up in a five-course American bond
pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps
around the building. The windows, which appear to be original, are generally eight-over-two double-hung
sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. A single, blank, cement panel is set into
the brick between the two second story windows on the front façade.
A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of the two dormers on the front façade of the hipped
roof. These gabled dormers are clad in slate. The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper
gutters. The front entry is located in the left bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a
transom window and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A modern glazed
storm door has been affixed to the front entry. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
both bays of the cottage, and is supported by three Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the
building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of
concrete steps connects the house to the sidewalk. The cottage has one extant chimney, which vents the
basement furnace.
The interior of the building features an open rail stairway on the left (north) side of the house with a landing
illuminated by two windows, and a relatively open floor plan in the public space of the home, which
consists of the foyer and living room, whose spaces are delineated by two columns. Towards the rear of the
first floor are a contemporary “eat-in” kitchen, three offices, and a lavatory. Four bedrooms, two offices,
and two lavatories are located on the second floor, and a recreation room, laundry, and mechanical room are
located in the basement. A two-story porch on the rear contains a covered exterior staircase that provides
egress from the first and second levels of the house.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0004
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
6
RESOURCE NAME:
Caskie Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659538
N 4145981
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1913
ARCHITECT:
After plans by Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Caskie Cottage was built in 1913 and named for George Evans Caskie, a local attorney, who served as
President of the institution from 1904 to 1919. This building is based on the Lewis & Burnham drawings for
“Dormitory No. 1,” with one notable stylistic change made by N.B. Handy (a member of the Building
Committee), being a change in the muntin pattern around the entry door sidelights. This alteration was made
in order to ease maintenance of broken window panes. Handy also recommended that the basement be
excavated and an entrance be installed to access it from the exterior.
Caskie Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of load-bearing
brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins, which
alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally eight-overtwo double hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The second floor
window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double hung sash flanked by a pair of
four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of the three dormers on the
front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate, and add visual interest to the
hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space. The roof is accented by a dentiled
cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay of the building and
consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which are
anchored by a raised panel. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers the middle three
bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two pilasters against the
building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the portico, and a wide set of
concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A one-story, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is
accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses two brick chimneys which can be found on each side of the building, and a third
serving the rear wing. The primary living room on the first floor has a relatively small corner fireplace,
which is filled with an iron coal grate, and is adorned by a simple mantel which displays elements of the
Italianate style. The first floor also contains a kitchen, two offices, a laundry room, and two lavatories. Five
bedrooms, an office, and a lavatory are located on the second floor. The basement was converted to usable
space (recreation room, kitchen, and laundry) in the 1950s and further renovated in the 1980s. The full attic
is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0005
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
7
RESOURCE NAME:
Paxton Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659415
N 4145943
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1913
ARCHITECT:
After plans by Lewis & Burnham
DESCRIPTION:
Paxton Cottage was built in 1913 and named by John C. (a lime kiln manager) and Rebecca R. Paxton
of Woodstock, Virginia in memory of their daughter Margaret Robinson Paxton. This building is based
on the Lewis & Burnham drawings for “Dormitory No. 1,” with one notable stylistic change made by
N.B. Handy (a member of the Building Committee), being a change in the muntin pattern around the
entry door sidelights. Handy also recommended that the basement be excavated and an entrance be
installed to access it from the exterior.
Paxton Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of loadbearing brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins,
which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally
eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The
second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash
flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A six-over-six double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These gable-roofed dormers are clad in slate,
and add visual interest to the hipped slate roof, in addition to illuminating the unfinished attic space.
The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the
middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked
by a pair of sidelights, which are anchored by a raised panel. A one-story hipped, standing-seam tin
roof portico covers the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in
the front and two pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail
surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk. A onestory, standing-seam tin roofed rear porch is accessed from the rear stair hall and rear wing, and
includes another set of concrete steps.
The building possesses two brick chimneys, which can be found on each side of the building. The
primary living room on the first floor has a relatively small corner fireplace. As in Scruggs, Shelton
and Caskie Cottages, a rear stair hall provides access to the second floor and rear porch. The floor plan
of Paxton Cottage is identical to that of Caskie Cottage. The basement was converted to usable space in
the 1950s. The full attic is unfinished, although lit by dormer windows.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0006
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
8
RESOURCE NAME:
Noble Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659571
N 4145920
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1928
ARCHITECT:
Clark & Crowe; Contractor: J.A. Fix & Sons
DESCRIPTION:
Noble Cottage was built in 1928 with monies donated by C. Tate Scott in memory of his maternal
grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. John D. Noble. This building is generally based on the “Dormitory No. 1,”
design. A condition of C. Tate Scott’s will was that a sunroom be built as a part of Noble Cottage. In
an attempt at balancing financial concerns with Scott’s wishes, a one-story polygonal bay that projects
from the south façade of the structure was added.
Noble Cottage is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story, Georgian Revival building constructed of loadbearing brick laid up in a six-course American bond pattern. The corners are trimmed by brick quoins,
which alternate in height. A cement water table wraps around the building. The windows are generally
eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The
second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash
flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A one-over-one double-hung window is located in each of
the three dormers on the front façade of the hipped roof. These dormers are clad in slate. The roof is
accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is located in the middle bay
of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window and flanked by a pair of
sidelights, which rise from the threshold. A one-story, hipped, standing-seam tin roof portico covers
the middle three bays of the dormitory, and is supported by four Tuscan columns in the front and two
pilasters against the building. A balustrade consisting of turned spindles under a rail surrounds the
portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects the dormitory to the sidewalk.
The building has one brick chimney on the right side of the building, which is corbelled, unlike the
earlier four cottages. While the exterior of Noble Cottage is similar to the others, the interior floor plan
is different. Instead of entering directly into the living room, visitors arrive in a central foyer that
includes a staircase and doors leading the way to the living room on the right, an office on the left, and
additional offices and domestic space towards the rear. This stair configuration differs from the first
four cottages, which have staircases relegated to the rear hallway. The second floor is occupied by
individual bedrooms. The half-basement features a recreation room, and the full attic is unfinished.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0007
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
9
Megginson Gymnasium/Webster Student Center
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659491
N 4146063
Greek Revival
Institution: Orphanage (historic: gymnasium;
(current: gymnasium, student center)
1939, 1998
1939- Pendleton Clark, Clark & Crowe, Lynchburg
1998- Morrissette Architecture, Virginia Beach
DESCRIPTION:
Megginson Gymnasium was constructed as the first recreational and manual workshop building for the
Presbyterian Orphans Home. It is sited to the north of the Executive Building, and was situated on a 45
degree axis from the rear door of the 1921 addition to that building.
The design of this building, while compatible with the older buildings on campus, does not hold true to
the strict Georgian Revival style specified in the extant architectural rendering by Pendleton Clark, but
rather possesses elements of Greek Revival conventions. If built as rendered, Megginson might today
resemble an early 18th century Tidewater Virginia Anglican church, with a hipped roof, pedimented
entry on the narrow end of the building, and five large windows running down each side. The roof
change from hipped to gable better accommodates its function as a basketball court.
The one-story, gable-roofed building is built of brick laid-up in five-course American bond. The southfacing gable end features double entry doors surrounded by a pilaster-supported pediment and a
twelve-light transom. A pair of large windows capped by cement jack arches flank the entry doors, and
a large lunette window breaks the monotony of the gable space. Instead of brick quoins, the corners are
supported by brick pilasters with capitals that connect with the rake moulding to create a classic Greek
cornice return.
The 1939 section of the building features a single large room with a hardwood floor and an open-truss
ceiling, suitable for basketball and other indoor sports. Windows on the north and east walls have been
filled with brick due to the adjacent addition. The basement consists of four workrooms, an access hall,
and a former stair hall that provided access to the main floor. These stairs were removed in 1998 as
part of the Webster addition and renovations.
The west side of the building is pierced by five very large (forty-two light) windows that provide
illumination for the gymnasium. The east side now contains a 1998 addition, which is referred to as the
Webster Student Center. This building is faced in running bond brick and has a low gable roof. It
contains office, classroom, dining, and assembly space for the campus.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0008
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
10
RESOURCE NAME:
DeWitt Cottage
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659412
N 4145907
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Georgian Revival
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dormitory; current: dormitory, offices)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1959
ARCHITECT:
Clark, Nexsen & Owen
DESCRIPTION: DeWitt Cottage was built in 1959 utilizing funds donated by Mrs. Maggie DeWitt in memory of her
husband, Herbert E. DeWitt, who was prominent in the area lumber industry. This building is generally
based on the design of Noble Cottage, except that the living room and foyer are not divided.
This five-bay, two-and-a-half-story building has corners trimmed by brick quoins and is encircled by a
cement water table. The windows are generally eight-over-two double-hung sash capped by cement
jack arches and anchored by cement sills. The second floor window of the middle bay is a tripartite
design, with a six-over-two double-hung sash flanked by a pair of four-over-one windows. A one-overone double-hung window is located in each of the three slate-clad dormers on the front façade of the
hipped roof. The roof is accented by a dentiled cornice with external copper gutters. The front entry is
located in the middle bay of the building and consists of a six-panel door capped by a transom window
and flanked by a pair of sidelights, which rise from the threshold. A one-story, tin roofed portico
covers the middle three bays, and is supported by four Tuscan columns and two pilasters. A turned
spindle balustrade surrounds the portico, and a wide set of concrete steps connects to the sidewalk.
Two interior, false brick chimneys are located just off (and on each side) of the main hipped ridge.
DeWitt’s construction marks a significant shift in building technology, moving from load-bearing brick
masonry to concrete masonry units with brick veneer. The evolution of building technology as it
relates to fire safety is further marked by DeWitt being the first dormitory to have a second interior
staircase that served as a fire escape. However, the front and side elevations clearly and faithfully
mimic the Lewis & Burnham “Dormitory No. 1” design, including the six-course American bond
pattern in the brick veneer and Tuscan columns, as well as supporting the formal planning principles
established by Manning’s and Gillette’s plans. The inclusion of DeWitt on the west side of the
horseshoe balances the massing on the east side, and also brackets the period of significance as DeWitt
was the last building to be constructed on the horseshoe and central green.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0009
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
11
Maintenance Building
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659443
N 4146058
Vernacular
Institution: Orphanage (historic: heating plant & laundry);
(current: maintenance shop)
circa 1920
Unknown
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
This building was built by 1920, and lies directly behind (north of) the Executive Building. It is a long,
low brick building (five course American bond), with a gable roof (now covered with asphalt shingles).
A gable-roofed cupola or clerestory tops the building, and once provided light and ventilation to the
interior. Nine-over-nine windows capped by three brick high header arches illuminate the interior from
the south (side) facade. Also on the south façade, an entry door with six horizontal panels is protected
from the elements by a gable-roofed stoop.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0010
RESOURCE NAME:
Swimming Pool
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659492
N 4145909
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: swimming pool; current: swimming pool)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1947
ARCHITECT:
Unknown
DESCRIPTION:
On May 10, 1944, two boys from the Presbyterian Orphans Home drowned while swimming in the
James River near Reusens. That year, the board of the Home endorsed raising funds for a swimming
pool, but technical matters dealing with water supply delayed the project until three years later, when it
was dedicated in June of 1947. The rectangular pool is of typical concrete construction, measures
twenty two feet by seventy five feet, and lies to the south of the central green of the campus. Its depth
ranges from two feet to ten feet. This recreational facility was renovated in 1976 with the installation of
a new liner, and the condition of the original pool structure below is unknown. While the location of
the pool on axis and at the radial point of the horseshoe is appropriate, the actual design detailing of
this pool does not support the dominant Georgian Revival style of the central green, and distracts
visually.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0011
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
12
RESOURCE NAME:
Farmhouse #1
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659708
N 4145641
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Victorian Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1914
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This frame, two-story, gable-fronted house rests on a secluded site southeast of the main campus, and
originally was built for staff relating to the farming operation. This simple, vinyl-siding-clad, tinroofed, building features a two bay façade with one-over-one (replacement) windows. According to a
2007 appraisal report, the original wood clapboards remain underneath the vinyl siding. A shed roofed
porch covers one bay of the first story. Interior woodwork includes an Italianate-style mantel and
bull’s-eye blocks on the door surrounds.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0012
RESOURCE NAME:
Farmhouse #2
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659795
N 4145746
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Victorian Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: residence; current: dormitory)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1914
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This frame, two-story, gable-fronted house rests on a secluded site southeast of the main campus, and
originally was built for staff relating to the farming operation. This simple, vinyl-siding-clad, tinroofed, building features a two bay façade with one-over-one (replacement) windows. According to a
2007 appraisal report, the original wood clapboards remain underneath the vinyl siding. A shed roofed
porch covers one bay of the first story. An open (modern) deck wraps around the house, and connects
the front porch with a small addition to the rear of the structure which features a screened-in porch.
The floor plan and exterior fenestration is the mirror image of Farmhouse #1. Interior woodwork
includes an Italianate-style mantel in the living room.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0013
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
13
RESOURCE NAME:
Dairy Barn
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659766
N 4145774
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: dairy barn; current: storage)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1930-1950
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This story-and-a-half, gambrel-roofed barn was likely built for dairy operations in the mid-20th century.
According to Sanborn Insurance maps, this replaced an earlier brick dairy on the same site that was built
during the first phase of construction at the orphanage. It is clad with wood novelty siding and covered with
a standing seam metal roof. Two large aluminum turbines vent air from the attic area of the building. The
barn is built on a foundation of concrete masonry units (cinder blocks), and appears to have been built in
two phases, with a one-story, shed-roofed addition being added later. Access to the building is provided by
several simple sliding doors, and windows are not glazed, rather covered with square mesh wire. A boom
for block and tackle and a cargo door can be found in the southeastern gable end, providing access to attic
storage. The interior consists of a large, concrete-floored, open space, with a loft providing storage above
the main section.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0014
RESOURCE NAME:
Stable
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659837
N 4145861
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: stable; current: stable)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1920
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
The Stable is currently leased from Presbyterian Homes & Family Services by an equestrian instructional
operation. It is a simple stable, which lies in the complex of agricultural buildings found to the southeast of
the main campus. The primary portion of this building is a one-and-a-half-story, gable-roofed block,
surrounded by one-story, hipped-roof sections. The stable is clad primarily in board and batten siding with
some clapboard siding. A standing seam metal roof covers the building, and unglazed windows with board
and batten shutters illuminate and ventilate the horse bays. According to a 1920 Sanborn Insurance map,
this building began its life as a hay and corn crib with a one-story addition on its north side. By 1930, it was
expanded to its current configuration, with shed additions that wrap around all but its west façade. The
slanted, slatted walls of the original corn crib section remain.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0015
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
14
RESOURCE NAME:
Barn
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659850
N 4145881
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: barn; current: barn)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1920
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This massive, frame barn is an excellent example of early 20th century agricultural vernacular
architecture. Rising a full two-and-a-half stories above the pastures and paddocks that surround it, this
barn is clad in clapboard and covered by a standing-seam metal gable roof. A (probably later) one-anda-half-story wing projects out of the eastern end of the barn, and a row of board and batten windows
provide ventilation to the interior space. Also serving this function is a long, gable-roofed cupola with
louvers on the main roof. Cargo doors provide access to the attic spaces of both sections. The interior
of the main block is divided by a raised platform that serves animal pens along both sides.
This barn appears on a 1920 Sanborn Insurance map, and, along with the corn & hay crib (now stable),
was likely associated with a mid-to-late 19th-century frame farmhouse (demolished) which stood to the
southeast of these buildings.
DHR ID#:
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
118-5240-0016
RESOURCE NAME:
Entry Gates
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659418
N 4145634
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: landscape element, current: landscape element)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1925
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A pair of brick columns, each eight feet in height, supported by low, curved walls, mark the facility’s
original entry via Linden Avenue at the southern terminus of the campus. Cement caps with magnolia buds
adorn each column. A brass plaque reading “Presbyterian Home 1903” marks the right (south) column.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0020
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
Campus Circle
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659487
n/a
Institution: Orphanage (historic: central campus green;
current: central campus green)
N 4145955
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
15
ESTIMATED DATE:
1911, 1923
ARCHITECT:
Warren G. Manning, Charles F. Gillette
DESCRIPTION:
The central landscape element of the campus is an open 1.8 acre green space with the primary
structures (Administration Building and seven cottages) arranged around it in a horseshoe
configuration. A formal planting scheme of maple trees form a buffer along the eastern side of the
circle, and the main access lane, with some parking areas, defines the east, north, and west boundaries.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0021
1 CONTRIBUTING SITE________________________________________________________________________
RESOURCE NAME:
Tractor Shed
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659821
N 4145898
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: tractor shed)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1970
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
This one-story, long, low building serves as storage for motorized farm equipment. It is primarily
constructed of concrete masonry units, with sections of T-111 (or similar) wood siding added. Five
metal garage doors are located on the east side of the building, and a large wooden sliding door
provides access to the southern gable end. A metal roof covers the barn.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0017
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
Lynchburg Group Home
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659562
N 4145699
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
20th Century Ranch
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: group home)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1970
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A relatively recent addition to the Presbyterian Home grounds, this one-story brick veneer (running
bond) ranch style house lies to the south of the main campus. It features four irregularly spaced bays, a
poured concrete porch, an asphalt shingle gable roof, and a relatively massive chimney on the front
façade. The interior floor plan consists of a living area, a kitchen/dining area with a corridor leading to
living areas.
DHR ID#:
118-5240-0018
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
7
Page
16
RESOURCE NAME:
Genesis House
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659267
N 4145751
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
20th Century Vernacular
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: group home)
ESTIMATED DATE:
1991
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
Genesis House is located at the southwesterly end of the site with a separate entrance drive that spurs
off of the main access roadway near the Linden Avenue entrance. This multi-resident dwelling is
constructed of brick-veneered exterior walls on a partial basement defined by poured concrete
perimeter foundation. The building is topped with a complex gable roof covered with composition
shingles and drained by metal gutters and downspouts. Entrance into this dwelling is under a one-story
front porch that leads to a foyer. The interior floor plan consists of a living area, a kitchen/dining area
with flanking corridors leading to living areas.
118-5240-0019
DHR ID#:
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
Recreational Facilities
LOCATION INFORMATION:
150 Linden Avenue UTM Zone: 17
E 0659505
N 4145876
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
n/a
FUNCTION:
Institution: Orphanage (historic: n/a; current: tennis courts)
ESTIMATED DATE:
circa 1980 - 2005
ARCHITECT:
unknown
DESCRIPTION:
A collection of non-contributing facilities, including an amphitheatre with wood benches,
wooden picnic pavilion, a children’s jungle-gym, and tennis-turned-basketball courts lie to the southwest of the
Campus Circle.
DHR ID#:
1 NON-CONTRIBUTING SITE
118-5240-0022
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
17
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Presbyterian Orphans Home is significant as a well-executed, “cottage style” orphanage designed and built in the
Georgian Revival architectural style. The Presbyterian Orphans Home’s period of significance begins in 1911, when
the school relocated to its present site, and ends in 1959, when the construction of DeWitt Cottage completed the
primary “horseshoe” arc of buildings that comprise the main campus.
The Presbyterian Orphans Home meets National Register Criterion A because of its early 20th century development as
one of the initial “cottage style” orphanages in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The utilization of this method of
operating an orphanage had a significant impact on social history, as it organized children into relatively small family
units, with a “cottage mother” in each building, and an atmosphere more like the homes that they left, or, in some
cases, never had. Promoted during the White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909, this
system was thought to transform young boys and girls into individuals who were far more likely to become productive
members of society than those who were churned out of the larger “institutional style” orphanages that packed
children into dormitories in mammoth buildings.
In addition, the Presbyterian Orphans Home meets National Register Criterion C due to its intact collection of
contributing buildings, which serve as an excellent example of the Georgian Revival style as executed by architects
Lewis & Burnham and Clark & Crowe, and of the campus layout, which was designed by notable landscape architects
Warren H. Manning and Charles F. Gillette.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 1899, the Presbyterian Synod of Virginia met in Huntingon, West Virginia and appointed a committee to study the
need for an orphan’s home within its jurisdiction. This action came as a result of the request of the Reverend
Columbus Wirt Maxwell, who noted that his parishioners had to donate monies to orphanages outside of Virginia, as
the Presbyterians operated none within the state. During this period, only the Masons and Baptists operated such
facilities, and land for a Methodist orphanage in Richmond had just been purchased. The next year, the committee
recommended to the Synod that an orphanage be established, and Rev. Maxwell was appointed chairman of the
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
18
fundraising committee. At the Synod’s 1901 meeting, twelve men were appointed to the Board of Trustees. The
proposed facility was authorized to accept orphaned or destitute white children who resided within the
Commonwealth of Virginia, with preference given to children of Presbyterian families. A later profile indicated that
most of the Home’s children lost at least one of their parents through death. The Home did not accept children under
the age of four, and it did not make its children available for adoption, as it questioned the motives of couples seeking
to adopt older children (often these couples were only seeking unpaid labor)
The school was officially established in 1903 by charter from the General Assembly, and the Synod appointed a
committee which initiated a state-wide search for an appropriate site. Multiple sites throughout Virginia (including
Staunton, Lexington, Giles County, and Richmond) were reviewed, but Lynchburg was chosen as the most agreeable
site due to the proposals as well as the financial assistance offered by the City. Lynchburg’s proposals were
sponsored by local attorney George Evans Caskie and businessman John W. Craddock. Caskie was a well known
lawyer in the area, who founded the “Caskie Firm” in 1896. (Thirty years later, George’s son, James, formed a
partnership with Marshall Frost. The firm of Caskie & Frost remains active today, well into the 21st century.) John W.
Craddock was the organizer of the Craddock-Terry Shoe Company, one of Lynchburg’s largest manufacturers.
The two Lynchburg properties that were originally proposed were designated as the “West Lynchburg” and “Jaeger”
tracts. The location/identity of the Jaeger property is unknown at this time. The West Lynchburg tract was the former
Westover Hotel, a rambling resort hotel built by the West Lynchburg Land Company in the 1890s. (This hotel was
later purchased as the founding structure for what is now known as Lynchburg College; the hotel itself was
demolished in 1970.) It is not clearly known why these two tracts were passed over. Instead the Board purchased the
317-acre Ivey farm at the northwestern side of Lynchburg. The site was considerably larger than the 30 acres
originally sought, but the property was very desirable and within their budget. This farmland was owned by a father
and his son who were prominent businessmen in the community. In addition to Mr. Caskie’s and Mr. Craddock’s
likely persuasiveness, this sale enabled the son, Edwin Ivey, to build a very handsome residence near his father,
William Christopher Ivey, on the very fashionable Rivermont Avenue – Lynchburg’s first planned streetcar
community.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
19
At its January 12, 1905 board meeting, it was decided to adopt “what is known as the cottage plan of buildings,
including a building, or buildings, for industrial training.” The Board President, Mr. Caskie, was directed to appoint a
subcommittee to secure architectural and landscape plans, and to visit other institutions as he saw fit. The concept for
the “cottage plan” likely came from C.W. Maxwell, the first superintendent of the Home. In a later (1921) letter from
Maxwell to then superintendent William Megginson regarding the beginning of the Home, Maxwell noted that the
board purchased the 317 acre Ivey tract with the purpose of selling off “all but the required amount. I [Maxwell] went
to see Dr. W.P. [William Plumer] Jacobs of Thornwell Orphanage [Clinton, SC] and asked his advise [sic] about the
amount of land that we should keep. He replied, ‘don’t sell an acre. You will soon have there an institution worth half
a million dollars and will need all the land.’ It seemed a wild prophecy to me, but was nearer the truth than I thought.”
Maxwell’s correspondence and relationship with Jacobs is important. In 1875, Jacobs pioneered the development of
the cottage plan of orphanage operation and layout when he developed the Thornwell Orphanage. 3&4 By organizing
the children (referred to as “inmates”) in cottage-sized clusters, the staff of orphanages felt that they could reduce the
childrens’ negative (peer pressure) impact on each other, while strengthening the role of the adult staffer (called the
“cottage mother” at the Presbyterian Orphans Home). This living situation was intended to mimic a traditional family
unit in the hope that the children would experience a more normal childhood. The children went to school and
performed assigned chores during the day just like children living in traditional family arrangements. Early 20th
century reformers in the adoption/orphanage field felt that the institutional orphanages were more akin to prisons that
were likely to breed poor behavior and lifestyles in the children. The cottage plan allowed for segregation of the
children by their characteristics, conduct, and habits, and did not stifle the development of individual character as
larger, institutional models were charged with doing. 5
The utilization of the cottage plan in Lynchburg, and all of Virginia, for that matter, was a relatively new concept.
The Virginia Conference Orphanage in Richmond, opened by the Methodists in 1902, may be the first cottage-plan
facility in the Commonwealth. Its layout was remarkably similar to what would become the form of the Presbyterian
Orphan’s Home: a central administrative building flanked by cottages (all built in the Georgian Revival style), with all
arranged around an elliptical green and driveway. Nationally, the cottage plan was a relatively rare form in Methodist
circles as late as 1917. Dr. Burdette Brown, Secretary of the Methodist Child Welfare Society, reported that of the
sixty
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
20
institutions in the Methodist Church, only six were “conducted on the cottage plan, the children living in cottages
accommodating about 25.” Twenty-one were on the congregate, or institutional, plan, and the remaining facilities
were on the “partial cottage plan, a few of the children living in one or more cottages and the majority in a large
central building.” 6 The Presbyterian Orphans Home’s resemblance to the Methodist Orphanage is probably not a
coincidence; photographs and a prospectus from the Richmond institution can be found tucked into the 1906 minute
book in the archives of the Presbyterian Orphans Home.
Within the Catholic sphere of influence, the cottage plan was still a new concept into the 1920s. In 1924, Sister Rose
Smith, superior of St. Joseph’s Villa in Richmond, attended a Catholic Charities convention in Washington, D.C.
There, a paper detailing the cottage plan was read. At the close of the lecture, Sister Rose asked for examples of
institutions that were following the principles of the cottage plan. She recounted that the speaker “did not know. It
was just Utopia then.” Construction for St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Richmond, based on the cottage plan, commenced
in 1930. 7
In January of 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt convened the White House Conference on the Care of Dependent
Children. The event was attended by more than two hundred authorities in the field of child welfare. The conference
made thirteen recommendations that significantly shaped child welfare policy for the remainder of the century. The
fourth of these recommendations was that “institutions should be on the cottage plan with small units, as far as
possible.” 8 Today, the St. Joseph’s Villa web site proudly, but erroneously, claims that it is “the first cottage-plan
orphanage in the East.” That a Virginian institution that opened as late as 1930 can carry on the claim that it is the
first cottage plan orphanage on the East Coast for almost eighty years gives credence to the concept that the plan was
rare in Virginia.
At the time, Lynchburg had at least two other orphanages; the Odd Fellows’ Orphanage and the Lynchburg Female
Orphan’s Asylum, chartered 1849 and now known as the Miller Home for Girls. Both were built using the
institutional plan, as evidenced by their massive buildings and concentrations of children in dense dormitories, but the
Miller Home eventually transitioned to the cottage plan in the 20th century. (The 1872 Miller Home was demolished
in
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
21
the 1950’s, and the Odd Fellows’ Home in 1967.) Also a product of the charity of Lynchburg merchant Samuel
Miller, the Miller Manual Labor School (now known as the Miller School) was founded in 1878 and features a large,
single structure now known as “Old Main” that contained quarters as well as educational space. While not an
orphanage, another example of the institutional style campus of the period was the Blackstone School for Girls,
established in 1894 and touted as the “leading training school for girls in Virginia.” Its main campus consisted of a
large, three-story, seventeen-bay edifice connected to a second building of similar scale.
That first year of operation, the Home received three large donations. The original Ivey farmhouse was named for the
Home’s first donor, Mr. R. M. Scruggs of St. Louis, Missouri. Shelton Memorial Cottage was constructed with funds
received from Mrs. F.X. Burton of Danville, Virginia in memory of her father. Paxton Cottage was constructed with
funds received from Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan C. Paxton of Tom’s Brook, Virginia in memory of their daughter,
Margaret. 9 Local architects Frye & Chesterman drew the plans for these two additional cottages.10 The Presbyterian
Orphans Home operated from 1903 to 1910, utilizing these three buildings. On October 26, 1909, a fire in Shelton
Memorial Cottage claimed the lives of five young girls and severely damaged the building.11
Landscape Architect Warren H. Manning (1860-1938) of Boston (who apprenticed with Frederick Law Olmsted for
eight years between 1888 and 1896)12 was engaged to design a greatly expanded symmetrical campus around the
original Ivey Farmhouse (then designated as Scruggs Farmhouse or Cottage, and now a private dwelling known as
105 Briarwood Street). This was essentially the Presbyterian Home’s first master plan. Unlike other institutions such
as Thornwell, the leadership of the Presbyterian Home developed a master plan and vision for the facility’s
development early in the construction process. His nine page typewritten letter dated February 1910 is remarkable for
the foresight and design judgment exhibited nearly one hundred years ago; this document is in the possession of
Presbyterian Homes & Family Services. In it, he wrote that the property was “very valuable, in line with the finest
residential development in the city, includes all heads of important stream valley that connects to the river. City
should devise a park (park land) reservation system before it is too late. I believe the time will come when the
Presbyterian Orphans Home will have a parkway approach that will still further increase your values.” He went on to
say that the Presbyterian Orphans Home should “sell now the land along main highway [Lexington
Turnpike/Boonsboro Road]
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
22
indicated in red on the blueprint. A boundary road should be built such that houses of the future will face your
property, not back up to it.” Manning proposed a bell-shaped layout with “an Administration Building and gate lodge
close to the present entrance, then a group of buildings including a dining hall at one end next to the main highway, a
gymnasium at the opposite end next to a proposed playground and athletic field, with cottage dormitories on either
side of the court between this dining hall and gymnasium.” He also proposed an alternate site on a hilltop about 1500
feet away and to the north, but did not recommend this due to the expense of the new road and the exposure of the
site.
Less than six months later, by deed dated July 12, 1910, the Presbyterian Orphans Home sold 105 acres to the
Peakland Corporation for $65,000.13 Peakland Place was a suburban development and an extension of the local
streetcar line from the terminus of Rivermont Boulevard and VES Road at Oakwood Country Club. This purchase
left the fledging Presbyterian Orphans Home without any buildings but with a substantial cash fund to build their ideal
Orphanage.
This also shifted the focus of Manning’s plan. Instead of building around the Ivey Farmhouse, the Presbyterian
Orphans Home would have an opportunity to develop its campus from “scratch,” more toward the center of its
property, near the “alternate site” proposed by Manning. Drawings that specifically show the horseshoe-shaped layout
of buildings on the new site have not been located in Manning’s papers, but it is important to note that Manning’s
February 1910 drawings titled “Existing Conditions”, “Proposed Conditions”, and “Connection of Presbyterian
Orphan’s Home Property with City Plan” are not located in the Manning archives either, but rather in the papers of his
apprentice, Charles F. Gillette. It is likely that Gillette obtained copies of the drawings to assist him in working on the
project a decade later. Because of the short timeframe between Manning’s first drawings (February 1910), the sale of
the 105 acres to the Peakland Corporation (July 1910) and the construction of the first round of buildings on the new
site (1911), there would not be enough time to retain a new landscape architect and develop additional plans. It is
assumed that Manning created the layout that is in evidence today shortly after the property sale became apparent.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
23
In addition to the overall site plan, Manning designed a sample dormitory building, which possessed elements of the
classic 18th and early 19th century Virginia vernacular central-hall, story-and-a-half house with chimneys on each
gable end, along with features found in bungalows of the day, and a long piazza reminiscent of structures of the
Louisiana low country. This building design was not selected by the board, which consisted of members who were
probably strongly attached to the Georgian Revival fashion that was gaining popularity in Virginia at the time.
The plan that was executed called for a central administration building, flanked by residence cottages in a horseshoe
formation. A semicircular drive provided access to these buildings in the front, and a service road wrapped around the
rear of the campus, leading to a heating plant immediately north of the administration building. Maple trees lined the
driveway, and many of these are still in place today. Rather than designing a series of intricately sculpted gardens, as
is often associated with the work of landscape architects, Manning developed the overall layout of the structures on
the site, and added just enough trees and shrubs to reinforce the site’s formality. It is probable that he chose to
highlight the juxtaposition between the formal arrangement of campus buildings with the open and pastoral landscape
that surrounded it. Warren Manning was an early and strong proponent of the “wild garden” concept, whereby
emphasis was placed on native plants in naturalistic groupings by “selective thinning, grubbing, and trimming, instead
of by destroying all natural ground cover or modifying the contour, character, and water context of existing soil.” 14
The first buildings erected in 1911 were the Executive Building, the Superintendent’s Residence (Terry Cottage), and
two dormitories: Scruggs Cottage (for boys) and Shelton Cottage (for girls). John Minor Botts Lewis of Lewis &
Burnham was the architect for these Georgian Revival Buildings. In 1913, two additional dormitories (Caskie and
Paxton Cottages) were constructed using the original “Dormitory No. 1” plans. Lewis (1869-1950) received his
education in architecture from the University of Virginia. Between 1909 and 1912, he was associated with William R.
Burnham as Lewis & Burnham, and was skilled in the execution of Georgian Revival style.
During the first decade of operation at the new site, significant attempts were made to establish a sense of routine and
normalcy for the resident children. In July of 1911, it was noted that it was “vacation time at the Home. The boys have
laid aside the book for the hoe. The girls have their daily tasks. Dora has her broods of chickens to care for, Verna, the
milk and butter; Martha is the head ironer, Janie is always ready to search the fields for berries, Fannie and Corinne
fill
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
24
in here and there. Julia and Myrtle are away at friends for a month’s stay… …Mary and Hattie are with their mother;
Raymond writes cheerful letters from the sanatorium, where he is slowly coming back to health and strength.”
Raymond Edmonston died at the Catawba Sanatorium one year later. The August 1912 Bulletin from the Orphan’s
Home reported that Raymond was not very strong when he came to the Home in 1908. He was the first child to die at
the Home since the fire.
Despite Edmonston’s death, there were medical victories during this period. Dr. John Walker, who contained a
typhoid epidemic in 1907, was able to subdue an outbreak of measles in the spring of 1912 without any deaths. 15
By January of 1912, Shelton and Paxton Cottages were ready for occupancy. The next year, the Lynchburg News &
Advance boasted the Home as “one of the best equipped institutions of its character in the State” and “probably the
best equipped church orphanage in the Southern States.” The Presbyterian Church of the United States owned thirteen
homes for children during this period, and the facility in Lynchburg was only one of five such institutions that
provided a separate bed for each child.
At the November 9, 1920 Synod meeting, the Board of the Presbyterian Home reported that “plans for enlargement
and beautifying of the place were submitted to the board, which authorized the employment of a landscape architect to
lay out the grounds for planting, building future structures, locating playgrounds, etc. An architect was employed,
who has made a complete layout of the premises, locating trees, shrubs, walks, buildings, playgrounds, giving us a
plan for any future development. This will ensure harmony and convenience in any enlargement we may make.”
The architect and location of this plan mentioned in 1920 is unknown, but in January of 1923, N.B. Handy advised the
Executive Committee that J. Scott Parrish, a member of the board, “was acquainted with a landscape architect of
ability, and advised that he be engaged through Mr. Parrish to come to the Home and make a lay-out of the grounds,
suggesting a location for any and all future buildings, to that the symmetry and harmony of the plant could be
preserved.” The language of this passage is confusingly similar to the report given to the Synod several years earlier.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
25
At any rate, it is highly likely that the “landscape architect of ability” was Charles F. Gillette, who had performed
work for Parrish at his town house at 2315 Monument Avenue in Richmond, and Miniboyra (or Minneboyra), the
Parrish Family’s retreat in Chesterfield County. 16
In 1923, a second master plan was created by Manning’s former apprentice Charles F. Gillette. Gillette had settled in
Virginia after being sent to oversee the construction of the University of Richmond campus. This second plan guided
development between 1928 and 1959, but was never fully realized due to restricted financial circumstances related to
the economy and World War II. Gillette first conducted a topographical survey of the site, noting existing conditions.
By this time, the horseshoe design was well in effect, consisting of the administration building, four residence
cottages, and the superintendent’s quarters. Other structures in the central campus included the “engine house” (now
known as the Maintenance Building), a hen house (demolished) and the creamery-turned-high school (demolished).
Several structures in the “farm group” were also noted. Gillette also noted a combination of extant Elm and Maple
trees anchoring the horseshoe.
Gillette’s Master Plan generally called for a halt of development along the horseshoe, and additional boys buildings to
be erected along a line between the main campus and the farm group. Northeast of the new boys’ cottages were the
proposed locations of future tennis courts, basketball courts, and a combination baseball, hockey, and football field.
West of the horseshoe was the proposed location of additional girls’ cottages, along with future tennis courts,
basketball courts, and a field hockey field. Due to financial hardships, Gillette’s plan was never fully executed, and
two subsequent cottages (Noble-1928 and DeWitt-1959) were built along the horseshoe instead. It is thought that the
only items from Gillette’s plan that was put into place were the football and baseball fields, where the famous
Presbyterian Orphans Home football team - the “Shoeless Wonders” - later played, and also small indications of
cutting and vegetable gardens between the Cottages. The Shoeless Wonders were renowned for their bare feet and
undefeated records. This Lynchburg-based team dominated the city high school league from the 1920s through the
1950s. The athletic fields that they played on are no longer there, but aerial photography reveals the lines and
location. (Future master plan initiatives call for these fields to be re-developed.)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
26
By 1920, the orphanage had almost tripled in size in ten years, with 116 children in residency.17 As a response to this
growth, and to a specific bequest by C. Tate Scott, Noble Cottage was built as an additional dormitory in 1928. As
previously mentioned, the Presbyterian Orphans Home did not have the financial means to act on Gillette’s
recommended site expansion, so Noble Cottage was built on the horseshoe arc. The Home’s growth reached
somewhat of a plateau, as the 1930 United States Census indicates that 122 children were living on site in five
household units. Girls occupied two cottages (probably Shelton and Paxton), and boys resided in the remaining three
(most likely Scruggs, Caskie, and Noble). Ten teachers and a dietician lived in a sixth building, probably Terry
Cottage, which had served as the Superintendent’s Residence until 1923. 18
The Home established a high school curriculum in 1922. The first class graduated in June of 1926, and the first
inmate, Charles Nelson, entered college (Virginia Military Institute) that September. Classes were small, and
individualized curricula were designed for each student, if needed. The principal, R. Cuyler Moore, and three other
professional teachers taught the high school courses, which included math, chemistry, science, Latin, English, history,
French, and Bible. The State Board of Education accredited the Presbyterian Home’s school in 1928.
Architect Pendleton Clark of Clark & Crowe designed Megginson Gymnasium in 1939 as a result of a call for
recreational and rainy-day workshop space from the Board. Pendleton S. Clark (1895-1975) received his education
from the University of Pennsylvania. He formed a partnership with Walter R. Crowe that lasted from 1921 until
Clark’s service during World War II. After the War, Clark returned to Lynchburg and reestablished his architectural
practice with Walter R. Nexsen and John D. Owen. Clark’s commissions were extensive and varied.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
27
On May 10, 1944, two boys from the Presbyterian Orphans Home drowned while swimming in the James River near
Reusens. That year, the board of the Home endorsed raising funds for a swimming pool, but technical matters dealing
with water supply delayed the project until three years later, when it was dedicated in June of 1947.19 The last building
to be constructed within the main “horseshoe” shaped row of buildings was DeWitt Cottage in 1959. DeWitt, while
newer, was built and sited to be compatible in style and massing with the other structures that form the Home’s core
campus, and helps balance the “horseshoe.” Without DeWitt Cottage, the arrangement of buildings would be offcenter, and the east side of the horseshoe would appear to be “heavier” and more massive than the west side. While
the development of the campus is the work of at least three designers over almost fifty years, DeWitt’s placement
gives some confirmation that Manning’s original plan for the site was respected.
The most recent development that has occurred in the main campus area is the addition of Webster Student Center to
Megginson Gymnasium in 1998.
As evidenced by the pastoral landscape and agricultural buildings surrounding the Home, farming has been a key
element of the orphanage’s program and operation since its beginning. The remaining 166 acres of land belonging to
the institution is largely comprised of open space, and has been that way since before the end of the 19th century. In
June of 1910, it was reported to the Presbyterian Orphans Home Board of Directors that the farm had employed three
men (one as foreman), and that turnips, potatoes, wheat, and corn (half a crop due to drought) were raised. There were
four work horses, one pony, eleven milk cows, twelve other cattle, and twenty hogs. That year, the farm produced
2,000 pounds of pork, 500 pounds of beef, 400 bushels of potatoes, 400 bushels of turnips, 325 bushels of wheat, and
an unnamed quantity of milk, butter, and eggs. In 1910, the orphanage’s connection to agriculture was strengthened
by a commitment from Mrs. Cyrus McCormick to donate $2,000.00 (about $43,000.00 in 2006) toward building the
new campus.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
8
Page
28
In his 1912 report, the Superintendent of the orphanage announced that, among the buildings in the main campus area,
a “cow barn with feed house”, a horse barn, corn house, and implement house, “all of which are very well built,” were
in place. He also noted that the “two cottages for farm hands” had been repaired. In 1914, it was reported that these
two houses were located on land that was being sold, and that two new “farmers’ houses” were being built, and would
be ready for occupancy by August of that year. These are assuredly the two farmhouses (118-5240-0012 and 1185240-1113) located on the property today. Older boys assisted the farmhands with daily chores, which primarily
focused on the dairy farm activities. Under the supervision of a staff member, they cared for the animals and helped
with the planting and harvesting of grain and vegetables. They milked the cows twice a day, and milk, butter, cream,
and cheese was produced for use at the Home. The boys also were responsible for stoking the furnace at the heating
plant. The older girls worked in the kitchen and laundry, where they helped prepare and serve meals and wash and
iron clothing.
The Presbyterian Orphans Home is significant as a cohesive and well-preserved example of an early 20th century,
cottage-style orphanage, as executed in the dignified Georgian Revival style, following the horseshoe arc around a
central campus green. Its pastoral setting contrasting with the formal campus stands as a graceful institution, still
functioning in its original purpose of residential care for children in need. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services is a
public charity, and contributions qualify as tax deductible to an IRS 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Endnotes Combined for Sections 7 and 8
1
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 7.
S. Allen Chambers. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Page 395.
3
John Wells & Susan Pickens. Thornwell/Presbyterian College Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination. Pages 2-5
4
William Cooper. Laurens County Information & History.
5
Matthew A. Cresson. Building the Invisible Orphanage: A Prehistory of the American Welfare System. Page 147
6
DePuy, William Harrison. The Methodist Year-Book, 1918. New York: The Methodist Book Concern. 1918. pages
214-215.
7
Richmond Times-Dispatch, 4 November 1934. Accessed at www.richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/StJoseph’s-Villa-News.html
2
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
9
Page
29
8
Myers, John E.B. Child Protection in America: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
pages 58-59.
9
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 3.
10
Library of American Landscape History, Biographical Sketch of Warren G. Manning
11
Campbell County Clerk of Court. Deed Book 88, Page 281.
12
Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn, Nature and Ideology: Natural Garden Design in the Twentieth Century. pp 113-177.
13
Gillette, Charles F. Charles Freeman Gillette (1886-1969), Papers, 1918-1969, Business Records
Collection, Accession 344728 United States Census, 1930, Population Schedule, City of Lynchburg, Virginia.
14
United States Census, 1920, Population Schedule, Campbell County, Virginia.
15
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 12-14
16
United States Census, 1930, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia.
17
Mary Jo Shannon. Feed My Lambs. Page 58
Major Bibliographical References
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Cooper, William. Laurens County Information & History. Electronic Document.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/4492/lcinfo.htm (Accessed September 2007)
Crenson, Matthew A. Building the Invisible Orphanage: A Prehistory of the American Welfare System. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
DePuy, William Harrison. The Methodist Year-Book, 1918. New York: The Methodist Book Concern. 1918.
Gillette, Charles F. Charles Freeman Gillette (1886-1969), Papers, 1918-1969, Business Records
Collection, Accession 34472. Richmond, VA. Library of Virginia.
Jacobs, Thornwell (ed.). Diary of William Plumer Jacobs. Atlanta, GA. Oglethorpe University Press. 1937.
Library of American Landscape History, Biographical Sketch of Warren G. Manning. Electronic Document.
http://www.lalh.org/manningBioMain.html (accessed August 2007)
Longest, George C. Genius in the Garden: Charles F. Gillette and Landscape Architecture in Virginia. Richmond, VA,
Library of Virginia. 1992.
Lynn, Reverend L. Ross. The Story of Thornwell Orphanage, Clinton, South Carolina, 1875-1925. Richmond, VA.
Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 1924.
Myers, John E.B. Child Protection in America: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
9
Page
30
Pendleton, Donald G. Summary Appraisal Report for Property of the Presbyterian Orphans Home. Lynchburg, VA.
Consensus Real Estate Services, LLC. 2007.
Presbyterian Orphans Home Archives 1903-1940. Lynchburg, VA. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
Sadler, Mary Harding & Hensley, Llewellyn. St. Catharine’s School National Register of Historic Places Nomination.
Richmond, VA. Sadler & Whitehead Architects, PLC. 2006
Shannon, Mary Jo. Feed My Lambs: A History of Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc., 1903-2003.
Lynchburg, VA. Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc. 2003.
Smith, W. Scott. Research Report: 105 Briarwood St, Lynchburg, VA. Lynchburg, VA. The Antiquaries, LC. 2006.
Thornwell Orphanage. A History of God’s Work Through His People for the Thornwell Orphanage. Clinton, SC.
Thornwell Orphanage Press. 1888.
United States Census
1910 Schedule 1, Population
1920 Schedule 1, Population
1930 Schedule 1, Population
Wells, John & Pickens, Susan. Thornwell/Presbyterian College Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination. Columbia, SC. South Carolina Department of Archives & History. 1981.
Wolschke-Bulmahn, Joachim. Nature and Ideology: Natural Garden Design in the Twentieth Century. Washington,
DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees for Harvard University, 1997.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
10
Page
31
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
UTM Coordinates for Approximate Property Boundaries
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
UTM
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
Zone: 17
E 0659894
E 0659778
E 0659257
E 0658897
E 0659133
E 0659443
E 0659740
E 0660134
N 4145263
N 4145258
N 4145598
N 4145849
N 4145994
N 4146483
N 4146395
N 4145822
Verbal Boundary Description
Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc. is located at 150 Linden Avenue in Lynchburg, VA. The property being
nominated to the National Register of Historic Places is identified by the City of Lynchburg and recorded as Parcel
Numbers 06801005 (addressed as 150 Linden Avenue and last recorded on 1/1/1980) and 18507001 (addressed as
4301 Williams Road and last recorded on 1/1/1900). More generally, it is bounded by Virginia Episcopal School
(V.E.S.) Road and Pigeon Creek to the east, Peakland Place to the south, Trents Ferry Road to the west, and Williams
Road and Brickyard Branch to the north.
Boundary Justification
The proposed boundaries of this nomination consist of the legal limits of the current Presbyterian Homes & Family
Services property, except a <1 acre tract at 4401 Williams Road which contains a late 20th century home. This 166±
acre tract contains the remnants of the original Presbyterian Orphans Home property. The boundary contains the land
now associated with the historic institutional structures, recreational facilities, agricultural facilities, and open spaces.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
(Expires 12-31-2005)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Name of Property Presbyterian Orphans Home (DHR # 118-5240)
County and State Lynchburg City, Virginia
Section
Photos
Page
32
All Photographs are common to:
PROPERTY: Presbyterian Homes & Family Services, Inc.
LOCATION: City of Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR FILE NUMBER: 118-5240
PHOTOGRAPHER: Amanda G. Adams, Jim C. Dumminger, W. Scott Smith (consultant)
DATE: May to August 2007
ELECTRONIC IMAGES: Stored at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia.
Photo 1 of 12
View Of:
Agricultural Complex looking towards main campus
Photo 2 of 12
View Of:
Agricultural Complex from main campus
Photo 3 of 12
View Of:
Executive Building South and West Facade
Photo 4 of 12
View Of:
Executive Building Interior – Foyer
Photo 5 of 12
View Of:
Scruggs Cottage Front Facade
Photo 6 of 12
View Of:
Scruggs Cottage – Entry Door Detail
Photo 7 of 12
View Of:
Paxton Cottage Memorial Plaque
Photo 8 of 12
View Of:
Megginson Gymnasium/Webster Student Center Front Facade
Photo 9 of 12
View Of:
DeWitt Cottage Front Façade
Photo 10 of 12
View Of:
Farmhouse #2 Front Façade
Photo 11 of 12
View Of:
Dairy Barn South and East Facades
Photo 12 of 12
View Of:
Entrance Gate Overall
2bm;
wcl,\A
I
[FORMER F.P.
1
FRONT PORCH
BASEMENT
FIRST FLOOR
1.076 S.F.f
1.600 S.F.f
SECOND FLOOR
1,600 S.F.f
2/3 FULL ATTIC ABOVE
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I 18-5240-0004
T e r y Cottage
DATE: 19 3,1911,1931
ARCHITECT: PROBABLY LEWIS 8 BURNHAM
BASEMFNT
FIRST FLOOR
1,485 S.F.f
3,036 S.F.f
SECOND FLOOR
FULL ATTIC
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #ll8--5240-0007
2,970 S.F.f
AWE
Noble Cottage
DATE: 1928
ARCHITECT: CLARK & CROWE
LEST.
Sll0.T
CENTER ADDITION
(l998) BY
MORRISSEITE
BASEMENT
-
3,150 5.F.f
FIRST FLOOR
3,150 S.F.f
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I
18--5240-0008
Megginson
Gym1
-.
Webster Student Center
DATE: 1939,1998
ARCHITFCT. CI ARK R CRnWF
I
V
RECREATION
ROOM
I
BOILER ROOM
FRONT PORCH
BASEMENT
2,826 S.F.f
FIRST FLOOR
SECOND
. FLOOR
-.
2.826 S.F.f
2.826 S.F.f
U L L ATTIC ABOVE
Presbyterian Orphans Home - Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR Resource #I
18-5240-0009
DeWitt Cottage
DATE: 1959
ARCHITECT: CLARK NEXSEN & OWEN
g *,
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UNITED S T A T E S
DEPARTMENT O F T H E INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
COMMONWEA
DIVISION OF M
Historic Preservation Commission
City Hall, 900 Church Street
Lynchburg, Virginia 24504 (434) 455-3900
FAX (434) 845-7630
December 11,2007
Marc Christian Wagner
Director, Resource Information Division
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Dear Marc,
Subject: Presbyterian Orphans Home, 150 Linden Avenue, Lynchburg
The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) reviewed the National Register Nomination for the subject property on
November 19, 2007. Amanda Adams and Emmett Lifsey, UMW,Main Street, and Jan Garfield, Presbyterian
Home, were present and spoke to the request. Chair Devening, Commissioners Calhoun and McDonald and I
toured the facility on November 13.
Ms. Adams gave the history and significance of the facilities as well as the grounds. She said plans were to
renovate the buildings and bring them up to current code for handicap accessibility using the rehabilitation tax
credits.
Commissioners commented that after reviewing the Nomination, taking the tour and hearing the full history, it
would be most appropriate for the property to be nominated to the National Register. It was suggested that the
owners consider local historic district designation for additional protection.
After further discussion, Commissioner Mundy made the following motion which was seconded by Commissioner
H a ~ e and
y passed by the following vote:
MOTION: "That the HPC recommends the inclusion of the Presbyterian Orphans Home, 150 Linden
Avenue, in the National Register of Historic Places and in the Virginia Landmarks Register."
AYES: Calhoun, Devening, Harris, Harvey, Mundy
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT: Glass, McDonald
I f you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Annette M. Chenault
Planner I1 and Secretary to the HPC
PC:
L. Kimball Payne, 111, City Manager
Tom Martin, City Planner
HPC
COMMONWEALTH of VHRCjILaJHA
L. Preston Blyant, Jr.
Secretary of Natural Resources
r
II
Kathleen s K~lpatnck
D~rector
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Vi
October 22,200- - - I
Re: Presbyterian Orphans Home, City of Lynchburg
Tel: (804) 367-2323
. Fax. (804) 367-2391
2280
,
JAN I 0 2008
TDD. (804) 367-2386
www.dhr.v~rginia.gov
Dear Adjacent Property Owner:
The Department of Historic Resources has been asked to recommend the above
referenced property to the National Register of Historic Places and to include it in the Virginia
Landmarks Register. The national and state registers are official lists of places recognized as
having architectural, archaeological or historical significance at the local, state or national
level.
Local tax records indicate that you are the owner of a property adjacent to the
boundaries of the nominated property as shown on the map included. I welcome your
comments as an adjacent owner who may be interested in this nomination proposal. Enclosed
is information on the results of listing on both the national and state registers.
The State Review Board and the Virginia Historic Resources Board will be
considering the nomination at their Wednesday, December 5, 2007, meeting in the Halsey
Lecture Hall of the Virginia Historical Society located at 428 North Boulevard in Richmond,
Virginia, 23221. Please send your comments to us prior to this meeting in order to be
considered with the nomination. You are also welcome to attend the meeting, which will
begin at 10 a.m.
If you have any questions or need additional information prior to the meeting please
contact Ms. Ann Andrus in the Capital Region Preservation Office at 804-367-2323,
extension 133.
Sincerely,
m.
Marc Christian Wagner
Director, Resource Information Division
Administralive Services
10 Courthouse Avenue
Petersburg, VA 23803
Tel: (804) 863-1624
Fax: (804) 862-6196
\it%
~ y \ & b ~TidcJater
n Reg~on
~ /2493
Office
Capital egion Office
2801 ~ h n s j n ~ t Ave.
on
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
I4415 Old Counhouse Way: 2" Floor
Newpon News, VA 23608
Tel: (757) 886-2807
Fax: (757) 886-2808
Roanoke Region Office
I030 Penmar Ave., SE
Roanoke, VA 24013
Tel: (540) 857-7585
Fax: (540) 857-7588
Northern Region Office
5357 Main Street
POBox 519
Stephens C~ry,VA22655
Tel: (540) 868-7031
Fax: (540) 868-7033
501 V.E.S. Road
Lynchburg, VA 24503
(434) 386-3500
l ( 8 0 0 ) 962-3520
~c.
www.wclynchburg.org
Westminster
Canterburv
Lynchburg
Hunsdon Cary I11
President & CEO
November 1,2007
Marc Christian Wagner, Director
Resource Information Division
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
RE:
Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg
Dear Mr: Wagner:
On behalf of Westminster Canterbury of Lynchburg, Inc., an adjacent property owner to
the Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg, I write to convey its support to have the
Presbyterian Orphans Home, Lynchburg, added to the National Register of Historic
Places and included in the Virginia Landmark Register.
C:
Robert Dendy, PHFS
George P. Ramsey, Jr.
Herschel V. Keller, Esq.
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O c i g i n ~ Sl i m
A N D O R I G I N A L ( i l knosun) P H Y S i C h L A P P E A R A N C E
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Located on t h e summit of one of Lynchburg's numerous h i l l s , t h e
Lynchbiirg Court ilo~lsco c c u p i e s a prominent p o s i t i o n ovcrloolcing t h e s t c e p l y
Executed i n s t u c c o - w e r - b r i c k on a
dcsceni(ing s t e p s o f Plonunicnt T c r r a c c .
g r a n i t e ' a s h l a r basement, t h i s f i n e example of t h e Greek Revival s t y l e i s
cappcd by a s h a l l o w dome l o c a t e d o v e r t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e r i d g e s .
At ,
t h c top of t h e dome, i s a s m a l l open b e l f r y c o n s i s t i n g o f a c i r c l e o f s m a l l
I o n i c columns s u p p o r t i n g a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
S e t on a g r a n i t e a s h l a r podium t h e f r o n t o f t h e c o u r t house
d i s p l a y s a t h r e e - b a y Doric p o r t i c o which i s echoed by a n engaged p o r t i c o w i t
p i l a s t e r s on each s i d e and on t h e r e a r .
The d e s i g n o f t h e p o r t i c o i n c l u d e s
a t r i g l y p h i r i e z e surmounted by a pediment w i t h ends t h a t t e r m i n a t e i n proThe pediment c o n t a i n s a n h i s t o r i c c l o c k whose weights
j e c t i n g boirs heads.
were i n g e n i o u s l y i n s t a l l e d t o descend w i t h i n t h e drums o f t h e p o r t i c o ' s two
i n s i d e columns.
The c l o c k was shipped from Boston i n 1833 and f o r s i x t e e n
y e a r s had been used i n t h e f i r s t church b u i l d i n g o f S a i n t P a u l ' s E p i s c o p a l '
Church i n Lynchburg.
Although t h e t i m e p i e c e was r a t h e r w e a t h e r - b e a t e n a f t e 4
f i v e y e a r s of exposure on a h i l l s i d e n e a r t h e c h u r c h , t h e c l o c k was i n s t a l l e a
on t h e new c o u r t house and h a s now worked f o r o v e r one hundred y e a r s .
The
h o u r i s s t r u c k by a b r a s s b e l l c a s t i n 1825 by John W . Bank o f P h i l a d e l p h i a
Tl~ec e n t e r bay o f t h e porch i s widened, making t h e c r o s s e t t e a r c h i t r a v e and
t h e t h r e e - p a n e l l e d d o u b l e door e n t r a n c e c l e a r l y v i s i b l e .
Under t h e p o r t i c o ;
on t h e second f l v o r , a t h r e e - u n i t c e n t r a l bay c o n s i s t i n g o f a f o u r - o v e r - f o u r
s a s h window i s f l a n k e d by two r e c e s s e d p a n e l s .
T h i s c e n t r a l window i s
f u r t h e r bound by two s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows.
The s i d e s o f t h e b u i l d i n g a r e e v e n l y d i v i d e d i n t o f i v e bays by ,
I n t h e c e n t e r of each s i d e j
p i l a s t e r s which r e s t on t h e a s h l a r f o u n d a t i o n .
w a l l t h e t h r e e - b a y pedimented engaged p o r t i c o p r o j e c t s s l i g h t l y from t h e
w a l l ' s s u r f a c e and, l i k e the f r o n t p o r t i c o , f e a t u r e s a three-par t c e n t r a l
window which hangs above a n e n t r a n c e e l a b o r a t e d w i t h a c r o s s e t t e a r c h i t r a v e .
A double f l i g h t o f s t a i r s l e a d s up t o t h e l a n d i n g i n f r o n t o f each e n t r a n c e .
The two s t o r i e s of s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows a l o n g t h e s i d e s and back a r e
s e t i n t o a s i n g l e v e r t i c a l r e c e s s d i v i d e d by a molded p a n e l .
A one-bay p e n t a g o n a l a d d i t i o n w i t h a f l a t roof i s a t t a c h e d t o t h
t h r e e - b a y r e a r of t h e b u i l d i n g .
Suspended a t t h e same l e v e l a s t h e s t o n e
b e l t c o u r s e of t h e main mass, t h e p r o j e c t i n g c o u r s e of t h e a d d i t i o n d i v i d e s
t h e f u l l - b a s e m e n t from t h e f i r s t f l o o r l e v e l .
To t h e r e a r a segmental
headed d o o r g i v e s a c c e s s t o t h e lower f l o o r and a segmental headed window
l i g h t s t h e second f l o o r .
Except f o r t h i s a d d i t i o n t h e e x t e r i o r remains
e s s e n t i a l l y i n i t s o r i g i n a l form.
The r e g u l a r i t y and s i m p l i c i t y of t h e e x t e r i o r tends t o h i d e t h e
II
A t r a n s v e r s e h a l l connecting
complexity of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s i n t e r i o r p l a n .
t h e two s i d e d o o r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g s e r v e s a s t h e p u b l i c entranceway.
From (
t h e r e a r c o r n e r s of t h i s hallway two e x c e p t i o n a l l y imposing s t a i r s w i t h
massive walnut h a n d r a i l s ' \ urve i n l a n q u i d s p i r a l s t o t h e h a l l on t h e second /
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floor.
The o l d c o u r t room o r i g i n a l l y occupied t h e e n t i r e f r o n t p o r t i o n
I o r b u t t h e symmetry of t h i s s p a c e h a s been a l t c r e q1
of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s f i r s t f l o
by t h e a d d i t i o n of t h r e e o f f i c e s a l o n g t h e w e s t s i d e which now occupy a t h i r
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of t h e a r e a .
I n t h e c e n t e r of t h e c o u r t room's a i s l e a r e found f o u r
e l o n g a t e d c a s t i r o n C o r i n t h i a n columns which r i s e t o t h e c e i l i n g p r o v i d i n g
Within the
a d e g r e e of s u p p o r t t o t h e u n u s u a l l y wide s p a n of t h e c e i l i n g .
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(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T C S D E P A R T h l C N T Or T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICC
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
F O R NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRVNVMDER
(Continuation Sheet)
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7.
bo~inds of t h e columns, a l a r g e c e i l i n g r o s e t t e g i v e s t h e d e c o r a t i v e e f f e c t of
Tile j u r y s t a n d o r bench i s r e c e s s e d i n t o t h e room's back w a l l
a cal<opy.
In front
where two s m a l l d o o r s a t e i t h e r end p r o v i d e e n t r a n c e from t h e h a l l .
of t h e f o u r I o n i c columns which f l a n k t h e j u r o r s s t a n d , t h e more r e c e n t
a d d i t i o n of a s t r a i g h t s t a i r w i t h a t u r n e d b a l u s t r a d e l e a d s down t o t h e b a s e On t h e o p p o s i t e s i d e o f
ment where t h e p r i s o n e r s were k e p t t o a w a i t t r i a l .
t h e main h a l l , a c e n t r a l c o r r i d o r bound by two rooms on each s i d e l e a d s t o t h e
Some of t h e i n t e r i o r a r c h i t r a v e s i n t h e o f f i c e s echo
r e a r of the b u i l d i n g .
Hany of t h e o f f i c e s m a i n t a i n t h e i r o r i g i n a l f i r e p l a c e
the c r o s s e t t e motif.
openings.
The p l a n of t h e second f l o o r i s s i m i l a r t o t h e r e v e r s e of t h e
A c e n t r a l h a l l which l e a d s t o t h e f r o n t from t h e
f i r s t f l o o r arrangement.
l a t e r a l l a n d i n g i s f l a n k e d by o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s .
To t h e r e a r a door w i t h
paneled r e v e a l s l e a d s t o t h e second f l o o r c o u r t room which i s l i g h t e d by f l o o r
l e n g t h windows.
I This c o u r t room was remodelled i n t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y
l
and f e a t u r e s b a n d s o f i n t e r e s t i n g e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w a l l c o v e r i n g .
heavy paper i s embossed w i t h d e s i g n s o f g a r l a n d s , f l e u r - d e - l y s , t o r c h e s ,
u a l m e t t e s and r o s e t t e s .
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Tile Lynchburg Court House s t a n d s a s a n o u t s t a n d i n g example of GreeK
Revival p u b l i c a r c h i t e c t u r e .
B u i l t i n 1855, i t i s t h e second c o u r t house !
b u i l d i n g t o occupy t h e summit of what was known i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a sI
I n 1853 t h e Chancery and Law Order Book c i t e s t h a t t h e
Court House H i l l .
,
b u i l d i n g committee a p p o i n t e d by t h e Common Council " e n t e r e d i n t o c o n t r a c t
L i t t l e i s known i1
w i t h Andrew E l l i s o n , J r . , . ( t o b u i l d ) a new Court House."
of t h i s t a l e n t e d a r c h i t e c t who i n t h e e x e c u t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s d e s i g n
toolc f u l l advantage o f t h e remarkable s i t e above t h e town's James River
p o r t and used t h e n a t u r a l p e d e s t a l t o emphasize t h e s t r o n g l i n e s of t h e
Greek Revival form.
C o n s t r u c t e d d u r i n g a n e r a when a r c h i t e c t u r a l symbolis
was of primary importance, t h i s e x c e p t i o n a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e Greek
Revival s t y l e q u i c k l y became a landmark f o r t h e town o f Lynchburg.
I
Lynchburg's f i r s t c o u r t h o u s e was completed o n l y e i g h t y e a r s a f t e r I
t h e town's i n c o r p o r a t i o n i n 1805, on land which was g i v e n by John Lynch f o r
thrs s p e c i f i c local necessity.
Lynch, who had helped t o found t h e town i n
1786, r e c o g n i z e d t h e need f o r a c o u r t house i n o r d e r t o a f f i r m t h e l e g a l i t y (
of t h e t o w n ' s p r o c e e d i n g s .
Upon completion of t h e o r i g i n a l two s t o r y brick1
c o u r t : , s t r u c t u r e , t h e a r e a was o f f i c i a l l y annexed by t h e town.
I'
A t t h e beginning o f t h e second h a l f of t h e c e n t u r y , Lynchburg
The,I
, e x p e r i e n c e d a p e r i o d of i n c r e a s e d economic and i n d u s t r i a l development.
I
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g r o w t h , o f t h e town i s proven by town r e c o r d s which show t h a t i t had been
1
augmented by s i x a n n e x a t i o n s , and t h a t t h e town's a r e a had a c t u a l l y
Iquadrupled i n s i z e .
I n 1851 a p u b l i c referendum was h e l d t o d e c i d e on t h e !
I
q u e s t i o n o f b u i l d i n g a new c o u r t h o u s e , one more c a p a b l e o f accomodating t h e 1
needs of t h e e n l a r g e d c i t y .
Two y e a r s l a t e r a b u i l d i n g committee was
I
' a p p o i n t e d and E l l i s o n was chosen t o d e s i g n t h e new s t r u c t u r e on t h e s i t e o f ,
t h e o l d c o u r t house.
By 1855 t h e work was completed by t h e f i r m of H a l l e t /
i
and Mace f o r o t o t a l of $22,000.
1
The Court House was one o f t h e f i r s t b u i l d i n g s i n Lynchburg t o be
i l l u m i n a t e d by modern l i g h t i n g methods.
I n 1876 gas l i g h t s were i n s t a l l e d
over t h e f r o n t door and e i g h t y e a r s l a t e r t h e b u i l d i n g became t h e c i t y
p i o n e e r i n t h e u s e of e l e c t r i c l i g h t s .
I n 1892 t h e o l d p a t h which zigzagged dp t o t h e C o u r t House was
I
r e p l a c e d by s t e p s and i n 1924 t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f Hurd and Chesterman
designed t h e grand s t a i r of Monument T e r r a c e .
These g r a n i t e s t e p s f l a n k e d I
by a c a s t s t o n e r a i l i n g were i n s t a l l e d o v e r a p e r i o d of two y e a r s by t h e
c o n s t r u c t i o n company o f D. F. B u r n e t t e .
Dominated by a C o n f e d e r a t Pfonu-
,,
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ment and forming a backdrop f o r C h a r l e s W. l < e c k l s Dough Boy s t a t u e a t i t s
As a v i s u a l l y i n t e g r a l /
base, t h e s t a i r c a s e s e r v e s a s a l o c a l war memorial.
+n f o r m- 0
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arid t h p
Form 10.3900
IJuIv 19691
U N I T C D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
I"*"
"IRGINLh
N A 7 l O N A L REGISTEX O F HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
Dhl
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continunlion Sheet)
I
impressive urban f o c a l p o i n t s i n Virginia.
~.
A t h i r d c o u r t h o u r j e was b u i l t i n 1955 by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
J. E v e r e t t e F a u b e r , J r . , t o p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l w o r k i n g s p a c e a n d t h e Old
C o u r t House now h o u s e s t h e J u v e n i l e and D o m e s t i c C o u r t s .
~
.-
R.S.
9. h\AJOf< DIDLIOGRAPHICAL R E F E R E N C E S
lllunt, I
I . , 1,vnciihurc: C o t ~ r tI l o u s r , n u n u s c r i p t , May 1966.
Conrad, A n n i c G i l l i i i m ,
S t r c c t h b o v c thi! S t c p s , t h c McClurc P r i n t i n g
Company, S t n u n t o n , 1954.
Tile Sa$a o f n C i t y , Lynchbur&;, V i r , q i n i n 1 7 8 6 - 1 9 3 6 , The Lynchburg S e s q u i C e n t e n n i a l Assc., I n c . , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a , 1936.
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73
i l l . FORM P R E P A R E D B Y
N A M C *ND
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V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
1
OHCAN\ LATION
1---V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
NUMBER:
DATE
A
-
, 1972
0
STREET A N D
Room 1 1 1 6 , N i n t h S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g
Richmond,
112. S T A T E
LIAISON
CODE
STATE
C l T I OR TOnN:
OFFICER CERTIFICAIION
1
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION
A s the d c s i c n a t c d S t a t e 1,laison O f f i c e r for t h e N a -
I hereby c e r t i f y that t h i s property is included i n t h e
tronnl i l i s t o r l c P r e s c i v a t i a n Act of 1966 (Public I.aw
National Register.
89.665). 1 h e r e b y nominate t h l s ilroperty for i n c l u s r o n
i n t h e S n l i o n a l 1:rgister
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e v n l u . i t e d accordinl: t o tltc criteria a n d p r o c e l r e s set
f o r t h liy tlie N e t t o n a l Park Service. T h c recommended
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TITLE C. 5JRVI:Y.
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O c i g i n ~ Sl i m
A N D O R I G I N A L ( i l knosun) P H Y S i C h L A P P E A R A N C E
I
Located on t h e summit of one of Lynchburg's numerous h i l l s , t h e
Lynchbiirg Court ilo~lsco c c u p i e s a prominent p o s i t i o n ovcrloolcing t h e s t c e p l y
Executed i n s t u c c o - w e r - b r i c k on a
dcsceni(ing s t e p s o f Plonunicnt T c r r a c c .
g r a n i t e ' a s h l a r basement, t h i s f i n e example of t h e Greek Revival s t y l e i s
cappcd by a s h a l l o w dome l o c a t e d o v e r t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e r i d g e s .
At ,
t h c top of t h e dome, i s a s m a l l open b e l f r y c o n s i s t i n g o f a c i r c l e o f s m a l l
I o n i c columns s u p p o r t i n g a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
S e t on a g r a n i t e a s h l a r podium t h e f r o n t o f t h e c o u r t house
d i s p l a y s a t h r e e - b a y Doric p o r t i c o which i s echoed by a n engaged p o r t i c o w i t
p i l a s t e r s on each s i d e and on t h e r e a r .
The d e s i g n o f t h e p o r t i c o i n c l u d e s
a t r i g l y p h i r i e z e surmounted by a pediment w i t h ends t h a t t e r m i n a t e i n proThe pediment c o n t a i n s a n h i s t o r i c c l o c k whose weights
j e c t i n g boirs heads.
were i n g e n i o u s l y i n s t a l l e d t o descend w i t h i n t h e drums o f t h e p o r t i c o ' s two
i n s i d e columns.
The c l o c k was shipped from Boston i n 1833 and f o r s i x t e e n
y e a r s had been used i n t h e f i r s t church b u i l d i n g o f S a i n t P a u l ' s E p i s c o p a l '
Church i n Lynchburg.
Although t h e t i m e p i e c e was r a t h e r w e a t h e r - b e a t e n a f t e 4
f i v e y e a r s of exposure on a h i l l s i d e n e a r t h e c h u r c h , t h e c l o c k was i n s t a l l e a
on t h e new c o u r t house and h a s now worked f o r o v e r one hundred y e a r s .
The
h o u r i s s t r u c k by a b r a s s b e l l c a s t i n 1825 by John W . Bank o f P h i l a d e l p h i a
Tl~ec e n t e r bay o f t h e porch i s widened, making t h e c r o s s e t t e a r c h i t r a v e and
t h e t h r e e - p a n e l l e d d o u b l e door e n t r a n c e c l e a r l y v i s i b l e .
Under t h e p o r t i c o ;
on t h e second f l v o r , a t h r e e - u n i t c e n t r a l bay c o n s i s t i n g o f a f o u r - o v e r - f o u r
s a s h window i s f l a n k e d by two r e c e s s e d p a n e l s .
T h i s c e n t r a l window i s
f u r t h e r bound by two s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows.
The s i d e s o f t h e b u i l d i n g a r e e v e n l y d i v i d e d i n t o f i v e bays by ,
I n t h e c e n t e r of each s i d e j
p i l a s t e r s which r e s t on t h e a s h l a r f o u n d a t i o n .
w a l l t h e t h r e e - b a y pedimented engaged p o r t i c o p r o j e c t s s l i g h t l y from t h e
w a l l ' s s u r f a c e and, l i k e the f r o n t p o r t i c o , f e a t u r e s a three-par t c e n t r a l
window which hangs above a n e n t r a n c e e l a b o r a t e d w i t h a c r o s s e t t e a r c h i t r a v e .
A double f l i g h t o f s t a i r s l e a d s up t o t h e l a n d i n g i n f r o n t o f each e n t r a n c e .
The two s t o r i e s of s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows a l o n g t h e s i d e s and back a r e
s e t i n t o a s i n g l e v e r t i c a l r e c e s s d i v i d e d by a molded p a n e l .
A one-bay p e n t a g o n a l a d d i t i o n w i t h a f l a t roof i s a t t a c h e d t o t h
t h r e e - b a y r e a r of t h e b u i l d i n g .
Suspended a t t h e same l e v e l a s t h e s t o n e
b e l t c o u r s e of t h e main mass, t h e p r o j e c t i n g c o u r s e of t h e a d d i t i o n d i v i d e s
t h e f u l l - b a s e m e n t from t h e f i r s t f l o o r l e v e l .
To t h e r e a r a segmental
headed d o o r g i v e s a c c e s s t o t h e lower f l o o r and a segmental headed window
l i g h t s t h e second f l o o r .
Except f o r t h i s a d d i t i o n t h e e x t e r i o r remains
e s s e n t i a l l y i n i t s o r i g i n a l form.
The r e g u l a r i t y and s i m p l i c i t y of t h e e x t e r i o r tends t o h i d e t h e
II
A t r a n s v e r s e h a l l connecting
complexity of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s i n t e r i o r p l a n .
t h e two s i d e d o o r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g s e r v e s a s t h e p u b l i c entranceway.
From (
t h e r e a r c o r n e r s of t h i s hallway two e x c e p t i o n a l l y imposing s t a i r s w i t h
massive walnut h a n d r a i l s ' \ urve i n l a n q u i d s p i r a l s t o t h e h a l l on t h e second /
I
floor.
The o l d c o u r t room o r i g i n a l l y occupied t h e e n t i r e f r o n t p o r t i o n
I o r b u t t h e symmetry of t h i s s p a c e h a s been a l t c r e q1
of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s f i r s t f l o
by t h e a d d i t i o n of t h r e e o f f i c e s a l o n g t h e w e s t s i d e which now occupy a t h i r
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of t h e a r e a .
I n t h e c e n t e r of t h e c o u r t room's a i s l e a r e found f o u r
e l o n g a t e d c a s t i r o n C o r i n t h i a n columns which r i s e t o t h e c e i l i n g p r o v i d i n g
Within the
a d e g r e e of s u p p o r t t o t h e u n u s u a l l y wide s p a n of t h e c e i l i n g .
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Fa!* 10-3000
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T C S D E P A R T h l C N T Or T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICC
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
F O R NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRVNVMDER
(Continuation Sheet)
1
(Number a l l sntrloa)
7.
bo~inds of t h e columns, a l a r g e c e i l i n g r o s e t t e g i v e s t h e d e c o r a t i v e e f f e c t of
Tile j u r y s t a n d o r bench i s r e c e s s e d i n t o t h e room's back w a l l
a cal<opy.
In front
where two s m a l l d o o r s a t e i t h e r end p r o v i d e e n t r a n c e from t h e h a l l .
of t h e f o u r I o n i c columns which f l a n k t h e j u r o r s s t a n d , t h e more r e c e n t
a d d i t i o n of a s t r a i g h t s t a i r w i t h a t u r n e d b a l u s t r a d e l e a d s down t o t h e b a s e On t h e o p p o s i t e s i d e o f
ment where t h e p r i s o n e r s were k e p t t o a w a i t t r i a l .
t h e main h a l l , a c e n t r a l c o r r i d o r bound by two rooms on each s i d e l e a d s t o t h e
Some of t h e i n t e r i o r a r c h i t r a v e s i n t h e o f f i c e s echo
r e a r of the b u i l d i n g .
Hany of t h e o f f i c e s m a i n t a i n t h e i r o r i g i n a l f i r e p l a c e
the c r o s s e t t e motif.
openings.
The p l a n of t h e second f l o o r i s s i m i l a r t o t h e r e v e r s e of t h e
A c e n t r a l h a l l which l e a d s t o t h e f r o n t from t h e
f i r s t f l o o r arrangement.
l a t e r a l l a n d i n g i s f l a n k e d by o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s .
To t h e r e a r a door w i t h
paneled r e v e a l s l e a d s t o t h e second f l o o r c o u r t room which i s l i g h t e d by f l o o r
l e n g t h windows.
I This c o u r t room was remodelled i n t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y
l
and f e a t u r e s b a n d s o f i n t e r e s t i n g e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w a l l c o v e r i n g .
heavy paper i s embossed w i t h d e s i g n s o f g a r l a n d s , f l e u r - d e - l y s , t o r c h e s ,
u a l m e t t e s and r o s e t t e s .
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Tile Lynchburg Court House s t a n d s a s a n o u t s t a n d i n g example of GreeK
Revival p u b l i c a r c h i t e c t u r e .
B u i l t i n 1855, i t i s t h e second c o u r t house !
b u i l d i n g t o occupy t h e summit of what was known i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a sI
I n 1853 t h e Chancery and Law Order Book c i t e s t h a t t h e
Court House H i l l .
,
b u i l d i n g committee a p p o i n t e d by t h e Common Council " e n t e r e d i n t o c o n t r a c t
L i t t l e i s known i1
w i t h Andrew E l l i s o n , J r . , . ( t o b u i l d ) a new Court House."
of t h i s t a l e n t e d a r c h i t e c t who i n t h e e x e c u t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s d e s i g n
toolc f u l l advantage o f t h e remarkable s i t e above t h e town's James River
p o r t and used t h e n a t u r a l p e d e s t a l t o emphasize t h e s t r o n g l i n e s of t h e
Greek Revival form.
C o n s t r u c t e d d u r i n g a n e r a when a r c h i t e c t u r a l symbolis
was of primary importance, t h i s e x c e p t i o n a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e Greek
Revival s t y l e q u i c k l y became a landmark f o r t h e town o f Lynchburg.
I
Lynchburg's f i r s t c o u r t h o u s e was completed o n l y e i g h t y e a r s a f t e r I
t h e town's i n c o r p o r a t i o n i n 1805, on land which was g i v e n by John Lynch f o r
thrs s p e c i f i c local necessity.
Lynch, who had helped t o found t h e town i n
1786, r e c o g n i z e d t h e need f o r a c o u r t house i n o r d e r t o a f f i r m t h e l e g a l i t y (
of t h e t o w n ' s p r o c e e d i n g s .
Upon completion of t h e o r i g i n a l two s t o r y brick1
c o u r t : , s t r u c t u r e , t h e a r e a was o f f i c i a l l y annexed by t h e town.
I'
A t t h e beginning o f t h e second h a l f of t h e c e n t u r y , Lynchburg
The,I
, e x p e r i e n c e d a p e r i o d of i n c r e a s e d economic and i n d u s t r i a l development.
I
1
g r o w t h , o f t h e town i s proven by town r e c o r d s which show t h a t i t had been
1
augmented by s i x a n n e x a t i o n s , and t h a t t h e town's a r e a had a c t u a l l y
Iquadrupled i n s i z e .
I n 1851 a p u b l i c referendum was h e l d t o d e c i d e on t h e !
I
q u e s t i o n o f b u i l d i n g a new c o u r t h o u s e , one more c a p a b l e o f accomodating t h e 1
needs of t h e e n l a r g e d c i t y .
Two y e a r s l a t e r a b u i l d i n g committee was
I
' a p p o i n t e d and E l l i s o n was chosen t o d e s i g n t h e new s t r u c t u r e on t h e s i t e o f ,
t h e o l d c o u r t house.
By 1855 t h e work was completed by t h e f i r m of H a l l e t /
i
and Mace f o r o t o t a l of $22,000.
1
The Court House was one o f t h e f i r s t b u i l d i n g s i n Lynchburg t o be
i l l u m i n a t e d by modern l i g h t i n g methods.
I n 1876 gas l i g h t s were i n s t a l l e d
over t h e f r o n t door and e i g h t y e a r s l a t e r t h e b u i l d i n g became t h e c i t y
p i o n e e r i n t h e u s e of e l e c t r i c l i g h t s .
I n 1892 t h e o l d p a t h which zigzagged dp t o t h e C o u r t House was
I
r e p l a c e d by s t e p s and i n 1924 t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f Hurd and Chesterman
designed t h e grand s t a i r of Monument T e r r a c e .
These g r a n i t e s t e p s f l a n k e d I
by a c a s t s t o n e r a i l i n g were i n s t a l l e d o v e r a p e r i o d of two y e a r s by t h e
c o n s t r u c t i o n company o f D. F. B u r n e t t e .
Dominated by a C o n f e d e r a t Pfonu-
,,
\
I
1
i
1
!
ment and forming a backdrop f o r C h a r l e s W. l < e c k l s Dough Boy s t a t u e a t i t s
As a v i s u a l l y i n t e g r a l /
base, t h e s t a i r c a s e s e r v e s a s a l o c a l war memorial.
+n f o r m- 0
u n i t .~onunfnt~
arid t h p
Form 10.3900
IJuIv 19691
U N I T C D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
I"*"
"IRGINLh
N A 7 l O N A L REGISTEX O F HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
Dhl
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continunlion Sheet)
I
impressive urban f o c a l p o i n t s i n Virginia.
~.
A t h i r d c o u r t h o u r j e was b u i l t i n 1955 by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
J. E v e r e t t e F a u b e r , J r . , t o p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l w o r k i n g s p a c e a n d t h e Old
C o u r t House now h o u s e s t h e J u v e n i l e and D o m e s t i c C o u r t s .
~
.-
R.S.
9. h\AJOf< DIDLIOGRAPHICAL R E F E R E N C E S
lllunt, I
I . , 1,vnciihurc: C o t ~ r tI l o u s r , n u n u s c r i p t , May 1966.
Conrad, A n n i c G i l l i i i m ,
S t r c c t h b o v c thi! S t c p s , t h c McClurc P r i n t i n g
Company, S t n u n t o n , 1954.
Tile Sa$a o f n C i t y , Lynchbur&;, V i r , q i n i n 1 7 8 6 - 1 9 3 6 , The Lynchburg S e s q u i C e n t e n n i a l Assc., I n c . , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a , 1936.
i
~..~.~
LlrTlTUDE A N 0 LONGITUDE COOHDINATF5
LhTiTUDE A N D L O N L l T U D E COOR01NATCS
24
NE
08
40
0
SE
(\v
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nPPnoxlMAr6 ACREAGE
,
, L ~ S T~
79
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L
O F NOMINATED
Less than t e n a c r e s
PROPERTY:
~
SLT A ~ C SAND
OR COUNTY
i COD~FCOUNTY-
C O U N T I E S FOR P R O P E R T ~ E I O V E R L A P P I N G
STATE:
STIITE
~OUNDAA~EP
I
___1
73
i l l . FORM P R E P A R E D B Y
N A M C *ND
C
i i 7 L i :
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
1
OHCAN\ LATION
1---V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
NUMBER:
DATE
A
-
, 1972
0
STREET A N D
Room 1 1 1 6 , N i n t h S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g
Richmond,
112. S T A T E
LIAISON
CODE
STATE
C l T I OR TOnN:
OFFICER CERTIFICAIION
1
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION
A s the d c s i c n a t c d S t a t e 1,laison O f f i c e r for t h e N a -
I hereby c e r t i f y that t h i s property is included i n t h e
tronnl i l i s t o r l c P r e s c i v a t i a n Act of 1966 (Public I.aw
National Register.
89.665). 1 h e r e b y nominate t h l s ilroperty for i n c l u s r o n
i n t h e S n l i o n a l 1:rgister
I
I
I
I
'A
51
Virginia
;rnd c c r l r f y that it h a s heen
e v n l u . i t e d accordinl: t o tltc criteria a n d p r o c e l r e s set
f o r t h liy tlie N e t t o n a l Park Service. T h c recommended
l e v c l of x i ~ n i i ~ c a n cofe ,Ibis n o m ~ n a t ~ ois:
n
Local
i
I
and I I i s r o r i c P r r s e r v a l l o n
chief,OIfjce o l
i
i
Date
ATTEST:
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U E S C K i U i T t I E P i i f S E I < T A?:D ORIGil41+1. (IF KNO'9::)
P t i Y S i C A L API'CAfiANCE
C z r t z y f 3 3 . 2 3 ~ b3.':7;l.:
t i l l s h o : : ~ ~i .n 1937, rz,:,ided j,n Il; :.:ii:)>
his
r"an:i.!.y u n t i l 1923, zil5 rct,z:':nod o::n:srship
o f i t 1.1riti1 hls C ~ : a t hi r ,
I g t i , J o : ? ~';,fi?.:? , a ? . " o " i ~ e ; l t 1. -. .'--- a.l;Cl' an zrc!li~;cc:t o r l;otc,
d e s i g n ? d zo3 b u i l t t h e s t r c c t u r c i n 1S27. Ee o c c u p i e d i t u n t i l h i s
d s z t h 1:: 1853, :;~;F,ZYFC;,
h i s i(.il.:iz:):;e.n 2:ifi scn-in-l,r;.i, Gea:-sc C:l:<on
Dzvi:;, i r i h ? r l " Y d i t . T h e r e ?ere no at&..? C I : X ~ - T * Sprio:. t o G l a ? I~S
a c q u i s i t i o n of t h e d u e l l i n g .
Soon 2f!;cr tn!.;<cg possessSo~-, G l z n s had c e n t r a l f l e a t l z ~ i ; and
IX?<cFn plun31ng i n s t a l l e d .
The r a d i a t o r s t h a t he p u r c h a s e d remain in
p l e c e t h r o u z k a u t t h n house tod%p. He a l s s he6 t h c a t t i c r o o f r a i s e d
and C.:?~-;.err !.;in2,ci.?s add=.d on a l l : j l d e s , therzb:; i r , c r < ? z s i n g t h c s t r u c t'2?a1s h - i g h t Sg o > r - h s l f s t o r y 2nd o c z a s i o n i n g t h e r c r . o v a l of a r o o f
r a i l i n g and a c e n t e - - p l z c e d s k y l i g h t .
O k s s c o n v e r t e d some o f thz roons t o n e x u s e s t o o .
Tie f o r ~ ? r
rnzst?-r bed?o~;.;ra t t h e l e f ' t f r o n t of t h e =?.in f'loo? became a dli:F17g
room, r : h l l e ti.? f'c?rc?r
nur;;!?y
et t5t: l n f k r-cla? o f ' t t h ; ~ t f'l(x:?
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2 b;:t?.~?..1 s p z n t r g
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cksce;:-led
to
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bazeme];i;.
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A f t e r G l 2 i j s so3.C t h e rclsi?-.er.ce, i t r.a.-,zeri t h r o u g h t?:o o:.:i:a:?s
b n h r i i S t . i)?:llfs Church a c q u l r e d ' i t i n 1950. Tad2.y t h s 2 ?./2-st;org,
recl-'c:ric!< e d i f i c e se-ves, er1t;h oi-jly rcinor ali;c:-at3.~ns, a s a p a r i s h bAo..
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and i t s s e t t z n g r e m s l n s enhenced b y a.n original f e n c e o f c c s t
i r o n sp3.!tes 2nd b r i c k p i e r s and by t r e 2 - l l r . e d y brick-paved. i ' S . 2 , ~ S t r e s t
h l m a s t zqcere, t h e n o r t h e a s t - f a c i n g , r e c t a n g u l a r - s h a p o d G%nzs
Rouse s i t s on a s t o n e f o u n d z t i o n above a r s i s e d basement a ~ d l z p l 2 g s
a g?.%y, s l a t e - s o v e r n 3 , h i p n e d r o o f d e c c r a t . z d S y a c r e a m - p a i n t e d 3
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chil?il::lrs r i s e frorr;. the yoof n e a r t h e lo?;;.^^' e d ~ &
o f b o k h ';ha corL>1:c7,k !:
s c ~ t h s a s ts l o p r s . E i g h t pz.bJ.ed d o y a e r s , e a c h '.:Fth s i x - o a e r - s i x ligh?:,
grncc tho r o o f .
T h r e e of t h e d o r n e r s project from t h e f r o n t s l c p c ,
t h ~ e ofrom t h e rezr, and o n e f r c n e a c h s l d a .
Eelo::, 2 s!'oulc!.er->c.',Sh"
i!c.-i~efln:~:::: the f r o l ? t and s o c t h . - a c t
o f the i:3ilce, p x y t . i . z l l j ' 013::cu.pinl; t:le baYr:?d, b ~ . s c ~ n i - .rAnr13:~:s
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ITEhl NOMBER
7
PAGE
0125
A t t h e f r o s t of t h o house 2 s h o r t 2 c c e s s x n l k I e z 6 s f r o x t h ?
s t r n z t t o e i g h t s t o n e s t e p s t h z f n c ~ : r . t t o r_ o n ~ - h a p - ~ : 4 i i ? , cr?;ln-!)a.int,-:.'
w o o d - f l o o r e d , I o r , i c p o r t i c o s u p p o r ~ t c c lby foi.:.r co!.urn;ls a n d t ~ poi i a s t e r z .
a l l s;x o f :,:hich a r e l i n k e d by a b l z c k - p a i n k 2 6 i r o n m i l . ? ' z r i a i ; l o n s
i n t h o a p ? e a r e n c e s o f o c e o r two of t h e cclu!r!ns s u g g c s t t h a t t h e y n a y
A d e c k r a i l i n g 2nd a d e n t i l e d box
h e replace:?.ents o f t h e o r i g i c s l s .
c 3 r n j . c ~15th p l l l n f r l e z e cor.plc?tc t h e p o r t i . c a ' s d e c o r a t i o n .
ih:?%t?g
G!.acs!s o c c u p a n c j a n alnr3st i s e ~ t l c a lpnrt:.co a:3~:ned t h ? r e a r fzr,?.de
o f t h e s t r u -, t u r e s n d sheltered a n e x t ! ? r ? o ? e n t ~ a n c et o t h e b a s e n e s t .
Now o n l y 2 s x a l l , s t a i r l e s s , i r o n - r a l l . . ? d b a l c o n y st~.rlcis a t t 3 e f o m . e ? ,
main-flroor, r e 2 r e:?i;1~2:1~&. S T ? ; ) I - ~ S S ~ on
O ~ Sth:, b ~ i c k:.:a:#:: x ~ r kclearl:'
the octlize of thz nissing portico.
P r l n a r y a . c c c s s t o t?!e h o u s e ' s i n t e ~ i o ri s t h r o u s h a s i s g l e , s i x ?;ass d o e r d ? c o r , ? t e l l
a 'opes:: knoa!<erv ~ . j ? dl a t c h t h e t prok?-b:y
& - e p. i o G l n s s t s d2.y.
Side;l!;hSs
fl:-;lir 2nd a t r a n s u r n ?.:d wood i!.r!t.el
n'
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J.I:?
l l n t t . 1 c;:hft.its En n-n2.r!pi;ta:! &-nod i r c y s t c n e a?:i
deco:'sti',re c o r n e r b l o c k s .
I n s i d e , t h e ~ ' r ? ~ i d e ~ l xc ':l ? a t l ? n ~ zfo:~.n-lscha i d e p i n e f l o o r i n g ( p a r t l a l l g c a r p e t e 3 i n e o m r a o n s ) and a c e n t r a l 2 . 1
l)!al.I.s and c e i l i r : x s a-e p l 2 s t ; r r - t h r p u g h o u t , :.&ti? t h ? f9nlr.ep;:inted l i g h t 5 r e . s n on t!le f i r s t s t c r y . Vooc!;r~rk i s a ca;r.p'i?me~;t?.-y
d z r k ~ 7 1 3 2 3 . Throc- o f t h z c?ir<Sna.lL f ' i r s t - - f l o c r I - ; ~ x s , r:ll fsar
p r i n c l ; . p a l s e c o n d - s t c ' r y cf>amb;.rs, arc3 c;r,e b a c , z ~ : : ? f r o o 3 c c n t a i n f i r e', - - . ^ ,. -. . .
1-11th 1.73.11 :.znte!.r,.
T h e - e :ire el.so p?.ir.ted dz:?,!.: KTeer?. E s c h s i i ? ~ 2 ~ . z ? l . : . ~
r e n i ~ r ? r : rr..?.t-?l hr'.r, a rcic.tcr?;<~ll,?r
cp:?.!,Png a7.3 r . p a i r o f c o 1 c n c t t t . s
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of f t s mic!po.lnt
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a p a r t i 2 1 ? - r t i t j . c n h i g h l i g h t e d b y 2. d d o o r i e z s , r e c t n n e u l ? r op;.?.i!?s
flai?!<t?d h;. t.,:, p l a s t e r - - - , ? 8 l l s d prrr?els a n d t,@p;?ed O P a. p3i?si;er.-::allc6,
seczan';alil;7 a r c i i i d ",ransoin.
G:ass p:.nels 1 x 3 c:lr:~ h27ie il.llc?d t h e s e
spzccs.
I n an;r c ~ r e ,t h e t r n n s o 3 e - z h d l s ; ) l e g s 2 7,qood k e y s t s n c
S d e n t 3 c e l t o t:?e one a b o v e t h o m a i z c n t r a ~ ~ e I. n f r o n t and t o t h c
r i ~ h t :of' t i c p:~;'C,"~;ion' o GQZ>::::~:;
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t o t h e r o o 2 t b ~ ? ~ u sah s i n a l e , hinzei! c i c o ~ . A p g - l r e n t l y t h e c h c r c h
nacle ti!',s a l t e r r . t i o n .
r':?-r o f t h e r e c t o r ' s e i ' f i c e :s G l r s s rA- .LLsrzry,
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w h i c h t o d a y s o ? v ? s a similsr f n n c t i o n a n d c o n t a i n s c r l s i n a l b u i l t - i n
boo!:~_.;:js.
TO t h e l e f t o f the h z l l , t h e f r o r : t rooiz t o d a y h o l ~ c e st h e
churcic5 n e c r e t r r g ' s cf C:!cc, b ! ~ t r3:'--.,,,rly i t f c n c t i o : ? e d a s tke rJl2;s
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. P r e v i o u s o;.:ners re7uteA.iiy 2 3 e d it 2 s 2 !?!asti~rbedroom.
E e r e t!:i?s l L d i n s 6 o o r s r$:min i n u s e . F
ormerlyI C l a s s ' s b x t l e r l s
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p a n t r y s c o o d r e a r or" t h e d i n l n g rocix.
piow, hc:;,?;re~, t h e p a n t r y a r e 2
i s v:itho..it i t s original a e n t e l a n d b e s b e e n d!vided i n t o t h r ? e
co?s%r:nants:
a small c r f i e a , a n o d e r n b l t 3 , and a s n l l l v e s t i h l e
t h z f 1.: e n t e r e d r"l-OR t h e reer of t k c cf-ntr::l ';;all.. ' i ' i : l e chen;:es 60
n o t , hr?:::?:rer,
s l & n i f i c : s n t l y d e t r a c t fr30m t h e r e s i c l e n 2 i z l ch2;-act-r o f
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Xear t h e re?-? o f t h e c e n t r e l h a l l , e n c p e n , s l n g i c - r l l ~ h t ,
le:';;
w a i l . t o t:?e
open-;itr:f:l-,
bn31:stered s<:.:rir ~..lr;esalox",th,?
s e c o n d f l o o r , vihere t h e ~ t ~ ir z?i l i n g cc;ntsnu:?s e l o n g a h?.liistr?.de
znd u!> a s e c o n i i , s i r . i l ~ , ~
t h 2 t mcznt;s t o t h ; t : ? i r c l , o r . ,", f l c c r .
On t k - se2sr.d :jtsi.y there: e r e f.c;ur b ? d l - a x s , 7::;~
02 c?;%i.'h s i d e o f ti-!::
centrZ.i ball.
Bsi-::sen e2.ch .;pair i s ar? o r 5 g i n ? ~ lccin5:lia.ticn
b2th ezd
d r e s s i n s room, e n c h o f :.:hich h 2 s a vcstibtl1.e t h a t o p s n s o f f thz k 2 l l
2 n " j r ; l ~ e s a c c e s s t o t k e f!.an!:Lr,;;
p a i r o f b;-droorns.
T i ~ e c e f c u r chzrnbe?:
sorv? tcc!ay z:: o r f i c ~ s2;s
~ d o e s t h e fro:?t s z c t i - o n o f t h e n c ? < - p 2 r t i t i c r : .
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whlch o c c u p i e s t h e e n t i r e nortk7:est % i d - . A l s o on t h i s f l o o r i s a
code-n k i t c h : ? ~ s i t u a t e d i n t h e p a ; > t i t l o ~ : : d , for::erd p c r t i c n o f t h ha>.'-.
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e n t e r n S ? e f r o 3 t h ? e x t e r i o r o f t i l e c!:,?rtlli:?g h:? 2 r e 3 . r d o o r c n c z s h z l t e r e d by t h e nov.-d~.mc,:!.sti~;'~dr e a r p o r t l c o .
ris i n t h e c t h e r leve2.c o f
t h e r e s i d e n c e , a c e n t r a l h a l l r u n s t h c l e n g t h o f t h e bzsozent. It
h z s : zn anfur*n?.;ih.;.d f!~.rr.z.ce r c o n , ? ? p a r e n t ccrr.1. b i z , and i",o$c?n kitck?:'
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d i d n o t occupy.
I
The Glass House :s ogen d u r i x g n o r k i n g h o u r s f o r p u b l i c i n s p e c t t o n , when t h e c h u r c h b u s i n e s s s c h c d u l e p e r m i t s , b u t n o t c u r s a r e
a v a i l a b l e aad v i s i t a t i o n s a r e n o t e x o u r a g e d .
--
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C a r t e r Glass
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K o e n i g e r , A . C . - , h , " C z r t o r Glass 2nd t h e ? ! z t i o n a l C e c o c e r y li67.5nist.-l'.-t:!on,"
S c x t h A t l e n t i c Cju-rt,-r.?::, LX.:XIIr (Sczxer, 1 9 7 5 1 , 3i19-36-:
I
I
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, "Cart-.r 5:a.s~ znc! t h p 1Te!( Do.?:: ur?x t h e 13-es!.d e n t l a l Cr-:r:i',sign of 1 9 3 2 T>ro:;h
%:PI!? F c i n d ~ ? d DFJS S:?ss.lc)n o f
C o n g r e s s , " ?*;.A. T h e s i s , V ~ c d e r b i i tU c i v e r s i t y , 1 9 7 b .
-
L?uc:>tenbur*~,! . i i l i i a m E . , Fr,?::!.:ll.r! D. P,o?s,?::el.t
1932-191;O (i:evr York: H a r p e r h no?!, 19633.
2r.6 t h c >:e:.;' DF?:
.
-L
Linic, A ~ t i ? u rS . , o
n The New F r e e d o x ( F r t n c e t o n : PrinC5tO:l Univ e r s i t y P r e s s , 1993.
---p-.--..:
P a t t e r s o n , J e n 2 s T . , C o n < r e s s i o n r ! C o ? s e r v r.- t i s m and th? !7ev D e a l
( L e x i n g t o n : U n i v e r s i t y o f !;<:ntucky F r c s s , I S ~ ) .
p u l ) ~ e y , Raymond H., "C~.rtei' Glass," Dfc!-.J.c?c:i-y
.- o r f : n ~ r i c a nR;cs~aa!:~r.
F!T---S u n n l e c e n t F o u r ( N e i : Yor!:: C h a r l e s S c r i S n e r ' s S o n s , -,
I
,
SPECIFIC DATES
,
\
;o;:::
kjills
. -B U I L D E R / k R C H i i E C T
1907-?.?23
!To p e r s o n i n t h e 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y hzs i - f l u e n c s d t h e e h ? p i - - o r
Airoyican ?in?.nc:2:
po?.lcy 2s much a s Czr.?::?:. C . 3 2 ~ 3e l d d t ; ~ i : ~ : ;!!is 44y e a r t e n u r e (1302-46) i n b o t h Eouses o f Csngress end t h e C z b i n e t . b.s
c h s i m z i n o f t h e iiousc Cc:nmittee cjn E ~ r . k i c gend Cur-rency i n 1 9 1 3 , Glzss
drafted and pushod t o p 2 s s e g e t h e Gless-Oxen Act e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e
P e J - r a l Reserve System, which, according t o his+;orlan Arthur S . Link,
rias t h z " 2 r e ; i t c s t sir.,;ie p i + c . - . of c o n . ~ t , . i 1. 2 ~ s2l z t ; o n of t h e
\/:.!.son
e r a anc? c n e o f t h e m ~ s it ; n p c ? t a n t (:trr,estic A c t s i n t h e n a t i o n ' s
h:Lztor;y."l
i n 1 9 3 3 G?.?ss 312s t h e movir.-., i'orc;. b e h i n d t h e GlessS t e ' ; a l l Act ::hich f u r t h s r r,nfor:r.?d t h e .5msrlc.2n b z n l c i n ~s y s t e m 5jr
s e p a r l t i n z co?nsrc:!al and jnvest:;:ent bnzl:ing and p r o v i d i n g f o r Fsde-e:
lnsii-r?.nce of i n d i ~ ~ i d u bank
al
d e p o s i t s . Two y e a r s ?,.zter, Glzss p l a y e d
a s3.gi?3.ficent r o l e i n th.2 p2nszg.2 o f tl:? B%n!.cir:z Act o f 1,035, i.!hich,
2.cco::.3lng t o + . i s % o r i e nii.tlliarr, E. Leuc:?t?z'~!:rg, "ri?~-ked a s i g n i f : . c ? n t
s h i r t to::ard
p.3.,.ir..l
UliL.c.Li3n
.,..A.
of t h b~a n k i n ~s y s t e a and f e d e r a l c o n t r o l
o f b a n k i n g . n2
.J
, -
2
Although a leading prsgress-i.u--. d u r i n ~t h e V i l s o n adnln:stra:.io;l,
G l s z s i n t h e 1 9 3 0 ' s bec5.r.e o n e o f t h e c h i e f o p p o n e ~ t soI' F r a n k l i n D.
R o o s ?.v. e l t and his policies. I n f a c t , accord5.ng t o h i s t o r i m R l f n e d
C z s k r~ocn!.g:?z', G l a s s r~2.s t h e "most per~s:,!;tr?:i~: zn:l orthssolcen c0::gressio??.l ci--it?lc of ti!.? j$i.!.; D-al be%:;ee!l 1933
1 9 3 9 . 1 ~ 3 X?r!alninz i n
t h I)emocl?atj.c P a r t y , s z j s Ot:..; L. G r a h : ? ~ , Jr'. , b e c ~ u s e" h i s S o u t h e r r .
D e ~ ? c r ~ z r . T pc r i n c i g l e z p r e v e n t e d hzrn f r w n . bolt in^, t i G l u s s i n t h e l a t e
1 9 3 0 ' s bra:: on.? of' t h s p r i n c i p a l ar3c!liZecct-s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n c o n s e r i r a t i y e cc-?.li"iori t i h i c h s t y z i e d f u r t h e r e f f o r t s : k t reform. 4
( P r i n c e t o n , 1956) , 238.
A i ' t i : ~ S.
~ Linlc, Y l l s a n
2
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T h i s 2 1 / 2 - s t o r y , r e d b r i c k d i : c l l ? > ? v:es G l a s s ls hone f r o = 1 9 0 7
lcenze.
co l ? ~ j ,t h e p e r i o d o f p e ~ h c p sh i s c r e a t e s t n z t i o n e l s l ? n i t ".
'?oreo-?er h e r e t ~ i n e dcvt;nership c f t h e h o u s e u n t i l h i s dez".
Glass
I
niiade ~ . ? ~ l e r a l t e r z t i c ~ s ,i n c l u d i r l ~r a i s i n % t h e r o o f and i d d i n g a o r ~ e r s .
A l t e r a t i s n s s i n c e t h e G l a s s occupancy have been r e l a t i v e l y m i n o r .
L
--
i
Biog-apiv
,<
C a - t e r G12ss :.;as b o r n J z n u a r g 4, 1558, 3.9 LynchFJu?,-, Vz., t o
Robert E. end l u p u s t e C . Glass. E e c ~ . u s e c ? t h c e : < i g e n c l e s o f C i v i l
!-Tar a?? ?econstruct.':on h i s c h i l d h o c c l YE:S mr-rke5 by p o v e r t y , and h i s
o p p o r t : ~ n l t i e sf o r f o r z a l e d c c a t i s n ? ; e x s e - f e r c l g l i m i t e d . k t a r e l l i
C a r t e r l e f t s c h o o l t o l e a r n t h e p r i n t i n g t r a d e i n h i s f z t h e r ' s newsaap e r or'rfce.
I n 1876 t h o Glrrss : ' ~ r r : i l y c l ~ v e dt o P e t e l - s b u ~ g'u:i..efe t h e
F;:I th2.s t l x e C a r t e r
e l d e ? G 1 r . s ~h2d. Sean h:!-red t o e d i t .: ne::s??p.?r.
y : 2 s csnz-rred YJ.',!;~ a b:;r?..lr.~ d z s i r n t o .52^_':1~te8. 1-e;:orter,
2 n d wh?n t h i s
a z S i t i c , n ;.:es f-;:stratecl
hs r e t l l r n e d t o Lync21'?'urg, ?;here h e i:0rs!<ec: as
a ?2il.?ezd a ~ d i t c i r ~c sl e r k . F i n a l l y , i? 1 8 8 9 ke v:as h i r e 5 as a ~ e p c r t r r f'nr t h e I,:rnrMl~rr
. . !!.:-i.:s
7 y?:?rs :e b e c ~ r ei t s e b i > a n d :::thin
'.
0
.
In 18fitl lass pul,cf;esed t h i s g a p e r , and by 1895 he had a c q u i r e d
two o?hees Lycchburg ne7;rspa?ers.
As h i s n e w s 7 a p e r s p r o s p e r e d , G l a s s b e s 2 n t o p l a y a n e c t i v e r o l e
i n D.;.i;l~~cratic
p o l i t i c s , f i r s t serv!np 0: locz?]. z;artg c o r - n i t t e e s 2nd
t h e n a c t i n g as d e l e s a t e t o d - l s t r l c i ; and S t a t e c o ~ : v ? n t i o n s . Althc7+?gh
as a d e l e g a t e t o t h o 1892 D,?mccraflc Con~.?enSlonbe had s u a p o - t e d
G r o v e r C l e v e l a n d , G l a s s bocerne h l ~ h l : ; c r : l . t i c a l o f t 3 e P r e s i d e n t ' s
n:onet.2r.y p o l l c l e s d u r i : ~h ~i s second terii.,. A s t r o n g z d r o c a t e o f t h e
f r 2 2 coiLnaze o f s i l v e r , Glcss e v e n t u a l l y emerged a s C l e v e l a n d ' s
2nd 2 s a $.elcga?e t o t:-~z 1816
prLcci>rl D e : z o c ~ s t i c crlt.3.c i n V:"~3.nia,
c o n v e ~ : t i o n , G l a s s h e l ~ e dd r a f t t h e p l a t f o r m and becan,? a n enthusiastic
a d ~ ~ c c - l toef it'ill-'Larr, Zenn:l.nsr, B r y a n , nuch t o h i s l a t e r c h a g ~ i n .
G1?.::s :ion e l e c t l c n t o a 4-:rear tcm iil t ? l e 7Jir.-5:!L,? .i~.-,
.
2
.
TO hi:: d2 s c r e : ! i t , !'c f : r ~ + :~ . ~ i l i e v cs dt : ~ t ~ y ; i c !~ror.i.L!'(!:::!:f
l ~
in
1501-2 3.S a d~!j.::~:r*t.e t o t!lc St3.t.e Con;t!tuticnaL
Cc:?vc:-:t.ic;n. T'-:.?:*t? ;kt=
'uec?.?.? t h e ?r::l~l.p:~'!. a.1vocnt.c c r zfi ::x-nd:--i:c; scv-1.ely r~:;t?!.::t;!-~::
t!;.suf!'!-:::-.ti~!:'oc;.h s~lc".c-?.;~yo~ 2s i . ; ~ - ; ~i l ; : r . z c y t,est :L!:ii i;hr. ~ri:.!. t:.:;.
fl.ccnr.-;l?.r: t o ,-*.
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rnoy.2 t h e n h a l f , t h u s o g e n i n g t h e xay f c a one-party d o m i n e t i o n . 5
i
'nrgel:!
b ? c e c s e of' h i s r o l e i n t k l S t a t - conyr.2nf;"on, G12ss i n 1SC"
won a s n l - c i a 1 ~ L s c t i a nt o t h e U.S, Xs,:s.:e, ;;.here t.e !.i~,.s t o re?rll:l f o r
the next 15 yeers.
Xod?ratel>f p r c x r e s s l v z , Congressaan G l a s s suaport,:;
l e r ; i s ? . 2 t i o n t c nr.ever.t chil.:'. Inbor, rtivocst.?? p u r e food azd C T L : ~liivls,
and m r k e d f c - z ~ e s t e rr ? ~ u i z t i o nor r a i l r o a d s . E z c k i n V l r z i n i a , GLz:
&La
<. ,
;i<;corc',!.nz
t o :n.isto:*ian ,",llei? $!. !,i-::e?:
" s c x e t i l i n g of a ].one? i n
.
,
p o ? . i t ! . ~ s , ~ arG
'
i n i t i a l l y 5 ~ t r.- i . s d t o rer;a$.n e l c s f ' i'yor;! t h e I?i<ense
f'clct-!.crc2is-. crea";"d.,;:~ S e n a t r ~ rTho!ca-s P.
::<:?:;.I
1,s "nc.,chine. I T o
1:; 1 9 L ; .
ho!::;:ve~, G l a s s turnhc; a = l i n s t t h e n)achi?c iil;<?n 3 . t fi;-r.:ed h i 7 t h g!.\be:cnato?t2:.. no-.ir;.aticn, 2r.d i n 1913. h.5 ,.:zg?d F? s t ? e n ~ o t ~t sk o r ~ ~uhn s ~ . c c e s z . f!ll
i:crs.2l,r.n 5 2 j f ' e z t r.3~>?~r.e
c>:nd;lid:~te C:!agde A. Swenson i n t;?? crimazy fo- U . S . .Tonztor. In 1 9 1 2 t h i-I.lr'c.i;~
~
or~
- : - n f z ? t l c r ! il.cc?;. a cancer:::
e f f o ~ tt o 2efz.t. G l a s s in h:!.: ccp:~;-ess%cn:*.sc. .~ i t r i c t?~u.f,faj.!.e?.
-
. ) -
9
-
I n 1 0 1 3 C:!2.ss teca:r.e cF:.zir~r,a:i of t;hs H o z s s Cc.r,;c.it'see on Pnn:<in-o
and (!i~-z-:lc:; 27.5,..;a3 ~ h z -p - ~b,id I ) ~ ~ ~ ~ , - ~ i:o,2drcy;
O . - C
I.
.,
I.
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., :,. e. 9lz.r. ? c ~
refa".= 01' t h e ? I , ' . c L o n tzr.ic:?;:
tgs!:e!?. G!.ass produe-ri ,? p l z n ::k?ic;l e n - r i s i o ~ e dz s y s t e r : of' -ris.riely ~ o a t ~ o 1 1 e L
neserl'f
!
b a n k s t h a t ,<;e:-s gor.r,itt:d t o l a s u e c u r r e - c g t-f ~t t h e same t i n e ?;ezc
t o be s o l o o r c l y dis,:olco.ct.e+ t h e t 9 2 s beck co-ld n2-c: becoze p r c d c z i . .
n s n t . Un5n- e n s inf?-ic?r.ce or? a d - r a ~ ~ c eprc;:ressi.res,
d
Glass subsequent?;
rr.o{i-:.ri?.l h c s ~ ! . ; n t o n-,-.~s
ic'
Toy 3eCer.al ,cc?:~Cro!. o f t h e b a : : ! : i ~ ~ s y s t c ~
2nd +hn
...;.. c . ,-..,
~ - - e o f c!.:?aer.cg.
Pushsd t o p a s c z g o by Glass h:nrt?lT, t h e
11C-px7.C- ....,
,,c. a r.i
.,..- a s t > e G?-~S~-Q,::S::
{ L e t 9 2 ~ ~,,,,,b.-: . -: n - t , - e it est:tlis!-.od
tkr
Fedarzl ?,:z-?:;s
Systea, h i s t o y l ~ A
, ~r t h u r S .
h ~ asp t l y labclnd i t
t h ? " p r e a t e s t sinfiLe 7 1 - c s o f co::s;tructlve
I=.-i,slatS.o:. . o f t h e Wilson
e r a i - 8 o z e o f ' s r o s t i n p a r t a ~ tdsresticictr li t h s n a t i o n ' s h i s t o r : ; . .
A
1
A,A.,..-
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-
7--- z d a , . .
I n 1919 i?t=s:!.den? V1.'3.lso:. a p p o i n t e d G l 2 . z ~ t o r e p l a c e !iil:.lan
2 s .Socr:%z~:; o f f h e '?r'e~:::?~.i. D.;riLzl- h i s shrj;,t tc;]ure i n
p o s t , h.e ?;zs i r : - y s l y ~ 1 % ~ p o r . s i t , *:'or
? t;?e 31;;~-3:j-- of a $5 bj.ll:-r?
I',o~P
tc liciii:;?",
w,n? c~n.rc.5. I:.: 1 ; ! 2 0 G:!T;::~
. , : r ? . ~ a p p o i g t ~ di . ~
the
I.IS!:jor?
.
.
i
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G.
th: s
l;.;~::n?-.+:
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S e n a t e , 252 2.f.;
; : ' c n i j ? c r!.ectic:? i : !?.IS
~ a;-;n ~:i::*h$1.?bey 5.n r;>ie y 2 r i r l
h2 r.enl!.nsd z i.";::?.t.er o f this b-Sy u n t : ~ l h.i.:i ?c,?.;:1.
li. stj-sn,c: zd:;oc2te
o r t h s j_.:22,j:?:eO F ! j ? t - j _ c z ~ ,G ~ ~ c):?aft?d.
S S
$ P I ? ~ = . c t i o : : 3f ~ ? . c J 1 9 ? i > CFOci.2';5? ?l2';foz;!? :.:l_r-lv F J ~ ~ Q " S ~ : > , ;!::r.z;-icz.?. ~.c:::bor=hi:? i n
gy;;?.p~-:zat>
Durir?g tke adr;?inist?z',!.o3~ of Ee?nblic?.ns. Fi~..,-tl:~p;, Ccolid:;.?, :ria Fi.go*!?r
Gl2ss becar>$ r f c o g n i z e r i , sii-.'s hir;fc:ian
Aj?:;;-..ur
1.1. P c h l e s i i : z c r , Jn.
?;:.
t h e " C 2 m o c r r t i c 37.7:::1s
e x n e r t on r ; . - ? ~ l i c f'i3a1:c~'' an6 n e v e r kzsitatee
t o castigate R . ? p u b l i c e n p o l i c i e s . 8
ij
1
. U t e ? P r ~ n k l i n3. F o o s z v e l t ::on t h e P r ? s i d e n c y i n 1 9 3 2 , he as!<ed
G l 2 . z ~ t o k;co;::c
S?3r-2.:tzLrl: af' t k : ~T r ~ : l ~ )~ ) ~~ G~tl -y1 ~, 3
~.
6 03
.qrc;>-,.i?:'.~
o r hit; r.yr. ail-,: ;:e,?lt;? a:id his fc;;..i' th?.;; t.hs li.z;.: wpsidcg*; *;;or;:.:
..
pLLr:3ue uncr:h?do:;
l i n r r . c : a l pol"..c:!es.
Ncve:.'i;hc?.ec::, the V i r s i z i a n
i:olp,?ri o b t x l n t h z Dass2ze 0;' t h E
~ ~ ~ j : ~ ~ ~ -:>anl..in-:
c::
E:r:t wh:f.ci! za.:r2
P?esii',ant i.ii?e-rr?r;2i::~
.,
ss-:er.-,
.
-?cc;!;c:??
rr;.::!.?. 2nd enrill.ed r;nn:j
b.?n:.:; f 3 r e o r ~ ~ . n ? , z i2lr . c : ;.eo?en.
j':7 ;..dd?.;;ii;n
ktr? c ; : : ~ ~ . ~ : : s o ?.n?
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3:;- t , ?C
~] ~ 3 c - S t ~ a , ~ : , ~ . l l .3f 1933, -,,h!ci.: :??f'n~r,3r.i te!-c Arericc:.:
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the c o u n t r y of.;' the g o l d stand?.-(': ar.5 d2x?.l1in t h e c ? c ~ i i ~ r .!%itL??
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o:u?;zpol.:er; CD;:~?F.CZ.~.C!?PP.~ i>1+1%!.0
cf the ?!:j:: Dezl
b z t ~ : c e n 1 5 3 3 233 i g ? g . " ?
Al';hau~:.. h e rp?sre.-6 t o b 9 1 t thi- p z i - t y , G 2 . 2 . 7 ~
1% t,i-.c? Z.:?te 2.930 1 s ,<!as 9 ; : ~ of t::@c?::.:cip.-,l
z . ~ ~ b i ' ; ( : . ~ t01'
; 3 tl:? b i ~ a ~ t ~ c r :
c o n s e z 8 v a t i v c o a l i ' c i o i l v h i c h st.yr;ied furf:!~er e f f o r t s at ref'crs:n.
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ITEM NUMBER
5-
'PAGE
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A s world p e a c e beqan t o d o t e r i o r z t e i n the Late i 9 3 0 1 s , Glass 5 z sc?=:.hat
f e c o z c l l - c ! .,.?:th I i o o c ? v e l f . An a r d ~ n t i i r . t c ? r 3 ? t i o n , ? . l i s f ,
h e f'z:.s:ed
r e p 9 2 1 o r t h e i i e ~ f r 2 . i i t yActs ar,d k c a - e o n e OF t h e . s ? o n s c r r
of tkr Bight for Freedo2 C=z>it.kee. By J a n u a r y l?",
G l 2 . s ~ favored
A z e ~ i c r np a r t 5 , c i ~ a t i o nin tht. m r , and ;;hen war c2r.2 he 2.ided t h e
afixi:?i::tr?$i.an by s ? e e < ? - n ~p s s s a ~ eof' rrSl!,.targ a p > ~ c p r i a b~i ~
lls.
In i?-l 21.2;s b,?caxc p r - ? z f - ; = n t p r o t e ~ c y s r eo f t h n Se:lz%e, b u t di? 30%
a?--?_..
i n t k e ll?;.?er C::=??er az'ln
a f t e r Jur, i 9 $ 2 c e c z u s e cf th-7 cC;Xb i r - 5 ePl'ects of' iil;?.;ss ar.6 o l d age.
O n h?ey .?S3 1 9 4 6 , he died. i n
K a . s ~ i ~ g t c nC,. C . , o f h s a - t l a i l u r c a t t h e axe of 8 9 .
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The b o m d a r y sf t h e nsa:nlted
b o u c d ~ r gOf the legal lot kno::!~ as
LIST ALL STATES AND C O Z i i T l E S FOE ? R O ? t R i i E S
ypg;enty eoLnci.Ces ~ 5 t ht h o
505 C l e y S t r e e t , u n c h b u ~ g .
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THE EVAL.UATED S i G N I F I C k > < C E O F T H i SPRCIPERTY WlTEiV TclE STATE IS:
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A s thc destgna;ed S;ate i(~s!orl. i'rcservatao:l Oilicer i r ; i t h i Nrtion;;l His;aric Prcsr.n,a:icln Act of 1965 (Pub!ic L a w 83-6651. !
heie5y nominale this Dropcrty fo: inclusion i n the Nhtlonal Registsr 2nd certify that :I h a s bsen evdiustcd according to the
cri1e;ia 2nd p r o c i i u r e s sc! ft>itti bi the National Park Service.
F i U E P A L ZEP;ESE:ll;~TIVE
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P t i Y S i C A L API'CAfiANCE
C z r t z y f 3 3 . 2 3 ~ b3.':7;l.:
t i l l s h o : : ~ ~i .n 1937, rz,:,ided j,n Il; :.:ii:)>
his
r"an:i.!.y u n t i l 1923, zil5 rct,z:':nod o::n:srship
o f i t 1.1riti1 hls C ~ : a t hi r ,
I g t i , J o : ? ~';,fi?.:? , a ? . " o " i ~ e ; l t 1. -. .'--- a.l;Cl' an zrc!li~;cc:t o r l;otc,
d e s i g n ? d zo3 b u i l t t h e s t r c c t u r c i n 1S27. Ee o c c u p i e d i t u n t i l h i s
d s z t h 1:: 1853, :;~;F,ZYFC;,
h i s i(.il.:iz:):;e.n 2:ifi scn-in-l,r;.i, Gea:-sc C:l:<on
Dzvi:;, i r i h ? r l " Y d i t . T h e r e ?ere no at&..? C I : X ~ - T * Sprio:. t o G l a ? I~S
a c q u i s i t i o n of t h e d u e l l i n g .
Soon 2f!;cr tn!.;<cg possessSo~-, G l z n s had c e n t r a l f l e a t l z ~ i ; and
IX?<cFn plun31ng i n s t a l l e d .
The r a d i a t o r s t h a t he p u r c h a s e d remain in
p l e c e t h r o u z k a u t t h n house tod%p. He a l s s he6 t h c a t t i c r o o f r a i s e d
and C.:?~-;.err !.;in2,ci.?s add=.d on a l l : j l d e s , therzb:; i r , c r < ? z s i n g t h c s t r u c t'2?a1s h - i g h t Sg o > r - h s l f s t o r y 2nd o c z a s i o n i n g t h e r c r . o v a l of a r o o f
r a i l i n g and a c e n t e - - p l z c e d s k y l i g h t .
O k s s c o n v e r t e d some o f thz roons t o n e x u s e s t o o .
Tie f o r ~ ? r
rnzst?-r bed?o~;.;ra t t h e l e f ' t f r o n t of t h e =?.in f'loo? became a dli:F17g
room, r : h l l e ti.? f'c?rc?r
nur;;!?y
et t5t: l n f k r-cla? o f ' t t h ; ~ t f'l(x:?
i:ecn!?e
2 b;:t?.~?..1 s p z n t r g
7---i t a newly i n n t a i . i e 6 cia:.b:silter
cksce;:-led
to
?.kc k i t c h e n , i:hich :Tar; i n
bazeme];i;.
.
.
A f t e r G l 2 i j s so3.C t h e rclsi?-.er.ce, i t r.a.-,zeri t h r o u g h t?:o o:.:i:a:?s
b n h r i i S t . i)?:llfs Church a c q u l r e d ' i t i n 1950. Tad2.y t h s 2 ?./2-st;org,
recl-'c:ric!< e d i f i c e se-ves, er1t;h oi-jly rcinor ali;c:-at3.~ns, a s a p a r i s h bAo..
US:?
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and i t s s e t t z n g r e m s l n s enhenced b y a.n original f e n c e o f c c s t
i r o n sp3.!tes 2nd b r i c k p i e r s and by t r e 2 - l l r . e d y brick-paved. i ' S . 2 , ~ S t r e s t
h l m a s t zqcere, t h e n o r t h e a s t - f a c i n g , r e c t a n g u l a r - s h a p o d G%nzs
Rouse s i t s on a s t o n e f o u n d z t i o n above a r s i s e d basement a ~ d l z p l 2 g s
a g?.%y, s l a t e - s o v e r n 3 , h i p n e d r o o f d e c c r a t . z d S y a c r e a m - p a i n t e d 3
c ~ ~ ? ..
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r:itk! p l z i n fricx:.
'i":..~ "s.11, S n t e r i 2 ? , S T ~ C : :
chil?il::lrs r i s e frorr;. the yoof n e a r t h e lo?;;.^^' e d ~ &
o f b o k h ';ha corL>1:c7,k !:
s c ~ t h s a s ts l o p r s . E i g h t pz.bJ.ed d o y a e r s , e a c h '.:Fth s i x - o a e r - s i x ligh?:,
grncc tho r o o f .
T h r e e of t h e d o r n e r s project from t h e f r o n t s l c p c ,
t h ~ e ofrom t h e rezr, and o n e f r c n e a c h s l d a .
Eelo::, 2 s!'oulc!.er->c.',Sh"
i!c.-i~efln:~:::: the f r o l ? t and s o c t h . - a c t
o f the i:3ilce, p x y t . i . z l l j ' 013::cu.pinl; t:le baYr:?d, b ~ . s c ~ n i - .rAnr13:~:s
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7
PAGE
0125
A t t h e f r o s t of t h o house 2 s h o r t 2 c c e s s x n l k I e z 6 s f r o x t h ?
s t r n z t t o e i g h t s t o n e s t e p s t h z f n c ~ : r . t t o r_ o n ~ - h a p - ~ : 4 i i ? , cr?;ln-!)a.int,-:.'
w o o d - f l o o r e d , I o r , i c p o r t i c o s u p p o r ~ t c c lby foi.:.r co!.urn;ls a n d t ~ poi i a s t e r z .
a l l s;x o f :,:hich a r e l i n k e d by a b l z c k - p a i n k 2 6 i r o n m i l . ? ' z r i a i ; l o n s
i n t h o a p ? e a r e n c e s o f o c e o r two of t h e cclu!r!ns s u g g c s t t h a t t h e y n a y
A d e c k r a i l i n g 2nd a d e n t i l e d box
h e replace:?.ents o f t h e o r i g i c s l s .
c 3 r n j . c ~15th p l l l n f r l e z e cor.plc?tc t h e p o r t i . c a ' s d e c o r a t i o n .
ih:?%t?g
G!.acs!s o c c u p a n c j a n alnr3st i s e ~ t l c a lpnrt:.co a:3~:ned t h ? r e a r fzr,?.de
o f t h e s t r u -, t u r e s n d sheltered a n e x t ! ? r ? o ? e n t ~ a n c et o t h e b a s e n e s t .
Now o n l y 2 s x a l l , s t a i r l e s s , i r o n - r a l l . . ? d b a l c o n y st~.rlcis a t t 3 e f o m . e ? ,
main-flroor, r e 2 r e:?i;1~2:1~&. S T ? ; ) I - ~ S S ~ on
O ~ Sth:, b ~ i c k:.:a:#:: x ~ r kclearl:'
the octlize of thz nissing portico.
P r l n a r y a . c c c s s t o t?!e h o u s e ' s i n t e ~ i o ri s t h r o u s h a s i s g l e , s i x ?;ass d o e r d ? c o r , ? t e l l
a 'opes:: knoa!<erv ~ . j ? dl a t c h t h e t prok?-b:y
& - e p. i o G l n s s t s d2.y.
Side;l!;hSs
fl:-;lir 2nd a t r a n s u r n ?.:d wood i!.r!t.el
n'
\.op ti:? d 3 3 r .
J.I:?
l l n t t . 1 c;:hft.its En n-n2.r!pi;ta:! &-nod i r c y s t c n e a?:i
deco:'sti',re c o r n e r b l o c k s .
I n s i d e , t h e ~ ' r ? ~ i d e ~ l xc ':l ? a t l ? n ~ zfo:~.n-lscha i d e p i n e f l o o r i n g ( p a r t l a l l g c a r p e t e 3 i n e o m r a o n s ) and a c e n t r a l 2 . 1
l)!al.I.s and c e i l i r : x s a-e p l 2 s t ; r r - t h r p u g h o u t , :.&ti? t h ? f9nlr.ep;:inted l i g h t 5 r e . s n on t!le f i r s t s t c r y . Vooc!;r~rk i s a ca;r.p'i?me~;t?.-y
d z r k ~ 7 1 3 2 3 . Throc- o f t h z c?ir<Sna.lL f ' i r s t - - f l o c r I - ; ~ x s , r:ll fsar
p r i n c l ; . p a l s e c o n d - s t c ' r y cf>amb;.rs, arc3 c;r,e b a c , z ~ : : ? f r o o 3 c c n t a i n f i r e', - - . ^ ,. -. . .
1-11th 1.73.11 :.znte!.r,.
T h e - e :ire el.so p?.ir.ted dz:?,!.: KTeer?. E s c h s i i ? ~ 2 ~ . z ? l . : . ~
r e n i ~ r ? r : rr..?.t-?l hr'.r, a rcic.tcr?;<~ll,?r
cp:?.!,Png a7.3 r . p a i r o f c o 1 c n c t t t . s
+
bh3:; 3>2;2p0rt a p z n e l e d frieze a n d n a : ~ t e ls h e l f .
par:2:,
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of f t s mic!po.lnt
tho fir-t-floor
h a l l I s dSrSded
a p a r t i 2 1 ? - r t i t j . c n h i g h l i g h t e d b y 2. d d o o r i e z s , r e c t n n e u l ? r op;.?.i!?s
flai?!<t?d h;. t.,:, p l a s t e r - - - , ? 8 l l s d prrr?els a n d t,@p;?ed O P a. p3i?si;er.-::allc6,
seczan';alil;7 a r c i i i d ",ransoin.
G:ass p:.nels 1 x 3 c:lr:~ h27ie il.llc?d t h e s e
spzccs.
I n an;r c ~ r e ,t h e t r n n s o 3 e - z h d l s ; ) l e g s 2 7,qood k e y s t s n c
S d e n t 3 c e l t o t:?e one a b o v e t h o m a i z c n t r a ~ ~ e I. n f r o n t and t o t h c
r i ~ h t :of' t i c p:~;'C,"~;ion' o GQZ>::::~:;
c i - ~ i l f i l ja Ch:'.1,:-.'3;16::j-~?,
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PAGE
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t o t h e r o o 2 t b ~ ? ~ u sah s i n a l e , hinzei! c i c o ~ . A p g - l r e n t l y t h e c h c r c h
nacle ti!',s a l t e r r . t i o n .
r':?-r o f t h e r e c t o r ' s e i ' f i c e :s G l r s s rA- .LLsrzry,
'"
w h i c h t o d a y s o ? v ? s a similsr f n n c t i o n a n d c o n t a i n s c r l s i n a l b u i l t - i n
boo!:~_.;:js.
TO t h e l e f t o f the h z l l , t h e f r o r : t rooiz t o d a y h o l ~ c e st h e
churcic5 n e c r e t r r g ' s cf C:!cc, b ! ~ t r3:'--.,,,rly i t f c n c t i o : ? e d a s tke rJl2;s
d
c
. P r e v i o u s o;.:ners re7uteA.iiy 2 3 e d it 2 s 2 !?!asti~rbedroom.
E e r e t!:i?s l L d i n s 6 o o r s r$:min i n u s e . F
ormerlyI C l a s s ' s b x t l e r l s
-.
p a n t r y s c o o d r e a r or" t h e d i n l n g rocix.
piow, hc:;,?;re~, t h e p a n t r y a r e 2
i s v:itho..it i t s original a e n t e l a n d b e s b e e n d!vided i n t o t h r ? e
co?s%r:nants:
a small c r f i e a , a n o d e r n b l t 3 , and a s n l l l v e s t i h l e
t h z f 1.: e n t e r e d r"l-OR t h e reer of t k c cf-ntr::l ';;all.. ' i ' i : l e chen;:es 60
n o t , hr?:::?:rer,
s l & n i f i c : s n t l y d e t r a c t fr30m t h e r e s i c l e n 2 i z l ch2;-act-r o f
t h e i::i:e-io7.
II
I
!
Xear t h e re?-? o f t h e c e n t r e l h a l l , e n c p e n , s l n g i c - r l l ~ h t ,
le:';;
w a i l . t o t:?e
open-;itr:f:l-,
bn31:stered s<:.:rir ~..lr;esalox",th,?
s e c o n d f l o o r , vihere t h e ~ t ~ ir z?i l i n g cc;ntsnu:?s e l o n g a h?.liistr?.de
znd u!> a s e c o n i i , s i r . i l ~ , ~
t h 2 t mcznt;s t o t h ; t : ? i r c l , o r . ,", f l c c r .
On t k - se2sr.d :jtsi.y there: e r e f.c;ur b ? d l - a x s , 7::;~
02 c?;%i.'h s i d e o f ti-!::
centrZ.i ball.
Bsi-::sen e2.ch .;pair i s ar? o r 5 g i n ? ~ lccin5:lia.ticn
b2th ezd
d r e s s i n s room, e n c h o f :.:hich h 2 s a vcstibtl1.e t h a t o p s n s o f f thz k 2 l l
2 n " j r ; l ~ e s a c c e s s t o t k e f!.an!:Lr,;;
p a i r o f b;-droorns.
T i ~ e c e f c u r chzrnbe?:
sorv? tcc!ay z:: o r f i c ~ s2;s
~ d o e s t h e fro:?t s z c t i - o n o f t h e n c ? < - p 2 r t i t i c r : .
h
~ The th.Lr.d,
.
o r h z l f , .si;or:; cci:tzir.s t i r e e br:r'r-,cim!s, or.? 0 5
whlch o c c u p i e s t h e e n t i r e nortk7:est % i d - . A l s o on t h i s f l o o r i s a
code-n k i t c h : ? ~ s i t u a t e d i n t h e p a ; > t i t l o ~ : : d , for::erd p c r t i c n o f t h ha>.'-.
~
i
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i n t e r l o r a c c e s s t o t h e bsscTcnt I s f r o x t h e main f l o o r b y E n
e n c l o s e d s t a i r u n d e r n e a t h t h e rnz5.n s t a i r ? i ? g . Thn b a s e s e n t i s a l s o
e n t e r n S ? e f r o 3 t h ? e x t e r i o r o f t i l e c!:,?rtlli:?g h:? 2 r e 3 . r d o o r c n c z s h z l t e r e d by t h e nov.-d~.mc,:!.sti~;'~dr e a r p o r t l c o .
ris i n t h e c t h e r leve2.c o f
t h e r e s i d e n c e , a c e n t r a l h a l l r u n s t h c l e n g t h o f t h e bzsozent. It
h z s : zn anfur*n?.;ih.;.d f!~.rr.z.ce r c o n , ? ? p a r e n t ccrr.1. b i z , and i",o$c?n kitck?:'
on t h n ::ortk,i!~:;t s i d e ; a:<i : : ; c c t 3 r ' 2 , ~ ??o')i?s, t h 2 ~ ' e i ; . r : n s t of :;hit!: .
712s ( ; l . ? . z s 1 s k:j.tc'.i3.2,
on t!;? s5u:;hc.nst ~125. C i ~ z y l i ~ 3 ] . e , j nt i l e s "ovalr r . 0 ~ 2 !>::z?i:e?.t
:'Ic:3rs.
P,c?.y ( ~ : : r : ~ , t > <;f .i;i>c ::.%~j.!lj;<),,:,e9 2 ~ ~ ::.T!C?.;,:?.:,~
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d i d n o t occupy.
I
The Glass House :s ogen d u r i x g n o r k i n g h o u r s f o r p u b l i c i n s p e c t t o n , when t h e c h u r c h b u s i n e s s s c h c d u l e p e r m i t s , b u t n o t c u r s a r e
a v a i l a b l e aad v i s i t a t i o n s a r e n o t e x o u r a g e d .
--
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C a r t e r Glass
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K o e n i g e r , A . C . - , h , " C z r t o r Glass 2nd t h e ? ! z t i o n a l C e c o c e r y li67.5nist.-l'.-t:!on,"
S c x t h A t l e n t i c Cju-rt,-r.?::, LX.:XIIr (Sczxer, 1 9 7 5 1 , 3i19-36-:
I
I
.(
, "Cart-.r 5:a.s~ znc! t h p 1Te!( Do.?:: ur?x t h e 13-es!.d e n t l a l Cr-:r:i',sign of 1 9 3 2 T>ro:;h
%:PI!? F c i n d ~ ? d DFJS S:?ss.lc)n o f
C o n g r e s s , " ?*;.A. T h e s i s , V ~ c d e r b i i tU c i v e r s i t y , 1 9 7 b .
-
L?uc:>tenbur*~,! . i i l i i a m E . , Fr,?::!.:ll.r! D. P,o?s,?::el.t
1932-191;O (i:evr York: H a r p e r h no?!, 19633.
2r.6 t h c >:e:.;' DF?:
.
-L
Linic, A ~ t i ? u rS . , o
n The New F r e e d o x ( F r t n c e t o n : PrinC5tO:l Univ e r s i t y P r e s s , 1993.
---p-.--..:
P a t t e r s o n , J e n 2 s T . , C o n < r e s s i o n r ! C o ? s e r v r.- t i s m and th? !7ev D e a l
( L e x i n g t o n : U n i v e r s i t y o f !;<:ntucky F r c s s , I S ~ ) .
p u l ) ~ e y , Raymond H., "C~.rtei' Glass," Dfc!-.J.c?c:i-y
.- o r f : n ~ r i c a nR;cs~aa!:~r.
F!T---S u n n l e c e n t F o u r ( N e i : Yor!:: C h a r l e s S c r i S n e r ' s S o n s , -,
I
,
SPECIFIC DATES
,
\
;o;:::
kjills
. -B U I L D E R / k R C H i i E C T
1907-?.?23
!To p e r s o n i n t h e 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y hzs i - f l u e n c s d t h e e h ? p i - - o r
Airoyican ?in?.nc:2:
po?.lcy 2s much a s Czr.?::?:. C . 3 2 ~ 3e l d d t ; ~ i : ~ : ;!!is 44y e a r t e n u r e (1302-46) i n b o t h Eouses o f Csngress end t h e C z b i n e t . b.s
c h s i m z i n o f t h e iiousc Cc:nmittee cjn E ~ r . k i c gend Cur-rency i n 1 9 1 3 , Glzss
drafted and pushod t o p 2 s s e g e t h e Gless-Oxen Act e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e
P e J - r a l Reserve System, which, according t o his+;orlan Arthur S . Link,
rias t h z " 2 r e ; i t c s t sir.,;ie p i + c . - . of c o n . ~ t , . i 1. 2 ~ s2l z t ; o n of t h e
\/:.!.son
e r a anc? c n e o f t h e m ~ s it ; n p c ? t a n t (:trr,estic A c t s i n t h e n a t i o n ' s
h:Lztor;y."l
i n 1 9 3 3 G?.?ss 312s t h e movir.-., i'orc;. b e h i n d t h e GlessS t e ' ; a l l Act ::hich f u r t h s r r,nfor:r.?d t h e .5msrlc.2n b z n l c i n ~s y s t e m 5jr
s e p a r l t i n z co?nsrc:!al and jnvest:;:ent bnzl:ing and p r o v i d i n g f o r Fsde-e:
lnsii-r?.nce of i n d i ~ ~ i d u bank
al
d e p o s i t s . Two y e a r s ?,.zter, Glzss p l a y e d
a s3.gi?3.ficent r o l e i n th.2 p2nszg.2 o f tl:? B%n!.cir:z Act o f 1,035, i.!hich,
2.cco::.3lng t o + . i s % o r i e nii.tlliarr, E. Leuc:?t?z'~!:rg, "ri?~-ked a s i g n i f : . c ? n t
s h i r t to::ard
p.3.,.ir..l
UliL.c.Li3n
.,..A.
of t h b~a n k i n ~s y s t e a and f e d e r a l c o n t r o l
o f b a n k i n g . n2
.J
, -
2
Although a leading prsgress-i.u--. d u r i n ~t h e V i l s o n adnln:stra:.io;l,
G l s z s i n t h e 1 9 3 0 ' s bec5.r.e o n e o f t h e c h i e f o p p o n e ~ t soI' F r a n k l i n D.
R o o s ?.v. e l t and his policies. I n f a c t , accord5.ng t o h i s t o r i m R l f n e d
C z s k r~ocn!.g:?z', G l a s s r~2.s t h e "most per~s:,!;tr?:i~: zn:l orthssolcen c0::gressio??.l ci--it?lc of ti!.? j$i.!.; D-al be%:;ee!l 1933
1 9 3 9 . 1 ~ 3 X?r!alninz i n
t h I)emocl?atj.c P a r t y , s z j s Ot:..; L. G r a h : ? ~ , Jr'. , b e c ~ u s e" h i s S o u t h e r r .
D e ~ ? c r ~ z r . T pc r i n c i g l e z p r e v e n t e d hzrn f r w n . bolt in^, t i G l u s s i n t h e l a t e
1 9 3 0 ' s bra:: on.? of' t h s p r i n c i p a l ar3c!liZecct-s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n c o n s e r i r a t i y e cc-?.li"iori t i h i c h s t y z i e d f u r t h e r e f f o r t s : k t reform. 4
( P r i n c e t o n , 1956) , 238.
A i ' t i : ~ S.
~ Linlc, Y l l s a n
2
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c1.:-:,3
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8
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T h i s 2 1 / 2 - s t o r y , r e d b r i c k d i : c l l ? > ? v:es G l a s s ls hone f r o = 1 9 0 7
lcenze.
co l ? ~ j ,t h e p e r i o d o f p e ~ h c p sh i s c r e a t e s t n z t i o n e l s l ? n i t ".
'?oreo-?er h e r e t ~ i n e dcvt;nership c f t h e h o u s e u n t i l h i s dez".
Glass
I
niiade ~ . ? ~ l e r a l t e r z t i c ~ s ,i n c l u d i r l ~r a i s i n % t h e r o o f and i d d i n g a o r ~ e r s .
A l t e r a t i s n s s i n c e t h e G l a s s occupancy have been r e l a t i v e l y m i n o r .
L
--
i
Biog-apiv
,<
C a - t e r G12ss :.;as b o r n J z n u a r g 4, 1558, 3.9 LynchFJu?,-, Vz., t o
Robert E. end l u p u s t e C . Glass. E e c ~ . u s e c ? t h c e : < i g e n c l e s o f C i v i l
!-Tar a?? ?econstruct.':on h i s c h i l d h o c c l YE:S mr-rke5 by p o v e r t y , and h i s
o p p o r t : ~ n l t i e sf o r f o r z a l e d c c a t i s n ? ; e x s e - f e r c l g l i m i t e d . k t a r e l l i
C a r t e r l e f t s c h o o l t o l e a r n t h e p r i n t i n g t r a d e i n h i s f z t h e r ' s newsaap e r or'rfce.
I n 1876 t h o Glrrss : ' ~ r r : i l y c l ~ v e dt o P e t e l - s b u ~ g'u:i..efe t h e
F;:I th2.s t l x e C a r t e r
e l d e ? G 1 r . s ~h2d. Sean h:!-red t o e d i t .: ne::s??p.?r.
y : 2 s csnz-rred YJ.',!;~ a b:;r?..lr.~ d z s i r n t o .52^_':1~te8. 1-e;:orter,
2 n d wh?n t h i s
a z S i t i c , n ;.:es f-;:stratecl
hs r e t l l r n e d t o Lync21'?'urg, ?;here h e i:0rs!<ec: as
a ?2il.?ezd a ~ d i t c i r ~c sl e r k . F i n a l l y , i? 1 8 8 9 ke v:as h i r e 5 as a ~ e p c r t r r f'nr t h e I,:rnrMl~rr
. . !!.:-i.:s
7 y?:?rs :e b e c ~ r ei t s e b i > a n d :::thin
'.
0
.
In 18fitl lass pul,cf;esed t h i s g a p e r , and by 1895 he had a c q u i r e d
two o?hees Lycchburg ne7;rspa?ers.
As h i s n e w s 7 a p e r s p r o s p e r e d , G l a s s b e s 2 n t o p l a y a n e c t i v e r o l e
i n D.;.i;l~~cratic
p o l i t i c s , f i r s t serv!np 0: locz?]. z;artg c o r - n i t t e e s 2nd
t h e n a c t i n g as d e l e s a t e t o d - l s t r l c i ; and S t a t e c o ~ : v ? n t i o n s . Althc7+?gh
as a d e l e g a t e t o t h o 1892 D,?mccraflc Con~.?enSlonbe had s u a p o - t e d
G r o v e r C l e v e l a n d , G l a s s bocerne h l ~ h l : ; c r : l . t i c a l o f t 3 e P r e s i d e n t ' s
n:onet.2r.y p o l l c l e s d u r i : ~h ~i s second terii.,. A s t r o n g z d r o c a t e o f t h e
f r 2 2 coiLnaze o f s i l v e r , Glcss e v e n t u a l l y emerged a s C l e v e l a n d ' s
2nd 2 s a $.elcga?e t o t:-~z 1816
prLcci>rl D e : z o c ~ s t i c crlt.3.c i n V:"~3.nia,
c o n v e ~ : t i o n , G l a s s h e l ~ e dd r a f t t h e p l a t f o r m and becan,? a n enthusiastic
a d ~ ~ c c - l toef it'ill-'Larr, Zenn:l.nsr, B r y a n , nuch t o h i s l a t e r c h a g ~ i n .
G1?.::s :ion e l e c t l c n t o a 4-:rear tcm iil t ? l e 7Jir.-5:!L,? .i~.-,
.
2
.
TO hi:: d2 s c r e : ! i t , !'c f : r ~ + :~ . ~ i l i e v cs dt : ~ t ~ y ; i c !~ror.i.L!'(!:::!:f
l ~
in
1501-2 3.S a d~!j.::~:r*t.e t o t!lc St3.t.e Con;t!tuticnaL
Cc:?vc:-:t.ic;n. T'-:.?:*t? ;kt=
'uec?.?.? t h e ?r::l~l.p:~'!. a.1vocnt.c c r zfi ::x-nd:--i:c; scv-1.ely r~:;t?!.::t;!-~::
t!;.suf!'!-:::-.ti~!:'oc;.h s~lc".c-?.;~yo~ 2s i . ; ~ - ; ~i l ; : r . z c y t,est :L!:ii i;hr. ~ri:.!. t:.:;.
fl.ccnr.-;l?.r: t o ,-*.
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rnoy.2 t h e n h a l f , t h u s o g e n i n g t h e xay f c a one-party d o m i n e t i o n . 5
i
'nrgel:!
b ? c e c s e of' h i s r o l e i n t k l S t a t - conyr.2nf;"on, G12ss i n 1SC"
won a s n l - c i a 1 ~ L s c t i a nt o t h e U.S, Xs,:s.:e, ;;.here t.e !.i~,.s t o re?rll:l f o r
the next 15 yeers.
Xod?ratel>f p r c x r e s s l v z , Congressaan G l a s s suaport,:;
l e r ; i s ? . 2 t i o n t c nr.ever.t chil.:'. Inbor, rtivocst.?? p u r e food azd C T L : ~liivls,
and m r k e d f c - z ~ e s t e rr ? ~ u i z t i o nor r a i l r o a d s . E z c k i n V l r z i n i a , GLz:
&La
<. ,
;i<;corc',!.nz
t o :n.isto:*ian ,",llei? $!. !,i-::e?:
" s c x e t i l i n g of a ].one? i n
.
,
p o ? . i t ! . ~ s , ~ arG
'
i n i t i a l l y 5 ~ t r.- i . s d t o rer;a$.n e l c s f ' i'yor;! t h e I?i<ense
f'clct-!.crc2is-. crea";"d.,;:~ S e n a t r ~ rTho!ca-s P.
::<:?:;.I
1,s "nc.,chine. I T o
1:; 1 9 L ; .
ho!::;:ve~, G l a s s turnhc; a = l i n s t t h e n)achi?c iil;<?n 3 . t fi;-r.:ed h i 7 t h g!.\be:cnato?t2:.. no-.ir;.aticn, 2r.d i n 1913. h.5 ,.:zg?d F? s t ? e n ~ o t ~t sk o r ~ ~uhn s ~ . c c e s z . f!ll
i:crs.2l,r.n 5 2 j f ' e z t r.3~>?~r.e
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The b o m d a r y sf t h e nsa:nlted
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LIST ALL STATES AND C O Z i i T l E S FOE ? R O ? t R i i E S
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-9-
THE EVAL.UATED S i G N I F I C k > < C E O F T H i SPRCIPERTY WlTEiV TclE STATE IS:
NATIONAL
-
STATE-
LOCAL
-
i
A s thc destgna;ed S;ate i(~s!orl. i'rcservatao:l Oilicer i r ; i t h i Nrtion;;l His;aric Prcsr.n,a:icln Act of 1965 (Pub!ic L a w 83-6651. !
heie5y nominale this Dropcrty fo: inclusion i n the Nhtlonal Registsr 2nd certify that :I h a s bsen evdiustcd according to the
cri1e;ia 2nd p r o c i i u r e s sc! ft>itti bi the National Park Service.
F i U E P A L ZEP;ESE:ll;~TIVE
SlG':;T!IRE
-
~i~ L E
DATE
'
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Text
United stat& department of the intbrior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
--" --,
" 7 ::?mi
i
"
For HCRS use only . -
National Register of Hlsioric Places
Inventory-Wominaalon Form
,
A - a r i y
< .
"
!
,-v
received
date entered
.. . ,
'7
See instructions in How to Complefe Naf ionai Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
4 . Name
Wood B u i l d i g ~ :
J.W.
historic
andlor common
Same
2.
bocatiazrs
street & number
N/A
23-27 Ninth Street (north corner N i n t h and J e f f e r s o n .. s td&tfor publication
V i r inia
51
<
code
state
Ownership
-public
Category
-district
X
building(e) 2private
-structure
both
-site
Pubfie Acquisition
-object
-in process
-being considered
NJA
J.W.
namec/o
SJatus
K occupied
-unoccupied
-work
in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-X_
Present Use
agriculture
X commercial
-educational
-museum
-park
-private residence
entertainment
government
-Industrial
-scientific
-transportation
-
-no
-religious
o t h e r :
military
Wood Inc.
C.W. B r y a n t and Wade Steele
street & number
city. town
27 Ntnth Street
Lynchburg
N/-L
vicinity of
state
24504
Virginia
5.
Location of Legal Description
c o u r t h o u s e , L y n c h b u r g
street 8 number
city, town
C i t y Courthouse
900 Court Street
Lyne hburg
state
Virginia
8. Represemtatiosr in Existing Survem~s
Lower Basin Survcy
'''Ie H i s t o r ir
date
Am&.a~.a.ing
Summer 1976
Rzcqrd
has this property been determined elegible? y
2 L federal
-state
Washington
state
s
no
-county -local
depository for survey records Prints and Photographs D i v i s i o n , Library of Congress
city, town
e
D.C.
,
-
.. 7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
2original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g i s a modified Greek R e v i v a l - s t y l e commercial b u i l d i n g s i t u a t e d
a t 23-27 Ninth S t r e e t i n downtown Lynchburg. I t s b r i c k w a l l s a r e s e t on a s t o n e basement
l a i d i n i r r e g u l a r a s h l a r which i s exposed on t h e n o r t h and e a s t s i d e s . The facade i s d i s t i n g u i s h e d by i t s c a s t - i r o n l i n t e l s and twin c a s t i r o n s t o r e f r o n t s w i t h d e c o r a t i v e i r o n
c a r t o u c h e s and C o r i n t h i a n p i l a s t e r s . B u i l t between 1851 and 1853 a s a warehouse, i t s t i l l
functions i n t h a t capacity.
Its i n t e r i o r t h u s h a s a n open p l a n and i s r e l a t i v e l y p l a i n .
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
I n c l u d i n g t h e basement, t h e b u i l d i n g c o n t a i n s some 29,000 s q u a r e f e e t of u s a b l e
f l o o r space. Above t h e top s t o r y , a broad, wooden c o r n i c e w i t h s i m p l e Greek Revival
p r o f i l e s c o n t i n u e s around t h e e n t i r e s t r u c t u r e .
The shallow hipped roof above i s covered
i n standing-seam m e t a l . The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s have f i v e bays, i r r e g u l a r l y spaced. The
f r o n t e l e v a t i o n , f a c i n g Ninth S t r e e t , h a s s i x bays.
Spacing i s wider between t h e two
c e n t r a l bays t h a n between t h e o t h e r s . Windows on t h e f a c a d e a r e capped w i t h s i m p l e c a s t i r o n l i n t e l s ; t h o s e on t h e o t h e r t h r e e s i d e s have simple wooden l i n t e l s , f l u s h w i t h t h e
w a l l s . Also n o t i c e a b l e on t h e s i d e and r e a r w a l l s a r e s e v e r a l i t o n t i e r o d s .
Although s t o n e and b r i c k comprise t h e major e x t e r i o r f a b r i c of t h e b u i l d i n g , t h e
most important d e s i g n f e a t u r e i s t h e c a s t - i r o n , f i r s t - f l o o r f a c a d e on Ninth S t r e e t . T h i s ,
t h e only such antebellum i r o n f a c a d e remaining i n Lynchburg, i s composed of seven p i l a s t e r s which d i v i d e t h e f r o n t i n t o s i x bays. The p i l a s t e r f a c e s c o n t a i n d e c o r a t i v e i r o n
c a r t o u c h e s and C o r i n t h i a n c a p i t a l s and s u p p o r t a broad e n t a b l a t u r e w i t h a n unadorned
f r i e z e and a modillioned c o r n i c e . The second and f i f t h b a y s , r e a d i n g from e i t h e r end,
c o n t a i n double doorways w i t h l a r g e , glazed transoms.
The o t h e r bays have l a r g e , t r i p l e s e c t i o n e d d i s p l a y windows. The arrangement of t h i s ground-floor e n t r a n c e , w i t h two main
doorways, a s w e l l a s t h e s p a c i n g of t h e windows above, i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l i n t e n t
was f o r t h e b u i l d i n g t o house two s e p a r a t e o f f i c e s , shops, o r warehouses.
Adding f u r t h e r credence t o t h e presumed o r i g i n a l usage a s a warehouse i s t h e l a c k
A l l t h e f l o o r s a r e b a s i c a l l y open s p a c e , w i t h heavy timber framing
of any i n t e r i o r t r i m .
l e f t unadorned.
S t a i r w a y s connecting t h e s e v e r a l f l o o r s a r e a l s o wooden, w i t h no ornamental
balusters or t r i m .
F l o o r i n g i s s o f t p i n e , and j o i s t s , a l s o of p i n e , a r e exposed throughout.
SAC
8. Significance
Period
prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1 799
& 1800-1899
-1900-
-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning
-conservation
.
. archeology-historic
'.agriculture
X_ architecture
-art
X commerce
-communications
c a . 1850
-landscape architecture-
-law
-economics
-literature
-education
-military
-engineering
-music
-explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-industry
-politicslgovernrnent
-invention
BuilderlArchitect
religion
science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
-other (specify)
unknown
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g i s t h e l a r g e s t and b e s t p r e s e r v e d of t h e few p r e - C i v i l War
commercial s t r u c t u r e s remaining i n Lynchburg.
Its f i r s t - f l o o r , c a s t - i r o n f r o n t i s t h e
s o l e s u r v i v o r of i t s t y p e i n t h e c i t y . Located i n a now-underused and l a r g e l y d e s e r t e d
s e c t i o n of downtown, t h e b u i l d i n g i s one of t h e few v i s u a l reminders of t h e c i t y ' s t r e mendous commercial a c t i v i t y of t h e 1850s, t h e decade i n which Lynchburg was d e c l a r e d by
t h e United S t a t e s Census t o b e t h e second r i c h e s t c i t y i n t h e country on a p e r - c a p i t a
basis.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Although t h e J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g f i g u r e s prominently i n mid-19th-century views of
Lynchburg and was one of t h e l a r g e s t b u i l d i n g s i n t h e commercial a r e a when i t was b u i l t ,
l i t t l e i s known of i t s e a r l y h i s t o r y o r usage. The c i t y l o t on which i t was b u i l t was
purchased i n November 1850 by Wilson Bryant f o r $750.00. I n February 1853 George G. C u r l e
purchased t h e p r o p e r t y from Bryant f o r $3,000.00, a p r i c e i n c r e a s e which would i n d i c a t e
vhat t h e s t r u c t u r e had been e r e c t e d d u r i n g t h e i n t e r i m . S t y l i s t i c a l l y , t h e b u i l d i n g would
a l s o f i t w e l l w i t h i n t h e s e d a t e s . More t h a n l i k e l y , t h e s t r u c t u r e was intended from t h e
o u t s e t t o serve m u l t i p l e uses.
Located almost a d j a c e n t t o t h e James River and Kanawha
Canal and f a c i n g one of t h e main b u s i n e s s s t r e e t s , i t was e x c e p t i o n a l l y w e l l l o c a t e d f o r
b u s i n e s s purposes. During t h e l a t e r 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , i t was used by a v a r i e t y of merchants,
i n c l u d i n g w h o l e s a l e g r a i n and f e e d d e a l e r s , tobacco f a c t o r s , a hardware salesman, and
shoe d i s t r i b u t o r s . I n 1927 J e s s e W. Wood, a w h o l e s a l e g r o c e r , e s t a b l i s h e d h i s f i r m i n
t h e b u i l d i n g , and h i s s u c c e s s o r s c o n t i n u e t o occupy i t .
The b u i l d i n g i t s e l f i s a handsome example of t h e p l a i n commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e
t y p i c a l of t h e mid-19th c e n t u r y . S t y l i s t i c a l l y , i t s a f f i n i t i e s a r e w i t h t h e Greek
Revival, b u t a v e r y p l a i n , almost s e v e r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h a t s t y l e . What d i s t i n g u i s h e s i t from s i m i l a r b u i l d i n g s i s t h e f i r s t - f l o o r , c a s t - i r o n f a c a d e . Extending
a c r o s s t h e e n t i r e f r o n t a g e , t h e c a s t - i r o n components e s t a b l i s h t h e six-bay d i v i s i o n of
t h e b u i l d i n g , which i s c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e two s t o r i e s above. P i l a s t e r s s e p a r a t e t h e bays
and s u p p o r t a n e n t a b l a t u r e w i t h a modillioned c o r n i c e . Although some ornamental i r o n was
produced i n ~ y n c h b u r g ' s antebellum f o u n d r i e s , i t i s d o u b t f u l i f work of t h i s s o r t was of
l o c a l manufacture. D a n i e l Badger, whose A r c h i t e c t u r a l I r o n Works of New York was t h e
l a r g e s t producer of s u c h work a t t h e time, r e m t d e d i n h i s 1865 c a t a l o g t h a t he had shipped two i r o n " s t o r e f r o n t s " t o Lynchburg p r i o r t o t h e war. The components of t h e Wood
Co. b u i l d i n g a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t e x a c t matches o f , a number of p a t t e r n s i l l u s t r a t e d
The p o s s i b i l i t y e x i s t s a s w e l l t h a t t h e P a r t s were c a s t i n Richmond o r
i n that catalog.
Baltimore. Whatever t h e s o u r c e , t h e f r o n t i s a s i g n i f i c a n t s u r v i v o r f o r i t s time and
place.
(See Continuation Sheet 111)
9. Major Bibliographicas References
Historic American Engineering Record. Rehabilitation. Washington, 1978.
Lynchburg City Deed Books, Lynchburg City Courthouse.
d 0. @eograqshicaiiData
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
66' x 100'
Lynchbur&
Va.
Quadrangle scale
1 :24000
UMT References
A
/616111511101(111 14121~1/+10I
l
Zone
Eastlng
Zone
Northing
Easting
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Situated on a lot at the N corner of 9th and Jeffersor
sts., measuring 66' x loo', the 66' fronting on the N side of 9th St. Lynchburg City Assessor's Records: 23-27 Ni?th St., Old Block 1/481. BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have
been drawn to coincide with the above-described lot and to include the building and surroundn
on a
t%Ail ,dtaies t.ni?%ur%e:?&
state
''
state
Eo'lierties overlapping s t a t e o r c o u n t y boundaries
N/A
code
xr 1 A
code
L.,
A
.
(1)
'
nameltitle
(2)
S Allen Chambers
oroanization
.
N/A
countv
MIA
L.,
code
..
code
..
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street, Richmond, Va. 23219
(804) 786-3144
Private Consultant
street & number
city or town
county
date
1237 31st Street
teleohone
Washington
state
April 1982
N/A
D.C.
20007
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Csrtification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2 .state
~
-local
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in theNatlonal Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by thj! Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.
State Historic preservation Officer signature
title
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive ~irector /
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission'
,&Y
7
J
-
-
-
-
date
MAY 18 1982
-
G P O 938 8 3 5
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
.
^ .
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
J . W . MOOD BUILDISG, 23-27
Continuation sheet
8.
Significance
-
NINTH STREET, LYNCIIBUR(;, VA
Item number
, .A
&
,
.aw;a);&-+~&&.i*
page
1
H i s t o r i c a l Background
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g was included i n a n i n v e n t o r y of Lynchburg's wholesale commercial
a r e a undertaken by t h e H i s t o r i c American Engineering Record i n 1976. T i t l e d t h e Lower Basin
Survey, i n r e f e r e n c e t o a p a r t of t h e c a n a l which was nearby, t h e survey focused on s i x
b u i l d i n g s i n r e g a r d t o t h e i r p o t e n t i a l redevelopment. Although t h e Wood Co. b u i l d i n g was
one of t h o s e s o s t u d i e d , i t c o n t i n u e s i n u s e a s a w h o l e s a l e grocery warehouse.
The major
a c t i v i t i e s of t h e J . W . Wood Co. a r e conducted i n a r e c e n t l y e r e c t e d p r e f a b r i c a t e d m e t a l
s t r u c t u r e a d j a c e n t t o t h e 1850s b u i l d i n g , w i t h t h e o l d e r s t r u c t u r e used p r i m a r i l y a s overflow space. The owners a r e aware of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s importance, however, and have cleaned
and p a i n t e d t h e c a s t - i r o n f a c a d e s i n c e t h e photographs a t t a c h e d t o t h i s nomination were
taken.
SAC
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
--" --,
" 7 ::?mi
i
"
For HCRS use only . -
National Register of Hlsioric Places
Inventory-Wominaalon Form
,
A - a r i y
< .
"
!
,-v
received
date entered
.. . ,
'7
See instructions in How to Complefe Naf ionai Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
4 . Name
Wood B u i l d i g ~ :
J.W.
historic
andlor common
Same
2.
bocatiazrs
street & number
N/A
23-27 Ninth Street (north corner N i n t h and J e f f e r s o n .. s td&tfor publication
V i r inia
51
<
code
state
Ownership
-public
Category
-district
X
building(e) 2private
-structure
both
-site
Pubfie Acquisition
-object
-in process
-being considered
NJA
J.W.
namec/o
SJatus
K occupied
-unoccupied
-work
in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-X_
Present Use
agriculture
X commercial
-educational
-museum
-park
-private residence
entertainment
government
-Industrial
-scientific
-transportation
-
-no
-religious
o t h e r :
military
Wood Inc.
C.W. B r y a n t and Wade Steele
street & number
city. town
27 Ntnth Street
Lynchburg
N/-L
vicinity of
state
24504
Virginia
5.
Location of Legal Description
c o u r t h o u s e , L y n c h b u r g
street 8 number
city, town
C i t y Courthouse
900 Court Street
Lyne hburg
state
Virginia
8. Represemtatiosr in Existing Survem~s
Lower Basin Survcy
'''Ie H i s t o r ir
date
Am&.a~.a.ing
Summer 1976
Rzcqrd
has this property been determined elegible? y
2 L federal
-state
Washington
state
s
no
-county -local
depository for survey records Prints and Photographs D i v i s i o n , Library of Congress
city, town
e
D.C.
,
-
.. 7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
2original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g i s a modified Greek R e v i v a l - s t y l e commercial b u i l d i n g s i t u a t e d
a t 23-27 Ninth S t r e e t i n downtown Lynchburg. I t s b r i c k w a l l s a r e s e t on a s t o n e basement
l a i d i n i r r e g u l a r a s h l a r which i s exposed on t h e n o r t h and e a s t s i d e s . The facade i s d i s t i n g u i s h e d by i t s c a s t - i r o n l i n t e l s and twin c a s t i r o n s t o r e f r o n t s w i t h d e c o r a t i v e i r o n
c a r t o u c h e s and C o r i n t h i a n p i l a s t e r s . B u i l t between 1851 and 1853 a s a warehouse, i t s t i l l
functions i n t h a t capacity.
Its i n t e r i o r t h u s h a s a n open p l a n and i s r e l a t i v e l y p l a i n .
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
I n c l u d i n g t h e basement, t h e b u i l d i n g c o n t a i n s some 29,000 s q u a r e f e e t of u s a b l e
f l o o r space. Above t h e top s t o r y , a broad, wooden c o r n i c e w i t h s i m p l e Greek Revival
p r o f i l e s c o n t i n u e s around t h e e n t i r e s t r u c t u r e .
The shallow hipped roof above i s covered
i n standing-seam m e t a l . The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s have f i v e bays, i r r e g u l a r l y spaced. The
f r o n t e l e v a t i o n , f a c i n g Ninth S t r e e t , h a s s i x bays.
Spacing i s wider between t h e two
c e n t r a l bays t h a n between t h e o t h e r s . Windows on t h e f a c a d e a r e capped w i t h s i m p l e c a s t i r o n l i n t e l s ; t h o s e on t h e o t h e r t h r e e s i d e s have simple wooden l i n t e l s , f l u s h w i t h t h e
w a l l s . Also n o t i c e a b l e on t h e s i d e and r e a r w a l l s a r e s e v e r a l i t o n t i e r o d s .
Although s t o n e and b r i c k comprise t h e major e x t e r i o r f a b r i c of t h e b u i l d i n g , t h e
most important d e s i g n f e a t u r e i s t h e c a s t - i r o n , f i r s t - f l o o r f a c a d e on Ninth S t r e e t . T h i s ,
t h e only such antebellum i r o n f a c a d e remaining i n Lynchburg, i s composed of seven p i l a s t e r s which d i v i d e t h e f r o n t i n t o s i x bays. The p i l a s t e r f a c e s c o n t a i n d e c o r a t i v e i r o n
c a r t o u c h e s and C o r i n t h i a n c a p i t a l s and s u p p o r t a broad e n t a b l a t u r e w i t h a n unadorned
f r i e z e and a modillioned c o r n i c e . The second and f i f t h b a y s , r e a d i n g from e i t h e r end,
c o n t a i n double doorways w i t h l a r g e , glazed transoms.
The o t h e r bays have l a r g e , t r i p l e s e c t i o n e d d i s p l a y windows. The arrangement of t h i s ground-floor e n t r a n c e , w i t h two main
doorways, a s w e l l a s t h e s p a c i n g of t h e windows above, i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l i n t e n t
was f o r t h e b u i l d i n g t o house two s e p a r a t e o f f i c e s , shops, o r warehouses.
Adding f u r t h e r credence t o t h e presumed o r i g i n a l usage a s a warehouse i s t h e l a c k
A l l t h e f l o o r s a r e b a s i c a l l y open s p a c e , w i t h heavy timber framing
of any i n t e r i o r t r i m .
l e f t unadorned.
S t a i r w a y s connecting t h e s e v e r a l f l o o r s a r e a l s o wooden, w i t h no ornamental
balusters or t r i m .
F l o o r i n g i s s o f t p i n e , and j o i s t s , a l s o of p i n e , a r e exposed throughout.
SAC
8. Significance
Period
prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1 799
& 1800-1899
-1900-
-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning
-conservation
.
. archeology-historic
'.agriculture
X_ architecture
-art
X commerce
-communications
c a . 1850
-landscape architecture-
-law
-economics
-literature
-education
-military
-engineering
-music
-explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-industry
-politicslgovernrnent
-invention
BuilderlArchitect
religion
science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
-other (specify)
unknown
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g i s t h e l a r g e s t and b e s t p r e s e r v e d of t h e few p r e - C i v i l War
commercial s t r u c t u r e s remaining i n Lynchburg.
Its f i r s t - f l o o r , c a s t - i r o n f r o n t i s t h e
s o l e s u r v i v o r of i t s t y p e i n t h e c i t y . Located i n a now-underused and l a r g e l y d e s e r t e d
s e c t i o n of downtown, t h e b u i l d i n g i s one of t h e few v i s u a l reminders of t h e c i t y ' s t r e mendous commercial a c t i v i t y of t h e 1850s, t h e decade i n which Lynchburg was d e c l a r e d by
t h e United S t a t e s Census t o b e t h e second r i c h e s t c i t y i n t h e country on a p e r - c a p i t a
basis.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Although t h e J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g f i g u r e s prominently i n mid-19th-century views of
Lynchburg and was one of t h e l a r g e s t b u i l d i n g s i n t h e commercial a r e a when i t was b u i l t ,
l i t t l e i s known of i t s e a r l y h i s t o r y o r usage. The c i t y l o t on which i t was b u i l t was
purchased i n November 1850 by Wilson Bryant f o r $750.00. I n February 1853 George G. C u r l e
purchased t h e p r o p e r t y from Bryant f o r $3,000.00, a p r i c e i n c r e a s e which would i n d i c a t e
vhat t h e s t r u c t u r e had been e r e c t e d d u r i n g t h e i n t e r i m . S t y l i s t i c a l l y , t h e b u i l d i n g would
a l s o f i t w e l l w i t h i n t h e s e d a t e s . More t h a n l i k e l y , t h e s t r u c t u r e was intended from t h e
o u t s e t t o serve m u l t i p l e uses.
Located almost a d j a c e n t t o t h e James River and Kanawha
Canal and f a c i n g one of t h e main b u s i n e s s s t r e e t s , i t was e x c e p t i o n a l l y w e l l l o c a t e d f o r
b u s i n e s s purposes. During t h e l a t e r 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , i t was used by a v a r i e t y of merchants,
i n c l u d i n g w h o l e s a l e g r a i n and f e e d d e a l e r s , tobacco f a c t o r s , a hardware salesman, and
shoe d i s t r i b u t o r s . I n 1927 J e s s e W. Wood, a w h o l e s a l e g r o c e r , e s t a b l i s h e d h i s f i r m i n
t h e b u i l d i n g , and h i s s u c c e s s o r s c o n t i n u e t o occupy i t .
The b u i l d i n g i t s e l f i s a handsome example of t h e p l a i n commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e
t y p i c a l of t h e mid-19th c e n t u r y . S t y l i s t i c a l l y , i t s a f f i n i t i e s a r e w i t h t h e Greek
Revival, b u t a v e r y p l a i n , almost s e v e r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h a t s t y l e . What d i s t i n g u i s h e s i t from s i m i l a r b u i l d i n g s i s t h e f i r s t - f l o o r , c a s t - i r o n f a c a d e . Extending
a c r o s s t h e e n t i r e f r o n t a g e , t h e c a s t - i r o n components e s t a b l i s h t h e six-bay d i v i s i o n of
t h e b u i l d i n g , which i s c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e two s t o r i e s above. P i l a s t e r s s e p a r a t e t h e bays
and s u p p o r t a n e n t a b l a t u r e w i t h a modillioned c o r n i c e . Although some ornamental i r o n was
produced i n ~ y n c h b u r g ' s antebellum f o u n d r i e s , i t i s d o u b t f u l i f work of t h i s s o r t was of
l o c a l manufacture. D a n i e l Badger, whose A r c h i t e c t u r a l I r o n Works of New York was t h e
l a r g e s t producer of s u c h work a t t h e time, r e m t d e d i n h i s 1865 c a t a l o g t h a t he had shipped two i r o n " s t o r e f r o n t s " t o Lynchburg p r i o r t o t h e war. The components of t h e Wood
Co. b u i l d i n g a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t e x a c t matches o f , a number of p a t t e r n s i l l u s t r a t e d
The p o s s i b i l i t y e x i s t s a s w e l l t h a t t h e P a r t s were c a s t i n Richmond o r
i n that catalog.
Baltimore. Whatever t h e s o u r c e , t h e f r o n t i s a s i g n i f i c a n t s u r v i v o r f o r i t s time and
place.
(See Continuation Sheet 111)
9. Major Bibliographicas References
Historic American Engineering Record. Rehabilitation. Washington, 1978.
Lynchburg City Deed Books, Lynchburg City Courthouse.
d 0. @eograqshicaiiData
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
66' x 100'
Lynchbur&
Va.
Quadrangle scale
1 :24000
UMT References
A
/616111511101(111 14121~1/+10I
l
Zone
Eastlng
Zone
Northing
Easting
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Situated on a lot at the N corner of 9th and Jeffersor
sts., measuring 66' x loo', the 66' fronting on the N side of 9th St. Lynchburg City Assessor's Records: 23-27 Ni?th St., Old Block 1/481. BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have
been drawn to coincide with the above-described lot and to include the building and surroundn
on a
t%Ail ,dtaies t.ni?%ur%e:?&
state
''
state
Eo'lierties overlapping s t a t e o r c o u n t y boundaries
N/A
code
xr 1 A
code
L.,
A
.
(1)
'
nameltitle
(2)
S Allen Chambers
oroanization
.
N/A
countv
MIA
L.,
code
..
code
..
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street, Richmond, Va. 23219
(804) 786-3144
Private Consultant
street & number
city or town
county
date
1237 31st Street
teleohone
Washington
state
April 1982
N/A
D.C.
20007
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Csrtification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2 .state
~
-local
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in theNatlonal Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by thj! Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.
State Historic preservation Officer signature
title
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive ~irector /
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission'
,&Y
7
J
-
-
-
-
date
MAY 18 1982
-
G P O 938 8 3 5
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
.
^ .
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
J . W . MOOD BUILDISG, 23-27
Continuation sheet
8.
Significance
-
NINTH STREET, LYNCIIBUR(;, VA
Item number
, .A
&
,
.aw;a);&-+~&&.i*
page
1
H i s t o r i c a l Background
The J . W . Wood B u i l d i n g was included i n a n i n v e n t o r y of Lynchburg's wholesale commercial
a r e a undertaken by t h e H i s t o r i c American Engineering Record i n 1976. T i t l e d t h e Lower Basin
Survey, i n r e f e r e n c e t o a p a r t of t h e c a n a l which was nearby, t h e survey focused on s i x
b u i l d i n g s i n r e g a r d t o t h e i r p o t e n t i a l redevelopment. Although t h e Wood Co. b u i l d i n g was
one of t h o s e s o s t u d i e d , i t c o n t i n u e s i n u s e a s a w h o l e s a l e grocery warehouse.
The major
a c t i v i t i e s of t h e J . W . Wood Co. a r e conducted i n a r e c e n t l y e r e c t e d p r e f a b r i c a t e d m e t a l
s t r u c t u r e a d j a c e n t t o t h e 1850s b u i l d i n g , w i t h t h e o l d e r s t r u c t u r e used p r i m a r i l y a s overflow space. The owners a r e aware of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s importance, however, and have cleaned
and p a i n t e d t h e c a s t - i r o n f a c a d e s i n c e t h e photographs a t t a c h e d t o t h i s nomination were
taken.
SAC
Text
Form No. 10-300
(^»<
,
VLR Listed: 10/21/1975
NRHP Listed: 5/6/1976
\0l''^
DATA SHE&
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
fOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.75
.vin. b 1976
RECEIVED
DATE ENTERED
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN H O W T O COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES
- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
INAME
HISTORIC
Miller-Claytor
House
AND/OR COMMON
[LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
Treasure
Island
R^ad^t
Miller-Claytor
Lane_NOTFOR PUBLICATION
CITY. TOWN
C O N G R E S S I O N A L DISTRICT
Lynchburg
VICINITY O F
STATE
Sixth
(M. C a l d w e l l
CODE
Virginia
51
Butler)
COUNTY
CODE
(in
680
citv)
CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
. PRESENT USE
—DISTRICT
—PUBLIC
-XOCCUPIED
J^BUILOINGlX)
X-PRIVATE
—UNOCCUPIED
—COMMERCIAL
—PARK
—STRUCTURE
—BOTH
—WORK IN PROGRESS
—EDUCATIONAL
—PRIVATE RESIDENCE
—SITE
PUBLIC ACQUISITION
—OBJECT
—IN PROCESS
AGRICULTURE
ACCESSIBLE
—ENTERTAINMENT
—RELIGIOUS
—GOVERNMENT
—SCIENTIFIC
—YES; UNRESTRICTED
—INDUSTRIAL
—TRANSPORTATION
—NO
—MILITARY
X_oTHER:Charitable
JiYES: RESTRICTED
—BEING CONSIDERED
^LMUSEUM
unices
-
QOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Lynchburg
STREET & NUMBER
Box
Historical
Foundation
3154
CITY. TOWN
STATE
Lynchburg
—
Q L O C A T I O N O F LEGAL
VICINITY OF
Virginia
DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Lynchburg
Courthouse
STREET* NUMBER
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Lynchbura
Virginia
OREPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
TITLE
(1)
DATE
Historic
no
American
Buildings
date
Survey
Inventory
^FEDERAL
( see
Continuation
.-STATE
—COUNTY —LOCAL
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
Library
o f Congress
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Washington
Sheet
D.
C.
#1)
DESCRli'tlON
CONDITION
C H E C K ONE
^SxCELLENT
—DETERIORATED
—GOOD
—RUINS
—FAIR
—UNEXPOSED
—UNALTERED
XJLALTERED
C H E C K ONE
—ORIGINAL SITE
XX.MOVED
nATF 1 9 4 0
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House, which stood u n t i l 1936 on a busy i n t e r s e c t i o n at the corner
of 8th and Church Streets i n downtown Lynchburg,now occupies a pleasant s i t e on the edge
of Riverside Park i n a r e s i d e n t i a l section o f the c i t y . I t i s a two-story, white framed
s t r u c t u r e , sheathed w i t h beaded weatherboards. There i s a box cornice a t the eaves of
the gable roof which i s covered w i t h standing-seam sheet metal. The house i s underpinned w i t h stone and has two end chimneys, one (presently) e x t e r i o r stack b u i l t o f stone
to the weatherings, w i t h b r i c k above, and f e a t u r i n g a closed-in e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e where
a d i l a p i d a t e d k i t c h e n wing was removed, and the other an i n t e r i o r b r i c k chimney w i t h an
exposed two-story f l u s h panel o f Flemish-bond brickwork on the gable end. A one-story
porch runs the length o f the rear of the house.
I t s two f r o n t doors, i n the second and f o u r t h o f i t s f i v e ground-floor bays, mark the
house as one o f a type o f t e n found i n eighteenth- and nineteenth-century V i r g i n i a but
as yet unaccounted f o r . The three ground-floor windows have six-over-nine sash and
louvered b l i n d s , and the four second-floor bays are l i t by s i x - o v e r - s i x sash which also
have louvered b l i n d s .
The house has a pre-Georgian f i r s t - f l o o r plan w i t h a h a l l (dining room) and p a r l o r but
no c e n t r a l passage. I n the inside rear corner o f the l a r g e r o f the two rooms (the
p a r l o r ) , there i s a s t a i r c o n s i s t i n g o f an open-string f l i g h t w i t h turned b a l u s t e r s , a
slender turned newel, and a molded h a n d r a i l , several winders i n the corner, and then a
closed-in f l i g h t against the p a r t i t i o n w a l l . The only s i g n i f i c a n t decorative feature
i n the room i s the mantel. A p a i r o f f l u t e d Roman Doric p i l a s t e r s frame a segmentally
arched f i r e b o x and support a p l a i n f r i e z e w i t h entablature blocks and a c e n t r a l t a b l e t .
A band o f dentilwork sets the f r i e z e o f f from the molded a h e l f . There i s a double-beaded
chairboard c a r r i e d around the room.
The d i n i n g room has a inantel very s:imitiar t o that i a the p a r l o r , except t h a t there i s
no c e n t r a l t a b l e t i n the f r i e z e , and the d e n t i l s are o f a s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t form. Flush
wainscot w i t h a molded cap sheathes the w a l l s o f t h i s room. On the secoiid f l o o r are two
nondescript Greek Revival mantels o f a l a t e r date than the house; the t h i r d f l o o r has
no f i r e p l a c e s . Architrave door and window frames and six-panel, raised-panel doors w i t h
i r o n locks and HL hinges are used throughout the house.
The b u i l d i n g benefited from a c a r e f u l moving and r e s t o r a t i o n . I t was rescued from a
very d i l a p i d a t e d c o n d i t i o n and returned to a sound state w i t h most o f i t s o r i g i n a l
fabric retained.
DTU
Form No 10-300a
(Rev. 10-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NOV 2 4 1975
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET
1
ITEM NUMBER
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS:
(2)
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1967, 1975
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
code: 51
DATE ENTERED
6
PAGE
1
j^ftY 6
1976
SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
—PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
—COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHECK A N D JUSTIFY BELOW
—LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
—RELIGION
— 1400-1499
—ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
—CONSERVATION
—LAW
—SCIENCE
— 1500-1599
—AGRICULTURE
—ECONOMICS
—LITERATURE
—SCULPTURE
— 1600-1699
XXvRCHITECTURE
.—EDUCATION
—MILITARY
—SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN
—ENGINEERING
—MUSIC
—THEATER
X X i 700-1799
ART
— 1800-1899
—COMMERCE
—EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
—PHILOSOPHY
—TRANSPORTATION
—1900-
—COMMUNICATIONS
—INDUSTRY
—POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
—OTHER (SPECIFY)
—INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1791
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House, o r i g i n a l l y located i n downtown Lynchburg, i s believed to be
the f o u r t h house to have been erected i n the new town, and i s probably the oldest extant
Lynchburg d w e l l i n g . Moved to a new s i t e i n the c i t y ' s Riverside Park i n order t o be
preserved, the house survives as an i n t e r e s t i n g example of urban vernacular a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Among the prominent Lynchburgers t o have l i v e d there are Thomas Wiatt, the c i t y ' s f i r s t
mayor, and Ann Ursula Byrd, widow of Francis Otway Byrd o f Westover.
I n 1790, John M i l l e r , a l o c a l tavern keeper, purchased Lot 15 i n the newly organized
town of Lynchburg from Nathaniel Thackson f o r 4140. I t i s almost c e r t a i n that he b u i l t
the present house soon afterward. Three years l a t e r he sold the quarter-acre l o t "with
the mansion house" to h i s son-in-law Thomas Wiatt f o r a token sum o f f i v e s h i l l i n g s . A
Mutual Assurance Society p o l i c y taken out by Wiatt i n 1799 describes the s t r u c t u r e essent i a l l y as i t remains: a "Dwelling house 34 feet by 20. two s t o r i e s high b u i l t o f wood &
covered w i t h wood, underpin*^ w i t h stone, two b r i c k chimneys—". Wiatt sold the house
i n 1802 t o William Warwick who l i v e d there f o r eight years= I n 1805 Wiatt was elected
Lynchburg's f i r s t mayor. Benjamin Essex, who owned the property from 1810 u n t i l 1825 was
a t a i l o r and h i s w i f e was a m i l l i n e r . His shop and m i l l i n e r house run by his w i f e , along
w i t h t h e i r dwelling were located i n the same block w i t h the M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House. The
1819 mortgage indicates that the house was f o r r e n t a l purposes. Among the renters i n
t h i s time period was the f a m i l y of Owen Owens. Mrs. Owers opened a school i n Lynchburg
for g i r l s teaching a r t , penmanship, and needlework. This family had a s u b s t a n t i a l l i brary and eventually launched the c i t y ' s f i r s t c i r c u l a t i n g l i b r a r y ,
Samuel Claytor bought the house t h a t bears h i s name f o r h i s w i f e i n 1825, f o r $1,000,
From Claytor's estate i t passed i n 1837 to Andrew E l l i o t and then four years l a t e r to
Ambrose Page, I t was Page who rented the dwelling to Ann Ursula Byrd (died 1844); h i s
family held the property u n t i l 1921. I n 1936, the imminent demolition o f the house to
make way f o r a service s t a t i o n led t o the formation of the Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society
and the subsequent removal of the house t o i t s present s i t e .
DTU & MTP
IMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Campbell County Deed Books.
Rimer, Laura, "The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society Museum, Vol
IV, No. 3, (n.d.).
"Tourists S t i l l Welcome at M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House," The News, Lynchburg, Va.
September 28, 1969.
'
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives.
EQGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less
than
One
acre
UTM REFERENCES
A l l 17 I I 6 l 6 . 2 l 4 i 6 t 0 l
ZONE
EASTING
I4.ll4f4l7.1.0|
NORTHING
J NORTHING
L
"1 • I I I • i • • 1 I • I • I • • 1
ZONE
cLU I I . I . • I I . I . I . • I
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
EASTING
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
[FORM PREPARED BY
NAME/TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET & NUMBER
September 1975
TELEPHONE
221 Governor Street
804-786-3144
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
Richmond
Virginia
HSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS.
NATIONAL
STATE
:
LOCAL
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and procedures set forth by theA^nional Park Service.
STATE HISTORIC PlIESERVATION CIFFICER SIGNATUt
Director
DATE
OCT 21 !975
Ft)R NPS USE ONCY
1 HEREBY CC|jlFY THAT THIS mOP\•RTY tS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
%
V
DIRECTOa, Of FIC^OF ARCHEOl-fiGY AND HISTORIC JPRESERVATION
/^y.
-^ ' ^ I l t j ^
KEEPER GFTHENATIONAL"REGtST"ER
^
^
OATE iJipC
'
DATE
JC-^^^C
GPO
892.453
(^»<
,
VLR Listed: 10/21/1975
NRHP Listed: 5/6/1976
\0l''^
DATA SHE&
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
fOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.75
.vin. b 1976
RECEIVED
DATE ENTERED
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN H O W T O COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES
- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
INAME
HISTORIC
Miller-Claytor
House
AND/OR COMMON
[LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
Treasure
Island
R^ad^t
Miller-Claytor
Lane_NOTFOR PUBLICATION
CITY. TOWN
C O N G R E S S I O N A L DISTRICT
Lynchburg
VICINITY O F
STATE
Sixth
(M. C a l d w e l l
CODE
Virginia
51
Butler)
COUNTY
CODE
(in
680
citv)
CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
. PRESENT USE
—DISTRICT
—PUBLIC
-XOCCUPIED
J^BUILOINGlX)
X-PRIVATE
—UNOCCUPIED
—COMMERCIAL
—PARK
—STRUCTURE
—BOTH
—WORK IN PROGRESS
—EDUCATIONAL
—PRIVATE RESIDENCE
—SITE
PUBLIC ACQUISITION
—OBJECT
—IN PROCESS
AGRICULTURE
ACCESSIBLE
—ENTERTAINMENT
—RELIGIOUS
—GOVERNMENT
—SCIENTIFIC
—YES; UNRESTRICTED
—INDUSTRIAL
—TRANSPORTATION
—NO
—MILITARY
X_oTHER:Charitable
JiYES: RESTRICTED
—BEING CONSIDERED
^LMUSEUM
unices
-
QOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Lynchburg
STREET & NUMBER
Box
Historical
Foundation
3154
CITY. TOWN
STATE
Lynchburg
—
Q L O C A T I O N O F LEGAL
VICINITY OF
Virginia
DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.
Lynchburg
Courthouse
STREET* NUMBER
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Lynchbura
Virginia
OREPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
TITLE
(1)
DATE
Historic
no
American
Buildings
date
Survey
Inventory
^FEDERAL
( see
Continuation
.-STATE
—COUNTY —LOCAL
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS
Library
o f Congress
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Washington
Sheet
D.
C.
#1)
DESCRli'tlON
CONDITION
C H E C K ONE
^SxCELLENT
—DETERIORATED
—GOOD
—RUINS
—FAIR
—UNEXPOSED
—UNALTERED
XJLALTERED
C H E C K ONE
—ORIGINAL SITE
XX.MOVED
nATF 1 9 4 0
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House, which stood u n t i l 1936 on a busy i n t e r s e c t i o n at the corner
of 8th and Church Streets i n downtown Lynchburg,now occupies a pleasant s i t e on the edge
of Riverside Park i n a r e s i d e n t i a l section o f the c i t y . I t i s a two-story, white framed
s t r u c t u r e , sheathed w i t h beaded weatherboards. There i s a box cornice a t the eaves of
the gable roof which i s covered w i t h standing-seam sheet metal. The house i s underpinned w i t h stone and has two end chimneys, one (presently) e x t e r i o r stack b u i l t o f stone
to the weatherings, w i t h b r i c k above, and f e a t u r i n g a closed-in e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e where
a d i l a p i d a t e d k i t c h e n wing was removed, and the other an i n t e r i o r b r i c k chimney w i t h an
exposed two-story f l u s h panel o f Flemish-bond brickwork on the gable end. A one-story
porch runs the length o f the rear of the house.
I t s two f r o n t doors, i n the second and f o u r t h o f i t s f i v e ground-floor bays, mark the
house as one o f a type o f t e n found i n eighteenth- and nineteenth-century V i r g i n i a but
as yet unaccounted f o r . The three ground-floor windows have six-over-nine sash and
louvered b l i n d s , and the four second-floor bays are l i t by s i x - o v e r - s i x sash which also
have louvered b l i n d s .
The house has a pre-Georgian f i r s t - f l o o r plan w i t h a h a l l (dining room) and p a r l o r but
no c e n t r a l passage. I n the inside rear corner o f the l a r g e r o f the two rooms (the
p a r l o r ) , there i s a s t a i r c o n s i s t i n g o f an open-string f l i g h t w i t h turned b a l u s t e r s , a
slender turned newel, and a molded h a n d r a i l , several winders i n the corner, and then a
closed-in f l i g h t against the p a r t i t i o n w a l l . The only s i g n i f i c a n t decorative feature
i n the room i s the mantel. A p a i r o f f l u t e d Roman Doric p i l a s t e r s frame a segmentally
arched f i r e b o x and support a p l a i n f r i e z e w i t h entablature blocks and a c e n t r a l t a b l e t .
A band o f dentilwork sets the f r i e z e o f f from the molded a h e l f . There i s a double-beaded
chairboard c a r r i e d around the room.
The d i n i n g room has a inantel very s:imitiar t o that i a the p a r l o r , except t h a t there i s
no c e n t r a l t a b l e t i n the f r i e z e , and the d e n t i l s are o f a s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t form. Flush
wainscot w i t h a molded cap sheathes the w a l l s o f t h i s room. On the secoiid f l o o r are two
nondescript Greek Revival mantels o f a l a t e r date than the house; the t h i r d f l o o r has
no f i r e p l a c e s . Architrave door and window frames and six-panel, raised-panel doors w i t h
i r o n locks and HL hinges are used throughout the house.
The b u i l d i n g benefited from a c a r e f u l moving and r e s t o r a t i o n . I t was rescued from a
very d i l a p i d a t e d c o n d i t i o n and returned to a sound state w i t h most o f i t s o r i g i n a l
fabric retained.
DTU
Form No 10-300a
(Rev. 10-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NOV 2 4 1975
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET
1
ITEM NUMBER
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS:
(2)
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1967, 1975
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
code: 51
DATE ENTERED
6
PAGE
1
j^ftY 6
1976
SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
—PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
—COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHECK A N D JUSTIFY BELOW
—LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
—RELIGION
— 1400-1499
—ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
—CONSERVATION
—LAW
—SCIENCE
— 1500-1599
—AGRICULTURE
—ECONOMICS
—LITERATURE
—SCULPTURE
— 1600-1699
XXvRCHITECTURE
.—EDUCATION
—MILITARY
—SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN
—ENGINEERING
—MUSIC
—THEATER
X X i 700-1799
ART
— 1800-1899
—COMMERCE
—EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
—PHILOSOPHY
—TRANSPORTATION
—1900-
—COMMUNICATIONS
—INDUSTRY
—POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
—OTHER (SPECIFY)
—INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1791
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House, o r i g i n a l l y located i n downtown Lynchburg, i s believed to be
the f o u r t h house to have been erected i n the new town, and i s probably the oldest extant
Lynchburg d w e l l i n g . Moved to a new s i t e i n the c i t y ' s Riverside Park i n order t o be
preserved, the house survives as an i n t e r e s t i n g example of urban vernacular a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Among the prominent Lynchburgers t o have l i v e d there are Thomas Wiatt, the c i t y ' s f i r s t
mayor, and Ann Ursula Byrd, widow of Francis Otway Byrd o f Westover.
I n 1790, John M i l l e r , a l o c a l tavern keeper, purchased Lot 15 i n the newly organized
town of Lynchburg from Nathaniel Thackson f o r 4140. I t i s almost c e r t a i n that he b u i l t
the present house soon afterward. Three years l a t e r he sold the quarter-acre l o t "with
the mansion house" to h i s son-in-law Thomas Wiatt f o r a token sum o f f i v e s h i l l i n g s . A
Mutual Assurance Society p o l i c y taken out by Wiatt i n 1799 describes the s t r u c t u r e essent i a l l y as i t remains: a "Dwelling house 34 feet by 20. two s t o r i e s high b u i l t o f wood &
covered w i t h wood, underpin*^ w i t h stone, two b r i c k chimneys—". Wiatt sold the house
i n 1802 t o William Warwick who l i v e d there f o r eight years= I n 1805 Wiatt was elected
Lynchburg's f i r s t mayor. Benjamin Essex, who owned the property from 1810 u n t i l 1825 was
a t a i l o r and h i s w i f e was a m i l l i n e r . His shop and m i l l i n e r house run by his w i f e , along
w i t h t h e i r dwelling were located i n the same block w i t h the M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House. The
1819 mortgage indicates that the house was f o r r e n t a l purposes. Among the renters i n
t h i s time period was the f a m i l y of Owen Owens. Mrs. Owers opened a school i n Lynchburg
for g i r l s teaching a r t , penmanship, and needlework. This family had a s u b s t a n t i a l l i brary and eventually launched the c i t y ' s f i r s t c i r c u l a t i n g l i b r a r y ,
Samuel Claytor bought the house t h a t bears h i s name f o r h i s w i f e i n 1825, f o r $1,000,
From Claytor's estate i t passed i n 1837 to Andrew E l l i o t and then four years l a t e r to
Ambrose Page, I t was Page who rented the dwelling to Ann Ursula Byrd (died 1844); h i s
family held the property u n t i l 1921. I n 1936, the imminent demolition o f the house to
make way f o r a service s t a t i o n led t o the formation of the Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society
and the subsequent removal of the house t o i t s present s i t e .
DTU & MTP
IMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Campbell County Deed Books.
Rimer, Laura, "The M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society Museum, Vol
IV, No. 3, (n.d.).
"Tourists S t i l l Welcome at M i l l e r - C l a y t o r House," The News, Lynchburg, Va.
September 28, 1969.
'
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives.
EQGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less
than
One
acre
UTM REFERENCES
A l l 17 I I 6 l 6 . 2 l 4 i 6 t 0 l
ZONE
EASTING
I4.ll4f4l7.1.0|
NORTHING
J NORTHING
L
"1 • I I I • i • • 1 I • I • I • • 1
ZONE
cLU I I . I . • I I . I . I . • I
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
EASTING
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
[FORM PREPARED BY
NAME/TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET & NUMBER
September 1975
TELEPHONE
221 Governor Street
804-786-3144
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
Richmond
Virginia
HSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS.
NATIONAL
STATE
:
LOCAL
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and procedures set forth by theA^nional Park Service.
STATE HISTORIC PlIESERVATION CIFFICER SIGNATUt
Director
DATE
OCT 21 !975
Ft)R NPS USE ONCY
1 HEREBY CC|jlFY THAT THIS mOP\•RTY tS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
%
V
DIRECTOa, Of FIC^OF ARCHEOl-fiGY AND HISTORIC JPRESERVATION
/^y.
-^ ' ^ I l t j ^
KEEPER GFTHENATIONAL"REGtST"ER
^
^
OATE iJipC
'
DATE
JC-^^^C
GPO
892.453
Text
F o r m 10-300
STATE:
UNlTEO S T A T E S DEPARTufTHT O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIOMAL PARK SERVICE
(July 1969'1
ICOUNTY-
I
N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F HISTDRIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMiNATION FORM
-
E N T R Y NtlMt?K.IP
C
P o i n t of Honor
-
A w D , ' o + t ufsToqIc:
I'
CATEGORY
(Check Ona)
rl
ACCESSIBLE
I
TC THE PUBLIC
-- -
Structure
-"-""--:cift. l i
'
5TATUS
G
Public Acqursition:
n Process
Privobe
Occupied
.
Un~ccupiod
SI+@
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-l
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Being C ~ n s i d c f s d
a
Yes:
Usstric~ed
fl
Unrestricted
I
No
in p r o g r e s s
P R c S E N T USE {Check Orre or ,\lore n s Approptlatol
-
ID
U
rl Cornnarc~ol
r? F d u c a + i o n o l
5
7
,TG o v e r n m e n t
Agr~cult~ral
a
Er(~e.?abrrnsr+
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Mnlirory
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m O r h s r (Spsctfv)
T
I
,
,
Scientific
~ ~ V C ~ S F ---
.- .-.-.
!d. OWNTR D F P R O P t R T Y
R'%&~~ation
.
---(
+-
145
_
5 , LOCA'fON O r LEGAL OESCRIP'1ON
Ci:y
-
IlaLl,
I
I
.. . - _-_
,--.
L~nchbxxg
..
w.
O f f i c e .of Clerk of
S T R E E T AND KUMOER:
Cl T V O R T O W N :
I
lynchburg
rL---- 5
-+ I r-z
rv
STATE
1
J
L*
Virginia
REPRESENTATION I N E K I S T I N G S U R V E Y S
JTIYLCOF SURVEY:
S u i l d i n g s Survey
Fj F ~ $ ~ ~ . I
Library
ITHEE'
of Congress
n Stotr
,JCounty
Local
--
A N D NUMRFR
I
1 b!a s h 5116t o n
D i s t r i c t of Co1urnbi.a
I----,
I 08
1
j
iej-l
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
STATE
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Con tinuation Sheet)
(Number a11 onbloa)
6.
H i s t o r i c American B u i l d i n g s S u r v e y I n v e n t o r y
1958
Federal
L i b r a r y o f Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code: 08
Lynchburg ( i n c i t . )
FOR NPS U S E ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
. . qg.0
023
~
4x16/ 7d
-
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Report ij118-14
1968
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
Code: 45
- . .i-
..
.
..,, .i
.:
,
e.I
I
DESCRIPTION
I
(Check One)
Un.ipo*.d
Ruins
CONDITION
(Check One)
(Check One)
Altered
Q Unaltered.
,
.
n
MOV.~
pg
h i g i n e l Sit.
Point of Honor i s an i r r e g u l a r shaped two-story Federal mansion of stuccoed
brick. The facade i s composed of a three-bay c e n t e r s e c t i o n flanked by
two octagonal ended p r o j e c t i o n s . Between the projections is a one-story
I t a l i a n a t e porch which is probably a rebuilding of the o r i g i n a l . The
o r i g i n a l porch i s thought t o have been a two-level porch. The o r i g i n a l
stone s t e p s with t h e i r wrought i r o n r a i l i n g s survive i n place. The building
is covered by a shallow hipped roof surrounded a t its base by a t h i n
bracketed cornice i n the manner of Benjamin Latrobe.
The r e a r e l e v a t i o n of the house was T-shaped although one-story a d d i t i o n s
have a l t e r e d i t s appearance. The o f f i c e wing a t the northwest corner
probably d a t e s from Doctor George c a b e l l ' s occupancy of the house.
The i n t e r i o r of Point of Honor contains notable Federal woodwork i n the
reception rooms. The door surround and mantel i n the drawing room both
employ pineapple and tassel-and-swag motifs and a r e e s p e c i a l l y f i n e i n
q u a l i t y . Most of t h e o r i g i n a l t r i m survives throughout the house although
t h e cornices i n both t h e drawing room and dining room have disappeared.
The house i s believed t o have had e l a b o r a t e and extensive gardens, but
l i t t l e t r a c e of them remains. 'Ihe lands around Point of Honor were heavily
developed i n t h e l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h century, but f o r t u n a t e l y t h e house r e t a i n s
an informal park a b w e i t with commanding views of the c i t y and t h e James
River.
Form 10-JW)a
(July 19691
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I
E N T R Y NUMBER
70 ,2
.45
0012
D A T E
Z/2!3/ZO(
P o i n t of Honor
8 . Statement of S i g n i f i c a n c e :
Point of Honor i n Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a i s a two s t o r y ,
T-shaped b r i c k house with p r o j e c t i n g o c t a g o n a l bays on
e i t h e r s i d e of t h e e n t r a n c e porch on t h e p r i n c i p a l e l e v a t i o n .
Current r e s e a r c h s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e house was b u i l t c a . 1815
f o r D r . George C a b e l l . The house is similar t o a group of
octagonal-bay houses b u i l t i n Richmond d u r i n g t h e same p e r i o d .
The Hancock-Caskie House a t 2 n o r t h 5 t h S t r e e t i s t h e only
s u r v i v i n g Richmond example. It i s a l s o a more e l a b o r a t e house.
than P o i n t of Honor and i n a much b e t t e r s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
However, n e i t h e r house can be s a i d t o p o s s e s s more than r e g i o n a l
significance.
I
SIGNIFICANCE
(check one or MOC.
PEIIOD
.
rl
..
AppromiataJ
Pn-blurnMenI
Abo. ipinal
Pnhlstolic
•
16th Cenwry
[7 E d v c a t i a
E"pimerinp
'
'
19th C e n t q
[7 Political
0 Religion/Phllosophy
His(or~c
,-J I ~ Y I I W
Apriculhon
,-J Inrmtion
Science
,-J Londscop.
Sculpwn
Q Archlmclun
I3 A*
Archimctun
,-J Com-c.
,-J Literohon
[7 Communication.
,-J Military
Cms.rrotion
[7 Music
20th C e n t v y
Urbon Piomins
Q Other I S ~ e c l h )
History
Sociol/Hummitarimn
,-J Theo'er
Tmnsportotion
STATEMENT O F SIGNIFICANCE
.,
The l a n d on which' p o i n t of Honor i s l o c a t e d was f i r s t owned by t h e Lynch
f a m i l y , whose f e r r y about a h a l f m i l e down t h e James River became t h e
nucleus around which t h e c i t y of Lynchburg developed,. I n 1805 p a r t of
t h e p r o p e r t y , i n c l u d i n g "the High Grounds, t h e Low Grounds, and t h e
I s l a n d s l y i n g on t h e James ~ i v e r , "were purchased by t h e noted p h y s i c i a n
Doctor George C a b e l l (1766-1823).
Doctor C a b e l l ' s most famous p a t i e n t
was P a t r i c k Henry, whose son married C a b e l l ' s daughter.
C o n s t r u c t i o n of P o i n t o f Honor was begun almost i m n e d i a t e l y a f t e r Doctor
C a b e l l a c q u i r e d t h e l a n d , and t h e house was ready f o r occupancy i n 1806.
O r i g i n a l l y known a s t h e "mansion house," t h e s t r u c t u r e a c q u i r e d i t s
p r e s e n t name i n 1812 a f t e r a b l o o d l e s s d u e l which took p l a c e nearby.
A f t e r C a b e l l ' s d e a t h i n 1823, t h e house was l e a s e d f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s t o
Colonel Maurice Langhorne who s h a r e d t h e r e s i d e n c e w i t h h i s b r o t h e r Henry,
g r e a t - g r a n d f a t h e r of Lady Astor and Mrs. C h a r l e s D a n a Gibson. Through
m a r r i a g e , ownership of P o i n t of Honor passed t o t h e Daniel f a m i l y , and
f o r a number of y e a r s it served a s t h e home o f t h e prominent Judge
William D a n i e l , Jr., f a t h e r of United S t a t e s S e n a t o r John Warwick D a n i e l ,
I n 1862 i t was a c q u i r e d by Colonel Robert
"the Lame Lion of Lynchburg."
L. Owen, P r e s i d e n t of t h e V i r g i n i a and Tennessee Railroad. Colonel Owen's
w i f e N a r c i s s a was t h e d a u g h t e r of Thomas Chisholm, t h e l a s t h e r e d i t a r y
war c h i e f of t h e Western Cherokees. T h e i r y o u h p r son became one of t h e
f i r s t two s e n a t o r s of t h e new s t a t e of Oklahoma ' i n 1907. I n r e c e n t y e a r s
t h e house h a s been owned by t h e c i t y and has been maintained under t h e
a u s p i c e s of t h e c i t y ' s Parks and R e c r e a t i o n a l Department.
I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s a s s o c i a t i o n s w i t h s e v e r a l prominent Lynchburg f a m i l i e s ,
P o i n t of Honor s u r v i v e s a s a d i s t i n c t i v e and uncomnonly s o p h i s t i c a t e d
example o f e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y domestic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Regrettably
t h e a r c h i t e c t - b u i l d e r i s unknown; however, t h e d e s i g n d i s p l a y s a more
t h a n c o i n c i d e n t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p t o s e v e r a l townhouses i n Richmond, which
i n t u r n a r e c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o known-designs by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
I t is a p p r o p r i a t e t h a t P o i n t of Honor, one o f t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t and
c e r t a i n l y f i n e s t houses, is c u r r e n t l y being r e s t o r e d t o s e r v e as a museum
f o r t h e c i t y o f Lynchburg.
<\
Chambers, S. Allen, J r . , "Point o f Honor; I t s P a s t and I t s P o t e n t i a l . "
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society: 1967.
Rothery, Agnes, Hauses Virginians Have Loved. New York: Bonanza Books,
1954.
Blunt, Ruth H.,"'Point of Honor,"' V i r g i n i a Cavalcade, Vol. X V I I I , No. 3
(Winter, 1969).
I
Tlo.
'
.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
.
.
.
.
-
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, .b
.
-
L*+,IUDE
.
1
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AND LONGITUDE COORDlNLTEI
L A T ~ T U D E AND L O N U l T U D E C O O R O t N A T E S
LATITUDE
CORNER
Dosreas~ i n u t c sSecond.
'
NW
..
0
0
NE
0
5W
LPPROXIMATE
-
Degrees
Minutes
37"
25'
0
.'
0
r
I?!;
08"'38'
79'
12'
Seconds
Minute*
Degrees
,
:.
L:;i
LONGITUDE
Seconds
4:
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-
I.
A C R E ~ G EO F N O M I N A T E D P R O P E R T Y :
ALL STATES
C O U N T I ~F ~ ~ P
RR O P E R T I E S
OVERLAPPING
CODE
STATE:
S T A T E OR C O U N ~ " BOUNDAR'E'
COUNTY
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7
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S t a f f , Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o n u n i ~ n , - i b P s
ORGLNIZATION
October, 3 , 1963 :
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m ~ s s i o n
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
.
,
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e Buildillc:
Richmond
112. $SATE LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A I ~ O
' ~
I
CODE
i
45
:
STATE
C l T l O R TOWN:
4
.
"
..the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
AS
tion.! ilistodc preservation Act of 1966 (Public 1 . a ~
gg-f,65), 1 hereby nominate this property lor inclusion
\
Virzinia
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R V E R I F I C A T I C N
. - -I
;;rii~;
;ha; this
-.
I
is inciudid in the
National Kegister
j i the tian anal Register and certify that it h a s been
evaluated according to t h e criteyia and prpcedures s e t
forth by the ~ a t i o n a ' lP a r k Setvice. The recommended
of t h i s nomlnation is:
level of
National
0
state
123
L-1
0
. .-...Date
FEB :2 6 1970
8
.
.:
..,;
%;
ATTEST:
i
D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairman
~ i t lV
e i r g i n i a N i s t o r i c Landmarks Corni a s ion
I
STATE:
UNlTEO S T A T E S DEPARTufTHT O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIOMAL PARK SERVICE
(July 1969'1
ICOUNTY-
I
N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F HISTDRIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMiNATION FORM
-
E N T R Y NtlMt?K.IP
C
P o i n t of Honor
-
A w D , ' o + t ufsToqIc:
I'
CATEGORY
(Check Ona)
rl
ACCESSIBLE
I
TC THE PUBLIC
-- -
Structure
-"-""--:cift. l i
'
5TATUS
G
Public Acqursition:
n Process
Privobe
Occupied
.
Un~ccupiod
SI+@
J
-l
9 Both
Objecl
Q P r e s o r u o f i o n work
Being C ~ n s i d c f s d
a
Yes:
Usstric~ed
fl
Unrestricted
I
No
in p r o g r e s s
P R c S E N T USE {Check Orre or ,\lore n s Approptlatol
-
ID
U
rl Cornnarc~ol
r? F d u c a + i o n o l
5
7
,TG o v e r n m e n t
Agr~cult~ral
a
Er(~e.?abrrnsr+
[ndvs~rtol
n Privolt Res~dencs
Mnlirory
r) Religious
M~acum
C
m O r h s r (Spsctfv)
T
I
,
,
Scientific
~ ~ V C ~ S F ---
.- .-.-.
!d. OWNTR D F P R O P t R T Y
R'%&~~ation
.
---(
+-
145
_
5 , LOCA'fON O r LEGAL OESCRIP'1ON
Ci:y
-
IlaLl,
I
I
.. . - _-_
,--.
L~nchbxxg
..
w.
O f f i c e .of Clerk of
S T R E E T AND KUMOER:
Cl T V O R T O W N :
I
lynchburg
rL---- 5
-+ I r-z
rv
STATE
1
J
L*
Virginia
REPRESENTATION I N E K I S T I N G S U R V E Y S
JTIYLCOF SURVEY:
S u i l d i n g s Survey
Fj F ~ $ ~ ~ . I
Library
ITHEE'
of Congress
n Stotr
,JCounty
Local
--
A N D NUMRFR
I
1 b!a s h 5116t o n
D i s t r i c t of Co1urnbi.a
I----,
I 08
1
j
iej-l
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
STATE
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Con tinuation Sheet)
(Number a11 onbloa)
6.
H i s t o r i c American B u i l d i n g s S u r v e y I n v e n t o r y
1958
Federal
L i b r a r y o f Congress
Washington, D. C.
Code: 08
Lynchburg ( i n c i t . )
FOR NPS U S E ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
. . qg.0
023
~
4x16/ 7d
-
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Report ij118-14
1968
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g
Richmond, V i r g i n i a
Code: 45
- . .i-
..
.
..,, .i
.:
,
e.I
I
DESCRIPTION
I
(Check One)
Un.ipo*.d
Ruins
CONDITION
(Check One)
(Check One)
Altered
Q Unaltered.
,
.
n
MOV.~
pg
h i g i n e l Sit.
Point of Honor i s an i r r e g u l a r shaped two-story Federal mansion of stuccoed
brick. The facade i s composed of a three-bay c e n t e r s e c t i o n flanked by
two octagonal ended p r o j e c t i o n s . Between the projections is a one-story
I t a l i a n a t e porch which is probably a rebuilding of the o r i g i n a l . The
o r i g i n a l porch i s thought t o have been a two-level porch. The o r i g i n a l
stone s t e p s with t h e i r wrought i r o n r a i l i n g s survive i n place. The building
is covered by a shallow hipped roof surrounded a t its base by a t h i n
bracketed cornice i n the manner of Benjamin Latrobe.
The r e a r e l e v a t i o n of the house was T-shaped although one-story a d d i t i o n s
have a l t e r e d i t s appearance. The o f f i c e wing a t the northwest corner
probably d a t e s from Doctor George c a b e l l ' s occupancy of the house.
The i n t e r i o r of Point of Honor contains notable Federal woodwork i n the
reception rooms. The door surround and mantel i n the drawing room both
employ pineapple and tassel-and-swag motifs and a r e e s p e c i a l l y f i n e i n
q u a l i t y . Most of t h e o r i g i n a l t r i m survives throughout the house although
t h e cornices i n both t h e drawing room and dining room have disappeared.
The house i s believed t o have had e l a b o r a t e and extensive gardens, but
l i t t l e t r a c e of them remains. 'Ihe lands around Point of Honor were heavily
developed i n t h e l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h century, but f o r t u n a t e l y t h e house r e t a i n s
an informal park a b w e i t with commanding views of the c i t y and t h e James
River.
Form 10-JW)a
(July 19691
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I
E N T R Y NUMBER
70 ,2
.45
0012
D A T E
Z/2!3/ZO(
P o i n t of Honor
8 . Statement of S i g n i f i c a n c e :
Point of Honor i n Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a i s a two s t o r y ,
T-shaped b r i c k house with p r o j e c t i n g o c t a g o n a l bays on
e i t h e r s i d e of t h e e n t r a n c e porch on t h e p r i n c i p a l e l e v a t i o n .
Current r e s e a r c h s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e house was b u i l t c a . 1815
f o r D r . George C a b e l l . The house is similar t o a group of
octagonal-bay houses b u i l t i n Richmond d u r i n g t h e same p e r i o d .
The Hancock-Caskie House a t 2 n o r t h 5 t h S t r e e t i s t h e only
s u r v i v i n g Richmond example. It i s a l s o a more e l a b o r a t e house.
than P o i n t of Honor and i n a much b e t t e r s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
However, n e i t h e r house can be s a i d t o p o s s e s s more than r e g i o n a l
significance.
I
SIGNIFICANCE
(check one or MOC.
PEIIOD
.
rl
..
AppromiataJ
Pn-blurnMenI
Abo. ipinal
Pnhlstolic
•
16th Cenwry
[7 E d v c a t i a
E"pimerinp
'
'
19th C e n t q
[7 Political
0 Religion/Phllosophy
His(or~c
,-J I ~ Y I I W
Apriculhon
,-J Inrmtion
Science
,-J Londscop.
Sculpwn
Q Archlmclun
I3 A*
Archimctun
,-J Com-c.
,-J Literohon
[7 Communication.
,-J Military
Cms.rrotion
[7 Music
20th C e n t v y
Urbon Piomins
Q Other I S ~ e c l h )
History
Sociol/Hummitarimn
,-J Theo'er
Tmnsportotion
STATEMENT O F SIGNIFICANCE
.,
The l a n d on which' p o i n t of Honor i s l o c a t e d was f i r s t owned by t h e Lynch
f a m i l y , whose f e r r y about a h a l f m i l e down t h e James River became t h e
nucleus around which t h e c i t y of Lynchburg developed,. I n 1805 p a r t of
t h e p r o p e r t y , i n c l u d i n g "the High Grounds, t h e Low Grounds, and t h e
I s l a n d s l y i n g on t h e James ~ i v e r , "were purchased by t h e noted p h y s i c i a n
Doctor George C a b e l l (1766-1823).
Doctor C a b e l l ' s most famous p a t i e n t
was P a t r i c k Henry, whose son married C a b e l l ' s daughter.
C o n s t r u c t i o n of P o i n t o f Honor was begun almost i m n e d i a t e l y a f t e r Doctor
C a b e l l a c q u i r e d t h e l a n d , and t h e house was ready f o r occupancy i n 1806.
O r i g i n a l l y known a s t h e "mansion house," t h e s t r u c t u r e a c q u i r e d i t s
p r e s e n t name i n 1812 a f t e r a b l o o d l e s s d u e l which took p l a c e nearby.
A f t e r C a b e l l ' s d e a t h i n 1823, t h e house was l e a s e d f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s t o
Colonel Maurice Langhorne who s h a r e d t h e r e s i d e n c e w i t h h i s b r o t h e r Henry,
g r e a t - g r a n d f a t h e r of Lady Astor and Mrs. C h a r l e s D a n a Gibson. Through
m a r r i a g e , ownership of P o i n t of Honor passed t o t h e Daniel f a m i l y , and
f o r a number of y e a r s it served a s t h e home o f t h e prominent Judge
William D a n i e l , Jr., f a t h e r of United S t a t e s S e n a t o r John Warwick D a n i e l ,
I n 1862 i t was a c q u i r e d by Colonel Robert
"the Lame Lion of Lynchburg."
L. Owen, P r e s i d e n t of t h e V i r g i n i a and Tennessee Railroad. Colonel Owen's
w i f e N a r c i s s a was t h e d a u g h t e r of Thomas Chisholm, t h e l a s t h e r e d i t a r y
war c h i e f of t h e Western Cherokees. T h e i r y o u h p r son became one of t h e
f i r s t two s e n a t o r s of t h e new s t a t e of Oklahoma ' i n 1907. I n r e c e n t y e a r s
t h e house h a s been owned by t h e c i t y and has been maintained under t h e
a u s p i c e s of t h e c i t y ' s Parks and R e c r e a t i o n a l Department.
I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s a s s o c i a t i o n s w i t h s e v e r a l prominent Lynchburg f a m i l i e s ,
P o i n t of Honor s u r v i v e s a s a d i s t i n c t i v e and uncomnonly s o p h i s t i c a t e d
example o f e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y domestic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Regrettably
t h e a r c h i t e c t - b u i l d e r i s unknown; however, t h e d e s i g n d i s p l a y s a more
t h a n c o i n c i d e n t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p t o s e v e r a l townhouses i n Richmond, which
i n t u r n a r e c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o known-designs by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
I t is a p p r o p r i a t e t h a t P o i n t of Honor, one o f t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t and
c e r t a i n l y f i n e s t houses, is c u r r e n t l y being r e s t o r e d t o s e r v e as a museum
f o r t h e c i t y o f Lynchburg.
<\
Chambers, S. Allen, J r . , "Point o f Honor; I t s P a s t and I t s P o t e n t i a l . "
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l Society: 1967.
Rothery, Agnes, Hauses Virginians Have Loved. New York: Bonanza Books,
1954.
Blunt, Ruth H.,"'Point of Honor,"' V i r g i n i a Cavalcade, Vol. X V I I I , No. 3
(Winter, 1969).
I
Tlo.
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GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
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S t a f f , Virginia H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o n u n i ~ n , - i b P s
ORGLNIZATION
October, 3 , 1963 :
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m ~ s s i o n
S T R E E T AND NUMBER:
.
,
Room 1116, Ninth S t r e e t S t a t e O f f i c e Buildillc:
Richmond
112. $SATE LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A I ~ O
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CODE
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45
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STATE
C l T l O R TOWN:
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..the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
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tion.! ilistodc preservation Act of 1966 (Public 1 . a ~
gg-f,65), 1 hereby nominate this property lor inclusion
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Virzinia
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R V E R I F I C A T I C N
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;;rii~;
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is inciudid in the
National Kegister
j i the tian anal Register and certify that it h a s been
evaluated according to t h e criteyia and prpcedures s e t
forth by the ~ a t i o n a ' lP a r k Setvice. The recommended
of t h i s nomlnation is:
level of
National
0
state
123
L-1
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. .-...Date
FEB :2 6 1970
8
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ATTEST:
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D r . Edward P. Alexander, Chairman
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e i r g i n i a N i s t o r i c Landmarks Corni a s ion
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l i 4 L P i : r l i l ~ l l rA N D O R I G I N A L ( i f L ~ ~ Y I Y I I' ,I t Y S I C A L . & P l ' E h l l l l N C C
The S o u t h R i v e r F r i e n d s M e e t i n g Ilouse s t a n d s o n t h e o p e n s u m l i t o f a 1i.il.l
o n t h e s o u t l l c r n edge o f Lynchburg, f a c i n g i t s b u r y i n g ground and f l a n k e d b y
t h e Q ~ ~ a l c eMemorial
r
P r e s b y t e r i a n Church, whose c o n g r e g a t i o n
house.
Completed i n 1798, i t i s a r u b b l e s t o n e s t r u c t u r e , a p p r o x i m a t e l y
Three l a r g e
3 0 by 51 f e e t , w i t h w a l l s 1 6 i n c h e s t h i c k , and 1 2 f e e t h i g h .
windows w i t h modern s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h and two doorways p i e r c e t h e s o u t h
f a c a d e . T h e r e a r e f i v e b a y s o f windows a l o n g thc! r e a r ( n o r t h ) , and a n o t h e r
doorway e x i s t s i n t h e two-bay e a s t g a b l e .
The b u i l d i n g f e l l i n t o d e c a y when t h e Qualiers l e f t Lynchburg i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s
a i ~ dabandoned t h e m e e t i n g h o u s e .
The r o o f and i n t e r i o r w e r e l o s t ; a C i v i l
War p h o t o g r a p h shu,.iz a t r c c growing i n s i d e t h e w a l l s .
I n t h e e a r l y twent i e t h c e n t u r y a P r e s b y t e r i a n g r o u p r e n o v a t e d tlie b u i l d i n g and h e l d s e r v i c e s
I
The p r e s e n t r o o f s t r u c t u r e , a s r r e l l a s t h e s h a p e d :;hingles on t h e
g a b l e s , t h e s h a p e d s l a t e s o n t h e r o o f , t h e d o o r s , and o t h e r t r i n , d a t e s froin
t h a t renovation.
F u r t h e . r r e s t o r a t i o n rias u n d e r t a l r e n by t h e C i t y o f Lynchbur:
i n tlie l a t e 1960s.
New p a r t i t i o n s t o s e p a r a t e men from \$omen i n t h e Quaker
manger and new b e n c h e s rvcre i n s r a l l e d , and a d d i t i o n a l work i s p l a n n e d .
Tile g r a v e y a r d i s n o t e ~ ~ o r t l ii yn i t s e l f , h a v i n g a C i n e ~ o l l e c t i n no f m o r t u a r y
art.
The e a r l i e s t m a r k e r s a r e F r i e n d s ' s t o n c z o f t h e c a r l y n i n c t r r n t h
c e n t u r y - . - c r u d e l y s h a p e d n a t i v e s t o n e , e i t l i e r b l a n k o r w i t h i n i t i a l s and a
d a t e , many adheri.ng t o t h e Quaker s t a n d a r d r e . s t r i c t i ~ n gs u c h ~ n a r h e r s t o
h e i g h t s o f 6 i n c h e s o r l e s s . A few, howcvcr, a r e l a r g e r , p r o f c s s L o n a l l y
c a r v e d iuonumcnt-s i n c h a r a c t e r r i s t i c . " C r a v e s t o n e " s h a p e s , b u t e v e n i:iany o f
The "A.P/18Clii" s t o n e
t h e s e a d h e r e t o tile p r a c t i c r of having o n l y i n i t i a l s .
i s a n examplc.
There i s so:iie rviclcnci. t h a t tlle c e m e t e r y c o n t i n u e d t o b e
t ~ s e r l f o l l o r v i n g t h e Qualcers' d e p a r t u r e . O u t s i d e t h e s t o n e w a l l s u r r o u n d i n g
most o f t h e g r a v e y a r d i s tlle t h i n , cruciform, homemade s l a t e s t o n e o f t h e
i n f a n t James H. Vj.ar, d a t e d 1892. Sor:~e i n t e r e s t i n g s u r v i . v a l s 0: 1 7 i c t o r i . a n
c c i n e t e r y a r t . a r e p r e s c n t i n t h e t..ientiei:h-cerittlry p r e s b y t e r i a n p o r t i o n o f
t h e c e m e t e r y , i n c l u d i n ~two m a r b l e rnzrkers e r e c t e d o v e r t h e g r a v e s o f membe
of t h e i?ood:nen o f t h e World, one i n t h e form o f ail u p r i g h t l o g , t h e o t l i e s
r e s e m b l i n g a s t a c k o f corcl~aoocl. Thcse d a t e froin t h e 1 9 2 0 s .
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?'he S o u t h Ri.ver F r i e n d s I,!eeting House, coinnionly knoi,,, a s t h e Quaker I*ieeting
llouae, i s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r i t s i n t i m a t e c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e s e t t l e m e n t o f
Campbell County and t h e f o u n d i n g o f 1,ynchburg. T l i o ~ g hmuch r e s t o r e d , i t i s
a good example of t h e s t a n d a r d Q u a k e r n i e e t i n g h o u s e t y p e and i s a n u n u s u a l
s u r v i ~ v a li n t h i s a r e a 02 V i r g i n i a .
The S o c i e t y o f F r i e n d s , o r Q u a k e r s , had a p p e a r e d i n V i r g i n i a s o o n a f t e r t h e
s e c t ' s f o u n d i n g i n t h e r i d - s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y , and a h a a d f u l o f F r i e n d s
w e r e tlie t h i r d g r o u p o f s e t t l e r s t o come t o Carnpbell County i n t h e mideighteenth century.
Axion: t h e s e e a r l y i m m i g r a n t s r z a t h e i e m i . 1 ~o f C h a r l e s
I.yiich, whose w i f e S a r a h '<as a Q u a k e r . A f t e r h e r h u s b a n d ' s d e a t h s11c i n v i t e
t h e F r i e n d s t o h o l d i n f o r 2 2 1 m e e t i n g s i n h e r h o u s e , and i n 1754 perr.!i:;sion
was o b t a i n e d from t h e S o c i e t y t o form a n o r g a n i z e d " i ~ c e t i n g " , o r congrc&;at i o n , t o b e c a l l e d t h e S c u t h R i v e r > i e e t i n g a f t e r i t s 1 o c a t i . o n bel.o\g t h e
Jamcs I t i v e r . A m e e t i n 2 ;iousi., t r a d i t i o n a l l y b e l i e v e d . t o h a v e bcen b u i l t o f
l o g , was e r e c t e d n c a r i h e s i t e o f t h e p r e s e n t o n e i n 1 7 1 7 , b u t i t burned i n
1768 and was r e p l a c e d by a fr;<ioe builrIi~..g l o c a t c d o n t h e saiie s p o t a s t h e
present building,
The p r e s e n t m e e t i n g liouse was p l a n n e d i n 1791. I t s c o r n e r s t o n e ( s t o l i ? n
d u r i n g t h c n i n e t e e n t h - c e r t u r y pcriocl of abanc\om?.€!n'i) v a s l a i d i n 1792, b u t
f i i ~ a n c i a ld i f f i c u l t i e s prev?ntccl t h e compli-tion o f t h e b u i l d i n g u n t i l 17'18.
The, prei1~~m:inancei n nurnhers and precedence i n s e t t l c - e n ; : o f l i r i e n d s i n t h c ?
v i c i n i t y rua:; s u c h t h a t this was t h e o n l y r e l i g i o u s c d i . f i c e i n tlie J.yrichburg
a r e a ( e x c e p t f o r a n A n g l i c a n c h u r c h b u i l t i n 1765 an(! abandoned a d e c a d e
l a t e r ) u n t i l 1806.
TI><:nera mcctling h o u s e :?es l o c a t e d o n a t e n - a c r e t r a c t g i v e n b y S a r a h
s o n , J o h n , a p r o s p e r v u s b i . s i u c s s m m r h o , i n 1 7 8 6 , had o b t ; i i n e d a r b i ~ r t e i
t l - e c i t y o f I.yncliburg, t o b e b u i l t a t t h e s i t e o f h i s f e r r y a c r o s s tllc,
R i - \ i c , r , T h a t t e n n c r c s , i n t ; l c . t s a v e f o r a s n n l l p o r t i o n take11 Ly a l i i ~ l l w a y ,
c o m p r i s e s t h e present h o l d i r i g o f t h e Q u a k e r l i e ; n o r i a l I ' r e s b y t e r i a n Church.
L i k e Quakors t h r o u g h o u t t h e I J n i t c d S t a t e s , tile Lynchburg Qual<crs began i n
t h e l a t c e i g h t e e n t l i c e n t > u r y t o f r e e t h e m s c ~ l v e s 01 t h e t a i r i t o f s l a v e r y , and
b y 1 7 9 8 no s l a v e s were o:.;ned by any rnin~ber o f t h e Soutl! R i v e r biontlily
T,.icct:ing. T h i s a c t i o n a r o u s c d t h c a n i n o s i t . ~o f o t h c r a r e a r c s i d c n t s , b u t it
was r c s t r a i n c d u n t i l 1835 when a n a g r e e w e n t by l o c s l m e r c h a n t s n o t t o t r a d e
wit11 " o u t s i d e a g i t a t : o r s l ' :;as r e a d b y Quakers a s a n o b l i r j u e warni.ng t o thems c l v e , ? . The t r i c k l e o f xT.ol,ement by tlie Qualiers t o t h e r:ei;t, he[;un i n 1 8 1 3
w z t h t h e e m i : ; r a t l o ~ i o f a s i . ~ a l l::roup t o Ohiox_bec,v:!e a f l o o d , mild~aa i71ass
( s e e c o n t i n u a t i o n slleet #2)
L~
1
For.;, 13-?050
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES 0EPART:AiNT OF THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N 4 L ?ARK SERVICE
STATE
N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F H I S T O R I C P L A C E S
INVENTORY
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
- ).tOMII.IATION F 0 4 M
(Continuation Sheet)
112
FOR NPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMOEFl
-
exodus o f 1835-37 ( m o s t l y t o O h i o ) l e f t Lynchburg v i r t u a l l y eilipty o f t h e
d e n o m i n a t i o n . M e e t i n g s f o r w o r s h i p ended i n 1839, a l t h o u g h t h e k e e p i n g of
v i t a l r e c o r d s was c o n t i n u e d u n t i l t h e o f f i c i a l " l a y i n g dorm", o r d i s b a n d m e n t ,
o f t h e Pleeting i n 1858. I t s p e r i o d o f n e g l e c t l a s t e d f o r o v e r f o r t y y e a r s
and was e x a c e r b a t e d by t h e G a t t l e o f Lynchburg f o u g h t a r o u n d i t o n J u n e 1 8 ,
1863. A P r e s b y t e r i a n Sunday S c h o o l was founded o n t h e g r o u n d s i n 1 0 9 7 , and
t h e b y - t h e n r u i n o u s m e e t i n g h o u s e was r e s t o r e d i n t h e f i r s t decade o f t h e
twentieth century.
The S o u t h R i v e r N e e t i n s House i s o f a t y p e a l m o s t u n i v e r s a l f o r r u r a l F r i e n d s
rr~retin:: h o u s e s i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h and n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s - - a o n c - s t o r y sirructill-e b u i l t t o h a v e s e p a r a t e E n t r a n c e s and s e p a r a t e compartmdnts f o r I ~ I - nand
b:o:>en, a r a i s e d p l a t f o r m f a c i n g t h e g r o u p f o r t h e u s e o f n i n i . s t e r s and e l d e r s
of t h e m e e t i n g , and a movable p a r t i t i o n between t h e two s e c t i o n s t o a l l o w a l l
t h o s e a t t e n d i n g t o h e a r i m p o r t a n t v i s i t i n g s p e a k e r s . The b u i l d i n g ' s s i g n i f i cnncz i s e n h a n c e d by t h e p r c s c n c e o f i t s a d j a c e n t b u r y i n g ground r"illicli, i n i t 5
v a r y i n g a d l ~ e r e n c et o Q u a k e r s t a n d a r d s f o r g r a v e m a r k i n g s , p r e s e n t s a more
hunan p i c t u r e o f F r i e n d s l i f e t h a n do t h e i r i d e a l s of c o n d u c t t a k e n i n tllemselves.
B u r i e d t h e r e a r e S a r a h Lynch ( i n a n um?,arked g r a v e ) anrl h e r s o n J o h n ,
Che r o u n d e r o f t h e c i . t y , x,?-hoss r e s t i n g p l a c e i s marlced b y a p l a i n Quaker s t o n e
and a modern p l a q u e .
GPO
921.724
i
I
brown, Douglas Summers. L y n c h b t l r g ' s P i o n e e r Quakers and T h c i r ?lcet%
House,
(1936).
~.
Morton, Mrs. t1. L.
History
--
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References :
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V i r g i n i a His t o r i r Isandmarks Cor>!xissionStaf1
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I heiclly c e i t i € g that tliis p r u y e i t y i-, i r ~ r l i i d r r li n t h c
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMEFlT O F THE INTERIOR
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STATE
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N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOhllNATlOH FORM
(Carltinuation Sheet)
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V i r g i - n i a I l i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n Survey
1968
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V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Conunission
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l i 4 L P i : r l i l ~ l l rA N D O R I G I N A L ( i f L ~ ~ Y I Y I I' ,I t Y S I C A L . & P l ' E h l l l l N C C
The S o u t h R i v e r F r i e n d s M e e t i n g Ilouse s t a n d s o n t h e o p e n s u m l i t o f a 1i.il.l
o n t h e s o u t l l c r n edge o f Lynchburg, f a c i n g i t s b u r y i n g ground and f l a n k e d b y
t h e Q ~ ~ a l c eMemorial
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P r e s b y t e r i a n Church, whose c o n g r e g a t i o n
house.
Completed i n 1798, i t i s a r u b b l e s t o n e s t r u c t u r e , a p p r o x i m a t e l y
Three l a r g e
3 0 by 51 f e e t , w i t h w a l l s 1 6 i n c h e s t h i c k , and 1 2 f e e t h i g h .
windows w i t h modern s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h and two doorways p i e r c e t h e s o u t h
f a c a d e . T h e r e a r e f i v e b a y s o f windows a l o n g thc! r e a r ( n o r t h ) , and a n o t h e r
doorway e x i s t s i n t h e two-bay e a s t g a b l e .
The b u i l d i n g f e l l i n t o d e c a y when t h e Qualiers l e f t Lynchburg i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s
a i ~ dabandoned t h e m e e t i n g h o u s e .
The r o o f and i n t e r i o r w e r e l o s t ; a C i v i l
War p h o t o g r a p h shu,.iz a t r c c growing i n s i d e t h e w a l l s .
I n t h e e a r l y twent i e t h c e n t u r y a P r e s b y t e r i a n g r o u p r e n o v a t e d tlie b u i l d i n g and h e l d s e r v i c e s
I
The p r e s e n t r o o f s t r u c t u r e , a s r r e l l a s t h e s h a p e d :;hingles on t h e
g a b l e s , t h e s h a p e d s l a t e s o n t h e r o o f , t h e d o o r s , and o t h e r t r i n , d a t e s froin
t h a t renovation.
F u r t h e . r r e s t o r a t i o n rias u n d e r t a l r e n by t h e C i t y o f Lynchbur:
i n tlie l a t e 1960s.
New p a r t i t i o n s t o s e p a r a t e men from \$omen i n t h e Quaker
manger and new b e n c h e s rvcre i n s r a l l e d , and a d d i t i o n a l work i s p l a n n e d .
Tile g r a v e y a r d i s n o t e ~ ~ o r t l ii yn i t s e l f , h a v i n g a C i n e ~ o l l e c t i n no f m o r t u a r y
art.
The e a r l i e s t m a r k e r s a r e F r i e n d s ' s t o n c z o f t h e c a r l y n i n c t r r n t h
c e n t u r y - . - c r u d e l y s h a p e d n a t i v e s t o n e , e i t l i e r b l a n k o r w i t h i n i t i a l s and a
d a t e , many adheri.ng t o t h e Quaker s t a n d a r d r e . s t r i c t i ~ n gs u c h ~ n a r h e r s t o
h e i g h t s o f 6 i n c h e s o r l e s s . A few, howcvcr, a r e l a r g e r , p r o f c s s L o n a l l y
c a r v e d iuonumcnt-s i n c h a r a c t e r r i s t i c . " C r a v e s t o n e " s h a p e s , b u t e v e n i:iany o f
The "A.P/18Clii" s t o n e
t h e s e a d h e r e t o tile p r a c t i c r of having o n l y i n i t i a l s .
i s a n examplc.
There i s so:iie rviclcnci. t h a t tlle c e m e t e r y c o n t i n u e d t o b e
t ~ s e r l f o l l o r v i n g t h e Qualcers' d e p a r t u r e . O u t s i d e t h e s t o n e w a l l s u r r o u n d i n g
most o f t h e g r a v e y a r d i s tlle t h i n , cruciform, homemade s l a t e s t o n e o f t h e
i n f a n t James H. Vj.ar, d a t e d 1892. Sor:~e i n t e r e s t i n g s u r v i . v a l s 0: 1 7 i c t o r i . a n
c c i n e t e r y a r t . a r e p r e s c n t i n t h e t..ientiei:h-cerittlry p r e s b y t e r i a n p o r t i o n o f
t h e c e m e t e r y , i n c l u d i n ~two m a r b l e rnzrkers e r e c t e d o v e r t h e g r a v e s o f membe
of t h e i?ood:nen o f t h e World, one i n t h e form o f ail u p r i g h t l o g , t h e o t l i e s
r e s e m b l i n g a s t a c k o f corcl~aoocl. Thcse d a t e froin t h e 1 9 2 0 s .
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?'he S o u t h Ri.ver F r i e n d s I,!eeting House, coinnionly knoi,,, a s t h e Quaker I*ieeting
llouae, i s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r i t s i n t i m a t e c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e s e t t l e m e n t o f
Campbell County and t h e f o u n d i n g o f 1,ynchburg. T l i o ~ g hmuch r e s t o r e d , i t i s
a good example of t h e s t a n d a r d Q u a k e r n i e e t i n g h o u s e t y p e and i s a n u n u s u a l
s u r v i ~ v a li n t h i s a r e a 02 V i r g i n i a .
The S o c i e t y o f F r i e n d s , o r Q u a k e r s , had a p p e a r e d i n V i r g i n i a s o o n a f t e r t h e
s e c t ' s f o u n d i n g i n t h e r i d - s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y , and a h a a d f u l o f F r i e n d s
w e r e tlie t h i r d g r o u p o f s e t t l e r s t o come t o Carnpbell County i n t h e mideighteenth century.
Axion: t h e s e e a r l y i m m i g r a n t s r z a t h e i e m i . 1 ~o f C h a r l e s
I.yiich, whose w i f e S a r a h '<as a Q u a k e r . A f t e r h e r h u s b a n d ' s d e a t h s11c i n v i t e
t h e F r i e n d s t o h o l d i n f o r 2 2 1 m e e t i n g s i n h e r h o u s e , and i n 1754 perr.!i:;sion
was o b t a i n e d from t h e S o c i e t y t o form a n o r g a n i z e d " i ~ c e t i n g " , o r congrc&;at i o n , t o b e c a l l e d t h e S c u t h R i v e r > i e e t i n g a f t e r i t s 1 o c a t i . o n bel.o\g t h e
Jamcs I t i v e r . A m e e t i n 2 ;iousi., t r a d i t i o n a l l y b e l i e v e d . t o h a v e bcen b u i l t o f
l o g , was e r e c t e d n c a r i h e s i t e o f t h e p r e s e n t o n e i n 1 7 1 7 , b u t i t burned i n
1768 and was r e p l a c e d by a fr;<ioe builrIi~..g l o c a t c d o n t h e saiie s p o t a s t h e
present building,
The p r e s e n t m e e t i n g liouse was p l a n n e d i n 1791. I t s c o r n e r s t o n e ( s t o l i ? n
d u r i n g t h c n i n e t e e n t h - c e r t u r y pcriocl of abanc\om?.€!n'i) v a s l a i d i n 1792, b u t
f i i ~ a n c i a ld i f f i c u l t i e s prev?ntccl t h e compli-tion o f t h e b u i l d i n g u n t i l 17'18.
The, prei1~~m:inancei n nurnhers and precedence i n s e t t l c - e n ; : o f l i r i e n d s i n t h c ?
v i c i n i t y rua:; s u c h t h a t this was t h e o n l y r e l i g i o u s c d i . f i c e i n tlie J.yrichburg
a r e a ( e x c e p t f o r a n A n g l i c a n c h u r c h b u i l t i n 1765 an(! abandoned a d e c a d e
l a t e r ) u n t i l 1806.
TI><:nera mcctling h o u s e :?es l o c a t e d o n a t e n - a c r e t r a c t g i v e n b y S a r a h
s o n , J o h n , a p r o s p e r v u s b i . s i u c s s m m r h o , i n 1 7 8 6 , had o b t ; i i n e d a r b i ~ r t e i
t l - e c i t y o f I.yncliburg, t o b e b u i l t a t t h e s i t e o f h i s f e r r y a c r o s s tllc,
R i - \ i c , r , T h a t t e n n c r c s , i n t ; l c . t s a v e f o r a s n n l l p o r t i o n take11 Ly a l i i ~ l l w a y ,
c o m p r i s e s t h e present h o l d i r i g o f t h e Q u a k e r l i e ; n o r i a l I ' r e s b y t e r i a n Church.
L i k e Quakors t h r o u g h o u t t h e I J n i t c d S t a t e s , tile Lynchburg Qual<crs began i n
t h e l a t c e i g h t e e n t l i c e n t > u r y t o f r e e t h e m s c ~ l v e s 01 t h e t a i r i t o f s l a v e r y , and
b y 1 7 9 8 no s l a v e s were o:.;ned by any rnin~ber o f t h e Soutl! R i v e r biontlily
T,.icct:ing. T h i s a c t i o n a r o u s c d t h c a n i n o s i t . ~o f o t h c r a r e a r c s i d c n t s , b u t it
was r c s t r a i n c d u n t i l 1835 when a n a g r e e w e n t by l o c s l m e r c h a n t s n o t t o t r a d e
wit11 " o u t s i d e a g i t a t : o r s l ' :;as r e a d b y Quakers a s a n o b l i r j u e warni.ng t o thems c l v e , ? . The t r i c k l e o f xT.ol,ement by tlie Qualiers t o t h e r:ei;t, he[;un i n 1 8 1 3
w z t h t h e e m i : ; r a t l o ~ i o f a s i . ~ a l l::roup t o Ohiox_bec,v:!e a f l o o d , mild~aa i71ass
( s e e c o n t i n u a t i o n slleet #2)
L~
1
For.;, 13-?050
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES 0EPART:AiNT OF THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N 4 L ?ARK SERVICE
STATE
N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F H I S T O R I C P L A C E S
INVENTORY
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
- ).tOMII.IATION F 0 4 M
(Continuation Sheet)
112
FOR NPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMOEFl
-
exodus o f 1835-37 ( m o s t l y t o O h i o ) l e f t Lynchburg v i r t u a l l y eilipty o f t h e
d e n o m i n a t i o n . M e e t i n g s f o r w o r s h i p ended i n 1839, a l t h o u g h t h e k e e p i n g of
v i t a l r e c o r d s was c o n t i n u e d u n t i l t h e o f f i c i a l " l a y i n g dorm", o r d i s b a n d m e n t ,
o f t h e Pleeting i n 1858. I t s p e r i o d o f n e g l e c t l a s t e d f o r o v e r f o r t y y e a r s
and was e x a c e r b a t e d by t h e G a t t l e o f Lynchburg f o u g h t a r o u n d i t o n J u n e 1 8 ,
1863. A P r e s b y t e r i a n Sunday S c h o o l was founded o n t h e g r o u n d s i n 1 0 9 7 , and
t h e b y - t h e n r u i n o u s m e e t i n g h o u s e was r e s t o r e d i n t h e f i r s t decade o f t h e
twentieth century.
The S o u t h R i v e r N e e t i n s House i s o f a t y p e a l m o s t u n i v e r s a l f o r r u r a l F r i e n d s
rr~retin:: h o u s e s i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h and n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s - - a o n c - s t o r y sirructill-e b u i l t t o h a v e s e p a r a t e E n t r a n c e s and s e p a r a t e compartmdnts f o r I ~ I - nand
b:o:>en, a r a i s e d p l a t f o r m f a c i n g t h e g r o u p f o r t h e u s e o f n i n i . s t e r s and e l d e r s
of t h e m e e t i n g , and a movable p a r t i t i o n between t h e two s e c t i o n s t o a l l o w a l l
t h o s e a t t e n d i n g t o h e a r i m p o r t a n t v i s i t i n g s p e a k e r s . The b u i l d i n g ' s s i g n i f i cnncz i s e n h a n c e d by t h e p r c s c n c e o f i t s a d j a c e n t b u r y i n g ground r"illicli, i n i t 5
v a r y i n g a d l ~ e r e n c et o Q u a k e r s t a n d a r d s f o r g r a v e m a r k i n g s , p r e s e n t s a more
hunan p i c t u r e o f F r i e n d s l i f e t h a n do t h e i r i d e a l s of c o n d u c t t a k e n i n tllemselves.
B u r i e d t h e r e a r e S a r a h Lynch ( i n a n um?,arked g r a v e ) anrl h e r s o n J o h n ,
Che r o u n d e r o f t h e c i . t y , x,?-hoss r e s t i n g p l a c e i s marlced b y a p l a i n Quaker s t o n e
and a modern p l a q u e .
GPO
921.724
i
I
brown, Douglas Summers. L y n c h b t l r g ' s P i o n e e r Quakers and T h c i r ?lcet%
House,
(1936).
~.
Morton, Mrs. t1. L.
History
--
-
~
~
-.
G E O G R A P H I C A L DA
~
References :
U I
V i r g i n i a His t o r i r Isandmarks Cor>!xissionStaf1
I
V i r g i n i a ' l i s t o r i c Lancblarks Coi:.mission
~
:j?:~.l 1 9 7 5
. ~.~
~
N~JML'ER:
221 G o v f r n o r S t r e e t
.
SThTE
CODE
. .
,,LLirzsn_~~-___.
Ri@2xEL
S i A T F L.lA1SON O F F I C E R C E R t l F J C A
A s t h r di:sig;lntr.d S t a t e 1,iai;on
t i o n s l l l i s l o r i c Prr.;rrv;ition
i.i,\-:)O?JAL.i?i:GI:iT~V V:51F1C:*(~~O;I
-
---..--**--
O f f i c e r for t h e K n ~
A r t of 1966 ( P u b l i c i.aw
8 9 ~ 6 6 5 ) .1 liereby n o m i n a t e t h i s p r o p e r t y f o r i n c l u i i o ; ~
I heiclly c e i t i € g that tliis p r u y e i t y i-, i r ~ r l i i d r r li n t h c
N-tional R e g i s t e r .
i n tire K e t ~ o n a Rogi:;trr
l
a n d c e r t i f y tll:>t i t i i a s b r r n
c.v:ilci:<tr.il acc:ordini: t o t h c c - i t w i n and p r o r c r i i i e s s e t
f o r t h by t h e Notiomtl l'ark Srrvlc:c.
l e v e l of ~ i ~ ; ~ i f i c ; ~
ofn thi::
ce
[~1
Stcite
The recomo.er;:iail
nonnnatlan i s :
FC;1:
L.ocn1
C!
~
i<et,'er
Gate
~
of
N'rlio."al R e g i s t e r
4
-
CJ
.~
-
~
. I T " O H TS'Cili.
National
n
.
D*Tt
)RGCNlZAllON
~ r i i : c iA N D
__
Form 10.3000
(July 1969)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMEFlT O F THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
STATE
Virginia
N A T I O N A L REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOhllNATlOH FORM
(Carltinuation Sheet)
I
6.
-
REPRESENTATION IS E X I S T I N G SUI:\lEYS
(2)
V i r g i - n i a I l i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n Survey
1968
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Conunission
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
Richn~ond, V i r g i n i a
code:
51
--
FOR *l?S USE ONLY
-
E N T H I NUYSER
Text
United States Department of the interior
Heritage GOnservaticn and Recreation Service
For HG R 5 use 0
Nationall Register of MisQoaicPlaces
RnvenQoay-Bz~minatiosl Form
1
d
Gate en
E
See instructions in How lo Compfete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
,
.*I
,I
?. Mame
Sandusky
historic
-.
-
S andusky
andlor common
7.5 7 Sznduskp Drive
street 8 number
Si::th
Lynchburg
city, town
N ! vlcinity of
state
Vtr~inia
3
CBassIifiication
code
Category
Ownership
.-.district
-public
building(s) x private
structure
- - both
-site
Public Acquisition
I
-
-being considered
$A
I/
name
51
county
Status
x-
occupied
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
2 L yes: restricted
in process
o b j e c t
&
' !A not for publication
- -
-yes: unrestricted
-no
congressional district (P?. L a L d ~ ~ c lRut
L ler:
din c i t y )
code h8D
Present U s e
-agriculture
-mu5eum
- - commercial
p a r k
private residence
retigiavs
-scientific
.
transportatIan
other:
-educational
-
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-
Ytr. 2nd Firs. Ycville K.
Adkinscn
757 Sandusliy O r L v e
street & number
- -
7
~ynchbuzg
city, town
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc,
%;
C a i f i p k-.
l l Coull'iy Cauwt House, Clerk's Of f i c ~
NIA
street & number
-.
Rusf burg
city, toLm
state
Vi r ~ i n i a
6. Represeaatetiom ii'i Exisaing S M ~ M( 3~-- ~see Scontj.nlletion sheet
tiae
iElstoric 3istrlct survey,
(1)
.g.,
rhhn,.rJ
U I
7fl
has this property- been
determined elegible? -yes Lno
- ---
-federar
-state -county
dopasltary
lor survey reco
- ..
-
d t y , twrn
.
'
'
.
~ynchburg
Virginia
x
. - local
-
fi
Condition
~r
excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
Check one
-unaltered
2original site
L altered
-moved
date
N
Describe the present and original (if known] physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Sandusky i s a f o r m a l two-story, b r i c k "I" house w i t h a l a t e r e l l . The house has sophist i c a t e d t r i m and i s i n a good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
Its p a r l o r is given a p a r t i c u l a r l y eleg;
t r e a t m e n t through t h e u s e of arched r e c e s s e s on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e f i r e p l a c e . Although i t s
farm h a s been s u b d i v i d e d , Sandusky's generous y a r d i s i n t a c t and p r o v i d e s an a p p r o p r i a t e
s e t t i n g f o r t h e house.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n of Sandusky i s covered by a g a b l e roof and h a s w a l l s l a i d i n v e r y
even Flemish bond. T h i s s e c t i o n i s five-bays wide and measures, according t o an 1813 insuranc
p o l i c y , 48' x 20'.
F i r s t - f l o o r windows have 919 s a s h , w h i l e t h e upper f l o o r c o n t a i n s windows
w i t h 619 s a s h . A l l f e n e s t r a t i o n i s topped w i t h splayed b r i c k j a c k a r c h e s . Those above t h e
second-floor windows extend t o t h e bed molding o f t h e wooden c o r n i c e . T h i s o t h e r w i s e simple,
molded c o r n i c e c o n t a i n s t h e refinement of having paneled m u t u l e s i n t h e s o f f i t . The c o r n i c e
i s t e r m i n a t e d a t each end of t h e f r o n t and r e a r w a l l s w i t h a shaped end board, which follows
t h e p r o f i l e of t h e c o r n i c e . The f a c e s of t h e end boards a r e f l u s h w i t h t h e p l a i n r a k e board5
of t h e gabled end w a l l s . Above t h e c o r n i c e i s a s t a n d i n g - s e a m m e t a l r o o f , which was i n p l a c c
a s e a r l y a s 1864. A s c u t t l e , which was c u t i n t o t h e roof t h a t y e a r t o a f f o r d F e d e r a l o f f i c e r
a a v i s t a of t h e b a t t l e which was fought i n t h e f i e l d s around t h e house, s t i l l e x i s t s . The
o r i g i n a l c o v e r i n g , a s r e v e a l e d i n t h e b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e 1813 i n s u r a n c e p o l i c y , was
wooden s h i n g l e . A t e i t h e r end of t h e g a b l e roof a r e well-proportioned chimneys w i t h
c o r b e l l e d caps.
The f r o n t doorway, which c e n t e r s t h e f a c a d e , i s a p a r t i c u l a r l y r e f i n e d F e d e r a l composition
A broad, s e m i e l l i p t i c a l f a n l i g h t extends a c r o s s t h e nine-paneled f r o n t door t o cover glazed
s i d e l i g h t s a s w e l l . The r a d i a t i n g t r a c e r y of t h e f a n l i g h t i s presumably o r i g i n a l , b u t t h e
diamoild-paned g l a z i n g of t h e s i d e l i g h t s i s a l a t e r m o d i f i c a t i o n . Because of t h e width of t h e
e n t r a n c e f r o n t i s p i e c e on t h e f i r s t f l o o r , t h e c e n t r a l opening on t h e second f l o o r i s separate!
by a b r o a d e r expanse of b r i c k from t h e windows on e i t h e r s i d e than e x i s t s between t h o s e
windows and t h e end p a i r . T h i s c e n t r a l opening of t h e second f l o o r h a s been converted i n t o a
j i b window, w i t h a hinged wooden lower s e c t i o n a f f o r d i n g a c c e s s t o an open, r a i l e d deck above
t h e one-story f r o n t porch. The porch i s t e t r a s t y l a r w i t h Tuscan columns. While i t more o r
l e s s occupies t h e space of an o r i g i n a l porch o r s t o o p , t h e d e t a i l s and arrangement mark i t
I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e p i l a s t e r s on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e
a s l a t e r than o r i g i n a l construction.
c'oor i n f r i n g e uncomfortably on t h e windows and b l i n d s a d j a c e n t t o them.
To t h e r e a r of t h e main b l o c k , behind t h e d i n i n g room, i s a n e l l . The p o r t i o n n e a r e s t
t o t h e main b l o c k i s two s t o r i e s t a l l and measures 19' x 1 8 ' , a g a i n according t o t h e 1813
i n s u r a n c e p o l i c y . T h i s e l l i s a l s o c o v e r e l w i t h a standing-seam m e t a l r o o f and has a c o r b e l l r
chimney a t t h e end w a l l . Behind t h i s p o r t i o n of t h e e l l and a l i g n e d w i t h i t i s a f u r t h e r
e x t e n s i o n , a one-story a d d i t i o n which was i n p l a c e by 1817, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e second i n s u r a n c e
p o l i c y which Johnston, t h e o r i g i n a l owner, took on t h e p r o p e r t y . Now c o n t a i n i n g t h e k i t c h e n ,
t h i s l a s t a d d i t i o n was, a c c o r d i n g t o t r a d i t i o n , b u i l t a s a n u r s e r y f o r t h e Johnston c h i l d r e n .
A one-story porch e x t e n d s from t h e mid-portion of t h e main b l o c k t o t h e end w a l l of t h e
l a s t a d d i t i o n . ~ &formal
s ~ t h a n t h e f r o n t porch, i t i s convered w i t h a s l o p e d roof w i t h
hipped ends. Access i s gained from two doors i n t o t h e e l l .
The main r e c t a n g u l a r b l o c k of t h e house c o n t a i n s a c e n t r a l s t a i r h a l l w i t h one room on
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-agriculture
-K architecture
-art
-commerce
communications
-landscape architecture-
-law
-literature
-economics
-education
X military
-engineering
-music
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
-industry
-poiiticslgovernment
-invention
BuilderIArchitect
religion
-science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
-other (specify)
unknown
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEKENT
OF SIGIVIPTCAlYCE
--,
Sandusky i s an i m p r e s s i v e F e d e r a l - s t y l e farmhouse of b o t h a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l
s i g n i f i c a n c e . B u i l t ca. 1808 f o r Charles Johnston, i t i s one of t h e e a r l i e s t houses i n t h e
Lynchburg a r e a t o d i s p l a y t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l s and r e f i n e m e n t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Federa
d e s i g n . Johnston took o u t s e v e r a l f i r e i n s u r a n c e p o l i c i e s on h i s house w i t h t h e Mutual
Assurance S o c i e t y of V i r g i n i a ; t h u s , t h e h i s t o r y of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s subsequent a l t e r a t i o n s
or a d d i t i o n s i s w e l l documented. I n 1864, d u r i n g t h e B a t t l e of Lynchburg, Sandusky served a
Union h e a d q u a r t e r s .
bong t h o s e q u a r t e r e d t h e r e were Gen. 9 a i v d Hunter and f u t u r e P r e s i d e n t
Rutherford B. Hayes and WilliamZ?cKinley, t h e n on H u n t e r ' s s t a f f . O r i g i n a l l y t h e s e a t of
an e x t e n s i v e farm, Sandusky i s now w i t h i n t h e c i t y l i m i t s of Lynchburg, and t h e p r o p e r t y i s
surrounded by l a t e r r e s i d e n t i a l development. F o r t u n a t e l y , Sandusky i s maintained i n e x c e l l e n t
c o n d i t i o n , and e f f e c t i v e p l a n t i n g i n t h e l a r g e , well-maintained yard has k e p t 2 0 t h t c e n t u r y
i n t r u s i o n s a t a comfortable d i s t a n c e .
HISTORI CAI, BACKGROUND
Sandusky i s one o f t h e f i r s t f o r m a l l y s t y l e d F e d e r a l houses i n t h e Bedford/Campbell
County a r e a . A s s u c h , i t helped s e t t h e s t a n d a r d t h a t would be followed d u r i n g t h e n e x t
decade, a t i m e of immense growth and development f o r Lynchburg and t h e surrounding country.
A number of l a t e r houses still exist which o b v i o u s l y owe a r c h i t e c t u r a l a l l e g i a n c e t o Sandusk!
Charles J o h n s t o n , fog whom t h e m a n s i o n was b u i l t , was an e a r l y s e t t l e r i n t h e a r e a , whose
f a t h e r had come t o Richmond from Scotland. Johnston named h i s home i n memory of h i s d e l i v e r ance from a n e a r l y d i s a s t r o u s e v e n t which had t a k e n p l a c e i n 1790. On a t r i p t o Kentucky,
he had been kidnapped by a p a r t y of Shawnee I n d i a n s and t a k e n t o t h e i r camp a t Sandusky, i n
Ohio, b e f o r e h i s e v e n t u a l r e l e a s e .
b
I n 1813 J o h n s t o n t o o k o u t t h e f i r s t of s e v e r a l i n s u r a n c e p o l i c i e s on Sandusky with t h e
Mutual Assurance S o c i e t y of V i r g i n i a . The d e s c r i p t i o n given i n t h a t i n i t i a l p o l i c y shows
t h e f i r s t s t a g e of t h e house: a two-story b r i c k b u i l d i n g , measuring "48 x 20 f e e t " w i t h a
two-story b r i c k wing "19 x 18." The p r o p e r t y was i n s u r e d f o r $6,00 a n o t i n c o n s i d e r a b l e
sum a t t h a t time. By t h e time o f t h e i s s u a n c e o f a second p o l i c y i n 1817, a one-story b r i c k
wing w i t h dimensions of 2 4 x 1 8 f e e t had been added.
I n 1818 J o h n s t o n s o l d t h e p r o p e r t y , and i t e v e n t u a l l y came i n t o t h e ownership of t h e
H u t t e r family. I t was d u r i n g t h e i r t e n u r e t h a t t h e house played i t s most important h i s t o r i c 3
r o l e . Obeying Gen. U. S. G r a n t ' s d i r e c t i v e t h a t "it would be of g r e a t v a l u e t o us t o g e t
p o s s e s s i o n o f Lynchburg f o r a s i n g l e day, "Maj. Gen. David Hunter forayed a c r o s s t h e Blue
Ridge Yountains from Lexington i n June 1864. Meeting t h e Confederate f o r c e s on t h e o u t s k i r t s
of Lynchburg, h e s e t up h e a d q u a r t e r s a t Sandusky on June 17. ~ u n t e r ' sRaid, a s t h e B a t t l e
of Lynchburg h a s been a l t e r n a t e l y c a l l e d , raged around t h e house t h e n e x t day. Hunter was
rebuffed i n h i s a t t e m p t t o c a p t u r e Lynchburg and e a r l y on t h e m o r n i n g of June 19 was i n f u l l
r e t r e a t back t o t h e V a l l e y of V i r g i n i a . Hunter's "host" a t Sandusky was Maj. George
2)
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
1 "Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a i n t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s , " i n I r o n Worker (Spring 1960): 1-13.
2 Richmond, Va. V i r e i n i a S t a t e L i b r a r y Archives. Mutual Assurance S o c i e t y o f V i r g i n i a
Policies.
R6 V48 N446 (1813); K5 V 4 5 N2337 (1817).
3 "Sandusky, By t h e S t i l l Waters",
Lynchburg i h g a z i n e ( M a r c h - ~ p r i l 1975): 22-26.
10. Geographical Data
3.84 a c r e s
Acreage of nominated property
Lynchburg,
Va.
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
Zone
kL I9 16 15 101
Easting
14 11
Quadrangle scale
b 18 13 14 10 1
Northing
Zone
Easting
1:24000
Northing
Beginning a t a p o i n t on N s i d e of Pawnee Drive, about
4 1 0 ' M ; thence about
400' !.1 along s a i d s i f i p ~
>ync'rburg A s s e s s o r ' s Kecords: Lot TR2, 158-1-16.(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s l ~ e g t
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t l o n a n d justification:
1'0'
436'
E of i t s i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h Navajo C i r c l e ; thence e s t e n d i n g a b o u t
; thence a b o - ~ t350' S t o N s i d e of Sandusky Drive; thence about
t o l o i n t of o r i g i n .
i:2 )
L i s t a l l s t a t e s and c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
state
N/A
code
countv
N/A
city or town
-
Chan,bcrs, 3s. f o r
organization V i r z i n l a H i s t o r i c Landnarks Commission
street & number
code
-
II. Form Preparedby
nameititleS. 'Illen
code
221 Governor S t r e e t
date
January 1982
telephone
Kichrr.ond
state
(8ClL) 736-31L4
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preseawation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2.state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Publlc Law 89nal Register and certify that it has been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nomlnate this property for inclusion
according to the criterla and procedures set forth
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Brvan M i t c h e l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
//
'1
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventor&-Nomination
Form
SANDUSKY, LY
BURG, VA.
Continuation sheet
Item number
1
6,7
Page
1
6.Representation i n E x i s t i n g Surveys
(2)
H i s t o r i c American B u i l d i n g s Survey I n v e n t o r y
J u n e 1958
L i b r a r y of Congress, P r i n t s and Photographs Division
Washington, D. C.
(3)
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1967, 1968
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
Architectural Analysis
each s i d e -- t h e p a r l o r t o t h e l e f t , t h e d i n i n g room t o t h e r i g h t . The s t a i r ascends a g a i n s t
t h e r i g h t s i d e w a l l of t h e h a l l t o a l a n d i n g a t t h e r e a r . The second f l o o r i s reached by a
s h o r t r e v e r s e run a g a i n s t t h e l e f t w a l l .
T r i m on t h e s t a i r w a y i s extremely simple. Each
t r e a d has two b a l u s t e r s , r e c t a n g u l a r i n p r o f i l e and s e c t i o n . On t h e f i r s t t r e a d , a l a r g e r
r e c t a n g u l a r b a l u s t e r t a k e s t h e p l a c e of a newel p o s t and s u p p o r t s t h e beginning o f t h e molded
rail.
The p a r l o r , t o t h e l e f t of t h e h a l l , i s t h e most e l a b o r a t e l y trimmed of t h e rooms. On
e i t h e r s i d e of a p r o j e c t i n g chimney b r e a s t on t h e end w a l l a r e segmental a r c h e s framing open
n i c h e s . The p l a i n , marbleized s l a t e mantel i n t h i s room i s a l a t e r f e a t u r e . More than
l i k e l y i t r e p l a c e d a t y p i c a l reeded F e d e r a l - s t y l e mantel l i k e t h e one s t i l l i n p l a c e i n t h e
d i n i n g room.
I n t h e d i n i n g room, however, t h e r e a r e no a r c h e s f l a n k i n g t h e chimney b r e a s t .
Behind t h e d i n i n g room, i n t h e e l l , i s a s m a l l enclosed secondary s t a i r , a l a r g e room now
f u r n i s h e d a s a s i t t i n g room, and behind t h i s , i n t h e one-story a d d i t i o n , t h e k i t c h e n .
The arrangement of rooms on t h e second f l o o r i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t on t h e f i r s t . Bathrooms
and c l o s e t s have been added a s needed, w i t h l i t t l e s a c r i f i c e t o t h e o r i g i n a l p l a n o r t r i m .
Adding t o t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e a number of handsome f u r n i s h i n g s ,
many of them of V i r g i n i a and Southern o r i g i n .
O r i g i n a l l y t h e r e were a number of o u t b u i l d i n g s i n t h e yard behind and t o t h e r e a r of t h e
house. The o n l y one remaining is a b r i c k n e c e s s a r y , l o c a t e d t o t h e northwest of t h e mansion.
This s t r u c t u r e i s a "three-holer" and remains i n good c o n d i t i o n .
Nearby a r e t h e f i e l d s t o n e
foundations of an e a r l y b r i c k chicken house. Other b u i l d i n g s on t h e p r o p e r t y c o n s i s t o f two
20th-century t e n a n t houses, one frame and one b r i c k . These a r e screened from t h e main house
by p l a n t i n g .
Sandusky i s approached from Sanducky Drive by a c i r c u l a r driveway bordered by both E n g l i s
and American boxwood. These and o t h e r p l a n t i n g s a s s i s t i n s c r e e n i n g t h e p r o p e r t y from a
number of 20th-century houses nearby.
( U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e y a l s o p r e v e n t a f u l l view of t h e
house from b e i n g s e e n . ) The r e a r y a r d i s open and e n j o y s a commanding view of t h e Blue Ridge
Mountains.
SAC
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Continuation sheet
8.
Item number 8, 10
2
Page 1
Significance
H i s t o r i c a l Background
C. H u t t e r , who-had been h i s former c l a s s m a t e a t West P o i n t . Among t h e Union s t a f f who were
a l s o q u a r t e r e d a t Sandusky were Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley. During t h e b a t t l e ,
a nearby b a r n s e r v e d a s a temporary h o s p i t a l , and a number of s o l d i e r s were b u r i e d on t h e
grounds.
Unscathed d u r i n g
l i t t l e - a l t e r e d home.
t i o n . Although i t i s
houses, enough of t h e
o r i g i n a l aspect.
t h e war, Sandusky h a s s u r v i v e d t o t h e p r e s e n t a s an a p p r e c i a t e d and
I t s p r e s e n t owners have r e s t o r e d i t and m a i n t a i n i t i n e x c e l l e n t condinow w e l l w i t h i n t h e c i t y l i m i t s of Lynchburg and i s surrounded by l a t e r
o r i g i n a l y a r d and s u b s i d i a r y b u i l d i n g s s u r v i v e s t o g i v e a s e n s e of t h e
SAC
10.
Geographical Data
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e o f t h e above-described
t h e main house and i t s surrounding yard and f o u r o u t b u i l d i n g s .
l o t and t o i n c l u
Heritage GOnservaticn and Recreation Service
For HG R 5 use 0
Nationall Register of MisQoaicPlaces
RnvenQoay-Bz~minatiosl Form
1
d
Gate en
E
See instructions in How lo Compfete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
,
.*I
,I
?. Mame
Sandusky
historic
-.
-
S andusky
andlor common
7.5 7 Sznduskp Drive
street 8 number
Si::th
Lynchburg
city, town
N ! vlcinity of
state
Vtr~inia
3
CBassIifiication
code
Category
Ownership
.-.district
-public
building(s) x private
structure
- - both
-site
Public Acquisition
I
-
-being considered
$A
I/
name
51
county
Status
x-
occupied
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
2 L yes: restricted
in process
o b j e c t
&
' !A not for publication
- -
-yes: unrestricted
-no
congressional district (P?. L a L d ~ ~ c lRut
L ler:
din c i t y )
code h8D
Present U s e
-agriculture
-mu5eum
- - commercial
p a r k
private residence
retigiavs
-scientific
.
transportatIan
other:
-educational
-
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-
Ytr. 2nd Firs. Ycville K.
Adkinscn
757 Sandusliy O r L v e
street & number
- -
7
~ynchbuzg
city, town
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc,
%;
C a i f i p k-.
l l Coull'iy Cauwt House, Clerk's Of f i c ~
NIA
street & number
-.
Rusf burg
city, toLm
state
Vi r ~ i n i a
6. Represeaatetiom ii'i Exisaing S M ~ M( 3~-- ~see Scontj.nlletion sheet
tiae
iElstoric 3istrlct survey,
(1)
.g.,
rhhn,.rJ
U I
7fl
has this property- been
determined elegible? -yes Lno
- ---
-federar
-state -county
dopasltary
lor survey reco
- ..
-
d t y , twrn
.
'
'
.
~ynchburg
Virginia
x
. - local
-
fi
Condition
~r
excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
Check one
-unaltered
2original site
L altered
-moved
date
N
Describe the present and original (if known] physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Sandusky i s a f o r m a l two-story, b r i c k "I" house w i t h a l a t e r e l l . The house has sophist i c a t e d t r i m and i s i n a good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
Its p a r l o r is given a p a r t i c u l a r l y eleg;
t r e a t m e n t through t h e u s e of arched r e c e s s e s on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e f i r e p l a c e . Although i t s
farm h a s been s u b d i v i d e d , Sandusky's generous y a r d i s i n t a c t and p r o v i d e s an a p p r o p r i a t e
s e t t i n g f o r t h e house.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n of Sandusky i s covered by a g a b l e roof and h a s w a l l s l a i d i n v e r y
even Flemish bond. T h i s s e c t i o n i s five-bays wide and measures, according t o an 1813 insuranc
p o l i c y , 48' x 20'.
F i r s t - f l o o r windows have 919 s a s h , w h i l e t h e upper f l o o r c o n t a i n s windows
w i t h 619 s a s h . A l l f e n e s t r a t i o n i s topped w i t h splayed b r i c k j a c k a r c h e s . Those above t h e
second-floor windows extend t o t h e bed molding o f t h e wooden c o r n i c e . T h i s o t h e r w i s e simple,
molded c o r n i c e c o n t a i n s t h e refinement of having paneled m u t u l e s i n t h e s o f f i t . The c o r n i c e
i s t e r m i n a t e d a t each end of t h e f r o n t and r e a r w a l l s w i t h a shaped end board, which follows
t h e p r o f i l e of t h e c o r n i c e . The f a c e s of t h e end boards a r e f l u s h w i t h t h e p l a i n r a k e board5
of t h e gabled end w a l l s . Above t h e c o r n i c e i s a s t a n d i n g - s e a m m e t a l r o o f , which was i n p l a c c
a s e a r l y a s 1864. A s c u t t l e , which was c u t i n t o t h e roof t h a t y e a r t o a f f o r d F e d e r a l o f f i c e r
a a v i s t a of t h e b a t t l e which was fought i n t h e f i e l d s around t h e house, s t i l l e x i s t s . The
o r i g i n a l c o v e r i n g , a s r e v e a l e d i n t h e b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e 1813 i n s u r a n c e p o l i c y , was
wooden s h i n g l e . A t e i t h e r end of t h e g a b l e roof a r e well-proportioned chimneys w i t h
c o r b e l l e d caps.
The f r o n t doorway, which c e n t e r s t h e f a c a d e , i s a p a r t i c u l a r l y r e f i n e d F e d e r a l composition
A broad, s e m i e l l i p t i c a l f a n l i g h t extends a c r o s s t h e nine-paneled f r o n t door t o cover glazed
s i d e l i g h t s a s w e l l . The r a d i a t i n g t r a c e r y of t h e f a n l i g h t i s presumably o r i g i n a l , b u t t h e
diamoild-paned g l a z i n g of t h e s i d e l i g h t s i s a l a t e r m o d i f i c a t i o n . Because of t h e width of t h e
e n t r a n c e f r o n t i s p i e c e on t h e f i r s t f l o o r , t h e c e n t r a l opening on t h e second f l o o r i s separate!
by a b r o a d e r expanse of b r i c k from t h e windows on e i t h e r s i d e than e x i s t s between t h o s e
windows and t h e end p a i r . T h i s c e n t r a l opening of t h e second f l o o r h a s been converted i n t o a
j i b window, w i t h a hinged wooden lower s e c t i o n a f f o r d i n g a c c e s s t o an open, r a i l e d deck above
t h e one-story f r o n t porch. The porch i s t e t r a s t y l a r w i t h Tuscan columns. While i t more o r
l e s s occupies t h e space of an o r i g i n a l porch o r s t o o p , t h e d e t a i l s and arrangement mark i t
I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e p i l a s t e r s on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e
a s l a t e r than o r i g i n a l construction.
c'oor i n f r i n g e uncomfortably on t h e windows and b l i n d s a d j a c e n t t o them.
To t h e r e a r of t h e main b l o c k , behind t h e d i n i n g room, i s a n e l l . The p o r t i o n n e a r e s t
t o t h e main b l o c k i s two s t o r i e s t a l l and measures 19' x 1 8 ' , a g a i n according t o t h e 1813
i n s u r a n c e p o l i c y . T h i s e l l i s a l s o c o v e r e l w i t h a standing-seam m e t a l r o o f and has a c o r b e l l r
chimney a t t h e end w a l l . Behind t h i s p o r t i o n of t h e e l l and a l i g n e d w i t h i t i s a f u r t h e r
e x t e n s i o n , a one-story a d d i t i o n which was i n p l a c e by 1817, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e second i n s u r a n c e
p o l i c y which Johnston, t h e o r i g i n a l owner, took on t h e p r o p e r t y . Now c o n t a i n i n g t h e k i t c h e n ,
t h i s l a s t a d d i t i o n was, a c c o r d i n g t o t r a d i t i o n , b u i l t a s a n u r s e r y f o r t h e Johnston c h i l d r e n .
A one-story porch e x t e n d s from t h e mid-portion of t h e main b l o c k t o t h e end w a l l of t h e
l a s t a d d i t i o n . ~ &formal
s ~ t h a n t h e f r o n t porch, i t i s convered w i t h a s l o p e d roof w i t h
hipped ends. Access i s gained from two doors i n t o t h e e l l .
The main r e c t a n g u l a r b l o c k of t h e house c o n t a i n s a c e n t r a l s t a i r h a l l w i t h one room on
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-agriculture
-K architecture
-art
-commerce
communications
-landscape architecture-
-law
-literature
-economics
-education
X military
-engineering
-music
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
-industry
-poiiticslgovernment
-invention
BuilderIArchitect
religion
-science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
-other (specify)
unknown
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEKENT
OF SIGIVIPTCAlYCE
--,
Sandusky i s an i m p r e s s i v e F e d e r a l - s t y l e farmhouse of b o t h a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l
s i g n i f i c a n c e . B u i l t ca. 1808 f o r Charles Johnston, i t i s one of t h e e a r l i e s t houses i n t h e
Lynchburg a r e a t o d i s p l a y t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l s and r e f i n e m e n t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Federa
d e s i g n . Johnston took o u t s e v e r a l f i r e i n s u r a n c e p o l i c i e s on h i s house w i t h t h e Mutual
Assurance S o c i e t y of V i r g i n i a ; t h u s , t h e h i s t o r y of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s subsequent a l t e r a t i o n s
or a d d i t i o n s i s w e l l documented. I n 1864, d u r i n g t h e B a t t l e of Lynchburg, Sandusky served a
Union h e a d q u a r t e r s .
bong t h o s e q u a r t e r e d t h e r e were Gen. 9 a i v d Hunter and f u t u r e P r e s i d e n t
Rutherford B. Hayes and WilliamZ?cKinley, t h e n on H u n t e r ' s s t a f f . O r i g i n a l l y t h e s e a t of
an e x t e n s i v e farm, Sandusky i s now w i t h i n t h e c i t y l i m i t s of Lynchburg, and t h e p r o p e r t y i s
surrounded by l a t e r r e s i d e n t i a l development. F o r t u n a t e l y , Sandusky i s maintained i n e x c e l l e n t
c o n d i t i o n , and e f f e c t i v e p l a n t i n g i n t h e l a r g e , well-maintained yard has k e p t 2 0 t h t c e n t u r y
i n t r u s i o n s a t a comfortable d i s t a n c e .
HISTORI CAI, BACKGROUND
Sandusky i s one o f t h e f i r s t f o r m a l l y s t y l e d F e d e r a l houses i n t h e Bedford/Campbell
County a r e a . A s s u c h , i t helped s e t t h e s t a n d a r d t h a t would be followed d u r i n g t h e n e x t
decade, a t i m e of immense growth and development f o r Lynchburg and t h e surrounding country.
A number of l a t e r houses still exist which o b v i o u s l y owe a r c h i t e c t u r a l a l l e g i a n c e t o Sandusk!
Charles J o h n s t o n , fog whom t h e m a n s i o n was b u i l t , was an e a r l y s e t t l e r i n t h e a r e a , whose
f a t h e r had come t o Richmond from Scotland. Johnston named h i s home i n memory of h i s d e l i v e r ance from a n e a r l y d i s a s t r o u s e v e n t which had t a k e n p l a c e i n 1790. On a t r i p t o Kentucky,
he had been kidnapped by a p a r t y of Shawnee I n d i a n s and t a k e n t o t h e i r camp a t Sandusky, i n
Ohio, b e f o r e h i s e v e n t u a l r e l e a s e .
b
I n 1813 J o h n s t o n t o o k o u t t h e f i r s t of s e v e r a l i n s u r a n c e p o l i c i e s on Sandusky with t h e
Mutual Assurance S o c i e t y of V i r g i n i a . The d e s c r i p t i o n given i n t h a t i n i t i a l p o l i c y shows
t h e f i r s t s t a g e of t h e house: a two-story b r i c k b u i l d i n g , measuring "48 x 20 f e e t " w i t h a
two-story b r i c k wing "19 x 18." The p r o p e r t y was i n s u r e d f o r $6,00 a n o t i n c o n s i d e r a b l e
sum a t t h a t time. By t h e time o f t h e i s s u a n c e o f a second p o l i c y i n 1817, a one-story b r i c k
wing w i t h dimensions of 2 4 x 1 8 f e e t had been added.
I n 1818 J o h n s t o n s o l d t h e p r o p e r t y , and i t e v e n t u a l l y came i n t o t h e ownership of t h e
H u t t e r family. I t was d u r i n g t h e i r t e n u r e t h a t t h e house played i t s most important h i s t o r i c 3
r o l e . Obeying Gen. U. S. G r a n t ' s d i r e c t i v e t h a t "it would be of g r e a t v a l u e t o us t o g e t
p o s s e s s i o n o f Lynchburg f o r a s i n g l e day, "Maj. Gen. David Hunter forayed a c r o s s t h e Blue
Ridge Yountains from Lexington i n June 1864. Meeting t h e Confederate f o r c e s on t h e o u t s k i r t s
of Lynchburg, h e s e t up h e a d q u a r t e r s a t Sandusky on June 17. ~ u n t e r ' sRaid, a s t h e B a t t l e
of Lynchburg h a s been a l t e r n a t e l y c a l l e d , raged around t h e house t h e n e x t day. Hunter was
rebuffed i n h i s a t t e m p t t o c a p t u r e Lynchburg and e a r l y on t h e m o r n i n g of June 19 was i n f u l l
r e t r e a t back t o t h e V a l l e y of V i r g i n i a . Hunter's "host" a t Sandusky was Maj. George
2)
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
1 "Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a i n t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s , " i n I r o n Worker (Spring 1960): 1-13.
2 Richmond, Va. V i r e i n i a S t a t e L i b r a r y Archives. Mutual Assurance S o c i e t y o f V i r g i n i a
Policies.
R6 V48 N446 (1813); K5 V 4 5 N2337 (1817).
3 "Sandusky, By t h e S t i l l Waters",
Lynchburg i h g a z i n e ( M a r c h - ~ p r i l 1975): 22-26.
10. Geographical Data
3.84 a c r e s
Acreage of nominated property
Lynchburg,
Va.
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
Zone
kL I9 16 15 101
Easting
14 11
Quadrangle scale
b 18 13 14 10 1
Northing
Zone
Easting
1:24000
Northing
Beginning a t a p o i n t on N s i d e of Pawnee Drive, about
4 1 0 ' M ; thence about
400' !.1 along s a i d s i f i p ~
>ync'rburg A s s e s s o r ' s Kecords: Lot TR2, 158-1-16.(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s l ~ e g t
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t l o n a n d justification:
1'0'
436'
E of i t s i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h Navajo C i r c l e ; thence e s t e n d i n g a b o u t
; thence a b o - ~ t350' S t o N s i d e of Sandusky Drive; thence about
t o l o i n t of o r i g i n .
i:2 )
L i s t a l l s t a t e s and c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
state
N/A
code
countv
N/A
city or town
-
Chan,bcrs, 3s. f o r
organization V i r z i n l a H i s t o r i c Landnarks Commission
street & number
code
-
II. Form Preparedby
nameititleS. 'Illen
code
221 Governor S t r e e t
date
January 1982
telephone
Kichrr.ond
state
(8ClL) 736-31L4
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preseawation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2.state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Publlc Law 89nal Register and certify that it has been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nomlnate this property for inclusion
according to the criterla and procedures set forth
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Brvan M i t c h e l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
//
'1
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventor&-Nomination
Form
SANDUSKY, LY
BURG, VA.
Continuation sheet
Item number
1
6,7
Page
1
6.Representation i n E x i s t i n g Surveys
(2)
H i s t o r i c American B u i l d i n g s Survey I n v e n t o r y
J u n e 1958
L i b r a r y of Congress, P r i n t s and Photographs Division
Washington, D. C.
(3)
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1967, 1968
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
Architectural Analysis
each s i d e -- t h e p a r l o r t o t h e l e f t , t h e d i n i n g room t o t h e r i g h t . The s t a i r ascends a g a i n s t
t h e r i g h t s i d e w a l l of t h e h a l l t o a l a n d i n g a t t h e r e a r . The second f l o o r i s reached by a
s h o r t r e v e r s e run a g a i n s t t h e l e f t w a l l .
T r i m on t h e s t a i r w a y i s extremely simple. Each
t r e a d has two b a l u s t e r s , r e c t a n g u l a r i n p r o f i l e and s e c t i o n . On t h e f i r s t t r e a d , a l a r g e r
r e c t a n g u l a r b a l u s t e r t a k e s t h e p l a c e of a newel p o s t and s u p p o r t s t h e beginning o f t h e molded
rail.
The p a r l o r , t o t h e l e f t of t h e h a l l , i s t h e most e l a b o r a t e l y trimmed of t h e rooms. On
e i t h e r s i d e of a p r o j e c t i n g chimney b r e a s t on t h e end w a l l a r e segmental a r c h e s framing open
n i c h e s . The p l a i n , marbleized s l a t e mantel i n t h i s room i s a l a t e r f e a t u r e . More than
l i k e l y i t r e p l a c e d a t y p i c a l reeded F e d e r a l - s t y l e mantel l i k e t h e one s t i l l i n p l a c e i n t h e
d i n i n g room.
I n t h e d i n i n g room, however, t h e r e a r e no a r c h e s f l a n k i n g t h e chimney b r e a s t .
Behind t h e d i n i n g room, i n t h e e l l , i s a s m a l l enclosed secondary s t a i r , a l a r g e room now
f u r n i s h e d a s a s i t t i n g room, and behind t h i s , i n t h e one-story a d d i t i o n , t h e k i t c h e n .
The arrangement of rooms on t h e second f l o o r i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t on t h e f i r s t . Bathrooms
and c l o s e t s have been added a s needed, w i t h l i t t l e s a c r i f i c e t o t h e o r i g i n a l p l a n o r t r i m .
Adding t o t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e a number of handsome f u r n i s h i n g s ,
many of them of V i r g i n i a and Southern o r i g i n .
O r i g i n a l l y t h e r e were a number of o u t b u i l d i n g s i n t h e yard behind and t o t h e r e a r of t h e
house. The o n l y one remaining is a b r i c k n e c e s s a r y , l o c a t e d t o t h e northwest of t h e mansion.
This s t r u c t u r e i s a "three-holer" and remains i n good c o n d i t i o n .
Nearby a r e t h e f i e l d s t o n e
foundations of an e a r l y b r i c k chicken house. Other b u i l d i n g s on t h e p r o p e r t y c o n s i s t o f two
20th-century t e n a n t houses, one frame and one b r i c k . These a r e screened from t h e main house
by p l a n t i n g .
Sandusky i s approached from Sanducky Drive by a c i r c u l a r driveway bordered by both E n g l i s
and American boxwood. These and o t h e r p l a n t i n g s a s s i s t i n s c r e e n i n g t h e p r o p e r t y from a
number of 20th-century houses nearby.
( U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e y a l s o p r e v e n t a f u l l view of t h e
house from b e i n g s e e n . ) The r e a r y a r d i s open and e n j o y s a commanding view of t h e Blue Ridge
Mountains.
SAC
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Continuation sheet
8.
Item number 8, 10
2
Page 1
Significance
H i s t o r i c a l Background
C. H u t t e r , who-had been h i s former c l a s s m a t e a t West P o i n t . Among t h e Union s t a f f who were
a l s o q u a r t e r e d a t Sandusky were Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley. During t h e b a t t l e ,
a nearby b a r n s e r v e d a s a temporary h o s p i t a l , and a number of s o l d i e r s were b u r i e d on t h e
grounds.
Unscathed d u r i n g
l i t t l e - a l t e r e d home.
t i o n . Although i t i s
houses, enough of t h e
o r i g i n a l aspect.
t h e war, Sandusky h a s s u r v i v e d t o t h e p r e s e n t a s an a p p r e c i a t e d and
I t s p r e s e n t owners have r e s t o r e d i t and m a i n t a i n i t i n e x c e l l e n t condinow w e l l w i t h i n t h e c i t y l i m i t s of Lynchburg and i s surrounded by l a t e r
o r i g i n a l y a r d and s u b s i d i a r y b u i l d i n g s s u r v i v e s t o g i v e a s e n s e of t h e
SAC
10.
Geographical Data
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e o f t h e above-described
t h e main house and i t s surrounding yard and f o u r o u t b u i l d i n g s .
l o t and t o i n c l u
Text
BPS Fotm 10-400
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toct. 19901
1p/b/4b
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~ e ~ a r ; t m e noft the Interior
United States
National Park Seraice
NATIONAL REGISTER OF
HISTORfC PIACES
REGZSTRATION FORM
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John M a r s h a l l
other namesJsite number -VDfIR F i l e No. 118-19-
historic name
-
---3_--
--
2.
Location
--
--
---not for publication
I__-
street
& number 720 Court Street
city or town
Lynchburg (independent)
s t a t e virginia code VA
county Lynchburg
H/A
(independent
city)
-------------3. State/Federal Agency C e r t i f i c a t i o n
-u------
code 6 8 0
vicinity N / A
z i p code 24504
I
-
c
-
----~~-~----------------.I-ICILI
--
3-
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
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I
-
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As the designated a u t h o r i t y under the Hatianal H i s t o r i c Preservation Act of 1986, as wmdd, I hereby c e r t i f y t h a t thistX- n ~ m i ~ t i 0 n
request f c r determination o* e l f g i b l trry meets t h e d ~ c m z a t f o nstadards f ~ registering
r
p r ~ r t i e sin the h t l o n a l Resister
opinion, the propepty
o f i s t o r i c Places and meets the procedural and professional r e q u i r m t s set forth in
36 CFR P a r t 60. fn
does not meet the National Register C r i t e r l a . I r e c m d that this property be considered s f g n i f icant
nationatly
z--uee t s
s t a r e u T _ x - losally. f - S e e
c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
-
-
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
S t a t e or Federal agency and bureau
- -
-
I n my opinion, t h e property
mcts
does not meet the National
Register c r i t e r i a . (
See continuation sheet f o r additional c m n t s . )
S i g ~ t u r eo f cwrmenting o r other o f f i c i a l
Date
S t a t e or Federai agency and h s e w
---I--------C--ICII--YU------.-------.-----C---I-YC-----II-------------I - - - I - - L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , - - - C - I - C I - - C - - - - - - - - -
4.
National Park Service Certification
-l*--I-C3-I-CC---3C--IIC---IIIIIIIIIIIRVIC--I----------------I-------C-C----C---------l----I---------------L-----------
I , hereby certify t h a t t h i s property i s :
- enteredSee i nc othe
Hatianat Register
n t i n u a t i o n sheet.
- dUarronal
F E r m i n e d e l i g i b l e f o r the
Resister
See c o n t i n u a t i q n sheet.
- f Ni ar tri onn~a lnReglster
d
not e l ~ g i b l ef o r the
- removed from the Mational Register
-
other ( e x p l a i n ) ?
srgnarure or ~ e e p e r
uate
of
A c t i o n
Warwick House
-~
5.
classification
......................................
-------------
_
I
-
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
-x - private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
(s)
-x- building
district
- site
- structure
object
Number of Resources within Property
-
-
Contributing
Noncontributing
0
buildings
-0-0sites
-0-0structures
-0-0objects
1
--0Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register
0
1
-
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter I*N/A1*
if property is not part of
a multiple property listing.)
N/A
6. Function or Use
-
------------------
----------------
-----------
----------
we-----
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
sub: Single dwelling
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Commerce
Sub: Offices
7 . Description
------------------------------------
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Federal
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
Brick
walls
Brick
roof
other
Metal: tin
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property
on one or more continuation sheets.)
Warwick House
--------------=-
a. statement
of Significance
_----_------------------------Criteria
m l i c a b l e H a t i e l Register . C r i . t e r i a (Mark "xu i n one o r m o r e
boxes f o r t h e c r l t e r t a q u a l l f y l n g t h e p r o p e r t y f o r N a t l o n a i
Register l i s t i n g )
%.
-A
proper~yIS ~ S . D C I . ~ . ~ ~ 8 t want*
h
that havemad. a.tgn,fisant
to the broad pattarn. of mu, hwtorv.
..B
PIO~.I~Y
_X_
c
-0
m.sao1a1.d
with the livm 01 pe?.on.
-
-B
-C
-0
-E
-F
sonrrlbutlon
m~gn~ficant
in our past.
Property embodlm ih. di.t#nsl!v.
sharmct.ri.t~n
of a type. period. or
mathod of sonstrustlon or raprant. the work of a master. or possr.a
high ert~sllov1
.~1.
or n P I I M n
o~pnlfiomtand dlstmgw.h.bi.
ntlty
who.
components I k k individwi disttnct!on.
P~op.rtv ha. vlUded. or
0 , hl.t~ry.
A
-
3s Ihkelv lo v ~ d ~nfornutton
d
tmporfant in pmcsmry
Considerations
(Mark 1
. i n a l l the boxes that
apply.
owned by a rsitgtou. ,nstltut,on or usad for reilgtous purposas.
I ~ O V . from
~
it*
ongtnal losatton.
a birthplan or a grave.
a CM
VI.I.
a r-nstructed
a ~~m-lauv.
bubldtng, obiect.Ol 11r~C1Ur~.
PIOP.~.
ir.m 50 yurm of ag.c.r.chtwed
. ~ g n l ~ o . n wcthm
n
tho past 5 0 year
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
-
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
--
1826-1880
1826
---.
-.
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
~rchitect/Builder
N/A
unknown
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property or
one or more continuation sheets.)
--------------------------------9. Major Bibliographical References
....................
-------------------
7
'[Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
P r e v i o u s d o c u m t a t i o n on f i l e (NPS)
p r e l i m i n a r y d e t e r m i n a t i o n of individual l i s t i n g (36 CFR 67)
has been requested.
Xp r e v i o u s l y l i s t e d i n the N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r
p r e v i o u s l y d e t e r m i n e d e l i g i b l e by t h e N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r
designated a National H i s t o r i c L a c & a r k
r e c o r d e d by H i s t o r i c American B u i Ldings Survey X
-
-
recorded
by
H i s t o r i c American E n g i n e e r i n g Record
X
-
Primary L o c a t i o n o f A d d i t i o n a l Data
State Historic Preservation Office
O t h e r S t a t e agency
F e d e r a l agency
-x-
L o c a l governnent
University
Other
of r e p o s i t o r y : VA Dept.
&
of
H i s t o r i c Resources
10. Geographical
---- - -
Data
-
Acreage of Property less than one a c r e
uTM References
( P l a c e a d d i t i o n a l UTH r e f e r e n c e s on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t )
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
- See c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t .
Verbal Boundary Description
( D e s c r i b e t h e b o u n d a r i e s of t h e p r o p e r t y on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t . )
City of Lynchburg, l o t 024-35-013
Boundary Justification
(Explain why t h e b o u n d a r i e s were s e l e c t e d on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t . )
The boundaries encompass t h e l o t on which t h e house
h i s t o r i c a l l y a s s o c i a t e d with t h e Warwick property.
sits t h a t
has
been
Form Pre~aredBv
-
name/title-Dr.
P e t e r W. H o u c k ( e d i t e d by J. Vosmik, VA Oept. of H i s t o r i c Resources)
organization-Warwick House P u b l i s h i n g
d a t e June 15, 1994s t r e e t & number-720 Court S t r e e t
telephone 804-846-1200
c i t y o r town-Lynchburg
state_%
z i p code
24504-
-
.
Additional Documentation
Submit the following iccrm with the compleccd form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS mrp 0.5 or IS minute wries) indiesling the pmpcny'r location.
A sketch map for himno diaricu .ad pmpcnies having large s s n g e or numerous rcwrurccr,
Photographs
ReprtwnUtivc black and while photographs of the pmprny
A d d i t i o n a l items
(Check wilh the SHPO or FPO for any additional item)
~
~
~~
(Complete t h i s i t e m a t t h e r e q u e s t o f t h e SHPO o r FPO.)
n a m e / t i t l e - D r . P e t e r W. Houck
Court Street
s t r e e t 6 number-720
telephone 804-846-1200
city or t o w n L y n c h b u r g
atate-%
z i p code
24504-
-
=========i======E--I====
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-
UL.
oMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-
-7-
Page
-1-
W a w i c k House
city of ~ynchburg, Virginia
The John Marshall Wanvick House was built in 1826 by prominent Lynchburg tobacconist and
city mayor, John Marshall Wanvick. It is sited at the north comer of Court and Eighth Streets
and was one of the first houses to be built on the crest of Lynchburg Hill,later to be called
Court House Hill, overlooking the James River. The design exhibits the transition from the
Federal to the Greek Revival styles that was occurring during the time and is distinctive for the
decorative panels between the first and second floors. This detail lends a refinement unusual for
this period in Lynchburg. The Wanvick House has a high degree of physical integrity and
possesses a number of architectural features that distinguish it from other Lynchburg houses of
the period.
Located within close proximity to both of Lynchburg's wurthouses, the Wanvick House
occupies a small city lot on the comer of Court and Eighth Streets within a local historic district.
Though originally it possessed several outbuildings to the rear of its steep lot, these no longer
remain. The house is situated so that it faces Court Street and its southeast end elevation abuts
its neighbor. The sidewalks in front of the house are stone, as are the gutters leading from the
house to the street. A lid inset in the sidewalk provides access to an underground coal chute that
deposited wal into a storage room in the basement.
The house exhibits the transition from the Federal to the Greek Revival style and is one of the
last large brick mansions built during the city's first flush of prosperity. The two-story residence
was substantial in size and finely appointed for its time of wnsauction.
Consisting of two floors on a raised basement, the house has a Georgian plan, a hipped metalclad roof and two interior end chimneys. It measures approximately 43 x 33 feet. The facade
is symmetrical with three bays, and a center entrance protected by a later nineteenth century
porch. The brick is laid in Flemish bond.
One of the most noticeable features of the facade are the recessed panels between the first and
second floor windows. These are decorated with a swag of garland tied with ribbons and
rosette in the center. Though there are only two, these panels add refinement to the overall
design and display the designer's familiarity with sophisticated detailing. Nearly identical panels
originally existed on the Executive Mansion in Richmond.
As it is currently, the hipped roof was covered with sheet metal, and is likely one of the first
houses in Lynchburg to use this material. Originally the roof was hidden from street-level view
by a balustrade above the cornice and another surrounding the flat deck above the hip. It is not
known when the balustrades were lost. The cornice consists of a simple cove above a decorative
row of dentils alternating with diamond lozenges. Windows are six-over-six double-hung with
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Porn 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-
-7-
Page
-2-
Warwick House
City of Lyncbburg, Virginia
-
original sash and louvered shutters; the center window on the second floor is a jib and extends
to just above the porch roof. Windows have thin marble sills and lintels, the latter embellished
with diminutive comerblocks detailed with stylized rosettes.
-.
The present front porch with its scrollwork trim is obviously later than the house, but likely
following the lines of the original. Stone steps flanked by iron balusters and railings, similar to
those at nearby Point of Honor, lead to the porch and are lilrely original. Patches in the
brickwork above the porch indicate that at one time there was a balustrade amund the deck. The
existing one-story porch has a flat roof with a cornice,supported by paid brackets. Four square
columns with simple bases and caps have intermediate caps at three quarters their height. The
pilasters are similarly detailed. The jig-sawn curvilineax brackets and railing with stylized cutouts are typical of the late nineteenth century.
The front entrance, with sidelights and transom, has been reaimmed, but the original was likely
framed within the same rectangular brick opening, a noticeable variation from the more typical '
arched entrances of the last decade that characterized Lynchburg's domestic architecture of that
period. The double-leaf two-panel door has a simple surround with flanking engaged colonenes
and a cornice above the transom.
The side elevation has paired windows centend in the wall of each floor and a single window
on the first floor for the rear parlor. The nar elevation is largely obscund by a rear ell and an
enclosed portico that extends across the back. A jib window is located at the landing of the stair
between the second floor and attic.
The interior of the structure is arranged as a standard Georgian plan, with the stairs at the right
side of the cenaal passage. The rear door, with i& sidelights, hansom and elegant moldings is
reputed to be the original front door, removed when the existing m m c e was installed. Like
the doors leading from the hall to the first floor rooms, the original entrance door is detailed
with an elegant s ~ ~ ~ with
u n acanthus
d
m 1 1 bmkcts and bulls-eye comerblocks.
\
The interior reveals an original rich trim with influences of both the Fedaal and Greek R e v i d
styles. The majority of this trim remains. Distinctive inmior features include eleven fircpbXs,
four with original King of Prussia marble mantels, stencil-painted ceilings, several ornate g a ~
chandeliers and a built-in walnut sec~erarydesk. The stair has a turned newel and thin turned
balusters. It curves just before reaching the second floor. Doors throughout have six panels.
Pocket doors separate the principal rooms on the first floor which consist of a dining room and
drawing room to the left of the entrance and opposing front and rear parion. The configuration
of the second floor is similar, with the exception that the center hall has been partitioned W
accommodate use as apartments. Kitchens and bathrooms are located in the two-story enclosed
rear portico and do not impact the original plan of the house.
i
.
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-7
& 8-
Page
Warwick House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
-3-
The most distinctive feature of the first floor are the carved panels above the doors, each with
a different pattern of relief carving, The panel on the drawing room side has three swags of
grapevine hung from rosettes. A stylized flower is centered above the curve of each swag. The
dining room panel is detailed with a panern of circles and rosems.
The fhplace mantel in the drawing room is grey marble with a curved shelf and centered
xartouche. The mantel in the dining room is a black marble with Ionic columns. A finelydetailed cast iron fhpiace insert features swags and other details including the head of a woman.
is located a dumbwaiter. The mantel in the rear parlor is detailed
To the left of the -lace
with Doric columns. Simpler wood mantels are located in the four rooms of the second floor.
--
The originai kitchen is located in the basement and retains its cooking kplace. Directly across
the hall is located the summer d i g room. The nrnainder of the space is subdivided and
finished; an exterior entmnce is located beneath the front porch. Given the arrangement of space,
this basement level likely served multiple uses in addition to cooking and dining, among them
perhaps the housing of domestic servants.
Study of the Mutual Assurance Society policy description reveals that few substantive changes
have occurred since the Warwick House's consmuction. Though its ancillary buildings such as
laundry, dairy, bathhouse and caniage house have been lost aver time, the setzing of the house
is little altered.
CANE
The Warwick House is an outstanding example of Lynchburg domestic architecture from the
early nineteenth century and reveals the designers h m i b i t y Gth fashionable architecture of the
~eriod.Distinauishing it from others of the ~eriodare the recessed uanels on the facade between
h e first and -kc~nd-floors. A statewide &wey of houses with -similar panels revealed that
examples are few in number. When built, the Warwick House was situated in a fashionable
neighborhood that provided a prestigious address for its prominent owner, John Marshall
Warwick. As a child, Warwick's grandson, John Wanvick Daniel, resided with his grandfather.
Daniel, known as "the lame lion of Lynchburg," was a highly respected Civil War hem, United'
States senator and famous orator.
The Warwick House is eligible under criterion C as an important example of domestic
Lynchburg architecture built during the 1820s. The property possesses details from both the
*
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
section
-8-
Page
-4-
-
W a w i c k House
city of Lynchburg, Virginia
Feduat and Greek Revival styles, thus illustrating the transition occurring at the time of its
construction. It is "the only large, relatively unaltaed house nmaining from its period. "'
The Warwick House was built bv John Marshall Wanvick (1799-1878). the son of Lynchburg's
first mayor and himself mayor in 1833. He was also notable for his s
k as tob& m&t
and his urnmotion of Lvnchbun's railroads. As erandfather of John Wanvick Daniel, Warwick
assumed responsibility* for his grandson's upGringing which is widely credited as having
profoundly influenced the young politician.
-.
The house is believed to have been designed by John Wills, a Lynchburg lawyer, clerk of courts
and part-time architect. He built his home the Wi-Davis-Carter-Glass House at nearby 6th and
Clay Streets a year following the Wanvick House, and there exist obvious similarities. ~ o s t .
notable is the inclusion of recessed decorative panels. A study of panels from this Mod
undertaken in the late 1980s revealed that few wamples of ciasicallydetailed panels remain.
In 1988, molds of these panels were used to replace those missing at the Govanor's Mansion
in Richmond.
John Marshall W w i c k was born in Amherst County in 1799. At four years of age he moved
to Lynchburg. As a young adult he lived for a time in Richmond but at age 25 retuned to
Lynchburg and remained there until his death in 1878. Successful in his business pursuits,
Wanvick lost much of his fortune during and after the Civil War. Warwick bought lot number
51 of the original town plat in 1825. The house was completed by the following year as
evidenced by the fact that it was insured by the Mutual A s s m e Society. Both in design and
location, Warwick's h u s e befitted that of a successful businessman and mayor.
,
The house is also l0~allyknown as the childhood home of John Warwick Daniel, Warwick's
distinguished and greatly-admired mmdson. Daniel was born in Lynchburg on September 5,
1842,- is life was hexorably wnn&ted to his grandfather and to hisbousc. f i e mother of John
Warwick Daniel. Sarah Anne Warwick Daniel. dauehter of John Marshall Wamick, died at the.
early age of 24 when her son was only a child.'~oll&ingher death, young Daniel and his sister
Sarah were parented by their grandparents in the Warwick House. The children's father, Judge
W
i Daniel, Jr. was away h m home for extended periods of time so the upbringing of the
two children was left primarily to the grandparents. John Warwick Daniel d t e d his
grandfather with having been the strongest influence upon his life. Daniel went on to achieve
fame as a lawyer, politician and orator.
'Chambers,S. Allen, Jr. W u r v . An. university b,
1981, p.92.
Chariomille, VA: The
..
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-8 -
page
-5-
Warsrick House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Warwick lost his fortune as a muit of the Civil War. For several years prior to his death, he
resided in more modest accommodations and presumably the house was rented. The year
fdllowing his death the house left the family in 1879 when i t was sold at public auction to Joseph
Lawson, president of a local distillery. It was acquired by Judge Don P. Halsey, Jr. in 1909,
great-grandson of John Marshall Wanvick. Halsey was a lawyer, author, lecturer, historian,
V
i State Senator and Circuit Court Judge. He served as president of the Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial in 1936. He owned the house until 1938 and it remained in the Halsey family
until 1945. From 1978 to 1985 the p q e r t y was owned by Luther Caudill, Jr. who saved the
house from demolition and rehabilitated it.
-,
Despite periods of neglect and use as an officelapartment building, the Wanvick house retains
its significant and distinctive features and possesses a high degree of integrity. It remains as one
of only a few sophisticated residences of this period in Lynchburg.
*
om
No.
1024-0018
U n i t e d S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l P a r k Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-9-
Page
-6-
W a w i c k House
city of Lynchburg, Virginia
Bibliographical References
John Marshall Warwick House
Blunt. Louise A.. P1uce.c und People .+fenrionedby Mrs. .Mar,qarer Anrhonv Cubell in Sketches
and Recollr~rionsofl~nchburq.J. P. Bell ( Lynchburg. 1974).
-.
Chambers. S. Allen. Jr.. Lynchbur?. un Archirecrural Hisroy. The University Press.
(Charlottesville. 1981).
The Warwick Familv. Papen.
including letten from familv members. original
photoephs.
.
scrapbooks and newspaper clippings. p&ate collection ofownen.
Title search of the John Wanvick Daniel House.
Zehmer. John G.. Jr.. and Driggs. Sarah Shields. .'Worthy of its Purposes."Virqiniu C a v a l ~ d e .
Vol. 37. No. 3. Winrer Issue. 1988. pp. 126- 132.
.
John Warwick Daniel
Chaffin. William W.. A Srudx oflnvenrion in Two Selecred Speeches ofJohn Warwick Daniel.
unpublished manuscript. Alderman Library, University of Virginia. (Charlottesville. Virginia.
1959).
Christian. W. Asburv. Lynchburp and irs Peo~le.J. P. Bell. (Lynchburg,
1900).
- Virginia.
Daniel. Edward M.. ~ ~ e i c hue&'s ~ r a r i o m
o h h n Wanvick hi el.
J. P. Bell. Inc.. (Lynchburg. Virginia. 191 1).
Daniel Familv Papen. Alderman Library. Univenitv of Virginia. Charlottesville. Virginia.
Doss. Richad ~ " r k e .The Public cure& o f John warwick ~ a n i e iSpokesman
.
o f rhe New
Conservurizm. unpublished manuscript. ~ l d i n n a nLibrary, ~nivenity'ofvirginia:
t Charlottesville. Virginia. 1952).
Doss. Richard Burke. John Warwick Daniel. A Srudr in rhe Virginia Democrat\.. unpublished
manuscript. Alderman Library. University of ~ir~inia:(Charlotte~ville.Virginia. 1955).
Halsey. Don P.. Historic und Heroic Lynchbur*?,J. P. Bell. Inc.. (Lynchburg, Virginia. 1935).
[C. C. Pearsonl. "John Warwick Daniel." D i c t i o n a ~of American Biography. void. (New York.
1930). pp. 68-69.
Saunden. John. .tfetnoriul A&fresse.yOn rhe Lifr cuul C h u c r e r ofjohn Wurwick Daniel.
Government Printing Office. ( Washington D. C.. 191 1 ).
Vacellio. Sylvia D.. John Wurwick Daniel: Lume Lion r,fLynchhur,q.unpublished masters
thesis. Alderman Libran. University of Virginia. (Charlottesville. Virzinia. 1950).
Yancy. Rosa Faulkner. L?.nchhurq und i n Neiqhbor.$.J. W. Ferguson & Sons. (Richmond.
1935)
..John Wanvick Daniel 'The Lame Lion of Lynchburg."' anonymous. 7ke Sourherner .ua~u-im.
December. 1928. p. 10.
+.
.
0-
NPS Form 10-900-a
No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Photograph List
Page
-7-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
photos for JOhn Marshall Warwick House. Lvnchburcr. VA
Negative Number: 14574
Negatives on file at the VA State Library, Richmond, VA
Photographed by Julie Vosmik, November 1995
1.
View of front elevation, facing southwest
2.
View of side elevation, facing southeast
3.
View of front elevation, facing southwest
4.
View of front steps
5.
Detail of front panel
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
1
I
Page
-8-
Warwick House
citv of Lynchburg, Virginia
Ground Floor. (Basement ) , riaruick House
1. utility/storage room
2. open area under rear ~ortico
3. original kitchen
4. Hallway
5. old s-r
dining room
6. Current furnace room
7. 5tairvay to maan floor
8. aathroom
9. Front r O m
10. Entrance well
Drawn by: Alan mbsey
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-9-
W a w i c k House
Citv of Lvnchburs. Virginia
Main Floor. warwick House
%
1. Kitchen
:.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
2.
3.
10.
Bathroom
near porch
;;lt=nen
Dathroom
Original fcrrnal dxnlno room
Hallway
'ear ;jriOI
7raulno room
'ran: Farlor. 1ar library)
11. Fronc portLC0
Drawn b y : Alan imbrev
ONE No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-10-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
second Floor, u a m i c k House
1.
2.
5.
7.
6.
I
8.
11.
Kitchen
Sathroom
Xear porch
.
itch en
6.
7.
6.
3.
10.
11.
3edroom/living room
iiallwsy
Sedroom/living room
Bedroom
3athroom
searoom
Front portico roof
Drawn by: Alan Embrcy
-
O m No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAZ REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-11-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Genealogical Decendency Chart
to
John Wanvick Daniel
I
I
Capi. James
Wuw~ek
Mqor William
waw'ck-TCap Williun
Norvel-T
I=
Im
a-
WmCabell
John Marshall
Wanvick
19-1,
I
MrPa
Suvnlv Cudine
aaaw
Elwn
Mvlh
Nonell
Roben
-
S m h Anne
Warwlcx
( t i n t wuel
Judge
Wlllii
Dan~el.Jr.
I
Dr.Eduard
'"lurnl
I
Jul~rR i u W
, M U ~ I
-John
Wanvick
Daniel
S.nhArw
!Amd
Donald P.
Hakey
.
NAAWIUC
2
NCC(
H:
w\u
UTM
E : 17 4142120
hj: IT -6L4300
?
toct. 19901
1p/b/4b
1
J
~ e ~ a r ; t m e noft the Interior
United States
National Park Seraice
NATIONAL REGISTER OF
HISTORfC PIACES
REGZSTRATION FORM
'mWP-m
hwrmr~lormn
m rm p v
w u8m 01 m q ~ l l m - ~ .
4 ria,
d ~ m n r m p m *IOI
m m w u- P
Q
mm w PI ml-11
nnwm-.
- - --========'1. N a m e of Property
---------------------cLI-I---
-
mw mCnm.% *unmIOI1*
Ine nfomrror r m . 0
m l y c a r w a r n n d .ubbp*n 1,-
17
R-
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c d mIW m
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- 6
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m m wm. rw *.-m a&-**
F m I--.
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amnuaorn
worr
lb@waluu a t l p s " m e ~wold PI-,
-Warwick House
I WI C-W+
aa*hcrrm. m m r u l .
-
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W CrmRlltl
------
mcmpfir
--
-_I_-
c
--d
.
-I
-
John M a r s h a l l
other namesJsite number -VDfIR F i l e No. 118-19-
historic name
-
---3_--
--
2.
Location
--
--
---not for publication
I__-
street
& number 720 Court Street
city or town
Lynchburg (independent)
s t a t e virginia code VA
county Lynchburg
H/A
(independent
city)
-------------3. State/Federal Agency C e r t i f i c a t i o n
-u------
code 6 8 0
vicinity N / A
z i p code 24504
I
-
c
-
----~~-~----------------.I-ICILI
--
3-
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
-
I
-
-
As the designated a u t h o r i t y under the Hatianal H i s t o r i c Preservation Act of 1986, as wmdd, I hereby c e r t i f y t h a t thistX- n ~ m i ~ t i 0 n
request f c r determination o* e l f g i b l trry meets t h e d ~ c m z a t f o nstadards f ~ registering
r
p r ~ r t i e sin the h t l o n a l Resister
opinion, the propepty
o f i s t o r i c Places and meets the procedural and professional r e q u i r m t s set forth in
36 CFR P a r t 60. fn
does not meet the National Register C r i t e r l a . I r e c m d that this property be considered s f g n i f icant
nationatly
z--uee t s
s t a r e u T _ x - losally. f - S e e
c o n t i n u a t i o n sheet f o r a d d i t i o n a l comnents.)
-
-
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
S t a t e or Federal agency and bureau
- -
-
I n my opinion, t h e property
mcts
does not meet the National
Register c r i t e r i a . (
See continuation sheet f o r additional c m n t s . )
S i g ~ t u r eo f cwrmenting o r other o f f i c i a l
Date
S t a t e or Federai agency and h s e w
---I--------C--ICII--YU------.-------.-----C---I-YC-----II-------------I - - - I - - L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , - - - C - I - C I - - C - - - - - - - - -
4.
National Park Service Certification
-l*--I-C3-I-CC---3C--IIC---IIIIIIIIIIIRVIC--I----------------I-------C-C----C---------l----I---------------L-----------
I , hereby certify t h a t t h i s property i s :
- enteredSee i nc othe
Hatianat Register
n t i n u a t i o n sheet.
- dUarronal
F E r m i n e d e l i g i b l e f o r the
Resister
See c o n t i n u a t i q n sheet.
- f Ni ar tri onn~a lnReglster
d
not e l ~ g i b l ef o r the
- removed from the Mational Register
-
other ( e x p l a i n ) ?
srgnarure or ~ e e p e r
uate
of
A c t i o n
Warwick House
-~
5.
classification
......................................
-------------
_
I
-
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
-x - private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
(s)
-x- building
district
- site
- structure
object
Number of Resources within Property
-
-
Contributing
Noncontributing
0
buildings
-0-0sites
-0-0structures
-0-0objects
1
--0Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register
0
1
-
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter I*N/A1*
if property is not part of
a multiple property listing.)
N/A
6. Function or Use
-
------------------
----------------
-----------
----------
we-----
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: DOMESTIC
sub: Single dwelling
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Commerce
Sub: Offices
7 . Description
------------------------------------
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Federal
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
Brick
walls
Brick
roof
other
Metal: tin
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property
on one or more continuation sheets.)
Warwick House
--------------=-
a. statement
of Significance
_----_------------------------Criteria
m l i c a b l e H a t i e l Register . C r i . t e r i a (Mark "xu i n one o r m o r e
boxes f o r t h e c r l t e r t a q u a l l f y l n g t h e p r o p e r t y f o r N a t l o n a i
Register l i s t i n g )
%.
-A
proper~yIS ~ S . D C I . ~ . ~ ~ 8 t want*
h
that havemad. a.tgn,fisant
to the broad pattarn. of mu, hwtorv.
..B
PIO~.I~Y
_X_
c
-0
m.sao1a1.d
with the livm 01 pe?.on.
-
-B
-C
-0
-E
-F
sonrrlbutlon
m~gn~ficant
in our past.
Property embodlm ih. di.t#nsl!v.
sharmct.ri.t~n
of a type. period. or
mathod of sonstrustlon or raprant. the work of a master. or possr.a
high ert~sllov1
.~1.
or n P I I M n
o~pnlfiomtand dlstmgw.h.bi.
ntlty
who.
components I k k individwi disttnct!on.
P~op.rtv ha. vlUded. or
0 , hl.t~ry.
A
-
3s Ihkelv lo v ~ d ~nfornutton
d
tmporfant in pmcsmry
Considerations
(Mark 1
. i n a l l the boxes that
apply.
owned by a rsitgtou. ,nstltut,on or usad for reilgtous purposas.
I ~ O V . from
~
it*
ongtnal losatton.
a birthplan or a grave.
a CM
VI.I.
a r-nstructed
a ~~m-lauv.
bubldtng, obiect.Ol 11r~C1Ur~.
PIOP.~.
ir.m 50 yurm of ag.c.r.chtwed
. ~ g n l ~ o . n wcthm
n
tho past 5 0 year
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
-
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
--
1826-1880
1826
---.
-.
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
~rchitect/Builder
N/A
unknown
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property or
one or more continuation sheets.)
--------------------------------9. Major Bibliographical References
....................
-------------------
7
'[Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
P r e v i o u s d o c u m t a t i o n on f i l e (NPS)
p r e l i m i n a r y d e t e r m i n a t i o n of individual l i s t i n g (36 CFR 67)
has been requested.
Xp r e v i o u s l y l i s t e d i n the N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r
p r e v i o u s l y d e t e r m i n e d e l i g i b l e by t h e N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r
designated a National H i s t o r i c L a c & a r k
r e c o r d e d by H i s t o r i c American B u i Ldings Survey X
-
-
recorded
by
H i s t o r i c American E n g i n e e r i n g Record
X
-
Primary L o c a t i o n o f A d d i t i o n a l Data
State Historic Preservation Office
O t h e r S t a t e agency
F e d e r a l agency
-x-
L o c a l governnent
University
Other
of r e p o s i t o r y : VA Dept.
&
of
H i s t o r i c Resources
10. Geographical
---- - -
Data
-
Acreage of Property less than one a c r e
uTM References
( P l a c e a d d i t i o n a l UTH r e f e r e n c e s on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t )
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
- See c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t .
Verbal Boundary Description
( D e s c r i b e t h e b o u n d a r i e s of t h e p r o p e r t y on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t . )
City of Lynchburg, l o t 024-35-013
Boundary Justification
(Explain why t h e b o u n d a r i e s were s e l e c t e d on a c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t . )
The boundaries encompass t h e l o t on which t h e house
h i s t o r i c a l l y a s s o c i a t e d with t h e Warwick property.
sits t h a t
has
been
Form Pre~aredBv
-
name/title-Dr.
P e t e r W. H o u c k ( e d i t e d by J. Vosmik, VA Oept. of H i s t o r i c Resources)
organization-Warwick House P u b l i s h i n g
d a t e June 15, 1994s t r e e t & number-720 Court S t r e e t
telephone 804-846-1200
c i t y o r town-Lynchburg
state_%
z i p code
24504-
-
.
Additional Documentation
Submit the following iccrm with the compleccd form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS mrp 0.5 or IS minute wries) indiesling the pmpcny'r location.
A sketch map for himno diaricu .ad pmpcnies having large s s n g e or numerous rcwrurccr,
Photographs
ReprtwnUtivc black and while photographs of the pmprny
A d d i t i o n a l items
(Check wilh the SHPO or FPO for any additional item)
~
~
~~
(Complete t h i s i t e m a t t h e r e q u e s t o f t h e SHPO o r FPO.)
n a m e / t i t l e - D r . P e t e r W. Houck
Court Street
s t r e e t 6 number-720
telephone 804-846-1200
city or t o w n L y n c h b u r g
atate-%
z i p code
24504-
-
=========i======E--I====
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-
UL.
oMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-
-7-
Page
-1-
W a w i c k House
city of ~ynchburg, Virginia
The John Marshall Wanvick House was built in 1826 by prominent Lynchburg tobacconist and
city mayor, John Marshall Wanvick. It is sited at the north comer of Court and Eighth Streets
and was one of the first houses to be built on the crest of Lynchburg Hill,later to be called
Court House Hill, overlooking the James River. The design exhibits the transition from the
Federal to the Greek Revival styles that was occurring during the time and is distinctive for the
decorative panels between the first and second floors. This detail lends a refinement unusual for
this period in Lynchburg. The Wanvick House has a high degree of physical integrity and
possesses a number of architectural features that distinguish it from other Lynchburg houses of
the period.
Located within close proximity to both of Lynchburg's wurthouses, the Wanvick House
occupies a small city lot on the comer of Court and Eighth Streets within a local historic district.
Though originally it possessed several outbuildings to the rear of its steep lot, these no longer
remain. The house is situated so that it faces Court Street and its southeast end elevation abuts
its neighbor. The sidewalks in front of the house are stone, as are the gutters leading from the
house to the street. A lid inset in the sidewalk provides access to an underground coal chute that
deposited wal into a storage room in the basement.
The house exhibits the transition from the Federal to the Greek Revival style and is one of the
last large brick mansions built during the city's first flush of prosperity. The two-story residence
was substantial in size and finely appointed for its time of wnsauction.
Consisting of two floors on a raised basement, the house has a Georgian plan, a hipped metalclad roof and two interior end chimneys. It measures approximately 43 x 33 feet. The facade
is symmetrical with three bays, and a center entrance protected by a later nineteenth century
porch. The brick is laid in Flemish bond.
One of the most noticeable features of the facade are the recessed panels between the first and
second floor windows. These are decorated with a swag of garland tied with ribbons and
rosette in the center. Though there are only two, these panels add refinement to the overall
design and display the designer's familiarity with sophisticated detailing. Nearly identical panels
originally existed on the Executive Mansion in Richmond.
As it is currently, the hipped roof was covered with sheet metal, and is likely one of the first
houses in Lynchburg to use this material. Originally the roof was hidden from street-level view
by a balustrade above the cornice and another surrounding the flat deck above the hip. It is not
known when the balustrades were lost. The cornice consists of a simple cove above a decorative
row of dentils alternating with diamond lozenges. Windows are six-over-six double-hung with
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Porn 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-
-7-
Page
-2-
Warwick House
City of Lyncbburg, Virginia
-
original sash and louvered shutters; the center window on the second floor is a jib and extends
to just above the porch roof. Windows have thin marble sills and lintels, the latter embellished
with diminutive comerblocks detailed with stylized rosettes.
-.
The present front porch with its scrollwork trim is obviously later than the house, but likely
following the lines of the original. Stone steps flanked by iron balusters and railings, similar to
those at nearby Point of Honor, lead to the porch and are lilrely original. Patches in the
brickwork above the porch indicate that at one time there was a balustrade amund the deck. The
existing one-story porch has a flat roof with a cornice,supported by paid brackets. Four square
columns with simple bases and caps have intermediate caps at three quarters their height. The
pilasters are similarly detailed. The jig-sawn curvilineax brackets and railing with stylized cutouts are typical of the late nineteenth century.
The front entrance, with sidelights and transom, has been reaimmed, but the original was likely
framed within the same rectangular brick opening, a noticeable variation from the more typical '
arched entrances of the last decade that characterized Lynchburg's domestic architecture of that
period. The double-leaf two-panel door has a simple surround with flanking engaged colonenes
and a cornice above the transom.
The side elevation has paired windows centend in the wall of each floor and a single window
on the first floor for the rear parlor. The nar elevation is largely obscund by a rear ell and an
enclosed portico that extends across the back. A jib window is located at the landing of the stair
between the second floor and attic.
The interior of the structure is arranged as a standard Georgian plan, with the stairs at the right
side of the cenaal passage. The rear door, with i& sidelights, hansom and elegant moldings is
reputed to be the original front door, removed when the existing m m c e was installed. Like
the doors leading from the hall to the first floor rooms, the original entrance door is detailed
with an elegant s ~ ~ ~ with
u n acanthus
d
m 1 1 bmkcts and bulls-eye comerblocks.
\
The interior reveals an original rich trim with influences of both the Fedaal and Greek R e v i d
styles. The majority of this trim remains. Distinctive inmior features include eleven fircpbXs,
four with original King of Prussia marble mantels, stencil-painted ceilings, several ornate g a ~
chandeliers and a built-in walnut sec~erarydesk. The stair has a turned newel and thin turned
balusters. It curves just before reaching the second floor. Doors throughout have six panels.
Pocket doors separate the principal rooms on the first floor which consist of a dining room and
drawing room to the left of the entrance and opposing front and rear parion. The configuration
of the second floor is similar, with the exception that the center hall has been partitioned W
accommodate use as apartments. Kitchens and bathrooms are located in the two-story enclosed
rear portico and do not impact the original plan of the house.
i
.
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-7
& 8-
Page
Warwick House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
-3-
The most distinctive feature of the first floor are the carved panels above the doors, each with
a different pattern of relief carving, The panel on the drawing room side has three swags of
grapevine hung from rosettes. A stylized flower is centered above the curve of each swag. The
dining room panel is detailed with a panern of circles and rosems.
The fhplace mantel in the drawing room is grey marble with a curved shelf and centered
xartouche. The mantel in the dining room is a black marble with Ionic columns. A finelydetailed cast iron fhpiace insert features swags and other details including the head of a woman.
is located a dumbwaiter. The mantel in the rear parlor is detailed
To the left of the -lace
with Doric columns. Simpler wood mantels are located in the four rooms of the second floor.
--
The originai kitchen is located in the basement and retains its cooking kplace. Directly across
the hall is located the summer d i g room. The nrnainder of the space is subdivided and
finished; an exterior entmnce is located beneath the front porch. Given the arrangement of space,
this basement level likely served multiple uses in addition to cooking and dining, among them
perhaps the housing of domestic servants.
Study of the Mutual Assurance Society policy description reveals that few substantive changes
have occurred since the Warwick House's consmuction. Though its ancillary buildings such as
laundry, dairy, bathhouse and caniage house have been lost aver time, the setzing of the house
is little altered.
CANE
The Warwick House is an outstanding example of Lynchburg domestic architecture from the
early nineteenth century and reveals the designers h m i b i t y Gth fashionable architecture of the
~eriod.Distinauishing it from others of the ~eriodare the recessed uanels on the facade between
h e first and -kc~nd-floors. A statewide &wey of houses with -similar panels revealed that
examples are few in number. When built, the Warwick House was situated in a fashionable
neighborhood that provided a prestigious address for its prominent owner, John Marshall
Warwick. As a child, Warwick's grandson, John Wanvick Daniel, resided with his grandfather.
Daniel, known as "the lame lion of Lynchburg," was a highly respected Civil War hem, United'
States senator and famous orator.
The Warwick House is eligible under criterion C as an important example of domestic
Lynchburg architecture built during the 1820s. The property possesses details from both the
*
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
section
-8-
Page
-4-
-
W a w i c k House
city of Lynchburg, Virginia
Feduat and Greek Revival styles, thus illustrating the transition occurring at the time of its
construction. It is "the only large, relatively unaltaed house nmaining from its period. "'
The Warwick House was built bv John Marshall Wanvick (1799-1878). the son of Lynchburg's
first mayor and himself mayor in 1833. He was also notable for his s
k as tob& m&t
and his urnmotion of Lvnchbun's railroads. As erandfather of John Wanvick Daniel, Warwick
assumed responsibility* for his grandson's upGringing which is widely credited as having
profoundly influenced the young politician.
-.
The house is believed to have been designed by John Wills, a Lynchburg lawyer, clerk of courts
and part-time architect. He built his home the Wi-Davis-Carter-Glass House at nearby 6th and
Clay Streets a year following the Wanvick House, and there exist obvious similarities. ~ o s t .
notable is the inclusion of recessed decorative panels. A study of panels from this Mod
undertaken in the late 1980s revealed that few wamples of ciasicallydetailed panels remain.
In 1988, molds of these panels were used to replace those missing at the Govanor's Mansion
in Richmond.
John Marshall W w i c k was born in Amherst County in 1799. At four years of age he moved
to Lynchburg. As a young adult he lived for a time in Richmond but at age 25 retuned to
Lynchburg and remained there until his death in 1878. Successful in his business pursuits,
Wanvick lost much of his fortune during and after the Civil War. Warwick bought lot number
51 of the original town plat in 1825. The house was completed by the following year as
evidenced by the fact that it was insured by the Mutual A s s m e Society. Both in design and
location, Warwick's h u s e befitted that of a successful businessman and mayor.
,
The house is also l0~allyknown as the childhood home of John Warwick Daniel, Warwick's
distinguished and greatly-admired mmdson. Daniel was born in Lynchburg on September 5,
1842,- is life was hexorably wnn&ted to his grandfather and to hisbousc. f i e mother of John
Warwick Daniel. Sarah Anne Warwick Daniel. dauehter of John Marshall Wamick, died at the.
early age of 24 when her son was only a child.'~oll&ingher death, young Daniel and his sister
Sarah were parented by their grandparents in the Warwick House. The children's father, Judge
W
i Daniel, Jr. was away h m home for extended periods of time so the upbringing of the
two children was left primarily to the grandparents. John Warwick Daniel d t e d his
grandfather with having been the strongest influence upon his life. Daniel went on to achieve
fame as a lawyer, politician and orator.
'Chambers,S. Allen, Jr. W u r v . An. university b,
1981, p.92.
Chariomille, VA: The
..
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-8 -
page
-5-
Warsrick House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Warwick lost his fortune as a muit of the Civil War. For several years prior to his death, he
resided in more modest accommodations and presumably the house was rented. The year
fdllowing his death the house left the family in 1879 when i t was sold at public auction to Joseph
Lawson, president of a local distillery. It was acquired by Judge Don P. Halsey, Jr. in 1909,
great-grandson of John Marshall Wanvick. Halsey was a lawyer, author, lecturer, historian,
V
i State Senator and Circuit Court Judge. He served as president of the Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial in 1936. He owned the house until 1938 and it remained in the Halsey family
until 1945. From 1978 to 1985 the p q e r t y was owned by Luther Caudill, Jr. who saved the
house from demolition and rehabilitated it.
-,
Despite periods of neglect and use as an officelapartment building, the Wanvick house retains
its significant and distinctive features and possesses a high degree of integrity. It remains as one
of only a few sophisticated residences of this period in Lynchburg.
*
om
No.
1024-0018
U n i t e d S t a t e s Department of t h e I n t e r i o r
N a t i o n a l P a r k Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
-9-
Page
-6-
W a w i c k House
city of Lynchburg, Virginia
Bibliographical References
John Marshall Warwick House
Blunt. Louise A.. P1uce.c und People .+fenrionedby Mrs. .Mar,qarer Anrhonv Cubell in Sketches
and Recollr~rionsofl~nchburq.J. P. Bell ( Lynchburg. 1974).
-.
Chambers. S. Allen. Jr.. Lynchbur?. un Archirecrural Hisroy. The University Press.
(Charlottesville. 1981).
The Warwick Familv. Papen.
including letten from familv members. original
photoephs.
.
scrapbooks and newspaper clippings. p&ate collection ofownen.
Title search of the John Wanvick Daniel House.
Zehmer. John G.. Jr.. and Driggs. Sarah Shields. .'Worthy of its Purposes."Virqiniu C a v a l ~ d e .
Vol. 37. No. 3. Winrer Issue. 1988. pp. 126- 132.
.
John Warwick Daniel
Chaffin. William W.. A Srudx oflnvenrion in Two Selecred Speeches ofJohn Warwick Daniel.
unpublished manuscript. Alderman Library, University of Virginia. (Charlottesville. Virginia.
1959).
Christian. W. Asburv. Lynchburp and irs Peo~le.J. P. Bell. (Lynchburg,
1900).
- Virginia.
Daniel. Edward M.. ~ ~ e i c hue&'s ~ r a r i o m
o h h n Wanvick hi el.
J. P. Bell. Inc.. (Lynchburg. Virginia. 191 1).
Daniel Familv Papen. Alderman Library. Univenitv of Virginia. Charlottesville. Virginia.
Doss. Richad ~ " r k e .The Public cure& o f John warwick ~ a n i e iSpokesman
.
o f rhe New
Conservurizm. unpublished manuscript. ~ l d i n n a nLibrary, ~nivenity'ofvirginia:
t Charlottesville. Virginia. 1952).
Doss. Richard Burke. John Warwick Daniel. A Srudr in rhe Virginia Democrat\.. unpublished
manuscript. Alderman Library. University of ~ir~inia:(Charlotte~ville.Virginia. 1955).
Halsey. Don P.. Historic und Heroic Lynchbur*?,J. P. Bell. Inc.. (Lynchburg, Virginia. 1935).
[C. C. Pearsonl. "John Warwick Daniel." D i c t i o n a ~of American Biography. void. (New York.
1930). pp. 68-69.
Saunden. John. .tfetnoriul A&fresse.yOn rhe Lifr cuul C h u c r e r ofjohn Wurwick Daniel.
Government Printing Office. ( Washington D. C.. 191 1 ).
Vacellio. Sylvia D.. John Wurwick Daniel: Lume Lion r,fLynchhur,q.unpublished masters
thesis. Alderman Libran. University of Virginia. (Charlottesville. Virzinia. 1950).
Yancy. Rosa Faulkner. L?.nchhurq und i n Neiqhbor.$.J. W. Ferguson & Sons. (Richmond.
1935)
..John Wanvick Daniel 'The Lame Lion of Lynchburg."' anonymous. 7ke Sourherner .ua~u-im.
December. 1928. p. 10.
+.
.
0-
NPS Form 10-900-a
No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Photograph List
Page
-7-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
photos for JOhn Marshall Warwick House. Lvnchburcr. VA
Negative Number: 14574
Negatives on file at the VA State Library, Richmond, VA
Photographed by Julie Vosmik, November 1995
1.
View of front elevation, facing southwest
2.
View of side elevation, facing southeast
3.
View of front elevation, facing southwest
4.
View of front steps
5.
Detail of front panel
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
1
I
Page
-8-
Warwick House
citv of Lynchburg, Virginia
Ground Floor. (Basement ) , riaruick House
1. utility/storage room
2. open area under rear ~ortico
3. original kitchen
4. Hallway
5. old s-r
dining room
6. Current furnace room
7. 5tairvay to maan floor
8. aathroom
9. Front r O m
10. Entrance well
Drawn by: Alan mbsey
OMB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-9-
W a w i c k House
Citv of Lvnchburs. Virginia
Main Floor. warwick House
%
1. Kitchen
:.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
2.
3.
10.
Bathroom
near porch
;;lt=nen
Dathroom
Original fcrrnal dxnlno room
Hallway
'ear ;jriOI
7raulno room
'ran: Farlor. 1ar library)
11. Fronc portLC0
Drawn b y : Alan imbrev
ONE No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-10-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
second Floor, u a m i c k House
1.
2.
5.
7.
6.
I
8.
11.
Kitchen
Sathroom
Xear porch
.
itch en
6.
7.
6.
3.
10.
11.
3edroom/living room
iiallwsy
Sedroom/living room
Bedroom
3athroom
searoom
Front portico roof
Drawn by: Alan Embrcy
-
O m No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAZ REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section: Additional Documentation
Page
-11-
W a w i c k House
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Genealogical Decendency Chart
to
John Wanvick Daniel
I
I
Capi. James
Wuw~ek
Mqor William
waw'ck-TCap Williun
Norvel-T
I=
Im
a-
WmCabell
John Marshall
Wanvick
19-1,
I
MrPa
Suvnlv Cudine
aaaw
Elwn
Mvlh
Nonell
Roben
-
S m h Anne
Warwlcx
( t i n t wuel
Judge
Wlllii
Dan~el.Jr.
I
Dr.Eduard
'"lurnl
I
Jul~rR i u W
, M U ~ I
-John
Wanvick
Daniel
S.nhArw
!Amd
Donald P.
Hakey
.
NAAWIUC
2
NCC(
H:
w\u
UTM
E : 17 4142120
hj: IT -6L4300
Text
F3t;. 10-300
( R w Y .6 - 7 2 )
UNlTED S T A T E S CEPAATMENT C)F THE I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERV?CE
HATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMIHATIOH F O R M
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O X g
ENTRY DATE
( T y p e a1S entries
-
r
comple!e applicable sections)
Southeast corner of Fifth & Madison S t r e e t s
1
1
C l T Y O R TO'NN:
Lynchburg
STATE
I
015TRICT.
Sixth 01. Caldwell Butler)
CODE
(COU N T Y.
Virginia
13. :CLASS~FICAT~GN,
7.:cr
@ Building
1~:
1
k Lynchburg l c i t v l
51
.
,
I
Cj I n P r o c e s s
Private
g
0 Obtect
@
Pubtic Acquisition:
P~b'Fic
Structure
site
I
.
,
680
+
L
OWNERSUlP
(Check One)
Disfrrct
1
. .,.
. .
CATEGORY
]-I
LONGRKSSIOEIAL
*Unoccupied
Baing Considarsd
Both
Yes:
Qccup~ed
Cr]
Presstvation work
i n progress
0
E
Restricted
Wnrcstrictad
No
P A E_S_E'Et U s E (Check One or .Wore ss AppropriaioJ
@
AgricrrItvrmi
Govcrnm~
Q Pnrk
@
Comrnercioi
Industrial
a
n Edvcatloro?
C] MiIitury
0 Religious
Museum
0 ScientiFic
Entcr:aioment
14.
EJ
O ~ E CF
P PDCPEPTY.
I
r
.
,>
. .
Xronsportstior
Cemmcnts
Otkcr (Specfk)
Private Residence
Vacant
~
.. . . .
-.*
.
1
"
1ONlllhlEm'S YAM^.
Mr, Beverly R. Cosby
?A
Y
u7
-t
<[
(
3
9
?
5 T R E h T A u C NLlmBER:
4405 aocnesboro Road
ZE~
?A
C
C I T Y OR TO,vy:
-
Lynchburg,
,
13:. LOCA'TIOX S F L E G A L DESCR! P-TIQH
COUPTHOUSC
..
,
y,.
-
%
,
7
Iw
S E G i S T R Y OC' OFF.Db. E T C :
C i C y Hall
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOiL#N:
3
D A T E OF SURVEY:
s Survey Inventon
Federal
U
State
i
CODE
STATE
1958
I
s" rr
cf V"
C
v
Counly
n Local
OEPQSI T O R Y F O R S U R Y K Y RECORDS:
0
Z
1
r
' C l J Y Or, 7 O*x:
i
u
bTashin?reon
b
4
I;]
!
L
m
Fmr
C]
Detorloroted
Ruins
CI
Un.xposmd
(Chock One)
(Check One)
un0~tered
n hiowed
ao
~ ,s,ts~ ~ ~ ~ I
wn) P H Y S I C A L A P P E A R A N C E
The Vestern Hotel i s a trm-story b r i c k building erected i n two s e c t i o n s
The o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n has i t s f i f t y - f o o t facade s i t u a t e d on t h e f r o n t edge of
i t s l o t on Madison S t r e e t , while t h e l a t e r e l l is s e t back about t h r e e f e e t
from i t s property l i n e on F i f t h S t r e e t . The Madison S t r e e t f r o n t i s l a i d
i n five-course American bond, and has simple b r i c k f l a t arches over t h e
windows. An i n t e r e s t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l i s t h e very r e f i n e d round-arch
c e n t e r doorway with symmetrically molded trim, turned c o m e r blocks, reeded
s o f f i t , and e a r l y s t o n e s t e p s . Early sash survives in a l l t h e windows
t h e six-over-nine s a s h on t h e second f l o o r appears t o be o r i g i n a l . The f i r s
f l o o r windows t o t h e l e f t o f t h e entrance a r e s e t s l i g h t l y lower than those
on t h e r i g h t , although t h i s does not appear t o have been t h e r e s l l t of a
l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n . One of t h e o r i g i n a l window openings on t h e e a s t end has
been bricked up while another has been lowered.
--
The building i s covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed w i t h standing
seam sheet metal. Surrounding t h e eaves i s a simple but r e f i n e d molded
cornice. A somewhat unusual f e a t u r e i s t h e two chimney s t a c k s p r o j e c t i n g
above t h e facade c o r n i c e , framing t h e middle t h r e e bays.
The two-story b r i c k e l l appears t o have been b u i l t a t l e a s t two decades
a f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n , and d i f f e r s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n only s l i g h t det a i l s . Of chief i n t e r e s t i s t h e handsome t h r e e - p a r t dooxway w i t h i t s carved
consoles. The doorway is s h e l t e r e d by a simple Doric porch.
Much of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s o r i g i n a l i n t e r i o r t r i m i s i n t a c t , although t h e
rooms on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e c e n t r a l h a l l i n t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n have had
t h e i r mantels replaced with mid-nineteenth-century ones of black marble.
Most of t h e o r i g i n a l baseboard, f l o o r i n g and paneled doors survive. The
s t a i r newel i s l a t e r but t h e r e s t of t h e s t a i r i s e a r l y , i f n o t o r i g i n a l .
The second f l o o r rooms a r e l a r g e l y u n a l t e r e d , and two of them preserve
t h e i r handsome Federal mantels. Both mantels have reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded cornice shelves.
Although t h e b u i l d i n g i s vacant and has had no maintenance i n s e v e r a l
y e a r s , i t g e n e r a l l y i s i n sound s t r u c t u r a l condition. An exception i s t h e
south wall of t h e e l l which has a s e r i o u s crack. Also, some unimportant
l a t e r r e a r porches a r e badly decayed. Plans a r e underway t o have t h e b u i l d i n
renovated f o r adaptive use.
C.L.
FICWCE
PER100
(Check One O r M o r s es Appropriel*)
Prs-Columbian!
SPEClFlC O I T E I S I
ill
16th CenturV
0 17th Century
15th Century
U
18th Century
201h C e n t u r y
19th Century
(If Ai)pliceble s n d K n o v n )
(Check O n - or More
AnEhs O F S I G N I F I C A N C E
-3
Appropriate)
Education
A b ~ irg i n o l
n ~..hi.t~,i~
~
Historic
~
Political
~
i
~
~
Industry
0 Apricultur.
Invention
Archincture
Landscop.
Art
Architecture
J-r
Cornrn.rc.
Cornmunisationr
Military
~
Other [Specitr)
~
Science
.. . .
Sculpture
Sociml/Humon-
Liter.ture
n Music
ti^^
0
Urban P l o n n i n g
~ / P h i .i
R e.l i g i a n
losophy
itori.,,
0 Theater
n~
~
~
~
~
~
~
t
.
t
i
~
~
ITATEWENT O F 51CNIFICANCE
Lynchburg's Western Hotel stands as t h e l a s t of the c i t y ' s many
ante-bellum taverns and o r d i n a r i e s , and i s an important example of e a r l y
commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e . The refined Federal-style s t r u c t u r e has long
been a f a m i l i a r landmark on what was f o r many years t h e western entrance
t o t h e c i t y . It was t h i s geographic l o c a t i o n t h a t gave t h e e s t a b l i s h e n t
i t s name.
The b u i l d i n g ' s d a t e of construction i s uncertain, but i t i s known
t o have been operated a s a tavern as e a r l y as 1815 by Joseph Nichols. An
advertisement f o r a blacksmith shop appearing t h a t year i n t h e Lynchburg
Press s t a t e s t h a t t h e shop was located "on Lynchburg H i l l on West S t r e e t
opposite Joseph Nichols1 tavern." That Joseph Nichols l i v e d t h e r e i s
confirmed by an 1818 r e f e r e n c e s t a t i n g t h a t he was issued a l i c e n s e t o
operate an ordinary "at h i s house on Cocke S t r e e t , " (West S t r e e t and Cocke
S t r e e t both were e a r l y names f o r F i f t h S t r e e t . ) By 1826 t h e establishment
was owned and operated by John F. Johnson. The f i r s t reference t o t h e
b u i l d i n g under i t s present name appears i n 1833 when a l i c e n s e issued t o
t o keep a tavern a t Western Hotel" was t r a n s f e r r e d
J o h n E t z l e r 'Ii
back 'to John F. Johnson.
, ,
I n r e c e n t decades t h e b u i l d i n g was used f o r aparhnents, although
i t i s now vacant. Consideration c u r r e n t l y i s being given t o i t s r e s t o r s t i
and adaptive use.
-
.
C.L.
9. MAJCR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
' ~ < l u n t , Louise A . , " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l
I
S o c i e t y %scum, Vol. V I , 1/3.
I C a b e l l , Margaret, Sketches and R e c o l l e c t i o n s o f Lynchburg & t h e O l d e s t
I n h a b i t a n t , R i c h o n d , 1858, p. 171.
and Its People, Lynchburg, 1900, p. 77.
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury, Lynchburg -Lynchburg Press,March 23, 1815.
Hustings Court Records, 1816, 1833 ( o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e ) .
Lvnchburg Deeds, Book E, pp. 232, 456 (1818).
Lynchburg Deeds, Book 9, p. 239 (1823).
-
-
-
-
I
I
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
LONC~TUOE
NE
.I I
. .
D
IP??OXIUATE
iilST
A C R E A G E O F NOMINATED PROPERTY:
lessthan one a c r e .
A L L S T A T E S AND COUNTLES F O R P R O P E R T I E S O ~ E R L A P P I N C . S T A T E OR C O U N T "
I~I
BOUNDARIES
STaTC:
COOE
-
-
5rATF:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
I
I
CODE
COUNTY:
I
Cn
CODE
COUNTY:
I'
I
w
[I I . FSqU P R E P A R E D BY
C
t
A
f
p 2 . S T A T E LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A T I O H
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the
1
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATIOH
Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
I hereby certify that t h i s property i s included i n t h e
fir
Register'
89465). I hereby nominate t h i s property
inclusion
in the National Register and certify that i t has been
I
evaluated accordinq t o t h e c-iteria and p r o c e h r e s s e t
b y the National Park Service.
fo::h
I
The recommended
lecel of significance of this nomination is:
Sattonal
0
State
@
Local
~
i
~office
~ 01~ ~ r cf h s o~l o g g~
and Historic
.
PrcssrValion
I
0
!
Dr?e
sa-c
J u n i u s R. F i s h b u r n e , Jr:, D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o w i s s i o
ATTEST:
Titlo
,
Dare
.
.
.st4
...
Keeper of T h e Neticnol Register
Date
G P O 931.834
I
I
I
I
I
( R w Y .6 - 7 2 )
UNlTED S T A T E S CEPAATMENT C)F THE I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERV?CE
HATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMIHATIOH F O R M
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O X g
ENTRY DATE
( T y p e a1S entries
-
r
comple!e applicable sections)
Southeast corner of Fifth & Madison S t r e e t s
1
1
C l T Y O R TO'NN:
Lynchburg
STATE
I
015TRICT.
Sixth 01. Caldwell Butler)
CODE
(COU N T Y.
Virginia
13. :CLASS~FICAT~GN,
7.:cr
@ Building
1~:
1
k Lynchburg l c i t v l
51
.
,
I
Cj I n P r o c e s s
Private
g
0 Obtect
@
Pubtic Acquisition:
P~b'Fic
Structure
site
I
.
,
680
+
L
OWNERSUlP
(Check One)
Disfrrct
1
. .,.
. .
CATEGORY
]-I
LONGRKSSIOEIAL
*Unoccupied
Baing Considarsd
Both
Yes:
Qccup~ed
Cr]
Presstvation work
i n progress
0
E
Restricted
Wnrcstrictad
No
P A E_S_E'Et U s E (Check One or .Wore ss AppropriaioJ
@
AgricrrItvrmi
Govcrnm~
Q Pnrk
@
Comrnercioi
Industrial
a
n Edvcatloro?
C] MiIitury
0 Religious
Museum
0 ScientiFic
Entcr:aioment
14.
EJ
O ~ E CF
P PDCPEPTY.
I
r
.
,>
. .
Xronsportstior
Cemmcnts
Otkcr (Specfk)
Private Residence
Vacant
~
.. . . .
-.*
.
1
"
1ONlllhlEm'S YAM^.
Mr, Beverly R. Cosby
?A
Y
u7
-t
<[
(
3
9
?
5 T R E h T A u C NLlmBER:
4405 aocnesboro Road
ZE~
?A
C
C I T Y OR TO,vy:
-
Lynchburg,
,
13:. LOCA'TIOX S F L E G A L DESCR! P-TIQH
COUPTHOUSC
..
,
y,.
-
%
,
7
Iw
S E G i S T R Y OC' OFF.Db. E T C :
C i C y Hall
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOiL#N:
3
D A T E OF SURVEY:
s Survey Inventon
Federal
U
State
i
CODE
STATE
1958
I
s" rr
cf V"
C
v
Counly
n Local
OEPQSI T O R Y F O R S U R Y K Y RECORDS:
0
Z
1
r
' C l J Y Or, 7 O*x:
i
u
bTashin?reon
b
4
I;]
!
L
m
Fmr
C]
Detorloroted
Ruins
CI
Un.xposmd
(Chock One)
(Check One)
un0~tered
n hiowed
ao
~ ,s,ts~ ~ ~ ~ I
wn) P H Y S I C A L A P P E A R A N C E
The Vestern Hotel i s a trm-story b r i c k building erected i n two s e c t i o n s
The o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n has i t s f i f t y - f o o t facade s i t u a t e d on t h e f r o n t edge of
i t s l o t on Madison S t r e e t , while t h e l a t e r e l l is s e t back about t h r e e f e e t
from i t s property l i n e on F i f t h S t r e e t . The Madison S t r e e t f r o n t i s l a i d
i n five-course American bond, and has simple b r i c k f l a t arches over t h e
windows. An i n t e r e s t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l i s t h e very r e f i n e d round-arch
c e n t e r doorway with symmetrically molded trim, turned c o m e r blocks, reeded
s o f f i t , and e a r l y s t o n e s t e p s . Early sash survives in a l l t h e windows
t h e six-over-nine s a s h on t h e second f l o o r appears t o be o r i g i n a l . The f i r s
f l o o r windows t o t h e l e f t o f t h e entrance a r e s e t s l i g h t l y lower than those
on t h e r i g h t , although t h i s does not appear t o have been t h e r e s l l t of a
l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n . One of t h e o r i g i n a l window openings on t h e e a s t end has
been bricked up while another has been lowered.
--
The building i s covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed w i t h standing
seam sheet metal. Surrounding t h e eaves i s a simple but r e f i n e d molded
cornice. A somewhat unusual f e a t u r e i s t h e two chimney s t a c k s p r o j e c t i n g
above t h e facade c o r n i c e , framing t h e middle t h r e e bays.
The two-story b r i c k e l l appears t o have been b u i l t a t l e a s t two decades
a f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n , and d i f f e r s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n only s l i g h t det a i l s . Of chief i n t e r e s t i s t h e handsome t h r e e - p a r t dooxway w i t h i t s carved
consoles. The doorway is s h e l t e r e d by a simple Doric porch.
Much of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s o r i g i n a l i n t e r i o r t r i m i s i n t a c t , although t h e
rooms on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e c e n t r a l h a l l i n t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n have had
t h e i r mantels replaced with mid-nineteenth-century ones of black marble.
Most of t h e o r i g i n a l baseboard, f l o o r i n g and paneled doors survive. The
s t a i r newel i s l a t e r but t h e r e s t of t h e s t a i r i s e a r l y , i f n o t o r i g i n a l .
The second f l o o r rooms a r e l a r g e l y u n a l t e r e d , and two of them preserve
t h e i r handsome Federal mantels. Both mantels have reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded cornice shelves.
Although t h e b u i l d i n g i s vacant and has had no maintenance i n s e v e r a l
y e a r s , i t g e n e r a l l y i s i n sound s t r u c t u r a l condition. An exception i s t h e
south wall of t h e e l l which has a s e r i o u s crack. Also, some unimportant
l a t e r r e a r porches a r e badly decayed. Plans a r e underway t o have t h e b u i l d i n
renovated f o r adaptive use.
C.L.
FICWCE
PER100
(Check One O r M o r s es Appropriel*)
Prs-Columbian!
SPEClFlC O I T E I S I
ill
16th CenturV
0 17th Century
15th Century
U
18th Century
201h C e n t u r y
19th Century
(If Ai)pliceble s n d K n o v n )
(Check O n - or More
AnEhs O F S I G N I F I C A N C E
-3
Appropriate)
Education
A b ~ irg i n o l
n ~..hi.t~,i~
~
Historic
~
Political
~
i
~
~
Industry
0 Apricultur.
Invention
Archincture
Landscop.
Art
Architecture
J-r
Cornrn.rc.
Cornmunisationr
Military
~
Other [Specitr)
~
Science
.. . .
Sculpture
Sociml/Humon-
Liter.ture
n Music
ti^^
0
Urban P l o n n i n g
~ / P h i .i
R e.l i g i a n
losophy
itori.,,
0 Theater
n~
~
~
~
~
~
~
t
.
t
i
~
~
ITATEWENT O F 51CNIFICANCE
Lynchburg's Western Hotel stands as t h e l a s t of the c i t y ' s many
ante-bellum taverns and o r d i n a r i e s , and i s an important example of e a r l y
commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e . The refined Federal-style s t r u c t u r e has long
been a f a m i l i a r landmark on what was f o r many years t h e western entrance
t o t h e c i t y . It was t h i s geographic l o c a t i o n t h a t gave t h e e s t a b l i s h e n t
i t s name.
The b u i l d i n g ' s d a t e of construction i s uncertain, but i t i s known
t o have been operated a s a tavern as e a r l y as 1815 by Joseph Nichols. An
advertisement f o r a blacksmith shop appearing t h a t year i n t h e Lynchburg
Press s t a t e s t h a t t h e shop was located "on Lynchburg H i l l on West S t r e e t
opposite Joseph Nichols1 tavern." That Joseph Nichols l i v e d t h e r e i s
confirmed by an 1818 r e f e r e n c e s t a t i n g t h a t he was issued a l i c e n s e t o
operate an ordinary "at h i s house on Cocke S t r e e t , " (West S t r e e t and Cocke
S t r e e t both were e a r l y names f o r F i f t h S t r e e t . ) By 1826 t h e establishment
was owned and operated by John F. Johnson. The f i r s t reference t o t h e
b u i l d i n g under i t s present name appears i n 1833 when a l i c e n s e issued t o
t o keep a tavern a t Western Hotel" was t r a n s f e r r e d
J o h n E t z l e r 'Ii
back 'to John F. Johnson.
, ,
I n r e c e n t decades t h e b u i l d i n g was used f o r aparhnents, although
i t i s now vacant. Consideration c u r r e n t l y i s being given t o i t s r e s t o r s t i
and adaptive use.
-
.
C.L.
9. MAJCR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
' ~ < l u n t , Louise A . , " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l
I
S o c i e t y %scum, Vol. V I , 1/3.
I C a b e l l , Margaret, Sketches and R e c o l l e c t i o n s o f Lynchburg & t h e O l d e s t
I n h a b i t a n t , R i c h o n d , 1858, p. 171.
and Its People, Lynchburg, 1900, p. 77.
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury, Lynchburg -Lynchburg Press,March 23, 1815.
Hustings Court Records, 1816, 1833 ( o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e ) .
Lvnchburg Deeds, Book E, pp. 232, 456 (1818).
Lynchburg Deeds, Book 9, p. 239 (1823).
-
-
-
-
I
I
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
LONC~TUOE
NE
.I I
. .
D
IP??OXIUATE
iilST
A C R E A G E O F NOMINATED PROPERTY:
lessthan one a c r e .
A L L S T A T E S AND COUNTLES F O R P R O P E R T I E S O ~ E R L A P P I N C . S T A T E OR C O U N T "
I~I
BOUNDARIES
STaTC:
COOE
-
-
5rATF:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
I
I
CODE
COUNTY:
I
Cn
CODE
COUNTY:
I'
I
w
[I I . FSqU P R E P A R E D BY
C
t
A
f
p 2 . S T A T E LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A T I O H
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the
1
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATIOH
Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
I hereby certify that t h i s property i s included i n t h e
fir
Register'
89465). I hereby nominate t h i s property
inclusion
in the National Register and certify that i t has been
I
evaluated accordinq t o t h e c-iteria and p r o c e h r e s s e t
b y the National Park Service.
fo::h
I
The recommended
lecel of significance of this nomination is:
Sattonal
0
State
@
Local
~
i
~office
~ 01~ ~ r cf h s o~l o g g~
and Historic
.
PrcssrValion
I
0
!
Dr?e
sa-c
J u n i u s R. F i s h b u r n e , Jr:, D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o w i s s i o
ATTEST:
Titlo
,
Dare
.
.
.st4
...
Keeper of T h e Neticnol Register
Date
G P O 931.834
I
I
I
I
I
Text
United States Department of the lnteriior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Sewice
Dr
National Register of Historic Places
[inventory-Nomination Foam
HCR!
received
A-
.dl;ate ,ente
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
First Baptist Church
historic
nh
andlor common
2.
Location
streel & number
n/a
1100 Court Street (E corner Court and Eleventh s t r e e t s ) not for publication
city, town
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
n J avlclnlty
. . - of
cade
53
county
congressionaldistrict
Sixth
Caldwell ~ut-er)
(M.
(in c i t y )
code
680
3. Classification
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
Ownership
-site
-object
Public Acquisition
in process
being considered
-
Status
-public
X occupied
-bath
-unoccupied
-work in progress
X private
F a
name
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-militarv
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, c / o Pastor
P, 0. Box
1159
street & number
Lynchburg
citv, town
n
' vicinitv
~
of
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
900
Virginia
state
24505
,
Clerk's Office, Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
Court Street
Lynchburg
Virginia
state
6. Weplresentaaioa in Existing
$ U ~ W ~ (S2 )
(See
#11 C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
(1)~ i s t o r i cD i s t r i c t Survey, Lynchburg,
VirqinFa
has this property been determined @legible? -yes x-no
title
date
May 1976
depositmy for survey records
city, town
Lynchbur9
-federal
-state
-county X local
City of Lynchburg, Division of
p l a n n i n g
,tat,
Virginia
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
N/n
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s b u i l t of hard-pressed red b r i c k on a rough g r a n i t e foundation.
A t s a l i e n t p o i n t s , notably i n t h e t h r e e gable walls of t h e church, stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m
of a golden hue adds a decorative note of c o n t r a s t . The major e x t e r n a l f e a t u r e s a r e t h e tower
and s p i r e which p r o j e c t from t h e southwest corner of t h e modified cruciform church. Measuring
180' t o t h e i r o n f i n i a l , t h e s p i r e gave t h e church t h e d i s t i n c t i o n of being t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
building upon completion. The main entrance t o t h e church i s contained within t h e base of the
tower and i s recessed within an arch decorated with voussoirs of t e r r a c o t t a . To t h e r i g h t of
t h i s entrance i s a rounded appendage with a conical r o o f , containing t h e f i r s t runs o f t h e
s t a i r leading t o t h e s p i r e . The s h a f t of t h e tower, which i s r e l a t i v e l y unadorned i n i t s f i r s t
stages, i s supported on each face by s t e e p l y sloping angle b u t t r e s s e s . I n s i l h o u e t t e , these
b u t t r e s s e s give t h e s h a f t a s l i g h t l y tapering appearance and v i s u a l l y prepare f o r t h e increased
slope of t h e s p i r e . Above t h e r i d g e of t h e church r o o f s , t h e tower has a double-arched window
i n each face. D i r e c t l y above t h e s e windows, each f a c e contains a row of smaller arched windows
A simple cornice terminates t h e b r i c k tower and serves a s a base f o r t h e broach s p i r e . A t the
t r a n s i t i o n a l s t a g e between t h e broaches and t h e octagonal sectioned s p i r e , each f a c e has a
lucarne, o r dormer window, divided by mullions i n t o a double-lancet form.
The main facade of t h e church, facing Eleventh S t r e e t , and t h e two s i d e s a r e centered
with l a r g e rose windows framed within Gothic arches covered with hood moldings. Wooden tracery
defines t h e p a t t e r n o f t h e rose windows within t h e arches. Below t h e rose windows, each wall
contains a row of seven c l o s e l y spaced l a n c e t windows, a l s o capped with hood moldings. Each
gable i s f i l l e d with decorative t e r r a - c o t t a panels above a t r i p l e window of narrow rectangular
sections. Gables a r e terminated with raking cornices which r e s t upon engaged columns s e t withi n t h e walls. Between t h e p r o j e c t i n g f r o n t wall of t h e auditorium and t h e tower i s a one-story
vestibule, balanced on t h e opposite s i d e by a secondary entrance.
Straddling t h e roof above t h e crossing i s a fleche. Its e i g h t louvred f a c e s o r i g i n a l l y
acted a s v e n t i l a t o r s f o r t h e gas chandelier suspended d i r e c t l y below. The louvred stage i s
capped with an octagonally sectioned s p i r e whose form echoes on a g r e a t l y reduced s c a l e t h e
slope of t h e main s p i r e .
To t h e r e a r , t h e e x t e r i o r of t h e church d i s p l a y s a g r e a t v a r i e t y of p r o j e c t i n g and receding planes covered with an equal v a r i e t y o f gabled, hipped, and rounded roof sections.
Contained within a r e t h e o r i g i n a l Sunday School rooms, a p a s t o r ' s study, and church p a r l o r .
To t h e r e a r o f t h e s e wings, t h e building terminates i n a l a r g e rounded "apse." Although t h i s
f e a t u r e was o r i g i n a l , i n 1902 it was taken down and r e b u i l t f u r t h e r from t h e auditorium t o
provide a d d i t i o n a l classroom space. While t h e apse would seem t o imply v i s u a l l y and l i t u r g i c a l l y t h a t t h e r e is a deep chancel within, such i s not t h e case.
When t h e church was dedicated i n 1886, t h e l o c a l p r e s s c a r r i e d an e n t h u s i a s t i c account
of t h e i n t e r i o r : -
.
.
Far above you, r e s t i n g on slender columns and l o f t y arches, t h e c e i l i n g
a r t i s t i c a l l y grained, lit up by a chandelier of cobweb workmanship and
some twenty gas j e t s on t h e four walls; before you a v a s t amphitheatre
sloping down towards t h e b a p t i s t r y , encased i n p u r e s t Vermont marble,
draped with purple plush v e l v e t and bearing t h e i n s c r i p t i o n , "Buried
with Him i n Baptism," and surrounded by a platform covered with a s o f t
c a r p e t of b r i g h t hue. Above t h e b a p t i s t r y , clad i n sombre walnut, i s
the g r e a t organ.
(See Continuation Sheet %1).
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-community
planning -landscape archilectureX religion
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
-military
-sociall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
theater
-communications
-industry
-poiiticsigovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
.
1884-86
BuilderiAmhitect
John R. Thomas ( a r c h i t e c t )
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s a major a r c h i t e c t u r a l landmark f o r t h e c i t y of Lynchburg
and i s a most accomplished example of High Victorian Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Construction
was begun i n 1884, and although s e v e r a l a d d i t i o n s have s i n c e been made, t h e o r i g i n a l portion
stands e s s e n t i a l l y a s it d i d when it was completed i n September 1886. I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s
a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church houses an o l d and i n f l u e n t i a l B a p t i s t congregation and
stands a s evidence of a period of impressive growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A t t h e time of i t s dedication i n 1886, t h e F i r s t B a p t i s t Church was described i n t h e
Lynchburg News a s being " i n t h e Romanic ( s i c ) s t y l e of a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e t h i r t e e n t h century, and a t a l a t e r period, when t h e rounded windows and dome-shaped roofs of t h e o l d
Basilica made way f o r pointed aches ( s i c ) and gables." I t was a v a l i a n t , i f garbled, attempt
t o describe a building t h e l i k e s of which had not been seen i n t h e c i t y before. Designed
by New York a r c h i t e c t John Rochester Thomas, t h e church was and remains an impressive example
of t h e High Victorian Gothic s t y l e . Seeds of t h i s s t y l e had been sown a s e a r l y a s 1849 with
I n both t h i s work and i n h i s
t h e publication of John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture.
l a t e r Stones of Venice, Ruskin promulgated t h e beauty and t r u t h of medieval a r c h i t e c t u r e ,
not a s found i n h i s n a t i v e England, but primarily i n I t a l y . He was n o t , however, a copyist
but hoped t h a t t h e s p i r i t which produced t h e b e s t examples of p a s t a r c h i t e c t u r e could be
revived t o i n s p i r e t h e designers of h i s time t o b e t t e r works. Among t h e a s p e c t s of I t a l i a n
a r c h i t e c t u r e which he most admired were bold and c o n t r a s t i n g uses o f c o l o r and m a t e r i a l ,
d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c a l e and t e x t u r e , and a r e s t r a i n e d use of ornament.
Lynchburg's F i r s t B a p t i s t Church manifests a l l these "Ruskinian" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t o a
marked degree. The dark red b r i c k walls c o n t r a s t with t h e yellow stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m ,
and although t h e trim i s decorative, it demonstrates a degree of s t r u c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y . Gable
ends display prominent h o r i z o n t a l bands of stone exactly a t t h e p o i n t where, i n s i d e , t h e
c e i l i n g of t h e sanctuary terminates. Dominating t h e e n t i r e composition i s t h e massive tower
and s t e e p l e , whose o u t l i n e i s mimicked by t h e d e l i c a t e f l e c h e over t h e crossing of t h e main
roofs. Projecting and receding planes play a prominent r o l e i n t h e design and provide y e t
another theme of c o n t r a s t s .
True a l s o t o Ruskinian p r i n c i p l e s , t h e church owes no a l l e g i a n c e t o a s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r e
of t h e p a s t . Actually, i t i s a s much indebted t o German Gothic a s I t a l i a n , b u t i n a l l aspects
it combines elements of t h e Gothic vocabulary i n a manner expressive of i t s own time.
In a d d i t i o n t o i t s i n t r i n s i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church stands a s an impressive
monument t o an expansive.period i n t h e h i s t o r y of Lynchburg and c e n t r a l Virginia. During
t h e 1880s, Lynchburg had pretensions of becoming "the Pittsburgh of Virginia, and perhaps
of t h e South." Even Harper's Weeklx, i n i t s i s s u e of December 4 , 1886, suggested t h a t " i f
one wants t o see what t h e new south i s , " one should come t o Lynchburg. The F i r s t B a p t i s t
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
9. Major Biblioqraphical References
Loth, C a l d e r , and S a d l e r , J u l i u s Trousdale. The Only Proper S t y l e . Boston, 1975.
MOSS, J. Calvin.
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, F i f t i e t h Anniversary. Lynchburg, 1936.
White,, Blanch. The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a . Lynchburg, 1965.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Lynchbum. Va.
UMT References
6 6 4 3 8 0
IEasting
U I
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1:24000
1411411980l
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Occupying c i t y l o t a t E c o r n e r of Court and 11th S t s . ,
measuring 152' X 1 6 5 ' , t h e 165' f r o n t i n g on Court S t . JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have been drawn t o
c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e of t h e l o t of which t h e church and t h e churchyard a r e s i t u a t e d .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N /A
code
county
state
N/A
code
county
N /A
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
I1
namefiitie
S.
Allen Chambers f o r V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street
code
number
city or town
221 Governor S t r e e t
A p r i l 1981
date
teleohone
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2state
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officei for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 herecy nominate this property for inclusion in the ( h i o n a ~Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by th$eritage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
Conservation an9 Recreation Service.
d&&fitlaid
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
6.
(2)
7.
#1
Item number 6,7
REPF3SENTfiTION I N EXISTING SURVEYS
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1969, 1971
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
DESCRIPTION
I n more mundane terms, t h e s a n c t u a r y was a t y p i c a l auditorium church, where t h e comfortably
s e a t e d congregation had unobstructed views o f t h e p u l p i t , c h o i r l o f t above, and g i l d e d organ
p i p e s behind. Pews were curved and r a d i a t e d from t h e f o c a l p o i n t o f t h e p u l p i t . The two
main a i s l e s l e a d d i a g o n a l l y from t h e two c o r n e r e n t r a n c e s down t o t h e p u l p i t . A narrow c e n t r a l
a i s l e extends o n l y a s f a r toward t h e p u l p i t a s i s necessary b e f o r e t h e narrowing ranks of
pews can b e e n t e r e d a s e a s i l y from t h e s i d e a i s l e s . The s l e n d e r columns noted i n t h e dedicatory
account a r e o f c l u s t e r e d Gothic d e s i g n , and although grained t o appear a s wood, they a r e
a c t u a l l y o f i r o n . The s e a t i n g a r e a o f t h e s a n c t u a r y , which remains l a r g e l y a s i t was o r i g i n a l l y
is e s s e n t i a l l y a r e c t a n g u l a r space measuring 8 5 ' x 7 5 ' . The arrangement of t h e columns and
t h e p a t t e r n of t h e s t a i n e d p i n e c e i l i n g , however, c r e a t e a t l e a s t a s u g g e s t i o n of a cruciform
space. Among t h e most impressive f e a t u r e s of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e t h e r o s e and l a n c e t windows i n
t h e r e a r and s i d e w a l l s . These a r e a l l f i l l e d w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l s t a i n e d g l a s s , which was
manufactured i n Lynchburg by w i l l i a m A . Hefferman. The g l a s s i s c o l o r e d i n b r i g h t primary
c o l o r s and arranged i n a b s t r a c t geometrical p a t t e r n s .
By t h e 1920s, t h e enrollment of t h e Sunday School had i n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t t h a t a new
Sunday School annex had t o b e b u i l t . Designed by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson, t h e
new a d d i t i o n f a c e s Eleventh S t r e e t t o t h e l e f t of t h e church. Completed i n 1928, it harmonizes
well w i t h t h e o l d e r b u i l d i n g i n s c a l e , m a t e r i a l , and d e s i g n . I n 1941, t h e i n t e r i o r of t h e
sanctuary was modified w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n of a d i v i d e d chancel. Space f o r t h e chancel was taken
from t h e o l d Sunday School, and t h e o l d organ and r a i s e d c h o i r were removed. A r c h i t e c t f o r
t h i s renovation was a g a i n Stanhope Johnson. Woodwork i n t h e new chancel, i n c l u d i n g a high
wainscot, c h o i r pews, p u l p i t , and communion t a b l e , i s decorated with Gothic molding. The f o c a l
p i n t of t h e new chancel i s a s t a i n e d - g l a s s window, a l s o of Gothic d e s i g n , c o n t a i n i n g i n i t s
c e n t r a l panel a r e n d i t i o n o f Holman Hunt's well-known p a i n t i n g , " C h r i s t , t h e L i g h t of t h e World."
This window and f o u r s m a l l e r memorial windows i n s t a l l e d a t t h e same time were made by t h e Payne
Studios of P a t t e r s o n , New J e r s e y . Below, Gothic p a n e l i n g , which d i s g u i s e s t h e b a p t i s t r y when
not i n use, a c t s a s a r e r e d o s . A t t h e same time t h e chancel was c r e a t e d , t h e o l d c h a n d e l i e r
and w a l l l i g h t s of t h e s a n c t u a r y were r e p l a c e d w i t h wrought-iron c h a n d e l i e r s .
The s t e e p l y s l o p i n g l o t on which t h e church s t a n d s maintains much o f i t s o r i g i n a l a s p e c t .
Massive g r a n i t e r e t a i n i n g w a l l s capped w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l i r o n fence s e p a r a t e both t h e Court
and Eleventh S t r e e t yards from t h e sidewalks below. On Court S t r e e t , a n opening i s c u t i n t o
The e n t r a n c e t o t h e churchyard,
t h e r e t a i n i n g w a l l t o p r o v i d e a n e n t r a n c e t o t h e basement.
which is a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of t h e two streets, i s emphasized by two l r o n p o s t s w i t h globe
l i g h t s . Within t h e churchyard, walks a r e o f f l a g s t o n e , and ornamental p l a n t i n g has been k e p t
t o a minimum.
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
#z
8.
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
Church, which had been d e d i c a t e d o n l y t h r e e months e a r l i e r , was then t h e l a r g e s t church e d i f i c e
i n t h e c i t y and much l a r g e r than i t s congregation warranted. I t was a time of enthusiasm and
e x p e c t a t i o n , however, and nothing b u t t h e b i g g e s t and b e s t would do.
The church, which i s t h e f o u r t h b u i l d i n g i n which t h e congregation has worshiped, houses
t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t B a p t i s t congregation. Dating i t s establishment from a meeting h e l d i n J u l y
1815, t h e church h a s subsequently been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of n i n e o t h e r B a p t i s t
churches i n and around Lynchburg. F i r s t B a p t i s t Church h a s a l s o played a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n
t h e h i s t o r y of i t s denomination i n t h e s t a t e . I n 1893 t h e B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of
V i r g i n i a was organized i n response t o l e t t e r s s e n t t o o t h e r churches by t h e a l r e a d y - e x i s t i n g
I n 1919 i t was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n s e c u r i n g
B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of t h e Lynchburg church.
f o r Lynchburg t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t H o s p i t a l . During t h e 1930s, t h e church c o n t r i b u t e d more
t o t h e s t a t e denominational o r g a n i z a t i o n t h a n any o t h e r congregation. I n t h e 1950s, t h e church
played a d e c i s i v e r o l e i n t h e purchase and development o f Eagle Eyrie, a n e s t a t e t e n miles
west of t h e c i t y , t o s e r v e a s t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t Assembly Ground and summer camp.
During t h i s same p e r i o d , t h e members of t h e church s t r u g g l e d w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n of whether
t o remain a t t h e downtown l o c a t i o n o r t o move t o a suburban s i t e , which would have been more
The d e c i s i o n was reached t o remain. Now, a s t h e church
convenient t o many o f i t s members.
b u i l d i n g approaches i t s c e n t e n n i a l y e a r , it becomes ever more a p p r e c i a t e d a s one of Lynchburg's
a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l landmarks.
SAC
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Sewice
Dr
National Register of Historic Places
[inventory-Nomination Foam
HCR!
received
A-
.dl;ate ,ente
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
First Baptist Church
historic
nh
andlor common
2.
Location
streel & number
n/a
1100 Court Street (E corner Court and Eleventh s t r e e t s ) not for publication
city, town
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
n J avlclnlty
. . - of
cade
53
county
congressionaldistrict
Sixth
Caldwell ~ut-er)
(M.
(in c i t y )
code
680
3. Classification
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
Ownership
-site
-object
Public Acquisition
in process
being considered
-
Status
-public
X occupied
-bath
-unoccupied
-work in progress
X private
F a
name
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-militarv
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, c / o Pastor
P, 0. Box
1159
street & number
Lynchburg
citv, town
n
' vicinitv
~
of
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
900
Virginia
state
24505
,
Clerk's Office, Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
Court Street
Lynchburg
Virginia
state
6. Weplresentaaioa in Existing
$ U ~ W ~ (S2 )
(See
#11 C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
(1)~ i s t o r i cD i s t r i c t Survey, Lynchburg,
VirqinFa
has this property been determined @legible? -yes x-no
title
date
May 1976
depositmy for survey records
city, town
Lynchbur9
-federal
-state
-county X local
City of Lynchburg, Division of
p l a n n i n g
,tat,
Virginia
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
N/n
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s b u i l t of hard-pressed red b r i c k on a rough g r a n i t e foundation.
A t s a l i e n t p o i n t s , notably i n t h e t h r e e gable walls of t h e church, stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m
of a golden hue adds a decorative note of c o n t r a s t . The major e x t e r n a l f e a t u r e s a r e t h e tower
and s p i r e which p r o j e c t from t h e southwest corner of t h e modified cruciform church. Measuring
180' t o t h e i r o n f i n i a l , t h e s p i r e gave t h e church t h e d i s t i n c t i o n of being t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
building upon completion. The main entrance t o t h e church i s contained within t h e base of the
tower and i s recessed within an arch decorated with voussoirs of t e r r a c o t t a . To t h e r i g h t of
t h i s entrance i s a rounded appendage with a conical r o o f , containing t h e f i r s t runs o f t h e
s t a i r leading t o t h e s p i r e . The s h a f t of t h e tower, which i s r e l a t i v e l y unadorned i n i t s f i r s t
stages, i s supported on each face by s t e e p l y sloping angle b u t t r e s s e s . I n s i l h o u e t t e , these
b u t t r e s s e s give t h e s h a f t a s l i g h t l y tapering appearance and v i s u a l l y prepare f o r t h e increased
slope of t h e s p i r e . Above t h e r i d g e of t h e church r o o f s , t h e tower has a double-arched window
i n each face. D i r e c t l y above t h e s e windows, each f a c e contains a row of smaller arched windows
A simple cornice terminates t h e b r i c k tower and serves a s a base f o r t h e broach s p i r e . A t the
t r a n s i t i o n a l s t a g e between t h e broaches and t h e octagonal sectioned s p i r e , each f a c e has a
lucarne, o r dormer window, divided by mullions i n t o a double-lancet form.
The main facade of t h e church, facing Eleventh S t r e e t , and t h e two s i d e s a r e centered
with l a r g e rose windows framed within Gothic arches covered with hood moldings. Wooden tracery
defines t h e p a t t e r n o f t h e rose windows within t h e arches. Below t h e rose windows, each wall
contains a row of seven c l o s e l y spaced l a n c e t windows, a l s o capped with hood moldings. Each
gable i s f i l l e d with decorative t e r r a - c o t t a panels above a t r i p l e window of narrow rectangular
sections. Gables a r e terminated with raking cornices which r e s t upon engaged columns s e t withi n t h e walls. Between t h e p r o j e c t i n g f r o n t wall of t h e auditorium and t h e tower i s a one-story
vestibule, balanced on t h e opposite s i d e by a secondary entrance.
Straddling t h e roof above t h e crossing i s a fleche. Its e i g h t louvred f a c e s o r i g i n a l l y
acted a s v e n t i l a t o r s f o r t h e gas chandelier suspended d i r e c t l y below. The louvred stage i s
capped with an octagonally sectioned s p i r e whose form echoes on a g r e a t l y reduced s c a l e t h e
slope of t h e main s p i r e .
To t h e r e a r , t h e e x t e r i o r of t h e church d i s p l a y s a g r e a t v a r i e t y of p r o j e c t i n g and receding planes covered with an equal v a r i e t y o f gabled, hipped, and rounded roof sections.
Contained within a r e t h e o r i g i n a l Sunday School rooms, a p a s t o r ' s study, and church p a r l o r .
To t h e r e a r o f t h e s e wings, t h e building terminates i n a l a r g e rounded "apse." Although t h i s
f e a t u r e was o r i g i n a l , i n 1902 it was taken down and r e b u i l t f u r t h e r from t h e auditorium t o
provide a d d i t i o n a l classroom space. While t h e apse would seem t o imply v i s u a l l y and l i t u r g i c a l l y t h a t t h e r e is a deep chancel within, such i s not t h e case.
When t h e church was dedicated i n 1886, t h e l o c a l p r e s s c a r r i e d an e n t h u s i a s t i c account
of t h e i n t e r i o r : -
.
.
Far above you, r e s t i n g on slender columns and l o f t y arches, t h e c e i l i n g
a r t i s t i c a l l y grained, lit up by a chandelier of cobweb workmanship and
some twenty gas j e t s on t h e four walls; before you a v a s t amphitheatre
sloping down towards t h e b a p t i s t r y , encased i n p u r e s t Vermont marble,
draped with purple plush v e l v e t and bearing t h e i n s c r i p t i o n , "Buried
with Him i n Baptism," and surrounded by a platform covered with a s o f t
c a r p e t of b r i g h t hue. Above t h e b a p t i s t r y , clad i n sombre walnut, i s
the g r e a t organ.
(See Continuation Sheet %1).
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-community
planning -landscape archilectureX religion
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
-military
-sociall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
theater
-communications
-industry
-poiiticsigovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
.
1884-86
BuilderiAmhitect
John R. Thomas ( a r c h i t e c t )
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s a major a r c h i t e c t u r a l landmark f o r t h e c i t y of Lynchburg
and i s a most accomplished example of High Victorian Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Construction
was begun i n 1884, and although s e v e r a l a d d i t i o n s have s i n c e been made, t h e o r i g i n a l portion
stands e s s e n t i a l l y a s it d i d when it was completed i n September 1886. I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s
a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church houses an o l d and i n f l u e n t i a l B a p t i s t congregation and
stands a s evidence of a period of impressive growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A t t h e time of i t s dedication i n 1886, t h e F i r s t B a p t i s t Church was described i n t h e
Lynchburg News a s being " i n t h e Romanic ( s i c ) s t y l e of a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e t h i r t e e n t h century, and a t a l a t e r period, when t h e rounded windows and dome-shaped roofs of t h e o l d
Basilica made way f o r pointed aches ( s i c ) and gables." I t was a v a l i a n t , i f garbled, attempt
t o describe a building t h e l i k e s of which had not been seen i n t h e c i t y before. Designed
by New York a r c h i t e c t John Rochester Thomas, t h e church was and remains an impressive example
of t h e High Victorian Gothic s t y l e . Seeds of t h i s s t y l e had been sown a s e a r l y a s 1849 with
I n both t h i s work and i n h i s
t h e publication of John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture.
l a t e r Stones of Venice, Ruskin promulgated t h e beauty and t r u t h of medieval a r c h i t e c t u r e ,
not a s found i n h i s n a t i v e England, but primarily i n I t a l y . He was n o t , however, a copyist
but hoped t h a t t h e s p i r i t which produced t h e b e s t examples of p a s t a r c h i t e c t u r e could be
revived t o i n s p i r e t h e designers of h i s time t o b e t t e r works. Among t h e a s p e c t s of I t a l i a n
a r c h i t e c t u r e which he most admired were bold and c o n t r a s t i n g uses o f c o l o r and m a t e r i a l ,
d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c a l e and t e x t u r e , and a r e s t r a i n e d use of ornament.
Lynchburg's F i r s t B a p t i s t Church manifests a l l these "Ruskinian" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t o a
marked degree. The dark red b r i c k walls c o n t r a s t with t h e yellow stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m ,
and although t h e trim i s decorative, it demonstrates a degree of s t r u c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y . Gable
ends display prominent h o r i z o n t a l bands of stone exactly a t t h e p o i n t where, i n s i d e , t h e
c e i l i n g of t h e sanctuary terminates. Dominating t h e e n t i r e composition i s t h e massive tower
and s t e e p l e , whose o u t l i n e i s mimicked by t h e d e l i c a t e f l e c h e over t h e crossing of t h e main
roofs. Projecting and receding planes play a prominent r o l e i n t h e design and provide y e t
another theme of c o n t r a s t s .
True a l s o t o Ruskinian p r i n c i p l e s , t h e church owes no a l l e g i a n c e t o a s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r e
of t h e p a s t . Actually, i t i s a s much indebted t o German Gothic a s I t a l i a n , b u t i n a l l aspects
it combines elements of t h e Gothic vocabulary i n a manner expressive of i t s own time.
In a d d i t i o n t o i t s i n t r i n s i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church stands a s an impressive
monument t o an expansive.period i n t h e h i s t o r y of Lynchburg and c e n t r a l Virginia. During
t h e 1880s, Lynchburg had pretensions of becoming "the Pittsburgh of Virginia, and perhaps
of t h e South." Even Harper's Weeklx, i n i t s i s s u e of December 4 , 1886, suggested t h a t " i f
one wants t o see what t h e new south i s , " one should come t o Lynchburg. The F i r s t B a p t i s t
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
9. Major Biblioqraphical References
Loth, C a l d e r , and S a d l e r , J u l i u s Trousdale. The Only Proper S t y l e . Boston, 1975.
MOSS, J. Calvin.
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, F i f t i e t h Anniversary. Lynchburg, 1936.
White,, Blanch. The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a . Lynchburg, 1965.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Lynchbum. Va.
UMT References
6 6 4 3 8 0
IEasting
U I
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1:24000
1411411980l
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Occupying c i t y l o t a t E c o r n e r of Court and 11th S t s . ,
measuring 152' X 1 6 5 ' , t h e 165' f r o n t i n g on Court S t . JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have been drawn t o
c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e of t h e l o t of which t h e church and t h e churchyard a r e s i t u a t e d .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N /A
code
county
state
N/A
code
county
N /A
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
I1
namefiitie
S.
Allen Chambers f o r V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street
code
number
city or town
221 Governor S t r e e t
A p r i l 1981
date
teleohone
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2state
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officei for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 herecy nominate this property for inclusion in the ( h i o n a ~Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by th$eritage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
Conservation an9 Recreation Service.
d&&fitlaid
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
6.
(2)
7.
#1
Item number 6,7
REPF3SENTfiTION I N EXISTING SURVEYS
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1969, 1971
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
DESCRIPTION
I n more mundane terms, t h e s a n c t u a r y was a t y p i c a l auditorium church, where t h e comfortably
s e a t e d congregation had unobstructed views o f t h e p u l p i t , c h o i r l o f t above, and g i l d e d organ
p i p e s behind. Pews were curved and r a d i a t e d from t h e f o c a l p o i n t o f t h e p u l p i t . The two
main a i s l e s l e a d d i a g o n a l l y from t h e two c o r n e r e n t r a n c e s down t o t h e p u l p i t . A narrow c e n t r a l
a i s l e extends o n l y a s f a r toward t h e p u l p i t a s i s necessary b e f o r e t h e narrowing ranks of
pews can b e e n t e r e d a s e a s i l y from t h e s i d e a i s l e s . The s l e n d e r columns noted i n t h e dedicatory
account a r e o f c l u s t e r e d Gothic d e s i g n , and although grained t o appear a s wood, they a r e
a c t u a l l y o f i r o n . The s e a t i n g a r e a o f t h e s a n c t u a r y , which remains l a r g e l y a s i t was o r i g i n a l l y
is e s s e n t i a l l y a r e c t a n g u l a r space measuring 8 5 ' x 7 5 ' . The arrangement of t h e columns and
t h e p a t t e r n of t h e s t a i n e d p i n e c e i l i n g , however, c r e a t e a t l e a s t a s u g g e s t i o n of a cruciform
space. Among t h e most impressive f e a t u r e s of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e t h e r o s e and l a n c e t windows i n
t h e r e a r and s i d e w a l l s . These a r e a l l f i l l e d w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l s t a i n e d g l a s s , which was
manufactured i n Lynchburg by w i l l i a m A . Hefferman. The g l a s s i s c o l o r e d i n b r i g h t primary
c o l o r s and arranged i n a b s t r a c t geometrical p a t t e r n s .
By t h e 1920s, t h e enrollment of t h e Sunday School had i n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t t h a t a new
Sunday School annex had t o b e b u i l t . Designed by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson, t h e
new a d d i t i o n f a c e s Eleventh S t r e e t t o t h e l e f t of t h e church. Completed i n 1928, it harmonizes
well w i t h t h e o l d e r b u i l d i n g i n s c a l e , m a t e r i a l , and d e s i g n . I n 1941, t h e i n t e r i o r of t h e
sanctuary was modified w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n of a d i v i d e d chancel. Space f o r t h e chancel was taken
from t h e o l d Sunday School, and t h e o l d organ and r a i s e d c h o i r were removed. A r c h i t e c t f o r
t h i s renovation was a g a i n Stanhope Johnson. Woodwork i n t h e new chancel, i n c l u d i n g a high
wainscot, c h o i r pews, p u l p i t , and communion t a b l e , i s decorated with Gothic molding. The f o c a l
p i n t of t h e new chancel i s a s t a i n e d - g l a s s window, a l s o of Gothic d e s i g n , c o n t a i n i n g i n i t s
c e n t r a l panel a r e n d i t i o n o f Holman Hunt's well-known p a i n t i n g , " C h r i s t , t h e L i g h t of t h e World."
This window and f o u r s m a l l e r memorial windows i n s t a l l e d a t t h e same time were made by t h e Payne
Studios of P a t t e r s o n , New J e r s e y . Below, Gothic p a n e l i n g , which d i s g u i s e s t h e b a p t i s t r y when
not i n use, a c t s a s a r e r e d o s . A t t h e same time t h e chancel was c r e a t e d , t h e o l d c h a n d e l i e r
and w a l l l i g h t s of t h e s a n c t u a r y were r e p l a c e d w i t h wrought-iron c h a n d e l i e r s .
The s t e e p l y s l o p i n g l o t on which t h e church s t a n d s maintains much o f i t s o r i g i n a l a s p e c t .
Massive g r a n i t e r e t a i n i n g w a l l s capped w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l i r o n fence s e p a r a t e both t h e Court
and Eleventh S t r e e t yards from t h e sidewalks below. On Court S t r e e t , a n opening i s c u t i n t o
The e n t r a n c e t o t h e churchyard,
t h e r e t a i n i n g w a l l t o p r o v i d e a n e n t r a n c e t o t h e basement.
which is a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of t h e two streets, i s emphasized by two l r o n p o s t s w i t h globe
l i g h t s . Within t h e churchyard, walks a r e o f f l a g s t o n e , and ornamental p l a n t i n g has been k e p t
t o a minimum.
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
#z
8.
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
Church, which had been d e d i c a t e d o n l y t h r e e months e a r l i e r , was then t h e l a r g e s t church e d i f i c e
i n t h e c i t y and much l a r g e r than i t s congregation warranted. I t was a time of enthusiasm and
e x p e c t a t i o n , however, and nothing b u t t h e b i g g e s t and b e s t would do.
The church, which i s t h e f o u r t h b u i l d i n g i n which t h e congregation has worshiped, houses
t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t B a p t i s t congregation. Dating i t s establishment from a meeting h e l d i n J u l y
1815, t h e church h a s subsequently been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of n i n e o t h e r B a p t i s t
churches i n and around Lynchburg. F i r s t B a p t i s t Church h a s a l s o played a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n
t h e h i s t o r y of i t s denomination i n t h e s t a t e . I n 1893 t h e B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of
V i r g i n i a was organized i n response t o l e t t e r s s e n t t o o t h e r churches by t h e a l r e a d y - e x i s t i n g
I n 1919 i t was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n s e c u r i n g
B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of t h e Lynchburg church.
f o r Lynchburg t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t H o s p i t a l . During t h e 1930s, t h e church c o n t r i b u t e d more
t o t h e s t a t e denominational o r g a n i z a t i o n t h a n any o t h e r congregation. I n t h e 1950s, t h e church
played a d e c i s i v e r o l e i n t h e purchase and development o f Eagle Eyrie, a n e s t a t e t e n miles
west of t h e c i t y , t o s e r v e a s t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t Assembly Ground and summer camp.
During t h i s same p e r i o d , t h e members of t h e church s t r u g g l e d w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n of whether
t o remain a t t h e downtown l o c a t i o n o r t o move t o a suburban s i t e , which would have been more
The d e c i s i o n was reached t o remain. Now, a s t h e church
convenient t o many o f i t s members.
b u i l d i n g approaches i t s c e n t e n n i a l y e a r , it becomes ever more a p p r e c i a t e d a s one of Lynchburg's
a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l landmarks.
SAC
Text
Form 1C;-300
UhbTED S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A R K S E R V I C E
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[X O r i p i n o l Site
The Garland H i l l l i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t i s a s m a l l r e s i d e n t i a l neighborllood i n c o r p o r a t i n g t h e s u m m i t o f one o f t h e numerous h i l l s t h a t surround
dowl~tovn Lynchburg.
The a r e a g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e s t h o s e b l o c k s o f Madison,
l l a r r i s o n and Clay S t r e e t s t h a t a r e n o r t h w e s t o f F i f t h S t r e e t .
Because t h e
l i i l l d r o p s o f f s h a r p l y on t h e n o r t h w e s t and n o r t h e a s t none o f t h e s t r e e t s i n
t h e a r e a i s a through s t r e c t s o t h a a r e a i s u n s u a l l y q u i e t f o r a n urban
neigitborhood.
The s t r e e t s were some o f t h e e a r l i e s t i n t h e c i t y t o r e c e i v e
i b r i c k paving and much o f i t remains.
They a l s o r e t a i n much of t h e o r i g i n a l
s t o n e c u r b i n g a s w e l l a s s l a t e and b r i c k walks. The p r i n c i p a l s t r e e t s ,
Madison and H a r r i s o n , a r e l i n e d w i t h r e g u l a r l y spaced elms, o a k s , and maples
and tllc I ~ O L I S C Son them a r e two and t h r e e s t o r y detached s t r u c t u r e s o f v a r i o u s
arcltitectilral s t y l e s .
Many of t h e houses on Madison S t r e e t s t a n d on t h e i r
o r i g i i l a l wide l o t s which on t h e southwest s i d e o f t h e s t r e e t once extended
undeveloped t o l l a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Most of t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival s t r u c t u r t
a r c two s t o r i e s i n h e i g h t , and have t h r e e - b a y f a c a d e s and s h a l l o w hippcd
roofs.
A number o f t h e s e houses have been e m b e l l i s h e d w i t h l a t e r a r c h i tcc t u r a l d e t a i l s .
The numerous e l a b o r a t e mansions e r e c t e d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s
and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s t a n d i n marked c o n t r a s t t o t h e s i m p l e r , e a r l i e r
Tliese e c l e c t i c s t y l e b u i l d i n g s have asymmetrical o u t l i n e s a c c e n t e d
houses.
w i t h towers, g a b l e s , pediments and a v a r i e t y of b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s .
The
houses on H a r r i s o n S t r e e t a r e g e n e r a l l y l e s s imposing t h a n t h o s e on Madison
;but a r e a s architecturally varied.
The f o l l o w i n g l i s t i s a n i n v e n t o r y w i t h
b r i e f a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f e v e r y house i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
,
I
/&idison S t r e e t
I
9
106 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and frame, one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped and g a b l e r o o f ,
demi-octagonal e n d s , c r o s s g a b l e w i t h d e c o r a t i v e m e t a l s h e a t h i n g ,
e l a b o r a t e o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s . Queen Anne; mid
nineteenth century; converted i n t o apartments.
o
109 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l g a b l e peak
w i t h s h i n g l e s and l a t t i c e p a t t e r n e d window, d o u b l e u n i t window, f r o n t
porch e x t e n d s around t h e c u r v e s o f t h e house. E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
- C(,C 2
-& :
-c.
100 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k and s h i n g l e s , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , g a b l e roofed
dormers, p i e r c e edge of r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends. g.1900.
i
'111 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k
b r a c k e t s , d e c o r a t i v e bargeboards.
Late-nineteenth century.
I1
1i
Foam 10-300.
[July 1969)
UNITED STAYCS DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGISTER Si' I-ilSTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
i
FOR NPS USE ONLY
I
(Continuation Sheet)
LYNCMIIURG ( i n c i t y )
ENTRY NUMBFR
D&TE
1
I (Number ell s n b l o s )
I
117 Madison SLrcet
Brick w i t 1 1 frame b a y s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal frame towers, blockend l i n t e l s , turncd p o s t porch.
Greek Revival; o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n b u i l t
1845-1847; o r i g i n a l l y owncd by Vincent Tabb; e n l a r g e d i n 1895-1896 w i t h
Queen Anne-style a d d i t i o n s .
118 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay, f r o n t
porch a d d i t i o n w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s . &. 1900.
205 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , r o n d e l l e f r i e z e , pedimented hood moldi n g s , three-bay porch w i t h turned b a l u s t r a d e and Temple of t h e Winds
c o l u i ~ m s , c r o s s e d m u l l i o n s i n transom and s i d e l i g h t s , o n e - s t o r y demio c t a g o n a l ended wing. Greek Revival: b u i l t i n 1859; o r g i n i a l l y owned
by Edward M u r r e l l ; Ca. 1901; removal of wing on e a s t s i d e of house.
208 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and s t o n e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , c e n t r a l
tower w i t h Romanesque window and gabled dormer, s t o n e porch w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n c o i o n e t t e s , S u l i i v a n e s q u e archway.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n
1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by John W . Craddock;
a f t e r f i r e i n 1926 golden oak i n t e r i o r woodwork r e p l a c e d by South
American walnut.
209 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l tower
s k i r t e d by E a s t l a k e porch, pedimented p a v i l l i o n w i t h windows of v a r i o u s
shapes.
B u i l t i n 1903; o r i g i n a l l y owned by S. B. Ferguson.
215 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b l o c k end l i n t e l s , I o n i c porch, i n t e r 1845; o r i g i n a l l y owned by
i o r end chimneys. Greek R e v i v a l ;
Samuel G a r l a n d , S r .
&.
c
/ i
I)
220 Madison S t r e e t
Brick, t h r e e s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , Jacobethan g a b l e , c r e n a l l a t e
round tower and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , porch e n c i r c l e s f r o n t and s i d e s ,
Lewis a r c h i t e c t ;
Jacobethan c a r r i a g e - h o u s e .
B u i l t i n 1899; J.M.B.
o r i g i n a l l y owned by A.H. Burroughs; i n 1926 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s b
t h e a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson.
300 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , I o n i c porch w i t h c e n t e r
pediment, windows w i t h l a n c e t - p a t t e r n e d m u l l i o n s i n upper s a s h .
Earlytwentieth century.
I
Form '0-3000
( J u l y 1960)
UNITEL) S T A T E S D C P A R T K C N T O F T l l i I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A 3 K S C R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGIS'I'ER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- ROMINL.SION
LYNClli3URC ( i n c i t y )
FOZM
FOR HPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continuation Shcel)
DATE
I
fNunlbor all ontrioe,
b d i s o n Strcct
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , l a t e r o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r
towcr, l a t e r o n e - s t o r y porches. Ca. 1818; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W a l t e r
Dunningcon; i n 1900 t h e tower w a s a d d e d and i n t e r i o r was r e d e c o r a t e d
i n t h e manner of t h e C o l o n i a l Revival by t h e a r c h i t e c t J.M.B.
Lewis.
-
i
306 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex c r o s s e d g a b l e and hipped r o o f ,
1900.
t r i - p a r t gablewlndow, t u r n e d p o s t porch.
(,( 1,
e.
308 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , s h i n g l e s
s h e a t h galble end, E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e c o u r s e and b a l u s t r a d e .
Ca. 1900.
-
1
309 Madison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h s h i n g l e s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p e d i mented dormer, f r o n t porch w i t h p a i r e d D o r i c columns.
Early
twentieth century.
.
-
!
I
I
310 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , p a t t e r n e d s h i n g l e s i n g a b l e ,
1900.
pedimented e n t r a n c e t o p o s t porch.
&.
312 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , f r o n t porch w i t h
b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and cross-work b a l u s t r a d e .
Late-nineteenth century.
'
313 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , d u p l e x w i t h twin g a b l e s
s h e a t h e d w i t h v e r t i c a l boards and c r o s s e d s t i c k s framing t h e v e n t s ,
double u n i t windows w i t h s q u a r e pane b o r d e r s , o n e - s t o r y porches a t each
1900.
corner.
&.
318
?
Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l bay topped
by overhanging pediment, p o s t porch w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s .
1900.
&.
I
320
Madison S t r e e t
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d Corint h i a n p i l a s t e r s , m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , monumental C o r i n t h i a n p o r t i c o ,
swan's neck pediment of e n t r a n c e f l a n k e d by t r i a n g u l a r hood moldings.
Ca. 1850; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W i l l i a m R. M u r r e l l ; e x t e n s i v e l y remodelled
1914.
- &.
o
I
321 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two-story p r o j e c t i n g end
p a v i l l i o n s w i t h o n e - s t o r y demi-octagonal bay, d e n t i l s o u t l i n e pediment
o f p a b l e , Doric ~ o r c ha l o n g fr0.n.t and s i d e s . Ca. 1900.
I
Farm lO.2OOa
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S DEPART1::NT
O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R O F i 5 I S T O R i C PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINA7IGi\: FORX
(Continuation Sheel)
I!?. < s > >
( N u m b o r ell o n l r l o a )
!p.
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
ENTRYNUMDER
DATE
I
7.
400 Madison S t r e e t
lrra111ew i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f ,
m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r tower w i t h p e n t c o u r s e s , pedimented
p a v i l l i o n c u t by r e c e s s e d a r c h , o n e - s t o r y b r i c k porch i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o
f r o n t and s i d e .
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ;
o r i g i n a l l y owned by George P. Watkins.
405 Madison S t r e e t
S t i ~ c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , overhanging t i l e r o o f ,
p a n e l l e d f r i e z e , monuinental p o r t i c o w i t h c l u s t e r e d I o n i c columns,
P a l l a d i a n windows, o n e - s t o r y s i d e porch and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , f i n e c a s t
i r o n fence w i t h s t o n e p o s t s e n c i r c l e s f r o n t y a r d , c a r r i a g e house of
s i m i l a r design.
B u i l t i n 1914; Stanhope Johnson a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y
1950 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s .
owned by James R. G i l l i a m , S r . ;
&.
412 Madison S t r e e t
Stone and s h i n g l e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , round
c o r n e r tower, c r o s s g a b l e t o t h e f r o n t , s t o n e porch e n c l o s e s f r o n t and
s i d e , s t o n e w a l l e n c i r c l e s yard.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1897; Edward
Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by Frank P. C h r i s t i a n .
413 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d window u n i t s , demi-octagonal
bay w i t h g a b l e r o o f , d e c o r a t i v e c a s t i r o n porch. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r
F i r s t and H a r r i s o n S t r e e t s
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , b r i c k f o u n d a t i o n s and
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; f r o n t porch a d d i t i o n .
I
101 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h , e n t r a n c e w i t h transom
and s i d e l i g h t s .
L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; a d d i t i o n on s o u t h e a s t s i d e .
111 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , three-bay f r o n t
porch s h e l t e r e d by roof overhang. Bungaloid; e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
112 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Half-timber and b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s q u a r e tower
w i t h hipped r o o f , exposed r a f t e r e n d s , banded windows.
Jacobethan
Revival; E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
114 Harrison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h c l a p b o a r d i n g and s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped
r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends.
Early-twentieth century.
.
F o i ? ~10.3:Ou
( j u l y 1969)
U N I T E D STATCS DCPAKTMCNT O F T i i C I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PAIII( SERVICE
N A T I O N A L X E G I S T E R O F I-iISYORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- N0h';lNA;iON
(Continuation Shcet)
ii(
i
,'
i
(
(Numbor n l l onlrlnr)
i;,ii
VII<CINIA
'OUNTY
LYNCllCURG ( i n c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRY NUMOEH
DATE
I
i
119 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraine two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e w i t h exposed r a f t e r
e n d s . 3. 1900.
.
v
- GI-
FORM
51Ari:
<.
1
I
122 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Urick, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roo:,
monumental o v a l p o r t i c o w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n columns, c n t r a n c e w i t h broken a r c h pediment. Georgian
Revival; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
123 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y porch
e n c i r c l e s t h e f r o n t , turned p o s t s w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e and ramped b a l u s t r a d e , s h i n g l e g a b l e and d e c o r a t i v e windows o f v a r i o u s s h a p e s .
Queen
Anne; l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
201 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , f u l l porch a l o n g f i r s t
story.
Early-twentieth century.
-
1
202 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e roof duplex w i t h twin gabled p a v i l l i o n s w i t h
o r i e l s f l a n k i n g two-bay p o s t p o r c h , v e r t i c a l boards i n g a b l e ends.
Late-nineteenth century.
1
i
1
207 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d windows, e n t r a n c e w i t h gabled
hood.
E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y c a r r i a g e house.
I
208 Hazrison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , segmental headed windows, heavy molded
c o r n i c e , b r a c k e t e d e n t r a n c e porch.
Early-twentieth century.
!
1
I
i
/
I
I
I
.,
1I
I
210 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l p a v i l l i o n w i t h a r c h e d
windows on t h e second f l o o r , open porches f l a n k t h e f i r s t s t o r y o f t h e
f r o n t g a b l e and e n c l o s e d u n i t s f l a n k t h e g a b l e ' s second s t o r y .
Earlytwentieth century.
215 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , l i n t e l s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , i n t e r i o r end
chimneys, s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h . Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
220 Harrison S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , banded
windows, penc r o o f .
Bungaloid; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n ~ u r y .
223 H a r r i s o n . S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y porch w i t h
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
Form
10-^09u
U N I T E D STATES D L , 7 A R T M I N T O F T H E INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK SEI<VICE
( J u l y 1969)
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R 5 F i-:iS?CR:C ?LACES
iNVC;;YORY
- K0h::NkTiON
(Continuation Shect)
FOSM
LYNCIIEURG ( in city)
F O 2 h P S USE O N L Y
1
I
I
ENTRY KUMsER
I
I
I
I.
-
300 l i a r r i s o n S t r e e t
U;ick, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , e a r l y s a s h , second f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h
transom and s i d e l i g h t s , f i r s t f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h s i d e l i g h t s and Doric
porcli.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n s and t w o - s t o r y
addition.
301 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, s h a l l o w g a b l e
moldings o v e r d o o r s and windows, e n t r a n c e surrounded by transom and
sidelights.
Greek Revival; m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
308 Harrison
Frame,
units,
double
Strect
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , duplex composed o f four-bay
p o s t porches shade e n t r a n c e s , v a r i o u s s t y l e s o f l i g h t s used i n
s a s h windows.
Early-twentieth century.
I
309 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame s h e a t h e d w i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , p y r a n i d a l r o o f ,
ciltrance w i t h transom and s i d e l i g h t s s h e l t e r e d by t h r e e - b a y p o s t porch
w i t h Mansard r o o f .
Early-twentieth century.
II
314 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roof w i t h dormer l i g h t e d by
P a i l a d i a n window, s h i n g l e s i d i n g on t h e second f l o o r , Doric porch a l o n g
f r o n t ends i n a rounded c o r n e r , s h a f t motif c a s t i r o n f e n c e e n c l o s e s
f r o n t yard.
Queen Anne; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
315 and 317 m r r i s o n S t r e e t
E r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, duplex o f twobay u n i t s , c e n t r a l d o o r s on f i r s t and second f l o o r s , f u l l porch a l o n g
f r o n t , l i n t e l s with cornerblocks.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
316 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay w i t h b r a c k e t s , c a s r i r o n porch w i t h b a s k e t weave and s c r o l l p a t t e r n , p i k e motif c a s t - r i o n
f e n c e bounds f r o n t y a r d .
Late-nineteenth century.
321 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , v e r t i c a l boards
w i t h rounded ends f i l l t h e g a b l e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch.
Earlytwentieth century.
322 Harrison
Frame,
topped
style;
i
Street
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , demi-octagonal bay
w i t h d e c o r a t i v e g a b i e , turned p o s t porch on two s i d e s .
Eastlake
late-nineteenth century.
I
i
F~~~~lo.3cno
UNITED STATES D E P A R T ~ ~ C O
N FT T I ~ EI N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PA2K S E R V I C E
(July 1969)
K A Y I O N A L kEGlSTf'E;Z OF l i l S T O R i C P L A C E S
(Continuation Shcct)
(Nurnbar 011 o n l r l r s )
t
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
I
i
7.
-
1
I
323 Hhrrison S t r e e t
Fra~iie, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y f r o n t porch.
rwenLietli c e n t u r y .
Early-
I
1
I
i1
400 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
g r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e ,
segmental window h e a d s , one-silory Eastlalce p o r c h w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s
I
anci s p i n d l e s , s u n r i s e motif i n e n t r a n c e pediment. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h centu;y.
-
406 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
brame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , e n t r a n c e porch w i t h
d o o r on second f l o o r .
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; one-bay two s t o r y
a d d i t i o n w i t h e n t r a n c e porch.
Row 401, 405, 409, and 413 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two bay b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , p o s t p o r c h e s ,
E n ~ r a n c eporch w i t h door on second f l o o r .
Late-nineteenth century.
4 0 9 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraii~e, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch
w i t h b r a c k e t s and sawn b a l u s t r a d e .
Early-twentieth century.
i
I
415 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
I.'ra:ne, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , e n t r a n c e porch s u p p o r t e d on
lieavy p o s t s , hipped roof dormer.
Early-twentieth century.
I
i
416 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , pedimented dormers, double
e x t e r i o r end chimneys, pedimented e n t r a n c e porch.
Mid-nineteenth
century.
CLAY STREET
404 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, g a b l e r o o f e d
p o s t e n t r a n c e porch.
Late-nineteenth century.
408 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-bay wing w i t h s i m p l e p o s t porch, s i x o v e r - s i x s a s h windows w i t h molded and c o r n e r b l o c k a r c h i t r a v e s , p o s t
porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Mid-nineteenth century.
412 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , mouse-tooth s h i n g l e s f i l l t h e
g a b l e , turned p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k b r a c k e t s .
@. 1900.
i
414 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h i
windows framed by a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , three-bay Doric porch.
M i r i r i n i i i + e ~ ~ "
Fork 10-300.
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T G F T H E INTCi?lOR
NATIONAL PARK SEiiVlCE
STATE
NATIONAL f<ECISTER O F i:ISTOR!C P L A C E S
Ia<VENTOZY
- ?:OMINAiiGN
(Continuation Shcct)
(Numbor a11 sntrlss)
I .- 0: . 9
'J. :, 1.
-
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-
1
FOCM
i
I
(in city)
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E N T R Y NUMDFH
1
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1
O&TE
417 C l a y s t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ,
a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , frame' porch w i t h a r c a d e . 9.
1900.
LUCADO PLIICC
501 Lucado P l a c e
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , beaded s i d i n g , molded s i l l s , some e a r l y
s a s h , p o s t porch, box c o r n i c e on f r o n t and r a k i n g c o r n i c e on g a b l e ends,
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Lucado P l a c e
Frame, one s t o r y , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows, i n t e r l o r end
chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; r e a r a d d i t i o n .
CCL
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Garland H i l l remains one o f t h e most d i s t i n c t i v e and b e s t p r e s e r v e d
o f t h e prosperous neighborhoods t h a t developed on t h e summits of ~ ~ n c h b u r ~ ' s
I
various h i l l s .
Located i n t h e few b l o c k s of t h i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y s m a l l a r e a I
a r e d i s t i n g u i s h e d examples of a r c h i t e c t u r e d a t i n g from t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y through t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
I n t h e s e houses l i v e d many
The neighborhood
of Lynchburg's o l d e s t and most d i s t i n g u i s h e d f a m i l i e s .
a c h i e v e d i t s ascendancy i n t h e 1 8 9 0 1 s , and a n atmosphere of q u i e t l a t e V i c t o r i a n d i g n i t y p r e v a i l s i n i t s brick-paved s t r e e t s today.
The development o f Garland H i l l n o t o n l y r e f l e c t s t h e changing a r c h i t e c t u r a l t a s t e s o f
Lynchburg's l e a d i n g c i t i z e n s o v e r a hundred y e a r span, b u t i t symbolizes
t h e conmunity's growth from a r u r a l l y o r i e n t e d town t o a n i n d u s t r i a l c i t y .
Garland H i l l w a s o u t s i d e t h e f o r t y - f i v e a c r e s o f land on which John
Lynch l a i d o u t t h e c i t y i n 1786.
The f i r s t development on t h e h i l l came
i n 1817 when W a l t e r Dunnington c o n s t r u c t e d t h e house, now s t a n d i n g a t
303 Madison S t r e e t on two a c r e s o f farmland a c q u i r e d from Lynch f i v e y e a r s
earlier.
I n 1845, when ~ y n c h ' sc o u s i n , C e l i n e Dupuy, took o v e r t h e t i t l e
of t h e twenty a c r e s of farm t h a t included Garland H i l l , t h e land was
surveyed by Thomas D i l l a r d i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r s a l e .
T h i s d i v i s i o n of t h e
land i n t o f o u r t e e n s i n g l e a c r e l o t s comprised t h e f i r s t e x t e n s i v e developHaving purchased a c o r n e r of t h e s e c t i o n known 1;
ment of t h e neighborhood.
a s Lynch's Garden, Samuel G a r l a n d , S r . , was t h e f i r s t t o b u i l d a house on
t h i s new d i v i s i o n o f land.
The h i l l i n f a c t was named f o r t h e family of t h s
prominent c i t i z e n whose Greek Revival b r i c k h o u s e s t a n d s a t 215 Madison S t r e e
Other i m p o r t a n t Greek Revival houses on Madison S t r e e t d a t i n g from t h e Dupuy
d i v i s i o n i n c l u d e 117, completed i n 1847, f o r Vincent Tabb; 205, t h e house
of Edward M u r r e l l , b u i l t i n 1859; and 320, completed around 1850.
All
t h r e e o f t h e s e houses have a c o n s e r v a t i v e y e t prosperous f l a v o r , r e f l e c t i n g
t h e l i f e - s t y l e of t h e c i t i z e n s who b u i l t them.
Many o f t h e c i t i z e n s who occupied Garland H i l l were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
Also
t h e tobacco i n d u s t r y whichwas a p r i n c i p a l economic b a s e f o r t h e town.
t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e town's growing shoe i n d u s t r y s e t t l e d i n t h e neighborhood.
A number o f t h e s e e a r l y i n d u s t r i a l i s t s were sons o f r u r a l landowners i n
s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s hard h i t by R e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
They came t o Lynchburg
w i t h d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o succeed and by t h e l a s t decades o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c c n t u r y t h e y were f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e i r new p o s i t i o n s .
The indust r i a l i s t s , a s w e l l a s t h e bankers who prospered a l o n g w i t h them, were e a g e r
t o d i s p l a y t h e i r newly a c q u i r e d w e a l t h and soon l a v i s h l a t e - V i c t o r i a n homes I
were being p u t up among t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival d w e l l i n g s .
The new
houses were l a r g e l y t h e p r o d u c t s o f l o c a l a r c h i t e c t s who worked i n t h e l a t e s f
eclectic styles.
A n o t a b l e example of t h i s e r a i s t h e rambling Queen Anne
i
I
1.
I
I
I
( c o n t .)
Form i0-3000
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M I N T O F THE I N T i H l O R
N A T I O N A L P i i i i K SEr?VICE
N A T I O N A L tR2G!STfR O F :-:iSTORiC Pi.;ACES
lidVZNTO?','
- P:O!.;:SA7IilN
(Continuation Sheet)
F,..;,:
IST&TL-
C
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V-TKGINUi
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(in city)
282 NPS U S 5 O N L Y
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DATE
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frame llouse a t 4 0 0 Madison S t r e e t designed by t h e popular Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
Edward Fry f o r George P , Watkins, a n e a r l y l e a d e r of t h e shoe i n d u s t r y .
John W . Craddock, a founder of t h e shoe f i r m o f Craddock and Terry i n 1898,
and one of Wa'ikins' pritne c o m p e t i t o r s , employed Fry t o d e s i g n f o r him t h e
imposi;ig Queen Anne house a t 208 Madison S t r e e t t h a t same y e a r .
I n 1914
Jalnes K. G i l l i a m , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e Lynchlburg Shoe Company, b u i l t h i s impressiv
Beaus-Arts s t y l e mansion a t 405 ?ladison S t r e e t a f t e r t h e d e s i g n s o f a n o t h e r
The l a r g e s t house on Garland H i l l , a
l o c a l a r c h i t e c t , Stanhope Johnson.
massive c a s t e l l a t e d mansion a t 220 & d i s o n S t r e e t was d e s i g n e d by J.M.B.
Lewis
f o r A. H. Burroughs, a lawyer whose w e a l t h was based on h i s h a n d l i n g t h e
a c c o u n t o f t h e newly developed Bonsack c i g a r e t t e m c h i n e .
CCL
U N I T E 0 STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
F o r m 10.3iOa
(July 1969)
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- SOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I T A 1E
VIRGINIA
LYNCHBURG ( i n c i t y )
F O Q N P S USE ONLY
(Number ell s n f r l e a )
2.
DATE
E N T R Y NUMBER
Bounded on t h e southwest by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e southwest s i d e of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e n o r t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e n o r t h e a s t s i d e o f Clay S t r e e t and by
tile 700' c o n t o u r l i n e (of U.S.G.S.
7%' q u a d r a n g l e Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a , p h o t o r e v i s e d 1968) from t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Clay
S t r e e t t o t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Madison S t r e e t .
Bounded on
t h e s o u t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e l o t s f a c i n g
onto t h e northwest s i d e of F i f t h S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e
n o r t h w e s t by t h e 700' c o n t o u r l i n e between Madison and
Harrison Streets.
I
UhbTED S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A R K S E R V I C E
1765'1
(July
I C O U ~ ,T Y .
LYNC'FIBURG
:
N A T I O N A L Z E G l S T E R O F H I S T O R I C PLACES
INVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
-
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Gt\lUS\N?-HILL
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(in city)
F O 2 N P 5 USE O N L Y
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h e r i c a n B u i l d i n ~ sSurvey I n v e n t o r y
D A T E OF S U R V E Y .
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1958
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State
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D I C 0 5 1 7 0 A Y F O R SUR V B Y RECORWS.
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Unoxposad
( C h e c k One)
[X O r i p i n o l Site
The Garland H i l l l i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t i s a s m a l l r e s i d e n t i a l neighborllood i n c o r p o r a t i n g t h e s u m m i t o f one o f t h e numerous h i l l s t h a t surround
dowl~tovn Lynchburg.
The a r e a g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e s t h o s e b l o c k s o f Madison,
l l a r r i s o n and Clay S t r e e t s t h a t a r e n o r t h w e s t o f F i f t h S t r e e t .
Because t h e
l i i l l d r o p s o f f s h a r p l y on t h e n o r t h w e s t and n o r t h e a s t none o f t h e s t r e e t s i n
t h e a r e a i s a through s t r e c t s o t h a a r e a i s u n s u a l l y q u i e t f o r a n urban
neigitborhood.
The s t r e e t s were some o f t h e e a r l i e s t i n t h e c i t y t o r e c e i v e
i b r i c k paving and much o f i t remains.
They a l s o r e t a i n much of t h e o r i g i n a l
s t o n e c u r b i n g a s w e l l a s s l a t e and b r i c k walks. The p r i n c i p a l s t r e e t s ,
Madison and H a r r i s o n , a r e l i n e d w i t h r e g u l a r l y spaced elms, o a k s , and maples
and tllc I ~ O L I S C Son them a r e two and t h r e e s t o r y detached s t r u c t u r e s o f v a r i o u s
arcltitectilral s t y l e s .
Many of t h e houses on Madison S t r e e t s t a n d on t h e i r
o r i g i i l a l wide l o t s which on t h e southwest s i d e o f t h e s t r e e t once extended
undeveloped t o l l a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Most of t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival s t r u c t u r t
a r c two s t o r i e s i n h e i g h t , and have t h r e e - b a y f a c a d e s and s h a l l o w hippcd
roofs.
A number o f t h e s e houses have been e m b e l l i s h e d w i t h l a t e r a r c h i tcc t u r a l d e t a i l s .
The numerous e l a b o r a t e mansions e r e c t e d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s
and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s t a n d i n marked c o n t r a s t t o t h e s i m p l e r , e a r l i e r
Tliese e c l e c t i c s t y l e b u i l d i n g s have asymmetrical o u t l i n e s a c c e n t e d
houses.
w i t h towers, g a b l e s , pediments and a v a r i e t y of b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s .
The
houses on H a r r i s o n S t r e e t a r e g e n e r a l l y l e s s imposing t h a n t h o s e on Madison
;but a r e a s architecturally varied.
The f o l l o w i n g l i s t i s a n i n v e n t o r y w i t h
b r i e f a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f e v e r y house i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
,
I
/&idison S t r e e t
I
9
106 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and frame, one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped and g a b l e r o o f ,
demi-octagonal e n d s , c r o s s g a b l e w i t h d e c o r a t i v e m e t a l s h e a t h i n g ,
e l a b o r a t e o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s . Queen Anne; mid
nineteenth century; converted i n t o apartments.
o
109 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l g a b l e peak
w i t h s h i n g l e s and l a t t i c e p a t t e r n e d window, d o u b l e u n i t window, f r o n t
porch e x t e n d s around t h e c u r v e s o f t h e house. E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
- C(,C 2
-& :
-c.
100 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k and s h i n g l e s , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , g a b l e roofed
dormers, p i e r c e edge of r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends. g.1900.
i
'111 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k
b r a c k e t s , d e c o r a t i v e bargeboards.
Late-nineteenth century.
I1
1i
Foam 10-300.
[July 1969)
UNITED STAYCS DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGISTER Si' I-ilSTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
i
FOR NPS USE ONLY
I
(Continuation Sheet)
LYNCMIIURG ( i n c i t y )
ENTRY NUMBFR
D&TE
1
I (Number ell s n b l o s )
I
117 Madison SLrcet
Brick w i t 1 1 frame b a y s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal frame towers, blockend l i n t e l s , turncd p o s t porch.
Greek Revival; o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n b u i l t
1845-1847; o r i g i n a l l y owncd by Vincent Tabb; e n l a r g e d i n 1895-1896 w i t h
Queen Anne-style a d d i t i o n s .
118 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay, f r o n t
porch a d d i t i o n w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s . &. 1900.
205 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , r o n d e l l e f r i e z e , pedimented hood moldi n g s , three-bay porch w i t h turned b a l u s t r a d e and Temple of t h e Winds
c o l u i ~ m s , c r o s s e d m u l l i o n s i n transom and s i d e l i g h t s , o n e - s t o r y demio c t a g o n a l ended wing. Greek Revival: b u i l t i n 1859; o r g i n i a l l y owned
by Edward M u r r e l l ; Ca. 1901; removal of wing on e a s t s i d e of house.
208 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and s t o n e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , c e n t r a l
tower w i t h Romanesque window and gabled dormer, s t o n e porch w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n c o i o n e t t e s , S u l i i v a n e s q u e archway.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n
1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by John W . Craddock;
a f t e r f i r e i n 1926 golden oak i n t e r i o r woodwork r e p l a c e d by South
American walnut.
209 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l tower
s k i r t e d by E a s t l a k e porch, pedimented p a v i l l i o n w i t h windows of v a r i o u s
shapes.
B u i l t i n 1903; o r i g i n a l l y owned by S. B. Ferguson.
215 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b l o c k end l i n t e l s , I o n i c porch, i n t e r 1845; o r i g i n a l l y owned by
i o r end chimneys. Greek R e v i v a l ;
Samuel G a r l a n d , S r .
&.
c
/ i
I)
220 Madison S t r e e t
Brick, t h r e e s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , Jacobethan g a b l e , c r e n a l l a t e
round tower and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , porch e n c i r c l e s f r o n t and s i d e s ,
Lewis a r c h i t e c t ;
Jacobethan c a r r i a g e - h o u s e .
B u i l t i n 1899; J.M.B.
o r i g i n a l l y owned by A.H. Burroughs; i n 1926 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s b
t h e a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson.
300 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , I o n i c porch w i t h c e n t e r
pediment, windows w i t h l a n c e t - p a t t e r n e d m u l l i o n s i n upper s a s h .
Earlytwentieth century.
I
Form '0-3000
( J u l y 1960)
UNITEL) S T A T E S D C P A R T K C N T O F T l l i I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A 3 K S C R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGIS'I'ER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- ROMINL.SION
LYNClli3URC ( i n c i t y )
FOZM
FOR HPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continuation Shcel)
DATE
I
fNunlbor all ontrioe,
b d i s o n Strcct
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , l a t e r o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r
towcr, l a t e r o n e - s t o r y porches. Ca. 1818; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W a l t e r
Dunningcon; i n 1900 t h e tower w a s a d d e d and i n t e r i o r was r e d e c o r a t e d
i n t h e manner of t h e C o l o n i a l Revival by t h e a r c h i t e c t J.M.B.
Lewis.
-
i
306 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex c r o s s e d g a b l e and hipped r o o f ,
1900.
t r i - p a r t gablewlndow, t u r n e d p o s t porch.
(,( 1,
e.
308 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , s h i n g l e s
s h e a t h galble end, E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e c o u r s e and b a l u s t r a d e .
Ca. 1900.
-
1
309 Madison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h s h i n g l e s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p e d i mented dormer, f r o n t porch w i t h p a i r e d D o r i c columns.
Early
twentieth century.
.
-
!
I
I
310 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , p a t t e r n e d s h i n g l e s i n g a b l e ,
1900.
pedimented e n t r a n c e t o p o s t porch.
&.
312 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , f r o n t porch w i t h
b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and cross-work b a l u s t r a d e .
Late-nineteenth century.
'
313 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , d u p l e x w i t h twin g a b l e s
s h e a t h e d w i t h v e r t i c a l boards and c r o s s e d s t i c k s framing t h e v e n t s ,
double u n i t windows w i t h s q u a r e pane b o r d e r s , o n e - s t o r y porches a t each
1900.
corner.
&.
318
?
Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l bay topped
by overhanging pediment, p o s t porch w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s .
1900.
&.
I
320
Madison S t r e e t
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d Corint h i a n p i l a s t e r s , m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , monumental C o r i n t h i a n p o r t i c o ,
swan's neck pediment of e n t r a n c e f l a n k e d by t r i a n g u l a r hood moldings.
Ca. 1850; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W i l l i a m R. M u r r e l l ; e x t e n s i v e l y remodelled
1914.
- &.
o
I
321 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two-story p r o j e c t i n g end
p a v i l l i o n s w i t h o n e - s t o r y demi-octagonal bay, d e n t i l s o u t l i n e pediment
o f p a b l e , Doric ~ o r c ha l o n g fr0.n.t and s i d e s . Ca. 1900.
I
Farm lO.2OOa
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S DEPART1::NT
O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R O F i 5 I S T O R i C PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINA7IGi\: FORX
(Continuation Sheel)
I!?. < s > >
( N u m b o r ell o n l r l o a )
!p.
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
ENTRYNUMDER
DATE
I
7.
400 Madison S t r e e t
lrra111ew i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f ,
m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r tower w i t h p e n t c o u r s e s , pedimented
p a v i l l i o n c u t by r e c e s s e d a r c h , o n e - s t o r y b r i c k porch i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o
f r o n t and s i d e .
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ;
o r i g i n a l l y owned by George P. Watkins.
405 Madison S t r e e t
S t i ~ c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , overhanging t i l e r o o f ,
p a n e l l e d f r i e z e , monuinental p o r t i c o w i t h c l u s t e r e d I o n i c columns,
P a l l a d i a n windows, o n e - s t o r y s i d e porch and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , f i n e c a s t
i r o n fence w i t h s t o n e p o s t s e n c i r c l e s f r o n t y a r d , c a r r i a g e house of
s i m i l a r design.
B u i l t i n 1914; Stanhope Johnson a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y
1950 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s .
owned by James R. G i l l i a m , S r . ;
&.
412 Madison S t r e e t
Stone and s h i n g l e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , round
c o r n e r tower, c r o s s g a b l e t o t h e f r o n t , s t o n e porch e n c l o s e s f r o n t and
s i d e , s t o n e w a l l e n c i r c l e s yard.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1897; Edward
Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by Frank P. C h r i s t i a n .
413 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d window u n i t s , demi-octagonal
bay w i t h g a b l e r o o f , d e c o r a t i v e c a s t i r o n porch. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r
F i r s t and H a r r i s o n S t r e e t s
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , b r i c k f o u n d a t i o n s and
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; f r o n t porch a d d i t i o n .
I
101 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h , e n t r a n c e w i t h transom
and s i d e l i g h t s .
L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; a d d i t i o n on s o u t h e a s t s i d e .
111 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , three-bay f r o n t
porch s h e l t e r e d by roof overhang. Bungaloid; e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
112 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Half-timber and b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s q u a r e tower
w i t h hipped r o o f , exposed r a f t e r e n d s , banded windows.
Jacobethan
Revival; E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
114 Harrison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h c l a p b o a r d i n g and s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped
r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends.
Early-twentieth century.
.
F o i ? ~10.3:Ou
( j u l y 1969)
U N I T E D STATCS DCPAKTMCNT O F T i i C I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PAIII( SERVICE
N A T I O N A L X E G I S T E R O F I-iISYORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- N0h';lNA;iON
(Continuation Shcet)
ii(
i
,'
i
(
(Numbor n l l onlrlnr)
i;,ii
VII<CINIA
'OUNTY
LYNCllCURG ( i n c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRY NUMOEH
DATE
I
i
119 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraine two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e w i t h exposed r a f t e r
e n d s . 3. 1900.
.
v
- GI-
FORM
51Ari:
<.
1
I
122 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Urick, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roo:,
monumental o v a l p o r t i c o w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n columns, c n t r a n c e w i t h broken a r c h pediment. Georgian
Revival; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
123 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y porch
e n c i r c l e s t h e f r o n t , turned p o s t s w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e and ramped b a l u s t r a d e , s h i n g l e g a b l e and d e c o r a t i v e windows o f v a r i o u s s h a p e s .
Queen
Anne; l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
201 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , f u l l porch a l o n g f i r s t
story.
Early-twentieth century.
-
1
202 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e roof duplex w i t h twin gabled p a v i l l i o n s w i t h
o r i e l s f l a n k i n g two-bay p o s t p o r c h , v e r t i c a l boards i n g a b l e ends.
Late-nineteenth century.
1
i
1
207 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d windows, e n t r a n c e w i t h gabled
hood.
E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y c a r r i a g e house.
I
208 Hazrison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , segmental headed windows, heavy molded
c o r n i c e , b r a c k e t e d e n t r a n c e porch.
Early-twentieth century.
!
1
I
i
/
I
I
I
.,
1I
I
210 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l p a v i l l i o n w i t h a r c h e d
windows on t h e second f l o o r , open porches f l a n k t h e f i r s t s t o r y o f t h e
f r o n t g a b l e and e n c l o s e d u n i t s f l a n k t h e g a b l e ' s second s t o r y .
Earlytwentieth century.
215 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , l i n t e l s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , i n t e r i o r end
chimneys, s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h . Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
220 Harrison S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , banded
windows, penc r o o f .
Bungaloid; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n ~ u r y .
223 H a r r i s o n . S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y porch w i t h
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
Form
10-^09u
U N I T E D STATES D L , 7 A R T M I N T O F T H E INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK SEI<VICE
( J u l y 1969)
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R 5 F i-:iS?CR:C ?LACES
iNVC;;YORY
- K0h::NkTiON
(Continuation Shect)
FOSM
LYNCIIEURG ( in city)
F O 2 h P S USE O N L Y
1
I
I
ENTRY KUMsER
I
I
I
I.
-
300 l i a r r i s o n S t r e e t
U;ick, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , e a r l y s a s h , second f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h
transom and s i d e l i g h t s , f i r s t f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h s i d e l i g h t s and Doric
porcli.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n s and t w o - s t o r y
addition.
301 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, s h a l l o w g a b l e
moldings o v e r d o o r s and windows, e n t r a n c e surrounded by transom and
sidelights.
Greek Revival; m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
308 Harrison
Frame,
units,
double
Strect
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , duplex composed o f four-bay
p o s t porches shade e n t r a n c e s , v a r i o u s s t y l e s o f l i g h t s used i n
s a s h windows.
Early-twentieth century.
I
309 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame s h e a t h e d w i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , p y r a n i d a l r o o f ,
ciltrance w i t h transom and s i d e l i g h t s s h e l t e r e d by t h r e e - b a y p o s t porch
w i t h Mansard r o o f .
Early-twentieth century.
II
314 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roof w i t h dormer l i g h t e d by
P a i l a d i a n window, s h i n g l e s i d i n g on t h e second f l o o r , Doric porch a l o n g
f r o n t ends i n a rounded c o r n e r , s h a f t motif c a s t i r o n f e n c e e n c l o s e s
f r o n t yard.
Queen Anne; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
315 and 317 m r r i s o n S t r e e t
E r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, duplex o f twobay u n i t s , c e n t r a l d o o r s on f i r s t and second f l o o r s , f u l l porch a l o n g
f r o n t , l i n t e l s with cornerblocks.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
316 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay w i t h b r a c k e t s , c a s r i r o n porch w i t h b a s k e t weave and s c r o l l p a t t e r n , p i k e motif c a s t - r i o n
f e n c e bounds f r o n t y a r d .
Late-nineteenth century.
321 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , v e r t i c a l boards
w i t h rounded ends f i l l t h e g a b l e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch.
Earlytwentieth century.
322 Harrison
Frame,
topped
style;
i
Street
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , demi-octagonal bay
w i t h d e c o r a t i v e g a b i e , turned p o s t porch on two s i d e s .
Eastlake
late-nineteenth century.
I
i
F~~~~lo.3cno
UNITED STATES D E P A R T ~ ~ C O
N FT T I ~ EI N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PA2K S E R V I C E
(July 1969)
K A Y I O N A L kEGlSTf'E;Z OF l i l S T O R i C P L A C E S
(Continuation Shcct)
(Nurnbar 011 o n l r l r s )
t
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
I
i
7.
-
1
I
323 Hhrrison S t r e e t
Fra~iie, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y f r o n t porch.
rwenLietli c e n t u r y .
Early-
I
1
I
i1
400 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
g r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e ,
segmental window h e a d s , one-silory Eastlalce p o r c h w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s
I
anci s p i n d l e s , s u n r i s e motif i n e n t r a n c e pediment. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h centu;y.
-
406 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
brame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , e n t r a n c e porch w i t h
d o o r on second f l o o r .
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; one-bay two s t o r y
a d d i t i o n w i t h e n t r a n c e porch.
Row 401, 405, 409, and 413 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two bay b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , p o s t p o r c h e s ,
E n ~ r a n c eporch w i t h door on second f l o o r .
Late-nineteenth century.
4 0 9 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraii~e, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch
w i t h b r a c k e t s and sawn b a l u s t r a d e .
Early-twentieth century.
i
I
415 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
I.'ra:ne, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , e n t r a n c e porch s u p p o r t e d on
lieavy p o s t s , hipped roof dormer.
Early-twentieth century.
I
i
416 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , pedimented dormers, double
e x t e r i o r end chimneys, pedimented e n t r a n c e porch.
Mid-nineteenth
century.
CLAY STREET
404 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, g a b l e r o o f e d
p o s t e n t r a n c e porch.
Late-nineteenth century.
408 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-bay wing w i t h s i m p l e p o s t porch, s i x o v e r - s i x s a s h windows w i t h molded and c o r n e r b l o c k a r c h i t r a v e s , p o s t
porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Mid-nineteenth century.
412 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , mouse-tooth s h i n g l e s f i l l t h e
g a b l e , turned p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k b r a c k e t s .
@. 1900.
i
414 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h i
windows framed by a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , three-bay Doric porch.
M i r i r i n i i i + e ~ ~ "
Fork 10-300.
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T G F T H E INTCi?lOR
NATIONAL PARK SEiiVlCE
STATE
NATIONAL f<ECISTER O F i:ISTOR!C P L A C E S
Ia<VENTOZY
- ?:OMINAiiGN
(Continuation Shcct)
(Numbor a11 sntrlss)
I .- 0: . 9
'J. :, 1.
-
/
I
-
1
FOCM
i
I
(in city)
-.
i-Oil NPS USE O h L Y
E N T R Y NUMDFH
1
I
1
O&TE
417 C l a y s t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ,
a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , frame' porch w i t h a r c a d e . 9.
1900.
LUCADO PLIICC
501 Lucado P l a c e
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , beaded s i d i n g , molded s i l l s , some e a r l y
s a s h , p o s t porch, box c o r n i c e on f r o n t and r a k i n g c o r n i c e on g a b l e ends,
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Lucado P l a c e
Frame, one s t o r y , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows, i n t e r l o r end
chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; r e a r a d d i t i o n .
CCL
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Garland H i l l remains one o f t h e most d i s t i n c t i v e and b e s t p r e s e r v e d
o f t h e prosperous neighborhoods t h a t developed on t h e summits of ~ ~ n c h b u r ~ ' s
I
various h i l l s .
Located i n t h e few b l o c k s of t h i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y s m a l l a r e a I
a r e d i s t i n g u i s h e d examples of a r c h i t e c t u r e d a t i n g from t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y through t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
I n t h e s e houses l i v e d many
The neighborhood
of Lynchburg's o l d e s t and most d i s t i n g u i s h e d f a m i l i e s .
a c h i e v e d i t s ascendancy i n t h e 1 8 9 0 1 s , and a n atmosphere of q u i e t l a t e V i c t o r i a n d i g n i t y p r e v a i l s i n i t s brick-paved s t r e e t s today.
The development o f Garland H i l l n o t o n l y r e f l e c t s t h e changing a r c h i t e c t u r a l t a s t e s o f
Lynchburg's l e a d i n g c i t i z e n s o v e r a hundred y e a r span, b u t i t symbolizes
t h e conmunity's growth from a r u r a l l y o r i e n t e d town t o a n i n d u s t r i a l c i t y .
Garland H i l l w a s o u t s i d e t h e f o r t y - f i v e a c r e s o f land on which John
Lynch l a i d o u t t h e c i t y i n 1786.
The f i r s t development on t h e h i l l came
i n 1817 when W a l t e r Dunnington c o n s t r u c t e d t h e house, now s t a n d i n g a t
303 Madison S t r e e t on two a c r e s o f farmland a c q u i r e d from Lynch f i v e y e a r s
earlier.
I n 1845, when ~ y n c h ' sc o u s i n , C e l i n e Dupuy, took o v e r t h e t i t l e
of t h e twenty a c r e s of farm t h a t included Garland H i l l , t h e land was
surveyed by Thomas D i l l a r d i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r s a l e .
T h i s d i v i s i o n of t h e
land i n t o f o u r t e e n s i n g l e a c r e l o t s comprised t h e f i r s t e x t e n s i v e developHaving purchased a c o r n e r of t h e s e c t i o n known 1;
ment of t h e neighborhood.
a s Lynch's Garden, Samuel G a r l a n d , S r . , was t h e f i r s t t o b u i l d a house on
t h i s new d i v i s i o n o f land.
The h i l l i n f a c t was named f o r t h e family of t h s
prominent c i t i z e n whose Greek Revival b r i c k h o u s e s t a n d s a t 215 Madison S t r e e
Other i m p o r t a n t Greek Revival houses on Madison S t r e e t d a t i n g from t h e Dupuy
d i v i s i o n i n c l u d e 117, completed i n 1847, f o r Vincent Tabb; 205, t h e house
of Edward M u r r e l l , b u i l t i n 1859; and 320, completed around 1850.
All
t h r e e o f t h e s e houses have a c o n s e r v a t i v e y e t prosperous f l a v o r , r e f l e c t i n g
t h e l i f e - s t y l e of t h e c i t i z e n s who b u i l t them.
Many o f t h e c i t i z e n s who occupied Garland H i l l were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
Also
t h e tobacco i n d u s t r y whichwas a p r i n c i p a l economic b a s e f o r t h e town.
t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e town's growing shoe i n d u s t r y s e t t l e d i n t h e neighborhood.
A number o f t h e s e e a r l y i n d u s t r i a l i s t s were sons o f r u r a l landowners i n
s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s hard h i t by R e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
They came t o Lynchburg
w i t h d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o succeed and by t h e l a s t decades o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c c n t u r y t h e y were f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e i r new p o s i t i o n s .
The indust r i a l i s t s , a s w e l l a s t h e bankers who prospered a l o n g w i t h them, were e a g e r
t o d i s p l a y t h e i r newly a c q u i r e d w e a l t h and soon l a v i s h l a t e - V i c t o r i a n homes I
were being p u t up among t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival d w e l l i n g s .
The new
houses were l a r g e l y t h e p r o d u c t s o f l o c a l a r c h i t e c t s who worked i n t h e l a t e s f
eclectic styles.
A n o t a b l e example of t h i s e r a i s t h e rambling Queen Anne
i
I
1.
I
I
I
( c o n t .)
Form i0-3000
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M I N T O F THE I N T i H l O R
N A T I O N A L P i i i i K SEr?VICE
N A T I O N A L tR2G!STfR O F :-:iSTORiC Pi.;ACES
lidVZNTO?','
- P:O!.;:SA7IilN
(Continuation Sheet)
F,..;,:
IST&TL-
C
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V-TKGINUi
:cOuN'y
I
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(in city)
282 NPS U S 5 O N L Y
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.
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,
DATE
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frame llouse a t 4 0 0 Madison S t r e e t designed by t h e popular Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
Edward Fry f o r George P , Watkins, a n e a r l y l e a d e r of t h e shoe i n d u s t r y .
John W . Craddock, a founder of t h e shoe f i r m o f Craddock and Terry i n 1898,
and one of Wa'ikins' pritne c o m p e t i t o r s , employed Fry t o d e s i g n f o r him t h e
imposi;ig Queen Anne house a t 208 Madison S t r e e t t h a t same y e a r .
I n 1914
Jalnes K. G i l l i a m , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e Lynchlburg Shoe Company, b u i l t h i s impressiv
Beaus-Arts s t y l e mansion a t 405 ?ladison S t r e e t a f t e r t h e d e s i g n s o f a n o t h e r
The l a r g e s t house on Garland H i l l , a
l o c a l a r c h i t e c t , Stanhope Johnson.
massive c a s t e l l a t e d mansion a t 220 & d i s o n S t r e e t was d e s i g n e d by J.M.B.
Lewis
f o r A. H. Burroughs, a lawyer whose w e a l t h was based on h i s h a n d l i n g t h e
a c c o u n t o f t h e newly developed Bonsack c i g a r e t t e m c h i n e .
CCL
U N I T E 0 STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
F o r m 10.3iOa
(July 1969)
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- SOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I T A 1E
VIRGINIA
LYNCHBURG ( i n c i t y )
F O Q N P S USE ONLY
(Number ell s n f r l e a )
2.
DATE
E N T R Y NUMBER
Bounded on t h e southwest by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e southwest s i d e of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e n o r t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e n o r t h e a s t s i d e o f Clay S t r e e t and by
tile 700' c o n t o u r l i n e (of U.S.G.S.
7%' q u a d r a n g l e Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a , p h o t o r e v i s e d 1968) from t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Clay
S t r e e t t o t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Madison S t r e e t .
Bounded on
t h e s o u t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e l o t s f a c i n g
onto t h e northwest s i d e of F i f t h S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e
n o r t h w e s t by t h e 700' c o n t o u r l i n e between Madison and
Harrison Streets.
I
Text
I
.
FoJm 10-300
'
(July 196'3
STATE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF S H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL P A R K SERVICE
VIRGINIA
COUNTY:
I
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMENAT [ON FORM
1
LYNCHBURG (in c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
DATE
ENTRY NUMBER
( T y p c a l l entries
- complete applicabfe sections)
I . NAME
1 II
1 COMMON'
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY
AND/OR HIDTORICi
12. \ O C A T I.O.N
, I STREET
.I
,
.,
.
A N C NUMBER:
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
=ITY OR
I
,I
LYNCIIBURG (Richard H. Po££. Six
S T A T t
CATEGORY
1M
'
OWNERSHIP
( C h o c k Oncl
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Structure
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USE
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0 Industrial
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a
Educational
0 Entertainment
1,
[7 Tronsportntion
Park
Raligiour
Musourn
0 Scientific
.
.
Comments
Other (sped&)
P r i v o t o Resldenca
Militory
Fd. OWNER OF PROPERTY
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Cornrnsrc~ol
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in progress
Government
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DWNKR'S NAML:
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C I T Y OF LYNCHBURG,
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S T R E E T A N D NUMRER:
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STATE:
VIRGINIA
1
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52
VIRGINIA
LYKCHBURG
IN f XISTING SURVEYS
I T ~ T L O~ F S W R V I : Y :
V i r g i n i a 1-Iistoric Landmarks Commission Survey
1972
0 Federal
D A T E OF S U R Y E Y :
DEP051 T O R Y F O R S U R V E Y R E C O R D S :
,
V i r g i n i a Historic Landinarks Commission
S T R E E T A M 0 NUMBER;
Stots
County
I:
0 Cocof
17. DESCRIPTION
I
1
fChsck O n ~,
al
Foir
CONDITION
Dstariocoted
Ruins
[Check One)
Alterad
0 Unexposed
ICh-ck One)
@ Unaltered
PHVP~CIL
0
Moved
yt3
Origi"o1 Site
APPEARANCE
The entrance t o the City Cemetery
-
t h e old Methodist Cemetery
-
is s i t u a t e d a t the c r e s t of a g e n t l e r i s e up Taylor S t r e e t from F i f t h S t r e e t
the
main thoroughfare.
m e gates a t Taylor S t r e e t and Fourth S t r e e t a r e on
t@e a x i s of Taylor S t r e e t .
The maln avenue w i t h i n t h e cemetery is a cont i n u a t i o n of Taylor S t r e e t .
As the entrance is located p r e c i s e l y a t the
c r e s t , the land w i t h i n the cemetery f a l l s away t o the southwest, the northwest, and t o the n o r t h e a s t ,
By l o c a l custom the d i r e c t i o n s a r e r e f e r r e d ta
a s south, n o r t h , and e a s t , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The ridge is surrounded by small
s reams feeding i n t o Blackwater Creek which soon empties i n t o t h e James Rive
Placed w i t h i n one of t h e most heavily populated and most intense1
d veloped a r e a s of the old c i t y , the open park-like space of the cemetery i s
a welcome r e l l e f .
Following the r e s t r i c t e d v i s t a imposed by t h e houses
:.
c owd~nge l t h e r s l d e of Taylor S t r e e t , the panoramic view of the r o l l i n g
h f l l s of Lynchburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond i s breathtaking.
Although located near t h e geographic c e n t e r of t h e c i t y , t h e atmosphere
It i s
p esented by the many v i s t a s from t h e cemetery i s p r i m r i l y p a s t o r a l .
t is sharp c o n t r a s t with the i n t e n s e l y urban which makes the cemetery a l l
t e more a p p r e c i a t e d .
The cemetery does, i n f a c t , have one of the most
It occupies the western end of
c m n d i n g s i t e s i n the c i t y of Lynchburg.
ridge known throughout Lynchburg h i s t o r y a s College H i l l .
The public water
w r k s which a r e on t h e h i g h e s t p o i n t of the ridge a r e j u s t two c i t y blocks
f om the cemetery.
The main avenue of the cemetery a s i t descends t h e h i l l i s paved
w th g r a n i t e cobblestones.
A t h i n l a y e r of a s p h a l t has been applied t o the
c n t e r lane only.
The d r i v e i s bordered on e i t h e r s i d e by r e g u l a r l y spaced
t u r e American Arborvitae ( t h u j a o c c i d e n t a l i s ) upwards of t h i r t y f e e t t a l l .
I terspersed w i t h the American Arborvitae a r e O r i e n t a l Arborvitae ( t h u j a
0 i e n t a l i s ) and Spirea.
I t i s doubtful t h a t many of the l a r g e t r e e s which
a ound on the s i t e d a t e from the founding of the cemetery. The majority,
m e maples throughhgwever, must be q u i t e o l d , f o r they a r e mature t r e e s .
o u t the cemetery a r e noteworthy, a s a r e the g r e a t v a r i e t y of evergreens.
I
So many markers have been l o s t i n the old s e c t i o n s t h e a r e a on
e I~ t h e rs i d e of the main d r i v e presents a s u r p r i s i n g l y open and park-like
appearance.
The notable f e a t u r e of t h i s a r e a - i s the group of s t o n e w a l l s
Though few i n number, the force and vigor of these
edclosing family p l o t s .
wqlls i m e d i a t e l y a r r e s t t h e eye.
Averaging some t h r e e f e e t i n height, the
w a l l s a r e of c l o s e l y f i t t e d l a r g e blocks of l o c a l g r a n i t e matching i n materi
add c h a r a c t e r the stonework of the old Lynchburg Courthouse.
The s t r e n g t h
of the w a l l s i s f u r t h e r accented by the d e l i c a t e i r o n fences surmounting
them - examples of the i r o n c a s t e r ' s a r t a t i t s most e l a b o r a t e development.
The grave markers i n t h e old s e c t i o n s of t h e cemetery encompass
the f u l l range of memorlal a r t .
Markers of marble, g r a n i t e , soapstone,
s l a t e and l o c a l greenstone d i s p l a y the imagination of the c a r v e r s f o r the
p a s t century.
The number of t a b l e t o p markers i s unusual f o r t h i s p a r t o f
'TWO e a r l y s l a b type markers, each with a s i n g l e s c r o l l a t the t o
virginia.
e paired t o give the i l l u s i o n of a s c r o l l pediment.
Another p a i r of
r k e r s e x h i b i t low r e l i e f carving of c l a s s i c a l landscapes with weeping
llow t r e e s surrounded w i t h funereal motifs.
The cemetery i s n o t without
s kneeling angel i n c h a s t e white m r b l e .
II .
1
Q
I
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
I
(Number all sntrlse)
i
DATE
ENTRVWUMBER
(Con tinuation Sheet)
e charm of t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e cemetery i s g r e a t l y heightened by t h e
s ntiment of m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y America t h a t a l l m a r k e ~ si n a f a m i l y group
n ed n o t be i d e n t i c a l .
Thus, t h e massive, n a t i v e s t o n e w a l l s might surround
each s t o n e of a d i f f e r e n t
e i g h t carved tombstones of p r i s t i n e w h i t e marble
s z e and d e s i g n a s b e f i t t e d t h e a g e , s e x , and f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e
d ceased.
The q u a l i t y common t o a l l t h i s group of memorials is t h e a b s o l u t e
s i f - c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e m a t e r i a l world e x h i b i t e d i n t h e decade of a f f l u e n c e
p i o r t o t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s .
These s p l e n d i d s h a f t s proudly d i s p l a y
t e i r makers' marks, such a s S t r u t h e r s , P h i l a d e l p h i a , i n l e t t e r s a l m o s t as
l d r g e as t h e name of t h e i n d i v i d u a l being memorialized.
A t t h e f o o t of t h e h i l l a c r o s s a x i s t o t h e west l e a d s t o t h e
C nfederate section.
The f l a g s t o n e p a t h p a s s e s between two l a r g e s p r u c e
t e e s and under a s t o n e a r c h d e d i c a t e d t o t h e memory o f t h e Confederate dead
bqried here.
A t e i t h e r s i d e of t h e a r c h t h e p i e r s a r e surmounted by h i g h l y
s t y l i z e d urns.
One i s s t r u c k immediately by t h e row upon row of uniform,
The Confederate s e c t i o n is bounded on t h e west
s m a l l , w h l t e marble markers.
by a b r i c k w a l l and on t h e remaining s i d e s by a t a l l boxwood hedge.
The w a l l
wben c o n s t r u c t e d marked t h e boundary of t h e cemetery, b u t today i t s e p a r a t e s
t e Confederate s e c t i o n from t h e modern s e c t i o n and from p o t t e r ' s f i e l d . The
w 11 of mixed bond i s approximately e i g h t i n c h e s t h i c k and i s capped w i t h a
h if-round b r i c k course.
The w a l l ' s p r i n c i p a l c l a i m t o a t t e n t i o n i s i t s
a s o c i a t i o n w i t h a book of t h e cemetery r e c o r d s published i n 1968 under t h e
Along F o u r t h S t r e e t t h e cemetery is
t t l e , " ~ e h i n d t h e Old Brick Wall."
'I
e l c l o s e d w i t h a c h a i n l i n k f e n c e ; b u t a s i g n n o t e s t h a t C i t y Council has
a t h o r i z e d t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a b r i c k w a l l .
Three f e a t u r e s , each q u i t e d i f f e r e n t
from t h e o t h e r , dominate
A s t o n e o b e l i s k on a mound i s composed of f o u r t e e n
t e Confederate s e c t i o n .
Each b l o c k r e p r e s e n t s a s t a t t
i d i v i d u a l b l o c k s of s t o n e i n graduated s i z e s .
A permanent s p e a k e r ' s r o s t r u m
wllose dead a r e i n t e r r e d i n t h i s s e c t i o n .
nkarby i s i n t h e form o f a c l a s s i c a l temple complete w i t h d o r i c columns and
a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
lhe temple is o n l y l a r g e enough f o r t h e s p e a k e r and
Facing t h e rostrum is a r e i n f o r c e d c o n c r e t e bench,
t e p r e s i d i n g chairman.
L shaped i n p l a n .
The f l u i d l i n e s o f t h e bench t e r m i n a t e i n a back some foul
I n s t y l e t h e c o n c r e t e bench t y p i f i e s t h e e x u b e r a n t a s s u r e d n e s s
f f e t high.
o f garden s t r u c t u r e s l o c a t e d a l l a c r o s s t h e United S t a t e s and g e n e r a l l y
e r e c t e d under t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e Works P r o j e c t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n .
I
-
1
I
1.
1
R.H.G.
I
I
'
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SIGNIFICANCE
(craeck One or More a.
PERIOD
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.
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0 20th
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Prehistoric
Enpineering
Historic
Industry
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MUSIC
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0 Cornmunic~f~on.
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Tron.po,t.t,on
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY, LYNCHBURG: From 1806 u n t i l 1965, Old C i t y Cemetery
s e r v e d a s a b u r i a l p l a c e f o r t h e prominent, b u t a l s o t h e o b s c u r e ; w h i t e and
b l a c k ; f r e e a s w e l l a s s l a v e ; n a t i v e and f o r e i g n born.
Begun on land
donated by John Lynch, i t remains a memorial t o t h e h i s t o r y and t r a d i t i o n s
o f t h e Lynchburg community.
The Old C i t y Cemetery i s a reminder t h a t v i a b l e p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between b l a c k and w h i t e have p e r s i s t e d o v e r t h e g e n e r a t i o n s .
During
t h e a n t e - b e l l u m times, b l a c k men and women were b u r i e d h e r e : some t h e
r e s p e c t e d and loved s e r v a n t s o f Lynchburg's w h i t e f a m i l i e s ; o t h e r s , f r e e
Negroes, i n c l u d i n g one g i f t e d i n d i v i d u a l , "Blind B i l l y " Armistead, whose
d e a t h i n 1855 b r o u g h t mourning t o Inany Lynchburg homes.
For t h e c e n t u r y f o l l o w i n g Appomattox --as V i r g i n i a passed through
r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , redemption, and r e a d j u s t m e n t
t h e Alexanders, t h e Coxes,
t h e Gladmans and Higginbothams, t h e Majors, Merrimans, and P r i d e s , t h e
Wilkinsons and M r s . V i r g i n i a Randolph took t h e i r p l a c e s h e r e a l o n g w i t h t h e
. .
l n d l g e n t o f t h e i r own r a c e and w h i t e s o f a l l classes.
Jenny Hicks, a l a d y o f c o l o r , "beloved o f many Lynchburgers," was b u t
one of t h o s e i n t e r r e d h e r e who were, i n l i f e , known and r e s p e c t e d by
members o f b o t h r a c e s .
She had, :fie News observed i n a n e d i t o r i a , l f a r e w e l l , " t h a t rare q u a l i t y c a l l e d g r a c e i n h e r Life."
I f Old C i t y Cemetery
t e s t i f i e s t o t h e b i - r a c i a l , m u l t i - n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r o f Lynchburg's popu l a t i o n , i t a l s o s e r v e s t o remind us o f t h e community's S o u t h e r n e s s .
Ttro thousand and more o f t h e C o n f e d e r a t e dead were b u r i e d h e r e .
They camewith P h i l l i p ' s Georgia Legion and t h e Sumpter A r t i l l e r y ; w i t h t h e
1 1 t h M i s s i s s i p p i and t h e 4 4 t h Alabama; from t h e Lower and Border South;
from as f a r d i s t a n t a s West Texas and a s n e a r a s t h e Maryland E a s t e r n Shore.
During "four y e a r s o f arduous s e r v i c e t r w i t h t h e Army o f Northern V i r g i n i a ,
s c o r e s o f hundreds o f s o l d i e r s passed through Lynchburg's m a k e - s h i f t
hospitals.
Those who d i e d from t h e i r wounds o r i l l n e s s e s were b u r i e d h e r e
u n l e s s c o n d i t i o n s and d i s t a n c e s p e r m i t t e d removal t o t h e i r homes.
I n t h e y e a r s immediately f o l l o w i n g t h e War, and t h e n a g a i n s p o r a d i c a l I y ,
Lynchburg observed a n a n n u a l D e c o r a t i o n Day t o honor t h e f a l l e n s o l d i e r s .
The e n t i r e community might p a r t i c i p a t e one y e a r - - a s i n 1868; and o n l y a few
widows and orphans t h e n e x t .
This same tendency--from g r e a t i n t e r e s t t o
s h e e r n e g l e c t and back a g a i n - - h a s been e v i d e n t i n t h e community,'~ a t t i t u d e
towards t h e g e n e r a l maintenance o f t h e cemetery.
Var and peace, s u r r e n d e r and p e r s e v e r a n c e ; l a c k of concern, d e d i c a t e d
d e v o t i o n , l o v e and h a t e ; anonymity and i d e n t i t y ; t h e s t o r y o f a people and
region. a r e r e c o r d e d h e r e i n t a b l e - t o p monuments, t i n y and c r u d e l y - c u t s t o n e r ,
and i n g r a v e s which were l e f t o r have become unmarked.
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D e s c r i p t i o n by Robert H. Garbee, A.I.A.,
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C.H.M.
Eaber & E. L. Moore, Behind t h e Old B r i c k Wall: A Cemetery Story,
Richmond, V i r g i n i a , 1968.
R o s t e r s o f B u r i a l s i n t h e Main S e c t o r (1806-1913), and i n t h e C o n f e d e r a t e
1
S e c t i o n o f T h i s Cemetery; Baber & Moore,
Appendices.
w.,
I
I
OGRAPHICALDATA
--
----
L A T I T U D E AND L O N G I T U D E COORDINATES
%
R E C T A N G L E L O C A T I N G THE P R O P E R T Y
pEwNlNC
,
CORNER
LATITUDE
I
D e g r e e s Mlnutos
Seconds
SE
37
37
37
25.
25.
24-
0101.
47"
79 o
790
79
W
17
7
,57'
79
NW
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32
15
15
32
S T ~ T E S AND
COUNTIES
FOR P R O P E R T I E S
STPTE
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STATE:
I=T~_/'
.
Degrees
M8nut.s
Degrees
Seconds
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Lb a c r e s
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CODE
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CODE
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CODE
COUNTY"
CODE
COUNTY
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CODE
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L O N G , TUDE
M ~ n u t e s Seconds
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OVERLAPPING
I
STATE.
LATITUDE
p
p
Seconds
A C R E A G E O F N O M ~ N A T E DP R O P E R T Y
APPROXIMATE
I L I ~ TA L L
09
09
09
09
0
- -
D s g r s o s Manutss
*
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LONGlTUDE
--.-
L A T I T U D E A N D LONGITUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING T H E C E N T E R POINT OF
PROPERTY
O F LESS T H A N T F N ACRES
COUNTY:
.-
1
Ill. FORM PREPARED BY
.
I
-
NAME A N D TITLE
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMLSSW S
W
D I T E
ORSaNI ZATION
septp-
~ I R G I N I A HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
STREET ANDNUMBER
I
z
CODE
Ii
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A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
i n the National Register and cerlify that it h a s been
evaluated according to the criteria and procehirres s e t
(orth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of significance of this nominstion is:
I~
!
I
National
State
.,
I hereby certify that t h i s property is included i n the
dional Historic Preservation Act 0 1 1966 (Public L a w
6 9 6 6 5 ) . I hereby nominate t h i s property for inclusion
'A
Nationel Regieter'
1
Chief, Office of Archeology endHistoric Preservation
Local
J. R. F i s h b u r n e , D i r e c t o r
Tltk
Va
.
H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
Keeper of The N e ~ i o n eRegister
l
I
I
qarm
10-3000
( l u l y 1969'
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
( ~ u n r b o rall snttlsa)
LYNCHBURG
(in c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
E N T R V NUM86R
DATE
I
The cemetery boundary on t h e e a s t l i e s a l o n g F o u r t h S t r e e t from mid b l o c k
between Floyd and Wise t o t h e c o r n e r o f F o u r t h S t r e e t and Monroe S t r e e t .
I t t h e n f o l l o w s Monroe S t r e e t northward t o F i r s t S t r e e t .
A straight line
through t h e bottom l e a d s t o a p o i n t where Garland S t r e e t t e r m i n a t e s a t the
Southern Railroad.
I t f o l l o w s t h e S o u t h e r n R a i l r o a d boundary t o a p o i n t
n e a r Floyd S t r e e t and t h e n f o l l o w s a n i r r e g u l a r l i n e back t o F o u r t h S t r e e t
.
FoJm 10-300
'
(July 196'3
STATE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF S H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL P A R K SERVICE
VIRGINIA
COUNTY:
I
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMENAT [ON FORM
1
LYNCHBURG (in c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
DATE
ENTRY NUMBER
( T y p c a l l entries
- complete applicabfe sections)
I . NAME
1 II
1 COMMON'
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY
AND/OR HIDTORICi
12. \ O C A T I.O.N
, I STREET
.I
,
.,
.
A N C NUMBER:
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
=ITY OR
I
,I
LYNCIIBURG (Richard H. Po££. Six
S T A T t
CATEGORY
1M
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OWNERSHIP
( C h o c k Oncl
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Building
sit.
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Structure
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USE
r] Being
0Pts*srvofion
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0 Industrial
a
a
Educational
0 Entertainment
1,
[7 Tronsportntion
Park
Raligiour
Musourn
0 Scientific
.
.
Comments
Other (sped&)
P r i v o t o Resldenca
Militory
Fd. OWNER OF PROPERTY
iI
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lClrock O n c or More a s A D D ~ O D ~ ~ ~ I ~ )
Cornrnsrc~ol
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work
in progress
Government
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Occupied
In Precess
0 Both
Object
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Public Acquisition:
Public
Privete
graveyard
,
.
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DWNKR'S NAML:
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C I T Y OF LYNCHBURG,
-I
n
S T R E E T A N D NUMRER:
I
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C I T Y OR TOWN.
STATE:
VIRGINIA
1
COOE
1
51
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1
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STATE
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52
VIRGINIA
LYKCHBURG
IN f XISTING SURVEYS
I T ~ T L O~ F S W R V I : Y :
V i r g i n i a 1-Iistoric Landmarks Commission Survey
1972
0 Federal
D A T E OF S U R Y E Y :
DEP051 T O R Y F O R S U R V E Y R E C O R D S :
,
V i r g i n i a Historic Landinarks Commission
S T R E E T A M 0 NUMBER;
Stots
County
I:
0 Cocof
17. DESCRIPTION
I
1
fChsck O n ~,
al
Foir
CONDITION
Dstariocoted
Ruins
[Check One)
Alterad
0 Unexposed
ICh-ck One)
@ Unaltered
PHVP~CIL
0
Moved
yt3
Origi"o1 Site
APPEARANCE
The entrance t o the City Cemetery
-
t h e old Methodist Cemetery
-
is s i t u a t e d a t the c r e s t of a g e n t l e r i s e up Taylor S t r e e t from F i f t h S t r e e t
the
main thoroughfare.
m e gates a t Taylor S t r e e t and Fourth S t r e e t a r e on
t@e a x i s of Taylor S t r e e t .
The maln avenue w i t h i n t h e cemetery is a cont i n u a t i o n of Taylor S t r e e t .
As the entrance is located p r e c i s e l y a t the
c r e s t , the land w i t h i n the cemetery f a l l s away t o the southwest, the northwest, and t o the n o r t h e a s t ,
By l o c a l custom the d i r e c t i o n s a r e r e f e r r e d ta
a s south, n o r t h , and e a s t , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The ridge is surrounded by small
s reams feeding i n t o Blackwater Creek which soon empties i n t o t h e James Rive
Placed w i t h i n one of t h e most heavily populated and most intense1
d veloped a r e a s of the old c i t y , the open park-like space of the cemetery i s
a welcome r e l l e f .
Following the r e s t r i c t e d v i s t a imposed by t h e houses
:.
c owd~nge l t h e r s l d e of Taylor S t r e e t , the panoramic view of the r o l l i n g
h f l l s of Lynchburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond i s breathtaking.
Although located near t h e geographic c e n t e r of t h e c i t y , t h e atmosphere
It i s
p esented by the many v i s t a s from t h e cemetery i s p r i m r i l y p a s t o r a l .
t is sharp c o n t r a s t with the i n t e n s e l y urban which makes the cemetery a l l
t e more a p p r e c i a t e d .
The cemetery does, i n f a c t , have one of the most
It occupies the western end of
c m n d i n g s i t e s i n the c i t y of Lynchburg.
ridge known throughout Lynchburg h i s t o r y a s College H i l l .
The public water
w r k s which a r e on t h e h i g h e s t p o i n t of the ridge a r e j u s t two c i t y blocks
f om the cemetery.
The main avenue of the cemetery a s i t descends t h e h i l l i s paved
w th g r a n i t e cobblestones.
A t h i n l a y e r of a s p h a l t has been applied t o the
c n t e r lane only.
The d r i v e i s bordered on e i t h e r s i d e by r e g u l a r l y spaced
t u r e American Arborvitae ( t h u j a o c c i d e n t a l i s ) upwards of t h i r t y f e e t t a l l .
I terspersed w i t h the American Arborvitae a r e O r i e n t a l Arborvitae ( t h u j a
0 i e n t a l i s ) and Spirea.
I t i s doubtful t h a t many of the l a r g e t r e e s which
a ound on the s i t e d a t e from the founding of the cemetery. The majority,
m e maples throughhgwever, must be q u i t e o l d , f o r they a r e mature t r e e s .
o u t the cemetery a r e noteworthy, a s a r e the g r e a t v a r i e t y of evergreens.
I
So many markers have been l o s t i n the old s e c t i o n s t h e a r e a on
e I~ t h e rs i d e of the main d r i v e presents a s u r p r i s i n g l y open and park-like
appearance.
The notable f e a t u r e of t h i s a r e a - i s the group of s t o n e w a l l s
Though few i n number, the force and vigor of these
edclosing family p l o t s .
wqlls i m e d i a t e l y a r r e s t t h e eye.
Averaging some t h r e e f e e t i n height, the
w a l l s a r e of c l o s e l y f i t t e d l a r g e blocks of l o c a l g r a n i t e matching i n materi
add c h a r a c t e r the stonework of the old Lynchburg Courthouse.
The s t r e n g t h
of the w a l l s i s f u r t h e r accented by the d e l i c a t e i r o n fences surmounting
them - examples of the i r o n c a s t e r ' s a r t a t i t s most e l a b o r a t e development.
The grave markers i n t h e old s e c t i o n s of t h e cemetery encompass
the f u l l range of memorlal a r t .
Markers of marble, g r a n i t e , soapstone,
s l a t e and l o c a l greenstone d i s p l a y the imagination of the c a r v e r s f o r the
p a s t century.
The number of t a b l e t o p markers i s unusual f o r t h i s p a r t o f
'TWO e a r l y s l a b type markers, each with a s i n g l e s c r o l l a t the t o
virginia.
e paired t o give the i l l u s i o n of a s c r o l l pediment.
Another p a i r of
r k e r s e x h i b i t low r e l i e f carving of c l a s s i c a l landscapes with weeping
llow t r e e s surrounded w i t h funereal motifs.
The cemetery i s n o t without
s kneeling angel i n c h a s t e white m r b l e .
II .
1
Q
I
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
I
(Number all sntrlse)
i
DATE
ENTRVWUMBER
(Con tinuation Sheet)
e charm of t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e cemetery i s g r e a t l y heightened by t h e
s ntiment of m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y America t h a t a l l m a r k e ~ si n a f a m i l y group
n ed n o t be i d e n t i c a l .
Thus, t h e massive, n a t i v e s t o n e w a l l s might surround
each s t o n e of a d i f f e r e n t
e i g h t carved tombstones of p r i s t i n e w h i t e marble
s z e and d e s i g n a s b e f i t t e d t h e a g e , s e x , and f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e
d ceased.
The q u a l i t y common t o a l l t h i s group of memorials is t h e a b s o l u t e
s i f - c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e m a t e r i a l world e x h i b i t e d i n t h e decade of a f f l u e n c e
p i o r t o t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s .
These s p l e n d i d s h a f t s proudly d i s p l a y
t e i r makers' marks, such a s S t r u t h e r s , P h i l a d e l p h i a , i n l e t t e r s a l m o s t as
l d r g e as t h e name of t h e i n d i v i d u a l being memorialized.
A t t h e f o o t of t h e h i l l a c r o s s a x i s t o t h e west l e a d s t o t h e
C nfederate section.
The f l a g s t o n e p a t h p a s s e s between two l a r g e s p r u c e
t e e s and under a s t o n e a r c h d e d i c a t e d t o t h e memory o f t h e Confederate dead
bqried here.
A t e i t h e r s i d e of t h e a r c h t h e p i e r s a r e surmounted by h i g h l y
s t y l i z e d urns.
One i s s t r u c k immediately by t h e row upon row of uniform,
The Confederate s e c t i o n is bounded on t h e west
s m a l l , w h l t e marble markers.
by a b r i c k w a l l and on t h e remaining s i d e s by a t a l l boxwood hedge.
The w a l l
wben c o n s t r u c t e d marked t h e boundary of t h e cemetery, b u t today i t s e p a r a t e s
t e Confederate s e c t i o n from t h e modern s e c t i o n and from p o t t e r ' s f i e l d . The
w 11 of mixed bond i s approximately e i g h t i n c h e s t h i c k and i s capped w i t h a
h if-round b r i c k course.
The w a l l ' s p r i n c i p a l c l a i m t o a t t e n t i o n i s i t s
a s o c i a t i o n w i t h a book of t h e cemetery r e c o r d s published i n 1968 under t h e
Along F o u r t h S t r e e t t h e cemetery is
t t l e , " ~ e h i n d t h e Old Brick Wall."
'I
e l c l o s e d w i t h a c h a i n l i n k f e n c e ; b u t a s i g n n o t e s t h a t C i t y Council has
a t h o r i z e d t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a b r i c k w a l l .
Three f e a t u r e s , each q u i t e d i f f e r e n t
from t h e o t h e r , dominate
A s t o n e o b e l i s k on a mound i s composed of f o u r t e e n
t e Confederate s e c t i o n .
Each b l o c k r e p r e s e n t s a s t a t t
i d i v i d u a l b l o c k s of s t o n e i n graduated s i z e s .
A permanent s p e a k e r ' s r o s t r u m
wllose dead a r e i n t e r r e d i n t h i s s e c t i o n .
nkarby i s i n t h e form o f a c l a s s i c a l temple complete w i t h d o r i c columns and
a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
lhe temple is o n l y l a r g e enough f o r t h e s p e a k e r and
Facing t h e rostrum is a r e i n f o r c e d c o n c r e t e bench,
t e p r e s i d i n g chairman.
L shaped i n p l a n .
The f l u i d l i n e s o f t h e bench t e r m i n a t e i n a back some foul
I n s t y l e t h e c o n c r e t e bench t y p i f i e s t h e e x u b e r a n t a s s u r e d n e s s
f f e t high.
o f garden s t r u c t u r e s l o c a t e d a l l a c r o s s t h e United S t a t e s and g e n e r a l l y
e r e c t e d under t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e Works P r o j e c t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n .
I
-
1
I
1.
1
R.H.G.
I
I
'
I
SIGNIFICANCE
(craeck One or More a.
PERIOD
Pra-Columbaon
Appropriela)
.
I
Q 18th
19th C.NWY
Century
0 20th
Century
0 15th Century
(
1
I I
SPEClFIC DATE(SI
r n a m or
I
(Chack O n e
&fore a
.
Prehistoric
Enpineering
Historic
Industry
0 Apricultur.
0 Architectur.
Urbon Planning
Politic~l
K
l Relipion/Phi.
-.
IJ
Science
&
Sculpture
@
Sectol/Hvman-
Architecture
Lltaretur.
#tartan
Mmlatmry
MUSIC
Other (Specify)
losophy
Inventton
IJ
I
~ppmprf.~e)
@ Landssop.
Art
0 Cornmunic~f~on.
0 Conssrv.tlon
Thsot..
rJ
Tron.po,t.t,on
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY, LYNCHBURG: From 1806 u n t i l 1965, Old C i t y Cemetery
s e r v e d a s a b u r i a l p l a c e f o r t h e prominent, b u t a l s o t h e o b s c u r e ; w h i t e and
b l a c k ; f r e e a s w e l l a s s l a v e ; n a t i v e and f o r e i g n born.
Begun on land
donated by John Lynch, i t remains a memorial t o t h e h i s t o r y and t r a d i t i o n s
o f t h e Lynchburg community.
The Old C i t y Cemetery i s a reminder t h a t v i a b l e p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between b l a c k and w h i t e have p e r s i s t e d o v e r t h e g e n e r a t i o n s .
During
t h e a n t e - b e l l u m times, b l a c k men and women were b u r i e d h e r e : some t h e
r e s p e c t e d and loved s e r v a n t s o f Lynchburg's w h i t e f a m i l i e s ; o t h e r s , f r e e
Negroes, i n c l u d i n g one g i f t e d i n d i v i d u a l , "Blind B i l l y " Armistead, whose
d e a t h i n 1855 b r o u g h t mourning t o Inany Lynchburg homes.
For t h e c e n t u r y f o l l o w i n g Appomattox --as V i r g i n i a passed through
r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , redemption, and r e a d j u s t m e n t
t h e Alexanders, t h e Coxes,
t h e Gladmans and Higginbothams, t h e Majors, Merrimans, and P r i d e s , t h e
Wilkinsons and M r s . V i r g i n i a Randolph took t h e i r p l a c e s h e r e a l o n g w i t h t h e
. .
l n d l g e n t o f t h e i r own r a c e and w h i t e s o f a l l classes.
Jenny Hicks, a l a d y o f c o l o r , "beloved o f many Lynchburgers," was b u t
one of t h o s e i n t e r r e d h e r e who were, i n l i f e , known and r e s p e c t e d by
members o f b o t h r a c e s .
She had, :fie News observed i n a n e d i t o r i a , l f a r e w e l l , " t h a t rare q u a l i t y c a l l e d g r a c e i n h e r Life."
I f Old C i t y Cemetery
t e s t i f i e s t o t h e b i - r a c i a l , m u l t i - n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r o f Lynchburg's popu l a t i o n , i t a l s o s e r v e s t o remind us o f t h e community's S o u t h e r n e s s .
Ttro thousand and more o f t h e C o n f e d e r a t e dead were b u r i e d h e r e .
They camewith P h i l l i p ' s Georgia Legion and t h e Sumpter A r t i l l e r y ; w i t h t h e
1 1 t h M i s s i s s i p p i and t h e 4 4 t h Alabama; from t h e Lower and Border South;
from as f a r d i s t a n t a s West Texas and a s n e a r a s t h e Maryland E a s t e r n Shore.
During "four y e a r s o f arduous s e r v i c e t r w i t h t h e Army o f Northern V i r g i n i a ,
s c o r e s o f hundreds o f s o l d i e r s passed through Lynchburg's m a k e - s h i f t
hospitals.
Those who d i e d from t h e i r wounds o r i l l n e s s e s were b u r i e d h e r e
u n l e s s c o n d i t i o n s and d i s t a n c e s p e r m i t t e d removal t o t h e i r homes.
I n t h e y e a r s immediately f o l l o w i n g t h e War, and t h e n a g a i n s p o r a d i c a l I y ,
Lynchburg observed a n a n n u a l D e c o r a t i o n Day t o honor t h e f a l l e n s o l d i e r s .
The e n t i r e community might p a r t i c i p a t e one y e a r - - a s i n 1868; and o n l y a few
widows and orphans t h e n e x t .
This same tendency--from g r e a t i n t e r e s t t o
s h e e r n e g l e c t and back a g a i n - - h a s been e v i d e n t i n t h e community,'~ a t t i t u d e
towards t h e g e n e r a l maintenance o f t h e cemetery.
Var and peace, s u r r e n d e r and p e r s e v e r a n c e ; l a c k of concern, d e d i c a t e d
d e v o t i o n , l o v e and h a t e ; anonymity and i d e n t i t y ; t h e s t o r y o f a people and
region. a r e r e c o r d e d h e r e i n t a b l e - t o p monuments, t i n y and c r u d e l y - c u t s t o n e r ,
and i n g r a v e s which were l e f t o r have become unmarked.
HPP
1
0
IU
z
E
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W
V)
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.
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Education
Abor ipinol
Commerce
-I1
i
(If A p p l l ~ o b I eandKnown)
S ~ C N IF I C A N C E
_,
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. ..
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,
---..-----.-.~
r;
.
,
s
-
.
~
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. .
D e s c r i p t i o n by Robert H. Garbee, A.I.A.,
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C.H.M.
Eaber & E. L. Moore, Behind t h e Old B r i c k Wall: A Cemetery Story,
Richmond, V i r g i n i a , 1968.
R o s t e r s o f B u r i a l s i n t h e Main S e c t o r (1806-1913), and i n t h e C o n f e d e r a t e
1
S e c t i o n o f T h i s Cemetery; Baber & Moore,
Appendices.
w.,
I
I
OGRAPHICALDATA
--
----
L A T I T U D E AND L O N G I T U D E COORDINATES
%
R E C T A N G L E L O C A T I N G THE P R O P E R T Y
pEwNlNC
,
CORNER
LATITUDE
I
D e g r e e s Mlnutos
Seconds
SE
37
37
37
25.
25.
24-
0101.
47"
79 o
790
79
W
17
7
,57'
79
NW
b~
I
*
.
32
15
15
32
S T ~ T E S AND
COUNTIES
FOR P R O P E R T I E S
STPTE
I
1
I
STATE:
I=T~_/'
.
Degrees
M8nut.s
Degrees
Seconds
D
Lb a c r e s
S T A T E OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
I COUNTY
CODE
I
'
CODE
I
CODE
COUNTY"
CODE
COUNTY
I
CODE
1
,,,I.
L O N G , TUDE
M ~ n u t e s Seconds
D
OVERLAPPING
I
STATE.
LATITUDE
p
p
Seconds
A C R E A G E O F N O M ~ N A T E DP R O P E R T Y
APPROXIMATE
I L I ~ TA L L
09
09
09
09
0
- -
D s g r s o s Manutss
*
R
LONGlTUDE
--.-
L A T I T U D E A N D LONGITUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING T H E C E N T E R POINT OF
PROPERTY
O F LESS T H A N T F N ACRES
COUNTY:
.-
1
Ill. FORM PREPARED BY
.
I
-
NAME A N D TITLE
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMLSSW S
W
D I T E
ORSaNI ZATION
septp-
~ I R G I N I A HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
STREET ANDNUMBER
I
z
CODE
Ii
..
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
i n the National Register and cerlify that it h a s been
evaluated according to the criteria and procehirres s e t
(orth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of significance of this nominstion is:
I~
!
I
National
State
.,
I hereby certify that t h i s property is included i n the
dional Historic Preservation Act 0 1 1966 (Public L a w
6 9 6 6 5 ) . I hereby nominate t h i s property for inclusion
'A
Nationel Regieter'
1
Chief, Office of Archeology endHistoric Preservation
Local
J. R. F i s h b u r n e , D i r e c t o r
Tltk
Va
.
H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
Keeper of The N e ~ i o n eRegister
l
I
I
qarm
10-3000
( l u l y 1969'
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
( ~ u n r b o rall snttlsa)
LYNCHBURG
(in c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
E N T R V NUM86R
DATE
I
The cemetery boundary on t h e e a s t l i e s a l o n g F o u r t h S t r e e t from mid b l o c k
between Floyd and Wise t o t h e c o r n e r o f F o u r t h S t r e e t and Monroe S t r e e t .
I t t h e n f o l l o w s Monroe S t r e e t northward t o F i r s t S t r e e t .
A straight line
through t h e bottom l e a d s t o a p o i n t where Garland S t r e e t t e r m i n a t e s a t the
Southern Railroad.
I t f o l l o w s t h e S o u t h e r n R a i l r o a d boundary t o a p o i n t
n e a r Floyd S t r e e t and t h e n f o l l o w s a n i r r e g u l a r l i n e back t o F o u r t h S t r e e t
Text
7rrn
No 10-300
S/WP*
10-1
(muL/Lq,
dle)-\~
UNITEDSTATES DEPAK'I'MEN1" OF THE IN-l-EtIkOIi
- 9 / 1! ~ / 4 ~
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HSTOXLC PLACES
INVENTORY -- XaJQh"J1NATIOPdFORM
I
'
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN H O W T O COFY?PL~FNATIOSIJAL
REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
f
J
F
1; NAME
HISTORtC
F e d e r a l R i l l Eistoric Cistricr
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
CI ry. TOWN
_NOT FOR PUBCICATl0.N
CONGHESS~OWAL
DI S TRI C T
-
ty~chburcg
Sixth (1,:.
VICINITYOF
STATE
CATEG DRY
OWNERSHIP
C a l d r ~ e l lSczTer)
cou~rv
CODE
CODE
STAT V S
PRESENT USE
LDISTR I CT
-PUBLIC
%OCCUPIED
-AGRlCU
-IUILRlNG(S)
-PRIVAT€
,UNOCCUPIED
-COMMERCIAL
-SIAUCTU
>r
X-EWTH
RE
-VJOFIX
PUBLIC ACQUISITION
,SITE
-IN
,OSJECT
YES
PRDCFSS
-.BEING
-YES.
CONSIDERED
IN P R O G RE SS
ACCE551RLZ
M t - 1 1 t C i p h Ormership
-EDUCATIONAL
LPAIVATE
RES~DENCE
-ENTERTAINMFNS
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIFNXIFIC
UNPESTRICTEO
--IKOUSTRIAL
-T~ANSPOF(TAT ON
-MILITARY
.,OTHER
c / o Mayor
---
-STREET Fa NUMBER
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DFEOS,ETL
--MUSEUM
,PARK
RESTRICTED
-NO
NAME
LTURE
Lynchburg City ?$all
STREET& NUMBER
TITLE
V t r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks co~llmissidnSul-vey
DATE
1969, 1 9 7 4 , 197s
-FECIFRAL
X-STATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
DEPOSITQRY FOR
SUqVEYREC5RDS
V i r g i n i a Ilistoric Landnarks Commission,
2 2 1 Governor
Street:
-.
-
Clfv.fOWFI
STATE
.- Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
-EXCELLENT
-GOOD
&FAIR
-DETERIORATEO
-RUINS
-UNEXPOSED
CHECK O N E
-UNALTERED
XALTEREO
CHECK ONE
KORIGINALSITE
-MOVED
DATE
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND OHlGlNAL (IF KNOWN1 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Federal Hill Historic District includes some one dozcn residential blocks in the
heart of Lynchburg. Laid out in a grid plan, the area covers one of the city's seven
hills and is separated from Lynchburg Hill, or the commercial area, by a deep valley. Two
of Federal Hill's principal streets, Federal Street and Jackson Street dead end at a
sharp cliff above 12th Street so that the district is rarely entered by other than local
traffic. Most of the wide, tree-shaded streets retain early brick sidervallcs using bricks
with distinctive patterned faces. A number of slate sidewalks and granite curbs remain
as well. Other street furniture includes numerous iron fences in a variety of patterns.
The district's architecture consists primarily of free-standing brick or frame
houses in a variety of styles but of harmonious scale. Of chief architectural interest
are several Federal-style brick houses built about the time the area was laid out. A few
mid-19th-century houses are scattered through the neighborhood, and the rest of the lots
are filled with complementary Latc 19th-and early 20th-century dwellings. Three important
French Second Empire houses stand near one another on Harrison Street. The individual
early 20th-century houses are generally undistinguished, but together they contribute to
the visual harmony of the block facades. Yard sizes vary, and there are few vacant lots.
In addition to the houses, the area has a public school building and a church, both
dignified examples of Edwardian period architecture.
Federal Hill is racially mixed and has residents of high, middle and low income
levels. Several houses are in poor condition while others are maintained excellently.
The general appearance of the neighborhood is good, however, and the income lcvel is
rising as houses are restored. Except for Jackson Street and the southwest side of
Federal Street, Federal Hill is included in the College Hill Urban Renewal Area,
operated by the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority which is assisting in
upgrading the area.
.
<.
.
.
-
.
a
SIGNIFICANCE
-1500-1593
-1600-1693
-1700-1793
x1800-1839
XI900-
'
..
;
_
.
_ ..
__
."*_. .... . _
_.
_.
,
.
,
~.
. ...
....,.,.*-.
.- . . . . .
~
..-..,
'
-- CHECK A N 0 JUSTIFY BELOW
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-CONSERVATION
-L4W
-ECONOMICS
-LITERATURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-PHILOSOPHY
ANDUSTRY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-INVENTION
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
-PREHISTORIC
-1400-1499
.-
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
-RELIGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
(SPECIFY)
XOTHER
Local history
I
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I
FederalHill is one of the most distinctivk of several early neighborhoods situated
i
on the hills surrounding the commercial area of Lynchburg. Unlike Garland Hill where the !
i
city's industrialists built their homes, Federal Hill primarily has been the residential
!
area for merchants and civic leaders. Containedwithin the district's dozen blocks is a
;
notable assemblage of free-standing dwellings in architectural styles ranging in date
from the early 19th century through the Edwardian styles of the early 20th century.
Most significant is the neighborhood's important collection of early Federal-style townhouses which includes some of the oldest and finest houses in the city. Few Piedmont cities
!
of the South can boast such a distinguished grouping of Federal dwellings.
Many of Federal Hill's earliest houses were erected prior to 1819 when the neighbor- iI
hood was annexed from Campbell County. These include the Ford House. 914 Federal Street; i
the Carrington House, 1002 Federal Street; the Otey House, 1020 Federal Street; the
Thaddeus Ivey House, 1106 Federal Street; the Holcombe House, 917 Federal Street; the
Poston House, 1104 Jackson Street; the Gordon House, 1023 Jackson Street; and the Crowe
I
House, 1101 Jackson Street. All of these houses are brick and all exhibit the fine
craftsmanship, proportions, and details associated with the Federal style. The exact date
of the Speed House at 822 Federal Street has not been determined, but architectural
evidence indicates a date around the time of the annexation. Erected for William Wiatt
Norvell, a distinguished civic leader, this brick dwelling possesses particular architectural refinement, with details similar to ~ynchburg's Point of Honor. ,
The so~newhatscattered distribution of Federal Hill's early houses indicates that the
area built up slowly, and that many of the lots did not receive buildings untsnearly a
hundred years after the streets were laid out. Thus most of the blocks have an interesting
mixture of early , mid-, late 19th-, and early 20th-century dwellings that together form
block facades of varied textures, materials and forms. All of the buildings are of similar
scale and massing, however, so that visual order is maintained.
Federal Hill's mid-19th-century houses of note include the winfree House at 1007
Federal Street, built in 1844 for John Bell Winfree, president of ~ynchburg's first school
board. The house is a pleasing example of central Virginia's somewhat restrained version of
the Greek Revival style. The architecturally similar Langhorne House at 1021 Federal
Street was erected in 1853 for Maurice Langhorne.
The neighborhood also possesses three of the city's purest examples of the Second
Empire Style, all dating from the late 19th century. 1020 and 1121 Harrison Street have
the style's characteristic mansard roof, asymmetrical facade and central tower with square
dome. 1102 Harrison Street features a mansard roof and round-arch dormers but has a
symmetrical facade. A small but distinctive Queen Anne-style house at 1021 Harrison Street
features a rough-face, cast-stone first floor, with shingled second floor and exposed frame
.
(See Continuation Sheet #l)
~
.
_
._
. _-.. __
_.
.._--__L.CI.-^-+---.-
---------
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury. Lynchburg and I t s People. Lynchburg, 1900.
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . " F e d e r a l H i l l . "
Vol. 4, no. 4.
Richmond, Va. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives. F e d e r a l H i l l F i l e .
~ G E B G W A B W I C ADATA
L
UTM REFERENCES
AM
161 6, 31 819, oJ
ZONE
EASTING
L4,114r211, Ol
NORTHING
OJ
1 61 61 41 21 0,01 1 4 , 11 4,1( 7, 6, 0j
c
QUADRANGLE NAME
Lynchburg,
Va.
QUAWANGLE SCALE
1:24000
31 acres
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERN
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
W161 61 41 0,2, 01 14, 4 4, 4 9 3, Cj
ZONE EASTING
NORTHING
l 61 61 31 91 5, 01 1 4, 4 4, 4 51 7, q
I
E l 7
F 1 7
G 1 7
6 6 3 8 6 0
6 6 3 7 8 0
6 6 3 7 5 0
4 1 4 1 6 8 0
4 1 4 1 8 5 0
4 1 4 2 0 8 0
1
1
1
!
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #6 )
i
1
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
i
UFOXNI
PREPARED BY
NAMEITITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET& NUMBER
. .
221 Governor S t r e e t
CITY OR TOWN
!
I
!
May 1.980
TELEPHONE
(804) 786-3144
STATE
Richmond
.
!
j
V i r g i n i a 23219
@STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OFTHIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
X
STATELOCAL -
NATIONAL
-
As thedesignated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1 9 6 6 IPubllc Law 89-665). 1
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify t h a t i t has been evaluated according to the
Criteria and7y7fl@patii"""
Park Service.
STATE H
Y.5 .&
-y r d RV I O N OHICER
SIGNATURE
Tucker B i l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
I
C111781
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
W
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
'f.
ITEM NUMBER
8
&
7
PAGE 1
SIGNIFICANCE
gable.
The neighborhood's major non-residential buildings are the former Frank Roane
School designed in the very personal eclectic style of Frye and Chesterman and the
Roinanesque Revival-style 8th Street Baptist Church (1899, E. G. Frye, architect).
In addition to the buildings specifically mentioned, Federal Hill possesses
numerous late 19th-century and early 20th-century frame houses, most of which have
interesting rooflines and richly turned Eastlake porches. One of the neighborhood's
most important late houses is a handsome Georgian Revival mansion at 1101 Federal Street.
Additional information on-some of Federal Hill's most important early residences is
provided in historical leaflet # 4 , vol. IV, "Federal Hill," published by the 1.ynchburg
Historical Society.
7. DESCRIPTION -- Inventory (Below is an inventory of the buildings comprising the
Federal Hill Flistoric ~iatrict),.
i
I
I
Federal Street
I
803: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1860.
/
805: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1890.
809:
Ca. 1890.
,'.
frame; 2 stories.
1.
813: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
Ca. 1890.
' 815: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake proch.
Ca. 1980.
1
I
I
821:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch, English basement.
822:
(Speed House):
brick; 2 stories. Federal style.
900: (Former Frank Roane School):
eclectic style.
I
t
Ca. 1860-90.
I
Ca. 1819.
I
II
brick; 2% stories, early 20th century.
Edwardian
903: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
905: frame; 2% stories, early 20th century.
911: frame; 2 stories.
. ..
_.
_:_
>
.).
_
I
Ca. 1900.
_._..*-
--..-
-
. -
.
(See Continuation Sheet 82)
.
.-.. . .
. . . . ... .
. ~ . -:..~
. .
I
FHQ-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
IVATIOMAL REGISTER OF HlSTOKIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET #2
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
ITEM N U M B E R 7
PAGE 2
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
F e d e r a l S t r e e t (continued)
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
\% 914:
(Ford House):
:? 917:
(Holcombe House):
\:'
920:
, $ 922:
923:
,'k
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
Vacant l o t .
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1004:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
Ca. 1818.
Vacant l o t .
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival, 1844.
.i
1007:
(Winfree House):
:'
1012:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
-
1015:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
(Otey House):
1021-1023:
-2
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , E a s t l a k e porch.
( C a r r i n g t o n House):
. . 1020:
1816.
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1002:
.i' 1005:
Ca.
Ca. 1890.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s . F e d e r a l s t y l e .
(Langhorne House):
Ca.
1815.
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival.
;,1100:
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
11101:
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Georgian Rev-ival.
j 1 1102:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:1
1106:
(Thaddeus Ivey House):
q\:
1108:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Doric porch.
?( 1115:
8
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1853.
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e , E n s t l a k e porch.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , modified I t a l i a n a t e .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #3)
- ... .<.- ._.
.
,_
( _
__...__
..
.
..
-
..
---- ..
.-
. -.
I...
.
._....-.-----.---
:
'
,
-I
<11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATTBM FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTI NU ATION SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
a3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Harrison S t r e e t
j;b
$3:
900:
s t u c c o ; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h / e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
904:
Vacant l o t .
44 906:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
?< 910:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
..I 914:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1915:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:%916:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
922:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
tlp923:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
VI
.I8 1000:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn work r a i l i n g .
1004:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn. work r a i l i n g .
u3008:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s ; e a r l y 1 9 t h century, Federal s t y l e .
1001-1013:
[ a '
,
F i v e 2-story frame houses; c a . 1900.
1014:
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e .
1020:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire s t y l e .
2
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , c a s t - s t o n e ,
i: 1023:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 19th century.
0
,
1
.
Ca. 1900.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire sty1.e.
1108:
Vacant l o t f r o n t e d by c s s t - i r o n f e n c e .
" 1105-1115:
-5 1
- -. -
Queen Anne s t y l e .
: frame; 2 s t o r i e s , mid-19th c e n t u r y , modified Greek R e v i v a l .
''.,1102:
"
E a s t l a k e p o r c h e s on 1001-1005.
:
I..
.,..-
Three 2-story frame h o u s e s ; l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
frame; 25 s t o r i e s .
_.__.,
Ca. 1900.
.__,-,
-~.-. , -
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 114)
. ..
..r
. .
. . , . ., , -.
-....
..
.-
. ..
.-.-.-- .. -
.
.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INIENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
I
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
7. DESCRIPTION
--
/i4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
Inventory (continued)
Harrison Street (continued)
,
1
:
I
l1121:
Vacant lot.
brick; 1% stories with tower, late 19th century; French 2nd Empire style.
Jackson Street
5" 900: cinder block; 1 story, Commercial vernacular. Ca. 1950.
i?
901:
(Church):
42 902:
Vacant lot.
sCl 903:
Vacant lot.
'0
909: frame; 1% stories, early 19th century.
((1
910:
frame; 1 story, late 19th century.
(Stable):
kw 911:
frame; 2 stories, mid-19th century, Federal style.
b5 912:
Vacant lot.
.,
~
brick; 2 stories, early 20th century; Neo-Classical Revival.
l
1
l
i
I
--+EASEMENT
kj'
1001:
frame; 1 story, mid-19th century.
bb
1005:
Vacant lot.
b7
1009:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
.
1011:
frame; 2% stories, mid-19th century, sawn-work porch.-+
1013:
frame; 2% stories late 19th century,
i
101.4: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
!
1015:
I
64
'lo
11
'1
EASEMEb!T
I
frame; 2% stories, late 19th century.
1020: frame:
1023:
7 0
Ca. 1900.
2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianatc.
o or don' House) :
brick; 2$stories, Federal style.
Ca. 1815.->
EASEMEIJf
: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianate.
. .-. . .. ,-'--,-..T-.,.l
i>.-..-
.- .--*.
*-. '.
(See
Continuation Sheet #5)
.
...... . - . . .,.- .. . .
.
.* .^.
<*.
- -.
-----.
I
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATiIPMAE. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l I i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg;Virgiuia
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
/I5
ITEM N U M B E R
7
PAGE
5
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Jackson S t r e e t (continued)
4 1101:
1
(Crowe House):
1 b 1104:
(Poston House):
'
1
1105:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e with b r i c k outbuilding.
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , C o l o n i a l Revival.
4 1107:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , I t a l i a n a t e .
.
.
:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1110-12:
Ca. 1815.
Ca. 1890.
0
l o 1106:
1
Ca. 1817.
Ca. 1900.
Ca. 1870-90.
Ca. 1890.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , double house.
Ca. 1890.
1114:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1115:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
Ca. 1860-90.
Tenth S t r e e t
'>'
810:
b r i c k ; 1 s t o r y , mid- t o l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
Eleventh S t r e e t
*
2
' 908:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
.v 912:
frame; 2!5 s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
913:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
?- 915: frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
'1
E ighth
rC1
700:
Street
b r i c k coinmercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h c a . 1940 stuccoed f a c a d e and g l a s s block.
Ca. 1880.
q C 702: b r i c k commercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h o r i g i n a l s t o r e f r o n t w i t h p o l y g o n a l bay shop
windows.
Ca. 1900.
t!'801: ( 8 t h S t r e e t B a p t i s t Church): 2 - s t o r y , Romanesque Revival b r i c k c h u r c h w i t h b u f f E. G.
c o l o r e d b r i c k v e n e e r , s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows and s t y l i z e d f l y- i n g buttresses.
Frye, a r c h i t e c t .
1899.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 8 6 )
11i%n.EDSTATES L)EPARl'hll-:NT O F THE INTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- MOMIINA'IIlON FORM
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET #6
ITEM N U M B E R ,
,,
PAGE
,
I
1
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
.- I n v e n t o r y (continued)
i
Eighth S t r e e t (continued)
~1'1
806:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
(/'}I
810:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , v e r n a c u l a r Queen Anne.
10.
Ca. 1930.
Ca. 1910.
I
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERB.4L BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
II
Beginning a t a p o i n t 1300' S of US Route 29, 3200' E of James R i v e r , 1 3 0 0 ' SW of i n t e r -
s e c t i o n of Main S t r e e t and s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' SSE along W s i d e H a r r i s o n
S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 300' ESE along S s i d e E a s t H a r r i s o n S t r e e t t o r e a r p r o p e r t y
l i n e s of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extending 1100' SSE along r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
900, 1000, and 1100 b l o c k s of H a r r i s o n t o N s i d e of 1 2 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1050'
II
SSW along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' NNW f o l l o w i n g r e a r p r o p e r t y
I
l i n e s of t h e 1000 b l o c k of P o l k S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g about 7 5 ' ENE; thence e x t e n d i n g
!
approximately 150' NNW; t h e n c e extending 75' ENE; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g a b o u t 450' NM<
i
I
c r o s s i n g 1 0 t h S t r e e t t o S s i d e of 9 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' ME a l o n g s a i d s i d e
of s a i d s t r e e t c r o s s i n g Jackson S t r e e t t o t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e 800 b l o c k of
F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 375' NNW t o S s i d e 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1 0 0 ' NNE '
along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence extending 200' NNW t o r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e of 8 0 1
8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 100'NNE to'^ s i d e of F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 2001SSE
s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t t o S s i d e of 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e c o n t i n u i n g a l o n g s a i d
along
I
s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t 300'NNE t o 700 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t and poi* o f o r i g i n .
I
1
i
No 10-300
S/WP*
10-1
(muL/Lq,
dle)-\~
UNITEDSTATES DEPAK'I'MEN1" OF THE IN-l-EtIkOIi
- 9 / 1! ~ / 4 ~
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HSTOXLC PLACES
INVENTORY -- XaJQh"J1NATIOPdFORM
I
'
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN H O W T O COFY?PL~FNATIOSIJAL
REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
f
J
F
1; NAME
HISTORtC
F e d e r a l R i l l Eistoric Cistricr
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
CI ry. TOWN
_NOT FOR PUBCICATl0.N
CONGHESS~OWAL
DI S TRI C T
-
ty~chburcg
Sixth (1,:.
VICINITYOF
STATE
CATEG DRY
OWNERSHIP
C a l d r ~ e l lSczTer)
cou~rv
CODE
CODE
STAT V S
PRESENT USE
LDISTR I CT
-PUBLIC
%OCCUPIED
-AGRlCU
-IUILRlNG(S)
-PRIVAT€
,UNOCCUPIED
-COMMERCIAL
-SIAUCTU
>r
X-EWTH
RE
-VJOFIX
PUBLIC ACQUISITION
,SITE
-IN
,OSJECT
YES
PRDCFSS
-.BEING
-YES.
CONSIDERED
IN P R O G RE SS
ACCE551RLZ
M t - 1 1 t C i p h Ormership
-EDUCATIONAL
LPAIVATE
RES~DENCE
-ENTERTAINMFNS
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIFNXIFIC
UNPESTRICTEO
--IKOUSTRIAL
-T~ANSPOF(TAT ON
-MILITARY
.,OTHER
c / o Mayor
---
-STREET Fa NUMBER
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DFEOS,ETL
--MUSEUM
,PARK
RESTRICTED
-NO
NAME
LTURE
Lynchburg City ?$all
STREET& NUMBER
TITLE
V t r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks co~llmissidnSul-vey
DATE
1969, 1 9 7 4 , 197s
-FECIFRAL
X-STATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
DEPOSITQRY FOR
SUqVEYREC5RDS
V i r g i n i a Ilistoric Landnarks Commission,
2 2 1 Governor
Street:
-.
-
Clfv.fOWFI
STATE
.- Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
-EXCELLENT
-GOOD
&FAIR
-DETERIORATEO
-RUINS
-UNEXPOSED
CHECK O N E
-UNALTERED
XALTEREO
CHECK ONE
KORIGINALSITE
-MOVED
DATE
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND OHlGlNAL (IF KNOWN1 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Federal Hill Historic District includes some one dozcn residential blocks in the
heart of Lynchburg. Laid out in a grid plan, the area covers one of the city's seven
hills and is separated from Lynchburg Hill, or the commercial area, by a deep valley. Two
of Federal Hill's principal streets, Federal Street and Jackson Street dead end at a
sharp cliff above 12th Street so that the district is rarely entered by other than local
traffic. Most of the wide, tree-shaded streets retain early brick sidervallcs using bricks
with distinctive patterned faces. A number of slate sidewalks and granite curbs remain
as well. Other street furniture includes numerous iron fences in a variety of patterns.
The district's architecture consists primarily of free-standing brick or frame
houses in a variety of styles but of harmonious scale. Of chief architectural interest
are several Federal-style brick houses built about the time the area was laid out. A few
mid-19th-century houses are scattered through the neighborhood, and the rest of the lots
are filled with complementary Latc 19th-and early 20th-century dwellings. Three important
French Second Empire houses stand near one another on Harrison Street. The individual
early 20th-century houses are generally undistinguished, but together they contribute to
the visual harmony of the block facades. Yard sizes vary, and there are few vacant lots.
In addition to the houses, the area has a public school building and a church, both
dignified examples of Edwardian period architecture.
Federal Hill is racially mixed and has residents of high, middle and low income
levels. Several houses are in poor condition while others are maintained excellently.
The general appearance of the neighborhood is good, however, and the income lcvel is
rising as houses are restored. Except for Jackson Street and the southwest side of
Federal Street, Federal Hill is included in the College Hill Urban Renewal Area,
operated by the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority which is assisting in
upgrading the area.
.
<.
.
.
-
.
a
SIGNIFICANCE
-1500-1593
-1600-1693
-1700-1793
x1800-1839
XI900-
'
..
;
_
.
_ ..
__
."*_. .... . _
_.
_.
,
.
,
~.
. ...
....,.,.*-.
.- . . . . .
~
..-..,
'
-- CHECK A N 0 JUSTIFY BELOW
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-CONSERVATION
-L4W
-ECONOMICS
-LITERATURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-PHILOSOPHY
ANDUSTRY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-INVENTION
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
-PREHISTORIC
-1400-1499
.-
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
-RELIGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
(SPECIFY)
XOTHER
Local history
I
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I
FederalHill is one of the most distinctivk of several early neighborhoods situated
i
on the hills surrounding the commercial area of Lynchburg. Unlike Garland Hill where the !
i
city's industrialists built their homes, Federal Hill primarily has been the residential
!
area for merchants and civic leaders. Containedwithin the district's dozen blocks is a
;
notable assemblage of free-standing dwellings in architectural styles ranging in date
from the early 19th century through the Edwardian styles of the early 20th century.
Most significant is the neighborhood's important collection of early Federal-style townhouses which includes some of the oldest and finest houses in the city. Few Piedmont cities
!
of the South can boast such a distinguished grouping of Federal dwellings.
Many of Federal Hill's earliest houses were erected prior to 1819 when the neighbor- iI
hood was annexed from Campbell County. These include the Ford House. 914 Federal Street; i
the Carrington House, 1002 Federal Street; the Otey House, 1020 Federal Street; the
Thaddeus Ivey House, 1106 Federal Street; the Holcombe House, 917 Federal Street; the
Poston House, 1104 Jackson Street; the Gordon House, 1023 Jackson Street; and the Crowe
I
House, 1101 Jackson Street. All of these houses are brick and all exhibit the fine
craftsmanship, proportions, and details associated with the Federal style. The exact date
of the Speed House at 822 Federal Street has not been determined, but architectural
evidence indicates a date around the time of the annexation. Erected for William Wiatt
Norvell, a distinguished civic leader, this brick dwelling possesses particular architectural refinement, with details similar to ~ynchburg's Point of Honor. ,
The so~newhatscattered distribution of Federal Hill's early houses indicates that the
area built up slowly, and that many of the lots did not receive buildings untsnearly a
hundred years after the streets were laid out. Thus most of the blocks have an interesting
mixture of early , mid-, late 19th-, and early 20th-century dwellings that together form
block facades of varied textures, materials and forms. All of the buildings are of similar
scale and massing, however, so that visual order is maintained.
Federal Hill's mid-19th-century houses of note include the winfree House at 1007
Federal Street, built in 1844 for John Bell Winfree, president of ~ynchburg's first school
board. The house is a pleasing example of central Virginia's somewhat restrained version of
the Greek Revival style. The architecturally similar Langhorne House at 1021 Federal
Street was erected in 1853 for Maurice Langhorne.
The neighborhood also possesses three of the city's purest examples of the Second
Empire Style, all dating from the late 19th century. 1020 and 1121 Harrison Street have
the style's characteristic mansard roof, asymmetrical facade and central tower with square
dome. 1102 Harrison Street features a mansard roof and round-arch dormers but has a
symmetrical facade. A small but distinctive Queen Anne-style house at 1021 Harrison Street
features a rough-face, cast-stone first floor, with shingled second floor and exposed frame
.
(See Continuation Sheet #l)
~
.
_
._
. _-.. __
_.
.._--__L.CI.-^-+---.-
---------
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury. Lynchburg and I t s People. Lynchburg, 1900.
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . " F e d e r a l H i l l . "
Vol. 4, no. 4.
Richmond, Va. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives. F e d e r a l H i l l F i l e .
~ G E B G W A B W I C ADATA
L
UTM REFERENCES
AM
161 6, 31 819, oJ
ZONE
EASTING
L4,114r211, Ol
NORTHING
OJ
1 61 61 41 21 0,01 1 4 , 11 4,1( 7, 6, 0j
c
QUADRANGLE NAME
Lynchburg,
Va.
QUAWANGLE SCALE
1:24000
31 acres
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERN
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
W161 61 41 0,2, 01 14, 4 4, 4 9 3, Cj
ZONE EASTING
NORTHING
l 61 61 31 91 5, 01 1 4, 4 4, 4 51 7, q
I
E l 7
F 1 7
G 1 7
6 6 3 8 6 0
6 6 3 7 8 0
6 6 3 7 5 0
4 1 4 1 6 8 0
4 1 4 1 8 5 0
4 1 4 2 0 8 0
1
1
1
!
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #6 )
i
1
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
i
UFOXNI
PREPARED BY
NAMEITITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET& NUMBER
. .
221 Governor S t r e e t
CITY OR TOWN
!
I
!
May 1.980
TELEPHONE
(804) 786-3144
STATE
Richmond
.
!
j
V i r g i n i a 23219
@STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OFTHIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
X
STATELOCAL -
NATIONAL
-
As thedesignated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1 9 6 6 IPubllc Law 89-665). 1
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify t h a t i t has been evaluated according to the
Criteria and7y7fl@patii"""
Park Service.
STATE H
Y.5 .&
-y r d RV I O N OHICER
SIGNATURE
Tucker B i l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
I
C111781
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
W
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
'f.
ITEM NUMBER
8
&
7
PAGE 1
SIGNIFICANCE
gable.
The neighborhood's major non-residential buildings are the former Frank Roane
School designed in the very personal eclectic style of Frye and Chesterman and the
Roinanesque Revival-style 8th Street Baptist Church (1899, E. G. Frye, architect).
In addition to the buildings specifically mentioned, Federal Hill possesses
numerous late 19th-century and early 20th-century frame houses, most of which have
interesting rooflines and richly turned Eastlake porches. One of the neighborhood's
most important late houses is a handsome Georgian Revival mansion at 1101 Federal Street.
Additional information on-some of Federal Hill's most important early residences is
provided in historical leaflet # 4 , vol. IV, "Federal Hill," published by the 1.ynchburg
Historical Society.
7. DESCRIPTION -- Inventory (Below is an inventory of the buildings comprising the
Federal Hill Flistoric ~iatrict),.
i
I
I
Federal Street
I
803: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1860.
/
805: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1890.
809:
Ca. 1890.
,'.
frame; 2 stories.
1.
813: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
Ca. 1890.
' 815: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake proch.
Ca. 1980.
1
I
I
821:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch, English basement.
822:
(Speed House):
brick; 2 stories. Federal style.
900: (Former Frank Roane School):
eclectic style.
I
t
Ca. 1860-90.
I
Ca. 1819.
I
II
brick; 2% stories, early 20th century.
Edwardian
903: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
905: frame; 2% stories, early 20th century.
911: frame; 2 stories.
. ..
_.
_:_
>
.).
_
I
Ca. 1900.
_._..*-
--..-
-
. -
.
(See Continuation Sheet 82)
.
.-.. . .
. . . . ... .
. ~ . -:..~
. .
I
FHQ-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
IVATIOMAL REGISTER OF HlSTOKIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET #2
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
ITEM N U M B E R 7
PAGE 2
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
F e d e r a l S t r e e t (continued)
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
\% 914:
(Ford House):
:? 917:
(Holcombe House):
\:'
920:
, $ 922:
923:
,'k
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
Vacant l o t .
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1004:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
Ca. 1818.
Vacant l o t .
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival, 1844.
.i
1007:
(Winfree House):
:'
1012:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
-
1015:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
(Otey House):
1021-1023:
-2
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , E a s t l a k e porch.
( C a r r i n g t o n House):
. . 1020:
1816.
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1002:
.i' 1005:
Ca.
Ca. 1890.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s . F e d e r a l s t y l e .
(Langhorne House):
Ca.
1815.
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival.
;,1100:
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
11101:
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Georgian Rev-ival.
j 1 1102:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:1
1106:
(Thaddeus Ivey House):
q\:
1108:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Doric porch.
?( 1115:
8
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1853.
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e , E n s t l a k e porch.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , modified I t a l i a n a t e .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #3)
- ... .<.- ._.
.
,_
( _
__...__
..
.
..
-
..
---- ..
.-
. -.
I...
.
._....-.-----.---
:
'
,
-I
<11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATTBM FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTI NU ATION SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
a3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Harrison S t r e e t
j;b
$3:
900:
s t u c c o ; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h / e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
904:
Vacant l o t .
44 906:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
?< 910:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
..I 914:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1915:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:%916:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
922:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
tlp923:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
VI
.I8 1000:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn work r a i l i n g .
1004:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn. work r a i l i n g .
u3008:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s ; e a r l y 1 9 t h century, Federal s t y l e .
1001-1013:
[ a '
,
F i v e 2-story frame houses; c a . 1900.
1014:
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e .
1020:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire s t y l e .
2
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , c a s t - s t o n e ,
i: 1023:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 19th century.
0
,
1
.
Ca. 1900.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire sty1.e.
1108:
Vacant l o t f r o n t e d by c s s t - i r o n f e n c e .
" 1105-1115:
-5 1
- -. -
Queen Anne s t y l e .
: frame; 2 s t o r i e s , mid-19th c e n t u r y , modified Greek R e v i v a l .
''.,1102:
"
E a s t l a k e p o r c h e s on 1001-1005.
:
I..
.,..-
Three 2-story frame h o u s e s ; l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
frame; 25 s t o r i e s .
_.__.,
Ca. 1900.
.__,-,
-~.-. , -
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 114)
. ..
..r
. .
. . , . ., , -.
-....
..
.-
. ..
.-.-.-- .. -
.
.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INIENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
I
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
7. DESCRIPTION
--
/i4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
Inventory (continued)
Harrison Street (continued)
,
1
:
I
l1121:
Vacant lot.
brick; 1% stories with tower, late 19th century; French 2nd Empire style.
Jackson Street
5" 900: cinder block; 1 story, Commercial vernacular. Ca. 1950.
i?
901:
(Church):
42 902:
Vacant lot.
sCl 903:
Vacant lot.
'0
909: frame; 1% stories, early 19th century.
((1
910:
frame; 1 story, late 19th century.
(Stable):
kw 911:
frame; 2 stories, mid-19th century, Federal style.
b5 912:
Vacant lot.
.,
~
brick; 2 stories, early 20th century; Neo-Classical Revival.
l
1
l
i
I
--+EASEMENT
kj'
1001:
frame; 1 story, mid-19th century.
bb
1005:
Vacant lot.
b7
1009:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
.
1011:
frame; 2% stories, mid-19th century, sawn-work porch.-+
1013:
frame; 2% stories late 19th century,
i
101.4: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
!
1015:
I
64
'lo
11
'1
EASEMEb!T
I
frame; 2% stories, late 19th century.
1020: frame:
1023:
7 0
Ca. 1900.
2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianatc.
o or don' House) :
brick; 2$stories, Federal style.
Ca. 1815.->
EASEMEIJf
: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianate.
. .-. . .. ,-'--,-..T-.,.l
i>.-..-
.- .--*.
*-. '.
(See
Continuation Sheet #5)
.
...... . - . . .,.- .. . .
.
.* .^.
<*.
- -.
-----.
I
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATiIPMAE. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l I i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg;Virgiuia
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
/I5
ITEM N U M B E R
7
PAGE
5
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Jackson S t r e e t (continued)
4 1101:
1
(Crowe House):
1 b 1104:
(Poston House):
'
1
1105:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e with b r i c k outbuilding.
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , C o l o n i a l Revival.
4 1107:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , I t a l i a n a t e .
.
.
:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1110-12:
Ca. 1815.
Ca. 1890.
0
l o 1106:
1
Ca. 1817.
Ca. 1900.
Ca. 1870-90.
Ca. 1890.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , double house.
Ca. 1890.
1114:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1115:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
Ca. 1860-90.
Tenth S t r e e t
'>'
810:
b r i c k ; 1 s t o r y , mid- t o l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
Eleventh S t r e e t
*
2
' 908:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
.v 912:
frame; 2!5 s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
913:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
?- 915: frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
'1
E ighth
rC1
700:
Street
b r i c k coinmercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h c a . 1940 stuccoed f a c a d e and g l a s s block.
Ca. 1880.
q C 702: b r i c k commercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h o r i g i n a l s t o r e f r o n t w i t h p o l y g o n a l bay shop
windows.
Ca. 1900.
t!'801: ( 8 t h S t r e e t B a p t i s t Church): 2 - s t o r y , Romanesque Revival b r i c k c h u r c h w i t h b u f f E. G.
c o l o r e d b r i c k v e n e e r , s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows and s t y l i z e d f l y- i n g buttresses.
Frye, a r c h i t e c t .
1899.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 8 6 )
11i%n.EDSTATES L)EPARl'hll-:NT O F THE INTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- MOMIINA'IIlON FORM
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET #6
ITEM N U M B E R ,
,,
PAGE
,
I
1
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
.- I n v e n t o r y (continued)
i
Eighth S t r e e t (continued)
~1'1
806:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
(/'}I
810:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , v e r n a c u l a r Queen Anne.
10.
Ca. 1930.
Ca. 1910.
I
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERB.4L BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
II
Beginning a t a p o i n t 1300' S of US Route 29, 3200' E of James R i v e r , 1 3 0 0 ' SW of i n t e r -
s e c t i o n of Main S t r e e t and s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' SSE along W s i d e H a r r i s o n
S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 300' ESE along S s i d e E a s t H a r r i s o n S t r e e t t o r e a r p r o p e r t y
l i n e s of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extending 1100' SSE along r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
900, 1000, and 1100 b l o c k s of H a r r i s o n t o N s i d e of 1 2 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1050'
II
SSW along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' NNW f o l l o w i n g r e a r p r o p e r t y
I
l i n e s of t h e 1000 b l o c k of P o l k S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g about 7 5 ' ENE; thence e x t e n d i n g
!
approximately 150' NNW; t h e n c e extending 75' ENE; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g a b o u t 450' NM<
i
I
c r o s s i n g 1 0 t h S t r e e t t o S s i d e of 9 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' ME a l o n g s a i d s i d e
of s a i d s t r e e t c r o s s i n g Jackson S t r e e t t o t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e 800 b l o c k of
F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 375' NNW t o S s i d e 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1 0 0 ' NNE '
along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence extending 200' NNW t o r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e of 8 0 1
8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 100'NNE to'^ s i d e of F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 2001SSE
s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t t o S s i d e of 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e c o n t i n u i n g a l o n g s a i d
along
I
s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t 300'NNE t o 700 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t and poi* o f o r i g i n .
I
1
i
Text
r
.<!TEDSTATES DEPARTMENTOFTHE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NA2TONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
XNWNTGRY -* NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HP W TO COMPLETE NA TJOIVAL REGISTER FORMS
R P E ALL ENTRIES COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
--
1
:flp~m~
LdJ
HISTORIC
Diam~odB i l l Historic Dfstrdct
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
'
*
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
,NOT
C l V . TOWN
STATE
S5xth (M.
5 1.
CLASSIFICATION
CATE G aRY
Caldhilf ~ u t l e r )
COUNTY
CODE
Virginie
FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DJSTRICT
-vlclnm QF
Lpchbusg
.
(in
c
CODE
&TATUS
OWNERSHIP
680
l t ~ )
PRESENT USE
AGRICULTURE
-STRCICTU R E
,BOTH
-WORK
P U B LI C
,SITE
,OBJECT
AcauIstTloN
1 N PROCESS
,BEING
CONSIDERED
1 H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
-YES
-MUSEUM
LCOMMERCIAL
-PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
PRIVATE RESICFENCE
,ENTERTAINMENT
AESfRlCTED
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIElrATIFIC
XYES:
UNRESTRICTED
ANDUSTRIAL
- TRANSPORTATION
,NO
-MILITARY
-OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Multiple Ownership
(See ~ t t a c h e dlist)
STREET& NUMBER
-
-VICINITY OF
BLQCATIQN
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
STREET a NUMBER
Lyrtchburg
aREPRESENTATION IN
TITLE
Virginia
EXISTING SURVEYS ( 4 )
( s e e a n t i i m . a t i o n sheer fi)
C i t y o f Lynchburg, Division
of P l a n n i n g , H i s t o r i c Distrfct Survey, Lynchburg,
Vir~inia. %y 1976.
DATE
I976
DEPOSTTDRY FOR
sURVEYRECoRas
CITY. TOWN
-FEDERAL
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r k Landnarks Comission
SATE
-
~ o u &LOCAL
~ n
2 2 1 Governoy Street
STATE
__.
ii DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
_EXCELLENT
Jl.GOOD
_ FAIR
CHECK ONE
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
_RUINS
~LTERED
CHECK ONE
~ORIGINAL SITE
_MOVED
DATE _ __
_UNEXPOSED
I
•
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Diamond Hill Historic District is an irregularly shaped district approximately
14 blocks in area. Located on one of the seven hills of Lynchburg, the district is
wedged between the Lynchburg Expressway (Rt. 29) to the south and the city's central
commercial core to the north. Steep hillsides couple with changes in land use and
historical precedent in defining the north, east, and south borders. Borders to the
southwest and west remain arbitrary and follow recommendations of the Lynchburg Board of
Architectural Review.
'
i~
An attractive reside_ntial neighborhood, the Diamond Hill Historic District was ·laid outt)
on _a· sit'id plan'.modified _to: accommodate the· _irregularities o_f the terrain •. Only Clay Street
retains its original brick .surface, all other streets 'having been paved over. Several
streets are tree-lined (see: Madison and Clay Streets), and many houses exhibit landscaped yards. Ornamental cast- and wrought-iron fences and stone and deconative brick
sidewalks appear at random intervals throughout the district. These elements, together
with landscaping features, impart color and warmth to street views and help define the
residential character of the neighborhood.
While experiencing its greatest period of growth at the turn of the century, the
district holds several mid-19th-century houses. The oldest residence, presently vacant
and in disrepair, stands at 1301 Madison (Vernacular, ca. 1817, altered ca. 1875).
Morris' Folly (Vernacular/Greek Revival, altered), a two-story, brick residence at 1310
Church Street, dates from ca. 1869, Two Gothic Revival houses are found at 1418-20
Harrison (ca. 1855, moderately altered ca. 1900) and 602 Washington (ca. 1852). This
latter house exhibits an elaborate cast-iron stair and porch unique in Lynchburg. Other
early houses found on Diamond Hill are 305 Washington (Vernacular, ca, 1849; ca. 1865),
313 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1855), 503 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1850), 618 Pearl
(Vernacular, ca. 1850), 700 Pearl (Italianate, 1862), 1411-13 Church (Greek Revival/
Italianate, ca. 1860), 1501 Church (Vernacular, ca. 1845), and 515 13th St. (Vernacular,
ca. 1850).
Most houses on Diamond Hill were erected during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries and range from speculative houses erected as rental units (see: 1400 block
Church Street, 13th Street, and Diamond Street), to such upper-middle-class residences as
517 Washington (Beaux Arts, 1910-11), 419 Washington (Colonial Revival, 1901, and 1314
Clay Street (Colonial Revival, 1901).
The more formidable residences of Diamond Hill line Washington and-Clay streets,
and sections of Pearl and Madison streets. Included among these are an unusually high
number of Georgian Revival houses. Of the 12 examples found on Diamond Hill, the outstanding examples are 508 Washington, 400 Washington, and 1411 Madison. Two almost
iueutical Georgian Revival dwellings at 1304 and 1308 Clay Street were built in 1906.
At first glance, 500 Washington Street (Queen Anne, ca. 1898) appears to set itself
off from it= classicclly derived neighbors with its massive entrance portico, octagonal
corner tower, and decorative terrs cotta brick. However, closer inspection reveals the
underlying form of the building to be a 5-bay, Georgian Revival house capped by a highpitched, hipped reef.
The Colonial Revival was also popular: thirteen houses in this style are located
within the district's confines. Prominent examples are found at 419 Washington Street
and 313 and 314 Clay Street. Little construction in the Eastlake and Queen Anne styles
(See Continuation Sheet fl 2)
0) CJGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
_PREHISTORIC
--ARCHEOLUG'l'-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-RELIGION
_f400-1499
----ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-1500-\599
_.AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
_1600-1699
~RCH!TECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
Xsoc1AUR--
x1100-11ss
-.A_AT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
_1800-1899
_COMMERCE
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
.K,soo- 10
_COMMUNICATIONS
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
x_~ETTLEMENT
_INDUSTRY
_INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Hill, once one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential neighborhoods,
enjoyed its greatest prosperity.at the turn of the century. This period was marked by
construction of numerous new residences ranging from speculative builderjrental units to
stately, architect-designed town houses. Prominent businessmen and civic leaders
including bankers, tobacco manufacturers, attorneys, mayors, councilmen, and state
legislators, clustered in this ~rea along Washington, Clay, Pearl, and Madison streets,
erecting large houses for themselves and their families.
Their choice of architecture was most often either Georgian or Colonial Revival. Of
the 26 houses lining Washington Street, almost two-thirds were erected in these styles.
On Clay Street, almost half the residences are Colonial or Georgian Revival.
)
The high incidence of Georgian and Colonial Revival houses on Diamond Hill is
attributed to 1) the declining popularity of the more picturesque Eastlake and Queen Anne
styles, and 2) the conservative nature of Diamond Hill's population. Shunning the
Shingle and Craftsman styles as "low art" architecture, residents of Diamond Hill turned
to the grander imagery of the ordered, balanced, classically inspired Georgian and
Colonial Revivals. Twelve Georgian Revival houses appear within the district. The most
formidable of these is 508 Washington (1909), designed by J.M.B. Lewis. The house,
sheathed in Flemish-bond brick with glazed headers, is fronted by a cenl: •"dl, semicircular
portico topped by a balustraded deck. The first-floor entrance is framed by decorative
multi-pane sidelights and transom. Architrave tripartite windows are set in the first-floor
side bays. Double doors topped by an elliptical fanlight front on to the second-floor
porch deck. A decorative wrought-iron fence and gate set the house off from the street and
add to the overall formal composition. Other stately examples of the Georgian Revival are
found at 400 Washington and 1420 Madison streets.
Notable examples of the Colonial Revival are seen at 313 and 314 Clay and at 419 and
SOS Washington streets. The detailing of the latter two houses suggests they were
designed by the same, currently unidentified, architect.
The most prestigious house on Diamond Hill is 517 Washington Street, an imposing
Beaux Arts residence erected in grand scale. Giant order, paired columns define the
central entrance portico. The arched and recessed entrance is a play on Palladian window
motifs. The building is two stories in height capped by a balustraded deck. Order and
symmetry dominate the facade composition. The building is of beige brick and is marked
by stone springers and keystones over first-floor arched window openings. An attractive
enclosed glass porch with patterned curvilinear mullions is situated at the west end of the
house and is balanced by a frame pergola to the east.
Three houses on Washington break from the pervading conservative air of
518 and 605 Washington are the only structures representing Eastlakeandstick
street. 518 Washington (EastlakeA:}ueen Anne}, aside (S
.
.
ee Cont1nuat1on
Sheet
,'\
Diamond Hill.
styles on this
u" 25)
,
IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ·
,
Artwork £f Lynchburg and Danville Virginia. (9 parts). Chicago: The Gravure Illustration Company, 1903.
Blackford, Susan Leigh. Memoir. Madison Heights, 1894, 1959.
Christian, William Ashbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, 1900.
City of Lynchburg. General Ordinances. 1880Division of Planning. Historic District Survey, Lynchburg,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
May
1976._
Virginia.
li!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
QUADRANGLE NAME _Lynchb~1:g ,__ _v_a_.- - - - - -
42 acres
(See Continuation Sheet //28)
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
Al.lilJ !6!6 14!613101 !4 11(4,1}8,8,0j
ZONE
EASTING
QUADRANGLE SCALE _=.1.:.::2=--4c.:Oc::0..::0_ _ _ _ _ __
Bl!,2J ! 6! 6, 4181 o. or
ZONE
NORTHING
cUll.l !6l614!61l10! l4,ll41117r6,o!
DL!tl]
I 4 1 11 4 I 1! 61 81 Oj
NORTHING
EASTING
I 616 14!5 12,oJ
14,1!4,1! 312101
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The nominated boundaries are drawn to coincide with the Diamond Hill Historic District
boundaries established by the City of Lynchburg1 and encompass three separate sections.
The sections and parcels listed in the following description are found on the copy of the
current Lynchburg Valuation Maps 025 and 046 included with this nomination.
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
• >
E!IFORM PREPARED BY
NAME/ TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE
ORGANIZATION
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
April 1979
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Richmond
Virginia 23219
ISSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STATE_!__
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for ipclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and pr
STATE H
TITLE
res
t
foJP ;(jp~ational Park Service.
.
.
IC PRESERV~SIGNATUAE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
DIRECTOR, OFFICI,
ATTl;ST:
KEEPER OF TliE NATIONAL REGISTER, .
'
\.c.
__ .f_
GPO 892- 453
•
-
Form No. 10-JOOa
,Hev. 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THt_ iNTERIOR
FOR NPS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
use ONLY
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEH
7.
1/2
ITEM NUMBER
z
PAGE
1
DESCRIPTION
occurred on Diamond Hill, thus accentuating 618 Washington Street. The seeming frivolity
of this building with its corner tower, decorative "Moorish" porch, and Eastlake "dormers"
delightfully contrasts with its more staid neighbors.
No major connnercial development exists within the district's boundaries, A small
corner market (1321 Harrison, ca. 1915) and a used furniture store (1315 Harrison, Quonset
hut, ca. 1945), mark the only connnercial activity on Diamond Hill. With the exception of
the apartments at 1312-1316\ Church Street, all residences in the district were constructed as either detached single-family residences or duplexes, of frame or brick construction, 1\ to 2\ stories in height. No buildings break above 2\ stories thus maintaining a unified scale and preserving the residential atmosphere of the district. To the
west of Diamond Hill on Grace Street stands the Diamond Hill Baptist Church, a brick, 2\story building with corner tower, central rose window and side lancet windows (Vernacular/
Gothic Revival, 1886) A one-story, concrete, glass, and steel YMCA building (1956), stands
in the northeast corner of the district. The building, a well-designed interpretation of
the International Style, unfortunately does not fit in with the overall character of the
historic neighborhood.
Photographs from 1903 reveal that many of Diamond Hill's early houses have undergone
only minor alterations. Exterior alterations tend to have been limited to removal of
corniccz, wood trim, balusters, and occasionally porches. A few houses, such as those
found on Chestnut and Diamond streets exhibit asbestos shingles and siding additions.
Most frame houses within the district retain their original clapboard or weatherboard
siding.
While many houses on Diamond Hill were converted to multi-family dwelling units during
the 20th eentury, efforts are currently underway by residents and a local historical
soc.iety to return these to single-family units.
BNZ
The following is an inventory of all the buildings comprising the Diamond Hill
Historic District:
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Forr:'" No. 10-3b~a
(Re.,_ 'l-74)'
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI I\IUATION SHEET //1
6.
ITEM NUMBER 6 ,
10
PAGE l
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
2),
Diamond Hill Historical Society, Historic Preservation Survey 1977-78.
1977-78
Local
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission - 221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1978
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
4).
Works Progress Administration Survey
Federal
Virginia State Library
Richmond, Virginia 23219
9.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Council. 1882.
Mutual Assurance Policies. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Archives,
Virginia.
Yancey, Rosa. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, 1835.
Richmond,
MAPS
_!::ray_~~ New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 0. W. Gray & Son,
Philadelphia, 1877.
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity. G. William Baist, Philadelphia, 1891.
10.
GEORGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
SECTION 1:
Block 025-25
Encompassing parcel 04 at SW. corner of Church and Pearl streets;
SECTION 2:
Block 046-06
Encompassing parcels 11-22 on NE side of Church Street.
(See Continuation Sheet #28)
Form Ne 1 Q.JQOa
{11ev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TIIE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO?\'IINA TION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE?
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Chestnut Street
400 Block
Rouses on the north side of the 400 block of Chestnut Street are built on a steep hill.
419: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch addition.
nacular. 1907. Asbestos shingle siding detracts from period appearance.
2
Ver-
421: frame; 1 story; pyramidal roof; 2 bays; 2-bay porch with turned posts and
turned balusters. Vernacular cottage. 1907.
431:
vacant
500 Block
q
502: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch. Vernacular. Rouse
dates from turn of the century. Later alterations disguise original fabric.
Appears as ca. 1950 ranch house.
c.
504: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays.
century. Bricktex siding.
Vernacular.
Late 19th/early 20th
C
507: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
roof addition to east. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
Shed-
510: frame with pebbledash and aluminum siding; 2\ stories; hipped roof with
central hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay addition to west. Vernacular/
Colonial Revival. Ca. 1920.
516: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 1-story porch. Vernacular.
tury. Central chimney. Asbestos shingle siding.
518:
Late 19th cen-
vacant
600 Block
1
•
600: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays.
terior end chimney to west.
Vernacular.
Late 19th century.
(See continuation sheet# 4)
In-
Form No 10"300a
{Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street
Stone sidewalks line the west side of Church Street.
1300 Block
1305:
parking lot
brick; 2), stories; mansard roof with 4 gabled dormers; 6 bays; 2
1-story, 3-bay, ell porches with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, sawn corner
brackets, and perrdant. Duplex. Second Empire. Ca. 1880. Each duplex is a
mirror image of the other, though, as the building is located on an incline, the
half to the north is several feet lower than its neighbor to the south. Segmental arched wall openings. Shingle Style bay-window addition (ca. 1900) on south
end, Patterned slate on mansard roof.
, / 1307-13)9:
1310 (Moore's Folly): brick; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable;
5 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1850, Interior end chimneys with chimney pots. Presently being restored with Colonial Revival windows and window heads not sympathetic to the original building. Frame, 2-story, gable-roof building to the
north. Vernacular. Ca. 1869.
1312-1316),: Series of 5 identical apartment units, each described as follows:
-:,; 1-story,
brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof fronted by scalloped parapet; 2
:er of
hipped-roof porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. Pendants at ends and
parapet.
1313 (YMCA Building): steel and concrete; 1 story; flat roof; 11 bays; 1-story
entrance canopy in central 5 bays. International Style, 1955-56. Upper deck
on roof. Center bay of brick. All other bays are of plate glass separated by
round pillars and aluminum frames. Clear, precise geometric units with banded
windows and hovering planes make this a standard exercise in the International
Style. While a good example of the International Style, this building does not
co,·.tribute to the historic character of the district.
i(;
1318: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch addition across
facade. Vernacular. Ca. 1850.
!
1319:
parking lot
1320:
vacant
·!
(See continuation sheet ft 5)
Form No_ 10 · 3COa
(Re\/_ 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTE8EC>
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
5
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street, cont'd
1324: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof with cross gable in south bay; 2 bays;
1-story, hipped-roof porch across facade, Vernacular builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1888.
1400 Block
) ·
1400-1406:
vacant
1408: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 1-story, 3bay porch in south 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1888.
3-part bay window in 1st story of north bay. Decorative bargeboard beneath
cornice and along bay window and porch cornices.
1414: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909, Identical to 1418 Church Street.
1418: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909. Identical to 1414 Church Street.
·., 1420: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in south bay; 1-story, shedroof porch in north 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1890.
Bay window in 1st floor of south bay,
1500 Block
1501: brick; 1\ stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch addition in
central bay, Vernacular. Ca, 1845. Extensively altered, Bull's-eye window
heads. 6/6 sash. Exterior end chimneys, Central donner addition. House on
stone basement.
Clay Street
Unlike other streets in the Diamond Hill Historic District, Clay Street has not been
paved. The original brick street remains intact. In addition, Clay Street is lined on
both sides with decorative brick sidewalks and deciduous trees.
(See continuation sheet
tfa
6 )
'
Form No. 10-300a
!Nev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
'
OR NPS use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF 1IlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
6
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
5
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1200 Block
'
)
'-I
1216: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. 1902-03.
1-light transom over south bay door. Diamond-shaped window is the only wall
opening on south end.
1220: frame; 1\ stories; gable roof with 2 round-arched, donner windows with
round-arched keystone heads in east and west bays; small cross gable in center
bay; 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay porch in central bay, Vernacular (Ornamental Revival cottage in fonn). Ca. 1872. Central entrance, 2 central chimneys with
paired chimney pots. Built by Charles H. Bryant, Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance.
1223: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story, hipped-roof porch
across facade, Modified Colonial Revival, 1906. Aluminum siding detracts
from period appearance.
1225: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch with sawn
balustrade and corner brackets across facade, Vernacular. Ca. 1881. Transom
and sidelights frame door in north bay,
1300 Block
1300: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable to the south; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in north 2 bays. 2nd-story porch addition with pyramidal
roof in central bay. Builder's Eastlake. 1889. Simple bargeboard and finial
in cross gable. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Most likely built by Stephens,
a local builder and contractor in Lynchburg.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays with I-story, 1-bay addition to
south; 1-story, 2-bay porch across main body of house, Vernacular, Ca, 1884.
Stuccoed.
1304: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central gabled donner; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with paired columns and central pediment. Georgian Revival,
1906, Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows. Tripartite window in
2nd-floor central bay. Interior end ~himneys, Modillioned cornice, Except for
4onners, this house is identical to 1308 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Walter Addison, state senator from the LynchburgCampbell County district from 1916-1918, and editor of the Lynchburg~.
(See continuation sheet 417
)
·mm Na 10- 300a.
t-te11· '1Q- 74)
UNITED STATES DEP,\RT~lENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR MPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
I\(' fiOl"JAL REGISTER
OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTE"'ll-'-E=-0"'-----'··----'-------'
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
7
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
8
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1307: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 3 bays; 1-st.'<_ry,
5-bay porch with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, turned porch posts, and cor·
ner brackets. Center bay of porch topped by 2nd-floor deck with turned balus~
trade and posts with finials. Modified Eastlake Style.
1898. l·light transom
over central double doors. Home of Robert G. Robinson, prominent Lynchburg
tobacco businessman.
1.i
~-J
.
'
-~
1308: brick; 2), stories; hipped roof with 2 gabled dormers; 3 bays; l·story,
3-bay porch with paired colunms and central pediment. Georgian Revival. 1906 •
Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows, Tripartite window in 2ndfloor central bay. Interior end chimneys. Modillioned cornice, Except for
dormers, this house is identical to 1304 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Richard C. Stokes, prominent tobacco businessman
in Lynchburg, and one-time member of the city council.
1311:
vacant
1312: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; l·
story porch across facade. Builder's Colonial Revival. Ca. 1901, Stylized
Palladian window in cross gable pediment,
1313: frrune; 2), stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay and dormer
in south bay; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, flat-roof porch with center pedimented
entrance. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1905, Hip flashing. Hip knobs. Modillioned
cornice. Round-headed window in dormer, Palladian window in cross gable pedi·
ment, Dormer and cross gable pediment shingled.
Cc,
1314: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central tower (conical tower roof with
finial) and side gable dormers; 3 bays; l·story, 3-bay porch with Doric columns.
Columns flanked by shingle pillars supporting battered piers. Turned balusters.
Porch is centered by low-pitch pediment with low-relief woodwork.
Colonial Re·
vival. 1901. Central round tower with patterned shingles rises apove porch
pediment. Paired columns extending from the top of the porch to the roof eave
2nd-floor east and west bays. Wide roof eave with paired, attenuated brackets.
Oval, Palladian, and bay windows on south end, Home of Judge Henry C. McDowell,
judge of the U.S. District Court for the western district of Virginia.
1400 Block
tf
"'·
?·
.. I
1417: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 5 bays; l·story, 4-bay porch with curved
brackets and turned balustrade in center 3 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca.
1885. Exterior end chimneys.
(See continuation sheet /fo 8)
.'
orm•No 10.JOOa·
Hev 10·'74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTl:RIOR
FOR N?S
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
rf:TIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
6
~
7.
..
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
ll,20: corrugated tin; 1 and 2 stories; low-pitch roof with center gabled section; 2 bays. Vernacular warehouse. Early 20th century.
'ii
1421: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
with turned posts and turned balustrade. ·Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
projection in north bay. Bracketed cornice, Architrave moldings
openings. Entrance in center bay. Bricktex siding detracts. from
across facade
Cross gable
over all wall
period appear-
ance.
1425: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, shed-roof porch in
central bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-1910. Entrance in center bay. 2/2 sash. 2
interior chimneys. Aluminum siding.
(
amond Street
'lhe west side of Diamond Street is vacant.
1500 Block
1510-1520 Diamond Street are all covered with bricktex siding.
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch.
Ca. 1890.
Vernacular I house.
1512: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 2-story projecting wing addition in
north bay; 1-story porch in south bay. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1883.
1514: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch in south bay.
Vernacular I house. Ca. 1906.
1516: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays; 3-bay porch with turned posts and
balusters. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910.
,.
1520: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in south bay.
ular I house. Ca. 1885. Vacant.
Vernac-
Federal Street
The west side of Federal Street is vacant. Directly behind the Diamond Hill Baptist
Church is a small lot currently used for parking.
( - ~ Street (formerly Campbell Court House Road)
Decorative brick sidewalks line the south side of Grace Street.
(See continuation sheet {f9
)
Il
~o,rn No. 10-300a
.Hev. 1 O; 74}
UNITE[) ST A TES OEPART:\IENT OF THI: INTERIOR
i'OR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVEI-.TTORY -- NOMINATION FORl\.1
(
.
0!\TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
9
ITEM Nl.lMBER
7
PAGE
7
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
·-.
Grace Street, cont'd
600 Block
'-it,
603:
···--·-
brick; 2 stories; gable roof with stepped parapet.
". 605: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays.
tex siding.
0
607:
vacant
.JI
609:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays;
Vernacular. Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1915.
Ca. 1920 •. Brick-
1-story, hipped-roof porch in west
Southwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street: frame triangular house occupying triangular lot; 1 story; flat roof. Vernacular. 1st quarter of the 20th
century.
Northwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street:
\ ·
vacant
1400 Block
1401: frame; 2!, stories; hipped roof with cross gable projecting wing in south
bay; 2 bays; 1-story, flat-roof porch with turned posts, turned balustrade, and
spindle corner brackets. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1906.
ll10S: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north 3 bays; 1-story,
pedimented porch in south bay. Queen Anne speculative house. Ca. 1894. 2story bay window in north 3 bays. Fanlight ·in cross gable pediment. Scheduled
for demolition.
/
1409: frame; 21, stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and balustrade and sawn corner brackets across facade. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10.
C'
o
,.· .
.J
;;:
'~
1411 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church): brick; 2 stories; clipped gable roof; 3
bays; 3-story tower in north bay. Late Victorian Gothic Revival. 1886 (corner
stone). Remodeled 1903. Lancet windows on first floor. Rose window in 2ndfloor central bay. String course. Tower capped by pyrainidal roof. Decorative
brickwork along frieze. Terracotta belt course and over 1st-floor south bay
lane.et window. Brickwork by Lewis Bolling. See: Book of Remembrance of the
Diainond Hill Baptist Church, Lynchburg, 1972.
(See continuation sheet
/fo
10)
......
,-
(
I
::Orrn No 1 0-300a
IHe\l. 10-74)
•
U Nil ED STA.IES DEP,\RTMENT OE TIIE INTERIOR
FOR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVl:D
NATiONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI Ol'J FORM
D/>.TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
10
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
9
·-
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Grace Street, cont'd
1413 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church Parsonage): brick; 1), stories; 3 bays; ·1-story, pedimented entrance porch in central bay, Colonial Revival cottage,
Ca, 1948.
'Jj
o Northwest corner 15th and Grace Street (Firehouse): brick; 2 stories; hipped
roof with central chimney (paired chinmey pots); 3 bays; bracketed hood over
central entrance, Italianate, 1883. Decorative frieze. Attributed to
August Forsberg, city engineer.
1500 Bloc!,
-0
1500: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
north bay; 3-part bay window (1 story) in south bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance,
;:·. ,- /_, \• ;,\'t\.~
.7
1
'.
\,
L,,,(
C't(.;:_,.,r,'
ti,~ ,-~.<'•.i,
.
150't-l506:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 4 bays; 1story, 6-bay porch. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900. Stylized pediments
over wall openings. Asbestos siding detracts from period appearance.
Harrison Street
1300 Block
/,
'.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay porch in west bay.
Vernacular, Ca. 1910, Bay window in cast bay. Similar to 609 13th Street.
'I
1302-1304: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof
porch with decorative spindle work (balustrade removed). Vernacular. Ca.
1900-10. Built at same time as 1306 Harrison Street. Bracketed cornice, Wide
cornice with slat vents.
s
'·'
1303: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch
with simple balustrade, turned posts and spindle corner brackets. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
;~
1306: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with decorative balustrade and spindle work. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
1307-1309: frame.; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story porch across facade, Duplex, Vernacular. Ca, 1890-1900. Interior end chimneys. Similar to 1311-1313
Harrison Street.
(See continuation sheet P-11)
1
Form No 10-3.00v
(Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTr.RIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVEO
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
11
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
10
DESCRIPTION• Inventory
Harrison Street, cont'd
1310: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 2 bays;
!·story, Eastlake porch across facade with turned porch posts, spindle frieze,
and turned balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance. Simple iron fence fronts property.
1311-1313: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; l·story porch across facade
with scroll corner brackets and simple balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900.
Similar to neighbor at 1307·13V9 Harrison Street.
(,
1314-1316: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with pedimented cross gable projecting pavilions in end bays; central hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch with central pediment. Duplex. Colonial Revival builder/speculative
house, Ca. 1910, Fanlights in each cross gable pediment,
1315: corrugated metal; semi-cylindrical metal structure with end walls; 1story; 1 bay, Central entrance flanked by large, 4-light windows, Quonset hut,
Ca, 1945,
·:11
1317-1319: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with 2 hipp2d-roof donners in central 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze, fan brackets, turned balustrade, and turned porch posts in north 2 bays. Identical porch
ln south 2 bays. Duplex. (Each duplex mirrors the other). Vernacular, Ca.
1910, Similar in character to 1314-1316 Harrison Street,
1321: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 5 bays. Early 20th-century commercial
building. Corner market. A store has occupied this site from at least 1877,
The inventor of "Chap Stick" is said to have operated a drug store at this location,
1400 Block
The 1400 block of Harrison has stone sidewalks.
o
1407: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with large central cross gable; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and sawn brackets across facade,
Queen Anne, Ca, 1885, Imbricated shingle pattern on 2nd floor and in north
bay cross gable pediment of porch. House fronted by white picket fence.
1414:
0
vacant
1415: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with gable projection in south bay and
gabled dormer with sunburst in pediment in north bay; 2 bays; 1-story ell porch
with upper deck, Queen Anne. Ca. 1890. Imbricated shingle frieze between 1st
and 2nd floors and beneath cornice, Imbricated shingles and fanlight in gable
(See continuation sheet fnz )
Form No 10-300a
(hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET 12
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 11
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Harrison Street, cont 1 d
1415 (cont'd}: pediment. Tripartite window in 2nd floor of south bay.
porch balustrade. House fronted by simple cast-iron fence.
Turned
o 1416:
frame and stucco; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, central porch. Side porch to south. Georgian Revival. 1896. Remodeled
with Craftsman influence ca. 1910-15.
r,
. ,o
1418-1420: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with 3 cross gables ascending in size
from north to south; 4 bays with a 1-bay, 2-story addition to the south; J.-story
entrance porch in both the 3rd bay and in the bay addition. Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1855. All roof finials and bargeboards removed, Paired chimney pots over
2nd bay. Trefoil in south bay cross gable and end gable. Gothicized Palladian
window in 2nd-floor 4th bay. Colonial Revival oval window addition in 3rd bay •
1421: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across
facade. Italianate, Ca. 1870. House entrance shifted to Harrison Street. 2story, 3-part bay window to south end, Paired bracketed cornice, Bracketed
window hoods.
Madison Street
Both sides of the 1400 block of Madison Street are lined with decorative brick sidewalks, Trees grace both sides of this street.
1300 Block
o 1301:
brick and frame; 1 story; mansard-roof
addition; 4 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch addition. Vernacular. Ca. 1817 with 3rd quarter of the 19th- century additions, See "Death of a Venerable Old Citizen," Lynchburg Virginian,
March 9, 1880. This is the oldest house on Diamond Hill.
•/
c
1302: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Ca. 1910. Bracketed eave. Asbestos shingles,
Vernacular,
c
1303: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch,
Vernacular with Eastlake detailing. Ca. 1887. Bricktex siding. Eastlake pediments over all 2nd-floor wall openings.
1306: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays with 1-story addition to north;
1-story, 3-bay porch in central and south bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1901. Oval
window in front gable. Entrance with transom to north.
(See continuation sheet # 13 )
form No 10-3D0a
IHev 10'. 74)
lJNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
13
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 12
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Madison Street, cont'd
.. I
"
1309: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gables in north bay and south 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in south 3 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1890,
Stylized entablature over all wall openings, Entrance in 3rd bay. Asbestos
siding.
1311: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in south 2 bays. Builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10,
Bay window in 1st-floor north bay, Transom and sidelights frame central entrance, Bracketed cornice.
1400 Block
•
vi
\
.
1411: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; central, pedimented, slightly
projecting pavilion; 1-story, central porch with paired columns and upper deck,
Georgian Revival, Ca, 1905, Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights, Belt course between 1st and 2nd floors. Low beveled water table. 6/9
sash 1st floor. 6/6 sash 2nd floor, 1-story, 1-bay porch along south side of
house, 2 interior chimneys. Fanlight in central pediment, Rowlock segmentally
arched window heads. Doric frieze on porch, Dentiled frieze on main house,
Built by Dr, James Morrison, a prominent Lynchburg physician in the early 20th
century,
1420: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with 3 pedimented gable dormers; 5 bays;
1-story, 3-bay central porch. Georgian Revival, Ca. 1910. Flat keystone
arches over all windows. Decorative transom and sidelights. 2-door opening
with fanlights on 2nd floor fronts onto porch deck, Recessed rectangula, panels
in north and south bays between 1st and 2nd floors, 2 interior end chimneys on
each end, Decorative Classical frieze and cornice, Built by W.B, Snead and
Sons (This firm also built 1304 and 1308 Clay Street, and buildings at both
Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute).
1500 Block
u
1500: frame; 21 stories; hipped roof with 2-bay, gabled projecting pavilion to
south; 1-story ell porch with paired columns and turned baluster. Simple cornice
brackets on porch and cornice, Vernacular. Ca. 1907,
c
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front .
Vernacular. Before 1869, 1-story, 1-bay side wing additions to north and
south. House fronted by white picket fence,
·,~
.~
(See continuation sheet #14)
l
Form No 10-300a
(kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\llNT OF TIii: INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lllSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
14
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
13
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
'
Madison Street, cont'd
o 1514: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with turned
colwtu,:, and turned corner brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. North bay projection has front gable roof. Diamond vent in front gable. I-light transom over
south entrance. Asbestos siding.
•,.
1515: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with
turned balustrade across front. Vernacular. Ca. 1890. I-story, 1-bay gabled
addition to south. North bay fronts interior stair. Double-door entrance in
south {central) bay. Porch and south bay addition share similar circle motif
on friezes.
1600 Block
1600: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
west bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1915.
Opal Street
500 Block
The north side of the 500 block of Opal Street is marked by a high retaining wall.
.. ?
.
"
0
510: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with turned
posts and simple rails. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910. Yard fronted by white
picket fence.
Pear.!_ Street (formerly Falls Alley)
Decorative brick sidewalks are noted on Pearl Street from Main to Church streets.
south side of Pearl from Main Street to Church Street is vacant.
The
t~.
~ii::
200 Block
q,,
211: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch across
facade. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1893.
300 Block
No houses are found on the north side of Pearl Street in the 300 and 400 blocks.
312-312\: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
Duplex.
(See continuation sheet !! 15)
Form _No 10-J·ooa
(Nev 1Q. 74)
UNITED ST t\TES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET
15
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
14
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
400 Block
o
·'
404-406:
1885.
410:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays.
Duplex.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1863;
vacant
416: frame; 1 story; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story ell porch.
Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
500 Block
500:
vacant
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line both sides of the 600 block of Pearl Street.
O 600:
brick; 2\ stories; cross gable roof; 5 bays with 2-story, 3-part bay window in central 3 bays; 1-story ell porch to east. Queen Anne. Ca. 1886. Gothic
finials on roof. Open end gable work in front gable. Small frame cottage to
south built as servants quarters. House fronted by decorative cast-iron fence.
House built by Nathaniel Clayton Manson, mayor of Lynchburg from 1884-91, director of the YMCA in 1887, member of the city council from 1893 to 1897, and city
attorney in 1897 to 1924. Manson was chairman of the executive committee at
Sweet Briar College and gave generous financial support to this institution.
601: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable. to east and gabled dormer
to west; 2 bays; I-story, 4-bay, shed-roof porch with turned posts across facade.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1895. 2-story, 3-bay wing to west. Exposed diagonal braces
in cross gable. Patterned shingles on 2nd floor. Clapboard 1st floor.
~
604-606: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in end bays; 4 bays;
1-story, shed-roof porch with pedimented entrances in center 2 bays. Duplex.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1885. Board and batten walls behind exposed gable struts in
end gables (exposed king post, collar beam and collar brace). Central chimney.
6
605-607: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
hipped-roof porch in east and west bays. Duplex. Builder's Colonial Revival
duplex. Ca. 1900. Decorative multi-pane windows in central bay 1st floor.
House on high basement. Turned baluster on porch.
(See continuation sheet ii 16 )
Form No. 10-300a
!Kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
16
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
15
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
.,
611: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch supported by Ionic columns across facade topped by 2ndstory porch in center bay. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. This house was built
by Fortunatus Sydnor Kirkpatrick, vice president of the Lynchburg Foundry Company
and an attorney in the firm of Kirkpatrick and Howard. He later built and occupied the house across the street at 708 Pearl Street.
c
618: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch, hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch with upper
deck in central bay. 1-story porch with spindle frieze, turned posts, turned
balustrade and sawn brackets added to east end in 1876. Built by Charles Blackford, prominent local attorney, and a captain in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, In
1862 he was appointed judge advocate of the 1st Corps. Blackford served as city
attorney from 1878 to 1881. In 1884 he was president of the chamber of commerce
and was a member of the city council from 1894 to 1895. See: Susan Leigh Blackford, Memoir, Madison Heights, 1894 (1959).
700 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the 700 block of Pearl Street to the north.
walks to the south are of stone.
The side-
700: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof, 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay, central entrance
porch. Italianate. Ca. 1862. Paired 4/4-sash, segmentally arched windows.
Bracketed window hoods. 2-light transom and sidelights. House fronted by brick
piers and iron fence. Paired bracketed cornice. Synnnetrical facade.
708: brick (Flemish bond); 21:, stories; gable roof with 3 pedimented dormers; S
bays; 1-story, central portico with paired columns and piers. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910. Round-arched windows in dormers. Shutters removed. String course.
Modillioned cornice. Iron porch deck not original. Central entrance framed by
transom and sidelights. Once occupied by F.S. Kirkpatrick. See 611 Pearl Street.
709: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central hipped dormer; 2 bays; 1-story,
2-bay, hipped-roof porch. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1915-20.
Shingled. Entrance in east bay.
710:
vacant
711: frame; 21:, stories; gable roof with cross gabb in east.bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch in west bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca.
1887. Fire victim.
(See continuation sheet# 17)
Fo,m No 10-300a
n1e,-. 1O·-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
IN\lENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHEE.T
7.
17
ITEMNUMBER
7
PAGE
16
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
.,.
Pearl Street, cont'd
C
\,
713: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch with spindle frieze in east bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1887. 1-story, 3-part, bay window in west bay. Asbestos
shingles detract from period appearance. Mirror image of 711 Pearl Street.
\
Spruce Street
Spruce Street is vacant on both sides.
Washington Street
The south side of Washington Street is lined by stone sidewalks.
300 Block
, ,,
c
302: brick; 2~ stories; hipped roof with side pedimented dormers and central,
curved, broken pedimented dormer; 5 bays; 1-story porch across facade. Georgian Revival. 1907-08. Brick quoins. Jack arches with keystone. 2nd floor
stylized Palladian window in central bay. Central entrance framed by multilight fanlight and sidelights. Interior end chimneys. Fronted by wroughtiron fence. Metal porch awning detracts from period appearance. Site of
Piedmont College.
,
305: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, Colonial Revival porch in west bay. Originally Greek Revival. Mid-19th century. Built
in 2 sections. West bay ca. 1849. East bay ca. 1865. Decorative transom and
sidelights surround west bay entrance. Home of Edward Beck, Lynchburg's 1st
city manager (1920-1925).
c
307: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, cast-iron porch with
cast-iron cresting. Italianate town house. Ca. 1884-86. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-length windows on 1st-floor center and east bays. Double-door entrance
in west bay. All 1st-floor wall openings with multi-pane transoms. All wall
openings segmentally arched.
310: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 2 pedimented dormers to east and west;
curved pedimented dormer in central bay (dormers contain 8/8 sash); 3 bays; 1story, 1-bay entrance portico. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance framed
by transom and sidelights. All window openings marked by flat brick arches
with stone keystone and springer. Tripartite window in central bay of 2nd
floor. Interior end chimneys. House fronted by high brick and stone retaining
wall.
(See continuation sheet if 18 )
Form No 10-300a
\t1ev 10- 741
UNITED STA TES DEPARTMENT OF Till: INTERIOR
FOR NPS US!; ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTERED
.
.
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
18
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
17
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
\ :•
312: brick; 11 stories; high-pitched gable roof with 2 gable dormers; 2 bays;
1-story, shed-roof, entrance porch with turned posts in east bay. Vernacular
Colonial Revival cottage. 1953. Dentiled cornice. Built by J.B. Mason and
Sons, Builders.
313: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with central, 5-bay, Colonial Revival
"Palladian" dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, semicircular, central entrance porch
fronted by horseshoe stairway and square pillars topped by round pendants.
Greek Revival altered to Colonial Revival. Ca. 1855 with extensive alterations.
in 1909. Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights. Window openings topped by flat arches with keystone. Interior end chimneys. House and
dormer share similar dentiled and modillioned cornice. Porte-cochere to the
west. 19th-century carriage house to the rear (north). Panel on the 2nd floor
reads: Decorated by the J.G. Valiant Co~ 224 N. Charles Street,Baltimore,
Maryland, G.A. Brown, superintendent, William H. Bayer and Rich. Wright, workmen, October 1909. Mutual Assurance Policy: (possibly) R7/V 60/N 760A (1856).
316: frame and stucco; 21 stories; hipped roof with central cross gable 2ndfloor projection; stylized Palladian window within pediment. Pedimented dormer
with columns and round-arched window in east bay; 5 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with blank frieze and <lentils across facade. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. Bow
window in east 2 bays. 3-part bay window in 2nd floor of central bay. Central
entrance framed by multi-light fanlight and sidelights. Modillioned cornice.
House fronted by cast-iron fence.
400 Block
400: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 21 stories; hipped roof with 3
central pedimented and pilastered dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, pedimented entrance
portico in central bay. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1902. Tripartite, stylized
Palladian windows in 1st-floor east and west bays. All window openings topped
by keystone. Brick quoins. Entrance fran,ed by fanlight and sidelights. Brick
string course above 1st- and 2nd-story windows. Dentiled and modillioned cornice. 1-story, 1-bay side porch to east. House fronted by 4-to-41-foot brick
(Flemish bond with glazed headers) wall.
401: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
central entrance porch supported by Doric columns, Georgian Revival. Ca. 1900.
Multi-light fanlight and sidelights. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Plain
frieze. Modillioned cornice,
(See continuation sheet# 19)
Form No. 10-JOOa
(11ev". 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
1
0ATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
19
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
ITEM NUMBER
7
18
---------------PAGE
Washinston Street, cont'd
e
405: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented donners (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 3 bays; 1-story, central porch with paired
Ionic columns, Colonial Revival. Ca. 1902, Egg and dart cornice, End pilasters. Architrave windows. Decorative fanlight and sidelights. Decorative
tripartite window in central bay of 2nd story. Iron fence fronts property.
Built by Randolph Harrison, prominent state senator and president of the Virginia State Bar Association.
c
409: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 5 bays; giant order, 3-bay porch supported by
Ionic columns. Colonial Revival, Ca. 1902. Central recessed entrance with fanlight. 2nd-floor deck in central bay supported by consoles fronts double, glass,
French doors, Doors are topped by decorative fanlight. Iron fence fronts
property.
i'!,
414:
vacant
416-418: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch across facade, Duplex. Italianate. Ca, 1870. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-to-ceiling-length windows on 1st-floor east and west bays. Transomed
entrances in 2nd and 3rd bays. Architrave window hoods over all 2nd-floor
openings,
419: frame; 2\ stories; gable with large pedimented cross gable in east 3
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, Colonial Revival porch/veranda across front and west
sides. Porch is supported by paired Ionic columns on a stone base, Colonial
Revival, 1901. Entrance in 2nd bay framed by transom and sidelights. Projecting wing in east 3 bays topped by dentiled and modillioned pediment,
Palladian window is centered in pediment. Swags on 2nd floor, Ridge of roof
topped by decorative flashing and hip knobs. Pilastered chimney stack, Probably same architect as 505 Washington Street. House fronted by iron fence,
.'
'
500 Block
500: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, projecting, hipped-roof
pavilion; 5 bays; veranda/porch along front 2 bays and east side with turned
l; balusters and newels; round-arched brick entrance portico in central bay topped
by deck and simple railing, Queen Anne. Ca, 1899. Decorative brickwork on
porch and deck posts, projecting pavilion, and on 2\-story, octagonal tower in
east bay. Decorative brickwork includes recessed panels, terracotta brick, and
patterned corner joints, Colonial Revival swags along frieze. Pilastered chim(See continuation sheet ii 20)
Form No. 10-300a
{Hev 10- 74)·
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT Ot THF 11',TEIUOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOI\-IINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEE.T
7.
20
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
19
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
500 (continued): ney stacks with corbeled caps. Flat stone window heads and
lintels. Stained glass in central pavilion above recessed window. Dentiled
cornice. Modillioned cornice on pavilion and corner tower. Imbricated roof
pattern. Decorative roof flashing with hip knobs. House possibly designed by
Edward G. Frye.
501: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with side pedimented dormers and central enclosed sleeping porch (hipped roof); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Shingle
Style/Colonial Revival. 1897. Columns can still be seen in sleeping porch.
House and porch columns shingled; dormers and sleeping porch clapboard. Stone
retaining wall topped by simple decorative iron fence.
503: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch addition
in central bay. Vernacular/Greek Revival. Ca. 1850. Interior end chimneys.
Low stone retaining wall. Probably the oldest surviving house on Washington
Street.
505: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with decorative flashing and hip knobs;
gable roof with Palladian window in pediment in east 2 bays; 4 bays; 1-story,
Colonial Revival porch/veranda supported by paired Corinthian columns along
front and sides of house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1901. Corner tower to west. Sunburst pattern in top pane of windows on 3rd floor of tower. 1st floor clapboard. 2nd floor shingled. Pilastered chimney stack. Possibly same architect
as 419 Washington Street. Wrought-iron fence fronts house.
~
I ::
508: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 2\ stories; hipped roof with 3
pedimented and pilastered dormers (12/1 sash); 5 bays; 1-story, semicircular
porch in central bay topped by deck and railing (deck fronts ornate double
doors with decorative fanlight topped by oval, flat keystone arch). Georgian
Revival. 1909. Central entrance marked by decorative transom and sidelights.
Tripartite windows with full architrave and pilasters in east and west bays.
2nd-floor openings crowned by flat keystone arches. 2nd-floor windows are
16/1 sash. Modillioned cornice. 1-story, l~bay, side porch to east. House
fronted by wrought-iron fence. This house is the most prestigious example of
the Georgian Revival in Diamond Hill. J.M.B. Lewis, architect (of Lewis and
Burnham, architects and builders).
(See continuation sheet# 21)
Form No 10-300a
(kcv 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPART'.\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
<OR NPS US£ ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI NUATJON SHEET
7.
21
20
----------------------------------ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
o
1'
I' '
517: beige Roman brick; 2~ stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays, with !-story side
wings. Central, giant order (2 stories) portico with paired Doric columns.
Porch·fronts Palladian-style entrance. Beaux Arts. 1910-11. !-story, enclosed
glass pox-ch to west with curved mullio.ns. 1-story pergola to east. Gutter
drains to east and west serve as vertical terminus points. lst-floox- side windows recessed into round ax-ches with stone keystone and springers. Porch supports
balustered deck. Built by Ernest Williams, prominent buisnessman and civic leader in Lynchburg. Williams was president of the chamber of commerce and served
on the Lynchburg city council. Williams was also involved in the Apex and Palmetto lumber companies. House is fronted by a decorative cast-iron fence. This
is perhaps the most prodigious residence found on Diamond Hill. The architect
of this house (unknown) is thought to have offices based in Baltimore.
518: frame; 2~ stories; multi-hipped roof with corner tower to the west; central
bowed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof porch with eyelid vent. Porch
work includes Eastlake cut-outs, circular and oval hoops on turned posts. Eastlake/Queen Anne. Ca. 1890-95. Circular stained-glass window in lst•floor west
bay. Round-arched double doorway. Built by John H. Kinnier, prominent Lynchburg
businessman. The style of this house is unique for Lynchburg.
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the north side of the 600 block of Washington Street.
C
! ./
,
..
602: brick, 1~ stories; gable roof with central cross gable projection; 3 bays;
1-story, cast-iron, flat-roof porch across entire facade. Gothic Revival. Ca.
1852. Cast-iron roof cresting. Cast-iron entrance stair. Lancet window in central cross gable. Window hoods over all wall openings. Exposed porch roof structure. Bargeboard and roof finials removed. House fronted by woven wire fence.
This house exhibits extensive use of cast-iron decoration. Decorative chimney
pots. Occupied from 1870 to 1880 by Thomas S. Bocock, 1st commonwealth attorney
for Appomattox County, state legislator, member of Congress, and speaker of the
Confederate congress. Built by Robinson Stabler in 1852. The News, Lynchburg,
Virginia, February 1, 1959. Interior alterations ca. 1905. Wing addition ca.
1900. Rear wing ca. 1885. House possibly designed by W. E. Ellington.
605: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof with hipped gable, and demi-octagonal projections; 4 bays; 2-story porch with jigsaw brackets and turned baluster in west
bay, 1-story, hipped-roof porch with bracketed cornice in 3rd bay. Eastlake. Ca.
1880. Irregular facade. Exterior open staircase to east. Paired and triple windows. Fronted by tall hedge.
(See continuation sheet if 22)
Form No. 1Q.300a
{Hev. 10·74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED'
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO MINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
·
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
22
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
21
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
0
609: frame (stucco); 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, hippe.d dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1920.
0
: ,
608: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west 3 bays (2nd story of
cross gable and 2nd story of west bay project from house); hipped dormer in west
bay; 4 bays; l·story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch across facade. Colonial Revival.
Ca. 1910. Palladian window in cross gable. Fanlight and sidelights surround
entrance in 3rd bay. House placed on high basement.
I
610:
vacant
611-613: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with central, hipped-roof dormer; 6 bays
with center 4 bays slightly projecting; 1-story, 6-bay, Colonial Revival porch
with turned balusters. Modified Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Central chimney.
Double-door entrances in west and east bays. 1-light transom over each entrance.
617: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch gable roof; 3 bays; l•story, 4-bay porch.
nacular. Ca. 1885. Central chimney.
,-
'1
Ver-
Thirteenth Street
400 Block
413: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, hipped-roof porch with
turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1905. Bricktex siding detracts
from period appearance.
415: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, 2-bay porch across front
with turned columns and simple railing. Vernacular. 1904-05. Entrance in east
bay. Fronted by white picket fence.
:I
500 Block
,
' ·: ?~
507: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular. Ca. 1881-84. Original door with transom in west bay. Additional
door additions to east and west. Vacant.
511: frame; 2\ stories; front gable; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular/Colonial Revival. Ca. 1903. Oval window (blocked in) in gtble pediment.
(See continuation sheet ffo23 )
Form No lti-300a
\Hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DlPARTMl:.NT Of· THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NP$ USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
o....TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
23
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
22
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Thirteenth Street, cont'd
515: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in central bay.
Vernacular. Ca. 1850. Bracketed cornice. Interior end chimneys. Thought to
have been built by Alexander Simpson, an early businessman in Lynchburg.
,· 1r,
517: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with cross gable projection in east 2 bays;
4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze in west 2 bays. Vernacular. 1901. 2 small round windows in cross gable pediment. Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance.
600 Block
1
,
ll,
617:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in east
Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
700 Block
._. 1
i
703:
lar.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in east bay.
Ca. 1900-10.
C
705:
frame; 2 stories; front gable roof.
Vernacular.
Vernacu~
Ca. 1910.
Fourteenth Street (formerly Tenth Alley)
The north side of Fourteenth Street is bordered by a large athletic field.
700 Block
707-709: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in
center 2 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Stylized pediments.over windows.
Bracketed cornice. Decorative porch scroll brackets.
712-714: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Duplex. Vernacular. 1st half of the
20th century. Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 718 Fourteenth
Street.
718: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Vernacular. 1st half of the 20th century.
Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 712-714 Fourteenth Street.
(See continuation sheet #24)
Form No 10·300a
iHev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
OAT!: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHHT
7.
24
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
23
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Mutual Assurance Policies relating to buildings no longer standing on Diamond
Hill include:
Caskie, John; southeast of Washington Street; 1831/Rev. 1863
.
I
Rl3/V 92/N 7741.
Davis, John T.; corner of 9th Street and 10th Alley; 1845/Rev. 8544
Rl8/V 113/N 14045; 1852/Rev. 14045 R20/V 124/N 17381; 1859/Rev. 17381
R23/V 136/N 21051.
Fletcher, Timothy; northeast of Main Street on Diamond Hill (north of
Caskie's residence) 1827 RlO/V 78/N 3646.
Langhorne, M.; corner of 3rd and Washington streets; 1852/Rev. 14075
R20/V 124/N 17396; 1859/17396 R23/V 136/N 21067.
Penn, Alfred (purchased from John Caskie); 3rd and Washington streets;
, 1838/Rev. 7741 Rl6JV 103/N 10919; 1845/Rev. 10919 Rl8/V 113/N 14075.
7.
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Fifteenth Street
800 Block
,
:~2
805: brick, 2 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; 1-story flat roof porch in center
3 bays. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance with transom in center bay. 2story porch to east end. 1-story, 1-bay, gable-roof wing to west. Interior
end chimneys.
....
form No. 10-300~
\Hev ,0, 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
8.
SHEET
//25
ITEM NUMBER 8
PAGE
1
SIGNIFICANCE
from its present color scheme (pink with white trim), demands attention through its
"Moorish" porch, round corner tower, and Eastlake "dormers". 605 Washington (Eastlake/
Stick style), while partially hidden from view by a large hedge fronting the street, stands
out with its irregular massing, open porches, variety of wood trim and detail, and its
exposed "structural" members. These two houses, combine with the Gothic Revival house at
602 Washington and the Beaux Arts house at 517 Washington to establish this as the most
unique intersection in Diamond Hill.
500 Washington (Queen Anne/Georgian Revival, 1898), is also one of Diamond Hill's
more picturesque homes. While the corner octagonal tower, massive round-arched, central
projecting entrance pavilion, and decorative terracotta brick seem to set this building
apart from its more traditional neighbors, its underlying 5-bay, hipped-roof form
establishes its Georgian Revival allegiance.
In addition to the large number of imposing, architect-designed residences found on
Diamond Hill, numerous speculative and builder houses erected from 1890 to 1910 also
indicate the area's turn-of-the-century prosperity. Maps from 1891 indicate land subdivision for speculative ventures along Harrison, Chestnut, and Diamond streets.I Later
speculative houses appear on Church, 13th and sections of Madison streets. Often erected
as rental housing, these builder houses display simple, unadorned facades and are fronted
by porches exhibiting turned columns and decorative sawn brackets. While individually
these houses are of only minor architectural significance, grouped together they impart
much of Diamond Hill's historic character. The 1400 block of Church Street contains some
of the better examples of speculative housing in the district (see
1408 Church Street).
The Diamond Hill area remained outside the corporate limits of antebellum Lynchburg,
when a major property owner, Henry Davis, began subdivision and sale of land parcels there.
Davis, a prominent Lynchburg businessman active in banking and railroad affairs, died on
December 13, 1863. The General Ordinances of the City of Lynchburg of 1880 note:
Several large districts within the present limits, but outside of
the corporate lines of 1827, were laid off into squares and streets
by the owners, and the streets so laid off, dedicated to the use of
the public by placing the plats on record, and by other distinct
acts declaring such intent. Thus a large portion of Diamond and
Franklin hills were so laid off by the late Henry Davis, Esq., in
his life-time, and by his heirs since his death, in the suit of
Davis' administrator vs. Davis and others, in the Corporation
Court of the City of Lynchburg.2
(See Continuation Sheet# 26)
Form No 10-300a
(11ev. 10- 74!
UNITED STATES DEP1\RTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
I
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHHT
8.
//26
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
2
SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Rill was not annexed to the city of Lynchburg until December 19, 1870. 3
Aside from Davis, other early land owners of Diamond Hill were Maurice Langhorne,
John Caskie, Alfred Penn, John Davis, and Timothy Fletcher. While all had erected
dwellings on Diamond Hill, only Langhorne's house of ca. 1855 (313 Washington Street,
extensively altered) remains.4
The earliest extant house on Diamond Hill stands at 1301 Madison and was erected ca.
1817. Altered during the last quarter of the 19th century through the addition of a
mansard roof, the first floor of the house retains its Federal mantels and some interior
trim. Mutual Assurance policies exist for other houses built on Diamond Hill in the early
19th century, though none of those houses survives. 5 1501 Church Street, said to date
from 1845, has been extensively altered. 515 13th Street is most likely the next oldest
house still standing on Diamond Hill, dating from ca. 1850.
During the 1850s two Gothic Revival houses were erected at 1418-20 Harrison and 601
Washington streets. The latter house displays elaborate cast-iron work on the front porch
and porch entrance stair. At the time of its construction, this house was undoubtedly
considered one of the finest in the city. Also during the fifties, Charles Blackford, a
prominent local attorney and active member of Lynchburg's city government, erected his
house at 618 Pearl Street. Local historians note the significance of this house as the
site of many social gatherings of notable local citizens and important visiting dignitaries
The construction of a footbridge in the late 1850s across Horseford Creek at Church
Street provided easier access to Diamond Hlll from the downtown area and undoubtedly
encouraged further settlement of the area.
Gray's map of 1877 7 indicates clusters of
houses along the 300 and 500 blocks of Washington Street (many owned by the Langhorne
family), the south side of the 500 block of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500 block
of Diamond Street. Growth patterns appear denser to the west of Diamond Hill on Grace
and Harrison streets, roads leading to the Campbell County Court House turnpike. Less
intense growth occurred in the heart of the district. The block bordered by Washington,
Church, Pearl (Falls Alley), and Clay streets remained unsubdivided until the first decade
of the 20th century.
Land was subdivided in the 1870s for worker and rental housing, including the 300 and
400 blocks of Pearl, the 600 and 700 blocks of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500
block of Diamond streets. Street improvements on Diamond Hill took place in the 1870s and
80s consisting of construction of sidegalks, paving of carriage ways, erection of retaining
walls, and the installation of sewers.
Coinciding with these improvements was the coming of Lynchburg's elite to Diamond Hill.
Diamond Hill soon became recognized as the dwelling ground of the city's prominent
businessmen and elected officials. Nathaniel Clayton Moore, Mayor of Lynchburg, member of
the City Council (1893-97), and, later, City Attorney (1898-1924), erected his house at
(SeeContinuation Sheet. 1127)
.J
1
Form No ·10.300a
{Hev l0-74)
UNITED STATES DEP.·\RT\1ENT OF Tflr. I NTF.RIOR
"OR NPS
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8.
//27
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
3
SIGNIFICANCE
600 Pearl around 1886. Charles Blackford, resident of Diamond Hill since the early 1850s,
served as City Attorney from 1878 to 1881, president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1884,
and member of the City Council from 1894 to 1895. Robert G. Robinson, owner of tobacco
manufacturing interests built 1307 Clay in 1898. Other prominent residents at the turn
of the century include Walter Addison (1304 Clay, 1906), State Senator from 1916-18;
Henry C. McDowell (1314 Clay, 1900), U.S. District Court Judge; Ralph Harrison (405
Washington, ca. 1902), State Senator and president of the Virginia State Bar; and Ernest
Williams (517 Washington, ca. 1902), president of the Chamber of Commerce and member of
the City Council.
By 1910 Diamond Hill had reached the pinnacle of its development. Experiencing a
period of decline during the second and third quarters of the 20th century, the area is
presently being revived under the direction and encouragement of concerned private
interests organized as the Diamond Hill Historical Society. Present improvements include
a general cleanup_ of the area, repairs to the exterior of buildings, and the conversion
of houses from multiple-family dwelling units back to single-family dwellings.
BZ
1
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity, G. Wm. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891. Also see: Deed
72-270 (shows the subdivision of the Booker property, 608 Washington), and plat book for
September 16, 1902. Deed book ZZ, book number 51, plate 577 shows the subdivision of the
trian~le bordered by Grace, 14th, and Federal streets (1405 Grace Street subdivision).
·city of Lynchburg, General Ordinances, 1880, p. 8. The subdivision of lands and
laying off of streets by individual property owners of lands in and tangent to towns was
common practice during the 8econd half of the 19th century.
3rn 1891, maps still referred to sections of Diamond Hill as the Davis Estate. See
Baist, ~· cit.
4Langhorne, who held large business interests in Lynchburg, erected houses for his
children and grandchildren on the two acres of land in Diamond Hill he bought ca. 1849.
WPA 62.
5Names of owners and policy numbers are listed at the end of the Diamond Hill Historic
District inventory.
6Residents of Diamond Hill petitioned the city council for a foot bridge across the
ravine on Church Street between 12th and 14th streets. Following denial of the petition,
a women's group organized to raise the necessary funds. The bridge was constructed in
1856. William Ashbury Christian, Lynchburg and its People, p. 172. Repairs to tHe bridge
were made ten years later, again paid for by funds raised by women residing on Diamond
Hill. Ibid., p. 252.
1Gray"s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia, O. W. Gray and Son,
Philaglelphia, 1877.
City of Lynchburg, Reports -9.K the Standing Committees £!. the Council of the City of
Lynchburg (from July 1, 1881 to February 1, 1882), Lynchburg, 1882, pp 32-34.
t
Form No 10-3001!
iHev. 10-74)
UNITED ST ATES DEPARTMENT OF THI' INTERIOR
~OR NPS use ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FOR.1\.:1
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
2.
SHEET //28
ITEM NUMBE82 ,lO
PAGE
l
LOCATION
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (U.S. 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place and
the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 1300 block of Harrison Street
(W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side); and on the N by
the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part, NE side),
and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary f;escription).
Item 10)
10.
· GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
E
F
G
R
664260
664200
664240
664390
17
17
17
17
4141390
4141460
4141730
4141830
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Block 046-10
Encompassing parcels 01 and 08-11 on NE side of Church and NW side of Pearl streets.
SECTION 3:
Block 025-09
Jleginni.ne on NE side of Court Street at.NW corner of parcel 13 and continuing NE along
NW line of said parcel, then following NW along the SW lines of OS and 04, then continuing NE along the NW line of 04 to SW side of Church Street, then following SE along
said side of said street to Washington Street;
Block 025-211
thence extending across Washington Street to SE corner of 07, then following SW along SE
side of said parcel, then crossing to SW side of alley and continuing about 75' SE along
NE side of 06 ' then SW to SW side of· said parcel, then continuing SE
.. along said• side to
Pearl Street;
Block 025-26
thence extending across Pearl Street and continuing SE along SW side of Spruce Street to
SE corner of 08, then following SW diagonally across 09 to the SE corner of 04 and
continuing SW along SE line of said parcel to SW corner of 02, then following SE along
SW line of 10 to NW side of Chestnut Street and extending SW along said side to a point
opposite the NE corner of Block 025-39, parcel 04;
(See Continuation Sheet #29)
Form No. 10-JOOa
{liev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLKIOK
eOR NPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//29
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE 2
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-39
thence extending across Chestnut Street and continuing along NE line of 04 to rear
property line of said parcel, then following SW along NW side of Arch Street to Madison
Street and crossing said street;
Block 025-38
thence extending SW along SE lines of 08 and 10, then continuing NW along SW line of 10,
then following NE along SE side of Plum Street to a point opposite the NE side of the
alley between Chestnut and Laurel streets, then crossing Plum Street;
Block 025-37
thence extending NW along NE side of aforementioned alley to SE side of Locust Street,
then continuing NE along NW side of 01;
Block 025-30
thence extending NW across intersection of Harrison, Locust, and Chestnut streets with
Roslyn Place to the SE corner of 09, then continuing NW along the NE side of Roslyn Place
to the intersection with Grace Street;
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across intersection on Grace and 15th streets with Roslyn Place to
SE corner of 04, then following along SE line of 04 to SW line of said parcel, then
continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, 12, and 03 to SE side of 14th Street, then
following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
Block 025-20
thence extending across Federal Street to NW corner of 01 and continuing NE along SE side
of 14th to a point opposite the SW corner of Block 025-13, parcel 08;
Block 025-13
thence extending NW across 14th Street and following the SW lines of 08, 05, 04, 03, and
02;
(See Continuation Sheet P30)
Form No· 10·300a
(liev. ·10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01 TIIE I NTU{IOR
OR NP$ USE
ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATl: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//30
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE
3
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-04
thence extending NE diagonally across 13th Street and following the NW lines of 07 and
04;
Block 025-05
thence extending NE across Harrison Street to the NW corner of 16, then continuing NE
along the NW lines of 16, OB, 15, 14, 05, and 04 to Madison Street;
Block 025-06
thence extending NE across Madison Street, then continuing SE along NE side of Madison
to the inter~ection with Grace Street, then following about BO' NE along NW side of
Grace, then continuing NE across Grace and extending along the NW lines of 05 and 03;
Block 025-07
thence extending E diagonally across Clay Street to the W corner of 09 and continuing
NE along NW side of said parcel, then following SE along NE lines of 09 and 07;
Block 025-10
thence extending across 13th Street and continuing along the NE lines of 01, 11, and 10,
and continuing along NW lines of 12 and 02; thence extending NE across Court Street to
point of origin.
1
These nominated boundaries coincide with the City of Lynchburg's Diamond Hill
Historic District limits with the exception of parcel 12 of Block 025-12, which is
included in this nominated district but excluded from the City's district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(3-82)
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAHOND HILL HlSTo:nc DIST,,ICT, LYNCll!lURG, VIRGINIA
Continuation sheet J 1 (Extension)
Item number 7, 8
Page
24, 4
7, D:::SCRIPTION
CeogrnFhically the l'.arshall-Lcdge Hospital is located at the ape0< of
(1503 Grace St..)Diamond !!ill, Historically thc,re is clear and visible evidence that this
hospital is not outside the value cf this district but in fact the most
visible, structure to the growth and longevity to the Diamond Hill
prBs~rvation mov.'.;.ment.
The. hospital, in its present 1.:-cation, start'2.d in the h:ome of S. W.
l·fcCcrl~l,;. !kCorl.·_lt..!'S house was built prior to 1871 and improved in 1875.
Additicns and chan:;::.s tcck place in 1397, 191Li., with th~ largest building
facing Grace Str2et in 1921.
'I'hc old wins c,n th<;! rear c,f the hospital is a two-story brick building
·,.iith tin rc,of. The 1921 three-story aUr.:ition ·:as built cf sand-colored
brick with grard.t~ corr.ice. The old an:l r"ft:!W wings have wocden 1/1 windows.
Because. the hospital ~vas built in a tim,_ <;.,ihcn the narll'.:: "hospital!! ha(l bad
connetations, ~very thing was done to r.1ak..; the surroundinos pleasant. The
NcCcrkl·.;;. Iwus:. ,,;,as high on Diamond Hill cverseeinr.; the Blu(;! Ridge Uountains.
Records do nvt show hc-,1 the old wing r,,;as deccratc.d.
The 1921 addition t,;as
built with a rnarbl~ foyer, mahc,gany rece:rtion room, intaid til~ floors,
an<l ratient rocrns painted in y~llows and light blu12..
(see below for Inventory Entry)
SIGlaFI'C<\NCi::
Lynchburg has one of the oldest hospitals in the state of Virginia.
( 1 503 Grace St.)1he minut~s of the Lynchburg llasons ii 39, stated that there were two
hospitals in Virginia in 1841, one in Norfolk and one in Ale}:andria.
The l•!cCcrkl,e house was the second location of the hospital. It was at
this location, thirty yc,ars after the hospital •s <-'nactment, that the
faci.lity grew to its present architectural state. Records have not be.en
located en 1,1ccorkle' s house, The records that -:<1er<; found are on the 1921
wing. The front addition was built by two leading Lynchburg architects
of rcsidental propo.;:rty, Craighill and Cardwell .. The :rason 1 s minutes
state that bot~• men ·were mcmb.:rs of th~. orrier. and had an intero2st in
naLini the build in;; a pl :asant cnvironn'.cnt.
S,
necause cf the building's size, exterior nco-classical composition,
and location on Diamond Hill, it is a major focal point to the overall
developmGnt of this n.ationally r"cognized historical neighborhood. The
building is also a monument to th,:;se t1:.10 archits:!cts that 'lesign,..;.d mostly
r sidcntbl prop;.:rty.
7.
DESCRIPTION
Inventory
·crace Street
1503:
1921 section: brick; 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays; 2, 2-story, 3-bay
porches flanking central 3-bay pavilion with quoins; 3-bay pavilions with
quoins (1st and 2nd floors) on either end; 1/1 fenestration with masonry
(see Continuation Sheet #32)
0MB No. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10·900·•
(3-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAMOND HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT (EXTENSION), Lynchburg, Va.
#32
Item number2, 1g
Continuation sheet
1
7
Page2,2 25
2. LOCATION (to replace Location on Continuation Sheet #28)
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (US 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place, Jackson
Street (NE side), and the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 13:00 block
of Harrison Street (W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side);
and on the N by the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part,
NE side), and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary
Description,.Item 10)
10. GEcx:;RAPHICAL
~
(to replace Geographical Data in Item 10 and Continuation Sheets 28
&
29;
Acreage: 45 acres
UTM References:
A- 17/664620/4141870 B- 17/664780/4141680
C- 17/664740/4141610 D- 17/664500/4141280
E- 17/664280/4141260 F- 17/664180/4141400
G- 17/664220/4141720 H- 17/664390/4141820
Verbal Boundary Description (replacing sections of VBD on Continuation Sheet 29)
After Block 025-30, Insert:
Block 025-31
thence continuing NW across Grace Street to NE corner of parcel 01,
then continuing SW along NW side of Grace Street to S tip of OJ, then continuing NW along
NE side of Jackson Street to NW corner of 01, then continuing NE along SE side of 15th Street
to a point opposite SW corner of parcel 04, Block 025-19;
Amend Block 025-19 to read:
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across 15th Street and continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, and 03
to SE side of 14th Street, then following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
7. DESCRIPTION - Inventory
1503 (cont'd) : sills; central entrance with transom and columns; panel inscribed with
building date (1921) and Mi.sonic emblem in attic story of central
pavilion. Neoclassical. 1921. Later brick, 3-story, 3-bay addition to
south. Original section to rear: brick; 3 stories; hipped, standingseam metal roof with cupola; 1/1 fenestration with segmental arches.
Late 19th century.
DÏAMOND HITL
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Abrams Aerial- Survey Corporation
1973.
Sheets K-Lst 1-15.
Seale
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HILL HISTORTC DTSTRICÎ
Lynchtrurg, Va.
Source; Lynchburg City Valuation
Maps 025 and 0/+6
Date¿ 1978
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.<!TEDSTATES DEPARTMENTOFTHE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NA2TONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
XNWNTGRY -* NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HP W TO COMPLETE NA TJOIVAL REGISTER FORMS
R P E ALL ENTRIES COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
--
1
:flp~m~
LdJ
HISTORIC
Diam~odB i l l Historic Dfstrdct
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
'
*
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
,NOT
C l V . TOWN
STATE
S5xth (M.
5 1.
CLASSIFICATION
CATE G aRY
Caldhilf ~ u t l e r )
COUNTY
CODE
Virginie
FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DJSTRICT
-vlclnm QF
Lpchbusg
.
(in
c
CODE
&TATUS
OWNERSHIP
680
l t ~ )
PRESENT USE
AGRICULTURE
-STRCICTU R E
,BOTH
-WORK
P U B LI C
,SITE
,OBJECT
AcauIstTloN
1 N PROCESS
,BEING
CONSIDERED
1 H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
-YES
-MUSEUM
LCOMMERCIAL
-PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
PRIVATE RESICFENCE
,ENTERTAINMENT
AESfRlCTED
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIElrATIFIC
XYES:
UNRESTRICTED
ANDUSTRIAL
- TRANSPORTATION
,NO
-MILITARY
-OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Multiple Ownership
(See ~ t t a c h e dlist)
STREET& NUMBER
-
-VICINITY OF
BLQCATIQN
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
STREET a NUMBER
Lyrtchburg
aREPRESENTATION IN
TITLE
Virginia
EXISTING SURVEYS ( 4 )
( s e e a n t i i m . a t i o n sheer fi)
C i t y o f Lynchburg, Division
of P l a n n i n g , H i s t o r i c Distrfct Survey, Lynchburg,
Vir~inia. %y 1976.
DATE
I976
DEPOSTTDRY FOR
sURVEYRECoRas
CITY. TOWN
-FEDERAL
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r k Landnarks Comission
SATE
-
~ o u &LOCAL
~ n
2 2 1 Governoy Street
STATE
__.
ii DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
_EXCELLENT
Jl.GOOD
_ FAIR
CHECK ONE
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
_RUINS
~LTERED
CHECK ONE
~ORIGINAL SITE
_MOVED
DATE _ __
_UNEXPOSED
I
•
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Diamond Hill Historic District is an irregularly shaped district approximately
14 blocks in area. Located on one of the seven hills of Lynchburg, the district is
wedged between the Lynchburg Expressway (Rt. 29) to the south and the city's central
commercial core to the north. Steep hillsides couple with changes in land use and
historical precedent in defining the north, east, and south borders. Borders to the
southwest and west remain arbitrary and follow recommendations of the Lynchburg Board of
Architectural Review.
'
i~
An attractive reside_ntial neighborhood, the Diamond Hill Historic District was ·laid outt)
on _a· sit'id plan'.modified _to: accommodate the· _irregularities o_f the terrain •. Only Clay Street
retains its original brick .surface, all other streets 'having been paved over. Several
streets are tree-lined (see: Madison and Clay Streets), and many houses exhibit landscaped yards. Ornamental cast- and wrought-iron fences and stone and deconative brick
sidewalks appear at random intervals throughout the district. These elements, together
with landscaping features, impart color and warmth to street views and help define the
residential character of the neighborhood.
While experiencing its greatest period of growth at the turn of the century, the
district holds several mid-19th-century houses. The oldest residence, presently vacant
and in disrepair, stands at 1301 Madison (Vernacular, ca. 1817, altered ca. 1875).
Morris' Folly (Vernacular/Greek Revival, altered), a two-story, brick residence at 1310
Church Street, dates from ca. 1869, Two Gothic Revival houses are found at 1418-20
Harrison (ca. 1855, moderately altered ca. 1900) and 602 Washington (ca. 1852). This
latter house exhibits an elaborate cast-iron stair and porch unique in Lynchburg. Other
early houses found on Diamond Hill are 305 Washington (Vernacular, ca, 1849; ca. 1865),
313 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1855), 503 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1850), 618 Pearl
(Vernacular, ca. 1850), 700 Pearl (Italianate, 1862), 1411-13 Church (Greek Revival/
Italianate, ca. 1860), 1501 Church (Vernacular, ca. 1845), and 515 13th St. (Vernacular,
ca. 1850).
Most houses on Diamond Hill were erected during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries and range from speculative houses erected as rental units (see: 1400 block
Church Street, 13th Street, and Diamond Street), to such upper-middle-class residences as
517 Washington (Beaux Arts, 1910-11), 419 Washington (Colonial Revival, 1901, and 1314
Clay Street (Colonial Revival, 1901).
The more formidable residences of Diamond Hill line Washington and-Clay streets,
and sections of Pearl and Madison streets. Included among these are an unusually high
number of Georgian Revival houses. Of the 12 examples found on Diamond Hill, the outstanding examples are 508 Washington, 400 Washington, and 1411 Madison. Two almost
iueutical Georgian Revival dwellings at 1304 and 1308 Clay Street were built in 1906.
At first glance, 500 Washington Street (Queen Anne, ca. 1898) appears to set itself
off from it= classicclly derived neighbors with its massive entrance portico, octagonal
corner tower, and decorative terrs cotta brick. However, closer inspection reveals the
underlying form of the building to be a 5-bay, Georgian Revival house capped by a highpitched, hipped reef.
The Colonial Revival was also popular: thirteen houses in this style are located
within the district's confines. Prominent examples are found at 419 Washington Street
and 313 and 314 Clay Street. Little construction in the Eastlake and Queen Anne styles
(See Continuation Sheet fl 2)
0) CJGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
_PREHISTORIC
--ARCHEOLUG'l'-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-RELIGION
_f400-1499
----ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-1500-\599
_.AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
_1600-1699
~RCH!TECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
Xsoc1AUR--
x1100-11ss
-.A_AT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
_1800-1899
_COMMERCE
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
.K,soo- 10
_COMMUNICATIONS
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
x_~ETTLEMENT
_INDUSTRY
_INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Hill, once one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential neighborhoods,
enjoyed its greatest prosperity.at the turn of the century. This period was marked by
construction of numerous new residences ranging from speculative builderjrental units to
stately, architect-designed town houses. Prominent businessmen and civic leaders
including bankers, tobacco manufacturers, attorneys, mayors, councilmen, and state
legislators, clustered in this ~rea along Washington, Clay, Pearl, and Madison streets,
erecting large houses for themselves and their families.
Their choice of architecture was most often either Georgian or Colonial Revival. Of
the 26 houses lining Washington Street, almost two-thirds were erected in these styles.
On Clay Street, almost half the residences are Colonial or Georgian Revival.
)
The high incidence of Georgian and Colonial Revival houses on Diamond Hill is
attributed to 1) the declining popularity of the more picturesque Eastlake and Queen Anne
styles, and 2) the conservative nature of Diamond Hill's population. Shunning the
Shingle and Craftsman styles as "low art" architecture, residents of Diamond Hill turned
to the grander imagery of the ordered, balanced, classically inspired Georgian and
Colonial Revivals. Twelve Georgian Revival houses appear within the district. The most
formidable of these is 508 Washington (1909), designed by J.M.B. Lewis. The house,
sheathed in Flemish-bond brick with glazed headers, is fronted by a cenl: •"dl, semicircular
portico topped by a balustraded deck. The first-floor entrance is framed by decorative
multi-pane sidelights and transom. Architrave tripartite windows are set in the first-floor
side bays. Double doors topped by an elliptical fanlight front on to the second-floor
porch deck. A decorative wrought-iron fence and gate set the house off from the street and
add to the overall formal composition. Other stately examples of the Georgian Revival are
found at 400 Washington and 1420 Madison streets.
Notable examples of the Colonial Revival are seen at 313 and 314 Clay and at 419 and
SOS Washington streets. The detailing of the latter two houses suggests they were
designed by the same, currently unidentified, architect.
The most prestigious house on Diamond Hill is 517 Washington Street, an imposing
Beaux Arts residence erected in grand scale. Giant order, paired columns define the
central entrance portico. The arched and recessed entrance is a play on Palladian window
motifs. The building is two stories in height capped by a balustraded deck. Order and
symmetry dominate the facade composition. The building is of beige brick and is marked
by stone springers and keystones over first-floor arched window openings. An attractive
enclosed glass porch with patterned curvilinear mullions is situated at the west end of the
house and is balanced by a frame pergola to the east.
Three houses on Washington break from the pervading conservative air of
518 and 605 Washington are the only structures representing Eastlakeandstick
street. 518 Washington (EastlakeA:}ueen Anne}, aside (S
.
.
ee Cont1nuat1on
Sheet
,'\
Diamond Hill.
styles on this
u" 25)
,
IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ·
,
Artwork £f Lynchburg and Danville Virginia. (9 parts). Chicago: The Gravure Illustration Company, 1903.
Blackford, Susan Leigh. Memoir. Madison Heights, 1894, 1959.
Christian, William Ashbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, 1900.
City of Lynchburg. General Ordinances. 1880Division of Planning. Historic District Survey, Lynchburg,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
May
1976._
Virginia.
li!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
QUADRANGLE NAME _Lynchb~1:g ,__ _v_a_.- - - - - -
42 acres
(See Continuation Sheet //28)
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
Al.lilJ !6!6 14!613101 !4 11(4,1}8,8,0j
ZONE
EASTING
QUADRANGLE SCALE _=.1.:.::2=--4c.:Oc::0..::0_ _ _ _ _ __
Bl!,2J ! 6! 6, 4181 o. or
ZONE
NORTHING
cUll.l !6l614!61l10! l4,ll41117r6,o!
DL!tl]
I 4 1 11 4 I 1! 61 81 Oj
NORTHING
EASTING
I 616 14!5 12,oJ
14,1!4,1! 312101
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The nominated boundaries are drawn to coincide with the Diamond Hill Historic District
boundaries established by the City of Lynchburg1 and encompass three separate sections.
The sections and parcels listed in the following description are found on the copy of the
current Lynchburg Valuation Maps 025 and 046 included with this nomination.
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
• >
E!IFORM PREPARED BY
NAME/ TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE
ORGANIZATION
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
April 1979
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Richmond
Virginia 23219
ISSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STATE_!__
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for ipclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and pr
STATE H
TITLE
res
t
foJP ;(jp~ational Park Service.
.
.
IC PRESERV~SIGNATUAE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
DIRECTOR, OFFICI,
ATTl;ST:
KEEPER OF TliE NATIONAL REGISTER, .
'
\.c.
__ .f_
GPO 892- 453
•
-
Form No. 10-JOOa
,Hev. 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THt_ iNTERIOR
FOR NPS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
use ONLY
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEH
7.
1/2
ITEM NUMBER
z
PAGE
1
DESCRIPTION
occurred on Diamond Hill, thus accentuating 618 Washington Street. The seeming frivolity
of this building with its corner tower, decorative "Moorish" porch, and Eastlake "dormers"
delightfully contrasts with its more staid neighbors.
No major connnercial development exists within the district's boundaries, A small
corner market (1321 Harrison, ca. 1915) and a used furniture store (1315 Harrison, Quonset
hut, ca. 1945), mark the only connnercial activity on Diamond Hill. With the exception of
the apartments at 1312-1316\ Church Street, all residences in the district were constructed as either detached single-family residences or duplexes, of frame or brick construction, 1\ to 2\ stories in height. No buildings break above 2\ stories thus maintaining a unified scale and preserving the residential atmosphere of the district. To the
west of Diamond Hill on Grace Street stands the Diamond Hill Baptist Church, a brick, 2\story building with corner tower, central rose window and side lancet windows (Vernacular/
Gothic Revival, 1886) A one-story, concrete, glass, and steel YMCA building (1956), stands
in the northeast corner of the district. The building, a well-designed interpretation of
the International Style, unfortunately does not fit in with the overall character of the
historic neighborhood.
Photographs from 1903 reveal that many of Diamond Hill's early houses have undergone
only minor alterations. Exterior alterations tend to have been limited to removal of
corniccz, wood trim, balusters, and occasionally porches. A few houses, such as those
found on Chestnut and Diamond streets exhibit asbestos shingles and siding additions.
Most frame houses within the district retain their original clapboard or weatherboard
siding.
While many houses on Diamond Hill were converted to multi-family dwelling units during
the 20th eentury, efforts are currently underway by residents and a local historical
soc.iety to return these to single-family units.
BNZ
The following is an inventory of all the buildings comprising the Diamond Hill
Historic District:
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Forr:'" No. 10-3b~a
(Re.,_ 'l-74)'
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI I\IUATION SHEET //1
6.
ITEM NUMBER 6 ,
10
PAGE l
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
2),
Diamond Hill Historical Society, Historic Preservation Survey 1977-78.
1977-78
Local
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission - 221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1978
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
4).
Works Progress Administration Survey
Federal
Virginia State Library
Richmond, Virginia 23219
9.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Council. 1882.
Mutual Assurance Policies. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Archives,
Virginia.
Yancey, Rosa. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, 1835.
Richmond,
MAPS
_!::ray_~~ New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 0. W. Gray & Son,
Philadelphia, 1877.
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity. G. William Baist, Philadelphia, 1891.
10.
GEORGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
SECTION 1:
Block 025-25
Encompassing parcel 04 at SW. corner of Church and Pearl streets;
SECTION 2:
Block 046-06
Encompassing parcels 11-22 on NE side of Church Street.
(See Continuation Sheet #28)
Form Ne 1 Q.JQOa
{11ev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TIIE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO?\'IINA TION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE?
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Chestnut Street
400 Block
Rouses on the north side of the 400 block of Chestnut Street are built on a steep hill.
419: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch addition.
nacular. 1907. Asbestos shingle siding detracts from period appearance.
2
Ver-
421: frame; 1 story; pyramidal roof; 2 bays; 2-bay porch with turned posts and
turned balusters. Vernacular cottage. 1907.
431:
vacant
500 Block
q
502: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch. Vernacular. Rouse
dates from turn of the century. Later alterations disguise original fabric.
Appears as ca. 1950 ranch house.
c.
504: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays.
century. Bricktex siding.
Vernacular.
Late 19th/early 20th
C
507: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
roof addition to east. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
Shed-
510: frame with pebbledash and aluminum siding; 2\ stories; hipped roof with
central hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay addition to west. Vernacular/
Colonial Revival. Ca. 1920.
516: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 1-story porch. Vernacular.
tury. Central chimney. Asbestos shingle siding.
518:
Late 19th cen-
vacant
600 Block
1
•
600: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays.
terior end chimney to west.
Vernacular.
Late 19th century.
(See continuation sheet# 4)
In-
Form No 10"300a
{Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street
Stone sidewalks line the west side of Church Street.
1300 Block
1305:
parking lot
brick; 2), stories; mansard roof with 4 gabled dormers; 6 bays; 2
1-story, 3-bay, ell porches with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, sawn corner
brackets, and perrdant. Duplex. Second Empire. Ca. 1880. Each duplex is a
mirror image of the other, though, as the building is located on an incline, the
half to the north is several feet lower than its neighbor to the south. Segmental arched wall openings. Shingle Style bay-window addition (ca. 1900) on south
end, Patterned slate on mansard roof.
, / 1307-13)9:
1310 (Moore's Folly): brick; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable;
5 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1850, Interior end chimneys with chimney pots. Presently being restored with Colonial Revival windows and window heads not sympathetic to the original building. Frame, 2-story, gable-roof building to the
north. Vernacular. Ca. 1869.
1312-1316),: Series of 5 identical apartment units, each described as follows:
-:,; 1-story,
brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof fronted by scalloped parapet; 2
:er of
hipped-roof porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. Pendants at ends and
parapet.
1313 (YMCA Building): steel and concrete; 1 story; flat roof; 11 bays; 1-story
entrance canopy in central 5 bays. International Style, 1955-56. Upper deck
on roof. Center bay of brick. All other bays are of plate glass separated by
round pillars and aluminum frames. Clear, precise geometric units with banded
windows and hovering planes make this a standard exercise in the International
Style. While a good example of the International Style, this building does not
co,·.tribute to the historic character of the district.
i(;
1318: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch addition across
facade. Vernacular. Ca. 1850.
!
1319:
parking lot
1320:
vacant
·!
(See continuation sheet ft 5)
Form No_ 10 · 3COa
(Re\/_ 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTE8EC>
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
5
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street, cont'd
1324: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof with cross gable in south bay; 2 bays;
1-story, hipped-roof porch across facade, Vernacular builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1888.
1400 Block
) ·
1400-1406:
vacant
1408: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 1-story, 3bay porch in south 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1888.
3-part bay window in 1st story of north bay. Decorative bargeboard beneath
cornice and along bay window and porch cornices.
1414: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909, Identical to 1418 Church Street.
1418: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909. Identical to 1414 Church Street.
·., 1420: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in south bay; 1-story, shedroof porch in north 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1890.
Bay window in 1st floor of south bay,
1500 Block
1501: brick; 1\ stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch addition in
central bay, Vernacular. Ca, 1845. Extensively altered, Bull's-eye window
heads. 6/6 sash. Exterior end chimneys, Central donner addition. House on
stone basement.
Clay Street
Unlike other streets in the Diamond Hill Historic District, Clay Street has not been
paved. The original brick street remains intact. In addition, Clay Street is lined on
both sides with decorative brick sidewalks and deciduous trees.
(See continuation sheet
tfa
6 )
'
Form No. 10-300a
!Nev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
'
OR NPS use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF 1IlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
6
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
5
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1200 Block
'
)
'-I
1216: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. 1902-03.
1-light transom over south bay door. Diamond-shaped window is the only wall
opening on south end.
1220: frame; 1\ stories; gable roof with 2 round-arched, donner windows with
round-arched keystone heads in east and west bays; small cross gable in center
bay; 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay porch in central bay, Vernacular (Ornamental Revival cottage in fonn). Ca. 1872. Central entrance, 2 central chimneys with
paired chimney pots. Built by Charles H. Bryant, Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance.
1223: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story, hipped-roof porch
across facade, Modified Colonial Revival, 1906. Aluminum siding detracts
from period appearance.
1225: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch with sawn
balustrade and corner brackets across facade, Vernacular. Ca. 1881. Transom
and sidelights frame door in north bay,
1300 Block
1300: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable to the south; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in north 2 bays. 2nd-story porch addition with pyramidal
roof in central bay. Builder's Eastlake. 1889. Simple bargeboard and finial
in cross gable. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Most likely built by Stephens,
a local builder and contractor in Lynchburg.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays with I-story, 1-bay addition to
south; 1-story, 2-bay porch across main body of house, Vernacular, Ca, 1884.
Stuccoed.
1304: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central gabled donner; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with paired columns and central pediment. Georgian Revival,
1906, Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows. Tripartite window in
2nd-floor central bay. Interior end ~himneys, Modillioned cornice, Except for
4onners, this house is identical to 1308 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Walter Addison, state senator from the LynchburgCampbell County district from 1916-1918, and editor of the Lynchburg~.
(See continuation sheet 417
)
·mm Na 10- 300a.
t-te11· '1Q- 74)
UNITED STATES DEP,\RT~lENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR MPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
I\(' fiOl"JAL REGISTER
OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTE"'ll-'-E=-0"'-----'··----'-------'
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
7
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
8
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1307: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 3 bays; 1-st.'<_ry,
5-bay porch with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, turned porch posts, and cor·
ner brackets. Center bay of porch topped by 2nd-floor deck with turned balus~
trade and posts with finials. Modified Eastlake Style.
1898. l·light transom
over central double doors. Home of Robert G. Robinson, prominent Lynchburg
tobacco businessman.
1.i
~-J
.
'
-~
1308: brick; 2), stories; hipped roof with 2 gabled dormers; 3 bays; l·story,
3-bay porch with paired colunms and central pediment. Georgian Revival. 1906 •
Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows, Tripartite window in 2ndfloor central bay. Interior end chimneys. Modillioned cornice, Except for
dormers, this house is identical to 1304 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Richard C. Stokes, prominent tobacco businessman
in Lynchburg, and one-time member of the city council.
1311:
vacant
1312: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; l·
story porch across facade. Builder's Colonial Revival. Ca. 1901, Stylized
Palladian window in cross gable pediment,
1313: frrune; 2), stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay and dormer
in south bay; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, flat-roof porch with center pedimented
entrance. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1905, Hip flashing. Hip knobs. Modillioned
cornice. Round-headed window in dormer, Palladian window in cross gable pedi·
ment, Dormer and cross gable pediment shingled.
Cc,
1314: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central tower (conical tower roof with
finial) and side gable dormers; 3 bays; l·story, 3-bay porch with Doric columns.
Columns flanked by shingle pillars supporting battered piers. Turned balusters.
Porch is centered by low-pitch pediment with low-relief woodwork.
Colonial Re·
vival. 1901. Central round tower with patterned shingles rises apove porch
pediment. Paired columns extending from the top of the porch to the roof eave
2nd-floor east and west bays. Wide roof eave with paired, attenuated brackets.
Oval, Palladian, and bay windows on south end, Home of Judge Henry C. McDowell,
judge of the U.S. District Court for the western district of Virginia.
1400 Block
tf
"'·
?·
.. I
1417: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 5 bays; l·story, 4-bay porch with curved
brackets and turned balustrade in center 3 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca.
1885. Exterior end chimneys.
(See continuation sheet /fo 8)
.'
orm•No 10.JOOa·
Hev 10·'74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTl:RIOR
FOR N?S
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
rf:TIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
6
~
7.
..
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
ll,20: corrugated tin; 1 and 2 stories; low-pitch roof with center gabled section; 2 bays. Vernacular warehouse. Early 20th century.
'ii
1421: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
with turned posts and turned balustrade. ·Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
projection in north bay. Bracketed cornice, Architrave moldings
openings. Entrance in center bay. Bricktex siding detracts. from
across facade
Cross gable
over all wall
period appear-
ance.
1425: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, shed-roof porch in
central bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-1910. Entrance in center bay. 2/2 sash. 2
interior chimneys. Aluminum siding.
(
amond Street
'lhe west side of Diamond Street is vacant.
1500 Block
1510-1520 Diamond Street are all covered with bricktex siding.
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch.
Ca. 1890.
Vernacular I house.
1512: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 2-story projecting wing addition in
north bay; 1-story porch in south bay. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1883.
1514: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch in south bay.
Vernacular I house. Ca. 1906.
1516: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays; 3-bay porch with turned posts and
balusters. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910.
,.
1520: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in south bay.
ular I house. Ca. 1885. Vacant.
Vernac-
Federal Street
The west side of Federal Street is vacant. Directly behind the Diamond Hill Baptist
Church is a small lot currently used for parking.
( - ~ Street (formerly Campbell Court House Road)
Decorative brick sidewalks line the south side of Grace Street.
(See continuation sheet {f9
)
Il
~o,rn No. 10-300a
.Hev. 1 O; 74}
UNITE[) ST A TES OEPART:\IENT OF THI: INTERIOR
i'OR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVEI-.TTORY -- NOMINATION FORl\.1
(
.
0!\TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
9
ITEM Nl.lMBER
7
PAGE
7
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
·-.
Grace Street, cont'd
600 Block
'-it,
603:
···--·-
brick; 2 stories; gable roof with stepped parapet.
". 605: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays.
tex siding.
0
607:
vacant
.JI
609:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays;
Vernacular. Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1915.
Ca. 1920 •. Brick-
1-story, hipped-roof porch in west
Southwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street: frame triangular house occupying triangular lot; 1 story; flat roof. Vernacular. 1st quarter of the 20th
century.
Northwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street:
\ ·
vacant
1400 Block
1401: frame; 2!, stories; hipped roof with cross gable projecting wing in south
bay; 2 bays; 1-story, flat-roof porch with turned posts, turned balustrade, and
spindle corner brackets. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1906.
ll10S: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north 3 bays; 1-story,
pedimented porch in south bay. Queen Anne speculative house. Ca. 1894. 2story bay window in north 3 bays. Fanlight ·in cross gable pediment. Scheduled
for demolition.
/
1409: frame; 21, stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and balustrade and sawn corner brackets across facade. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10.
C'
o
,.· .
.J
;;:
'~
1411 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church): brick; 2 stories; clipped gable roof; 3
bays; 3-story tower in north bay. Late Victorian Gothic Revival. 1886 (corner
stone). Remodeled 1903. Lancet windows on first floor. Rose window in 2ndfloor central bay. String course. Tower capped by pyrainidal roof. Decorative
brickwork along frieze. Terracotta belt course and over 1st-floor south bay
lane.et window. Brickwork by Lewis Bolling. See: Book of Remembrance of the
Diainond Hill Baptist Church, Lynchburg, 1972.
(See continuation sheet
/fo
10)
......
,-
(
I
::Orrn No 1 0-300a
IHe\l. 10-74)
•
U Nil ED STA.IES DEP,\RTMENT OE TIIE INTERIOR
FOR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVl:D
NATiONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI Ol'J FORM
D/>.TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
10
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
9
·-
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Grace Street, cont'd
1413 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church Parsonage): brick; 1), stories; 3 bays; ·1-story, pedimented entrance porch in central bay, Colonial Revival cottage,
Ca, 1948.
'Jj
o Northwest corner 15th and Grace Street (Firehouse): brick; 2 stories; hipped
roof with central chimney (paired chinmey pots); 3 bays; bracketed hood over
central entrance, Italianate, 1883. Decorative frieze. Attributed to
August Forsberg, city engineer.
1500 Bloc!,
-0
1500: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
north bay; 3-part bay window (1 story) in south bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance,
;:·. ,- /_, \• ;,\'t\.~
.7
1
'.
\,
L,,,(
C't(.;:_,.,r,'
ti,~ ,-~.<'•.i,
.
150't-l506:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 4 bays; 1story, 6-bay porch. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900. Stylized pediments
over wall openings. Asbestos siding detracts from period appearance.
Harrison Street
1300 Block
/,
'.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay porch in west bay.
Vernacular, Ca. 1910, Bay window in cast bay. Similar to 609 13th Street.
'I
1302-1304: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof
porch with decorative spindle work (balustrade removed). Vernacular. Ca.
1900-10. Built at same time as 1306 Harrison Street. Bracketed cornice, Wide
cornice with slat vents.
s
'·'
1303: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch
with simple balustrade, turned posts and spindle corner brackets. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
;~
1306: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with decorative balustrade and spindle work. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
1307-1309: frame.; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story porch across facade, Duplex, Vernacular. Ca, 1890-1900. Interior end chimneys. Similar to 1311-1313
Harrison Street.
(See continuation sheet P-11)
1
Form No 10-3.00v
(Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTr.RIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVEO
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
11
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
10
DESCRIPTION• Inventory
Harrison Street, cont'd
1310: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 2 bays;
!·story, Eastlake porch across facade with turned porch posts, spindle frieze,
and turned balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance. Simple iron fence fronts property.
1311-1313: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; l·story porch across facade
with scroll corner brackets and simple balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900.
Similar to neighbor at 1307·13V9 Harrison Street.
(,
1314-1316: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with pedimented cross gable projecting pavilions in end bays; central hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch with central pediment. Duplex. Colonial Revival builder/speculative
house, Ca. 1910, Fanlights in each cross gable pediment,
1315: corrugated metal; semi-cylindrical metal structure with end walls; 1story; 1 bay, Central entrance flanked by large, 4-light windows, Quonset hut,
Ca, 1945,
·:11
1317-1319: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with 2 hipp2d-roof donners in central 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze, fan brackets, turned balustrade, and turned porch posts in north 2 bays. Identical porch
ln south 2 bays. Duplex. (Each duplex mirrors the other). Vernacular, Ca.
1910, Similar in character to 1314-1316 Harrison Street,
1321: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 5 bays. Early 20th-century commercial
building. Corner market. A store has occupied this site from at least 1877,
The inventor of "Chap Stick" is said to have operated a drug store at this location,
1400 Block
The 1400 block of Harrison has stone sidewalks.
o
1407: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with large central cross gable; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and sawn brackets across facade,
Queen Anne, Ca, 1885, Imbricated shingle pattern on 2nd floor and in north
bay cross gable pediment of porch. House fronted by white picket fence.
1414:
0
vacant
1415: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with gable projection in south bay and
gabled dormer with sunburst in pediment in north bay; 2 bays; 1-story ell porch
with upper deck, Queen Anne. Ca. 1890. Imbricated shingle frieze between 1st
and 2nd floors and beneath cornice, Imbricated shingles and fanlight in gable
(See continuation sheet fnz )
Form No 10-300a
(hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET 12
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 11
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Harrison Street, cont 1 d
1415 (cont'd}: pediment. Tripartite window in 2nd floor of south bay.
porch balustrade. House fronted by simple cast-iron fence.
Turned
o 1416:
frame and stucco; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, central porch. Side porch to south. Georgian Revival. 1896. Remodeled
with Craftsman influence ca. 1910-15.
r,
. ,o
1418-1420: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with 3 cross gables ascending in size
from north to south; 4 bays with a 1-bay, 2-story addition to the south; J.-story
entrance porch in both the 3rd bay and in the bay addition. Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1855. All roof finials and bargeboards removed, Paired chimney pots over
2nd bay. Trefoil in south bay cross gable and end gable. Gothicized Palladian
window in 2nd-floor 4th bay. Colonial Revival oval window addition in 3rd bay •
1421: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across
facade. Italianate, Ca. 1870. House entrance shifted to Harrison Street. 2story, 3-part bay window to south end, Paired bracketed cornice, Bracketed
window hoods.
Madison Street
Both sides of the 1400 block of Madison Street are lined with decorative brick sidewalks, Trees grace both sides of this street.
1300 Block
o 1301:
brick and frame; 1 story; mansard-roof
addition; 4 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch addition. Vernacular. Ca. 1817 with 3rd quarter of the 19th- century additions, See "Death of a Venerable Old Citizen," Lynchburg Virginian,
March 9, 1880. This is the oldest house on Diamond Hill.
•/
c
1302: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Ca. 1910. Bracketed eave. Asbestos shingles,
Vernacular,
c
1303: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch,
Vernacular with Eastlake detailing. Ca. 1887. Bricktex siding. Eastlake pediments over all 2nd-floor wall openings.
1306: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays with 1-story addition to north;
1-story, 3-bay porch in central and south bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1901. Oval
window in front gable. Entrance with transom to north.
(See continuation sheet # 13 )
form No 10-3D0a
IHev 10'. 74)
lJNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
13
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 12
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Madison Street, cont'd
.. I
"
1309: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gables in north bay and south 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in south 3 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1890,
Stylized entablature over all wall openings, Entrance in 3rd bay. Asbestos
siding.
1311: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in south 2 bays. Builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10,
Bay window in 1st-floor north bay, Transom and sidelights frame central entrance, Bracketed cornice.
1400 Block
•
vi
\
.
1411: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; central, pedimented, slightly
projecting pavilion; 1-story, central porch with paired columns and upper deck,
Georgian Revival, Ca, 1905, Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights, Belt course between 1st and 2nd floors. Low beveled water table. 6/9
sash 1st floor. 6/6 sash 2nd floor, 1-story, 1-bay porch along south side of
house, 2 interior chimneys. Fanlight in central pediment, Rowlock segmentally
arched window heads. Doric frieze on porch, Dentiled frieze on main house,
Built by Dr, James Morrison, a prominent Lynchburg physician in the early 20th
century,
1420: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with 3 pedimented gable dormers; 5 bays;
1-story, 3-bay central porch. Georgian Revival, Ca. 1910. Flat keystone
arches over all windows. Decorative transom and sidelights. 2-door opening
with fanlights on 2nd floor fronts onto porch deck, Recessed rectangula, panels
in north and south bays between 1st and 2nd floors, 2 interior end chimneys on
each end, Decorative Classical frieze and cornice, Built by W.B, Snead and
Sons (This firm also built 1304 and 1308 Clay Street, and buildings at both
Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute).
1500 Block
u
1500: frame; 21 stories; hipped roof with 2-bay, gabled projecting pavilion to
south; 1-story ell porch with paired columns and turned baluster. Simple cornice
brackets on porch and cornice, Vernacular. Ca. 1907,
c
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front .
Vernacular. Before 1869, 1-story, 1-bay side wing additions to north and
south. House fronted by white picket fence,
·,~
.~
(See continuation sheet #14)
l
Form No 10-300a
(kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\llNT OF TIii: INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lllSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
14
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
13
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
'
Madison Street, cont'd
o 1514: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with turned
colwtu,:, and turned corner brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. North bay projection has front gable roof. Diamond vent in front gable. I-light transom over
south entrance. Asbestos siding.
•,.
1515: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with
turned balustrade across front. Vernacular. Ca. 1890. I-story, 1-bay gabled
addition to south. North bay fronts interior stair. Double-door entrance in
south {central) bay. Porch and south bay addition share similar circle motif
on friezes.
1600 Block
1600: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
west bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1915.
Opal Street
500 Block
The north side of the 500 block of Opal Street is marked by a high retaining wall.
.. ?
.
"
0
510: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with turned
posts and simple rails. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910. Yard fronted by white
picket fence.
Pear.!_ Street (formerly Falls Alley)
Decorative brick sidewalks are noted on Pearl Street from Main to Church streets.
south side of Pearl from Main Street to Church Street is vacant.
The
t~.
~ii::
200 Block
q,,
211: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch across
facade. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1893.
300 Block
No houses are found on the north side of Pearl Street in the 300 and 400 blocks.
312-312\: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
Duplex.
(See continuation sheet !! 15)
Form _No 10-J·ooa
(Nev 1Q. 74)
UNITED ST t\TES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET
15
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
14
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
400 Block
o
·'
404-406:
1885.
410:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays.
Duplex.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1863;
vacant
416: frame; 1 story; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story ell porch.
Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
500 Block
500:
vacant
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line both sides of the 600 block of Pearl Street.
O 600:
brick; 2\ stories; cross gable roof; 5 bays with 2-story, 3-part bay window in central 3 bays; 1-story ell porch to east. Queen Anne. Ca. 1886. Gothic
finials on roof. Open end gable work in front gable. Small frame cottage to
south built as servants quarters. House fronted by decorative cast-iron fence.
House built by Nathaniel Clayton Manson, mayor of Lynchburg from 1884-91, director of the YMCA in 1887, member of the city council from 1893 to 1897, and city
attorney in 1897 to 1924. Manson was chairman of the executive committee at
Sweet Briar College and gave generous financial support to this institution.
601: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable. to east and gabled dormer
to west; 2 bays; I-story, 4-bay, shed-roof porch with turned posts across facade.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1895. 2-story, 3-bay wing to west. Exposed diagonal braces
in cross gable. Patterned shingles on 2nd floor. Clapboard 1st floor.
~
604-606: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in end bays; 4 bays;
1-story, shed-roof porch with pedimented entrances in center 2 bays. Duplex.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1885. Board and batten walls behind exposed gable struts in
end gables (exposed king post, collar beam and collar brace). Central chimney.
6
605-607: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
hipped-roof porch in east and west bays. Duplex. Builder's Colonial Revival
duplex. Ca. 1900. Decorative multi-pane windows in central bay 1st floor.
House on high basement. Turned baluster on porch.
(See continuation sheet ii 16 )
Form No. 10-300a
!Kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
16
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
15
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
.,
611: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch supported by Ionic columns across facade topped by 2ndstory porch in center bay. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. This house was built
by Fortunatus Sydnor Kirkpatrick, vice president of the Lynchburg Foundry Company
and an attorney in the firm of Kirkpatrick and Howard. He later built and occupied the house across the street at 708 Pearl Street.
c
618: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch, hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch with upper
deck in central bay. 1-story porch with spindle frieze, turned posts, turned
balustrade and sawn brackets added to east end in 1876. Built by Charles Blackford, prominent local attorney, and a captain in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, In
1862 he was appointed judge advocate of the 1st Corps. Blackford served as city
attorney from 1878 to 1881. In 1884 he was president of the chamber of commerce
and was a member of the city council from 1894 to 1895. See: Susan Leigh Blackford, Memoir, Madison Heights, 1894 (1959).
700 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the 700 block of Pearl Street to the north.
walks to the south are of stone.
The side-
700: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof, 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay, central entrance
porch. Italianate. Ca. 1862. Paired 4/4-sash, segmentally arched windows.
Bracketed window hoods. 2-light transom and sidelights. House fronted by brick
piers and iron fence. Paired bracketed cornice. Synnnetrical facade.
708: brick (Flemish bond); 21:, stories; gable roof with 3 pedimented dormers; S
bays; 1-story, central portico with paired columns and piers. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910. Round-arched windows in dormers. Shutters removed. String course.
Modillioned cornice. Iron porch deck not original. Central entrance framed by
transom and sidelights. Once occupied by F.S. Kirkpatrick. See 611 Pearl Street.
709: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central hipped dormer; 2 bays; 1-story,
2-bay, hipped-roof porch. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1915-20.
Shingled. Entrance in east bay.
710:
vacant
711: frame; 21:, stories; gable roof with cross gabb in east.bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch in west bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca.
1887. Fire victim.
(See continuation sheet# 17)
Fo,m No 10-300a
n1e,-. 1O·-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
IN\lENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHEE.T
7.
17
ITEMNUMBER
7
PAGE
16
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
.,.
Pearl Street, cont'd
C
\,
713: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch with spindle frieze in east bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1887. 1-story, 3-part, bay window in west bay. Asbestos
shingles detract from period appearance. Mirror image of 711 Pearl Street.
\
Spruce Street
Spruce Street is vacant on both sides.
Washington Street
The south side of Washington Street is lined by stone sidewalks.
300 Block
, ,,
c
302: brick; 2~ stories; hipped roof with side pedimented dormers and central,
curved, broken pedimented dormer; 5 bays; 1-story porch across facade. Georgian Revival. 1907-08. Brick quoins. Jack arches with keystone. 2nd floor
stylized Palladian window in central bay. Central entrance framed by multilight fanlight and sidelights. Interior end chimneys. Fronted by wroughtiron fence. Metal porch awning detracts from period appearance. Site of
Piedmont College.
,
305: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, Colonial Revival porch in west bay. Originally Greek Revival. Mid-19th century. Built
in 2 sections. West bay ca. 1849. East bay ca. 1865. Decorative transom and
sidelights surround west bay entrance. Home of Edward Beck, Lynchburg's 1st
city manager (1920-1925).
c
307: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, cast-iron porch with
cast-iron cresting. Italianate town house. Ca. 1884-86. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-length windows on 1st-floor center and east bays. Double-door entrance
in west bay. All 1st-floor wall openings with multi-pane transoms. All wall
openings segmentally arched.
310: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 2 pedimented dormers to east and west;
curved pedimented dormer in central bay (dormers contain 8/8 sash); 3 bays; 1story, 1-bay entrance portico. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance framed
by transom and sidelights. All window openings marked by flat brick arches
with stone keystone and springer. Tripartite window in central bay of 2nd
floor. Interior end chimneys. House fronted by high brick and stone retaining
wall.
(See continuation sheet if 18 )
Form No 10-300a
\t1ev 10- 741
UNITED STA TES DEPARTMENT OF Till: INTERIOR
FOR NPS US!; ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTERED
.
.
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
18
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
17
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
\ :•
312: brick; 11 stories; high-pitched gable roof with 2 gable dormers; 2 bays;
1-story, shed-roof, entrance porch with turned posts in east bay. Vernacular
Colonial Revival cottage. 1953. Dentiled cornice. Built by J.B. Mason and
Sons, Builders.
313: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with central, 5-bay, Colonial Revival
"Palladian" dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, semicircular, central entrance porch
fronted by horseshoe stairway and square pillars topped by round pendants.
Greek Revival altered to Colonial Revival. Ca. 1855 with extensive alterations.
in 1909. Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights. Window openings topped by flat arches with keystone. Interior end chimneys. House and
dormer share similar dentiled and modillioned cornice. Porte-cochere to the
west. 19th-century carriage house to the rear (north). Panel on the 2nd floor
reads: Decorated by the J.G. Valiant Co~ 224 N. Charles Street,Baltimore,
Maryland, G.A. Brown, superintendent, William H. Bayer and Rich. Wright, workmen, October 1909. Mutual Assurance Policy: (possibly) R7/V 60/N 760A (1856).
316: frame and stucco; 21 stories; hipped roof with central cross gable 2ndfloor projection; stylized Palladian window within pediment. Pedimented dormer
with columns and round-arched window in east bay; 5 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with blank frieze and <lentils across facade. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. Bow
window in east 2 bays. 3-part bay window in 2nd floor of central bay. Central
entrance framed by multi-light fanlight and sidelights. Modillioned cornice.
House fronted by cast-iron fence.
400 Block
400: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 21 stories; hipped roof with 3
central pedimented and pilastered dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, pedimented entrance
portico in central bay. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1902. Tripartite, stylized
Palladian windows in 1st-floor east and west bays. All window openings topped
by keystone. Brick quoins. Entrance fran,ed by fanlight and sidelights. Brick
string course above 1st- and 2nd-story windows. Dentiled and modillioned cornice. 1-story, 1-bay side porch to east. House fronted by 4-to-41-foot brick
(Flemish bond with glazed headers) wall.
401: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
central entrance porch supported by Doric columns, Georgian Revival. Ca. 1900.
Multi-light fanlight and sidelights. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Plain
frieze. Modillioned cornice,
(See continuation sheet# 19)
Form No. 10-JOOa
(11ev". 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
1
0ATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
19
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
ITEM NUMBER
7
18
---------------PAGE
Washinston Street, cont'd
e
405: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented donners (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 3 bays; 1-story, central porch with paired
Ionic columns, Colonial Revival. Ca. 1902, Egg and dart cornice, End pilasters. Architrave windows. Decorative fanlight and sidelights. Decorative
tripartite window in central bay of 2nd story. Iron fence fronts property.
Built by Randolph Harrison, prominent state senator and president of the Virginia State Bar Association.
c
409: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 5 bays; giant order, 3-bay porch supported by
Ionic columns. Colonial Revival, Ca. 1902. Central recessed entrance with fanlight. 2nd-floor deck in central bay supported by consoles fronts double, glass,
French doors, Doors are topped by decorative fanlight. Iron fence fronts
property.
i'!,
414:
vacant
416-418: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch across facade, Duplex. Italianate. Ca, 1870. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-to-ceiling-length windows on 1st-floor east and west bays. Transomed
entrances in 2nd and 3rd bays. Architrave window hoods over all 2nd-floor
openings,
419: frame; 2\ stories; gable with large pedimented cross gable in east 3
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, Colonial Revival porch/veranda across front and west
sides. Porch is supported by paired Ionic columns on a stone base, Colonial
Revival, 1901. Entrance in 2nd bay framed by transom and sidelights. Projecting wing in east 3 bays topped by dentiled and modillioned pediment,
Palladian window is centered in pediment. Swags on 2nd floor, Ridge of roof
topped by decorative flashing and hip knobs. Pilastered chimney stack, Probably same architect as 505 Washington Street. House fronted by iron fence,
.'
'
500 Block
500: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, projecting, hipped-roof
pavilion; 5 bays; veranda/porch along front 2 bays and east side with turned
l; balusters and newels; round-arched brick entrance portico in central bay topped
by deck and simple railing, Queen Anne. Ca, 1899. Decorative brickwork on
porch and deck posts, projecting pavilion, and on 2\-story, octagonal tower in
east bay. Decorative brickwork includes recessed panels, terracotta brick, and
patterned corner joints, Colonial Revival swags along frieze. Pilastered chim(See continuation sheet ii 20)
Form No. 10-300a
{Hev 10- 74)·
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT Ot THF 11',TEIUOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOI\-IINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEE.T
7.
20
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
19
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
500 (continued): ney stacks with corbeled caps. Flat stone window heads and
lintels. Stained glass in central pavilion above recessed window. Dentiled
cornice. Modillioned cornice on pavilion and corner tower. Imbricated roof
pattern. Decorative roof flashing with hip knobs. House possibly designed by
Edward G. Frye.
501: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with side pedimented dormers and central enclosed sleeping porch (hipped roof); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Shingle
Style/Colonial Revival. 1897. Columns can still be seen in sleeping porch.
House and porch columns shingled; dormers and sleeping porch clapboard. Stone
retaining wall topped by simple decorative iron fence.
503: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch addition
in central bay. Vernacular/Greek Revival. Ca. 1850. Interior end chimneys.
Low stone retaining wall. Probably the oldest surviving house on Washington
Street.
505: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with decorative flashing and hip knobs;
gable roof with Palladian window in pediment in east 2 bays; 4 bays; 1-story,
Colonial Revival porch/veranda supported by paired Corinthian columns along
front and sides of house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1901. Corner tower to west. Sunburst pattern in top pane of windows on 3rd floor of tower. 1st floor clapboard. 2nd floor shingled. Pilastered chimney stack. Possibly same architect
as 419 Washington Street. Wrought-iron fence fronts house.
~
I ::
508: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 2\ stories; hipped roof with 3
pedimented and pilastered dormers (12/1 sash); 5 bays; 1-story, semicircular
porch in central bay topped by deck and railing (deck fronts ornate double
doors with decorative fanlight topped by oval, flat keystone arch). Georgian
Revival. 1909. Central entrance marked by decorative transom and sidelights.
Tripartite windows with full architrave and pilasters in east and west bays.
2nd-floor openings crowned by flat keystone arches. 2nd-floor windows are
16/1 sash. Modillioned cornice. 1-story, l~bay, side porch to east. House
fronted by wrought-iron fence. This house is the most prestigious example of
the Georgian Revival in Diamond Hill. J.M.B. Lewis, architect (of Lewis and
Burnham, architects and builders).
(See continuation sheet# 21)
Form No 10-300a
(kcv 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPART'.\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
<OR NPS US£ ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI NUATJON SHEET
7.
21
20
----------------------------------ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
o
1'
I' '
517: beige Roman brick; 2~ stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays, with !-story side
wings. Central, giant order (2 stories) portico with paired Doric columns.
Porch·fronts Palladian-style entrance. Beaux Arts. 1910-11. !-story, enclosed
glass pox-ch to west with curved mullio.ns. 1-story pergola to east. Gutter
drains to east and west serve as vertical terminus points. lst-floox- side windows recessed into round ax-ches with stone keystone and springers. Porch supports
balustered deck. Built by Ernest Williams, prominent buisnessman and civic leader in Lynchburg. Williams was president of the chamber of commerce and served
on the Lynchburg city council. Williams was also involved in the Apex and Palmetto lumber companies. House is fronted by a decorative cast-iron fence. This
is perhaps the most prodigious residence found on Diamond Hill. The architect
of this house (unknown) is thought to have offices based in Baltimore.
518: frame; 2~ stories; multi-hipped roof with corner tower to the west; central
bowed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof porch with eyelid vent. Porch
work includes Eastlake cut-outs, circular and oval hoops on turned posts. Eastlake/Queen Anne. Ca. 1890-95. Circular stained-glass window in lst•floor west
bay. Round-arched double doorway. Built by John H. Kinnier, prominent Lynchburg
businessman. The style of this house is unique for Lynchburg.
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the north side of the 600 block of Washington Street.
C
! ./
,
..
602: brick, 1~ stories; gable roof with central cross gable projection; 3 bays;
1-story, cast-iron, flat-roof porch across entire facade. Gothic Revival. Ca.
1852. Cast-iron roof cresting. Cast-iron entrance stair. Lancet window in central cross gable. Window hoods over all wall openings. Exposed porch roof structure. Bargeboard and roof finials removed. House fronted by woven wire fence.
This house exhibits extensive use of cast-iron decoration. Decorative chimney
pots. Occupied from 1870 to 1880 by Thomas S. Bocock, 1st commonwealth attorney
for Appomattox County, state legislator, member of Congress, and speaker of the
Confederate congress. Built by Robinson Stabler in 1852. The News, Lynchburg,
Virginia, February 1, 1959. Interior alterations ca. 1905. Wing addition ca.
1900. Rear wing ca. 1885. House possibly designed by W. E. Ellington.
605: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof with hipped gable, and demi-octagonal projections; 4 bays; 2-story porch with jigsaw brackets and turned baluster in west
bay, 1-story, hipped-roof porch with bracketed cornice in 3rd bay. Eastlake. Ca.
1880. Irregular facade. Exterior open staircase to east. Paired and triple windows. Fronted by tall hedge.
(See continuation sheet if 22)
Form No. 1Q.300a
{Hev. 10·74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED'
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO MINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
·
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
22
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
21
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
0
609: frame (stucco); 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, hippe.d dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1920.
0
: ,
608: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west 3 bays (2nd story of
cross gable and 2nd story of west bay project from house); hipped dormer in west
bay; 4 bays; l·story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch across facade. Colonial Revival.
Ca. 1910. Palladian window in cross gable. Fanlight and sidelights surround
entrance in 3rd bay. House placed on high basement.
I
610:
vacant
611-613: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with central, hipped-roof dormer; 6 bays
with center 4 bays slightly projecting; 1-story, 6-bay, Colonial Revival porch
with turned balusters. Modified Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Central chimney.
Double-door entrances in west and east bays. 1-light transom over each entrance.
617: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch gable roof; 3 bays; l•story, 4-bay porch.
nacular. Ca. 1885. Central chimney.
,-
'1
Ver-
Thirteenth Street
400 Block
413: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, hipped-roof porch with
turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1905. Bricktex siding detracts
from period appearance.
415: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, 2-bay porch across front
with turned columns and simple railing. Vernacular. 1904-05. Entrance in east
bay. Fronted by white picket fence.
:I
500 Block
,
' ·: ?~
507: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular. Ca. 1881-84. Original door with transom in west bay. Additional
door additions to east and west. Vacant.
511: frame; 2\ stories; front gable; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular/Colonial Revival. Ca. 1903. Oval window (blocked in) in gtble pediment.
(See continuation sheet ffo23 )
Form No lti-300a
\Hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DlPARTMl:.NT Of· THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NP$ USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
o....TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
23
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
22
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Thirteenth Street, cont'd
515: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in central bay.
Vernacular. Ca. 1850. Bracketed cornice. Interior end chimneys. Thought to
have been built by Alexander Simpson, an early businessman in Lynchburg.
,· 1r,
517: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with cross gable projection in east 2 bays;
4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze in west 2 bays. Vernacular. 1901. 2 small round windows in cross gable pediment. Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance.
600 Block
1
,
ll,
617:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in east
Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
700 Block
._. 1
i
703:
lar.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in east bay.
Ca. 1900-10.
C
705:
frame; 2 stories; front gable roof.
Vernacular.
Vernacu~
Ca. 1910.
Fourteenth Street (formerly Tenth Alley)
The north side of Fourteenth Street is bordered by a large athletic field.
700 Block
707-709: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in
center 2 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Stylized pediments.over windows.
Bracketed cornice. Decorative porch scroll brackets.
712-714: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Duplex. Vernacular. 1st half of the
20th century. Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 718 Fourteenth
Street.
718: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Vernacular. 1st half of the 20th century.
Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 712-714 Fourteenth Street.
(See continuation sheet #24)
Form No 10·300a
iHev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
OAT!: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHHT
7.
24
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
23
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Mutual Assurance Policies relating to buildings no longer standing on Diamond
Hill include:
Caskie, John; southeast of Washington Street; 1831/Rev. 1863
.
I
Rl3/V 92/N 7741.
Davis, John T.; corner of 9th Street and 10th Alley; 1845/Rev. 8544
Rl8/V 113/N 14045; 1852/Rev. 14045 R20/V 124/N 17381; 1859/Rev. 17381
R23/V 136/N 21051.
Fletcher, Timothy; northeast of Main Street on Diamond Hill (north of
Caskie's residence) 1827 RlO/V 78/N 3646.
Langhorne, M.; corner of 3rd and Washington streets; 1852/Rev. 14075
R20/V 124/N 17396; 1859/17396 R23/V 136/N 21067.
Penn, Alfred (purchased from John Caskie); 3rd and Washington streets;
, 1838/Rev. 7741 Rl6JV 103/N 10919; 1845/Rev. 10919 Rl8/V 113/N 14075.
7.
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Fifteenth Street
800 Block
,
:~2
805: brick, 2 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; 1-story flat roof porch in center
3 bays. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance with transom in center bay. 2story porch to east end. 1-story, 1-bay, gable-roof wing to west. Interior
end chimneys.
....
form No. 10-300~
\Hev ,0, 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
8.
SHEET
//25
ITEM NUMBER 8
PAGE
1
SIGNIFICANCE
from its present color scheme (pink with white trim), demands attention through its
"Moorish" porch, round corner tower, and Eastlake "dormers". 605 Washington (Eastlake/
Stick style), while partially hidden from view by a large hedge fronting the street, stands
out with its irregular massing, open porches, variety of wood trim and detail, and its
exposed "structural" members. These two houses, combine with the Gothic Revival house at
602 Washington and the Beaux Arts house at 517 Washington to establish this as the most
unique intersection in Diamond Hill.
500 Washington (Queen Anne/Georgian Revival, 1898), is also one of Diamond Hill's
more picturesque homes. While the corner octagonal tower, massive round-arched, central
projecting entrance pavilion, and decorative terracotta brick seem to set this building
apart from its more traditional neighbors, its underlying 5-bay, hipped-roof form
establishes its Georgian Revival allegiance.
In addition to the large number of imposing, architect-designed residences found on
Diamond Hill, numerous speculative and builder houses erected from 1890 to 1910 also
indicate the area's turn-of-the-century prosperity. Maps from 1891 indicate land subdivision for speculative ventures along Harrison, Chestnut, and Diamond streets.I Later
speculative houses appear on Church, 13th and sections of Madison streets. Often erected
as rental housing, these builder houses display simple, unadorned facades and are fronted
by porches exhibiting turned columns and decorative sawn brackets. While individually
these houses are of only minor architectural significance, grouped together they impart
much of Diamond Hill's historic character. The 1400 block of Church Street contains some
of the better examples of speculative housing in the district (see
1408 Church Street).
The Diamond Hill area remained outside the corporate limits of antebellum Lynchburg,
when a major property owner, Henry Davis, began subdivision and sale of land parcels there.
Davis, a prominent Lynchburg businessman active in banking and railroad affairs, died on
December 13, 1863. The General Ordinances of the City of Lynchburg of 1880 note:
Several large districts within the present limits, but outside of
the corporate lines of 1827, were laid off into squares and streets
by the owners, and the streets so laid off, dedicated to the use of
the public by placing the plats on record, and by other distinct
acts declaring such intent. Thus a large portion of Diamond and
Franklin hills were so laid off by the late Henry Davis, Esq., in
his life-time, and by his heirs since his death, in the suit of
Davis' administrator vs. Davis and others, in the Corporation
Court of the City of Lynchburg.2
(See Continuation Sheet# 26)
Form No 10-300a
(11ev. 10- 74!
UNITED STATES DEP1\RTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
I
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHHT
8.
//26
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
2
SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Rill was not annexed to the city of Lynchburg until December 19, 1870. 3
Aside from Davis, other early land owners of Diamond Hill were Maurice Langhorne,
John Caskie, Alfred Penn, John Davis, and Timothy Fletcher. While all had erected
dwellings on Diamond Hill, only Langhorne's house of ca. 1855 (313 Washington Street,
extensively altered) remains.4
The earliest extant house on Diamond Hill stands at 1301 Madison and was erected ca.
1817. Altered during the last quarter of the 19th century through the addition of a
mansard roof, the first floor of the house retains its Federal mantels and some interior
trim. Mutual Assurance policies exist for other houses built on Diamond Hill in the early
19th century, though none of those houses survives. 5 1501 Church Street, said to date
from 1845, has been extensively altered. 515 13th Street is most likely the next oldest
house still standing on Diamond Hill, dating from ca. 1850.
During the 1850s two Gothic Revival houses were erected at 1418-20 Harrison and 601
Washington streets. The latter house displays elaborate cast-iron work on the front porch
and porch entrance stair. At the time of its construction, this house was undoubtedly
considered one of the finest in the city. Also during the fifties, Charles Blackford, a
prominent local attorney and active member of Lynchburg's city government, erected his
house at 618 Pearl Street. Local historians note the significance of this house as the
site of many social gatherings of notable local citizens and important visiting dignitaries
The construction of a footbridge in the late 1850s across Horseford Creek at Church
Street provided easier access to Diamond Hlll from the downtown area and undoubtedly
encouraged further settlement of the area.
Gray's map of 1877 7 indicates clusters of
houses along the 300 and 500 blocks of Washington Street (many owned by the Langhorne
family), the south side of the 500 block of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500 block
of Diamond Street. Growth patterns appear denser to the west of Diamond Hill on Grace
and Harrison streets, roads leading to the Campbell County Court House turnpike. Less
intense growth occurred in the heart of the district. The block bordered by Washington,
Church, Pearl (Falls Alley), and Clay streets remained unsubdivided until the first decade
of the 20th century.
Land was subdivided in the 1870s for worker and rental housing, including the 300 and
400 blocks of Pearl, the 600 and 700 blocks of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500
block of Diamond streets. Street improvements on Diamond Hill took place in the 1870s and
80s consisting of construction of sidegalks, paving of carriage ways, erection of retaining
walls, and the installation of sewers.
Coinciding with these improvements was the coming of Lynchburg's elite to Diamond Hill.
Diamond Hill soon became recognized as the dwelling ground of the city's prominent
businessmen and elected officials. Nathaniel Clayton Moore, Mayor of Lynchburg, member of
the City Council (1893-97), and, later, City Attorney (1898-1924), erected his house at
(SeeContinuation Sheet. 1127)
.J
1
Form No ·10.300a
{Hev l0-74)
UNITED STATES DEP.·\RT\1ENT OF Tflr. I NTF.RIOR
"OR NPS
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8.
//27
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
3
SIGNIFICANCE
600 Pearl around 1886. Charles Blackford, resident of Diamond Hill since the early 1850s,
served as City Attorney from 1878 to 1881, president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1884,
and member of the City Council from 1894 to 1895. Robert G. Robinson, owner of tobacco
manufacturing interests built 1307 Clay in 1898. Other prominent residents at the turn
of the century include Walter Addison (1304 Clay, 1906), State Senator from 1916-18;
Henry C. McDowell (1314 Clay, 1900), U.S. District Court Judge; Ralph Harrison (405
Washington, ca. 1902), State Senator and president of the Virginia State Bar; and Ernest
Williams (517 Washington, ca. 1902), president of the Chamber of Commerce and member of
the City Council.
By 1910 Diamond Hill had reached the pinnacle of its development. Experiencing a
period of decline during the second and third quarters of the 20th century, the area is
presently being revived under the direction and encouragement of concerned private
interests organized as the Diamond Hill Historical Society. Present improvements include
a general cleanup_ of the area, repairs to the exterior of buildings, and the conversion
of houses from multiple-family dwelling units back to single-family dwellings.
BZ
1
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity, G. Wm. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891. Also see: Deed
72-270 (shows the subdivision of the Booker property, 608 Washington), and plat book for
September 16, 1902. Deed book ZZ, book number 51, plate 577 shows the subdivision of the
trian~le bordered by Grace, 14th, and Federal streets (1405 Grace Street subdivision).
·city of Lynchburg, General Ordinances, 1880, p. 8. The subdivision of lands and
laying off of streets by individual property owners of lands in and tangent to towns was
common practice during the 8econd half of the 19th century.
3rn 1891, maps still referred to sections of Diamond Hill as the Davis Estate. See
Baist, ~· cit.
4Langhorne, who held large business interests in Lynchburg, erected houses for his
children and grandchildren on the two acres of land in Diamond Hill he bought ca. 1849.
WPA 62.
5Names of owners and policy numbers are listed at the end of the Diamond Hill Historic
District inventory.
6Residents of Diamond Hill petitioned the city council for a foot bridge across the
ravine on Church Street between 12th and 14th streets. Following denial of the petition,
a women's group organized to raise the necessary funds. The bridge was constructed in
1856. William Ashbury Christian, Lynchburg and its People, p. 172. Repairs to tHe bridge
were made ten years later, again paid for by funds raised by women residing on Diamond
Hill. Ibid., p. 252.
1Gray"s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia, O. W. Gray and Son,
Philaglelphia, 1877.
City of Lynchburg, Reports -9.K the Standing Committees £!. the Council of the City of
Lynchburg (from July 1, 1881 to February 1, 1882), Lynchburg, 1882, pp 32-34.
t
Form No 10-3001!
iHev. 10-74)
UNITED ST ATES DEPARTMENT OF THI' INTERIOR
~OR NPS use ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FOR.1\.:1
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
2.
SHEET //28
ITEM NUMBE82 ,lO
PAGE
l
LOCATION
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (U.S. 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place and
the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 1300 block of Harrison Street
(W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side); and on the N by
the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part, NE side),
and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary f;escription).
Item 10)
10.
· GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
E
F
G
R
664260
664200
664240
664390
17
17
17
17
4141390
4141460
4141730
4141830
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Block 046-10
Encompassing parcels 01 and 08-11 on NE side of Church and NW side of Pearl streets.
SECTION 3:
Block 025-09
Jleginni.ne on NE side of Court Street at.NW corner of parcel 13 and continuing NE along
NW line of said parcel, then following NW along the SW lines of OS and 04, then continuing NE along the NW line of 04 to SW side of Church Street, then following SE along
said side of said street to Washington Street;
Block 025-211
thence extending across Washington Street to SE corner of 07, then following SW along SE
side of said parcel, then crossing to SW side of alley and continuing about 75' SE along
NE side of 06 ' then SW to SW side of· said parcel, then continuing SE
.. along said• side to
Pearl Street;
Block 025-26
thence extending across Pearl Street and continuing SE along SW side of Spruce Street to
SE corner of 08, then following SW diagonally across 09 to the SE corner of 04 and
continuing SW along SE line of said parcel to SW corner of 02, then following SE along
SW line of 10 to NW side of Chestnut Street and extending SW along said side to a point
opposite the NE corner of Block 025-39, parcel 04;
(See Continuation Sheet #29)
Form No. 10-JOOa
{liev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLKIOK
eOR NPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//29
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE 2
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-39
thence extending across Chestnut Street and continuing along NE line of 04 to rear
property line of said parcel, then following SW along NW side of Arch Street to Madison
Street and crossing said street;
Block 025-38
thence extending SW along SE lines of 08 and 10, then continuing NW along SW line of 10,
then following NE along SE side of Plum Street to a point opposite the NE side of the
alley between Chestnut and Laurel streets, then crossing Plum Street;
Block 025-37
thence extending NW along NE side of aforementioned alley to SE side of Locust Street,
then continuing NE along NW side of 01;
Block 025-30
thence extending NW across intersection of Harrison, Locust, and Chestnut streets with
Roslyn Place to the SE corner of 09, then continuing NW along the NE side of Roslyn Place
to the intersection with Grace Street;
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across intersection on Grace and 15th streets with Roslyn Place to
SE corner of 04, then following along SE line of 04 to SW line of said parcel, then
continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, 12, and 03 to SE side of 14th Street, then
following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
Block 025-20
thence extending across Federal Street to NW corner of 01 and continuing NE along SE side
of 14th to a point opposite the SW corner of Block 025-13, parcel 08;
Block 025-13
thence extending NW across 14th Street and following the SW lines of 08, 05, 04, 03, and
02;
(See Continuation Sheet P30)
Form No· 10·300a
(liev. ·10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01 TIIE I NTU{IOR
OR NP$ USE
ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATl: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//30
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE
3
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-04
thence extending NE diagonally across 13th Street and following the NW lines of 07 and
04;
Block 025-05
thence extending NE across Harrison Street to the NW corner of 16, then continuing NE
along the NW lines of 16, OB, 15, 14, 05, and 04 to Madison Street;
Block 025-06
thence extending NE across Madison Street, then continuing SE along NE side of Madison
to the inter~ection with Grace Street, then following about BO' NE along NW side of
Grace, then continuing NE across Grace and extending along the NW lines of 05 and 03;
Block 025-07
thence extending E diagonally across Clay Street to the W corner of 09 and continuing
NE along NW side of said parcel, then following SE along NE lines of 09 and 07;
Block 025-10
thence extending across 13th Street and continuing along the NE lines of 01, 11, and 10,
and continuing along NW lines of 12 and 02; thence extending NE across Court Street to
point of origin.
1
These nominated boundaries coincide with the City of Lynchburg's Diamond Hill
Historic District limits with the exception of parcel 12 of Block 025-12, which is
included in this nominated district but excluded from the City's district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(3-82)
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAHOND HILL HlSTo:nc DIST,,ICT, LYNCll!lURG, VIRGINIA
Continuation sheet J 1 (Extension)
Item number 7, 8
Page
24, 4
7, D:::SCRIPTION
CeogrnFhically the l'.arshall-Lcdge Hospital is located at the ape0< of
(1503 Grace St..)Diamond !!ill, Historically thc,re is clear and visible evidence that this
hospital is not outside the value cf this district but in fact the most
visible, structure to the growth and longevity to the Diamond Hill
prBs~rvation mov.'.;.ment.
The. hospital, in its present 1.:-cation, start'2.d in the h:ome of S. W.
l·fcCcrl~l,;. !kCorl.·_lt..!'S house was built prior to 1871 and improved in 1875.
Additicns and chan:;::.s tcck place in 1397, 191Li., with th~ largest building
facing Grace Str2et in 1921.
'I'hc old wins c,n th<;! rear c,f the hospital is a two-story brick building
·,.iith tin rc,of. The 1921 three-story aUr.:ition ·:as built cf sand-colored
brick with grard.t~ corr.ice. The old an:l r"ft:!W wings have wocden 1/1 windows.
Because. the hospital ~vas built in a tim,_ <;.,ihcn the narll'.:: "hospital!! ha(l bad
connetations, ~very thing was done to r.1ak..; the surroundinos pleasant. The
NcCcrkl·.;;. Iwus:. ,,;,as high on Diamond Hill cverseeinr.; the Blu(;! Ridge Uountains.
Records do nvt show hc-,1 the old wing r,,;as deccratc.d.
The 1921 addition t,;as
built with a rnarbl~ foyer, mahc,gany rece:rtion room, intaid til~ floors,
an<l ratient rocrns painted in y~llows and light blu12..
(see below for Inventory Entry)
SIGlaFI'C<\NCi::
Lynchburg has one of the oldest hospitals in the state of Virginia.
( 1 503 Grace St.)1he minut~s of the Lynchburg llasons ii 39, stated that there were two
hospitals in Virginia in 1841, one in Norfolk and one in Ale}:andria.
The l•!cCcrkl,e house was the second location of the hospital. It was at
this location, thirty yc,ars after the hospital •s <-'nactment, that the
faci.lity grew to its present architectural state. Records have not be.en
located en 1,1ccorkle' s house, The records that -:<1er<; found are on the 1921
wing. The front addition was built by two leading Lynchburg architects
of rcsidental propo.;:rty, Craighill and Cardwell .. The :rason 1 s minutes
state that bot~• men ·were mcmb.:rs of th~. orrier. and had an intero2st in
naLini the build in;; a pl :asant cnvironn'.cnt.
S,
necause cf the building's size, exterior nco-classical composition,
and location on Diamond Hill, it is a major focal point to the overall
developmGnt of this n.ationally r"cognized historical neighborhood. The
building is also a monument to th,:;se t1:.10 archits:!cts that 'lesign,..;.d mostly
r sidcntbl prop;.:rty.
7.
DESCRIPTION
Inventory
·crace Street
1503:
1921 section: brick; 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays; 2, 2-story, 3-bay
porches flanking central 3-bay pavilion with quoins; 3-bay pavilions with
quoins (1st and 2nd floors) on either end; 1/1 fenestration with masonry
(see Continuation Sheet #32)
0MB No. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10·900·•
(3-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAMOND HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT (EXTENSION), Lynchburg, Va.
#32
Item number2, 1g
Continuation sheet
1
7
Page2,2 25
2. LOCATION (to replace Location on Continuation Sheet #28)
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (US 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place, Jackson
Street (NE side), and the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 13:00 block
of Harrison Street (W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side);
and on the N by the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part,
NE side), and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary
Description,.Item 10)
10. GEcx:;RAPHICAL
~
(to replace Geographical Data in Item 10 and Continuation Sheets 28
&
29;
Acreage: 45 acres
UTM References:
A- 17/664620/4141870 B- 17/664780/4141680
C- 17/664740/4141610 D- 17/664500/4141280
E- 17/664280/4141260 F- 17/664180/4141400
G- 17/664220/4141720 H- 17/664390/4141820
Verbal Boundary Description (replacing sections of VBD on Continuation Sheet 29)
After Block 025-30, Insert:
Block 025-31
thence continuing NW across Grace Street to NE corner of parcel 01,
then continuing SW along NW side of Grace Street to S tip of OJ, then continuing NW along
NE side of Jackson Street to NW corner of 01, then continuing NE along SE side of 15th Street
to a point opposite SW corner of parcel 04, Block 025-19;
Amend Block 025-19 to read:
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across 15th Street and continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, and 03
to SE side of 14th Street, then following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
7. DESCRIPTION - Inventory
1503 (cont'd) : sills; central entrance with transom and columns; panel inscribed with
building date (1921) and Mi.sonic emblem in attic story of central
pavilion. Neoclassical. 1921. Later brick, 3-story, 3-bay addition to
south. Original section to rear: brick; 3 stories; hipped, standingseam metal roof with cupola; 1/1 fenestration with segmental arches.
Late 19th century.
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Abrams Aerial- Survey Corporation
1973.
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Is+-10-7"
L h I E D S l'r\TES lIEP.\RT>Ii;..\l
Form ' $ 0 I G - ~ C O
OF TtlE 1 h1T E K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
S f E 1NST;IUCTIONS 1N HOW TO COMPLflEflATlONAL REGISTER FORJMS
TYPE ALL E N T R I E S - - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
r;
NAME
H I STOAI
c
.
I
A r n e Spencer Rouse
A>lO/OR COMMON
Anne Spencer House
1313 Pierce S t r e e t
STREET&NUMBER
_NO7 FOR PUBUCATlOM
CITY. SOWN
-
~ y n hbusg
c
SrATE
C O V G R E S S f O N A L DISTRtCT
~ ~ x t(41.h Caldvell 3utLer)
VICINITY 3~
COULW
CODE
V irginLa
STATUS
OWHf R S H ~ P
CATEGORY
{in c r t y )
51
PRESENT USE
-PU ail c
XOCCUPED
4GRICULTURE
~PRIWTE
,kJNOECUPfED
_COMMERCfAL
-PARK
- Sf R UCTURE
- RDTH
-WORK
,EDUCAT+ONAL
XPRIVATE
RESIDENCE
-ST=
PUBLIC ACQPILSITION
-IN PROCESS
XYES:
3ESTRICTED
,BEING
-YES
-DISTRICT
x8~1
LO l UG~S)
-OBJECT
CONSIDERED
I H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
,EtYTERTAIP1MENf
UNRESTRICTED
-NO
-MUSEUM
,RELIGIOUS
-GOYERNMEFET
-SCIENTIFIC
A N D U STRIAL
-TRAMSPORTATION
M
,
-,OTHER-
IClTARY
DOWNER
OF PROPERTY
NAME
M r , Chauncey Spencer
STREET & NUMSER
1313 Pierce Street
STATE
GlTY, TWWN
Lynchburg
COURTFOUSE.
PEGISTFIY OF D E E D S , ~ .
Virginia
- VrClHlTY OF
24501
Lynchburg C o u r t h o u s e
STREET C NUMBS3
CITY.TOWN
aREPRESE
TITLE
STATE
Lync hburg
Virginla
NTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS .
V i r g i n i a I l i s t o x i c Landmarks Cornmiss i o n S U F I ? ~
DATE
1976
DEPOSITORY FOR
suavEw RECORDS
-FEDERAL
ASTATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
S 7 i r g i n i a Kis t o r i c Landmarks Comhssio_on
C I ~ f13wrl
Y
STATE
Richmond
I'irginia
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
V
SUNALTERED
SORIGINAL
SITE
ALTERED
-MOVED
DATE
D E S C R I B E T H E PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL ( I F K N O W N ) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Anne Spencer House a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i s a medium-sized, modified Queen
Anne-style d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d i n a block of d w e l l i n g s of s i m i l a r s i z e and age.
Set
on a r e l a t i v e l y narrow l o t w i t h l i t t l e s p a c e between i t and t h e a d j a c e n t b u i l d i n g s ,
tAe house b l e n d s w i t h i t s neighbors and makes no s p e c i a l v i s u a l o r a r c h i t e c t u r a l
statement.
It i s a c o m f o r t a b l e , commodious s t r u c t u r e , w e l l m a i n t a i n e d , and i n a
I t has remained v i r t u a l l y unchanged, i n s i d e and o u t ,
good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
s i n c e i t was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's e x t e r i o r w a l l s a r e sheathed i n s h i n g l e s which v a r y i n l e n g t h from c o u r s e
Typical of i t s i l k , t h e house
t o course.
The roof i s o f standing-seam s h e e t m e t a l .
has an i r r e g u l a r p l a n , hence an i r r e g u l a r f a c a d e . The two-bay facade i s dominated
by a s l i g h t l y p r o j e c t i n g gabled p a v i l i o n .
The entrance,a round-headed door, i s i n t h e
s i n g l e bay t o t h e l e f t of t h e p a v i l i o n .
The f i r s t f l o o r o f the f a c a d e i s shaded by
a porch, s u p p o r t e d on s q u a r e wooden p o s t s , e x t e n d i n g t h e l e n g t h of t h e facade and
around t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r .
The porch c o n n e c t s a t t h e n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r w i t h a ones t o r y p e r g o l a which extends along t h e h o u s e ' s n o r t h s i d e t o t h e d i n i n g room p r o j e c t i o n .
The c o n c r e t e porch and p e r g o l a f l o o r i s g i v e n d i s t i n c t i o n by being s c o r e d i n s q u a r e s
w i t h t h e s q u a r e s .painted a l t e r n a t e l y b l a c k and l i g h t gray.forming a checkered
p a t t e r n . Except f o r t h e gabled p a v i l i o n t h e house i s covered by a hipped r o o f . A
s i n g l e dormer i s l o c a t e d on t h e r e a r s l o p e . An i n t e r i o r end chimney s t a c k s e r v i n g
t h e f i r e p l a c e s i n t h e . p a r l o r and d i n i n g room e x t e n d s from t h e edge of t h e r o o f ' s
n o r t h slope.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s o f t h e Spencer house have few d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s except f o r
t h e pergola.
The west o r r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a r e c t a n g u l a r p r o j e c t i o n
c o n t a i n i n g a n i n f o r m a l s i t t i n g room o r s u n room on t h e f i r s t f l o o r and a s l e e p i n g
porch above. The s u n room i s l i g h t e d by f i v e c l o s e l y spaced windows t h a t a r e shaded
by a m e t a l awning w i t h s c a l l o p e d eaves. The s l e e p i n g porch has a long, t h r e e - u n i t
rrindow. An e x t e r i o r s t a i r ascends from a door i n t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e sun room.
The i n t e r i o r of t h e house i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y u n p r e t e n t i o u s ; what l i t t l e t r i m t h e r e
i s i s p r i m a r i l y s t o c k woodwork of t h e p e r i o d , such a s symmetrically molded a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h t u r n e d c o r n e r blocks.
The house i s e n t e r e d through t h e s t a i r h a l l .
The s t a i r s ascend immediately t o t h e l e f t o f t h e f r o n t door ( i n t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
of t h e house).
Behind t h e s t a i r h a l l i s a n a l c o v e used p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e s t o r a g e
of books.
The n o r t h s i d e of t h e house c o n t a i n s t h e p a r l o r , d i n i n g room and sun room.
A 1 1 t h e rooms a r e connected by wide, double doorways. The k i t c h e n i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
southwest c o r n e r . A back s t a i r ascends from t h e s u n room, between t h e k i t c h e n and
d i n i n g room.
The second f l o o r has f o u r bedrooms ( i n c l u d i n g t h e s l e e p i n g porch), a
b a t h , and laundry.
The a t t i c was once a l a r g e playroom b u t i s now used f o r s t o r a g e .
The 'primary i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r i s n o t i t s a r c h i t e c t u r e b u t t h e f a c t t h a t i t
c o n t a i n s a l l t h e d e c o r a t i o n s , f u r n i s h i n g s , and o t h e r appointments p r e c i s e l y a s t h e y
were i n Mrs. S p e n c e r ' s l i f e t i m e . Most o f t h e items a r e of pre-World War I1 v i n t a g e ,
a few of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s a r e V i c t o r i a n .
The i n t e r e s t Mrs. Spencer took i n h e r
p o s s e s s i o n s and immediate s u r r o u n d i n g s i s r e f l e c t e d i n numerous mementoes and items
of p e r s o n a l o r s e n t i m e n t a l s i g n i f i c a n c e s c a t t e r e d about t h e house.
The r a t h e r
crowded rooms w i t h t h e i r c o l o r f u l appointments have a comfortable d i g n i t y combined
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet i i l )
w i t h a n o s t a l g i c hominess.
-
..
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- ----
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I L L ) SJ-,\IES L ) E P , \ K ~ ~ \ . I E OF
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FOX NPSGSE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
XATIQiUAL X E G I S X R OF HISTORIG TL4CES
Ii'JtXi'JTOXY
NOMINATION FORM
--
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
ITEM NUblBER
I
c?
D A T E ENTERED @ L
7
PAGE
f
1976
1
DESCRIPTION
The a r e a immediately behind t h e house was once occupied by a garage.
The b u i l d i n g has
s i n c e been demolished b u t i t s c o n c r e t e f l o o r i n g remains i n t a c t . A l a t t i c e f e n c e
A t t h e e a s t end of t h e garden i s
s e p a r a t e s t h e garage a r e a from t h e garden proper.
t h e s m a l l , one-room, s h i n g l e d c o t t a g e used by Mrs. Spencer a s h e r study.
The f r o n t
of t h e c o t t a g e i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported on t u r n e d p o s t s salvaged from
A s t o n e chimney w i t h an e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e i s on t h e f r o n t of t h e
another house.
c o t t a g e . The c o t t a g e i n t e r i o r has a s t o n e f l o o r and w a l l s s h e a t h e d i n n a t u r a l - f i n i s h e d
~ L > T J o o ~ . The w a l l s a r e v i r t u a l l y covered w i t h documents and photographs of Mrs.
S p e n c e r ' s f r i e n d s , f a m i l y and a s s o c i a t e s . A s i m p l e desk i s p l a c e d i n f r o n t of t h e
p a i r of windows o v e r l o o k i n g t h e garden.
The long, narrow g a r d e n , which extends through t h e b l o c k t o t h e s t r e e t behind, was
l a i d o u t and tended by M r s . Spencer. While i t has been n e g l e c t e d s i n c e h e r d e a t h
enough of t h e g a r d e n ' s b a s i c p l a n t i n g remains t o convey an i d e a of i t s r a t h e r i n d i v i d ual c h a r a c t e r . The p l a n i n c l u d e s two p a r a l l e l g r a v e l e d p a t h s w i t h beds on e i t h e r
s i d e . The southernmost l e a d s s t r a i g h t through t h e g a r d e n t o t h e r e a r s t r e e t .
The
northernmost l e a d s t o a c i r c u l a r g o l d f i s h pond.
Surrounding t h e pond i s a r e l a t i v e l y
Behind t h e pond i s a
wide c o n c r e t e r i m i n which a r e s e t l a r g e s q u a r e paving s t o n e s .
The
segmental c o n c r e t e . b e n c h where Mrs. Spencer used t o c o n v e r s e w i t h h e r g u e s t s .
g a r d e n ' s t r e e s a r e p r i m a r i l y dogwoods and red c e d a r s , r a t h e r f o r m a l l y spaced. Also
i n t h e garden i s one o f t h e many e l a b o r a t e b i r d h o u s e s b u i l t by M r . Spencer a s a hobby.
GPO 892 4 5 5
a
SIGNIFICANCE:
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - - CHECK A N D JUSTIFY B E L O W
A R C H E O L U G Y PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-CONSERVATION
-LAW
-SCIENCE
AGRICULTURE
-ECONOMICS
YLITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
PLANNING
-LANOSCAPEARCHITFCTURE
-RELIGION
ARCHITECTURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
Y~OCIAL~HUMANITARIA
A R T
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-THEATER
-COMMERCE
-EXPLORATlOh/SETTLEMENl
-PHILOSOPHY
-TRANSPORTATION
-COMMUNICATIONS
-INDUSTRY
-POLITlCS/GOVERNMENT
-OTHER
(SPECIFY1
-INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
During h e r l o n g and p r o d u c t i v e l i f e Anne S p e n c e r (1881-1975) was r e c o g n i z e d by h e r
f r i e n d s and a s s o c i a t e s a s a l y r i c p o e t o f c o n s i d e r a b l e t a l e n t .
Since her recent
d e a t h , however, h e r fame, n o t o n l y a s a g i f t e d w r i t e r , b u t a s a c u l t u r a l l e a d e r and
h u m a n i t a r i a n , h a s been i n c r e a s i n g o n a n a t i o n - w i d e s c a l e .
Being b o t h a Kegro and a
woman, h e r e a r l y a c h i e v e m e n t o f r e c o g n i t i o n from h e r i n t e l l e c t u a l p e e r s iias a r e m a r k a b l e f e a t . Through q u i e t d e t e r m i n a t i o n and d e d i c a t i o n t o h e r c r a f t and c a u s e s
s h e g a i n e d r e s p e c t f o r h e r s e l f b o t h a s a n i n d i v i d u a l and a s a g i f t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
o f h e r r a c e and s e x .
Anne S p e n c e r o p e n l y e x . p r e s s e d h e r i n t o l e r a n c e f o r b i g o t r y and o p p r e s s i o n o f b l a c k s
and women, b u t s h e r a r e l y u s e d h e r p o e t i c a l works a s a v e h i c l e f o r s o c i a l p r o t e s t .
R a t h e r , h e r poems d w e l l m a i n l y o n t h e more u n i v e r s a l themes o f l o v e and r e s p e c t f o r
b e a u t y , t r u t h , n a t u r e , and t h e human s p i r i t .
Because s h e w r o t e f o r p e r s o n a l enl i g h t e n m e n t r a t h e r t h a n m o n e t a r y g a i n o n l y a few o f h e r works t h u s f a r have been
published.
It was a t t h e i n s i s t e n c e o f h e r f r i e n d and f e l l o w p o e t , James Weldon
J o h n s o n , t h a t s e v e r a l o f h e r poems i n c l u d i n g " A t t h e C a r n i v a l , " " Q u e s t i n g , " "Lines t o
a N a s t u r t i u m , " and "Dunbar" w e r e s u b m i t t e d and s u b s e q u e n t l y a p p e a r e d i n m a j o r p o e t i c a l
a n t h o l o g i e s . H e r o e u v r e i s s m a l l ; t h i r y - t w o m a j o r works a r e known, b u t o t h e r s a r e
coming t o l i g h t a s h e r p a p e r s a r e e d i t e d . Her p e r s o n a l p h i l o s o p h y and a t t i t u d e toward
"I w r i t e a b o u t t h i n g s I l o v e . I
h e r s t a t i o n i n l i f e w e r e summed u p when s h e w r o t e :
have no c i v i l i z e d a r t i c u l a t i o n f o r t h e t h i n g s I h a t e .
I p r o u d l y l o v e b e i n g a Negro
Woman
it's s o i n v o l v e d and i n t e r e s t i n g . We a r e t h e PROBLEX
the great national
game o f TABOO."
--
--
Born o n a p l a n t a t i o n i n Henry County, V i r g i n i a , Anne S p e n c e r was t h e d a u g h t e r o f a
i o r m e r s l a v e , J o e l Cephus B a n n i s t e r , riho was o f mixed b l a c k , ~ i h ~ and
t e Indian ancestry.
Her m o t h e r , S a r a h L o u i s e S c a l e s , b o r n i n a d j a c e n t P a t r i c k C o u n t y , was t h e i s s u e o f a
f o r m e r s l a v e and a s c i o n o f o n e o f t h e a r e a ' s p r o m i n e n t p l a n t e r f a m i l i e s . H o t h e r and
d a u g h t e r l i v e d f o r a w h i l e i n Bramwell, \.Jest V i r g i n i a . When h e r f a t h e r , who was by t h e n
s e p a r a t e d from h i s w i f e , c o m p l a i n e d t h a t h i s d a u g h t e r was n o t r e c e i v i n g a n y f o r m a l
e d u c a t i o n , Anne, i n 1893, was e n r o l l e d i n t h e V i r g i n i a S e m i n a r y and Normal S c h o o l i n
I n 1901 s h e
Lynchburg.
She rias g r a d u a t e d i n 1 8 9 9 , t h e v a l e d i c t o r i a n o f h e r c l a s s .
m a r r i e d a c l a s s m a t e Edward A l e x a n d e r S p e n c e r , and i n 1 9 0 3 t h e y moved i n t o t h e i r new
home a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i n Lynchburg.
T h i s commodious h o u s e , w h i c h was t o r e m a i n
h e r r e s i d e n c e u n t i l h e r d e a t h s e v e n t y - t w o y e a r s l a t e r , was l a r g e l y b u i l t b y Edward
S p e n c e r . S p e n c e r a l s o b u i l t t h e one-room c o t t a g e i n t h e g a r d e n r r h e r e h i s w i f e c o u l d
t h i n k and c r e a t e i n p r i v a c y .
The c o t t a g e was named " E d a n k r a a l , " a n amalgram o f t h e
S p e n c e r s ' f i r s t names and t h e A f r i c a n word f o r h o u s e .
When t h e S p e n c e r s ' t h r e e c h i l d r e n r e a c h e d c o l l e g e a g e , M r s . S p e n c e r , who by t h a t t i m e
had a c q u i r e d a r e p u t a t i o n a s a p o e t , became t h e f i r s t librarian o f L y n c h b u r g ' s Dunbar
High S c h o o l . She b u i l t u p t h e meager collection by d o n a t i n g many o f h e r oim books.
(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t iL2)
6
:arm K u
103COd
i a v 10741
il X I I tlD SI-ATES !)I-P!\.KT;\!ENF
OF THE I N T E K I O K
F 9 R NPS U S E ONLY
N A T I O N A L P A R K SERVICE
RECEIVED
:UAY?ONALREGISTEX 01:HISTORIC PIACES
--'WTENTORY -- 7iOLMINATION FORM
DEC 6 876
'",ATE SNTERED
f!
COPITINUATION SHEET
+;2
ITEM N U M B E R
8
PAGE
!
1
SIGNIFICANCE
Her d e v o t i o n t o t h e c a u s e of c u l t u r a l enlightenment f o r Negroes was e x p r e s s e d n o t j u s t
i n h e r l o c a l a c t i v i t i e s as a l i b r a r i a n and e d u c a t o r , b u t i n t h e l i v e l y r a p p o r t s h e
Through correspondence
maintained w i t h many of t h e n a t i o n ' s most noted black l e a d e r s .
and c o n v e r s a t i o n t h e v i g o r o u s minds of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s were tempered by Anne S p e n c e r ' s
g e n t l e but f i r m n o t i o n s on t h e advancement of h e r r a c e .
For many y e a r s 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t was b o t h a c e n t e r of h o s p i t a l i t y and p i l g r i m a g e p l a c e
f o r Negroes
f o r prominent v i s i t o r s .
I n t h e days when t h e r e were no p u b l i c accomxhticm
i n t h e South, homes such a s t h e S p e n c e r s ' were knorin a s welcoming s t o p p i n g p l a c e s .
Their s o c i a b l e atmosphere made them important c e n t e r s f o r t h e exchange o f i d e a s and
i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e b l a c k c u l t u r a l and c i v i l r i g h t s movements. A p a r t i a l l i s t i n g o f
t h e many v i s i t o r s t o t h e Spencer house forms an impressive r o s t e r of Negro w o r t h i e s .
Included among them a r e f e l l o w p o e t s such a s James Weldon Johnson, S t e r l i n g Brown,
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson; v o c a l i s t s
such a s Paul Robeson and Roland Hayes; c i v i l r i g h t s l e a d e r s s u c h a s 1J.E.B. DuBois,
N a r t i n L u t h e r King, J r . , and Walter White; t h e s c i e n t i s t George Washington Carver;
and p u b l i c f i g u r e s such as Thurgood H a r s h a l l and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Anne
Spencer a l s o m a i n t a i n e d c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h d i s t i n g u i s h e d f i g u r e s i n c l u d i n g
S e n a t o r C a r t e r G l a s s and H.L. Mencken.
The Spencer house and t h e s m a l l s t u d y i n t h e garden s u r v i v e v i r t u a l l y u n d i s t u r b e d
from t h e time Anne Spencer wrote h e r poems and e x p r e s s e d h e r t h o u g h t s , ! d t h h e r f r i e n d s
and f a m i l y . The f u r n i s h i n g s , d e c o r a t i o n s , books, and mementoes a l l remain i n p l a c e
a s she had them. Few of t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y s h r i n e s so e f f e c t i v e l y invoke t h e
p r e s e n c e o f t h e i r former occupant.
GPO 892 4 5 5
~ M A J Q BXI B L I O G R ~ H I C A LREFERENCES
:iror,n, S t e r l i n g Allen.
12 E d u c a t i o n , 1937.
Negrro P o e t r v and 1;rama.
Catalogue of V i r g i n i a S e n i n a r v and C o l l e g e :
i3.e A s s o c i a t e s i n S e g r o
\.lashington D . C . :
Announcements f o r 1967-1968, 1968-1969.
C h r i s t e n s e n , C a r o l y n , "The Legacy oE Anne Spencer",
The N e w , L:?nchburg, Va.,
( S e e C o n t i n u a t ~ o nS h e e t '31
hly 4 , 1976.
~GEOGXAPHICAL
DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less than
One
acre
UTM R E F E R E N C E S
AM
L616,31515,01
ZONE
c
u
EASTING
14,114,1101 6,OJ
NORTHING
I - L L L J !Ll-LJ
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
ZONE
t ~l l q l
~
EASTING
DWu
w
LIST ALL STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
CODE
STATE
CODE
STATE
l
NORTHING
COUNTY
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
1
II
N A M E / TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarlcs Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & N U M B E R
-
CITY
September 1976
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
Virg~nia
STATE
OR
- TOWN
-STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE O F T H I S PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONALSTATEX LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
1
hereby nominate this properLy for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according t o the
oATE
S E P 2 1 1976
I
-3rm No
10-23Ga
? e v 10.741
1~SIiL:LJ
STi\'TES O E P A R T & I E N T OF T t l E 1.NIEKLOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTEX OF HISTORIC PLACES
IN-dXXTOXY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION
SHEET it3
ITEM N U M B E R
9
PAGE
NAJOX BZBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES :
Cullen Countee, ed.
Harper, 1927.
Caroling k s k :
An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets.
New York:
Davis, Arthur P., and Redding, Saunders. Cavalcade: Negro American Writing from 1760
t o t h e Present.
Boston: Houghton b l i f f l i n Company, 1971.
Ellmann, Richard, and O ' C l a i r , Robert, eds. The Norton Anthology o f Modern Poetry.
1973.
New York: W.V. Norcon and Company, Inc.,
m g g i n s , Nathan I r v i n .
7,
Harlem Renaissance.
New York:
K e r l i n , Robert T., ed. Negro Poets and Their Poems.
P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . , 1923.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Michigan. The Chauncey Spencer Papers.
U n i v e r s i t y of Michigan L i b r a r y , Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1971.
Washington, D.C.:
Associated
Bentley H i s t o r i c a l L i b r a r y .
'White, Walter F. Review of The Book of American Negro P o e t r y , e d i t e d by James Weldon
Johnson.
The L i b e r a t o r , A p r i l , 1922., p. 30.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The C a r l Van Vechten C o l l e c t i o n , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e .
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript L i b r a r y , Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The James Weldon Johnson Memorial C o l l e c t i o n of Negro A r t s and
L e t t e r s , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e . The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Librar:
Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haveq Connecticut.
L h I E D S l'r\TES lIEP.\RT>Ii;..\l
Form ' $ 0 I G - ~ C O
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TYPE ALL E N T R I E S - - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
r;
NAME
H I STOAI
c
.
I
A r n e Spencer Rouse
A>lO/OR COMMON
Anne Spencer House
1313 Pierce S t r e e t
STREET&NUMBER
_NO7 FOR PUBUCATlOM
CITY. SOWN
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SrATE
C O V G R E S S f O N A L DISTRtCT
~ ~ x t(41.h Caldvell 3utLer)
VICINITY 3~
COULW
CODE
V irginLa
STATUS
OWHf R S H ~ P
CATEGORY
{in c r t y )
51
PRESENT USE
-PU ail c
XOCCUPED
4GRICULTURE
~PRIWTE
,kJNOECUPfED
_COMMERCfAL
-PARK
- Sf R UCTURE
- RDTH
-WORK
,EDUCAT+ONAL
XPRIVATE
RESIDENCE
-ST=
PUBLIC ACQPILSITION
-IN PROCESS
XYES:
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-YES
-DISTRICT
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-OBJECT
CONSIDERED
I H PROGRESS
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,EtYTERTAIP1MENf
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-NO
-MUSEUM
,RELIGIOUS
-GOYERNMEFET
-SCIENTIFIC
A N D U STRIAL
-TRAMSPORTATION
M
,
-,OTHER-
IClTARY
DOWNER
OF PROPERTY
NAME
M r , Chauncey Spencer
STREET & NUMSER
1313 Pierce Street
STATE
GlTY, TWWN
Lynchburg
COURTFOUSE.
PEGISTFIY OF D E E D S , ~ .
Virginia
- VrClHlTY OF
24501
Lynchburg C o u r t h o u s e
STREET C NUMBS3
CITY.TOWN
aREPRESE
TITLE
STATE
Lync hburg
Virginla
NTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS .
V i r g i n i a I l i s t o x i c Landmarks Cornmiss i o n S U F I ? ~
DATE
1976
DEPOSITORY FOR
suavEw RECORDS
-FEDERAL
ASTATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
S 7 i r g i n i a Kis t o r i c Landmarks Comhssio_on
C I ~ f13wrl
Y
STATE
Richmond
I'irginia
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
V
SUNALTERED
SORIGINAL
SITE
ALTERED
-MOVED
DATE
D E S C R I B E T H E PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL ( I F K N O W N ) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Anne Spencer House a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i s a medium-sized, modified Queen
Anne-style d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d i n a block of d w e l l i n g s of s i m i l a r s i z e and age.
Set
on a r e l a t i v e l y narrow l o t w i t h l i t t l e s p a c e between i t and t h e a d j a c e n t b u i l d i n g s ,
tAe house b l e n d s w i t h i t s neighbors and makes no s p e c i a l v i s u a l o r a r c h i t e c t u r a l
statement.
It i s a c o m f o r t a b l e , commodious s t r u c t u r e , w e l l m a i n t a i n e d , and i n a
I t has remained v i r t u a l l y unchanged, i n s i d e and o u t ,
good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
s i n c e i t was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's e x t e r i o r w a l l s a r e sheathed i n s h i n g l e s which v a r y i n l e n g t h from c o u r s e
Typical of i t s i l k , t h e house
t o course.
The roof i s o f standing-seam s h e e t m e t a l .
has an i r r e g u l a r p l a n , hence an i r r e g u l a r f a c a d e . The two-bay facade i s dominated
by a s l i g h t l y p r o j e c t i n g gabled p a v i l i o n .
The entrance,a round-headed door, i s i n t h e
s i n g l e bay t o t h e l e f t of t h e p a v i l i o n .
The f i r s t f l o o r o f the f a c a d e i s shaded by
a porch, s u p p o r t e d on s q u a r e wooden p o s t s , e x t e n d i n g t h e l e n g t h of t h e facade and
around t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r .
The porch c o n n e c t s a t t h e n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r w i t h a ones t o r y p e r g o l a which extends along t h e h o u s e ' s n o r t h s i d e t o t h e d i n i n g room p r o j e c t i o n .
The c o n c r e t e porch and p e r g o l a f l o o r i s g i v e n d i s t i n c t i o n by being s c o r e d i n s q u a r e s
w i t h t h e s q u a r e s .painted a l t e r n a t e l y b l a c k and l i g h t gray.forming a checkered
p a t t e r n . Except f o r t h e gabled p a v i l i o n t h e house i s covered by a hipped r o o f . A
s i n g l e dormer i s l o c a t e d on t h e r e a r s l o p e . An i n t e r i o r end chimney s t a c k s e r v i n g
t h e f i r e p l a c e s i n t h e . p a r l o r and d i n i n g room e x t e n d s from t h e edge of t h e r o o f ' s
n o r t h slope.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s o f t h e Spencer house have few d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s except f o r
t h e pergola.
The west o r r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a r e c t a n g u l a r p r o j e c t i o n
c o n t a i n i n g a n i n f o r m a l s i t t i n g room o r s u n room on t h e f i r s t f l o o r and a s l e e p i n g
porch above. The s u n room i s l i g h t e d by f i v e c l o s e l y spaced windows t h a t a r e shaded
by a m e t a l awning w i t h s c a l l o p e d eaves. The s l e e p i n g porch has a long, t h r e e - u n i t
rrindow. An e x t e r i o r s t a i r ascends from a door i n t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e sun room.
The i n t e r i o r of t h e house i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y u n p r e t e n t i o u s ; what l i t t l e t r i m t h e r e
i s i s p r i m a r i l y s t o c k woodwork of t h e p e r i o d , such a s symmetrically molded a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h t u r n e d c o r n e r blocks.
The house i s e n t e r e d through t h e s t a i r h a l l .
The s t a i r s ascend immediately t o t h e l e f t o f t h e f r o n t door ( i n t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
of t h e house).
Behind t h e s t a i r h a l l i s a n a l c o v e used p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e s t o r a g e
of books.
The n o r t h s i d e of t h e house c o n t a i n s t h e p a r l o r , d i n i n g room and sun room.
A 1 1 t h e rooms a r e connected by wide, double doorways. The k i t c h e n i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
southwest c o r n e r . A back s t a i r ascends from t h e s u n room, between t h e k i t c h e n and
d i n i n g room.
The second f l o o r has f o u r bedrooms ( i n c l u d i n g t h e s l e e p i n g porch), a
b a t h , and laundry.
The a t t i c was once a l a r g e playroom b u t i s now used f o r s t o r a g e .
The 'primary i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r i s n o t i t s a r c h i t e c t u r e b u t t h e f a c t t h a t i t
c o n t a i n s a l l t h e d e c o r a t i o n s , f u r n i s h i n g s , and o t h e r appointments p r e c i s e l y a s t h e y
were i n Mrs. S p e n c e r ' s l i f e t i m e . Most o f t h e items a r e of pre-World War I1 v i n t a g e ,
a few of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s a r e V i c t o r i a n .
The i n t e r e s t Mrs. Spencer took i n h e r
p o s s e s s i o n s and immediate s u r r o u n d i n g s i s r e f l e c t e d i n numerous mementoes and items
of p e r s o n a l o r s e n t i m e n t a l s i g n i f i c a n c e s c a t t e r e d about t h e house.
The r a t h e r
crowded rooms w i t h t h e i r c o l o r f u l appointments have a comfortable d i g n i t y combined
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet i i l )
w i t h a n o s t a l g i c hominess.
-
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C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
ITEM NUblBER
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D A T E ENTERED @ L
7
PAGE
f
1976
1
DESCRIPTION
The a r e a immediately behind t h e house was once occupied by a garage.
The b u i l d i n g has
s i n c e been demolished b u t i t s c o n c r e t e f l o o r i n g remains i n t a c t . A l a t t i c e f e n c e
A t t h e e a s t end of t h e garden i s
s e p a r a t e s t h e garage a r e a from t h e garden proper.
t h e s m a l l , one-room, s h i n g l e d c o t t a g e used by Mrs. Spencer a s h e r study.
The f r o n t
of t h e c o t t a g e i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported on t u r n e d p o s t s salvaged from
A s t o n e chimney w i t h an e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e i s on t h e f r o n t of t h e
another house.
c o t t a g e . The c o t t a g e i n t e r i o r has a s t o n e f l o o r and w a l l s s h e a t h e d i n n a t u r a l - f i n i s h e d
~ L > T J o o ~ . The w a l l s a r e v i r t u a l l y covered w i t h documents and photographs of Mrs.
S p e n c e r ' s f r i e n d s , f a m i l y and a s s o c i a t e s . A s i m p l e desk i s p l a c e d i n f r o n t of t h e
p a i r of windows o v e r l o o k i n g t h e garden.
The long, narrow g a r d e n , which extends through t h e b l o c k t o t h e s t r e e t behind, was
l a i d o u t and tended by M r s . Spencer. While i t has been n e g l e c t e d s i n c e h e r d e a t h
enough of t h e g a r d e n ' s b a s i c p l a n t i n g remains t o convey an i d e a of i t s r a t h e r i n d i v i d ual c h a r a c t e r . The p l a n i n c l u d e s two p a r a l l e l g r a v e l e d p a t h s w i t h beds on e i t h e r
s i d e . The southernmost l e a d s s t r a i g h t through t h e g a r d e n t o t h e r e a r s t r e e t .
The
northernmost l e a d s t o a c i r c u l a r g o l d f i s h pond.
Surrounding t h e pond i s a r e l a t i v e l y
Behind t h e pond i s a
wide c o n c r e t e r i m i n which a r e s e t l a r g e s q u a r e paving s t o n e s .
The
segmental c o n c r e t e . b e n c h where Mrs. Spencer used t o c o n v e r s e w i t h h e r g u e s t s .
g a r d e n ' s t r e e s a r e p r i m a r i l y dogwoods and red c e d a r s , r a t h e r f o r m a l l y spaced. Also
i n t h e garden i s one o f t h e many e l a b o r a t e b i r d h o u s e s b u i l t by M r . Spencer a s a hobby.
GPO 892 4 5 5
a
SIGNIFICANCE:
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - - CHECK A N D JUSTIFY B E L O W
A R C H E O L U G Y PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-CONSERVATION
-LAW
-SCIENCE
AGRICULTURE
-ECONOMICS
YLITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
PLANNING
-LANOSCAPEARCHITFCTURE
-RELIGION
ARCHITECTURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
Y~OCIAL~HUMANITARIA
A R T
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-THEATER
-COMMERCE
-EXPLORATlOh/SETTLEMENl
-PHILOSOPHY
-TRANSPORTATION
-COMMUNICATIONS
-INDUSTRY
-POLITlCS/GOVERNMENT
-OTHER
(SPECIFY1
-INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
During h e r l o n g and p r o d u c t i v e l i f e Anne S p e n c e r (1881-1975) was r e c o g n i z e d by h e r
f r i e n d s and a s s o c i a t e s a s a l y r i c p o e t o f c o n s i d e r a b l e t a l e n t .
Since her recent
d e a t h , however, h e r fame, n o t o n l y a s a g i f t e d w r i t e r , b u t a s a c u l t u r a l l e a d e r and
h u m a n i t a r i a n , h a s been i n c r e a s i n g o n a n a t i o n - w i d e s c a l e .
Being b o t h a Kegro and a
woman, h e r e a r l y a c h i e v e m e n t o f r e c o g n i t i o n from h e r i n t e l l e c t u a l p e e r s iias a r e m a r k a b l e f e a t . Through q u i e t d e t e r m i n a t i o n and d e d i c a t i o n t o h e r c r a f t and c a u s e s
s h e g a i n e d r e s p e c t f o r h e r s e l f b o t h a s a n i n d i v i d u a l and a s a g i f t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
o f h e r r a c e and s e x .
Anne S p e n c e r o p e n l y e x . p r e s s e d h e r i n t o l e r a n c e f o r b i g o t r y and o p p r e s s i o n o f b l a c k s
and women, b u t s h e r a r e l y u s e d h e r p o e t i c a l works a s a v e h i c l e f o r s o c i a l p r o t e s t .
R a t h e r , h e r poems d w e l l m a i n l y o n t h e more u n i v e r s a l themes o f l o v e and r e s p e c t f o r
b e a u t y , t r u t h , n a t u r e , and t h e human s p i r i t .
Because s h e w r o t e f o r p e r s o n a l enl i g h t e n m e n t r a t h e r t h a n m o n e t a r y g a i n o n l y a few o f h e r works t h u s f a r have been
published.
It was a t t h e i n s i s t e n c e o f h e r f r i e n d and f e l l o w p o e t , James Weldon
J o h n s o n , t h a t s e v e r a l o f h e r poems i n c l u d i n g " A t t h e C a r n i v a l , " " Q u e s t i n g , " "Lines t o
a N a s t u r t i u m , " and "Dunbar" w e r e s u b m i t t e d and s u b s e q u e n t l y a p p e a r e d i n m a j o r p o e t i c a l
a n t h o l o g i e s . H e r o e u v r e i s s m a l l ; t h i r y - t w o m a j o r works a r e known, b u t o t h e r s a r e
coming t o l i g h t a s h e r p a p e r s a r e e d i t e d . Her p e r s o n a l p h i l o s o p h y and a t t i t u d e toward
"I w r i t e a b o u t t h i n g s I l o v e . I
h e r s t a t i o n i n l i f e w e r e summed u p when s h e w r o t e :
have no c i v i l i z e d a r t i c u l a t i o n f o r t h e t h i n g s I h a t e .
I p r o u d l y l o v e b e i n g a Negro
Woman
it's s o i n v o l v e d and i n t e r e s t i n g . We a r e t h e PROBLEX
the great national
game o f TABOO."
--
--
Born o n a p l a n t a t i o n i n Henry County, V i r g i n i a , Anne S p e n c e r was t h e d a u g h t e r o f a
i o r m e r s l a v e , J o e l Cephus B a n n i s t e r , riho was o f mixed b l a c k , ~ i h ~ and
t e Indian ancestry.
Her m o t h e r , S a r a h L o u i s e S c a l e s , b o r n i n a d j a c e n t P a t r i c k C o u n t y , was t h e i s s u e o f a
f o r m e r s l a v e and a s c i o n o f o n e o f t h e a r e a ' s p r o m i n e n t p l a n t e r f a m i l i e s . H o t h e r and
d a u g h t e r l i v e d f o r a w h i l e i n Bramwell, \.Jest V i r g i n i a . When h e r f a t h e r , who was by t h e n
s e p a r a t e d from h i s w i f e , c o m p l a i n e d t h a t h i s d a u g h t e r was n o t r e c e i v i n g a n y f o r m a l
e d u c a t i o n , Anne, i n 1893, was e n r o l l e d i n t h e V i r g i n i a S e m i n a r y and Normal S c h o o l i n
I n 1901 s h e
Lynchburg.
She rias g r a d u a t e d i n 1 8 9 9 , t h e v a l e d i c t o r i a n o f h e r c l a s s .
m a r r i e d a c l a s s m a t e Edward A l e x a n d e r S p e n c e r , and i n 1 9 0 3 t h e y moved i n t o t h e i r new
home a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i n Lynchburg.
T h i s commodious h o u s e , w h i c h was t o r e m a i n
h e r r e s i d e n c e u n t i l h e r d e a t h s e v e n t y - t w o y e a r s l a t e r , was l a r g e l y b u i l t b y Edward
S p e n c e r . S p e n c e r a l s o b u i l t t h e one-room c o t t a g e i n t h e g a r d e n r r h e r e h i s w i f e c o u l d
t h i n k and c r e a t e i n p r i v a c y .
The c o t t a g e was named " E d a n k r a a l , " a n amalgram o f t h e
S p e n c e r s ' f i r s t names and t h e A f r i c a n word f o r h o u s e .
When t h e S p e n c e r s ' t h r e e c h i l d r e n r e a c h e d c o l l e g e a g e , M r s . S p e n c e r , who by t h a t t i m e
had a c q u i r e d a r e p u t a t i o n a s a p o e t , became t h e f i r s t librarian o f L y n c h b u r g ' s Dunbar
High S c h o o l . She b u i l t u p t h e meager collection by d o n a t i n g many o f h e r oim books.
(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t iL2)
6
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il X I I tlD SI-ATES !)I-P!\.KT;\!ENF
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:UAY?ONALREGISTEX 01:HISTORIC PIACES
--'WTENTORY -- 7iOLMINATION FORM
DEC 6 876
'",ATE SNTERED
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COPITINUATION SHEET
+;2
ITEM N U M B E R
8
PAGE
!
1
SIGNIFICANCE
Her d e v o t i o n t o t h e c a u s e of c u l t u r a l enlightenment f o r Negroes was e x p r e s s e d n o t j u s t
i n h e r l o c a l a c t i v i t i e s as a l i b r a r i a n and e d u c a t o r , b u t i n t h e l i v e l y r a p p o r t s h e
Through correspondence
maintained w i t h many of t h e n a t i o n ' s most noted black l e a d e r s .
and c o n v e r s a t i o n t h e v i g o r o u s minds of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s were tempered by Anne S p e n c e r ' s
g e n t l e but f i r m n o t i o n s on t h e advancement of h e r r a c e .
For many y e a r s 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t was b o t h a c e n t e r of h o s p i t a l i t y and p i l g r i m a g e p l a c e
f o r Negroes
f o r prominent v i s i t o r s .
I n t h e days when t h e r e were no p u b l i c accomxhticm
i n t h e South, homes such a s t h e S p e n c e r s ' were knorin a s welcoming s t o p p i n g p l a c e s .
Their s o c i a b l e atmosphere made them important c e n t e r s f o r t h e exchange o f i d e a s and
i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e b l a c k c u l t u r a l and c i v i l r i g h t s movements. A p a r t i a l l i s t i n g o f
t h e many v i s i t o r s t o t h e Spencer house forms an impressive r o s t e r of Negro w o r t h i e s .
Included among them a r e f e l l o w p o e t s such a s James Weldon Johnson, S t e r l i n g Brown,
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson; v o c a l i s t s
such a s Paul Robeson and Roland Hayes; c i v i l r i g h t s l e a d e r s s u c h a s 1J.E.B. DuBois,
N a r t i n L u t h e r King, J r . , and Walter White; t h e s c i e n t i s t George Washington Carver;
and p u b l i c f i g u r e s such as Thurgood H a r s h a l l and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Anne
Spencer a l s o m a i n t a i n e d c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h d i s t i n g u i s h e d f i g u r e s i n c l u d i n g
S e n a t o r C a r t e r G l a s s and H.L. Mencken.
The Spencer house and t h e s m a l l s t u d y i n t h e garden s u r v i v e v i r t u a l l y u n d i s t u r b e d
from t h e time Anne Spencer wrote h e r poems and e x p r e s s e d h e r t h o u g h t s , ! d t h h e r f r i e n d s
and f a m i l y . The f u r n i s h i n g s , d e c o r a t i o n s , books, and mementoes a l l remain i n p l a c e
a s she had them. Few of t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y s h r i n e s so e f f e c t i v e l y invoke t h e
p r e s e n c e o f t h e i r former occupant.
GPO 892 4 5 5
~ M A J Q BXI B L I O G R ~ H I C A LREFERENCES
:iror,n, S t e r l i n g Allen.
12 E d u c a t i o n , 1937.
Negrro P o e t r v and 1;rama.
Catalogue of V i r g i n i a S e n i n a r v and C o l l e g e :
i3.e A s s o c i a t e s i n S e g r o
\.lashington D . C . :
Announcements f o r 1967-1968, 1968-1969.
C h r i s t e n s e n , C a r o l y n , "The Legacy oE Anne Spencer",
The N e w , L:?nchburg, Va.,
( S e e C o n t i n u a t ~ o nS h e e t '31
hly 4 , 1976.
~GEOGXAPHICAL
DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less than
One
acre
UTM R E F E R E N C E S
AM
L616,31515,01
ZONE
c
u
EASTING
14,114,1101 6,OJ
NORTHING
I - L L L J !Ll-LJ
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
ZONE
t ~l l q l
~
EASTING
DWu
w
LIST ALL STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
CODE
STATE
CODE
STATE
l
NORTHING
COUNTY
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
1
II
N A M E / TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarlcs Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & N U M B E R
-
CITY
September 1976
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
Virg~nia
STATE
OR
- TOWN
-STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE O F T H I S PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONALSTATEX LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
1
hereby nominate this properLy for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according t o the
oATE
S E P 2 1 1976
I
-3rm No
10-23Ga
? e v 10.741
1~SIiL:LJ
STi\'TES O E P A R T & I E N T OF T t l E 1.NIEKLOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTEX OF HISTORIC PLACES
IN-dXXTOXY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION
SHEET it3
ITEM N U M B E R
9
PAGE
NAJOX BZBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES :
Cullen Countee, ed.
Harper, 1927.
Caroling k s k :
An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets.
New York:
Davis, Arthur P., and Redding, Saunders. Cavalcade: Negro American Writing from 1760
t o t h e Present.
Boston: Houghton b l i f f l i n Company, 1971.
Ellmann, Richard, and O ' C l a i r , Robert, eds. The Norton Anthology o f Modern Poetry.
1973.
New York: W.V. Norcon and Company, Inc.,
m g g i n s , Nathan I r v i n .
7,
Harlem Renaissance.
New York:
K e r l i n , Robert T., ed. Negro Poets and Their Poems.
P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . , 1923.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Michigan. The Chauncey Spencer Papers.
U n i v e r s i t y of Michigan L i b r a r y , Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1971.
Washington, D.C.:
Associated
Bentley H i s t o r i c a l L i b r a r y .
'White, Walter F. Review of The Book of American Negro P o e t r y , e d i t e d by James Weldon
Johnson.
The L i b e r a t o r , A p r i l , 1922., p. 30.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The C a r l Van Vechten C o l l e c t i o n , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e .
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript L i b r a r y , Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The James Weldon Johnson Memorial C o l l e c t i o n of Negro A r t s and
L e t t e r s , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e . The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Librar:
Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haveq Connecticut.
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No,1024-0018
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
112: I ~ / O /Y 96
hJ k t / ? :OL!?.! / q 3.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for usc in nominating orrequesting detcrminatiom for individual pmpwties and dismcts See inslmctions in How to Compfete the.
Nahonal Register ofHisoric P l a m Registration Farm (National Register Bulletin l6A). Cornpiere each item by marking "x" In the appmprlate
box or byerrering the information roqucstd. If m y hem docs nct apply ro the ppmperty k i n g documented, tnw "1*1!4" for "not applicable." For
functions, architectural class~fication,mrtterids, and me% of sign~ficance,enter only categories and subcategories From the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative item,on
~ n r i n l r a sheets
b
( M S Form 3 0-9003). Use a m i t e r . word processor, or computer,to cmnplFtr dl
items.
I. Name of Property
historic name
St. Paul's VesW House
other nameslsite number
VDHRFileNo. 118-78
--
2. Location
street & number
ctty or t o m
state V i i n i a
nqt for pubiication NJA
vicinity
code
680
zip2434
308.SeventhStteeJ
Lvnchbur~
code V A county Lwchburg (Independent Citv'l
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Hjstonc Preservation Act of 2986, as mended, I hereby certify rhat this
-X- nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for regrstering
propefiies in the National Register of Historic Places and
mccts the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -d o a not meet the 'dational Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered sigificmt - nationally
statewide -X- locally, ( - Sce
conrinuation sheet for additional eom m a t s . )
-
U n i a Denartment of H m r i c Resources
Stale or Fedcral aeency and buwnu
ln my
opinion. the property -meets
-does not meet the National Regtster criteria. (-
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
---
-
Signature of commenting or other official
State or
Federal agency and bureau
4. National
Park Service Certification
I, hereby cenie that this properp is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-
Date
-removed from the National Rcg~ster
-other jexptam):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
('Rev. 1990)
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Senice
QMB No. 10244018
St. Pau I's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownersh~pof Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
.Y_ pvate
-public-local
-public-Smte
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X- bui?ding(s)
-district
-site
-s m m
-obfect
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0- buildings
-0-0-sites
-0-0-strucmres
-0- -0-objects
-1-0- Total
Number sfcontributing resources praviously listed in the National Register -0Name of related muitiple property listing (Enter 'WlA" if property IS not part of a multiple properry listing.)
6. Function or Use
Histor~cFunctions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -RELIGION
Sub:-religious facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: COMMERCERRADE
Sub: b u s i n e s s
7. Descriptian
Architectural Classificat~on(Enter categories from instructions)
-Classical Revival
WS Fonn 20-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
mcv. 1990)
United States Ibepartment of the Interior
hlstional Park Service
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation - -Brick
roof
Metal
walls
Brick
-
-
-
other
Nmative Description (Describe he historic and current condition ofthe property on one or more continuation shects.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "xn in one w more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
NationaI Register listing)
-x-
A
B
-xu c
-D
h p m t y is associated with events that have made R significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components Iack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information irnpomt in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"" in all the boxes that apply.)
X-
-
A
owned by a relig~ousinstitution or used for religious purposes.
-B removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
a cemetery.
-E a reconstmded building, object or srmcture.
-G
less than 50 !ears of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter catzgorie from instructions)
-Architecture
-Social History
Period of Significance - 1855- 1934
NPS Form 10-9M,
(Rev. 1990)
OMR No. 1024-0018
United States D t p s r h n t o f the Interior
Nationd Park Service
St. Paul's Vestsy I louse
Lynchburg, Virginia
Signhicant Dates -1 855- 1903-1916-
SigniFi :ant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural AfK liation -NIA
N m t i v e Statement of Significance (Explain thc significance of rhe property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical ReEerences
(Cite the books, artic!es, and other sources used hn preparing this form on one or more continuation sl~eets.)
Previous documentation on file WPSS)
-preliminary detmination of individual listing (36CFR 67) has been
requested
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eIig~bleby the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Rccord #
hitnary I-ocation of Additional Data
-X-, Sta~eHistoric PreservationOffice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Name of repository: Va. Degt. Of Historic Res~urces(Richmond): Jones Memorial Libraw. (Lvnchburrrl
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property -.04- acres
IJTM References (Place additional U m references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eating Northing
42350002
Zone Easzing Northing
117641200
3--4 ---See continuation sheer.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundariesof the property on a continuation sheet.)
MI'S Form 10-900
(Rev. 190)
United States Depariment of the Interior
Nwiona! Park Service
O W No. 1024-0018
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle:
Nancv Jamerson Weiland
date Aueus$24.19efi
Qrganbtion: Lunan Preservation
state-VAL zip code -24504-
city or t o w n L y n e h b u r g
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed fonn:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (73 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SMPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHFO or FPO.)
name -William V. Giles. Jr.
street & number-1050
Greenway Coun
city or t o w n L ~ c h b u r g
telephone-(804)845-8 172-.
stare-VA-
zip code 2 4 5 0 3 -
Papemork Reduction Act Stltcmcnt. T h i s inmrrnation rs krng collected for appiicatioas to the National Register of Histuric Places to nominate
pmpertic3 for lMng ordcterrnineeligibiliry for listink w liapropenics, and 20 mend existing listings. Response to this request is requtred to obtain
a benefit in a c c o r d m ~with the National Hhtoric Preservation h c t , amendcd
~
(16 U.S.C 470 et seq ).
Estlmatee Burden Statement; Public ~eportingburden far this fom IS estimated ro averag 18.1 hburs per response including thc time for rewewing
instructions. galkrlng a d rnalntam~ngdataand completingand mkwing the h.
Direct aornments regarding this burden estima# or an!: a s p C t
offhis f o m to the Chtet Adnt~nistral~re
Serrlces D~vision,Nationat Park Serv~ce.P 0. Box 37 127, Wwhington, DC 200 13-7127: and the O f i c e
ot'Manaltement and Budget. Papework Reductions Project (1 024-00 18). Washington, DC 20503.
iYPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United Statm Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Histaric Places
Continuation Shect
Section
7
Page1
Saint Paul" V e s i u House
Lvnchburp, Virginia
Narrative Description:
Building: Exterior
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Classical Revival-style building with a simpIe lowpitched gable roof and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation.
The front elevation features a simple pedimented porch cower supported by two scrolled brackets,
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed, single, recessed- panel wood door with divided side
lights and a transom. The steps at the front door are likely a 1900s addition.
The foundation is at grade level at the south elevation, with a full-height brick basement wall
at the north side elevation, which feahlres three equally-spaced ornamental diamond-shaped
staggered brick vents and a simple-cut brick watertable.
The facade is painted brick, common bond with 6th-course headers. The windows are sixover-six wood double-hung sashes, with wood sills and contemporary louvered wood shutters with
metal scroIl holdbacks. The roof is standing-steam metal with integral gutters at the cornice, with
a simple extended overhand 18 inches wide at both gable ends and the cornice Iine, which is made
of a 6' crown and flat rim board combination.
Building: Interior
The interior of this building has been partitioned for contemporary use. The entrance portion
of the building, however. retains its original conf~guration. .4lthough the details are made to match
the original trim, the interior window trim has been carefully preserved and appears to te original.
All crown molding on the interim matches what is beIieved to be the original molding. It is possible
that the molding along the outer walls is original.
The front door dimensions are 8' high by 3'3" wide. There are side lights and transom which
appear to be original. At the rear i s a second entrance with a small vestibule m i n g the width of
the building. The entrance door from the vestibule to ahe main portion of the building is also
original, as the trim matches the front door trim.
The windows are 6'7" high by 3'6" wide. The lights are siu-over-six. The glass size is 10.5"
wide by 17.5" high. A11 walIs have a chair rail and painted wainscot. The base boards are 10" hgh,
matching original examples from a Minard Lafever handbook. The ceilings throughout the principal
spaces of the building are 12 feet in height.
OMB Approval No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e A
Saint Paul" Vestw House
Lvnchbuy, Viwinia
8. Statement of Significance
The St. Paul's Vestry House in Lynchburg, Virginia, is significant Under Criteria C as Iikely the
only v e m house built exclusively for the governing body of an Episcopal Church in Virginia, In
other Episcopal churches, the Vestry met either in the church itself or in a parish house built to house
Sunday school rooms or other administrative ofices of the church. The fact that a separate building
was erected far the vestry is indicative of the prominent position of the members of that governing
body of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in mid-19th century Lynchburg as we11 as of the financial wellbeing of the congregation. The Episcopal Church in Virginia, in decline for more than a hdf century
following disestablishment in the late 18th century. saw a resurgence of its position and membership
in the 1840s and 1850s. The construction of a large Gothic Revival church for St, Paul's in E 851
with an insured value of $1 2.000 underscores the affluence of the church. Under Criteria A, the,
Vestry House also derives its significance from having served as the first home of the Lynchbuq
Wornm's Club from 1903 to 19 16, an educational and philanthropic organization that contributed
to the cultural life of the community. Although no longer housing the Woman's Club, the small,
classical-revivalbuilding remains an important symbol of the Lynchbwg Woman's Club's influence
in the city" cultural enlightrnent. The building also symbolizes the Lvnchburg Woman's Club's
place in the late-19th and early 20th-centurymovement around the country to f o m associations of
women for The ""social, intellectual and cultural benefits of their members."'
MistoricaI Background
In September of 1822 a group of people interested in the Episcopal Church met
at the
Franklin Hotel in Lynchburg with plans to o~ganizea church. By 1824 a building fund drive had
generated 52,804. Mrs. George Cabell donated the lot at Seventh and Church streets on the
southeast comer where the first Episcopal Church in Lynchburg was completed in 1826. As part of
the dced requirements, the gift of land by Mrs. Cabell was to revert to the Cabell heirs if the
building ceased to be used for religious purposes. Mrs. CabeII was rhe former Sarah Winston, a
daughter of Judge Edmund Winston. and wife of Dr. George Cabell, physician to Patrick Hemy.
'Anne Fimr Scott, ~ a k i n g ' r h eInvlslbfe Woman
Visible, (Urbana: Universitl, of Illinois, 1984) 2.
QMB Approval
1024-00 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Yational Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sect on
8
Page 3
Saint P.an1's Vestry House
Lynchburg. Viryinia
In addition to her donation of the land, Mrs. Cabell also gave $300 to the project. Other
large supporters included Rev. John EarIy, Elijah Fletcher, ChrisweU Dabney, Thomas T. Bouldin,
David Kyle and members of the Mason from Marshall M g e No. 39.
The newly appointed vesttymen in 1822 included: The Honorable George Tucker, Chriswell
Dabney, James Bullock, Dr. Howel Davies, ElijA FIetchm--Mr. Fletcher was father ofhbs. Indiana
Fletchm Williams, the founder of Sweet Briar College-- and Henry Morris, dl prominent residents
of Lynchburg. Colonel Alexander, William Radford and Seth Ward were appointetl to represent
New London, with Bedford being represented by Patrick P. Burton, Nathaniel J. Manson and
Nicholas H. Cobbs.
Prior to the building of a church, Episcopal services were held at the Masonic Hall which
stood at the comer of Church and Ninth streets. then known as Third and Water streets. Reverend
Franklin G. Smith, a native of New England, was the pastor in 1824. During Christmas of that
year, he adminis~eredthe first Holy Communion in the City of Lynchburg to seven communicants.
The new buiIding for St. Paul's was consecrated on May 1 8, 1826, during the Convention of the
Dioceses, the first Episcopal Convention held in Virginia outside Tidewater. At the first service,
wllen the Rt. Rev. kchard Channing Moore. Bishop of Virginia, preached the sermon, 3 1 persons
were confirmed. The frrst h m l at the new church was for Mrs. George Cabell on May 2 1, Z 826.
By the h e 1840s, the congregaiion had out crown the small church building. Vestry
Minutes record concern for the needed repain to the c<&h and the need for a Vestry House. At a
Vestrqr meeting on November I 1, 1846, it was resolved that a committee be appointed to investigate
the cost of building repaits and the cost of constructing a Lecture and Vestry Room at the upper end
of the church. Minutes of November 1 7, 1846, show thc lowest bid for a Vestry House was about
% 1.000 plus $200 to! repair the steps of the church. It is not known whcther an addition was built at
that time. As the needs of the church and V e w grew, a resolution was made ot their meeting on
Deomhcr 5 , 1849, to build a new and larger church on the site of the 1826 church. The Vestry
engaged the services sfWilliam S. Ellison to design the new church. The cornersrone was laid on
June 1 1. 1850, and the first services were held on Easter Sunday, 1851. Ellison was later responsible
for the design of the stately Greek Revival Courthouse in Lynchburg (1855).
The Vestry minutes do not reflect further discuss~onon the conszmction o f a Lecture and
V e s q Roorn, but it was shortly after the completion of the new church that the Vestry House was
erected. It is not known if Ellison had a hand in he design of the veshy house. but since he was still
working in Lynchburg at zhe time, it would not be unlikely that he did. given I-tis familiarity with the
clasical vocabulay. Throughout its history, the Vestry Hause has also been referred to as the "Old
OMB Approval No 10264018
NP5 Form 10-900-a
(8-%I
United States Department of Ithe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e 4
Saint PaulLs Vestry Hoase
Lynchbum. V ireinia
Rectory;" however, it appears that the building was never intended for use as a rectory but as a
meeting house for the Vestry, Trustees and other committees of thc chwch.
The vestry system developed in Colonid Virginia when t h e Anglican Church was the
established religion for the colony. Vestry members usually came from the gentry of the
congregation. Among their duties were to appoint the minister, investigate moral offences, see that
the parish lived within its means ancl to care for the indigent of the parish. St. Paul's Vestry House
appears to be the only s w i v i n g "Vestry House'' in Virginia today,
The Vestry House remained the site ofvestry business until the church undenvent remodeling
in 1870-7 1 when the small building became space for Sunday School classes. Growth in the church
continued, and once again a larger buildhg was called for. In I891 the ~ornesstonewas laid for the
third St. Paul's church smchlary. The last service an November 15 , 1895, was the firneral of
General Jubal A. Early, renowned Civil War hers. The new St. Paul's w a s located at Sevcnth and
Clay strcets where k stands today.
In April o f 1903 the trustees of St. Paul's transferred the Vestry House to Mrs. Sally D.
Tompkins, (Lynchburg Dced Book 71, page 470), who in turn rented the building to the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg. The Woman's Club occupied the building until i916. In 1902 eleven
Lynchburg women bad gathered to f m a study group to l e m parliamentary procedure. FOTa fee
of $8.00 arnonh, they held their regular meetings in the Vestry House at 308 Seventh Street. This
group of enthusiastic and energetic women decided to expand she organimtion to include civic.
cultural and educational endeavors throughout the city. To this end, they established the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg! stating in its by-laws that "The object of this club shall be benevolent,
phiImchropic and educational."' Members still remember this building as their first home. From
its humble beginnings and its first gathering of eleven ladies, the club membership now numbers
about 400.
The formation of the Lynchburg Woman's Club was part of a much wider social movement
that took place throughout the country between 1868 and 1910. Following the Civil War there were
no secular organizations for women. The greatest growth of woman's cllrbs in the South began in
the 1880s with the pioneer efforts of a woman's association in hew Orleans whose mission was
to "assist the intellectual growth and spiritual ambition ofthe ~ornrnunity.~
Virginia women were
.
- --
The lynch bur^ Woman's Club, t 905-1906, Article Two of the Constitution..
' Anne Fimr Scott, Making
he InvrsrbIe Woman t'isrble, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1984), 2 16.
N P S Form 1 0-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Inferior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Settion
8 Page 5
Saint Paul's Vestw House
Lvnch bure, Vir~inisr.
somewhat slower to organize: with the Woman's Club of Richmond forming in 1894 and the
'ZVornan's Club o f Petemburg organizing in 1 897. They had, however, a smng tradition of woman's
associations to follow with the founding of the Association for the Presenration of Virginia
Antiquities in 1889 and the Virginia Daughters of the American Kevolution, the Virginia Society
of Colonial Dames, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, all organized in the 1890s. The
motivation for the estabIishment of women's clubs in general seems to have been for selfdevelopment and self- education in n period when few women nttcnded college, Often fellow
members who had traveIed to foreign Iands shred information about their travels with their
calleagucs. According to a history of the American fmily written in 1919, early women's
associationswere more study clubs whose members usually already h e w each other socially. Clubs
tended to be exclusive, limiting their memberships to the upper and upper-middie classes. Ironically,
the same writer in addressing the problem of divorce, blames "clubs and social frivolities'' for the
increase in divorce in the early years of the 20th century?
Writing in 1922, Sallie Southdl Cotten, described the results of the woman's club movement:
Club experience has been the university in which they (the women) have l m e d
[about] themselves and other women and have seen men as one of the species and not
as individual husbands and fathers. They have pained respect for their own opinions,
toleration Cor the opinions of others...Their knowledge has been increased...Gassip
has decreased because clubs have given women better things to think about and
having seen the needs of the world they have become interested in striving to make
their own part of it a little better.'
During the early days. the Lynchbwg club sparked new ventures as it strived for its own
education md cuItural awareness. In 1907, the Lynchburg club took the initiative and hosted the
gathering that established the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs. From its earliest years the
women invited lecturers, speakers and performers to come to t h e meetings and present pmgrms that
Arthur W Calhoun, A Sociul History
(Cleveland, 19191, 192-93.
of the Rmer~canFarttily, Volume
111, "'Since the Civil War,"
Snltic Southalt Cotten, "Accamplishments of Women's Clubs," SSC Papen, 1922, University of North
Carolina. Quoted in Anne Firor Scott. horn Peu'ard ro PoBics, 1830-1930, (University of Chicaso Press, 19701, 151.
NPS Form 10-930-a
OMB Approval No. 10244018
{S-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
Page 6
Lvnchburg. Virginia
varied h r n the study of foreign lands to the enjoyment of a play. It was the theatrical interest that
sparked the Little Theatre, a theatrical group with the longest unbroken series of regularly scheduled
plays in Lynchburg. The plays began as a friendly rivalry between two groups of theatre-minded
people, one group from Diamond Hill and one from Rivemont, residential neighborhoods in
Lynchburg. One gmup of wornen was inspired by dramatic readings given at the Woman" Club
by Robert Dempster, an actor, playwright and teacher at Sweet Briar College. After his performance
the group formed the Little Theatre League in 1920. Although the Little Theatre never used this
building as its performance venue, its actors would accasionally give special perfommces fsr the
Women's Club membership meetings.
By 1916 the Woman's Club had outgrown the small Seventh Street Vestry House and
purchased the spacious C m l Home at 1020 Court Street to which rhey added a 400-seat
a~ditoxium.After the club moved, Mrs. Robert M. Strother opened a school of drama caIIled "The
School of Expression," in the Vestry building. It was here that many would-be actors took lessons
for their roles on stage at the Little Theatre. Mrs. Strothet left in 1926. From 1928 to 1934, the
smalI building continued to provide the community with a cultural outlet in the hands ofGrace
Homes who gave music lessons there.
After I928 the building was used for a variety of communi~activities. A gift shop operated
in the building from 1 938-39, and a photo company used the space in I941-42. After World War
El the building mas used by Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witnesses for several years and then
intermittently tbr cornrnercial enterprises. Since 1957 the Vestry House has housed offices for
arcllitects, insurance agents, and other professionals.
From its earIiest use as a Vestr?, House for St. Paul's Episcopal Church, this tiny building
haq been the meeting site for many of Lynchburg's leading citizens. many of whom have helped to
create the City of Lynchburg as it is today. From this building, Lynchburg women were inspired to
go into the world and make a difference. Decausc of their quest for howledge and an improved
culturak enbironrnent, they sparked in others the dcsire to create. From a single stimulating
performance by Robert Dempster grew the inspiration to create a theatrical landmark. In its well
preserved and largely unaltered condition, the St. Paul's Vestry House remains an imponant land
mark and symbol of Lynchburg's religious and cultural history.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(81163
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Servjce
National R e s t e r of Historic Places
Continuation Sbeet
Sectim
9Page 7
Saint Paa17sVestry House
L y n c h b n ~ Vir~tnia
?
9. Bibliography
CaZhoun, Arthur W,,
A Social Histow ofrhe American Fami& 3 vsIs. Volume 111 "Since the Civil
War," (CIeveland: 1 9 19).
Chambers, S. Allen, JT.,Lynckb~rg,An ArchitechtraF Ni.~tuory{Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia., 198 1).
Christian, W. A s b q , LymhburganditsPeople. (Lynchburg: J . P. Bell Co.,19002.
Cocke, Charles Francis, Par-ish Lines ofthe Diocese ofSouthwestern Virginin. (Richmond the
Virginia State L i b m y , 1960).
Halsey, Don P.,Centenay of St. Pad's ClturcH. Historical address given at St. Paul's Episcopal
Cburch, Lynchburg, Va.. 1922.
He*ng, William Waler, Sia1ule.s at Larp. . . Laws of Virginia. (New York 1823).
Lebsock, S m e , Virginia Woman 1600-1945, "A Share of Homos, " (R;chond: Virginia State
Library, 19873.
b ' d , Richard B.,Mundy and Bernard K., Lynchburg,A Pictoria/ History. (Virginia Beach, Va.:
The Doning Company Publishers), 1975).
The L-yfichhurg W Q ~ U YS ICluh. (1 905-1906)
Minutes of the Woman's Club of Lynchburg, 1903- 1922,
Minutes of St. Pau17sEpiscopal Church Vestrqt, 1824- 1 895.
Nichols, Janet Bernard. Historyofihe Wmnav'sCElrb (Petersburd, 1897-1947 (Petersburg: 1947).
Polk,R. L. & Company, City Dir~cforieslLynchhurgI, 1907-1994. ( R i c h n ~ ~ lVa.).
d,
OM3 Approval No. 1024-0018
hTS Form 10-900-a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Contitinuation Sheet
Section 9.10
Salnt_Panlls~eat_r
House
v
Lynch hurt, Virpinia
Page 8
Scott, Anne Firor, Making the Irtwisible Woman Viribk. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois,
1984.
7 k Southern Lady From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1970).
-
Treadway, Sandra Giora, Women of iMark A History ofthe Woman 's Club of Richmond Virginia.
(Richmond: T h e Library of Virginia. 1995).
Wiley, Lih, Alongside the River, Religious Activities of Churches of Lynchburg. (Lynchburg:
Bicentennial Commission, 1986.)
The Woman's Club of Lynchburg, Year Book, (Lynchburg, 1995).
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Baundm Description
Ttle nominated parcel is depicted on the accompanying page. 7 h e parcel is known as Lot 9 19 on
the City of Lynchburg Tax Map number 024-35. The parcel contains .04acres. The propew abuts
the boundaries of the Court House Mill Historic District, a locally designated historic area. Court
House Hill contains the present-day St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the historic propcrty owner of St.
Paul's Vestry House.
k n d a n , Justification
The boundasies of the nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the propem and
indude the principal contributing resource. Sr. Paul 's Vestry House.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB Approval No. 10?4-0018
E8W
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
Phot~ Page _9
Photographic List
I.
Name: St,Paul's Vesay House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Gjles
Bate: June E 0, 1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Front eeleation from the east
2.
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Date: June 10, 1996
Negative f 14938: Department of Historic Resources
South elevation from the south
3.
Name; St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V, Giles
Date: June 10,1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Detajl of interior door
4.
Narne: St. Paul's Vestry Heuse
Location: Lynchbug, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Dater June 10, 19%
Negative # 14938 : Department of Historic Resources
Interior of main entrance door
Saint Paul's-Vestw Rouse
Lvnchburg* Vir@nia
OMR Approvar No. 10244HlR
NPS Form I O - m a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section Photo
5.
Pngc 10
Name: St. Paul's Vesw House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: WilIiam V. Giles
Date: June 10, t 9%
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Interior of hallway
Saint Paul's Vestry House
Lvnch burp. Virginia
1 MILE
D n b n PI ACC1ClPATlnht
OMB No,1024-0018
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
112: I ~ / O /Y 96
hJ k t / ? :OL!?.! / q 3.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for usc in nominating orrequesting detcrminatiom for individual pmpwties and dismcts See inslmctions in How to Compfete the.
Nahonal Register ofHisoric P l a m Registration Farm (National Register Bulletin l6A). Cornpiere each item by marking "x" In the appmprlate
box or byerrering the information roqucstd. If m y hem docs nct apply ro the ppmperty k i n g documented, tnw "1*1!4" for "not applicable." For
functions, architectural class~fication,mrtterids, and me% of sign~ficance,enter only categories and subcategories From the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative item,on
~ n r i n l r a sheets
b
( M S Form 3 0-9003). Use a m i t e r . word processor, or computer,to cmnplFtr dl
items.
I. Name of Property
historic name
St. Paul's VesW House
other nameslsite number
VDHRFileNo. 118-78
--
2. Location
street & number
ctty or t o m
state V i i n i a
nqt for pubiication NJA
vicinity
code
680
zip2434
308.SeventhStteeJ
Lvnchbur~
code V A county Lwchburg (Independent Citv'l
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Hjstonc Preservation Act of 2986, as mended, I hereby certify rhat this
-X- nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for regrstering
propefiies in the National Register of Historic Places and
mccts the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -d o a not meet the 'dational Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered sigificmt - nationally
statewide -X- locally, ( - Sce
conrinuation sheet for additional eom m a t s . )
-
U n i a Denartment of H m r i c Resources
Stale or Fedcral aeency and buwnu
ln my
opinion. the property -meets
-does not meet the National Regtster criteria. (-
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
---
-
Signature of commenting or other official
State or
Federal agency and bureau
4. National
Park Service Certification
I, hereby cenie that this properp is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-
Date
-removed from the National Rcg~ster
-other jexptam):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
('Rev. 1990)
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Senice
QMB No. 10244018
St. Pau I's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownersh~pof Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
.Y_ pvate
-public-local
-public-Smte
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X- bui?ding(s)
-district
-site
-s m m
-obfect
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0- buildings
-0-0-sites
-0-0-strucmres
-0- -0-objects
-1-0- Total
Number sfcontributing resources praviously listed in the National Register -0Name of related muitiple property listing (Enter 'WlA" if property IS not part of a multiple properry listing.)
6. Function or Use
Histor~cFunctions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -RELIGION
Sub:-religious facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: COMMERCERRADE
Sub: b u s i n e s s
7. Descriptian
Architectural Classificat~on(Enter categories from instructions)
-Classical Revival
WS Fonn 20-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
mcv. 1990)
United States Ibepartment of the Interior
hlstional Park Service
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation - -Brick
roof
Metal
walls
Brick
-
-
-
other
Nmative Description (Describe he historic and current condition ofthe property on one or more continuation shects.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "xn in one w more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
NationaI Register listing)
-x-
A
B
-xu c
-D
h p m t y is associated with events that have made R significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components Iack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information irnpomt in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"" in all the boxes that apply.)
X-
-
A
owned by a relig~ousinstitution or used for religious purposes.
-B removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
a cemetery.
-E a reconstmded building, object or srmcture.
-G
less than 50 !ears of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter catzgorie from instructions)
-Architecture
-Social History
Period of Significance - 1855- 1934
NPS Form 10-9M,
(Rev. 1990)
OMR No. 1024-0018
United States D t p s r h n t o f the Interior
Nationd Park Service
St. Paul's Vestsy I louse
Lynchburg, Virginia
Signhicant Dates -1 855- 1903-1916-
SigniFi :ant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural AfK liation -NIA
N m t i v e Statement of Significance (Explain thc significance of rhe property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical ReEerences
(Cite the books, artic!es, and other sources used hn preparing this form on one or more continuation sl~eets.)
Previous documentation on file WPSS)
-preliminary detmination of individual listing (36CFR 67) has been
requested
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eIig~bleby the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Rccord #
hitnary I-ocation of Additional Data
-X-, Sta~eHistoric PreservationOffice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Name of repository: Va. Degt. Of Historic Res~urces(Richmond): Jones Memorial Libraw. (Lvnchburrrl
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property -.04- acres
IJTM References (Place additional U m references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eating Northing
42350002
Zone Easzing Northing
117641200
3--4 ---See continuation sheer.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundariesof the property on a continuation sheet.)
MI'S Form 10-900
(Rev. 190)
United States Depariment of the Interior
Nwiona! Park Service
O W No. 1024-0018
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle:
Nancv Jamerson Weiland
date Aueus$24.19efi
Qrganbtion: Lunan Preservation
state-VAL zip code -24504-
city or t o w n L y n e h b u r g
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed fonn:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (73 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SMPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHFO or FPO.)
name -William V. Giles. Jr.
street & number-1050
Greenway Coun
city or t o w n L ~ c h b u r g
telephone-(804)845-8 172-.
stare-VA-
zip code 2 4 5 0 3 -
Papemork Reduction Act Stltcmcnt. T h i s inmrrnation rs krng collected for appiicatioas to the National Register of Histuric Places to nominate
pmpertic3 for lMng ordcterrnineeligibiliry for listink w liapropenics, and 20 mend existing listings. Response to this request is requtred to obtain
a benefit in a c c o r d m ~with the National Hhtoric Preservation h c t , amendcd
~
(16 U.S.C 470 et seq ).
Estlmatee Burden Statement; Public ~eportingburden far this fom IS estimated ro averag 18.1 hburs per response including thc time for rewewing
instructions. galkrlng a d rnalntam~ngdataand completingand mkwing the h.
Direct aornments regarding this burden estima# or an!: a s p C t
offhis f o m to the Chtet Adnt~nistral~re
Serrlces D~vision,Nationat Park Serv~ce.P 0. Box 37 127, Wwhington, DC 200 13-7127: and the O f i c e
ot'Manaltement and Budget. Papework Reductions Project (1 024-00 18). Washington, DC 20503.
iYPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United Statm Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Histaric Places
Continuation Shect
Section
7
Page1
Saint Paul" V e s i u House
Lvnchburp, Virginia
Narrative Description:
Building: Exterior
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Classical Revival-style building with a simpIe lowpitched gable roof and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation.
The front elevation features a simple pedimented porch cower supported by two scrolled brackets,
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed, single, recessed- panel wood door with divided side
lights and a transom. The steps at the front door are likely a 1900s addition.
The foundation is at grade level at the south elevation, with a full-height brick basement wall
at the north side elevation, which feahlres three equally-spaced ornamental diamond-shaped
staggered brick vents and a simple-cut brick watertable.
The facade is painted brick, common bond with 6th-course headers. The windows are sixover-six wood double-hung sashes, with wood sills and contemporary louvered wood shutters with
metal scroIl holdbacks. The roof is standing-steam metal with integral gutters at the cornice, with
a simple extended overhand 18 inches wide at both gable ends and the cornice Iine, which is made
of a 6' crown and flat rim board combination.
Building: Interior
The interior of this building has been partitioned for contemporary use. The entrance portion
of the building, however. retains its original conf~guration. .4lthough the details are made to match
the original trim, the interior window trim has been carefully preserved and appears to te original.
All crown molding on the interim matches what is beIieved to be the original molding. It is possible
that the molding along the outer walls is original.
The front door dimensions are 8' high by 3'3" wide. There are side lights and transom which
appear to be original. At the rear i s a second entrance with a small vestibule m i n g the width of
the building. The entrance door from the vestibule to ahe main portion of the building is also
original, as the trim matches the front door trim.
The windows are 6'7" high by 3'6" wide. The lights are siu-over-six. The glass size is 10.5"
wide by 17.5" high. A11 walIs have a chair rail and painted wainscot. The base boards are 10" hgh,
matching original examples from a Minard Lafever handbook. The ceilings throughout the principal
spaces of the building are 12 feet in height.
OMB Approval No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e A
Saint Paul" Vestw House
Lvnchbuy, Viwinia
8. Statement of Significance
The St. Paul's Vestry House in Lynchburg, Virginia, is significant Under Criteria C as Iikely the
only v e m house built exclusively for the governing body of an Episcopal Church in Virginia, In
other Episcopal churches, the Vestry met either in the church itself or in a parish house built to house
Sunday school rooms or other administrative ofices of the church. The fact that a separate building
was erected far the vestry is indicative of the prominent position of the members of that governing
body of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in mid-19th century Lynchburg as we11 as of the financial wellbeing of the congregation. The Episcopal Church in Virginia, in decline for more than a hdf century
following disestablishment in the late 18th century. saw a resurgence of its position and membership
in the 1840s and 1850s. The construction of a large Gothic Revival church for St, Paul's in E 851
with an insured value of $1 2.000 underscores the affluence of the church. Under Criteria A, the,
Vestry House also derives its significance from having served as the first home of the Lynchbuq
Wornm's Club from 1903 to 19 16, an educational and philanthropic organization that contributed
to the cultural life of the community. Although no longer housing the Woman's Club, the small,
classical-revivalbuilding remains an important symbol of the Lynchbwg Woman's Club's influence
in the city" cultural enlightrnent. The building also symbolizes the Lvnchburg Woman's Club's
place in the late-19th and early 20th-centurymovement around the country to f o m associations of
women for The ""social, intellectual and cultural benefits of their members."'
MistoricaI Background
In September of 1822 a group of people interested in the Episcopal Church met
at the
Franklin Hotel in Lynchburg with plans to o~ganizea church. By 1824 a building fund drive had
generated 52,804. Mrs. George Cabell donated the lot at Seventh and Church streets on the
southeast comer where the first Episcopal Church in Lynchburg was completed in 1826. As part of
the dced requirements, the gift of land by Mrs. Cabell was to revert to the Cabell heirs if the
building ceased to be used for religious purposes. Mrs. CabeII was rhe former Sarah Winston, a
daughter of Judge Edmund Winston. and wife of Dr. George Cabell, physician to Patrick Hemy.
'Anne Fimr Scott, ~ a k i n g ' r h eInvlslbfe Woman
Visible, (Urbana: Universitl, of Illinois, 1984) 2.
QMB Approval
1024-00 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Yational Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sect on
8
Page 3
Saint P.an1's Vestry House
Lynchburg. Viryinia
In addition to her donation of the land, Mrs. Cabell also gave $300 to the project. Other
large supporters included Rev. John EarIy, Elijah Fletcher, ChrisweU Dabney, Thomas T. Bouldin,
David Kyle and members of the Mason from Marshall M g e No. 39.
The newly appointed vesttymen in 1822 included: The Honorable George Tucker, Chriswell
Dabney, James Bullock, Dr. Howel Davies, ElijA FIetchm--Mr. Fletcher was father ofhbs. Indiana
Fletchm Williams, the founder of Sweet Briar College-- and Henry Morris, dl prominent residents
of Lynchburg. Colonel Alexander, William Radford and Seth Ward were appointetl to represent
New London, with Bedford being represented by Patrick P. Burton, Nathaniel J. Manson and
Nicholas H. Cobbs.
Prior to the building of a church, Episcopal services were held at the Masonic Hall which
stood at the comer of Church and Ninth streets. then known as Third and Water streets. Reverend
Franklin G. Smith, a native of New England, was the pastor in 1824. During Christmas of that
year, he adminis~eredthe first Holy Communion in the City of Lynchburg to seven communicants.
The new buiIding for St. Paul's was consecrated on May 1 8, 1826, during the Convention of the
Dioceses, the first Episcopal Convention held in Virginia outside Tidewater. At the first service,
wllen the Rt. Rev. kchard Channing Moore. Bishop of Virginia, preached the sermon, 3 1 persons
were confirmed. The frrst h m l at the new church was for Mrs. George Cabell on May 2 1, Z 826.
By the h e 1840s, the congregaiion had out crown the small church building. Vestry
Minutes record concern for the needed repain to the c<&h and the need for a Vestry House. At a
Vestrqr meeting on November I 1, 1846, it was resolved that a committee be appointed to investigate
the cost of building repaits and the cost of constructing a Lecture and Vestry Room at the upper end
of the church. Minutes of November 1 7, 1846, show thc lowest bid for a Vestry House was about
% 1.000 plus $200 to! repair the steps of the church. It is not known whcther an addition was built at
that time. As the needs of the church and V e w grew, a resolution was made ot their meeting on
Deomhcr 5 , 1849, to build a new and larger church on the site of the 1826 church. The Vestry
engaged the services sfWilliam S. Ellison to design the new church. The cornersrone was laid on
June 1 1. 1850, and the first services were held on Easter Sunday, 1851. Ellison was later responsible
for the design of the stately Greek Revival Courthouse in Lynchburg (1855).
The Vestry minutes do not reflect further discuss~onon the conszmction o f a Lecture and
V e s q Roorn, but it was shortly after the completion of the new church that the Vestry House was
erected. It is not known if Ellison had a hand in he design of the veshy house. but since he was still
working in Lynchburg at zhe time, it would not be unlikely that he did. given I-tis familiarity with the
clasical vocabulay. Throughout its history, the Vestry Hause has also been referred to as the "Old
OMB Approval No 10264018
NP5 Form 10-900-a
(8-%I
United States Department of Ithe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e 4
Saint PaulLs Vestry Hoase
Lynchbum. V ireinia
Rectory;" however, it appears that the building was never intended for use as a rectory but as a
meeting house for the Vestry, Trustees and other committees of thc chwch.
The vestry system developed in Colonid Virginia when t h e Anglican Church was the
established religion for the colony. Vestry members usually came from the gentry of the
congregation. Among their duties were to appoint the minister, investigate moral offences, see that
the parish lived within its means ancl to care for the indigent of the parish. St. Paul's Vestry House
appears to be the only s w i v i n g "Vestry House'' in Virginia today,
The Vestry House remained the site ofvestry business until the church undenvent remodeling
in 1870-7 1 when the small building became space for Sunday School classes. Growth in the church
continued, and once again a larger buildhg was called for. In I891 the ~ornesstonewas laid for the
third St. Paul's church smchlary. The last service an November 15 , 1895, was the firneral of
General Jubal A. Early, renowned Civil War hers. The new St. Paul's w a s located at Sevcnth and
Clay strcets where k stands today.
In April o f 1903 the trustees of St. Paul's transferred the Vestry House to Mrs. Sally D.
Tompkins, (Lynchburg Dced Book 71, page 470), who in turn rented the building to the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg. The Woman's Club occupied the building until i916. In 1902 eleven
Lynchburg women bad gathered to f m a study group to l e m parliamentary procedure. FOTa fee
of $8.00 arnonh, they held their regular meetings in the Vestry House at 308 Seventh Street. This
group of enthusiastic and energetic women decided to expand she organimtion to include civic.
cultural and educational endeavors throughout the city. To this end, they established the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg! stating in its by-laws that "The object of this club shall be benevolent,
phiImchropic and educational."' Members still remember this building as their first home. From
its humble beginnings and its first gathering of eleven ladies, the club membership now numbers
about 400.
The formation of the Lynchburg Woman's Club was part of a much wider social movement
that took place throughout the country between 1868 and 1910. Following the Civil War there were
no secular organizations for women. The greatest growth of woman's cllrbs in the South began in
the 1880s with the pioneer efforts of a woman's association in hew Orleans whose mission was
to "assist the intellectual growth and spiritual ambition ofthe ~ornrnunity.~
Virginia women were
.
- --
The lynch bur^ Woman's Club, t 905-1906, Article Two of the Constitution..
' Anne Fimr Scott, Making
he InvrsrbIe Woman t'isrble, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1984), 2 16.
N P S Form 1 0-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Inferior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Settion
8 Page 5
Saint Paul's Vestw House
Lvnch bure, Vir~inisr.
somewhat slower to organize: with the Woman's Club of Richmond forming in 1894 and the
'ZVornan's Club o f Petemburg organizing in 1 897. They had, however, a smng tradition of woman's
associations to follow with the founding of the Association for the Presenration of Virginia
Antiquities in 1889 and the Virginia Daughters of the American Kevolution, the Virginia Society
of Colonial Dames, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, all organized in the 1890s. The
motivation for the estabIishment of women's clubs in general seems to have been for selfdevelopment and self- education in n period when few women nttcnded college, Often fellow
members who had traveIed to foreign Iands shred information about their travels with their
calleagucs. According to a history of the American fmily written in 1919, early women's
associationswere more study clubs whose members usually already h e w each other socially. Clubs
tended to be exclusive, limiting their memberships to the upper and upper-middie classes. Ironically,
the same writer in addressing the problem of divorce, blames "clubs and social frivolities'' for the
increase in divorce in the early years of the 20th century?
Writing in 1922, Sallie Southdl Cotten, described the results of the woman's club movement:
Club experience has been the university in which they (the women) have l m e d
[about] themselves and other women and have seen men as one of the species and not
as individual husbands and fathers. They have pained respect for their own opinions,
toleration Cor the opinions of others...Their knowledge has been increased...Gassip
has decreased because clubs have given women better things to think about and
having seen the needs of the world they have become interested in striving to make
their own part of it a little better.'
During the early days. the Lynchbwg club sparked new ventures as it strived for its own
education md cuItural awareness. In 1907, the Lynchburg club took the initiative and hosted the
gathering that established the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs. From its earliest years the
women invited lecturers, speakers and performers to come to t h e meetings and present pmgrms that
Arthur W Calhoun, A Sociul History
(Cleveland, 19191, 192-93.
of the Rmer~canFarttily, Volume
111, "'Since the Civil War,"
Snltic Southalt Cotten, "Accamplishments of Women's Clubs," SSC Papen, 1922, University of North
Carolina. Quoted in Anne Firor Scott. horn Peu'ard ro PoBics, 1830-1930, (University of Chicaso Press, 19701, 151.
NPS Form 10-930-a
OMB Approval No. 10244018
{S-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
Page 6
Lvnchburg. Virginia
varied h r n the study of foreign lands to the enjoyment of a play. It was the theatrical interest that
sparked the Little Theatre, a theatrical group with the longest unbroken series of regularly scheduled
plays in Lynchburg. The plays began as a friendly rivalry between two groups of theatre-minded
people, one group from Diamond Hill and one from Rivemont, residential neighborhoods in
Lynchburg. One gmup of wornen was inspired by dramatic readings given at the Woman" Club
by Robert Dempster, an actor, playwright and teacher at Sweet Briar College. After his performance
the group formed the Little Theatre League in 1920. Although the Little Theatre never used this
building as its performance venue, its actors would accasionally give special perfommces fsr the
Women's Club membership meetings.
By 1916 the Woman's Club had outgrown the small Seventh Street Vestry House and
purchased the spacious C m l Home at 1020 Court Street to which rhey added a 400-seat
a~ditoxium.After the club moved, Mrs. Robert M. Strother opened a school of drama caIIled "The
School of Expression," in the Vestry building. It was here that many would-be actors took lessons
for their roles on stage at the Little Theatre. Mrs. Strothet left in 1926. From 1928 to 1934, the
smalI building continued to provide the community with a cultural outlet in the hands ofGrace
Homes who gave music lessons there.
After I928 the building was used for a variety of communi~activities. A gift shop operated
in the building from 1 938-39, and a photo company used the space in I941-42. After World War
El the building mas used by Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witnesses for several years and then
intermittently tbr cornrnercial enterprises. Since 1957 the Vestry House has housed offices for
arcllitects, insurance agents, and other professionals.
From its earIiest use as a Vestr?, House for St. Paul's Episcopal Church, this tiny building
haq been the meeting site for many of Lynchburg's leading citizens. many of whom have helped to
create the City of Lynchburg as it is today. From this building, Lynchburg women were inspired to
go into the world and make a difference. Decausc of their quest for howledge and an improved
culturak enbironrnent, they sparked in others the dcsire to create. From a single stimulating
performance by Robert Dempster grew the inspiration to create a theatrical landmark. In its well
preserved and largely unaltered condition, the St. Paul's Vestry House remains an imponant land
mark and symbol of Lynchburg's religious and cultural history.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(81163
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Servjce
National R e s t e r of Historic Places
Continuation Sbeet
Sectim
9Page 7
Saint Paa17sVestry House
L y n c h b n ~ Vir~tnia
?
9. Bibliography
CaZhoun, Arthur W,,
A Social Histow ofrhe American Fami& 3 vsIs. Volume 111 "Since the Civil
War," (CIeveland: 1 9 19).
Chambers, S. Allen, JT.,Lynckb~rg,An ArchitechtraF Ni.~tuory{Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia., 198 1).
Christian, W. A s b q , LymhburganditsPeople. (Lynchburg: J . P. Bell Co.,19002.
Cocke, Charles Francis, Par-ish Lines ofthe Diocese ofSouthwestern Virginin. (Richmond the
Virginia State L i b m y , 1960).
Halsey, Don P.,Centenay of St. Pad's ClturcH. Historical address given at St. Paul's Episcopal
Cburch, Lynchburg, Va.. 1922.
He*ng, William Waler, Sia1ule.s at Larp. . . Laws of Virginia. (New York 1823).
Lebsock, S m e , Virginia Woman 1600-1945, "A Share of Homos, " (R;chond: Virginia State
Library, 19873.
b ' d , Richard B.,Mundy and Bernard K., Lynchburg,A Pictoria/ History. (Virginia Beach, Va.:
The Doning Company Publishers), 1975).
The L-yfichhurg W Q ~ U YS ICluh. (1 905-1906)
Minutes of the Woman's Club of Lynchburg, 1903- 1922,
Minutes of St. Pau17sEpiscopal Church Vestrqt, 1824- 1 895.
Nichols, Janet Bernard. Historyofihe Wmnav'sCElrb (Petersburd, 1897-1947 (Petersburg: 1947).
Polk,R. L. & Company, City Dir~cforieslLynchhurgI, 1907-1994. ( R i c h n ~ ~ lVa.).
d,
OM3 Approval No. 1024-0018
hTS Form 10-900-a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Contitinuation Sheet
Section 9.10
Salnt_Panlls~eat_r
House
v
Lynch hurt, Virpinia
Page 8
Scott, Anne Firor, Making the Irtwisible Woman Viribk. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois,
1984.
7 k Southern Lady From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1970).
-
Treadway, Sandra Giora, Women of iMark A History ofthe Woman 's Club of Richmond Virginia.
(Richmond: T h e Library of Virginia. 1995).
Wiley, Lih, Alongside the River, Religious Activities of Churches of Lynchburg. (Lynchburg:
Bicentennial Commission, 1986.)
The Woman's Club of Lynchburg, Year Book, (Lynchburg, 1995).
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Baundm Description
Ttle nominated parcel is depicted on the accompanying page. 7 h e parcel is known as Lot 9 19 on
the City of Lynchburg Tax Map number 024-35. The parcel contains .04acres. The propew abuts
the boundaries of the Court House Mill Historic District, a locally designated historic area. Court
House Hill contains the present-day St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the historic propcrty owner of St.
Paul's Vestry House.
k n d a n , Justification
The boundasies of the nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the propem and
indude the principal contributing resource. Sr. Paul 's Vestry House.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB Approval No. 10?4-0018
E8W
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
Phot~ Page _9
Photographic List
I.
Name: St,Paul's Vesay House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Gjles
Bate: June E 0, 1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Front eeleation from the east
2.
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Date: June 10, 1996
Negative f 14938: Department of Historic Resources
South elevation from the south
3.
Name; St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V, Giles
Date: June 10,1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Detajl of interior door
4.
Narne: St. Paul's Vestry Heuse
Location: Lynchbug, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Dater June 10, 19%
Negative # 14938 : Department of Historic Resources
Interior of main entrance door
Saint Paul's-Vestw Rouse
Lvnchburg* Vir@nia
OMR Approvar No. 10244HlR
NPS Form I O - m a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section Photo
5.
Pngc 10
Name: St. Paul's Vesw House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: WilIiam V. Giles
Date: June 10, t 9%
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Interior of hallway
Saint Paul's Vestry House
Lvnch burp. Virginia
1 MILE
D n b n PI ACC1ClPATlnht
Text
VLR Listed: 12/10/2020
NRHP Listed: 2/18/2021
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This fonn is for use m nominating or requesting deterrmnations for md1v1dual properties and d1stncts. See mstrucuons m National Register
Bulletm, Hou to Complete the Natio11at Register of Historic Places Registration Form . If any item does not apply to the property being
documented. enter "NfA · for "not applicable " For functions , architectural class1f1cat1on, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the mstruct ions.
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
Other names/site numb~r: 12th Street Industrial Building; VDHR ID 118-0103
Name of related multiple property listing:
NI A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 170 I 12th Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State:
VA
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:
EJ
County: Independent City
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _x__ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __x_ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
_B
...x_c
...X_Iocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
l
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____1________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
Vacant/Not In Use____
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style: Contemporary Industrial Style
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE: Granite
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street stands at the
southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street in the City of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Constructed in 1906, the DeWitt-Wharton Building is a four-story, masonry building
composed of brick that rests on a stone basement. A gravel parking lot is visible to the west of
the main building and the loading dock is found on the north (rear) elevation. The building was
initially constructed to serve as a manufacturing facility for textile products, and it served in this
capacity into the 1980s. The history of the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
reflects the manufacturing and industrial boom in the City of Lynchburg during the twentieth
century. None of the original machinery associated with textile production remains; however, the
interior of the building remains undivided with the exception of a small office on the first floor,
and bathrooms in the basement, first, third, and fourth floors. Further, original radiators are
visible on the walls of the third and fourth floors, as well as the original freight elevator. The
DeWitt-Wharton Building was designed by premier Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye and is
a significant departure from his typical residential and Victorian-inspired designs. The DeWittWharton Manufacturing Company Building retains a high level of integrity in location, setting,
design, feeling, association, workmanship, and materials. The period of significance for the
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906 with the construction of the
building, and ends in 1965, marking the end of work clothing production in the building and the
transition to the manufacturing of women’s clothing.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building stands at 1701 12th Street, the southeast
corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street, bounded by Buchanan Street to the
east with the façade of the building facing 12th Street. The buildings in the vicinity of the DewittWharton Building are a mix of commercial businesses and residential dwellings. A small,
narrow, gravel parking lot is located to the west of the building. The area to the north of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building has a small, concrete driveway off Buchanan Street providing access
to the loading dock on the north elevation. A poured, concrete sidewalk runs along the south and
east perimeters of the property boundary.
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is adjacent to two previously identified
historic districts. The College Hill Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0226) is a district comprised
primarily of residential structures with boundaries beginning at Buchanan Street and then trend
to the east. The College Hill Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register
of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1994; however, it has not been formally listed. The Diamond Hill
Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0225) is a large, residential district officially listed on the
NRHP in 1979. The Diamond Hill Historic District begins at 12th Street and then trends to the
south.
Integrity Analysis
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building maintains its integrity of location; the
building has not been moved from its original location at the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The setting and feeling of the building have been slightly altered by the
construction of commercial buildings in the area that date from the 1920s through to the midtwentieth century. However, these newer commercial buildings are in scale with the DewittWharton Building and reflect the industrial growth of the City of Lynchburg. Further, the
Dewitt-Wharton Building retains sufficient integrity of setting and feeling as demonstrated by
the presence of the Diamond Hill Historic District and the College Hill Historic District, both of
which are contiguous to the building property. The design, workmanship, and materials remain
intact though the building has been altered by brick infill visible in the basement windows and
one entrance on the façade, as well as some missing window sash on the 4th floor of the building.
A modern loading dock is visible on the north (rear) elevation of the building which reflects the
continuous use of the building for manufacturing. Other decorative elements do remain including
the brackets along the cornice, the brick arches over the windows and entrances, and a narrow,
metal, fire escape on the east elevation. The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Building retains a
high level of integrity with open spaces supported by large, wood posts, original wood flooring,
and radiators. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has integrity of
association. Sanborn maps indicate that a one-story, brick boiler room building sat to the west of
the main building where the current gravel parking lot sits (Figure 5). However, the removal of
the boiler room did not result in any significant alterations to the design of the building.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Exterior Description
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a four-story brick building measuring
forty feet wide and 100 feet long with decorative brickwork and a granite foundation, resulting in
an impressive edifice. The decorative elements on the exterior of the building demonstrates the
practice of the Contemporary Industrial style of reserving stylistic details for the exterior of the
building. The brick is laid in five-course American Bond, composed of smooth manufactured
bricks, held in place by flush, beige, concrete mortar. In some places, the header-course intervals
are inconsistent on the building, particularly in areas where entrances and windows have been
replaced with modern, brick infill. The bricks are red-brown in color except for the bricks that
comprise the parapet, those are browner in color, an interesting stylistic detail that demonstrates
how the manipulation of natural materials results in unique design. In addition, the use of brick
creates a fireproof building, reflecting a popular trend of the early 20th century. Portions of the
brick are discolored because previous occupants painted company names on the building, the
most visible being the faded name of Cones’ Boss Work Clothing over the east entrance on the
façade. The faded painted names of previous occupants speaks to the industrial history of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building.
The building rests on a foundation composed of coursed, rusticated granite, providing a bold
contrast to the natural brick above. The foundation is not visible on the façade with the exception
of the southeast corner where it consists of three courses, and the foundation of the east elevation
is three courses high beginning at the southeast corner and then tapers toward the north (rear)
elevation of the building. No portion of the foundation is visible along the north (rear) elevation,
while the west elevation has four visible courses of stone. The difference in visible foundation is
likely due to the hilly nature of the topography of the City of Lynchburg. The façade of the
building fronts 12th Street and consists of two entrances; however, the east entrance is infilled
with brick and no longer used. The west entrance on the façade consists of double-leaf, metal
doors, capped with a fixed light transom. The façade is typified by fenestration composed of
wood, double-hung sash windows with 12-over-12 lights. The windows are capped with solid,
narrow, wood, arched lintels and distinctive brick arches consisting of three rows of stacked,
brick headers. The windows on the west side of the façade are off center from the other
windows. These windows are on the same end of the building as the stairs and the windows flood
the stairwell with natural light. The windows for the basement are infilled with brick.
The west and east elevations of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building are
typified by rows of symmetrical windows identical to those found on the façade, demonstrating
that stylistic details were not limited to just the façade. Three windows on the first floor and all
basement windows of the west elevation are infilled with brick. The windows on the fourth floor
have straight, narrow lintels and no brick arches, giving the windows the appearance of being
shorter than the windows of the first three floors. A modern ventilation system consisting of
large metal canisters and pipes rests on an elevated concrete pad and a square, green air handler
is visible to the northern end of the elevation on the west side, the previous location of the boiler
room. The removal of the boiler room left no scars on the west elevation as all windows and
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brickwork appear intact. The east elevation has all basement windows infilled with brick, and a
simple, narrow, metal fire escape runs diagonally from the fourth floor to the ground. The
elevator shaft sits in the northeast corner of the east elevation and contains three, four-over-four,
wood windows with a double-hung sash. Both east and west elevations have Italianate,
decorative brackets along the cornice.
The rear elevation has a modern loading dock that was installed in 2005 and consists of a raised
concrete pad with a metal, roll-up door. The windows are similar to those found on the other
elevations with the exception of those on the first and second floors which are covered with
metal blinds. The basement window apertures are infilled with brick. The building is capped with
a metal, low-pitch gable roof. The roof line is concealed by a stepped, brick parapet with copper
parapet caps.
Interior Description
The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects a principal
precept of the Contemporary Industrial style with its large open space that places function over
design. The basement of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building consists of
undivided open space with large, wood, rectangular beams supported by eleven round posts. The
ceiling of the basement is lined with various utilities including pipes, metal sheet ductwork, and
electric conduit. The floor is composed of poured concrete and the ceiling is covered with
narrow-gauge wood. The stone foundation wall varies in height relative to the topography of the
property. The foundation wall is approximately five-and-a-half feet tall on the east elevation,
three feet on the north and west elevations, and one foot on the south elevation. The visible
granite stones provide a contrast to the utilitarian poured concrete floors. The elevator is located
in the northeast corner and has a modern metal door. On the west elevation is a double-leaf wood
door composed of vertical boards. In the southwest corner of the basement is a small bathroom
and a heavy, metal door with metal hinges that leads to the stairs. The door opens through a
system of weights and chains which are necessary due to the size and weight of the door. These
metal doors, which may be found on all floors and provide access to the stairs, are another
element of fireproof design. The stairs for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building are located in the southwest corner. The wood stairs, railing, and balustrade are modern.
Each flight contains ten steps and is separated by concrete landings.
The first floor of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building houses the workspace
for Kerschbamer Woodworking, so a majority of the floor space is occupied by their equipment.
However, the layout of the floor is the same: a large, rectangular space with large wood beams
supported by eleven round posts that run down the center of the room. The floor is covered in
narrow-gauge wood flooring and the walls are of exposed brick. The ceiling is also covered in
wood boards with metal conduit housing the electrical wiring and a modern fire suppression
system. A small office composed of plywood and a bathroom are located toward the southwest
corner of the first floor appear to be modern additions. The freight elevator is in the northeast
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
corner and retains its original metal door with metal hinges and latch. Behind the metal door is
the metal cage that encases the elevator platform.
The second, third, and fourth floors are similar to the basement and first floors with large beams
supported by round columns that run the length of the room, again reflecting the functional
nature of the building’s interior. Some columns have notches cut out perhaps to hold the long
tables of the cutting room. The walls are plain brick and the floors and ceilings are composed of
narrow-gauge wood with the same conduit and fire suppression systems found on the first floor
and basement. The exposed brick walls are a characteristic of the Contemporary Industrial style,
saving design for the exterior and focusing on function and use for the interior. The third and
fourth floors have yellow lines painted on the floors, perhaps to dictate movement of people or
materials around the equipment that was once present in the building. The freight elevator is in
the northeast corner with the original metal door and metal cage that surrounds the elevator
platform. The windows on the east and west elevations flood the rooms with natural light,
facilitating the use of the floors as functional space. Large, heavy, metal doors with the same
chain and weight pulley system found in the basement and first floors, provide access to the
room from the stairs. A set of simple, modern, wood steps provide access to the fire escape
through one of the windows on the east elevation. The third and fourth floors contain restrooms
both with transoms composed of fixed, four lights and sheathed in narrow, vertical, beaded
siding. The restroom on the third floor has three stalls, with swinging wood doors of beaded,
vertical boards. The restroom on the fourth floor has two stalls with swinging, louvered wood
doors. There is a separate restroom to the right of the main restroom that is accessed by a singleleaf, double-paneled wood door, also capped with a four-light transom. The single restroom may
have been reserved for managers. The restrooms on the third and fourth floors have elaborately
decorated metal radiators, a great contrast to the plain, black radiator pipes that run along the
walls beneath the windows in the primary workspace.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_INDUSTRY___________
_ARCHITECTURE________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1906-1965__________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward G./Architect
C.W. Hancock and Sons/Builder
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street in Lynchburg,
Virginia, is a brick building located at the southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Industry. The building reflects the rise of the textile industry in the City of Lynchburg in
the early-20th century. The Dewitt-Wharton is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a good example of a Contemporary Industrial style building. The building is also
locally significant under Criterion C for the architect, Edward G. Frye, a prolific architect in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is an interesting departure for Frye both in
style as well as building type. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building retains
integrity due to the minimal amount of alterations to the building and its continuous use as a
manufacturing facility. The Dewitt-Wharton Building was home to numerous textile
manufacturing companies during the 20th century, including the DeWitt-Wharton Company,
Jobbers Overall Company, N&W Overall Company, C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing
Company, and Virginia Sportswear. Further, the setting of the building has changed little during
the 20th century. Though the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has been altered
in its 114-year history, it still possesses integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. The
period of significance for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906
with the construction of the building. The period of significance ends in 1965, when work
clothing manufacturing ceased in the building.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Industry
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Industry. The City of Lynchburg embraced new manufacturing
beginning in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Prior to textile manufacturing, industry in the
City of Lynchburg focused primarily on tobacco and iron.1 New industries included cotton mills,
hosiery mills, shoe companies, and clothing production. Mills and other industries in the City of
Lynchburg contributed to the economic vitality of the City after the Civil War. Lynchburg
recovered quickly after the end of the Civil War due to a sound transportation network and the
textile industry.2 Companies like the Lynchburg Cotton Mills Company and the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills, both founded in 1919, are examples of the early textile industry in the City of
Lynchburg. The growth of textile manufacturing, specifically in the area of work clothing, grew
John V. Horner and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds, The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936, (Lynchburg: The
Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936), 129.
2 News Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia, September 4, 2016.
1
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
considerably in Lynchburg in the 20th century.3 In fact, “by 1950 there were ten garment
factories in Lynchburg making overalls, shirts, and ladies’ and children’s clothing.”4The DewittWharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects the textile industry of the City of Lynchburg
during the 20th century, specifically in the area of work clothing manufacturing. The DewittWharton Building was home to numerous textile manufacturers from its construction until the
1980s. Prominent textile companies include DeWitt-Wharton Company, Jobbers Overall
Company, N&W Overall Company, and C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company. These
companies reflect the growth of textile manufacturing in the City of Lynchburg during the 20th
century.5
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company hired renowned Lynchburg architect Edward G.
Frye to design the headquarters for their new shirt manufacturing company. C.W. Hancock and
Son Builders completed the construction of the new building in 1907 for a cost of $13,000.6 In
1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company opened its doors at 1701-1703 12th Street in
a new building. Incorporated in 1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company specialized
in shirt manufacturing with Clinton DeWitt serving as president, E.M. Wharton vice-president,
and Clinton DeWitt secretary, treasurer, and general manager. The Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building remained the home of DeWitt-Wharton until 1912.7
In 1913, the new tenant in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building was the
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. The Jobbers Overall Company received its charter from the City
of Lynchburg on September 21, 1911.8 The Jobbers Overall Company was originally called the
Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company; however, in 1911 the company removed the word
manufacturing from its name. The company created tremendous anticipation prior to its opening
by taking out a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory in 1912.9 The full-page
advertisement featured a photo of the Dewitt-Wharton Building at the top, center of the page.10
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1972), 219222.
4 James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986, (Lynchburg: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004), 258.
5 Scruggs, pp 219-222.
6 City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
7 City of Lynchburg City Directory 1907-1912, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
8 City of Lynchburg Business Charters
9 Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination, (Richmond: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 2008).
10 Ibid.
3
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Jobbers Overall Company, under the direction of Alfred C. Barrow, was so successful it was
running double-page advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post. The company dominated the
work clothing market manufacturing overalls until the end of World War I.11 The Jobbers
Overall Company remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Building until 1919, at which time the
company moved from the Dewitt-Wharton Building to a complex of buildings on Kemper Street.
The new facility was much larger than the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
and consisted of a main plant, dormitory, and suspender factory. The complex of buildings is
currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Kemper Street Industrial
Historic District.12
In 1919, a new work garment manufacturer moved into the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building. The N&W Overall Company received its business charter on April 14, 1917;
however, it took two years for the new company to move into the building. This may be due to
the fact that the Jobbers Overall Company was in the process of moving into its new facility on
Kemper Street.13 N&W Overall Company, Incorporated was led by L.W. Turner, H.C. Barrow,
and A.C. Barrow. The company began manufacturing overalls after the end of World War I. The
N&W Overall Company was so successful that the company eventually opened a branch plant in
Jackson, Mississippi.14 By 1935, the N&W Overall Company no longer operated out of the
Dewitt-Wharton.15
In 1935, the C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company moved into the Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building and would continue to occupy the building until 1964.16
Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the C.B. Cones and Sons Company made overalls,
coats, and unlaundered work shirts. In the 1930s, the Company made the decision to expand its
manufacturing facilities and opened a factory in Lynchburg.17 The C.B. Cones and Sons
Manufacturing Company utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building for
almost 30 years.
The manufacturing conducted within the Dewitt-Wharton Building was divided by specific tasks
and often located on separate floors. A Jobbers Overall Company publication commemorating
the anniversary of the company in the City of Lynchburg contains photographs demonstrating
this division of work, with each floor focused on a particular manufacturing task. For example,
the raw stock necessary for production is located on one floor, more than likely the bottom floor
where the loading dock is found. The raw stock area consisted of large shelves with massive
bolts of cloth. The next floor is the cutting room containing tables that run the entire length of the
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Scruggs, 219-222.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination
City of Lynchburg Business Charters
Horner and Winfree, (eds.), p 130.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1935-1964, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
room. The cut cloth would then move to the stitching or sewing room. The photograph from the
Jobbers Overall publication shows a massive room tightly packed with women at sewing
machines. Once complete, the clothing would then move to a finished stock room. The large
freight elevator within the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building obviously
facilitated the movement of materials between the floors.18
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
The United States Federal Census provides a snapshot of the employees of the different
companies that occupied the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building through the
years. The companies employed only white men and women, with the various tasks divided
amongst the two. The 1910 Federal Census sporadically provides information concerning the
specific tasks that the employees completed with the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company.
Individuals are identified as either working in a factory, but often specific job titles are limited to
the term laborer. Some exceptions are Carlile Hawkins, a 17-year old, white male who worked as
18
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company.com, accessed 31 July 2020.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
a driver for the Shirt Factory and Emma Barker, a 22-year old, white woman who was a
seamstress. 19
However, the 1920 Federal Census provides more information about the workers within the
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building. The tasks of draftsman and cutter were
relegated to men, while women were stitchers. Nora Cash and Annie Apperson were both white
females who worked as stitchers in the Overall Factory. Mary Walker, also a white female, was a
floor manager, probably for the stitchers. Edward Fisher, a white male, worked as a cutter. All of
the individuals identified as employees who worked for the N&W Overall Company at the
Dewitt-Wharton Building were from Virginia. This trend is evident in the 1930 Federal Census
as well.20
The workforce of C.B Cones and Son Manufacturing Company is consistent with its
predecessors; however, the 1940 Federal Census provides income information as well. For
example, Charles Cumby, an 18-year old male, worked as a floor boy and in 1939 he worked 40
weeks and made $400.00. Anna White, a 58-year old woman who was a machine operator
worked 26 weeks with an income of $390.00, demonstrating that skilled labor was valued and
compensated.21 As mentioned previously, the C.B. Cones and Son Manufacturing Company
utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building when it expanded its operations
in the 1930s. John Niehaus was a cutter for C.B. Cones and moved to Lynchburg from
Indianapolis, Indiana, with his family to work in the Dewitt-Wharton Building. Niehaus’ stay
was not a lengthy one, probably to train workers, and he soon returned to Indianapolis.22
19
20
21
22
United States Federal Census, 1910.
United States Federal Census, 1920 and 1930.
United States Federal Census, 1940.
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Starting in 1965, the new occupants of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
manufactured women’s clothing. From 1965 to 1975 the City of Lynchburg City Directory
identifies the occupant only as “women’s clothing.” In 1976, the occupant of the DewittWharton Building was Virginia Sportswear, Inc., also a manufacturer of women’s clothing.
Virginia Sportswear, Inc. remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
until 1986. After Virginia Sportswear, Inc. left, Haywood-Male, Incorporated moved into the
building. The company remained there for only a year and was identified as a clothing
manufacturer.23
Over the following decades, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building remained
vacant or had short-term tenants. The building was vacant in 1987; however, in 1988 the Sun
Cab Company occupied the space. It was then vacant again from 1989 through 1990, until the
Sand Bar Dress Company moved in during 1991. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building is identified as vacant from 1992 through 1998, when the Lynchburg Auto Parts
company used the space in 1999. Currently, Kerschbamer Woodworking occupies the basement
and first floors of the building. The second through fourth floors are either empty or used for
storage by Kerschbamer.24
23
24
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
Ibid.
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Criterion C: Architecture
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is eligible for the National Register
under Criterion C as a good example of a brick, Contemporary Industrial style building.
Elements of the Contemporary Industrial style include the low-pitch gable roof, the ribbons of
windows and use of natural materials. Further, it is the emphasis on making the interior
functional and reserving decorative details for the exterior of the building that makes it a prime
example of this design type.25 The symmetrical fenestration, brick segmental arches over the
windows, and decorative brackets still visible on the east and west elevations exemplify some of
the more stylized characteristics of the building, typical for a Contemporary Industrial style
building. While the interior consists primarily of the large, open spaces needed for the function
of an industrial facility; the exterior possesses keener attention to detail with a greater focus on
conveying style over simple function. In addition, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building possesses significant integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. Though the
basement windows are in-filled with brick, and many window sash on the remaining floors are
damaged, the original layout and design is readily apparent. The east entrance on the façade has
also been filled in, but much like the basement windows, this in-fill may be removed.
The high level of design detail results from the work of local, premier Lynchburg architect
Edward Graham Frye. Frye is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century
in Lynchburg, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth.26 Born in Bristol, Tennessee, in
1870, Frye majored in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Upon completion of his degree,
Frye began work as an apprentice in an architecture office in the City of Norfolk. Frye came to
Lynchburg in 1890 and the town quickly became familiar with his talent and style. Frye’s style
was considered eclectic, often incorporating elements of Romanesque, Queen Anne, Shingle,
Neoclassical, as well as other popular styles at the time.27
Frye’s early work in Lynchburg focused primarily on churches and impressive residential
dwellings. He designed three new churches and remodeled two others in Lynchburg; all designs
adhered primarily to the Romanesque style. These include the remodeling of the 1860 Centenary
Methodist Church and the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Three new churches were the 8th Street
Baptist Church, 1st Presbyterian Church, and the Court Street Methodist Church.28 A majority of
Frye’s residential dwellings were of the Queen Anne design with elaborate facades and simple
rear elevations. Examples include the Frank P. Christian House and George P. Watkins House,
both on Madison Street in Lynchburg, as well as a modest dwelling for himself. The Craddock
House completed in the Romanesque style was one of the more elaborate dwellings Frye
designed.29
25
26
27
28
29
Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017), 629-632.
Allen S. Chambers Jr., Lynchburg: An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: UVA Press, 1981), 357.
Ibid., p. 315-317.
Ibid., p. 330.
Ibid., p. 333-337.
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1900, Frye joined with Aubrey Chesterman to form the firm Frye and Chesterman.
Chesterman, a native of Richmond, Virginia, preferred the Colonial Revival style for his
buildings. The firm of Frye and Chesterman designed a wide variety of residential and municipal
buildings, many of these reflect a combination of the styles of the two men, though the Georgian
Revival style dominated their designs. Frye and Chesterman designed numerous houses on
prestigious Rivermont Avenue in the City of Lynchburg. The firm of Frye and Chesterman has
an impressive and exhaustive list of buildings designed in and around the Lynchburg area;
however, there are no examples of industrial buildings.30 The City of Lynchburg Land Valuation
Card identifies only Edward Frye as the architect for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building.31 By 1906, the two men had worked together for at least six years. The firm
of Frye and Chesterman ceased operations in Lynchburg in 1913, when the firm moved to
Roanoke, Virginia.32
The style of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a departure for Frye, and a
unique example of his work in the City of Lynchburg. Frye’s preference for the detailed
Romanesque style, as described above, is absent in the Dewitt-Wharton Building with the
exception of the rusticated granite present on the foundation. His willingness to embrace the
function-over-design tenet of the Contemporary Industrial style is interesting considering his
professional success employing more elaborate designs. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is the
only industrial building designed by Frye in Virginia and therefore a unique example of his work
in both building type and style.
30
31
32
Chambers, pp.357-359.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
The American Architect, (New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913), 5.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
The American Architect. New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913.
Chambers, Allen S., Jr. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: UVA Press,
1981.
City of Lynchburg Business Charters, 1870-1983. Available Library of Virginia. Richmond,
Virginia.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1907-1912. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card. Available City of Lynchburg Circuit Court.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg:
Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Horner, John V. and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936.
Lynchburg: The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936.
Indianaties.com. Accessed 10 April 2020.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination. Richmond: Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 2008.
Lynchburg News Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia. September 4, 2016.
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company. Accessed 31 July 2020.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2017.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company,
Inc., 1972.
United States Federal Census for years 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_______
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _VDHR No.: 118-0103__
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __0.214 acres______
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.404858
Longitude: 79.154444
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building coincides with the
lot lines of City of Lynchburg tax parcel 01057008. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building is bounded by 12th Street to the south, Buchanan Street to the east, and
property boundaries to the west and north. The true and correct historic boundary is shown
on the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building encompass the
building and gravel parking lot. There are no outbuildings associated with the property. The
boundaries coincide with the current tax parcel, thus encompassing the historic setting and all
known historic resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Sarah M. Clarke/Senior Architectural Historian
organization: _____Hurt & Proffitt
street & number: __2524 Langhorne Road #1602____
city or town: _Lynchburg____ state: ____VA____ zip code:_24501_____
e-mail: __clarke1201@gmail.com____
telephone:__804-347-5825__________
date: ___May 20, 2020____________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: City of Lynchburg
State: VA
Photographer: Sarah M. Clarke
Date Photographed: January 31, 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 24, façade and west elevation, and parking lot, view to the northeast.
2 of 24, façade, close up Cones’ Boss painted sign, view to the north.
3 of 24, façade and east elevation, view to the northwest.
4 of 24, east elevation, view to the west.
5 of 24, rear elevation, loading dock, view to the southwest.
6 of 24, rear elevation, view to the southwest.
7 of 24, interior of front entrance, view to the south.
8 of 24, foundation at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.
9 of 24, door from the stairs to the basement, view to southwest.
10 of 24, basement, view to the north.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11 of 24, basement, east elevation showing brick infill window, view to the east.
12 of 24, basement, double-leaf, wood door on the west elevation, view to the west.
13 of 24, stairs to first floor from front entrance.
14 of 24, first floor, Kerschbamer office.
15 of 24, first floor, view to the north.
16 of 24, second floor, view to the north.
17 of 24, third floor, entrance and bathrooms, view to the southwest.
18 of 24, third floor, south elevation, view to the south.
19 of 24, third floor, east elevation with steps to fire escape, view to the northeast.
20 of 24, third floor, freight elevator, view to the northeast.
21 of 24, fourth floor entrance, view to the southwest.
22 of 24, fourth floor, north elevation, view to the north.
23 of 24, fourth floor, east and north elevations, view to the north.
24 of 24, fourth floor, bathrooms, view to the southwest.
Historic Images Log
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City
Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
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Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
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Sections 9-end page 26
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
County Boundaries
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 11/12/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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Photo Locations
A Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
(contributing)
The City of
Lynchburg, VA
Legend
Addresses
Street Labels
Legal Lot Lines
Vacated Right of Way
Parcels
Owner Undetermined
Survey Gap
Assessed By County
TAX PARCEL MAP
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
01057008
Historic Boundary
6/9/2020
DISCLAIMER:This drawing is neither a legally recorded map nor a survey and is not intended to be used as such. The information displayed is a compilation of records,information, and data obtained from various
sources, and the City of Lynchburg is not responsible for its accuracy or how current it may be.
Historic Boundary
NRHP Listed: 2/18/2021
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This fonn is for use m nominating or requesting deterrmnations for md1v1dual properties and d1stncts. See mstrucuons m National Register
Bulletm, Hou to Complete the Natio11at Register of Historic Places Registration Form . If any item does not apply to the property being
documented. enter "NfA · for "not applicable " For functions , architectural class1f1cat1on, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the mstruct ions.
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
Other names/site numb~r: 12th Street Industrial Building; VDHR ID 118-0103
Name of related multiple property listing:
NI A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 170 I 12th Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State:
VA
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:
EJ
County: Independent City
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _x__ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __x_ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
_B
...x_c
...X_Iocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
l
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____1________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
Vacant/Not In Use____
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style: Contemporary Industrial Style
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE: Granite
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street stands at the
southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street in the City of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Constructed in 1906, the DeWitt-Wharton Building is a four-story, masonry building
composed of brick that rests on a stone basement. A gravel parking lot is visible to the west of
the main building and the loading dock is found on the north (rear) elevation. The building was
initially constructed to serve as a manufacturing facility for textile products, and it served in this
capacity into the 1980s. The history of the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
reflects the manufacturing and industrial boom in the City of Lynchburg during the twentieth
century. None of the original machinery associated with textile production remains; however, the
interior of the building remains undivided with the exception of a small office on the first floor,
and bathrooms in the basement, first, third, and fourth floors. Further, original radiators are
visible on the walls of the third and fourth floors, as well as the original freight elevator. The
DeWitt-Wharton Building was designed by premier Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye and is
a significant departure from his typical residential and Victorian-inspired designs. The DeWittWharton Manufacturing Company Building retains a high level of integrity in location, setting,
design, feeling, association, workmanship, and materials. The period of significance for the
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906 with the construction of the
building, and ends in 1965, marking the end of work clothing production in the building and the
transition to the manufacturing of women’s clothing.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building stands at 1701 12th Street, the southeast
corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street, bounded by Buchanan Street to the
east with the façade of the building facing 12th Street. The buildings in the vicinity of the DewittWharton Building are a mix of commercial businesses and residential dwellings. A small,
narrow, gravel parking lot is located to the west of the building. The area to the north of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building has a small, concrete driveway off Buchanan Street providing access
to the loading dock on the north elevation. A poured, concrete sidewalk runs along the south and
east perimeters of the property boundary.
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is adjacent to two previously identified
historic districts. The College Hill Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0226) is a district comprised
primarily of residential structures with boundaries beginning at Buchanan Street and then trend
to the east. The College Hill Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register
of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1994; however, it has not been formally listed. The Diamond Hill
Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0225) is a large, residential district officially listed on the
NRHP in 1979. The Diamond Hill Historic District begins at 12th Street and then trends to the
south.
Integrity Analysis
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building maintains its integrity of location; the
building has not been moved from its original location at the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The setting and feeling of the building have been slightly altered by the
construction of commercial buildings in the area that date from the 1920s through to the midtwentieth century. However, these newer commercial buildings are in scale with the DewittWharton Building and reflect the industrial growth of the City of Lynchburg. Further, the
Dewitt-Wharton Building retains sufficient integrity of setting and feeling as demonstrated by
the presence of the Diamond Hill Historic District and the College Hill Historic District, both of
which are contiguous to the building property. The design, workmanship, and materials remain
intact though the building has been altered by brick infill visible in the basement windows and
one entrance on the façade, as well as some missing window sash on the 4th floor of the building.
A modern loading dock is visible on the north (rear) elevation of the building which reflects the
continuous use of the building for manufacturing. Other decorative elements do remain including
the brackets along the cornice, the brick arches over the windows and entrances, and a narrow,
metal, fire escape on the east elevation. The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Building retains a
high level of integrity with open spaces supported by large, wood posts, original wood flooring,
and radiators. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has integrity of
association. Sanborn maps indicate that a one-story, brick boiler room building sat to the west of
the main building where the current gravel parking lot sits (Figure 5). However, the removal of
the boiler room did not result in any significant alterations to the design of the building.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Exterior Description
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a four-story brick building measuring
forty feet wide and 100 feet long with decorative brickwork and a granite foundation, resulting in
an impressive edifice. The decorative elements on the exterior of the building demonstrates the
practice of the Contemporary Industrial style of reserving stylistic details for the exterior of the
building. The brick is laid in five-course American Bond, composed of smooth manufactured
bricks, held in place by flush, beige, concrete mortar. In some places, the header-course intervals
are inconsistent on the building, particularly in areas where entrances and windows have been
replaced with modern, brick infill. The bricks are red-brown in color except for the bricks that
comprise the parapet, those are browner in color, an interesting stylistic detail that demonstrates
how the manipulation of natural materials results in unique design. In addition, the use of brick
creates a fireproof building, reflecting a popular trend of the early 20th century. Portions of the
brick are discolored because previous occupants painted company names on the building, the
most visible being the faded name of Cones’ Boss Work Clothing over the east entrance on the
façade. The faded painted names of previous occupants speaks to the industrial history of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building.
The building rests on a foundation composed of coursed, rusticated granite, providing a bold
contrast to the natural brick above. The foundation is not visible on the façade with the exception
of the southeast corner where it consists of three courses, and the foundation of the east elevation
is three courses high beginning at the southeast corner and then tapers toward the north (rear)
elevation of the building. No portion of the foundation is visible along the north (rear) elevation,
while the west elevation has four visible courses of stone. The difference in visible foundation is
likely due to the hilly nature of the topography of the City of Lynchburg. The façade of the
building fronts 12th Street and consists of two entrances; however, the east entrance is infilled
with brick and no longer used. The west entrance on the façade consists of double-leaf, metal
doors, capped with a fixed light transom. The façade is typified by fenestration composed of
wood, double-hung sash windows with 12-over-12 lights. The windows are capped with solid,
narrow, wood, arched lintels and distinctive brick arches consisting of three rows of stacked,
brick headers. The windows on the west side of the façade are off center from the other
windows. These windows are on the same end of the building as the stairs and the windows flood
the stairwell with natural light. The windows for the basement are infilled with brick.
The west and east elevations of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building are
typified by rows of symmetrical windows identical to those found on the façade, demonstrating
that stylistic details were not limited to just the façade. Three windows on the first floor and all
basement windows of the west elevation are infilled with brick. The windows on the fourth floor
have straight, narrow lintels and no brick arches, giving the windows the appearance of being
shorter than the windows of the first three floors. A modern ventilation system consisting of
large metal canisters and pipes rests on an elevated concrete pad and a square, green air handler
is visible to the northern end of the elevation on the west side, the previous location of the boiler
room. The removal of the boiler room left no scars on the west elevation as all windows and
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brickwork appear intact. The east elevation has all basement windows infilled with brick, and a
simple, narrow, metal fire escape runs diagonally from the fourth floor to the ground. The
elevator shaft sits in the northeast corner of the east elevation and contains three, four-over-four,
wood windows with a double-hung sash. Both east and west elevations have Italianate,
decorative brackets along the cornice.
The rear elevation has a modern loading dock that was installed in 2005 and consists of a raised
concrete pad with a metal, roll-up door. The windows are similar to those found on the other
elevations with the exception of those on the first and second floors which are covered with
metal blinds. The basement window apertures are infilled with brick. The building is capped with
a metal, low-pitch gable roof. The roof line is concealed by a stepped, brick parapet with copper
parapet caps.
Interior Description
The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects a principal
precept of the Contemporary Industrial style with its large open space that places function over
design. The basement of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building consists of
undivided open space with large, wood, rectangular beams supported by eleven round posts. The
ceiling of the basement is lined with various utilities including pipes, metal sheet ductwork, and
electric conduit. The floor is composed of poured concrete and the ceiling is covered with
narrow-gauge wood. The stone foundation wall varies in height relative to the topography of the
property. The foundation wall is approximately five-and-a-half feet tall on the east elevation,
three feet on the north and west elevations, and one foot on the south elevation. The visible
granite stones provide a contrast to the utilitarian poured concrete floors. The elevator is located
in the northeast corner and has a modern metal door. On the west elevation is a double-leaf wood
door composed of vertical boards. In the southwest corner of the basement is a small bathroom
and a heavy, metal door with metal hinges that leads to the stairs. The door opens through a
system of weights and chains which are necessary due to the size and weight of the door. These
metal doors, which may be found on all floors and provide access to the stairs, are another
element of fireproof design. The stairs for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building are located in the southwest corner. The wood stairs, railing, and balustrade are modern.
Each flight contains ten steps and is separated by concrete landings.
The first floor of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building houses the workspace
for Kerschbamer Woodworking, so a majority of the floor space is occupied by their equipment.
However, the layout of the floor is the same: a large, rectangular space with large wood beams
supported by eleven round posts that run down the center of the room. The floor is covered in
narrow-gauge wood flooring and the walls are of exposed brick. The ceiling is also covered in
wood boards with metal conduit housing the electrical wiring and a modern fire suppression
system. A small office composed of plywood and a bathroom are located toward the southwest
corner of the first floor appear to be modern additions. The freight elevator is in the northeast
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
corner and retains its original metal door with metal hinges and latch. Behind the metal door is
the metal cage that encases the elevator platform.
The second, third, and fourth floors are similar to the basement and first floors with large beams
supported by round columns that run the length of the room, again reflecting the functional
nature of the building’s interior. Some columns have notches cut out perhaps to hold the long
tables of the cutting room. The walls are plain brick and the floors and ceilings are composed of
narrow-gauge wood with the same conduit and fire suppression systems found on the first floor
and basement. The exposed brick walls are a characteristic of the Contemporary Industrial style,
saving design for the exterior and focusing on function and use for the interior. The third and
fourth floors have yellow lines painted on the floors, perhaps to dictate movement of people or
materials around the equipment that was once present in the building. The freight elevator is in
the northeast corner with the original metal door and metal cage that surrounds the elevator
platform. The windows on the east and west elevations flood the rooms with natural light,
facilitating the use of the floors as functional space. Large, heavy, metal doors with the same
chain and weight pulley system found in the basement and first floors, provide access to the
room from the stairs. A set of simple, modern, wood steps provide access to the fire escape
through one of the windows on the east elevation. The third and fourth floors contain restrooms
both with transoms composed of fixed, four lights and sheathed in narrow, vertical, beaded
siding. The restroom on the third floor has three stalls, with swinging wood doors of beaded,
vertical boards. The restroom on the fourth floor has two stalls with swinging, louvered wood
doors. There is a separate restroom to the right of the main restroom that is accessed by a singleleaf, double-paneled wood door, also capped with a four-light transom. The single restroom may
have been reserved for managers. The restrooms on the third and fourth floors have elaborately
decorated metal radiators, a great contrast to the plain, black radiator pipes that run along the
walls beneath the windows in the primary workspace.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_INDUSTRY___________
_ARCHITECTURE________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1906-1965__________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward G./Architect
C.W. Hancock and Sons/Builder
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street in Lynchburg,
Virginia, is a brick building located at the southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Industry. The building reflects the rise of the textile industry in the City of Lynchburg in
the early-20th century. The Dewitt-Wharton is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a good example of a Contemporary Industrial style building. The building is also
locally significant under Criterion C for the architect, Edward G. Frye, a prolific architect in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is an interesting departure for Frye both in
style as well as building type. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building retains
integrity due to the minimal amount of alterations to the building and its continuous use as a
manufacturing facility. The Dewitt-Wharton Building was home to numerous textile
manufacturing companies during the 20th century, including the DeWitt-Wharton Company,
Jobbers Overall Company, N&W Overall Company, C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing
Company, and Virginia Sportswear. Further, the setting of the building has changed little during
the 20th century. Though the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has been altered
in its 114-year history, it still possesses integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. The
period of significance for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906
with the construction of the building. The period of significance ends in 1965, when work
clothing manufacturing ceased in the building.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Industry
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Industry. The City of Lynchburg embraced new manufacturing
beginning in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Prior to textile manufacturing, industry in the
City of Lynchburg focused primarily on tobacco and iron.1 New industries included cotton mills,
hosiery mills, shoe companies, and clothing production. Mills and other industries in the City of
Lynchburg contributed to the economic vitality of the City after the Civil War. Lynchburg
recovered quickly after the end of the Civil War due to a sound transportation network and the
textile industry.2 Companies like the Lynchburg Cotton Mills Company and the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills, both founded in 1919, are examples of the early textile industry in the City of
Lynchburg. The growth of textile manufacturing, specifically in the area of work clothing, grew
John V. Horner and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds, The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936, (Lynchburg: The
Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936), 129.
2 News Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia, September 4, 2016.
1
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
considerably in Lynchburg in the 20th century.3 In fact, “by 1950 there were ten garment
factories in Lynchburg making overalls, shirts, and ladies’ and children’s clothing.”4The DewittWharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects the textile industry of the City of Lynchburg
during the 20th century, specifically in the area of work clothing manufacturing. The DewittWharton Building was home to numerous textile manufacturers from its construction until the
1980s. Prominent textile companies include DeWitt-Wharton Company, Jobbers Overall
Company, N&W Overall Company, and C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company. These
companies reflect the growth of textile manufacturing in the City of Lynchburg during the 20th
century.5
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company hired renowned Lynchburg architect Edward G.
Frye to design the headquarters for their new shirt manufacturing company. C.W. Hancock and
Son Builders completed the construction of the new building in 1907 for a cost of $13,000.6 In
1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company opened its doors at 1701-1703 12th Street in
a new building. Incorporated in 1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company specialized
in shirt manufacturing with Clinton DeWitt serving as president, E.M. Wharton vice-president,
and Clinton DeWitt secretary, treasurer, and general manager. The Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building remained the home of DeWitt-Wharton until 1912.7
In 1913, the new tenant in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building was the
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. The Jobbers Overall Company received its charter from the City
of Lynchburg on September 21, 1911.8 The Jobbers Overall Company was originally called the
Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company; however, in 1911 the company removed the word
manufacturing from its name. The company created tremendous anticipation prior to its opening
by taking out a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory in 1912.9 The full-page
advertisement featured a photo of the Dewitt-Wharton Building at the top, center of the page.10
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1972), 219222.
4 James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986, (Lynchburg: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004), 258.
5 Scruggs, pp 219-222.
6 City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
7 City of Lynchburg City Directory 1907-1912, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
8 City of Lynchburg Business Charters
9 Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination, (Richmond: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 2008).
10 Ibid.
3
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Jobbers Overall Company, under the direction of Alfred C. Barrow, was so successful it was
running double-page advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post. The company dominated the
work clothing market manufacturing overalls until the end of World War I.11 The Jobbers
Overall Company remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Building until 1919, at which time the
company moved from the Dewitt-Wharton Building to a complex of buildings on Kemper Street.
The new facility was much larger than the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
and consisted of a main plant, dormitory, and suspender factory. The complex of buildings is
currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Kemper Street Industrial
Historic District.12
In 1919, a new work garment manufacturer moved into the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building. The N&W Overall Company received its business charter on April 14, 1917;
however, it took two years for the new company to move into the building. This may be due to
the fact that the Jobbers Overall Company was in the process of moving into its new facility on
Kemper Street.13 N&W Overall Company, Incorporated was led by L.W. Turner, H.C. Barrow,
and A.C. Barrow. The company began manufacturing overalls after the end of World War I. The
N&W Overall Company was so successful that the company eventually opened a branch plant in
Jackson, Mississippi.14 By 1935, the N&W Overall Company no longer operated out of the
Dewitt-Wharton.15
In 1935, the C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company moved into the Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building and would continue to occupy the building until 1964.16
Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the C.B. Cones and Sons Company made overalls,
coats, and unlaundered work shirts. In the 1930s, the Company made the decision to expand its
manufacturing facilities and opened a factory in Lynchburg.17 The C.B. Cones and Sons
Manufacturing Company utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building for
almost 30 years.
The manufacturing conducted within the Dewitt-Wharton Building was divided by specific tasks
and often located on separate floors. A Jobbers Overall Company publication commemorating
the anniversary of the company in the City of Lynchburg contains photographs demonstrating
this division of work, with each floor focused on a particular manufacturing task. For example,
the raw stock necessary for production is located on one floor, more than likely the bottom floor
where the loading dock is found. The raw stock area consisted of large shelves with massive
bolts of cloth. The next floor is the cutting room containing tables that run the entire length of the
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Scruggs, 219-222.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination
City of Lynchburg Business Charters
Horner and Winfree, (eds.), p 130.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1935-1964, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
room. The cut cloth would then move to the stitching or sewing room. The photograph from the
Jobbers Overall publication shows a massive room tightly packed with women at sewing
machines. Once complete, the clothing would then move to a finished stock room. The large
freight elevator within the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building obviously
facilitated the movement of materials between the floors.18
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
The United States Federal Census provides a snapshot of the employees of the different
companies that occupied the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building through the
years. The companies employed only white men and women, with the various tasks divided
amongst the two. The 1910 Federal Census sporadically provides information concerning the
specific tasks that the employees completed with the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company.
Individuals are identified as either working in a factory, but often specific job titles are limited to
the term laborer. Some exceptions are Carlile Hawkins, a 17-year old, white male who worked as
18
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company.com, accessed 31 July 2020.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
a driver for the Shirt Factory and Emma Barker, a 22-year old, white woman who was a
seamstress. 19
However, the 1920 Federal Census provides more information about the workers within the
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building. The tasks of draftsman and cutter were
relegated to men, while women were stitchers. Nora Cash and Annie Apperson were both white
females who worked as stitchers in the Overall Factory. Mary Walker, also a white female, was a
floor manager, probably for the stitchers. Edward Fisher, a white male, worked as a cutter. All of
the individuals identified as employees who worked for the N&W Overall Company at the
Dewitt-Wharton Building were from Virginia. This trend is evident in the 1930 Federal Census
as well.20
The workforce of C.B Cones and Son Manufacturing Company is consistent with its
predecessors; however, the 1940 Federal Census provides income information as well. For
example, Charles Cumby, an 18-year old male, worked as a floor boy and in 1939 he worked 40
weeks and made $400.00. Anna White, a 58-year old woman who was a machine operator
worked 26 weeks with an income of $390.00, demonstrating that skilled labor was valued and
compensated.21 As mentioned previously, the C.B. Cones and Son Manufacturing Company
utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building when it expanded its operations
in the 1930s. John Niehaus was a cutter for C.B. Cones and moved to Lynchburg from
Indianapolis, Indiana, with his family to work in the Dewitt-Wharton Building. Niehaus’ stay
was not a lengthy one, probably to train workers, and he soon returned to Indianapolis.22
19
20
21
22
United States Federal Census, 1910.
United States Federal Census, 1920 and 1930.
United States Federal Census, 1940.
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Starting in 1965, the new occupants of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
manufactured women’s clothing. From 1965 to 1975 the City of Lynchburg City Directory
identifies the occupant only as “women’s clothing.” In 1976, the occupant of the DewittWharton Building was Virginia Sportswear, Inc., also a manufacturer of women’s clothing.
Virginia Sportswear, Inc. remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
until 1986. After Virginia Sportswear, Inc. left, Haywood-Male, Incorporated moved into the
building. The company remained there for only a year and was identified as a clothing
manufacturer.23
Over the following decades, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building remained
vacant or had short-term tenants. The building was vacant in 1987; however, in 1988 the Sun
Cab Company occupied the space. It was then vacant again from 1989 through 1990, until the
Sand Bar Dress Company moved in during 1991. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building is identified as vacant from 1992 through 1998, when the Lynchburg Auto Parts
company used the space in 1999. Currently, Kerschbamer Woodworking occupies the basement
and first floors of the building. The second through fourth floors are either empty or used for
storage by Kerschbamer.24
23
24
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
Ibid.
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Criterion C: Architecture
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is eligible for the National Register
under Criterion C as a good example of a brick, Contemporary Industrial style building.
Elements of the Contemporary Industrial style include the low-pitch gable roof, the ribbons of
windows and use of natural materials. Further, it is the emphasis on making the interior
functional and reserving decorative details for the exterior of the building that makes it a prime
example of this design type.25 The symmetrical fenestration, brick segmental arches over the
windows, and decorative brackets still visible on the east and west elevations exemplify some of
the more stylized characteristics of the building, typical for a Contemporary Industrial style
building. While the interior consists primarily of the large, open spaces needed for the function
of an industrial facility; the exterior possesses keener attention to detail with a greater focus on
conveying style over simple function. In addition, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building possesses significant integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. Though the
basement windows are in-filled with brick, and many window sash on the remaining floors are
damaged, the original layout and design is readily apparent. The east entrance on the façade has
also been filled in, but much like the basement windows, this in-fill may be removed.
The high level of design detail results from the work of local, premier Lynchburg architect
Edward Graham Frye. Frye is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century
in Lynchburg, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth.26 Born in Bristol, Tennessee, in
1870, Frye majored in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Upon completion of his degree,
Frye began work as an apprentice in an architecture office in the City of Norfolk. Frye came to
Lynchburg in 1890 and the town quickly became familiar with his talent and style. Frye’s style
was considered eclectic, often incorporating elements of Romanesque, Queen Anne, Shingle,
Neoclassical, as well as other popular styles at the time.27
Frye’s early work in Lynchburg focused primarily on churches and impressive residential
dwellings. He designed three new churches and remodeled two others in Lynchburg; all designs
adhered primarily to the Romanesque style. These include the remodeling of the 1860 Centenary
Methodist Church and the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Three new churches were the 8th Street
Baptist Church, 1st Presbyterian Church, and the Court Street Methodist Church.28 A majority of
Frye’s residential dwellings were of the Queen Anne design with elaborate facades and simple
rear elevations. Examples include the Frank P. Christian House and George P. Watkins House,
both on Madison Street in Lynchburg, as well as a modest dwelling for himself. The Craddock
House completed in the Romanesque style was one of the more elaborate dwellings Frye
designed.29
25
26
27
28
29
Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017), 629-632.
Allen S. Chambers Jr., Lynchburg: An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: UVA Press, 1981), 357.
Ibid., p. 315-317.
Ibid., p. 330.
Ibid., p. 333-337.
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1900, Frye joined with Aubrey Chesterman to form the firm Frye and Chesterman.
Chesterman, a native of Richmond, Virginia, preferred the Colonial Revival style for his
buildings. The firm of Frye and Chesterman designed a wide variety of residential and municipal
buildings, many of these reflect a combination of the styles of the two men, though the Georgian
Revival style dominated their designs. Frye and Chesterman designed numerous houses on
prestigious Rivermont Avenue in the City of Lynchburg. The firm of Frye and Chesterman has
an impressive and exhaustive list of buildings designed in and around the Lynchburg area;
however, there are no examples of industrial buildings.30 The City of Lynchburg Land Valuation
Card identifies only Edward Frye as the architect for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building.31 By 1906, the two men had worked together for at least six years. The firm
of Frye and Chesterman ceased operations in Lynchburg in 1913, when the firm moved to
Roanoke, Virginia.32
The style of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a departure for Frye, and a
unique example of his work in the City of Lynchburg. Frye’s preference for the detailed
Romanesque style, as described above, is absent in the Dewitt-Wharton Building with the
exception of the rusticated granite present on the foundation. His willingness to embrace the
function-over-design tenet of the Contemporary Industrial style is interesting considering his
professional success employing more elaborate designs. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is the
only industrial building designed by Frye in Virginia and therefore a unique example of his work
in both building type and style.
30
31
32
Chambers, pp.357-359.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
The American Architect, (New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913), 5.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
The American Architect. New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913.
Chambers, Allen S., Jr. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: UVA Press,
1981.
City of Lynchburg Business Charters, 1870-1983. Available Library of Virginia. Richmond,
Virginia.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1907-1912. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card. Available City of Lynchburg Circuit Court.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg:
Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Horner, John V. and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936.
Lynchburg: The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936.
Indianaties.com. Accessed 10 April 2020.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination. Richmond: Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 2008.
Lynchburg News Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia. September 4, 2016.
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company. Accessed 31 July 2020.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2017.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company,
Inc., 1972.
United States Federal Census for years 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_______
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _VDHR No.: 118-0103__
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __0.214 acres______
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.404858
Longitude: 79.154444
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building coincides with the
lot lines of City of Lynchburg tax parcel 01057008. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building is bounded by 12th Street to the south, Buchanan Street to the east, and
property boundaries to the west and north. The true and correct historic boundary is shown
on the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building encompass the
building and gravel parking lot. There are no outbuildings associated with the property. The
boundaries coincide with the current tax parcel, thus encompassing the historic setting and all
known historic resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Sarah M. Clarke/Senior Architectural Historian
organization: _____Hurt & Proffitt
street & number: __2524 Langhorne Road #1602____
city or town: _Lynchburg____ state: ____VA____ zip code:_24501_____
e-mail: __clarke1201@gmail.com____
telephone:__804-347-5825__________
date: ___May 20, 2020____________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: City of Lynchburg
State: VA
Photographer: Sarah M. Clarke
Date Photographed: January 31, 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 24, façade and west elevation, and parking lot, view to the northeast.
2 of 24, façade, close up Cones’ Boss painted sign, view to the north.
3 of 24, façade and east elevation, view to the northwest.
4 of 24, east elevation, view to the west.
5 of 24, rear elevation, loading dock, view to the southwest.
6 of 24, rear elevation, view to the southwest.
7 of 24, interior of front entrance, view to the south.
8 of 24, foundation at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.
9 of 24, door from the stairs to the basement, view to southwest.
10 of 24, basement, view to the north.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11 of 24, basement, east elevation showing brick infill window, view to the east.
12 of 24, basement, double-leaf, wood door on the west elevation, view to the west.
13 of 24, stairs to first floor from front entrance.
14 of 24, first floor, Kerschbamer office.
15 of 24, first floor, view to the north.
16 of 24, second floor, view to the north.
17 of 24, third floor, entrance and bathrooms, view to the southwest.
18 of 24, third floor, south elevation, view to the south.
19 of 24, third floor, east elevation with steps to fire escape, view to the northeast.
20 of 24, third floor, freight elevator, view to the northeast.
21 of 24, fourth floor entrance, view to the southwest.
22 of 24, fourth floor, north elevation, view to the north.
23 of 24, fourth floor, east and north elevations, view to the north.
24 of 24, fourth floor, bathrooms, view to the southwest.
Historic Images Log
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City
Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 26
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TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
County Boundaries
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 11/12/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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Photo Locations
A Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
(contributing)
The City of
Lynchburg, VA
Legend
Addresses
Street Labels
Legal Lot Lines
Vacated Right of Way
Parcels
Owner Undetermined
Survey Gap
Assessed By County
TAX PARCEL MAP
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
01057008
Historic Boundary
6/9/2020
DISCLAIMER:This drawing is neither a legally recorded map nor a survey and is not intended to be used as such. The information displayed is a compilation of records,information, and data obtained from various
sources, and the City of Lynchburg is not responsible for its accuracy or how current it may be.
Historic Boundary
Text
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Describe t h e present a n d original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s a s t e e l - f r a m e d s t r u c t u r e , f a c e d w i t h y e l l o w b r i c k and
greenstone, r i s i n g seventeen s t o r i e s above a m a j o r s t r e e t i n t e r s e c t i o n i n downtown Lynchburg.
The m a i n f a c a d e , o n l y 4 0 ' wide, i s on Church S t r e e t , w h i l e t h e s i d e e l e v a t i o n s
e x t e n d back 1 3 2 ' i n t o t h e s t e e p h i l l s i d e between Church and C o u r t s t r e e t s .
A superb
example o f A r t Deco d e s i g n , i t has been one o f t h e c i t y ' s m a j o r landmarks e v e r s i n c e i t
was completed i n 1931, and s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y unchanged.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
W h i l e t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g r e a d s as a c o m p l e t e l y u n i f i e d o v e r a l l c o m p o s i t i o n ,
s u b t l e d e s i g n f e a t u r e s and t h e f a c i n g m a t e r i a l s combine t o c r e a t e t h e f a m i l i a r base,
s h a f t , and c a p i t a l so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e t a l l b u i l d i n g e t h i c o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
On t h e m a i n f a c a d e on Church S t r e e t , t h e f i r s t t h r e e s t o r i e s o f t h e 4 0 ' f r o n t a g e a r e
f a c e d e n t i r e l y i n g r e e n s t o n e , c r e a t i n g an e f f e c t i v e v i s u a l base f o r t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s
above.
The main e n t r a n c e , c e n t e r e d i n t h e facade, i s two s t o r i e s h i g h , and c o n t a i n s
d o u b l e d o o r s a t t h e e n t r a n c e l e v e l and a b u r n i s h e d m e t a l g r i l l above. Below t h e g r i l l ,
which i s d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t y l i z e d A r t Deco m o t i f s , i s a g r e e n s t o n e s i l l w i t h t h e words
On e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e e n t r a n c e p o r t a l i s a s m a l l
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING c a r v e d i n i t .
shop, w i t h an e n t r a n c e o n t o Church S t r e e t . A t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l , on e i t h e r s i d e o f
t h e g r i l l , a r e p r o j e c t i n g o r i e l windows, l i g h t i n g t h e o f f i c e s w i t h i n .
The f a c i n g of
t h e s e two f i r s t f l o o r s c o n s i s t s o f l a r g e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s , h i g h l y p o l i s h e d , and l a i d i n
ashlar.
The t h i r d f l o o r o f t h e f a c a d e i s a l s o f a c e d i n g r e e n s t o n e , b u t h e r e more
e l a b o r a t e stonework i s employed t o t e r m i n a t e v i s u a l l y t h e base o f t h e s t r u c t u r e . A t t h i s
l e v e l , t h r e e p a i r s o f windows a r e s e p a r a t e d f r o m each o t h e r b y g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s e m b e l l i s h e d
w i t h i n c i s e d , w a v e l i k e l i n e s , w h i l e t h e windows a r e framed w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g r e e n s t o n e
p i e r s w h i c h c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r f e n e s t r a t i o n .
E l a b o r a t e l y carved
g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s t o p each window and a l s o c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r
windows, where t h e y a r e t e r m i n a t e d w i t h c a r v e d l i o n s ' heads.
The f e n e s t r a t i o n p a t t e r n e s t a b l i s h e d on t h e t h i r d f l o o r -- t h r e e p a i r s o f windows
s e p a r a t e d f r o m t h e c o r n e r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g and f r o m each o t h e r b y b r o a d w a l l segments and
each window w i t h i n a p a i r s e p a r a t e d b y a n a r r o w e r space -- c o n t i n u e s t h r o u g h t h e f o u r t h
t o the fifteenth floor.
Here, i n t h e o f f i c e s h a f t , t h e f a c i n g i s e n t i r e l y o f y e l l o w
b r i c k , u n i n t e r r u p t e d b y a n y h o r i z o n t a l bands.
T h i s s e r i e s o f a l t e r n a t i n g b r o a d and
n a r r o w p i e r s c r e a t e s t h e o v e r r i d i n g sense of v e r t i c a l i t y so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e s t y l e .
Windows a r e s l i g h t l y r e c e s s e d between t h e p i e r s , and t h e space between t h e windows i s
f a c e d w i t h p l a i n g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s . Above t h e f i f t e e n t h f l o o r , however, t h e s e g r e e n s t o n e
p a n e l s a r e d e c o r a t e d , and s e r v e t o announce t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e m a j o r o f f i c e s h a f t o f
the building.
The c a p i t a l o f t h e b u i l d i n g -- t h e s i x t e e n t h and s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r s -- i s housed
w i t h i n a s m a l l e r , r e c e s s e d a r e a , w i t h a n g l e d c o r n e r b a y s . Here t h e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s a r e
a l s o d e c o r a t e d , and t h e p i e r s a r e t r e a t e d as b u t t r e s s e s .
V i s u a l l y , these b u t t r e s s e s
appear t o s u p p o r t t h e a t t i c , w h i c h i s above t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r , and i s composed
e n t i r e l y o f g r e e n s t o n e . T h i s space, w h i c h houses t h e e l e v a t o r and r e t u r n a i r equipment,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Sianificance
Period
prehistoric
.
_
.
14OO-1499
1500-1 599
1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A r e a s of Significance-Check
archeology-prehistoric
archeology-historic
agriculture
X architecture
art
commerce
communications
-~
-
-
Specific d a t e s
~
.-
1929-31
~~~
a n d justify b e l o w
community planning
conservation
.
economics
education
.
engineering
.
exploration:settlement
industry
.
invention
~
-
~
~
Builde'?!rEhitect
~.
~~
landscape architecture
religion
law
science
literature
sculpture
military
social/
music
humanitarian
philosophy
- theater
politics government
-transportation
-. other (specify)
~
S t a n how
~
~~.-~
----
~
S . Joh.nson A A d d k o n .S-Laplle~~
S t a t e m e n t of S i g n i f i c a n c e ( i n o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s one o f V i r g i n i a ' s most i m p r e s s i v e e x p r e s s i o n s o f t h e A r t
Deco s k y s c r a p e r s t y l e o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
Designed b y Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s
Stanhope S. Johnson and Addison S t a p l e s , i t i s a s t e e l - f r a m e s t r u c t u r e c l a d i n a c o m b i n a t i o n
o f y e l l o w b r i c k and l o c a l l y q u a r r i e d g r e e n s t o n e . E f f e c t i v e c o m b i n a t i o n s o f t h e s e m a t e r i a l s
i n v a r y i n g p r o p o r t i o n s v i s u a l l y d i v i d e t h e b u i l d i n g i n t o t h r e e m a j o r components: base,
o f f i c e s h a f t , and c a p i t a l ; d i v i s i o n s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t a l l - b u i l d i n g d e s i g n o f t h e p e r i o d .
A l t h o u g h t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s no l o n g e r t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t s t r u c t u r e , as i t was
upon c o m p l e t i o n i n 1931, i t y e t commands a dominant p o s i t i o n on t h e downtown s k y l i n e of
Lynchburg and r e m a i n s a somewhat r a r e example f o r o t h e r w i s e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e
V i r g i n i a o f t h i s f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g mode.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
D u r i n g t h e 1920s, L y n c h b u r g was e x p e r i e n c i n g a p e r i o d marked b y g r o w t h and expansion.
A l t h o u g h v i s i b l e e v i d e n c e o f t h i s p r o s p e r o u s e r a i s s t i l l e v i d e n t i n t h e numerous p e r i o d s t y l e houses and c h u r c h e s b u i l t i n t h e o u t l y i n g r e s i d e n t i a l s e c t i o n s , perhaps t h e most
i m p r e s s i v e s i n g l e l o c a l monument t o t h e p r e - d e p r e s s i o n 1920s i s a downtown o f f i c e b u i l d i n g
-- t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . I n b o t h i t s s c a l e and a r c h i t e c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i t remains a
p e r f e c t e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s p i r i t o f t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was d e s i g n e d and b u i l t . Begun
a t t h e v e r y end o f t h e decade, t h e b u i l d i n g was completed as t h e f u l l e f f e c t s of t h e
d e p r e s s i o n were b e i n g f e l t .
I t s proud, a s s e r t i v e l i n e s and -- f o r L y n c h b u r g -- i t s
s o a r i n g h e i g h t , gave c o n f i d e n c e when i t was most needed.
A t t h e o u t s e t o f t h e decade, o f f i c e space i n t h e downtown a r e a was a t a premium, and
t h e newspapers o f t h e t i m e s announced s e v e r a l p l a n s t o e r e c t new b u i l d i n g s . As e a r l y as
1923, t h e Masons' Lodge had p l a n s t.0 e r e c t a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f i c e b u i l d i n g and l o d g e , w h i c h
was t o have r i s e n some t w e n t y s t o r i e s .
N o t h i n g came o f t h e s e o r o t h e r p r o p o s a l s ,
however, and i t was n o t u n t i l a group o f b u s i n e s s and community l e a d e r s formed t h e A l l i e d
A r t s C o r p o r a t i o n i n 1928 t h a t t h e s e s e v e r a l p l a n s c o a l e s c e d i n t o a r e a l i z a b l e e f f o r t .
The c o r p o r a t i o n p u r c h a s e d a 4 0 ' x 1 3 2 ' l o t a t t h e w e s t e r n c o r n e r o f E i g h t h and Church
s t r e e t s , a b l o c k and a h a l f f r o m t h e m a j o r downtown i n t e r s e c t i o n a t N i n t h and Main
s t r e e t s , and a b l o c k away f r o m t h e t h e n t a l l e s t b u i l d i n g i n t h e c i t y , t h e e l e v e n - s t o r y
P e o p l e ' s N a t i o n a l Bank B u i l d i n g , w h i c h had been c o m p l e t e d i n 1912 a t t h e c o r n e r o f E i g h t h
and Main.
F o r t h e d e s i g n o f t h e new b u i l d i n g , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n chose t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f
Johnson and Brannan, t h e n t h e l a r g e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m i n t h e c i t y .
Stanhope S.
Johnson, t h e f o u n d i n g member, was a L y n c h b u r g n a t i v e who had been i n p r a c t i c e s i n c e t h e
t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y , and b y t h e t i m e o f t h i s commission, was i n v o l v e d i n commissions n o t
o n l y i n V i r g i n i a , b u t t h r o u g h o u t t h e s o u t h . R.O. Brannan, who was w i t h Johnson f o r o n l y
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
9. ' ~ a j oBibliographical
r
References
A1 1 i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g - o r i g i n a l p l a n s , c o n t r a c t s . and s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ,
i n Lynchburg
Jones Memorial L i b r a r v . Lvnchburq.
V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e ~ r t s . A r c h i t e c t u r e i n v i F c j i n j a . ~ i c h m o n d : 1966.
S t a p l e s , Addison. I n t e r v i e w , March 1975.
.A. r c h i t~e c- t u
- r a
- l~Archive.
~
~
10. Geographical Data
Less than
~ ~ n c R b u VA
r~,
Quadrangle name
acre
One
Acreage of nominated pro erty
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
--
UTM References
16161 41 21310)
Easting
Zone
c
14i114i2121710)
Northing
Zone
W
E
uu
l
~
I
o
I
l
~
I
~
~
'
~
I
)
1
Easting
Northing
Ll-LLu L
~L L L d
w
u
F Wu
"1 W
1
1
uw
)
B e g i n n i n g a t a p o i n t on t h e W s i d e o f Church
S t . approx. 7 5 ' SSE o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f Church S t . w i t h 8 t h S t . ; thence e x t e n d i n g
SSE on W s i d e o f Church S t . f o r approx. 4 0 ' ; t h e n c e approx. 1 3 2 ' WSW; thence approx.
4 0 ' NNW; thence approx. 1.-3 2 ' ENE t o-p o i n t o f o r i 3 . k ..-fiee
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #2)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
-~
~~~
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
~.~~~
~-
N/A
code
code
~
state
N/A
nameltitle
code
count~
S. A l l e n Chambers, J r .
organization
.
N/A
street & number
.
~
~.date
.
~~
1237 3 1 s t S t r e e t , NW
.....
~
~-
Washington
city or town
1981
-
~~
telephone
-.
.
DC
state
20007
12. State Historic Preservatior?Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-_
national
x
-
state
~~
-..- local
~
~
.
-
As the designated State Historic Preservation Otfi
665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
. tirya n MitTfiH~lTJlTrem,,,, DIVISION
OF HISTORIC LANDMARKS
H
date
April 23, 1 9 8 5
For NPS use only
Ihereby certlfy that this property is included in the National Register
date
Keeper of
the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
,GFO a 9 4 . 7 s - 3
--
--
.
_
-,.
-
-
Y
-A
-_
L
.l.ll.-.
.
-.
.date
LL-.-..-O1*-i--l
-
NPS F l r m 10-9W.a
1482)
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
7 . DESCRIPTION -- A r c h i t e c t u r a l A n a l y s i s
Iternnumber
79
i s r e c e s s e d from t h e f l o o r below and i s e n c i r c l e d b y a n a r r o w e x t e r i o r walkway. A t t h e
c e n t e r o f t h e a t t i c f a c a d e i s a c a r v e d g r e e n s t o n e e a g l e w i t h wings o u t s t r e t c h e d .
This
seeming1 y s u p e r f l u o u s b i t o f d e c o r a t i o n i s h a r d l y n o t i c e a b l e f r o m below.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t i d e n t i c a l w i t h , t h e f a c a d e . Because o f
t h e s l o p e of t h e l o t , t h e g r e e n s t o n e base i s o n l y two s t o r i e s t a l l a t t h e r e a r . Above,
on t h e s e l o n g e r s i d e s , t h e r e a r e seven p a i r s o f windows, r a t h e r t h a n t h e t h r e e p a i r s
The r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e b u i l d i n g , c o n t a i n i n g two p a i r s o f windows,
n o t e d on t 9 e facade.
extends o n l y t o t h e t h i r t e e n t h f l o o r .
The p l a n o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r i s t h a t o f a b r o a d c e n t e r h a l l , o r l o b b y , w i t h d o o r s
opening i n t o shops on e i t h e r s i d e .
B e h i n d t h e shop on t h e r i g h t a r e t h e e l e v a t o r s .
Above, on t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s , a s i m i l a r arrangement e x i s t s , w i t h o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s and
a t each end o f t h e c e n t r a l e l e v a t o r c o r r i d o r .
The l o b b y on t h e ground f l o o r i s trimmed
i n greenstone, and t h e e l e v a t o r d o o r s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h a f a n c i f u l A r t Deco g r i l l o f
b u r n i s h e d m e t a l , i n w h i c h a r c h i t e c t Addison S t a p l e s s t a t e d t h a t he had a t t e m p t e d t o "show
t h e whole o f c r e a t i o n . " A t t h e base, s t y l i z e d waves a r e i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h s i l h o u e t t e s o f
f i s h ; i n t h e c e n t e r a r e c a t t a i l s , and o t h e r f o l i a g e .
Above a r e o u t l i n e s o f mountains,
w h i l e a t t h e t o p a r e geese f l y i n g i n t h e f a m i l i a r V f o r m a t i o n .
The f l o o r o f t h e l o b b y
was a l s o o r i g i n a l l y g r e e n s t o n e , b u t because o f t h e uneven s u r f a c e worn o v e r t h e years,
t h i s has r e c e n t l y been c a r p e t e d .
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e o r i g i n a l l i g h t i n g o f t h e l o b b y has
r e c e n t l y been augmented w i t h i n a p p r o p r i a t e b r a s s c h a n d e l i e r s . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l
o f t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s i s m i n i m a l , and w h i l e some o f t h e o f f i c e s have been e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h
l a t e r t r i m , g e n e r a l l y c o l o n i a l i n s t y l e , no m a j o r a l t e r a t i o n s t o e i t h e r t h e o r i g i n a l
d e c o r a t i o n o r p l a n have e v e r been made. Because o f t h e e x c e l l e n c e o f i t s d e s i g n and t h e
q u a l i t y o f i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y as i t d i d
upon c o m p l e t i o n f i f t y y e a r s ago.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
H i s t o r i c a l Background
s e v e r a l y e a r s , was p r i m a r i l y t h e o f f i c e manager. Most o f t h e l o c a l commissions w h i c h t h e
f i r m o b t a i n e d d u r i n g t h e 1920s were e n t r u s t e d t o Addison S t a p l e s , a member o f Johnson's
s t a f f , who had r e c e i v e d h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l t r a i n i n g a t P i t t s b u r g h ' s C a r n e g i e I n s t i t u t e of
Technology. As Johnson p l a n n e d t o r e l o c a t e h i s f i r m ' s o f f i c e i n t h e b u i l d i n g , he t o o k an
a c t i v e r o l e i n i t s p l a n n i n g , and i t i s t o b o t h Johnson and S t a p l e s t h a t c r e d i t s h o u l d go
f o r t h e design.
Most of Johnson's p r e v i o u s work on commercial and h o t e l s t r u c t u r e s i n
o t h e r c i t i e s had been v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e i n d e s i g n , and S t a p l e s had h e r e t o f o r e p r o v e n
h i m s e l f as a m a s t e r of G e o r g i a n and o t h e r p e r i o d d e s i g n s , b u t n e i t h e r had a t t e m p t e d an
essay i n t h e t h e n c u r r e n t A r t Deco manner.
S t a p l e s l a t e r f r e e l y c o n f e s s e d t h a t he and
Johnson drew much o f t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m p h o t o g r a p h s and d r a w i n g s o f l a r g e o f f i c e
b u i l d i n g s then appearing i n t h e various j o u r n a l s t o which t h e y subscribed.
C o n s t r u c t i o n c o n t r a c t s were awarded t o t h e L y n c h b u r g f i r m o f C.W. Hancock and Sons,
owned and o p e r a t e d b y t h e Hancock f a m i l y , who a l s o owned a g r e e n s t o n e q u a r r y i n Lynchburg.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0318
E l p . 10-31-84
1367)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING. LYNCHBURG. VA
Continuation sheet #2
8 . SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
Item number 8
9
lo
-
T h i s unusual s t o n e , o b t a i n e d f r o m a v e i n u n d e r l y i n g a p o r t i o n o f t h e w e s t e r n suburbs o f
Lynchburg, had been used f o r l o c a l b u i l d i n g s as e a r l y as t h e 1870s, b u t p r i m a r i l y f o r
decorative d e t a i l s .
Never b e f o r e had i t been used i n such p r o f u s i o n o r had i t been so
h i g h l y p o l i s h e d as i t would be i n t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . As t h e q u a r r y has s i n c e been
c l o s e d , t h e b u i l d i n g remains t h e b e s t example o f t h e use o f t h i s unusual l o c a l m a t e r i a l .
A c t i n g as an e f f e c t i v e c o n t r a s t t o t h e g r e e n s t o n e f a c i n g i s t h e u s e o f y e l l o w b r i c k as a
companion m a t e r i a l .
Upon c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e i n 1931, t h e f i r m o f Johnson and Brannan moved i n t o
t h e penthouse s u i t e on t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r . Soon a f t e r t h e i r move, t h e f i r m p u b l i s h e d
a handsome b o o k l e t i l l u s t r a t i n g many o f t h e i r commissions, r a n g i n g as f a r a f i e l d as t h e
C a r o l i n a s , West V i r g i n i a , and F l o r i d a .
The f r o n t i s p i e c e was a c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h o f t h e
A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , t h e o n l y s t r u c t u r e photographed i n c o l o r , demonstrating t h e p o s i t i o n
o f prominence t h e f i r m f e l t i t d e s e r v e d i n t h e c o r p u s o f t h e i r p r a c t i c e .
I n 1966, t h e V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e A r t s gave i t s s e a l o f a p p r o v a l i n showing t h e
b u i l d i n g as one o f o n l y two Lynchburg s t r u c t u r e s t o be i n c l u d e d i n i t s m a j o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e
e x h i b i t i o n and accompanying c a t a l o g e n t i t l e d A r c h i t e c t u r e i n V i r g i n i a .
Today, t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t i l l s e r v e s w e l l i n i t s o r i g i n a l l y i n t e n d e d purpose
as an o f f i c e b u i l d i n g .
Occupancy has been a t a c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h l e v e l , and many o f t h e
c i t y ' s l e a d i n g d o c t o r s , l a w y e r s , and b u s i n e s s f i r m s have t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s i n t h e b u i l d i n g .
Johnson c o n t i n u e d t o occupy t h e penthouse u n t i l t h e 19705, and a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m
now c o n t i n u e s t h e o r i g i n a l u s e o f t h a t space.
A f t e r J o h n s o n ' s d e a t h i n 1975, h i s
drawings were donated t o t h e Jones Memorial L i b r a r y i n Lynchburg, where t h e y form t h e
nucleus o f t h e Lynchburg A r c h i t e c t u r a l Archive.
Included w i t h i n t h a t c o l l e c t i o n i s
e x t e n s i v e d o c u m e n t a t i o n on t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , c o n s i s t i n g o f p r e l i m i n a r y s k e t c h e s ,
s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , w o r k i n g d r a w i n g s , and correspondence.
Although the A l l i e d Arts B u i l d i n g relinguished the t i t l e o f the c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
s t r u c t u r e t o a n o t h e r o f f i c e b u i l d i n g i n 1974, i t c o n t i n u e s a s one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t
eleniients i n t h e dowr~town s k y l i n e , as an o u t s t a n d i n g example o f i t s s t y l e , and as a
monument t o t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was b u i l t .
SAC
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o i n c l u d e t h e b u i l d i n g and t h e
c i t y l o t on w h i c h i t s t a n d s .
13.821
United States Department of the Interior
Nationalparksewice
V L ~ >@!A/..G;<;
h 1 > b ~ 3 8 1 2 / 1 9 k AFor5 NPS use only
National Registea of Historic
b~m%oay-Worninaai0191 Form
received
P!~C&
date e n t e r d
See instruction^ in H o w to Complete National Register Forms
Type aft entrfes-complete applicable sections
(DHL FILE #118-110)
-ALLIED ARTS B U I L D I N G
histotic
-,
NJA
and or common
--
street & number
-
-
7 2 5 c h u r c.h S t r e e t
Virginia
state
code
Ownership
-pu bl Ic
building(s1
private
-structure
.- both
- site
Public Acquisition
.
object
,
inprocess
--- being considered
-
QA- not for
--.---
51
(in city)
county
Status
occupied
- unoccupied
- work in progress
Category
-- yes: restricted
N/ A
-X.
yes: unrestricted
-
no
680
-museum
-park
-prlvate residence
-religious
-sekentific
-transportation
-other:
X
Accessible
publication
code
Present Y se
-agricurture
commercial
-educational
-.,
entertainment
-- government
-industrial
X
-. district
name
-
-military
M r . B.C. Baldwin, J r . , E x e c u t o r
street & number
P.O.
Box 958
L y n c l ~ b rq
u
city, towr:
N/A
-.,
vccinity of
V i rgi n i a
state
24505
5. Bocattisga of! begas Description
C1 erk I S
courthouse,
registry of deeds, ete.
- -.
.
o f f ice,
- \
--
street & number
d
a te
-
N/A
.
--
--
-.
.-
V i r g i n i a 24505
state
None t o d a t e
depository
lor survcy records
-
-
---
-
Lynchburg
cltv, town
title
-------*--
900 Court Street
Lynchburg
Ci- ty Courthouse
----
-.
--
--
has this property been determined
eligible?
- -
--
N/$
-..-
NIP.
-~
-
.
.-
--
-
-
federal
-
state
-.. .-
-
.
yes
- - county
--
-
- --
X- no
.-
local
_--
.-_
Condition
excellent
-good
-fair
deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
. J unaltered
altered
p~
Check one
) ( original site
moved
date
~
-
~
N/A
-
~
~.~
p
~
~
~
Describe t h e present a n d original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s a s t e e l - f r a m e d s t r u c t u r e , f a c e d w i t h y e l l o w b r i c k and
greenstone, r i s i n g seventeen s t o r i e s above a m a j o r s t r e e t i n t e r s e c t i o n i n downtown Lynchburg.
The m a i n f a c a d e , o n l y 4 0 ' wide, i s on Church S t r e e t , w h i l e t h e s i d e e l e v a t i o n s
e x t e n d back 1 3 2 ' i n t o t h e s t e e p h i l l s i d e between Church and C o u r t s t r e e t s .
A superb
example o f A r t Deco d e s i g n , i t has been one o f t h e c i t y ' s m a j o r landmarks e v e r s i n c e i t
was completed i n 1931, and s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y unchanged.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
W h i l e t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g r e a d s as a c o m p l e t e l y u n i f i e d o v e r a l l c o m p o s i t i o n ,
s u b t l e d e s i g n f e a t u r e s and t h e f a c i n g m a t e r i a l s combine t o c r e a t e t h e f a m i l i a r base,
s h a f t , and c a p i t a l so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e t a l l b u i l d i n g e t h i c o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
On t h e m a i n f a c a d e on Church S t r e e t , t h e f i r s t t h r e e s t o r i e s o f t h e 4 0 ' f r o n t a g e a r e
f a c e d e n t i r e l y i n g r e e n s t o n e , c r e a t i n g an e f f e c t i v e v i s u a l base f o r t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s
above.
The main e n t r a n c e , c e n t e r e d i n t h e facade, i s two s t o r i e s h i g h , and c o n t a i n s
d o u b l e d o o r s a t t h e e n t r a n c e l e v e l and a b u r n i s h e d m e t a l g r i l l above. Below t h e g r i l l ,
which i s d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t y l i z e d A r t Deco m o t i f s , i s a g r e e n s t o n e s i l l w i t h t h e words
On e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e e n t r a n c e p o r t a l i s a s m a l l
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING c a r v e d i n i t .
shop, w i t h an e n t r a n c e o n t o Church S t r e e t . A t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l , on e i t h e r s i d e o f
t h e g r i l l , a r e p r o j e c t i n g o r i e l windows, l i g h t i n g t h e o f f i c e s w i t h i n .
The f a c i n g of
t h e s e two f i r s t f l o o r s c o n s i s t s o f l a r g e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s , h i g h l y p o l i s h e d , and l a i d i n
ashlar.
The t h i r d f l o o r o f t h e f a c a d e i s a l s o f a c e d i n g r e e n s t o n e , b u t h e r e more
e l a b o r a t e stonework i s employed t o t e r m i n a t e v i s u a l l y t h e base o f t h e s t r u c t u r e . A t t h i s
l e v e l , t h r e e p a i r s o f windows a r e s e p a r a t e d f r o m each o t h e r b y g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s e m b e l l i s h e d
w i t h i n c i s e d , w a v e l i k e l i n e s , w h i l e t h e windows a r e framed w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g r e e n s t o n e
p i e r s w h i c h c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r f e n e s t r a t i o n .
E l a b o r a t e l y carved
g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s t o p each window and a l s o c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r
windows, where t h e y a r e t e r m i n a t e d w i t h c a r v e d l i o n s ' heads.
The f e n e s t r a t i o n p a t t e r n e s t a b l i s h e d on t h e t h i r d f l o o r -- t h r e e p a i r s o f windows
s e p a r a t e d f r o m t h e c o r n e r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g and f r o m each o t h e r b y b r o a d w a l l segments and
each window w i t h i n a p a i r s e p a r a t e d b y a n a r r o w e r space -- c o n t i n u e s t h r o u g h t h e f o u r t h
t o the fifteenth floor.
Here, i n t h e o f f i c e s h a f t , t h e f a c i n g i s e n t i r e l y o f y e l l o w
b r i c k , u n i n t e r r u p t e d b y a n y h o r i z o n t a l bands.
T h i s s e r i e s o f a l t e r n a t i n g b r o a d and
n a r r o w p i e r s c r e a t e s t h e o v e r r i d i n g sense of v e r t i c a l i t y so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e s t y l e .
Windows a r e s l i g h t l y r e c e s s e d between t h e p i e r s , and t h e space between t h e windows i s
f a c e d w i t h p l a i n g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s . Above t h e f i f t e e n t h f l o o r , however, t h e s e g r e e n s t o n e
p a n e l s a r e d e c o r a t e d , and s e r v e t o announce t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e m a j o r o f f i c e s h a f t o f
the building.
The c a p i t a l o f t h e b u i l d i n g -- t h e s i x t e e n t h and s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r s -- i s housed
w i t h i n a s m a l l e r , r e c e s s e d a r e a , w i t h a n g l e d c o r n e r b a y s . Here t h e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s a r e
a l s o d e c o r a t e d , and t h e p i e r s a r e t r e a t e d as b u t t r e s s e s .
V i s u a l l y , these b u t t r e s s e s
appear t o s u p p o r t t h e a t t i c , w h i c h i s above t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r , and i s composed
e n t i r e l y o f g r e e n s t o n e . T h i s space, w h i c h houses t h e e l e v a t o r and r e t u r n a i r equipment,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Sianificance
Period
prehistoric
.
_
.
14OO-1499
1500-1 599
1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A r e a s of Significance-Check
archeology-prehistoric
archeology-historic
agriculture
X architecture
art
commerce
communications
-~
-
-
Specific d a t e s
~
.-
1929-31
~~~
a n d justify b e l o w
community planning
conservation
.
economics
education
.
engineering
.
exploration:settlement
industry
.
invention
~
-
~
~
Builde'?!rEhitect
~.
~~
landscape architecture
religion
law
science
literature
sculpture
military
social/
music
humanitarian
philosophy
- theater
politics government
-transportation
-. other (specify)
~
S t a n how
~
~~.-~
----
~
S . Joh.nson A A d d k o n .S-Laplle~~
S t a t e m e n t of S i g n i f i c a n c e ( i n o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s one o f V i r g i n i a ' s most i m p r e s s i v e e x p r e s s i o n s o f t h e A r t
Deco s k y s c r a p e r s t y l e o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
Designed b y Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s
Stanhope S. Johnson and Addison S t a p l e s , i t i s a s t e e l - f r a m e s t r u c t u r e c l a d i n a c o m b i n a t i o n
o f y e l l o w b r i c k and l o c a l l y q u a r r i e d g r e e n s t o n e . E f f e c t i v e c o m b i n a t i o n s o f t h e s e m a t e r i a l s
i n v a r y i n g p r o p o r t i o n s v i s u a l l y d i v i d e t h e b u i l d i n g i n t o t h r e e m a j o r components: base,
o f f i c e s h a f t , and c a p i t a l ; d i v i s i o n s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t a l l - b u i l d i n g d e s i g n o f t h e p e r i o d .
A l t h o u g h t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s no l o n g e r t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t s t r u c t u r e , as i t was
upon c o m p l e t i o n i n 1931, i t y e t commands a dominant p o s i t i o n on t h e downtown s k y l i n e of
Lynchburg and r e m a i n s a somewhat r a r e example f o r o t h e r w i s e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e
V i r g i n i a o f t h i s f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g mode.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
D u r i n g t h e 1920s, L y n c h b u r g was e x p e r i e n c i n g a p e r i o d marked b y g r o w t h and expansion.
A l t h o u g h v i s i b l e e v i d e n c e o f t h i s p r o s p e r o u s e r a i s s t i l l e v i d e n t i n t h e numerous p e r i o d s t y l e houses and c h u r c h e s b u i l t i n t h e o u t l y i n g r e s i d e n t i a l s e c t i o n s , perhaps t h e most
i m p r e s s i v e s i n g l e l o c a l monument t o t h e p r e - d e p r e s s i o n 1920s i s a downtown o f f i c e b u i l d i n g
-- t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . I n b o t h i t s s c a l e and a r c h i t e c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i t remains a
p e r f e c t e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s p i r i t o f t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was d e s i g n e d and b u i l t . Begun
a t t h e v e r y end o f t h e decade, t h e b u i l d i n g was completed as t h e f u l l e f f e c t s of t h e
d e p r e s s i o n were b e i n g f e l t .
I t s proud, a s s e r t i v e l i n e s and -- f o r L y n c h b u r g -- i t s
s o a r i n g h e i g h t , gave c o n f i d e n c e when i t was most needed.
A t t h e o u t s e t o f t h e decade, o f f i c e space i n t h e downtown a r e a was a t a premium, and
t h e newspapers o f t h e t i m e s announced s e v e r a l p l a n s t o e r e c t new b u i l d i n g s . As e a r l y as
1923, t h e Masons' Lodge had p l a n s t.0 e r e c t a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f i c e b u i l d i n g and l o d g e , w h i c h
was t o have r i s e n some t w e n t y s t o r i e s .
N o t h i n g came o f t h e s e o r o t h e r p r o p o s a l s ,
however, and i t was n o t u n t i l a group o f b u s i n e s s and community l e a d e r s formed t h e A l l i e d
A r t s C o r p o r a t i o n i n 1928 t h a t t h e s e s e v e r a l p l a n s c o a l e s c e d i n t o a r e a l i z a b l e e f f o r t .
The c o r p o r a t i o n p u r c h a s e d a 4 0 ' x 1 3 2 ' l o t a t t h e w e s t e r n c o r n e r o f E i g h t h and Church
s t r e e t s , a b l o c k and a h a l f f r o m t h e m a j o r downtown i n t e r s e c t i o n a t N i n t h and Main
s t r e e t s , and a b l o c k away f r o m t h e t h e n t a l l e s t b u i l d i n g i n t h e c i t y , t h e e l e v e n - s t o r y
P e o p l e ' s N a t i o n a l Bank B u i l d i n g , w h i c h had been c o m p l e t e d i n 1912 a t t h e c o r n e r o f E i g h t h
and Main.
F o r t h e d e s i g n o f t h e new b u i l d i n g , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n chose t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f
Johnson and Brannan, t h e n t h e l a r g e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m i n t h e c i t y .
Stanhope S.
Johnson, t h e f o u n d i n g member, was a L y n c h b u r g n a t i v e who had been i n p r a c t i c e s i n c e t h e
t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y , and b y t h e t i m e o f t h i s commission, was i n v o l v e d i n commissions n o t
o n l y i n V i r g i n i a , b u t t h r o u g h o u t t h e s o u t h . R.O. Brannan, who was w i t h Johnson f o r o n l y
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
9. ' ~ a j oBibliographical
r
References
A1 1 i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g - o r i g i n a l p l a n s , c o n t r a c t s . and s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ,
i n Lynchburg
Jones Memorial L i b r a r v . Lvnchburq.
V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e ~ r t s . A r c h i t e c t u r e i n v i F c j i n j a . ~ i c h m o n d : 1966.
S t a p l e s , Addison. I n t e r v i e w , March 1975.
.A. r c h i t~e c- t u
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10. Geographical Data
Less than
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Quadrangle name
acre
One
Acreage of nominated pro erty
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
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UTM References
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S t . approx. 7 5 ' SSE o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f Church S t . w i t h 8 t h S t . ; thence e x t e n d i n g
SSE on W s i d e o f Church S t . f o r approx. 4 0 ' ; t h e n c e approx. 1 3 2 ' WSW; thence approx.
4 0 ' NNW; thence approx. 1.-3 2 ' ENE t o-p o i n t o f o r i 3 . k ..-fiee
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #2)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
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L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
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code
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nameltitle
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S. A l l e n Chambers, J r .
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street & number
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Washington
city or town
1981
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state
20007
12. State Historic Preservatior?Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-_
national
x
-
state
~~
-..- local
~
~
.
-
As the designated State Historic Preservation Otfi
665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
. tirya n MitTfiH~lTJlTrem,,,, DIVISION
OF HISTORIC LANDMARKS
H
date
April 23, 1 9 8 5
For NPS use only
Ihereby certlfy that this property is included in the National Register
date
Keeper of
the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
,GFO a 9 4 . 7 s - 3
--
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.date
LL-.-..-O1*-i--l
-
NPS F l r m 10-9W.a
1482)
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
7 . DESCRIPTION -- A r c h i t e c t u r a l A n a l y s i s
Iternnumber
79
i s r e c e s s e d from t h e f l o o r below and i s e n c i r c l e d b y a n a r r o w e x t e r i o r walkway. A t t h e
c e n t e r o f t h e a t t i c f a c a d e i s a c a r v e d g r e e n s t o n e e a g l e w i t h wings o u t s t r e t c h e d .
This
seeming1 y s u p e r f l u o u s b i t o f d e c o r a t i o n i s h a r d l y n o t i c e a b l e f r o m below.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t i d e n t i c a l w i t h , t h e f a c a d e . Because o f
t h e s l o p e of t h e l o t , t h e g r e e n s t o n e base i s o n l y two s t o r i e s t a l l a t t h e r e a r . Above,
on t h e s e l o n g e r s i d e s , t h e r e a r e seven p a i r s o f windows, r a t h e r t h a n t h e t h r e e p a i r s
The r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e b u i l d i n g , c o n t a i n i n g two p a i r s o f windows,
n o t e d on t 9 e facade.
extends o n l y t o t h e t h i r t e e n t h f l o o r .
The p l a n o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r i s t h a t o f a b r o a d c e n t e r h a l l , o r l o b b y , w i t h d o o r s
opening i n t o shops on e i t h e r s i d e .
B e h i n d t h e shop on t h e r i g h t a r e t h e e l e v a t o r s .
Above, on t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s , a s i m i l a r arrangement e x i s t s , w i t h o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s and
a t each end o f t h e c e n t r a l e l e v a t o r c o r r i d o r .
The l o b b y on t h e ground f l o o r i s trimmed
i n greenstone, and t h e e l e v a t o r d o o r s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h a f a n c i f u l A r t Deco g r i l l o f
b u r n i s h e d m e t a l , i n w h i c h a r c h i t e c t Addison S t a p l e s s t a t e d t h a t he had a t t e m p t e d t o "show
t h e whole o f c r e a t i o n . " A t t h e base, s t y l i z e d waves a r e i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h s i l h o u e t t e s o f
f i s h ; i n t h e c e n t e r a r e c a t t a i l s , and o t h e r f o l i a g e .
Above a r e o u t l i n e s o f mountains,
w h i l e a t t h e t o p a r e geese f l y i n g i n t h e f a m i l i a r V f o r m a t i o n .
The f l o o r o f t h e l o b b y
was a l s o o r i g i n a l l y g r e e n s t o n e , b u t because o f t h e uneven s u r f a c e worn o v e r t h e years,
t h i s has r e c e n t l y been c a r p e t e d .
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e o r i g i n a l l i g h t i n g o f t h e l o b b y has
r e c e n t l y been augmented w i t h i n a p p r o p r i a t e b r a s s c h a n d e l i e r s . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l
o f t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s i s m i n i m a l , and w h i l e some o f t h e o f f i c e s have been e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h
l a t e r t r i m , g e n e r a l l y c o l o n i a l i n s t y l e , no m a j o r a l t e r a t i o n s t o e i t h e r t h e o r i g i n a l
d e c o r a t i o n o r p l a n have e v e r been made. Because o f t h e e x c e l l e n c e o f i t s d e s i g n and t h e
q u a l i t y o f i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y as i t d i d
upon c o m p l e t i o n f i f t y y e a r s ago.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
H i s t o r i c a l Background
s e v e r a l y e a r s , was p r i m a r i l y t h e o f f i c e manager. Most o f t h e l o c a l commissions w h i c h t h e
f i r m o b t a i n e d d u r i n g t h e 1920s were e n t r u s t e d t o Addison S t a p l e s , a member o f Johnson's
s t a f f , who had r e c e i v e d h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l t r a i n i n g a t P i t t s b u r g h ' s C a r n e g i e I n s t i t u t e of
Technology. As Johnson p l a n n e d t o r e l o c a t e h i s f i r m ' s o f f i c e i n t h e b u i l d i n g , he t o o k an
a c t i v e r o l e i n i t s p l a n n i n g , and i t i s t o b o t h Johnson and S t a p l e s t h a t c r e d i t s h o u l d go
f o r t h e design.
Most of Johnson's p r e v i o u s work on commercial and h o t e l s t r u c t u r e s i n
o t h e r c i t i e s had been v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e i n d e s i g n , and S t a p l e s had h e r e t o f o r e p r o v e n
h i m s e l f as a m a s t e r of G e o r g i a n and o t h e r p e r i o d d e s i g n s , b u t n e i t h e r had a t t e m p t e d an
essay i n t h e t h e n c u r r e n t A r t Deco manner.
S t a p l e s l a t e r f r e e l y c o n f e s s e d t h a t he and
Johnson drew much o f t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m p h o t o g r a p h s and d r a w i n g s o f l a r g e o f f i c e
b u i l d i n g s then appearing i n t h e various j o u r n a l s t o which t h e y subscribed.
C o n s t r u c t i o n c o n t r a c t s were awarded t o t h e L y n c h b u r g f i r m o f C.W. Hancock and Sons,
owned and o p e r a t e d b y t h e Hancock f a m i l y , who a l s o owned a g r e e n s t o n e q u a r r y i n Lynchburg.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0318
E l p . 10-31-84
1367)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING. LYNCHBURG. VA
Continuation sheet #2
8 . SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
Item number 8
9
lo
-
T h i s unusual s t o n e , o b t a i n e d f r o m a v e i n u n d e r l y i n g a p o r t i o n o f t h e w e s t e r n suburbs o f
Lynchburg, had been used f o r l o c a l b u i l d i n g s as e a r l y as t h e 1870s, b u t p r i m a r i l y f o r
decorative d e t a i l s .
Never b e f o r e had i t been used i n such p r o f u s i o n o r had i t been so
h i g h l y p o l i s h e d as i t would be i n t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . As t h e q u a r r y has s i n c e been
c l o s e d , t h e b u i l d i n g remains t h e b e s t example o f t h e use o f t h i s unusual l o c a l m a t e r i a l .
A c t i n g as an e f f e c t i v e c o n t r a s t t o t h e g r e e n s t o n e f a c i n g i s t h e u s e o f y e l l o w b r i c k as a
companion m a t e r i a l .
Upon c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e i n 1931, t h e f i r m o f Johnson and Brannan moved i n t o
t h e penthouse s u i t e on t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r . Soon a f t e r t h e i r move, t h e f i r m p u b l i s h e d
a handsome b o o k l e t i l l u s t r a t i n g many o f t h e i r commissions, r a n g i n g as f a r a f i e l d as t h e
C a r o l i n a s , West V i r g i n i a , and F l o r i d a .
The f r o n t i s p i e c e was a c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h o f t h e
A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , t h e o n l y s t r u c t u r e photographed i n c o l o r , demonstrating t h e p o s i t i o n
o f prominence t h e f i r m f e l t i t d e s e r v e d i n t h e c o r p u s o f t h e i r p r a c t i c e .
I n 1966, t h e V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e A r t s gave i t s s e a l o f a p p r o v a l i n showing t h e
b u i l d i n g as one o f o n l y two Lynchburg s t r u c t u r e s t o be i n c l u d e d i n i t s m a j o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e
e x h i b i t i o n and accompanying c a t a l o g e n t i t l e d A r c h i t e c t u r e i n V i r g i n i a .
Today, t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t i l l s e r v e s w e l l i n i t s o r i g i n a l l y i n t e n d e d purpose
as an o f f i c e b u i l d i n g .
Occupancy has been a t a c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h l e v e l , and many o f t h e
c i t y ' s l e a d i n g d o c t o r s , l a w y e r s , and b u s i n e s s f i r m s have t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s i n t h e b u i l d i n g .
Johnson c o n t i n u e d t o occupy t h e penthouse u n t i l t h e 19705, and a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m
now c o n t i n u e s t h e o r i g i n a l u s e o f t h a t space.
A f t e r J o h n s o n ' s d e a t h i n 1975, h i s
drawings were donated t o t h e Jones Memorial L i b r a r y i n Lynchburg, where t h e y form t h e
nucleus o f t h e Lynchburg A r c h i t e c t u r a l Archive.
Included w i t h i n t h a t c o l l e c t i o n i s
e x t e n s i v e d o c u m e n t a t i o n on t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , c o n s i s t i n g o f p r e l i m i n a r y s k e t c h e s ,
s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , w o r k i n g d r a w i n g s , and correspondence.
Although the A l l i e d Arts B u i l d i n g relinguished the t i t l e o f the c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
s t r u c t u r e t o a n o t h e r o f f i c e b u i l d i n g i n 1974, i t c o n t i n u e s a s one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t
eleniients i n t h e dowr~town s k y l i n e , as an o u t s t a n d i n g example o f i t s s t y l e , and as a
monument t o t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was b u i l t .
SAC
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o i n c l u d e t h e b u i l d i n g and t h e
c i t y l o t on w h i c h i t s t a n d s .
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Other names/site number: VDHR File #118-0126
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2734 Fort Avenue
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ x__A
___B
_ x__C
_ x__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____3_________
______0_______
buildings
____0_________
______0_______
sites
____0_________
______0_______
structures
____0_________
______0_______
objects
____3_________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: Warehouse
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; METAL; GLASS
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is a small industrial complex located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The four-acre property contains three buildings consisting of two early
twentieth century Commercial Style mill buildings and a small, utilitarian garage built in 1949.
The property was initially developed as a small hosiery mill operation within one building in
1900 but expanded several times throughout the first half of the twentieth century to include
additional specialized processing facilities within enlargements and building additions. The
buildings within the property represent the evolution of the hosiery mill industry in the early- to
mid-twentieth from all-in-one warehouses to specialized processing facilities outfitted for
changes in materials, including specifically the introduction of nylon. In 1980, a fire destroyed
most of the 1900 and 1908 sections of one building, although portions of the foundations are still
extant today. Overall, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 remains a good representation of industrial
architecture from the early-twentieth century with a high level of integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, feeling, and association; integrity of design is somewhat diminished by loss of
some sections of one mill building. Continuing to reflect the property’s function as a hosiery mill
complex, the resources within the property boundaries consist of two contributing mill buildings
and one contributing garage, while there are no non-contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is located in the midtown section of Lynchburg,
Virginia, at 2734 Fort Avenue. The complex is presently composed of two separate tax parcels
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
and contains approximately four acres of land. It is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the
northwest, Lancaster Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent
properties to the northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger,
northern of the two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and
then along the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The complex is surrounded
by commercial development to the front along Fort Avenue, residential development that
represents the remains of a former mill village to the rear along Reed Street, and by Spring Hill,
a civic cemetery across Lancaster Street to the south side.
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 property boundaries is Building A, located on the smaller,
southern parcel. It is set in the corner of Fort Avenue and Lancaster Street and extends
perpendicularly along Fort Avenue. Extending further along Fort Avenue is a low stone and
brick wall that is the remains of the foundation from a building destroyed by fire in 1980.
Building B is located on the larger, northern parcel and set back from Fort Avenue, adjacent to
Reed Street. Building C is also located on the northern parcel, sited to the north of Building B.
The building lettering is not historic nomenclature, but rather a modern designation in order to
differentiate the structures.
The most notable physical feature of the overall property is a change in elevation of nearly 40
feet from the lowest point along Fort Avenue to the rear of the complex along Reed Street. In
general, the front of the complex along Fort Avenue is relatively flat with Building A and an
adjacent parking area at this level. Extending along the rear edge of Building A and the parking
lot and roughly parallel to Fort Avenue, through the central part of the property, is a steep slope
and rock outcropping that generally slopes down from an approximately one-acre level plateau at
the northeastern corner of the property to the side along Lancaster Street. Building C is built on
the level plateau while Building B is built atop of and into the rocky cliff.
As a primarily industrial complex, not intended for commercial or public access, there is no
formal front to the complex or Buildings A and B. However, the primary orientation and access
of the buildings, as well as the street address, is Fort Avenue. Secondary vehicular accesses are
also provided from the side along Lancaster Street as well as the rear from Reed Street. Both the
main access from Fort Avenue and secondary entry from Lancaster Street connect to a central,
gravel-covered driveway that leads through the complex, beginning at the north end and
extending along the base of the rocky cliff, uphill to the rear of Building A. A large gravel
parking area is located on the flat site of a building demolished in 1980 after a fire, and a smaller
parking area is located immediately behind Building A. At this parking area, the driveway
switchbacks uphill to the lower, south end of Building B. The third access to the property off
Reed Street is located at the northeastern edge of the property and leads into the flat plateau area
with a large gravel parking pad adjacent to the upper, north end of Building B.
Building A – Contributing
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 are two large mill buildings and a small garage. Building
A, the smaller of the two mill buildings, represents the oldest extant development on the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
property, although the earliest portions of the building were destroyed by a fire in 1980. The
building was initially constructed in 1900 and consisted of a one-story rectangular building set
parallel to Fort Avenue. Based on historic photos, the brick building rested on a continuous stone
foundation and was fenestrated with a series of arched 12/12 double-hung sash windows. The
building was expanded with a two-story wing to the north end and a series of small blocks and
wings attached to the south end in 1908 (see Historic Photo 1). The new wing to the north rested
on brick pier foundations with stone infill and the brick walls were pierced by a similar pattern of
windows. Also in 1908, the original one-story building was enlarged by constructing a second
story. Most of the 1900 and 1908 portions were destroyed by a fire in 1980, leaving only the
foundation and a short portion of the exterior walls from each remaining along the sidewalk on
Fort Avenue as a wall for the property.
The next expansion of Building A, and the earliest of which currently remains, was built in the
late-1920s.1 This portion of the building consists of a wider two-story block that was attached to
the south end of the 1908 building. It is five bays long along Fort Avenue and six bays deep,
such that the front three bays adjoined the south end of the 1908 building while the three
additional bays projected to the rear.
The late-1920s block of the building has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond
that rests on a continuous at-grade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof covered with bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra
cotta tile coping along the south side of the block and the back half of the north side. The front
half of the north end of the building that historically adjoined the 1908 building was infilled with
a wood frame wall that was clad with vinyl siding after the 1980 fire. A short length of the firststory portion of the rear wall of the 1908 building was left attached to the 1920s block at that
time, and a small utility shed was framed off of it. A single pedestrian door leads into this utility
shed and a single roll-up garage door was placed centrally along the infilled wall. A historic
pedestrian entrance leads into the rear of the building at the second story. The entry consists of a
single reinforced wood door with metal sheathing. It is sheltered by a short shed roof overhang
supported by knee braces and is approached by a cantilevered poured concrete walkway from a
parking lot that crosses over a walkway along the rear of the building at ground level.
Fenestration on the late-1920s block consists of a series of industrial-style casement windows on
both stories of the front and rear as well as the rear three bays of the north end. Each opening on
the north end is filled with paired 20-light windows with an 8-light awning sash located one row
of lights up from the bottom. Openings on the front and rear have 36-light windows also with an
8-light awning sash. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick lintels.
Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course recessed panel between brick
pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof cornice and on the north side they
end at the top of the second-story window lintels. The first-story windows along the Fort Avenue
façade have been encased behind metal grate security screens, likely added in the 1970s.
1
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Building A was expanded further in 1936 with a large addition to the south. This block is fourbays deep and extends 14 bays along Fort Avenue with several small projecting masses to the
rear, including one in the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing and centrally on the rear wall. The
1936 block extends the remainder of the property along Fort Avenue to Lancaster Street. The
addition has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond that rests on a continuous atgrade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with
bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra cotta tile coping along the
south end of the block.
The projecting mass along the rear wall appears to be from the second-half of the twentieth
century and consists of a concrete block enclosure that is one-bay wide and one-bay deep and
topped by a shed roof. It has two small window openings that have since been infilled with
concrete block. In the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing is a square mass that was built at the
same time as the 1936 block and is two-stories tall against the 1920s wing with a one-story area
beyond. This mass was built to serve as a boiler house and mechanical area. It is clad in brick
and the two-story area features a stepped parapet with terra cotta tile coping that matches the
south wall of the building. There are two 6-light fixed windows on the wall. The connected onestory mass is topped by a flat roof pierced by a hipped skylight. A tall, cylindrical metal chimney
flue and two shorter square chimney flues also extend up from this block. Set atop this massing
are a wood frame canopy with a shed roof and the deteriorated remains of a concrete block wall
that appears to date to sometime in the second-half of the twentieth century.
Fenestration on this portion of the building is generally similar to the 1920s block and consists of
a series of industrial-style casement windows on both stories, although many of the first-story
windows have been removed and the openings infilled with concrete block. The configuration of
the windows that remain on the front and rear are 30-light with 8-light awning sashes along the
top and bottom edge. Configurations on the south end have paired 20-light windows with 8-light
awning sashes one row of lights up from the bottom. All of the window openings are set on
concrete sills and topped by soldier brick lintels. Above the second floor windows are threecourse corbeled brick details. Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course
recessed panel between brick pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof
cornice and on the south end they end just above second-story window lintels.
There are several entrances into the 1936 part of the building located on the south end and rear.
The entry on the south end is located on the first story and consists of a replacement double leaf
metal door. Because of the surrounding topography, which slopes up along the edge of the
building, a bulkhead with concrete retaining walls extends along the south end of the building to
provide access to this entrance. Atop the bulkhead, a raised walkway further extends around the
rear of the building and provides access to another double leaf metal door. A third set of double
leaf metal doors leads into the second floor of the building from the rear parking lot. This
entrance is located on a cast concrete loading dock that is cantilevered over the first-story
bulkhead below. This loading dock is sheltered by a late-twentieth century shed-roofed canopy
supported by plain wood posts.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The last substantial structural addition to Building A occurred in the early 1950s and consists of
an enlarged boiler house appended to the rear of the building. The enlarged boiler house consists
of a rectangular two-bay deep by four-bay wide block that spans the late-1920s wing and the
1936 block. It has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a
continuous poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a flat roof behind a flat parapet on three
sides with terra cotta tile coping. The outside (rear) edge of the roof is open, but pierced by a
single exterior brick end chimney.
Fenestration on this block consists of 16-light industrial casement windows on each end and 12light windows on the rear. There are single leaf, metal clad pedestrian doors in the outermost bay
of the south end and the northernmost bay of the rear on the second story. Both of these
doorways are topped by fixed, two-light windows. Due to the topography of the site, both
entrances are just above grade and accessed by concrete stoops. A pedestrian entrance is also
located on the first story of this block’s north end and accessed by the bulkhead and walkway
that extends along the 1920s block.
The interior of Building A consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
separate building phases can be discerned from masonry walls. Due to the topography of the site,
much of the second floor of the building is at ground level on the east side of the property. On
the first floor, the interior of the late-1920s north end consists of a single, open space interrupted
only by support posts. The area flows into the interior of the 1936 portion of the building which
has been divided into three rooms along the length of the mass. The 1936 and 1950s boiler house
ell consists of two small rooms with a wrap-around L-shaped room on the first floor and two
small rooms with an offset rectangular room on the second floor.
There is one set of interior stairs in the building located within the 1936 block against the
original exterior wall of the 1920s block. The stairs are a quarter-turn with the lower stringer
attached to the masonry wall. The stairs are not original to the building, but their date of
construction is unclear. The lower half of the staircase has been recently rebuilt. The upper half
of the stairwell is enclosed with plywood and is supported by plain wood posts under the
landing. A door is at the landing.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Several interior
walls that were originally built as exterior walls remain throughout the building. The original
east exterior wall of the 1920s block now forms the barrier between the open space and
lavatories within the 1936 boiler house area. This wall still retains two windows that have now
been painted over. A portion of the original south exterior brick wall delineates this portion of
the building from the main mass of the 1936 block although much of the wall was dismantled
when the 1936 addition was attached and the resulting opening spanned by a steel I-beam brace.
Within the 1936 part of the building, the first floor is divided by two exposed masonry walls at
the sixth and tenth bays. Each brick wall is painted and perforated by a double-width opening at
its center. A makeshift office area has been constructed on the second floor in the 1936 portion
of the building along the rear wall. The wood frame office enclosure is clad in drywall.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The floors throughout the interior of the building are varied depending on the original usage of
the area as well as the date of construction. All of the existing first-floor flooring is exposed
poured concrete. The second-story floorings is painted narrow-gauge wood. A concrete ramp
spans the passage between the second floor of the 1920s block and 1936 block due to a slight
difference in level.
All ceilings throughout the building are exposed. On the first floor, wood support beams and the
bottom of the second-floor decking is visible. On the second story, metal I-beams, wood beams,
and the bottom of the roof decking is exposed. On both levels, the ceiling beams are supported
by a grid of support posts that punctuate each bay. In the 1920s block, the posts are square wood
timbers and attached to the concrete floor by metal post-holders. The posts in the 1936 block are
steel I-beams.
Mechanical systems and fixtures throughout Building A are limited. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building appears to
have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. No lighting
remains in the building. Historically, the building was climate-controlled by steam heat powered
by a boiler system. The majority of mechanical equipment throughout the building has been
removed although some sections of exposed ductwork remain in the 1936 block of the building.
The remnants of the boiler system are in the brick boiler room; however it has been extensively
dismantled, and what remains is corroded from rust.
Although the interior of Building A historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, as well as dying equipment as the dye house for the
mill complex was located in this building.
Building B – Contributing
The second mill building, and largest within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex, is
Building B. Similarly to Building A, this building was enlarged several times throughout the
twentieth century to accommodate the growth of the operation. The earliest of the four phases of
the building was constructed in 1928 and represents what is now the northeastern portion of the
building. As built, this L-shaped block was fifteen bays long by four bays wide at the north end
and three bays at the south end, set parallel and adjacent to Reed Street. The one-story building
area has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a raised, poured
concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with bituminous materials
and flanked at the north end by a stepped parapet wall with terra cotta tile coping.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Entrances into this block are from the north end and include a garage bay and a set of
replacement double leaf metal doors. Next to the double doors and spanning the rest of the north
end of this block are three large window openings, now occupied by later-installed glass block
panels. The windows are set on concrete sills in recessed bays and topped by solider brick lintels
with two corbeled brick courses above. Fenestration on the side of the 1928 block consists of a
series of fifteen window bays. Each window opening sits within a one-course recessed panel
between brick pilasters. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick
lintels. The windows are a mix of original industrial-style casement windows with paired 35light windows and later glass block panels.
The second phase of Building B occurred in 1933 when it was enlarged to the south. At that time
a two-story addition was attached to the south end, built so that the second story was even with
the 1928 block, and the first story at ground level due to the slope of the site. The 1933 block is
four bays wide to align with the original area, and an additional seven bays long along Reed
Street. The building generally matches and blends with the original building with similar
brickwork, window openings, and roof; the south end of the block was built with a frame wall,
reportedly to facilitate further expansion that did not occur. The frame wall is now clad with
vinyl siding that was added following a fire in 1980. Fenestration on the south end also differs
slightly with a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-part industrial casement windows. The only
exterior entrance into this block of the building is by a garage bay at ground level on the south
end. The garage bay was shortened slightly and filled with a roll-up door in the 1970s.
The third phase of the building consists of an expansion at the north end in 1943. This block
consists of a five-bay wide by five-bay long area that was attached to the west side of the north
end of the building. The block is primarily one-story; however because of the slope of the site,
the westernmost bay of the block is set on a basement. This block generally matches the
construction and detail of the two earlier phases with similar brickwork and fenestration. The
lower-level brick façade is smooth while the main level features recessed window panels
between pilasters. It is set on a poured concrete foundation that is below-grade on the north end,
but raised and tied into the exposed bedrock on the side and rear. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof parallel to the original block and set behind a stepped parapet. There are several
entrances into this block including a large garage bay and two pedestrian doors on the north end,
and a single pedestrian door into the lower level from the west side. A poured concrete loading
dock extends along the north end to provide access to the garage bay.
The fourth and final phase of the building was added in 1946 and consists of a one-bay extension
along the west side of the 1928 block with an adjacent stair tower and penthouse. The block is
primarily two stories tall with the second level even with the 1928 block and the lower level
adjoining the lower level of the 1933 block. The stair tower area is slightly wider at two bays and
is four bays long. It is three stories tall, creating a small penthouse that rises above the rest of the
building. The lower level of the 1946 block is poured concrete that ties into and follows the
contour of the exposed bedrock below. The bays within the portion along the original building
are pierced by window openings set within brick panels while the smaller openings in the stair
tower area pierce the concrete without brick surrounds. The second and third floor of the block
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
are brick laid in a 5:1 American Bond. The bays along the original block as well as the third floor
of the penthouse are recessed with brick pilasters while the second story of the stair tower is
smooth brick walls. It is topped by a flat roof with a flat parapet on three sides. All of the
windows on this block have been replaced by polycarbonate panels with faux “muntins” to
resemble the original industrial-style casement windows. There are two entrances into the 1946
block, both of which are located on the lower level of the stair tower. Both are single pedestrian
entries with replacement metal doors. The door on the west side of the tower is set above the
rock outcropping but currently not accessible as the stairs or landing that approached it have
been removed. The entry on the south side is accessible from a loading dock that extends from
the driveway at the south end of the building.
This loading dock consists of a cast concrete platform supported by poured concrete posts at the
southern end and by a full poured concrete base at the north end. The loading dock is approached
by an angled concrete ramp from the parking lot as well as two flights of steel stringer stairs
along its length. It is lined by a pole-type metal railing.
The interior of Building B consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
first floor is more segmented and irregularly shaped, reflective of its construction in several
phases and due to the topography of the site, and has two discontiguous areas. The larger area
within the 1933 section at the south end of the building consists of an open, irregularly shaped
room that spans the full width of the building for seven bays and then extends into the 1946
block along the west side of the building as a narrow corridor for an additional seven bays. The
open space is interrupted only by a grid of concrete support posts. Projecting from the west side
of this area within the stair tower area are three additional small rooms plus an enclosed
stairwell. Also on the first level, under the west side of the 1943 north wing is a narrow single
room accessed only from the west side exterior.
The second floor of the building is primarily a large open space occupying the entire footprint of
the building, interrupted by a grid of timber support posts and further broken up by several
nonhistoric partitions. A room has been partitioned in the northeast corner of the building with
frame and plywood walls and the building has been divided by a nonhistoric wood frame and
plywood clad partition roughly dividing the overall floor in half. A small office area has been
enclosed from this wall as well. Additionally, there are three small rooms, two of which are
bathrooms, plus the enclosed stairwell. The third floor (penthouse) consists of a single open
room accessed only by the interior stairwell.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Within the first
floor, the west walls are exposed poured concrete, the south end wall is exposed wood frame,
and the east wall is exposed structural brick. The poured concrete support piers and reinforced
beams are exposed on the ceiling, as is the poured concrete slab for the floor above. All of the
first level flooring is exposed poured concrete slab. On the second floor, the majority of the walls
are exposed structural brick although the wood-framed south end wall is clad with plywood. The
small bathrooms within the 1946 block have plastered walls with late-twentieth century ceramic
tile partly up the walls. All of the modern partition walls are also wood framed and clad with
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
plywood. Throughout the main floor area, the timber support posts that support the roof system
are exposed. The exposed roofing system consists of timber joists set atop the posts and wood
decking above. The exception is the area under the third floor penthouse in which steel I-beams
support poured concrete girders and a poured concrete slab for the floor above. Flooring
throughout the second level is varied. In both the 1928 original block and 1933 south wing the
floors have poured concrete slabs that are partially exposed, and partially channeled and in-laid
with wood flooring. The concrete and wood flooring are in alternating strips which allowed for
machinery to be set on and supported by concrete strips with in-laid wood corridors for the
comfort of workers to stand and move throughout the building. The concrete areas are generally
rough with exposed aggregate and have inset metal anchors for machinery. The in-laid wood
strips are set within channels cut into the concrete. The wood is narrow-gauge (2 ½”), tongueand-groove maple flooring set on sleepers in the channels. The floors throughout the 1943 north
wing and within the 1946 block addition are smooth poured concrete slabs, but with wide
expansion gaps.
On the third floor (penthouse), the walls are exposed structural brick and the ceiling is the
exposed roof system with steel I-beam girders supporting a system of wood joists with scissorbracing and wood decking above. The floors are a poured concrete slab, but with a large
bulkhead cut for mechanical equipment to pass through.
The one set of interior stairs in the building is located within the 1946 block and extends from
the lower level up to the third floor penthouse. There is no elevator within the building, and there
was no connectivity between the first and second floors until this addition was built. The stairs
are half-turn with landings at each floor as well as half-way between. The stringers and landings
are steel frame and attached directly to the exposed brick walls. The decking and treads are
diamond-patterned steel and lined by pole-type steel railings. The stairs are open from the lower
level up to the final flight that leads to the penthouse which is enclosed within a metal firewall
bulkhead.
A variety of mechanical systems and fixtures remain throughout Building B. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building all appears
to have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. All lighting
throughout the building is modern replacements and consists primarily of numerous florescent
tube light units suspended from the ceiling. The exception is in the second floor of the 1933
block which has a series of ceiling-mounted lamps attached to the joists.
Historically, the building was heated by steam heat powered by a boiler system. Radiators with
electric fans are suspended from ceilings joists throughout the building and connected by a
system of plumbing. Each unit has a vent that projects through the adjacent window opening to
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the exterior. In 1946, an air conditioning system was installed in the third floor penthouse
addition. This massive system occupies the majority of the third floor but has been disconnected
and much of the equipment dismantled.
Although the interior of Building B historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, many of which were affixed to the concrete strips
located throughout the main floor of the building.
Building C - Contributing
The third building within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is Building C, a small garage
built in 1949. The two-bay building has an exposed concrete block structural system set on a
continuous foundation and topped by a front-gabled roof with exposed rafter tails covered with
standing-seam metal. There are two sets of swing-out metal garage doors on the front façade
approached by a concrete apron. The sides and rear of the building are pierced by fixed four-light
windows set on concrete sills. The interior of the building is unfinished with the structural
system exposed.
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
SOCIAL HISTORY
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1900-1972
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1900
1905
1928
1933
1936
1943
1946
1971
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills #1 is being nominated for inclusion in the NRHP for local
significance under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Social History for its role in the
hosiery industry throughout much of the twentieth century, as well as under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. The period of significance begins in 1900 when the earliest development of
the property occurred and ends in 1972 when the company was sold to an interest in Chicago and
the mill was subsequently closed. Soon thereafter, the complex was badly damaged by a fire
resulting in the partial demolition of one building in 1980. Criteria Consideration G does not
apply to this property because, although the period of significance ends less than fifty years ago,
the vast preponderance of its significance predates the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties
where significant activities have continued into the more recent past. Starting in 1900 and over
seven decades of continuous operation, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 played a variety of
important roles in the economy, culture, and landscape of Lynchburg. In 1913, it became one of
the first mills in the American South to manufacture socks with a government contract for the
military. Its association with the military continued during World War II when it was one of the
largest producers and innovators of G.I. cushioned socks and also produced parachute material.
Throughout this period, the mill continued to produce commercial material as well and was one
of the most productive hosiery mills in the country. Socially, the mill was significant as the only
business or industry in Lynchburg that hired African-American women following the opening of
a second, segregated mill complex in downtown Lynchburg in 1919. Although that facility’s
workforce was physically segregated from Mill #1, the two groups of workers were integrated in
1971. Architecturally, the property also remains as a character-defining industrial feature of
south Lynchburg and is reflective of industrial construction from that time. Furthermore,
Building B was the first hosiery mill building in the United States to be completely air
conditioned in 1946 when it began processing the newly developed products of rayon and nylon
distributed by DuPont and used for military applications.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historical Background
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill came to be following the emigration of English fabric manufacturer
Joseph Godber Burton to the United States. In the late-nineteenth century, J.G. Burton owned a
bleach yard and finishing plant in Nottingham, England, in a partnership with his uncle. The
operation was affiliated with I. and R. Morley, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and
exporters of knit goods at that time. In 1884, Burton moved to Thornton, Rhode Island, to serve
as the first superintendent of the British Hosiery Company, one of the first ‘full-fashioned’
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
hosiery mills in America, established by Robert W. Cooper who brought his own equipment and
workforce of 120 employees from England to start the mill.
In 1899, the British Hosiery Company expanded their operations in the United States through the
opening of a branch in Lynchburg, Virginia. At that time, J.G. Burton was selected to serve as
Vice President of the new branch, and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, to help develop what
would be known as the Midland Hosiery Company.2 The Midland Hosiery Company was
officially chartered on May 17, 1899. The plant was situated at Fourteenth Street and Stephenson
Avenue, just outside Lynchburg town limits. The mill contained 125 knitting machines and had a
daily output of 500 pairs of men’s, women’s, and children’s hosiery.3
Within a year of helping to build the Midland Hosiery Company, J.G. Burton was compelled to
venture out on his own, and joined with local attorney R. Colston Blackford, to establish a new
hosiery company. On October 11, 1900, Burton formally chartered the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company, himself serving as President and Superintendent, and R.M. Patten as Secretary and
Treasurer.4 The new company was located just several blocks away from the Midland Hosiery on
Twelfth Street (present-day Fort Avenue).
The site was ideal for the plant due to the springs of water above the building which provided a
gravity water supply to the dye house. The mill consisted of a single one-story brick building
approximately 100 feet by 40 feet that included the full range of hosiery operations. It went into
operation with 25 fully automatic seamless knitting machines, and was one of the first mills in
the country to utilize this technology.5
The business became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company in 1902, by which time it had grown
into a lucrative business which had expanded to 50 knitting machines.6 It appears to have been so
successful in fact, that in 1903, the nearby Midland Hosiery Company was closed and its entire
plant and stock of equipment put up for sale.7 In 1907, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was
incorporated with capital stock of $50,000 and became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc.8 At
that time, J.G. Burton’s son, Clarence Godber Burton became Treasurer of the company. In
1908, the plant was enlarged with a second story and a new wing that allowed for an additional
90 knitting machines to go into operation.9 According to a report from the Textile World Record,
that year the plant operated with 105 knitters, 19 ribbers, 26 loopers, and 21 sewing machines
manufacturing cotton, woolen, and merino half hose.10
2
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th Century Edition, Lynchburg,
VA, October, 1900, p.115.
3
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
4
“The Blue Book”: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada, 1901-1902.
5
Pou, Enoch. Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Preliminary Information Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
2011.
6
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946.
7
America's Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. 1903.
8
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
9
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
10
Textile World Record, Volume 36. 1908.
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Most of the employees of the mill at that time were women. Lynchburg was a heavily industrial
town at the turn-of-the-twentieth century so there were numerous factories, warehouses, and
other businesses for male employment. This left out a tremendous potential workforce of women
who at that time were seen as unfit for many jobs outside the home. The hosiery industry,
however, was considered safe and appropriate for female employment due to its linkages to
traditional sewing and piecework paid labor tasks that women had been performing since the
early nineteenth century. Female workers also commonly were paid a fraction of what male
workers received, thus creating an abundant and cheap labor force. With only one other
operating textile mill in town, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was able to capitalize on this
form of cheap labor for many years. The usage of female workers became especially prevalent
and necessary with the outbreak of World War I when men were needed not only for military
service, but also industrial and production jobs in support of the war effort.
During the early years of the war in Europe, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company secured their first
government contract in 1913 and became one of the first mills in the American South to
manufacture socks for the military.11 Before the war, the company had developed and was the
first to produce cushioned sole socks. It presented samples of its cushioned sole golf socks to the
Research and Development Department of the Army Quartermaster Depot. The cushion sole
sock was adopted as standard issue by the Army and became its principal marching sock.
Working with the Army, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company developed a new pre-shrinking
process with special emphasis on cushioned sole socks for field usage where laundries were
scarce. Using this process, the mill attributed a large part of its capacity to the production of
socks for the Army during the war. In 1917 alone, the mill supplied 240,000 pairs of socks to the
War Department at a price of $0.13 each.12 The mill also produced full fashioned stockings for
the Women’s Army Corps and heavy woolen desert top socks for the British and American
armies during the North Africa campaign.13
The continued relationship with the military following the war, coupled with continued nongovernmental contracts prompted substantial growth and expansion of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill company in the 1920s.14 In 1920, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association was established
“to promote friendship among its members, to furnish a method of full and frank discussion of
the business of the mill in its relation to those who work for it, the promotion of constructive
criticism of methods of manufacture, working conditions, and manufactured product; and for the
creation of health benefit funds.” The Association was opened to all “white persons” employed
by Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc. The Shop Committee consisted of the foremen of the several
departments in the mill and was the governing body of the Association. A separate committee,
the Benefit Committee, had jurisdiction over the payment of benefits, approving claims before
payment and calling on ill or disabled members. Members made weekly contributions to the
11
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
Investigation of the War Department, 1918.
13
Pou, Enouch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
14
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
12
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Association, these being matched by the company. In addition to claims for disability and
sickness, the Association also paid benefits to members laid off by the company.15
That same year, the company purchased a second building to increase their production of men’s,
women’s, and children’s cotton and silk hosiery. The building, a former tobacco warehouse, was
located in downtown Lynchburg at 410 Court Street, within the predominantly AfricanAmerican populated Fifth Street neighborhood. Following the opening of the second plant, this
facility became Mill #2 while the original complex on Fort Avenue became Mill #1.
The placement of the mill was an important and bold move by Burton and the other officers of
the corporation as it made Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #2 the first business or industry in Lynchburg
to hire African American women and was considered the first economic opportunity for African
American women to gain employment other than domestic work in the homes of White
Lynchburg residents. Mill #2 operated on African American employment exclusively,16 and
between opening in 1919 through closing in 1971, the branch employed between 150-200
African American women. This had a tremendous social effect on the City of Lynchburg,
especially early on in its operation, in that many African American women aspired to work at the
mill, thereby reducing the domestic service base available for hire by white upper class residents.
However, Mill #2 operated only two shifts, as opposed to the three shifts that took place at Mill
#1, as African American women did not seek to work a third (night) shift due to safety and
transportation concerns.17
Just as the physical plants were racially segregated, the mutual benefit associations for the
workers were as well. The administration of the two Associations, the secretarial work involved,
and the printing of all necessary literature took place at the company’s administrative offices
located at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue. Both Associations provided the same benefits to each set of
employees: an early form of medical insurance, disability benefits, an early form of
unemployment payments, and savings plans to include Christmas Savings Accounts. Because of
the sheer number of women employees at both mills, women were permitted to serve on the
Shop Committee and as part of the governing body of the Associations, an unusual allowance at
a time that men typically held all leadership positions.18 Because of these benefits as well as the
steady income that came with employment at the mills, both African American and white women
continued to seek employment at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company.
In 1921, C.G. Burton assumed control of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills from his father when he
was named the new company President. Under C.G.’s leadership, coupled with the increased
production of the second mill, the company continued to grow. During the 1920s, Mill #2
produced the tops and bottoms for men’s socks, which then were taken to Mill #1 on Fort
Avenue where the facilities and machines for finishing and dyeing of the socks were located. By
15
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
“Around the Trade,” The Underwear and Hosiery Review. June 1920.
17
Pou, Enoch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
18
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 31, 2011.
16
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the late 1920s, the facilities at Mill #1 were no longer able to manage the increased workload and
a variety of expansions were undertaken. The primary mill building that housed the complete
operation from knitting to finishing and administration was expanded with a large addition. A
second, completely new building (Building B) was also constructed on the property, just uphill
from the original facility.
As employment at the enlarged Mill #1 increased, many workers and their families moved closer
to the plant in a neighborhood that become a sort of informal “company town” just uphill from
the second building. The road that lead from Fort Avenue past the mill and bordered the
neighborhood (present-day Lancaster) came to be known as Burton Street in the 1920s, after the
company president.
In addition to men’s and military socks, the mill's production expanded through the 1920s to
include ladies’ hosiery, golf socks, parachutes, and wool blankets. Despite the economic
struggles of the Great Depression, the company continued to grow in the 1930s. In its 1936
report, the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association wrote in reference to Lynchburg Hosiery
Mills that “This has been an outstanding success, particularly notable during the recent years of
depression, when general conditions were so strained. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills have added
both to their equipment and staff and have run many months at a time with both day and night
shifts operating.”19 Physical growth during the 1930s included substantial additions to the second
building (Building B) at Mill #1 in 1933 and the original building (Building A) in 1936.
The advent of World War II brought tremendous prosperity for the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills as
they retained a substantial government contract for wartime supplies. During World War II, the
mill made several items for use by the military including socks, parachutes, and artillery powder
bags.20 The mill manufactured 8,400 pairs of socks a day for the Government that were issued to
members of the Armed Forces and Civilian Conservation Corps. Throughout the course of the
war, the mill produced more than 28 million pairs of hose for the Armed Forces.21 A 1943
newspaper article noted the company won “high praise” from the military for its superior
product, quoting a telegram sent by a rear admiral that read in part: “Our boys can’t get enough
of these fine socks. Don’t keep them waiting.”22
Because of increases in cost of traditional materials like cotton, wool, and silk due to the war,
engineers and designers at the mill began to incorporate ‘new’ materials that were gaining
popularity in the textile industry such as rayon and nylon distributed by the DuPont Corporation.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills also produced specialty parachutes, known as drogue parachutes.
These parachutes were attached to bombs dropped on enemy positions. The parachutes slowed
19
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association,
Inc., 1936, p.130.
20
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986, Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick
House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
21
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
22
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the descent of the bomb, thereby allowing the plane and pilot that dropped them enough time to
move a safe distance from the exploding bomb. Drogue parachutes are also used to help open
larger parachutes.23 The mill also produced woolen blankets for the Army and cargo parachutes
for the Navy.
Wartime production further solidified the trend that the hosiery mill was already following with
the increase in female employment. With Lynchburg’s draft quota, there was a shortage of men
for necessary jobs, including essential war-related industries. This included the many foundries,
shoe and clothing factories, as well as textile and hosiery mills under government contract. A call
was placed throughout town, just as it was across the nation, for all able persons to fill the jobs,
which resulted in more and more women doing what was previously considered men’s work. In
this way, most of the need for workers at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill and other industries was
met.24 Wartime manufacturing also required more space in addition to more workers, and this
was met by the construction of a north wing to the second building at Mill #1 in 1943.
The local prominence of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill during the war brought notoriety to
President C.G. Burton, who was selected to serve as a member of the Lynchburg City Council
from 1942-1948, and even elected City Mayor for the period of 1946-1948. Following his stint
as Mayor, Burton was elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress in 1948 and served in that
role until 1953.25 At that time, Burton stepped down as President of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company to become Chairman of the Board. His nephew and the grandson of J.G. Burton, the
founder of the company, C. Burton Gerhardt stepped up as President.
Under the new leadership of Gerhardt, the mill continued to grow into its peak of operations,
becoming one of the largest producers of hosiery in the country, turning out approximately
25,000 dozen pairs of half hose and 2,500 dozen pairs of ladies full-fashioned hose per week.
The mill produced stockings of nylon, rayon, and silk, including mesh or clocked hose.
In the post-war years, the mill was operating 825 seamless knitting machines making men’s
socks and 30 full fashion machines. One area of the mill produced 3,000 dozen pairs of women’s
sheer silk hose per week with the balance of the mill producing 18,000 dozen pairs of men’s
socks weekly. In the late 1940s, the mill employed 926 men and women with a weekly payroll of
$15,000. Twenty-five salesmen sold the mill’s products. Customers of the mill were wholesale
houses and large chain stores based primarily in New York and Chicago.
The company produced 102 different men’s patterns utilizing 32 colors of yarn dyed at the plant.
Women’s hose were produced in 15 colors that changed seasonally and were offered in 2, 3, and
4-thread count and included novelties such as Queen Anne’s lace stockings and knee-length
23
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
24
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg, Virginia ,J.P. Bell
Company, 1972, p.259.
25
“Clarence Burton,” Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sports hose. A team of four full-time designers were on staff to keep up with trends in styles and
imagine new designs.26
To create these different patterns, the mill used a combination of human and machine work,
including a variety of modern specialized machinery. A 1946 newspaper article described the
complex as being filled with endless rows of knitting machines throughout the company’s three
buildings. It goes on to describe the various processes for making both men’s and women socks.
Both socks were produced using generally similar methods, with the primary differences being in
material and color. Also, men’s half socks and women’s knee length hose were seamless, while
the majority of socks and hose consisted of a separate foot section and upper “ribbed” section
produced by a ribber seamed together. As such, the primary machines within the complex were
leggers, footers, loopers, seamers, and ribbers. The leggers were 47 feet long and could knit 21
full-fashioned hose at a time. The machine automatically adjusted itself to knit the hose the shape
of the leg. In order to distinguish between hose of different qualities and thread counts for
women’s wear, the thread fed to the machine was tined various shades of pink and yellow. The
foot of the hose was started by hand by a worker called the “topper.” The topper would attach the
leg of the hose to a transfer bar which was then placed on the footer machine. The footer was a
machine that knitted the foot of the hose. Each footer could knit 24 hose at a time, the same
amount the legger could knit. However, as the footer knitted much faster than the legger, the
complex employed only eight footer machines as opposed to 22 leggers.27
Once the foot was knitted, it was taken to a worker in charge of “topping” or fastening up the toe
and heel on a single machine called a “looper.” The loopers were used to top the toe and heel and
some of the men’s socks. Meanwhile, for men’s socks, ribbers were the machines that knit the
upper part of the sock which was then attached to the remainder of the sock by the knitting
machine. The ribber machine knitted a continuous chain of ribbings that were then cut apart and
each set on a bar attached to the knitting machine. At that point, the hose was ready for finishing
on the “seamer” machine which connected the foot of the hose with upper portion. Once seamed,
the women’s hose was ready to be stretched over the dying form and dyed one of the fifteen
offered colors.28
For menswear, all the socks come off the knitting machine gray. They were then bleached with
sodium peroxide before being dyed the desired color. The products were dyed in a state of the art
dye house facility at the complex. The dyeing machines were made of Monel, a naturally noncorrosive alloy resistant to the action of dye chemicals. A sock could be dyed a pattern of as
many as three different colors in one water, accomplished by knitting the sock of three different
materials. There were dyes for vegetable, animal, and acetate materials with the affinity for only
one of the materials, therefore the dye coloring the cotton would not affect wool or rayon, why
other dyes may only color those materials.29
26
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Ibid
28
Ibid
29
Ibid
27
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Throughout the entire process, the hose and socks were inspected for defects. The most common
defect was when the looper left thread ends loose on the wrong side of the sock. To remove
these, the mill employed machines which were a combination of clippers and vacuums. The
operator ran the clipper over the sock while stretched on a form. It would cut the dangling thread
and remove them with the vacuum. The complex nature of the machines and their operation 24hours a day required a full-time staff of 35 machinists at the mill to keep them in repair.30
Although wool from Australia and silk from Japan were the principal fabrics used, the increased
cost for these materials due to the war, particularly silk from Japan, led the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill to continue incorporating the newly developed materials of rayon and nylon into their
products. As these materials were expected to become the principal material for women’s hose
the company took the substantial step in 1946 to air condition one of the mill buildings as
temperature control was an important factor in the processing of nylon. To accomplish this
upgrade, a large addition with a third-floor penthouse had to be appended to Building B to
accommodate the massive air conditioning system. Once completed, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
#1 became the first hosiery mill in the country to be completely air conditioned.31 Just a few
years after the second mill building (Building B) at the complex was air conditioned, a new
boiler house was added to the first mill building (Building A) in the early-1950s. Around the
same time, a two-bay, concrete block garage was constructed within the complex to serve as a
storage space and garage.
Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls in the post-war years made Lynchburg’s factories
and mills, including the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, a substantial component of the City’s business
and economy. By the 1950s, industrial payrolls in Lynchburg were nearly twice as great as in the
last year of World War II and more than three times as much as in the pre-war year of 1939.32
In 1964, Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act led to changes in the organization of the
workers’ Associations, but not the workplace. By law, the two separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
Associations were merged, bringing both the African American and white employees into the
same Association. As a part of the merger, the Association had to issue the African American
employees of Mill #2 a partial return of monies that they had paid into the Association to have an
equitable pro rata share of the Association upon completion of the merger after it was determined
that the white employees had used the medical and other benefits much more than their African
American counterparts. The workforces of the two mills, however, remained physically
segregated until 1971 with all African American employees working at Mill #2 while the white
employees and administrative offices stayed at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue.
30
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
32
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce, Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and Transportation Center of
Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial.
Library, Lynchburg, VA.
31
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The two mills remained segregated until 1971 when the decision was made to close Mill #2. At
that time, all of the equipment was transferred to Mill #1 and the two workforces were integrated
within the one facility. The combined operation did not continue for long though, for the
following year, it was announced that the company and operation would be sold to an investment
firm based in Chicago. The formal announcement was made September 16, 1972, by acting
President C. Burton Gerhardt, former President and grandson of the founder Joseph G. Burton,
and William H. Rentschler of Chicago, the new President. With the sale of all issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc., it was described as being among
the top 10 percent of the nation’s hosiery producers at that time. As part of the sale, founding
family members C. Burton Gerhardt, Clarence G. Burton, and E. Alvin Gerhardt, Jr., agreed to
continue to be active on a day to day basis as consultants.33 Operations only continued briefly
though as the company fell on hard times and closed completely in 1972 after the Chicago
investors who purchased it became mired in legal troubles and allegations of fraud.34
The company no longer maintained a presence in Lynchburg and the mill complex ceased to
operate. For the next eight years, the large empty buildings that formerly held row upon row of
knitting machines and other equipment were leased out as general storage space, used primarily
to store window displays for a local department store.35
On the afternoon of Saturday April 5, 1980, a fire broke out in the 1900-1908 portions of
Building A fronting Fort Avenue where the administrative offices and some manufacturing space
had been located. Fire fighters battled the fire, but by the time it was extinguished, both of the
large mill buildings were severely damaged and several smaller storage buildings set between
them were completely destroyed. The following day, crews under the supervision of the fire
department knocked down the most heavily damaged portions of the administrative building
(Building A), leaving just the foundation and lower part of the walls in case the property owners
wished to rebuild the structure atop them.36
Reconstruction did not take place, and instead the wall at the north end of Building A was closed
off with a framed wall and vinyl siding. The remaining portions of the two mill buildings were
repaired and continued to be leased out as general warehouse space for the next three decades.
As of 2016, the complex was purchased by a real estate developer with plans to rehabilitate the
buildings, and restore their historic character while converting them into mixed-use commercial
and loft space.
Significance: Industry
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its association with the industrial heritage of the City of Lynchburg and the hosiery
33
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and Advance. March 14,
2010.
35
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
36
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
34
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
industry at large. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company, and particularly Mill #1, played a
variety of important roles in the economic and commercial evolution of Lynchburg from the time
of its charter in 1900 through its sale to an outside business investment firm in 1972. During that
time, the mill employed thousands of local residents with a substantial payroll. As one of the
largest industrial concerns in the city, the mill was a substantial component of Lynchburg’s
economy throughout the twentieth century. As one of the largest hosieries in the nation, the
products they produced brought attention to Lynchburg as these products were distributed to
major centers of fashion in New York and Chicago where a number of their trademark lines were
among the most popular brands.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also significant for a variety of developments and industry
“firsts” that occurred there. Early in its operation, the mill was credited with the invention and
first production of the cushioned sole sock. The invention of the cushioned sole sock, which is
still widely manufactured and considered now to be a standard attribute to virtually all
manufactured socks. The cushioned sole sock and a variety of other products manufactured at the
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill also contributed greatly to the military and war efforts during both
World War I and II. During World War I, the mill was one of the largest providers of socks to
the Army. During World War II, it continued to be a major producer of socks in addition to other
textiles such as blankets and parachutes including the newly developed nylon “drogue
parachutes.” The drogue parachute was a crucial component in the weaponry used by Allied
Forces in their effort to win World War II, and saved the lives of countless pilots and assuredly
turned many battles during the war. The production of nylon parachutes by the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill was significant as an early example of the use of new, synthetic materials
purchased from DuPont being used by the military after Japanese silk became scarce during the
war.
After the war, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 continued the use of nylon as well as another
synthetic material produced by DuPont, rayon. The mill’s use of these new products also led to
its significance as the first hosiery facility in the country to be completely air-conditioned due to
the specific climate requirements needed for the manufacture of nylon products. Development
and improvement of various hosiery products resulting from the cutting-edge use of nylon was
clearly evident at the mill as its overall production, and particularly that of women’s nylon
stockings, tripled in the years following its adoption.
Significance: Social History
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its role in the social history of Lynchburg throughout its operation. At the turn-of-thetwentieth century, Lynchburg was the site of many large industrial concerns, including the
Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company, one the largest foundries in the South. As such, there
were many opportunities for men to find work in the area; however few jobs were deemed safe
and appropriate for women. Textiles were one line of work that was considered fit for females as
it was non-threatening to the traditional norms for male/female relationships in a household
while affording an extra income. From the time of its opening through its closure in 1972, the
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 took advantage of the extensive potential female workforce in
Lynchburg, employing thousands of women during its operation. An average of 75% of the
mill’s employees were female and at its peak of almost 1,200 employees, less than 100 were
men. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill was one of the major employers of women in the
Lynchburg area, and in many ways was responsible for helping to solidify the two income
household in town.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is also significant for its role in the employment of
African American women outside of domestic servitude. In 1920, the company opened a second
mill in the predominantly African American Fifth Street neighborhood of Lynchburg. At this
plant the company employed an almost exclusively African American female workforce that
fundamentally changed hiring practices in the region. While this employment occurred at Mill #2
and not within the Mill #1, the decision to enact this policy and the subsequent management
occurred within the corporate administrative offices at Mill #1. Following the passage of the
Civil Rights Act in 1964, the two separate worker Associations were merged and compensation
was paid to the African American members who had received less benefits under the segregated
system. In 1971, Mill #2 was closed and all the employees were at that time integrated into the
single operation at Mill #1. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is significant as an
early employer of African American workers, and the first to employee African American
women in Lynchburg, but also conveys the strained racial relationships and segregation
prevalent throughout the region during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Significance: Architecture
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a representative example of industrial development throughout the first half of
the twentieth century and an early example of industrial construction specifically for textile mills
in the Lynchburg area. The mill buildings on the property were built and expanded a number of
times between 1900 and the 1950s and thus reflect a variety of construction techniques and
innovations. The earliest construction on the property consisted of a primarily one-story building
set on a stacked stone foundation with masonry walls but internal timber support posts and
beams. The later additions are illustrative of improved large-scale construction techniques
through the use of concrete foundations, reinforced concrete subfloors, posts, and beams, and the
eventual transition to structural I-beams; all of which allowed for larger open industrial areas
while supporting heavier and more extensive machinery as the twentieth century progressed.
Not only do the buildings at Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 exhibit these general construction
advances, they also retain and display a variety of specialized components designed specifically
for textile mills. The exterior of the buildings reflects textile mill construction prevalent in the
first-half of the twentieth century with rows of large, industrial-style casement windows to
provide suitable illumination for the workers inside. The need for daylight in work areas has
always been a dominant factor in mill design. Within the long, relatively narrow manufacturing
spaces of early mill buildings, workbenches lined exterior walls or were placed perpendicular to
them, next to windows. Workers sat or stood at these benches, usually facing windows, to
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
perform the operations that required the best lighting – precision work and color matching.37
These early mills relied on rows of smaller windows; however by the turn of the twentieth
century, larger casement windows arranged in curtain wall configurations greatly improved
interior illumination, particularly as electric lighting was still not always readily available. The
portions of Mill #1 built in 1900 and 1908 exhibited the earlier form with regularly spaced
double-hung sash windows while those portions built from the 1920s through the 1950s feature
the larger casement style windows. Within the buildings at Mill #1, the interiors also reflect of
textile mill construction with large, undivided open rooms sufficient for rows of machinery,
workbenches, and other equipment including some, such as leggers, which were nearly 50-feet
long.
The interior of Building B is particularly notable for several characteristic mill designs. The
flooring throughout the main level was specially designed for the type of work performed there.
The floor is a structural concrete slab that is channeled and in-laid with wood flooring. The
concrete and wood floors are in alternating strips which allowed for machinery to be set on the
concrete and stabilized by inset metal anchors, while channeled strips for in-laid wood corridors
provided for the comfort of workers standing and moving about the building. Building B was
also expanded and adapted in 1946 to meet the specialized manufacturing process for the newly
developed material nylon. Nylon requires cool conditions and thus a large penthouse was added
to the building to house a massive air conditioner system, reportedly making Building B the first
textile mill building in the nation to be outfitted in this way specifically for nylon. Meanwhile,
the modestly scaled Building C, a two-bay, concrete block garage, is illustrative of the transition
from brick to standardized concrete masonry units for construction of service buildings such as
garages, shops, and other utilitarian purposes.
As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 conveys architectural significance for its representation
of not only general industrial construction from the first-half of the twentieth century, but for
specialized design related to its role as a textile mill. Several of the small ancillary buildings
present during the operation of the mill have been demolished, and a portion of one of the mills
was destroyed by fire in 1980; however the two mill buildings that remain continue to convey
their historic function, association, and character. Together they display a complex of early
industrial architecture and various construction methods necessary to function as a hosiery mill
complex throughout the first-half of the twentieth century.
37
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York , Oxford
University Press, 1999, p. 31.
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Newspaper Articles
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and
Advance. March 14, 2010.
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21,
1946.
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th
Century Edition, Lynchburg, Virginia, October, 1900, p.115.
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
Books and Other Sources
America’s Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. “For Sale:
Large Plant and Mill of the Midland Hosiery Company, Lynchburg, Virginia.” 1903.
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the Governor. “Business Charters.”
1903.
Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress. “Clarence Burton.” No Date.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New
York, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Campbell County. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
City of Lynchburg. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
Desmond, Vince. “Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc.”, Volunteer Research, Lynchburg Museum
System, Lynchburg, VA, July 29, 2010.
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986,
Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview with Enoch Pou. January 3, 2011.
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and
Transportation Center of Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, VA
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936, p.130
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1908.
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1920s.
Investigation of the War Department: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs,
United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second Session, for the Purpose of Inquiring
from the Different Branches of the Service of the War Department as to the Progress
Made in the Matter of Providing for Ordnance, Small Arms, Munitions, Etc., in
Connection with the Present War and to Ascertain the Government Need. U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1918.
Pou, Enoch. Preliminary Information Form and Evaluation of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill.
VDHR ID# 118-126. April 2011.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1907, 1919, 1951, 1955. On
file at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1938. On file at the Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg,
Virginia, J.P. Bell Company, 1972, p.259.
Textile World Record, Volume 36. Lord & Nagle Co. 1908.
The Blue Book: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada. Davison Publishing
Company, 1901-1902.
Underwood Aerials. Aerial Photograph Collection. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg,
Virginia. 1923.
United States Geological Service. Single Frame Aerial Photography. 1952, 1968.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
United States Geological Service. Topographical Quadrangles. Assorted Dates.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; City
of Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File #118-0126
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 4
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398160
Longitude: 79.163450
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is composed of portions of two separate
property tax parcels (identified as 02733066 and 02733019 by the City of Lynchburg) and
contains approximately 4 acres of land. The property is located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia and is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the northwest, Lancaster
Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent properties to the
northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger, northern of the
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and then along
the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Location Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries include the acreage historically associated with the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill #1 and includes all extant buildings and structures historically associated with
the complex as well as its original setting.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Robert J. Taylor, Jr.
organization: Dutton & Associates, LLC
street & number: 1115 Crowder Drive
city or town: Midlothian
state: Virginia
zip code: 23313
telephone: 804-897-1960
date: August 2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photograph Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
Photographer: Todd Dykshorn
State: Virginia
Photo 1 of 17: Building A
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 2 of 17: Building A
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 3 of 17: Building A
East Facade, Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 4 of 17: Building A
Northeast Corner, Facing West
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 5 of 17: Building B
Site, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 6 of 17: Building B
West Facade, Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 7 of 17: Building B
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 8 of 17: Building B
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 9 of 17: Building C
Front and West Side, Facing Northwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 10 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1920s Block), Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 11 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1936 Block), Facing West/Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 12 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 13 of 17: Building B
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1943 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 14 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1928 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 15 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1943 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 16 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1933 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 17 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior (1933 Block), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
List of Historic Photos
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s,
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday October
21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photographs
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday
October 21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 36
37.398160; -79.163450
Historic Boundary
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR # 118-0126
Location Map (point coincides with latitude/longitude provided in Section 10)
Building C Contributing
Historic Boundary
Building A Contributing
Building B Contributing
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Sketch Map (with contributing status for individual buildings)
8
9
6
5
1
4
7
2
2
3
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Site and Exterior)
10
11
N
12
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building A Interior)
17
N
15
16
14
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building B Interior)
13
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Other names/site number: VDHR File #118-0126
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2734 Fort Avenue
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ x__A
___B
_ x__C
_ x__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____3_________
______0_______
buildings
____0_________
______0_______
sites
____0_________
______0_______
structures
____0_________
______0_______
objects
____3_________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: Warehouse
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; METAL; GLASS
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is a small industrial complex located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The four-acre property contains three buildings consisting of two early
twentieth century Commercial Style mill buildings and a small, utilitarian garage built in 1949.
The property was initially developed as a small hosiery mill operation within one building in
1900 but expanded several times throughout the first half of the twentieth century to include
additional specialized processing facilities within enlargements and building additions. The
buildings within the property represent the evolution of the hosiery mill industry in the early- to
mid-twentieth from all-in-one warehouses to specialized processing facilities outfitted for
changes in materials, including specifically the introduction of nylon. In 1980, a fire destroyed
most of the 1900 and 1908 sections of one building, although portions of the foundations are still
extant today. Overall, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 remains a good representation of industrial
architecture from the early-twentieth century with a high level of integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, feeling, and association; integrity of design is somewhat diminished by loss of
some sections of one mill building. Continuing to reflect the property’s function as a hosiery mill
complex, the resources within the property boundaries consist of two contributing mill buildings
and one contributing garage, while there are no non-contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is located in the midtown section of Lynchburg,
Virginia, at 2734 Fort Avenue. The complex is presently composed of two separate tax parcels
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
and contains approximately four acres of land. It is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the
northwest, Lancaster Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent
properties to the northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger,
northern of the two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and
then along the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The complex is surrounded
by commercial development to the front along Fort Avenue, residential development that
represents the remains of a former mill village to the rear along Reed Street, and by Spring Hill,
a civic cemetery across Lancaster Street to the south side.
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 property boundaries is Building A, located on the smaller,
southern parcel. It is set in the corner of Fort Avenue and Lancaster Street and extends
perpendicularly along Fort Avenue. Extending further along Fort Avenue is a low stone and
brick wall that is the remains of the foundation from a building destroyed by fire in 1980.
Building B is located on the larger, northern parcel and set back from Fort Avenue, adjacent to
Reed Street. Building C is also located on the northern parcel, sited to the north of Building B.
The building lettering is not historic nomenclature, but rather a modern designation in order to
differentiate the structures.
The most notable physical feature of the overall property is a change in elevation of nearly 40
feet from the lowest point along Fort Avenue to the rear of the complex along Reed Street. In
general, the front of the complex along Fort Avenue is relatively flat with Building A and an
adjacent parking area at this level. Extending along the rear edge of Building A and the parking
lot and roughly parallel to Fort Avenue, through the central part of the property, is a steep slope
and rock outcropping that generally slopes down from an approximately one-acre level plateau at
the northeastern corner of the property to the side along Lancaster Street. Building C is built on
the level plateau while Building B is built atop of and into the rocky cliff.
As a primarily industrial complex, not intended for commercial or public access, there is no
formal front to the complex or Buildings A and B. However, the primary orientation and access
of the buildings, as well as the street address, is Fort Avenue. Secondary vehicular accesses are
also provided from the side along Lancaster Street as well as the rear from Reed Street. Both the
main access from Fort Avenue and secondary entry from Lancaster Street connect to a central,
gravel-covered driveway that leads through the complex, beginning at the north end and
extending along the base of the rocky cliff, uphill to the rear of Building A. A large gravel
parking area is located on the flat site of a building demolished in 1980 after a fire, and a smaller
parking area is located immediately behind Building A. At this parking area, the driveway
switchbacks uphill to the lower, south end of Building B. The third access to the property off
Reed Street is located at the northeastern edge of the property and leads into the flat plateau area
with a large gravel parking pad adjacent to the upper, north end of Building B.
Building A – Contributing
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 are two large mill buildings and a small garage. Building
A, the smaller of the two mill buildings, represents the oldest extant development on the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
property, although the earliest portions of the building were destroyed by a fire in 1980. The
building was initially constructed in 1900 and consisted of a one-story rectangular building set
parallel to Fort Avenue. Based on historic photos, the brick building rested on a continuous stone
foundation and was fenestrated with a series of arched 12/12 double-hung sash windows. The
building was expanded with a two-story wing to the north end and a series of small blocks and
wings attached to the south end in 1908 (see Historic Photo 1). The new wing to the north rested
on brick pier foundations with stone infill and the brick walls were pierced by a similar pattern of
windows. Also in 1908, the original one-story building was enlarged by constructing a second
story. Most of the 1900 and 1908 portions were destroyed by a fire in 1980, leaving only the
foundation and a short portion of the exterior walls from each remaining along the sidewalk on
Fort Avenue as a wall for the property.
The next expansion of Building A, and the earliest of which currently remains, was built in the
late-1920s.1 This portion of the building consists of a wider two-story block that was attached to
the south end of the 1908 building. It is five bays long along Fort Avenue and six bays deep,
such that the front three bays adjoined the south end of the 1908 building while the three
additional bays projected to the rear.
The late-1920s block of the building has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond
that rests on a continuous at-grade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof covered with bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra
cotta tile coping along the south side of the block and the back half of the north side. The front
half of the north end of the building that historically adjoined the 1908 building was infilled with
a wood frame wall that was clad with vinyl siding after the 1980 fire. A short length of the firststory portion of the rear wall of the 1908 building was left attached to the 1920s block at that
time, and a small utility shed was framed off of it. A single pedestrian door leads into this utility
shed and a single roll-up garage door was placed centrally along the infilled wall. A historic
pedestrian entrance leads into the rear of the building at the second story. The entry consists of a
single reinforced wood door with metal sheathing. It is sheltered by a short shed roof overhang
supported by knee braces and is approached by a cantilevered poured concrete walkway from a
parking lot that crosses over a walkway along the rear of the building at ground level.
Fenestration on the late-1920s block consists of a series of industrial-style casement windows on
both stories of the front and rear as well as the rear three bays of the north end. Each opening on
the north end is filled with paired 20-light windows with an 8-light awning sash located one row
of lights up from the bottom. Openings on the front and rear have 36-light windows also with an
8-light awning sash. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick lintels.
Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course recessed panel between brick
pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof cornice and on the north side they
end at the top of the second-story window lintels. The first-story windows along the Fort Avenue
façade have been encased behind metal grate security screens, likely added in the 1970s.
1
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Building A was expanded further in 1936 with a large addition to the south. This block is fourbays deep and extends 14 bays along Fort Avenue with several small projecting masses to the
rear, including one in the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing and centrally on the rear wall. The
1936 block extends the remainder of the property along Fort Avenue to Lancaster Street. The
addition has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond that rests on a continuous atgrade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with
bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra cotta tile coping along the
south end of the block.
The projecting mass along the rear wall appears to be from the second-half of the twentieth
century and consists of a concrete block enclosure that is one-bay wide and one-bay deep and
topped by a shed roof. It has two small window openings that have since been infilled with
concrete block. In the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing is a square mass that was built at the
same time as the 1936 block and is two-stories tall against the 1920s wing with a one-story area
beyond. This mass was built to serve as a boiler house and mechanical area. It is clad in brick
and the two-story area features a stepped parapet with terra cotta tile coping that matches the
south wall of the building. There are two 6-light fixed windows on the wall. The connected onestory mass is topped by a flat roof pierced by a hipped skylight. A tall, cylindrical metal chimney
flue and two shorter square chimney flues also extend up from this block. Set atop this massing
are a wood frame canopy with a shed roof and the deteriorated remains of a concrete block wall
that appears to date to sometime in the second-half of the twentieth century.
Fenestration on this portion of the building is generally similar to the 1920s block and consists of
a series of industrial-style casement windows on both stories, although many of the first-story
windows have been removed and the openings infilled with concrete block. The configuration of
the windows that remain on the front and rear are 30-light with 8-light awning sashes along the
top and bottom edge. Configurations on the south end have paired 20-light windows with 8-light
awning sashes one row of lights up from the bottom. All of the window openings are set on
concrete sills and topped by soldier brick lintels. Above the second floor windows are threecourse corbeled brick details. Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course
recessed panel between brick pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof
cornice and on the south end they end just above second-story window lintels.
There are several entrances into the 1936 part of the building located on the south end and rear.
The entry on the south end is located on the first story and consists of a replacement double leaf
metal door. Because of the surrounding topography, which slopes up along the edge of the
building, a bulkhead with concrete retaining walls extends along the south end of the building to
provide access to this entrance. Atop the bulkhead, a raised walkway further extends around the
rear of the building and provides access to another double leaf metal door. A third set of double
leaf metal doors leads into the second floor of the building from the rear parking lot. This
entrance is located on a cast concrete loading dock that is cantilevered over the first-story
bulkhead below. This loading dock is sheltered by a late-twentieth century shed-roofed canopy
supported by plain wood posts.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The last substantial structural addition to Building A occurred in the early 1950s and consists of
an enlarged boiler house appended to the rear of the building. The enlarged boiler house consists
of a rectangular two-bay deep by four-bay wide block that spans the late-1920s wing and the
1936 block. It has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a
continuous poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a flat roof behind a flat parapet on three
sides with terra cotta tile coping. The outside (rear) edge of the roof is open, but pierced by a
single exterior brick end chimney.
Fenestration on this block consists of 16-light industrial casement windows on each end and 12light windows on the rear. There are single leaf, metal clad pedestrian doors in the outermost bay
of the south end and the northernmost bay of the rear on the second story. Both of these
doorways are topped by fixed, two-light windows. Due to the topography of the site, both
entrances are just above grade and accessed by concrete stoops. A pedestrian entrance is also
located on the first story of this block’s north end and accessed by the bulkhead and walkway
that extends along the 1920s block.
The interior of Building A consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
separate building phases can be discerned from masonry walls. Due to the topography of the site,
much of the second floor of the building is at ground level on the east side of the property. On
the first floor, the interior of the late-1920s north end consists of a single, open space interrupted
only by support posts. The area flows into the interior of the 1936 portion of the building which
has been divided into three rooms along the length of the mass. The 1936 and 1950s boiler house
ell consists of two small rooms with a wrap-around L-shaped room on the first floor and two
small rooms with an offset rectangular room on the second floor.
There is one set of interior stairs in the building located within the 1936 block against the
original exterior wall of the 1920s block. The stairs are a quarter-turn with the lower stringer
attached to the masonry wall. The stairs are not original to the building, but their date of
construction is unclear. The lower half of the staircase has been recently rebuilt. The upper half
of the stairwell is enclosed with plywood and is supported by plain wood posts under the
landing. A door is at the landing.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Several interior
walls that were originally built as exterior walls remain throughout the building. The original
east exterior wall of the 1920s block now forms the barrier between the open space and
lavatories within the 1936 boiler house area. This wall still retains two windows that have now
been painted over. A portion of the original south exterior brick wall delineates this portion of
the building from the main mass of the 1936 block although much of the wall was dismantled
when the 1936 addition was attached and the resulting opening spanned by a steel I-beam brace.
Within the 1936 part of the building, the first floor is divided by two exposed masonry walls at
the sixth and tenth bays. Each brick wall is painted and perforated by a double-width opening at
its center. A makeshift office area has been constructed on the second floor in the 1936 portion
of the building along the rear wall. The wood frame office enclosure is clad in drywall.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The floors throughout the interior of the building are varied depending on the original usage of
the area as well as the date of construction. All of the existing first-floor flooring is exposed
poured concrete. The second-story floorings is painted narrow-gauge wood. A concrete ramp
spans the passage between the second floor of the 1920s block and 1936 block due to a slight
difference in level.
All ceilings throughout the building are exposed. On the first floor, wood support beams and the
bottom of the second-floor decking is visible. On the second story, metal I-beams, wood beams,
and the bottom of the roof decking is exposed. On both levels, the ceiling beams are supported
by a grid of support posts that punctuate each bay. In the 1920s block, the posts are square wood
timbers and attached to the concrete floor by metal post-holders. The posts in the 1936 block are
steel I-beams.
Mechanical systems and fixtures throughout Building A are limited. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building appears to
have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. No lighting
remains in the building. Historically, the building was climate-controlled by steam heat powered
by a boiler system. The majority of mechanical equipment throughout the building has been
removed although some sections of exposed ductwork remain in the 1936 block of the building.
The remnants of the boiler system are in the brick boiler room; however it has been extensively
dismantled, and what remains is corroded from rust.
Although the interior of Building A historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, as well as dying equipment as the dye house for the
mill complex was located in this building.
Building B – Contributing
The second mill building, and largest within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex, is
Building B. Similarly to Building A, this building was enlarged several times throughout the
twentieth century to accommodate the growth of the operation. The earliest of the four phases of
the building was constructed in 1928 and represents what is now the northeastern portion of the
building. As built, this L-shaped block was fifteen bays long by four bays wide at the north end
and three bays at the south end, set parallel and adjacent to Reed Street. The one-story building
area has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a raised, poured
concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with bituminous materials
and flanked at the north end by a stepped parapet wall with terra cotta tile coping.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Entrances into this block are from the north end and include a garage bay and a set of
replacement double leaf metal doors. Next to the double doors and spanning the rest of the north
end of this block are three large window openings, now occupied by later-installed glass block
panels. The windows are set on concrete sills in recessed bays and topped by solider brick lintels
with two corbeled brick courses above. Fenestration on the side of the 1928 block consists of a
series of fifteen window bays. Each window opening sits within a one-course recessed panel
between brick pilasters. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick
lintels. The windows are a mix of original industrial-style casement windows with paired 35light windows and later glass block panels.
The second phase of Building B occurred in 1933 when it was enlarged to the south. At that time
a two-story addition was attached to the south end, built so that the second story was even with
the 1928 block, and the first story at ground level due to the slope of the site. The 1933 block is
four bays wide to align with the original area, and an additional seven bays long along Reed
Street. The building generally matches and blends with the original building with similar
brickwork, window openings, and roof; the south end of the block was built with a frame wall,
reportedly to facilitate further expansion that did not occur. The frame wall is now clad with
vinyl siding that was added following a fire in 1980. Fenestration on the south end also differs
slightly with a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-part industrial casement windows. The only
exterior entrance into this block of the building is by a garage bay at ground level on the south
end. The garage bay was shortened slightly and filled with a roll-up door in the 1970s.
The third phase of the building consists of an expansion at the north end in 1943. This block
consists of a five-bay wide by five-bay long area that was attached to the west side of the north
end of the building. The block is primarily one-story; however because of the slope of the site,
the westernmost bay of the block is set on a basement. This block generally matches the
construction and detail of the two earlier phases with similar brickwork and fenestration. The
lower-level brick façade is smooth while the main level features recessed window panels
between pilasters. It is set on a poured concrete foundation that is below-grade on the north end,
but raised and tied into the exposed bedrock on the side and rear. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof parallel to the original block and set behind a stepped parapet. There are several
entrances into this block including a large garage bay and two pedestrian doors on the north end,
and a single pedestrian door into the lower level from the west side. A poured concrete loading
dock extends along the north end to provide access to the garage bay.
The fourth and final phase of the building was added in 1946 and consists of a one-bay extension
along the west side of the 1928 block with an adjacent stair tower and penthouse. The block is
primarily two stories tall with the second level even with the 1928 block and the lower level
adjoining the lower level of the 1933 block. The stair tower area is slightly wider at two bays and
is four bays long. It is three stories tall, creating a small penthouse that rises above the rest of the
building. The lower level of the 1946 block is poured concrete that ties into and follows the
contour of the exposed bedrock below. The bays within the portion along the original building
are pierced by window openings set within brick panels while the smaller openings in the stair
tower area pierce the concrete without brick surrounds. The second and third floor of the block
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
are brick laid in a 5:1 American Bond. The bays along the original block as well as the third floor
of the penthouse are recessed with brick pilasters while the second story of the stair tower is
smooth brick walls. It is topped by a flat roof with a flat parapet on three sides. All of the
windows on this block have been replaced by polycarbonate panels with faux “muntins” to
resemble the original industrial-style casement windows. There are two entrances into the 1946
block, both of which are located on the lower level of the stair tower. Both are single pedestrian
entries with replacement metal doors. The door on the west side of the tower is set above the
rock outcropping but currently not accessible as the stairs or landing that approached it have
been removed. The entry on the south side is accessible from a loading dock that extends from
the driveway at the south end of the building.
This loading dock consists of a cast concrete platform supported by poured concrete posts at the
southern end and by a full poured concrete base at the north end. The loading dock is approached
by an angled concrete ramp from the parking lot as well as two flights of steel stringer stairs
along its length. It is lined by a pole-type metal railing.
The interior of Building B consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
first floor is more segmented and irregularly shaped, reflective of its construction in several
phases and due to the topography of the site, and has two discontiguous areas. The larger area
within the 1933 section at the south end of the building consists of an open, irregularly shaped
room that spans the full width of the building for seven bays and then extends into the 1946
block along the west side of the building as a narrow corridor for an additional seven bays. The
open space is interrupted only by a grid of concrete support posts. Projecting from the west side
of this area within the stair tower area are three additional small rooms plus an enclosed
stairwell. Also on the first level, under the west side of the 1943 north wing is a narrow single
room accessed only from the west side exterior.
The second floor of the building is primarily a large open space occupying the entire footprint of
the building, interrupted by a grid of timber support posts and further broken up by several
nonhistoric partitions. A room has been partitioned in the northeast corner of the building with
frame and plywood walls and the building has been divided by a nonhistoric wood frame and
plywood clad partition roughly dividing the overall floor in half. A small office area has been
enclosed from this wall as well. Additionally, there are three small rooms, two of which are
bathrooms, plus the enclosed stairwell. The third floor (penthouse) consists of a single open
room accessed only by the interior stairwell.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Within the first
floor, the west walls are exposed poured concrete, the south end wall is exposed wood frame,
and the east wall is exposed structural brick. The poured concrete support piers and reinforced
beams are exposed on the ceiling, as is the poured concrete slab for the floor above. All of the
first level flooring is exposed poured concrete slab. On the second floor, the majority of the walls
are exposed structural brick although the wood-framed south end wall is clad with plywood. The
small bathrooms within the 1946 block have plastered walls with late-twentieth century ceramic
tile partly up the walls. All of the modern partition walls are also wood framed and clad with
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
plywood. Throughout the main floor area, the timber support posts that support the roof system
are exposed. The exposed roofing system consists of timber joists set atop the posts and wood
decking above. The exception is the area under the third floor penthouse in which steel I-beams
support poured concrete girders and a poured concrete slab for the floor above. Flooring
throughout the second level is varied. In both the 1928 original block and 1933 south wing the
floors have poured concrete slabs that are partially exposed, and partially channeled and in-laid
with wood flooring. The concrete and wood flooring are in alternating strips which allowed for
machinery to be set on and supported by concrete strips with in-laid wood corridors for the
comfort of workers to stand and move throughout the building. The concrete areas are generally
rough with exposed aggregate and have inset metal anchors for machinery. The in-laid wood
strips are set within channels cut into the concrete. The wood is narrow-gauge (2 ½”), tongueand-groove maple flooring set on sleepers in the channels. The floors throughout the 1943 north
wing and within the 1946 block addition are smooth poured concrete slabs, but with wide
expansion gaps.
On the third floor (penthouse), the walls are exposed structural brick and the ceiling is the
exposed roof system with steel I-beam girders supporting a system of wood joists with scissorbracing and wood decking above. The floors are a poured concrete slab, but with a large
bulkhead cut for mechanical equipment to pass through.
The one set of interior stairs in the building is located within the 1946 block and extends from
the lower level up to the third floor penthouse. There is no elevator within the building, and there
was no connectivity between the first and second floors until this addition was built. The stairs
are half-turn with landings at each floor as well as half-way between. The stringers and landings
are steel frame and attached directly to the exposed brick walls. The decking and treads are
diamond-patterned steel and lined by pole-type steel railings. The stairs are open from the lower
level up to the final flight that leads to the penthouse which is enclosed within a metal firewall
bulkhead.
A variety of mechanical systems and fixtures remain throughout Building B. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building all appears
to have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. All lighting
throughout the building is modern replacements and consists primarily of numerous florescent
tube light units suspended from the ceiling. The exception is in the second floor of the 1933
block which has a series of ceiling-mounted lamps attached to the joists.
Historically, the building was heated by steam heat powered by a boiler system. Radiators with
electric fans are suspended from ceilings joists throughout the building and connected by a
system of plumbing. Each unit has a vent that projects through the adjacent window opening to
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the exterior. In 1946, an air conditioning system was installed in the third floor penthouse
addition. This massive system occupies the majority of the third floor but has been disconnected
and much of the equipment dismantled.
Although the interior of Building B historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, many of which were affixed to the concrete strips
located throughout the main floor of the building.
Building C - Contributing
The third building within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is Building C, a small garage
built in 1949. The two-bay building has an exposed concrete block structural system set on a
continuous foundation and topped by a front-gabled roof with exposed rafter tails covered with
standing-seam metal. There are two sets of swing-out metal garage doors on the front façade
approached by a concrete apron. The sides and rear of the building are pierced by fixed four-light
windows set on concrete sills. The interior of the building is unfinished with the structural
system exposed.
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
SOCIAL HISTORY
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1900-1972
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1900
1905
1928
1933
1936
1943
1946
1971
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills #1 is being nominated for inclusion in the NRHP for local
significance under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Social History for its role in the
hosiery industry throughout much of the twentieth century, as well as under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. The period of significance begins in 1900 when the earliest development of
the property occurred and ends in 1972 when the company was sold to an interest in Chicago and
the mill was subsequently closed. Soon thereafter, the complex was badly damaged by a fire
resulting in the partial demolition of one building in 1980. Criteria Consideration G does not
apply to this property because, although the period of significance ends less than fifty years ago,
the vast preponderance of its significance predates the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties
where significant activities have continued into the more recent past. Starting in 1900 and over
seven decades of continuous operation, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 played a variety of
important roles in the economy, culture, and landscape of Lynchburg. In 1913, it became one of
the first mills in the American South to manufacture socks with a government contract for the
military. Its association with the military continued during World War II when it was one of the
largest producers and innovators of G.I. cushioned socks and also produced parachute material.
Throughout this period, the mill continued to produce commercial material as well and was one
of the most productive hosiery mills in the country. Socially, the mill was significant as the only
business or industry in Lynchburg that hired African-American women following the opening of
a second, segregated mill complex in downtown Lynchburg in 1919. Although that facility’s
workforce was physically segregated from Mill #1, the two groups of workers were integrated in
1971. Architecturally, the property also remains as a character-defining industrial feature of
south Lynchburg and is reflective of industrial construction from that time. Furthermore,
Building B was the first hosiery mill building in the United States to be completely air
conditioned in 1946 when it began processing the newly developed products of rayon and nylon
distributed by DuPont and used for military applications.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historical Background
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill came to be following the emigration of English fabric manufacturer
Joseph Godber Burton to the United States. In the late-nineteenth century, J.G. Burton owned a
bleach yard and finishing plant in Nottingham, England, in a partnership with his uncle. The
operation was affiliated with I. and R. Morley, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and
exporters of knit goods at that time. In 1884, Burton moved to Thornton, Rhode Island, to serve
as the first superintendent of the British Hosiery Company, one of the first ‘full-fashioned’
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
hosiery mills in America, established by Robert W. Cooper who brought his own equipment and
workforce of 120 employees from England to start the mill.
In 1899, the British Hosiery Company expanded their operations in the United States through the
opening of a branch in Lynchburg, Virginia. At that time, J.G. Burton was selected to serve as
Vice President of the new branch, and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, to help develop what
would be known as the Midland Hosiery Company.2 The Midland Hosiery Company was
officially chartered on May 17, 1899. The plant was situated at Fourteenth Street and Stephenson
Avenue, just outside Lynchburg town limits. The mill contained 125 knitting machines and had a
daily output of 500 pairs of men’s, women’s, and children’s hosiery.3
Within a year of helping to build the Midland Hosiery Company, J.G. Burton was compelled to
venture out on his own, and joined with local attorney R. Colston Blackford, to establish a new
hosiery company. On October 11, 1900, Burton formally chartered the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company, himself serving as President and Superintendent, and R.M. Patten as Secretary and
Treasurer.4 The new company was located just several blocks away from the Midland Hosiery on
Twelfth Street (present-day Fort Avenue).
The site was ideal for the plant due to the springs of water above the building which provided a
gravity water supply to the dye house. The mill consisted of a single one-story brick building
approximately 100 feet by 40 feet that included the full range of hosiery operations. It went into
operation with 25 fully automatic seamless knitting machines, and was one of the first mills in
the country to utilize this technology.5
The business became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company in 1902, by which time it had grown
into a lucrative business which had expanded to 50 knitting machines.6 It appears to have been so
successful in fact, that in 1903, the nearby Midland Hosiery Company was closed and its entire
plant and stock of equipment put up for sale.7 In 1907, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was
incorporated with capital stock of $50,000 and became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc.8 At
that time, J.G. Burton’s son, Clarence Godber Burton became Treasurer of the company. In
1908, the plant was enlarged with a second story and a new wing that allowed for an additional
90 knitting machines to go into operation.9 According to a report from the Textile World Record,
that year the plant operated with 105 knitters, 19 ribbers, 26 loopers, and 21 sewing machines
manufacturing cotton, woolen, and merino half hose.10
2
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th Century Edition, Lynchburg,
VA, October, 1900, p.115.
3
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
4
“The Blue Book”: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada, 1901-1902.
5
Pou, Enoch. Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Preliminary Information Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
2011.
6
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946.
7
America's Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. 1903.
8
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
9
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
10
Textile World Record, Volume 36. 1908.
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Most of the employees of the mill at that time were women. Lynchburg was a heavily industrial
town at the turn-of-the-twentieth century so there were numerous factories, warehouses, and
other businesses for male employment. This left out a tremendous potential workforce of women
who at that time were seen as unfit for many jobs outside the home. The hosiery industry,
however, was considered safe and appropriate for female employment due to its linkages to
traditional sewing and piecework paid labor tasks that women had been performing since the
early nineteenth century. Female workers also commonly were paid a fraction of what male
workers received, thus creating an abundant and cheap labor force. With only one other
operating textile mill in town, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was able to capitalize on this
form of cheap labor for many years. The usage of female workers became especially prevalent
and necessary with the outbreak of World War I when men were needed not only for military
service, but also industrial and production jobs in support of the war effort.
During the early years of the war in Europe, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company secured their first
government contract in 1913 and became one of the first mills in the American South to
manufacture socks for the military.11 Before the war, the company had developed and was the
first to produce cushioned sole socks. It presented samples of its cushioned sole golf socks to the
Research and Development Department of the Army Quartermaster Depot. The cushion sole
sock was adopted as standard issue by the Army and became its principal marching sock.
Working with the Army, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company developed a new pre-shrinking
process with special emphasis on cushioned sole socks for field usage where laundries were
scarce. Using this process, the mill attributed a large part of its capacity to the production of
socks for the Army during the war. In 1917 alone, the mill supplied 240,000 pairs of socks to the
War Department at a price of $0.13 each.12 The mill also produced full fashioned stockings for
the Women’s Army Corps and heavy woolen desert top socks for the British and American
armies during the North Africa campaign.13
The continued relationship with the military following the war, coupled with continued nongovernmental contracts prompted substantial growth and expansion of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill company in the 1920s.14 In 1920, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association was established
“to promote friendship among its members, to furnish a method of full and frank discussion of
the business of the mill in its relation to those who work for it, the promotion of constructive
criticism of methods of manufacture, working conditions, and manufactured product; and for the
creation of health benefit funds.” The Association was opened to all “white persons” employed
by Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc. The Shop Committee consisted of the foremen of the several
departments in the mill and was the governing body of the Association. A separate committee,
the Benefit Committee, had jurisdiction over the payment of benefits, approving claims before
payment and calling on ill or disabled members. Members made weekly contributions to the
11
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
Investigation of the War Department, 1918.
13
Pou, Enouch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
14
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
12
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Association, these being matched by the company. In addition to claims for disability and
sickness, the Association also paid benefits to members laid off by the company.15
That same year, the company purchased a second building to increase their production of men’s,
women’s, and children’s cotton and silk hosiery. The building, a former tobacco warehouse, was
located in downtown Lynchburg at 410 Court Street, within the predominantly AfricanAmerican populated Fifth Street neighborhood. Following the opening of the second plant, this
facility became Mill #2 while the original complex on Fort Avenue became Mill #1.
The placement of the mill was an important and bold move by Burton and the other officers of
the corporation as it made Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #2 the first business or industry in Lynchburg
to hire African American women and was considered the first economic opportunity for African
American women to gain employment other than domestic work in the homes of White
Lynchburg residents. Mill #2 operated on African American employment exclusively,16 and
between opening in 1919 through closing in 1971, the branch employed between 150-200
African American women. This had a tremendous social effect on the City of Lynchburg,
especially early on in its operation, in that many African American women aspired to work at the
mill, thereby reducing the domestic service base available for hire by white upper class residents.
However, Mill #2 operated only two shifts, as opposed to the three shifts that took place at Mill
#1, as African American women did not seek to work a third (night) shift due to safety and
transportation concerns.17
Just as the physical plants were racially segregated, the mutual benefit associations for the
workers were as well. The administration of the two Associations, the secretarial work involved,
and the printing of all necessary literature took place at the company’s administrative offices
located at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue. Both Associations provided the same benefits to each set of
employees: an early form of medical insurance, disability benefits, an early form of
unemployment payments, and savings plans to include Christmas Savings Accounts. Because of
the sheer number of women employees at both mills, women were permitted to serve on the
Shop Committee and as part of the governing body of the Associations, an unusual allowance at
a time that men typically held all leadership positions.18 Because of these benefits as well as the
steady income that came with employment at the mills, both African American and white women
continued to seek employment at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company.
In 1921, C.G. Burton assumed control of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills from his father when he
was named the new company President. Under C.G.’s leadership, coupled with the increased
production of the second mill, the company continued to grow. During the 1920s, Mill #2
produced the tops and bottoms for men’s socks, which then were taken to Mill #1 on Fort
Avenue where the facilities and machines for finishing and dyeing of the socks were located. By
15
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
“Around the Trade,” The Underwear and Hosiery Review. June 1920.
17
Pou, Enoch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
18
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 31, 2011.
16
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the late 1920s, the facilities at Mill #1 were no longer able to manage the increased workload and
a variety of expansions were undertaken. The primary mill building that housed the complete
operation from knitting to finishing and administration was expanded with a large addition. A
second, completely new building (Building B) was also constructed on the property, just uphill
from the original facility.
As employment at the enlarged Mill #1 increased, many workers and their families moved closer
to the plant in a neighborhood that become a sort of informal “company town” just uphill from
the second building. The road that lead from Fort Avenue past the mill and bordered the
neighborhood (present-day Lancaster) came to be known as Burton Street in the 1920s, after the
company president.
In addition to men’s and military socks, the mill's production expanded through the 1920s to
include ladies’ hosiery, golf socks, parachutes, and wool blankets. Despite the economic
struggles of the Great Depression, the company continued to grow in the 1930s. In its 1936
report, the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association wrote in reference to Lynchburg Hosiery
Mills that “This has been an outstanding success, particularly notable during the recent years of
depression, when general conditions were so strained. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills have added
both to their equipment and staff and have run many months at a time with both day and night
shifts operating.”19 Physical growth during the 1930s included substantial additions to the second
building (Building B) at Mill #1 in 1933 and the original building (Building A) in 1936.
The advent of World War II brought tremendous prosperity for the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills as
they retained a substantial government contract for wartime supplies. During World War II, the
mill made several items for use by the military including socks, parachutes, and artillery powder
bags.20 The mill manufactured 8,400 pairs of socks a day for the Government that were issued to
members of the Armed Forces and Civilian Conservation Corps. Throughout the course of the
war, the mill produced more than 28 million pairs of hose for the Armed Forces.21 A 1943
newspaper article noted the company won “high praise” from the military for its superior
product, quoting a telegram sent by a rear admiral that read in part: “Our boys can’t get enough
of these fine socks. Don’t keep them waiting.”22
Because of increases in cost of traditional materials like cotton, wool, and silk due to the war,
engineers and designers at the mill began to incorporate ‘new’ materials that were gaining
popularity in the textile industry such as rayon and nylon distributed by the DuPont Corporation.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills also produced specialty parachutes, known as drogue parachutes.
These parachutes were attached to bombs dropped on enemy positions. The parachutes slowed
19
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association,
Inc., 1936, p.130.
20
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986, Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick
House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
21
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
22
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the descent of the bomb, thereby allowing the plane and pilot that dropped them enough time to
move a safe distance from the exploding bomb. Drogue parachutes are also used to help open
larger parachutes.23 The mill also produced woolen blankets for the Army and cargo parachutes
for the Navy.
Wartime production further solidified the trend that the hosiery mill was already following with
the increase in female employment. With Lynchburg’s draft quota, there was a shortage of men
for necessary jobs, including essential war-related industries. This included the many foundries,
shoe and clothing factories, as well as textile and hosiery mills under government contract. A call
was placed throughout town, just as it was across the nation, for all able persons to fill the jobs,
which resulted in more and more women doing what was previously considered men’s work. In
this way, most of the need for workers at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill and other industries was
met.24 Wartime manufacturing also required more space in addition to more workers, and this
was met by the construction of a north wing to the second building at Mill #1 in 1943.
The local prominence of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill during the war brought notoriety to
President C.G. Burton, who was selected to serve as a member of the Lynchburg City Council
from 1942-1948, and even elected City Mayor for the period of 1946-1948. Following his stint
as Mayor, Burton was elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress in 1948 and served in that
role until 1953.25 At that time, Burton stepped down as President of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company to become Chairman of the Board. His nephew and the grandson of J.G. Burton, the
founder of the company, C. Burton Gerhardt stepped up as President.
Under the new leadership of Gerhardt, the mill continued to grow into its peak of operations,
becoming one of the largest producers of hosiery in the country, turning out approximately
25,000 dozen pairs of half hose and 2,500 dozen pairs of ladies full-fashioned hose per week.
The mill produced stockings of nylon, rayon, and silk, including mesh or clocked hose.
In the post-war years, the mill was operating 825 seamless knitting machines making men’s
socks and 30 full fashion machines. One area of the mill produced 3,000 dozen pairs of women’s
sheer silk hose per week with the balance of the mill producing 18,000 dozen pairs of men’s
socks weekly. In the late 1940s, the mill employed 926 men and women with a weekly payroll of
$15,000. Twenty-five salesmen sold the mill’s products. Customers of the mill were wholesale
houses and large chain stores based primarily in New York and Chicago.
The company produced 102 different men’s patterns utilizing 32 colors of yarn dyed at the plant.
Women’s hose were produced in 15 colors that changed seasonally and were offered in 2, 3, and
4-thread count and included novelties such as Queen Anne’s lace stockings and knee-length
23
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
24
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg, Virginia ,J.P. Bell
Company, 1972, p.259.
25
“Clarence Burton,” Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sports hose. A team of four full-time designers were on staff to keep up with trends in styles and
imagine new designs.26
To create these different patterns, the mill used a combination of human and machine work,
including a variety of modern specialized machinery. A 1946 newspaper article described the
complex as being filled with endless rows of knitting machines throughout the company’s three
buildings. It goes on to describe the various processes for making both men’s and women socks.
Both socks were produced using generally similar methods, with the primary differences being in
material and color. Also, men’s half socks and women’s knee length hose were seamless, while
the majority of socks and hose consisted of a separate foot section and upper “ribbed” section
produced by a ribber seamed together. As such, the primary machines within the complex were
leggers, footers, loopers, seamers, and ribbers. The leggers were 47 feet long and could knit 21
full-fashioned hose at a time. The machine automatically adjusted itself to knit the hose the shape
of the leg. In order to distinguish between hose of different qualities and thread counts for
women’s wear, the thread fed to the machine was tined various shades of pink and yellow. The
foot of the hose was started by hand by a worker called the “topper.” The topper would attach the
leg of the hose to a transfer bar which was then placed on the footer machine. The footer was a
machine that knitted the foot of the hose. Each footer could knit 24 hose at a time, the same
amount the legger could knit. However, as the footer knitted much faster than the legger, the
complex employed only eight footer machines as opposed to 22 leggers.27
Once the foot was knitted, it was taken to a worker in charge of “topping” or fastening up the toe
and heel on a single machine called a “looper.” The loopers were used to top the toe and heel and
some of the men’s socks. Meanwhile, for men’s socks, ribbers were the machines that knit the
upper part of the sock which was then attached to the remainder of the sock by the knitting
machine. The ribber machine knitted a continuous chain of ribbings that were then cut apart and
each set on a bar attached to the knitting machine. At that point, the hose was ready for finishing
on the “seamer” machine which connected the foot of the hose with upper portion. Once seamed,
the women’s hose was ready to be stretched over the dying form and dyed one of the fifteen
offered colors.28
For menswear, all the socks come off the knitting machine gray. They were then bleached with
sodium peroxide before being dyed the desired color. The products were dyed in a state of the art
dye house facility at the complex. The dyeing machines were made of Monel, a naturally noncorrosive alloy resistant to the action of dye chemicals. A sock could be dyed a pattern of as
many as three different colors in one water, accomplished by knitting the sock of three different
materials. There were dyes for vegetable, animal, and acetate materials with the affinity for only
one of the materials, therefore the dye coloring the cotton would not affect wool or rayon, why
other dyes may only color those materials.29
26
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Ibid
28
Ibid
29
Ibid
27
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Throughout the entire process, the hose and socks were inspected for defects. The most common
defect was when the looper left thread ends loose on the wrong side of the sock. To remove
these, the mill employed machines which were a combination of clippers and vacuums. The
operator ran the clipper over the sock while stretched on a form. It would cut the dangling thread
and remove them with the vacuum. The complex nature of the machines and their operation 24hours a day required a full-time staff of 35 machinists at the mill to keep them in repair.30
Although wool from Australia and silk from Japan were the principal fabrics used, the increased
cost for these materials due to the war, particularly silk from Japan, led the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill to continue incorporating the newly developed materials of rayon and nylon into their
products. As these materials were expected to become the principal material for women’s hose
the company took the substantial step in 1946 to air condition one of the mill buildings as
temperature control was an important factor in the processing of nylon. To accomplish this
upgrade, a large addition with a third-floor penthouse had to be appended to Building B to
accommodate the massive air conditioning system. Once completed, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
#1 became the first hosiery mill in the country to be completely air conditioned.31 Just a few
years after the second mill building (Building B) at the complex was air conditioned, a new
boiler house was added to the first mill building (Building A) in the early-1950s. Around the
same time, a two-bay, concrete block garage was constructed within the complex to serve as a
storage space and garage.
Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls in the post-war years made Lynchburg’s factories
and mills, including the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, a substantial component of the City’s business
and economy. By the 1950s, industrial payrolls in Lynchburg were nearly twice as great as in the
last year of World War II and more than three times as much as in the pre-war year of 1939.32
In 1964, Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act led to changes in the organization of the
workers’ Associations, but not the workplace. By law, the two separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
Associations were merged, bringing both the African American and white employees into the
same Association. As a part of the merger, the Association had to issue the African American
employees of Mill #2 a partial return of monies that they had paid into the Association to have an
equitable pro rata share of the Association upon completion of the merger after it was determined
that the white employees had used the medical and other benefits much more than their African
American counterparts. The workforces of the two mills, however, remained physically
segregated until 1971 with all African American employees working at Mill #2 while the white
employees and administrative offices stayed at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue.
30
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
32
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce, Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and Transportation Center of
Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial.
Library, Lynchburg, VA.
31
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The two mills remained segregated until 1971 when the decision was made to close Mill #2. At
that time, all of the equipment was transferred to Mill #1 and the two workforces were integrated
within the one facility. The combined operation did not continue for long though, for the
following year, it was announced that the company and operation would be sold to an investment
firm based in Chicago. The formal announcement was made September 16, 1972, by acting
President C. Burton Gerhardt, former President and grandson of the founder Joseph G. Burton,
and William H. Rentschler of Chicago, the new President. With the sale of all issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc., it was described as being among
the top 10 percent of the nation’s hosiery producers at that time. As part of the sale, founding
family members C. Burton Gerhardt, Clarence G. Burton, and E. Alvin Gerhardt, Jr., agreed to
continue to be active on a day to day basis as consultants.33 Operations only continued briefly
though as the company fell on hard times and closed completely in 1972 after the Chicago
investors who purchased it became mired in legal troubles and allegations of fraud.34
The company no longer maintained a presence in Lynchburg and the mill complex ceased to
operate. For the next eight years, the large empty buildings that formerly held row upon row of
knitting machines and other equipment were leased out as general storage space, used primarily
to store window displays for a local department store.35
On the afternoon of Saturday April 5, 1980, a fire broke out in the 1900-1908 portions of
Building A fronting Fort Avenue where the administrative offices and some manufacturing space
had been located. Fire fighters battled the fire, but by the time it was extinguished, both of the
large mill buildings were severely damaged and several smaller storage buildings set between
them were completely destroyed. The following day, crews under the supervision of the fire
department knocked down the most heavily damaged portions of the administrative building
(Building A), leaving just the foundation and lower part of the walls in case the property owners
wished to rebuild the structure atop them.36
Reconstruction did not take place, and instead the wall at the north end of Building A was closed
off with a framed wall and vinyl siding. The remaining portions of the two mill buildings were
repaired and continued to be leased out as general warehouse space for the next three decades.
As of 2016, the complex was purchased by a real estate developer with plans to rehabilitate the
buildings, and restore their historic character while converting them into mixed-use commercial
and loft space.
Significance: Industry
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its association with the industrial heritage of the City of Lynchburg and the hosiery
33
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and Advance. March 14,
2010.
35
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
36
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
34
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
industry at large. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company, and particularly Mill #1, played a
variety of important roles in the economic and commercial evolution of Lynchburg from the time
of its charter in 1900 through its sale to an outside business investment firm in 1972. During that
time, the mill employed thousands of local residents with a substantial payroll. As one of the
largest industrial concerns in the city, the mill was a substantial component of Lynchburg’s
economy throughout the twentieth century. As one of the largest hosieries in the nation, the
products they produced brought attention to Lynchburg as these products were distributed to
major centers of fashion in New York and Chicago where a number of their trademark lines were
among the most popular brands.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also significant for a variety of developments and industry
“firsts” that occurred there. Early in its operation, the mill was credited with the invention and
first production of the cushioned sole sock. The invention of the cushioned sole sock, which is
still widely manufactured and considered now to be a standard attribute to virtually all
manufactured socks. The cushioned sole sock and a variety of other products manufactured at the
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill also contributed greatly to the military and war efforts during both
World War I and II. During World War I, the mill was one of the largest providers of socks to
the Army. During World War II, it continued to be a major producer of socks in addition to other
textiles such as blankets and parachutes including the newly developed nylon “drogue
parachutes.” The drogue parachute was a crucial component in the weaponry used by Allied
Forces in their effort to win World War II, and saved the lives of countless pilots and assuredly
turned many battles during the war. The production of nylon parachutes by the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill was significant as an early example of the use of new, synthetic materials
purchased from DuPont being used by the military after Japanese silk became scarce during the
war.
After the war, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 continued the use of nylon as well as another
synthetic material produced by DuPont, rayon. The mill’s use of these new products also led to
its significance as the first hosiery facility in the country to be completely air-conditioned due to
the specific climate requirements needed for the manufacture of nylon products. Development
and improvement of various hosiery products resulting from the cutting-edge use of nylon was
clearly evident at the mill as its overall production, and particularly that of women’s nylon
stockings, tripled in the years following its adoption.
Significance: Social History
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its role in the social history of Lynchburg throughout its operation. At the turn-of-thetwentieth century, Lynchburg was the site of many large industrial concerns, including the
Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company, one the largest foundries in the South. As such, there
were many opportunities for men to find work in the area; however few jobs were deemed safe
and appropriate for women. Textiles were one line of work that was considered fit for females as
it was non-threatening to the traditional norms for male/female relationships in a household
while affording an extra income. From the time of its opening through its closure in 1972, the
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 took advantage of the extensive potential female workforce in
Lynchburg, employing thousands of women during its operation. An average of 75% of the
mill’s employees were female and at its peak of almost 1,200 employees, less than 100 were
men. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill was one of the major employers of women in the
Lynchburg area, and in many ways was responsible for helping to solidify the two income
household in town.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is also significant for its role in the employment of
African American women outside of domestic servitude. In 1920, the company opened a second
mill in the predominantly African American Fifth Street neighborhood of Lynchburg. At this
plant the company employed an almost exclusively African American female workforce that
fundamentally changed hiring practices in the region. While this employment occurred at Mill #2
and not within the Mill #1, the decision to enact this policy and the subsequent management
occurred within the corporate administrative offices at Mill #1. Following the passage of the
Civil Rights Act in 1964, the two separate worker Associations were merged and compensation
was paid to the African American members who had received less benefits under the segregated
system. In 1971, Mill #2 was closed and all the employees were at that time integrated into the
single operation at Mill #1. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is significant as an
early employer of African American workers, and the first to employee African American
women in Lynchburg, but also conveys the strained racial relationships and segregation
prevalent throughout the region during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Significance: Architecture
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a representative example of industrial development throughout the first half of
the twentieth century and an early example of industrial construction specifically for textile mills
in the Lynchburg area. The mill buildings on the property were built and expanded a number of
times between 1900 and the 1950s and thus reflect a variety of construction techniques and
innovations. The earliest construction on the property consisted of a primarily one-story building
set on a stacked stone foundation with masonry walls but internal timber support posts and
beams. The later additions are illustrative of improved large-scale construction techniques
through the use of concrete foundations, reinforced concrete subfloors, posts, and beams, and the
eventual transition to structural I-beams; all of which allowed for larger open industrial areas
while supporting heavier and more extensive machinery as the twentieth century progressed.
Not only do the buildings at Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 exhibit these general construction
advances, they also retain and display a variety of specialized components designed specifically
for textile mills. The exterior of the buildings reflects textile mill construction prevalent in the
first-half of the twentieth century with rows of large, industrial-style casement windows to
provide suitable illumination for the workers inside. The need for daylight in work areas has
always been a dominant factor in mill design. Within the long, relatively narrow manufacturing
spaces of early mill buildings, workbenches lined exterior walls or were placed perpendicular to
them, next to windows. Workers sat or stood at these benches, usually facing windows, to
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
perform the operations that required the best lighting – precision work and color matching.37
These early mills relied on rows of smaller windows; however by the turn of the twentieth
century, larger casement windows arranged in curtain wall configurations greatly improved
interior illumination, particularly as electric lighting was still not always readily available. The
portions of Mill #1 built in 1900 and 1908 exhibited the earlier form with regularly spaced
double-hung sash windows while those portions built from the 1920s through the 1950s feature
the larger casement style windows. Within the buildings at Mill #1, the interiors also reflect of
textile mill construction with large, undivided open rooms sufficient for rows of machinery,
workbenches, and other equipment including some, such as leggers, which were nearly 50-feet
long.
The interior of Building B is particularly notable for several characteristic mill designs. The
flooring throughout the main level was specially designed for the type of work performed there.
The floor is a structural concrete slab that is channeled and in-laid with wood flooring. The
concrete and wood floors are in alternating strips which allowed for machinery to be set on the
concrete and stabilized by inset metal anchors, while channeled strips for in-laid wood corridors
provided for the comfort of workers standing and moving about the building. Building B was
also expanded and adapted in 1946 to meet the specialized manufacturing process for the newly
developed material nylon. Nylon requires cool conditions and thus a large penthouse was added
to the building to house a massive air conditioner system, reportedly making Building B the first
textile mill building in the nation to be outfitted in this way specifically for nylon. Meanwhile,
the modestly scaled Building C, a two-bay, concrete block garage, is illustrative of the transition
from brick to standardized concrete masonry units for construction of service buildings such as
garages, shops, and other utilitarian purposes.
As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 conveys architectural significance for its representation
of not only general industrial construction from the first-half of the twentieth century, but for
specialized design related to its role as a textile mill. Several of the small ancillary buildings
present during the operation of the mill have been demolished, and a portion of one of the mills
was destroyed by fire in 1980; however the two mill buildings that remain continue to convey
their historic function, association, and character. Together they display a complex of early
industrial architecture and various construction methods necessary to function as a hosiery mill
complex throughout the first-half of the twentieth century.
37
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York , Oxford
University Press, 1999, p. 31.
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Newspaper Articles
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and
Advance. March 14, 2010.
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21,
1946.
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th
Century Edition, Lynchburg, Virginia, October, 1900, p.115.
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
Books and Other Sources
America’s Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. “For Sale:
Large Plant and Mill of the Midland Hosiery Company, Lynchburg, Virginia.” 1903.
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the Governor. “Business Charters.”
1903.
Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress. “Clarence Burton.” No Date.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New
York, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Campbell County. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
City of Lynchburg. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
Desmond, Vince. “Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc.”, Volunteer Research, Lynchburg Museum
System, Lynchburg, VA, July 29, 2010.
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986,
Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview with Enoch Pou. January 3, 2011.
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and
Transportation Center of Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, VA
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936, p.130
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1908.
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1920s.
Investigation of the War Department: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs,
United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second Session, for the Purpose of Inquiring
from the Different Branches of the Service of the War Department as to the Progress
Made in the Matter of Providing for Ordnance, Small Arms, Munitions, Etc., in
Connection with the Present War and to Ascertain the Government Need. U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1918.
Pou, Enoch. Preliminary Information Form and Evaluation of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill.
VDHR ID# 118-126. April 2011.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1907, 1919, 1951, 1955. On
file at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1938. On file at the Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg,
Virginia, J.P. Bell Company, 1972, p.259.
Textile World Record, Volume 36. Lord & Nagle Co. 1908.
The Blue Book: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada. Davison Publishing
Company, 1901-1902.
Underwood Aerials. Aerial Photograph Collection. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg,
Virginia. 1923.
United States Geological Service. Single Frame Aerial Photography. 1952, 1968.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
United States Geological Service. Topographical Quadrangles. Assorted Dates.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; City
of Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File #118-0126
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 4
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398160
Longitude: 79.163450
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is composed of portions of two separate
property tax parcels (identified as 02733066 and 02733019 by the City of Lynchburg) and
contains approximately 4 acres of land. The property is located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia and is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the northwest, Lancaster
Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent properties to the
northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger, northern of the
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and then along
the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Location Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries include the acreage historically associated with the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill #1 and includes all extant buildings and structures historically associated with
the complex as well as its original setting.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Robert J. Taylor, Jr.
organization: Dutton & Associates, LLC
street & number: 1115 Crowder Drive
city or town: Midlothian
state: Virginia
zip code: 23313
telephone: 804-897-1960
date: August 2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photograph Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
Photographer: Todd Dykshorn
State: Virginia
Photo 1 of 17: Building A
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 2 of 17: Building A
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 3 of 17: Building A
East Facade, Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 4 of 17: Building A
Northeast Corner, Facing West
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 5 of 17: Building B
Site, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 6 of 17: Building B
West Facade, Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 7 of 17: Building B
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 8 of 17: Building B
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 9 of 17: Building C
Front and West Side, Facing Northwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 10 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1920s Block), Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 11 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1936 Block), Facing West/Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 12 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 13 of 17: Building B
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1943 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 14 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1928 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 15 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1943 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 16 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1933 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 17 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior (1933 Block), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
List of Historic Photos
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s,
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday October
21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photographs
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday
October 21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 36
37.398160; -79.163450
Historic Boundary
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR # 118-0126
Location Map (point coincides with latitude/longitude provided in Section 10)
Building C Contributing
Historic Boundary
Building A Contributing
Building B Contributing
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Sketch Map (with contributing status for individual buildings)
8
9
6
5
1
4
7
2
2
3
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Site and Exterior)
10
11
N
12
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building A Interior)
17
N
15
16
14
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building B Interior)
13
Text
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DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Main Hall of Randolph-Macon
Woman's College sits m a ~ e s t i c a l l yon a small h i l l
a t 2500 R i v e m n t Avenue i n Lynchburg. Designed by ;he washington a r c h i t e c t William F.
Poindexter, t h e central-hall-plan, b r i c k e d i f i c e i s an important example of t h e Queen Anne
s t y l e a s adapted t o c o l l e g i a t e a r c h i t e c t u r e .
I n t e g r a l t o t h e developnent of t h e college, t h e building was e r e c t e d over a twentyyear period between 1891-1911.
The c e n t r a l entrance tower and e a s t e r n wings were
constructed between 1891-1893. Two a d d i t i o n a l wings were added t o t h e west i n 1896. With
t h e e r e c t i o n of a wing t o t h e west i n 1899, t h e building was completed according t o t h e
Poindexter plan. In 1911 an annex was added t o t h e r e a r (north) of t h e entrance pavilion.
Further a d d i t i o n s and renovations were made t o t h e north e l e v a t i o n i n 1936. Although not
p a r t of t h e Poindexter plan, an East H a l l (1903) and West H a l l (1906) a r e connected t o
Main Hall by arcades.
Located on t h e south e l e v a t i o n , t h e entrance tower's f i r s t s t o r y contains a ones t o r y , f l a t - r o o f veranda, topped by a b r i c k parapet. The p o r t i c o i s supported by s i x
p a i r s of b r i c k square columns s e t on high b r i c k p e d e s t a l s . The veranda s h e l t e r s an
outer transom-light doorway with complementing s i d e l i g h t s . An i n t e r i o r doorway contains
a semicircular fan-light transom. The tower's second s t o r y f e a t u r e s paired 111 hungsash windows s e t below e l l i p t i c a l b r i c k arches with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . Elongated
diamond-pane windows s e t below smaller round-arched,diamond-pane casement windows complete
the tower's f e n e s t r a t i o n . The top of t h e tower i s e l a b o r a t e l y delineated by pronounced
b r i c k p i l a s t e r s flanked by wooden volutes. The tower i s topped by a parapet wall and
capped by a c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d wooden cupola, crowned by a f i n i a l . The c o m e r s of t h e
entrance tower a r e d e l i n e a t e d by three-story bay windows which a r e topped by domical
lanterns.
The entrance tower i s flanked by four-bay wings of t h r e e s t o r i e s . The facade's
f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s of 212 hung-sash windows i n a v a r i e t y of treatments. The wing's
f i r s t s t o r y has
transom-and sidelight-framed,hung-sash windows. The second s t o r y
contains e l l i p t i c a l - a r c h windows with s i d e l i g h t s . The t h i r d s t o r y c o n s i s t s of flat-arch
windows topped by pedimented gables which p r o j e c t from t h e roof of t h e s t r u c t u r e . A
s i n g l e bay of t h r e e s t o r i e s connects t h e paired wings t o e a s t e r n and western wings, and
the facade i s executed i n five-course American bond.
A p a r t of t h e f i r s t (1891-93) building campaign, t h e easternmost wing c o n s i s t s of an
L-shape-plan building covered by a cross-gable roof. The wing i s dominated by a fives t o r y c o m e r entrance tower. The tower's f i r s t s t o r y i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported
by b r i c k p i e r s and s e t on a high podium. The tower f e a t u r e s f l a t - a r c h windows on t h e
second s t o r y and round-arch windows on t h e t h i r d s t o r y . An observatory i s located on t h e
f i f t h s t o r y , defined by an i r o n r a i l and covered by a domical roof. The wing's
f e n e s t r a t i o n includes transom-headed windows on t h e f i r s t s t o r y and f l a t - a n d round-arch
windows r e s p e c t i v e l y on t h e second and t h i r d s t o r i e s . A two-story bay window p r o j e c t s
from t h e south e l e v a t i o n .
The e a s t e r n wing comprises Main all's e a s t e l e v a t i o n which c o n s i s t s of a three-part
arcade with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . The second s t o r y c o n s i s t s of f l a t - a r c h windows
with pronounced keystones, and t h e t h i r d s t o r y has round-arch and f l a t - a r c h windows w i t h
pronounced keystones. A row of gables breaks t h e roof l i n e . A c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d
arcade connects t h e e a s t e r n wing t o t h e Psychology Building, e r e c t e d i n 1903 a s "East
Mall".
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
I
I
Form No 19
300a
(new 10-74)
U K l l t D S T A T E 5 D t P A K T M t h r OF T t l t IhTtKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main
all,
Randolph-Macon
CONTl NUATION SHEET 8 1
7.
,
'
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER 7
PAGE1
DESCRIPTION
The western wing was built in 1896 with an addition made in 1899. The wing contains
a corner entrance tower of four stories. Covered by a tent roof, the tower features a
portico similar in execution to that found on the eastern wing. Fenestration is comprised
of transowheaded windows on the first story and gauged-brick, flat-arch windows with
pronounced keystones on the second story. The third story is composed of semicircular
arched windows with pronounced keystones. A round window with pronounced keystones defines
the attic story.
The addition of 1899 is Main Hall's west elevation. Fenestration on the first story
consists of transowheaded windows framed by segmental arches. The second story has
flat-arch windows with pronounced keystones. The third story contains segmental-arch
windows. A classically inspired arcade, similar to that on the east elevation, connects
Main Hall to the English-Art Building of 1906.
The building's north elevation is dominated by four parallel wings which extend to
the north. A wooden porch shelters a rear first-story entrance. The wing's hip-roof
line is broken by dormer windows along the eaves course. A Colonial Revival-style tower
of three stories projects between the western wing and a middle wing. Fenestration between
the wings consists of segmental-arch windows with transoms on the first and third stories.
Pedimented gables line the eaves course.
The middle wing, original to the Poindexter plan, was first modified in 1906-07 by
the enlargement of the chapel to seat approximately 800 persons. In 1911 the "Annex"
was built, which enlarged the middle wing to the north and provided for additional
dormitory and classroom space. The chapel's fenestration is Colonial Revival in style
and consists of 616 hung-sash windows topped by semicircular fan lights. Parallel to the
middle wing is a six-bay wing added during a 1934 renovation. The wing is used as a
dormitory and administrative offices.
The eastern wing was constructed as part of the first building campaign of 1891-1893.
A one-story,shed-roof addition projects to the north. Fenestration.consists of hung-sash,
segmental-arched windows. A row of gables breaks the roof line.
The plan of Main Hall is a simple one. A long passage runs east-west through the
center of the building and intersects with another central passage entering from the south
front. The central passage contains paired lateral stairs that ascend to the third floor.
All subsidiary rear wings run off to the north of the east-west passage.
(See Continuation Sheet i j 2 )
Form No. 10-3003
\Her 10-74)
UN1TEDSTA.ltiS I)tP.-\Kl.MtNT OFTHt. ISTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HJSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main H a l l , Randolph-Macon's
CONTI NUATION SHEET
7.
#2
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER,
PAGE
2
DESCRIPTION
Main H a l l ' s f i r s t f l o o r c o n t a i n s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s t o t h e e a s t and classrooms
and lounges t o t h e west. The main c o l l e g e d i n i n g room i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c e n t r a l wing
o f f t h e main e n t r y h a l l . The e n t r a n c e h a l l c o n t a i n s a l a r g e formal p a r l o r , t h e r e s u l t
of a 1934 r e n o v a t i o n which opened t h e space formerly occupied by a s m a l l p a r l o r , narrow
e n t r a n c e h a l l , and b u s i n e s s o f f i c e s . Dormitory space i s provided on t h e second and
t h i r d f l o o r s . The o l d c o l l e g e c h a p e l , c u r r e n t l y used f o r s t o r a g e , o c c u p i e s an
auditorium on t h e second f l o o r . The o r i g i n a l organ i s s t i l l i n p l a c e , a l t h o u g h t h e
o r i g i n a l s e a t i n g h a s been removed.
The f r o n t lawn h a s always been landscaped by t h e c o l l e g e and r e t a i n s a number of
o r i g i n a l t r e e s and p l a n t i n g s . The f r o n t e n t r a n c e , a c i r c u l a r d r i v e w i t h a complementing
b r i c k sidewalk, c o n t i n u e s t o s e r v e t h e c o l l e g e . A s m a l l b r i c k w a l l d e f i n e s t h e p e r i m e t e r s
of t h e c o l l e g e a l o n g Norfolk and Rivermont Avenues.
Although not p a r t of t h e o r i g i n a l P o i n d e x t e r p l a n , t h e p r e s e n t Psychology B u i l d i n g
(1903) and English-Art B u i l d i n g (1906), a r e connected t o Main H a l l by a r c a d e s and provide
a complement i n m a t e r i a l and s c a l e t o t h e c o l l e g e ' s f i r s t b u i l d i n g . Both b u i l d i n g s a r e
c o n s t r u c t e d of b r i c k and covered by a h i p roof w i t h a row of dormers on t h e e a s t and
west e l e v a t i o n s .
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
Main H a l l , a l o n g w i t h t h e English-Arts B u i l d i n g and Psychology B u i l d i n g , i s l o c a t e d
i n t h e c e n t e r of t h e Randolph-Macon Woman's College campus. They a r e bounded by Rivermont
Avenue t o t h e s o u t h ; P r e s s e r H a l l , I f a r t i n S c i e n c e , E a s t H a l l and a c o l l e g e walkway t o
t h e e a s t ; Smith Memorial, West H a l l , t h e c o l l e g e d r i v e , and t h e c o l l e g e Chapel t o t h e
west; and Webb H a l l and t h e Leggett B u i l d i n g t o t h e n o r t h . Main H a l l and i t s
dependencies c o n s t i t u t e t h e academic and r e s i d e n t i a l h e a r t of Randolph4acon Woman's
College. The lawn s u r r o u n d i n g t h e H a l l h a s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e c o l l e g e campus s i n c e t h e h a l l
was begun i n 1891. m e b o u n d a r i e s a r e drawn t o exclude 20th-century b u i l d i n g s e r e c t e d
a f t e r Nest H a l l i n 1906 and t h o s e o u t of l i n e w i t h and n o t connected t o Main H a l l .
aSIGNIFICANCE
AREASOF SIGNIFICANCE
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-CONSERVATION
-ECOhOMICS
PERIOD
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-AGRICULTURE
X
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
--
SPECIFIC DATES
1891-1936
-- CHECK A N D J U S T I N BELOW
XEDUCATION
-ENGINEERING
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-INDUSTRY
_JNVENTION
-LANDSCAPEARCHITECTURE
-LAW
-LITERATURE
-MILITARY
-MUSIC
-PHILOSOPHY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-REUGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
_SOUAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
-OTHER ISPEClFYl
- -
BUILDER~ARCH~TECT
William F. Poindexter
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Main Hall was the first building erected as Randolph-Macon Woman's College after it
was established on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg in 1891. The building constitutes the
principal architectural element in a complex of buildings that serves as the academic and
residential heart of the campus. Erected over a twenty-year period from 1891-1911, the
building was designed by the Washington, D.C. architect WilliamB. Poindexter.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the first college for women admitted to membership
in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, was founded in 1891 under
the original Randolph-Macon College charter of 1830 as amended. In 1820, and again in
1824, the General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in Baltimore recommended to
the various conferences that they establish "literary institutions" within their
respective areas. In 1825 the Virginia Conference followed this recommendation and a
charter was granted by the Virginia legislature in 1830 with specific provisions that
the chartered institution not have theological professorships and that there be nonMethodists on the Board of Trustees. The operation of the college was to be by the
Trustees, not the Methodist church. The institution, established at Boydton and later
moved to Ashland, was named for two statesmen, John Randolph of Virginia (1773-1833) and
Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina (1758-1837).
In 1890 the original charter was amended to permit the establishment of related
institutions of learning. Dr. William Waugh Smith, then president of the men's college
at Ashland, founded the woman's college in Lynchburg as a member of the Randolph-Macon
system of educational institutions. The mission of the college was "to establish in
Virginia a college where our young women may obtain an education equal to that given
in our best colleges for young men." The Rivermont Land Corporation, which was
developing the new Rivermont section of Lynchburg, gave 19.8 acres on Rivermont Avenue
and pledged $100,000 for the college with the proviso that an equal amount be raised to
match the gift. Through the efforts of Dr. Smith and the generosity of the people of
Lynchburg, $104,000 was raised in thirty-four days. Dr. Smith served as president of
both institutions from 1893 to 1897 after which time he devoted his full attention to
Randolph-Macon Woman's College which he served until his death in 1912.
The building committee chose William Poindexter of Washington, D.C. as the architect.
Poindexter received his early training as a draftsman in the office of the U.S. Supervising
Architect in Washington. He established his own practice in 1878 and designed several
important buildings in the capital city and throughout the South. Among his more important
buildings are the State Library (now Finance Building) at Richmond, the Marine Hospital in
Washington, and the Hall of History at the American University. Before rendering his
plans for Randolph-Macon, he visited other women's colleges including Bryn Mawr, Goucher,
Wellesley, Smith and the Renwick complex at Vassar. These led him to design a single
dormitory and classroom building that could be expanded in future years. The rapid growth
of the college required new facilities, and Poindexter's original plan was completed in
1899.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Fmm No 10-300a
IHer 10-141
UEilTEU S T A T t S UEP:\KTME~W10t T t l t l N T t . K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
klain Hall
-
Randolph-Macon Woraan's College, Lynchburg, Va.
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
#3
ITEM NUMBER
8
1
PAGE 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Poindexter's structure stands as one of the purest and most prodigious examples of
the Queen Anne Style in the state. Developed in England in the 1870s under the leadership of Philip Webb and R. NoShaw, the Queen Anne was a freely interpreted revival
of the architecture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In America it was used
chiefly for residential structures, and so loosely did it follow historical precedent
that the houses usually bore only the vaguest resemblance to the original models.
Randolph-Macon, on the other hand, closely parallels contemporary English expressions,
particularly in its use of red brick, Classical motifs, and picturesque massing and
illustrates Poindexter's skill in adapting an otherwise intimate style to an enormous
collegiate structure.
I
The college was officially opened in September of 1893 with 78 students. By the
second year of operation, it was one of only sixteen institutions included in Division "A"
of women's colleges in the country by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Under Smith's
direction , the college attracted an eminent faculty from many parts of the United States
and Europe. It is believed to be the first college in the South to have had a psychology
department laboratory. In 1916 Randolph-Macon became the fourth college in Virginia and
the first independent woman's college in the South to receive a charter for a Phi Beta
Kappa Chapter.
Among the college's most distinguished graduates was the Nobel Prize Winner, Pearl
S. Buck. The school numbered 811 students in 1978.
I
It is a tribute to the planning of the first president, Dr. William Waugh Smithand
designs of the architect, William Poindexter, that Main Hall still continues to serve as
the heart of the college.
,
i
i
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHCAL REFERENCES
1978-79 Admissions Catalogue. Randolph-Macon Woman's C o l l e g e , Lynchburg, 1978.
Book of Views. Randolph-Flacon woman's College. Lynchburg, 1914.
Catalogue, 1978-79.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, 1978.
C o r n e l i u s , Roberta D. The H i s t o r y of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Chapel Hill,N':,1950.
Home
L
i
f
e
a
t
Randolph-Macon
Woman1s?o1lege,
Lynchburg, 1913.
--The
Saga
o
f
a
City
Lynchburg,
V
i
r
g
i
n
i
a
.
1786-1936.
Lynchburg, 1936.
-S t u d e n t s , Randolph-Macon W o i a a n 1 s ~ 1 e g e . Our C o l l e g e Home. Lynchburg, 1897.
L GEOGRAPHICAL DATA6 a c r e s
QUADRANGLE NA?E
L~pchbur,
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QUADRANGLE SCALE
1:24000
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED P R O P E R ~ Y
UTM REFERENCES
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VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning a t a p o i n t 800' X o f a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501, 3700' SE of t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of
s a i d r o u t e aad U.S. Route 5 0 1 and 3200' S o f James R i v e r ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' ESE;
t h e n c e e x t s n d i n g 653' SSW t o a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 400' m.4 a l o n g
N s i d e o f s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 550' NNE t o p o i n t o f o r i g i n .
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATEOR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE
..
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r a i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
February 1979
221 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
SfREET& NUMBER
TELEPHONE
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
>
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL-
STATE &
LOCAL
-
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-6651. 1
in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
Tucker H i l l
Executive Director
GPO 8 9 2 . 4 5 3
CAMPUS M A P INDEX
1 Main Hall
2 \Vest Hall
3 Wright Hall
4 Ee!l Hall
5 \Vebb Hall
6 Eali H ~ l l
7 Prelser Hall
8 hlanin Science Builgin
9 Lipicomb Library
10 hldcon Ewkrhop
11 Phy:ical Education and
Recrearion Building
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
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22
P
Tennis Courfs
Alhlelic Fields
Art Gallery
Leaen Building
Psychology Build~ng
Engliih-Art Building
Smith Memorial
Building
tlouston Chapel
Terrell Infirmary
Winfree Observatory
"The Pines'' Houi*
Parking Areas
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Randolph-Yacon Wornan's College
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Lynchbure,
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DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Main Hall of Randolph-Macon
Woman's College sits m a ~ e s t i c a l l yon a small h i l l
a t 2500 R i v e m n t Avenue i n Lynchburg. Designed by ;he washington a r c h i t e c t William F.
Poindexter, t h e central-hall-plan, b r i c k e d i f i c e i s an important example of t h e Queen Anne
s t y l e a s adapted t o c o l l e g i a t e a r c h i t e c t u r e .
I n t e g r a l t o t h e developnent of t h e college, t h e building was e r e c t e d over a twentyyear period between 1891-1911.
The c e n t r a l entrance tower and e a s t e r n wings were
constructed between 1891-1893. Two a d d i t i o n a l wings were added t o t h e west i n 1896. With
t h e e r e c t i o n of a wing t o t h e west i n 1899, t h e building was completed according t o t h e
Poindexter plan. In 1911 an annex was added t o t h e r e a r (north) of t h e entrance pavilion.
Further a d d i t i o n s and renovations were made t o t h e north e l e v a t i o n i n 1936. Although not
p a r t of t h e Poindexter plan, an East H a l l (1903) and West H a l l (1906) a r e connected t o
Main Hall by arcades.
Located on t h e south e l e v a t i o n , t h e entrance tower's f i r s t s t o r y contains a ones t o r y , f l a t - r o o f veranda, topped by a b r i c k parapet. The p o r t i c o i s supported by s i x
p a i r s of b r i c k square columns s e t on high b r i c k p e d e s t a l s . The veranda s h e l t e r s an
outer transom-light doorway with complementing s i d e l i g h t s . An i n t e r i o r doorway contains
a semicircular fan-light transom. The tower's second s t o r y f e a t u r e s paired 111 hungsash windows s e t below e l l i p t i c a l b r i c k arches with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . Elongated
diamond-pane windows s e t below smaller round-arched,diamond-pane casement windows complete
the tower's f e n e s t r a t i o n . The top of t h e tower i s e l a b o r a t e l y delineated by pronounced
b r i c k p i l a s t e r s flanked by wooden volutes. The tower i s topped by a parapet wall and
capped by a c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d wooden cupola, crowned by a f i n i a l . The c o m e r s of t h e
entrance tower a r e d e l i n e a t e d by three-story bay windows which a r e topped by domical
lanterns.
The entrance tower i s flanked by four-bay wings of t h r e e s t o r i e s . The facade's
f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s of 212 hung-sash windows i n a v a r i e t y of treatments. The wing's
f i r s t s t o r y has
transom-and sidelight-framed,hung-sash windows. The second s t o r y
contains e l l i p t i c a l - a r c h windows with s i d e l i g h t s . The t h i r d s t o r y c o n s i s t s of flat-arch
windows topped by pedimented gables which p r o j e c t from t h e roof of t h e s t r u c t u r e . A
s i n g l e bay of t h r e e s t o r i e s connects t h e paired wings t o e a s t e r n and western wings, and
the facade i s executed i n five-course American bond.
A p a r t of t h e f i r s t (1891-93) building campaign, t h e easternmost wing c o n s i s t s of an
L-shape-plan building covered by a cross-gable roof. The wing i s dominated by a fives t o r y c o m e r entrance tower. The tower's f i r s t s t o r y i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported
by b r i c k p i e r s and s e t on a high podium. The tower f e a t u r e s f l a t - a r c h windows on t h e
second s t o r y and round-arch windows on t h e t h i r d s t o r y . An observatory i s located on t h e
f i f t h s t o r y , defined by an i r o n r a i l and covered by a domical roof. The wing's
f e n e s t r a t i o n includes transom-headed windows on t h e f i r s t s t o r y and f l a t - a n d round-arch
windows r e s p e c t i v e l y on t h e second and t h i r d s t o r i e s . A two-story bay window p r o j e c t s
from t h e south e l e v a t i o n .
The e a s t e r n wing comprises Main all's e a s t e l e v a t i o n which c o n s i s t s of a three-part
arcade with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . The second s t o r y c o n s i s t s of f l a t - a r c h windows
with pronounced keystones, and t h e t h i r d s t o r y has round-arch and f l a t - a r c h windows w i t h
pronounced keystones. A row of gables breaks t h e roof l i n e . A c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d
arcade connects t h e e a s t e r n wing t o t h e Psychology Building, e r e c t e d i n 1903 a s "East
Mall".
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
I
I
Form No 19
300a
(new 10-74)
U K l l t D S T A T E 5 D t P A K T M t h r OF T t l t IhTtKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main
all,
Randolph-Macon
CONTl NUATION SHEET 8 1
7.
,
'
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER 7
PAGE1
DESCRIPTION
The western wing was built in 1896 with an addition made in 1899. The wing contains
a corner entrance tower of four stories. Covered by a tent roof, the tower features a
portico similar in execution to that found on the eastern wing. Fenestration is comprised
of transowheaded windows on the first story and gauged-brick, flat-arch windows with
pronounced keystones on the second story. The third story is composed of semicircular
arched windows with pronounced keystones. A round window with pronounced keystones defines
the attic story.
The addition of 1899 is Main Hall's west elevation. Fenestration on the first story
consists of transowheaded windows framed by segmental arches. The second story has
flat-arch windows with pronounced keystones. The third story contains segmental-arch
windows. A classically inspired arcade, similar to that on the east elevation, connects
Main Hall to the English-Art Building of 1906.
The building's north elevation is dominated by four parallel wings which extend to
the north. A wooden porch shelters a rear first-story entrance. The wing's hip-roof
line is broken by dormer windows along the eaves course. A Colonial Revival-style tower
of three stories projects between the western wing and a middle wing. Fenestration between
the wings consists of segmental-arch windows with transoms on the first and third stories.
Pedimented gables line the eaves course.
The middle wing, original to the Poindexter plan, was first modified in 1906-07 by
the enlargement of the chapel to seat approximately 800 persons. In 1911 the "Annex"
was built, which enlarged the middle wing to the north and provided for additional
dormitory and classroom space. The chapel's fenestration is Colonial Revival in style
and consists of 616 hung-sash windows topped by semicircular fan lights. Parallel to the
middle wing is a six-bay wing added during a 1934 renovation. The wing is used as a
dormitory and administrative offices.
The eastern wing was constructed as part of the first building campaign of 1891-1893.
A one-story,shed-roof addition projects to the north. Fenestration.consists of hung-sash,
segmental-arched windows. A row of gables breaks the roof line.
The plan of Main Hall is a simple one. A long passage runs east-west through the
center of the building and intersects with another central passage entering from the south
front. The central passage contains paired lateral stairs that ascend to the third floor.
All subsidiary rear wings run off to the north of the east-west passage.
(See Continuation Sheet i j 2 )
Form No. 10-3003
\Her 10-74)
UN1TEDSTA.ltiS I)tP.-\Kl.MtNT OFTHt. ISTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HJSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main H a l l , Randolph-Macon's
CONTI NUATION SHEET
7.
#2
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER,
PAGE
2
DESCRIPTION
Main H a l l ' s f i r s t f l o o r c o n t a i n s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s t o t h e e a s t and classrooms
and lounges t o t h e west. The main c o l l e g e d i n i n g room i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c e n t r a l wing
o f f t h e main e n t r y h a l l . The e n t r a n c e h a l l c o n t a i n s a l a r g e formal p a r l o r , t h e r e s u l t
of a 1934 r e n o v a t i o n which opened t h e space formerly occupied by a s m a l l p a r l o r , narrow
e n t r a n c e h a l l , and b u s i n e s s o f f i c e s . Dormitory space i s provided on t h e second and
t h i r d f l o o r s . The o l d c o l l e g e c h a p e l , c u r r e n t l y used f o r s t o r a g e , o c c u p i e s an
auditorium on t h e second f l o o r . The o r i g i n a l organ i s s t i l l i n p l a c e , a l t h o u g h t h e
o r i g i n a l s e a t i n g h a s been removed.
The f r o n t lawn h a s always been landscaped by t h e c o l l e g e and r e t a i n s a number of
o r i g i n a l t r e e s and p l a n t i n g s . The f r o n t e n t r a n c e , a c i r c u l a r d r i v e w i t h a complementing
b r i c k sidewalk, c o n t i n u e s t o s e r v e t h e c o l l e g e . A s m a l l b r i c k w a l l d e f i n e s t h e p e r i m e t e r s
of t h e c o l l e g e a l o n g Norfolk and Rivermont Avenues.
Although not p a r t of t h e o r i g i n a l P o i n d e x t e r p l a n , t h e p r e s e n t Psychology B u i l d i n g
(1903) and English-Art B u i l d i n g (1906), a r e connected t o Main H a l l by a r c a d e s and provide
a complement i n m a t e r i a l and s c a l e t o t h e c o l l e g e ' s f i r s t b u i l d i n g . Both b u i l d i n g s a r e
c o n s t r u c t e d of b r i c k and covered by a h i p roof w i t h a row of dormers on t h e e a s t and
west e l e v a t i o n s .
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
Main H a l l , a l o n g w i t h t h e English-Arts B u i l d i n g and Psychology B u i l d i n g , i s l o c a t e d
i n t h e c e n t e r of t h e Randolph-Macon Woman's College campus. They a r e bounded by Rivermont
Avenue t o t h e s o u t h ; P r e s s e r H a l l , I f a r t i n S c i e n c e , E a s t H a l l and a c o l l e g e walkway t o
t h e e a s t ; Smith Memorial, West H a l l , t h e c o l l e g e d r i v e , and t h e c o l l e g e Chapel t o t h e
west; and Webb H a l l and t h e Leggett B u i l d i n g t o t h e n o r t h . Main H a l l and i t s
dependencies c o n s t i t u t e t h e academic and r e s i d e n t i a l h e a r t of Randolph4acon Woman's
College. The lawn s u r r o u n d i n g t h e H a l l h a s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e c o l l e g e campus s i n c e t h e h a l l
was begun i n 1891. m e b o u n d a r i e s a r e drawn t o exclude 20th-century b u i l d i n g s e r e c t e d
a f t e r Nest H a l l i n 1906 and t h o s e o u t of l i n e w i t h and n o t connected t o Main H a l l .
aSIGNIFICANCE
AREASOF SIGNIFICANCE
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-CONSERVATION
-ECOhOMICS
PERIOD
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-AGRICULTURE
X
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
--
SPECIFIC DATES
1891-1936
-- CHECK A N D J U S T I N BELOW
XEDUCATION
-ENGINEERING
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-INDUSTRY
_JNVENTION
-LANDSCAPEARCHITECTURE
-LAW
-LITERATURE
-MILITARY
-MUSIC
-PHILOSOPHY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-REUGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
_SOUAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
-OTHER ISPEClFYl
- -
BUILDER~ARCH~TECT
William F. Poindexter
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Main Hall was the first building erected as Randolph-Macon Woman's College after it
was established on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg in 1891. The building constitutes the
principal architectural element in a complex of buildings that serves as the academic and
residential heart of the campus. Erected over a twenty-year period from 1891-1911, the
building was designed by the Washington, D.C. architect WilliamB. Poindexter.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the first college for women admitted to membership
in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, was founded in 1891 under
the original Randolph-Macon College charter of 1830 as amended. In 1820, and again in
1824, the General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in Baltimore recommended to
the various conferences that they establish "literary institutions" within their
respective areas. In 1825 the Virginia Conference followed this recommendation and a
charter was granted by the Virginia legislature in 1830 with specific provisions that
the chartered institution not have theological professorships and that there be nonMethodists on the Board of Trustees. The operation of the college was to be by the
Trustees, not the Methodist church. The institution, established at Boydton and later
moved to Ashland, was named for two statesmen, John Randolph of Virginia (1773-1833) and
Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina (1758-1837).
In 1890 the original charter was amended to permit the establishment of related
institutions of learning. Dr. William Waugh Smith, then president of the men's college
at Ashland, founded the woman's college in Lynchburg as a member of the Randolph-Macon
system of educational institutions. The mission of the college was "to establish in
Virginia a college where our young women may obtain an education equal to that given
in our best colleges for young men." The Rivermont Land Corporation, which was
developing the new Rivermont section of Lynchburg, gave 19.8 acres on Rivermont Avenue
and pledged $100,000 for the college with the proviso that an equal amount be raised to
match the gift. Through the efforts of Dr. Smith and the generosity of the people of
Lynchburg, $104,000 was raised in thirty-four days. Dr. Smith served as president of
both institutions from 1893 to 1897 after which time he devoted his full attention to
Randolph-Macon Woman's College which he served until his death in 1912.
The building committee chose William Poindexter of Washington, D.C. as the architect.
Poindexter received his early training as a draftsman in the office of the U.S. Supervising
Architect in Washington. He established his own practice in 1878 and designed several
important buildings in the capital city and throughout the South. Among his more important
buildings are the State Library (now Finance Building) at Richmond, the Marine Hospital in
Washington, and the Hall of History at the American University. Before rendering his
plans for Randolph-Macon, he visited other women's colleges including Bryn Mawr, Goucher,
Wellesley, Smith and the Renwick complex at Vassar. These led him to design a single
dormitory and classroom building that could be expanded in future years. The rapid growth
of the college required new facilities, and Poindexter's original plan was completed in
1899.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Fmm No 10-300a
IHer 10-141
UEilTEU S T A T t S UEP:\KTME~W10t T t l t l N T t . K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
klain Hall
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Randolph-Macon Woraan's College, Lynchburg, Va.
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
#3
ITEM NUMBER
8
1
PAGE 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Poindexter's structure stands as one of the purest and most prodigious examples of
the Queen Anne Style in the state. Developed in England in the 1870s under the leadership of Philip Webb and R. NoShaw, the Queen Anne was a freely interpreted revival
of the architecture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In America it was used
chiefly for residential structures, and so loosely did it follow historical precedent
that the houses usually bore only the vaguest resemblance to the original models.
Randolph-Macon, on the other hand, closely parallels contemporary English expressions,
particularly in its use of red brick, Classical motifs, and picturesque massing and
illustrates Poindexter's skill in adapting an otherwise intimate style to an enormous
collegiate structure.
I
The college was officially opened in September of 1893 with 78 students. By the
second year of operation, it was one of only sixteen institutions included in Division "A"
of women's colleges in the country by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Under Smith's
direction , the college attracted an eminent faculty from many parts of the United States
and Europe. It is believed to be the first college in the South to have had a psychology
department laboratory. In 1916 Randolph-Macon became the fourth college in Virginia and
the first independent woman's college in the South to receive a charter for a Phi Beta
Kappa Chapter.
Among the college's most distinguished graduates was the Nobel Prize Winner, Pearl
S. Buck. The school numbered 811 students in 1978.
I
It is a tribute to the planning of the first president, Dr. William Waugh Smithand
designs of the architect, William Poindexter, that Main Hall still continues to serve as
the heart of the college.
,
i
i
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHCAL REFERENCES
1978-79 Admissions Catalogue. Randolph-Macon Woman's C o l l e g e , Lynchburg, 1978.
Book of Views. Randolph-Flacon woman's College. Lynchburg, 1914.
Catalogue, 1978-79.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, 1978.
C o r n e l i u s , Roberta D. The H i s t o r y of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Chapel Hill,N':,1950.
Home
L
i
f
e
a
t
Randolph-Macon
Woman1s?o1lege,
Lynchburg, 1913.
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Saga
o
f
a
City
Lynchburg,
V
i
r
g
i
n
i
a
.
1786-1936.
Lynchburg, 1936.
-S t u d e n t s , Randolph-Macon W o i a a n 1 s ~ 1 e g e . Our C o l l e g e Home. Lynchburg, 1897.
L GEOGRAPHICAL DATA6 a c r e s
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QUADRANGLE SCALE
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ACREAGE OF NOMINATED P R O P E R ~ Y
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VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning a t a p o i n t 800' X o f a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501, 3700' SE of t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of
s a i d r o u t e aad U.S. Route 5 0 1 and 3200' S o f James R i v e r ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' ESE;
t h e n c e e x t s n d i n g 653' SSW t o a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 400' m.4 a l o n g
N s i d e o f s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 550' NNE t o p o i n t o f o r i g i n .
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATEOR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE
..
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r a i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
February 1979
221 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
SfREET& NUMBER
TELEPHONE
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
>
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL-
STATE &
LOCAL
-
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-6651. 1
in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
Tucker H i l l
Executive Director
GPO 8 9 2 . 4 5 3
CAMPUS M A P INDEX
1 Main Hall
2 \Vest Hall
3 Wright Hall
4 Ee!l Hall
5 \Vebb Hall
6 Eali H ~ l l
7 Prelser Hall
8 hlanin Science Builgin
9 Lipicomb Library
10 hldcon Ewkrhop
11 Phy:ical Education and
Recrearion Building
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
r
22
P
Tennis Courfs
Alhlelic Fields
Art Gallery
Leaen Building
Psychology Build~ng
Engliih-Art Building
Smith Memorial
Building
tlouston Chapel
Terrell Infirmary
Winfree Observatory
"The Pines'' Houi*
Parking Areas
Text
VLR Listed 6/15/2017
United States Department of the Interior NRHP Listed 8/28/2017
National Park Service
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Hopwood Hall_
Other names/site number: Main Hall, Administration Building; VDHR 118-0152
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of
significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Beaux Arts Classicism_
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, STUCCO, METAL: Copper;
STONE: Slate
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Beaux Arts style and completed in 1909, Hopwood Hall is the oldest extant
academic building at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. This free-standing, four-story,
rectangular building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in five-course mode is situated on the
western edge of the main campus. A low brick parapet capped with copper encircles the
building’s flat roof, which is covered with rubber sheeting that provides a moisture shield upon
which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with
pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the original. This restoration was necessary because
of natural aging of the original thin copper plates over the course of ten decades. The eastern
front of Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn. In 1955
the front steps, which are concrete, were faced in brick. Otherwise, the building exterior now
appears as it did in 1909. Parts of the interior have been remodeled and updated since 1909, but
the original interior plan, with double-loaded corridors and central auditorium, has never been
modified, and early features such as stair rails, doors and transoms, and wooden trim have been
preserved. The building thus retains a high level of integrity of location, design, setting,
materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Edward G. Frye in 1908 and completed in 1909, Hopwood
Hall is the oldest extant academic building at Lynchburg College, which is in Lynchburg in
central Virginia. This free-standing, four-story building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
five course mode is situated on the western edge of the main campus. The eastern front of
Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn planted with trees
and shrubbery native to Virginia. Some of the oaks predate the founding of the college in 1903.
In fact the area was heavily wooded when the property was purchased in April 1903. Dr.
Josephus Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field. The funds
raised from the sale of the wood were used to grade the cleared land, purchase uniforms and
equipment.1 When construction was begun on Hopwood Hall, another field was cleared for use
by the baseball team. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed building, which was erected for
$39,000.00, as the Administration Building.2 From 1909 until 1953 it was known by that
designation, but in the latter year its name was changed to honor the founders of the college,
Josephus and Sarah La Rue Hopwood.
Exterior Description
Hopwood Hall’s classical form consists of a rectangular main block with central portico and
wing extensions. A symmetrical five-part vertical division of the building is dominated by a twostory portico. Six monumental Ionic columns further divide this entrance area into five bays.
Behind the triangular pediment which tops the portico, the square drum of the dome and a low
parapet to either side provide a visual transition between the portico, the central block and the
dome above. The portico’s dentil molding extends to the main block to form a continuous
cornice that encircles the building. Just above the second-story windows is a molded, cast
concrete belt course that matches the portico’s frieze. Brick quoins define the corners of the main
block and projecting wings. Each side elevation also features a pedimented gable end. The west
(rear) elevation is distinguished by a centered projecting polygonal three-story tower. Rising
from the center of the building is a copper-sheathed dome. The building’s overall formality and
symmetry, especially evident in the classically derived detailing and fenestration, are
characteristic of the Beaux Arts style.
Windows
In 1909 there were four double-sash windows and six single-sash windows on the front of the
raised basement story, four-single sash windows on each side elevation, and thirteen single-sash
windows on the rear of the building. The façade’s first story has two paired windows to either
side of the main entry and three along each projecting wing. The façade’s second story has
similar fenestration, but also with centered paired windows directly above the entry. Each side
elevation has four windows on the first and second-stories and a multiple-light fanlight within
the pediment. The west (rear) elevation has four windows on each story of the polygonal bay
with single windows flanking each side, while the wings have three windows per story.
Entrances are to either side of the polygonal bay, each with paired windows above it, between
the first and second story. Each entrance has paired, six-light, paneled doors topped with a tenlight transom. The lower part of most sash windows contains two large panes of glass, while the
upper part of each sash window is composed of six panes of glass. Exceptions are the rear
polygonal bay windows and flanking second-story windows, which have upper sash with twenty1
Josephus Hopwood. A Journey Through the Years, An Autobiography. St. Louis, MO.: Bethany Press, 1932, pp.99100.
2
Ibid,p.107.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
four triangular panes that match the front entrance sidelights and transom. Each window opening
features a gauged-brick arch with a centered concrete keystone. The window sash slide
vertically.
East Facade
On the east façade, the centered main entrance features a three-bay frontispiece with entablature
and pilasters between each bay. The double doors are surrounded by twenty-four-light sidelights
and transom. The steps which lead up to the portico with its six brick columns faced with
concrete and surmounted with Ionic capitals were originally concrete, but they were faced with
brick in 1953 when the name of the Administration Building was changed to Hopwood Hall. The
pediment of the portico is adorned with denticulated molding that continues along the main
block’s cornice. Within the portico’s simple frieze, the building’s name is spelled out in simple
black lettering.
For over eighty years the three paired sash windows on the east façade were covered to prevent
light from bleeding into an interior auditorium and stage area. Unfortunately, these window
frames had to be replaced because of deterioration, but the glass panes were still in excellent
condition.
Side Elevations
The only windows on the building’s third floor are set in two semi-circular frames under the
eaves of the north and south classrooms. Each has four windows of varying sizes configured to
fit their placement in the window frame.
Rear Elevation
The building’s overall formality and symmetry continues on the rear elevation, with the central
two-story projecting, polygonal bay the dominant feature. The bay windows are taller and
narrower than those on the flanking windows, and are distinguished by the aforementioned
triangular panes of glass in the upper sash, while the lower sash have the two-light configuration
found on all other windows.
Roof
Surrounded by a low brick parapet capped with copper, the flat roof is covered with rubber
sheeting which provides a moisture shield upon which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on
the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the
original. This restoration was necessary because of natural aging of the original thin copper
plates over the course of ten decades as well as the fact that nails of a metal other than copper
had secured the sheets causing corrosion. In the restoration only copper nails were used to attach
the new sheets to the framework.
Interior Description
Ground Floor
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Upon completion in 1909, the ground floor (basement) had its own entrance beneath the
portico’s main staircase. On either side of the entry hall were two large classrooms. At the point
where the hall meets a long corridor running on a north-south axis, there is a large room which
ends in a five-window bay. On either side of this central room are restrooms—women to the
south, men to the north. Next to each restroom there is a staircase that provides access to the
upper floors as well as two exits, each one with double doors surmounted with ten-light
transoms. Until 1959 all science classes were held on this floor. With the opening of Hobbs Hall
during the second semester of the 1958-1959 session, the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
underwent a major refurbishing. The laying of new tile floors, the painting of all the classrooms
and halls, and the installation of new fixtures in the restrooms—the only ones in the building—
was the first restoration of the ground floor in fifty years. In 1984 the restrooms were remodeled
again when their windows were removed and the spaces filled with bricks which were then faced
with concrete. Thus, the number of windows on the rear of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
was reduced from thirteen to eleven. In 2006 the classroom to the right of the front entrance was
reduced by half to permit the installation of an elevator to provide handicapped access to all the
floors of the building. One of the paired windows in the altered classroom was converted to a
door to provide an entrance to the corridor where the elevator is located. The large classroom to
the left of the front entrance had been divided into two offices for faculty members. The two
classrooms at the south end of the long corridor have been combined to create a computer
classroom/lab. The door on the east side of the room has been removed and the opening filled.
No other changes in the configuration of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall have been made.
First Floor
The large central room with its bay served as the college library from 1909 until 1946 when the
college’s growing collection was moved to two of the Quonset huts which had been built to serve
the needs of an Army air force training program located on the Lynchburg College campus
during World War II. When the library was in Hopwood Hall the offices on either side of the
library were used as the librarian’s office and the library workroom respectively. The room on
the south side is still an office, while that on the north side contained the “Hornet Shop” where
drink and food dispensing machines were located until the end of 2016 when it was returned to
its original function as a workroom. The old library became a classroom with the empty stacks
still in place until 1960 when the space was converted into a chapel. In 1966 with the completion
of Snidow Chapel, the room in question was converted into a classroom. Then at the end of 2016
it was refurbished as a fully electronic classroom. Thus, in a sense once again it has become a
library since students now have access to all the electronic resources of the college from this
space. The classroom to the right of the main entrance has been reduced by half to accommodate
the elevator. A small office has been created next to the elevator shaft; otherwise the first floor of
Hopwood Hall appears to have changed very little.
Second Floor
The second floor of Hopwood Hall contains the auditorium. In 1909 the offices on either side of
this large lecture room/assembly room were for administrators. The one on the south side of the
building is still an office, while the one on the north side has been appropriated to provide space
for the elevator. However, there is still a small office at the end of the elevator corridor. Over the
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decades, the auditorium evolved from a lecture hall/assembly room into a fully operational
theater. A proscenium arch was constructed with doors at stage left and stage right. In 1960 the
entire auditorium was refurbished and a light bridge was constructed in the bay area on a level
with the third floor. Access was provided by an enclosed staircase immediately behind the last
row of seats in the center section. The seating capacity was 192. In 1974 when the Drama
Department moved into the Dillard Fine Arts Center, a movie screen was placed in the stage area
and the light bridge was converted to a projection room for the use of the film history classes. In
2012 the auditorium underwent a major restoration returning it to its original configuration
minus the stage. It is once again a multi-purpose space.
Third Floor
The third floor of Hopwood Hall includes the upper part of the auditorium which is open space.
There is no access between the north and south wings of the third floor. With the opening of the
building in 1909 the two large classrooms on both sides of the third floor were devoted to the
fine arts. The Music Department which was in the south classroom would move to the Thomas
House on the south side of the campus in 1946, and eventually to the Hebb Music Center in
1966. Located in the north classroom, the Art Department moved into the basement of one of the
Quonset huts in 1946 where it remained until 1974 when it was moved to the Dillard Fine Arts
Center. The Drama Department eventually would occupy both third-floor classrooms. The
classroom on the north side of Hopwood became the scene shop, while the classroom on the
south side of Hopwood became the Green Room and costume shop. In 1974 the classroom on the
north side was divided into small officers for the Reserve Officers Training Corps; these offices
are now used by the Beard Center on Aging. A portion of the storage space on the north side of
Hopwood Hall has been appropriated for the elevator. For a brief time, the classroom on the
south side provided office space for the nursing faculty, but it now contains a computer lab for
the use of the entire campus community.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909
1958–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Lynchburg College is one of the oldest colleges in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the founders’
realization. Within its walls, for over a century, both men and women have engaged in a variety
of academic activities from painting to physics, from the study of literature to the mastering of
foreign languages, both ancient and modern. The building’s period of significance begins with
the construction of Hopwood Hall in 1909 and ends in 1960 when a major refurbishing project
occurred. During the building’s period of significance, it would have been impossible for a
student to graduate without having a significant number of classes in this building. In recognition
of its paramount significance to the college throughout its history, Freshman Convocation in late
August and Commencement ceremonies in early May are held in front of Hopwood Hall each
year. Therefore the building is nominated under Criterion A in the area of Education and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture, at the local level of significance.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Lynchburg College is the second oldest college in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the realization of the
founders’ concept of that educational model. While founder Dr. Josephus Hopwood was a
scholar trained in the classics and the liberal arts, he believed that education should have a
utilitarian application to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. He also was convinced that the
future of the United States demanded that educational opportunities should be made available to
all regardless of sex, race, age, or material resources; and he felt that since everyone was equal in
the sight of the Creator, then co-education was part of God’s divine plan. Mrs. Sarah La Rue
Hopwood completely shared her husband’s world view. Within the walls of Hopwood Hall men
and women would engage in a variety of academic activities from painting to physics, from the
study of literature to the mastering of foreign languages, both ancient and modern. While
working towards the completion of a college degree they also would master the lessons of life
that would prepare them to serve others.3 Hopwood Hall was and still is the main academic
building at Lynchburg College.
Since its completion in 1909, Hopwood Hall has provided a cultural venue for the campus as
well as the wider community. Student-sponsored programs as well as plays produced by the
Department of Dramatic Arts have provided Lynchburg with a potpourri of the performing arts.
Likewise the list of academics, actors, musicians, poets, politicians, reformers, theologians, and
others who have graced its classrooms and its stage is seemingly endless. They include the
3
Ibid,pp.7-8, 10.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brightest and the best that the twentieth century had to offer without reference to race or
ethnicity. Among these luminaries were Edward Albee, James Baldwin, William Rose Benet,
The Budapest String Quartet, George Washington Carver, Truman Capote, John Carradine, Jean
Michel Cousteau, The Curtis String Quartet, Virginius Dabney, James Dickey, Philippe
Entremont, The Everyman Players, John Gardner, Nikki Giovanni, Carter Glass, Paul Green,
Sascha Gorodnitski, Edgar A. Guest, Cedric Hardwick, The Hampton Quartet, Langston Hughes,
Charles Laughton, Max Lerner, Percy Mac Kaye, John Morressy, Arnold Moss, James A.
Pearson, Leni Riefenstahl, Janet Reno, Charles Robb, Cokie Roberts, The Roth Quartet, A.L.
Rowse, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Spender, Billy Sunday, Norman Thomas, Richard Thornton,
Carl Van Doren, Sander Vanocur, Gore Vidal, Kurt von Schuschnigg, Louis Untermeyer, Ruth
Warwick, Eli Weisel, and Tennessee Williams. Thus Hopwood Hall for over a century has
enriched the cultural life of the campus as well as the wider community. 4
Criterion C: Architecture
Hopwood Hall is one of the most architecturally sophisticated and impressive buildings in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia, and its design places the building among the most important works
of early twentieth-century Beaux Arts Classicism in central Virginia. It was the work of architect
Edward Graham Frye (1870-1942), a native of Bristol, Tennessee, who moved to Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1886 and worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892, Frye
established his own office in Lynchburg. In 1901, Frye formed a partnership with architectural
draftsman Aubrey Chesterman (1874-1937) and the firm moved their headquarters to Roanoke
by 1913.5 Together and independently they designed a number of buildings that still enrich the
architectural landscape of Lynchburg. Hopwood Hall was Frye’s exclusive project based on his
earlier commission for Jones Memorial Library which was opened to the public in 1908. While
both buildings are excellent examples of the Beaux Arts Classicism in which Frye excelled, he
made more efficient use of space in Hopwood Hall than he did in Jones Memorial Library.
A Lynchburg firm, Jones and Adams Contractors and Builders, began construction on Hopwood
Hall in 1908 and completed it in 1909. Frye’s use of red brick for Hopwood Hall was esthetically
more pleasing that the cream-colored brick used in the construction of Jones Memorial Library.
Most of Frye’s commissions in Lynchburg were for private residences. Jones Library and
Hopwood Hall gave Frye the chance to demonstrate his skill in designing and executing major
projects.
Between 1958 and 1960, Hopwood Hall was refurbished, though not structurally altered. In 2006
an elevator was added to meet federal standards for handicapped access. In 2012, the auditorium
was remodeled to return it to its original configuration, and a similar project in 2016 restored
4
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. The list has gleaned from the pages of The
Critograph the college newspaper which featured articles on those persons who performed or spoke in Hopwood
Hall.
5
John E. Wells & Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary. Richmond,
Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997: 156-162.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Room 14, which had been the library in 1909, to its original function, but with twenty-first
century technology.
Historical Background
Lynchburg College, 1903-1960
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard who was of his former students, Dr. Josephus Hopwood
purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in
April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College,5 the second oldest co-educational senior college
founded as such in the Commonwealth.6 During his tenure as president which lasted until 1911,
Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a classroom building which would
eventually be named in his honor, and a men’s dormitory named for Andrew Carnegie who
donated money for it.7
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), Mr. G.O
Davis (1912-1914), Mr. George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T.
Hundley whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college.8 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919, Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and the debts dating from the Hopwood administration
were retired. With the endorsement of the Board of Trustees, Hundley transformed the college
from a seminary into a liberal arts institution which earned full accreditation in 1927 from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.9 In 1923 Memorial Gymnasium was
given to Lynchburg College by the City in memory of local servicemen who died in World War
I.10
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II the majority of the male students joined the armed services, and with
a shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available as
a training facility for the Army Air Force’s College Training Program as well as a similar course
conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.11 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
implementation of the G.I. Bill,12 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948, the student body
5
Hopwood, p.96.
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.302.
7
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.24; Chambers, pp.366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
8
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978, p.11.
9
Ibid.
10
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
11
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
6
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936,13 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of the four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from
1946 to 1948.14 When Dr. Montgomery accepted the presidency of the College of the Bible in
Lexington, Kentucky in 1949, Lynchburg College was in sound financial shape.
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure,
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building since its completion in
1909; the project was completed in 1960. 15
13
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
15
Ibid. pp.25-26.
14
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. “The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College.” Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, Va:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg; Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-0152
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property One-quarter acre
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
Hopwood Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks which gives access to every entrance of
the building but also provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of Lynchburg College, which is composed of 246 acres. The nominated parcel boundary
coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building. The true and correct historic
boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The National Register boundary Hopwood Hall has been drawn to encompass only the
building itself and the narrow space between the building and the surrounding sidewalk that
form a logical historic boundary for the building.
___________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter
organization: Lynchburg College
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
city or town: Lynchburg
state: VA
zip code: 24501-3113
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 544-8623
date: March, 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Hopwood Hall, Lynchburg College
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County:
N/A
State: Virginia
Photographer: Michael J. Pulice
Date Photographed: March 14, 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southwest
2 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking northwest
3 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking west
4 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking north-northwest
5 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking east-northeast
6 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southeast
7 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation, main entry
8 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation detail
9 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, main entry
10 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, corridor
11 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium east wall
12 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium west wall
13 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, stair well
14 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium door
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 18
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP
Hopwood
HallPlace names
USGS GIS
City County
of Lynchburg,
BoundariesVA
DHR No. 118-0152
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 4/12/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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FLOOR PLAN 1909-1974
Hopwood Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0152
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FLOOR PLAN 1974-Present
Hopwood Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0152
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United States Department of the Interior NRHP Listed 8/28/2017
National Park Service
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Hopwood Hall_
Other names/site number: Main Hall, Administration Building; VDHR 118-0152
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of
significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Beaux Arts Classicism_
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, STUCCO, METAL: Copper;
STONE: Slate
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Beaux Arts style and completed in 1909, Hopwood Hall is the oldest extant
academic building at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. This free-standing, four-story,
rectangular building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in five-course mode is situated on the
western edge of the main campus. A low brick parapet capped with copper encircles the
building’s flat roof, which is covered with rubber sheeting that provides a moisture shield upon
which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with
pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the original. This restoration was necessary because
of natural aging of the original thin copper plates over the course of ten decades. The eastern
front of Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn. In 1955
the front steps, which are concrete, were faced in brick. Otherwise, the building exterior now
appears as it did in 1909. Parts of the interior have been remodeled and updated since 1909, but
the original interior plan, with double-loaded corridors and central auditorium, has never been
modified, and early features such as stair rails, doors and transoms, and wooden trim have been
preserved. The building thus retains a high level of integrity of location, design, setting,
materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Edward G. Frye in 1908 and completed in 1909, Hopwood
Hall is the oldest extant academic building at Lynchburg College, which is in Lynchburg in
central Virginia. This free-standing, four-story building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
five course mode is situated on the western edge of the main campus. The eastern front of
Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn planted with trees
and shrubbery native to Virginia. Some of the oaks predate the founding of the college in 1903.
In fact the area was heavily wooded when the property was purchased in April 1903. Dr.
Josephus Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field. The funds
raised from the sale of the wood were used to grade the cleared land, purchase uniforms and
equipment.1 When construction was begun on Hopwood Hall, another field was cleared for use
by the baseball team. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed building, which was erected for
$39,000.00, as the Administration Building.2 From 1909 until 1953 it was known by that
designation, but in the latter year its name was changed to honor the founders of the college,
Josephus and Sarah La Rue Hopwood.
Exterior Description
Hopwood Hall’s classical form consists of a rectangular main block with central portico and
wing extensions. A symmetrical five-part vertical division of the building is dominated by a twostory portico. Six monumental Ionic columns further divide this entrance area into five bays.
Behind the triangular pediment which tops the portico, the square drum of the dome and a low
parapet to either side provide a visual transition between the portico, the central block and the
dome above. The portico’s dentil molding extends to the main block to form a continuous
cornice that encircles the building. Just above the second-story windows is a molded, cast
concrete belt course that matches the portico’s frieze. Brick quoins define the corners of the main
block and projecting wings. Each side elevation also features a pedimented gable end. The west
(rear) elevation is distinguished by a centered projecting polygonal three-story tower. Rising
from the center of the building is a copper-sheathed dome. The building’s overall formality and
symmetry, especially evident in the classically derived detailing and fenestration, are
characteristic of the Beaux Arts style.
Windows
In 1909 there were four double-sash windows and six single-sash windows on the front of the
raised basement story, four-single sash windows on each side elevation, and thirteen single-sash
windows on the rear of the building. The façade’s first story has two paired windows to either
side of the main entry and three along each projecting wing. The façade’s second story has
similar fenestration, but also with centered paired windows directly above the entry. Each side
elevation has four windows on the first and second-stories and a multiple-light fanlight within
the pediment. The west (rear) elevation has four windows on each story of the polygonal bay
with single windows flanking each side, while the wings have three windows per story.
Entrances are to either side of the polygonal bay, each with paired windows above it, between
the first and second story. Each entrance has paired, six-light, paneled doors topped with a tenlight transom. The lower part of most sash windows contains two large panes of glass, while the
upper part of each sash window is composed of six panes of glass. Exceptions are the rear
polygonal bay windows and flanking second-story windows, which have upper sash with twenty1
Josephus Hopwood. A Journey Through the Years, An Autobiography. St. Louis, MO.: Bethany Press, 1932, pp.99100.
2
Ibid,p.107.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
four triangular panes that match the front entrance sidelights and transom. Each window opening
features a gauged-brick arch with a centered concrete keystone. The window sash slide
vertically.
East Facade
On the east façade, the centered main entrance features a three-bay frontispiece with entablature
and pilasters between each bay. The double doors are surrounded by twenty-four-light sidelights
and transom. The steps which lead up to the portico with its six brick columns faced with
concrete and surmounted with Ionic capitals were originally concrete, but they were faced with
brick in 1953 when the name of the Administration Building was changed to Hopwood Hall. The
pediment of the portico is adorned with denticulated molding that continues along the main
block’s cornice. Within the portico’s simple frieze, the building’s name is spelled out in simple
black lettering.
For over eighty years the three paired sash windows on the east façade were covered to prevent
light from bleeding into an interior auditorium and stage area. Unfortunately, these window
frames had to be replaced because of deterioration, but the glass panes were still in excellent
condition.
Side Elevations
The only windows on the building’s third floor are set in two semi-circular frames under the
eaves of the north and south classrooms. Each has four windows of varying sizes configured to
fit their placement in the window frame.
Rear Elevation
The building’s overall formality and symmetry continues on the rear elevation, with the central
two-story projecting, polygonal bay the dominant feature. The bay windows are taller and
narrower than those on the flanking windows, and are distinguished by the aforementioned
triangular panes of glass in the upper sash, while the lower sash have the two-light configuration
found on all other windows.
Roof
Surrounded by a low brick parapet capped with copper, the flat roof is covered with rubber
sheeting which provides a moisture shield upon which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on
the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the
original. This restoration was necessary because of natural aging of the original thin copper
plates over the course of ten decades as well as the fact that nails of a metal other than copper
had secured the sheets causing corrosion. In the restoration only copper nails were used to attach
the new sheets to the framework.
Interior Description
Ground Floor
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Upon completion in 1909, the ground floor (basement) had its own entrance beneath the
portico’s main staircase. On either side of the entry hall were two large classrooms. At the point
where the hall meets a long corridor running on a north-south axis, there is a large room which
ends in a five-window bay. On either side of this central room are restrooms—women to the
south, men to the north. Next to each restroom there is a staircase that provides access to the
upper floors as well as two exits, each one with double doors surmounted with ten-light
transoms. Until 1959 all science classes were held on this floor. With the opening of Hobbs Hall
during the second semester of the 1958-1959 session, the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
underwent a major refurbishing. The laying of new tile floors, the painting of all the classrooms
and halls, and the installation of new fixtures in the restrooms—the only ones in the building—
was the first restoration of the ground floor in fifty years. In 1984 the restrooms were remodeled
again when their windows were removed and the spaces filled with bricks which were then faced
with concrete. Thus, the number of windows on the rear of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
was reduced from thirteen to eleven. In 2006 the classroom to the right of the front entrance was
reduced by half to permit the installation of an elevator to provide handicapped access to all the
floors of the building. One of the paired windows in the altered classroom was converted to a
door to provide an entrance to the corridor where the elevator is located. The large classroom to
the left of the front entrance had been divided into two offices for faculty members. The two
classrooms at the south end of the long corridor have been combined to create a computer
classroom/lab. The door on the east side of the room has been removed and the opening filled.
No other changes in the configuration of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall have been made.
First Floor
The large central room with its bay served as the college library from 1909 until 1946 when the
college’s growing collection was moved to two of the Quonset huts which had been built to serve
the needs of an Army air force training program located on the Lynchburg College campus
during World War II. When the library was in Hopwood Hall the offices on either side of the
library were used as the librarian’s office and the library workroom respectively. The room on
the south side is still an office, while that on the north side contained the “Hornet Shop” where
drink and food dispensing machines were located until the end of 2016 when it was returned to
its original function as a workroom. The old library became a classroom with the empty stacks
still in place until 1960 when the space was converted into a chapel. In 1966 with the completion
of Snidow Chapel, the room in question was converted into a classroom. Then at the end of 2016
it was refurbished as a fully electronic classroom. Thus, in a sense once again it has become a
library since students now have access to all the electronic resources of the college from this
space. The classroom to the right of the main entrance has been reduced by half to accommodate
the elevator. A small office has been created next to the elevator shaft; otherwise the first floor of
Hopwood Hall appears to have changed very little.
Second Floor
The second floor of Hopwood Hall contains the auditorium. In 1909 the offices on either side of
this large lecture room/assembly room were for administrators. The one on the south side of the
building is still an office, while the one on the north side has been appropriated to provide space
for the elevator. However, there is still a small office at the end of the elevator corridor. Over the
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decades, the auditorium evolved from a lecture hall/assembly room into a fully operational
theater. A proscenium arch was constructed with doors at stage left and stage right. In 1960 the
entire auditorium was refurbished and a light bridge was constructed in the bay area on a level
with the third floor. Access was provided by an enclosed staircase immediately behind the last
row of seats in the center section. The seating capacity was 192. In 1974 when the Drama
Department moved into the Dillard Fine Arts Center, a movie screen was placed in the stage area
and the light bridge was converted to a projection room for the use of the film history classes. In
2012 the auditorium underwent a major restoration returning it to its original configuration
minus the stage. It is once again a multi-purpose space.
Third Floor
The third floor of Hopwood Hall includes the upper part of the auditorium which is open space.
There is no access between the north and south wings of the third floor. With the opening of the
building in 1909 the two large classrooms on both sides of the third floor were devoted to the
fine arts. The Music Department which was in the south classroom would move to the Thomas
House on the south side of the campus in 1946, and eventually to the Hebb Music Center in
1966. Located in the north classroom, the Art Department moved into the basement of one of the
Quonset huts in 1946 where it remained until 1974 when it was moved to the Dillard Fine Arts
Center. The Drama Department eventually would occupy both third-floor classrooms. The
classroom on the north side of Hopwood became the scene shop, while the classroom on the
south side of Hopwood became the Green Room and costume shop. In 1974 the classroom on the
north side was divided into small officers for the Reserve Officers Training Corps; these offices
are now used by the Beard Center on Aging. A portion of the storage space on the north side of
Hopwood Hall has been appropriated for the elevator. For a brief time, the classroom on the
south side provided office space for the nursing faculty, but it now contains a computer lab for
the use of the entire campus community.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909
1958–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Lynchburg College is one of the oldest colleges in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the founders’
realization. Within its walls, for over a century, both men and women have engaged in a variety
of academic activities from painting to physics, from the study of literature to the mastering of
foreign languages, both ancient and modern. The building’s period of significance begins with
the construction of Hopwood Hall in 1909 and ends in 1960 when a major refurbishing project
occurred. During the building’s period of significance, it would have been impossible for a
student to graduate without having a significant number of classes in this building. In recognition
of its paramount significance to the college throughout its history, Freshman Convocation in late
August and Commencement ceremonies in early May are held in front of Hopwood Hall each
year. Therefore the building is nominated under Criterion A in the area of Education and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture, at the local level of significance.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Lynchburg College is the second oldest college in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the realization of the
founders’ concept of that educational model. While founder Dr. Josephus Hopwood was a
scholar trained in the classics and the liberal arts, he believed that education should have a
utilitarian application to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. He also was convinced that the
future of the United States demanded that educational opportunities should be made available to
all regardless of sex, race, age, or material resources; and he felt that since everyone was equal in
the sight of the Creator, then co-education was part of God’s divine plan. Mrs. Sarah La Rue
Hopwood completely shared her husband’s world view. Within the walls of Hopwood Hall men
and women would engage in a variety of academic activities from painting to physics, from the
study of literature to the mastering of foreign languages, both ancient and modern. While
working towards the completion of a college degree they also would master the lessons of life
that would prepare them to serve others.3 Hopwood Hall was and still is the main academic
building at Lynchburg College.
Since its completion in 1909, Hopwood Hall has provided a cultural venue for the campus as
well as the wider community. Student-sponsored programs as well as plays produced by the
Department of Dramatic Arts have provided Lynchburg with a potpourri of the performing arts.
Likewise the list of academics, actors, musicians, poets, politicians, reformers, theologians, and
others who have graced its classrooms and its stage is seemingly endless. They include the
3
Ibid,pp.7-8, 10.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brightest and the best that the twentieth century had to offer without reference to race or
ethnicity. Among these luminaries were Edward Albee, James Baldwin, William Rose Benet,
The Budapest String Quartet, George Washington Carver, Truman Capote, John Carradine, Jean
Michel Cousteau, The Curtis String Quartet, Virginius Dabney, James Dickey, Philippe
Entremont, The Everyman Players, John Gardner, Nikki Giovanni, Carter Glass, Paul Green,
Sascha Gorodnitski, Edgar A. Guest, Cedric Hardwick, The Hampton Quartet, Langston Hughes,
Charles Laughton, Max Lerner, Percy Mac Kaye, John Morressy, Arnold Moss, James A.
Pearson, Leni Riefenstahl, Janet Reno, Charles Robb, Cokie Roberts, The Roth Quartet, A.L.
Rowse, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Spender, Billy Sunday, Norman Thomas, Richard Thornton,
Carl Van Doren, Sander Vanocur, Gore Vidal, Kurt von Schuschnigg, Louis Untermeyer, Ruth
Warwick, Eli Weisel, and Tennessee Williams. Thus Hopwood Hall for over a century has
enriched the cultural life of the campus as well as the wider community. 4
Criterion C: Architecture
Hopwood Hall is one of the most architecturally sophisticated and impressive buildings in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia, and its design places the building among the most important works
of early twentieth-century Beaux Arts Classicism in central Virginia. It was the work of architect
Edward Graham Frye (1870-1942), a native of Bristol, Tennessee, who moved to Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1886 and worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892, Frye
established his own office in Lynchburg. In 1901, Frye formed a partnership with architectural
draftsman Aubrey Chesterman (1874-1937) and the firm moved their headquarters to Roanoke
by 1913.5 Together and independently they designed a number of buildings that still enrich the
architectural landscape of Lynchburg. Hopwood Hall was Frye’s exclusive project based on his
earlier commission for Jones Memorial Library which was opened to the public in 1908. While
both buildings are excellent examples of the Beaux Arts Classicism in which Frye excelled, he
made more efficient use of space in Hopwood Hall than he did in Jones Memorial Library.
A Lynchburg firm, Jones and Adams Contractors and Builders, began construction on Hopwood
Hall in 1908 and completed it in 1909. Frye’s use of red brick for Hopwood Hall was esthetically
more pleasing that the cream-colored brick used in the construction of Jones Memorial Library.
Most of Frye’s commissions in Lynchburg were for private residences. Jones Library and
Hopwood Hall gave Frye the chance to demonstrate his skill in designing and executing major
projects.
Between 1958 and 1960, Hopwood Hall was refurbished, though not structurally altered. In 2006
an elevator was added to meet federal standards for handicapped access. In 2012, the auditorium
was remodeled to return it to its original configuration, and a similar project in 2016 restored
4
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. The list has gleaned from the pages of The
Critograph the college newspaper which featured articles on those persons who performed or spoke in Hopwood
Hall.
5
John E. Wells & Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary. Richmond,
Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997: 156-162.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Room 14, which had been the library in 1909, to its original function, but with twenty-first
century technology.
Historical Background
Lynchburg College, 1903-1960
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard who was of his former students, Dr. Josephus Hopwood
purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in
April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College,5 the second oldest co-educational senior college
founded as such in the Commonwealth.6 During his tenure as president which lasted until 1911,
Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a classroom building which would
eventually be named in his honor, and a men’s dormitory named for Andrew Carnegie who
donated money for it.7
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), Mr. G.O
Davis (1912-1914), Mr. George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T.
Hundley whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college.8 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919, Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and the debts dating from the Hopwood administration
were retired. With the endorsement of the Board of Trustees, Hundley transformed the college
from a seminary into a liberal arts institution which earned full accreditation in 1927 from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.9 In 1923 Memorial Gymnasium was
given to Lynchburg College by the City in memory of local servicemen who died in World War
I.10
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II the majority of the male students joined the armed services, and with
a shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available as
a training facility for the Army Air Force’s College Training Program as well as a similar course
conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.11 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
implementation of the G.I. Bill,12 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948, the student body
5
Hopwood, p.96.
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.302.
7
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.24; Chambers, pp.366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
8
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978, p.11.
9
Ibid.
10
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
11
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
6
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936,13 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of the four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from
1946 to 1948.14 When Dr. Montgomery accepted the presidency of the College of the Bible in
Lexington, Kentucky in 1949, Lynchburg College was in sound financial shape.
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure,
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building since its completion in
1909; the project was completed in 1960. 15
13
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
15
Ibid. pp.25-26.
14
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. “The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College.” Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, Va:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg; Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-0152
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property One-quarter acre
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
Hopwood Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks which gives access to every entrance of
the building but also provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of Lynchburg College, which is composed of 246 acres. The nominated parcel boundary
coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building. The true and correct historic
boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The National Register boundary Hopwood Hall has been drawn to encompass only the
building itself and the narrow space between the building and the surrounding sidewalk that
form a logical historic boundary for the building.
___________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter
organization: Lynchburg College
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
city or town: Lynchburg
state: VA
zip code: 24501-3113
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 544-8623
date: March, 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Hopwood Hall, Lynchburg College
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County:
N/A
State: Virginia
Photographer: Michael J. Pulice
Date Photographed: March 14, 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southwest
2 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking northwest
3 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking west
4 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking north-northwest
5 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking east-northeast
6 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southeast
7 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation, main entry
8 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation detail
9 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, main entry
10 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, corridor
11 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium east wall
12 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium west wall
13 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, stair well
14 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium door
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 18
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP
Hopwood
HallPlace names
USGS GIS
City County
of Lynchburg,
BoundariesVA
DHR No. 118-0152
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 4/12/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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INVENTORY
NOMIHATIOH F O R M
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O X g
ENTRY DATE
( T y p e a1S entries
-
r
comple!e applicable sections)
Southeast corner of Fifth & Madison S t r e e t s
1
1
C l T Y O R TO'NN:
Lynchburg
STATE
I
015TRICT.
Sixth 01. Caldwell Butler)
CODE
(COU N T Y.
Virginia
13. :CLASS~FICAT~GN,
7.:cr
@ Building
1~:
1
k Lynchburg l c i t v l
51
.
,
I
Cj I n P r o c e s s
Private
g
0 Obtect
@
Pubtic Acquisition:
P~b'Fic
Structure
site
I
.
,
680
+
L
OWNERSUlP
(Check One)
Disfrrct
1
. .,.
. .
CATEGORY
]-I
LONGRKSSIOEIAL
*Unoccupied
Baing Considarsd
Both
Yes:
Qccup~ed
Cr]
Presstvation work
i n progress
0
E
Restricted
Wnrcstrictad
No
P A E_S_E'Et U s E (Check One or .Wore ss AppropriaioJ
@
AgricrrItvrmi
Govcrnm~
Q Pnrk
@
Comrnercioi
Industrial
a
n Edvcatloro?
C] MiIitury
0 Religious
Museum
0 ScientiFic
Entcr:aioment
14.
EJ
O ~ E CF
P PDCPEPTY.
I
r
.
,>
. .
Xronsportstior
Cemmcnts
Otkcr (Specfk)
Private Residence
Vacant
~
.. . . .
-.*
.
1
"
1ONlllhlEm'S YAM^.
Mr, Beverly R. Cosby
?A
Y
u7
-t
<[
(
3
9
?
5 T R E h T A u C NLlmBER:
4405 aocnesboro Road
ZE~
?A
C
C I T Y OR TO,vy:
-
Lynchburg,
,
13:. LOCA'TIOX S F L E G A L DESCR! P-TIQH
COUPTHOUSC
..
,
y,.
-
%
,
7
Iw
S E G i S T R Y OC' OFF.Db. E T C :
C i C y Hall
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOiL#N:
3
D A T E OF SURVEY:
s Survey Inventon
Federal
U
State
i
CODE
STATE
1958
I
s" rr
cf V"
C
v
Counly
n Local
OEPQSI T O R Y F O R S U R Y K Y RECORDS:
0
Z
1
r
' C l J Y Or, 7 O*x:
i
u
bTashin?reon
b
4
I;]
!
L
m
Fmr
C]
Detorloroted
Ruins
CI
Un.xposmd
(Chock One)
(Check One)
un0~tered
n hiowed
ao
~ ,s,ts~ ~ ~ ~ I
wn) P H Y S I C A L A P P E A R A N C E
The Vestern Hotel i s a trm-story b r i c k building erected i n two s e c t i o n s
The o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n has i t s f i f t y - f o o t facade s i t u a t e d on t h e f r o n t edge of
i t s l o t on Madison S t r e e t , while t h e l a t e r e l l is s e t back about t h r e e f e e t
from i t s property l i n e on F i f t h S t r e e t . The Madison S t r e e t f r o n t i s l a i d
i n five-course American bond, and has simple b r i c k f l a t arches over t h e
windows. An i n t e r e s t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l i s t h e very r e f i n e d round-arch
c e n t e r doorway with symmetrically molded trim, turned c o m e r blocks, reeded
s o f f i t , and e a r l y s t o n e s t e p s . Early sash survives in a l l t h e windows
t h e six-over-nine s a s h on t h e second f l o o r appears t o be o r i g i n a l . The f i r s
f l o o r windows t o t h e l e f t o f t h e entrance a r e s e t s l i g h t l y lower than those
on t h e r i g h t , although t h i s does not appear t o have been t h e r e s l l t of a
l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n . One of t h e o r i g i n a l window openings on t h e e a s t end has
been bricked up while another has been lowered.
--
The building i s covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed w i t h standing
seam sheet metal. Surrounding t h e eaves i s a simple but r e f i n e d molded
cornice. A somewhat unusual f e a t u r e i s t h e two chimney s t a c k s p r o j e c t i n g
above t h e facade c o r n i c e , framing t h e middle t h r e e bays.
The two-story b r i c k e l l appears t o have been b u i l t a t l e a s t two decades
a f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n , and d i f f e r s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n only s l i g h t det a i l s . Of chief i n t e r e s t i s t h e handsome t h r e e - p a r t dooxway w i t h i t s carved
consoles. The doorway is s h e l t e r e d by a simple Doric porch.
Much of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s o r i g i n a l i n t e r i o r t r i m i s i n t a c t , although t h e
rooms on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e c e n t r a l h a l l i n t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n have had
t h e i r mantels replaced with mid-nineteenth-century ones of black marble.
Most of t h e o r i g i n a l baseboard, f l o o r i n g and paneled doors survive. The
s t a i r newel i s l a t e r but t h e r e s t of t h e s t a i r i s e a r l y , i f n o t o r i g i n a l .
The second f l o o r rooms a r e l a r g e l y u n a l t e r e d , and two of them preserve
t h e i r handsome Federal mantels. Both mantels have reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded cornice shelves.
Although t h e b u i l d i n g i s vacant and has had no maintenance i n s e v e r a l
y e a r s , i t g e n e r a l l y i s i n sound s t r u c t u r a l condition. An exception i s t h e
south wall of t h e e l l which has a s e r i o u s crack. Also, some unimportant
l a t e r r e a r porches a r e badly decayed. Plans a r e underway t o have t h e b u i l d i n
renovated f o r adaptive use.
C.L.
FICWCE
PER100
(Check One O r M o r s es Appropriel*)
Prs-Columbian!
SPEClFlC O I T E I S I
ill
16th CenturV
0 17th Century
15th Century
U
18th Century
201h C e n t u r y
19th Century
(If Ai)pliceble s n d K n o v n )
(Check O n - or More
AnEhs O F S I G N I F I C A N C E
-3
Appropriate)
Education
A b ~ irg i n o l
n ~..hi.t~,i~
~
Historic
~
Political
~
i
~
~
Industry
0 Apricultur.
Invention
Archincture
Landscop.
Art
Architecture
J-r
Cornrn.rc.
Cornmunisationr
Military
~
Other [Specitr)
~
Science
.. . .
Sculpture
Sociml/Humon-
Liter.ture
n Music
ti^^
0
Urban P l o n n i n g
~ / P h i .i
R e.l i g i a n
losophy
itori.,,
0 Theater
n~
~
~
~
~
~
~
t
.
t
i
~
~
ITATEWENT O F 51CNIFICANCE
Lynchburg's Western Hotel stands as t h e l a s t of the c i t y ' s many
ante-bellum taverns and o r d i n a r i e s , and i s an important example of e a r l y
commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e . The refined Federal-style s t r u c t u r e has long
been a f a m i l i a r landmark on what was f o r many years t h e western entrance
t o t h e c i t y . It was t h i s geographic l o c a t i o n t h a t gave t h e e s t a b l i s h e n t
i t s name.
The b u i l d i n g ' s d a t e of construction i s uncertain, but i t i s known
t o have been operated a s a tavern as e a r l y as 1815 by Joseph Nichols. An
advertisement f o r a blacksmith shop appearing t h a t year i n t h e Lynchburg
Press s t a t e s t h a t t h e shop was located "on Lynchburg H i l l on West S t r e e t
opposite Joseph Nichols1 tavern." That Joseph Nichols l i v e d t h e r e i s
confirmed by an 1818 r e f e r e n c e s t a t i n g t h a t he was issued a l i c e n s e t o
operate an ordinary "at h i s house on Cocke S t r e e t , " (West S t r e e t and Cocke
S t r e e t both were e a r l y names f o r F i f t h S t r e e t . ) By 1826 t h e establishment
was owned and operated by John F. Johnson. The f i r s t reference t o t h e
b u i l d i n g under i t s present name appears i n 1833 when a l i c e n s e issued t o
t o keep a tavern a t Western Hotel" was t r a n s f e r r e d
J o h n E t z l e r 'Ii
back 'to John F. Johnson.
, ,
I n r e c e n t decades t h e b u i l d i n g was used f o r aparhnents, although
i t i s now vacant. Consideration c u r r e n t l y i s being given t o i t s r e s t o r s t i
and adaptive use.
-
.
C.L.
9. MAJCR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
' ~ < l u n t , Louise A . , " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l
I
S o c i e t y %scum, Vol. V I , 1/3.
I C a b e l l , Margaret, Sketches and R e c o l l e c t i o n s o f Lynchburg & t h e O l d e s t
I n h a b i t a n t , R i c h o n d , 1858, p. 171.
and Its People, Lynchburg, 1900, p. 77.
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury, Lynchburg -Lynchburg Press,March 23, 1815.
Hustings Court Records, 1816, 1833 ( o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e ) .
Lvnchburg Deeds, Book E, pp. 232, 456 (1818).
Lynchburg Deeds, Book 9, p. 239 (1823).
-
-
-
-
I
I
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
LONC~TUOE
NE
.I I
. .
D
IP??OXIUATE
iilST
A C R E A G E O F NOMINATED PROPERTY:
lessthan one a c r e .
A L L S T A T E S AND COUNTLES F O R P R O P E R T I E S O ~ E R L A P P I N C . S T A T E OR C O U N T "
I~I
BOUNDARIES
STaTC:
COOE
-
-
5rATF:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
I
I
CODE
COUNTY:
I
Cn
CODE
COUNTY:
I'
I
w
[I I . FSqU P R E P A R E D BY
C
t
A
f
p 2 . S T A T E LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A T I O H
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the
1
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATIOH
Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
I hereby certify that t h i s property i s included i n t h e
fir
Register'
89465). I hereby nominate t h i s property
inclusion
in the National Register and certify that i t has been
I
evaluated accordinq t o t h e c-iteria and p r o c e h r e s s e t
b y the National Park Service.
fo::h
I
The recommended
lecel of significance of this nomination is:
Sattonal
0
State
@
Local
~
i
~office
~ 01~ ~ r cf h s o~l o g g~
and Historic
.
PrcssrValion
I
0
!
Dr?e
sa-c
J u n i u s R. F i s h b u r n e , Jr:, D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o w i s s i o
ATTEST:
Titlo
,
Dare
.
.
.st4
...
Keeper of T h e Neticnol Register
Date
G P O 931.834
I
I
I
I
I
( R w Y .6 - 7 2 )
UNlTED S T A T E S CEPAATMENT C)F THE I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERV?CE
HATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMIHATIOH F O R M
Lynchburg ( c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O X g
ENTRY DATE
( T y p e a1S entries
-
r
comple!e applicable sections)
Southeast corner of Fifth & Madison S t r e e t s
1
1
C l T Y O R TO'NN:
Lynchburg
STATE
I
015TRICT.
Sixth 01. Caldwell Butler)
CODE
(COU N T Y.
Virginia
13. :CLASS~FICAT~GN,
7.:cr
@ Building
1~:
1
k Lynchburg l c i t v l
51
.
,
I
Cj I n P r o c e s s
Private
g
0 Obtect
@
Pubtic Acquisition:
P~b'Fic
Structure
site
I
.
,
680
+
L
OWNERSUlP
(Check One)
Disfrrct
1
. .,.
. .
CATEGORY
]-I
LONGRKSSIOEIAL
*Unoccupied
Baing Considarsd
Both
Yes:
Qccup~ed
Cr]
Presstvation work
i n progress
0
E
Restricted
Wnrcstrictad
No
P A E_S_E'Et U s E (Check One or .Wore ss AppropriaioJ
@
AgricrrItvrmi
Govcrnm~
Q Pnrk
@
Comrnercioi
Industrial
a
n Edvcatloro?
C] MiIitury
0 Religious
Museum
0 ScientiFic
Entcr:aioment
14.
EJ
O ~ E CF
P PDCPEPTY.
I
r
.
,>
. .
Xronsportstior
Cemmcnts
Otkcr (Specfk)
Private Residence
Vacant
~
.. . . .
-.*
.
1
"
1ONlllhlEm'S YAM^.
Mr, Beverly R. Cosby
?A
Y
u7
-t
<[
(
3
9
?
5 T R E h T A u C NLlmBER:
4405 aocnesboro Road
ZE~
?A
C
C I T Y OR TO,vy:
-
Lynchburg,
,
13:. LOCA'TIOX S F L E G A L DESCR! P-TIQH
COUPTHOUSC
..
,
y,.
-
%
,
7
Iw
S E G i S T R Y OC' OFF.Db. E T C :
C i C y Hall
S T R E E T A N D NUMBER:
C I T Y O R TOiL#N:
3
D A T E OF SURVEY:
s Survey Inventon
Federal
U
State
i
CODE
STATE
1958
I
s" rr
cf V"
C
v
Counly
n Local
OEPQSI T O R Y F O R S U R Y K Y RECORDS:
0
Z
1
r
' C l J Y Or, 7 O*x:
i
u
bTashin?reon
b
4
I;]
!
L
m
Fmr
C]
Detorloroted
Ruins
CI
Un.xposmd
(Chock One)
(Check One)
un0~tered
n hiowed
ao
~ ,s,ts~ ~ ~ ~ I
wn) P H Y S I C A L A P P E A R A N C E
The Vestern Hotel i s a trm-story b r i c k building erected i n two s e c t i o n s
The o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n has i t s f i f t y - f o o t facade s i t u a t e d on t h e f r o n t edge of
i t s l o t on Madison S t r e e t , while t h e l a t e r e l l is s e t back about t h r e e f e e t
from i t s property l i n e on F i f t h S t r e e t . The Madison S t r e e t f r o n t i s l a i d
i n five-course American bond, and has simple b r i c k f l a t arches over t h e
windows. An i n t e r e s t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e t a i l i s t h e very r e f i n e d round-arch
c e n t e r doorway with symmetrically molded trim, turned c o m e r blocks, reeded
s o f f i t , and e a r l y s t o n e s t e p s . Early sash survives in a l l t h e windows
t h e six-over-nine s a s h on t h e second f l o o r appears t o be o r i g i n a l . The f i r s
f l o o r windows t o t h e l e f t o f t h e entrance a r e s e t s l i g h t l y lower than those
on t h e r i g h t , although t h i s does not appear t o have been t h e r e s l l t of a
l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n . One of t h e o r i g i n a l window openings on t h e e a s t end has
been bricked up while another has been lowered.
--
The building i s covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed w i t h standing
seam sheet metal. Surrounding t h e eaves i s a simple but r e f i n e d molded
cornice. A somewhat unusual f e a t u r e i s t h e two chimney s t a c k s p r o j e c t i n g
above t h e facade c o r n i c e , framing t h e middle t h r e e bays.
The two-story b r i c k e l l appears t o have been b u i l t a t l e a s t two decades
a f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n , and d i f f e r s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n only s l i g h t det a i l s . Of chief i n t e r e s t i s t h e handsome t h r e e - p a r t dooxway w i t h i t s carved
consoles. The doorway is s h e l t e r e d by a simple Doric porch.
Much of t h e b u i l d i n g ' s o r i g i n a l i n t e r i o r t r i m i s i n t a c t , although t h e
rooms on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e c e n t r a l h a l l i n t h e o r i g i n a l s e c t i o n have had
t h e i r mantels replaced with mid-nineteenth-century ones of black marble.
Most of t h e o r i g i n a l baseboard, f l o o r i n g and paneled doors survive. The
s t a i r newel i s l a t e r but t h e r e s t of t h e s t a i r i s e a r l y , i f n o t o r i g i n a l .
The second f l o o r rooms a r e l a r g e l y u n a l t e r e d , and two of them preserve
t h e i r handsome Federal mantels. Both mantels have reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded cornice shelves.
Although t h e b u i l d i n g i s vacant and has had no maintenance i n s e v e r a l
y e a r s , i t g e n e r a l l y i s i n sound s t r u c t u r a l condition. An exception i s t h e
south wall of t h e e l l which has a s e r i o u s crack. Also, some unimportant
l a t e r r e a r porches a r e badly decayed. Plans a r e underway t o have t h e b u i l d i n
renovated f o r adaptive use.
C.L.
FICWCE
PER100
(Check One O r M o r s es Appropriel*)
Prs-Columbian!
SPEClFlC O I T E I S I
ill
16th CenturV
0 17th Century
15th Century
U
18th Century
201h C e n t u r y
19th Century
(If Ai)pliceble s n d K n o v n )
(Check O n - or More
AnEhs O F S I G N I F I C A N C E
-3
Appropriate)
Education
A b ~ irg i n o l
n ~..hi.t~,i~
~
Historic
~
Political
~
i
~
~
Industry
0 Apricultur.
Invention
Archincture
Landscop.
Art
Architecture
J-r
Cornrn.rc.
Cornmunisationr
Military
~
Other [Specitr)
~
Science
.. . .
Sculpture
Sociml/Humon-
Liter.ture
n Music
ti^^
0
Urban P l o n n i n g
~ / P h i .i
R e.l i g i a n
losophy
itori.,,
0 Theater
n~
~
~
~
~
~
~
t
.
t
i
~
~
ITATEWENT O F 51CNIFICANCE
Lynchburg's Western Hotel stands as t h e l a s t of the c i t y ' s many
ante-bellum taverns and o r d i n a r i e s , and i s an important example of e a r l y
commercial a r c h i t e c t u r e . The refined Federal-style s t r u c t u r e has long
been a f a m i l i a r landmark on what was f o r many years t h e western entrance
t o t h e c i t y . It was t h i s geographic l o c a t i o n t h a t gave t h e e s t a b l i s h e n t
i t s name.
The b u i l d i n g ' s d a t e of construction i s uncertain, but i t i s known
t o have been operated a s a tavern as e a r l y as 1815 by Joseph Nichols. An
advertisement f o r a blacksmith shop appearing t h a t year i n t h e Lynchburg
Press s t a t e s t h a t t h e shop was located "on Lynchburg H i l l on West S t r e e t
opposite Joseph Nichols1 tavern." That Joseph Nichols l i v e d t h e r e i s
confirmed by an 1818 r e f e r e n c e s t a t i n g t h a t he was issued a l i c e n s e t o
operate an ordinary "at h i s house on Cocke S t r e e t , " (West S t r e e t and Cocke
S t r e e t both were e a r l y names f o r F i f t h S t r e e t . ) By 1826 t h e establishment
was owned and operated by John F. Johnson. The f i r s t reference t o t h e
b u i l d i n g under i t s present name appears i n 1833 when a l i c e n s e issued t o
t o keep a tavern a t Western Hotel" was t r a n s f e r r e d
J o h n E t z l e r 'Ii
back 'to John F. Johnson.
, ,
I n r e c e n t decades t h e b u i l d i n g was used f o r aparhnents, although
i t i s now vacant. Consideration c u r r e n t l y i s being given t o i t s r e s t o r s t i
and adaptive use.
-
.
C.L.
9. MAJCR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
' ~ < l u n t , Louise A . , " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816," Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l
I
S o c i e t y %scum, Vol. V I , 1/3.
I C a b e l l , Margaret, Sketches and R e c o l l e c t i o n s o f Lynchburg & t h e O l d e s t
I n h a b i t a n t , R i c h o n d , 1858, p. 171.
and Its People, Lynchburg, 1900, p. 77.
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury, Lynchburg -Lynchburg Press,March 23, 1815.
Hustings Court Records, 1816, 1833 ( o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e ) .
Lvnchburg Deeds, Book E, pp. 232, 456 (1818).
Lynchburg Deeds, Book 9, p. 239 (1823).
-
-
-
-
I
I
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LONGITUDE
LATITUDE
LONC~TUOE
NE
.I I
. .
D
IP??OXIUATE
iilST
A C R E A G E O F NOMINATED PROPERTY:
lessthan one a c r e .
A L L S T A T E S AND COUNTLES F O R P R O P E R T I E S O ~ E R L A P P I N C . S T A T E OR C O U N T "
I~I
BOUNDARIES
STaTC:
COOE
-
-
5rATF:
CODE
STATE:
CODE
I
I
CODE
COUNTY:
I
Cn
CODE
COUNTY:
I'
I
w
[I I . FSqU P R E P A R E D BY
C
t
A
f
p 2 . S T A T E LIAISON OFFICER C E R T I F I C A T I O H
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the
1
Virginia
NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATIOH
Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law
I hereby certify that t h i s property i s included i n t h e
fir
Register'
89465). I hereby nominate t h i s property
inclusion
in the National Register and certify that i t has been
I
evaluated accordinq t o t h e c-iteria and p r o c e h r e s s e t
b y the National Park Service.
fo::h
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The recommended
lecel of significance of this nomination is:
Sattonal
0
State
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Local
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~office
~ 01~ ~ r cf h s o~l o g g~
and Historic
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Dr?e
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J u n i u s R. F i s h b u r n e , Jr:, D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o w i s s i o
ATTEST:
Titlo
,
Dare
.
.
.st4
...
Keeper of T h e Neticnol Register
Date
G P O 931.834
I
I
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Text
United States Department of the lnteriior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Sewice
Dr
National Register of Historic Places
[inventory-Nomination Foam
HCR!
received
A-
.dl;ate ,ente
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
First Baptist Church
historic
nh
andlor common
2.
Location
streel & number
n/a
1100 Court Street (E corner Court and Eleventh s t r e e t s ) not for publication
city, town
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
n J avlclnlty
. . - of
cade
53
county
congressionaldistrict
Sixth
Caldwell ~ut-er)
(M.
(in c i t y )
code
680
3. Classification
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
Ownership
-site
-object
Public Acquisition
in process
being considered
-
Status
-public
X occupied
-bath
-unoccupied
-work in progress
X private
F a
name
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-militarv
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, c / o Pastor
P, 0. Box
1159
street & number
Lynchburg
citv, town
n
' vicinitv
~
of
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
900
Virginia
state
24505
,
Clerk's Office, Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
Court Street
Lynchburg
Virginia
state
6. Weplresentaaioa in Existing
$ U ~ W ~ (S2 )
(See
#11 C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
(1)~ i s t o r i cD i s t r i c t Survey, Lynchburg,
VirqinFa
has this property been determined @legible? -yes x-no
title
date
May 1976
depositmy for survey records
city, town
Lynchbur9
-federal
-state
-county X local
City of Lynchburg, Division of
p l a n n i n g
,tat,
Virginia
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
N/n
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s b u i l t of hard-pressed red b r i c k on a rough g r a n i t e foundation.
A t s a l i e n t p o i n t s , notably i n t h e t h r e e gable walls of t h e church, stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m
of a golden hue adds a decorative note of c o n t r a s t . The major e x t e r n a l f e a t u r e s a r e t h e tower
and s p i r e which p r o j e c t from t h e southwest corner of t h e modified cruciform church. Measuring
180' t o t h e i r o n f i n i a l , t h e s p i r e gave t h e church t h e d i s t i n c t i o n of being t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
building upon completion. The main entrance t o t h e church i s contained within t h e base of the
tower and i s recessed within an arch decorated with voussoirs of t e r r a c o t t a . To t h e r i g h t of
t h i s entrance i s a rounded appendage with a conical r o o f , containing t h e f i r s t runs o f t h e
s t a i r leading t o t h e s p i r e . The s h a f t of t h e tower, which i s r e l a t i v e l y unadorned i n i t s f i r s t
stages, i s supported on each face by s t e e p l y sloping angle b u t t r e s s e s . I n s i l h o u e t t e , these
b u t t r e s s e s give t h e s h a f t a s l i g h t l y tapering appearance and v i s u a l l y prepare f o r t h e increased
slope of t h e s p i r e . Above t h e r i d g e of t h e church r o o f s , t h e tower has a double-arched window
i n each face. D i r e c t l y above t h e s e windows, each f a c e contains a row of smaller arched windows
A simple cornice terminates t h e b r i c k tower and serves a s a base f o r t h e broach s p i r e . A t the
t r a n s i t i o n a l s t a g e between t h e broaches and t h e octagonal sectioned s p i r e , each f a c e has a
lucarne, o r dormer window, divided by mullions i n t o a double-lancet form.
The main facade of t h e church, facing Eleventh S t r e e t , and t h e two s i d e s a r e centered
with l a r g e rose windows framed within Gothic arches covered with hood moldings. Wooden tracery
defines t h e p a t t e r n o f t h e rose windows within t h e arches. Below t h e rose windows, each wall
contains a row of seven c l o s e l y spaced l a n c e t windows, a l s o capped with hood moldings. Each
gable i s f i l l e d with decorative t e r r a - c o t t a panels above a t r i p l e window of narrow rectangular
sections. Gables a r e terminated with raking cornices which r e s t upon engaged columns s e t withi n t h e walls. Between t h e p r o j e c t i n g f r o n t wall of t h e auditorium and t h e tower i s a one-story
vestibule, balanced on t h e opposite s i d e by a secondary entrance.
Straddling t h e roof above t h e crossing i s a fleche. Its e i g h t louvred f a c e s o r i g i n a l l y
acted a s v e n t i l a t o r s f o r t h e gas chandelier suspended d i r e c t l y below. The louvred stage i s
capped with an octagonally sectioned s p i r e whose form echoes on a g r e a t l y reduced s c a l e t h e
slope of t h e main s p i r e .
To t h e r e a r , t h e e x t e r i o r of t h e church d i s p l a y s a g r e a t v a r i e t y of p r o j e c t i n g and receding planes covered with an equal v a r i e t y o f gabled, hipped, and rounded roof sections.
Contained within a r e t h e o r i g i n a l Sunday School rooms, a p a s t o r ' s study, and church p a r l o r .
To t h e r e a r o f t h e s e wings, t h e building terminates i n a l a r g e rounded "apse." Although t h i s
f e a t u r e was o r i g i n a l , i n 1902 it was taken down and r e b u i l t f u r t h e r from t h e auditorium t o
provide a d d i t i o n a l classroom space. While t h e apse would seem t o imply v i s u a l l y and l i t u r g i c a l l y t h a t t h e r e is a deep chancel within, such i s not t h e case.
When t h e church was dedicated i n 1886, t h e l o c a l p r e s s c a r r i e d an e n t h u s i a s t i c account
of t h e i n t e r i o r : -
.
.
Far above you, r e s t i n g on slender columns and l o f t y arches, t h e c e i l i n g
a r t i s t i c a l l y grained, lit up by a chandelier of cobweb workmanship and
some twenty gas j e t s on t h e four walls; before you a v a s t amphitheatre
sloping down towards t h e b a p t i s t r y , encased i n p u r e s t Vermont marble,
draped with purple plush v e l v e t and bearing t h e i n s c r i p t i o n , "Buried
with Him i n Baptism," and surrounded by a platform covered with a s o f t
c a r p e t of b r i g h t hue. Above t h e b a p t i s t r y , clad i n sombre walnut, i s
the g r e a t organ.
(See Continuation Sheet %1).
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-community
planning -landscape archilectureX religion
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
-military
-sociall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
theater
-communications
-industry
-poiiticsigovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
.
1884-86
BuilderiAmhitect
John R. Thomas ( a r c h i t e c t )
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s a major a r c h i t e c t u r a l landmark f o r t h e c i t y of Lynchburg
and i s a most accomplished example of High Victorian Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Construction
was begun i n 1884, and although s e v e r a l a d d i t i o n s have s i n c e been made, t h e o r i g i n a l portion
stands e s s e n t i a l l y a s it d i d when it was completed i n September 1886. I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s
a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church houses an o l d and i n f l u e n t i a l B a p t i s t congregation and
stands a s evidence of a period of impressive growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A t t h e time of i t s dedication i n 1886, t h e F i r s t B a p t i s t Church was described i n t h e
Lynchburg News a s being " i n t h e Romanic ( s i c ) s t y l e of a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e t h i r t e e n t h century, and a t a l a t e r period, when t h e rounded windows and dome-shaped roofs of t h e o l d
Basilica made way f o r pointed aches ( s i c ) and gables." I t was a v a l i a n t , i f garbled, attempt
t o describe a building t h e l i k e s of which had not been seen i n t h e c i t y before. Designed
by New York a r c h i t e c t John Rochester Thomas, t h e church was and remains an impressive example
of t h e High Victorian Gothic s t y l e . Seeds of t h i s s t y l e had been sown a s e a r l y a s 1849 with
I n both t h i s work and i n h i s
t h e publication of John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture.
l a t e r Stones of Venice, Ruskin promulgated t h e beauty and t r u t h of medieval a r c h i t e c t u r e ,
not a s found i n h i s n a t i v e England, but primarily i n I t a l y . He was n o t , however, a copyist
but hoped t h a t t h e s p i r i t which produced t h e b e s t examples of p a s t a r c h i t e c t u r e could be
revived t o i n s p i r e t h e designers of h i s time t o b e t t e r works. Among t h e a s p e c t s of I t a l i a n
a r c h i t e c t u r e which he most admired were bold and c o n t r a s t i n g uses o f c o l o r and m a t e r i a l ,
d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c a l e and t e x t u r e , and a r e s t r a i n e d use of ornament.
Lynchburg's F i r s t B a p t i s t Church manifests a l l these "Ruskinian" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t o a
marked degree. The dark red b r i c k walls c o n t r a s t with t h e yellow stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m ,
and although t h e trim i s decorative, it demonstrates a degree of s t r u c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y . Gable
ends display prominent h o r i z o n t a l bands of stone exactly a t t h e p o i n t where, i n s i d e , t h e
c e i l i n g of t h e sanctuary terminates. Dominating t h e e n t i r e composition i s t h e massive tower
and s t e e p l e , whose o u t l i n e i s mimicked by t h e d e l i c a t e f l e c h e over t h e crossing of t h e main
roofs. Projecting and receding planes play a prominent r o l e i n t h e design and provide y e t
another theme of c o n t r a s t s .
True a l s o t o Ruskinian p r i n c i p l e s , t h e church owes no a l l e g i a n c e t o a s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r e
of t h e p a s t . Actually, i t i s a s much indebted t o German Gothic a s I t a l i a n , b u t i n a l l aspects
it combines elements of t h e Gothic vocabulary i n a manner expressive of i t s own time.
In a d d i t i o n t o i t s i n t r i n s i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church stands a s an impressive
monument t o an expansive.period i n t h e h i s t o r y of Lynchburg and c e n t r a l Virginia. During
t h e 1880s, Lynchburg had pretensions of becoming "the Pittsburgh of Virginia, and perhaps
of t h e South." Even Harper's Weeklx, i n i t s i s s u e of December 4 , 1886, suggested t h a t " i f
one wants t o see what t h e new south i s , " one should come t o Lynchburg. The F i r s t B a p t i s t
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
9. Major Biblioqraphical References
Loth, C a l d e r , and S a d l e r , J u l i u s Trousdale. The Only Proper S t y l e . Boston, 1975.
MOSS, J. Calvin.
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, F i f t i e t h Anniversary. Lynchburg, 1936.
White,, Blanch. The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a . Lynchburg, 1965.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Lynchbum. Va.
UMT References
6 6 4 3 8 0
IEasting
U I
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1:24000
1411411980l
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Occupying c i t y l o t a t E c o r n e r of Court and 11th S t s . ,
measuring 152' X 1 6 5 ' , t h e 165' f r o n t i n g on Court S t . JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have been drawn t o
c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e of t h e l o t of which t h e church and t h e churchyard a r e s i t u a t e d .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N /A
code
county
state
N/A
code
county
N /A
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
I1
namefiitie
S.
Allen Chambers f o r V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street
code
number
city or town
221 Governor S t r e e t
A p r i l 1981
date
teleohone
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2state
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officei for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 herecy nominate this property for inclusion in the ( h i o n a ~Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by th$eritage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
Conservation an9 Recreation Service.
d&&fitlaid
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
6.
(2)
7.
#1
Item number 6,7
REPF3SENTfiTION I N EXISTING SURVEYS
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1969, 1971
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
DESCRIPTION
I n more mundane terms, t h e s a n c t u a r y was a t y p i c a l auditorium church, where t h e comfortably
s e a t e d congregation had unobstructed views o f t h e p u l p i t , c h o i r l o f t above, and g i l d e d organ
p i p e s behind. Pews were curved and r a d i a t e d from t h e f o c a l p o i n t o f t h e p u l p i t . The two
main a i s l e s l e a d d i a g o n a l l y from t h e two c o r n e r e n t r a n c e s down t o t h e p u l p i t . A narrow c e n t r a l
a i s l e extends o n l y a s f a r toward t h e p u l p i t a s i s necessary b e f o r e t h e narrowing ranks of
pews can b e e n t e r e d a s e a s i l y from t h e s i d e a i s l e s . The s l e n d e r columns noted i n t h e dedicatory
account a r e o f c l u s t e r e d Gothic d e s i g n , and although grained t o appear a s wood, they a r e
a c t u a l l y o f i r o n . The s e a t i n g a r e a o f t h e s a n c t u a r y , which remains l a r g e l y a s i t was o r i g i n a l l y
is e s s e n t i a l l y a r e c t a n g u l a r space measuring 8 5 ' x 7 5 ' . The arrangement of t h e columns and
t h e p a t t e r n of t h e s t a i n e d p i n e c e i l i n g , however, c r e a t e a t l e a s t a s u g g e s t i o n of a cruciform
space. Among t h e most impressive f e a t u r e s of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e t h e r o s e and l a n c e t windows i n
t h e r e a r and s i d e w a l l s . These a r e a l l f i l l e d w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l s t a i n e d g l a s s , which was
manufactured i n Lynchburg by w i l l i a m A . Hefferman. The g l a s s i s c o l o r e d i n b r i g h t primary
c o l o r s and arranged i n a b s t r a c t geometrical p a t t e r n s .
By t h e 1920s, t h e enrollment of t h e Sunday School had i n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t t h a t a new
Sunday School annex had t o b e b u i l t . Designed by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson, t h e
new a d d i t i o n f a c e s Eleventh S t r e e t t o t h e l e f t of t h e church. Completed i n 1928, it harmonizes
well w i t h t h e o l d e r b u i l d i n g i n s c a l e , m a t e r i a l , and d e s i g n . I n 1941, t h e i n t e r i o r of t h e
sanctuary was modified w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n of a d i v i d e d chancel. Space f o r t h e chancel was taken
from t h e o l d Sunday School, and t h e o l d organ and r a i s e d c h o i r were removed. A r c h i t e c t f o r
t h i s renovation was a g a i n Stanhope Johnson. Woodwork i n t h e new chancel, i n c l u d i n g a high
wainscot, c h o i r pews, p u l p i t , and communion t a b l e , i s decorated with Gothic molding. The f o c a l
p i n t of t h e new chancel i s a s t a i n e d - g l a s s window, a l s o of Gothic d e s i g n , c o n t a i n i n g i n i t s
c e n t r a l panel a r e n d i t i o n o f Holman Hunt's well-known p a i n t i n g , " C h r i s t , t h e L i g h t of t h e World."
This window and f o u r s m a l l e r memorial windows i n s t a l l e d a t t h e same time were made by t h e Payne
Studios of P a t t e r s o n , New J e r s e y . Below, Gothic p a n e l i n g , which d i s g u i s e s t h e b a p t i s t r y when
not i n use, a c t s a s a r e r e d o s . A t t h e same time t h e chancel was c r e a t e d , t h e o l d c h a n d e l i e r
and w a l l l i g h t s of t h e s a n c t u a r y were r e p l a c e d w i t h wrought-iron c h a n d e l i e r s .
The s t e e p l y s l o p i n g l o t on which t h e church s t a n d s maintains much o f i t s o r i g i n a l a s p e c t .
Massive g r a n i t e r e t a i n i n g w a l l s capped w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l i r o n fence s e p a r a t e both t h e Court
and Eleventh S t r e e t yards from t h e sidewalks below. On Court S t r e e t , a n opening i s c u t i n t o
The e n t r a n c e t o t h e churchyard,
t h e r e t a i n i n g w a l l t o p r o v i d e a n e n t r a n c e t o t h e basement.
which is a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of t h e two streets, i s emphasized by two l r o n p o s t s w i t h globe
l i g h t s . Within t h e churchyard, walks a r e o f f l a g s t o n e , and ornamental p l a n t i n g has been k e p t
t o a minimum.
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
#z
8.
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
Church, which had been d e d i c a t e d o n l y t h r e e months e a r l i e r , was then t h e l a r g e s t church e d i f i c e
i n t h e c i t y and much l a r g e r than i t s congregation warranted. I t was a time of enthusiasm and
e x p e c t a t i o n , however, and nothing b u t t h e b i g g e s t and b e s t would do.
The church, which i s t h e f o u r t h b u i l d i n g i n which t h e congregation has worshiped, houses
t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t B a p t i s t congregation. Dating i t s establishment from a meeting h e l d i n J u l y
1815, t h e church h a s subsequently been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of n i n e o t h e r B a p t i s t
churches i n and around Lynchburg. F i r s t B a p t i s t Church h a s a l s o played a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n
t h e h i s t o r y of i t s denomination i n t h e s t a t e . I n 1893 t h e B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of
V i r g i n i a was organized i n response t o l e t t e r s s e n t t o o t h e r churches by t h e a l r e a d y - e x i s t i n g
I n 1919 i t was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n s e c u r i n g
B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of t h e Lynchburg church.
f o r Lynchburg t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t H o s p i t a l . During t h e 1930s, t h e church c o n t r i b u t e d more
t o t h e s t a t e denominational o r g a n i z a t i o n t h a n any o t h e r congregation. I n t h e 1950s, t h e church
played a d e c i s i v e r o l e i n t h e purchase and development o f Eagle Eyrie, a n e s t a t e t e n miles
west of t h e c i t y , t o s e r v e a s t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t Assembly Ground and summer camp.
During t h i s same p e r i o d , t h e members of t h e church s t r u g g l e d w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n of whether
t o remain a t t h e downtown l o c a t i o n o r t o move t o a suburban s i t e , which would have been more
The d e c i s i o n was reached t o remain. Now, a s t h e church
convenient t o many o f i t s members.
b u i l d i n g approaches i t s c e n t e n n i a l y e a r , it becomes ever more a p p r e c i a t e d a s one of Lynchburg's
a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l landmarks.
SAC
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Sewice
Dr
National Register of Historic Places
[inventory-Nomination Foam
HCR!
received
A-
.dl;ate ,ente
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
First Baptist Church
historic
nh
andlor common
2.
Location
streel & number
n/a
1100 Court Street (E corner Court and Eleventh s t r e e t s ) not for publication
city, town
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
n J avlclnlty
. . - of
cade
53
county
congressionaldistrict
Sixth
Caldwell ~ut-er)
(M.
(in c i t y )
code
680
3. Classification
Category
district
building(s)
-structure
Ownership
-site
-object
Public Acquisition
in process
being considered
-
Status
-public
X occupied
-bath
-unoccupied
-work in progress
X private
F a
name
Accessible
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
Present Use
-agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-militarv
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, c / o Pastor
P, 0. Box
1159
street & number
Lynchburg
citv, town
n
' vicinitv
~
of
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
900
Virginia
state
24505
,
Clerk's Office, Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
Court Street
Lynchburg
Virginia
state
6. Weplresentaaioa in Existing
$ U ~ W ~ (S2 )
(See
#11 C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet
(1)~ i s t o r i cD i s t r i c t Survey, Lynchburg,
VirqinFa
has this property been determined @legible? -yes x-no
title
date
May 1976
depositmy for survey records
city, town
Lynchbur9
-federal
-state
-county X local
City of Lynchburg, Division of
p l a n n i n g
,tat,
Virginia
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
2good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
2
N/n
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s b u i l t of hard-pressed red b r i c k on a rough g r a n i t e foundation.
A t s a l i e n t p o i n t s , notably i n t h e t h r e e gable walls of t h e church, stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m
of a golden hue adds a decorative note of c o n t r a s t . The major e x t e r n a l f e a t u r e s a r e t h e tower
and s p i r e which p r o j e c t from t h e southwest corner of t h e modified cruciform church. Measuring
180' t o t h e i r o n f i n i a l , t h e s p i r e gave t h e church t h e d i s t i n c t i o n of being t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
building upon completion. The main entrance t o t h e church i s contained within t h e base of the
tower and i s recessed within an arch decorated with voussoirs of t e r r a c o t t a . To t h e r i g h t of
t h i s entrance i s a rounded appendage with a conical r o o f , containing t h e f i r s t runs o f t h e
s t a i r leading t o t h e s p i r e . The s h a f t of t h e tower, which i s r e l a t i v e l y unadorned i n i t s f i r s t
stages, i s supported on each face by s t e e p l y sloping angle b u t t r e s s e s . I n s i l h o u e t t e , these
b u t t r e s s e s give t h e s h a f t a s l i g h t l y tapering appearance and v i s u a l l y prepare f o r t h e increased
slope of t h e s p i r e . Above t h e r i d g e of t h e church r o o f s , t h e tower has a double-arched window
i n each face. D i r e c t l y above t h e s e windows, each f a c e contains a row of smaller arched windows
A simple cornice terminates t h e b r i c k tower and serves a s a base f o r t h e broach s p i r e . A t the
t r a n s i t i o n a l s t a g e between t h e broaches and t h e octagonal sectioned s p i r e , each f a c e has a
lucarne, o r dormer window, divided by mullions i n t o a double-lancet form.
The main facade of t h e church, facing Eleventh S t r e e t , and t h e two s i d e s a r e centered
with l a r g e rose windows framed within Gothic arches covered with hood moldings. Wooden tracery
defines t h e p a t t e r n o f t h e rose windows within t h e arches. Below t h e rose windows, each wall
contains a row of seven c l o s e l y spaced l a n c e t windows, a l s o capped with hood moldings. Each
gable i s f i l l e d with decorative t e r r a - c o t t a panels above a t r i p l e window of narrow rectangular
sections. Gables a r e terminated with raking cornices which r e s t upon engaged columns s e t withi n t h e walls. Between t h e p r o j e c t i n g f r o n t wall of t h e auditorium and t h e tower i s a one-story
vestibule, balanced on t h e opposite s i d e by a secondary entrance.
Straddling t h e roof above t h e crossing i s a fleche. Its e i g h t louvred f a c e s o r i g i n a l l y
acted a s v e n t i l a t o r s f o r t h e gas chandelier suspended d i r e c t l y below. The louvred stage i s
capped with an octagonally sectioned s p i r e whose form echoes on a g r e a t l y reduced s c a l e t h e
slope of t h e main s p i r e .
To t h e r e a r , t h e e x t e r i o r of t h e church d i s p l a y s a g r e a t v a r i e t y of p r o j e c t i n g and receding planes covered with an equal v a r i e t y o f gabled, hipped, and rounded roof sections.
Contained within a r e t h e o r i g i n a l Sunday School rooms, a p a s t o r ' s study, and church p a r l o r .
To t h e r e a r o f t h e s e wings, t h e building terminates i n a l a r g e rounded "apse." Although t h i s
f e a t u r e was o r i g i n a l , i n 1902 it was taken down and r e b u i l t f u r t h e r from t h e auditorium t o
provide a d d i t i o n a l classroom space. While t h e apse would seem t o imply v i s u a l l y and l i t u r g i c a l l y t h a t t h e r e is a deep chancel within, such i s not t h e case.
When t h e church was dedicated i n 1886, t h e l o c a l p r e s s c a r r i e d an e n t h u s i a s t i c account
of t h e i n t e r i o r : -
.
.
Far above you, r e s t i n g on slender columns and l o f t y arches, t h e c e i l i n g
a r t i s t i c a l l y grained, lit up by a chandelier of cobweb workmanship and
some twenty gas j e t s on t h e four walls; before you a v a s t amphitheatre
sloping down towards t h e b a p t i s t r y , encased i n p u r e s t Vermont marble,
draped with purple plush v e l v e t and bearing t h e i n s c r i p t i o n , "Buried
with Him i n Baptism," and surrounded by a platform covered with a s o f t
c a r p e t of b r i g h t hue. Above t h e b a p t i s t r y , clad i n sombre walnut, i s
the g r e a t organ.
(See Continuation Sheet %1).
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1 599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-community
planning -landscape archilectureX religion
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
-military
-sociall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-commerce
-explorationisettlement -philosophy
theater
-communications
-industry
-poiiticsigovernment t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
.
1884-86
BuilderiAmhitect
John R. Thomas ( a r c h i t e c t )
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church i s a major a r c h i t e c t u r a l landmark f o r t h e c i t y of Lynchburg
and i s a most accomplished example of High Victorian Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e .
Construction
was begun i n 1884, and although s e v e r a l a d d i t i o n s have s i n c e been made, t h e o r i g i n a l portion
stands e s s e n t i a l l y a s it d i d when it was completed i n September 1886. I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s
a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church houses an o l d and i n f l u e n t i a l B a p t i s t congregation and
stands a s evidence of a period of impressive growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A t t h e time of i t s dedication i n 1886, t h e F i r s t B a p t i s t Church was described i n t h e
Lynchburg News a s being " i n t h e Romanic ( s i c ) s t y l e of a r c h i t e c t u r e of t h e t h i r t e e n t h century, and a t a l a t e r period, when t h e rounded windows and dome-shaped roofs of t h e o l d
Basilica made way f o r pointed aches ( s i c ) and gables." I t was a v a l i a n t , i f garbled, attempt
t o describe a building t h e l i k e s of which had not been seen i n t h e c i t y before. Designed
by New York a r c h i t e c t John Rochester Thomas, t h e church was and remains an impressive example
of t h e High Victorian Gothic s t y l e . Seeds of t h i s s t y l e had been sown a s e a r l y a s 1849 with
I n both t h i s work and i n h i s
t h e publication of John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture.
l a t e r Stones of Venice, Ruskin promulgated t h e beauty and t r u t h of medieval a r c h i t e c t u r e ,
not a s found i n h i s n a t i v e England, but primarily i n I t a l y . He was n o t , however, a copyist
but hoped t h a t t h e s p i r i t which produced t h e b e s t examples of p a s t a r c h i t e c t u r e could be
revived t o i n s p i r e t h e designers of h i s time t o b e t t e r works. Among t h e a s p e c t s of I t a l i a n
a r c h i t e c t u r e which he most admired were bold and c o n t r a s t i n g uses o f c o l o r and m a t e r i a l ,
d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c a l e and t e x t u r e , and a r e s t r a i n e d use of ornament.
Lynchburg's F i r s t B a p t i s t Church manifests a l l these "Ruskinian" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t o a
marked degree. The dark red b r i c k walls c o n t r a s t with t h e yellow stone and t e r r a - c o t t a t r i m ,
and although t h e trim i s decorative, it demonstrates a degree of s t r u c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y . Gable
ends display prominent h o r i z o n t a l bands of stone exactly a t t h e p o i n t where, i n s i d e , t h e
c e i l i n g of t h e sanctuary terminates. Dominating t h e e n t i r e composition i s t h e massive tower
and s t e e p l e , whose o u t l i n e i s mimicked by t h e d e l i c a t e f l e c h e over t h e crossing of t h e main
roofs. Projecting and receding planes play a prominent r o l e i n t h e design and provide y e t
another theme of c o n t r a s t s .
True a l s o t o Ruskinian p r i n c i p l e s , t h e church owes no a l l e g i a n c e t o a s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r e
of t h e p a s t . Actually, i t i s a s much indebted t o German Gothic a s I t a l i a n , b u t i n a l l aspects
it combines elements of t h e Gothic vocabulary i n a manner expressive of i t s own time.
In a d d i t i o n t o i t s i n t r i n s i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l m e r i t , t h e church stands a s an impressive
monument t o an expansive.period i n t h e h i s t o r y of Lynchburg and c e n t r a l Virginia. During
t h e 1880s, Lynchburg had pretensions of becoming "the Pittsburgh of Virginia, and perhaps
of t h e South." Even Harper's Weeklx, i n i t s i s s u e of December 4 , 1886, suggested t h a t " i f
one wants t o see what t h e new south i s , " one should come t o Lynchburg. The F i r s t B a p t i s t
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
9. Major Biblioqraphical References
Loth, C a l d e r , and S a d l e r , J u l i u s Trousdale. The Only Proper S t y l e . Boston, 1975.
MOSS, J. Calvin.
The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, F i f t i e t h Anniversary. Lynchburg, 1936.
White,, Blanch. The F i r s t B a p t i s t Church o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a . Lynchburg, 1965.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name Lynchbum. Va.
UMT References
6 6 4 3 8 0
IEasting
U I
Zone
Quadrangle scale
1:24000
1411411980l
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification Occupying c i t y l o t a t E c o r n e r of Court and 11th S t s . ,
measuring 152' X 1 6 5 ' , t h e 165' f r o n t i n g on Court S t . JUSTIFICATION: The bounds have been drawn t o
c o i n c i d e w i t h t h o s e of t h e l o t of which t h e church and t h e churchyard a r e s i t u a t e d .
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N /A
code
county
state
N/A
code
county
N /A
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
I1
namefiitie
S.
Allen Chambers f o r V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street
code
number
city or town
221 Governor S t r e e t
A p r i l 1981
date
teleohone
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
2state
-local
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officei for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 herecy nominate this property for inclusion in the ( h i o n a ~Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by th$eritage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
Conservation an9 Recreation Service.
d&&fitlaid
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
6.
(2)
7.
#1
Item number 6,7
REPF3SENTfiTION I N EXISTING SURVEYS
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Survey
1969, 1971
State
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
221 Governor S t r e e t
Richmond, V i r g i n i a 23219
DESCRIPTION
I n more mundane terms, t h e s a n c t u a r y was a t y p i c a l auditorium church, where t h e comfortably
s e a t e d congregation had unobstructed views o f t h e p u l p i t , c h o i r l o f t above, and g i l d e d organ
p i p e s behind. Pews were curved and r a d i a t e d from t h e f o c a l p o i n t o f t h e p u l p i t . The two
main a i s l e s l e a d d i a g o n a l l y from t h e two c o r n e r e n t r a n c e s down t o t h e p u l p i t . A narrow c e n t r a l
a i s l e extends o n l y a s f a r toward t h e p u l p i t a s i s necessary b e f o r e t h e narrowing ranks of
pews can b e e n t e r e d a s e a s i l y from t h e s i d e a i s l e s . The s l e n d e r columns noted i n t h e dedicatory
account a r e o f c l u s t e r e d Gothic d e s i g n , and although grained t o appear a s wood, they a r e
a c t u a l l y o f i r o n . The s e a t i n g a r e a o f t h e s a n c t u a r y , which remains l a r g e l y a s i t was o r i g i n a l l y
is e s s e n t i a l l y a r e c t a n g u l a r space measuring 8 5 ' x 7 5 ' . The arrangement of t h e columns and
t h e p a t t e r n of t h e s t a i n e d p i n e c e i l i n g , however, c r e a t e a t l e a s t a s u g g e s t i o n of a cruciform
space. Among t h e most impressive f e a t u r e s of t h e i n t e r i o r a r e t h e r o s e and l a n c e t windows i n
t h e r e a r and s i d e w a l l s . These a r e a l l f i l l e d w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l s t a i n e d g l a s s , which was
manufactured i n Lynchburg by w i l l i a m A . Hefferman. The g l a s s i s c o l o r e d i n b r i g h t primary
c o l o r s and arranged i n a b s t r a c t geometrical p a t t e r n s .
By t h e 1920s, t h e enrollment of t h e Sunday School had i n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t t h a t a new
Sunday School annex had t o b e b u i l t . Designed by Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson, t h e
new a d d i t i o n f a c e s Eleventh S t r e e t t o t h e l e f t of t h e church. Completed i n 1928, it harmonizes
well w i t h t h e o l d e r b u i l d i n g i n s c a l e , m a t e r i a l , and d e s i g n . I n 1941, t h e i n t e r i o r of t h e
sanctuary was modified w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n of a d i v i d e d chancel. Space f o r t h e chancel was taken
from t h e o l d Sunday School, and t h e o l d organ and r a i s e d c h o i r were removed. A r c h i t e c t f o r
t h i s renovation was a g a i n Stanhope Johnson. Woodwork i n t h e new chancel, i n c l u d i n g a high
wainscot, c h o i r pews, p u l p i t , and communion t a b l e , i s decorated with Gothic molding. The f o c a l
p i n t of t h e new chancel i s a s t a i n e d - g l a s s window, a l s o of Gothic d e s i g n , c o n t a i n i n g i n i t s
c e n t r a l panel a r e n d i t i o n o f Holman Hunt's well-known p a i n t i n g , " C h r i s t , t h e L i g h t of t h e World."
This window and f o u r s m a l l e r memorial windows i n s t a l l e d a t t h e same time were made by t h e Payne
Studios of P a t t e r s o n , New J e r s e y . Below, Gothic p a n e l i n g , which d i s g u i s e s t h e b a p t i s t r y when
not i n use, a c t s a s a r e r e d o s . A t t h e same time t h e chancel was c r e a t e d , t h e o l d c h a n d e l i e r
and w a l l l i g h t s of t h e s a n c t u a r y were r e p l a c e d w i t h wrought-iron c h a n d e l i e r s .
The s t e e p l y s l o p i n g l o t on which t h e church s t a n d s maintains much o f i t s o r i g i n a l a s p e c t .
Massive g r a n i t e r e t a i n i n g w a l l s capped w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l i r o n fence s e p a r a t e both t h e Court
and Eleventh S t r e e t yards from t h e sidewalks below. On Court S t r e e t , a n opening i s c u t i n t o
The e n t r a n c e t o t h e churchyard,
t h e r e t a i n i n g w a l l t o p r o v i d e a n e n t r a n c e t o t h e basement.
which is a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of t h e two streets, i s emphasized by two l r o n p o s t s w i t h globe
l i g h t s . Within t h e churchyard, walks a r e o f f l a g s t o n e , and ornamental p l a n t i n g has been k e p t
t o a minimum.
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
F i r s t B a p t i s t Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
#z
8.
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
Church, which had been d e d i c a t e d o n l y t h r e e months e a r l i e r , was then t h e l a r g e s t church e d i f i c e
i n t h e c i t y and much l a r g e r than i t s congregation warranted. I t was a time of enthusiasm and
e x p e c t a t i o n , however, and nothing b u t t h e b i g g e s t and b e s t would do.
The church, which i s t h e f o u r t h b u i l d i n g i n which t h e congregation has worshiped, houses
t h e c i t y ' s o l d e s t B a p t i s t congregation. Dating i t s establishment from a meeting h e l d i n J u l y
1815, t h e church h a s subsequently been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of n i n e o t h e r B a p t i s t
churches i n and around Lynchburg. F i r s t B a p t i s t Church h a s a l s o played a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n
t h e h i s t o r y of i t s denomination i n t h e s t a t e . I n 1893 t h e B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of
V i r g i n i a was organized i n response t o l e t t e r s s e n t t o o t h e r churches by t h e a l r e a d y - e x i s t i n g
I n 1919 i t was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n s e c u r i n g
B a p t i s t Young P e o p l e ' s Union of t h e Lynchburg church.
f o r Lynchburg t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t H o s p i t a l . During t h e 1930s, t h e church c o n t r i b u t e d more
t o t h e s t a t e denominational o r g a n i z a t i o n t h a n any o t h e r congregation. I n t h e 1950s, t h e church
played a d e c i s i v e r o l e i n t h e purchase and development o f Eagle Eyrie, a n e s t a t e t e n miles
west of t h e c i t y , t o s e r v e a s t h e V i r g i n i a B a p t i s t Assembly Ground and summer camp.
During t h i s same p e r i o d , t h e members of t h e church s t r u g g l e d w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n of whether
t o remain a t t h e downtown l o c a t i o n o r t o move t o a suburban s i t e , which would have been more
The d e c i s i o n was reached t o remain. Now, a s t h e church
convenient t o many o f i t s members.
b u i l d i n g approaches i t s c e n t e n n i a l y e a r , it becomes ever more a p p r e c i a t e d a s one of Lynchburg's
a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s t o r i c a l landmarks.
SAC
Text
Form 1C;-300
UhbTED S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A R K S E R V I C E
1765'1
(July
I C O U ~ ,T Y .
LYNC'FIBURG
:
N A T I O N A L Z E G l S T E R O F H I S T O R I C PLACES
INVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
-
\
Gt\lUS\N?-HILL
I
(in city)
F O 2 N P 5 USE O N L Y
I11 STORIC DISTRICT
]i4hl[)/OR7t~T0RlC-
I
I
See-continuation sl?_cet
l C I T Y 012
1
1
STATE
TOWN'
H. Pof f
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The Garland H i l l l i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t i s a s m a l l r e s i d e n t i a l neighborllood i n c o r p o r a t i n g t h e s u m m i t o f one o f t h e numerous h i l l s t h a t surround
dowl~tovn Lynchburg.
The a r e a g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e s t h o s e b l o c k s o f Madison,
l l a r r i s o n and Clay S t r e e t s t h a t a r e n o r t h w e s t o f F i f t h S t r e e t .
Because t h e
l i i l l d r o p s o f f s h a r p l y on t h e n o r t h w e s t and n o r t h e a s t none o f t h e s t r e e t s i n
t h e a r e a i s a through s t r e c t s o t h a a r e a i s u n s u a l l y q u i e t f o r a n urban
neigitborhood.
The s t r e e t s were some o f t h e e a r l i e s t i n t h e c i t y t o r e c e i v e
i b r i c k paving and much o f i t remains.
They a l s o r e t a i n much of t h e o r i g i n a l
s t o n e c u r b i n g a s w e l l a s s l a t e and b r i c k walks. The p r i n c i p a l s t r e e t s ,
Madison and H a r r i s o n , a r e l i n e d w i t h r e g u l a r l y spaced elms, o a k s , and maples
and tllc I ~ O L I S C Son them a r e two and t h r e e s t o r y detached s t r u c t u r e s o f v a r i o u s
arcltitectilral s t y l e s .
Many of t h e houses on Madison S t r e e t s t a n d on t h e i r
o r i g i i l a l wide l o t s which on t h e southwest s i d e o f t h e s t r e e t once extended
undeveloped t o l l a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Most of t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival s t r u c t u r t
a r c two s t o r i e s i n h e i g h t , and have t h r e e - b a y f a c a d e s and s h a l l o w hippcd
roofs.
A number o f t h e s e houses have been e m b e l l i s h e d w i t h l a t e r a r c h i tcc t u r a l d e t a i l s .
The numerous e l a b o r a t e mansions e r e c t e d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s
and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s t a n d i n marked c o n t r a s t t o t h e s i m p l e r , e a r l i e r
Tliese e c l e c t i c s t y l e b u i l d i n g s have asymmetrical o u t l i n e s a c c e n t e d
houses.
w i t h towers, g a b l e s , pediments and a v a r i e t y of b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s .
The
houses on H a r r i s o n S t r e e t a r e g e n e r a l l y l e s s imposing t h a n t h o s e on Madison
;but a r e a s architecturally varied.
The f o l l o w i n g l i s t i s a n i n v e n t o r y w i t h
b r i e f a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f e v e r y house i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
,
I
/&idison S t r e e t
I
9
106 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and frame, one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped and g a b l e r o o f ,
demi-octagonal e n d s , c r o s s g a b l e w i t h d e c o r a t i v e m e t a l s h e a t h i n g ,
e l a b o r a t e o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s . Queen Anne; mid
nineteenth century; converted i n t o apartments.
o
109 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l g a b l e peak
w i t h s h i n g l e s and l a t t i c e p a t t e r n e d window, d o u b l e u n i t window, f r o n t
porch e x t e n d s around t h e c u r v e s o f t h e house. E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
- C(,C 2
-& :
-c.
100 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k and s h i n g l e s , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , g a b l e roofed
dormers, p i e r c e edge of r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends. g.1900.
i
'111 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k
b r a c k e t s , d e c o r a t i v e bargeboards.
Late-nineteenth century.
I1
1i
Foam 10-300.
[July 1969)
UNITED STAYCS DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGISTER Si' I-ilSTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
i
FOR NPS USE ONLY
I
(Continuation Sheet)
LYNCMIIURG ( i n c i t y )
ENTRY NUMBFR
D&TE
1
I (Number ell s n b l o s )
I
117 Madison SLrcet
Brick w i t 1 1 frame b a y s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal frame towers, blockend l i n t e l s , turncd p o s t porch.
Greek Revival; o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n b u i l t
1845-1847; o r i g i n a l l y owncd by Vincent Tabb; e n l a r g e d i n 1895-1896 w i t h
Queen Anne-style a d d i t i o n s .
118 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay, f r o n t
porch a d d i t i o n w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s . &. 1900.
205 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , r o n d e l l e f r i e z e , pedimented hood moldi n g s , three-bay porch w i t h turned b a l u s t r a d e and Temple of t h e Winds
c o l u i ~ m s , c r o s s e d m u l l i o n s i n transom and s i d e l i g h t s , o n e - s t o r y demio c t a g o n a l ended wing. Greek Revival: b u i l t i n 1859; o r g i n i a l l y owned
by Edward M u r r e l l ; Ca. 1901; removal of wing on e a s t s i d e of house.
208 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and s t o n e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , c e n t r a l
tower w i t h Romanesque window and gabled dormer, s t o n e porch w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n c o i o n e t t e s , S u l i i v a n e s q u e archway.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n
1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by John W . Craddock;
a f t e r f i r e i n 1926 golden oak i n t e r i o r woodwork r e p l a c e d by South
American walnut.
209 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l tower
s k i r t e d by E a s t l a k e porch, pedimented p a v i l l i o n w i t h windows of v a r i o u s
shapes.
B u i l t i n 1903; o r i g i n a l l y owned by S. B. Ferguson.
215 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b l o c k end l i n t e l s , I o n i c porch, i n t e r 1845; o r i g i n a l l y owned by
i o r end chimneys. Greek R e v i v a l ;
Samuel G a r l a n d , S r .
&.
c
/ i
I)
220 Madison S t r e e t
Brick, t h r e e s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , Jacobethan g a b l e , c r e n a l l a t e
round tower and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , porch e n c i r c l e s f r o n t and s i d e s ,
Lewis a r c h i t e c t ;
Jacobethan c a r r i a g e - h o u s e .
B u i l t i n 1899; J.M.B.
o r i g i n a l l y owned by A.H. Burroughs; i n 1926 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s b
t h e a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson.
300 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , I o n i c porch w i t h c e n t e r
pediment, windows w i t h l a n c e t - p a t t e r n e d m u l l i o n s i n upper s a s h .
Earlytwentieth century.
I
Form '0-3000
( J u l y 1960)
UNITEL) S T A T E S D C P A R T K C N T O F T l l i I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A 3 K S C R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGIS'I'ER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- ROMINL.SION
LYNClli3URC ( i n c i t y )
FOZM
FOR HPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continuation Shcel)
DATE
I
fNunlbor all ontrioe,
b d i s o n Strcct
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , l a t e r o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r
towcr, l a t e r o n e - s t o r y porches. Ca. 1818; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W a l t e r
Dunningcon; i n 1900 t h e tower w a s a d d e d and i n t e r i o r was r e d e c o r a t e d
i n t h e manner of t h e C o l o n i a l Revival by t h e a r c h i t e c t J.M.B.
Lewis.
-
i
306 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex c r o s s e d g a b l e and hipped r o o f ,
1900.
t r i - p a r t gablewlndow, t u r n e d p o s t porch.
(,( 1,
e.
308 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , s h i n g l e s
s h e a t h galble end, E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e c o u r s e and b a l u s t r a d e .
Ca. 1900.
-
1
309 Madison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h s h i n g l e s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p e d i mented dormer, f r o n t porch w i t h p a i r e d D o r i c columns.
Early
twentieth century.
.
-
!
I
I
310 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , p a t t e r n e d s h i n g l e s i n g a b l e ,
1900.
pedimented e n t r a n c e t o p o s t porch.
&.
312 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , f r o n t porch w i t h
b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and cross-work b a l u s t r a d e .
Late-nineteenth century.
'
313 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , d u p l e x w i t h twin g a b l e s
s h e a t h e d w i t h v e r t i c a l boards and c r o s s e d s t i c k s framing t h e v e n t s ,
double u n i t windows w i t h s q u a r e pane b o r d e r s , o n e - s t o r y porches a t each
1900.
corner.
&.
318
?
Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l bay topped
by overhanging pediment, p o s t porch w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s .
1900.
&.
I
320
Madison S t r e e t
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d Corint h i a n p i l a s t e r s , m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , monumental C o r i n t h i a n p o r t i c o ,
swan's neck pediment of e n t r a n c e f l a n k e d by t r i a n g u l a r hood moldings.
Ca. 1850; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W i l l i a m R. M u r r e l l ; e x t e n s i v e l y remodelled
1914.
- &.
o
I
321 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two-story p r o j e c t i n g end
p a v i l l i o n s w i t h o n e - s t o r y demi-octagonal bay, d e n t i l s o u t l i n e pediment
o f p a b l e , Doric ~ o r c ha l o n g fr0.n.t and s i d e s . Ca. 1900.
I
Farm lO.2OOa
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S DEPART1::NT
O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R O F i 5 I S T O R i C PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINA7IGi\: FORX
(Continuation Sheel)
I!?. < s > >
( N u m b o r ell o n l r l o a )
!p.
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
ENTRYNUMDER
DATE
I
7.
400 Madison S t r e e t
lrra111ew i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f ,
m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r tower w i t h p e n t c o u r s e s , pedimented
p a v i l l i o n c u t by r e c e s s e d a r c h , o n e - s t o r y b r i c k porch i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o
f r o n t and s i d e .
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ;
o r i g i n a l l y owned by George P. Watkins.
405 Madison S t r e e t
S t i ~ c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , overhanging t i l e r o o f ,
p a n e l l e d f r i e z e , monuinental p o r t i c o w i t h c l u s t e r e d I o n i c columns,
P a l l a d i a n windows, o n e - s t o r y s i d e porch and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , f i n e c a s t
i r o n fence w i t h s t o n e p o s t s e n c i r c l e s f r o n t y a r d , c a r r i a g e house of
s i m i l a r design.
B u i l t i n 1914; Stanhope Johnson a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y
1950 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s .
owned by James R. G i l l i a m , S r . ;
&.
412 Madison S t r e e t
Stone and s h i n g l e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , round
c o r n e r tower, c r o s s g a b l e t o t h e f r o n t , s t o n e porch e n c l o s e s f r o n t and
s i d e , s t o n e w a l l e n c i r c l e s yard.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1897; Edward
Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by Frank P. C h r i s t i a n .
413 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d window u n i t s , demi-octagonal
bay w i t h g a b l e r o o f , d e c o r a t i v e c a s t i r o n porch. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r
F i r s t and H a r r i s o n S t r e e t s
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , b r i c k f o u n d a t i o n s and
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; f r o n t porch a d d i t i o n .
I
101 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h , e n t r a n c e w i t h transom
and s i d e l i g h t s .
L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; a d d i t i o n on s o u t h e a s t s i d e .
111 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , three-bay f r o n t
porch s h e l t e r e d by roof overhang. Bungaloid; e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
112 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Half-timber and b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s q u a r e tower
w i t h hipped r o o f , exposed r a f t e r e n d s , banded windows.
Jacobethan
Revival; E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
114 Harrison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h c l a p b o a r d i n g and s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped
r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends.
Early-twentieth century.
.
F o i ? ~10.3:Ou
( j u l y 1969)
U N I T E D STATCS DCPAKTMCNT O F T i i C I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PAIII( SERVICE
N A T I O N A L X E G I S T E R O F I-iISYORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- N0h';lNA;iON
(Continuation Shcet)
ii(
i
,'
i
(
(Numbor n l l onlrlnr)
i;,ii
VII<CINIA
'OUNTY
LYNCllCURG ( i n c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRY NUMOEH
DATE
I
i
119 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraine two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e w i t h exposed r a f t e r
e n d s . 3. 1900.
.
v
- GI-
FORM
51Ari:
<.
1
I
122 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Urick, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roo:,
monumental o v a l p o r t i c o w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n columns, c n t r a n c e w i t h broken a r c h pediment. Georgian
Revival; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
123 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y porch
e n c i r c l e s t h e f r o n t , turned p o s t s w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e and ramped b a l u s t r a d e , s h i n g l e g a b l e and d e c o r a t i v e windows o f v a r i o u s s h a p e s .
Queen
Anne; l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
201 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , f u l l porch a l o n g f i r s t
story.
Early-twentieth century.
-
1
202 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e roof duplex w i t h twin gabled p a v i l l i o n s w i t h
o r i e l s f l a n k i n g two-bay p o s t p o r c h , v e r t i c a l boards i n g a b l e ends.
Late-nineteenth century.
1
i
1
207 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d windows, e n t r a n c e w i t h gabled
hood.
E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y c a r r i a g e house.
I
208 Hazrison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , segmental headed windows, heavy molded
c o r n i c e , b r a c k e t e d e n t r a n c e porch.
Early-twentieth century.
!
1
I
i
/
I
I
I
.,
1I
I
210 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l p a v i l l i o n w i t h a r c h e d
windows on t h e second f l o o r , open porches f l a n k t h e f i r s t s t o r y o f t h e
f r o n t g a b l e and e n c l o s e d u n i t s f l a n k t h e g a b l e ' s second s t o r y .
Earlytwentieth century.
215 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , l i n t e l s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , i n t e r i o r end
chimneys, s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h . Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
220 Harrison S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , banded
windows, penc r o o f .
Bungaloid; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n ~ u r y .
223 H a r r i s o n . S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y porch w i t h
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
Form
10-^09u
U N I T E D STATES D L , 7 A R T M I N T O F T H E INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK SEI<VICE
( J u l y 1969)
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R 5 F i-:iS?CR:C ?LACES
iNVC;;YORY
- K0h::NkTiON
(Continuation Shect)
FOSM
LYNCIIEURG ( in city)
F O 2 h P S USE O N L Y
1
I
I
ENTRY KUMsER
I
I
I
I.
-
300 l i a r r i s o n S t r e e t
U;ick, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , e a r l y s a s h , second f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h
transom and s i d e l i g h t s , f i r s t f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h s i d e l i g h t s and Doric
porcli.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n s and t w o - s t o r y
addition.
301 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, s h a l l o w g a b l e
moldings o v e r d o o r s and windows, e n t r a n c e surrounded by transom and
sidelights.
Greek Revival; m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
308 Harrison
Frame,
units,
double
Strect
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , duplex composed o f four-bay
p o s t porches shade e n t r a n c e s , v a r i o u s s t y l e s o f l i g h t s used i n
s a s h windows.
Early-twentieth century.
I
309 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame s h e a t h e d w i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , p y r a n i d a l r o o f ,
ciltrance w i t h transom and s i d e l i g h t s s h e l t e r e d by t h r e e - b a y p o s t porch
w i t h Mansard r o o f .
Early-twentieth century.
II
314 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roof w i t h dormer l i g h t e d by
P a i l a d i a n window, s h i n g l e s i d i n g on t h e second f l o o r , Doric porch a l o n g
f r o n t ends i n a rounded c o r n e r , s h a f t motif c a s t i r o n f e n c e e n c l o s e s
f r o n t yard.
Queen Anne; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
315 and 317 m r r i s o n S t r e e t
E r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, duplex o f twobay u n i t s , c e n t r a l d o o r s on f i r s t and second f l o o r s , f u l l porch a l o n g
f r o n t , l i n t e l s with cornerblocks.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
316 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay w i t h b r a c k e t s , c a s r i r o n porch w i t h b a s k e t weave and s c r o l l p a t t e r n , p i k e motif c a s t - r i o n
f e n c e bounds f r o n t y a r d .
Late-nineteenth century.
321 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , v e r t i c a l boards
w i t h rounded ends f i l l t h e g a b l e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch.
Earlytwentieth century.
322 Harrison
Frame,
topped
style;
i
Street
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , demi-octagonal bay
w i t h d e c o r a t i v e g a b i e , turned p o s t porch on two s i d e s .
Eastlake
late-nineteenth century.
I
i
F~~~~lo.3cno
UNITED STATES D E P A R T ~ ~ C O
N FT T I ~ EI N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PA2K S E R V I C E
(July 1969)
K A Y I O N A L kEGlSTf'E;Z OF l i l S T O R i C P L A C E S
(Continuation Shcct)
(Nurnbar 011 o n l r l r s )
t
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
I
i
7.
-
1
I
323 Hhrrison S t r e e t
Fra~iie, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y f r o n t porch.
rwenLietli c e n t u r y .
Early-
I
1
I
i1
400 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
g r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e ,
segmental window h e a d s , one-silory Eastlalce p o r c h w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s
I
anci s p i n d l e s , s u n r i s e motif i n e n t r a n c e pediment. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h centu;y.
-
406 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
brame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , e n t r a n c e porch w i t h
d o o r on second f l o o r .
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; one-bay two s t o r y
a d d i t i o n w i t h e n t r a n c e porch.
Row 401, 405, 409, and 413 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two bay b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , p o s t p o r c h e s ,
E n ~ r a n c eporch w i t h door on second f l o o r .
Late-nineteenth century.
4 0 9 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraii~e, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch
w i t h b r a c k e t s and sawn b a l u s t r a d e .
Early-twentieth century.
i
I
415 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
I.'ra:ne, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , e n t r a n c e porch s u p p o r t e d on
lieavy p o s t s , hipped roof dormer.
Early-twentieth century.
I
i
416 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , pedimented dormers, double
e x t e r i o r end chimneys, pedimented e n t r a n c e porch.
Mid-nineteenth
century.
CLAY STREET
404 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, g a b l e r o o f e d
p o s t e n t r a n c e porch.
Late-nineteenth century.
408 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-bay wing w i t h s i m p l e p o s t porch, s i x o v e r - s i x s a s h windows w i t h molded and c o r n e r b l o c k a r c h i t r a v e s , p o s t
porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Mid-nineteenth century.
412 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , mouse-tooth s h i n g l e s f i l l t h e
g a b l e , turned p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k b r a c k e t s .
@. 1900.
i
414 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h i
windows framed by a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , three-bay Doric porch.
M i r i r i n i i i + e ~ ~ "
Fork 10-300.
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T G F T H E INTCi?lOR
NATIONAL PARK SEiiVlCE
STATE
NATIONAL f<ECISTER O F i:ISTOR!C P L A C E S
Ia<VENTOZY
- ?:OMINAiiGN
(Continuation Shcct)
(Numbor a11 sntrlss)
I .- 0: . 9
'J. :, 1.
-
/
I
-
1
FOCM
i
I
(in city)
-.
i-Oil NPS USE O h L Y
E N T R Y NUMDFH
1
I
1
O&TE
417 C l a y s t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ,
a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , frame' porch w i t h a r c a d e . 9.
1900.
LUCADO PLIICC
501 Lucado P l a c e
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , beaded s i d i n g , molded s i l l s , some e a r l y
s a s h , p o s t porch, box c o r n i c e on f r o n t and r a k i n g c o r n i c e on g a b l e ends,
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Lucado P l a c e
Frame, one s t o r y , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows, i n t e r l o r end
chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; r e a r a d d i t i o n .
CCL
I
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I
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local his tory
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science
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Garland H i l l remains one o f t h e most d i s t i n c t i v e and b e s t p r e s e r v e d
o f t h e prosperous neighborhoods t h a t developed on t h e summits of ~ ~ n c h b u r ~ ' s
I
various h i l l s .
Located i n t h e few b l o c k s of t h i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y s m a l l a r e a I
a r e d i s t i n g u i s h e d examples of a r c h i t e c t u r e d a t i n g from t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y through t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
I n t h e s e houses l i v e d many
The neighborhood
of Lynchburg's o l d e s t and most d i s t i n g u i s h e d f a m i l i e s .
a c h i e v e d i t s ascendancy i n t h e 1 8 9 0 1 s , and a n atmosphere of q u i e t l a t e V i c t o r i a n d i g n i t y p r e v a i l s i n i t s brick-paved s t r e e t s today.
The development o f Garland H i l l n o t o n l y r e f l e c t s t h e changing a r c h i t e c t u r a l t a s t e s o f
Lynchburg's l e a d i n g c i t i z e n s o v e r a hundred y e a r span, b u t i t symbolizes
t h e conmunity's growth from a r u r a l l y o r i e n t e d town t o a n i n d u s t r i a l c i t y .
Garland H i l l w a s o u t s i d e t h e f o r t y - f i v e a c r e s o f land on which John
Lynch l a i d o u t t h e c i t y i n 1786.
The f i r s t development on t h e h i l l came
i n 1817 when W a l t e r Dunnington c o n s t r u c t e d t h e house, now s t a n d i n g a t
303 Madison S t r e e t on two a c r e s o f farmland a c q u i r e d from Lynch f i v e y e a r s
earlier.
I n 1845, when ~ y n c h ' sc o u s i n , C e l i n e Dupuy, took o v e r t h e t i t l e
of t h e twenty a c r e s of farm t h a t included Garland H i l l , t h e land was
surveyed by Thomas D i l l a r d i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r s a l e .
T h i s d i v i s i o n of t h e
land i n t o f o u r t e e n s i n g l e a c r e l o t s comprised t h e f i r s t e x t e n s i v e developHaving purchased a c o r n e r of t h e s e c t i o n known 1;
ment of t h e neighborhood.
a s Lynch's Garden, Samuel G a r l a n d , S r . , was t h e f i r s t t o b u i l d a house on
t h i s new d i v i s i o n o f land.
The h i l l i n f a c t was named f o r t h e family of t h s
prominent c i t i z e n whose Greek Revival b r i c k h o u s e s t a n d s a t 215 Madison S t r e e
Other i m p o r t a n t Greek Revival houses on Madison S t r e e t d a t i n g from t h e Dupuy
d i v i s i o n i n c l u d e 117, completed i n 1847, f o r Vincent Tabb; 205, t h e house
of Edward M u r r e l l , b u i l t i n 1859; and 320, completed around 1850.
All
t h r e e o f t h e s e houses have a c o n s e r v a t i v e y e t prosperous f l a v o r , r e f l e c t i n g
t h e l i f e - s t y l e of t h e c i t i z e n s who b u i l t them.
Many o f t h e c i t i z e n s who occupied Garland H i l l were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
Also
t h e tobacco i n d u s t r y whichwas a p r i n c i p a l economic b a s e f o r t h e town.
t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e town's growing shoe i n d u s t r y s e t t l e d i n t h e neighborhood.
A number o f t h e s e e a r l y i n d u s t r i a l i s t s were sons o f r u r a l landowners i n
s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s hard h i t by R e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
They came t o Lynchburg
w i t h d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o succeed and by t h e l a s t decades o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c c n t u r y t h e y were f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e i r new p o s i t i o n s .
The indust r i a l i s t s , a s w e l l a s t h e bankers who prospered a l o n g w i t h them, were e a g e r
t o d i s p l a y t h e i r newly a c q u i r e d w e a l t h and soon l a v i s h l a t e - V i c t o r i a n homes I
were being p u t up among t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival d w e l l i n g s .
The new
houses were l a r g e l y t h e p r o d u c t s o f l o c a l a r c h i t e c t s who worked i n t h e l a t e s f
eclectic styles.
A n o t a b l e example of t h i s e r a i s t h e rambling Queen Anne
i
I
1.
I
I
I
( c o n t .)
Form i0-3000
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M I N T O F THE I N T i H l O R
N A T I O N A L P i i i i K SEr?VICE
N A T I O N A L tR2G!STfR O F :-:iSTORiC Pi.;ACES
lidVZNTO?','
- P:O!.;:SA7IilN
(Continuation Sheet)
F,..;,:
IST&TL-
C
j
V-TKGINUi
:cOuN'y
I
i
(in city)
282 NPS U S 5 O N L Y
1
.
5
:
.
,
,
i
,,N
,U
,
DATE
I
I ( ~ u m b s rall antrfss)
frame llouse a t 4 0 0 Madison S t r e e t designed by t h e popular Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
Edward Fry f o r George P , Watkins, a n e a r l y l e a d e r of t h e shoe i n d u s t r y .
John W . Craddock, a founder of t h e shoe f i r m o f Craddock and Terry i n 1898,
and one of Wa'ikins' pritne c o m p e t i t o r s , employed Fry t o d e s i g n f o r him t h e
imposi;ig Queen Anne house a t 208 Madison S t r e e t t h a t same y e a r .
I n 1914
Jalnes K. G i l l i a m , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e Lynchlburg Shoe Company, b u i l t h i s impressiv
Beaus-Arts s t y l e mansion a t 405 ?ladison S t r e e t a f t e r t h e d e s i g n s o f a n o t h e r
The l a r g e s t house on Garland H i l l , a
l o c a l a r c h i t e c t , Stanhope Johnson.
massive c a s t e l l a t e d mansion a t 220 & d i s o n S t r e e t was d e s i g n e d by J.M.B.
Lewis
f o r A. H. Burroughs, a lawyer whose w e a l t h was based on h i s h a n d l i n g t h e
a c c o u n t o f t h e newly developed Bonsack c i g a r e t t e m c h i n e .
CCL
U N I T E 0 STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
F o r m 10.3iOa
(July 1969)
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- SOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I T A 1E
VIRGINIA
LYNCHBURG ( i n c i t y )
F O Q N P S USE ONLY
(Number ell s n f r l e a )
2.
DATE
E N T R Y NUMBER
Bounded on t h e southwest by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e southwest s i d e of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e n o r t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e n o r t h e a s t s i d e o f Clay S t r e e t and by
tile 700' c o n t o u r l i n e (of U.S.G.S.
7%' q u a d r a n g l e Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a , p h o t o r e v i s e d 1968) from t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Clay
S t r e e t t o t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Madison S t r e e t .
Bounded on
t h e s o u t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e l o t s f a c i n g
onto t h e northwest s i d e of F i f t h S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e
n o r t h w e s t by t h e 700' c o n t o u r l i n e between Madison and
Harrison Streets.
I
UhbTED S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A R K S E R V I C E
1765'1
(July
I C O U ~ ,T Y .
LYNC'FIBURG
:
N A T I O N A L Z E G l S T E R O F H I S T O R I C PLACES
INVENTORY
NOMINATION FORM
-
\
Gt\lUS\N?-HILL
I
(in city)
F O 2 N P 5 USE O N L Y
I11 STORIC DISTRICT
]i4hl[)/OR7t~T0RlC-
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(Check O n &
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h e r i c a n B u i l d i n ~ sSurvey I n v e n t o r y
D A T E OF S U R V E Y .
I
1958
Federot
State
County
D I C 0 5 1 7 0 A Y F O R SUR V B Y RECORWS.
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Exccllsnt
( C l l a c h One)
XI
Good
Foir
( C l > r s k Orio)
11
Altered
I-x U n o l f e r e d
[l D o t s r i o r o t o d
1-
1
3 Ruior
13
Unoxposad
( C h e c k One)
[X O r i p i n o l Site
The Garland H i l l l i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t i s a s m a l l r e s i d e n t i a l neighborllood i n c o r p o r a t i n g t h e s u m m i t o f one o f t h e numerous h i l l s t h a t surround
dowl~tovn Lynchburg.
The a r e a g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e s t h o s e b l o c k s o f Madison,
l l a r r i s o n and Clay S t r e e t s t h a t a r e n o r t h w e s t o f F i f t h S t r e e t .
Because t h e
l i i l l d r o p s o f f s h a r p l y on t h e n o r t h w e s t and n o r t h e a s t none o f t h e s t r e e t s i n
t h e a r e a i s a through s t r e c t s o t h a a r e a i s u n s u a l l y q u i e t f o r a n urban
neigitborhood.
The s t r e e t s were some o f t h e e a r l i e s t i n t h e c i t y t o r e c e i v e
i b r i c k paving and much o f i t remains.
They a l s o r e t a i n much of t h e o r i g i n a l
s t o n e c u r b i n g a s w e l l a s s l a t e and b r i c k walks. The p r i n c i p a l s t r e e t s ,
Madison and H a r r i s o n , a r e l i n e d w i t h r e g u l a r l y spaced elms, o a k s , and maples
and tllc I ~ O L I S C Son them a r e two and t h r e e s t o r y detached s t r u c t u r e s o f v a r i o u s
arcltitectilral s t y l e s .
Many of t h e houses on Madison S t r e e t s t a n d on t h e i r
o r i g i i l a l wide l o t s which on t h e southwest s i d e o f t h e s t r e e t once extended
undeveloped t o l l a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Most of t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival s t r u c t u r t
a r c two s t o r i e s i n h e i g h t , and have t h r e e - b a y f a c a d e s and s h a l l o w hippcd
roofs.
A number o f t h e s e houses have been e m b e l l i s h e d w i t h l a t e r a r c h i tcc t u r a l d e t a i l s .
The numerous e l a b o r a t e mansions e r e c t e d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s
and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s t a n d i n marked c o n t r a s t t o t h e s i m p l e r , e a r l i e r
Tliese e c l e c t i c s t y l e b u i l d i n g s have asymmetrical o u t l i n e s a c c e n t e d
houses.
w i t h towers, g a b l e s , pediments and a v a r i e t y of b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s .
The
houses on H a r r i s o n S t r e e t a r e g e n e r a l l y l e s s imposing t h a n t h o s e on Madison
;but a r e a s architecturally varied.
The f o l l o w i n g l i s t i s a n i n v e n t o r y w i t h
b r i e f a r c h i t e c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f e v e r y house i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
,
I
/&idison S t r e e t
I
9
106 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and frame, one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped and g a b l e r o o f ,
demi-octagonal e n d s , c r o s s g a b l e w i t h d e c o r a t i v e m e t a l s h e a t h i n g ,
e l a b o r a t e o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s . Queen Anne; mid
nineteenth century; converted i n t o apartments.
o
109 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l g a b l e peak
w i t h s h i n g l e s and l a t t i c e p a t t e r n e d window, d o u b l e u n i t window, f r o n t
porch e x t e n d s around t h e c u r v e s o f t h e house. E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
- C(,C 2
-& :
-c.
100 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k and s h i n g l e s , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , g a b l e roofed
dormers, p i e r c e edge of r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends. g.1900.
i
'111 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k
b r a c k e t s , d e c o r a t i v e bargeboards.
Late-nineteenth century.
I1
1i
Foam 10-300.
[July 1969)
UNITED STAYCS DEPARTMENT O F THE INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK S E R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGISTER Si' I-ilSTORIC ? L A C E S
INVENTORY. NOMINATION FORM
i
FOR NPS USE ONLY
I
(Continuation Sheet)
LYNCMIIURG ( i n c i t y )
ENTRY NUMBFR
D&TE
1
I (Number ell s n b l o s )
I
117 Madison SLrcet
Brick w i t 1 1 frame b a y s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal frame towers, blockend l i n t e l s , turncd p o s t porch.
Greek Revival; o r i g i n a l p o r t i o n b u i l t
1845-1847; o r i g i n a l l y owncd by Vincent Tabb; e n l a r g e d i n 1895-1896 w i t h
Queen Anne-style a d d i t i o n s .
118 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay, f r o n t
porch a d d i t i o n w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s . &. 1900.
205 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , r o n d e l l e f r i e z e , pedimented hood moldi n g s , three-bay porch w i t h turned b a l u s t r a d e and Temple of t h e Winds
c o l u i ~ m s , c r o s s e d m u l l i o n s i n transom and s i d e l i g h t s , o n e - s t o r y demio c t a g o n a l ended wing. Greek Revival: b u i l t i n 1859; o r g i n i a l l y owned
by Edward M u r r e l l ; Ca. 1901; removal of wing on e a s t s i d e of house.
208 Madison S t r e e t
Brick and s t o n e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , c e n t r a l
tower w i t h Romanesque window and gabled dormer, s t o n e porch w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n c o i o n e t t e s , S u l i i v a n e s q u e archway.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n
1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by John W . Craddock;
a f t e r f i r e i n 1926 golden oak i n t e r i o r woodwork r e p l a c e d by South
American walnut.
209 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l tower
s k i r t e d by E a s t l a k e porch, pedimented p a v i l l i o n w i t h windows of v a r i o u s
shapes.
B u i l t i n 1903; o r i g i n a l l y owned by S. B. Ferguson.
215 Madison S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b l o c k end l i n t e l s , I o n i c porch, i n t e r 1845; o r i g i n a l l y owned by
i o r end chimneys. Greek R e v i v a l ;
Samuel G a r l a n d , S r .
&.
c
/ i
I)
220 Madison S t r e e t
Brick, t h r e e s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , Jacobethan g a b l e , c r e n a l l a t e
round tower and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , porch e n c i r c l e s f r o n t and s i d e s ,
Lewis a r c h i t e c t ;
Jacobethan c a r r i a g e - h o u s e .
B u i l t i n 1899; J.M.B.
o r i g i n a l l y owned by A.H. Burroughs; i n 1926 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s b
t h e a r c h i t e c t Stanhope Johnson.
300 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , I o n i c porch w i t h c e n t e r
pediment, windows w i t h l a n c e t - p a t t e r n e d m u l l i o n s i n upper s a s h .
Earlytwentieth century.
I
Form '0-3000
( J u l y 1960)
UNITEL) S T A T E S D C P A R T K C N T O F T l l i I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL P A 3 K S C R V I C E
N A T I O N A L REGIS'I'ER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- ROMINL.SION
LYNClli3URC ( i n c i t y )
FOZM
FOR HPS USE ONLY
E N T R Y NUMBER
(Continuation Shcel)
DATE
I
fNunlbor all ontrioe,
b d i s o n Strcct
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , l a t e r o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r
towcr, l a t e r o n e - s t o r y porches. Ca. 1818; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W a l t e r
Dunningcon; i n 1900 t h e tower w a s a d d e d and i n t e r i o r was r e d e c o r a t e d
i n t h e manner of t h e C o l o n i a l Revival by t h e a r c h i t e c t J.M.B.
Lewis.
-
i
306 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex c r o s s e d g a b l e and hipped r o o f ,
1900.
t r i - p a r t gablewlndow, t u r n e d p o s t porch.
(,( 1,
e.
308 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , s h i n g l e s
s h e a t h galble end, E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e c o u r s e and b a l u s t r a d e .
Ca. 1900.
-
1
309 Madison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h s h i n g l e s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p e d i mented dormer, f r o n t porch w i t h p a i r e d D o r i c columns.
Early
twentieth century.
.
-
!
I
I
310 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , p a t t e r n e d s h i n g l e s i n g a b l e ,
1900.
pedimented e n t r a n c e t o p o s t porch.
&.
312 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , f r o n t porch w i t h
b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and cross-work b a l u s t r a d e .
Late-nineteenth century.
'
313 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , d u p l e x w i t h twin g a b l e s
s h e a t h e d w i t h v e r t i c a l boards and c r o s s e d s t i c k s framing t h e v e n t s ,
double u n i t windows w i t h s q u a r e pane b o r d e r s , o n e - s t o r y porches a t each
1900.
corner.
&.
318
?
Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e and hipped r o o f , o c t a g o n a l bay topped
by overhanging pediment, p o s t porch w i t h s u n b u r s t b r a c k e t s .
1900.
&.
I
320
Madison S t r e e t
S t u c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d Corint h i a n p i l a s t e r s , m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , monumental C o r i n t h i a n p o r t i c o ,
swan's neck pediment of e n t r a n c e f l a n k e d by t r i a n g u l a r hood moldings.
Ca. 1850; o r i g i n a l l y owned by W i l l i a m R. M u r r e l l ; e x t e n s i v e l y remodelled
1914.
- &.
o
I
321 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two-story p r o j e c t i n g end
p a v i l l i o n s w i t h o n e - s t o r y demi-octagonal bay, d e n t i l s o u t l i n e pediment
o f p a b l e , Doric ~ o r c ha l o n g fr0.n.t and s i d e s . Ca. 1900.
I
Farm lO.2OOa
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S DEPART1::NT
O F THE I N T E R I O R
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R O F i 5 I S T O R i C PLACES
INVENTORY
- NOMINA7IGi\: FORX
(Continuation Sheel)
I!?. < s > >
( N u m b o r ell o n l r l o a )
!p.
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
ENTRYNUMDER
DATE
I
7.
400 Madison S t r e e t
lrra111ew i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f ,
m o d i l l i o n c o r n i c e , o c t a g o n a l c o r n e r tower w i t h p e n t c o u r s e s , pedimented
p a v i l l i o n c u t by r e c e s s e d a r c h , o n e - s t o r y b r i c k porch i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o
f r o n t and s i d e .
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1898; Edward Frye a r c h i t e c t ;
o r i g i n a l l y owned by George P. Watkins.
405 Madison S t r e e t
S t i ~ c c o - o v e r - b r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , overhanging t i l e r o o f ,
p a n e l l e d f r i e z e , monuinental p o r t i c o w i t h c l u s t e r e d I o n i c columns,
P a l l a d i a n windows, o n e - s t o r y s i d e porch and p o r t e - c o c h e r e , f i n e c a s t
i r o n fence w i t h s t o n e p o s t s e n c i r c l e s f r o n t y a r d , c a r r i a g e house of
s i m i l a r design.
B u i l t i n 1914; Stanhope Johnson a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y
1950 c o n v e r t e d i n t o a p a r t m e n t s .
owned by James R. G i l l i a m , S r . ;
&.
412 Madison S t r e e t
Stone and s h i n g l e , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex hipped r o o f , round
c o r n e r tower, c r o s s g a b l e t o t h e f r o n t , s t o n e porch e n c l o s e s f r o n t and
s i d e , s t o n e w a l l e n c i r c l e s yard.
Queen Anne; b u i l t i n 1897; Edward
Frye a r c h i t e c t ; o r i g i n a l l y owned by Frank P. C h r i s t i a n .
413 Madison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d window u n i t s , demi-octagonal
bay w i t h g a b l e r o o f , d e c o r a t i v e c a s t i r o n porch. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r
F i r s t and H a r r i s o n S t r e e t s
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , b r i c k f o u n d a t i o n s and
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; f r o n t porch a d d i t i o n .
I
101 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h , e n t r a n c e w i t h transom
and s i d e l i g h t s .
L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; a d d i t i o n on s o u t h e a s t s i d e .
111 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , one-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , three-bay f r o n t
porch s h e l t e r e d by roof overhang. Bungaloid; e a r l y - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
112 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Half-timber and b r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s q u a r e tower
w i t h hipped r o o f , exposed r a f t e r e n d s , banded windows.
Jacobethan
Revival; E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
114 Harrison S t r e e t
Frame w i t h c l a p b o a r d i n g and s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped
r o o f , exposed r a f t e r ends.
Early-twentieth century.
.
F o i ? ~10.3:Ou
( j u l y 1969)
U N I T E D STATCS DCPAKTMCNT O F T i i C I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PAIII( SERVICE
N A T I O N A L X E G I S T E R O F I-iISYORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- N0h';lNA;iON
(Continuation Shcet)
ii(
i
,'
i
(
(Numbor n l l onlrlnr)
i;,ii
VII<CINIA
'OUNTY
LYNCllCURG ( i n c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
ENTRY NUMOEH
DATE
I
i
119 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraine two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e w i t h exposed r a f t e r
e n d s . 3. 1900.
.
v
- GI-
FORM
51Ari:
<.
1
I
122 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Urick, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roo:,
monumental o v a l p o r t i c o w i t h
C o r i n t h i a n columns, c n t r a n c e w i t h broken a r c h pediment. Georgian
Revival; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
123 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y porch
e n c i r c l e s t h e f r o n t , turned p o s t s w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e and ramped b a l u s t r a d e , s h i n g l e g a b l e and d e c o r a t i v e windows o f v a r i o u s s h a p e s .
Queen
Anne; l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
201 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , f u l l porch a l o n g f i r s t
story.
Early-twentieth century.
-
1
202 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e roof duplex w i t h twin gabled p a v i l l i o n s w i t h
o r i e l s f l a n k i n g two-bay p o s t p o r c h , v e r t i c a l boards i n g a b l e ends.
Late-nineteenth century.
1
i
1
207 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , p a i r e d windows, e n t r a n c e w i t h gabled
hood.
E a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y c a r r i a g e house.
I
208 Hazrison S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , segmental headed windows, heavy molded
c o r n i c e , b r a c k e t e d e n t r a n c e porch.
Early-twentieth century.
!
1
I
i
/
I
I
I
.,
1I
I
210 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , c e n t r a l p a v i l l i o n w i t h a r c h e d
windows on t h e second f l o o r , open porches f l a n k t h e f i r s t s t o r y o f t h e
f r o n t g a b l e and e n c l o s e d u n i t s f l a n k t h e g a b l e ' s second s t o r y .
Earlytwentieth century.
215 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
B r i c k , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , l i n t e l s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , i n t e r i o r end
chimneys, s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h . Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
220 Harrison S t r e e t
S t u c c o , two s t o r i e s , c l i p p e d g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , banded
windows, penc r o o f .
Bungaloid; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n ~ u r y .
223 H a r r i s o n . S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y porch w i t h
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
Form
10-^09u
U N I T E D STATES D L , 7 A R T M I N T O F T H E INTERIOR
N A T I O N A L PARK SEI<VICE
( J u l y 1969)
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R 5 F i-:iS?CR:C ?LACES
iNVC;;YORY
- K0h::NkTiON
(Continuation Shect)
FOSM
LYNCIIEURG ( in city)
F O 2 h P S USE O N L Y
1
I
I
ENTRY KUMsER
I
I
I
I.
-
300 l i a r r i s o n S t r e e t
U;ick, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , e a r l y s a s h , second f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h
transom and s i d e l i g h t s , f i r s t f l o o r e n t r a n c e w i t h s i d e l i g h t s and Doric
porcli.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; l a t e r a l t e r a t i o n s and t w o - s t o r y
addition.
301 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, s h a l l o w g a b l e
moldings o v e r d o o r s and windows, e n t r a n c e surrounded by transom and
sidelights.
Greek Revival; m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
308 Harrison
Frame,
units,
double
Strect
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , duplex composed o f four-bay
p o s t porches shade e n t r a n c e s , v a r i o u s s t y l e s o f l i g h t s used i n
s a s h windows.
Early-twentieth century.
I
309 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame s h e a t h e d w i t h s h i n g l e s , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , p y r a n i d a l r o o f ,
ciltrance w i t h transom and s i d e l i g h t s s h e l t e r e d by t h r e e - b a y p o s t porch
w i t h Mansard r o o f .
Early-twentieth century.
II
314 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped roof w i t h dormer l i g h t e d by
P a i l a d i a n window, s h i n g l e s i d i n g on t h e second f l o o r , Doric porch a l o n g
f r o n t ends i n a rounded c o r n e r , s h a f t motif c a s t i r o n f e n c e e n c l o s e s
f r o n t yard.
Queen Anne; e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
315 and 317 m r r i s o n S t r e e t
E r i c k , two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, duplex o f twobay u n i t s , c e n t r a l d o o r s on f i r s t and second f l o o r s , f u l l porch a l o n g
f r o n t , l i n t e l s with cornerblocks.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y .
I
316 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , demi-octagonal bay w i t h b r a c k e t s , c a s r i r o n porch w i t h b a s k e t weave and s c r o l l p a t t e r n , p i k e motif c a s t - r i o n
f e n c e bounds f r o n t y a r d .
Late-nineteenth century.
321 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s - g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , v e r t i c a l boards
w i t h rounded ends f i l l t h e g a b l e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch.
Earlytwentieth century.
322 Harrison
Frame,
topped
style;
i
Street
two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , demi-octagonal bay
w i t h d e c o r a t i v e g a b i e , turned p o s t porch on two s i d e s .
Eastlake
late-nineteenth century.
I
i
F~~~~lo.3cno
UNITED STATES D E P A R T ~ ~ C O
N FT T I ~ EI N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PA2K S E R V I C E
(July 1969)
K A Y I O N A L kEGlSTf'E;Z OF l i l S T O R i C P L A C E S
(Continuation Shcct)
(Nurnbar 011 o n l r l r s )
t
E N T R Y NUMBER
DATE
I
i
7.
-
1
I
323 Hhrrison S t r e e t
Fra~iie, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , one s t o r y f r o n t porch.
rwenLietli c e n t u r y .
Early-
I
1
I
i1
400 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
g r i c k , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , complex g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e ,
segmental window h e a d s , one-silory Eastlalce p o r c h w i t h t u r n e d b a l u s t e r s
I
anci s p i n d l e s , s u n r i s e motif i n e n t r a n c e pediment. L a t e - n i n e t e e n t h centu;y.
-
406 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
brame, two s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , some e a r l y s a s h , e n t r a n c e porch w i t h
d o o r on second f l o o r .
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; one-bay two s t o r y
a d d i t i o n w i t h e n t r a n c e porch.
Row 401, 405, 409, and 413 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , two bay b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , p o s t p o r c h e s ,
E n ~ r a n c eporch w i t h door on second f l o o r .
Late-nineteenth century.
4 0 9 Harrison S t r e e t
Fraii~e, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e , o n e - s t o r y f r o n t porch
w i t h b r a c k e t s and sawn b a l u s t r a d e .
Early-twentieth century.
i
I
415 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
I.'ra:ne, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , hipped r o o f , e n t r a n c e porch s u p p o r t e d on
lieavy p o s t s , hipped roof dormer.
Early-twentieth century.
I
i
416 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t
Frame, two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , pedimented dormers, double
e x t e r i o r end chimneys, pedimented e n t r a n c e porch.
Mid-nineteenth
century.
CLAY STREET
404 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , i n t e r i o r end chimneys, g a b l e r o o f e d
p o s t e n t r a n c e porch.
Late-nineteenth century.
408 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-bay wing w i t h s i m p l e p o s t porch, s i x o v e r - s i x s a s h windows w i t h molded and c o r n e r b l o c k a r c h i t r a v e s , p o s t
porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Mid-nineteenth century.
412 Clay S t r e e t
Frame, two s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f , mouse-tooth s h i n g l e s f i l l t h e
g a b l e , turned p o s t porch w i t h s c r o l l - w o r k b r a c k e t s .
@. 1900.
i
414 Clay S t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h i
windows framed by a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , three-bay Doric porch.
M i r i r i n i i i + e ~ ~ "
Fork 10-300.
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T G F T H E INTCi?lOR
NATIONAL PARK SEiiVlCE
STATE
NATIONAL f<ECISTER O F i:ISTOR!C P L A C E S
Ia<VENTOZY
- ?:OMINAiiGN
(Continuation Shcct)
(Numbor a11 sntrlss)
I .- 0: . 9
'J. :, 1.
-
/
I
-
1
FOCM
i
I
(in city)
-.
i-Oil NPS USE O h L Y
E N T R Y NUMDFH
1
I
1
O&TE
417 C l a y s t r e e t
Frame w i t h a s b e s t o s s i d i n g , two-and-a-half s t o r i e s , c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ,
a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s , frame' porch w i t h a r c a d e . 9.
1900.
LUCADO PLIICC
501 Lucado P l a c e
Frame, two s t o r i e s , g a b l e r o o f , beaded s i d i n g , molded s i l l s , some e a r l y
s a s h , p o s t porch, box c o r n i c e on f r o n t and r a k i n g c o r n i c e on g a b l e ends,
e x t e r i o r end chimney.
Lucado P l a c e
Frame, one s t o r y , g a b l e r o o f , s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h windows, i n t e r l o r end
chimney.
Mid-nineteenth c e n t u r y ; r e a r a d d i t i o n .
CCL
I
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I
.---
SIGNIFICANCE
P L R ~ O D (cllcl-k
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r)15th Century
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20th Century
19th Cantury
s b 3 L ~ cF>8 C L7A T CIS1 (11 Appll<#8hle on<!KrM3!<v#zJ
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local his tory
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science
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Garland H i l l remains one o f t h e most d i s t i n c t i v e and b e s t p r e s e r v e d
o f t h e prosperous neighborhoods t h a t developed on t h e summits of ~ ~ n c h b u r ~ ' s
I
various h i l l s .
Located i n t h e few b l o c k s of t h i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y s m a l l a r e a I
a r e d i s t i n g u i s h e d examples of a r c h i t e c t u r e d a t i n g from t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y through t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
I n t h e s e houses l i v e d many
The neighborhood
of Lynchburg's o l d e s t and most d i s t i n g u i s h e d f a m i l i e s .
a c h i e v e d i t s ascendancy i n t h e 1 8 9 0 1 s , and a n atmosphere of q u i e t l a t e V i c t o r i a n d i g n i t y p r e v a i l s i n i t s brick-paved s t r e e t s today.
The development o f Garland H i l l n o t o n l y r e f l e c t s t h e changing a r c h i t e c t u r a l t a s t e s o f
Lynchburg's l e a d i n g c i t i z e n s o v e r a hundred y e a r span, b u t i t symbolizes
t h e conmunity's growth from a r u r a l l y o r i e n t e d town t o a n i n d u s t r i a l c i t y .
Garland H i l l w a s o u t s i d e t h e f o r t y - f i v e a c r e s o f land on which John
Lynch l a i d o u t t h e c i t y i n 1786.
The f i r s t development on t h e h i l l came
i n 1817 when W a l t e r Dunnington c o n s t r u c t e d t h e house, now s t a n d i n g a t
303 Madison S t r e e t on two a c r e s o f farmland a c q u i r e d from Lynch f i v e y e a r s
earlier.
I n 1845, when ~ y n c h ' sc o u s i n , C e l i n e Dupuy, took o v e r t h e t i t l e
of t h e twenty a c r e s of farm t h a t included Garland H i l l , t h e land was
surveyed by Thomas D i l l a r d i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r s a l e .
T h i s d i v i s i o n of t h e
land i n t o f o u r t e e n s i n g l e a c r e l o t s comprised t h e f i r s t e x t e n s i v e developHaving purchased a c o r n e r of t h e s e c t i o n known 1;
ment of t h e neighborhood.
a s Lynch's Garden, Samuel G a r l a n d , S r . , was t h e f i r s t t o b u i l d a house on
t h i s new d i v i s i o n o f land.
The h i l l i n f a c t was named f o r t h e family of t h s
prominent c i t i z e n whose Greek Revival b r i c k h o u s e s t a n d s a t 215 Madison S t r e e
Other i m p o r t a n t Greek Revival houses on Madison S t r e e t d a t i n g from t h e Dupuy
d i v i s i o n i n c l u d e 117, completed i n 1847, f o r Vincent Tabb; 205, t h e house
of Edward M u r r e l l , b u i l t i n 1859; and 320, completed around 1850.
All
t h r e e o f t h e s e houses have a c o n s e r v a t i v e y e t prosperous f l a v o r , r e f l e c t i n g
t h e l i f e - s t y l e of t h e c i t i z e n s who b u i l t them.
Many o f t h e c i t i z e n s who occupied Garland H i l l were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
Also
t h e tobacco i n d u s t r y whichwas a p r i n c i p a l economic b a s e f o r t h e town.
t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e town's growing shoe i n d u s t r y s e t t l e d i n t h e neighborhood.
A number o f t h e s e e a r l y i n d u s t r i a l i s t s were sons o f r u r a l landowners i n
s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s hard h i t by R e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
They came t o Lynchburg
w i t h d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o succeed and by t h e l a s t decades o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c c n t u r y t h e y were f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e i r new p o s i t i o n s .
The indust r i a l i s t s , a s w e l l a s t h e bankers who prospered a l o n g w i t h them, were e a g e r
t o d i s p l a y t h e i r newly a c q u i r e d w e a l t h and soon l a v i s h l a t e - V i c t o r i a n homes I
were being p u t up among t h e e a r l i e r Greek Revival d w e l l i n g s .
The new
houses were l a r g e l y t h e p r o d u c t s o f l o c a l a r c h i t e c t s who worked i n t h e l a t e s f
eclectic styles.
A n o t a b l e example of t h i s e r a i s t h e rambling Queen Anne
i
I
1.
I
I
I
( c o n t .)
Form i0-3000
(July 1969)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M I N T O F THE I N T i H l O R
N A T I O N A L P i i i i K SEr?VICE
N A T I O N A L tR2G!STfR O F :-:iSTORiC Pi.;ACES
lidVZNTO?','
- P:O!.;:SA7IilN
(Continuation Sheet)
F,..;,:
IST&TL-
C
j
V-TKGINUi
:cOuN'y
I
i
(in city)
282 NPS U S 5 O N L Y
1
.
5
:
.
,
,
i
,,N
,U
,
DATE
I
I ( ~ u m b s rall antrfss)
frame llouse a t 4 0 0 Madison S t r e e t designed by t h e popular Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t
Edward Fry f o r George P , Watkins, a n e a r l y l e a d e r of t h e shoe i n d u s t r y .
John W . Craddock, a founder of t h e shoe f i r m o f Craddock and Terry i n 1898,
and one of Wa'ikins' pritne c o m p e t i t o r s , employed Fry t o d e s i g n f o r him t h e
imposi;ig Queen Anne house a t 208 Madison S t r e e t t h a t same y e a r .
I n 1914
Jalnes K. G i l l i a m , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e Lynchlburg Shoe Company, b u i l t h i s impressiv
Beaus-Arts s t y l e mansion a t 405 ?ladison S t r e e t a f t e r t h e d e s i g n s o f a n o t h e r
The l a r g e s t house on Garland H i l l , a
l o c a l a r c h i t e c t , Stanhope Johnson.
massive c a s t e l l a t e d mansion a t 220 & d i s o n S t r e e t was d e s i g n e d by J.M.B.
Lewis
f o r A. H. Burroughs, a lawyer whose w e a l t h was based on h i s h a n d l i n g t h e
a c c o u n t o f t h e newly developed Bonsack c i g a r e t t e m c h i n e .
CCL
U N I T E 0 STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
F o r m 10.3iOa
(July 1969)
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- SOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
I T A 1E
VIRGINIA
LYNCHBURG ( i n c i t y )
F O Q N P S USE ONLY
(Number ell s n f r l e a )
2.
DATE
E N T R Y NUMBER
Bounded on t h e southwest by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e southwest s i d e of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e n o r t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e
l o t s f a c i n g o n t o t h e n o r t h e a s t s i d e o f Clay S t r e e t and by
tile 700' c o n t o u r l i n e (of U.S.G.S.
7%' q u a d r a n g l e Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a , p h o t o r e v i s e d 1968) from t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Clay
S t r e e t t o t h e n o r t h w e s t end of Madison S t r e e t .
Bounded on
t h e s o u t h e a s t by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e l o t s f a c i n g
onto t h e northwest s i d e of F i f t h S t r e e t .
Bounded on t h e
n o r t h w e s t by t h e 700' c o n t o u r l i n e between Madison and
Harrison Streets.
I
Text
I
.
FoJm 10-300
'
(July 196'3
STATE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF S H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL P A R K SERVICE
VIRGINIA
COUNTY:
I
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMENAT [ON FORM
1
LYNCHBURG (in c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
DATE
ENTRY NUMBER
( T y p c a l l entries
- complete applicabfe sections)
I . NAME
1 II
1 COMMON'
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY
AND/OR HIDTORICi
12. \ O C A T I.O.N
, I STREET
.I
,
.,
.
A N C NUMBER:
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
=ITY OR
I
,I
LYNCIIBURG (Richard H. Po££. Six
S T A T t
CATEGORY
1M
'
OWNERSHIP
( C h o c k Oncl
Di*tric+
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@
Building
sit.
a
Structure
O
1ORESEN 7
USE
r] Being
0Pts*srvofion
Considered
C;
0
0 Industrial
a
a
Educational
0 Entertainment
1,
[7 Tronsportntion
Park
Raligiour
Musourn
0 Scientific
.
.
Comments
Other (sped&)
P r i v o t o Resldenca
Militory
Fd. OWNER OF PROPERTY
iI
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lClrock O n c or More a s A D D ~ O D ~ ~ ~ I ~ )
Cornrnsrc~ol
I
work
in progress
Government
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Ynr:
Rsrrrictsd
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Occupied
In Precess
0 Both
Object
m
Public Acquisition:
Public
Privete
graveyard
,
.
,
DWNKR'S NAML:
lc
C I T Y OF LYNCHBURG,
-I
n
S T R E E T A N D NUMRER:
I
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C I T Y OR TOWN.
STATE:
VIRGINIA
1
COOE
1
51
(
1
C
I*
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IztTY
STATE
OR
I
I
)~.GGIENT/\TION
52
VIRGINIA
LYKCHBURG
IN f XISTING SURVEYS
I T ~ T L O~ F S W R V I : Y :
V i r g i n i a 1-Iistoric Landmarks Commission Survey
1972
0 Federal
D A T E OF S U R Y E Y :
DEP051 T O R Y F O R S U R V E Y R E C O R D S :
,
V i r g i n i a Historic Landinarks Commission
S T R E E T A M 0 NUMBER;
Stots
County
I:
0 Cocof
17. DESCRIPTION
I
1
fChsck O n ~,
al
Foir
CONDITION
Dstariocoted
Ruins
[Check One)
Alterad
0 Unexposed
ICh-ck One)
@ Unaltered
PHVP~CIL
0
Moved
yt3
Origi"o1 Site
APPEARANCE
The entrance t o the City Cemetery
-
t h e old Methodist Cemetery
-
is s i t u a t e d a t the c r e s t of a g e n t l e r i s e up Taylor S t r e e t from F i f t h S t r e e t
the
main thoroughfare.
m e gates a t Taylor S t r e e t and Fourth S t r e e t a r e on
t@e a x i s of Taylor S t r e e t .
The maln avenue w i t h i n t h e cemetery is a cont i n u a t i o n of Taylor S t r e e t .
As the entrance is located p r e c i s e l y a t the
c r e s t , the land w i t h i n the cemetery f a l l s away t o the southwest, the northwest, and t o the n o r t h e a s t ,
By l o c a l custom the d i r e c t i o n s a r e r e f e r r e d ta
a s south, n o r t h , and e a s t , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The ridge is surrounded by small
s reams feeding i n t o Blackwater Creek which soon empties i n t o t h e James Rive
Placed w i t h i n one of t h e most heavily populated and most intense1
d veloped a r e a s of the old c i t y , the open park-like space of the cemetery i s
a welcome r e l l e f .
Following the r e s t r i c t e d v i s t a imposed by t h e houses
:.
c owd~nge l t h e r s l d e of Taylor S t r e e t , the panoramic view of the r o l l i n g
h f l l s of Lynchburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond i s breathtaking.
Although located near t h e geographic c e n t e r of t h e c i t y , t h e atmosphere
It i s
p esented by the many v i s t a s from t h e cemetery i s p r i m r i l y p a s t o r a l .
t is sharp c o n t r a s t with the i n t e n s e l y urban which makes the cemetery a l l
t e more a p p r e c i a t e d .
The cemetery does, i n f a c t , have one of the most
It occupies the western end of
c m n d i n g s i t e s i n the c i t y of Lynchburg.
ridge known throughout Lynchburg h i s t o r y a s College H i l l .
The public water
w r k s which a r e on t h e h i g h e s t p o i n t of the ridge a r e j u s t two c i t y blocks
f om the cemetery.
The main avenue of the cemetery a s i t descends t h e h i l l i s paved
w th g r a n i t e cobblestones.
A t h i n l a y e r of a s p h a l t has been applied t o the
c n t e r lane only.
The d r i v e i s bordered on e i t h e r s i d e by r e g u l a r l y spaced
t u r e American Arborvitae ( t h u j a o c c i d e n t a l i s ) upwards of t h i r t y f e e t t a l l .
I terspersed w i t h the American Arborvitae a r e O r i e n t a l Arborvitae ( t h u j a
0 i e n t a l i s ) and Spirea.
I t i s doubtful t h a t many of the l a r g e t r e e s which
a ound on the s i t e d a t e from the founding of the cemetery. The majority,
m e maples throughhgwever, must be q u i t e o l d , f o r they a r e mature t r e e s .
o u t the cemetery a r e noteworthy, a s a r e the g r e a t v a r i e t y of evergreens.
I
So many markers have been l o s t i n the old s e c t i o n s t h e a r e a on
e I~ t h e rs i d e of the main d r i v e presents a s u r p r i s i n g l y open and park-like
appearance.
The notable f e a t u r e of t h i s a r e a - i s the group of s t o n e w a l l s
Though few i n number, the force and vigor of these
edclosing family p l o t s .
wqlls i m e d i a t e l y a r r e s t t h e eye.
Averaging some t h r e e f e e t i n height, the
w a l l s a r e of c l o s e l y f i t t e d l a r g e blocks of l o c a l g r a n i t e matching i n materi
add c h a r a c t e r the stonework of the old Lynchburg Courthouse.
The s t r e n g t h
of the w a l l s i s f u r t h e r accented by the d e l i c a t e i r o n fences surmounting
them - examples of the i r o n c a s t e r ' s a r t a t i t s most e l a b o r a t e development.
The grave markers i n t h e old s e c t i o n s of t h e cemetery encompass
the f u l l range of memorlal a r t .
Markers of marble, g r a n i t e , soapstone,
s l a t e and l o c a l greenstone d i s p l a y the imagination of the c a r v e r s f o r the
p a s t century.
The number of t a b l e t o p markers i s unusual f o r t h i s p a r t o f
'TWO e a r l y s l a b type markers, each with a s i n g l e s c r o l l a t the t o
virginia.
e paired t o give the i l l u s i o n of a s c r o l l pediment.
Another p a i r of
r k e r s e x h i b i t low r e l i e f carving of c l a s s i c a l landscapes with weeping
llow t r e e s surrounded w i t h funereal motifs.
The cemetery i s n o t without
s kneeling angel i n c h a s t e white m r b l e .
II .
1
Q
I
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
I
(Number all sntrlse)
i
DATE
ENTRVWUMBER
(Con tinuation Sheet)
e charm of t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e cemetery i s g r e a t l y heightened by t h e
s ntiment of m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y America t h a t a l l m a r k e ~ si n a f a m i l y group
n ed n o t be i d e n t i c a l .
Thus, t h e massive, n a t i v e s t o n e w a l l s might surround
each s t o n e of a d i f f e r e n t
e i g h t carved tombstones of p r i s t i n e w h i t e marble
s z e and d e s i g n a s b e f i t t e d t h e a g e , s e x , and f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e
d ceased.
The q u a l i t y common t o a l l t h i s group of memorials is t h e a b s o l u t e
s i f - c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e m a t e r i a l world e x h i b i t e d i n t h e decade of a f f l u e n c e
p i o r t o t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s .
These s p l e n d i d s h a f t s proudly d i s p l a y
t e i r makers' marks, such a s S t r u t h e r s , P h i l a d e l p h i a , i n l e t t e r s a l m o s t as
l d r g e as t h e name of t h e i n d i v i d u a l being memorialized.
A t t h e f o o t of t h e h i l l a c r o s s a x i s t o t h e west l e a d s t o t h e
C nfederate section.
The f l a g s t o n e p a t h p a s s e s between two l a r g e s p r u c e
t e e s and under a s t o n e a r c h d e d i c a t e d t o t h e memory o f t h e Confederate dead
bqried here.
A t e i t h e r s i d e of t h e a r c h t h e p i e r s a r e surmounted by h i g h l y
s t y l i z e d urns.
One i s s t r u c k immediately by t h e row upon row of uniform,
The Confederate s e c t i o n is bounded on t h e west
s m a l l , w h l t e marble markers.
by a b r i c k w a l l and on t h e remaining s i d e s by a t a l l boxwood hedge.
The w a l l
wben c o n s t r u c t e d marked t h e boundary of t h e cemetery, b u t today i t s e p a r a t e s
t e Confederate s e c t i o n from t h e modern s e c t i o n and from p o t t e r ' s f i e l d . The
w 11 of mixed bond i s approximately e i g h t i n c h e s t h i c k and i s capped w i t h a
h if-round b r i c k course.
The w a l l ' s p r i n c i p a l c l a i m t o a t t e n t i o n i s i t s
a s o c i a t i o n w i t h a book of t h e cemetery r e c o r d s published i n 1968 under t h e
Along F o u r t h S t r e e t t h e cemetery is
t t l e , " ~ e h i n d t h e Old Brick Wall."
'I
e l c l o s e d w i t h a c h a i n l i n k f e n c e ; b u t a s i g n n o t e s t h a t C i t y Council has
a t h o r i z e d t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a b r i c k w a l l .
Three f e a t u r e s , each q u i t e d i f f e r e n t
from t h e o t h e r , dominate
A s t o n e o b e l i s k on a mound i s composed of f o u r t e e n
t e Confederate s e c t i o n .
Each b l o c k r e p r e s e n t s a s t a t t
i d i v i d u a l b l o c k s of s t o n e i n graduated s i z e s .
A permanent s p e a k e r ' s r o s t r u m
wllose dead a r e i n t e r r e d i n t h i s s e c t i o n .
nkarby i s i n t h e form o f a c l a s s i c a l temple complete w i t h d o r i c columns and
a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
lhe temple is o n l y l a r g e enough f o r t h e s p e a k e r and
Facing t h e rostrum is a r e i n f o r c e d c o n c r e t e bench,
t e p r e s i d i n g chairman.
L shaped i n p l a n .
The f l u i d l i n e s o f t h e bench t e r m i n a t e i n a back some foul
I n s t y l e t h e c o n c r e t e bench t y p i f i e s t h e e x u b e r a n t a s s u r e d n e s s
f f e t high.
o f garden s t r u c t u r e s l o c a t e d a l l a c r o s s t h e United S t a t e s and g e n e r a l l y
e r e c t e d under t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e Works P r o j e c t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n .
I
-
1
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1
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SIGNIFICANCE
(craeck One or More a.
PERIOD
Pra-Columbaon
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Q 18th
19th C.NWY
Century
0 20th
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0 15th Century
(
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SPEClFIC DATE(SI
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Prehistoric
Enpineering
Historic
Industry
0 Apricultur.
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OLD C I T Y CEMETERY, LYNCHBURG: From 1806 u n t i l 1965, Old C i t y Cemetery
s e r v e d a s a b u r i a l p l a c e f o r t h e prominent, b u t a l s o t h e o b s c u r e ; w h i t e and
b l a c k ; f r e e a s w e l l a s s l a v e ; n a t i v e and f o r e i g n born.
Begun on land
donated by John Lynch, i t remains a memorial t o t h e h i s t o r y and t r a d i t i o n s
o f t h e Lynchburg community.
The Old C i t y Cemetery i s a reminder t h a t v i a b l e p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between b l a c k and w h i t e have p e r s i s t e d o v e r t h e g e n e r a t i o n s .
During
t h e a n t e - b e l l u m times, b l a c k men and women were b u r i e d h e r e : some t h e
r e s p e c t e d and loved s e r v a n t s o f Lynchburg's w h i t e f a m i l i e s ; o t h e r s , f r e e
Negroes, i n c l u d i n g one g i f t e d i n d i v i d u a l , "Blind B i l l y " Armistead, whose
d e a t h i n 1855 b r o u g h t mourning t o Inany Lynchburg homes.
For t h e c e n t u r y f o l l o w i n g Appomattox --as V i r g i n i a passed through
r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , redemption, and r e a d j u s t m e n t
t h e Alexanders, t h e Coxes,
t h e Gladmans and Higginbothams, t h e Majors, Merrimans, and P r i d e s , t h e
Wilkinsons and M r s . V i r g i n i a Randolph took t h e i r p l a c e s h e r e a l o n g w i t h t h e
. .
l n d l g e n t o f t h e i r own r a c e and w h i t e s o f a l l classes.
Jenny Hicks, a l a d y o f c o l o r , "beloved o f many Lynchburgers," was b u t
one of t h o s e i n t e r r e d h e r e who were, i n l i f e , known and r e s p e c t e d by
members o f b o t h r a c e s .
She had, :fie News observed i n a n e d i t o r i a , l f a r e w e l l , " t h a t rare q u a l i t y c a l l e d g r a c e i n h e r Life."
I f Old C i t y Cemetery
t e s t i f i e s t o t h e b i - r a c i a l , m u l t i - n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r o f Lynchburg's popu l a t i o n , i t a l s o s e r v e s t o remind us o f t h e community's S o u t h e r n e s s .
Ttro thousand and more o f t h e C o n f e d e r a t e dead were b u r i e d h e r e .
They camewith P h i l l i p ' s Georgia Legion and t h e Sumpter A r t i l l e r y ; w i t h t h e
1 1 t h M i s s i s s i p p i and t h e 4 4 t h Alabama; from t h e Lower and Border South;
from as f a r d i s t a n t a s West Texas and a s n e a r a s t h e Maryland E a s t e r n Shore.
During "four y e a r s o f arduous s e r v i c e t r w i t h t h e Army o f Northern V i r g i n i a ,
s c o r e s o f hundreds o f s o l d i e r s passed through Lynchburg's m a k e - s h i f t
hospitals.
Those who d i e d from t h e i r wounds o r i l l n e s s e s were b u r i e d h e r e
u n l e s s c o n d i t i o n s and d i s t a n c e s p e r m i t t e d removal t o t h e i r homes.
I n t h e y e a r s immediately f o l l o w i n g t h e War, and t h e n a g a i n s p o r a d i c a l I y ,
Lynchburg observed a n a n n u a l D e c o r a t i o n Day t o honor t h e f a l l e n s o l d i e r s .
The e n t i r e community might p a r t i c i p a t e one y e a r - - a s i n 1868; and o n l y a few
widows and orphans t h e n e x t .
This same tendency--from g r e a t i n t e r e s t t o
s h e e r n e g l e c t and back a g a i n - - h a s been e v i d e n t i n t h e community,'~ a t t i t u d e
towards t h e g e n e r a l maintenance o f t h e cemetery.
Var and peace, s u r r e n d e r and p e r s e v e r a n c e ; l a c k of concern, d e d i c a t e d
d e v o t i o n , l o v e and h a t e ; anonymity and i d e n t i t y ; t h e s t o r y o f a people and
region. a r e r e c o r d e d h e r e i n t a b l e - t o p monuments, t i n y and c r u d e l y - c u t s t o n e r ,
and i n g r a v e s which were l e f t o r have become unmarked.
HPP
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Education
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S ~ C N IF I C A N C E
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D e s c r i p t i o n by Robert H. Garbee, A.I.A.,
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C.H.M.
Eaber & E. L. Moore, Behind t h e Old B r i c k Wall: A Cemetery Story,
Richmond, V i r g i n i a , 1968.
R o s t e r s o f B u r i a l s i n t h e Main S e c t o r (1806-1913), and i n t h e C o n f e d e r a t e
1
S e c t i o n o f T h i s Cemetery; Baber & Moore,
Appendices.
w.,
I
I
OGRAPHICALDATA
--
----
L A T I T U D E AND L O N G I T U D E COORDINATES
%
R E C T A N G L E L O C A T I N G THE P R O P E R T Y
pEwNlNC
,
CORNER
LATITUDE
I
D e g r e e s Mlnutos
Seconds
SE
37
37
37
25.
25.
24-
0101.
47"
79 o
790
79
W
17
7
,57'
79
NW
b~
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.
32
15
15
32
S T ~ T E S AND
COUNTIES
FOR P R O P E R T I E S
STPTE
I
1
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STATE:
I=T~_/'
.
Degrees
M8nut.s
Degrees
Seconds
D
Lb a c r e s
S T A T E OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
I COUNTY
CODE
I
'
CODE
I
CODE
COUNTY"
CODE
COUNTY
I
CODE
1
,,,I.
L O N G , TUDE
M ~ n u t e s Seconds
D
OVERLAPPING
I
STATE.
LATITUDE
p
p
Seconds
A C R E A G E O F N O M ~ N A T E DP R O P E R T Y
APPROXIMATE
I L I ~ TA L L
09
09
09
09
0
- -
D s g r s o s Manutss
*
R
LONGlTUDE
--.-
L A T I T U D E A N D LONGITUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING T H E C E N T E R POINT OF
PROPERTY
O F LESS T H A N T F N ACRES
COUNTY:
.-
1
Ill. FORM PREPARED BY
.
I
-
NAME A N D TITLE
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMLSSW S
W
D I T E
ORSaNI ZATION
septp-
~ I R G I N I A HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
STREET ANDNUMBER
I
z
CODE
Ii
..
A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
i n the National Register and cerlify that it h a s been
evaluated according to the criteria and procehirres s e t
(orth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of significance of this nominstion is:
I~
!
I
National
State
.,
I hereby certify that t h i s property is included i n the
dional Historic Preservation Act 0 1 1966 (Public L a w
6 9 6 6 5 ) . I hereby nominate t h i s property for inclusion
'A
Nationel Regieter'
1
Chief, Office of Archeology endHistoric Preservation
Local
J. R. F i s h b u r n e , D i r e c t o r
Tltk
Va
.
H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
Keeper of The N e ~ i o n eRegister
l
I
I
qarm
10-3000
( l u l y 1969'
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
( ~ u n r b o rall snttlsa)
LYNCHBURG
(in c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
E N T R V NUM86R
DATE
I
The cemetery boundary on t h e e a s t l i e s a l o n g F o u r t h S t r e e t from mid b l o c k
between Floyd and Wise t o t h e c o r n e r o f F o u r t h S t r e e t and Monroe S t r e e t .
I t t h e n f o l l o w s Monroe S t r e e t northward t o F i r s t S t r e e t .
A straight line
through t h e bottom l e a d s t o a p o i n t where Garland S t r e e t t e r m i n a t e s a t the
Southern Railroad.
I t f o l l o w s t h e S o u t h e r n R a i l r o a d boundary t o a p o i n t
n e a r Floyd S t r e e t and t h e n f o l l o w s a n i r r e g u l a r l i n e back t o F o u r t h S t r e e t
.
FoJm 10-300
'
(July 196'3
STATE:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF S H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL P A R K SERVICE
VIRGINIA
COUNTY:
I
N A T I O N A L R E G I S T E R O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
NOMENAT [ON FORM
1
LYNCHBURG (in c i t y )
-
F O R N P S USE O N L Y
DATE
ENTRY NUMBER
( T y p c a l l entries
- complete applicabfe sections)
I . NAME
1 II
1 COMMON'
OLD C I T Y CEMETERY
AND/OR HIDTORICi
12. \ O C A T I.O.N
, I STREET
.I
,
.,
.
A N C NUMBER:
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
=ITY OR
I
,I
LYNCIIBURG (Richard H. Po££. Six
S T A T t
CATEGORY
1M
'
OWNERSHIP
( C h o c k Oncl
Di*tric+
I!
@
Building
sit.
a
Structure
O
1ORESEN 7
USE
r] Being
0Pts*srvofion
Considered
C;
0
0 Industrial
a
a
Educational
0 Entertainment
1,
[7 Tronsportntion
Park
Raligiour
Musourn
0 Scientific
.
.
Comments
Other (sped&)
P r i v o t o Resldenca
Militory
Fd. OWNER OF PROPERTY
iI
I
lClrock O n c or More a s A D D ~ O D ~ ~ ~ I ~ )
Cornrnsrc~ol
I
work
in progress
Government
i
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Rsrrrictsd
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Occupied
In Precess
0 Both
Object
m
Public Acquisition:
Public
Privete
graveyard
,
.
,
DWNKR'S NAML:
lc
C I T Y OF LYNCHBURG,
-I
n
S T R E E T A N D NUMRER:
I
iI
C I T Y OR TOWN.
STATE:
VIRGINIA
1
COOE
1
51
(
1
C
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STATE
OR
I
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)~.GGIENT/\TION
52
VIRGINIA
LYKCHBURG
IN f XISTING SURVEYS
I T ~ T L O~ F S W R V I : Y :
V i r g i n i a 1-Iistoric Landmarks Commission Survey
1972
0 Federal
D A T E OF S U R Y E Y :
DEP051 T O R Y F O R S U R V E Y R E C O R D S :
,
V i r g i n i a Historic Landinarks Commission
S T R E E T A M 0 NUMBER;
Stots
County
I:
0 Cocof
17. DESCRIPTION
I
1
fChsck O n ~,
al
Foir
CONDITION
Dstariocoted
Ruins
[Check One)
Alterad
0 Unexposed
ICh-ck One)
@ Unaltered
PHVP~CIL
0
Moved
yt3
Origi"o1 Site
APPEARANCE
The entrance t o the City Cemetery
-
t h e old Methodist Cemetery
-
is s i t u a t e d a t the c r e s t of a g e n t l e r i s e up Taylor S t r e e t from F i f t h S t r e e t
the
main thoroughfare.
m e gates a t Taylor S t r e e t and Fourth S t r e e t a r e on
t@e a x i s of Taylor S t r e e t .
The maln avenue w i t h i n t h e cemetery is a cont i n u a t i o n of Taylor S t r e e t .
As the entrance is located p r e c i s e l y a t the
c r e s t , the land w i t h i n the cemetery f a l l s away t o the southwest, the northwest, and t o the n o r t h e a s t ,
By l o c a l custom the d i r e c t i o n s a r e r e f e r r e d ta
a s south, n o r t h , and e a s t , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The ridge is surrounded by small
s reams feeding i n t o Blackwater Creek which soon empties i n t o t h e James Rive
Placed w i t h i n one of t h e most heavily populated and most intense1
d veloped a r e a s of the old c i t y , the open park-like space of the cemetery i s
a welcome r e l l e f .
Following the r e s t r i c t e d v i s t a imposed by t h e houses
:.
c owd~nge l t h e r s l d e of Taylor S t r e e t , the panoramic view of the r o l l i n g
h f l l s of Lynchburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond i s breathtaking.
Although located near t h e geographic c e n t e r of t h e c i t y , t h e atmosphere
It i s
p esented by the many v i s t a s from t h e cemetery i s p r i m r i l y p a s t o r a l .
t is sharp c o n t r a s t with the i n t e n s e l y urban which makes the cemetery a l l
t e more a p p r e c i a t e d .
The cemetery does, i n f a c t , have one of the most
It occupies the western end of
c m n d i n g s i t e s i n the c i t y of Lynchburg.
ridge known throughout Lynchburg h i s t o r y a s College H i l l .
The public water
w r k s which a r e on t h e h i g h e s t p o i n t of the ridge a r e j u s t two c i t y blocks
f om the cemetery.
The main avenue of the cemetery a s i t descends t h e h i l l i s paved
w th g r a n i t e cobblestones.
A t h i n l a y e r of a s p h a l t has been applied t o the
c n t e r lane only.
The d r i v e i s bordered on e i t h e r s i d e by r e g u l a r l y spaced
t u r e American Arborvitae ( t h u j a o c c i d e n t a l i s ) upwards of t h i r t y f e e t t a l l .
I terspersed w i t h the American Arborvitae a r e O r i e n t a l Arborvitae ( t h u j a
0 i e n t a l i s ) and Spirea.
I t i s doubtful t h a t many of the l a r g e t r e e s which
a ound on the s i t e d a t e from the founding of the cemetery. The majority,
m e maples throughhgwever, must be q u i t e o l d , f o r they a r e mature t r e e s .
o u t the cemetery a r e noteworthy, a s a r e the g r e a t v a r i e t y of evergreens.
I
So many markers have been l o s t i n the old s e c t i o n s t h e a r e a on
e I~ t h e rs i d e of the main d r i v e presents a s u r p r i s i n g l y open and park-like
appearance.
The notable f e a t u r e of t h i s a r e a - i s the group of s t o n e w a l l s
Though few i n number, the force and vigor of these
edclosing family p l o t s .
wqlls i m e d i a t e l y a r r e s t t h e eye.
Averaging some t h r e e f e e t i n height, the
w a l l s a r e of c l o s e l y f i t t e d l a r g e blocks of l o c a l g r a n i t e matching i n materi
add c h a r a c t e r the stonework of the old Lynchburg Courthouse.
The s t r e n g t h
of the w a l l s i s f u r t h e r accented by the d e l i c a t e i r o n fences surmounting
them - examples of the i r o n c a s t e r ' s a r t a t i t s most e l a b o r a t e development.
The grave markers i n t h e old s e c t i o n s of t h e cemetery encompass
the f u l l range of memorlal a r t .
Markers of marble, g r a n i t e , soapstone,
s l a t e and l o c a l greenstone d i s p l a y the imagination of the c a r v e r s f o r the
p a s t century.
The number of t a b l e t o p markers i s unusual f o r t h i s p a r t o f
'TWO e a r l y s l a b type markers, each with a s i n g l e s c r o l l a t the t o
virginia.
e paired t o give the i l l u s i o n of a s c r o l l pediment.
Another p a i r of
r k e r s e x h i b i t low r e l i e f carving of c l a s s i c a l landscapes with weeping
llow t r e e s surrounded w i t h funereal motifs.
The cemetery i s n o t without
s kneeling angel i n c h a s t e white m r b l e .
II .
1
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U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
-
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
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(Number all sntrlse)
i
DATE
ENTRVWUMBER
(Con tinuation Sheet)
e charm of t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e cemetery i s g r e a t l y heightened by t h e
s ntiment of m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y America t h a t a l l m a r k e ~ si n a f a m i l y group
n ed n o t be i d e n t i c a l .
Thus, t h e massive, n a t i v e s t o n e w a l l s might surround
each s t o n e of a d i f f e r e n t
e i g h t carved tombstones of p r i s t i n e w h i t e marble
s z e and d e s i g n a s b e f i t t e d t h e a g e , s e x , and f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e
d ceased.
The q u a l i t y common t o a l l t h i s group of memorials is t h e a b s o l u t e
s i f - c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e m a t e r i a l world e x h i b i t e d i n t h e decade of a f f l u e n c e
p i o r t o t h e War Between t h e S t a t e s .
These s p l e n d i d s h a f t s proudly d i s p l a y
t e i r makers' marks, such a s S t r u t h e r s , P h i l a d e l p h i a , i n l e t t e r s a l m o s t as
l d r g e as t h e name of t h e i n d i v i d u a l being memorialized.
A t t h e f o o t of t h e h i l l a c r o s s a x i s t o t h e west l e a d s t o t h e
C nfederate section.
The f l a g s t o n e p a t h p a s s e s between two l a r g e s p r u c e
t e e s and under a s t o n e a r c h d e d i c a t e d t o t h e memory o f t h e Confederate dead
bqried here.
A t e i t h e r s i d e of t h e a r c h t h e p i e r s a r e surmounted by h i g h l y
s t y l i z e d urns.
One i s s t r u c k immediately by t h e row upon row of uniform,
The Confederate s e c t i o n is bounded on t h e west
s m a l l , w h l t e marble markers.
by a b r i c k w a l l and on t h e remaining s i d e s by a t a l l boxwood hedge.
The w a l l
wben c o n s t r u c t e d marked t h e boundary of t h e cemetery, b u t today i t s e p a r a t e s
t e Confederate s e c t i o n from t h e modern s e c t i o n and from p o t t e r ' s f i e l d . The
w 11 of mixed bond i s approximately e i g h t i n c h e s t h i c k and i s capped w i t h a
h if-round b r i c k course.
The w a l l ' s p r i n c i p a l c l a i m t o a t t e n t i o n i s i t s
a s o c i a t i o n w i t h a book of t h e cemetery r e c o r d s published i n 1968 under t h e
Along F o u r t h S t r e e t t h e cemetery is
t t l e , " ~ e h i n d t h e Old Brick Wall."
'I
e l c l o s e d w i t h a c h a i n l i n k f e n c e ; b u t a s i g n n o t e s t h a t C i t y Council has
a t h o r i z e d t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a b r i c k w a l l .
Three f e a t u r e s , each q u i t e d i f f e r e n t
from t h e o t h e r , dominate
A s t o n e o b e l i s k on a mound i s composed of f o u r t e e n
t e Confederate s e c t i o n .
Each b l o c k r e p r e s e n t s a s t a t t
i d i v i d u a l b l o c k s of s t o n e i n graduated s i z e s .
A permanent s p e a k e r ' s r o s t r u m
wllose dead a r e i n t e r r e d i n t h i s s e c t i o n .
nkarby i s i n t h e form o f a c l a s s i c a l temple complete w i t h d o r i c columns and
a h e m i s p h e r i c a l dome.
lhe temple is o n l y l a r g e enough f o r t h e s p e a k e r and
Facing t h e rostrum is a r e i n f o r c e d c o n c r e t e bench,
t e p r e s i d i n g chairman.
L shaped i n p l a n .
The f l u i d l i n e s o f t h e bench t e r m i n a t e i n a back some foul
I n s t y l e t h e c o n c r e t e bench t y p i f i e s t h e e x u b e r a n t a s s u r e d n e s s
f f e t high.
o f garden s t r u c t u r e s l o c a t e d a l l a c r o s s t h e United S t a t e s and g e n e r a l l y
e r e c t e d under t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e Works P r o j e c t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n .
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OLD C I T Y CEMETERY, LYNCHBURG: From 1806 u n t i l 1965, Old C i t y Cemetery
s e r v e d a s a b u r i a l p l a c e f o r t h e prominent, b u t a l s o t h e o b s c u r e ; w h i t e and
b l a c k ; f r e e a s w e l l a s s l a v e ; n a t i v e and f o r e i g n born.
Begun on land
donated by John Lynch, i t remains a memorial t o t h e h i s t o r y and t r a d i t i o n s
o f t h e Lynchburg community.
The Old C i t y Cemetery i s a reminder t h a t v i a b l e p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between b l a c k and w h i t e have p e r s i s t e d o v e r t h e g e n e r a t i o n s .
During
t h e a n t e - b e l l u m times, b l a c k men and women were b u r i e d h e r e : some t h e
r e s p e c t e d and loved s e r v a n t s o f Lynchburg's w h i t e f a m i l i e s ; o t h e r s , f r e e
Negroes, i n c l u d i n g one g i f t e d i n d i v i d u a l , "Blind B i l l y " Armistead, whose
d e a t h i n 1855 b r o u g h t mourning t o Inany Lynchburg homes.
For t h e c e n t u r y f o l l o w i n g Appomattox --as V i r g i n i a passed through
r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , redemption, and r e a d j u s t m e n t
t h e Alexanders, t h e Coxes,
t h e Gladmans and Higginbothams, t h e Majors, Merrimans, and P r i d e s , t h e
Wilkinsons and M r s . V i r g i n i a Randolph took t h e i r p l a c e s h e r e a l o n g w i t h t h e
. .
l n d l g e n t o f t h e i r own r a c e and w h i t e s o f a l l classes.
Jenny Hicks, a l a d y o f c o l o r , "beloved o f many Lynchburgers," was b u t
one of t h o s e i n t e r r e d h e r e who were, i n l i f e , known and r e s p e c t e d by
members o f b o t h r a c e s .
She had, :fie News observed i n a n e d i t o r i a , l f a r e w e l l , " t h a t rare q u a l i t y c a l l e d g r a c e i n h e r Life."
I f Old C i t y Cemetery
t e s t i f i e s t o t h e b i - r a c i a l , m u l t i - n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r o f Lynchburg's popu l a t i o n , i t a l s o s e r v e s t o remind us o f t h e community's S o u t h e r n e s s .
Ttro thousand and more o f t h e C o n f e d e r a t e dead were b u r i e d h e r e .
They camewith P h i l l i p ' s Georgia Legion and t h e Sumpter A r t i l l e r y ; w i t h t h e
1 1 t h M i s s i s s i p p i and t h e 4 4 t h Alabama; from t h e Lower and Border South;
from as f a r d i s t a n t a s West Texas and a s n e a r a s t h e Maryland E a s t e r n Shore.
During "four y e a r s o f arduous s e r v i c e t r w i t h t h e Army o f Northern V i r g i n i a ,
s c o r e s o f hundreds o f s o l d i e r s passed through Lynchburg's m a k e - s h i f t
hospitals.
Those who d i e d from t h e i r wounds o r i l l n e s s e s were b u r i e d h e r e
u n l e s s c o n d i t i o n s and d i s t a n c e s p e r m i t t e d removal t o t h e i r homes.
I n t h e y e a r s immediately f o l l o w i n g t h e War, and t h e n a g a i n s p o r a d i c a l I y ,
Lynchburg observed a n a n n u a l D e c o r a t i o n Day t o honor t h e f a l l e n s o l d i e r s .
The e n t i r e community might p a r t i c i p a t e one y e a r - - a s i n 1868; and o n l y a few
widows and orphans t h e n e x t .
This same tendency--from g r e a t i n t e r e s t t o
s h e e r n e g l e c t and back a g a i n - - h a s been e v i d e n t i n t h e community,'~ a t t i t u d e
towards t h e g e n e r a l maintenance o f t h e cemetery.
Var and peace, s u r r e n d e r and p e r s e v e r a n c e ; l a c k of concern, d e d i c a t e d
d e v o t i o n , l o v e and h a t e ; anonymity and i d e n t i t y ; t h e s t o r y o f a people and
region. a r e r e c o r d e d h e r e i n t a b l e - t o p monuments, t i n y and c r u d e l y - c u t s t o n e r ,
and i n g r a v e s which were l e f t o r have become unmarked.
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D e s c r i p t i o n by Robert H. Garbee, A.I.A.,
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C.H.M.
Eaber & E. L. Moore, Behind t h e Old B r i c k Wall: A Cemetery Story,
Richmond, V i r g i n i a , 1968.
R o s t e r s o f B u r i a l s i n t h e Main S e c t o r (1806-1913), and i n t h e C o n f e d e r a t e
1
S e c t i o n o f T h i s Cemetery; Baber & Moore,
Appendices.
w.,
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L A T I T U D E AND L O N G I T U D E COORDINATES
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NAME A N D TITLE
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A s the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-
i n the National Register and cerlify that it h a s been
evaluated according to the criteria and procehirres s e t
(orth by the National Park Service. The recommended
level of significance of this nominstion is:
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National
State
.,
I hereby certify that t h i s property is included i n the
dional Historic Preservation Act 0 1 1966 (Public L a w
6 9 6 6 5 ) . I hereby nominate t h i s property for inclusion
'A
Nationel Regieter'
1
Chief, Office of Archeology endHistoric Preservation
Local
J. R. F i s h b u r n e , D i r e c t o r
Tltk
Va
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H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
Keeper of The N e ~ i o n eRegister
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10-3000
( l u l y 1969'
1
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E I N T E R I O R
N A T I O N A L PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER O F HISTORIC P L A C E S
INVENTORY
- NOMINATION FORM
(Continuation Sheet)
( ~ u n r b o rall snttlsa)
LYNCHBURG
(in c i t y )
FOR NPS USE O N L Y
E N T R V NUM86R
DATE
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The cemetery boundary on t h e e a s t l i e s a l o n g F o u r t h S t r e e t from mid b l o c k
between Floyd and Wise t o t h e c o r n e r o f F o u r t h S t r e e t and Monroe S t r e e t .
I t t h e n f o l l o w s Monroe S t r e e t northward t o F i r s t S t r e e t .
A straight line
through t h e bottom l e a d s t o a p o i n t where Garland S t r e e t t e r m i n a t e s a t the
Southern Railroad.
I t f o l l o w s t h e S o u t h e r n R a i l r o a d boundary t o a p o i n t
n e a r Floyd S t r e e t and t h e n f o l l o w s a n i r r e g u l a r l i n e back t o F o u r t h S t r e e t
Text
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No 10-300
S/WP*
10-1
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UNITEDSTATES DEPAK'I'MEN1" OF THE IN-l-EtIkOIi
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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HSTOXLC PLACES
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1969, 1 9 7 4 , 197s
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DESCRIPTION
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DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND OHlGlNAL (IF KNOWN1 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Federal Hill Historic District includes some one dozcn residential blocks in the
heart of Lynchburg. Laid out in a grid plan, the area covers one of the city's seven
hills and is separated from Lynchburg Hill, or the commercial area, by a deep valley. Two
of Federal Hill's principal streets, Federal Street and Jackson Street dead end at a
sharp cliff above 12th Street so that the district is rarely entered by other than local
traffic. Most of the wide, tree-shaded streets retain early brick sidervallcs using bricks
with distinctive patterned faces. A number of slate sidewalks and granite curbs remain
as well. Other street furniture includes numerous iron fences in a variety of patterns.
The district's architecture consists primarily of free-standing brick or frame
houses in a variety of styles but of harmonious scale. Of chief architectural interest
are several Federal-style brick houses built about the time the area was laid out. A few
mid-19th-century houses are scattered through the neighborhood, and the rest of the lots
are filled with complementary Latc 19th-and early 20th-century dwellings. Three important
French Second Empire houses stand near one another on Harrison Street. The individual
early 20th-century houses are generally undistinguished, but together they contribute to
the visual harmony of the block facades. Yard sizes vary, and there are few vacant lots.
In addition to the houses, the area has a public school building and a church, both
dignified examples of Edwardian period architecture.
Federal Hill is racially mixed and has residents of high, middle and low income
levels. Several houses are in poor condition while others are maintained excellently.
The general appearance of the neighborhood is good, however, and the income lcvel is
rising as houses are restored. Except for Jackson Street and the southwest side of
Federal Street, Federal Hill is included in the College Hill Urban Renewal Area,
operated by the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority which is assisting in
upgrading the area.
.
<.
.
.
-
.
a
SIGNIFICANCE
-1500-1593
-1600-1693
-1700-1793
x1800-1839
XI900-
'
..
;
_
.
_ ..
__
."*_. .... . _
_.
_.
,
.
,
~.
. ...
....,.,.*-.
.- . . . . .
~
..-..,
'
-- CHECK A N 0 JUSTIFY BELOW
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-CONSERVATION
-L4W
-ECONOMICS
-LITERATURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-PHILOSOPHY
ANDUSTRY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-INVENTION
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
-PREHISTORIC
-1400-1499
.-
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
-RELIGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
(SPECIFY)
XOTHER
Local history
I
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I
FederalHill is one of the most distinctivk of several early neighborhoods situated
i
on the hills surrounding the commercial area of Lynchburg. Unlike Garland Hill where the !
i
city's industrialists built their homes, Federal Hill primarily has been the residential
!
area for merchants and civic leaders. Containedwithin the district's dozen blocks is a
;
notable assemblage of free-standing dwellings in architectural styles ranging in date
from the early 19th century through the Edwardian styles of the early 20th century.
Most significant is the neighborhood's important collection of early Federal-style townhouses which includes some of the oldest and finest houses in the city. Few Piedmont cities
!
of the South can boast such a distinguished grouping of Federal dwellings.
Many of Federal Hill's earliest houses were erected prior to 1819 when the neighbor- iI
hood was annexed from Campbell County. These include the Ford House. 914 Federal Street; i
the Carrington House, 1002 Federal Street; the Otey House, 1020 Federal Street; the
Thaddeus Ivey House, 1106 Federal Street; the Holcombe House, 917 Federal Street; the
Poston House, 1104 Jackson Street; the Gordon House, 1023 Jackson Street; and the Crowe
I
House, 1101 Jackson Street. All of these houses are brick and all exhibit the fine
craftsmanship, proportions, and details associated with the Federal style. The exact date
of the Speed House at 822 Federal Street has not been determined, but architectural
evidence indicates a date around the time of the annexation. Erected for William Wiatt
Norvell, a distinguished civic leader, this brick dwelling possesses particular architectural refinement, with details similar to ~ynchburg's Point of Honor. ,
The so~newhatscattered distribution of Federal Hill's early houses indicates that the
area built up slowly, and that many of the lots did not receive buildings untsnearly a
hundred years after the streets were laid out. Thus most of the blocks have an interesting
mixture of early , mid-, late 19th-, and early 20th-century dwellings that together form
block facades of varied textures, materials and forms. All of the buildings are of similar
scale and massing, however, so that visual order is maintained.
Federal Hill's mid-19th-century houses of note include the winfree House at 1007
Federal Street, built in 1844 for John Bell Winfree, president of ~ynchburg's first school
board. The house is a pleasing example of central Virginia's somewhat restrained version of
the Greek Revival style. The architecturally similar Langhorne House at 1021 Federal
Street was erected in 1853 for Maurice Langhorne.
The neighborhood also possesses three of the city's purest examples of the Second
Empire Style, all dating from the late 19th century. 1020 and 1121 Harrison Street have
the style's characteristic mansard roof, asymmetrical facade and central tower with square
dome. 1102 Harrison Street features a mansard roof and round-arch dormers but has a
symmetrical facade. A small but distinctive Queen Anne-style house at 1021 Harrison Street
features a rough-face, cast-stone first floor, with shingled second floor and exposed frame
.
(See Continuation Sheet #l)
~
.
_
._
. _-.. __
_.
.._--__L.CI.-^-+---.-
---------
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury. Lynchburg and I t s People. Lynchburg, 1900.
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . " F e d e r a l H i l l . "
Vol. 4, no. 4.
Richmond, Va. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives. F e d e r a l H i l l F i l e .
~ G E B G W A B W I C ADATA
L
UTM REFERENCES
AM
161 6, 31 819, oJ
ZONE
EASTING
L4,114r211, Ol
NORTHING
OJ
1 61 61 41 21 0,01 1 4 , 11 4,1( 7, 6, 0j
c
QUADRANGLE NAME
Lynchburg,
Va.
QUAWANGLE SCALE
1:24000
31 acres
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERN
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
W161 61 41 0,2, 01 14, 4 4, 4 9 3, Cj
ZONE EASTING
NORTHING
l 61 61 31 91 5, 01 1 4, 4 4, 4 51 7, q
I
E l 7
F 1 7
G 1 7
6 6 3 8 6 0
6 6 3 7 8 0
6 6 3 7 5 0
4 1 4 1 6 8 0
4 1 4 1 8 5 0
4 1 4 2 0 8 0
1
1
1
!
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #6 )
i
1
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
i
UFOXNI
PREPARED BY
NAMEITITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET& NUMBER
. .
221 Governor S t r e e t
CITY OR TOWN
!
I
!
May 1.980
TELEPHONE
(804) 786-3144
STATE
Richmond
.
!
j
V i r g i n i a 23219
@STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OFTHIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
X
STATELOCAL -
NATIONAL
-
As thedesignated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1 9 6 6 IPubllc Law 89-665). 1
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify t h a t i t has been evaluated according to the
Criteria and7y7fl@patii"""
Park Service.
STATE H
Y.5 .&
-y r d RV I O N OHICER
SIGNATURE
Tucker B i l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
I
C111781
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
W
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
'f.
ITEM NUMBER
8
&
7
PAGE 1
SIGNIFICANCE
gable.
The neighborhood's major non-residential buildings are the former Frank Roane
School designed in the very personal eclectic style of Frye and Chesterman and the
Roinanesque Revival-style 8th Street Baptist Church (1899, E. G. Frye, architect).
In addition to the buildings specifically mentioned, Federal Hill possesses
numerous late 19th-century and early 20th-century frame houses, most of which have
interesting rooflines and richly turned Eastlake porches. One of the neighborhood's
most important late houses is a handsome Georgian Revival mansion at 1101 Federal Street.
Additional information on-some of Federal Hill's most important early residences is
provided in historical leaflet # 4 , vol. IV, "Federal Hill," published by the 1.ynchburg
Historical Society.
7. DESCRIPTION -- Inventory (Below is an inventory of the buildings comprising the
Federal Hill Flistoric ~iatrict),.
i
I
I
Federal Street
I
803: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1860.
/
805: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1890.
809:
Ca. 1890.
,'.
frame; 2 stories.
1.
813: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
Ca. 1890.
' 815: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake proch.
Ca. 1980.
1
I
I
821:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch, English basement.
822:
(Speed House):
brick; 2 stories. Federal style.
900: (Former Frank Roane School):
eclectic style.
I
t
Ca. 1860-90.
I
Ca. 1819.
I
II
brick; 2% stories, early 20th century.
Edwardian
903: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
905: frame; 2% stories, early 20th century.
911: frame; 2 stories.
. ..
_.
_:_
>
.).
_
I
Ca. 1900.
_._..*-
--..-
-
. -
.
(See Continuation Sheet 82)
.
.-.. . .
. . . . ... .
. ~ . -:..~
. .
I
FHQ-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
IVATIOMAL REGISTER OF HlSTOKIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET #2
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
ITEM N U M B E R 7
PAGE 2
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
F e d e r a l S t r e e t (continued)
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
\% 914:
(Ford House):
:? 917:
(Holcombe House):
\:'
920:
, $ 922:
923:
,'k
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
Vacant l o t .
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1004:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
Ca. 1818.
Vacant l o t .
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival, 1844.
.i
1007:
(Winfree House):
:'
1012:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
-
1015:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
(Otey House):
1021-1023:
-2
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , E a s t l a k e porch.
( C a r r i n g t o n House):
. . 1020:
1816.
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1002:
.i' 1005:
Ca.
Ca. 1890.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s . F e d e r a l s t y l e .
(Langhorne House):
Ca.
1815.
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival.
;,1100:
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
11101:
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Georgian Rev-ival.
j 1 1102:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:1
1106:
(Thaddeus Ivey House):
q\:
1108:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Doric porch.
?( 1115:
8
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1853.
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e , E n s t l a k e porch.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , modified I t a l i a n a t e .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #3)
- ... .<.- ._.
.
,_
( _
__...__
..
.
..
-
..
---- ..
.-
. -.
I...
.
._....-.-----.---
:
'
,
-I
<11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATTBM FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTI NU ATION SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
a3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Harrison S t r e e t
j;b
$3:
900:
s t u c c o ; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h / e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
904:
Vacant l o t .
44 906:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
?< 910:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
..I 914:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1915:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:%916:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
922:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
tlp923:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
VI
.I8 1000:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn work r a i l i n g .
1004:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn. work r a i l i n g .
u3008:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s ; e a r l y 1 9 t h century, Federal s t y l e .
1001-1013:
[ a '
,
F i v e 2-story frame houses; c a . 1900.
1014:
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e .
1020:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire s t y l e .
2
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , c a s t - s t o n e ,
i: 1023:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 19th century.
0
,
1
.
Ca. 1900.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire sty1.e.
1108:
Vacant l o t f r o n t e d by c s s t - i r o n f e n c e .
" 1105-1115:
-5 1
- -. -
Queen Anne s t y l e .
: frame; 2 s t o r i e s , mid-19th c e n t u r y , modified Greek R e v i v a l .
''.,1102:
"
E a s t l a k e p o r c h e s on 1001-1005.
:
I..
.,..-
Three 2-story frame h o u s e s ; l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
frame; 25 s t o r i e s .
_.__.,
Ca. 1900.
.__,-,
-~.-. , -
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 114)
. ..
..r
. .
. . , . ., , -.
-....
..
.-
. ..
.-.-.-- .. -
.
.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INIENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
I
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
7. DESCRIPTION
--
/i4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
Inventory (continued)
Harrison Street (continued)
,
1
:
I
l1121:
Vacant lot.
brick; 1% stories with tower, late 19th century; French 2nd Empire style.
Jackson Street
5" 900: cinder block; 1 story, Commercial vernacular. Ca. 1950.
i?
901:
(Church):
42 902:
Vacant lot.
sCl 903:
Vacant lot.
'0
909: frame; 1% stories, early 19th century.
((1
910:
frame; 1 story, late 19th century.
(Stable):
kw 911:
frame; 2 stories, mid-19th century, Federal style.
b5 912:
Vacant lot.
.,
~
brick; 2 stories, early 20th century; Neo-Classical Revival.
l
1
l
i
I
--+EASEMENT
kj'
1001:
frame; 1 story, mid-19th century.
bb
1005:
Vacant lot.
b7
1009:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
.
1011:
frame; 2% stories, mid-19th century, sawn-work porch.-+
1013:
frame; 2% stories late 19th century,
i
101.4: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
!
1015:
I
64
'lo
11
'1
EASEMEb!T
I
frame; 2% stories, late 19th century.
1020: frame:
1023:
7 0
Ca. 1900.
2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianatc.
o or don' House) :
brick; 2$stories, Federal style.
Ca. 1815.->
EASEMEIJf
: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianate.
. .-. . .. ,-'--,-..T-.,.l
i>.-..-
.- .--*.
*-. '.
(See
Continuation Sheet #5)
.
...... . - . . .,.- .. . .
.
.* .^.
<*.
- -.
-----.
I
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATiIPMAE. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l I i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg;Virgiuia
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
/I5
ITEM N U M B E R
7
PAGE
5
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Jackson S t r e e t (continued)
4 1101:
1
(Crowe House):
1 b 1104:
(Poston House):
'
1
1105:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e with b r i c k outbuilding.
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , C o l o n i a l Revival.
4 1107:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , I t a l i a n a t e .
.
.
:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1110-12:
Ca. 1815.
Ca. 1890.
0
l o 1106:
1
Ca. 1817.
Ca. 1900.
Ca. 1870-90.
Ca. 1890.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , double house.
Ca. 1890.
1114:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1115:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
Ca. 1860-90.
Tenth S t r e e t
'>'
810:
b r i c k ; 1 s t o r y , mid- t o l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
Eleventh S t r e e t
*
2
' 908:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
.v 912:
frame; 2!5 s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
913:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
?- 915: frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
'1
E ighth
rC1
700:
Street
b r i c k coinmercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h c a . 1940 stuccoed f a c a d e and g l a s s block.
Ca. 1880.
q C 702: b r i c k commercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h o r i g i n a l s t o r e f r o n t w i t h p o l y g o n a l bay shop
windows.
Ca. 1900.
t!'801: ( 8 t h S t r e e t B a p t i s t Church): 2 - s t o r y , Romanesque Revival b r i c k c h u r c h w i t h b u f f E. G.
c o l o r e d b r i c k v e n e e r , s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows and s t y l i z e d f l y- i n g buttresses.
Frye, a r c h i t e c t .
1899.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 8 6 )
11i%n.EDSTATES L)EPARl'hll-:NT O F THE INTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- MOMIINA'IIlON FORM
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET #6
ITEM N U M B E R ,
,,
PAGE
,
I
1
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
.- I n v e n t o r y (continued)
i
Eighth S t r e e t (continued)
~1'1
806:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
(/'}I
810:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , v e r n a c u l a r Queen Anne.
10.
Ca. 1930.
Ca. 1910.
I
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERB.4L BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
II
Beginning a t a p o i n t 1300' S of US Route 29, 3200' E of James R i v e r , 1 3 0 0 ' SW of i n t e r -
s e c t i o n of Main S t r e e t and s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' SSE along W s i d e H a r r i s o n
S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 300' ESE along S s i d e E a s t H a r r i s o n S t r e e t t o r e a r p r o p e r t y
l i n e s of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extending 1100' SSE along r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
900, 1000, and 1100 b l o c k s of H a r r i s o n t o N s i d e of 1 2 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1050'
II
SSW along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' NNW f o l l o w i n g r e a r p r o p e r t y
I
l i n e s of t h e 1000 b l o c k of P o l k S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g about 7 5 ' ENE; thence e x t e n d i n g
!
approximately 150' NNW; t h e n c e extending 75' ENE; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g a b o u t 450' NM<
i
I
c r o s s i n g 1 0 t h S t r e e t t o S s i d e of 9 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' ME a l o n g s a i d s i d e
of s a i d s t r e e t c r o s s i n g Jackson S t r e e t t o t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e 800 b l o c k of
F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 375' NNW t o S s i d e 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1 0 0 ' NNE '
along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence extending 200' NNW t o r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e of 8 0 1
8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 100'NNE to'^ s i d e of F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 2001SSE
s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t t o S s i d e of 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e c o n t i n u i n g a l o n g s a i d
along
I
s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t 300'NNE t o 700 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t and poi* o f o r i g i n .
I
1
i
No 10-300
S/WP*
10-1
(muL/Lq,
dle)-\~
UNITEDSTATES DEPAK'I'MEN1" OF THE IN-l-EtIkOIi
- 9 / 1! ~ / 4 ~
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HSTOXLC PLACES
INVENTORY -- XaJQh"J1NATIOPdFORM
I
'
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN H O W T O COFY?PL~FNATIOSIJAL
REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
f
J
F
1; NAME
HISTORtC
F e d e r a l R i l l Eistoric Cistricr
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
CI ry. TOWN
_NOT FOR PUBCICATl0.N
CONGHESS~OWAL
DI S TRI C T
-
ty~chburcg
Sixth (1,:.
VICINITYOF
STATE
CATEG DRY
OWNERSHIP
C a l d r ~ e l lSczTer)
cou~rv
CODE
CODE
STAT V S
PRESENT USE
LDISTR I CT
-PUBLIC
%OCCUPIED
-AGRlCU
-IUILRlNG(S)
-PRIVAT€
,UNOCCUPIED
-COMMERCIAL
-SIAUCTU
>r
X-EWTH
RE
-VJOFIX
PUBLIC ACQUISITION
,SITE
-IN
,OSJECT
YES
PRDCFSS
-.BEING
-YES.
CONSIDERED
IN P R O G RE SS
ACCE551RLZ
M t - 1 1 t C i p h Ormership
-EDUCATIONAL
LPAIVATE
RES~DENCE
-ENTERTAINMFNS
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIFNXIFIC
UNPESTRICTEO
--IKOUSTRIAL
-T~ANSPOF(TAT ON
-MILITARY
.,OTHER
c / o Mayor
---
-STREET Fa NUMBER
COURTHOUSE.
REGISTRY OF DFEOS,ETL
--MUSEUM
,PARK
RESTRICTED
-NO
NAME
LTURE
Lynchburg City ?$all
STREET& NUMBER
TITLE
V t r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks co~llmissidnSul-vey
DATE
1969, 1 9 7 4 , 197s
-FECIFRAL
X-STATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
DEPOSITQRY FOR
SUqVEYREC5RDS
V i r g i n i a Ilistoric Landnarks Commission,
2 2 1 Governor
Street:
-.
-
Clfv.fOWFI
STATE
.- Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
-EXCELLENT
-GOOD
&FAIR
-DETERIORATEO
-RUINS
-UNEXPOSED
CHECK O N E
-UNALTERED
XALTEREO
CHECK ONE
KORIGINALSITE
-MOVED
DATE
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND OHlGlNAL (IF KNOWN1 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Federal Hill Historic District includes some one dozcn residential blocks in the
heart of Lynchburg. Laid out in a grid plan, the area covers one of the city's seven
hills and is separated from Lynchburg Hill, or the commercial area, by a deep valley. Two
of Federal Hill's principal streets, Federal Street and Jackson Street dead end at a
sharp cliff above 12th Street so that the district is rarely entered by other than local
traffic. Most of the wide, tree-shaded streets retain early brick sidervallcs using bricks
with distinctive patterned faces. A number of slate sidewalks and granite curbs remain
as well. Other street furniture includes numerous iron fences in a variety of patterns.
The district's architecture consists primarily of free-standing brick or frame
houses in a variety of styles but of harmonious scale. Of chief architectural interest
are several Federal-style brick houses built about the time the area was laid out. A few
mid-19th-century houses are scattered through the neighborhood, and the rest of the lots
are filled with complementary Latc 19th-and early 20th-century dwellings. Three important
French Second Empire houses stand near one another on Harrison Street. The individual
early 20th-century houses are generally undistinguished, but together they contribute to
the visual harmony of the block facades. Yard sizes vary, and there are few vacant lots.
In addition to the houses, the area has a public school building and a church, both
dignified examples of Edwardian period architecture.
Federal Hill is racially mixed and has residents of high, middle and low income
levels. Several houses are in poor condition while others are maintained excellently.
The general appearance of the neighborhood is good, however, and the income lcvel is
rising as houses are restored. Except for Jackson Street and the southwest side of
Federal Street, Federal Hill is included in the College Hill Urban Renewal Area,
operated by the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority which is assisting in
upgrading the area.
.
<.
.
.
-
.
a
SIGNIFICANCE
-1500-1593
-1600-1693
-1700-1793
x1800-1839
XI900-
'
..
;
_
.
_ ..
__
."*_. .... . _
_.
_.
,
.
,
~.
. ...
....,.,.*-.
.- . . . . .
~
..-..,
'
-- CHECK A N 0 JUSTIFY BELOW
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-CONSERVATION
-L4W
-ECONOMICS
-LITERATURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-PHILOSOPHY
ANDUSTRY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-INVENTION
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
-PREHISTORIC
-1400-1499
.-
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
-ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
AGRICULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
-RELIGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
(SPECIFY)
XOTHER
Local history
I
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I
FederalHill is one of the most distinctivk of several early neighborhoods situated
i
on the hills surrounding the commercial area of Lynchburg. Unlike Garland Hill where the !
i
city's industrialists built their homes, Federal Hill primarily has been the residential
!
area for merchants and civic leaders. Containedwithin the district's dozen blocks is a
;
notable assemblage of free-standing dwellings in architectural styles ranging in date
from the early 19th century through the Edwardian styles of the early 20th century.
Most significant is the neighborhood's important collection of early Federal-style townhouses which includes some of the oldest and finest houses in the city. Few Piedmont cities
!
of the South can boast such a distinguished grouping of Federal dwellings.
Many of Federal Hill's earliest houses were erected prior to 1819 when the neighbor- iI
hood was annexed from Campbell County. These include the Ford House. 914 Federal Street; i
the Carrington House, 1002 Federal Street; the Otey House, 1020 Federal Street; the
Thaddeus Ivey House, 1106 Federal Street; the Holcombe House, 917 Federal Street; the
Poston House, 1104 Jackson Street; the Gordon House, 1023 Jackson Street; and the Crowe
I
House, 1101 Jackson Street. All of these houses are brick and all exhibit the fine
craftsmanship, proportions, and details associated with the Federal style. The exact date
of the Speed House at 822 Federal Street has not been determined, but architectural
evidence indicates a date around the time of the annexation. Erected for William Wiatt
Norvell, a distinguished civic leader, this brick dwelling possesses particular architectural refinement, with details similar to ~ynchburg's Point of Honor. ,
The so~newhatscattered distribution of Federal Hill's early houses indicates that the
area built up slowly, and that many of the lots did not receive buildings untsnearly a
hundred years after the streets were laid out. Thus most of the blocks have an interesting
mixture of early , mid-, late 19th-, and early 20th-century dwellings that together form
block facades of varied textures, materials and forms. All of the buildings are of similar
scale and massing, however, so that visual order is maintained.
Federal Hill's mid-19th-century houses of note include the winfree House at 1007
Federal Street, built in 1844 for John Bell Winfree, president of ~ynchburg's first school
board. The house is a pleasing example of central Virginia's somewhat restrained version of
the Greek Revival style. The architecturally similar Langhorne House at 1021 Federal
Street was erected in 1853 for Maurice Langhorne.
The neighborhood also possesses three of the city's purest examples of the Second
Empire Style, all dating from the late 19th century. 1020 and 1121 Harrison Street have
the style's characteristic mansard roof, asymmetrical facade and central tower with square
dome. 1102 Harrison Street features a mansard roof and round-arch dormers but has a
symmetrical facade. A small but distinctive Queen Anne-style house at 1021 Harrison Street
features a rough-face, cast-stone first floor, with shingled second floor and exposed frame
.
(See Continuation Sheet #l)
~
.
_
._
. _-.. __
_.
.._--__L.CI.-^-+---.-
---------
C h r i s t i a n , W. Asbury. Lynchburg and I t s People. Lynchburg, 1900.
Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . " F e d e r a l H i l l . "
Vol. 4, no. 4.
Richmond, Va. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission Archives. F e d e r a l H i l l F i l e .
~ G E B G W A B W I C ADATA
L
UTM REFERENCES
AM
161 6, 31 819, oJ
ZONE
EASTING
L4,114r211, Ol
NORTHING
OJ
1 61 61 41 21 0,01 1 4 , 11 4,1( 7, 6, 0j
c
QUADRANGLE NAME
Lynchburg,
Va.
QUAWANGLE SCALE
1:24000
31 acres
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERN
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
W161 61 41 0,2, 01 14, 4 4, 4 9 3, Cj
ZONE EASTING
NORTHING
l 61 61 31 91 5, 01 1 4, 4 4, 4 51 7, q
I
E l 7
F 1 7
G 1 7
6 6 3 8 6 0
6 6 3 7 8 0
6 6 3 7 5 0
4 1 4 1 6 8 0
4 1 4 1 8 5 0
4 1 4 2 0 8 0
1
1
1
!
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #6 )
i
1
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
i
UFOXNI
PREPARED BY
NAMEITITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
STREET& NUMBER
. .
221 Governor S t r e e t
CITY OR TOWN
!
I
!
May 1.980
TELEPHONE
(804) 786-3144
STATE
Richmond
.
!
j
V i r g i n i a 23219
@STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OFTHIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
X
STATELOCAL -
NATIONAL
-
As thedesignated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1 9 6 6 IPubllc Law 89-665). 1
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify t h a t i t has been evaluated according to the
Criteria and7y7fl@patii"""
Park Service.
STATE H
Y.5 .&
-y r d RV I O N OHICER
SIGNATURE
Tucker B i l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
I
C111781
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
W
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
'f.
ITEM NUMBER
8
&
7
PAGE 1
SIGNIFICANCE
gable.
The neighborhood's major non-residential buildings are the former Frank Roane
School designed in the very personal eclectic style of Frye and Chesterman and the
Roinanesque Revival-style 8th Street Baptist Church (1899, E. G. Frye, architect).
In addition to the buildings specifically mentioned, Federal Hill possesses
numerous late 19th-century and early 20th-century frame houses, most of which have
interesting rooflines and richly turned Eastlake porches. One of the neighborhood's
most important late houses is a handsome Georgian Revival mansion at 1101 Federal Street.
Additional information on-some of Federal Hill's most important early residences is
provided in historical leaflet # 4 , vol. IV, "Federal Hill," published by the 1.ynchburg
Historical Society.
7. DESCRIPTION -- Inventory (Below is an inventory of the buildings comprising the
Federal Hill Flistoric ~iatrict),.
i
I
I
Federal Street
I
803: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1860.
/
805: frame; 2 stories.
Ca. 1890.
809:
Ca. 1890.
,'.
frame; 2 stories.
1.
813: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
Ca. 1890.
' 815: frame; 2 stories, Eastlake proch.
Ca. 1980.
1
I
I
821:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch, English basement.
822:
(Speed House):
brick; 2 stories. Federal style.
900: (Former Frank Roane School):
eclectic style.
I
t
Ca. 1860-90.
I
Ca. 1819.
I
II
brick; 2% stories, early 20th century.
Edwardian
903: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
905: frame; 2% stories, early 20th century.
911: frame; 2 stories.
. ..
_.
_:_
>
.).
_
I
Ca. 1900.
_._..*-
--..-
-
. -
.
(See Continuation Sheet 82)
.
.-.. . .
. . . . ... .
. ~ . -:..~
. .
I
FHQ-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
IVATIOMAL REGISTER OF HlSTOKIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET #2
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
ITEM N U M B E R 7
PAGE 2
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
F e d e r a l S t r e e t (continued)
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
\% 914:
(Ford House):
:? 917:
(Holcombe House):
\:'
920:
, $ 922:
923:
,'k
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
Vacant l o t .
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1004:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
Ca. 1818.
Vacant l o t .
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival, 1844.
.i
1007:
(Winfree House):
:'
1012:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
-
1015:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
(Otey House):
1021-1023:
-2
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , E a s t l a k e porch.
( C a r r i n g t o n House):
. . 1020:
1816.
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1002:
.i' 1005:
Ca.
Ca. 1890.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s . F e d e r a l s t y l e .
(Langhorne House):
Ca.
1815.
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s , Greek Revival.
;,1100:
frame; 25 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
11101:
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Georgian Rev-ival.
j 1 1102:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:1
1106:
(Thaddeus Ivey House):
q\:
1108:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , Doric porch.
?( 1115:
8
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e .
1853.
Ca. 1816.
frame; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e , E n s t l a k e porch.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , modified I t a l i a n a t e .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #3)
- ... .<.- ._.
.
,_
( _
__...__
..
.
..
-
..
---- ..
.-
. -.
I...
.
._....-.-----.---
:
'
,
-I
<11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATTBM FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTI NU ATION SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
a3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Harrison S t r e e t
j;b
$3:
900:
s t u c c o ; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h / e a r l y 20th c e n t u r y .
904:
Vacant l o t .
44 906:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
?< 910:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
..I 914:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
1915:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
:%916:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
922:
frame, 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
tlp923:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
VI
.I8 1000:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn work r a i l i n g .
1004:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , sawn. work r a i l i n g .
u3008:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s ; e a r l y 1 9 t h century, Federal s t y l e .
1001-1013:
[ a '
,
F i v e 2-story frame houses; c a . 1900.
1014:
b r i c k ; 2 s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , Queen Anne s t y l e .
1020:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s w i t h tower, l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire s t y l e .
2
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , c a s t - s t o n e ,
i: 1023:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , l a t e 19th century.
0
,
1
.
Ca. 1900.
b r i c k ; 2% s t o r i e s , l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , French 2nd Empire sty1.e.
1108:
Vacant l o t f r o n t e d by c s s t - i r o n f e n c e .
" 1105-1115:
-5 1
- -. -
Queen Anne s t y l e .
: frame; 2 s t o r i e s , mid-19th c e n t u r y , modified Greek R e v i v a l .
''.,1102:
"
E a s t l a k e p o r c h e s on 1001-1005.
:
I..
.,..-
Three 2-story frame h o u s e s ; l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
frame; 25 s t o r i e s .
_.__.,
Ca. 1900.
.__,-,
-~.-. , -
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 114)
. ..
..r
. .
. . , . ., , -.
-....
..
.-
. ..
.-.-.-- .. -
.
.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INIENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
I
Federal Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
7. DESCRIPTION
--
/i4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
Inventory (continued)
Harrison Street (continued)
,
1
:
I
l1121:
Vacant lot.
brick; 1% stories with tower, late 19th century; French 2nd Empire style.
Jackson Street
5" 900: cinder block; 1 story, Commercial vernacular. Ca. 1950.
i?
901:
(Church):
42 902:
Vacant lot.
sCl 903:
Vacant lot.
'0
909: frame; 1% stories, early 19th century.
((1
910:
frame; 1 story, late 19th century.
(Stable):
kw 911:
frame; 2 stories, mid-19th century, Federal style.
b5 912:
Vacant lot.
.,
~
brick; 2 stories, early 20th century; Neo-Classical Revival.
l
1
l
i
I
--+EASEMENT
kj'
1001:
frame; 1 story, mid-19th century.
bb
1005:
Vacant lot.
b7
1009:
frame; 2 stories, Eastlake porch.
.
1011:
frame; 2% stories, mid-19th century, sawn-work porch.-+
1013:
frame; 2% stories late 19th century,
i
101.4: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century.
!
1015:
I
64
'lo
11
'1
EASEMEb!T
I
frame; 2% stories, late 19th century.
1020: frame:
1023:
7 0
Ca. 1900.
2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianatc.
o or don' House) :
brick; 2$stories, Federal style.
Ca. 1815.->
EASEMEIJf
: frame; 2 stories, late 19th century, modified Italianate.
. .-. . .. ,-'--,-..T-.,.l
i>.-..-
.- .--*.
*-. '.
(See
Continuation Sheet #5)
.
...... . - . . .,.- .. . .
.
.* .^.
<*.
- -.
-----.
I
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TtIE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATiIPMAE. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
F e d e r a l H i l l I i i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg;Virgiuia
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
/I5
ITEM N U M B E R
7
PAGE
5
I n v e n t o r y (continued)
Jackson S t r e e t (continued)
4 1101:
1
(Crowe House):
1 b 1104:
(Poston House):
'
1
1105:
brick; 2 s t o r i e s , Federal s t y l e with b r i c k outbuilding.
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , C o l o n i a l Revival.
4 1107:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , I t a l i a n a t e .
.
.
:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1110-12:
Ca. 1815.
Ca. 1890.
0
l o 1106:
1
Ca. 1817.
Ca. 1900.
Ca. 1870-90.
Ca. 1890.
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , double house.
Ca. 1890.
1114:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s .
1115:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
Ca. 1860-90.
Tenth S t r e e t
'>'
810:
b r i c k ; 1 s t o r y , mid- t o l a t e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
Eleventh S t r e e t
*
2
' 908:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
.v 912:
frame; 2!5 s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
913:
frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
?- 915: frame; 2% s t o r i e s .
Ca. 1890.
'1
E ighth
rC1
700:
Street
b r i c k coinmercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h c a . 1940 stuccoed f a c a d e and g l a s s block.
Ca. 1880.
q C 702: b r i c k commercial s t r u c t u r e w i t h o r i g i n a l s t o r e f r o n t w i t h p o l y g o n a l bay shop
windows.
Ca. 1900.
t!'801: ( 8 t h S t r e e t B a p t i s t Church): 2 - s t o r y , Romanesque Revival b r i c k c h u r c h w i t h b u f f E. G.
c o l o r e d b r i c k v e n e e r , s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows and s t y l i z e d f l y- i n g buttresses.
Frye, a r c h i t e c t .
1899.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 8 6 )
11i%n.EDSTATES L)EPARl'hll-:NT O F THE INTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- MOMIINA'IIlON FORM
F e d e r a l H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t , Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET #6
ITEM N U M B E R ,
,,
PAGE
,
I
1
7. D e s c r i p t i o n
.- I n v e n t o r y (continued)
i
Eighth S t r e e t (continued)
~1'1
806:
b r i c k ; 1%s t o r i e s .
(/'}I
810:
frame; 2 s t o r i e s , v e r n a c u l a r Queen Anne.
10.
Ca. 1930.
Ca. 1910.
I
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERB.4L BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
II
Beginning a t a p o i n t 1300' S of US Route 29, 3200' E of James R i v e r , 1 3 0 0 ' SW of i n t e r -
s e c t i o n of Main S t r e e t and s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' SSE along W s i d e H a r r i s o n
S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 300' ESE along S s i d e E a s t H a r r i s o n S t r e e t t o r e a r p r o p e r t y
l i n e s of H a r r i s o n S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extending 1100' SSE along r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e
900, 1000, and 1100 b l o c k s of H a r r i s o n t o N s i d e of 1 2 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1050'
II
SSW along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' NNW f o l l o w i n g r e a r p r o p e r t y
I
l i n e s of t h e 1000 b l o c k of P o l k S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g about 7 5 ' ENE; thence e x t e n d i n g
!
approximately 150' NNW; t h e n c e extending 75' ENE; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g a b o u t 450' NM<
i
I
c r o s s i n g 1 0 t h S t r e e t t o S s i d e of 9 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 200' ME a l o n g s a i d s i d e
of s a i d s t r e e t c r o s s i n g Jackson S t r e e t t o t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s of t h e 800 b l o c k of
F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 375' NNW t o S s i d e 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 1 0 0 ' NNE '
along s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t ; thence extending 200' NNW t o r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e of 8 0 1
8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 100'NNE to'^ s i d e of F e d e r a l S t r e e t ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 2001SSE
s a i d s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t t o S s i d e of 8 t h S t r e e t ; t h e n c e c o n t i n u i n g a l o n g s a i d
along
I
s i d e of s a i d s t r e e t 300'NNE t o 700 H a r r i s o n S t r e e t and poi* o f o r i g i n .
I
1
i
Text
r
.<!TEDSTATES DEPARTMENTOFTHE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NA2TONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
XNWNTGRY -* NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HP W TO COMPLETE NA TJOIVAL REGISTER FORMS
R P E ALL ENTRIES COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
--
1
:flp~m~
LdJ
HISTORIC
Diam~odB i l l Historic Dfstrdct
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
'
*
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
,NOT
C l V . TOWN
STATE
S5xth (M.
5 1.
CLASSIFICATION
CATE G aRY
Caldhilf ~ u t l e r )
COUNTY
CODE
Virginie
FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DJSTRICT
-vlclnm QF
Lpchbusg
.
(in
c
CODE
&TATUS
OWNERSHIP
680
l t ~ )
PRESENT USE
AGRICULTURE
-STRCICTU R E
,BOTH
-WORK
P U B LI C
,SITE
,OBJECT
AcauIstTloN
1 N PROCESS
,BEING
CONSIDERED
1 H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
-YES
-MUSEUM
LCOMMERCIAL
-PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
PRIVATE RESICFENCE
,ENTERTAINMENT
AESfRlCTED
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIElrATIFIC
XYES:
UNRESTRICTED
ANDUSTRIAL
- TRANSPORTATION
,NO
-MILITARY
-OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Multiple Ownership
(See ~ t t a c h e dlist)
STREET& NUMBER
-
-VICINITY OF
BLQCATIQN
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
STREET a NUMBER
Lyrtchburg
aREPRESENTATION IN
TITLE
Virginia
EXISTING SURVEYS ( 4 )
( s e e a n t i i m . a t i o n sheer fi)
C i t y o f Lynchburg, Division
of P l a n n i n g , H i s t o r i c Distrfct Survey, Lynchburg,
Vir~inia. %y 1976.
DATE
I976
DEPOSTTDRY FOR
sURVEYRECoRas
CITY. TOWN
-FEDERAL
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r k Landnarks Comission
SATE
-
~ o u &LOCAL
~ n
2 2 1 Governoy Street
STATE
__.
ii DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
_EXCELLENT
Jl.GOOD
_ FAIR
CHECK ONE
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
_RUINS
~LTERED
CHECK ONE
~ORIGINAL SITE
_MOVED
DATE _ __
_UNEXPOSED
I
•
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Diamond Hill Historic District is an irregularly shaped district approximately
14 blocks in area. Located on one of the seven hills of Lynchburg, the district is
wedged between the Lynchburg Expressway (Rt. 29) to the south and the city's central
commercial core to the north. Steep hillsides couple with changes in land use and
historical precedent in defining the north, east, and south borders. Borders to the
southwest and west remain arbitrary and follow recommendations of the Lynchburg Board of
Architectural Review.
'
i~
An attractive reside_ntial neighborhood, the Diamond Hill Historic District was ·laid outt)
on _a· sit'id plan'.modified _to: accommodate the· _irregularities o_f the terrain •. Only Clay Street
retains its original brick .surface, all other streets 'having been paved over. Several
streets are tree-lined (see: Madison and Clay Streets), and many houses exhibit landscaped yards. Ornamental cast- and wrought-iron fences and stone and deconative brick
sidewalks appear at random intervals throughout the district. These elements, together
with landscaping features, impart color and warmth to street views and help define the
residential character of the neighborhood.
While experiencing its greatest period of growth at the turn of the century, the
district holds several mid-19th-century houses. The oldest residence, presently vacant
and in disrepair, stands at 1301 Madison (Vernacular, ca. 1817, altered ca. 1875).
Morris' Folly (Vernacular/Greek Revival, altered), a two-story, brick residence at 1310
Church Street, dates from ca. 1869, Two Gothic Revival houses are found at 1418-20
Harrison (ca. 1855, moderately altered ca. 1900) and 602 Washington (ca. 1852). This
latter house exhibits an elaborate cast-iron stair and porch unique in Lynchburg. Other
early houses found on Diamond Hill are 305 Washington (Vernacular, ca, 1849; ca. 1865),
313 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1855), 503 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1850), 618 Pearl
(Vernacular, ca. 1850), 700 Pearl (Italianate, 1862), 1411-13 Church (Greek Revival/
Italianate, ca. 1860), 1501 Church (Vernacular, ca. 1845), and 515 13th St. (Vernacular,
ca. 1850).
Most houses on Diamond Hill were erected during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries and range from speculative houses erected as rental units (see: 1400 block
Church Street, 13th Street, and Diamond Street), to such upper-middle-class residences as
517 Washington (Beaux Arts, 1910-11), 419 Washington (Colonial Revival, 1901, and 1314
Clay Street (Colonial Revival, 1901).
The more formidable residences of Diamond Hill line Washington and-Clay streets,
and sections of Pearl and Madison streets. Included among these are an unusually high
number of Georgian Revival houses. Of the 12 examples found on Diamond Hill, the outstanding examples are 508 Washington, 400 Washington, and 1411 Madison. Two almost
iueutical Georgian Revival dwellings at 1304 and 1308 Clay Street were built in 1906.
At first glance, 500 Washington Street (Queen Anne, ca. 1898) appears to set itself
off from it= classicclly derived neighbors with its massive entrance portico, octagonal
corner tower, and decorative terrs cotta brick. However, closer inspection reveals the
underlying form of the building to be a 5-bay, Georgian Revival house capped by a highpitched, hipped reef.
The Colonial Revival was also popular: thirteen houses in this style are located
within the district's confines. Prominent examples are found at 419 Washington Street
and 313 and 314 Clay Street. Little construction in the Eastlake and Queen Anne styles
(See Continuation Sheet fl 2)
0) CJGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
_PREHISTORIC
--ARCHEOLUG'l'-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-RELIGION
_f400-1499
----ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-1500-\599
_.AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
_1600-1699
~RCH!TECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
Xsoc1AUR--
x1100-11ss
-.A_AT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
_1800-1899
_COMMERCE
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
.K,soo- 10
_COMMUNICATIONS
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
x_~ETTLEMENT
_INDUSTRY
_INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Hill, once one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential neighborhoods,
enjoyed its greatest prosperity.at the turn of the century. This period was marked by
construction of numerous new residences ranging from speculative builderjrental units to
stately, architect-designed town houses. Prominent businessmen and civic leaders
including bankers, tobacco manufacturers, attorneys, mayors, councilmen, and state
legislators, clustered in this ~rea along Washington, Clay, Pearl, and Madison streets,
erecting large houses for themselves and their families.
Their choice of architecture was most often either Georgian or Colonial Revival. Of
the 26 houses lining Washington Street, almost two-thirds were erected in these styles.
On Clay Street, almost half the residences are Colonial or Georgian Revival.
)
The high incidence of Georgian and Colonial Revival houses on Diamond Hill is
attributed to 1) the declining popularity of the more picturesque Eastlake and Queen Anne
styles, and 2) the conservative nature of Diamond Hill's population. Shunning the
Shingle and Craftsman styles as "low art" architecture, residents of Diamond Hill turned
to the grander imagery of the ordered, balanced, classically inspired Georgian and
Colonial Revivals. Twelve Georgian Revival houses appear within the district. The most
formidable of these is 508 Washington (1909), designed by J.M.B. Lewis. The house,
sheathed in Flemish-bond brick with glazed headers, is fronted by a cenl: •"dl, semicircular
portico topped by a balustraded deck. The first-floor entrance is framed by decorative
multi-pane sidelights and transom. Architrave tripartite windows are set in the first-floor
side bays. Double doors topped by an elliptical fanlight front on to the second-floor
porch deck. A decorative wrought-iron fence and gate set the house off from the street and
add to the overall formal composition. Other stately examples of the Georgian Revival are
found at 400 Washington and 1420 Madison streets.
Notable examples of the Colonial Revival are seen at 313 and 314 Clay and at 419 and
SOS Washington streets. The detailing of the latter two houses suggests they were
designed by the same, currently unidentified, architect.
The most prestigious house on Diamond Hill is 517 Washington Street, an imposing
Beaux Arts residence erected in grand scale. Giant order, paired columns define the
central entrance portico. The arched and recessed entrance is a play on Palladian window
motifs. The building is two stories in height capped by a balustraded deck. Order and
symmetry dominate the facade composition. The building is of beige brick and is marked
by stone springers and keystones over first-floor arched window openings. An attractive
enclosed glass porch with patterned curvilinear mullions is situated at the west end of the
house and is balanced by a frame pergola to the east.
Three houses on Washington break from the pervading conservative air of
518 and 605 Washington are the only structures representing Eastlakeandstick
street. 518 Washington (EastlakeA:}ueen Anne}, aside (S
.
.
ee Cont1nuat1on
Sheet
,'\
Diamond Hill.
styles on this
u" 25)
,
IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ·
,
Artwork £f Lynchburg and Danville Virginia. (9 parts). Chicago: The Gravure Illustration Company, 1903.
Blackford, Susan Leigh. Memoir. Madison Heights, 1894, 1959.
Christian, William Ashbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, 1900.
City of Lynchburg. General Ordinances. 1880Division of Planning. Historic District Survey, Lynchburg,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
May
1976._
Virginia.
li!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
QUADRANGLE NAME _Lynchb~1:g ,__ _v_a_.- - - - - -
42 acres
(See Continuation Sheet //28)
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
Al.lilJ !6!6 14!613101 !4 11(4,1}8,8,0j
ZONE
EASTING
QUADRANGLE SCALE _=.1.:.::2=--4c.:Oc::0..::0_ _ _ _ _ __
Bl!,2J ! 6! 6, 4181 o. or
ZONE
NORTHING
cUll.l !6l614!61l10! l4,ll41117r6,o!
DL!tl]
I 4 1 11 4 I 1! 61 81 Oj
NORTHING
EASTING
I 616 14!5 12,oJ
14,1!4,1! 312101
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The nominated boundaries are drawn to coincide with the Diamond Hill Historic District
boundaries established by the City of Lynchburg1 and encompass three separate sections.
The sections and parcels listed in the following description are found on the copy of the
current Lynchburg Valuation Maps 025 and 046 included with this nomination.
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
• >
E!IFORM PREPARED BY
NAME/ TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE
ORGANIZATION
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
April 1979
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Richmond
Virginia 23219
ISSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STATE_!__
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for ipclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and pr
STATE H
TITLE
res
t
foJP ;(jp~ational Park Service.
.
.
IC PRESERV~SIGNATUAE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
DIRECTOR, OFFICI,
ATTl;ST:
KEEPER OF TliE NATIONAL REGISTER, .
'
\.c.
__ .f_
GPO 892- 453
•
-
Form No. 10-JOOa
,Hev. 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THt_ iNTERIOR
FOR NPS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
use ONLY
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEH
7.
1/2
ITEM NUMBER
z
PAGE
1
DESCRIPTION
occurred on Diamond Hill, thus accentuating 618 Washington Street. The seeming frivolity
of this building with its corner tower, decorative "Moorish" porch, and Eastlake "dormers"
delightfully contrasts with its more staid neighbors.
No major connnercial development exists within the district's boundaries, A small
corner market (1321 Harrison, ca. 1915) and a used furniture store (1315 Harrison, Quonset
hut, ca. 1945), mark the only connnercial activity on Diamond Hill. With the exception of
the apartments at 1312-1316\ Church Street, all residences in the district were constructed as either detached single-family residences or duplexes, of frame or brick construction, 1\ to 2\ stories in height. No buildings break above 2\ stories thus maintaining a unified scale and preserving the residential atmosphere of the district. To the
west of Diamond Hill on Grace Street stands the Diamond Hill Baptist Church, a brick, 2\story building with corner tower, central rose window and side lancet windows (Vernacular/
Gothic Revival, 1886) A one-story, concrete, glass, and steel YMCA building (1956), stands
in the northeast corner of the district. The building, a well-designed interpretation of
the International Style, unfortunately does not fit in with the overall character of the
historic neighborhood.
Photographs from 1903 reveal that many of Diamond Hill's early houses have undergone
only minor alterations. Exterior alterations tend to have been limited to removal of
corniccz, wood trim, balusters, and occasionally porches. A few houses, such as those
found on Chestnut and Diamond streets exhibit asbestos shingles and siding additions.
Most frame houses within the district retain their original clapboard or weatherboard
siding.
While many houses on Diamond Hill were converted to multi-family dwelling units during
the 20th eentury, efforts are currently underway by residents and a local historical
soc.iety to return these to single-family units.
BNZ
The following is an inventory of all the buildings comprising the Diamond Hill
Historic District:
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Forr:'" No. 10-3b~a
(Re.,_ 'l-74)'
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI I\IUATION SHEET //1
6.
ITEM NUMBER 6 ,
10
PAGE l
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
2),
Diamond Hill Historical Society, Historic Preservation Survey 1977-78.
1977-78
Local
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission - 221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1978
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
4).
Works Progress Administration Survey
Federal
Virginia State Library
Richmond, Virginia 23219
9.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Council. 1882.
Mutual Assurance Policies. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Archives,
Virginia.
Yancey, Rosa. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, 1835.
Richmond,
MAPS
_!::ray_~~ New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 0. W. Gray & Son,
Philadelphia, 1877.
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity. G. William Baist, Philadelphia, 1891.
10.
GEORGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
SECTION 1:
Block 025-25
Encompassing parcel 04 at SW. corner of Church and Pearl streets;
SECTION 2:
Block 046-06
Encompassing parcels 11-22 on NE side of Church Street.
(See Continuation Sheet #28)
Form Ne 1 Q.JQOa
{11ev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TIIE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO?\'IINA TION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE?
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Chestnut Street
400 Block
Rouses on the north side of the 400 block of Chestnut Street are built on a steep hill.
419: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch addition.
nacular. 1907. Asbestos shingle siding detracts from period appearance.
2
Ver-
421: frame; 1 story; pyramidal roof; 2 bays; 2-bay porch with turned posts and
turned balusters. Vernacular cottage. 1907.
431:
vacant
500 Block
q
502: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch. Vernacular. Rouse
dates from turn of the century. Later alterations disguise original fabric.
Appears as ca. 1950 ranch house.
c.
504: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays.
century. Bricktex siding.
Vernacular.
Late 19th/early 20th
C
507: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
roof addition to east. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
Shed-
510: frame with pebbledash and aluminum siding; 2\ stories; hipped roof with
central hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay addition to west. Vernacular/
Colonial Revival. Ca. 1920.
516: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 1-story porch. Vernacular.
tury. Central chimney. Asbestos shingle siding.
518:
Late 19th cen-
vacant
600 Block
1
•
600: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays.
terior end chimney to west.
Vernacular.
Late 19th century.
(See continuation sheet# 4)
In-
Form No 10"300a
{Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street
Stone sidewalks line the west side of Church Street.
1300 Block
1305:
parking lot
brick; 2), stories; mansard roof with 4 gabled dormers; 6 bays; 2
1-story, 3-bay, ell porches with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, sawn corner
brackets, and perrdant. Duplex. Second Empire. Ca. 1880. Each duplex is a
mirror image of the other, though, as the building is located on an incline, the
half to the north is several feet lower than its neighbor to the south. Segmental arched wall openings. Shingle Style bay-window addition (ca. 1900) on south
end, Patterned slate on mansard roof.
, / 1307-13)9:
1310 (Moore's Folly): brick; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable;
5 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1850, Interior end chimneys with chimney pots. Presently being restored with Colonial Revival windows and window heads not sympathetic to the original building. Frame, 2-story, gable-roof building to the
north. Vernacular. Ca. 1869.
1312-1316),: Series of 5 identical apartment units, each described as follows:
-:,; 1-story,
brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof fronted by scalloped parapet; 2
:er of
hipped-roof porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. Pendants at ends and
parapet.
1313 (YMCA Building): steel and concrete; 1 story; flat roof; 11 bays; 1-story
entrance canopy in central 5 bays. International Style, 1955-56. Upper deck
on roof. Center bay of brick. All other bays are of plate glass separated by
round pillars and aluminum frames. Clear, precise geometric units with banded
windows and hovering planes make this a standard exercise in the International
Style. While a good example of the International Style, this building does not
co,·.tribute to the historic character of the district.
i(;
1318: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch addition across
facade. Vernacular. Ca. 1850.
!
1319:
parking lot
1320:
vacant
·!
(See continuation sheet ft 5)
Form No_ 10 · 3COa
(Re\/_ 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTE8EC>
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
5
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street, cont'd
1324: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof with cross gable in south bay; 2 bays;
1-story, hipped-roof porch across facade, Vernacular builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1888.
1400 Block
) ·
1400-1406:
vacant
1408: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 1-story, 3bay porch in south 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1888.
3-part bay window in 1st story of north bay. Decorative bargeboard beneath
cornice and along bay window and porch cornices.
1414: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909, Identical to 1418 Church Street.
1418: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909. Identical to 1414 Church Street.
·., 1420: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in south bay; 1-story, shedroof porch in north 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1890.
Bay window in 1st floor of south bay,
1500 Block
1501: brick; 1\ stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch addition in
central bay, Vernacular. Ca, 1845. Extensively altered, Bull's-eye window
heads. 6/6 sash. Exterior end chimneys, Central donner addition. House on
stone basement.
Clay Street
Unlike other streets in the Diamond Hill Historic District, Clay Street has not been
paved. The original brick street remains intact. In addition, Clay Street is lined on
both sides with decorative brick sidewalks and deciduous trees.
(See continuation sheet
tfa
6 )
'
Form No. 10-300a
!Nev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
'
OR NPS use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF 1IlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
6
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
5
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1200 Block
'
)
'-I
1216: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. 1902-03.
1-light transom over south bay door. Diamond-shaped window is the only wall
opening on south end.
1220: frame; 1\ stories; gable roof with 2 round-arched, donner windows with
round-arched keystone heads in east and west bays; small cross gable in center
bay; 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay porch in central bay, Vernacular (Ornamental Revival cottage in fonn). Ca. 1872. Central entrance, 2 central chimneys with
paired chimney pots. Built by Charles H. Bryant, Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance.
1223: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story, hipped-roof porch
across facade, Modified Colonial Revival, 1906. Aluminum siding detracts
from period appearance.
1225: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch with sawn
balustrade and corner brackets across facade, Vernacular. Ca. 1881. Transom
and sidelights frame door in north bay,
1300 Block
1300: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable to the south; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in north 2 bays. 2nd-story porch addition with pyramidal
roof in central bay. Builder's Eastlake. 1889. Simple bargeboard and finial
in cross gable. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Most likely built by Stephens,
a local builder and contractor in Lynchburg.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays with I-story, 1-bay addition to
south; 1-story, 2-bay porch across main body of house, Vernacular, Ca, 1884.
Stuccoed.
1304: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central gabled donner; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with paired columns and central pediment. Georgian Revival,
1906, Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows. Tripartite window in
2nd-floor central bay. Interior end ~himneys, Modillioned cornice, Except for
4onners, this house is identical to 1308 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Walter Addison, state senator from the LynchburgCampbell County district from 1916-1918, and editor of the Lynchburg~.
(See continuation sheet 417
)
·mm Na 10- 300a.
t-te11· '1Q- 74)
UNITED STATES DEP,\RT~lENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR MPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
I\(' fiOl"JAL REGISTER
OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTE"'ll-'-E=-0"'-----'··----'-------'
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
7
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
8
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1307: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 3 bays; 1-st.'<_ry,
5-bay porch with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, turned porch posts, and cor·
ner brackets. Center bay of porch topped by 2nd-floor deck with turned balus~
trade and posts with finials. Modified Eastlake Style.
1898. l·light transom
over central double doors. Home of Robert G. Robinson, prominent Lynchburg
tobacco businessman.
1.i
~-J
.
'
-~
1308: brick; 2), stories; hipped roof with 2 gabled dormers; 3 bays; l·story,
3-bay porch with paired colunms and central pediment. Georgian Revival. 1906 •
Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows, Tripartite window in 2ndfloor central bay. Interior end chimneys. Modillioned cornice, Except for
dormers, this house is identical to 1304 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Richard C. Stokes, prominent tobacco businessman
in Lynchburg, and one-time member of the city council.
1311:
vacant
1312: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; l·
story porch across facade. Builder's Colonial Revival. Ca. 1901, Stylized
Palladian window in cross gable pediment,
1313: frrune; 2), stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay and dormer
in south bay; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, flat-roof porch with center pedimented
entrance. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1905, Hip flashing. Hip knobs. Modillioned
cornice. Round-headed window in dormer, Palladian window in cross gable pedi·
ment, Dormer and cross gable pediment shingled.
Cc,
1314: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central tower (conical tower roof with
finial) and side gable dormers; 3 bays; l·story, 3-bay porch with Doric columns.
Columns flanked by shingle pillars supporting battered piers. Turned balusters.
Porch is centered by low-pitch pediment with low-relief woodwork.
Colonial Re·
vival. 1901. Central round tower with patterned shingles rises apove porch
pediment. Paired columns extending from the top of the porch to the roof eave
2nd-floor east and west bays. Wide roof eave with paired, attenuated brackets.
Oval, Palladian, and bay windows on south end, Home of Judge Henry C. McDowell,
judge of the U.S. District Court for the western district of Virginia.
1400 Block
tf
"'·
?·
.. I
1417: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 5 bays; l·story, 4-bay porch with curved
brackets and turned balustrade in center 3 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca.
1885. Exterior end chimneys.
(See continuation sheet /fo 8)
.'
orm•No 10.JOOa·
Hev 10·'74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTl:RIOR
FOR N?S
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
rf:TIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
6
~
7.
..
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
ll,20: corrugated tin; 1 and 2 stories; low-pitch roof with center gabled section; 2 bays. Vernacular warehouse. Early 20th century.
'ii
1421: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
with turned posts and turned balustrade. ·Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
projection in north bay. Bracketed cornice, Architrave moldings
openings. Entrance in center bay. Bricktex siding detracts. from
across facade
Cross gable
over all wall
period appear-
ance.
1425: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, shed-roof porch in
central bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-1910. Entrance in center bay. 2/2 sash. 2
interior chimneys. Aluminum siding.
(
amond Street
'lhe west side of Diamond Street is vacant.
1500 Block
1510-1520 Diamond Street are all covered with bricktex siding.
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch.
Ca. 1890.
Vernacular I house.
1512: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 2-story projecting wing addition in
north bay; 1-story porch in south bay. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1883.
1514: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch in south bay.
Vernacular I house. Ca. 1906.
1516: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays; 3-bay porch with turned posts and
balusters. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910.
,.
1520: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in south bay.
ular I house. Ca. 1885. Vacant.
Vernac-
Federal Street
The west side of Federal Street is vacant. Directly behind the Diamond Hill Baptist
Church is a small lot currently used for parking.
( - ~ Street (formerly Campbell Court House Road)
Decorative brick sidewalks line the south side of Grace Street.
(See continuation sheet {f9
)
Il
~o,rn No. 10-300a
.Hev. 1 O; 74}
UNITE[) ST A TES OEPART:\IENT OF THI: INTERIOR
i'OR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVEI-.TTORY -- NOMINATION FORl\.1
(
.
0!\TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
9
ITEM Nl.lMBER
7
PAGE
7
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
·-.
Grace Street, cont'd
600 Block
'-it,
603:
···--·-
brick; 2 stories; gable roof with stepped parapet.
". 605: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays.
tex siding.
0
607:
vacant
.JI
609:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays;
Vernacular. Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1915.
Ca. 1920 •. Brick-
1-story, hipped-roof porch in west
Southwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street: frame triangular house occupying triangular lot; 1 story; flat roof. Vernacular. 1st quarter of the 20th
century.
Northwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street:
\ ·
vacant
1400 Block
1401: frame; 2!, stories; hipped roof with cross gable projecting wing in south
bay; 2 bays; 1-story, flat-roof porch with turned posts, turned balustrade, and
spindle corner brackets. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1906.
ll10S: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north 3 bays; 1-story,
pedimented porch in south bay. Queen Anne speculative house. Ca. 1894. 2story bay window in north 3 bays. Fanlight ·in cross gable pediment. Scheduled
for demolition.
/
1409: frame; 21, stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and balustrade and sawn corner brackets across facade. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10.
C'
o
,.· .
.J
;;:
'~
1411 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church): brick; 2 stories; clipped gable roof; 3
bays; 3-story tower in north bay. Late Victorian Gothic Revival. 1886 (corner
stone). Remodeled 1903. Lancet windows on first floor. Rose window in 2ndfloor central bay. String course. Tower capped by pyrainidal roof. Decorative
brickwork along frieze. Terracotta belt course and over 1st-floor south bay
lane.et window. Brickwork by Lewis Bolling. See: Book of Remembrance of the
Diainond Hill Baptist Church, Lynchburg, 1972.
(See continuation sheet
/fo
10)
......
,-
(
I
::Orrn No 1 0-300a
IHe\l. 10-74)
•
U Nil ED STA.IES DEP,\RTMENT OE TIIE INTERIOR
FOR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVl:D
NATiONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI Ol'J FORM
D/>.TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
10
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
9
·-
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Grace Street, cont'd
1413 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church Parsonage): brick; 1), stories; 3 bays; ·1-story, pedimented entrance porch in central bay, Colonial Revival cottage,
Ca, 1948.
'Jj
o Northwest corner 15th and Grace Street (Firehouse): brick; 2 stories; hipped
roof with central chimney (paired chinmey pots); 3 bays; bracketed hood over
central entrance, Italianate, 1883. Decorative frieze. Attributed to
August Forsberg, city engineer.
1500 Bloc!,
-0
1500: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
north bay; 3-part bay window (1 story) in south bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance,
;:·. ,- /_, \• ;,\'t\.~
.7
1
'.
\,
L,,,(
C't(.;:_,.,r,'
ti,~ ,-~.<'•.i,
.
150't-l506:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 4 bays; 1story, 6-bay porch. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900. Stylized pediments
over wall openings. Asbestos siding detracts from period appearance.
Harrison Street
1300 Block
/,
'.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay porch in west bay.
Vernacular, Ca. 1910, Bay window in cast bay. Similar to 609 13th Street.
'I
1302-1304: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof
porch with decorative spindle work (balustrade removed). Vernacular. Ca.
1900-10. Built at same time as 1306 Harrison Street. Bracketed cornice, Wide
cornice with slat vents.
s
'·'
1303: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch
with simple balustrade, turned posts and spindle corner brackets. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
;~
1306: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with decorative balustrade and spindle work. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
1307-1309: frame.; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story porch across facade, Duplex, Vernacular. Ca, 1890-1900. Interior end chimneys. Similar to 1311-1313
Harrison Street.
(See continuation sheet P-11)
1
Form No 10-3.00v
(Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTr.RIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVEO
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
11
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
10
DESCRIPTION• Inventory
Harrison Street, cont'd
1310: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 2 bays;
!·story, Eastlake porch across facade with turned porch posts, spindle frieze,
and turned balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance. Simple iron fence fronts property.
1311-1313: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; l·story porch across facade
with scroll corner brackets and simple balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900.
Similar to neighbor at 1307·13V9 Harrison Street.
(,
1314-1316: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with pedimented cross gable projecting pavilions in end bays; central hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch with central pediment. Duplex. Colonial Revival builder/speculative
house, Ca. 1910, Fanlights in each cross gable pediment,
1315: corrugated metal; semi-cylindrical metal structure with end walls; 1story; 1 bay, Central entrance flanked by large, 4-light windows, Quonset hut,
Ca, 1945,
·:11
1317-1319: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with 2 hipp2d-roof donners in central 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze, fan brackets, turned balustrade, and turned porch posts in north 2 bays. Identical porch
ln south 2 bays. Duplex. (Each duplex mirrors the other). Vernacular, Ca.
1910, Similar in character to 1314-1316 Harrison Street,
1321: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 5 bays. Early 20th-century commercial
building. Corner market. A store has occupied this site from at least 1877,
The inventor of "Chap Stick" is said to have operated a drug store at this location,
1400 Block
The 1400 block of Harrison has stone sidewalks.
o
1407: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with large central cross gable; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and sawn brackets across facade,
Queen Anne, Ca, 1885, Imbricated shingle pattern on 2nd floor and in north
bay cross gable pediment of porch. House fronted by white picket fence.
1414:
0
vacant
1415: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with gable projection in south bay and
gabled dormer with sunburst in pediment in north bay; 2 bays; 1-story ell porch
with upper deck, Queen Anne. Ca. 1890. Imbricated shingle frieze between 1st
and 2nd floors and beneath cornice, Imbricated shingles and fanlight in gable
(See continuation sheet fnz )
Form No 10-300a
(hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET 12
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 11
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Harrison Street, cont 1 d
1415 (cont'd}: pediment. Tripartite window in 2nd floor of south bay.
porch balustrade. House fronted by simple cast-iron fence.
Turned
o 1416:
frame and stucco; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, central porch. Side porch to south. Georgian Revival. 1896. Remodeled
with Craftsman influence ca. 1910-15.
r,
. ,o
1418-1420: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with 3 cross gables ascending in size
from north to south; 4 bays with a 1-bay, 2-story addition to the south; J.-story
entrance porch in both the 3rd bay and in the bay addition. Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1855. All roof finials and bargeboards removed, Paired chimney pots over
2nd bay. Trefoil in south bay cross gable and end gable. Gothicized Palladian
window in 2nd-floor 4th bay. Colonial Revival oval window addition in 3rd bay •
1421: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across
facade. Italianate, Ca. 1870. House entrance shifted to Harrison Street. 2story, 3-part bay window to south end, Paired bracketed cornice, Bracketed
window hoods.
Madison Street
Both sides of the 1400 block of Madison Street are lined with decorative brick sidewalks, Trees grace both sides of this street.
1300 Block
o 1301:
brick and frame; 1 story; mansard-roof
addition; 4 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch addition. Vernacular. Ca. 1817 with 3rd quarter of the 19th- century additions, See "Death of a Venerable Old Citizen," Lynchburg Virginian,
March 9, 1880. This is the oldest house on Diamond Hill.
•/
c
1302: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Ca. 1910. Bracketed eave. Asbestos shingles,
Vernacular,
c
1303: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch,
Vernacular with Eastlake detailing. Ca. 1887. Bricktex siding. Eastlake pediments over all 2nd-floor wall openings.
1306: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays with 1-story addition to north;
1-story, 3-bay porch in central and south bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1901. Oval
window in front gable. Entrance with transom to north.
(See continuation sheet # 13 )
form No 10-3D0a
IHev 10'. 74)
lJNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
13
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 12
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Madison Street, cont'd
.. I
"
1309: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gables in north bay and south 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in south 3 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1890,
Stylized entablature over all wall openings, Entrance in 3rd bay. Asbestos
siding.
1311: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in south 2 bays. Builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10,
Bay window in 1st-floor north bay, Transom and sidelights frame central entrance, Bracketed cornice.
1400 Block
•
vi
\
.
1411: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; central, pedimented, slightly
projecting pavilion; 1-story, central porch with paired columns and upper deck,
Georgian Revival, Ca, 1905, Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights, Belt course between 1st and 2nd floors. Low beveled water table. 6/9
sash 1st floor. 6/6 sash 2nd floor, 1-story, 1-bay porch along south side of
house, 2 interior chimneys. Fanlight in central pediment, Rowlock segmentally
arched window heads. Doric frieze on porch, Dentiled frieze on main house,
Built by Dr, James Morrison, a prominent Lynchburg physician in the early 20th
century,
1420: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with 3 pedimented gable dormers; 5 bays;
1-story, 3-bay central porch. Georgian Revival, Ca. 1910. Flat keystone
arches over all windows. Decorative transom and sidelights. 2-door opening
with fanlights on 2nd floor fronts onto porch deck, Recessed rectangula, panels
in north and south bays between 1st and 2nd floors, 2 interior end chimneys on
each end, Decorative Classical frieze and cornice, Built by W.B, Snead and
Sons (This firm also built 1304 and 1308 Clay Street, and buildings at both
Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute).
1500 Block
u
1500: frame; 21 stories; hipped roof with 2-bay, gabled projecting pavilion to
south; 1-story ell porch with paired columns and turned baluster. Simple cornice
brackets on porch and cornice, Vernacular. Ca. 1907,
c
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front .
Vernacular. Before 1869, 1-story, 1-bay side wing additions to north and
south. House fronted by white picket fence,
·,~
.~
(See continuation sheet #14)
l
Form No 10-300a
(kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\llNT OF TIii: INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lllSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
14
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
13
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
'
Madison Street, cont'd
o 1514: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with turned
colwtu,:, and turned corner brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. North bay projection has front gable roof. Diamond vent in front gable. I-light transom over
south entrance. Asbestos siding.
•,.
1515: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with
turned balustrade across front. Vernacular. Ca. 1890. I-story, 1-bay gabled
addition to south. North bay fronts interior stair. Double-door entrance in
south {central) bay. Porch and south bay addition share similar circle motif
on friezes.
1600 Block
1600: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
west bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1915.
Opal Street
500 Block
The north side of the 500 block of Opal Street is marked by a high retaining wall.
.. ?
.
"
0
510: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with turned
posts and simple rails. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910. Yard fronted by white
picket fence.
Pear.!_ Street (formerly Falls Alley)
Decorative brick sidewalks are noted on Pearl Street from Main to Church streets.
south side of Pearl from Main Street to Church Street is vacant.
The
t~.
~ii::
200 Block
q,,
211: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch across
facade. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1893.
300 Block
No houses are found on the north side of Pearl Street in the 300 and 400 blocks.
312-312\: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
Duplex.
(See continuation sheet !! 15)
Form _No 10-J·ooa
(Nev 1Q. 74)
UNITED ST t\TES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET
15
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
14
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
400 Block
o
·'
404-406:
1885.
410:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays.
Duplex.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1863;
vacant
416: frame; 1 story; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story ell porch.
Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
500 Block
500:
vacant
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line both sides of the 600 block of Pearl Street.
O 600:
brick; 2\ stories; cross gable roof; 5 bays with 2-story, 3-part bay window in central 3 bays; 1-story ell porch to east. Queen Anne. Ca. 1886. Gothic
finials on roof. Open end gable work in front gable. Small frame cottage to
south built as servants quarters. House fronted by decorative cast-iron fence.
House built by Nathaniel Clayton Manson, mayor of Lynchburg from 1884-91, director of the YMCA in 1887, member of the city council from 1893 to 1897, and city
attorney in 1897 to 1924. Manson was chairman of the executive committee at
Sweet Briar College and gave generous financial support to this institution.
601: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable. to east and gabled dormer
to west; 2 bays; I-story, 4-bay, shed-roof porch with turned posts across facade.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1895. 2-story, 3-bay wing to west. Exposed diagonal braces
in cross gable. Patterned shingles on 2nd floor. Clapboard 1st floor.
~
604-606: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in end bays; 4 bays;
1-story, shed-roof porch with pedimented entrances in center 2 bays. Duplex.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1885. Board and batten walls behind exposed gable struts in
end gables (exposed king post, collar beam and collar brace). Central chimney.
6
605-607: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
hipped-roof porch in east and west bays. Duplex. Builder's Colonial Revival
duplex. Ca. 1900. Decorative multi-pane windows in central bay 1st floor.
House on high basement. Turned baluster on porch.
(See continuation sheet ii 16 )
Form No. 10-300a
!Kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
16
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
15
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
.,
611: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch supported by Ionic columns across facade topped by 2ndstory porch in center bay. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. This house was built
by Fortunatus Sydnor Kirkpatrick, vice president of the Lynchburg Foundry Company
and an attorney in the firm of Kirkpatrick and Howard. He later built and occupied the house across the street at 708 Pearl Street.
c
618: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch, hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch with upper
deck in central bay. 1-story porch with spindle frieze, turned posts, turned
balustrade and sawn brackets added to east end in 1876. Built by Charles Blackford, prominent local attorney, and a captain in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, In
1862 he was appointed judge advocate of the 1st Corps. Blackford served as city
attorney from 1878 to 1881. In 1884 he was president of the chamber of commerce
and was a member of the city council from 1894 to 1895. See: Susan Leigh Blackford, Memoir, Madison Heights, 1894 (1959).
700 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the 700 block of Pearl Street to the north.
walks to the south are of stone.
The side-
700: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof, 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay, central entrance
porch. Italianate. Ca. 1862. Paired 4/4-sash, segmentally arched windows.
Bracketed window hoods. 2-light transom and sidelights. House fronted by brick
piers and iron fence. Paired bracketed cornice. Synnnetrical facade.
708: brick (Flemish bond); 21:, stories; gable roof with 3 pedimented dormers; S
bays; 1-story, central portico with paired columns and piers. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910. Round-arched windows in dormers. Shutters removed. String course.
Modillioned cornice. Iron porch deck not original. Central entrance framed by
transom and sidelights. Once occupied by F.S. Kirkpatrick. See 611 Pearl Street.
709: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central hipped dormer; 2 bays; 1-story,
2-bay, hipped-roof porch. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1915-20.
Shingled. Entrance in east bay.
710:
vacant
711: frame; 21:, stories; gable roof with cross gabb in east.bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch in west bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca.
1887. Fire victim.
(See continuation sheet# 17)
Fo,m No 10-300a
n1e,-. 1O·-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
IN\lENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHEE.T
7.
17
ITEMNUMBER
7
PAGE
16
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
.,.
Pearl Street, cont'd
C
\,
713: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch with spindle frieze in east bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1887. 1-story, 3-part, bay window in west bay. Asbestos
shingles detract from period appearance. Mirror image of 711 Pearl Street.
\
Spruce Street
Spruce Street is vacant on both sides.
Washington Street
The south side of Washington Street is lined by stone sidewalks.
300 Block
, ,,
c
302: brick; 2~ stories; hipped roof with side pedimented dormers and central,
curved, broken pedimented dormer; 5 bays; 1-story porch across facade. Georgian Revival. 1907-08. Brick quoins. Jack arches with keystone. 2nd floor
stylized Palladian window in central bay. Central entrance framed by multilight fanlight and sidelights. Interior end chimneys. Fronted by wroughtiron fence. Metal porch awning detracts from period appearance. Site of
Piedmont College.
,
305: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, Colonial Revival porch in west bay. Originally Greek Revival. Mid-19th century. Built
in 2 sections. West bay ca. 1849. East bay ca. 1865. Decorative transom and
sidelights surround west bay entrance. Home of Edward Beck, Lynchburg's 1st
city manager (1920-1925).
c
307: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, cast-iron porch with
cast-iron cresting. Italianate town house. Ca. 1884-86. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-length windows on 1st-floor center and east bays. Double-door entrance
in west bay. All 1st-floor wall openings with multi-pane transoms. All wall
openings segmentally arched.
310: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 2 pedimented dormers to east and west;
curved pedimented dormer in central bay (dormers contain 8/8 sash); 3 bays; 1story, 1-bay entrance portico. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance framed
by transom and sidelights. All window openings marked by flat brick arches
with stone keystone and springer. Tripartite window in central bay of 2nd
floor. Interior end chimneys. House fronted by high brick and stone retaining
wall.
(See continuation sheet if 18 )
Form No 10-300a
\t1ev 10- 741
UNITED STA TES DEPARTMENT OF Till: INTERIOR
FOR NPS US!; ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTERED
.
.
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
18
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
17
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
\ :•
312: brick; 11 stories; high-pitched gable roof with 2 gable dormers; 2 bays;
1-story, shed-roof, entrance porch with turned posts in east bay. Vernacular
Colonial Revival cottage. 1953. Dentiled cornice. Built by J.B. Mason and
Sons, Builders.
313: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with central, 5-bay, Colonial Revival
"Palladian" dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, semicircular, central entrance porch
fronted by horseshoe stairway and square pillars topped by round pendants.
Greek Revival altered to Colonial Revival. Ca. 1855 with extensive alterations.
in 1909. Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights. Window openings topped by flat arches with keystone. Interior end chimneys. House and
dormer share similar dentiled and modillioned cornice. Porte-cochere to the
west. 19th-century carriage house to the rear (north). Panel on the 2nd floor
reads: Decorated by the J.G. Valiant Co~ 224 N. Charles Street,Baltimore,
Maryland, G.A. Brown, superintendent, William H. Bayer and Rich. Wright, workmen, October 1909. Mutual Assurance Policy: (possibly) R7/V 60/N 760A (1856).
316: frame and stucco; 21 stories; hipped roof with central cross gable 2ndfloor projection; stylized Palladian window within pediment. Pedimented dormer
with columns and round-arched window in east bay; 5 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with blank frieze and <lentils across facade. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. Bow
window in east 2 bays. 3-part bay window in 2nd floor of central bay. Central
entrance framed by multi-light fanlight and sidelights. Modillioned cornice.
House fronted by cast-iron fence.
400 Block
400: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 21 stories; hipped roof with 3
central pedimented and pilastered dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, pedimented entrance
portico in central bay. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1902. Tripartite, stylized
Palladian windows in 1st-floor east and west bays. All window openings topped
by keystone. Brick quoins. Entrance fran,ed by fanlight and sidelights. Brick
string course above 1st- and 2nd-story windows. Dentiled and modillioned cornice. 1-story, 1-bay side porch to east. House fronted by 4-to-41-foot brick
(Flemish bond with glazed headers) wall.
401: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
central entrance porch supported by Doric columns, Georgian Revival. Ca. 1900.
Multi-light fanlight and sidelights. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Plain
frieze. Modillioned cornice,
(See continuation sheet# 19)
Form No. 10-JOOa
(11ev". 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
1
0ATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
19
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
ITEM NUMBER
7
18
---------------PAGE
Washinston Street, cont'd
e
405: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented donners (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 3 bays; 1-story, central porch with paired
Ionic columns, Colonial Revival. Ca. 1902, Egg and dart cornice, End pilasters. Architrave windows. Decorative fanlight and sidelights. Decorative
tripartite window in central bay of 2nd story. Iron fence fronts property.
Built by Randolph Harrison, prominent state senator and president of the Virginia State Bar Association.
c
409: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 5 bays; giant order, 3-bay porch supported by
Ionic columns. Colonial Revival, Ca. 1902. Central recessed entrance with fanlight. 2nd-floor deck in central bay supported by consoles fronts double, glass,
French doors, Doors are topped by decorative fanlight. Iron fence fronts
property.
i'!,
414:
vacant
416-418: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch across facade, Duplex. Italianate. Ca, 1870. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-to-ceiling-length windows on 1st-floor east and west bays. Transomed
entrances in 2nd and 3rd bays. Architrave window hoods over all 2nd-floor
openings,
419: frame; 2\ stories; gable with large pedimented cross gable in east 3
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, Colonial Revival porch/veranda across front and west
sides. Porch is supported by paired Ionic columns on a stone base, Colonial
Revival, 1901. Entrance in 2nd bay framed by transom and sidelights. Projecting wing in east 3 bays topped by dentiled and modillioned pediment,
Palladian window is centered in pediment. Swags on 2nd floor, Ridge of roof
topped by decorative flashing and hip knobs. Pilastered chimney stack, Probably same architect as 505 Washington Street. House fronted by iron fence,
.'
'
500 Block
500: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, projecting, hipped-roof
pavilion; 5 bays; veranda/porch along front 2 bays and east side with turned
l; balusters and newels; round-arched brick entrance portico in central bay topped
by deck and simple railing, Queen Anne. Ca, 1899. Decorative brickwork on
porch and deck posts, projecting pavilion, and on 2\-story, octagonal tower in
east bay. Decorative brickwork includes recessed panels, terracotta brick, and
patterned corner joints, Colonial Revival swags along frieze. Pilastered chim(See continuation sheet ii 20)
Form No. 10-300a
{Hev 10- 74)·
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT Ot THF 11',TEIUOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOI\-IINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEE.T
7.
20
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
19
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
500 (continued): ney stacks with corbeled caps. Flat stone window heads and
lintels. Stained glass in central pavilion above recessed window. Dentiled
cornice. Modillioned cornice on pavilion and corner tower. Imbricated roof
pattern. Decorative roof flashing with hip knobs. House possibly designed by
Edward G. Frye.
501: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with side pedimented dormers and central enclosed sleeping porch (hipped roof); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Shingle
Style/Colonial Revival. 1897. Columns can still be seen in sleeping porch.
House and porch columns shingled; dormers and sleeping porch clapboard. Stone
retaining wall topped by simple decorative iron fence.
503: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch addition
in central bay. Vernacular/Greek Revival. Ca. 1850. Interior end chimneys.
Low stone retaining wall. Probably the oldest surviving house on Washington
Street.
505: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with decorative flashing and hip knobs;
gable roof with Palladian window in pediment in east 2 bays; 4 bays; 1-story,
Colonial Revival porch/veranda supported by paired Corinthian columns along
front and sides of house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1901. Corner tower to west. Sunburst pattern in top pane of windows on 3rd floor of tower. 1st floor clapboard. 2nd floor shingled. Pilastered chimney stack. Possibly same architect
as 419 Washington Street. Wrought-iron fence fronts house.
~
I ::
508: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 2\ stories; hipped roof with 3
pedimented and pilastered dormers (12/1 sash); 5 bays; 1-story, semicircular
porch in central bay topped by deck and railing (deck fronts ornate double
doors with decorative fanlight topped by oval, flat keystone arch). Georgian
Revival. 1909. Central entrance marked by decorative transom and sidelights.
Tripartite windows with full architrave and pilasters in east and west bays.
2nd-floor openings crowned by flat keystone arches. 2nd-floor windows are
16/1 sash. Modillioned cornice. 1-story, l~bay, side porch to east. House
fronted by wrought-iron fence. This house is the most prestigious example of
the Georgian Revival in Diamond Hill. J.M.B. Lewis, architect (of Lewis and
Burnham, architects and builders).
(See continuation sheet# 21)
Form No 10-300a
(kcv 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPART'.\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
<OR NPS US£ ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI NUATJON SHEET
7.
21
20
----------------------------------ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
o
1'
I' '
517: beige Roman brick; 2~ stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays, with !-story side
wings. Central, giant order (2 stories) portico with paired Doric columns.
Porch·fronts Palladian-style entrance. Beaux Arts. 1910-11. !-story, enclosed
glass pox-ch to west with curved mullio.ns. 1-story pergola to east. Gutter
drains to east and west serve as vertical terminus points. lst-floox- side windows recessed into round ax-ches with stone keystone and springers. Porch supports
balustered deck. Built by Ernest Williams, prominent buisnessman and civic leader in Lynchburg. Williams was president of the chamber of commerce and served
on the Lynchburg city council. Williams was also involved in the Apex and Palmetto lumber companies. House is fronted by a decorative cast-iron fence. This
is perhaps the most prodigious residence found on Diamond Hill. The architect
of this house (unknown) is thought to have offices based in Baltimore.
518: frame; 2~ stories; multi-hipped roof with corner tower to the west; central
bowed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof porch with eyelid vent. Porch
work includes Eastlake cut-outs, circular and oval hoops on turned posts. Eastlake/Queen Anne. Ca. 1890-95. Circular stained-glass window in lst•floor west
bay. Round-arched double doorway. Built by John H. Kinnier, prominent Lynchburg
businessman. The style of this house is unique for Lynchburg.
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the north side of the 600 block of Washington Street.
C
! ./
,
..
602: brick, 1~ stories; gable roof with central cross gable projection; 3 bays;
1-story, cast-iron, flat-roof porch across entire facade. Gothic Revival. Ca.
1852. Cast-iron roof cresting. Cast-iron entrance stair. Lancet window in central cross gable. Window hoods over all wall openings. Exposed porch roof structure. Bargeboard and roof finials removed. House fronted by woven wire fence.
This house exhibits extensive use of cast-iron decoration. Decorative chimney
pots. Occupied from 1870 to 1880 by Thomas S. Bocock, 1st commonwealth attorney
for Appomattox County, state legislator, member of Congress, and speaker of the
Confederate congress. Built by Robinson Stabler in 1852. The News, Lynchburg,
Virginia, February 1, 1959. Interior alterations ca. 1905. Wing addition ca.
1900. Rear wing ca. 1885. House possibly designed by W. E. Ellington.
605: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof with hipped gable, and demi-octagonal projections; 4 bays; 2-story porch with jigsaw brackets and turned baluster in west
bay, 1-story, hipped-roof porch with bracketed cornice in 3rd bay. Eastlake. Ca.
1880. Irregular facade. Exterior open staircase to east. Paired and triple windows. Fronted by tall hedge.
(See continuation sheet if 22)
Form No. 1Q.300a
{Hev. 10·74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED'
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO MINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
·
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
22
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
21
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
0
609: frame (stucco); 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, hippe.d dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1920.
0
: ,
608: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west 3 bays (2nd story of
cross gable and 2nd story of west bay project from house); hipped dormer in west
bay; 4 bays; l·story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch across facade. Colonial Revival.
Ca. 1910. Palladian window in cross gable. Fanlight and sidelights surround
entrance in 3rd bay. House placed on high basement.
I
610:
vacant
611-613: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with central, hipped-roof dormer; 6 bays
with center 4 bays slightly projecting; 1-story, 6-bay, Colonial Revival porch
with turned balusters. Modified Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Central chimney.
Double-door entrances in west and east bays. 1-light transom over each entrance.
617: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch gable roof; 3 bays; l•story, 4-bay porch.
nacular. Ca. 1885. Central chimney.
,-
'1
Ver-
Thirteenth Street
400 Block
413: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, hipped-roof porch with
turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1905. Bricktex siding detracts
from period appearance.
415: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, 2-bay porch across front
with turned columns and simple railing. Vernacular. 1904-05. Entrance in east
bay. Fronted by white picket fence.
:I
500 Block
,
' ·: ?~
507: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular. Ca. 1881-84. Original door with transom in west bay. Additional
door additions to east and west. Vacant.
511: frame; 2\ stories; front gable; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular/Colonial Revival. Ca. 1903. Oval window (blocked in) in gtble pediment.
(See continuation sheet ffo23 )
Form No lti-300a
\Hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DlPARTMl:.NT Of· THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NP$ USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
o....TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
23
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
22
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Thirteenth Street, cont'd
515: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in central bay.
Vernacular. Ca. 1850. Bracketed cornice. Interior end chimneys. Thought to
have been built by Alexander Simpson, an early businessman in Lynchburg.
,· 1r,
517: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with cross gable projection in east 2 bays;
4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze in west 2 bays. Vernacular. 1901. 2 small round windows in cross gable pediment. Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance.
600 Block
1
,
ll,
617:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in east
Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
700 Block
._. 1
i
703:
lar.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in east bay.
Ca. 1900-10.
C
705:
frame; 2 stories; front gable roof.
Vernacular.
Vernacu~
Ca. 1910.
Fourteenth Street (formerly Tenth Alley)
The north side of Fourteenth Street is bordered by a large athletic field.
700 Block
707-709: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in
center 2 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Stylized pediments.over windows.
Bracketed cornice. Decorative porch scroll brackets.
712-714: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Duplex. Vernacular. 1st half of the
20th century. Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 718 Fourteenth
Street.
718: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Vernacular. 1st half of the 20th century.
Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 712-714 Fourteenth Street.
(See continuation sheet #24)
Form No 10·300a
iHev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
OAT!: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHHT
7.
24
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
23
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Mutual Assurance Policies relating to buildings no longer standing on Diamond
Hill include:
Caskie, John; southeast of Washington Street; 1831/Rev. 1863
.
I
Rl3/V 92/N 7741.
Davis, John T.; corner of 9th Street and 10th Alley; 1845/Rev. 8544
Rl8/V 113/N 14045; 1852/Rev. 14045 R20/V 124/N 17381; 1859/Rev. 17381
R23/V 136/N 21051.
Fletcher, Timothy; northeast of Main Street on Diamond Hill (north of
Caskie's residence) 1827 RlO/V 78/N 3646.
Langhorne, M.; corner of 3rd and Washington streets; 1852/Rev. 14075
R20/V 124/N 17396; 1859/17396 R23/V 136/N 21067.
Penn, Alfred (purchased from John Caskie); 3rd and Washington streets;
, 1838/Rev. 7741 Rl6JV 103/N 10919; 1845/Rev. 10919 Rl8/V 113/N 14075.
7.
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Fifteenth Street
800 Block
,
:~2
805: brick, 2 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; 1-story flat roof porch in center
3 bays. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance with transom in center bay. 2story porch to east end. 1-story, 1-bay, gable-roof wing to west. Interior
end chimneys.
....
form No. 10-300~
\Hev ,0, 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
8.
SHEET
//25
ITEM NUMBER 8
PAGE
1
SIGNIFICANCE
from its present color scheme (pink with white trim), demands attention through its
"Moorish" porch, round corner tower, and Eastlake "dormers". 605 Washington (Eastlake/
Stick style), while partially hidden from view by a large hedge fronting the street, stands
out with its irregular massing, open porches, variety of wood trim and detail, and its
exposed "structural" members. These two houses, combine with the Gothic Revival house at
602 Washington and the Beaux Arts house at 517 Washington to establish this as the most
unique intersection in Diamond Hill.
500 Washington (Queen Anne/Georgian Revival, 1898), is also one of Diamond Hill's
more picturesque homes. While the corner octagonal tower, massive round-arched, central
projecting entrance pavilion, and decorative terracotta brick seem to set this building
apart from its more traditional neighbors, its underlying 5-bay, hipped-roof form
establishes its Georgian Revival allegiance.
In addition to the large number of imposing, architect-designed residences found on
Diamond Hill, numerous speculative and builder houses erected from 1890 to 1910 also
indicate the area's turn-of-the-century prosperity. Maps from 1891 indicate land subdivision for speculative ventures along Harrison, Chestnut, and Diamond streets.I Later
speculative houses appear on Church, 13th and sections of Madison streets. Often erected
as rental housing, these builder houses display simple, unadorned facades and are fronted
by porches exhibiting turned columns and decorative sawn brackets. While individually
these houses are of only minor architectural significance, grouped together they impart
much of Diamond Hill's historic character. The 1400 block of Church Street contains some
of the better examples of speculative housing in the district (see
1408 Church Street).
The Diamond Hill area remained outside the corporate limits of antebellum Lynchburg,
when a major property owner, Henry Davis, began subdivision and sale of land parcels there.
Davis, a prominent Lynchburg businessman active in banking and railroad affairs, died on
December 13, 1863. The General Ordinances of the City of Lynchburg of 1880 note:
Several large districts within the present limits, but outside of
the corporate lines of 1827, were laid off into squares and streets
by the owners, and the streets so laid off, dedicated to the use of
the public by placing the plats on record, and by other distinct
acts declaring such intent. Thus a large portion of Diamond and
Franklin hills were so laid off by the late Henry Davis, Esq., in
his life-time, and by his heirs since his death, in the suit of
Davis' administrator vs. Davis and others, in the Corporation
Court of the City of Lynchburg.2
(See Continuation Sheet# 26)
Form No 10-300a
(11ev. 10- 74!
UNITED STATES DEP1\RTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
I
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHHT
8.
//26
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
2
SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Rill was not annexed to the city of Lynchburg until December 19, 1870. 3
Aside from Davis, other early land owners of Diamond Hill were Maurice Langhorne,
John Caskie, Alfred Penn, John Davis, and Timothy Fletcher. While all had erected
dwellings on Diamond Hill, only Langhorne's house of ca. 1855 (313 Washington Street,
extensively altered) remains.4
The earliest extant house on Diamond Hill stands at 1301 Madison and was erected ca.
1817. Altered during the last quarter of the 19th century through the addition of a
mansard roof, the first floor of the house retains its Federal mantels and some interior
trim. Mutual Assurance policies exist for other houses built on Diamond Hill in the early
19th century, though none of those houses survives. 5 1501 Church Street, said to date
from 1845, has been extensively altered. 515 13th Street is most likely the next oldest
house still standing on Diamond Hill, dating from ca. 1850.
During the 1850s two Gothic Revival houses were erected at 1418-20 Harrison and 601
Washington streets. The latter house displays elaborate cast-iron work on the front porch
and porch entrance stair. At the time of its construction, this house was undoubtedly
considered one of the finest in the city. Also during the fifties, Charles Blackford, a
prominent local attorney and active member of Lynchburg's city government, erected his
house at 618 Pearl Street. Local historians note the significance of this house as the
site of many social gatherings of notable local citizens and important visiting dignitaries
The construction of a footbridge in the late 1850s across Horseford Creek at Church
Street provided easier access to Diamond Hlll from the downtown area and undoubtedly
encouraged further settlement of the area.
Gray's map of 1877 7 indicates clusters of
houses along the 300 and 500 blocks of Washington Street (many owned by the Langhorne
family), the south side of the 500 block of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500 block
of Diamond Street. Growth patterns appear denser to the west of Diamond Hill on Grace
and Harrison streets, roads leading to the Campbell County Court House turnpike. Less
intense growth occurred in the heart of the district. The block bordered by Washington,
Church, Pearl (Falls Alley), and Clay streets remained unsubdivided until the first decade
of the 20th century.
Land was subdivided in the 1870s for worker and rental housing, including the 300 and
400 blocks of Pearl, the 600 and 700 blocks of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500
block of Diamond streets. Street improvements on Diamond Hill took place in the 1870s and
80s consisting of construction of sidegalks, paving of carriage ways, erection of retaining
walls, and the installation of sewers.
Coinciding with these improvements was the coming of Lynchburg's elite to Diamond Hill.
Diamond Hill soon became recognized as the dwelling ground of the city's prominent
businessmen and elected officials. Nathaniel Clayton Moore, Mayor of Lynchburg, member of
the City Council (1893-97), and, later, City Attorney (1898-1924), erected his house at
(SeeContinuation Sheet. 1127)
.J
1
Form No ·10.300a
{Hev l0-74)
UNITED STATES DEP.·\RT\1ENT OF Tflr. I NTF.RIOR
"OR NPS
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8.
//27
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
3
SIGNIFICANCE
600 Pearl around 1886. Charles Blackford, resident of Diamond Hill since the early 1850s,
served as City Attorney from 1878 to 1881, president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1884,
and member of the City Council from 1894 to 1895. Robert G. Robinson, owner of tobacco
manufacturing interests built 1307 Clay in 1898. Other prominent residents at the turn
of the century include Walter Addison (1304 Clay, 1906), State Senator from 1916-18;
Henry C. McDowell (1314 Clay, 1900), U.S. District Court Judge; Ralph Harrison (405
Washington, ca. 1902), State Senator and president of the Virginia State Bar; and Ernest
Williams (517 Washington, ca. 1902), president of the Chamber of Commerce and member of
the City Council.
By 1910 Diamond Hill had reached the pinnacle of its development. Experiencing a
period of decline during the second and third quarters of the 20th century, the area is
presently being revived under the direction and encouragement of concerned private
interests organized as the Diamond Hill Historical Society. Present improvements include
a general cleanup_ of the area, repairs to the exterior of buildings, and the conversion
of houses from multiple-family dwelling units back to single-family dwellings.
BZ
1
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity, G. Wm. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891. Also see: Deed
72-270 (shows the subdivision of the Booker property, 608 Washington), and plat book for
September 16, 1902. Deed book ZZ, book number 51, plate 577 shows the subdivision of the
trian~le bordered by Grace, 14th, and Federal streets (1405 Grace Street subdivision).
·city of Lynchburg, General Ordinances, 1880, p. 8. The subdivision of lands and
laying off of streets by individual property owners of lands in and tangent to towns was
common practice during the 8econd half of the 19th century.
3rn 1891, maps still referred to sections of Diamond Hill as the Davis Estate. See
Baist, ~· cit.
4Langhorne, who held large business interests in Lynchburg, erected houses for his
children and grandchildren on the two acres of land in Diamond Hill he bought ca. 1849.
WPA 62.
5Names of owners and policy numbers are listed at the end of the Diamond Hill Historic
District inventory.
6Residents of Diamond Hill petitioned the city council for a foot bridge across the
ravine on Church Street between 12th and 14th streets. Following denial of the petition,
a women's group organized to raise the necessary funds. The bridge was constructed in
1856. William Ashbury Christian, Lynchburg and its People, p. 172. Repairs to tHe bridge
were made ten years later, again paid for by funds raised by women residing on Diamond
Hill. Ibid., p. 252.
1Gray"s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia, O. W. Gray and Son,
Philaglelphia, 1877.
City of Lynchburg, Reports -9.K the Standing Committees £!. the Council of the City of
Lynchburg (from July 1, 1881 to February 1, 1882), Lynchburg, 1882, pp 32-34.
t
Form No 10-3001!
iHev. 10-74)
UNITED ST ATES DEPARTMENT OF THI' INTERIOR
~OR NPS use ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FOR.1\.:1
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
2.
SHEET //28
ITEM NUMBE82 ,lO
PAGE
l
LOCATION
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (U.S. 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place and
the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 1300 block of Harrison Street
(W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side); and on the N by
the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part, NE side),
and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary f;escription).
Item 10)
10.
· GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
E
F
G
R
664260
664200
664240
664390
17
17
17
17
4141390
4141460
4141730
4141830
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Block 046-10
Encompassing parcels 01 and 08-11 on NE side of Church and NW side of Pearl streets.
SECTION 3:
Block 025-09
Jleginni.ne on NE side of Court Street at.NW corner of parcel 13 and continuing NE along
NW line of said parcel, then following NW along the SW lines of OS and 04, then continuing NE along the NW line of 04 to SW side of Church Street, then following SE along
said side of said street to Washington Street;
Block 025-211
thence extending across Washington Street to SE corner of 07, then following SW along SE
side of said parcel, then crossing to SW side of alley and continuing about 75' SE along
NE side of 06 ' then SW to SW side of· said parcel, then continuing SE
.. along said• side to
Pearl Street;
Block 025-26
thence extending across Pearl Street and continuing SE along SW side of Spruce Street to
SE corner of 08, then following SW diagonally across 09 to the SE corner of 04 and
continuing SW along SE line of said parcel to SW corner of 02, then following SE along
SW line of 10 to NW side of Chestnut Street and extending SW along said side to a point
opposite the NE corner of Block 025-39, parcel 04;
(See Continuation Sheet #29)
Form No. 10-JOOa
{liev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLKIOK
eOR NPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//29
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE 2
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-39
thence extending across Chestnut Street and continuing along NE line of 04 to rear
property line of said parcel, then following SW along NW side of Arch Street to Madison
Street and crossing said street;
Block 025-38
thence extending SW along SE lines of 08 and 10, then continuing NW along SW line of 10,
then following NE along SE side of Plum Street to a point opposite the NE side of the
alley between Chestnut and Laurel streets, then crossing Plum Street;
Block 025-37
thence extending NW along NE side of aforementioned alley to SE side of Locust Street,
then continuing NE along NW side of 01;
Block 025-30
thence extending NW across intersection of Harrison, Locust, and Chestnut streets with
Roslyn Place to the SE corner of 09, then continuing NW along the NE side of Roslyn Place
to the intersection with Grace Street;
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across intersection on Grace and 15th streets with Roslyn Place to
SE corner of 04, then following along SE line of 04 to SW line of said parcel, then
continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, 12, and 03 to SE side of 14th Street, then
following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
Block 025-20
thence extending across Federal Street to NW corner of 01 and continuing NE along SE side
of 14th to a point opposite the SW corner of Block 025-13, parcel 08;
Block 025-13
thence extending NW across 14th Street and following the SW lines of 08, 05, 04, 03, and
02;
(See Continuation Sheet P30)
Form No· 10·300a
(liev. ·10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01 TIIE I NTU{IOR
OR NP$ USE
ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATl: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//30
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE
3
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-04
thence extending NE diagonally across 13th Street and following the NW lines of 07 and
04;
Block 025-05
thence extending NE across Harrison Street to the NW corner of 16, then continuing NE
along the NW lines of 16, OB, 15, 14, 05, and 04 to Madison Street;
Block 025-06
thence extending NE across Madison Street, then continuing SE along NE side of Madison
to the inter~ection with Grace Street, then following about BO' NE along NW side of
Grace, then continuing NE across Grace and extending along the NW lines of 05 and 03;
Block 025-07
thence extending E diagonally across Clay Street to the W corner of 09 and continuing
NE along NW side of said parcel, then following SE along NE lines of 09 and 07;
Block 025-10
thence extending across 13th Street and continuing along the NE lines of 01, 11, and 10,
and continuing along NW lines of 12 and 02; thence extending NE across Court Street to
point of origin.
1
These nominated boundaries coincide with the City of Lynchburg's Diamond Hill
Historic District limits with the exception of parcel 12 of Block 025-12, which is
included in this nominated district but excluded from the City's district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(3-82)
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAHOND HILL HlSTo:nc DIST,,ICT, LYNCll!lURG, VIRGINIA
Continuation sheet J 1 (Extension)
Item number 7, 8
Page
24, 4
7, D:::SCRIPTION
CeogrnFhically the l'.arshall-Lcdge Hospital is located at the ape0< of
(1503 Grace St..)Diamond !!ill, Historically thc,re is clear and visible evidence that this
hospital is not outside the value cf this district but in fact the most
visible, structure to the growth and longevity to the Diamond Hill
prBs~rvation mov.'.;.ment.
The. hospital, in its present 1.:-cation, start'2.d in the h:ome of S. W.
l·fcCcrl~l,;. !kCorl.·_lt..!'S house was built prior to 1871 and improved in 1875.
Additicns and chan:;::.s tcck place in 1397, 191Li., with th~ largest building
facing Grace Str2et in 1921.
'I'hc old wins c,n th<;! rear c,f the hospital is a two-story brick building
·,.iith tin rc,of. The 1921 three-story aUr.:ition ·:as built cf sand-colored
brick with grard.t~ corr.ice. The old an:l r"ft:!W wings have wocden 1/1 windows.
Because. the hospital ~vas built in a tim,_ <;.,ihcn the narll'.:: "hospital!! ha(l bad
connetations, ~very thing was done to r.1ak..; the surroundinos pleasant. The
NcCcrkl·.;;. Iwus:. ,,;,as high on Diamond Hill cverseeinr.; the Blu(;! Ridge Uountains.
Records do nvt show hc-,1 the old wing r,,;as deccratc.d.
The 1921 addition t,;as
built with a rnarbl~ foyer, mahc,gany rece:rtion room, intaid til~ floors,
an<l ratient rocrns painted in y~llows and light blu12..
(see below for Inventory Entry)
SIGlaFI'C<\NCi::
Lynchburg has one of the oldest hospitals in the state of Virginia.
( 1 503 Grace St.)1he minut~s of the Lynchburg llasons ii 39, stated that there were two
hospitals in Virginia in 1841, one in Norfolk and one in Ale}:andria.
The l•!cCcrkl,e house was the second location of the hospital. It was at
this location, thirty yc,ars after the hospital •s <-'nactment, that the
faci.lity grew to its present architectural state. Records have not be.en
located en 1,1ccorkle' s house, The records that -:<1er<; found are on the 1921
wing. The front addition was built by two leading Lynchburg architects
of rcsidental propo.;:rty, Craighill and Cardwell .. The :rason 1 s minutes
state that bot~• men ·were mcmb.:rs of th~. orrier. and had an intero2st in
naLini the build in;; a pl :asant cnvironn'.cnt.
S,
necause cf the building's size, exterior nco-classical composition,
and location on Diamond Hill, it is a major focal point to the overall
developmGnt of this n.ationally r"cognized historical neighborhood. The
building is also a monument to th,:;se t1:.10 archits:!cts that 'lesign,..;.d mostly
r sidcntbl prop;.:rty.
7.
DESCRIPTION
Inventory
·crace Street
1503:
1921 section: brick; 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays; 2, 2-story, 3-bay
porches flanking central 3-bay pavilion with quoins; 3-bay pavilions with
quoins (1st and 2nd floors) on either end; 1/1 fenestration with masonry
(see Continuation Sheet #32)
0MB No. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10·900·•
(3-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAMOND HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT (EXTENSION), Lynchburg, Va.
#32
Item number2, 1g
Continuation sheet
1
7
Page2,2 25
2. LOCATION (to replace Location on Continuation Sheet #28)
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (US 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place, Jackson
Street (NE side), and the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 13:00 block
of Harrison Street (W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side);
and on the N by the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part,
NE side), and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary
Description,.Item 10)
10. GEcx:;RAPHICAL
~
(to replace Geographical Data in Item 10 and Continuation Sheets 28
&
29;
Acreage: 45 acres
UTM References:
A- 17/664620/4141870 B- 17/664780/4141680
C- 17/664740/4141610 D- 17/664500/4141280
E- 17/664280/4141260 F- 17/664180/4141400
G- 17/664220/4141720 H- 17/664390/4141820
Verbal Boundary Description (replacing sections of VBD on Continuation Sheet 29)
After Block 025-30, Insert:
Block 025-31
thence continuing NW across Grace Street to NE corner of parcel 01,
then continuing SW along NW side of Grace Street to S tip of OJ, then continuing NW along
NE side of Jackson Street to NW corner of 01, then continuing NE along SE side of 15th Street
to a point opposite SW corner of parcel 04, Block 025-19;
Amend Block 025-19 to read:
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across 15th Street and continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, and 03
to SE side of 14th Street, then following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
7. DESCRIPTION - Inventory
1503 (cont'd) : sills; central entrance with transom and columns; panel inscribed with
building date (1921) and Mi.sonic emblem in attic story of central
pavilion. Neoclassical. 1921. Later brick, 3-story, 3-bay addition to
south. Original section to rear: brick; 3 stories; hipped, standingseam metal roof with cupola; 1/1 fenestration with segmental arches.
Late 19th century.
DÏAMOND HITL
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Abrams Aerial- Survey Corporation
1973.
Sheets K-Lst 1-15.
Seale
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//AP / or 3
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HILL HISTORTC DTSTRICÎ
Lynchtrurg, Va.
Source; Lynchburg City Valuation
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Date¿ 1978
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.<!TEDSTATES DEPARTMENTOFTHE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NA2TONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
XNWNTGRY -* NOMINATION FORM
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HP W TO COMPLETE NA TJOIVAL REGISTER FORMS
R P E ALL ENTRIES COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
--
1
:flp~m~
LdJ
HISTORIC
Diam~odB i l l Historic Dfstrdct
AND/OR COMMON
STREET& NUMBER
'
*
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
,NOT
C l V . TOWN
STATE
S5xth (M.
5 1.
CLASSIFICATION
CATE G aRY
Caldhilf ~ u t l e r )
COUNTY
CODE
Virginie
FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DJSTRICT
-vlclnm QF
Lpchbusg
.
(in
c
CODE
&TATUS
OWNERSHIP
680
l t ~ )
PRESENT USE
AGRICULTURE
-STRCICTU R E
,BOTH
-WORK
P U B LI C
,SITE
,OBJECT
AcauIstTloN
1 N PROCESS
,BEING
CONSIDERED
1 H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
-YES
-MUSEUM
LCOMMERCIAL
-PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
PRIVATE RESICFENCE
,ENTERTAINMENT
AESfRlCTED
X-RELIGIOUS
-GOVERNMENT
,SCIElrATIFIC
XYES:
UNRESTRICTED
ANDUSTRIAL
- TRANSPORTATION
,NO
-MILITARY
-OTHER:
OWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Multiple Ownership
(See ~ t t a c h e dlist)
STREET& NUMBER
-
-VICINITY OF
BLQCATIQN
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
STREET a NUMBER
Lyrtchburg
aREPRESENTATION IN
TITLE
Virginia
EXISTING SURVEYS ( 4 )
( s e e a n t i i m . a t i o n sheer fi)
C i t y o f Lynchburg, Division
of P l a n n i n g , H i s t o r i c Distrfct Survey, Lynchburg,
Vir~inia. %y 1976.
DATE
I976
DEPOSTTDRY FOR
sURVEYRECoRas
CITY. TOWN
-FEDERAL
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r k Landnarks Comission
SATE
-
~ o u &LOCAL
~ n
2 2 1 Governoy Street
STATE
__.
ii DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
_EXCELLENT
Jl.GOOD
_ FAIR
CHECK ONE
_DETERIORATED
_UNALTERED
_RUINS
~LTERED
CHECK ONE
~ORIGINAL SITE
_MOVED
DATE _ __
_UNEXPOSED
I
•
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Diamond Hill Historic District is an irregularly shaped district approximately
14 blocks in area. Located on one of the seven hills of Lynchburg, the district is
wedged between the Lynchburg Expressway (Rt. 29) to the south and the city's central
commercial core to the north. Steep hillsides couple with changes in land use and
historical precedent in defining the north, east, and south borders. Borders to the
southwest and west remain arbitrary and follow recommendations of the Lynchburg Board of
Architectural Review.
'
i~
An attractive reside_ntial neighborhood, the Diamond Hill Historic District was ·laid outt)
on _a· sit'id plan'.modified _to: accommodate the· _irregularities o_f the terrain •. Only Clay Street
retains its original brick .surface, all other streets 'having been paved over. Several
streets are tree-lined (see: Madison and Clay Streets), and many houses exhibit landscaped yards. Ornamental cast- and wrought-iron fences and stone and deconative brick
sidewalks appear at random intervals throughout the district. These elements, together
with landscaping features, impart color and warmth to street views and help define the
residential character of the neighborhood.
While experiencing its greatest period of growth at the turn of the century, the
district holds several mid-19th-century houses. The oldest residence, presently vacant
and in disrepair, stands at 1301 Madison (Vernacular, ca. 1817, altered ca. 1875).
Morris' Folly (Vernacular/Greek Revival, altered), a two-story, brick residence at 1310
Church Street, dates from ca. 1869, Two Gothic Revival houses are found at 1418-20
Harrison (ca. 1855, moderately altered ca. 1900) and 602 Washington (ca. 1852). This
latter house exhibits an elaborate cast-iron stair and porch unique in Lynchburg. Other
early houses found on Diamond Hill are 305 Washington (Vernacular, ca, 1849; ca. 1865),
313 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1855), 503 Washington (Vernacular, ca. 1850), 618 Pearl
(Vernacular, ca. 1850), 700 Pearl (Italianate, 1862), 1411-13 Church (Greek Revival/
Italianate, ca. 1860), 1501 Church (Vernacular, ca. 1845), and 515 13th St. (Vernacular,
ca. 1850).
Most houses on Diamond Hill were erected during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries and range from speculative houses erected as rental units (see: 1400 block
Church Street, 13th Street, and Diamond Street), to such upper-middle-class residences as
517 Washington (Beaux Arts, 1910-11), 419 Washington (Colonial Revival, 1901, and 1314
Clay Street (Colonial Revival, 1901).
The more formidable residences of Diamond Hill line Washington and-Clay streets,
and sections of Pearl and Madison streets. Included among these are an unusually high
number of Georgian Revival houses. Of the 12 examples found on Diamond Hill, the outstanding examples are 508 Washington, 400 Washington, and 1411 Madison. Two almost
iueutical Georgian Revival dwellings at 1304 and 1308 Clay Street were built in 1906.
At first glance, 500 Washington Street (Queen Anne, ca. 1898) appears to set itself
off from it= classicclly derived neighbors with its massive entrance portico, octagonal
corner tower, and decorative terrs cotta brick. However, closer inspection reveals the
underlying form of the building to be a 5-bay, Georgian Revival house capped by a highpitched, hipped reef.
The Colonial Revival was also popular: thirteen houses in this style are located
within the district's confines. Prominent examples are found at 419 Washington Street
and 313 and 314 Clay Street. Little construction in the Eastlake and Queen Anne styles
(See Continuation Sheet fl 2)
0) CJGNIFICANCE
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
_PREHISTORIC
--ARCHEOLUG'l'-PREHISTORIC
_COMMUNITY PLANNING
_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
-RELIGION
_f400-1499
----ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
_CONSERVATION
_LAW
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
-1500-\599
_.AGRICULTURE
_ECONOMICS
_LITERATURE
_1600-1699
~RCH!TECTURE
_EDUCATION
_MILITARY
Xsoc1AUR--
x1100-11ss
-.A_AT
_ENGINEERING
_MUSIC
_THEATER
_1800-1899
_COMMERCE
_PHILOSOPHY
_TRANSPORTATION
.K,soo- 10
_COMMUNICATIONS
_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
_OTHER (SPECIFY)
x_~ETTLEMENT
_INDUSTRY
_INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Hill, once one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential neighborhoods,
enjoyed its greatest prosperity.at the turn of the century. This period was marked by
construction of numerous new residences ranging from speculative builderjrental units to
stately, architect-designed town houses. Prominent businessmen and civic leaders
including bankers, tobacco manufacturers, attorneys, mayors, councilmen, and state
legislators, clustered in this ~rea along Washington, Clay, Pearl, and Madison streets,
erecting large houses for themselves and their families.
Their choice of architecture was most often either Georgian or Colonial Revival. Of
the 26 houses lining Washington Street, almost two-thirds were erected in these styles.
On Clay Street, almost half the residences are Colonial or Georgian Revival.
)
The high incidence of Georgian and Colonial Revival houses on Diamond Hill is
attributed to 1) the declining popularity of the more picturesque Eastlake and Queen Anne
styles, and 2) the conservative nature of Diamond Hill's population. Shunning the
Shingle and Craftsman styles as "low art" architecture, residents of Diamond Hill turned
to the grander imagery of the ordered, balanced, classically inspired Georgian and
Colonial Revivals. Twelve Georgian Revival houses appear within the district. The most
formidable of these is 508 Washington (1909), designed by J.M.B. Lewis. The house,
sheathed in Flemish-bond brick with glazed headers, is fronted by a cenl: •"dl, semicircular
portico topped by a balustraded deck. The first-floor entrance is framed by decorative
multi-pane sidelights and transom. Architrave tripartite windows are set in the first-floor
side bays. Double doors topped by an elliptical fanlight front on to the second-floor
porch deck. A decorative wrought-iron fence and gate set the house off from the street and
add to the overall formal composition. Other stately examples of the Georgian Revival are
found at 400 Washington and 1420 Madison streets.
Notable examples of the Colonial Revival are seen at 313 and 314 Clay and at 419 and
SOS Washington streets. The detailing of the latter two houses suggests they were
designed by the same, currently unidentified, architect.
The most prestigious house on Diamond Hill is 517 Washington Street, an imposing
Beaux Arts residence erected in grand scale. Giant order, paired columns define the
central entrance portico. The arched and recessed entrance is a play on Palladian window
motifs. The building is two stories in height capped by a balustraded deck. Order and
symmetry dominate the facade composition. The building is of beige brick and is marked
by stone springers and keystones over first-floor arched window openings. An attractive
enclosed glass porch with patterned curvilinear mullions is situated at the west end of the
house and is balanced by a frame pergola to the east.
Three houses on Washington break from the pervading conservative air of
518 and 605 Washington are the only structures representing Eastlakeandstick
street. 518 Washington (EastlakeA:}ueen Anne}, aside (S
.
.
ee Cont1nuat1on
Sheet
,'\
Diamond Hill.
styles on this
u" 25)
,
IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ·
,
Artwork £f Lynchburg and Danville Virginia. (9 parts). Chicago: The Gravure Illustration Company, 1903.
Blackford, Susan Leigh. Memoir. Madison Heights, 1894, 1959.
Christian, William Ashbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, 1900.
City of Lynchburg. General Ordinances. 1880Division of Planning. Historic District Survey, Lynchburg,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
May
1976._
Virginia.
li!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
QUADRANGLE NAME _Lynchb~1:g ,__ _v_a_.- - - - - -
42 acres
(See Continuation Sheet //28)
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
UTM REFERENCES
Al.lilJ !6!6 14!613101 !4 11(4,1}8,8,0j
ZONE
EASTING
QUADRANGLE SCALE _=.1.:.::2=--4c.:Oc::0..::0_ _ _ _ _ __
Bl!,2J ! 6! 6, 4181 o. or
ZONE
NORTHING
cUll.l !6l614!61l10! l4,ll41117r6,o!
DL!tl]
I 4 1 11 4 I 1! 61 81 Oj
NORTHING
EASTING
I 616 14!5 12,oJ
14,1!4,1! 312101
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The nominated boundaries are drawn to coincide with the Diamond Hill Historic District
boundaries established by the City of Lynchburg1 and encompass three separate sections.
The sections and parcels listed in the following description are found on the copy of the
current Lynchburg Valuation Maps 025 and 046 included with this nomination.
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
• >
E!IFORM PREPARED BY
NAME/ TITLE
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff
DATE
ORGANIZATION
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
April 1979
TELEPHONE
STREET & NUMBER
(804) 786-3144
221 Governor Street
STATE
CITY OR TOWN
Richmond
Virginia 23219
ISSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL_
STATE_!__
LOCAL _ _
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I
hereby nominate this property for ipclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria and pr
STATE H
TITLE
res
t
foJP ;(jp~ational Park Service.
.
.
IC PRESERV~SIGNATUAE
Tucker Hill, Executive Director
DIRECTOR, OFFICI,
ATTl;ST:
KEEPER OF TliE NATIONAL REGISTER, .
'
\.c.
__ .f_
GPO 892- 453
•
-
Form No. 10-JOOa
,Hev. 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THt_ iNTERIOR
FOR NPS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
use ONLY
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEH
7.
1/2
ITEM NUMBER
z
PAGE
1
DESCRIPTION
occurred on Diamond Hill, thus accentuating 618 Washington Street. The seeming frivolity
of this building with its corner tower, decorative "Moorish" porch, and Eastlake "dormers"
delightfully contrasts with its more staid neighbors.
No major connnercial development exists within the district's boundaries, A small
corner market (1321 Harrison, ca. 1915) and a used furniture store (1315 Harrison, Quonset
hut, ca. 1945), mark the only connnercial activity on Diamond Hill. With the exception of
the apartments at 1312-1316\ Church Street, all residences in the district were constructed as either detached single-family residences or duplexes, of frame or brick construction, 1\ to 2\ stories in height. No buildings break above 2\ stories thus maintaining a unified scale and preserving the residential atmosphere of the district. To the
west of Diamond Hill on Grace Street stands the Diamond Hill Baptist Church, a brick, 2\story building with corner tower, central rose window and side lancet windows (Vernacular/
Gothic Revival, 1886) A one-story, concrete, glass, and steel YMCA building (1956), stands
in the northeast corner of the district. The building, a well-designed interpretation of
the International Style, unfortunately does not fit in with the overall character of the
historic neighborhood.
Photographs from 1903 reveal that many of Diamond Hill's early houses have undergone
only minor alterations. Exterior alterations tend to have been limited to removal of
corniccz, wood trim, balusters, and occasionally porches. A few houses, such as those
found on Chestnut and Diamond streets exhibit asbestos shingles and siding additions.
Most frame houses within the district retain their original clapboard or weatherboard
siding.
While many houses on Diamond Hill were converted to multi-family dwelling units during
the 20th eentury, efforts are currently underway by residents and a local historical
soc.iety to return these to single-family units.
BNZ
The following is an inventory of all the buildings comprising the Diamond Hill
Historic District:
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Forr:'" No. 10-3b~a
(Re.,_ 'l-74)'
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI I\IUATION SHEET //1
6.
ITEM NUMBER 6 ,
10
PAGE l
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
2),
Diamond Hill Historical Society, Historic Preservation Survey 1977-78.
1977-78
Local
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission - 221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3).
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1978
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
4).
Works Progress Administration Survey
Federal
Virginia State Library
Richmond, Virginia 23219
9.
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Council. 1882.
Mutual Assurance Policies. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Archives,
Virginia.
Yancey, Rosa. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, 1835.
Richmond,
MAPS
_!::ray_~~ New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 0. W. Gray & Son,
Philadelphia, 1877.
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity. G. William Baist, Philadelphia, 1891.
10.
GEORGRAPHICAL DATA - VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
SECTION 1:
Block 025-25
Encompassing parcel 04 at SW. corner of Church and Pearl streets;
SECTION 2:
Block 046-06
Encompassing parcels 11-22 on NE side of Church Street.
(See Continuation Sheet #28)
Form Ne 1 Q.JQOa
{11ev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TIIE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO?\'IINA TION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
3
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE?
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Chestnut Street
400 Block
Rouses on the north side of the 400 block of Chestnut Street are built on a steep hill.
419: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch addition.
nacular. 1907. Asbestos shingle siding detracts from period appearance.
2
Ver-
421: frame; 1 story; pyramidal roof; 2 bays; 2-bay porch with turned posts and
turned balusters. Vernacular cottage. 1907.
431:
vacant
500 Block
q
502: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch. Vernacular. Rouse
dates from turn of the century. Later alterations disguise original fabric.
Appears as ca. 1950 ranch house.
c.
504: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays.
century. Bricktex siding.
Vernacular.
Late 19th/early 20th
C
507: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
roof addition to east. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
Shed-
510: frame with pebbledash and aluminum siding; 2\ stories; hipped roof with
central hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay addition to west. Vernacular/
Colonial Revival. Ca. 1920.
516: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 1-story porch. Vernacular.
tury. Central chimney. Asbestos shingle siding.
518:
Late 19th cen-
vacant
600 Block
1
•
600: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays.
terior end chimney to west.
Vernacular.
Late 19th century.
(See continuation sheet# 4)
In-
Form No 10"300a
{Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
4
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
3
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street
Stone sidewalks line the west side of Church Street.
1300 Block
1305:
parking lot
brick; 2), stories; mansard roof with 4 gabled dormers; 6 bays; 2
1-story, 3-bay, ell porches with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, sawn corner
brackets, and perrdant. Duplex. Second Empire. Ca. 1880. Each duplex is a
mirror image of the other, though, as the building is located on an incline, the
half to the north is several feet lower than its neighbor to the south. Segmental arched wall openings. Shingle Style bay-window addition (ca. 1900) on south
end, Patterned slate on mansard roof.
, / 1307-13)9:
1310 (Moore's Folly): brick; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable;
5 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1850, Interior end chimneys with chimney pots. Presently being restored with Colonial Revival windows and window heads not sympathetic to the original building. Frame, 2-story, gable-roof building to the
north. Vernacular. Ca. 1869.
1312-1316),: Series of 5 identical apartment units, each described as follows:
-:,; 1-story,
brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof fronted by scalloped parapet; 2
:er of
hipped-roof porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. Pendants at ends and
parapet.
1313 (YMCA Building): steel and concrete; 1 story; flat roof; 11 bays; 1-story
entrance canopy in central 5 bays. International Style, 1955-56. Upper deck
on roof. Center bay of brick. All other bays are of plate glass separated by
round pillars and aluminum frames. Clear, precise geometric units with banded
windows and hovering planes make this a standard exercise in the International
Style. While a good example of the International Style, this building does not
co,·.tribute to the historic character of the district.
i(;
1318: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch addition across
facade. Vernacular. Ca. 1850.
!
1319:
parking lot
1320:
vacant
·!
(See continuation sheet ft 5)
Form No_ 10 · 3COa
(Re\/_ 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTE8EC>
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
5
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
4
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Church Street, cont'd
1324: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof with cross gable in south bay; 2 bays;
1-story, hipped-roof porch across facade, Vernacular builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1888.
1400 Block
) ·
1400-1406:
vacant
1408: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 1-story, 3bay porch in south 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1888.
3-part bay window in 1st story of north bay. Decorative bargeboard beneath
cornice and along bay window and porch cornices.
1414: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909, Identical to 1418 Church Street.
1418: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch across facade. Queen Anne builder/speculative house.
Ca. 1909. Identical to 1414 Church Street.
·., 1420: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in south bay; 1-story, shedroof porch in north 2 bays. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1890.
Bay window in 1st floor of south bay,
1500 Block
1501: brick; 1\ stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch addition in
central bay, Vernacular. Ca, 1845. Extensively altered, Bull's-eye window
heads. 6/6 sash. Exterior end chimneys, Central donner addition. House on
stone basement.
Clay Street
Unlike other streets in the Diamond Hill Historic District, Clay Street has not been
paved. The original brick street remains intact. In addition, Clay Street is lined on
both sides with decorative brick sidewalks and deciduous trees.
(See continuation sheet
tfa
6 )
'
Form No. 10-300a
!Nev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
'
OR NPS use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF 1IlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
6
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
5
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1200 Block
'
)
'-I
1216: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. 1902-03.
1-light transom over south bay door. Diamond-shaped window is the only wall
opening on south end.
1220: frame; 1\ stories; gable roof with 2 round-arched, donner windows with
round-arched keystone heads in east and west bays; small cross gable in center
bay; 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay porch in central bay, Vernacular (Ornamental Revival cottage in fonn). Ca. 1872. Central entrance, 2 central chimneys with
paired chimney pots. Built by Charles H. Bryant, Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance.
1223: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story, hipped-roof porch
across facade, Modified Colonial Revival, 1906. Aluminum siding detracts
from period appearance.
1225: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch with sawn
balustrade and corner brackets across facade, Vernacular. Ca. 1881. Transom
and sidelights frame door in north bay,
1300 Block
1300: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable to the south; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in north 2 bays. 2nd-story porch addition with pyramidal
roof in central bay. Builder's Eastlake. 1889. Simple bargeboard and finial
in cross gable. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Most likely built by Stephens,
a local builder and contractor in Lynchburg.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays with I-story, 1-bay addition to
south; 1-story, 2-bay porch across main body of house, Vernacular, Ca, 1884.
Stuccoed.
1304: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central gabled donner; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch with paired columns and central pediment. Georgian Revival,
1906, Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows. Tripartite window in
2nd-floor central bay. Interior end ~himneys, Modillioned cornice, Except for
4onners, this house is identical to 1308 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Walter Addison, state senator from the LynchburgCampbell County district from 1916-1918, and editor of the Lynchburg~.
(See continuation sheet 417
)
·mm Na 10- 300a.
t-te11· '1Q- 74)
UNITED STATES DEP,\RT~lENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR MPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
I\(' fiOl"JAL REGISTER
OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTE"'ll-'-E=-0"'-----'··----'-------'
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
7
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
8
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
1307: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 3 bays; 1-st.'<_ry,
5-bay porch with spindle frieze, turned balustrade, turned porch posts, and cor·
ner brackets. Center bay of porch topped by 2nd-floor deck with turned balus~
trade and posts with finials. Modified Eastlake Style.
1898. l·light transom
over central double doors. Home of Robert G. Robinson, prominent Lynchburg
tobacco businessman.
1.i
~-J
.
'
-~
1308: brick; 2), stories; hipped roof with 2 gabled dormers; 3 bays; l·story,
3-bay porch with paired colunms and central pediment. Georgian Revival. 1906 •
Stone springers and keystones on 2nd-floor windows, Tripartite window in 2ndfloor central bay. Interior end chimneys. Modillioned cornice, Except for
dormers, this house is identical to 1304 Clay Street. Attributed to W. B. Snead
and Sons, architects. Home of Richard C. Stokes, prominent tobacco businessman
in Lynchburg, and one-time member of the city council.
1311:
vacant
1312: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; l·
story porch across facade. Builder's Colonial Revival. Ca. 1901, Stylized
Palladian window in cross gable pediment,
1313: frrune; 2), stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay and dormer
in south bay; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, flat-roof porch with center pedimented
entrance. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1905, Hip flashing. Hip knobs. Modillioned
cornice. Round-headed window in dormer, Palladian window in cross gable pedi·
ment, Dormer and cross gable pediment shingled.
Cc,
1314: frame; 2), stories; gable roof with central tower (conical tower roof with
finial) and side gable dormers; 3 bays; l·story, 3-bay porch with Doric columns.
Columns flanked by shingle pillars supporting battered piers. Turned balusters.
Porch is centered by low-pitch pediment with low-relief woodwork.
Colonial Re·
vival. 1901. Central round tower with patterned shingles rises apove porch
pediment. Paired columns extending from the top of the porch to the roof eave
2nd-floor east and west bays. Wide roof eave with paired, attenuated brackets.
Oval, Palladian, and bay windows on south end, Home of Judge Henry C. McDowell,
judge of the U.S. District Court for the western district of Virginia.
1400 Block
tf
"'·
?·
.. I
1417: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 5 bays; l·story, 4-bay porch with curved
brackets and turned balustrade in center 3 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca.
1885. Exterior end chimneys.
(See continuation sheet /fo 8)
.'
orm•No 10.JOOa·
Hev 10·'74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTl:RIOR
FOR N?S
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
rf:TIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
6
~
7.
..
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Clay Street, cont'd
ll,20: corrugated tin; 1 and 2 stories; low-pitch roof with center gabled section; 2 bays. Vernacular warehouse. Early 20th century.
'ii
1421: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
with turned posts and turned balustrade. ·Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
projection in north bay. Bracketed cornice, Architrave moldings
openings. Entrance in center bay. Bricktex siding detracts. from
across facade
Cross gable
over all wall
period appear-
ance.
1425: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, shed-roof porch in
central bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-1910. Entrance in center bay. 2/2 sash. 2
interior chimneys. Aluminum siding.
(
amond Street
'lhe west side of Diamond Street is vacant.
1500 Block
1510-1520 Diamond Street are all covered with bricktex siding.
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch.
Ca. 1890.
Vernacular I house.
1512: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 2-story projecting wing addition in
north bay; 1-story porch in south bay. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1883.
1514: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story entrance porch in south bay.
Vernacular I house. Ca. 1906.
1516: frame; 1 story; hipped roof; 2 bays; 3-bay porch with turned posts and
balusters. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910.
,.
1520: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in south bay.
ular I house. Ca. 1885. Vacant.
Vernac-
Federal Street
The west side of Federal Street is vacant. Directly behind the Diamond Hill Baptist
Church is a small lot currently used for parking.
( - ~ Street (formerly Campbell Court House Road)
Decorative brick sidewalks line the south side of Grace Street.
(See continuation sheet {f9
)
Il
~o,rn No. 10-300a
.Hev. 1 O; 74}
UNITE[) ST A TES OEPART:\IENT OF THI: INTERIOR
i'OR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVEI-.TTORY -- NOMINATION FORl\.1
(
.
0!\TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
9
ITEM Nl.lMBER
7
PAGE
7
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
·-.
Grace Street, cont'd
600 Block
'-it,
603:
···--·-
brick; 2 stories; gable roof with stepped parapet.
". 605: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays.
tex siding.
0
607:
vacant
.JI
609:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays;
Vernacular. Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1915.
Ca. 1920 •. Brick-
1-story, hipped-roof porch in west
Southwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street: frame triangular house occupying triangular lot; 1 story; flat roof. Vernacular. 1st quarter of the 20th
century.
Northwest intersection of Grace and 13th Street:
\ ·
vacant
1400 Block
1401: frame; 2!, stories; hipped roof with cross gable projecting wing in south
bay; 2 bays; 1-story, flat-roof porch with turned posts, turned balustrade, and
spindle corner brackets. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1906.
ll10S: frame; 2), stories; hipped roof with cross gable in north 3 bays; 1-story,
pedimented porch in south bay. Queen Anne speculative house. Ca. 1894. 2story bay window in north 3 bays. Fanlight ·in cross gable pediment. Scheduled
for demolition.
/
1409: frame; 21, stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 2 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and balustrade and sawn corner brackets across facade. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10.
C'
o
,.· .
.J
;;:
'~
1411 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church): brick; 2 stories; clipped gable roof; 3
bays; 3-story tower in north bay. Late Victorian Gothic Revival. 1886 (corner
stone). Remodeled 1903. Lancet windows on first floor. Rose window in 2ndfloor central bay. String course. Tower capped by pyrainidal roof. Decorative
brickwork along frieze. Terracotta belt course and over 1st-floor south bay
lane.et window. Brickwork by Lewis Bolling. See: Book of Remembrance of the
Diainond Hill Baptist Church, Lynchburg, 1972.
(See continuation sheet
/fo
10)
......
,-
(
I
::Orrn No 1 0-300a
IHe\l. 10-74)
•
U Nil ED STA.IES DEP,\RTMENT OE TIIE INTERIOR
FOR N?S USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVl:D
NATiONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI Ol'J FORM
D/>.TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
10
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
9
·-
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Grace Street, cont'd
1413 (Diamond Hill Baptist Church Parsonage): brick; 1), stories; 3 bays; ·1-story, pedimented entrance porch in central bay, Colonial Revival cottage,
Ca, 1948.
'Jj
o Northwest corner 15th and Grace Street (Firehouse): brick; 2 stories; hipped
roof with central chimney (paired chinmey pots); 3 bays; bracketed hood over
central entrance, Italianate, 1883. Decorative frieze. Attributed to
August Forsberg, city engineer.
1500 Bloc!,
-0
1500: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
north bay; 3-part bay window (1 story) in south bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance,
;:·. ,- /_, \• ;,\'t\.~
.7
1
'.
\,
L,,,(
C't(.;:_,.,r,'
ti,~ ,-~.<'•.i,
.
150't-l506:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof with central cross gable; 4 bays; 1story, 6-bay porch. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900. Stylized pediments
over wall openings. Asbestos siding detracts from period appearance.
Harrison Street
1300 Block
/,
'.
1301: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay porch in west bay.
Vernacular, Ca. 1910, Bay window in cast bay. Similar to 609 13th Street.
'I
1302-1304: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof
porch with decorative spindle work (balustrade removed). Vernacular. Ca.
1900-10. Built at same time as 1306 Harrison Street. Bracketed cornice, Wide
cornice with slat vents.
s
'·'
1303: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch
with simple balustrade, turned posts and spindle corner brackets. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
;~
1306: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with decorative balustrade and spindle work. Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
1307-1309: frame.; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story porch across facade, Duplex, Vernacular. Ca, 1890-1900. Interior end chimneys. Similar to 1311-1313
Harrison Street.
(See continuation sheet P-11)
1
Form No 10-3.00v
(Hev. 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTr.RIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVEO
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
11
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
10
DESCRIPTION• Inventory
Harrison Street, cont'd
1310: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 2 bays;
!·story, Eastlake porch across facade with turned porch posts, spindle frieze,
and turned balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Asbestos shingles detract from
period appearance. Simple iron fence fronts property.
1311-1313: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; l·story porch across facade
with scroll corner brackets and simple balustrade. Vernacular. Ca. 1890-1900.
Similar to neighbor at 1307·13V9 Harrison Street.
(,
1314-1316: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with pedimented cross gable projecting pavilions in end bays; central hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch with central pediment. Duplex. Colonial Revival builder/speculative
house, Ca. 1910, Fanlights in each cross gable pediment,
1315: corrugated metal; semi-cylindrical metal structure with end walls; 1story; 1 bay, Central entrance flanked by large, 4-light windows, Quonset hut,
Ca, 1945,
·:11
1317-1319: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with 2 hipp2d-roof donners in central 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze, fan brackets, turned balustrade, and turned porch posts in north 2 bays. Identical porch
ln south 2 bays. Duplex. (Each duplex mirrors the other). Vernacular, Ca.
1910, Similar in character to 1314-1316 Harrison Street,
1321: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 5 bays. Early 20th-century commercial
building. Corner market. A store has occupied this site from at least 1877,
The inventor of "Chap Stick" is said to have operated a drug store at this location,
1400 Block
The 1400 block of Harrison has stone sidewalks.
o
1407: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with large central cross gable; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch with turned posts and sawn brackets across facade,
Queen Anne, Ca, 1885, Imbricated shingle pattern on 2nd floor and in north
bay cross gable pediment of porch. House fronted by white picket fence.
1414:
0
vacant
1415: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with gable projection in south bay and
gabled dormer with sunburst in pediment in north bay; 2 bays; 1-story ell porch
with upper deck, Queen Anne. Ca. 1890. Imbricated shingle frieze between 1st
and 2nd floors and beneath cornice, Imbricated shingles and fanlight in gable
(See continuation sheet fnz )
Form No 10-300a
(hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET 12
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 11
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Harrison Street, cont 1 d
1415 (cont'd}: pediment. Tripartite window in 2nd floor of south bay.
porch balustrade. House fronted by simple cast-iron fence.
Turned
o 1416:
frame and stucco; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, central porch. Side porch to south. Georgian Revival. 1896. Remodeled
with Craftsman influence ca. 1910-15.
r,
. ,o
1418-1420: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with 3 cross gables ascending in size
from north to south; 4 bays with a 1-bay, 2-story addition to the south; J.-story
entrance porch in both the 3rd bay and in the bay addition. Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1855. All roof finials and bargeboards removed, Paired chimney pots over
2nd bay. Trefoil in south bay cross gable and end gable. Gothicized Palladian
window in 2nd-floor 4th bay. Colonial Revival oval window addition in 3rd bay •
1421: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across
facade. Italianate, Ca. 1870. House entrance shifted to Harrison Street. 2story, 3-part bay window to south end, Paired bracketed cornice, Bracketed
window hoods.
Madison Street
Both sides of the 1400 block of Madison Street are lined with decorative brick sidewalks, Trees grace both sides of this street.
1300 Block
o 1301:
brick and frame; 1 story; mansard-roof
addition; 4 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch addition. Vernacular. Ca. 1817 with 3rd quarter of the 19th- century additions, See "Death of a Venerable Old Citizen," Lynchburg Virginian,
March 9, 1880. This is the oldest house on Diamond Hill.
•/
c
1302: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Ca. 1910. Bracketed eave. Asbestos shingles,
Vernacular,
c
1303: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch,
Vernacular with Eastlake detailing. Ca. 1887. Bricktex siding. Eastlake pediments over all 2nd-floor wall openings.
1306: frame; 2\ stories; front gable roof; 2 bays with 1-story addition to north;
1-story, 3-bay porch in central and south bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1901. Oval
window in front gable. Entrance with transom to north.
(See continuation sheet # 13 )
form No 10-3D0a
IHev 10'. 74)
lJNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
13
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE 12
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Madison Street, cont'd
.. I
"
1309: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gables in north bay and south 2
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in south 3 bays. Vernacular. Ca. 1890,
Stylized entablature over all wall openings, Entrance in 3rd bay. Asbestos
siding.
1311: frame; 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable in north bay; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch in south 2 bays. Builder/speculative house. Ca. 1900-10,
Bay window in 1st-floor north bay, Transom and sidelights frame central entrance, Bracketed cornice.
1400 Block
•
vi
\
.
1411: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; central, pedimented, slightly
projecting pavilion; 1-story, central porch with paired columns and upper deck,
Georgian Revival, Ca, 1905, Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights, Belt course between 1st and 2nd floors. Low beveled water table. 6/9
sash 1st floor. 6/6 sash 2nd floor, 1-story, 1-bay porch along south side of
house, 2 interior chimneys. Fanlight in central pediment, Rowlock segmentally
arched window heads. Doric frieze on porch, Dentiled frieze on main house,
Built by Dr, James Morrison, a prominent Lynchburg physician in the early 20th
century,
1420: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with 3 pedimented gable dormers; 5 bays;
1-story, 3-bay central porch. Georgian Revival, Ca. 1910. Flat keystone
arches over all windows. Decorative transom and sidelights. 2-door opening
with fanlights on 2nd floor fronts onto porch deck, Recessed rectangula, panels
in north and south bays between 1st and 2nd floors, 2 interior end chimneys on
each end, Decorative Classical frieze and cornice, Built by W.B, Snead and
Sons (This firm also built 1304 and 1308 Clay Street, and buildings at both
Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute).
1500 Block
u
1500: frame; 21 stories; hipped roof with 2-bay, gabled projecting pavilion to
south; 1-story ell porch with paired columns and turned baluster. Simple cornice
brackets on porch and cornice, Vernacular. Ca. 1907,
c
1510: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front .
Vernacular. Before 1869, 1-story, 1-bay side wing additions to north and
south. House fronted by white picket fence,
·,~
.~
(See continuation sheet #14)
l
Form No 10-300a
(kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\llNT OF TIii: INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONlY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF lllSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
14
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
13
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
'
Madison Street, cont'd
o 1514: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with turned
colwtu,:, and turned corner brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1915. North bay projection has front gable roof. Diamond vent in front gable. I-light transom over
south entrance. Asbestos siding.
•,.
1515: frame; 2 stories; front gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with
turned balustrade across front. Vernacular. Ca. 1890. I-story, 1-bay gabled
addition to south. North bay fronts interior stair. Double-door entrance in
south {central) bay. Porch and south bay addition share similar circle motif
on friezes.
1600 Block
1600: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay entrance porch in
west bay. Vernacular. Ca. 1915.
Opal Street
500 Block
The north side of the 500 block of Opal Street is marked by a high retaining wall.
.. ?
.
"
0
510: frame; 1 story; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with turned
posts and simple rails. Vernacular cottage. Ca. 1910. Yard fronted by white
picket fence.
Pear.!_ Street (formerly Falls Alley)
Decorative brick sidewalks are noted on Pearl Street from Main to Church streets.
south side of Pearl from Main Street to Church Street is vacant.
The
t~.
~ii::
200 Block
q,,
211: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch across
facade. Vernacular I house. Ca. 1893.
300 Block
No houses are found on the north side of Pearl Street in the 300 and 400 blocks.
312-312\: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
Duplex.
(See continuation sheet !! 15)
Form _No 10-J·ooa
(Nev 1Q. 74)
UNITED ST t\TES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
7.
SHEET
15
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
14
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
400 Block
o
·'
404-406:
1885.
410:
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays.
Duplex.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1863;
vacant
416: frame; 1 story; front gable roof; 2 bays; I-story ell porch.
Ca. 1910.
Vernacular.
500 Block
500:
vacant
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line both sides of the 600 block of Pearl Street.
O 600:
brick; 2\ stories; cross gable roof; 5 bays with 2-story, 3-part bay window in central 3 bays; 1-story ell porch to east. Queen Anne. Ca. 1886. Gothic
finials on roof. Open end gable work in front gable. Small frame cottage to
south built as servants quarters. House fronted by decorative cast-iron fence.
House built by Nathaniel Clayton Manson, mayor of Lynchburg from 1884-91, director of the YMCA in 1887, member of the city council from 1893 to 1897, and city
attorney in 1897 to 1924. Manson was chairman of the executive committee at
Sweet Briar College and gave generous financial support to this institution.
601: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable. to east and gabled dormer
to west; 2 bays; I-story, 4-bay, shed-roof porch with turned posts across facade.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1895. 2-story, 3-bay wing to west. Exposed diagonal braces
in cross gable. Patterned shingles on 2nd floor. Clapboard 1st floor.
~
604-606: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in end bays; 4 bays;
1-story, shed-roof porch with pedimented entrances in center 2 bays. Duplex.
Queen Anne. Ca. 1885. Board and batten walls behind exposed gable struts in
end gables (exposed king post, collar beam and collar brace). Central chimney.
6
605-607: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
hipped-roof porch in east and west bays. Duplex. Builder's Colonial Revival
duplex. Ca. 1900. Decorative multi-pane windows in central bay 1st floor.
House on high basement. Turned baluster on porch.
(See continuation sheet ii 16 )
Form No. 10-300a
!Kev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
.
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
16
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
15
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Pearl Street, cont'd
.,
611: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1story, hipped-roof porch supported by Ionic columns across facade topped by 2ndstory porch in center bay. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. This house was built
by Fortunatus Sydnor Kirkpatrick, vice president of the Lynchburg Foundry Company
and an attorney in the firm of Kirkpatrick and Howard. He later built and occupied the house across the street at 708 Pearl Street.
c
618: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch, hipped roof; 3 bays; 1-story porch with upper
deck in central bay. 1-story porch with spindle frieze, turned posts, turned
balustrade and sawn brackets added to east end in 1876. Built by Charles Blackford, prominent local attorney, and a captain in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, In
1862 he was appointed judge advocate of the 1st Corps. Blackford served as city
attorney from 1878 to 1881. In 1884 he was president of the chamber of commerce
and was a member of the city council from 1894 to 1895. See: Susan Leigh Blackford, Memoir, Madison Heights, 1894 (1959).
700 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the 700 block of Pearl Street to the north.
walks to the south are of stone.
The side-
700: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof, 3 bays; I-story, 3-bay, central entrance
porch. Italianate. Ca. 1862. Paired 4/4-sash, segmentally arched windows.
Bracketed window hoods. 2-light transom and sidelights. House fronted by brick
piers and iron fence. Paired bracketed cornice. Synnnetrical facade.
708: brick (Flemish bond); 21:, stories; gable roof with 3 pedimented dormers; S
bays; 1-story, central portico with paired columns and piers. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910. Round-arched windows in dormers. Shutters removed. String course.
Modillioned cornice. Iron porch deck not original. Central entrance framed by
transom and sidelights. Once occupied by F.S. Kirkpatrick. See 611 Pearl Street.
709: frame; 21:, stories; hipped roof with central hipped dormer; 2 bays; 1-story,
2-bay, hipped-roof porch. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1915-20.
Shingled. Entrance in east bay.
710:
vacant
711: frame; 21:, stories; gable roof with cross gabb in east.bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch in west bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca.
1887. Fire victim.
(See continuation sheet# 17)
Fo,m No 10-300a
n1e,-. 1O·-74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTl\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
IN\lENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHEE.T
7.
17
ITEMNUMBER
7
PAGE
16
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
.,.
Pearl Street, cont'd
C
\,
713: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west bay; 2 bays; 1story, 2-bay porch with spindle frieze in east bay. Vernacular builder/speculative house. Ca. 1887. 1-story, 3-part, bay window in west bay. Asbestos
shingles detract from period appearance. Mirror image of 711 Pearl Street.
\
Spruce Street
Spruce Street is vacant on both sides.
Washington Street
The south side of Washington Street is lined by stone sidewalks.
300 Block
, ,,
c
302: brick; 2~ stories; hipped roof with side pedimented dormers and central,
curved, broken pedimented dormer; 5 bays; 1-story porch across facade. Georgian Revival. 1907-08. Brick quoins. Jack arches with keystone. 2nd floor
stylized Palladian window in central bay. Central entrance framed by multilight fanlight and sidelights. Interior end chimneys. Fronted by wroughtiron fence. Metal porch awning detracts from period appearance. Site of
Piedmont College.
,
305: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, Colonial Revival porch in west bay. Originally Greek Revival. Mid-19th century. Built
in 2 sections. West bay ca. 1849. East bay ca. 1865. Decorative transom and
sidelights surround west bay entrance. Home of Edward Beck, Lynchburg's 1st
city manager (1920-1925).
c
307: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays; 1-story, cast-iron porch with
cast-iron cresting. Italianate town house. Ca. 1884-86. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-length windows on 1st-floor center and east bays. Double-door entrance
in west bay. All 1st-floor wall openings with multi-pane transoms. All wall
openings segmentally arched.
310: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof; 2 pedimented dormers to east and west;
curved pedimented dormer in central bay (dormers contain 8/8 sash); 3 bays; 1story, 1-bay entrance portico. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance framed
by transom and sidelights. All window openings marked by flat brick arches
with stone keystone and springer. Tripartite window in central bay of 2nd
floor. Interior end chimneys. House fronted by high brick and stone retaining
wall.
(See continuation sheet if 18 )
Form No 10-300a
\t1ev 10- 741
UNITED STA TES DEPARTMENT OF Till: INTERIOR
FOR NPS US!; ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
OATE ENTERED
.
.
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
18
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
17
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
\ :•
312: brick; 11 stories; high-pitched gable roof with 2 gable dormers; 2 bays;
1-story, shed-roof, entrance porch with turned posts in east bay. Vernacular
Colonial Revival cottage. 1953. Dentiled cornice. Built by J.B. Mason and
Sons, Builders.
313: brick; 21 stories; hipped roof with central, 5-bay, Colonial Revival
"Palladian" dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, semicircular, central entrance porch
fronted by horseshoe stairway and square pillars topped by round pendants.
Greek Revival altered to Colonial Revival. Ca. 1855 with extensive alterations.
in 1909. Entrance framed by decorative fanlight and sidelights. Window openings topped by flat arches with keystone. Interior end chimneys. House and
dormer share similar dentiled and modillioned cornice. Porte-cochere to the
west. 19th-century carriage house to the rear (north). Panel on the 2nd floor
reads: Decorated by the J.G. Valiant Co~ 224 N. Charles Street,Baltimore,
Maryland, G.A. Brown, superintendent, William H. Bayer and Rich. Wright, workmen, October 1909. Mutual Assurance Policy: (possibly) R7/V 60/N 760A (1856).
316: frame and stucco; 21 stories; hipped roof with central cross gable 2ndfloor projection; stylized Palladian window within pediment. Pedimented dormer
with columns and round-arched window in east bay; 5 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with blank frieze and <lentils across facade. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1900. Bow
window in east 2 bays. 3-part bay window in 2nd floor of central bay. Central
entrance framed by multi-light fanlight and sidelights. Modillioned cornice.
House fronted by cast-iron fence.
400 Block
400: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 21 stories; hipped roof with 3
central pedimented and pilastered dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, pedimented entrance
portico in central bay. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1902. Tripartite, stylized
Palladian windows in 1st-floor east and west bays. All window openings topped
by keystone. Brick quoins. Entrance fran,ed by fanlight and sidelights. Brick
string course above 1st- and 2nd-story windows. Dentiled and modillioned cornice. 1-story, 1-bay side porch to east. House fronted by 4-to-41-foot brick
(Flemish bond with glazed headers) wall.
401: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
central entrance porch supported by Doric columns, Georgian Revival. Ca. 1900.
Multi-light fanlight and sidelights. House fronted by cast-iron fence. Plain
frieze. Modillioned cornice,
(See continuation sheet# 19)
Form No. 10-JOOa
(11ev". 10- 741
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMI NA TI ON FORM
1
0ATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7,
19
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
ITEM NUMBER
7
18
---------------PAGE
Washinston Street, cont'd
e
405: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented donners (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 3 bays; 1-story, central porch with paired
Ionic columns, Colonial Revival. Ca. 1902, Egg and dart cornice, End pilasters. Architrave windows. Decorative fanlight and sidelights. Decorative
tripartite window in central bay of 2nd story. Iron fence fronts property.
Built by Randolph Harrison, prominent state senator and president of the Virginia State Bar Association.
c
409: frame; 2\ stories; hipped roof with 2 pedimented dormers (round-headed
windows with multi-light panes); 5 bays; giant order, 3-bay porch supported by
Ionic columns. Colonial Revival, Ca. 1902. Central recessed entrance with fanlight. 2nd-floor deck in central bay supported by consoles fronts double, glass,
French doors, Doors are topped by decorative fanlight. Iron fence fronts
property.
i'!,
414:
vacant
416-418: brick; 2 stories; low-pitch roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 4-bay, hippedroof porch across facade, Duplex. Italianate. Ca, 1870. Bracketed cornice.
Floor-to-ceiling-length windows on 1st-floor east and west bays. Transomed
entrances in 2nd and 3rd bays. Architrave window hoods over all 2nd-floor
openings,
419: frame; 2\ stories; gable with large pedimented cross gable in east 3
bays; 4 bays; 1-story, Colonial Revival porch/veranda across front and west
sides. Porch is supported by paired Ionic columns on a stone base, Colonial
Revival, 1901. Entrance in 2nd bay framed by transom and sidelights. Projecting wing in east 3 bays topped by dentiled and modillioned pediment,
Palladian window is centered in pediment. Swags on 2nd floor, Ridge of roof
topped by decorative flashing and hip knobs. Pilastered chimney stack, Probably same architect as 505 Washington Street. House fronted by iron fence,
.'
'
500 Block
500: brick; 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, projecting, hipped-roof
pavilion; 5 bays; veranda/porch along front 2 bays and east side with turned
l; balusters and newels; round-arched brick entrance portico in central bay topped
by deck and simple railing, Queen Anne. Ca, 1899. Decorative brickwork on
porch and deck posts, projecting pavilion, and on 2\-story, octagonal tower in
east bay. Decorative brickwork includes recessed panels, terracotta brick, and
patterned corner joints, Colonial Revival swags along frieze. Pilastered chim(See continuation sheet ii 20)
Form No. 10-300a
{Hev 10- 74)·
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT Ot THF 11',TEIUOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOI\-IINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEE.T
7.
20
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
19
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
500 (continued): ney stacks with corbeled caps. Flat stone window heads and
lintels. Stained glass in central pavilion above recessed window. Dentiled
cornice. Modillioned cornice on pavilion and corner tower. Imbricated roof
pattern. Decorative roof flashing with hip knobs. House possibly designed by
Edward G. Frye.
501: frame; 2~ stories; gable roof with side pedimented dormers and central enclosed sleeping porch (hipped roof); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Shingle
Style/Colonial Revival. 1897. Columns can still be seen in sleeping porch.
House and porch columns shingled; dormers and sleeping porch clapboard. Stone
retaining wall topped by simple decorative iron fence.
503: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch addition
in central bay. Vernacular/Greek Revival. Ca. 1850. Interior end chimneys.
Low stone retaining wall. Probably the oldest surviving house on Washington
Street.
505: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with decorative flashing and hip knobs;
gable roof with Palladian window in pediment in east 2 bays; 4 bays; 1-story,
Colonial Revival porch/veranda supported by paired Corinthian columns along
front and sides of house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1901. Corner tower to west. Sunburst pattern in top pane of windows on 3rd floor of tower. 1st floor clapboard. 2nd floor shingled. Pilastered chimney stack. Possibly same architect
as 419 Washington Street. Wrought-iron fence fronts house.
~
I ::
508: brick (Flemish bond with glazed headers); 2\ stories; hipped roof with 3
pedimented and pilastered dormers (12/1 sash); 5 bays; 1-story, semicircular
porch in central bay topped by deck and railing (deck fronts ornate double
doors with decorative fanlight topped by oval, flat keystone arch). Georgian
Revival. 1909. Central entrance marked by decorative transom and sidelights.
Tripartite windows with full architrave and pilasters in east and west bays.
2nd-floor openings crowned by flat keystone arches. 2nd-floor windows are
16/1 sash. Modillioned cornice. 1-story, l~bay, side porch to east. House
fronted by wrought-iron fence. This house is the most prestigious example of
the Georgian Revival in Diamond Hill. J.M.B. Lewis, architect (of Lewis and
Burnham, architects and builders).
(See continuation sheet# 21)
Form No 10-300a
(kcv 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPART'.\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR
<OR NPS US£ ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTI NUATJON SHEET
7.
21
20
----------------------------------ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
o
1'
I' '
517: beige Roman brick; 2~ stories; low-pitch roof; 3 bays, with !-story side
wings. Central, giant order (2 stories) portico with paired Doric columns.
Porch·fronts Palladian-style entrance. Beaux Arts. 1910-11. !-story, enclosed
glass pox-ch to west with curved mullio.ns. 1-story pergola to east. Gutter
drains to east and west serve as vertical terminus points. lst-floox- side windows recessed into round ax-ches with stone keystone and springers. Porch supports
balustered deck. Built by Ernest Williams, prominent buisnessman and civic leader in Lynchburg. Williams was president of the chamber of commerce and served
on the Lynchburg city council. Williams was also involved in the Apex and Palmetto lumber companies. House is fronted by a decorative cast-iron fence. This
is perhaps the most prodigious residence found on Diamond Hill. The architect
of this house (unknown) is thought to have offices based in Baltimore.
518: frame; 2~ stories; multi-hipped roof with corner tower to the west; central
bowed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay, hipped-roof porch with eyelid vent. Porch
work includes Eastlake cut-outs, circular and oval hoops on turned posts. Eastlake/Queen Anne. Ca. 1890-95. Circular stained-glass window in lst•floor west
bay. Round-arched double doorway. Built by John H. Kinnier, prominent Lynchburg
businessman. The style of this house is unique for Lynchburg.
600 Block
Decorative brick sidewalks line the north side of the 600 block of Washington Street.
C
! ./
,
..
602: brick, 1~ stories; gable roof with central cross gable projection; 3 bays;
1-story, cast-iron, flat-roof porch across entire facade. Gothic Revival. Ca.
1852. Cast-iron roof cresting. Cast-iron entrance stair. Lancet window in central cross gable. Window hoods over all wall openings. Exposed porch roof structure. Bargeboard and roof finials removed. House fronted by woven wire fence.
This house exhibits extensive use of cast-iron decoration. Decorative chimney
pots. Occupied from 1870 to 1880 by Thomas S. Bocock, 1st commonwealth attorney
for Appomattox County, state legislator, member of Congress, and speaker of the
Confederate congress. Built by Robinson Stabler in 1852. The News, Lynchburg,
Virginia, February 1, 1959. Interior alterations ca. 1905. Wing addition ca.
1900. Rear wing ca. 1885. House possibly designed by W. E. Ellington.
605: frame; 2 stories; hipped roof with hipped gable, and demi-octagonal projections; 4 bays; 2-story porch with jigsaw brackets and turned baluster in west
bay, 1-story, hipped-roof porch with bracketed cornice in 3rd bay. Eastlake. Ca.
1880. Irregular facade. Exterior open staircase to east. Paired and triple windows. Fronted by tall hedge.
(See continuation sheet if 22)
Form No. 1Q.300a
{Hev. 10·74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED'
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NO MINA TI ON FORM
DATE ENTERED
·
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
22
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
21
DESCRIPTION· Inventory
Washington Street, cont'd
0
609: frame (stucco); 2\ stories; hipped roof with central, hippe.d dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch. Vernacular. Ca. 1920.
0
: ,
608: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with cross gable in west 3 bays (2nd story of
cross gable and 2nd story of west bay project from house); hipped dormer in west
bay; 4 bays; l·story, hipped-roof, 3-bay porch across facade. Colonial Revival.
Ca. 1910. Palladian window in cross gable. Fanlight and sidelights surround
entrance in 3rd bay. House placed on high basement.
I
610:
vacant
611-613: frame; 2\ stories; gable roof with central, hipped-roof dormer; 6 bays
with center 4 bays slightly projecting; 1-story, 6-bay, Colonial Revival porch
with turned balusters. Modified Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Central chimney.
Double-door entrances in west and east bays. 1-light transom over each entrance.
617: frame; 2 stories; low-pitch gable roof; 3 bays; l•story, 4-bay porch.
nacular. Ca. 1885. Central chimney.
,-
'1
Ver-
Thirteenth Street
400 Block
413: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, hipped-roof porch with
turned posts and sawn brackets. Vernacular. Ca. 1905. Bricktex siding detracts
from period appearance.
415: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; l·story, 2-bay porch across front
with turned columns and simple railing. Vernacular. 1904-05. Entrance in east
bay. Fronted by white picket fence.
:I
500 Block
,
' ·: ?~
507: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular. Ca. 1881-84. Original door with transom in west bay. Additional
door additions to east and west. Vacant.
511: frame; 2\ stories; front gable; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch across front.
Vernacular/Colonial Revival. Ca. 1903. Oval window (blocked in) in gtble pediment.
(See continuation sheet ffo23 )
Form No lti-300a
\Hev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DlPARTMl:.NT Of· THE I NTLRIOR
FOR NP$ USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
o....TE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
7.
23
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
22
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Thirteenth Street, cont'd
515: brick; 2 stories; gable roof; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch in central bay.
Vernacular. Ca. 1850. Bracketed cornice. Interior end chimneys. Thought to
have been built by Alexander Simpson, an early businessman in Lynchburg.
,· 1r,
517: frame; 2~ stories; hipped roof with cross gable projection in east 2 bays;
4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch with spindle frieze in west 2 bays. Vernacular. 1901. 2 small round windows in cross gable pediment. Aluminum siding detracts from period appearance.
600 Block
1
,
ll,
617:
bay.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in east
Vernacular. Ca. 1900-10.
700 Block
._. 1
i
703:
lar.
frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 2 bays; 1-story porch in east bay.
Ca. 1900-10.
C
705:
frame; 2 stories; front gable roof.
Vernacular.
Vernacu~
Ca. 1910.
Fourteenth Street (formerly Tenth Alley)
The north side of Fourteenth Street is bordered by a large athletic field.
700 Block
707-709: frame; 2 stories; gable roof; 4 bays; 1-story, hipped-roof porch in
center 2 bays. Duplex. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Stylized pediments.over windows.
Bracketed cornice. Decorative porch scroll brackets.
712-714: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Duplex. Vernacular. 1st half of the
20th century. Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 718 Fourteenth
Street.
718: frame; 2 stories; gable roof. Vernacular. 1st half of the 20th century.
Vacant. Scheduled for demolition. Similar to 712-714 Fourteenth Street.
(See continuation sheet #24)
Form No 10·300a
iHev. 10· 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FORM
OAT!: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHHT
7.
24
ITEM NUMBER
7
PAGE
23
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Mutual Assurance Policies relating to buildings no longer standing on Diamond
Hill include:
Caskie, John; southeast of Washington Street; 1831/Rev. 1863
.
I
Rl3/V 92/N 7741.
Davis, John T.; corner of 9th Street and 10th Alley; 1845/Rev. 8544
Rl8/V 113/N 14045; 1852/Rev. 14045 R20/V 124/N 17381; 1859/Rev. 17381
R23/V 136/N 21051.
Fletcher, Timothy; northeast of Main Street on Diamond Hill (north of
Caskie's residence) 1827 RlO/V 78/N 3646.
Langhorne, M.; corner of 3rd and Washington streets; 1852/Rev. 14075
R20/V 124/N 17396; 1859/17396 R23/V 136/N 21067.
Penn, Alfred (purchased from John Caskie); 3rd and Washington streets;
, 1838/Rev. 7741 Rl6JV 103/N 10919; 1845/Rev. 10919 Rl8/V 113/N 14075.
7.
DESCRIPTION - Inventory
Fifteenth Street
800 Block
,
:~2
805: brick, 2 stories; hipped roof; 5 bays; 1-story flat roof porch in center
3 bays. Georgian Revival. Ca. 1910. Entrance with transom in center bay. 2story porch to east end. 1-story, 1-bay, gable-roof wing to west. Interior
end chimneys.
....
form No. 10-300~
\Hev ,0, 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLRIOR
•OR NPS USE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
8.
SHEET
//25
ITEM NUMBER 8
PAGE
1
SIGNIFICANCE
from its present color scheme (pink with white trim), demands attention through its
"Moorish" porch, round corner tower, and Eastlake "dormers". 605 Washington (Eastlake/
Stick style), while partially hidden from view by a large hedge fronting the street, stands
out with its irregular massing, open porches, variety of wood trim and detail, and its
exposed "structural" members. These two houses, combine with the Gothic Revival house at
602 Washington and the Beaux Arts house at 517 Washington to establish this as the most
unique intersection in Diamond Hill.
500 Washington (Queen Anne/Georgian Revival, 1898), is also one of Diamond Hill's
more picturesque homes. While the corner octagonal tower, massive round-arched, central
projecting entrance pavilion, and decorative terracotta brick seem to set this building
apart from its more traditional neighbors, its underlying 5-bay, hipped-roof form
establishes its Georgian Revival allegiance.
In addition to the large number of imposing, architect-designed residences found on
Diamond Hill, numerous speculative and builder houses erected from 1890 to 1910 also
indicate the area's turn-of-the-century prosperity. Maps from 1891 indicate land subdivision for speculative ventures along Harrison, Chestnut, and Diamond streets.I Later
speculative houses appear on Church, 13th and sections of Madison streets. Often erected
as rental housing, these builder houses display simple, unadorned facades and are fronted
by porches exhibiting turned columns and decorative sawn brackets. While individually
these houses are of only minor architectural significance, grouped together they impart
much of Diamond Hill's historic character. The 1400 block of Church Street contains some
of the better examples of speculative housing in the district (see
1408 Church Street).
The Diamond Hill area remained outside the corporate limits of antebellum Lynchburg,
when a major property owner, Henry Davis, began subdivision and sale of land parcels there.
Davis, a prominent Lynchburg businessman active in banking and railroad affairs, died on
December 13, 1863. The General Ordinances of the City of Lynchburg of 1880 note:
Several large districts within the present limits, but outside of
the corporate lines of 1827, were laid off into squares and streets
by the owners, and the streets so laid off, dedicated to the use of
the public by placing the plats on record, and by other distinct
acts declaring such intent. Thus a large portion of Diamond and
Franklin hills were so laid off by the late Henry Davis, Esq., in
his life-time, and by his heirs since his death, in the suit of
Davis' administrator vs. Davis and others, in the Corporation
Court of the City of Lynchburg.2
(See Continuation Sheet# 26)
Form No 10-300a
(11ev. 10- 74!
UNITED STATES DEP1\RTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OR NPS USE ONLY
I
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATIONSHHT
8.
//26
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
2
SIGNIFICANCE
Diamond Rill was not annexed to the city of Lynchburg until December 19, 1870. 3
Aside from Davis, other early land owners of Diamond Hill were Maurice Langhorne,
John Caskie, Alfred Penn, John Davis, and Timothy Fletcher. While all had erected
dwellings on Diamond Hill, only Langhorne's house of ca. 1855 (313 Washington Street,
extensively altered) remains.4
The earliest extant house on Diamond Hill stands at 1301 Madison and was erected ca.
1817. Altered during the last quarter of the 19th century through the addition of a
mansard roof, the first floor of the house retains its Federal mantels and some interior
trim. Mutual Assurance policies exist for other houses built on Diamond Hill in the early
19th century, though none of those houses survives. 5 1501 Church Street, said to date
from 1845, has been extensively altered. 515 13th Street is most likely the next oldest
house still standing on Diamond Hill, dating from ca. 1850.
During the 1850s two Gothic Revival houses were erected at 1418-20 Harrison and 601
Washington streets. The latter house displays elaborate cast-iron work on the front porch
and porch entrance stair. At the time of its construction, this house was undoubtedly
considered one of the finest in the city. Also during the fifties, Charles Blackford, a
prominent local attorney and active member of Lynchburg's city government, erected his
house at 618 Pearl Street. Local historians note the significance of this house as the
site of many social gatherings of notable local citizens and important visiting dignitaries
The construction of a footbridge in the late 1850s across Horseford Creek at Church
Street provided easier access to Diamond Hlll from the downtown area and undoubtedly
encouraged further settlement of the area.
Gray's map of 1877 7 indicates clusters of
houses along the 300 and 500 blocks of Washington Street (many owned by the Langhorne
family), the south side of the 500 block of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500 block
of Diamond Street. Growth patterns appear denser to the west of Diamond Hill on Grace
and Harrison streets, roads leading to the Campbell County Court House turnpike. Less
intense growth occurred in the heart of the district. The block bordered by Washington,
Church, Pearl (Falls Alley), and Clay streets remained unsubdivided until the first decade
of the 20th century.
Land was subdivided in the 1870s for worker and rental housing, including the 300 and
400 blocks of Pearl, the 600 and 700 blocks of Chestnut, and the east side of the 1500
block of Diamond streets. Street improvements on Diamond Hill took place in the 1870s and
80s consisting of construction of sidegalks, paving of carriage ways, erection of retaining
walls, and the installation of sewers.
Coinciding with these improvements was the coming of Lynchburg's elite to Diamond Hill.
Diamond Hill soon became recognized as the dwelling ground of the city's prominent
businessmen and elected officials. Nathaniel Clayton Moore, Mayor of Lynchburg, member of
the City Council (1893-97), and, later, City Attorney (1898-1924), erected his house at
(SeeContinuation Sheet. 1127)
.J
1
Form No ·10.300a
{Hev l0-74)
UNITED STATES DEP.·\RT\1ENT OF Tflr. I NTF.RIOR
"OR NPS
use ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
8.
//27
ITEM NUMBER
8
PAGE
3
SIGNIFICANCE
600 Pearl around 1886. Charles Blackford, resident of Diamond Hill since the early 1850s,
served as City Attorney from 1878 to 1881, president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1884,
and member of the City Council from 1894 to 1895. Robert G. Robinson, owner of tobacco
manufacturing interests built 1307 Clay in 1898. Other prominent residents at the turn
of the century include Walter Addison (1304 Clay, 1906), State Senator from 1916-18;
Henry C. McDowell (1314 Clay, 1900), U.S. District Court Judge; Ralph Harrison (405
Washington, ca. 1902), State Senator and president of the Virginia State Bar; and Ernest
Williams (517 Washington, ca. 1902), president of the Chamber of Commerce and member of
the City Council.
By 1910 Diamond Hill had reached the pinnacle of its development. Experiencing a
period of decline during the second and third quarters of the 20th century, the area is
presently being revived under the direction and encouragement of concerned private
interests organized as the Diamond Hill Historical Society. Present improvements include
a general cleanup_ of the area, repairs to the exterior of buildings, and the conversion
of houses from multiple-family dwelling units back to single-family dwellings.
BZ
1
Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity, G. Wm. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891. Also see: Deed
72-270 (shows the subdivision of the Booker property, 608 Washington), and plat book for
September 16, 1902. Deed book ZZ, book number 51, plate 577 shows the subdivision of the
trian~le bordered by Grace, 14th, and Federal streets (1405 Grace Street subdivision).
·city of Lynchburg, General Ordinances, 1880, p. 8. The subdivision of lands and
laying off of streets by individual property owners of lands in and tangent to towns was
common practice during the 8econd half of the 19th century.
3rn 1891, maps still referred to sections of Diamond Hill as the Davis Estate. See
Baist, ~· cit.
4Langhorne, who held large business interests in Lynchburg, erected houses for his
children and grandchildren on the two acres of land in Diamond Hill he bought ca. 1849.
WPA 62.
5Names of owners and policy numbers are listed at the end of the Diamond Hill Historic
District inventory.
6Residents of Diamond Hill petitioned the city council for a foot bridge across the
ravine on Church Street between 12th and 14th streets. Following denial of the petition,
a women's group organized to raise the necessary funds. The bridge was constructed in
1856. William Ashbury Christian, Lynchburg and its People, p. 172. Repairs to tHe bridge
were made ten years later, again paid for by funds raised by women residing on Diamond
Hill. Ibid., p. 252.
1Gray"s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia, O. W. Gray and Son,
Philaglelphia, 1877.
City of Lynchburg, Reports -9.K the Standing Committees £!. the Council of the City of
Lynchburg (from July 1, 1881 to February 1, 1882), Lynchburg, 1882, pp 32-34.
t
Form No 10-3001!
iHev. 10-74)
UNITED ST ATES DEPARTMENT OF THI' INTERIOR
~OR NPS use ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IDSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY·· NOMINATION FOR.1\.:1
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION
2.
SHEET //28
ITEM NUMBE82 ,lO
PAGE
l
LOCATION
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (U.S. 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place and
the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 1300 block of Harrison Street
(W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side); and on the N by
the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part, NE side),
and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary f;escription).
Item 10)
10.
· GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
E
F
G
R
664260
664200
664240
664390
17
17
17
17
4141390
4141460
4141730
4141830
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Block 046-10
Encompassing parcels 01 and 08-11 on NE side of Church and NW side of Pearl streets.
SECTION 3:
Block 025-09
Jleginni.ne on NE side of Court Street at.NW corner of parcel 13 and continuing NE along
NW line of said parcel, then following NW along the SW lines of OS and 04, then continuing NE along the NW line of 04 to SW side of Church Street, then following SE along
said side of said street to Washington Street;
Block 025-211
thence extending across Washington Street to SE corner of 07, then following SW along SE
side of said parcel, then crossing to SW side of alley and continuing about 75' SE along
NE side of 06 ' then SW to SW side of· said parcel, then continuing SE
.. along said• side to
Pearl Street;
Block 025-26
thence extending across Pearl Street and continuing SE along SW side of Spruce Street to
SE corner of 08, then following SW diagonally across 09 to the SE corner of 04 and
continuing SW along SE line of said parcel to SW corner of 02, then following SE along
SW line of 10 to NW side of Chestnut Street and extending SW along said side to a point
opposite the NE corner of Block 025-39, parcel 04;
(See Continuation Sheet #29)
Form No. 10-JOOa
{liev 10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE I NTLKIOK
eOR NPS USE ONLY
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATE ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//29
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE 2
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-39
thence extending across Chestnut Street and continuing along NE line of 04 to rear
property line of said parcel, then following SW along NW side of Arch Street to Madison
Street and crossing said street;
Block 025-38
thence extending SW along SE lines of 08 and 10, then continuing NW along SW line of 10,
then following NE along SE side of Plum Street to a point opposite the NE side of the
alley between Chestnut and Laurel streets, then crossing Plum Street;
Block 025-37
thence extending NW along NE side of aforementioned alley to SE side of Locust Street,
then continuing NE along NW side of 01;
Block 025-30
thence extending NW across intersection of Harrison, Locust, and Chestnut streets with
Roslyn Place to the SE corner of 09, then continuing NW along the NE side of Roslyn Place
to the intersection with Grace Street;
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across intersection on Grace and 15th streets with Roslyn Place to
SE corner of 04, then following along SE line of 04 to SW line of said parcel, then
continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, 12, and 03 to SE side of 14th Street, then
following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
Block 025-20
thence extending across Federal Street to NW corner of 01 and continuing NE along SE side
of 14th to a point opposite the SW corner of Block 025-13, parcel 08;
Block 025-13
thence extending NW across 14th Street and following the SW lines of 08, 05, 04, 03, and
02;
(See Continuation Sheet P30)
Form No· 10·300a
(liev. ·10- 74)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 01 TIIE I NTU{IOR
OR NP$ USE
ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RECEIVED
NATIONAL REGISTER OF IIlSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
DATl: ENTERED
Diamond Hill Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia
CONTINUATION SHEET
10.
//30
ITEM NUMBER
10
PAGE
3
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - Verbal Boundary Description
Block 025-04
thence extending NE diagonally across 13th Street and following the NW lines of 07 and
04;
Block 025-05
thence extending NE across Harrison Street to the NW corner of 16, then continuing NE
along the NW lines of 16, OB, 15, 14, 05, and 04 to Madison Street;
Block 025-06
thence extending NE across Madison Street, then continuing SE along NE side of Madison
to the inter~ection with Grace Street, then following about BO' NE along NW side of
Grace, then continuing NE across Grace and extending along the NW lines of 05 and 03;
Block 025-07
thence extending E diagonally across Clay Street to the W corner of 09 and continuing
NE along NW side of said parcel, then following SE along NE lines of 09 and 07;
Block 025-10
thence extending across 13th Street and continuing along the NE lines of 01, 11, and 10,
and continuing along NW lines of 12 and 02; thence extending NE across Court Street to
point of origin.
1
These nominated boundaries coincide with the City of Lynchburg's Diamond Hill
Historic District limits with the exception of parcel 12 of Block 025-12, which is
included in this nominated district but excluded from the City's district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(3-82)
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAHOND HILL HlSTo:nc DIST,,ICT, LYNCll!lURG, VIRGINIA
Continuation sheet J 1 (Extension)
Item number 7, 8
Page
24, 4
7, D:::SCRIPTION
CeogrnFhically the l'.arshall-Lcdge Hospital is located at the ape0< of
(1503 Grace St..)Diamond !!ill, Historically thc,re is clear and visible evidence that this
hospital is not outside the value cf this district but in fact the most
visible, structure to the growth and longevity to the Diamond Hill
prBs~rvation mov.'.;.ment.
The. hospital, in its present 1.:-cation, start'2.d in the h:ome of S. W.
l·fcCcrl~l,;. !kCorl.·_lt..!'S house was built prior to 1871 and improved in 1875.
Additicns and chan:;::.s tcck place in 1397, 191Li., with th~ largest building
facing Grace Str2et in 1921.
'I'hc old wins c,n th<;! rear c,f the hospital is a two-story brick building
·,.iith tin rc,of. The 1921 three-story aUr.:ition ·:as built cf sand-colored
brick with grard.t~ corr.ice. The old an:l r"ft:!W wings have wocden 1/1 windows.
Because. the hospital ~vas built in a tim,_ <;.,ihcn the narll'.:: "hospital!! ha(l bad
connetations, ~very thing was done to r.1ak..; the surroundinos pleasant. The
NcCcrkl·.;;. Iwus:. ,,;,as high on Diamond Hill cverseeinr.; the Blu(;! Ridge Uountains.
Records do nvt show hc-,1 the old wing r,,;as deccratc.d.
The 1921 addition t,;as
built with a rnarbl~ foyer, mahc,gany rece:rtion room, intaid til~ floors,
an<l ratient rocrns painted in y~llows and light blu12..
(see below for Inventory Entry)
SIGlaFI'C<\NCi::
Lynchburg has one of the oldest hospitals in the state of Virginia.
( 1 503 Grace St.)1he minut~s of the Lynchburg llasons ii 39, stated that there were two
hospitals in Virginia in 1841, one in Norfolk and one in Ale}:andria.
The l•!cCcrkl,e house was the second location of the hospital. It was at
this location, thirty yc,ars after the hospital •s <-'nactment, that the
faci.lity grew to its present architectural state. Records have not be.en
located en 1,1ccorkle' s house, The records that -:<1er<; found are on the 1921
wing. The front addition was built by two leading Lynchburg architects
of rcsidental propo.;:rty, Craighill and Cardwell .. The :rason 1 s minutes
state that bot~• men ·were mcmb.:rs of th~. orrier. and had an intero2st in
naLini the build in;; a pl :asant cnvironn'.cnt.
S,
necause cf the building's size, exterior nco-classical composition,
and location on Diamond Hill, it is a major focal point to the overall
developmGnt of this n.ationally r"cognized historical neighborhood. The
building is also a monument to th,:;se t1:.10 archits:!cts that 'lesign,..;.d mostly
r sidcntbl prop;.:rty.
7.
DESCRIPTION
Inventory
·crace Street
1503:
1921 section: brick; 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays; 2, 2-story, 3-bay
porches flanking central 3-bay pavilion with quoins; 3-bay pavilions with
quoins (1st and 2nd floors) on either end; 1/1 fenestration with masonry
(see Continuation Sheet #32)
0MB No. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10·900·•
(3-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DIAMOND HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT (EXTENSION), Lynchburg, Va.
#32
Item number2, 1g
Continuation sheet
1
7
Page2,2 25
2. LOCATION (to replace Location on Continuation Sheet #28)
Roughly bounded on the NE by the 1300(part)/1400 block of Church Street (NE side); on the
Eby Spruce Street; on the SE by the Expressway (US 29); on the SW by Roslyn Place, Jackson
Street (NE side), and the 1400 block of Federal Street (SW side); on the W by the 13:00 block
of Harrison Street (W side); on the NW by the 600 and 700 blocks of 13th Street (NW side);
and on the N by the 500 block of 13th Street (N side), the 1200 block of Clay Street (part,
NE side), and the 300/400 block of Washington Street (N side). (See Verbal Boundary
Description,.Item 10)
10. GEcx:;RAPHICAL
~
(to replace Geographical Data in Item 10 and Continuation Sheets 28
&
29;
Acreage: 45 acres
UTM References:
A- 17/664620/4141870 B- 17/664780/4141680
C- 17/664740/4141610 D- 17/664500/4141280
E- 17/664280/4141260 F- 17/664180/4141400
G- 17/664220/4141720 H- 17/664390/4141820
Verbal Boundary Description (replacing sections of VBD on Continuation Sheet 29)
After Block 025-30, Insert:
Block 025-31
thence continuing NW across Grace Street to NE corner of parcel 01,
then continuing SW along NW side of Grace Street to S tip of OJ, then continuing NW along
NE side of Jackson Street to NW corner of 01, then continuing NE along SE side of 15th Street
to a point opposite SW corner of parcel 04, Block 025-19;
Amend Block 025-19 to read:
Block 025-19
thence extending NW across 15th Street and continuing NW along SW lines of 04, 13, and 03
to SE side of 14th Street, then following NE along SE side of 14th to Federal Street;
7. DESCRIPTION - Inventory
1503 (cont'd) : sills; central entrance with transom and columns; panel inscribed with
building date (1921) and Mi.sonic emblem in attic story of central
pavilion. Neoclassical. 1921. Later brick, 3-story, 3-bay addition to
south. Original section to rear: brick; 3 stories; hipped, standingseam metal roof with cupola; 1/1 fenestration with segmental arches.
Late 19th century.
DÏAMOND HITL
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Abrams Aerial- Survey Corporation
1973.
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Source; Lynchburg City Valuation
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Text
Is+-10-7"
L h I E D S l'r\TES lIEP.\RT>Ii;..\l
Form ' $ 0 I G - ~ C O
OF TtlE 1 h1T E K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
S f E 1NST;IUCTIONS 1N HOW TO COMPLflEflATlONAL REGISTER FORJMS
TYPE ALL E N T R I E S - - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
r;
NAME
H I STOAI
c
.
I
A r n e Spencer Rouse
A>lO/OR COMMON
Anne Spencer House
1313 Pierce S t r e e t
STREET&NUMBER
_NO7 FOR PUBUCATlOM
CITY. SOWN
-
~ y n hbusg
c
SrATE
C O V G R E S S f O N A L DISTRtCT
~ ~ x t(41.h Caldvell 3utLer)
VICINITY 3~
COULW
CODE
V irginLa
STATUS
OWHf R S H ~ P
CATEGORY
{in c r t y )
51
PRESENT USE
-PU ail c
XOCCUPED
4GRICULTURE
~PRIWTE
,kJNOECUPfED
_COMMERCfAL
-PARK
- Sf R UCTURE
- RDTH
-WORK
,EDUCAT+ONAL
XPRIVATE
RESIDENCE
-ST=
PUBLIC ACQPILSITION
-IN PROCESS
XYES:
3ESTRICTED
,BEING
-YES
-DISTRICT
x8~1
LO l UG~S)
-OBJECT
CONSIDERED
I H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
,EtYTERTAIP1MENf
UNRESTRICTED
-NO
-MUSEUM
,RELIGIOUS
-GOYERNMEFET
-SCIENTIFIC
A N D U STRIAL
-TRAMSPORTATION
M
,
-,OTHER-
IClTARY
DOWNER
OF PROPERTY
NAME
M r , Chauncey Spencer
STREET & NUMSER
1313 Pierce Street
STATE
GlTY, TWWN
Lynchburg
COURTFOUSE.
PEGISTFIY OF D E E D S , ~ .
Virginia
- VrClHlTY OF
24501
Lynchburg C o u r t h o u s e
STREET C NUMBS3
CITY.TOWN
aREPRESE
TITLE
STATE
Lync hburg
Virginla
NTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS .
V i r g i n i a I l i s t o x i c Landmarks Cornmiss i o n S U F I ? ~
DATE
1976
DEPOSITORY FOR
suavEw RECORDS
-FEDERAL
ASTATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
S 7 i r g i n i a Kis t o r i c Landmarks Comhssio_on
C I ~ f13wrl
Y
STATE
Richmond
I'irginia
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
V
SUNALTERED
SORIGINAL
SITE
ALTERED
-MOVED
DATE
D E S C R I B E T H E PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL ( I F K N O W N ) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Anne Spencer House a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i s a medium-sized, modified Queen
Anne-style d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d i n a block of d w e l l i n g s of s i m i l a r s i z e and age.
Set
on a r e l a t i v e l y narrow l o t w i t h l i t t l e s p a c e between i t and t h e a d j a c e n t b u i l d i n g s ,
tAe house b l e n d s w i t h i t s neighbors and makes no s p e c i a l v i s u a l o r a r c h i t e c t u r a l
statement.
It i s a c o m f o r t a b l e , commodious s t r u c t u r e , w e l l m a i n t a i n e d , and i n a
I t has remained v i r t u a l l y unchanged, i n s i d e and o u t ,
good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
s i n c e i t was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's e x t e r i o r w a l l s a r e sheathed i n s h i n g l e s which v a r y i n l e n g t h from c o u r s e
Typical of i t s i l k , t h e house
t o course.
The roof i s o f standing-seam s h e e t m e t a l .
has an i r r e g u l a r p l a n , hence an i r r e g u l a r f a c a d e . The two-bay facade i s dominated
by a s l i g h t l y p r o j e c t i n g gabled p a v i l i o n .
The entrance,a round-headed door, i s i n t h e
s i n g l e bay t o t h e l e f t of t h e p a v i l i o n .
The f i r s t f l o o r o f the f a c a d e i s shaded by
a porch, s u p p o r t e d on s q u a r e wooden p o s t s , e x t e n d i n g t h e l e n g t h of t h e facade and
around t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r .
The porch c o n n e c t s a t t h e n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r w i t h a ones t o r y p e r g o l a which extends along t h e h o u s e ' s n o r t h s i d e t o t h e d i n i n g room p r o j e c t i o n .
The c o n c r e t e porch and p e r g o l a f l o o r i s g i v e n d i s t i n c t i o n by being s c o r e d i n s q u a r e s
w i t h t h e s q u a r e s .painted a l t e r n a t e l y b l a c k and l i g h t gray.forming a checkered
p a t t e r n . Except f o r t h e gabled p a v i l i o n t h e house i s covered by a hipped r o o f . A
s i n g l e dormer i s l o c a t e d on t h e r e a r s l o p e . An i n t e r i o r end chimney s t a c k s e r v i n g
t h e f i r e p l a c e s i n t h e . p a r l o r and d i n i n g room e x t e n d s from t h e edge of t h e r o o f ' s
n o r t h slope.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s o f t h e Spencer house have few d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s except f o r
t h e pergola.
The west o r r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a r e c t a n g u l a r p r o j e c t i o n
c o n t a i n i n g a n i n f o r m a l s i t t i n g room o r s u n room on t h e f i r s t f l o o r and a s l e e p i n g
porch above. The s u n room i s l i g h t e d by f i v e c l o s e l y spaced windows t h a t a r e shaded
by a m e t a l awning w i t h s c a l l o p e d eaves. The s l e e p i n g porch has a long, t h r e e - u n i t
rrindow. An e x t e r i o r s t a i r ascends from a door i n t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e sun room.
The i n t e r i o r of t h e house i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y u n p r e t e n t i o u s ; what l i t t l e t r i m t h e r e
i s i s p r i m a r i l y s t o c k woodwork of t h e p e r i o d , such a s symmetrically molded a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h t u r n e d c o r n e r blocks.
The house i s e n t e r e d through t h e s t a i r h a l l .
The s t a i r s ascend immediately t o t h e l e f t o f t h e f r o n t door ( i n t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
of t h e house).
Behind t h e s t a i r h a l l i s a n a l c o v e used p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e s t o r a g e
of books.
The n o r t h s i d e of t h e house c o n t a i n s t h e p a r l o r , d i n i n g room and sun room.
A 1 1 t h e rooms a r e connected by wide, double doorways. The k i t c h e n i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
southwest c o r n e r . A back s t a i r ascends from t h e s u n room, between t h e k i t c h e n and
d i n i n g room.
The second f l o o r has f o u r bedrooms ( i n c l u d i n g t h e s l e e p i n g porch), a
b a t h , and laundry.
The a t t i c was once a l a r g e playroom b u t i s now used f o r s t o r a g e .
The 'primary i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r i s n o t i t s a r c h i t e c t u r e b u t t h e f a c t t h a t i t
c o n t a i n s a l l t h e d e c o r a t i o n s , f u r n i s h i n g s , and o t h e r appointments p r e c i s e l y a s t h e y
were i n Mrs. S p e n c e r ' s l i f e t i m e . Most o f t h e items a r e of pre-World War I1 v i n t a g e ,
a few of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s a r e V i c t o r i a n .
The i n t e r e s t Mrs. Spencer took i n h e r
p o s s e s s i o n s and immediate s u r r o u n d i n g s i s r e f l e c t e d i n numerous mementoes and items
of p e r s o n a l o r s e n t i m e n t a l s i g n i f i c a n c e s c a t t e r e d about t h e house.
The r a t h e r
crowded rooms w i t h t h e i r c o l o r f u l appointments have a comfortable d i g n i t y combined
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet i i l )
w i t h a n o s t a l g i c hominess.
-
..
~
- ----
--
:o,m N.; I " :ioo,
..7ev i O - : i l
:...:>I
I L L ) SJ-,\IES L ) E P , \ K ~ ~ \ . I E OF
~ ~ Ii t i I~N T E R I O R
FOX NPSGSE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
XATIQiUAL X E G I S X R OF HISTORIG TL4CES
Ii'JtXi'JTOXY
NOMINATION FORM
--
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
ITEM NUblBER
I
c?
D A T E ENTERED @ L
7
PAGE
f
1976
1
DESCRIPTION
The a r e a immediately behind t h e house was once occupied by a garage.
The b u i l d i n g has
s i n c e been demolished b u t i t s c o n c r e t e f l o o r i n g remains i n t a c t . A l a t t i c e f e n c e
A t t h e e a s t end of t h e garden i s
s e p a r a t e s t h e garage a r e a from t h e garden proper.
t h e s m a l l , one-room, s h i n g l e d c o t t a g e used by Mrs. Spencer a s h e r study.
The f r o n t
of t h e c o t t a g e i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported on t u r n e d p o s t s salvaged from
A s t o n e chimney w i t h an e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e i s on t h e f r o n t of t h e
another house.
c o t t a g e . The c o t t a g e i n t e r i o r has a s t o n e f l o o r and w a l l s s h e a t h e d i n n a t u r a l - f i n i s h e d
~ L > T J o o ~ . The w a l l s a r e v i r t u a l l y covered w i t h documents and photographs of Mrs.
S p e n c e r ' s f r i e n d s , f a m i l y and a s s o c i a t e s . A s i m p l e desk i s p l a c e d i n f r o n t of t h e
p a i r of windows o v e r l o o k i n g t h e garden.
The long, narrow g a r d e n , which extends through t h e b l o c k t o t h e s t r e e t behind, was
l a i d o u t and tended by M r s . Spencer. While i t has been n e g l e c t e d s i n c e h e r d e a t h
enough of t h e g a r d e n ' s b a s i c p l a n t i n g remains t o convey an i d e a of i t s r a t h e r i n d i v i d ual c h a r a c t e r . The p l a n i n c l u d e s two p a r a l l e l g r a v e l e d p a t h s w i t h beds on e i t h e r
s i d e . The southernmost l e a d s s t r a i g h t through t h e g a r d e n t o t h e r e a r s t r e e t .
The
northernmost l e a d s t o a c i r c u l a r g o l d f i s h pond.
Surrounding t h e pond i s a r e l a t i v e l y
Behind t h e pond i s a
wide c o n c r e t e r i m i n which a r e s e t l a r g e s q u a r e paving s t o n e s .
The
segmental c o n c r e t e . b e n c h where Mrs. Spencer used t o c o n v e r s e w i t h h e r g u e s t s .
g a r d e n ' s t r e e s a r e p r i m a r i l y dogwoods and red c e d a r s , r a t h e r f o r m a l l y spaced. Also
i n t h e garden i s one o f t h e many e l a b o r a t e b i r d h o u s e s b u i l t by M r . Spencer a s a hobby.
GPO 892 4 5 5
a
SIGNIFICANCE:
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - - CHECK A N D JUSTIFY B E L O W
A R C H E O L U G Y PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-CONSERVATION
-LAW
-SCIENCE
AGRICULTURE
-ECONOMICS
YLITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
PLANNING
-LANOSCAPEARCHITFCTURE
-RELIGION
ARCHITECTURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
Y~OCIAL~HUMANITARIA
A R T
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-THEATER
-COMMERCE
-EXPLORATlOh/SETTLEMENl
-PHILOSOPHY
-TRANSPORTATION
-COMMUNICATIONS
-INDUSTRY
-POLITlCS/GOVERNMENT
-OTHER
(SPECIFY1
-INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
During h e r l o n g and p r o d u c t i v e l i f e Anne S p e n c e r (1881-1975) was r e c o g n i z e d by h e r
f r i e n d s and a s s o c i a t e s a s a l y r i c p o e t o f c o n s i d e r a b l e t a l e n t .
Since her recent
d e a t h , however, h e r fame, n o t o n l y a s a g i f t e d w r i t e r , b u t a s a c u l t u r a l l e a d e r and
h u m a n i t a r i a n , h a s been i n c r e a s i n g o n a n a t i o n - w i d e s c a l e .
Being b o t h a Kegro and a
woman, h e r e a r l y a c h i e v e m e n t o f r e c o g n i t i o n from h e r i n t e l l e c t u a l p e e r s iias a r e m a r k a b l e f e a t . Through q u i e t d e t e r m i n a t i o n and d e d i c a t i o n t o h e r c r a f t and c a u s e s
s h e g a i n e d r e s p e c t f o r h e r s e l f b o t h a s a n i n d i v i d u a l and a s a g i f t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
o f h e r r a c e and s e x .
Anne S p e n c e r o p e n l y e x . p r e s s e d h e r i n t o l e r a n c e f o r b i g o t r y and o p p r e s s i o n o f b l a c k s
and women, b u t s h e r a r e l y u s e d h e r p o e t i c a l works a s a v e h i c l e f o r s o c i a l p r o t e s t .
R a t h e r , h e r poems d w e l l m a i n l y o n t h e more u n i v e r s a l themes o f l o v e and r e s p e c t f o r
b e a u t y , t r u t h , n a t u r e , and t h e human s p i r i t .
Because s h e w r o t e f o r p e r s o n a l enl i g h t e n m e n t r a t h e r t h a n m o n e t a r y g a i n o n l y a few o f h e r works t h u s f a r have been
published.
It was a t t h e i n s i s t e n c e o f h e r f r i e n d and f e l l o w p o e t , James Weldon
J o h n s o n , t h a t s e v e r a l o f h e r poems i n c l u d i n g " A t t h e C a r n i v a l , " " Q u e s t i n g , " "Lines t o
a N a s t u r t i u m , " and "Dunbar" w e r e s u b m i t t e d and s u b s e q u e n t l y a p p e a r e d i n m a j o r p o e t i c a l
a n t h o l o g i e s . H e r o e u v r e i s s m a l l ; t h i r y - t w o m a j o r works a r e known, b u t o t h e r s a r e
coming t o l i g h t a s h e r p a p e r s a r e e d i t e d . Her p e r s o n a l p h i l o s o p h y and a t t i t u d e toward
"I w r i t e a b o u t t h i n g s I l o v e . I
h e r s t a t i o n i n l i f e w e r e summed u p when s h e w r o t e :
have no c i v i l i z e d a r t i c u l a t i o n f o r t h e t h i n g s I h a t e .
I p r o u d l y l o v e b e i n g a Negro
Woman
it's s o i n v o l v e d and i n t e r e s t i n g . We a r e t h e PROBLEX
the great national
game o f TABOO."
--
--
Born o n a p l a n t a t i o n i n Henry County, V i r g i n i a , Anne S p e n c e r was t h e d a u g h t e r o f a
i o r m e r s l a v e , J o e l Cephus B a n n i s t e r , riho was o f mixed b l a c k , ~ i h ~ and
t e Indian ancestry.
Her m o t h e r , S a r a h L o u i s e S c a l e s , b o r n i n a d j a c e n t P a t r i c k C o u n t y , was t h e i s s u e o f a
f o r m e r s l a v e and a s c i o n o f o n e o f t h e a r e a ' s p r o m i n e n t p l a n t e r f a m i l i e s . H o t h e r and
d a u g h t e r l i v e d f o r a w h i l e i n Bramwell, \.Jest V i r g i n i a . When h e r f a t h e r , who was by t h e n
s e p a r a t e d from h i s w i f e , c o m p l a i n e d t h a t h i s d a u g h t e r was n o t r e c e i v i n g a n y f o r m a l
e d u c a t i o n , Anne, i n 1893, was e n r o l l e d i n t h e V i r g i n i a S e m i n a r y and Normal S c h o o l i n
I n 1901 s h e
Lynchburg.
She rias g r a d u a t e d i n 1 8 9 9 , t h e v a l e d i c t o r i a n o f h e r c l a s s .
m a r r i e d a c l a s s m a t e Edward A l e x a n d e r S p e n c e r , and i n 1 9 0 3 t h e y moved i n t o t h e i r new
home a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i n Lynchburg.
T h i s commodious h o u s e , w h i c h was t o r e m a i n
h e r r e s i d e n c e u n t i l h e r d e a t h s e v e n t y - t w o y e a r s l a t e r , was l a r g e l y b u i l t b y Edward
S p e n c e r . S p e n c e r a l s o b u i l t t h e one-room c o t t a g e i n t h e g a r d e n r r h e r e h i s w i f e c o u l d
t h i n k and c r e a t e i n p r i v a c y .
The c o t t a g e was named " E d a n k r a a l , " a n amalgram o f t h e
S p e n c e r s ' f i r s t names and t h e A f r i c a n word f o r h o u s e .
When t h e S p e n c e r s ' t h r e e c h i l d r e n r e a c h e d c o l l e g e a g e , M r s . S p e n c e r , who by t h a t t i m e
had a c q u i r e d a r e p u t a t i o n a s a p o e t , became t h e f i r s t librarian o f L y n c h b u r g ' s Dunbar
High S c h o o l . She b u i l t u p t h e meager collection by d o n a t i n g many o f h e r oim books.
(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t iL2)
6
:arm K u
103COd
i a v 10741
il X I I tlD SI-ATES !)I-P!\.KT;\!ENF
OF THE I N T E K I O K
F 9 R NPS U S E ONLY
N A T I O N A L P A R K SERVICE
RECEIVED
:UAY?ONALREGISTEX 01:HISTORIC PIACES
--'WTENTORY -- 7iOLMINATION FORM
DEC 6 876
'",ATE SNTERED
f!
COPITINUATION SHEET
+;2
ITEM N U M B E R
8
PAGE
!
1
SIGNIFICANCE
Her d e v o t i o n t o t h e c a u s e of c u l t u r a l enlightenment f o r Negroes was e x p r e s s e d n o t j u s t
i n h e r l o c a l a c t i v i t i e s as a l i b r a r i a n and e d u c a t o r , b u t i n t h e l i v e l y r a p p o r t s h e
Through correspondence
maintained w i t h many of t h e n a t i o n ' s most noted black l e a d e r s .
and c o n v e r s a t i o n t h e v i g o r o u s minds of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s were tempered by Anne S p e n c e r ' s
g e n t l e but f i r m n o t i o n s on t h e advancement of h e r r a c e .
For many y e a r s 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t was b o t h a c e n t e r of h o s p i t a l i t y and p i l g r i m a g e p l a c e
f o r Negroes
f o r prominent v i s i t o r s .
I n t h e days when t h e r e were no p u b l i c accomxhticm
i n t h e South, homes such a s t h e S p e n c e r s ' were knorin a s welcoming s t o p p i n g p l a c e s .
Their s o c i a b l e atmosphere made them important c e n t e r s f o r t h e exchange o f i d e a s and
i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e b l a c k c u l t u r a l and c i v i l r i g h t s movements. A p a r t i a l l i s t i n g o f
t h e many v i s i t o r s t o t h e Spencer house forms an impressive r o s t e r of Negro w o r t h i e s .
Included among them a r e f e l l o w p o e t s such a s James Weldon Johnson, S t e r l i n g Brown,
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson; v o c a l i s t s
such a s Paul Robeson and Roland Hayes; c i v i l r i g h t s l e a d e r s s u c h a s 1J.E.B. DuBois,
N a r t i n L u t h e r King, J r . , and Walter White; t h e s c i e n t i s t George Washington Carver;
and p u b l i c f i g u r e s such as Thurgood H a r s h a l l and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Anne
Spencer a l s o m a i n t a i n e d c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h d i s t i n g u i s h e d f i g u r e s i n c l u d i n g
S e n a t o r C a r t e r G l a s s and H.L. Mencken.
The Spencer house and t h e s m a l l s t u d y i n t h e garden s u r v i v e v i r t u a l l y u n d i s t u r b e d
from t h e time Anne Spencer wrote h e r poems and e x p r e s s e d h e r t h o u g h t s , ! d t h h e r f r i e n d s
and f a m i l y . The f u r n i s h i n g s , d e c o r a t i o n s , books, and mementoes a l l remain i n p l a c e
a s she had them. Few of t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y s h r i n e s so e f f e c t i v e l y invoke t h e
p r e s e n c e o f t h e i r former occupant.
GPO 892 4 5 5
~ M A J Q BXI B L I O G R ~ H I C A LREFERENCES
:iror,n, S t e r l i n g Allen.
12 E d u c a t i o n , 1937.
Negrro P o e t r v and 1;rama.
Catalogue of V i r g i n i a S e n i n a r v and C o l l e g e :
i3.e A s s o c i a t e s i n S e g r o
\.lashington D . C . :
Announcements f o r 1967-1968, 1968-1969.
C h r i s t e n s e n , C a r o l y n , "The Legacy oE Anne Spencer",
The N e w , L:?nchburg, Va.,
( S e e C o n t i n u a t ~ o nS h e e t '31
hly 4 , 1976.
~GEOGXAPHICAL
DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less than
One
acre
UTM R E F E R E N C E S
AM
L616,31515,01
ZONE
c
u
EASTING
14,114,1101 6,OJ
NORTHING
I - L L L J !Ll-LJ
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
ZONE
t ~l l q l
~
EASTING
DWu
w
LIST ALL STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
CODE
STATE
CODE
STATE
l
NORTHING
COUNTY
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
1
II
N A M E / TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarlcs Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & N U M B E R
-
CITY
September 1976
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
Virg~nia
STATE
OR
- TOWN
-STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE O F T H I S PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONALSTATEX LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
1
hereby nominate this properLy for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according t o the
oATE
S E P 2 1 1976
I
-3rm No
10-23Ga
? e v 10.741
1~SIiL:LJ
STi\'TES O E P A R T & I E N T OF T t l E 1.NIEKLOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTEX OF HISTORIC PLACES
IN-dXXTOXY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION
SHEET it3
ITEM N U M B E R
9
PAGE
NAJOX BZBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES :
Cullen Countee, ed.
Harper, 1927.
Caroling k s k :
An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets.
New York:
Davis, Arthur P., and Redding, Saunders. Cavalcade: Negro American Writing from 1760
t o t h e Present.
Boston: Houghton b l i f f l i n Company, 1971.
Ellmann, Richard, and O ' C l a i r , Robert, eds. The Norton Anthology o f Modern Poetry.
1973.
New York: W.V. Norcon and Company, Inc.,
m g g i n s , Nathan I r v i n .
7,
Harlem Renaissance.
New York:
K e r l i n , Robert T., ed. Negro Poets and Their Poems.
P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . , 1923.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Michigan. The Chauncey Spencer Papers.
U n i v e r s i t y of Michigan L i b r a r y , Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1971.
Washington, D.C.:
Associated
Bentley H i s t o r i c a l L i b r a r y .
'White, Walter F. Review of The Book of American Negro P o e t r y , e d i t e d by James Weldon
Johnson.
The L i b e r a t o r , A p r i l , 1922., p. 30.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The C a r l Van Vechten C o l l e c t i o n , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e .
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript L i b r a r y , Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The James Weldon Johnson Memorial C o l l e c t i o n of Negro A r t s and
L e t t e r s , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e . The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Librar:
Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haveq Connecticut.
L h I E D S l'r\TES lIEP.\RT>Ii;..\l
Form ' $ 0 I G - ~ C O
OF TtlE 1 h1T E K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
S f E 1NST;IUCTIONS 1N HOW TO COMPLflEflATlONAL REGISTER FORJMS
TYPE ALL E N T R I E S - - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
r;
NAME
H I STOAI
c
.
I
A r n e Spencer Rouse
A>lO/OR COMMON
Anne Spencer House
1313 Pierce S t r e e t
STREET&NUMBER
_NO7 FOR PUBUCATlOM
CITY. SOWN
-
~ y n hbusg
c
SrATE
C O V G R E S S f O N A L DISTRtCT
~ ~ x t(41.h Caldvell 3utLer)
VICINITY 3~
COULW
CODE
V irginLa
STATUS
OWHf R S H ~ P
CATEGORY
{in c r t y )
51
PRESENT USE
-PU ail c
XOCCUPED
4GRICULTURE
~PRIWTE
,kJNOECUPfED
_COMMERCfAL
-PARK
- Sf R UCTURE
- RDTH
-WORK
,EDUCAT+ONAL
XPRIVATE
RESIDENCE
-ST=
PUBLIC ACQPILSITION
-IN PROCESS
XYES:
3ESTRICTED
,BEING
-YES
-DISTRICT
x8~1
LO l UG~S)
-OBJECT
CONSIDERED
I H PROGRESS
ACCESSIBLE
,EtYTERTAIP1MENf
UNRESTRICTED
-NO
-MUSEUM
,RELIGIOUS
-GOYERNMEFET
-SCIENTIFIC
A N D U STRIAL
-TRAMSPORTATION
M
,
-,OTHER-
IClTARY
DOWNER
OF PROPERTY
NAME
M r , Chauncey Spencer
STREET & NUMSER
1313 Pierce Street
STATE
GlTY, TWWN
Lynchburg
COURTFOUSE.
PEGISTFIY OF D E E D S , ~ .
Virginia
- VrClHlTY OF
24501
Lynchburg C o u r t h o u s e
STREET C NUMBS3
CITY.TOWN
aREPRESE
TITLE
STATE
Lync hburg
Virginla
NTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS .
V i r g i n i a I l i s t o x i c Landmarks Cornmiss i o n S U F I ? ~
DATE
1976
DEPOSITORY FOR
suavEw RECORDS
-FEDERAL
ASTATE
-COUNTY
-LOCAL
S 7 i r g i n i a Kis t o r i c Landmarks Comhssio_on
C I ~ f13wrl
Y
STATE
Richmond
I'irginia
a
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
CHECK ONE
V
SUNALTERED
SORIGINAL
SITE
ALTERED
-MOVED
DATE
D E S C R I B E T H E PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL ( I F K N O W N ) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Anne Spencer House a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i s a medium-sized, modified Queen
Anne-style d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d i n a block of d w e l l i n g s of s i m i l a r s i z e and age.
Set
on a r e l a t i v e l y narrow l o t w i t h l i t t l e s p a c e between i t and t h e a d j a c e n t b u i l d i n g s ,
tAe house b l e n d s w i t h i t s neighbors and makes no s p e c i a l v i s u a l o r a r c h i t e c t u r a l
statement.
It i s a c o m f o r t a b l e , commodious s t r u c t u r e , w e l l m a i n t a i n e d , and i n a
I t has remained v i r t u a l l y unchanged, i n s i d e and o u t ,
good s t a t e of p r e s e r v a t i o n .
s i n c e i t was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's e x t e r i o r w a l l s a r e sheathed i n s h i n g l e s which v a r y i n l e n g t h from c o u r s e
Typical of i t s i l k , t h e house
t o course.
The roof i s o f standing-seam s h e e t m e t a l .
has an i r r e g u l a r p l a n , hence an i r r e g u l a r f a c a d e . The two-bay facade i s dominated
by a s l i g h t l y p r o j e c t i n g gabled p a v i l i o n .
The entrance,a round-headed door, i s i n t h e
s i n g l e bay t o t h e l e f t of t h e p a v i l i o n .
The f i r s t f l o o r o f the f a c a d e i s shaded by
a porch, s u p p o r t e d on s q u a r e wooden p o s t s , e x t e n d i n g t h e l e n g t h of t h e facade and
around t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r .
The porch c o n n e c t s a t t h e n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r w i t h a ones t o r y p e r g o l a which extends along t h e h o u s e ' s n o r t h s i d e t o t h e d i n i n g room p r o j e c t i o n .
The c o n c r e t e porch and p e r g o l a f l o o r i s g i v e n d i s t i n c t i o n by being s c o r e d i n s q u a r e s
w i t h t h e s q u a r e s .painted a l t e r n a t e l y b l a c k and l i g h t gray.forming a checkered
p a t t e r n . Except f o r t h e gabled p a v i l i o n t h e house i s covered by a hipped r o o f . A
s i n g l e dormer i s l o c a t e d on t h e r e a r s l o p e . An i n t e r i o r end chimney s t a c k s e r v i n g
t h e f i r e p l a c e s i n t h e . p a r l o r and d i n i n g room e x t e n d s from t h e edge of t h e r o o f ' s
n o r t h slope.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s o f t h e Spencer house have few d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s except f o r
t h e pergola.
The west o r r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a r e c t a n g u l a r p r o j e c t i o n
c o n t a i n i n g a n i n f o r m a l s i t t i n g room o r s u n room on t h e f i r s t f l o o r and a s l e e p i n g
porch above. The s u n room i s l i g h t e d by f i v e c l o s e l y spaced windows t h a t a r e shaded
by a m e t a l awning w i t h s c a l l o p e d eaves. The s l e e p i n g porch has a long, t h r e e - u n i t
rrindow. An e x t e r i o r s t a i r ascends from a door i n t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e sun room.
The i n t e r i o r of t h e house i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y u n p r e t e n t i o u s ; what l i t t l e t r i m t h e r e
i s i s p r i m a r i l y s t o c k woodwork of t h e p e r i o d , such a s symmetrically molded a r c h i t r a v e s w i t h t u r n e d c o r n e r blocks.
The house i s e n t e r e d through t h e s t a i r h a l l .
The s t a i r s ascend immediately t o t h e l e f t o f t h e f r o n t door ( i n t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
of t h e house).
Behind t h e s t a i r h a l l i s a n a l c o v e used p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e s t o r a g e
of books.
The n o r t h s i d e of t h e house c o n t a i n s t h e p a r l o r , d i n i n g room and sun room.
A 1 1 t h e rooms a r e connected by wide, double doorways. The k i t c h e n i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
southwest c o r n e r . A back s t a i r ascends from t h e s u n room, between t h e k i t c h e n and
d i n i n g room.
The second f l o o r has f o u r bedrooms ( i n c l u d i n g t h e s l e e p i n g porch), a
b a t h , and laundry.
The a t t i c was once a l a r g e playroom b u t i s now used f o r s t o r a g e .
The 'primary i n t e r e s t of t h e i n t e r i o r i s n o t i t s a r c h i t e c t u r e b u t t h e f a c t t h a t i t
c o n t a i n s a l l t h e d e c o r a t i o n s , f u r n i s h i n g s , and o t h e r appointments p r e c i s e l y a s t h e y
were i n Mrs. S p e n c e r ' s l i f e t i m e . Most o f t h e items a r e of pre-World War I1 v i n t a g e ,
a few of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s a r e V i c t o r i a n .
The i n t e r e s t Mrs. Spencer took i n h e r
p o s s e s s i o n s and immediate s u r r o u n d i n g s i s r e f l e c t e d i n numerous mementoes and items
of p e r s o n a l o r s e n t i m e n t a l s i g n i f i c a n c e s c a t t e r e d about t h e house.
The r a t h e r
crowded rooms w i t h t h e i r c o l o r f u l appointments have a comfortable d i g n i t y combined
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet i i l )
w i t h a n o s t a l g i c hominess.
-
..
~
- ----
--
:o,m N.; I " :ioo,
..7ev i O - : i l
:...:>I
I L L ) SJ-,\IES L ) E P , \ K ~ ~ \ . I E OF
~ ~ Ii t i I~N T E R I O R
FOX NPSGSE ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
XATIQiUAL X E G I S X R OF HISTORIG TL4CES
Ii'JtXi'JTOXY
NOMINATION FORM
--
C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
ITEM NUblBER
I
c?
D A T E ENTERED @ L
7
PAGE
f
1976
1
DESCRIPTION
The a r e a immediately behind t h e house was once occupied by a garage.
The b u i l d i n g has
s i n c e been demolished b u t i t s c o n c r e t e f l o o r i n g remains i n t a c t . A l a t t i c e f e n c e
A t t h e e a s t end of t h e garden i s
s e p a r a t e s t h e garage a r e a from t h e garden proper.
t h e s m a l l , one-room, s h i n g l e d c o t t a g e used by Mrs. Spencer a s h e r study.
The f r o n t
of t h e c o t t a g e i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported on t u r n e d p o s t s salvaged from
A s t o n e chimney w i t h an e x t e r i o r f i r e p l a c e i s on t h e f r o n t of t h e
another house.
c o t t a g e . The c o t t a g e i n t e r i o r has a s t o n e f l o o r and w a l l s s h e a t h e d i n n a t u r a l - f i n i s h e d
~ L > T J o o ~ . The w a l l s a r e v i r t u a l l y covered w i t h documents and photographs of Mrs.
S p e n c e r ' s f r i e n d s , f a m i l y and a s s o c i a t e s . A s i m p l e desk i s p l a c e d i n f r o n t of t h e
p a i r of windows o v e r l o o k i n g t h e garden.
The long, narrow g a r d e n , which extends through t h e b l o c k t o t h e s t r e e t behind, was
l a i d o u t and tended by M r s . Spencer. While i t has been n e g l e c t e d s i n c e h e r d e a t h
enough of t h e g a r d e n ' s b a s i c p l a n t i n g remains t o convey an i d e a of i t s r a t h e r i n d i v i d ual c h a r a c t e r . The p l a n i n c l u d e s two p a r a l l e l g r a v e l e d p a t h s w i t h beds on e i t h e r
s i d e . The southernmost l e a d s s t r a i g h t through t h e g a r d e n t o t h e r e a r s t r e e t .
The
northernmost l e a d s t o a c i r c u l a r g o l d f i s h pond.
Surrounding t h e pond i s a r e l a t i v e l y
Behind t h e pond i s a
wide c o n c r e t e r i m i n which a r e s e t l a r g e s q u a r e paving s t o n e s .
The
segmental c o n c r e t e . b e n c h where Mrs. Spencer used t o c o n v e r s e w i t h h e r g u e s t s .
g a r d e n ' s t r e e s a r e p r i m a r i l y dogwoods and red c e d a r s , r a t h e r f o r m a l l y spaced. Also
i n t h e garden i s one o f t h e many e l a b o r a t e b i r d h o u s e s b u i l t by M r . Spencer a s a hobby.
GPO 892 4 5 5
a
SIGNIFICANCE:
PERIOD
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - - CHECK A N D JUSTIFY B E L O W
A R C H E O L U G Y PREHISTORIC
-COMMUNITY
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-CONSERVATION
-LAW
-SCIENCE
AGRICULTURE
-ECONOMICS
YLITERATURE
-SCULPTURE
PLANNING
-LANOSCAPEARCHITFCTURE
-RELIGION
ARCHITECTURE
-EDUCATION
-MILITARY
Y~OCIAL~HUMANITARIA
A R T
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
-THEATER
-COMMERCE
-EXPLORATlOh/SETTLEMENl
-PHILOSOPHY
-TRANSPORTATION
-COMMUNICATIONS
-INDUSTRY
-POLITlCS/GOVERNMENT
-OTHER
(SPECIFY1
-INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
During h e r l o n g and p r o d u c t i v e l i f e Anne S p e n c e r (1881-1975) was r e c o g n i z e d by h e r
f r i e n d s and a s s o c i a t e s a s a l y r i c p o e t o f c o n s i d e r a b l e t a l e n t .
Since her recent
d e a t h , however, h e r fame, n o t o n l y a s a g i f t e d w r i t e r , b u t a s a c u l t u r a l l e a d e r and
h u m a n i t a r i a n , h a s been i n c r e a s i n g o n a n a t i o n - w i d e s c a l e .
Being b o t h a Kegro and a
woman, h e r e a r l y a c h i e v e m e n t o f r e c o g n i t i o n from h e r i n t e l l e c t u a l p e e r s iias a r e m a r k a b l e f e a t . Through q u i e t d e t e r m i n a t i o n and d e d i c a t i o n t o h e r c r a f t and c a u s e s
s h e g a i n e d r e s p e c t f o r h e r s e l f b o t h a s a n i n d i v i d u a l and a s a g i f t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
o f h e r r a c e and s e x .
Anne S p e n c e r o p e n l y e x . p r e s s e d h e r i n t o l e r a n c e f o r b i g o t r y and o p p r e s s i o n o f b l a c k s
and women, b u t s h e r a r e l y u s e d h e r p o e t i c a l works a s a v e h i c l e f o r s o c i a l p r o t e s t .
R a t h e r , h e r poems d w e l l m a i n l y o n t h e more u n i v e r s a l themes o f l o v e and r e s p e c t f o r
b e a u t y , t r u t h , n a t u r e , and t h e human s p i r i t .
Because s h e w r o t e f o r p e r s o n a l enl i g h t e n m e n t r a t h e r t h a n m o n e t a r y g a i n o n l y a few o f h e r works t h u s f a r have been
published.
It was a t t h e i n s i s t e n c e o f h e r f r i e n d and f e l l o w p o e t , James Weldon
J o h n s o n , t h a t s e v e r a l o f h e r poems i n c l u d i n g " A t t h e C a r n i v a l , " " Q u e s t i n g , " "Lines t o
a N a s t u r t i u m , " and "Dunbar" w e r e s u b m i t t e d and s u b s e q u e n t l y a p p e a r e d i n m a j o r p o e t i c a l
a n t h o l o g i e s . H e r o e u v r e i s s m a l l ; t h i r y - t w o m a j o r works a r e known, b u t o t h e r s a r e
coming t o l i g h t a s h e r p a p e r s a r e e d i t e d . Her p e r s o n a l p h i l o s o p h y and a t t i t u d e toward
"I w r i t e a b o u t t h i n g s I l o v e . I
h e r s t a t i o n i n l i f e w e r e summed u p when s h e w r o t e :
have no c i v i l i z e d a r t i c u l a t i o n f o r t h e t h i n g s I h a t e .
I p r o u d l y l o v e b e i n g a Negro
Woman
it's s o i n v o l v e d and i n t e r e s t i n g . We a r e t h e PROBLEX
the great national
game o f TABOO."
--
--
Born o n a p l a n t a t i o n i n Henry County, V i r g i n i a , Anne S p e n c e r was t h e d a u g h t e r o f a
i o r m e r s l a v e , J o e l Cephus B a n n i s t e r , riho was o f mixed b l a c k , ~ i h ~ and
t e Indian ancestry.
Her m o t h e r , S a r a h L o u i s e S c a l e s , b o r n i n a d j a c e n t P a t r i c k C o u n t y , was t h e i s s u e o f a
f o r m e r s l a v e and a s c i o n o f o n e o f t h e a r e a ' s p r o m i n e n t p l a n t e r f a m i l i e s . H o t h e r and
d a u g h t e r l i v e d f o r a w h i l e i n Bramwell, \.Jest V i r g i n i a . When h e r f a t h e r , who was by t h e n
s e p a r a t e d from h i s w i f e , c o m p l a i n e d t h a t h i s d a u g h t e r was n o t r e c e i v i n g a n y f o r m a l
e d u c a t i o n , Anne, i n 1893, was e n r o l l e d i n t h e V i r g i n i a S e m i n a r y and Normal S c h o o l i n
I n 1901 s h e
Lynchburg.
She rias g r a d u a t e d i n 1 8 9 9 , t h e v a l e d i c t o r i a n o f h e r c l a s s .
m a r r i e d a c l a s s m a t e Edward A l e x a n d e r S p e n c e r , and i n 1 9 0 3 t h e y moved i n t o t h e i r new
home a t 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t i n Lynchburg.
T h i s commodious h o u s e , w h i c h was t o r e m a i n
h e r r e s i d e n c e u n t i l h e r d e a t h s e v e n t y - t w o y e a r s l a t e r , was l a r g e l y b u i l t b y Edward
S p e n c e r . S p e n c e r a l s o b u i l t t h e one-room c o t t a g e i n t h e g a r d e n r r h e r e h i s w i f e c o u l d
t h i n k and c r e a t e i n p r i v a c y .
The c o t t a g e was named " E d a n k r a a l , " a n amalgram o f t h e
S p e n c e r s ' f i r s t names and t h e A f r i c a n word f o r h o u s e .
When t h e S p e n c e r s ' t h r e e c h i l d r e n r e a c h e d c o l l e g e a g e , M r s . S p e n c e r , who by t h a t t i m e
had a c q u i r e d a r e p u t a t i o n a s a p o e t , became t h e f i r s t librarian o f L y n c h b u r g ' s Dunbar
High S c h o o l . She b u i l t u p t h e meager collection by d o n a t i n g many o f h e r oim books.
(see c o n t i n u a t i o n s h e e t iL2)
6
:arm K u
103COd
i a v 10741
il X I I tlD SI-ATES !)I-P!\.KT;\!ENF
OF THE I N T E K I O K
F 9 R NPS U S E ONLY
N A T I O N A L P A R K SERVICE
RECEIVED
:UAY?ONALREGISTEX 01:HISTORIC PIACES
--'WTENTORY -- 7iOLMINATION FORM
DEC 6 876
'",ATE SNTERED
f!
COPITINUATION SHEET
+;2
ITEM N U M B E R
8
PAGE
!
1
SIGNIFICANCE
Her d e v o t i o n t o t h e c a u s e of c u l t u r a l enlightenment f o r Negroes was e x p r e s s e d n o t j u s t
i n h e r l o c a l a c t i v i t i e s as a l i b r a r i a n and e d u c a t o r , b u t i n t h e l i v e l y r a p p o r t s h e
Through correspondence
maintained w i t h many of t h e n a t i o n ' s most noted black l e a d e r s .
and c o n v e r s a t i o n t h e v i g o r o u s minds of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s were tempered by Anne S p e n c e r ' s
g e n t l e but f i r m n o t i o n s on t h e advancement of h e r r a c e .
For many y e a r s 1313 P i e r c e S t r e e t was b o t h a c e n t e r of h o s p i t a l i t y and p i l g r i m a g e p l a c e
f o r Negroes
f o r prominent v i s i t o r s .
I n t h e days when t h e r e were no p u b l i c accomxhticm
i n t h e South, homes such a s t h e S p e n c e r s ' were knorin a s welcoming s t o p p i n g p l a c e s .
Their s o c i a b l e atmosphere made them important c e n t e r s f o r t h e exchange o f i d e a s and
i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e b l a c k c u l t u r a l and c i v i l r i g h t s movements. A p a r t i a l l i s t i n g o f
t h e many v i s i t o r s t o t h e Spencer house forms an impressive r o s t e r of Negro w o r t h i e s .
Included among them a r e f e l l o w p o e t s such a s James Weldon Johnson, S t e r l i n g Brown,
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson; v o c a l i s t s
such a s Paul Robeson and Roland Hayes; c i v i l r i g h t s l e a d e r s s u c h a s 1J.E.B. DuBois,
N a r t i n L u t h e r King, J r . , and Walter White; t h e s c i e n t i s t George Washington Carver;
and p u b l i c f i g u r e s such as Thurgood H a r s h a l l and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Anne
Spencer a l s o m a i n t a i n e d c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h d i s t i n g u i s h e d f i g u r e s i n c l u d i n g
S e n a t o r C a r t e r G l a s s and H.L. Mencken.
The Spencer house and t h e s m a l l s t u d y i n t h e garden s u r v i v e v i r t u a l l y u n d i s t u r b e d
from t h e time Anne Spencer wrote h e r poems and e x p r e s s e d h e r t h o u g h t s , ! d t h h e r f r i e n d s
and f a m i l y . The f u r n i s h i n g s , d e c o r a t i o n s , books, and mementoes a l l remain i n p l a c e
a s she had them. Few of t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y s h r i n e s so e f f e c t i v e l y invoke t h e
p r e s e n c e o f t h e i r former occupant.
GPO 892 4 5 5
~ M A J Q BXI B L I O G R ~ H I C A LREFERENCES
:iror,n, S t e r l i n g Allen.
12 E d u c a t i o n , 1937.
Negrro P o e t r v and 1;rama.
Catalogue of V i r g i n i a S e n i n a r v and C o l l e g e :
i3.e A s s o c i a t e s i n S e g r o
\.lashington D . C . :
Announcements f o r 1967-1968, 1968-1969.
C h r i s t e n s e n , C a r o l y n , "The Legacy oE Anne Spencer",
The N e w , L:?nchburg, Va.,
( S e e C o n t i n u a t ~ o nS h e e t '31
hly 4 , 1976.
~GEOGXAPHICAL
DATA
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY
less than
One
acre
UTM R E F E R E N C E S
AM
L616,31515,01
ZONE
c
u
EASTING
14,114,1101 6,OJ
NORTHING
I - L L L J !Ll-LJ
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
B
ZONE
t ~l l q l
~
EASTING
DWu
w
LIST ALL STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
CODE
STATE
CODE
STATE
l
NORTHING
COUNTY
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
i
1
II
N A M E / TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarlcs Commission S t a f f
ORGANIZATION
DATE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
TELEPHONE
STREET & N U M B E R
-
CITY
September 1976
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
Virg~nia
STATE
OR
- TOWN
-STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE O F T H I S PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONALSTATEX LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
1
hereby nominate this properLy for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according t o the
oATE
S E P 2 1 1976
I
-3rm No
10-23Ga
? e v 10.741
1~SIiL:LJ
STi\'TES O E P A R T & I E N T OF T t l E 1.NIEKLOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTEX OF HISTORIC PLACES
IN-dXXTOXY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION
SHEET it3
ITEM N U M B E R
9
PAGE
NAJOX BZBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES :
Cullen Countee, ed.
Harper, 1927.
Caroling k s k :
An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets.
New York:
Davis, Arthur P., and Redding, Saunders. Cavalcade: Negro American Writing from 1760
t o t h e Present.
Boston: Houghton b l i f f l i n Company, 1971.
Ellmann, Richard, and O ' C l a i r , Robert, eds. The Norton Anthology o f Modern Poetry.
1973.
New York: W.V. Norcon and Company, Inc.,
m g g i n s , Nathan I r v i n .
7,
Harlem Renaissance.
New York:
K e r l i n , Robert T., ed. Negro Poets and Their Poems.
P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . , 1923.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Michigan. The Chauncey Spencer Papers.
U n i v e r s i t y of Michigan L i b r a r y , Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1971.
Washington, D.C.:
Associated
Bentley H i s t o r i c a l L i b r a r y .
'White, Walter F. Review of The Book of American Negro P o e t r y , e d i t e d by James Weldon
Johnson.
The L i b e r a t o r , A p r i l , 1922., p. 30.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The C a r l Van Vechten C o l l e c t i o n , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e .
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript L i b r a r y , Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale U n i v e r s i t y . The James Weldon Johnson Memorial C o l l e c t i o n of Negro A r t s and
L e t t e r s , C o l l e c t i o n of American L i t e r a t u r e . The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Librar:
Yale U n i v e r s i t y , New Haveq Connecticut.
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No,1024-0018
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
112: I ~ / O /Y 96
hJ k t / ? :OL!?.! / q 3.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for usc in nominating orrequesting detcrminatiom for individual pmpwties and dismcts See inslmctions in How to Compfete the.
Nahonal Register ofHisoric P l a m Registration Farm (National Register Bulletin l6A). Cornpiere each item by marking "x" In the appmprlate
box or byerrering the information roqucstd. If m y hem docs nct apply ro the ppmperty k i n g documented, tnw "1*1!4" for "not applicable." For
functions, architectural class~fication,mrtterids, and me% of sign~ficance,enter only categories and subcategories From the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative item,on
~ n r i n l r a sheets
b
( M S Form 3 0-9003). Use a m i t e r . word processor, or computer,to cmnplFtr dl
items.
I. Name of Property
historic name
St. Paul's VesW House
other nameslsite number
VDHRFileNo. 118-78
--
2. Location
street & number
ctty or t o m
state V i i n i a
nqt for pubiication NJA
vicinity
code
680
zip2434
308.SeventhStteeJ
Lvnchbur~
code V A county Lwchburg (Independent Citv'l
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Hjstonc Preservation Act of 2986, as mended, I hereby certify rhat this
-X- nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for regrstering
propefiies in the National Register of Historic Places and
mccts the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -d o a not meet the 'dational Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered sigificmt - nationally
statewide -X- locally, ( - Sce
conrinuation sheet for additional eom m a t s . )
-
U n i a Denartment of H m r i c Resources
Stale or Fedcral aeency and buwnu
ln my
opinion. the property -meets
-does not meet the National Regtster criteria. (-
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
---
-
Signature of commenting or other official
State or
Federal agency and bureau
4. National
Park Service Certification
I, hereby cenie that this properp is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-
Date
-removed from the National Rcg~ster
-other jexptam):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
('Rev. 1990)
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Senice
QMB No. 10244018
St. Pau I's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownersh~pof Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
.Y_ pvate
-public-local
-public-Smte
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X- bui?ding(s)
-district
-site
-s m m
-obfect
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0- buildings
-0-0-sites
-0-0-strucmres
-0- -0-objects
-1-0- Total
Number sfcontributing resources praviously listed in the National Register -0Name of related muitiple property listing (Enter 'WlA" if property IS not part of a multiple properry listing.)
6. Function or Use
Histor~cFunctions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -RELIGION
Sub:-religious facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: COMMERCERRADE
Sub: b u s i n e s s
7. Descriptian
Architectural Classificat~on(Enter categories from instructions)
-Classical Revival
WS Fonn 20-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
mcv. 1990)
United States Ibepartment of the Interior
hlstional Park Service
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation - -Brick
roof
Metal
walls
Brick
-
-
-
other
Nmative Description (Describe he historic and current condition ofthe property on one or more continuation shects.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "xn in one w more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
NationaI Register listing)
-x-
A
B
-xu c
-D
h p m t y is associated with events that have made R significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components Iack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information irnpomt in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"" in all the boxes that apply.)
X-
-
A
owned by a relig~ousinstitution or used for religious purposes.
-B removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
a cemetery.
-E a reconstmded building, object or srmcture.
-G
less than 50 !ears of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter catzgorie from instructions)
-Architecture
-Social History
Period of Significance - 1855- 1934
NPS Form 10-9M,
(Rev. 1990)
OMR No. 1024-0018
United States D t p s r h n t o f the Interior
Nationd Park Service
St. Paul's Vestsy I louse
Lynchburg, Virginia
Signhicant Dates -1 855- 1903-1916-
SigniFi :ant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural AfK liation -NIA
N m t i v e Statement of Significance (Explain thc significance of rhe property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical ReEerences
(Cite the books, artic!es, and other sources used hn preparing this form on one or more continuation sl~eets.)
Previous documentation on file WPSS)
-preliminary detmination of individual listing (36CFR 67) has been
requested
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eIig~bleby the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Rccord #
hitnary I-ocation of Additional Data
-X-, Sta~eHistoric PreservationOffice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Name of repository: Va. Degt. Of Historic Res~urces(Richmond): Jones Memorial Libraw. (Lvnchburrrl
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property -.04- acres
IJTM References (Place additional U m references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eating Northing
42350002
Zone Easzing Northing
117641200
3--4 ---See continuation sheer.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundariesof the property on a continuation sheet.)
MI'S Form 10-900
(Rev. 190)
United States Depariment of the Interior
Nwiona! Park Service
O W No. 1024-0018
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle:
Nancv Jamerson Weiland
date Aueus$24.19efi
Qrganbtion: Lunan Preservation
state-VAL zip code -24504-
city or t o w n L y n e h b u r g
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed fonn:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (73 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SMPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHFO or FPO.)
name -William V. Giles. Jr.
street & number-1050
Greenway Coun
city or t o w n L ~ c h b u r g
telephone-(804)845-8 172-.
stare-VA-
zip code 2 4 5 0 3 -
Papemork Reduction Act Stltcmcnt. T h i s inmrrnation rs krng collected for appiicatioas to the National Register of Histuric Places to nominate
pmpertic3 for lMng ordcterrnineeligibiliry for listink w liapropenics, and 20 mend existing listings. Response to this request is requtred to obtain
a benefit in a c c o r d m ~with the National Hhtoric Preservation h c t , amendcd
~
(16 U.S.C 470 et seq ).
Estlmatee Burden Statement; Public ~eportingburden far this fom IS estimated ro averag 18.1 hburs per response including thc time for rewewing
instructions. galkrlng a d rnalntam~ngdataand completingand mkwing the h.
Direct aornments regarding this burden estima# or an!: a s p C t
offhis f o m to the Chtet Adnt~nistral~re
Serrlces D~vision,Nationat Park Serv~ce.P 0. Box 37 127, Wwhington, DC 200 13-7127: and the O f i c e
ot'Manaltement and Budget. Papework Reductions Project (1 024-00 18). Washington, DC 20503.
iYPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United Statm Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Histaric Places
Continuation Shect
Section
7
Page1
Saint Paul" V e s i u House
Lvnchburp, Virginia
Narrative Description:
Building: Exterior
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Classical Revival-style building with a simpIe lowpitched gable roof and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation.
The front elevation features a simple pedimented porch cower supported by two scrolled brackets,
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed, single, recessed- panel wood door with divided side
lights and a transom. The steps at the front door are likely a 1900s addition.
The foundation is at grade level at the south elevation, with a full-height brick basement wall
at the north side elevation, which feahlres three equally-spaced ornamental diamond-shaped
staggered brick vents and a simple-cut brick watertable.
The facade is painted brick, common bond with 6th-course headers. The windows are sixover-six wood double-hung sashes, with wood sills and contemporary louvered wood shutters with
metal scroIl holdbacks. The roof is standing-steam metal with integral gutters at the cornice, with
a simple extended overhand 18 inches wide at both gable ends and the cornice Iine, which is made
of a 6' crown and flat rim board combination.
Building: Interior
The interior of this building has been partitioned for contemporary use. The entrance portion
of the building, however. retains its original conf~guration. .4lthough the details are made to match
the original trim, the interior window trim has been carefully preserved and appears to te original.
All crown molding on the interim matches what is beIieved to be the original molding. It is possible
that the molding along the outer walls is original.
The front door dimensions are 8' high by 3'3" wide. There are side lights and transom which
appear to be original. At the rear i s a second entrance with a small vestibule m i n g the width of
the building. The entrance door from the vestibule to ahe main portion of the building is also
original, as the trim matches the front door trim.
The windows are 6'7" high by 3'6" wide. The lights are siu-over-six. The glass size is 10.5"
wide by 17.5" high. A11 walIs have a chair rail and painted wainscot. The base boards are 10" hgh,
matching original examples from a Minard Lafever handbook. The ceilings throughout the principal
spaces of the building are 12 feet in height.
OMB Approval No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e A
Saint Paul" Vestw House
Lvnchbuy, Viwinia
8. Statement of Significance
The St. Paul's Vestry House in Lynchburg, Virginia, is significant Under Criteria C as Iikely the
only v e m house built exclusively for the governing body of an Episcopal Church in Virginia, In
other Episcopal churches, the Vestry met either in the church itself or in a parish house built to house
Sunday school rooms or other administrative ofices of the church. The fact that a separate building
was erected far the vestry is indicative of the prominent position of the members of that governing
body of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in mid-19th century Lynchburg as we11 as of the financial wellbeing of the congregation. The Episcopal Church in Virginia, in decline for more than a hdf century
following disestablishment in the late 18th century. saw a resurgence of its position and membership
in the 1840s and 1850s. The construction of a large Gothic Revival church for St, Paul's in E 851
with an insured value of $1 2.000 underscores the affluence of the church. Under Criteria A, the,
Vestry House also derives its significance from having served as the first home of the Lynchbuq
Wornm's Club from 1903 to 19 16, an educational and philanthropic organization that contributed
to the cultural life of the community. Although no longer housing the Woman's Club, the small,
classical-revivalbuilding remains an important symbol of the Lynchbwg Woman's Club's influence
in the city" cultural enlightrnent. The building also symbolizes the Lvnchburg Woman's Club's
place in the late-19th and early 20th-centurymovement around the country to f o m associations of
women for The ""social, intellectual and cultural benefits of their members."'
MistoricaI Background
In September of 1822 a group of people interested in the Episcopal Church met
at the
Franklin Hotel in Lynchburg with plans to o~ganizea church. By 1824 a building fund drive had
generated 52,804. Mrs. George Cabell donated the lot at Seventh and Church streets on the
southeast comer where the first Episcopal Church in Lynchburg was completed in 1826. As part of
the dced requirements, the gift of land by Mrs. Cabell was to revert to the Cabell heirs if the
building ceased to be used for religious purposes. Mrs. CabeII was rhe former Sarah Winston, a
daughter of Judge Edmund Winston. and wife of Dr. George Cabell, physician to Patrick Hemy.
'Anne Fimr Scott, ~ a k i n g ' r h eInvlslbfe Woman
Visible, (Urbana: Universitl, of Illinois, 1984) 2.
QMB Approval
1024-00 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Yational Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sect on
8
Page 3
Saint P.an1's Vestry House
Lynchburg. Viryinia
In addition to her donation of the land, Mrs. Cabell also gave $300 to the project. Other
large supporters included Rev. John EarIy, Elijah Fletcher, ChrisweU Dabney, Thomas T. Bouldin,
David Kyle and members of the Mason from Marshall M g e No. 39.
The newly appointed vesttymen in 1822 included: The Honorable George Tucker, Chriswell
Dabney, James Bullock, Dr. Howel Davies, ElijA FIetchm--Mr. Fletcher was father ofhbs. Indiana
Fletchm Williams, the founder of Sweet Briar College-- and Henry Morris, dl prominent residents
of Lynchburg. Colonel Alexander, William Radford and Seth Ward were appointetl to represent
New London, with Bedford being represented by Patrick P. Burton, Nathaniel J. Manson and
Nicholas H. Cobbs.
Prior to the building of a church, Episcopal services were held at the Masonic Hall which
stood at the comer of Church and Ninth streets. then known as Third and Water streets. Reverend
Franklin G. Smith, a native of New England, was the pastor in 1824. During Christmas of that
year, he adminis~eredthe first Holy Communion in the City of Lynchburg to seven communicants.
The new buiIding for St. Paul's was consecrated on May 1 8, 1826, during the Convention of the
Dioceses, the first Episcopal Convention held in Virginia outside Tidewater. At the first service,
wllen the Rt. Rev. kchard Channing Moore. Bishop of Virginia, preached the sermon, 3 1 persons
were confirmed. The frrst h m l at the new church was for Mrs. George Cabell on May 2 1, Z 826.
By the h e 1840s, the congregaiion had out crown the small church building. Vestry
Minutes record concern for the needed repain to the c<&h and the need for a Vestry House. At a
Vestrqr meeting on November I 1, 1846, it was resolved that a committee be appointed to investigate
the cost of building repaits and the cost of constructing a Lecture and Vestry Room at the upper end
of the church. Minutes of November 1 7, 1846, show thc lowest bid for a Vestry House was about
% 1.000 plus $200 to! repair the steps of the church. It is not known whcther an addition was built at
that time. As the needs of the church and V e w grew, a resolution was made ot their meeting on
Deomhcr 5 , 1849, to build a new and larger church on the site of the 1826 church. The Vestry
engaged the services sfWilliam S. Ellison to design the new church. The cornersrone was laid on
June 1 1. 1850, and the first services were held on Easter Sunday, 1851. Ellison was later responsible
for the design of the stately Greek Revival Courthouse in Lynchburg (1855).
The Vestry minutes do not reflect further discuss~onon the conszmction o f a Lecture and
V e s q Roorn, but it was shortly after the completion of the new church that the Vestry House was
erected. It is not known if Ellison had a hand in he design of the veshy house. but since he was still
working in Lynchburg at zhe time, it would not be unlikely that he did. given I-tis familiarity with the
clasical vocabulay. Throughout its history, the Vestry Hause has also been referred to as the "Old
OMB Approval No 10264018
NP5 Form 10-900-a
(8-%I
United States Department of Ithe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e 4
Saint PaulLs Vestry Hoase
Lynchbum. V ireinia
Rectory;" however, it appears that the building was never intended for use as a rectory but as a
meeting house for the Vestry, Trustees and other committees of thc chwch.
The vestry system developed in Colonid Virginia when t h e Anglican Church was the
established religion for the colony. Vestry members usually came from the gentry of the
congregation. Among their duties were to appoint the minister, investigate moral offences, see that
the parish lived within its means ancl to care for the indigent of the parish. St. Paul's Vestry House
appears to be the only s w i v i n g "Vestry House'' in Virginia today,
The Vestry House remained the site ofvestry business until the church undenvent remodeling
in 1870-7 1 when the small building became space for Sunday School classes. Growth in the church
continued, and once again a larger buildhg was called for. In I891 the ~ornesstonewas laid for the
third St. Paul's church smchlary. The last service an November 15 , 1895, was the firneral of
General Jubal A. Early, renowned Civil War hers. The new St. Paul's w a s located at Sevcnth and
Clay strcets where k stands today.
In April o f 1903 the trustees of St. Paul's transferred the Vestry House to Mrs. Sally D.
Tompkins, (Lynchburg Dced Book 71, page 470), who in turn rented the building to the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg. The Woman's Club occupied the building until i916. In 1902 eleven
Lynchburg women bad gathered to f m a study group to l e m parliamentary procedure. FOTa fee
of $8.00 arnonh, they held their regular meetings in the Vestry House at 308 Seventh Street. This
group of enthusiastic and energetic women decided to expand she organimtion to include civic.
cultural and educational endeavors throughout the city. To this end, they established the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg! stating in its by-laws that "The object of this club shall be benevolent,
phiImchropic and educational."' Members still remember this building as their first home. From
its humble beginnings and its first gathering of eleven ladies, the club membership now numbers
about 400.
The formation of the Lynchburg Woman's Club was part of a much wider social movement
that took place throughout the country between 1868 and 1910. Following the Civil War there were
no secular organizations for women. The greatest growth of woman's cllrbs in the South began in
the 1880s with the pioneer efforts of a woman's association in hew Orleans whose mission was
to "assist the intellectual growth and spiritual ambition ofthe ~ornrnunity.~
Virginia women were
.
- --
The lynch bur^ Woman's Club, t 905-1906, Article Two of the Constitution..
' Anne Fimr Scott, Making
he InvrsrbIe Woman t'isrble, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1984), 2 16.
N P S Form 1 0-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Inferior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Settion
8 Page 5
Saint Paul's Vestw House
Lvnch bure, Vir~inisr.
somewhat slower to organize: with the Woman's Club of Richmond forming in 1894 and the
'ZVornan's Club o f Petemburg organizing in 1 897. They had, however, a smng tradition of woman's
associations to follow with the founding of the Association for the Presenration of Virginia
Antiquities in 1889 and the Virginia Daughters of the American Kevolution, the Virginia Society
of Colonial Dames, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, all organized in the 1890s. The
motivation for the estabIishment of women's clubs in general seems to have been for selfdevelopment and self- education in n period when few women nttcnded college, Often fellow
members who had traveIed to foreign Iands shred information about their travels with their
calleagucs. According to a history of the American fmily written in 1919, early women's
associationswere more study clubs whose members usually already h e w each other socially. Clubs
tended to be exclusive, limiting their memberships to the upper and upper-middie classes. Ironically,
the same writer in addressing the problem of divorce, blames "clubs and social frivolities'' for the
increase in divorce in the early years of the 20th century?
Writing in 1922, Sallie Southdl Cotten, described the results of the woman's club movement:
Club experience has been the university in which they (the women) have l m e d
[about] themselves and other women and have seen men as one of the species and not
as individual husbands and fathers. They have pained respect for their own opinions,
toleration Cor the opinions of others...Their knowledge has been increased...Gassip
has decreased because clubs have given women better things to think about and
having seen the needs of the world they have become interested in striving to make
their own part of it a little better.'
During the early days. the Lynchbwg club sparked new ventures as it strived for its own
education md cuItural awareness. In 1907, the Lynchburg club took the initiative and hosted the
gathering that established the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs. From its earliest years the
women invited lecturers, speakers and performers to come to t h e meetings and present pmgrms that
Arthur W Calhoun, A Sociul History
(Cleveland, 19191, 192-93.
of the Rmer~canFarttily, Volume
111, "'Since the Civil War,"
Snltic Southalt Cotten, "Accamplishments of Women's Clubs," SSC Papen, 1922, University of North
Carolina. Quoted in Anne Firor Scott. horn Peu'ard ro PoBics, 1830-1930, (University of Chicaso Press, 19701, 151.
NPS Form 10-930-a
OMB Approval No. 10244018
{S-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
Page 6
Lvnchburg. Virginia
varied h r n the study of foreign lands to the enjoyment of a play. It was the theatrical interest that
sparked the Little Theatre, a theatrical group with the longest unbroken series of regularly scheduled
plays in Lynchburg. The plays began as a friendly rivalry between two groups of theatre-minded
people, one group from Diamond Hill and one from Rivemont, residential neighborhoods in
Lynchburg. One gmup of wornen was inspired by dramatic readings given at the Woman" Club
by Robert Dempster, an actor, playwright and teacher at Sweet Briar College. After his performance
the group formed the Little Theatre League in 1920. Although the Little Theatre never used this
building as its performance venue, its actors would accasionally give special perfommces fsr the
Women's Club membership meetings.
By 1916 the Woman's Club had outgrown the small Seventh Street Vestry House and
purchased the spacious C m l Home at 1020 Court Street to which rhey added a 400-seat
a~ditoxium.After the club moved, Mrs. Robert M. Strother opened a school of drama caIIled "The
School of Expression," in the Vestry building. It was here that many would-be actors took lessons
for their roles on stage at the Little Theatre. Mrs. Strothet left in 1926. From 1928 to 1934, the
smalI building continued to provide the community with a cultural outlet in the hands ofGrace
Homes who gave music lessons there.
After I928 the building was used for a variety of communi~activities. A gift shop operated
in the building from 1 938-39, and a photo company used the space in I941-42. After World War
El the building mas used by Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witnesses for several years and then
intermittently tbr cornrnercial enterprises. Since 1957 the Vestry House has housed offices for
arcllitects, insurance agents, and other professionals.
From its earIiest use as a Vestr?, House for St. Paul's Episcopal Church, this tiny building
haq been the meeting site for many of Lynchburg's leading citizens. many of whom have helped to
create the City of Lynchburg as it is today. From this building, Lynchburg women were inspired to
go into the world and make a difference. Decausc of their quest for howledge and an improved
culturak enbironrnent, they sparked in others the dcsire to create. From a single stimulating
performance by Robert Dempster grew the inspiration to create a theatrical landmark. In its well
preserved and largely unaltered condition, the St. Paul's Vestry House remains an imponant land
mark and symbol of Lynchburg's religious and cultural history.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(81163
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Servjce
National R e s t e r of Historic Places
Continuation Sbeet
Sectim
9Page 7
Saint Paa17sVestry House
L y n c h b n ~ Vir~tnia
?
9. Bibliography
CaZhoun, Arthur W,,
A Social Histow ofrhe American Fami& 3 vsIs. Volume 111 "Since the Civil
War," (CIeveland: 1 9 19).
Chambers, S. Allen, JT.,Lynckb~rg,An ArchitechtraF Ni.~tuory{Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia., 198 1).
Christian, W. A s b q , LymhburganditsPeople. (Lynchburg: J . P. Bell Co.,19002.
Cocke, Charles Francis, Par-ish Lines ofthe Diocese ofSouthwestern Virginin. (Richmond the
Virginia State L i b m y , 1960).
Halsey, Don P.,Centenay of St. Pad's ClturcH. Historical address given at St. Paul's Episcopal
Cburch, Lynchburg, Va.. 1922.
He*ng, William Waler, Sia1ule.s at Larp. . . Laws of Virginia. (New York 1823).
Lebsock, S m e , Virginia Woman 1600-1945, "A Share of Homos, " (R;chond: Virginia State
Library, 19873.
b ' d , Richard B.,Mundy and Bernard K., Lynchburg,A Pictoria/ History. (Virginia Beach, Va.:
The Doning Company Publishers), 1975).
The L-yfichhurg W Q ~ U YS ICluh. (1 905-1906)
Minutes of the Woman's Club of Lynchburg, 1903- 1922,
Minutes of St. Pau17sEpiscopal Church Vestrqt, 1824- 1 895.
Nichols, Janet Bernard. Historyofihe Wmnav'sCElrb (Petersburd, 1897-1947 (Petersburg: 1947).
Polk,R. L. & Company, City Dir~cforieslLynchhurgI, 1907-1994. ( R i c h n ~ ~ lVa.).
d,
OM3 Approval No. 1024-0018
hTS Form 10-900-a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Contitinuation Sheet
Section 9.10
Salnt_Panlls~eat_r
House
v
Lynch hurt, Virpinia
Page 8
Scott, Anne Firor, Making the Irtwisible Woman Viribk. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois,
1984.
7 k Southern Lady From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1970).
-
Treadway, Sandra Giora, Women of iMark A History ofthe Woman 's Club of Richmond Virginia.
(Richmond: T h e Library of Virginia. 1995).
Wiley, Lih, Alongside the River, Religious Activities of Churches of Lynchburg. (Lynchburg:
Bicentennial Commission, 1986.)
The Woman's Club of Lynchburg, Year Book, (Lynchburg, 1995).
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Baundm Description
Ttle nominated parcel is depicted on the accompanying page. 7 h e parcel is known as Lot 9 19 on
the City of Lynchburg Tax Map number 024-35. The parcel contains .04acres. The propew abuts
the boundaries of the Court House Mill Historic District, a locally designated historic area. Court
House Hill contains the present-day St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the historic propcrty owner of St.
Paul's Vestry House.
k n d a n , Justification
The boundasies of the nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the propem and
indude the principal contributing resource. Sr. Paul 's Vestry House.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB Approval No. 10?4-0018
E8W
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
Phot~ Page _9
Photographic List
I.
Name: St,Paul's Vesay House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Gjles
Bate: June E 0, 1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Front eeleation from the east
2.
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Date: June 10, 1996
Negative f 14938: Department of Historic Resources
South elevation from the south
3.
Name; St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V, Giles
Date: June 10,1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Detajl of interior door
4.
Narne: St. Paul's Vestry Heuse
Location: Lynchbug, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Dater June 10, 19%
Negative # 14938 : Department of Historic Resources
Interior of main entrance door
Saint Paul's-Vestw Rouse
Lvnchburg* Vir@nia
OMR Approvar No. 10244HlR
NPS Form I O - m a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section Photo
5.
Pngc 10
Name: St. Paul's Vesw House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: WilIiam V. Giles
Date: June 10, t 9%
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Interior of hallway
Saint Paul's Vestry House
Lvnch burp. Virginia
1 MILE
D n b n PI ACC1ClPATlnht
OMB No,1024-0018
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
112: I ~ / O /Y 96
hJ k t / ? :OL!?.! / q 3.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for usc in nominating orrequesting detcrminatiom for individual pmpwties and dismcts See inslmctions in How to Compfete the.
Nahonal Register ofHisoric P l a m Registration Farm (National Register Bulletin l6A). Cornpiere each item by marking "x" In the appmprlate
box or byerrering the information roqucstd. If m y hem docs nct apply ro the ppmperty k i n g documented, tnw "1*1!4" for "not applicable." For
functions, architectural class~fication,mrtterids, and me% of sign~ficance,enter only categories and subcategories From the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative item,on
~ n r i n l r a sheets
b
( M S Form 3 0-9003). Use a m i t e r . word processor, or computer,to cmnplFtr dl
items.
I. Name of Property
historic name
St. Paul's VesW House
other nameslsite number
VDHRFileNo. 118-78
--
2. Location
street & number
ctty or t o m
state V i i n i a
nqt for pubiication NJA
vicinity
code
680
zip2434
308.SeventhStteeJ
Lvnchbur~
code V A county Lwchburg (Independent Citv'l
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Hjstonc Preservation Act of 2986, as mended, I hereby certify rhat this
-X- nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for regrstering
propefiies in the National Register of Historic Places and
mccts the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -d o a not meet the 'dational Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered sigificmt - nationally
statewide -X- locally, ( - Sce
conrinuation sheet for additional eom m a t s . )
-
U n i a Denartment of H m r i c Resources
Stale or Fedcral aeency and buwnu
ln my
opinion. the property -meets
-does not meet the National Regtster criteria. (-
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
---
-
Signature of commenting or other official
State or
Federal agency and bureau
4. National
Park Service Certification
I, hereby cenie that this properp is:
-entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-
Date
-removed from the National Rcg~ster
-other jexptam):
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
('Rev. 1990)
United States Depamnent of the Interior
National Park Senice
QMB No. 10244018
St. Pau I's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownersh~pof Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
.Y_ pvate
-public-local
-public-Smte
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X- bui?ding(s)
-district
-site
-s m m
-obfect
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0- buildings
-0-0-sites
-0-0-strucmres
-0- -0-objects
-1-0- Total
Number sfcontributing resources praviously listed in the National Register -0Name of related muitiple property listing (Enter 'WlA" if property IS not part of a multiple properry listing.)
6. Function or Use
Histor~cFunctions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: -RELIGION
Sub:-religious facility
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: COMMERCERRADE
Sub: b u s i n e s s
7. Descriptian
Architectural Classificat~on(Enter categories from instructions)
-Classical Revival
WS Fonn 20-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
mcv. 1990)
United States Ibepartment of the Interior
hlstional Park Service
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation - -Brick
roof
Metal
walls
Brick
-
-
-
other
Nmative Description (Describe he historic and current condition ofthe property on one or more continuation shects.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "xn in one w more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
NationaI Register listing)
-x-
A
B
-xu c
-D
h p m t y is associated with events that have made R significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components Iack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information irnpomt in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"" in all the boxes that apply.)
X-
-
A
owned by a relig~ousinstitution or used for religious purposes.
-B removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
a cemetery.
-E a reconstmded building, object or srmcture.
-G
less than 50 !ears of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter catzgorie from instructions)
-Architecture
-Social History
Period of Significance - 1855- 1934
NPS Form 10-9M,
(Rev. 1990)
OMR No. 1024-0018
United States D t p s r h n t o f the Interior
Nationd Park Service
St. Paul's Vestsy I louse
Lynchburg, Virginia
Signhicant Dates -1 855- 1903-1916-
SigniFi :ant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural AfK liation -NIA
N m t i v e Statement of Significance (Explain thc significance of rhe property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical ReEerences
(Cite the books, artic!es, and other sources used hn preparing this form on one or more continuation sl~eets.)
Previous documentation on file WPSS)
-preliminary detmination of individual listing (36CFR 67) has been
requested
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eIig~bleby the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
- recorded by Historic American Engineering Rccord #
hitnary I-ocation of Additional Data
-X-, Sta~eHistoric PreservationOffice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Name of repository: Va. Degt. Of Historic Res~urces(Richmond): Jones Memorial Libraw. (Lvnchburrrl
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property -.04- acres
IJTM References (Place additional U m references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Eating Northing
42350002
Zone Easzing Northing
117641200
3--4 ---See continuation sheer.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundariesof the property on a continuation sheet.)
MI'S Form 10-900
(Rev. 190)
United States Depariment of the Interior
Nwiona! Park Service
O W No. 1024-0018
St. Paul's Vestry House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle:
Nancv Jamerson Weiland
date Aueus$24.19efi
Qrganbtion: Lunan Preservation
state-VAL zip code -24504-
city or t o w n L y n e h b u r g
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed fonn:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (73 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SMPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHFO or FPO.)
name -William V. Giles. Jr.
street & number-1050
Greenway Coun
city or t o w n L ~ c h b u r g
telephone-(804)845-8 172-.
stare-VA-
zip code 2 4 5 0 3 -
Papemork Reduction Act Stltcmcnt. T h i s inmrrnation rs krng collected for appiicatioas to the National Register of Histuric Places to nominate
pmpertic3 for lMng ordcterrnineeligibiliry for listink w liapropenics, and 20 mend existing listings. Response to this request is requtred to obtain
a benefit in a c c o r d m ~with the National Hhtoric Preservation h c t , amendcd
~
(16 U.S.C 470 et seq ).
Estlmatee Burden Statement; Public ~eportingburden far this fom IS estimated ro averag 18.1 hburs per response including thc time for rewewing
instructions. galkrlng a d rnalntam~ngdataand completingand mkwing the h.
Direct aornments regarding this burden estima# or an!: a s p C t
offhis f o m to the Chtet Adnt~nistral~re
Serrlces D~vision,Nationat Park Serv~ce.P 0. Box 37 127, Wwhington, DC 200 13-7127: and the O f i c e
ot'Manaltement and Budget. Papework Reductions Project (1 024-00 18). Washington, DC 20503.
iYPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United Statm Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Histaric Places
Continuation Shect
Section
7
Page1
Saint Paul" V e s i u House
Lvnchburp, Virginia
Narrative Description:
Building: Exterior
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Classical Revival-style building with a simpIe lowpitched gable roof and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation.
The front elevation features a simple pedimented porch cower supported by two scrolled brackets,
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed, single, recessed- panel wood door with divided side
lights and a transom. The steps at the front door are likely a 1900s addition.
The foundation is at grade level at the south elevation, with a full-height brick basement wall
at the north side elevation, which feahlres three equally-spaced ornamental diamond-shaped
staggered brick vents and a simple-cut brick watertable.
The facade is painted brick, common bond with 6th-course headers. The windows are sixover-six wood double-hung sashes, with wood sills and contemporary louvered wood shutters with
metal scroIl holdbacks. The roof is standing-steam metal with integral gutters at the cornice, with
a simple extended overhand 18 inches wide at both gable ends and the cornice Iine, which is made
of a 6' crown and flat rim board combination.
Building: Interior
The interior of this building has been partitioned for contemporary use. The entrance portion
of the building, however. retains its original conf~guration. .4lthough the details are made to match
the original trim, the interior window trim has been carefully preserved and appears to te original.
All crown molding on the interim matches what is beIieved to be the original molding. It is possible
that the molding along the outer walls is original.
The front door dimensions are 8' high by 3'3" wide. There are side lights and transom which
appear to be original. At the rear i s a second entrance with a small vestibule m i n g the width of
the building. The entrance door from the vestibule to ahe main portion of the building is also
original, as the trim matches the front door trim.
The windows are 6'7" high by 3'6" wide. The lights are siu-over-six. The glass size is 10.5"
wide by 17.5" high. A11 walIs have a chair rail and painted wainscot. The base boards are 10" hgh,
matching original examples from a Minard Lafever handbook. The ceilings throughout the principal
spaces of the building are 12 feet in height.
OMB Approval No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e A
Saint Paul" Vestw House
Lvnchbuy, Viwinia
8. Statement of Significance
The St. Paul's Vestry House in Lynchburg, Virginia, is significant Under Criteria C as Iikely the
only v e m house built exclusively for the governing body of an Episcopal Church in Virginia, In
other Episcopal churches, the Vestry met either in the church itself or in a parish house built to house
Sunday school rooms or other administrative ofices of the church. The fact that a separate building
was erected far the vestry is indicative of the prominent position of the members of that governing
body of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in mid-19th century Lynchburg as we11 as of the financial wellbeing of the congregation. The Episcopal Church in Virginia, in decline for more than a hdf century
following disestablishment in the late 18th century. saw a resurgence of its position and membership
in the 1840s and 1850s. The construction of a large Gothic Revival church for St, Paul's in E 851
with an insured value of $1 2.000 underscores the affluence of the church. Under Criteria A, the,
Vestry House also derives its significance from having served as the first home of the Lynchbuq
Wornm's Club from 1903 to 19 16, an educational and philanthropic organization that contributed
to the cultural life of the community. Although no longer housing the Woman's Club, the small,
classical-revivalbuilding remains an important symbol of the Lynchbwg Woman's Club's influence
in the city" cultural enlightrnent. The building also symbolizes the Lvnchburg Woman's Club's
place in the late-19th and early 20th-centurymovement around the country to f o m associations of
women for The ""social, intellectual and cultural benefits of their members."'
MistoricaI Background
In September of 1822 a group of people interested in the Episcopal Church met
at the
Franklin Hotel in Lynchburg with plans to o~ganizea church. By 1824 a building fund drive had
generated 52,804. Mrs. George Cabell donated the lot at Seventh and Church streets on the
southeast comer where the first Episcopal Church in Lynchburg was completed in 1826. As part of
the dced requirements, the gift of land by Mrs. Cabell was to revert to the Cabell heirs if the
building ceased to be used for religious purposes. Mrs. CabeII was rhe former Sarah Winston, a
daughter of Judge Edmund Winston. and wife of Dr. George Cabell, physician to Patrick Hemy.
'Anne Fimr Scott, ~ a k i n g ' r h eInvlslbfe Woman
Visible, (Urbana: Universitl, of Illinois, 1984) 2.
QMB Approval
1024-00 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Yational Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sect on
8
Page 3
Saint P.an1's Vestry House
Lynchburg. Viryinia
In addition to her donation of the land, Mrs. Cabell also gave $300 to the project. Other
large supporters included Rev. John EarIy, Elijah Fletcher, ChrisweU Dabney, Thomas T. Bouldin,
David Kyle and members of the Mason from Marshall M g e No. 39.
The newly appointed vesttymen in 1822 included: The Honorable George Tucker, Chriswell
Dabney, James Bullock, Dr. Howel Davies, ElijA FIetchm--Mr. Fletcher was father ofhbs. Indiana
Fletchm Williams, the founder of Sweet Briar College-- and Henry Morris, dl prominent residents
of Lynchburg. Colonel Alexander, William Radford and Seth Ward were appointetl to represent
New London, with Bedford being represented by Patrick P. Burton, Nathaniel J. Manson and
Nicholas H. Cobbs.
Prior to the building of a church, Episcopal services were held at the Masonic Hall which
stood at the comer of Church and Ninth streets. then known as Third and Water streets. Reverend
Franklin G. Smith, a native of New England, was the pastor in 1824. During Christmas of that
year, he adminis~eredthe first Holy Communion in the City of Lynchburg to seven communicants.
The new buiIding for St. Paul's was consecrated on May 1 8, 1826, during the Convention of the
Dioceses, the first Episcopal Convention held in Virginia outside Tidewater. At the first service,
wllen the Rt. Rev. kchard Channing Moore. Bishop of Virginia, preached the sermon, 3 1 persons
were confirmed. The frrst h m l at the new church was for Mrs. George Cabell on May 2 1, Z 826.
By the h e 1840s, the congregaiion had out crown the small church building. Vestry
Minutes record concern for the needed repain to the c<&h and the need for a Vestry House. At a
Vestrqr meeting on November I 1, 1846, it was resolved that a committee be appointed to investigate
the cost of building repaits and the cost of constructing a Lecture and Vestry Room at the upper end
of the church. Minutes of November 1 7, 1846, show thc lowest bid for a Vestry House was about
% 1.000 plus $200 to! repair the steps of the church. It is not known whcther an addition was built at
that time. As the needs of the church and V e w grew, a resolution was made ot their meeting on
Deomhcr 5 , 1849, to build a new and larger church on the site of the 1826 church. The Vestry
engaged the services sfWilliam S. Ellison to design the new church. The cornersrone was laid on
June 1 1. 1850, and the first services were held on Easter Sunday, 1851. Ellison was later responsible
for the design of the stately Greek Revival Courthouse in Lynchburg (1855).
The Vestry minutes do not reflect further discuss~onon the conszmction o f a Lecture and
V e s q Roorn, but it was shortly after the completion of the new church that the Vestry House was
erected. It is not known if Ellison had a hand in he design of the veshy house. but since he was still
working in Lynchburg at zhe time, it would not be unlikely that he did. given I-tis familiarity with the
clasical vocabulay. Throughout its history, the Vestry Hause has also been referred to as the "Old
OMB Approval No 10264018
NP5 Form 10-900-a
(8-%I
United States Department of Ithe Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
P a g e 4
Saint PaulLs Vestry Hoase
Lynchbum. V ireinia
Rectory;" however, it appears that the building was never intended for use as a rectory but as a
meeting house for the Vestry, Trustees and other committees of thc chwch.
The vestry system developed in Colonid Virginia when t h e Anglican Church was the
established religion for the colony. Vestry members usually came from the gentry of the
congregation. Among their duties were to appoint the minister, investigate moral offences, see that
the parish lived within its means ancl to care for the indigent of the parish. St. Paul's Vestry House
appears to be the only s w i v i n g "Vestry House'' in Virginia today,
The Vestry House remained the site ofvestry business until the church undenvent remodeling
in 1870-7 1 when the small building became space for Sunday School classes. Growth in the church
continued, and once again a larger buildhg was called for. In I891 the ~ornesstonewas laid for the
third St. Paul's church smchlary. The last service an November 15 , 1895, was the firneral of
General Jubal A. Early, renowned Civil War hers. The new St. Paul's w a s located at Sevcnth and
Clay strcets where k stands today.
In April o f 1903 the trustees of St. Paul's transferred the Vestry House to Mrs. Sally D.
Tompkins, (Lynchburg Dced Book 71, page 470), who in turn rented the building to the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg. The Woman's Club occupied the building until i916. In 1902 eleven
Lynchburg women bad gathered to f m a study group to l e m parliamentary procedure. FOTa fee
of $8.00 arnonh, they held their regular meetings in the Vestry House at 308 Seventh Street. This
group of enthusiastic and energetic women decided to expand she organimtion to include civic.
cultural and educational endeavors throughout the city. To this end, they established the Woman's
Club of Lynchburg! stating in its by-laws that "The object of this club shall be benevolent,
phiImchropic and educational."' Members still remember this building as their first home. From
its humble beginnings and its first gathering of eleven ladies, the club membership now numbers
about 400.
The formation of the Lynchburg Woman's Club was part of a much wider social movement
that took place throughout the country between 1868 and 1910. Following the Civil War there were
no secular organizations for women. The greatest growth of woman's cllrbs in the South began in
the 1880s with the pioneer efforts of a woman's association in hew Orleans whose mission was
to "assist the intellectual growth and spiritual ambition ofthe ~ornrnunity.~
Virginia women were
.
- --
The lynch bur^ Woman's Club, t 905-1906, Article Two of the Constitution..
' Anne Fimr Scott, Making
he InvrsrbIe Woman t'isrble, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1984), 2 16.
N P S Form 1 0-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Inferior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Settion
8 Page 5
Saint Paul's Vestw House
Lvnch bure, Vir~inisr.
somewhat slower to organize: with the Woman's Club of Richmond forming in 1894 and the
'ZVornan's Club o f Petemburg organizing in 1 897. They had, however, a smng tradition of woman's
associations to follow with the founding of the Association for the Presenration of Virginia
Antiquities in 1889 and the Virginia Daughters of the American Kevolution, the Virginia Society
of Colonial Dames, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, all organized in the 1890s. The
motivation for the estabIishment of women's clubs in general seems to have been for selfdevelopment and self- education in n period when few women nttcnded college, Often fellow
members who had traveIed to foreign Iands shred information about their travels with their
calleagucs. According to a history of the American fmily written in 1919, early women's
associationswere more study clubs whose members usually already h e w each other socially. Clubs
tended to be exclusive, limiting their memberships to the upper and upper-middie classes. Ironically,
the same writer in addressing the problem of divorce, blames "clubs and social frivolities'' for the
increase in divorce in the early years of the 20th century?
Writing in 1922, Sallie Southdl Cotten, described the results of the woman's club movement:
Club experience has been the university in which they (the women) have l m e d
[about] themselves and other women and have seen men as one of the species and not
as individual husbands and fathers. They have pained respect for their own opinions,
toleration Cor the opinions of others...Their knowledge has been increased...Gassip
has decreased because clubs have given women better things to think about and
having seen the needs of the world they have become interested in striving to make
their own part of it a little better.'
During the early days. the Lynchbwg club sparked new ventures as it strived for its own
education md cuItural awareness. In 1907, the Lynchburg club took the initiative and hosted the
gathering that established the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs. From its earliest years the
women invited lecturers, speakers and performers to come to t h e meetings and present pmgrms that
Arthur W Calhoun, A Sociul History
(Cleveland, 19191, 192-93.
of the Rmer~canFarttily, Volume
111, "'Since the Civil War,"
Snltic Southalt Cotten, "Accamplishments of Women's Clubs," SSC Papen, 1922, University of North
Carolina. Quoted in Anne Firor Scott. horn Peu'ard ro PoBics, 1830-1930, (University of Chicaso Press, 19701, 151.
NPS Form 10-930-a
OMB Approval No. 10244018
{S-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
8
Page 6
Lvnchburg. Virginia
varied h r n the study of foreign lands to the enjoyment of a play. It was the theatrical interest that
sparked the Little Theatre, a theatrical group with the longest unbroken series of regularly scheduled
plays in Lynchburg. The plays began as a friendly rivalry between two groups of theatre-minded
people, one group from Diamond Hill and one from Rivemont, residential neighborhoods in
Lynchburg. One gmup of wornen was inspired by dramatic readings given at the Woman" Club
by Robert Dempster, an actor, playwright and teacher at Sweet Briar College. After his performance
the group formed the Little Theatre League in 1920. Although the Little Theatre never used this
building as its performance venue, its actors would accasionally give special perfommces fsr the
Women's Club membership meetings.
By 1916 the Woman's Club had outgrown the small Seventh Street Vestry House and
purchased the spacious C m l Home at 1020 Court Street to which rhey added a 400-seat
a~ditoxium.After the club moved, Mrs. Robert M. Strother opened a school of drama caIIled "The
School of Expression," in the Vestry building. It was here that many would-be actors took lessons
for their roles on stage at the Little Theatre. Mrs. Strothet left in 1926. From 1928 to 1934, the
smalI building continued to provide the community with a cultural outlet in the hands ofGrace
Homes who gave music lessons there.
After I928 the building was used for a variety of communi~activities. A gift shop operated
in the building from 1 938-39, and a photo company used the space in I941-42. After World War
El the building mas used by Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witnesses for several years and then
intermittently tbr cornrnercial enterprises. Since 1957 the Vestry House has housed offices for
arcllitects, insurance agents, and other professionals.
From its earIiest use as a Vestr?, House for St. Paul's Episcopal Church, this tiny building
haq been the meeting site for many of Lynchburg's leading citizens. many of whom have helped to
create the City of Lynchburg as it is today. From this building, Lynchburg women were inspired to
go into the world and make a difference. Decausc of their quest for howledge and an improved
culturak enbironrnent, they sparked in others the dcsire to create. From a single stimulating
performance by Robert Dempster grew the inspiration to create a theatrical landmark. In its well
preserved and largely unaltered condition, the St. Paul's Vestry House remains an imponant land
mark and symbol of Lynchburg's religious and cultural history.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(81163
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Servjce
National R e s t e r of Historic Places
Continuation Sbeet
Sectim
9Page 7
Saint Paa17sVestry House
L y n c h b n ~ Vir~tnia
?
9. Bibliography
CaZhoun, Arthur W,,
A Social Histow ofrhe American Fami& 3 vsIs. Volume 111 "Since the Civil
War," (CIeveland: 1 9 19).
Chambers, S. Allen, JT.,Lynckb~rg,An ArchitechtraF Ni.~tuory{Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia., 198 1).
Christian, W. A s b q , LymhburganditsPeople. (Lynchburg: J . P. Bell Co.,19002.
Cocke, Charles Francis, Par-ish Lines ofthe Diocese ofSouthwestern Virginin. (Richmond the
Virginia State L i b m y , 1960).
Halsey, Don P.,Centenay of St. Pad's ClturcH. Historical address given at St. Paul's Episcopal
Cburch, Lynchburg, Va.. 1922.
He*ng, William Waler, Sia1ule.s at Larp. . . Laws of Virginia. (New York 1823).
Lebsock, S m e , Virginia Woman 1600-1945, "A Share of Homos, " (R;chond: Virginia State
Library, 19873.
b ' d , Richard B.,Mundy and Bernard K., Lynchburg,A Pictoria/ History. (Virginia Beach, Va.:
The Doning Company Publishers), 1975).
The L-yfichhurg W Q ~ U YS ICluh. (1 905-1906)
Minutes of the Woman's Club of Lynchburg, 1903- 1922,
Minutes of St. Pau17sEpiscopal Church Vestrqt, 1824- 1 895.
Nichols, Janet Bernard. Historyofihe Wmnav'sCElrb (Petersburd, 1897-1947 (Petersburg: 1947).
Polk,R. L. & Company, City Dir~cforieslLynchhurgI, 1907-1994. ( R i c h n ~ ~ lVa.).
d,
OM3 Approval No. 1024-0018
hTS Form 10-900-a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Contitinuation Sheet
Section 9.10
Salnt_Panlls~eat_r
House
v
Lynch hurt, Virpinia
Page 8
Scott, Anne Firor, Making the Irtwisible Woman Viribk. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois,
1984.
7 k Southern Lady From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1970).
-
Treadway, Sandra Giora, Women of iMark A History ofthe Woman 's Club of Richmond Virginia.
(Richmond: T h e Library of Virginia. 1995).
Wiley, Lih, Alongside the River, Religious Activities of Churches of Lynchburg. (Lynchburg:
Bicentennial Commission, 1986.)
The Woman's Club of Lynchburg, Year Book, (Lynchburg, 1995).
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Baundm Description
Ttle nominated parcel is depicted on the accompanying page. 7 h e parcel is known as Lot 9 19 on
the City of Lynchburg Tax Map number 024-35. The parcel contains .04acres. The propew abuts
the boundaries of the Court House Mill Historic District, a locally designated historic area. Court
House Hill contains the present-day St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the historic propcrty owner of St.
Paul's Vestry House.
k n d a n , Justification
The boundasies of the nominated parcel correspond to the present boundaries of the propem and
indude the principal contributing resource. Sr. Paul 's Vestry House.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB Approval No. 10?4-0018
E8W
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
Phot~ Page _9
Photographic List
I.
Name: St,Paul's Vesay House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Gjles
Bate: June E 0, 1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Front eeleation from the east
2.
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Date: June 10, 1996
Negative f 14938: Department of Historic Resources
South elevation from the south
3.
Name; St. Paul's Vestry House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: William V, Giles
Date: June 10,1996
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Detajl of interior door
4.
Narne: St. Paul's Vestry Heuse
Location: Lynchbug, Virginia
Credit: William V. Giles
Dater June 10, 19%
Negative # 14938 : Department of Historic Resources
Interior of main entrance door
Saint Paul's-Vestw Rouse
Lvnchburg* Vir@nia
OMR Approvar No. 10244HlR
NPS Form I O - m a
18-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section Photo
5.
Pngc 10
Name: St. Paul's Vesw House
Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
Credit: WilIiam V. Giles
Date: June 10, t 9%
Negative # 14938: Department of Historic Resources
Interior of hallway
Saint Paul's Vestry House
Lvnch burp. Virginia
1 MILE
D n b n PI ACC1ClPATlnht
Text
VLR Listed: 12/10/2020
NRHP Listed: 2/18/2021
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This fonn is for use m nominating or requesting deterrmnations for md1v1dual properties and d1stncts. See mstrucuons m National Register
Bulletm, Hou to Complete the Natio11at Register of Historic Places Registration Form . If any item does not apply to the property being
documented. enter "NfA · for "not applicable " For functions , architectural class1f1cat1on, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the mstruct ions.
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
Other names/site numb~r: 12th Street Industrial Building; VDHR ID 118-0103
Name of related multiple property listing:
NI A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 170 I 12th Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State:
VA
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:
EJ
County: Independent City
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _x__ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __x_ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
_B
...x_c
...X_Iocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
l
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____1________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
Vacant/Not In Use____
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style: Contemporary Industrial Style
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE: Granite
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street stands at the
southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street in the City of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Constructed in 1906, the DeWitt-Wharton Building is a four-story, masonry building
composed of brick that rests on a stone basement. A gravel parking lot is visible to the west of
the main building and the loading dock is found on the north (rear) elevation. The building was
initially constructed to serve as a manufacturing facility for textile products, and it served in this
capacity into the 1980s. The history of the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
reflects the manufacturing and industrial boom in the City of Lynchburg during the twentieth
century. None of the original machinery associated with textile production remains; however, the
interior of the building remains undivided with the exception of a small office on the first floor,
and bathrooms in the basement, first, third, and fourth floors. Further, original radiators are
visible on the walls of the third and fourth floors, as well as the original freight elevator. The
DeWitt-Wharton Building was designed by premier Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye and is
a significant departure from his typical residential and Victorian-inspired designs. The DeWittWharton Manufacturing Company Building retains a high level of integrity in location, setting,
design, feeling, association, workmanship, and materials. The period of significance for the
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906 with the construction of the
building, and ends in 1965, marking the end of work clothing production in the building and the
transition to the manufacturing of women’s clothing.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building stands at 1701 12th Street, the southeast
corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street, bounded by Buchanan Street to the
east with the façade of the building facing 12th Street. The buildings in the vicinity of the DewittWharton Building are a mix of commercial businesses and residential dwellings. A small,
narrow, gravel parking lot is located to the west of the building. The area to the north of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building has a small, concrete driveway off Buchanan Street providing access
to the loading dock on the north elevation. A poured, concrete sidewalk runs along the south and
east perimeters of the property boundary.
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is adjacent to two previously identified
historic districts. The College Hill Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0226) is a district comprised
primarily of residential structures with boundaries beginning at Buchanan Street and then trend
to the east. The College Hill Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register
of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1994; however, it has not been formally listed. The Diamond Hill
Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0225) is a large, residential district officially listed on the
NRHP in 1979. The Diamond Hill Historic District begins at 12th Street and then trends to the
south.
Integrity Analysis
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building maintains its integrity of location; the
building has not been moved from its original location at the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The setting and feeling of the building have been slightly altered by the
construction of commercial buildings in the area that date from the 1920s through to the midtwentieth century. However, these newer commercial buildings are in scale with the DewittWharton Building and reflect the industrial growth of the City of Lynchburg. Further, the
Dewitt-Wharton Building retains sufficient integrity of setting and feeling as demonstrated by
the presence of the Diamond Hill Historic District and the College Hill Historic District, both of
which are contiguous to the building property. The design, workmanship, and materials remain
intact though the building has been altered by brick infill visible in the basement windows and
one entrance on the façade, as well as some missing window sash on the 4th floor of the building.
A modern loading dock is visible on the north (rear) elevation of the building which reflects the
continuous use of the building for manufacturing. Other decorative elements do remain including
the brackets along the cornice, the brick arches over the windows and entrances, and a narrow,
metal, fire escape on the east elevation. The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Building retains a
high level of integrity with open spaces supported by large, wood posts, original wood flooring,
and radiators. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has integrity of
association. Sanborn maps indicate that a one-story, brick boiler room building sat to the west of
the main building where the current gravel parking lot sits (Figure 5). However, the removal of
the boiler room did not result in any significant alterations to the design of the building.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Exterior Description
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a four-story brick building measuring
forty feet wide and 100 feet long with decorative brickwork and a granite foundation, resulting in
an impressive edifice. The decorative elements on the exterior of the building demonstrates the
practice of the Contemporary Industrial style of reserving stylistic details for the exterior of the
building. The brick is laid in five-course American Bond, composed of smooth manufactured
bricks, held in place by flush, beige, concrete mortar. In some places, the header-course intervals
are inconsistent on the building, particularly in areas where entrances and windows have been
replaced with modern, brick infill. The bricks are red-brown in color except for the bricks that
comprise the parapet, those are browner in color, an interesting stylistic detail that demonstrates
how the manipulation of natural materials results in unique design. In addition, the use of brick
creates a fireproof building, reflecting a popular trend of the early 20th century. Portions of the
brick are discolored because previous occupants painted company names on the building, the
most visible being the faded name of Cones’ Boss Work Clothing over the east entrance on the
façade. The faded painted names of previous occupants speaks to the industrial history of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building.
The building rests on a foundation composed of coursed, rusticated granite, providing a bold
contrast to the natural brick above. The foundation is not visible on the façade with the exception
of the southeast corner where it consists of three courses, and the foundation of the east elevation
is three courses high beginning at the southeast corner and then tapers toward the north (rear)
elevation of the building. No portion of the foundation is visible along the north (rear) elevation,
while the west elevation has four visible courses of stone. The difference in visible foundation is
likely due to the hilly nature of the topography of the City of Lynchburg. The façade of the
building fronts 12th Street and consists of two entrances; however, the east entrance is infilled
with brick and no longer used. The west entrance on the façade consists of double-leaf, metal
doors, capped with a fixed light transom. The façade is typified by fenestration composed of
wood, double-hung sash windows with 12-over-12 lights. The windows are capped with solid,
narrow, wood, arched lintels and distinctive brick arches consisting of three rows of stacked,
brick headers. The windows on the west side of the façade are off center from the other
windows. These windows are on the same end of the building as the stairs and the windows flood
the stairwell with natural light. The windows for the basement are infilled with brick.
The west and east elevations of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building are
typified by rows of symmetrical windows identical to those found on the façade, demonstrating
that stylistic details were not limited to just the façade. Three windows on the first floor and all
basement windows of the west elevation are infilled with brick. The windows on the fourth floor
have straight, narrow lintels and no brick arches, giving the windows the appearance of being
shorter than the windows of the first three floors. A modern ventilation system consisting of
large metal canisters and pipes rests on an elevated concrete pad and a square, green air handler
is visible to the northern end of the elevation on the west side, the previous location of the boiler
room. The removal of the boiler room left no scars on the west elevation as all windows and
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brickwork appear intact. The east elevation has all basement windows infilled with brick, and a
simple, narrow, metal fire escape runs diagonally from the fourth floor to the ground. The
elevator shaft sits in the northeast corner of the east elevation and contains three, four-over-four,
wood windows with a double-hung sash. Both east and west elevations have Italianate,
decorative brackets along the cornice.
The rear elevation has a modern loading dock that was installed in 2005 and consists of a raised
concrete pad with a metal, roll-up door. The windows are similar to those found on the other
elevations with the exception of those on the first and second floors which are covered with
metal blinds. The basement window apertures are infilled with brick. The building is capped with
a metal, low-pitch gable roof. The roof line is concealed by a stepped, brick parapet with copper
parapet caps.
Interior Description
The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects a principal
precept of the Contemporary Industrial style with its large open space that places function over
design. The basement of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building consists of
undivided open space with large, wood, rectangular beams supported by eleven round posts. The
ceiling of the basement is lined with various utilities including pipes, metal sheet ductwork, and
electric conduit. The floor is composed of poured concrete and the ceiling is covered with
narrow-gauge wood. The stone foundation wall varies in height relative to the topography of the
property. The foundation wall is approximately five-and-a-half feet tall on the east elevation,
three feet on the north and west elevations, and one foot on the south elevation. The visible
granite stones provide a contrast to the utilitarian poured concrete floors. The elevator is located
in the northeast corner and has a modern metal door. On the west elevation is a double-leaf wood
door composed of vertical boards. In the southwest corner of the basement is a small bathroom
and a heavy, metal door with metal hinges that leads to the stairs. The door opens through a
system of weights and chains which are necessary due to the size and weight of the door. These
metal doors, which may be found on all floors and provide access to the stairs, are another
element of fireproof design. The stairs for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building are located in the southwest corner. The wood stairs, railing, and balustrade are modern.
Each flight contains ten steps and is separated by concrete landings.
The first floor of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building houses the workspace
for Kerschbamer Woodworking, so a majority of the floor space is occupied by their equipment.
However, the layout of the floor is the same: a large, rectangular space with large wood beams
supported by eleven round posts that run down the center of the room. The floor is covered in
narrow-gauge wood flooring and the walls are of exposed brick. The ceiling is also covered in
wood boards with metal conduit housing the electrical wiring and a modern fire suppression
system. A small office composed of plywood and a bathroom are located toward the southwest
corner of the first floor appear to be modern additions. The freight elevator is in the northeast
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
corner and retains its original metal door with metal hinges and latch. Behind the metal door is
the metal cage that encases the elevator platform.
The second, third, and fourth floors are similar to the basement and first floors with large beams
supported by round columns that run the length of the room, again reflecting the functional
nature of the building’s interior. Some columns have notches cut out perhaps to hold the long
tables of the cutting room. The walls are plain brick and the floors and ceilings are composed of
narrow-gauge wood with the same conduit and fire suppression systems found on the first floor
and basement. The exposed brick walls are a characteristic of the Contemporary Industrial style,
saving design for the exterior and focusing on function and use for the interior. The third and
fourth floors have yellow lines painted on the floors, perhaps to dictate movement of people or
materials around the equipment that was once present in the building. The freight elevator is in
the northeast corner with the original metal door and metal cage that surrounds the elevator
platform. The windows on the east and west elevations flood the rooms with natural light,
facilitating the use of the floors as functional space. Large, heavy, metal doors with the same
chain and weight pulley system found in the basement and first floors, provide access to the
room from the stairs. A set of simple, modern, wood steps provide access to the fire escape
through one of the windows on the east elevation. The third and fourth floors contain restrooms
both with transoms composed of fixed, four lights and sheathed in narrow, vertical, beaded
siding. The restroom on the third floor has three stalls, with swinging wood doors of beaded,
vertical boards. The restroom on the fourth floor has two stalls with swinging, louvered wood
doors. There is a separate restroom to the right of the main restroom that is accessed by a singleleaf, double-paneled wood door, also capped with a four-light transom. The single restroom may
have been reserved for managers. The restrooms on the third and fourth floors have elaborately
decorated metal radiators, a great contrast to the plain, black radiator pipes that run along the
walls beneath the windows in the primary workspace.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_INDUSTRY___________
_ARCHITECTURE________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1906-1965__________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward G./Architect
C.W. Hancock and Sons/Builder
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street in Lynchburg,
Virginia, is a brick building located at the southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Industry. The building reflects the rise of the textile industry in the City of Lynchburg in
the early-20th century. The Dewitt-Wharton is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a good example of a Contemporary Industrial style building. The building is also
locally significant under Criterion C for the architect, Edward G. Frye, a prolific architect in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is an interesting departure for Frye both in
style as well as building type. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building retains
integrity due to the minimal amount of alterations to the building and its continuous use as a
manufacturing facility. The Dewitt-Wharton Building was home to numerous textile
manufacturing companies during the 20th century, including the DeWitt-Wharton Company,
Jobbers Overall Company, N&W Overall Company, C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing
Company, and Virginia Sportswear. Further, the setting of the building has changed little during
the 20th century. Though the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has been altered
in its 114-year history, it still possesses integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. The
period of significance for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906
with the construction of the building. The period of significance ends in 1965, when work
clothing manufacturing ceased in the building.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Industry
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Industry. The City of Lynchburg embraced new manufacturing
beginning in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Prior to textile manufacturing, industry in the
City of Lynchburg focused primarily on tobacco and iron.1 New industries included cotton mills,
hosiery mills, shoe companies, and clothing production. Mills and other industries in the City of
Lynchburg contributed to the economic vitality of the City after the Civil War. Lynchburg
recovered quickly after the end of the Civil War due to a sound transportation network and the
textile industry.2 Companies like the Lynchburg Cotton Mills Company and the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills, both founded in 1919, are examples of the early textile industry in the City of
Lynchburg. The growth of textile manufacturing, specifically in the area of work clothing, grew
John V. Horner and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds, The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936, (Lynchburg: The
Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936), 129.
2 News Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia, September 4, 2016.
1
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
considerably in Lynchburg in the 20th century.3 In fact, “by 1950 there were ten garment
factories in Lynchburg making overalls, shirts, and ladies’ and children’s clothing.”4The DewittWharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects the textile industry of the City of Lynchburg
during the 20th century, specifically in the area of work clothing manufacturing. The DewittWharton Building was home to numerous textile manufacturers from its construction until the
1980s. Prominent textile companies include DeWitt-Wharton Company, Jobbers Overall
Company, N&W Overall Company, and C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company. These
companies reflect the growth of textile manufacturing in the City of Lynchburg during the 20th
century.5
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company hired renowned Lynchburg architect Edward G.
Frye to design the headquarters for their new shirt manufacturing company. C.W. Hancock and
Son Builders completed the construction of the new building in 1907 for a cost of $13,000.6 In
1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company opened its doors at 1701-1703 12th Street in
a new building. Incorporated in 1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company specialized
in shirt manufacturing with Clinton DeWitt serving as president, E.M. Wharton vice-president,
and Clinton DeWitt secretary, treasurer, and general manager. The Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building remained the home of DeWitt-Wharton until 1912.7
In 1913, the new tenant in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building was the
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. The Jobbers Overall Company received its charter from the City
of Lynchburg on September 21, 1911.8 The Jobbers Overall Company was originally called the
Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company; however, in 1911 the company removed the word
manufacturing from its name. The company created tremendous anticipation prior to its opening
by taking out a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory in 1912.9 The full-page
advertisement featured a photo of the Dewitt-Wharton Building at the top, center of the page.10
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1972), 219222.
4 James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986, (Lynchburg: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004), 258.
5 Scruggs, pp 219-222.
6 City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
7 City of Lynchburg City Directory 1907-1912, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
8 City of Lynchburg Business Charters
9 Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination, (Richmond: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 2008).
10 Ibid.
3
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Jobbers Overall Company, under the direction of Alfred C. Barrow, was so successful it was
running double-page advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post. The company dominated the
work clothing market manufacturing overalls until the end of World War I.11 The Jobbers
Overall Company remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Building until 1919, at which time the
company moved from the Dewitt-Wharton Building to a complex of buildings on Kemper Street.
The new facility was much larger than the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
and consisted of a main plant, dormitory, and suspender factory. The complex of buildings is
currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Kemper Street Industrial
Historic District.12
In 1919, a new work garment manufacturer moved into the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building. The N&W Overall Company received its business charter on April 14, 1917;
however, it took two years for the new company to move into the building. This may be due to
the fact that the Jobbers Overall Company was in the process of moving into its new facility on
Kemper Street.13 N&W Overall Company, Incorporated was led by L.W. Turner, H.C. Barrow,
and A.C. Barrow. The company began manufacturing overalls after the end of World War I. The
N&W Overall Company was so successful that the company eventually opened a branch plant in
Jackson, Mississippi.14 By 1935, the N&W Overall Company no longer operated out of the
Dewitt-Wharton.15
In 1935, the C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company moved into the Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building and would continue to occupy the building until 1964.16
Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the C.B. Cones and Sons Company made overalls,
coats, and unlaundered work shirts. In the 1930s, the Company made the decision to expand its
manufacturing facilities and opened a factory in Lynchburg.17 The C.B. Cones and Sons
Manufacturing Company utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building for
almost 30 years.
The manufacturing conducted within the Dewitt-Wharton Building was divided by specific tasks
and often located on separate floors. A Jobbers Overall Company publication commemorating
the anniversary of the company in the City of Lynchburg contains photographs demonstrating
this division of work, with each floor focused on a particular manufacturing task. For example,
the raw stock necessary for production is located on one floor, more than likely the bottom floor
where the loading dock is found. The raw stock area consisted of large shelves with massive
bolts of cloth. The next floor is the cutting room containing tables that run the entire length of the
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Scruggs, 219-222.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination
City of Lynchburg Business Charters
Horner and Winfree, (eds.), p 130.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1935-1964, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
room. The cut cloth would then move to the stitching or sewing room. The photograph from the
Jobbers Overall publication shows a massive room tightly packed with women at sewing
machines. Once complete, the clothing would then move to a finished stock room. The large
freight elevator within the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building obviously
facilitated the movement of materials between the floors.18
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
The United States Federal Census provides a snapshot of the employees of the different
companies that occupied the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building through the
years. The companies employed only white men and women, with the various tasks divided
amongst the two. The 1910 Federal Census sporadically provides information concerning the
specific tasks that the employees completed with the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company.
Individuals are identified as either working in a factory, but often specific job titles are limited to
the term laborer. Some exceptions are Carlile Hawkins, a 17-year old, white male who worked as
18
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company.com, accessed 31 July 2020.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
a driver for the Shirt Factory and Emma Barker, a 22-year old, white woman who was a
seamstress. 19
However, the 1920 Federal Census provides more information about the workers within the
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building. The tasks of draftsman and cutter were
relegated to men, while women were stitchers. Nora Cash and Annie Apperson were both white
females who worked as stitchers in the Overall Factory. Mary Walker, also a white female, was a
floor manager, probably for the stitchers. Edward Fisher, a white male, worked as a cutter. All of
the individuals identified as employees who worked for the N&W Overall Company at the
Dewitt-Wharton Building were from Virginia. This trend is evident in the 1930 Federal Census
as well.20
The workforce of C.B Cones and Son Manufacturing Company is consistent with its
predecessors; however, the 1940 Federal Census provides income information as well. For
example, Charles Cumby, an 18-year old male, worked as a floor boy and in 1939 he worked 40
weeks and made $400.00. Anna White, a 58-year old woman who was a machine operator
worked 26 weeks with an income of $390.00, demonstrating that skilled labor was valued and
compensated.21 As mentioned previously, the C.B. Cones and Son Manufacturing Company
utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building when it expanded its operations
in the 1930s. John Niehaus was a cutter for C.B. Cones and moved to Lynchburg from
Indianapolis, Indiana, with his family to work in the Dewitt-Wharton Building. Niehaus’ stay
was not a lengthy one, probably to train workers, and he soon returned to Indianapolis.22
19
20
21
22
United States Federal Census, 1910.
United States Federal Census, 1920 and 1930.
United States Federal Census, 1940.
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Starting in 1965, the new occupants of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
manufactured women’s clothing. From 1965 to 1975 the City of Lynchburg City Directory
identifies the occupant only as “women’s clothing.” In 1976, the occupant of the DewittWharton Building was Virginia Sportswear, Inc., also a manufacturer of women’s clothing.
Virginia Sportswear, Inc. remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
until 1986. After Virginia Sportswear, Inc. left, Haywood-Male, Incorporated moved into the
building. The company remained there for only a year and was identified as a clothing
manufacturer.23
Over the following decades, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building remained
vacant or had short-term tenants. The building was vacant in 1987; however, in 1988 the Sun
Cab Company occupied the space. It was then vacant again from 1989 through 1990, until the
Sand Bar Dress Company moved in during 1991. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building is identified as vacant from 1992 through 1998, when the Lynchburg Auto Parts
company used the space in 1999. Currently, Kerschbamer Woodworking occupies the basement
and first floors of the building. The second through fourth floors are either empty or used for
storage by Kerschbamer.24
23
24
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
Ibid.
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Criterion C: Architecture
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is eligible for the National Register
under Criterion C as a good example of a brick, Contemporary Industrial style building.
Elements of the Contemporary Industrial style include the low-pitch gable roof, the ribbons of
windows and use of natural materials. Further, it is the emphasis on making the interior
functional and reserving decorative details for the exterior of the building that makes it a prime
example of this design type.25 The symmetrical fenestration, brick segmental arches over the
windows, and decorative brackets still visible on the east and west elevations exemplify some of
the more stylized characteristics of the building, typical for a Contemporary Industrial style
building. While the interior consists primarily of the large, open spaces needed for the function
of an industrial facility; the exterior possesses keener attention to detail with a greater focus on
conveying style over simple function. In addition, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building possesses significant integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. Though the
basement windows are in-filled with brick, and many window sash on the remaining floors are
damaged, the original layout and design is readily apparent. The east entrance on the façade has
also been filled in, but much like the basement windows, this in-fill may be removed.
The high level of design detail results from the work of local, premier Lynchburg architect
Edward Graham Frye. Frye is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century
in Lynchburg, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth.26 Born in Bristol, Tennessee, in
1870, Frye majored in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Upon completion of his degree,
Frye began work as an apprentice in an architecture office in the City of Norfolk. Frye came to
Lynchburg in 1890 and the town quickly became familiar with his talent and style. Frye’s style
was considered eclectic, often incorporating elements of Romanesque, Queen Anne, Shingle,
Neoclassical, as well as other popular styles at the time.27
Frye’s early work in Lynchburg focused primarily on churches and impressive residential
dwellings. He designed three new churches and remodeled two others in Lynchburg; all designs
adhered primarily to the Romanesque style. These include the remodeling of the 1860 Centenary
Methodist Church and the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Three new churches were the 8th Street
Baptist Church, 1st Presbyterian Church, and the Court Street Methodist Church.28 A majority of
Frye’s residential dwellings were of the Queen Anne design with elaborate facades and simple
rear elevations. Examples include the Frank P. Christian House and George P. Watkins House,
both on Madison Street in Lynchburg, as well as a modest dwelling for himself. The Craddock
House completed in the Romanesque style was one of the more elaborate dwellings Frye
designed.29
25
26
27
28
29
Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017), 629-632.
Allen S. Chambers Jr., Lynchburg: An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: UVA Press, 1981), 357.
Ibid., p. 315-317.
Ibid., p. 330.
Ibid., p. 333-337.
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1900, Frye joined with Aubrey Chesterman to form the firm Frye and Chesterman.
Chesterman, a native of Richmond, Virginia, preferred the Colonial Revival style for his
buildings. The firm of Frye and Chesterman designed a wide variety of residential and municipal
buildings, many of these reflect a combination of the styles of the two men, though the Georgian
Revival style dominated their designs. Frye and Chesterman designed numerous houses on
prestigious Rivermont Avenue in the City of Lynchburg. The firm of Frye and Chesterman has
an impressive and exhaustive list of buildings designed in and around the Lynchburg area;
however, there are no examples of industrial buildings.30 The City of Lynchburg Land Valuation
Card identifies only Edward Frye as the architect for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building.31 By 1906, the two men had worked together for at least six years. The firm
of Frye and Chesterman ceased operations in Lynchburg in 1913, when the firm moved to
Roanoke, Virginia.32
The style of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a departure for Frye, and a
unique example of his work in the City of Lynchburg. Frye’s preference for the detailed
Romanesque style, as described above, is absent in the Dewitt-Wharton Building with the
exception of the rusticated granite present on the foundation. His willingness to embrace the
function-over-design tenet of the Contemporary Industrial style is interesting considering his
professional success employing more elaborate designs. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is the
only industrial building designed by Frye in Virginia and therefore a unique example of his work
in both building type and style.
30
31
32
Chambers, pp.357-359.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
The American Architect, (New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913), 5.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
The American Architect. New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913.
Chambers, Allen S., Jr. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: UVA Press,
1981.
City of Lynchburg Business Charters, 1870-1983. Available Library of Virginia. Richmond,
Virginia.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1907-1912. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card. Available City of Lynchburg Circuit Court.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg:
Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Horner, John V. and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936.
Lynchburg: The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936.
Indianaties.com. Accessed 10 April 2020.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination. Richmond: Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 2008.
Lynchburg News Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia. September 4, 2016.
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company. Accessed 31 July 2020.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2017.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company,
Inc., 1972.
United States Federal Census for years 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_______
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _VDHR No.: 118-0103__
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __0.214 acres______
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.404858
Longitude: 79.154444
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building coincides with the
lot lines of City of Lynchburg tax parcel 01057008. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building is bounded by 12th Street to the south, Buchanan Street to the east, and
property boundaries to the west and north. The true and correct historic boundary is shown
on the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building encompass the
building and gravel parking lot. There are no outbuildings associated with the property. The
boundaries coincide with the current tax parcel, thus encompassing the historic setting and all
known historic resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Sarah M. Clarke/Senior Architectural Historian
organization: _____Hurt & Proffitt
street & number: __2524 Langhorne Road #1602____
city or town: _Lynchburg____ state: ____VA____ zip code:_24501_____
e-mail: __clarke1201@gmail.com____
telephone:__804-347-5825__________
date: ___May 20, 2020____________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: City of Lynchburg
State: VA
Photographer: Sarah M. Clarke
Date Photographed: January 31, 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 24, façade and west elevation, and parking lot, view to the northeast.
2 of 24, façade, close up Cones’ Boss painted sign, view to the north.
3 of 24, façade and east elevation, view to the northwest.
4 of 24, east elevation, view to the west.
5 of 24, rear elevation, loading dock, view to the southwest.
6 of 24, rear elevation, view to the southwest.
7 of 24, interior of front entrance, view to the south.
8 of 24, foundation at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.
9 of 24, door from the stairs to the basement, view to southwest.
10 of 24, basement, view to the north.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11 of 24, basement, east elevation showing brick infill window, view to the east.
12 of 24, basement, double-leaf, wood door on the west elevation, view to the west.
13 of 24, stairs to first floor from front entrance.
14 of 24, first floor, Kerschbamer office.
15 of 24, first floor, view to the north.
16 of 24, second floor, view to the north.
17 of 24, third floor, entrance and bathrooms, view to the southwest.
18 of 24, third floor, south elevation, view to the south.
19 of 24, third floor, east elevation with steps to fire escape, view to the northeast.
20 of 24, third floor, freight elevator, view to the northeast.
21 of 24, fourth floor entrance, view to the southwest.
22 of 24, fourth floor, north elevation, view to the north.
23 of 24, fourth floor, east and north elevations, view to the north.
24 of 24, fourth floor, bathrooms, view to the southwest.
Historic Images Log
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City
Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 26
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TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
County Boundaries
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 11/12/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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Photo Locations
A Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
(contributing)
The City of
Lynchburg, VA
Legend
Addresses
Street Labels
Legal Lot Lines
Vacated Right of Way
Parcels
Owner Undetermined
Survey Gap
Assessed By County
TAX PARCEL MAP
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
01057008
Historic Boundary
6/9/2020
DISCLAIMER:This drawing is neither a legally recorded map nor a survey and is not intended to be used as such. The information displayed is a compilation of records,information, and data obtained from various
sources, and the City of Lynchburg is not responsible for its accuracy or how current it may be.
Historic Boundary
NRHP Listed: 2/18/2021
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This fonn is for use m nominating or requesting deterrmnations for md1v1dual properties and d1stncts. See mstrucuons m National Register
Bulletm, Hou to Complete the Natio11at Register of Historic Places Registration Form . If any item does not apply to the property being
documented. enter "NfA · for "not applicable " For functions , architectural class1f1cat1on, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the mstruct ions.
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
Other names/site numb~r: 12th Street Industrial Building; VDHR ID 118-0103
Name of related multiple property listing:
NI A
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 170 I 12th Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State:
VA
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:
EJ
County: Independent City
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _x__ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property __x_ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
_B
...x_c
...X_Iocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
l
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
______0_______
sites
_____0________
______0_______
structures
_____0________
______0_______
objects
_____1________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION/Manufacturing facility
Vacant/Not In Use____
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style: Contemporary Industrial Style
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK; STONE: Granite
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street stands at the
southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street in the City of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Constructed in 1906, the DeWitt-Wharton Building is a four-story, masonry building
composed of brick that rests on a stone basement. A gravel parking lot is visible to the west of
the main building and the loading dock is found on the north (rear) elevation. The building was
initially constructed to serve as a manufacturing facility for textile products, and it served in this
capacity into the 1980s. The history of the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
reflects the manufacturing and industrial boom in the City of Lynchburg during the twentieth
century. None of the original machinery associated with textile production remains; however, the
interior of the building remains undivided with the exception of a small office on the first floor,
and bathrooms in the basement, first, third, and fourth floors. Further, original radiators are
visible on the walls of the third and fourth floors, as well as the original freight elevator. The
DeWitt-Wharton Building was designed by premier Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye and is
a significant departure from his typical residential and Victorian-inspired designs. The DeWittWharton Manufacturing Company Building retains a high level of integrity in location, setting,
design, feeling, association, workmanship, and materials. The period of significance for the
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906 with the construction of the
building, and ends in 1965, marking the end of work clothing production in the building and the
transition to the manufacturing of women’s clothing.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building stands at 1701 12th Street, the southeast
corner of the intersection of 12th Street and Buchanan Street, bounded by Buchanan Street to the
east with the façade of the building facing 12th Street. The buildings in the vicinity of the DewittWharton Building are a mix of commercial businesses and residential dwellings. A small,
narrow, gravel parking lot is located to the west of the building. The area to the north of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building has a small, concrete driveway off Buchanan Street providing access
to the loading dock on the north elevation. A poured, concrete sidewalk runs along the south and
east perimeters of the property boundary.
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is adjacent to two previously identified
historic districts. The College Hill Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0226) is a district comprised
primarily of residential structures with boundaries beginning at Buchanan Street and then trend
to the east. The College Hill Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register
of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1994; however, it has not been formally listed. The Diamond Hill
Historic District (VDHR No. 118-0225) is a large, residential district officially listed on the
NRHP in 1979. The Diamond Hill Historic District begins at 12th Street and then trends to the
south.
Integrity Analysis
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building maintains its integrity of location; the
building has not been moved from its original location at the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The setting and feeling of the building have been slightly altered by the
construction of commercial buildings in the area that date from the 1920s through to the midtwentieth century. However, these newer commercial buildings are in scale with the DewittWharton Building and reflect the industrial growth of the City of Lynchburg. Further, the
Dewitt-Wharton Building retains sufficient integrity of setting and feeling as demonstrated by
the presence of the Diamond Hill Historic District and the College Hill Historic District, both of
which are contiguous to the building property. The design, workmanship, and materials remain
intact though the building has been altered by brick infill visible in the basement windows and
one entrance on the façade, as well as some missing window sash on the 4th floor of the building.
A modern loading dock is visible on the north (rear) elevation of the building which reflects the
continuous use of the building for manufacturing. Other decorative elements do remain including
the brackets along the cornice, the brick arches over the windows and entrances, and a narrow,
metal, fire escape on the east elevation. The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Building retains a
high level of integrity with open spaces supported by large, wood posts, original wood flooring,
and radiators. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has integrity of
association. Sanborn maps indicate that a one-story, brick boiler room building sat to the west of
the main building where the current gravel parking lot sits (Figure 5). However, the removal of
the boiler room did not result in any significant alterations to the design of the building.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Exterior Description
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a four-story brick building measuring
forty feet wide and 100 feet long with decorative brickwork and a granite foundation, resulting in
an impressive edifice. The decorative elements on the exterior of the building demonstrates the
practice of the Contemporary Industrial style of reserving stylistic details for the exterior of the
building. The brick is laid in five-course American Bond, composed of smooth manufactured
bricks, held in place by flush, beige, concrete mortar. In some places, the header-course intervals
are inconsistent on the building, particularly in areas where entrances and windows have been
replaced with modern, brick infill. The bricks are red-brown in color except for the bricks that
comprise the parapet, those are browner in color, an interesting stylistic detail that demonstrates
how the manipulation of natural materials results in unique design. In addition, the use of brick
creates a fireproof building, reflecting a popular trend of the early 20th century. Portions of the
brick are discolored because previous occupants painted company names on the building, the
most visible being the faded name of Cones’ Boss Work Clothing over the east entrance on the
façade. The faded painted names of previous occupants speaks to the industrial history of the
Dewitt-Wharton Building.
The building rests on a foundation composed of coursed, rusticated granite, providing a bold
contrast to the natural brick above. The foundation is not visible on the façade with the exception
of the southeast corner where it consists of three courses, and the foundation of the east elevation
is three courses high beginning at the southeast corner and then tapers toward the north (rear)
elevation of the building. No portion of the foundation is visible along the north (rear) elevation,
while the west elevation has four visible courses of stone. The difference in visible foundation is
likely due to the hilly nature of the topography of the City of Lynchburg. The façade of the
building fronts 12th Street and consists of two entrances; however, the east entrance is infilled
with brick and no longer used. The west entrance on the façade consists of double-leaf, metal
doors, capped with a fixed light transom. The façade is typified by fenestration composed of
wood, double-hung sash windows with 12-over-12 lights. The windows are capped with solid,
narrow, wood, arched lintels and distinctive brick arches consisting of three rows of stacked,
brick headers. The windows on the west side of the façade are off center from the other
windows. These windows are on the same end of the building as the stairs and the windows flood
the stairwell with natural light. The windows for the basement are infilled with brick.
The west and east elevations of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building are
typified by rows of symmetrical windows identical to those found on the façade, demonstrating
that stylistic details were not limited to just the façade. Three windows on the first floor and all
basement windows of the west elevation are infilled with brick. The windows on the fourth floor
have straight, narrow lintels and no brick arches, giving the windows the appearance of being
shorter than the windows of the first three floors. A modern ventilation system consisting of
large metal canisters and pipes rests on an elevated concrete pad and a square, green air handler
is visible to the northern end of the elevation on the west side, the previous location of the boiler
room. The removal of the boiler room left no scars on the west elevation as all windows and
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brickwork appear intact. The east elevation has all basement windows infilled with brick, and a
simple, narrow, metal fire escape runs diagonally from the fourth floor to the ground. The
elevator shaft sits in the northeast corner of the east elevation and contains three, four-over-four,
wood windows with a double-hung sash. Both east and west elevations have Italianate,
decorative brackets along the cornice.
The rear elevation has a modern loading dock that was installed in 2005 and consists of a raised
concrete pad with a metal, roll-up door. The windows are similar to those found on the other
elevations with the exception of those on the first and second floors which are covered with
metal blinds. The basement window apertures are infilled with brick. The building is capped with
a metal, low-pitch gable roof. The roof line is concealed by a stepped, brick parapet with copper
parapet caps.
Interior Description
The interior of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects a principal
precept of the Contemporary Industrial style with its large open space that places function over
design. The basement of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building consists of
undivided open space with large, wood, rectangular beams supported by eleven round posts. The
ceiling of the basement is lined with various utilities including pipes, metal sheet ductwork, and
electric conduit. The floor is composed of poured concrete and the ceiling is covered with
narrow-gauge wood. The stone foundation wall varies in height relative to the topography of the
property. The foundation wall is approximately five-and-a-half feet tall on the east elevation,
three feet on the north and west elevations, and one foot on the south elevation. The visible
granite stones provide a contrast to the utilitarian poured concrete floors. The elevator is located
in the northeast corner and has a modern metal door. On the west elevation is a double-leaf wood
door composed of vertical boards. In the southwest corner of the basement is a small bathroom
and a heavy, metal door with metal hinges that leads to the stairs. The door opens through a
system of weights and chains which are necessary due to the size and weight of the door. These
metal doors, which may be found on all floors and provide access to the stairs, are another
element of fireproof design. The stairs for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building are located in the southwest corner. The wood stairs, railing, and balustrade are modern.
Each flight contains ten steps and is separated by concrete landings.
The first floor of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building houses the workspace
for Kerschbamer Woodworking, so a majority of the floor space is occupied by their equipment.
However, the layout of the floor is the same: a large, rectangular space with large wood beams
supported by eleven round posts that run down the center of the room. The floor is covered in
narrow-gauge wood flooring and the walls are of exposed brick. The ceiling is also covered in
wood boards with metal conduit housing the electrical wiring and a modern fire suppression
system. A small office composed of plywood and a bathroom are located toward the southwest
corner of the first floor appear to be modern additions. The freight elevator is in the northeast
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
corner and retains its original metal door with metal hinges and latch. Behind the metal door is
the metal cage that encases the elevator platform.
The second, third, and fourth floors are similar to the basement and first floors with large beams
supported by round columns that run the length of the room, again reflecting the functional
nature of the building’s interior. Some columns have notches cut out perhaps to hold the long
tables of the cutting room. The walls are plain brick and the floors and ceilings are composed of
narrow-gauge wood with the same conduit and fire suppression systems found on the first floor
and basement. The exposed brick walls are a characteristic of the Contemporary Industrial style,
saving design for the exterior and focusing on function and use for the interior. The third and
fourth floors have yellow lines painted on the floors, perhaps to dictate movement of people or
materials around the equipment that was once present in the building. The freight elevator is in
the northeast corner with the original metal door and metal cage that surrounds the elevator
platform. The windows on the east and west elevations flood the rooms with natural light,
facilitating the use of the floors as functional space. Large, heavy, metal doors with the same
chain and weight pulley system found in the basement and first floors, provide access to the
room from the stairs. A set of simple, modern, wood steps provide access to the fire escape
through one of the windows on the east elevation. The third and fourth floors contain restrooms
both with transoms composed of fixed, four lights and sheathed in narrow, vertical, beaded
siding. The restroom on the third floor has three stalls, with swinging wood doors of beaded,
vertical boards. The restroom on the fourth floor has two stalls with swinging, louvered wood
doors. There is a separate restroom to the right of the main restroom that is accessed by a singleleaf, double-paneled wood door, also capped with a four-light transom. The single restroom may
have been reserved for managers. The restrooms on the third and fourth floors have elaborately
decorated metal radiators, a great contrast to the plain, black radiator pipes that run along the
walls beneath the windows in the primary workspace.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_INDUSTRY___________
_ARCHITECTURE________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1906-1965__________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward G./Architect
C.W. Hancock and Sons/Builder
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street in Lynchburg,
Virginia, is a brick building located at the southeast corner of the intersection of 12th Street and
Buchanan Street. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Industry. The building reflects the rise of the textile industry in the City of Lynchburg in
the early-20th century. The Dewitt-Wharton is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a good example of a Contemporary Industrial style building. The building is also
locally significant under Criterion C for the architect, Edward G. Frye, a prolific architect in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is an interesting departure for Frye both in
style as well as building type. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building retains
integrity due to the minimal amount of alterations to the building and its continuous use as a
manufacturing facility. The Dewitt-Wharton Building was home to numerous textile
manufacturing companies during the 20th century, including the DeWitt-Wharton Company,
Jobbers Overall Company, N&W Overall Company, C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing
Company, and Virginia Sportswear. Further, the setting of the building has changed little during
the 20th century. Though the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building has been altered
in its 114-year history, it still possesses integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. The
period of significance for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building begins in 1906
with the construction of the building. The period of significance ends in 1965, when work
clothing manufacturing ceased in the building.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Industry
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building at 1701 12th Street is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Industry. The City of Lynchburg embraced new manufacturing
beginning in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Prior to textile manufacturing, industry in the
City of Lynchburg focused primarily on tobacco and iron.1 New industries included cotton mills,
hosiery mills, shoe companies, and clothing production. Mills and other industries in the City of
Lynchburg contributed to the economic vitality of the City after the Civil War. Lynchburg
recovered quickly after the end of the Civil War due to a sound transportation network and the
textile industry.2 Companies like the Lynchburg Cotton Mills Company and the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills, both founded in 1919, are examples of the early textile industry in the City of
Lynchburg. The growth of textile manufacturing, specifically in the area of work clothing, grew
John V. Horner and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds, The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936, (Lynchburg: The
Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936), 129.
2 News Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia, September 4, 2016.
1
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
considerably in Lynchburg in the 20th century.3 In fact, “by 1950 there were ten garment
factories in Lynchburg making overalls, shirts, and ladies’ and children’s clothing.”4The DewittWharton Manufacturing Company Building reflects the textile industry of the City of Lynchburg
during the 20th century, specifically in the area of work clothing manufacturing. The DewittWharton Building was home to numerous textile manufacturers from its construction until the
1980s. Prominent textile companies include DeWitt-Wharton Company, Jobbers Overall
Company, N&W Overall Company, and C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company. These
companies reflect the growth of textile manufacturing in the City of Lynchburg during the 20th
century.5
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company hired renowned Lynchburg architect Edward G.
Frye to design the headquarters for their new shirt manufacturing company. C.W. Hancock and
Son Builders completed the construction of the new building in 1907 for a cost of $13,000.6 In
1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company opened its doors at 1701-1703 12th Street in
a new building. Incorporated in 1907, the DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company specialized
in shirt manufacturing with Clinton DeWitt serving as president, E.M. Wharton vice-president,
and Clinton DeWitt secretary, treasurer, and general manager. The Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building remained the home of DeWitt-Wharton until 1912.7
In 1913, the new tenant in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building was the
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. The Jobbers Overall Company received its charter from the City
of Lynchburg on September 21, 1911.8 The Jobbers Overall Company was originally called the
Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company; however, in 1911 the company removed the word
manufacturing from its name. The company created tremendous anticipation prior to its opening
by taking out a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory in 1912.9 The full-page
advertisement featured a photo of the Dewitt-Wharton Building at the top, center of the page.10
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1972), 219222.
4 James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986, (Lynchburg: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004), 258.
5 Scruggs, pp 219-222.
6 City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
7 City of Lynchburg City Directory 1907-1912, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
8 City of Lynchburg Business Charters
9 Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination, (Richmond: Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, 2008).
10 Ibid.
3
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Jobbers Overall Company, under the direction of Alfred C. Barrow, was so successful it was
running double-page advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post. The company dominated the
work clothing market manufacturing overalls until the end of World War I.11 The Jobbers
Overall Company remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Building until 1919, at which time the
company moved from the Dewitt-Wharton Building to a complex of buildings on Kemper Street.
The new facility was much larger than the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
and consisted of a main plant, dormitory, and suspender factory. The complex of buildings is
currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Kemper Street Industrial
Historic District.12
In 1919, a new work garment manufacturer moved into the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building. The N&W Overall Company received its business charter on April 14, 1917;
however, it took two years for the new company to move into the building. This may be due to
the fact that the Jobbers Overall Company was in the process of moving into its new facility on
Kemper Street.13 N&W Overall Company, Incorporated was led by L.W. Turner, H.C. Barrow,
and A.C. Barrow. The company began manufacturing overalls after the end of World War I. The
N&W Overall Company was so successful that the company eventually opened a branch plant in
Jackson, Mississippi.14 By 1935, the N&W Overall Company no longer operated out of the
Dewitt-Wharton.15
In 1935, the C.B. Cones and Sons Manufacturing Company moved into the Dewitt-Wharton
Manufacturing Company Building and would continue to occupy the building until 1964.16
Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the C.B. Cones and Sons Company made overalls,
coats, and unlaundered work shirts. In the 1930s, the Company made the decision to expand its
manufacturing facilities and opened a factory in Lynchburg.17 The C.B. Cones and Sons
Manufacturing Company utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building for
almost 30 years.
The manufacturing conducted within the Dewitt-Wharton Building was divided by specific tasks
and often located on separate floors. A Jobbers Overall Company publication commemorating
the anniversary of the company in the City of Lynchburg contains photographs demonstrating
this division of work, with each floor focused on a particular manufacturing task. For example,
the raw stock necessary for production is located on one floor, more than likely the bottom floor
where the loading dock is found. The raw stock area consisted of large shelves with massive
bolts of cloth. The next floor is the cutting room containing tables that run the entire length of the
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Scruggs, 219-222.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination
City of Lynchburg Business Charters
Horner and Winfree, (eds.), p 130.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1935-1964, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
room. The cut cloth would then move to the stitching or sewing room. The photograph from the
Jobbers Overall publication shows a massive room tightly packed with women at sewing
machines. Once complete, the clothing would then move to a finished stock room. The large
freight elevator within the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building obviously
facilitated the movement of materials between the floors.18
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
The United States Federal Census provides a snapshot of the employees of the different
companies that occupied the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building through the
years. The companies employed only white men and women, with the various tasks divided
amongst the two. The 1910 Federal Census sporadically provides information concerning the
specific tasks that the employees completed with the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company.
Individuals are identified as either working in a factory, but often specific job titles are limited to
the term laborer. Some exceptions are Carlile Hawkins, a 17-year old, white male who worked as
18
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company.com, accessed 31 July 2020.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
a driver for the Shirt Factory and Emma Barker, a 22-year old, white woman who was a
seamstress. 19
However, the 1920 Federal Census provides more information about the workers within the
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building. The tasks of draftsman and cutter were
relegated to men, while women were stitchers. Nora Cash and Annie Apperson were both white
females who worked as stitchers in the Overall Factory. Mary Walker, also a white female, was a
floor manager, probably for the stitchers. Edward Fisher, a white male, worked as a cutter. All of
the individuals identified as employees who worked for the N&W Overall Company at the
Dewitt-Wharton Building were from Virginia. This trend is evident in the 1930 Federal Census
as well.20
The workforce of C.B Cones and Son Manufacturing Company is consistent with its
predecessors; however, the 1940 Federal Census provides income information as well. For
example, Charles Cumby, an 18-year old male, worked as a floor boy and in 1939 he worked 40
weeks and made $400.00. Anna White, a 58-year old woman who was a machine operator
worked 26 weeks with an income of $390.00, demonstrating that skilled labor was valued and
compensated.21 As mentioned previously, the C.B. Cones and Son Manufacturing Company
utilized the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building when it expanded its operations
in the 1930s. John Niehaus was a cutter for C.B. Cones and moved to Lynchburg from
Indianapolis, Indiana, with his family to work in the Dewitt-Wharton Building. Niehaus’ stay
was not a lengthy one, probably to train workers, and he soon returned to Indianapolis.22
19
20
21
22
United States Federal Census, 1910.
United States Federal Census, 1920 and 1930.
United States Federal Census, 1940.
www.indianaties.com, accessed 10 April 2020
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Starting in 1965, the new occupants of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
manufactured women’s clothing. From 1965 to 1975 the City of Lynchburg City Directory
identifies the occupant only as “women’s clothing.” In 1976, the occupant of the DewittWharton Building was Virginia Sportswear, Inc., also a manufacturer of women’s clothing.
Virginia Sportswear, Inc. remained in the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
until 1986. After Virginia Sportswear, Inc. left, Haywood-Male, Incorporated moved into the
building. The company remained there for only a year and was identified as a clothing
manufacturer.23
Over the following decades, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building remained
vacant or had short-term tenants. The building was vacant in 1987; however, in 1988 the Sun
Cab Company occupied the space. It was then vacant again from 1989 through 1990, until the
Sand Bar Dress Company moved in during 1991. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building is identified as vacant from 1992 through 1998, when the Lynchburg Auto Parts
company used the space in 1999. Currently, Kerschbamer Woodworking occupies the basement
and first floors of the building. The second through fourth floors are either empty or used for
storage by Kerschbamer.24
23
24
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999, (Richmond: Hill Directory Company).
Ibid.
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Criterion C: Architecture
The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is eligible for the National Register
under Criterion C as a good example of a brick, Contemporary Industrial style building.
Elements of the Contemporary Industrial style include the low-pitch gable roof, the ribbons of
windows and use of natural materials. Further, it is the emphasis on making the interior
functional and reserving decorative details for the exterior of the building that makes it a prime
example of this design type.25 The symmetrical fenestration, brick segmental arches over the
windows, and decorative brackets still visible on the east and west elevations exemplify some of
the more stylized characteristics of the building, typical for a Contemporary Industrial style
building. While the interior consists primarily of the large, open spaces needed for the function
of an industrial facility; the exterior possesses keener attention to detail with a greater focus on
conveying style over simple function. In addition, the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building possesses significant integrity of design, workmanship, and materials. Though the
basement windows are in-filled with brick, and many window sash on the remaining floors are
damaged, the original layout and design is readily apparent. The east entrance on the façade has
also been filled in, but much like the basement windows, this in-fill may be removed.
The high level of design detail results from the work of local, premier Lynchburg architect
Edward Graham Frye. Frye is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century
in Lynchburg, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth.26 Born in Bristol, Tennessee, in
1870, Frye majored in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Upon completion of his degree,
Frye began work as an apprentice in an architecture office in the City of Norfolk. Frye came to
Lynchburg in 1890 and the town quickly became familiar with his talent and style. Frye’s style
was considered eclectic, often incorporating elements of Romanesque, Queen Anne, Shingle,
Neoclassical, as well as other popular styles at the time.27
Frye’s early work in Lynchburg focused primarily on churches and impressive residential
dwellings. He designed three new churches and remodeled two others in Lynchburg; all designs
adhered primarily to the Romanesque style. These include the remodeling of the 1860 Centenary
Methodist Church and the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Three new churches were the 8th Street
Baptist Church, 1st Presbyterian Church, and the Court Street Methodist Church.28 A majority of
Frye’s residential dwellings were of the Queen Anne design with elaborate facades and simple
rear elevations. Examples include the Frank P. Christian House and George P. Watkins House,
both on Madison Street in Lynchburg, as well as a modest dwelling for himself. The Craddock
House completed in the Romanesque style was one of the more elaborate dwellings Frye
designed.29
25
26
27
28
29
Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017), 629-632.
Allen S. Chambers Jr., Lynchburg: An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: UVA Press, 1981), 357.
Ibid., p. 315-317.
Ibid., p. 330.
Ibid., p. 333-337.
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1900, Frye joined with Aubrey Chesterman to form the firm Frye and Chesterman.
Chesterman, a native of Richmond, Virginia, preferred the Colonial Revival style for his
buildings. The firm of Frye and Chesterman designed a wide variety of residential and municipal
buildings, many of these reflect a combination of the styles of the two men, though the Georgian
Revival style dominated their designs. Frye and Chesterman designed numerous houses on
prestigious Rivermont Avenue in the City of Lynchburg. The firm of Frye and Chesterman has
an impressive and exhaustive list of buildings designed in and around the Lynchburg area;
however, there are no examples of industrial buildings.30 The City of Lynchburg Land Valuation
Card identifies only Edward Frye as the architect for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building.31 By 1906, the two men had worked together for at least six years. The firm
of Frye and Chesterman ceased operations in Lynchburg in 1913, when the firm moved to
Roanoke, Virginia.32
The style of the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building is a departure for Frye, and a
unique example of his work in the City of Lynchburg. Frye’s preference for the detailed
Romanesque style, as described above, is absent in the Dewitt-Wharton Building with the
exception of the rusticated granite present on the foundation. His willingness to embrace the
function-over-design tenet of the Contemporary Industrial style is interesting considering his
professional success employing more elaborate designs. The Dewitt-Wharton Building is the
only industrial building designed by Frye in Virginia and therefore a unique example of his work
in both building type and style.
30
31
32
Chambers, pp.357-359.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card
The American Architect, (New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913), 5.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
The American Architect. New York: J.R. Osgood & Company, 1913.
Chambers, Allen S., Jr. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: UVA Press,
1981.
City of Lynchburg Business Charters, 1870-1983. Available Library of Virginia. Richmond,
Virginia.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1907-1912. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1919-1934. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg City Directory, 1965-1999. Richmond: Hill Directory Company.
City of Lynchburg Land Valuation Card. Available City of Lynchburg Circuit Court.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg:
Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Horner, John V. and P.B. Winfree, Jr, eds. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1936.
Lynchburg: The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, 1936.
Indianaties.com. Accessed 10 April 2020.
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District National Register Nomination. Richmond: Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 2008.
Lynchburg News Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia. September 4, 2016.
lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/Jobbers-Overall-Company. Accessed 31 July 2020.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2017.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company,
Inc., 1972.
United States Federal Census for years 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_______
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _VDHR No.: 118-0103__
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property __0.214 acres______
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.404858
Longitude: 79.154444
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building coincides with the
lot lines of City of Lynchburg tax parcel 01057008. The Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building is bounded by 12th Street to the south, Buchanan Street to the east, and
property boundaries to the west and north. The true and correct historic boundary is shown
on the attached Tax Parcel Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries for the Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building encompass the
building and gravel parking lot. There are no outbuildings associated with the property. The
boundaries coincide with the current tax parcel, thus encompassing the historic setting and all
known historic resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Sarah M. Clarke/Senior Architectural Historian
organization: _____Hurt & Proffitt
street & number: __2524 Langhorne Road #1602____
city or town: _Lynchburg____ state: ____VA____ zip code:_24501_____
e-mail: __clarke1201@gmail.com____
telephone:__804-347-5825__________
date: ___May 20, 2020____________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: City of Lynchburg
State: VA
Photographer: Sarah M. Clarke
Date Photographed: January 31, 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 24, façade and west elevation, and parking lot, view to the northeast.
2 of 24, façade, close up Cones’ Boss painted sign, view to the north.
3 of 24, façade and east elevation, view to the northwest.
4 of 24, east elevation, view to the west.
5 of 24, rear elevation, loading dock, view to the southwest.
6 of 24, rear elevation, view to the southwest.
7 of 24, interior of front entrance, view to the south.
8 of 24, foundation at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.
9 of 24, door from the stairs to the basement, view to southwest.
10 of 24, basement, view to the north.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
11 of 24, basement, east elevation showing brick infill window, view to the east.
12 of 24, basement, double-leaf, wood door on the west elevation, view to the west.
13 of 24, stairs to first floor from front entrance.
14 of 24, first floor, Kerschbamer office.
15 of 24, first floor, view to the north.
16 of 24, second floor, view to the north.
17 of 24, third floor, entrance and bathrooms, view to the southwest.
18 of 24, third floor, south elevation, view to the south.
19 of 24, third floor, east elevation with steps to fire escape, view to the northeast.
20 of 24, third floor, freight elevator, view to the northeast.
21 of 24, fourth floor entrance, view to the southwest.
22 of 24, fourth floor, north elevation, view to the north.
23 of 24, fourth floor, east and north elevations, view to the north.
24 of 24, fourth floor, bathrooms, view to the southwest.
Historic Images Log
Figure 1. Jobbers Overall Company Advertisement from 1912 City of Lynchburg City
Directory
Figure 2. Detail of Jobbers Overall Company from 1912 City of Lynchburg City Directory
Figure 3. Jobbers Overall Sewing Room, undated photo
Figure 4. John Niehaus (center) in front of the Dewitt-Wharton Building, undated photo
Figure 5. 1955 Sanborn Map, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
DeWitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company
Building
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 26
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
County Boundaries
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 11/12/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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Photo Locations
A Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing Company Building
(contributing)
The City of
Lynchburg, VA
Legend
Addresses
Street Labels
Legal Lot Lines
Vacated Right of Way
Parcels
Owner Undetermined
Survey Gap
Assessed By County
TAX PARCEL MAP
Dewitt-Wharton Manufacturing
Company Building
Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0103
01057008
Historic Boundary
6/9/2020
DISCLAIMER:This drawing is neither a legally recorded map nor a survey and is not intended to be used as such. The information displayed is a compilation of records,information, and data obtained from various
sources, and the City of Lynchburg is not responsible for its accuracy or how current it may be.
Historic Boundary
Text
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Type aft entrfes-complete applicable sections
(DHL FILE #118-110)
-ALLIED ARTS B U I L D I N G
histotic
-,
NJA
and or common
--
street & number
-
-
7 2 5 c h u r c.h S t r e e t
Virginia
state
code
Ownership
-pu bl Ic
building(s1
private
-structure
.- both
- site
Public Acquisition
.
object
,
inprocess
--- being considered
-
QA- not for
--.---
51
(in city)
county
Status
occupied
- unoccupied
- work in progress
Category
-- yes: restricted
N/ A
-X.
yes: unrestricted
-
no
680
-museum
-park
-prlvate residence
-religious
-sekentific
-transportation
-other:
X
Accessible
publication
code
Present Y se
-agricurture
commercial
-educational
-.,
entertainment
-- government
-industrial
X
-. district
name
-
-military
M r . B.C. Baldwin, J r . , E x e c u t o r
street & number
P.O.
Box 958
L y n c l ~ b rq
u
city, towr:
N/A
-.,
vccinity of
V i rgi n i a
state
24505
5. Bocattisga of! begas Description
C1 erk I S
courthouse,
registry of deeds, ete.
- -.
.
o f f ice,
- \
--
street & number
d
a te
-
N/A
.
--
--
-.
.-
V i r g i n i a 24505
state
None t o d a t e
depository
lor survcy records
-
-
---
-
Lynchburg
cltv, town
title
-------*--
900 Court Street
Lynchburg
Ci- ty Courthouse
----
-.
--
--
has this property been determined
eligible?
- -
--
N/$
-..-
NIP.
-~
-
.
.-
--
-
-
federal
-
state
-.. .-
-
.
yes
- - county
--
-
- --
X- no
.-
local
_--
.-_
Condition
excellent
-good
-fair
deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
. J unaltered
altered
p~
Check one
) ( original site
moved
date
~
-
~
N/A
-
~
~.~
p
~
~
~
Describe t h e present a n d original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s a s t e e l - f r a m e d s t r u c t u r e , f a c e d w i t h y e l l o w b r i c k and
greenstone, r i s i n g seventeen s t o r i e s above a m a j o r s t r e e t i n t e r s e c t i o n i n downtown Lynchburg.
The m a i n f a c a d e , o n l y 4 0 ' wide, i s on Church S t r e e t , w h i l e t h e s i d e e l e v a t i o n s
e x t e n d back 1 3 2 ' i n t o t h e s t e e p h i l l s i d e between Church and C o u r t s t r e e t s .
A superb
example o f A r t Deco d e s i g n , i t has been one o f t h e c i t y ' s m a j o r landmarks e v e r s i n c e i t
was completed i n 1931, and s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y unchanged.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
W h i l e t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g r e a d s as a c o m p l e t e l y u n i f i e d o v e r a l l c o m p o s i t i o n ,
s u b t l e d e s i g n f e a t u r e s and t h e f a c i n g m a t e r i a l s combine t o c r e a t e t h e f a m i l i a r base,
s h a f t , and c a p i t a l so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e t a l l b u i l d i n g e t h i c o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
On t h e m a i n f a c a d e on Church S t r e e t , t h e f i r s t t h r e e s t o r i e s o f t h e 4 0 ' f r o n t a g e a r e
f a c e d e n t i r e l y i n g r e e n s t o n e , c r e a t i n g an e f f e c t i v e v i s u a l base f o r t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s
above.
The main e n t r a n c e , c e n t e r e d i n t h e facade, i s two s t o r i e s h i g h , and c o n t a i n s
d o u b l e d o o r s a t t h e e n t r a n c e l e v e l and a b u r n i s h e d m e t a l g r i l l above. Below t h e g r i l l ,
which i s d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t y l i z e d A r t Deco m o t i f s , i s a g r e e n s t o n e s i l l w i t h t h e words
On e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e e n t r a n c e p o r t a l i s a s m a l l
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING c a r v e d i n i t .
shop, w i t h an e n t r a n c e o n t o Church S t r e e t . A t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l , on e i t h e r s i d e o f
t h e g r i l l , a r e p r o j e c t i n g o r i e l windows, l i g h t i n g t h e o f f i c e s w i t h i n .
The f a c i n g of
t h e s e two f i r s t f l o o r s c o n s i s t s o f l a r g e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s , h i g h l y p o l i s h e d , and l a i d i n
ashlar.
The t h i r d f l o o r o f t h e f a c a d e i s a l s o f a c e d i n g r e e n s t o n e , b u t h e r e more
e l a b o r a t e stonework i s employed t o t e r m i n a t e v i s u a l l y t h e base o f t h e s t r u c t u r e . A t t h i s
l e v e l , t h r e e p a i r s o f windows a r e s e p a r a t e d f r o m each o t h e r b y g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s e m b e l l i s h e d
w i t h i n c i s e d , w a v e l i k e l i n e s , w h i l e t h e windows a r e framed w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g r e e n s t o n e
p i e r s w h i c h c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r f e n e s t r a t i o n .
E l a b o r a t e l y carved
g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s t o p each window and a l s o c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r
windows, where t h e y a r e t e r m i n a t e d w i t h c a r v e d l i o n s ' heads.
The f e n e s t r a t i o n p a t t e r n e s t a b l i s h e d on t h e t h i r d f l o o r -- t h r e e p a i r s o f windows
s e p a r a t e d f r o m t h e c o r n e r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g and f r o m each o t h e r b y b r o a d w a l l segments and
each window w i t h i n a p a i r s e p a r a t e d b y a n a r r o w e r space -- c o n t i n u e s t h r o u g h t h e f o u r t h
t o the fifteenth floor.
Here, i n t h e o f f i c e s h a f t , t h e f a c i n g i s e n t i r e l y o f y e l l o w
b r i c k , u n i n t e r r u p t e d b y a n y h o r i z o n t a l bands.
T h i s s e r i e s o f a l t e r n a t i n g b r o a d and
n a r r o w p i e r s c r e a t e s t h e o v e r r i d i n g sense of v e r t i c a l i t y so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e s t y l e .
Windows a r e s l i g h t l y r e c e s s e d between t h e p i e r s , and t h e space between t h e windows i s
f a c e d w i t h p l a i n g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s . Above t h e f i f t e e n t h f l o o r , however, t h e s e g r e e n s t o n e
p a n e l s a r e d e c o r a t e d , and s e r v e t o announce t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e m a j o r o f f i c e s h a f t o f
the building.
The c a p i t a l o f t h e b u i l d i n g -- t h e s i x t e e n t h and s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r s -- i s housed
w i t h i n a s m a l l e r , r e c e s s e d a r e a , w i t h a n g l e d c o r n e r b a y s . Here t h e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s a r e
a l s o d e c o r a t e d , and t h e p i e r s a r e t r e a t e d as b u t t r e s s e s .
V i s u a l l y , these b u t t r e s s e s
appear t o s u p p o r t t h e a t t i c , w h i c h i s above t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r , and i s composed
e n t i r e l y o f g r e e n s t o n e . T h i s space, w h i c h houses t h e e l e v a t o r and r e t u r n a i r equipment,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Sianificance
Period
prehistoric
.
_
.
14OO-1499
1500-1 599
1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A r e a s of Significance-Check
archeology-prehistoric
archeology-historic
agriculture
X architecture
art
commerce
communications
-~
-
-
Specific d a t e s
~
.-
1929-31
~~~
a n d justify b e l o w
community planning
conservation
.
economics
education
.
engineering
.
exploration:settlement
industry
.
invention
~
-
~
~
Builde'?!rEhitect
~.
~~
landscape architecture
religion
law
science
literature
sculpture
military
social/
music
humanitarian
philosophy
- theater
politics government
-transportation
-. other (specify)
~
S t a n how
~
~~.-~
----
~
S . Joh.nson A A d d k o n .S-Laplle~~
S t a t e m e n t of S i g n i f i c a n c e ( i n o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s one o f V i r g i n i a ' s most i m p r e s s i v e e x p r e s s i o n s o f t h e A r t
Deco s k y s c r a p e r s t y l e o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
Designed b y Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s
Stanhope S. Johnson and Addison S t a p l e s , i t i s a s t e e l - f r a m e s t r u c t u r e c l a d i n a c o m b i n a t i o n
o f y e l l o w b r i c k and l o c a l l y q u a r r i e d g r e e n s t o n e . E f f e c t i v e c o m b i n a t i o n s o f t h e s e m a t e r i a l s
i n v a r y i n g p r o p o r t i o n s v i s u a l l y d i v i d e t h e b u i l d i n g i n t o t h r e e m a j o r components: base,
o f f i c e s h a f t , and c a p i t a l ; d i v i s i o n s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t a l l - b u i l d i n g d e s i g n o f t h e p e r i o d .
A l t h o u g h t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s no l o n g e r t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t s t r u c t u r e , as i t was
upon c o m p l e t i o n i n 1931, i t y e t commands a dominant p o s i t i o n on t h e downtown s k y l i n e of
Lynchburg and r e m a i n s a somewhat r a r e example f o r o t h e r w i s e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e
V i r g i n i a o f t h i s f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g mode.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
D u r i n g t h e 1920s, L y n c h b u r g was e x p e r i e n c i n g a p e r i o d marked b y g r o w t h and expansion.
A l t h o u g h v i s i b l e e v i d e n c e o f t h i s p r o s p e r o u s e r a i s s t i l l e v i d e n t i n t h e numerous p e r i o d s t y l e houses and c h u r c h e s b u i l t i n t h e o u t l y i n g r e s i d e n t i a l s e c t i o n s , perhaps t h e most
i m p r e s s i v e s i n g l e l o c a l monument t o t h e p r e - d e p r e s s i o n 1920s i s a downtown o f f i c e b u i l d i n g
-- t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . I n b o t h i t s s c a l e and a r c h i t e c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i t remains a
p e r f e c t e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s p i r i t o f t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was d e s i g n e d and b u i l t . Begun
a t t h e v e r y end o f t h e decade, t h e b u i l d i n g was completed as t h e f u l l e f f e c t s of t h e
d e p r e s s i o n were b e i n g f e l t .
I t s proud, a s s e r t i v e l i n e s and -- f o r L y n c h b u r g -- i t s
s o a r i n g h e i g h t , gave c o n f i d e n c e when i t was most needed.
A t t h e o u t s e t o f t h e decade, o f f i c e space i n t h e downtown a r e a was a t a premium, and
t h e newspapers o f t h e t i m e s announced s e v e r a l p l a n s t o e r e c t new b u i l d i n g s . As e a r l y as
1923, t h e Masons' Lodge had p l a n s t.0 e r e c t a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f i c e b u i l d i n g and l o d g e , w h i c h
was t o have r i s e n some t w e n t y s t o r i e s .
N o t h i n g came o f t h e s e o r o t h e r p r o p o s a l s ,
however, and i t was n o t u n t i l a group o f b u s i n e s s and community l e a d e r s formed t h e A l l i e d
A r t s C o r p o r a t i o n i n 1928 t h a t t h e s e s e v e r a l p l a n s c o a l e s c e d i n t o a r e a l i z a b l e e f f o r t .
The c o r p o r a t i o n p u r c h a s e d a 4 0 ' x 1 3 2 ' l o t a t t h e w e s t e r n c o r n e r o f E i g h t h and Church
s t r e e t s , a b l o c k and a h a l f f r o m t h e m a j o r downtown i n t e r s e c t i o n a t N i n t h and Main
s t r e e t s , and a b l o c k away f r o m t h e t h e n t a l l e s t b u i l d i n g i n t h e c i t y , t h e e l e v e n - s t o r y
P e o p l e ' s N a t i o n a l Bank B u i l d i n g , w h i c h had been c o m p l e t e d i n 1912 a t t h e c o r n e r o f E i g h t h
and Main.
F o r t h e d e s i g n o f t h e new b u i l d i n g , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n chose t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f
Johnson and Brannan, t h e n t h e l a r g e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m i n t h e c i t y .
Stanhope S.
Johnson, t h e f o u n d i n g member, was a L y n c h b u r g n a t i v e who had been i n p r a c t i c e s i n c e t h e
t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y , and b y t h e t i m e o f t h i s commission, was i n v o l v e d i n commissions n o t
o n l y i n V i r g i n i a , b u t t h r o u g h o u t t h e s o u t h . R.O. Brannan, who was w i t h Johnson f o r o n l y
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
9. ' ~ a j oBibliographical
r
References
A1 1 i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g - o r i g i n a l p l a n s , c o n t r a c t s . and s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ,
i n Lynchburg
Jones Memorial L i b r a r v . Lvnchburq.
V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e ~ r t s . A r c h i t e c t u r e i n v i F c j i n j a . ~ i c h m o n d : 1966.
S t a p l e s , Addison. I n t e r v i e w , March 1975.
.A. r c h i t~e c- t u
- r a
- l~Archive.
~
~
10. Geographical Data
Less than
~ ~ n c R b u VA
r~,
Quadrangle name
acre
One
Acreage of nominated pro erty
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
--
UTM References
16161 41 21310)
Easting
Zone
c
14i114i2121710)
Northing
Zone
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B e g i n n i n g a t a p o i n t on t h e W s i d e o f Church
S t . approx. 7 5 ' SSE o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f Church S t . w i t h 8 t h S t . ; thence e x t e n d i n g
SSE on W s i d e o f Church S t . f o r approx. 4 0 ' ; t h e n c e approx. 1 3 2 ' WSW; thence approx.
4 0 ' NNW; thence approx. 1.-3 2 ' ENE t o-p o i n t o f o r i 3 . k ..-fiee
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #2)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
-~
~~~
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
~.~~~
~-
N/A
code
code
~
state
N/A
nameltitle
code
count~
S. A l l e n Chambers, J r .
organization
.
N/A
street & number
.
~
~.date
.
~~
1237 3 1 s t S t r e e t , NW
.....
~
~-
Washington
city or town
1981
-
~~
telephone
-.
.
DC
state
20007
12. State Historic Preservatior?Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-_
national
x
-
state
~~
-..- local
~
~
.
-
As the designated State Historic Preservation Otfi
665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
. tirya n MitTfiH~lTJlTrem,,,, DIVISION
OF HISTORIC LANDMARKS
H
date
April 23, 1 9 8 5
For NPS use only
Ihereby certlfy that this property is included in the National Register
date
Keeper of
the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
,GFO a 9 4 . 7 s - 3
--
--
.
_
-,.
-
-
Y
-A
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L
.l.ll.-.
.
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.date
LL-.-..-O1*-i--l
-
NPS F l r m 10-9W.a
1482)
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
7 . DESCRIPTION -- A r c h i t e c t u r a l A n a l y s i s
Iternnumber
79
i s r e c e s s e d from t h e f l o o r below and i s e n c i r c l e d b y a n a r r o w e x t e r i o r walkway. A t t h e
c e n t e r o f t h e a t t i c f a c a d e i s a c a r v e d g r e e n s t o n e e a g l e w i t h wings o u t s t r e t c h e d .
This
seeming1 y s u p e r f l u o u s b i t o f d e c o r a t i o n i s h a r d l y n o t i c e a b l e f r o m below.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t i d e n t i c a l w i t h , t h e f a c a d e . Because o f
t h e s l o p e of t h e l o t , t h e g r e e n s t o n e base i s o n l y two s t o r i e s t a l l a t t h e r e a r . Above,
on t h e s e l o n g e r s i d e s , t h e r e a r e seven p a i r s o f windows, r a t h e r t h a n t h e t h r e e p a i r s
The r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e b u i l d i n g , c o n t a i n i n g two p a i r s o f windows,
n o t e d on t 9 e facade.
extends o n l y t o t h e t h i r t e e n t h f l o o r .
The p l a n o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r i s t h a t o f a b r o a d c e n t e r h a l l , o r l o b b y , w i t h d o o r s
opening i n t o shops on e i t h e r s i d e .
B e h i n d t h e shop on t h e r i g h t a r e t h e e l e v a t o r s .
Above, on t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s , a s i m i l a r arrangement e x i s t s , w i t h o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s and
a t each end o f t h e c e n t r a l e l e v a t o r c o r r i d o r .
The l o b b y on t h e ground f l o o r i s trimmed
i n greenstone, and t h e e l e v a t o r d o o r s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h a f a n c i f u l A r t Deco g r i l l o f
b u r n i s h e d m e t a l , i n w h i c h a r c h i t e c t Addison S t a p l e s s t a t e d t h a t he had a t t e m p t e d t o "show
t h e whole o f c r e a t i o n . " A t t h e base, s t y l i z e d waves a r e i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h s i l h o u e t t e s o f
f i s h ; i n t h e c e n t e r a r e c a t t a i l s , and o t h e r f o l i a g e .
Above a r e o u t l i n e s o f mountains,
w h i l e a t t h e t o p a r e geese f l y i n g i n t h e f a m i l i a r V f o r m a t i o n .
The f l o o r o f t h e l o b b y
was a l s o o r i g i n a l l y g r e e n s t o n e , b u t because o f t h e uneven s u r f a c e worn o v e r t h e years,
t h i s has r e c e n t l y been c a r p e t e d .
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e o r i g i n a l l i g h t i n g o f t h e l o b b y has
r e c e n t l y been augmented w i t h i n a p p r o p r i a t e b r a s s c h a n d e l i e r s . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l
o f t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s i s m i n i m a l , and w h i l e some o f t h e o f f i c e s have been e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h
l a t e r t r i m , g e n e r a l l y c o l o n i a l i n s t y l e , no m a j o r a l t e r a t i o n s t o e i t h e r t h e o r i g i n a l
d e c o r a t i o n o r p l a n have e v e r been made. Because o f t h e e x c e l l e n c e o f i t s d e s i g n and t h e
q u a l i t y o f i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y as i t d i d
upon c o m p l e t i o n f i f t y y e a r s ago.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
H i s t o r i c a l Background
s e v e r a l y e a r s , was p r i m a r i l y t h e o f f i c e manager. Most o f t h e l o c a l commissions w h i c h t h e
f i r m o b t a i n e d d u r i n g t h e 1920s were e n t r u s t e d t o Addison S t a p l e s , a member o f Johnson's
s t a f f , who had r e c e i v e d h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l t r a i n i n g a t P i t t s b u r g h ' s C a r n e g i e I n s t i t u t e of
Technology. As Johnson p l a n n e d t o r e l o c a t e h i s f i r m ' s o f f i c e i n t h e b u i l d i n g , he t o o k an
a c t i v e r o l e i n i t s p l a n n i n g , and i t i s t o b o t h Johnson and S t a p l e s t h a t c r e d i t s h o u l d go
f o r t h e design.
Most of Johnson's p r e v i o u s work on commercial and h o t e l s t r u c t u r e s i n
o t h e r c i t i e s had been v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e i n d e s i g n , and S t a p l e s had h e r e t o f o r e p r o v e n
h i m s e l f as a m a s t e r of G e o r g i a n and o t h e r p e r i o d d e s i g n s , b u t n e i t h e r had a t t e m p t e d an
essay i n t h e t h e n c u r r e n t A r t Deco manner.
S t a p l e s l a t e r f r e e l y c o n f e s s e d t h a t he and
Johnson drew much o f t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m p h o t o g r a p h s and d r a w i n g s o f l a r g e o f f i c e
b u i l d i n g s then appearing i n t h e various j o u r n a l s t o which t h e y subscribed.
C o n s t r u c t i o n c o n t r a c t s were awarded t o t h e L y n c h b u r g f i r m o f C.W. Hancock and Sons,
owned and o p e r a t e d b y t h e Hancock f a m i l y , who a l s o owned a g r e e n s t o n e q u a r r y i n Lynchburg.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0318
E l p . 10-31-84
1367)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING. LYNCHBURG. VA
Continuation sheet #2
8 . SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
Item number 8
9
lo
-
T h i s unusual s t o n e , o b t a i n e d f r o m a v e i n u n d e r l y i n g a p o r t i o n o f t h e w e s t e r n suburbs o f
Lynchburg, had been used f o r l o c a l b u i l d i n g s as e a r l y as t h e 1870s, b u t p r i m a r i l y f o r
decorative d e t a i l s .
Never b e f o r e had i t been used i n such p r o f u s i o n o r had i t been so
h i g h l y p o l i s h e d as i t would be i n t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . As t h e q u a r r y has s i n c e been
c l o s e d , t h e b u i l d i n g remains t h e b e s t example o f t h e use o f t h i s unusual l o c a l m a t e r i a l .
A c t i n g as an e f f e c t i v e c o n t r a s t t o t h e g r e e n s t o n e f a c i n g i s t h e u s e o f y e l l o w b r i c k as a
companion m a t e r i a l .
Upon c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e i n 1931, t h e f i r m o f Johnson and Brannan moved i n t o
t h e penthouse s u i t e on t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r . Soon a f t e r t h e i r move, t h e f i r m p u b l i s h e d
a handsome b o o k l e t i l l u s t r a t i n g many o f t h e i r commissions, r a n g i n g as f a r a f i e l d as t h e
C a r o l i n a s , West V i r g i n i a , and F l o r i d a .
The f r o n t i s p i e c e was a c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h o f t h e
A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , t h e o n l y s t r u c t u r e photographed i n c o l o r , demonstrating t h e p o s i t i o n
o f prominence t h e f i r m f e l t i t d e s e r v e d i n t h e c o r p u s o f t h e i r p r a c t i c e .
I n 1966, t h e V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e A r t s gave i t s s e a l o f a p p r o v a l i n showing t h e
b u i l d i n g as one o f o n l y two Lynchburg s t r u c t u r e s t o be i n c l u d e d i n i t s m a j o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e
e x h i b i t i o n and accompanying c a t a l o g e n t i t l e d A r c h i t e c t u r e i n V i r g i n i a .
Today, t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t i l l s e r v e s w e l l i n i t s o r i g i n a l l y i n t e n d e d purpose
as an o f f i c e b u i l d i n g .
Occupancy has been a t a c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h l e v e l , and many o f t h e
c i t y ' s l e a d i n g d o c t o r s , l a w y e r s , and b u s i n e s s f i r m s have t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s i n t h e b u i l d i n g .
Johnson c o n t i n u e d t o occupy t h e penthouse u n t i l t h e 19705, and a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m
now c o n t i n u e s t h e o r i g i n a l u s e o f t h a t space.
A f t e r J o h n s o n ' s d e a t h i n 1975, h i s
drawings were donated t o t h e Jones Memorial L i b r a r y i n Lynchburg, where t h e y form t h e
nucleus o f t h e Lynchburg A r c h i t e c t u r a l Archive.
Included w i t h i n t h a t c o l l e c t i o n i s
e x t e n s i v e d o c u m e n t a t i o n on t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , c o n s i s t i n g o f p r e l i m i n a r y s k e t c h e s ,
s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , w o r k i n g d r a w i n g s , and correspondence.
Although the A l l i e d Arts B u i l d i n g relinguished the t i t l e o f the c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
s t r u c t u r e t o a n o t h e r o f f i c e b u i l d i n g i n 1974, i t c o n t i n u e s a s one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t
eleniients i n t h e dowr~town s k y l i n e , as an o u t s t a n d i n g example o f i t s s t y l e , and as a
monument t o t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was b u i l t .
SAC
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o i n c l u d e t h e b u i l d i n g and t h e
c i t y l o t on w h i c h i t s t a n d s .
13.821
United States Department of the Interior
Nationalparksewice
V L ~ >@!A/..G;<;
h 1 > b ~ 3 8 1 2 / 1 9 k AFor5 NPS use only
National Registea of Historic
b~m%oay-Worninaai0191 Form
received
P!~C&
date e n t e r d
See instruction^ in H o w to Complete National Register Forms
Type aft entrfes-complete applicable sections
(DHL FILE #118-110)
-ALLIED ARTS B U I L D I N G
histotic
-,
NJA
and or common
--
street & number
-
-
7 2 5 c h u r c.h S t r e e t
Virginia
state
code
Ownership
-pu bl Ic
building(s1
private
-structure
.- both
- site
Public Acquisition
.
object
,
inprocess
--- being considered
-
QA- not for
--.---
51
(in city)
county
Status
occupied
- unoccupied
- work in progress
Category
-- yes: restricted
N/ A
-X.
yes: unrestricted
-
no
680
-museum
-park
-prlvate residence
-religious
-sekentific
-transportation
-other:
X
Accessible
publication
code
Present Y se
-agricurture
commercial
-educational
-.,
entertainment
-- government
-industrial
X
-. district
name
-
-military
M r . B.C. Baldwin, J r . , E x e c u t o r
street & number
P.O.
Box 958
L y n c l ~ b rq
u
city, towr:
N/A
-.,
vccinity of
V i rgi n i a
state
24505
5. Bocattisga of! begas Description
C1 erk I S
courthouse,
registry of deeds, ete.
- -.
.
o f f ice,
- \
--
street & number
d
a te
-
N/A
.
--
--
-.
.-
V i r g i n i a 24505
state
None t o d a t e
depository
lor survcy records
-
-
---
-
Lynchburg
cltv, town
title
-------*--
900 Court Street
Lynchburg
Ci- ty Courthouse
----
-.
--
--
has this property been determined
eligible?
- -
--
N/$
-..-
NIP.
-~
-
.
.-
--
-
-
federal
-
state
-.. .-
-
.
yes
- - county
--
-
- --
X- no
.-
local
_--
.-_
Condition
excellent
-good
-fair
deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
. J unaltered
altered
p~
Check one
) ( original site
moved
date
~
-
~
N/A
-
~
~.~
p
~
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Describe t h e present a n d original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s a s t e e l - f r a m e d s t r u c t u r e , f a c e d w i t h y e l l o w b r i c k and
greenstone, r i s i n g seventeen s t o r i e s above a m a j o r s t r e e t i n t e r s e c t i o n i n downtown Lynchburg.
The m a i n f a c a d e , o n l y 4 0 ' wide, i s on Church S t r e e t , w h i l e t h e s i d e e l e v a t i o n s
e x t e n d back 1 3 2 ' i n t o t h e s t e e p h i l l s i d e between Church and C o u r t s t r e e t s .
A superb
example o f A r t Deco d e s i g n , i t has been one o f t h e c i t y ' s m a j o r landmarks e v e r s i n c e i t
was completed i n 1931, and s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y unchanged.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
W h i l e t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g r e a d s as a c o m p l e t e l y u n i f i e d o v e r a l l c o m p o s i t i o n ,
s u b t l e d e s i g n f e a t u r e s and t h e f a c i n g m a t e r i a l s combine t o c r e a t e t h e f a m i l i a r base,
s h a f t , and c a p i t a l so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e t a l l b u i l d i n g e t h i c o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
On t h e m a i n f a c a d e on Church S t r e e t , t h e f i r s t t h r e e s t o r i e s o f t h e 4 0 ' f r o n t a g e a r e
f a c e d e n t i r e l y i n g r e e n s t o n e , c r e a t i n g an e f f e c t i v e v i s u a l base f o r t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s
above.
The main e n t r a n c e , c e n t e r e d i n t h e facade, i s two s t o r i e s h i g h , and c o n t a i n s
d o u b l e d o o r s a t t h e e n t r a n c e l e v e l and a b u r n i s h e d m e t a l g r i l l above. Below t h e g r i l l ,
which i s d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t y l i z e d A r t Deco m o t i f s , i s a g r e e n s t o n e s i l l w i t h t h e words
On e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e e n t r a n c e p o r t a l i s a s m a l l
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING c a r v e d i n i t .
shop, w i t h an e n t r a n c e o n t o Church S t r e e t . A t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l , on e i t h e r s i d e o f
t h e g r i l l , a r e p r o j e c t i n g o r i e l windows, l i g h t i n g t h e o f f i c e s w i t h i n .
The f a c i n g of
t h e s e two f i r s t f l o o r s c o n s i s t s o f l a r g e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s , h i g h l y p o l i s h e d , and l a i d i n
ashlar.
The t h i r d f l o o r o f t h e f a c a d e i s a l s o f a c e d i n g r e e n s t o n e , b u t h e r e more
e l a b o r a t e stonework i s employed t o t e r m i n a t e v i s u a l l y t h e base o f t h e s t r u c t u r e . A t t h i s
l e v e l , t h r e e p a i r s o f windows a r e s e p a r a t e d f r o m each o t h e r b y g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s e m b e l l i s h e d
w i t h i n c i s e d , w a v e l i k e l i n e s , w h i l e t h e windows a r e framed w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g r e e n s t o n e
p i e r s w h i c h c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r f e n e s t r a t i o n .
E l a b o r a t e l y carved
g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s t o p each window and a l s o c o n t i n u e t o t h e base o f t h e f o u r t h - f l o o r
windows, where t h e y a r e t e r m i n a t e d w i t h c a r v e d l i o n s ' heads.
The f e n e s t r a t i o n p a t t e r n e s t a b l i s h e d on t h e t h i r d f l o o r -- t h r e e p a i r s o f windows
s e p a r a t e d f r o m t h e c o r n e r s o f t h e b u i l d i n g and f r o m each o t h e r b y b r o a d w a l l segments and
each window w i t h i n a p a i r s e p a r a t e d b y a n a r r o w e r space -- c o n t i n u e s t h r o u g h t h e f o u r t h
t o the fifteenth floor.
Here, i n t h e o f f i c e s h a f t , t h e f a c i n g i s e n t i r e l y o f y e l l o w
b r i c k , u n i n t e r r u p t e d b y a n y h o r i z o n t a l bands.
T h i s s e r i e s o f a l t e r n a t i n g b r o a d and
n a r r o w p i e r s c r e a t e s t h e o v e r r i d i n g sense of v e r t i c a l i t y so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e s t y l e .
Windows a r e s l i g h t l y r e c e s s e d between t h e p i e r s , and t h e space between t h e windows i s
f a c e d w i t h p l a i n g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s . Above t h e f i f t e e n t h f l o o r , however, t h e s e g r e e n s t o n e
p a n e l s a r e d e c o r a t e d , and s e r v e t o announce t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e m a j o r o f f i c e s h a f t o f
the building.
The c a p i t a l o f t h e b u i l d i n g -- t h e s i x t e e n t h and s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r s -- i s housed
w i t h i n a s m a l l e r , r e c e s s e d a r e a , w i t h a n g l e d c o r n e r b a y s . Here t h e g r e e n s t o n e p a n e l s a r e
a l s o d e c o r a t e d , and t h e p i e r s a r e t r e a t e d as b u t t r e s s e s .
V i s u a l l y , these b u t t r e s s e s
appear t o s u p p o r t t h e a t t i c , w h i c h i s above t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r , and i s composed
e n t i r e l y o f g r e e n s t o n e . T h i s space, w h i c h houses t h e e l e v a t o r and r e t u r n a i r equipment,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Sianificance
Period
prehistoric
.
_
.
14OO-1499
1500-1 599
1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A r e a s of Significance-Check
archeology-prehistoric
archeology-historic
agriculture
X architecture
art
commerce
communications
-~
-
-
Specific d a t e s
~
.-
1929-31
~~~
a n d justify b e l o w
community planning
conservation
.
economics
education
.
engineering
.
exploration:settlement
industry
.
invention
~
-
~
~
Builde'?!rEhitect
~.
~~
landscape architecture
religion
law
science
literature
sculpture
military
social/
music
humanitarian
philosophy
- theater
politics government
-transportation
-. other (specify)
~
S t a n how
~
~~.-~
----
~
S . Joh.nson A A d d k o n .S-Laplle~~
S t a t e m e n t of S i g n i f i c a n c e ( i n o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s one o f V i r g i n i a ' s most i m p r e s s i v e e x p r e s s i o n s o f t h e A r t
Deco s k y s c r a p e r s t y l e o f t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
Designed b y Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s
Stanhope S. Johnson and Addison S t a p l e s , i t i s a s t e e l - f r a m e s t r u c t u r e c l a d i n a c o m b i n a t i o n
o f y e l l o w b r i c k and l o c a l l y q u a r r i e d g r e e n s t o n e . E f f e c t i v e c o m b i n a t i o n s o f t h e s e m a t e r i a l s
i n v a r y i n g p r o p o r t i o n s v i s u a l l y d i v i d e t h e b u i l d i n g i n t o t h r e e m a j o r components: base,
o f f i c e s h a f t , and c a p i t a l ; d i v i s i o n s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t a l l - b u i l d i n g d e s i g n o f t h e p e r i o d .
A l t h o u g h t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g i s no l o n g e r t h e c i t y ' s t a l l e s t s t r u c t u r e , as i t was
upon c o m p l e t i o n i n 1931, i t y e t commands a dominant p o s i t i o n on t h e downtown s k y l i n e of
Lynchburg and r e m a i n s a somewhat r a r e example f o r o t h e r w i s e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e
V i r g i n i a o f t h i s f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g mode.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
D u r i n g t h e 1920s, L y n c h b u r g was e x p e r i e n c i n g a p e r i o d marked b y g r o w t h and expansion.
A l t h o u g h v i s i b l e e v i d e n c e o f t h i s p r o s p e r o u s e r a i s s t i l l e v i d e n t i n t h e numerous p e r i o d s t y l e houses and c h u r c h e s b u i l t i n t h e o u t l y i n g r e s i d e n t i a l s e c t i o n s , perhaps t h e most
i m p r e s s i v e s i n g l e l o c a l monument t o t h e p r e - d e p r e s s i o n 1920s i s a downtown o f f i c e b u i l d i n g
-- t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . I n b o t h i t s s c a l e and a r c h i t e c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i t remains a
p e r f e c t e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s p i r i t o f t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was d e s i g n e d and b u i l t . Begun
a t t h e v e r y end o f t h e decade, t h e b u i l d i n g was completed as t h e f u l l e f f e c t s of t h e
d e p r e s s i o n were b e i n g f e l t .
I t s proud, a s s e r t i v e l i n e s and -- f o r L y n c h b u r g -- i t s
s o a r i n g h e i g h t , gave c o n f i d e n c e when i t was most needed.
A t t h e o u t s e t o f t h e decade, o f f i c e space i n t h e downtown a r e a was a t a premium, and
t h e newspapers o f t h e t i m e s announced s e v e r a l p l a n s t o e r e c t new b u i l d i n g s . As e a r l y as
1923, t h e Masons' Lodge had p l a n s t.0 e r e c t a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f i c e b u i l d i n g and l o d g e , w h i c h
was t o have r i s e n some t w e n t y s t o r i e s .
N o t h i n g came o f t h e s e o r o t h e r p r o p o s a l s ,
however, and i t was n o t u n t i l a group o f b u s i n e s s and community l e a d e r s formed t h e A l l i e d
A r t s C o r p o r a t i o n i n 1928 t h a t t h e s e s e v e r a l p l a n s c o a l e s c e d i n t o a r e a l i z a b l e e f f o r t .
The c o r p o r a t i o n p u r c h a s e d a 4 0 ' x 1 3 2 ' l o t a t t h e w e s t e r n c o r n e r o f E i g h t h and Church
s t r e e t s , a b l o c k and a h a l f f r o m t h e m a j o r downtown i n t e r s e c t i o n a t N i n t h and Main
s t r e e t s , and a b l o c k away f r o m t h e t h e n t a l l e s t b u i l d i n g i n t h e c i t y , t h e e l e v e n - s t o r y
P e o p l e ' s N a t i o n a l Bank B u i l d i n g , w h i c h had been c o m p l e t e d i n 1912 a t t h e c o r n e r o f E i g h t h
and Main.
F o r t h e d e s i g n o f t h e new b u i l d i n g , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n chose t h e Lynchburg f i r m o f
Johnson and Brannan, t h e n t h e l a r g e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m i n t h e c i t y .
Stanhope S.
Johnson, t h e f o u n d i n g member, was a L y n c h b u r g n a t i v e who had been i n p r a c t i c e s i n c e t h e
t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y , and b y t h e t i m e o f t h i s commission, was i n v o l v e d i n commissions n o t
o n l y i n V i r g i n i a , b u t t h r o u g h o u t t h e s o u t h . R.O. Brannan, who was w i t h Johnson f o r o n l y
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
9. ' ~ a j oBibliographical
r
References
A1 1 i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g - o r i g i n a l p l a n s , c o n t r a c t s . and s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ,
i n Lynchburg
Jones Memorial L i b r a r v . Lvnchburq.
V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e ~ r t s . A r c h i t e c t u r e i n v i F c j i n j a . ~ i c h m o n d : 1966.
S t a p l e s , Addison. I n t e r v i e w , March 1975.
.A. r c h i t~e c- t u
- r a
- l~Archive.
~
~
10. Geographical Data
Less than
~ ~ n c R b u VA
r~,
Quadrangle name
acre
One
Acreage of nominated pro erty
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
--
UTM References
16161 41 21310)
Easting
Zone
c
14i114i2121710)
Northing
Zone
W
E
uu
l
~
I
o
I
l
~
I
~
~
'
~
I
)
1
Easting
Northing
Ll-LLu L
~L L L d
w
u
F Wu
"1 W
1
1
uw
)
B e g i n n i n g a t a p o i n t on t h e W s i d e o f Church
S t . approx. 7 5 ' SSE o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f Church S t . w i t h 8 t h S t . ; thence e x t e n d i n g
SSE on W s i d e o f Church S t . f o r approx. 4 0 ' ; t h e n c e approx. 1 3 2 ' WSW; thence approx.
4 0 ' NNW; thence approx. 1.-3 2 ' ENE t o-p o i n t o f o r i 3 . k ..-fiee
C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #2)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
-~
~~~
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
~.~~~
~-
N/A
code
code
~
state
N/A
nameltitle
code
count~
S. A l l e n Chambers, J r .
organization
.
N/A
street & number
.
~
~.date
.
~~
1237 3 1 s t S t r e e t , NW
.....
~
~-
Washington
city or town
1981
-
~~
telephone
-.
.
DC
state
20007
12. State Historic Preservatior?Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-_
national
x
-
state
~~
-..- local
~
~
.
-
As the designated State Historic Preservation Otfi
665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
. tirya n MitTfiH~lTJlTrem,,,, DIVISION
OF HISTORIC LANDMARKS
H
date
April 23, 1 9 8 5
For NPS use only
Ihereby certlfy that this property is included in the National Register
date
Keeper of
the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
,GFO a 9 4 . 7 s - 3
--
--
.
_
-,.
-
-
Y
-A
-_
L
.l.ll.-.
.
-.
.date
LL-.-..-O1*-i--l
-
NPS F l r m 10-9W.a
1482)
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
7 . DESCRIPTION -- A r c h i t e c t u r a l A n a l y s i s
Iternnumber
79
i s r e c e s s e d from t h e f l o o r below and i s e n c i r c l e d b y a n a r r o w e x t e r i o r walkway. A t t h e
c e n t e r o f t h e a t t i c f a c a d e i s a c a r v e d g r e e n s t o n e e a g l e w i t h wings o u t s t r e t c h e d .
This
seeming1 y s u p e r f l u o u s b i t o f d e c o r a t i o n i s h a r d l y n o t i c e a b l e f r o m below.
The s i d e e l e v a t i o n s a r e s i m i l a r t o , b u t n o t i d e n t i c a l w i t h , t h e f a c a d e . Because o f
t h e s l o p e of t h e l o t , t h e g r e e n s t o n e base i s o n l y two s t o r i e s t a l l a t t h e r e a r . Above,
on t h e s e l o n g e r s i d e s , t h e r e a r e seven p a i r s o f windows, r a t h e r t h a n t h e t h r e e p a i r s
The r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e b u i l d i n g , c o n t a i n i n g two p a i r s o f windows,
n o t e d on t 9 e facade.
extends o n l y t o t h e t h i r t e e n t h f l o o r .
The p l a n o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r i s t h a t o f a b r o a d c e n t e r h a l l , o r l o b b y , w i t h d o o r s
opening i n t o shops on e i t h e r s i d e .
B e h i n d t h e shop on t h e r i g h t a r e t h e e l e v a t o r s .
Above, on t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s , a s i m i l a r arrangement e x i s t s , w i t h o f f i c e s on b o t h s i d e s and
a t each end o f t h e c e n t r a l e l e v a t o r c o r r i d o r .
The l o b b y on t h e ground f l o o r i s trimmed
i n greenstone, and t h e e l e v a t o r d o o r s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h a f a n c i f u l A r t Deco g r i l l o f
b u r n i s h e d m e t a l , i n w h i c h a r c h i t e c t Addison S t a p l e s s t a t e d t h a t he had a t t e m p t e d t o "show
t h e whole o f c r e a t i o n . " A t t h e base, s t y l i z e d waves a r e i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h s i l h o u e t t e s o f
f i s h ; i n t h e c e n t e r a r e c a t t a i l s , and o t h e r f o l i a g e .
Above a r e o u t l i n e s o f mountains,
w h i l e a t t h e t o p a r e geese f l y i n g i n t h e f a m i l i a r V f o r m a t i o n .
The f l o o r o f t h e l o b b y
was a l s o o r i g i n a l l y g r e e n s t o n e , b u t because o f t h e uneven s u r f a c e worn o v e r t h e years,
t h i s has r e c e n t l y been c a r p e t e d .
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e o r i g i n a l l i g h t i n g o f t h e l o b b y has
r e c e n t l y been augmented w i t h i n a p p r o p r i a t e b r a s s c h a n d e l i e r s . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l
o f t h e o f f i c e f l o o r s i s m i n i m a l , and w h i l e some o f t h e o f f i c e s have been e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h
l a t e r t r i m , g e n e r a l l y c o l o n i a l i n s t y l e , no m a j o r a l t e r a t i o n s t o e i t h e r t h e o r i g i n a l
d e c o r a t i o n o r p l a n have e v e r been made. Because o f t h e e x c e l l e n c e o f i t s d e s i g n and t h e
q u a l i t y o f i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t a n d s t o d a y v i r t u a l l y as i t d i d
upon c o m p l e t i o n f i f t y y e a r s ago.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
--
H i s t o r i c a l Background
s e v e r a l y e a r s , was p r i m a r i l y t h e o f f i c e manager. Most o f t h e l o c a l commissions w h i c h t h e
f i r m o b t a i n e d d u r i n g t h e 1920s were e n t r u s t e d t o Addison S t a p l e s , a member o f Johnson's
s t a f f , who had r e c e i v e d h i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l t r a i n i n g a t P i t t s b u r g h ' s C a r n e g i e I n s t i t u t e of
Technology. As Johnson p l a n n e d t o r e l o c a t e h i s f i r m ' s o f f i c e i n t h e b u i l d i n g , he t o o k an
a c t i v e r o l e i n i t s p l a n n i n g , and i t i s t o b o t h Johnson and S t a p l e s t h a t c r e d i t s h o u l d go
f o r t h e design.
Most of Johnson's p r e v i o u s work on commercial and h o t e l s t r u c t u r e s i n
o t h e r c i t i e s had been v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e i n d e s i g n , and S t a p l e s had h e r e t o f o r e p r o v e n
h i m s e l f as a m a s t e r of G e o r g i a n and o t h e r p e r i o d d e s i g n s , b u t n e i t h e r had a t t e m p t e d an
essay i n t h e t h e n c u r r e n t A r t Deco manner.
S t a p l e s l a t e r f r e e l y c o n f e s s e d t h a t he and
Johnson drew much o f t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m p h o t o g r a p h s and d r a w i n g s o f l a r g e o f f i c e
b u i l d i n g s then appearing i n t h e various j o u r n a l s t o which t h e y subscribed.
C o n s t r u c t i o n c o n t r a c t s were awarded t o t h e L y n c h b u r g f i r m o f C.W. Hancock and Sons,
owned and o p e r a t e d b y t h e Hancock f a m i l y , who a l s o owned a g r e e n s t o n e q u a r r y i n Lynchburg.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0318
E l p . 10-31-84
1367)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
ALLIED ARTS BUILDING. LYNCHBURG. VA
Continuation sheet #2
8 . SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
Item number 8
9
lo
-
T h i s unusual s t o n e , o b t a i n e d f r o m a v e i n u n d e r l y i n g a p o r t i o n o f t h e w e s t e r n suburbs o f
Lynchburg, had been used f o r l o c a l b u i l d i n g s as e a r l y as t h e 1870s, b u t p r i m a r i l y f o r
decorative d e t a i l s .
Never b e f o r e had i t been used i n such p r o f u s i o n o r had i t been so
h i g h l y p o l i s h e d as i t would be i n t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g . As t h e q u a r r y has s i n c e been
c l o s e d , t h e b u i l d i n g remains t h e b e s t example o f t h e use o f t h i s unusual l o c a l m a t e r i a l .
A c t i n g as an e f f e c t i v e c o n t r a s t t o t h e g r e e n s t o n e f a c i n g i s t h e u s e o f y e l l o w b r i c k as a
companion m a t e r i a l .
Upon c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e i n 1931, t h e f i r m o f Johnson and Brannan moved i n t o
t h e penthouse s u i t e on t h e s e v e n t e e n t h f l o o r . Soon a f t e r t h e i r move, t h e f i r m p u b l i s h e d
a handsome b o o k l e t i l l u s t r a t i n g many o f t h e i r commissions, r a n g i n g as f a r a f i e l d as t h e
C a r o l i n a s , West V i r g i n i a , and F l o r i d a .
The f r o n t i s p i e c e was a c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h o f t h e
A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , t h e o n l y s t r u c t u r e photographed i n c o l o r , demonstrating t h e p o s i t i o n
o f prominence t h e f i r m f e l t i t d e s e r v e d i n t h e c o r p u s o f t h e i r p r a c t i c e .
I n 1966, t h e V i r g i n i a Museum o f F i n e A r t s gave i t s s e a l o f a p p r o v a l i n showing t h e
b u i l d i n g as one o f o n l y two Lynchburg s t r u c t u r e s t o be i n c l u d e d i n i t s m a j o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e
e x h i b i t i o n and accompanying c a t a l o g e n t i t l e d A r c h i t e c t u r e i n V i r g i n i a .
Today, t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g s t i l l s e r v e s w e l l i n i t s o r i g i n a l l y i n t e n d e d purpose
as an o f f i c e b u i l d i n g .
Occupancy has been a t a c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h l e v e l , and many o f t h e
c i t y ' s l e a d i n g d o c t o r s , l a w y e r s , and b u s i n e s s f i r m s have t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s i n t h e b u i l d i n g .
Johnson c o n t i n u e d t o occupy t h e penthouse u n t i l t h e 19705, and a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l f i r m
now c o n t i n u e s t h e o r i g i n a l u s e o f t h a t space.
A f t e r J o h n s o n ' s d e a t h i n 1975, h i s
drawings were donated t o t h e Jones Memorial L i b r a r y i n Lynchburg, where t h e y form t h e
nucleus o f t h e Lynchburg A r c h i t e c t u r a l Archive.
Included w i t h i n t h a t c o l l e c t i o n i s
e x t e n s i v e d o c u m e n t a t i o n on t h e A l l i e d A r t s B u i l d i n g , c o n s i s t i n g o f p r e l i m i n a r y s k e t c h e s ,
s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , w o r k i n g d r a w i n g s , and correspondence.
Although the A l l i e d Arts B u i l d i n g relinguished the t i t l e o f the c i t y ' s t a l l e s t
s t r u c t u r e t o a n o t h e r o f f i c e b u i l d i n g i n 1974, i t c o n t i n u e s a s one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t
eleniients i n t h e dowr~town s k y l i n e , as an o u t s t a n d i n g example o f i t s s t y l e , and as a
monument t o t h e t i m e s i n w h i c h i t was b u i l t .
SAC
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA -- Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The bounds have been drawn t o i n c l u d e t h e b u i l d i n g and t h e
c i t y l o t on w h i c h i t s t a n d s .
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Other names/site number: VDHR File #118-0126
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2734 Fort Avenue
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ x__A
___B
_ x__C
_ x__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____3_________
______0_______
buildings
____0_________
______0_______
sites
____0_________
______0_______
structures
____0_________
______0_______
objects
____3_________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: Warehouse
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; METAL; GLASS
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is a small industrial complex located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The four-acre property contains three buildings consisting of two early
twentieth century Commercial Style mill buildings and a small, utilitarian garage built in 1949.
The property was initially developed as a small hosiery mill operation within one building in
1900 but expanded several times throughout the first half of the twentieth century to include
additional specialized processing facilities within enlargements and building additions. The
buildings within the property represent the evolution of the hosiery mill industry in the early- to
mid-twentieth from all-in-one warehouses to specialized processing facilities outfitted for
changes in materials, including specifically the introduction of nylon. In 1980, a fire destroyed
most of the 1900 and 1908 sections of one building, although portions of the foundations are still
extant today. Overall, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 remains a good representation of industrial
architecture from the early-twentieth century with a high level of integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, feeling, and association; integrity of design is somewhat diminished by loss of
some sections of one mill building. Continuing to reflect the property’s function as a hosiery mill
complex, the resources within the property boundaries consist of two contributing mill buildings
and one contributing garage, while there are no non-contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is located in the midtown section of Lynchburg,
Virginia, at 2734 Fort Avenue. The complex is presently composed of two separate tax parcels
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
and contains approximately four acres of land. It is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the
northwest, Lancaster Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent
properties to the northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger,
northern of the two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and
then along the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The complex is surrounded
by commercial development to the front along Fort Avenue, residential development that
represents the remains of a former mill village to the rear along Reed Street, and by Spring Hill,
a civic cemetery across Lancaster Street to the south side.
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 property boundaries is Building A, located on the smaller,
southern parcel. It is set in the corner of Fort Avenue and Lancaster Street and extends
perpendicularly along Fort Avenue. Extending further along Fort Avenue is a low stone and
brick wall that is the remains of the foundation from a building destroyed by fire in 1980.
Building B is located on the larger, northern parcel and set back from Fort Avenue, adjacent to
Reed Street. Building C is also located on the northern parcel, sited to the north of Building B.
The building lettering is not historic nomenclature, but rather a modern designation in order to
differentiate the structures.
The most notable physical feature of the overall property is a change in elevation of nearly 40
feet from the lowest point along Fort Avenue to the rear of the complex along Reed Street. In
general, the front of the complex along Fort Avenue is relatively flat with Building A and an
adjacent parking area at this level. Extending along the rear edge of Building A and the parking
lot and roughly parallel to Fort Avenue, through the central part of the property, is a steep slope
and rock outcropping that generally slopes down from an approximately one-acre level plateau at
the northeastern corner of the property to the side along Lancaster Street. Building C is built on
the level plateau while Building B is built atop of and into the rocky cliff.
As a primarily industrial complex, not intended for commercial or public access, there is no
formal front to the complex or Buildings A and B. However, the primary orientation and access
of the buildings, as well as the street address, is Fort Avenue. Secondary vehicular accesses are
also provided from the side along Lancaster Street as well as the rear from Reed Street. Both the
main access from Fort Avenue and secondary entry from Lancaster Street connect to a central,
gravel-covered driveway that leads through the complex, beginning at the north end and
extending along the base of the rocky cliff, uphill to the rear of Building A. A large gravel
parking area is located on the flat site of a building demolished in 1980 after a fire, and a smaller
parking area is located immediately behind Building A. At this parking area, the driveway
switchbacks uphill to the lower, south end of Building B. The third access to the property off
Reed Street is located at the northeastern edge of the property and leads into the flat plateau area
with a large gravel parking pad adjacent to the upper, north end of Building B.
Building A – Contributing
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 are two large mill buildings and a small garage. Building
A, the smaller of the two mill buildings, represents the oldest extant development on the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
property, although the earliest portions of the building were destroyed by a fire in 1980. The
building was initially constructed in 1900 and consisted of a one-story rectangular building set
parallel to Fort Avenue. Based on historic photos, the brick building rested on a continuous stone
foundation and was fenestrated with a series of arched 12/12 double-hung sash windows. The
building was expanded with a two-story wing to the north end and a series of small blocks and
wings attached to the south end in 1908 (see Historic Photo 1). The new wing to the north rested
on brick pier foundations with stone infill and the brick walls were pierced by a similar pattern of
windows. Also in 1908, the original one-story building was enlarged by constructing a second
story. Most of the 1900 and 1908 portions were destroyed by a fire in 1980, leaving only the
foundation and a short portion of the exterior walls from each remaining along the sidewalk on
Fort Avenue as a wall for the property.
The next expansion of Building A, and the earliest of which currently remains, was built in the
late-1920s.1 This portion of the building consists of a wider two-story block that was attached to
the south end of the 1908 building. It is five bays long along Fort Avenue and six bays deep,
such that the front three bays adjoined the south end of the 1908 building while the three
additional bays projected to the rear.
The late-1920s block of the building has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond
that rests on a continuous at-grade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof covered with bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra
cotta tile coping along the south side of the block and the back half of the north side. The front
half of the north end of the building that historically adjoined the 1908 building was infilled with
a wood frame wall that was clad with vinyl siding after the 1980 fire. A short length of the firststory portion of the rear wall of the 1908 building was left attached to the 1920s block at that
time, and a small utility shed was framed off of it. A single pedestrian door leads into this utility
shed and a single roll-up garage door was placed centrally along the infilled wall. A historic
pedestrian entrance leads into the rear of the building at the second story. The entry consists of a
single reinforced wood door with metal sheathing. It is sheltered by a short shed roof overhang
supported by knee braces and is approached by a cantilevered poured concrete walkway from a
parking lot that crosses over a walkway along the rear of the building at ground level.
Fenestration on the late-1920s block consists of a series of industrial-style casement windows on
both stories of the front and rear as well as the rear three bays of the north end. Each opening on
the north end is filled with paired 20-light windows with an 8-light awning sash located one row
of lights up from the bottom. Openings on the front and rear have 36-light windows also with an
8-light awning sash. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick lintels.
Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course recessed panel between brick
pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof cornice and on the north side they
end at the top of the second-story window lintels. The first-story windows along the Fort Avenue
façade have been encased behind metal grate security screens, likely added in the 1970s.
1
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Building A was expanded further in 1936 with a large addition to the south. This block is fourbays deep and extends 14 bays along Fort Avenue with several small projecting masses to the
rear, including one in the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing and centrally on the rear wall. The
1936 block extends the remainder of the property along Fort Avenue to Lancaster Street. The
addition has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond that rests on a continuous atgrade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with
bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra cotta tile coping along the
south end of the block.
The projecting mass along the rear wall appears to be from the second-half of the twentieth
century and consists of a concrete block enclosure that is one-bay wide and one-bay deep and
topped by a shed roof. It has two small window openings that have since been infilled with
concrete block. In the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing is a square mass that was built at the
same time as the 1936 block and is two-stories tall against the 1920s wing with a one-story area
beyond. This mass was built to serve as a boiler house and mechanical area. It is clad in brick
and the two-story area features a stepped parapet with terra cotta tile coping that matches the
south wall of the building. There are two 6-light fixed windows on the wall. The connected onestory mass is topped by a flat roof pierced by a hipped skylight. A tall, cylindrical metal chimney
flue and two shorter square chimney flues also extend up from this block. Set atop this massing
are a wood frame canopy with a shed roof and the deteriorated remains of a concrete block wall
that appears to date to sometime in the second-half of the twentieth century.
Fenestration on this portion of the building is generally similar to the 1920s block and consists of
a series of industrial-style casement windows on both stories, although many of the first-story
windows have been removed and the openings infilled with concrete block. The configuration of
the windows that remain on the front and rear are 30-light with 8-light awning sashes along the
top and bottom edge. Configurations on the south end have paired 20-light windows with 8-light
awning sashes one row of lights up from the bottom. All of the window openings are set on
concrete sills and topped by soldier brick lintels. Above the second floor windows are threecourse corbeled brick details. Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course
recessed panel between brick pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof
cornice and on the south end they end just above second-story window lintels.
There are several entrances into the 1936 part of the building located on the south end and rear.
The entry on the south end is located on the first story and consists of a replacement double leaf
metal door. Because of the surrounding topography, which slopes up along the edge of the
building, a bulkhead with concrete retaining walls extends along the south end of the building to
provide access to this entrance. Atop the bulkhead, a raised walkway further extends around the
rear of the building and provides access to another double leaf metal door. A third set of double
leaf metal doors leads into the second floor of the building from the rear parking lot. This
entrance is located on a cast concrete loading dock that is cantilevered over the first-story
bulkhead below. This loading dock is sheltered by a late-twentieth century shed-roofed canopy
supported by plain wood posts.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The last substantial structural addition to Building A occurred in the early 1950s and consists of
an enlarged boiler house appended to the rear of the building. The enlarged boiler house consists
of a rectangular two-bay deep by four-bay wide block that spans the late-1920s wing and the
1936 block. It has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a
continuous poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a flat roof behind a flat parapet on three
sides with terra cotta tile coping. The outside (rear) edge of the roof is open, but pierced by a
single exterior brick end chimney.
Fenestration on this block consists of 16-light industrial casement windows on each end and 12light windows on the rear. There are single leaf, metal clad pedestrian doors in the outermost bay
of the south end and the northernmost bay of the rear on the second story. Both of these
doorways are topped by fixed, two-light windows. Due to the topography of the site, both
entrances are just above grade and accessed by concrete stoops. A pedestrian entrance is also
located on the first story of this block’s north end and accessed by the bulkhead and walkway
that extends along the 1920s block.
The interior of Building A consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
separate building phases can be discerned from masonry walls. Due to the topography of the site,
much of the second floor of the building is at ground level on the east side of the property. On
the first floor, the interior of the late-1920s north end consists of a single, open space interrupted
only by support posts. The area flows into the interior of the 1936 portion of the building which
has been divided into three rooms along the length of the mass. The 1936 and 1950s boiler house
ell consists of two small rooms with a wrap-around L-shaped room on the first floor and two
small rooms with an offset rectangular room on the second floor.
There is one set of interior stairs in the building located within the 1936 block against the
original exterior wall of the 1920s block. The stairs are a quarter-turn with the lower stringer
attached to the masonry wall. The stairs are not original to the building, but their date of
construction is unclear. The lower half of the staircase has been recently rebuilt. The upper half
of the stairwell is enclosed with plywood and is supported by plain wood posts under the
landing. A door is at the landing.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Several interior
walls that were originally built as exterior walls remain throughout the building. The original
east exterior wall of the 1920s block now forms the barrier between the open space and
lavatories within the 1936 boiler house area. This wall still retains two windows that have now
been painted over. A portion of the original south exterior brick wall delineates this portion of
the building from the main mass of the 1936 block although much of the wall was dismantled
when the 1936 addition was attached and the resulting opening spanned by a steel I-beam brace.
Within the 1936 part of the building, the first floor is divided by two exposed masonry walls at
the sixth and tenth bays. Each brick wall is painted and perforated by a double-width opening at
its center. A makeshift office area has been constructed on the second floor in the 1936 portion
of the building along the rear wall. The wood frame office enclosure is clad in drywall.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The floors throughout the interior of the building are varied depending on the original usage of
the area as well as the date of construction. All of the existing first-floor flooring is exposed
poured concrete. The second-story floorings is painted narrow-gauge wood. A concrete ramp
spans the passage between the second floor of the 1920s block and 1936 block due to a slight
difference in level.
All ceilings throughout the building are exposed. On the first floor, wood support beams and the
bottom of the second-floor decking is visible. On the second story, metal I-beams, wood beams,
and the bottom of the roof decking is exposed. On both levels, the ceiling beams are supported
by a grid of support posts that punctuate each bay. In the 1920s block, the posts are square wood
timbers and attached to the concrete floor by metal post-holders. The posts in the 1936 block are
steel I-beams.
Mechanical systems and fixtures throughout Building A are limited. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building appears to
have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. No lighting
remains in the building. Historically, the building was climate-controlled by steam heat powered
by a boiler system. The majority of mechanical equipment throughout the building has been
removed although some sections of exposed ductwork remain in the 1936 block of the building.
The remnants of the boiler system are in the brick boiler room; however it has been extensively
dismantled, and what remains is corroded from rust.
Although the interior of Building A historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, as well as dying equipment as the dye house for the
mill complex was located in this building.
Building B – Contributing
The second mill building, and largest within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex, is
Building B. Similarly to Building A, this building was enlarged several times throughout the
twentieth century to accommodate the growth of the operation. The earliest of the four phases of
the building was constructed in 1928 and represents what is now the northeastern portion of the
building. As built, this L-shaped block was fifteen bays long by four bays wide at the north end
and three bays at the south end, set parallel and adjacent to Reed Street. The one-story building
area has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a raised, poured
concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with bituminous materials
and flanked at the north end by a stepped parapet wall with terra cotta tile coping.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Entrances into this block are from the north end and include a garage bay and a set of
replacement double leaf metal doors. Next to the double doors and spanning the rest of the north
end of this block are three large window openings, now occupied by later-installed glass block
panels. The windows are set on concrete sills in recessed bays and topped by solider brick lintels
with two corbeled brick courses above. Fenestration on the side of the 1928 block consists of a
series of fifteen window bays. Each window opening sits within a one-course recessed panel
between brick pilasters. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick
lintels. The windows are a mix of original industrial-style casement windows with paired 35light windows and later glass block panels.
The second phase of Building B occurred in 1933 when it was enlarged to the south. At that time
a two-story addition was attached to the south end, built so that the second story was even with
the 1928 block, and the first story at ground level due to the slope of the site. The 1933 block is
four bays wide to align with the original area, and an additional seven bays long along Reed
Street. The building generally matches and blends with the original building with similar
brickwork, window openings, and roof; the south end of the block was built with a frame wall,
reportedly to facilitate further expansion that did not occur. The frame wall is now clad with
vinyl siding that was added following a fire in 1980. Fenestration on the south end also differs
slightly with a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-part industrial casement windows. The only
exterior entrance into this block of the building is by a garage bay at ground level on the south
end. The garage bay was shortened slightly and filled with a roll-up door in the 1970s.
The third phase of the building consists of an expansion at the north end in 1943. This block
consists of a five-bay wide by five-bay long area that was attached to the west side of the north
end of the building. The block is primarily one-story; however because of the slope of the site,
the westernmost bay of the block is set on a basement. This block generally matches the
construction and detail of the two earlier phases with similar brickwork and fenestration. The
lower-level brick façade is smooth while the main level features recessed window panels
between pilasters. It is set on a poured concrete foundation that is below-grade on the north end,
but raised and tied into the exposed bedrock on the side and rear. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof parallel to the original block and set behind a stepped parapet. There are several
entrances into this block including a large garage bay and two pedestrian doors on the north end,
and a single pedestrian door into the lower level from the west side. A poured concrete loading
dock extends along the north end to provide access to the garage bay.
The fourth and final phase of the building was added in 1946 and consists of a one-bay extension
along the west side of the 1928 block with an adjacent stair tower and penthouse. The block is
primarily two stories tall with the second level even with the 1928 block and the lower level
adjoining the lower level of the 1933 block. The stair tower area is slightly wider at two bays and
is four bays long. It is three stories tall, creating a small penthouse that rises above the rest of the
building. The lower level of the 1946 block is poured concrete that ties into and follows the
contour of the exposed bedrock below. The bays within the portion along the original building
are pierced by window openings set within brick panels while the smaller openings in the stair
tower area pierce the concrete without brick surrounds. The second and third floor of the block
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
are brick laid in a 5:1 American Bond. The bays along the original block as well as the third floor
of the penthouse are recessed with brick pilasters while the second story of the stair tower is
smooth brick walls. It is topped by a flat roof with a flat parapet on three sides. All of the
windows on this block have been replaced by polycarbonate panels with faux “muntins” to
resemble the original industrial-style casement windows. There are two entrances into the 1946
block, both of which are located on the lower level of the stair tower. Both are single pedestrian
entries with replacement metal doors. The door on the west side of the tower is set above the
rock outcropping but currently not accessible as the stairs or landing that approached it have
been removed. The entry on the south side is accessible from a loading dock that extends from
the driveway at the south end of the building.
This loading dock consists of a cast concrete platform supported by poured concrete posts at the
southern end and by a full poured concrete base at the north end. The loading dock is approached
by an angled concrete ramp from the parking lot as well as two flights of steel stringer stairs
along its length. It is lined by a pole-type metal railing.
The interior of Building B consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
first floor is more segmented and irregularly shaped, reflective of its construction in several
phases and due to the topography of the site, and has two discontiguous areas. The larger area
within the 1933 section at the south end of the building consists of an open, irregularly shaped
room that spans the full width of the building for seven bays and then extends into the 1946
block along the west side of the building as a narrow corridor for an additional seven bays. The
open space is interrupted only by a grid of concrete support posts. Projecting from the west side
of this area within the stair tower area are three additional small rooms plus an enclosed
stairwell. Also on the first level, under the west side of the 1943 north wing is a narrow single
room accessed only from the west side exterior.
The second floor of the building is primarily a large open space occupying the entire footprint of
the building, interrupted by a grid of timber support posts and further broken up by several
nonhistoric partitions. A room has been partitioned in the northeast corner of the building with
frame and plywood walls and the building has been divided by a nonhistoric wood frame and
plywood clad partition roughly dividing the overall floor in half. A small office area has been
enclosed from this wall as well. Additionally, there are three small rooms, two of which are
bathrooms, plus the enclosed stairwell. The third floor (penthouse) consists of a single open
room accessed only by the interior stairwell.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Within the first
floor, the west walls are exposed poured concrete, the south end wall is exposed wood frame,
and the east wall is exposed structural brick. The poured concrete support piers and reinforced
beams are exposed on the ceiling, as is the poured concrete slab for the floor above. All of the
first level flooring is exposed poured concrete slab. On the second floor, the majority of the walls
are exposed structural brick although the wood-framed south end wall is clad with plywood. The
small bathrooms within the 1946 block have plastered walls with late-twentieth century ceramic
tile partly up the walls. All of the modern partition walls are also wood framed and clad with
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
plywood. Throughout the main floor area, the timber support posts that support the roof system
are exposed. The exposed roofing system consists of timber joists set atop the posts and wood
decking above. The exception is the area under the third floor penthouse in which steel I-beams
support poured concrete girders and a poured concrete slab for the floor above. Flooring
throughout the second level is varied. In both the 1928 original block and 1933 south wing the
floors have poured concrete slabs that are partially exposed, and partially channeled and in-laid
with wood flooring. The concrete and wood flooring are in alternating strips which allowed for
machinery to be set on and supported by concrete strips with in-laid wood corridors for the
comfort of workers to stand and move throughout the building. The concrete areas are generally
rough with exposed aggregate and have inset metal anchors for machinery. The in-laid wood
strips are set within channels cut into the concrete. The wood is narrow-gauge (2 ½”), tongueand-groove maple flooring set on sleepers in the channels. The floors throughout the 1943 north
wing and within the 1946 block addition are smooth poured concrete slabs, but with wide
expansion gaps.
On the third floor (penthouse), the walls are exposed structural brick and the ceiling is the
exposed roof system with steel I-beam girders supporting a system of wood joists with scissorbracing and wood decking above. The floors are a poured concrete slab, but with a large
bulkhead cut for mechanical equipment to pass through.
The one set of interior stairs in the building is located within the 1946 block and extends from
the lower level up to the third floor penthouse. There is no elevator within the building, and there
was no connectivity between the first and second floors until this addition was built. The stairs
are half-turn with landings at each floor as well as half-way between. The stringers and landings
are steel frame and attached directly to the exposed brick walls. The decking and treads are
diamond-patterned steel and lined by pole-type steel railings. The stairs are open from the lower
level up to the final flight that leads to the penthouse which is enclosed within a metal firewall
bulkhead.
A variety of mechanical systems and fixtures remain throughout Building B. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building all appears
to have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. All lighting
throughout the building is modern replacements and consists primarily of numerous florescent
tube light units suspended from the ceiling. The exception is in the second floor of the 1933
block which has a series of ceiling-mounted lamps attached to the joists.
Historically, the building was heated by steam heat powered by a boiler system. Radiators with
electric fans are suspended from ceilings joists throughout the building and connected by a
system of plumbing. Each unit has a vent that projects through the adjacent window opening to
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the exterior. In 1946, an air conditioning system was installed in the third floor penthouse
addition. This massive system occupies the majority of the third floor but has been disconnected
and much of the equipment dismantled.
Although the interior of Building B historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, many of which were affixed to the concrete strips
located throughout the main floor of the building.
Building C - Contributing
The third building within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is Building C, a small garage
built in 1949. The two-bay building has an exposed concrete block structural system set on a
continuous foundation and topped by a front-gabled roof with exposed rafter tails covered with
standing-seam metal. There are two sets of swing-out metal garage doors on the front façade
approached by a concrete apron. The sides and rear of the building are pierced by fixed four-light
windows set on concrete sills. The interior of the building is unfinished with the structural
system exposed.
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
SOCIAL HISTORY
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1900-1972
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1900
1905
1928
1933
1936
1943
1946
1971
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills #1 is being nominated for inclusion in the NRHP for local
significance under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Social History for its role in the
hosiery industry throughout much of the twentieth century, as well as under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. The period of significance begins in 1900 when the earliest development of
the property occurred and ends in 1972 when the company was sold to an interest in Chicago and
the mill was subsequently closed. Soon thereafter, the complex was badly damaged by a fire
resulting in the partial demolition of one building in 1980. Criteria Consideration G does not
apply to this property because, although the period of significance ends less than fifty years ago,
the vast preponderance of its significance predates the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties
where significant activities have continued into the more recent past. Starting in 1900 and over
seven decades of continuous operation, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 played a variety of
important roles in the economy, culture, and landscape of Lynchburg. In 1913, it became one of
the first mills in the American South to manufacture socks with a government contract for the
military. Its association with the military continued during World War II when it was one of the
largest producers and innovators of G.I. cushioned socks and also produced parachute material.
Throughout this period, the mill continued to produce commercial material as well and was one
of the most productive hosiery mills in the country. Socially, the mill was significant as the only
business or industry in Lynchburg that hired African-American women following the opening of
a second, segregated mill complex in downtown Lynchburg in 1919. Although that facility’s
workforce was physically segregated from Mill #1, the two groups of workers were integrated in
1971. Architecturally, the property also remains as a character-defining industrial feature of
south Lynchburg and is reflective of industrial construction from that time. Furthermore,
Building B was the first hosiery mill building in the United States to be completely air
conditioned in 1946 when it began processing the newly developed products of rayon and nylon
distributed by DuPont and used for military applications.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historical Background
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill came to be following the emigration of English fabric manufacturer
Joseph Godber Burton to the United States. In the late-nineteenth century, J.G. Burton owned a
bleach yard and finishing plant in Nottingham, England, in a partnership with his uncle. The
operation was affiliated with I. and R. Morley, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and
exporters of knit goods at that time. In 1884, Burton moved to Thornton, Rhode Island, to serve
as the first superintendent of the British Hosiery Company, one of the first ‘full-fashioned’
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
hosiery mills in America, established by Robert W. Cooper who brought his own equipment and
workforce of 120 employees from England to start the mill.
In 1899, the British Hosiery Company expanded their operations in the United States through the
opening of a branch in Lynchburg, Virginia. At that time, J.G. Burton was selected to serve as
Vice President of the new branch, and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, to help develop what
would be known as the Midland Hosiery Company.2 The Midland Hosiery Company was
officially chartered on May 17, 1899. The plant was situated at Fourteenth Street and Stephenson
Avenue, just outside Lynchburg town limits. The mill contained 125 knitting machines and had a
daily output of 500 pairs of men’s, women’s, and children’s hosiery.3
Within a year of helping to build the Midland Hosiery Company, J.G. Burton was compelled to
venture out on his own, and joined with local attorney R. Colston Blackford, to establish a new
hosiery company. On October 11, 1900, Burton formally chartered the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company, himself serving as President and Superintendent, and R.M. Patten as Secretary and
Treasurer.4 The new company was located just several blocks away from the Midland Hosiery on
Twelfth Street (present-day Fort Avenue).
The site was ideal for the plant due to the springs of water above the building which provided a
gravity water supply to the dye house. The mill consisted of a single one-story brick building
approximately 100 feet by 40 feet that included the full range of hosiery operations. It went into
operation with 25 fully automatic seamless knitting machines, and was one of the first mills in
the country to utilize this technology.5
The business became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company in 1902, by which time it had grown
into a lucrative business which had expanded to 50 knitting machines.6 It appears to have been so
successful in fact, that in 1903, the nearby Midland Hosiery Company was closed and its entire
plant and stock of equipment put up for sale.7 In 1907, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was
incorporated with capital stock of $50,000 and became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc.8 At
that time, J.G. Burton’s son, Clarence Godber Burton became Treasurer of the company. In
1908, the plant was enlarged with a second story and a new wing that allowed for an additional
90 knitting machines to go into operation.9 According to a report from the Textile World Record,
that year the plant operated with 105 knitters, 19 ribbers, 26 loopers, and 21 sewing machines
manufacturing cotton, woolen, and merino half hose.10
2
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th Century Edition, Lynchburg,
VA, October, 1900, p.115.
3
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
4
“The Blue Book”: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada, 1901-1902.
5
Pou, Enoch. Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Preliminary Information Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
2011.
6
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946.
7
America's Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. 1903.
8
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
9
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
10
Textile World Record, Volume 36. 1908.
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Most of the employees of the mill at that time were women. Lynchburg was a heavily industrial
town at the turn-of-the-twentieth century so there were numerous factories, warehouses, and
other businesses for male employment. This left out a tremendous potential workforce of women
who at that time were seen as unfit for many jobs outside the home. The hosiery industry,
however, was considered safe and appropriate for female employment due to its linkages to
traditional sewing and piecework paid labor tasks that women had been performing since the
early nineteenth century. Female workers also commonly were paid a fraction of what male
workers received, thus creating an abundant and cheap labor force. With only one other
operating textile mill in town, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was able to capitalize on this
form of cheap labor for many years. The usage of female workers became especially prevalent
and necessary with the outbreak of World War I when men were needed not only for military
service, but also industrial and production jobs in support of the war effort.
During the early years of the war in Europe, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company secured their first
government contract in 1913 and became one of the first mills in the American South to
manufacture socks for the military.11 Before the war, the company had developed and was the
first to produce cushioned sole socks. It presented samples of its cushioned sole golf socks to the
Research and Development Department of the Army Quartermaster Depot. The cushion sole
sock was adopted as standard issue by the Army and became its principal marching sock.
Working with the Army, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company developed a new pre-shrinking
process with special emphasis on cushioned sole socks for field usage where laundries were
scarce. Using this process, the mill attributed a large part of its capacity to the production of
socks for the Army during the war. In 1917 alone, the mill supplied 240,000 pairs of socks to the
War Department at a price of $0.13 each.12 The mill also produced full fashioned stockings for
the Women’s Army Corps and heavy woolen desert top socks for the British and American
armies during the North Africa campaign.13
The continued relationship with the military following the war, coupled with continued nongovernmental contracts prompted substantial growth and expansion of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill company in the 1920s.14 In 1920, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association was established
“to promote friendship among its members, to furnish a method of full and frank discussion of
the business of the mill in its relation to those who work for it, the promotion of constructive
criticism of methods of manufacture, working conditions, and manufactured product; and for the
creation of health benefit funds.” The Association was opened to all “white persons” employed
by Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc. The Shop Committee consisted of the foremen of the several
departments in the mill and was the governing body of the Association. A separate committee,
the Benefit Committee, had jurisdiction over the payment of benefits, approving claims before
payment and calling on ill or disabled members. Members made weekly contributions to the
11
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
Investigation of the War Department, 1918.
13
Pou, Enouch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
14
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
12
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Association, these being matched by the company. In addition to claims for disability and
sickness, the Association also paid benefits to members laid off by the company.15
That same year, the company purchased a second building to increase their production of men’s,
women’s, and children’s cotton and silk hosiery. The building, a former tobacco warehouse, was
located in downtown Lynchburg at 410 Court Street, within the predominantly AfricanAmerican populated Fifth Street neighborhood. Following the opening of the second plant, this
facility became Mill #2 while the original complex on Fort Avenue became Mill #1.
The placement of the mill was an important and bold move by Burton and the other officers of
the corporation as it made Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #2 the first business or industry in Lynchburg
to hire African American women and was considered the first economic opportunity for African
American women to gain employment other than domestic work in the homes of White
Lynchburg residents. Mill #2 operated on African American employment exclusively,16 and
between opening in 1919 through closing in 1971, the branch employed between 150-200
African American women. This had a tremendous social effect on the City of Lynchburg,
especially early on in its operation, in that many African American women aspired to work at the
mill, thereby reducing the domestic service base available for hire by white upper class residents.
However, Mill #2 operated only two shifts, as opposed to the three shifts that took place at Mill
#1, as African American women did not seek to work a third (night) shift due to safety and
transportation concerns.17
Just as the physical plants were racially segregated, the mutual benefit associations for the
workers were as well. The administration of the two Associations, the secretarial work involved,
and the printing of all necessary literature took place at the company’s administrative offices
located at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue. Both Associations provided the same benefits to each set of
employees: an early form of medical insurance, disability benefits, an early form of
unemployment payments, and savings plans to include Christmas Savings Accounts. Because of
the sheer number of women employees at both mills, women were permitted to serve on the
Shop Committee and as part of the governing body of the Associations, an unusual allowance at
a time that men typically held all leadership positions.18 Because of these benefits as well as the
steady income that came with employment at the mills, both African American and white women
continued to seek employment at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company.
In 1921, C.G. Burton assumed control of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills from his father when he
was named the new company President. Under C.G.’s leadership, coupled with the increased
production of the second mill, the company continued to grow. During the 1920s, Mill #2
produced the tops and bottoms for men’s socks, which then were taken to Mill #1 on Fort
Avenue where the facilities and machines for finishing and dyeing of the socks were located. By
15
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
“Around the Trade,” The Underwear and Hosiery Review. June 1920.
17
Pou, Enoch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
18
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 31, 2011.
16
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the late 1920s, the facilities at Mill #1 were no longer able to manage the increased workload and
a variety of expansions were undertaken. The primary mill building that housed the complete
operation from knitting to finishing and administration was expanded with a large addition. A
second, completely new building (Building B) was also constructed on the property, just uphill
from the original facility.
As employment at the enlarged Mill #1 increased, many workers and their families moved closer
to the plant in a neighborhood that become a sort of informal “company town” just uphill from
the second building. The road that lead from Fort Avenue past the mill and bordered the
neighborhood (present-day Lancaster) came to be known as Burton Street in the 1920s, after the
company president.
In addition to men’s and military socks, the mill's production expanded through the 1920s to
include ladies’ hosiery, golf socks, parachutes, and wool blankets. Despite the economic
struggles of the Great Depression, the company continued to grow in the 1930s. In its 1936
report, the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association wrote in reference to Lynchburg Hosiery
Mills that “This has been an outstanding success, particularly notable during the recent years of
depression, when general conditions were so strained. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills have added
both to their equipment and staff and have run many months at a time with both day and night
shifts operating.”19 Physical growth during the 1930s included substantial additions to the second
building (Building B) at Mill #1 in 1933 and the original building (Building A) in 1936.
The advent of World War II brought tremendous prosperity for the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills as
they retained a substantial government contract for wartime supplies. During World War II, the
mill made several items for use by the military including socks, parachutes, and artillery powder
bags.20 The mill manufactured 8,400 pairs of socks a day for the Government that were issued to
members of the Armed Forces and Civilian Conservation Corps. Throughout the course of the
war, the mill produced more than 28 million pairs of hose for the Armed Forces.21 A 1943
newspaper article noted the company won “high praise” from the military for its superior
product, quoting a telegram sent by a rear admiral that read in part: “Our boys can’t get enough
of these fine socks. Don’t keep them waiting.”22
Because of increases in cost of traditional materials like cotton, wool, and silk due to the war,
engineers and designers at the mill began to incorporate ‘new’ materials that were gaining
popularity in the textile industry such as rayon and nylon distributed by the DuPont Corporation.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills also produced specialty parachutes, known as drogue parachutes.
These parachutes were attached to bombs dropped on enemy positions. The parachutes slowed
19
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association,
Inc., 1936, p.130.
20
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986, Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick
House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
21
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
22
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the descent of the bomb, thereby allowing the plane and pilot that dropped them enough time to
move a safe distance from the exploding bomb. Drogue parachutes are also used to help open
larger parachutes.23 The mill also produced woolen blankets for the Army and cargo parachutes
for the Navy.
Wartime production further solidified the trend that the hosiery mill was already following with
the increase in female employment. With Lynchburg’s draft quota, there was a shortage of men
for necessary jobs, including essential war-related industries. This included the many foundries,
shoe and clothing factories, as well as textile and hosiery mills under government contract. A call
was placed throughout town, just as it was across the nation, for all able persons to fill the jobs,
which resulted in more and more women doing what was previously considered men’s work. In
this way, most of the need for workers at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill and other industries was
met.24 Wartime manufacturing also required more space in addition to more workers, and this
was met by the construction of a north wing to the second building at Mill #1 in 1943.
The local prominence of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill during the war brought notoriety to
President C.G. Burton, who was selected to serve as a member of the Lynchburg City Council
from 1942-1948, and even elected City Mayor for the period of 1946-1948. Following his stint
as Mayor, Burton was elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress in 1948 and served in that
role until 1953.25 At that time, Burton stepped down as President of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company to become Chairman of the Board. His nephew and the grandson of J.G. Burton, the
founder of the company, C. Burton Gerhardt stepped up as President.
Under the new leadership of Gerhardt, the mill continued to grow into its peak of operations,
becoming one of the largest producers of hosiery in the country, turning out approximately
25,000 dozen pairs of half hose and 2,500 dozen pairs of ladies full-fashioned hose per week.
The mill produced stockings of nylon, rayon, and silk, including mesh or clocked hose.
In the post-war years, the mill was operating 825 seamless knitting machines making men’s
socks and 30 full fashion machines. One area of the mill produced 3,000 dozen pairs of women’s
sheer silk hose per week with the balance of the mill producing 18,000 dozen pairs of men’s
socks weekly. In the late 1940s, the mill employed 926 men and women with a weekly payroll of
$15,000. Twenty-five salesmen sold the mill’s products. Customers of the mill were wholesale
houses and large chain stores based primarily in New York and Chicago.
The company produced 102 different men’s patterns utilizing 32 colors of yarn dyed at the plant.
Women’s hose were produced in 15 colors that changed seasonally and were offered in 2, 3, and
4-thread count and included novelties such as Queen Anne’s lace stockings and knee-length
23
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
24
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg, Virginia ,J.P. Bell
Company, 1972, p.259.
25
“Clarence Burton,” Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sports hose. A team of four full-time designers were on staff to keep up with trends in styles and
imagine new designs.26
To create these different patterns, the mill used a combination of human and machine work,
including a variety of modern specialized machinery. A 1946 newspaper article described the
complex as being filled with endless rows of knitting machines throughout the company’s three
buildings. It goes on to describe the various processes for making both men’s and women socks.
Both socks were produced using generally similar methods, with the primary differences being in
material and color. Also, men’s half socks and women’s knee length hose were seamless, while
the majority of socks and hose consisted of a separate foot section and upper “ribbed” section
produced by a ribber seamed together. As such, the primary machines within the complex were
leggers, footers, loopers, seamers, and ribbers. The leggers were 47 feet long and could knit 21
full-fashioned hose at a time. The machine automatically adjusted itself to knit the hose the shape
of the leg. In order to distinguish between hose of different qualities and thread counts for
women’s wear, the thread fed to the machine was tined various shades of pink and yellow. The
foot of the hose was started by hand by a worker called the “topper.” The topper would attach the
leg of the hose to a transfer bar which was then placed on the footer machine. The footer was a
machine that knitted the foot of the hose. Each footer could knit 24 hose at a time, the same
amount the legger could knit. However, as the footer knitted much faster than the legger, the
complex employed only eight footer machines as opposed to 22 leggers.27
Once the foot was knitted, it was taken to a worker in charge of “topping” or fastening up the toe
and heel on a single machine called a “looper.” The loopers were used to top the toe and heel and
some of the men’s socks. Meanwhile, for men’s socks, ribbers were the machines that knit the
upper part of the sock which was then attached to the remainder of the sock by the knitting
machine. The ribber machine knitted a continuous chain of ribbings that were then cut apart and
each set on a bar attached to the knitting machine. At that point, the hose was ready for finishing
on the “seamer” machine which connected the foot of the hose with upper portion. Once seamed,
the women’s hose was ready to be stretched over the dying form and dyed one of the fifteen
offered colors.28
For menswear, all the socks come off the knitting machine gray. They were then bleached with
sodium peroxide before being dyed the desired color. The products were dyed in a state of the art
dye house facility at the complex. The dyeing machines were made of Monel, a naturally noncorrosive alloy resistant to the action of dye chemicals. A sock could be dyed a pattern of as
many as three different colors in one water, accomplished by knitting the sock of three different
materials. There were dyes for vegetable, animal, and acetate materials with the affinity for only
one of the materials, therefore the dye coloring the cotton would not affect wool or rayon, why
other dyes may only color those materials.29
26
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Ibid
28
Ibid
29
Ibid
27
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Throughout the entire process, the hose and socks were inspected for defects. The most common
defect was when the looper left thread ends loose on the wrong side of the sock. To remove
these, the mill employed machines which were a combination of clippers and vacuums. The
operator ran the clipper over the sock while stretched on a form. It would cut the dangling thread
and remove them with the vacuum. The complex nature of the machines and their operation 24hours a day required a full-time staff of 35 machinists at the mill to keep them in repair.30
Although wool from Australia and silk from Japan were the principal fabrics used, the increased
cost for these materials due to the war, particularly silk from Japan, led the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill to continue incorporating the newly developed materials of rayon and nylon into their
products. As these materials were expected to become the principal material for women’s hose
the company took the substantial step in 1946 to air condition one of the mill buildings as
temperature control was an important factor in the processing of nylon. To accomplish this
upgrade, a large addition with a third-floor penthouse had to be appended to Building B to
accommodate the massive air conditioning system. Once completed, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
#1 became the first hosiery mill in the country to be completely air conditioned.31 Just a few
years after the second mill building (Building B) at the complex was air conditioned, a new
boiler house was added to the first mill building (Building A) in the early-1950s. Around the
same time, a two-bay, concrete block garage was constructed within the complex to serve as a
storage space and garage.
Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls in the post-war years made Lynchburg’s factories
and mills, including the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, a substantial component of the City’s business
and economy. By the 1950s, industrial payrolls in Lynchburg were nearly twice as great as in the
last year of World War II and more than three times as much as in the pre-war year of 1939.32
In 1964, Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act led to changes in the organization of the
workers’ Associations, but not the workplace. By law, the two separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
Associations were merged, bringing both the African American and white employees into the
same Association. As a part of the merger, the Association had to issue the African American
employees of Mill #2 a partial return of monies that they had paid into the Association to have an
equitable pro rata share of the Association upon completion of the merger after it was determined
that the white employees had used the medical and other benefits much more than their African
American counterparts. The workforces of the two mills, however, remained physically
segregated until 1971 with all African American employees working at Mill #2 while the white
employees and administrative offices stayed at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue.
30
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
32
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce, Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and Transportation Center of
Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial.
Library, Lynchburg, VA.
31
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The two mills remained segregated until 1971 when the decision was made to close Mill #2. At
that time, all of the equipment was transferred to Mill #1 and the two workforces were integrated
within the one facility. The combined operation did not continue for long though, for the
following year, it was announced that the company and operation would be sold to an investment
firm based in Chicago. The formal announcement was made September 16, 1972, by acting
President C. Burton Gerhardt, former President and grandson of the founder Joseph G. Burton,
and William H. Rentschler of Chicago, the new President. With the sale of all issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc., it was described as being among
the top 10 percent of the nation’s hosiery producers at that time. As part of the sale, founding
family members C. Burton Gerhardt, Clarence G. Burton, and E. Alvin Gerhardt, Jr., agreed to
continue to be active on a day to day basis as consultants.33 Operations only continued briefly
though as the company fell on hard times and closed completely in 1972 after the Chicago
investors who purchased it became mired in legal troubles and allegations of fraud.34
The company no longer maintained a presence in Lynchburg and the mill complex ceased to
operate. For the next eight years, the large empty buildings that formerly held row upon row of
knitting machines and other equipment were leased out as general storage space, used primarily
to store window displays for a local department store.35
On the afternoon of Saturday April 5, 1980, a fire broke out in the 1900-1908 portions of
Building A fronting Fort Avenue where the administrative offices and some manufacturing space
had been located. Fire fighters battled the fire, but by the time it was extinguished, both of the
large mill buildings were severely damaged and several smaller storage buildings set between
them were completely destroyed. The following day, crews under the supervision of the fire
department knocked down the most heavily damaged portions of the administrative building
(Building A), leaving just the foundation and lower part of the walls in case the property owners
wished to rebuild the structure atop them.36
Reconstruction did not take place, and instead the wall at the north end of Building A was closed
off with a framed wall and vinyl siding. The remaining portions of the two mill buildings were
repaired and continued to be leased out as general warehouse space for the next three decades.
As of 2016, the complex was purchased by a real estate developer with plans to rehabilitate the
buildings, and restore their historic character while converting them into mixed-use commercial
and loft space.
Significance: Industry
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its association with the industrial heritage of the City of Lynchburg and the hosiery
33
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and Advance. March 14,
2010.
35
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
36
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
34
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
industry at large. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company, and particularly Mill #1, played a
variety of important roles in the economic and commercial evolution of Lynchburg from the time
of its charter in 1900 through its sale to an outside business investment firm in 1972. During that
time, the mill employed thousands of local residents with a substantial payroll. As one of the
largest industrial concerns in the city, the mill was a substantial component of Lynchburg’s
economy throughout the twentieth century. As one of the largest hosieries in the nation, the
products they produced brought attention to Lynchburg as these products were distributed to
major centers of fashion in New York and Chicago where a number of their trademark lines were
among the most popular brands.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also significant for a variety of developments and industry
“firsts” that occurred there. Early in its operation, the mill was credited with the invention and
first production of the cushioned sole sock. The invention of the cushioned sole sock, which is
still widely manufactured and considered now to be a standard attribute to virtually all
manufactured socks. The cushioned sole sock and a variety of other products manufactured at the
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill also contributed greatly to the military and war efforts during both
World War I and II. During World War I, the mill was one of the largest providers of socks to
the Army. During World War II, it continued to be a major producer of socks in addition to other
textiles such as blankets and parachutes including the newly developed nylon “drogue
parachutes.” The drogue parachute was a crucial component in the weaponry used by Allied
Forces in their effort to win World War II, and saved the lives of countless pilots and assuredly
turned many battles during the war. The production of nylon parachutes by the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill was significant as an early example of the use of new, synthetic materials
purchased from DuPont being used by the military after Japanese silk became scarce during the
war.
After the war, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 continued the use of nylon as well as another
synthetic material produced by DuPont, rayon. The mill’s use of these new products also led to
its significance as the first hosiery facility in the country to be completely air-conditioned due to
the specific climate requirements needed for the manufacture of nylon products. Development
and improvement of various hosiery products resulting from the cutting-edge use of nylon was
clearly evident at the mill as its overall production, and particularly that of women’s nylon
stockings, tripled in the years following its adoption.
Significance: Social History
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its role in the social history of Lynchburg throughout its operation. At the turn-of-thetwentieth century, Lynchburg was the site of many large industrial concerns, including the
Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company, one the largest foundries in the South. As such, there
were many opportunities for men to find work in the area; however few jobs were deemed safe
and appropriate for women. Textiles were one line of work that was considered fit for females as
it was non-threatening to the traditional norms for male/female relationships in a household
while affording an extra income. From the time of its opening through its closure in 1972, the
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 took advantage of the extensive potential female workforce in
Lynchburg, employing thousands of women during its operation. An average of 75% of the
mill’s employees were female and at its peak of almost 1,200 employees, less than 100 were
men. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill was one of the major employers of women in the
Lynchburg area, and in many ways was responsible for helping to solidify the two income
household in town.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is also significant for its role in the employment of
African American women outside of domestic servitude. In 1920, the company opened a second
mill in the predominantly African American Fifth Street neighborhood of Lynchburg. At this
plant the company employed an almost exclusively African American female workforce that
fundamentally changed hiring practices in the region. While this employment occurred at Mill #2
and not within the Mill #1, the decision to enact this policy and the subsequent management
occurred within the corporate administrative offices at Mill #1. Following the passage of the
Civil Rights Act in 1964, the two separate worker Associations were merged and compensation
was paid to the African American members who had received less benefits under the segregated
system. In 1971, Mill #2 was closed and all the employees were at that time integrated into the
single operation at Mill #1. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is significant as an
early employer of African American workers, and the first to employee African American
women in Lynchburg, but also conveys the strained racial relationships and segregation
prevalent throughout the region during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Significance: Architecture
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a representative example of industrial development throughout the first half of
the twentieth century and an early example of industrial construction specifically for textile mills
in the Lynchburg area. The mill buildings on the property were built and expanded a number of
times between 1900 and the 1950s and thus reflect a variety of construction techniques and
innovations. The earliest construction on the property consisted of a primarily one-story building
set on a stacked stone foundation with masonry walls but internal timber support posts and
beams. The later additions are illustrative of improved large-scale construction techniques
through the use of concrete foundations, reinforced concrete subfloors, posts, and beams, and the
eventual transition to structural I-beams; all of which allowed for larger open industrial areas
while supporting heavier and more extensive machinery as the twentieth century progressed.
Not only do the buildings at Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 exhibit these general construction
advances, they also retain and display a variety of specialized components designed specifically
for textile mills. The exterior of the buildings reflects textile mill construction prevalent in the
first-half of the twentieth century with rows of large, industrial-style casement windows to
provide suitable illumination for the workers inside. The need for daylight in work areas has
always been a dominant factor in mill design. Within the long, relatively narrow manufacturing
spaces of early mill buildings, workbenches lined exterior walls or were placed perpendicular to
them, next to windows. Workers sat or stood at these benches, usually facing windows, to
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
perform the operations that required the best lighting – precision work and color matching.37
These early mills relied on rows of smaller windows; however by the turn of the twentieth
century, larger casement windows arranged in curtain wall configurations greatly improved
interior illumination, particularly as electric lighting was still not always readily available. The
portions of Mill #1 built in 1900 and 1908 exhibited the earlier form with regularly spaced
double-hung sash windows while those portions built from the 1920s through the 1950s feature
the larger casement style windows. Within the buildings at Mill #1, the interiors also reflect of
textile mill construction with large, undivided open rooms sufficient for rows of machinery,
workbenches, and other equipment including some, such as leggers, which were nearly 50-feet
long.
The interior of Building B is particularly notable for several characteristic mill designs. The
flooring throughout the main level was specially designed for the type of work performed there.
The floor is a structural concrete slab that is channeled and in-laid with wood flooring. The
concrete and wood floors are in alternating strips which allowed for machinery to be set on the
concrete and stabilized by inset metal anchors, while channeled strips for in-laid wood corridors
provided for the comfort of workers standing and moving about the building. Building B was
also expanded and adapted in 1946 to meet the specialized manufacturing process for the newly
developed material nylon. Nylon requires cool conditions and thus a large penthouse was added
to the building to house a massive air conditioner system, reportedly making Building B the first
textile mill building in the nation to be outfitted in this way specifically for nylon. Meanwhile,
the modestly scaled Building C, a two-bay, concrete block garage, is illustrative of the transition
from brick to standardized concrete masonry units for construction of service buildings such as
garages, shops, and other utilitarian purposes.
As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 conveys architectural significance for its representation
of not only general industrial construction from the first-half of the twentieth century, but for
specialized design related to its role as a textile mill. Several of the small ancillary buildings
present during the operation of the mill have been demolished, and a portion of one of the mills
was destroyed by fire in 1980; however the two mill buildings that remain continue to convey
their historic function, association, and character. Together they display a complex of early
industrial architecture and various construction methods necessary to function as a hosiery mill
complex throughout the first-half of the twentieth century.
37
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York , Oxford
University Press, 1999, p. 31.
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Newspaper Articles
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and
Advance. March 14, 2010.
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21,
1946.
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th
Century Edition, Lynchburg, Virginia, October, 1900, p.115.
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
Books and Other Sources
America’s Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. “For Sale:
Large Plant and Mill of the Midland Hosiery Company, Lynchburg, Virginia.” 1903.
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the Governor. “Business Charters.”
1903.
Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress. “Clarence Burton.” No Date.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New
York, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Campbell County. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
City of Lynchburg. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
Desmond, Vince. “Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc.”, Volunteer Research, Lynchburg Museum
System, Lynchburg, VA, July 29, 2010.
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986,
Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview with Enoch Pou. January 3, 2011.
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and
Transportation Center of Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, VA
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936, p.130
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1908.
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1920s.
Investigation of the War Department: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs,
United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second Session, for the Purpose of Inquiring
from the Different Branches of the Service of the War Department as to the Progress
Made in the Matter of Providing for Ordnance, Small Arms, Munitions, Etc., in
Connection with the Present War and to Ascertain the Government Need. U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1918.
Pou, Enoch. Preliminary Information Form and Evaluation of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill.
VDHR ID# 118-126. April 2011.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1907, 1919, 1951, 1955. On
file at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1938. On file at the Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg,
Virginia, J.P. Bell Company, 1972, p.259.
Textile World Record, Volume 36. Lord & Nagle Co. 1908.
The Blue Book: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada. Davison Publishing
Company, 1901-1902.
Underwood Aerials. Aerial Photograph Collection. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg,
Virginia. 1923.
United States Geological Service. Single Frame Aerial Photography. 1952, 1968.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
United States Geological Service. Topographical Quadrangles. Assorted Dates.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; City
of Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File #118-0126
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 4
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398160
Longitude: 79.163450
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is composed of portions of two separate
property tax parcels (identified as 02733066 and 02733019 by the City of Lynchburg) and
contains approximately 4 acres of land. The property is located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia and is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the northwest, Lancaster
Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent properties to the
northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger, northern of the
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and then along
the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Location Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries include the acreage historically associated with the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill #1 and includes all extant buildings and structures historically associated with
the complex as well as its original setting.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Robert J. Taylor, Jr.
organization: Dutton & Associates, LLC
street & number: 1115 Crowder Drive
city or town: Midlothian
state: Virginia
zip code: 23313
telephone: 804-897-1960
date: August 2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photograph Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
Photographer: Todd Dykshorn
State: Virginia
Photo 1 of 17: Building A
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 2 of 17: Building A
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 3 of 17: Building A
East Facade, Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 4 of 17: Building A
Northeast Corner, Facing West
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 5 of 17: Building B
Site, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 6 of 17: Building B
West Facade, Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 7 of 17: Building B
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 8 of 17: Building B
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 9 of 17: Building C
Front and West Side, Facing Northwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 10 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1920s Block), Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 11 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1936 Block), Facing West/Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 12 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 13 of 17: Building B
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1943 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 14 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1928 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 15 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1943 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 16 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1933 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 17 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior (1933 Block), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
List of Historic Photos
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s,
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday October
21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photographs
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday
October 21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 36
37.398160; -79.163450
Historic Boundary
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR # 118-0126
Location Map (point coincides with latitude/longitude provided in Section 10)
Building C Contributing
Historic Boundary
Building A Contributing
Building B Contributing
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Sketch Map (with contributing status for individual buildings)
8
9
6
5
1
4
7
2
2
3
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Site and Exterior)
10
11
N
12
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building A Interior)
17
N
15
16
14
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building B Interior)
13
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Other names/site number: VDHR File #118-0126
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 2734 Fort Avenue
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_ x__A
___B
_ x__C
_ x__local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____3_________
______0_______
buildings
____0_________
______0_______
sites
____0_________
______0_______
structures
____0_________
______0_______
objects
____3_________
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: Manufacturing Facility
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: Warehouse
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial
Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; METAL; GLASS
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is a small industrial complex located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia. The four-acre property contains three buildings consisting of two early
twentieth century Commercial Style mill buildings and a small, utilitarian garage built in 1949.
The property was initially developed as a small hosiery mill operation within one building in
1900 but expanded several times throughout the first half of the twentieth century to include
additional specialized processing facilities within enlargements and building additions. The
buildings within the property represent the evolution of the hosiery mill industry in the early- to
mid-twentieth from all-in-one warehouses to specialized processing facilities outfitted for
changes in materials, including specifically the introduction of nylon. In 1980, a fire destroyed
most of the 1900 and 1908 sections of one building, although portions of the foundations are still
extant today. Overall, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 remains a good representation of industrial
architecture from the early-twentieth century with a high level of integrity of location, setting,
workmanship, feeling, and association; integrity of design is somewhat diminished by loss of
some sections of one mill building. Continuing to reflect the property’s function as a hosiery mill
complex, the resources within the property boundaries consist of two contributing mill buildings
and one contributing garage, while there are no non-contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is located in the midtown section of Lynchburg,
Virginia, at 2734 Fort Avenue. The complex is presently composed of two separate tax parcels
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
and contains approximately four acres of land. It is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the
northwest, Lancaster Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent
properties to the northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger,
northern of the two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and
then along the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The complex is surrounded
by commercial development to the front along Fort Avenue, residential development that
represents the remains of a former mill village to the rear along Reed Street, and by Spring Hill,
a civic cemetery across Lancaster Street to the south side.
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 property boundaries is Building A, located on the smaller,
southern parcel. It is set in the corner of Fort Avenue and Lancaster Street and extends
perpendicularly along Fort Avenue. Extending further along Fort Avenue is a low stone and
brick wall that is the remains of the foundation from a building destroyed by fire in 1980.
Building B is located on the larger, northern parcel and set back from Fort Avenue, adjacent to
Reed Street. Building C is also located on the northern parcel, sited to the north of Building B.
The building lettering is not historic nomenclature, but rather a modern designation in order to
differentiate the structures.
The most notable physical feature of the overall property is a change in elevation of nearly 40
feet from the lowest point along Fort Avenue to the rear of the complex along Reed Street. In
general, the front of the complex along Fort Avenue is relatively flat with Building A and an
adjacent parking area at this level. Extending along the rear edge of Building A and the parking
lot and roughly parallel to Fort Avenue, through the central part of the property, is a steep slope
and rock outcropping that generally slopes down from an approximately one-acre level plateau at
the northeastern corner of the property to the side along Lancaster Street. Building C is built on
the level plateau while Building B is built atop of and into the rocky cliff.
As a primarily industrial complex, not intended for commercial or public access, there is no
formal front to the complex or Buildings A and B. However, the primary orientation and access
of the buildings, as well as the street address, is Fort Avenue. Secondary vehicular accesses are
also provided from the side along Lancaster Street as well as the rear from Reed Street. Both the
main access from Fort Avenue and secondary entry from Lancaster Street connect to a central,
gravel-covered driveway that leads through the complex, beginning at the north end and
extending along the base of the rocky cliff, uphill to the rear of Building A. A large gravel
parking area is located on the flat site of a building demolished in 1980 after a fire, and a smaller
parking area is located immediately behind Building A. At this parking area, the driveway
switchbacks uphill to the lower, south end of Building B. The third access to the property off
Reed Street is located at the northeastern edge of the property and leads into the flat plateau area
with a large gravel parking pad adjacent to the upper, north end of Building B.
Building A – Contributing
Within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 are two large mill buildings and a small garage. Building
A, the smaller of the two mill buildings, represents the oldest extant development on the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
property, although the earliest portions of the building were destroyed by a fire in 1980. The
building was initially constructed in 1900 and consisted of a one-story rectangular building set
parallel to Fort Avenue. Based on historic photos, the brick building rested on a continuous stone
foundation and was fenestrated with a series of arched 12/12 double-hung sash windows. The
building was expanded with a two-story wing to the north end and a series of small blocks and
wings attached to the south end in 1908 (see Historic Photo 1). The new wing to the north rested
on brick pier foundations with stone infill and the brick walls were pierced by a similar pattern of
windows. Also in 1908, the original one-story building was enlarged by constructing a second
story. Most of the 1900 and 1908 portions were destroyed by a fire in 1980, leaving only the
foundation and a short portion of the exterior walls from each remaining along the sidewalk on
Fort Avenue as a wall for the property.
The next expansion of Building A, and the earliest of which currently remains, was built in the
late-1920s.1 This portion of the building consists of a wider two-story block that was attached to
the south end of the 1908 building. It is five bays long along Fort Avenue and six bays deep,
such that the front three bays adjoined the south end of the 1908 building while the three
additional bays projected to the rear.
The late-1920s block of the building has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond
that rests on a continuous at-grade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof covered with bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra
cotta tile coping along the south side of the block and the back half of the north side. The front
half of the north end of the building that historically adjoined the 1908 building was infilled with
a wood frame wall that was clad with vinyl siding after the 1980 fire. A short length of the firststory portion of the rear wall of the 1908 building was left attached to the 1920s block at that
time, and a small utility shed was framed off of it. A single pedestrian door leads into this utility
shed and a single roll-up garage door was placed centrally along the infilled wall. A historic
pedestrian entrance leads into the rear of the building at the second story. The entry consists of a
single reinforced wood door with metal sheathing. It is sheltered by a short shed roof overhang
supported by knee braces and is approached by a cantilevered poured concrete walkway from a
parking lot that crosses over a walkway along the rear of the building at ground level.
Fenestration on the late-1920s block consists of a series of industrial-style casement windows on
both stories of the front and rear as well as the rear three bays of the north end. Each opening on
the north end is filled with paired 20-light windows with an 8-light awning sash located one row
of lights up from the bottom. Openings on the front and rear have 36-light windows also with an
8-light awning sash. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick lintels.
Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course recessed panel between brick
pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof cornice and on the north side they
end at the top of the second-story window lintels. The first-story windows along the Fort Avenue
façade have been encased behind metal grate security screens, likely added in the 1970s.
1
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Building A was expanded further in 1936 with a large addition to the south. This block is fourbays deep and extends 14 bays along Fort Avenue with several small projecting masses to the
rear, including one in the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing and centrally on the rear wall. The
1936 block extends the remainder of the property along Fort Avenue to Lancaster Street. The
addition has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond that rests on a continuous atgrade poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with
bituminous materials and flanked by a stepped brick parapet with terra cotta tile coping along the
south end of the block.
The projecting mass along the rear wall appears to be from the second-half of the twentieth
century and consists of a concrete block enclosure that is one-bay wide and one-bay deep and
topped by a shed roof. It has two small window openings that have since been infilled with
concrete block. In the corner adjacent to the 1920s wing is a square mass that was built at the
same time as the 1936 block and is two-stories tall against the 1920s wing with a one-story area
beyond. This mass was built to serve as a boiler house and mechanical area. It is clad in brick
and the two-story area features a stepped parapet with terra cotta tile coping that matches the
south wall of the building. There are two 6-light fixed windows on the wall. The connected onestory mass is topped by a flat roof pierced by a hipped skylight. A tall, cylindrical metal chimney
flue and two shorter square chimney flues also extend up from this block. Set atop this massing
are a wood frame canopy with a shed roof and the deteriorated remains of a concrete block wall
that appears to date to sometime in the second-half of the twentieth century.
Fenestration on this portion of the building is generally similar to the 1920s block and consists of
a series of industrial-style casement windows on both stories, although many of the first-story
windows have been removed and the openings infilled with concrete block. The configuration of
the windows that remain on the front and rear are 30-light with 8-light awning sashes along the
top and bottom edge. Configurations on the south end have paired 20-light windows with 8-light
awning sashes one row of lights up from the bottom. All of the window openings are set on
concrete sills and topped by soldier brick lintels. Above the second floor windows are threecourse corbeled brick details. Both the first- and second-story windows sit within a one-course
recessed panel between brick pilasters. On the front and rear, the pilasters extend to the roof
cornice and on the south end they end just above second-story window lintels.
There are several entrances into the 1936 part of the building located on the south end and rear.
The entry on the south end is located on the first story and consists of a replacement double leaf
metal door. Because of the surrounding topography, which slopes up along the edge of the
building, a bulkhead with concrete retaining walls extends along the south end of the building to
provide access to this entrance. Atop the bulkhead, a raised walkway further extends around the
rear of the building and provides access to another double leaf metal door. A third set of double
leaf metal doors leads into the second floor of the building from the rear parking lot. This
entrance is located on a cast concrete loading dock that is cantilevered over the first-story
bulkhead below. This loading dock is sheltered by a late-twentieth century shed-roofed canopy
supported by plain wood posts.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The last substantial structural addition to Building A occurred in the early 1950s and consists of
an enlarged boiler house appended to the rear of the building. The enlarged boiler house consists
of a rectangular two-bay deep by four-bay wide block that spans the late-1920s wing and the
1936 block. It has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a
continuous poured concrete foundation. It is topped by a flat roof behind a flat parapet on three
sides with terra cotta tile coping. The outside (rear) edge of the roof is open, but pierced by a
single exterior brick end chimney.
Fenestration on this block consists of 16-light industrial casement windows on each end and 12light windows on the rear. There are single leaf, metal clad pedestrian doors in the outermost bay
of the south end and the northernmost bay of the rear on the second story. Both of these
doorways are topped by fixed, two-light windows. Due to the topography of the site, both
entrances are just above grade and accessed by concrete stoops. A pedestrian entrance is also
located on the first story of this block’s north end and accessed by the bulkhead and walkway
that extends along the 1920s block.
The interior of Building A consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
separate building phases can be discerned from masonry walls. Due to the topography of the site,
much of the second floor of the building is at ground level on the east side of the property. On
the first floor, the interior of the late-1920s north end consists of a single, open space interrupted
only by support posts. The area flows into the interior of the 1936 portion of the building which
has been divided into three rooms along the length of the mass. The 1936 and 1950s boiler house
ell consists of two small rooms with a wrap-around L-shaped room on the first floor and two
small rooms with an offset rectangular room on the second floor.
There is one set of interior stairs in the building located within the 1936 block against the
original exterior wall of the 1920s block. The stairs are a quarter-turn with the lower stringer
attached to the masonry wall. The stairs are not original to the building, but their date of
construction is unclear. The lower half of the staircase has been recently rebuilt. The upper half
of the stairwell is enclosed with plywood and is supported by plain wood posts under the
landing. A door is at the landing.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Several interior
walls that were originally built as exterior walls remain throughout the building. The original
east exterior wall of the 1920s block now forms the barrier between the open space and
lavatories within the 1936 boiler house area. This wall still retains two windows that have now
been painted over. A portion of the original south exterior brick wall delineates this portion of
the building from the main mass of the 1936 block although much of the wall was dismantled
when the 1936 addition was attached and the resulting opening spanned by a steel I-beam brace.
Within the 1936 part of the building, the first floor is divided by two exposed masonry walls at
the sixth and tenth bays. Each brick wall is painted and perforated by a double-width opening at
its center. A makeshift office area has been constructed on the second floor in the 1936 portion
of the building along the rear wall. The wood frame office enclosure is clad in drywall.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The floors throughout the interior of the building are varied depending on the original usage of
the area as well as the date of construction. All of the existing first-floor flooring is exposed
poured concrete. The second-story floorings is painted narrow-gauge wood. A concrete ramp
spans the passage between the second floor of the 1920s block and 1936 block due to a slight
difference in level.
All ceilings throughout the building are exposed. On the first floor, wood support beams and the
bottom of the second-floor decking is visible. On the second story, metal I-beams, wood beams,
and the bottom of the roof decking is exposed. On both levels, the ceiling beams are supported
by a grid of support posts that punctuate each bay. In the 1920s block, the posts are square wood
timbers and attached to the concrete floor by metal post-holders. The posts in the 1936 block are
steel I-beams.
Mechanical systems and fixtures throughout Building A are limited. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building appears to
have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. No lighting
remains in the building. Historically, the building was climate-controlled by steam heat powered
by a boiler system. The majority of mechanical equipment throughout the building has been
removed although some sections of exposed ductwork remain in the 1936 block of the building.
The remnants of the boiler system are in the brick boiler room; however it has been extensively
dismantled, and what remains is corroded from rust.
Although the interior of Building A historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, as well as dying equipment as the dye house for the
mill complex was located in this building.
Building B – Contributing
The second mill building, and largest within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex, is
Building B. Similarly to Building A, this building was enlarged several times throughout the
twentieth century to accommodate the growth of the operation. The earliest of the four phases of
the building was constructed in 1928 and represents what is now the northeastern portion of the
building. As built, this L-shaped block was fifteen bays long by four bays wide at the north end
and three bays at the south end, set parallel and adjacent to Reed Street. The one-story building
area has a brick structural system laid in a 5:1 American Bond and rests on a raised, poured
concrete foundation. It is topped by a low-pitched gable roof covered with bituminous materials
and flanked at the north end by a stepped parapet wall with terra cotta tile coping.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Entrances into this block are from the north end and include a garage bay and a set of
replacement double leaf metal doors. Next to the double doors and spanning the rest of the north
end of this block are three large window openings, now occupied by later-installed glass block
panels. The windows are set on concrete sills in recessed bays and topped by solider brick lintels
with two corbeled brick courses above. Fenestration on the side of the 1928 block consists of a
series of fifteen window bays. Each window opening sits within a one-course recessed panel
between brick pilasters. All of the windows are set on brick sills and topped by soldier brick
lintels. The windows are a mix of original industrial-style casement windows with paired 35light windows and later glass block panels.
The second phase of Building B occurred in 1933 when it was enlarged to the south. At that time
a two-story addition was attached to the south end, built so that the second story was even with
the 1928 block, and the first story at ground level due to the slope of the site. The 1933 block is
four bays wide to align with the original area, and an additional seven bays long along Reed
Street. The building generally matches and blends with the original building with similar
brickwork, window openings, and roof; the south end of the block was built with a frame wall,
reportedly to facilitate further expansion that did not occur. The frame wall is now clad with
vinyl siding that was added following a fire in 1980. Fenestration on the south end also differs
slightly with a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-part industrial casement windows. The only
exterior entrance into this block of the building is by a garage bay at ground level on the south
end. The garage bay was shortened slightly and filled with a roll-up door in the 1970s.
The third phase of the building consists of an expansion at the north end in 1943. This block
consists of a five-bay wide by five-bay long area that was attached to the west side of the north
end of the building. The block is primarily one-story; however because of the slope of the site,
the westernmost bay of the block is set on a basement. This block generally matches the
construction and detail of the two earlier phases with similar brickwork and fenestration. The
lower-level brick façade is smooth while the main level features recessed window panels
between pilasters. It is set on a poured concrete foundation that is below-grade on the north end,
but raised and tied into the exposed bedrock on the side and rear. It is topped by a low-pitched
gable roof parallel to the original block and set behind a stepped parapet. There are several
entrances into this block including a large garage bay and two pedestrian doors on the north end,
and a single pedestrian door into the lower level from the west side. A poured concrete loading
dock extends along the north end to provide access to the garage bay.
The fourth and final phase of the building was added in 1946 and consists of a one-bay extension
along the west side of the 1928 block with an adjacent stair tower and penthouse. The block is
primarily two stories tall with the second level even with the 1928 block and the lower level
adjoining the lower level of the 1933 block. The stair tower area is slightly wider at two bays and
is four bays long. It is three stories tall, creating a small penthouse that rises above the rest of the
building. The lower level of the 1946 block is poured concrete that ties into and follows the
contour of the exposed bedrock below. The bays within the portion along the original building
are pierced by window openings set within brick panels while the smaller openings in the stair
tower area pierce the concrete without brick surrounds. The second and third floor of the block
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
are brick laid in a 5:1 American Bond. The bays along the original block as well as the third floor
of the penthouse are recessed with brick pilasters while the second story of the stair tower is
smooth brick walls. It is topped by a flat roof with a flat parapet on three sides. All of the
windows on this block have been replaced by polycarbonate panels with faux “muntins” to
resemble the original industrial-style casement windows. There are two entrances into the 1946
block, both of which are located on the lower level of the stair tower. Both are single pedestrian
entries with replacement metal doors. The door on the west side of the tower is set above the
rock outcropping but currently not accessible as the stairs or landing that approached it have
been removed. The entry on the south side is accessible from a loading dock that extends from
the driveway at the south end of the building.
This loading dock consists of a cast concrete platform supported by poured concrete posts at the
southern end and by a full poured concrete base at the north end. The loading dock is approached
by an angled concrete ramp from the parking lot as well as two flights of steel stringer stairs
along its length. It is lined by a pole-type metal railing.
The interior of Building B consists primarily of large open spaces on each floor, although the
first floor is more segmented and irregularly shaped, reflective of its construction in several
phases and due to the topography of the site, and has two discontiguous areas. The larger area
within the 1933 section at the south end of the building consists of an open, irregularly shaped
room that spans the full width of the building for seven bays and then extends into the 1946
block along the west side of the building as a narrow corridor for an additional seven bays. The
open space is interrupted only by a grid of concrete support posts. Projecting from the west side
of this area within the stair tower area are three additional small rooms plus an enclosed
stairwell. Also on the first level, under the west side of the 1943 north wing is a narrow single
room accessed only from the west side exterior.
The second floor of the building is primarily a large open space occupying the entire footprint of
the building, interrupted by a grid of timber support posts and further broken up by several
nonhistoric partitions. A room has been partitioned in the northeast corner of the building with
frame and plywood walls and the building has been divided by a nonhistoric wood frame and
plywood clad partition roughly dividing the overall floor in half. A small office area has been
enclosed from this wall as well. Additionally, there are three small rooms, two of which are
bathrooms, plus the enclosed stairwell. The third floor (penthouse) consists of a single open
room accessed only by the interior stairwell.
The majority of the interior is unfinished with the structural system exposed. Within the first
floor, the west walls are exposed poured concrete, the south end wall is exposed wood frame,
and the east wall is exposed structural brick. The poured concrete support piers and reinforced
beams are exposed on the ceiling, as is the poured concrete slab for the floor above. All of the
first level flooring is exposed poured concrete slab. On the second floor, the majority of the walls
are exposed structural brick although the wood-framed south end wall is clad with plywood. The
small bathrooms within the 1946 block have plastered walls with late-twentieth century ceramic
tile partly up the walls. All of the modern partition walls are also wood framed and clad with
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
plywood. Throughout the main floor area, the timber support posts that support the roof system
are exposed. The exposed roofing system consists of timber joists set atop the posts and wood
decking above. The exception is the area under the third floor penthouse in which steel I-beams
support poured concrete girders and a poured concrete slab for the floor above. Flooring
throughout the second level is varied. In both the 1928 original block and 1933 south wing the
floors have poured concrete slabs that are partially exposed, and partially channeled and in-laid
with wood flooring. The concrete and wood flooring are in alternating strips which allowed for
machinery to be set on and supported by concrete strips with in-laid wood corridors for the
comfort of workers to stand and move throughout the building. The concrete areas are generally
rough with exposed aggregate and have inset metal anchors for machinery. The in-laid wood
strips are set within channels cut into the concrete. The wood is narrow-gauge (2 ½”), tongueand-groove maple flooring set on sleepers in the channels. The floors throughout the 1943 north
wing and within the 1946 block addition are smooth poured concrete slabs, but with wide
expansion gaps.
On the third floor (penthouse), the walls are exposed structural brick and the ceiling is the
exposed roof system with steel I-beam girders supporting a system of wood joists with scissorbracing and wood decking above. The floors are a poured concrete slab, but with a large
bulkhead cut for mechanical equipment to pass through.
The one set of interior stairs in the building is located within the 1946 block and extends from
the lower level up to the third floor penthouse. There is no elevator within the building, and there
was no connectivity between the first and second floors until this addition was built. The stairs
are half-turn with landings at each floor as well as half-way between. The stringers and landings
are steel frame and attached directly to the exposed brick walls. The decking and treads are
diamond-patterned steel and lined by pole-type steel railings. The stairs are open from the lower
level up to the final flight that leads to the penthouse which is enclosed within a metal firewall
bulkhead.
A variety of mechanical systems and fixtures remain throughout Building B. Plumbing is located
throughout the building and consists of piping for fire suppression sprinklers, the historic steam
heat system, and bathrooms. All of the sprinkler and steam system piping is exposed and
suspended from the ceiling by tie rods. The electrical system throughout the building all appears
to have been replaced in the second-half of the twentieth century to accommodate the changing
machinery and needs of the mill and is contained by a system of rigid conduit. Electric conduit is
suspended from the ceiling joists throughout the building as well as mounted to the exterior walls
and transformer boxes and circuit breaker panels are located throughout the building. All lighting
throughout the building is modern replacements and consists primarily of numerous florescent
tube light units suspended from the ceiling. The exception is in the second floor of the 1933
block which has a series of ceiling-mounted lamps attached to the joists.
Historically, the building was heated by steam heat powered by a boiler system. Radiators with
electric fans are suspended from ceilings joists throughout the building and connected by a
system of plumbing. Each unit has a vent that projects through the adjacent window opening to
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the exterior. In 1946, an air conditioning system was installed in the third floor penthouse
addition. This massive system occupies the majority of the third floor but has been disconnected
and much of the equipment dismantled.
Although the interior of Building B historically held a large amount of machinery related to the
operation of the mill, all of this was removed when it ceased operations. Equipment would have
included pressing and knitting machines, many of which were affixed to the concrete strips
located throughout the main floor of the building.
Building C - Contributing
The third building within the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 complex is Building C, a small garage
built in 1949. The two-bay building has an exposed concrete block structural system set on a
continuous foundation and topped by a front-gabled roof with exposed rafter tails covered with
standing-seam metal. There are two sets of swing-out metal garage doors on the front façade
approached by a concrete apron. The sides and rear of the building are pierced by fixed four-light
windows set on concrete sills. The interior of the building is unfinished with the structural
system exposed.
Section 7 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
SOCIAL HISTORY
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1900-1972
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1900
1905
1928
1933
1936
1943
1946
1971
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills #1 is being nominated for inclusion in the NRHP for local
significance under Criterion A in the areas of Industry and Social History for its role in the
hosiery industry throughout much of the twentieth century, as well as under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. The period of significance begins in 1900 when the earliest development of
the property occurred and ends in 1972 when the company was sold to an interest in Chicago and
the mill was subsequently closed. Soon thereafter, the complex was badly damaged by a fire
resulting in the partial demolition of one building in 1980. Criteria Consideration G does not
apply to this property because, although the period of significance ends less than fifty years ago,
the vast preponderance of its significance predates the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties
where significant activities have continued into the more recent past. Starting in 1900 and over
seven decades of continuous operation, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 played a variety of
important roles in the economy, culture, and landscape of Lynchburg. In 1913, it became one of
the first mills in the American South to manufacture socks with a government contract for the
military. Its association with the military continued during World War II when it was one of the
largest producers and innovators of G.I. cushioned socks and also produced parachute material.
Throughout this period, the mill continued to produce commercial material as well and was one
of the most productive hosiery mills in the country. Socially, the mill was significant as the only
business or industry in Lynchburg that hired African-American women following the opening of
a second, segregated mill complex in downtown Lynchburg in 1919. Although that facility’s
workforce was physically segregated from Mill #1, the two groups of workers were integrated in
1971. Architecturally, the property also remains as a character-defining industrial feature of
south Lynchburg and is reflective of industrial construction from that time. Furthermore,
Building B was the first hosiery mill building in the United States to be completely air
conditioned in 1946 when it began processing the newly developed products of rayon and nylon
distributed by DuPont and used for military applications.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Historical Background
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill came to be following the emigration of English fabric manufacturer
Joseph Godber Burton to the United States. In the late-nineteenth century, J.G. Burton owned a
bleach yard and finishing plant in Nottingham, England, in a partnership with his uncle. The
operation was affiliated with I. and R. Morley, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and
exporters of knit goods at that time. In 1884, Burton moved to Thornton, Rhode Island, to serve
as the first superintendent of the British Hosiery Company, one of the first ‘full-fashioned’
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
hosiery mills in America, established by Robert W. Cooper who brought his own equipment and
workforce of 120 employees from England to start the mill.
In 1899, the British Hosiery Company expanded their operations in the United States through the
opening of a branch in Lynchburg, Virginia. At that time, J.G. Burton was selected to serve as
Vice President of the new branch, and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, to help develop what
would be known as the Midland Hosiery Company.2 The Midland Hosiery Company was
officially chartered on May 17, 1899. The plant was situated at Fourteenth Street and Stephenson
Avenue, just outside Lynchburg town limits. The mill contained 125 knitting machines and had a
daily output of 500 pairs of men’s, women’s, and children’s hosiery.3
Within a year of helping to build the Midland Hosiery Company, J.G. Burton was compelled to
venture out on his own, and joined with local attorney R. Colston Blackford, to establish a new
hosiery company. On October 11, 1900, Burton formally chartered the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company, himself serving as President and Superintendent, and R.M. Patten as Secretary and
Treasurer.4 The new company was located just several blocks away from the Midland Hosiery on
Twelfth Street (present-day Fort Avenue).
The site was ideal for the plant due to the springs of water above the building which provided a
gravity water supply to the dye house. The mill consisted of a single one-story brick building
approximately 100 feet by 40 feet that included the full range of hosiery operations. It went into
operation with 25 fully automatic seamless knitting machines, and was one of the first mills in
the country to utilize this technology.5
The business became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company in 1902, by which time it had grown
into a lucrative business which had expanded to 50 knitting machines.6 It appears to have been so
successful in fact, that in 1903, the nearby Midland Hosiery Company was closed and its entire
plant and stock of equipment put up for sale.7 In 1907, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was
incorporated with capital stock of $50,000 and became the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc.8 At
that time, J.G. Burton’s son, Clarence Godber Burton became Treasurer of the company. In
1908, the plant was enlarged with a second story and a new wing that allowed for an additional
90 knitting machines to go into operation.9 According to a report from the Textile World Record,
that year the plant operated with 105 knitters, 19 ribbers, 26 loopers, and 21 sewing machines
manufacturing cotton, woolen, and merino half hose.10
2
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th Century Edition, Lynchburg,
VA, October, 1900, p.115.
3
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
4
“The Blue Book”: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada, 1901-1902.
5
Pou, Enoch. Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Preliminary Information Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
2011.
6
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946.
7
America's Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. 1903.
8
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
9
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
10
Textile World Record, Volume 36. 1908.
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Most of the employees of the mill at that time were women. Lynchburg was a heavily industrial
town at the turn-of-the-twentieth century so there were numerous factories, warehouses, and
other businesses for male employment. This left out a tremendous potential workforce of women
who at that time were seen as unfit for many jobs outside the home. The hosiery industry,
however, was considered safe and appropriate for female employment due to its linkages to
traditional sewing and piecework paid labor tasks that women had been performing since the
early nineteenth century. Female workers also commonly were paid a fraction of what male
workers received, thus creating an abundant and cheap labor force. With only one other
operating textile mill in town, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company was able to capitalize on this
form of cheap labor for many years. The usage of female workers became especially prevalent
and necessary with the outbreak of World War I when men were needed not only for military
service, but also industrial and production jobs in support of the war effort.
During the early years of the war in Europe, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company secured their first
government contract in 1913 and became one of the first mills in the American South to
manufacture socks for the military.11 Before the war, the company had developed and was the
first to produce cushioned sole socks. It presented samples of its cushioned sole golf socks to the
Research and Development Department of the Army Quartermaster Depot. The cushion sole
sock was adopted as standard issue by the Army and became its principal marching sock.
Working with the Army, the Lynchburg Hosiery Company developed a new pre-shrinking
process with special emphasis on cushioned sole socks for field usage where laundries were
scarce. Using this process, the mill attributed a large part of its capacity to the production of
socks for the Army during the war. In 1917 alone, the mill supplied 240,000 pairs of socks to the
War Department at a price of $0.13 each.12 The mill also produced full fashioned stockings for
the Women’s Army Corps and heavy woolen desert top socks for the British and American
armies during the North Africa campaign.13
The continued relationship with the military following the war, coupled with continued nongovernmental contracts prompted substantial growth and expansion of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill company in the 1920s.14 In 1920, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association was established
“to promote friendship among its members, to furnish a method of full and frank discussion of
the business of the mill in its relation to those who work for it, the promotion of constructive
criticism of methods of manufacture, working conditions, and manufactured product; and for the
creation of health benefit funds.” The Association was opened to all “white persons” employed
by Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc. The Shop Committee consisted of the foremen of the several
departments in the mill and was the governing body of the Association. A separate committee,
the Benefit Committee, had jurisdiction over the payment of benefits, approving claims before
payment and calling on ill or disabled members. Members made weekly contributions to the
11
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
Investigation of the War Department, 1918.
13
Pou, Enouch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
14
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
12
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Association, these being matched by the company. In addition to claims for disability and
sickness, the Association also paid benefits to members laid off by the company.15
That same year, the company purchased a second building to increase their production of men’s,
women’s, and children’s cotton and silk hosiery. The building, a former tobacco warehouse, was
located in downtown Lynchburg at 410 Court Street, within the predominantly AfricanAmerican populated Fifth Street neighborhood. Following the opening of the second plant, this
facility became Mill #2 while the original complex on Fort Avenue became Mill #1.
The placement of the mill was an important and bold move by Burton and the other officers of
the corporation as it made Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #2 the first business or industry in Lynchburg
to hire African American women and was considered the first economic opportunity for African
American women to gain employment other than domestic work in the homes of White
Lynchburg residents. Mill #2 operated on African American employment exclusively,16 and
between opening in 1919 through closing in 1971, the branch employed between 150-200
African American women. This had a tremendous social effect on the City of Lynchburg,
especially early on in its operation, in that many African American women aspired to work at the
mill, thereby reducing the domestic service base available for hire by white upper class residents.
However, Mill #2 operated only two shifts, as opposed to the three shifts that took place at Mill
#1, as African American women did not seek to work a third (night) shift due to safety and
transportation concerns.17
Just as the physical plants were racially segregated, the mutual benefit associations for the
workers were as well. The administration of the two Associations, the secretarial work involved,
and the printing of all necessary literature took place at the company’s administrative offices
located at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue. Both Associations provided the same benefits to each set of
employees: an early form of medical insurance, disability benefits, an early form of
unemployment payments, and savings plans to include Christmas Savings Accounts. Because of
the sheer number of women employees at both mills, women were permitted to serve on the
Shop Committee and as part of the governing body of the Associations, an unusual allowance at
a time that men typically held all leadership positions.18 Because of these benefits as well as the
steady income that came with employment at the mills, both African American and white women
continued to seek employment at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company.
In 1921, C.G. Burton assumed control of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills from his father when he
was named the new company President. Under C.G.’s leadership, coupled with the increased
production of the second mill, the company continued to grow. During the 1920s, Mill #2
produced the tops and bottoms for men’s socks, which then were taken to Mill #1 on Fort
Avenue where the facilities and machines for finishing and dyeing of the socks were located. By
15
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
“Around the Trade,” The Underwear and Hosiery Review. June 1920.
17
Pou, Enoch, Lynchburg Hosiery Mill PIF, 2011.
18
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 31, 2011.
16
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the late 1920s, the facilities at Mill #1 were no longer able to manage the increased workload and
a variety of expansions were undertaken. The primary mill building that housed the complete
operation from knitting to finishing and administration was expanded with a large addition. A
second, completely new building (Building B) was also constructed on the property, just uphill
from the original facility.
As employment at the enlarged Mill #1 increased, many workers and their families moved closer
to the plant in a neighborhood that become a sort of informal “company town” just uphill from
the second building. The road that lead from Fort Avenue past the mill and bordered the
neighborhood (present-day Lancaster) came to be known as Burton Street in the 1920s, after the
company president.
In addition to men’s and military socks, the mill's production expanded through the 1920s to
include ladies’ hosiery, golf socks, parachutes, and wool blankets. Despite the economic
struggles of the Great Depression, the company continued to grow in the 1930s. In its 1936
report, the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association wrote in reference to Lynchburg Hosiery
Mills that “This has been an outstanding success, particularly notable during the recent years of
depression, when general conditions were so strained. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills have added
both to their equipment and staff and have run many months at a time with both day and night
shifts operating.”19 Physical growth during the 1930s included substantial additions to the second
building (Building B) at Mill #1 in 1933 and the original building (Building A) in 1936.
The advent of World War II brought tremendous prosperity for the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills as
they retained a substantial government contract for wartime supplies. During World War II, the
mill made several items for use by the military including socks, parachutes, and artillery powder
bags.20 The mill manufactured 8,400 pairs of socks a day for the Government that were issued to
members of the Armed Forces and Civilian Conservation Corps. Throughout the course of the
war, the mill produced more than 28 million pairs of hose for the Armed Forces.21 A 1943
newspaper article noted the company won “high praise” from the military for its superior
product, quoting a telegram sent by a rear admiral that read in part: “Our boys can’t get enough
of these fine socks. Don’t keep them waiting.”22
Because of increases in cost of traditional materials like cotton, wool, and silk due to the war,
engineers and designers at the mill began to incorporate ‘new’ materials that were gaining
popularity in the textile industry such as rayon and nylon distributed by the DuPont Corporation.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills also produced specialty parachutes, known as drogue parachutes.
These parachutes were attached to bombs dropped on enemy positions. The parachutes slowed
19
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association,
Inc., 1936, p.130.
20
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986, Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick
House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
21
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
22
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
the descent of the bomb, thereby allowing the plane and pilot that dropped them enough time to
move a safe distance from the exploding bomb. Drogue parachutes are also used to help open
larger parachutes.23 The mill also produced woolen blankets for the Army and cargo parachutes
for the Navy.
Wartime production further solidified the trend that the hosiery mill was already following with
the increase in female employment. With Lynchburg’s draft quota, there was a shortage of men
for necessary jobs, including essential war-related industries. This included the many foundries,
shoe and clothing factories, as well as textile and hosiery mills under government contract. A call
was placed throughout town, just as it was across the nation, for all able persons to fill the jobs,
which resulted in more and more women doing what was previously considered men’s work. In
this way, most of the need for workers at the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill and other industries was
met.24 Wartime manufacturing also required more space in addition to more workers, and this
was met by the construction of a north wing to the second building at Mill #1 in 1943.
The local prominence of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill during the war brought notoriety to
President C.G. Burton, who was selected to serve as a member of the Lynchburg City Council
from 1942-1948, and even elected City Mayor for the period of 1946-1948. Following his stint
as Mayor, Burton was elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress in 1948 and served in that
role until 1953.25 At that time, Burton stepped down as President of the Lynchburg Hosiery
Company to become Chairman of the Board. His nephew and the grandson of J.G. Burton, the
founder of the company, C. Burton Gerhardt stepped up as President.
Under the new leadership of Gerhardt, the mill continued to grow into its peak of operations,
becoming one of the largest producers of hosiery in the country, turning out approximately
25,000 dozen pairs of half hose and 2,500 dozen pairs of ladies full-fashioned hose per week.
The mill produced stockings of nylon, rayon, and silk, including mesh or clocked hose.
In the post-war years, the mill was operating 825 seamless knitting machines making men’s
socks and 30 full fashion machines. One area of the mill produced 3,000 dozen pairs of women’s
sheer silk hose per week with the balance of the mill producing 18,000 dozen pairs of men’s
socks weekly. In the late 1940s, the mill employed 926 men and women with a weekly payroll of
$15,000. Twenty-five salesmen sold the mill’s products. Customers of the mill were wholesale
houses and large chain stores based primarily in New York and Chicago.
The company produced 102 different men’s patterns utilizing 32 colors of yarn dyed at the plant.
Women’s hose were produced in 15 colors that changed seasonally and were offered in 2, 3, and
4-thread count and included novelties such as Queen Anne’s lace stockings and knee-length
23
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc., Research by Vince Desmond, Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg, VA, July
29, 2010.
24
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg, Virginia ,J.P. Bell
Company, 1972, p.259.
25
“Clarence Burton,” Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
sports hose. A team of four full-time designers were on staff to keep up with trends in styles and
imagine new designs.26
To create these different patterns, the mill used a combination of human and machine work,
including a variety of modern specialized machinery. A 1946 newspaper article described the
complex as being filled with endless rows of knitting machines throughout the company’s three
buildings. It goes on to describe the various processes for making both men’s and women socks.
Both socks were produced using generally similar methods, with the primary differences being in
material and color. Also, men’s half socks and women’s knee length hose were seamless, while
the majority of socks and hose consisted of a separate foot section and upper “ribbed” section
produced by a ribber seamed together. As such, the primary machines within the complex were
leggers, footers, loopers, seamers, and ribbers. The leggers were 47 feet long and could knit 21
full-fashioned hose at a time. The machine automatically adjusted itself to knit the hose the shape
of the leg. In order to distinguish between hose of different qualities and thread counts for
women’s wear, the thread fed to the machine was tined various shades of pink and yellow. The
foot of the hose was started by hand by a worker called the “topper.” The topper would attach the
leg of the hose to a transfer bar which was then placed on the footer machine. The footer was a
machine that knitted the foot of the hose. Each footer could knit 24 hose at a time, the same
amount the legger could knit. However, as the footer knitted much faster than the legger, the
complex employed only eight footer machines as opposed to 22 leggers.27
Once the foot was knitted, it was taken to a worker in charge of “topping” or fastening up the toe
and heel on a single machine called a “looper.” The loopers were used to top the toe and heel and
some of the men’s socks. Meanwhile, for men’s socks, ribbers were the machines that knit the
upper part of the sock which was then attached to the remainder of the sock by the knitting
machine. The ribber machine knitted a continuous chain of ribbings that were then cut apart and
each set on a bar attached to the knitting machine. At that point, the hose was ready for finishing
on the “seamer” machine which connected the foot of the hose with upper portion. Once seamed,
the women’s hose was ready to be stretched over the dying form and dyed one of the fifteen
offered colors.28
For menswear, all the socks come off the knitting machine gray. They were then bleached with
sodium peroxide before being dyed the desired color. The products were dyed in a state of the art
dye house facility at the complex. The dyeing machines were made of Monel, a naturally noncorrosive alloy resistant to the action of dye chemicals. A sock could be dyed a pattern of as
many as three different colors in one water, accomplished by knitting the sock of three different
materials. There were dyes for vegetable, animal, and acetate materials with the affinity for only
one of the materials, therefore the dye coloring the cotton would not affect wool or rayon, why
other dyes may only color those materials.29
26
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Ibid
28
Ibid
29
Ibid
27
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Throughout the entire process, the hose and socks were inspected for defects. The most common
defect was when the looper left thread ends loose on the wrong side of the sock. To remove
these, the mill employed machines which were a combination of clippers and vacuums. The
operator ran the clipper over the sock while stretched on a form. It would cut the dangling thread
and remove them with the vacuum. The complex nature of the machines and their operation 24hours a day required a full-time staff of 35 machinists at the mill to keep them in repair.30
Although wool from Australia and silk from Japan were the principal fabrics used, the increased
cost for these materials due to the war, particularly silk from Japan, led the Lynchburg Hosiery
Mill to continue incorporating the newly developed materials of rayon and nylon into their
products. As these materials were expected to become the principal material for women’s hose
the company took the substantial step in 1946 to air condition one of the mill buildings as
temperature control was an important factor in the processing of nylon. To accomplish this
upgrade, a large addition with a third-floor penthouse had to be appended to Building B to
accommodate the massive air conditioning system. Once completed, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
#1 became the first hosiery mill in the country to be completely air conditioned.31 Just a few
years after the second mill building (Building B) at the complex was air conditioned, a new
boiler house was added to the first mill building (Building A) in the early-1950s. Around the
same time, a two-bay, concrete block garage was constructed within the complex to serve as a
storage space and garage.
Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls in the post-war years made Lynchburg’s factories
and mills, including the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, a substantial component of the City’s business
and economy. By the 1950s, industrial payrolls in Lynchburg were nearly twice as great as in the
last year of World War II and more than three times as much as in the pre-war year of 1939.32
In 1964, Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act led to changes in the organization of the
workers’ Associations, but not the workplace. By law, the two separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill
Associations were merged, bringing both the African American and white employees into the
same Association. As a part of the merger, the Association had to issue the African American
employees of Mill #2 a partial return of monies that they had paid into the Association to have an
equitable pro rata share of the Association upon completion of the merger after it was determined
that the white employees had used the medical and other benefits much more than their African
American counterparts. The workforces of the two mills, however, remained physically
segregated until 1971 with all African American employees working at Mill #2 while the white
employees and administrative offices stayed at Mill #1 on Fort Avenue.
30
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21, 1946
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview of January 3, 2011.
32
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce, Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and Transportation Center of
Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial.
Library, Lynchburg, VA.
31
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The two mills remained segregated until 1971 when the decision was made to close Mill #2. At
that time, all of the equipment was transferred to Mill #1 and the two workforces were integrated
within the one facility. The combined operation did not continue for long though, for the
following year, it was announced that the company and operation would be sold to an investment
firm based in Chicago. The formal announcement was made September 16, 1972, by acting
President C. Burton Gerhardt, former President and grandson of the founder Joseph G. Burton,
and William H. Rentschler of Chicago, the new President. With the sale of all issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Inc., it was described as being among
the top 10 percent of the nation’s hosiery producers at that time. As part of the sale, founding
family members C. Burton Gerhardt, Clarence G. Burton, and E. Alvin Gerhardt, Jr., agreed to
continue to be active on a day to day basis as consultants.33 Operations only continued briefly
though as the company fell on hard times and closed completely in 1972 after the Chicago
investors who purchased it became mired in legal troubles and allegations of fraud.34
The company no longer maintained a presence in Lynchburg and the mill complex ceased to
operate. For the next eight years, the large empty buildings that formerly held row upon row of
knitting machines and other equipment were leased out as general storage space, used primarily
to store window displays for a local department store.35
On the afternoon of Saturday April 5, 1980, a fire broke out in the 1900-1908 portions of
Building A fronting Fort Avenue where the administrative offices and some manufacturing space
had been located. Fire fighters battled the fire, but by the time it was extinguished, both of the
large mill buildings were severely damaged and several smaller storage buildings set between
them were completely destroyed. The following day, crews under the supervision of the fire
department knocked down the most heavily damaged portions of the administrative building
(Building A), leaving just the foundation and lower part of the walls in case the property owners
wished to rebuild the structure atop them.36
Reconstruction did not take place, and instead the wall at the north end of Building A was closed
off with a framed wall and vinyl siding. The remaining portions of the two mill buildings were
repaired and continued to be leased out as general warehouse space for the next three decades.
As of 2016, the complex was purchased by a real estate developer with plans to rehabilitate the
buildings, and restore their historic character while converting them into mixed-use commercial
and loft space.
Significance: Industry
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its association with the industrial heritage of the City of Lynchburg and the hosiery
33
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and Advance. March 14,
2010.
35
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
36
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
34
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
industry at large. The Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Company, and particularly Mill #1, played a
variety of important roles in the economic and commercial evolution of Lynchburg from the time
of its charter in 1900 through its sale to an outside business investment firm in 1972. During that
time, the mill employed thousands of local residents with a substantial payroll. As one of the
largest industrial concerns in the city, the mill was a substantial component of Lynchburg’s
economy throughout the twentieth century. As one of the largest hosieries in the nation, the
products they produced brought attention to Lynchburg as these products were distributed to
major centers of fashion in New York and Chicago where a number of their trademark lines were
among the most popular brands.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also significant for a variety of developments and industry
“firsts” that occurred there. Early in its operation, the mill was credited with the invention and
first production of the cushioned sole sock. The invention of the cushioned sole sock, which is
still widely manufactured and considered now to be a standard attribute to virtually all
manufactured socks. The cushioned sole sock and a variety of other products manufactured at the
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill also contributed greatly to the military and war efforts during both
World War I and II. During World War I, the mill was one of the largest providers of socks to
the Army. During World War II, it continued to be a major producer of socks in addition to other
textiles such as blankets and parachutes including the newly developed nylon “drogue
parachutes.” The drogue parachute was a crucial component in the weaponry used by Allied
Forces in their effort to win World War II, and saved the lives of countless pilots and assuredly
turned many battles during the war. The production of nylon parachutes by the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill was significant as an early example of the use of new, synthetic materials
purchased from DuPont being used by the military after Japanese silk became scarce during the
war.
After the war, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 continued the use of nylon as well as another
synthetic material produced by DuPont, rayon. The mill’s use of these new products also led to
its significance as the first hosiery facility in the country to be completely air-conditioned due to
the specific climate requirements needed for the manufacture of nylon products. Development
and improvement of various hosiery products resulting from the cutting-edge use of nylon was
clearly evident at the mill as its overall production, and particularly that of women’s nylon
stockings, tripled in the years following its adoption.
Significance: Social History
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion A at the local
level for its role in the social history of Lynchburg throughout its operation. At the turn-of-thetwentieth century, Lynchburg was the site of many large industrial concerns, including the
Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company, one the largest foundries in the South. As such, there
were many opportunities for men to find work in the area; however few jobs were deemed safe
and appropriate for women. Textiles were one line of work that was considered fit for females as
it was non-threatening to the traditional norms for male/female relationships in a household
while affording an extra income. From the time of its opening through its closure in 1972, the
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 took advantage of the extensive potential female workforce in
Lynchburg, employing thousands of women during its operation. An average of 75% of the
mill’s employees were female and at its peak of almost 1,200 employees, less than 100 were
men. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill was one of the major employers of women in the
Lynchburg area, and in many ways was responsible for helping to solidify the two income
household in town.
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is also significant for its role in the employment of
African American women outside of domestic servitude. In 1920, the company opened a second
mill in the predominantly African American Fifth Street neighborhood of Lynchburg. At this
plant the company employed an almost exclusively African American female workforce that
fundamentally changed hiring practices in the region. While this employment occurred at Mill #2
and not within the Mill #1, the decision to enact this policy and the subsequent management
occurred within the corporate administrative offices at Mill #1. Following the passage of the
Civil Rights Act in 1964, the two separate worker Associations were merged and compensation
was paid to the African American members who had received less benefits under the segregated
system. In 1971, Mill #2 was closed and all the employees were at that time integrated into the
single operation at Mill #1. As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Company is significant as an
early employer of African American workers, and the first to employee African American
women in Lynchburg, but also conveys the strained racial relationships and segregation
prevalent throughout the region during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Significance: Architecture
The Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is also locally significant under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture as a representative example of industrial development throughout the first half of
the twentieth century and an early example of industrial construction specifically for textile mills
in the Lynchburg area. The mill buildings on the property were built and expanded a number of
times between 1900 and the 1950s and thus reflect a variety of construction techniques and
innovations. The earliest construction on the property consisted of a primarily one-story building
set on a stacked stone foundation with masonry walls but internal timber support posts and
beams. The later additions are illustrative of improved large-scale construction techniques
through the use of concrete foundations, reinforced concrete subfloors, posts, and beams, and the
eventual transition to structural I-beams; all of which allowed for larger open industrial areas
while supporting heavier and more extensive machinery as the twentieth century progressed.
Not only do the buildings at Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 exhibit these general construction
advances, they also retain and display a variety of specialized components designed specifically
for textile mills. The exterior of the buildings reflects textile mill construction prevalent in the
first-half of the twentieth century with rows of large, industrial-style casement windows to
provide suitable illumination for the workers inside. The need for daylight in work areas has
always been a dominant factor in mill design. Within the long, relatively narrow manufacturing
spaces of early mill buildings, workbenches lined exterior walls or were placed perpendicular to
them, next to windows. Workers sat or stood at these benches, usually facing windows, to
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
perform the operations that required the best lighting – precision work and color matching.37
These early mills relied on rows of smaller windows; however by the turn of the twentieth
century, larger casement windows arranged in curtain wall configurations greatly improved
interior illumination, particularly as electric lighting was still not always readily available. The
portions of Mill #1 built in 1900 and 1908 exhibited the earlier form with regularly spaced
double-hung sash windows while those portions built from the 1920s through the 1950s feature
the larger casement style windows. Within the buildings at Mill #1, the interiors also reflect of
textile mill construction with large, undivided open rooms sufficient for rows of machinery,
workbenches, and other equipment including some, such as leggers, which were nearly 50-feet
long.
The interior of Building B is particularly notable for several characteristic mill designs. The
flooring throughout the main level was specially designed for the type of work performed there.
The floor is a structural concrete slab that is channeled and in-laid with wood flooring. The
concrete and wood floors are in alternating strips which allowed for machinery to be set on the
concrete and stabilized by inset metal anchors, while channeled strips for in-laid wood corridors
provided for the comfort of workers standing and moving about the building. Building B was
also expanded and adapted in 1946 to meet the specialized manufacturing process for the newly
developed material nylon. Nylon requires cool conditions and thus a large penthouse was added
to the building to house a massive air conditioner system, reportedly making Building B the first
textile mill building in the nation to be outfitted in this way specifically for nylon. Meanwhile,
the modestly scaled Building C, a two-bay, concrete block garage, is illustrative of the transition
from brick to standardized concrete masonry units for construction of service buildings such as
garages, shops, and other utilitarian purposes.
As such, the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 conveys architectural significance for its representation
of not only general industrial construction from the first-half of the twentieth century, but for
specialized design related to its role as a textile mill. Several of the small ancillary buildings
present during the operation of the mill have been demolished, and a portion of one of the mills
was destroyed by fire in 1980; however the two mill buildings that remain continue to convey
their historic function, association, and character. Together they display a complex of early
industrial architecture and various construction methods necessary to function as a hosiery mill
complex throughout the first-half of the twentieth century.
37
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York , Oxford
University Press, 1999, p. 31.
Section 8 page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Newspaper Articles
“Developer seeks to flip old Fort Ave. mills for lofts, commercial space.” The News and
Advance. March 14, 2010.
“Fire Gutted Walls of Mill Knocked Down.” The Free Lance Star. April 7, 1980.
“Hosiery Firm Sold to Chicago Group,” The News, Lynchburg, VA, September 17, 1972.
“Lynchburg Plant Ranks Among Largest Hosiery Mills,” The Daily Advance, October 21,
1946.
“Midland Hosiery Co., Large Plant of This Company in Lynchburg,” The News, 20th
Century Edition, Lynchburg, Virginia, October, 1900, p.115.
Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1899.
Books and Other Sources
America’s Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries, Volume 17. “For Sale:
Large Plant and Mill of the Midland Hosiery Company, Lynchburg, Virginia.” 1903.
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the Governor. “Business Charters.”
1903.
Biographical Directory of the United Station Congress. “Clarence Burton.” No Date.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New
York, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Campbell County. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
City of Lynchburg. Deed Books and Assorted Land Records. Assorted Dates.
Desmond, Vince. “Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Inc.”, Volunteer Research, Lynchburg Museum
System, Lynchburg, VA, July 29, 2010.
Earl Alvin Gerhardt, Jr. Collection, MS1299, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Elson, James M., Lynchburg, Virginia, The First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986,
Lynchburg, Virginia ,Warwick House Publishers, 2004, p.373.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Gerhardt, E. Alvin, Jr. Telephone Interview with Enoch Pou. January 3, 2011.
Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. Lynchburg, Industrial, Geographical, and
Transportation Center of Virginia, pamphlet ca. 1951, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, VA
Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Lynchburg
Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936, p.130
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1908.
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill. Lynchburg History: Historic Photos and Maps of Lynchburg,
Virginia. Available from www.Lynchburghistory.com. Circa 1920s.
Investigation of the War Department: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs,
United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second Session, for the Purpose of Inquiring
from the Different Branches of the Service of the War Department as to the Progress
Made in the Matter of Providing for Ordnance, Small Arms, Munitions, Etc., in
Connection with the Present War and to Ascertain the Government Need. U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1918.
Pou, Enoch. Preliminary Information Form and Evaluation of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill.
VDHR ID# 118-126. April 2011.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1907, 1919, 1951, 1955. On
file at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Maps of Lynchburg Virginia. 1938. On file at the Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot, The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946, Lynchburg,
Virginia, J.P. Bell Company, 1972, p.259.
Textile World Record, Volume 36. Lord & Nagle Co. 1908.
The Blue Book: Textile Directory of the United States and Canada. Davison Publishing
Company, 1901-1902.
Underwood Aerials. Aerial Photograph Collection. Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg,
Virginia. 1923.
United States Geological Service. Single Frame Aerial Photography. 1952, 1968.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
United States Geological Service. Topographical Quadrangles. Assorted Dates.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; City
of Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR File #118-0126
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
approximately 4
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398160
Longitude: 79.163450
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary of the Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1 is composed of portions of two separate
property tax parcels (identified as 02733066 and 02733019 by the City of Lynchburg) and
contains approximately 4 acres of land. The property is located at 2734 Fort Avenue in
Lynchburg, Virginia and is generally bound by Fort Avenue to the northwest, Lancaster
Street to the southwest, Reed Street to the southeast, and by adjacent properties to the
northeast. The northeastern boundary follows the property line of the larger, northern of the
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
two parcels along the rear of two adjacent properties that front Fort Avenue and then along
the side boundary of adjacent property facing Reed Street. The true and correct historic
boundaries are shown on the attached Location Map and Sketch Map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundaries include the acreage historically associated with the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mill #1 and includes all extant buildings and structures historically associated with
the complex as well as its original setting.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Robert J. Taylor, Jr.
organization: Dutton & Associates, LLC
street & number: 1115 Crowder Drive
city or town: Midlothian
state: Virginia
zip code: 23313
telephone: 804-897-1960
date: August 2016
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photograph Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
Photographer: Todd Dykshorn
State: Virginia
Photo 1 of 17: Building A
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 2 of 17: Building A
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 3 of 17: Building A
East Facade, Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 4 of 17: Building A
Northeast Corner, Facing West
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 5 of 17: Building B
Site, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 6 of 17: Building B
West Facade, Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 7 of 17: Building B
South End, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 8 of 17: Building B
North End, Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 9 of 17: Building C
Front and West Side, Facing Northwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 10 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1920s Block), Facing Southeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 11 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1936 Block), Facing West/Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 12 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior, Facing Northeast
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 13 of 17: Building B
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1943 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 14 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1928 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 15 of 17: Building B
Second Story Interior (1943 Block), Facing North
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 16 of 17: Building A
Second Story Interior (1928 and 1933 Blocks), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
Photo 17 of 17: Building A
First Story Interior (1933 Block), Facing Southwest
Photo taken March 2010
List of Historic Photos
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s,
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday October
21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photographs
Historic Photo 1: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1900s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 2: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill, Circa 1920s.
Unknown Photographer. Source: Lynchburg History.
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Photo 3: Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Interior, 1946.
Unknown Photographer. Source: The Daily Advance: Lynchburg, Virginia. Monday
October 21, 1946. On file at the City of Lynchburg Museum System.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 36
37.398160; -79.163450
Historic Boundary
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, Virginia
VDHR # 118-0126
Location Map (point coincides with latitude/longitude provided in Section 10)
Building C Contributing
Historic Boundary
Building A Contributing
Building B Contributing
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Sketch Map (with contributing status for individual buildings)
8
9
6
5
1
4
7
2
2
3
N
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Site and Exterior)
10
11
N
12
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building A Interior)
17
N
15
16
14
Lynchburg Hosiery Mill #1
Lynchburg, VA
VDHR # 118-0126
Photo Key (Building B Interior)
13
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p a r t of t h e Poindexter plan, an East H a l l (1903) and West H a l l (1906) a r e connected t o
Main Hall by arcades.
Located on t h e south e l e v a t i o n , t h e entrance tower's f i r s t s t o r y contains a ones t o r y , f l a t - r o o f veranda, topped by a b r i c k parapet. The p o r t i c o i s supported by s i x
p a i r s of b r i c k square columns s e t on high b r i c k p e d e s t a l s . The veranda s h e l t e r s an
outer transom-light doorway with complementing s i d e l i g h t s . An i n t e r i o r doorway contains
a semicircular fan-light transom. The tower's second s t o r y f e a t u r e s paired 111 hungsash windows s e t below e l l i p t i c a l b r i c k arches with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . Elongated
diamond-pane windows s e t below smaller round-arched,diamond-pane casement windows complete
the tower's f e n e s t r a t i o n . The top of t h e tower i s e l a b o r a t e l y delineated by pronounced
b r i c k p i l a s t e r s flanked by wooden volutes. The tower i s topped by a parapet wall and
capped by a c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d wooden cupola, crowned by a f i n i a l . The c o m e r s of t h e
entrance tower a r e d e l i n e a t e d by three-story bay windows which a r e topped by domical
lanterns.
The entrance tower i s flanked by four-bay wings of t h r e e s t o r i e s . The facade's
f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s of 212 hung-sash windows i n a v a r i e t y of treatments. The wing's
f i r s t s t o r y has
transom-and sidelight-framed,hung-sash windows. The second s t o r y
contains e l l i p t i c a l - a r c h windows with s i d e l i g h t s . The t h i r d s t o r y c o n s i s t s of flat-arch
windows topped by pedimented gables which p r o j e c t from t h e roof of t h e s t r u c t u r e . A
s i n g l e bay of t h r e e s t o r i e s connects t h e paired wings t o e a s t e r n and western wings, and
the facade i s executed i n five-course American bond.
A p a r t of t h e f i r s t (1891-93) building campaign, t h e easternmost wing c o n s i s t s of an
L-shape-plan building covered by a cross-gable roof. The wing i s dominated by a fives t o r y c o m e r entrance tower. The tower's f i r s t s t o r y i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported
by b r i c k p i e r s and s e t on a high podium. The tower f e a t u r e s f l a t - a r c h windows on t h e
second s t o r y and round-arch windows on t h e t h i r d s t o r y . An observatory i s located on t h e
f i f t h s t o r y , defined by an i r o n r a i l and covered by a domical roof. The wing's
f e n e s t r a t i o n includes transom-headed windows on t h e f i r s t s t o r y and f l a t - a n d round-arch
windows r e s p e c t i v e l y on t h e second and t h i r d s t o r i e s . A two-story bay window p r o j e c t s
from t h e south e l e v a t i o n .
The e a s t e r n wing comprises Main all's e a s t e l e v a t i o n which c o n s i s t s of a three-part
arcade with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . The second s t o r y c o n s i s t s of f l a t - a r c h windows
with pronounced keystones, and t h e t h i r d s t o r y has round-arch and f l a t - a r c h windows w i t h
pronounced keystones. A row of gables breaks t h e roof l i n e . A c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d
arcade connects t h e e a s t e r n wing t o t h e Psychology Building, e r e c t e d i n 1903 a s "East
Mall".
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
I
I
Form No 19
300a
(new 10-74)
U K l l t D S T A T E 5 D t P A K T M t h r OF T t l t IhTtKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main
all,
Randolph-Macon
CONTl NUATION SHEET 8 1
7.
,
'
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER 7
PAGE1
DESCRIPTION
The western wing was built in 1896 with an addition made in 1899. The wing contains
a corner entrance tower of four stories. Covered by a tent roof, the tower features a
portico similar in execution to that found on the eastern wing. Fenestration is comprised
of transowheaded windows on the first story and gauged-brick, flat-arch windows with
pronounced keystones on the second story. The third story is composed of semicircular
arched windows with pronounced keystones. A round window with pronounced keystones defines
the attic story.
The addition of 1899 is Main Hall's west elevation. Fenestration on the first story
consists of transowheaded windows framed by segmental arches. The second story has
flat-arch windows with pronounced keystones. The third story contains segmental-arch
windows. A classically inspired arcade, similar to that on the east elevation, connects
Main Hall to the English-Art Building of 1906.
The building's north elevation is dominated by four parallel wings which extend to
the north. A wooden porch shelters a rear first-story entrance. The wing's hip-roof
line is broken by dormer windows along the eaves course. A Colonial Revival-style tower
of three stories projects between the western wing and a middle wing. Fenestration between
the wings consists of segmental-arch windows with transoms on the first and third stories.
Pedimented gables line the eaves course.
The middle wing, original to the Poindexter plan, was first modified in 1906-07 by
the enlargement of the chapel to seat approximately 800 persons. In 1911 the "Annex"
was built, which enlarged the middle wing to the north and provided for additional
dormitory and classroom space. The chapel's fenestration is Colonial Revival in style
and consists of 616 hung-sash windows topped by semicircular fan lights. Parallel to the
middle wing is a six-bay wing added during a 1934 renovation. The wing is used as a
dormitory and administrative offices.
The eastern wing was constructed as part of the first building campaign of 1891-1893.
A one-story,shed-roof addition projects to the north. Fenestration.consists of hung-sash,
segmental-arched windows. A row of gables breaks the roof line.
The plan of Main Hall is a simple one. A long passage runs east-west through the
center of the building and intersects with another central passage entering from the south
front. The central passage contains paired lateral stairs that ascend to the third floor.
All subsidiary rear wings run off to the north of the east-west passage.
(See Continuation Sheet i j 2 )
Form No. 10-3003
\Her 10-74)
UN1TEDSTA.ltiS I)tP.-\Kl.MtNT OFTHt. ISTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HJSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main H a l l , Randolph-Macon's
CONTI NUATION SHEET
7.
#2
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER,
PAGE
2
DESCRIPTION
Main H a l l ' s f i r s t f l o o r c o n t a i n s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s t o t h e e a s t and classrooms
and lounges t o t h e west. The main c o l l e g e d i n i n g room i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c e n t r a l wing
o f f t h e main e n t r y h a l l . The e n t r a n c e h a l l c o n t a i n s a l a r g e formal p a r l o r , t h e r e s u l t
of a 1934 r e n o v a t i o n which opened t h e space formerly occupied by a s m a l l p a r l o r , narrow
e n t r a n c e h a l l , and b u s i n e s s o f f i c e s . Dormitory space i s provided on t h e second and
t h i r d f l o o r s . The o l d c o l l e g e c h a p e l , c u r r e n t l y used f o r s t o r a g e , o c c u p i e s an
auditorium on t h e second f l o o r . The o r i g i n a l organ i s s t i l l i n p l a c e , a l t h o u g h t h e
o r i g i n a l s e a t i n g h a s been removed.
The f r o n t lawn h a s always been landscaped by t h e c o l l e g e and r e t a i n s a number of
o r i g i n a l t r e e s and p l a n t i n g s . The f r o n t e n t r a n c e , a c i r c u l a r d r i v e w i t h a complementing
b r i c k sidewalk, c o n t i n u e s t o s e r v e t h e c o l l e g e . A s m a l l b r i c k w a l l d e f i n e s t h e p e r i m e t e r s
of t h e c o l l e g e a l o n g Norfolk and Rivermont Avenues.
Although not p a r t of t h e o r i g i n a l P o i n d e x t e r p l a n , t h e p r e s e n t Psychology B u i l d i n g
(1903) and English-Art B u i l d i n g (1906), a r e connected t o Main H a l l by a r c a d e s and provide
a complement i n m a t e r i a l and s c a l e t o t h e c o l l e g e ' s f i r s t b u i l d i n g . Both b u i l d i n g s a r e
c o n s t r u c t e d of b r i c k and covered by a h i p roof w i t h a row of dormers on t h e e a s t and
west e l e v a t i o n s .
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
Main H a l l , a l o n g w i t h t h e English-Arts B u i l d i n g and Psychology B u i l d i n g , i s l o c a t e d
i n t h e c e n t e r of t h e Randolph-Macon Woman's College campus. They a r e bounded by Rivermont
Avenue t o t h e s o u t h ; P r e s s e r H a l l , I f a r t i n S c i e n c e , E a s t H a l l and a c o l l e g e walkway t o
t h e e a s t ; Smith Memorial, West H a l l , t h e c o l l e g e d r i v e , and t h e c o l l e g e Chapel t o t h e
west; and Webb H a l l and t h e Leggett B u i l d i n g t o t h e n o r t h . Main H a l l and i t s
dependencies c o n s t i t u t e t h e academic and r e s i d e n t i a l h e a r t of Randolph4acon Woman's
College. The lawn s u r r o u n d i n g t h e H a l l h a s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e c o l l e g e campus s i n c e t h e h a l l
was begun i n 1891. m e b o u n d a r i e s a r e drawn t o exclude 20th-century b u i l d i n g s e r e c t e d
a f t e r Nest H a l l i n 1906 and t h o s e o u t of l i n e w i t h and n o t connected t o Main H a l l .
aSIGNIFICANCE
AREASOF SIGNIFICANCE
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-CONSERVATION
-ECOhOMICS
PERIOD
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-AGRICULTURE
X
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
--
SPECIFIC DATES
1891-1936
-- CHECK A N D J U S T I N BELOW
XEDUCATION
-ENGINEERING
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-INDUSTRY
_JNVENTION
-LANDSCAPEARCHITECTURE
-LAW
-LITERATURE
-MILITARY
-MUSIC
-PHILOSOPHY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-REUGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
_SOUAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
-OTHER ISPEClFYl
- -
BUILDER~ARCH~TECT
William F. Poindexter
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Main Hall was the first building erected as Randolph-Macon Woman's College after it
was established on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg in 1891. The building constitutes the
principal architectural element in a complex of buildings that serves as the academic and
residential heart of the campus. Erected over a twenty-year period from 1891-1911, the
building was designed by the Washington, D.C. architect WilliamB. Poindexter.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the first college for women admitted to membership
in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, was founded in 1891 under
the original Randolph-Macon College charter of 1830 as amended. In 1820, and again in
1824, the General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in Baltimore recommended to
the various conferences that they establish "literary institutions" within their
respective areas. In 1825 the Virginia Conference followed this recommendation and a
charter was granted by the Virginia legislature in 1830 with specific provisions that
the chartered institution not have theological professorships and that there be nonMethodists on the Board of Trustees. The operation of the college was to be by the
Trustees, not the Methodist church. The institution, established at Boydton and later
moved to Ashland, was named for two statesmen, John Randolph of Virginia (1773-1833) and
Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina (1758-1837).
In 1890 the original charter was amended to permit the establishment of related
institutions of learning. Dr. William Waugh Smith, then president of the men's college
at Ashland, founded the woman's college in Lynchburg as a member of the Randolph-Macon
system of educational institutions. The mission of the college was "to establish in
Virginia a college where our young women may obtain an education equal to that given
in our best colleges for young men." The Rivermont Land Corporation, which was
developing the new Rivermont section of Lynchburg, gave 19.8 acres on Rivermont Avenue
and pledged $100,000 for the college with the proviso that an equal amount be raised to
match the gift. Through the efforts of Dr. Smith and the generosity of the people of
Lynchburg, $104,000 was raised in thirty-four days. Dr. Smith served as president of
both institutions from 1893 to 1897 after which time he devoted his full attention to
Randolph-Macon Woman's College which he served until his death in 1912.
The building committee chose William Poindexter of Washington, D.C. as the architect.
Poindexter received his early training as a draftsman in the office of the U.S. Supervising
Architect in Washington. He established his own practice in 1878 and designed several
important buildings in the capital city and throughout the South. Among his more important
buildings are the State Library (now Finance Building) at Richmond, the Marine Hospital in
Washington, and the Hall of History at the American University. Before rendering his
plans for Randolph-Macon, he visited other women's colleges including Bryn Mawr, Goucher,
Wellesley, Smith and the Renwick complex at Vassar. These led him to design a single
dormitory and classroom building that could be expanded in future years. The rapid growth
of the college required new facilities, and Poindexter's original plan was completed in
1899.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Fmm No 10-300a
IHer 10-141
UEilTEU S T A T t S UEP:\KTME~W10t T t l t l N T t . K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
klain Hall
-
Randolph-Macon Woraan's College, Lynchburg, Va.
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
#3
ITEM NUMBER
8
1
PAGE 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Poindexter's structure stands as one of the purest and most prodigious examples of
the Queen Anne Style in the state. Developed in England in the 1870s under the leadership of Philip Webb and R. NoShaw, the Queen Anne was a freely interpreted revival
of the architecture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In America it was used
chiefly for residential structures, and so loosely did it follow historical precedent
that the houses usually bore only the vaguest resemblance to the original models.
Randolph-Macon, on the other hand, closely parallels contemporary English expressions,
particularly in its use of red brick, Classical motifs, and picturesque massing and
illustrates Poindexter's skill in adapting an otherwise intimate style to an enormous
collegiate structure.
I
The college was officially opened in September of 1893 with 78 students. By the
second year of operation, it was one of only sixteen institutions included in Division "A"
of women's colleges in the country by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Under Smith's
direction , the college attracted an eminent faculty from many parts of the United States
and Europe. It is believed to be the first college in the South to have had a psychology
department laboratory. In 1916 Randolph-Macon became the fourth college in Virginia and
the first independent woman's college in the South to receive a charter for a Phi Beta
Kappa Chapter.
Among the college's most distinguished graduates was the Nobel Prize Winner, Pearl
S. Buck. The school numbered 811 students in 1978.
I
It is a tribute to the planning of the first president, Dr. William Waugh Smithand
designs of the architect, William Poindexter, that Main Hall still continues to serve as
the heart of the college.
,
i
i
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHCAL REFERENCES
1978-79 Admissions Catalogue. Randolph-Macon Woman's C o l l e g e , Lynchburg, 1978.
Book of Views. Randolph-Flacon woman's College. Lynchburg, 1914.
Catalogue, 1978-79.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, 1978.
C o r n e l i u s , Roberta D. The H i s t o r y of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Chapel Hill,N':,1950.
Home
L
i
f
e
a
t
Randolph-Macon
Woman1s?o1lege,
Lynchburg, 1913.
--The
Saga
o
f
a
City
Lynchburg,
V
i
r
g
i
n
i
a
.
1786-1936.
Lynchburg, 1936.
-S t u d e n t s , Randolph-Macon W o i a a n 1 s ~ 1 e g e . Our C o l l e g e Home. Lynchburg, 1897.
L GEOGRAPHICAL DATA6 a c r e s
QUADRANGLE NA?E
L~pchbur,
g Va.
QUADRANGLE SCALE
1:24000
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED P R O P E R ~ Y
UTM REFERENCES
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VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning a t a p o i n t 800' X o f a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501, 3700' SE of t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of
s a i d r o u t e aad U.S. Route 5 0 1 and 3200' S o f James R i v e r ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' ESE;
t h e n c e e x t s n d i n g 653' SSW t o a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 400' m.4 a l o n g
N s i d e o f s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 550' NNE t o p o i n t o f o r i g i n .
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATEOR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE
..
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r a i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
February 1979
221 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
SfREET& NUMBER
TELEPHONE
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
>
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL-
STATE &
LOCAL
-
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-6651. 1
in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
Tucker H i l l
Executive Director
GPO 8 9 2 . 4 5 3
CAMPUS M A P INDEX
1 Main Hall
2 \Vest Hall
3 Wright Hall
4 Ee!l Hall
5 \Vebb Hall
6 Eali H ~ l l
7 Prelser Hall
8 hlanin Science Builgin
9 Lipicomb Library
10 hldcon Ewkrhop
11 Phy:ical Education and
Recrearion Building
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
r
22
P
Tennis Courfs
Alhlelic Fields
Art Gallery
Leaen Building
Psychology Build~ng
Engliih-Art Building
Smith Memorial
Building
tlouston Chapel
Terrell Infirmary
Winfree Observatory
"The Pines'' Houi*
Parking Areas
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U N1TED SI'A'I'ES DEPPhRTMEENf O F THE INTERIOR
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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PIACES
INVENTORY NObIINATIf3NFORM
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TY P E A LL E N TRIE S --COMPLETE APPL~CABLEs.kcrlpNs
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Main Hall
- Randolph-Macon Woman"
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AND/OR COMMOM
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STAEET& NUMBER
2500 Rivenuorit Avenue
ClTY.TQWN
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CONGRESSION4C DISTRICT
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Lpchburg
STATE
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CGDE
COU MTY
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680
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CATEGORY
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--
Board o f Trustees
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STREET & NUM8ER
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Dr. Robert A. S p i v e y
-
Randolph-Yacon Wornan's College
CITY. TOWN
-
Lynchbure,
STATE
VirginPa 24503
VICINITY O F
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-MOVED
.-FAIR
-UNEXPOSED
DATE
DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Main Hall of Randolph-Macon
Woman's College sits m a ~ e s t i c a l l yon a small h i l l
a t 2500 R i v e m n t Avenue i n Lynchburg. Designed by ;he washington a r c h i t e c t William F.
Poindexter, t h e central-hall-plan, b r i c k e d i f i c e i s an important example of t h e Queen Anne
s t y l e a s adapted t o c o l l e g i a t e a r c h i t e c t u r e .
I n t e g r a l t o t h e developnent of t h e college, t h e building was e r e c t e d over a twentyyear period between 1891-1911.
The c e n t r a l entrance tower and e a s t e r n wings were
constructed between 1891-1893. Two a d d i t i o n a l wings were added t o t h e west i n 1896. With
t h e e r e c t i o n of a wing t o t h e west i n 1899, t h e building was completed according t o t h e
Poindexter plan. In 1911 an annex was added t o t h e r e a r (north) of t h e entrance pavilion.
Further a d d i t i o n s and renovations were made t o t h e north e l e v a t i o n i n 1936. Although not
p a r t of t h e Poindexter plan, an East H a l l (1903) and West H a l l (1906) a r e connected t o
Main Hall by arcades.
Located on t h e south e l e v a t i o n , t h e entrance tower's f i r s t s t o r y contains a ones t o r y , f l a t - r o o f veranda, topped by a b r i c k parapet. The p o r t i c o i s supported by s i x
p a i r s of b r i c k square columns s e t on high b r i c k p e d e s t a l s . The veranda s h e l t e r s an
outer transom-light doorway with complementing s i d e l i g h t s . An i n t e r i o r doorway contains
a semicircular fan-light transom. The tower's second s t o r y f e a t u r e s paired 111 hungsash windows s e t below e l l i p t i c a l b r i c k arches with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . Elongated
diamond-pane windows s e t below smaller round-arched,diamond-pane casement windows complete
the tower's f e n e s t r a t i o n . The top of t h e tower i s e l a b o r a t e l y delineated by pronounced
b r i c k p i l a s t e r s flanked by wooden volutes. The tower i s topped by a parapet wall and
capped by a c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d wooden cupola, crowned by a f i n i a l . The c o m e r s of t h e
entrance tower a r e d e l i n e a t e d by three-story bay windows which a r e topped by domical
lanterns.
The entrance tower i s flanked by four-bay wings of t h r e e s t o r i e s . The facade's
f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s of 212 hung-sash windows i n a v a r i e t y of treatments. The wing's
f i r s t s t o r y has
transom-and sidelight-framed,hung-sash windows. The second s t o r y
contains e l l i p t i c a l - a r c h windows with s i d e l i g h t s . The t h i r d s t o r y c o n s i s t s of flat-arch
windows topped by pedimented gables which p r o j e c t from t h e roof of t h e s t r u c t u r e . A
s i n g l e bay of t h r e e s t o r i e s connects t h e paired wings t o e a s t e r n and western wings, and
the facade i s executed i n five-course American bond.
A p a r t of t h e f i r s t (1891-93) building campaign, t h e easternmost wing c o n s i s t s of an
L-shape-plan building covered by a cross-gable roof. The wing i s dominated by a fives t o r y c o m e r entrance tower. The tower's f i r s t s t o r y i s s h e l t e r e d by a porch supported
by b r i c k p i e r s and s e t on a high podium. The tower f e a t u r e s f l a t - a r c h windows on t h e
second s t o r y and round-arch windows on t h e t h i r d s t o r y . An observatory i s located on t h e
f i f t h s t o r y , defined by an i r o n r a i l and covered by a domical roof. The wing's
f e n e s t r a t i o n includes transom-headed windows on t h e f i r s t s t o r y and f l a t - a n d round-arch
windows r e s p e c t i v e l y on t h e second and t h i r d s t o r i e s . A two-story bay window p r o j e c t s
from t h e south e l e v a t i o n .
The e a s t e r n wing comprises Main all's e a s t e l e v a t i o n which c o n s i s t s of a three-part
arcade with pronounced a r c h i v o l t t r i m . The second s t o r y c o n s i s t s of f l a t - a r c h windows
with pronounced keystones, and t h e t h i r d s t o r y has round-arch and f l a t - a r c h windows w i t h
pronounced keystones. A row of gables breaks t h e roof l i n e . A c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d
arcade connects t h e e a s t e r n wing t o t h e Psychology Building, e r e c t e d i n 1903 a s "East
Mall".
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
I
I
Form No 19
300a
(new 10-74)
U K l l t D S T A T E 5 D t P A K T M t h r OF T t l t IhTtKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main
all,
Randolph-Macon
CONTl NUATION SHEET 8 1
7.
,
'
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER 7
PAGE1
DESCRIPTION
The western wing was built in 1896 with an addition made in 1899. The wing contains
a corner entrance tower of four stories. Covered by a tent roof, the tower features a
portico similar in execution to that found on the eastern wing. Fenestration is comprised
of transowheaded windows on the first story and gauged-brick, flat-arch windows with
pronounced keystones on the second story. The third story is composed of semicircular
arched windows with pronounced keystones. A round window with pronounced keystones defines
the attic story.
The addition of 1899 is Main Hall's west elevation. Fenestration on the first story
consists of transowheaded windows framed by segmental arches. The second story has
flat-arch windows with pronounced keystones. The third story contains segmental-arch
windows. A classically inspired arcade, similar to that on the east elevation, connects
Main Hall to the English-Art Building of 1906.
The building's north elevation is dominated by four parallel wings which extend to
the north. A wooden porch shelters a rear first-story entrance. The wing's hip-roof
line is broken by dormer windows along the eaves course. A Colonial Revival-style tower
of three stories projects between the western wing and a middle wing. Fenestration between
the wings consists of segmental-arch windows with transoms on the first and third stories.
Pedimented gables line the eaves course.
The middle wing, original to the Poindexter plan, was first modified in 1906-07 by
the enlargement of the chapel to seat approximately 800 persons. In 1911 the "Annex"
was built, which enlarged the middle wing to the north and provided for additional
dormitory and classroom space. The chapel's fenestration is Colonial Revival in style
and consists of 616 hung-sash windows topped by semicircular fan lights. Parallel to the
middle wing is a six-bay wing added during a 1934 renovation. The wing is used as a
dormitory and administrative offices.
The eastern wing was constructed as part of the first building campaign of 1891-1893.
A one-story,shed-roof addition projects to the north. Fenestration.consists of hung-sash,
segmental-arched windows. A row of gables breaks the roof line.
The plan of Main Hall is a simple one. A long passage runs east-west through the
center of the building and intersects with another central passage entering from the south
front. The central passage contains paired lateral stairs that ascend to the third floor.
All subsidiary rear wings run off to the north of the east-west passage.
(See Continuation Sheet i j 2 )
Form No. 10-3003
\Her 10-74)
UN1TEDSTA.ltiS I)tP.-\Kl.MtNT OFTHt. ISTEKIOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HJSTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
Main H a l l , Randolph-Macon's
CONTI NUATION SHEET
7.
#2
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va.
ITEM NUMBER,
PAGE
2
DESCRIPTION
Main H a l l ' s f i r s t f l o o r c o n t a i n s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s t o t h e e a s t and classrooms
and lounges t o t h e west. The main c o l l e g e d i n i n g room i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c e n t r a l wing
o f f t h e main e n t r y h a l l . The e n t r a n c e h a l l c o n t a i n s a l a r g e formal p a r l o r , t h e r e s u l t
of a 1934 r e n o v a t i o n which opened t h e space formerly occupied by a s m a l l p a r l o r , narrow
e n t r a n c e h a l l , and b u s i n e s s o f f i c e s . Dormitory space i s provided on t h e second and
t h i r d f l o o r s . The o l d c o l l e g e c h a p e l , c u r r e n t l y used f o r s t o r a g e , o c c u p i e s an
auditorium on t h e second f l o o r . The o r i g i n a l organ i s s t i l l i n p l a c e , a l t h o u g h t h e
o r i g i n a l s e a t i n g h a s been removed.
The f r o n t lawn h a s always been landscaped by t h e c o l l e g e and r e t a i n s a number of
o r i g i n a l t r e e s and p l a n t i n g s . The f r o n t e n t r a n c e , a c i r c u l a r d r i v e w i t h a complementing
b r i c k sidewalk, c o n t i n u e s t o s e r v e t h e c o l l e g e . A s m a l l b r i c k w a l l d e f i n e s t h e p e r i m e t e r s
of t h e c o l l e g e a l o n g Norfolk and Rivermont Avenues.
Although not p a r t of t h e o r i g i n a l P o i n d e x t e r p l a n , t h e p r e s e n t Psychology B u i l d i n g
(1903) and English-Art B u i l d i n g (1906), a r e connected t o Main H a l l by a r c a d e s and provide
a complement i n m a t e r i a l and s c a l e t o t h e c o l l e g e ' s f i r s t b u i l d i n g . Both b u i l d i n g s a r e
c o n s t r u c t e d of b r i c k and covered by a h i p roof w i t h a row of dormers on t h e e a s t and
west e l e v a t i o n s .
RCC
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
Main H a l l , a l o n g w i t h t h e English-Arts B u i l d i n g and Psychology B u i l d i n g , i s l o c a t e d
i n t h e c e n t e r of t h e Randolph-Macon Woman's College campus. They a r e bounded by Rivermont
Avenue t o t h e s o u t h ; P r e s s e r H a l l , I f a r t i n S c i e n c e , E a s t H a l l and a c o l l e g e walkway t o
t h e e a s t ; Smith Memorial, West H a l l , t h e c o l l e g e d r i v e , and t h e c o l l e g e Chapel t o t h e
west; and Webb H a l l and t h e Leggett B u i l d i n g t o t h e n o r t h . Main H a l l and i t s
dependencies c o n s t i t u t e t h e academic and r e s i d e n t i a l h e a r t of Randolph4acon Woman's
College. The lawn s u r r o u n d i n g t h e H a l l h a s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e c o l l e g e campus s i n c e t h e h a l l
was begun i n 1891. m e b o u n d a r i e s a r e drawn t o exclude 20th-century b u i l d i n g s e r e c t e d
a f t e r Nest H a l l i n 1906 and t h o s e o u t of l i n e w i t h and n o t connected t o Main H a l l .
aSIGNIFICANCE
AREASOF SIGNIFICANCE
-COMMUNITY PLANNING
-CONSERVATION
-ECOhOMICS
PERIOD
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
-AGRICULTURE
X
ARCHITECTURE
A R T
-COMMERCE
-COMMUNICATIONS
--
SPECIFIC DATES
1891-1936
-- CHECK A N D J U S T I N BELOW
XEDUCATION
-ENGINEERING
-EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
-INDUSTRY
_JNVENTION
-LANDSCAPEARCHITECTURE
-LAW
-LITERATURE
-MILITARY
-MUSIC
-PHILOSOPHY
-POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
-REUGION
-SCIENCE
-SCULPTURE
_SOUAUHUMANITARIAN
-THEATER
-TRANSPORTATION
-OTHER ISPEClFYl
- -
BUILDER~ARCH~TECT
William F. Poindexter
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Main Hall was the first building erected as Randolph-Macon Woman's College after it
was established on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg in 1891. The building constitutes the
principal architectural element in a complex of buildings that serves as the academic and
residential heart of the campus. Erected over a twenty-year period from 1891-1911, the
building was designed by the Washington, D.C. architect WilliamB. Poindexter.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the first college for women admitted to membership
in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, was founded in 1891 under
the original Randolph-Macon College charter of 1830 as amended. In 1820, and again in
1824, the General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in Baltimore recommended to
the various conferences that they establish "literary institutions" within their
respective areas. In 1825 the Virginia Conference followed this recommendation and a
charter was granted by the Virginia legislature in 1830 with specific provisions that
the chartered institution not have theological professorships and that there be nonMethodists on the Board of Trustees. The operation of the college was to be by the
Trustees, not the Methodist church. The institution, established at Boydton and later
moved to Ashland, was named for two statesmen, John Randolph of Virginia (1773-1833) and
Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina (1758-1837).
In 1890 the original charter was amended to permit the establishment of related
institutions of learning. Dr. William Waugh Smith, then president of the men's college
at Ashland, founded the woman's college in Lynchburg as a member of the Randolph-Macon
system of educational institutions. The mission of the college was "to establish in
Virginia a college where our young women may obtain an education equal to that given
in our best colleges for young men." The Rivermont Land Corporation, which was
developing the new Rivermont section of Lynchburg, gave 19.8 acres on Rivermont Avenue
and pledged $100,000 for the college with the proviso that an equal amount be raised to
match the gift. Through the efforts of Dr. Smith and the generosity of the people of
Lynchburg, $104,000 was raised in thirty-four days. Dr. Smith served as president of
both institutions from 1893 to 1897 after which time he devoted his full attention to
Randolph-Macon Woman's College which he served until his death in 1912.
The building committee chose William Poindexter of Washington, D.C. as the architect.
Poindexter received his early training as a draftsman in the office of the U.S. Supervising
Architect in Washington. He established his own practice in 1878 and designed several
important buildings in the capital city and throughout the South. Among his more important
buildings are the State Library (now Finance Building) at Richmond, the Marine Hospital in
Washington, and the Hall of History at the American University. Before rendering his
plans for Randolph-Macon, he visited other women's colleges including Bryn Mawr, Goucher,
Wellesley, Smith and the Renwick complex at Vassar. These led him to design a single
dormitory and classroom building that could be expanded in future years. The rapid growth
of the college required new facilities, and Poindexter's original plan was completed in
1899.
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
Fmm No 10-300a
IHer 10-141
UEilTEU S T A T t S UEP:\KTME~W10t T t l t l N T t . K I O K
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM
--
klain Hall
-
Randolph-Macon Woraan's College, Lynchburg, Va.
CONTI N U A T I O N SHEET
#3
ITEM NUMBER
8
1
PAGE 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Poindexter's structure stands as one of the purest and most prodigious examples of
the Queen Anne Style in the state. Developed in England in the 1870s under the leadership of Philip Webb and R. NoShaw, the Queen Anne was a freely interpreted revival
of the architecture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In America it was used
chiefly for residential structures, and so loosely did it follow historical precedent
that the houses usually bore only the vaguest resemblance to the original models.
Randolph-Macon, on the other hand, closely parallels contemporary English expressions,
particularly in its use of red brick, Classical motifs, and picturesque massing and
illustrates Poindexter's skill in adapting an otherwise intimate style to an enormous
collegiate structure.
I
The college was officially opened in September of 1893 with 78 students. By the
second year of operation, it was one of only sixteen institutions included in Division "A"
of women's colleges in the country by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Under Smith's
direction , the college attracted an eminent faculty from many parts of the United States
and Europe. It is believed to be the first college in the South to have had a psychology
department laboratory. In 1916 Randolph-Macon became the fourth college in Virginia and
the first independent woman's college in the South to receive a charter for a Phi Beta
Kappa Chapter.
Among the college's most distinguished graduates was the Nobel Prize Winner, Pearl
S. Buck. The school numbered 811 students in 1978.
I
It is a tribute to the planning of the first president, Dr. William Waugh Smithand
designs of the architect, William Poindexter, that Main Hall still continues to serve as
the heart of the college.
,
i
i
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHCAL REFERENCES
1978-79 Admissions Catalogue. Randolph-Macon Woman's C o l l e g e , Lynchburg, 1978.
Book of Views. Randolph-Flacon woman's College. Lynchburg, 1914.
Catalogue, 1978-79.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, 1978.
C o r n e l i u s , Roberta D. The H i s t o r y of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Chapel Hill,N':,1950.
Home
L
i
f
e
a
t
Randolph-Macon
Woman1s?o1lege,
Lynchburg, 1913.
--The
Saga
o
f
a
City
Lynchburg,
V
i
r
g
i
n
i
a
.
1786-1936.
Lynchburg, 1936.
-S t u d e n t s , Randolph-Macon W o i a a n 1 s ~ 1 e g e . Our C o l l e g e Home. Lynchburg, 1897.
L GEOGRAPHICAL DATA6 a c r e s
QUADRANGLE NA?E
L~pchbur,
g Va.
QUADRANGLE SCALE
1:24000
ACREAGE OF NOMINATED P R O P E R ~ Y
UTM REFERENCES
~
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I
I
I
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I
I
I
, , , , !I
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I
I
I
I
I
1
1
INORTHINGI
I
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
Beginning a t a p o i n t 800' X o f a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501, 3700' SE of t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of
s a i d r o u t e aad U.S. Route 5 0 1 and 3200' S o f James R i v e r ; thence e x t e n d i n g 500' ESE;
t h e n c e e x t s n d i n g 653' SSW t o a l t e r n a t e U.S. Route 501; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 400' m.4 a l o n g
N s i d e o f s a i d r o u t e ; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g 550' NNE t o p o i n t o f o r i g i n .
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATEOR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME I TITLE
..
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r a i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C o m i s s i o n
February 1979
221 Governor S t r e e t
(804) 786-3144
Richmond
V i r g i n i a 23219
SfREET& NUMBER
TELEPHONE
CITY OR TOWN
STATE
>
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:
NATIONAL-
STATE &
LOCAL
-
AS the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-6651. 1
in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
Tucker H i l l
Executive Director
GPO 8 9 2 . 4 5 3
CAMPUS M A P INDEX
1 Main Hall
2 \Vest Hall
3 Wright Hall
4 Ee!l Hall
5 \Vebb Hall
6 Eali H ~ l l
7 Prelser Hall
8 hlanin Science Builgin
9 Lipicomb Library
10 hldcon Ewkrhop
11 Phy:ical Education and
Recrearion Building
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
r
22
P
Tennis Courfs
Alhlelic Fields
Art Gallery
Leaen Building
Psychology Build~ng
Engliih-Art Building
Smith Memorial
Building
tlouston Chapel
Terrell Infirmary
Winfree Observatory
"The Pines'' Houi*
Parking Areas
Text
VLR Listed 6/15/2017
United States Department of the Interior NRHP Listed 8/28/2017
National Park Service
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Hopwood Hall_
Other names/site number: Main Hall, Administration Building; VDHR 118-0152
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of
significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Beaux Arts Classicism_
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, STUCCO, METAL: Copper;
STONE: Slate
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Beaux Arts style and completed in 1909, Hopwood Hall is the oldest extant
academic building at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. This free-standing, four-story,
rectangular building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in five-course mode is situated on the
western edge of the main campus. A low brick parapet capped with copper encircles the
building’s flat roof, which is covered with rubber sheeting that provides a moisture shield upon
which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with
pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the original. This restoration was necessary because
of natural aging of the original thin copper plates over the course of ten decades. The eastern
front of Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn. In 1955
the front steps, which are concrete, were faced in brick. Otherwise, the building exterior now
appears as it did in 1909. Parts of the interior have been remodeled and updated since 1909, but
the original interior plan, with double-loaded corridors and central auditorium, has never been
modified, and early features such as stair rails, doors and transoms, and wooden trim have been
preserved. The building thus retains a high level of integrity of location, design, setting,
materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Edward G. Frye in 1908 and completed in 1909, Hopwood
Hall is the oldest extant academic building at Lynchburg College, which is in Lynchburg in
central Virginia. This free-standing, four-story building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
five course mode is situated on the western edge of the main campus. The eastern front of
Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn planted with trees
and shrubbery native to Virginia. Some of the oaks predate the founding of the college in 1903.
In fact the area was heavily wooded when the property was purchased in April 1903. Dr.
Josephus Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field. The funds
raised from the sale of the wood were used to grade the cleared land, purchase uniforms and
equipment.1 When construction was begun on Hopwood Hall, another field was cleared for use
by the baseball team. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed building, which was erected for
$39,000.00, as the Administration Building.2 From 1909 until 1953 it was known by that
designation, but in the latter year its name was changed to honor the founders of the college,
Josephus and Sarah La Rue Hopwood.
Exterior Description
Hopwood Hall’s classical form consists of a rectangular main block with central portico and
wing extensions. A symmetrical five-part vertical division of the building is dominated by a twostory portico. Six monumental Ionic columns further divide this entrance area into five bays.
Behind the triangular pediment which tops the portico, the square drum of the dome and a low
parapet to either side provide a visual transition between the portico, the central block and the
dome above. The portico’s dentil molding extends to the main block to form a continuous
cornice that encircles the building. Just above the second-story windows is a molded, cast
concrete belt course that matches the portico’s frieze. Brick quoins define the corners of the main
block and projecting wings. Each side elevation also features a pedimented gable end. The west
(rear) elevation is distinguished by a centered projecting polygonal three-story tower. Rising
from the center of the building is a copper-sheathed dome. The building’s overall formality and
symmetry, especially evident in the classically derived detailing and fenestration, are
characteristic of the Beaux Arts style.
Windows
In 1909 there were four double-sash windows and six single-sash windows on the front of the
raised basement story, four-single sash windows on each side elevation, and thirteen single-sash
windows on the rear of the building. The façade’s first story has two paired windows to either
side of the main entry and three along each projecting wing. The façade’s second story has
similar fenestration, but also with centered paired windows directly above the entry. Each side
elevation has four windows on the first and second-stories and a multiple-light fanlight within
the pediment. The west (rear) elevation has four windows on each story of the polygonal bay
with single windows flanking each side, while the wings have three windows per story.
Entrances are to either side of the polygonal bay, each with paired windows above it, between
the first and second story. Each entrance has paired, six-light, paneled doors topped with a tenlight transom. The lower part of most sash windows contains two large panes of glass, while the
upper part of each sash window is composed of six panes of glass. Exceptions are the rear
polygonal bay windows and flanking second-story windows, which have upper sash with twenty1
Josephus Hopwood. A Journey Through the Years, An Autobiography. St. Louis, MO.: Bethany Press, 1932, pp.99100.
2
Ibid,p.107.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
four triangular panes that match the front entrance sidelights and transom. Each window opening
features a gauged-brick arch with a centered concrete keystone. The window sash slide
vertically.
East Facade
On the east façade, the centered main entrance features a three-bay frontispiece with entablature
and pilasters between each bay. The double doors are surrounded by twenty-four-light sidelights
and transom. The steps which lead up to the portico with its six brick columns faced with
concrete and surmounted with Ionic capitals were originally concrete, but they were faced with
brick in 1953 when the name of the Administration Building was changed to Hopwood Hall. The
pediment of the portico is adorned with denticulated molding that continues along the main
block’s cornice. Within the portico’s simple frieze, the building’s name is spelled out in simple
black lettering.
For over eighty years the three paired sash windows on the east façade were covered to prevent
light from bleeding into an interior auditorium and stage area. Unfortunately, these window
frames had to be replaced because of deterioration, but the glass panes were still in excellent
condition.
Side Elevations
The only windows on the building’s third floor are set in two semi-circular frames under the
eaves of the north and south classrooms. Each has four windows of varying sizes configured to
fit their placement in the window frame.
Rear Elevation
The building’s overall formality and symmetry continues on the rear elevation, with the central
two-story projecting, polygonal bay the dominant feature. The bay windows are taller and
narrower than those on the flanking windows, and are distinguished by the aforementioned
triangular panes of glass in the upper sash, while the lower sash have the two-light configuration
found on all other windows.
Roof
Surrounded by a low brick parapet capped with copper, the flat roof is covered with rubber
sheeting which provides a moisture shield upon which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on
the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the
original. This restoration was necessary because of natural aging of the original thin copper
plates over the course of ten decades as well as the fact that nails of a metal other than copper
had secured the sheets causing corrosion. In the restoration only copper nails were used to attach
the new sheets to the framework.
Interior Description
Ground Floor
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Upon completion in 1909, the ground floor (basement) had its own entrance beneath the
portico’s main staircase. On either side of the entry hall were two large classrooms. At the point
where the hall meets a long corridor running on a north-south axis, there is a large room which
ends in a five-window bay. On either side of this central room are restrooms—women to the
south, men to the north. Next to each restroom there is a staircase that provides access to the
upper floors as well as two exits, each one with double doors surmounted with ten-light
transoms. Until 1959 all science classes were held on this floor. With the opening of Hobbs Hall
during the second semester of the 1958-1959 session, the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
underwent a major refurbishing. The laying of new tile floors, the painting of all the classrooms
and halls, and the installation of new fixtures in the restrooms—the only ones in the building—
was the first restoration of the ground floor in fifty years. In 1984 the restrooms were remodeled
again when their windows were removed and the spaces filled with bricks which were then faced
with concrete. Thus, the number of windows on the rear of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
was reduced from thirteen to eleven. In 2006 the classroom to the right of the front entrance was
reduced by half to permit the installation of an elevator to provide handicapped access to all the
floors of the building. One of the paired windows in the altered classroom was converted to a
door to provide an entrance to the corridor where the elevator is located. The large classroom to
the left of the front entrance had been divided into two offices for faculty members. The two
classrooms at the south end of the long corridor have been combined to create a computer
classroom/lab. The door on the east side of the room has been removed and the opening filled.
No other changes in the configuration of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall have been made.
First Floor
The large central room with its bay served as the college library from 1909 until 1946 when the
college’s growing collection was moved to two of the Quonset huts which had been built to serve
the needs of an Army air force training program located on the Lynchburg College campus
during World War II. When the library was in Hopwood Hall the offices on either side of the
library were used as the librarian’s office and the library workroom respectively. The room on
the south side is still an office, while that on the north side contained the “Hornet Shop” where
drink and food dispensing machines were located until the end of 2016 when it was returned to
its original function as a workroom. The old library became a classroom with the empty stacks
still in place until 1960 when the space was converted into a chapel. In 1966 with the completion
of Snidow Chapel, the room in question was converted into a classroom. Then at the end of 2016
it was refurbished as a fully electronic classroom. Thus, in a sense once again it has become a
library since students now have access to all the electronic resources of the college from this
space. The classroom to the right of the main entrance has been reduced by half to accommodate
the elevator. A small office has been created next to the elevator shaft; otherwise the first floor of
Hopwood Hall appears to have changed very little.
Second Floor
The second floor of Hopwood Hall contains the auditorium. In 1909 the offices on either side of
this large lecture room/assembly room were for administrators. The one on the south side of the
building is still an office, while the one on the north side has been appropriated to provide space
for the elevator. However, there is still a small office at the end of the elevator corridor. Over the
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decades, the auditorium evolved from a lecture hall/assembly room into a fully operational
theater. A proscenium arch was constructed with doors at stage left and stage right. In 1960 the
entire auditorium was refurbished and a light bridge was constructed in the bay area on a level
with the third floor. Access was provided by an enclosed staircase immediately behind the last
row of seats in the center section. The seating capacity was 192. In 1974 when the Drama
Department moved into the Dillard Fine Arts Center, a movie screen was placed in the stage area
and the light bridge was converted to a projection room for the use of the film history classes. In
2012 the auditorium underwent a major restoration returning it to its original configuration
minus the stage. It is once again a multi-purpose space.
Third Floor
The third floor of Hopwood Hall includes the upper part of the auditorium which is open space.
There is no access between the north and south wings of the third floor. With the opening of the
building in 1909 the two large classrooms on both sides of the third floor were devoted to the
fine arts. The Music Department which was in the south classroom would move to the Thomas
House on the south side of the campus in 1946, and eventually to the Hebb Music Center in
1966. Located in the north classroom, the Art Department moved into the basement of one of the
Quonset huts in 1946 where it remained until 1974 when it was moved to the Dillard Fine Arts
Center. The Drama Department eventually would occupy both third-floor classrooms. The
classroom on the north side of Hopwood became the scene shop, while the classroom on the
south side of Hopwood became the Green Room and costume shop. In 1974 the classroom on the
north side was divided into small officers for the Reserve Officers Training Corps; these offices
are now used by the Beard Center on Aging. A portion of the storage space on the north side of
Hopwood Hall has been appropriated for the elevator. For a brief time, the classroom on the
south side provided office space for the nursing faculty, but it now contains a computer lab for
the use of the entire campus community.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909
1958–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Lynchburg College is one of the oldest colleges in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the founders’
realization. Within its walls, for over a century, both men and women have engaged in a variety
of academic activities from painting to physics, from the study of literature to the mastering of
foreign languages, both ancient and modern. The building’s period of significance begins with
the construction of Hopwood Hall in 1909 and ends in 1960 when a major refurbishing project
occurred. During the building’s period of significance, it would have been impossible for a
student to graduate without having a significant number of classes in this building. In recognition
of its paramount significance to the college throughout its history, Freshman Convocation in late
August and Commencement ceremonies in early May are held in front of Hopwood Hall each
year. Therefore the building is nominated under Criterion A in the area of Education and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture, at the local level of significance.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Lynchburg College is the second oldest college in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the realization of the
founders’ concept of that educational model. While founder Dr. Josephus Hopwood was a
scholar trained in the classics and the liberal arts, he believed that education should have a
utilitarian application to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. He also was convinced that the
future of the United States demanded that educational opportunities should be made available to
all regardless of sex, race, age, or material resources; and he felt that since everyone was equal in
the sight of the Creator, then co-education was part of God’s divine plan. Mrs. Sarah La Rue
Hopwood completely shared her husband’s world view. Within the walls of Hopwood Hall men
and women would engage in a variety of academic activities from painting to physics, from the
study of literature to the mastering of foreign languages, both ancient and modern. While
working towards the completion of a college degree they also would master the lessons of life
that would prepare them to serve others.3 Hopwood Hall was and still is the main academic
building at Lynchburg College.
Since its completion in 1909, Hopwood Hall has provided a cultural venue for the campus as
well as the wider community. Student-sponsored programs as well as plays produced by the
Department of Dramatic Arts have provided Lynchburg with a potpourri of the performing arts.
Likewise the list of academics, actors, musicians, poets, politicians, reformers, theologians, and
others who have graced its classrooms and its stage is seemingly endless. They include the
3
Ibid,pp.7-8, 10.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brightest and the best that the twentieth century had to offer without reference to race or
ethnicity. Among these luminaries were Edward Albee, James Baldwin, William Rose Benet,
The Budapest String Quartet, George Washington Carver, Truman Capote, John Carradine, Jean
Michel Cousteau, The Curtis String Quartet, Virginius Dabney, James Dickey, Philippe
Entremont, The Everyman Players, John Gardner, Nikki Giovanni, Carter Glass, Paul Green,
Sascha Gorodnitski, Edgar A. Guest, Cedric Hardwick, The Hampton Quartet, Langston Hughes,
Charles Laughton, Max Lerner, Percy Mac Kaye, John Morressy, Arnold Moss, James A.
Pearson, Leni Riefenstahl, Janet Reno, Charles Robb, Cokie Roberts, The Roth Quartet, A.L.
Rowse, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Spender, Billy Sunday, Norman Thomas, Richard Thornton,
Carl Van Doren, Sander Vanocur, Gore Vidal, Kurt von Schuschnigg, Louis Untermeyer, Ruth
Warwick, Eli Weisel, and Tennessee Williams. Thus Hopwood Hall for over a century has
enriched the cultural life of the campus as well as the wider community. 4
Criterion C: Architecture
Hopwood Hall is one of the most architecturally sophisticated and impressive buildings in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia, and its design places the building among the most important works
of early twentieth-century Beaux Arts Classicism in central Virginia. It was the work of architect
Edward Graham Frye (1870-1942), a native of Bristol, Tennessee, who moved to Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1886 and worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892, Frye
established his own office in Lynchburg. In 1901, Frye formed a partnership with architectural
draftsman Aubrey Chesterman (1874-1937) and the firm moved their headquarters to Roanoke
by 1913.5 Together and independently they designed a number of buildings that still enrich the
architectural landscape of Lynchburg. Hopwood Hall was Frye’s exclusive project based on his
earlier commission for Jones Memorial Library which was opened to the public in 1908. While
both buildings are excellent examples of the Beaux Arts Classicism in which Frye excelled, he
made more efficient use of space in Hopwood Hall than he did in Jones Memorial Library.
A Lynchburg firm, Jones and Adams Contractors and Builders, began construction on Hopwood
Hall in 1908 and completed it in 1909. Frye’s use of red brick for Hopwood Hall was esthetically
more pleasing that the cream-colored brick used in the construction of Jones Memorial Library.
Most of Frye’s commissions in Lynchburg were for private residences. Jones Library and
Hopwood Hall gave Frye the chance to demonstrate his skill in designing and executing major
projects.
Between 1958 and 1960, Hopwood Hall was refurbished, though not structurally altered. In 2006
an elevator was added to meet federal standards for handicapped access. In 2012, the auditorium
was remodeled to return it to its original configuration, and a similar project in 2016 restored
4
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. The list has gleaned from the pages of The
Critograph the college newspaper which featured articles on those persons who performed or spoke in Hopwood
Hall.
5
John E. Wells & Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary. Richmond,
Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997: 156-162.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Room 14, which had been the library in 1909, to its original function, but with twenty-first
century technology.
Historical Background
Lynchburg College, 1903-1960
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard who was of his former students, Dr. Josephus Hopwood
purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in
April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College,5 the second oldest co-educational senior college
founded as such in the Commonwealth.6 During his tenure as president which lasted until 1911,
Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a classroom building which would
eventually be named in his honor, and a men’s dormitory named for Andrew Carnegie who
donated money for it.7
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), Mr. G.O
Davis (1912-1914), Mr. George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T.
Hundley whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college.8 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919, Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and the debts dating from the Hopwood administration
were retired. With the endorsement of the Board of Trustees, Hundley transformed the college
from a seminary into a liberal arts institution which earned full accreditation in 1927 from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.9 In 1923 Memorial Gymnasium was
given to Lynchburg College by the City in memory of local servicemen who died in World War
I.10
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II the majority of the male students joined the armed services, and with
a shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available as
a training facility for the Army Air Force’s College Training Program as well as a similar course
conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.11 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
implementation of the G.I. Bill,12 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948, the student body
5
Hopwood, p.96.
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.302.
7
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.24; Chambers, pp.366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
8
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978, p.11.
9
Ibid.
10
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
11
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
6
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936,13 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of the four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from
1946 to 1948.14 When Dr. Montgomery accepted the presidency of the College of the Bible in
Lexington, Kentucky in 1949, Lynchburg College was in sound financial shape.
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure,
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building since its completion in
1909; the project was completed in 1960. 15
13
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
15
Ibid. pp.25-26.
14
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. “The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College.” Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, Va:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg; Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-0152
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property One-quarter acre
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
Hopwood Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks which gives access to every entrance of
the building but also provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of Lynchburg College, which is composed of 246 acres. The nominated parcel boundary
coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building. The true and correct historic
boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The National Register boundary Hopwood Hall has been drawn to encompass only the
building itself and the narrow space between the building and the surrounding sidewalk that
form a logical historic boundary for the building.
___________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter
organization: Lynchburg College
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
city or town: Lynchburg
state: VA
zip code: 24501-3113
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 544-8623
date: March, 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Hopwood Hall, Lynchburg College
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County:
N/A
State: Virginia
Photographer: Michael J. Pulice
Date Photographed: March 14, 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southwest
2 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking northwest
3 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking west
4 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking north-northwest
5 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking east-northeast
6 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southeast
7 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation, main entry
8 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation detail
9 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, main entry
10 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, corridor
11 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium east wall
12 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium west wall
13 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, stair well
14 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium door
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 18
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP
Hopwood
HallPlace names
USGS GIS
City County
of Lynchburg,
BoundariesVA
DHR No. 118-0152
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 4/12/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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FLOOR PLAN 1909-1974
Hopwood Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0152
N
FLOOR PLAN 1974-Present
Hopwood Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-0152
N
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United States Department of the Interior NRHP Listed 8/28/2017
National Park Service
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Hopwood Hall_
Other names/site number: Main Hall, Administration Building; VDHR 118-0152
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of
significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X__A
___B
_X__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: College: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Beaux Arts Classicism_
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, STUCCO, METAL: Copper;
STONE: Slate
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Beaux Arts style and completed in 1909, Hopwood Hall is the oldest extant
academic building at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. This free-standing, four-story,
rectangular building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in five-course mode is situated on the
western edge of the main campus. A low brick parapet capped with copper encircles the
building’s flat roof, which is covered with rubber sheeting that provides a moisture shield upon
which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with
pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the original. This restoration was necessary because
of natural aging of the original thin copper plates over the course of ten decades. The eastern
front of Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn. In 1955
the front steps, which are concrete, were faced in brick. Otherwise, the building exterior now
appears as it did in 1909. Parts of the interior have been remodeled and updated since 1909, but
the original interior plan, with double-loaded corridors and central auditorium, has never been
modified, and early features such as stair rails, doors and transoms, and wooden trim have been
preserved. The building thus retains a high level of integrity of location, design, setting,
materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Edward G. Frye in 1908 and completed in 1909, Hopwood
Hall is the oldest extant academic building at Lynchburg College, which is in Lynchburg in
central Virginia. This free-standing, four-story building constructed of load-bearing brick laid in
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
five course mode is situated on the western edge of the main campus. The eastern front of
Hopwood Hall faces the western front of Snidow Chapel across an oval lawn planted with trees
and shrubbery native to Virginia. Some of the oaks predate the founding of the college in 1903.
In fact the area was heavily wooded when the property was purchased in April 1903. Dr.
Josephus Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field. The funds
raised from the sale of the wood were used to grade the cleared land, purchase uniforms and
equipment.1 When construction was begun on Hopwood Hall, another field was cleared for use
by the baseball team. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed building, which was erected for
$39,000.00, as the Administration Building.2 From 1909 until 1953 it was known by that
designation, but in the latter year its name was changed to honor the founders of the college,
Josephus and Sarah La Rue Hopwood.
Exterior Description
Hopwood Hall’s classical form consists of a rectangular main block with central portico and
wing extensions. A symmetrical five-part vertical division of the building is dominated by a twostory portico. Six monumental Ionic columns further divide this entrance area into five bays.
Behind the triangular pediment which tops the portico, the square drum of the dome and a low
parapet to either side provide a visual transition between the portico, the central block and the
dome above. The portico’s dentil molding extends to the main block to form a continuous
cornice that encircles the building. Just above the second-story windows is a molded, cast
concrete belt course that matches the portico’s frieze. Brick quoins define the corners of the main
block and projecting wings. Each side elevation also features a pedimented gable end. The west
(rear) elevation is distinguished by a centered projecting polygonal three-story tower. Rising
from the center of the building is a copper-sheathed dome. The building’s overall formality and
symmetry, especially evident in the classically derived detailing and fenestration, are
characteristic of the Beaux Arts style.
Windows
In 1909 there were four double-sash windows and six single-sash windows on the front of the
raised basement story, four-single sash windows on each side elevation, and thirteen single-sash
windows on the rear of the building. The façade’s first story has two paired windows to either
side of the main entry and three along each projecting wing. The façade’s second story has
similar fenestration, but also with centered paired windows directly above the entry. Each side
elevation has four windows on the first and second-stories and a multiple-light fanlight within
the pediment. The west (rear) elevation has four windows on each story of the polygonal bay
with single windows flanking each side, while the wings have three windows per story.
Entrances are to either side of the polygonal bay, each with paired windows above it, between
the first and second story. Each entrance has paired, six-light, paneled doors topped with a tenlight transom. The lower part of most sash windows contains two large panes of glass, while the
upper part of each sash window is composed of six panes of glass. Exceptions are the rear
polygonal bay windows and flanking second-story windows, which have upper sash with twenty1
Josephus Hopwood. A Journey Through the Years, An Autobiography. St. Louis, MO.: Bethany Press, 1932, pp.99100.
2
Ibid,p.107.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
four triangular panes that match the front entrance sidelights and transom. Each window opening
features a gauged-brick arch with a centered concrete keystone. The window sash slide
vertically.
East Facade
On the east façade, the centered main entrance features a three-bay frontispiece with entablature
and pilasters between each bay. The double doors are surrounded by twenty-four-light sidelights
and transom. The steps which lead up to the portico with its six brick columns faced with
concrete and surmounted with Ionic capitals were originally concrete, but they were faced with
brick in 1953 when the name of the Administration Building was changed to Hopwood Hall. The
pediment of the portico is adorned with denticulated molding that continues along the main
block’s cornice. Within the portico’s simple frieze, the building’s name is spelled out in simple
black lettering.
For over eighty years the three paired sash windows on the east façade were covered to prevent
light from bleeding into an interior auditorium and stage area. Unfortunately, these window
frames had to be replaced because of deterioration, but the glass panes were still in excellent
condition.
Side Elevations
The only windows on the building’s third floor are set in two semi-circular frames under the
eaves of the north and south classrooms. Each has four windows of varying sizes configured to
fit their placement in the window frame.
Rear Elevation
The building’s overall formality and symmetry continues on the rear elevation, with the central
two-story projecting, polygonal bay the dominant feature. The bay windows are taller and
narrower than those on the flanking windows, and are distinguished by the aforementioned
triangular panes of glass in the upper sash, while the lower sash have the two-light configuration
found on all other windows.
Roof
Surrounded by a low brick parapet capped with copper, the flat roof is covered with rubber
sheeting which provides a moisture shield upon which slate tiles are laid. In 2009 the copper on
the dome of Hopwood Hall was replaced with pure copper sheeting that exactly replicated the
original. This restoration was necessary because of natural aging of the original thin copper
plates over the course of ten decades as well as the fact that nails of a metal other than copper
had secured the sheets causing corrosion. In the restoration only copper nails were used to attach
the new sheets to the framework.
Interior Description
Ground Floor
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Upon completion in 1909, the ground floor (basement) had its own entrance beneath the
portico’s main staircase. On either side of the entry hall were two large classrooms. At the point
where the hall meets a long corridor running on a north-south axis, there is a large room which
ends in a five-window bay. On either side of this central room are restrooms—women to the
south, men to the north. Next to each restroom there is a staircase that provides access to the
upper floors as well as two exits, each one with double doors surmounted with ten-light
transoms. Until 1959 all science classes were held on this floor. With the opening of Hobbs Hall
during the second semester of the 1958-1959 session, the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
underwent a major refurbishing. The laying of new tile floors, the painting of all the classrooms
and halls, and the installation of new fixtures in the restrooms—the only ones in the building—
was the first restoration of the ground floor in fifty years. In 1984 the restrooms were remodeled
again when their windows were removed and the spaces filled with bricks which were then faced
with concrete. Thus, the number of windows on the rear of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall
was reduced from thirteen to eleven. In 2006 the classroom to the right of the front entrance was
reduced by half to permit the installation of an elevator to provide handicapped access to all the
floors of the building. One of the paired windows in the altered classroom was converted to a
door to provide an entrance to the corridor where the elevator is located. The large classroom to
the left of the front entrance had been divided into two offices for faculty members. The two
classrooms at the south end of the long corridor have been combined to create a computer
classroom/lab. The door on the east side of the room has been removed and the opening filled.
No other changes in the configuration of the ground floor of Hopwood Hall have been made.
First Floor
The large central room with its bay served as the college library from 1909 until 1946 when the
college’s growing collection was moved to two of the Quonset huts which had been built to serve
the needs of an Army air force training program located on the Lynchburg College campus
during World War II. When the library was in Hopwood Hall the offices on either side of the
library were used as the librarian’s office and the library workroom respectively. The room on
the south side is still an office, while that on the north side contained the “Hornet Shop” where
drink and food dispensing machines were located until the end of 2016 when it was returned to
its original function as a workroom. The old library became a classroom with the empty stacks
still in place until 1960 when the space was converted into a chapel. In 1966 with the completion
of Snidow Chapel, the room in question was converted into a classroom. Then at the end of 2016
it was refurbished as a fully electronic classroom. Thus, in a sense once again it has become a
library since students now have access to all the electronic resources of the college from this
space. The classroom to the right of the main entrance has been reduced by half to accommodate
the elevator. A small office has been created next to the elevator shaft; otherwise the first floor of
Hopwood Hall appears to have changed very little.
Second Floor
The second floor of Hopwood Hall contains the auditorium. In 1909 the offices on either side of
this large lecture room/assembly room were for administrators. The one on the south side of the
building is still an office, while the one on the north side has been appropriated to provide space
for the elevator. However, there is still a small office at the end of the elevator corridor. Over the
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
decades, the auditorium evolved from a lecture hall/assembly room into a fully operational
theater. A proscenium arch was constructed with doors at stage left and stage right. In 1960 the
entire auditorium was refurbished and a light bridge was constructed in the bay area on a level
with the third floor. Access was provided by an enclosed staircase immediately behind the last
row of seats in the center section. The seating capacity was 192. In 1974 when the Drama
Department moved into the Dillard Fine Arts Center, a movie screen was placed in the stage area
and the light bridge was converted to a projection room for the use of the film history classes. In
2012 the auditorium underwent a major restoration returning it to its original configuration
minus the stage. It is once again a multi-purpose space.
Third Floor
The third floor of Hopwood Hall includes the upper part of the auditorium which is open space.
There is no access between the north and south wings of the third floor. With the opening of the
building in 1909 the two large classrooms on both sides of the third floor were devoted to the
fine arts. The Music Department which was in the south classroom would move to the Thomas
House on the south side of the campus in 1946, and eventually to the Hebb Music Center in
1966. Located in the north classroom, the Art Department moved into the basement of one of the
Quonset huts in 1946 where it remained until 1974 when it was moved to the Dillard Fine Arts
Center. The Drama Department eventually would occupy both third-floor classrooms. The
classroom on the north side of Hopwood became the scene shop, while the classroom on the
south side of Hopwood became the Green Room and costume shop. In 1974 the classroom on the
north side was divided into small officers for the Reserve Officers Training Corps; these offices
are now used by the Beard Center on Aging. A portion of the storage space on the north side of
Hopwood Hall has been appropriated for the elevator. For a brief time, the classroom on the
south side provided office space for the nursing faculty, but it now contains a computer lab for
the use of the entire campus community.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909
1958–1960
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
N/A
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Lynchburg College is one of the oldest colleges in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the founders’
realization. Within its walls, for over a century, both men and women have engaged in a variety
of academic activities from painting to physics, from the study of literature to the mastering of
foreign languages, both ancient and modern. The building’s period of significance begins with
the construction of Hopwood Hall in 1909 and ends in 1960 when a major refurbishing project
occurred. During the building’s period of significance, it would have been impossible for a
student to graduate without having a significant number of classes in this building. In recognition
of its paramount significance to the college throughout its history, Freshman Convocation in late
August and Commencement ceremonies in early May are held in front of Hopwood Hall each
year. Therefore the building is nominated under Criterion A in the area of Education and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture, at the local level of significance.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Lynchburg College is the second oldest college in Virginia founded as a co-educational
institution, and the construction of Hopwood Hall was an important step in the realization of the
founders’ concept of that educational model. While founder Dr. Josephus Hopwood was a
scholar trained in the classics and the liberal arts, he believed that education should have a
utilitarian application to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. He also was convinced that the
future of the United States demanded that educational opportunities should be made available to
all regardless of sex, race, age, or material resources; and he felt that since everyone was equal in
the sight of the Creator, then co-education was part of God’s divine plan. Mrs. Sarah La Rue
Hopwood completely shared her husband’s world view. Within the walls of Hopwood Hall men
and women would engage in a variety of academic activities from painting to physics, from the
study of literature to the mastering of foreign languages, both ancient and modern. While
working towards the completion of a college degree they also would master the lessons of life
that would prepare them to serve others.3 Hopwood Hall was and still is the main academic
building at Lynchburg College.
Since its completion in 1909, Hopwood Hall has provided a cultural venue for the campus as
well as the wider community. Student-sponsored programs as well as plays produced by the
Department of Dramatic Arts have provided Lynchburg with a potpourri of the performing arts.
Likewise the list of academics, actors, musicians, poets, politicians, reformers, theologians, and
others who have graced its classrooms and its stage is seemingly endless. They include the
3
Ibid,pp.7-8, 10.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
brightest and the best that the twentieth century had to offer without reference to race or
ethnicity. Among these luminaries were Edward Albee, James Baldwin, William Rose Benet,
The Budapest String Quartet, George Washington Carver, Truman Capote, John Carradine, Jean
Michel Cousteau, The Curtis String Quartet, Virginius Dabney, James Dickey, Philippe
Entremont, The Everyman Players, John Gardner, Nikki Giovanni, Carter Glass, Paul Green,
Sascha Gorodnitski, Edgar A. Guest, Cedric Hardwick, The Hampton Quartet, Langston Hughes,
Charles Laughton, Max Lerner, Percy Mac Kaye, John Morressy, Arnold Moss, James A.
Pearson, Leni Riefenstahl, Janet Reno, Charles Robb, Cokie Roberts, The Roth Quartet, A.L.
Rowse, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Spender, Billy Sunday, Norman Thomas, Richard Thornton,
Carl Van Doren, Sander Vanocur, Gore Vidal, Kurt von Schuschnigg, Louis Untermeyer, Ruth
Warwick, Eli Weisel, and Tennessee Williams. Thus Hopwood Hall for over a century has
enriched the cultural life of the campus as well as the wider community. 4
Criterion C: Architecture
Hopwood Hall is one of the most architecturally sophisticated and impressive buildings in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia, and its design places the building among the most important works
of early twentieth-century Beaux Arts Classicism in central Virginia. It was the work of architect
Edward Graham Frye (1870-1942), a native of Bristol, Tennessee, who moved to Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1886 and worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892, Frye
established his own office in Lynchburg. In 1901, Frye formed a partnership with architectural
draftsman Aubrey Chesterman (1874-1937) and the firm moved their headquarters to Roanoke
by 1913.5 Together and independently they designed a number of buildings that still enrich the
architectural landscape of Lynchburg. Hopwood Hall was Frye’s exclusive project based on his
earlier commission for Jones Memorial Library which was opened to the public in 1908. While
both buildings are excellent examples of the Beaux Arts Classicism in which Frye excelled, he
made more efficient use of space in Hopwood Hall than he did in Jones Memorial Library.
A Lynchburg firm, Jones and Adams Contractors and Builders, began construction on Hopwood
Hall in 1908 and completed it in 1909. Frye’s use of red brick for Hopwood Hall was esthetically
more pleasing that the cream-colored brick used in the construction of Jones Memorial Library.
Most of Frye’s commissions in Lynchburg were for private residences. Jones Library and
Hopwood Hall gave Frye the chance to demonstrate his skill in designing and executing major
projects.
Between 1958 and 1960, Hopwood Hall was refurbished, though not structurally altered. In 2006
an elevator was added to meet federal standards for handicapped access. In 2012, the auditorium
was remodeled to return it to its original configuration, and a similar project in 2016 restored
4
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. The list has gleaned from the pages of The
Critograph the college newspaper which featured articles on those persons who performed or spoke in Hopwood
Hall.
5
John E. Wells & Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary. Richmond,
Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997: 156-162.
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Room 14, which had been the library in 1909, to its original function, but with twenty-first
century technology.
Historical Background
Lynchburg College, 1903-1960
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard who was of his former students, Dr. Josephus Hopwood
purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in
April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College,5 the second oldest co-educational senior college
founded as such in the Commonwealth.6 During his tenure as president which lasted until 1911,
Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a classroom building which would
eventually be named in his honor, and a men’s dormitory named for Andrew Carnegie who
donated money for it.7
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), Mr. G.O
Davis (1912-1914), Mr. George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T.
Hundley whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college.8 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919, Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and the debts dating from the Hopwood administration
were retired. With the endorsement of the Board of Trustees, Hundley transformed the college
from a seminary into a liberal arts institution which earned full accreditation in 1927 from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.9 In 1923 Memorial Gymnasium was
given to Lynchburg College by the City in memory of local servicemen who died in World War
I.10
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II the majority of the male students joined the armed services, and with
a shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available as
a training facility for the Army Air Force’s College Training Program as well as a similar course
conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.11 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
implementation of the G.I. Bill,12 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948, the student body
5
Hopwood, p.96.
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.302.
7
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.24; Chambers, pp.366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
8
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978, p.11.
9
Ibid.
10
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
11
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
6
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936,13 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of the four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from
1946 to 1948.14 When Dr. Montgomery accepted the presidency of the College of the Bible in
Lexington, Kentucky in 1949, Lynchburg College was in sound financial shape.
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure,
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building since its completion in
1909; the project was completed in 1960. 15
13
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
15
Ibid. pp.25-26.
14
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. “The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College.” Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, Va:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
Sections 9-end page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg; Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-0152
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property One-quarter acre
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
Hopwood Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks which gives access to every entrance of
the building but also provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of Lynchburg College, which is composed of 246 acres. The nominated parcel boundary
coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building. The true and correct historic
boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The National Register boundary Hopwood Hall has been drawn to encompass only the
building itself and the narrow space between the building and the surrounding sidewalk that
form a logical historic boundary for the building.
___________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter
organization: Lynchburg College
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
city or town: Lynchburg
state: VA
zip code: 24501-3113
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 544-8623
date: March, 2017
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Hopwood Hall, Lynchburg College
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Hopwood Hall
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County:
N/A
State: Virginia
Photographer: Michael J. Pulice
Date Photographed: March 14, 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southwest
2 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking northwest
3 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking west
4 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking north-northwest
5 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking east-northeast
6 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, looking southeast
7 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation, main entry
8 of 14. Hopwood Hall, exterior, front elevation detail
9 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, main entry
10 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, corridor
11 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium east wall
12 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium west wall
13 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, stair well
14 of 14. Hopwood Hall, interior, first floor, auditorium door
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 18
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
LOCATION
Legend MAP
Hopwood
HallPlace names
USGS GIS
City County
of Lynchburg,
BoundariesVA
DHR No. 118-0152
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Latitude: 37.398197
Longitude: 79.182616
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 4/12/2017
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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FLOOR PLAN 1909-1974
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DHR No. 118-0152
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DESCRIBE THE PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y is l o c a t e d a t 434 Kivermont Avenue i n t h e C i t y of
Lynchburg. The b u i l d i n g i s c o n s t r u c t e d i n t h e Nco-Classical R e v i v a l s t y l e and
was e r e c t e d i n 1906-07 a f t e r t h e p l a n s of Prye and Chesterman, Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s .
The s t e p s , t e r r a c e s , and porches were designed by t h e Boston l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t
Bren~erPo;:<l and were added i n 1924. A t h r e e - s t o r y wing was b u i l t on t h e r e a r ( e a s t )
e l e v a t i o n i n 1968.
The main b l o c k and f l a n k i n g wings of t h e two-story e d i f i c e a r e e x e c u t e d i n
stretcher-bonded, cream-colored b r i c k on a g r a n i t e f o u n d a t i o n . The Rivermont
Avenue (west) e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a monumental, h e x a s f y l e - i n - a n t i s ,
Roman
I o n i c p o r t i c o surmounted by a f u l l e n t a b l a t u r e and p a r a p e t . The two-story
p o r t i c o e x t e n d s a c r o s s t h e f a c a d e of t h e b u i l d i n g and c o n t a i n s a f r i e z e t h a t
b e a r s t h e i n s c r i p t i o n " o r a t o r y , h i s t o r y , discovery; s c i e n c e , and poetry.''
The
f r i e z e r u n s a l o n g t h e p e r i m e t e r of t h e main b u i l d i n g and . t h e wings where ' i t i s
i n s c r i h e d w i t h t h e names of v a r i o u s c l a s s i c a l . w r i t e r s . The p a r a p e t b e a r s t h e
i n s c r i p t i o n "The George M. Jones Memorial L i b r a r y Erected and Endowed By Nary
Frances J o n e s I n Memory Of Iler Husband."
The c e n t r a l p o r t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g
h a s a dome covered w i t h round t i l e s and supported on a low o c t a g o n a l drum. The
dome i s crowned by t h e r i m of t h e oculus. The main e n t r a n c e is l o c a t e d on R i v e r lnont Avenue and i.s s e t i u a transom-light, c l a s s i c a l l y e m b e l l i s h e d s t o n e a r c h i t r a v e w i t h a f u l l e n t a b l a t u r e t h a t h e a r s t h e carved Roman n ~ ~ ~ n e r n 'MMC?IV",
l~s,
i n t h e f r i e z e . On rtle n o r t h and s o u t h ends a r e engaged p o r t i c o s . The o r i g i n a l
doors have wood p a n e l s a t t h e b a s e and g l a s s panes on t h e t o p . The d o o r s r e t a i n
t h e i r o r i g i n a l hardware. The transoms c o n t a i n nl~tltip1.el e a d e d s c a l . 1 o - p ~w i t h
c l e a r g l a s s 1.ights. The a u x i l i a r y and s i d e e n t r a n c e s have s t o n e a r c h i t r a v e s
w i t h glass-paned and wood-paneled doors. The doors r e t a i n t h e i r o r i g i n a l hardware
al.so. When b u i l t t h e f a c a d e contained s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows "designed t o be
symbolic of t h e n i n e grand d i v i s i o n s of human r ~ p r e s s i o n . " ~The work of Lamb
of New York, t h e windows a r e p r e s e n t l y i n s t o r a g e due t o problems w i t h l i g h t i n g .
They were r e p l a c e d by t h e p r e s e n t 1/1 hung-sash windows p r e v i o u s l y used t h r o u g h o u t
1
.
t h e bu.i)ding
.
O r i g i n a l l y t h e s t r u c t u r e had simple t e r r a c e d s t e p s t h a t r a n down t o Rivermont
Avenue. The p r e s e n t s t e p s and t e r r a c e s , w i t h t h e i r c l ~ a s s i c a lb a l u s t r a d e s and p a r a p e t w a l l s of c a s t s t o n e , were added i n 1923 t o complement a new l a n d s c a p e p l a n .
A s e m i c i r c u l a r t e r r a c e a l s o of c a s t stone. was added on t h e s o u t h s i d e of t h e
l i b r a r y and c o n t a i n s a s t a t u e of George 11. J o n e s i n a C o n f e d e r a t e u n i c o r n . Casti r o n s t a n d a r d s w i t h round g l a s s g l o b e s p r o v i d e 1-ight f o r t h e w a l k s .
The main e n t r a n c e opens t o t h e lobby which c o n t a i n s p a i r e d , l a t e r a l , open-well
s t a i r s t h a t l e a d t o t h e second f l o o r and t o t h e n o r t h and s o u t h m t r a n c e s . l % e
s t a i r s have s q u a r e newels, turned b a l u s t e r s and molded h a n d r a i l s . The h a l l . f l o o r
i s t i l e d , and t h e domed c e i l i n g i s c o f f e r e ~ l . A g l a s s s c r e e n s e p a r a t e s t h e lobby
from t h e l i b r a r y h a l l , The main h a l l . i s d i v i d e d by f u n c t i o n i n t o a r e a d i n g room,
s e r v i c e desk, and r e f e r e n c e a r c a . The a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s a r e l o c a t e d o f f t h e
11;'ainh a l l . Book s t a c k s a r e a l s o s i t u a t e d t o t h e c a s t of t h e main h a l l . The dome
i l l u m i n a t e s t h e f i r s t and second f l o o r s . The second f l o o r i n c l u d e s a mezzanine
formed by a b a l u s t r a d e t h a t overlooks t h e f i r s t - f l o o r h a l l . . The b a l . u s t r a d e i s
co~npos,.d of C l a s s i c a l - s t y l e turned b a l u s t e r s , panel.ec1 s u p p o r t s , and a ~noldedhandr a i l . I o n i c columns and a c l a s s i c a l l y ornamented c o r n i c e r u n t h e p e r i m e t e r of t h e
(See Continuation Sheet P1)
<11/78)
i
UNITED STA-rElS 1)EPARTMtNi OF TI It: INTEI: I OK
HE KITAGE CONSERVATION AND RI~CRE~~A1
ION SERVICE
NATWBl'dAL REG%S'TE:.:RQ'F lH6ESI'CIXIC PlJiCEfti.
INVENTOi2'ji -- NgZlb5INA'1'381\J FORM
Jones Menlorial L i b r a r y , Lynrhburg
COMTINLIATION SHEET
---------
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----
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ITEM NUMHEf(
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8 PAGF
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---
Stacks,
h a l l . The dome i s ornamented a l s o w i t h c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d p l a s t e r work..
o f f i c e s and a museum a r e e n t e r e d from t h e second-floor h a l l . A s t a i r c a s e , s i m i l a r
t o t h a t i n t h e main lobby, r u n s t o t h e a t t i c .
J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y ," The News, 29 September 1907, p . 6 ,
i
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ROUN1)ARY JUS'S~IFICATION
.
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The nominated propi.rty a t 434 Rivermont Avenue c o n s i s t s o f 1 3 / 4 a c r e s
which incl.udes t h e b u i l d i n g , t e r r a c e s and s t a t u e of t h e f o u n d e r , George M . J o n e s .
The 1 3/4-acre t r a c t was landscaped e x t e n s i v e l y i n 1924 by Bremcr Pond, a Hoston
landscape a r c h i t e c t .
!
1
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!
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8.
i
SIGNIFICANCE
s i t e on a s m a l l h i l . 1 i n t h e newly developed Rivern~ontAvenue s e c t i o n of t h e c i t y .
M r . and M r s . J o n e s had r e s i d e d a t 456 Rivermont Avenue, a few d o o r s from t h e
newly c o n s t r u c t e d l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g . Thc Rivermont Avenue s e c t i o n c o n t a i n s many
of t h e f i n e s t r e s i d e n c e s i n t h e c i t y .
i
i
Besides t h e l i b r a r y , F r y e and Chest-erman were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a number
of proininent landmarks i n Lynchhurg includinp, t h e Aviary i n M i l l e r P a r k , t h e
i
Municipal B u i l d i n g , t h e e a r l y b u i l d i n g s a t I.yncllburg C o l l e g e , and many f i n e c h u r c h e s :
!
and r e s i d e n c e s .
The beauty of t h e b u i l d i n g was enhanced i n 1924 by t h e a d d i t i o n
of t e r r a c e s and s t e p s clesignrd by n o t e d Iloston l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t Bremer Pond.
An e a r l y g r a d u a t e of t h e Harvard U n i v e r s i t y M a s t c r ' s prograin -in i~andscar,ea r c h i t e c t u r e , Pond servc,d from 1911 t o 1914 a s an a s s i s t a n t t o V r r d c r i c k Law Ol~nsteixd.
i
A s C h a r l e s E l i o t P r o f e s s o r of Landscape A r c h i t e c t u r e from 1928 t o 1950 a t l l a r v n r d ,
Pond became a n o u t s t a n d i n g e d u c a t o r i n t h e f i e l d o f l a n d s c a p e d e s i g n and was
and R a d c l i f f e C o l l e g e s and
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e l a n d s c a p e d e s i g n s of Dartnio~~L:~
i
a number of o t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s .
I
I
1
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
7
~~.
UN I T L D STATES [XPARTMENV OF TtlE INTCKiOIi
tIERI TAGE CONSLlZVATION AND RFCRFIAI ION SERVICE
NAYIONAIL REGIST'IXt CSY IKSI[STF02IC PLACES
INVEIVTO~V M81Yi:iINATlON F0XlH
--
t
i
J o n e s Meniorial L i b r a r y , Lynchburg
-----C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
1'12
---
ITEM NIJMElt-f1
--
8
PAGE
2
...
The J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y r e t a i n s many of i t s o r i g i n a l f u r n i s h i n g s and
f i x t u r e s , i n c l u d i n g n i n e s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows by Lamb of New York t h a t a r e
p r e s e n t l y i n s t o r a g e . I t s e r v e s a s t h e d e p o s i t o r y f o r Lynchburg newspapers
d a t i n g from 1 7 8 4 , e a r l y Lynchburg c i t y government r e c o r d s , and s u b s t a n t i a l
a r c h i v e s on r a i l r o a d and c a n a l t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n t h e S o u t h e r n V i r g i n i a Piedmont.
The landscape p l a n s of Bremer Pond i n t h e p o s s e s s i o n of t h e l i b r a r y i n d i c a t e
t h a t many of t h e t r e e s and s h r u b s t h a t surround t h e b u i l d i n g d a t e t o t h e 1924
plan.
I - ~ h News
e
( L y n c h b ~ ~ r,
g )1 4 May 1905.
i
i
L
i
i
i
I
RRMAJOR BIBLIOGRP8?HICAL REFERENCES
atargrle. L ~ n c h b u r ~ _ C j ~ g _ Q i ~ 1896
~ c . t 1892
~ ~ ~ 1905.
Enc c l o~edia-o-f ViTi:%l-~
l o g r a Tly, 1 9 1 5 . 3.v.
Eeorge Morgan J o n e s . "
$GFC
1 1 ~ > ~ ~ 3 ~ - i ~ ~ ~ " i z i , fr€
~ nWork
~ . - - of
! - ~Lv
~ chbur" and I)anvil!c-' 1 9 0 3 ,
; i ? f. .
ones, Mrs. Frances-. ~ c r a ~ h o o k , - , i m r e ~ r ~ i ~ m i l d-rb&-y;------N
a
t
i
o
n
a
l
Cyclopat..dia
of
~
m
c
r
i
c
i
n
Bingr;!phy,
1962.
~ . v : " ~ r e m e Pond
r
- -.
..
The News (Lynchhurf.,),l4 May 1.905; 7,16, 21 J u l y 1905; 29 September 1907; 2 October 1907;
7 J u n e 1908; 1 9 J u l y 1908; 2 August 1908.
Richmond Va. V i r g i n i a l1ist:ori.c Landmarks Commission A r c h i v e s . .Jones Menlorial L i b r a r y
%
A
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--
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~ ~ G E O G R A P H I C ADATA
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A C R E A G E OF N O M I N A T E D PROPERTY
QUAORANGLE NAME
U T M REFERENCi..:
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Lynchburg, V i r e i r l i a
QUAORANGLE
G L J ~ L L . L IL-LLLLLJ
1:24000
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scnLE
a t a p o i n t on t h e E s i d e of a l t e r n a t e U.S.
o u t e 501.:
approxir!:ately 2000' W of James R i v c l ; thence e x t e n d i n g 60,)'-SSW a l o n W s'.de of V i c t o r i a
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i ~ v e n u aL.o i n t e r s e c t i o n of s a i d s t r e e t , Il s t r e e t , and s a i d a l t e r n a t e 501; t h e n c e e x t e n d i n g !
500r N::,!
along E s i d e of s a i d a l t e r n a t e t o i n t e r s e c t i o n 5 h L i b r a r y S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extpnrl in"
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s o v E R L A w I N G s T A l iI O:R COUNTY U o u N D A R I E s
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CODE
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CODE
COOL
COUNTY
CODt
NAME / TITLE
V i r g i n ia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
taff
-- - -- S-
DATE
ORGANI?AIION
V j r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks
Commission
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TELEPHONE
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221
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Governor S t r e e t
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Richmond
(803.1-78.6-3144
STATE
Z i p Code
V i z.->--i n i a
23219
----
STATE HISTORIC PEZESERVATPON OFFICER CEXTPFPGATZON
NATIONAL -
S T A IE
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LOCAL-
.....
As the desigriatad State Historic: Preserv.itioii Offic-tr for the National tlistoric Proservation Act of 1 9 6 K ~ ' u b l i cLaw 89.13651. -I
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hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated aicordir~gto the
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criteria and
STATE I
TITL.E
Park Service.
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STREET t NUMBER
434 F.ivr?mont Avenue
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2323.3
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DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
X-UNALTERED
ALTERED
CHECK O N E
&ORIGINAL SITE
-MOVED
DATE
-
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT A N D ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y is l o c a t e d a t 434 Kivermont Avenue i n t h e C i t y of
Lynchburg. The b u i l d i n g i s c o n s t r u c t e d i n t h e Nco-Classical R e v i v a l s t y l e and
was e r e c t e d i n 1906-07 a f t e r t h e p l a n s of Prye and Chesterman, Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t s .
The s t e p s , t e r r a c e s , and porches were designed by t h e Boston l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t
Bren~erPo;:<l and were added i n 1924. A t h r e e - s t o r y wing was b u i l t on t h e r e a r ( e a s t )
e l e v a t i o n i n 1968.
The main b l o c k and f l a n k i n g wings of t h e two-story e d i f i c e a r e e x e c u t e d i n
stretcher-bonded, cream-colored b r i c k on a g r a n i t e f o u n d a t i o n . The Rivermont
Avenue (west) e l e v a t i o n i s dominated by a monumental, h e x a s f y l e - i n - a n t i s ,
Roman
I o n i c p o r t i c o surmounted by a f u l l e n t a b l a t u r e and p a r a p e t . The two-story
p o r t i c o e x t e n d s a c r o s s t h e f a c a d e of t h e b u i l d i n g and c o n t a i n s a f r i e z e t h a t
b e a r s t h e i n s c r i p t i o n " o r a t o r y , h i s t o r y , discovery; s c i e n c e , and poetry.''
The
f r i e z e r u n s a l o n g t h e p e r i m e t e r of t h e main b u i l d i n g and . t h e wings where ' i t i s
i n s c r i h e d w i t h t h e names of v a r i o u s c l a s s i c a l . w r i t e r s . The p a r a p e t b e a r s t h e
i n s c r i p t i o n "The George M. Jones Memorial L i b r a r y Erected and Endowed By Nary
Frances J o n e s I n Memory Of Iler Husband."
The c e n t r a l p o r t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g
h a s a dome covered w i t h round t i l e s and supported on a low o c t a g o n a l drum. The
dome i s crowned by t h e r i m of t h e oculus. The main e n t r a n c e is l o c a t e d on R i v e r lnont Avenue and i.s s e t i u a transom-light, c l a s s i c a l l y e m b e l l i s h e d s t o n e a r c h i t r a v e w i t h a f u l l e n t a b l a t u r e t h a t h e a r s t h e carved Roman n ~ ~ ~ n e r n 'MMC?IV",
l~s,
i n t h e f r i e z e . On rtle n o r t h and s o u t h ends a r e engaged p o r t i c o s . The o r i g i n a l
doors have wood p a n e l s a t t h e b a s e and g l a s s panes on t h e t o p . The d o o r s r e t a i n
t h e i r o r i g i n a l hardware. The transoms c o n t a i n nl~tltip1.el e a d e d s c a l . 1 o - p ~w i t h
c l e a r g l a s s 1.ights. The a u x i l i a r y and s i d e e n t r a n c e s have s t o n e a r c h i t r a v e s
w i t h glass-paned and wood-paneled doors. The doors r e t a i n t h e i r o r i g i n a l hardware
al.so. When b u i l t t h e f a c a d e contained s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows "designed t o be
symbolic of t h e n i n e grand d i v i s i o n s of human r ~ p r e s s i o n . " ~The work of Lamb
of New York, t h e windows a r e p r e s e n t l y i n s t o r a g e due t o problems w i t h l i g h t i n g .
They were r e p l a c e d by t h e p r e s e n t 1/1 hung-sash windows p r e v i o u s l y used t h r o u g h o u t
1
.
t h e bu.i)ding
.
O r i g i n a l l y t h e s t r u c t u r e had simple t e r r a c e d s t e p s t h a t r a n down t o Rivermont
Avenue. The p r e s e n t s t e p s and t e r r a c e s , w i t h t h e i r c l ~ a s s i c a lb a l u s t r a d e s and p a r a p e t w a l l s of c a s t s t o n e , were added i n 1923 t o complement a new l a n d s c a p e p l a n .
A s e m i c i r c u l a r t e r r a c e a l s o of c a s t stone. was added on t h e s o u t h s i d e of t h e
l i b r a r y and c o n t a i n s a s t a t u e of George 11. J o n e s i n a C o n f e d e r a t e u n i c o r n . Casti r o n s t a n d a r d s w i t h round g l a s s g l o b e s p r o v i d e 1-ight f o r t h e w a l k s .
The main e n t r a n c e opens t o t h e lobby which c o n t a i n s p a i r e d , l a t e r a l , open-well
s t a i r s t h a t l e a d t o t h e second f l o o r and t o t h e n o r t h and s o u t h m t r a n c e s . l % e
s t a i r s have s q u a r e newels, turned b a l u s t e r s and molded h a n d r a i l s . The h a l l . f l o o r
i s t i l e d , and t h e domed c e i l i n g i s c o f f e r e ~ l . A g l a s s s c r e e n s e p a r a t e s t h e lobby
from t h e l i b r a r y h a l l , The main h a l l . i s d i v i d e d by f u n c t i o n i n t o a r e a d i n g room,
s e r v i c e desk, and r e f e r e n c e a r c a . The a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o f f i c e s a r e l o c a t e d o f f t h e
11;'ainh a l l . Book s t a c k s a r e a l s o s i t u a t e d t o t h e c a s t of t h e main h a l l . The dome
i l l u m i n a t e s t h e f i r s t and second f l o o r s . The second f l o o r i n c l u d e s a mezzanine
formed by a b a l u s t r a d e t h a t overlooks t h e f i r s t - f l o o r h a l l . . The b a l . u s t r a d e i s
co~npos,.d of C l a s s i c a l - s t y l e turned b a l u s t e r s , panel.ec1 s u p p o r t s , and a ~noldedhandr a i l . I o n i c columns and a c l a s s i c a l l y ornamented c o r n i c e r u n t h e p e r i m e t e r of t h e
(See Continuation Sheet P1)
<11/78)
i
UNITED STA-rElS 1)EPARTMtNi OF TI It: INTEI: I OK
HE KITAGE CONSERVATION AND RI~CRE~~A1
ION SERVICE
NATWBl'dAL REG%S'TE:.:RQ'F lH6ESI'CIXIC PlJiCEfti.
INVENTOi2'ji -- NgZlb5INA'1'381\J FORM
Jones Menlorial L i b r a r y , Lynrhburg
COMTINLIATION SHEET
---------
ill
----
-
ITEM NUMHEf(
7 &
-.
8 PAGF
1
---
Stacks,
h a l l . The dome i s ornamented a l s o w i t h c l a s s i c a l l y i n s p i r e d p l a s t e r work..
o f f i c e s and a museum a r e e n t e r e d from t h e second-floor h a l l . A s t a i r c a s e , s i m i l a r
t o t h a t i n t h e main lobby, r u n s t o t h e a t t i c .
J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y ," The News, 29 September 1907, p . 6 ,
i
!
RCC
'"l'he
I
t
col. 4.
I
I
1
I
ROUN1)ARY JUS'S~IFICATION
.
I
i,
The nominated propi.rty a t 434 Rivermont Avenue c o n s i s t s o f 1 3 / 4 a c r e s
which incl.udes t h e b u i l d i n g , t e r r a c e s and s t a t u e of t h e f o u n d e r , George M . J o n e s .
The 1 3/4-acre t r a c t was landscaped e x t e n s i v e l y i n 1924 by Bremcr Pond, a Hoston
landscape a r c h i t e c t .
!
1
i
!
'
8.
i
SIGNIFICANCE
s i t e on a s m a l l h i l . 1 i n t h e newly developed Rivern~ontAvenue s e c t i o n of t h e c i t y .
M r . and M r s . J o n e s had r e s i d e d a t 456 Rivermont Avenue, a few d o o r s from t h e
newly c o n s t r u c t e d l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g . Thc Rivermont Avenue s e c t i o n c o n t a i n s many
of t h e f i n e s t r e s i d e n c e s i n t h e c i t y .
i
i
Besides t h e l i b r a r y , F r y e and Chest-erman were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a number
of proininent landmarks i n Lynchhurg includinp, t h e Aviary i n M i l l e r P a r k , t h e
i
Municipal B u i l d i n g , t h e e a r l y b u i l d i n g s a t I.yncllburg C o l l e g e , and many f i n e c h u r c h e s :
!
and r e s i d e n c e s .
The beauty of t h e b u i l d i n g was enhanced i n 1924 by t h e a d d i t i o n
of t e r r a c e s and s t e p s clesignrd by n o t e d Iloston l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t Bremer Pond.
An e a r l y g r a d u a t e of t h e Harvard U n i v e r s i t y M a s t c r ' s prograin -in i~andscar,ea r c h i t e c t u r e , Pond servc,d from 1911 t o 1914 a s an a s s i s t a n t t o V r r d c r i c k Law Ol~nsteixd.
i
A s C h a r l e s E l i o t P r o f e s s o r of Landscape A r c h i t e c t u r e from 1928 t o 1950 a t l l a r v n r d ,
Pond became a n o u t s t a n d i n g e d u c a t o r i n t h e f i e l d o f l a n d s c a p e d e s i g n and was
and R a d c l i f f e C o l l e g e s and
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e l a n d s c a p e d e s i g n s of Dartnio~~L:~
i
a number of o t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s .
I
I
1
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2 )
7
~~.
UN I T L D STATES [XPARTMENV OF TtlE INTCKiOIi
tIERI TAGE CONSLlZVATION AND RFCRFIAI ION SERVICE
NAYIONAIL REGIST'IXt CSY IKSI[STF02IC PLACES
INVEIVTO~V M81Yi:iINATlON F0XlH
--
t
i
J o n e s Meniorial L i b r a r y , Lynchburg
-----C O N T I N U A T I O N SHEET
1'12
---
ITEM NIJMElt-f1
--
8
PAGE
2
...
The J o n e s Memorial L i b r a r y r e t a i n s many of i t s o r i g i n a l f u r n i s h i n g s and
f i x t u r e s , i n c l u d i n g n i n e s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows by Lamb of New York t h a t a r e
p r e s e n t l y i n s t o r a g e . I t s e r v e s a s t h e d e p o s i t o r y f o r Lynchburg newspapers
d a t i n g from 1 7 8 4 , e a r l y Lynchburg c i t y government r e c o r d s , and s u b s t a n t i a l
a r c h i v e s on r a i l r o a d and c a n a l t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n t h e S o u t h e r n V i r g i n i a Piedmont.
The landscape p l a n s of Bremer Pond i n t h e p o s s e s s i o n of t h e l i b r a r y i n d i c a t e
t h a t many of t h e t r e e s and s h r u b s t h a t surround t h e b u i l d i n g d a t e t o t h e 1924
plan.
I - ~ h News
e
( L y n c h b ~ ~ r,
g )1 4 May 1905.
i
i
L
i
i
i
I
RRMAJOR BIBLIOGRP8?HICAL REFERENCES
atargrle. L ~ n c h b u r ~ _ C j ~ g _ Q i ~ 1896
~ c . t 1892
~ ~ ~ 1905.
Enc c l o~edia-o-f ViTi:%l-~
l o g r a Tly, 1 9 1 5 . 3.v.
Eeorge Morgan J o n e s . "
$GFC
1 1 ~ > ~ ~ 3 ~ - i ~ ~ ~ " i z i , fr€
~ nWork
~ . - - of
! - ~Lv
~ chbur" and I)anvil!c-' 1 9 0 3 ,
; i ? f. .
ones, Mrs. Frances-. ~ c r a ~ h o o k , - , i m r e ~ r ~ i ~ m i l d-rb&-y;------N
a
t
i
o
n
a
l
Cyclopat..dia
of
~
m
c
r
i
c
i
n
Bingr;!phy,
1962.
~ . v : " ~ r e m e Pond
r
- -.
..
The News (Lynchhurf.,),l4 May 1.905; 7,16, 21 J u l y 1905; 29 September 1907; 2 October 1907;
7 J u n e 1908; 1 9 J u l y 1908; 2 August 1908.
Richmond Va. V i r g i n i a l1ist:ori.c Landmarks Commission A r c h i v e s . .Jones Menlorial L i b r a r y
%
A
."
--
-
Ah.:--.*&*uq~
~ ~ G E O G R A P H I C ADATA
L
A C R E A G E OF N O M I N A T E D PROPERTY
QUAORANGLE NAME
U T M REFERENCi..:
I 3//+acr~s
Lynchburg, V i r e i r l i a
QUAORANGLE
G L J ~ L L . L IL-LLLLLJ
1:24000
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-- .- VERBAL ROUPI~AF~Y.DES,CIIIPTION
Begin11;ni:
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a t a p o i n t on t h e E s i d e of a l t e r n a t e U.S.
o u t e 501.:
approxir!:ately 2000' W of James R i v c l ; thence e x t e n d i n g 60,)'-SSW a l o n W s'.de of V i c t o r i a
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500r N::,!
along E s i d e of s a i d a l t e r n a t e t o i n t e r s e c t i o n 5 h L i b r a r y S t r e e t ; t h e n c e extpnrl in"
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ALL STATES ANECOUNTIES
STATE
-STATE
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f
s o v E R L A w I N G s T A l iI O:R COUNTY U o u N D A R I E s
E
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
COOL
COUNTY
CODt
NAME / TITLE
V i r g i n ia H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
taff
-- - -- S-
DATE
ORGANI?AIION
V j r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks
Commission
-
Jule_L%iL.-
TELEPHONE
STREET& NUMtiER
221
-.CITY OR TOWN
_
Governor S t r e e t
,
.
_
.
--A
---
Richmond
(803.1-78.6-3144
STATE
Z i p Code
V i z.->--i n i a
23219
----
STATE HISTORIC PEZESERVATPON OFFICER CEXTPFPGATZON
NATIONAL -
S T A IE
X
-
LOCAL-
.....
As the desigriatad State Historic: Preserv.itioii Offic-tr for the National tlistoric Proservation Act of 1 9 6 K ~ ' u b l i cLaw 89.13651. -I
~~
hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated aicordir~gto the
c 3pr& # m #I
+res
n a ls 3 fort
criteria and
STATE I
TITL.E
Park Service.
..-. .
Tucker I I i l l , 1:xecutive D i r e c t o r
i C P R E S E n V A l l O N OFFICER SICNATLIHF
.
.
-
G P O 921.80S
1
Text
dnifed States Department of the interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
Natidaal Register of Historic places
gn\rentor3(-Momination Form
red
rntnrmrl
aate L
,,,
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
..,.,
rJ?-
V L R : 06/1b/8/
F.I?! OYJORJ'RL
1. Name
C o u r t S t r e e t Baptist Church
historic
andlor common
West corner Court and Sixth streets
street % number
Virginia
state
Category
-
building(s)
-structure
site
object
51
code
Ownership
public
2private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
*being
considered
-district
x-
n/a
-vicinitv of
Ly nchburg
citv. town
countv
n ' not
~ for
con~ressjonaldistrict S i x t h (M.Caldwell B u t l e r
(in c i t y )
code
Status
occupled
-unoccupied
Present Use
-agriculture
commercial
-.
educational
entertainment
government
-industrial
-5
work in progress
Accessible
-x yes: restricted
.
,
yes: unrestricted
-no
aubllcation
-rnllltaq
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
Trustees of C o u r t S t r e e t Baptist Church
name
, .
.
P. 0 . Box 733
street & number
n/a
Lynchburg
city, town
Virginia
vicinity of
24505
5. Location of Legal Descri~tion
'
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
Off
Lynchburg
*urthouse
900 Court S t r e e t
street & number
Lynchburg
city, town
state Virginia
6. Wepsesentation in Existing S U ~ W @
( 2 )~(see
S Continuation
.
(1)Historic District Survey,
Lynchburg,
Va
has this property been determined ebegible?
title
date
May 1976
depository for survey records
city, town
Ly nchburg
federal
-state
X
yes
-county
'
C i t y of Lynchburq, Division of P l a n n i n g
state
Virginia
Sheet
:
no
X local
-
7. Description
Condition
2excellent
-good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
In its basic plan and outline, Court Street Baptist Church recalls a typical New
England meetinghouse of a much earlier period in American architecture. Its simple rectangular form, with a tower projecting slightly from the center of the facade and terminating in a spire above, differs little from the familiar meetinghouse prototype.
While the overall proportions of the church are somewhat retarditaire for its 1879 date,
its details show an affinity with the prevailing architectural styles of the period, or
at least a nodding acquaintance with them. Italianate features are most predominant,
notably in the windows. Those on the ground floor have segmentally arched upper sash
which are capped with slightly protruding brick segmental hood molds. The larger windows
lighting the auditorium above are round arched with protruding brick arched hood molds.
Another prominent feature, which reflects the then-popular Second Empire style, is the
mansard roof of the tower. This feature provides an effective transition from the square
tower base to the octagonally sectioned belfry stage above.
The basic rectangular body of the church
back 101 feet. Matching the tower projection
sions, is a small chancel projecting from the
church are of stone laid in a random pattern.
are hard-pressed and, according to an account
were "pressed at the Richmond kilns."
measures 60 feet on the facade and extends
on the front, and almost of the same dimenrear of the church. Foundations of the
Walls are of red brick; those in the facade
of the building at the time it was completed,
The facade is organized into a triple arrangement, with the projecting tower forming
the central element. A segmental arch covers the first-floor main entrance, which is
approached by a single flight of granite steps. The granite, like the pressed brick used
in the facade, came from Richmond. Above the door is a triple-sectioned window with each
section covered by a semicircular arch. Just below the sill of this window is a stone with
the date 1879 incised. Fenestration of the tower is completed with a roundel, containing
spoke tracery, above the triple window. On either side of the tower, the facade of the
church contains paired fenestration on each floor. The "windows" on the ground floor, and
the lower section of those above, however, are blind. A raking brick cornice caps the
facade on each side.
The chief external feature of the church is the spire, which rises from the brick
tower. The tower is surmounted by a slate-covered mansard roof with an arched lucarne.
or dormer, filled with louvres on each of the four faces. Above is an octagonally sectioned belfry with louvred rectangular openings in each of its eight sides. Above, a
copper-clad spire, also octagonal in section, tapers to a finial with a copper ball. The
copper ball is 94 feetin circumference and weighs 34 pounds. The finial is 167 feet
above the ground level of the church, making the building by far the tallest structure
in the city when it was new.
Each side elevation is six bays long with a door in the central bay of the ground
floor. These side doors, and another at the rear of the building, were noted in the newspaper account of the church when it was nearing completion and were cited as evidence that
"should a panic occur, from fire or other causes, the building could be emptied at short
notice. "
The interior of the church contains a ground floor with assembly hall and Sunday School
rooms, and the main sanctuary is on the second floor. The main entrance opens into a vestibule which extends across the entire width of the building. Doors open on axis from the
(See :Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-prehistoric
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning
-consewation
-archeology-historic
-1500-1599
-agriculture
3architecture
-art
-commerce
-communications
-1400-1499
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
2 1800-1899
-1900-
-landscape architecture-
-law
-literature
-economics
..
-education
-mllitary
-engineering
-music
-explorationisettlement-philosophy
-industry
-politics/government
-invention
X religi0n
-science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
2other (specify)
black history
Specific d a t e s
1879
BuilderiArchitect
Robert Calhoun Burkholder
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Court Street Baptist Church is Lynchburg's chief black architectural landmark. Begun
in 1879 and completed in 1880, it was then the largest church edifice in the city, with
its spire the tallest object on the downtown skyline. The church was designed by a local
white architect, R. C. Burkholder, but black labor was used exclusively in its construction,
and black artisans were in large part responsible for the decorations and furnishings of
the auditorium. Although a number of nearby residents initially objected to the building
of a black church on what was then one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential streets,
as construction progressed the white community began to applaud the congregation for its
accomplishment. When the church was completed, the editor of the Daily Virginian spoke
for all in declaring that "it stands an almost imperishable monument to the vigor, enterprise and religious zeal of the society to which it belongs."
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On March 5, 1879, the citizens of Lynchburg were informed by the Virginian that "The
Court Street Baptist Church, colored, at which the calamity occurred last fall, is being
pulled down. The material will be used in a new church building, corner of Court and Sixth
Streets. The lot was purchased by a citizen." Between those concise lines lay a story
of so much local interest that there was no need to repeat what everyone in town already
knew. The "calamity" was indeed that. At a wedding in October 1878, an alarm was given
that the crowded balconies were collapsing. Although the alarm was false, the ensuing
melee resulted in the deaths of eight persons, who were trampled and crushed in the attempt
to evacuate the building. Remembrance of that tragedy would find expression in the new
building, where the iron supports of the balcony were made to extend below the basement to
rest on solid rock. Behind the short notice that the lot was purchased by a citizen lay
another story, one amplified by a historical sketch published by the church in 1960:
At that time, Court Street was where the homes of the prominent and
rich white residents lived, and during the days of slavery they wanted
to keep the Negro slaves near them in their worship services in order
to observe their loyalty. However, when Freedom came, they had no
further interest in them, and they wanted to force the Negroes to move
their worship place from the prominent Court Street residential section of the city. But, since Negroes had worshipped on that street
since it was the center of the town, the colored congregation was just
as determined to remain on Court Street with the Church.
When it was learned that the black congregation intended to purchase a lot near the
site of the old building, the owner was offered a substantially larger amount by several
whites to prevent the sale. This attempt failed, however, for the trustees had placed a
deposit of $100 on the lot and had entered into a binding agreement to pay the balance of
$2,400 within a certain amount of time. Pressure then was put on the city's banks and loan
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 )
9. Major Bibliographical References
Historical Committee. A History of the Court Street Baptist Church of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, Va. 1960.
Lynchburg Virginian and Lynchburg Daily Virginian, various issues 1879-1881 (copies at
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.)
Ryan, Richard. "Robert C. Burkholder." M.A. thesis, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
1 OoO
Quadrangle name Lvnchburq, Va.
ftQuadrangle scale
UMT References
A
(1171 16161319 16 101
Zone
Easting
14 ,114 (2 14 15
Northing
1
"
u
E Wu
u
G
uu
I
c
w
I
I
I
Zone
1 :24000
'
uu
VLW
Easting
'Ndrtjin;
'
I
I I
F wu
u
H Wu
LLLLlA
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
The boundary forms a rectangle encompassing just
the structure and measuring 60' x loll, with 60' fronting on the west side of Court Street.
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e o r c o u n t y boundaries
N /A
state
N/A
state
code
countv
N/A
code
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
S
organization
date
N /A
street & number
city or town
. Allen Chambers
1237 31st Street NW
June 1981
telephone
Washington
state
D. C.
20007
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property wlthin the state is:
-national
2 state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665),1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in th National Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by tJHejitage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
0
H. Bryan Witchell, Executive ~ i r e c t o d
Conservation and Recreation Service.
M ~ V 1- 0 1982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Court Street Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#1
Item number
7
7. DESCRIPTION
entrance across the vestibule to the assembly room. On either side of the entrance, singleflight stairs rise to the vestibule of the sanctuary above. The stairs rise against the front
wall and account for the blind arcades, rather than glazed openings, noted on the exterior.
From the upper vestibule, three doors give entrance to the auditorium. Although a number of
interior changes have been made over the years to the auditorium, a description which appeared
in the Lynchburg Virginian when the church was completed still suffices to give an accurate
picture of its main features:
This room is 50 by 88 feet and is apportioned into three aisles--right,
left and centre and six sections of pews each 74 feet in length. The
floor is to be covered with a carpet of church pattern, now being made
to order in an Eastern city. A pulpit of beautiful design and workmanship, finished after the style of the interior, gracefully decorates
the elaborate altar, beneath which the baptismal font is located. The
floor is supported by ten iron columns resting on a solid rtock foundation. These columns, 215 feet in length, also extend to the galleries
and become prominent supports thereof. The room is lighted by eight
Venetian windows of stained glass on each side, and one of memorial
design at the rear of the pulpit. Upon the latter is inscribed the
names of the unfortunate victims of the disaster which occurred to the
Church, October 16th 1878. At night, a pyramidal chandelier of seventytwo gas burners, suspended from the centre of the arched ceiling, together with three triple burners on each side, two on each end, and
two near the pulpit, all ignited by electricity, will do the work of
illumination. The finishing of the woodwork will be in white and black
walnut. The walls are already frescoed in panels and other appropriate
designs. The arch in the ceiling just over the chandelier is so artistically wrought and frescoed as to represent by day a canopy of clear
blue sky, and by night, a starry vaulted firmament. It is 34 feet in
circumference, 11'4 feet in diameter, 5 1/3 feet deep, and is surmounted
by a conveniently arranged register to regulate upper ventilation. The
height of the ceiling from the auditorium floor is 28 feet.
A gallery of three sections, extends across the front and along the
East and Nest sides, containing four rows of pews, and affording a full
view of the pulpit and speaker from any point of observation. The
gallery is reached by means of two stairways from the auditorium hallway,
one at the right and one at the left. In the front section a large
pipe organ and a well trained choir will be stationed. At the rear
of the organ loft is a room that may be utilized by the singers, and
others on special occasions. The gallery is lighted by eight stainedglass windows on a side and the walls are finely wainscotted and frescoed in harmony with the auditorium. The frescoing was done by Mr. H.
0. Wilkins of Selma, Ala. At night, gas jets arranged on either side
and a drop light above the organ, will illuminate the entire orchestra.
Great care has been bestowed upon the accoustic properties of the auditorium and galleries as shown by the curvatures and rounded corners
everywhere visible. The building will be heated by means of a furnace
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Court Street Bapcist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#2
Item number
7.
're
DESCRIPTION
in the basement. As the capacity of the building is twenty five hundred, every possible precaution against accident has been taken. Beside the main front entrance, there are also entrances at the side and
rear.
Of the remaining features mentioned in this early account, perhaps the most impressive are
the stained-glass windows. They are of simple geometrical patternspare filled with vivid
glass in primary colors, and were manufactured in Lynchburg by William Hefferman. The
pulpit was supplied by a black artisan, J. W. Green, also of Lynchburg. The original pews
and trim also remain. Unfortunately, neither the frescoed ceiling over the chandelier
nor the frescoed walls remain. In 1899 the auditorium was repainted, and a new organ was
installed. At tile same time electric fixtures replaced the gaslights, but the original
seventy-two-light chandelier was retained and electrified. During the pastorate of Dr.
Edgar T. Thornton (1943-53). the auditorium was again repainted, a new roof was put on the
church, and the large assembly hall on the ground floor was partially divided into small
classrooms.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
associations to refuse a loan to the congregation, but this ploy was thwarted when the church
members gathered their savings together and contributed enough to cover not only the purchase
price of the lot, but also several thousand dollars in construction costs for the actual
building. That the congregation could come up with such an amount on short notice is explained
in the church history by the racial tension that prevailed in Lynchburg in the postbellum
era:
At a time when colored people did not trust the white people too much.
most of the members of the church had their savings at home between
mattresses, or wrapped in socks, and small bags stuck in the attic,
or in cavities over the mantles.
,
After the lot was purchased, the cornerstone was laid, and in reporting on that occasion,
the editor of the Virginian informed his readers that "This, we understand, is to be quite
a handsome structure, and one of the largest in the state. Mr. R. C. Burkholder is the architect. To be finished by Oct. 1." That deadline was not met, however, and the building
was not completed until July 1880. During the interim, the local papers furnished a number
of articles describing the building and the progress of construction. In one of these accounts.
the editor of the Virginian informed his readers that he had visited the carpentry shop of
"J. W. Green, colored (who) showed us a pulpit, designed and made by himself, for the Court
Street Baptist Church." The editor described the pulpit as "of solid walnut, with an Italian
marble top, and covered with silk, with pendants and tassels." He closed his account by
wondering "how so neat a job could have been made entirely by hand" and concluded that "the
church might have paid more money for worse work in New York or Boston." Despite the condescending tone of the editor's report, his account and others like it helped persuade the
citizens of Lynchburg that the church would be an asset to the city and not a liability.
As for Court Street, it continued for many years to be regarded as a fashionable address,
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Courc Streec Bapcist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number
8.
8 ,6
SIGNIFICANCE
and a number of large mansions, as well as churches for white congregations were soon built
nearby.
Largely unchanged since its completion, the modified Italianate building is the largest
remaining example of the work of architect and builder Robert C. Burkholder. Burkholder
came to Lynchburg just prior to the Civil War. After serving the Confederacy, he returned
to the city and became in the ensuing decades one of Lynchburg's most prominent architects.
The building houses a congregation that was formally organized in 1843, when the African
Baptist Church officially separated from the parent First Baptist Church. As was typical
in the antebellum South, the ministers of the new congregation continued to be appointed
by the parent white congregation, and white custodians attended all its services. An old
theatre, purchased for the new group, was remodeled and served the congregation until a
fire destroyed it in 1858. The congregation then moved to a converted tobacco factory that
stood nearby on Court Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. This temporary church was
replaced in 1867 by the building which was demolished after the tragedy.
Largely through the efforts of the minister and members of Court Street Baptist Church,
the Virginia Baptist Convention authorized the establishment of the Lynchburg Seminary in
1886. The Reverend Phillip Morris of Court Street Church served as the first president of
the institution, which was later named the Virginia Theological Seminary and College. Its
main building, Hayes Hall, and the home of one of its most distinguished graduates, Anne
Spencer, both in Lynchburg, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
During the later 19th century, the church organized a number of Sunday Schools in outlying sections of Lynchburg to serve members who might not otherwise have been able to attend
worship services. From these several schools, a number of separate congregations were later
organized. Court Street Church is regarded as the mother church of all the city's black
Baptist congregations and still houses a large and active congregation, well aware and
appreciative of the building in which they worship. In addition to its own considerable
architectural and historical interest, the church building forms an integral component of
an impressive grouping of late 19th-century churches on the hill above Lynchburg's downtown
business district. It is, in fact, one of the two oldest structures in this "ecclesiastical
compound," and its spire is still a notable, if no longer dominant, feature of the Lynchburg
skyline.
SAC
6.
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2) Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1980
state
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
Natidaal Register of Historic places
gn\rentor3(-Momination Form
red
rntnrmrl
aate L
,,,
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
..,.,
rJ?-
V L R : 06/1b/8/
F.I?! OYJORJ'RL
1. Name
C o u r t S t r e e t Baptist Church
historic
andlor common
West corner Court and Sixth streets
street % number
Virginia
state
Category
-
building(s)
-structure
site
object
51
code
Ownership
public
2private
-both
Public Acquisition
-in process
*being
considered
-district
x-
n/a
-vicinitv of
Ly nchburg
citv. town
countv
n ' not
~ for
con~ressjonaldistrict S i x t h (M.Caldwell B u t l e r
(in c i t y )
code
Status
occupled
-unoccupied
Present Use
-agriculture
commercial
-.
educational
entertainment
government
-industrial
-5
work in progress
Accessible
-x yes: restricted
.
,
yes: unrestricted
-no
aubllcation
-rnllltaq
-museum
-park
-private residence
X religious
-
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
Trustees of C o u r t S t r e e t Baptist Church
name
, .
.
P. 0 . Box 733
street & number
n/a
Lynchburg
city, town
Virginia
vicinity of
24505
5. Location of Legal Descri~tion
'
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
Off
Lynchburg
*urthouse
900 Court S t r e e t
street & number
Lynchburg
city, town
state Virginia
6. Wepsesentation in Existing S U ~ W @
( 2 )~(see
S Continuation
.
(1)Historic District Survey,
Lynchburg,
Va
has this property been determined ebegible?
title
date
May 1976
depository for survey records
city, town
Ly nchburg
federal
-state
X
yes
-county
'
C i t y of Lynchburq, Division of P l a n n i n g
state
Virginia
Sheet
:
no
X local
-
7. Description
Condition
2excellent
-good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
2unaltered
-altered
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
In its basic plan and outline, Court Street Baptist Church recalls a typical New
England meetinghouse of a much earlier period in American architecture. Its simple rectangular form, with a tower projecting slightly from the center of the facade and terminating in a spire above, differs little from the familiar meetinghouse prototype.
While the overall proportions of the church are somewhat retarditaire for its 1879 date,
its details show an affinity with the prevailing architectural styles of the period, or
at least a nodding acquaintance with them. Italianate features are most predominant,
notably in the windows. Those on the ground floor have segmentally arched upper sash
which are capped with slightly protruding brick segmental hood molds. The larger windows
lighting the auditorium above are round arched with protruding brick arched hood molds.
Another prominent feature, which reflects the then-popular Second Empire style, is the
mansard roof of the tower. This feature provides an effective transition from the square
tower base to the octagonally sectioned belfry stage above.
The basic rectangular body of the church
back 101 feet. Matching the tower projection
sions, is a small chancel projecting from the
church are of stone laid in a random pattern.
are hard-pressed and, according to an account
were "pressed at the Richmond kilns."
measures 60 feet on the facade and extends
on the front, and almost of the same dimenrear of the church. Foundations of the
Walls are of red brick; those in the facade
of the building at the time it was completed,
The facade is organized into a triple arrangement, with the projecting tower forming
the central element. A segmental arch covers the first-floor main entrance, which is
approached by a single flight of granite steps. The granite, like the pressed brick used
in the facade, came from Richmond. Above the door is a triple-sectioned window with each
section covered by a semicircular arch. Just below the sill of this window is a stone with
the date 1879 incised. Fenestration of the tower is completed with a roundel, containing
spoke tracery, above the triple window. On either side of the tower, the facade of the
church contains paired fenestration on each floor. The "windows" on the ground floor, and
the lower section of those above, however, are blind. A raking brick cornice caps the
facade on each side.
The chief external feature of the church is the spire, which rises from the brick
tower. The tower is surmounted by a slate-covered mansard roof with an arched lucarne.
or dormer, filled with louvres on each of the four faces. Above is an octagonally sectioned belfry with louvred rectangular openings in each of its eight sides. Above, a
copper-clad spire, also octagonal in section, tapers to a finial with a copper ball. The
copper ball is 94 feetin circumference and weighs 34 pounds. The finial is 167 feet
above the ground level of the church, making the building by far the tallest structure
in the city when it was new.
Each side elevation is six bays long with a door in the central bay of the ground
floor. These side doors, and another at the rear of the building, were noted in the newspaper account of the church when it was nearing completion and were cited as evidence that
"should a panic occur, from fire or other causes, the building could be emptied at short
notice. "
The interior of the church contains a ground floor with assembly hall and Sunday School
rooms, and the main sanctuary is on the second floor. The main entrance opens into a vestibule which extends across the entire width of the building. Doors open on axis from the
(See :Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-prehistoric
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning
-consewation
-archeology-historic
-1500-1599
-agriculture
3architecture
-art
-commerce
-communications
-1400-1499
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
2 1800-1899
-1900-
-landscape architecture-
-law
-literature
-economics
..
-education
-mllitary
-engineering
-music
-explorationisettlement-philosophy
-industry
-politics/government
-invention
X religi0n
-science
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
transportation
2other (specify)
black history
Specific d a t e s
1879
BuilderiArchitect
Robert Calhoun Burkholder
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Court Street Baptist Church is Lynchburg's chief black architectural landmark. Begun
in 1879 and completed in 1880, it was then the largest church edifice in the city, with
its spire the tallest object on the downtown skyline. The church was designed by a local
white architect, R. C. Burkholder, but black labor was used exclusively in its construction,
and black artisans were in large part responsible for the decorations and furnishings of
the auditorium. Although a number of nearby residents initially objected to the building
of a black church on what was then one of Lynchburg's most fashionable residential streets,
as construction progressed the white community began to applaud the congregation for its
accomplishment. When the church was completed, the editor of the Daily Virginian spoke
for all in declaring that "it stands an almost imperishable monument to the vigor, enterprise and religious zeal of the society to which it belongs."
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On March 5, 1879, the citizens of Lynchburg were informed by the Virginian that "The
Court Street Baptist Church, colored, at which the calamity occurred last fall, is being
pulled down. The material will be used in a new church building, corner of Court and Sixth
Streets. The lot was purchased by a citizen." Between those concise lines lay a story
of so much local interest that there was no need to repeat what everyone in town already
knew. The "calamity" was indeed that. At a wedding in October 1878, an alarm was given
that the crowded balconies were collapsing. Although the alarm was false, the ensuing
melee resulted in the deaths of eight persons, who were trampled and crushed in the attempt
to evacuate the building. Remembrance of that tragedy would find expression in the new
building, where the iron supports of the balcony were made to extend below the basement to
rest on solid rock. Behind the short notice that the lot was purchased by a citizen lay
another story, one amplified by a historical sketch published by the church in 1960:
At that time, Court Street was where the homes of the prominent and
rich white residents lived, and during the days of slavery they wanted
to keep the Negro slaves near them in their worship services in order
to observe their loyalty. However, when Freedom came, they had no
further interest in them, and they wanted to force the Negroes to move
their worship place from the prominent Court Street residential section of the city. But, since Negroes had worshipped on that street
since it was the center of the town, the colored congregation was just
as determined to remain on Court Street with the Church.
When it was learned that the black congregation intended to purchase a lot near the
site of the old building, the owner was offered a substantially larger amount by several
whites to prevent the sale. This attempt failed, however, for the trustees had placed a
deposit of $100 on the lot and had entered into a binding agreement to pay the balance of
$2,400 within a certain amount of time. Pressure then was put on the city's banks and loan
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 )
9. Major Bibliographical References
Historical Committee. A History of the Court Street Baptist Church of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, Va. 1960.
Lynchburg Virginian and Lynchburg Daily Virginian, various issues 1879-1881 (copies at
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.)
Ryan, Richard. "Robert C. Burkholder." M.A. thesis, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property
1 OoO
Quadrangle name Lvnchburq, Va.
ftQuadrangle scale
UMT References
A
(1171 16161319 16 101
Zone
Easting
14 ,114 (2 14 15
Northing
1
"
u
E Wu
u
G
uu
I
c
w
I
I
I
Zone
1 :24000
'
uu
VLW
Easting
'Ndrtjin;
'
I
I I
F wu
u
H Wu
LLLLlA
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
The boundary forms a rectangle encompassing just
the structure and measuring 60' x loll, with 60' fronting on the west side of Court Street.
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e o r c o u n t y boundaries
N /A
state
N/A
state
code
countv
N/A
code
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle
S
organization
date
N /A
street & number
city or town
. Allen Chambers
1237 31st Street NW
June 1981
telephone
Washington
state
D. C.
20007
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property wlthin the state is:
-national
2 state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665),1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in th National Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by tJHejitage
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
0
H. Bryan Witchell, Executive ~ i r e c t o d
Conservation and Recreation Service.
M ~ V 1- 0 1982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Court Street Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#1
Item number
7
7. DESCRIPTION
entrance across the vestibule to the assembly room. On either side of the entrance, singleflight stairs rise to the vestibule of the sanctuary above. The stairs rise against the front
wall and account for the blind arcades, rather than glazed openings, noted on the exterior.
From the upper vestibule, three doors give entrance to the auditorium. Although a number of
interior changes have been made over the years to the auditorium, a description which appeared
in the Lynchburg Virginian when the church was completed still suffices to give an accurate
picture of its main features:
This room is 50 by 88 feet and is apportioned into three aisles--right,
left and centre and six sections of pews each 74 feet in length. The
floor is to be covered with a carpet of church pattern, now being made
to order in an Eastern city. A pulpit of beautiful design and workmanship, finished after the style of the interior, gracefully decorates
the elaborate altar, beneath which the baptismal font is located. The
floor is supported by ten iron columns resting on a solid rtock foundation. These columns, 215 feet in length, also extend to the galleries
and become prominent supports thereof. The room is lighted by eight
Venetian windows of stained glass on each side, and one of memorial
design at the rear of the pulpit. Upon the latter is inscribed the
names of the unfortunate victims of the disaster which occurred to the
Church, October 16th 1878. At night, a pyramidal chandelier of seventytwo gas burners, suspended from the centre of the arched ceiling, together with three triple burners on each side, two on each end, and
two near the pulpit, all ignited by electricity, will do the work of
illumination. The finishing of the woodwork will be in white and black
walnut. The walls are already frescoed in panels and other appropriate
designs. The arch in the ceiling just over the chandelier is so artistically wrought and frescoed as to represent by day a canopy of clear
blue sky, and by night, a starry vaulted firmament. It is 34 feet in
circumference, 11'4 feet in diameter, 5 1/3 feet deep, and is surmounted
by a conveniently arranged register to regulate upper ventilation. The
height of the ceiling from the auditorium floor is 28 feet.
A gallery of three sections, extends across the front and along the
East and Nest sides, containing four rows of pews, and affording a full
view of the pulpit and speaker from any point of observation. The
gallery is reached by means of two stairways from the auditorium hallway,
one at the right and one at the left. In the front section a large
pipe organ and a well trained choir will be stationed. At the rear
of the organ loft is a room that may be utilized by the singers, and
others on special occasions. The gallery is lighted by eight stainedglass windows on a side and the walls are finely wainscotted and frescoed in harmony with the auditorium. The frescoing was done by Mr. H.
0. Wilkins of Selma, Ala. At night, gas jets arranged on either side
and a drop light above the organ, will illuminate the entire orchestra.
Great care has been bestowed upon the accoustic properties of the auditorium and galleries as shown by the curvatures and rounded corners
everywhere visible. The building will be heated by means of a furnace
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Court Street Bapcist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#2
Item number
7.
're
DESCRIPTION
in the basement. As the capacity of the building is twenty five hundred, every possible precaution against accident has been taken. Beside the main front entrance, there are also entrances at the side and
rear.
Of the remaining features mentioned in this early account, perhaps the most impressive are
the stained-glass windows. They are of simple geometrical patternspare filled with vivid
glass in primary colors, and were manufactured in Lynchburg by William Hefferman. The
pulpit was supplied by a black artisan, J. W. Green, also of Lynchburg. The original pews
and trim also remain. Unfortunately, neither the frescoed ceiling over the chandelier
nor the frescoed walls remain. In 1899 the auditorium was repainted, and a new organ was
installed. At tile same time electric fixtures replaced the gaslights, but the original
seventy-two-light chandelier was retained and electrified. During the pastorate of Dr.
Edgar T. Thornton (1943-53). the auditorium was again repainted, a new roof was put on the
church, and the large assembly hall on the ground floor was partially divided into small
classrooms.
SAC
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
associations to refuse a loan to the congregation, but this ploy was thwarted when the church
members gathered their savings together and contributed enough to cover not only the purchase
price of the lot, but also several thousand dollars in construction costs for the actual
building. That the congregation could come up with such an amount on short notice is explained
in the church history by the racial tension that prevailed in Lynchburg in the postbellum
era:
At a time when colored people did not trust the white people too much.
most of the members of the church had their savings at home between
mattresses, or wrapped in socks, and small bags stuck in the attic,
or in cavities over the mantles.
,
After the lot was purchased, the cornerstone was laid, and in reporting on that occasion,
the editor of the Virginian informed his readers that "This, we understand, is to be quite
a handsome structure, and one of the largest in the state. Mr. R. C. Burkholder is the architect. To be finished by Oct. 1." That deadline was not met, however, and the building
was not completed until July 1880. During the interim, the local papers furnished a number
of articles describing the building and the progress of construction. In one of these accounts.
the editor of the Virginian informed his readers that he had visited the carpentry shop of
"J. W. Green, colored (who) showed us a pulpit, designed and made by himself, for the Court
Street Baptist Church." The editor described the pulpit as "of solid walnut, with an Italian
marble top, and covered with silk, with pendants and tassels." He closed his account by
wondering "how so neat a job could have been made entirely by hand" and concluded that "the
church might have paid more money for worse work in New York or Boston." Despite the condescending tone of the editor's report, his account and others like it helped persuade the
citizens of Lynchburg that the church would be an asset to the city and not a liability.
As for Court Street, it continued for many years to be regarded as a fashionable address,
(See Continuation Sheet #3)
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Courc Streec Bapcist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number
8.
8 ,6
SIGNIFICANCE
and a number of large mansions, as well as churches for white congregations were soon built
nearby.
Largely unchanged since its completion, the modified Italianate building is the largest
remaining example of the work of architect and builder Robert C. Burkholder. Burkholder
came to Lynchburg just prior to the Civil War. After serving the Confederacy, he returned
to the city and became in the ensuing decades one of Lynchburg's most prominent architects.
The building houses a congregation that was formally organized in 1843, when the African
Baptist Church officially separated from the parent First Baptist Church. As was typical
in the antebellum South, the ministers of the new congregation continued to be appointed
by the parent white congregation, and white custodians attended all its services. An old
theatre, purchased for the new group, was remodeled and served the congregation until a
fire destroyed it in 1858. The congregation then moved to a converted tobacco factory that
stood nearby on Court Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. This temporary church was
replaced in 1867 by the building which was demolished after the tragedy.
Largely through the efforts of the minister and members of Court Street Baptist Church,
the Virginia Baptist Convention authorized the establishment of the Lynchburg Seminary in
1886. The Reverend Phillip Morris of Court Street Church served as the first president of
the institution, which was later named the Virginia Theological Seminary and College. Its
main building, Hayes Hall, and the home of one of its most distinguished graduates, Anne
Spencer, both in Lynchburg, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
During the later 19th century, the church organized a number of Sunday Schools in outlying sections of Lynchburg to serve members who might not otherwise have been able to attend
worship services. From these several schools, a number of separate congregations were later
organized. Court Street Church is regarded as the mother church of all the city's black
Baptist congregations and still houses a large and active congregation, well aware and
appreciative of the building in which they worship. In addition to its own considerable
architectural and historical interest, the church building forms an integral component of
an impressive grouping of late 19th-century churches on the hill above Lynchburg's downtown
business district. It is, in fact, one of the two oldest structures in this "ecclesiastical
compound," and its spire is still a notable, if no longer dominant, feature of the Lynchburg
skyline.
SAC
6.
REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2) Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1980
state
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Text
OMB
NO.
EXP.
10-3-l34
1M4-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
i.'LR.' 06/l7-/96
d k ~ PI:Z / I I / Q ~
National Register of Historic Places
Bn~etmtory-Nomination Form
Far NPS use only
received
date entered
See lnstrvctlons tn How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
1, Name
Kentucky Hotel
historic
(DHL File 4418-177)
Same
andtor common
2. Location
city, town
,,,
!!/A not for publication
900 F i f t h Street
street&number
!!!
Lynchburg
Virginia
Category
-district
Lbuilding(s)
-structure
-site
-object
vleinity of
51
code
Ownership
-public
2private
county
( i n City)
Status
-occupied
-unoccupied
-both
2work In progress
Public Acquisition
-in process
b e i n g considered
Aeeessible
_1C yes: restricted
- yes: unrestricted
-no
X NlR
code
Present Use
-agricwlture
-commercial
educational
entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
x
-
680
-museum
-park
.
private residence
-religious
-~cientiflc
trans partation
.
other:
4, Owner of Pronertv
name Sandra
W,
--
street & number
city, town
Crowther
B l enheim Farm
Concord
.
Rt
1
H / !
.
vicinity of
state
Virl~inia
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry af deeds, etc.
Lynch burg Cl e r k ' s O f f iC @
street & number
Court House, 900 C o u r t S t .
city, town
Lynch burg
V i rgi n i a
state
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
D i v i s i an o f H i s t o r i c Landmarks Survey
title Fi l u $ [ l
17l F t - l
date
has this property been determined eligible?
7980, 1984
depositary for survey records
.
city, town
Ri chrnond
-federal
Lstate
y
e
-county
s
-local
-
D i v i s i o n o f Historic Landmarks
77 1
raVernaraet
state
Virginia
no
23219
7. Description
Condition
excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
1
original site
-moved
date
N/A-
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Kentucky H o t e l , one o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a ' s t h r e e remaining e a r l y 1 9 t h century
o r d i n a r i e s , i s l o c a t e d a t 900 F i f t h S t r e e t . The h o t e l l i k e l y was b u i l t before 1800
as a p r i v a t e residence o f b r i c k l a i d i n Flemish bond. I t i s two and a h a l f s t o r i e s
r a i s e d on an E n g l i s h basement. O r i g i n a l l y constructed on a three-bay s i d e h a l l plan,
two a d d i t i o n a l bays were added i n about 1814, c o n v e r t i n g t h e house t o a c e n t e r h a l l p l a n .
The nomination c o n s i s t s o f one c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g .
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The Kentucky Hotel was o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t as a two and a h a l f s t o r y , three-bay, s i d e h a l l
p l a n over a r a i s e d basement. The b r i c k i n t h i s p a r t o f t h e house i s l a i d e n t i r e l y i n
Flemish bond. An a d d i t i o n o f about 1814 added two bays and converted t h e s t r u c t u r e t o
the symmetrical f i v e - b a y center h a l l plan. I n t h i s s e c t i o n o n l y t h e main (West) facade
i s l a i d i n Flemish bond, c l o s e l y matching t h e e x i s t i n g brickwork. The South and East
e l e v a t i o n s o f t h i s a d d i t i o n are l a i d i n common bond.
F r o n t (West) Facade
The main facade faces F i f t h S t r e e t (Business Route 29), a major commercial s t r e e t i n
Lynchburg. The b u i l d i n g i s s e t back from t h e sidewalk and t h e f r o n t s o f o t h e r b u i l d i n g s
on t h e block approximately twelve f e e t . This setback together w i t h a t e n f o o t a l l e y
between i t and t h e adjacent b u i l d i n g s (which are b u i l t i n a row) emphasizes i t s unique,
separate c h a r a c t e r as compared w i t h i t s l a t e r commercial neighbors.
Three broad stone steps l e a d t o t h e six-panel f r o n t door which i s recessed s l i g h t l y from
the b u i l d i n g f r o n t , surrounded by a r c h i t r a v e t r i m , and capped by a g r a c e f u l s e m i c i r c u l a r
f a n l i g h t w i t h arched glazings. F e n e s t r a t i o n i n t h e main e l e v a t i o n f o l l o w s t h e l o c a l
t r a d i t i o n w i t h equal spacing and w i t h t h e l a r g e s t openings ( s i x over n i n e ) on t h e main
f l o o r and smaller openings ( s i x over s i x ) on t h e second f l o o r . Because o f t h e topography
o f t h e s i t e t h e f r o n t basement windows are p a r t l y below grade. Large f l a t stones l i n e
t h e shallow window w e l l s , a l l o w i n g a i r and l i g h t i n t o t h e basement. Wooden bars a r e s e t
i n t o heavy beaded frames f o r t h e s i x - l i g h t sash, and a f f o r d a secure look. A l l o f these
windows have splayed b r i c k l i n t e l s . The main and second f l o o r windows a r e surrounded by
a r c h i t r a v e t r i m and have s h u t t e r s h e l d open by hand-wrought i r o n o f t h e " r a t - t a i l and
penny" design. A t h r e e - s t e p c o r b e l l e d b r i c k c o r n i c e caps t h e f r o n t facade. The s t e e p l y
gabled roof i s covered i n standing-seam t i n . However, t r a c e s o f f i s h t a i l wooden s h i n g l e s
found i n t h e eaves of t h e a t t i c d u r i n g t h e c u r r e n t r e s t o r a t i o n suggest t h e o r i g i n a l
covering was wood.
Rear (East) Facade
The East e l e v a t i o n has secondary entrances f o r each basement chamber and f o r t h e center
h a l l . The porch f o r t h i s h a l l entrance i s missing. On t h i s facade o n l y t h e n o r t h
chamber basement window has a splayed b r i c k l i n t e l ; none o f t h e o t h e r f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n t a i n s
l i n t e l . L i k e t h e f r o n t , t h e r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s capped by a c o r b e l l e d b r i c k c o r n i c e .
(
See Continuation Sheet 1)
NPS Form 10.W.
Ds?l
OMS No. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 1
Item number 7
Page 1
North/South Facades
Large e x t e r i o r chimneys dominate t h e N o r t h and South facades. Q u a r t e r l i g h t s on e i t h e r
s i d e o f t h e chimney a t a t t i c l e v e l break t h e N o r t h facade o n Jackson S t r e e t . I n a d d i t i o n
t o t h e q u a r t e r l i g h t s , t h e South facade has a secondary e n t r a n c e a t t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r l e v e l . The p o r c h f o r t h i s e n t r a n c e i s m i s s i n g . A l l o f t h e secondary
doors r e t a i n t h e i r a r c h i t r a v e t r i m . Both o f t h e chimneys a r e capped b y c o r b e l l e d b r i c k
(1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) w h i c h r e p e a t s t h e c o r n i c e o f t h e E a s t and West facades. O r i g i n a l l y t h e
house c o n s i s t e d o f o n l y t h r e e bays on t h e Jackson S t r e e t s i d e . The s o u t h e r n two bays were
added l a t e r , p r o b a b l y 1814-1816 b y James M a l l o r y , whose i n i t i a l s a r e s c r a t c h e d i n t o a b r i c k
i n t h e chimney b r e a s t o f t h e South p a r l o r . M a l l o r y ' s i n i t i a l s a r e a l s o branded i n t o f r a m i n g
o f t h e passage d o o r on t h e E a s t facade.
Basement
The two rooms on e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e c e n t r a l passage i n t h e basement have p l a s t e r e d w a l l s
and c e i l i n g s . The f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s o f s i n g l e 6-pane windows h i n g e d on a l a r g e "H"
h i n g e which, when opened, l a t c h t o t h e c e i l i n g w i t h a f o r g e d hook c l o s i n g . One o f t h e
windows s u r v i v e s i n t a c t ; o t h e r s have been c o p i e d f r o m t h i s model. The E a s t exposure
c o n t a i n s one 6/6 window.
I n t h e N o r t h chimney t h e o r i g i n a l c o o k i n g f i r e p l a c e has been
uncovered. The window and d o o r m o l d i n g s a r e f i n i s h e d i n a r c h i t r a v e t r i m . The newer room
on t h e South s i d e o f t h e pas<ge a l s o has a l a r g e c o o k i n g f i r e p l a c e . The e n c l o s e d basement
s t a i r i n t h i s passage has been r e b u i l t f o l l o w i n g t h e marks f o u n d i n t h e p l a s t e r e d w a l l s ,
(1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) .
Interior
F i r s t Floor
The f i r s t f l o o r rooms a r e f i n i s h e d w i t h a s i m p l e beaded c h a i r r a i l w i t h an ogee molded cap
and beaded baseboard. The mantel i n t h e N o r t h room i s s e t i n t o a p r o j e c t i n g chimney
b r e a s t w i t h an a r c h i t r a v e s u r r o u n d below p a n e l e d p i l a s t e r s which s u p p o r t a wide, molded
s h e l f . The mantel i n t h e s o u t h p a r l o r i s m i s s i n g and w i l l be r e p l a c e d b y a mantel f r o m
a demolished e a r l y 1 9 t h c e n t u r y house o n Jackson S t r e e t (1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) . B o t h main
f l o o r f i r e p l a c e s have c u t - s t o n e h e a r t h s , l a i d i n sand, and s t o n e surrounds.
The h a l l r e t a i n s i t s o r i g i n a l wooden c l o a k pegs s e t i n a beaded board.
o r i g i n a l w i t h s l e n d e r , r e c t a n g u l a r s p i n d l e s and
newel1 p o s t .
The s t a i r i s
Second F l o o r and A t t i c
The two chambers o n t h e se3nd f l o o r have i d e n t i c a l m a n t e l s w i t h reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded s h e l f and t h e same c h a i r r a i l and baseboard as t h e main f l o o r . The t h i r d f l o o r
( a t t i c ) i s reached b y an e n c l o s e d s t a i r . The w a l l s between t h e passage and t h e two
chambers a r e composed o f feather-edged boards. B a t t e n doors f o r each chamber a r e hung
w i t h "HL" h i n g e s and r e t a i n t h e o r i g i n a l l e a t h e r washers under rosehead n a i l s . Each
chamber has a t i n y a r c h e d f i r e p l a c e , o f f - c e n t e r i n t h e p l a s t e r e d chimney b r e a s t .
( See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 2 )
No. 1 0 2 1 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL. LYNCHBURG. VA.
Continuation sheet .2
Item number
7
General
All i n t e r i o r six-paneled doors and some box locks survive as does a quantity of f i n e e a r l y
ironwork, including hinges, l a t c h e s , and f i n e r a t - t a i l e d s h u t t e r hooks. The house r e t a i n s
a great quantity of e a r l y window glass.
No original outbuildings remain. Early stone walls and several large t r e e s will be
retained in the landscaping of t h e r e a r l o t .
OMB
No. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 3
Item number 8
Page 1
The t w i n chimneys a r e capped w i t h s e v e r a l
composed o f s e v e r a l rows o f c o r b e l l e d b r i c k s .
rows o f c o r b e l l e d b r i c k .
Glazed f a n l i g h t s , e i t h e r a r c h e d o r segmental, capped t h e doorway. Again, t h e Kentucky
H o t e l f o l l o w s t h i s s t a n d a r d L y n c h b u r g s t y l e w h i c h was t y p i c a l o f b o t h r e s i d e n t i a l and
commercial b u i l d i n g s .
I n 1813, John and Mary Lynch s o l d a h a l f a c r e l o t a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f 7 t h A l l e y and 9 t h
S t r e e t t o I s r a e l Snead. ( 5 ) A y e a r l a t e r Snead s o l d t h e same l o t t o James M a l l o r y . ( 6 )
M a l l o r y r e c e i v e d an o r d i n a r y ' s l i c e n s e f o r h i s house on Cocke ( 5 t h ) S t r e e t . ( 7 ) M a l l o r y
i s b e l i e v e d t o have added t h e s o u t h two bays a b o u t 1814 ( h i s i n i t i a l s a r e e t c h e d i n t o t h e
chimney b r e a s t o f t h a t p a r l o r and i n t h e frame o f t h e c e n t e r basement d o o r ) .
M a l l o r y o p e r a t e d t h e Kentucky H o t e l as an o r d i n a r y u n t i l 1828 when he s o l d i t t o Jacob
A deed o f t r u s t d e s c r i b e s t h e p r o p e r t y as " t h e same l o t and
F e a z l e - f o r $3,000.
premises purchased b y t h e s a i d F e a z l e o f James M a l l o r y and known b y t h e name o f t h e
Kentucky H o t e l . " ( 8 ) I n 1845 - t h e house, no l o n g e r a h o t e l , was i n s u r e d f o r P l e a s a n t
P a r t i n by t h e Mutual I n s u r a n c e S o c i e t y . ( 9 )
I n 1856 P a r t i n s o l d t h e p r o p e r t y t o W i l l i a m O y l e r , a p r o m i n e n t t o b a c c o n i s t , ( 1 0 ) who
b u i l t a f a c t o r y on t h e a d j a c e n t l o t .
I n J u l y 1869 b o t h p r o p e r t i e s were o f f e r e d a t
purchased b y M r . John S. Lewis. Mrs. L e w i s ,
" a v e t e r a n f i g h t e r f o r s o c i a l r e f o r m and t h e
Gibson." She was p a r t i c u l a r l y n o t e d f o r h e r
p u b l i c a u c t i o n , ( 1 1 ) The house was
t h e f o r m e r E l i z a b e t h Dabney Langhorne, was
a u n t o f Lady A s t o r and Mrs. C h a r l e s Dana
f i g h t f o r Women's R i g h t s and S u f f r a g e . ( 1 2 )
The b u i l d i n g passed t h r o u g h s e v e r a l owners and was p u r c h a s e d b y t r u s t e e s o f t h e Odd
F e l l o w s A s s o c i a t i o n o f L y n c h b u r g i n 1894. ( 1 3 ) The Odd F e l l o w s became i n a c t i v e and b y
1985 t h e b u i l d i n g was v a c a n t and d e t e r i o r a t i n g when p u r c h a s e d b y t h e p r e s e n t owner.
The f o r m e r Kentucky H o t e l was found t o be s u r p r i s i n g l y a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n t a c t , h a v i n g
s u f f e r e d f r o m n e g l e c t b u t h a v i n g undergone f e w changes - a r e m a r k a b l e s u r v i v a l f o r a
1 9 t h c e n t u r y s t r u c t u r e t h a t was so much a p a r t o f L y n c h b u r g ' s e a r l y economic and
s o c i a l growth.
EN0 NOTES
1.
W r i t e r s Program, Work P r o j e c t s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , V i r g i n i a , A Guide t o t h e O l d
Dominion (New York, 1940) p. 267.
2.
Ibid.
3.
Campbell Co. Deed Book 8, pages 327 & 339.
( See
Continuation Sheet 4 )
NPS Fwm IO.Wa*
ona
Mm
NO.
Expires
1021-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 4
4.
Item number 8,9
Lynchburq, An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y , S. A l l e n Chambers, Jr.,
Press 1981, p. 50,51.
Page
2,
1
U n i v e r s i t y o f Va.,
Lynchburg Deed Book B, 146.
Lynchburg Deed Book B, 147.
" O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816" Louise B l o u n t , Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y
Museum, Vol V I No. 3.
.
Op. C i t . ,
Chambers, P. 48.
I b i d , n o t e #33 p. 517.
Lynchburg Deed Book U, 480.
"The V i r g i n i a n " July 14, 1869.
Virginia:
A Guide t o t h e O l d Dominion
(New York 1940) 267.
Lynchburg Deed Book Y Y , 452.
9.
M a j o r B i b 1 i o g r a p h i c a l References (Continued)
Chambers, S. A l l e n , J r . , L nchbur , An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y , U n i v . o f V i r g i n i a
-5B?
Press, C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , Va.,
V i r g i n i a , A Guide t o t h e O l d Dominion, Works P r o j e c t s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , W r i t e r s
Program, U.S. Government, New York, N.Y.
1940.
"The V i r g i n i a n " Newspaper, Lynchburg, Va.,
J u l y 14, 1869.
NPS Form 10.W.
OXB
WI
Expires
PO.
1024-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL.
Continuation sheet 5
LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number 10
Page 5
Justification
The bounds have been drawn t o include the building and 0.16 acre lot, all that remains
o f the original 0.5 acre lot deeded from John Lynch.
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
L1700-1799
A 1800-1 899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of S i g n i f i c a n c b c h e c k and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
commerce
-exploration/settlement-philosophy
-theater
-communications
-industry
-politics/government -transportation
-other (specify)
-invention
A
L a t e 18th-Earl y
BuilderlArchitect
Unknown
Statement ot ~ i g n l i X k b n E % " & V ~ eparagraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I n 1816 when James M a l l o r y r e c e i v e d h i s o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e f o r t h e Kentucky Hotel, Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a was, according t o Thomas J e f f e r s o n , " t h e most r i s i n g p l a c e i n t h e U.S
Lynchburg r e c e i v e d a l l t h e r i c h produce o f t h e western lands o f V i r g i n i a , Tennessee, and
Kentucky. There were warehouses t o s t o r e t h e g o o d s a w a i t i n g t r a n s p o r t on t h e James R i v e r
and 16 o r d i n a r i e s t o house t h e t r a v e l e r s . The Kentucky H o t e l , one o f t h r e e s u r v i v i n g
Lynchburg o r d i n a r i e s , i s t h e o n l y one w i t h o u t major a l t e r a t i o n s o r l a t e r a d d i t i o n s . The
h o t e l i s a l s o a r a r e s u r v i v o r o f Lynchburg's F e d e r a l - s t y l e a r c h i t e c t u r e : b r i c k five-bay,
s i n g l e p i l e , gable r o o f , w i t h t w i n end chimneys, and an arched f a n l i g h t over t h e center
entrance. Other n o t a b l e examples o f t h i s t y p e a r e Sandusky and t h e Dr. John Cabell house,
which has been demolished. The Kentucky Hotel i s an impressive 1 9 t h c e n t u r y remnant and
continues as a commercial s t r u c t u r e l o c a t e d on Lynchburg's major thoroughfare, U.S.
business Route 29.
...."
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Kentucky Hotel i s s i t u a t e d on i t s o r i g i n a l s i t e a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f F i f t h and Jackson
S t r e e t s ( t h e o l d 7 t h A l l e y and 9 t h S t r e e t ) . F i f t h S t r e e t was t h e e a r l i e s t road west
e x i s t i n g even b e f o r e Lynchburg was incorporated. The house i s b e l i e v e d t o have been
b u i l t by Edward T e r r e l l before 1800. (1) T e r r e l l i s s a i d t o have l e f t Lynchburg i n
1803 a f t e r which t h e p r o p e r t y was t h e residence o f "Staunton" John Lynch and h i s w i f e
Mary T e r r e l l . ( 2 ) No f i r m evidence o f T e r r e l l ' s ownership e x i s t s although T e r r e l l
continued t o s e l l t r a c t s o f l a n d i n t h e area as l a t e as 1808. (3)
The T e r r e l l s t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e Lynches were Lynchburg's founding Quaker f a m i l i e s . The
Quaker t e n e t s o f p r o p r i e t y , conservatism, and good t a s t e a r e recognizable i n t h e
Kentucky Hotel and o t h e r major Lynchburg houses o f t h i s p e r i o d . I n h i s book about
Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t u r e , Chambers c i t e s t h e s i m i l a r i t y o f t h e major houses o f t h e e a r l y
growth o f t h e c i t y which was expanding r a p i d l y on t h e wave o f w e a l t h generated by tobacco.(4)
Although l a r g e and comfortable, t h e r e was l i t t l e o s t e n t a t i o u s d i s p l a y o f wealth; i n f a c t
t h e b u i l d i n g s were s i g n i f i c a n t i n t h e i r conservatism and r e f i n e d good t a s t e .
Although n o t i d e n t i c a l , t h e r e were so many s i m i l a r i t i e s among these houses t h a t they
represent a unique s t y l e t h a t i s recognizable i n t h e Kentucky H o t e l , Sandusky, t h e
Dr. John Cabell house (demolished) and numerous o t h e r s s t i l l e x t a n t .
I n t e r i o r plans were a l s o s i m i l a r , u s u a l l y c o n s i s t i n g o f a center h a l l w i t h s t r a i g h t s t a i r s
and a s i n g l e room on e i t h e r side. The p l a n i s repeated on each f l o o r . The Kentucky Hotel
f o l l o w s t h i s plan.
E x t e r i o r d e t a i l s o f t h e standard symmetrical f i v e - b a y facade i n c l u d e f e n e s t r a t i o n t h a t
i s evenly spaced, w i t h second-floor windows t h a t are s h o r t e r than those on t h e f i r s t
f l o o r . Splayed b r i c k l i n t e l s t o p t h e windows.0n several o f t h e houses t h e c o r n i c e i s
(See Continuation Sheet 3 )
9. Maior Biblioaranhical References
-
-
Blount, Louise, " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816", Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y
Museum, Vol. V I , No. 3, Lynchburg, Va.
See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 4
10. Geographical Data
than
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
UT M References
One
acre
i.vnchhlcro.
A
16 16 131615 10)
Zone
Easting
Quadrangle scale
14 i1 14 12 12 15 iO I
Zone
Northing
-
Easting
:24000
Northing
-
Beginning a t a p o i n t a t t h e NW corner o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f 5 t h S t . and Jackson S t . ; thence extending approx. 113' SE along t h e W s i d e o f
Jackson S t . ; then approx. 60'SW; thence approx. 113' NW t o a p o i n t on t h e S s i d e o f 5 t h S t . ;
then approx. 60' NE along S s i d e o f 5 t h St. t o p o i n t o f o r i q i n . (See cont~nuationSheet 5)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameititie
Douglas A. & Sandra W. Crowther
organization
N/A
date
street & number
B l enheim Farm
city or town
Concord
October 1985
(804) 846-7677
telephone : (8041
5 4 4 38
- 3
Rt. 1
State
Virainia
24538
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
-.
state
X local
-
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register
date
--.-
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
/
date
NO.
EXP.
10-3-l34
1M4-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
i.'LR.' 06/l7-/96
d k ~ PI:Z / I I / Q ~
National Register of Historic Places
Bn~etmtory-Nomination Form
Far NPS use only
received
date entered
See lnstrvctlons tn How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
1, Name
Kentucky Hotel
historic
(DHL File 4418-177)
Same
andtor common
2. Location
city, town
,,,
!!/A not for publication
900 F i f t h Street
street&number
!!!
Lynchburg
Virginia
Category
-district
Lbuilding(s)
-structure
-site
-object
vleinity of
51
code
Ownership
-public
2private
county
( i n City)
Status
-occupied
-unoccupied
-both
2work In progress
Public Acquisition
-in process
b e i n g considered
Aeeessible
_1C yes: restricted
- yes: unrestricted
-no
X NlR
code
Present Use
-agricwlture
-commercial
educational
entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
x
-
680
-museum
-park
.
private residence
-religious
-~cientiflc
trans partation
.
other:
4, Owner of Pronertv
name Sandra
W,
--
street & number
city, town
Crowther
B l enheim Farm
Concord
.
Rt
1
H / !
.
vicinity of
state
Virl~inia
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry af deeds, etc.
Lynch burg Cl e r k ' s O f f iC @
street & number
Court House, 900 C o u r t S t .
city, town
Lynch burg
V i rgi n i a
state
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
D i v i s i an o f H i s t o r i c Landmarks Survey
title Fi l u $ [ l
17l F t - l
date
has this property been determined eligible?
7980, 1984
depositary for survey records
.
city, town
Ri chrnond
-federal
Lstate
y
e
-county
s
-local
-
D i v i s i o n o f Historic Landmarks
77 1
raVernaraet
state
Virginia
no
23219
7. Description
Condition
excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
1
original site
-moved
date
N/A-
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Kentucky H o t e l , one o f Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a ' s t h r e e remaining e a r l y 1 9 t h century
o r d i n a r i e s , i s l o c a t e d a t 900 F i f t h S t r e e t . The h o t e l l i k e l y was b u i l t before 1800
as a p r i v a t e residence o f b r i c k l a i d i n Flemish bond. I t i s two and a h a l f s t o r i e s
r a i s e d on an E n g l i s h basement. O r i g i n a l l y constructed on a three-bay s i d e h a l l plan,
two a d d i t i o n a l bays were added i n about 1814, c o n v e r t i n g t h e house t o a c e n t e r h a l l p l a n .
The nomination c o n s i s t s o f one c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g .
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The Kentucky Hotel was o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t as a two and a h a l f s t o r y , three-bay, s i d e h a l l
p l a n over a r a i s e d basement. The b r i c k i n t h i s p a r t o f t h e house i s l a i d e n t i r e l y i n
Flemish bond. An a d d i t i o n o f about 1814 added two bays and converted t h e s t r u c t u r e t o
the symmetrical f i v e - b a y center h a l l plan. I n t h i s s e c t i o n o n l y t h e main (West) facade
i s l a i d i n Flemish bond, c l o s e l y matching t h e e x i s t i n g brickwork. The South and East
e l e v a t i o n s o f t h i s a d d i t i o n are l a i d i n common bond.
F r o n t (West) Facade
The main facade faces F i f t h S t r e e t (Business Route 29), a major commercial s t r e e t i n
Lynchburg. The b u i l d i n g i s s e t back from t h e sidewalk and t h e f r o n t s o f o t h e r b u i l d i n g s
on t h e block approximately twelve f e e t . This setback together w i t h a t e n f o o t a l l e y
between i t and t h e adjacent b u i l d i n g s (which are b u i l t i n a row) emphasizes i t s unique,
separate c h a r a c t e r as compared w i t h i t s l a t e r commercial neighbors.
Three broad stone steps l e a d t o t h e six-panel f r o n t door which i s recessed s l i g h t l y from
the b u i l d i n g f r o n t , surrounded by a r c h i t r a v e t r i m , and capped by a g r a c e f u l s e m i c i r c u l a r
f a n l i g h t w i t h arched glazings. F e n e s t r a t i o n i n t h e main e l e v a t i o n f o l l o w s t h e l o c a l
t r a d i t i o n w i t h equal spacing and w i t h t h e l a r g e s t openings ( s i x over n i n e ) on t h e main
f l o o r and smaller openings ( s i x over s i x ) on t h e second f l o o r . Because o f t h e topography
o f t h e s i t e t h e f r o n t basement windows are p a r t l y below grade. Large f l a t stones l i n e
t h e shallow window w e l l s , a l l o w i n g a i r and l i g h t i n t o t h e basement. Wooden bars a r e s e t
i n t o heavy beaded frames f o r t h e s i x - l i g h t sash, and a f f o r d a secure look. A l l o f these
windows have splayed b r i c k l i n t e l s . The main and second f l o o r windows a r e surrounded by
a r c h i t r a v e t r i m and have s h u t t e r s h e l d open by hand-wrought i r o n o f t h e " r a t - t a i l and
penny" design. A t h r e e - s t e p c o r b e l l e d b r i c k c o r n i c e caps t h e f r o n t facade. The s t e e p l y
gabled roof i s covered i n standing-seam t i n . However, t r a c e s o f f i s h t a i l wooden s h i n g l e s
found i n t h e eaves of t h e a t t i c d u r i n g t h e c u r r e n t r e s t o r a t i o n suggest t h e o r i g i n a l
covering was wood.
Rear (East) Facade
The East e l e v a t i o n has secondary entrances f o r each basement chamber and f o r t h e center
h a l l . The porch f o r t h i s h a l l entrance i s missing. On t h i s facade o n l y t h e n o r t h
chamber basement window has a splayed b r i c k l i n t e l ; none o f t h e o t h e r f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n t a i n s
l i n t e l . L i k e t h e f r o n t , t h e r e a r e l e v a t i o n i s capped by a c o r b e l l e d b r i c k c o r n i c e .
(
See Continuation Sheet 1)
NPS Form 10.W.
Ds?l
OMS No. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 1
Item number 7
Page 1
North/South Facades
Large e x t e r i o r chimneys dominate t h e N o r t h and South facades. Q u a r t e r l i g h t s on e i t h e r
s i d e o f t h e chimney a t a t t i c l e v e l break t h e N o r t h facade o n Jackson S t r e e t . I n a d d i t i o n
t o t h e q u a r t e r l i g h t s , t h e South facade has a secondary e n t r a n c e a t t h e s o u t h e a s t c o r n e r
o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r l e v e l . The p o r c h f o r t h i s e n t r a n c e i s m i s s i n g . A l l o f t h e secondary
doors r e t a i n t h e i r a r c h i t r a v e t r i m . Both o f t h e chimneys a r e capped b y c o r b e l l e d b r i c k
(1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) w h i c h r e p e a t s t h e c o r n i c e o f t h e E a s t and West facades. O r i g i n a l l y t h e
house c o n s i s t e d o f o n l y t h r e e bays on t h e Jackson S t r e e t s i d e . The s o u t h e r n two bays were
added l a t e r , p r o b a b l y 1814-1816 b y James M a l l o r y , whose i n i t i a l s a r e s c r a t c h e d i n t o a b r i c k
i n t h e chimney b r e a s t o f t h e South p a r l o r . M a l l o r y ' s i n i t i a l s a r e a l s o branded i n t o f r a m i n g
o f t h e passage d o o r on t h e E a s t facade.
Basement
The two rooms on e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e c e n t r a l passage i n t h e basement have p l a s t e r e d w a l l s
and c e i l i n g s . The f e n e s t r a t i o n c o n s i s t s o f s i n g l e 6-pane windows h i n g e d on a l a r g e "H"
h i n g e which, when opened, l a t c h t o t h e c e i l i n g w i t h a f o r g e d hook c l o s i n g . One o f t h e
windows s u r v i v e s i n t a c t ; o t h e r s have been c o p i e d f r o m t h i s model. The E a s t exposure
c o n t a i n s one 6/6 window.
I n t h e N o r t h chimney t h e o r i g i n a l c o o k i n g f i r e p l a c e has been
uncovered. The window and d o o r m o l d i n g s a r e f i n i s h e d i n a r c h i t r a v e t r i m . The newer room
on t h e South s i d e o f t h e pas<ge a l s o has a l a r g e c o o k i n g f i r e p l a c e . The e n c l o s e d basement
s t a i r i n t h i s passage has been r e b u i l t f o l l o w i n g t h e marks f o u n d i n t h e p l a s t e r e d w a l l s ,
(1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) .
Interior
F i r s t Floor
The f i r s t f l o o r rooms a r e f i n i s h e d w i t h a s i m p l e beaded c h a i r r a i l w i t h an ogee molded cap
and beaded baseboard. The mantel i n t h e N o r t h room i s s e t i n t o a p r o j e c t i n g chimney
b r e a s t w i t h an a r c h i t r a v e s u r r o u n d below p a n e l e d p i l a s t e r s which s u p p o r t a wide, molded
s h e l f . The mantel i n t h e s o u t h p a r l o r i s m i s s i n g and w i l l be r e p l a c e d b y a mantel f r o m
a demolished e a r l y 1 9 t h c e n t u r y house o n Jackson S t r e e t (1985 r e s t o r a t i o n ) . B o t h main
f l o o r f i r e p l a c e s have c u t - s t o n e h e a r t h s , l a i d i n sand, and s t o n e surrounds.
The h a l l r e t a i n s i t s o r i g i n a l wooden c l o a k pegs s e t i n a beaded board.
o r i g i n a l w i t h s l e n d e r , r e c t a n g u l a r s p i n d l e s and
newel1 p o s t .
The s t a i r i s
Second F l o o r and A t t i c
The two chambers o n t h e se3nd f l o o r have i d e n t i c a l m a n t e l s w i t h reeded p i l a s t e r s and
molded s h e l f and t h e same c h a i r r a i l and baseboard as t h e main f l o o r . The t h i r d f l o o r
( a t t i c ) i s reached b y an e n c l o s e d s t a i r . The w a l l s between t h e passage and t h e two
chambers a r e composed o f feather-edged boards. B a t t e n doors f o r each chamber a r e hung
w i t h "HL" h i n g e s and r e t a i n t h e o r i g i n a l l e a t h e r washers under rosehead n a i l s . Each
chamber has a t i n y a r c h e d f i r e p l a c e , o f f - c e n t e r i n t h e p l a s t e r e d chimney b r e a s t .
( See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t 2 )
No. 1 0 2 1 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL. LYNCHBURG. VA.
Continuation sheet .2
Item number
7
General
All i n t e r i o r six-paneled doors and some box locks survive as does a quantity of f i n e e a r l y
ironwork, including hinges, l a t c h e s , and f i n e r a t - t a i l e d s h u t t e r hooks. The house r e t a i n s
a great quantity of e a r l y window glass.
No original outbuildings remain. Early stone walls and several large t r e e s will be
retained in the landscaping of t h e r e a r l o t .
OMB
No. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 3
Item number 8
Page 1
The t w i n chimneys a r e capped w i t h s e v e r a l
composed o f s e v e r a l rows o f c o r b e l l e d b r i c k s .
rows o f c o r b e l l e d b r i c k .
Glazed f a n l i g h t s , e i t h e r a r c h e d o r segmental, capped t h e doorway. Again, t h e Kentucky
H o t e l f o l l o w s t h i s s t a n d a r d L y n c h b u r g s t y l e w h i c h was t y p i c a l o f b o t h r e s i d e n t i a l and
commercial b u i l d i n g s .
I n 1813, John and Mary Lynch s o l d a h a l f a c r e l o t a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f 7 t h A l l e y and 9 t h
S t r e e t t o I s r a e l Snead. ( 5 ) A y e a r l a t e r Snead s o l d t h e same l o t t o James M a l l o r y . ( 6 )
M a l l o r y r e c e i v e d an o r d i n a r y ' s l i c e n s e f o r h i s house on Cocke ( 5 t h ) S t r e e t . ( 7 ) M a l l o r y
i s b e l i e v e d t o have added t h e s o u t h two bays a b o u t 1814 ( h i s i n i t i a l s a r e e t c h e d i n t o t h e
chimney b r e a s t o f t h a t p a r l o r and i n t h e frame o f t h e c e n t e r basement d o o r ) .
M a l l o r y o p e r a t e d t h e Kentucky H o t e l as an o r d i n a r y u n t i l 1828 when he s o l d i t t o Jacob
A deed o f t r u s t d e s c r i b e s t h e p r o p e r t y as " t h e same l o t and
F e a z l e - f o r $3,000.
premises purchased b y t h e s a i d F e a z l e o f James M a l l o r y and known b y t h e name o f t h e
Kentucky H o t e l . " ( 8 ) I n 1845 - t h e house, no l o n g e r a h o t e l , was i n s u r e d f o r P l e a s a n t
P a r t i n by t h e Mutual I n s u r a n c e S o c i e t y . ( 9 )
I n 1856 P a r t i n s o l d t h e p r o p e r t y t o W i l l i a m O y l e r , a p r o m i n e n t t o b a c c o n i s t , ( 1 0 ) who
b u i l t a f a c t o r y on t h e a d j a c e n t l o t .
I n J u l y 1869 b o t h p r o p e r t i e s were o f f e r e d a t
purchased b y M r . John S. Lewis. Mrs. L e w i s ,
" a v e t e r a n f i g h t e r f o r s o c i a l r e f o r m and t h e
Gibson." She was p a r t i c u l a r l y n o t e d f o r h e r
p u b l i c a u c t i o n , ( 1 1 ) The house was
t h e f o r m e r E l i z a b e t h Dabney Langhorne, was
a u n t o f Lady A s t o r and Mrs. C h a r l e s Dana
f i g h t f o r Women's R i g h t s and S u f f r a g e . ( 1 2 )
The b u i l d i n g passed t h r o u g h s e v e r a l owners and was p u r c h a s e d b y t r u s t e e s o f t h e Odd
F e l l o w s A s s o c i a t i o n o f L y n c h b u r g i n 1894. ( 1 3 ) The Odd F e l l o w s became i n a c t i v e and b y
1985 t h e b u i l d i n g was v a c a n t and d e t e r i o r a t i n g when p u r c h a s e d b y t h e p r e s e n t owner.
The f o r m e r Kentucky H o t e l was found t o be s u r p r i s i n g l y a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y i n t a c t , h a v i n g
s u f f e r e d f r o m n e g l e c t b u t h a v i n g undergone f e w changes - a r e m a r k a b l e s u r v i v a l f o r a
1 9 t h c e n t u r y s t r u c t u r e t h a t was so much a p a r t o f L y n c h b u r g ' s e a r l y economic and
s o c i a l growth.
EN0 NOTES
1.
W r i t e r s Program, Work P r o j e c t s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , V i r g i n i a , A Guide t o t h e O l d
Dominion (New York, 1940) p. 267.
2.
Ibid.
3.
Campbell Co. Deed Book 8, pages 327 & 339.
( See
Continuation Sheet 4 )
NPS Fwm IO.Wa*
ona
Mm
NO.
Expires
1021-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL, LYNCHBURG, VA.
Continuation sheet 4
4.
Item number 8,9
Lynchburq, An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y , S. A l l e n Chambers, Jr.,
Press 1981, p. 50,51.
Page
2,
1
U n i v e r s i t y o f Va.,
Lynchburg Deed Book B, 146.
Lynchburg Deed Book B, 147.
" O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816" Louise B l o u n t , Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y
Museum, Vol V I No. 3.
.
Op. C i t . ,
Chambers, P. 48.
I b i d , n o t e #33 p. 517.
Lynchburg Deed Book U, 480.
"The V i r g i n i a n " July 14, 1869.
Virginia:
A Guide t o t h e O l d Dominion
(New York 1940) 267.
Lynchburg Deed Book Y Y , 452.
9.
M a j o r B i b 1 i o g r a p h i c a l References (Continued)
Chambers, S. A l l e n , J r . , L nchbur , An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y , U n i v . o f V i r g i n i a
-5B?
Press, C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , Va.,
V i r g i n i a , A Guide t o t h e O l d Dominion, Works P r o j e c t s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , W r i t e r s
Program, U.S. Government, New York, N.Y.
1940.
"The V i r g i n i a n " Newspaper, Lynchburg, Va.,
J u l y 14, 1869.
NPS Form 10.W.
OXB
WI
Expires
PO.
1024-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
KENTUCKY HOTEL.
Continuation sheet 5
LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number 10
Page 5
Justification
The bounds have been drawn t o include the building and 0.16 acre lot, all that remains
o f the original 0.5 acre lot deeded from John Lynch.
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
L1700-1799
A 1800-1 899
-1900-
Specific dates
Areas of S i g n i f i c a n c b c h e c k and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
commerce
-exploration/settlement-philosophy
-theater
-communications
-industry
-politics/government -transportation
-other (specify)
-invention
A
L a t e 18th-Earl y
BuilderlArchitect
Unknown
Statement ot ~ i g n l i X k b n E % " & V ~ eparagraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
I n 1816 when James M a l l o r y r e c e i v e d h i s o r d i n a r y l i c e n s e f o r t h e Kentucky Hotel, Lynchburg,
V i r g i n i a was, according t o Thomas J e f f e r s o n , " t h e most r i s i n g p l a c e i n t h e U.S
Lynchburg r e c e i v e d a l l t h e r i c h produce o f t h e western lands o f V i r g i n i a , Tennessee, and
Kentucky. There were warehouses t o s t o r e t h e g o o d s a w a i t i n g t r a n s p o r t on t h e James R i v e r
and 16 o r d i n a r i e s t o house t h e t r a v e l e r s . The Kentucky H o t e l , one o f t h r e e s u r v i v i n g
Lynchburg o r d i n a r i e s , i s t h e o n l y one w i t h o u t major a l t e r a t i o n s o r l a t e r a d d i t i o n s . The
h o t e l i s a l s o a r a r e s u r v i v o r o f Lynchburg's F e d e r a l - s t y l e a r c h i t e c t u r e : b r i c k five-bay,
s i n g l e p i l e , gable r o o f , w i t h t w i n end chimneys, and an arched f a n l i g h t over t h e center
entrance. Other n o t a b l e examples o f t h i s t y p e a r e Sandusky and t h e Dr. John Cabell house,
which has been demolished. The Kentucky Hotel i s an impressive 1 9 t h c e n t u r y remnant and
continues as a commercial s t r u c t u r e l o c a t e d on Lynchburg's major thoroughfare, U.S.
business Route 29.
...."
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Kentucky Hotel i s s i t u a t e d on i t s o r i g i n a l s i t e a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f F i f t h and Jackson
S t r e e t s ( t h e o l d 7 t h A l l e y and 9 t h S t r e e t ) . F i f t h S t r e e t was t h e e a r l i e s t road west
e x i s t i n g even b e f o r e Lynchburg was incorporated. The house i s b e l i e v e d t o have been
b u i l t by Edward T e r r e l l before 1800. (1) T e r r e l l i s s a i d t o have l e f t Lynchburg i n
1803 a f t e r which t h e p r o p e r t y was t h e residence o f "Staunton" John Lynch and h i s w i f e
Mary T e r r e l l . ( 2 ) No f i r m evidence o f T e r r e l l ' s ownership e x i s t s although T e r r e l l
continued t o s e l l t r a c t s o f l a n d i n t h e area as l a t e as 1808. (3)
The T e r r e l l s t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e Lynches were Lynchburg's founding Quaker f a m i l i e s . The
Quaker t e n e t s o f p r o p r i e t y , conservatism, and good t a s t e a r e recognizable i n t h e
Kentucky Hotel and o t h e r major Lynchburg houses o f t h i s p e r i o d . I n h i s book about
Lynchburg a r c h i t e c t u r e , Chambers c i t e s t h e s i m i l a r i t y o f t h e major houses o f t h e e a r l y
growth o f t h e c i t y which was expanding r a p i d l y on t h e wave o f w e a l t h generated by tobacco.(4)
Although l a r g e and comfortable, t h e r e was l i t t l e o s t e n t a t i o u s d i s p l a y o f wealth; i n f a c t
t h e b u i l d i n g s were s i g n i f i c a n t i n t h e i r conservatism and r e f i n e d good t a s t e .
Although n o t i d e n t i c a l , t h e r e were so many s i m i l a r i t i e s among these houses t h a t they
represent a unique s t y l e t h a t i s recognizable i n t h e Kentucky H o t e l , Sandusky, t h e
Dr. John Cabell house (demolished) and numerous o t h e r s s t i l l e x t a n t .
I n t e r i o r plans were a l s o s i m i l a r , u s u a l l y c o n s i s t i n g o f a center h a l l w i t h s t r a i g h t s t a i r s
and a s i n g l e room on e i t h e r side. The p l a n i s repeated on each f l o o r . The Kentucky Hotel
f o l l o w s t h i s plan.
E x t e r i o r d e t a i l s o f t h e standard symmetrical f i v e - b a y facade i n c l u d e f e n e s t r a t i o n t h a t
i s evenly spaced, w i t h second-floor windows t h a t are s h o r t e r than those on t h e f i r s t
f l o o r . Splayed b r i c k l i n t e l s t o p t h e windows.0n several o f t h e houses t h e c o r n i c e i s
(See Continuation Sheet 3 )
9. Maior Biblioaranhical References
-
-
Blount, Louise, " O r d i n a r i e s i n Lynchburg i n 1816", Lynchburg H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y
Museum, Vol. V I , No. 3, Lynchburg, Va.
See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 4
10. Geographical Data
than
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name
UT M References
One
acre
i.vnchhlcro.
A
16 16 131615 10)
Zone
Easting
Quadrangle scale
14 i1 14 12 12 15 iO I
Zone
Northing
-
Easting
:24000
Northing
-
Beginning a t a p o i n t a t t h e NW corner o f t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f 5 t h S t . and Jackson S t . ; thence extending approx. 113' SE along t h e W s i d e o f
Jackson S t . ; then approx. 60'SW; thence approx. 113' NW t o a p o i n t on t h e S s i d e o f 5 t h S t . ;
then approx. 60' NE along S s i d e o f 5 t h St. t o p o i n t o f o r i q i n . (See cont~nuationSheet 5)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
nameititie
Douglas A. & Sandra W. Crowther
organization
N/A
date
street & number
B l enheim Farm
city or town
Concord
October 1985
(804) 846-7677
telephone : (8041
5 4 4 38
- 3
Rt. 1
State
Virainia
24538
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
-.
state
X local
-
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register
date
--.-
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
/
date
Text
F H A - W O O (1 t-78)
---
Urtited States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
-----.-I?
y
For WCRS use oni
I
National Register of Historic Places
bnventory-Nomination Form
I
rec
I
dal
' 9
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
dl.
VbR',U?/tl/,k/
& 2 - ~ / ~ i ~ ~ / ~
Mame
St. Paul"
historic
n/d
andlor common
street & number
Church
605 Clay Street
not for ~ub!icatian
"/a vicinity of
Lynchburg
city, town
Virginia
state
code
51
Sixth
congressional district (M. c a l d w e l l Butler)
(in c i t y )
county
6g0
code
-
Category
-district
building(s)
-struclure
-site
-object
Ownership
-public
X private
Status
X occupied
-unoccupied
Present U s e
-agriculture
-museum
-both
-work in progress
-educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
Public Acquisition
-in process
being considered
Accessible
-yes: restricted
X yes: unrestricted
-no
nJa
4. Owner of
Property
name
-commercial
-park
-
V e s t r y , St, Paul's Episcopal Church, c/o Senior Warden
street & number
city, town
605 Clay S t r e e t
Lynchburg
n /a
-vicinitv of
state
Virginia
24504
5. Location of
Lega! Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
Clerk"
Office,
Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
900 C o u r t Street
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
6.
Representation in Existing Surveys
title
None P r e v i o u s l y Recorded
date
-federal n h state -county -local
n/a
depository for survey records
city, town
has this property been determined elegible? -yes L no
n/a
n/a
state
n /a
7. Description
Condition
-X excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
Check one
-unaltered
2original site
2altered
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
St. P a u l ' s Church is constructed o f gray g r a n i t e , quarried i n southwest Virginia, and
is trimmed with brownstone.
The brownstone t r i m i s smooth faced and i s used only sparingly
a t s a l i e n t p o i n t s such a s t h e raking cornices of t h e gables. The g r a n i t e walls a r e rock
faced t o emphasize t h e s o l i d a r i t y and ruggedness of t h e building. S l i g h t l y protruding
courses of g r a n i t e c r e a t e rough quoins a t various corners of t h e church. Similar courses
of rough g r a n i t e protrude from t h e wall to form b e l t courses.
A s b e f i t s t h e b a s i c t e n e t s of RDmanesque design, S t . P a u l ' s i s almost elemental i n i t s
straightforward s i m p l i c i t y . Only a few well-placed and p e r f e c t l y disposed components make
UP t h e e x t e r i o r . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l i s hardly p r e s e n t and always subservient t o
the o v e r a l l mass.
The m o s t prominent f e a t u r e i s t h e tower, r i s i n g southeast of t h e entrance
and e f f e c t i v e l y anchoring t h e corner a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of Seventh and Clay s t r e e t s . A t
ground l e v e l , t h e tower plane i s f l u s h with t h e walls of t h e church. On t h e f r o n t of t h i s
s t a g e of t h e tower i s t h e cornerstone, a smooth brownstone panel with only t h e d a t e , incised
i n Roman numerals. Above, s e v e r a l rows of smooth s t o n e s e t on a slope a c t a s a b u t t r e s s f o r
the wall of t h e recessed tower f a c e on t h e two s i d e s away from t h e church. A t t h e corner,
a square b u t t r e s s r i s e s partway up t h e height of t h e tower, terminating i n an octagonal
stage. The tower proper continues above, with i t s main s t a g e culminating i n a cornice below
the belfry.
Each face o f t h e b e l f r y i s composed of t h r e e arches separated from each o t h e r
by simple p i e r s .
The b e l f r y i s capped by a cornice with l a r g e modillions, above which i s
a s h o r t pyramidal roof with a cross a t i t s apex. The b e l f r y was not completed u n t i l t h e
20th century and d e p a r t s i n s e v e r a l r e s p e c t s from t h e o r i g i n a l conception. As shown i n t h e
a r c h i t e c t ' s published design, t h e arches would have been separated by squat columns, not
p i e r s , and i n s t e a d of t h e modillioned cornice, t h e r e would have been a coved one with proj e c t i n g gargoyles a t each corner. The c r o s s a t t h e apex of t h e pyramidal roof i s a l s o a
f e a t u r e not shown i n t h e published design.
The facade i s centered with t h e main entrance t o t h e church, a massive rounded arch
whose spring l i n e i s only four f e e t above t h e l e v e l of t h e entrance platform. The arch i s
defined by rough voussoirs, and t h e deep reveal i s f u l l y open. Originally t h e doors contained
within t h e arch were wooden with heavy i r o n hinges. These were l a t e r replaced by ornamental
i r o n doors containing p l a t e g l a s s . Three arched windows above t h e entrance and a gable
decorated with a checkerboard p a t t e r n of a l t e r n a t i n g g r a n i t e and brownstone blocks complete
t h e decorative elements of t h e facade. To t h e north, t h e wall terminates i n a rounded
s e c t i o n , capped with a conical sectioned hipped roof.
Along t h e Seventh S t r e e t s i d e , and i n t h e r e a r , t h e massive q u a l i t y of t h e walls i s
f u r t h e r revealed. Here t h e exposed basement walls a r e b a t t e r e d and contain narrow windows
with deep r e v e a l s . Above, on t h e Seventh S t r e e t s i d e , t h e walls o f t h e t r a n s e p t p r o j e c t
s l i g h t l y from t h e walls of t h e nave and chancel. An i d e n t i c a l arrangement e x i s t s on t h e
opposite s i d e o f t h e church. While,;+e t r a n s e p t s a r e extremely shallow, t h e i r presence i s
emphasized b y t h e. ,broad
...
expanses ,.bf ...slate-covered
.,
..,
gable roofs above. Both t r a n s e p t s contain
a row of ' f i v e l a r g e arched windows.
:
The f r o n t doors o f t h e church lead i n t o a v e s t i b u l e which extends across t h e r e a r of
t h e nave. To t h e l e f t , occupying t h e f i r s t f l o o r within t h e tower is a stairway t o t h e
r e a r g a l l e r y , now t h e organ and choir l o f t . To t h e r i g h t of t h e v e s t i b u l e , occupying t h e
the rounded p r o j e c t i o n , i s a small chapel. Three doors open from t h e v e s t i b u l e i n t o t h e
nave, which i s arranged i n t h e form of a L a t i n cross. The shallow t r a n s e p t s and deep chancel
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1 499
-1500-1599
-1600-1 699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
X 1900.
.
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
planning -landscape architecture- - reilgion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
military
-soclall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-theater
-commerce
expioration/settlement-philosophy
-communications
-industry
-politics/government t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric -community
-
-
1891-9 5
BuilderlArchitect
Frank Miles Day ( a r c h i t e c t 1
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
S t . P a u l ' s Church, b u i l t i n 1891-95, i s one of V i r g i n i a ' s major examples of Richardsonian Romanesque a r c h i t e c t u r e . Larger and of g r e a t e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l s i g n i f i c a n c e than t h e
majority of t h e s t a t e ' s Episcopal churches of t h e l a t e 1 9 t h century, S t . P a u l ' s exemplifies
both a period of g r e a t growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg and a membership composed of a
number of business and professional l e a d e r s of t h e c i t y . The a r c h i t e c t of t h e church was
Frank Miles Day of Philadelphia, whose design was published i n t h e January 10, 1891, i s s u e
of American Architect and Building News. The church houses Lynchburg's o l d e s t Episcopal
p a r i s h , which was e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1822, and i s t h e t h i r d church erected by t h e congregation.
S t . Paul's counts a s i t s c l o s e neighbors a concentration of o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i cant l a t e 19th-century churches and with them forms an impressive e c c l e s i a s t i c a l center on
a h i l l above t h e downtown business s e c t i o n of Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On Easter 1887, t h e v e s t r y of S t . P a u l ' s Church provided t h e church members with a
published brochure e n t i t l e d "Appeal t o t h e Congregation of S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg,
Virginia, by i t s vestry."'
The appeal was f o r t h e b i i l d i n g bf 'a new church t o replace a
building which had served t h e p a r i s h s i n c e 1852. The o l d church, t h e v e s t r y declared,
was not only "too small t o s e a t t h e congregation, but i t i s without any of t h e conveniences
and appurtenances which modern church a r c h i t e c t u r e suggests a s e s s e n t i a l . " Confident t h a t
t h e i r appeal would meet with approval, t h e v e s t r y announced t h a t a new l o t had already been
purchased f o r t h e proposed church. Located on an elevated and l e v e l s i t e , t h e newly acquired
property a t t h e corner of c i a y and Seventh s t r e e t s was declared t o be "the b e s t l o t i n t h e
c i t y f o r a church...and w i l l answer a11 t h e requirements of our church f o r a l l time t o come."
A s was hoped and expected, t h e congregation went along with t h e v e s t r y , and plans f o r
t h e new church were developed, though a t a more l e i s u r e l y pace than t h e v e s t r y might have
wished. Unfortunately, t h e v e s t r y minute books f o r t h e period have been l o s t , and o t h e r ,
l e s s complete records must be r e l i e d upon t o put together t h e s t o r y of t h e building. On
January 28, 1888, t h e American Architect and Building News announced t h a t H . H. Law, archiplans
f o r t h e new S t . P a u l ' s . Law d i d not receive
t e c t of Washington, D. C . , would prepare
t h e f i n a l commission, however, f o r on January 10, 1891, t h e same magazine published a rendering o f t h e church and a sketch plan by a young a r c h i t e c t from Philadelphia, Frank Miles
Day. Day, who was l a t e r t o become p r e s i d e n t of t h e American I n s t i t u t e of Architects, i s
generally remembered f o r h i s notable c o l l e g i a t e Gothic designs a t campuses such a s Princeton,
t h e University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Wellesley. Thus, S t . P a u l ' s gains added architect u r a l i n t e r e s t a s both an e a r l y example of Day's work and a s a demonstration of h i s prof i c i e n c y i n an a r c h i t e c t u r a l s t y l e o t h e r than t h a t which he most frequently employed.
T h e cornerstone of t h e church was l a i d on May 26, 1891, b u t t h e f i r s t s e r v i c e was not
held u n t i l t h e Sunday before Christmas 1895. Even then, t h e church building was not f i n i s h e d ,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
9. Major Bibliosaaahical References
Appeal to the Cor?gregation o f St. Paul's Church..-by its V e s t r y - . L y n c h b u r g , 1887.
Blackford, Charles Piinor. Historical S k e t c h of St. Paul k Chnrch. Lynchburg, 1887.
Cabell, Mrs. C l i f f o r d . Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest I n h a b i t a n t .
Richmnd, 1e57,
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominoted property
Quadrangle name Lynchburg r va
-
"
UMP References
A
11 \ 7
1
Zone
160'
1616,319 14
1 ~ 1[4
1
14 12 13 12
Northing
Easting
Zone
Quadrangle scale >
4 0 0 0
,
UEasting
U~I
r
'Northing
. .Verbal boundary description and justification Occupying W corner lot at 7th and Clay S t s . , measuring
X 165", the 165' fronting on Clay St. JUSTWlCkTION: The bounds have been drawn to encompass
the church. and p a r i s h house.
state
y
.
..
.
code
N/A
r~h
county
code
d I.Foam Prepared By
name/tltle
. Allen
Chambers for V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C O ~ ~i o~n S S
S
organfzatian
V i r q i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Comission
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
Richmond
,
-
.
date
April 1982
tple~hone - (804) 786-3144
state
Virginia
23219
I2. State Mistoaic Preservation O f f i c e r Certification
The evaluated slgnifieanee of this property within the state is:
-state
A
-national
-local
A s the designated State Historic Preservation Oftleer lor the National Historic Preservatkon Act of ?966 (Public Law 8%
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the Nat' nab Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according 10 Me criteria and procedures set forth by the H,ef%aage Conserv$on and Recreation Service.
State Historic Presewation Officer signature
title
H. 3ry.m M i t c h e l l , ~ x e c u t i v eDirector
Yirqinla Historrc Landmarks Commission
only
zrtify that: this pro!
,,
u
?rof the INational IRegister
h
Attest;
Chief of Registration
+
,
>A
I
the Nati
MAY
Q 1982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet #1
7.
Item number
7,8
DESCRIPTION
a r e d e f i n e d by massive Romanesque a r c h e s s p r i n g i n g from s h o r t p i l l a r s .
Romanesque impost
blocks a r e prominently f e a t u r e d , and t h e a r c h e s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h chevrons. The broad s o f f i t s
of t h e a r c h e s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t e n c i l e d f i g u r e s o f a n g e l s , a l a t e r d e c o r a t i o n . Above t h e
nave and t r a n s e p t s i s an open-timber r o o f , w h i l e t h e chancel c e i l i n g i s f l a t and d i v i d e d by
wooden r i b s i n t o p a n e l s .
O r i g i n a l l y t h e r e c e s s e d chancel c o n t a i n e d a d i v i d e d c h o i r w i t h organ p i p e s c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n
a n a r c h t o t h e l e f t and t h e c o n s o l e i n a s i m i l a r p o s i t i o n t o t h e r i g h t . A f t e r a remodeling
i n t h e 19705, t h e organ and c h o i r were r e l o c a t e d i n t h e r e a r balcony, and much o f t h e chancel
f u r n i t u r e was removed. Althouqh a d e v i a t i o n from t h e o r i g i n a l arrangement, t h e p r e s e n t unclutt e r e d chancel accords extremely w e l l w i t h t h e Romanesque a r c h i t e c t u r a l conception. The i n t e r i o r
of t h e church i s f u r t h e r h i g h l i g h t e d by a u n i f i e d s e r i e s of s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows c o n t a i n i n g
images o f Old Testament f i g u r e s on t h e l e f t , o r e p i s t l e , s i d e of t h e nave and New Testament
f i g u r e s on t h e r i g h t , o r g o s p e l , s i d e . Above t h e a l t a r i s a modified P a l l a d i a n window cont a i n i n g a s i t s s u b j e c t t h e Second Coming o f C h r i s t . A l l t h e windows a r e i n t h e s t y l e of Louis
Comfort T i f f a n y , and although they have always been a t t r i b u t e d t o t h a t a r t i s t , no confirmation
of t h i s t r a d i t i o n h a s y e t been made. Vestry books f o r t h e p e r i o d d u r i n g which t h e church was
b u i l t and t h e windows i n s t a l l e d , which might b e a b l e t o i d e n t i f y t h e a r t i s a n , have been l o s t .
Northwest of t h e church, and connected t o t h e chancel by a g l a z e d a r c a d e , is t h e p a r i s h
house. Althouqh n o t b u i l t u n t i l 1912 and designed by a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t , t h i s a d d i t i o n h a r monizes extremely w e l l w i t h t h e e a r l i e r church. B u i l t of t h e same b a s i c m a t e r i a l s , it has
design f e a t u r e s which a r e t a k e n from t h e church a s w e l l . Entrance t o t h e p a r i s h house i s
through a n a r c h e d opening s e t a t a n a n g l e between t h e main r e c t a n g u l a r s e c t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g
and a p r o t r u d i n g e l l . This a r c h echoes, on a s m a l l e r s c a l e , t h e main e n t r a n c e t o t h e church,
while t h r e e connected arched windows a t t h e second-floor l e v e l of t h e e l l r e p e a t t h e motif
of t h e t h r e e windows on t h e facade o f t h e church.
The s a n c t u a r y i s s e t c l o s e t o t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of Clay and Seventh s t r e e t s , a f f o r d i n g
l i t t l e room f o r landscaping. The yard of t h e p a r i s h house i s p l a n t e d w i t h boxwood and magnolias,
w i t h v i n c a minor a s a ground cover. The walk t o t h e p a r i s h house and t h e paved a r e a i n f r o n t of
t h e church e n t r a n c e a r e of f l a g s t o n e s .
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
and it was n o t u n t i l 1912 t h a t t h e tower was b u i l t . A r c h i t e c t s f o r t h e t o p s t a g e s of t h e tower
were t h e Lynchburg f i r m of Burnham and Lewis, who d e p a r t e d from Day's d e s i g n a s published i n
1891. A t t h e same time they provided drawings f o r t h e tower, Lewis and Burnham were commissioned t o d e s i g n a p a r i s h house, which would c o s t $20,000, according t o t h e June 2 2 , 1910,
Completed i n 1912, t h e p a r i s h house i s an e f f e c t i v e a r c h i t e c t u r a l
i s s u e of American A r c h i t e c t .
complement t o t h e e a r l i e r s a n c t u a r y . By 1960, however, t h e f a c i l i t i e s a f f o r d e d by t h e 1912
p a r i s h house were i n a d e q u a t e , and t h e church purchased an a d j o i n i n g p r o p e r t y t o s e r v e a s a new
p a r i s h house.
The p r o p e r t y a c q u i r e d was t h e C a r t e r Glass House, on t h e c o r n e r of Clay and
S i x t h s t r e e t s . B u i l t i n 1826, an e x c e l l e n t example o f e a r l y Greek Revival a r c h i t e c t u r e , t h e
Glass House h a s been d e s i g n a t e d a s a National H i s t o r i c Landmark because i t was t h e home o f U.S.
Senator C a r t e r G l a s s , founder of t h e F e d e r a l Reserve Banking system and S e c r e t a r y of t h e United
S t a t e s Treasury. The G l a s s House now s e r v e s a s t h e p a r i s h house w i t h t h e former p a r i s h house
having been r e f i t t e d p r i m a r i l y f o r Sunday School rooms.
(See Continuation S h e e t # 2 )
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
8.
#2
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
A s t h e o l d e s t Episcopal p a r i s h i n Lynchbury, S t . P a u l ' s i s regarded a s t h e p a r e n t church
of a l l t h e o t h e r Episcopal churches i n t h e c i t y .
I n a d d i t i o n , S t . P a u l ' s was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n
t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f V i r g i n i a Episcopal School, a young men's p r e p a r a t o r y s c h o o l , and i n s e c u r i n '
i t s l o c a t i o n i n Lynchburg. I n more r e c e n t y e a r s , t h e church h a s taken a l e a d i n g r o l e i n a
number o f c o o p e r a t i v e v e n t u r e s w i t h o t h e r nearby churches t o m i n i s t e r t o t h e needs of t h e popul a t i o n r e s i d i n g i n t h e downtown a r e a .
Although t h e o l d e s t , S t . P a u l ' s remains one o f t h e most a c t i v e and v i a b l e o f t h e s e v e r a l
I t s membership is w e l l aware of t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s Episcopal churches i n t h e c i t y .
t o r i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of the church and p a r i s h house and m a i n t a i n s them i n e x c e l l e n t c o n d i t i o n .
---
Urtited States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
-----.-I?
y
For WCRS use oni
I
National Register of Historic Places
bnventory-Nomination Form
I
rec
I
dal
' 9
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
dl.
VbR',U?/tl/,k/
& 2 - ~ / ~ i ~ ~ / ~
Mame
St. Paul"
historic
n/d
andlor common
street & number
Church
605 Clay Street
not for ~ub!icatian
"/a vicinity of
Lynchburg
city, town
Virginia
state
code
51
Sixth
congressional district (M. c a l d w e l l Butler)
(in c i t y )
county
6g0
code
-
Category
-district
building(s)
-struclure
-site
-object
Ownership
-public
X private
Status
X occupied
-unoccupied
Present U s e
-agriculture
-museum
-both
-work in progress
-educational
-entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-private residence
X religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
Public Acquisition
-in process
being considered
Accessible
-yes: restricted
X yes: unrestricted
-no
nJa
4. Owner of
Property
name
-commercial
-park
-
V e s t r y , St, Paul's Episcopal Church, c/o Senior Warden
street & number
city, town
605 Clay S t r e e t
Lynchburg
n /a
-vicinitv of
state
Virginia
24504
5. Location of
Lega! Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
city, town
Clerk"
Office,
Lynchburg C i t y Courthouse
900 C o u r t Street
Lynchburg
state
Virginia
6.
Representation in Existing Surveys
title
None P r e v i o u s l y Recorded
date
-federal n h state -county -local
n/a
depository for survey records
city, town
has this property been determined elegible? -yes L no
n/a
n/a
state
n /a
7. Description
Condition
-X excellent
-good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
Check one
-unaltered
2original site
2altered
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
St. P a u l ' s Church is constructed o f gray g r a n i t e , quarried i n southwest Virginia, and
is trimmed with brownstone.
The brownstone t r i m i s smooth faced and i s used only sparingly
a t s a l i e n t p o i n t s such a s t h e raking cornices of t h e gables. The g r a n i t e walls a r e rock
faced t o emphasize t h e s o l i d a r i t y and ruggedness of t h e building. S l i g h t l y protruding
courses of g r a n i t e c r e a t e rough quoins a t various corners of t h e church. Similar courses
of rough g r a n i t e protrude from t h e wall to form b e l t courses.
A s b e f i t s t h e b a s i c t e n e t s of RDmanesque design, S t . P a u l ' s i s almost elemental i n i t s
straightforward s i m p l i c i t y . Only a few well-placed and p e r f e c t l y disposed components make
UP t h e e x t e r i o r . T r i m and ornamental d e t a i l i s hardly p r e s e n t and always subservient t o
the o v e r a l l mass.
The m o s t prominent f e a t u r e i s t h e tower, r i s i n g southeast of t h e entrance
and e f f e c t i v e l y anchoring t h e corner a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of Seventh and Clay s t r e e t s . A t
ground l e v e l , t h e tower plane i s f l u s h with t h e walls of t h e church. On t h e f r o n t of t h i s
s t a g e of t h e tower i s t h e cornerstone, a smooth brownstone panel with only t h e d a t e , incised
i n Roman numerals. Above, s e v e r a l rows of smooth s t o n e s e t on a slope a c t a s a b u t t r e s s f o r
the wall of t h e recessed tower f a c e on t h e two s i d e s away from t h e church. A t t h e corner,
a square b u t t r e s s r i s e s partway up t h e height of t h e tower, terminating i n an octagonal
stage. The tower proper continues above, with i t s main s t a g e culminating i n a cornice below
the belfry.
Each face o f t h e b e l f r y i s composed of t h r e e arches separated from each o t h e r
by simple p i e r s .
The b e l f r y i s capped by a cornice with l a r g e modillions, above which i s
a s h o r t pyramidal roof with a cross a t i t s apex. The b e l f r y was not completed u n t i l t h e
20th century and d e p a r t s i n s e v e r a l r e s p e c t s from t h e o r i g i n a l conception. As shown i n t h e
a r c h i t e c t ' s published design, t h e arches would have been separated by squat columns, not
p i e r s , and i n s t e a d of t h e modillioned cornice, t h e r e would have been a coved one with proj e c t i n g gargoyles a t each corner. The c r o s s a t t h e apex of t h e pyramidal roof i s a l s o a
f e a t u r e not shown i n t h e published design.
The facade i s centered with t h e main entrance t o t h e church, a massive rounded arch
whose spring l i n e i s only four f e e t above t h e l e v e l of t h e entrance platform. The arch i s
defined by rough voussoirs, and t h e deep reveal i s f u l l y open. Originally t h e doors contained
within t h e arch were wooden with heavy i r o n hinges. These were l a t e r replaced by ornamental
i r o n doors containing p l a t e g l a s s . Three arched windows above t h e entrance and a gable
decorated with a checkerboard p a t t e r n of a l t e r n a t i n g g r a n i t e and brownstone blocks complete
t h e decorative elements of t h e facade. To t h e north, t h e wall terminates i n a rounded
s e c t i o n , capped with a conical sectioned hipped roof.
Along t h e Seventh S t r e e t s i d e , and i n t h e r e a r , t h e massive q u a l i t y of t h e walls i s
f u r t h e r revealed. Here t h e exposed basement walls a r e b a t t e r e d and contain narrow windows
with deep r e v e a l s . Above, on t h e Seventh S t r e e t s i d e , t h e walls o f t h e t r a n s e p t p r o j e c t
s l i g h t l y from t h e walls of t h e nave and chancel. An i d e n t i c a l arrangement e x i s t s on t h e
opposite s i d e o f t h e church. While,;+e t r a n s e p t s a r e extremely shallow, t h e i r presence i s
emphasized b y t h e. ,broad
...
expanses ,.bf ...slate-covered
.,
..,
gable roofs above. Both t r a n s e p t s contain
a row of ' f i v e l a r g e arched windows.
:
The f r o n t doors o f t h e church lead i n t o a v e s t i b u l e which extends across t h e r e a r of
t h e nave. To t h e l e f t , occupying t h e f i r s t f l o o r within t h e tower is a stairway t o t h e
r e a r g a l l e r y , now t h e organ and choir l o f t . To t h e r i g h t of t h e v e s t i b u l e , occupying t h e
the rounded p r o j e c t i o n , i s a small chapel. Three doors open from t h e v e s t i b u l e i n t o t h e
nave, which i s arranged i n t h e form of a L a t i n cross. The shallow t r a n s e p t s and deep chancel
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1 499
-1500-1599
-1600-1 699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1899
X 1900.
.
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
planning -landscape architecture- - reilgion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X architecture
-education
military
-soclall
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
-theater
-commerce
expioration/settlement-philosophy
-communications
-industry
-politics/government t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
-invention
other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric -community
-
-
1891-9 5
BuilderlArchitect
Frank Miles Day ( a r c h i t e c t 1
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
S t . P a u l ' s Church, b u i l t i n 1891-95, i s one of V i r g i n i a ' s major examples of Richardsonian Romanesque a r c h i t e c t u r e . Larger and of g r e a t e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l s i g n i f i c a n c e than t h e
majority of t h e s t a t e ' s Episcopal churches of t h e l a t e 1 9 t h century, S t . P a u l ' s exemplifies
both a period of g r e a t growth and p r o s p e r i t y i n Lynchburg and a membership composed of a
number of business and professional l e a d e r s of t h e c i t y . The a r c h i t e c t of t h e church was
Frank Miles Day of Philadelphia, whose design was published i n t h e January 10, 1891, i s s u e
of American Architect and Building News. The church houses Lynchburg's o l d e s t Episcopal
p a r i s h , which was e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1822, and i s t h e t h i r d church erected by t h e congregation.
S t . Paul's counts a s i t s c l o s e neighbors a concentration of o t h e r a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i cant l a t e 19th-century churches and with them forms an impressive e c c l e s i a s t i c a l center on
a h i l l above t h e downtown business s e c t i o n of Lynchburg.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On Easter 1887, t h e v e s t r y of S t . P a u l ' s Church provided t h e church members with a
published brochure e n t i t l e d "Appeal t o t h e Congregation of S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg,
Virginia, by i t s vestry."'
The appeal was f o r t h e b i i l d i n g bf 'a new church t o replace a
building which had served t h e p a r i s h s i n c e 1852. The o l d church, t h e v e s t r y declared,
was not only "too small t o s e a t t h e congregation, but i t i s without any of t h e conveniences
and appurtenances which modern church a r c h i t e c t u r e suggests a s e s s e n t i a l . " Confident t h a t
t h e i r appeal would meet with approval, t h e v e s t r y announced t h a t a new l o t had already been
purchased f o r t h e proposed church. Located on an elevated and l e v e l s i t e , t h e newly acquired
property a t t h e corner of c i a y and Seventh s t r e e t s was declared t o be "the b e s t l o t i n t h e
c i t y f o r a church...and w i l l answer a11 t h e requirements of our church f o r a l l time t o come."
A s was hoped and expected, t h e congregation went along with t h e v e s t r y , and plans f o r
t h e new church were developed, though a t a more l e i s u r e l y pace than t h e v e s t r y might have
wished. Unfortunately, t h e v e s t r y minute books f o r t h e period have been l o s t , and o t h e r ,
l e s s complete records must be r e l i e d upon t o put together t h e s t o r y of t h e building. On
January 28, 1888, t h e American Architect and Building News announced t h a t H . H. Law, archiplans
f o r t h e new S t . P a u l ' s . Law d i d not receive
t e c t of Washington, D. C . , would prepare
t h e f i n a l commission, however, f o r on January 10, 1891, t h e same magazine published a rendering o f t h e church and a sketch plan by a young a r c h i t e c t from Philadelphia, Frank Miles
Day. Day, who was l a t e r t o become p r e s i d e n t of t h e American I n s t i t u t e of Architects, i s
generally remembered f o r h i s notable c o l l e g i a t e Gothic designs a t campuses such a s Princeton,
t h e University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Wellesley. Thus, S t . P a u l ' s gains added architect u r a l i n t e r e s t a s both an e a r l y example of Day's work and a s a demonstration of h i s prof i c i e n c y i n an a r c h i t e c t u r a l s t y l e o t h e r than t h a t which he most frequently employed.
T h e cornerstone of t h e church was l a i d on May 26, 1891, b u t t h e f i r s t s e r v i c e was not
held u n t i l t h e Sunday before Christmas 1895. Even then, t h e church building was not f i n i s h e d ,
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
9. Major Bibliosaaahical References
Appeal to the Cor?gregation o f St. Paul's Church..-by its V e s t r y - . L y n c h b u r g , 1887.
Blackford, Charles Piinor. Historical S k e t c h of St. Paul k Chnrch. Lynchburg, 1887.
Cabell, Mrs. C l i f f o r d . Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest I n h a b i t a n t .
Richmnd, 1e57,
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominoted property
Quadrangle name Lynchburg r va
-
"
UMP References
A
11 \ 7
1
Zone
160'
1616,319 14
1 ~ 1[4
1
14 12 13 12
Northing
Easting
Zone
Quadrangle scale >
4 0 0 0
,
UEasting
U~I
r
'Northing
. .Verbal boundary description and justification Occupying W corner lot at 7th and Clay S t s . , measuring
X 165", the 165' fronting on Clay St. JUSTWlCkTION: The bounds have been drawn to encompass
the church. and p a r i s h house.
state
y
.
..
.
code
N/A
r~h
county
code
d I.Foam Prepared By
name/tltle
. Allen
Chambers for V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks C O ~ ~i o~n S S
S
organfzatian
V i r q i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Comission
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
Richmond
,
-
.
date
April 1982
tple~hone - (804) 786-3144
state
Virginia
23219
I2. State Mistoaic Preservation O f f i c e r Certification
The evaluated slgnifieanee of this property within the state is:
-state
A
-national
-local
A s the designated State Historic Preservation Oftleer lor the National Historic Preservatkon Act of ?966 (Public Law 8%
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the Nat' nab Register and certify that it has been evaluated
according 10 Me criteria and procedures set forth by the H,ef%aage Conserv$on and Recreation Service.
State Historic Presewation Officer signature
title
H. 3ry.m M i t c h e l l , ~ x e c u t i v eDirector
Yirqinla Historrc Landmarks Commission
only
zrtify that: this pro!
,,
u
?rof the INational IRegister
h
Attest;
Chief of Registration
+
,
>A
I
the Nati
MAY
Q 1982
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet #1
7.
Item number
7,8
DESCRIPTION
a r e d e f i n e d by massive Romanesque a r c h e s s p r i n g i n g from s h o r t p i l l a r s .
Romanesque impost
blocks a r e prominently f e a t u r e d , and t h e a r c h e s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h chevrons. The broad s o f f i t s
of t h e a r c h e s a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h s t e n c i l e d f i g u r e s o f a n g e l s , a l a t e r d e c o r a t i o n . Above t h e
nave and t r a n s e p t s i s an open-timber r o o f , w h i l e t h e chancel c e i l i n g i s f l a t and d i v i d e d by
wooden r i b s i n t o p a n e l s .
O r i g i n a l l y t h e r e c e s s e d chancel c o n t a i n e d a d i v i d e d c h o i r w i t h organ p i p e s c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n
a n a r c h t o t h e l e f t and t h e c o n s o l e i n a s i m i l a r p o s i t i o n t o t h e r i g h t . A f t e r a remodeling
i n t h e 19705, t h e organ and c h o i r were r e l o c a t e d i n t h e r e a r balcony, and much o f t h e chancel
f u r n i t u r e was removed. Althouqh a d e v i a t i o n from t h e o r i g i n a l arrangement, t h e p r e s e n t unclutt e r e d chancel accords extremely w e l l w i t h t h e Romanesque a r c h i t e c t u r a l conception. The i n t e r i o r
of t h e church i s f u r t h e r h i g h l i g h t e d by a u n i f i e d s e r i e s of s t a i n e d - g l a s s windows c o n t a i n i n g
images o f Old Testament f i g u r e s on t h e l e f t , o r e p i s t l e , s i d e of t h e nave and New Testament
f i g u r e s on t h e r i g h t , o r g o s p e l , s i d e . Above t h e a l t a r i s a modified P a l l a d i a n window cont a i n i n g a s i t s s u b j e c t t h e Second Coming o f C h r i s t . A l l t h e windows a r e i n t h e s t y l e of Louis
Comfort T i f f a n y , and although they have always been a t t r i b u t e d t o t h a t a r t i s t , no confirmation
of t h i s t r a d i t i o n h a s y e t been made. Vestry books f o r t h e p e r i o d d u r i n g which t h e church was
b u i l t and t h e windows i n s t a l l e d , which might b e a b l e t o i d e n t i f y t h e a r t i s a n , have been l o s t .
Northwest of t h e church, and connected t o t h e chancel by a g l a z e d a r c a d e , is t h e p a r i s h
house. Althouqh n o t b u i l t u n t i l 1912 and designed by a n o t h e r a r c h i t e c t , t h i s a d d i t i o n h a r monizes extremely w e l l w i t h t h e e a r l i e r church. B u i l t of t h e same b a s i c m a t e r i a l s , it has
design f e a t u r e s which a r e t a k e n from t h e church a s w e l l . Entrance t o t h e p a r i s h house i s
through a n a r c h e d opening s e t a t a n a n g l e between t h e main r e c t a n g u l a r s e c t i o n of t h e b u i l d i n g
and a p r o t r u d i n g e l l . This a r c h echoes, on a s m a l l e r s c a l e , t h e main e n t r a n c e t o t h e church,
while t h r e e connected arched windows a t t h e second-floor l e v e l of t h e e l l r e p e a t t h e motif
of t h e t h r e e windows on t h e facade o f t h e church.
The s a n c t u a r y i s s e t c l o s e t o t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of Clay and Seventh s t r e e t s , a f f o r d i n g
l i t t l e room f o r landscaping. The yard of t h e p a r i s h house i s p l a n t e d w i t h boxwood and magnolias,
w i t h v i n c a minor a s a ground cover. The walk t o t h e p a r i s h house and t h e paved a r e a i n f r o n t of
t h e church e n t r a n c e a r e of f l a g s t o n e s .
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
and it was n o t u n t i l 1912 t h a t t h e tower was b u i l t . A r c h i t e c t s f o r t h e t o p s t a g e s of t h e tower
were t h e Lynchburg f i r m of Burnham and Lewis, who d e p a r t e d from Day's d e s i g n a s published i n
1891. A t t h e same time they provided drawings f o r t h e tower, Lewis and Burnham were commissioned t o d e s i g n a p a r i s h house, which would c o s t $20,000, according t o t h e June 2 2 , 1910,
Completed i n 1912, t h e p a r i s h house i s an e f f e c t i v e a r c h i t e c t u r a l
i s s u e of American A r c h i t e c t .
complement t o t h e e a r l i e r s a n c t u a r y . By 1960, however, t h e f a c i l i t i e s a f f o r d e d by t h e 1912
p a r i s h house were i n a d e q u a t e , and t h e church purchased an a d j o i n i n g p r o p e r t y t o s e r v e a s a new
p a r i s h house.
The p r o p e r t y a c q u i r e d was t h e C a r t e r Glass House, on t h e c o r n e r of Clay and
S i x t h s t r e e t s . B u i l t i n 1826, an e x c e l l e n t example o f e a r l y Greek Revival a r c h i t e c t u r e , t h e
Glass House h a s been d e s i g n a t e d a s a National H i s t o r i c Landmark because i t was t h e home o f U.S.
Senator C a r t e r G l a s s , founder of t h e F e d e r a l Reserve Banking system and S e c r e t a r y of t h e United
S t a t e s Treasury. The G l a s s House now s e r v e s a s t h e p a r i s h house w i t h t h e former p a r i s h house
having been r e f i t t e d p r i m a r i l y f o r Sunday School rooms.
(See Continuation S h e e t # 2 )
United States Department of the Interior
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
S t . P a u l ' s Church, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Continuation sheet
8.
#2
Item number
8
SIGNIFICANCE
A s t h e o l d e s t Episcopal p a r i s h i n Lynchbury, S t . P a u l ' s i s regarded a s t h e p a r e n t church
of a l l t h e o t h e r Episcopal churches i n t h e c i t y .
I n a d d i t i o n , S t . P a u l ' s was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n
t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f V i r g i n i a Episcopal School, a young men's p r e p a r a t o r y s c h o o l , and i n s e c u r i n '
i t s l o c a t i o n i n Lynchburg. I n more r e c e n t y e a r s , t h e church h a s taken a l e a d i n g r o l e i n a
number o f c o o p e r a t i v e v e n t u r e s w i t h o t h e r nearby churches t o m i n i s t e r t o t h e needs of t h e popul a t i o n r e s i d i n g i n t h e downtown a r e a .
Although t h e o l d e s t , S t . P a u l ' s remains one o f t h e most a c t i v e and v i a b l e o f t h e s e v e r a l
I t s membership is w e l l aware of t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l and h i s Episcopal churches i n t h e c i t y .
t o r i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of the church and p a r i s h house and m a i n t a i n s them i n e x c e l l e n t c o n d i t i o n .
Text
OMB No.1024-0dlB
Eap. 10-31-84
.. ... .
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senice
y ~ ~ : r z l l ' ! / ? - ?/loi?P:
o?-lzy/p
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
-
,
.
r-.rr-
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,
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For NPS use only
.
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See instructions in How to Complete #a tional Reqister
Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
DANIEL"S 9ILL HISTORIC DISTRICT
historic
and'or common
ref erred)
N/A
2. Location
Cabell, Norwood, Xancock, Stonewall from
"A'' through "H" S t r e e t s
street & number
city, town
XLAvicinlty of
Lynchburg
state Virginia
Category
2district
-building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
not for publication
code
51
county
Status
Ownership
-public
2occupied
Public Acquisition
w o r k in progress
Accessible
-unoccupied
-private
1Lboth
-in proccss
-being considered
N/A
X
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
code 680
A'%
Present U s e
agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-educational
X private residence
entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-scientifEe
-transportation
-other:
-religious
4. Owner of Paopesty
name
Multiple m n ~ r s h i p
N/!i
NJA
city, town
vlcinity ai
state
,N/A
5 , Location of Legal Description
courthouse, reglstry of deeds, etc. Lynchburg City Hall
street & number
city, town
N/A
slate Virginia
Lynchburg
24505
6. Represeertation in Existins Surveys
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks
Survey
title
date
Commission
has this property been determined eligible? y
-federal
~ u l y1982
depositary tor survey records
city, town
Richmond
e
>( state c o u n t y
s
X no
-local
2 2 1 Governor Street
state
Virginia
23219
Condition
-excellent'
-X_ good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated 2 unaltered
-ruins
-altered
-unexposed
Check one
_X_ original site
-
-moved
.
date
N,/A
.
Describe the present and original (ifknown) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Daniel's Hill Historic District takes in the prow of a narrow, elongated hill
bordered by the James River on the east and Blackwater Creek on the west. This hill has
very steeply sloped sides and is located immediately to the northeast of the Lynchburg
central business district which is clearly visible from many points of the district.
Daniel's Hill is one of seven hills surrounding the original core of downtown which were
built up as residential areas in the 19th century. The district incorporates some twentyone blocks or fractions thereof, generally following a grid plan, in which are located
approximately 180 buildings, virtually all houses. The architecture of the district
ranges in date from the early 19th century through the early 20th century with few buildings dating from the last four decades. Styles range from the Federal to the Georgian
Revival with a large quantity of urban vernacular dwellings. Stretched out along Cabell
Street, the district's only thoroughfare, is a series of outstanding, architecturally
sophisticated mansions mostly dating from the last half of the 19th century. The cross
streets and the two parallel streets, Norwood and Hancock streets, generally contain late19th- and early-20th-century vernacular dwellings built for housing workers for the
factories at the bottom of the hill and the servants for the large houses on Cabell
Street. The neighborhood is currently almost completely a working class one; most of the
mansions are deteriorated and are either vacant or divided into rental units. Efforts
towards the rehabilitation of the neighborhood are underway through both the city and
the local redevelopment and housing authority. The district's principal architectural
landmark is Point of Honor, a Federal plantation house at the southern end of the hill
which had its property subdivided to make the neighborhood.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The Daniel's Hill dstoric ~istricttakes in the spine of the south-facing prow
of Daniel's Hill, a long ridge bordered by the James River on the east and Blackwater
Creek on the west. The district includes all of the area that has been given historic
distirct zoning by the city, as well as those properties on the east side of Norwood
Street and properties at the foot of Cabell Street. The three buildings at the foot
of Cabell Street are commercial buildings that have been included because they define
the historic entrance to the hill and because two of them are significant early tobacco
warehouses associated with an important facet of Lynchburg's 19th-century economy.
Except for these properties, the district is almost wholly residential and is fairly
tightly built up. The only large open spaces include the block on which is located
Point of Honor, a large, Federal plantation house situated on a high point at the southern
end of the district. Point of Honor (National Register, 1970) is the district's chief
historic landmark, and it was its land that was subdivided to make the present neighborhood. The blocks immediately to the east and south of Point of Honor are clear of buildings as well and are included in the district as they protect important scenic views of
and from the house. An excellent view of Point of Honor and indeed of most of Daniel's
Hill can be seen from the bridge across the James River leading into the central business
district.
Entering at the south tip of the district, at the foot of the hill, is Cabell Street
(named after the original owners of Point of Honor), the district's only through street
which ascends straight up the hill's spine at a steady grade. Lining Cabell Street is
(see Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-170C-1799
1800-1899
2190%
Areas a f Significance--Check
and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
law
-science
-agriculture
&architecture
-art
-commerce
-communications
-economics
. -literature
-education
-military
-engineering
-music
-explorationl~ettiement philosophy
-industry
-politicslgovernment
-invention
-
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
-transportation
1Lother (specify)
local history
Specific dates
various
BuilderIArchitect
N/A
Statement of Signilicance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
This downtown residential neighborhood, prominently sited along a steep hill between
Lynchburg's central business district and the James River, is distinguished by a rich
variety of architectural styles and housing types dating from the early 19th century
through the early 20th century. Concentrated building activity began in the 1840s following the subdivision of the plantation established in the late 18th century by Dr. George
Cabell whose famous Federal mansion, Point of Honor, forms the focal point of the district.
The district's only thoroughfare, Cabell Street, is lined with an impressive progression
of mid- and late-19th-century mansions, all excellent examples of their respective styles
and most associated with prominent local families. Providing an interesting contrast
to these architecturally sophisticated buildings and adding to the district's variety is
a large quantity of vernacular workers' houses scattered along the streets adjacent to
Cabell Street. Most of these simpler dwellings were erected around the turn of the
century to accommodate laborers in the factories lining the James below the hill. The
district has suffered some demolition in recent years but has acquired virtually no
modern intrusions over its past half century of decline. Daniel's Iiill, along with similar
neighborhoods atop the hills of downtown Lynchburg, has become the target of preservation
activity in the past decade and is now protected with local historic zoning.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The neighborhood known as Daniel's Hill was originally part of a 900-acre tract
owned by Dr. George Cabell in the 18th century. The manor house for this sizable plantation was Point of Honor (National Register, 1970) which still stands at the southern end
of the district. The large tract passed to Dr. George Cabell's son, William Lewis Cabell,
and in the 1830s came into the ownership of William Cabell's father-in-law, William Daniel.
William Daniel, a prominent Lynchburg judge, died in 1839 and the property was inherited
by his son, William Daniel, Jr. It was not until the mid-1840s that William Daniel
advertised in the Lynchburg ~irginianto subdivide part of the large estate. "The tract
admits of being divided into three or four tracts...the place will be sold entire or in
two or more tracts or it will be divided into small parcels or lots.. "l By the 1850s,
the area began to acquire a more suburban appearance. The main road leading through the
area became known as Cabell Street and todayremains the main artery for the Daniel's
..
. .:,.". . . .'. ,>',Q. c::7;
Hill neighborhood.
.
.
.
t':
m o n g the ho
'
ses constructed in the 1850s was the Dabney-Scott-Adams House, built
by Albert Gallatin Dabney in 1852-53. The stately Greek Revival mansion at 405 Cabell
Street stands on land purchased by Dabney from Daniel in 1848. It later was known as
"Dabney's Folly" since the builder overextended himself financially and was forced to
sell it in 1856. The fence around the property was probably cast in Albert Dabney's
nearby foundry. Later enlargements and alterations are credited to the Adams family
who purchased the property in 1882.
(See Continuation Sheet #18)
9. Major Bibliographical References
continuation
sheet i120,
A r t Work o f Lynchburg a n d D a n v i l l e , 9 p a r t s .
P e t e r s b u r g : G r a v u r e I l l u s t r a t i o n Co., 1903.
Chambers, S. A l l e n , Jr. Lynchburg, An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y .
Charlottesville:
University
P r e s s - of V i r g i n i a , 1981.
C h a t a i g n e ' s Lynchburg C i t y D i r e c t o r y , 1887-1888.
J . H . Chataigne P u b l i s h e r and Compiler.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated propert~pprOx- 49 acres
Quadrangle name
Lynchburg, Va
UTM References
6 6 3 9 10
Quadrangle scale
411~413~51610
'Northing
A Zone
U
Easting
IW
chLd
1616141 316101 1 4 i 1 1 4 1 2 1 6 1 9 1 0 ]
(616i41216i01 ~ 4 i 1 ) 4 1 3 ~ 1 i 4 i 0 ~
Easting
Northing
Zone
1 6 1 6 1 4 1 1 11 1 0 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 2 1 8 1 8 1 0 1
D
E M1 6 1 6 1 3 1 7 1 2 1 0 11 4 1 1 1 4 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 0 ]
24000
FLLJlJ-d&d l J L L L d
uu
H w L L - L d u
G
I
Verbal boundary description a n d justification VBD: Bounded o n t h e n o r t h b y H S t r e e t . Bounded o n
t h e w e s t b y Hancock S t r e e t b e t w e e n H S t r e e t a n d S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t , t h e n by S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t
t o t h e rear p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o C a b e l l S t r e e t between S t o n e w a l l
S t r e e t a n d t h e s o u t h p r o u e r t v l i n e o f t h e Dirom I n s u l a t i n q Company. Bounded o n t h e s o u t h
List all s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #2C
state N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
IMmeItitie V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street & number
city or town
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
date
November 1982
teleohone
state
Richmond
( 8 0 4 ) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
-3
state
-local
AS the designated Stale Historic Preservation Offlcerfor the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8%
6651, 1 hereby nomtnate t h t s property for inclusion in the Naltonal Regtster and certtfy that it has been evaluated
according to the crlter a and procedures set forth by the F)(;tional Park Sawice.
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Bryan M i t c h e l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
title V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
For NPS use only .
~
..
.
,,
date
DEC h4 1982
.. ..
. .. , . . ,.
~
- -
~p
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of ~ e g i s t r a t 6 n
.
.
.
.
.
!
. .
date
..
.
,
1
- .i
NPS Fonn 10RYL.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic PPaces
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 7
7.
Page 1
DESCRIPTION--Architectural Analysis
a series of architecturally outstanding mansions beginning with Point of Honor at the
south end and extending to F Street two blocks before the northern end of the district.
As on the other hills of Lynchburg, the Cabell Street mansions are unusually sophisticated
and varied in style. Included among the most impressive on the west side of the street
are the Italianate, Y-shaped Burkholder House (203 Cabell Street), the Queen Anne mansion
at 211 Cabell Street, a large Greek Revival house at 315 Cabell Street, the Greek Revival
Dabney-Scott-Adams House (405 Cabell Street), and the Eastlake-style house at 509 Cabell
Street. On the east side of the street are Point of Honor at the southern end, the Picturesque-style Adams House (210 Cabell Street), the Queen Anne-style McWane House (214
Cabell Street), the Queen Anne McDaniel House (314 Cabell Street), the Villa-style Stephen
Hurt House (314 Cabell Street), and the ltalianate Watts House (440 Cabell Street). Another
individual house of note is Rivermont, a large Greek Revival frame house north of F Street
between Cabell and Norwood streets. Rivermont's property was carved from Point of Honor's
and subsequently subdivided. The house is currently rental property and is in deteriorated
condition. Cabell Street's remaining houses are pleasant but relatively unassuming mid19th- to early-20th-century dwellings which provide visual links between the larger
houses. One commercial property of interest on Cabell Street is a ~eorgianRevival store
connected to a dwelling at the corner Cabell and F streets. The larqer ho11Sns are set off
by relatively spacious yards, some extending through the block. The only serious gaFs
on the street are a parking lot in the 400 block, next to the Dabney-Scott-Adams House,
and a vacant lot at the southwest corner of Cabell and E streets.
The district generally follows a grid plan, is two and a half blocks wide and eight bl~c:
long. Its border at the north end, at H Street, was chosen because virtually all the houses
beyond that point are of only minor or no architectural interest even though the grld
plan continues. In the district, some of the old, stone-paved sidewalks, as well as
brick sidewalks, remain. The streets are not lined with trees but the large trees in
many of the front yards overhang the streets, particularly Cabell Street, and give the
district a leafy appearance. A number of the yards are enclosed with handsome iron
fences. The decorative cast-iron fence of the Dabney-Scott-Adams House is a particularly
fine example.
Norwood Street presents a marked contrast to Cabell Street but has a valid character
all its own. Instead of mansions in spacious yards, it is lined with small, tightly
spaced houses, mostly of frame, and in a late-19th-century-urban vernacular style. The
majority have simple, modified Eastlake front porches of one story. The only break
on Norwood is the modern community recreational center in the 300 block in the rear of
the Stephen Hurt House noted above.
Hancock Street parallels Cabell Street on the west and has virtually no buildings
on its east side except for some minor vernacular houses at the north end. The district
does not take in the west side of the street since the scattering of houses lining it
are of little interest. Each of the side streets, B, C, D, E, F, and G, has a handful
of vernacular dwellings, also mostly of frame construction with one-story front porches.
A row of more of these houses stands on the north side of Stonewall Street, between Cabell
and B streets, and forms the southeast border of the district. Virtually all of these
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
NPS Form 10KO.
Pg)
OMS No. 1026-0018
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet # 2
Item number 7
7.
Page 2
DESCRIPTION--Architectural Analysls
dwellings, modest though they are, contribute to the character of the Daniel's Hill
Historic District which consists of an interesting intermingling of very elaborate
with very unassuming residential architecture, one type setting off the other and forming
a dramatic contrast.
The district is at present in a relatively poor state economically. Most of the
vernacular houses are occupied, as they have always been, by working-class families;
however, one out of every two of the houses in this category is maintained in good
condition. The mansions on Cabell Street, except for Point of Honor, are a different
case. Virtually all are deteriorated and some of the most important ones are unoccupied.
The rest, with two or three exceptions, are divided up into rental units and are not
well maintained. No patterns of racial occupation appear to exist at present, (blacks
and whites are intermingled) although most of Norwood Street is black. The district
seems to have halted its decline in the past few years, especially since it and much of
the rest of the Daniel's Hill neighborhood have been designated a conservation area by
the local redevelopment and housing authority. A few houses have been acquired by the
authority to prevent demolition and others have actually been rehabilitated. The authority
has undertaken some spot demolition of insignificant or hopelessly deteriorated houses
but the demolitions thus far have not significantly damaged the overall integrity of the
district. Further protection of the district has come with the establishment of historic
district zoning by the city. Public interest has been drawn to Daniel's Hill since the
completion of a very thorough restoration of Point of Honor by the city to serve as a
house museum. A local preservation foundation has also undertaken the rehabilitation
of the Dabney-Scott-Adams House.
(See Continuation Sheet # 3 for comprehensive inventory and
commentary of all the properties included in the district)
NPS Fwm 1DW.
g8)
OMB No 1024-W18
Exp 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
D A N I E L ' S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet # 3
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory :
Page 3
The f o l l o w i n g i s a comprehensive i n v e n t o r y and commentary
of a l l t h e p r o p e r t i e s included i n t h e d i s t r i c t :
B STREET
200 BLOCK:
203: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 4 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
207:
vacant l o t .
211: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h sawnwork b a l u s t r a d g .
Detached house. Vernacular.
C STREET
200 BLOCK:
207-213:
wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e d end g a b l e roof
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay p o r c h e s . Double house. Modified
Georgian Revival.
Ca . 1910.
210: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e w i t h c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
307: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h proj e c t i n g g a b l e bay ( s l a t e ) ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
309-311:
vacant l o t .
310: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1%s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
312: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
Detached
3-bay porch wraps around house and h a s b r a c k e t s and E a s t l a k e p o s t s .
house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
D STREET
300 BLOCK:
314: c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; f l a t r o o f
( s t o r e ) ; Ca. 1950.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #
)
Commercial
NPS Form 1C-Ra.
aa2)
OM8 No.1024-CQ18
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-aomination Form
date entered
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #4
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
.
.
.
.
.
Page 4
Item number
(continued)
D STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
300 BLOCK:
(continued)
316: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Ca. 1920.
317:
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays.
vacant l o t .
E STREET
200 BLOCK:
207 :
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
209: wood frame and a s b e s t o s s h i n g l e s ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n q seam
Detached house. Ca. 1890.
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , Z-bay porch.
213: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
1 s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
317: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1890s.
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
315: wood frame and c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof
Detached house.
Ca. 1950.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays.
F STREET
200 BLOCK:
201: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
4-bay porch.
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880.
203: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
c a . 1880.
205: wood frame ( a s b e s t o s s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Detached house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1845.
3 bays; l - s t o r y , l-center-bay porch.
206: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Ca. 1890.
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 100W.a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuationsheet # 5
Item number
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 5
(contrnued)
100 BLOCK:
109: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e / c r o s s g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ;
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Ca. 1900.
111: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 1 eyebrow
dormer; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1890.
113: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1880.
115: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
117: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
1-center-bay porch ( o f f c e n t e r ) w i t h b r a c k e t s and d e c o r a t i o n . ~ e t a c h e dhouse.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
119: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1880s.
123: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h c a s t i r o n l a t t i c e and s c r o l l m o t i f .
Detached house.
I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1870s. Robert C. Burkholder.
127(James Lee House #1): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
( s l a t e ) ; 4 bays w i t h p r o j e c t i n g wing; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p l a i n s q u a r e
posts.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1877.
129(James Lee House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e . Detached
house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880s.
200 BLOCK:
200: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1
pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached
house. Modified Queen Anne. Ca. 1900.
203(Burkholder House): b r i c k (American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( t i l e ) ;
3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , )-bay porch ( l a t e r a d d i t i o n ) . Detached house. Modified
I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1876. Burkholder.
205-207(Fannie-Hughes House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; hipped
roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 s e m i c i r c l e dormers; 4 bays; 2 1-story,2-bay p o r c h e s .
Double house.
Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1901.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 6 )
NPS Form 10900.
OdZ)
OM8 No 1024-W18
Exp 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #7
Item number
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
7
Page 7
(continued)
G STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
300 BLOCK:
(continued)
313: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; hipped g a b l e roof
l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1910.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
315: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; hipped g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1920.
H STREET
300 BLOCK:
300: wood frame and c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
l - s t o r y , 2-bay p o r c h .
Detached house.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
CABELL STREET
00-99 BLOCK:
27:
(Dirom I n s u l a t i n g C o . ) : b r i c k ( p r e s s e d b r i c k v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t
r o o f ; 3 bays.
Commercial ( o f f i c e ) . Modified I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1890.
35:
(Hancock Tobacco F a c t o r y Complex): b r i c k ( p r e s s e d b r i c k v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ;
g a b l e r o o f ; 4 bays--3 i n a d d i t i o n .
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880.
"Piedmont Supply" - Hancock Tobacco F a c t o r y : b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ;
Industrial.
Commercial v e r n a c u l a r .
2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 8 bays.
Ca. 1850s.
parking l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
I n t e r s e c t i o n C a b e l l St. and Stonewall S t . (SW s i d e ) : wood frame and c o n c r e t e
b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; shed roof ( p r e s s e d t i n ) ; 3 bays.
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Vernacular.
-.
vacant l o t .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 8 )
O M 6 No.1024-'2018
NPS Form IO-OJO.
w
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
~nventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #6
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Item number
'
date entered
.*
.- .. .
-.
J
Page6
(continued)
F STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
200 BLOCK:
(continued)
208: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2
b a y s ; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
211: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
215: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
307: wood frame (board and b a t t e n ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , l-side-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1880.
309: wood frame ( a s b e s t o s ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
310: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Greek Revival.
Ca. 1850.
311: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
318: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f
l-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
( s l a t e ) ; 1 bay; l - s t o r y ,
G STREET
200 BLOCK:
208: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 4 s t o r i e s ; c r o s s g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1912.
209: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
l-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1915.
300 BLOCK:
300:
vacant l o t .
311: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; shed and hipped roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1910.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 7 )
NPS Form l & R a a
Daq
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #8
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 8
(continued)
CABELL STREET
200 BLOCK:
210 (Adams House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay e l a b o r a t e c a s t i r o n porch.
Detached
house.
C h a l e t ( s t i c k s t y l e ) . Ca. 1877. Burkholder?
211: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
( s l a t e ) ; hipped 3 - p a r t dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay C o l o n i a l Revival porch.
Detached house. Queen Anne.
Late 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
214 (Henry McWane House) : wood frame ( s h i n g l e and n o v e l t y ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; proj e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 4 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch
with spindle f r e i z e .
Detached house. Queen Anne.
1892. C a r r i n g t o n Hubbard.
217 ( C h r i s t E p i s c o p a l Church): b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ;
s t e p p e d g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) . O r i g i n a l l y church. B u i l t i n Gothic
style.
1876.
218 (Edward Mapps House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached
house.
Modified Greek R e v i v a l . 1867.
221: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3 bays. Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . 1876.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
300 BLOCK:
301 (Dawson House #1): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( p a t t e r n e d
Detached house. Modified Gothic
s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Revival.
1873.
302 (McDavid House): wood frame ( n o v e l t y s i d i n g ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e
f r i e z e . Detached house.
Queen Anne.
1893.
305 (Watson-Roberts House): b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e
roof ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay simple E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached
house.
Vernacular.
1851.
306: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
307 (Dawson House # 2 ) : wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
1887.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 9
)
NPS Fwm 10.OWa
oa
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #9
Item number
Page 9
7. DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
CABELL STREET (continued)
300 BLOCK:(continued)
308: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition and standing
seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Eastlake porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
314 (Steven Hurt House): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting bay,
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 5 bays; 1-story, 6-bay Eastlake porch (frieze
and balustrade missing). Detached house. Eastlake (remodeled). 1859.
315 (Horner): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories with English basement;
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay Greek Revival porch
with Doric columns. Detached house. Greek Revival. 1850.
317 (Thornhill House): wood frame (weatherboard with gable shingle, German
siding); 24 stories; hipped and gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay Eastlake porch with spindle freize. Detached house. Queen Anne. 1891.
400 BLOCK:
404 (Watts House): brick (running board); 2 stories; projecting gable roof
(patterned slate); 4 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch with slated freize. Detached
house. Italianate. Ca. 1870. R.C. Burkholder.
405 (Dabney-Scott-Adams House): brick and stucco; 2% stories; hipped roof (slate);
3 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-center-bay Greek Ionic porch. Detached
house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1840s.
412: wood frame (German siding); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (patterned
slate); 4 bays with angled belvedere; 1-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
Modified Italianate. Ca. 1880.
414 ( ? )
:
vacant lot.
500 BLOCK:
vacant lot.
502: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay Italianate porch with sawnwork railing.
Detached house. Modified Italianate. Ca. 1880.
503 (Strange House): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. 1853.
-.
506: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Eastlake porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
(See Continuation Sheet #10 )
NPS Fenn 10-9001
OM0 No. 1024-W18
Elp. 10-33-84
Ds2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet
7.
#lo
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Item number
Page 10
7
(cont~nued)
CABELL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
500 BLOCK:
(continued)
506: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
508: b r i c k ( v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p a r a p e t r o o f ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch
w i t h Tuscan columns. Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910.
509 (Manning): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; l - s t o r y , l-center-bay porch w i t h angled b e l v e d e r e w i t h l a t t i c e
f r i e z e . Detached house.
Queen Anne. 1890.
600 BLOCK:
601: b r i c k ( v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; 3 bays.
element.
Commercial ( s t o r e ) .
Non-contributing
603: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d .
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1870s.
609:
v a c a n t l o t s owned by Housing A u t h o r i t y .
613-623:
b r i c k (7-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t r o o f ; 18 bays; 6 l - s t o r y ,
l - s i d e bay p o r c h e s . Row house.
Italianate.
Ca. 1890s.
612:
vacant l o t .
614-616:
b r i c k (veneer); 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t r o o f ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y ,
E a s t l a k e porch.
Double house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
1880.
4-bay modified
618: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( s l a t e ) ;
1 dormer; 3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified Georgian
Revival.
Ca. 1900.
700 BLOCK:
700: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h c r o s s g a b l e
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Modified c h a l e t .
Ca. 1890.
701:
vacant l o t .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #11)
NPS Form 108M.
OMB No.1024-W18
08)
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number 7
Cont~nuationsheet
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
CRBELL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
700 BLOCK:
(continued)
702: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified I t a l i a n a t e porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
703: wood frame ( s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Vernacular.
706: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Ca. 1900.
707: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Vernacular.
1910.
711: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch with b r a c k e t e d g a b l e .
house. E a s t l a k e . C a . 1890.
(standing
Detached
712: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e and s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Modified
Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1880.
713: wood frame and a s b e s t o s s i d i n g ; 1 s t o r y ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f (composition:
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1940.
3 bays; I - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
714: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays. 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1890.
715:
vacant l o t .
716: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
Detached house. Modified
( s l a t e ) ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Eastlake.
Ca. 1890.
717: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
720: wood frame ( s h i n g l e and n o v e l t y s i d i n g ) ; 2$ s t o r i e s ; g a b l e and hipped
roof w i t h s h i n g l e d g a b l e s ( s l a t e ) ; 1 and 1, 3 - p a r t bay; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch
w i t h E a s t l a k e s p i n d l e f r i e z e . Detached house. E a s t l a k e . Ca. 1890.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # I 2 )
NPS Form 10 WOa
OMB No 1024-Wl8
E l p 10-31-84
pB)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #12
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
HANCOCK STREET
100 BLOCK:
Corner of B
&
Hancock St.:
vacant lot.
118-120: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 4 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Double house. Vernacular. 1890.
200 BLOCK:
C Street Baptist Church:
3 bays. Church.
stucco; 1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal);
600 BLOCK:
vacant lot.
wood frame (shingle and asbestos); 1 story set on high basement; shed and
hipped roof (silver standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
700 BLOCK:
710: wood frame (bricktex); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. 1890.
712: concrete block with second story frame; 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house. 1930.
714: concrete block with second story frame; 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
716: wood frame and concrete block; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 2 bays; l-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house.
718: wood frame and enameled steel; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
NORWOOD STREET
Point of Honor: brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (wood shingle);
9 bays; l-story, 5-bay porch. Detached house. Federal. 1815.
(See Continuation Sheet # 13)
NPS Foml 10.WQ.a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Elp. 10-31-84
Oa2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National ~ e ~ i s i of
e rHistoric Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #13
Item number 7
7.
Page 13
DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
NORWOOD STREET (continued)
200 BLOCK:
202 (Dabney House): brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; mansard roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified Federal.
Ca. 1840.
206: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
bay (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
211: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1870.
212: wood frame (bricktex); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
213: wood frame (German siding); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Italianate porch.
Detached house. Modified Italianate. 1880.
214: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with brackets and spindle
frieze. Detached house. Modified Eastlake. 1890.
215: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable
(slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay sawn work board porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1870.
216: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting end
gable (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified
Eastlake. Ca. 1890.
217: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
bay (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
218:
vacant lot.
219: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 2-story, 3-bay porch with sawn work baluster.
Detached house. Modified Eastlake. 1880.
(See continuation Sheet #14
)
NPS Form 1C-Kc-.
Osq
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #14
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
200 BLOCK:
(continued)
220: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e
and b r a c k e t s .
Detached house. Modified E a s t l a k e . Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
300: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays;
Ca. 1890.
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. I t a l i a n a t e .
301: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Modified Queen Anne. Ca. 1890.
302: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified tali an ate. Ca. 1890.
303:
vacant l o t .
305: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e s .
Detached house.
Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1870.
306: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 4 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e , p r o j e c t i n g
b e l v e d e r e and E a s t l a k e p o s t s .
Detached house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1890.
307-309:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h g a b l e s
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 6-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
308: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
312: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e bay
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
318: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
320: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 1 5 )
NPS Form 1C-RDa
OM8 No 1024-0018
E i p 10-31-84
069
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Piaces
Inventory-Nomination Foam
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
Item number 7
#15
Page 15
-
7.
DESCRIPTION--1nventorG
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
400 BLOCK:
400: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 bay; l - s t o r y ,
l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
406: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; mansard r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 2 g a b l e
dormers; 3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch chamfered p o s t s . Detached house.
Modified Second Empire.
Ca. 1880.
408:
vacant l o t .
412: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
414-416:
wood frame (aluminum) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Double house.
v e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
420:
vacant l o t .
Community C e n t e r :
n o n - c o n t r i b u t i n g element.
500 BLOCK:
vacant l o t .
501: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
507: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
511:
vacant l o t .
600 BLOCK:
Next t o Rivermont House:
vacant l o t .
600: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
608: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #16 )
OMB NO.1024-W18
E X P . 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Bnventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
7.
Item number
#16
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 16
(contmued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
600 BLOCK:
(continued)
610: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
614: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay Tuscan porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1900.
616-618:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Double house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
617-619:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Double house. Vernacular.
1890.
700 BLOCK:
vacant l o t .
700: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
701: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; I - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and f a n b r a c k e t s E a s t l a k e .
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
702: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
703: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
706: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h r e p l a c e d p o s t s .
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
708: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof with p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e bay
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1910.
709: wood frame ( v e n a l ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g hipped bay roof ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d . Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 1 7 )
NPS Form lD9OOl
OMB No.1024-Wt8
E i p . 10-31-84
oda
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Pllaces
~n~entory-h!oII?irIZati~pl
Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
7.
Item number 7
#17
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 17
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
700 BLOCK:
(continued)
711: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
Ca. 1900.
713: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 2 bays. Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
715: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay b r a c k e t e d porch.
Detached
house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
714: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 b a y s ;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d .
Detached house. Vernacular.
712: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
710:
vacant l o t .
STONEWALL STRFET
S
W c o r n e r o f C a b e l l and S t o n e w a l l : wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f
w i t h shed and f l a t a d d i t i o n s ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) : Detached house. Vernacular.
100 BLOCK:
116: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
118: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
120: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; s h a l l o w hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
122: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
124:
vacant l o t .
126: wood frame ( s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.' Detached house. Vernacular.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #18 )
NPS Form 709501
09)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inwentory-B\9orni~~ationForm
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #18
Item number 7 r 8
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
STONEWALL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
100 BLOCK:
(continued)
128: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
144:
(aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f
1960. Nan-contributing element.
8.
SIGNIFICANCE--
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 4 bays.
Detached house.
H i s t o r i c a l Background
Another h i s t o r i c a l l y a s w e l l a s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t house on D a n i e l ' s H i l l i s
Rivermont, a Greek Revival mansion, c a . 1857, b u i l t by Judge William Daniel, Jr. a t t h e
time of h i s second marriage t o E l i z a b e t h C a b e l l .
I t s t a n d s on a b l o c k bounded by Norwood,
C a b e l l , F and G s t r e e t s . E l i z a b e t h C a b e l l h a s been c r e d i t e d w i t h naming t h e p r o p e r t y ,
s o c a l l e d because o f i t s e l e v a t e d s i t e o v e r l o o k i n g t h e James River v a l l e y . A v a l u a b l e
drawing o f Rivermont done i n 1857 by A l f r e d B. P e t i c o l a s shows t h e pre-eminence o f t h e
house.
I n 1873, Rivermont was purchased by Edward S. H u t t e r , a c i v i l e n g i n e e r , who
p a r c e l e d and s o l d l o t s i n t h e a r e a n o r t h e a s t of t h e house f o r worker h o u s i n g , c a l l i n g
it Danielstown. M r . H u t t e r was a l s o a n o r g a n i z e r o f t h e Rivermont Company, one o f t h e
boom l a n d development companies o f t h e 1890s i n Lynchburg.
The Rivermont Park a r e a t o
t h e n o r t h w e s t o f D a n i e l ' s H i l l was named f o r t h e mansion.
With t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e Edward R. Maps House a t 218 C a b e l l S t r e e t which was b u i l t
i n 1867, t h e n e x t s u b s t a n t i a l b u i l d i n g p e r i o d on D a n i e l ' s H i l l came i n t h e 1870s. C h r i s t
Church, sponsored by Grace E p i s c o p a l Church, was e r e c t e d i n 1876 a t 217 C a b e l l S t r e e t .
This s m a l l b r i c k b u i l d i n g was s o l d i n 1900 and w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n of a two-story f a c a d e
was c o n v e r t e d i n t o a nieghborhood g r o c e r y s t o r e . Asmall b r i c k c h a p e l which became
t h e T h i r d P r e s b y t e r i a n Church l o c a t e d a t C a b e l l and D s t r e e t s was b u i l t i n 1875; t h e
F i r s t C h r i s t i a n Church h a s i t s modest b e g i n n i n g s i n t h e home o f M r . and Mrs. John C .
Roberts a t 305 C a b e l l S t r e e t i n 1874. A number o f s t y l i s h houses a l s o were b u i l t on
D a n i e l ' s H i l l d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . Of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t i s t h e Robert Calhoun Burkh o l d e r House (18751, a Y-shaped b u i l d i n g designed by t h e owner, a prominent l o c a l a r c h i t e c t ,
a t 203 C a b e l l S t r e e t . D a n i e l ' s H i l l had been i n c l u d e d i n a l a r g e expansion o f Lynchburg
approved by t h e V i r g i n i a General Assembly i n 1870. Gray's New Map Of Lynchburg d a t e d
1877 shows t h e houses on D a n i e l ' s H i l l c o n c e n t r a t e d a l o n g C a b e l l S t r e e t . D a n i e l ' s H i l l
p r o p e r t y owners met i n t h a t y e a r t o approve new names f o r t h e s t r e e t s i n t h e i r neighborhood. A new b r i d g e was e r e c t e d a c r o s s Blackwater Creek, which improved a c c e s s t o D a n i e l ' s
H i l l from t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e c i t y .
The Lynchburg News of June 29, 1875 applauded t h e
a c t i v i t y o f t h e neighborhood:
he handsome
B u i l d i n g s a r e going up i n e v e r y d i r e c t i o n on D a n i e l ' s
ill.
r e s i d e n c e o f I. Holcombe Adams i s now r e c e i v i n g t h e f i n i s h i n g t o u c h e s of
t h e workmen...On t o p of t h e h i l l j u s t above M r . H u r t ' s , t h e f o u n d a t i o n i s
b e i n g dug o u t f o r a s p l e n d i d r e s i d e n c e o f b r i c k a l r e a d y c o n t r a c t e d f o r by
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #19)
NPS Form 10EQ%a
OM6 No 1024-Wl8
E i p 10-31-84
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic P!aces
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
8.
Item number 8
#19
Page 2
SIGNIFICANCE--Hlst~rlcal Background
Colonel Thomas Watts.
These two handsome houses, t o g e t h e r w i t h many
o t h e r o f l e s s p r e t e n s i o n s e x h i b i t a s p i r i t o f improvement i n t h i s p a r t
o f t h e c i t y most g r a t i f y i n g i n t h e s e d u l l t i m e s . 2
While few o u t s t a n d i n g houses were c o n s t r u c t e d on D a n i e l ' s H i l l i n t h e 18805, many
of t h e more modest d w e l l i n g s f o r l a b o r e r s and workmen a l o n g Wither (now Norwood), Stonewall,
and Hancock s t r e e t s d a t e from t h i s p e r i o d . The Lynchburg D i r e c t o r y o f 1887-88 i n d i c a t e s
t h a t most o f t h e r e s i d e n t s on Hancock S t r e e t were b l a c k l a b o r e r s . Along t h e c r o s s s t r e e t s ,
Norwood and S t o n e w a l l , most r e s i d e n t s were w h i t e and worked a s c a r p e n t e r s , c l e r k s , p r i n t e r s ,
policemen, m a i l a g e n t s , o r r a i l workers.
C a b e l l S t r e e t remained t h e a d d r e s s o f managers,
a c c o u n t a n t s , and p r o f e s s i o n a l s .
A t t h e s o u t h end o f C a b e l l S t r e e t s t o o d t h e Lynchburg
Tobacco Works and a t i n and s h e e t i r o n f a c t o r y employing many o f t h e neighborhood r e s i d e n t s .
One o f t h e a r e a ' s most i n t e r e s t i n g and b e s t documented houses d a t i n g from t h e 1890s
i s t h e Queen Anne r e s i d e n c e o f Henry Edward McWane designed by l o c a l a r c h i t e c t C a r r i n g t o n
Hubbard a t 214 C a b e l l S t r e e t . P r e s i d e n t o f Glamorgan F a c t o r y Ironworks, M r . McWane
was t y p i c a l o f many s u c c e s s f u l Lynchburg e n t r e p r e n e u r s o f t h e 18905, having grown up i n
southwest V i r g i n i a where he l e a r n e d i r o n foundry work and t h e n moved on t o t h e c i t y t o
p u r s u e a s u c c e s s f u l c a r e e r a s an i n d u s t r i a l i s t .
H i s house d i s p l a y s v a r i o u s t y p e s o f
e x t e r i o r wood d e t a i l i n g , i n c l u d i n g German s i d i n g and wooden s h i n g l e s .
C a b e l l S t r e e t continued
By t h e 1920s, t h e h o u s e s on D a n i e l ' s H i l l had few v a c a n c i e s .
t o be t h e home o f t h e more wealthy managers and p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h i l e t h e houses on Hancock
S t r e e t , W i t h e r s (Norwood) S t r e e t , l e t t e r e d s t r e e t s and S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t s h e l t e r e d a more
modest s o c i e t y , b o t h b l a c k and w h i t e .
Commercial b u i l d i n g s remained few, t h e c i t y
d i r e c t o r i e s showing o n l y a pharmacy and s e v e r a l g r o c e r y s t o r e s .
With t h e d e c l i n e of t h e c e n t r a l c i t y f o l l o w i n g World War 11, many of t h e houses
on D a n i e l ' s H i l l d e t e r i o r a t e d , a l t h o u g h t h e y s t i l l p r o v i d e d housing f o r lower-middleincome working f a m i l i e s , E f f o r t s f o r r e h a b i l i t a t i o n have been s p u r r e d by b o t h l o c a l
p r e s e r v a t i o n group s u r v e y s and t h e f o r m u l a t i o n of a m a s t e r p l a n f o r t h e c i t y which
e n v i s i o n s t h e a r e a a s a major t a r g e t f o r r e s t o r a t i o n a c t i v i t y . Much of t h e c r e d i t f o r
such e f f o r t s goes t o t h e HUD-sponsored D a n i e I ' s H i l l Community Development P r o j e c t .
Rather t h a n choosing t h e o p t i o n o f massive d e m o l i t i o n and i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n
o f new h o u s i n g , t h e c i t y of Lynchburg h a s s l a t e d D a n i e l ' s H i l l f o r p r e s e r v a t i o n through
t h e r e h a b i l i t a t i o n of e x i s t i n g s t r u c t u r e s . D a n i e l ' s H i l l i s e x p e c t e d t o c o n t i n u e t o
p r o v i d e h o u s i n g f o r mixed economic c l a s s e s a s it h a s done throughout i t s l o n g and
venerable h i s t o r y .
MTP
FOOTNOTES
'Lynchburg
V i r g i n i a n , February 1 7 , 1845.
2 ~ ~ n c h b u News,
rg
June 2 9 , 1875.
NPS Form l&Ra.
DB)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #20
Item number 9,
9.
lo
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
C h a t a i g n e ' s Lynchburg C i t y D i r e c t o r y , 1920. J . H . Chataigne P u b l i s h e r and Compiler, 1920.
" G r a y ' s New Map o f Lynchburg," P h i l a d e l p h i a : W.O. Gray and Son, 1877.
Lynchburg News, June 29, 1875.
Lynchburg V i r g i n i a n , February 1 7 , 1845.
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA--Verbal
Boundary D e s c r i p t i o n and J u s t i f i c a t i o n
by a l i n e a c r o s s C a b e l l S t r e e t between 6 t h and 7 t h s t r e e t s . Bounded on t h e e a s t by t h e
r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o C a b e l l S t r e e t between t h e d i s t r i c t ' s
s o u t h e r n b o r d e r and A S t r e e t , t h e n by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f a l l t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g
o n t o t h e e a s t s i d e o f Norwood S t r e e t between A S t r e e t and H S t r e e t .
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e D a n i e l ' s H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t have been
drawn t o t a k e i n t h a t p o r t i o n o f t h e h i l l c o n t a i n i n g a l l o f t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t
b u i l d i n g s and t o i n c l u d e t r a n s i t i o n a l a r e a s .
The topography of t h e h i l l makes t h e bounda r i e s e a s i l y d e f i n a b l e . The h i l l ends a t t h e s o u t h end o f t h e prow where t h e r e a r e t h r e e
commercial b u i l d i n g s o f a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t .
The e a s t boundary h a s been drawn t o
i n c l u d e t h o s e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o t h e e a s t s i d e of Norwood S t r e e t , a v i s u a l l y c o n s i s t e n t s t r e e t made up o f working-class v e r n a c u l a r h o u s e s . Behind t h e s e Norwood S t r e e t
p r o p e r t i e s t h e h i l l d r o p s o f f v e r y s h a r p l y , a l m o s t a s a c l i f f , t o t h e r a i l r o a d and James
River below.
The s c a t t e r i n g o f b u i l d i n g s shown on t h e map t o t h e e a s t o f Norwood S t r e e t
have e i t h e r been demolished o r a r e o f no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t . The n o r t h e r n boundary
of t h e d i s t r i c t i s H S t r e e t , s o chosen because t h e c h a r a c t e r of C a b e l l S t r e e t changes
s i g n i f i c a n t l y a t t h a t p o i n t ; beyond a r e houses o f l i t t l e o r no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t , and
mostly 20th c e n t u r y . Also, t h e l o c a l l y d e f i n e d h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t f o r D a n i e l ' s H i l l
s t o p s a t H S t r e e t . The boundary on t h e west i s d e f i n e d by Hancock and S t o n e w a l l s t r e e t s .
The boundary i s t a k e n down t h e middle o f t h e s t r e e t because t h e few houses on t h e west s i d e
of t h e s t r e e t a r e of no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t and because, l i k e on t h e e a s t s i d e , t h e h i l l
drops o f f very s h a r p l y west o f Hancock and Stonewall s t r e e t s down t o Blackwater Creek.
Indeed, most of t h e a r e a below t h e s e s t r e e t s i s now wooded.
Where Stonewall S t r e e t i n t e r s e c t s w i t h C a b e l l S t r e e t , t h e boundary h a s been t a k e n behind t h o s e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o
.
.
Cabell S t r e e t
s o t h a t Cabell S t r e e t , t h e d i s t r i c t ' s only thoroughfare, is e n t i r e l y w i t h i n t h e
h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t and s o t h a t t h e t h r e e commefcial p r o p e r t i e s a t t h e prow a r e i n c l u d e d .
The b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e a r e a proposed f o r N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r nomination conform t o t h o s e
t h a t a r e within t h e l o c a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t except f o r t h e i n c l u s i o n of
t h e t h r e e commercial b u i l d i n g s a t t h e s o u t h end and t h e i n c l u s i o n of b o t h s i d e s o f Norwood S t r e e t r a t h e r t h a n j u s t t h e west s i d e .
BOUNDARY AND ACQUISITION MAP
-0 BE P i H A B I L l T A T C O
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National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
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See instructions in How to Complete #a tional Reqister
Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
DANIEL"S 9ILL HISTORIC DISTRICT
historic
and'or common
ref erred)
N/A
2. Location
Cabell, Norwood, Xancock, Stonewall from
"A'' through "H" S t r e e t s
street & number
city, town
XLAvicinlty of
Lynchburg
state Virginia
Category
2district
-building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
not for publication
code
51
county
Status
Ownership
-public
2occupied
Public Acquisition
w o r k in progress
Accessible
-unoccupied
-private
1Lboth
-in proccss
-being considered
N/A
X
yes: restricted
-yes: unrestricted
-no
code 680
A'%
Present U s e
agriculture
-commercial
-museum
-park
-educational
X private residence
entertainment
-government
-industrial
-military
-scientifEe
-transportation
-other:
-religious
4. Owner of Paopesty
name
Multiple m n ~ r s h i p
N/!i
NJA
city, town
vlcinity ai
state
,N/A
5 , Location of Legal Description
courthouse, reglstry of deeds, etc. Lynchburg City Hall
street & number
city, town
N/A
slate Virginia
Lynchburg
24505
6. Represeertation in Existins Surveys
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks
Survey
title
date
Commission
has this property been determined eligible? y
-federal
~ u l y1982
depositary tor survey records
city, town
Richmond
e
>( state c o u n t y
s
X no
-local
2 2 1 Governor Street
state
Virginia
23219
Condition
-excellent'
-X_ good
-fair
Check one
-deteriorated 2 unaltered
-ruins
-altered
-unexposed
Check one
_X_ original site
-
-moved
.
date
N,/A
.
Describe the present and original (ifknown) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Daniel's Hill Historic District takes in the prow of a narrow, elongated hill
bordered by the James River on the east and Blackwater Creek on the west. This hill has
very steeply sloped sides and is located immediately to the northeast of the Lynchburg
central business district which is clearly visible from many points of the district.
Daniel's Hill is one of seven hills surrounding the original core of downtown which were
built up as residential areas in the 19th century. The district incorporates some twentyone blocks or fractions thereof, generally following a grid plan, in which are located
approximately 180 buildings, virtually all houses. The architecture of the district
ranges in date from the early 19th century through the early 20th century with few buildings dating from the last four decades. Styles range from the Federal to the Georgian
Revival with a large quantity of urban vernacular dwellings. Stretched out along Cabell
Street, the district's only thoroughfare, is a series of outstanding, architecturally
sophisticated mansions mostly dating from the last half of the 19th century. The cross
streets and the two parallel streets, Norwood and Hancock streets, generally contain late19th- and early-20th-century vernacular dwellings built for housing workers for the
factories at the bottom of the hill and the servants for the large houses on Cabell
Street. The neighborhood is currently almost completely a working class one; most of the
mansions are deteriorated and are either vacant or divided into rental units. Efforts
towards the rehabilitation of the neighborhood are underway through both the city and
the local redevelopment and housing authority. The district's principal architectural
landmark is Point of Honor, a Federal plantation house at the southern end of the hill
which had its property subdivided to make the neighborhood.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
The Daniel's Hill dstoric ~istricttakes in the spine of the south-facing prow
of Daniel's Hill, a long ridge bordered by the James River on the east and Blackwater
Creek on the west. The district includes all of the area that has been given historic
distirct zoning by the city, as well as those properties on the east side of Norwood
Street and properties at the foot of Cabell Street. The three buildings at the foot
of Cabell Street are commercial buildings that have been included because they define
the historic entrance to the hill and because two of them are significant early tobacco
warehouses associated with an important facet of Lynchburg's 19th-century economy.
Except for these properties, the district is almost wholly residential and is fairly
tightly built up. The only large open spaces include the block on which is located
Point of Honor, a large, Federal plantation house situated on a high point at the southern
end of the district. Point of Honor (National Register, 1970) is the district's chief
historic landmark, and it was its land that was subdivided to make the present neighborhood. The blocks immediately to the east and south of Point of Honor are clear of buildings as well and are included in the district as they protect important scenic views of
and from the house. An excellent view of Point of Honor and indeed of most of Daniel's
Hill can be seen from the bridge across the James River leading into the central business
district.
Entering at the south tip of the district, at the foot of the hill, is Cabell Street
(named after the original owners of Point of Honor), the district's only through street
which ascends straight up the hill's spine at a steady grade. Lining Cabell Street is
(see Continuation Sheet #1)
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-170C-1799
1800-1899
2190%
Areas a f Significance--Check
and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
law
-science
-agriculture
&architecture
-art
-commerce
-communications
-economics
. -literature
-education
-military
-engineering
-music
-explorationl~ettiement philosophy
-industry
-politicslgovernment
-invention
-
-sculpture
-social1
humanitarian
-theater
-transportation
1Lother (specify)
local history
Specific dates
various
BuilderIArchitect
N/A
Statement of Signilicance (in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
This downtown residential neighborhood, prominently sited along a steep hill between
Lynchburg's central business district and the James River, is distinguished by a rich
variety of architectural styles and housing types dating from the early 19th century
through the early 20th century. Concentrated building activity began in the 1840s following the subdivision of the plantation established in the late 18th century by Dr. George
Cabell whose famous Federal mansion, Point of Honor, forms the focal point of the district.
The district's only thoroughfare, Cabell Street, is lined with an impressive progression
of mid- and late-19th-century mansions, all excellent examples of their respective styles
and most associated with prominent local families. Providing an interesting contrast
to these architecturally sophisticated buildings and adding to the district's variety is
a large quantity of vernacular workers' houses scattered along the streets adjacent to
Cabell Street. Most of these simpler dwellings were erected around the turn of the
century to accommodate laborers in the factories lining the James below the hill. The
district has suffered some demolition in recent years but has acquired virtually no
modern intrusions over its past half century of decline. Daniel's Iiill, along with similar
neighborhoods atop the hills of downtown Lynchburg, has become the target of preservation
activity in the past decade and is now protected with local historic zoning.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The neighborhood known as Daniel's Hill was originally part of a 900-acre tract
owned by Dr. George Cabell in the 18th century. The manor house for this sizable plantation was Point of Honor (National Register, 1970) which still stands at the southern end
of the district. The large tract passed to Dr. George Cabell's son, William Lewis Cabell,
and in the 1830s came into the ownership of William Cabell's father-in-law, William Daniel.
William Daniel, a prominent Lynchburg judge, died in 1839 and the property was inherited
by his son, William Daniel, Jr. It was not until the mid-1840s that William Daniel
advertised in the Lynchburg ~irginianto subdivide part of the large estate. "The tract
admits of being divided into three or four tracts...the place will be sold entire or in
two or more tracts or it will be divided into small parcels or lots.. "l By the 1850s,
the area began to acquire a more suburban appearance. The main road leading through the
area became known as Cabell Street and todayremains the main artery for the Daniel's
..
. .:,.". . . .'. ,>',Q. c::7;
Hill neighborhood.
.
.
.
t':
m o n g the ho
'
ses constructed in the 1850s was the Dabney-Scott-Adams House, built
by Albert Gallatin Dabney in 1852-53. The stately Greek Revival mansion at 405 Cabell
Street stands on land purchased by Dabney from Daniel in 1848. It later was known as
"Dabney's Folly" since the builder overextended himself financially and was forced to
sell it in 1856. The fence around the property was probably cast in Albert Dabney's
nearby foundry. Later enlargements and alterations are credited to the Adams family
who purchased the property in 1882.
(See Continuation Sheet #18)
9. Major Bibliographical References
continuation
sheet i120,
A r t Work o f Lynchburg a n d D a n v i l l e , 9 p a r t s .
P e t e r s b u r g : G r a v u r e I l l u s t r a t i o n Co., 1903.
Chambers, S. A l l e n , Jr. Lynchburg, An A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r y .
Charlottesville:
University
P r e s s - of V i r g i n i a , 1981.
C h a t a i g n e ' s Lynchburg C i t y D i r e c t o r y , 1887-1888.
J . H . Chataigne P u b l i s h e r and Compiler.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated propert~pprOx- 49 acres
Quadrangle name
Lynchburg, Va
UTM References
6 6 3 9 10
Quadrangle scale
411~413~51610
'Northing
A Zone
U
Easting
IW
chLd
1616141 316101 1 4 i 1 1 4 1 2 1 6 1 9 1 0 ]
(616i41216i01 ~ 4 i 1 ) 4 1 3 ~ 1 i 4 i 0 ~
Easting
Northing
Zone
1 6 1 6 1 4 1 1 11 1 0 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 2 1 8 1 8 1 0 1
D
E M1 6 1 6 1 3 1 7 1 2 1 0 11 4 1 1 1 4 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 0 ]
24000
FLLJlJ-d&d l J L L L d
uu
H w L L - L d u
G
I
Verbal boundary description a n d justification VBD: Bounded o n t h e n o r t h b y H S t r e e t . Bounded o n
t h e w e s t b y Hancock S t r e e t b e t w e e n H S t r e e t a n d S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t , t h e n by S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t
t o t h e rear p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o C a b e l l S t r e e t between S t o n e w a l l
S t r e e t a n d t h e s o u t h p r o u e r t v l i n e o f t h e Dirom I n s u l a t i n q Company. Bounded o n t h e s o u t h
List all s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s f o r properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #2C
state N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state N/A
code
county
N/A
code
11. Form Prepared By
IMmeItitie V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
organization
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
street & number
city or town
2 2 1 Governor S t r e e t
date
November 1982
teleohone
state
Richmond
( 8 0 4 ) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
-3
state
-local
AS the designated Stale Historic Preservation Offlcerfor the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8%
6651, 1 hereby nomtnate t h t s property for inclusion in the Naltonal Regtster and certtfy that it has been evaluated
according to the crlter a and procedures set forth by the F)(;tional Park Sawice.
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
H. Bryan M i t c h e l l , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
title V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
For NPS use only .
~
..
.
,,
date
DEC h4 1982
.. ..
. .. , . . ,.
~
- -
~p
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of ~ e g i s t r a t 6 n
.
.
.
.
.
!
. .
date
..
.
,
1
- .i
NPS Fonn 10RYL.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic PPaces
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 7
7.
Page 1
DESCRIPTION--Architectural Analysis
a series of architecturally outstanding mansions beginning with Point of Honor at the
south end and extending to F Street two blocks before the northern end of the district.
As on the other hills of Lynchburg, the Cabell Street mansions are unusually sophisticated
and varied in style. Included among the most impressive on the west side of the street
are the Italianate, Y-shaped Burkholder House (203 Cabell Street), the Queen Anne mansion
at 211 Cabell Street, a large Greek Revival house at 315 Cabell Street, the Greek Revival
Dabney-Scott-Adams House (405 Cabell Street), and the Eastlake-style house at 509 Cabell
Street. On the east side of the street are Point of Honor at the southern end, the Picturesque-style Adams House (210 Cabell Street), the Queen Anne-style McWane House (214
Cabell Street), the Queen Anne McDaniel House (314 Cabell Street), the Villa-style Stephen
Hurt House (314 Cabell Street), and the ltalianate Watts House (440 Cabell Street). Another
individual house of note is Rivermont, a large Greek Revival frame house north of F Street
between Cabell and Norwood streets. Rivermont's property was carved from Point of Honor's
and subsequently subdivided. The house is currently rental property and is in deteriorated
condition. Cabell Street's remaining houses are pleasant but relatively unassuming mid19th- to early-20th-century dwellings which provide visual links between the larger
houses. One commercial property of interest on Cabell Street is a ~eorgianRevival store
connected to a dwelling at the corner Cabell and F streets. The larqer ho11Sns are set off
by relatively spacious yards, some extending through the block. The only serious gaFs
on the street are a parking lot in the 400 block, next to the Dabney-Scott-Adams House,
and a vacant lot at the southwest corner of Cabell and E streets.
The district generally follows a grid plan, is two and a half blocks wide and eight bl~c:
long. Its border at the north end, at H Street, was chosen because virtually all the houses
beyond that point are of only minor or no architectural interest even though the grld
plan continues. In the district, some of the old, stone-paved sidewalks, as well as
brick sidewalks, remain. The streets are not lined with trees but the large trees in
many of the front yards overhang the streets, particularly Cabell Street, and give the
district a leafy appearance. A number of the yards are enclosed with handsome iron
fences. The decorative cast-iron fence of the Dabney-Scott-Adams House is a particularly
fine example.
Norwood Street presents a marked contrast to Cabell Street but has a valid character
all its own. Instead of mansions in spacious yards, it is lined with small, tightly
spaced houses, mostly of frame, and in a late-19th-century-urban vernacular style. The
majority have simple, modified Eastlake front porches of one story. The only break
on Norwood is the modern community recreational center in the 300 block in the rear of
the Stephen Hurt House noted above.
Hancock Street parallels Cabell Street on the west and has virtually no buildings
on its east side except for some minor vernacular houses at the north end. The district
does not take in the west side of the street since the scattering of houses lining it
are of little interest. Each of the side streets, B, C, D, E, F, and G, has a handful
of vernacular dwellings, also mostly of frame construction with one-story front porches.
A row of more of these houses stands on the north side of Stonewall Street, between Cabell
and B streets, and forms the southeast border of the district. Virtually all of these
(See Continuation Sheet #2)
NPS Form 10KO.
Pg)
OMS No. 1026-0018
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet # 2
Item number 7
7.
Page 2
DESCRIPTION--Architectural Analysls
dwellings, modest though they are, contribute to the character of the Daniel's Hill
Historic District which consists of an interesting intermingling of very elaborate
with very unassuming residential architecture, one type setting off the other and forming
a dramatic contrast.
The district is at present in a relatively poor state economically. Most of the
vernacular houses are occupied, as they have always been, by working-class families;
however, one out of every two of the houses in this category is maintained in good
condition. The mansions on Cabell Street, except for Point of Honor, are a different
case. Virtually all are deteriorated and some of the most important ones are unoccupied.
The rest, with two or three exceptions, are divided up into rental units and are not
well maintained. No patterns of racial occupation appear to exist at present, (blacks
and whites are intermingled) although most of Norwood Street is black. The district
seems to have halted its decline in the past few years, especially since it and much of
the rest of the Daniel's Hill neighborhood have been designated a conservation area by
the local redevelopment and housing authority. A few houses have been acquired by the
authority to prevent demolition and others have actually been rehabilitated. The authority
has undertaken some spot demolition of insignificant or hopelessly deteriorated houses
but the demolitions thus far have not significantly damaged the overall integrity of the
district. Further protection of the district has come with the establishment of historic
district zoning by the city. Public interest has been drawn to Daniel's Hill since the
completion of a very thorough restoration of Point of Honor by the city to serve as a
house museum. A local preservation foundation has also undertaken the rehabilitation
of the Dabney-Scott-Adams House.
(See Continuation Sheet # 3 for comprehensive inventory and
commentary of all the properties included in the district)
NPS Fwm 1DW.
g8)
OMB No 1024-W18
Exp 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
D A N I E L ' S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet # 3
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory :
Page 3
The f o l l o w i n g i s a comprehensive i n v e n t o r y and commentary
of a l l t h e p r o p e r t i e s included i n t h e d i s t r i c t :
B STREET
200 BLOCK:
203: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 4 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
207:
vacant l o t .
211: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h sawnwork b a l u s t r a d g .
Detached house. Vernacular.
C STREET
200 BLOCK:
207-213:
wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e d end g a b l e roof
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay p o r c h e s . Double house. Modified
Georgian Revival.
Ca . 1910.
210: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e w i t h c r o s s g a b l e r o o f ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
307: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h proj e c t i n g g a b l e bay ( s l a t e ) ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
309-311:
vacant l o t .
310: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1%s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
312: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
Detached
3-bay porch wraps around house and h a s b r a c k e t s and E a s t l a k e p o s t s .
house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
D STREET
300 BLOCK:
314: c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; f l a t r o o f
( s t o r e ) ; Ca. 1950.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #
)
Commercial
NPS Form 1C-Ra.
aa2)
OM8 No.1024-CQ18
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-aomination Form
date entered
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #4
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
.
.
.
.
.
Page 4
Item number
(continued)
D STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
300 BLOCK:
(continued)
316: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Ca. 1920.
317:
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays.
vacant l o t .
E STREET
200 BLOCK:
207 :
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
209: wood frame and a s b e s t o s s h i n g l e s ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n q seam
Detached house. Ca. 1890.
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , Z-bay porch.
213: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
1 s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
317: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1890s.
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
315: wood frame and c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof
Detached house.
Ca. 1950.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays.
F STREET
200 BLOCK:
201: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
4-bay porch.
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880.
203: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
c a . 1880.
205: wood frame ( a s b e s t o s s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Detached house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1845.
3 bays; l - s t o r y , l-center-bay porch.
206: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Ca. 1890.
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 100W.a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuationsheet # 5
Item number
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 5
(contrnued)
100 BLOCK:
109: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e / c r o s s g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ;
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Ca. 1900.
111: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 1 eyebrow
dormer; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1890.
113: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house.
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1880.
115: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
117: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
1-center-bay porch ( o f f c e n t e r ) w i t h b r a c k e t s and d e c o r a t i o n . ~ e t a c h e dhouse.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
119: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y o f f c e n t e r porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1880s.
123: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h c a s t i r o n l a t t i c e and s c r o l l m o t i f .
Detached house.
I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1870s. Robert C. Burkholder.
127(James Lee House #1): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
( s l a t e ) ; 4 bays w i t h p r o j e c t i n g wing; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p l a i n s q u a r e
posts.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1877.
129(James Lee House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e . Detached
house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880s.
200 BLOCK:
200: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1
pedimented dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached
house. Modified Queen Anne. Ca. 1900.
203(Burkholder House): b r i c k (American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( t i l e ) ;
3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , )-bay porch ( l a t e r a d d i t i o n ) . Detached house. Modified
I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1876. Burkholder.
205-207(Fannie-Hughes House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; hipped
roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 s e m i c i r c l e dormers; 4 bays; 2 1-story,2-bay p o r c h e s .
Double house.
Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1901.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 6 )
NPS Form 10900.
OdZ)
OM8 No 1024-W18
Exp 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #7
Item number
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
7
Page 7
(continued)
G STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
300 BLOCK:
(continued)
313: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; hipped g a b l e roof
l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1910.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
315: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; hipped g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1920.
H STREET
300 BLOCK:
300: wood frame and c o n c r e t e b l o c k ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
l - s t o r y , 2-bay p o r c h .
Detached house.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
CABELL STREET
00-99 BLOCK:
27:
(Dirom I n s u l a t i n g C o . ) : b r i c k ( p r e s s e d b r i c k v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t
r o o f ; 3 bays.
Commercial ( o f f i c e ) . Modified I t a l i a n a t e . Ca. 1890.
35:
(Hancock Tobacco F a c t o r y Complex): b r i c k ( p r e s s e d b r i c k v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ;
g a b l e r o o f ; 4 bays--3 i n a d d i t i o n .
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1880.
"Piedmont Supply" - Hancock Tobacco F a c t o r y : b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ;
Industrial.
Commercial v e r n a c u l a r .
2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 8 bays.
Ca. 1850s.
parking l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
vacant l o t .
I n t e r s e c t i o n C a b e l l St. and Stonewall S t . (SW s i d e ) : wood frame and c o n c r e t e
b l o c k ; 1 s t o r y ; shed roof ( p r e s s e d t i n ) ; 3 bays.
Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Vernacular.
-.
vacant l o t .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 8 )
O M 6 No.1024-'2018
NPS Form IO-OJO.
w
Exp. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
~nventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #6
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Item number
'
date entered
.*
.- .. .
-.
J
Page6
(continued)
F STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
200 BLOCK:
(continued)
208: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2
b a y s ; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Detached house.
Ca. 1890.
211: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
215: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t s .
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
307: wood frame (board and b a t t e n ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , l-side-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1880.
309: wood frame ( a s b e s t o s ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
310: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Greek Revival.
Ca. 1850.
311: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch.
318: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f
l-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
( s l a t e ) ; 1 bay; l - s t o r y ,
G STREET
200 BLOCK:
208: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 4 s t o r i e s ; c r o s s g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1912.
209: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
l-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Ca. 1915.
300 BLOCK:
300:
vacant l o t .
311: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; shed and hipped roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1910.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 7 )
NPS Form l & R a a
Daq
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #8
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 8
(continued)
CABELL STREET
200 BLOCK:
210 (Adams House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay e l a b o r a t e c a s t i r o n porch.
Detached
house.
C h a l e t ( s t i c k s t y l e ) . Ca. 1877. Burkholder?
211: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
( s l a t e ) ; hipped 3 - p a r t dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay C o l o n i a l Revival porch.
Detached house. Queen Anne.
Late 1 9 t h c e n t u r y .
214 (Henry McWane House) : wood frame ( s h i n g l e and n o v e l t y ) ; 24 s t o r i e s ; proj e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 4 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay E a s t l a k e porch
with spindle f r e i z e .
Detached house. Queen Anne.
1892. C a r r i n g t o n Hubbard.
217 ( C h r i s t E p i s c o p a l Church): b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ;
s t e p p e d g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) . O r i g i n a l l y church. B u i l t i n Gothic
style.
1876.
218 (Edward Mapps House): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached
house.
Modified Greek R e v i v a l . 1867.
221: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3 bays. Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . 1876.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
300 BLOCK:
301 (Dawson House #1): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( p a t t e r n e d
Detached house. Modified Gothic
s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Revival.
1873.
302 (McDavid House): wood frame ( n o v e l t y s i d i n g ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e
f r i e z e . Detached house.
Queen Anne.
1893.
305 (Watson-Roberts House): b r i c k (5-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e
roof ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay simple E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached
house.
Vernacular.
1851.
306: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
307 (Dawson House # 2 ) : wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
1887.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 9
)
NPS Fwm 10.OWa
oa
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #9
Item number
Page 9
7. DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
CABELL STREET (continued)
300 BLOCK:(continued)
308: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition and standing
seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Eastlake porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1880.
314 (Steven Hurt House): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting bay,
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 5 bays; 1-story, 6-bay Eastlake porch (frieze
and balustrade missing). Detached house. Eastlake (remodeled). 1859.
315 (Horner): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories with English basement;
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay Greek Revival porch
with Doric columns. Detached house. Greek Revival. 1850.
317 (Thornhill House): wood frame (weatherboard with gable shingle, German
siding); 24 stories; hipped and gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay Eastlake porch with spindle freize. Detached house. Queen Anne. 1891.
400 BLOCK:
404 (Watts House): brick (running board); 2 stories; projecting gable roof
(patterned slate); 4 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch with slated freize. Detached
house. Italianate. Ca. 1870. R.C. Burkholder.
405 (Dabney-Scott-Adams House): brick and stucco; 2% stories; hipped roof (slate);
3 pedimented dormers; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-center-bay Greek Ionic porch. Detached
house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1840s.
412: wood frame (German siding); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (patterned
slate); 4 bays with angled belvedere; 1-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
Modified Italianate. Ca. 1880.
414 ( ? )
:
vacant lot.
500 BLOCK:
vacant lot.
502: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay Italianate porch with sawnwork railing.
Detached house. Modified Italianate. Ca. 1880.
503 (Strange House): wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. 1853.
-.
506: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; projecting gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Eastlake porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
(See Continuation Sheet #10 )
NPS Fenn 10-9001
OM0 No. 1024-W18
Elp. 10-33-84
Ds2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet
7.
#lo
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Item number
Page 10
7
(cont~nued)
CABELL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
500 BLOCK:
(continued)
506: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
508: b r i c k ( v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p a r a p e t r o o f ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch
w i t h Tuscan columns. Commercial ( s t o r e ) . Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1910.
509 (Manning): wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; hipped g a b l e roof ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 b a y s ; l - s t o r y , l-center-bay porch w i t h angled b e l v e d e r e w i t h l a t t i c e
f r i e z e . Detached house.
Queen Anne. 1890.
600 BLOCK:
601: b r i c k ( v e n e e r ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; 3 bays.
element.
Commercial ( s t o r e ) .
Non-contributing
603: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d .
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1870s.
609:
v a c a n t l o t s owned by Housing A u t h o r i t y .
613-623:
b r i c k (7-course American b o n d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t r o o f ; 18 bays; 6 l - s t o r y ,
l - s i d e bay p o r c h e s . Row house.
Italianate.
Ca. 1890s.
612:
vacant l o t .
614-616:
b r i c k (veneer); 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t r o o f ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y ,
E a s t l a k e porch.
Double house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
1880.
4-bay modified
618: wood frame (weatherboard and s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( s l a t e ) ;
1 dormer; 3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified Georgian
Revival.
Ca. 1900.
700 BLOCK:
700: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h c r o s s g a b l e
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y , l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
Modified c h a l e t .
Ca. 1890.
701:
vacant l o t .
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #11)
NPS Form 108M.
OMB No.1024-W18
08)
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number 7
Cont~nuationsheet
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
CRBELL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
700 BLOCK:
(continued)
702: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified I t a l i a n a t e porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
703: wood frame ( s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Vernacular.
706: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Ca. 1900.
707: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house.
Vernacular.
1910.
711: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof
seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch with b r a c k e t e d g a b l e .
house. E a s t l a k e . C a . 1890.
(standing
Detached
712: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e and s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Modified
Gothic Revival.
Ca. 1880.
713: wood frame and a s b e s t o s s i d i n g ; 1 s t o r y ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e r o o f (composition:
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1940.
3 bays; I - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
714: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays. 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Detached house.
Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1890.
715:
vacant l o t .
716: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
Detached house. Modified
( s l a t e ) ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay modified E a s t l a k e porch.
Eastlake.
Ca. 1890.
717: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped r o o f ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
720: wood frame ( s h i n g l e and n o v e l t y s i d i n g ) ; 2$ s t o r i e s ; g a b l e and hipped
roof w i t h s h i n g l e d g a b l e s ( s l a t e ) ; 1 and 1, 3 - p a r t bay; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch
w i t h E a s t l a k e s p i n d l e f r i e z e . Detached house. E a s t l a k e . Ca. 1890.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # I 2 )
NPS Form 10 WOa
OMB No 1024-Wl8
E l p 10-31-84
pB)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #12
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
HANCOCK STREET
100 BLOCK:
Corner of B
&
Hancock St.:
vacant lot.
118-120: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 4 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Double house. Vernacular. 1890.
200 BLOCK:
C Street Baptist Church:
3 bays. Church.
stucco; 1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal);
600 BLOCK:
vacant lot.
wood frame (shingle and asbestos); 1 story set on high basement; shed and
hipped roof (silver standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
700 BLOCK:
710: wood frame (bricktex); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. 1890.
712: concrete block with second story frame; 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house. 1930.
714: concrete block with second story frame; 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
716: wood frame and concrete block; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 2 bays; l-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house.
718: wood frame and enameled steel; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam
metal); 2 bays; l-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
NORWOOD STREET
Point of Honor: brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (wood shingle);
9 bays; l-story, 5-bay porch. Detached house. Federal. 1815.
(See Continuation Sheet # 13)
NPS Foml 10.WQ.a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Elp. 10-31-84
Oa2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National ~ e ~ i s i of
e rHistoric Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #13
Item number 7
7.
Page 13
DESCRIPTION--Inventory (continued)
NORWOOD STREET (continued)
200 BLOCK:
202 (Dabney House): brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; mansard roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified Federal.
Ca. 1840.
206: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
bay (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
211: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1870.
212: wood frame (bricktex); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
213: wood frame (German siding); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay modified Italianate porch.
Detached house. Modified Italianate. 1880.
214: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with brackets and spindle
frieze. Detached house. Modified Eastlake. 1890.
215: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with cross gable
(slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay sawn work board porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1870.
216: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting end
gable (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch. Detached house. Modified
Eastlake. Ca. 1890.
217: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
bay (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
218:
vacant lot.
219: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof with projecting gable
(standing seam metal); 2 bays; 2-story, 3-bay porch with sawn work baluster.
Detached house. Modified Eastlake. 1880.
(See continuation Sheet #14
)
NPS Form 1C-Kc-.
Osq
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #14
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
200 BLOCK:
(continued)
220: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e
and b r a c k e t s .
Detached house. Modified E a s t l a k e . Ca. 1890.
300 BLOCK:
300: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays;
Ca. 1890.
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. I t a l i a n a t e .
301: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Modified Queen Anne. Ca. 1890.
302: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y ,
1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified tali an ate. Ca. 1890.
303:
vacant l o t .
305: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay E a s t l a k e porch w i t h s p i n d l e s .
Detached house.
Modified E a s t l a k e .
Ca. 1870.
306: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 4 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch w i t h s p i n d l e f r i e z e , p r o j e c t i n g
b e l v e d e r e and E a s t l a k e p o s t s .
Detached house. Queen Anne. Ca. 1890.
307-309:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof w i t h g a b l e s
( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 6-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1880.
308: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
312: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e bay
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Modified I t a l i a n a t e .
Ca. 1890.
318: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
320: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 1 5 )
NPS Form 1C-RDa
OM8 No 1024-0018
E i p 10-31-84
069
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Piaces
Inventory-Nomination Foam
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
Item number 7
#15
Page 15
-
7.
DESCRIPTION--1nventorG
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
400 BLOCK:
400: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 bay; l - s t o r y ,
l - c e n t e r - b a y porch.
Detached house.
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
406: wood frame (German s i d i n g ) ; 14 s t o r i e s ; mansard r o o f ( s l a t e ) ; 2 g a b l e
dormers; 3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch chamfered p o s t s . Detached house.
Modified Second Empire.
Ca. 1880.
408:
vacant l o t .
412: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
414-416:
wood frame (aluminum) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Double house.
v e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1890.
420:
vacant l o t .
Community C e n t e r :
n o n - c o n t r i b u t i n g element.
500 BLOCK:
vacant l o t .
501: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
507: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof
2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
511:
vacant l o t .
600 BLOCK:
Next t o Rivermont House:
vacant l o t .
600: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns. Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
608: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #16 )
OMB NO.1024-W18
E X P . 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Bnventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
7.
Item number
#16
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 16
(contmued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
600 BLOCK:
(continued)
610: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
614: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay Tuscan porch.
Detached house.
Ca. 1900.
616-618:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Double house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
617-619:
wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 4-bay porch.
Double house. Vernacular.
1890.
700 BLOCK:
vacant l o t .
700: wood frame (weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1890.
701: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; I - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h b r a c k e t e d c o r n i c e and f a n b r a c k e t s E a s t l a k e .
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
702: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
703: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch. Detached house.
Vernacular. Ca. 1900.
706: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 3 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h r e p l a c e d p o s t s .
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1890.
708: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof with p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e bay
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1910.
709: wood frame ( v e n a l ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; p r o j e c t i n g hipped bay roof ( p a t t e r n e d
s l a t e ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d . Detached house.
Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 1 7 )
NPS Form lD9OOl
OMB No.1024-Wt8
E i p . 10-31-84
oda
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Pllaces
~n~entory-h!oII?irIZati~pl
Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
7.
Item number 7
#17
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
Page 17
(continued)
NORWOOD STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
700 BLOCK:
(continued)
711: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
( s l a t e ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
Ca. 1900.
713: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( p a t t e r n e d s l a t e ) ; 2 bays. Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
715: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof w i t h p r o j e c t i n g g a b l e
bay ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay b r a c k e t e d porch.
Detached
house. V e r n a c u l a r . Ca. 1900.
714: wood frame (aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 b a y s ;
1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch w i t h p o s t s r e p l a c e d .
Detached house. Vernacular.
712: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 2 bays;
1 - s t o r y , 1-side-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
Ca. 1900.
710:
vacant l o t .
STONEWALL STRFET
S
W c o r n e r o f C a b e l l and S t o n e w a l l : wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f
w i t h shed and f l a t a d d i t i o n s ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) : Detached house. Vernacular.
100 BLOCK:
116: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
118: wood frame (aluminum); 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e r o o f ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 b a y s ; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
Detached house. V e r n a c u l a r .
120: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; s h a l l o w hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam
m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
122: wood frame ( w e a t h e r b o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-center-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
124:
vacant l o t .
126: wood frame ( s h i n g l e ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.' Detached house. Vernacular.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet #18 )
NPS Form 709501
09)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inwentory-B\9orni~~ationForm
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #18
Item number 7 r 8
7.
DESCRIPTION--Inventory
(continued)
STONEWALL STREET ( c o n t i n u e d )
100 BLOCK:
(continued)
128: wood frame ( b r i c k t e x ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ;
2 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 2-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular.
144:
(aluminum); 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e r o o f
1960. Nan-contributing element.
8.
SIGNIFICANCE--
( c o m p o s i t i o n ) ; 4 bays.
Detached house.
H i s t o r i c a l Background
Another h i s t o r i c a l l y a s w e l l a s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t house on D a n i e l ' s H i l l i s
Rivermont, a Greek Revival mansion, c a . 1857, b u i l t by Judge William Daniel, Jr. a t t h e
time of h i s second marriage t o E l i z a b e t h C a b e l l .
I t s t a n d s on a b l o c k bounded by Norwood,
C a b e l l , F and G s t r e e t s . E l i z a b e t h C a b e l l h a s been c r e d i t e d w i t h naming t h e p r o p e r t y ,
s o c a l l e d because o f i t s e l e v a t e d s i t e o v e r l o o k i n g t h e James River v a l l e y . A v a l u a b l e
drawing o f Rivermont done i n 1857 by A l f r e d B. P e t i c o l a s shows t h e pre-eminence o f t h e
house.
I n 1873, Rivermont was purchased by Edward S. H u t t e r , a c i v i l e n g i n e e r , who
p a r c e l e d and s o l d l o t s i n t h e a r e a n o r t h e a s t of t h e house f o r worker h o u s i n g , c a l l i n g
it Danielstown. M r . H u t t e r was a l s o a n o r g a n i z e r o f t h e Rivermont Company, one o f t h e
boom l a n d development companies o f t h e 1890s i n Lynchburg.
The Rivermont Park a r e a t o
t h e n o r t h w e s t o f D a n i e l ' s H i l l was named f o r t h e mansion.
With t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e Edward R. Maps House a t 218 C a b e l l S t r e e t which was b u i l t
i n 1867, t h e n e x t s u b s t a n t i a l b u i l d i n g p e r i o d on D a n i e l ' s H i l l came i n t h e 1870s. C h r i s t
Church, sponsored by Grace E p i s c o p a l Church, was e r e c t e d i n 1876 a t 217 C a b e l l S t r e e t .
This s m a l l b r i c k b u i l d i n g was s o l d i n 1900 and w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n of a two-story f a c a d e
was c o n v e r t e d i n t o a nieghborhood g r o c e r y s t o r e . Asmall b r i c k c h a p e l which became
t h e T h i r d P r e s b y t e r i a n Church l o c a t e d a t C a b e l l and D s t r e e t s was b u i l t i n 1875; t h e
F i r s t C h r i s t i a n Church h a s i t s modest b e g i n n i n g s i n t h e home o f M r . and Mrs. John C .
Roberts a t 305 C a b e l l S t r e e t i n 1874. A number o f s t y l i s h houses a l s o were b u i l t on
D a n i e l ' s H i l l d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . Of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t i s t h e Robert Calhoun Burkh o l d e r House (18751, a Y-shaped b u i l d i n g designed by t h e owner, a prominent l o c a l a r c h i t e c t ,
a t 203 C a b e l l S t r e e t . D a n i e l ' s H i l l had been i n c l u d e d i n a l a r g e expansion o f Lynchburg
approved by t h e V i r g i n i a General Assembly i n 1870. Gray's New Map Of Lynchburg d a t e d
1877 shows t h e houses on D a n i e l ' s H i l l c o n c e n t r a t e d a l o n g C a b e l l S t r e e t . D a n i e l ' s H i l l
p r o p e r t y owners met i n t h a t y e a r t o approve new names f o r t h e s t r e e t s i n t h e i r neighborhood. A new b r i d g e was e r e c t e d a c r o s s Blackwater Creek, which improved a c c e s s t o D a n i e l ' s
H i l l from t h e o l d e r p a r t of t h e c i t y .
The Lynchburg News of June 29, 1875 applauded t h e
a c t i v i t y o f t h e neighborhood:
he handsome
B u i l d i n g s a r e going up i n e v e r y d i r e c t i o n on D a n i e l ' s
ill.
r e s i d e n c e o f I. Holcombe Adams i s now r e c e i v i n g t h e f i n i s h i n g t o u c h e s of
t h e workmen...On t o p of t h e h i l l j u s t above M r . H u r t ' s , t h e f o u n d a t i o n i s
b e i n g dug o u t f o r a s p l e n d i d r e s i d e n c e o f b r i c k a l r e a d y c o n t r a c t e d f o r by
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t #19)
NPS Form 10EQ%a
OM6 No 1024-Wl8
E i p 10-31-84
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic P!aces
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet
8.
Item number 8
#19
Page 2
SIGNIFICANCE--Hlst~rlcal Background
Colonel Thomas Watts.
These two handsome houses, t o g e t h e r w i t h many
o t h e r o f l e s s p r e t e n s i o n s e x h i b i t a s p i r i t o f improvement i n t h i s p a r t
o f t h e c i t y most g r a t i f y i n g i n t h e s e d u l l t i m e s . 2
While few o u t s t a n d i n g houses were c o n s t r u c t e d on D a n i e l ' s H i l l i n t h e 18805, many
of t h e more modest d w e l l i n g s f o r l a b o r e r s and workmen a l o n g Wither (now Norwood), Stonewall,
and Hancock s t r e e t s d a t e from t h i s p e r i o d . The Lynchburg D i r e c t o r y o f 1887-88 i n d i c a t e s
t h a t most o f t h e r e s i d e n t s on Hancock S t r e e t were b l a c k l a b o r e r s . Along t h e c r o s s s t r e e t s ,
Norwood and S t o n e w a l l , most r e s i d e n t s were w h i t e and worked a s c a r p e n t e r s , c l e r k s , p r i n t e r s ,
policemen, m a i l a g e n t s , o r r a i l workers.
C a b e l l S t r e e t remained t h e a d d r e s s o f managers,
a c c o u n t a n t s , and p r o f e s s i o n a l s .
A t t h e s o u t h end o f C a b e l l S t r e e t s t o o d t h e Lynchburg
Tobacco Works and a t i n and s h e e t i r o n f a c t o r y employing many o f t h e neighborhood r e s i d e n t s .
One o f t h e a r e a ' s most i n t e r e s t i n g and b e s t documented houses d a t i n g from t h e 1890s
i s t h e Queen Anne r e s i d e n c e o f Henry Edward McWane designed by l o c a l a r c h i t e c t C a r r i n g t o n
Hubbard a t 214 C a b e l l S t r e e t . P r e s i d e n t o f Glamorgan F a c t o r y Ironworks, M r . McWane
was t y p i c a l o f many s u c c e s s f u l Lynchburg e n t r e p r e n e u r s o f t h e 18905, having grown up i n
southwest V i r g i n i a where he l e a r n e d i r o n foundry work and t h e n moved on t o t h e c i t y t o
p u r s u e a s u c c e s s f u l c a r e e r a s an i n d u s t r i a l i s t .
H i s house d i s p l a y s v a r i o u s t y p e s o f
e x t e r i o r wood d e t a i l i n g , i n c l u d i n g German s i d i n g and wooden s h i n g l e s .
C a b e l l S t r e e t continued
By t h e 1920s, t h e h o u s e s on D a n i e l ' s H i l l had few v a c a n c i e s .
t o be t h e home o f t h e more wealthy managers and p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h i l e t h e houses on Hancock
S t r e e t , W i t h e r s (Norwood) S t r e e t , l e t t e r e d s t r e e t s and S t o n e w a l l S t r e e t s h e l t e r e d a more
modest s o c i e t y , b o t h b l a c k and w h i t e .
Commercial b u i l d i n g s remained few, t h e c i t y
d i r e c t o r i e s showing o n l y a pharmacy and s e v e r a l g r o c e r y s t o r e s .
With t h e d e c l i n e of t h e c e n t r a l c i t y f o l l o w i n g World War 11, many of t h e houses
on D a n i e l ' s H i l l d e t e r i o r a t e d , a l t h o u g h t h e y s t i l l p r o v i d e d housing f o r lower-middleincome working f a m i l i e s , E f f o r t s f o r r e h a b i l i t a t i o n have been s p u r r e d by b o t h l o c a l
p r e s e r v a t i o n group s u r v e y s and t h e f o r m u l a t i o n of a m a s t e r p l a n f o r t h e c i t y which
e n v i s i o n s t h e a r e a a s a major t a r g e t f o r r e s t o r a t i o n a c t i v i t y . Much of t h e c r e d i t f o r
such e f f o r t s goes t o t h e HUD-sponsored D a n i e I ' s H i l l Community Development P r o j e c t .
Rather t h a n choosing t h e o p t i o n o f massive d e m o l i t i o n and i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n
o f new h o u s i n g , t h e c i t y of Lynchburg h a s s l a t e d D a n i e l ' s H i l l f o r p r e s e r v a t i o n through
t h e r e h a b i l i t a t i o n of e x i s t i n g s t r u c t u r e s . D a n i e l ' s H i l l i s e x p e c t e d t o c o n t i n u e t o
p r o v i d e h o u s i n g f o r mixed economic c l a s s e s a s it h a s done throughout i t s l o n g and
venerable h i s t o r y .
MTP
FOOTNOTES
'Lynchburg
V i r g i n i a n , February 1 7 , 1845.
2 ~ ~ n c h b u News,
rg
June 2 9 , 1875.
NPS Form l&Ra.
DB)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
DANIEL'S H I L L HISTORIC DISTRICT, LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #20
Item number 9,
9.
lo
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
C h a t a i g n e ' s Lynchburg C i t y D i r e c t o r y , 1920. J . H . Chataigne P u b l i s h e r and Compiler, 1920.
" G r a y ' s New Map o f Lynchburg," P h i l a d e l p h i a : W.O. Gray and Son, 1877.
Lynchburg News, June 29, 1875.
Lynchburg V i r g i n i a n , February 1 7 , 1845.
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA--Verbal
Boundary D e s c r i p t i o n and J u s t i f i c a t i o n
by a l i n e a c r o s s C a b e l l S t r e e t between 6 t h and 7 t h s t r e e t s . Bounded on t h e e a s t by t h e
r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o C a b e l l S t r e e t between t h e d i s t r i c t ' s
s o u t h e r n b o r d e r and A S t r e e t , t h e n by t h e r e a r p r o p e r t y l i n e s o f a l l t h e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g
o n t o t h e e a s t s i d e o f Norwood S t r e e t between A S t r e e t and H S t r e e t .
Boundary J u s t i f i c a t i o n :
The b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e D a n i e l ' s H i l l H i s t o r i c D i s t r i c t have been
drawn t o t a k e i n t h a t p o r t i o n o f t h e h i l l c o n t a i n i n g a l l o f t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t
b u i l d i n g s and t o i n c l u d e t r a n s i t i o n a l a r e a s .
The topography of t h e h i l l makes t h e bounda r i e s e a s i l y d e f i n a b l e . The h i l l ends a t t h e s o u t h end o f t h e prow where t h e r e a r e t h r e e
commercial b u i l d i n g s o f a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t .
The e a s t boundary h a s been drawn t o
i n c l u d e t h o s e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o t h e e a s t s i d e of Norwood S t r e e t , a v i s u a l l y c o n s i s t e n t s t r e e t made up o f working-class v e r n a c u l a r h o u s e s . Behind t h e s e Norwood S t r e e t
p r o p e r t i e s t h e h i l l d r o p s o f f v e r y s h a r p l y , a l m o s t a s a c l i f f , t o t h e r a i l r o a d and James
River below.
The s c a t t e r i n g o f b u i l d i n g s shown on t h e map t o t h e e a s t o f Norwood S t r e e t
have e i t h e r been demolished o r a r e o f no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t . The n o r t h e r n boundary
of t h e d i s t r i c t i s H S t r e e t , s o chosen because t h e c h a r a c t e r of C a b e l l S t r e e t changes
s i g n i f i c a n t l y a t t h a t p o i n t ; beyond a r e houses o f l i t t l e o r no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t , and
mostly 20th c e n t u r y . Also, t h e l o c a l l y d e f i n e d h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t f o r D a n i e l ' s H i l l
s t o p s a t H S t r e e t . The boundary on t h e west i s d e f i n e d by Hancock and S t o n e w a l l s t r e e t s .
The boundary i s t a k e n down t h e middle o f t h e s t r e e t because t h e few houses on t h e west s i d e
of t h e s t r e e t a r e of no a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t and because, l i k e on t h e e a s t s i d e , t h e h i l l
drops o f f very s h a r p l y west o f Hancock and Stonewall s t r e e t s down t o Blackwater Creek.
Indeed, most of t h e a r e a below t h e s e s t r e e t s i s now wooded.
Where Stonewall S t r e e t i n t e r s e c t s w i t h C a b e l l S t r e e t , t h e boundary h a s been t a k e n behind t h o s e p r o p e r t i e s f a c i n g o n t o
.
.
Cabell S t r e e t
s o t h a t Cabell S t r e e t , t h e d i s t r i c t ' s only thoroughfare, is e n t i r e l y w i t h i n t h e
h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t and s o t h a t t h e t h r e e commefcial p r o p e r t i e s a t t h e prow a r e i n c l u d e d .
The b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e a r e a proposed f o r N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r nomination conform t o t h o s e
t h a t a r e within t h e l o c a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d h i s t o r i c d i s t r i c t except f o r t h e i n c l u s i o n of
t h e t h r e e commercial b u i l d i n g s a t t h e s o u t h end and t h e i n c l u s i o n of b o t h s i d e s o f Norwood S t r e e t r a t h e r t h a n j u s t t h e west s i d e .
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1, Name of Property
historic name
Rivermont
otheroameslsitenumber
VDHRsite.no. 118-0203
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
not for publication NIA
205 F Street
Lynchburg
code
VA
Lynchburg (Independent City)
county
code
680
vicinity N/A
zip axk 24%
3. StatelFederal A ~ e n c yCertification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that
tbis X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the ~ a t i & dRegister of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property
recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide X
-locally. ( - See
continuntion sheet for additional comments.)
cf
3/2 p/x,
Q
d
Date
In
my opinion, the property -meets
for additional comments .)
d m not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
Signature of commenting or other officiallTitle
Date
SaDeaFalpr;la&mcydburau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in lthe NationaI Register.
See continuation sheet.
determined eHgibIe for the National Register.
See continuation
sheet,
-determined not eligible for the National Register.
-removed from the National Register.
-other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
-1
u w box- a
X private
-
- public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
'category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
I~oa*.xebm)
Imakt&pmauh~-Uaemu)
building(s)
-district
- site
-structure
- object
Contributing
_ZI_
Name of related multiple property listing
(W.N/A'if~osnismpnd.mIUpkpo~m~.)
Noncontributing
0
Q
Q
Q
0
buildings
sites
structures
objects
2
Q
Total
I
0
1
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
lerraa*rba-l
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CatekVr~
Subcategory
clwWY
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
WORK IN PROGRESS
Subcategory
Architechual Classification
Materials
(El.-h-)
l ~ o c l . r i r m ~ l
Greek Revival
foundation
walls
Brick
Wood
roof
other
Metal
Stucco
Narrative Description
lDLPI.h~ldSy.d~d~-~~..~-~om(.~i.-.)
S. Statement of Sienificance
Applicable kational Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
i M m t ' . ' O ~ a r a o . b o . . f a * ~ ~ ~ l
(Hlt'X'ia.Jl*amnM.wh.)
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
( E r r uepma fra msnaim)
1852-1904
ARCHITECTURE
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND IXXELOPMENT
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
(Cmpkir-Bb&,bm)
r.
Hutter. Edward Sixtus
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Em&-dtkpopanmeammdoa.)
Bibliography
l C ~ * b m b , m f * l , u O o d a - ~ i a ~ m h o a r a - ~ r * a )
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
-previously Listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings S w e y
dl
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X,State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
- Federal agency
-Local government
- University
-Other
Name of repository:
( S P A I h 4 o d d m ~ I I ) C ~ )
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 1
Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Rivermont is a two-story Greek Revival frame house completed in 1852. The south-facing house
has weatherboard siding under asphalt shingles (the latter are in the process of removal) and is
covered by a metal-sheathed hip roof. The foundation is brick with a later stucco rendering
scored to imitate ashlar. The chimneys too were brick; some portions of them had collapsed into
the house in recent years, and most of the remaining brickwork has been removed prior to
restoration. A one-story front porch replaces an earlier porch in the same location; a one-story
back porch is missing. The two-room-deep center-passage-plan interior features high-ceilinged
rooms of generous proportions. Walls and ceilings have plain plaster finishes, door and window
openings have molded surrounds, and doors are four-panel. Surviving original mantels have
simple Greek Revival pilaster-and-frieze compositions although some have battered jambs with
eared friezes. Rivermont is in a poor state of repair both inside and out, but work undertaken
by Rivermont House, Inc. since 1997 has served to stabilize the house prior to a planned
restoration as a house museum.
Note: the description sections of this nomination are based in part on the author's investigations
and in part on a report entitled "Architectural Investigation of Rivermont" prepared by Travis
McDonald and participants in the 1998 Jefferson's Poplar Forest Restoration Field School. For
a more detailed account of the physicai fabric the reader should refer to the McDonald report.
Inventory
1. Rivermont. Ca. 1852. Contributing building.
2. Wall and walkway. Mid-19th through early 20th c. Contributing structufe.
Exterior
A number of Rivermont's exterior features are Greek Revival in character. Wrapping around all
four elevations is a dent2 cornice; a similar cornice once decorated the front porch. Large
tripartite windows with battered and slightly peaked surrounds dominate the front elevation, and
one is used on the rear elevation. These have central six-over-six sash flanked by sidelight-like
two-over-two sash. Windows on the other elevations are six-over-six sash, although most of the
first-story windows have been covered with plywood to secure the building. The front entq is
contained within a battered and eared surround and features a four-panel door, a transom with
gridded muntins, and sidelights with original panels underneath but replacement panes (although
the mortises of the former muntins remain).
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (continued)
Surviving from the original front porch are tapered rectangular-section pilasters with Tower of
the Winds capitals. The present porch is a modern replacement with a gable roof, square wood
posts, and wood steps. The porch stands on poured-concrete piers in the locations of earlier brick
ones. A one-story porch, apparently with bathrooms at its ends, formerly extended nearly from
comer to comer on the rear elevation. This porch replaced an earlier one at the same location.
The foundation is constructed of common-bond brickwork set in a reddish lime mortar with
pencilled flush joints under later cement-based stucco. The basement was well lit by eight-overeight sash windows. The basement is set into a perimeter well with concrete and flagstone paving
and a concrete retaining wall that may incorporate some earlier brickwork. The roof preserves
evidence of a balustrade on its southern edge. A notable feature is a blind or false window on
the second-story west elevation between the two internal chimneys.
Interior
Rivermont features a conventional two-room-deep center-passage plan originally with a more
unusual subdivision of the first-floor rear east mom into a bathing room, dressing room, and
passage. The house is built with circular-sawn lumber joined with cut nails and mortise-and-tenon
joints. The plaster wall finishes adhere to split lath and bea~evidence of historic paint and
wallpaper. Floors are wood. Doors are typically four-panel hung on butt hinges with iron,
porcelain, and pottery knobs. There are a few two-panel doors. Affixed to several first-floor door
surrounds are decorative iron brackets for former light fixtures (perhaps kerosene).
A broad two-run stair rises in the center passage. The stair has low risers, turned balusters, and
a turned newel with an unusual form at its base. The spandrel is plaster and lath. Throughout the
house are Greek Revival mantels, some with plain pilaster and frieze compositions, others with
battered and eared surrounds. There are at least two colonnetted mantels dating from the turn of
the twentieth century, one formerly with a mirrored overmantel. The fireplaces are mostly
missing on account of the collapse or removal of the chimneys. Between the first-story southwest
(front) and northwest (back) rooms are large paneled pocket sliding doors. The three tripartite
windows on the fust floor have tripartite paneled aprons, and the six-over-six windows also have
paneled aprons. The fm-floor northeast room preserves traces of its original division into a
bathing room, dressing room, passage, and secondary stair.
Two-panel doors are typical on the second floor, and there are tongue-and-groove closets next
to the chimneys--apparently a late-nineteenth-century addition. L i e the first floor the second
floor has a center-passageplan, although the original arrangement is somewhat obscured by late-
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (continued)
twentieth-century partitions. Common rafters and pipes for former ceiling-mounted gas light
fixtures in the room below are visible in the unfdshed attic. The center-passage plan of the
basement reflects the upper stories. One of the rooms contains a Greek Revival mantel with a
battered and eared swround. Other features include two-panel doors, plain baseboards, and
plaster and lath finishes applied to the brick walls.
Site Description
Rivermoa occupies an L-shaped parcel located in the block formed by F, G, Cabell and
Norwood stnets in Lynchburg's Daniel's Hill neighborhood. The lot slopes towards F Street on
the south side and is fronted by a stone retaining wall and a sidewalk paved with vitrified
patterned bricks. The wall is faced with randomly coursed stonework and has an irregular stone
coping. Curved cheeks terminating in low stone piers flank a set of poured-concrete steps that
rise to a late-nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century concrete walkway leading to the front entry.
Running parallel to the walk on either side of it is a double line of flagstones (possibly gneiss)
set on edge and protruding incompletely from the ground. This edging appears to have been
associated with the original walkway.
The concrete walkway widens into a semicircle at the base of the present porch steps and abuts
two concrete bases that formerly supported the newel posts of the porch steps as they were
configured in the 1930s. Several flagstone pavers and curious curved indentations in the concrete
suggest remnants of an earlier arrangement. Near the house are a large deciduous tree, remnants
of concrete walkways, and other masonry remains possibly associated with former buildings. A
sidewalk paved with large flagstones extends along the Norwood Street exposure. The other
parcels on the block, all smaller than the one on which Rivermont stands, are occupied primarily
by two-story Victorian dwellings of frame and brick construction. These would be contributing
resources within the Daniel's Hill Historic District.
Integrity Statement
Rivermont possesses a relatively high degree of architectural integrity considering the neglect it
has suffered in recent decades. The principal substantive losses to the exterior are the roof
balustrade (missing since before the mid-1930s) and the front and back porches. However,
sufficient photographic and architectural evidence survives to reconstruct the front porch, and the
roof balustrade may be modeled on the design by William Ranlett that inspired it. The interior
plan and architectural features are largely intact, although there are a number of partitions,
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (coatinued)
kitchen and bathroom fixtures, and wall finishes left over from when the house was divided into
apartments in the late twentieth century, and most mantels have been detached from their walls
as a consequence of the removal of deteriorated chimneys. Noncontributing fabric will be
removed during the restoration planned for the house, the chimneys and porches wilt be rebuilt,
and as much as possible the house will be restored to its on@ appearance under professional
guidance.
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
"The view from this house is the most extensive and beautiful one that I remember anywhere,"
wrote a visitor to Rivermont in 1852, shortly after its completion. Judge William Daniel Jr., a
leading citizen of nineteenth-century Lynchburg, Virginia, sited his Greek Revival-style villa to
afford views of the James River and the bustling heart of the city. Rivermont was considered
"eminently adapted for a summer residence" on account of its capacious rooms and the unusually
large win&ws that provided light and ventilation to the interior. in building the house contractois
Bailey and Lanahan adapted details from William Ranlett's The Amerim Architect, including
r the Winds columns. After the Civil War Rivermont was acquired
a front portico with ~ o w e of
by businessman and civil engineer Major Edward S. Hutter, who followed Judge Daniel's lead
in developing the Daniel's Hill neighborhood around the house (today listed in the National
Register of Historic Places), and whose latex Rivermont Company ranked as the city's foremost
land development company at the end of the century. Although Rivermont suffered from neglect
in recent decades, it has been acquired by The Rivermont House, Inc., which plans a careful
restoration of the home to its antebellum grandeur.
Applicable Criteria
Rivermont is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area
of architecture for the quality of its surviving exterior and interior finishes, as described in the
summary and historical background. The property is also eligible under Criterion B in the area
of community planning and development for its association with W i a m Daniel Jr. and Edward
S. Hutter, who were instrumental in the early development of the Daniel's Hill Historic District,
and who contributed to the growth of Lynchburg in other respects. The period of significance
extends from the apparent date of completion for the house in 1852 through the death of Edward
S. Hutter in 1904. Rivermont is eligible at the local level of sigruticance. Information in support
of designation appears throughout the report.
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals and organizations assisted in the preparation of this report. The
nomination was sponsored by The Rivermont House, Inc. with logistical support from the
Lynchburg Historical Foundation, represented by Heidi F. James and A. Cabell Crowther.
Others who provided assistance included Rachel Deddens, Cissy Holton, and Betsy Johnson of
the Lynchburg Historical Foundation; librarian Susan Pillow of Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg; Langhome Hutter Meem of Richmond; and architectural historian S. Allen Chambers
United States Department of the Interior
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Lynchburg, Va.
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Statement of Significance (continued)
Jr. Staff members of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources who assisted the project
included June Ellis, Marc Wagner, and Jack Zehmer.
Historical Background
Rivermont was built for Judge William Daniel Jr. (1806-1873) and his second wife, Elizabeth
Hannah Cabell (1811-1892), soon after the couple's marriage in 1850. Daniel was the son of
William Daniel Sr., a renowned jurist and legislator, and Margaret Baldwin Daniel. The junior
Daniel was a graduate of Hampden-Sidney College and the University of Virginia, where he
received a degree in law. According to his biographer and son-in-law Don P. Halsey Jr., Daniel
established himself in Lynchburg where "Hispowers as a speaker and advocate soon attracted
notice, and his position among the leaders of the bar in his section became assured." Daniel's
legal style differed markedly from his father's despite the fact they shared the same name,
according to Halsey. "The father wielded a mighty banle-axe, with which he dealt fierce and
ponderous strokes, as he bore down with resistless force upon the point before him. The son
fought with a delicate but trenchant rapier, whose keen and brightly flashing blade sought out
the heart of the adversary's cause and exposed its fallacies. "'
In 1831, at age twenty-four, Daniel was elected to the state legislature, beginning his term at the
height of the slavery debates that followed the Nat Turner insurrection. Daniel served four terms
in the General Assembly and in 1846 he was elected to the state's Supreme Court of Appeals
where he served until 1865. Lynchburg historian W. Asbury Christian wrote in 1900: "[Daniel's]
great legal acquirements and the soundness of his judicial opinions gave his decisions a place
with the foremost in the records of Virginia." Daniel also benefitted his adopted city as a vicepresident of the Lynchburg Primary School Association and as a delegate to the railroad
convention that eventually gave rise to the Lynchburg-based Virginia & Tennessee Railroad.'
In 1840 William Daniel Jr. acquired the acclaimed Federal-style house Point of Honor, located
on a hillside overlooking downtown Lynchburg across Blackwater Creek, and the following year
he manied his first wife, Sarah Ann Wanvick. Sarah died in 1845 or 1846, but she lived long
enough to bear a son, John Wanvick Daniel, who like his father and grandfather before him went
-
Halsey, "Judge William Daniel Jr.," 1-6.
' Ibid., 6-9; Christian, Lynchburg and Its People, 94, 140-141
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Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
on to a distinguished career in public life. At the time of his first wife's death, William Daniel
Jr. owned 800 acres or more in the vicinity of Point of Honor, and in 1848 he sold the house
and two acres. Daniel sold off portions of his landholdings over the next several years, setting
in motion the early development of the Daniel's Hill neighborhood. The development had a
distinctly upper-class character in its early years and numbered at least six "substantial houses"
by the Civil War. In 1850 Daniel married a second time, to Elizabeth Hannah Cabell, and the
couple made plans to add their own villa to Daniel's Hill.>
According to well-attested tradition, Elizabeth Daniel named her and her new husband's house
Rivermont "because of the superb view of the mountains and of the river that could be seen from
it. " William Daniel hired the Lynchburg contracting firm Bailey and Lanahan to build the house,
M
which combined elements from William Ranlett's late-1840s designs in The A ~ ? ~ ' c Architect
with standard Virginia features (see architectural analysis below). The house was ready for
occupancy when William's sister Elvira Ellet visited in March 1852. Elvira's correspondence to
her husband, nationally recognized engineer Charles Ellet Jr., are presaved at the University of
Michigan, and coupled with a collection of letters at Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg they
provide many details on living arrangements at the house during its fm decade.'
On her arrival in Lynchburg Elvira penned a glowing description of Rivermont. "The view from
this house is the most extensive and beautiful one that I remember anvwhere." sEe wrote to her
husband. A few days later she repeated her praise of the "magnificent; views'and added that the
house was:
"Very pretty and convenient, and exceedingly cheerful, having so much light from the
numerous large windows in all the rooms. The greatest defect is, that it is built for the
summer time, or for a very warm climate. Just now it is very comfortable with large
wood fires in all the rooms we use, and fust rate servants to keep all in order."
All was not well in the Daniel household, however. William and his new wife experienced deep
Harris, "Descriptionsof Point of Honor," Appendix F; Loth, Virginia L m a h h Register,
255.
' Halsey,
"Judge William Daniel, Jr.," 14; "Specifications for Rivermont House" from
McDonald, "Architectural Investigatioa of Rivermont, " 28-29.
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Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
marital difficulties. Elvira wrote: "Poor brother--there is something sad & strange in his
condition. He has this beautiful home, lovely children, a wife long sought & loved, and yet he
has no enjoyment of any of these things. I do not at all understand his position with regard to
his wife--there is some mystery about it."'
Elizabeth and William apparently reached an understanding for they remained together until his
death. In August 1857 Elizabeth's half-sister Mrs. L. E. Carringtoo visited and declared
Rivermont comfortable in the warm weather. "There is a constant breeze sweeping over the hill,"
she wrote, "and the house, with its capacious and numerous windows, seems eminently adapted
for a summer residence." Mrs. Carrington also made a detailed account of her daily routine at
Rivermont:
"I join the family at the breakfast table every morning (often after a quiet hour in the
sitting room with Mamma) frequently remaining down stairs [until late morning]. I then
repair to my room, exchange my dress for a cool white wrapper, take up an agreeable
book and then betake myself to the sofa--upon which, I & the hours very pleasantly
away, until it grows cool in the evening--when I again join them down stairs--not often
to stay long however as, most generally, I go out with sister [?I on a drive. "6
The life of leisure at antebellum Rivermont was supported by the labor of slaves and others. In
1852 Daniel was taxed for thirty-two slaves aged seventeen and above and two between the ages
of twelve and sixteen, and according to the 1860 federal census he owned forty-one slaves.
Daniel also employed free labor; by Spring 1852 he had hired an Irish gardener to put the
grounds around Rivermont in order. Daniel's household slaves would have worked in
outbuildings located on the grounds. The contract with Bailey and Lanahan makes reference to
a kitchen and smokehouse; these may have been the pair of buildings that show up on the 1877
Gray map of Lynchburg, which were located off Rivermont's east side. The front or south unit
of this pair is represented as a two-story gabled building in Edward Beyer's 1855 view of
Lynchburg and possibly as a hiproofed building with an interior chimney in the more crudely
rendered Peticolas sketch of Lynchburg's waterfront (both views appear in Chambers,
Lynchburg: An Architecntrul History). The Gray map shows two smaller buildings located on the
' Elvira D. Ellet to Charles Ellet Jr.,
March 8 and 10, 1852, in the Charles Ellet Jr. papers.
Letter written by Mrs. L. E. Carrington from Rivermod, August 1857, Rivermont letters.
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Norwood Street exposure; deeds from the 1860s and 1870s make reference to Daniel's ice house
and the "Ice House Road," and Mrs. Carrington mentioned a cistern that in July 1859 was "in
want of rain . . . for this is a very thirsty hill."'
Pictorial sources are in somewhat more agreement in their depiction of a fence that bounded the
front yard. The best view is a ca. 1880 photograph taken from Rivermont looking south, which
shows in the foreground an elaborate picket fence with intermittent posts and a gate with a
decoratively curved top rail. The Beyer and Peticolas views appear to show the same fence or
an earlier version of it. The Beyer view shows several small trees scattered around the front
yard, perhaps the ones that Elvira Ellet noted in 1852 had been "planted out" and not yet grown.
The ca. 1880 photograph shows fairly large evergreens at the southern end of the front yard,
framing the view towards the downtown and the river, and a 1930s photograph of the front of
the house shows large magnolias at its two corners.'
After the Civil War William Daniel returned to private practice and to a continuation of his real
estate ventures on Daniel's Hill. In 1871 the brothers E. S. and J. R. H u m prepared a "map
of Judge William Daniel's Estate showing subdivisions under several surveys" and a lot sale was
held in April 1872. During the post-war period Daniel's son, John Warwick Daniel (1842-1910),
began his career in Virginia's political arena where he rose from state legislator to gubernatorial
candidate (in 1881, he lost) to five-term U.S. senator?
The E. S. Hutter involved in the Daniel's Hill neighborhood in the early 1870s was Major
' Campbell County tax records; 1860 federal census, Campbell County slave schedules, p.
45; Elvira D. Ellet to Charles Ellet Jr., March 15, 1852, in the Charles Ellet Jr. papers; "Gray's
New Map of Lynchburg;" Chambers, Lynchhug: An Archirecrural History, 132, 150; Lynchburg
Circuit Court Deed Book Y, p. 271, and Deed Book 2, pp. 198-199; and letter written July 22,
1859 from Rivermont, Rivermont letters.
Chambers, Lynchburg:AnArchitecruml History, 132,150; "'Rivermont' House Restoration
by the LHF," 16-17 (ca. 1880 and 1930s photographs). The perspective of the ca. 1880
photograph makes it difficult to tell with c&ty
that the fence portrayed is Rivermont's front
yard fence, although this is the most likely interpretation,
Lynchburg Circuit Court chancery case #3473-36.
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Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Edward Sixtus Hutter (1839-1904), a prominent civil engineer and real estate developer in
Lynchburg in the late nineteenth century. "Ned" Huner was born at the Sandusky plantation in
Campbell County in 1839 to Pennsylvania native George Christian Hutter and Haniet James
Risque Hutter, originally of Botetourt County. In 1859 Hutter graduated from the Virginia
Military Institute, where he had pursued studies in civil engineering and mining, and enrolled
in the law curriculum at the University of Virginia the following year. At Charlottesville he
formed a company of students at the outbreak of the Civil War and served as its captain. In the
Confederate army he attained the rank of Major of Artillery, serving most of the war as head of
the Confederate arsenal at Danville, Vuginia.lo
After the war Hutter settled with his wife Nannie Langhorne Hutter (1842-1907) at the family's
Sandusky estate and became active in the business life of the nearby city of Lynchburg. Hutter
acquired the Rivermont house in 1876, although he may not have gained clear title to the
property until a decade or more later. At least one m e has the Hutters living in the house in
1874, perhaps as renters. Beginning in the 1870s Hutter was involved in the development of the
Danielstown neighborhood surrounding Rivermont, now a major part of the Daniel's Hill
Historic Diseict."
Major Hutter is best remembaed as a driving force behind the Rivamont Company, the largest
land company of the city's 1880s-1890s boom era. Founded in 1890 and named after the house
Rivermont, the company controlled 7,000 contiguous acres adjoining Lynchburg on the
northwest. Unlike its principal competitor, the West Lynchburg Company, which was capitalized
by Northern financial interests although lead initially by Lynchburger John Warwick Daniel, the
Rivermont Company was run principally by local businessmen. Charles M. Blackford served as
president, and Hutter surveyed and platted the company lands with curdhear streets adapted to
the topography, the first imprtant departure from the city's century-long tradition of orthogonal
planning and one of the first applications of cudinear subwban planning in the nation,
according to architectmd historian S. Allen Chambers. Hutter's other major contribution was
' Reeder, Record of the Family and Descendants of Colonel QvisrianJacob Hutter, 12-13;
Yancey, Lynchbwg and its Neighbors, 339; and Lynchburg News, June 23, 1904. One account
states that Hutter was born in Lynchburg.
Lynchburg Deed Book 00, p. 215; Lynchburg Doify Virginian, September 6, 1877; and
Lynchburg News, June 23, 1904.
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
the planning and construction of the Rivermont Bridge, which linked the development to the city
core. Hutter's obituary credited the bridge to his "personal effort," but the Rivermont Company's
chief engineer, R. Taylor Gleaves, apparently shared in its constructi~n.'~
A year after its formation the Rivermont Company began to experience difficulties, and in 1893
it went into receivership. A similar fate was experienced by most of the other ambitious and
highly speculative development schemes of the era, in Lynchburg and throughout western
Virginia, but far from vanishing without a trace the Rivermont development provided lasting
benefits to Lynchburg. Today the area is esteemed the "most desirable residential area in the
city," and Randolph-Macon Woman's College, attracted to the development during the boom,
remains a prestigious Lynchburg institution. For his part Hutter returned to the mining focus of
his college days, and with his son Edward Risque Hutter he developed iron mines in Pittsylvania
County, the work he was engaged in at the time of death in 1904. The Lynchburg News
memorialized Edward Sixtus Hutter with a lengthy obituary that included the tribute "His great
business sagacity and intelligence was recognized and admitted by all who h e w him. "I3
Edward and Nannie Huaer had thirteen children, several of whom died in infancy but the
majority of whom were raised at Rivermont. In addition to her household duties Nannie Hutter
authored a number of magaziae articles and a book of poetry, published in 1898. Nannie died
in 1907, and Rivermont passed to her son and daughter E. Risque and Edna Hutter. The house
was sold out of the Hutter family in 1909 and went through a succession of owners, among them
Ella Collins, who owned it from 1912 to 1925, and Hanis Hoppenstein, who owned it from
1940to 1%1. The house remained in good condition in the mid-1930s when it was photographed
by Frances B. Johnson as partof a New Deal initiative to document the nation's architectural
heritage, but in later years it was divided into apartments and its condition declined."
" Chambers, Lynchburg: An Architectural History, 302-305; Lynchburg News, June 23,
1904; and Elson, "Boom & Bust," 13-14.
"
Chambers, Lynchbwg: An Architectural History, 306-307; Lynchburg News, June 23,
1904.
Article dated June (3 or 4), 1907, in unidentified Lynchburg newspaper; "Research on
Deed--Rivermont--205 F St.," manuscript in the possession of Rivermont House, Inc.; and "A
Case for the Preservation of Rivermont."
"
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Lynchburg, Va.
Page 1
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Statement of Significance (continued)
In 1997 the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority gained title to the property and
donated it to The Rivermont House, Inc., a non-profit corporation formed under the aegis of the
Lynchburg Historical Foundation to "acquire, preserve, restore, maintain and interpret Rivermont
as one of Lynchburg's most valuable historical assets." Rivermont House, Inc.. has commenced
the documentation &d stabilization of the house in preparation for its restoration by 2005. Plans
are for the house to function as a house museum in conjunction with Point of Honor, located
nearby; Rivermont would interpret Lynchburg history from the mid- and late 1800s, whereas the
focus at Point of Honor is on the early nineteenth century. The restoration of Rivermont is also
envisioned as a boost to revitalization in the Daniel's Hill neighborhood."
Architeehual Analysis
Rivermont combines elements from designs by pattern book architect William H. Ranlett with
features that were standard in large Virginia houses of the period. William Daniel Jr.'s contract
with his builders, Bailey and Lanahan, specifies the primary source of the house design: Ranlett's
Design No. 26, an "Italian Bracketed Villa," in volume two of his book The Architect: A Series
of Original Designs, Domestic and Ornamental Cottages and W l h Connected with Landscape
Ganlening, A w e d to the United States, which was published in several editions and under
different titles from 1849 to 1854. The contract called for Rivermont's roof-top balustrade,
cornice, front porch columns, front entry sidelights, and various windows to be modelled on the
Ranlett design.16
As built the house differed in important respects from Ranlett's Design No. 26. Ranlett's design
showed an entry hall with a side extension containing the stair; Rivermont has instead a more
conventional center passage with a center staircase. The front porch in Ranlett's design has
Corinthian columns, whereas Rivermont's are modeled on the columns of the Tower of the
Winds, built in classical Athens. Tower of the Winds columns are portrayed in Ranlett's book
but in another design, suggesting that Rivermont's builders mined the book for details rather than
adhering solely to Design No. 26. Architectural historians Travis McDonald and Ed Polk
Douglas have suggested other sources for certain of the home's details, such as the Wickham
--
I'
"A Case for the Restoration of Rivermont."
l6
McDonald, "Architectud Investigation of Rivermont," 28-29; and Travis McDonald.
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Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
House in Richmond and a Federal-style mansion on Williamsburg's Duke of Gloucester Street."
Rivermont's builders were Samuel A. Bailey and his associate, a Mr. Lanahan. Architectural
historian S. Allen Chambers Jr. describes Bailey as one of antebellum Lynchburg's leading
builders, responsible for the construction of prominent buildings including St. Paul's Episcopal
Church (1850-51) and Second Presbyterian Church (1851-52). After the Civil War, Bailey
sometimes described himself as an architect in addition to a builder. At Rivermont Bailey and
Lanahan employed balloon frame construction for the sections of house wall behind the chimney
piles, and perhaps elsewhere. Slender, circular-sawn studs rise uninterrupted two stories from
the first-floor sill to the second-floor plate, to which they attach with mortise-and-tenon joints.
Since most frame construction of the periodemployed heavy timber-framing, Rivermont appears
to represent an e d y use of the new building technology. Also of note is Rivermont's original
"Bathing" room, which was located in one of the rear M-floor spaces, and which evinces a
desire for modernity and comfort."
Ilaniett, The Architect; Travis McDonald personal communication; hod Ed Polk Douglas
presentation.
l7
Chambers, ~~nchburg:
An Architecwal History, 131, 164, 167, and 212-213; Wells and
Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 15.
I'
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baber, Lucy H. M., et al, c0mp.s. Mam'ages and Deathfrom Lynchburg, Virginia Newspapers,
17941836. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.
"A Case for the Preservation of Rivermont." Promotional brochure produced by The Rivermont
House, Inc., ca. 1998.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.:
The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
. Personal communication with author, Washington, D.C., March 1998.
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Company,
Printers, 1900.
Crowther, A. Cabell. Personal communication, Lynchburg, Va., March 1998.
Dabney, ~i&inius. Virginia, The New Dominion. Charlottesville: The University Press of
Virginia, 1971.
Douglas, Ed Polk. Presentation on Rivermont and its architectural context, Lynchburg,
November 1998.
Ellet, Charles, Jr., Papers. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi. (copies at Lynchburg
Historical Foundation, Lynchburg, Va.).
Elson, James M. "Boom and Bust in the Burg." Lynch's Feny. Fall~Winter1998: 10-15.
Graves, Tom, Jr. Photographs of Kivermont, June 9, 1997. Collection of the Lynchburg
Historical Foundation, Lynchburg, Va.
"Gray's New Map of Lynchburg." 1877. Collection of the Lynchburg Historical Foundation,
Lynchburg, Va.
Harris, Martha Terrell. "Descriptions of Point of Honor from the Charles Ellet, Jr. Papers,
1837- 1861. " Report for the Point of Honor Board of Managers, Lynchburg, Va., 1992.
James, Heidi F. Personal communication with author, Lynchburg, 1998 and 1999.
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Lynchborg, Va.
Section number 9 Page _1L
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
. "Rivermont--Purpose and Use." Typescript (draft), 1998.
Lawrence, A. W. Greek Architeclure. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1957.
Lloyd, Richard B., and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg, A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach,
Va.: The Donning Company/Publishers, Inc., 1975.
Loth, Calder, ed. The Virginia LandmarRs Register. Third edition. Charlottesville, Va.:
University Press of Virginia, 1986.
Lynchburg, City of, Circuit Court deed records. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg Daily Virginian (Lynchburg, Va.).
The Lynchburg News (Lynchburg, Va.).
McDonald, Travis. "Architectural Investigation of Rivermont. " Typescript report, 1999.
. Personal communication with author, Bedford County, 1998 and 1999.
The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.).
Pezzoni, J. Daniel. "Judge William J. Robertson House." National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 1999.
Ranlett, William H. l
k Architect, a Series of Original Designs. New Yo*:
Davenport, 1951.
Dewitt &
Reeder, Frank, comp. Record of the Family and Descendanrs of Colonel Chrisnsnan
Jacob Huner
of Eacron, Penn'a. Easton, Pa.: Easton Sentinel, 1903.
" 'Rivermont' House Restoration by the LHF." Lynch's Feny. Fallminter 1998: 16-20.
Rivermont Letters (MS1621). Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
"Rivermont to be Saved from Ruin and Loss." Viewfrom the Terrace (Lynchburg Historical
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
p
Page -&
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
Foundation newsletter) vol. 16 no. 1 (Spring 1997): 1-2.
Specifications for the construction of Rivermont, ca. 1852 (copy at Lynchburg Historical
Foundation, Lynchburg, and transcribed In McDonald, "Architectural Investigation of
Rivermont").
"The Stabilization of 'Rivermont.'" Typescript, 1997.
United States Census. Microfilm at Roanoke Public Library, Roanoke, Va.
Wells, John E., and Robert E. Dalton. Thc Wrginia Architects. 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dim'onary. Richmond, Va.: New South ArchitecW Press, 1997.
Wood, Eveline J., to Mr. Carroll. Letter, June 22, 1996.
Yancey, Rosa Faulkner. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, Va.: J. W. Fergusson, 1935.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
JQ Page 1
7
Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated parcel, an area of approximately one acre located at 205 F Street, is described
in City of Lynchburg Deed Book 1017 p. 856 (November 4, 1997) as follows:
Beginning at a point on the northwest side of "F" Street % feet from the intersection of
Cabell and "F" Streets, and running thence in a line nearly parallel with Cabell Street 159
feet in the direction of "G" Street; thence nearly at right angles 25-112 feet in the
direction of Withers Street; thence nearly at right angles and parallel with Cabell Street
78-112 feet in the direction of "G"Street; thence nearly at right angles 3 feet in the
direction of Cabell Street; thence nearly at right angles 32-112 feet in the direction of "G"
Street; thence at right angles and parallel with "G" Street 1% feet to Withers Street;
thence with the southwest line of Withers Street 90.2 feet in the direction of "F" Street
to a 30 foot alley; thence nearly at right angles and along the line of said alley % feet
in the direction of Cabell Street; thence nearly at right angles 167 feet in the northwest
line of "F"Street; and thence with the said line of "F"Street 132 feet in the direction of
Cabell Street to the point of beginning.
Boundary Justification
The nominated parcel contains the principal contributing resource, the Rivermont house, plus an
associated wall along F Street in front of the house.
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1, Name of Property
historic name
Rivermont
otheroameslsitenumber
VDHRsite.no. 118-0203
2. Location
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
not for publication NIA
205 F Street
Lynchburg
code
VA
Lynchburg (Independent City)
county
code
680
vicinity N/A
zip axk 24%
3. StatelFederal A ~ e n c yCertification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that
tbis X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the ~ a t i & dRegister of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property
recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide X
-locally. ( - See
continuntion sheet for additional comments.)
cf
3/2 p/x,
Q
d
Date
In
my opinion, the property -meets
for additional comments .)
d m not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
Signature of commenting or other officiallTitle
Date
SaDeaFalpr;la&mcydburau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in lthe NationaI Register.
See continuation sheet.
determined eHgibIe for the National Register.
See continuation
sheet,
-determined not eligible for the National Register.
-removed from the National Register.
-other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
-1
u w box- a
X private
-
- public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
'category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
I~oa*.xebm)
Imakt&pmauh~-Uaemu)
building(s)
-district
- site
-structure
- object
Contributing
_ZI_
Name of related multiple property listing
(W.N/A'if~osnismpnd.mIUpkpo~m~.)
Noncontributing
0
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buildings
sites
structures
objects
2
Q
Total
I
0
1
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
lerraa*rba-l
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CatekVr~
Subcategory
clwWY
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
WORK IN PROGRESS
Subcategory
Architechual Classification
Materials
(El.-h-)
l ~ o c l . r i r m ~ l
Greek Revival
foundation
walls
Brick
Wood
roof
other
Metal
Stucco
Narrative Description
lDLPI.h~ldSy.d~d~-~~..~-~om(.~i.-.)
S. Statement of Sienificance
Applicable kational Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
i M m t ' . ' O ~ a r a o . b o . . f a * ~ ~ ~ l
(Hlt'X'ia.Jl*amnM.wh.)
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
( E r r uepma fra msnaim)
1852-1904
ARCHITECTURE
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND IXXELOPMENT
Significant Dates
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
(Cmpkir-Bb&,bm)
r.
Hutter. Edward Sixtus
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Em&-dtkpopanmeammdoa.)
Bibliography
l C ~ * b m b , m f * l , u O o d a - ~ i a ~ m h o a r a - ~ r * a )
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
-preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
-previously Listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National
Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings S w e y
dl
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
#
Primary location of additional data:
X,State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
- Federal agency
-Local government
- University
-Other
Name of repository:
( S P A I h 4 o d d m ~ I I ) C ~ )
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 1
Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
Rivermont is a two-story Greek Revival frame house completed in 1852. The south-facing house
has weatherboard siding under asphalt shingles (the latter are in the process of removal) and is
covered by a metal-sheathed hip roof. The foundation is brick with a later stucco rendering
scored to imitate ashlar. The chimneys too were brick; some portions of them had collapsed into
the house in recent years, and most of the remaining brickwork has been removed prior to
restoration. A one-story front porch replaces an earlier porch in the same location; a one-story
back porch is missing. The two-room-deep center-passage-plan interior features high-ceilinged
rooms of generous proportions. Walls and ceilings have plain plaster finishes, door and window
openings have molded surrounds, and doors are four-panel. Surviving original mantels have
simple Greek Revival pilaster-and-frieze compositions although some have battered jambs with
eared friezes. Rivermont is in a poor state of repair both inside and out, but work undertaken
by Rivermont House, Inc. since 1997 has served to stabilize the house prior to a planned
restoration as a house museum.
Note: the description sections of this nomination are based in part on the author's investigations
and in part on a report entitled "Architectural Investigation of Rivermont" prepared by Travis
McDonald and participants in the 1998 Jefferson's Poplar Forest Restoration Field School. For
a more detailed account of the physicai fabric the reader should refer to the McDonald report.
Inventory
1. Rivermont. Ca. 1852. Contributing building.
2. Wall and walkway. Mid-19th through early 20th c. Contributing structufe.
Exterior
A number of Rivermont's exterior features are Greek Revival in character. Wrapping around all
four elevations is a dent2 cornice; a similar cornice once decorated the front porch. Large
tripartite windows with battered and slightly peaked surrounds dominate the front elevation, and
one is used on the rear elevation. These have central six-over-six sash flanked by sidelight-like
two-over-two sash. Windows on the other elevations are six-over-six sash, although most of the
first-story windows have been covered with plywood to secure the building. The front entq is
contained within a battered and eared surround and features a four-panel door, a transom with
gridded muntins, and sidelights with original panels underneath but replacement panes (although
the mortises of the former muntins remain).
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page 2
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (continued)
Surviving from the original front porch are tapered rectangular-section pilasters with Tower of
the Winds capitals. The present porch is a modern replacement with a gable roof, square wood
posts, and wood steps. The porch stands on poured-concrete piers in the locations of earlier brick
ones. A one-story porch, apparently with bathrooms at its ends, formerly extended nearly from
comer to comer on the rear elevation. This porch replaced an earlier one at the same location.
The foundation is constructed of common-bond brickwork set in a reddish lime mortar with
pencilled flush joints under later cement-based stucco. The basement was well lit by eight-overeight sash windows. The basement is set into a perimeter well with concrete and flagstone paving
and a concrete retaining wall that may incorporate some earlier brickwork. The roof preserves
evidence of a balustrade on its southern edge. A notable feature is a blind or false window on
the second-story west elevation between the two internal chimneys.
Interior
Rivermont features a conventional two-room-deep center-passage plan originally with a more
unusual subdivision of the first-floor rear east mom into a bathing room, dressing room, and
passage. The house is built with circular-sawn lumber joined with cut nails and mortise-and-tenon
joints. The plaster wall finishes adhere to split lath and bea~evidence of historic paint and
wallpaper. Floors are wood. Doors are typically four-panel hung on butt hinges with iron,
porcelain, and pottery knobs. There are a few two-panel doors. Affixed to several first-floor door
surrounds are decorative iron brackets for former light fixtures (perhaps kerosene).
A broad two-run stair rises in the center passage. The stair has low risers, turned balusters, and
a turned newel with an unusual form at its base. The spandrel is plaster and lath. Throughout the
house are Greek Revival mantels, some with plain pilaster and frieze compositions, others with
battered and eared surrounds. There are at least two colonnetted mantels dating from the turn of
the twentieth century, one formerly with a mirrored overmantel. The fireplaces are mostly
missing on account of the collapse or removal of the chimneys. Between the first-story southwest
(front) and northwest (back) rooms are large paneled pocket sliding doors. The three tripartite
windows on the fust floor have tripartite paneled aprons, and the six-over-six windows also have
paneled aprons. The fm-floor northeast room preserves traces of its original division into a
bathing room, dressing room, passage, and secondary stair.
Two-panel doors are typical on the second floor, and there are tongue-and-groove closets next
to the chimneys--apparently a late-nineteenth-century addition. L i e the first floor the second
floor has a center-passageplan, although the original arrangement is somewhat obscured by late-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 Page L
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (continued)
twentieth-century partitions. Common rafters and pipes for former ceiling-mounted gas light
fixtures in the room below are visible in the unfdshed attic. The center-passage plan of the
basement reflects the upper stories. One of the rooms contains a Greek Revival mantel with a
battered and eared swround. Other features include two-panel doors, plain baseboards, and
plaster and lath finishes applied to the brick walls.
Site Description
Rivermoa occupies an L-shaped parcel located in the block formed by F, G, Cabell and
Norwood stnets in Lynchburg's Daniel's Hill neighborhood. The lot slopes towards F Street on
the south side and is fronted by a stone retaining wall and a sidewalk paved with vitrified
patterned bricks. The wall is faced with randomly coursed stonework and has an irregular stone
coping. Curved cheeks terminating in low stone piers flank a set of poured-concrete steps that
rise to a late-nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century concrete walkway leading to the front entry.
Running parallel to the walk on either side of it is a double line of flagstones (possibly gneiss)
set on edge and protruding incompletely from the ground. This edging appears to have been
associated with the original walkway.
The concrete walkway widens into a semicircle at the base of the present porch steps and abuts
two concrete bases that formerly supported the newel posts of the porch steps as they were
configured in the 1930s. Several flagstone pavers and curious curved indentations in the concrete
suggest remnants of an earlier arrangement. Near the house are a large deciduous tree, remnants
of concrete walkways, and other masonry remains possibly associated with former buildings. A
sidewalk paved with large flagstones extends along the Norwood Street exposure. The other
parcels on the block, all smaller than the one on which Rivermont stands, are occupied primarily
by two-story Victorian dwellings of frame and brick construction. These would be contributing
resources within the Daniel's Hill Historic District.
Integrity Statement
Rivermont possesses a relatively high degree of architectural integrity considering the neglect it
has suffered in recent decades. The principal substantive losses to the exterior are the roof
balustrade (missing since before the mid-1930s) and the front and back porches. However,
sufficient photographic and architectural evidence survives to reconstruct the front porch, and the
roof balustrade may be modeled on the design by William Ranlett that inspired it. The interior
plan and architectural features are largely intact, although there are a number of partitions,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 1Page A
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Description (coatinued)
kitchen and bathroom fixtures, and wall finishes left over from when the house was divided into
apartments in the late twentieth century, and most mantels have been detached from their walls
as a consequence of the removal of deteriorated chimneys. Noncontributing fabric will be
removed during the restoration planned for the house, the chimneys and porches wilt be rebuilt,
and as much as possible the house will be restored to its on@ appearance under professional
guidance.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _8 Page _5_
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
"The view from this house is the most extensive and beautiful one that I remember anywhere,"
wrote a visitor to Rivermont in 1852, shortly after its completion. Judge William Daniel Jr., a
leading citizen of nineteenth-century Lynchburg, Virginia, sited his Greek Revival-style villa to
afford views of the James River and the bustling heart of the city. Rivermont was considered
"eminently adapted for a summer residence" on account of its capacious rooms and the unusually
large win&ws that provided light and ventilation to the interior. in building the house contractois
Bailey and Lanahan adapted details from William Ranlett's The Amerim Architect, including
r the Winds columns. After the Civil War Rivermont was acquired
a front portico with ~ o w e of
by businessman and civil engineer Major Edward S. Hutter, who followed Judge Daniel's lead
in developing the Daniel's Hill neighborhood around the house (today listed in the National
Register of Historic Places), and whose latex Rivermont Company ranked as the city's foremost
land development company at the end of the century. Although Rivermont suffered from neglect
in recent decades, it has been acquired by The Rivermont House, Inc., which plans a careful
restoration of the home to its antebellum grandeur.
Applicable Criteria
Rivermont is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area
of architecture for the quality of its surviving exterior and interior finishes, as described in the
summary and historical background. The property is also eligible under Criterion B in the area
of community planning and development for its association with W i a m Daniel Jr. and Edward
S. Hutter, who were instrumental in the early development of the Daniel's Hill Historic District,
and who contributed to the growth of Lynchburg in other respects. The period of significance
extends from the apparent date of completion for the house in 1852 through the death of Edward
S. Hutter in 1904. Rivermont is eligible at the local level of sigruticance. Information in support
of designation appears throughout the report.
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals and organizations assisted in the preparation of this report. The
nomination was sponsored by The Rivermont House, Inc. with logistical support from the
Lynchburg Historical Foundation, represented by Heidi F. James and A. Cabell Crowther.
Others who provided assistance included Rachel Deddens, Cissy Holton, and Betsy Johnson of
the Lynchburg Historical Foundation; librarian Susan Pillow of Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg; Langhome Hutter Meem of Richmond; and architectural historian S. Allen Chambers
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Page _b
Section number 1
Statement of Significance (continued)
Jr. Staff members of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources who assisted the project
included June Ellis, Marc Wagner, and Jack Zehmer.
Historical Background
Rivermont was built for Judge William Daniel Jr. (1806-1873) and his second wife, Elizabeth
Hannah Cabell (1811-1892), soon after the couple's marriage in 1850. Daniel was the son of
William Daniel Sr., a renowned jurist and legislator, and Margaret Baldwin Daniel. The junior
Daniel was a graduate of Hampden-Sidney College and the University of Virginia, where he
received a degree in law. According to his biographer and son-in-law Don P. Halsey Jr., Daniel
established himself in Lynchburg where "Hispowers as a speaker and advocate soon attracted
notice, and his position among the leaders of the bar in his section became assured." Daniel's
legal style differed markedly from his father's despite the fact they shared the same name,
according to Halsey. "The father wielded a mighty banle-axe, with which he dealt fierce and
ponderous strokes, as he bore down with resistless force upon the point before him. The son
fought with a delicate but trenchant rapier, whose keen and brightly flashing blade sought out
the heart of the adversary's cause and exposed its fallacies. "'
In 1831, at age twenty-four, Daniel was elected to the state legislature, beginning his term at the
height of the slavery debates that followed the Nat Turner insurrection. Daniel served four terms
in the General Assembly and in 1846 he was elected to the state's Supreme Court of Appeals
where he served until 1865. Lynchburg historian W. Asbury Christian wrote in 1900: "[Daniel's]
great legal acquirements and the soundness of his judicial opinions gave his decisions a place
with the foremost in the records of Virginia." Daniel also benefitted his adopted city as a vicepresident of the Lynchburg Primary School Association and as a delegate to the railroad
convention that eventually gave rise to the Lynchburg-based Virginia & Tennessee Railroad.'
In 1840 William Daniel Jr. acquired the acclaimed Federal-style house Point of Honor, located
on a hillside overlooking downtown Lynchburg across Blackwater Creek, and the following year
he manied his first wife, Sarah Ann Wanvick. Sarah died in 1845 or 1846, but she lived long
enough to bear a son, John Wanvick Daniel, who like his father and grandfather before him went
-
Halsey, "Judge William Daniel Jr.," 1-6.
' Ibid., 6-9; Christian, Lynchburg and Its People, 94, 140-141
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number -&
Page 7
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
on to a distinguished career in public life. At the time of his first wife's death, William Daniel
Jr. owned 800 acres or more in the vicinity of Point of Honor, and in 1848 he sold the house
and two acres. Daniel sold off portions of his landholdings over the next several years, setting
in motion the early development of the Daniel's Hill neighborhood. The development had a
distinctly upper-class character in its early years and numbered at least six "substantial houses"
by the Civil War. In 1850 Daniel married a second time, to Elizabeth Hannah Cabell, and the
couple made plans to add their own villa to Daniel's Hill.>
According to well-attested tradition, Elizabeth Daniel named her and her new husband's house
Rivermont "because of the superb view of the mountains and of the river that could be seen from
it. " William Daniel hired the Lynchburg contracting firm Bailey and Lanahan to build the house,
M
which combined elements from William Ranlett's late-1840s designs in The A ~ ? ~ ' c Architect
with standard Virginia features (see architectural analysis below). The house was ready for
occupancy when William's sister Elvira Ellet visited in March 1852. Elvira's correspondence to
her husband, nationally recognized engineer Charles Ellet Jr., are presaved at the University of
Michigan, and coupled with a collection of letters at Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg they
provide many details on living arrangements at the house during its fm decade.'
On her arrival in Lynchburg Elvira penned a glowing description of Rivermont. "The view from
this house is the most extensive and beautiful one that I remember anvwhere." sEe wrote to her
husband. A few days later she repeated her praise of the "magnificent; views'and added that the
house was:
"Very pretty and convenient, and exceedingly cheerful, having so much light from the
numerous large windows in all the rooms. The greatest defect is, that it is built for the
summer time, or for a very warm climate. Just now it is very comfortable with large
wood fires in all the rooms we use, and fust rate servants to keep all in order."
All was not well in the Daniel household, however. William and his new wife experienced deep
Harris, "Descriptionsof Point of Honor," Appendix F; Loth, Virginia L m a h h Register,
255.
' Halsey,
"Judge William Daniel, Jr.," 14; "Specifications for Rivermont House" from
McDonald, "Architectural Investigatioa of Rivermont, " 28-29.
United States Department of the Lnterior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page A.
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
marital difficulties. Elvira wrote: "Poor brother--there is something sad & strange in his
condition. He has this beautiful home, lovely children, a wife long sought & loved, and yet he
has no enjoyment of any of these things. I do not at all understand his position with regard to
his wife--there is some mystery about it."'
Elizabeth and William apparently reached an understanding for they remained together until his
death. In August 1857 Elizabeth's half-sister Mrs. L. E. Carringtoo visited and declared
Rivermont comfortable in the warm weather. "There is a constant breeze sweeping over the hill,"
she wrote, "and the house, with its capacious and numerous windows, seems eminently adapted
for a summer residence." Mrs. Carrington also made a detailed account of her daily routine at
Rivermont:
"I join the family at the breakfast table every morning (often after a quiet hour in the
sitting room with Mamma) frequently remaining down stairs [until late morning]. I then
repair to my room, exchange my dress for a cool white wrapper, take up an agreeable
book and then betake myself to the sofa--upon which, I & the hours very pleasantly
away, until it grows cool in the evening--when I again join them down stairs--not often
to stay long however as, most generally, I go out with sister [?I on a drive. "6
The life of leisure at antebellum Rivermont was supported by the labor of slaves and others. In
1852 Daniel was taxed for thirty-two slaves aged seventeen and above and two between the ages
of twelve and sixteen, and according to the 1860 federal census he owned forty-one slaves.
Daniel also employed free labor; by Spring 1852 he had hired an Irish gardener to put the
grounds around Rivermont in order. Daniel's household slaves would have worked in
outbuildings located on the grounds. The contract with Bailey and Lanahan makes reference to
a kitchen and smokehouse; these may have been the pair of buildings that show up on the 1877
Gray map of Lynchburg, which were located off Rivermont's east side. The front or south unit
of this pair is represented as a two-story gabled building in Edward Beyer's 1855 view of
Lynchburg and possibly as a hiproofed building with an interior chimney in the more crudely
rendered Peticolas sketch of Lynchburg's waterfront (both views appear in Chambers,
Lynchburg: An Architecntrul History). The Gray map shows two smaller buildings located on the
' Elvira D. Ellet to Charles Ellet Jr.,
March 8 and 10, 1852, in the Charles Ellet Jr. papers.
Letter written by Mrs. L. E. Carrington from Rivermod, August 1857, Rivermont letters.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _B Page 9
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Norwood Street exposure; deeds from the 1860s and 1870s make reference to Daniel's ice house
and the "Ice House Road," and Mrs. Carrington mentioned a cistern that in July 1859 was "in
want of rain . . . for this is a very thirsty hill."'
Pictorial sources are in somewhat more agreement in their depiction of a fence that bounded the
front yard. The best view is a ca. 1880 photograph taken from Rivermont looking south, which
shows in the foreground an elaborate picket fence with intermittent posts and a gate with a
decoratively curved top rail. The Beyer and Peticolas views appear to show the same fence or
an earlier version of it. The Beyer view shows several small trees scattered around the front
yard, perhaps the ones that Elvira Ellet noted in 1852 had been "planted out" and not yet grown.
The ca. 1880 photograph shows fairly large evergreens at the southern end of the front yard,
framing the view towards the downtown and the river, and a 1930s photograph of the front of
the house shows large magnolias at its two corners.'
After the Civil War William Daniel returned to private practice and to a continuation of his real
estate ventures on Daniel's Hill. In 1871 the brothers E. S. and J. R. H u m prepared a "map
of Judge William Daniel's Estate showing subdivisions under several surveys" and a lot sale was
held in April 1872. During the post-war period Daniel's son, John Warwick Daniel (1842-1910),
began his career in Virginia's political arena where he rose from state legislator to gubernatorial
candidate (in 1881, he lost) to five-term U.S. senator?
The E. S. Hutter involved in the Daniel's Hill neighborhood in the early 1870s was Major
' Campbell County tax records; 1860 federal census, Campbell County slave schedules, p.
45; Elvira D. Ellet to Charles Ellet Jr., March 15, 1852, in the Charles Ellet Jr. papers; "Gray's
New Map of Lynchburg;" Chambers, Lynchhug: An Archirecrural History, 132, 150; Lynchburg
Circuit Court Deed Book Y, p. 271, and Deed Book 2, pp. 198-199; and letter written July 22,
1859 from Rivermont, Rivermont letters.
Chambers, Lynchburg:AnArchitecruml History, 132,150; "'Rivermont' House Restoration
by the LHF," 16-17 (ca. 1880 and 1930s photographs). The perspective of the ca. 1880
photograph makes it difficult to tell with c&ty
that the fence portrayed is Rivermont's front
yard fence, although this is the most likely interpretation,
Lynchburg Circuit Court chancery case #3473-36.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _S Page _UL
Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Edward Sixtus Hutter (1839-1904), a prominent civil engineer and real estate developer in
Lynchburg in the late nineteenth century. "Ned" Huner was born at the Sandusky plantation in
Campbell County in 1839 to Pennsylvania native George Christian Hutter and Haniet James
Risque Hutter, originally of Botetourt County. In 1859 Hutter graduated from the Virginia
Military Institute, where he had pursued studies in civil engineering and mining, and enrolled
in the law curriculum at the University of Virginia the following year. At Charlottesville he
formed a company of students at the outbreak of the Civil War and served as its captain. In the
Confederate army he attained the rank of Major of Artillery, serving most of the war as head of
the Confederate arsenal at Danville, Vuginia.lo
After the war Hutter settled with his wife Nannie Langhorne Hutter (1842-1907) at the family's
Sandusky estate and became active in the business life of the nearby city of Lynchburg. Hutter
acquired the Rivermont house in 1876, although he may not have gained clear title to the
property until a decade or more later. At least one m e has the Hutters living in the house in
1874, perhaps as renters. Beginning in the 1870s Hutter was involved in the development of the
Danielstown neighborhood surrounding Rivermont, now a major part of the Daniel's Hill
Historic Diseict."
Major Hutter is best remembaed as a driving force behind the Rivamont Company, the largest
land company of the city's 1880s-1890s boom era. Founded in 1890 and named after the house
Rivermont, the company controlled 7,000 contiguous acres adjoining Lynchburg on the
northwest. Unlike its principal competitor, the West Lynchburg Company, which was capitalized
by Northern financial interests although lead initially by Lynchburger John Warwick Daniel, the
Rivermont Company was run principally by local businessmen. Charles M. Blackford served as
president, and Hutter surveyed and platted the company lands with curdhear streets adapted to
the topography, the first imprtant departure from the city's century-long tradition of orthogonal
planning and one of the first applications of cudinear subwban planning in the nation,
according to architectmd historian S. Allen Chambers. Hutter's other major contribution was
' Reeder, Record of the Family and Descendants of Colonel QvisrianJacob Hutter, 12-13;
Yancey, Lynchbwg and its Neighbors, 339; and Lynchburg News, June 23, 1904. One account
states that Hutter was born in Lynchburg.
Lynchburg Deed Book 00, p. 215; Lynchburg Doify Virginian, September 6, 1877; and
Lynchburg News, June 23, 1904.
l1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
1
Section number A Page 1
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
the planning and construction of the Rivermont Bridge, which linked the development to the city
core. Hutter's obituary credited the bridge to his "personal effort," but the Rivermont Company's
chief engineer, R. Taylor Gleaves, apparently shared in its constructi~n.'~
A year after its formation the Rivermont Company began to experience difficulties, and in 1893
it went into receivership. A similar fate was experienced by most of the other ambitious and
highly speculative development schemes of the era, in Lynchburg and throughout western
Virginia, but far from vanishing without a trace the Rivermont development provided lasting
benefits to Lynchburg. Today the area is esteemed the "most desirable residential area in the
city," and Randolph-Macon Woman's College, attracted to the development during the boom,
remains a prestigious Lynchburg institution. For his part Hutter returned to the mining focus of
his college days, and with his son Edward Risque Hutter he developed iron mines in Pittsylvania
County, the work he was engaged in at the time of death in 1904. The Lynchburg News
memorialized Edward Sixtus Hutter with a lengthy obituary that included the tribute "His great
business sagacity and intelligence was recognized and admitted by all who h e w him. "I3
Edward and Nannie Huaer had thirteen children, several of whom died in infancy but the
majority of whom were raised at Rivermont. In addition to her household duties Nannie Hutter
authored a number of magaziae articles and a book of poetry, published in 1898. Nannie died
in 1907, and Rivermont passed to her son and daughter E. Risque and Edna Hutter. The house
was sold out of the Hutter family in 1909 and went through a succession of owners, among them
Ella Collins, who owned it from 1912 to 1925, and Hanis Hoppenstein, who owned it from
1940to 1%1. The house remained in good condition in the mid-1930s when it was photographed
by Frances B. Johnson as partof a New Deal initiative to document the nation's architectural
heritage, but in later years it was divided into apartments and its condition declined."
" Chambers, Lynchburg: An Architectural History, 302-305; Lynchburg News, June 23,
1904; and Elson, "Boom & Bust," 13-14.
"
Chambers, Lynchbwg: An Architectural History, 306-307; Lynchburg News, June 23,
1904.
Article dated June (3 or 4), 1907, in unidentified Lynchburg newspaper; "Research on
Deed--Rivermont--205 F St.," manuscript in the possession of Rivermont House, Inc.; and "A
Case for the Preservation of Rivermont."
"
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Page 1
2
Statement of Significance (continued)
In 1997 the Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority gained title to the property and
donated it to The Rivermont House, Inc., a non-profit corporation formed under the aegis of the
Lynchburg Historical Foundation to "acquire, preserve, restore, maintain and interpret Rivermont
as one of Lynchburg's most valuable historical assets." Rivermont House, Inc.. has commenced
the documentation &d stabilization of the house in preparation for its restoration by 2005. Plans
are for the house to function as a house museum in conjunction with Point of Honor, located
nearby; Rivermont would interpret Lynchburg history from the mid- and late 1800s, whereas the
focus at Point of Honor is on the early nineteenth century. The restoration of Rivermont is also
envisioned as a boost to revitalization in the Daniel's Hill neighborhood."
Architeehual Analysis
Rivermont combines elements from designs by pattern book architect William H. Ranlett with
features that were standard in large Virginia houses of the period. William Daniel Jr.'s contract
with his builders, Bailey and Lanahan, specifies the primary source of the house design: Ranlett's
Design No. 26, an "Italian Bracketed Villa," in volume two of his book The Architect: A Series
of Original Designs, Domestic and Ornamental Cottages and W l h Connected with Landscape
Ganlening, A w e d to the United States, which was published in several editions and under
different titles from 1849 to 1854. The contract called for Rivermont's roof-top balustrade,
cornice, front porch columns, front entry sidelights, and various windows to be modelled on the
Ranlett design.16
As built the house differed in important respects from Ranlett's Design No. 26. Ranlett's design
showed an entry hall with a side extension containing the stair; Rivermont has instead a more
conventional center passage with a center staircase. The front porch in Ranlett's design has
Corinthian columns, whereas Rivermont's are modeled on the columns of the Tower of the
Winds, built in classical Athens. Tower of the Winds columns are portrayed in Ranlett's book
but in another design, suggesting that Rivermont's builders mined the book for details rather than
adhering solely to Design No. 26. Architectural historians Travis McDonald and Ed Polk
Douglas have suggested other sources for certain of the home's details, such as the Wickham
--
I'
"A Case for the Restoration of Rivermont."
l6
McDonald, "Architectud Investigation of Rivermont," 28-29; and Travis McDonald.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number A Page
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
House in Richmond and a Federal-style mansion on Williamsburg's Duke of Gloucester Street."
Rivermont's builders were Samuel A. Bailey and his associate, a Mr. Lanahan. Architectural
historian S. Allen Chambers Jr. describes Bailey as one of antebellum Lynchburg's leading
builders, responsible for the construction of prominent buildings including St. Paul's Episcopal
Church (1850-51) and Second Presbyterian Church (1851-52). After the Civil War, Bailey
sometimes described himself as an architect in addition to a builder. At Rivermont Bailey and
Lanahan employed balloon frame construction for the sections of house wall behind the chimney
piles, and perhaps elsewhere. Slender, circular-sawn studs rise uninterrupted two stories from
the first-floor sill to the second-floor plate, to which they attach with mortise-and-tenon joints.
Since most frame construction of the periodemployed heavy timber-framing, Rivermont appears
to represent an e d y use of the new building technology. Also of note is Rivermont's original
"Bathing" room, which was located in one of the rear M-floor spaces, and which evinces a
desire for modernity and comfort."
Ilaniett, The Architect; Travis McDonald personal communication; hod Ed Polk Douglas
presentation.
l7
Chambers, ~~nchburg:
An Architecwal History, 131, 164, 167, and 212-213; Wells and
Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 15.
I'
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
p
Page 1
4
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baber, Lucy H. M., et al, c0mp.s. Mam'ages and Deathfrom Lynchburg, Virginia Newspapers,
17941836. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.
"A Case for the Preservation of Rivermont." Promotional brochure produced by The Rivermont
House, Inc., ca. 1998.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.:
The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
. Personal communication with author, Washington, D.C., March 1998.
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Company,
Printers, 1900.
Crowther, A. Cabell. Personal communication, Lynchburg, Va., March 1998.
Dabney, ~i&inius. Virginia, The New Dominion. Charlottesville: The University Press of
Virginia, 1971.
Douglas, Ed Polk. Presentation on Rivermont and its architectural context, Lynchburg,
November 1998.
Ellet, Charles, Jr., Papers. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi. (copies at Lynchburg
Historical Foundation, Lynchburg, Va.).
Elson, James M. "Boom and Bust in the Burg." Lynch's Feny. Fall~Winter1998: 10-15.
Graves, Tom, Jr. Photographs of Kivermont, June 9, 1997. Collection of the Lynchburg
Historical Foundation, Lynchburg, Va.
"Gray's New Map of Lynchburg." 1877. Collection of the Lynchburg Historical Foundation,
Lynchburg, Va.
Harris, Martha Terrell. "Descriptions of Point of Honor from the Charles Ellet, Jr. Papers,
1837- 1861. " Report for the Point of Honor Board of Managers, Lynchburg, Va., 1992.
James, Heidi F. Personal communication with author, Lynchburg, 1998 and 1999.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Rivermont
Lynchborg, Va.
Section number 9 Page _1L
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
. "Rivermont--Purpose and Use." Typescript (draft), 1998.
Lawrence, A. W. Greek Architeclure. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1957.
Lloyd, Richard B., and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg, A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach,
Va.: The Donning Company/Publishers, Inc., 1975.
Loth, Calder, ed. The Virginia LandmarRs Register. Third edition. Charlottesville, Va.:
University Press of Virginia, 1986.
Lynchburg, City of, Circuit Court deed records. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg Daily Virginian (Lynchburg, Va.).
The Lynchburg News (Lynchburg, Va.).
McDonald, Travis. "Architectural Investigation of Rivermont. " Typescript report, 1999.
. Personal communication with author, Bedford County, 1998 and 1999.
The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.).
Pezzoni, J. Daniel. "Judge William J. Robertson House." National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 1999.
Ranlett, William H. l
k Architect, a Series of Original Designs. New Yo*:
Davenport, 1951.
Dewitt &
Reeder, Frank, comp. Record of the Family and Descendanrs of Colonel Chrisnsnan
Jacob Huner
of Eacron, Penn'a. Easton, Pa.: Easton Sentinel, 1903.
" 'Rivermont' House Restoration by the LHF." Lynch's Feny. Fallminter 1998: 16-20.
Rivermont Letters (MS1621). Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
"Rivermont to be Saved from Ruin and Loss." Viewfrom the Terrace (Lynchburg Historical
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
p
Page -&
Rivermont
Lynchburg, Va.
Major Bibliographical References (continued)
Foundation newsletter) vol. 16 no. 1 (Spring 1997): 1-2.
Specifications for the construction of Rivermont, ca. 1852 (copy at Lynchburg Historical
Foundation, Lynchburg, and transcribed In McDonald, "Architectural Investigation of
Rivermont").
"The Stabilization of 'Rivermont.'" Typescript, 1997.
United States Census. Microfilm at Roanoke Public Library, Roanoke, Va.
Wells, John E., and Robert E. Dalton. Thc Wrginia Architects. 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dim'onary. Richmond, Va.: New South ArchitecW Press, 1997.
Wood, Eveline J., to Mr. Carroll. Letter, June 22, 1996.
Yancey, Rosa Faulkner. Lynchburg and its Neighbors. Richmond, Va.: J. W. Fergusson, 1935.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
JQ Page 1
7
Rivermont
Lynchburg. Va.
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated parcel, an area of approximately one acre located at 205 F Street, is described
in City of Lynchburg Deed Book 1017 p. 856 (November 4, 1997) as follows:
Beginning at a point on the northwest side of "F" Street % feet from the intersection of
Cabell and "F" Streets, and running thence in a line nearly parallel with Cabell Street 159
feet in the direction of "G" Street; thence nearly at right angles 25-112 feet in the
direction of Withers Street; thence nearly at right angles and parallel with Cabell Street
78-112 feet in the direction of "G"Street; thence nearly at right angles 3 feet in the
direction of Cabell Street; thence nearly at right angles 32-112 feet in the direction of "G"
Street; thence at right angles and parallel with "G" Street 1% feet to Withers Street;
thence with the southwest line of Withers Street 90.2 feet in the direction of "F" Street
to a 30 foot alley; thence nearly at right angles and along the line of said alley % feet
in the direction of Cabell Street; thence nearly at right angles 167 feet in the northwest
line of "F"Street; and thence with the said line of "F"Street 132 feet in the direction of
Cabell Street to the point of beginning.
Boundary Justification
The nominated parcel contains the principal contributing resource, the Rivermont house, plus an
associated wall along F Street in front of the house.
Text
OMB No. lM4-0018
E x p . 10-31-8rl
United States Department of t h e Interior
National Park Senice
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
Bn~cgn%oay-NorninaRE~n
Form
received
date entered
See Instructions in: How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
L b k fib# /I&
a}
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWBA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA (Thematic Nomination)
historic
1;CI-C.
L' " H T - ? _ l M u
-
.
and O r common
street & number
city, town
N/A
A
&
,!
ql)
( S e e Continuation S h e e t
not for publication
@
vicinity
I+&of
Lynchburs
Virginia
atate
-
1CL/LC
51
code
county
680
code
(city)
3. C8assification
Category
-district
-building(s)
X
-structure
X site
Ownership
-public
private
X both
-
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
X-,
yes: restricted
-.
yes: unrestricted
-no
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N/A
-object
Present Use
-agriculture
-commerclal
-educational
entertainment
-government
2industrial
-military
Status
L occupied
mu~eum
-
-park
private residence
-religious
-scientific
2.transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
name
Multiple
street & number
city, town
N /A
N/! vicinity of
TJ/A
state
N/A
5. Location of begal Description
courthouse, registry
of deeds, -etc.
--
a
street & number
Lynchburg Ci t y o u--r t h o u s e , Clerk' s Of.-£ice
.
Codrt
-- and Ninth Streets
Lynchburg
city, town
--
-
-
24501
Virginia
state
6. Wepresee?rtatEowin Existing Surveys
~ i s t o r i cAmerican Engineering Record
has this property been
t f i e ~ a w e .Basi
r
n s ~ ~ r v ey,-----
Summer, 1977
date
deposit0ry tor survey records
-. - .
.:,:'I.
<:L'?4
- ..-. -.-...
*
-.
,
-.
,
yes-- E-
X - federal -state
county
-. -. -.*. ..
--
-----
P
.
A
-
--
. .--
--
--
- .
5i3W
-
P
no
-
-- loc~1
Historic American E n g i n e e r i n g Record, L i b r a r y o f Congress
-- -- ------.
-
DC .
.
. - -. .
-. - Washington,
13
determined eligible?
.
-
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
good
Lfair
2deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
- . unaltered
X altered
Check one
X. original site
. moved
date
~ ~ - N D ~--. .--
-
~
~
.
~
- --
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Lynchburg was the terminus of the First Grand Division of the James River and
Kanawha Canal. As the expected center of a great deal of commerce, and as the result
of a number of natural and manmade features which had to be accommodated at the city's
waterfront, Lynchburg was given a number of major components of the work. Only in a
few short stretches through the city did the canal resemble the tranquil waterway with
attendant towpath that characterized its approximately hundred and fifty-mile course
upstream from Richmond. When the first boats arrived in Lynchburg in 1841, the major
portions of the canal in Lynchburg consisted of the Lynchburg Basin (later to be
termed the Lower Basin), a stone bridge carrying Water (now Ninth) Street over the
canal, a major aqueduct over Blackwater Creek, and a dam supplying water both to the
canal and to the city's pumphouse for its own water supply. Only between the aqueduct
and the dam did the waterway assume the traditional appearance of a canal.
Although the canal bed can still be traced and records and plats do exist to
pinpoint the locations of its various original features, a Historic American Engineering
Record survey of the Lower Basin conducted in the summer of 1977 revealed that only a
few of the Lynchburg portions of the long-abandoned canal exist in anything resembling
their original state. Both the Lower Basin and a later Upper Basin survive primarily
in name only--as the traditional designations of the two major centers of the city's
industrial activity on the banks of the James River. Both basins have been filled in,
paved over, or built upon.
In addition to buildings, a number of railroad tracks
crisscross the spaces once occupied by the basins. Only at its upstream end, where
the Lower Basin approached the Ninth Street Bridge, is there a relatively undisturbed,
though filled, remnant of this feature. Only these portions of the canal, that are in
relatively original condition, form components of this thematic nomination.
These
portions are divided into three sections, comespondiqq to the three ncndnated sites:
A.: Upper portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
B: Blackwater Aqueduct
C: Waterworks dam, James River dam and guard locks
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSTS
A:
Upper Portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
In the two-block area from Eleventh to Ninth streets, and between Jefferson
Street and the former Norfolk and Western Freight Depot, portions of the bed of the
canal have been paved for parking while other parts present a grassy, unused stretch
of land. Although the bed of the canal at this point is below the present grade
level, later infill is not as deep as in other sections, and the outlines of this
upper limit of the Lower Basin are easily established. In addition, portions of the
walling on either side are still present.
As noted in the 1977 Lower Basin study
undertaken by the Historic American Engineering Record, a restored section of canal
basin at this point could serve as an interpretive display area, with the possible
recreation of loading facilities and a packet boat. However, a major city sewer line
runs just below grade through this portion of the canal bed, and unless it can be
relocated, any rewatering of the basin would have to be very shallow. This stretch of
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
Sianif icance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1 899
-1900-
S ~ e c i f i cdates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape
architecturereligion
-archeology-historlc
conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
literature
-sculpture
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
X engineering
-music
humanitarian
-art
2commerce
-explorationlsettiement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
2industry
-politicslgovernment _K transportation
-other (specify)
-invention
1836-1882
BuilderIArchitect
Charles Ellet, Engineer
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The James River and Kanawha Canal was one of the nation's major commercial and
transportation arteries during the mid-19th century. Lynchburg was the terminus of
the "First Grand Division," which extended 146) miles from the Richmond basin to a
feeder dam just above Lynchburg. This section was opened to traffic in December 1840,
and was the only one of the three divisions which was ever completed. During the
1850s, the canal enjoyed its greatest prosperity and assisted in Lynchburg's development
as the major commercial and industrial center of the Piedmont. The canal suffered
some damage late in the Civil War, and during the 1870s was severely harmed by two
disasterous floods. In 1880 the newly organized Richmond and Alleghany Railway Company
was authorized to take over the canal company's property. By 1881, tracks had been
laid on the towpath and trains were running from Richmond through Lynchburg to Clifton
Forge. Although the remains of the Lynchburg portions of the canal have been largely
ignored in the 20th century, three important features still remain: The 9th Street
Bridge and canal right-of-way, Blackwater Aqueduct, and the Scots Mill Dam. Considered
as a thematic group, these sites provide important information on the development of
engineering and transportation technology in the first three-quarters of the 19th
century.
In addition, they are key monuments to the commercial development of the
state as well as tangible reminders of the water power necessary for industrial
development in the 19th century.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The formal organization of the James River and Kanawha Company in 1835 was in
part the culmination cf attempts to improve James River navigation which had beguq
during the previous century. Tn 1785, the Virginia General Assembly created the James
River Company, whose mandate was stated in its act of establishment:
"An Act for
clearing and improving the navigation of James River." Some work was done under the
company's aegis as far as Buchanan. In 1812, the Assembly appointed a commission to
investigate the James from the town of Lynchburg westward and mark out the course of a
turnpike from the headwaters of the James across the mountains to the westward flowing
rivers beyond. Although the commission, which met in Lynchburg, reportedquite favorably
on the prospects, it was not until February 17, 1820, that legislation reorganizing
the James River Company as an agency of the Commonwealth was enacted. Again, a great
deal of work was accomplished, some of it beyond and across the mountains to the west
of Lynchburg.
Nothing affecting the town, or located within its bounds, was built
during the fifteen years the company operated as a state agency, however.
In 1832, the legislature sought to broaden the base of responsibility for the
Commonwealth's major east-west transportation artery by chartering the James River and
(See Continuation Sheet # 3 )
9. Major Bibliographicla1 References
Dunaway, Wayland Fuller. History of the James River and Kanawha Company. New York, 1922.
Druyvesteyn, Kent. "With Great Vision; the James River and Kanawha Canal." Virginia
Cavalcade, 21:3 (Winter, 1 9 7 2 ) .
(See Continuation Sheet
#lo)
10. -GeographicalData
Acreage of nominated property A: 1-1/3 acre
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
. B,
Lyn~Nxlrq,VA
Quadrangle scale
16161416 12 i01 14 11 14 12 13 18 10
Easting
Northing
Zone
less than one acre; C: less than one acre
1
Zone
Northing
DM
LLdLd
l 1 6 1 6 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 0 1 14111413131410]
C
Easting
Ld-LLd
u
F Wu
H Wu
w
~
~Il-l-Ld
l-d-ld
G
W
The site boundaries
Justification:
conform to the areas where above surface canal features are best preserved and best
exemplify the historic context and significance of the canal system within the
(See Continuation Sheet # l o )
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d j u s t i f i c a t i o n Boundary
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/ A
code
countv
N/ A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
I1
-
Form Prenared BY
-
nameltitle
aroanlzation
T. ~ T b s o nHobbs, S. Allen Chambers,
and VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION STAFF
N/A
date
1984
street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
_X-
national
-local
--state
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion In the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated
accordinn to the criteria and ~roceduresset forth by thefieri@ge Conservation and Recreation Service.
-
State
Historic Preservation Officer signature
~-
I
H. Bryan Mitchell, Director
titie VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS
Chief of Registration -
i..,ac.,
$,,,
,
s . 7 2:-
,
.
".
. ;.
,,.,- .; ?:-.
date
. ;ml.j&&+r
.,
.#e;r.c.>.
SeFteldwr 29, 1985
.~.,.
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NPS Fwm 1D.SDO-a
0821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 2 , 7
2.
LOCATION
-
A.
between Jefferson Street and James
Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
River, and between 11th Street and 9th Street.
B.
Aqueduct - between Norfolk and Western Railroad tracks and Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad tracks, crossing Blackwater Creek.
C.
Waterworks Dam and James River Dam and Guard Locks - in grounds of Griffin
Foundry Company at lower end of Daniel's (formerly Cabell's) Island.
James River Dam extends across James River from Lynchburg corporate limits
to northern shore in Amherst County.
Note:
7.
Pagel, 1
DESCRIPTION
See attached copy of 1891 map for additioqal locational references.
-- Architectural Analysis
the canal bed is easily accessible from the business center of Lynchburg, which lies
only two blocks away.
At the upstream end of this part of the canal is the Ninth Street Bridge, the
least changed segment of all.
Although little maintenance has been afforded the
bridqe over the past several decades, it still carries occasional heavy traffic over
the almost fifty-foot wide canal bed. The bridge itself is built of sandstone laid in
rough courses, above an arch of finished three-foot high sandstone voussoirs. It is
flanked by 14-foot long by 10-foot wide by seventeen-foot high stone abutmects. The
bridge itself has a forty-eight-foot span and is thirty-three feet wide.
At its
keystone, the elliptical arch rises seven feet above the springing line of the arch.
The bottom of the canal lies five feet below the springing level. Just beyond the
upstream end of the bridqe, the bed of the canal nas been filled in to a greater
heiqht than dow~lstrearn,and paved over as a parkinc, lot. Thus, only the crown of the
arch is visible from the upstream end. Above the keystone is a finished sandstone
block, set into the wall above the arch. This "signature" stone carries the legend
"BUILT AD 1839 BY J.S. KING."
9:
Blackwater Creek Aqueduct
In the short distance of approximately 300 feet between the Ninth Street Bridge
and the aqueduct, the course of the canal has been completely obliterated. The canal
itself has been covered over, and several railroad tracks have been laid over the
former bed. This area was, in the 1890s, utilized as part of an approach to the Union
Station. Although the station has been demolished, the tracks still remain in active
use.
Just beyond the banks of Blackwater Creek, the course of the canal is again
revealed by the aqueduct. The aqueduct remains consist of four stone piers and two
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 )
NPS Fbrm 10.000-a
R-821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
#2
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page 2
-- Architectural Analysis
abutments, all in various states of completeness and repair. The piers are spaced
about twenty-five feet apart in the creek. The bases are about six feet wide and are
Instead of the
finished with j-round capstones approximately six feet in diameter.
wooden trestle carrying the canal and towpath which they originally supported, they
now serve to carry a steel sewer pipe over Blackwater Creek, near its mouth. Because
of the dense growth along the steep banks of the creek, the aqueduct remains are
visible only from the creek itself, or from the later railroad trestle which crosses
its northwestern end.
During the summerof 1979, a limited amount of archaeological
exploration on the northwestern abutment revealed a small section of the original
wooden trunk timbers still in place.
C:
Waterworks dam, James River dam, and Guard Locks
To the northwest of the aqueduct, the path of the canal can once again be traced,
as many of the now abandoned industrial buildings which once were built alongside
follow the curve which the waterway took at this point.
Although the path can be
traced, this section has also been filled in and the greater portion covered with
railroad tracks or pavement. Within the grounds of the Griffin Foundry, beyond the
line of Seventh Street, was the Upper Basin, now completely lost to sight with later
filling and construction. Almost half a mile above the aqueduct is the third section
of the canal proposed for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
This consists of a variable radius waterworks stone dam between the southern shore of
the James River and the lower tip of Daniel's Island, and the longer, later straight,
dam from the northern shore of the island's tip to the northern bank of the river in
Amherst County.
The entire length of the dam is 200 feet.
Both structures are
constructed of massive stone and rise approximately twenty feet above the riverbed.
Work on the curved dam (the Waterworks dam) was begun in 1836 to replace the old dam
which had been destroyed in a freshet. Although numerous repairs have been made, and
the dam hejghtened. much of the original stonework remains. The larger dam across the
main channel of the rPver was finished carly in 1883, though plans for its construction
had been made much earlier. As the canal had gone into receivership by this time, the
contractor was allowed to take much of the stone of which this dam is built from
earlier canal construction. Also included in this portion of the nominated property
is the stone-lined inlet to the later separate waterway constructed to supply the city
waterworks. Walls of the inlet are constructed of massive blocks of sandstone. It
was at this point, at the waterworks dam, that the First Grand Division of the canal
terminated.
NP5 form 10-0004
(3-82)
OM6 No. 1024-W18
Exe. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page 1
- Historical Background
Kanawha Company as a joint stock corporation, and only after this reorganization would
Lynchburg see tangible evidence of the project.
After adequate subscriptions were
affirmed, the company was officially organized in May 1835. The initial subscription
was 46,718 shares, of which the Commonwealth of Virginia held 30,000. The Corporation
of Lynchburg pledged itself to 5,000. Other corporate contributors were Richmond and
the Bank of Virginia.
By its act of incorporation, the company was given three options to realize its
goal of connecting the James and Kanawha rivers. Options one and two called for a
combination network of canal and railroad. Option three, proposed the construction of
a railroad extending the entire course from Richmond to the Ohio, with no mention of a
canal; hence the fact that nowhere in the corporate name of the company did the work
"canal" appear. The directors, however, decided to undertake a version of their first
option.
Under the plan, a canal would be built from Richmond to Covington, a railroad
would carry traffic over the mountains to the Kanawha, and that river would be cleared
and improved to its confluence with the Ohio.
The construction history of the many components of the canal is well documented
in the annual reports of the company, which were issued from 1835 (No. 1) to 1877-80
(No. 46).
Each report contained a full statement from the company's president, the
first being Joseph C. Cabell, and usually contained as well a complete account of the
work accomplished by the chief engineer and his assistants during that year.
Early in their planning, the directors of the company decided to divide the
construction of their project into three sections, which were termed Grand Divisions.
The first of these, on which initial construction focused, extended from Richmond to
the p~e-existingwaterworks dam just above Lynchburg. The total distance traversed in
this First Gralid Division was 146 45/100 miles, and it was divided further into three
smaller sections. A principal assistant engineer vras appointed to direct the course
of work within each section, under the general supervision of the company's Chief
Engineer. Charles Ellet, Jr. was the assistant appointed to carry out the work on the
third section, which extended from Tye River in Nelson County to the waterworks dam, a
distance of 39 miles.
Ellet, who was soon to be appointed chief engineer, had accomplished his initial
reconaissance of his section in time for his recommendations to be published in the
First Annual Report, which was issued early in 1836.
Beginning at the terminus of the Third Grand Division, the waterworks dam, Ellet
recommended that that structure be heightened by two feet. This would enable the dam
to act as a feeder for the canal, increase the depth of the pond formed upstream, and
would provide a greater force of water to supply the canal downstream. At the time,
however, the waterworks dam extended only from the southern shore of the river to
(See Continuation Sheet # 4 )
NPS Form 10.900-a
13.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet # 4
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
8
Page
2
- Historical Background
Daniel's Island. The main stream of the river, from the island to the northern shore,
continued to flow without impediment.
From the dam to the pumphouse, Ellet suggested that the new canal conform in
location to the pre-existing waterworks canal, but proposed that this section be
increased to a width of sixty feet. This recommendation was made both because he felt
this section, which was already developing as a manufacturing center, would have a
great amount of boat traffic, and because it would increase the availability of water
required by the growing town of Lynchburg. It was necessary, however, to have approval
from the town to accomplish these aims, and on November 16, 1835, the town council
gave its full approval to Ellet's proposals. For its part, the company promised that
the flow of water from the dam to the town's pumphouse would be unobstructed, and
assumed pre-existing contracts between the town and certain manufacturing establishments
concerning the amount of water to be supplied to them. The stretch of the canal from
the dam to the pumphouse eventually came to be known as Lynchburg's Upper Basin, and
continued to be a center of the town's antebellum manufacturers, justifying the
engineer's suggestion that it be made wider than the normal sections. In fact, by
1854, it became necessary to widen the canal into a basin.
Downstream from the
pumphouse, Ellet curved the line of the canal to the south, allowing it to cross
Blackwater Creek at a right angle. Downstream from the aqueduct, the canal assumed a
reverse curve, and again paralleled the course of the river. Approximately 300 feet
from the aqueduct, the canal would pass under Water (now Ninth) Street, one of the
main streets of the town, which led to the single bridge across the James River. The
street would be carried over the canal by a stone bridge, which the company would
construct. After passing Water Street, the canal would once again be widened "into a
convenient and capacious basin." This, the last major canal segment in the town and
originally formed the Lynchburg Basin, would become the Lower Basin, and would become
even more important than the Upper Basin as the major industrial area of pre-Civil War
Lynchburg.
Work on the Lynchburg components of the canal began early in 1836, and in March
of that year Elijah Fletcher, who lived on the hill above the site of the Lower Basin,
noted that crews had begun work below his garden. In June 1836, a freshet damaged the
waterworks dam to the extent that it was almost entirely rebuilt, rather than merely
heightened as Ellet had originally planned.
Meeting in Lynchburg soon after the
flood, the directors decided to let contracts immediately to rebuilt the dam and to
enlarge the existing waterworks canal according to Ellet's proposal. By the time of
the Second Annual Report, issued early in 1837, president Cabell reported that work on
the dam was two-thirds completed. Also printed in this report was a list of property
owners whose lands had been acquired by the canal company, and the amounts paid for
their acquisition.
In the Lynchburg sections, William Daniel received the largest
compensation ($2,800) for the taking of land from his Point of Honor estate. Next in
the amount paid was John Percival, who was to receive $808. Percival, however, was
one of the few property owners who objected to the taking of his land through the
power of condemnation granted by the legislature to the company, and the ensuing
litigation between him and the company caused a long and costly delay.
(See Continuation Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 10.900..
13.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #5
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Item number 8
-
Page 3
Historical Background
Work progressed throughout the length of the First Grant Division during 1837, to
the extent that president Cabell could report that "the contractors and their throngs
of labourers and teams (form) a line almost unbroken of the most lively and cheering
industry for 120 miles."
Some of these laborers were Scotch-Irish stonemasons and
German mechanics, who had been imported by the company.
Cabell also noted in his
statement printed in the Third Annual Report that the contract for the Blackwater
aqueduct had been let and work had commenced on it.
Ellet's report of the progress of construction printed in the Fourth Annual
Report carried the happy announcement that there was "every reason to believe" that
the whole distance of the First Grand Division would be opened to traffic by the end
That pronouncement was not realized, however, and in the Fifth Annual
of 1839.
Report, issued in December of that year, Cabell acknowledged that progress "had been
less rapid than was anticipated."
The reasons, he went on to explain, were both
physical and moral. An unusually hot summer had caused a number of the Irish laborers
to leave and seek employment in the north. In addition, it was announced at a meeting
of the board of directors in July 1839 that salaries would have to be postponed. This
notification resulted in the resignation of "not less than one half of the whole white
force." Cabell gave his opinion that the number would have been even greater had not
the company taken the precaution to furnish the laborers with a supply of "ardent
spirits." Also contributing to the delay was the matter of John Percival's property,
"a space of only 300 yards." It was not until 1840, in fact, that the company was
able to acquire Percival's property and cross it.
Although the canal was not opened by the time the 1839 report was printed, the
major elements of the Lynchburg portion had been completed and were given a full
description by the company's president. Amplifying Ellet's earlier report and beginning
at the downstream portion, Cabell announced that "within the limits of the town (the
canal) is expsnded into a capacious basin 600 feet long and 125 feet wide, supported
by a wall 8 feet high throughout the whole extent of its upper side." This, the Lower
Basin, was separated from the nearby river "by 300 feet of slope wall, averaging 17
feet in height, and' by 500 feet of riprap wall averaging 10 feet high." Above the
basin was the Water Street bridge, which was "built of solid masonry founded on timber
resting upon clay.
The width of this bridge exclusive of the wings is 40 feet,
including the wings 60 feet; thus occupying the whole breadth of the street." Three
hundred feet upstream from the bridge was the completed aqueduct, which "rests upon
two abutments and 4 piers." The president described this important construction in
far greater detail:
The piers are 56 feet loq, 5 feet thick, ad 8f feet high, ad are placed
20 feet apart; thereby M n g the total space k t w x n the abutrrents 120 feet. Cn
the tops of the piers, bth on the lower and uppr sides, paraFets constructed of
stone form foundations for the flooring of the berm and tcw-path aiwve, and sup
p a s for the t-rs
in the sides of the &en
trunk. These parapts are 8
feet thick at tottan and 7 feet 2 inches at top, and 84 feet high; the courses of
msonry as they *re carried up king doelled together with iron pins let three
(See Continuation Sheet #6)
OMB No.1024-0018
NPS ~ A r m10.900-a
13821
€1~.10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES I N LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #6
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 4
H l s t o r l c a l Background
inches into the lower course and tho inches into t h s e aim-; thus preventing any
danger £ran sudden shxks £ran d r i f t wxd i n freshets. The mter-way of the
aqueduct is 35 feet wide a t b t t c m and 36 feet a t top. The b t t a n is fad of
37 tinkers each 1 fcat q u a r e and of various lengths, l a i d close in contact and
resting on the piers and abutEnts. lhese tinkers are also pinned together every
t e n feet of t h e i r length, and kept firm i n place by 90 iron anchors passing d m
on the sides of the piers and sunk 2 feet in the rock of the fourdation. The
sides of the trunk are fonred of t-s
12 inches square laid one upon top of
the other and pinned together, and are f o r t i f i e d on the exterior by 5 strips of
tinter attached to each interval bethe paraFets, each s t r i p being secured
by 3 b l t s passing through it t o the inside of the trunk.
The aqueduct is founded on good rock, and the w n r y , vhich is of the
character of " m k mrk," is wll laid i n hydraulic c e n t . The s t o m was prom e d m the o m s i t e side of t k river, and the wxd ws hauled over land 17
miles.
C a b e l l ' s r e p o r t c o n c l u d e d t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e work which had b e e n a c c o m p l i s h e d
on t h e F i r s t Grand D i v i s i o n w i t h a d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e dam a n d g u a r d l o c k above.
N o t i n g t h a t t h e new dam r e p l a c e d t h e one damaged i n 1 8 3 6 , he s t a t e d t h a t it was:
...constructed of rubble msonry i n the form of an arc of a c i r c l e , the d i e t e r
of whLch is 120 feet and versed sine 20 feet. It is 15 feet high and 12 feet
thick a t the base, and 6 feet on top; the batter on the lower side being 1 inch
to a f a t . The v b l e has k e n covered with gmd coping 6 feet long and 2 feet
thick, secured to one another by iron clamps. lhe a b u a n t s are 38 feet long and
25 feet high, and are of solid mmnry. Tne guard lock is of cut stone, and is
15 feet wide and 164 feet high.
Ihe stone for the roping of the dam was
transover land 13 miles; t h a t for the residue of the dam was cbtdined fran
a quarry on the o p ~ o s i t eside of the river, and that for the guard lock £ran a
short distance up the river.
D u r i n g t h e l a t e summer o f 1840 w a t e r was i n t r o d u c e d i n t o s e c t i o n s o f t h e c a n a l ,
a n d by December, work was a t l a s t c o m p l e t e . On t h e t h i r d o f t h a t month:
...the freight toat General Harrison, accanpanied by a similar b t , tath laden
with rrerchandize fran the c i t y of R i c h n d , entered the basin a t Lynchbwg, and
were received with cheers and acclamtioffi by the inhabitants of the tmm, h o
had a s s d l e d t o witness t h e i r arrival.
Throughout t h e 1 8 4 0 s and 1 8 5 0 s , t h e company's a n n u a l r e p o r t s c i t e d growing r e v e n u e s
a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s o f c o n t i n u o u s c o n s t r u c t i o n t o r e a l i z e t h e i r aim o f c o n n e c t i n g t h e
James and Kanawha r i v e r s .
I n t h e meantime, o t h e r t r a n s p o r t a t i - o n n e t w o r k s were
e s t a b l i s h e d which i n i t i a l l y a i d e d t h e c a n a l , t h o u g h t h e y were u l t i m a t e l y t o a s s i s t i n
i t s demise.
I n 1851, t h e V i r g i n i a and T e n n e s s e e R a i l r o a d had r e a c h e d Salem, a n d l n
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 7 )
NPS Form 10.900-a
U.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES
AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG. VA
.
. -RIVER
Continuation sheet
#7
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 5
Historical Background
1856 the line was completed from Lynchburg to Bristol, on the Virginia-Tennessee
border. The V & T depot was located adjacent to the Water Street bridge of the canal,
and behind it were freight and passenger platforms, allowing easy transfer of goods
and people from the canal to the trains and vice versa. In 1853, aided at least in
part because of the goods shipped from the railroad to the canal at Lynchburg, the
James River and Kanawha Company recorded the highest amount in gross revenues it would
ever produce, nearly three hundred thousand dollars. Set against these expectations
of continued growth, however, were the increasing competition from railroad lines
which were being constructed, and the damages which continually needed repair on the
canal. Freshets occurred almost annually, and funds which would otherwise have gone
to continue the westward path had to be diverted to repairing breaches, washed out
culverts, and damaged bridges. Still, a number of improvements were accomplished. By
1851, the Second Grand Division had reached Buchanan, some fifty miles west of Lynchburg.
In 1854, the 20th annual report noted that the rapid growth of the city of Lynchburg
required more wharfage. To satisfy this demand, the company contracted to widen the
Upper Basin and provide a public landing. By 1855, the company had spent $12,970.82
on this project, which by then also included the construction of a feeder canal from
the waterworks dam to the pumphouse, parallel to the James River and Kanawha Canal.
This canal was built specifically to serve the city water supply, and was deemed
necessary because the increased use of water by the city and the nearby industries
often caused currents in the basin which made it difficult for the packet boats and
barges to maneuver. At the same time, it was proposed to heighten the waterworks dam
to provide an additional flow of water. By September 10, 1856, the total of $17,544
had been spent on the basin, and although it was then estimated that an additional
$1,000 would be required to complete the work, the lower portion of this Upper Basin
had already been put into use in July. Also by September 1856, a total of $15,294 had
been spent on the new feeder canal to the waterworks pumphouse.
On October 1, 1856, it was reported that the wooden superstructure of the Blackwater
dqueduct had been completely rebuilt during the summer of that year. Although the dam
had not yet been heightened by this time, the new walls of the aqueduct were built two
feet higher than those of the old one in anticipation of the work to be done on the
dam.
In 1857, the Twenty-third Annual Report was issued and announced that the Lynchburg
(Upper) basin was completed with ample dock space in January 1857. The feeder canal,
however, was not completed until July 1860. Three years before, on March 26, 1857,
the company had entered into a contract for raising the waterworks dam. Even by the
time of the Twenty-seventh Annual Report (1861), however, construction of the dam
heightening had not begun, although the company could announce that "a large quantity
of stone has been prepared for the Lynchburg dam." By this time, of course, the Civil
War had broken out, and practically all such work had to be suspended. By 1862,
forty-two of the freight boats which had plied the canal had been withdrawn from
commercial service by their owners to serve the Confederate cause. Although they were
(See Continuation Sheet #8)
OM6 No. 1024-W18
Elp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10-900.1
(382)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #8
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 6
Historical Background
still used on the canal, largely to transport troops and bring the wounded from
various battlefields to the Lynchburg hospitals, the tariff they once provided to the
company was severely reduced.
State law required that in time of war carriers of
troops had only to pay one fourth of the normal tolls. Completely in sympathy with
the Southern cause, the company's directors even extended this provision to apply to
boats carrying munitions, baggage and other items needed by the Confederate forces.
Realizing the importance of the canal as a vital element in the Confederate network,
the Union forces sought to put it out of commission. On March 6, 1865 troops under
General Sheridan partially succeeded in this aim, and although service was soon restored
after the war on parts of the line, the war dealt the canal a serious blow.
More disastrous than the war were two additional freshets, one in 1870 and the
second in 1877. Soon after 1870, the company again broached the subject of raising
the Lynchburg dam.
As a short-term expedient, a temporary plank barrier eighteen
inches high was placed along the top of the waterworks dam. Acknowledging this to be
but a stopgap measure, the president noted in his 1871 report that the only permanent
improvement would be not only to raise the waterworks dam two feet, but also to
construct a new stone dam of the same height, extending from the north abutment of
that dam to the opposite side of the river.
It was felt that with water power
available on both shores, water power available to Lynchburg would be quadrupled. In
his Forty-second Annual Report (1876), the president again urged the raising of the
old dam and the construction of the new, and reminded his readers that a great deal of
money had been spent in preparing the stonework for the incomplete dam.
He also
announced that the company could not complete the dam due to financial difficulty at
the present time.
In his next report, the president again dealt with the dam, and
urged the city of Lynchburg to assist in the completion of the dam. Again reminding
his audience of the large quantity of stone already prepared, he estimated that the
dam could be built for $60,000.
In the Forty-fourth Annual Report for 1878, the president's statement opened with
the dire announcement that since the last annual meeting, "a disaster of almost
unprecedented extent has befallen this company.
Its property has been damaged upon
almost every mile of its entire length." He was referring to the freshet of November 23,
1877, which was recorded as the greatest flood of the James River in a century. A
last-ditch effort to restore the canal to service between Lynchburg and Richmond was
undertaken through the use of convict labor, but all hopes were abandoned of repairing
the portions west of Lynchburg. Added to the woes caused in 1877 was another flood,
in September 1878. Even so, the president remembered to comment in this report that
he now believed that the city would build the dam from the north abutment of the
waterworks dam to the Amherst shore.
It was not until 1883, however, that the
successor railroad completed the dam as agreed with the city. The city had advanced
$50,000 to help the canal company repair the damages of the 1870 and 1877 floods which
debt the railroad assumed. This was cancelled in return for completion of the dam by
the railroad. Even at the time of this report, the 1877-78 session of the Virginia
General Assembly had introduced a bill to transform the canal system into a railroad.
(See Continuation Sheet # 9 )
OM6 No.1024-0318
Elp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 40.900..
~ 8 2 )
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
#9
Item number
Continuation sheet
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page
- Historical Background
A February 27, 1879 act incorporated the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Company and
authorized it to take over the canal company's property. The canal company would not
agree to the terms and it was not until early 1880 that the actual transfer took
place.
Beginning in March 1880, starting from Clifton Forge and Richmond ties and rails
were placed on the towpath. As the two rail lines approached Lynchburg boat operations
were contracted to match.
On August 17, 1881 the first train of the R & A line
reached Lynchburg and canal operations ceased except for traffic on the North River
which continued a few months.
In early 1883, the railroad completed the stone dam
across the river. As the canal was no longer in use as a transportation artery, stone
from culverts and locks both upstream and downstream from Lynchburq in addition to the
stone already stockpiled for the construction, were used for the dam.
Damage to the Lynchburg portions of the canal as a result of the railroad and the
In
construction oE the dam was not as extensive as it might have been, however.
taking over the canal company's assets, the Richmond and Alleghany was also legally
bound to honor the contractual agreements which had been entered into by the earlier
organization. One of these was the 1835 contract, with its amendments, which guaranteed
water rights to the city and to the manufacturing establishments along the banks of
the two basins. In fact, item 6 of the charter of the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad
specifically called on the company to maintain the water supply along the Lynchburg
level, and not to "obstruct or destroy" the canal "between the water works dam above
Lynchburg and the first lock below Lynchburg, as to lessen the present water supply."
Because of these restrictions, the company had initially planned to keep these
sections of the canal intact, and construct tracks alongside. However, the two other
railroads whose tracks already occupied much of the available level land objected and
forced ihe new competitcr to stay within its bounds. The solution to the problem of
providing ample water for the city and its industries, whilc at the same time giving
room for the tracks, was ingenious enough, but potentially fraught with danger. In
1882, a bulkhead was constructed in the center of the canal, with water kept on one
side and the tracks laid on the other. The tracks were far below the surface of the
water, and protected from it only by the thin sheet metal bulkhead.
Passengers
looking out of coach windows found themselves at eye level with the narrowed surface
of the canal.
Officials of the competing lines and the city were sufficiently impressed--both
with the solution and the determination which had fostered it, and eventually agreed
to let the R & A utilize adjacent space. In November 1887, the sunken tracks were
removed and rebuilt at grade level. The construction of a Union Station to Service
the several lines in 1890 required more filling of the canal bed, but the two basins
In 1938 the Chesapeake and Ohio
were in large part intact as recently as 1940.
Railroad (the successor company to the Richmond and Alleghany) successfully sued the
city to rescind the contract requiring the canal to be kept for a water supply.
(See Continuation Sheet #lo)
NPS Form 10-01XI.a
(3.821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #10
Item number 8 , 9, 10
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page 8, 1, 1
- Hlstorlcal Background
In 1907 the city had constructed a reservoir for its water supply, making Lynchburg
no longer dependent on the increasingly polluted James River for its water. Since
that time, practically all traces of the upper and lower basins as they formerly
existed have disappeared. At present, the Upper Basin lies almost entirely within the
grounds of the Griffin Pipe Foundry. While the basin has been filled, the feeder
waterway leading to the city pumphouse is still intact. The lower portions of this
waterway have been repaired and incorporated in a pleasant landscaped area near the
company's main office. The other portions of the canal have been largely forgotten in
recent years.
In the late 1970s, T. Gibson Hobbs, Jr. of Lynchburg, conducted a
number of archaeological explorations in the area, and found that though much of the
canal was overgrown, a number of elements remained. In particular, Mr. Hobbs brought
to the attention of the public the fact that the aqueduct piers and abutments survive
in surprisingly good condition. This survival is due, at least in part, to the fact
that they continue in service as supports for a large welded steel sewer pipe feeder.
The Ninth Street Bridge is the most unchanged component of the canal in Lynchburg, and
still carries vehicular traffic over the semi-filled bed of the canal below.
Attention was also focussed on the canal during the summer months of 1977 when
the Historic American Engineering Record surveyed the area. Titled the Lower Basin
study, the survey made recommendations for the restoration and adaptive reuse of a
number of presently underutilized industrial structures in what was once Lynchburg's
waterfront. The study also suggested that portions of the canal could be reactivated
to serve as both an interpretive historical park and recreation area. To date, no
concrete actions have resulted from these proposals.
9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
James River and Kanawha Company. Annual Reports (1-44, 1836 to 1877-78).
Hobbs, T. Gihson, Jr., Lynchburg. Interview, summer 1980.
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
- Boundary Justification
&
Verbal Boundary Description
environs of the city of Lynchburg.
These features form portions of larger land
parcels and thus lack legal descriptions.
Verbal Boundary Description:
A:
B:
C:
Upper Portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
See section 7 (A) and continuation sheet #1
Blackwater Creek Aqueduct
See section 7 (B), continuation sheet #1 and # 2
Waterworks dam, James River dam, and Guard Locks
See section 7 ( C ) , continuation sheet # 2
From: Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity by G. W. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891
FIGURE: 1
E x p . 10-31-8rl
United States Department of t h e Interior
National Park Senice
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
Bn~cgn%oay-NorninaRE~n
Form
received
date entered
See Instructions in: How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries-complete applicable sections
L b k fib# /I&
a}
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWBA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA (Thematic Nomination)
historic
1;CI-C.
L' " H T - ? _ l M u
-
.
and O r common
street & number
city, town
N/A
A
&
,!
ql)
( S e e Continuation S h e e t
not for publication
@
vicinity
I+&of
Lynchburs
Virginia
atate
-
1CL/LC
51
code
county
680
code
(city)
3. C8assification
Category
-district
-building(s)
X
-structure
X site
Ownership
-public
private
X both
-
-unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
X-,
yes: restricted
-.
yes: unrestricted
-no
Public Acquisition
-in process
-being considered
N/A
-object
Present Use
-agriculture
-commerclal
-educational
entertainment
-government
2industrial
-military
Status
L occupied
mu~eum
-
-park
private residence
-religious
-scientific
2.transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
name
Multiple
street & number
city, town
N /A
N/! vicinity of
TJ/A
state
N/A
5. Location of begal Description
courthouse, registry
of deeds, -etc.
--
a
street & number
Lynchburg Ci t y o u--r t h o u s e , Clerk' s Of.-£ice
.
Codrt
-- and Ninth Streets
Lynchburg
city, town
--
-
-
24501
Virginia
state
6. Wepresee?rtatEowin Existing Surveys
~ i s t o r i cAmerican Engineering Record
has this property been
t f i e ~ a w e .Basi
r
n s ~ ~ r v ey,-----
Summer, 1977
date
deposit0ry tor survey records
-. - .
.:,:'I.
<:L'?4
- ..-. -.-...
*
-.
,
-.
,
yes-- E-
X - federal -state
county
-. -. -.*. ..
--
-----
P
.
A
-
--
. .--
--
--
- .
5i3W
-
P
no
-
-- loc~1
Historic American E n g i n e e r i n g Record, L i b r a r y o f Congress
-- -- ------.
-
DC .
.
. - -. .
-. - Washington,
13
determined eligible?
.
-
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
good
Lfair
2deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
- . unaltered
X altered
Check one
X. original site
. moved
date
~ ~ - N D ~--. .--
-
~
~
.
~
- --
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Lynchburg was the terminus of the First Grand Division of the James River and
Kanawha Canal. As the expected center of a great deal of commerce, and as the result
of a number of natural and manmade features which had to be accommodated at the city's
waterfront, Lynchburg was given a number of major components of the work. Only in a
few short stretches through the city did the canal resemble the tranquil waterway with
attendant towpath that characterized its approximately hundred and fifty-mile course
upstream from Richmond. When the first boats arrived in Lynchburg in 1841, the major
portions of the canal in Lynchburg consisted of the Lynchburg Basin (later to be
termed the Lower Basin), a stone bridge carrying Water (now Ninth) Street over the
canal, a major aqueduct over Blackwater Creek, and a dam supplying water both to the
canal and to the city's pumphouse for its own water supply. Only between the aqueduct
and the dam did the waterway assume the traditional appearance of a canal.
Although the canal bed can still be traced and records and plats do exist to
pinpoint the locations of its various original features, a Historic American Engineering
Record survey of the Lower Basin conducted in the summer of 1977 revealed that only a
few of the Lynchburg portions of the long-abandoned canal exist in anything resembling
their original state. Both the Lower Basin and a later Upper Basin survive primarily
in name only--as the traditional designations of the two major centers of the city's
industrial activity on the banks of the James River. Both basins have been filled in,
paved over, or built upon.
In addition to buildings, a number of railroad tracks
crisscross the spaces once occupied by the basins. Only at its upstream end, where
the Lower Basin approached the Ninth Street Bridge, is there a relatively undisturbed,
though filled, remnant of this feature. Only these portions of the canal, that are in
relatively original condition, form components of this thematic nomination.
These
portions are divided into three sections, comespondiqq to the three ncndnated sites:
A.: Upper portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
B: Blackwater Aqueduct
C: Waterworks dam, James River dam and guard locks
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSTS
A:
Upper Portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
In the two-block area from Eleventh to Ninth streets, and between Jefferson
Street and the former Norfolk and Western Freight Depot, portions of the bed of the
canal have been paved for parking while other parts present a grassy, unused stretch
of land. Although the bed of the canal at this point is below the present grade
level, later infill is not as deep as in other sections, and the outlines of this
upper limit of the Lower Basin are easily established. In addition, portions of the
walling on either side are still present.
As noted in the 1977 Lower Basin study
undertaken by the Historic American Engineering Record, a restored section of canal
basin at this point could serve as an interpretive display area, with the possible
recreation of loading facilities and a packet boat. However, a major city sewer line
runs just below grade through this portion of the canal bed, and unless it can be
relocated, any rewatering of the basin would have to be very shallow. This stretch of
(See Continuation Sheet #1)
Sianif icance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
X 1800-1 899
-1900-
S ~ e c i f i cdates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
-archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape
architecturereligion
-archeology-historlc
conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
literature
-sculpture
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
X engineering
-music
humanitarian
-art
2commerce
-explorationlsettiement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
2industry
-politicslgovernment _K transportation
-other (specify)
-invention
1836-1882
BuilderIArchitect
Charles Ellet, Engineer
Statement of Significance (in o n e paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The James River and Kanawha Canal was one of the nation's major commercial and
transportation arteries during the mid-19th century. Lynchburg was the terminus of
the "First Grand Division," which extended 146) miles from the Richmond basin to a
feeder dam just above Lynchburg. This section was opened to traffic in December 1840,
and was the only one of the three divisions which was ever completed. During the
1850s, the canal enjoyed its greatest prosperity and assisted in Lynchburg's development
as the major commercial and industrial center of the Piedmont. The canal suffered
some damage late in the Civil War, and during the 1870s was severely harmed by two
disasterous floods. In 1880 the newly organized Richmond and Alleghany Railway Company
was authorized to take over the canal company's property. By 1881, tracks had been
laid on the towpath and trains were running from Richmond through Lynchburg to Clifton
Forge. Although the remains of the Lynchburg portions of the canal have been largely
ignored in the 20th century, three important features still remain: The 9th Street
Bridge and canal right-of-way, Blackwater Aqueduct, and the Scots Mill Dam. Considered
as a thematic group, these sites provide important information on the development of
engineering and transportation technology in the first three-quarters of the 19th
century.
In addition, they are key monuments to the commercial development of the
state as well as tangible reminders of the water power necessary for industrial
development in the 19th century.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The formal organization of the James River and Kanawha Company in 1835 was in
part the culmination cf attempts to improve James River navigation which had beguq
during the previous century. Tn 1785, the Virginia General Assembly created the James
River Company, whose mandate was stated in its act of establishment:
"An Act for
clearing and improving the navigation of James River." Some work was done under the
company's aegis as far as Buchanan. In 1812, the Assembly appointed a commission to
investigate the James from the town of Lynchburg westward and mark out the course of a
turnpike from the headwaters of the James across the mountains to the westward flowing
rivers beyond. Although the commission, which met in Lynchburg, reportedquite favorably
on the prospects, it was not until February 17, 1820, that legislation reorganizing
the James River Company as an agency of the Commonwealth was enacted. Again, a great
deal of work was accomplished, some of it beyond and across the mountains to the west
of Lynchburg.
Nothing affecting the town, or located within its bounds, was built
during the fifteen years the company operated as a state agency, however.
In 1832, the legislature sought to broaden the base of responsibility for the
Commonwealth's major east-west transportation artery by chartering the James River and
(See Continuation Sheet # 3 )
9. Major Bibliographicla1 References
Dunaway, Wayland Fuller. History of the James River and Kanawha Company. New York, 1922.
Druyvesteyn, Kent. "With Great Vision; the James River and Kanawha Canal." Virginia
Cavalcade, 21:3 (Winter, 1 9 7 2 ) .
(See Continuation Sheet
#lo)
10. -GeographicalData
Acreage of nominated property A: 1-1/3 acre
Quadrangle name
UMT References
A
. B,
Lyn~Nxlrq,VA
Quadrangle scale
16161416 12 i01 14 11 14 12 13 18 10
Easting
Northing
Zone
less than one acre; C: less than one acre
1
Zone
Northing
DM
LLdLd
l 1 6 1 6 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 0 1 14111413131410]
C
Easting
Ld-LLd
u
F Wu
H Wu
w
~
~Il-l-Ld
l-d-ld
G
W
The site boundaries
Justification:
conform to the areas where above surface canal features are best preserved and best
exemplify the historic context and significance of the canal system within the
(See Continuation Sheet # l o )
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d j u s t i f i c a t i o n Boundary
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries
state
N/ A
code
countv
N/ A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/ A
code
I1
-
Form Prenared BY
-
nameltitle
aroanlzation
T. ~ T b s o nHobbs, S. Allen Chambers,
and VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION STAFF
N/A
date
1984
street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Richmond
state
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
_X-
national
-local
--state
As the desianated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion In the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated
accordinn to the criteria and ~roceduresset forth by thefieri@ge Conservation and Recreation Service.
-
State
Historic Preservation Officer signature
~-
I
H. Bryan Mitchell, Director
titie VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS
Chief of Registration -
i..,ac.,
$,,,
,
s . 7 2:-
,
.
".
. ;.
,,.,- .; ?:-.
date
. ;ml.j&&+r
.,
.#e;r.c.>.
SeFteldwr 29, 1985
.~.,.
a.,xe,
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,
.:,*.,:.>..
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4
NPS Fwm 1D.SDO-a
0821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #1
Item number 2 , 7
2.
LOCATION
-
A.
between Jefferson Street and James
Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
River, and between 11th Street and 9th Street.
B.
Aqueduct - between Norfolk and Western Railroad tracks and Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad tracks, crossing Blackwater Creek.
C.
Waterworks Dam and James River Dam and Guard Locks - in grounds of Griffin
Foundry Company at lower end of Daniel's (formerly Cabell's) Island.
James River Dam extends across James River from Lynchburg corporate limits
to northern shore in Amherst County.
Note:
7.
Pagel, 1
DESCRIPTION
See attached copy of 1891 map for additioqal locational references.
-- Architectural Analysis
the canal bed is easily accessible from the business center of Lynchburg, which lies
only two blocks away.
At the upstream end of this part of the canal is the Ninth Street Bridge, the
least changed segment of all.
Although little maintenance has been afforded the
bridqe over the past several decades, it still carries occasional heavy traffic over
the almost fifty-foot wide canal bed. The bridge itself is built of sandstone laid in
rough courses, above an arch of finished three-foot high sandstone voussoirs. It is
flanked by 14-foot long by 10-foot wide by seventeen-foot high stone abutmects. The
bridge itself has a forty-eight-foot span and is thirty-three feet wide.
At its
keystone, the elliptical arch rises seven feet above the springing line of the arch.
The bottom of the canal lies five feet below the springing level. Just beyond the
upstream end of the bridqe, the bed of the canal nas been filled in to a greater
heiqht than dow~lstrearn,and paved over as a parkinc, lot. Thus, only the crown of the
arch is visible from the upstream end. Above the keystone is a finished sandstone
block, set into the wall above the arch. This "signature" stone carries the legend
"BUILT AD 1839 BY J.S. KING."
9:
Blackwater Creek Aqueduct
In the short distance of approximately 300 feet between the Ninth Street Bridge
and the aqueduct, the course of the canal has been completely obliterated. The canal
itself has been covered over, and several railroad tracks have been laid over the
former bed. This area was, in the 1890s, utilized as part of an approach to the Union
Station. Although the station has been demolished, the tracks still remain in active
use.
Just beyond the banks of Blackwater Creek, the course of the canal is again
revealed by the aqueduct. The aqueduct remains consist of four stone piers and two
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 )
NPS Fbrm 10.000-a
R-821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
#2
Item number 7
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page 2
-- Architectural Analysis
abutments, all in various states of completeness and repair. The piers are spaced
about twenty-five feet apart in the creek. The bases are about six feet wide and are
Instead of the
finished with j-round capstones approximately six feet in diameter.
wooden trestle carrying the canal and towpath which they originally supported, they
now serve to carry a steel sewer pipe over Blackwater Creek, near its mouth. Because
of the dense growth along the steep banks of the creek, the aqueduct remains are
visible only from the creek itself, or from the later railroad trestle which crosses
its northwestern end.
During the summerof 1979, a limited amount of archaeological
exploration on the northwestern abutment revealed a small section of the original
wooden trunk timbers still in place.
C:
Waterworks dam, James River dam, and Guard Locks
To the northwest of the aqueduct, the path of the canal can once again be traced,
as many of the now abandoned industrial buildings which once were built alongside
follow the curve which the waterway took at this point.
Although the path can be
traced, this section has also been filled in and the greater portion covered with
railroad tracks or pavement. Within the grounds of the Griffin Foundry, beyond the
line of Seventh Street, was the Upper Basin, now completely lost to sight with later
filling and construction. Almost half a mile above the aqueduct is the third section
of the canal proposed for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
This consists of a variable radius waterworks stone dam between the southern shore of
the James River and the lower tip of Daniel's Island, and the longer, later straight,
dam from the northern shore of the island's tip to the northern bank of the river in
Amherst County.
The entire length of the dam is 200 feet.
Both structures are
constructed of massive stone and rise approximately twenty feet above the riverbed.
Work on the curved dam (the Waterworks dam) was begun in 1836 to replace the old dam
which had been destroyed in a freshet. Although numerous repairs have been made, and
the dam hejghtened. much of the original stonework remains. The larger dam across the
main channel of the rPver was finished carly in 1883, though plans for its construction
had been made much earlier. As the canal had gone into receivership by this time, the
contractor was allowed to take much of the stone of which this dam is built from
earlier canal construction. Also included in this portion of the nominated property
is the stone-lined inlet to the later separate waterway constructed to supply the city
waterworks. Walls of the inlet are constructed of massive blocks of sandstone. It
was at this point, at the waterworks dam, that the First Grand Division of the canal
terminated.
NP5 form 10-0004
(3-82)
OM6 No. 1024-W18
Exe. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet
#3
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page 1
- Historical Background
Kanawha Company as a joint stock corporation, and only after this reorganization would
Lynchburg see tangible evidence of the project.
After adequate subscriptions were
affirmed, the company was officially organized in May 1835. The initial subscription
was 46,718 shares, of which the Commonwealth of Virginia held 30,000. The Corporation
of Lynchburg pledged itself to 5,000. Other corporate contributors were Richmond and
the Bank of Virginia.
By its act of incorporation, the company was given three options to realize its
goal of connecting the James and Kanawha rivers. Options one and two called for a
combination network of canal and railroad. Option three, proposed the construction of
a railroad extending the entire course from Richmond to the Ohio, with no mention of a
canal; hence the fact that nowhere in the corporate name of the company did the work
"canal" appear. The directors, however, decided to undertake a version of their first
option.
Under the plan, a canal would be built from Richmond to Covington, a railroad
would carry traffic over the mountains to the Kanawha, and that river would be cleared
and improved to its confluence with the Ohio.
The construction history of the many components of the canal is well documented
in the annual reports of the company, which were issued from 1835 (No. 1) to 1877-80
(No. 46).
Each report contained a full statement from the company's president, the
first being Joseph C. Cabell, and usually contained as well a complete account of the
work accomplished by the chief engineer and his assistants during that year.
Early in their planning, the directors of the company decided to divide the
construction of their project into three sections, which were termed Grand Divisions.
The first of these, on which initial construction focused, extended from Richmond to
the p~e-existingwaterworks dam just above Lynchburg. The total distance traversed in
this First Gralid Division was 146 45/100 miles, and it was divided further into three
smaller sections. A principal assistant engineer vras appointed to direct the course
of work within each section, under the general supervision of the company's Chief
Engineer. Charles Ellet, Jr. was the assistant appointed to carry out the work on the
third section, which extended from Tye River in Nelson County to the waterworks dam, a
distance of 39 miles.
Ellet, who was soon to be appointed chief engineer, had accomplished his initial
reconaissance of his section in time for his recommendations to be published in the
First Annual Report, which was issued early in 1836.
Beginning at the terminus of the Third Grand Division, the waterworks dam, Ellet
recommended that that structure be heightened by two feet. This would enable the dam
to act as a feeder for the canal, increase the depth of the pond formed upstream, and
would provide a greater force of water to supply the canal downstream. At the time,
however, the waterworks dam extended only from the southern shore of the river to
(See Continuation Sheet # 4 )
NPS Form 10.900-a
13.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet # 4
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
8
Page
2
- Historical Background
Daniel's Island. The main stream of the river, from the island to the northern shore,
continued to flow without impediment.
From the dam to the pumphouse, Ellet suggested that the new canal conform in
location to the pre-existing waterworks canal, but proposed that this section be
increased to a width of sixty feet. This recommendation was made both because he felt
this section, which was already developing as a manufacturing center, would have a
great amount of boat traffic, and because it would increase the availability of water
required by the growing town of Lynchburg. It was necessary, however, to have approval
from the town to accomplish these aims, and on November 16, 1835, the town council
gave its full approval to Ellet's proposals. For its part, the company promised that
the flow of water from the dam to the town's pumphouse would be unobstructed, and
assumed pre-existing contracts between the town and certain manufacturing establishments
concerning the amount of water to be supplied to them. The stretch of the canal from
the dam to the pumphouse eventually came to be known as Lynchburg's Upper Basin, and
continued to be a center of the town's antebellum manufacturers, justifying the
engineer's suggestion that it be made wider than the normal sections. In fact, by
1854, it became necessary to widen the canal into a basin.
Downstream from the
pumphouse, Ellet curved the line of the canal to the south, allowing it to cross
Blackwater Creek at a right angle. Downstream from the aqueduct, the canal assumed a
reverse curve, and again paralleled the course of the river. Approximately 300 feet
from the aqueduct, the canal would pass under Water (now Ninth) Street, one of the
main streets of the town, which led to the single bridge across the James River. The
street would be carried over the canal by a stone bridge, which the company would
construct. After passing Water Street, the canal would once again be widened "into a
convenient and capacious basin." This, the last major canal segment in the town and
originally formed the Lynchburg Basin, would become the Lower Basin, and would become
even more important than the Upper Basin as the major industrial area of pre-Civil War
Lynchburg.
Work on the Lynchburg components of the canal began early in 1836, and in March
of that year Elijah Fletcher, who lived on the hill above the site of the Lower Basin,
noted that crews had begun work below his garden. In June 1836, a freshet damaged the
waterworks dam to the extent that it was almost entirely rebuilt, rather than merely
heightened as Ellet had originally planned.
Meeting in Lynchburg soon after the
flood, the directors decided to let contracts immediately to rebuilt the dam and to
enlarge the existing waterworks canal according to Ellet's proposal. By the time of
the Second Annual Report, issued early in 1837, president Cabell reported that work on
the dam was two-thirds completed. Also printed in this report was a list of property
owners whose lands had been acquired by the canal company, and the amounts paid for
their acquisition.
In the Lynchburg sections, William Daniel received the largest
compensation ($2,800) for the taking of land from his Point of Honor estate. Next in
the amount paid was John Percival, who was to receive $808. Percival, however, was
one of the few property owners who objected to the taking of his land through the
power of condemnation granted by the legislature to the company, and the ensuing
litigation between him and the company caused a long and costly delay.
(See Continuation Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 10.900..
13.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #5
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Item number 8
-
Page 3
Historical Background
Work progressed throughout the length of the First Grant Division during 1837, to
the extent that president Cabell could report that "the contractors and their throngs
of labourers and teams (form) a line almost unbroken of the most lively and cheering
industry for 120 miles."
Some of these laborers were Scotch-Irish stonemasons and
German mechanics, who had been imported by the company.
Cabell also noted in his
statement printed in the Third Annual Report that the contract for the Blackwater
aqueduct had been let and work had commenced on it.
Ellet's report of the progress of construction printed in the Fourth Annual
Report carried the happy announcement that there was "every reason to believe" that
the whole distance of the First Grand Division would be opened to traffic by the end
That pronouncement was not realized, however, and in the Fifth Annual
of 1839.
Report, issued in December of that year, Cabell acknowledged that progress "had been
less rapid than was anticipated."
The reasons, he went on to explain, were both
physical and moral. An unusually hot summer had caused a number of the Irish laborers
to leave and seek employment in the north. In addition, it was announced at a meeting
of the board of directors in July 1839 that salaries would have to be postponed. This
notification resulted in the resignation of "not less than one half of the whole white
force." Cabell gave his opinion that the number would have been even greater had not
the company taken the precaution to furnish the laborers with a supply of "ardent
spirits." Also contributing to the delay was the matter of John Percival's property,
"a space of only 300 yards." It was not until 1840, in fact, that the company was
able to acquire Percival's property and cross it.
Although the canal was not opened by the time the 1839 report was printed, the
major elements of the Lynchburg portion had been completed and were given a full
description by the company's president. Amplifying Ellet's earlier report and beginning
at the downstream portion, Cabell announced that "within the limits of the town (the
canal) is expsnded into a capacious basin 600 feet long and 125 feet wide, supported
by a wall 8 feet high throughout the whole extent of its upper side." This, the Lower
Basin, was separated from the nearby river "by 300 feet of slope wall, averaging 17
feet in height, and' by 500 feet of riprap wall averaging 10 feet high." Above the
basin was the Water Street bridge, which was "built of solid masonry founded on timber
resting upon clay.
The width of this bridge exclusive of the wings is 40 feet,
including the wings 60 feet; thus occupying the whole breadth of the street." Three
hundred feet upstream from the bridge was the completed aqueduct, which "rests upon
two abutments and 4 piers." The president described this important construction in
far greater detail:
The piers are 56 feet loq, 5 feet thick, ad 8f feet high, ad are placed
20 feet apart; thereby M n g the total space k t w x n the abutrrents 120 feet. Cn
the tops of the piers, bth on the lower and uppr sides, paraFets constructed of
stone form foundations for the flooring of the berm and tcw-path aiwve, and sup
p a s for the t-rs
in the sides of the &en
trunk. These parapts are 8
feet thick at tottan and 7 feet 2 inches at top, and 84 feet high; the courses of
msonry as they *re carried up king doelled together with iron pins let three
(See Continuation Sheet #6)
OMB No.1024-0018
NPS ~ A r m10.900-a
13821
€1~.10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES I N LYNCHBURG, VA
Contlnuat~onsheet #6
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 4
H l s t o r l c a l Background
inches into the lower course and tho inches into t h s e aim-; thus preventing any
danger £ran sudden shxks £ran d r i f t wxd i n freshets. The mter-way of the
aqueduct is 35 feet wide a t b t t c m and 36 feet a t top. The b t t a n is fad of
37 tinkers each 1 fcat q u a r e and of various lengths, l a i d close in contact and
resting on the piers and abutEnts. lhese tinkers are also pinned together every
t e n feet of t h e i r length, and kept firm i n place by 90 iron anchors passing d m
on the sides of the piers and sunk 2 feet in the rock of the fourdation. The
sides of the trunk are fonred of t-s
12 inches square laid one upon top of
the other and pinned together, and are f o r t i f i e d on the exterior by 5 strips of
tinter attached to each interval bethe paraFets, each s t r i p being secured
by 3 b l t s passing through it t o the inside of the trunk.
The aqueduct is founded on good rock, and the w n r y , vhich is of the
character of " m k mrk," is wll laid i n hydraulic c e n t . The s t o m was prom e d m the o m s i t e side of t k river, and the wxd ws hauled over land 17
miles.
C a b e l l ' s r e p o r t c o n c l u d e d t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e work which had b e e n a c c o m p l i s h e d
on t h e F i r s t Grand D i v i s i o n w i t h a d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e dam a n d g u a r d l o c k above.
N o t i n g t h a t t h e new dam r e p l a c e d t h e one damaged i n 1 8 3 6 , he s t a t e d t h a t it was:
...constructed of rubble msonry i n the form of an arc of a c i r c l e , the d i e t e r
of whLch is 120 feet and versed sine 20 feet. It is 15 feet high and 12 feet
thick a t the base, and 6 feet on top; the batter on the lower side being 1 inch
to a f a t . The v b l e has k e n covered with gmd coping 6 feet long and 2 feet
thick, secured to one another by iron clamps. lhe a b u a n t s are 38 feet long and
25 feet high, and are of solid mmnry. Tne guard lock is of cut stone, and is
15 feet wide and 164 feet high.
Ihe stone for the roping of the dam was
transover land 13 miles; t h a t for the residue of the dam was cbtdined fran
a quarry on the o p ~ o s i t eside of the river, and that for the guard lock £ran a
short distance up the river.
D u r i n g t h e l a t e summer o f 1840 w a t e r was i n t r o d u c e d i n t o s e c t i o n s o f t h e c a n a l ,
a n d by December, work was a t l a s t c o m p l e t e . On t h e t h i r d o f t h a t month:
...the freight toat General Harrison, accanpanied by a similar b t , tath laden
with rrerchandize fran the c i t y of R i c h n d , entered the basin a t Lynchbwg, and
were received with cheers and acclamtioffi by the inhabitants of the tmm, h o
had a s s d l e d t o witness t h e i r arrival.
Throughout t h e 1 8 4 0 s and 1 8 5 0 s , t h e company's a n n u a l r e p o r t s c i t e d growing r e v e n u e s
a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s o f c o n t i n u o u s c o n s t r u c t i o n t o r e a l i z e t h e i r aim o f c o n n e c t i n g t h e
James and Kanawha r i v e r s .
I n t h e meantime, o t h e r t r a n s p o r t a t i - o n n e t w o r k s were
e s t a b l i s h e d which i n i t i a l l y a i d e d t h e c a n a l , t h o u g h t h e y were u l t i m a t e l y t o a s s i s t i n
i t s demise.
I n 1851, t h e V i r g i n i a and T e n n e s s e e R a i l r o a d had r e a c h e d Salem, a n d l n
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n S h e e t # 7 )
NPS Form 10.900-a
U.82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES
AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG. VA
.
. -RIVER
Continuation sheet
#7
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 5
Historical Background
1856 the line was completed from Lynchburg to Bristol, on the Virginia-Tennessee
border. The V & T depot was located adjacent to the Water Street bridge of the canal,
and behind it were freight and passenger platforms, allowing easy transfer of goods
and people from the canal to the trains and vice versa. In 1853, aided at least in
part because of the goods shipped from the railroad to the canal at Lynchburg, the
James River and Kanawha Company recorded the highest amount in gross revenues it would
ever produce, nearly three hundred thousand dollars. Set against these expectations
of continued growth, however, were the increasing competition from railroad lines
which were being constructed, and the damages which continually needed repair on the
canal. Freshets occurred almost annually, and funds which would otherwise have gone
to continue the westward path had to be diverted to repairing breaches, washed out
culverts, and damaged bridges. Still, a number of improvements were accomplished. By
1851, the Second Grand Division had reached Buchanan, some fifty miles west of Lynchburg.
In 1854, the 20th annual report noted that the rapid growth of the city of Lynchburg
required more wharfage. To satisfy this demand, the company contracted to widen the
Upper Basin and provide a public landing. By 1855, the company had spent $12,970.82
on this project, which by then also included the construction of a feeder canal from
the waterworks dam to the pumphouse, parallel to the James River and Kanawha Canal.
This canal was built specifically to serve the city water supply, and was deemed
necessary because the increased use of water by the city and the nearby industries
often caused currents in the basin which made it difficult for the packet boats and
barges to maneuver. At the same time, it was proposed to heighten the waterworks dam
to provide an additional flow of water. By September 10, 1856, the total of $17,544
had been spent on the basin, and although it was then estimated that an additional
$1,000 would be required to complete the work, the lower portion of this Upper Basin
had already been put into use in July. Also by September 1856, a total of $15,294 had
been spent on the new feeder canal to the waterworks pumphouse.
On October 1, 1856, it was reported that the wooden superstructure of the Blackwater
dqueduct had been completely rebuilt during the summer of that year. Although the dam
had not yet been heightened by this time, the new walls of the aqueduct were built two
feet higher than those of the old one in anticipation of the work to be done on the
dam.
In 1857, the Twenty-third Annual Report was issued and announced that the Lynchburg
(Upper) basin was completed with ample dock space in January 1857. The feeder canal,
however, was not completed until July 1860. Three years before, on March 26, 1857,
the company had entered into a contract for raising the waterworks dam. Even by the
time of the Twenty-seventh Annual Report (1861), however, construction of the dam
heightening had not begun, although the company could announce that "a large quantity
of stone has been prepared for the Lynchburg dam." By this time, of course, the Civil
War had broken out, and practically all such work had to be suspended. By 1862,
forty-two of the freight boats which had plied the canal had been withdrawn from
commercial service by their owners to serve the Confederate cause. Although they were
(See Continuation Sheet #8)
OM6 No. 1024-W18
Elp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10-900.1
(382)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Continuation sheet #8
Item number 8
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
-
Page 6
Historical Background
still used on the canal, largely to transport troops and bring the wounded from
various battlefields to the Lynchburg hospitals, the tariff they once provided to the
company was severely reduced.
State law required that in time of war carriers of
troops had only to pay one fourth of the normal tolls. Completely in sympathy with
the Southern cause, the company's directors even extended this provision to apply to
boats carrying munitions, baggage and other items needed by the Confederate forces.
Realizing the importance of the canal as a vital element in the Confederate network,
the Union forces sought to put it out of commission. On March 6, 1865 troops under
General Sheridan partially succeeded in this aim, and although service was soon restored
after the war on parts of the line, the war dealt the canal a serious blow.
More disastrous than the war were two additional freshets, one in 1870 and the
second in 1877. Soon after 1870, the company again broached the subject of raising
the Lynchburg dam.
As a short-term expedient, a temporary plank barrier eighteen
inches high was placed along the top of the waterworks dam. Acknowledging this to be
but a stopgap measure, the president noted in his 1871 report that the only permanent
improvement would be not only to raise the waterworks dam two feet, but also to
construct a new stone dam of the same height, extending from the north abutment of
that dam to the opposite side of the river.
It was felt that with water power
available on both shores, water power available to Lynchburg would be quadrupled. In
his Forty-second Annual Report (1876), the president again urged the raising of the
old dam and the construction of the new, and reminded his readers that a great deal of
money had been spent in preparing the stonework for the incomplete dam.
He also
announced that the company could not complete the dam due to financial difficulty at
the present time.
In his next report, the president again dealt with the dam, and
urged the city of Lynchburg to assist in the completion of the dam. Again reminding
his audience of the large quantity of stone already prepared, he estimated that the
dam could be built for $60,000.
In the Forty-fourth Annual Report for 1878, the president's statement opened with
the dire announcement that since the last annual meeting, "a disaster of almost
unprecedented extent has befallen this company.
Its property has been damaged upon
almost every mile of its entire length." He was referring to the freshet of November 23,
1877, which was recorded as the greatest flood of the James River in a century. A
last-ditch effort to restore the canal to service between Lynchburg and Richmond was
undertaken through the use of convict labor, but all hopes were abandoned of repairing
the portions west of Lynchburg. Added to the woes caused in 1877 was another flood,
in September 1878. Even so, the president remembered to comment in this report that
he now believed that the city would build the dam from the north abutment of the
waterworks dam to the Amherst shore.
It was not until 1883, however, that the
successor railroad completed the dam as agreed with the city. The city had advanced
$50,000 to help the canal company repair the damages of the 1870 and 1877 floods which
debt the railroad assumed. This was cancelled in return for completion of the dam by
the railroad. Even at the time of this report, the 1877-78 session of the Virginia
General Assembly had introduced a bill to transform the canal system into a railroad.
(See Continuation Sheet # 9 )
OM6 No.1024-0318
Elp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 40.900..
~ 8 2 )
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
#9
Item number
Continuation sheet
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page
- Historical Background
A February 27, 1879 act incorporated the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Company and
authorized it to take over the canal company's property. The canal company would not
agree to the terms and it was not until early 1880 that the actual transfer took
place.
Beginning in March 1880, starting from Clifton Forge and Richmond ties and rails
were placed on the towpath. As the two rail lines approached Lynchburg boat operations
were contracted to match.
On August 17, 1881 the first train of the R & A line
reached Lynchburg and canal operations ceased except for traffic on the North River
which continued a few months.
In early 1883, the railroad completed the stone dam
across the river. As the canal was no longer in use as a transportation artery, stone
from culverts and locks both upstream and downstream from Lynchburq in addition to the
stone already stockpiled for the construction, were used for the dam.
Damage to the Lynchburg portions of the canal as a result of the railroad and the
In
construction oE the dam was not as extensive as it might have been, however.
taking over the canal company's assets, the Richmond and Alleghany was also legally
bound to honor the contractual agreements which had been entered into by the earlier
organization. One of these was the 1835 contract, with its amendments, which guaranteed
water rights to the city and to the manufacturing establishments along the banks of
the two basins. In fact, item 6 of the charter of the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad
specifically called on the company to maintain the water supply along the Lynchburg
level, and not to "obstruct or destroy" the canal "between the water works dam above
Lynchburg and the first lock below Lynchburg, as to lessen the present water supply."
Because of these restrictions, the company had initially planned to keep these
sections of the canal intact, and construct tracks alongside. However, the two other
railroads whose tracks already occupied much of the available level land objected and
forced ihe new competitcr to stay within its bounds. The solution to the problem of
providing ample water for the city and its industries, whilc at the same time giving
room for the tracks, was ingenious enough, but potentially fraught with danger. In
1882, a bulkhead was constructed in the center of the canal, with water kept on one
side and the tracks laid on the other. The tracks were far below the surface of the
water, and protected from it only by the thin sheet metal bulkhead.
Passengers
looking out of coach windows found themselves at eye level with the narrowed surface
of the canal.
Officials of the competing lines and the city were sufficiently impressed--both
with the solution and the determination which had fostered it, and eventually agreed
to let the R & A utilize adjacent space. In November 1887, the sunken tracks were
removed and rebuilt at grade level. The construction of a Union Station to Service
the several lines in 1890 required more filling of the canal bed, but the two basins
In 1938 the Chesapeake and Ohio
were in large part intact as recently as 1940.
Railroad (the successor company to the Richmond and Alleghany) successfully sued the
city to rescind the contract requiring the canal to be kept for a water supply.
(See Continuation Sheet #lo)
NPS Form 10-01XI.a
(3.821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL SITES IN LYNCHBURG, VA
Cont~nuat~on
sheet #10
Item number 8 , 9, 10
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page 8, 1, 1
- Hlstorlcal Background
In 1907 the city had constructed a reservoir for its water supply, making Lynchburg
no longer dependent on the increasingly polluted James River for its water. Since
that time, practically all traces of the upper and lower basins as they formerly
existed have disappeared. At present, the Upper Basin lies almost entirely within the
grounds of the Griffin Pipe Foundry. While the basin has been filled, the feeder
waterway leading to the city pumphouse is still intact. The lower portions of this
waterway have been repaired and incorporated in a pleasant landscaped area near the
company's main office. The other portions of the canal have been largely forgotten in
recent years.
In the late 1970s, T. Gibson Hobbs, Jr. of Lynchburg, conducted a
number of archaeological explorations in the area, and found that though much of the
canal was overgrown, a number of elements remained. In particular, Mr. Hobbs brought
to the attention of the public the fact that the aqueduct piers and abutments survive
in surprisingly good condition. This survival is due, at least in part, to the fact
that they continue in service as supports for a large welded steel sewer pipe feeder.
The Ninth Street Bridge is the most unchanged component of the canal in Lynchburg, and
still carries vehicular traffic over the semi-filled bed of the canal below.
Attention was also focussed on the canal during the summer months of 1977 when
the Historic American Engineering Record surveyed the area. Titled the Lower Basin
study, the survey made recommendations for the restoration and adaptive reuse of a
number of presently underutilized industrial structures in what was once Lynchburg's
waterfront. The study also suggested that portions of the canal could be reactivated
to serve as both an interpretive historical park and recreation area. To date, no
concrete actions have resulted from these proposals.
9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
James River and Kanawha Company. Annual Reports (1-44, 1836 to 1877-78).
Hobbs, T. Gihson, Jr., Lynchburg. Interview, summer 1980.
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
- Boundary Justification
&
Verbal Boundary Description
environs of the city of Lynchburg.
These features form portions of larger land
parcels and thus lack legal descriptions.
Verbal Boundary Description:
A:
B:
C:
Upper Portion of Lower Basin and Ninth Street Bridge
See section 7 (A) and continuation sheet #1
Blackwater Creek Aqueduct
See section 7 (B), continuation sheet #1 and # 2
Waterworks dam, James River dam, and Guard Locks
See section 7 ( C ) , continuation sheet # 2
From: Map of Lynchburg and Vicinity by G. W. Baist, Philadelphia, 1891
FIGURE: 1
Text
NPS Form 10.900
OMB No. 1024-aO18
Exp. 10-3l-B4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
For NPS use only
National Register d Historic Places
I ~ v ~ ~ ~ o F Y 0inin;alkn
-R!
Form
received
date entered
See instructions in Ham to Complete Watlanal Register Forms
Type all entr~es--complete applicable sections
I.Name
( D H L File No. 118-210)
MOYTVIEW (preferred}
historic
Carter Gl ass E s t a t e
and'or common
2 Location
street & number
On
L j h ~ r t , v Cni vers ;4y Can~lrs
between S t a t e R O U ~ E670 a n d I!$ 29
city, town
tync5h urg
state
Virginia
Category
?
4. Owner
countv
Status
Ownership
-district
T prlvate
public
7 bu~rding(s') -structure
- both
Public Acquisition
-site
-object
&!.A in process
--being
J vicinity of
57
code
occupied
unoccupied
-
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
considered
!!/A not tor publication
-yes: unrestricted
-no
C i t y o f lynchburg
Present Use
-agriculture
commercial
7(1educational
-entertainment
-government
-Indwstrlal
-military
633
code
-museum
-park
-private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
of Property
name
O l d Time
Hour
-Gospel
--c/o Dr. Jerry FaJwell
street & number
t.ang:lorne ?cad
city, town
1-ynchb~rg
-
!fi vicinity of
state
I f s ' r g in i a
5. Laeation of Legal Description
street % number
1100 Court Street
--
Lynchburg
city, town
state
--
Virginia
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
?
date
D i v i s i o n o f I ; i s t o r i c Landmarks
.
I n
e
~
has this
~ property been determined
~
eligible? ~
y
1585
-federal
depositary for survey records
221 Governor Street
city, town
Richmond
v
e
-state -county
A
s
X
-no
?
-local
--
V i r g i n i a 2321 C"
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
&original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Montview, home o f Senator c a r t e r Glass, i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c i t y o f Lynchburg between US Route 29 and S t a t e Route 670 ( C a n d l e r ' s Mountain Road) on a 1 . 7 - a c r e t r a c t
o f l a n d w i t h i n t h e L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y campus. C o n s t r u c t e d i n 1923, Glass h i m s e l f
d i r e c t e d t h e b u i l d i n g o f t h e 1-112 s t o r y , gambrel-roofed, f i e l d s t o n e c e n t r a l b l o c k
flankbd; b y s l i g h t l y l o w e r 1-1/2 s t o r y end wings t h a t p r o j e c t r e a r w a r d w i t h o n e - s t o r y
e l l s . I n good c o n d i t i o n , t h e house has undergone no s i g n i f i c a n t s t r u c t u r a l a l t e r a t i o n s . The n o m i n a t i o n c o n s i s t s o f two c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g s , t h e e s t a t e house and
servant's quarters.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
U-shaped i n i t s o v e r a l l plan, t h e n o r t h w e s t - f a c i n g Glass house c o n s i s t s o f a
r e c t a n g u l a r , e l o n g a t e d , 1-1/2 s t o r y , f i v e - b a y l o n g c e n t r a l b l o c k f l a n k e d b y two
s l i g h t l y l o w e r , 1-112 s t o r y end wings. Each o f t h e s e f e a t u r e s a r e a r w a r d p r o j e c t i n g , o n e - s t o r y e l l composed o f a s m a l l breezeway l e a d i n g t o a l a r g e r , square u n i t
o c c u p y i n g t h e r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e e l l . A t t h e r e a r o f t h e s t r u c t u r e , where t h e
c e n t r a l b l o c k ' s r e a r facade meets t h e n o r t h e r n r e a r e l l t o form a r i g h t angle, t h e r e
i s a o n e - i t o r y , cone-roofed, rounded t u r r e t t h a t houses a b r i e f , c u r v i n g passageway.
The house f e a t u r e s 1 8 - i n c h t h i c k e x t e r i o r w a l l s o f uncoursed, p r e d o m i n a n t l y q u a r t z
f i e l d s t o n e l q u a r r i e d on t h e e s t a t e . The upper h a l f o f t h e s t r u c t u r e ' s end w a l l s a r e
composed o f p l a n k s i d i n g , and cream-painted woodwork enhances t h e r o o f 1i n e , doors
and windows, and e n c l o s e d porches o f t h e b u i l d i n g . C o v e r i n g t h e c e n t r a l b l o c k i s
a gray, s l a t e b e l l - c a s t gambrel r o o f t h a t i s f l a n k e d a t each end b y a narrow, s t o n e ,
e x t e r i o r chimney ' d i s p l i y i n g an i - s h a p e ? ' i r o r i ornamental b r a c k e t . Atop t h e two end
wings i s a s l a t e b e l l - c a s t gambrel r o o f s l i g h t l y l o w e r and l e s s s t e e p l y p i t c h e d
than t h a t o f t h e c e c t r a l h l o c k . Each r e a r e l l has a s l a t e r o o f t h i t i s gabled above
t h e c o n n e c t i n g s e c t i o n and h i p p e d o v e r t h e l a r g e u n i t and e a c h ' e l l ' s end w a l l e x h i b i t s
a t a l l s t o n e e x t e r i o r chimney t h a t r i s e s t o p i e r c e t h e r o o f l i n e .
S h e l t e r e d under a t l e a s t a p o r t i o n o f each w i n g ' s r o o f i s an e n c l o s e d sunporch.
Both o f these a r e r a i s e d on s t o n e foundations and f e a t u r e p a i r s o f transom-topped,
t e n 1 i g h t f r e n c h doors f l a n k e d b y s i d e 1 i g h t s and s e t between r o u n d wooden, D o r i c
columns. The sunporch on t h e r i g h t ( s o u t h ) o c c u p i e s t h e e n t i r e f i r s t f l o o r o f t h e
r i g h t end w i n g and c o n s i s t s o f f o u r s e t s o f f r e n c h doors i n t e r s p e r s e d b y seven
columns. S m a l l e r i n s i z e , t h e l e f t sunporch o c c u p i e s o n l y t h e f r o n t ( n o r t h e r n )
s e c t i o n s o f i t ' s w i n g and has t w o s e t s o f french doors and f i v e columns.
Windows o f t h e house v a r y i n design, b u t a l l have r e c t a n g u l a r wooden frames,
and most a r e s i x - o v e r - s i x sash. A l l f i r s t f l o o r windows have smooth s t o n e s i l l s ,
many a r e crowned b y a f l a t a r c h o f f i e l d s t o n e v o u s s o i r s , and m s t a r e graced b y
wooden p a n e l e d s h u t t e r s . A l t o g e t h e r , e i g h t dormers a r e l o c a t e d on t h e f r o n t and
r e a r . On t h e .Front 'slbpe o f t h e c n e t r a l b l o c k ' s r o o f a r e t h r e e s h e d - r o o f e d dormers.
The m i d d l e one h.as 'a' Si.ngle s i x - o l e + - s i x sash windpw, whereas t h e f l a n k i n g dormers
have s i x - o v e r - s i x sash double windows. A s h e d - r o o f e d dormer e x t e n d s a c r o s s t h e ent i r e l e n g t h o f t h e c e n t r a l b l o c k ' s r e a r r o o f l i n e and f e a t u r e s v a r i e d f e n s t r a t i o n .
The f i f t h shed-roofed dormer p i e r c e s t h e r e a r s l o p e o f t h e r i g h t ( s o u t h e r n ) end
w i n g ' s r o o f and d i s p l a y s two s i n g l e windows. An i n s e t , " s w e p t - r o o f e d " dormer w i t h
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
.-community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
economics
-literature
sculpture
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
.
- engineering
-music
humanitarian
commerce
explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
industry
po~iticsigovernment -transportation
-invention
, . -other
(specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
?r
-
-
1923-46
BuilderIAmhitect
Unknown
Statement of Significance (in one par9graph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Montview i s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r i t s d i r e c t a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h t h e s e n a t o r i a l c a r e e r
o f C a r t e r Glass, one o f American's f o r e m o s t 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y p u b l i c f i n a n c i e r s . A l e a d i n g p r o g r e s s i v e r e f o r m e r d u r i n g t h e Woodrow W i l s o n e r a , Glass i s c h i e f l y remembered
f o r h i s s u c c e s s f u l s p o n s o r s h i p o f t h e Glass-Owen A c t w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e F e d e r a l
I n 1920, a f t e r s e r v i n g b r i e f l y i n W i l s o n ' s c a b i n e t as
Reserve b a n k i n g system.
S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y , t h e L y n c h b u r g Democrat e n t e r e d upon a l o n g and d i s t i n g u i s e d
c a r e e r i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Senate. Recognized i n t h e y e a r s o f R e p u b l i c a n ascendancy
as h i s p a r t y ' s l e a d i n g e x p e r t on p u b l i c f i n a n c e , Glass d e c l i n e d t o s e r v e i n F r a n k l i n
Delano R o o s e u e \ t ' 5 c a b i n e t a s S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y . He l a t e r b r o k e w i t h t h e New
Deal a d m i n i s t r a t i o n t o become one o f t h e l e a d i n g s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n cons e r v a t i v e c o a l i t i o n t h a t b l o c k e d t h e p a t h o f t h e d o m e s t i c r e f o r m i n Congress d u r i n g
R o o s e v e l t ' s second term. A f t e r P e a r l Harbor, t h e man whom R o o s e v e l t c a l l e d h i s
" u n r e c o n s t r u c t e d r e b e l " became One o f h i s s t r o n g e s t a - l l i e s as Chairman o f t h e Senate
A p p r o p r i a t i o n s Committee and P r e s i d e n t Pro Tempore o f t h e Senate. D u r i n g G l a s s '
e a r l y c a r e e r i n n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , he l i v e d i n an a n t e b e l l u m b r i c k house a t 605
I n 1923, t h e
Clay S t r e e t i n L y n c h b u r g ( l i s t e d i n t h e N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r i n . 1977,).
S e n a t o r moved from h i s C l a y S t r e e t address t o Montvfew, a f t e r t a k i n q a g r e a t p a r t i n
d i r e c t i n g h i s new d w e l l i n g ' s c o n s t r u c t i o n . Montview remained h i s p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e
i n Lynchburg u n t i l h i s d e a t h i n 1946.
. . c
.. . , ,
I
:
I
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
C a r t e r Glass came f r o m S c o t s - I r i s h a n c e s t r y t h a t s e t t l e d i n V i r g i n i a b e f o r e t h e
American R e v o l u t i o n . Bo'rn ' i n Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a on January 4, 1858; he was t h e
y o u n g e s t c h i l d o f R o b e r t Henry Glass and Augusta C h r i s t i a n Glass. H i s f a t h e r was t h e
owner and p u b l i s h e r o f t h e L y n c h b u r g R e p u b l i c a n and was a p r o m i n e n t f i g u r e i n l o c a l
Democratic p o l i t i c s . Because o f p o s t w a r s t r i n g e n c y , h i s f a m i l y moved t o P e t e r s b u r g
where h i s f a t h e r became e d i t o r o f a n o t h e r paper.
Young C a r t e r l e f t s c h o o l a t t h e age o f f o u r t e e n and became a
on h i s f a t h e r ' s paper. Thus began a j o u r n a l i s t c a r e e r f o r C a r t e r
l a s t t h e r e s t o f h i s l i f e . I n 1880, he became a r e p o r t e r f o r t h e
purchased t h e paper i n 1888. By 1895, he had purchased two o t h e r
printer's devil
Glass t h a t was t o
Lynchburg News and
L y n c h b u r g newspapers.
Glass was a l i f e l o n g member o f t h e D e m o c r a t i c p a r t y and as h i s , neuspppers p r o s p e r e d he t o o k an a c t i v e r o l e i n p o l i t i c s . H i s i n t e r e s t i n f i n a n c i a l p o l i c y i s .
d e m o n s t r a t e d e a r l y as he was a s t a u n c h a d v o c a t e o f f r e e s i l v e r i n t h e l a t e 1 9 t h
c e n t u r y . He w r o t e e d i t o r i a l s a g a i n s t t h e m o n e t a r y p o l i c i e s o f P r e s i d e n t G r o v e r
C l e v e l a n d and i n 1896 j o i n e d t h e F r e e - S i l v e r Crusade o f W i l l i a m Jennings Bryan.
(.See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 3 )
9. Major Bibliographical References
Graham, O t i s L., J r . An Encore f o r Reform: The O l d P r o g r e s s i v e s and t h e New Deal.
New York: O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Press. 1967.
Koeniger, A. Cash.
" C a r t e r ~ l a s ; and t h e N a t i o n a l Recovery A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , "
South
A t l a n t i c Q u a r t e r l ~ ,LXXXIV (Summer, 19751, 349-364.
( s e e continuation
)
10. Geographical Data
1 .7 a c r e s
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name C i t~ Farm
;
vk
:24000
Quadrangle scale
UTM References
A
b d(1-61
Zone
c
w
Easting
U-Ld
1 41 11 31' 51 31 61 01
Northing
Zone
Eastlnq
11111111
G Wu
..
I
I
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n and justification L(IUI;UA~!Y CESCGIPTI0I.I: As in u i c a t e t i on t h e acccinnanyi nc
liiap ~(iadeby L i t c r t v l i n i v c r s i t y C u i l d i n a s and Grounus O f f i c e , a l i n e i i e i i n n i n g a t t h e s t o n e
q a t e p o s t s a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n. - w .i .t. h t.t .i e. e l l t r a n c e v ~ a l i : ~ : i a ~ ! ( n o r t l ~ e aosft iiiain l ~ o u s en e a r s e r v a ~ ~ t ' s
~ u a r t e r s )a l o n g t i l e n r o p e r t y l s s u r r o u n u i n g hedge and e x t e n d i n q a p p r 6 x i r : : i t e l j r 1,150' a r o u m
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries (Lee C o n t i n u a t i o n ~ t i e e t i b )
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
1
nameititle
Dr. C l i n e E. Hall
Chairman, H i s t o r y Department
O c t o b e r 27, 1986
organization L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y
date
street & number BOX 20000
telephone(804.)
city or town
Lynchburg
582-2 308
V i r g i p i a 24506
,tate
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated slgnificance of this property w~thinthe state
-national
2state
IS:
-local
AS the designated Slate Historic Preservation ~fficei'forthe National ~ i s t o r i cpreservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inciusio
t has been evaluated
according to thg criteria and procedures set fort
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
H. B r y a n N i t c h e l l , D i r e c t o r
D i v i s i o n o f H i s t o r i c Landmarks
For NPS use only
, . - r.,;..,
Ihereby certify that this property i s included in the National Register
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
i l a r c h 27, 1!!R7
date
,.
,
.
.- . ; ., . -.:
..
.
f i ,
.
*
,
NPS Form 10.900..
13-82)
OMB
Bo. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#1
Continuation sheet MONTV IEW , Lynchburg, VA
7.
Item number
7
Page
1
DESCRIPTION -- D e t a i l e d A n a l y s i s
s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h window d e c o r a t e s t h e f r o n t s l o p e o f b o t h end w i n g s , and a t h i r d such
dormer i s r e c e s s e d i n t h e r e a r s l o p e o f t h e l e f t ( n o r t h e r n ) end w i n g ' s r o o f . S i x - o v e r s i x sash windows ornament t h e u p p e r - s t o r y end w a l l s o f b o t h w i n g s .
S k i r t i n g t h e main f r o n t e n t r y t o t h e Glass house i s a s m a l l c o n c r e t e s t o o p t h a t
i s a c c e s s i b l e b y t h r e e c o n c r e t e s t e p s . The r e c t a n g u l a r e n t r y c o n s i s t s o f a woodpaneled, s i n g l e d o o r (now p r o t e c t e d b y a s t o r m d o o r ) f l a n k e d on each s i d e b y a row
o f f o u r s i d e l i g h t s and s e t w i t h i n a wooden a r c h i t r a v e . B o r d e r i n g t h e a r c h i t r a v e i s
a f l a t arch o f f i e l d s t o n e voussoirs. D i r e c t l y opposite the front e n t r y i s the rear
e n t r y , a p a n e l e d - a n d - l i g h t e d s i n g l e d o o r a l s o approached b y t h r e e c o n c r e t e s t e p s
now c o v e r e d w i t h a ramp f o r handicapped access. T h i s e n t r y i s s h e l t e r e d b y a h i p r o o f e d hood w i t h wooden s u p p o r t c o n s o l e s . A s i m i l a r d o o r w i t h a c o n s o l e - s u p p o r t e d
hood p r o v i d e s a s i d e e n t r a n c e t o t h e n o r t h e r n m o s t r e a r e l l . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e
p a i r o f f r e n c h d o o r s t h a t d e f i n e t h e w a l l s o f t h e two sunporches, two p a i r s o f t e n l i g h t f r e n c h d o o r s p r o v i d e access t o t h e c o n n e c t i n g breezeway o f t h e s o u t h e r n m o s t r e a r
e l l , and a n o t h e r p a i r o f t h e t e n - l i g h t f r e n c h d o o r s g i v e s e n t r y t o t h e c o n n e c t i n g
u n i t o f the northernmost r e a r e l l .
The f r o n t d o o r p r o v i d e s access i n t o a w i d e c e n t r a l h a l l t h a t b i s e c t s t h e c e n t r a l
b l o c k and e x t e n d s t o t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d r e a r e n t r y . I n t h e c o r r i d o r t h e w a l l s a r e
w a l l b o a r d w i t h p a n e l e d m o l d i n g . Wooden baseboards a r e used t h r o u g h o u t t h e house.
C e i l i n g s on t h e f i r s t f l o o r a r e s i x t e e n f e e t h i g h and a r e o f p l a s t e r . The f l o o r i n g i s
oak c o v e r e d b y c a r p e t . A l o n g t h e r i g h t w a l l o f t h e c e n t r a l h a l l a t w o - r u n , o p e n - w e l l ,
o p e n - s t r i n g e d s t a i r c a s e w i t h wooden b a l u s t e r s and a mahogany b a n i s t e r ascends t o t h e
u p s t a i r s h a l l . Underneath t h e s t i r w a y i s a s m a l l bathroom.
J u s t beyond t h e f r o n t e n t r y , a doorway i n t h e h a l l ' s s o u t h w a l l l e a d s i n t o a
s p a c i o u s l i v i n g room now used as a w a i t i n g room. A f i r e p l a c e i s c e n t e r e d a g a i n s t
t h e s o u t h e r n w a l l w i t h a wooden mantel and s u r r o u n d . From t h e l i v i n g room's s o u t h e r n
w a l l a p a i r o f f r e n c h d o u b l e doors l e a d s t o t h e sunporch. The n o r t h , i n n e r w a l l o f
t h e sunporch i s c o n s t r u c t e d o f f i e l d s t o n e and d i s p l a y s a f i r e p l a c e w i t h a f i e l d s t o n e
s u r r o u n d and f i r e p l a c e s t o v e i n s e r t . I n c o n t r a s t , t h e t h r e e o u t e r w a l l s a r e c o m p r i s e d
o f f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s s e t between b u l k y columns. From t h e r e a r w a l l o f t h e sunporch
f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s open i n t o t h e e n c l o s e d breezeway, w h i c h c o n n e c t s w i t h G l a s s '
l i b r a r y i n t h e r e a r e l l . Here g l a s s e d - i n bookcases l i n e t h r e e w a l l s o f t h e o a k - f l o o r e d
chamber c o v e r e d w i t h c a r p e t , and t h e r e a r w a l l has w a l l p a p e r and a b r i c k f i r e p l a c e
w i t h a r c h e d o p e n i n g w i t h a wooden mantel. T h i s f i r e p l a c e , d u r i n g t h e occupancy o f
Glass, h a d a m a r b l e m a n t e l t h a t was s a l v a g e d f r o m a b u i l d i n g used by Congress a f t e r
t h e b u r n i n g o f t h e U.S. C a p i t o l b y t h e B r i t i s h i n t h e War o f 1 8 1 2 . l These were b o u g h t
b y Glass i n t h e m i d 1930s when t h e b u i l d i n g was razed. Carved o f w h i t e marble, t h e
l ~ ~ n c h bD
u ar i~l y Advance, June 28, 1947.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2)
NPS Form 10-WO-I
OHB s o .
Expires
b82)
1024-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#2
Continuation sheet MONTVIEW
7.
~
~
VA
~
Item number
~
7h
b
~Page 2 ~
DESCRIPTION -- D e t a i l e d A n a l y s i s
mantel had a r o u n d - a r c h e d o p e n i n g f l a n k e d b y c o l o n e t t e s and p a n e l e d s p a n d r e l s . A
c a r t o u c h e crowned t h e c e n t e r . An i d e n t i c a l m a n t e l , a l s o s a i d t o be f r o m t h e same
b u i l d i n g , adorned t h e d i n i n g room. However, t h e f o r m e r owners, M r . and Mrs. D a n i e l
Bowman, removed b o t h m a r b l e m a n t e l s and f i r e p l a c e s when t h e y v a c a t e d t h e home. The
present b r i c k f i r e p l a c e s a r e replacements.
On t h e n o r t h s i d e o f t h e c e n t r a l h a l l , a doorway j u s t beyond t h e f r o n t e n t r y
opens i n t o t h e d i n i n g room w h i c h has p a n e l e d p l a s t e r w a l l s ,
A brick fireplace i s
a g a i n s t t h e n o r t h e r n w a l l . Today, t h i s f o r m e r d i n i n g room i s used as a v i s i t o r ' s
r e c e p t i o n a r e a . A p a i r o f f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s on t h e w e s t s i d e o f t h e f i r e p l a c e
l e a d s t o t h e n o r t h , e n c l o s e d sunporch, f r o m w h i c h a n o t h e r p a i r opens r e a r w a r d i n t o
t h e s e n a t o r ' s bedroom l o c a t e d i n t h e n o r t h w i n g . A t t h e r e a r o f t h e bedroom, a semic i r c u l a r a r c h e d doorway l e a d s t o an a l c o v e c o n t a i n i n g a d r e s s i n g room and a b a t h w i t h
o r i g i n a l f i x t u r e s . The bedroom i s now used as an o f f i c e .
I n t h e d i n i n g room, a m i r r o r - c o v e r e d , wooden s w i n g i n g d o o r i n t h e r e a r w a l l
g i v e s e n t r a n c e t o what o r i g i n a l l y was a b u t l e r ' s p a n t r y b u t has s i n c e been c o n v e r t e d
t o a k i t c h e n . T h i s room i s a l s o a c c e s s i b l e f r o m t h e c e n t r a l h a l l . I n t h e k i t c h e n ' s
r e a r w a l l a d o o r opens i n t o t h e s h o r t , c u r v e d passageway o c c u p y i n g t h e o n e - s t o r y
t u r r e t and c o n n e c t i n g t h e k i t c h e n w i t h a u t i l i t y room i n t h e n o r t h e r n m o s t e l l . Here
a s t a i r w a y descends t o a four-room, f u l l basement. Beyond t h e u t i l i t y room i n t h e
r e a r p a r t o f t h e n o r t h e r n e l l i s t h e l o c a t i o n o f t h e k i t c h e n d u r i n g t h e Glass occupancy.
On t h e upper f l o o r , a d o o r t o t h e n o r t h a t t h e t o p o f t h e s t a i r s opens i n t o a
l a r g e room t h a t Mrs. Glass used as h e r bedroom. To t h e r e a r o f t h i s room a r e a
bathroom and a d r e s s i n g room. A s p e a k i n g t u b e l i n k e d Mrs. G l a s s ' bedroom w i t h t h e
9 n a b c 3 bedroom on t h e f i r s t f l o o r , b u t t h e a p e r t u r e s o f t h e t u b e have s i n c e been
w a l l p a p e r e d o v e r . Beyond t h i s bedroom, o v e r t h e n o r t h e r n sunporch, i s a s p a c i o u s
room w i t h a b r i c k f i r p l a c e b e a r i n g a wooden m a n t e l . Mrs. Glass used t h i s as a s i t t i n g room. Today t h i s s u i t e o f rooms i s used as t h e o f f i c e o f t h e P r e s i d e n t o f t h e
U n i v e r s i t y and h i s s e c r e t a r i a l s t a f f .
A c o r r i d o r t h a t opens t o t h e s o u t h o f t h e u p s t a i r s c e n t r a l h a l l and r u n s p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o i t p r o v i d e s access t o t h e r e m a i n i n g second f l o o r rooms. On t h e f r o n t
s i d e o f t h i s c o r r i d o r i s a f o r m e r bedroom and b a t h , and towards t h e r e a r i s a s m a l l
bedroom w i t h a d j o i n i n g b a t h . A t t h e end o f t h e c o r r i d o r , a l a r g e r bedroom and i t s
a d j o i n i n g b a t h occupy t h e r i g h t w i n g . From t h e f r o n t o f t h e second f l o o r c e n t r a l
h a l l , an e n c l o s e d s t a i r c a s e r i s e s t o t h e a t t i c , w h i c h e x t e n d s above t h e c e n t r a l
b l o c k and b o t h w i n g s . A l l o f t h e b a t h s on t h e second f l o o r a l s o have t h e o r i g i n a l
fixtures.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 3)
~
NPS Form 10.900.a
0-821
O M B !!o. 1 0 2 4 - O O i S
Expires
10-11-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#3
Continuation sheet MONTV IEW , Lynchburg, VA
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7, 8
Page 3, 1
D e t a i l e d Analyses
I n t h e n o n i m a t e d a r e a a r e 1.7 a c r e s e n c l o s e d by a hedge. Three p a i r o f q u a r t z
s t o n e columns remain, one each on t h e n o r t h e r n and s o u t h e r n s i d e w h i c h were used as
e n t r a n c e ways f o r t h e o r i g i n a l d r i v e w a y and one p a i r a t t h e r e a r o f t h e l o t l e a d i n g
towards a f o r m e r swimming p o o l j u s t o u t s i d e t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a .
I n addition t o the
e s t a t e house i n t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a s i s a s m a l l c o t t a g e w h i c h d a t e s f r o m t h e s e n a t o r ' s
occupancy. T h i s c o t t a g e , f o r m e r l y t h e c a r e t a k e r ' s r e s i d e n c e , i s a g a b l e d - r o o f e d ,
f i e l d s t o n e s t r u c t u r e t h a t s t a n d s n o r t h e a s t o f t h e main house. The s t r u c t u r e once
had a c o n c r e t e - f l o o r e d f r o n t veranda on t h e n o r t h w i t h f i e l d s t o n e - p i l l a r - s u p p o r t e d
r o o f , now e n c l o s e d and e x t e n d e d t o make a d d i t i o n a l rooms. T h i s e x t e n d e d a r e a has a
shed-type r o o f .
I n s i d e t h e b u i l d i n g , now o c c u p i e d b y t h e s t u d i o o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y
r a d i o s t a t i o n , a c e n t r a l h a l l p r o v i d e s access t o f o u r rooms and a b a t h .
I n the sideyard
between t h e e s t a t e house and t h e c o t t a g e , a s t o n e C o r i n t h i a n c a p i t a l Glass b r o u g h t
back f r o m Pompeii p r e v i o u s l y s t o o d as a u n i q u e head f o r a w a t e r w e l l .
I t was a l s o
removed b y t h e p r e v i o u s owners. The swimming p o o l used by Glass i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
e s t a t e h o u s e ' s backyard, j u s t beyond t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a .
It now i s p a r t o f a sunken
memorial garden. Two bathhouses, now demolished, s t o o d a t t h e f a r , s o u t h e a s t end
o f t h e pool.
8.
SIGNIFICANCE - - H i s t o r i c a l Background
I n 1898, Glass won e l e c t i o n t o a f o u r y e a r t e r m i n t h e V i r g i n i a S t a t e Senate.
He came i n t o p o l i t i c a l prominence, however, when he s e r v e d as a d e l e g a t e t o t h e s t a t e
C o n s t i t u t i o n a l C o n v e n t i o n i n 1901-2.
T h i s c o n v e n t i o n was c a l l e d t o r e v i s e t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n c o n s t i t u t i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e p r o v i s i o n f o r u n i v e r s a l manhood s u f f r a g e .
Glass, l i k e many o t h e r s , blamed p o l i t i c a l c o r r u p t i o n on a system t h a t a l l o w e d uneducated b l a c k s and w h i t e s t o v o t e , t h e r e f o r e , Glass s u p p o r t e d measures t o r e s t r i c t
s u f f r a g e b y l i t e r a c y t e s t s and t h e p o l l t a x . A c c o r d i n g t o Glass b i o g r a p h e r Raymond
H. P u l l e y , " i t was l a r g e l y t h r o u g h h i s powers o f p e r s u a s i o n t h a t t h e c o n v e n t i o n
This p o s i t i o n
adopted t h e s e measures t h a t u l t i m a t e l y d i s f r a n c h i s e d t h e n e g r o e s . " l
on r a c e became t h e g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d p o s i t i o n o f s o u t h e r n Democrats, even o f t h o s e
c l a s s i f i e d as p r o g r e s s i v e r e f o r m e r s .
Glass was e l e c t e d t o Congress i n 1902 where he remained f o r s i x t e e n y e a r s . As
Chairman o f t h e House Committee on B a n k i n g and Currency, Glass was g i v e n t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e W i l s o n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s measure t o r e f o r m t h e n a t i o n ' s b a n k i n g
Glass drew up a b i l l t h a t p r o v i d e d f o r a s y s t e m o f r e s e r v e
and c u r r e n c y system.
banks under t h e c o n t r o l o f t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y . Because o f an o u t c r y f r o m t h e
p r o g r e s s i v e Democrats and s u p p o r t by W i l s o n f o r a government c o n t r o l l e d b a n k i n g
system, Glass m o d i f i e d t h e p l a n t o i n c l u d e such a p r o v i s i o n . He p e r s o n a l l y d i r e c t e d
t h e Glass Owen A c t ( 1 9 1 3 ) t h r o u g h Congress w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e Federal Reserve System.
lRaymond H. P u l l e y , " C a r t e r Glass,"
Four (New York, 19741, p. 331.
D i c t i o n a r y o f American B i o g r a p h y , Supplement
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 4 )
NPS Form 1C-900.1
13.821
o r n .vo.
Expires
1024.0018
1"-ll-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#4
.. .
Continuation sheet MONTVIEW, Lynchburg, VA
Item number
8
Page 2
SIGNIFICANCE - - H i s t o r i c a l Background
H i s t o r i a n A r t h u r S. L i n k r e c o g n i z e d t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f G l a s s and l a b e l e d t h e a c t
as t h e " g r e a t e s t s i n g l e p i e c e o f c o n s t r u c t i v e l e g i s l a t i o n o f t h e W i l s o n e r a and one
o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t d o m e s t i c a c t s i n t h e n a t i o n ' s h i s t o r y . " 2
I n 1919, P r e s i d e n t W i l s o n a p p o i n t e d Glass S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y t o succeed
W i l l a i m G.YcAAco.
I n t h i s p o s i t i o n Glass was s u c c e s s f u l i n f l o a t i n g a $5 b i l l i o n
v i c t o r y l o a n t o h e l p pay t h e c o s t o f World War I. He l e f t t h i s p o s i t i o n i n F e b r u a r y
1920 when he was a p p o i n t e d t o f i l l a vacancy i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Senate a t t h e
d e a t h o f Thomas S. M a r t i n . L a t e r i n t h e y e a r he was e l e c t e d t o t h a t same p o s i t i o n
where he remained u n t i l h i s d e a t h .
I t was d u r i n g h i s e a r l y y e a r s i n t h e Senate t h a t Glass c o n s t r u c t e d Montview.
Completed i n 1923, Montview became a r e f u g e away f r o m Washington. The house was s u r rounded b y a 300 a c r e d a i r y f a r m w h e r e Glass had a p r i z e d J e r s e y h e r d . Glass t r a v e l e d
between Montview and Washington b y t r a i n , g e t t i n g o f f t h e t r a i n a t Montview s t a t i o n
below h i s house. He e n j o y e d t h e use o f h i s l i b r a r y and i t was h e r e t h a t he w r o t e
many o f h i s speeches i n defense o f t h e Federal Reserve System and completed a book
on t h e same s u b j e c t , An A d v e n t u r e i n C o n s t r u c t i v e Finance. Glass was always t h e f i r s t
t o d e f e n d t h e F e d e r a l R e s e r v e s y s t e m on t h e f l o o r o f t h e Senate. D u r i n g t h e R e p u b l i can y e a r s o f t h e 1920s, Glass became r e c o g n i z e d as " t h e d e m o c a r t i c p a r t y ' s e x p e r t on
p u b l i c f i n a n c e , " a c c o r d i n g t o h i s t o r i a n A r t h u r M. S c h l e s i n g e r , J r . 3 -
Because o f t h e p o p u l a r i t y o f Glass i n t h e 1920s, he was o f t e n m e n t i o n e d as a
p r e s i d e n t i a l candidate.
I n t h e d e m o c r a t i c c o n v e n t i o n o f 1920 h i s name was p l a c e d
i n n o m i n a t i o n , even t h o u g h Glass h i m s e l f s u p p o r t e d W i l l i a m McAdoo. Again i n 1924
he was p l a c e d b e f o r e t h e c o n v e n t i o n , b u t t h e c o n v e n t i o n was d e a d l o c k e d u n t i l t h e
n o m i n a t i o n o f John D a v i s on t h e 1 0 3 r d b a l l o t . However, Glass n e v e r a c t i v e l y s o u g h t
the o f f i c e o f president.
When F r a n k l i n R o o s e v e l t became p r e s i d e n t i n 1933, he asked G l a s s , t h e n l i v i n g
a t Montview, t o become h i s S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y . S i n c e Glass wanted some
"assurance t h a t t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w o u l d n o t l a u n c h a p o l i c y o f i n f l a t i ~ n , " ~an
assurance t h a t R o o s e v e l t w a s u n w i l l i n g t o g i v e , Glass d e c l i n e d t h e o f f e r . As i t
t u r n e d o u t , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n d i d d e v a l u e t h e c u r r e n c y and w i t h d r a w g o l d c o i n s w h i c h
began a b r e a k between Glass and t h e p r e s i d e n t .
Yet, Glass d i d c o o p e r a t e w i t h R o o s e v e l t i n p a s s i n g t h e Emergency B a n k i n g A c t
i n 1933 w h i c h e n a b l e d many banks t o r e o r g a n i z e and reopen. I n a d d i t i o n , he cosponsored t h e G l a s s - S t e a g a l l A c t o f 1933 w h i c h p r o v i d e d f o r f e d e r a l i n s u r a n c e o f
' ~ r t h u r S. L i n k , W i l s o n :
The New Freedom ( P r i n c e t o n , 1 9 5 6 ) , p . 238.
3 ~ r t h u rM. S c h l e s i n g e r , J r . , The C r i s i s o f t h e O l d Order, 1919-1933 ( B o s t o n ,
1 9 5 7 ) . D . 468.
' 4 ~ ; l l iam F. Leuchtenburg, Frank1 i n E. Roosevel t and t h e New Deal, 1932-1 940
(New York, 1963). D. 160.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 1C.900.a
15821
Yo.
10Z1-OUiB
Expires
10-31-87
ONB
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
d5
Continuation sheet
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
MONTVIEW, Lynchburg, VA
--
Item number
8
Page 3
H i s t o r i c a l Background
bank d e p o s i t s t l i r o u g h t h e n e w l y c r e a t e d F e d e r a l D e p o s i t I n s u r a n c e C o r p o r a t i o n . I t
was d u r i n g t h i s t i m e t h a t Glass was concerned a b o u t t o o much c e n t r a l i z e d c o n t r o l o f
t h e b a n k i n g system and s u p p o r t e d any move t o p r e v e n t t h a t w h i l e p r o v i d i n g p r o t e c t i o n
t o individual depositors.
When i t came t o t h e B a n k i n g A c t o f 1935, however, Glass began t o s t i f f e n h i s
o p p o s i t i o n . T h i s a c t had been i n t r o d u c e d b y M a r r i n e r E c c l e s , Governor o f t h e Federal
Reserve Board, t o g i v e t h e p r e s i d e n t g r e a t e r c o n t r o l o v e r t h e system, l e s s e n t h e
i n f l u e n c e o f p r i v a t e b a n k e r s , and g i v e t h e b o a r d i n c r e a s e d a u t h o r i t y o v e r t h e money
s u p p l y . Glass a t t a c k e d t h e s e changes i n t h e Federal Reserve System as i f i t was
h i s own p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y and i n t h e Senate he r e w r o t e much o f t h e b i l l . Glass boasted,
"we d i d n o t l e a v e enough o f t h e E c c l e s B i l l w i t h w h i c h t o l i g h t a ~ i g a r e t t e . " ~Yet,
t h e passage o f t h e B a n k i n g A c t meant "a s i g n i f i c a n t s h i f t t o w a r d c e n t r a l i z a t i o n o f
t h e b a n k i n g system and f e d e r a l c o n t r o l o f ban king.^^
T h i s meant t h a t Glass i n c r e a s i n g l y became an opponent o f t h e New Deal. H i s t o r i a n
A l f r e d Cash K o e n i g e r m e n t i o n s t h a t t h e V i r g i n i a S e n a t c r became t h e "most p e r s i s t e n t
and outspoken c o n g r e s s i o n a l c r i t i c o f t h e New Deal."T As a r e s u l t , Glass became
one o f t h e l e a d i n g s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n c o n s e r v a t i v e c o a l i t i o n w h i c h s t y m i e d
f u r t h e r e f f o r t s a t r e f o r m . James T. P a t t e r s o n , h i s t o r i a n , r e p o r t s t h a t a c c o r d i n g
t o a s t u d y o f t h i r t y - o n e New Deal b i l l s f r o m 1933-39 Glass "was 81 p e r c e n t opposed-e a s i l y t h e h i g h e s t o f a l l d e m o c r a t i c s e n a t o r s o f t h e p e r i o d . " 8 No wonder R o o s e v e l t
r e f e r r e d t o Glass as an " u n r e c o n s t r u c t e d r e b e l ," t h e t i t l e o f one o f h i s b i o g r a p h i e s . 9
I n r e g a r d s t o f o r e i g n p o l i c y , Glass was an i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s t .
He s u p p o r t e d W i l s o n
i n t h e a t t e m p t s t o s e c u r e a p p r o v a l o f t h e League o f N a t i o n s . Glass a l s o d r a f t e d t h e
1920 Democratic P l a t f o r m w h i c h gave s t r o n g endorsement t o t h e League. I n 1928 he
s u p p o r t e d t h e K e l l o g g Peace P a c t . However, he opposed t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n o f American
t r o o p s i n Nicaragua i n 1928, s a y i n g t h a t he t h o u g h t t h e P r e s i d e n t had no c o n s t i t u t i o n a l
r i g h t t o send t r o o p s . As t h e war began i n Europe i n t h e l a t e 1930s, Glass s u p p o r t e d
t h e preparedness campaign. He was s p o n s o r o f t h e F i g h t f o r Freedom Committee, an
o r g a n i z a t i o n t o c o m b a t t h e i s o l a t i o n i s t s groups. He opposed t h e N e u t r a l i t y A c t s and
5 ~ i l l i a mF. Leuchtenburg,
Y 0 r k , ~ 1 9 6 3 ) , p. 160.
-1bid
F r a n k l i n E. R o o s e v e l t and The New Deal, 1932-1940 (New
-.
I
A l f r e d Cash K o e n i g e r , " C a r t e r Glass and t h e New D e a l : From t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l
Campaign o f 1932 Through t h e Hundred Days S e s s i o n o f Congress," u n p u b l i s h e d M.A.
T h e s i s , V a n d e r b i l t U n i v e r s i t y , 1974, p. 11.
8
James T. P a t t e r s o n , C o n g r e s s i o n a l C o n s e r v a t i s m and t h e New Deal ( L e x i n g t o n , 1 9 6 7 ) ,
p. 20.
9
pp.
James E . Palmer, Jr.,
255-56.
C a r t e r Glass:
U n r e c o n s t r u c t e d Rebel (Roanoke, VA: 1938),
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 6 )
NPS Form 1C.9W.a
(3.821
OM9
YO.
Expires
1024-00i8
14-32-97
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#6
Continuation sheet
8.
MONTVI EW, Lynchbur g, V A
Item number
8,
Page
4,
1
SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
c a l l e d f o r t h e i r r e p e a l . A f t e r P e a r l Harbor, Glass s u p p o r t e d R o o s e v e l t ' s war
measures. He became Chairman o f t h e Senate A p p r o p r i a t i o n s Committee w h i c h app r o v e d many o f t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s b i l l s f o r m i l i t a r y a c t i v i t y . Thus, Glass and
R o o s e v e l t were r e c o n c i l e d once a g a i n .
I n 1941, Glass became P r e s i d e n t Pro Tempore o f t h e Senate, b u t d i d n o t
appear i n t h e u p p e r chamber a g a i n a f t e r June 1942 because o f h i s i l l n e s s . He
was r e - e l e c t e d t o t h e Senate f o r t h e l a s t t i m e i n t h e f a l l o f 1942, b u t because
o f h i s h e a l t h he was a l l o w e d t o t a k e t h e o a t h o f o f f i c e a d m i n i s t e r e d b y t h e
s e c r e t a r y o f t h e Senate on t h e g l a s s e n c l o s e d p o r c h a t Montview. On May 28, 1946
he d i e d i n Washington D.C., o f h e a r t f a i l u r e a t t h e age o f 88. The f u n e r a l s e r v i c e
was h e l d a t Montview w h i c h was a t t e n d e d b y many s e n a t o r s and members o f t h e House.
t i l e o u t e r d o e o f t h e liedqe ( f o r r : , i n q a s l i q l r t l y i r r e q u l a r r e c t a n o l e i.:easirrirlq
a ; ~ l > r o x i r l a t e l y2b7' I 2
ant1 i n c l u ~ i n oan a d d i t i o n a l o f f s e t on t i r e n o r t i l e a s t
c o r l i e r t o i l r c l ~ l l i es e r v a n t ' s f l u a r t e r s ) anc! r e t u r n i n q t o t h e s t a r t i n o p o i n t .
LIiC:lllAi:Y JI:STIFICATIC!::
S u r r o u r l d i n q t h e Glass e s t a t e i s a Ilecoe t ; ~ a ti s LI-ol:en
i r i f i v e p i e c e s by \iali.\:a:ys.
Tirree o f t i i e s e openinas a r e r.,arl.eti i,:/ a p a i r o i
s t o n e ! l a t e p o s t s i . u i l t Ly C l a s s . T\:o p a i r s o f t i r e p o s t s \!ere e n t r a n c e s f o r drivei.a:fs
d u r i n q t i l e G l a s s occupancy, l,ut no\! a r e r ~ s e t If o r p e d e s t r i a n t r a f f i c . Tire t i l l r d i s
l o c a t e d a t t i l e r e a r o f t i l e i,iairr ilouse and \!as used as an c n t r a n c e \ : a y t o i t i s
s \ ; i l ? n i n g p o o l . T h i s lrcdge rlarlts t i l e nol.iinated p r o p e r t y ' s boundary and i n c l ~ i d c san
o f f s e t t o i n c l u t i r ? t h e s e r v a n t ' s c l u a r t e r s a t t i l e n o r t l r e a s t (JT' tlre mail) tlolrse.
T ! r i s a r e a i s approxiiratel:! 1.7 acres, i.:itIrin b,liici\ a r c tire r a i n housc, servant's
t i 1 t r e e s \ihic!r l!c
q u a r t e r s and y r i r d \rl,icii \,as t i r e p r i n c i p a l ! i r o u ~ l d s o f C l a s s ' (lay \!i
111antec.
NPS Form 1C-WO-a
12-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#7
Continuation sheet
MONTVIEW. Lynchburg, V A
--
9.
Item number 9
Page 1
--
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Koeniger, A. Cash.,' " C a r t e r Glass and t h e New Deal : From t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l
, Campaign o f 1932 Through t h e Hundred Days S e s s i o n o f Congress," M.A.
T h e s i s , V a n d e r b i l t U n i v e r s i t y , 1974.
.
F i e l d Research Notes, "Montview,"
October 1 , 1975.
Landmark P r o j e c t F i l e s , AASLH, N a s h v i l l e .
Historic
Leuchtenburg, I f i l l iam E. Frank1 i n D. R o o s e v e l t and t h e New Oeal, 1932-1940.
New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
Link, Arthur 5 . Wilson:
1955.
The New Freedom.
Princeton:
P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press,
Moger, A l l e n bl. V i r g i n i a : Sourbonism t o Byrd, 1870-1925.
U n i v e r s i t y Press o f V i r g i n i a , 1968.
Charlottesville:
Palmer, James E. Jr. C a r t e r Glass: U n r e c o n s t r u c t e d Rebel.
I n s t i t u t e o f American B i o g r a p h y , 1938.
Roanoke, V A . :
P a t t e r s o n , James T. C o n g r e s s i o n a l C o n s e r v a t i s m and t h e New Oeal.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Kentucky Press, 1967.
Lexington:
P u l l e y , Raymond H. " C a r t e r Glass," D i c t i o n a r y o f American B i o g r a p h y , Supplement
Four. New York: C h a r l e s S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1974.
S c h l e s g i n e r , A r t h u r , M., J r . The C r i s i s o f t h e O l d Order, 1919-1933.
B o s t o n : Houghton M i f f 1 i n Company, 1957.
Smith, R i x e y and Norman B e a s l e y .
Longmans, Green and Co.,
C a r t e r Glass:
1935.
A Biography.
New York:
MONTVIEW
CARTER GLASS ESTATE
Lvnchburo. V A
P r e ~ a r e db v C l i n e H a l l f r o m
L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y B u i l d i n q and Grounds P l o t
:(is7
MGP
TS
1
3' z
CITY F A R M Q U A D R A N G L E
.%L RESOURCES
,4TE GEOLOGIST
VIRGINIA
7.5 MINUTE S E R I E S (TOPOGRAPHIC)
S W / 4 LYNCHBURG 15 QUADRANGLE
,+%
3,:,6bb
OMB No. 1024-aO18
Exp. 10-3l-B4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
For NPS use only
National Register d Historic Places
I ~ v ~ ~ ~ o F Y 0inin;alkn
-R!
Form
received
date entered
See instructions in Ham to Complete Watlanal Register Forms
Type all entr~es--complete applicable sections
I.Name
( D H L File No. 118-210)
MOYTVIEW (preferred}
historic
Carter Gl ass E s t a t e
and'or common
2 Location
street & number
On
L j h ~ r t , v Cni vers ;4y Can~lrs
between S t a t e R O U ~ E670 a n d I!$ 29
city, town
tync5h urg
state
Virginia
Category
?
4. Owner
countv
Status
Ownership
-district
T prlvate
public
7 bu~rding(s') -structure
- both
Public Acquisition
-site
-object
&!.A in process
--being
J vicinity of
57
code
occupied
unoccupied
-
-work in progress
Accessible
yes: restricted
considered
!!/A not tor publication
-yes: unrestricted
-no
C i t y o f lynchburg
Present Use
-agriculture
commercial
7(1educational
-entertainment
-government
-Indwstrlal
-military
633
code
-museum
-park
-private residence
-religious
-scientific
-transportation
-other:
of Property
name
O l d Time
Hour
-Gospel
--c/o Dr. Jerry FaJwell
street & number
t.ang:lorne ?cad
city, town
1-ynchb~rg
-
!fi vicinity of
state
I f s ' r g in i a
5. Laeation of Legal Description
street % number
1100 Court Street
--
Lynchburg
city, town
state
--
Virginia
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
?
date
D i v i s i o n o f I ; i s t o r i c Landmarks
.
I n
e
~
has this
~ property been determined
~
eligible? ~
y
1585
-federal
depositary for survey records
221 Governor Street
city, town
Richmond
v
e
-state -county
A
s
X
-no
?
-local
--
V i r g i n i a 2321 C"
7. Description
Condition
-excellent
good
-fair
-deteriorated
-ruins
-unexposed
Check one
unaltered
-altered
Check one
&original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Montview, home o f Senator c a r t e r Glass, i s l o c a t e d i n t h e c i t y o f Lynchburg between US Route 29 and S t a t e Route 670 ( C a n d l e r ' s Mountain Road) on a 1 . 7 - a c r e t r a c t
o f l a n d w i t h i n t h e L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y campus. C o n s t r u c t e d i n 1923, Glass h i m s e l f
d i r e c t e d t h e b u i l d i n g o f t h e 1-112 s t o r y , gambrel-roofed, f i e l d s t o n e c e n t r a l b l o c k
flankbd; b y s l i g h t l y l o w e r 1-1/2 s t o r y end wings t h a t p r o j e c t r e a r w a r d w i t h o n e - s t o r y
e l l s . I n good c o n d i t i o n , t h e house has undergone no s i g n i f i c a n t s t r u c t u r a l a l t e r a t i o n s . The n o m i n a t i o n c o n s i s t s o f two c o n t r i b u t i n g b u i l d i n g s , t h e e s t a t e house and
servant's quarters.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
U-shaped i n i t s o v e r a l l plan, t h e n o r t h w e s t - f a c i n g Glass house c o n s i s t s o f a
r e c t a n g u l a r , e l o n g a t e d , 1-1/2 s t o r y , f i v e - b a y l o n g c e n t r a l b l o c k f l a n k e d b y two
s l i g h t l y l o w e r , 1-112 s t o r y end wings. Each o f t h e s e f e a t u r e s a r e a r w a r d p r o j e c t i n g , o n e - s t o r y e l l composed o f a s m a l l breezeway l e a d i n g t o a l a r g e r , square u n i t
o c c u p y i n g t h e r e a r p o r t i o n o f t h e e l l . A t t h e r e a r o f t h e s t r u c t u r e , where t h e
c e n t r a l b l o c k ' s r e a r facade meets t h e n o r t h e r n r e a r e l l t o form a r i g h t angle, t h e r e
i s a o n e - i t o r y , cone-roofed, rounded t u r r e t t h a t houses a b r i e f , c u r v i n g passageway.
The house f e a t u r e s 1 8 - i n c h t h i c k e x t e r i o r w a l l s o f uncoursed, p r e d o m i n a n t l y q u a r t z
f i e l d s t o n e l q u a r r i e d on t h e e s t a t e . The upper h a l f o f t h e s t r u c t u r e ' s end w a l l s a r e
composed o f p l a n k s i d i n g , and cream-painted woodwork enhances t h e r o o f 1i n e , doors
and windows, and e n c l o s e d porches o f t h e b u i l d i n g . C o v e r i n g t h e c e n t r a l b l o c k i s
a gray, s l a t e b e l l - c a s t gambrel r o o f t h a t i s f l a n k e d a t each end b y a narrow, s t o n e ,
e x t e r i o r chimney ' d i s p l i y i n g an i - s h a p e ? ' i r o r i ornamental b r a c k e t . Atop t h e two end
wings i s a s l a t e b e l l - c a s t gambrel r o o f s l i g h t l y l o w e r and l e s s s t e e p l y p i t c h e d
than t h a t o f t h e c e c t r a l h l o c k . Each r e a r e l l has a s l a t e r o o f t h i t i s gabled above
t h e c o n n e c t i n g s e c t i o n and h i p p e d o v e r t h e l a r g e u n i t and e a c h ' e l l ' s end w a l l e x h i b i t s
a t a l l s t o n e e x t e r i o r chimney t h a t r i s e s t o p i e r c e t h e r o o f l i n e .
S h e l t e r e d under a t l e a s t a p o r t i o n o f each w i n g ' s r o o f i s an e n c l o s e d sunporch.
Both o f these a r e r a i s e d on s t o n e foundations and f e a t u r e p a i r s o f transom-topped,
t e n 1 i g h t f r e n c h doors f l a n k e d b y s i d e 1 i g h t s and s e t between r o u n d wooden, D o r i c
columns. The sunporch on t h e r i g h t ( s o u t h ) o c c u p i e s t h e e n t i r e f i r s t f l o o r o f t h e
r i g h t end w i n g and c o n s i s t s o f f o u r s e t s o f f r e n c h doors i n t e r s p e r s e d b y seven
columns. S m a l l e r i n s i z e , t h e l e f t sunporch o c c u p i e s o n l y t h e f r o n t ( n o r t h e r n )
s e c t i o n s o f i t ' s w i n g and has t w o s e t s o f french doors and f i v e columns.
Windows o f t h e house v a r y i n design, b u t a l l have r e c t a n g u l a r wooden frames,
and most a r e s i x - o v e r - s i x sash. A l l f i r s t f l o o r windows have smooth s t o n e s i l l s ,
many a r e crowned b y a f l a t a r c h o f f i e l d s t o n e v o u s s o i r s , and m s t a r e graced b y
wooden p a n e l e d s h u t t e r s . A l t o g e t h e r , e i g h t dormers a r e l o c a t e d on t h e f r o n t and
r e a r . On t h e .Front 'slbpe o f t h e c n e t r a l b l o c k ' s r o o f a r e t h r e e s h e d - r o o f e d dormers.
The m i d d l e one h.as 'a' Si.ngle s i x - o l e + - s i x sash windpw, whereas t h e f l a n k i n g dormers
have s i x - o v e r - s i x sash double windows. A s h e d - r o o f e d dormer e x t e n d s a c r o s s t h e ent i r e l e n g t h o f t h e c e n t r a l b l o c k ' s r e a r r o o f l i n e and f e a t u r e s v a r i e d f e n s t r a t i o n .
The f i f t h shed-roofed dormer p i e r c e s t h e r e a r s l o p e o f t h e r i g h t ( s o u t h e r n ) end
w i n g ' s r o o f and d i s p l a y s two s i n g l e windows. An i n s e t , " s w e p t - r o o f e d " dormer w i t h
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 1 )
8. Significance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-
A-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
.-community
planning -landscape architecturereligion
conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
economics
-literature
sculpture
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
.
- engineering
-music
humanitarian
commerce
explorationlsettlement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
industry
po~iticsigovernment -transportation
-invention
, . -other
(specify)
-archeology-prehistoric
-archeology-historic
?r
-
-
1923-46
BuilderIAmhitect
Unknown
Statement of Significance (in one par9graph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Montview i s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r i t s d i r e c t a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h t h e s e n a t o r i a l c a r e e r
o f C a r t e r Glass, one o f American's f o r e m o s t 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y p u b l i c f i n a n c i e r s . A l e a d i n g p r o g r e s s i v e r e f o r m e r d u r i n g t h e Woodrow W i l s o n e r a , Glass i s c h i e f l y remembered
f o r h i s s u c c e s s f u l s p o n s o r s h i p o f t h e Glass-Owen A c t w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e F e d e r a l
I n 1920, a f t e r s e r v i n g b r i e f l y i n W i l s o n ' s c a b i n e t as
Reserve b a n k i n g system.
S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y , t h e L y n c h b u r g Democrat e n t e r e d upon a l o n g and d i s t i n g u i s e d
c a r e e r i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Senate. Recognized i n t h e y e a r s o f R e p u b l i c a n ascendancy
as h i s p a r t y ' s l e a d i n g e x p e r t on p u b l i c f i n a n c e , Glass d e c l i n e d t o s e r v e i n F r a n k l i n
Delano R o o s e u e \ t ' 5 c a b i n e t a s S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y . He l a t e r b r o k e w i t h t h e New
Deal a d m i n i s t r a t i o n t o become one o f t h e l e a d i n g s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n cons e r v a t i v e c o a l i t i o n t h a t b l o c k e d t h e p a t h o f t h e d o m e s t i c r e f o r m i n Congress d u r i n g
R o o s e v e l t ' s second term. A f t e r P e a r l Harbor, t h e man whom R o o s e v e l t c a l l e d h i s
" u n r e c o n s t r u c t e d r e b e l " became One o f h i s s t r o n g e s t a - l l i e s as Chairman o f t h e Senate
A p p r o p r i a t i o n s Committee and P r e s i d e n t Pro Tempore o f t h e Senate. D u r i n g G l a s s '
e a r l y c a r e e r i n n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , he l i v e d i n an a n t e b e l l u m b r i c k house a t 605
I n 1923, t h e
Clay S t r e e t i n L y n c h b u r g ( l i s t e d i n t h e N a t i o n a l R e g i s t e r i n . 1977,).
S e n a t o r moved from h i s C l a y S t r e e t address t o Montvfew, a f t e r t a k i n q a g r e a t p a r t i n
d i r e c t i n g h i s new d w e l l i n g ' s c o n s t r u c t i o n . Montview remained h i s p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e
i n Lynchburg u n t i l h i s d e a t h i n 1946.
. . c
.. . , ,
I
:
I
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
C a r t e r Glass came f r o m S c o t s - I r i s h a n c e s t r y t h a t s e t t l e d i n V i r g i n i a b e f o r e t h e
American R e v o l u t i o n . Bo'rn ' i n Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a on January 4, 1858; he was t h e
y o u n g e s t c h i l d o f R o b e r t Henry Glass and Augusta C h r i s t i a n Glass. H i s f a t h e r was t h e
owner and p u b l i s h e r o f t h e L y n c h b u r g R e p u b l i c a n and was a p r o m i n e n t f i g u r e i n l o c a l
Democratic p o l i t i c s . Because o f p o s t w a r s t r i n g e n c y , h i s f a m i l y moved t o P e t e r s b u r g
where h i s f a t h e r became e d i t o r o f a n o t h e r paper.
Young C a r t e r l e f t s c h o o l a t t h e age o f f o u r t e e n and became a
on h i s f a t h e r ' s paper. Thus began a j o u r n a l i s t c a r e e r f o r C a r t e r
l a s t t h e r e s t o f h i s l i f e . I n 1880, he became a r e p o r t e r f o r t h e
purchased t h e paper i n 1888. By 1895, he had purchased two o t h e r
printer's devil
Glass t h a t was t o
Lynchburg News and
L y n c h b u r g newspapers.
Glass was a l i f e l o n g member o f t h e D e m o c r a t i c p a r t y and as h i s , neuspppers p r o s p e r e d he t o o k an a c t i v e r o l e i n p o l i t i c s . H i s i n t e r e s t i n f i n a n c i a l p o l i c y i s .
d e m o n s t r a t e d e a r l y as he was a s t a u n c h a d v o c a t e o f f r e e s i l v e r i n t h e l a t e 1 9 t h
c e n t u r y . He w r o t e e d i t o r i a l s a g a i n s t t h e m o n e t a r y p o l i c i e s o f P r e s i d e n t G r o v e r
C l e v e l a n d and i n 1896 j o i n e d t h e F r e e - S i l v e r Crusade o f W i l l i a m Jennings Bryan.
(.See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 3 )
9. Major Bibliographical References
Graham, O t i s L., J r . An Encore f o r Reform: The O l d P r o g r e s s i v e s and t h e New Deal.
New York: O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Press. 1967.
Koeniger, A. Cash.
" C a r t e r ~ l a s ; and t h e N a t i o n a l Recovery A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , "
South
A t l a n t i c Q u a r t e r l ~ ,LXXXIV (Summer, 19751, 349-364.
( s e e continuation
)
10. Geographical Data
1 .7 a c r e s
Acreage of nominated property
Quadrangle name C i t~ Farm
;
vk
:24000
Quadrangle scale
UTM References
A
b d(1-61
Zone
c
w
Easting
U-Ld
1 41 11 31' 51 31 61 01
Northing
Zone
Eastlnq
11111111
G Wu
..
I
I
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n and justification L(IUI;UA~!Y CESCGIPTI0I.I: As in u i c a t e t i on t h e acccinnanyi nc
liiap ~(iadeby L i t c r t v l i n i v c r s i t y C u i l d i n a s and Grounus O f f i c e , a l i n e i i e i i n n i n g a t t h e s t o n e
q a t e p o s t s a t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n. - w .i .t. h t.t .i e. e l l t r a n c e v ~ a l i : ~ : i a ~ ! ( n o r t l ~ e aosft iiiain l ~ o u s en e a r s e r v a ~ ~ t ' s
~ u a r t e r s )a l o n g t i l e n r o p e r t y l s s u r r o u n u i n g hedge and e x t e n d i n q a p p r 6 x i r : : i t e l j r 1,150' a r o u m
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries (Lee C o n t i n u a t i o n ~ t i e e t i b )
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
1
nameititle
Dr. C l i n e E. Hall
Chairman, H i s t o r y Department
O c t o b e r 27, 1986
organization L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y
date
street & number BOX 20000
telephone(804.)
city or town
Lynchburg
582-2 308
V i r g i p i a 24506
,tate
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated slgnificance of this property w~thinthe state
-national
2state
IS:
-local
AS the designated Slate Historic Preservation ~fficei'forthe National ~ i s t o r i cpreservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inciusio
t has been evaluated
according to thg criteria and procedures set fort
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
H. B r y a n N i t c h e l l , D i r e c t o r
D i v i s i o n o f H i s t o r i c Landmarks
For NPS use only
, . - r.,;..,
Ihereby certify that this property i s included in the National Register
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
i l a r c h 27, 1!!R7
date
,.
,
.
.- . ; ., . -.:
..
.
f i ,
.
*
,
NPS Form 10.900..
13-82)
OMB
Bo. 1 0 2 4 - 0 0 1 8
Expires
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#1
Continuation sheet MONTV IEW , Lynchburg, VA
7.
Item number
7
Page
1
DESCRIPTION -- D e t a i l e d A n a l y s i s
s i x - o v e r - s i x s a s h window d e c o r a t e s t h e f r o n t s l o p e o f b o t h end w i n g s , and a t h i r d such
dormer i s r e c e s s e d i n t h e r e a r s l o p e o f t h e l e f t ( n o r t h e r n ) end w i n g ' s r o o f . S i x - o v e r s i x sash windows ornament t h e u p p e r - s t o r y end w a l l s o f b o t h w i n g s .
S k i r t i n g t h e main f r o n t e n t r y t o t h e Glass house i s a s m a l l c o n c r e t e s t o o p t h a t
i s a c c e s s i b l e b y t h r e e c o n c r e t e s t e p s . The r e c t a n g u l a r e n t r y c o n s i s t s o f a woodpaneled, s i n g l e d o o r (now p r o t e c t e d b y a s t o r m d o o r ) f l a n k e d on each s i d e b y a row
o f f o u r s i d e l i g h t s and s e t w i t h i n a wooden a r c h i t r a v e . B o r d e r i n g t h e a r c h i t r a v e i s
a f l a t arch o f f i e l d s t o n e voussoirs. D i r e c t l y opposite the front e n t r y i s the rear
e n t r y , a p a n e l e d - a n d - l i g h t e d s i n g l e d o o r a l s o approached b y t h r e e c o n c r e t e s t e p s
now c o v e r e d w i t h a ramp f o r handicapped access. T h i s e n t r y i s s h e l t e r e d b y a h i p r o o f e d hood w i t h wooden s u p p o r t c o n s o l e s . A s i m i l a r d o o r w i t h a c o n s o l e - s u p p o r t e d
hood p r o v i d e s a s i d e e n t r a n c e t o t h e n o r t h e r n m o s t r e a r e l l . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e
p a i r o f f r e n c h d o o r s t h a t d e f i n e t h e w a l l s o f t h e two sunporches, two p a i r s o f t e n l i g h t f r e n c h d o o r s p r o v i d e access t o t h e c o n n e c t i n g breezeway o f t h e s o u t h e r n m o s t r e a r
e l l , and a n o t h e r p a i r o f t h e t e n - l i g h t f r e n c h d o o r s g i v e s e n t r y t o t h e c o n n e c t i n g
u n i t o f the northernmost r e a r e l l .
The f r o n t d o o r p r o v i d e s access i n t o a w i d e c e n t r a l h a l l t h a t b i s e c t s t h e c e n t r a l
b l o c k and e x t e n d s t o t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d r e a r e n t r y . I n t h e c o r r i d o r t h e w a l l s a r e
w a l l b o a r d w i t h p a n e l e d m o l d i n g . Wooden baseboards a r e used t h r o u g h o u t t h e house.
C e i l i n g s on t h e f i r s t f l o o r a r e s i x t e e n f e e t h i g h and a r e o f p l a s t e r . The f l o o r i n g i s
oak c o v e r e d b y c a r p e t . A l o n g t h e r i g h t w a l l o f t h e c e n t r a l h a l l a t w o - r u n , o p e n - w e l l ,
o p e n - s t r i n g e d s t a i r c a s e w i t h wooden b a l u s t e r s and a mahogany b a n i s t e r ascends t o t h e
u p s t a i r s h a l l . Underneath t h e s t i r w a y i s a s m a l l bathroom.
J u s t beyond t h e f r o n t e n t r y , a doorway i n t h e h a l l ' s s o u t h w a l l l e a d s i n t o a
s p a c i o u s l i v i n g room now used as a w a i t i n g room. A f i r e p l a c e i s c e n t e r e d a g a i n s t
t h e s o u t h e r n w a l l w i t h a wooden mantel and s u r r o u n d . From t h e l i v i n g room's s o u t h e r n
w a l l a p a i r o f f r e n c h d o u b l e doors l e a d s t o t h e sunporch. The n o r t h , i n n e r w a l l o f
t h e sunporch i s c o n s t r u c t e d o f f i e l d s t o n e and d i s p l a y s a f i r e p l a c e w i t h a f i e l d s t o n e
s u r r o u n d and f i r e p l a c e s t o v e i n s e r t . I n c o n t r a s t , t h e t h r e e o u t e r w a l l s a r e c o m p r i s e d
o f f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s s e t between b u l k y columns. From t h e r e a r w a l l o f t h e sunporch
f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s open i n t o t h e e n c l o s e d breezeway, w h i c h c o n n e c t s w i t h G l a s s '
l i b r a r y i n t h e r e a r e l l . Here g l a s s e d - i n bookcases l i n e t h r e e w a l l s o f t h e o a k - f l o o r e d
chamber c o v e r e d w i t h c a r p e t , and t h e r e a r w a l l has w a l l p a p e r and a b r i c k f i r e p l a c e
w i t h a r c h e d o p e n i n g w i t h a wooden mantel. T h i s f i r e p l a c e , d u r i n g t h e occupancy o f
Glass, h a d a m a r b l e m a n t e l t h a t was s a l v a g e d f r o m a b u i l d i n g used by Congress a f t e r
t h e b u r n i n g o f t h e U.S. C a p i t o l b y t h e B r i t i s h i n t h e War o f 1 8 1 2 . l These were b o u g h t
b y Glass i n t h e m i d 1930s when t h e b u i l d i n g was razed. Carved o f w h i t e marble, t h e
l ~ ~ n c h bD
u ar i~l y Advance, June 28, 1947.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 2)
NPS Form 10-WO-I
OHB s o .
Expires
b82)
1024-0018
10-31-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#2
Continuation sheet MONTVIEW
7.
~
~
VA
~
Item number
~
7h
b
~Page 2 ~
DESCRIPTION -- D e t a i l e d A n a l y s i s
mantel had a r o u n d - a r c h e d o p e n i n g f l a n k e d b y c o l o n e t t e s and p a n e l e d s p a n d r e l s . A
c a r t o u c h e crowned t h e c e n t e r . An i d e n t i c a l m a n t e l , a l s o s a i d t o be f r o m t h e same
b u i l d i n g , adorned t h e d i n i n g room. However, t h e f o r m e r owners, M r . and Mrs. D a n i e l
Bowman, removed b o t h m a r b l e m a n t e l s and f i r e p l a c e s when t h e y v a c a t e d t h e home. The
present b r i c k f i r e p l a c e s a r e replacements.
On t h e n o r t h s i d e o f t h e c e n t r a l h a l l , a doorway j u s t beyond t h e f r o n t e n t r y
opens i n t o t h e d i n i n g room w h i c h has p a n e l e d p l a s t e r w a l l s ,
A brick fireplace i s
a g a i n s t t h e n o r t h e r n w a l l . Today, t h i s f o r m e r d i n i n g room i s used as a v i s i t o r ' s
r e c e p t i o n a r e a . A p a i r o f f r e n c h d o u b l e d o o r s on t h e w e s t s i d e o f t h e f i r e p l a c e
l e a d s t o t h e n o r t h , e n c l o s e d sunporch, f r o m w h i c h a n o t h e r p a i r opens r e a r w a r d i n t o
t h e s e n a t o r ' s bedroom l o c a t e d i n t h e n o r t h w i n g . A t t h e r e a r o f t h e bedroom, a semic i r c u l a r a r c h e d doorway l e a d s t o an a l c o v e c o n t a i n i n g a d r e s s i n g room and a b a t h w i t h
o r i g i n a l f i x t u r e s . The bedroom i s now used as an o f f i c e .
I n t h e d i n i n g room, a m i r r o r - c o v e r e d , wooden s w i n g i n g d o o r i n t h e r e a r w a l l
g i v e s e n t r a n c e t o what o r i g i n a l l y was a b u t l e r ' s p a n t r y b u t has s i n c e been c o n v e r t e d
t o a k i t c h e n . T h i s room i s a l s o a c c e s s i b l e f r o m t h e c e n t r a l h a l l . I n t h e k i t c h e n ' s
r e a r w a l l a d o o r opens i n t o t h e s h o r t , c u r v e d passageway o c c u p y i n g t h e o n e - s t o r y
t u r r e t and c o n n e c t i n g t h e k i t c h e n w i t h a u t i l i t y room i n t h e n o r t h e r n m o s t e l l . Here
a s t a i r w a y descends t o a four-room, f u l l basement. Beyond t h e u t i l i t y room i n t h e
r e a r p a r t o f t h e n o r t h e r n e l l i s t h e l o c a t i o n o f t h e k i t c h e n d u r i n g t h e Glass occupancy.
On t h e upper f l o o r , a d o o r t o t h e n o r t h a t t h e t o p o f t h e s t a i r s opens i n t o a
l a r g e room t h a t Mrs. Glass used as h e r bedroom. To t h e r e a r o f t h i s room a r e a
bathroom and a d r e s s i n g room. A s p e a k i n g t u b e l i n k e d Mrs. G l a s s ' bedroom w i t h t h e
9 n a b c 3 bedroom on t h e f i r s t f l o o r , b u t t h e a p e r t u r e s o f t h e t u b e have s i n c e been
w a l l p a p e r e d o v e r . Beyond t h i s bedroom, o v e r t h e n o r t h e r n sunporch, i s a s p a c i o u s
room w i t h a b r i c k f i r p l a c e b e a r i n g a wooden m a n t e l . Mrs. Glass used t h i s as a s i t t i n g room. Today t h i s s u i t e o f rooms i s used as t h e o f f i c e o f t h e P r e s i d e n t o f t h e
U n i v e r s i t y and h i s s e c r e t a r i a l s t a f f .
A c o r r i d o r t h a t opens t o t h e s o u t h o f t h e u p s t a i r s c e n t r a l h a l l and r u n s p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o i t p r o v i d e s access t o t h e r e m a i n i n g second f l o o r rooms. On t h e f r o n t
s i d e o f t h i s c o r r i d o r i s a f o r m e r bedroom and b a t h , and towards t h e r e a r i s a s m a l l
bedroom w i t h a d j o i n i n g b a t h . A t t h e end o f t h e c o r r i d o r , a l a r g e r bedroom and i t s
a d j o i n i n g b a t h occupy t h e r i g h t w i n g . From t h e f r o n t o f t h e second f l o o r c e n t r a l
h a l l , an e n c l o s e d s t a i r c a s e r i s e s t o t h e a t t i c , w h i c h e x t e n d s above t h e c e n t r a l
b l o c k and b o t h w i n g s . A l l o f t h e b a t h s on t h e second f l o o r a l s o have t h e o r i g i n a l
fixtures.
(See c o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 3)
~
NPS Form 10.900.a
0-821
O M B !!o. 1 0 2 4 - O O i S
Expires
10-11-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#3
Continuation sheet MONTV IEW , Lynchburg, VA
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7, 8
Page 3, 1
D e t a i l e d Analyses
I n t h e n o n i m a t e d a r e a a r e 1.7 a c r e s e n c l o s e d by a hedge. Three p a i r o f q u a r t z
s t o n e columns remain, one each on t h e n o r t h e r n and s o u t h e r n s i d e w h i c h were used as
e n t r a n c e ways f o r t h e o r i g i n a l d r i v e w a y and one p a i r a t t h e r e a r o f t h e l o t l e a d i n g
towards a f o r m e r swimming p o o l j u s t o u t s i d e t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a .
I n addition t o the
e s t a t e house i n t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a s i s a s m a l l c o t t a g e w h i c h d a t e s f r o m t h e s e n a t o r ' s
occupancy. T h i s c o t t a g e , f o r m e r l y t h e c a r e t a k e r ' s r e s i d e n c e , i s a g a b l e d - r o o f e d ,
f i e l d s t o n e s t r u c t u r e t h a t s t a n d s n o r t h e a s t o f t h e main house. The s t r u c t u r e once
had a c o n c r e t e - f l o o r e d f r o n t veranda on t h e n o r t h w i t h f i e l d s t o n e - p i l l a r - s u p p o r t e d
r o o f , now e n c l o s e d and e x t e n d e d t o make a d d i t i o n a l rooms. T h i s e x t e n d e d a r e a has a
shed-type r o o f .
I n s i d e t h e b u i l d i n g , now o c c u p i e d b y t h e s t u d i o o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y
r a d i o s t a t i o n , a c e n t r a l h a l l p r o v i d e s access t o f o u r rooms and a b a t h .
I n the sideyard
between t h e e s t a t e house and t h e c o t t a g e , a s t o n e C o r i n t h i a n c a p i t a l Glass b r o u g h t
back f r o m Pompeii p r e v i o u s l y s t o o d as a u n i q u e head f o r a w a t e r w e l l .
I t was a l s o
removed b y t h e p r e v i o u s owners. The swimming p o o l used by Glass i s l o c a t e d i n t h e
e s t a t e h o u s e ' s backyard, j u s t beyond t h e n o m i n a t e d a r e a .
It now i s p a r t o f a sunken
memorial garden. Two bathhouses, now demolished, s t o o d a t t h e f a r , s o u t h e a s t end
o f t h e pool.
8.
SIGNIFICANCE - - H i s t o r i c a l Background
I n 1898, Glass won e l e c t i o n t o a f o u r y e a r t e r m i n t h e V i r g i n i a S t a t e Senate.
He came i n t o p o l i t i c a l prominence, however, when he s e r v e d as a d e l e g a t e t o t h e s t a t e
C o n s t i t u t i o n a l C o n v e n t i o n i n 1901-2.
T h i s c o n v e n t i o n was c a l l e d t o r e v i s e t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n c o n s t i t u t i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e p r o v i s i o n f o r u n i v e r s a l manhood s u f f r a g e .
Glass, l i k e many o t h e r s , blamed p o l i t i c a l c o r r u p t i o n on a system t h a t a l l o w e d uneducated b l a c k s and w h i t e s t o v o t e , t h e r e f o r e , Glass s u p p o r t e d measures t o r e s t r i c t
s u f f r a g e b y l i t e r a c y t e s t s and t h e p o l l t a x . A c c o r d i n g t o Glass b i o g r a p h e r Raymond
H. P u l l e y , " i t was l a r g e l y t h r o u g h h i s powers o f p e r s u a s i o n t h a t t h e c o n v e n t i o n
This p o s i t i o n
adopted t h e s e measures t h a t u l t i m a t e l y d i s f r a n c h i s e d t h e n e g r o e s . " l
on r a c e became t h e g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d p o s i t i o n o f s o u t h e r n Democrats, even o f t h o s e
c l a s s i f i e d as p r o g r e s s i v e r e f o r m e r s .
Glass was e l e c t e d t o Congress i n 1902 where he remained f o r s i x t e e n y e a r s . As
Chairman o f t h e House Committee on B a n k i n g and Currency, Glass was g i v e n t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e W i l s o n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s measure t o r e f o r m t h e n a t i o n ' s b a n k i n g
Glass drew up a b i l l t h a t p r o v i d e d f o r a s y s t e m o f r e s e r v e
and c u r r e n c y system.
banks under t h e c o n t r o l o f t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y . Because o f an o u t c r y f r o m t h e
p r o g r e s s i v e Democrats and s u p p o r t by W i l s o n f o r a government c o n t r o l l e d b a n k i n g
system, Glass m o d i f i e d t h e p l a n t o i n c l u d e such a p r o v i s i o n . He p e r s o n a l l y d i r e c t e d
t h e Glass Owen A c t ( 1 9 1 3 ) t h r o u g h Congress w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e Federal Reserve System.
lRaymond H. P u l l e y , " C a r t e r Glass,"
Four (New York, 19741, p. 331.
D i c t i o n a r y o f American B i o g r a p h y , Supplement
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 4 )
NPS Form 1C-900.1
13.821
o r n .vo.
Expires
1024.0018
1"-ll-87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#4
.. .
Continuation sheet MONTVIEW, Lynchburg, VA
Item number
8
Page 2
SIGNIFICANCE - - H i s t o r i c a l Background
H i s t o r i a n A r t h u r S. L i n k r e c o g n i z e d t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f G l a s s and l a b e l e d t h e a c t
as t h e " g r e a t e s t s i n g l e p i e c e o f c o n s t r u c t i v e l e g i s l a t i o n o f t h e W i l s o n e r a and one
o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t d o m e s t i c a c t s i n t h e n a t i o n ' s h i s t o r y . " 2
I n 1919, P r e s i d e n t W i l s o n a p p o i n t e d Glass S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y t o succeed
W i l l a i m G.YcAAco.
I n t h i s p o s i t i o n Glass was s u c c e s s f u l i n f l o a t i n g a $5 b i l l i o n
v i c t o r y l o a n t o h e l p pay t h e c o s t o f World War I. He l e f t t h i s p o s i t i o n i n F e b r u a r y
1920 when he was a p p o i n t e d t o f i l l a vacancy i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Senate a t t h e
d e a t h o f Thomas S. M a r t i n . L a t e r i n t h e y e a r he was e l e c t e d t o t h a t same p o s i t i o n
where he remained u n t i l h i s d e a t h .
I t was d u r i n g h i s e a r l y y e a r s i n t h e Senate t h a t Glass c o n s t r u c t e d Montview.
Completed i n 1923, Montview became a r e f u g e away f r o m Washington. The house was s u r rounded b y a 300 a c r e d a i r y f a r m w h e r e Glass had a p r i z e d J e r s e y h e r d . Glass t r a v e l e d
between Montview and Washington b y t r a i n , g e t t i n g o f f t h e t r a i n a t Montview s t a t i o n
below h i s house. He e n j o y e d t h e use o f h i s l i b r a r y and i t was h e r e t h a t he w r o t e
many o f h i s speeches i n defense o f t h e Federal Reserve System and completed a book
on t h e same s u b j e c t , An A d v e n t u r e i n C o n s t r u c t i v e Finance. Glass was always t h e f i r s t
t o d e f e n d t h e F e d e r a l R e s e r v e s y s t e m on t h e f l o o r o f t h e Senate. D u r i n g t h e R e p u b l i can y e a r s o f t h e 1920s, Glass became r e c o g n i z e d as " t h e d e m o c a r t i c p a r t y ' s e x p e r t on
p u b l i c f i n a n c e , " a c c o r d i n g t o h i s t o r i a n A r t h u r M. S c h l e s i n g e r , J r . 3 -
Because o f t h e p o p u l a r i t y o f Glass i n t h e 1920s, he was o f t e n m e n t i o n e d as a
p r e s i d e n t i a l candidate.
I n t h e d e m o c r a t i c c o n v e n t i o n o f 1920 h i s name was p l a c e d
i n n o m i n a t i o n , even t h o u g h Glass h i m s e l f s u p p o r t e d W i l l i a m McAdoo. Again i n 1924
he was p l a c e d b e f o r e t h e c o n v e n t i o n , b u t t h e c o n v e n t i o n was d e a d l o c k e d u n t i l t h e
n o m i n a t i o n o f John D a v i s on t h e 1 0 3 r d b a l l o t . However, Glass n e v e r a c t i v e l y s o u g h t
the o f f i c e o f president.
When F r a n k l i n R o o s e v e l t became p r e s i d e n t i n 1933, he asked G l a s s , t h e n l i v i n g
a t Montview, t o become h i s S e c r e t a r y o f t h e T r e a s u r y . S i n c e Glass wanted some
"assurance t h a t t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w o u l d n o t l a u n c h a p o l i c y o f i n f l a t i ~ n , " ~an
assurance t h a t R o o s e v e l t w a s u n w i l l i n g t o g i v e , Glass d e c l i n e d t h e o f f e r . As i t
t u r n e d o u t , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n d i d d e v a l u e t h e c u r r e n c y and w i t h d r a w g o l d c o i n s w h i c h
began a b r e a k between Glass and t h e p r e s i d e n t .
Yet, Glass d i d c o o p e r a t e w i t h R o o s e v e l t i n p a s s i n g t h e Emergency B a n k i n g A c t
i n 1933 w h i c h e n a b l e d many banks t o r e o r g a n i z e and reopen. I n a d d i t i o n , he cosponsored t h e G l a s s - S t e a g a l l A c t o f 1933 w h i c h p r o v i d e d f o r f e d e r a l i n s u r a n c e o f
' ~ r t h u r S. L i n k , W i l s o n :
The New Freedom ( P r i n c e t o n , 1 9 5 6 ) , p . 238.
3 ~ r t h u rM. S c h l e s i n g e r , J r . , The C r i s i s o f t h e O l d Order, 1919-1933 ( B o s t o n ,
1 9 5 7 ) . D . 468.
' 4 ~ ; l l iam F. Leuchtenburg, Frank1 i n E. Roosevel t and t h e New Deal, 1932-1 940
(New York, 1963). D. 160.
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 5 )
NPS Form 1C.900.a
15821
Yo.
10Z1-OUiB
Expires
10-31-87
ONB
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
d5
Continuation sheet
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
MONTVIEW, Lynchburg, VA
--
Item number
8
Page 3
H i s t o r i c a l Background
bank d e p o s i t s t l i r o u g h t h e n e w l y c r e a t e d F e d e r a l D e p o s i t I n s u r a n c e C o r p o r a t i o n . I t
was d u r i n g t h i s t i m e t h a t Glass was concerned a b o u t t o o much c e n t r a l i z e d c o n t r o l o f
t h e b a n k i n g system and s u p p o r t e d any move t o p r e v e n t t h a t w h i l e p r o v i d i n g p r o t e c t i o n
t o individual depositors.
When i t came t o t h e B a n k i n g A c t o f 1935, however, Glass began t o s t i f f e n h i s
o p p o s i t i o n . T h i s a c t had been i n t r o d u c e d b y M a r r i n e r E c c l e s , Governor o f t h e Federal
Reserve Board, t o g i v e t h e p r e s i d e n t g r e a t e r c o n t r o l o v e r t h e system, l e s s e n t h e
i n f l u e n c e o f p r i v a t e b a n k e r s , and g i v e t h e b o a r d i n c r e a s e d a u t h o r i t y o v e r t h e money
s u p p l y . Glass a t t a c k e d t h e s e changes i n t h e Federal Reserve System as i f i t was
h i s own p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y and i n t h e Senate he r e w r o t e much o f t h e b i l l . Glass boasted,
"we d i d n o t l e a v e enough o f t h e E c c l e s B i l l w i t h w h i c h t o l i g h t a ~ i g a r e t t e . " ~Yet,
t h e passage o f t h e B a n k i n g A c t meant "a s i g n i f i c a n t s h i f t t o w a r d c e n t r a l i z a t i o n o f
t h e b a n k i n g system and f e d e r a l c o n t r o l o f ban king.^^
T h i s meant t h a t Glass i n c r e a s i n g l y became an opponent o f t h e New Deal. H i s t o r i a n
A l f r e d Cash K o e n i g e r m e n t i o n s t h a t t h e V i r g i n i a S e n a t c r became t h e "most p e r s i s t e n t
and outspoken c o n g r e s s i o n a l c r i t i c o f t h e New Deal."T As a r e s u l t , Glass became
one o f t h e l e a d i n g s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e b i p a r t i s a n c o n s e r v a t i v e c o a l i t i o n w h i c h s t y m i e d
f u r t h e r e f f o r t s a t r e f o r m . James T. P a t t e r s o n , h i s t o r i a n , r e p o r t s t h a t a c c o r d i n g
t o a s t u d y o f t h i r t y - o n e New Deal b i l l s f r o m 1933-39 Glass "was 81 p e r c e n t opposed-e a s i l y t h e h i g h e s t o f a l l d e m o c r a t i c s e n a t o r s o f t h e p e r i o d . " 8 No wonder R o o s e v e l t
r e f e r r e d t o Glass as an " u n r e c o n s t r u c t e d r e b e l ," t h e t i t l e o f one o f h i s b i o g r a p h i e s . 9
I n r e g a r d s t o f o r e i g n p o l i c y , Glass was an i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s t .
He s u p p o r t e d W i l s o n
i n t h e a t t e m p t s t o s e c u r e a p p r o v a l o f t h e League o f N a t i o n s . Glass a l s o d r a f t e d t h e
1920 Democratic P l a t f o r m w h i c h gave s t r o n g endorsement t o t h e League. I n 1928 he
s u p p o r t e d t h e K e l l o g g Peace P a c t . However, he opposed t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n o f American
t r o o p s i n Nicaragua i n 1928, s a y i n g t h a t he t h o u g h t t h e P r e s i d e n t had no c o n s t i t u t i o n a l
r i g h t t o send t r o o p s . As t h e war began i n Europe i n t h e l a t e 1930s, Glass s u p p o r t e d
t h e preparedness campaign. He was s p o n s o r o f t h e F i g h t f o r Freedom Committee, an
o r g a n i z a t i o n t o c o m b a t t h e i s o l a t i o n i s t s groups. He opposed t h e N e u t r a l i t y A c t s and
5 ~ i l l i a mF. Leuchtenburg,
Y 0 r k , ~ 1 9 6 3 ) , p. 160.
-1bid
F r a n k l i n E. R o o s e v e l t and The New Deal, 1932-1940 (New
-.
I
A l f r e d Cash K o e n i g e r , " C a r t e r Glass and t h e New D e a l : From t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l
Campaign o f 1932 Through t h e Hundred Days S e s s i o n o f Congress," u n p u b l i s h e d M.A.
T h e s i s , V a n d e r b i l t U n i v e r s i t y , 1974, p. 11.
8
James T. P a t t e r s o n , C o n g r e s s i o n a l C o n s e r v a t i s m and t h e New Deal ( L e x i n g t o n , 1 9 6 7 ) ,
p. 20.
9
pp.
James E . Palmer, Jr.,
255-56.
C a r t e r Glass:
U n r e c o n s t r u c t e d Rebel (Roanoke, VA: 1938),
(See C o n t i n u a t i o n Sheet # 6 )
NPS Form 1C.9W.a
(3.821
OM9
YO.
Expires
1024-00i8
14-32-97
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#6
Continuation sheet
8.
MONTVI EW, Lynchbur g, V A
Item number
8,
Page
4,
1
SIGNIFICANCE -- H i s t o r i c a l Background
c a l l e d f o r t h e i r r e p e a l . A f t e r P e a r l Harbor, Glass s u p p o r t e d R o o s e v e l t ' s war
measures. He became Chairman o f t h e Senate A p p r o p r i a t i o n s Committee w h i c h app r o v e d many o f t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s b i l l s f o r m i l i t a r y a c t i v i t y . Thus, Glass and
R o o s e v e l t were r e c o n c i l e d once a g a i n .
I n 1941, Glass became P r e s i d e n t Pro Tempore o f t h e Senate, b u t d i d n o t
appear i n t h e u p p e r chamber a g a i n a f t e r June 1942 because o f h i s i l l n e s s . He
was r e - e l e c t e d t o t h e Senate f o r t h e l a s t t i m e i n t h e f a l l o f 1942, b u t because
o f h i s h e a l t h he was a l l o w e d t o t a k e t h e o a t h o f o f f i c e a d m i n i s t e r e d b y t h e
s e c r e t a r y o f t h e Senate on t h e g l a s s e n c l o s e d p o r c h a t Montview. On May 28, 1946
he d i e d i n Washington D.C., o f h e a r t f a i l u r e a t t h e age o f 88. The f u n e r a l s e r v i c e
was h e l d a t Montview w h i c h was a t t e n d e d b y many s e n a t o r s and members o f t h e House.
t i l e o u t e r d o e o f t h e liedqe ( f o r r : , i n q a s l i q l r t l y i r r e q u l a r r e c t a n o l e i.:easirrirlq
a ; ~ l > r o x i r l a t e l y2b7' I 2
ant1 i n c l u ~ i n oan a d d i t i o n a l o f f s e t on t i r e n o r t i l e a s t
c o r l i e r t o i l r c l ~ l l i es e r v a n t ' s f l u a r t e r s ) anc! r e t u r n i n q t o t h e s t a r t i n o p o i n t .
LIiC:lllAi:Y JI:STIFICATIC!::
S u r r o u r l d i n q t h e Glass e s t a t e i s a Ilecoe t ; ~ a ti s LI-ol:en
i r i f i v e p i e c e s by \iali.\:a:ys.
Tirree o f t i i e s e openinas a r e r.,arl.eti i,:/ a p a i r o i
s t o n e ! l a t e p o s t s i . u i l t Ly C l a s s . T\:o p a i r s o f t i r e p o s t s \!ere e n t r a n c e s f o r drivei.a:fs
d u r i n q t i l e G l a s s occupancy, l,ut no\! a r e r ~ s e t If o r p e d e s t r i a n t r a f f i c . Tire t i l l r d i s
l o c a t e d a t t i l e r e a r o f t i l e i,iairr ilouse and \!as used as an c n t r a n c e \ : a y t o i t i s
s \ ; i l ? n i n g p o o l . T h i s lrcdge rlarlts t i l e nol.iinated p r o p e r t y ' s boundary and i n c l ~ i d c san
o f f s e t t o i n c l u t i r ? t h e s e r v a n t ' s c l u a r t e r s a t t i l e n o r t l r e a s t (JT' tlre mail) tlolrse.
T ! r i s a r e a i s approxiiratel:! 1.7 acres, i.:itIrin b,liici\ a r c tire r a i n housc, servant's
t i 1 t r e e s \ihic!r l!c
q u a r t e r s and y r i r d \rl,icii \,as t i r e p r i n c i p a l ! i r o u ~ l d s o f C l a s s ' (lay \!i
111antec.
NPS Form 1C-WO-a
12-82)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
#7
Continuation sheet
MONTVIEW. Lynchburg, V A
--
9.
Item number 9
Page 1
--
MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Koeniger, A. Cash.,' " C a r t e r Glass and t h e New Deal : From t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l
, Campaign o f 1932 Through t h e Hundred Days S e s s i o n o f Congress," M.A.
T h e s i s , V a n d e r b i l t U n i v e r s i t y , 1974.
.
F i e l d Research Notes, "Montview,"
October 1 , 1975.
Landmark P r o j e c t F i l e s , AASLH, N a s h v i l l e .
Historic
Leuchtenburg, I f i l l iam E. Frank1 i n D. R o o s e v e l t and t h e New Oeal, 1932-1940.
New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
Link, Arthur 5 . Wilson:
1955.
The New Freedom.
Princeton:
P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press,
Moger, A l l e n bl. V i r g i n i a : Sourbonism t o Byrd, 1870-1925.
U n i v e r s i t y Press o f V i r g i n i a , 1968.
Charlottesville:
Palmer, James E. Jr. C a r t e r Glass: U n r e c o n s t r u c t e d Rebel.
I n s t i t u t e o f American B i o g r a p h y , 1938.
Roanoke, V A . :
P a t t e r s o n , James T. C o n g r e s s i o n a l C o n s e r v a t i s m and t h e New Oeal.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Kentucky Press, 1967.
Lexington:
P u l l e y , Raymond H. " C a r t e r Glass," D i c t i o n a r y o f American B i o g r a p h y , Supplement
Four. New York: C h a r l e s S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1974.
S c h l e s g i n e r , A r t h u r , M., J r . The C r i s i s o f t h e O l d Order, 1919-1933.
B o s t o n : Houghton M i f f 1 i n Company, 1957.
Smith, R i x e y and Norman B e a s l e y .
Longmans, Green and Co.,
C a r t e r Glass:
1935.
A Biography.
New York:
MONTVIEW
CARTER GLASS ESTATE
Lvnchburo. V A
P r e ~ a r e db v C l i n e H a l l f r o m
L i b e r t y U n i v e r s i t y B u i l d i n q and Grounds P l o t
:(is7
MGP
TS
1
3' z
CITY F A R M Q U A D R A N G L E
.%L RESOURCES
,4TE GEOLOGIST
VIRGINIA
7.5 MINUTE S E R I E S (TOPOGRAPHIC)
S W / 4 LYNCHBURG 15 QUADRANGLE
,+%
3,:,6bb
Text
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-Nomination Form
received
date entered
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
8 , Name
N/A
historic'
( D m Pile No.
118-2111
Lower Basin Historic District
and/or common
2. k o e a t i ~ m
street 8 number
city, town
i00-1300 locks of Jefferson Street, 600-1200 B l x c s of Commerce St_rwk,
and K~stOf t h e 1200-1300 Bl ocks
of Main Street
u3 not for publication
-
L F ~ ~ w
N !
Vfir i n i a
State
code
vicinity of
5
1
1
code
3. CBassification
Category
Ownership
2district
-public
f tatus
X_ occupied
uunoccupied
-buitding(s) 2private
-structure
-both
-site
w o r k in progress
Public Acquisition
-in process
-belng cansidered
N/A
-object
4. Owner sf
Accessible
X yes: restricted
X, yes: unrestricted
-no
Baaa~ertw
Present U s e
-agriculture
X commercial
-educational
entertainment
government
2L industrial
military
-
-
-museum
-park
?L private residence
-religious
-scientific
_x_ transportation
-other:
Multiple M e r s
name
- .
street & number
NJA
zip c
d e
city, town
N/4 vicinity of
L~chburq
state
24504
Virginia
5. Location of
LgsaB Descaintion
courthouse, registry
of deeds,
--- etc.
street & number
city, town
L ~ h b Cit--y
~ g Ha14
-
Church Stxeet_
Lynchburq
state
Virginia
24504
8. Representation in Existing Surveys
title
-
S ~ e (yF i l e NO. 118-211)
date
June, 1985
depository for survey records
elty, town
has this property been determined eligible?
-yes
-federal X state -county
X no
-local
~ivisionof Histxic L a n d m k s , 221 Governor S t r g e t -
Richmond
slate
/ S e e S e c t i o n Number 6 . Page 6 . 1 )
Virginia 23219
Condition
-excellent
X good
A fair
Check one
X deteriorated -unaltered
-ruins
X altered
-unexposed
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
Summary Description
The Lower Basin Historic District defines a commercial and industrial warehouse area
in the city of Lynchburg located between the downtown commercial area to the south and the
James River waterfront to the north. Encompassing buildings facing the 700-1300 blocks of
Jefferson Street, the 600-1300 blocks of Commerce Street, and most of the 1200-1300 blocks
of Main Street, the district contains a variety of mostly late 19th- and early
20th-century, multi-story, brick warehouses and factories, two-to-three-story brick
commercial buildings, and a number of structures associated with the James River and
Kanawha Canal and the Norfolk and Western and Chesapeake and Ohio Railways. Taking its
name from a wide basin of the canal that once extended between Ninth Street and Horseford
Road, the Lower Basin Historic District contains 60 contributing buildings, 2 contributing
structures-a viaduct and a stone bridge, 1 contributing object-a monument commemorating
the site of 18th-century Lynch's Ferry, 12 noncontributing buildings, and 12
noncontributing structures-modern grain silos that detract from the historic character of
the district.
Architectural Analysis
The majority of buildings in the Lower Basin Historic District are late 19th- and
early 20th- century commercial buildings. Although the waterfront area has always
remained a center of commercial and mercantile activity even before Lynchburg's founding
in 1786, no buildings from the 18th and early 19th centuries remain in the area today.
Sketches and paintings of the period show panoramic views of Lynchburg's waterfront in
which long tobacco warehouses, mills, a covered bridge spanning the James River, and by
the mid-19th century, a railroad depot and roundhouse clearly indicating the importance of
the area to the city's commercial economy.
The oldest surviving structure in the area is a stone arched bridge that carries
Ninth Street across the now-filled James River and Kanawha Canal. The canal once
paralleled Jefferson Street and the river and an expanded portion between Ninth Street and
Horseford Road was known as the Lower Basin. Lynchburg's major extant remnant of the
canal, the sturdy Ninth Street Bridge, is still used for vehicular traffic. A stone panel
above the keystone of the arch is proudly inscribed "Built A.D. 1839 by J. S. King."
Near the Ninth Street Bridge is a fine example of Greek Revival commercial
architecture. The J. W. Wood Building at 23-27 Ninth Street, one of Lynchburg's few
surviving antebellum buildings, was listed on the National Register in 1983. The ca. 1853
building is a three-story, hip-roofed, brick building of refined classical lines and a
little altered cast-iron storefront. Another commercial building that appears to date
from the mid-19th century is the two-story, gable-roofed brick building at 1208 Main
Street. Although it has undergone late 19th- and 20th- century storefront alterations,
the building still retains its original Greek Revival character, especially as noted in
its fenestration pattern and details.
At the opposite (eastern) end of Jefferson Street stands a complex of three buildings
and twelve modern grain elevators comprising the Piedmont Flour Mills. The largest
commercial structure of its time, the ca. 1875, 4%-story brick main structure replaced an
earlier mill on the site. Although utilitarian in design, the building nonetheless
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.1)
8. Sianificance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
21800-1899
X 1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
X commerce
-exploration/settiement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
2i industry
-politicslgovernment _K transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric -community
1830s to 1930
BuilderlArchitect
various
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
Statement of Significance
The Lower Basin Historic District, located primarily along Lynchburg's James River
waterfront, defines the city's major lath, 19th, and early 20th-century commercial and
mercantile center. Beginning as Lynch's Ferry in the 1750s and emerging as an important
canal and railroad transportation center during the mid-19th century, Lynchburg maintained
its role as a leading manufacturing and marketing center for much of the Piedmont region
until well into the 20th century. The Lower Basin area takes its name from an expanded
portion of the James River and Kanawha Canal which linked the city to eastern markets
after 1840. Canal traffic and the arrival of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to
Lynchburg in 1849 resulted in increased commercial activity in the Lower Basin. This
activity reached its zenith during the early 20th century with most of the district's
commercial warehouses, factories, and jobbing houses dating from the 1890s and early
1900s. Rows of multi-story, utilitarian brick structures present a compact and cohesive
display of period commercial architecture, noteworthy more for building numbers, size, and
construction than for stylistic features; nevertheless, traces of Italianate, Romanesque
Revival, Neoclassical, and Italian Renaissance styles are seen in the sturdy facades that
line Jefferson and Commerce streets.
Historical Background
Lynch's Ferry, the Lower Basin, and the Waterfront are all names that have been given
over the years to the area that extends along the banks of the James River from about
Sixth Street down to Horseford Road, and inland to Commerce Street. This relatively small
area is literally the birthplace of Lynchburg, for although it lay outside the original
town boundaries established in 1786, John Lynch had established his ferry there as early
as 1757. Before then, there was an Indian crossing nearby, and the lowlands where
Blackwater Creek flows into the James River provided natural camping sites. In the
mid-18th century, the site became the port for the not-far-distant town of New London, and
the Ferry House provided food and lodging to travelers and merchants. Thomas Jefferson
noted that lead from the mines in the western part of Virginia was shipped from Lynch's
Ferry to the eastern arsenals during the Revolution. As tobacco production increased in
the Piedmont, Lynch's Ferry was crowded with bateaux. These ingenious boats, invented by
Anthony Rucker of Amherst County, were especially effective in navigating the shallow
waters of the James River downstream to Richmond. The primary cargo they hauled was
tobacco, packed in hogsheads for the domestic and foreign market. Prior to its shipment,
however, tobacco had to be inspected, and for this purpose John Lynch established Lynch's
Warehouse in 1785. One of the first official tobacco inspection stations above
Tidewater,the warehouse stood on the corner of present-day Commerce and Eighth streets
until it was demolished in 1978. Lynch's was joined by other warehouses, and shops and
stores soon filled the spaces in between. These commercial establishments stocked goods
needed by settlers emigrating to the west from Lynch's Ferry.
(See Section Number 8, Page 8.1)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg An Architectural History.
The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Christian, W. Asbury.
Charlottesville:
(See Section Number 9,
Page 9.1)
Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg: 1900
10. Geographical Data
-52
Acreage of nominated property anprox.
Quadrangle name Lynchburg,
Quadrangle scale
1 :24000
UTM References
~ I ( ; I G ~ ~ ~ U ~I GF 1, lO( ~4 1 1 ~ 7 1 ~ 1 t i ~
Zone
Easting
Bu
Northing
141114i11'-iiO(OI
IGIEr4IC1Ol01
Easting
Zone
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
(See Section Number 10, Page 10.1)
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or c o u n t y boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
I1
Form Prepared By
nameititie
Division of Historic Landmarks Staff
Division of Historic Landmarks
organization
1986
date
Street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Richmond
state
804-786-3143
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
-
-
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
1L state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in t
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by t
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
H. Bryan Mitchell, Director
Division of Historic Landmarks
u 7
date
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property Is Included in the National Register
.
,
.
P
date
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
i : a r c I ~ 6, 1987
. .,
. .,
. .~
date
~
.
NPS Form 1 C S t W
lbssl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOIiEi: IIASIII tiISTORIC LiISTPICT, LYIICIIBURI;,
Section number
Page 6.1
VA
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
2) J. W. Wood Building
D.H.L. File No. 118-32 '
Listed in NRHP 2-17-83
Depository for Survey Records:
Division of Historic Landmarks
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3) Historic American Engineering Record Survey of Lower Basin
June-July, 1977
Depository for Survey Records:
Historic American Engineering Record
Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 20240
NPS Form -3
iwsl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page
--
7.1
Architectural Analysis
features such decorative details as full-height brick pilasters, a corbeled brick cornice,
and segmental-arched openings. A double row of gabled dormers is also an unusual feature.
Around 1880, a six-story corn mill, now clad in corrugated metal, was built opposite the
main mill across Jefferson Street, and in 1912 an engine room was built east of the main
mill. Piedmont Mills, Inc. has undergone several interior alterations and expansions, but
it is still in operation today.
Two railroad freight depots in the district date from the 1880s and 1890s. The
Norfolk and Western Railway depot stands on the north si.de of the 900-1000 blocks of
Jefferson Street. Built ca. 1885, it is a one-story gable-roofed brick building that
extends over 400 feet in length. Besides an arcade of recessed segmental-arched bays
extending along both longitudinal facades, the building also features a corbeled brick
cornice and an eastern parapeted gable end. A two-story brick addition with stepped gable
parapet ends was built at the western end of the depot around 1916. Once graced by a
monitor roof and flanked by loading platforms, the depot still retains its original
utilitarian character.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built its freight depot on the north side of the 1200
block of Jefferson Street in 1894. It is a two-story, yellow brick building that extends
300 feet in length with offices located in a clipped gable-roofed section at the western
end of the building. A gable-roofed brick extension was added to the east at an unknown
date. The depot displays typical late 19th-century building details such as recessed
brick panels, corbeled brick cornices, and segmental-arched windows. Loading platforms on
both sides of the depot are still intact.
Most of the commercial buildings on Jefferson Street date from the first decade of
the 20th century; however, a few are known to pre-date the turn of the century. The
Piedmont Storage and Leaf Tobacco warehouse of 1895, for example, is located at 1323
Jefferson Street. A 5% story brick building with two-story stone side walls, the building
possesses an Italianate double pedimented parapet front, brick pilasters, and corbeled
brickwork. Another pre-1900 building on Jefferson Street is the Anheuser Busch Brewery
(now Lynchburg Foundry Co. Warehouse) at 1312-1328 Jefferson Street. Adjacent to the C.
and 0. Railway Freight Depot, the handsome brick building was constructed ca. 1897 and
exhibits a decorative brick cornice and encircling parapet with castellated projections.
An important row of four three-story, brick commercial buildings comprising most of
the 700 block of Commerce Street was built in the early 1890s along what was then a major
commercial street in Lynchburg. The district's most intact row of buildings dating from
the 1890s, the individual buildings have similar characteristics - decorative brickwork,
arched fenestration, and paneled and arcaded brick parapets, but each is distinctly
different in facade design, creating a streetscape of varied textures and patterns.
A similar row of three buildings dating from the first decade of the 20th century is
located in the 900 block of Commerce Street. The five- and six-story brick commercial
warehouses at 918, 920-922, and 924-926 Commerce Street are less decorative and have
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.2)
NPS F m IWOO.
IW
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page
--
7.2
Architectural Analysis
shallower three dimensional facades than their predecessors in the 700 block; however,
corbeled brick cornices and parapets and arched upper-story openings remain common
characteristics of both rows of buildings.
Three turn-of-the-century buildings on Main and Commerce streets are unique in the
district. The highly decorative commercial building at 1300-1302 Main Street was erected
in 1902. Intricate brick patterns in panels, cornices, and parapet create an interplay of
light, shadow, and texture that are essential features of this distinctive Victorian
facade. Two similar warehouses at 1222 Main Street and 1220-1228 Commerce Street are also
uncharacteristic of most of the buildings in the district. They are wide gable-ended
brick structures with highly articulated stepped parapet fronts, recessed panels
alternating with shallow pilasters, and arched or circular attic windows. One, and
probably both, were originally used as tobacco warehouses. The building on Main Street
proudly displays a datestone of 1899 at the top of its gable.
By the turn of the century, many warehouses or jobbing houses were being constructed
on Jefferson Street with its ideal location parallel to the railroad tracks. During this
period, Lynchburg was fast becoming a jobbing center due to its excellent rail connections
between northern manufacturers and southern markets. Jobbers were essentially middlemen
who stocked goods from manufacturers and sold them to wholesalers. Consequently, they
needed warehouses close to rail lines and locations on Jefferson Street proved very
convenient. One of the earliest such warehouses is the Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation
building at the southeast corner of Jefferson and Ninth streets. The refined brick
structure, exhibiting characteristics of the Romanesque Revival style, was built in 1898,
the year the corporation was founded. Originally, a four-story building on its Ninth
Street facade, two stories were added early in the 20th century. The Ninth Street or main
facade of the building is divided into three arched bays, each containing paired or
tripartite windows per floor while decorative roundels with terra-cotta lions' heads are
positioned between the uppermost arched bays. Built by the Lynchburg contracting firm of
Wilson and Seay, the handsome building was a fitting edifice for what soon became the
city's single largest employer.
Other jobbing houses were constructed on the north side of Jefferson Street in a
consistent and compact building pattern. All are multi-story brick structures usually
having corbelled brick cornices, high parapets, and segmental-arched openings, whereas the
majority of buildings dating from 1910-1920 have fewer pronounced features. Windows are
also usually wider and taller in the later structures. Examples include the two
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corporation warehouses at 1009-1011 Jefferson Street, built in
1915, and at 1001-1007, built in 1918; the Bailey Pleasants Company warehouse at
1201-1207, built in 1911; the Smith Briscoe Shoe Company warehouse at 1117, built in 1905;
the Kinner Montgomery and Company Warehouse at 1101, built in 1906; and the Jefferson
Street Shoe Factory at 1301, built in 1913.
Early 20th-century buildings with Neoclassical or Italian Renaissance influences are
represented by the Hill Brothers Shoe Company at 822 Commerce Street and the Bryan
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.3)
NPS Form -1
(9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number 7
Page 7
.
3
7.
DESCRIPTION
-- Architectural Analysis
Furniture Company at 1216-1218 Main Street. Both brick buildings exhibit rusticated
bases, quoins, heavy classical cornices, parapets, and pilasters. Bryan Furniture Company
has wide arched upper-story fenestration with keystones while Hill Brothers Shoe Company
has an elaborately carved stone entrance surround composed of heavy classical elements.
A particularly noteworthy structural element of the district is the Williams Viaduct
which has carried vehicular and pedestrian traffic over the James River and Blackwater
Creek since it was constructed in 1916-1918. Financed by three railroad companies and the
city of Lynchburg and designed by engineerlarchitect B. H. Davis, the bridge is an
extension of Seventh Street and connects downtown Lynchburg with Madison Heights in
Amherst County. The gracefully arched reinforced concrete bridge is 1,600 feet in length
and rises sixty feet above the river. Before it was constructed, a number of successive
low-lying bridges had spanned the James River at Ninth Street. Subject to frequent flood
damage, these older bridges were often replaced until the Williams Viaduct was
constructed.
On May 13, 1913 the Lynchburg Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
dedicated a monument to commemorate the site of John Lynch's Ferry House, believed to have
been the first building in Lynchburg. The monument, a boulder of native stone to which a
bronze plaque is attached, is located at the foot of Ninth Street near the James River.
It is a suitable monument to commemorate the first commercial activity that would later
dominate the Lower Basin area after John Lynch's ferry ceased to exist.
DAE
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.4)
NPS Fmn 1&000.
(%=I
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
*
d o t
--
7
Page
7.4
Inventory
C. and 0. Railroad Station House at James River.
Vacant.
Modern.
1940s.
Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; 1 front asymmetrical bay; flat roof (not
visible); series of five attached casement windows, wide overhanging roof
eaves. Noncontributing.
COMMERCE STREET
600 BLOCK
*
608: Jesse B. Abitt Garage. Price and Clements. Service garage (originally).
Warehouse (presently).
Vernacular.
1948.
Concrete block;
1 story;
4 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (not visible);
wide casement
windows, stepped parapet ends, large garage door. Noncontributing.
612-616: Lynchburg Shoe Co. Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1910. Brick
(5-course American bond); 2 stories;
13 front asymmetrical bays;
flat
parapet roof (not visible);
segmental-arched windows and recessed entrance
arch.
700 BLOCK
700: C. W. Warthen Co., Inc.
Lynchburg Woodenware Corp.
Factory (originally)
Commercial (currently). Neoclassical.
1895.
Brick;
3 stories;
1
symmetrical bay;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
paired brick pilasters,
corbeled brickwork, frieze with carved swags, parapet resembles a balustrade,
altered 1st-floor facade.
*
706-708: Esteppe Oldsmobile Co.
Commercial.
Modern.
1959, rear-1928.
Brick;
1 story; 3 asymmetrical bays; flat roof (not visible); original
rear building dates from 1928, modern front addition in 1959 with garage bay and
plate glass windows. Noncontributing.
718: First Colony Life Insurance Co.
Warehouse.
Victorian Commerical.
1895. Brick. 3 stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); paneled brick parapet, decorative brick cornice and pilasters,
round-arched 3rd-story windows, modernized storefront.
720: H. A. Robinson Co., Inc. Poplar Forest Corp. Warehouse (originally).
Commercial (currently). Victorian Commercial.
1892. Brick; 3 stories; 3
front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible); decorative paneled
parapet, corbeled brick cornice, semicircular-arched windows on 3rd story,
modern storefront.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.5)
NPS F
m -3
la-)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page
7.5
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
700 BLOCK (cont'd)
722: Lewis and Jennings Co.
Colonial Florist. Warehouse.
Neoclassical.
1894. Brick; 3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
visible); paired pilasters, classical cornice with swags, semicircular-arched
3rd-story windows, modern storefront.
--go\@
724-726: Bell, Barker, and Jennings.
Thompson's Shoes.
Commercial/Warehouse.
Victorian Commercial. 1892. Brick; 3 stories; 5
symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative brickwork,
paneled parapet, semicircular-arched 2nd-story windows, modern storefronts.
800 BLOCK
Hill Brothers Shoes.
Warehouse.
Neoclassical.
822: J. W. Ould Inc.
ca. 1914. Brick (stretcher bond); 4 stories (raised basement); 15 symmetrical
bays; flat parapet roof (not visible); rusticated brick, wide brick pilasters
with decorative capitals, heavy classical cornice, classical stone door
surround, paired 111 double sash windows with jack arches.
900 BLOCK
-
_
2/
%
[,
A''
918: Strother Drug Co. Lynchburg Jobbing House, Inc. Warehouse.
Neoclassical. 1908. Brick (stretcher bond); 6 stories;
2 front asymmetrical
bays; flat parapet roof (not visible); brick quoins, window aprons,
semicircular-arched windows at top floor.
920-922:
Beasley-Couch Co.
John E. Gannaway & Co. Commercial Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1907.
Brick (stretcher bond); 5 stories;
3 asymmetrical
bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice,
segmental-arched 919 double sash windows, altered storefronts.
Commercial/Warehouse.
924-926: Oglesby-DeWitt Co. John E. Gannaway & Co.
Italianate.
1904.
Brick;
5 stories;
5 asymmetrical bays: flat
parapet roof (not visible) ; corbeled brickwork, blind arcaded parapet, tall
brick pilasters with semicircular arches with decorative lion's heads, original
storefront retained.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.6)
NPS F m 10-
law
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.6
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
1000 BLOCK
1008-1026:
Virginia Biscuit Co.
Bailey-Spencer Hardware Co.
Commercial/Warehouse.
Italianate.
1899; addition-1941.
Brick;
3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brickwork, segmental-arched windows; 1-story concrete block addition
with brick veneer built in 1941 to west.
1100 BLOCK
- ()\
1100:
Eastern Electric Corp.
Factory/stable (originally).
Commercial/warehouse (currently).
Victorian Commercial.
1895, addition - ca.
1900. Brick; 3 stories; 11 front asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); corbeled brickwork, brick arcaded parapet, 919, 616, and 414 double
sash windows, altered 1st story; 3-story section added ca. 1900.
1200 BLOCK
1200: Herbert E. DeWitt Building Supply. Lynchburg Plumbing Supply Co., Inc.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1931.
Brick (6-course American bond);
2
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
stepped parapet, 616 double sash windows, garage bays.
1201:
Service Printing Co.
Commercial.
Vernacular.
1920s.
Brick
(stretcher bond);
2 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice, brick bands across facade.
1217:
Parnell-Martin of Virginia, Inc.
Commercial/warehouse.
Vernacular.
1920s.
Brick;
3 stories;
7 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
tall 6/6 double sash windows, altered
storefronts, 3-story section, but primarily a 2-story building.
1220-1228:
Hancock, Moorman Tobacco Co.
Leighton Heel and Counter Corp.
Factory Warehouse. Victorian Commercial.
ca. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond);
2% stories;
5 front asymmetrical bays;
gable parapet roof
complex of four brick structures, each with stepped
(standing seam metal);
parapets, main structure has decorative brickwork and arched windows.
1225:
Schewel's Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
ca. 1920.
Brick;
2 stories;
7 front asymmetrical bays;
Roof not visible;
stepped gable parapet ends, paired 919 double sash windows, recessed brick
panels.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.7)
NPS Fmn *WOO.
OUB
(aasl
No. l0ZCmlll
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOTJER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
7.7
~p
DESCRIPTION
--
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
1300 BLOCK
*
1300:
Dabney's Foundry & Machine Works.
Poole's Machine.
Foundry and
machine shop (originally).
Machine shop (currently).
Vernacular.
1940s.
Concrete block;
2 stories;
10 front asymmetrical bays; flat
roof (not visible); 616 double sash windows, no decorative elements.
Noncontributing.
1310-1320: W. 0. Taylor Co.
Woodall & Lang, Inc. Factory and mill.
Neoclassical. 1909. Brick (6-course American bond); 2 stories; 7 front
symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative brick cornice,
brick quoins, 616 double sash windows, segmental-arched central entrance.
1326-1328: Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp.
Southland Factory.
Factory
(originally). Warehouse (currently). Vernacular.
1905-06. Brick (5-course
American); 3 stories; 5 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); original paired segmental-arched windows now enclosed with aluminum
siding, several facade alterations, originally an addition to larger factory
facing Jefferson Street at rear (now destroyed.)
HORSEFORD ROAD
100 BLOCK
100: Ideal Laundry Co.
Warehouse.
Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick
(6-course American bond) ;
3 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays; flat
parapet roof (not visible); decorative brick parapet with roundels,
segmental-arched 12/12 double sash windows.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (standing seam metal);
I-story, I-level, 3-bay 2nd-floor porch with simple posts and balustrade.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.8)
2
NPS F(W)
10800.
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.8
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
700 BLOCK
*
701-709: Coca-Cola Bottling Plant annex.
Central Virginia Fabricators, Inc.
Bottling plant (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Modern. 1963. Concrete
block and steel frame (sheet metal);
1 story; 2 asymmetrical bays; gable
roof (not visible); concrete floors. Noncontributing.
*
713-719: Railway Express Agency garage.
Virginia Steel Co.
Warehouselgarage (originally). Office/warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
1946. Concrete block;
1 story; 2 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet
roof (composition shingle);
stepped parapet gable front. Noncontributing.
727: Coca-Cola Bottling Plant.
Bottling plant (originally). Warehouse
(currently).
Vernacular.
1918; addition-1947. Brick (stretcher bond); 3
stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
recessed arched bays on 1st floor, tall rectangular 6/15 double sash windows,
ramped parapets at building corners, segmental-arched windows at sides, I-story
brick addition built in 1947 to west, contains glass block windows.
800 BLOCK
*
800: Central Fidelity Bank Supply Warehouse.
Warehouse. Modern.
1970s.
Steel frame (sheet metal);
2 stories;
3 front asymmetrical bays;
gable
roof (not visible); window openings on 2nd floor, doors and garage opening at
gable end. Noncontributing.
*
SW corner of Jefferson and 9th Streets. Car wash.
Modern.
1970s.
Concrete block. 1 story;
2 front symmetrical bays; gable roof (standing
seam metal). Noncontributing.
900-1000 BLOCK
900-1000:
Norfolk and Western Railroad Freight Depot.
Freight depot
(originally).
Warehouse (currently). Vernacular.
1880s; addition-1916.
Brick (5-course American); 1 story;
3 front symmetrical bays; gable with
parapet ends roof (composition shingle); brick pilasters and recessed
segmental-arched panels, parapet gable ends, corbeled brick cornice; 2-story
brick addition with stepped gable parapet ends and decorative brickwork.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.9)
HPS F m IC-6CO.m
1-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
Page
7.9
---
DESCRIPTION
--
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
900-1000 BLOCK (cont'd)
923-925: N. B. Handy Co. ~arehouse/office. Warehouse (originally).
Warehouse/office (currently). Vernacular.
1930.
Brick (5-course American
5 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
bond);
visible);
no decorative treatment, wide casement windows, stepped parapet at
front.
*
N. B. Handy Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Modern.
1974.
Steel frame
gable roof
(corrugated metal);
1 story; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
(corrugated metal). Noncontributing.
1000 BLOCK
1000-1014: Norfolk and Allegheny Railroad Freight Depot.
Corner Produce Co.
Cold Storage Warehouse. Freight depot (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
1880s.
Brick (5-course American bond);
2 stories; 15 front
asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not visible);
segmental-arched 12/12
double sash windows, sheltered loading platforms.
1001-1007:
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corp. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1918.
Brick (3rd-6th floors) and rock-faced ashlar stone (1st
and 2nd floors);
6 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible); high stone foundation, segmental-arched 12/12 double sash
windows, shallow brick pilasters.
1009-1011:
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corp. Warehouse.
Suh Distributing Co.
Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Italianate.
1915; addition-1966.
Brick
(5-course American bond);
4 stories;
4 front symmetrical bays;
flat
parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice and parapet, keystones over
12/12 double sash windows, small loading platforms;
1-story, aluminum-clad
addition to east built in 1966.
1016-1024:
Armour and Co.
Pride of Virginia Meats, Inc.
Office/warehouse. Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond); 2
stories;
1 front symmetrical bay;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative corbeled brick cornice, segmental arches over paired front windows,
front garage bay added in 1940s, loading platform at railroad tracks.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.10)
NPS Form lOerm
(MI
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page 7-10
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
1100 BLOCK
1101:
Kinnier, Montgomery and Co.; Reams Furniture Co. Warehouse;
Warehouse;
Italianate;
1906;
Brick (5-course American bond);
7 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (standing seam
metal);
paired 616 double sash windows with segmental-arched heads with
keystones, corbeled brickwork, paneled brick parapet.
1117:
Smith Briscoe Shoe Co. Warehouse. Strother Drug Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1905.
Brick(5-course American bond);
8
stories;
16 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
tall 16/16
double sash windows with tall segmental-arched heads; multi-story brick
elevator tower added at rear.
1200 BLOCK
1200-1226:
C. and 0. Freight Depot.
Freight depot.
Vernacular. ca.
1894;
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
gable roof with parapet and clipped ends-front section with hipped rear ell
(composition shingle);
front section has central front gable with round attic
window, segmental-arched windows and transom over central entrance, brick
pilasters at front and along sides of rear ell, loading platforms on both sides
of rear ell with overhanging eaves, gable-roofed brick addition to rear.
1201-1207:
Bailey Pleasants Co.
Schewel Furniture Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1911.
Brick (5-course American bond);
5
stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays (originally 11);
flat roof with parapet
ends (not visible); segmental-arched openings, stone foundation, stepped parapet
ends, 1st-floor openings mostly blocked up in 1930s; one-story, 20th-century,
concrete block rear addition has access to Commerce Street.
1213-1217:
Conner Produce Co. Cold Storage. Cold storage warehouse.
Vernacular.
1904.
Brick (5-course American bond);
2 stories;
5
front asymmetrical bays; gable roof (standing seam metal); segmental-arched
openings, 414 double sash windows, loading platforms, exposed scalloped eaves.
1221-1225:
Jefferson Street Shoe Factory Warehouse.
Farmer's Seed and
Supply Co.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1909.
Wood frame (sheet metal);
1 story; 5 front asymmetrical bays;
shed roof (not visible); some of the
original openings covered over by recent sheet metal cladding.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.11)
NPS Form -1
(rnl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
7.11
DESCRIPTION -- Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
1300 BLOCK
1301:
Jefferson Street Shoe Factory.
Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp.
Warehouse.
Shoe Factory (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Brick
(5-course American);
6 stories;
19 front symmetrical bays;
flat roof
(not visible); 16/16 double sash windows with segmental arched heads, stone
foundation.
1312-1328:
Anheuser Busch Brewery. Lynchburg Foundry Co. Warehouse;
Brewery (originally).
Warehouse (currently);
Brick (stretcher bond);
10 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
2 stories;
segmental-arched openings, corbeled brick cornice, brick parapet with rising
finials; 1-story, 20th-century, concrete block addition to east.
1323:
Piedmont Storage and Leaf Tobacco. Lynchburg Storage Co.; Warehouse.
Italianate.
ca. 1895. Brick (5-course American bond); 5% stories;
3
front symmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (standing seam);
clerestory
lighting at sides; front parapet consists of two superimposed gables,
segmental-arched openings, front brick pilasters, decorative brickwork.
*
1323-A:
3. K. Spencer Transfer; J. K. Spencer Construction Co.
Warehouse.
Modern.
1940s.
Concrete block;
1 story; 5 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (standing seam metal); sliding track door. Noncontributing.
1329-1335:
Piedmont Mills.
Mill.
Vernacular.
ca. 1875. Brick
(6-course American bond);
4% stories;
10 front symmetrical bays;
hipped roof (composition shingle); 7 front and 10 side gable dormers;
corbeled brick cornice, broad brick pilasters, segmental-arched openings; *I2
grain elevators built to rear in the late 1950s; concrete block rear additions
date to 1950s. Grain elevators are noncontributing structures
Corner of Horseford Road and Jefferson Street.
Piedmont Mills Engine Room.
Engine room.
Vernacular.
1912.
Wood frame (corrugated metal);
Number of stories undetermined (low basement);
2 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (standing seam metal); brick foundation, 1-story, flat-roofed
addition built atop original building.
Corner of Horseford Road and Jefferson Street.
Piedmont Mills Corn Mill.
Corn Mill. Vernacular. ca. 1880.
Wood frame (corrugated metal);
5%
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (corrugated metal);
seven-story, gable-roofed tower, mostly 616 double sash windows; several
one-or two-story concrete block additions date from the 1940s.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.12)
NPS F m -1
IW
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page 7-12
Inventory
MAIN STREET
1200 BLOCK
1200-1204:
Cross Keys Tavern.
Burris Department StoreiMid-Atlantic
Sanitary Supply.
mid-19th century Brick; 2 stories;
7 front asymmetrical
bays; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
altered storefronts and facade,
false front at westernmost section.
1206:
Commercial.
Victorian Commercial.
1890s.
Brick;
3%
stories; 2 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
rough-hewn stone lintels and semicircular arches, corbeled brickwork, storefront
with wide transom.
1208:
Commercial (vacant).
Greek Revival. mid-19th century. Brick;
2 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (composition shingle);
tall 6/6 double sash windows, storefronts with wide transoms.
1210-1214:
McCraw's Furniture Co.
Commercial.
Victorian Commercial.
ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories;
8 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice and decoration, tall
919 double sash windows with segmental arches.
1216-1218:
Bryan Furniture Co.
Commercial. Neoclassical. ca. 1910.
Brick;
3 stories;
6 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
visible); rusticated brickwork, recessed brick panels in parapet, paired
fenestration with semicircular arches with keystones.
1220:
Old Dominion Leather Shop.
Commercial.
Neoclassical. ca. 1910.
3 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat
Brick (5-course American);
parapet roof (not visible);
classical cornice with modillion blocks and
dentils, brick panels, 12/12 double sash windows.
1222:
Beryle F. Phelps Paint Contractor. Commercial. Vernacular.
1899.
1 story; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
gable
Brick (5-course American);
parapet roof (standing seam metal);
stepped gable parapet, corbeled
brickwork, recessed panels and roundel in gable, altered storefront.
1225:
James T. Davis, Inc.
Commercial.
Vernacular.
ca. 1900.
Brick and stucco; 3% stories;
2 front asymmetrical bays; gable roof;
stepped parapet front gable with decorative brickwork, upper story windows
blocked, altered storefront, rear 1920s brick addition.
(See Section Number 7 , Page 7.13)
NPS F m 1DKC-a
IWl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
DESCRIPTION -- Inventory
MAIN STREET
1300 BLOCK (cont'd)
1300-1302: Black Belt Arena. Commercial.
Victorian Commercial. 1902. Brick
(5-course American bond); 3 stories; 6 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet
roof (not visible); 212 double sash windows, brick pilasters, decorative brick,
spandrels and cornices, molded wood cornice with 2 raised gabled parapets at
front, altered storefront.
1301: Bowman and Moore Leaf Tobacco Factory. Commercial. Italianate. 1880.
Brick (stretcher bond); 4% stories. 3 front symmetrical bays; gable roof (not
visible); tall brick pilasters, segmental-arched openings, double gable front
parapet.
1304: Farmer's Feed and Supply Annex. Commercial. Mediterranean. ca. 1920.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet
roof (not visible); tripartite double sash window, wide overhanging cornice
supported by brackets, curvilinear parapet.
1306: Farmer's Seed and Supply. Commercial.
Vernacular.
ca. 1910.
Brick (stretcher bond); 3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible); classical cornice with dentils, corbeled brickwork and
recessed panels.
NINTH STREET
00 - 60 BLOCK
Ninth Street at James River. DAR Commemorative Marker for Lynch's Ferry.
Commemorative marker. 1912. Stone boulder with bronze plaque; bronze plaque
inscribed: "Site of First House and Lynch's Ferry 1757, boulder placed July
1912 by Lynchburg Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution."
*
12: Swift and Co. Warehouse. Warehouse (vacant);
Modern.
1939. Brick
(5-course American bond);
1 story;
3 front asymmetrical bays;
flat roof
(not visible); concrete foundation, entrance with stone surround, some original
windows and garage bays blocked. Noncontributing.
J. W. Wood Building.
Warehouse. Greek Revival. pre-1855.
23-27:
Brick; 3 stories; 6 front symmetrical bays; hipped roof (standing seam
metal);
iron storefront, 616 double sash windows with classical window
cornices, broad frieze around building; individually placed on National
Register of Historic Places 2/17/83.
Ninth Street Bridge: Bridge.
1839.
Stone (coursed rubble); stone arch
bridge carried 9th St. traffic over the James River and Kanawha Canal, stone
plaque inscribed "Built in 1839 by J. S. King."
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.14)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LONER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.14
Inventory
NINTH STREET
00
-
60 BLOCK (cont'd)
50-54:
Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1898.
Brick (stretcher bond); 6 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
wide-arched openings on 1st and 4th floors,
paired 818 windows elsewhere-most with segmental-arched heads; keystones,
roundels, and terra cotta lion's heads, top two stories added.
*
.
56: Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp. Main Office. Office (vacant).
Moderne
1940.
Concrete block with brick veneer;
2 stories;
2 front asymmetrical
bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
streamlined features, glass block
windows, altered entry with original hood. Noncontributing.
58-60:
CRI Mutual Press.
Commercial printing establishment. Neoclassical.
1910.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
broad brick pilasters with decorative
stonework, 1910 datestone, keystone over tall windows, plate glass storefront
windows.
ORANGE STREET
200 BLOCK
222: N. and W. Railroad Signal Tower. Signal Tower (originally).
Storage
2 stories;
(currently).
Vernacular.
1917.
Brick (Flemish bond);
3 front asymmetrical bays;
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 2nd-story bay
window supported by brackets, most original windows blocked up, wide overhanging
eaves.
SEVENTH STREET
50-60 BLOCK
56-60:
Gilbert Storage and Transfer Co. Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1899.
Brick (5-course American bond);
3 stories;
2 front asymmetrical bays;
flat roof (not visible); irregular-shaped building with 3- and 2- story
sections, segmental-arched windows.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.15)
NPS Fam IDPa)r
IMs)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page 7.15
Inventory
SEVENTH STREET
50-60 BLOCK
Seventh Street Extension.
Williams Viaduct.
Vehicular bridge.
1916-1918.
Reinforced concrete;
reinforced concrete bridge composed of abutments with
spanning arches, concrete balustrades parallel road and sidewalk.
WASHINGTON STREET
50 BLOCK
50-A: G. Bruning Tobacco Extract Co.
Burrus Building.
Warehouse.
4 stories;
Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick (6-course American bond);
front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (not visible); round-arched
entrances and some windows, corbeled brick parapet, arched loading door;
segmental-arched windows altered.
6
50-B:
Lewis John Maunfacturing Co.
Burrus Building.
Factorylwarehouse
(originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
ca. 1900.
Brick
(corrugated metal); 1 story;
7 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof
(standing seam metal);
building consists of two sections built about the same
date, original segmental-arched windows later altered.
50-C:
C. W. Hicks and Co.
Machine shop (originally). Warehouse
(currently).
Vernacular.
ca. 1900. Wood frame with brick and stone front
veneer (corrugated metal);
1 story; 2 front asymmetrical bays; gable roof
(standing seam metal);
exterior end brick chimney, front facade modernized and
altered; rear 20th-century addition.
NPS F m lOBmr
la=)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOVER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page
--
8.1
Historical Background
As the town and countryside grew, the ferry became inadequate, and in 1812 it was
replaced by the first in a succession of bridges that spanned the James at the foot of
Ninth Street. In 1826, the town limits were extended to encompass the waterfront, and two
years later, foundations were laid for a pump house at the foot of today's Seventh Street.
The increased water supply that it afforded was the signal for the establishment of mills
and factories in the area. Even so, according to one observer of the time, the waterfront
presented a fascinating mix of the pastoral and the commercial:
The banks of the river are lined with towering
trees; the enormous Sycamores, with their
outstretched branches: to this we may add,
freight boats, the skimming wild ducks, farms and
pleasure grounds, falling gardens, rolling carts,
rattling sfages, thundering wagons, and a busy
multitude.
In 1835 a cotton factory was built alongside Blackwater Creek, and in 1836 yet another,
sturdier bridge replaced the first one across James River. But the major activity at this
time was the construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal. Lynchburg was the
terminus of the "First Grand Division," the 146-mile stretch from Richmond, and as such
had to have extensive docking facilities. These were primarily provided by the Lower
Basin, the broadened expanse of canal just downstream from Ninth Street. On December 3,
1840, the first packet boat arrived in the basin, and was greeted with much fanfare.
Unfortunately, the principal speaker, who stood on the deck of the General Harrison to
deliver his oration, lost his balance and fell into the canal! That put only a temporary
damper on the festivities, and soon the canal brought even more commerce and industry to
the Lynchburg waterfront. A number of remnants of the canal still exist. Properly
restored and interpreted, they could serve to illustrate the busy scene that characterized
the area during the antebellum era.
After the canal came the railroad. The Virginia and Tennessee, established in 1849
largely as a result of Lynchburg's entrepreneurial spirit, was the first. Lynchburg was
both the eastern terminus of the line and the center of its operations. Tracks were laid,
and a depot was built between the canal and the river at the foot of Ninth Street. Later
these were augmented by an engine house, machine shops, roundhouse, and other facilities,
all located near the canal and Blackwater Creek, in a part of the waterfront designaTED
The "Western Grounds." The V & T was soon joined by two other lines: the Southside and
the Orange and Alexandria. By 1855 a Richmond newspaper acknowledged that Lynchburg was
I,
the hub in the Virginia system of railroads." As before, commercial establishments came
to be located near these major transportation systems, and one of the largest buildings
erected during this period still stands at the corner of Ninth and Jefferson streets. Now
designated the J . W. Wood Building, this brick structure is embellished with a fine
cast-iron facade on the first floor of its principal facade.
(See Section Number 8, Page 8.2)
OUB Ippmr* No. 10244078
NPS F m 1s-
(-1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number 8Page 8
.
7
8.
SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
During the Civil War, the waterfront was the scene of frenzied activity. Because of
its excellent transportation facilities, Lynchburg became a major camp for Confederate
troops. When the need arose, soldiers bivouacked here were sent to the theater of war via
the railroad or the canal. Those who were wounded were sent back to recuperate in one
of the many hospitals hastily set up in the tobacco warehouses "uptown." Perhaps the most
somber scene the waterfront witnessed was on May 13, 1863, when the body of Stonewall
Jackson was transferred here from the railroad to the packet boat Marshall, to be carried
upstream to Lexington for burial.
After the war, the waterfront continued as the focus of Lynchburg's industrial
activity, but there were changes. In 1870, yet another bridge replaced the existing one,
and when this was washed away in 1878, it was quickly replaced by another. In 1879, the
Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Company replaced the canal, which had ceased to be a
viable enterprise. By 1880, the many railroads along the waterfront caused a visitor to
remark:
A bewildering scene meets the eye of the traveler
in Lynchburg. Such a medley of
as he alights
railways and watercourses is rarely ever ssen
outside, and still less inside, of a city.
...
As the "New South" continued its recovery from the wounds of war, the Lynchburg waterfront
continued to expand as the center of the city's industrial activity. The Piedmont Mills,
established before the war, had replaced its earlier structure by 1875 with the large,
impressive building at the corner of Jefferson Street and Horseford Road. In 1882, a new
pump house was completed to serve a greatly expanded city water system. Damaged by a
flood in November 1985, the building was demolished soon thereafter. It once stood on the
river bank adjacent to Williams Viaduct. During the last years of the 19th century and
the first of the 20th century, the southern side of Jefferson Street between Ninth Street
and Piedmont Mills was built up with tall, plain brick buildings. These were "jobbing
houses," essentially warehouses where the goods of wholesale distributors were stocked
while awaiting shipment throughout the South. Lynchburg was ideally situated for this
trade, midway between northern manufacturers and southern markets, and Jefferson Street,
with railroad tracks running down the center, was the best spot in town for the jobbers.
Soon Lynchburg began not only to store products for its huge southern market, but to
manufacture them as well. In 1898 Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation established its
manufacturing operations on the corner of Ninth and Jefferson streets, and in a few years
became the largest employer in the city. At about the same time, two large cast-iron
foundries established their presence in the area. Both sought large level areas for their
extensive operations: Glamorgan upstream and Lynchburg Foundry downstream.
By the mid-20th century, however, the waterfront had begun to lose its appeal as a
setting for manufacturing and commercial enterprises. Transportation changes had
occurred, markets had relocated, and increased space -- more than could be afforded in
~
this traditional center -- was needed for expanded operations. In the 1 9 5 0 ~the
(See Section Number 8, Page 8 . 3 )
a r e w NO. 702em1a
NPS Form 10030.
(saa)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOTJER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
8
Page
8.3
-- Historical Background
Lynchburg Expressway was opened, and an industrial park was created adjacent to it,
complete with rail and trucking access. By 1970 over thirty industries and businesses had
been lured to this new manufacturing and distributing center. The waterfront, which had
been the center of such activity for so long, began to take on a neglected, abandoned
aspect. Some structures were demolished, but others -- more than may be evident at first
glance -- remain. Still other features (among them, the canal) lie hidden behind or below
the accretions of later years, waiting to be uncovered and appreciated once more. The
Lower Basin area has potential to be reborn -- perhaps not to become the city's main
commercial center again, but as a place of both commemoration and renewal. It is hoped
that the historic district designation will help to revitalize the Lower Basin area and
serve as a suitable accomplishment for the city's bicentennial celebration.
Endnotes
1.
Anne Royall,
, r - ~
vol. 1 (Washington, 1830), p. 100.
Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, Summer Resorts and Points of Interest of
Virginia, Western North Carolina, and North Georgia (New York, 1 8 8 4 ) , p. 31.
2.
NPS F m 1C-D301
(-1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LCIIICI; U i i S I l l tIIST0i:IC L I S T R I C T , LYI!CIICL!~I, L'A
Section number
Page 9.1
9.
Bibliographical References
Historic American Engineering Record, Department of the Interior.
Survey of Lower Basin, Lynchburg. Washington, D.C.: 1977.
Loyd, Richard B., and Mundy, Bernard K. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History.
Virginia Beach: 1975.
Pollock, Edward. Sketch Book of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, 1887.
Richmond and Danville Railroad Company. Summer Resorts and Points of Interest
Virginia, Western North Carolina, and North Georgia. New York: 1884.
Royall, Anne. Mrs. Royall's Southern Tour, vol. 1.
Washington, D.C.: 1830.
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. Lynchburg, V i r w .
Lynchburg: 1973.
of
NPS F m 10.-
(awl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
10.
Page lo-1
lo
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
--
Boundary Description
Beginning at a point (A) on the S bank of the James River; thence approx. 160' W to a
point (B) located on the W side of Concord Turnpike; thence approx. 260' S to a point (C);
thence approx. 240' W to a point (D); thence approx. 320' N to a point (E) on the S side
of Washington Street; thence approx. 340' W to a point (F); thence approx. 240' N to a
point (G) on the N side of Horseford Road; thence approx. 140' E to a point (H) on the W
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 420' N to a point (I) on the SW corner of the
intersection of Thirteenth and Commerce streets; thence approx. 150' W to a point ( J ) ;
thence approx. 200' S to a point (K); thence approx. 180' W to a point (L) on the W side
of Main Street; thence approx. 140' N to a point (M); thence approx. 160' W to a point
( N ) ; thence approx. 180' N to a point (0);thence approx. 180' E to a point (P) on the E
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 260' N to a point (Q) at the SE corner of the
intersection of Twelfth and Main streets; thence approx. 340' E to a point (R) on the E
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 2140' N to a point (S); thence approx. 120' E to a
point (T); thence approx 240' SE to a point (U) on the N side of Williams Viaduct; thence
approx. 200 ' E to a point (V); thence approx. 120' N to a point (W) on the W side of the
Cabell Street ramp of Williams Viaduct; thence approx. 20' E to a point (X) on the E side
of the Cabell Street ramp; thence approx. 100' S to a point (Y); thence approx. 440' E to
a point (Z) on the N side of Williams Viaduct; thence approx. 20' S to a point ( A 1 ) ;
thence approx. 440' E to a point (B ) on the N side of the eastern end of Williams
1
Viaduct; thence approx. 20' S to a point (C ) on the S side of the eastern end of Williams
Viaduct; thence approx. 920' W to a point ( ) on the S bank of Blackwater Creek; thence
approx. 860' SE to a point (E ) on the S bank of the James River; thence following the
said bank approx. 2260' S to the point of origin.
Boundary Justification
The Lower Basin Historic District encompasses the largest concentration of commercial
and warehouse buildings in the city of Lynchburg. The Lower Basin of the James River and
Kanawha Canal extended from Ninth Street to about Horseford Road; therefore all of the
commercial buildings in that area are included in the district. The district's eastern
boundary is the James River. The southern boundary includes only those buildings dating
from the district's period of signifiance which explain the offsets in the southwestern
area of the district. Buildings further south on Concord Turnpike and south of the 1300
block of Main Street are mostly noncontributing. A large number of noncontributing
buildings and parking lots characterize the area north of the 1200 block of Main Street
and on the west side of the 600-1100 blocks of Commerce Street; therefore, these areas
were excluded from the district. Williams Viaduct, dating from 1916-18, is an important
transportation-related element of the district and is included in the district; however,
the southern tip of the peninsula formed by the James River and Blackwater Creek was
excluded due to the large number of recently demolished buildings that once stood in the
area. North of Williams Viaduct primarily a residential neighborhood exists.
National Park Sewice
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
inventory-Nomination Form
received
date entered
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries--complete applicable sections
8 , Name
N/A
historic'
( D m Pile No.
118-2111
Lower Basin Historic District
and/or common
2. k o e a t i ~ m
street 8 number
city, town
i00-1300 locks of Jefferson Street, 600-1200 B l x c s of Commerce St_rwk,
and K~stOf t h e 1200-1300 Bl ocks
of Main Street
u3 not for publication
-
L F ~ ~ w
N !
Vfir i n i a
State
code
vicinity of
5
1
1
code
3. CBassification
Category
Ownership
2district
-public
f tatus
X_ occupied
uunoccupied
-buitding(s) 2private
-structure
-both
-site
w o r k in progress
Public Acquisition
-in process
-belng cansidered
N/A
-object
4. Owner sf
Accessible
X yes: restricted
X, yes: unrestricted
-no
Baaa~ertw
Present U s e
-agriculture
X commercial
-educational
entertainment
government
2L industrial
military
-
-
-museum
-park
?L private residence
-religious
-scientific
_x_ transportation
-other:
Multiple M e r s
name
- .
street & number
NJA
zip c
d e
city, town
N/4 vicinity of
L~chburq
state
24504
Virginia
5. Location of
LgsaB Descaintion
courthouse, registry
of deeds,
--- etc.
street & number
city, town
L ~ h b Cit--y
~ g Ha14
-
Church Stxeet_
Lynchburq
state
Virginia
24504
8. Representation in Existing Surveys
title
-
S ~ e (yF i l e NO. 118-211)
date
June, 1985
depository for survey records
elty, town
has this property been determined eligible?
-yes
-federal X state -county
X no
-local
~ivisionof Histxic L a n d m k s , 221 Governor S t r g e t -
Richmond
slate
/ S e e S e c t i o n Number 6 . Page 6 . 1 )
Virginia 23219
Condition
-excellent
X good
A fair
Check one
X deteriorated -unaltered
-ruins
X altered
-unexposed
Check one
original site
-moved
date
N/A
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
Summary Description
The Lower Basin Historic District defines a commercial and industrial warehouse area
in the city of Lynchburg located between the downtown commercial area to the south and the
James River waterfront to the north. Encompassing buildings facing the 700-1300 blocks of
Jefferson Street, the 600-1300 blocks of Commerce Street, and most of the 1200-1300 blocks
of Main Street, the district contains a variety of mostly late 19th- and early
20th-century, multi-story, brick warehouses and factories, two-to-three-story brick
commercial buildings, and a number of structures associated with the James River and
Kanawha Canal and the Norfolk and Western and Chesapeake and Ohio Railways. Taking its
name from a wide basin of the canal that once extended between Ninth Street and Horseford
Road, the Lower Basin Historic District contains 60 contributing buildings, 2 contributing
structures-a viaduct and a stone bridge, 1 contributing object-a monument commemorating
the site of 18th-century Lynch's Ferry, 12 noncontributing buildings, and 12
noncontributing structures-modern grain silos that detract from the historic character of
the district.
Architectural Analysis
The majority of buildings in the Lower Basin Historic District are late 19th- and
early 20th- century commercial buildings. Although the waterfront area has always
remained a center of commercial and mercantile activity even before Lynchburg's founding
in 1786, no buildings from the 18th and early 19th centuries remain in the area today.
Sketches and paintings of the period show panoramic views of Lynchburg's waterfront in
which long tobacco warehouses, mills, a covered bridge spanning the James River, and by
the mid-19th century, a railroad depot and roundhouse clearly indicating the importance of
the area to the city's commercial economy.
The oldest surviving structure in the area is a stone arched bridge that carries
Ninth Street across the now-filled James River and Kanawha Canal. The canal once
paralleled Jefferson Street and the river and an expanded portion between Ninth Street and
Horseford Road was known as the Lower Basin. Lynchburg's major extant remnant of the
canal, the sturdy Ninth Street Bridge, is still used for vehicular traffic. A stone panel
above the keystone of the arch is proudly inscribed "Built A.D. 1839 by J. S. King."
Near the Ninth Street Bridge is a fine example of Greek Revival commercial
architecture. The J. W. Wood Building at 23-27 Ninth Street, one of Lynchburg's few
surviving antebellum buildings, was listed on the National Register in 1983. The ca. 1853
building is a three-story, hip-roofed, brick building of refined classical lines and a
little altered cast-iron storefront. Another commercial building that appears to date
from the mid-19th century is the two-story, gable-roofed brick building at 1208 Main
Street. Although it has undergone late 19th- and 20th- century storefront alterations,
the building still retains its original Greek Revival character, especially as noted in
its fenestration pattern and details.
At the opposite (eastern) end of Jefferson Street stands a complex of three buildings
and twelve modern grain elevators comprising the Piedmont Flour Mills. The largest
commercial structure of its time, the ca. 1875, 4%-story brick main structure replaced an
earlier mill on the site. Although utilitarian in design, the building nonetheless
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.1)
8. Sianificance
Period
-prehistoric
-1400-1499
-1500-1599
-1600-1699
-1700-1799
21800-1899
X 1900-
Specific dates
Areas of Significance--Check and justify below
planning -landscape architecturereligion
-archeology-historic
-conservation
-law
-science
-agriculture
-economics
-literature
-sculpture
X
-architecture
-education
-military
-social1
-art
-engineering
-music
humanitarian
X commerce
-exploration/settiement -philosophy
-theater
-communications
2i industry
-politicslgovernment _K transportation
-invention
-other (specify)
-archeology-prehistoric -community
1830s to 1930
BuilderlArchitect
various
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
Statement of Significance
The Lower Basin Historic District, located primarily along Lynchburg's James River
waterfront, defines the city's major lath, 19th, and early 20th-century commercial and
mercantile center. Beginning as Lynch's Ferry in the 1750s and emerging as an important
canal and railroad transportation center during the mid-19th century, Lynchburg maintained
its role as a leading manufacturing and marketing center for much of the Piedmont region
until well into the 20th century. The Lower Basin area takes its name from an expanded
portion of the James River and Kanawha Canal which linked the city to eastern markets
after 1840. Canal traffic and the arrival of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to
Lynchburg in 1849 resulted in increased commercial activity in the Lower Basin. This
activity reached its zenith during the early 20th century with most of the district's
commercial warehouses, factories, and jobbing houses dating from the 1890s and early
1900s. Rows of multi-story, utilitarian brick structures present a compact and cohesive
display of period commercial architecture, noteworthy more for building numbers, size, and
construction than for stylistic features; nevertheless, traces of Italianate, Romanesque
Revival, Neoclassical, and Italian Renaissance styles are seen in the sturdy facades that
line Jefferson and Commerce streets.
Historical Background
Lynch's Ferry, the Lower Basin, and the Waterfront are all names that have been given
over the years to the area that extends along the banks of the James River from about
Sixth Street down to Horseford Road, and inland to Commerce Street. This relatively small
area is literally the birthplace of Lynchburg, for although it lay outside the original
town boundaries established in 1786, John Lynch had established his ferry there as early
as 1757. Before then, there was an Indian crossing nearby, and the lowlands where
Blackwater Creek flows into the James River provided natural camping sites. In the
mid-18th century, the site became the port for the not-far-distant town of New London, and
the Ferry House provided food and lodging to travelers and merchants. Thomas Jefferson
noted that lead from the mines in the western part of Virginia was shipped from Lynch's
Ferry to the eastern arsenals during the Revolution. As tobacco production increased in
the Piedmont, Lynch's Ferry was crowded with bateaux. These ingenious boats, invented by
Anthony Rucker of Amherst County, were especially effective in navigating the shallow
waters of the James River downstream to Richmond. The primary cargo they hauled was
tobacco, packed in hogsheads for the domestic and foreign market. Prior to its shipment,
however, tobacco had to be inspected, and for this purpose John Lynch established Lynch's
Warehouse in 1785. One of the first official tobacco inspection stations above
Tidewater,the warehouse stood on the corner of present-day Commerce and Eighth streets
until it was demolished in 1978. Lynch's was joined by other warehouses, and shops and
stores soon filled the spaces in between. These commercial establishments stocked goods
needed by settlers emigrating to the west from Lynch's Ferry.
(See Section Number 8, Page 8.1)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg An Architectural History.
The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Christian, W. Asbury.
Charlottesville:
(See Section Number 9,
Page 9.1)
Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg: 1900
10. Geographical Data
-52
Acreage of nominated property anprox.
Quadrangle name Lynchburg,
Quadrangle scale
1 :24000
UTM References
~ I ( ; I G ~ ~ ~ U ~I GF 1, lO( ~4 1 1 ~ 7 1 ~ 1 t i ~
Zone
Easting
Bu
Northing
141114i11'-iiO(OI
IGIEr4IC1Ol01
Easting
Zone
Northing
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
(See Section Number 10, Page 10.1)
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or c o u n t y boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
I1
Form Prepared By
nameititie
Division of Historic Landmarks Staff
Division of Historic Landmarks
organization
1986
date
Street & number
221 Governor Street
telephone
city or town
Richmond
state
804-786-3143
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
-
-
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
1L state
-local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in t
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by t
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title
H. Bryan Mitchell, Director
Division of Historic Landmarks
u 7
date
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property Is Included in the National Register
.
,
.
P
date
Keeper of the National Register
Attest:
Chief of Registration
i : a r c I ~ 6, 1987
. .,
. .,
. .~
date
~
.
NPS Form 1 C S t W
lbssl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOIiEi: IIASIII tiISTORIC LiISTPICT, LYIICIIBURI;,
Section number
Page 6.1
VA
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
2) J. W. Wood Building
D.H.L. File No. 118-32 '
Listed in NRHP 2-17-83
Depository for Survey Records:
Division of Historic Landmarks
221 Governor Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
3) Historic American Engineering Record Survey of Lower Basin
June-July, 1977
Depository for Survey Records:
Historic American Engineering Record
Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 20240
NPS Form -3
iwsl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page
--
7.1
Architectural Analysis
features such decorative details as full-height brick pilasters, a corbeled brick cornice,
and segmental-arched openings. A double row of gabled dormers is also an unusual feature.
Around 1880, a six-story corn mill, now clad in corrugated metal, was built opposite the
main mill across Jefferson Street, and in 1912 an engine room was built east of the main
mill. Piedmont Mills, Inc. has undergone several interior alterations and expansions, but
it is still in operation today.
Two railroad freight depots in the district date from the 1880s and 1890s. The
Norfolk and Western Railway depot stands on the north si.de of the 900-1000 blocks of
Jefferson Street. Built ca. 1885, it is a one-story gable-roofed brick building that
extends over 400 feet in length. Besides an arcade of recessed segmental-arched bays
extending along both longitudinal facades, the building also features a corbeled brick
cornice and an eastern parapeted gable end. A two-story brick addition with stepped gable
parapet ends was built at the western end of the depot around 1916. Once graced by a
monitor roof and flanked by loading platforms, the depot still retains its original
utilitarian character.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built its freight depot on the north side of the 1200
block of Jefferson Street in 1894. It is a two-story, yellow brick building that extends
300 feet in length with offices located in a clipped gable-roofed section at the western
end of the building. A gable-roofed brick extension was added to the east at an unknown
date. The depot displays typical late 19th-century building details such as recessed
brick panels, corbeled brick cornices, and segmental-arched windows. Loading platforms on
both sides of the depot are still intact.
Most of the commercial buildings on Jefferson Street date from the first decade of
the 20th century; however, a few are known to pre-date the turn of the century. The
Piedmont Storage and Leaf Tobacco warehouse of 1895, for example, is located at 1323
Jefferson Street. A 5% story brick building with two-story stone side walls, the building
possesses an Italianate double pedimented parapet front, brick pilasters, and corbeled
brickwork. Another pre-1900 building on Jefferson Street is the Anheuser Busch Brewery
(now Lynchburg Foundry Co. Warehouse) at 1312-1328 Jefferson Street. Adjacent to the C.
and 0. Railway Freight Depot, the handsome brick building was constructed ca. 1897 and
exhibits a decorative brick cornice and encircling parapet with castellated projections.
An important row of four three-story, brick commercial buildings comprising most of
the 700 block of Commerce Street was built in the early 1890s along what was then a major
commercial street in Lynchburg. The district's most intact row of buildings dating from
the 1890s, the individual buildings have similar characteristics - decorative brickwork,
arched fenestration, and paneled and arcaded brick parapets, but each is distinctly
different in facade design, creating a streetscape of varied textures and patterns.
A similar row of three buildings dating from the first decade of the 20th century is
located in the 900 block of Commerce Street. The five- and six-story brick commercial
warehouses at 918, 920-922, and 924-926 Commerce Street are less decorative and have
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.2)
NPS F m IWOO.
IW
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7.
DESCRIPTION
Page
--
7.2
Architectural Analysis
shallower three dimensional facades than their predecessors in the 700 block; however,
corbeled brick cornices and parapets and arched upper-story openings remain common
characteristics of both rows of buildings.
Three turn-of-the-century buildings on Main and Commerce streets are unique in the
district. The highly decorative commercial building at 1300-1302 Main Street was erected
in 1902. Intricate brick patterns in panels, cornices, and parapet create an interplay of
light, shadow, and texture that are essential features of this distinctive Victorian
facade. Two similar warehouses at 1222 Main Street and 1220-1228 Commerce Street are also
uncharacteristic of most of the buildings in the district. They are wide gable-ended
brick structures with highly articulated stepped parapet fronts, recessed panels
alternating with shallow pilasters, and arched or circular attic windows. One, and
probably both, were originally used as tobacco warehouses. The building on Main Street
proudly displays a datestone of 1899 at the top of its gable.
By the turn of the century, many warehouses or jobbing houses were being constructed
on Jefferson Street with its ideal location parallel to the railroad tracks. During this
period, Lynchburg was fast becoming a jobbing center due to its excellent rail connections
between northern manufacturers and southern markets. Jobbers were essentially middlemen
who stocked goods from manufacturers and sold them to wholesalers. Consequently, they
needed warehouses close to rail lines and locations on Jefferson Street proved very
convenient. One of the earliest such warehouses is the Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation
building at the southeast corner of Jefferson and Ninth streets. The refined brick
structure, exhibiting characteristics of the Romanesque Revival style, was built in 1898,
the year the corporation was founded. Originally, a four-story building on its Ninth
Street facade, two stories were added early in the 20th century. The Ninth Street or main
facade of the building is divided into three arched bays, each containing paired or
tripartite windows per floor while decorative roundels with terra-cotta lions' heads are
positioned between the uppermost arched bays. Built by the Lynchburg contracting firm of
Wilson and Seay, the handsome building was a fitting edifice for what soon became the
city's single largest employer.
Other jobbing houses were constructed on the north side of Jefferson Street in a
consistent and compact building pattern. All are multi-story brick structures usually
having corbelled brick cornices, high parapets, and segmental-arched openings, whereas the
majority of buildings dating from 1910-1920 have fewer pronounced features. Windows are
also usually wider and taller in the later structures. Examples include the two
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corporation warehouses at 1009-1011 Jefferson Street, built in
1915, and at 1001-1007, built in 1918; the Bailey Pleasants Company warehouse at
1201-1207, built in 1911; the Smith Briscoe Shoe Company warehouse at 1117, built in 1905;
the Kinner Montgomery and Company Warehouse at 1101, built in 1906; and the Jefferson
Street Shoe Factory at 1301, built in 1913.
Early 20th-century buildings with Neoclassical or Italian Renaissance influences are
represented by the Hill Brothers Shoe Company at 822 Commerce Street and the Bryan
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.3)
NPS Form -1
(9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number 7
Page 7
.
3
7.
DESCRIPTION
-- Architectural Analysis
Furniture Company at 1216-1218 Main Street. Both brick buildings exhibit rusticated
bases, quoins, heavy classical cornices, parapets, and pilasters. Bryan Furniture Company
has wide arched upper-story fenestration with keystones while Hill Brothers Shoe Company
has an elaborately carved stone entrance surround composed of heavy classical elements.
A particularly noteworthy structural element of the district is the Williams Viaduct
which has carried vehicular and pedestrian traffic over the James River and Blackwater
Creek since it was constructed in 1916-1918. Financed by three railroad companies and the
city of Lynchburg and designed by engineerlarchitect B. H. Davis, the bridge is an
extension of Seventh Street and connects downtown Lynchburg with Madison Heights in
Amherst County. The gracefully arched reinforced concrete bridge is 1,600 feet in length
and rises sixty feet above the river. Before it was constructed, a number of successive
low-lying bridges had spanned the James River at Ninth Street. Subject to frequent flood
damage, these older bridges were often replaced until the Williams Viaduct was
constructed.
On May 13, 1913 the Lynchburg Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
dedicated a monument to commemorate the site of John Lynch's Ferry House, believed to have
been the first building in Lynchburg. The monument, a boulder of native stone to which a
bronze plaque is attached, is located at the foot of Ninth Street near the James River.
It is a suitable monument to commemorate the first commercial activity that would later
dominate the Lower Basin area after John Lynch's ferry ceased to exist.
DAE
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.4)
NPS Fmn 1&000.
(%=I
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
*
d o t
--
7
Page
7.4
Inventory
C. and 0. Railroad Station House at James River.
Vacant.
Modern.
1940s.
Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; 1 front asymmetrical bay; flat roof (not
visible); series of five attached casement windows, wide overhanging roof
eaves. Noncontributing.
COMMERCE STREET
600 BLOCK
*
608: Jesse B. Abitt Garage. Price and Clements. Service garage (originally).
Warehouse (presently).
Vernacular.
1948.
Concrete block;
1 story;
4 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (not visible);
wide casement
windows, stepped parapet ends, large garage door. Noncontributing.
612-616: Lynchburg Shoe Co. Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1910. Brick
(5-course American bond); 2 stories;
13 front asymmetrical bays;
flat
parapet roof (not visible);
segmental-arched windows and recessed entrance
arch.
700 BLOCK
700: C. W. Warthen Co., Inc.
Lynchburg Woodenware Corp.
Factory (originally)
Commercial (currently). Neoclassical.
1895.
Brick;
3 stories;
1
symmetrical bay;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
paired brick pilasters,
corbeled brickwork, frieze with carved swags, parapet resembles a balustrade,
altered 1st-floor facade.
*
706-708: Esteppe Oldsmobile Co.
Commercial.
Modern.
1959, rear-1928.
Brick;
1 story; 3 asymmetrical bays; flat roof (not visible); original
rear building dates from 1928, modern front addition in 1959 with garage bay and
plate glass windows. Noncontributing.
718: First Colony Life Insurance Co.
Warehouse.
Victorian Commerical.
1895. Brick. 3 stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); paneled brick parapet, decorative brick cornice and pilasters,
round-arched 3rd-story windows, modernized storefront.
720: H. A. Robinson Co., Inc. Poplar Forest Corp. Warehouse (originally).
Commercial (currently). Victorian Commercial.
1892. Brick; 3 stories; 3
front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible); decorative paneled
parapet, corbeled brick cornice, semicircular-arched windows on 3rd story,
modern storefront.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.5)
NPS F
m -3
la-)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page
7.5
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
700 BLOCK (cont'd)
722: Lewis and Jennings Co.
Colonial Florist. Warehouse.
Neoclassical.
1894. Brick; 3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
visible); paired pilasters, classical cornice with swags, semicircular-arched
3rd-story windows, modern storefront.
--go\@
724-726: Bell, Barker, and Jennings.
Thompson's Shoes.
Commercial/Warehouse.
Victorian Commercial. 1892. Brick; 3 stories; 5
symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative brickwork,
paneled parapet, semicircular-arched 2nd-story windows, modern storefronts.
800 BLOCK
Hill Brothers Shoes.
Warehouse.
Neoclassical.
822: J. W. Ould Inc.
ca. 1914. Brick (stretcher bond); 4 stories (raised basement); 15 symmetrical
bays; flat parapet roof (not visible); rusticated brick, wide brick pilasters
with decorative capitals, heavy classical cornice, classical stone door
surround, paired 111 double sash windows with jack arches.
900 BLOCK
-
_
2/
%
[,
A''
918: Strother Drug Co. Lynchburg Jobbing House, Inc. Warehouse.
Neoclassical. 1908. Brick (stretcher bond); 6 stories;
2 front asymmetrical
bays; flat parapet roof (not visible); brick quoins, window aprons,
semicircular-arched windows at top floor.
920-922:
Beasley-Couch Co.
John E. Gannaway & Co. Commercial Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1907.
Brick (stretcher bond); 5 stories;
3 asymmetrical
bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice,
segmental-arched 919 double sash windows, altered storefronts.
Commercial/Warehouse.
924-926: Oglesby-DeWitt Co. John E. Gannaway & Co.
Italianate.
1904.
Brick;
5 stories;
5 asymmetrical bays: flat
parapet roof (not visible) ; corbeled brickwork, blind arcaded parapet, tall
brick pilasters with semicircular arches with decorative lion's heads, original
storefront retained.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.6)
NPS F m 10-
law
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.6
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
1000 BLOCK
1008-1026:
Virginia Biscuit Co.
Bailey-Spencer Hardware Co.
Commercial/Warehouse.
Italianate.
1899; addition-1941.
Brick;
3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brickwork, segmental-arched windows; 1-story concrete block addition
with brick veneer built in 1941 to west.
1100 BLOCK
- ()\
1100:
Eastern Electric Corp.
Factory/stable (originally).
Commercial/warehouse (currently).
Victorian Commercial.
1895, addition - ca.
1900. Brick; 3 stories; 11 front asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); corbeled brickwork, brick arcaded parapet, 919, 616, and 414 double
sash windows, altered 1st story; 3-story section added ca. 1900.
1200 BLOCK
1200: Herbert E. DeWitt Building Supply. Lynchburg Plumbing Supply Co., Inc.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1931.
Brick (6-course American bond);
2
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
stepped parapet, 616 double sash windows, garage bays.
1201:
Service Printing Co.
Commercial.
Vernacular.
1920s.
Brick
(stretcher bond);
2 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice, brick bands across facade.
1217:
Parnell-Martin of Virginia, Inc.
Commercial/warehouse.
Vernacular.
1920s.
Brick;
3 stories;
7 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
tall 6/6 double sash windows, altered
storefronts, 3-story section, but primarily a 2-story building.
1220-1228:
Hancock, Moorman Tobacco Co.
Leighton Heel and Counter Corp.
Factory Warehouse. Victorian Commercial.
ca. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond);
2% stories;
5 front asymmetrical bays;
gable parapet roof
complex of four brick structures, each with stepped
(standing seam metal);
parapets, main structure has decorative brickwork and arched windows.
1225:
Schewel's Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
ca. 1920.
Brick;
2 stories;
7 front asymmetrical bays;
Roof not visible;
stepped gable parapet ends, paired 919 double sash windows, recessed brick
panels.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.7)
NPS Fmn *WOO.
OUB
(aasl
No. l0ZCmlll
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOTJER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
7.7
~p
DESCRIPTION
--
Inventory
COMMERCE STREET
1300 BLOCK
*
1300:
Dabney's Foundry & Machine Works.
Poole's Machine.
Foundry and
machine shop (originally).
Machine shop (currently).
Vernacular.
1940s.
Concrete block;
2 stories;
10 front asymmetrical bays; flat
roof (not visible); 616 double sash windows, no decorative elements.
Noncontributing.
1310-1320: W. 0. Taylor Co.
Woodall & Lang, Inc. Factory and mill.
Neoclassical. 1909. Brick (6-course American bond); 2 stories; 7 front
symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative brick cornice,
brick quoins, 616 double sash windows, segmental-arched central entrance.
1326-1328: Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp.
Southland Factory.
Factory
(originally). Warehouse (currently). Vernacular.
1905-06. Brick (5-course
American); 3 stories; 5 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not
visible); original paired segmental-arched windows now enclosed with aluminum
siding, several facade alterations, originally an addition to larger factory
facing Jefferson Street at rear (now destroyed.)
HORSEFORD ROAD
100 BLOCK
100: Ideal Laundry Co.
Warehouse.
Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick
(6-course American bond) ;
3 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays; flat
parapet roof (not visible); decorative brick parapet with roundels,
segmental-arched 12/12 double sash windows.
Detached house.
Vernacular.
ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (standing seam metal);
I-story, I-level, 3-bay 2nd-floor porch with simple posts and balustrade.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.8)
2
NPS F(W)
10800.
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.8
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
700 BLOCK
*
701-709: Coca-Cola Bottling Plant annex.
Central Virginia Fabricators, Inc.
Bottling plant (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Modern. 1963. Concrete
block and steel frame (sheet metal);
1 story; 2 asymmetrical bays; gable
roof (not visible); concrete floors. Noncontributing.
*
713-719: Railway Express Agency garage.
Virginia Steel Co.
Warehouselgarage (originally). Office/warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
1946. Concrete block;
1 story; 2 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet
roof (composition shingle);
stepped parapet gable front. Noncontributing.
727: Coca-Cola Bottling Plant.
Bottling plant (originally). Warehouse
(currently).
Vernacular.
1918; addition-1947. Brick (stretcher bond); 3
stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
recessed arched bays on 1st floor, tall rectangular 6/15 double sash windows,
ramped parapets at building corners, segmental-arched windows at sides, I-story
brick addition built in 1947 to west, contains glass block windows.
800 BLOCK
*
800: Central Fidelity Bank Supply Warehouse.
Warehouse. Modern.
1970s.
Steel frame (sheet metal);
2 stories;
3 front asymmetrical bays;
gable
roof (not visible); window openings on 2nd floor, doors and garage opening at
gable end. Noncontributing.
*
SW corner of Jefferson and 9th Streets. Car wash.
Modern.
1970s.
Concrete block. 1 story;
2 front symmetrical bays; gable roof (standing
seam metal). Noncontributing.
900-1000 BLOCK
900-1000:
Norfolk and Western Railroad Freight Depot.
Freight depot
(originally).
Warehouse (currently). Vernacular.
1880s; addition-1916.
Brick (5-course American); 1 story;
3 front symmetrical bays; gable with
parapet ends roof (composition shingle); brick pilasters and recessed
segmental-arched panels, parapet gable ends, corbeled brick cornice; 2-story
brick addition with stepped gable parapet ends and decorative brickwork.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.9)
HPS F m IC-6CO.m
1-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
Page
7.9
---
DESCRIPTION
--
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
900-1000 BLOCK (cont'd)
923-925: N. B. Handy Co. ~arehouse/office. Warehouse (originally).
Warehouse/office (currently). Vernacular.
1930.
Brick (5-course American
5 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
bond);
visible);
no decorative treatment, wide casement windows, stepped parapet at
front.
*
N. B. Handy Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Modern.
1974.
Steel frame
gable roof
(corrugated metal);
1 story; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
(corrugated metal). Noncontributing.
1000 BLOCK
1000-1014: Norfolk and Allegheny Railroad Freight Depot.
Corner Produce Co.
Cold Storage Warehouse. Freight depot (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
1880s.
Brick (5-course American bond);
2 stories; 15 front
asymmetrical bays; flat parapet roof (not visible);
segmental-arched 12/12
double sash windows, sheltered loading platforms.
1001-1007:
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corp. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1918.
Brick (3rd-6th floors) and rock-faced ashlar stone (1st
and 2nd floors);
6 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible); high stone foundation, segmental-arched 12/12 double sash
windows, shallow brick pilasters.
1009-1011:
Barker-Jennings Hardware Corp. Warehouse.
Suh Distributing Co.
Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Italianate.
1915; addition-1966.
Brick
(5-course American bond);
4 stories;
4 front symmetrical bays;
flat
parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice and parapet, keystones over
12/12 double sash windows, small loading platforms;
1-story, aluminum-clad
addition to east built in 1966.
1016-1024:
Armour and Co.
Pride of Virginia Meats, Inc.
Office/warehouse. Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond); 2
stories;
1 front symmetrical bay;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
decorative corbeled brick cornice, segmental arches over paired front windows,
front garage bay added in 1940s, loading platform at railroad tracks.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.10)
NPS Form lOerm
(MI
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page 7-10
Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
1100 BLOCK
1101:
Kinnier, Montgomery and Co.; Reams Furniture Co. Warehouse;
Warehouse;
Italianate;
1906;
Brick (5-course American bond);
7 stories;
6 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (standing seam
metal);
paired 616 double sash windows with segmental-arched heads with
keystones, corbeled brickwork, paneled brick parapet.
1117:
Smith Briscoe Shoe Co. Warehouse. Strother Drug Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1905.
Brick(5-course American bond);
8
stories;
16 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
tall 16/16
double sash windows with tall segmental-arched heads; multi-story brick
elevator tower added at rear.
1200 BLOCK
1200-1226:
C. and 0. Freight Depot.
Freight depot.
Vernacular. ca.
1894;
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
gable roof with parapet and clipped ends-front section with hipped rear ell
(composition shingle);
front section has central front gable with round attic
window, segmental-arched windows and transom over central entrance, brick
pilasters at front and along sides of rear ell, loading platforms on both sides
of rear ell with overhanging eaves, gable-roofed brick addition to rear.
1201-1207:
Bailey Pleasants Co.
Schewel Furniture Co. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1911.
Brick (5-course American bond);
5
stories; 3 front asymmetrical bays (originally 11);
flat roof with parapet
ends (not visible); segmental-arched openings, stone foundation, stepped parapet
ends, 1st-floor openings mostly blocked up in 1930s; one-story, 20th-century,
concrete block rear addition has access to Commerce Street.
1213-1217:
Conner Produce Co. Cold Storage. Cold storage warehouse.
Vernacular.
1904.
Brick (5-course American bond);
2 stories;
5
front asymmetrical bays; gable roof (standing seam metal); segmental-arched
openings, 414 double sash windows, loading platforms, exposed scalloped eaves.
1221-1225:
Jefferson Street Shoe Factory Warehouse.
Farmer's Seed and
Supply Co.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1909.
Wood frame (sheet metal);
1 story; 5 front asymmetrical bays;
shed roof (not visible); some of the
original openings covered over by recent sheet metal cladding.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.11)
NPS Form -1
(rnl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
7.11
DESCRIPTION -- Inventory
JEFFERSON STREET
1300 BLOCK
1301:
Jefferson Street Shoe Factory.
Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp.
Warehouse.
Shoe Factory (originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Brick
(5-course American);
6 stories;
19 front symmetrical bays;
flat roof
(not visible); 16/16 double sash windows with segmental arched heads, stone
foundation.
1312-1328:
Anheuser Busch Brewery. Lynchburg Foundry Co. Warehouse;
Brewery (originally).
Warehouse (currently);
Brick (stretcher bond);
10 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
2 stories;
segmental-arched openings, corbeled brick cornice, brick parapet with rising
finials; 1-story, 20th-century, concrete block addition to east.
1323:
Piedmont Storage and Leaf Tobacco. Lynchburg Storage Co.; Warehouse.
Italianate.
ca. 1895. Brick (5-course American bond); 5% stories;
3
front symmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (standing seam);
clerestory
lighting at sides; front parapet consists of two superimposed gables,
segmental-arched openings, front brick pilasters, decorative brickwork.
*
1323-A:
3. K. Spencer Transfer; J. K. Spencer Construction Co.
Warehouse.
Modern.
1940s.
Concrete block;
1 story; 5 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (standing seam metal); sliding track door. Noncontributing.
1329-1335:
Piedmont Mills.
Mill.
Vernacular.
ca. 1875. Brick
(6-course American bond);
4% stories;
10 front symmetrical bays;
hipped roof (composition shingle); 7 front and 10 side gable dormers;
corbeled brick cornice, broad brick pilasters, segmental-arched openings; *I2
grain elevators built to rear in the late 1950s; concrete block rear additions
date to 1950s. Grain elevators are noncontributing structures
Corner of Horseford Road and Jefferson Street.
Piedmont Mills Engine Room.
Engine room.
Vernacular.
1912.
Wood frame (corrugated metal);
Number of stories undetermined (low basement);
2 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (standing seam metal); brick foundation, 1-story, flat-roofed
addition built atop original building.
Corner of Horseford Road and Jefferson Street.
Piedmont Mills Corn Mill.
Corn Mill. Vernacular. ca. 1880.
Wood frame (corrugated metal);
5%
stories; 4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (corrugated metal);
seven-story, gable-roofed tower, mostly 616 double sash windows; several
one-or two-story concrete block additions date from the 1940s.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.12)
NPS F m -1
IW
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page 7-12
Inventory
MAIN STREET
1200 BLOCK
1200-1204:
Cross Keys Tavern.
Burris Department StoreiMid-Atlantic
Sanitary Supply.
mid-19th century Brick; 2 stories;
7 front asymmetrical
bays; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
altered storefronts and facade,
false front at westernmost section.
1206:
Commercial.
Victorian Commercial.
1890s.
Brick;
3%
stories; 2 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
rough-hewn stone lintels and semicircular arches, corbeled brickwork, storefront
with wide transom.
1208:
Commercial (vacant).
Greek Revival. mid-19th century. Brick;
2 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
gable roof (composition shingle);
tall 6/6 double sash windows, storefronts with wide transoms.
1210-1214:
McCraw's Furniture Co.
Commercial.
Victorian Commercial.
ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories;
8 front asymmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
corbeled brick cornice and decoration, tall
919 double sash windows with segmental arches.
1216-1218:
Bryan Furniture Co.
Commercial. Neoclassical. ca. 1910.
Brick;
3 stories;
6 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not
visible); rusticated brickwork, recessed brick panels in parapet, paired
fenestration with semicircular arches with keystones.
1220:
Old Dominion Leather Shop.
Commercial.
Neoclassical. ca. 1910.
3 stories;
4 front asymmetrical bays;
flat
Brick (5-course American);
parapet roof (not visible);
classical cornice with modillion blocks and
dentils, brick panels, 12/12 double sash windows.
1222:
Beryle F. Phelps Paint Contractor. Commercial. Vernacular.
1899.
1 story; 3 front asymmetrical bays;
gable
Brick (5-course American);
parapet roof (standing seam metal);
stepped gable parapet, corbeled
brickwork, recessed panels and roundel in gable, altered storefront.
1225:
James T. Davis, Inc.
Commercial.
Vernacular.
ca. 1900.
Brick and stucco; 3% stories;
2 front asymmetrical bays; gable roof;
stepped parapet front gable with decorative brickwork, upper story windows
blocked, altered storefront, rear 1920s brick addition.
(See Section Number 7 , Page 7.13)
NPS F m 1DKC-a
IWl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
7
Page
DESCRIPTION -- Inventory
MAIN STREET
1300 BLOCK (cont'd)
1300-1302: Black Belt Arena. Commercial.
Victorian Commercial. 1902. Brick
(5-course American bond); 3 stories; 6 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet
roof (not visible); 212 double sash windows, brick pilasters, decorative brick,
spandrels and cornices, molded wood cornice with 2 raised gabled parapets at
front, altered storefront.
1301: Bowman and Moore Leaf Tobacco Factory. Commercial. Italianate. 1880.
Brick (stretcher bond); 4% stories. 3 front symmetrical bays; gable roof (not
visible); tall brick pilasters, segmental-arched openings, double gable front
parapet.
1304: Farmer's Feed and Supply Annex. Commercial. Mediterranean. ca. 1920.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays; flat parapet
roof (not visible); tripartite double sash window, wide overhanging cornice
supported by brackets, curvilinear parapet.
1306: Farmer's Seed and Supply. Commercial.
Vernacular.
ca. 1910.
Brick (stretcher bond); 3 stories; 3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet
roof (not visible); classical cornice with dentils, corbeled brickwork and
recessed panels.
NINTH STREET
00 - 60 BLOCK
Ninth Street at James River. DAR Commemorative Marker for Lynch's Ferry.
Commemorative marker. 1912. Stone boulder with bronze plaque; bronze plaque
inscribed: "Site of First House and Lynch's Ferry 1757, boulder placed July
1912 by Lynchburg Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution."
*
12: Swift and Co. Warehouse. Warehouse (vacant);
Modern.
1939. Brick
(5-course American bond);
1 story;
3 front asymmetrical bays;
flat roof
(not visible); concrete foundation, entrance with stone surround, some original
windows and garage bays blocked. Noncontributing.
J. W. Wood Building.
Warehouse. Greek Revival. pre-1855.
23-27:
Brick; 3 stories; 6 front symmetrical bays; hipped roof (standing seam
metal);
iron storefront, 616 double sash windows with classical window
cornices, broad frieze around building; individually placed on National
Register of Historic Places 2/17/83.
Ninth Street Bridge: Bridge.
1839.
Stone (coursed rubble); stone arch
bridge carried 9th St. traffic over the James River and Kanawha Canal, stone
plaque inscribed "Built in 1839 by J. S. King."
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.14)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LONER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page
7.14
Inventory
NINTH STREET
00
-
60 BLOCK (cont'd)
50-54:
Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp. Warehouse.
Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1898.
Brick (stretcher bond); 6 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
wide-arched openings on 1st and 4th floors,
paired 818 windows elsewhere-most with segmental-arched heads; keystones,
roundels, and terra cotta lion's heads, top two stories added.
*
.
56: Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp. Main Office. Office (vacant).
Moderne
1940.
Concrete block with brick veneer;
2 stories;
2 front asymmetrical
bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
streamlined features, glass block
windows, altered entry with original hood. Noncontributing.
58-60:
CRI Mutual Press.
Commercial printing establishment. Neoclassical.
1910.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
3 front symmetrical bays;
flat parapet roof (not visible);
broad brick pilasters with decorative
stonework, 1910 datestone, keystone over tall windows, plate glass storefront
windows.
ORANGE STREET
200 BLOCK
222: N. and W. Railroad Signal Tower. Signal Tower (originally).
Storage
2 stories;
(currently).
Vernacular.
1917.
Brick (Flemish bond);
3 front asymmetrical bays;
hipped roof (standing seam metal); 2nd-story bay
window supported by brackets, most original windows blocked up, wide overhanging
eaves.
SEVENTH STREET
50-60 BLOCK
56-60:
Gilbert Storage and Transfer Co. Warehouse.
Vernacular.
1899.
Brick (5-course American bond);
3 stories;
2 front asymmetrical bays;
flat roof (not visible); irregular-shaped building with 3- and 2- story
sections, segmental-arched windows.
(See Section Number 7, Page 7.15)
NPS Fam IDPa)r
IMs)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
DESCRIPTION
--
Page 7.15
Inventory
SEVENTH STREET
50-60 BLOCK
Seventh Street Extension.
Williams Viaduct.
Vehicular bridge.
1916-1918.
Reinforced concrete;
reinforced concrete bridge composed of abutments with
spanning arches, concrete balustrades parallel road and sidewalk.
WASHINGTON STREET
50 BLOCK
50-A: G. Bruning Tobacco Extract Co.
Burrus Building.
Warehouse.
4 stories;
Italianate.
ca. 1900. Brick (6-course American bond);
front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof (not visible); round-arched
entrances and some windows, corbeled brick parapet, arched loading door;
segmental-arched windows altered.
6
50-B:
Lewis John Maunfacturing Co.
Burrus Building.
Factorylwarehouse
(originally).
Warehouse (currently).
Vernacular.
ca. 1900.
Brick
(corrugated metal); 1 story;
7 front asymmetrical bays; gable parapet roof
(standing seam metal);
building consists of two sections built about the same
date, original segmental-arched windows later altered.
50-C:
C. W. Hicks and Co.
Machine shop (originally). Warehouse
(currently).
Vernacular.
ca. 1900. Wood frame with brick and stone front
veneer (corrugated metal);
1 story; 2 front asymmetrical bays; gable roof
(standing seam metal);
exterior end brick chimney, front facade modernized and
altered; rear 20th-century addition.
NPS F m lOBmr
la=)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOVER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
Page
--
8.1
Historical Background
As the town and countryside grew, the ferry became inadequate, and in 1812 it was
replaced by the first in a succession of bridges that spanned the James at the foot of
Ninth Street. In 1826, the town limits were extended to encompass the waterfront, and two
years later, foundations were laid for a pump house at the foot of today's Seventh Street.
The increased water supply that it afforded was the signal for the establishment of mills
and factories in the area. Even so, according to one observer of the time, the waterfront
presented a fascinating mix of the pastoral and the commercial:
The banks of the river are lined with towering
trees; the enormous Sycamores, with their
outstretched branches: to this we may add,
freight boats, the skimming wild ducks, farms and
pleasure grounds, falling gardens, rolling carts,
rattling sfages, thundering wagons, and a busy
multitude.
In 1835 a cotton factory was built alongside Blackwater Creek, and in 1836 yet another,
sturdier bridge replaced the first one across James River. But the major activity at this
time was the construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal. Lynchburg was the
terminus of the "First Grand Division," the 146-mile stretch from Richmond, and as such
had to have extensive docking facilities. These were primarily provided by the Lower
Basin, the broadened expanse of canal just downstream from Ninth Street. On December 3,
1840, the first packet boat arrived in the basin, and was greeted with much fanfare.
Unfortunately, the principal speaker, who stood on the deck of the General Harrison to
deliver his oration, lost his balance and fell into the canal! That put only a temporary
damper on the festivities, and soon the canal brought even more commerce and industry to
the Lynchburg waterfront. A number of remnants of the canal still exist. Properly
restored and interpreted, they could serve to illustrate the busy scene that characterized
the area during the antebellum era.
After the canal came the railroad. The Virginia and Tennessee, established in 1849
largely as a result of Lynchburg's entrepreneurial spirit, was the first. Lynchburg was
both the eastern terminus of the line and the center of its operations. Tracks were laid,
and a depot was built between the canal and the river at the foot of Ninth Street. Later
these were augmented by an engine house, machine shops, roundhouse, and other facilities,
all located near the canal and Blackwater Creek, in a part of the waterfront designaTED
The "Western Grounds." The V & T was soon joined by two other lines: the Southside and
the Orange and Alexandria. By 1855 a Richmond newspaper acknowledged that Lynchburg was
I,
the hub in the Virginia system of railroads." As before, commercial establishments came
to be located near these major transportation systems, and one of the largest buildings
erected during this period still stands at the corner of Ninth and Jefferson streets. Now
designated the J . W. Wood Building, this brick structure is embellished with a fine
cast-iron facade on the first floor of its principal facade.
(See Section Number 8, Page 8.2)
OUB Ippmr* No. 10244078
NPS F m 1s-
(-1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number 8Page 8
.
7
8.
SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
During the Civil War, the waterfront was the scene of frenzied activity. Because of
its excellent transportation facilities, Lynchburg became a major camp for Confederate
troops. When the need arose, soldiers bivouacked here were sent to the theater of war via
the railroad or the canal. Those who were wounded were sent back to recuperate in one
of the many hospitals hastily set up in the tobacco warehouses "uptown." Perhaps the most
somber scene the waterfront witnessed was on May 13, 1863, when the body of Stonewall
Jackson was transferred here from the railroad to the packet boat Marshall, to be carried
upstream to Lexington for burial.
After the war, the waterfront continued as the focus of Lynchburg's industrial
activity, but there were changes. In 1870, yet another bridge replaced the existing one,
and when this was washed away in 1878, it was quickly replaced by another. In 1879, the
Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Company replaced the canal, which had ceased to be a
viable enterprise. By 1880, the many railroads along the waterfront caused a visitor to
remark:
A bewildering scene meets the eye of the traveler
in Lynchburg. Such a medley of
as he alights
railways and watercourses is rarely ever ssen
outside, and still less inside, of a city.
...
As the "New South" continued its recovery from the wounds of war, the Lynchburg waterfront
continued to expand as the center of the city's industrial activity. The Piedmont Mills,
established before the war, had replaced its earlier structure by 1875 with the large,
impressive building at the corner of Jefferson Street and Horseford Road. In 1882, a new
pump house was completed to serve a greatly expanded city water system. Damaged by a
flood in November 1985, the building was demolished soon thereafter. It once stood on the
river bank adjacent to Williams Viaduct. During the last years of the 19th century and
the first of the 20th century, the southern side of Jefferson Street between Ninth Street
and Piedmont Mills was built up with tall, plain brick buildings. These were "jobbing
houses," essentially warehouses where the goods of wholesale distributors were stocked
while awaiting shipment throughout the South. Lynchburg was ideally situated for this
trade, midway between northern manufacturers and southern markets, and Jefferson Street,
with railroad tracks running down the center, was the best spot in town for the jobbers.
Soon Lynchburg began not only to store products for its huge southern market, but to
manufacture them as well. In 1898 Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation established its
manufacturing operations on the corner of Ninth and Jefferson streets, and in a few years
became the largest employer in the city. At about the same time, two large cast-iron
foundries established their presence in the area. Both sought large level areas for their
extensive operations: Glamorgan upstream and Lynchburg Foundry downstream.
By the mid-20th century, however, the waterfront had begun to lose its appeal as a
setting for manufacturing and commercial enterprises. Transportation changes had
occurred, markets had relocated, and increased space -- more than could be afforded in
~
this traditional center -- was needed for expanded operations. In the 1 9 5 0 ~the
(See Section Number 8, Page 8 . 3 )
a r e w NO. 702em1a
NPS Form 10030.
(saa)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOTJER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
8
Page
8.3
-- Historical Background
Lynchburg Expressway was opened, and an industrial park was created adjacent to it,
complete with rail and trucking access. By 1970 over thirty industries and businesses had
been lured to this new manufacturing and distributing center. The waterfront, which had
been the center of such activity for so long, began to take on a neglected, abandoned
aspect. Some structures were demolished, but others -- more than may be evident at first
glance -- remain. Still other features (among them, the canal) lie hidden behind or below
the accretions of later years, waiting to be uncovered and appreciated once more. The
Lower Basin area has potential to be reborn -- perhaps not to become the city's main
commercial center again, but as a place of both commemoration and renewal. It is hoped
that the historic district designation will help to revitalize the Lower Basin area and
serve as a suitable accomplishment for the city's bicentennial celebration.
Endnotes
1.
Anne Royall,
, r - ~
vol. 1 (Washington, 1830), p. 100.
Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, Summer Resorts and Points of Interest of
Virginia, Western North Carolina, and North Georgia (New York, 1 8 8 4 ) , p. 31.
2.
NPS F m 1C-D301
(-1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LCIIICI; U i i S I l l tIIST0i:IC L I S T R I C T , LYI!CIICL!~I, L'A
Section number
Page 9.1
9.
Bibliographical References
Historic American Engineering Record, Department of the Interior.
Survey of Lower Basin, Lynchburg. Washington, D.C.: 1977.
Loyd, Richard B., and Mundy, Bernard K. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History.
Virginia Beach: 1975.
Pollock, Edward. Sketch Book of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, 1887.
Richmond and Danville Railroad Company. Summer Resorts and Points of Interest
Virginia, Western North Carolina, and North Georgia. New York: 1884.
Royall, Anne. Mrs. Royall's Southern Tour, vol. 1.
Washington, D.C.: 1830.
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. Lynchburg, V i r w .
Lynchburg: 1973.
of
NPS F m 10.-
(awl
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
LOWER BASIN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Lynchburg, VA
Section number
10.
Page lo-1
lo
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
--
Boundary Description
Beginning at a point (A) on the S bank of the James River; thence approx. 160' W to a
point (B) located on the W side of Concord Turnpike; thence approx. 260' S to a point (C);
thence approx. 240' W to a point (D); thence approx. 320' N to a point (E) on the S side
of Washington Street; thence approx. 340' W to a point (F); thence approx. 240' N to a
point (G) on the N side of Horseford Road; thence approx. 140' E to a point (H) on the W
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 420' N to a point (I) on the SW corner of the
intersection of Thirteenth and Commerce streets; thence approx. 150' W to a point ( J ) ;
thence approx. 200' S to a point (K); thence approx. 180' W to a point (L) on the W side
of Main Street; thence approx. 140' N to a point (M); thence approx. 160' W to a point
( N ) ; thence approx. 180' N to a point (0);thence approx. 180' E to a point (P) on the E
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 260' N to a point (Q) at the SE corner of the
intersection of Twelfth and Main streets; thence approx. 340' E to a point (R) on the E
side of Commerce Street; thence approx. 2140' N to a point (S); thence approx. 120' E to a
point (T); thence approx 240' SE to a point (U) on the N side of Williams Viaduct; thence
approx. 200 ' E to a point (V); thence approx. 120' N to a point (W) on the W side of the
Cabell Street ramp of Williams Viaduct; thence approx. 20' E to a point (X) on the E side
of the Cabell Street ramp; thence approx. 100' S to a point (Y); thence approx. 440' E to
a point (Z) on the N side of Williams Viaduct; thence approx. 20' S to a point ( A 1 ) ;
thence approx. 440' E to a point (B ) on the N side of the eastern end of Williams
1
Viaduct; thence approx. 20' S to a point (C ) on the S side of the eastern end of Williams
Viaduct; thence approx. 920' W to a point ( ) on the S bank of Blackwater Creek; thence
approx. 860' SE to a point (E ) on the S bank of the James River; thence following the
said bank approx. 2260' S to the point of origin.
Boundary Justification
The Lower Basin Historic District encompasses the largest concentration of commercial
and warehouse buildings in the city of Lynchburg. The Lower Basin of the James River and
Kanawha Canal extended from Ninth Street to about Horseford Road; therefore all of the
commercial buildings in that area are included in the district. The district's eastern
boundary is the James River. The southern boundary includes only those buildings dating
from the district's period of signifiance which explain the offsets in the southwestern
area of the district. Buildings further south on Concord Turnpike and south of the 1300
block of Main Street are mostly noncontributing. A large number of noncontributing
buildings and parking lots characterize the area north of the 1200 block of Main Street
and on the west side of the 600-1100 blocks of Commerce Street; therefore, these areas
were excluded from the district. Williams Viaduct, dating from 1916-18, is an important
transportation-related element of the district and is included in the district; however,
the southern tip of the peninsula formed by the James River and Blackwater Creek was
excluded due to the large number of recently demolished buildings that once stood in the
area. North of Williams Viaduct primarily a residential neighborhood exists.
Text
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P Awe1 l l n o
-
Current Functtons (enter categories tram tnstrudlons)
Secondarv Structure
Architectural Clasnficatmn
(enter categones horn instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC:
Federal
Secondary structure
Materials (enter categones from tnstrucnons)
foundation
walls
Bm,
SmNE
WOOD: Weatherboard
other
Describe present and htstorlc phystcal appearance.
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Locust Grove is a five-bay, double-pile, central-passage-plan. one and a half story, timberframe, four end chimney Federal-style house located in Lynchburg, near Route 501 North, about
three-quarters of a mile east of the city limits. Begun about 1810 for Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,
Locust Grove was first a side-passage plan dwelling but was enlarged significantly between 1825
and 1830 to its present central-passage plan. The house was extensively renovated in 1932.
Once the center of a 294-acre farm located in Bedford County, the 44'4" X 30' house is now
located on a 32-acre tract. Four outbuildings, a garage, barn, guest house, and tenant house,
all erected in 1932, are included as contributing resources. Locust Grove is surrounded by
sloping lawns and a wooded tract, and now is part of a larger residential area annexed into the
city of Lynchburg in the late-twentieth century.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Locust Grove was originally a double pile, side-passage plan, one-and-a-half-story house with
two exterior end chimneys on the south gable end. The alterations that ultimately gave Locust
Grove its symmetrical facade and its central-passage, double-pile plan most probably occurred
after 1825. The foundations of this dwelling consist of English bond footings below grade and
four-course common bond and random fieldstone above grade in the original section. The
foundations that underpin the early-nineteenth-century addition are brick and fieldstone. The
footings of both southern gable end chimneys are laid in English bond, but the footings that
underpin the chimneys on the north are laid in four-course common bond. Repairs to the
foundations have been made as many as six times, as evidenced by patches of different brick
bonds, dry laid stone, morrared fieldstone, and modem brick.
-
The timber frame of Locust Grove rises from this foundation. Sills and summer beams provide
additional evidence of the two building periods. The sills, end gin, and summer beam of the
original side-passage section are hewn and pit-sawn timbers and are tenoned and pinned together.
The joists are pit-sawn planks and are tenoned to the summer beam. Construction techniques in
8. Statement of S l ~ n H l a n c a
Cert~wngolftc~alhas mnaldemd the s~gnmcanceof thls proparry ~nrelatlan to other propenlea:
natlonatty
mstatewlde
a~oca~~y
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Constderatrons (Exceptions)
A
GB
c
B
c
CIA
Areas of Sign~ficancv(enter categones from instrun~ons)
D
a
D
E
F
G
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
1810
1932
Cultural Affiliation
N/ A
S~gnlflcantPerson
N/A
Arch~tectlBullder
unknovn
State slgnlncance or propeny, and lustlhl Crltena, crllerla cons~derat~ons,
and areas and perlws of signltlcance noted above
Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Locl~stGrove is a good representative example of an early
nineteenth-century planter's residence and possesses architectural significance both for its
original plan and design. Renovated in the 1930s, it also illustrates the influence of renewed
interest in "colonial" architecture that typified "restorations" of the period. The house is
complemented by a collection of twentieth-century outbuildings.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Locust Grove in the nineteenth century was a farm of middling size in Bedford County owned
bv a modest Virginia family. The house represents three generarions of the Cobbs family who
worked earnestly to retain their home, standing in the community, livelihood, and self respect
in the face of adversity. The story of the Cobbs of Locust Grove is a story shared by many
mid-nineteenth-century Virginia farm families who faced the effects of declining land
productivity and the devastation of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The owner and builder of Locust Grove was Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,' Cobb's father, Edmund
Cobbs,Sr., had settled in Bedford County in the last quaiter of the eighteenth Century, on
acreage bordering Ivy Creek that was willed to him by his brother, Samuel Cobbs.: Edmund
Cobbs, Sr., and his wife Sarah, with their children, prospered, and upon his death in 1799,
Sarah Cobbs was left the home property of 260 acres. The remainder of the estate, 940 acres,
was divided among their six sons.' Sarah Cobbs died in 1811. By 1809 Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,
had purchased 294 acres on Cheese Creek, bottomland, approximately five miles from the Ivy
Cnek land.' The land was a small part of a two thousand-acre tract first owned by John
Wayies, and inherited by Thomas Jefferson upon his death. Jefferson sold the land in 1778, and
it was subsequently sold in smaller parcels. It was there that Edmund Cobbs, Jr., built bust
Grove, married, raised his family, and eventually died in 1856.
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Unlted Stater Qepmrnent of the interior
National Park Servlce
National Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number 7
Page
7
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
the addition are similar and indicate that Cobbs' carpenters worked with the same conservative
building during both consrmction campagns at Locust Grove. The north wall framing which was
enclosed when the house was extended. is visible in a modem cupboard in the first-floorc e n d
passage. Nail holes left in pit-sawn studs are good evidence of the weatherboards that once
covered this gable end. The n d s that remain in this space are early machine-headed cut nds.
The tiame of the roof at Locust Grove consists of common rafters spaced five ieet apart and
renoned and pinned at the ridge. Gable end posts and studs are hewn in the eariv secuon and pitsawn in the addition.
Both the front and rear enhances are flanked by windows of nine-over-nine double-hung sash,
with wooden three-panel fixed-louver shutters. The asbestos-shingled gable roof has three gableroofed dormers at both the front and rear elevations. The dormers, which appear to date from
the twentieth century, are lit with casement windows of six lights per frame. There are two fourover-four double-hung sash windows at the half-story level between the chimney stacks on the
south elevation, and one on the north. At the eave, there is a plain wooden boxed cornice and
gutters.
Two exterior end chimneys, all with stepped shoulders, stand at both gable ends. The northern
stacks are laid in common bond: the southern, in Flemish bond. The northwest chimney's
-
shouider is flush with the cornice. while the northeast at first floor ievei. The chimneys at the
southern gable end are now surrounded by a brick porch that was added in 1932. This porch is
covered with a metal shed roof. Two doors lead from the porch to rooms now used as a kitchen
and living room.
The original western front porch was replaced in 1932 by a brick stoop with seven risers and
iron handrails. The original front door was replaced by a six-panel door with a three-light
hansom and surrounded by a wooden architrave with reeded pilasters and a cornice with dentiis.
In a similar fashion, the eastern entrance was altered in 1932 when a 2?"5" by 8"7' back porch
was enclosed.
Much of Locust Grove's woodwork was replaced in the early 1930s and other alterations were
made as its owners transformed Locust Grove into a more "colonial" dwelling. Flooring was
largely replaced on both the first and second floors, but the dwelling's original wahut flooring
was reused where possible. The simple pine baseboards, horizontat pine wainscoting and chair
rails may predate the 1932 renovation and appear in every first-floorroom except the kitchen.
Every first-floor room except the kitchen also has a thin molded cornice. These architectural
.
Unltrd Smoa Orprrtment of the interior
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Reglster of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number
7
Page
2
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
f e . are now affixed to the walls with wire nails, but earlier square nail holes suggest that
this woodwork was either removed and then reaffixed during the renovations or brought to
Locust Grove from another Federal-style dwelling. Plastered sheetrock replaced lathe and
plaster. Panel doors now used in the basement may also be original to the first floor. These
doors were supplanted by plain six-panel modem replacements with modem brass and iron
hardware. Locust Grove was also modernized in the early 1930s with electricity, running water,
a central heating system. and contemporary kitchen appliances.
Excavated in the 1930s. the basement contains seven rooms and generally retlecu the centralpassage plan of the k t floor. A single-run, open-string, open-riser, wooden stair with a
rectangular mill-sawn handrail and newel post connects the basement wit the first rloor. The
floors are concrete.
The first floor of Locust Grove has a central passage, with a living room and kitchen located
to the south of the passage and a parlor and dining room to the north. A double-run, open-string
stair with two balusters per tread rises to a landing and then to the second floor. The stairs,
constructed of pine and joined with machine-cut brads, has square-section balusters and newel
posts. The hall and stair landing are lit by the east central dormer. The spandrel under the stair
has beaded pine paneling that, like most of decorative woodwork throughout the house. contains
holes left by machine-cut nails.
The walls of the living room. renovated in 1932, are covered from the chair rail to the ceding
with modem six-inch pine paneling. The second-floor joists, exposed during the renovation,
exhibit clear evidence of the lathing that once supported a plaster ceiling. A Georgm-style
mantel with a large torus bolection molding that probably predates the 1932 renovations graces
the chimney. Built-in bookcases extend along the north wall.
An octagonal parlor is located directly across the central p+e
from the living room. Not
on@ to the house, this shape was created in 1932 by the insertion of new walls in each corner
of the room. These voids contain radiators. A Federal-style cable-molded chair rail attached to
a plain chair rail sepiuates the plain plaster wall above from painted wainscoting. A wooden
mantel of tripartite Fedval design and the chair railing appear to be original to the house. The
ceiling here and in the dining room was dropped approximately one foot when the house was
renovated.
The second floor of Locust Grove is arranged around the central stair passage which is lit by
a dormer. Thae were originally four bedrooms arranged around the centrai hall, but the intuior
Unltrd St-8
Drprrtmmt of thr Interior
Natlonal Park Service
Natlonal Weglster of Historlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon numksr
7
Page
3
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
The second floor of Locust Grove is arranged around the central stair passage which is lit by
a dormer. There were originally four bedrooms arranged around the central hall. but the interior
partitions that separated these rooms were removed in the 1930s to create two large bedrooms
and to make room for a bathroom that now occupies the western end of the stair hall.
Unlted.Strtr8 Oeprrlmmt of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sectlon number
Page
I
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
During the early nineteenth-cenrury, such larger houses as nearby Sandusky were constructed
in the Federal style. Such surviving houses were generally single-pile, five-bay rick I-houses
with exterior gable-end chimneys and modillioned cornices in the Tuscan order. Cobbs instead
selected a traditional Virginia form for his house: what Henry GIassie has termed a "213
Georgnn plan": that is. a side-passage-plan, double-pile, one-and-one-half-story structure.
Aruund 1825, however, with a growing family and fairly prosperous farm. Cobbs enlarged the
original side-passage plan house to the five-bay, cennal-passage-pian Federai-style house that
stands today.
Though Cobbs began his life at Locust Grove as a relatively wealthy planter, by his death his
circumstances were considerably reduced. In 1814 he was the highest bidder in the public
auction of the remainder of his father's estate, the dower land of 260 acres.' That same year
he sold the land to Charles Clay. Cobbs purchased an additional 93 acres on Cheese Creek in
1818, and a larger tract of 114 acres in 1820.6 By that year Cobbs held twenty-tive slaves,
eleven of whom were children.' His daughter Lucy mamed the Reverend Nicholas Hamner
Cobbs, her cousin and a highly respected parson who later founded St. Stephen's Church in
Bedford County and went on to become a bishop in Alabama.' In 1828 he deeded 38 acres of
his land to his son-in-law.
- Both Edmund Cobbs and his wife EIizabeth belonged to the Russell Parish of St. Stephens
Church: they joined at its inception in 1824 and remained members throughout their lives. Cobbs
served on the vestry in the 1830's and 40's.'
Unfortunately in the decades following the renovations to Locust Grove the wealth of the Cobbs
family appears to have slowly declined. As early as 1828 Cobbs apparently borrowed money
from friends and relations using his land as coIIateral.'O Perhaps the productivity of the Locust
Grove land was played out, for two years later he sold three pitrcels of land to different buyers.
By 1830 his slave labor force had declined to hvelve from twenty-five a decade earlier."
Tobacco was the main cash crop in the region, and Lynchburg became prosperous through the
trade and transport of the leaf. Tobacco is notorious for sapping soil fertility, and Cobbs' few
hundred acres probably declined in profitability. In 1837 he soid a hundred acres of his farm on
Cheese Creek; by 1840 his slaves numbered seven. In 1843 Cobbs finally deeded 223 a m ,
with the house, to his son John Cabell Cobbs, who was living at Locust Grove with his young
family." According to the deed the land "...is estimated to contain 465 acres which however
by sundry mvcyancu made by the said Edmund Cobbs since the last named conveyance (an
By 1850 nine
1828 deed) is supposed to be reduced in quantity to about 223 acres...".
Unltad Stat88 OapaRmsnt of the interlor
Natlonal Park Ssnrtco
Natlonal Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sectlon number
8
Page
2
slaves. including five adults and four small children, lived at Locust Grove. In his wiil recorded
in 1856, Cobbs directed that his debts be paid from the estate, and left money to his son
Frederick, his daughters Lucy and Mary,and his granddaughters, who were living with him in
1850." John Cabell Cobbs mheritednforand in consideration of the aid and attention he has
paid me and my beloved wife during her life, all the (remaining) estate, both real and
personal."" John C. Cobbs, with 223 acres, was perhaps slightly better off than most of his
contemporaries, but found himself in an entirely different economic and social strata than that
of his grandfather. Edmund Cobbs. Sr. The population of Bedford County at that time consisted
mainly of small farmers--80 percent owned farms of two hundred acres or less.'"
Cobbs reported the death of his mother in 1853 and that of his father in 1856. The St. Stephen's
parish records show that John Cobbs served as a vestryman and church warden beginning in
1845, replacing his father in these capacities." He also served as a justice on the county
court." In the years that followed his father's death Cobbs struggled to hold onto the farmly
land. Records show debts mounting as early as 1858. By 1860 Cobbs owned seven slaves; a
twenty-two-year-old male, a thirry-six-year-old male, a thirty-two-year-old female. and four
young children. Cobbs supported two families, black and white, on the land of Locust Grwe.
It is entirely possible that the Civil War ultimately ruined the Cobbs family. The records of
Bedford County show Cobbs owned an increasing amount of money to members of the
community. In 1861 Cobbs was forced to "convey a tract of land lying on the old turnpike road
- leading from Lynchburg to Lexington adjoining the lands of Metcalf. Wiggington. containing
322 acres ... where Cobbs resides.(The records are unclear about how and when JCC obtained
100 additional acres.) In this special trust. that if John Cabell Cobbs doesn't pay within 12
months the debt and interest to Anderson and Richard and Samuel Poindexter, they will proceed
to sell at public auction . . .the premises . . .with 30 days notice. " I 9 (Anderson and Poindexter
were small farmers in Bedford C ~ u n t y . )At
~ this time Cobbs was indebted to Anderson and
the Poindexten for more than $800. The 1865 Gilmer map shows Cobbs still residing on
Cheese Creek. In 1871 he sold 150 acres to Richard Poindextei, possibly to satisfy the previous
debt." Later in 1871 Cobbs applied to protect 230 acres and personal property from seizure
because of bankruptcy.= Cobbs's fortunes declined in the years after the war. In 1860 his real
estate was valued at $6,400 and personal property at $5,450; in 1870, the families's reduced
circumstances were reflected in the reduction of the value of his real estate to $1,820 and
personal property to $769." Added to the burden of debt was the tragic fact that his wife had
become insane. He had at this time six children, ranging in ages from six to twenty years old.
By 1877 Cobbs had declared banhptcy and lost the remainder of his land and his home.
Unlt@dSUt@@
Depulment of tha interfor
Natlonal Park Setrvae
Natlonal Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number
8
Page
3
Loeust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Possibly his friends and neighbors agreed among themselves that Cobbs would retain his iand,
for the deed of June 11, 1877, reads in-part: "...John Cabell Cobbs, banlcrupt of the fint pan,
and John Cabell Cobbs, of the second part . . . being the highest bidder became the purchaser
of the land so sold-of the tract of 173 acres surrendered in the schedules...."= The personal
properry belongmg to Cobbs at this time included two mules, one cow,eight hogs, a folding
table. lounges, a wardrobe. a iooking glass, a safe, a secretary, and interest in two threshing
machines. (A comparison with the inventory of his grandfather. is illuminating. Edmund
Cobbs. Sr.. owned eleven slaves. fifty hogs, e
n head of cattle. ninereen head oi sheep, six
horses. numerous fann and blacksmith implements. weaving equipment. casks, a iarge amount
of walnut furniture...the list filis two long pages.)= How Cobbs obtained the money to buy
back his own property is unclear; perhaps he used the sale of livestock and machinery. He died
intestate in 1885.
The land was held by the state for over a decade. A trust fund was set up and handled by M.
P. Burks, Commissioner. In 1897 the family finally reclaimed the 172 acre "home mt"by
buying it back again. John Cobbs's son, Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, purchased the pmperry and
house for his sisrers Eliza and Nannie.n The women lived at Locust Grove until 1914, when
Eiiza Cobbs died and left the property to a niece. The property was subsequently sold our of
the family to Wellington Ogdenea Ogden sold the propem in 1917 to Lucy Babcock-Healy,
who sold it in 1932 to John Capron. After Capron's deatiin 1976 the house. which had been
annexed into the city of Lynchburg, was owned by a real estate company until the present
owners, the Massies, purchased it in 1988.
When John Capron purchased the house in 1932. the restoration of colonial Williamsburg had
recently been completed. Capron, an amateur historian keenly interested in the coloruai en,
renovated Locust Grove according to his notion (based on erroneous information) that Locust
Grove was built in 1758 by Edmund Cobbs, Sr. Hence he renovated in the "Williamsburg style"
to reflect this early date. This renovation coincided with a general revival of interest in colonial
Virginia throughout the Lynchburg arca and was contempo~eouswith the moving of the
Bishop Early house from Court and 7th Streets to Peakland Place. Locust Grove (which Capron
of a City, a book commemorating the Lynchburg
named Locust Hill) was cited in
sesquicentennial in 1936, as being of the "earlier puiod." The house and the living room mantel
an piaured in this book. As Capron is listed as a special contributor for this publicadon, if can
be assumed that he supplied the information on the history of the house. However, no careful
b r i c a l rrsearch was conducted at that time. Capron was one of the very frm residents of the
Lynchburg arca to restore his home in the "Colonial Williamsburg" style. Campbell: King, a
local contractor who oversaw the renovations for Capron, kept meticulous records that d d e d
every phase of consauction.
Unltrd Stater Department ot the Interlor
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Register of Historic Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectfon numbor
8
Page
Locust Grove, Lynchburg,Virginia
4
Locust Grove is a plain frame house with little embellishment. The Cobbs family built in a
conservative manner. The parlor, with its Federal-style mantel, octagonal additions, and
decorative chair rail, was the most ornate in the house. Throughout the years the brick
foundations were patched with field stone, and the chimneys were repwed more than once. The
additions in 1932 make the house appear more formal than it did during the nineteenth century-when it was the Cobbs home, and pride. and shared their happiness with their mals and sorrows.
1.
Bedford COUnKy Deed Book 12, pg. 327.
2.
Will Book, 1758, Louisa County, Virginia, p. 39.
3.
Bedford County, Virginia W.B. 2, pgs. 263
4.
Bedford County D.B. 12, p. 327
5.
Bedford County D.B. 13, p. 815.
6.
Bedford County D.B. 15, p. 505
& 13,
&
& 285.
p. 702.
D.B. 16, p. 147.
7. Virginia Census Records, Bedford County, Forest District: 1820;
p. 146.
8.
Helen S. Patterson, "St. Stephenls",p. 1.
9.
Helen S. Patterson, "St. Stephen's1', p.p. 67-109.
10.
Bedford County D.B. 21, p. 232.
-
11.
Virginia Census Records, Bedford County: 1830, pg. 183.
12.
Bedford County D.B. 22, pp. 141, 216, 239.
13.
Bedford County D.B. 30, p. 321.
14. Bedford County W.B. Sup. A, pg. 177.
15.
16.
Bedford County W.B. Sup. A, p. 177.
W. Daniel Harrison, Bedford Countv. V w a , 1840-1864, p.21.
.Unitad.S1.UIDopumrmt-ot tho interlor
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Reglster of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Section number
Page
Patterson, "ST.
- - Stephen'sgv,pp. 71, 208.
17.
Helen
18.
ibid. , inclusive.
19.
Bedford County D.B.
S.
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
5
41, p. 593.
20.
Virginia Census Records, Bedford County, Forest District,
1860: pp. 393 & 556.
-
21.
Bedford County D.B.
46, p. 210.
22.
Bedford County D.B.
47, p. 248.
23.
Bedford County D.B.
24. Virginia Census Records, Bedford County: 1860, p. 391; 1870,
p. 268.
25.
Bedford County D.B.
49, p. 551.
26.
Bedford County W.B.
2, pg.263.
27.
Bedford County D.B. 82, p. 131.
28.
Bedford County D.B.
110, pg. 478.
-
Unlted Stater Deprnmsnt of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Service
Natlonal Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sectlon number
9
Page
1
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albemarle County Land Grants, Volume 41, I772 & 1773, Richmond: Virginia State
Library.
Bedford County Deed Books. Volumes 12. 13. 15, 21. 22. 30, 41, 46, 47, 49, 82. 110 and
114. Bedford County Courthouse.
Bedford County WiII Books. Volumes 2 , 1,Sup A. 34, 46. and 47. Bedford County
Counhouse.
Bedford County Land Tax Records, 1805-1831, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
Bedford County Census Records, 1820: Bedford County Public Library.
Bedford County Census Records, 1830-1870: Prince William County Public Library.
Bedford County Personal Property Tax Records, 1805, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
.
Bedford County Death Records, 1853- 1860; 1868-1880, Bedford County Museum.
Hamson, W. Daniel. Bedford Counw. V i r m a . 1840-1860: The Historv of an U D D ~ ~
Piedmont Counrv in the Late Antebellum Period, (Bedford, Virginia): Virginia Baptist
Historical Society, 1985.
Louisa County Will Book, 1758, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
Lynchburg Deed Books, Volumes 728, 726, and 719, Lynchburg Courthouse.
Records and Accounts of John Capron, owner of Locust Grove 1932-1976, detailing
renovations at Locust Grove, 1932: loaned by Mrs. Anne Massie.
Specifications, Bedford County Residence of Mr. & Mrs. John Capron; personal papers of
John Capmn: loaned by Mrs. Anne Massie.
Unltrd Statma Orprrtrnrnt of thr lntrrlor
National Park SeMce
National Reglster of Hlstoric Places
Continuation Sheet
S8ctlon number l
o Page 1
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
UTM References
E: 17
1
654690
1
4145180
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The boundary of the nominated property is delineated by the polygon whose vertices are
marked by the following UTM reference points: A 17 1 654920 1 4145120, B 17 1 654980 1
4145000, C 17 1 654960 1 4144860, D 17 1 654770 1 4144760, E I7 ( 654690 ( 4145180.
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The boundary includes the farmhouse, outbuildings, and fields that have historically been
associated with Locust Grove and that maintain historic integrity.
Unlted S m u Oepamnent of the Interior
National Park Service
Nationai Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Exhibits Page A
Natsonai Park Senrrea
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
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Secondarv Structure
Architectural Clasnficatmn
(enter categones horn instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC:
Federal
Secondary structure
Materials (enter categones from tnstrucnons)
foundation
walls
Bm,
SmNE
WOOD: Weatherboard
other
Describe present and htstorlc phystcal appearance.
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Locust Grove is a five-bay, double-pile, central-passage-plan. one and a half story, timberframe, four end chimney Federal-style house located in Lynchburg, near Route 501 North, about
three-quarters of a mile east of the city limits. Begun about 1810 for Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,
Locust Grove was first a side-passage plan dwelling but was enlarged significantly between 1825
and 1830 to its present central-passage plan. The house was extensively renovated in 1932.
Once the center of a 294-acre farm located in Bedford County, the 44'4" X 30' house is now
located on a 32-acre tract. Four outbuildings, a garage, barn, guest house, and tenant house,
all erected in 1932, are included as contributing resources. Locust Grove is surrounded by
sloping lawns and a wooded tract, and now is part of a larger residential area annexed into the
city of Lynchburg in the late-twentieth century.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Locust Grove was originally a double pile, side-passage plan, one-and-a-half-story house with
two exterior end chimneys on the south gable end. The alterations that ultimately gave Locust
Grove its symmetrical facade and its central-passage, double-pile plan most probably occurred
after 1825. The foundations of this dwelling consist of English bond footings below grade and
four-course common bond and random fieldstone above grade in the original section. The
foundations that underpin the early-nineteenth-century addition are brick and fieldstone. The
footings of both southern gable end chimneys are laid in English bond, but the footings that
underpin the chimneys on the north are laid in four-course common bond. Repairs to the
foundations have been made as many as six times, as evidenced by patches of different brick
bonds, dry laid stone, morrared fieldstone, and modem brick.
-
The timber frame of Locust Grove rises from this foundation. Sills and summer beams provide
additional evidence of the two building periods. The sills, end gin, and summer beam of the
original side-passage section are hewn and pit-sawn timbers and are tenoned and pinned together.
The joists are pit-sawn planks and are tenoned to the summer beam. Construction techniques in
8. Statement of S l ~ n H l a n c a
Cert~wngolftc~alhas mnaldemd the s~gnmcanceof thls proparry ~nrelatlan to other propenlea:
natlonatty
mstatewlde
a~oca~~y
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Constderatrons (Exceptions)
A
GB
c
B
c
CIA
Areas of Sign~ficancv(enter categones from instrun~ons)
D
a
D
E
F
G
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
1810
1932
Cultural Affiliation
N/ A
S~gnlflcantPerson
N/A
Arch~tectlBullder
unknovn
State slgnlncance or propeny, and lustlhl Crltena, crllerla cons~derat~ons,
and areas and perlws of signltlcance noted above
Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Locl~stGrove is a good representative example of an early
nineteenth-century planter's residence and possesses architectural significance both for its
original plan and design. Renovated in the 1930s, it also illustrates the influence of renewed
interest in "colonial" architecture that typified "restorations" of the period. The house is
complemented by a collection of twentieth-century outbuildings.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Locust Grove in the nineteenth century was a farm of middling size in Bedford County owned
bv a modest Virginia family. The house represents three generarions of the Cobbs family who
worked earnestly to retain their home, standing in the community, livelihood, and self respect
in the face of adversity. The story of the Cobbs of Locust Grove is a story shared by many
mid-nineteenth-century Virginia farm families who faced the effects of declining land
productivity and the devastation of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The owner and builder of Locust Grove was Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,' Cobb's father, Edmund
Cobbs,Sr., had settled in Bedford County in the last quaiter of the eighteenth Century, on
acreage bordering Ivy Creek that was willed to him by his brother, Samuel Cobbs.: Edmund
Cobbs, Sr., and his wife Sarah, with their children, prospered, and upon his death in 1799,
Sarah Cobbs was left the home property of 260 acres. The remainder of the estate, 940 acres,
was divided among their six sons.' Sarah Cobbs died in 1811. By 1809 Edmund Cobbs, Jr.,
had purchased 294 acres on Cheese Creek, bottomland, approximately five miles from the Ivy
Cnek land.' The land was a small part of a two thousand-acre tract first owned by John
Wayies, and inherited by Thomas Jefferson upon his death. Jefferson sold the land in 1778, and
it was subsequently sold in smaller parcels. It was there that Edmund Cobbs, Jr., built bust
Grove, married, raised his family, and eventually died in 1856.
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Unlted Stater Qepmrnent of the interior
National Park Servlce
National Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number 7
Page
7
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
the addition are similar and indicate that Cobbs' carpenters worked with the same conservative
building during both consrmction campagns at Locust Grove. The north wall framing which was
enclosed when the house was extended. is visible in a modem cupboard in the first-floorc e n d
passage. Nail holes left in pit-sawn studs are good evidence of the weatherboards that once
covered this gable end. The n d s that remain in this space are early machine-headed cut nds.
The tiame of the roof at Locust Grove consists of common rafters spaced five ieet apart and
renoned and pinned at the ridge. Gable end posts and studs are hewn in the eariv secuon and pitsawn in the addition.
Both the front and rear enhances are flanked by windows of nine-over-nine double-hung sash,
with wooden three-panel fixed-louver shutters. The asbestos-shingled gable roof has three gableroofed dormers at both the front and rear elevations. The dormers, which appear to date from
the twentieth century, are lit with casement windows of six lights per frame. There are two fourover-four double-hung sash windows at the half-story level between the chimney stacks on the
south elevation, and one on the north. At the eave, there is a plain wooden boxed cornice and
gutters.
Two exterior end chimneys, all with stepped shoulders, stand at both gable ends. The northern
stacks are laid in common bond: the southern, in Flemish bond. The northwest chimney's
-
shouider is flush with the cornice. while the northeast at first floor ievei. The chimneys at the
southern gable end are now surrounded by a brick porch that was added in 1932. This porch is
covered with a metal shed roof. Two doors lead from the porch to rooms now used as a kitchen
and living room.
The original western front porch was replaced in 1932 by a brick stoop with seven risers and
iron handrails. The original front door was replaced by a six-panel door with a three-light
hansom and surrounded by a wooden architrave with reeded pilasters and a cornice with dentiis.
In a similar fashion, the eastern entrance was altered in 1932 when a 2?"5" by 8"7' back porch
was enclosed.
Much of Locust Grove's woodwork was replaced in the early 1930s and other alterations were
made as its owners transformed Locust Grove into a more "colonial" dwelling. Flooring was
largely replaced on both the first and second floors, but the dwelling's original wahut flooring
was reused where possible. The simple pine baseboards, horizontat pine wainscoting and chair
rails may predate the 1932 renovation and appear in every first-floorroom except the kitchen.
Every first-floor room except the kitchen also has a thin molded cornice. These architectural
.
Unltrd Smoa Orprrtment of the interior
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Reglster of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number
7
Page
2
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
f e . are now affixed to the walls with wire nails, but earlier square nail holes suggest that
this woodwork was either removed and then reaffixed during the renovations or brought to
Locust Grove from another Federal-style dwelling. Plastered sheetrock replaced lathe and
plaster. Panel doors now used in the basement may also be original to the first floor. These
doors were supplanted by plain six-panel modem replacements with modem brass and iron
hardware. Locust Grove was also modernized in the early 1930s with electricity, running water,
a central heating system. and contemporary kitchen appliances.
Excavated in the 1930s. the basement contains seven rooms and generally retlecu the centralpassage plan of the k t floor. A single-run, open-string, open-riser, wooden stair with a
rectangular mill-sawn handrail and newel post connects the basement wit the first rloor. The
floors are concrete.
The first floor of Locust Grove has a central passage, with a living room and kitchen located
to the south of the passage and a parlor and dining room to the north. A double-run, open-string
stair with two balusters per tread rises to a landing and then to the second floor. The stairs,
constructed of pine and joined with machine-cut brads, has square-section balusters and newel
posts. The hall and stair landing are lit by the east central dormer. The spandrel under the stair
has beaded pine paneling that, like most of decorative woodwork throughout the house. contains
holes left by machine-cut nails.
The walls of the living room. renovated in 1932, are covered from the chair rail to the ceding
with modem six-inch pine paneling. The second-floor joists, exposed during the renovation,
exhibit clear evidence of the lathing that once supported a plaster ceiling. A Georgm-style
mantel with a large torus bolection molding that probably predates the 1932 renovations graces
the chimney. Built-in bookcases extend along the north wall.
An octagonal parlor is located directly across the central p+e
from the living room. Not
on@ to the house, this shape was created in 1932 by the insertion of new walls in each corner
of the room. These voids contain radiators. A Federal-style cable-molded chair rail attached to
a plain chair rail sepiuates the plain plaster wall above from painted wainscoting. A wooden
mantel of tripartite Fedval design and the chair railing appear to be original to the house. The
ceiling here and in the dining room was dropped approximately one foot when the house was
renovated.
The second floor of Locust Grove is arranged around the central stair passage which is lit by
a dormer. Thae were originally four bedrooms arranged around the centrai hall, but the intuior
Unltrd St-8
Drprrtmmt of thr Interior
Natlonal Park Service
Natlonal Weglster of Historlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon numksr
7
Page
3
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
The second floor of Locust Grove is arranged around the central stair passage which is lit by
a dormer. There were originally four bedrooms arranged around the central hall. but the interior
partitions that separated these rooms were removed in the 1930s to create two large bedrooms
and to make room for a bathroom that now occupies the western end of the stair hall.
Unlted.Strtr8 Oeprrlmmt of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sectlon number
Page
I
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
During the early nineteenth-cenrury, such larger houses as nearby Sandusky were constructed
in the Federal style. Such surviving houses were generally single-pile, five-bay rick I-houses
with exterior gable-end chimneys and modillioned cornices in the Tuscan order. Cobbs instead
selected a traditional Virginia form for his house: what Henry GIassie has termed a "213
Georgnn plan": that is. a side-passage-plan, double-pile, one-and-one-half-story structure.
Aruund 1825, however, with a growing family and fairly prosperous farm. Cobbs enlarged the
original side-passage plan house to the five-bay, cennal-passage-pian Federai-style house that
stands today.
Though Cobbs began his life at Locust Grove as a relatively wealthy planter, by his death his
circumstances were considerably reduced. In 1814 he was the highest bidder in the public
auction of the remainder of his father's estate, the dower land of 260 acres.' That same year
he sold the land to Charles Clay. Cobbs purchased an additional 93 acres on Cheese Creek in
1818, and a larger tract of 114 acres in 1820.6 By that year Cobbs held twenty-tive slaves,
eleven of whom were children.' His daughter Lucy mamed the Reverend Nicholas Hamner
Cobbs, her cousin and a highly respected parson who later founded St. Stephen's Church in
Bedford County and went on to become a bishop in Alabama.' In 1828 he deeded 38 acres of
his land to his son-in-law.
- Both Edmund Cobbs and his wife EIizabeth belonged to the Russell Parish of St. Stephens
Church: they joined at its inception in 1824 and remained members throughout their lives. Cobbs
served on the vestry in the 1830's and 40's.'
Unfortunately in the decades following the renovations to Locust Grove the wealth of the Cobbs
family appears to have slowly declined. As early as 1828 Cobbs apparently borrowed money
from friends and relations using his land as coIIateral.'O Perhaps the productivity of the Locust
Grove land was played out, for two years later he sold three pitrcels of land to different buyers.
By 1830 his slave labor force had declined to hvelve from twenty-five a decade earlier."
Tobacco was the main cash crop in the region, and Lynchburg became prosperous through the
trade and transport of the leaf. Tobacco is notorious for sapping soil fertility, and Cobbs' few
hundred acres probably declined in profitability. In 1837 he soid a hundred acres of his farm on
Cheese Creek; by 1840 his slaves numbered seven. In 1843 Cobbs finally deeded 223 a m ,
with the house, to his son John Cabell Cobbs, who was living at Locust Grove with his young
family." According to the deed the land "...is estimated to contain 465 acres which however
by sundry mvcyancu made by the said Edmund Cobbs since the last named conveyance (an
By 1850 nine
1828 deed) is supposed to be reduced in quantity to about 223 acres...".
Unltad Stat88 OapaRmsnt of the interlor
Natlonal Park Ssnrtco
Natlonal Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Sectlon number
8
Page
2
slaves. including five adults and four small children, lived at Locust Grove. In his wiil recorded
in 1856, Cobbs directed that his debts be paid from the estate, and left money to his son
Frederick, his daughters Lucy and Mary,and his granddaughters, who were living with him in
1850." John Cabell Cobbs mheritednforand in consideration of the aid and attention he has
paid me and my beloved wife during her life, all the (remaining) estate, both real and
personal."" John C. Cobbs, with 223 acres, was perhaps slightly better off than most of his
contemporaries, but found himself in an entirely different economic and social strata than that
of his grandfather. Edmund Cobbs. Sr. The population of Bedford County at that time consisted
mainly of small farmers--80 percent owned farms of two hundred acres or less.'"
Cobbs reported the death of his mother in 1853 and that of his father in 1856. The St. Stephen's
parish records show that John Cobbs served as a vestryman and church warden beginning in
1845, replacing his father in these capacities." He also served as a justice on the county
court." In the years that followed his father's death Cobbs struggled to hold onto the farmly
land. Records show debts mounting as early as 1858. By 1860 Cobbs owned seven slaves; a
twenty-two-year-old male, a thirry-six-year-old male, a thirty-two-year-old female. and four
young children. Cobbs supported two families, black and white, on the land of Locust Grwe.
It is entirely possible that the Civil War ultimately ruined the Cobbs family. The records of
Bedford County show Cobbs owned an increasing amount of money to members of the
community. In 1861 Cobbs was forced to "convey a tract of land lying on the old turnpike road
- leading from Lynchburg to Lexington adjoining the lands of Metcalf. Wiggington. containing
322 acres ... where Cobbs resides.(The records are unclear about how and when JCC obtained
100 additional acres.) In this special trust. that if John Cabell Cobbs doesn't pay within 12
months the debt and interest to Anderson and Richard and Samuel Poindexter, they will proceed
to sell at public auction . . .the premises . . .with 30 days notice. " I 9 (Anderson and Poindexter
were small farmers in Bedford C ~ u n t y . )At
~ this time Cobbs was indebted to Anderson and
the Poindexten for more than $800. The 1865 Gilmer map shows Cobbs still residing on
Cheese Creek. In 1871 he sold 150 acres to Richard Poindextei, possibly to satisfy the previous
debt." Later in 1871 Cobbs applied to protect 230 acres and personal property from seizure
because of bankruptcy.= Cobbs's fortunes declined in the years after the war. In 1860 his real
estate was valued at $6,400 and personal property at $5,450; in 1870, the families's reduced
circumstances were reflected in the reduction of the value of his real estate to $1,820 and
personal property to $769." Added to the burden of debt was the tragic fact that his wife had
become insane. He had at this time six children, ranging in ages from six to twenty years old.
By 1877 Cobbs had declared banhptcy and lost the remainder of his land and his home.
Unlt@dSUt@@
Depulment of tha interfor
Natlonal Park Setrvae
Natlonal Register of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectlon number
8
Page
3
Loeust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Possibly his friends and neighbors agreed among themselves that Cobbs would retain his iand,
for the deed of June 11, 1877, reads in-part: "...John Cabell Cobbs, banlcrupt of the fint pan,
and John Cabell Cobbs, of the second part . . . being the highest bidder became the purchaser
of the land so sold-of the tract of 173 acres surrendered in the schedules...."= The personal
properry belongmg to Cobbs at this time included two mules, one cow,eight hogs, a folding
table. lounges, a wardrobe. a iooking glass, a safe, a secretary, and interest in two threshing
machines. (A comparison with the inventory of his grandfather. is illuminating. Edmund
Cobbs. Sr.. owned eleven slaves. fifty hogs, e
n head of cattle. ninereen head oi sheep, six
horses. numerous fann and blacksmith implements. weaving equipment. casks, a iarge amount
of walnut furniture...the list filis two long pages.)= How Cobbs obtained the money to buy
back his own property is unclear; perhaps he used the sale of livestock and machinery. He died
intestate in 1885.
The land was held by the state for over a decade. A trust fund was set up and handled by M.
P. Burks, Commissioner. In 1897 the family finally reclaimed the 172 acre "home mt"by
buying it back again. John Cobbs's son, Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, purchased the pmperry and
house for his sisrers Eliza and Nannie.n The women lived at Locust Grove until 1914, when
Eiiza Cobbs died and left the property to a niece. The property was subsequently sold our of
the family to Wellington Ogdenea Ogden sold the propem in 1917 to Lucy Babcock-Healy,
who sold it in 1932 to John Capron. After Capron's deatiin 1976 the house. which had been
annexed into the city of Lynchburg, was owned by a real estate company until the present
owners, the Massies, purchased it in 1988.
When John Capron purchased the house in 1932. the restoration of colonial Williamsburg had
recently been completed. Capron, an amateur historian keenly interested in the coloruai en,
renovated Locust Grove according to his notion (based on erroneous information) that Locust
Grove was built in 1758 by Edmund Cobbs, Sr. Hence he renovated in the "Williamsburg style"
to reflect this early date. This renovation coincided with a general revival of interest in colonial
Virginia throughout the Lynchburg arca and was contempo~eouswith the moving of the
Bishop Early house from Court and 7th Streets to Peakland Place. Locust Grove (which Capron
of a City, a book commemorating the Lynchburg
named Locust Hill) was cited in
sesquicentennial in 1936, as being of the "earlier puiod." The house and the living room mantel
an piaured in this book. As Capron is listed as a special contributor for this publicadon, if can
be assumed that he supplied the information on the history of the house. However, no careful
b r i c a l rrsearch was conducted at that time. Capron was one of the very frm residents of the
Lynchburg arca to restore his home in the "Colonial Williamsburg" style. Campbell: King, a
local contractor who oversaw the renovations for Capron, kept meticulous records that d d e d
every phase of consauction.
Unltrd Stater Department ot the Interlor
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Register of Historic Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Sectfon numbor
8
Page
Locust Grove, Lynchburg,Virginia
4
Locust Grove is a plain frame house with little embellishment. The Cobbs family built in a
conservative manner. The parlor, with its Federal-style mantel, octagonal additions, and
decorative chair rail, was the most ornate in the house. Throughout the years the brick
foundations were patched with field stone, and the chimneys were repwed more than once. The
additions in 1932 make the house appear more formal than it did during the nineteenth century-when it was the Cobbs home, and pride. and shared their happiness with their mals and sorrows.
1.
Bedford COUnKy Deed Book 12, pg. 327.
2.
Will Book, 1758, Louisa County, Virginia, p. 39.
3.
Bedford County, Virginia W.B. 2, pgs. 263
4.
Bedford County D.B. 12, p. 327
5.
Bedford County D.B. 13, p. 815.
6.
Bedford County D.B. 15, p. 505
& 13,
&
& 285.
p. 702.
D.B. 16, p. 147.
7. Virginia Census Records, Bedford County, Forest District: 1820;
p. 146.
8.
Helen S. Patterson, "St. Stephenls",p. 1.
9.
Helen S. Patterson, "St. Stephen's1', p.p. 67-109.
10.
Bedford County D.B. 21, p. 232.
-
11.
Virginia Census Records, Bedford County: 1830, pg. 183.
12.
Bedford County D.B. 22, pp. 141, 216, 239.
13.
Bedford County D.B. 30, p. 321.
14. Bedford County W.B. Sup. A, pg. 177.
15.
16.
Bedford County W.B. Sup. A, p. 177.
W. Daniel Harrison, Bedford Countv. V w a , 1840-1864, p.21.
.Unitad.S1.UIDopumrmt-ot tho interlor
Natlonal Park Senrlce
Natlonal Reglster of Hlstorlc Places
Contlnuatlon Sheet
Section number
Page
Patterson, "ST.
- - Stephen'sgv,pp. 71, 208.
17.
Helen
18.
ibid. , inclusive.
19.
Bedford County D.B.
S.
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
5
41, p. 593.
20.
Virginia Census Records, Bedford County, Forest District,
1860: pp. 393 & 556.
-
21.
Bedford County D.B.
46, p. 210.
22.
Bedford County D.B.
47, p. 248.
23.
Bedford County D.B.
24. Virginia Census Records, Bedford County: 1860, p. 391; 1870,
p. 268.
25.
Bedford County D.B.
49, p. 551.
26.
Bedford County W.B.
2, pg.263.
27.
Bedford County D.B. 82, p. 131.
28.
Bedford County D.B.
110, pg. 478.
-
Unlted Stater Deprnmsnt of the Interlor
Natlonal Park Service
Natlonal Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Sectlon number
9
Page
1
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albemarle County Land Grants, Volume 41, I772 & 1773, Richmond: Virginia State
Library.
Bedford County Deed Books. Volumes 12. 13. 15, 21. 22. 30, 41, 46, 47, 49, 82. 110 and
114. Bedford County Courthouse.
Bedford County WiII Books. Volumes 2 , 1,Sup A. 34, 46. and 47. Bedford County
Counhouse.
Bedford County Land Tax Records, 1805-1831, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
Bedford County Census Records, 1820: Bedford County Public Library.
Bedford County Census Records, 1830-1870: Prince William County Public Library.
Bedford County Personal Property Tax Records, 1805, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
.
Bedford County Death Records, 1853- 1860; 1868-1880, Bedford County Museum.
Hamson, W. Daniel. Bedford Counw. V i r m a . 1840-1860: The Historv of an U D D ~ ~
Piedmont Counrv in the Late Antebellum Period, (Bedford, Virginia): Virginia Baptist
Historical Society, 1985.
Louisa County Will Book, 1758, Richmond: Virginia State Library.
Lynchburg Deed Books, Volumes 728, 726, and 719, Lynchburg Courthouse.
Records and Accounts of John Capron, owner of Locust Grove 1932-1976, detailing
renovations at Locust Grove, 1932: loaned by Mrs. Anne Massie.
Specifications, Bedford County Residence of Mr. & Mrs. John Capron; personal papers of
John Capmn: loaned by Mrs. Anne Massie.
Unltrd Statma Orprrtrnrnt of thr lntrrlor
National Park SeMce
National Reglster of Hlstoric Places
Continuation Sheet
S8ctlon number l
o Page 1
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
UTM References
E: 17
1
654690
1
4145180
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
The boundary of the nominated property is delineated by the polygon whose vertices are
marked by the following UTM reference points: A 17 1 654920 1 4145120, B 17 1 654980 1
4145000, C 17 1 654960 1 4144860, D 17 1 654770 1 4144760, E I7 ( 654690 ( 4145180.
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The boundary includes the farmhouse, outbuildings, and fields that have historically been
associated with Locust Grove and that maintain historic integrity.
Unlted S m u Oepamnent of the Interior
National Park Service
Nationai Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Locust Grove, Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Exhibits Page A
Text
Unlted States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
*
rlhls Iwm Ir for use R nomilnatllrg or rsqurr3lng &mmtnll2kr# at rlgl#nty
IndMdumf pmpflb~
ar dl-.
Sea M r t w t b m h
for mrnpM'ngNar/und RupIm Foma (Natlonal RegYrr Bulrstln 1m ).pW
a h Hmm by marklng "x" in the a p p W s t , boa ar by M n g
the rsquaaed Informalon. H an b m dwls not apply to
thd
bring docummW. Mer "NIA" for "not 8ppllcrMI." For hmhmw,rnaWrW, and amar af algnmunw, snter wrty the utsgofiu and r
u m llttsa In thr InMnretlOM. Fw addMnU r p uc4 c o n t l n w n hwm
(Form reBMln). Typs all mtrlor.
1. Hnrne of Property
hlstortc name
a
ather nameslsita number
Virqinia Department of Historic Resources File Number 118-223
2.
Locallon
Btreet & number
clty, town
Virqinia
state
1433 Nelson
Crive
Lyncbrq
cod0
VA
county
Lmchburq
cads
( I n d e w n d e n t City)
A
not for publication
A
lviclntty
zip code 24502
680
3. Clammtflcatian
Qwnsrshlp of Property
Catwow of PmmW
Number of R e m u m a wlthln Proaertv
Contrl butlng
Nonwntrfbutlng
2
3
bulldlngr
0
0
#ha8
C
0
2
Name at related multiple praperty Ilrtlng:
I
~ruehlrn
ob)m
?eta1
Number of mntributinu murew prsvlourly
IlsZbd In the Nalonal Reglater
N/L
I
0
0
3
-
-
)
&the des!gnatg authenty under the Nattonal Hlmrk Pmemtlan Act ai 1966, €tn arnerrctsd, I hamby csMy thanhla
nonomrnatlon L'resueat far delermlnatton of ellglbll9ty mests the d~eumentstlanstandards for rwbtering propuntea In ths
National R q y e r of HIstorie Places and m m the procsduml and proteuabnal r e q u l r a ~ n t arot torth In 38 CFR P M 60,
-
I
-
(
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opmlan, the property
0meets adoes not meel the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting or other offlcisl
Date
M e or Federal egsrrc?y and bumu
5. National Park Sewice Certlflcatisn
I, hereby, certify that this property
IS:
mentemd in the National Register.
a
Sew conthuetlen street.
mdeterminsd etlglble tor tha National
Register,
See continuation shoat.
n d e t e n i n e d not ellgibie for the
National Reg~star,
u r e m w e d 1mm the Natbnal Reglgtar.
Other, (explain:)
rmtinlratlon shest.
-
I
6. Function or Uee
Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions)
DOW.STIC:
Single dwelling
Current Functions (enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC:
Single dwelling ·
Secondary structure
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC:
Federal
Materials (enter categories from instructions)
foundation ....,...STO"""N"'E---',;,,,B_R_I,.,CK.---,---.-------walls ___W_OO_D_:_W_e_a_t_h_e_r_b_o_a_r_d_ _ _ _ _ __
ME'1'AL: Tin
roof---,==~-----------other _ _..:B:o:R:I.,,CK=---------------
Describe present and historic physical appearance.
[!] See contlnuetlon lheel
8. Statement of Slanlflcance
· Certifying otfleial
hu considered the significance of this property In rlllation to other properti•:
D
nationa11y
IKl statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria
O A []I B O C DD
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
0
A
D
1oca11y
OB DC DO DE D F O G
Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions)
Period of SignificanCe
ECONqtICS
c. 1826-1869
SOCIAL HISTORY
Significant Oates
CUiturai Affiliation
N/A
Significant Person
MILLER, Samuel
ArchitectlBuilder
Unknown
State significance of property, and justity criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.
[Kl See continuation 8heet
---~--··-~----------------I. MaJor Blblloaraphlcal References
[x] SN continuation 1h11t
Prtvlou1 documentation on flle (NPS):
p,ellmlnary dltlrmlnatlOn of Individual ll1tlng (38 CFR 87)
hu bHn ~Ullted
pr1Ylou1ly llltld In the Natlonal R.,ater
prtvlou1ly determined ellglble by the National Flegl1t1r
dfllgnated I National Hlttorlc Landmark
recorded by Hlltorlc American Bulldlng1
D
D
§
0 Survey'--------------recorded by Hlltorlc American Engineering
00ther
Primary locatlon of additional data:
State hlltorlc pre11rv1non office
Othlr Stat, agency
Federal agency
Local government
Unlver1lty
§
D
Specify repoaltory:
Virginia Department of Historic Rgsgyrces
221 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Record#,~----------------~
10, GpoaraphlCII Dita
Acr11ge ot property _ _ ___::::3.:..9~a~c;;..:r:.::e:.::s:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
UTM ReferencN
,., lh1J \ 6\ s,sj 2 13 10\
Zone
Ea1tlng
cw..J I I,
\411!316171510[
B
I
0
Northing
I,,
J
I
I
I
j
I
I
)
\ I \ I
L.w I I I I
Northing
Zone
Eutlng
I I I I
w..J I I I 1
Da SN continuation 1h11t
Verbal Boundary Description
Boundaries of the nominated 3.86-acre property are delineated on the last recorded plat,
contained in Campbell County Virginia Deed Book 344, page 253. A copy is appended in
Section 10.
[!] See continuation
sheet
Boundary Justification
The boundary circumscribes the main residence and remaining dependencies which retain
historic integrity. The extensive acreage of the original estate, which was subdivided
and developed into a residential neighborhood during the mid-twentieth century, has been
excluded.
~ See continuation thHt
11. Farm Prepared By
narneltltle _ _ _ _ _..!B::!:a~rry:.!:.l...!?.Armo~~n:.::d!...::R~u~da~c.=;il::.:l~e~&~J~ud~it.!:.!h:.!...!Ann~!...:::Cr:!:.l::::ow~d~esir.......JiRl,J,u~da~c.....
i~ll~e~-----organlz1tlon ----~N.:.;/A;.;;.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ date June 26, 1992
ltrNt & number
800 DeLafayette Court
telephone Office; {804} 445-558]
city or town
Virginia Beach
atate
VA
zip cod• 23455 _
• U.S,CJPO: 1988·0·223•9 I I
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number _ __
Page _1__
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
DESCRIPTION
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The focus of this nomination centers on Samuel Miller, the historic personage and resident of a large but
unostentatious two-story frame house erected between 1826 and 1829, where he lived until his death in 1869.
The physical integrity of the original expansive landholdings vanished long ago due to suburban development on
the outskirts of Lynchburg. As for the nearly four acres that now embrace the house, the property still
commands a view of the distant Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Large English boxwoods frame one side
of the domicile and part of the driveway, and a variety of very large trees, mostly oaks, are interspersed
throughout the extensive areas of lawn. The historical integrity of the main residence is essentially intact, despite
some twentieth century alterations. During the period of significance, there doubtless were a variety of
outbuildings, but only one dependency remains from that era. A cottage located nearby may even slightly
predate the main house, but that cannot be confirmed. In any event, this structure is a contributing resource
that likely served as lodging for Samuel Miller's overseer, who was known to reside in a small dwelling near the
main house.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Research is inconclusive with respect to the specific year that the main house was constructed. Samuel Miller's
initial land purchase in this part of Campbell County (annexed by the City of Lynchburg in 1976) was made on
December 23, 1825, when for the sum of $4,000 he acquired 4305 acres from Samuel Garland. Over the next
thirty years, he systematically expanded this landholding in increments of ten to one-hundred acres, eventually
amassing a total of about 1,500 acres. The deed for the initial purchase made reference to the tract or parcel
'with the tenements", thereby suggesting that dwellings or other structures were on the property when purchased.
The aforementioned cottage may have been among such buildings.
Only months earlier, on June 8, 1825, Samuel Garland had purchased this same tract (4305) acres) at auction
from James Martin, trustee for the heirs of Thomas Jones, for a bid of $3,125.43. That deed likewise made
no mention of any substantial improvement to the property, such as a large two-story dwelling. In the absence
of clear documentation, it is surmised that the 1825 land purchases by- both Samuel Garland and Samuel Miller
included some small dwellings and outbuildings, perhaps of Quaker origin, but that the main house did not exist
at that time. When Samuel Miller's health began to deteriorate in 1829 (at '!Se 37), he retired to this properir,
which was then about five miles beyond the outskirts of Lynchburg. Accordmgly, it is probable that the mam
house was built, at his expense, between 1826 and 1829.
A written account, Lynchbwg and Its Neighbors (see bibliography), yields a brief description of the house, noting
that the structure was 'unpretentious but a substantial and conif'ortable dwelling". Devoid of adornment, it was
said to have a few luxurious appointments, such as marble fireplace mantelpieces. While these were replaced
by wood mantels in later years, one of the original white marble versions, with a carved monogrammed "M", is
on display at the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls. Another feature cited was the presence of a sun parlor
on the second floor, where Samuel Miller spent most of his time. This was considered an unusual house
addition during that period (at least in the region) and contributed to local gossip of his eccentricities.
The house was two and one-half stories in height, forming a T-shaped floor plan, with two adjoining llabled roofs
and featuring three third-floor dormers, clapboard siding, and three brick chimneys (six fireplaces onginally), all
resting on a fieldstone and mortar foundation. A detached kitchen was erected about ten feet to the west.
It later was attached to the house by a small frame hyphen.
The most revealing portrayal of how the northwest front appeared in the early twentieth century is seen in a
1921 photograph owned by the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls. An attached copy of this print is compared
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number ___
2
Page _ _
_
to a pair of 1991 photographs taken from the same camera angle (see photographs 1, 2 & 3). As can be seen
in the early photo, an expansive porch, featurin~ six Tuscan columns, extended the full width of the house at
ground level, with a small balcony above. Since 11 is likely that the entire facade was an early twentieth century
addition, its configuration. erovides no clues to an earlier reference that a sun parlor existed on the second floor
during the period of significance. As for the nearby kitchen, it did not appear to have been connected to the
main house in the 1921 photograph.
In regard to the original interior plan, the first floor contained three spacious rooms (probable parlor, library,
and dining room), interconnected by a large foyer and hallway linking the three exterior entrances. Each room
contained a fireplace. A simple staircase led to the second level, where there were three bedrooms, each with
a fireplace, and a narrow comer staircase led to a small garret room on the third level. Two of the thirdfloor dormers and two small windows beneath the southeast gable provided light and ventilation for this small
bedroom, which probably served as quarters for a servant who could be summoned readily to the nursing needs
of Mr. Miller. The third dormer (seen on the northwest front) extended from an unfinished attic. As for the
interior, all floors were comprised of wide pine boards; the walls and ceilings were of plaster and lath
construction; crown, chair rail, and baseboard moldings were free of ornamentation. Interior kitchen walls were
paneled with horizontal wide pine boards ranging 7-11 inches in width, and ceiling joists (3x9 inches) were
exposed. The appended sketch is an estimate of the original floor plan.
The porch on the nonheast facade probably served as the main entrance. It not only was on the side of the
house closest to the turnpike, but also its door, framed with a transom and sidelights, added formality and
illumination to what otherwise would have been a dark foyer.
While there is no discernible sign of an original cellar due to twentieth century alterations, one may have existed
during the period of significance. In any event, Samuel Miller is known to have complained that Union troops
ransacked his house "from cellar to garret".
Practically nothing is known about modifications to the house until 1937, when the property was purchased by
Mr. & Mrs. Leigh Ballenberg, who immediately began a renovation to make the place more habitable. Original
1938 blueprints by the Lynchburg architectural firm of J. Everette Fauber, Jr. are in the __possession of the
current owner. the resultant modifications, as reflected by these blueprints, depict basically how the house
appears today. Because of the need to install indoor plumbing, including radiators and a central furnace as well
as insulation and electric wiring, the house was partially dismantled. The following alterations were made:
: A long narrow cellar with concrete floor and cinderblock walls was constructed along the northwest front,
beneath the area where the spacious porch had been. This may have been an expansion of an earlier cellar
but resulted in a furnace room for the oil heating unit, and the new basement was access,ble only by concrete
stairs external to the house. In need of a flue, the chimney on the southwest front was modified to
accommodate the heating system. This rendered the fireplaces in the dining room and the above bedroom no
longer functional. Accordingly, they were sealed over and the mantelpieces removed.
: The northwest front of the house underwent further transformation, as noted earlier in the 1921 and 1991
photograph comparisons. The downstairs parlor and dining room were extended several feet, and this expansion
additionally made space available for a cloak closet, a linen closet, and a small lavatory. The latter additions
effectively replaced the front porch seen in the 1921 photograph.
: Upstairs, the northwest front balcony was eliminated, and the adjoining bedroom was extended forward,
flush with the new first-floor extension. A large master bathroom was introduoed, which interconnected the two
bedrooms on that side of the house: Another bathroom also was added to the second floor.
: A smaller porch was extended from the new northwest facade, and the new balcony was made accessible
by a door leading from the master bath. According to blueprint annotations, the original porch columns,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
3
_
Section number __7 _ _ Page _ _
pilasters and railings were to be reused in constructing the new porch and in replacing deteriorated portions
of the side porch. It should be noted that the blueprints offer very little insi!Ult as to how the houi;e 3;Ppeated
before the 1938 remodeling, but when used in combination with the 1921 pfiotograph, several conclusions can
be drawn with respect to the alterations of the northwest front.
: The detached kitchen was connected with the <lining room of the main house via a butler's pantry, and
the original <limensions of the smaller structure were expanded somewhat. A modern kitchen and laundry room
were introduced on the southwest side, relegating the original kitchen to use as a den. A small lavatory was
included, and a porch extension with simple columns and arches completed the modifications.
: Blueprint annotations identified windows that were to be replaced.
rea<lily detectable by the wavy imperfections of the glass panes.
Those salvaged and still intact are
: While modern locks were added to exterior doors, all original early nineteenth century locks (with large
iron keys) remain intact on both interior and exterior doors.
Two significant mo<lifications were made in the 1950s by later owners, Mr. & Mrs. W. N. Nelson II.
: A sun room, with ceramic tile floor (over a probable concrete slab) was extended from the southwest
corner of the house, with entry gained via French doors leading from the library and the <lining room. This
resulted in a large exterior door becoming an interior door and thereby creating another entrance into the sun
room (from the foyer).
: A nuclear fallout shelter was hand-excavated beneath the center hall and dining room by penetrating the
furnace room wall. Access was gained from the first floor via a descending staircase under the original staircase.
A lavatory was included, requiring a sump pump, since the drains are below grade.
Today, there are four outbuildings on the property. While Samuel Miller had as many as seventeen slaves (all
believed to have been emancipated before the war, with several remaining as hired servants), their living quarters
are lost to history. As a working farm for many decades, there doubtless were barns, stables and such other
structures necessary to support a rural household of this size and population. Even in recent decades, there
were records of poultry farming, and a large peach packing shed once ·stood nearby. Current structures include
a small cottage (contributing resource) and three noncontributing resources (stable, woodshed and garage).
: The quaint little cottage located about fifty yards west of the main house probably is early nineteenth
century vintage. Although plumbing and electricity were introduced at some point in its history, previous owners
allowed it to deteriorate and relegated it to use as a storage shed. When the property was purchased by Mr.
& Mrs. H. L. Rudacille in 1963, the cottage was made habitable and rented (sinjlle occupancy); the current
tenant has resided there for the
fifteen years. As noted earlier, this dwelling may have been on the
property when purchased by Samue Miller in 1825. The frame construction, fieldstone foundation, narrow corner
staircase, and finished garret room certainly su~est construction during the early nineteenth centuJy, but
alterations prohibit a conclusive determination of its age. As a dependency during the period of significance,
it likely served as the domicile of Samuel Miller's overseer.
fast
: The single-stall stable located seventy-five yards south of the main house probably was built in the early
twentieth century. This noncontributing resource is frame construction and crudely assembled, with ceiling joists
comprised of small unpeeled Jogs. Resting on a fieldstone foundation, a raised platform of well-worn, wide pine
floorboards overlooks the <lirt floor of the stall.
: A rustic woodshed is located a few feet west of the cottage. As another noncontnbuting resource, this
probable early twentieth century structure has wide vertical plank siding, a <lirt floor, and a crudely carved
wooden latch.
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
4
Section number __7__ Page _ __
: A mid-twentieth century two-car garage of frame construction, adjacent to the stable, completes the
inventory of noncontributing resources.
CONCLUSION
A mid-nineteenth century photograph of the house, or even a field sketch by combat artist David H. Strother
(Porte Crayon), the latter having accompanied General Hunter's staff during the Lynchbur$ campaign, would be
invaluable, as there are scant records available upon which to base an architectural description durin~ the period
of significance. Regardless, the known structural modifications and cosmetic changes of the twentieth century
do not measurably detract from what was once, and still remains, an unpretentious but comfortable home. As
for the extent of its architectural and historical integrity, the original structure is probably 90% intact. While
several minor additions have been made, little of consequence has been removed.
ADDENDA
Estimated Original Floor Plan {c.1826)
Current Floor Plan (1992)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number __7__
5
Page _ _
_
MILLER, Sanruel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
ESTIMATED ORIGINAL FLOOR PLAN (c. 1826)
LIBRARY
FOYER
PARLOR
DINING
ROOM
FIRST FLOOR
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
... - - - ,
r - -- BEDROOM
BEDROOM
GARRET
O
'- SECOND FLOOR
'
I
- - - ---- - - - - -------...
TH I RD FLOOR
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
6
Page _ _
_
7_
Section number __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
CURRENT FLOOR PLAN (1992)
-.
- - - ...
)E
' '
.....
.. ,..,
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c.. p.,,r,·o
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·....
lill0
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FIRST FLOOR
,).I, '" "
'
'
'
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GARRET ROOM
IS'o"
'
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'
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•1
SECOND FLOOR
CELLAR
"
,'I
CUI ,__Ml ,o,,uo11
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number __8__ Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
STA1EMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
SUMMARY
The Samuel Miller House, located in Lynchburg, is sil!llificant for its association with Samuel Miller (1792-1869),
who emerged from poverty to become a successful 6usinessman and investor. The diversity and scope of bis
financial assets placed him among the wealthiest men in the South during the years precedin~ the Civil War.
A philanthropist, he bestowed most of his considerable fortune on public, educational, and SOCial causes within
Virginia The nominated property, where he lived in reclusion during the last forty years of his life, is a large
frame house erected in the early nineteenth century and which served as his residence during the period of
significance (c.1826-1869). Finally, this landscape was contested terrain during the siege of Lynchburg (June
1864), when a cavalry skirmish occurred on the property. Alened to the wealth of the resident, Union troops
ransacked the entire farm, encountering an elderly but defiant Samuel Miller. Having already sustained
substantial investment losses attributed to the war, he took the precaution of concealing most of his financial
papers, thereby preserving for future generations the provisions of his last will and testament. As for the •
selected areas of si(lnificance, economics was chosen due to the diversity of Samuel Miller's investments and his
resultant accumulat10n of wealth. Social history also is relevant, in consideration of the final disposition of his
wealth and his promotion of a social agenda through endowments.
ORIGINS & SUCCESSES
Samuel Miller's exact date of birth (believed to be June 30) in 1792 is unconfirmed. Born in the mountains
near Batesville in Albemarle County, fatherless as a child and reared in abject poverty by his mother, Jane
Miller, he and his older brother and only sibling (John) experienced severe privation. Both are believed to have
received only a rudimentary education. As young adults, the two brothers moved to Lynchburg. t:aining
employment in what was then a boom town with a growing economy based on the marketing and transshipment
of tobacco down the James River. By virtue of hard work and frugal lifestyles, they each became respectable
businessmen and prospered as tobacco and grocery merchants during the very early years of Lynchburg's
settlement and economic development.
Upon the death of John Miller in 1841 (at age 51), Samuel Miller became the sole heir and beneficiary of a
$100,000 inheritance from his brother. By then, his own cornering of the tobacco export market to England had
made him a wealthy man in his own rWlt, and years earlier, he had retired to his residence on the outskirts
of the city due to poor health. It is probable that the early 1840s marked the period when he began to channel
substantial amounts of his business profits and his inheritance into an assortment of high-yield investments,
particularly railroad stocks and state or municipal bonds. The resuhant amassing of wealth has been attnbuted
to his being a talented, shrewd, but scrupulously honest businessman, whom some considered a financial genius.
His accomplishments more likely stem from the low-risk commitment of substantial funds to a burgeoning
national economy. In any event, it once was noted by his long-time friend and business partner, Ambrose
Rucker, that "Success crowned most of his enterprises, with no known reversal at any time.• Ranking among
the early shareholders and high-rollers in such capitalistic endeavors, his wealth on paper contrasted with that
of southern planters and the labor-intensive estates of Virginia and the South during the antebellum period.
FINANCIAL EMPIRE
Samuel Miller's link with the current events, economic trends, and investment oppcrtunities of the early to mid·
nineteenth century was limited exclusively to those newspapers or security quotations that he received via postal
delivery along the stagecoach route of the nearby turnpike. Confined to the second floor of his residence for
extensive periods, he became absorbed in the close scrutiny of potential investments and the absentee
management of his expanding properties. He never was known to seeli counsel or financial advice from aR}'One,
and only his good friend Ambrose Rucker had any detailed knowledge of his financial affairs. The latter, who
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ _
Page_8_ _
visited regularly, performed accounting services by recording entries in Miller's bookkeeping ledgers, based on
the notes and papers that Miller had assembled since the last entries.
Prior to the Civil War, Samuel Miller's wealth should have been near its peak. His real estate holdinls in the
vicinity of Lynchburg (excluding his 1,500-acre farm) included tobacco warehouses in the city's commercial district,
and he is known to have owned residential property on Main Street in Richmond. He also owned farms in five
other Virginia counties (including two in what is now West Virginia), and residential property in Ohio and
Missouri. Investing heavily in state bonds issued by Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia, he
also held municipal bonds issued by Philadelphia and Lynchburg, and stock in the Bank of Kentucky and two
Lynchburg banks.
The full extent of his investments in railroad stocks is difficult to ascertain due to the proliferation of companies
that existed durinjl railroad ":"Pansion between 1840-1860. He was a major shareholder during development of
the Atlantic, MissJSSippi & Ohio Railroad Company (later to become Norfolk & Western) as well as the Orange
& Alexandria Railroad (later to become Southern Railroad). These two lines became instrumental in Virginia's
economic development. Other railroad investments spanned the Midwest and the Mississippi Valley, to include:
Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana RR, Michigan Southern & Western Indiana RR, Michigan Central RR,
Chic31!0 & Rock Island RR, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR, Chicago & Northwestern RR, Pacific RR,
Detroit, Monroe & Toledo RR, Northern Missouri RR, Memphis & Little Rock RR, Mississippi & Missouri RR,
St. Louis & Iron Mountain RR, Cairo & Fulton RR, Virginia & Tennessee RR, and the Richmond & York
River RR.
The degree to which Samuel Miller suffered substantial financial losses during the war is incalculable. However,
had the war not occurred, the extent to which his investments may have flourished is equally inestimable. There
is no question that he was a very wealthy man at the eve of that conflict.
GENEROSITY
As noted in the description of the nominated property (Section 7), Samuel Miller made no ostentatious show
of riches, and he certainly was not inclined to engage in those lavish forms of entertainment typical of Virginia's
landed gentry during the era. Considered a miser by most of his peers, he was quite frugal m his expen<frtures
but also prone to exhibit true generosity. Two examples best illustrate this point.
Known to be a strong proronent of public education, he once was approached by a solicitor seeking funds for
the Biology Department o the University of Virginia. Mr. Miller seized the opportunity to engage his visitor
in an enthusiastic dialogue on classical writings, but made neither financial contribution nor verbal commitment
at that time. Shortly afterwards, he provided the Uni\tersity a donation of $100,000, a substantial amount in
terms of nineteenth century benevolence, especially for one who had never profited from an education there or
at any other higher academic institution.
Having made a loan to his good friend (and neighbor), Dr. John Terrell, Samuel Miller declined to accept
repayment in what was then worthless Confederate currency. However, he advised the doctor that his debt could
be readily liquidated if he were to charge a "substantial amount on a daily basis" for the medical treatment that
Miller currently was paying to restore the health of one of his elderly servants. Keeping this transaction in
business terms seemed more important to him than just graciously absolving the doctor of debt.
LIFESTYLE
Because of his reclusive nature, there· generally was no public knowledge of Samuel Miller's life until testimony
and depositions were recorded during the litigation of his will. His tenden~ to seek privacy may have stemmed
from a variety of personal reasons and psychological factors, ranging from his fatherless and impoverished youth,.
to his deteriorating health at an early age. He had experienced the seamy side of life and had dealt with.
United States Department of the Interior
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Section number __8__
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Page __
businessmen who lacked professional ethics. causing him to vow that he would never profit from the misfortune
of others. The loss of his brother caused him deep depression, as they had been very close and had made a
pact to employ their wealth to benefit the education and advancement of orphaned and destitute youth within
Virginia
Labeled an eccentric misanthrope by contemporaries, he sought no social contact but was very polite and
congenial in welcoming those few strangers who visited his home. He was said to keep an excellent cook on
the premises, and good coffee always was available, even when it was considered a scarce commodity. His
handful of loyal friends visited regularly, especially Mr. Rucker and Dr. Terrell. In maintaining the farm, he
employed an overseer, and he owned as many as seventeen slaves who attended to domestic housekeeping and
nursing duties as well as the general farming operations. Some had been emancipated by him before the war,
and others remained as hired emplo~es during the war's aftermath. Particularly faithful servants, such as his
nurse, became beneficiaries in his wtll.
While he never married, Samuel Miller had a long-term romantic relationship with a kept, caucasian mistress
known as Mary Davidson. She bore him five sons. In providing for the welfare of his absentee family, however,
he made no special provisions for the education of these children nor for their assimilation into society. In
short, he did not view anyone as capable of inheriting, managing, and disposing of his wealth in accordance with
his wishes.
There are occasional contradictions among source materials. Said to be well-read, Miller had a library valued
at his death at a l'altry $25. Doubt exists as to whether he actually profited from the war, but it generally is
concluded that his losses far exceeded any gains. However, there can be no question regarding his parsimoruous
lifestyle and his general unwillingness to expend funds on anything except bare essentials. The inventory of
household effects appraised after his death bear mute testimony. All articles, including furnishings, kitchenware,
farming implements, wagons, horses, cows, and oxen had a total value of $1,20250.
No information has been uncovered that details or diagnoses the nature of Samuel Miller's long-term illness.
However, when he went into self-imposed isolation in 1829, he was described as "dyspeptic and nervous".
Whether this chronic indigestion affliction had any medical basis or whether it was psychosomatic, it dominated
his life. There is no evidence that he ever suffered a stroke or other paralytic condition, but his very inactivity
doubtless contnbuted to progressive weakness. Tall and slender in stature, with a di~ed bearing, Samuel
Miller was said to appear very distinguished, in spite of his health. His imposing portrait certainly corroborates
this description.
WAR
By the latter stages of the conflict, Lynchburg had become a major logistic center and transportation hub,
supporting Lee's defense of Richmond. It was during the siege of the city by a Union ~lion under Major
General David Hunter in June 1864 that Miller took precautions to ensure that his dimirushing financial legacy
would not be subjected to military plunder. Gold coins and important financial certificates were buried on the
property and concealed beneath the main staircase of the house. Informed by local citizens of his wealth, Union
troops ransacked the premises and confronted its owner in search of the whereabouts of his riches. It is said
that Miller, bedridden in his upstairs chamber ( and then almost seventy-two years of age), refused to disclose
his hiding places and challenged these intruders to shoot him, declaring that he had but little time to live
anyway. According to one account, he was not intimidated when a musket round was discharged into the ceiling
above his head. Only a few hours earlier, elements of Brigadier General William Averell's 2d Cavalry Division
and Brigadier General George Crook's 2d Infantry Division, advancing eastward toward Lynchburg, had a h ~
skirmish on Miller's property, engagmc&i: cavalry brigade of Brigadier General John McCausland, CSA. This
had occurred on June 16, causing M
sland's withdrawal to more defensible high ground at the nearby ruins
of the old Quaker Meeting House. Shortly afterwards, General Hunter and his staff would occupy Sandusky,
the home of Major Hutter. The latter two historic landmarks are approximately one and one-half miles
United State• Department of the Interior
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National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ _
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northeast of the nominated property. An abrupt westward withdrawal by Union forces only twenty-four hows
later was uneventful in terms of further damage to Miller's property.
Having inventoried the losses resulting from the pillaging of his home, Samuel Miller placed a public notice in
the Lynchburg Vuginian on July 18, 1864, detailing his ordeal of June 17 and listing (by serial numbers) several
securities which had been stolen, lest they be considered negotiable. By his account, about four-hundred Union
soldiers had assembled near the house. A group assigned to search for items of value proceeded to intenogate
him, force all of the locks, mutilate furniture, scatter his papers, and remove all domestic foodstuffs as well as
livestock fodder, leaving the place in shambles. By another account, even his gold dentures were stolen from
his night stand. Despite the extent of looting, his most important financial papers had been buried in waterproof
cylinders throughout the property. Some would not be recovered until after his death several years later.
THE WILL
Samuel Miller had the foresight to realize that his wealth likely would be a source of contention after his death,
and he recognized the necessity for clear, specific plans for the disposition of his estate. Accordingly, he
personally drafted his own twenty-five-point will on April 1, 1859, outlining in detail the manner in which he
desired to dispense his funds to offspring, distant relatives, loyal friends, faithful servants, the City of Lynchburg,
and Campbelf County. More significantly, he prescribed the specific conditions attendant to the establishment
and financial support of the Lynchburg Female Orphan ~lum as well as a similar institution for boys in
Albemarle County. At the age of seventy-six, Samuel Miller died at home on Saturday morning, March 27, 1869.
His total estate was appraised at $1,250,150.92, doubtless much less than when he had composed the will almost
exactly ten years earlier.
The provisions of the will bestowed various stocks, bonds and parcels of land upon Mary Davidson and each
of their five sons (the children being infants when the will was written). As for his only maternal relative, a
first cousin (not a nephew, as in one account), Jesse Miller, was bequeathed the farm where he lived in Harrison
County (now West Virginia). Jesse once had been employed by Samuel Miller as overseer of the nominated
property. Having allocated various sums to assorted persons, the fifteenth clause of the will furnished the
Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum a trust of $151,500 and forty-six acres of land for a building site. At this
time, the institution only existed on paper, according to an 1849 act by the Virginia General Assembly. The
twenty-fifth and final clause established ""The Board of the Literary Fund," a corporation entrusted to m ~
the residuum (and bulk) of the estate. His intended purpose was the founding of an orphanage and industnal
school for boys in Albemarle County, stipulating that if this plan was blocked by the Virginia legislature, the
trust would revert to his sons. The provisions of the twenty-fifth clause were contested by attorneys representing
his children, and a separate suit was filed by Jesse Miller, the latter claiming to be sole heir and next of kin
by law. While each child (and his cousin) eventually were awarded nominal sums by the court, the basic
provisions as written by Samuel Miller were upheld. Litigation was not concluded completely until 1876, seven
years after his death.
PAYING TRIBUTE
Considering the philanthropy of Samuel Miller, those whom he selected and entrusted to bring his visions to
fruition felt obligated to honor his memory in some fashion. Accordingly, the Board of Supervisors for the
Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum deemed it approP.riate to commission a portrait of this most generous
benefactor. In the absence of any photographic likeness, the artist (Mr. Flavius J. Fisher) took facial
measurements of the deceased and rendered a portrait under the supemsion of Dr. Terrell, who suggested
changes. Yet the true measure of his artistic accuracy rested with former servants, who UJ?On its unveiling,
proclaimed it to be a perfect visage ·of the elderly Mr. Miller. This enormous full-length painting now is the
property of the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls, which also is the custodian of Miller's grandfather clock,
a marble monogrammed mantelpiece from his home, and his small laptop writing desk.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _8__
Page _11__
As for his remains, Samuel Miller traveled more extensively in death than during the last forty years of his
lifetime. Originally buried on his farm (the nominated property), he later was interred on the property of the
newly founded Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum (then located on Memorial Avenue in Lynchburg), which was
in accordance with a wish that he had expre5Sed just prior to his death. The Board of SupeIVisors that he had
appointed ensured that a suitable memorial marker was erected, consisting of an imposing twenty-five-foot-tall
granite spire that proclaimed his role as founder of the institution where his body rested. Many years later, a
sale of portions of the institution's land necessitated that his remains and accompanying marker be reinterred
on the property. A few years thereafter, when more property was sold, he was reinterred once more at the
city's Spring Hill Cemetery. This final resting place is directly adjacent to the grave of his brother John.
LEGACY
By far his most significant and enduring legacies, the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls and the Miller School
of Nbemarle are still partially supported by Samuel Miller's endowments. Both are nonprofit institutions.
Income from the Miller Home trust ($2,200,000) defrays part of the operating budget, and the facility boards
as many as sixteen girls, ranging in age from three to eighteen. The Miller School, with a $3,100,000 trust
stemming from the original endowment, is a military-oriented boarding school for boys that also has a
coeducational program for day students. Its student body is one-hundred and nineteen, and the education
programs range from grades five through twelve. Income from the trust yields an annual income of $215,000,
which is used to subsidize tuition fees. Until 1950, the endowment defrayed all costs for board and tuition.
Samuel Miller's gifr of $100,000 to the University of Virginia also remains in trust and today supports the Miller
Professor of Biology and associated research. Moreover, his gifrs of both property and funds to the City of
Lynchburg left a public park that still bears his name as well as a water reservoir (which no longer exists). To
meet operating expenses in the mid-twentieth century, large tracts of real estate left by his endowment were sold
by the Miller Home of Lynchburg to the City of Lynchburg (for construction of the present E.C Glass High
School) and to a private developer (for building Lynchburg's first shoP.ping center, Prttman Plaza). It seems
somewhat fitting that all source documents listed in Section 9 (Major Bibliographical References), less Campbell
County records, are found in Lynchburg's new Jones Memorial Library, which rests today on Miller's former
property and only a hundred yards from where the original Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum and his gravesite
were located.
Two-hundred years after his birth*, Samuel Miller remained as much an enigma as he was during his lifetime.
Except for a handful of local historians who have recognized the extent of his philanthropy, he largely was
relegated to obscurity, even in the environs of the communities which benefited the most from his legacy.
However, among nineteenth century residents of central Virginia, there were precious few who left a social mark
such as his. He was a very private citizen who kept a low profile and set a rigid agenda, from which he did
not deviate. Concerned that his plans would not be fulfilled if he did not pre5Cribe all details for the disposition
of his estate, he did not entrust anyone to pursue his goals with the same intensity of purpose.
Significantly, he was a chief investor in the nation's economic development, but more importantly, he J?ioneered
a new order of philanthropy and left endowments which to this day support the educational and soc,al causes
in which he took interest. The nominated property is where he quietly accrued a fortune and pursued his
visions in relative solitude for forty years.
*In lune 1992, the City of Lynchbu,g, in cooperation with the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls, the Mi/ler School
of Albemarle, and the University of Vuginia, commemorated the bicentennial of Samuel Mi/ler's birth.
United States Department of the Interior
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MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Campbell County Virginia Deed Book 15:
a. Page 114: Conveyance of 4305 acres from James Martin (Trustee for heirs of Thomas Jones) to
Samuel Garland, June 8, 1825.
b. Page 348: Conveyance of 4305 acres from Samuel Garland to Samuel Miller, December 23, 1825.
2. List of Taxable Property within the District of Allan L. Wyllie, Commissioner of the Revenue in the County
of Campbell for the Year 1845.
3. List of the Land Tax within the District of William Organ, Commissioner of the Revenue in the County of
Campbell for the Year 1847.
4. Last Will and Testament of Samuel Miller, dated April l, 1859. Campbell County Will Book 21, pages 442449.
5. Newspaper, Tiu, Lynchburg Vuginian; Monday, July 18, 1864, page 1, column S.
Miller.
Public Notice by Samuel
6. Court of Appeals of Virginia, Miller's Executor v. Tiu, Board of the Literary Fund and Ro. W. Davidson &
C., v. Miller's Executor. This bound volume (619 pages), generally known as The Petition and Record of Will
of Samuel Miller, came from the private library of Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early, CSA, who COllllllanded
Confederate forces during the defense of Lynchburg in June 1864. General Ear\y later served as a member of
the court and posed questions during the lengthy will litigation. This detailed record of testimony and
depositions by friends and relatives of Samuel Miller now is held by Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia,
and must rank as the single most informative source document available on his lifestyle, personal relationships,
and financial assets.
7. Lynchburg and Its People; W. Asbury Christian, 1900, J.P. Bell Company, Printers. Lynchburg, Virginia.
8. Campbell Chronicles and Family Sketches, 1782-1926; R.H. Early, 1927, J.P. Bell Company, Printers.
Lynchburg, Virginia.
9. Lynchburg and Its Neighbors; Rosa Faulkner Yancey, 1935, J.W. Fergusson & Sons, Publishers. Richmond,
Virginia.
10. Tiu, Saga of a City, Lynchburg Vuginia, 1786-1936; Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936.
Manufactured (sic) in Lynchburg.
11. A Brief History of Miller Home, Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, Lynchburg, Vuginia; Samuel H. Williams,
1964, J.P. Bell Company, Printers. Lynchburg, Virginia.
12. Lynchburg, 'Tiu, Most Interesting Spot'; Dorothy T. Potter and Oifton W. Potter, Jr., 1976, Progress Publishing
Corporation. Lynchburg, Virginia.
13. Lynchburg, An Architectural History; S. Allen Chambers, Jr., 1981, University Press of Virginia. Charlottesville,
Virginia.
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14. The Vuginia Landmarks Register, 3d Ed.; edited by Calder Loth, 1986, University Press of Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia.
15. Magazine Article, The Batde of Lynchburg, June 17-18, 1864; E. Alvin Gerhardt Jr., Lynchburg Historical
Society and Museum Magazine, Volume VIII, No. 3. Date and publisher unknown.
NOTE: All deeds, property tax, and land tax records, as well as the will of Samuel Miller (Items 1-4 above)
are on file at the Campbell County Courthouse, Rustburg, VA 24588, phone (804) 847-0961. Remaining source
materials are available at Lynchburg's Public Library (and its Jones Memorial Library Research Annex), 2315
Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24501, phone (804) 847-1565.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _ 10
__
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MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
GEOGRAPillCAL DATA
SUMMARY
This property, formerly in Cam{'bell County, now is located in the south-southwest portion of Lynchburg, having
been incorporated within the city limits in 1976. It is about five-hundred yards west-northwest of U.S. Route
460 (Timberlake Road), historically known as the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike. This road was the overland
stagecoach link with re~ons west of Lynchburg in the early nineteenth century, and it served as the eastward
approach route for Umon forces commanded by Major General David Hunter during the siege of Lynchburg
in June 1864. Samuel Miller's original landholdings in this area (about 1,500 acres) had dwindled to 231.5 acres
when purchased by Mr. & Mrs. W. N. Nelson II in 1951. Much of the property was then a peach orchard
known as Richland Farms, until 1955 when the Nelsons began to subdivide it. By the early 1960s, all residential
building lots were sold. When Richland Hills Subdivision finally was completed, only 3.86 acres remained at the
site of Samuel Miller's former residence. That is the condition today, as portrayed on the 3l'pended survey plat
entitled "Part of Parcel A". While the street address is Nelson Drive, the property also adjoms Peachtree Road.
An interconnecting driveway permits entry/exit via either street.
ADDENDA
: Survey Plat of Richland Hills Subdivision
Source: Lynchburg Board of Historic & Architectural Review
: Plat of Survey depicting Part of Parcel A, Section 4, Richland Hills, Brookville District, Campbell County,
VA, Jan 26, 1963. Source: This is the most recent survey of the nominated property and accompanied the
deed of purchase by Mr. & Mrs. Hollis L. Rudacille, Feb 27, 1963.
: Property sketch, depicting relative location of main house, dependencies and driveway
: USGS Topo$':aphic Map, City Farm Quadrangle (AMS Series V834, Sheet 5158 I SW), Scale 1:24,000, 1963,
with photo revision to 1985
Note: UTM references were detennined from this sheet. See upper part of northwest quadrant.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number _ __
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MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
SURVEY PLAT OF RICHLAND HILLS SUBDIVISION
........ .-.-............-...................................................................................................
LYNCHBURG BOARD OF HISTORIC AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW
•
Propoeed
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Hlatorlc Dletrlct Dealgnetlon
SAMUEL MILLER HOUSE
A1111II, 1812
I
143 3 Nelson Drive
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number ___
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Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
SURVEY PLAT, PART OF PARCEL A
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number _ __
17
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
PROPERTY SKETCH
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Unltl!d Stataa Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
PHOI'O
Section number _ _
20
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House, Lynchburg, Virginia
EXTERIOR PHOI'OGRAPH INDEX
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United State• Department ot the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
PHOl'O
Section number _ __
21
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
INTERIOR PHOI'OGRAPH INDEX
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rlhls Iwm Ir for use R nomilnatllrg or rsqurr3lng &mmtnll2kr# at rlgl#nty
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(Form reBMln). Typs all mtrlor.
1. Hnrne of Property
hlstortc name
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ather nameslsita number
Virqinia Department of Historic Resources File Number 118-223
2.
Locallon
Btreet & number
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state
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zip code 24502
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3. Clammtflcatian
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Catwow of PmmW
Number of R e m u m a wlthln Proaertv
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-
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State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opmlan, the property
0meets adoes not meel the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting or other offlcisl
Date
M e or Federal egsrrc?y and bumu
5. National Park Sewice Certlflcatisn
I, hereby, certify that this property
IS:
mentemd in the National Register.
a
Sew conthuetlen street.
mdeterminsd etlglble tor tha National
Register,
See continuation shoat.
n d e t e n i n e d not ellgibie for the
National Reg~star,
u r e m w e d 1mm the Natbnal Reglgtar.
Other, (explain:)
rmtinlratlon shest.
-
I
6. Function or Uee
Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions)
DOW.STIC:
Single dwelling
Current Functions (enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC:
Single dwelling ·
Secondary structure
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC:
Federal
Materials (enter categories from instructions)
foundation ....,...STO"""N"'E---',;,,,B_R_I,.,CK.---,---.-------walls ___W_OO_D_:_W_e_a_t_h_e_r_b_o_a_r_d_ _ _ _ _ __
ME'1'AL: Tin
roof---,==~-----------other _ _..:B:o:R:I.,,CK=---------------
Describe present and historic physical appearance.
[!] See contlnuetlon lheel
8. Statement of Slanlflcance
· Certifying otfleial
hu considered the significance of this property In rlllation to other properti•:
D
nationa11y
IKl statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria
O A []I B O C DD
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
0
A
D
1oca11y
OB DC DO DE D F O G
Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions)
Period of SignificanCe
ECONqtICS
c. 1826-1869
SOCIAL HISTORY
Significant Oates
CUiturai Affiliation
N/A
Significant Person
MILLER, Samuel
ArchitectlBuilder
Unknown
State significance of property, and justity criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.
[Kl See continuation 8heet
---~--··-~----------------I. MaJor Blblloaraphlcal References
[x] SN continuation 1h11t
Prtvlou1 documentation on flle (NPS):
p,ellmlnary dltlrmlnatlOn of Individual ll1tlng (38 CFR 87)
hu bHn ~Ullted
pr1Ylou1ly llltld In the Natlonal R.,ater
prtvlou1ly determined ellglble by the National Flegl1t1r
dfllgnated I National Hlttorlc Landmark
recorded by Hlltorlc American Bulldlng1
D
D
§
0 Survey'--------------recorded by Hlltorlc American Engineering
00ther
Primary locatlon of additional data:
State hlltorlc pre11rv1non office
Othlr Stat, agency
Federal agency
Local government
Unlver1lty
§
D
Specify repoaltory:
Virginia Department of Historic Rgsgyrces
221 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Record#,~----------------~
10, GpoaraphlCII Dita
Acr11ge ot property _ _ ___::::3.:..9~a~c;;..:r:.::e:.::s:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
UTM ReferencN
,., lh1J \ 6\ s,sj 2 13 10\
Zone
Ea1tlng
cw..J I I,
\411!316171510[
B
I
0
Northing
I,,
J
I
I
I
j
I
I
)
\ I \ I
L.w I I I I
Northing
Zone
Eutlng
I I I I
w..J I I I 1
Da SN continuation 1h11t
Verbal Boundary Description
Boundaries of the nominated 3.86-acre property are delineated on the last recorded plat,
contained in Campbell County Virginia Deed Book 344, page 253. A copy is appended in
Section 10.
[!] See continuation
sheet
Boundary Justification
The boundary circumscribes the main residence and remaining dependencies which retain
historic integrity. The extensive acreage of the original estate, which was subdivided
and developed into a residential neighborhood during the mid-twentieth century, has been
excluded.
~ See continuation thHt
11. Farm Prepared By
narneltltle _ _ _ _ _..!B::!:a~rry:.!:.l...!?.Armo~~n:.::d!...::R~u~da~c.=;il::.:l~e~&~J~ud~it.!:.!h:.!...!Ann~!...:::Cr:!:.l::::ow~d~esir.......JiRl,J,u~da~c.....
i~ll~e~-----organlz1tlon ----~N.:.;/A;.;;.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ date June 26, 1992
ltrNt & number
800 DeLafayette Court
telephone Office; {804} 445-558]
city or town
Virginia Beach
atate
VA
zip cod• 23455 _
• U.S,CJPO: 1988·0·223•9 I I
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number _ __
Page _1__
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
DESCRIPTION
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The focus of this nomination centers on Samuel Miller, the historic personage and resident of a large but
unostentatious two-story frame house erected between 1826 and 1829, where he lived until his death in 1869.
The physical integrity of the original expansive landholdings vanished long ago due to suburban development on
the outskirts of Lynchburg. As for the nearly four acres that now embrace the house, the property still
commands a view of the distant Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Large English boxwoods frame one side
of the domicile and part of the driveway, and a variety of very large trees, mostly oaks, are interspersed
throughout the extensive areas of lawn. The historical integrity of the main residence is essentially intact, despite
some twentieth century alterations. During the period of significance, there doubtless were a variety of
outbuildings, but only one dependency remains from that era. A cottage located nearby may even slightly
predate the main house, but that cannot be confirmed. In any event, this structure is a contributing resource
that likely served as lodging for Samuel Miller's overseer, who was known to reside in a small dwelling near the
main house.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Research is inconclusive with respect to the specific year that the main house was constructed. Samuel Miller's
initial land purchase in this part of Campbell County (annexed by the City of Lynchburg in 1976) was made on
December 23, 1825, when for the sum of $4,000 he acquired 4305 acres from Samuel Garland. Over the next
thirty years, he systematically expanded this landholding in increments of ten to one-hundred acres, eventually
amassing a total of about 1,500 acres. The deed for the initial purchase made reference to the tract or parcel
'with the tenements", thereby suggesting that dwellings or other structures were on the property when purchased.
The aforementioned cottage may have been among such buildings.
Only months earlier, on June 8, 1825, Samuel Garland had purchased this same tract (4305) acres) at auction
from James Martin, trustee for the heirs of Thomas Jones, for a bid of $3,125.43. That deed likewise made
no mention of any substantial improvement to the property, such as a large two-story dwelling. In the absence
of clear documentation, it is surmised that the 1825 land purchases by- both Samuel Garland and Samuel Miller
included some small dwellings and outbuildings, perhaps of Quaker origin, but that the main house did not exist
at that time. When Samuel Miller's health began to deteriorate in 1829 (at '!Se 37), he retired to this properir,
which was then about five miles beyond the outskirts of Lynchburg. Accordmgly, it is probable that the mam
house was built, at his expense, between 1826 and 1829.
A written account, Lynchbwg and Its Neighbors (see bibliography), yields a brief description of the house, noting
that the structure was 'unpretentious but a substantial and conif'ortable dwelling". Devoid of adornment, it was
said to have a few luxurious appointments, such as marble fireplace mantelpieces. While these were replaced
by wood mantels in later years, one of the original white marble versions, with a carved monogrammed "M", is
on display at the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls. Another feature cited was the presence of a sun parlor
on the second floor, where Samuel Miller spent most of his time. This was considered an unusual house
addition during that period (at least in the region) and contributed to local gossip of his eccentricities.
The house was two and one-half stories in height, forming a T-shaped floor plan, with two adjoining llabled roofs
and featuring three third-floor dormers, clapboard siding, and three brick chimneys (six fireplaces onginally), all
resting on a fieldstone and mortar foundation. A detached kitchen was erected about ten feet to the west.
It later was attached to the house by a small frame hyphen.
The most revealing portrayal of how the northwest front appeared in the early twentieth century is seen in a
1921 photograph owned by the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls. An attached copy of this print is compared
United State• Department of the Interior
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to a pair of 1991 photographs taken from the same camera angle (see photographs 1, 2 & 3). As can be seen
in the early photo, an expansive porch, featurin~ six Tuscan columns, extended the full width of the house at
ground level, with a small balcony above. Since 11 is likely that the entire facade was an early twentieth century
addition, its configuration. erovides no clues to an earlier reference that a sun parlor existed on the second floor
during the period of significance. As for the nearby kitchen, it did not appear to have been connected to the
main house in the 1921 photograph.
In regard to the original interior plan, the first floor contained three spacious rooms (probable parlor, library,
and dining room), interconnected by a large foyer and hallway linking the three exterior entrances. Each room
contained a fireplace. A simple staircase led to the second level, where there were three bedrooms, each with
a fireplace, and a narrow comer staircase led to a small garret room on the third level. Two of the thirdfloor dormers and two small windows beneath the southeast gable provided light and ventilation for this small
bedroom, which probably served as quarters for a servant who could be summoned readily to the nursing needs
of Mr. Miller. The third dormer (seen on the northwest front) extended from an unfinished attic. As for the
interior, all floors were comprised of wide pine boards; the walls and ceilings were of plaster and lath
construction; crown, chair rail, and baseboard moldings were free of ornamentation. Interior kitchen walls were
paneled with horizontal wide pine boards ranging 7-11 inches in width, and ceiling joists (3x9 inches) were
exposed. The appended sketch is an estimate of the original floor plan.
The porch on the nonheast facade probably served as the main entrance. It not only was on the side of the
house closest to the turnpike, but also its door, framed with a transom and sidelights, added formality and
illumination to what otherwise would have been a dark foyer.
While there is no discernible sign of an original cellar due to twentieth century alterations, one may have existed
during the period of significance. In any event, Samuel Miller is known to have complained that Union troops
ransacked his house "from cellar to garret".
Practically nothing is known about modifications to the house until 1937, when the property was purchased by
Mr. & Mrs. Leigh Ballenberg, who immediately began a renovation to make the place more habitable. Original
1938 blueprints by the Lynchburg architectural firm of J. Everette Fauber, Jr. are in the __possession of the
current owner. the resultant modifications, as reflected by these blueprints, depict basically how the house
appears today. Because of the need to install indoor plumbing, including radiators and a central furnace as well
as insulation and electric wiring, the house was partially dismantled. The following alterations were made:
: A long narrow cellar with concrete floor and cinderblock walls was constructed along the northwest front,
beneath the area where the spacious porch had been. This may have been an expansion of an earlier cellar
but resulted in a furnace room for the oil heating unit, and the new basement was access,ble only by concrete
stairs external to the house. In need of a flue, the chimney on the southwest front was modified to
accommodate the heating system. This rendered the fireplaces in the dining room and the above bedroom no
longer functional. Accordingly, they were sealed over and the mantelpieces removed.
: The northwest front of the house underwent further transformation, as noted earlier in the 1921 and 1991
photograph comparisons. The downstairs parlor and dining room were extended several feet, and this expansion
additionally made space available for a cloak closet, a linen closet, and a small lavatory. The latter additions
effectively replaced the front porch seen in the 1921 photograph.
: Upstairs, the northwest front balcony was eliminated, and the adjoining bedroom was extended forward,
flush with the new first-floor extension. A large master bathroom was introduoed, which interconnected the two
bedrooms on that side of the house: Another bathroom also was added to the second floor.
: A smaller porch was extended from the new northwest facade, and the new balcony was made accessible
by a door leading from the master bath. According to blueprint annotations, the original porch columns,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
3
_
Section number __7 _ _ Page _ _
pilasters and railings were to be reused in constructing the new porch and in replacing deteriorated portions
of the side porch. It should be noted that the blueprints offer very little insi!Ult as to how the houi;e 3;Ppeated
before the 1938 remodeling, but when used in combination with the 1921 pfiotograph, several conclusions can
be drawn with respect to the alterations of the northwest front.
: The detached kitchen was connected with the <lining room of the main house via a butler's pantry, and
the original <limensions of the smaller structure were expanded somewhat. A modern kitchen and laundry room
were introduced on the southwest side, relegating the original kitchen to use as a den. A small lavatory was
included, and a porch extension with simple columns and arches completed the modifications.
: Blueprint annotations identified windows that were to be replaced.
rea<lily detectable by the wavy imperfections of the glass panes.
Those salvaged and still intact are
: While modern locks were added to exterior doors, all original early nineteenth century locks (with large
iron keys) remain intact on both interior and exterior doors.
Two significant mo<lifications were made in the 1950s by later owners, Mr. & Mrs. W. N. Nelson II.
: A sun room, with ceramic tile floor (over a probable concrete slab) was extended from the southwest
corner of the house, with entry gained via French doors leading from the library and the <lining room. This
resulted in a large exterior door becoming an interior door and thereby creating another entrance into the sun
room (from the foyer).
: A nuclear fallout shelter was hand-excavated beneath the center hall and dining room by penetrating the
furnace room wall. Access was gained from the first floor via a descending staircase under the original staircase.
A lavatory was included, requiring a sump pump, since the drains are below grade.
Today, there are four outbuildings on the property. While Samuel Miller had as many as seventeen slaves (all
believed to have been emancipated before the war, with several remaining as hired servants), their living quarters
are lost to history. As a working farm for many decades, there doubtless were barns, stables and such other
structures necessary to support a rural household of this size and population. Even in recent decades, there
were records of poultry farming, and a large peach packing shed once ·stood nearby. Current structures include
a small cottage (contributing resource) and three noncontributing resources (stable, woodshed and garage).
: The quaint little cottage located about fifty yards west of the main house probably is early nineteenth
century vintage. Although plumbing and electricity were introduced at some point in its history, previous owners
allowed it to deteriorate and relegated it to use as a storage shed. When the property was purchased by Mr.
& Mrs. H. L. Rudacille in 1963, the cottage was made habitable and rented (sinjlle occupancy); the current
tenant has resided there for the
fifteen years. As noted earlier, this dwelling may have been on the
property when purchased by Samue Miller in 1825. The frame construction, fieldstone foundation, narrow corner
staircase, and finished garret room certainly su~est construction during the early nineteenth centuJy, but
alterations prohibit a conclusive determination of its age. As a dependency during the period of significance,
it likely served as the domicile of Samuel Miller's overseer.
fast
: The single-stall stable located seventy-five yards south of the main house probably was built in the early
twentieth century. This noncontributing resource is frame construction and crudely assembled, with ceiling joists
comprised of small unpeeled Jogs. Resting on a fieldstone foundation, a raised platform of well-worn, wide pine
floorboards overlooks the <lirt floor of the stall.
: A rustic woodshed is located a few feet west of the cottage. As another noncontnbuting resource, this
probable early twentieth century structure has wide vertical plank siding, a <lirt floor, and a crudely carved
wooden latch.
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
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Section number __7__ Page _ __
: A mid-twentieth century two-car garage of frame construction, adjacent to the stable, completes the
inventory of noncontributing resources.
CONCLUSION
A mid-nineteenth century photograph of the house, or even a field sketch by combat artist David H. Strother
(Porte Crayon), the latter having accompanied General Hunter's staff during the Lynchbur$ campaign, would be
invaluable, as there are scant records available upon which to base an architectural description durin~ the period
of significance. Regardless, the known structural modifications and cosmetic changes of the twentieth century
do not measurably detract from what was once, and still remains, an unpretentious but comfortable home. As
for the extent of its architectural and historical integrity, the original structure is probably 90% intact. While
several minor additions have been made, little of consequence has been removed.
ADDENDA
Estimated Original Floor Plan {c.1826)
Current Floor Plan (1992)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number __7__
5
Page _ _
_
MILLER, Sanruel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
ESTIMATED ORIGINAL FLOOR PLAN (c. 1826)
LIBRARY
FOYER
PARLOR
DINING
ROOM
FIRST FLOOR
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
... - - - ,
r - -- BEDROOM
BEDROOM
GARRET
O
'- SECOND FLOOR
'
I
- - - ---- - - - - -------...
TH I RD FLOOR
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
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Page _ _
_
7_
Section number __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
CURRENT FLOOR PLAN (1992)
-.
- - - ...
)E
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.....
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FIRST FLOOR
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GARRET ROOM
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SECOND FLOOR
CELLAR
"
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United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
7
Section number __8__ Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
STA1EMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
SUMMARY
The Samuel Miller House, located in Lynchburg, is sil!llificant for its association with Samuel Miller (1792-1869),
who emerged from poverty to become a successful 6usinessman and investor. The diversity and scope of bis
financial assets placed him among the wealthiest men in the South during the years precedin~ the Civil War.
A philanthropist, he bestowed most of his considerable fortune on public, educational, and SOCial causes within
Virginia The nominated property, where he lived in reclusion during the last forty years of his life, is a large
frame house erected in the early nineteenth century and which served as his residence during the period of
significance (c.1826-1869). Finally, this landscape was contested terrain during the siege of Lynchburg (June
1864), when a cavalry skirmish occurred on the property. Alened to the wealth of the resident, Union troops
ransacked the entire farm, encountering an elderly but defiant Samuel Miller. Having already sustained
substantial investment losses attributed to the war, he took the precaution of concealing most of his financial
papers, thereby preserving for future generations the provisions of his last will and testament. As for the •
selected areas of si(lnificance, economics was chosen due to the diversity of Samuel Miller's investments and his
resultant accumulat10n of wealth. Social history also is relevant, in consideration of the final disposition of his
wealth and his promotion of a social agenda through endowments.
ORIGINS & SUCCESSES
Samuel Miller's exact date of birth (believed to be June 30) in 1792 is unconfirmed. Born in the mountains
near Batesville in Albemarle County, fatherless as a child and reared in abject poverty by his mother, Jane
Miller, he and his older brother and only sibling (John) experienced severe privation. Both are believed to have
received only a rudimentary education. As young adults, the two brothers moved to Lynchburg. t:aining
employment in what was then a boom town with a growing economy based on the marketing and transshipment
of tobacco down the James River. By virtue of hard work and frugal lifestyles, they each became respectable
businessmen and prospered as tobacco and grocery merchants during the very early years of Lynchburg's
settlement and economic development.
Upon the death of John Miller in 1841 (at age 51), Samuel Miller became the sole heir and beneficiary of a
$100,000 inheritance from his brother. By then, his own cornering of the tobacco export market to England had
made him a wealthy man in his own rWlt, and years earlier, he had retired to his residence on the outskirts
of the city due to poor health. It is probable that the early 1840s marked the period when he began to channel
substantial amounts of his business profits and his inheritance into an assortment of high-yield investments,
particularly railroad stocks and state or municipal bonds. The resuhant amassing of wealth has been attnbuted
to his being a talented, shrewd, but scrupulously honest businessman, whom some considered a financial genius.
His accomplishments more likely stem from the low-risk commitment of substantial funds to a burgeoning
national economy. In any event, it once was noted by his long-time friend and business partner, Ambrose
Rucker, that "Success crowned most of his enterprises, with no known reversal at any time.• Ranking among
the early shareholders and high-rollers in such capitalistic endeavors, his wealth on paper contrasted with that
of southern planters and the labor-intensive estates of Virginia and the South during the antebellum period.
FINANCIAL EMPIRE
Samuel Miller's link with the current events, economic trends, and investment oppcrtunities of the early to mid·
nineteenth century was limited exclusively to those newspapers or security quotations that he received via postal
delivery along the stagecoach route of the nearby turnpike. Confined to the second floor of his residence for
extensive periods, he became absorbed in the close scrutiny of potential investments and the absentee
management of his expanding properties. He never was known to seeli counsel or financial advice from aR}'One,
and only his good friend Ambrose Rucker had any detailed knowledge of his financial affairs. The latter, who
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Page_8_ _
visited regularly, performed accounting services by recording entries in Miller's bookkeeping ledgers, based on
the notes and papers that Miller had assembled since the last entries.
Prior to the Civil War, Samuel Miller's wealth should have been near its peak. His real estate holdinls in the
vicinity of Lynchburg (excluding his 1,500-acre farm) included tobacco warehouses in the city's commercial district,
and he is known to have owned residential property on Main Street in Richmond. He also owned farms in five
other Virginia counties (including two in what is now West Virginia), and residential property in Ohio and
Missouri. Investing heavily in state bonds issued by Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia, he
also held municipal bonds issued by Philadelphia and Lynchburg, and stock in the Bank of Kentucky and two
Lynchburg banks.
The full extent of his investments in railroad stocks is difficult to ascertain due to the proliferation of companies
that existed durinjl railroad ":"Pansion between 1840-1860. He was a major shareholder during development of
the Atlantic, MissJSSippi & Ohio Railroad Company (later to become Norfolk & Western) as well as the Orange
& Alexandria Railroad (later to become Southern Railroad). These two lines became instrumental in Virginia's
economic development. Other railroad investments spanned the Midwest and the Mississippi Valley, to include:
Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana RR, Michigan Southern & Western Indiana RR, Michigan Central RR,
Chic31!0 & Rock Island RR, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR, Chicago & Northwestern RR, Pacific RR,
Detroit, Monroe & Toledo RR, Northern Missouri RR, Memphis & Little Rock RR, Mississippi & Missouri RR,
St. Louis & Iron Mountain RR, Cairo & Fulton RR, Virginia & Tennessee RR, and the Richmond & York
River RR.
The degree to which Samuel Miller suffered substantial financial losses during the war is incalculable. However,
had the war not occurred, the extent to which his investments may have flourished is equally inestimable. There
is no question that he was a very wealthy man at the eve of that conflict.
GENEROSITY
As noted in the description of the nominated property (Section 7), Samuel Miller made no ostentatious show
of riches, and he certainly was not inclined to engage in those lavish forms of entertainment typical of Virginia's
landed gentry during the era. Considered a miser by most of his peers, he was quite frugal m his expen<frtures
but also prone to exhibit true generosity. Two examples best illustrate this point.
Known to be a strong proronent of public education, he once was approached by a solicitor seeking funds for
the Biology Department o the University of Virginia. Mr. Miller seized the opportunity to engage his visitor
in an enthusiastic dialogue on classical writings, but made neither financial contribution nor verbal commitment
at that time. Shortly afterwards, he provided the Uni\tersity a donation of $100,000, a substantial amount in
terms of nineteenth century benevolence, especially for one who had never profited from an education there or
at any other higher academic institution.
Having made a loan to his good friend (and neighbor), Dr. John Terrell, Samuel Miller declined to accept
repayment in what was then worthless Confederate currency. However, he advised the doctor that his debt could
be readily liquidated if he were to charge a "substantial amount on a daily basis" for the medical treatment that
Miller currently was paying to restore the health of one of his elderly servants. Keeping this transaction in
business terms seemed more important to him than just graciously absolving the doctor of debt.
LIFESTYLE
Because of his reclusive nature, there· generally was no public knowledge of Samuel Miller's life until testimony
and depositions were recorded during the litigation of his will. His tenden~ to seek privacy may have stemmed
from a variety of personal reasons and psychological factors, ranging from his fatherless and impoverished youth,.
to his deteriorating health at an early age. He had experienced the seamy side of life and had dealt with.
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businessmen who lacked professional ethics. causing him to vow that he would never profit from the misfortune
of others. The loss of his brother caused him deep depression, as they had been very close and had made a
pact to employ their wealth to benefit the education and advancement of orphaned and destitute youth within
Virginia
Labeled an eccentric misanthrope by contemporaries, he sought no social contact but was very polite and
congenial in welcoming those few strangers who visited his home. He was said to keep an excellent cook on
the premises, and good coffee always was available, even when it was considered a scarce commodity. His
handful of loyal friends visited regularly, especially Mr. Rucker and Dr. Terrell. In maintaining the farm, he
employed an overseer, and he owned as many as seventeen slaves who attended to domestic housekeeping and
nursing duties as well as the general farming operations. Some had been emancipated by him before the war,
and others remained as hired emplo~es during the war's aftermath. Particularly faithful servants, such as his
nurse, became beneficiaries in his wtll.
While he never married, Samuel Miller had a long-term romantic relationship with a kept, caucasian mistress
known as Mary Davidson. She bore him five sons. In providing for the welfare of his absentee family, however,
he made no special provisions for the education of these children nor for their assimilation into society. In
short, he did not view anyone as capable of inheriting, managing, and disposing of his wealth in accordance with
his wishes.
There are occasional contradictions among source materials. Said to be well-read, Miller had a library valued
at his death at a l'altry $25. Doubt exists as to whether he actually profited from the war, but it generally is
concluded that his losses far exceeded any gains. However, there can be no question regarding his parsimoruous
lifestyle and his general unwillingness to expend funds on anything except bare essentials. The inventory of
household effects appraised after his death bear mute testimony. All articles, including furnishings, kitchenware,
farming implements, wagons, horses, cows, and oxen had a total value of $1,20250.
No information has been uncovered that details or diagnoses the nature of Samuel Miller's long-term illness.
However, when he went into self-imposed isolation in 1829, he was described as "dyspeptic and nervous".
Whether this chronic indigestion affliction had any medical basis or whether it was psychosomatic, it dominated
his life. There is no evidence that he ever suffered a stroke or other paralytic condition, but his very inactivity
doubtless contnbuted to progressive weakness. Tall and slender in stature, with a di~ed bearing, Samuel
Miller was said to appear very distinguished, in spite of his health. His imposing portrait certainly corroborates
this description.
WAR
By the latter stages of the conflict, Lynchburg had become a major logistic center and transportation hub,
supporting Lee's defense of Richmond. It was during the siege of the city by a Union ~lion under Major
General David Hunter in June 1864 that Miller took precautions to ensure that his dimirushing financial legacy
would not be subjected to military plunder. Gold coins and important financial certificates were buried on the
property and concealed beneath the main staircase of the house. Informed by local citizens of his wealth, Union
troops ransacked the premises and confronted its owner in search of the whereabouts of his riches. It is said
that Miller, bedridden in his upstairs chamber ( and then almost seventy-two years of age), refused to disclose
his hiding places and challenged these intruders to shoot him, declaring that he had but little time to live
anyway. According to one account, he was not intimidated when a musket round was discharged into the ceiling
above his head. Only a few hours earlier, elements of Brigadier General William Averell's 2d Cavalry Division
and Brigadier General George Crook's 2d Infantry Division, advancing eastward toward Lynchburg, had a h ~
skirmish on Miller's property, engagmc&i: cavalry brigade of Brigadier General John McCausland, CSA. This
had occurred on June 16, causing M
sland's withdrawal to more defensible high ground at the nearby ruins
of the old Quaker Meeting House. Shortly afterwards, General Hunter and his staff would occupy Sandusky,
the home of Major Hutter. The latter two historic landmarks are approximately one and one-half miles
United State• Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ _
10
Page _ __
northeast of the nominated property. An abrupt westward withdrawal by Union forces only twenty-four hows
later was uneventful in terms of further damage to Miller's property.
Having inventoried the losses resulting from the pillaging of his home, Samuel Miller placed a public notice in
the Lynchburg Vuginian on July 18, 1864, detailing his ordeal of June 17 and listing (by serial numbers) several
securities which had been stolen, lest they be considered negotiable. By his account, about four-hundred Union
soldiers had assembled near the house. A group assigned to search for items of value proceeded to intenogate
him, force all of the locks, mutilate furniture, scatter his papers, and remove all domestic foodstuffs as well as
livestock fodder, leaving the place in shambles. By another account, even his gold dentures were stolen from
his night stand. Despite the extent of looting, his most important financial papers had been buried in waterproof
cylinders throughout the property. Some would not be recovered until after his death several years later.
THE WILL
Samuel Miller had the foresight to realize that his wealth likely would be a source of contention after his death,
and he recognized the necessity for clear, specific plans for the disposition of his estate. Accordingly, he
personally drafted his own twenty-five-point will on April 1, 1859, outlining in detail the manner in which he
desired to dispense his funds to offspring, distant relatives, loyal friends, faithful servants, the City of Lynchburg,
and Campbelf County. More significantly, he prescribed the specific conditions attendant to the establishment
and financial support of the Lynchburg Female Orphan ~lum as well as a similar institution for boys in
Albemarle County. At the age of seventy-six, Samuel Miller died at home on Saturday morning, March 27, 1869.
His total estate was appraised at $1,250,150.92, doubtless much less than when he had composed the will almost
exactly ten years earlier.
The provisions of the will bestowed various stocks, bonds and parcels of land upon Mary Davidson and each
of their five sons (the children being infants when the will was written). As for his only maternal relative, a
first cousin (not a nephew, as in one account), Jesse Miller, was bequeathed the farm where he lived in Harrison
County (now West Virginia). Jesse once had been employed by Samuel Miller as overseer of the nominated
property. Having allocated various sums to assorted persons, the fifteenth clause of the will furnished the
Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum a trust of $151,500 and forty-six acres of land for a building site. At this
time, the institution only existed on paper, according to an 1849 act by the Virginia General Assembly. The
twenty-fifth and final clause established ""The Board of the Literary Fund," a corporation entrusted to m ~
the residuum (and bulk) of the estate. His intended purpose was the founding of an orphanage and industnal
school for boys in Albemarle County, stipulating that if this plan was blocked by the Virginia legislature, the
trust would revert to his sons. The provisions of the twenty-fifth clause were contested by attorneys representing
his children, and a separate suit was filed by Jesse Miller, the latter claiming to be sole heir and next of kin
by law. While each child (and his cousin) eventually were awarded nominal sums by the court, the basic
provisions as written by Samuel Miller were upheld. Litigation was not concluded completely until 1876, seven
years after his death.
PAYING TRIBUTE
Considering the philanthropy of Samuel Miller, those whom he selected and entrusted to bring his visions to
fruition felt obligated to honor his memory in some fashion. Accordingly, the Board of Supervisors for the
Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum deemed it approP.riate to commission a portrait of this most generous
benefactor. In the absence of any photographic likeness, the artist (Mr. Flavius J. Fisher) took facial
measurements of the deceased and rendered a portrait under the supemsion of Dr. Terrell, who suggested
changes. Yet the true measure of his artistic accuracy rested with former servants, who UJ?On its unveiling,
proclaimed it to be a perfect visage ·of the elderly Mr. Miller. This enormous full-length painting now is the
property of the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls, which also is the custodian of Miller's grandfather clock,
a marble monogrammed mantelpiece from his home, and his small laptop writing desk.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _8__
Page _11__
As for his remains, Samuel Miller traveled more extensively in death than during the last forty years of his
lifetime. Originally buried on his farm (the nominated property), he later was interred on the property of the
newly founded Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum (then located on Memorial Avenue in Lynchburg), which was
in accordance with a wish that he had expre5Sed just prior to his death. The Board of SupeIVisors that he had
appointed ensured that a suitable memorial marker was erected, consisting of an imposing twenty-five-foot-tall
granite spire that proclaimed his role as founder of the institution where his body rested. Many years later, a
sale of portions of the institution's land necessitated that his remains and accompanying marker be reinterred
on the property. A few years thereafter, when more property was sold, he was reinterred once more at the
city's Spring Hill Cemetery. This final resting place is directly adjacent to the grave of his brother John.
LEGACY
By far his most significant and enduring legacies, the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls and the Miller School
of Nbemarle are still partially supported by Samuel Miller's endowments. Both are nonprofit institutions.
Income from the Miller Home trust ($2,200,000) defrays part of the operating budget, and the facility boards
as many as sixteen girls, ranging in age from three to eighteen. The Miller School, with a $3,100,000 trust
stemming from the original endowment, is a military-oriented boarding school for boys that also has a
coeducational program for day students. Its student body is one-hundred and nineteen, and the education
programs range from grades five through twelve. Income from the trust yields an annual income of $215,000,
which is used to subsidize tuition fees. Until 1950, the endowment defrayed all costs for board and tuition.
Samuel Miller's gifr of $100,000 to the University of Virginia also remains in trust and today supports the Miller
Professor of Biology and associated research. Moreover, his gifrs of both property and funds to the City of
Lynchburg left a public park that still bears his name as well as a water reservoir (which no longer exists). To
meet operating expenses in the mid-twentieth century, large tracts of real estate left by his endowment were sold
by the Miller Home of Lynchburg to the City of Lynchburg (for construction of the present E.C Glass High
School) and to a private developer (for building Lynchburg's first shoP.ping center, Prttman Plaza). It seems
somewhat fitting that all source documents listed in Section 9 (Major Bibliographical References), less Campbell
County records, are found in Lynchburg's new Jones Memorial Library, which rests today on Miller's former
property and only a hundred yards from where the original Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum and his gravesite
were located.
Two-hundred years after his birth*, Samuel Miller remained as much an enigma as he was during his lifetime.
Except for a handful of local historians who have recognized the extent of his philanthropy, he largely was
relegated to obscurity, even in the environs of the communities which benefited the most from his legacy.
However, among nineteenth century residents of central Virginia, there were precious few who left a social mark
such as his. He was a very private citizen who kept a low profile and set a rigid agenda, from which he did
not deviate. Concerned that his plans would not be fulfilled if he did not pre5Cribe all details for the disposition
of his estate, he did not entrust anyone to pursue his goals with the same intensity of purpose.
Significantly, he was a chief investor in the nation's economic development, but more importantly, he J?ioneered
a new order of philanthropy and left endowments which to this day support the educational and soc,al causes
in which he took interest. The nominated property is where he quietly accrued a fortune and pursued his
visions in relative solitude for forty years.
*In lune 1992, the City of Lynchbu,g, in cooperation with the Miller Home of Lynchburg for Girls, the Mi/ler School
of Albemarle, and the University of Vuginia, commemorated the bicentennial of Samuel Mi/ler's birth.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
9
Section number ___
12
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Campbell County Virginia Deed Book 15:
a. Page 114: Conveyance of 4305 acres from James Martin (Trustee for heirs of Thomas Jones) to
Samuel Garland, June 8, 1825.
b. Page 348: Conveyance of 4305 acres from Samuel Garland to Samuel Miller, December 23, 1825.
2. List of Taxable Property within the District of Allan L. Wyllie, Commissioner of the Revenue in the County
of Campbell for the Year 1845.
3. List of the Land Tax within the District of William Organ, Commissioner of the Revenue in the County of
Campbell for the Year 1847.
4. Last Will and Testament of Samuel Miller, dated April l, 1859. Campbell County Will Book 21, pages 442449.
5. Newspaper, Tiu, Lynchburg Vuginian; Monday, July 18, 1864, page 1, column S.
Miller.
Public Notice by Samuel
6. Court of Appeals of Virginia, Miller's Executor v. Tiu, Board of the Literary Fund and Ro. W. Davidson &
C., v. Miller's Executor. This bound volume (619 pages), generally known as The Petition and Record of Will
of Samuel Miller, came from the private library of Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early, CSA, who COllllllanded
Confederate forces during the defense of Lynchburg in June 1864. General Ear\y later served as a member of
the court and posed questions during the lengthy will litigation. This detailed record of testimony and
depositions by friends and relatives of Samuel Miller now is held by Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia,
and must rank as the single most informative source document available on his lifestyle, personal relationships,
and financial assets.
7. Lynchburg and Its People; W. Asbury Christian, 1900, J.P. Bell Company, Printers. Lynchburg, Virginia.
8. Campbell Chronicles and Family Sketches, 1782-1926; R.H. Early, 1927, J.P. Bell Company, Printers.
Lynchburg, Virginia.
9. Lynchburg and Its Neighbors; Rosa Faulkner Yancey, 1935, J.W. Fergusson & Sons, Publishers. Richmond,
Virginia.
10. Tiu, Saga of a City, Lynchburg Vuginia, 1786-1936; Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association, Inc., 1936.
Manufactured (sic) in Lynchburg.
11. A Brief History of Miller Home, Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, Lynchburg, Vuginia; Samuel H. Williams,
1964, J.P. Bell Company, Printers. Lynchburg, Virginia.
12. Lynchburg, 'Tiu, Most Interesting Spot'; Dorothy T. Potter and Oifton W. Potter, Jr., 1976, Progress Publishing
Corporation. Lynchburg, Virginia.
13. Lynchburg, An Architectural History; S. Allen Chambers, Jr., 1981, University Press of Virginia. Charlottesville,
Virginia.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _
9
__
13
Page _ __
14. The Vuginia Landmarks Register, 3d Ed.; edited by Calder Loth, 1986, University Press of Virginia.
Charlottesville, Virginia.
15. Magazine Article, The Batde of Lynchburg, June 17-18, 1864; E. Alvin Gerhardt Jr., Lynchburg Historical
Society and Museum Magazine, Volume VIII, No. 3. Date and publisher unknown.
NOTE: All deeds, property tax, and land tax records, as well as the will of Samuel Miller (Items 1-4 above)
are on file at the Campbell County Courthouse, Rustburg, VA 24588, phone (804) 847-0961. Remaining source
materials are available at Lynchburg's Public Library (and its Jones Memorial Library Research Annex), 2315
Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24501, phone (804) 847-1565.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number _ 10
__
14
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
GEOGRAPillCAL DATA
SUMMARY
This property, formerly in Cam{'bell County, now is located in the south-southwest portion of Lynchburg, having
been incorporated within the city limits in 1976. It is about five-hundred yards west-northwest of U.S. Route
460 (Timberlake Road), historically known as the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike. This road was the overland
stagecoach link with re~ons west of Lynchburg in the early nineteenth century, and it served as the eastward
approach route for Umon forces commanded by Major General David Hunter during the siege of Lynchburg
in June 1864. Samuel Miller's original landholdings in this area (about 1,500 acres) had dwindled to 231.5 acres
when purchased by Mr. & Mrs. W. N. Nelson II in 1951. Much of the property was then a peach orchard
known as Richland Farms, until 1955 when the Nelsons began to subdivide it. By the early 1960s, all residential
building lots were sold. When Richland Hills Subdivision finally was completed, only 3.86 acres remained at the
site of Samuel Miller's former residence. That is the condition today, as portrayed on the 3l'pended survey plat
entitled "Part of Parcel A". While the street address is Nelson Drive, the property also adjoms Peachtree Road.
An interconnecting driveway permits entry/exit via either street.
ADDENDA
: Survey Plat of Richland Hills Subdivision
Source: Lynchburg Board of Historic & Architectural Review
: Plat of Survey depicting Part of Parcel A, Section 4, Richland Hills, Brookville District, Campbell County,
VA, Jan 26, 1963. Source: This is the most recent survey of the nominated property and accompanied the
deed of purchase by Mr. & Mrs. Hollis L. Rudacille, Feb 27, 1963.
: Property sketch, depicting relative location of main house, dependencies and driveway
: USGS Topo$':aphic Map, City Farm Quadrangle (AMS Series V834, Sheet 5158 I SW), Scale 1:24,000, 1963,
with photo revision to 1985
Note: UTM references were detennined from this sheet. See upper part of northwest quadrant.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number _ __
15
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
SURVEY PLAT OF RICHLAND HILLS SUBDIVISION
........ .-.-............-...................................................................................................
LYNCHBURG BOARD OF HISTORIC AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW
•
Propoeed
J.I
Hlatorlc Dletrlct Dealgnetlon
SAMUEL MILLER HOUSE
A1111II, 1812
I
143 3 Nelson Drive
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number ___
16
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
SURVEY PLAT, PART OF PARCEL A
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
10
Section number _ __
17
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
PROPERTY SKETCH
•
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Unltl!d Stataa Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
PHOI'O
Section number _ _
20
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House, Lynchburg, Virginia
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United State• Department ot the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
PHOl'O
Section number _ __
21
Page _ __
MILLER, Samuel, House; Lynchburg, Virginia
INTERIOR PHOI'OGRAPH INDEX
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Text
Unlted States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form 1s far usa in nominating or requesting detwminations for i n d i u a l propewes and districts.
instructfonsIn How to W t e the
Nationat Register of Histwrc Places RegEstratim Form (Natbnal Rqister Bulletin 164.Complete each item by rnarklng "x" in the appropriate box or
by entsrlng the informB2lon reauested. If an Item d w s not apply to the property belng dmumented, enter " N I A for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classlficatm, rnatenals, and areas d sign~flcance,enter only caregorles and subcatwnas from the ~nstnrct~ons.
Place additional
entries and narrative items on contlnuatron sheets (NPS Form 70.90%). Usa a typewriter, ward processor, or computer, to complere all Items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
V I R G I N 1A EPISCQPAT, SmnOT,
other nam,os/sfie number
VES/Dm File NO.
1f 8-I29
2.2 bt
2. Location
street & n
~
m
b
e
city or town L r . n c h h l r r g C-d~nt
Virginia
state
code
r
~ ~ rn h 7
Rnnrl
~
~
l
L? not for publication
[71 vicinity
C i tv)
VA county N / A
code .680 zip code 24'313r
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I h e m certify that this
nornrnaflon
request for determ~natlonof eligibility meets the documentation standards for regfstering properties in the National Reg~sterof
Histonc Places and rnthe procedural and profe-nal
requlrernents set forth m 36 CFR Part 0
€
ln my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend tha th~sproperty be cons~deredsign~ficant
3 natroflally C! statewide IOCally. See continuatton shest for additionsf comments.)
(m
1
v i r g i n i a Department of
Historic Resources
State of Federal agency and bureau
h my
oplnion, the propem
comments.)
meets
does not meet the National Regfster criteria.
Signature of w w n g off icialrtle
(nSee continuation sheet for additional
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
I
4. National Park Service Certification
1 hereby
cen~lythat the properly is:
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
iLI
- entered in the National
Rwister.
<
See mmrnuation sheet.
detwrnind eligible for the
National Reg~sler
See conttnuat~onsheet.
determrned not eligtble for the
National Register
removed from the Nathal
Register.
c
3
0
17 other, (expiain:)
-
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Lynchburg. V i r g i n i a
Name m Pmww
county and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Properly
(Check as many boxes as apphl)
private
public-local
public-State
CI pubiic-Federal
C P ~ of~ PmWW
Y
Number of Resources wlhln Properly
(Check only one box)
(Do not include prenously llsted resources in the mum.)
3 building@)
Contributing
7
district
site
structure
object
Noncontributing
3
buildings
sites
1
structures
Totai
Name of related multiple property listing
Number of contributing resources prcwiously listed
in the National Register
(Enter " N I A if property is not part of a muniple property listing.)
0
N/ A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from lnstructlons)
(Enter categories lrom ~nstructlons)
TTnN- SP1-
v Srhnnl
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categcrles from ~nst~ctlons)
Lare
(Enter categories from ~nstructlons)
19th v
r
u
t
-
<ex)
Nanative Description
.
.
foundation
Brick
wails
Brick
roof
Slate
(Describe the hisIoric and Current mndltion of the propeny on one or more continuation sheets.)
Name of Property
OL
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark x in one or more boxes for the crlterla qualllylng the propefly
for Natlonal Register Ihstlng )
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from tnstructlons)
EDUCATIONAL
3 A Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
--
,
B Property is associated with the lives of persons
RELIGION
significant in our past.
-
;xC Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
Period of Significance
1916-1926
D Property has ylelded, or IS llkely to yleld.
~nformatlonImportant In prehistory or history
Criteria Considerations
(Mark " x " In all the boxes that apply)
Significant Dates
1916 (founding date o f s c h o o l )
Property IS:
A
-
_
A
A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
B removed from its orlglnal location.
N/A
C a birthplace or grave
L D
-
_
-
Significant Person
B is marked above)
(Complete 11 Crilerlon
a cemetery.
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
-F
L G
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past 50 years.
ArchitecUBuilder
F r e d e r i c k H. Brooke
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain
the slgnlflcance of the property on one or more contlnuatlon sheets I
. .
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibllography
(Cite the bwks, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
3 preliminary determination of individual listing (36
CFR 67) has been requested
5 previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National
Register
El designated a National Historic Landmark
D recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Primary location of additional data:
Q State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository:
V i r g i n i a Episcopal School
Lynchbrurg,
Virginia
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Coumy and State
Name of Propew
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 1
0
UTM Refercmces
(Place addaionat UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
1
UL.Z h 1 6 1 n l d
Zone
Ean~ng
w
16 15 19 18 1910I 14 1114 16 13 14 1 01
3
Northlng
Zone
Eastlng
Nonhlng
16 I5 19 18 19 101 14 1114 16 14 1 4101
4
See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundan- of the property on a contmuatm sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explaln why the boundaries were selected on a contlnuatlon sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
,,ameltitle
Calder Loth, S e n i o r A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r i a n
organlzatlon V i r g i n i a Department o f H i s t o r i c Resources
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
Richmond
date
March 1, 1992
telephone (804) 786-3143
state V i r g i n i a
zip code 23219
Additional Documentation
S~omltme to low ng tems w th tne completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the propetty.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
Tmstees, V i r g i n i a E p i s c o p a l School
C h a r l e s F. Zimmer, Headmaster
(complete th~sitem at tim requea ofS H m or Fm.1
C/O
name
street 8 number
city or town
P.
0. Box
Lynchburg
408
state
telephone
VA
(804) 384-6221
zip code
24505
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V I ? G I X I A ZTISCCPAL SCEUOL, I.ync:~bur:, i'ir:;i.iia
The nucleus of the historic area of Virginia Episcopal School is a complex of four red-brick
Georgian Revival institutional buildings designed by Washington architect Frederick H. Brooke
and built between 1915 and 1920. The focal point of this original group is the main building, Jett
Hall, a three-story general purpose academic and dormitory structure fronted by a Corinthian
portico. Immediately to the west is Pendleton Hall, a three-story dormitory and classroom
building treated as a subsidiary flanker to Jett Hall. To the southwest of Pendleton Hall is the
Langhorne Memorial Chapel, a diminutive but visually prominent structure set off by a Tuscan
portico and an ornamental belfry. The distinctive Barksdale Gymnasium, partly engulfed by the
later William King Field House, is to the east of Jett Hall. Three additional contributing
structures, all residential buildings, located to the north of the original complex, are within the
historic area. The oldest of these is the infirmary, know as the Mingea Cottage, a rambling
frame farmhouse erected ca. 1890 and underpinned in part by a circa 1800 brick foundation. To
the north of the Mingea Cottage is the 1923 Banks House, a stuccoed prefabricated dwelling in
a modified Dutch Colonial style. Immediately to the west of the Banks House is a Georgian
Revival faculty duplex house designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope Johnson and completed
circa 1926. Also within the limits of the historic area are three non-contributing buildings: the
colonial-style Headmaster's Residence (1954), a colonial-style faculty duplex (1959), and the
William King Field House, a modem-style structure attached to the Barksdale Gymnasium. All
three non-contributing buildings are of red brick. Except for the William King Field House, they
are sited to complement the original layout of the grounds. The historic area is unified by
handsome informal landscaping consisting of lawns, shrubbery, and a variety of large trees. The
principal landscape element is the front campus, a wide, tree-dotted greensward gently sloping
southward from Jett and Pendleton halls.
DETAILED ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The Virginia Episcopal School is situated in the fashionable northern suburbs of Lynchburg, at
the end of VES Road with Tobacco Row Mountain forming a distant backdrop. The property,
originally a farm, is approximately a half mile west of the James River. Surrounded by woods
and playing fields, the grounds preserve a pastoral character. The only element distracting from
this character is the modern high-rise Westminster-Canterbury retirement home complex to the
south of the front campus. The principal landscape element of the nominated portion of the
school is the front campus, a broad sloping lawn informally planted with shrubbery and a variety
of both evergreen and deciduous trees. The front campus is an original element of the school's
design.
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Description (continued)
Jett Hall
The dominant element of the school complex is the main building or Jett Hall, completed in
1916. The exterior of the building survives with practically no alterations to its original
appearance. A three-story, U-shaped structure, Jett Hall's mass is tempered by its graceful
proportions and by the elegant Corinthian portico fronting the central pedimented pavilion. The
three-bay portico consists of paired fluted Corinthian stone columns set on brick piers.' (The
comers are actually clusters of three columns.) Between the piers are concrete balusters. The
columns support a full Corinthian entablature with foliated modillions, all executed in galvanized
iron. Above the entablature is a wooden Chinese lattice railing interspersed with paired
pedestals. Topping the central pavilion and complementing the flat-roofed portico is a N m e n t
with a tympanum ornamented with garlands tied with bows flanking a wreath-framed roundel
in which there is a modem clock face. The pediment cornice as well as the cornice of the
entablature surrounding the whole building, is ornamented with large plain modillions. Both the
main entablature and the pediment cornice are executed in galvanized iron.
Jett Hall's facade is nine bays wide, the center of which is taken up by a slightly projecting
central pavilion fronted by the previously described portico. The first-floor windows are set in
shallow blind arches. The lunettes of the two central windows are ornamented with the
inscription "VES"in raised brick. The lunettes of the outer first-floor windows are ornamented
with lozenges in raised bricks. The front entrance has paired glazed doors topped by an attractive
scalloped arch of painted galvanized iron. Unlike the first and second-floor windows, the thirdfloor windows are paired as are nearly all the windows on the side and rear elevations. Except
for the first-floor facade windows, all the windows are topped with cast-stone keystones. The
building is covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed in what is probably the original slate. The
brickwork is laid in a variant of Flemish bond consisting of a stretcher course between courses
of alternating stretches and headers.
As originally designed, Jett Hall was to be connected by ornamental colonnades to two threestory flanking classroom dormitory structures. Of these, only the west flanker, Pendleton Hall,
was built. It was not physically linked to Jett Hall until the 1950s and then by a two-story brick
hyphen containing two apartments, rather than by the colonnade. Although the east flanker was
never constructed, the first and second-floor doorways that would have opened from Jett Hall's
end stairwell onto the colonnade were built, as was a large arched window between the second
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Description (continued)
and third-story levels.
Jett Hall's interior originally contained classrooms, offices, and a large study hall on the first
floor. The second floor had a rector's (or headmaster's) apartment; faculty quarters, and student
alcoves were also on the second floor. The third floor was almost wholly given over to students'
quarters. In the basement was planned to have laboratories, class rooms, a reading room and a
social room. The original plans did not specify a dining room and kitchen as these facilities were
planned to be in a separate building. As this was not built, the plan of Jett Hall was modified
to have the dining room and kitchen in the basement. These remained until the mid-1960s when
they were replaced by new facilities in another building.
The interior of Jett Hall has been modified over the years for updated facilities. The first-floor
entrance hall was remodeled in 1949 at which time a visitors' sitting room was provided. The
remodeling included adding the fluted pilasters between the sitting room and the lateral conidor.
The student alcoves on the upper floors were subsequently replaced with separate rooms. The
rector's apartment was also converted to student rooms.
Pendleton Hall
Pendleton Hall, originally known as West Dormitory, is a three-story rectangular structure
topped by a plain wooden entablature and shallow hipped roof. The windows on the main (south)
elevation are paired, double-hung sash on all three floors topped by brick jack arches with
keystones. A belt course is employed between the first and second floors and at the foundation.
The building's one entrance, at the eastem end, has been covered over by the modem link to
Jett Hall noted above. The first-floor center bay of the south elevation was originally treated as
an entrance element, with two columns supporting an entablature with balcony above, however,
this bay has always had a window rather than a doorway. The columns have been removed in
recent years and substituted by a pair of inappropriate wooden brackets. The west end of
Pendleton Hall has been obscured by a modem brick stairwell containing a fire escape. The west
end of the building is also linked by a one-story passage at the basement level to a modem
dormitory structure not included within the boundaries of the historic area.
The interior of Pendleton Hall is almost entirely utilitarian with no character-defining
architectural features. The first floor is divided into classrooms. Above are two floors of
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V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Description (continued)
dormitory rooms opening off central comdors.
Lan~horneMemorial Chapel
The Langhorne Memorial Chapel, an understated but architecturally attractive building, is
conspicuously sited just to the southwest of Pendleton Hall, at the end of the drive in front of
Jett and Pendleton halls.' The compact, temple-form structure is fronted by a Tuscan portico
sheltering a single entrance with a memorial plaque above. The entrance has a pair of paneled
doors with a semi-circular transom. The portico entablature is continued along the sides of the
building. A blocking course is employed on the roof where the portico joins the main part of the
building. Immediately behind the blocking course is a small but finely detailed domed, octagonal
cupola with an open arcade. The building is lighted by large, sliding-sash arched windows. As
originally designed, the chapel had shallow transepts, the south one containing an organ case and
the north one being used as a side entrance. On the rear of the chapel is a low extension
containing the sacristy and choir robing room.
The chapel interior is relatively simple with paneled wainscoting and plain plaster walls above.
The main character-defining features are the large timber roof trusses that visually dominate the
space. The roof trusses, windows frames, and wainscoting are all natural finished. On the wall
opposite the entrance is a blank Palladian window containing the school emblem and ornamental
organ pipes.
The chapel was enlarged in 1965 under the direction of Charlottesville architect Milton Grigg.
The transepts were extended for extra seating. The altar was removed from the west end and
replaced by a free-standing table on a circular platform under the crossing. The choir was
rearranged so that it now faces the entrance. The original pews were removed and replaced by
the present bench-type pews and the slate floor was added. The original roof trusses, windows,
and wainscoting were replicated for the enlarged transepts.
Barksdale Gvmnasium
The fourth building of the original complex designed by Frederick H. Brooke is the Baritsdale
Gymnasium, located approximately one hundred yards to the east of Jett Hall at a slightly lower
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V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburz, Virginia
Description (continued)
elevation. This architecturally interesun~ structure unfortunately has had its integrity
compromised by the large William King Fieid House attached to its northwest comer and by a
recent addition obscuring most of the south elevation. A proposed second field house, if built
as currently planned, would cover the east wall of the building.
The most distinctive aspect of Barksdale Gymnasium is the treatment of the exterior walls, now
visible only on the north and east sides. The ground floor is punctuated by paired double-hung
windows in each of the bays. On the principal level, marked by a belt course, are large blank
panels of bricks separated by pilaster strips. In alternating panels, (not entirely consistent) are
small slit windows. Contrasting with these slits is the clerestory, immediately below the eaves.
The clerestory has each bay penetrated by three casement windows with the panes of each
window following the pattern of Roman lattice.
The lower floor of the gymnasium is given over to locker rooms. The upper floor contains the
gymnasium itself which survives almost entirely in its original form and is an interesting
example of a physical education facility of the 1920s. A running track suspended on pipes
supports extends around the perimeter of the space. Large skylights flood the gym floor with
daylight.
Mineea C o t t a ~
The highest point of the grounds is occupied by the Mingea Cottage, a rambling, late-Victorian,
weatherboarded farmhouse now used for apartments and the school infirmary. The house has
a wrap-around front porch and an irregular roofline. The eastern portion of the house is
underpinned by a brick foundation laid in even Flemish Bond with finely tooled join&. The
brickwork is typical of the Federal-period Flemish bond of the Virginia Piedmont and probably
dates from circa 1800. The foundation apparently survives from an earlier undocumented
structure since nothing of the dwelling it supports appears to be earlier than the late nineteenth
century. The earlier structure is believed to have burned.) The first-floor rooms available for
examination have undistinguished woodwork of the period and had undergone various
modifications over the years.
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Description (continued)
Facultv Duplex
The 1926 faculty duplex designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope Johnson stands north of
Barksdale Gymnasium. Although an unpretentious, modified Georgian-style structure, it is not
without character and dignity. The main body of the house is a two-story, hipped roof structure
with end chimneys. A two-bay, gable roof section projects from the center. In the reentrant
angles formed by the projection are one-story porches with Tuscan columns. The building has
undergone no significant changes.
Banks House
The Banks House, immediately to the west of the Faculty Duplex, is a prefabricated house in
a modified Dutch Colonial style erected in 1923. The house is faced in rough-cast stucco and
is covered by a gambrel roof. The lower portion of the roof retains its early wooden shingles,
while the upper portion has been re-roofed with asphalt shingles. School records document that
the model for the Banks House is the "Amsterdam," and that it was ordered through the Aladdin
Co. of Wilmington, North Carolina.'
NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDINGS
Included in the nominated area are three non-contributing buildings erected less than fifty years
ago. Although classified as non-contributing, two of the 6uildings-are architecturally compatible
with the contributing structures. A third, the William King Field House, obscures the Barksdale
Gymnasium and negatively impacts the original layout of the complex.
Headmaster's Residence
The Headmaster's Residence is a two-and-half-story colonial style dwelling aligned with
Langhome Memorial Chapel on the west side of the front campus. Erected in 1954 and enlarged
in 1967, the brick house is a handsome addition to the grounds.
New D U D ~ ~ X
The "New Duplex" is a colonial style brick structure located just south of the Headmaster's
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Description (continued)
Residence. Built in 1959, the house helps to define the west side of the front campus.
William King Field H o u s
Erected in 1949, the William King Field House is in the unornamented modernist style popular
in the post-war years. Its only concession to the architecture of the neighboring buildings is that
it is built of brick. The building is attached to the northwest corner of the Barksdale
Gymnasium, thus destroying its relation to the rest of original complex. Unfortunately the siting
of the field house also precludes the construction of the east dormitory as envisioned by Robert
Jett and Frederick Brooke.
FOOTNOTES
I . Becauac the eolumru are p a i d , it i s not possible to determine if they are cast *one or real smnc.
2. In Frederick B m k e ' s reviaed ground plan for the lehml datcd April, 1917, the chapel is shorn on the c a a sida of the campus. A dining
hall is show on the site now oecupicd by the chapel. An undated ground plan by B m k c Lblcd 'Schcmc B' shows the chapel in iVI preen1
loeation.
3. Until the 1960s. an early ninetcenIh+entury log outbuilding, stcod to the w c t ofMingsa Cottage. This building was likely conlemponry with
the bousa that preceded Mingca Cotugc.
4. Joseph B a h , who long occupicd the h o u r , amled that the house was manuhctured by Sun. Roebuck & Co. The 'Amacrdam' model
illur*nted in the 1925 reprinI fmm the Scan Roebuck. & Co. Caulope i. similar lo the bank^ Hovv but mom elabontc.
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Virginia Episcopal School is symbolic of the many dedicated efforts undertaken by religious
institutions at the turn of the century to improve the availability of quality secondary education
and to foster allegiance to Christian principles among their youth. Through the late nineteenth
century, Virginia and much of the South lacked consistent public school systems, thus many
private organizations had to seize the initiative. Among the more active Virginia institutions in
this endeavor was the Episcopal church, which committed to establishing a system of church
schools. In the Diocese of Southern Virginia, the Reverend Robert Carter Jett (later Bishop Jett),
envisioned a preparatory school offering educational excellence in a religious environment for
boys of moderate means. With the optimism, energy, and commitment typical of the era, Jett
secured the necessary funds and support to make his vision a reality. The school was formally
opened in 1916 and has been an active, growing institution to the present. Jett had the foresight
to realize that much of the success of such a school was dependent on superior facilities and thus
engaged the prominent Washington architect, Frederick H. Brooke, to design an appropriately
imposing complex. Brooke's dignified Georgian Revival scheme, including classroom and
dormitory smctures, a chapel, and gymnasium, was largely realized and remains the focal point
of the school. The complex is architecturally significant as a cohesive and well-preserved
example of a church-affiliated preparatory school of the early twentieth century.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
A general system of public education was not established in Virginia until 1870. Before then,
secondary education was handled largely by individuals or private academies. Even after 1870,
public schools were uneven in quality especially in rural areas. Furthermore, the public schools
tended to stress vocational training at the expense of classical and academic education in the
secondary curriculum. For Virginians of moderate means who lived away from population
centers, obtaining sound academic training offered significant difficulties. As late as 1911, a
newly amved clergyman in a rural area of Virginia described the local school his children would
have to attend. "'It was a . . . one-room building with seats for eighteen pupils and an
enrollment of thirty-five; and taught through the fifth grade only. "' When he inquired how the
families in his congregation educated their children, he was told that tutors and governesses were
employed until the children were old enough to be sent away to private schools.'
To address some of the problems of education, as well as the need to strengthen the faith of its
youth, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in 1877 recommended establishing a diocesan system
of schools. Although there was agreement on the recommendation, progress was slow; it took
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EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
some forty years before an organized system was put in place. By that time the diocese had split
into three separate dioceses. The Diocese of Southern Virginia was formed in 1892 and the
Diocese of Southwestern Virginia was formed from the Diocese of Southern Virginia in 1919.
Thus the diocesan school system envisioned in 1877 was limited to eastern and northern
Virginia.
The problems surrounding education were probably greatest in the western and southwestern
areas of the state.' This region was largely rural or mountainous with widely scattered towns.
Except for Lynchburg and the fast-growing Roanoke, it had no cities of any consequqnce. For
the region's Episcopalians, who were very much in the minority, obtaining quality education at
the secondary level was a special challenge. The principal alternatives to the frequently
inadequate public schools were either military academies or private boarding schools. The latter
were generally expensive and far from home.
An individual acutely aware of the situation, and the effect it was having on E p i s ~ p a youth,
i
was Robert Carter Jett, rector of Emmanuel Church, Staunton.' Jett saw that many boys from
Episcopal families of moderate means, especially sons of clergymen, had no opportunity to
attend Epixopal church schools. If the public high schools near them lacked adequate quality,
the boys frequently were forced to attend church schools of other denominations. This was
particularly troublesome for Jett since the boys were being influenced by other faiths at an age
when they were making formative religious decisions. Thus not only were the Episcopalians
. losing the opportunity to expose their youth to their own traditions, they risked losing them to
other dominations. A denomination whose membership was small to begin with, especially in
southwest Virginia, could ill afford this drain.
Born at Port Conway in King George County, Virginia, Robert Carter Jett (1865-1950) was
endowed with a deep religious conviction and an intensity of purpose. A graduate of Virginia
Theological Seminary and Washington and Lee University, he was ordained into the Episcopal
priesthood in 1890. As early as 1906, while serving in Staunton, Mr. Jett envisioned establishing
a religious-orientated college preparatory school for boys of character and ability, where
admission could be offered at the least possible cost. He recognized that within a large area of
the Province of Washington there was no such institution to meet the needs of those with limited
finances.' Jett was firm in his belief that the church must cultivate its youth, for as he stated:
"'It is from this class of boys that we get our best leaders in business and in church and state.'"'
In addition to building character and strengthening church membership, Jett was especially keen
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Statement of Signif~cance(continued)
that his school be a vehicle for encouraging its graduates to enter the Episcopal ministry.
In 1906, at a diocesan council, Jett succeeded in having a resolution passed establishing a
committee to investigate educational needs. The committee, however, failed to take any action.
Finally, at a church convocation held in 1911, Jett was instrumental in getting a second
resolution passed--one calling for the adoption of a plan by which a church school for boys
might be established in southwest Virginia. The resolution further stated that a committee be
appointed to see in what southwest Virginia community it would be best to locate the school,
and to solicit endowment funds.6
The following year, the committee appointed Mr. Jett as principal of the future school and
directed that the it be named Saint Andrews School for Boys. This proposed name was soon
changed to the present one because a committee member, W. E. Mingea of Abingdon, insisted
that Virginia be in the title.' Jett immediately undertook most of the responsibility for raising
money and seeing that the school was built and opened. He resigned his position at Emmanuel
Church in 1913 and devoted full time to making his vision a reality. His first efforts were
directed toward learning everything he could about schools. He investigated design, construction,
administration, maintenance, and even food preparation. As part of his research, he visited
schools from Massachusetts to South Carolina. So earnest was his dedication that five railroad
companies gave him unlimited free passage.
It was on one of his trips that Jett determined the original layout of the school. Describing the
moment, he wrote: "As I neared Raleigh, North Carolina, . . . I drew an outline on an envelope
of what I conceived to be an adequate and sufficient objective. I wish now I had preserved this
first, initial design. However, it was put to good use before it disappeared." Jett stated that
upon returning to Lynchburg, he took his drawing to a local architect, William R. Burnham and
The picture to which Jett referred was an
had him "make a picture of my proposed ~chool."~
impressive colored architectural rendering that Jett used in the solicitation of funds. The
rendering, showing a large porticoed main building connected by arcades to flanking three-story
dormitories, still hangs at the school.
The committee working with Jett concentrated on finding a site for the school. It considered sites
in Bedford and Amherst counties and finally settled on the Howard farm, a tract of one hundred
and six acres just north of Lynchburg. The farm was considered an ideal location as it was only
five miles from the business center of the city and offered fine views of the mountains and of
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11
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Statement of Significance (continued)
the James River. It also was accessible to railroad lines. The Howard residence was a rambling
late Victorian dwelling built on the foundations of an early nineteenth-century structure."' The
purchase price of $18,000 was raised by Lynchburg citizens under the leadership of the
Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce.
One of the leading and most noteworthy benefactors of the school was Viscountess Astor (Nancy
Langhome Astor), the first woman member of Parliament. Lady Astor's family home, Mirador
in Albemarle County, coincidentally was the childhood home of Robert Jett's wife, Annie
Funsten Jett. This fact emboldened Jett to solicit Lady Astor's generosity during one of her visits
home. When he amved at Mirador, he was told Her Ladyship was out riding with a friend. Jett
set out in pursuit and encountered the two women just as Lady Astor's dog was attacked by a
neighbor's dog. Jett, without hesitation, broke up the fight and in so doing overcame his timidity
at asking for funds. Impressed by his vision, Lady Astor complied with a gift of $10,000 and
maintained a keen interest in the school for the rest of her life. She was also instrumental in
having her father, Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, donate the school chapel in memory of his wife,
Nancy Witcher Keene, resulting in it being named the Langhorne Memorial Chapel.
As previously noted, the initial concept for the school's physical plant was Jett's own. Although
Jett had William Burnham translate his idea into an architectural rendering, Burnham was not
commissioned to design the buildings. The commission went instead to the distinguished
Washington architect, Frederick H. Brooke (1876-1960), who became known to Jett through his
work at Episcopal High School in Alexandria. A native of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, Brooke was
a graduate of Yale University and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the
Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1906 he opened an office in Washington with Henri deSibour. Among
the principal works of his long career are the District of Columbia War Memorial and the
Portuguese, New Zealand, Swedish and The Netherlands chanceries in Washington. He served
as the local architect for the British Embassy, the only American work of the noted British
architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens. He also was the architect for the extensive alterations to
Dumbarton Oaks, the Washington mansion now maintained as a study center by Harvard
University.
Brooke's work at Virginia Episcopal School included the Main Building (Jett Hd),West
Dormitory (Pendleton Hall), Langhorne Memorial Chapel, and Barksdale Memorial
Gymnasium." The scheme for the main building and flanking dormitory generally follow the
Burnham rendering but with various refinements. Like Bumham, Brooke planned an east
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
Statement of Signiflance (continued)
dormitory connected to the main building by an arcade, but construction of this building was
postponed until necessitated by future growth.'=
Brooke's buildings are in the Georgian Revival idiom then fashionable for educational facilities.
Although the initial choice of style was probably Jett's, Brooke was able to give the complex
a dignified image with gracefully proportioned and detailed structures, devoid of the forbidding
monumentality characteristic of many institutions of the period. The buildings were well
appointed but in no way lavish. Architectural embellishment was kept to a minimum and then
used almost exclusively on the exteriors. The interiors of the Jett Hall and Pendleton Hall were
strictly functional. Only the chapel, with its large exposed roof trusses, was given an interior
of distinctive character. While a limited budget restricted architectural frills, Jett, mindful that
his school was not intended for wealthy boys, probably dictated a somewhat spartan flavor for
the accommcdations. Whatever, the lean interiors were offset to some degree by Brooke's
elegant Corinthian portico for Jett Hall. Brooke gave this normally conventional device a
distinctive individuality, and the portico has since served as the school's architectural highlight.
Jett Hall was completed in 1916, the year the school formally opened. Pendleton Hall was
completed in 1918 and Langhorne Memorial Chapel was completed in 1919." Barksdale
Memorial Gymnasium was ready for use in 1920." The school's original enrollment was sixtythree boys. It was increased to one hundred eleven with the completion of Pendleton Hall. As
rector, Jett continued his deep involvement with every detail of the school's operation." He and
his wife lived in an apartment on the second floor of the building later named in his honor. Until
the chapel was completed, Jett, along with the Reverend Joseph B. Dunn, the school chaplain,
held Sunday services in the hall of rector's apartment. In 1919 Jett was called to be the fust
bishop of the newly created Diocese of Southwest Virginia. He left the school in April of 1920.
Despite his new position Jett's involvement with the school did not cease. As bishop, he served
ex officio as chairman of the school's board of trustees until his retirement in 1938.
Virginia Episcopal School remains the product of Robert Carter Jett's vision. Although now a
coeducational institution, the principles on which the school was founded are essentially those
by which it operates today. These principles, a product the religious fervor and late-Victorian
idealism instilled in Bishop Jett at an early age, were well stated in Joseph Dunn's memoir of
the school's early days: "On one thing we (Dunn and Jett) were agreed, and that was that it must
be a school of Christian learning--and we arrived at the very definite conclusion that a Christian
was not just a certain kind of man--but that a Christian was d l of a man. That being accepted
Unlted Stater Department ot the Interlor
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
13
Statement of Significance (continued)
as axiomatic, then education meant that training with character as its end. Exact scholarship
could come only with strenuous endeavor and fidelity to the task imposed; but it had to be borne
in mind that study could teach lessons of industry and faithfulness what would be vital long after
the memorized dicta of the text-book were forgotten. Again, it had to be remembered that the
campus was as important in the training of youth as the lecture-room; and the ethics of play
more far-reaching in its effects that the laws of syntax or mathematics. It was with these
convictions that we chose 'The Full Stature of Manhood' as the school motto."'6
Although Virginia Episcopal School was founded under the auspices of the Episcopal Church,
the school, including the chapel, is an independent, private, non-profit institution owned and
governed by its own board of trustees.
ENDNOTES
I. Qvacd in D. Rdph Davim. J r . . l h c Origiru .cd his ofthe Church Sehmls a f t h c Episcopal Dioccv of Virginia.' p. 69:
Magazine of the Racaanl E o i s w a l Church, Vol. LN. March 1985.
2. Rior to 1919, mor of wemern and authwcmern Virpin* was wilhin the Diocese of Swthern Virginh.
3. Suumn 11 that time was within the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
4. The Epiropd Rwirrc of Washingon includes the saws o f P c m y ~ v a n * ,Maryl.nd.
of Columbia.
Delaware. Vigin*. West Virgin*, and the Dilvict
5 . Quacd in '19161920.' an oxccrpred section of an unidentified t e a about Viginia E p i r o p d School in the archives of the V
Depuvncnl of Hi.a* Rewurcca. p. 2.
6. R h n CMm Jen, A
d
H
of Vigioi. Dcpumra of H i c Rcwurces.
i
a
o
r
ofqubSchool
v
.iVirPini.,mnvnvwripl phaurop), in ucbivu
7. Mingu r W I o d . 'If V%?in* were pan of the mine, the r h m l would have a hiaory frnn the day of i u opening.' '1916-1920.'
8. 'Brief Hi*,'
9. aid.. p. 9.
p. 9.
i
p. 2-3.
U n k d States Department of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
page
14
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
Statement of Signiticance (continued)
10. The dwelling wa* laer renamed the Mingea Cottage in honor of W.E.Mingea, one of the original membcn of the schml commiaec and
an initial bcmfasmrofthe r h m l .
11. Virginia Episcopal Sfhml r e u i n a a m n h i p of Bmoke's original ink+"-limn working dnwingn forthe four origilvl buildings. The drawings
were recently Warufcmd for ufckeepins to the .rchilcctunl record, collection of the Jane. Memorial Libnry in Lynchburg.
12. The cast dormitory building was never eonstru~tedand the siting of the William King Ficld House, eonsllvctcd in 1949, presludem it from
ever being built as planned.
13. The chapel waselar& in 1965 by the additianofmruepu. The archiest wa. Millon L. Grigg afCh.rlorte~villc. The remdclingkludcd
relocating the 81Ur horn the we* end lo the crossing.
14. Il has long been mid that the pmponiorul ayucm of the Bul;d.la Gymnasium is b a e d on that of Solomon's Temple. This claim ir
subuntiared naithar on the dnwingm mr in any of the surviving comlpondcwc betwen Bmokc and Jctt.
15. The title of the r h m i ' l d i m t o r warn laler changed from reelor to headmaster.
16. Quoted in Devall Gw*thmey, ?he F i n Twenty-Five Ycan, 19161941. Virginia Epirap.1 Schml.' unpublished mnuscript photocopy
in amhives of Virginia Department of Historic Rcuurcos.
Unltd Stcnw Department of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
15
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Maior Biblioarawhical References
Davieson, D. Ralph, Jr. "The Origins and Goals of the Church
Schools in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia."
of the Protestant Eviscoval Church, Vol. LIV, No. 1 (March, 1985).
Gwathmey, Devall. "First ~wenty-~ive
Years, 1916-1941, Virginia
Episcopal School.11unpublished Ms. photocopy in archives of the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Jett, Robert Carter, Bishop of Southwest Virginia. " A Brief History
of the Virginia Episcopal School, Lynchburg, Virginia."
unpublished Ms. photocopy in archives of the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources.
United States Dwmnent of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
16
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Verbal Boundarv Description
Beginning at a point delineated by UTM reference A 17/660160/4146600 proceed south
approximately 500' to a point on the northern right-of-way of Williams Road, then proceed west
along the said right-of-way approximately 900', then proceed north approximately 300' to a
pint delineated by UTM reference D 17/659890/4146440, then proceed east approximately 200'
to a point delineated by UTM reference E 17/656630/4146440, then proceed north
approximately 200' to a point delineated by UTM reference F 17/659930/4146500, then proceed
east approximately 400' to a point delineated by UTM reference G 17/660040/4146500, then
proceed north approximately 300' to a pint delineated by UTM reference H
17/660030/4146580, thence east approximately 600' to the point of beginning.
The boundaries include the four original Frederick Brooke buildings as well as the Mingea
Cottage, Banks House, and Faculty Duplex. The boundaries also include the front campus--the
original landscape setting for the complex. The boundaries have been drawn to exclude three
school buildings erected since 1960 that are located immediately to the north and west of Jett
Hall and Pendleton Hall.
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form 1s far usa in nominating or requesting detwminations for i n d i u a l propewes and districts.
instructfonsIn How to W t e the
Nationat Register of Histwrc Places RegEstratim Form (Natbnal Rqister Bulletin 164.Complete each item by rnarklng "x" in the appropriate box or
by entsrlng the informB2lon reauested. If an Item d w s not apply to the property belng dmumented, enter " N I A for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classlficatm, rnatenals, and areas d sign~flcance,enter only caregorles and subcatwnas from the ~nstnrct~ons.
Place additional
entries and narrative items on contlnuatron sheets (NPS Form 70.90%). Usa a typewriter, ward processor, or computer, to complere all Items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
V I R G I N 1A EPISCQPAT, SmnOT,
other nam,os/sfie number
VES/Dm File NO.
1f 8-I29
2.2 bt
2. Location
street & n
~
m
b
e
city or town L r . n c h h l r r g C-d~nt
Virginia
state
code
r
~ ~ rn h 7
Rnnrl
~
~
l
L? not for publication
[71 vicinity
C i tv)
VA county N / A
code .680 zip code 24'313r
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I h e m certify that this
nornrnaflon
request for determ~natlonof eligibility meets the documentation standards for regfstering properties in the National Reg~sterof
Histonc Places and rnthe procedural and profe-nal
requlrernents set forth m 36 CFR Part 0
€
ln my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend tha th~sproperty be cons~deredsign~ficant
3 natroflally C! statewide IOCally. See continuatton shest for additionsf comments.)
(m
1
v i r g i n i a Department of
Historic Resources
State of Federal agency and bureau
h my
oplnion, the propem
comments.)
meets
does not meet the National Regfster criteria.
Signature of w w n g off icialrtle
(nSee continuation sheet for additional
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
I
4. National Park Service Certification
1 hereby
cen~lythat the properly is:
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
iLI
- entered in the National
Rwister.
<
See mmrnuation sheet.
detwrnind eligible for the
National Reg~sler
See conttnuat~onsheet.
determrned not eligtble for the
National Register
removed from the Nathal
Register.
c
3
0
17 other, (expiain:)
-
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Lynchburg. V i r g i n i a
Name m Pmww
county and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Properly
(Check as many boxes as apphl)
private
public-local
public-State
CI pubiic-Federal
C P ~ of~ PmWW
Y
Number of Resources wlhln Properly
(Check only one box)
(Do not include prenously llsted resources in the mum.)
3 building@)
Contributing
7
district
site
structure
object
Noncontributing
3
buildings
sites
1
structures
Totai
Name of related multiple property listing
Number of contributing resources prcwiously listed
in the National Register
(Enter " N I A if property is not part of a muniple property listing.)
0
N/ A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from lnstructlons)
(Enter categories lrom ~nstructlons)
TTnN- SP1-
v Srhnnl
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categcrles from ~nst~ctlons)
Lare
(Enter categories from ~nstructlons)
19th v
r
u
t
-
<ex)
Nanative Description
.
.
foundation
Brick
wails
Brick
roof
Slate
(Describe the hisIoric and Current mndltion of the propeny on one or more continuation sheets.)
Name of Property
OL
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark x in one or more boxes for the crlterla qualllylng the propefly
for Natlonal Register Ihstlng )
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from tnstructlons)
EDUCATIONAL
3 A Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
--
,
B Property is associated with the lives of persons
RELIGION
significant in our past.
-
;xC Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
Period of Significance
1916-1926
D Property has ylelded, or IS llkely to yleld.
~nformatlonImportant In prehistory or history
Criteria Considerations
(Mark " x " In all the boxes that apply)
Significant Dates
1916 (founding date o f s c h o o l )
Property IS:
A
-
_
A
A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
B removed from its orlglnal location.
N/A
C a birthplace or grave
L D
-
_
-
Significant Person
B is marked above)
(Complete 11 Crilerlon
a cemetery.
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
-F
L G
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past 50 years.
ArchitecUBuilder
F r e d e r i c k H. Brooke
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain
the slgnlflcance of the property on one or more contlnuatlon sheets I
. .
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibllography
(Cite the bwks, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
3 preliminary determination of individual listing (36
CFR 67) has been requested
5 previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National
Register
El designated a National Historic Landmark
D recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Primary location of additional data:
Q State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository:
V i r g i n i a Episcopal School
Lynchbrurg,
Virginia
Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Coumy and State
Name of Propew
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 1
0
UTM Refercmces
(Place addaionat UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
1
UL.Z h 1 6 1 n l d
Zone
Ean~ng
w
16 15 19 18 1910I 14 1114 16 13 14 1 01
3
Northlng
Zone
Eastlng
Nonhlng
16 I5 19 18 19 101 14 1114 16 14 1 4101
4
See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundan- of the property on a contmuatm sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explaln why the boundaries were selected on a contlnuatlon sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
,,ameltitle
Calder Loth, S e n i o r A r c h i t e c t u r a l H i s t o r i a n
organlzatlon V i r g i n i a Department o f H i s t o r i c Resources
street & number
221 Governor S t r e e t
city or town
Richmond
date
March 1, 1992
telephone (804) 786-3143
state V i r g i n i a
zip code 23219
Additional Documentation
S~omltme to low ng tems w th tne completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the propetty.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
Tmstees, V i r g i n i a E p i s c o p a l School
C h a r l e s F. Zimmer, Headmaster
(complete th~sitem at tim requea ofS H m or Fm.1
C/O
name
street 8 number
city or town
P.
0. Box
Lynchburg
408
state
telephone
VA
(804) 384-6221
zip code
24505
papnrorlr ~educuon~ c stltwmt:
t
mir infamaeon IS Wng m~~sclsd
lor ppp~tca~an.
to me National ~ e g h t mof ~ismricPlama to nuninam
properties for listing w dammine slilMlRy lor llsilng. to Ila pmpmka. and to amend exlding IWnge. R ~ s P to
~ this
M Rquat is nquiM to 0a benelil in acmrdance *In the NaUmal HI-P
k t , as ~ ~ m d (16
e dU.S.C. 470 et w.).
Unlted S t a t e s Department of t h e Interior
National Park Service
Natioi~aiRegister of Historic Places
Contirluation Sheet
Section -lumber
7
Page
1
V I ? G I X I A ZTISCCPAL SCEUOL, I.ync:~bur:, i'ir:;i.iia
The nucleus of the historic area of Virginia Episcopal School is a complex of four red-brick
Georgian Revival institutional buildings designed by Washington architect Frederick H. Brooke
and built between 1915 and 1920. The focal point of this original group is the main building, Jett
Hall, a three-story general purpose academic and dormitory structure fronted by a Corinthian
portico. Immediately to the west is Pendleton Hall, a three-story dormitory and classroom
building treated as a subsidiary flanker to Jett Hall. To the southwest of Pendleton Hall is the
Langhorne Memorial Chapel, a diminutive but visually prominent structure set off by a Tuscan
portico and an ornamental belfry. The distinctive Barksdale Gymnasium, partly engulfed by the
later William King Field House, is to the east of Jett Hall. Three additional contributing
structures, all residential buildings, located to the north of the original complex, are within the
historic area. The oldest of these is the infirmary, know as the Mingea Cottage, a rambling
frame farmhouse erected ca. 1890 and underpinned in part by a circa 1800 brick foundation. To
the north of the Mingea Cottage is the 1923 Banks House, a stuccoed prefabricated dwelling in
a modified Dutch Colonial style. Immediately to the west of the Banks House is a Georgian
Revival faculty duplex house designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope Johnson and completed
circa 1926. Also within the limits of the historic area are three non-contributing buildings: the
colonial-style Headmaster's Residence (1954), a colonial-style faculty duplex (1959), and the
William King Field House, a modem-style structure attached to the Barksdale Gymnasium. All
three non-contributing buildings are of red brick. Except for the William King Field House, they
are sited to complement the original layout of the grounds. The historic area is unified by
handsome informal landscaping consisting of lawns, shrubbery, and a variety of large trees. The
principal landscape element is the front campus, a wide, tree-dotted greensward gently sloping
southward from Jett and Pendleton halls.
DETAILED ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The Virginia Episcopal School is situated in the fashionable northern suburbs of Lynchburg, at
the end of VES Road with Tobacco Row Mountain forming a distant backdrop. The property,
originally a farm, is approximately a half mile west of the James River. Surrounded by woods
and playing fields, the grounds preserve a pastoral character. The only element distracting from
this character is the modern high-rise Westminster-Canterbury retirement home complex to the
south of the front campus. The principal landscape element of the nominated portion of the
school is the front campus, a broad sloping lawn informally planted with shrubbery and a variety
of both evergreen and deciduous trees. The front campus is an original element of the school's
design.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
2
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Description (continued)
Jett Hall
The dominant element of the school complex is the main building or Jett Hall, completed in
1916. The exterior of the building survives with practically no alterations to its original
appearance. A three-story, U-shaped structure, Jett Hall's mass is tempered by its graceful
proportions and by the elegant Corinthian portico fronting the central pedimented pavilion. The
three-bay portico consists of paired fluted Corinthian stone columns set on brick piers.' (The
comers are actually clusters of three columns.) Between the piers are concrete balusters. The
columns support a full Corinthian entablature with foliated modillions, all executed in galvanized
iron. Above the entablature is a wooden Chinese lattice railing interspersed with paired
pedestals. Topping the central pavilion and complementing the flat-roofed portico is a N m e n t
with a tympanum ornamented with garlands tied with bows flanking a wreath-framed roundel
in which there is a modem clock face. The pediment cornice as well as the cornice of the
entablature surrounding the whole building, is ornamented with large plain modillions. Both the
main entablature and the pediment cornice are executed in galvanized iron.
Jett Hall's facade is nine bays wide, the center of which is taken up by a slightly projecting
central pavilion fronted by the previously described portico. The first-floor windows are set in
shallow blind arches. The lunettes of the two central windows are ornamented with the
inscription "VES"in raised brick. The lunettes of the outer first-floor windows are ornamented
with lozenges in raised bricks. The front entrance has paired glazed doors topped by an attractive
scalloped arch of painted galvanized iron. Unlike the first and second-floor windows, the thirdfloor windows are paired as are nearly all the windows on the side and rear elevations. Except
for the first-floor facade windows, all the windows are topped with cast-stone keystones. The
building is covered by a shallow hipped roof sheathed in what is probably the original slate. The
brickwork is laid in a variant of Flemish bond consisting of a stretcher course between courses
of alternating stretches and headers.
As originally designed, Jett Hall was to be connected by ornamental colonnades to two threestory flanking classroom dormitory structures. Of these, only the west flanker, Pendleton Hall,
was built. It was not physically linked to Jett Hall until the 1950s and then by a two-story brick
hyphen containing two apartments, rather than by the colonnade. Although the east flanker was
never constructed, the first and second-floor doorways that would have opened from Jett Hall's
end stairwell onto the colonnade were built, as was a large arched window between the second
Unlted States Department of the interior
National Park Service
Nationai Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
3
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Description (continued)
and third-story levels.
Jett Hall's interior originally contained classrooms, offices, and a large study hall on the first
floor. The second floor had a rector's (or headmaster's) apartment; faculty quarters, and student
alcoves were also on the second floor. The third floor was almost wholly given over to students'
quarters. In the basement was planned to have laboratories, class rooms, a reading room and a
social room. The original plans did not specify a dining room and kitchen as these facilities were
planned to be in a separate building. As this was not built, the plan of Jett Hall was modified
to have the dining room and kitchen in the basement. These remained until the mid-1960s when
they were replaced by new facilities in another building.
The interior of Jett Hall has been modified over the years for updated facilities. The first-floor
entrance hall was remodeled in 1949 at which time a visitors' sitting room was provided. The
remodeling included adding the fluted pilasters between the sitting room and the lateral conidor.
The student alcoves on the upper floors were subsequently replaced with separate rooms. The
rector's apartment was also converted to student rooms.
Pendleton Hall
Pendleton Hall, originally known as West Dormitory, is a three-story rectangular structure
topped by a plain wooden entablature and shallow hipped roof. The windows on the main (south)
elevation are paired, double-hung sash on all three floors topped by brick jack arches with
keystones. A belt course is employed between the first and second floors and at the foundation.
The building's one entrance, at the eastem end, has been covered over by the modem link to
Jett Hall noted above. The first-floor center bay of the south elevation was originally treated as
an entrance element, with two columns supporting an entablature with balcony above, however,
this bay has always had a window rather than a doorway. The columns have been removed in
recent years and substituted by a pair of inappropriate wooden brackets. The west end of
Pendleton Hall has been obscured by a modem brick stairwell containing a fire escape. The west
end of the building is also linked by a one-story passage at the basement level to a modem
dormitory structure not included within the boundaries of the historic area.
The interior of Pendleton Hall is almost entirely utilitarian with no character-defining
architectural features. The first floor is divided into classrooms. Above are two floors of
Unlted S m Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
4
V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Description (continued)
dormitory rooms opening off central comdors.
Lan~horneMemorial Chapel
The Langhorne Memorial Chapel, an understated but architecturally attractive building, is
conspicuously sited just to the southwest of Pendleton Hall, at the end of the drive in front of
Jett and Pendleton halls.' The compact, temple-form structure is fronted by a Tuscan portico
sheltering a single entrance with a memorial plaque above. The entrance has a pair of paneled
doors with a semi-circular transom. The portico entablature is continued along the sides of the
building. A blocking course is employed on the roof where the portico joins the main part of the
building. Immediately behind the blocking course is a small but finely detailed domed, octagonal
cupola with an open arcade. The building is lighted by large, sliding-sash arched windows. As
originally designed, the chapel had shallow transepts, the south one containing an organ case and
the north one being used as a side entrance. On the rear of the chapel is a low extension
containing the sacristy and choir robing room.
The chapel interior is relatively simple with paneled wainscoting and plain plaster walls above.
The main character-defining features are the large timber roof trusses that visually dominate the
space. The roof trusses, windows frames, and wainscoting are all natural finished. On the wall
opposite the entrance is a blank Palladian window containing the school emblem and ornamental
organ pipes.
The chapel was enlarged in 1965 under the direction of Charlottesville architect Milton Grigg.
The transepts were extended for extra seating. The altar was removed from the west end and
replaced by a free-standing table on a circular platform under the crossing. The choir was
rearranged so that it now faces the entrance. The original pews were removed and replaced by
the present bench-type pews and the slate floor was added. The original roof trusses, windows,
and wainscoting were replicated for the enlarged transepts.
Barksdale Gvmnasium
The fourth building of the original complex designed by Frederick H. Brooke is the Baritsdale
Gymnasium, located approximately one hundred yards to the east of Jett Hall at a slightly lower
United States Department of the lnterlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
5
V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburz, Virginia
Description (continued)
elevation. This architecturally interesun~ structure unfortunately has had its integrity
compromised by the large William King Fieid House attached to its northwest comer and by a
recent addition obscuring most of the south elevation. A proposed second field house, if built
as currently planned, would cover the east wall of the building.
The most distinctive aspect of Barksdale Gymnasium is the treatment of the exterior walls, now
visible only on the north and east sides. The ground floor is punctuated by paired double-hung
windows in each of the bays. On the principal level, marked by a belt course, are large blank
panels of bricks separated by pilaster strips. In alternating panels, (not entirely consistent) are
small slit windows. Contrasting with these slits is the clerestory, immediately below the eaves.
The clerestory has each bay penetrated by three casement windows with the panes of each
window following the pattern of Roman lattice.
The lower floor of the gymnasium is given over to locker rooms. The upper floor contains the
gymnasium itself which survives almost entirely in its original form and is an interesting
example of a physical education facility of the 1920s. A running track suspended on pipes
supports extends around the perimeter of the space. Large skylights flood the gym floor with
daylight.
Mineea C o t t a ~
The highest point of the grounds is occupied by the Mingea Cottage, a rambling, late-Victorian,
weatherboarded farmhouse now used for apartments and the school infirmary. The house has
a wrap-around front porch and an irregular roofline. The eastern portion of the house is
underpinned by a brick foundation laid in even Flemish Bond with finely tooled join&. The
brickwork is typical of the Federal-period Flemish bond of the Virginia Piedmont and probably
dates from circa 1800. The foundation apparently survives from an earlier undocumented
structure since nothing of the dwelling it supports appears to be earlier than the late nineteenth
century. The earlier structure is believed to have burned.) The first-floor rooms available for
examination have undistinguished woodwork of the period and had undergone various
modifications over the years.
Untrod State8 0ep.rtrnom of tho Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Se~ti0nnumber 7
Page
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
Description (continued)
Facultv Duplex
The 1926 faculty duplex designed by Lynchburg architect Stanhope Johnson stands north of
Barksdale Gymnasium. Although an unpretentious, modified Georgian-style structure, it is not
without character and dignity. The main body of the house is a two-story, hipped roof structure
with end chimneys. A two-bay, gable roof section projects from the center. In the reentrant
angles formed by the projection are one-story porches with Tuscan columns. The building has
undergone no significant changes.
Banks House
The Banks House, immediately to the west of the Faculty Duplex, is a prefabricated house in
a modified Dutch Colonial style erected in 1923. The house is faced in rough-cast stucco and
is covered by a gambrel roof. The lower portion of the roof retains its early wooden shingles,
while the upper portion has been re-roofed with asphalt shingles. School records document that
the model for the Banks House is the "Amsterdam," and that it was ordered through the Aladdin
Co. of Wilmington, North Carolina.'
NON-CONTRIBUTING BUILDINGS
Included in the nominated area are three non-contributing buildings erected less than fifty years
ago. Although classified as non-contributing, two of the 6uildings-are architecturally compatible
with the contributing structures. A third, the William King Field House, obscures the Barksdale
Gymnasium and negatively impacts the original layout of the complex.
Headmaster's Residence
The Headmaster's Residence is a two-and-half-story colonial style dwelling aligned with
Langhome Memorial Chapel on the west side of the front campus. Erected in 1954 and enlarged
in 1967, the brick house is a handsome addition to the grounds.
New D U D ~ ~ X
The "New Duplex" is a colonial style brick structure located just south of the Headmaster's
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7 VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Description (continued)
Residence. Built in 1959, the house helps to define the west side of the front campus.
William King Field H o u s
Erected in 1949, the William King Field House is in the unornamented modernist style popular
in the post-war years. Its only concession to the architecture of the neighboring buildings is that
it is built of brick. The building is attached to the northwest corner of the Barksdale
Gymnasium, thus destroying its relation to the rest of original complex. Unfortunately the siting
of the field house also precludes the construction of the east dormitory as envisioned by Robert
Jett and Frederick Brooke.
FOOTNOTES
I . Becauac the eolumru are p a i d , it i s not possible to determine if they are cast *one or real smnc.
2. In Frederick B m k e ' s reviaed ground plan for the lehml datcd April, 1917, the chapel is shorn on the c a a sida of the campus. A dining
hall is show on the site now oecupicd by the chapel. An undated ground plan by B m k c Lblcd 'Schcmc B' shows the chapel in iVI preen1
loeation.
3. Until the 1960s. an early ninetcenIh+entury log outbuilding, stcod to the w c t ofMingsa Cottage. This building was likely conlemponry with
the bousa that preceded Mingca Cotugc.
4. Joseph B a h , who long occupicd the h o u r , amled that the house was manuhctured by Sun. Roebuck & Co. The 'Amacrdam' model
illur*nted in the 1925 reprinI fmm the Scan Roebuck. & Co. Caulope i. similar lo the bank^ Hovv but mom elabontc.
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Virginia Episcopal School is symbolic of the many dedicated efforts undertaken by religious
institutions at the turn of the century to improve the availability of quality secondary education
and to foster allegiance to Christian principles among their youth. Through the late nineteenth
century, Virginia and much of the South lacked consistent public school systems, thus many
private organizations had to seize the initiative. Among the more active Virginia institutions in
this endeavor was the Episcopal church, which committed to establishing a system of church
schools. In the Diocese of Southern Virginia, the Reverend Robert Carter Jett (later Bishop Jett),
envisioned a preparatory school offering educational excellence in a religious environment for
boys of moderate means. With the optimism, energy, and commitment typical of the era, Jett
secured the necessary funds and support to make his vision a reality. The school was formally
opened in 1916 and has been an active, growing institution to the present. Jett had the foresight
to realize that much of the success of such a school was dependent on superior facilities and thus
engaged the prominent Washington architect, Frederick H. Brooke, to design an appropriately
imposing complex. Brooke's dignified Georgian Revival scheme, including classroom and
dormitory smctures, a chapel, and gymnasium, was largely realized and remains the focal point
of the school. The complex is architecturally significant as a cohesive and well-preserved
example of a church-affiliated preparatory school of the early twentieth century.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
A general system of public education was not established in Virginia until 1870. Before then,
secondary education was handled largely by individuals or private academies. Even after 1870,
public schools were uneven in quality especially in rural areas. Furthermore, the public schools
tended to stress vocational training at the expense of classical and academic education in the
secondary curriculum. For Virginians of moderate means who lived away from population
centers, obtaining sound academic training offered significant difficulties. As late as 1911, a
newly amved clergyman in a rural area of Virginia described the local school his children would
have to attend. "'It was a . . . one-room building with seats for eighteen pupils and an
enrollment of thirty-five; and taught through the fifth grade only. "' When he inquired how the
families in his congregation educated their children, he was told that tutors and governesses were
employed until the children were old enough to be sent away to private schools.'
To address some of the problems of education, as well as the need to strengthen the faith of its
youth, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in 1877 recommended establishing a diocesan system
of schools. Although there was agreement on the recommendation, progress was slow; it took
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VIRGINIA
EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Statement of Significance (continued)
some forty years before an organized system was put in place. By that time the diocese had split
into three separate dioceses. The Diocese of Southern Virginia was formed in 1892 and the
Diocese of Southwestern Virginia was formed from the Diocese of Southern Virginia in 1919.
Thus the diocesan school system envisioned in 1877 was limited to eastern and northern
Virginia.
The problems surrounding education were probably greatest in the western and southwestern
areas of the state.' This region was largely rural or mountainous with widely scattered towns.
Except for Lynchburg and the fast-growing Roanoke, it had no cities of any consequqnce. For
the region's Episcopalians, who were very much in the minority, obtaining quality education at
the secondary level was a special challenge. The principal alternatives to the frequently
inadequate public schools were either military academies or private boarding schools. The latter
were generally expensive and far from home.
An individual acutely aware of the situation, and the effect it was having on E p i s ~ p a youth,
i
was Robert Carter Jett, rector of Emmanuel Church, Staunton.' Jett saw that many boys from
Episcopal families of moderate means, especially sons of clergymen, had no opportunity to
attend Epixopal church schools. If the public high schools near them lacked adequate quality,
the boys frequently were forced to attend church schools of other denominations. This was
particularly troublesome for Jett since the boys were being influenced by other faiths at an age
when they were making formative religious decisions. Thus not only were the Episcopalians
. losing the opportunity to expose their youth to their own traditions, they risked losing them to
other dominations. A denomination whose membership was small to begin with, especially in
southwest Virginia, could ill afford this drain.
Born at Port Conway in King George County, Virginia, Robert Carter Jett (1865-1950) was
endowed with a deep religious conviction and an intensity of purpose. A graduate of Virginia
Theological Seminary and Washington and Lee University, he was ordained into the Episcopal
priesthood in 1890. As early as 1906, while serving in Staunton, Mr. Jett envisioned establishing
a religious-orientated college preparatory school for boys of character and ability, where
admission could be offered at the least possible cost. He recognized that within a large area of
the Province of Washington there was no such institution to meet the needs of those with limited
finances.' Jett was firm in his belief that the church must cultivate its youth, for as he stated:
"'It is from this class of boys that we get our best leaders in business and in church and state.'"'
In addition to building character and strengthening church membership, Jett was especially keen
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Statement of Signif~cance(continued)
that his school be a vehicle for encouraging its graduates to enter the Episcopal ministry.
In 1906, at a diocesan council, Jett succeeded in having a resolution passed establishing a
committee to investigate educational needs. The committee, however, failed to take any action.
Finally, at a church convocation held in 1911, Jett was instrumental in getting a second
resolution passed--one calling for the adoption of a plan by which a church school for boys
might be established in southwest Virginia. The resolution further stated that a committee be
appointed to see in what southwest Virginia community it would be best to locate the school,
and to solicit endowment funds.6
The following year, the committee appointed Mr. Jett as principal of the future school and
directed that the it be named Saint Andrews School for Boys. This proposed name was soon
changed to the present one because a committee member, W. E. Mingea of Abingdon, insisted
that Virginia be in the title.' Jett immediately undertook most of the responsibility for raising
money and seeing that the school was built and opened. He resigned his position at Emmanuel
Church in 1913 and devoted full time to making his vision a reality. His first efforts were
directed toward learning everything he could about schools. He investigated design, construction,
administration, maintenance, and even food preparation. As part of his research, he visited
schools from Massachusetts to South Carolina. So earnest was his dedication that five railroad
companies gave him unlimited free passage.
It was on one of his trips that Jett determined the original layout of the school. Describing the
moment, he wrote: "As I neared Raleigh, North Carolina, . . . I drew an outline on an envelope
of what I conceived to be an adequate and sufficient objective. I wish now I had preserved this
first, initial design. However, it was put to good use before it disappeared." Jett stated that
upon returning to Lynchburg, he took his drawing to a local architect, William R. Burnham and
The picture to which Jett referred was an
had him "make a picture of my proposed ~chool."~
impressive colored architectural rendering that Jett used in the solicitation of funds. The
rendering, showing a large porticoed main building connected by arcades to flanking three-story
dormitories, still hangs at the school.
The committee working with Jett concentrated on finding a site for the school. It considered sites
in Bedford and Amherst counties and finally settled on the Howard farm, a tract of one hundred
and six acres just north of Lynchburg. The farm was considered an ideal location as it was only
five miles from the business center of the city and offered fine views of the mountains and of
Unftbd Stat- Oepartmem of the interior
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V I R G I N I A EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, V i r g i n i a
11
-
-
Statement of Significance (continued)
the James River. It also was accessible to railroad lines. The Howard residence was a rambling
late Victorian dwelling built on the foundations of an early nineteenth-century structure."' The
purchase price of $18,000 was raised by Lynchburg citizens under the leadership of the
Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce.
One of the leading and most noteworthy benefactors of the school was Viscountess Astor (Nancy
Langhome Astor), the first woman member of Parliament. Lady Astor's family home, Mirador
in Albemarle County, coincidentally was the childhood home of Robert Jett's wife, Annie
Funsten Jett. This fact emboldened Jett to solicit Lady Astor's generosity during one of her visits
home. When he amved at Mirador, he was told Her Ladyship was out riding with a friend. Jett
set out in pursuit and encountered the two women just as Lady Astor's dog was attacked by a
neighbor's dog. Jett, without hesitation, broke up the fight and in so doing overcame his timidity
at asking for funds. Impressed by his vision, Lady Astor complied with a gift of $10,000 and
maintained a keen interest in the school for the rest of her life. She was also instrumental in
having her father, Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, donate the school chapel in memory of his wife,
Nancy Witcher Keene, resulting in it being named the Langhorne Memorial Chapel.
As previously noted, the initial concept for the school's physical plant was Jett's own. Although
Jett had William Burnham translate his idea into an architectural rendering, Burnham was not
commissioned to design the buildings. The commission went instead to the distinguished
Washington architect, Frederick H. Brooke (1876-1960), who became known to Jett through his
work at Episcopal High School in Alexandria. A native of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, Brooke was
a graduate of Yale University and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the
Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1906 he opened an office in Washington with Henri deSibour. Among
the principal works of his long career are the District of Columbia War Memorial and the
Portuguese, New Zealand, Swedish and The Netherlands chanceries in Washington. He served
as the local architect for the British Embassy, the only American work of the noted British
architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens. He also was the architect for the extensive alterations to
Dumbarton Oaks, the Washington mansion now maintained as a study center by Harvard
University.
Brooke's work at Virginia Episcopal School included the Main Building (Jett Hd),West
Dormitory (Pendleton Hall), Langhorne Memorial Chapel, and Barksdale Memorial
Gymnasium." The scheme for the main building and flanking dormitory generally follow the
Burnham rendering but with various refinements. Like Bumham, Brooke planned an east
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
Statement of Signiflance (continued)
dormitory connected to the main building by an arcade, but construction of this building was
postponed until necessitated by future growth.'=
Brooke's buildings are in the Georgian Revival idiom then fashionable for educational facilities.
Although the initial choice of style was probably Jett's, Brooke was able to give the complex
a dignified image with gracefully proportioned and detailed structures, devoid of the forbidding
monumentality characteristic of many institutions of the period. The buildings were well
appointed but in no way lavish. Architectural embellishment was kept to a minimum and then
used almost exclusively on the exteriors. The interiors of the Jett Hall and Pendleton Hall were
strictly functional. Only the chapel, with its large exposed roof trusses, was given an interior
of distinctive character. While a limited budget restricted architectural frills, Jett, mindful that
his school was not intended for wealthy boys, probably dictated a somewhat spartan flavor for
the accommcdations. Whatever, the lean interiors were offset to some degree by Brooke's
elegant Corinthian portico for Jett Hall. Brooke gave this normally conventional device a
distinctive individuality, and the portico has since served as the school's architectural highlight.
Jett Hall was completed in 1916, the year the school formally opened. Pendleton Hall was
completed in 1918 and Langhorne Memorial Chapel was completed in 1919." Barksdale
Memorial Gymnasium was ready for use in 1920." The school's original enrollment was sixtythree boys. It was increased to one hundred eleven with the completion of Pendleton Hall. As
rector, Jett continued his deep involvement with every detail of the school's operation." He and
his wife lived in an apartment on the second floor of the building later named in his honor. Until
the chapel was completed, Jett, along with the Reverend Joseph B. Dunn, the school chaplain,
held Sunday services in the hall of rector's apartment. In 1919 Jett was called to be the fust
bishop of the newly created Diocese of Southwest Virginia. He left the school in April of 1920.
Despite his new position Jett's involvement with the school did not cease. As bishop, he served
ex officio as chairman of the school's board of trustees until his retirement in 1938.
Virginia Episcopal School remains the product of Robert Carter Jett's vision. Although now a
coeducational institution, the principles on which the school was founded are essentially those
by which it operates today. These principles, a product the religious fervor and late-Victorian
idealism instilled in Bishop Jett at an early age, were well stated in Joseph Dunn's memoir of
the school's early days: "On one thing we (Dunn and Jett) were agreed, and that was that it must
be a school of Christian learning--and we arrived at the very definite conclusion that a Christian
was not just a certain kind of man--but that a Christian was d l of a man. That being accepted
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
13
Statement of Significance (continued)
as axiomatic, then education meant that training with character as its end. Exact scholarship
could come only with strenuous endeavor and fidelity to the task imposed; but it had to be borne
in mind that study could teach lessons of industry and faithfulness what would be vital long after
the memorized dicta of the text-book were forgotten. Again, it had to be remembered that the
campus was as important in the training of youth as the lecture-room; and the ethics of play
more far-reaching in its effects that the laws of syntax or mathematics. It was with these
convictions that we chose 'The Full Stature of Manhood' as the school motto."'6
Although Virginia Episcopal School was founded under the auspices of the Episcopal Church,
the school, including the chapel, is an independent, private, non-profit institution owned and
governed by its own board of trustees.
ENDNOTES
I. Qvacd in D. Rdph Davim. J r . . l h c Origiru .cd his ofthe Church Sehmls a f t h c Episcopal Dioccv of Virginia.' p. 69:
Magazine of the Racaanl E o i s w a l Church, Vol. LN. March 1985.
2. Rior to 1919, mor of wemern and authwcmern Virpin* was wilhin the Diocese of Swthern Virginh.
3. Suumn 11 that time was within the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
4. The Epiropd Rwirrc of Washingon includes the saws o f P c m y ~ v a n * ,Maryl.nd.
of Columbia.
Delaware. Vigin*. West Virgin*, and the Dilvict
5 . Quacd in '19161920.' an oxccrpred section of an unidentified t e a about Viginia E p i r o p d School in the archives of the V
Depuvncnl of Hi.a* Rewurcca. p. 2.
6. R h n CMm Jen, A
d
H
of Vigioi. Dcpumra of H i c Rcwurces.
i
a
o
r
ofqubSchool
v
.iVirPini.,mnvnvwripl phaurop), in ucbivu
7. Mingu r W I o d . 'If V%?in* were pan of the mine, the r h m l would have a hiaory frnn the day of i u opening.' '1916-1920.'
8. 'Brief Hi*,'
9. aid.. p. 9.
p. 9.
i
p. 2-3.
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National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
8
page
14
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , V i r g i n i a
Statement of Signiticance (continued)
10. The dwelling wa* laer renamed the Mingea Cottage in honor of W.E.Mingea, one of the original membcn of the schml commiaec and
an initial bcmfasmrofthe r h m l .
11. Virginia Episcopal Sfhml r e u i n a a m n h i p of Bmoke's original ink+"-limn working dnwingn forthe four origilvl buildings. The drawings
were recently Warufcmd for ufckeepins to the .rchilcctunl record, collection of the Jane. Memorial Libnry in Lynchburg.
12. The cast dormitory building was never eonstru~tedand the siting of the William King Ficld House, eonsllvctcd in 1949, presludem it from
ever being built as planned.
13. The chapel waselar& in 1965 by the additianofmruepu. The archiest wa. Millon L. Grigg afCh.rlorte~villc. The remdclingkludcd
relocating the 81Ur horn the we* end lo the crossing.
14. Il has long been mid that the pmponiorul ayucm of the Bul;d.la Gymnasium is b a e d on that of Solomon's Temple. This claim ir
subuntiared naithar on the dnwingm mr in any of the surviving comlpondcwc betwen Bmokc and Jctt.
15. The title of the r h m i ' l d i m t o r warn laler changed from reelor to headmaster.
16. Quoted in Devall Gw*thmey, ?he F i n Twenty-Five Ycan, 19161941. Virginia Epirap.1 Schml.' unpublished mnuscript photocopy
in amhives of Virginia Department of Historic Rcuurcos.
Unltd Stcnw Department of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
9
Page
15
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, Lynchburg, Virginia
Maior Biblioarawhical References
Davieson, D. Ralph, Jr. "The Origins and Goals of the Church
Schools in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia."
of the Protestant Eviscoval Church, Vol. LIV, No. 1 (March, 1985).
Gwathmey, Devall. "First ~wenty-~ive
Years, 1916-1941, Virginia
Episcopal School.11unpublished Ms. photocopy in archives of the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Jett, Robert Carter, Bishop of Southwest Virginia. " A Brief History
of the Virginia Episcopal School, Lynchburg, Virginia."
unpublished Ms. photocopy in archives of the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources.
United States Dwmnent of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
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16
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, L y n c h b u r g , Virginia
Verbal Boundarv Description
Beginning at a point delineated by UTM reference A 17/660160/4146600 proceed south
approximately 500' to a point on the northern right-of-way of Williams Road, then proceed west
along the said right-of-way approximately 900', then proceed north approximately 300' to a
pint delineated by UTM reference D 17/659890/4146440, then proceed east approximately 200'
to a point delineated by UTM reference E 17/656630/4146440, then proceed north
approximately 200' to a point delineated by UTM reference F 17/659930/4146500, then proceed
east approximately 400' to a point delineated by UTM reference G 17/660040/4146500, then
proceed north approximately 300' to a pint delineated by UTM reference H
17/660030/4146580, thence east approximately 600' to the point of beginning.
The boundaries include the four original Frederick Brooke buildings as well as the Mingea
Cottage, Banks House, and Faculty Duplex. The boundaries also include the front campus--the
original landscape setting for the complex. The boundaries have been drawn to exclude three
school buildings erected since 1960 that are located immediately to the north and west of Jett
Hall and Pendleton Hall.
Text
(REV.
10.90)
KPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
T'hs form is f o r w m nominating or requesting derermimf~msfor ~ndwidualpropertis and districts. See t m c t i o n s m How to Complete Ihc NatronaZ
Register o f Histonc Places Regutration Form (NmonaE Raster BuIlehn ISA), Complete each Item by marbug "x" m the appropriate box or by entenng
the ~nformanon
quested. IF any Item does not apply u, the propeq being documenred, enter "Nth" Far "not applicable." For hnaions. mhitectural
classifcatlon, matenals. and arms of significance, enter only categories and sukate@ries fiom the ~nstructions.PTacc additional enmes and narranve
!terns on continuaaon shccts WPS Fwm 10-9008). Use a p m m t e r , word proc-sor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name Dr. Robert Walter JohnsonHouse and Tennis Court
other nameslsite number VDHR # 118-0225-0077
2. Location
street & number 1422 Pierce Street
-city or town Lvnchbur~:
stare Virginia
code VA
county Lvnchburn (City)
not for pub1ication %
A
vicinity NIA
code
Zip 24505
680
3. StatefFederat Agency Certification
As the desipated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property 2meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria I
recommend that this property be considered significant
nationally
statewide
locally. (
See
continuation sheet for additional cynments.)
-
-
Vireinia Department of Historic Resources
Stale or Federal agcncy and b w u
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments,)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certlflcatioa
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Repstet
See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
-
Signature of Keeper
A
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
-
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X building(s)
-district
-site
structlure
-object
-
Number of Resources within Propert)
Contributing Noncontributing
2
-0-buildings
1
-0-sites
-0-structures
-0-0-objects
-03
A Total
-
-
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling
Domestic
Secondarv StructureIGaraee
Recreation
Suorts Facilitv 1Tennis Court
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Sinele Dwellinn
Domestic
Secondary Structure / Garage
Vacant / Not in Use
S~ortsFacilitv 1 Tennis Court
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1M0)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Late 19" and Earlv 20" Century American Movements
Other: American Foursquare
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation Concrete
roof As~haltshinele
walls Wood weatherboard
Wood shinele
other Iron
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
X A
X B
-C
-D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"in all the boxes that apply.)
-A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
-B
removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
acemetery.
-E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
-F
a commemorative property.
XG
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form lb900
(Rev. 10-90)
OM8 No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Recreation
Ethnic Heritage: Black
Period of Significance 1933-1971
Significant Dates 1933Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Johnson. Dr. Robert Walter
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
McLauehlin. James T.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
-preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X- State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Family Papers
Name of repository: -Johnson
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property less than one acre
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 I7 663680 4141960 2
-
3-.-
4---
-See continuation sheet.
YPS Form 10-WO
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle: Alison Blanton. Architectural Historian
date March 6. 2001
Organization: Hill Studio. P.C.
street & number: 120 West Cam~bellAvenue
telephone 540-342-5263
city or town Roanoke
s t a t e x zip code 2401 1
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed f o m
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name Mrs.Erdice Creecv c/o Robert Johnson
street & number 12718 Saddlebrook Drive
telephone 301-962-0742
city or town Silver S ~ r i n g
state MD
-
..
zip code
-
20906
Panework
ReduetIan Act Shument:
This information is beinn collected for aoolications to the National Reaster of Historic Places to nominate
..r.
propcnlsr ior llsllng or dnmnine c l l g ~ b ~ lfor
~ r yllstlng lo lhsl propemes, and to amend cxtmng bsnngs. Response to lhls rcqusl 1s rcqulred lo obcrln
A benetit in accordance w t h the Nanunal Hlttonc Pmervat~on
Art. as ammdcd (16 L' S C. 470 c! scq 1
Estimated Burden Shternenk Public reoottinn
burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 h a m per response including the time for reviewing
.
~nstrucudns.garhenng and malnlalntng da& and complnng and re%tewngthe l o r n ~ t r & eommmcr rcgsrdang rhls burdm anmalr or any aspsl
. > i t n ~form
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thcChlcl. A d m ~ n ~ s m ScnIca
re
Dtvlpton. Ssnanal Park Semce, P 0 Box 37127. Washington. UC 20013-7127. and rheOfficeoi
Management and Hudgn. Papcnvork Rtducnons Projrn (lOZbW18), Washungton. DC 20503
~~
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~~~
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-
,.I
NPS Form 10-900-1
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 7 Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
1
7. Narrative Description
Summary Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court are located on a double lot at the northwest
comer of Pierce and Fifteenth Streets in the South Diamond Hill neighborhood of Lynchburg,
Virginia. The property includes the 1911 house and garage as well as the site of a clay tennis court
built by Dr. Johnson in the 1930s. The house, designed by James T. McLaughlin, stands as a good
example of the American Foursquare style with its two-story, two-bay form with hipped roof and
full-width front porch. The frame building sits on a raised concrete basement and features a
combination of weatherboard siding and wood shingles. A kame garage with a gable roof,
weatherboard siding, and double-leaf paneled doors stands at the rear of the property. The house and
the garage survive in excellent condition with only minor alterations. The tennis court is situated
on a full city lot directly west of the house lot and is separated by a hedge. Steps lead kom the side
yard of the house to the raised lot of the tennis court. Although the fencing, nets, lights and
scoreboard have been removed, the grading of the lot and the two metal net posts clearly indicate
the site of the court. A small commemorative marker at the southeast comer of the court reads
"During the early 1940s through the 1960s Dr. R. Walter Johnson trained aspiring black tennis
hopefuls on this site. Among these were Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe."
Inventory
1. Single Dwelling
2. Garage
3. Tennis Court
1911
1911
1930s
Contributing building
Contributing building
Contributing Site
Detailed Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court is located on the comer of Pierce and
Fifteenth streets in the Diamond Hill South neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. The house,
designed in 1911 by James T. McLaughlin, stands as a good example of the American Foursquare
style and is typical in size, style, and construction of the residential buildings of the
NPS Form 10-9W-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 2
surrounding neighborhood. The tennis court on the adjacent lot, however, is a unique resource for
the area. A concrete retaining wall extends around the property. Hedges surround the house as well
as define the residential lot and separate it from the adjacent tennis court.
Designed in the American Foursquare style, the two-story, two-bay dwelling is rectangular in form
and stands on a raised basement of poured concrete. Weatherboard siding covers the frame structure
on the first story with wood shingles on the second story and the roof dormer. A hipped roof of
asphalt shingles with wide eaves and a central front dormer tops the structure. The dormer is flared
with a hipped roof and wood-shingle walls. Concrete steps lead up to the one-story, two-bay frame
porch that extends across the fiont of the house. Simple, square columns with a turned balustrade
support the plain entablature and flat roof of the porch. The single-leaf wood door consists of a
single light over a single panel topped by a single-light rectangular transom. The windows are wood
sash with nine-over-one lights. A one-story, frame ell with hipped roof extends from the rear of the
house. A one-story, two-bay frame porch with hipped roof that has been partially enclosed with
latticework panels extends across the remainder of the rear elevation. A basement entry is located
on the east elevation along Fifteenth Street.
The interior of the house features the standard American Foursauare olan with an entrv hall and
living room across the front and the dining room and kitchen located across the rear of the house.
Two bedrooms and a bath are located on the second floor with two additional bedrooms in the attic
level. A bar was located in the basement, where Dr. Johnson entertained and kept his hunting
trophies. Interior finishes include hardwood floors, molded baseboards, picture molding, and fivepanel doors with transoms. Simple trim surrounds the door and window openings. Some of the
original ceiling fvttures and wallpaper remain. The staircase consists of three flights with a turned
balustrade and paneled, square newel post. Modem wall paneling has been added in the entrance
hall. The living room features a fneplace with a simple mantle with curved shelf supported by round
pilasters.
The ca. 1911 one-story frame garage is located at the rear of the residential lot. This frame building
stands on a concrete foundation with weatherboard siding and a gable roof of asphalt shingles.
Paneled, double-leaf doors open onto the yard on the west elevation. Windows that have been
covered with boards puncture the three remaining elevations. A dog kennel was built along the south
side of the garage for Dr. Johnson's hunting dogs.
NPS Form 10-900s
(8-86)
OMB No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 3
The tennis court, built by Dr. Johnson in the 1930%is located on an adjacent city lot directly to the
west of the house. Concrete steps lead through the hedges to this raised lot, which is steeply graded
to the south and east. This raised, flat area retains the original metal net posts and a small
commemorative marker in the southeast comer that indicate its use as a tennis court. The original
fencing, nets, lighting and scoreboard no longer remain.
Statement of Integriiy
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court survive in excellent condition with a
high level of integrity. Very few alterations have been made to the house and the garage since
Dr. Johnson's occupation from the 1930s until his death in 1971. Although elements of the
tennis court are missing, these are due to lack of use rather than any specific alterations. The
grading and the net posts of the court remain intact and clearly indicate its use.
NPS Farm 1 0 - W n
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8 Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
4
8. Statement of Significance
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court in Lynchburg, Virginia is eligible for listing
on the National Register under Criteria A and B with significance on the national level in the areas
of ethnic heritage and recreation for the period 1933 to 1971. Dr. Johnson (1899-1971) was well
known locally as a prominent surgeon who was active in local politics and the Civil Rights
Movement. He sewed on the city's Interracial Commission and broke the racial bamer at Lynchburg
General Hospital as the fust African American to earn staff privileges. On a national level, Dr.
Johnson played an important role in promoting the sport of tennis among young Afican Americans.
After moving to Lynchburg in 1933 to begin his medical practice, Dr. Johnson built a tennis court
adjacent to his home at 1422 Pierce Street. Recognizing that young African Americans were not
exposed to the sport at an early age and lacked opportunities to compete, he recruited young players
of all races throughout the country to play tennis at his summer camps. In addition to coachmg these
young players, he provided housing, meals, equipment, and clothing. As founder of the Junior
Development Program of the American Tennis Association, Dr. Johnson sponsored these players
in tournaments throughout the states on the East Coast. Among his prottgCs were Althea Gibson
and Arthur Ashe, the fust black female and male to win the Wimbledon championship. From the
mid-1930s until Dr. Johnson's death in 1971, the Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis
Court at 1422 Pierce Street sewed as a center for the training, mentoring, and financial support for
these and many other young Afican-American tennis players who have gone on to successful careers
in tennis and other occupations that may not have been available to them without Dr. Johnson's
encouragement, training, and support.
Historical Background
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson was born in 1899 in Norfolk, Virginia as one of nine children to Jeny
and Nancy Brown Johnson. After moving to Plymouth, North Carolina as a child, Johnson attended
Elizabeth City Normal School (now Elizabeth City State Teachers College) and Shaw University in
Raleigh, North Carolina. Johnson graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in the early
1920s, where he had a successful career as a football player and was named to the Negro All
American Football Team in 1924. Following college, "Whirlwind" Johnson, as he was known,
coached football at several colleges before entering medical school at Meharry Medical College in
Nashville. It was during his internship at Grand View Hospital in Texas that Johnson fust
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
5
discovered tennis and began a life-long devotion to the sport. In 1933, he completed his residency
and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia to begin his medical practice.
Soon after moving to Lynchburg, Dr. Johnson built a tennis court adjacent to his house at 1422
Pierce Street. Johnson became a leading member of the American Tennis Association (ATA), which
was formed in 1916 to promote the sport of tennis among the black race, which was not allowed to
participate in the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) due to segregation. It was not
until 1940 that the first Afiican Americans, Dr. Reginald Webb and Desmond Margetson, were
allowed to play in a USLTA tournament. A primary focus of the ATA in its developing years was
to establish the sport in the black college system to provide an avenue for scholarships to African
American students.' Dr. Johnson took this mission further with the establishment of the ATA Junior
Development Program in the early 1950s. Recognizing the benefits tennis offered as an individual
sport that promoted competition, discipline, and fair play, Johnson also realized that the sport
required equipment (a racquet) and facilities (tennis courts) that were not always available to young
African American~.~
Through the Junior Development Program and the Interscholastic Committee
of the ATA, Johnson helped to recruit promising young African Americans to the sport of tennis and
organize a system of tournaments through which they could compete. These efforts eventually led
to the desegregation of the USLTA.
Dr. Johnson personally contributed to the development of these players with the establishment of his
summer tennis camp at his home in Lynchburg. He would recruit promising young players on the
local and national level and invite them to participate in his summer tennis camp. In addition to
coaching and mentoring, he provided meals, equipment, clothing, and housing, either at 1422 Pierce
Street or in the homes of friends and relatives. Balancing the tennis camp with his medical practice,
Dr. Johnson would have friends and neighbors drive the campers to various courts for the daily
practice sessions supervised by his son Robert and colleague William "Babe" Jones. Each evening,
after showers in the basement of his house and dinner, matches would be played on the "home" court
adjacent to the house. During its heyday, this court featured bleachers, lights, and a scoreboard. On
weekends, Dr. Johnson drove the campers to various tournaments along the East coast.' Dr.
Johnson's players were always a strong presence on the ATA tournament scene.4
The influence and success of Dr. Johnson's work with the ATA Junior Development Program is
evident in the success of his players. The best known of these are Althea Gibson and Arthur
NPS Form 1 0 - m a
(886)
OM6 No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
6
Section 8 Page Ashe. Althea Gibson, who became the first woman to play in a USLTA tournament in 1949 and
went on to win the U.S. Open in 1957 and Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958 before turning
professional, recalls the summer she spent at Dr. Johnson's camp as a turning point in her
~areer.~
In her autobiography, So Much to Live For, Gibson gives credit to Dr. Johnson and Dr. Hubert A.
Eaton for giving her the opportunity to pursue a tennis career along with her academic^.^ Gibson,
who was originally discovered playing table tennis in Harlem in the early 1940s, came to live with
Dr. Eaton in Wilrnington, North Carolina during the school year and spent her summers at Dr.
Johnson's tennis camp playing in tournaments. With the support and training she received from
them, she earned a tennis scholarship to Florida A&M University in 1949. She went on from there
to become the first African-American woman to win the U.S. Open (1957) and Wimbledon (1957
and 1958).
Arthur Ashe was another champion who benefited from Dr. Johnson's commitment to developing
young black tennis players. The son of a policeman in Richmond, Virginia, Ashe did not have many
opportunities to play organized tennis. In the early 1950s, Dr. Johnson recognized his ability and
recruited Ashe for his summer tennis program. For nearly 10 years, Dr. Johnson supported Ashe's
tennis career as a coach, mentor, and benefactor. Dr. Johnson provided the training, competition and
exposure Ashe needed by sponsoring him in numerous ATA tournaments.' Ashe earned a tennis
scholarship to UCLA in 1961 and went on to become the fmt A6ican-American male to break many
barriers in tennis, including making the United States Davis Cup Team in 1963, winning the U.S.
Open in 1968, and winning a Wimbledon championship in 1975.
While the achievements of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe are well known, many other students of
Dr. Johnson's tennis program have taken advantage of the training and opportunities he provided to
achieve successful careers in tennis and other fields. Among these include: John Lucas, former
Houston Rockets player and NBA coach; Juan Ferrow, USTA 12 &under champion; Leslie Allen,
Virginia Slims Tennis Circuit; Dana Nottingham, an executive with Walt Disney; and The
Honorable Henry Kennedy, US District Court Judge in Washington, D.C. Dr. Johnson's
achievements and influence have been well recognized. In 1964, he was named a Doctor of Human
Letters by Lincoln University and in August 1965, the City of Lynchburg honored him with the "R.
Walter Johnson Appreciation Day." This celebration in his hometown included an exhibition match
between Arthur Ashe and Dennis Ralston, the No. 1 U.S. player at the time. In the year following
YPS Farm 1&900-s
(8-86)
O M 6 No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Page 7
his death in 1971, Johnson was honored with numerous awards for his role in promoting black
achievement, including: the Marlboro Tennis Award, the NAACP Life Membership Chairman, the
Spiro T. Agnew Honorary Citizenship Award, and was inducted into the Virginia State Hall of Fame.
In 1998, he was inducted into the Middle Atlantic Sports Hall of Fame and the Johnson Health
Center in Lynchburg was dedicated in his honor. His achievements and honors as well as those of
the young tennis players he supported give testimony to the influence of Dr. Robert Walter Johnson
and his tennis camp at 1422 Pierce Street in Lynchburg, Virginia in promoting black achievement
in the sport of tennis.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Robert W. Johnson, I11 and Jolynn Johnson Smith, grandchildren of Dr. Robert
Walter Johnson who generously supported the writing of this nomination in providing access to the
property and the family papers as well as sharing their memories of summers spent at their
grandfather's house and tennis camp.
Endnotes:
'''colored Players in the Colleges," undated article, Johnson Family files.
2
Downing, Dr. E.D., "TENNIS - The Ideal Recreation For Our Youth," undated article, Johnson
Family files and "Pioneer in Short White Pants," New York Times Magazine. New York, January
2,1966, page 23
3
Interview, Robert W. Johnson, III (June 2000) and Jolynn Johnson Smith (February 2001) and
numerous undated articles in Johnson Family files.
4"~iveJohnson Pupils Reach Final Rounds," "Dr. Johnson's Pupils Advance At Greensboro," "Dr.
Johnson's Troupe Wins in Net Matches," and other undated articles in Johnson Family files.
5~ibson,
Althea, So Much to Live For, 1968, p. 12.
'"~rthur Ashe Groomed For Tennis Stardom," in The News, Lynchburg, December 10,1964, p. B23 and "Pioneer in Short White Pants," in The New York Times Magazine, January 2, 1966, p. 23.
VPS Form 10-9OO-a
(886)
OMB No. 10246018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
9
-
Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
8
-
9. Bibliography
"Arthur Ashe Groomed for Tennis Stardom," The News. Lynchburg, December 10,1964, p. B-23.
Ashe, Arthur. In Memoriam: Dr. Robert Walter Johnson. Lynchburg.
"Colored Players and the Colleges," undated article, Johnson Family files.
Downing, Dr, E.D., "TENNIS -The Ideal Recreation For Our Youth," undated article, Johnson
Family files.
Gibson, Althea with Richard Curtis. So Much to Live For. New York 1968.
Johnson, Robert W., 111. Interview, June 21,2001.
Melone, Halsey. "Dr. R. Walter Johnson - Changing the Color of Tennis," Washington Post
Potomac Magazine, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1969, pp. 11-31.
"Pioneer in Short White Pants," New York Times Magazine. New York, January 2, 1966, page 23.
Preservation Association of Virginia. VDHR Intensive Survey: Dr. Walter Johnson House and
Tennis Court, VDHR Archives. Richmond, Virginia, 1993.
Smith, Jolynn Johnson. Interview, February 2001.
Smith, Jolynn Johnson. Preliminary Information Form: Dr. Walter Johnson House. VDHR
Archives. Richmond, Virginia, 1998.
Undated articles, Johnson Family files.
NPS Form 10-%a
(8-86)
OMB Yo. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 10
Page
Dr. Robert Waiter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
9
10. Geographic Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court property is delineated as Parcel 017-010,
Section 026 on the Tax Parcel Maps for the City of Lynchburg.
Boundary Justification
The boundary of the nominated property represents the historic and legal boundaries of the property
purchased by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson in 1933. These two adjacent lots include his house at 1422
Pierce Street and the tennis court he built on the adjacent lot in the 1930s to conduct his tennis camp.
The house and the tennis court were associated with Dr. Johnson and his tennis program until hls
death in 1971 and remain the property of his descendents.
c
*c
*,*A
,.
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
Heavy-duty
Medlum.duty
-
-
0U.
S. Route
L~ght-duty
---
Unimproved dirt
===-====;
0
State Route
LYNCHBURG, V A .
OUA""All,;LC
L";iTICi.i
Rev~s~ons
shown in purple and woodland complled in cooperatton with
Commonwealth of Virginia agencies from aerial photographs
taken 1982 and other sources This lntorrnation not field checked
Map edlted 1984
Purple tint lndlcates exterls8on of urban areas
N W / 4 LYNCHBURG 15' QUADRANGLE
37079-D2-TF-024
1963
PHOTOREVISED 1984
DMA 5158 1 NW-SERIES V834
*?G
*+
C '3
10.90)
KPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
T'hs form is f o r w m nominating or requesting derermimf~msfor ~ndwidualpropertis and districts. See t m c t i o n s m How to Complete Ihc NatronaZ
Register o f Histonc Places Regutration Form (NmonaE Raster BuIlehn ISA), Complete each Item by marbug "x" m the appropriate box or by entenng
the ~nformanon
quested. IF any Item does not apply u, the propeq being documenred, enter "Nth" Far "not applicable." For hnaions. mhitectural
classifcatlon, matenals. and arms of significance, enter only categories and sukate@ries fiom the ~nstructions.PTacc additional enmes and narranve
!terns on continuaaon shccts WPS Fwm 10-9008). Use a p m m t e r , word proc-sor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name Dr. Robert Walter JohnsonHouse and Tennis Court
other nameslsite number VDHR # 118-0225-0077
2. Location
street & number 1422 Pierce Street
-city or town Lvnchbur~:
stare Virginia
code VA
county Lvnchburn (City)
not for pub1ication %
A
vicinity NIA
code
Zip 24505
680
3. StatefFederat Agency Certification
As the desipated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Pan 60. In my opinion, the property 2meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria I
recommend that this property be considered significant
nationally
statewide
locally. (
See
continuation sheet for additional cynments.)
-
-
Vireinia Department of Historic Resources
Stale or Federal agcncy and b w u
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments,)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certlflcatioa
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Repstet
See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
-
Signature of Keeper
A
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
-
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X building(s)
-district
-site
structlure
-object
-
Number of Resources within Propert)
Contributing Noncontributing
2
-0-buildings
1
-0-sites
-0-structures
-0-0-objects
-03
A Total
-
-
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling
Domestic
Secondarv StructureIGaraee
Recreation
Suorts Facilitv 1Tennis Court
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Sinele Dwellinn
Domestic
Secondary Structure / Garage
Vacant / Not in Use
S~ortsFacilitv 1 Tennis Court
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1M0)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Late 19" and Earlv 20" Century American Movements
Other: American Foursquare
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation Concrete
roof As~haltshinele
walls Wood weatherboard
Wood shinele
other Iron
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
X A
X B
-C
-D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X"in all the boxes that apply.)
-A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
-B
removed from its original location.
-C
a birthplace or a grave.
-D
acemetery.
-E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
-F
a commemorative property.
XG
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form lb900
(Rev. 10-90)
OM8 No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Recreation
Ethnic Heritage: Black
Period of Significance 1933-1971
Significant Dates 1933Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Johnson. Dr. Robert Walter
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
McLauehlin. James T.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
-preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
-previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X- State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-X- Other
Family Papers
Name of repository: -Johnson
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property less than one acre
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 I7 663680 4141960 2
-
3-.-
4---
-See continuation sheet.
YPS Form 10-WO
(Rev. 10-90)
OMB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle: Alison Blanton. Architectural Historian
date March 6. 2001
Organization: Hill Studio. P.C.
street & number: 120 West Cam~bellAvenue
telephone 540-342-5263
city or town Roanoke
s t a t e x zip code 2401 1
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed f o m
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name Mrs.Erdice Creecv c/o Robert Johnson
street & number 12718 Saddlebrook Drive
telephone 301-962-0742
city or town Silver S ~ r i n g
state MD
-
..
zip code
-
20906
Panework
ReduetIan Act Shument:
This information is beinn collected for aoolications to the National Reaster of Historic Places to nominate
..r.
propcnlsr ior llsllng or dnmnine c l l g ~ b ~ lfor
~ r yllstlng lo lhsl propemes, and to amend cxtmng bsnngs. Response to lhls rcqusl 1s rcqulred lo obcrln
A benetit in accordance w t h the Nanunal Hlttonc Pmervat~on
Art. as ammdcd (16 L' S C. 470 c! scq 1
Estimated Burden Shternenk Public reoottinn
burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 h a m per response including the time for reviewing
.
~nstrucudns.garhenng and malnlalntng da& and complnng and re%tewngthe l o r n ~ t r & eommmcr rcgsrdang rhls burdm anmalr or any aspsl
. > i t n ~form
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thcChlcl. A d m ~ n ~ s m ScnIca
re
Dtvlpton. Ssnanal Park Semce, P 0 Box 37127. Washington. UC 20013-7127. and rheOfficeoi
Management and Hudgn. Papcnvork Rtducnons Projrn (lOZbW18), Washungton. DC 20503
~~
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~~~
~~
-
,.I
NPS Form 10-900-1
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 7 Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
1
7. Narrative Description
Summary Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court are located on a double lot at the northwest
comer of Pierce and Fifteenth Streets in the South Diamond Hill neighborhood of Lynchburg,
Virginia. The property includes the 1911 house and garage as well as the site of a clay tennis court
built by Dr. Johnson in the 1930s. The house, designed by James T. McLaughlin, stands as a good
example of the American Foursquare style with its two-story, two-bay form with hipped roof and
full-width front porch. The frame building sits on a raised concrete basement and features a
combination of weatherboard siding and wood shingles. A kame garage with a gable roof,
weatherboard siding, and double-leaf paneled doors stands at the rear of the property. The house and
the garage survive in excellent condition with only minor alterations. The tennis court is situated
on a full city lot directly west of the house lot and is separated by a hedge. Steps lead kom the side
yard of the house to the raised lot of the tennis court. Although the fencing, nets, lights and
scoreboard have been removed, the grading of the lot and the two metal net posts clearly indicate
the site of the court. A small commemorative marker at the southeast comer of the court reads
"During the early 1940s through the 1960s Dr. R. Walter Johnson trained aspiring black tennis
hopefuls on this site. Among these were Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe."
Inventory
1. Single Dwelling
2. Garage
3. Tennis Court
1911
1911
1930s
Contributing building
Contributing building
Contributing Site
Detailed Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court is located on the comer of Pierce and
Fifteenth streets in the Diamond Hill South neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. The house,
designed in 1911 by James T. McLaughlin, stands as a good example of the American Foursquare
style and is typical in size, style, and construction of the residential buildings of the
NPS Form 10-9W-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 2
surrounding neighborhood. The tennis court on the adjacent lot, however, is a unique resource for
the area. A concrete retaining wall extends around the property. Hedges surround the house as well
as define the residential lot and separate it from the adjacent tennis court.
Designed in the American Foursquare style, the two-story, two-bay dwelling is rectangular in form
and stands on a raised basement of poured concrete. Weatherboard siding covers the frame structure
on the first story with wood shingles on the second story and the roof dormer. A hipped roof of
asphalt shingles with wide eaves and a central front dormer tops the structure. The dormer is flared
with a hipped roof and wood-shingle walls. Concrete steps lead up to the one-story, two-bay frame
porch that extends across the fiont of the house. Simple, square columns with a turned balustrade
support the plain entablature and flat roof of the porch. The single-leaf wood door consists of a
single light over a single panel topped by a single-light rectangular transom. The windows are wood
sash with nine-over-one lights. A one-story, frame ell with hipped roof extends from the rear of the
house. A one-story, two-bay frame porch with hipped roof that has been partially enclosed with
latticework panels extends across the remainder of the rear elevation. A basement entry is located
on the east elevation along Fifteenth Street.
The interior of the house features the standard American Foursauare olan with an entrv hall and
living room across the front and the dining room and kitchen located across the rear of the house.
Two bedrooms and a bath are located on the second floor with two additional bedrooms in the attic
level. A bar was located in the basement, where Dr. Johnson entertained and kept his hunting
trophies. Interior finishes include hardwood floors, molded baseboards, picture molding, and fivepanel doors with transoms. Simple trim surrounds the door and window openings. Some of the
original ceiling fvttures and wallpaper remain. The staircase consists of three flights with a turned
balustrade and paneled, square newel post. Modem wall paneling has been added in the entrance
hall. The living room features a fneplace with a simple mantle with curved shelf supported by round
pilasters.
The ca. 1911 one-story frame garage is located at the rear of the residential lot. This frame building
stands on a concrete foundation with weatherboard siding and a gable roof of asphalt shingles.
Paneled, double-leaf doors open onto the yard on the west elevation. Windows that have been
covered with boards puncture the three remaining elevations. A dog kennel was built along the south
side of the garage for Dr. Johnson's hunting dogs.
NPS Form 10-900s
(8-86)
OMB No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 3
The tennis court, built by Dr. Johnson in the 1930%is located on an adjacent city lot directly to the
west of the house. Concrete steps lead through the hedges to this raised lot, which is steeply graded
to the south and east. This raised, flat area retains the original metal net posts and a small
commemorative marker in the southeast comer that indicate its use as a tennis court. The original
fencing, nets, lighting and scoreboard no longer remain.
Statement of Integriiy
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court survive in excellent condition with a
high level of integrity. Very few alterations have been made to the house and the garage since
Dr. Johnson's occupation from the 1930s until his death in 1971. Although elements of the
tennis court are missing, these are due to lack of use rather than any specific alterations. The
grading and the net posts of the court remain intact and clearly indicate its use.
NPS Farm 1 0 - W n
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8 Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
4
8. Statement of Significance
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court in Lynchburg, Virginia is eligible for listing
on the National Register under Criteria A and B with significance on the national level in the areas
of ethnic heritage and recreation for the period 1933 to 1971. Dr. Johnson (1899-1971) was well
known locally as a prominent surgeon who was active in local politics and the Civil Rights
Movement. He sewed on the city's Interracial Commission and broke the racial bamer at Lynchburg
General Hospital as the fust African American to earn staff privileges. On a national level, Dr.
Johnson played an important role in promoting the sport of tennis among young Afican Americans.
After moving to Lynchburg in 1933 to begin his medical practice, Dr. Johnson built a tennis court
adjacent to his home at 1422 Pierce Street. Recognizing that young African Americans were not
exposed to the sport at an early age and lacked opportunities to compete, he recruited young players
of all races throughout the country to play tennis at his summer camps. In addition to coachmg these
young players, he provided housing, meals, equipment, and clothing. As founder of the Junior
Development Program of the American Tennis Association, Dr. Johnson sponsored these players
in tournaments throughout the states on the East Coast. Among his prottgCs were Althea Gibson
and Arthur Ashe, the fust black female and male to win the Wimbledon championship. From the
mid-1930s until Dr. Johnson's death in 1971, the Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis
Court at 1422 Pierce Street sewed as a center for the training, mentoring, and financial support for
these and many other young Afican-American tennis players who have gone on to successful careers
in tennis and other occupations that may not have been available to them without Dr. Johnson's
encouragement, training, and support.
Historical Background
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson was born in 1899 in Norfolk, Virginia as one of nine children to Jeny
and Nancy Brown Johnson. After moving to Plymouth, North Carolina as a child, Johnson attended
Elizabeth City Normal School (now Elizabeth City State Teachers College) and Shaw University in
Raleigh, North Carolina. Johnson graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in the early
1920s, where he had a successful career as a football player and was named to the Negro All
American Football Team in 1924. Following college, "Whirlwind" Johnson, as he was known,
coached football at several colleges before entering medical school at Meharry Medical College in
Nashville. It was during his internship at Grand View Hospital in Texas that Johnson fust
NPS Form 10-900..
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
5
discovered tennis and began a life-long devotion to the sport. In 1933, he completed his residency
and moved to Lynchburg, Virginia to begin his medical practice.
Soon after moving to Lynchburg, Dr. Johnson built a tennis court adjacent to his house at 1422
Pierce Street. Johnson became a leading member of the American Tennis Association (ATA), which
was formed in 1916 to promote the sport of tennis among the black race, which was not allowed to
participate in the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) due to segregation. It was not
until 1940 that the first Afiican Americans, Dr. Reginald Webb and Desmond Margetson, were
allowed to play in a USLTA tournament. A primary focus of the ATA in its developing years was
to establish the sport in the black college system to provide an avenue for scholarships to African
American students.' Dr. Johnson took this mission further with the establishment of the ATA Junior
Development Program in the early 1950s. Recognizing the benefits tennis offered as an individual
sport that promoted competition, discipline, and fair play, Johnson also realized that the sport
required equipment (a racquet) and facilities (tennis courts) that were not always available to young
African American~.~
Through the Junior Development Program and the Interscholastic Committee
of the ATA, Johnson helped to recruit promising young African Americans to the sport of tennis and
organize a system of tournaments through which they could compete. These efforts eventually led
to the desegregation of the USLTA.
Dr. Johnson personally contributed to the development of these players with the establishment of his
summer tennis camp at his home in Lynchburg. He would recruit promising young players on the
local and national level and invite them to participate in his summer tennis camp. In addition to
coaching and mentoring, he provided meals, equipment, clothing, and housing, either at 1422 Pierce
Street or in the homes of friends and relatives. Balancing the tennis camp with his medical practice,
Dr. Johnson would have friends and neighbors drive the campers to various courts for the daily
practice sessions supervised by his son Robert and colleague William "Babe" Jones. Each evening,
after showers in the basement of his house and dinner, matches would be played on the "home" court
adjacent to the house. During its heyday, this court featured bleachers, lights, and a scoreboard. On
weekends, Dr. Johnson drove the campers to various tournaments along the East coast.' Dr.
Johnson's players were always a strong presence on the ATA tournament scene.4
The influence and success of Dr. Johnson's work with the ATA Junior Development Program is
evident in the success of his players. The best known of these are Althea Gibson and Arthur
NPS Form 1 0 - m a
(886)
OM6 No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
6
Section 8 Page Ashe. Althea Gibson, who became the first woman to play in a USLTA tournament in 1949 and
went on to win the U.S. Open in 1957 and Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958 before turning
professional, recalls the summer she spent at Dr. Johnson's camp as a turning point in her
~areer.~
In her autobiography, So Much to Live For, Gibson gives credit to Dr. Johnson and Dr. Hubert A.
Eaton for giving her the opportunity to pursue a tennis career along with her academic^.^ Gibson,
who was originally discovered playing table tennis in Harlem in the early 1940s, came to live with
Dr. Eaton in Wilrnington, North Carolina during the school year and spent her summers at Dr.
Johnson's tennis camp playing in tournaments. With the support and training she received from
them, she earned a tennis scholarship to Florida A&M University in 1949. She went on from there
to become the first African-American woman to win the U.S. Open (1957) and Wimbledon (1957
and 1958).
Arthur Ashe was another champion who benefited from Dr. Johnson's commitment to developing
young black tennis players. The son of a policeman in Richmond, Virginia, Ashe did not have many
opportunities to play organized tennis. In the early 1950s, Dr. Johnson recognized his ability and
recruited Ashe for his summer tennis program. For nearly 10 years, Dr. Johnson supported Ashe's
tennis career as a coach, mentor, and benefactor. Dr. Johnson provided the training, competition and
exposure Ashe needed by sponsoring him in numerous ATA tournaments.' Ashe earned a tennis
scholarship to UCLA in 1961 and went on to become the fmt A6ican-American male to break many
barriers in tennis, including making the United States Davis Cup Team in 1963, winning the U.S.
Open in 1968, and winning a Wimbledon championship in 1975.
While the achievements of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe are well known, many other students of
Dr. Johnson's tennis program have taken advantage of the training and opportunities he provided to
achieve successful careers in tennis and other fields. Among these include: John Lucas, former
Houston Rockets player and NBA coach; Juan Ferrow, USTA 12 &under champion; Leslie Allen,
Virginia Slims Tennis Circuit; Dana Nottingham, an executive with Walt Disney; and The
Honorable Henry Kennedy, US District Court Judge in Washington, D.C. Dr. Johnson's
achievements and influence have been well recognized. In 1964, he was named a Doctor of Human
Letters by Lincoln University and in August 1965, the City of Lynchburg honored him with the "R.
Walter Johnson Appreciation Day." This celebration in his hometown included an exhibition match
between Arthur Ashe and Dennis Ralston, the No. 1 U.S. player at the time. In the year following
YPS Farm 1&900-s
(8-86)
O M 6 No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
Page 7
his death in 1971, Johnson was honored with numerous awards for his role in promoting black
achievement, including: the Marlboro Tennis Award, the NAACP Life Membership Chairman, the
Spiro T. Agnew Honorary Citizenship Award, and was inducted into the Virginia State Hall of Fame.
In 1998, he was inducted into the Middle Atlantic Sports Hall of Fame and the Johnson Health
Center in Lynchburg was dedicated in his honor. His achievements and honors as well as those of
the young tennis players he supported give testimony to the influence of Dr. Robert Walter Johnson
and his tennis camp at 1422 Pierce Street in Lynchburg, Virginia in promoting black achievement
in the sport of tennis.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Robert W. Johnson, I11 and Jolynn Johnson Smith, grandchildren of Dr. Robert
Walter Johnson who generously supported the writing of this nomination in providing access to the
property and the family papers as well as sharing their memories of summers spent at their
grandfather's house and tennis camp.
Endnotes:
'''colored Players in the Colleges," undated article, Johnson Family files.
2
Downing, Dr. E.D., "TENNIS - The Ideal Recreation For Our Youth," undated article, Johnson
Family files and "Pioneer in Short White Pants," New York Times Magazine. New York, January
2,1966, page 23
3
Interview, Robert W. Johnson, III (June 2000) and Jolynn Johnson Smith (February 2001) and
numerous undated articles in Johnson Family files.
4"~iveJohnson Pupils Reach Final Rounds," "Dr. Johnson's Pupils Advance At Greensboro," "Dr.
Johnson's Troupe Wins in Net Matches," and other undated articles in Johnson Family files.
5~ibson,
Althea, So Much to Live For, 1968, p. 12.
'"~rthur Ashe Groomed For Tennis Stardom," in The News, Lynchburg, December 10,1964, p. B23 and "Pioneer in Short White Pants," in The New York Times Magazine, January 2, 1966, p. 23.
VPS Form 10-9OO-a
(886)
OMB No. 10246018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
9
-
Page
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
8
-
9. Bibliography
"Arthur Ashe Groomed for Tennis Stardom," The News. Lynchburg, December 10,1964, p. B-23.
Ashe, Arthur. In Memoriam: Dr. Robert Walter Johnson. Lynchburg.
"Colored Players and the Colleges," undated article, Johnson Family files.
Downing, Dr, E.D., "TENNIS -The Ideal Recreation For Our Youth," undated article, Johnson
Family files.
Gibson, Althea with Richard Curtis. So Much to Live For. New York 1968.
Johnson, Robert W., 111. Interview, June 21,2001.
Melone, Halsey. "Dr. R. Walter Johnson - Changing the Color of Tennis," Washington Post
Potomac Magazine, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1969, pp. 11-31.
"Pioneer in Short White Pants," New York Times Magazine. New York, January 2, 1966, page 23.
Preservation Association of Virginia. VDHR Intensive Survey: Dr. Walter Johnson House and
Tennis Court, VDHR Archives. Richmond, Virginia, 1993.
Smith, Jolynn Johnson. Interview, February 2001.
Smith, Jolynn Johnson. Preliminary Information Form: Dr. Walter Johnson House. VDHR
Archives. Richmond, Virginia, 1998.
Undated articles, Johnson Family files.
NPS Form 10-%a
(8-86)
OMB Yo. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 10
Page
Dr. Robert Waiter Johnson House and Tennis Court
Lynchburg, Virginia
9
10. Geographic Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The Dr. Robert Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court property is delineated as Parcel 017-010,
Section 026 on the Tax Parcel Maps for the City of Lynchburg.
Boundary Justification
The boundary of the nominated property represents the historic and legal boundaries of the property
purchased by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson in 1933. These two adjacent lots include his house at 1422
Pierce Street and the tennis court he built on the adjacent lot in the 1930s to conduct his tennis camp.
The house and the tennis court were associated with Dr. Johnson and his tennis program until hls
death in 1971 and remain the property of his descendents.
c
*c
*,*A
,.
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
Heavy-duty
Medlum.duty
-
-
0U.
S. Route
L~ght-duty
---
Unimproved dirt
===-====;
0
State Route
LYNCHBURG, V A .
OUA""All,;LC
L";iTICi.i
Rev~s~ons
shown in purple and woodland complled in cooperatton with
Commonwealth of Virginia agencies from aerial photographs
taken 1982 and other sources This lntorrnation not field checked
Map edlted 1984
Purple tint lndlcates exterls8on of urban areas
N W / 4 LYNCHBURG 15' QUADRANGLE
37079-D2-TF-024
1963
PHOTOREVISED 1984
DMA 5158 1 NW-SERIES V834
*?G
*+
C '3
Text
flw. 10.90)
NPS Form 10-900
O M 3 No. 1024-0018
United States Department sf the Interior
Nsttional Pnrk Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form i~ fur use i n n h a t a g or rcqt#sthgdctwmin~ions
for d i i pqdes
and d i s P i ~ See ~nmctionri n How to CompPcte rhc Nat~onal
Registtr of His!or~cPlaces Registration Form (National RcgrsrcrBulletin I6A) Complete tach %emby msrking 'x" t h e d m a t c 'bax or bytntenng
the lnformanon requested, Ifany ~ k m
docs notapply to the property being &urnenred, enter "NIA"fw "not ypl~cablc."F a bnolms, archiraral
classificm~on.rnatmials, md a m of s~gniticmcc,enter only categories and s u k a k p r ~ e sfrom the instructions. Place add~tionalentries and namtlve
iton%on comnuatlon s
h @PS Form IO-9OUa). Use a typewriter, ward prmmor, or computer, to complcte all items
1. Name of Property
historlc name William Phaup House
other namedsite number VQ~-8-Z18-0226-0246-
2.Location
not for publication
street & number 911 Sixth Street
vicinity N / L
city or town Lvnchbwe
state Virginia
c d c VA
county irnchburg (Ciw)
code 680
Zip 24505
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986,as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standads for registwing
properties in the Natinnal Registm of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 3.6 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X mects
does not meet rhe National Register Criteria. 1
recommend that this properly be considered sigificant
mtiofially - statewide & locally. ( - See
continuation sheet for additional comments.1
-
-
-
r
Signaturt: of cedylng off~cial
Dare
Virginia Department of Wiaoric RCSOU~CCS
S h t c itcr 1:edcral agen7 and bureau
In my opinion, the property
meets d o e s not meet the National Register criteria. (
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and burem
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby w14fythat thrs pmpwty is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
- wntinuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
other (explain):
-
-
-
-Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
-
OMB No. 1024-4018
NPS Fonn 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
-
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X building(s)
-district
-site
-structure
-object
-
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
1
-0- buildings
0
-0- sites
-00 structures
-00 objects
1
0 Total
-
-
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter " N I P if propetty is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories 6om instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling
Current Functions (Enter categories 60m instructions)
Cat: Work in Promess
Sub:
,,
OMB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1030)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Earlv Revublic: Federal
Materials (Enter categories 6om instructions)
foundation Brick
roof Jg&
walls Brick
other
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
-A
-B
X C
-
-D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives ofpersons significant in our past.
Properly embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark " X in all the boxes that apply.)
-A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
-B
removed fiom its original location.
-C a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
-E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F a commemorative property.
-G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years
NPS Form 10300
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Areas of Significance (Enter categories fkom instructions)
Architecture
Period of Significance 1817-1951
Significant Dates 1
817
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
ArchitecVBuilder P h a u ~ William
.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X- State Historic Preservation Ofice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository:
-
~.
OMB No.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property less than one acre
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663580 4142130 2
2
a_-
-
A
-See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a cootinuatioo sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle: Alison Blanton. Architectural Historian
Organization: Hill Studio. P.C.
date June IS. 200 1
street & number: -120 West Cam~bellAvenue
telephone 540-342-5263
city or town Roanoke
s t a t e x zip code 240 11
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request ofthe SHPO or FPO.)
name Mr. Paul Kitchin and Samuel K. Roskelley
street & number 3 18 Madison Street
city or town Lvnchborz
1024-4018
telephone 804-528-0873
state VA
zip code
24502
OMB No. 1024-4018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1030)
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Papemork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applicationsto the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listmg or determine eligibility for listing, to lin properties, and to amold existing listings. Resto this request is required to obtain
a benetit in accordance with the National Historic Pres-tbn
Act..,as
- mended (16
~~~ U.S.C.
- 470 el sm.).
Estimated Burden St.trrnrmt: Public reporting burden far thin form is estimated w average 18.1 how per raponse including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Dirsct commts r s g d i n g this burden estimate or any aspect
of this form to the Chief. Adminimalive Services DivisimNational Park Service. P.O.Box 37127. Washinamn. DC 20013-7127;and the Office of
Management and Budget, Papemark Reductions ~roject(l024418),washing&, DC 20503.
~
~
~
~
~
~
~~~
~~~~~~
~
~~~~~~
~~.,
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 1
7. Narrative Description
Summary Description
The William Phaup House is located on the west side of Sixth Street in the College Hill
neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. Situated one block east of Fifth Street, which served as an
early stage road and features several early 19' century taverns, the William Phaup House is one of
several Federal-style brick dwellings in the area dating from this period. The house, designed by the
local builder William Phaup, stands as an unusual example of a modest Federal-style dwelling with
its four-bay form and original entrance on the upper level. The two-story, four-bay dwelling is
constructed of brick laid in three-course American bond with a gable roof of standing seam metal
and two interior-end chimneys. The house originally featured a raised front porch leading to a main
entrance on the upper level. The porch has been removed and the original entrance has been
converted to a window. The house is situated on a steeply-sloped site that features stone retaining
walls across the rear of the house and the north side of the property. There are no surviving
outbuildings. The house survives in fair condition with only minor alterations.
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 2
Detailed Description
The ca. 1817 William Phaup House is located at 91 1 Sixth Street in the College Hill
neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. The site is a residential lot that is steeply graded to the
rear (west) and overgrown. A stone retaining wall extends along the west and north sides of the
property. The William Phaup House is a two-story, four-bay brick dwelling designed in the
Federal style in the early 1800s. The building is constructed of brick laid in three-course
American bond on a solid brick foundation with a side-gable roof of standing seam metal. The
wood shakes of the original roof are visible in some places. A gabled dormer projects at the rear
of the building. Interior end chimneys frame the structure. Four-light casement windows flank
the chimneys at either gable end. There is evidence of a fireplace opening on the exterior wall of
the south chimney. A corbelled brick cornice and jack arches over the window and door
openings are the only adornments to this simple structure. The single-leaf entry features a raised,
six-panel door with mortised and pegged joints and original door handle. The windows are
double-hung sash with 619 lights topped by jack arches.
Interior
The interior of the William Phaup House features a hall-and-parlor plan that has been modified
on the upper floor with the addition of a partition wall to create a central stair hall. The ground
floor features a newer concrete floor while the upper stories have floors of random-width pine.
The walls and ceiling are plaster, either directly on brick on the exterior walls or on riven lathe
on the interior walls and ceilings. A simple molded baseboard and chair rail adorn the rooms.
Simple wood casings surround the window and door openings. The interior doors are board-andbatten. The staircase features winder stairs and beaded board paneling. The house contains a
total of six fireplaces, the majority of which feature only the arched brick opening and have been
infilled with brick and fitted for stove flues. The only surviving mantel is shallow in profile and
features slender pilasters supporting a narrow shelf.
Alterations
A raised porch with shed roof supported by squared posts originally provided access to the main
entrance on the upper floor. The porch has been removed and the 2ndstory entrance has been
converted to a window. A two-story frame addition with shed roof has been added to the rear of
the building. A dormer window has also been added. A window on the ground level has been
infilled with brick. On the interior, a concrete floor at ground level has been added. The
fireplaces have been infilled with brick and fitted for stove flues and the majority of the mantels
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OM9 No. 10244018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 3
are missing. A new opening on the ground floor from the stair to the north room has been
introduced. A partition wall added on the upper floor creates a central stair hall. Closets and
bathrooms have also been added on the interior
Statement of Integrity
The William Phaup House survives in fair condition with a high level of integrity. Very few
alterations have been made to the house since its construction in 1817. The primary threat to the
integrity of the property is neglect. Its interior features, such as original mantels, are missing and
cracks, particularly along the north wall, indicate some structural problems that require attention.
NPS Farm 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OMB No. 10244018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 8 Page 4
8. Summary Statement of Significance
The William Phaup House in Lynchburg, Virginia is significant on the local level under Criterion
C with significance in the area of architecture for the period 1817 to 1951. Constructed ca. 18 17
by William Phaup, a local builder, the house stands as a rare surviving example of the more
modest Federal-style dwellings built in Lynchburg in the early 19th century by artisans,
tradesmen and other middle-class settlers. The house is an unusual hybrid between a Federalstyle mansion and a cottage with its four-bay form and original entrance on the upper floor over a
full basement. Located within the area annexed by the town in 1814, the construction of the
William Phaup House reflects the tremendous growth Lynchburg experienced during the
prosperous years of the early 19'~century. The William Phaup House is one of several early 19"century brick dwellings in the Federal style located in the vicinity of Fifth Street, which served as
an early stage road leading to the county seat of New London and points west.
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Nh 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 8 Page 5
Historical Background
The first two decades of the 19" century were a time of great prosperity and growth for
Lynchburg. Even prior to the annexations of 1814 and 1819, which quadrupled the area of
Lynchburg, John Lynch began selling lots of land in the outlying areas (Chambers, 1981:40).
These lands were surveyed along the grid pattern of the original town plan and were assimilated
easily into the town plan after the annexations. William Phaup, a local builder, purchased two
adjoining 112-acre lots from John Lynch in 1817 for the sum of $300 (Chambers, 1981:74, Deed
Book D, p. 20). By 1818, tax records assessed his property at a value of $3900, indicating that
Phaup had constructed the house at 91 1 Sixth Street (lot 386 on what was then known as 5"
Alley) as well as a similar house on the adjoining lot at 610 Polk Street (Chambers, 1816-1818
Land Tax Book). William Phaup appears to be a speculator as he developed several lots in the
area and soon sold the house at 91 1 Sixth Street to Anne Cobb in 1828 (Deed Book I, p. 344). In
1837, the house was sold again to John Mallory (Deed Book N, p. 188). After the Civil War, the
house continued to serve as a modest, middle class residence with Robert A. Hockaday, the
superintendent of a tobacco factory, listed as the owner (Chataigne, 1887-1888).
The William Phaup House survives today as one of the older more modest structures related to
the growing population and expanding development of Lynchburg in the early 19" century. The
population of Lynchburg increased dramatically fiom 500 in I800 to 3,087 in 1916. While many
ofthe larger and more elaborate residences of the period survive on Courthouse and Federal hills,
the William Phaup House reflects the more modest dwellings of the middle class. These
dwellings were often located in the less desirable lands in between the hilltops (Chambers, 73).
Unfortunately, many of these more modest houses do not survive the threats of neglect and
development as their architectural significance is not as apparent and they are not associated with
the more prominent citizens of Lynchburg. Located near the early stage road that is now 5th
StreetIRoute 29 Business, the William Phaup House is one of several early 19"-century, Federalstyle, brick dwellings in the neighborhood. This area near the newly established Joseph Nichol's
Tavern (ca. 1815, later known as the Western Hotel) and the ca. 1815 Kentucky Hotel on the
main road leading to New London developed fairly quickly after the annexation. The survival
today of these taverns and early 19'h-century dwellings gives evidence of that development.
1
NPS Form 10-900
OMB N a 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 9 Page 6
9. Bibliography
I
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University of
Virginia Press, 1981.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General Directow of the
Citizens of Lvnchburg and Danville and Town of Liberty. Richmond, VA: JP Bell & CO.,
1874.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory, Containing a General and Business
Directow of the Citizens of Lynchburg. Richmond,VA: JH Chataigne, 1881.
City of Lynchburg Deed Books.
City of Lynchburg Land Tax Books.
Greenhome & O'Mara. Final Report Historic Architectural Survev: Diamond Hill South,
Lvnchburg Virginia. Greenbelt, MD: 1994.
Lvnchburg Citv Directow. 1885. Lynchburg, VA: JP Bell & Co., 1885.
Martin, Joseph. A New and Com~rehensiveGazetteer of Virgjnia and the District of Columbia.
Charlottesville, VA: Moseley & Tompkins, 1836.
s Lvnchburg. Cam~bellCountv. Virginia. 1885-1951.
Sanbom Map Company. Insurance M a ~ of
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. The Historv of Lynchburg. Virginia 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA: JP
Bell & Co., 1971.
,.
i:
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OMB No. 1024-4018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 10 Page 7
10. Geographic Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The William Phaup House is identified as Parcel 01 7-010, Section 026 on the tax parcel maps for
the City of Lynchburg.
Boundary Justification
The boundary of the nominated property represents the historic and legal boundaries of the property
purchased by William Phaup in 1817 and includes the house built by Phaup in 1817.
NPS Form 10-900
O M 3 No. 1024-0018
United States Department sf the Interior
Nsttional Pnrk Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form i~ fur use i n n h a t a g or rcqt#sthgdctwmin~ions
for d i i pqdes
and d i s P i ~ See ~nmctionri n How to CompPcte rhc Nat~onal
Registtr of His!or~cPlaces Registration Form (National RcgrsrcrBulletin I6A) Complete tach %emby msrking 'x" t h e d m a t c 'bax or bytntenng
the lnformanon requested, Ifany ~ k m
docs notapply to the property being &urnenred, enter "NIA"fw "not ypl~cablc."F a bnolms, archiraral
classificm~on.rnatmials, md a m of s~gniticmcc,enter only categories and s u k a k p r ~ e sfrom the instructions. Place add~tionalentries and namtlve
iton%on comnuatlon s
h @PS Form IO-9OUa). Use a typewriter, ward prmmor, or computer, to complcte all items
1. Name of Property
historlc name William Phaup House
other namedsite number VQ~-8-Z18-0226-0246-
2.Location
not for publication
street & number 911 Sixth Street
vicinity N / L
city or town Lvnchbwe
state Virginia
c d c VA
county irnchburg (Ciw)
code 680
Zip 24505
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986,as amended, I hereby certify that this
X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standads for registwing
properties in the Natinnal Registm of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 3.6 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X mects
does not meet rhe National Register Criteria. 1
recommend that this properly be considered sigificant
mtiofially - statewide & locally. ( - See
continuation sheet for additional comments.1
-
-
-
r
Signaturt: of cedylng off~cial
Dare
Virginia Department of Wiaoric RCSOU~CCS
S h t c itcr 1:edcral agen7 and bureau
In my opinion, the property
meets d o e s not meet the National Register criteria. (
See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and burem
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby w14fythat thrs pmpwty is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
- wntinuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
other (explain):
-
-
-
-Signature of Keeper
Date of Action
-
OMB No. 1024-4018
NPS Fonn 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
X private
-public-local
-public-State
-public-Federal
-
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X building(s)
-district
-site
-structure
-object
-
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
1
-0- buildings
0
-0- sites
-00 structures
-00 objects
1
0 Total
-
-
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter " N I P if propetty is not part of a multiple property listing.)
NIA
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories 6om instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling
Current Functions (Enter categories 60m instructions)
Cat: Work in Promess
Sub:
,,
OMB No. 10244018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1030)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Earlv Revublic: Federal
Materials (Enter categories 6om instructions)
foundation Brick
roof Jg&
walls Brick
other
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
-A
-B
X C
-
-D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives ofpersons significant in our past.
Properly embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark " X in all the boxes that apply.)
-A
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
-B
removed fiom its original location.
-C a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
-E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F a commemorative property.
-G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years
NPS Form 10300
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-4018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Areas of Significance (Enter categories fkom instructions)
Architecture
Period of Significance 1817-1951
Significant Dates 1
817
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
ArchitecVBuilder P h a u ~ William
.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
-designated a National Historic Landmark
-recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X- State Historic Preservation Ofice
-Other State agency
-Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository:
-
~.
OMB No.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property less than one acre
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663580 4142130 2
2
a_-
-
A
-See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a cootinuatioo sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
nameltitle: Alison Blanton. Architectural Historian
Organization: Hill Studio. P.C.
date June IS. 200 1
street & number: -120 West Cam~bellAvenue
telephone 540-342-5263
city or town Roanoke
s t a t e x zip code 240 11
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request ofthe SHPO or FPO.)
name Mr. Paul Kitchin and Samuel K. Roskelley
street & number 3 18 Madison Street
city or town Lvnchborz
1024-4018
telephone 804-528-0873
state VA
zip code
24502
OMB No. 1024-4018
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 1030)
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Papemork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applicationsto the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listmg or determine eligibility for listing, to lin properties, and to amold existing listings. Resto this request is required to obtain
a benetit in accordance with the National Historic Pres-tbn
Act..,as
- mended (16
~~~ U.S.C.
- 470 el sm.).
Estimated Burden St.trrnrmt: Public reporting burden far thin form is estimated w average 18.1 how per raponse including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Dirsct commts r s g d i n g this burden estimate or any aspect
of this form to the Chief. Adminimalive Services DivisimNational Park Service. P.O.Box 37127. Washinamn. DC 20013-7127;and the Office of
Management and Budget, Papemark Reductions ~roject(l024418),washing&, DC 20503.
~
~
~
~
~
~
~~~
~~~~~~
~
~~~~~~
~~.,
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 1
7. Narrative Description
Summary Description
The William Phaup House is located on the west side of Sixth Street in the College Hill
neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. Situated one block east of Fifth Street, which served as an
early stage road and features several early 19' century taverns, the William Phaup House is one of
several Federal-style brick dwellings in the area dating from this period. The house, designed by the
local builder William Phaup, stands as an unusual example of a modest Federal-style dwelling with
its four-bay form and original entrance on the upper level. The two-story, four-bay dwelling is
constructed of brick laid in three-course American bond with a gable roof of standing seam metal
and two interior-end chimneys. The house originally featured a raised front porch leading to a main
entrance on the upper level. The porch has been removed and the original entrance has been
converted to a window. The house is situated on a steeply-sloped site that features stone retaining
walls across the rear of the house and the north side of the property. There are no surviving
outbuildings. The house survives in fair condition with only minor alterations.
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 2
Detailed Description
The ca. 1817 William Phaup House is located at 91 1 Sixth Street in the College Hill
neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia. The site is a residential lot that is steeply graded to the
rear (west) and overgrown. A stone retaining wall extends along the west and north sides of the
property. The William Phaup House is a two-story, four-bay brick dwelling designed in the
Federal style in the early 1800s. The building is constructed of brick laid in three-course
American bond on a solid brick foundation with a side-gable roof of standing seam metal. The
wood shakes of the original roof are visible in some places. A gabled dormer projects at the rear
of the building. Interior end chimneys frame the structure. Four-light casement windows flank
the chimneys at either gable end. There is evidence of a fireplace opening on the exterior wall of
the south chimney. A corbelled brick cornice and jack arches over the window and door
openings are the only adornments to this simple structure. The single-leaf entry features a raised,
six-panel door with mortised and pegged joints and original door handle. The windows are
double-hung sash with 619 lights topped by jack arches.
Interior
The interior of the William Phaup House features a hall-and-parlor plan that has been modified
on the upper floor with the addition of a partition wall to create a central stair hall. The ground
floor features a newer concrete floor while the upper stories have floors of random-width pine.
The walls and ceiling are plaster, either directly on brick on the exterior walls or on riven lathe
on the interior walls and ceilings. A simple molded baseboard and chair rail adorn the rooms.
Simple wood casings surround the window and door openings. The interior doors are board-andbatten. The staircase features winder stairs and beaded board paneling. The house contains a
total of six fireplaces, the majority of which feature only the arched brick opening and have been
infilled with brick and fitted for stove flues. The only surviving mantel is shallow in profile and
features slender pilasters supporting a narrow shelf.
Alterations
A raised porch with shed roof supported by squared posts originally provided access to the main
entrance on the upper floor. The porch has been removed and the 2ndstory entrance has been
converted to a window. A two-story frame addition with shed roof has been added to the rear of
the building. A dormer window has also been added. A window on the ground level has been
infilled with brick. On the interior, a concrete floor at ground level has been added. The
fireplaces have been infilled with brick and fitted for stove flues and the majority of the mantels
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OM9 No. 10244018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 7 Page 3
are missing. A new opening on the ground floor from the stair to the north room has been
introduced. A partition wall added on the upper floor creates a central stair hall. Closets and
bathrooms have also been added on the interior
Statement of Integrity
The William Phaup House survives in fair condition with a high level of integrity. Very few
alterations have been made to the house since its construction in 1817. The primary threat to the
integrity of the property is neglect. Its interior features, such as original mantels, are missing and
cracks, particularly along the north wall, indicate some structural problems that require attention.
NPS Farm 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OMB No. 10244018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 8 Page 4
8. Summary Statement of Significance
The William Phaup House in Lynchburg, Virginia is significant on the local level under Criterion
C with significance in the area of architecture for the period 1817 to 1951. Constructed ca. 18 17
by William Phaup, a local builder, the house stands as a rare surviving example of the more
modest Federal-style dwellings built in Lynchburg in the early 19th century by artisans,
tradesmen and other middle-class settlers. The house is an unusual hybrid between a Federalstyle mansion and a cottage with its four-bay form and original entrance on the upper floor over a
full basement. Located within the area annexed by the town in 1814, the construction of the
William Phaup House reflects the tremendous growth Lynchburg experienced during the
prosperous years of the early 19'~century. The William Phaup House is one of several early 19"century brick dwellings in the Federal style located in the vicinity of Fifth Street, which served as
an early stage road leading to the county seat of New London and points west.
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Nh 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 8 Page 5
Historical Background
The first two decades of the 19" century were a time of great prosperity and growth for
Lynchburg. Even prior to the annexations of 1814 and 1819, which quadrupled the area of
Lynchburg, John Lynch began selling lots of land in the outlying areas (Chambers, 1981:40).
These lands were surveyed along the grid pattern of the original town plan and were assimilated
easily into the town plan after the annexations. William Phaup, a local builder, purchased two
adjoining 112-acre lots from John Lynch in 1817 for the sum of $300 (Chambers, 1981:74, Deed
Book D, p. 20). By 1818, tax records assessed his property at a value of $3900, indicating that
Phaup had constructed the house at 91 1 Sixth Street (lot 386 on what was then known as 5"
Alley) as well as a similar house on the adjoining lot at 610 Polk Street (Chambers, 1816-1818
Land Tax Book). William Phaup appears to be a speculator as he developed several lots in the
area and soon sold the house at 91 1 Sixth Street to Anne Cobb in 1828 (Deed Book I, p. 344). In
1837, the house was sold again to John Mallory (Deed Book N, p. 188). After the Civil War, the
house continued to serve as a modest, middle class residence with Robert A. Hockaday, the
superintendent of a tobacco factory, listed as the owner (Chataigne, 1887-1888).
The William Phaup House survives today as one of the older more modest structures related to
the growing population and expanding development of Lynchburg in the early 19" century. The
population of Lynchburg increased dramatically fiom 500 in I800 to 3,087 in 1916. While many
ofthe larger and more elaborate residences of the period survive on Courthouse and Federal hills,
the William Phaup House reflects the more modest dwellings of the middle class. These
dwellings were often located in the less desirable lands in between the hilltops (Chambers, 73).
Unfortunately, many of these more modest houses do not survive the threats of neglect and
development as their architectural significance is not as apparent and they are not associated with
the more prominent citizens of Lynchburg. Located near the early stage road that is now 5th
StreetIRoute 29 Business, the William Phaup House is one of several early 19"-century, Federalstyle, brick dwellings in the neighborhood. This area near the newly established Joseph Nichol's
Tavern (ca. 1815, later known as the Western Hotel) and the ca. 1815 Kentucky Hotel on the
main road leading to New London developed fairly quickly after the annexation. The survival
today of these taverns and early 19'h-century dwellings gives evidence of that development.
1
NPS Form 10-900
OMB N a 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 9 Page 6
9. Bibliography
I
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University of
Virginia Press, 1981.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General Directow of the
Citizens of Lvnchburg and Danville and Town of Liberty. Richmond, VA: JP Bell & CO.,
1874.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory, Containing a General and Business
Directow of the Citizens of Lynchburg. Richmond,VA: JH Chataigne, 1881.
City of Lynchburg Deed Books.
City of Lynchburg Land Tax Books.
Greenhome & O'Mara. Final Report Historic Architectural Survev: Diamond Hill South,
Lvnchburg Virginia. Greenbelt, MD: 1994.
Lvnchburg Citv Directow. 1885. Lynchburg, VA: JP Bell & Co., 1885.
Martin, Joseph. A New and Com~rehensiveGazetteer of Virgjnia and the District of Columbia.
Charlottesville, VA: Moseley & Tompkins, 1836.
s Lvnchburg. Cam~bellCountv. Virginia. 1885-1951.
Sanbom Map Company. Insurance M a ~ of
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. The Historv of Lynchburg. Virginia 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA: JP
Bell & Co., 1971.
,.
i:
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Continuation Sheet
OMB No. 1024-4018
William Phaup House
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section 10 Page 7
10. Geographic Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The William Phaup House is identified as Parcel 01 7-010, Section 026 on the tax parcel maps for
the City of Lynchburg.
Boundary Justification
The boundary of the nominated property represents the historic and legal boundaries of the property
purchased by William Phaup in 1817 and includes the house built by Phaup in 1817.
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. tO24-001R
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
IWGISTMTION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting deteminatians for individual properties and distrkrs. See instructions in How to Complete thc
National Register ofHistoric Places Regisbation Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete cach item by marking "u" in the appropriate
box ar by entering the information requested. Ifany item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/AMfor "not applicable " For
functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of signitisance, enter only categories and mbcatcgorics from the instruct~ons Place
additional envies and narrative items on cont~nuation
sheets WPS Form 10-900a). Use a pipewriter, word processor, or computcr, to complete all
items.
1. Name oTProperty
historic name
Lvnchbur~Hospital
other namestsite number
Tinbrid~eManor
DHR File No. 1 1 8-5 1 60
2. Location
street & number 70 1-709 Hollins Mill Road
city or town
Lmchburp
state Virginia
code&
county
not for publication
vicinity
Zip 24504
code 680
-
3. StateFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic P r e s d o n Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
-X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirementsset forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -does mt meet the Neional Register Criteria. I
recommend that this propem be considered sigificmt - nationally - statewide -X- locally. ( - See
continuatibn sheet for additional comments.>
/"/8/9 f
Date
/
/
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property m e e t s -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of Keeper
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. I 0-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB N0- 1024-4018
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
S. Classification
Ownenhip of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
private
_ public-local
_ public-State
_ public-Federal
_x_
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_x_ building(s)
district
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
_2_
_3 _ buildings
_o_
_O_sites
_o_
_I_ structures
_o_ _ o_ objects
_z____
_4_ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register_ o_
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part ofa multiple property listing.)
NIA
6- Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: _Health Care
Sub: _Hospital._ _ _ _ _ _ __
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:_Vacant
Sub:_NotlnUse._ _ _ _ _ __
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_ Classical Revival. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
_ Colonial Revival_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
roof _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
walls ___Brick _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
_ _ _Stucco,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
other ___ Wood,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
~
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
AppUcable National Register Criteria (Mark 'x' in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National
Register listing)
X
A
•
B
_x_c
D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history .
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents
the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable
entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark 'X" in all the boxes that apply.)
A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B removed from its original location.
C a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
E a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F a commemorative property.
G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Health/Medicine; Politics/Government
_Architecture _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Period of Significance_ 1911-1949
-----
Significant Dates _1911_
1916_
1939_
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
__NIA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Cultural Affiliation _NIA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
ArchitecUBuilder _J.M.B. Lewis; Stanhope Johnson; _ _
S. Preston Craighill - - - - - - - Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major.llibllographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on rue (NPS)
_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
_ previously listed in the Nationai Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # - - - - Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_ Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
Other
Name ofrepository:
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property_4.419 _ __
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
I 17 663190 4142860
3 ________
Zone Easting Northing
2 _ __
4
--------
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-98)
U. S. Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Ashley Neville and Adrienne Cowden
Organization: _Gray & Pape, Inc. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ date_6/22/99 _ _
street & number:_ 1705 E. Main Street._ _ _ _ __
telephone_ 804-644-0656_
city or town _ _Richmon.d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA_ zip code _23223 _ _
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional Items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name _Tinbridge Manor Limited Partnership_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
street & number_2700 WycliffRoad, Suite 312
_ _ telephone_804-353-4163 _ _
city or town_ _ Raleigh_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
state_NC_ zip code _27607_
Paperwork Redaction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing. to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this requd is required ta obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act. as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Barde• Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18. t hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, ptbcring and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the furm. Direct cornmcnts reprding this burden estimate or any aspect of this
funn 1D theChie! Administrative Services Division, National Parl< Servioe, P.O. Box 37127, Washin@ll>n, DC 20013-7127; and the Oflice of Management
and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Projoa ( 1024-0018), Washington, DC 20S03.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-116)
0MB No. 102-18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _l_
7. Summary Description:
The former Lynchburg Hospital consists of the main hospital building, the nurse's home, an office
building, a picnic pavilion, a storage building, and a boiler building. It stands on the corner of Federal
Street and Hollins Mill Road northwest of the city's downtown area and the Garland Hill
neighborhood on the edge of a late-nineteenth and tum-of-the-century residential area known as
Tinbridge Hill. Sited on the edge of a ridge that slopes north down to the Blackwater Creek, its
grounds have been terraced to accommodate the steeply sloping topography. A number of mature
trees including oak, maple, and pine are located on the grounds as well as a small flower garden east
of the hospital building. Additional landscaping involves terracing and a stone retaining wall near the
nurse's home and open expanses of lawn between the various buildings. The property has two paved
parking1ots -one west of the main hospital building and another north of the nurse's home. A series
of sidewalks provides access from one building to another as well as to the parking Jots. There are
two contributing buildings - the main hospital and the nurses's home; three non-contnbuting buildings
- the office, boiler house, and the storage building; and one non-contributing structure - the picnic
pavilion.
Architectural Analysis
Main Hospital Building
Designed by Lynchburg architect John Minor Botts Lewis, the original hospital building was built in
1911 by the City of Lynchburg to serve as the city's municipal hospital. As designed, the original
hospital was divided into two sections, a main block and a rear annex, and it featured Georgian
Revival detailing. Standing three stories tall, the main block featured a one-story entry porch flanked
by two-story sun porches on its main (south) far;ade. The rear annex, a much smaller two-story
fireproof structure faced with brick, was located north of the main block. A two-story frame hyphen
connected the two buildings. By 1932, a two-story addition with an L-shaped plan had been built
onto the northwest corner of the main block (Sanborn Map Co. 1907). The addition wrapped
around, but was not attached to, the rear (north) annex. It was connected to the rear block by a
frame two-story hyphen, creating a small enclosed courtyard area. Designed to be as fireproof as
possible, the steel joist construction building had load-bearing brick walls, concrete floors, a concrete
roof and concrete block partition walls. Despite these alterations to its design and configuration, the
original Georgian Revival appearance remained largely intact until a major remodeling effort was
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _2_
undertaken in 1939. The alterations designed by S. Preston Craighill, another local Lynchburg
architect, involved a stylistic "face.lift" to update the building's appearance. Both sun porches on the
main (south) ~ade were enclosed while the one-story entry porch was entirely removed and replaced
with a two-story Neo-Classical Revival-style portico. The exterior brick facing was coated with a
textured stucco, presumably to achieve a smoother, more uniform surface. Cartographic research
also indicates the renovation involved substantial alterations to the pre-1932 addition as well as the
demolition of the original 1911 rear block. The two-story addition was enlarged to include a third
story and was extended east approximately 50', covering the site of the newly demolished rear block.
A new brick hyphen was constructed to connect the main block with the new wing.
As it stands today, the 1911 portion of the hospital building is a three-story, nine-bay wide Neo-
Classical Revival style building. Stucco covers the original brick facing as well as the foundation.
Sections of the foundation are capped by a molded watertable with an inverted ovolo profile, and a
narrow beltcourse delineates the third story. The dominant feature is a two-story portico in antis
centered on the main (south) ~ade. A wide flight of steps with an intermediate landing extends in
front of the portico, and four parged concrete columns with Composite capitals rest on the
intermediate landing. This design is carried onto the exterior walls on either side of the portico which
are visually divided into three bays by a series of four pilasters, each with a square shaft and a
Composite capital. A central entrance is sheltered under the portico and it features a fluted surround,
a pair of glazed paneled wood doors, sidelights and a transom A wide label molding crowns the
entryway. Two windows are located on either side of the entry and the same label molding can be
seen above these openings. On the second story of the portico, a tripartite window is centered above
the main entrance. It has a large central eight-over-eight light double-hung wood sash window
flanked by slender four-over-four double-hung wood sash windows. On either side of this opening
are two six-over-six double-hung wood sash windows. A series of coffers elaborate the portico
ceiling and a simple metal chandelier is suspended from the central panel. The two-story section of
the building, including the portico, is capped by a molded cornice, a narrow frieze embellished with
a wave motif and a pebble-faced solid balustrade. The original balustrade, located behind this more
modem feature, is still extant.
In stark contrast to the main (south) ~ade, the side and rear (north) elevations are quite plain.
Window and/or door openings are regularly spaced on these elevations, reflecting a formal symmetry
characteristic of both Georgian Revival and Neo-Classical Revival designs. The first floor has nine-
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _3_
over-nine light double-hung wood sash windows while the second and third floor openings have sixover-six double-hung wood sash. The windows are slightly recessed into the exterior walls, and each
opening has a simple sill. In addition, rectangular grills, presumably for climate control or ventilation,
are located below many of the window openings.
The massive three-story addition, built prior to 1932 and altered in 1939, wraps around the west and
north elevations of the main block. In 1981, an elevator shaft was built onto the south elevation of ·
the addition. It is faced in a buff-colored brick laid in a common bond, and abuts a one-story office
building to the south. Otherwise, the exterior of this addition has not been altered since its
construction. Overall, this portion of the hospital has an extremely simple design with few purely
decorative elements. The exterior walls are entirely sheathed with a buff-colored brick veneer laid in
a common bond. The raised foundation is capped by a wide cast stone beltcourse, and the roof is
obscured by a solid brick parapet wall with a flat cast stone coping. The emergency ambulance
entrance, recessed on the east side of the building, is articulated by a brick flat arch. Similar to the
original portion of the hospital, the addition also features nine-over-nine light wood sash windows
on the first floor with six-over-six light on the second and third floors.
The main hospital entry provides access into a small foyer separated from the main east-west corridor
by an interior entrance with multi-paned sidelights, a transom and a paneled wood door surround,
possibly remnants of the original 1911 building. There are two staircases to the upper floors located
in enclosed stairwells on the west side of the passage between the original building and the 1939
addition to the rear. While this is the original location for the stairs in the original building, the
existing dogleg staircase probably dates to the 1939 remodeling and has been slightly reconfigured.
The hospital stairs also match those found in the nurses's quarters which was constructed at the same
time of the 1939 hospital remodeling campaign. The stairs are metal with a nicely ramped handrail,
paneled newel post, and plain balusters. On each floor of the main hospital building, individual rooms
are located on either side of a wide central hallway. While the majority were set aside for the
treatment of patients, the first floor rooms in the 1911 section of the hospital provided office space
for the staff. The rear (north) rooms have parquet floors and plaster and lathe cover the ceilings and
walls. However, two rooms located at the east end the floor, exhibit more elaborate detailing.
Decorative elements include paneled wood wainscoting with a gougework pattern, paneled walls, a
crown molding and a reeded frieze. The larger of the two rooms is also lined with bookcases. The
bookcases extend from floor to ceiling and are capped by a cornice with a dentil course. Cabinets
line the base of the bookcases. In addition to the main floor space, there
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page 4
is an exterior rooftop patio located on the north side of the 1911 portion of the hospital. Single muhipaned glass doors with a transom provide access to this rooftop space, and they may be remnants of
the building's original interior woodwork.
Guided by an emphasis on durable, low-maintenance surfaces that could be easily cleaned for
sanitation purposes, the building's interior is largely utilitarian. Polished terrazzo with a decorative
diamond motif covers the foyer floor, and terrazzo slabs with a simpler design also cover the corridor
floors throughout the building. The fact that the terrazzo has been laid in large monolithic slabs
without brass or metal divider strips suggests the terrazzo is the original flooring material (Jester, ed.
1995:234). Similarly, most of the bathrooms have ceramic tile floors while individual rooms have
concrete floors covered with either linoleum or sheet vinyl. Bathroom and select corridor walls have
a ceramic tile wainscoting, but the majority of the interior walls are plaster-and-lathe. Simple metal
pipe handrails are found on all corridor walls. The individual hospital rooms generally were designed
for two beds although there were wards with from three to five beds. Each room had at least one
sink and most had one for each bed or patient. Most rooms had a minimum of one closet for the
patients with the larger wards having two or more.
Nurses 's Home
Designed by S. Preston Craighill and built in 1940, the nurse's home provided additional living
quarters for the nurses at Lynchburg General Hospital. The original nurse's home, a two-story frame
building, was situated west of and adjacent to the new dormitory. Located to the north behind the
main hospital building, the nurse;s home is a simple but massive fireproof construction building. The
irregular footprint is comprised of two L-shaped sections connected by three-story hyphens to a
square central block. Since the hyphens are only one-bay wide and one-bay deep, they are recessed
from the exterior walls of each section on both the main (north) ~ade and rear elevation. As a
result, the nurse's home appears to be a series of three rather than one building when viewed from
certain angles. Despite this, the building exhibits a striking visual symmetry and rectangular massing.
Overall, the nurse's home is quite plain with only modest detailing. The first story of the building
appears to be constructed of poured concrete, and due to the sloping topography, the building is
banked into its site, entirely or partially obscuring the basement story on the rear (south) and side
elevations. A narrow watertable separates this first level from the two stories above which are
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024..0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _s_
covered in a common bond brick veneer. A sawtooth brick cornice unifies the entire composition
while a standing metal seam hipped roof crowns each section. Window and/or door openings are
spaced regularly if not evenly across each elevation. The majority of windows are six-over-one
double-hung wood sash although there are a handful of four-over-one double-hung wood sash as
well Rectangular grills, presumably for climate control or ventilation, are located below the window
openings on the main (north) f~ade and rear (south) elevation.
Among the only distinguishing features are the porches located on the main (north) fa~ade and the
west elevation. A two-story partial-width porch is centered on the main (north) fa~ade of the
building. Two tall brick piers support a second floor balcony sheltered by a hipped roof. Raised
metal seam covers the roof and three square columns are clustered at the two front comers of the
balcony; a simple open railing with square spindles extends between the columns. An exterior
entrance flanked by a pair of narrow four-over-one double-hung wood sash windows opens onto the
balcony. It has a glazed wood door and a three light transom. There is no entrance to the porch on
the first story and no physical evidence of any other means of exterior access to the porch. A second
partial-width porch-is found on the southwest comer of the west elevation. This one-story frame
porch has plain wooden posts, a simple railing with square balusters and a hip roof. It appears that
the major entrance to this building was through the west end porch with a secondary entrance on the
east end at the basement level. The land west of this elevation is terraced, and an original red brick
sidewalk leads up to this porch. Manufactured in Lynchburg, the pressed brick pavers are red in color
and incised with a circular motif. This is the only brick sidewalk on the hospital grounds. All the
other sidewalks are poured concrete.
The interior of the Nurses's Home is utilitarian and fairly spartan. It consists ofa hallway on each
floor oriented on an east/west axis with rooms opening off each side. The walls were plastered and
the hallways now have a dropped acoustical tile ceiling. Each room featured plastered walls and
hardwood floors. Two closets flank the doorway into each room which appears to have been
designed for two people. Four single bathrooms with ceramic tile detailing are located on each floor.
The exception to this plan is a slightly larger room on the north side which prnvided access to the
porch. An enclosed stairwell is located at each end of the building on the rear. The metal stairs are
very similar to those found in the main hospital with ramped handrail, paneled newel post, and plain
balusters.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10·900·•
(8-8(;)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _6_
Associated Outbuildings
Three associated outbuildings and one structure are located on the hospital grounds including an
office building, a storage building, and a boiler building. The picnic pavilion is the single structure.
All are non-contributing resources due to their having been constructed less than fifty years ago.
Built about 1950, the office building is a one-story frame structure situated near the southwest corner
of the main hospital building. Raised seam metal covers the gabled roof, and vertical wood boards
sheathe the exterior walls. The building rests on a concrete block foundation. Originally, the office
was not connected to the main hospital building. However, by 1955 a frame one-story hyphen
connected the two buildings, and a they are now connected by an entrance cut into the south exterior
wall of a elevator tower added to the main hospital building in 198 l.
The other three buildings stand west of the main hospital building and northwest of the office
building. The post-1955 picnic pavilion consists of brick piers which support a raised metal seam
gabled roof. Although the buff-colored brick of the piers matches that of the 1939 addition to the
hospital building, the structure does not appear on the Sanborn Map that has been updated to 1955.
Decorative wrought-iron railings extend between the piers on the north and south elevations while
solid brick parapet walls extend between the piers on the east elevation. The pavilion is set on a
concrete slab which extends north of the building to connect with a concrete sidewalk. A one-story
concrete block storage building is located a short distance north of the picnic pavilion and appears
on the 1953 Sanborn Map as an addition to the City Almshouse (now demolished). It has a flat roof
and the roofing material is not visible. The main entrance to the building is located on the east
elevation and it is sheltered by a full-width porch. The porch has a raised seam metal roof supported
by slender metal poles. The boiler building or "heater room" stands approximately 80 feet west of
the main hospital building. Constructed of tan brick laid up in a common bond pattern, this one-story
building once provided steam heat for laundry facility and perhaps portions of the hospital complex
as well. A flat roof crowns the building and there is a single square brick stack. The building has a
concrete slab foundation.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-416)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page_7__
Statement of Significance
The old Lynchburg Hospital is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under
Criterion A for its significance in the areas of Health/Medicine and Politics/Government as the
municipal hospital of the City of Lynchburg. This hospital, buih in 1911, was the first publicly funded
and run hospital in Lynchburg. It was established by the city to meet the health care needs of its
citiz.ens particularly those who could not afford one of the private hospitals located in the city or were
not allowed access to those facilities due to racial discrimination prevalent during the period this
hospital operated. In addition, this property is eligible under Criterion C for its significance in the
area of architecture. Three noted Lynchburg architects, J.M.B. Lewis, Stanhope Johnson, and S.
Preston Craighill contributed to its original design and subsequent remodelings. Its architectural
•
evolution from a Georgian Revival-style building to the Neo-Classical represents the changes in
popular style and tastes in Lynchburg as well as the proclivities of the architect.
Narrative Statement of Significance
Lynchburg, founded by Charles Lynch in the mid-eighteenth century as a trading center on the James
River, gained prominence as a regional tobacco center. The arrival of the James River and Kanawha
Canal and later several railroad lines made Lynchburg a transportation hub that contributed to its
status as one of the wealthiest cities in the state and the South before the Civil War (Anonymous
1985:198). During the war, Lynchburg became a major transportation and hospital center for the
Confederacy. Unlike other Virginia cities, Lynchburg's physical facilities survived the war relatively
unscathed and tobacco briefly regained its pre-war role as the economic mainstay of the city after the
war. Once again, Lynchburg's location as a transportation center played a major role in the
resurgence of its economic base as tobacco declined in importance to the city. Cotton, textiles, shoes,
and wholesale goods replaced tobacco as the economic base of the city. Lynchburg became a major
jobbing center and large quantities of shoes and other manufactured goods moved through Lynchburg
(Loyd and Mundy 1975:18). The city's manufacturing plants created jobs for hundreds of skilled and
unskilled laborers. By 1910, Lynchburg had a population of29,494 (Loyd and Mundy 1975:25). As
the population increased, the city was more frequently called upon to provide services to its residents.
In addition to police and fire protection, Lynchburg had a municipal water system since 1828. As
Lynchburg leaders recogniz.ed the need to "take care of their own" as one put it, the city moved in
the early twentieth century to create a health care system that included for the first time a health
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10..900.a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _8_
department and hospital that were open to all its citiz.ens regardless of their race or their ability to pay
for medical care.
Lynchburg had been a hospital center in Virginia during the Civil War exceeded only Richmond.
Some seventeen warehouses were converted to hospitals while the wounded were also cared for in
churches, tents, meeting halls, and private homes (Anonymous 1985:198). Unfortunately, the
experience gained during the Civil War did not immediately translate into the establishment of
hospitals for Lynchburg citiz.ens. All closed at the end of the war.
It was not until 1886 that a hospital opened in the city. Lodge No. 39 of the Lynchburg Masons
began a hospital that year in a donated home at the comer of Church and Washington streets. In an
era when most people were treated by physicians at home and the medical community had little
success in stopping the spread of infection, hospitals were places to be avoided unless there was no
choice. Hospitals were characterized as "dingy, foul-smelling places where the poor, the aged and
the mentally ill were isolated from society'' (Laurant 1997:316). The Mason's hospital was initially
called the Home and Retreat to avoid the use of the word hospital which they thought would scare
potential patients away. The fact that the hospital moved into larger quarters two years later is a
testament to the success of this venture. By 1907, a wing was added to accommodate patients but
it was not until 1921 that it changed its name to Marshall Lodge Memorial Hospital (Laurant
1997:316).
Marshall Lodge was a private hospital. There would be no public hospital for another twenty-six
years. The closest thing the city had in the way a public health institution was the city almshouse
situated on a hill on Hollins Mill Road above Blackwater Creek. It consisted of several frame and
masonry buildings (Sanborn 1907). Dr. Elisha Barksdale, a Lynchburg surgeon, characterized the
almshouse in 1907 "as a forsaken rathole for paupers and Negroes who had no medical care" (Houck
1986: 136). Indeed, the yearly Official Reports of the City ofLynchburg routinely cited the need for
improvements to the almshouse (Official Reports of the City ofLynchburg). Dr. Barksdale proposed
a public hospital to care for the city's indigent and is largely credited with the establishment of
Lynchburg's first public hospital (Scruggs 229).
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024.0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _9__
The Lynchburg City Council began discussing a city hospital about 1908 and finally authorized in
1910, by a vote of three-to-two, the construction of a city funded and run hospital at the site of the
Almshouse (Scruggs 229; Anonymous 1985:176). When Lynchburg Hospital opened in 1912, it
operated under the auspices of the City Council and the Health Department, which was established
the same year that the hospital was authorized. Mosby Perrow, the first director of the Health
Department, articulated the purpose of the city hospital when he acknowledged the reality of the
situation: "Preference is given to charity cases except for [the] colored in which no distinction is
made, there being no other hospital in the city for colored patients" (Laurant 1997:317). Lynchburg
was a segregated city in the segregated south and for many years Lynchburg Hospital was the only
medical facility in the city that admitted African Americans. It would not be until 1966 that all
hospitals in the city integrated under the threat of loss of federal Medicare funding (Anonymous
1985:177) .
•
The Lynchburg Hospital undoubtedly was also the setting for the battle over self-determination of
ethnicity and race that was waged in Virginia by Dr. W. A Plecker, State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
During his tenure as the head of the vital statistics department from its creation in 1912 to 1946,
Plecker waged a war against the perceived evils of "race mixing". As head of Vital Statistics he
vigorously enforced the 1924 "Act to Preserve Racial Integrity" which essentially created two racial
categories: white and everyone else (Smith 1993 :59). Plecker went so far as to "correct" the birth
certificates of those he felt has been misidentified. Plecker was particularly vigilant in his crusade
against Virginia's Indian population particularly in Amherst County, which lies just north of
Lynchburg. Indians were not allowed to be described on their birth, marriage, or death certificates
as Indian or mixed but according to Plecker had to be listed as Negro. In a letter Plecker wrote:
We have instructed physicians, local registrars and midwives to see that all persons of mixed
descent in Amherst and Rockbridge Counties are correctly reported and that they be not
reported as white. If any have done so in the past, the cards should be returned and the
corrections made on the certificates (Smith 1993:91).
In the Lynchburg/Amherst County area, women of the Monacan tribe who gave birth in the
Lynchburg Hospital would not have been allowed to stipulate on their baby's birth certificate that
they were Indian.
John Minor Botts Lewis (J.MB. Lewis) (1869-1950) designed the new hospital. Lewis was a native
of Culpeper County and received his education in both architecture and civil engineering from the
University of Virginia. He was a civil engineer and architect for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 8 _
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _10__
for seven years prior to establishing his architectural practice in Lynchburg in 1896 (Chambers
1981:344; Wells and Dalton 1997:256). His major commissions in Lynchburg date from the late
1890s to the late 191 Os. Lewis was adept at executing architectural designs in the Georgian Revival
style, which was then very popular in Lynchburg. His designs include office and commercial
buildings, and schools in addition to residential architecture. In 190 I, he designed Avoca, the
Thomas Fauntleroy home in Altavista Between 1909 and 1912, the time during which the hospital
was designed, Lewis was associated with William R. Burnham as Lewis & Burnham. During this
period, he continued to produce residential designs as well as commercial, industrial, and institutional
works. Among others, he is credited with the designs for the Elk's Home Building, a fuctory, several
schools, a fire station and a number of commercial buildings in Lynchburg. In 1910, he designed
renovations and additions to Oak Ridge, the Thomas Fortune Ryan estate, in nearby Nelson County
(Wells and Dalton 1997:256). In 1925, Lewis was appointed postmaster of Lynchburg and served
until 1934 (Chambers 1981:359).
The hospital was built by the construction firm of C. W. Womack & Company on the grounds of the
city Almshouse that was composed of at least three separate buildings. The almshouse occupied the
western portion of the lot (now the parking lot) and some of its buildings survived into the 1970s.
The hospital opened on April 5, 1912 and had a patient population for the year of 532 patients
(Official Reports of the City of Lynchburg, 1912).
Only four years later, Stanhope Johnson and the architectural firm of McLaughlin & Johnson were .
engaged to make alterations to the hospital. Johnson (1882-1973) became a prominent Lynchburg
architect and during his long career ran one of the most important and successful architectural firms
in central Virginia in the first half of the twentieth century (Brownell et al. 1992:356). He designed
buildings in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina. He began his architectural
career in 1899 at the age of seventeen working for Lynchburg architectural firm of Frye and
Chesterman. In 1909, he became a partner in the firm of McLaughlin, Pettit & Johnson. This firm
seems primarily to have produced residential designs (Wells and Dalton 1997:289). The McLaughlin
& Johnson firm dissolved the year following the hospital renovations and Johnson began an
independent architectural practice. Between 1925 and 1932, he was in practice with Ray Brannan
in Lynchburg. Brannan had joined Johnson in 1917, the year Johnson entered private practice, as
office manager and became a partner in 1919 (Brownell et al. 1992:376).
0MB No. 1024.0018
NPS Form 10-900-•
(8-116)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _11_
Stylistically, Johnson's early work followed the American Renaissance Classicism as practiced in
Virginia and by the early 1920s ravored forms of Co Ionia~ Georgian, and Jefferson Revivals. He also
became fluent in the Art Deco and Art Modeme of the 1920s and 1930s. One of his most notable
executions is the Allied Arts Building in Lynchburg which was built 1929-1931 and symbolized
Lynchburg's enterprising character. Until 1973, it was the city's tallest building in the city (Brownell
et al. 1992:376). The design for this building has been compared to those of Hugh Ferris and Elie!
Saarinen (Wells and Dalton 1997:228). Johnson also designed buildings at the. Virginia Baptist
Hospital, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg College, and numerous schools, among
others (Wells and Dalton 1997:228).
The plans for the 1916 renovations provide the earliest information on the layout and design of the
hospital. ·At this time the hospital consisted of two blocks situated one behind the other and connected
by a frame passageway. The main block was three stories while the rear block was only two. Private
rooms occupied most of the first two floors with large wards occupying each of the four corners of
the third floor. The operating room was also located on the third floor to take advantage of natural
lighting provided by a skylight. The basement held the nurse's dining room, kitchen, morgue, and
other storage rooms. The rear building (now demolished) contained wards, a few private rooms, and
a kitchen (McLaughlin & Johnson 1916). A notable feature of the hospital at this time was the two
story sun porches on the front of the building that flanked the one-story entry porch. A picture of the
hospital in a 1924 publication shows a very different building from today's structure with these
muhiple porches and breaks in the fa.\:ade.
By 1932, the Sanborn Map shows a two-story addition to the west end of the hospital. It was deep
enough to reach the rear block creating a U-shaped building. Standing behind the hospital were two
frame dwellings, one of which was used to house nurses.
In 1939, the city embarked on an ambitious rebuilding and remodeling campaign for both the hospital
and the City Home as the almshouse was then called. The city, like other parts of the country, was
just beginning to recover from the depression. The Mayor noted in his annual address at the end of
the year there was had been more building activity in Lynchburg in 193 9 than in any year since l 931.
Other projects also underway in the city included the construction of both football and baseball
stadiums as well as a school for African American children. Both the hospital project and the stadium
were constructed with financial assistance from the Public Works Administration and the Works
Project Administration (Annual Report 1939).
0MB No. 1024--0018
NPS Form 10·900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _12 __
The hospital project, which was begun in January 1939, was expected to cost $199,555.00 but the
city eventually paid $229,239.16 for the hospital project alone (Building Permit #8421). The
construction of the Nurses's Home cost another $34,840 (Building Permit #8945).
S. Preston Craighill was the architect for both projects and it is his Neo-Classical remodeling of the
original hospital that has survived. Craighill (1881-1957) studied architecture at the Philadelphia
School oflndustrial Arts and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He also worked at the Tiffany
Studios in New York before beginning his architectural practice in Lynchburg in 1914. He briefly
formed a partnership withJ. Bryant Heard and John Robert Cardwell between 1917 and 1918. From
1919 to 1934, Craighill was associated with fellow architect Bennett Cardwell and the two were
known for their execution of period design houses in Lynchburg (Chambers 1981 :452). They also
designed several schools and churches in Lynchburg and nearby localities and in 1930 designed the
second unit at the Marshall Lodge Memorial Hospital (Wells and Dalton 1997:101).
This building campaign significantly changed the appearance of the hospital and resulted in the
structure standing today. The 1939 rebuilding replaced the rear building with a three story section
and consolidated it with the larger western addition shown on the 1932 Sanborn Map. The western
section was also raised from two stories to three creating the buff-colored section as it stands today.
The original frame passage between the front and rear blocks of the original hospital was replaced
with the present passage. The most striking change, however, was the complete obliteration of the
original ~ade. The classically trained Craighill chose a Neo-Classical-style ~ade for the hospital.
The two- story sun porches were incorporated into the building, the one-story front porch removed,
and a two-story, one-levei classical portico created.
During this period ofrenovation, patients were housed in rented quarters on Church Street. During
the year it took to rebuild/remodel the hospital, hospital patients were limited to charity and
emergency patients although the city did run a dispensary. On December 20, 1939, the newly
renovated hospital was open for inspection by the citiz.ens of Lynchburg and some 2,000, along with
other city dignitaries, toured the facility that day (The News 12/20/39:8). The following day fifty
patients were transported from the rented quarters on Church Street to the new facility and by the
following week the hospital had 75 patients (The News 12/28/39). The new facility had a 150-bed
capacity. The Nurses's home, which was also constructed during this period, was built to house the
enlarged nursing staff (Annual Report 1939).
NPS Form l 0-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024--0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _13 __
Along with the new style of the hospital came a new name. Previously known as just Lynchburg
Hospital, its name was changed to Lynchburg General Hospital with the 1939 renovations. The city
was proud enough of its new hospital that the building graced the cover of the city's Annual Report.
In the mayor's annual message to city residents at the end of 1939, he listed the completion of the
hospital renovations as one of the significant accomplishments of Lynchburg. The hospital remained
at this location until 1956 when it moved to new quarters. The hospital was used until the early
1990s as a city nursing home and as offices for the city's Social Services Department.
For forty-four years Lynchburg Hospital was the only city hospital that dispensed care to all comers
regardless of their race or ability to pay. It was not until 1966 that the private hospitals in the city
were integrated. The hospital also evolved from primarily providing indigent care and gained its
reputation as the "emergency" hospital in Lynchburg (Houck 1986:136). The evolution of its
buildings reflect the changing tastes and needs of a city that prided itself on its position as a modem
city and on its ability to care of its own citizens.
0MB No. 1824-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8~6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _14__
Bibliography
Anonymous
1985
Tales of the Hill City. Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc., Lynchburg, VA.
Brownell, Charles E., Loth, Calder, Rasmussen, William M.S., and Wilson, Richard Guy
1992
The Making of Virginia Architecture. Virginia Museum ofFine Arts, Richmond, VA.
Chambers, A. Allan, Jr.
1981
Lynchburg, An Architectural History. The University Press of Virginia., Charlottesville, VA.
Houck, Peter W
t986
A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warwick House Publishing,
Lynchburg, VA.
Jester, Thomas C.
1995
Twentieth-Century Building Materials. McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, NY.
City of Lynchburg
Official Report of the City of Lynchburg. On file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA, various
years.
City of Lynchburg
1939
Annual Report. On file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
City of Lynchburg
Building Permits, Department of Public Works, Building inspector's Office, Lynchburg, VA, various
years.
Lauran!, David
1997
A City Unto Itself, Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 101• Century. By the author and The News Advance,
Lynchburg, VA.
Loyd, Richard B. and Mundy, Bernard K.
1975
Lynchburg, A Pictorial History. By the authors.
McLaughlin & Johnson.
1916
"Alterations to Hospital for City of Lynchburg." Architectural plans on file at the Jones Memorial
Library, Lynchburg, Va.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9, 10_
The News
1939
1939
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _IS_
"About 2,000 Visit New City Hospital on Inspection Day." The News, Lynchburg, Va. 20
December 1939.
"Hospital's Staff is Hard Pressed." The News, Lynchburg, Va.
28 December 1939.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot
n.d.
The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, 1786-1946. J.P. Bell Company, Inc., Lynchburg, VA.
Wells, John E. and Dalton Robert E.
1997
The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955. New South Architectural Press, Richmond, VA .
•
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries for the Lynchburg Hospital include all of the following tax parcels as shown on the attached cadastral
map of the City of Lynchburg:
Tax Parcel No.: 009-02-024 through 009-02-031 inclusive.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries for the Lynchburg Hospital include the hospital buildings, the parking lots, and grounds. They include
all the parcels that comprise the hospital grounds.
OMB No. tO24-001R
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
IWGISTMTION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting deteminatians for individual properties and distrkrs. See instructions in How to Complete thc
National Register ofHistoric Places Regisbation Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete cach item by marking "u" in the appropriate
box ar by entering the information requested. Ifany item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/AMfor "not applicable " For
functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of signitisance, enter only categories and mbcatcgorics from the instruct~ons Place
additional envies and narrative items on cont~nuation
sheets WPS Form 10-900a). Use a pipewriter, word processor, or computcr, to complete all
items.
1. Name oTProperty
historic name
Lvnchbur~Hospital
other namestsite number
Tinbrid~eManor
DHR File No. 1 1 8-5 1 60
2. Location
street & number 70 1-709 Hollins Mill Road
city or town
Lmchburp
state Virginia
code&
county
not for publication
vicinity
Zip 24504
code 680
-
3. StateFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic P r e s d o n Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
-X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirementsset forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property -X- meets -does mt meet the Neional Register Criteria. I
recommend that this propem be considered sigificmt - nationally - statewide -X- locally. ( - See
continuatibn sheet for additional comments.>
/"/8/9 f
Date
/
/
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property m e e t s -does not meet the National Register criteria. ( -See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined eligible for the
National Register
-See continuation sheet.
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
-other (explain):
Signature of Keeper
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. I 0-90)
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB N0- 1024-4018
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
S. Classification
Ownenhip of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
private
_ public-local
_ public-State
_ public-Federal
_x_
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_x_ building(s)
district
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
_2_
_3 _ buildings
_o_
_O_sites
_o_
_I_ structures
_o_ _ o_ objects
_z____
_4_ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register_ o_
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part ofa multiple property listing.)
NIA
6- Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: _Health Care
Sub: _Hospital._ _ _ _ _ _ __
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:_Vacant
Sub:_NotlnUse._ _ _ _ _ __
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_ Classical Revival. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
_ Colonial Revival_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
roof _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
walls ___Brick _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
_ _ _Stucco,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
other ___ Wood,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
~
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
8. Statement of Significance
AppUcable National Register Criteria (Mark 'x' in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National
Register listing)
X
A
•
B
_x_c
D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history .
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents
the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable
entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark 'X" in all the boxes that apply.)
A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B removed from its original location.
C a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
E a reconstructed building, object or structure.
F a commemorative property.
G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-4018
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
_Health/Medicine; Politics/Government
_Architecture _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Period of Significance_ 1911-1949
-----
Significant Dates _1911_
1916_
1939_
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
__NIA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Cultural Affiliation _NIA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
ArchitecUBuilder _J.M.B. Lewis; Stanhope Johnson; _ _
S. Preston Craighill - - - - - - - Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major.llibllographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on rue (NPS)
_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
_ previously listed in the Nationai Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # - - - - Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_ Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
Other
Name ofrepository:
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property_4.419 _ __
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
I 17 663190 4142860
3 ________
Zone Easting Northing
2 _ __
4
--------
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-4018
(Rev. 10-98)
U. S. Department oftbe Interior
National Park Service
Lynchburg Hospital
Lynchburg, VA
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title:
Ashley Neville and Adrienne Cowden
Organization: _Gray & Pape, Inc. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ date_6/22/99 _ _
street & number:_ 1705 E. Main Street._ _ _ _ __
telephone_ 804-644-0656_
city or town _ _Richmon.d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_VA_ zip code _23223 _ _
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional Items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name _Tinbridge Manor Limited Partnership_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
street & number_2700 WycliffRoad, Suite 312
_ _ telephone_804-353-4163 _ _
city or town_ _ Raleigh_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
state_NC_ zip code _27607_
Paperwork Redaction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing. to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this requd is required ta obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act. as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Barde• Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18. t hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, ptbcring and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the furm. Direct cornmcnts reprding this burden estimate or any aspect of this
funn 1D theChie! Administrative Services Division, National Parl< Servioe, P.O. Box 37127, Washin@ll>n, DC 20013-7127; and the Oflice of Management
and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Projoa ( 1024-0018), Washington, DC 20S03.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-116)
0MB No. 102-18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _l_
7. Summary Description:
The former Lynchburg Hospital consists of the main hospital building, the nurse's home, an office
building, a picnic pavilion, a storage building, and a boiler building. It stands on the corner of Federal
Street and Hollins Mill Road northwest of the city's downtown area and the Garland Hill
neighborhood on the edge of a late-nineteenth and tum-of-the-century residential area known as
Tinbridge Hill. Sited on the edge of a ridge that slopes north down to the Blackwater Creek, its
grounds have been terraced to accommodate the steeply sloping topography. A number of mature
trees including oak, maple, and pine are located on the grounds as well as a small flower garden east
of the hospital building. Additional landscaping involves terracing and a stone retaining wall near the
nurse's home and open expanses of lawn between the various buildings. The property has two paved
parking1ots -one west of the main hospital building and another north of the nurse's home. A series
of sidewalks provides access from one building to another as well as to the parking Jots. There are
two contributing buildings - the main hospital and the nurses's home; three non-contnbuting buildings
- the office, boiler house, and the storage building; and one non-contributing structure - the picnic
pavilion.
Architectural Analysis
Main Hospital Building
Designed by Lynchburg architect John Minor Botts Lewis, the original hospital building was built in
1911 by the City of Lynchburg to serve as the city's municipal hospital. As designed, the original
hospital was divided into two sections, a main block and a rear annex, and it featured Georgian
Revival detailing. Standing three stories tall, the main block featured a one-story entry porch flanked
by two-story sun porches on its main (south) far;ade. The rear annex, a much smaller two-story
fireproof structure faced with brick, was located north of the main block. A two-story frame hyphen
connected the two buildings. By 1932, a two-story addition with an L-shaped plan had been built
onto the northwest corner of the main block (Sanborn Map Co. 1907). The addition wrapped
around, but was not attached to, the rear (north) annex. It was connected to the rear block by a
frame two-story hyphen, creating a small enclosed courtyard area. Designed to be as fireproof as
possible, the steel joist construction building had load-bearing brick walls, concrete floors, a concrete
roof and concrete block partition walls. Despite these alterations to its design and configuration, the
original Georgian Revival appearance remained largely intact until a major remodeling effort was
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _2_
undertaken in 1939. The alterations designed by S. Preston Craighill, another local Lynchburg
architect, involved a stylistic "face.lift" to update the building's appearance. Both sun porches on the
main (south) ~ade were enclosed while the one-story entry porch was entirely removed and replaced
with a two-story Neo-Classical Revival-style portico. The exterior brick facing was coated with a
textured stucco, presumably to achieve a smoother, more uniform surface. Cartographic research
also indicates the renovation involved substantial alterations to the pre-1932 addition as well as the
demolition of the original 1911 rear block. The two-story addition was enlarged to include a third
story and was extended east approximately 50', covering the site of the newly demolished rear block.
A new brick hyphen was constructed to connect the main block with the new wing.
As it stands today, the 1911 portion of the hospital building is a three-story, nine-bay wide Neo-
Classical Revival style building. Stucco covers the original brick facing as well as the foundation.
Sections of the foundation are capped by a molded watertable with an inverted ovolo profile, and a
narrow beltcourse delineates the third story. The dominant feature is a two-story portico in antis
centered on the main (south) ~ade. A wide flight of steps with an intermediate landing extends in
front of the portico, and four parged concrete columns with Composite capitals rest on the
intermediate landing. This design is carried onto the exterior walls on either side of the portico which
are visually divided into three bays by a series of four pilasters, each with a square shaft and a
Composite capital. A central entrance is sheltered under the portico and it features a fluted surround,
a pair of glazed paneled wood doors, sidelights and a transom A wide label molding crowns the
entryway. Two windows are located on either side of the entry and the same label molding can be
seen above these openings. On the second story of the portico, a tripartite window is centered above
the main entrance. It has a large central eight-over-eight light double-hung wood sash window
flanked by slender four-over-four double-hung wood sash windows. On either side of this opening
are two six-over-six double-hung wood sash windows. A series of coffers elaborate the portico
ceiling and a simple metal chandelier is suspended from the central panel. The two-story section of
the building, including the portico, is capped by a molded cornice, a narrow frieze embellished with
a wave motif and a pebble-faced solid balustrade. The original balustrade, located behind this more
modem feature, is still extant.
In stark contrast to the main (south) ~ade, the side and rear (north) elevations are quite plain.
Window and/or door openings are regularly spaced on these elevations, reflecting a formal symmetry
characteristic of both Georgian Revival and Neo-Classical Revival designs. The first floor has nine-
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _3_
over-nine light double-hung wood sash windows while the second and third floor openings have sixover-six double-hung wood sash. The windows are slightly recessed into the exterior walls, and each
opening has a simple sill. In addition, rectangular grills, presumably for climate control or ventilation,
are located below many of the window openings.
The massive three-story addition, built prior to 1932 and altered in 1939, wraps around the west and
north elevations of the main block. In 1981, an elevator shaft was built onto the south elevation of ·
the addition. It is faced in a buff-colored brick laid in a common bond, and abuts a one-story office
building to the south. Otherwise, the exterior of this addition has not been altered since its
construction. Overall, this portion of the hospital has an extremely simple design with few purely
decorative elements. The exterior walls are entirely sheathed with a buff-colored brick veneer laid in
a common bond. The raised foundation is capped by a wide cast stone beltcourse, and the roof is
obscured by a solid brick parapet wall with a flat cast stone coping. The emergency ambulance
entrance, recessed on the east side of the building, is articulated by a brick flat arch. Similar to the
original portion of the hospital, the addition also features nine-over-nine light wood sash windows
on the first floor with six-over-six light on the second and third floors.
The main hospital entry provides access into a small foyer separated from the main east-west corridor
by an interior entrance with multi-paned sidelights, a transom and a paneled wood door surround,
possibly remnants of the original 1911 building. There are two staircases to the upper floors located
in enclosed stairwells on the west side of the passage between the original building and the 1939
addition to the rear. While this is the original location for the stairs in the original building, the
existing dogleg staircase probably dates to the 1939 remodeling and has been slightly reconfigured.
The hospital stairs also match those found in the nurses's quarters which was constructed at the same
time of the 1939 hospital remodeling campaign. The stairs are metal with a nicely ramped handrail,
paneled newel post, and plain balusters. On each floor of the main hospital building, individual rooms
are located on either side of a wide central hallway. While the majority were set aside for the
treatment of patients, the first floor rooms in the 1911 section of the hospital provided office space
for the staff. The rear (north) rooms have parquet floors and plaster and lathe cover the ceilings and
walls. However, two rooms located at the east end the floor, exhibit more elaborate detailing.
Decorative elements include paneled wood wainscoting with a gougework pattern, paneled walls, a
crown molding and a reeded frieze. The larger of the two rooms is also lined with bookcases. The
bookcases extend from floor to ceiling and are capped by a cornice with a dentil course. Cabinets
line the base of the bookcases. In addition to the main floor space, there
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page 4
is an exterior rooftop patio located on the north side of the 1911 portion of the hospital. Single muhipaned glass doors with a transom provide access to this rooftop space, and they may be remnants of
the building's original interior woodwork.
Guided by an emphasis on durable, low-maintenance surfaces that could be easily cleaned for
sanitation purposes, the building's interior is largely utilitarian. Polished terrazzo with a decorative
diamond motif covers the foyer floor, and terrazzo slabs with a simpler design also cover the corridor
floors throughout the building. The fact that the terrazzo has been laid in large monolithic slabs
without brass or metal divider strips suggests the terrazzo is the original flooring material (Jester, ed.
1995:234). Similarly, most of the bathrooms have ceramic tile floors while individual rooms have
concrete floors covered with either linoleum or sheet vinyl. Bathroom and select corridor walls have
a ceramic tile wainscoting, but the majority of the interior walls are plaster-and-lathe. Simple metal
pipe handrails are found on all corridor walls. The individual hospital rooms generally were designed
for two beds although there were wards with from three to five beds. Each room had at least one
sink and most had one for each bed or patient. Most rooms had a minimum of one closet for the
patients with the larger wards having two or more.
Nurses 's Home
Designed by S. Preston Craighill and built in 1940, the nurse's home provided additional living
quarters for the nurses at Lynchburg General Hospital. The original nurse's home, a two-story frame
building, was situated west of and adjacent to the new dormitory. Located to the north behind the
main hospital building, the nurse;s home is a simple but massive fireproof construction building. The
irregular footprint is comprised of two L-shaped sections connected by three-story hyphens to a
square central block. Since the hyphens are only one-bay wide and one-bay deep, they are recessed
from the exterior walls of each section on both the main (north) ~ade and rear elevation. As a
result, the nurse's home appears to be a series of three rather than one building when viewed from
certain angles. Despite this, the building exhibits a striking visual symmetry and rectangular massing.
Overall, the nurse's home is quite plain with only modest detailing. The first story of the building
appears to be constructed of poured concrete, and due to the sloping topography, the building is
banked into its site, entirely or partially obscuring the basement story on the rear (south) and side
elevations. A narrow watertable separates this first level from the two stories above which are
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024..0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section
7
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _s_
covered in a common bond brick veneer. A sawtooth brick cornice unifies the entire composition
while a standing metal seam hipped roof crowns each section. Window and/or door openings are
spaced regularly if not evenly across each elevation. The majority of windows are six-over-one
double-hung wood sash although there are a handful of four-over-one double-hung wood sash as
well Rectangular grills, presumably for climate control or ventilation, are located below the window
openings on the main (north) f~ade and rear (south) elevation.
Among the only distinguishing features are the porches located on the main (north) fa~ade and the
west elevation. A two-story partial-width porch is centered on the main (north) fa~ade of the
building. Two tall brick piers support a second floor balcony sheltered by a hipped roof. Raised
metal seam covers the roof and three square columns are clustered at the two front comers of the
balcony; a simple open railing with square spindles extends between the columns. An exterior
entrance flanked by a pair of narrow four-over-one double-hung wood sash windows opens onto the
balcony. It has a glazed wood door and a three light transom. There is no entrance to the porch on
the first story and no physical evidence of any other means of exterior access to the porch. A second
partial-width porch-is found on the southwest comer of the west elevation. This one-story frame
porch has plain wooden posts, a simple railing with square balusters and a hip roof. It appears that
the major entrance to this building was through the west end porch with a secondary entrance on the
east end at the basement level. The land west of this elevation is terraced, and an original red brick
sidewalk leads up to this porch. Manufactured in Lynchburg, the pressed brick pavers are red in color
and incised with a circular motif. This is the only brick sidewalk on the hospital grounds. All the
other sidewalks are poured concrete.
The interior of the Nurses's Home is utilitarian and fairly spartan. It consists ofa hallway on each
floor oriented on an east/west axis with rooms opening off each side. The walls were plastered and
the hallways now have a dropped acoustical tile ceiling. Each room featured plastered walls and
hardwood floors. Two closets flank the doorway into each room which appears to have been
designed for two people. Four single bathrooms with ceramic tile detailing are located on each floor.
The exception to this plan is a slightly larger room on the north side which prnvided access to the
porch. An enclosed stairwell is located at each end of the building on the rear. The metal stairs are
very similar to those found in the main hospital with ramped handrail, paneled newel post, and plain
balusters.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10·900·•
(8-8(;)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _7_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _6_
Associated Outbuildings
Three associated outbuildings and one structure are located on the hospital grounds including an
office building, a storage building, and a boiler building. The picnic pavilion is the single structure.
All are non-contributing resources due to their having been constructed less than fifty years ago.
Built about 1950, the office building is a one-story frame structure situated near the southwest corner
of the main hospital building. Raised seam metal covers the gabled roof, and vertical wood boards
sheathe the exterior walls. The building rests on a concrete block foundation. Originally, the office
was not connected to the main hospital building. However, by 1955 a frame one-story hyphen
connected the two buildings, and a they are now connected by an entrance cut into the south exterior
wall of a elevator tower added to the main hospital building in 198 l.
The other three buildings stand west of the main hospital building and northwest of the office
building. The post-1955 picnic pavilion consists of brick piers which support a raised metal seam
gabled roof. Although the buff-colored brick of the piers matches that of the 1939 addition to the
hospital building, the structure does not appear on the Sanborn Map that has been updated to 1955.
Decorative wrought-iron railings extend between the piers on the north and south elevations while
solid brick parapet walls extend between the piers on the east elevation. The pavilion is set on a
concrete slab which extends north of the building to connect with a concrete sidewalk. A one-story
concrete block storage building is located a short distance north of the picnic pavilion and appears
on the 1953 Sanborn Map as an addition to the City Almshouse (now demolished). It has a flat roof
and the roofing material is not visible. The main entrance to the building is located on the east
elevation and it is sheltered by a full-width porch. The porch has a raised seam metal roof supported
by slender metal poles. The boiler building or "heater room" stands approximately 80 feet west of
the main hospital building. Constructed of tan brick laid up in a common bond pattern, this one-story
building once provided steam heat for laundry facility and perhaps portions of the hospital complex
as well. A flat roof crowns the building and there is a single square brick stack. The building has a
concrete slab foundation.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-416)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page_7__
Statement of Significance
The old Lynchburg Hospital is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under
Criterion A for its significance in the areas of Health/Medicine and Politics/Government as the
municipal hospital of the City of Lynchburg. This hospital, buih in 1911, was the first publicly funded
and run hospital in Lynchburg. It was established by the city to meet the health care needs of its
citiz.ens particularly those who could not afford one of the private hospitals located in the city or were
not allowed access to those facilities due to racial discrimination prevalent during the period this
hospital operated. In addition, this property is eligible under Criterion C for its significance in the
area of architecture. Three noted Lynchburg architects, J.M.B. Lewis, Stanhope Johnson, and S.
Preston Craighill contributed to its original design and subsequent remodelings. Its architectural
•
evolution from a Georgian Revival-style building to the Neo-Classical represents the changes in
popular style and tastes in Lynchburg as well as the proclivities of the architect.
Narrative Statement of Significance
Lynchburg, founded by Charles Lynch in the mid-eighteenth century as a trading center on the James
River, gained prominence as a regional tobacco center. The arrival of the James River and Kanawha
Canal and later several railroad lines made Lynchburg a transportation hub that contributed to its
status as one of the wealthiest cities in the state and the South before the Civil War (Anonymous
1985:198). During the war, Lynchburg became a major transportation and hospital center for the
Confederacy. Unlike other Virginia cities, Lynchburg's physical facilities survived the war relatively
unscathed and tobacco briefly regained its pre-war role as the economic mainstay of the city after the
war. Once again, Lynchburg's location as a transportation center played a major role in the
resurgence of its economic base as tobacco declined in importance to the city. Cotton, textiles, shoes,
and wholesale goods replaced tobacco as the economic base of the city. Lynchburg became a major
jobbing center and large quantities of shoes and other manufactured goods moved through Lynchburg
(Loyd and Mundy 1975:18). The city's manufacturing plants created jobs for hundreds of skilled and
unskilled laborers. By 1910, Lynchburg had a population of29,494 (Loyd and Mundy 1975:25). As
the population increased, the city was more frequently called upon to provide services to its residents.
In addition to police and fire protection, Lynchburg had a municipal water system since 1828. As
Lynchburg leaders recogniz.ed the need to "take care of their own" as one put it, the city moved in
the early twentieth century to create a health care system that included for the first time a health
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10..900.a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _8_
department and hospital that were open to all its citiz.ens regardless of their race or their ability to pay
for medical care.
Lynchburg had been a hospital center in Virginia during the Civil War exceeded only Richmond.
Some seventeen warehouses were converted to hospitals while the wounded were also cared for in
churches, tents, meeting halls, and private homes (Anonymous 1985:198). Unfortunately, the
experience gained during the Civil War did not immediately translate into the establishment of
hospitals for Lynchburg citiz.ens. All closed at the end of the war.
It was not until 1886 that a hospital opened in the city. Lodge No. 39 of the Lynchburg Masons
began a hospital that year in a donated home at the comer of Church and Washington streets. In an
era when most people were treated by physicians at home and the medical community had little
success in stopping the spread of infection, hospitals were places to be avoided unless there was no
choice. Hospitals were characterized as "dingy, foul-smelling places where the poor, the aged and
the mentally ill were isolated from society'' (Laurant 1997:316). The Mason's hospital was initially
called the Home and Retreat to avoid the use of the word hospital which they thought would scare
potential patients away. The fact that the hospital moved into larger quarters two years later is a
testament to the success of this venture. By 1907, a wing was added to accommodate patients but
it was not until 1921 that it changed its name to Marshall Lodge Memorial Hospital (Laurant
1997:316).
Marshall Lodge was a private hospital. There would be no public hospital for another twenty-six
years. The closest thing the city had in the way a public health institution was the city almshouse
situated on a hill on Hollins Mill Road above Blackwater Creek. It consisted of several frame and
masonry buildings (Sanborn 1907). Dr. Elisha Barksdale, a Lynchburg surgeon, characterized the
almshouse in 1907 "as a forsaken rathole for paupers and Negroes who had no medical care" (Houck
1986: 136). Indeed, the yearly Official Reports of the City ofLynchburg routinely cited the need for
improvements to the almshouse (Official Reports of the City ofLynchburg). Dr. Barksdale proposed
a public hospital to care for the city's indigent and is largely credited with the establishment of
Lynchburg's first public hospital (Scruggs 229).
NPS Form 10-900-a
0MB No. 1024.0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _9__
The Lynchburg City Council began discussing a city hospital about 1908 and finally authorized in
1910, by a vote of three-to-two, the construction of a city funded and run hospital at the site of the
Almshouse (Scruggs 229; Anonymous 1985:176). When Lynchburg Hospital opened in 1912, it
operated under the auspices of the City Council and the Health Department, which was established
the same year that the hospital was authorized. Mosby Perrow, the first director of the Health
Department, articulated the purpose of the city hospital when he acknowledged the reality of the
situation: "Preference is given to charity cases except for [the] colored in which no distinction is
made, there being no other hospital in the city for colored patients" (Laurant 1997:317). Lynchburg
was a segregated city in the segregated south and for many years Lynchburg Hospital was the only
medical facility in the city that admitted African Americans. It would not be until 1966 that all
hospitals in the city integrated under the threat of loss of federal Medicare funding (Anonymous
1985:177) .
•
The Lynchburg Hospital undoubtedly was also the setting for the battle over self-determination of
ethnicity and race that was waged in Virginia by Dr. W. A Plecker, State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
During his tenure as the head of the vital statistics department from its creation in 1912 to 1946,
Plecker waged a war against the perceived evils of "race mixing". As head of Vital Statistics he
vigorously enforced the 1924 "Act to Preserve Racial Integrity" which essentially created two racial
categories: white and everyone else (Smith 1993 :59). Plecker went so far as to "correct" the birth
certificates of those he felt has been misidentified. Plecker was particularly vigilant in his crusade
against Virginia's Indian population particularly in Amherst County, which lies just north of
Lynchburg. Indians were not allowed to be described on their birth, marriage, or death certificates
as Indian or mixed but according to Plecker had to be listed as Negro. In a letter Plecker wrote:
We have instructed physicians, local registrars and midwives to see that all persons of mixed
descent in Amherst and Rockbridge Counties are correctly reported and that they be not
reported as white. If any have done so in the past, the cards should be returned and the
corrections made on the certificates (Smith 1993:91).
In the Lynchburg/Amherst County area, women of the Monacan tribe who gave birth in the
Lynchburg Hospital would not have been allowed to stipulate on their baby's birth certificate that
they were Indian.
John Minor Botts Lewis (J.MB. Lewis) (1869-1950) designed the new hospital. Lewis was a native
of Culpeper County and received his education in both architecture and civil engineering from the
University of Virginia. He was a civil engineer and architect for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _ 8 _
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _10__
for seven years prior to establishing his architectural practice in Lynchburg in 1896 (Chambers
1981:344; Wells and Dalton 1997:256). His major commissions in Lynchburg date from the late
1890s to the late 191 Os. Lewis was adept at executing architectural designs in the Georgian Revival
style, which was then very popular in Lynchburg. His designs include office and commercial
buildings, and schools in addition to residential architecture. In 190 I, he designed Avoca, the
Thomas Fauntleroy home in Altavista Between 1909 and 1912, the time during which the hospital
was designed, Lewis was associated with William R. Burnham as Lewis & Burnham. During this
period, he continued to produce residential designs as well as commercial, industrial, and institutional
works. Among others, he is credited with the designs for the Elk's Home Building, a fuctory, several
schools, a fire station and a number of commercial buildings in Lynchburg. In 1910, he designed
renovations and additions to Oak Ridge, the Thomas Fortune Ryan estate, in nearby Nelson County
(Wells and Dalton 1997:256). In 1925, Lewis was appointed postmaster of Lynchburg and served
until 1934 (Chambers 1981:359).
The hospital was built by the construction firm of C. W. Womack & Company on the grounds of the
city Almshouse that was composed of at least three separate buildings. The almshouse occupied the
western portion of the lot (now the parking lot) and some of its buildings survived into the 1970s.
The hospital opened on April 5, 1912 and had a patient population for the year of 532 patients
(Official Reports of the City of Lynchburg, 1912).
Only four years later, Stanhope Johnson and the architectural firm of McLaughlin & Johnson were .
engaged to make alterations to the hospital. Johnson (1882-1973) became a prominent Lynchburg
architect and during his long career ran one of the most important and successful architectural firms
in central Virginia in the first half of the twentieth century (Brownell et al. 1992:356). He designed
buildings in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina. He began his architectural
career in 1899 at the age of seventeen working for Lynchburg architectural firm of Frye and
Chesterman. In 1909, he became a partner in the firm of McLaughlin, Pettit & Johnson. This firm
seems primarily to have produced residential designs (Wells and Dalton 1997:289). The McLaughlin
& Johnson firm dissolved the year following the hospital renovations and Johnson began an
independent architectural practice. Between 1925 and 1932, he was in practice with Ray Brannan
in Lynchburg. Brannan had joined Johnson in 1917, the year Johnson entered private practice, as
office manager and became a partner in 1919 (Brownell et al. 1992:376).
0MB No. 1024.0018
NPS Form 10-900-•
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _11_
Stylistically, Johnson's early work followed the American Renaissance Classicism as practiced in
Virginia and by the early 1920s ravored forms of Co Ionia~ Georgian, and Jefferson Revivals. He also
became fluent in the Art Deco and Art Modeme of the 1920s and 1930s. One of his most notable
executions is the Allied Arts Building in Lynchburg which was built 1929-1931 and symbolized
Lynchburg's enterprising character. Until 1973, it was the city's tallest building in the city (Brownell
et al. 1992:376). The design for this building has been compared to those of Hugh Ferris and Elie!
Saarinen (Wells and Dalton 1997:228). Johnson also designed buildings at the. Virginia Baptist
Hospital, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg College, and numerous schools, among
others (Wells and Dalton 1997:228).
The plans for the 1916 renovations provide the earliest information on the layout and design of the
hospital. ·At this time the hospital consisted of two blocks situated one behind the other and connected
by a frame passageway. The main block was three stories while the rear block was only two. Private
rooms occupied most of the first two floors with large wards occupying each of the four corners of
the third floor. The operating room was also located on the third floor to take advantage of natural
lighting provided by a skylight. The basement held the nurse's dining room, kitchen, morgue, and
other storage rooms. The rear building (now demolished) contained wards, a few private rooms, and
a kitchen (McLaughlin & Johnson 1916). A notable feature of the hospital at this time was the two
story sun porches on the front of the building that flanked the one-story entry porch. A picture of the
hospital in a 1924 publication shows a very different building from today's structure with these
muhiple porches and breaks in the fa.\:ade.
By 1932, the Sanborn Map shows a two-story addition to the west end of the hospital. It was deep
enough to reach the rear block creating a U-shaped building. Standing behind the hospital were two
frame dwellings, one of which was used to house nurses.
In 1939, the city embarked on an ambitious rebuilding and remodeling campaign for both the hospital
and the City Home as the almshouse was then called. The city, like other parts of the country, was
just beginning to recover from the depression. The Mayor noted in his annual address at the end of
the year there was had been more building activity in Lynchburg in 193 9 than in any year since l 931.
Other projects also underway in the city included the construction of both football and baseball
stadiums as well as a school for African American children. Both the hospital project and the stadium
were constructed with financial assistance from the Public Works Administration and the Works
Project Administration (Annual Report 1939).
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NPS Form 10·900-a
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _8_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _12 __
The hospital project, which was begun in January 1939, was expected to cost $199,555.00 but the
city eventually paid $229,239.16 for the hospital project alone (Building Permit #8421). The
construction of the Nurses's Home cost another $34,840 (Building Permit #8945).
S. Preston Craighill was the architect for both projects and it is his Neo-Classical remodeling of the
original hospital that has survived. Craighill (1881-1957) studied architecture at the Philadelphia
School oflndustrial Arts and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He also worked at the Tiffany
Studios in New York before beginning his architectural practice in Lynchburg in 1914. He briefly
formed a partnership withJ. Bryant Heard and John Robert Cardwell between 1917 and 1918. From
1919 to 1934, Craighill was associated with fellow architect Bennett Cardwell and the two were
known for their execution of period design houses in Lynchburg (Chambers 1981 :452). They also
designed several schools and churches in Lynchburg and nearby localities and in 1930 designed the
second unit at the Marshall Lodge Memorial Hospital (Wells and Dalton 1997:101).
This building campaign significantly changed the appearance of the hospital and resulted in the
structure standing today. The 1939 rebuilding replaced the rear building with a three story section
and consolidated it with the larger western addition shown on the 1932 Sanborn Map. The western
section was also raised from two stories to three creating the buff-colored section as it stands today.
The original frame passage between the front and rear blocks of the original hospital was replaced
with the present passage. The most striking change, however, was the complete obliteration of the
original ~ade. The classically trained Craighill chose a Neo-Classical-style ~ade for the hospital.
The two- story sun porches were incorporated into the building, the one-story front porch removed,
and a two-story, one-levei classical portico created.
During this period ofrenovation, patients were housed in rented quarters on Church Street. During
the year it took to rebuild/remodel the hospital, hospital patients were limited to charity and
emergency patients although the city did run a dispensary. On December 20, 1939, the newly
renovated hospital was open for inspection by the citiz.ens of Lynchburg and some 2,000, along with
other city dignitaries, toured the facility that day (The News 12/20/39:8). The following day fifty
patients were transported from the rented quarters on Church Street to the new facility and by the
following week the hospital had 75 patients (The News 12/28/39). The new facility had a 150-bed
capacity. The Nurses's home, which was also constructed during this period, was built to house the
enlarged nursing staff (Annual Report 1939).
NPS Form l 0-900-a
(8-86)
0MB No. 1024--0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section 8
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _13 __
Along with the new style of the hospital came a new name. Previously known as just Lynchburg
Hospital, its name was changed to Lynchburg General Hospital with the 1939 renovations. The city
was proud enough of its new hospital that the building graced the cover of the city's Annual Report.
In the mayor's annual message to city residents at the end of 1939, he listed the completion of the
hospital renovations as one of the significant accomplishments of Lynchburg. The hospital remained
at this location until 1956 when it moved to new quarters. The hospital was used until the early
1990s as a city nursing home and as offices for the city's Social Services Department.
For forty-four years Lynchburg Hospital was the only city hospital that dispensed care to all comers
regardless of their race or ability to pay. It was not until 1966 that the private hospitals in the city
were integrated. The hospital also evolved from primarily providing indigent care and gained its
reputation as the "emergency" hospital in Lynchburg (Houck 1986:136). The evolution of its
buildings reflect the changing tastes and needs of a city that prided itself on its position as a modem
city and on its ability to care of its own citizens.
0MB No. 1824-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8~6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9_
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _14__
Bibliography
Anonymous
1985
Tales of the Hill City. Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc., Lynchburg, VA.
Brownell, Charles E., Loth, Calder, Rasmussen, William M.S., and Wilson, Richard Guy
1992
The Making of Virginia Architecture. Virginia Museum ofFine Arts, Richmond, VA.
Chambers, A. Allan, Jr.
1981
Lynchburg, An Architectural History. The University Press of Virginia., Charlottesville, VA.
Houck, Peter W
t986
A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warwick House Publishing,
Lynchburg, VA.
Jester, Thomas C.
1995
Twentieth-Century Building Materials. McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, NY.
City of Lynchburg
Official Report of the City of Lynchburg. On file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA, various
years.
City of Lynchburg
1939
Annual Report. On file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
City of Lynchburg
Building Permits, Department of Public Works, Building inspector's Office, Lynchburg, VA, various
years.
Lauran!, David
1997
A City Unto Itself, Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 101• Century. By the author and The News Advance,
Lynchburg, VA.
Loyd, Richard B. and Mundy, Bernard K.
1975
Lynchburg, A Pictorial History. By the authors.
McLaughlin & Johnson.
1916
"Alterations to Hospital for City of Lynchburg." Architectural plans on file at the Jones Memorial
Library, Lynchburg, Va.
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section _9, 10_
The News
1939
1939
(Lynchburg Hospital)
(Lynchburg, VA)
Page _IS_
"About 2,000 Visit New City Hospital on Inspection Day." The News, Lynchburg, Va. 20
December 1939.
"Hospital's Staff is Hard Pressed." The News, Lynchburg, Va.
28 December 1939.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot
n.d.
The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, 1786-1946. J.P. Bell Company, Inc., Lynchburg, VA.
Wells, John E. and Dalton Robert E.
1997
The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955. New South Architectural Press, Richmond, VA .
•
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries for the Lynchburg Hospital include all of the following tax parcels as shown on the attached cadastral
map of the City of Lynchburg:
Tax Parcel No.: 009-02-024 through 009-02-031 inclusive.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries for the Lynchburg Hospital include the hospital buildings, the parking lots, and grounds. They include
all the parcels that comprise the hospital grounds.
Text
NPS Form 10-900
NO. 1024-OQI8
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual
properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration F o m (National Register Bulletin 16A).
Complete each item by maslung "x"in the appropriate box or by entering the
information requested. If any item does not apply t o the property being
documented, enter " N J A for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and a e a s of significance, enter only categories and
subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter,word
processor, or computer, to complete all items.
---------------------------------------------------*-----------------------------------------------+-----------------------------
1. Name of Property
.................................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------historic name Fort Early and Jubal Early Monument
\\~-S[GZ
other names J site number
=================================================================
2. Location
===========--------------========----===~========================
not for publication
street & number -35 11 Memorial Avenue
city or town
Lynchburg
vicinity
state Virgmiacode -VA- county i n d e p e n d e n t city- zip code -24502-
---------------------------------------------------------------------f---_f-----_l_----------------------h-----d-----------------
3. State /Federal Agency Certification
===========---------====================~===~===============
As the designated authority under the National Historic Reservation Act of
1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this -nomination -request for
determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic maces and meets the procedural
m d professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the
property -X- meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
nationally recommend that this property be considered significant
statewide -X- locally. ( -See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
In my opinion, the property -meets _ does not meet the National Register
criteria. ( - See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
.................................................................
4. National Park Service Certification
.................................................................
I, hereby certify that this property is:
_ entered in the National Register
- See continuation sheet.
_ determined eligible for the
National Register
- See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the
National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):
Signature of Keeper Date
of Action
5. Classification
.................................................................
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes a s apply)
- private
-x- public-local
- public-State
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
-building(s)
-district
-x- site
- structure
-object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0-buildings
- 1-0-sites
-0-0-structures
- 1-0-objects
-3-0- Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register -0Name of related multiple property listing (Enter " N / A if property is not part
of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
'
.................................................................
6. Function or Use
.......................
---
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
-Defense---Fortification
-Recreation & Culture---Museum-
-Recreation & Culture--Monument-Social---ClubHouse
Current Functions
D e f e n s e - - - B a t t l e Site
R e c r e a t i o n & Culture---MuseumR e c r e a t i o n & Culture---MonumentS o c i a l - - - C l u bHouse
.................................................................
7. Description
...................................................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
e a r t h e n fort---no style
C l u b House---Classical Revival
M o n u m e n t - - - C l a s s i c a l Revival
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
roof
club house---asphalt
walls -fort---earth, club house---brick-monument---granite
other
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the
property on one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................
8. Statement of Significance
.................................................................
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the
criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing)
-X- A Property is associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
_ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in
our past.
-C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or
_
method of construction or represents the work of a master,
or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important
in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark " X in all the boxes that apply.)
-a
_b
-c
-d
_e
-f
-g
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the
past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Military
-
Period of Significance
1864--1950-
Significant Dates
-June 17-18, 1864-1919
-1922
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked
above)
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................
9. Major Bibliographical References
.................................................................
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
- preliminary
determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
- previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
- recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X-
State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
- Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-Other
Name of repository:
.................................................................
10. Geographical Data
.................................................................
Acreage of Property -1.30 acres-
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 -17- -661700- -4139480-
Zone Easting Northing
3--
- See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a
continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a
continuation sheet.)
continuation sheet.)
__------_--------------=---------------------=========-------====
.......................
11. Form Prepared By
____-----_----------------------=--------------------=----------................................
name/title-Nancy
Weiland and Philip Wayne Rhodes, Staff
o r g a n i z a t i o n J o n e s Memorial Library
date-February,
200 1
street & n u m b e r 2 3 11 Memorial A v e n u e telephone-804-846-050 1city or town
Lynchburg
state-VA- zip code -246-50
1-
Additional Documentation
.................................................................
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage
or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
-
.................................................................
Property Owner
.................................................................
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
City of Lynchburg
P. 0. Box 60
street & number
Telephone numbers-804-845-1508
city or town-Lynchburg
Fort Early Corpokation
1120 Heath Avenue, 2450 1
804-239-0488
state-VA- zip code -24505-
.................................................................
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National
Reaster of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list
properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per
response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and
reviewine the form. Direct comments reeardine this burden estimate or anv asoect of this form to the Chlef,
~ d m m ~ & a u eScmcrs
c
Dlwslon, ~ a u o ~h a r Setvlce.
i
P 0 Box 37127. ~ a s h k ~ t oDC
n . 20013-7127, and
the Officeof Managrment and Budget, Paperwork Rcducuans Projcct ,1024-00181, Washlngfon. DC 20503
NPS Form 10-900-a
Approval ho 102.1-00 18
18-89)
OMP
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
1
Summary Description
Fort Early is located in the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, near the intersection of Fort
Avenue and Memorial Avenue. Confederate forces under the command of Brigadier
General Jubal Anderson Early constructed the roughly square earthen fort in June 1864 as
part of the outer defenses of Lynchburg as General David Hunter advanced from the
north and west in an attempt to capture the city. It is the only section of the Lynchburg
defenses still in existence.
The fort is an earthen structure on 1.29 acres and is surrounded by a brick wall and metal
fencing. Within the fort, a one-story brick structure was built in 1922 and a brick paved
entrance drive cut through the eastern portion of the breastworks. The remaining portions
of the breastworks are intact including a sally port in the northern wall used to bring in
ammunition and other supplies during the military operation of the fort.
Included in the nominated property is a granite obelisk honoring Confederate General
Jubal A. Early for whom Fort Early was named. It sits on a triangle of land formed by
the intersection of Fort Avenue and Memorial Avenue.
Historical Background
Lynch's Ferry, later known as Lynchburg, Virginia, was chartered in 1786. The City of
Lynchburg was formed in 1805. In 18 17, the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike Company was
chartered and constructed a road from Lynchburg to the western sections of the state.
The turnpike became the main artery of commerce between Lynchburg and Southwest
Virginia. By 1860, Lynchburg had become the terminus for three railroads: the Orange
and Alexandria, the Virginia and Tennessee, and the Southside. By the outbreak of the
Civil War, the city was considered one of the most important rail centers in the South.
Lynchburg was also the site of the Quartermaster Depot for the Army of Northern
Virginia. It was along this turnpike to Lynchburg that General David Hunter marched in
an attempt to disrupt the flow of men and materiel through Lynchburg to Richmond,
Virginia, and other centers. It was also along this turnpike that General Jubal Early
established the outer defenses of the city in 1864.
The walls of the fort are approximately 12 to 15 feet in height on the exterior and
approximately 4 to 6 feet high on the interior. With the exception of the sally port in the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-89)
OMP Approval Na 1021-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page
2
north wall, and the driveway entrance cut into the east wall, the earthen walls are
continuous. The south and west walls each measure approximately 150 feet in length.
The driveway in the east wall and the sally port in the north wall each measure
approximately 30 feet in width.
A brick wall, done in running bond, approximately five feet in height and 15 inches thick,
extends approximately 510 feet along the south and east sides of the property. A large
building adjoining the property forms the north boundary. The west side of the property
boundary is marked with a hedgerow and metal fencing. The driveway entrance.
measuring approximately 15 feet, occurs in the eastern portion of the brick wall. An
archway of brick columns and ornamental ironwork frames the entrance. The columns
are approximately 6' 6" with the ironwork rising from each column to form an arch
approximately 15 feet high. In the arch are the words, "Fort Early."
The clubhouse, built in 1922, within the breastworks is a one-story brick building, 72' x
40', done in the Neo-classical Revival style of architecture. It has a concrete foundation
and its exterior walls are in Flemish bond. The building has a flat shingled roof. The
building is H-shaped with the entrance faqade framed by the projecting sides of the H.
Three handsome arched glazed French doors open to a terrace that is sheltered between
the projecting wings. The ends of the wings each have a single plastered blind arch. The
end elevations (the sides of the H plan) have pairs of arched windows flanked by small
single windows. The rear elevations of the wings are blank walls and today flank a frame
addition that fills the originally recessed center. The rear exit is one double door. A
handicapped access ramp has been added to the front entrance.
The monument to General Jubal A. Early takes the form of an obelisk approximately 17
feet in height. It rises from a sloping concave base that supports a rectangular block
which, in turn, supports the obelisk itself. On one face of the block is the following
inscription: "Memorial to Jubal Anderson Early, Lieutenant General, C.S.A., and to the
brave Confederate soldiers under him who came to the rescue of Lynchburg when it was
threatened by an invasion of Federal forces and erected this earthworks behind which
they entrenched themselves in their defense of the City on June 18, 1864."
The monument stands approximately 35 feet from the entrance to Fort Early and is a part
of the nominated property.
NPS Form IO-900-a
Approval ?Go 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
3
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Fort Early, the only remaining Civil War earthen fort in Lynchburg, Virginia, guarded the
Lynchburg Salem Turnpike and provided defense for the city in the Battle of Lynchburg
on June 17-18, 1864. The post war brick building inside the fort is the headquarters of
the Fort Hill Woman's Club and serves as a museum to the battle. The exhibits in the
museum display the events of the Battle of Lynchburg and are open to the public by
appointment. A granite obelisk honoring General Jubal Early and his troops is directly
across the street from the fort entrance. The monument was erected in 1919 by a niece
of General Jubal Early, commander of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern
Virginia, CSA.
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
Fort Early is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under
Criterion A for its association with the Battle of Lynchburg and its defense of the city.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
After Union General David Hunter had cut a swath of destruction through the upper
Shenandoah Valley, on June 11, 1864, he burned the Virginia Military Institute at
Lexington. Hunter's next primary objective was Lynchburg. Through it passed three
railroads and a canal: the Orange and Alexandria Railroad running north to Manassas, the
South Side Railroad running east to Petersburg, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
running west to Bristol, and the James River and Kanawha Canal running from Buchanan
to Richmond. Most of the supplies going to General Lee's forces and Richmond were
sent east from the Valley of Virginia and Tennessee through this transportation network.
As trains and boats returned westward, they brought wounded men to the seventeen
major hospitals located in the hotels and tobacco factories in Lynchburg. Without this
transportation system in operation, Richmond would fall.
To assist General Hunter, General Grant dispatched two divisions of cavalry under
General Philip Sheridan to move west and join Hunter's force at Charlottesville after
destroying the Virginia Central Railroad. On June 8, 1864, General George Crook's
OMP Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
16-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
4
infantry and General William W. Averell's cavalry joined Hunter at Staunton bringing his
force to 18,000. Hunter then moved toward Lexington and Lynchburg.
General John C. Breckinridge gathered a force of 2,100 to oppose Hunter with skirmishes
at Middlebrook, Brownsburg and Waynesboro. Hunter's men had skirmished at
Lexington and burned Virginia Military Institute on June 12, 1864.
General Lee
detached Jubal Early with a force of 8,000 to march west from Gaines Mill, in Hanover
County, on June 13 to join Breckinridge in Lynchburg.
On June 15, Hunter's force
crossed the Blue Ridge at the Peaks of Otter and took the road to Lynchburg.
General Early's men boarded trains in Charlottesville and reached Lynchburg in time to
repulse Hunter's attack on June 17-18. General Hunter with a force of 18,000 Union
soldiers reached the outskirts of Lynchburg with the plan of capturing this major supply
and communications center of Lee's army. When the units reached the Salem Turnpike,
their advance was delayed near the Quaker Meeting House by a small force under the
command of Generals John McCausland and John Imboden. General Early arrived with
less than half of his corps to set up a new line of defense.
General Early rode out to survey Lynchburg's defenses established by Breckinridge. He
found a nondescript army of defenders that included Breckinridge's two small infantry
brigades, the cadet corps of the Virginia Military Institute, dismounted cavalry which had
been with General Jones at Piedmont, reserves, and invalids from the Lynchburg
hospitals. He also observed that the Confederate lines of defense were so close to the city
as to expose the latter to enemy artillery fire. Consequently, he ordered a new line to be
established a further distance from the city. The breastworks, including Fort Early, were
hastily constructed and occupied by Early's troops.
Hunter and his commanders took over Sandusky, the home of Major George C. Hutter,
approximately two miles to the west of Fort Early, and established their headquarters
there. General Hunter boasted at supper that Lynchburg would be his the following day.
Throughout the night, Hunter's scouts reported hearing train after train pulling into the
Lynchburg rail station, each greeted with cheers, drumbeats and shouts from the large
crowd that had gathered. The impression was one of welcoming large numbers of new
Confederate reinforcements. Actually, it was only a single, empty train running back and
NPS Form 10-900-a
Approval No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8_ Page
forth to create the illusion.
arrive until June 18.
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
5
The remaining 8,000 of General Early's troops would not
The Federal infantry and artillery attack came at daybreak along the Lynchburg-Salem
Turnpike and the forces met with fierce resistance from General Early's troops. When
General Hunter leamed that General McCausland was attacking his supply wagons at
Forest, some distance to the west, he quietly withdrew his forces. He sent his baggage
and supply trains first and waited until dark before dispatching the bulk of his army. By
midnight the last line of pickets retired to join the main army. As soon as Early learned
that Hunter had retreated, he started the Second Corps in pursuit. He caught up with the
Federal rear guard at Bedford and drove them back. Hunter continued his withdrawal
through Buford's Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, to Bonsack's Station on the Virginia
and Tennessee Railroad and on to Salem. Early pursued Hunter as far as Hanging Rock,
in Roanoke County where he suspended the pursuit. The Battle of Lynchburg was short
and casualties were light. General Jubal Anderson Early earned the title "Savior of
Lynchburg" for his leading role in the battle. After the battle, the earthen fort remained
intact, but was no longer used as a military defense.
After the war, the property on which Fort Early stood was deeded to Campbell County
for a schoolhouse. A small building was subsequently erected within the enclosure and
was known as "The Breastworks School". It began as a one-room school, but shortly
after construction, a second classroom was added. A Miss McKinney taught the classes
for the older children and Miss Georgia Morgan was the teacher of the younger children.
As population increased in the southwest section of the City's Brockville District, a new
school was built near the Quaker church and the "Breastworks School" was abandoned.
The building eventually decayed and disappeared. The grounds grew up in briers, bushes
and poison oak vines. Although an opening was cut through one face of the fort for
access to the school, the breastworks were for the most part left undisturbed.
,
The school board deeded the property to the Old Dominion Chapter of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in 1905. In turn the Chapter turned the land over to
the city of Lynchburg and the Fort Hill Woman's Club for preservation.
OMP Approval
NPS Form 10-900-2
18-89]
No 1021-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
6
By 1912 the residents of the Fort Early area were campaigning for the fort to be
preserved and the grounds beautified. At that time, the grounds were overgrown and
deteriorating. Citizen interest was sparked also by the establishment of the Seminole
trail by the American Automobile Association that would pass directly in front of the
property. Improvements would certainly attract tourists.
In 1919 Ruth Early, niece of General Jubal A. Early, contracted for the construction of a
granite obelisk in honor of her uncle. This monument to General Early is 17 feet high
and located across the street from the entrance of Fort Early at the junction of Memorial
and Fort Avenue. (Note: Due to redesigning of traffic patterns of the area, it is a
possibility that in the future this monument will be relocated from its current position to a
position within the fort walls.) The monument reads: "Memorial to Jubal Anderson
Early, Lieutenant General C. S. A,, and to the brave Confederate soldiers under him who
came to the rescue of Lynchburg when it was threatened by an invasion of Federal forces
and erected these earthworks behind which they entrenched themselves in their defence
of the city on June 18, 1864." The heirs of Ruth Early offered to deed the fort property
and monument to the municipality. Lynchburg City Council voted unanimously in
September 1929 to accept the offer as a permanent Confederate memorial.
On April 20, 1920 the Old Dominion Chapter, UDC conveyed the fort property to the
City of Lynchburg with the understanding that it was to be used and maintained as a
Confederate Memorial. The Fort Hill Woman's Club was given the sole use, occupancy
and control of the property to construct a building to be used as a museum and meeting
place for the Fort Hill Woman's Club.
The Fort Hill Woman's Club was founded February 21, 1912. It was organized as a
social and sewing club with twelve charter members. At its inception, the club met at
the homes of members, most of who lived in the Fort Hill area near the Fort Early
property. As membership grew so too did the need for a meeting place. According to
the Fort Hill Woman's Club history recorded in their Yearbook 1999-2000, a
Washington, DC architect, Mr. Ellington, was employed to draw plans for a new facility.
In his book, Lynchburg: An Architectural History, S. Allen Chambers, Jr. states the onestory brick structure was designed by Craighill and Cardwell. It is unclear which
architectural firm actually completed the design. It may have been a collaborative effort.
OMP Approval No 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-8
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
7
The one-story brick clubhouse was built in 1922 within the breastworks by the Fort Hill
Woman's Club; and in June 1924, sixty years after the Battle, the UDC dedicated a
commemorative arch framing the entrance leading to the Club. While the insertion of a
building within the fort may be a questionable preservation practice, the Club's presence
has at least insured the fort's survival. None of the city's other Civil War fortifications
has been preserved, though most remained at the time the Club was built.
The Fort Hill Woman's Club, with the approval of Old Dominion Chapter UDC and the
consent of the City of Lynchburg, entered into an agreement with the George M. Jones
Library Association in 1923 for creation of a branch library. The library association
would provide $2,500 to aid in the completion of the building in order to have included in
it a room suitable for a branch library. The city was asked to accept the property as a
"perpetual memorial to the officers and soldiers of the Confederate army." A branch
library operated there until 1975.
The Old Dominion Chapter, UDC, erected a Memorial Arch in 1924 at the entrance of
the Fort to commemorate the Battle of Lynchburg. The arch faces the monument to
General Jubal A. Early just across the street. The inscription reads:, "Memorial arch
erected June, 1924, by Old Dominion Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy,
commemorating the battle of Lynchburg which took place June 18, 1864, at this point on
the line of defenses facing the old Salem turnpike." On the right side of the arch the
inscription reads: "This reservation was secured through the efforts of R. B. Dameron,
David Walker and Ruth H. Early, in 1905, from Campbell county school trustees for the
Old Dominion Chapter, which in 1920 placed it in charge of the Fort Hill Woman's Club
for preservation." On top of the arch, in bronze letters, reads "Fort Early".
Lynchburg City Council accepted the Fort Early property in November of 1928 to
maintain it as a Confederate memorial shrine. The property had been offered to the city
in May of that year by the Fort Hill Woman's Club and the Old Dominion Chapter, UDC
NPS Form 10-900-6
Approval No 102.1-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
8
to serve as "a perpetual memorial to the officers and soldiers of the Confederate army."
Under the terms of agreement, the city received all of the fort property with the exception
of the building and the ground upon which it is located. The building remained the
property of the Fort Hill Woman's Club and the Old Dominion Chapter.
Today Fort Early is well preserved thanks to the partnership of the City of Lynchburg and
the Fort Hill Woman's Club working together to maintain the grounds and provide a
museum of the battle of Lynchburg.
NPS Form 10-900-a
ApproLal No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
9
Bibliography
Old Dominion Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, Minutes, Lynchburg, VA:
The Chapter, 1927
S. Allen Chambers, Jr. Lynchburn. An Architectural Histo~CharlottesviIle,University
Press, 1981
The News & Dailv Advance (Lynchburg, VA), May 24, 1981, Section B, column 1
Tax Assessment Record, carded file, City of Lynchburg Tax Assessors Office
The News (Lynchburg, VA), September 16, 1919, page 16, column 4
The News (Lynchburg, VA), September 24, 1929, page 8, column 4
Lynchburg Historical Society Papers, Vol. 11 #5, The Battle of Lvnchbure from Lvnchbury
Virginian June 21, 1854, MS1140, Box 119, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
The News (Lynchburg, VA), May 15, 1928, page 8, column 1
Lvnchbure News (Lynchburg, VA), July 13, 1924, page 8, column 5
The News (Lynchburg, VA), June 26, 1928, page 8, column 1
Lvnchburg News (Lynchburg, VA), March 22, 1912, page 6, column 6
The News (Lynchburg, VA), November 13, 1928, page 8, column 1
Fort Hill Woman's Club, Year Book 1999-2000 (Lynchburg, VA: The Club) 1999
"Deed of Sale from M. M. Moorman, Jr. and Ellen G. Moorman to Old Dominion
Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Inc.," 30 December 1906 Campbell
Co., VA (Rustburg, VA) Deed Book 81, page 424.
NPS Farln I0-900-a
Approval No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
10
"Deed of Sale from Old Dominion Chapter of the Daughters of the confederacy, Inc. to
Herbert C. Barrow, David Walker and Howell C. Featherston, Trustees, for Fort Hill
Club," 20 April 1920, Campbell Co., VA, (Rustburg, VA) Deed Book 119, page 550.
"Deed of Sale from Herbert C. Barrow, David Walker and Howell C. Featherston,
Trustees for the City of Lynchburg to Old Dominion Chapter United Daughters of the
Confederacy, Inc., The Fort Hill Club and the George M. Jones Library Association"
May 1928, City of Lynchburg, Deed Book 165, page 531
"Deed of Sale from Fort Hill Woman's Club to Fort Early Corporation," 14 April 1982,
City of Lynchburg, Deed Book 616, page 392.
The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, Inc., The Saga of a City, Lynchburg,
Virginia 1787-1936 , The Association, 1936
W. Asbury Christian, Lynchburg and Its People, J. P. Bell Co., 1900
George S. Morris and Susan L. Foutz, Lynchburg in the Civil War, Lynchburg: H. E.
Howard, Inc. 1984
National Park Service, Fort Early: A Plan for its Protection. Mid-Atlantic Regional
Office, U. S. Department of the Interior, October 1981
R. H. Early, The Family of Early, Lynchburg, VA, Lynchburg: J. P. Bell, 1920
Millard Kessler Bushong, Phd., Old Jube: A Biography of General Jubal A. Earlv, Carr
Publishing Co., Inc., Boyce, VA, 1955
Dorothy T. Potter and Clifton W. Potter, Jr. Lynchburg: The Most Interestine Spot, Beric
Press, Lynchburg, VA, 1985
,
Acts Passed at a General Assembly.. .18 17 (Richmond: Thomas Ritchie, 1819)
John R. Swanton, Indians of the southeastern United States, Washington, Smithsonian
Institute Press. 1979
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
11
Verbal Boundary Description
(A) The boundary of Fort Early is designated as Tax Parcel Number 54-1-25 on
the Tax Maps of City of Lynchburg VA.
(B) The area on which the Jubal Early Monument is located is designated as Tax
Parcel Number 54-2-3 on the Tax Maps of the City of Lynchburg, VA.
Boundary Justification
The boundary circumscribes the breastworks known as Fort Early and the
building known as Fort Hill Club House. The monument sits across the street from the
Fort Early entrance in a triangle slightly larger than the monument base.
NO. 1024-OQI8
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual
properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration F o m (National Register Bulletin 16A).
Complete each item by maslung "x"in the appropriate box or by entering the
information requested. If any item does not apply t o the property being
documented, enter " N J A for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and a e a s of significance, enter only categories and
subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter,word
processor, or computer, to complete all items.
---------------------------------------------------*-----------------------------------------------+-----------------------------
1. Name of Property
.................................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------historic name Fort Early and Jubal Early Monument
\\~-S[GZ
other names J site number
=================================================================
2. Location
===========--------------========----===~========================
not for publication
street & number -35 11 Memorial Avenue
city or town
Lynchburg
vicinity
state Virgmiacode -VA- county i n d e p e n d e n t city- zip code -24502-
---------------------------------------------------------------------f---_f-----_l_----------------------h-----d-----------------
3. State /Federal Agency Certification
===========---------====================~===~===============
As the designated authority under the National Historic Reservation Act of
1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this -nomination -request for
determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic maces and meets the procedural
m d professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the
property -X- meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
nationally recommend that this property be considered significant
statewide -X- locally. ( -See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
In my opinion, the property -meets _ does not meet the National Register
criteria. ( - See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
.................................................................
4. National Park Service Certification
.................................................................
I, hereby certify that this property is:
_ entered in the National Register
- See continuation sheet.
_ determined eligible for the
National Register
- See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the
National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):
Signature of Keeper Date
of Action
5. Classification
.................................................................
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes a s apply)
- private
-x- public-local
- public-State
-public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
-building(s)
-district
-x- site
- structure
-object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
-1-0-buildings
- 1-0-sites
-0-0-structures
- 1-0-objects
-3-0- Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register -0Name of related multiple property listing (Enter " N / A if property is not part
of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
'
.................................................................
6. Function or Use
.......................
---
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
-Defense---Fortification
-Recreation & Culture---Museum-
-Recreation & Culture--Monument-Social---ClubHouse
Current Functions
D e f e n s e - - - B a t t l e Site
R e c r e a t i o n & Culture---MuseumR e c r e a t i o n & Culture---MonumentS o c i a l - - - C l u bHouse
.................................................................
7. Description
...................................................................
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
e a r t h e n fort---no style
C l u b House---Classical Revival
M o n u m e n t - - - C l a s s i c a l Revival
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation
roof
club house---asphalt
walls -fort---earth, club house---brick-monument---granite
other
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the
property on one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................
8. Statement of Significance
.................................................................
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the
criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing)
-X- A Property is associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
_ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in
our past.
-C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or
_
method of construction or represents the work of a master,
or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important
in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark " X in all the boxes that apply.)
-a
_b
-c
-d
_e
-f
-g
owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the
past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Military
-
Period of Significance
1864--1950-
Significant Dates
-June 17-18, 1864-1919
-1922
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked
above)
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on
one or more continuation sheets.)
.................................................................
9. Major Bibliographical References
.................................................................
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
- preliminary
determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.
- previously listed in the National Register
-previously determined eligible by the National Register
- designated a National Historic Landmark
- recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #
-recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary Location of Additional Data
-X-
State Historic Preservation Office
-Other State agency
- Federal agency
-Local government
-University
-Other
Name of repository:
.................................................................
10. Geographical Data
.................................................................
Acreage of Property -1.30 acres-
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 -17- -661700- -4139480-
Zone Easting Northing
3--
- See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a
continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a
continuation sheet.)
continuation sheet.)
__------_--------------=---------------------=========-------====
.......................
11. Form Prepared By
____-----_----------------------=--------------------=----------................................
name/title-Nancy
Weiland and Philip Wayne Rhodes, Staff
o r g a n i z a t i o n J o n e s Memorial Library
date-February,
200 1
street & n u m b e r 2 3 11 Memorial A v e n u e telephone-804-846-050 1city or town
Lynchburg
state-VA- zip code -246-50
1-
Additional Documentation
.................................................................
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage
or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
-
.................................................................
Property Owner
.................................................................
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
City of Lynchburg
P. 0. Box 60
street & number
Telephone numbers-804-845-1508
city or town-Lynchburg
Fort Early Corpokation
1120 Heath Avenue, 2450 1
804-239-0488
state-VA- zip code -24505-
.................................................................
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National
Reaster of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list
properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per
response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and
reviewine the form. Direct comments reeardine this burden estimate or anv asoect of this form to the Chlef,
~ d m m ~ & a u eScmcrs
c
Dlwslon, ~ a u o ~h a r Setvlce.
i
P 0 Box 37127. ~ a s h k ~ t oDC
n . 20013-7127, and
the Officeof Managrment and Budget, Paperwork Rcducuans Projcct ,1024-00181, Washlngfon. DC 20503
NPS Form 10-900-a
Approval ho 102.1-00 18
18-89)
OMP
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
1
Summary Description
Fort Early is located in the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, near the intersection of Fort
Avenue and Memorial Avenue. Confederate forces under the command of Brigadier
General Jubal Anderson Early constructed the roughly square earthen fort in June 1864 as
part of the outer defenses of Lynchburg as General David Hunter advanced from the
north and west in an attempt to capture the city. It is the only section of the Lynchburg
defenses still in existence.
The fort is an earthen structure on 1.29 acres and is surrounded by a brick wall and metal
fencing. Within the fort, a one-story brick structure was built in 1922 and a brick paved
entrance drive cut through the eastern portion of the breastworks. The remaining portions
of the breastworks are intact including a sally port in the northern wall used to bring in
ammunition and other supplies during the military operation of the fort.
Included in the nominated property is a granite obelisk honoring Confederate General
Jubal A. Early for whom Fort Early was named. It sits on a triangle of land formed by
the intersection of Fort Avenue and Memorial Avenue.
Historical Background
Lynch's Ferry, later known as Lynchburg, Virginia, was chartered in 1786. The City of
Lynchburg was formed in 1805. In 18 17, the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike Company was
chartered and constructed a road from Lynchburg to the western sections of the state.
The turnpike became the main artery of commerce between Lynchburg and Southwest
Virginia. By 1860, Lynchburg had become the terminus for three railroads: the Orange
and Alexandria, the Virginia and Tennessee, and the Southside. By the outbreak of the
Civil War, the city was considered one of the most important rail centers in the South.
Lynchburg was also the site of the Quartermaster Depot for the Army of Northern
Virginia. It was along this turnpike to Lynchburg that General David Hunter marched in
an attempt to disrupt the flow of men and materiel through Lynchburg to Richmond,
Virginia, and other centers. It was also along this turnpike that General Jubal Early
established the outer defenses of the city in 1864.
The walls of the fort are approximately 12 to 15 feet in height on the exterior and
approximately 4 to 6 feet high on the interior. With the exception of the sally port in the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-89)
OMP Approval Na 1021-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page
2
north wall, and the driveway entrance cut into the east wall, the earthen walls are
continuous. The south and west walls each measure approximately 150 feet in length.
The driveway in the east wall and the sally port in the north wall each measure
approximately 30 feet in width.
A brick wall, done in running bond, approximately five feet in height and 15 inches thick,
extends approximately 510 feet along the south and east sides of the property. A large
building adjoining the property forms the north boundary. The west side of the property
boundary is marked with a hedgerow and metal fencing. The driveway entrance.
measuring approximately 15 feet, occurs in the eastern portion of the brick wall. An
archway of brick columns and ornamental ironwork frames the entrance. The columns
are approximately 6' 6" with the ironwork rising from each column to form an arch
approximately 15 feet high. In the arch are the words, "Fort Early."
The clubhouse, built in 1922, within the breastworks is a one-story brick building, 72' x
40', done in the Neo-classical Revival style of architecture. It has a concrete foundation
and its exterior walls are in Flemish bond. The building has a flat shingled roof. The
building is H-shaped with the entrance faqade framed by the projecting sides of the H.
Three handsome arched glazed French doors open to a terrace that is sheltered between
the projecting wings. The ends of the wings each have a single plastered blind arch. The
end elevations (the sides of the H plan) have pairs of arched windows flanked by small
single windows. The rear elevations of the wings are blank walls and today flank a frame
addition that fills the originally recessed center. The rear exit is one double door. A
handicapped access ramp has been added to the front entrance.
The monument to General Jubal A. Early takes the form of an obelisk approximately 17
feet in height. It rises from a sloping concave base that supports a rectangular block
which, in turn, supports the obelisk itself. On one face of the block is the following
inscription: "Memorial to Jubal Anderson Early, Lieutenant General, C.S.A., and to the
brave Confederate soldiers under him who came to the rescue of Lynchburg when it was
threatened by an invasion of Federal forces and erected this earthworks behind which
they entrenched themselves in their defense of the City on June 18, 1864."
The monument stands approximately 35 feet from the entrance to Fort Early and is a part
of the nominated property.
NPS Form IO-900-a
Approval ?Go 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
3
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Fort Early, the only remaining Civil War earthen fort in Lynchburg, Virginia, guarded the
Lynchburg Salem Turnpike and provided defense for the city in the Battle of Lynchburg
on June 17-18, 1864. The post war brick building inside the fort is the headquarters of
the Fort Hill Woman's Club and serves as a museum to the battle. The exhibits in the
museum display the events of the Battle of Lynchburg and are open to the public by
appointment. A granite obelisk honoring General Jubal Early and his troops is directly
across the street from the fort entrance. The monument was erected in 1919 by a niece
of General Jubal Early, commander of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern
Virginia, CSA.
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
Fort Early is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under
Criterion A for its association with the Battle of Lynchburg and its defense of the city.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
After Union General David Hunter had cut a swath of destruction through the upper
Shenandoah Valley, on June 11, 1864, he burned the Virginia Military Institute at
Lexington. Hunter's next primary objective was Lynchburg. Through it passed three
railroads and a canal: the Orange and Alexandria Railroad running north to Manassas, the
South Side Railroad running east to Petersburg, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
running west to Bristol, and the James River and Kanawha Canal running from Buchanan
to Richmond. Most of the supplies going to General Lee's forces and Richmond were
sent east from the Valley of Virginia and Tennessee through this transportation network.
As trains and boats returned westward, they brought wounded men to the seventeen
major hospitals located in the hotels and tobacco factories in Lynchburg. Without this
transportation system in operation, Richmond would fall.
To assist General Hunter, General Grant dispatched two divisions of cavalry under
General Philip Sheridan to move west and join Hunter's force at Charlottesville after
destroying the Virginia Central Railroad. On June 8, 1864, General George Crook's
OMP Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
16-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
4
infantry and General William W. Averell's cavalry joined Hunter at Staunton bringing his
force to 18,000. Hunter then moved toward Lexington and Lynchburg.
General John C. Breckinridge gathered a force of 2,100 to oppose Hunter with skirmishes
at Middlebrook, Brownsburg and Waynesboro. Hunter's men had skirmished at
Lexington and burned Virginia Military Institute on June 12, 1864.
General Lee
detached Jubal Early with a force of 8,000 to march west from Gaines Mill, in Hanover
County, on June 13 to join Breckinridge in Lynchburg.
On June 15, Hunter's force
crossed the Blue Ridge at the Peaks of Otter and took the road to Lynchburg.
General Early's men boarded trains in Charlottesville and reached Lynchburg in time to
repulse Hunter's attack on June 17-18. General Hunter with a force of 18,000 Union
soldiers reached the outskirts of Lynchburg with the plan of capturing this major supply
and communications center of Lee's army. When the units reached the Salem Turnpike,
their advance was delayed near the Quaker Meeting House by a small force under the
command of Generals John McCausland and John Imboden. General Early arrived with
less than half of his corps to set up a new line of defense.
General Early rode out to survey Lynchburg's defenses established by Breckinridge. He
found a nondescript army of defenders that included Breckinridge's two small infantry
brigades, the cadet corps of the Virginia Military Institute, dismounted cavalry which had
been with General Jones at Piedmont, reserves, and invalids from the Lynchburg
hospitals. He also observed that the Confederate lines of defense were so close to the city
as to expose the latter to enemy artillery fire. Consequently, he ordered a new line to be
established a further distance from the city. The breastworks, including Fort Early, were
hastily constructed and occupied by Early's troops.
Hunter and his commanders took over Sandusky, the home of Major George C. Hutter,
approximately two miles to the west of Fort Early, and established their headquarters
there. General Hunter boasted at supper that Lynchburg would be his the following day.
Throughout the night, Hunter's scouts reported hearing train after train pulling into the
Lynchburg rail station, each greeted with cheers, drumbeats and shouts from the large
crowd that had gathered. The impression was one of welcoming large numbers of new
Confederate reinforcements. Actually, it was only a single, empty train running back and
NPS Form 10-900-a
Approval No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8_ Page
forth to create the illusion.
arrive until June 18.
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
5
The remaining 8,000 of General Early's troops would not
The Federal infantry and artillery attack came at daybreak along the Lynchburg-Salem
Turnpike and the forces met with fierce resistance from General Early's troops. When
General Hunter leamed that General McCausland was attacking his supply wagons at
Forest, some distance to the west, he quietly withdrew his forces. He sent his baggage
and supply trains first and waited until dark before dispatching the bulk of his army. By
midnight the last line of pickets retired to join the main army. As soon as Early learned
that Hunter had retreated, he started the Second Corps in pursuit. He caught up with the
Federal rear guard at Bedford and drove them back. Hunter continued his withdrawal
through Buford's Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, to Bonsack's Station on the Virginia
and Tennessee Railroad and on to Salem. Early pursued Hunter as far as Hanging Rock,
in Roanoke County where he suspended the pursuit. The Battle of Lynchburg was short
and casualties were light. General Jubal Anderson Early earned the title "Savior of
Lynchburg" for his leading role in the battle. After the battle, the earthen fort remained
intact, but was no longer used as a military defense.
After the war, the property on which Fort Early stood was deeded to Campbell County
for a schoolhouse. A small building was subsequently erected within the enclosure and
was known as "The Breastworks School". It began as a one-room school, but shortly
after construction, a second classroom was added. A Miss McKinney taught the classes
for the older children and Miss Georgia Morgan was the teacher of the younger children.
As population increased in the southwest section of the City's Brockville District, a new
school was built near the Quaker church and the "Breastworks School" was abandoned.
The building eventually decayed and disappeared. The grounds grew up in briers, bushes
and poison oak vines. Although an opening was cut through one face of the fort for
access to the school, the breastworks were for the most part left undisturbed.
,
The school board deeded the property to the Old Dominion Chapter of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in 1905. In turn the Chapter turned the land over to
the city of Lynchburg and the Fort Hill Woman's Club for preservation.
OMP Approval
NPS Form 10-900-2
18-89]
No 1021-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
6
By 1912 the residents of the Fort Early area were campaigning for the fort to be
preserved and the grounds beautified. At that time, the grounds were overgrown and
deteriorating. Citizen interest was sparked also by the establishment of the Seminole
trail by the American Automobile Association that would pass directly in front of the
property. Improvements would certainly attract tourists.
In 1919 Ruth Early, niece of General Jubal A. Early, contracted for the construction of a
granite obelisk in honor of her uncle. This monument to General Early is 17 feet high
and located across the street from the entrance of Fort Early at the junction of Memorial
and Fort Avenue. (Note: Due to redesigning of traffic patterns of the area, it is a
possibility that in the future this monument will be relocated from its current position to a
position within the fort walls.) The monument reads: "Memorial to Jubal Anderson
Early, Lieutenant General C. S. A,, and to the brave Confederate soldiers under him who
came to the rescue of Lynchburg when it was threatened by an invasion of Federal forces
and erected these earthworks behind which they entrenched themselves in their defence
of the city on June 18, 1864." The heirs of Ruth Early offered to deed the fort property
and monument to the municipality. Lynchburg City Council voted unanimously in
September 1929 to accept the offer as a permanent Confederate memorial.
On April 20, 1920 the Old Dominion Chapter, UDC conveyed the fort property to the
City of Lynchburg with the understanding that it was to be used and maintained as a
Confederate Memorial. The Fort Hill Woman's Club was given the sole use, occupancy
and control of the property to construct a building to be used as a museum and meeting
place for the Fort Hill Woman's Club.
The Fort Hill Woman's Club was founded February 21, 1912. It was organized as a
social and sewing club with twelve charter members. At its inception, the club met at
the homes of members, most of who lived in the Fort Hill area near the Fort Early
property. As membership grew so too did the need for a meeting place. According to
the Fort Hill Woman's Club history recorded in their Yearbook 1999-2000, a
Washington, DC architect, Mr. Ellington, was employed to draw plans for a new facility.
In his book, Lynchburg: An Architectural History, S. Allen Chambers, Jr. states the onestory brick structure was designed by Craighill and Cardwell. It is unclear which
architectural firm actually completed the design. It may have been a collaborative effort.
OMP Approval No 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-8
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
7
The one-story brick clubhouse was built in 1922 within the breastworks by the Fort Hill
Woman's Club; and in June 1924, sixty years after the Battle, the UDC dedicated a
commemorative arch framing the entrance leading to the Club. While the insertion of a
building within the fort may be a questionable preservation practice, the Club's presence
has at least insured the fort's survival. None of the city's other Civil War fortifications
has been preserved, though most remained at the time the Club was built.
The Fort Hill Woman's Club, with the approval of Old Dominion Chapter UDC and the
consent of the City of Lynchburg, entered into an agreement with the George M. Jones
Library Association in 1923 for creation of a branch library. The library association
would provide $2,500 to aid in the completion of the building in order to have included in
it a room suitable for a branch library. The city was asked to accept the property as a
"perpetual memorial to the officers and soldiers of the Confederate army." A branch
library operated there until 1975.
The Old Dominion Chapter, UDC, erected a Memorial Arch in 1924 at the entrance of
the Fort to commemorate the Battle of Lynchburg. The arch faces the monument to
General Jubal A. Early just across the street. The inscription reads:, "Memorial arch
erected June, 1924, by Old Dominion Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy,
commemorating the battle of Lynchburg which took place June 18, 1864, at this point on
the line of defenses facing the old Salem turnpike." On the right side of the arch the
inscription reads: "This reservation was secured through the efforts of R. B. Dameron,
David Walker and Ruth H. Early, in 1905, from Campbell county school trustees for the
Old Dominion Chapter, which in 1920 placed it in charge of the Fort Hill Woman's Club
for preservation." On top of the arch, in bronze letters, reads "Fort Early".
Lynchburg City Council accepted the Fort Early property in November of 1928 to
maintain it as a Confederate memorial shrine. The property had been offered to the city
in May of that year by the Fort Hill Woman's Club and the Old Dominion Chapter, UDC
NPS Form 10-900-6
Approval No 102.1-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
8
to serve as "a perpetual memorial to the officers and soldiers of the Confederate army."
Under the terms of agreement, the city received all of the fort property with the exception
of the building and the ground upon which it is located. The building remained the
property of the Fort Hill Woman's Club and the Old Dominion Chapter.
Today Fort Early is well preserved thanks to the partnership of the City of Lynchburg and
the Fort Hill Woman's Club working together to maintain the grounds and provide a
museum of the battle of Lynchburg.
NPS Form 10-900-a
ApproLal No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
9
Bibliography
Old Dominion Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, Minutes, Lynchburg, VA:
The Chapter, 1927
S. Allen Chambers, Jr. Lynchburn. An Architectural Histo~CharlottesviIle,University
Press, 1981
The News & Dailv Advance (Lynchburg, VA), May 24, 1981, Section B, column 1
Tax Assessment Record, carded file, City of Lynchburg Tax Assessors Office
The News (Lynchburg, VA), September 16, 1919, page 16, column 4
The News (Lynchburg, VA), September 24, 1929, page 8, column 4
Lynchburg Historical Society Papers, Vol. 11 #5, The Battle of Lvnchbure from Lvnchbury
Virginian June 21, 1854, MS1140, Box 119, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
The News (Lynchburg, VA), May 15, 1928, page 8, column 1
Lvnchbure News (Lynchburg, VA), July 13, 1924, page 8, column 5
The News (Lynchburg, VA), June 26, 1928, page 8, column 1
Lvnchburg News (Lynchburg, VA), March 22, 1912, page 6, column 6
The News (Lynchburg, VA), November 13, 1928, page 8, column 1
Fort Hill Woman's Club, Year Book 1999-2000 (Lynchburg, VA: The Club) 1999
"Deed of Sale from M. M. Moorman, Jr. and Ellen G. Moorman to Old Dominion
Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Inc.," 30 December 1906 Campbell
Co., VA (Rustburg, VA) Deed Book 81, page 424.
NPS Farln I0-900-a
Approval No 1024-0018
(8-89)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
10
"Deed of Sale from Old Dominion Chapter of the Daughters of the confederacy, Inc. to
Herbert C. Barrow, David Walker and Howell C. Featherston, Trustees, for Fort Hill
Club," 20 April 1920, Campbell Co., VA, (Rustburg, VA) Deed Book 119, page 550.
"Deed of Sale from Herbert C. Barrow, David Walker and Howell C. Featherston,
Trustees for the City of Lynchburg to Old Dominion Chapter United Daughters of the
Confederacy, Inc., The Fort Hill Club and the George M. Jones Library Association"
May 1928, City of Lynchburg, Deed Book 165, page 531
"Deed of Sale from Fort Hill Woman's Club to Fort Early Corporation," 14 April 1982,
City of Lynchburg, Deed Book 616, page 392.
The Lynchburg Sesqui-Centennial Association, Inc., The Saga of a City, Lynchburg,
Virginia 1787-1936 , The Association, 1936
W. Asbury Christian, Lynchburg and Its People, J. P. Bell Co., 1900
George S. Morris and Susan L. Foutz, Lynchburg in the Civil War, Lynchburg: H. E.
Howard, Inc. 1984
National Park Service, Fort Early: A Plan for its Protection. Mid-Atlantic Regional
Office, U. S. Department of the Interior, October 1981
R. H. Early, The Family of Early, Lynchburg, VA, Lynchburg: J. P. Bell, 1920
Millard Kessler Bushong, Phd., Old Jube: A Biography of General Jubal A. Earlv, Carr
Publishing Co., Inc., Boyce, VA, 1955
Dorothy T. Potter and Clifton W. Potter, Jr. Lynchburg: The Most Interestine Spot, Beric
Press, Lynchburg, VA, 1985
,
Acts Passed at a General Assembly.. .18 17 (Richmond: Thomas Ritchie, 1819)
John R. Swanton, Indians of the southeastern United States, Washington, Smithsonian
Institute Press. 1979
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
10
Page
Fort Early, Lynchburg, VA
11
Verbal Boundary Description
(A) The boundary of Fort Early is designated as Tax Parcel Number 54-1-25 on
the Tax Maps of City of Lynchburg VA.
(B) The area on which the Jubal Early Monument is located is designated as Tax
Parcel Number 54-2-3 on the Tax Maps of the City of Lynchburg, VA.
Boundary Justification
The boundary circumscribes the breastworks known as Fort Early and the
building known as Fort Hill Club House. The monument sits across the street from the
Fort Early entrance in a triangle slightly larger than the monument base.
Text
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102~-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This fonn is for use in nominaJing or requesting detenninations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How 10 Complete the NaJional
Reglster of Historic Places Registration Fonn {NaJional Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "it" in the appropriate boit or by entering
the infonnation requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, eriter ''NIA for "not applicable," For functions, architecturaJ
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subc:ategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form l0-900a}. Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete a.II items.
M
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Court House Hill/Downtown
Other names/site number: _ _._IluS,c-5"-'-'16,.3,.c-0000,="'--------------------------2. Location
Street & number Church, Clay. Court, Main Sts. roughly bounded by 5,. through 13,. Sts not for publication ~
City or town
hbur
vicinity
State
Virginia
Code VA County Lynchburg /city}
Code _.,.6,.80"----- Z i p ~
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
_x_ nomination __ request for detertnination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _x_ meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant _
nationally _
statewide _x_ locally. ( _
See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
~~~ D
~
. l
S'
1gnature
o f
certt'fy'mg offitcta
ate
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. (_See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
·
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
Date
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
I, hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):--------
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action------
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
..X.. private
..X.. public-local
..X.. public-State
..X.. public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_ building(s)
..X.. district
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
~
--1!.. Buildings
__Q_
..Q.. Sites
_3_
...2_ Structures
___l_
..L Objects
....u!L
..J.L Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
2
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling, Multiple Dwelljng, Hotel
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Commerceffrade
Business, Financial Institution, Department Store
Social
Meeting Hall, Clubhouse. Civic
City Hall, Courthouse. Post Office. Public Works
Religious Facility. Church-related Residence
Auditorium. Monument/Marker. Work of Art
Government
Religion
Recreation and Culture
Defense
Armor
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling. Multiple Dwelling
Commerceffrade
Business Financial Institution
Social
.cM..ce.,e"'t""in.,,g...,H..,.al""I_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Government
City Hall. Courthouse. Post Office. Public Works
Religion
Religious Facility. Church-related Residence
Recreation and Culture
Auditorium. Monument/Marker. Work of Art
Defense
,:.A.,r,.m,,oo_r,__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Early Classical Revival; Federal; Romanesque Revival; Italian Villa; High Victorian Revival; Second Empjre; Queen
Anne: Renaissance Beaux Arts; Classical Revival; Spanish Colonial Revival; Commercial Style; Moderne: Art
Deco
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Foundation Brick. Concrete. Stone
Roof Metal. Ceramic Tile. Shingle. Slate
Walls Brick. Wood. Concrete. Metal. Stone
Other Wrought Iron
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
See continuation sheet
_x_
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
_x_
A
_x_
B
C
D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period. or method of construction or
represents the work of a master. or possesses high artistic values. or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded. or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10°900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 102-1-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
_x_ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
__x__ F a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Architecture
Commerce
Industry
Politics/Government
Religion
Period of Significance
1786-1950
Significant Dates
see continuation sheet
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
Roben C. Burkholder
Edward G. Frye
August Forsberg
Aubrey Chesterman
Stanhope Johnson
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
See continuation sheet
l
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation
sheets.)
__x_
See continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested .
.1L previously listed in the National Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # - - - - Primary Location of Additional Data
.1L State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
.1L Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library
Lynchburg, Virginia,
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 47.29 acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
111 664440 4142350
311~4141860
5 l16filfill!l 4142300
Zone Easting Northing
211™4)42)00
4 l16M3.!..Q 4)41890
611~4142610
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
.1L See continuation sheet B
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
_lL See continuation sheet
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102-'-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
11. Form Prepared By
Name/title Alison Stone Blanton Architectural Historian
Organization Hill Studio P.C.
Street & number 120 West Campbell Avenue
date July 2000
telephone 540-342-5263
City or town _...,R"'o,,,a,,_no,o,,k"-e_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state VA zip code 24011
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Pro ert Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
Name
See attached sheets
Street & number_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ telephone._ _ _ _ _ _ __
City or town, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_ _ zip code _ _ __
=====-=-=----------------
=======
Paperwork ReductJon Act Statement: This infonnation is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
propenies for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list propenies, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain
a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended ( 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
~timated Burden Statement: Public reponing burden for this fonn ·is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for
reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data. and completing and reviewing the fonn. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or
any aspect of this fonn to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and
1he Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork. Reductions Project ( I024-0018), Washington. DC 20503
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No.1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _ l_
7. Summary Description:
The Courthouse Hill/Downtown Historic District is located within the greater downtown area of
the City of Lynchburg, which was the major transportation, industrial, and commercial city on the
James River in the lower Piedmont region of Virginia from the early 19th century through the mid20'h century. The 25-block district consists of Clay, Court, Church, and Main Streets between
the cross streets of Fifth through Thirteenth Streets. Ninth Street, originally called Water Street,
is the most important cross street within the district. The area is situated on a promontory
overlooking the Lower Basin Historic District on the south bank of the James River. The buildings
within this district are a mixture of commercial, residential, religious, and governmental buildings.
Topography is perhaps the single most defining feature of the city of Lynchburg. It rises in three
terraces above the James River and each terrace is given its own name. Courthouse Hill, the uppermost portion of the district, consists of Clay and Court Streets and is separated from the streets below
by a dramatic grade change. It is called Courthouse Hill in recognition of the 1851 Greek Revival
Courthouse overlooking Monument Terrace, which is individually listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. In addition to the governmental buildings, buildings within the Courthouse Hill
section of the district are residential and religious buildings dating from the early 1800s to the early
1900s. The majority of the residential buildings in the Courthouse Hill area were originally singlefamily dwellings that have been converted to commercial use. The lower area, located in the center
of downtown, includes Church and Main Streets. It is composed of commercial buildings,
governmental buildings, and buildings that have historically housed financial institutions. The
Courthouse Hill/Downtown district is situated above the Lower Basin Historic District, which is
defined by its industrial, commercial, and transportation resources tied closely to the bank of the
James River with its parallel railroads and canal.
The 47.29-acre district is composed of relatively intact city blocks of religious, commercial,
residential, and governmental buildings and structures ranging in date from the early 19th century to
the mid-20th century. Buildings in the district represent a variety of styles from the different periods,
including the Federal, Greek-Revival, Gothic-Revival, Italianate, Queen-Anne, Neoclassical, Italian
Renaissance, Spanish Eclectic, Craftsman, and Art Deco styles. The district consists of 136 primary
resources and 12 secondary resources for a total of 148 resources. The majority of these resources
(137) are buildings. The five structures in the district include three historic resources - the Clay
Street Water Reservoir (118-5163-0009), the campanile at Holy Cross Catholic Church (1185163-0010) , and Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059)- as well as two parking decks which are
non-historic. Five war memorials in Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059), including two nonhistoric (post 1950) statues, comprise the five objects listed in the district. Of the 147 total
resources, 88% are historic, including 121 primary resources and eight secondary resources. In
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _2_
contrast, only 18 resources (12%) in the district are non-contributing either due to their date of
construction or loss of historic integrity through alterations.
Of the 135 primary resources in the district, 112 are considered to be in good or excellent condition
and only 8 listed in fair or deteriorated condition. Many of the commercial buildings in the district
have had their first-floor storefronts altered, but most of the upper facades are still intact. Fifteen
buildings have been remodeled. The taller commercial and institutional buildings maintain their
complete historic facades. There are a few buildings still with metal upper facades; however the City
is encouraging the restoration of these buildings downtown with a fa9ade improvement grant
program. High Peale Sportswear, historically the Guggenheimer/Shearer Building, at 920-921
Main Street (118-5163-0120), is one example of a building that has had its metal fa9ade removed
and its historic fa,;ade restored with a grant from the City. Non-contributing buildings in the district
are those with irrevocably altered storefronts, those that maintain little of their historic integrity, or
those built post-1950. The 18 non-contributing buildings represent only 12% of the buildings in the
district.
In addition to the (commercial, residential, religious and institutional) buildings that contribute to
the district, are two significant primary structures that contribute to the district: the City Water
Reservoir (1883-85) in the 600 block of Clay Street (118-5163-0009) and Monument Terrace
(1924-1925). Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059) is a pedestrian extension of Ninth Street
between Court and Church Streets, on axis below the Old Courthouse. There are also specific
public-use building types within the district like the City Armory (118-5163-0087) and the City
Auditorium and Market (118-5163-0124), The Armory (1931-32) is an imposing building with
its three-part buttressed fa,;ade and the City Auditorium and Market (1909-10) evokes an Italian
piazza with its arcaded Renaissance palazzo fa9ade. With a variety of different building types, dates,
and styles, the Courthouse Hill/Downtown Lynchburg Historic District continues to serve as the
business and governmental center of the city. Efforts, including a Master plan, are currently
underway that serve to recognize and revitalize its historic role in the development activity of the
city.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _3_
Historic Development and Architectural Analysis
Colony to Nation {1750-1789)
Lynchburg was established in 1786 uphill from the site of John Lynch's Ferry across the James
River. Lynch, a Quaker Merchant, built his ferry in 1757 and in the following decades built a
tobacco warehouse, a tavern, and a dwelling near the banks of the James. Lynch's Ferry was located
where Ninth Street now ends at the James River, establishing Ninth Street as the primary
thoroughfare for traffic entering the city from the River. In 1786, the area bounded today by
Commerce, Clay, Sixth and Twelfth streets was divided into V2 acre lots and named Lynchburg. As
early as 1787, Lynch reserved the block between Main and Commerce and between Eighth and Ninth
streets, indicating that he recognized the future center of the town. Lynch managed to keep his
personal property on the bank of the river outside of the city limits. It was not until the early 19th
century that the Lower Basin area, as it is known today, was annexed to the city. Although there
are no structures that survive in the district from this period, the pattern of development with the
center of town along Ninth and Main streets that was established continues to exist.
Early National Period (1789-1830)
By 1791, there were "numbers of small houses and about twenty good houses" and at least 14 stores
in Lynchburg (Chambers 1981:15). The majority of the buildings at this time were small frame
structures with gable ends to the street. Due to their modest size and frame construction, none of
these early buildings survive in downtown Lynchburg. As the tobacco industry became more
lucrative for the Lynchburg economy, the town expanded and was incorporated in 1805, and the
following decade and a half was a very prosperous time for the city. John Lynch donated land to the
town for the site of the first Courthouse, built in 1813 on the site of the present 1851 Lynchburg
Court House (118-5163-0018). In the decade between 1810 and 1820, building activity in
Lynchburg occurred mostly around the new Courthouse, on Courthouse Hill, which was then called
Lynchburg Hill. Evidence of this prosperity can be seen in three, large-scale residences that survive
in the district from this period. Thel814/1857 Price-Turner House (118-5163-0001), corner of
Clay and Sixth streets, is an extant example of residential architecture of this period. The original
three-bay Federal-style house, with its servant's quarters located to the rear of the building, was
situated on a large lot that is a marked contrast to the smaller lot sizes characteristic of the houses
built later in the 19th century. It is said to be an authentic picture of a prosperous early ! 9'h Century
town establishment as any in the city (Chambers 1981 :59). The house was enlarged with the
construction of two additional bays in 1834 and remodeled in 1857 with the Greek-Revival style
porch. The John Marshall Warwick House (118-5163-0033) and the Carter Glass House (118-
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section_7 Page_4_
5163-0002) are two examples large residences dating from the 1820s that illustrating the transition
from the Federal to the Greek-Revival style. Thel826 Warwick House is the "only large, relatively
unaltered house remaining from its period" (Chambers 1981:92). Similar in design to the Warwick
House is its contemporary thel827 Carter Glass House, designated a National Historic Landmark
for its association with Senator Carter Glass.
In response to the rapid growth and development of Lynchburg, a new system for providing the city
with water was developed. In 1828 the Lynchburg Water Works, designed by Albert Stein of
Philadelphia, and a reservoir at Clay and Seventh Streets were built to meet the demand placed on
the city's resources. This water works system was later replaced with a system designed by city
engineer, August Forsberg in the 1880s.
By 1829, a number of churches were established in Lynchburg, however none of their original
buildings survive from this period. Six of the seven churches were located on the street that is now
called Church Street.
Antebellum Period {1830-1860)
The period before the Civil War was a prosperous time for Lynchburg, particularly in respect to
transportation. In 1840 the "First Grand Division" of the James River and Kanawha Canal was
completed linking Richmond to Lynchburg. Also in 1840, Lynchburg became the eastern terminus
and headquarters for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and its depot was built between the canal
and the river at the end of Ninth Street, reinforcing the prominence of that central thoroughfare.
Between 1851 and 1855, the Greek Revival Lynchburg Court House (118-5163-0002), designed
by William S. Ellison, chief engineer of the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, was built on the site of
the town's first courthouse on Court Street as a terminus to the important axis of Ninth Street. Its
location on the apex one of the highest hills in the city and at the terminus of one of the main arteries
made it a focal point of the Lynchburg cityscape, a prominent landmark, and a visual trademark of
the city. In the 1970s the City undertook the restoration of the Courthouse in celebration of the
national bicentennial. The restored Old Courthouse now serves as the headquarters for the
Lynchburg Museum System.
Continuing on its rapid course of urbanization and industrialization, Lynchburg in the 1850s was
called "the hub in the Virginia system of railroads" and as a result, development was concentrated
in the Lower Basin, where the railroad facilities and warehouses were located (Lower Basin Historic
District Nomination 8:8.1). In 1851, Lynchburg was reported to be second in per capita wealth to
New Bedford Massachusetts, and in 1852 the city received its charter. Tobacco manufacturing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _5_
continued to be the major component of the economy of Lynchburg until just before the Civil War
when industry became more diversified. Urban development ceased with the onset of the Civil War
and most, if not all, of the city's tobacco warehouses were used for medical facilities.
Civil War (1861-1865)
Lynchburg served as a major hospital and military encampment for the duration of the Civil War
because of its prominence as a transportation hub. Troops were camped at Fort Davis on Diamond
Hill, Lynchburg College on College Hill, and the Fair Grounds (now Miller Park) surrounding
downtown and most of Lynchburg's tobacco warehouses were used as military hospitals. Still
visible reminders of the Civil War and the Battle of Lynchburg, in June of 1864, are the earthworks
of the city's inner defenses. In 1865, Lynchburg surrendered to union forces and remained under
military rule until 1870.
Reconstruction and Growth {1865-1914)
Lynchburg continued to grow at a rapid rate after the war, with approximately 70% of the buildings
in the district constructed during this period. Five hill neighborhoods surrounding the downtown
area were annexed in the 1870s. Within the following decade the city built three new public schools,
the new city market, and a new bridge across the James at the base of Ninth Street. With the
increased building activity, a number of local architects •• including August Forsberg (first city
engineer), Robert C. Burkholder, Edward G. Frye, and Aubrey Chesterman •• gained prominence as
their buildings helped to shape the character of the city at the turn of the century.
The progressive Reconstruction climate and booming economy in Lynchburg following the Civil
War was evident in the number of public works projects constructed during this period. Ludwig
August Forsberg served as the first city engineer, overseeing streets and as an architect designing
public, and a few private, buildings. In 1883-1885, Forsberg designed the Clay Street Reservoir
(118-5163-0009) at the corner of Clay and Sixth streets to replace the 1829 structure. In the early
1900s, the firm of Edward Frye and Aubrey Chesterman designed the new City Auditorium and
Market on Main between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets which evoked an Italian piazza with its
arecaded Renaissance-palazzo facade. It replaced August Forsberg's 1870s market on the same site.
The Frye and Chesterman building only served the city until 1932 when it was replaced by the City
Auditorium and Armory Building (118-5163-0087) at 1200 Chuch Street. In 1909 construction
began on the United States Post Office and Courthouse (118-5163-0060) at Monument Terrace.
The Neoclassical building designed by James Knox Taylor replaced the 1880s building on the same
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site. In 1897, the Hill City Masonic Lodge (118-5163-0066), designed by Edward G. Frye, was
built on the corner of Church and Eleventh Streets. With its eclectic blend of Romanesque and
Neoclassical details, it is one of Frye's first, and more restrained designs for the city of Lynchburg.
This began a long and productive career for Frye, which continued into the early 20th century.
As tobacco sales declined after the Civil War, Lynchburg became a center for the production of iron
products, textiles, shoes, boxes and wagons. In addition to the construction of warehouses and
jobbing houses in the Lower Basin area, Downtown continued to develop as the financial and
commercial center of Lynchburg. While a number of commercial buildings with cast-iron gacades
were constructed in the late 1800s, the 1887 Lynchburg Furniture Company (118-5163-0109) at
1023 Main Street is the only surviving example. The 1891 Guggenheimer/Shearer Building (1185163-0120) at 920-922 Main Street, is another commercial building from that era. For a short period
of time after it was built it housed the Guggenheimer family's dry goods store and for most of the
early 20th Century the Shearer Brothers Furniture Store was located in the building. It has recently
been renovated and is now High Peak Sportswear. Between 1905 and 1909 the Krise
Building/American National Bank (118-5163-0098) and the First National Bank (118-51630123) were built Downtown. The Beaux Arts Krise Building, with its prominent location at the
corner of Ninth and Main Streets, was Lynchburg's tallest building until 1913. Thornton Marye
designed the Neoclassical First National Bank at the corner of Main and Tenth Streets. Upon its
completion in 1909, it became Downtown Lynchburg's second architectural monument to be
featured in a national periodical. The ca. 1910 Mutual Savings Bank & Trust (118-5163-0123)
at 1020 Main Street represents the "vault" genre of bank design in its one-story, one-bay
Neoclassical design with large, central-arched entry. By 1914, a new skyscraper graced the skies
with the construction of the ten-story People's National Bank (118-5163-0090) at 801 Main Street.
Five of the eight churches in the district were built between the years of 1879 and 1895 to the designs
of a number of prominent local and national architects. The Gothic-Revival style, followed closely
by the Romanesque-Revival style, dominated these ecclesiastical designs and their tall spires defined
the skyline along Clay and Church streets. Examples of the Gothic-Revival style include the Court
Street Baptist Church (118-5163-0011), designed by Robert Burkholder for an African-American
congregation, and the Holy Cross Catholic Church (118-5163-0010) by Forsberg, both of which
were built in 1879. The style was carried to extreme verticality in the 1884-86 Victorian-Gothic
design by New York architect John R. Thomas for First Baptist Church (118-5163-0040) at Court
and Eleventh streets. The Romanesque-Revival also proved popular with the construction in 1889
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (118-5163-0003) to the design of the Philadelphia architect Frank
· Miles Day. This church was Lynchburg's first nationally recognized architectural monument,
appearing in the American Architect and Building News of 1891. In 1899, Edward Frye followed
in this style with his designs for the First Presbyterian Church (118-5163-0017), later the First
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Methodist Church, at the corner of Court and Ninth Streets, and Court Street Methodist Church
(118-5163-0012) on the comer of Court and Seventh Street. This Romanesque-Revival design for
the First Presbyterian Church is said to be one of the best examples of Frye's work. In that same
year, Frye also designed the campanile for the Holy Cross Catholic Church (118-5163-0010).
In the 1880s the residential Courthouse Hill neighborhood continued to develop rapidly. On
Courthouse Hill there are a number of examples of high style residential architecture remaining from
the period. The 1880 James W. Watts House (118-5163-0020), at 1007 Court Street, is the only
surviving example of high style Italian Villa style architecture in Lynchburg with its central tower.
Robert Burkholder was perhaps the city's most prolific residential architect from the Reconstruction
period and many of his residences still exist today. They are especially concentrated within the
Courthouse Hill portion of the district. Residential buildings from the 1880s vary in style; Italianate
was the most commonly used style, particularly in Burkholder's designs (Ryan, 1981). Four
residences from the 1880s attributed to Robert Burkholder include: the Edmund Schaeffer House
(118-5163-0031) in the 700 block of Court Street; the Alexander A. Tunstall House (118-51630016) at 801 Court Street; the Thomas C, Wray House (118-5163-0021) at 1011 Court Street; and
the Edward C. Brown House (118-5163-0035) at 818 Court Street. The La Tour House (1185163-0039) at 1022 Court Street, designed in 1897 by Edward G. Frye, stands as one of the best
examples of the Queen-Anne style and is typical of Frye's residential designs. The Classical-revival
style became popular in residential design in the early zom century, as seen in the Fanny Hughs\es
House, 1000 Court Street (118-5163-0037) and the D.M. Penick House, 1004 Court Street (1185163-0038). Around the tum of the century, several apartment buildings were built in and around
downtown. Aubrey Chesterman's 1910 Courtland Apartment Building (118-5163-0027) at Court
and Seventh Streets is an example of the new building type in the Classical-Revival style. This was
one of the city's first downtown apartment buildings.
World War I-World War II (1914-1945)
A total of fourteen structures constructed during the period between the two world wars survive in
the district, including several of Lynchburg's local landmarks. Monument Terrace (1924-25) (1185163-0059), designed in 1924-1925 by Aubrey Chesterman, is perhaps the most identifiable
monument from this period. Chesterman' s steps replaced an earlier set designed by August
Forsberg. The steps were originally conceived as a memorial to World War I veterans and have
since included memorials to World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Today, the
monumental steps represent more than their original commemorative purpose as they stand as an
architectural landmark in the city. The grand staircase with its granite foundation, limestone
balustrade and steps, and brick paving detail achieves the ideal Beaux Arts/Neo-Classical balance
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of grand spatial and axial composition (Chambers 1981:443). It was not until 1926 that the
Doughboy, properly known as The Listening Post, was added to Monument Terrace. Before that,
in its place, was the Fireman's Fountain designed by August Forsberg. Also in 1926, the First
Unitarian Church (118-5163-0132) by Aubrey Chesterman was built alongside Monument Terrace.
Its Gothic-Revival design complements and contrasts the classical style of the staircase.
The only surviving school in the district is the 1915 John Wyatt School (118-5163-0024) at the
comer of Court and Eleventh streets. This large, two-story brick school, which replaced the earlier
Court Street School, is an excellent example of early 20th century school design with its ClassicalRevival detailing, simple form, and large banks of windows.
A major project just prior to the Depression was the construction in 1929-1931 of Lynchburg's
Allied Arts Building (118-5163-0053). Designed by Stanhope Johnson and Ray Brannan, the
building towered above the Lynchburg skyline as its tallest skyscraper until 1972. The steel frame
building with its yellow brick and local greenstone trim is one of the state's finest examples of the
tall building ethic and the Art Deco style (Chambers 1981:440-443). The years 1931-33 saw the
completion of three major municipal projects in Downtown Lynchburg: the Lynchburg News and
Daily Advance Building (118-5163-0058), the City Auditorium and Armory (118-5163-00, and
the United States Post Office/Courthouse Building (118-5163-0060). Designed in 1931 by
Richard jAllen, the News and Daily Advance Building continued to use the Art Deco vocabulary
employed in the Allied Arts Building. The City Auditorium and Armory, designed by Stanhope
Johnson, borrowed its imposing architectural vocabulary from the fortifications of the Middle Ages
with its buttressed walls and simplified three-part fa9ade. Stanhope Johnson employed a different
vocabulary for his United States Post Office/Courthouse Complex of 1932-33. For this building
he used the neoclassical vocabulary to emphasize the building's federal presence.
The New Dominion {1945-present)
As the railroad industry declined nationally, Lynchburg suffered major economic losses. Its
prominence as the major transportation center of Virginia slipped as industries moved out into the
suburbs and as automotive transportation became dominant. Local industry's new dependence upon
trucks for transport was solidified with the opening of the Lynchburg Expressway and the industrial
park adjacent to it. Just as the popularity of the automobile brought on the decline of Lynchburg as
a transportation center, it also lead to the decline of the downtown area as a commercial center.
Many of the retail stores that once thrived along Main Street have relocated to suburban shopping
centers. However, the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District continues to be the primary
location for government and professional businesses. The long-standing presence of the Lynchburg
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Courthouse on Court Street at the Ninth Street axis was continued with the construction in 19541955 of Everett Fauber' s monumental limestone and granite Lynchburg Circuit Court Building
(118-5163-0036) at 900 Court Street. This area continues to be the governmental center of the city
with other public buildings, such as the Public Safety Building and the School Administration
Building, constructed recently. Many of the houses along Clay and Court streets have been
converted to office spaces for lawyers and other professionals associated with the courts.
The churches in the area have continued to thrive and expand with a number of the institutions
adding educational wings and enlarged sanctuaries during this period. In 1941, Stanhope Johnson
designed a chancel addition and a Sunday School wing to the First Baptist Church (118-5163·
0040) at the corner of Court and Eleventh streets. The First Presbyterian Church 9118-51630017) also expanded in 1942 with Everett Fauber's design for a new chapel and educational wing
connected by an arcade. New buildings constructed on Main Street have included the addition to
the Municipal Building as well as several large banks. These new buildings and new uses testify that
the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District continues to serve as the government and business
center of Lynchburg.
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INVENTORY OF SITES
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0001
Date: 1814,1831
Name: Price-Turner House
The Speidell Group
523 Clay Street
Contributing.
This is a two story, five bay brick residential building with a side gable roof, two interior end
chimneys and three dormers with 6/6 sash windows. The facade is divided into bays by the
windows and the porch. There are five 6/6 sash windows on the second floor and four 9/9 sash
windows on the first. The porch is a one story, three bay frame porch with a hipped roof with
projecting cornice over an entablature with triglyphs. It has fluted Doric columns and a turned
balustrade on brick piers infilled with lattice work. The stairs are off to one side, not central.
Secondary Resources Description:
Behind the house there is a 1-1/2 story frame servant quarters and kitchen with beaded
weatherboard and a gable roof with a shed roof addition (contributing) and a one story garage
with studio (non-contributing).
Contributing.
Non-Contributing
I.D Number: 118-5163-0002
Date: 1827
Name: Glass, Carter, House
605 Clay Street
Contributing
The rectangular-shaped Glass House sits on a stone foundation above a raised basement and
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displays a gray, slate-covered, hipped roof decorated by a cream-painted, ornamented, box
cornice with plain frieze. Two tall, interior brick chimneys rise from the roof near the lower
edges of both the northwest and southeast slopes. Eight gabled donners, each with 6/6 lights,
grace the roof. Three of the donners project from the front slope, three from the rear, and one
from each side.
Below, shrubs flank the front and southeast sides of the house, partially obscuring the barred,
basement windows there. A total of nine 3/3 windows illuminate the basement. There are three
on the southeast side and two each on the other sides. With the exception of a triple window
(with a double casement, middle section) at the second-floor center of the rear facade, all other
windows are 6/6, double-hung sashes with black-painted, louvered, wood shutters and creampainted stone sills and wood lintels. Except for a center-placed, second story opening in the front
facade, these windows are arranged in vertical pairs and sep!j.l'ated between floors by recessed,
cream-painted, panels of wood.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0003
Date: 1889-1895
Name: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
605 Clay Street
Contributing
This Romanesque revival church is described as an "ecclesiastical fortress" because of its
massiveness. It is constructed of rusticated grey granite blocks trimmed in brownstone detailing;
it has battered basement walls. The gable front has a central arched entrance and a row of arched
stained glass windows above it. The front tower, on the left side of the facade, has four narrow
windows below three arched openings at the top of the bell tower. The tower, not finished until
1912, has a hipped roof.
I.DNumber: 118-5163-0004
Date: 1845
Name: Wright, Ann 0., House
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Rectory
Lawrence P. Morin, Attorney
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701 Clay Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a side gable roof and a simple molded cornice. The
two parts of the stepped facade are unified by a one story, two bay porch with a hipped roof
supported on Doric columns; it has a turned balustrade. The portion of the facade that is stepped
back has a tripartite double hung sash window with paneled apron on both the first and second
stories. The portion of the facade closest to the street has two 6/6 double hung sash windows on
both the first and second stories.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0005
Date: 1842
Name: Yancey, Elizabeth, House
707 Clay Street
Contributing
This is a brick, two story, Federal style dwelling. It has a recessed entry with single leaf door
framed by Doric pilasters supporting an entablature and pediment. The entry is slightly offcenter. On either side is a pair of 1/ I double hung sash windows; one pair is closer together than
the other. On the second floor, there is a pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows above the close
pair, a single 1/1 double hung sash window above the entrance and one above the pair not so
close together.
The foundation is three course American bond; the first and second stories are five course
American bond. The roof is standing seam metal with side gables and there are two interior end
chimneys.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0006
Date: 1920 ca
Name: Sullivan House
713-715 Clay Street
Contributing
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This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof and two pedimented dormers with 6/6
double hung sash windows. The faced is divided in two parts by the two one story, two bay
frame porches. Each porch has chamfered columns supporting a deep cornice and a square
balustrade. Each porch shelters a single leaf door with a 3-light transom and a tripartite window
with a 4/lx6/lx4/1 configuration. Above each porch is a 6/1 double hung sash window and a 9/9
double hung sash window. On the first floor between the two porches is a single leaf door with a
3-light transom and a 6/1 double hung sash window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0007
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Snead, W.H., House
Chesapeake Mortgage Financial Corp.
Gregory Powell Appraisal Service
Mid-Atlantic Settlement Services
717 Clay Street
Contributing
This two story frame residential building has German siding and an intersecting gable roof and a
one story, three bay frame porch. The porch has a hipped roof with bracketed spindlework frieze,
turned columns and a turned balustrade. The front gable has a 1/1 double hung sash window on
the second floor and a pair of 1/ 1 sash windows with an arched transom and decorative
surround. The intersecting gable has two 2/2 sash windows on the second floor and one on the
first. There is a central double leaf door with a single light transom.
LD Number: 118-5163-0008
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Central Presbyterian Church (Colored)
Lynchburg Daily Bread
721 Clay Street
Contributing
This one story, three bay frame building has a front pedimented gable roof, with an entablature,
,,,
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supported on pilasters. The central entry has a single leaf, one light door with a two light
transom. It is flanked on either side by one 6/6 double hung sash window. It extends three bays
to the rear and has a one story shed addition.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0009
Date: 1883-1885
Name: City Water Reservoir
Clay Street Reservoir
600 Clay Street
Contributing
This is a stone rimmed basin built on a site adjacent to the original city reservoir, which was
replaced in 1885. The City Water Reservoir was designed by August Forsberg, the Lynchburg
City Engineer in the 1880s. The reservoir has a greenstone parapet with coping of Richmond
granite. There is a statue "The Water Bearer" on the wall separating the two basins. The
reservoir is now covered with asphalt to protect the water from pollution. In its original
condition, the City Water Reservoir was said to be "one of the most felicitous examples of utility
and ornamentation ever achieved in Lynchburg" (Chambers 1981 :260).
Secondary Resources:
A I-story, I-bay brick pump house stands to the rear of the reservoir. The side-gable roof is
covered with slate shingles and a single leaf wooden door provides entry.
Contributing.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0010
Date: 1878-1879
Name: Holy Cross Catholic Church
700 Clay Street
Contributing
This masonry church, designed by August Forsberg, has a projecting chancel and a prominent
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central tower, belfry, and spire. The outside walls are stuccoed brick accented with greenstone
details. The chancel has a central pointed arched door below a pointed arched window with
tracery; just below the belfry is a quatrefoil louvered vent. On either side of the projecting
chancel are smaller pointed arched windows. The side walls are buttressed and have pointed
arched windows. In the slate roof, there are small attic dormers with louvered vents and there is
ornate cast iron cresting on the ridge of the roof. The belfry has an arched opening on each of the
four sides, pilasters on each comer, a terra cotta cornice, and a pyramidal roof. The church
complex, including the parish house and the interior plan of the church, were extensively
remodeled in the 1990s.
Secondary Resource
A campanile, designed in 1899 by Edward G. Frye, stands at the rear of the church property.
This free-standing structure is constructed of buff Roman brick with terra cotta trim. Typical of
campanile designs, it consists of an unadorned shaft that tapers to appear taller and features
corbelled brickwork, arched openings, terra cotta trim and a pyramidal roof.
Contributing Structure
I.D Number: 118-5163-0011
Date: 1879
Name: Court Street Baptist Church
523 Court Street
Contributing
This church was designed by the prominent Lynchburg Architect Robert Burkholder. It as a
central front belfry of brick and wood frame. The projecting vestibule is the base of the belfry
tower; it has the central entry, a row of three arched windows, and a round window below the
tower. The tower has a mansard roof stage with arched dormers and louvered windows. The
octagonal belfry above it supports the tapering spire and they are both clad in wood siding. The
bays on either side of the central tower have paired segmental arched windows and paired stained
glass windows. The side walls are articulated by 5 pairs of arched windows of stained glass
above five pairs of smaller arched windows.
In its basic plan and outline, Court Street Baptist Church recalls a typical New England
meetinghouse of a much earlier period in American architecture. Its simple rectangular form,
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with a vestibule and tower projecting slightly comes from the familiar meetinghouse prototype.
While the overall proportions of the church are somewhat retarditaire for its 1879 date, its details
show an affinity with the prevailing architectural styles of the period, or at least a nodding
acquaintance with them. Italianate features are most predominant, notably in the windows. Those
on the ground floor have segmentally arched upper sash which are capped with slightly
protruding brick segmental hood molds. The larger windows lighting the auditorium above are
round arched with protruding brick arched upper hood molds. Another prominent feature, which
reflects the then-popular Second Empire style, is the mansard roof of the tower. This feature
provides an effective transition from the square tower base to the octagonally sectioned belfry
stage above. The basic rectangular body of the church measures 60 feet on the facade and extends
back IO I feet. Matching the tower projection on the front, and almost of the same dimensions, is
a small chancel projecting from the rear of the church. Foundations of the church are of stone laid
in a random pattern. Walls are of red brick; those in the ·facade are hard-pressed and, according to
an account of the building at the time it was completed, were "pressed at the Richmond kilns."
I.D Number: 118-5163-0012
Date: 1899-1902
Name: Court Street United Methodist Church
619 Court Street
Contributing
This Romanesque Revival church was designed by Edward Frye and completed in 1902. The
whole is buff-colored, rough face Kentucky free stone masonry. The facade is defined by its
single tower on the corner of Court and Seventh Streets. The tower is mostly unadorned save for
the belfry with tall open arches in each of its four sides and corner turrets with pyramidal roofs
like that of the tower itself.
The design of the whole church is said to be a restrained example of Frye's ecclesiastical work. It
is composed of carefully related masses and planes. The front gable has a row of three arched
stained glass windows set within a larger arch inscribed with masonry detailing. The central
composition of arches is flanked on either side by narrow arched windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0013
Date: 1905 ca
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Name: Ainslie, Peter, House
715 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof with dormers. It has a one story, three
bay pedimented porch with Doric columns and a turned balustrade. The central door has a
leaded glass transom and sidelights and is framed by pilasters. The fenestration in the facade is
1/1; the window in the dormer is tripartite with a tracery in the upper sash over one light, flanked
by 2/2 sash windows on either side.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0014
Date: 1881
Name: Ivey, J.W., House
717 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof; the
front gable has cornice returns, a round vent window, a single 2/2 double hung sash window on
the second floor and a projecting bay window with bracketed cornice on the first floor. The
intersecting gable has three 2/2 double hung sash windows on the second floor and two on the
first. There is a one story, three bay wrought iron porch and the property is surrounded by a
wrought iron fence.
Secondary Resources Description:
There is a one story brick building with a gable roof and five-course American bond brickwork
behind the house.
Contributing
l.D Number: 118-5163-0015
Date: 1882 ca
Name: Whitehead Building
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721-723 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof with comer turrets and a bracketed
cornice with <lentil moldings. The central bay is divided between two 1/1 segmental arched
window openings with decorative hoods on the second floor and two single leaf doors on the
first. A one story, three bay wrought iron porch spans the central bay.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0016
Date: 1881
Name: Tunstall House
Piedmont Club
801 Court Street
Contributing
This three story brick residential building has a flat roof with paired bracketed cornice and a
decorative entablature. The 1/1 double hung sash windows have segmental arched openings with
hood moldings; there are three on the second and third stories and two on the first. There is an
off-center door with wooden portico. The portico has a flat roof supported on paneled pilasters
with heart brackets. The building extends many bays to the rear. There is a two story bay with
bracketed cornice projecting from the side. On the opposite side there is an enclosed one story
porch and on the rear there is a two story five bay wooden porch with chamfered columns,
brackets, scroll sawn balustrade and an enclosed second story sleeping porch with nine 4/4
double hung sash windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0017
Date: 1899-1902
Name: First Presbyterian Church, 1899-1952
First Methodist Church
Higher Heights Church
805 Court Street
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Contributing
Edward Frye's design for this Romanesque revival church is typical of his ecclesiastical program
of the late 19th century and is said to be one of his most impressive church designs. Begun in
March 1899, it was finished only slightly more than a year later in July 1900. The comer tower,
which addresses the comer of Ninth and Court Streets, dominates the facade. It rises more than
twice the height of the front gable and each section is embellished with masonry courses, comer
turrets, narrow window openings and buttresses. At the mid-way section of the tower, it tapers
from a square to an octagonal form. The tall, rectilinear tower is balanced by a short, round,
crenellated tower on the opposite comer. The two towers are linked by a three bay portico with
Romanesque arches springing from squat colonettes. Inset above each arch is a stone from the
congregation's three different church buildings, including this one from 1899. Set behind the
portico is a gable front with a large central rose window.
LD Number: 118-5163-0018
Date: 1855
Name: Lynchburg Court House
90 I Court Street
Contributing
Located on the summit of one of Lynchburg's numerous hills, the Lynchburg Court House
occupies a prominent position overlooking the steeply descending steps of Monument Terrace.
Executed in stucco-over-brick on a granite ashlar basement, this fine example of the Greek
Revival style is capped by a shallow dome located over the intersection of the ridges. At the top
of the dome, is a small open belfry consisting of a circle of small Ionic columns supporting a
hemispherical dome. Set on a granite ashlar podium the front of the courthouse displays a threebay Doric portico which is echoed by an engaged portico with pilasters on each side and on the
rear. The design of the portico includes a triglyph frieze surmounted by a pediment with ends
that terminate in projecting boars heads. The pediment contains a historic clock whose weights
were ingeniously installed to descend within the drums of the portico's two inside columns. The
clock was shipped from Boston in 1833 and for sixteen years had been used in the first church
building of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg. Although the timepiece was rather
weather-beaten after five years·of exposure on a hillside near the church, the clock was installed
on the new courthouse and has now worked for over one hundred years.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No.1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
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The house is struck by a brass bell cast in 1825 by John W. Bank of Philadelphia. The center
bay of the porch is widened, making the crossette architrave and the three-paneled double door
entrance clearly visible. Under the portico on the second floor, a three-unit central bay consisting
of a four-over-four sash window is flanked by two recessed panels. This central window is
further bound by two six-over-six sash windows. The sides of the building are evenly divided
into five bays by pilasters which rest on the ashlar foundation. In the center of each side wall the
three-bay pedimented engaged portico projects slightly from the wall's surface and, like the front
portico, features a three-part central window which hangs above an entrance elaborated with a
crossette architrave.
A double flight of stairs leads up to the landing in front of each entrance. The two stories of a
six-over-six sash windows along the sides and back are set into a single vertical recess divided by
a molded panel.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0019
Date: 1880s
Name: Hatcher, William, House
Maryland Realtors
I 00 I Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof with cornice returns
in the front gable. The front gable also has a three sided projecting frame bay on the first floor, a
single 1/1 sash window, and a round vent window on the second floor. There is a one story
wrought iron porch sheltering an arched door and a single 1/ l sash window. On the second floor,
above the porch, are two l/1 sash windows. All windows have segmented arched openings.
There is a bracketed cornice. There is a projecting bay on either side of the building.
I.D Number: l 18-5 l 63-0020
Date: 1888
Name: The Watts House
l 007 Court Street
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(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024,0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page -11--
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a standing seam metal intersecting hip and gable
roof and a central square tower with hipped roof and finials. There is a one story, three bay
wrought iron porch, as well as a wrought iron fence around the property. The facade is
embellished with a frame bay window on the first story. This building it the only example of the
Italian Villa style in the district.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0021
Date: 1880 ca
Name: Wray, Thomas, House
1011 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof with bracketed
cornice. The front gable has cornice returns, a decorative round vent and two segmented arched
2/2 sash windows on both floors. The intersecting gable has two 2/2 segmental arched windows
on the first floor and three on the second. All windows have jack arches and there are paneled
aprons below the first story windows. There is a single leaf door with canopy and paneled reveal.
There is a wrought iron terrace railing and a wrought iron fence around the property.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0022
Date: 1880s
Name: House, 1017 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof. The front gable has
cornice returns with brackets, a decorative round vent window, an arched 4/4 double hung sash
window on the second floor and a pair of 4/4 sash windows on the first floor. The intersecting
gable has tree segmented arched windows on the second floor, two on the first floor as well as a
single leaf door with a segmented arched transom. There is also a one story, two bay wooden
porch with turned columns and balustrade.
(Rev. 10,90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page - l l _
I.D Number: 118-5163-0023
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Younger, Doctor, House
1021-1023 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building with intersecting gable roof has been dramatically
altered with the infill of the two story porch which covers the whole intersecting gable. The front
gable has a pediment and a pair of segmental arched windows on the first and second stories.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0024
Date: 1915 ca
Name: John Wyatt School
Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority
1101 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick .school building with a flat roof and stepped parapet. It has a central
recessed bay and flanking projecting bays; the bays are defined by comer brick quoins. The
whole facade is unified by a molded cornice with brackets; the Virginia State seal is applied to
the parapet, above the cornice, in the central bay. The fenestration on both stories in the central
bay consists of a central cluster of four 12/12 double hung sash windows framed on either side by
a pair of 12/12 double hung sash windows. The projecting bays each have two 12/12 double
hung sash windows on the first and second stories. There is a soldier course of bricks above and
below each window on the facade and each window has a keystone. In the central bay there are
two sets of double leaf doors with porticoes; the doors each have 12-light transoms and the
porticoes have segmented pediments supported on Ionic columns. The front of the property is
defined by a wrought iron fence.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0025
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page ___ll_
Date: 1910 ca
Name: William Diuguid House
616 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building was designed by the Lynchburg firm of Frye and
Chesterman in t 906. It has a front pedimented gable roof with <lentil moldings and a central
fanlight. There is a one story, two bay frame porch with a flat roof supported on Doric columns;
it has an entablature and cornice with <lentil moldings. The porch also has a turned balustrade.
On the first floor, there is an off-center single leaf door with single light transom and a tripartite
1/ I window. On the second floor there is a multi-pane window over the door and another
tripartite window - both have jack arches above. Brick comer quoins unify the facade. There is a
projecting basketweave bay on the side.
I.D Number: t 18-5163-0026
Date: 1915 ca
Name: Otey, Dexter, House
618 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The second floor
has a double leaf door, each leaf with 8 lights and a 6-light transom. It is flanked on either side
by 12-light double hung sash windows. The whole is sheltered by a bracketed hood roofed with
sautillo tiles. The first floor has a one story brick porch sheltering a brick entry and a single leaf
door with 6-light transom.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0027
Date: 1910
Name: Courtland Apartments
(Rev. 10·90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _M_
620 Court Street
Contributing
This is a four story, three bay brick and stone apartment building designed by Aubrey
Chesterman. The Court Street facade has a central bay with pairs of 6/6 double hung sash
windows on the second, third and fourth floors; a modem portico has been added on the first
floor. The two flanking bays have three story stone bays. The fourth floor is separated from the
rest of the facade by a stone belt course, paired windows with quoined surrounds and a cornice
with modilions below the flat roof. The side elevation repeats the facade articulation.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0028
Date: 1930-1935
Name: The Arlington Arms Hotel
The Arlington Building
700 Court Street
Contributing
This multi-story brick hotel building has a four-story central section framed by three-story
projecting end bays. The roof is flat; it has a parapet on the central section and a balustrade on
both the end bays. The fenestration is varied, but all windows are multi-paned sliding windows.
There is a central one story entrance vestibule with a double leaf door framed by arced IO-light
windows; the window openings on the fourth floor in the central section are also arched.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0029
Date: 1880s
Name: Duplex, 708-710 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick multiple dwelling has a flat roof with a decorative wrought iron balustrade
and corbelled brick work below it in the cornice and entablature. The windows on the second
floor are 1/1 double hung sash windows with individual awnings. There is a one story, six bay
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _li_
wrought iron porch with a metal hipped roof and wrought iron balustrade. The two single leaf
door with segmental arched transoms are separated by three 1/1 segmental arched windows and
another 18-light door with 8-light transom. The property is surrounded by a wrought iron fence.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0030
Date: 1882-1884
Name: House, 712 Court Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick residential building with a flat roof and a projecting cornice with paired
brackets. The facade is divided into three by the fenestration. There are 1/1 double hung sash
windows with terracotta hoods on the second and third stories; the second and third stories are
visually divided by a terra cotta beltcourse. On the first floor there is a three bay wrought iron
porch with hipped roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0031
Date: 1881
Name: Shaefer, Edmund, Townhouse
Martin Taylor Perrow Law Offices
714 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a flat roof and a cornice with
modilions and brackets. It was designed by the Lynchburg architect Robert C. Burkholder. The
attic story is defined by corbelled rectangles of alternating size - the smaller rectangles have inset
white panels. The four windows on the second floor and three on the first floors have window
hoods. There is a one story, four bay wrought iron porch; there is also a wrought iron fence
around the property. The off-center door has a double leaf outerdoor with paneled reveals and a
double leaf interior door with rectangular transom.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0032
(Rev. 10°90)
NPS Fonn 10.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024·0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page ---lfr_
Date: 1878
Name: John Randolph Nelson, Attorney
716 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a mansard roof and four 2/2
segmented arched dormers. The five windows on the second floor have the same configuration as
those in the dormers. There is one projecting bay window on either side of the central arched
door on the first floor.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0033
Date: 1826
Name: The Warwick House
720 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building. It has a low hipped roof with four interior end
chimneys, three 6/6 double hung sash windows on the second floor, and two on the first. There
is a one story, three bay wooden porch with square columns, scrolled brackets, and a bracketed
cornice. There is a single leaf door leading into the exposed basement as well as a 3/3 double
hung sash basement window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0034
Date: 1860 ca
Name: Lee House/Gilliam House
Patricia McAddams Gibbons, Attorney
800 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two-story brick residential building with a flat roof. The three windows on the second
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1... Page -1,1_
story and two on the first are 2/2/2 triple hung sash windows with sandstone lintels and terra
cotta rondels. There is a one story, three bay wrought iron porch sheltering a central door on a
granite sill. There is a side bay window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0035
Date: 1884 ca
Name: Brown, Edward S., House
Edward Brown House
Unitarian Parish House
818 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with a decorative parapet with bracketed
cornice and <lentil moldings. Below the cornice is a line of corbelled brick rectangles - the larger
rectangles have wrought iron grates. There are five 1/1 double hung sash windows on the second
floor and four on the first. Each window has a window hood with drip moldings. There is a one
story, three bay wrought iron porch with flat roof and balcony, as well as a wrought iron fence
around the property; it has chamfered concrete posts at the driveway. This house has been
attributed to Robert C. Burkholder.
Secondary Resources Description:
There is a one story brick garage to the rear of the house. It is a free-standing brick garage with
five-course American Bond brickwork and a corbelled parapet.
Contributing
I.D Number: 118-5163-0036
Date: 1954-1955
Name: Lynchburg Circuit Court Building
900 Court Street
Non-Contributing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1... Page _1§..._
This one story masonry circuit court building has a central two story bay with the main entry.
This bay has a recessed marble panel with an applied relief figure of Justice above the two pairs
of double leaf plate glass and aluminum doors; the doors have sandstone surrounds and granite
stairs. Extending to either side of this central bay are two one story wings with horizontal bands
of ribbon windows. Although this building is less than fifty years old and therefore noncontributing, it does continue the pattern of monumental governmental buildings along the Ninth
Street axis on Court Street. This building should be considered a contributing as soon as its age
allows as it is an excellent example of monumental civic architecture from the mid 1950s and it
reinforces the traditional location of the courthouse on Court Street along the Ninth Street axis.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0037
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Hughes, Fanny, House
1000 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a gambrel roof, central front gable
with cornice returns, and pedimented dormers; it has a cornice with modilions. The central bay
is defined by the gable front with quoining. It has a fanlight above the second story tripartite
window above the central door. The door as a single light transom and a classical surround with
engaged ionic columns, a full entablature and cornice with modilions. The two flanking bays are
defined by the pedimented dormers above a single 6/1 double hung sash window with flat jack
arch and a keystone. Corbelled brick detailing separates the first and second story windows. A
wrought iron fence surrounds the property. There is a two story wing with a 9/1 double hung
sash window above a tripartite bay casement window with tracery.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0038
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Perrick, D.M., House
Planvis, Allen & Yoder
1004 Court Street
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House H,ilJ/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page -12-
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with a flat roof and parapet, with an applied
pediment with modilions and entablature. On the first floor there is an off-center pedimented
portico with modilions, supported on Doric columns, sheltering a single leaf door with a classical
surround. The door has an arched transom. There is a tripartite 4/4x6/l x4/4 window on both
floors, and there is a single 6/1 sash window on the above the portico. Each window has a flat
jack arch and keystone above. There are comer quoins and, on the first floor, there is a series of
corbelled brick courses.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0039
Date: 1897 ca
Name: LaTour, Louis, House
!020-1022 Court Street
Contributing
This two and one half story brick residential building has a hipped and gable roof. the front
gable has corbelled brick and terracotta detailing, a pair of arched multi-pane/2 windows with
terracotta hood moldings over a pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows on the first and second
stories. The hip roofed section of the house has a central dormer with three arched openings and
corbelled brick and terra cotta detailing. On the second story there is an open arched bay with
terracotta detailing and on the first there is the central door with I-light transom. There are a
pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows flanking the central bay on both the first and second
stories. There is a one story, two bay wooden porch with flat roof with decorative metal
entablature supported on paired turned columns and balustrade.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0040
Date: 1886
Name: First Baptist Church
1100 Court Street
Contributing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form J0.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page --1!!-
First Baptist Church is a major architectural landmark and is a most accomplished example of
High Victorian Gothic architecture. Construction was begun in 1884, and although several
additions have since been made, the original portion stands essentially as it did when it was
complete in September, 1886. The structure is built of hard-pressed red brick on a rough granite
foundation. The major external features are the tower and spire which project from the
southwest corner of the modified cruciform church. The architect was John R. Thomas, and it is
listed on the Virginia Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places, as well as
on the local register.
LDNumber: 118-5163-0041
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Lowry Townhouse, 501 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and bracketed cornice. The three bay facade
is defined by its fenestration; on the first floor there are two windows next to the off-center door
with canopy. On the second and third stories there are three windows across the facade. The
windows have segmental arched surrounds. This building is one of a row of six townhouses.
LD Number: 118-5163-0042
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 503 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and bracketed cornice. It has a three part
facade with an off-center door and two windows on the first floor and three windows each on the
second and third stories. The window openings have segmental arched surrounds. This building
is one of a row of six townhouses.
LDNumber: 118-5163-0043
Date: 1890 ca
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _1J__
Name: Townhouse, 505 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The first floor has been altered
with a storefront window next to the off-center door with a hipped roof portico. The two upper
stories have three windows each; the windows are vinyl. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0044
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 507 Church Street
Anchor Financial Complex
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The windows have been replaced
with vinyl sash windows. The flat roof has a dentilled cornice. There is an off-center door with
pedimented gable portico supported on square columns. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0045
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 509 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The windows have been replaced
with vinyl sash windows. The flat roof has a dentilled cornice. There is an off-center door with
pedimented gable portico on square columns. This building is one of a row of six townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0046
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _.ll_
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 511 Church Street
Executive Financial Services
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and a corbelled brick cornice. The fixed
windows are graduated in size with the largest on the first floor and the smallest on the third
floor. There are small square basement casement windows as well. The off-center door has a
segmental arched transom and the original doorbell. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0047
Date: 1910
Name: Martin, L.F., House
Legal Aid
517 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick building with a hipped roof and central dormer. The
central door with a segmental arched broken transom and one-light/four panel sidelights has a
cornice and column surround. The windows are arched tripartite sash windows with three rows
of headers over each window. The dormer window is a pair of four light casement windows.
There is quoining on the sides.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0048
Date: 1920 ca
i
Name: Churchland Apartments
Church Street Apartments
519 Church Street
Contributing
I
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1.... Page~
This is a two story brick multiple dwelling (duplex) with an intersecting gable roof and two front
gables. It has a central portico with a low hipped roof, cornice and entablature supported on
Doric columns. It has a turned balustrade with square newel posts. The door is double leaf with
fourteen light sidelights and a 4xl2x4 broken transom. The first floor windows are paired sash
windows. On the second floor there are two sash windows between two pairs of sash windows;
there are jack arches over each window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0049
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Hancock Motor Company
The Center
527 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick commercial building with a three part facade; there is a central bay
framed by projecting comer bays. The central bay is defined by three aluminum and plate glass
windows with multi-light thermal window transoms. The arched window surrounds are
corbelled arches on brick piers. Separating the two floors is a corbelled brick course, with
<lentils, which spans all three bays. In the second story there are three tripartite casement
windows with center pivots. The framing bays have quoined first floors.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0050
Date: 1850 ca
Name: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
The Tompkins Apartments
Anthony & Company
701 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, six bay brick building was originally constructed as the second church for St.
Paul's Episcopal Church. It was extensively remodeled in the !880s,just prior to the
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _M.,_
construction of the present church on Clay Street. The building was further remodeled to its
present appearance in the 1920s. Serving now as a commercial building, it has a flat roof and an
unadorned cornice. The upper facade is defined by quoined end bays; the windows on the second
and third stories are 1/ I sash windows with sandstone sills and keystones. The lower facade is
separated from the upper facade by a brick beltcourse. The lower facade has two arched 1/ I sash
windows on either side of the central door. The entry is defined by fluted pilasters supporting an
applied cornice and entablature, single light sidelights, and paneled reveals. The single leaf door
has a single light transom. There is an awning extending out from the building.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0051
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Huff, Wilbur, Garage
Warehouse, 707 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two story, three bay brick warehouse building with a flat roof. The bays are defined by
slightly projecting brick piers which separate ribbons of 16 light fixed windows with central
hoppers on the second floor. On the first floor, there is a central roll-up garage door with 5x2x5
light broken transom; to the right of it, there is another roll-up garage door with 5x5 light broken
transom; to the left of it, there is a single leaf 6-light door with three light transom and a fixed
16-light window with 6-light transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0052
Date: 1980 ca
Name: Parking Deck, 709 Church Street
Non-contributing Structure
Concrete two-story parking deck.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0053
Date: 1929-1931
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10~900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
Name: Allied Arts Building
725 Church Street
Contributing
The Allied Arts Building was designed by Stanhope Johnson, Ray Brannan, and Addison Staples.
It is a steel-framed structure, faced with yellow brick and greenstone. It is seventeen stories tall
with its vertical axis emphasized by attenuated piers defining recessed bays; the piers, extending
from the fourth story to the sixteenth, are alternating widths of broad and narrow, with the broad
piers corresponding to the steel frame within the building. The main facade, only 40' wide, is on
Church Street, while the side elevations extend back 132' into the steep hillside between Church
and Court streets. The first three stories of the facade are clad in greenstone, the fourteen stories
above it are yellow brick, and attic story is greenstone.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0054
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Hygeia Hospital
Piedmont Hotel
United American Holdings
80 I Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial building has a flat roof with a bracketed cornice. The
windows on the third and second stories are segmental arched 1/1 sash windows of different
sizes. The first story has three 20-light bay windows and an off-center entrance; the entry has a
single leaf door with I-light sidelights, a segmental arched transom, and an awning.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0055
Date: 1915
Name: Beasley Building/Mosby Building
815 Church Street
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Contributing
This four story, five bay brick commercial/office building has a hipped roof with deep eaves and
bracketed cornice. The bays are defined by alternating projecting and recessed planes, on the
second and third stories, each with one 1/1 sash window on each floor; the windows have
sandstone sills and keystones. The projecting bays have coursed brick courses along the height
of the bays. The upper facade is separated from the lower facade by a sandstone beltcourse. It
has two square casement windows with arched transoms on either side of the central door which
also has an arched transom; there is quoining around the each arched transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0056
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Medical Building, 823 Church Street
Commercial Building, 823 Church Street
Contributing
This four story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof and parapet above a deep
bracketed cornice. The first story is cast, coursed stone with a central double leaf door with
pedimented surround flanked on either side by a tripartite double hung sash window; it is
separated from the second floor by a belt course. There are three tripartite double hung sash
windows with jack arches and keystones on both the second and third stories; the third story is
separated from the fourth by a cast stone belt course. The fourth floor windows, below the
cornice, have quoined surrounds.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0057
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Commercial Building, 829 Church Street
Non-contributing
· This three story brick commercial building has been significantly altered with vinyl siding and
vinyl replacement windows on the second and third stories.
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form t0.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _J]__
I.D Number: 118-5163-0058
Date: 1931
Name: Lynchburg News & Daily Advance Building
US Post Office
863 Church Street
Contributing
Formerly known as the News and Daily Advance Building, this building was designed by Robert
M. Allen, a Roanoke architect, and is four stories tall by five bays wide. It has a flat roof and a
parapet conceals the fourth story. The five bays of the facade are articulated by a recessed
window openings with cast iron grillwork framed by incised buttresses which emphasize the
verticality of the building. In the central bay, above the main entrance, there is a bas relief
allegorical figure which holds the lamp of learning. The facade of the building is concrete block,
but the rear is brick.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0059
Date: 1924-1925
Name: Monument Terrace
Ninth Street
Contributing
Monument Terrace is a grand staircase extending along the Ninth Street axis between Church
and Court Streets. It is on axis with the 1851 Greek Revival Courthouse at the top of Courthouse
Hill. Monument Terrace was designed by Aubrey Chesterman in 1924 and was built on the site
of August Forsberg's Fireman's Fountain and its encircling steps of 1880s. The classical design
of the cascading stair is articulated with Baroque details like the balusters, the scrolls, and the
statuary. The most prominent statue is the Doughboy, or The Listening Post, which was installed
in 1926. It is on the site of the original pool and fountain at the base of the staircase.
Secondary Resources Description:
Contributing Statues - 3
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024,0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section __J_ Page __L,
Non-contributing Statues - 2 (post 1950)
I.D Number: 118-5163-0060
Date: 1909-1912
Name: United States Post Office/Courthouse
Monument Terrace Building
901 Church Street
Contributing
Three-story neoclassical structure with rusticated stone base. Brick above base. Flared hipped
roof of standing seam metal. Arched windows and entrance on first floor. Designed by James
Knox Taylor, supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0061
Date: 1975 ca
Name: Elevator, 919 Church Street
Non-contributing
Two-story elevator used to get from parking lot on Church Street to lot on Court Street.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0062
Date: 1960
Name: Office Building, 925 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story, brick veneer building with flat roof and aluminum windows and doors.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0063
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-%0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _J2._
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Preston, Doctor, Office
Commercial Building, 927 Church Street
Contributing
This two story, three bay brick commercial building has a steeply pitched hipped roof with
finials. The facade is defined by two end bays projecting slightly from the central bay. A
molded belt course separates the first from the second floor and unifies the facade. The double
leaf door is located in the left end bay and is set with an arched surround; the window in the
central bay and the window in the other end bay is also in an arched surround. The first story has
coursed brick corbelling. In the second floor, in the central bay, there is a tripartite window and
in each of the end bays there is one 1/1 double hung sash window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0064
Date: 1950 post
Name: Office Building, 1003 Church Street
Non-contributing
This five story masonry office building has a flat roof and a six story elevator shaft on the side.
The lower facade is separated from the upper four stories by a aluminum marquee. The metal
facade consists of a grid pattern of windows and recesses emphasizing different planes.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0065
Date: 1915 ca
Name: The Younger Building
1019 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof, stepped parapet, and a
bracketed cornice with pent roof. The third story has a central pair of craftsman style windows
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn J0.900
United States Department or the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
flanked, on either side, by a tripartite craftsman style window. The second story has a single
central craftsman style window with an arched panel above it flanked by tripartite craftsman style
windows. The lower facade is separated from the upper facade by different color brick and a
course of corbelled brick patterning. The lower facade is divided in to three bays by brick
pilasters between fixed storefront windows. The off-center door has an awning extending over
the sidewalk.
LD Number: I 18-5163-0066
Date: 1897
Name: Hill City Masonic Lodge
The Ward Building
Vacant Building, 1025 Church
Contributing
This three story brick office building has a flat roof and balustrade above a deep cornice with
modillions. The upper facade is divided into two bays by two pairs of two story recessed arched
bays with inset windows; the windows in the third story are arched and those in the second are
rectangular 1/1 sash windows. Corbelled brick panels separate them. The upper facade is
separated from the lower facade by a molded brick belt course. In the lower facade has a central
arched entry with terracotta surround. It is flanked on either side by inset window panels.
LD Number: 118-5163-0067
Date: 1900 ca
Name: The Terrell Apartments/fhe Wattles Apartments
Commonwealth Bail Bonds
1101 Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial/office building has a flat roof with bracketed cornice and a
curved facade which addresses its comer site. The fenestration pattern is varied with different
sizes of 1/1 sash windows on the three stories. The principal entry is at 300 Eleventh Street
where there is an arched entry with ornate terracotta surround. There are two recessed entries on
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page __fi_
the Church Street facade which flank a central projecting bay below a terracotta tablet with egg
and dart border.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0068
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Virginia Cigar Company
Jones and Reynolds, PC
1103 Church Street
Contributing
This two story brick commercial building has a flat roof, three sliding windows on the second
floor, and four fixed windows on the first. It has three doors - the door to 1103 has one light, the
door to 1105 has 3-lights and 4-panels, and the third door has been infilled.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0069
Date: 1905 ca
Name: Monticello Hotel
Commercial Building, 1107 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with parapet. The windows
on the third story consists of a row of six segmented arched 6/1 sash windows with sandstone
sills and keystones. The windows on the second story are rectangular 1/1 sash windows with
sandstone sills and keystones. The upper facade is separated from the lower by a corbelled brick
belt course and brick quoins on the comers. The lower facade has an arched opening on either
side of the central entrance.
The arched openings have tripartite windows with infilled transoms. The central door surround
has fluted pilasters supporting an entablature with metopes and triglyphs. There is double leaf
with one light transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0070
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024·0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Date: 1905 ca
Name: Burroughs Building
Commercial Building, 1109 Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial building has a flat roof. The upper facade of the building is
defined by comer quoining, segmental arched 1/1 sash windows on the third story, and
rectangular 1/1 sash windows on the second. The windows on both stories have sandstone sills,
and keystones set within the jack arches. The lower facade is separated from the upper by a
corbelled brick belt course. The two windows on the first story are fixed arched windows with
keystones. Two arched door openings flank the central door opening with a classical surround
composed of fluted pilasters supporting a cornice with metopes and triglyphs.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0071
Date: 1980 ca
Name: Thomhills
1117 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story brick veneer with flat roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0072
Date: 1980 ca
Name: ABC Store
112 l Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story brick veneer with flat roof and arcade.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _il._
I.D Number: 118-5163-0073
Date: 1917 ca
Name: YWCA Building
606 Church Street
Contributing
This brick, five story building is divided into three bays by its window groupings. On the facade,
the central portico has full architrave, dentiled cornice, low balustrade. A pair of two full length
windows with round arch openings, decorative round arched hoods, and oversize console
keystones flank the entry on each side. The second floor 8/8 windows are topped by blind round
arches with raised keystones and the third floor windows are also 8/8. A blank cartouch is
centered above the third story central bay. The fourth floor 6/6 windows are capped by flat
soldier course brick heads. The fourth story windows rest on a continuous stucco belt course. A
flat roof with a dentiled frieze and a deep bracketed cornice. Side elevation: exposed basement
with similar window articulation. Each of the three bays has a grouping of three windows. Those
in the central bay have arched openings on each floor. The windows in the flanking bays are
identical to those on the facade.
Rear elevation: exposed basement divided into three bays by four paired, 4/4 windows. The
windows on the first floor are full length with round arch openings. Two of the windows on the
second floor have blind arches, those in the central bay do not. The 8/8 windows of the third and
fourth floor have no decorative articulation. The frieze and cornice do not continue around the
back.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0074
Date: 1945 ca
Name: C & P Telephone
AT&T
700 Church Street
Contributing
This is a five story masonry office building; the top two stories, which have little surface
articulation were added at a later date. The second and third stories are defined by projecting end
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _J__ Page ~
bays, with recessed window openings, flanking five bays with the same articulation. The first
story is separated from the second by a belt course which has marble planters. The off-center
door has an ornate carved green marble Art Deco door surround.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0075
Date: 1970s
Name: Bell Atlantic
706 Church Street
Non-contributing
Five-story, steel frame and concrete office building with flat roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0076
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Virginian Hotel
726 Church Street
Contributing
This is a six story brick hotel building. The ground floor is defined by segmented arched bays of
various widths framing the doors and storefront windows. It is separated from the upper facade
by a decorative iron store cornice and entablature. The five stories in the upper facade are pierced
by alternating paired windows and single windows. The roof is defined by a projecting cornice
with modilions. On the Church Street elevation there is a two bay garage section that is visually
separated from the facade by corbelled brick work.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0077
Date: 1980 ca
· Name: Parking Deck, 800 Church Street
Non-contributing Structure
(Rev, lo.90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _'J.... Page~
Two-level, concrete parking deck.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0078
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Commercial Building, 820 Church Street
Contributing
This four story brick commercial building has a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The windows
on the third and fourth stories are arched 1/1 double hung sash. The first and second story
windows are rectangular 1/1 double hung sash windows - those on the first have arched
surrounds. There is an off-center double leaf aluminum and plate glass door with an awning. The
upper facade is stuccoed and the lower facade is brick.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0079
Date: 1933
Name: United States Post Office and Courthouse
City Hall
900 Church Street
Contributing
This is a four story, free-standing, Neoclassical municipal building with a rusticated ground floor.
The basement is exposed, but only on the sides. The main entrance is three bays wide with
double-leaf bronze doors; the transoms have bronze grates. The windows at basement level are
6/6; the windows from the ground floor to the fourth floor are paired, 4/4. The windows are
recessed between Ionic pilasters, 13 across the facade and 7 across each side. The corners are
stepped back on the facade and there is one 4/4 window per floor. There is a continuous dentilled
cornice; on the facade, there is a segmented balustrade.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0080
Date: 1935-1940
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Name: Phillips Business School
1000 Church Street
210 Tenth Street
Contributing
This four story building has been encased in a modem metal frame and plastic tile covering.
There is a recessed entry with metal overhang.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0081
Date: 1960 ca
Name: Parking Lot with Enclosed Stair, 1008 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story steel frame and plate glass on brick base with flat roof.
Secondary Resource
A one-story concrete block attendant's shed with flat roof.
Non-contributing
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0082
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Doctor's Offices, !016 Church Street
The Professional Building
Contributing
This is a three story, three bay commercial building with a bracketed cornice below the flat
roofline. The first story windows flanking the recessed entry have been boarded up. The second
and third story windows are 10/l and those on the second story have awnings. There is running
bond on the facade and there is quoining on the comers from second story to cornice. There is
five course American bond brickwork, asymmetrical windows with segmental arches, and
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-?00
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section ......L. Page _il_
centrally placed light well with fire escape on the side elevation.
LD Number: l 18-5163-0083
Date: 1915 ca
Name: Clark Building
1100 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay, masonry building has a central entrance defined by engaged ionic
columns supporting a full entablature and cornice. The door is double-leaf with a cast concrete
surround, 3/ I light with transom and sidelights. Flanking the entrance on either side are singleleaf, cast concrete doors (now boarded-up), with transom and sidelights. The second and third
story window configuration is a single central window flanked on either side by a pair of 1/ I,
double hung sash windows. There is a bracketed cornice with diamond patterning at the flat
roofline, above which is a parapet. The five course American bond is accented with concrete
details throughout the facade. The 11th Street elevation continues the same window articulation
as the facade. The cornice wraps around this side as well. The lowest level has one store front.
LD Number: 118-5163-0084
Date: 1920-1925
Name: National Tire and Rubber Company
Bowman Locksmith Company
1104 Church Street
Contributing
This is a one story, brick Art Moderne service station with a porte cochere extending over one
bay supported by one metal column with Art Moderne capital; this bay has an off-center, single
leaf door. There are three nine-light fixed metal windows with central pivot sections. The facade
has glazed brick veneer with a four course pattern above the bays. There are two roll-up wooden
garage doors. The roof is flat. Interior features original shelving, counters and cabinetry. There is
a rear, basement level garage door.
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
l.D Number: 118-5163-0085
Date: 1925 ca
Name: Odd Fellows Hall
Benchmark Systems
1112 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story (+ attic) brick I-shaped commercial building and meeting hall. It has a three
part facade with a rusticated concrete first floor with recessed central entrance flanked by a pair
of tri-partite windows with broken transoms on either side. There is an arched transom with
scroll keystone above the entrance. The door and window surrounds are cast stone. There are
awnings above the entrance and first floor windows. The three part piano nobile is divided by
Ionic pilasters separating five double hung sash windows; four of the windows have segmented
pediments, the central window has a triangular pediment. The attic level is pierced by openings
between the pilasters. There is a dentilled and molded cornice only on the facade. Side and rear
have 2/2 double hung, sash windows. The initials "I.0.0.F." are incised in the entablature
I.D Number: 118-5163-0086
Date: 1945 ca
Name: Vaughan Motor Company
Jon Bob's Garage
1124 Church Street
Contributing
The former Vaughan Motor Company building is a one story, concrete block building with brick
veneer. On the storefront, there is one single-leaf, aluminum and plate-glass door and three
aluminum and plate glass windows. On the rear of the building there are three aluminum and
plate glass roll-up garage doors, one single leaf aluminum and plate glass door and two
aluminum and plate glass windows. Below the flat roof is a series of brick bands. There is one
interior masonry flue chimney.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0087
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Date: 1931-1932
Name: City Auditorium and Armory
1210 Church Street
Contributing
Church Street, facade elevation: two story, three part composition, with brick and concrete
entrance pavilions flanking the central part. Each pavilion has heavy brick piers (pierced on each
side by a shallow arched recess within a smooth-faced gabled surround) framing an arched,
recessed rusticated greens tone entry. Above the arched doorway is a cluster of three narrow,
lancet windows with metal grating. Between the end pavilions is a series of buttress-like piers
separating the windows. The windows in each of the nine arched bays are multi-light, fixed and
sash. The roofline of the central part is lower than that of the pavilions; the roof is flat.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0088
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Jennings & Co., Grains
Kimball's
Kim's Deli I Chris Shoe Repair Shop
709-711 Main Street
Contributing
Commercial-Italianate. Third floor has segmental arch windows; second floor has rectangular
three-part windows; recessed box panels of brick and cornice level. Two shopfront entrances.
First floor facade altered in the mid-20th century.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0089
Date: 1800-1825
Name: Leftwich-Brown House
Singer Building
Purity Market
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _J_ Page _fill_
D & G's House of Fashion
Sino's Inn
713-715 Main Street
Contributing
This 3-story, 6-bay brick building has a parapeted gable roof, twin interior end chimneys, doublehung sash windows with splayed lintels on the second and third stories. These features date from
the early-19th-century. The facade, with its ronning-bond veneer, was altered to include two
distinct storefronts in the mid-20th century. The storefront of 711 Main has been dramatically
altered with a jack-arched storefront surround with quoins. The storefront has been angled and
has plate glass windows set on quarter walls which flank a central door. The storefront of 713 is
completely glazed with plate glass windows flanking a central door below an awning.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0090
Date: 1912-1914
Name: People's National Bank
First and Merchants National Bank
Bank of America
801 Main Street
Contributing
This is a 10 story, three bay concrete commercial building It has a granite base with double
height engaged Ionic columns, bracketed window hoods, coursed ashlar, a full entablature below
a denti!led cornice that separates the upper from the lower facade. The upper facade is separated
into two parts; the lower portion defined by three groupings of two sash windows. The upper
portion, separated from the lower by a cornice with a central cartouche and <lentils, is defined by
double height engaged Corinthian columns and Corinthian pilasters supporting a full entablature
and molded metal cornice with modillions and <lentils.
The Eighth Street facade has double height engaged Doric columns defining the nine bays.
There are sunburst screens on the windows in the first floor, metal balustrades, and grills on the
basement windows.
I.D Number: ! 18-5163-009!
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No, 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _J_ Page _5_1_
Date: 1885-1897
Name: Lewis, John H., Law Office
Commercial Building, 813 Main Street
Contributing
This two story, one bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with parapet above a deeply
projecting stepped eave. The lower facade has been altered with an aluminum roll-up garage door
below an applied signboard. The upper facade has two louvered windows each with an arched
hood; there is corbelled brick detail below the eave. The whole facade has been stuccoed.
{1D Number: 118-5163-0092
Date: 1880s
Name: Bigie Bros. & Co., Inc.
Jackson Drug Store
Commercial Building, 815 Main Street
Contributing
Although the cornice of the building has been removed and replaced with an aluminum strip, the
recessed, segmental arch 1/1 windows and the incised lancet brick piers with terra cotta rosettes
still survive from the original construction. The 1950s storefront is capped by a large plastic sign.
l.D Number: l 18-5163-0093
Date: 1885 ca
Name: Robinson & Tate, Grocers
Kastan's
Sil-0-ette
More Fresh Air/Mr; John's
817 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev.10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department oC the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No, 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _fil_
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with a decorative cornice
with brackets and shell detail on the corner brackets. There are two discreet storefronts below a
corbelled store cornice which divides the upper and lower facades. The left storefront has two
fixed plate glass windows framing a single leaf aluminum door. There is a single light transom
below a separate multi-light carrara glass transom. The right store front is wider than the left and
has been veneered. In it, there are fixed, curved plate glass windows on marble half walls
framing a single leaf, aluminum door with terrazo inlay on the entry floor.
Three arched windows span the second and third floors in the upper facade; the windows have
been boarded up. There is reeding in the piers between the windows, and corbelling above the
arches.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0094
Date: 1890s
Name: Building, 819 Main Street
Non-Contributing
Four-story, brick veneer. Replacement windows and new storefront along with brick veneer have
altered this 1890s structure to a modern appearance.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0095
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Singer Building
Wrenn's
Wills-Camp/Depot, The
821 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story, three-bay facade with an elaborate bracketed cornice with dentil moldings
and embellished comer brackets. The lower facade has been altered with plate glass two-light
windows flanking a single light door with transom below a stamped metal store cornice. There
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-90-0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
windows flanking a single light door with transom below a stamped metal store cornice. There
are three window openings with rectangular hood molds in both the second and third stories;
there is no glass in these windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0096
Date: 1885 ca
Name: Lynchburg Trust & Savings Bank
Pencil Inc.
Davenport
823 Main Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick commercial building with three fixed, single light windows on the first
floor below a stuccoed sign tablet, and two double hung sash 1/1 windows on the second floor.
The lower facade is stuccoed below the brick upper facade with elaborate corbelled brickwork:
an entablature and cornice with dentil moldings set on a corbelled base; above that is an incised
square pattern below another, less-deep, denticulated cornice and parapet.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0097
Date: 1910 ca
Name: The Belvedere
Oppleman, L., Pawn Broker
Davenport and Company
825 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building with an altered storefront: the stuccoed storefront
has, on either side of the central door with arched surround, one fixed, single light window. In the
upper facade, there are two sets of paired, double hung sash windows below a ribbon of three
arched windows with corbelled surrounds; the center window has a metal louver. There is a
bracketed cornice with dentil moldings below the parapet which has a three-part incised square
pattern of three squares wide by two high.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
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Section ___J_ Page _M_
I.D Number: 118-5163-0098
Date: 1905
Name: Krise Building/American National Bank
Bowen Jewelers
827-829 Main Street
Contributing
This seven story masonry bank and office building was one of Lynchburg's earliest skyscrapers.
Its design adheres to the standard early 20th century skyscraper design with a distinct base, shaft,
and capital components. The rusticated base has a central entrance on the Ninth Street facade
and a new, comer entrance on the Main Street facade. The Ninth Street entrance, with its broken
pediment surround, was the original entrance to the American National Bank on the first floor of
the building. The entrance on Main Street has been altered from a central arched opening to the
new comer entrance. The shaft of the building, separated from the base and capital by belt
courses, consists of five stories. The Ninth Street side has a central bay flanked by two
projecting bays; the Main Street facade has three pairs of six windows on each floor. The capital
consists of one story with quoined window openings separated by terra cotta cartouches. There is
deep overhanging bracketed cornice with modillions. Built in 1905 for the Krise Banking
Company, this early skyscraper building was the tallest structure in Lynchburg and was marketed
as being a fire-proof structure, utilizing the latest developments in construction and design.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0099
Date: 1915-1916
Name: Old Fidelity National Bank
Lynchburg National Bank
VA Legal Aid Society
The Greenwood Partnership
901 Main Street
Contributing
This is a two story, three bay bank building with its front on Main Street; it extends five bays
(Rev. 10-9-0)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
along Ninth Street. The street facades are faced with coursed stone and the whole is capped with
an elaborately detailed copper cornice with modillions, incised <lentils and heavy paired brackets;
the seventh story also is elaborately detailed with cast window surrounds and cartouches on both
facades. In both facades, the upper and lower facades are separated by an egg and dart and Greek
key course; the upper facade has comer quoins, paired sash windows with keystones; the
lower facades are stone veneer and have an arcade of cast concrete window and door surrounds.
The upper facade, on Ninth Street, has two projecting bays that extend from the second floor to
the sixth and are topped by metal balustrades. There are two entries: a comer entry at the
intersection of Ninth and Main with a quoined concrete corner pier, and a central entry on the
Ninth Street facade with an ornately detailed cast concrete surround with a broken pediment.
Constructed by the well-known architect Alfred C. Bossom, this bank stands at the most
prominent corner of the commercial district.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0100
Date: 1895
Name: Williams News Company
Tyree News Company
Peters News Company
Alper's Men's Wear
Main Street Eatery
907 Main Street
Contributing
This commercial structure was refaced with scored stucco ca. 1950 on the second and third levels
(or it could be enameled aluminum panels). There are flush individual letters at stringcourse level
which spell out the name of the shop.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0101
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Coleman's Shoes
L. Oppleman
Designer Labels for Less
909 Main Street
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Contributing
Highly decorative brick commercial building, have triple arcading articulating its 8/1 & l/1
windows, 3rd story windows are semicircular arch, 2nd story gauged brick jack arches, both with
keystones and quoining. The cornice is of corbelled brick with three oculii on corbelled brick
panels. The shopfront was remodelled in 1979 as above described.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0102
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Ainslie and Martin
Baldwin's
911 Main Street
Contributing
This building was covered over ca. 1950-1960 with horizontal aluminum siding on the second
and third stories. Although the original facade is not now visible, the siding could easily be
removed. The remodeled shopfront appears to date from 1970-1979, and is described above.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0103
Date: 1905
Name: National Exchange Bank
Buckingham-Flippen
919 Main Street
Contributing
The facade of the building was covered with aluminum siding 1950-1960 ca, obliterating the
original facade; however, the siding can be easily removed. The fascia is covered with 1940s
carrara-like substance, has a 1940s flush script sign above the aforementioned shopfront.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0104
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Date: 1895 ca
Name: Franklin, S.H., Inc.
Hooks Associates
921 Main Street
Contributing
The facade of the building is embellished by stucco panels, corbelled brick piers, 9/9 windows on
the third floor and a three part picture window on the second floor.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0105
Date: 1980 ca
Name: One Valley Bank
925 Main Street
Non-contributing
Two-story brick veneer bank building with flat roof and central arch.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0106
Date: 1970 ca
Name: Lynchburg Camera
1009 Main Street
Non-contributing
One story brick, two bay commercial block building with one single leaf vinyl door and one
fixed, vinyl window. Sloped roof. Five course American bond on side and rear.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0107
Date: 1935 ca
(Rev. 10-90)
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Name: Leggetts
Roberts Piano
1011-1017 Main Street
Contributing
This large, three story brick structure is covered with marble veneer that obscures the original
windows of the upper two stories. There is a metal marquis that extends across the remodeled
aluminum and plate glass store front. The rear of the building has five course American bond
brickwork.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0108
Date: 1900-1910
Name: Webb-Whitaker Company
Maloney, Webb, & Whitaker, Clothiers
Famous Inc.
1019 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building with a parapet, deep bracketed metal cornice
above geometric marble inlay of diamonds and rectangles. The upper facade is defined by
corbelled brick quoining; the central portion of the upper facade has eight fixed windows. There
is an applied sign panel and awning separating the storefront and the upper facade. The
storefront has a recessed entry framed by plate glass windows on quarter walls; the entry floor
has parquet tile.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0109
Date: 1887
Name: Lynchburg Furniture Co.
Reliable/Schewe! 's Colonial Comer
1021-1023 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev. 10·90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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This is a four story, seven bay brick commercial building with an ornate cast iron facade. The
facade is divided into two unequal parts of four bays and three bays. The bays are defined by
Egyptian-style columns supporting a cornice at each floor. The bracketed cornice at the roofline
is larger and deeper than those below and the entablature below it has recessed panels. The
roofline of the three bay addition has a parapet with recessed panels and urns.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0110
Date: 1900
Name: Guggenheimer's Big Store
Schewel's Furniture Store
1027-1031 Main Street
Contributing
Originally the building had a corbelled and scalloped brick cornice as is evidenced along the side
elevation. The main facade was covered with blocked aluminum siding ca. 1950-1960 with no
openings except for the street level entrance. A flush metal sign is affixed to the facade. The
storefront appears to date from the late 1940s to early 1950s. The storefront has plate glass
display windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0111
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Sheard's Beauty Shop
Kunz Jewelers
Won's Wig Center
1101-1103 1/2 Main Street
Contributing
Plain stucco facade ca. 1950 with flush signs. Each of the storefronts is different, dating from the
l 950s- l 960s. Carrara like glass surrounds two of the shopfronts, the third is brick. A large plate
glass window on the north (11th street) elevation has been covered up.
(Rev. 10-90)
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I.D Number: 118-5163-0112
Date: 1900 ca
Name: J.F. Wood and Brothers
St. Clair, Optician
Chicago Hi-Fashions
Brown's Salon
1105-1105 1/2 Main Street
Non-contributing
Devoid of any ornamentation due to the permastone siding applied ca. 1940-1960. The parapet
was filled with permastone. There is a single opening, now boarded, in the center of the facade
and a flat topped entrance bay on street level.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0113
Date: 1880-1890
Name: Ehrich's
1107 Main Street
Contributing
The building has a bracketed Italianate wood cornice with scrolled end pieces. The boarded up
windows have segmental arches with flat wood window caps. The shopfront is compatible in
design to the building and appears to date from the 1940s.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0114
Date: 1950
Name: Kresge Department Store
Vogue Ready-to-Wear
J.C. Bradford and Company
900-904 Main Street
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Contributing
This two story, one bay brick commercial building has a fixed, plate glass storefront with two
windows framing a recessed double leaf, single light aluminum and plate glass door. Above the
aluminum canopy/marquis separating the first and second floors, the facade is covered with
aluminum panels that have been added and could be removed. The roof is sloped; along the side
elevation is deco patterned brickwork.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0115
Date: 1880s
Name: A. Accorsini
Revco Drug Center
CVS
902 Main Street
Contributing
This building is quite decorative with modillion/denticular cornice, full entablature with terracotta embellishments, supported by brick pilasters with terracotta cartouches. The 1/1 windows
are slightly recessed with brick and terracotta panels. The first floor was remodeled ca. 1960 to a
three-part glass window with stucco base and fascia.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0116
Date: 1895
Name: F.M. Kirby and Company
Woolworth
Strother Drug Co.
Kresge Building
Revco Drug Center
CVS Drug Store
904 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev. J0.90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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The building has as its most prominent feature a two-level oriel with flared hip roof in the center
of the facade. It has a scrolled bracket cornice, full entablature with terracotta swags & garlands,
on the fascia, semi-circular arch windows on the third level with fluted impost block sand
incised, enlarged, keystones, 9/9 windows on the second floor. The first floor was altered.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0117
Date: 1895
Name: Guggenheimers, Strother Drug Co.
Jewel Box
Carlyle & Co.
Fashion Plus
906 Main Street
Contributing
This building is very decorative with an Eastlake style modillion cornice with incised scroll style
brackets and stops, corbelled brick and terra cotta embellishments above the recessed segmental
arch windows. A corbelled stringcourse with terracotta rosettes divides the 2nd and 3rd stories.
The segmental and semicircular arch second story windows have stepped brick lintels. The 19601970 storefront has three part plate glass shop window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0118
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Neisner Brothers Department Store
RDR Discount City
Spanky's Restaurant
908-912 Main Street
Contributing
Vertical metal facade covering the second floor with flush plastic signs advertising the name of
the store. It appears to have been built in the mid-20th century.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0119
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Date: 1880 ca
Name: Kinckle, F.A., Shoes
D. Moses and Company
Coleman Shoes
First Union
916-918 Main Street
Contributing
This double brick building has an ornate brick facade with ornamental terra cotta panels at
cornice level, corbelled brick quoining, incised and terra-cotta embellished pilasters dividing the
paired and single windows; terra cotta garlonad and rosette panels embellished the spandrels.
The ca. 1960-1975 shopfront is made up of plate glass windows and stucco end piers.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0120
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Shearer Brothers
McGehee Furniture Company
920-922 Main Street
Contributing
In 1955 ca. the building was covered with vertical/corrugated aluminum siding on the second
through fourth stories. A script letter sign is flush with the building. The shopfront also appears
to date from the late 1950s or early 1960s.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0121
Date: 1880-1900
Name: Union Trust and Deposit Company
Lynchburg Manufacturing Company
Wilkens Printing Company
S.V. Fisher Sporting Goods
(Rev, 10-90)
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Gills & Anderson, Shoes
Haley's Antiques
1024 Main Street
Contributing
This four-story brick structure has an elaborate Eastlake/Italianate cornice with incised brackets,
flared gable roof marking the center of the facade, terra cotta banding, terra-cotta panels above
the side windows, stone banded pilasters, segmental arch and semi-circular arch stone window
hoods on the second and third stories, multi-paned transom on center window and corbelled brick
string courses. Shopfront was recently altered.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0122
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Sears
Grand Piano Furniture Clearance Center
Scarlett's Antique Store
1026 Main Street
Contributing
This brick building was sheathed with vertical aluminum siding across the entire facade ca. 195565, leaving only the cornice visible from the original facade. The cornice has a full entablature.
Flush metal letters advertising the store are affixed to the siding. The shopfront also appears to
date from the remodeling.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0123
Date: 1908-1909
Name: Mutual Savings Bank & Trust
Pepper's Restaurant
The Bank
1030 Main Street
This small, one-bay Neoclassical-style bank is designed in the "vault" genre of banks with its
(Rev. 10-90)
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National Park Service
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large, central-arched opening.
Contributing
LD Number: 118-5163-0124
Date: 1910
Name: Old City Auditorium/Market
Advance Auto Store
Vacant Building, 1112-1116 Main Street
Contributing
This three story, 7-bay brick commercial building in the Italian Palazzo Revival style has at the
first floor level a four part arcade; behind the first floor arcade, a double leaf plate glass and
aluminum door and storefront windows have been added. The piano nobile and the attic story are
still as they originally appeared. There are, at the piano nobile, five arched bays of corbelled brick
each with a pair of double hung 9/9 sash windows, each with an arched marble details above.
The brick bays at each comer enframe the central grouping of windows, there is one double hung
12/12 sash window in each bay at the piano nobile. In the attic level, there are 7 square fixed
windows below the deep, bracketed eave and the flat roof parapet. Inset in the attic story,
between the square windows are marble diamonds.
LD Number: 118-5163-0125
Date: 1895 ca
Name: A&P
Grampa's Paperback Books
Treasure Chest
1120 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building. The first floor has two fixed aluminum and plate
(Rev. 10-90)
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National Park Service
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glass windows, one central single-leaf plate glass and aluminum door and one single-leaf wood
side door. The transom above the wood side door has been filled with plywood and the transom
above the metal door is single light. There are three 1/1 double hung sash windows on each floor
in the upper facade and each is defined by a brick soldier course above and below the sills. There
is a brick soldier course below the projecting wood cornice. The flat roof has a stepped parapet.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0126
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Piggly Wiggly/Fauber and Graves
Kulman 's, David, Clothing
The Right Barber Shop
The Wig Center
1122-1124 Main Street
Contributing
The brick double building has twin facades which are identical. The brick parapets project
slightly above the corbelled brick and stucco cornice strips. The window bays are slightly
recessed, and 3rd story windows are 1/1, second story windows are picture windows with 5-Iight
transoms.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0127
Date: 1940 ca
Name: Stone and Ragland Filling Station
First Virginia Bank
1115 Commerce Street
Contributing
This one and one-half story, stucco building has exterior-end chimney on either gable-end. There
is a porte cochere supported by two square piers projecting from the asphalt shingled roof. On
the rear, there are two gable dormers with 4/4 single sash windows.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0128
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Date: 1870-1880
Name: Herbert & Taylor Attoumey
310 Fifth Street
Contributing
This is a two story, ell-shaped residential building with a flat roof; it has a cornice with
modilions. The window openings are segmental arched openings with 1/1 double hung sash
windows. The single leaf door has a I-light segmental arched transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0129
Date: 1890 ca
Name: The Garrett
307 Seventh Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with parapet and a projecting two story
bay. The bracketed cornice has a decorative entablature with louvered panels. The arched
window openings, on both floors, have 1/1 sash windows and jack arches. There is a two story
wrought iron porch with wrought iron steps, and fence, as well. There is a basement door with
pedimented portico.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0130
Date: 1895 ca
Name: House, 309 Seventh Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has flat roof, parapet, and deeply projecting cornice with
large modillions and an entablature with scroll brackets and terra cotta detail. The windows on
both the first and second floors have jack arches, multi-pane upper sashes over two vertical panes
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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in the lower sash; there are four in the second floor and four in the first. The off-center door has
a pedimented portico supported on square columns, sheltering a single leaf door.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0131
Date: 1890 ca
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Episcopal Chapel
308 Seventh Street
Contributing
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Federal style building, with a simple low-pitched gable roof
and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation. The front
elevation features a simple pedimented porch cover supported by two scrolled wood brackets.
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed single, recessed panel wood door with divided
sidelights and transoms. The facade is painted brick, running bond. The windows are 6/6 wood
double hung, with wood sills and louvered wood shutters with metal scroll holdbacks. The roof
is standing seam metal with integral gutters at the cornice- a simple extended overhang with
wood crown trim. It is individually listed on the National Register.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0132
Date: 1925-1926
Name: First Unitarian Church
313 Ninth Street
Contributing
This Gothic-Revival style church was designed by Aubrey Chesterman in 1925-1926. It has a
steeply pitched gable roof, a low belfry tower with steeple, a crenelated parapet, pointed arched
windows and a pointed arched double leaf wood door. There is a fixed pointed arched window
on the gable front. The church extends five bays to the rear with each bay defined by a buttress.
The first bay, closest to the facade has only one pointed arched window while the other four each
have a pair of pointed arched windows.
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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I.D Number: 118-5163-0133
Date: 1940
Name: Grey Top Cab Co.
Landrum's Automotive Service
Lynchburg Visitor's Information Center
216 Twelfth Street
Contributing
Triangular in shape with a curved Art Modeme facade, the building is set back into the southeast
corner of the Jot, has a brick and concrete foundation and a partial basement along the alley side.
The floor is concrete and the walls are brick. The facade consists of a series of convex curves
along the outer edges. The center portion of the facade is a concave curve delineated by fluted
concrete pilasters.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0134
Date: 1923
Name: Salvation Army (former)
300 Twelfth Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with crenellated parapet.
The facade is divided in to three bays by the projecting end bays which flank the central recessed
bay. On the third story, there is one 9/9 double hung sash window in the end bays and three in the
central bay. Each has a decorative hood molding. On the second story, there is one window in
the left end bay, but not in the right. There is a ribbon of three narrow 9/9 double hung sash
windows on the second story above the entry; it is unified with the entry by a cast concrete
surround. The double leaf door is set within a pointed arch. The building extends eight bays to
the rear and there are buttress separating the pairs of windows in each bay.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0135
Date: 1875
(Rev. 10-90)
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National Park Service
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Lynchburg, Virginia
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Name: Bragassa Toy Store
Lynchburg Historical Society
323-325 Twelfth Street
Contributing
The Bragassa Toy Store is an example of a commercial building in the Italianate style built in 1875
during the reconstruction period. The building is a two-story rectangular massed plan 33' x 43' of
brick and stone on a stone foundation. The first floor of the Twelfth Street elevation has a wood and
glass storefront which extends one-bay on Court Street. Although Main Street was the central
business thoroughfare, Mr. Bragassa selected the site because he thought 12th Street would become
a major commercial street of Lynchburg. Adjoining the store on 12th Street was a row of stores of
similar scale and material. These adjoining buildings were demolished and the space is now used
for parking for an ABC store. On Court Street the Bragassa property abuts the First Baptist Church.
Both the toy store and the church are listed individually on the National Register and Virginia
Landmarks Register. The Court Street area was declared a local historic district by the Lynchburg
City Council.
I.D. Number: 118-5163-0136
Date:
1900
ca
Name: Hundley, Wilkens & Bowles, Insurance
212 Eleventh Street
Contributing
This three-story, three-bay brick commercial building features a flat roof with a molded cornice and
paneled entablature. The upper windows are segmental arched with 2/2 lights. The storefront has
been altered with plate-glass-and-aluminum windows and single-leaf door.
(Rev. 10-90)
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'' nited States Department of the Interior
,.itional Park Service
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8. Statement of Significance
Significant Dates
Court House 1851
Holy Cross Catholic Church 1878-79
Court Street Baptist Church 1879
Lynchburg National Bank 1885
First Baptist Church ) 886
St. Paul's Episcopal Church )889-95
First Presbyterian Church 1899-1902
Court Street United Me1hodist 1899-1902
Krise Building I905
Old City Auditorium and Market 1910
People's National Bank 1912-1914
United States Post Office/Courthouse I919
Monument Terrace 1924-)925
First Unitarian Church 1925-26
AUjed Arts Bujlding 1929- I931
City Armory 1931-)932
United States Post Office 1933
Statement of Significance
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District is located in the historic center of Lynchburg, a
tobacco, manufacturing, and transportation center on the south bank of the James River in the
southern Piedmont region of Virginia. Situated on the steep terrain of the city, the district lies
directly south of the industrial Lower Basin Historic District along the river with residential
neighborhoods on the surrounding hills. With the James River, and later the railroads, providing a
direct link to Richmond and the ports of the Chesapeake Bay, Lynchburg served as a primary
transportation center for tobacco products as well as manufactured goods and supplies from its
founding in the late 181h century through the mid-201h century. Beginning with the establishment of
the town of Lynchburg in 1786 on 45 acres centering on present-day Ninth and Main streets and John
Lynch's deed for a courthouse at Ninth and Court streets in 1805, the area has continuously served
as the governmental, financial, commercial, and religious center of the city. The district extends
along Main, Church, Court, and Clay streets between Fifth and Twelfth streets and consists of
relatively-intact blocks of governmental, commercial, religious, and early residential buildings
ranging in date from the early 191h century to the present. These buildings, with their wide range of
18th, 19th and 20th century styles, including a number of notable high-style examples by well-known
architects, reflect the prosperity of the city throughout this period. The Court House Hill/Downtown
Historic District qualifies for listing on the National Register under Criteria A and C with local
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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significance in the areas of architecture, commerce, industry, politics/government, and religion, from
the early l 9'h century through the mid-20'h century.
Historical Background
Colony to Nation (1750-1789)
The area of Lynchburg was first settled by Quakers from the Tidewater area and Pennsylvania in the
1750s. John Lynch, the Quaker merchant for whom the city is named, helped to establish the
settlement along the James River with the construction of Lynch's Ferry in 1757. The area served
as a port for the nearby town of New London, which had been established as the Bedford county seat
in 1751, and for the surrounding agricultural region, which was rich in tobacco production. During
the Revolutionary War, Lynch's Ferry served as a shipping point for lead from the mines of western
Virginia (Chambers 1981:6). By the 1780s, bateaux were transporting tobacco down the James
River to Richmond and Lynch's Ferry had expanded to include a tobacco warehouse, a tavern, and
a mill, as well as Lynch's dwelling. In 1785, Lynch established one of the first tobacco inspection
stations west of the Tidewater and the production and manufacturing of tobacco in the Piedmont
region began to surpass that of the Tidewater (Chambers 1981 :7).
After a failed petition in 1784, the town of Lynchburg was established in 1786 as testament to the
continued growth and prosperity of the river settlement. The Act of the General Assembly called
for "forty-five acres of land, the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's ferry" to
be laid out in half-acre lots "with convenient streets and established as a town by the name of
Lynchburg" (Chambers 1981: 10). Robert Stith, surveyor of Bedford and Campbell counties, laid
out the original town into 72 lots bounded by present-day Commerce, Clay, 6th. and l2'h streets. In
June 1787, 22 of the 72 lots were sold at public auction with John Lynch reserving the block at the
center of town between Commerce, Main, 8'\ and 9th streets as well as 14 other lots (Chambers
1981: l 3). It is interesting to note that although Lynchburg was definitely established as a river
settlement, the town did not originally include the land along the river. In giving the land for the
town, Lynch did not include his riverfront property, thereby excluding his valuable ferry, tavern,
warehouse, and mill from any town taxes or regulations. The establishment of three new retailers
in 1788 at Lynch's Ferry instead of Lynchburg illustrates the continued dominance of the riverfront
even after the establishment of the town.
Early National Period (1789-1830)
Although industry continued to focus on the inspection, packing and shipping of tobacco along the
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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riverfront during the late l8'h and early l 9'h century, the town of Lynchburg slowly began to grow
and diversify. By March 1791, all of the town lots were sold and Richard Venable reported in his
diary that "now there are numbers of small houses and about twenty very good houses" (Chambers
1981: 15). There were also at least 14 stores in Lynchburg by this time as noted in a letter by
Jefferson supporting a petition to relocate the postal route from New London to Lynchburg
(Chambers l 981 :38). By 1816, the population of the settlement had increased dramatically from 500
in 1800 to 3,087 and the town began to outgrow its boundaries. In 1805, the town was incorporated
and the boundaries extended to include additional lots as well as land on the south side of Court
Street which Lynch donated for a courthouse (Greenhorne O'Mara 1994:20). The first courthouse
was built on the site of the present 1851 Lynchburg Court House (118-5163-0018) on Court Street
on axis with Ninth Street on Court House Hill, then known as Lynchburg Hill, in 1813. Despite
this generosity, Lynch objected to petitions in 1816 to extend the town limits north and encompass
his business interests along the river. After additional annexations in 1814 and 1819, the town
finally extended to the James River in 1826 (after Lynch's death in 1820) to include the valuable
industrial section now known as the Lower Basin Historic District.
As the town developed and the population increased, the industry began to diversify. Tobacco
continued to be the primary industry and advances were made with the first permit to process
chewing tobacco granted in 1800 and the development in 1810 of the "breaks" system of inspecting
and auctioning tobacco on site rather than shipping it to Richmond (Chambers 1981:31). By 1827,
there were at least 12 stemmeries and tobacco manufacturers located in town (Chambers 1981:86).
Mills such as the 1828 Lynchburg Manufacturing Company and the 1829 Langhorne Mills also
established along the river to take advantage of the waterpower. Industries related to the building
of the town included Samuel Scott's 1791 sawmill near the center of town and Christopher Lynch's
nearby brick yard in the early 1800s. Other improvements to the city included the replacement of
Lynch's Ferry with the first of many bridges in 1813 and the construction of a water reservoir at
Church and Ninth streets in 1815, followed by the Lynchburg Water Works designed by Albert Stein
in 1828 with the reservoir at Clay and Sixth streets. The center of the city continued to be Ninth
Street, on axis with the 1813 courthouse and with Lynch's Bridge. The first public building, the
1795 Mason's Hall, was located on this axis on Church and the 1814 Market House was on Ninth
between Main and Church streets. By 1817, the commercial trade of the town must have been
thriving as the citizens petitioned to establish a branch of the Bank of the United States. In his letter
of support, Jefferson noted that Lynchburg was "growing more rapidly than any (town) I have ever
know in any country, " calling it "the most interesting spot in the state and the one most entitled to
general patronage for its industry, enterprise and correct course" (Chamber 1981 :39;
Scruggs 1973:33).
Further evidence of the town's development is seen in the establishment of a number of churches
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during this period. Prior to the l 9m century, the only churches in the area were the 17 57 South River
Quaker Meeting House, south of town, and the 1765 Anglican Church between Clay and Court and
Eleventh and Twelfth streets. By the early 1800s, with the Freedom of Religion Act and the
expansion of slavery, the Quakers moved further west and the Anglican Church fell out of favor.
The establishment of churches in the district by the Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Baptist
denominations along Church and Main streets in the first three decades of the 19m century prove the
steady development of the town as well as the diversity of its population. Although none of these
original church buildings survive, many of their congregations still worship in the Court House Hill
area in newer and grander structures. As noted by Richard Venable, there were a number of urban
residences in the early 19m century. While many of the first dwellings were modest, frame structures
with gable ends to the street, several examples of the "very good houses" Venable described still
exist. These larger dwellings typically occupied a large lot surrounded by gardens and dependencies.
The earliest surviving domestic building is the early 19m century Leftwich-Brown House, 713·715
Main Street (118-5163-0089), which was converted to a commercial building at an early date and
gives little evidence of its domestic nature. The Price-Turner House, 523 Clay Street (118-51630001) was constructed in 1814 as a three-bay Federal-style dwelling that was later enlarged in 1834
and remodeled in 1857 with the Greek-Revival porch. This property is unusual in that it retains one
of its dependencies and its rear yard. The 1826 Warwick House, 720 Court Street (118-5163·
0033) and the 1827 Carter Glass House, 605 Clay Street (118-5163-0002} also survive from this
period as examples of large, early l9'h·century houses that illustrate the transition from the Federal
to the Greek-Revival style. Although few buildings from this prosperous period remain today, the
pattern of development that they established, centering along Water Street (Ninth Street), continues
to exist and characterize the district.
Antebellum Period (1830-1860)
The period prior to the Civil War marked a time of tremendous growth and prosperity for Lynchburg
as the tum-of-the-century riverfront settlement expanded with the development of a transportation
network of improved roads, canals, and railroads. Lynchburg became a major commercial and
industrial center. The Salem Turnpike (Fifth Street) connecting Charlottesville to Salem, Virginia
as well as roads east to Richmond, west to Liberty (Bedford}, and northwest to Lexington were all
improved by the time Joseph Martin reported in 1835 that "one of the richest sections of the Union
will find this its most direct route to Atlantic markets" (Martin 1835: 140). In addition to the road,
river traffic was also improved. The James River and Kanawha Canal Company was organized in
1835 with the "First Grand Division" from Richmond to Lynchburg completed in I 840. The
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad began construction in 1840 with Lynchburg serving as the eastern
terminus and center of operations. This line connected eastward to Petersburg in 1854 with the
construction of the Southside Railroad. By 1856, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was
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completed to Bristol and the 1860 Orange & Alexandria Railroad provided a north-south connection.
By the mid-19th century, Lynchburg was truly "the hub of the Virginia system of railroads" as a
Richmond newspaper reported in 1859 (Lower Basin NR 8:8.1). The canal remained busy as well
with record profits posted in 1853 as it utilized 195 packet and freight boats, 865 men, and 423
horses (Chambers 1981:131).
While the canal and railroad operations were located along the river in the Lower Basin area, the
commercial trade and workers they generated had a far-reaching impact on Lynchburg. The
population increased by 74% from 4,628 in 1830 to 8,071 in 1850 due to the influx of workers
building and operating the canal and railroads as well as the many industries they supported. By
1845, the town boasted three flour mills, one cotton mill, iron foundries, 50 dry good and grocery
stores, and approximately 30 tobacco factories and stemmeries employing nearly 1000 men
(Chambers 1981: 112) As Joseph Martin noted in 1835, Main Street was the principal commercial
street with "almost all of the shops and stores of the town ... situated on this street." (Martin
1835:138). By 1850, the increased population was evident as Richard Edwards reported in his
Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia there were 13 hotels, 15 doctors, 23 lawyers, five
tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and eight stemmeries. In addition to the commercial and
industrial activity, the number of people employed in the construction industry was impressive with
29 house joiners, ten stonecutters, nine bricklayers, eleven plasterers, and six painters employing a
total of 280 men. It has been estimated that "Lynchburg grew and built more in the 1850s than
during all the previous decades combined" (Chambers 1981:130). Lynchburg became incorporated
· in 1848 and received its municipal charter in 1852. In 1851, the Lynchburg Court House (118·
5163-0018) was constructed on the site of the 1813 courthouse on Court and Ninth Street at the crest
of Court House Hill. Designed by W.S. Ellison, chief engineer of the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad, the impressive Greek-Revival style structure with its temple front maintains today that
important axis along Ninth Street that was first established by John Lynch with his ferry.
The prosperity of the period was also reflected in the construction of a number of churches, both for
new denominations as well as established ones that had outgrown their original structures. The first
Catholic parish was organized in 1841 as a result of the many Irish Catholics working to build the
canal (Chambers 1981, 122). In 1842, the Universalist Church formed and constructed a GreekRevival style church on Twelfth Street between Main and Church streets. First Baptist Church and
St. Paul's Episcopal Church both constructed new, larger structures in the 1850s along Church
Street. All that remains of these mid-l 91h century ecclesiastical buildings is the ca. 1850 St. Paul's
Vestry House, 308 Seventh Street (118-5163-0131). This small, one-story brick building with
gable front stands directly behind the greatly-remodeled Gothic-Revival style St. Paul's
Churchffhe Tompkins Apartments (118-5163-0050) designed in 1850 by William S. Ellison on
the site of a former church.
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As the town grew, the number of domestic dwellings increased as well. In 1835, Martin estimated
between 800 and 900 houses in the area (Martin 1835: 138). By the mid-1800s, many of the modest,
gable-end dwellings of the original town had been replaced and Main Street was almost entirely
commercial. Houses continued to occupy Church, Court, and Clay streets, with many of the newer
residential development occurring outside the city limits on College Hill, Diamond Hill, Garland
Hill, and Daniel's Hill. Within the district, the 1842 Elizabeth Yancey House, 707 Clay Street
(118-5163-0005) and the 1845 Ann Wright House, 701 Clay Street (118-5163-0004) continue to
illustrate the transition from the Federal to the Greek-Revival style.
The Civil War (1860-1865)
Due to the extensive transportation network of the railroads and the canal, Lynchburg served as a
major military and hospital encampment during the Civil War. The large tobacco warehouses,
including Friend's on Church and Tenth streets, served as either indoor training facilities or as
hospitals. Troops encamped on Diamond Hill at Fort Davis, the Fair Grounds, and the campus of
Lynchburg College on College Hill. On June 18, 1864, the General Jubal Early and the local troops
successfully defended the city against Union General David Hunter in the Battle of Lynchburg. In
1865, however, Lynchburg surrendered to Union forces and remained under military rule until 1870.
Reconstruction and Growth (1865-1914)
Lynchburg recovered fairly quickly after the Civil War. As one Richmond journalist reported in
1866, "the old place looks much as it did in the old days, with new buildings and improvements of
various kinds progressing rapidly" (Chambers 1981 :208). After a slight decline in population before
the war due to the development of suburbs outside the city limits, the city annexed five hill
neighborhoods in 1870 and the population increased to 12,010. The city continued to grow and
expand with annexations again in 1900 and 1908 and the population increased steadily, reaching
nearly 30,000 in 1910. During this period, the Court House Hill and Downtown areas developed for
the most part as the district that stands today. In 1872, the city changed the street names from the
original numbered streets and alleys of Richard Stith's 1786 plan to Main, Church, Court, and Clay
with numbered cross streets. Lynchburg also hired its first City Engineer, August Forsberg, who
would be responsible for many civic improvements in the growing city. In 1881, Main Street was
paved with Belgiam stone with other streets, including Court Street, being paved in brick before the
end of the century. By Lynchburg's centennial, Forsberg had constructed the new Clay Street
Reservoir (118-5163-0009), as a larger replacement to the 1829 reservoir, and formalized the Ninth
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Street approach to the courthouse with the design of formal steps and a fountain at Church and Ninth
streets. Also embellishing this important intersection was the 1891 Romanesque-Revival style
United States Post Office and Court House. This was replaced in 1912 with a new United States
Post Office and Court House (118-5163-0060) in the Neoclassical style. The Confederate
Monument (118-5163-0059) was dedicated in 1900 and established the upper end of the Court
House approach at Court and Ninth streets. During the 1880s and 1890s, horse-drawn trolleys
provided public transportation in the downtown area and the Lynchburg and Rivermont Street
Railway Company began service in 1890 from the northwest end of Main Street out Rivermont
Avenue to the newly-developed residential suburbs.
The period of reconstruction was also a period of redefinition for Lynchburg's industries and
transportation facilities. Most notable was the merger of the various railroads in the 1870s and the
closing of the James River and Kanawha Canal in 1880. ·With the consolidation of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the Southside, and the Norfolk and Petersburg that led to the eventual merger
with the Shenandoah Railroad that created the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1873, Lynchburg was
no longer the headquarters for a railroad. However, Lynchburg remained an important intersection
of three railroad lines and continued as an important shipping center. After a peak in tobacco
production in the 1880s, when Harper's Weekly declared in 1886 that Lynchburg "was still the
largest dealer in loose tobacco in the world," the market for its dark chewing tobacco began to
decline with the popularity of cigarettes that used the "bright leaf' tobacco (Chambers 1981 :267)
Although a number of tobacco warehouses, factories and other related industries continued to exist,
tobacco no longer completely dominated. As Lynchburg shifted away from the tobacco industry and
river transportation that established it in the late 18th century, the city took advantage of its location
midway between the manufacturers of the North and the Southern markets to became a major
wholesale distribution and jobbing center for the South. A number of warehouses and jobbing
houses as well as mills and foundries were constructed along the railroad and the river during this
period.
The commercial area along Commerce and Main streets prospered with the development of the new
industries. Not only did a number of stores line these streets to sell the manufactured goods, large
financial institutions were established as well to handle the banking needs of such prosperity. In
1873, a new and expanded city market building was designed by Forsberg on Main Street, which was
replaced in 1910 with an even larger City Auditorium and Market Building, 1110-1118 Main
Street (118-5163-0124) designed by Frye and Chesterman. In 1883, the Witt & Watkins Store at
808 Main Street was the first of many to distribute wholesale shoes The Lynchburg Furniture
Company, 1021 Main Street) 118-5163-0109), with its impressive cast-iron fa~ade, illustrated the
strength of the furniture industry in the area in 1887. A number of larger office buildings were
constructed as well along Main Street, including the 1873 Lynch House and the 1891 Law Building.
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The l90S Krise Building/American National Bank, 829 Main Street (118-5163-0098), a
combination bank and office building built at the prominent comer of Main and Ninth streets,
introduced the "tall building" to Lynchburg with its seven stories of classical tripartite composition
of base, shaft, and capital. The Mutual Savings Bank & Trust, 1030 Main Street (118-51630123), constructed in 1908, was the more traditional one-story Neoclassical building with central
arch in the "vault" genre of bank design. By the end of the period the prosperity continued and the
Krise Building was superceded by the ten-story People's National Bank, 801 Main Street (1185163-0090), which stood as the tallest building after its completion in 1914.
As the businesses prospered, so did the strength of their community leadership with a number of
civic and fraternal organizations active in promoting the city. The Masons had been active in
Lynchburg since the 1790s supporting two lodges in the city. As a transition between the private
commercial and business district of Main Street and Court Street with the 1851 Lynchburg Court
House, Church Street became a thoroughfare of public buildings such as the United States Post
Office and Court House and social institutions. The l 848 Marshall Masonic Lodge, the 1886
Y.M.C.A., and the Hill City Masonic Lodge, 1021 Church Street (118-5163-0066) designed by
Edward G. Frye in 1897 all stood on Church Street. This period of great growth and expansion also
included the religious institutions of the city. With the increased population, many new churches
were formed and already existing churches had to build larger new facilities. Many of the earlier
churches, which were originally located on Church Street thereby giving it its name, began to locate
along Court and Clay streets as the downtown area became more developed. Holy Cross Catholic
Church (118-5163-0010) was constructed by August Forsberg at the corner of Clay and Seventh
streets in l879 across from his l883-l88S Clay Street Reservoir. Also in 1879, the Court Street
Methodist Church (118-5163-0011), which had organized as an African-American congregation
prior to the Civil War, conunissioned well-known architect Robert C. Burkholder to design their new
church on Court and Sixth streets. Another African-American congregation constructed the Central
Presbyterian Church, 721 Clay Street (118-5163-0008) around the tum of the century. Two
churches that were designed by nationally-known architects included the 1884 First Baptist
Church, 1100 Court Street (118-5163-40), designed in the High-Victorian Gothic style by New
York architect John R. Thomas, and the Romanesque-Revival style St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
Clay and Seventh streets (118-5163-0003), designed in 1889 by Frank Miles Day of Philadelphia.
St. Paul's Church has the distinction as the first Lynchburg building illustrated in a national
architectural publication as it appeared in January 189 l issue of American Architect and Building
News (Chambers 1981 :281-283). The local architect Edward G. Frye also contributed to the
religious architecture of the city with his designs in l 899 for First Presbyterian Church at Court
and Ninth streets (118-5163-0017) and Court Street Methodist Church, Court and Seventh
streets (118-5163-0012). Two schools, which are no longer standing, were also constructed on Clay
and Court streets in the late 1900s. The Court Street School, by William Burnham, was constructed
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in 1871 at Court and Eleventh streets and Forsberg designed the Biggers School at Clay and Fifth
streets in 188 l.
The domestic architecture during the period reflected the prosperity and growth of the city as well.
In spite of the competition of the suburbs developed by land companies at the tum of the century,
the Court House Hill area of Clay and Court streets remained a popular residential neighborhood
through the early 20'h century. An 1893 ordinance prohibiting cows and other livestock in town
prompted a shift in the residential development from large tracts of land that included outbuildings,
gardens, and stables to the more urban pattern of more dense settlement on smaller lots. This created
a number of new building lots in the Court House Hill area as the earlier tracts were subdivided. The
row houses in the 700 block of Court Street, including the 188 l Edward Schaefer House, 714
Court Street (118-5163-0031) designed by Burkholder, as well as the 1884 Edward Brown House,
818 Court Street (118-5163-0035) illustrate this new pattern of development. Leading citizens of
Lynchburg took advantage of the prosperous times and the talented local architects to construct
impressive residences in a variety of styles. The James W. Watts House, 1007 Court Street (1185163-0020), built in 1880 by the secretary-treasurer of the Lynchburg Cotton Mill, is one of the few
surviving examples of the Italian Villa style with its central rooftop tower. The La Tour House,
1022 Court Street (118-5163-0039), designed by Edward G. Frye in 1897, stands as an excellent
example of the Queen Anne style from the period. By the end of the period, the Georgian-Revival
style became popular as large homes such as the Fanny Hughes House, 1000 Court Street (1185163.0037) and the D.M. Penick House, 1004 Court Street (118-5163-0038) continued to be built
in the area. A number of the houses feature impressive stone retaining walls that distinguish the
properties. Most notable are elaborate wrought-iron porches and fences throughout the area that
remind us today of the successful iron foundry industry in Lynchburg during the late l 9'h and early
20'h century. The construction of the first apartment building in the downtown area in 1910, the
Courtland Apartments, Court and Sixth streets (118-5163-0027), indicated that the residential
demand was not declining in the area.
World War I and World War II (1914-1945)
As did much of the country, Lynchburg continued to grow during the period immediately before,
during, and after the two World Wars. The 1920 population 30,000 quickly increased by 8,493 after
the 1926 annexation and reached 44,541 by 1940 within its 13.64 square miles; a 48% increase in
population over the two decades. While most of the new development was residential and occurred
in the suburbs, the businesses and government of the city continued to be located in the Court House
Hill and Downtown area. Illustrating the optimism and prosperity of the city as well as the influence
of the City Beautiful Movement, a number of public buildings were constructed during this period.
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These projects, which included the 1925 Monument Terrace, Church and Ninth streets (1185163-0059) and the 1933United States Post Office and Court House, 900 Church Street (1185163-079), continued to celebrate the original central axis of the city along Ninth Street and the
prominence of the 1851 Lynchburg Court House. The Monument Terrace. provided a site for
local pride and patriotism to be celebrated over the next decades as a number of war memorials
adorn the terraces. The City Auditorium and Armory Building, 1200 Church Street (118-51630087) was constructed in 1931 near the comer of Church and Twelfth streets. Although the
Depression slowed the city's progress temporarily, it had recovered by the 1936 sesquicentennial to
celebrate its heritage and promising future.
The commercial district of the city continued to be located along Main Street where a number of new
office buildings and department stores were constructed. The Neoclassical Lynchburg National
Bank (118-5163-0099) was constructed in 1915-1916 and took full advantage of its prominent
location at Main and Ninth streets with its classical design that complemented the Monument
Terrace in the distance. In contrast to the classical design of the Lynchburg National Bank and
its adherence to the City Beautiful Movement, the 1929- 193 l Allied Arts Building, 725 Church
Street (118-5163-0053) introduced the Art-Deco style to Lynchburg. Designed by Stanhope
Johnson and Ray Brannan, its soaring 17 stories stood as the first true skyscraper in the city and
remained the tallest building for forty years. The intricate Art-Deco detailing in the brickwork and
metal grillwork contributed to the verticality of the building. This new style also made a presence
on the historic center of the city with the Lynchburg News and Daily Advance Building, 863
Church Street (118-5163-0058) designed in the Art Deco style by Richard Allen to stand adjacent
to the Monument Terrace. As Main Street was almost completely developed by the second decade
of the 20'h century, a number of office buildings were constructed along Church Street during this
period. Examples include the Younger Building, 1019 Church Street (118-5163-0065)and the
Clark Building, 1100 Church Street (118-5163-0083), both built in 1915. The 1925 Odd Fellows
Hall, 1112 Church Street (118-5163-0085) was also constructed on Church Street during this
period. These buildings were more traditional in their designs utilizing elements such as arched
openings, modillioned cornices, and pedimented entrances.
Religious and domestic building activity was limited in the Court House Hill and Downtown area
after the building boom at the turn of the century. The only church dating to this period was the
19225-1926 First Unitarian Church, Monument Terrace (118-5163-0132) designed by Aubrey
Chesterman and Bryant Heard in the English Gothic style to contrast to the Beaux Arts style of the
terrace. While few houses were built in the area during the period, the Classical-Revival style
Y.W.C.A., 626 Church Street (118-5163-0073) and the more modem 1930s Arlington Hotel, 700
Court Street (ll8-5163-0028) represent mixed-use and multiple dwelling buildings in the area. At
the southeast end of the district, the John Wyatt School, 1101 Court Street (116-5163-0024) was
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constructed in 1915 to replace the Court Street School.
The New Dominion (1945-present)
Although Lynchburg remains a major city in the southern Piedmont region, by the mid-201h century,
many of the factors that helped to establish it as a transportation, shipping, and manufacturing center
became obsolete. Just as the James River, which was the genesis for the original settlement in the
late l 81h century, was superceded by the railroads in the late 191h century, the highway would become
the dominant mode of transportation after the l 950s. The Lynchburg Expressway was constructed
in the l 950s as well as a new industrial park that lured many of the manufacturers and distributors
away from the Lower Basin area. In addition to the shift to the highway, the ongoing suburban
development, which began at the turn of the century, was accelerated by the Civil Rights movement
as public schools and other facilities became integrated in the 1960s. Many of the larger homes in
the historic neighborhoods of the city, such as the Court House Hill area, were subdivided into
apartments or boarding houses. As the residents moved to the suburbs, many of the retail stores
along Main Street moved to the suburban shopping centers as well.
The Court House Hill and Downtown areas, however, continued to be the governmental, religious,
and financial center of Lynchburg. The Lynchburg Circuit Court Building, 900 Court Street
(118-5163·0036) was constructed in 1954-1955 diagonally across from the Lynchburg Court
House as an annex. Designed by Everette Fauber, this monumental building of limestone and
granite with a bronze sculpture of "Justice" over the entrance maintains the traditional Ninth Street
axis on Court Street. This building became the main circuit court building when the Lynchburg
Court House was restored to be the headquarters of the city's museum system in 1976. Court Street
continues to be the governmental center of the city as other public buildings, including the Public
Safety Building and the School Administration Building, have been constructed in the area. In
keeping with the court activities, many of the larger houses along Court Street have been converted
to offices for lawyers and other professionals. The churches along Clay and Court Street have also
continued in use. Evidence of their vitality was the 1942 addition to the First Presbyterian
Church, 805 Court Street (118-5163-0017) designed by Everette Fauber to include a chapel and
educational wing connected by an arcade. Stanhope Johnson also made an addition in l 941 to the
First Baptist Church, 1100 Court Street (118-5163-0040) that extended the chancel and added a
Sunday School wing. In June 1990, Court House Hill was designated a local historic district by the
City of Lynchburg.
Although many of the retail stores along Main Street moved to the suburbs during this period,
downtown continued to be the financial and business center of the city. Several new banks were
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constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and the City constructed a large addition to City Hall that
extended the building from Church to Main Street. Recent efforts to rehabilitate some of the
downtown commercial buildings, including the Shearer Brothers/McGehee Furniture Company
Building, 920-922 Main Street (118-5163-0120) as High Peak Sportswear, indicate that retailers,
manufacturers, and businesses are beginning to return to Main Street.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University of
Virginia Press, 1981.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General Directory of the
Citizens of Lynchburg and Danville and Town of Liberty. Richmond, VA: JP Bell & Co.,
1874.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General and Business
Directory of the Citizens of Lynchburg. Richmond, VA: JH Chataigne, 1881.
Greenhome & O'Mara. Final Report Historic Architectural Survey: Diamond Hill South,
Lynchburg Virginia. Greenbelt, MD: 1994.
Virginia Business Directory & Gazetteer. 1910-1950. Lynchburg, VA: Hill's Directory Co.,
1910-1950.
Lynchburg City Directory, 1885. Lynchburg, VA: JP Bell & Co., 1885.
Martin, Joseph. A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Charlottesville, VA: Moseley & Tompkins, 1836.
Ryan, Richard Hunt. Robert C. Burkholder of Lynchburg, Virginia. Thesis presented to the
faculty of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, May, 1981. Copies
available at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia and the University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia.
Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 1885-1951.
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA: JP
Bell & Co., 1971.
Walsh's Lynchburg Virginia City Directory for 1900. Lynchburg, VA: JPBell & Co., 1900
(Rev, 10-90)
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United Slates Department of the Interior
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10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The solid black line on the accompanying City of Lynchburg tax parcel map indicates the
boundaries of the Court House Hill/ Downtown Historic District.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries of the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District encompasses all those
contiguous areas of the early commercial, governmental, and residential core of the City of
Lynchburg. It reflects the historic character of the city as established during the period of
significance, 1786-1950. The district includes the area of Court House Hill and Downtown from
Church, Clay, Court, Main Streets, roughly bounded by 5th through 13th Streets.
Lynchburg Court House Hill / Downtown Historic District
Historic Architectural Survey and National Register Nomination
Scale 1 in. = 200 fl.
l\0-!H,J
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NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102~-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This fonn is for use in nominaJing or requesting detenninations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How 10 Complete the NaJional
Reglster of Historic Places Registration Fonn {NaJional Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "it" in the appropriate boit or by entering
the infonnation requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, eriter ''NIA for "not applicable," For functions, architecturaJ
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subc:ategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form l0-900a}. Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete a.II items.
M
I. Name of Property
Historic name: Court House Hill/Downtown
Other names/site number: _ _._IluS,c-5"-'-'16,.3,.c-0000,="'--------------------------2. Location
Street & number Church, Clay. Court, Main Sts. roughly bounded by 5,. through 13,. Sts not for publication ~
City or town
hbur
vicinity
State
Virginia
Code VA County Lynchburg /city}
Code _.,.6,.80"----- Z i p ~
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this
_x_ nomination __ request for detertnination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth
in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _x_ meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant _
nationally _
statewide _x_ locally. ( _
See
continuation sheet for additional comments.)
~~~ D
~
. l
S'
1gnature
o f
certt'fy'mg offitcta
ate
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. (_See continuation sheet
for additional comments.)
·
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
Date
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
I, hereby certify that this property is:
__ entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
__ determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
_ determined not eligible for the National Register
_ removed from the National Register
_ other (explain):--------
Signature of Keeper
Date of Action------
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
..X.. private
..X.. public-local
..X.. public-State
..X.. public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_ building(s)
..X.. district
site
structure
_object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
~
--1!.. Buildings
__Q_
..Q.. Sites
_3_
...2_ Structures
___l_
..L Objects
....u!L
..J.L Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
2
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling, Multiple Dwelljng, Hotel
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Commerceffrade
Business, Financial Institution, Department Store
Social
Meeting Hall, Clubhouse. Civic
City Hall, Courthouse. Post Office. Public Works
Religious Facility. Church-related Residence
Auditorium. Monument/Marker. Work of Art
Government
Religion
Recreation and Culture
Defense
Armor
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: Domestic
Sub: Single Dwelling. Multiple Dwelling
Commerceffrade
Business Financial Institution
Social
.cM..ce.,e"'t""in.,,g...,H..,.al""I_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Government
City Hall. Courthouse. Post Office. Public Works
Religion
Religious Facility. Church-related Residence
Recreation and Culture
Auditorium. Monument/Marker. Work of Art
Defense
,:.A.,r,.m,,oo_r,__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
7. Descri tion
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Early Classical Revival; Federal; Romanesque Revival; Italian Villa; High Victorian Revival; Second Empjre; Queen
Anne: Renaissance Beaux Arts; Classical Revival; Spanish Colonial Revival; Commercial Style; Moderne: Art
Deco
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Foundation Brick. Concrete. Stone
Roof Metal. Ceramic Tile. Shingle. Slate
Walls Brick. Wood. Concrete. Metal. Stone
Other Wrought Iron
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
See continuation sheet
_x_
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for
National Register listing)
_x_
A
_x_
B
C
D
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period. or method of construction or
represents the work of a master. or possesses high artistic values. or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
Property has yielded. or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10°900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 102-1-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
_x_ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
B removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or a grave.
D a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object or structure.
__x__ F a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
Architecture
Commerce
Industry
Politics/Government
Religion
Period of Significance
1786-1950
Significant Dates
see continuation sheet
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
Roben C. Burkholder
Edward G. Frye
August Forsberg
Aubrey Chesterman
Stanhope Johnson
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
See continuation sheet
l
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation
sheets.)
__x_
See continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested .
.1L previously listed in the National Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National Register
_ designated a National Historic Landmark
_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ _ _ __
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # - - - - Primary Location of Additional Data
.1L State Historic Preservation Office
_ Other State agency
_Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
.1L Other
Name of repository: Jones Memorial Library
Lynchburg, Virginia,
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 47.29 acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
111 664440 4142350
311~4141860
5 l16filfill!l 4142300
Zone Easting Northing
211™4)42)00
4 l16M3.!..Q 4)41890
611~4142610
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
.1L See continuation sheet B
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
_lL See continuation sheet
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
0MB No. 102-'-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
11. Form Prepared By
Name/title Alison Stone Blanton Architectural Historian
Organization Hill Studio P.C.
Street & number 120 West Campbell Avenue
date July 2000
telephone 540-342-5263
City or town _...,R"'o,,,a,,_no,o,,k"-e_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state VA zip code 24011
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Pro ert Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
Name
See attached sheets
Street & number_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ telephone._ _ _ _ _ _ __
City or town, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ state_ _ zip code _ _ __
=====-=-=----------------
=======
Paperwork ReductJon Act Statement: This infonnation is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
propenies for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list propenies, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain
a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended ( 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
~timated Burden Statement: Public reponing burden for this fonn ·is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for
reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data. and completing and reviewing the fonn. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or
any aspect of this fonn to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and
1he Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork. Reductions Project ( I024-0018), Washington. DC 20503
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No.1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _ l_
7. Summary Description:
The Courthouse Hill/Downtown Historic District is located within the greater downtown area of
the City of Lynchburg, which was the major transportation, industrial, and commercial city on the
James River in the lower Piedmont region of Virginia from the early 19th century through the mid20'h century. The 25-block district consists of Clay, Court, Church, and Main Streets between
the cross streets of Fifth through Thirteenth Streets. Ninth Street, originally called Water Street,
is the most important cross street within the district. The area is situated on a promontory
overlooking the Lower Basin Historic District on the south bank of the James River. The buildings
within this district are a mixture of commercial, residential, religious, and governmental buildings.
Topography is perhaps the single most defining feature of the city of Lynchburg. It rises in three
terraces above the James River and each terrace is given its own name. Courthouse Hill, the uppermost portion of the district, consists of Clay and Court Streets and is separated from the streets below
by a dramatic grade change. It is called Courthouse Hill in recognition of the 1851 Greek Revival
Courthouse overlooking Monument Terrace, which is individually listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. In addition to the governmental buildings, buildings within the Courthouse Hill
section of the district are residential and religious buildings dating from the early 1800s to the early
1900s. The majority of the residential buildings in the Courthouse Hill area were originally singlefamily dwellings that have been converted to commercial use. The lower area, located in the center
of downtown, includes Church and Main Streets. It is composed of commercial buildings,
governmental buildings, and buildings that have historically housed financial institutions. The
Courthouse Hill/Downtown district is situated above the Lower Basin Historic District, which is
defined by its industrial, commercial, and transportation resources tied closely to the bank of the
James River with its parallel railroads and canal.
The 47.29-acre district is composed of relatively intact city blocks of religious, commercial,
residential, and governmental buildings and structures ranging in date from the early 19th century to
the mid-20th century. Buildings in the district represent a variety of styles from the different periods,
including the Federal, Greek-Revival, Gothic-Revival, Italianate, Queen-Anne, Neoclassical, Italian
Renaissance, Spanish Eclectic, Craftsman, and Art Deco styles. The district consists of 136 primary
resources and 12 secondary resources for a total of 148 resources. The majority of these resources
(137) are buildings. The five structures in the district include three historic resources - the Clay
Street Water Reservoir (118-5163-0009), the campanile at Holy Cross Catholic Church (1185163-0010) , and Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059)- as well as two parking decks which are
non-historic. Five war memorials in Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059), including two nonhistoric (post 1950) statues, comprise the five objects listed in the district. Of the 147 total
resources, 88% are historic, including 121 primary resources and eight secondary resources. In
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _2_
contrast, only 18 resources (12%) in the district are non-contributing either due to their date of
construction or loss of historic integrity through alterations.
Of the 135 primary resources in the district, 112 are considered to be in good or excellent condition
and only 8 listed in fair or deteriorated condition. Many of the commercial buildings in the district
have had their first-floor storefronts altered, but most of the upper facades are still intact. Fifteen
buildings have been remodeled. The taller commercial and institutional buildings maintain their
complete historic facades. There are a few buildings still with metal upper facades; however the City
is encouraging the restoration of these buildings downtown with a fa9ade improvement grant
program. High Peale Sportswear, historically the Guggenheimer/Shearer Building, at 920-921
Main Street (118-5163-0120), is one example of a building that has had its metal fa9ade removed
and its historic fa,;ade restored with a grant from the City. Non-contributing buildings in the district
are those with irrevocably altered storefronts, those that maintain little of their historic integrity, or
those built post-1950. The 18 non-contributing buildings represent only 12% of the buildings in the
district.
In addition to the (commercial, residential, religious and institutional) buildings that contribute to
the district, are two significant primary structures that contribute to the district: the City Water
Reservoir (1883-85) in the 600 block of Clay Street (118-5163-0009) and Monument Terrace
(1924-1925). Monument Terrace (118-5163-0059) is a pedestrian extension of Ninth Street
between Court and Church Streets, on axis below the Old Courthouse. There are also specific
public-use building types within the district like the City Armory (118-5163-0087) and the City
Auditorium and Market (118-5163-0124), The Armory (1931-32) is an imposing building with
its three-part buttressed fa,;ade and the City Auditorium and Market (1909-10) evokes an Italian
piazza with its arcaded Renaissance palazzo fa9ade. With a variety of different building types, dates,
and styles, the Courthouse Hill/Downtown Lynchburg Historic District continues to serve as the
business and governmental center of the city. Efforts, including a Master plan, are currently
underway that serve to recognize and revitalize its historic role in the development activity of the
city.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _3_
Historic Development and Architectural Analysis
Colony to Nation {1750-1789)
Lynchburg was established in 1786 uphill from the site of John Lynch's Ferry across the James
River. Lynch, a Quaker Merchant, built his ferry in 1757 and in the following decades built a
tobacco warehouse, a tavern, and a dwelling near the banks of the James. Lynch's Ferry was located
where Ninth Street now ends at the James River, establishing Ninth Street as the primary
thoroughfare for traffic entering the city from the River. In 1786, the area bounded today by
Commerce, Clay, Sixth and Twelfth streets was divided into V2 acre lots and named Lynchburg. As
early as 1787, Lynch reserved the block between Main and Commerce and between Eighth and Ninth
streets, indicating that he recognized the future center of the town. Lynch managed to keep his
personal property on the bank of the river outside of the city limits. It was not until the early 19th
century that the Lower Basin area, as it is known today, was annexed to the city. Although there
are no structures that survive in the district from this period, the pattern of development with the
center of town along Ninth and Main streets that was established continues to exist.
Early National Period (1789-1830)
By 1791, there were "numbers of small houses and about twenty good houses" and at least 14 stores
in Lynchburg (Chambers 1981:15). The majority of the buildings at this time were small frame
structures with gable ends to the street. Due to their modest size and frame construction, none of
these early buildings survive in downtown Lynchburg. As the tobacco industry became more
lucrative for the Lynchburg economy, the town expanded and was incorporated in 1805, and the
following decade and a half was a very prosperous time for the city. John Lynch donated land to the
town for the site of the first Courthouse, built in 1813 on the site of the present 1851 Lynchburg
Court House (118-5163-0018). In the decade between 1810 and 1820, building activity in
Lynchburg occurred mostly around the new Courthouse, on Courthouse Hill, which was then called
Lynchburg Hill. Evidence of this prosperity can be seen in three, large-scale residences that survive
in the district from this period. Thel814/1857 Price-Turner House (118-5163-0001), corner of
Clay and Sixth streets, is an extant example of residential architecture of this period. The original
three-bay Federal-style house, with its servant's quarters located to the rear of the building, was
situated on a large lot that is a marked contrast to the smaller lot sizes characteristic of the houses
built later in the 19th century. It is said to be an authentic picture of a prosperous early ! 9'h Century
town establishment as any in the city (Chambers 1981 :59). The house was enlarged with the
construction of two additional bays in 1834 and remodeled in 1857 with the Greek-Revival style
porch. The John Marshall Warwick House (118-5163-0033) and the Carter Glass House (118-
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section_7 Page_4_
5163-0002) are two examples large residences dating from the 1820s that illustrating the transition
from the Federal to the Greek-Revival style. Thel826 Warwick House is the "only large, relatively
unaltered house remaining from its period" (Chambers 1981:92). Similar in design to the Warwick
House is its contemporary thel827 Carter Glass House, designated a National Historic Landmark
for its association with Senator Carter Glass.
In response to the rapid growth and development of Lynchburg, a new system for providing the city
with water was developed. In 1828 the Lynchburg Water Works, designed by Albert Stein of
Philadelphia, and a reservoir at Clay and Seventh Streets were built to meet the demand placed on
the city's resources. This water works system was later replaced with a system designed by city
engineer, August Forsberg in the 1880s.
By 1829, a number of churches were established in Lynchburg, however none of their original
buildings survive from this period. Six of the seven churches were located on the street that is now
called Church Street.
Antebellum Period {1830-1860)
The period before the Civil War was a prosperous time for Lynchburg, particularly in respect to
transportation. In 1840 the "First Grand Division" of the James River and Kanawha Canal was
completed linking Richmond to Lynchburg. Also in 1840, Lynchburg became the eastern terminus
and headquarters for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and its depot was built between the canal
and the river at the end of Ninth Street, reinforcing the prominence of that central thoroughfare.
Between 1851 and 1855, the Greek Revival Lynchburg Court House (118-5163-0002), designed
by William S. Ellison, chief engineer of the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, was built on the site of
the town's first courthouse on Court Street as a terminus to the important axis of Ninth Street. Its
location on the apex one of the highest hills in the city and at the terminus of one of the main arteries
made it a focal point of the Lynchburg cityscape, a prominent landmark, and a visual trademark of
the city. In the 1970s the City undertook the restoration of the Courthouse in celebration of the
national bicentennial. The restored Old Courthouse now serves as the headquarters for the
Lynchburg Museum System.
Continuing on its rapid course of urbanization and industrialization, Lynchburg in the 1850s was
called "the hub in the Virginia system of railroads" and as a result, development was concentrated
in the Lower Basin, where the railroad facilities and warehouses were located (Lower Basin Historic
District Nomination 8:8.1). In 1851, Lynchburg was reported to be second in per capita wealth to
New Bedford Massachusetts, and in 1852 the city received its charter. Tobacco manufacturing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _5_
continued to be the major component of the economy of Lynchburg until just before the Civil War
when industry became more diversified. Urban development ceased with the onset of the Civil War
and most, if not all, of the city's tobacco warehouses were used for medical facilities.
Civil War (1861-1865)
Lynchburg served as a major hospital and military encampment for the duration of the Civil War
because of its prominence as a transportation hub. Troops were camped at Fort Davis on Diamond
Hill, Lynchburg College on College Hill, and the Fair Grounds (now Miller Park) surrounding
downtown and most of Lynchburg's tobacco warehouses were used as military hospitals. Still
visible reminders of the Civil War and the Battle of Lynchburg, in June of 1864, are the earthworks
of the city's inner defenses. In 1865, Lynchburg surrendered to union forces and remained under
military rule until 1870.
Reconstruction and Growth {1865-1914)
Lynchburg continued to grow at a rapid rate after the war, with approximately 70% of the buildings
in the district constructed during this period. Five hill neighborhoods surrounding the downtown
area were annexed in the 1870s. Within the following decade the city built three new public schools,
the new city market, and a new bridge across the James at the base of Ninth Street. With the
increased building activity, a number of local architects •• including August Forsberg (first city
engineer), Robert C. Burkholder, Edward G. Frye, and Aubrey Chesterman •• gained prominence as
their buildings helped to shape the character of the city at the turn of the century.
The progressive Reconstruction climate and booming economy in Lynchburg following the Civil
War was evident in the number of public works projects constructed during this period. Ludwig
August Forsberg served as the first city engineer, overseeing streets and as an architect designing
public, and a few private, buildings. In 1883-1885, Forsberg designed the Clay Street Reservoir
(118-5163-0009) at the corner of Clay and Sixth streets to replace the 1829 structure. In the early
1900s, the firm of Edward Frye and Aubrey Chesterman designed the new City Auditorium and
Market on Main between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets which evoked an Italian piazza with its
arecaded Renaissance-palazzo facade. It replaced August Forsberg's 1870s market on the same site.
The Frye and Chesterman building only served the city until 1932 when it was replaced by the City
Auditorium and Armory Building (118-5163-0087) at 1200 Chuch Street. In 1909 construction
began on the United States Post Office and Courthouse (118-5163-0060) at Monument Terrace.
The Neoclassical building designed by James Knox Taylor replaced the 1880s building on the same
(Rev. 10•90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _6_
site. In 1897, the Hill City Masonic Lodge (118-5163-0066), designed by Edward G. Frye, was
built on the corner of Church and Eleventh Streets. With its eclectic blend of Romanesque and
Neoclassical details, it is one of Frye's first, and more restrained designs for the city of Lynchburg.
This began a long and productive career for Frye, which continued into the early 20th century.
As tobacco sales declined after the Civil War, Lynchburg became a center for the production of iron
products, textiles, shoes, boxes and wagons. In addition to the construction of warehouses and
jobbing houses in the Lower Basin area, Downtown continued to develop as the financial and
commercial center of Lynchburg. While a number of commercial buildings with cast-iron gacades
were constructed in the late 1800s, the 1887 Lynchburg Furniture Company (118-5163-0109) at
1023 Main Street is the only surviving example. The 1891 Guggenheimer/Shearer Building (1185163-0120) at 920-922 Main Street, is another commercial building from that era. For a short period
of time after it was built it housed the Guggenheimer family's dry goods store and for most of the
early 20th Century the Shearer Brothers Furniture Store was located in the building. It has recently
been renovated and is now High Peak Sportswear. Between 1905 and 1909 the Krise
Building/American National Bank (118-5163-0098) and the First National Bank (118-51630123) were built Downtown. The Beaux Arts Krise Building, with its prominent location at the
corner of Ninth and Main Streets, was Lynchburg's tallest building until 1913. Thornton Marye
designed the Neoclassical First National Bank at the corner of Main and Tenth Streets. Upon its
completion in 1909, it became Downtown Lynchburg's second architectural monument to be
featured in a national periodical. The ca. 1910 Mutual Savings Bank & Trust (118-5163-0123)
at 1020 Main Street represents the "vault" genre of bank design in its one-story, one-bay
Neoclassical design with large, central-arched entry. By 1914, a new skyscraper graced the skies
with the construction of the ten-story People's National Bank (118-5163-0090) at 801 Main Street.
Five of the eight churches in the district were built between the years of 1879 and 1895 to the designs
of a number of prominent local and national architects. The Gothic-Revival style, followed closely
by the Romanesque-Revival style, dominated these ecclesiastical designs and their tall spires defined
the skyline along Clay and Church streets. Examples of the Gothic-Revival style include the Court
Street Baptist Church (118-5163-0011), designed by Robert Burkholder for an African-American
congregation, and the Holy Cross Catholic Church (118-5163-0010) by Forsberg, both of which
were built in 1879. The style was carried to extreme verticality in the 1884-86 Victorian-Gothic
design by New York architect John R. Thomas for First Baptist Church (118-5163-0040) at Court
and Eleventh streets. The Romanesque-Revival also proved popular with the construction in 1889
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (118-5163-0003) to the design of the Philadelphia architect Frank
· Miles Day. This church was Lynchburg's first nationally recognized architectural monument,
appearing in the American Architect and Building News of 1891. In 1899, Edward Frye followed
in this style with his designs for the First Presbyterian Church (118-5163-0017), later the First
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section_7 Page_7_
Methodist Church, at the corner of Court and Ninth Streets, and Court Street Methodist Church
(118-5163-0012) on the comer of Court and Seventh Street. This Romanesque-Revival design for
the First Presbyterian Church is said to be one of the best examples of Frye's work. In that same
year, Frye also designed the campanile for the Holy Cross Catholic Church (118-5163-0010).
In the 1880s the residential Courthouse Hill neighborhood continued to develop rapidly. On
Courthouse Hill there are a number of examples of high style residential architecture remaining from
the period. The 1880 James W. Watts House (118-5163-0020), at 1007 Court Street, is the only
surviving example of high style Italian Villa style architecture in Lynchburg with its central tower.
Robert Burkholder was perhaps the city's most prolific residential architect from the Reconstruction
period and many of his residences still exist today. They are especially concentrated within the
Courthouse Hill portion of the district. Residential buildings from the 1880s vary in style; Italianate
was the most commonly used style, particularly in Burkholder's designs (Ryan, 1981). Four
residences from the 1880s attributed to Robert Burkholder include: the Edmund Schaeffer House
(118-5163-0031) in the 700 block of Court Street; the Alexander A. Tunstall House (118-51630016) at 801 Court Street; the Thomas C, Wray House (118-5163-0021) at 1011 Court Street; and
the Edward C. Brown House (118-5163-0035) at 818 Court Street. The La Tour House (1185163-0039) at 1022 Court Street, designed in 1897 by Edward G. Frye, stands as one of the best
examples of the Queen-Anne style and is typical of Frye's residential designs. The Classical-revival
style became popular in residential design in the early zom century, as seen in the Fanny Hughs\es
House, 1000 Court Street (118-5163-0037) and the D.M. Penick House, 1004 Court Street (1185163-0038). Around the tum of the century, several apartment buildings were built in and around
downtown. Aubrey Chesterman's 1910 Courtland Apartment Building (118-5163-0027) at Court
and Seventh Streets is an example of the new building type in the Classical-Revival style. This was
one of the city's first downtown apartment buildings.
World War I-World War II (1914-1945)
A total of fourteen structures constructed during the period between the two world wars survive in
the district, including several of Lynchburg's local landmarks. Monument Terrace (1924-25) (1185163-0059), designed in 1924-1925 by Aubrey Chesterman, is perhaps the most identifiable
monument from this period. Chesterman' s steps replaced an earlier set designed by August
Forsberg. The steps were originally conceived as a memorial to World War I veterans and have
since included memorials to World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Today, the
monumental steps represent more than their original commemorative purpose as they stand as an
architectural landmark in the city. The grand staircase with its granite foundation, limestone
balustrade and steps, and brick paving detail achieves the ideal Beaux Arts/Neo-Classical balance
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of grand spatial and axial composition (Chambers 1981:443). It was not until 1926 that the
Doughboy, properly known as The Listening Post, was added to Monument Terrace. Before that,
in its place, was the Fireman's Fountain designed by August Forsberg. Also in 1926, the First
Unitarian Church (118-5163-0132) by Aubrey Chesterman was built alongside Monument Terrace.
Its Gothic-Revival design complements and contrasts the classical style of the staircase.
The only surviving school in the district is the 1915 John Wyatt School (118-5163-0024) at the
comer of Court and Eleventh streets. This large, two-story brick school, which replaced the earlier
Court Street School, is an excellent example of early 20th century school design with its ClassicalRevival detailing, simple form, and large banks of windows.
A major project just prior to the Depression was the construction in 1929-1931 of Lynchburg's
Allied Arts Building (118-5163-0053). Designed by Stanhope Johnson and Ray Brannan, the
building towered above the Lynchburg skyline as its tallest skyscraper until 1972. The steel frame
building with its yellow brick and local greenstone trim is one of the state's finest examples of the
tall building ethic and the Art Deco style (Chambers 1981:440-443). The years 1931-33 saw the
completion of three major municipal projects in Downtown Lynchburg: the Lynchburg News and
Daily Advance Building (118-5163-0058), the City Auditorium and Armory (118-5163-00, and
the United States Post Office/Courthouse Building (118-5163-0060). Designed in 1931 by
Richard jAllen, the News and Daily Advance Building continued to use the Art Deco vocabulary
employed in the Allied Arts Building. The City Auditorium and Armory, designed by Stanhope
Johnson, borrowed its imposing architectural vocabulary from the fortifications of the Middle Ages
with its buttressed walls and simplified three-part fa9ade. Stanhope Johnson employed a different
vocabulary for his United States Post Office/Courthouse Complex of 1932-33. For this building
he used the neoclassical vocabulary to emphasize the building's federal presence.
The New Dominion {1945-present)
As the railroad industry declined nationally, Lynchburg suffered major economic losses. Its
prominence as the major transportation center of Virginia slipped as industries moved out into the
suburbs and as automotive transportation became dominant. Local industry's new dependence upon
trucks for transport was solidified with the opening of the Lynchburg Expressway and the industrial
park adjacent to it. Just as the popularity of the automobile brought on the decline of Lynchburg as
a transportation center, it also lead to the decline of the downtown area as a commercial center.
Many of the retail stores that once thrived along Main Street have relocated to suburban shopping
centers. However, the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District continues to be the primary
location for government and professional businesses. The long-standing presence of the Lynchburg
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Courthouse on Court Street at the Ninth Street axis was continued with the construction in 19541955 of Everett Fauber' s monumental limestone and granite Lynchburg Circuit Court Building
(118-5163-0036) at 900 Court Street. This area continues to be the governmental center of the city
with other public buildings, such as the Public Safety Building and the School Administration
Building, constructed recently. Many of the houses along Clay and Court streets have been
converted to office spaces for lawyers and other professionals associated with the courts.
The churches in the area have continued to thrive and expand with a number of the institutions
adding educational wings and enlarged sanctuaries during this period. In 1941, Stanhope Johnson
designed a chancel addition and a Sunday School wing to the First Baptist Church (118-5163·
0040) at the corner of Court and Eleventh streets. The First Presbyterian Church 9118-51630017) also expanded in 1942 with Everett Fauber's design for a new chapel and educational wing
connected by an arcade. New buildings constructed on Main Street have included the addition to
the Municipal Building as well as several large banks. These new buildings and new uses testify that
the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District continues to serve as the government and business
center of Lynchburg.
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INVENTORY OF SITES
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0001
Date: 1814,1831
Name: Price-Turner House
The Speidell Group
523 Clay Street
Contributing.
This is a two story, five bay brick residential building with a side gable roof, two interior end
chimneys and three dormers with 6/6 sash windows. The facade is divided into bays by the
windows and the porch. There are five 6/6 sash windows on the second floor and four 9/9 sash
windows on the first. The porch is a one story, three bay frame porch with a hipped roof with
projecting cornice over an entablature with triglyphs. It has fluted Doric columns and a turned
balustrade on brick piers infilled with lattice work. The stairs are off to one side, not central.
Secondary Resources Description:
Behind the house there is a 1-1/2 story frame servant quarters and kitchen with beaded
weatherboard and a gable roof with a shed roof addition (contributing) and a one story garage
with studio (non-contributing).
Contributing.
Non-Contributing
I.D Number: 118-5163-0002
Date: 1827
Name: Glass, Carter, House
605 Clay Street
Contributing
The rectangular-shaped Glass House sits on a stone foundation above a raised basement and
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displays a gray, slate-covered, hipped roof decorated by a cream-painted, ornamented, box
cornice with plain frieze. Two tall, interior brick chimneys rise from the roof near the lower
edges of both the northwest and southeast slopes. Eight gabled donners, each with 6/6 lights,
grace the roof. Three of the donners project from the front slope, three from the rear, and one
from each side.
Below, shrubs flank the front and southeast sides of the house, partially obscuring the barred,
basement windows there. A total of nine 3/3 windows illuminate the basement. There are three
on the southeast side and two each on the other sides. With the exception of a triple window
(with a double casement, middle section) at the second-floor center of the rear facade, all other
windows are 6/6, double-hung sashes with black-painted, louvered, wood shutters and creampainted stone sills and wood lintels. Except for a center-placed, second story opening in the front
facade, these windows are arranged in vertical pairs and sep!j.l'ated between floors by recessed,
cream-painted, panels of wood.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0003
Date: 1889-1895
Name: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
605 Clay Street
Contributing
This Romanesque revival church is described as an "ecclesiastical fortress" because of its
massiveness. It is constructed of rusticated grey granite blocks trimmed in brownstone detailing;
it has battered basement walls. The gable front has a central arched entrance and a row of arched
stained glass windows above it. The front tower, on the left side of the facade, has four narrow
windows below three arched openings at the top of the bell tower. The tower, not finished until
1912, has a hipped roof.
I.DNumber: 118-5163-0004
Date: 1845
Name: Wright, Ann 0., House
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Rectory
Lawrence P. Morin, Attorney
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701 Clay Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a side gable roof and a simple molded cornice. The
two parts of the stepped facade are unified by a one story, two bay porch with a hipped roof
supported on Doric columns; it has a turned balustrade. The portion of the facade that is stepped
back has a tripartite double hung sash window with paneled apron on both the first and second
stories. The portion of the facade closest to the street has two 6/6 double hung sash windows on
both the first and second stories.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0005
Date: 1842
Name: Yancey, Elizabeth, House
707 Clay Street
Contributing
This is a brick, two story, Federal style dwelling. It has a recessed entry with single leaf door
framed by Doric pilasters supporting an entablature and pediment. The entry is slightly offcenter. On either side is a pair of 1/ I double hung sash windows; one pair is closer together than
the other. On the second floor, there is a pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows above the close
pair, a single 1/1 double hung sash window above the entrance and one above the pair not so
close together.
The foundation is three course American bond; the first and second stories are five course
American bond. The roof is standing seam metal with side gables and there are two interior end
chimneys.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0006
Date: 1920 ca
Name: Sullivan House
713-715 Clay Street
Contributing
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This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof and two pedimented dormers with 6/6
double hung sash windows. The faced is divided in two parts by the two one story, two bay
frame porches. Each porch has chamfered columns supporting a deep cornice and a square
balustrade. Each porch shelters a single leaf door with a 3-light transom and a tripartite window
with a 4/lx6/lx4/1 configuration. Above each porch is a 6/1 double hung sash window and a 9/9
double hung sash window. On the first floor between the two porches is a single leaf door with a
3-light transom and a 6/1 double hung sash window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0007
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Snead, W.H., House
Chesapeake Mortgage Financial Corp.
Gregory Powell Appraisal Service
Mid-Atlantic Settlement Services
717 Clay Street
Contributing
This two story frame residential building has German siding and an intersecting gable roof and a
one story, three bay frame porch. The porch has a hipped roof with bracketed spindlework frieze,
turned columns and a turned balustrade. The front gable has a 1/1 double hung sash window on
the second floor and a pair of 1/ 1 sash windows with an arched transom and decorative
surround. The intersecting gable has two 2/2 sash windows on the second floor and one on the
first. There is a central double leaf door with a single light transom.
LD Number: 118-5163-0008
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Central Presbyterian Church (Colored)
Lynchburg Daily Bread
721 Clay Street
Contributing
This one story, three bay frame building has a front pedimented gable roof, with an entablature,
,,,
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supported on pilasters. The central entry has a single leaf, one light door with a two light
transom. It is flanked on either side by one 6/6 double hung sash window. It extends three bays
to the rear and has a one story shed addition.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0009
Date: 1883-1885
Name: City Water Reservoir
Clay Street Reservoir
600 Clay Street
Contributing
This is a stone rimmed basin built on a site adjacent to the original city reservoir, which was
replaced in 1885. The City Water Reservoir was designed by August Forsberg, the Lynchburg
City Engineer in the 1880s. The reservoir has a greenstone parapet with coping of Richmond
granite. There is a statue "The Water Bearer" on the wall separating the two basins. The
reservoir is now covered with asphalt to protect the water from pollution. In its original
condition, the City Water Reservoir was said to be "one of the most felicitous examples of utility
and ornamentation ever achieved in Lynchburg" (Chambers 1981 :260).
Secondary Resources:
A I-story, I-bay brick pump house stands to the rear of the reservoir. The side-gable roof is
covered with slate shingles and a single leaf wooden door provides entry.
Contributing.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0010
Date: 1878-1879
Name: Holy Cross Catholic Church
700 Clay Street
Contributing
This masonry church, designed by August Forsberg, has a projecting chancel and a prominent
(Rev. 10-%)
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central tower, belfry, and spire. The outside walls are stuccoed brick accented with greenstone
details. The chancel has a central pointed arched door below a pointed arched window with
tracery; just below the belfry is a quatrefoil louvered vent. On either side of the projecting
chancel are smaller pointed arched windows. The side walls are buttressed and have pointed
arched windows. In the slate roof, there are small attic dormers with louvered vents and there is
ornate cast iron cresting on the ridge of the roof. The belfry has an arched opening on each of the
four sides, pilasters on each comer, a terra cotta cornice, and a pyramidal roof. The church
complex, including the parish house and the interior plan of the church, were extensively
remodeled in the 1990s.
Secondary Resource
A campanile, designed in 1899 by Edward G. Frye, stands at the rear of the church property.
This free-standing structure is constructed of buff Roman brick with terra cotta trim. Typical of
campanile designs, it consists of an unadorned shaft that tapers to appear taller and features
corbelled brickwork, arched openings, terra cotta trim and a pyramidal roof.
Contributing Structure
I.D Number: 118-5163-0011
Date: 1879
Name: Court Street Baptist Church
523 Court Street
Contributing
This church was designed by the prominent Lynchburg Architect Robert Burkholder. It as a
central front belfry of brick and wood frame. The projecting vestibule is the base of the belfry
tower; it has the central entry, a row of three arched windows, and a round window below the
tower. The tower has a mansard roof stage with arched dormers and louvered windows. The
octagonal belfry above it supports the tapering spire and they are both clad in wood siding. The
bays on either side of the central tower have paired segmental arched windows and paired stained
glass windows. The side walls are articulated by 5 pairs of arched windows of stained glass
above five pairs of smaller arched windows.
In its basic plan and outline, Court Street Baptist Church recalls a typical New England
meetinghouse of a much earlier period in American architecture. Its simple rectangular form,
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with a vestibule and tower projecting slightly comes from the familiar meetinghouse prototype.
While the overall proportions of the church are somewhat retarditaire for its 1879 date, its details
show an affinity with the prevailing architectural styles of the period, or at least a nodding
acquaintance with them. Italianate features are most predominant, notably in the windows. Those
on the ground floor have segmentally arched upper sash which are capped with slightly
protruding brick segmental hood molds. The larger windows lighting the auditorium above are
round arched with protruding brick arched upper hood molds. Another prominent feature, which
reflects the then-popular Second Empire style, is the mansard roof of the tower. This feature
provides an effective transition from the square tower base to the octagonally sectioned belfry
stage above. The basic rectangular body of the church measures 60 feet on the facade and extends
back IO I feet. Matching the tower projection on the front, and almost of the same dimensions, is
a small chancel projecting from the rear of the church. Foundations of the church are of stone laid
in a random pattern. Walls are of red brick; those in the ·facade are hard-pressed and, according to
an account of the building at the time it was completed, were "pressed at the Richmond kilns."
I.D Number: 118-5163-0012
Date: 1899-1902
Name: Court Street United Methodist Church
619 Court Street
Contributing
This Romanesque Revival church was designed by Edward Frye and completed in 1902. The
whole is buff-colored, rough face Kentucky free stone masonry. The facade is defined by its
single tower on the corner of Court and Seventh Streets. The tower is mostly unadorned save for
the belfry with tall open arches in each of its four sides and corner turrets with pyramidal roofs
like that of the tower itself.
The design of the whole church is said to be a restrained example of Frye's ecclesiastical work. It
is composed of carefully related masses and planes. The front gable has a row of three arched
stained glass windows set within a larger arch inscribed with masonry detailing. The central
composition of arches is flanked on either side by narrow arched windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0013
Date: 1905 ca
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Name: Ainslie, Peter, House
715 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof with dormers. It has a one story, three
bay pedimented porch with Doric columns and a turned balustrade. The central door has a
leaded glass transom and sidelights and is framed by pilasters. The fenestration in the facade is
1/1; the window in the dormer is tripartite with a tracery in the upper sash over one light, flanked
by 2/2 sash windows on either side.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0014
Date: 1881
Name: Ivey, J.W., House
717 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof; the
front gable has cornice returns, a round vent window, a single 2/2 double hung sash window on
the second floor and a projecting bay window with bracketed cornice on the first floor. The
intersecting gable has three 2/2 double hung sash windows on the second floor and two on the
first. There is a one story, three bay wrought iron porch and the property is surrounded by a
wrought iron fence.
Secondary Resources Description:
There is a one story brick building with a gable roof and five-course American bond brickwork
behind the house.
Contributing
l.D Number: 118-5163-0015
Date: 1882 ca
Name: Whitehead Building
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721-723 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a hipped roof with comer turrets and a bracketed
cornice with <lentil moldings. The central bay is divided between two 1/1 segmental arched
window openings with decorative hoods on the second floor and two single leaf doors on the
first. A one story, three bay wrought iron porch spans the central bay.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0016
Date: 1881
Name: Tunstall House
Piedmont Club
801 Court Street
Contributing
This three story brick residential building has a flat roof with paired bracketed cornice and a
decorative entablature. The 1/1 double hung sash windows have segmental arched openings with
hood moldings; there are three on the second and third stories and two on the first. There is an
off-center door with wooden portico. The portico has a flat roof supported on paneled pilasters
with heart brackets. The building extends many bays to the rear. There is a two story bay with
bracketed cornice projecting from the side. On the opposite side there is an enclosed one story
porch and on the rear there is a two story five bay wooden porch with chamfered columns,
brackets, scroll sawn balustrade and an enclosed second story sleeping porch with nine 4/4
double hung sash windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0017
Date: 1899-1902
Name: First Presbyterian Church, 1899-1952
First Methodist Church
Higher Heights Church
805 Court Street
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Contributing
Edward Frye's design for this Romanesque revival church is typical of his ecclesiastical program
of the late 19th century and is said to be one of his most impressive church designs. Begun in
March 1899, it was finished only slightly more than a year later in July 1900. The comer tower,
which addresses the comer of Ninth and Court Streets, dominates the facade. It rises more than
twice the height of the front gable and each section is embellished with masonry courses, comer
turrets, narrow window openings and buttresses. At the mid-way section of the tower, it tapers
from a square to an octagonal form. The tall, rectilinear tower is balanced by a short, round,
crenellated tower on the opposite comer. The two towers are linked by a three bay portico with
Romanesque arches springing from squat colonettes. Inset above each arch is a stone from the
congregation's three different church buildings, including this one from 1899. Set behind the
portico is a gable front with a large central rose window.
LD Number: 118-5163-0018
Date: 1855
Name: Lynchburg Court House
90 I Court Street
Contributing
Located on the summit of one of Lynchburg's numerous hills, the Lynchburg Court House
occupies a prominent position overlooking the steeply descending steps of Monument Terrace.
Executed in stucco-over-brick on a granite ashlar basement, this fine example of the Greek
Revival style is capped by a shallow dome located over the intersection of the ridges. At the top
of the dome, is a small open belfry consisting of a circle of small Ionic columns supporting a
hemispherical dome. Set on a granite ashlar podium the front of the courthouse displays a threebay Doric portico which is echoed by an engaged portico with pilasters on each side and on the
rear. The design of the portico includes a triglyph frieze surmounted by a pediment with ends
that terminate in projecting boars heads. The pediment contains a historic clock whose weights
were ingeniously installed to descend within the drums of the portico's two inside columns. The
clock was shipped from Boston in 1833 and for sixteen years had been used in the first church
building of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg. Although the timepiece was rather
weather-beaten after five years·of exposure on a hillside near the church, the clock was installed
on the new courthouse and has now worked for over one hundred years.
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The house is struck by a brass bell cast in 1825 by John W. Bank of Philadelphia. The center
bay of the porch is widened, making the crossette architrave and the three-paneled double door
entrance clearly visible. Under the portico on the second floor, a three-unit central bay consisting
of a four-over-four sash window is flanked by two recessed panels. This central window is
further bound by two six-over-six sash windows. The sides of the building are evenly divided
into five bays by pilasters which rest on the ashlar foundation. In the center of each side wall the
three-bay pedimented engaged portico projects slightly from the wall's surface and, like the front
portico, features a three-part central window which hangs above an entrance elaborated with a
crossette architrave.
A double flight of stairs leads up to the landing in front of each entrance. The two stories of a
six-over-six sash windows along the sides and back are set into a single vertical recess divided by
a molded panel.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0019
Date: 1880s
Name: Hatcher, William, House
Maryland Realtors
I 00 I Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof with cornice returns
in the front gable. The front gable also has a three sided projecting frame bay on the first floor, a
single 1/1 sash window, and a round vent window on the second floor. There is a one story
wrought iron porch sheltering an arched door and a single 1/ l sash window. On the second floor,
above the porch, are two l/1 sash windows. All windows have segmented arched openings.
There is a bracketed cornice. There is a projecting bay on either side of the building.
I.D Number: l 18-5 l 63-0020
Date: 1888
Name: The Watts House
l 007 Court Street
I
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Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a standing seam metal intersecting hip and gable
roof and a central square tower with hipped roof and finials. There is a one story, three bay
wrought iron porch, as well as a wrought iron fence around the property. The facade is
embellished with a frame bay window on the first story. This building it the only example of the
Italian Villa style in the district.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0021
Date: 1880 ca
Name: Wray, Thomas, House
1011 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof with bracketed
cornice. The front gable has cornice returns, a decorative round vent and two segmented arched
2/2 sash windows on both floors. The intersecting gable has two 2/2 segmental arched windows
on the first floor and three on the second. All windows have jack arches and there are paneled
aprons below the first story windows. There is a single leaf door with canopy and paneled reveal.
There is a wrought iron terrace railing and a wrought iron fence around the property.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0022
Date: 1880s
Name: House, 1017 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with an intersecting gable roof. The front gable has
cornice returns with brackets, a decorative round vent window, an arched 4/4 double hung sash
window on the second floor and a pair of 4/4 sash windows on the first floor. The intersecting
gable has tree segmented arched windows on the second floor, two on the first floor as well as a
single leaf door with a segmented arched transom. There is also a one story, two bay wooden
porch with turned columns and balustrade.
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I.D Number: 118-5163-0023
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Younger, Doctor, House
1021-1023 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building with intersecting gable roof has been dramatically
altered with the infill of the two story porch which covers the whole intersecting gable. The front
gable has a pediment and a pair of segmental arched windows on the first and second stories.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0024
Date: 1915 ca
Name: John Wyatt School
Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority
1101 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick .school building with a flat roof and stepped parapet. It has a central
recessed bay and flanking projecting bays; the bays are defined by comer brick quoins. The
whole facade is unified by a molded cornice with brackets; the Virginia State seal is applied to
the parapet, above the cornice, in the central bay. The fenestration on both stories in the central
bay consists of a central cluster of four 12/12 double hung sash windows framed on either side by
a pair of 12/12 double hung sash windows. The projecting bays each have two 12/12 double
hung sash windows on the first and second stories. There is a soldier course of bricks above and
below each window on the facade and each window has a keystone. In the central bay there are
two sets of double leaf doors with porticoes; the doors each have 12-light transoms and the
porticoes have segmented pediments supported on Ionic columns. The front of the property is
defined by a wrought iron fence.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0025
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page ___ll_
Date: 1910 ca
Name: William Diuguid House
616 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building was designed by the Lynchburg firm of Frye and
Chesterman in t 906. It has a front pedimented gable roof with <lentil moldings and a central
fanlight. There is a one story, two bay frame porch with a flat roof supported on Doric columns;
it has an entablature and cornice with <lentil moldings. The porch also has a turned balustrade.
On the first floor, there is an off-center single leaf door with single light transom and a tripartite
1/ I window. On the second floor there is a multi-pane window over the door and another
tripartite window - both have jack arches above. Brick comer quoins unify the facade. There is a
projecting basketweave bay on the side.
I.D Number: t 18-5163-0026
Date: 1915 ca
Name: Otey, Dexter, House
618 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The second floor
has a double leaf door, each leaf with 8 lights and a 6-light transom. It is flanked on either side
by 12-light double hung sash windows. The whole is sheltered by a bracketed hood roofed with
sautillo tiles. The first floor has a one story brick porch sheltering a brick entry and a single leaf
door with 6-light transom.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0027
Date: 1910
Name: Courtland Apartments
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Fonn 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _M_
620 Court Street
Contributing
This is a four story, three bay brick and stone apartment building designed by Aubrey
Chesterman. The Court Street facade has a central bay with pairs of 6/6 double hung sash
windows on the second, third and fourth floors; a modem portico has been added on the first
floor. The two flanking bays have three story stone bays. The fourth floor is separated from the
rest of the facade by a stone belt course, paired windows with quoined surrounds and a cornice
with modilions below the flat roof. The side elevation repeats the facade articulation.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0028
Date: 1930-1935
Name: The Arlington Arms Hotel
The Arlington Building
700 Court Street
Contributing
This multi-story brick hotel building has a four-story central section framed by three-story
projecting end bays. The roof is flat; it has a parapet on the central section and a balustrade on
both the end bays. The fenestration is varied, but all windows are multi-paned sliding windows.
There is a central one story entrance vestibule with a double leaf door framed by arced IO-light
windows; the window openings on the fourth floor in the central section are also arched.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0029
Date: 1880s
Name: Duplex, 708-710 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick multiple dwelling has a flat roof with a decorative wrought iron balustrade
and corbelled brick work below it in the cornice and entablature. The windows on the second
floor are 1/1 double hung sash windows with individual awnings. There is a one story, six bay
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _li_
wrought iron porch with a metal hipped roof and wrought iron balustrade. The two single leaf
door with segmental arched transoms are separated by three 1/1 segmental arched windows and
another 18-light door with 8-light transom. The property is surrounded by a wrought iron fence.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0030
Date: 1882-1884
Name: House, 712 Court Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick residential building with a flat roof and a projecting cornice with paired
brackets. The facade is divided into three by the fenestration. There are 1/1 double hung sash
windows with terracotta hoods on the second and third stories; the second and third stories are
visually divided by a terra cotta beltcourse. On the first floor there is a three bay wrought iron
porch with hipped roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0031
Date: 1881
Name: Shaefer, Edmund, Townhouse
Martin Taylor Perrow Law Offices
714 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a flat roof and a cornice with
modilions and brackets. It was designed by the Lynchburg architect Robert C. Burkholder. The
attic story is defined by corbelled rectangles of alternating size - the smaller rectangles have inset
white panels. The four windows on the second floor and three on the first floors have window
hoods. There is a one story, four bay wrought iron porch; there is also a wrought iron fence
around the property. The off-center door has a double leaf outerdoor with paneled reveals and a
double leaf interior door with rectangular transom.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0032
(Rev. 10°90)
NPS Fonn 10.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024·0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page ---lfr_
Date: 1878
Name: John Randolph Nelson, Attorney
716 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a mansard roof and four 2/2
segmented arched dormers. The five windows on the second floor have the same configuration as
those in the dormers. There is one projecting bay window on either side of the central arched
door on the first floor.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0033
Date: 1826
Name: The Warwick House
720 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building. It has a low hipped roof with four interior end
chimneys, three 6/6 double hung sash windows on the second floor, and two on the first. There
is a one story, three bay wooden porch with square columns, scrolled brackets, and a bracketed
cornice. There is a single leaf door leading into the exposed basement as well as a 3/3 double
hung sash basement window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0034
Date: 1860 ca
Name: Lee House/Gilliam House
Patricia McAddams Gibbons, Attorney
800 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two-story brick residential building with a flat roof. The three windows on the second
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1... Page -1,1_
story and two on the first are 2/2/2 triple hung sash windows with sandstone lintels and terra
cotta rondels. There is a one story, three bay wrought iron porch sheltering a central door on a
granite sill. There is a side bay window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0035
Date: 1884 ca
Name: Brown, Edward S., House
Edward Brown House
Unitarian Parish House
818 Court Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with a decorative parapet with bracketed
cornice and <lentil moldings. Below the cornice is a line of corbelled brick rectangles - the larger
rectangles have wrought iron grates. There are five 1/1 double hung sash windows on the second
floor and four on the first. Each window has a window hood with drip moldings. There is a one
story, three bay wrought iron porch with flat roof and balcony, as well as a wrought iron fence
around the property; it has chamfered concrete posts at the driveway. This house has been
attributed to Robert C. Burkholder.
Secondary Resources Description:
There is a one story brick garage to the rear of the house. It is a free-standing brick garage with
five-course American Bond brickwork and a corbelled parapet.
Contributing
I.D Number: 118-5163-0036
Date: 1954-1955
Name: Lynchburg Circuit Court Building
900 Court Street
Non-Contributing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1... Page _1§..._
This one story masonry circuit court building has a central two story bay with the main entry.
This bay has a recessed marble panel with an applied relief figure of Justice above the two pairs
of double leaf plate glass and aluminum doors; the doors have sandstone surrounds and granite
stairs. Extending to either side of this central bay are two one story wings with horizontal bands
of ribbon windows. Although this building is less than fifty years old and therefore noncontributing, it does continue the pattern of monumental governmental buildings along the Ninth
Street axis on Court Street. This building should be considered a contributing as soon as its age
allows as it is an excellent example of monumental civic architecture from the mid 1950s and it
reinforces the traditional location of the courthouse on Court Street along the Ninth Street axis.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0037
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Hughes, Fanny, House
1000 Court Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick residential building with a gambrel roof, central front gable
with cornice returns, and pedimented dormers; it has a cornice with modilions. The central bay
is defined by the gable front with quoining. It has a fanlight above the second story tripartite
window above the central door. The door as a single light transom and a classical surround with
engaged ionic columns, a full entablature and cornice with modilions. The two flanking bays are
defined by the pedimented dormers above a single 6/1 double hung sash window with flat jack
arch and a keystone. Corbelled brick detailing separates the first and second story windows. A
wrought iron fence surrounds the property. There is a two story wing with a 9/1 double hung
sash window above a tripartite bay casement window with tracery.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0038
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Perrick, D.M., House
Planvis, Allen & Yoder
1004 Court Street
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House H,ilJ/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page -12-
Contributing
This is a two story brick residential building with a flat roof and parapet, with an applied
pediment with modilions and entablature. On the first floor there is an off-center pedimented
portico with modilions, supported on Doric columns, sheltering a single leaf door with a classical
surround. The door has an arched transom. There is a tripartite 4/4x6/l x4/4 window on both
floors, and there is a single 6/1 sash window on the above the portico. Each window has a flat
jack arch and keystone above. There are comer quoins and, on the first floor, there is a series of
corbelled brick courses.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0039
Date: 1897 ca
Name: LaTour, Louis, House
!020-1022 Court Street
Contributing
This two and one half story brick residential building has a hipped and gable roof. the front
gable has corbelled brick and terracotta detailing, a pair of arched multi-pane/2 windows with
terracotta hood moldings over a pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows on the first and second
stories. The hip roofed section of the house has a central dormer with three arched openings and
corbelled brick and terra cotta detailing. On the second story there is an open arched bay with
terracotta detailing and on the first there is the central door with I-light transom. There are a
pair of 1/1 double hung sash windows flanking the central bay on both the first and second
stories. There is a one story, two bay wooden porch with flat roof with decorative metal
entablature supported on paired turned columns and balustrade.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0040
Date: 1886
Name: First Baptist Church
1100 Court Street
Contributing
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form J0.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page --1!!-
First Baptist Church is a major architectural landmark and is a most accomplished example of
High Victorian Gothic architecture. Construction was begun in 1884, and although several
additions have since been made, the original portion stands essentially as it did when it was
complete in September, 1886. The structure is built of hard-pressed red brick on a rough granite
foundation. The major external features are the tower and spire which project from the
southwest corner of the modified cruciform church. The architect was John R. Thomas, and it is
listed on the Virginia Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places, as well as
on the local register.
LDNumber: 118-5163-0041
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Lowry Townhouse, 501 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and bracketed cornice. The three bay facade
is defined by its fenestration; on the first floor there are two windows next to the off-center door
with canopy. On the second and third stories there are three windows across the facade. The
windows have segmental arched surrounds. This building is one of a row of six townhouses.
LD Number: 118-5163-0042
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 503 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and bracketed cornice. It has a three part
facade with an off-center door and two windows on the first floor and three windows each on the
second and third stories. The window openings have segmental arched surrounds. This building
is one of a row of six townhouses.
LDNumber: 118-5163-0043
Date: 1890 ca
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _1J__
Name: Townhouse, 505 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The first floor has been altered
with a storefront window next to the off-center door with a hipped roof portico. The two upper
stories have three windows each; the windows are vinyl. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0044
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 507 Church Street
Anchor Financial Complex
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The windows have been replaced
with vinyl sash windows. The flat roof has a dentilled cornice. There is an off-center door with
pedimented gable portico supported on square columns. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0045
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 509 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with applied vinyl siding. The windows have been replaced
with vinyl sash windows. The flat roof has a dentilled cornice. There is an off-center door with
pedimented gable portico on square columns. This building is one of a row of six townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0046
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _.ll_
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Townhouse, 511 Church Street
Executive Financial Services
Contributing
This is a three story brick townhouse with a flat roof and a corbelled brick cornice. The fixed
windows are graduated in size with the largest on the first floor and the smallest on the third
floor. There are small square basement casement windows as well. The off-center door has a
segmental arched transom and the original doorbell. This building is one of a row of six
townhouses.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0047
Date: 1910
Name: Martin, L.F., House
Legal Aid
517 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two and one half story brick building with a hipped roof and central dormer. The
central door with a segmental arched broken transom and one-light/four panel sidelights has a
cornice and column surround. The windows are arched tripartite sash windows with three rows
of headers over each window. The dormer window is a pair of four light casement windows.
There is quoining on the sides.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0048
Date: 1920 ca
i
Name: Churchland Apartments
Church Street Apartments
519 Church Street
Contributing
I
!
I
I
I
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(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1.... Page~
This is a two story brick multiple dwelling (duplex) with an intersecting gable roof and two front
gables. It has a central portico with a low hipped roof, cornice and entablature supported on
Doric columns. It has a turned balustrade with square newel posts. The door is double leaf with
fourteen light sidelights and a 4xl2x4 broken transom. The first floor windows are paired sash
windows. On the second floor there are two sash windows between two pairs of sash windows;
there are jack arches over each window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0049
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Hancock Motor Company
The Center
527 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick commercial building with a three part facade; there is a central bay
framed by projecting comer bays. The central bay is defined by three aluminum and plate glass
windows with multi-light thermal window transoms. The arched window surrounds are
corbelled arches on brick piers. Separating the two floors is a corbelled brick course, with
<lentils, which spans all three bays. In the second story there are three tripartite casement
windows with center pivots. The framing bays have quoined first floors.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0050
Date: 1850 ca
Name: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
The Tompkins Apartments
Anthony & Company
701 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, six bay brick building was originally constructed as the second church for St.
Paul's Episcopal Church. It was extensively remodeled in the !880s,just prior to the
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _M.,_
construction of the present church on Clay Street. The building was further remodeled to its
present appearance in the 1920s. Serving now as a commercial building, it has a flat roof and an
unadorned cornice. The upper facade is defined by quoined end bays; the windows on the second
and third stories are 1/ I sash windows with sandstone sills and keystones. The lower facade is
separated from the upper facade by a brick beltcourse. The lower facade has two arched 1/ I sash
windows on either side of the central door. The entry is defined by fluted pilasters supporting an
applied cornice and entablature, single light sidelights, and paneled reveals. The single leaf door
has a single light transom. There is an awning extending out from the building.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0051
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Huff, Wilbur, Garage
Warehouse, 707 Church Street
Contributing
This is a two story, three bay brick warehouse building with a flat roof. The bays are defined by
slightly projecting brick piers which separate ribbons of 16 light fixed windows with central
hoppers on the second floor. On the first floor, there is a central roll-up garage door with 5x2x5
light broken transom; to the right of it, there is another roll-up garage door with 5x5 light broken
transom; to the left of it, there is a single leaf 6-light door with three light transom and a fixed
16-light window with 6-light transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0052
Date: 1980 ca
Name: Parking Deck, 709 Church Street
Non-contributing Structure
Concrete two-story parking deck.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0053
Date: 1929-1931
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10~900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
Name: Allied Arts Building
725 Church Street
Contributing
The Allied Arts Building was designed by Stanhope Johnson, Ray Brannan, and Addison Staples.
It is a steel-framed structure, faced with yellow brick and greenstone. It is seventeen stories tall
with its vertical axis emphasized by attenuated piers defining recessed bays; the piers, extending
from the fourth story to the sixteenth, are alternating widths of broad and narrow, with the broad
piers corresponding to the steel frame within the building. The main facade, only 40' wide, is on
Church Street, while the side elevations extend back 132' into the steep hillside between Church
and Court streets. The first three stories of the facade are clad in greenstone, the fourteen stories
above it are yellow brick, and attic story is greenstone.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0054
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Hygeia Hospital
Piedmont Hotel
United American Holdings
80 I Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial building has a flat roof with a bracketed cornice. The
windows on the third and second stories are segmental arched 1/1 sash windows of different
sizes. The first story has three 20-light bay windows and an off-center entrance; the entry has a
single leaf door with I-light sidelights, a segmental arched transom, and an awning.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0055
Date: 1915
Name: Beasley Building/Mosby Building
815 Church Street
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Contributing
This four story, five bay brick commercial/office building has a hipped roof with deep eaves and
bracketed cornice. The bays are defined by alternating projecting and recessed planes, on the
second and third stories, each with one 1/1 sash window on each floor; the windows have
sandstone sills and keystones. The projecting bays have coursed brick courses along the height
of the bays. The upper facade is separated from the lower facade by a sandstone beltcourse. It
has two square casement windows with arched transoms on either side of the central door which
also has an arched transom; there is quoining around the each arched transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0056
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Medical Building, 823 Church Street
Commercial Building, 823 Church Street
Contributing
This four story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof and parapet above a deep
bracketed cornice. The first story is cast, coursed stone with a central double leaf door with
pedimented surround flanked on either side by a tripartite double hung sash window; it is
separated from the second floor by a belt course. There are three tripartite double hung sash
windows with jack arches and keystones on both the second and third stories; the third story is
separated from the fourth by a cast stone belt course. The fourth floor windows, below the
cornice, have quoined surrounds.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0057
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Commercial Building, 829 Church Street
Non-contributing
· This three story brick commercial building has been significantly altered with vinyl siding and
vinyl replacement windows on the second and third stories.
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form t0.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _J]__
I.D Number: 118-5163-0058
Date: 1931
Name: Lynchburg News & Daily Advance Building
US Post Office
863 Church Street
Contributing
Formerly known as the News and Daily Advance Building, this building was designed by Robert
M. Allen, a Roanoke architect, and is four stories tall by five bays wide. It has a flat roof and a
parapet conceals the fourth story. The five bays of the facade are articulated by a recessed
window openings with cast iron grillwork framed by incised buttresses which emphasize the
verticality of the building. In the central bay, above the main entrance, there is a bas relief
allegorical figure which holds the lamp of learning. The facade of the building is concrete block,
but the rear is brick.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0059
Date: 1924-1925
Name: Monument Terrace
Ninth Street
Contributing
Monument Terrace is a grand staircase extending along the Ninth Street axis between Church
and Court Streets. It is on axis with the 1851 Greek Revival Courthouse at the top of Courthouse
Hill. Monument Terrace was designed by Aubrey Chesterman in 1924 and was built on the site
of August Forsberg's Fireman's Fountain and its encircling steps of 1880s. The classical design
of the cascading stair is articulated with Baroque details like the balusters, the scrolls, and the
statuary. The most prominent statue is the Doughboy, or The Listening Post, which was installed
in 1926. It is on the site of the original pool and fountain at the base of the staircase.
Secondary Resources Description:
Contributing Statues - 3
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024,0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section __J_ Page __L,
Non-contributing Statues - 2 (post 1950)
I.D Number: 118-5163-0060
Date: 1909-1912
Name: United States Post Office/Courthouse
Monument Terrace Building
901 Church Street
Contributing
Three-story neoclassical structure with rusticated stone base. Brick above base. Flared hipped
roof of standing seam metal. Arched windows and entrance on first floor. Designed by James
Knox Taylor, supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0061
Date: 1975 ca
Name: Elevator, 919 Church Street
Non-contributing
Two-story elevator used to get from parking lot on Church Street to lot on Court Street.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0062
Date: 1960
Name: Office Building, 925 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story, brick veneer building with flat roof and aluminum windows and doors.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0063
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-%0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _J2._
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Preston, Doctor, Office
Commercial Building, 927 Church Street
Contributing
This two story, three bay brick commercial building has a steeply pitched hipped roof with
finials. The facade is defined by two end bays projecting slightly from the central bay. A
molded belt course separates the first from the second floor and unifies the facade. The double
leaf door is located in the left end bay and is set with an arched surround; the window in the
central bay and the window in the other end bay is also in an arched surround. The first story has
coursed brick corbelling. In the second floor, in the central bay, there is a tripartite window and
in each of the end bays there is one 1/1 double hung sash window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0064
Date: 1950 post
Name: Office Building, 1003 Church Street
Non-contributing
This five story masonry office building has a flat roof and a six story elevator shaft on the side.
The lower facade is separated from the upper four stories by a aluminum marquee. The metal
facade consists of a grid pattern of windows and recesses emphasizing different planes.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0065
Date: 1915 ca
Name: The Younger Building
1019 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof, stepped parapet, and a
bracketed cornice with pent roof. The third story has a central pair of craftsman style windows
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn J0.900
United States Department or the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
flanked, on either side, by a tripartite craftsman style window. The second story has a single
central craftsman style window with an arched panel above it flanked by tripartite craftsman style
windows. The lower facade is separated from the upper facade by different color brick and a
course of corbelled brick patterning. The lower facade is divided in to three bays by brick
pilasters between fixed storefront windows. The off-center door has an awning extending over
the sidewalk.
LD Number: I 18-5163-0066
Date: 1897
Name: Hill City Masonic Lodge
The Ward Building
Vacant Building, 1025 Church
Contributing
This three story brick office building has a flat roof and balustrade above a deep cornice with
modillions. The upper facade is divided into two bays by two pairs of two story recessed arched
bays with inset windows; the windows in the third story are arched and those in the second are
rectangular 1/1 sash windows. Corbelled brick panels separate them. The upper facade is
separated from the lower facade by a molded brick belt course. In the lower facade has a central
arched entry with terracotta surround. It is flanked on either side by inset window panels.
LD Number: 118-5163-0067
Date: 1900 ca
Name: The Terrell Apartments/fhe Wattles Apartments
Commonwealth Bail Bonds
1101 Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial/office building has a flat roof with bracketed cornice and a
curved facade which addresses its comer site. The fenestration pattern is varied with different
sizes of 1/1 sash windows on the three stories. The principal entry is at 300 Eleventh Street
where there is an arched entry with ornate terracotta surround. There are two recessed entries on
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
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the Church Street facade which flank a central projecting bay below a terracotta tablet with egg
and dart border.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0068
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Virginia Cigar Company
Jones and Reynolds, PC
1103 Church Street
Contributing
This two story brick commercial building has a flat roof, three sliding windows on the second
floor, and four fixed windows on the first. It has three doors - the door to 1103 has one light, the
door to 1105 has 3-lights and 4-panels, and the third door has been infilled.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0069
Date: 1905 ca
Name: Monticello Hotel
Commercial Building, 1107 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with parapet. The windows
on the third story consists of a row of six segmented arched 6/1 sash windows with sandstone
sills and keystones. The windows on the second story are rectangular 1/1 sash windows with
sandstone sills and keystones. The upper facade is separated from the lower by a corbelled brick
belt course and brick quoins on the comers. The lower facade has an arched opening on either
side of the central entrance.
The arched openings have tripartite windows with infilled transoms. The central door surround
has fluted pilasters supporting an entablature with metopes and triglyphs. There is double leaf
with one light transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0070
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10·900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024·0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Date: 1905 ca
Name: Burroughs Building
Commercial Building, 1109 Church Street
Contributing
This three story brick commercial building has a flat roof. The upper facade of the building is
defined by comer quoining, segmental arched 1/1 sash windows on the third story, and
rectangular 1/1 sash windows on the second. The windows on both stories have sandstone sills,
and keystones set within the jack arches. The lower facade is separated from the upper by a
corbelled brick belt course. The two windows on the first story are fixed arched windows with
keystones. Two arched door openings flank the central door opening with a classical surround
composed of fluted pilasters supporting a cornice with metopes and triglyphs.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0071
Date: 1980 ca
Name: Thomhills
1117 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story brick veneer with flat roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0072
Date: 1980 ca
Name: ABC Store
112 l Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story brick veneer with flat roof and arcade.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _il._
I.D Number: 118-5163-0073
Date: 1917 ca
Name: YWCA Building
606 Church Street
Contributing
This brick, five story building is divided into three bays by its window groupings. On the facade,
the central portico has full architrave, dentiled cornice, low balustrade. A pair of two full length
windows with round arch openings, decorative round arched hoods, and oversize console
keystones flank the entry on each side. The second floor 8/8 windows are topped by blind round
arches with raised keystones and the third floor windows are also 8/8. A blank cartouch is
centered above the third story central bay. The fourth floor 6/6 windows are capped by flat
soldier course brick heads. The fourth story windows rest on a continuous stucco belt course. A
flat roof with a dentiled frieze and a deep bracketed cornice. Side elevation: exposed basement
with similar window articulation. Each of the three bays has a grouping of three windows. Those
in the central bay have arched openings on each floor. The windows in the flanking bays are
identical to those on the facade.
Rear elevation: exposed basement divided into three bays by four paired, 4/4 windows. The
windows on the first floor are full length with round arch openings. Two of the windows on the
second floor have blind arches, those in the central bay do not. The 8/8 windows of the third and
fourth floor have no decorative articulation. The frieze and cornice do not continue around the
back.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0074
Date: 1945 ca
Name: C & P Telephone
AT&T
700 Church Street
Contributing
This is a five story masonry office building; the top two stories, which have little surface
articulation were added at a later date. The second and third stories are defined by projecting end
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
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bays, with recessed window openings, flanking five bays with the same articulation. The first
story is separated from the second by a belt course which has marble planters. The off-center
door has an ornate carved green marble Art Deco door surround.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0075
Date: 1970s
Name: Bell Atlantic
706 Church Street
Non-contributing
Five-story, steel frame and concrete office building with flat roof.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0076
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Virginian Hotel
726 Church Street
Contributing
This is a six story brick hotel building. The ground floor is defined by segmented arched bays of
various widths framing the doors and storefront windows. It is separated from the upper facade
by a decorative iron store cornice and entablature. The five stories in the upper facade are pierced
by alternating paired windows and single windows. The roof is defined by a projecting cornice
with modilions. On the Church Street elevation there is a two bay garage section that is visually
separated from the facade by corbelled brick work.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0077
Date: 1980 ca
· Name: Parking Deck, 800 Church Street
Non-contributing Structure
(Rev, lo.90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
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Two-level, concrete parking deck.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0078
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Commercial Building, 820 Church Street
Contributing
This four story brick commercial building has a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The windows
on the third and fourth stories are arched 1/1 double hung sash. The first and second story
windows are rectangular 1/1 double hung sash windows - those on the first have arched
surrounds. There is an off-center double leaf aluminum and plate glass door with an awning. The
upper facade is stuccoed and the lower facade is brick.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0079
Date: 1933
Name: United States Post Office and Courthouse
City Hall
900 Church Street
Contributing
This is a four story, free-standing, Neoclassical municipal building with a rusticated ground floor.
The basement is exposed, but only on the sides. The main entrance is three bays wide with
double-leaf bronze doors; the transoms have bronze grates. The windows at basement level are
6/6; the windows from the ground floor to the fourth floor are paired, 4/4. The windows are
recessed between Ionic pilasters, 13 across the facade and 7 across each side. The corners are
stepped back on the facade and there is one 4/4 window per floor. There is a continuous dentilled
cornice; on the facade, there is a segmented balustrade.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0080
Date: 1935-1940
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Name: Phillips Business School
1000 Church Street
210 Tenth Street
Contributing
This four story building has been encased in a modem metal frame and plastic tile covering.
There is a recessed entry with metal overhang.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0081
Date: 1960 ca
Name: Parking Lot with Enclosed Stair, 1008 Church Street
Non-contributing
One-story steel frame and plate glass on brick base with flat roof.
Secondary Resource
A one-story concrete block attendant's shed with flat roof.
Non-contributing
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0082
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Doctor's Offices, !016 Church Street
The Professional Building
Contributing
This is a three story, three bay commercial building with a bracketed cornice below the flat
roofline. The first story windows flanking the recessed entry have been boarded up. The second
and third story windows are 10/l and those on the second story have awnings. There is running
bond on the facade and there is quoining on the comers from second story to cornice. There is
five course American bond brickwork, asymmetrical windows with segmental arches, and
(Rev, 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section ......L. Page _il_
centrally placed light well with fire escape on the side elevation.
LD Number: l 18-5163-0083
Date: 1915 ca
Name: Clark Building
1100 Church Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay, masonry building has a central entrance defined by engaged ionic
columns supporting a full entablature and cornice. The door is double-leaf with a cast concrete
surround, 3/ I light with transom and sidelights. Flanking the entrance on either side are singleleaf, cast concrete doors (now boarded-up), with transom and sidelights. The second and third
story window configuration is a single central window flanked on either side by a pair of 1/ I,
double hung sash windows. There is a bracketed cornice with diamond patterning at the flat
roofline, above which is a parapet. The five course American bond is accented with concrete
details throughout the facade. The 11th Street elevation continues the same window articulation
as the facade. The cornice wraps around this side as well. The lowest level has one store front.
LD Number: 118-5163-0084
Date: 1920-1925
Name: National Tire and Rubber Company
Bowman Locksmith Company
1104 Church Street
Contributing
This is a one story, brick Art Moderne service station with a porte cochere extending over one
bay supported by one metal column with Art Moderne capital; this bay has an off-center, single
leaf door. There are three nine-light fixed metal windows with central pivot sections. The facade
has glazed brick veneer with a four course pattern above the bays. There are two roll-up wooden
garage doors. The roof is flat. Interior features original shelving, counters and cabinetry. There is
a rear, basement level garage door.
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
l.D Number: 118-5163-0085
Date: 1925 ca
Name: Odd Fellows Hall
Benchmark Systems
1112 Church Street
Contributing
This is a three story (+ attic) brick I-shaped commercial building and meeting hall. It has a three
part facade with a rusticated concrete first floor with recessed central entrance flanked by a pair
of tri-partite windows with broken transoms on either side. There is an arched transom with
scroll keystone above the entrance. The door and window surrounds are cast stone. There are
awnings above the entrance and first floor windows. The three part piano nobile is divided by
Ionic pilasters separating five double hung sash windows; four of the windows have segmented
pediments, the central window has a triangular pediment. The attic level is pierced by openings
between the pilasters. There is a dentilled and molded cornice only on the facade. Side and rear
have 2/2 double hung, sash windows. The initials "I.0.0.F." are incised in the entablature
I.D Number: 118-5163-0086
Date: 1945 ca
Name: Vaughan Motor Company
Jon Bob's Garage
1124 Church Street
Contributing
The former Vaughan Motor Company building is a one story, concrete block building with brick
veneer. On the storefront, there is one single-leaf, aluminum and plate-glass door and three
aluminum and plate glass windows. On the rear of the building there are three aluminum and
plate glass roll-up garage doors, one single leaf aluminum and plate glass door and two
aluminum and plate glass windows. Below the flat roof is a series of brick bands. There is one
interior masonry flue chimney.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0087
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
Date: 1931-1932
Name: City Auditorium and Armory
1210 Church Street
Contributing
Church Street, facade elevation: two story, three part composition, with brick and concrete
entrance pavilions flanking the central part. Each pavilion has heavy brick piers (pierced on each
side by a shallow arched recess within a smooth-faced gabled surround) framing an arched,
recessed rusticated greens tone entry. Above the arched doorway is a cluster of three narrow,
lancet windows with metal grating. Between the end pavilions is a series of buttress-like piers
separating the windows. The windows in each of the nine arched bays are multi-light, fixed and
sash. The roofline of the central part is lower than that of the pavilions; the roof is flat.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0088
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Jennings & Co., Grains
Kimball's
Kim's Deli I Chris Shoe Repair Shop
709-711 Main Street
Contributing
Commercial-Italianate. Third floor has segmental arch windows; second floor has rectangular
three-part windows; recessed box panels of brick and cornice level. Two shopfront entrances.
First floor facade altered in the mid-20th century.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0089
Date: 1800-1825
Name: Leftwich-Brown House
Singer Building
Purity Market
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _J_ Page _fill_
D & G's House of Fashion
Sino's Inn
713-715 Main Street
Contributing
This 3-story, 6-bay brick building has a parapeted gable roof, twin interior end chimneys, doublehung sash windows with splayed lintels on the second and third stories. These features date from
the early-19th-century. The facade, with its ronning-bond veneer, was altered to include two
distinct storefronts in the mid-20th century. The storefront of 711 Main has been dramatically
altered with a jack-arched storefront surround with quoins. The storefront has been angled and
has plate glass windows set on quarter walls which flank a central door. The storefront of 713 is
completely glazed with plate glass windows flanking a central door below an awning.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0090
Date: 1912-1914
Name: People's National Bank
First and Merchants National Bank
Bank of America
801 Main Street
Contributing
This is a 10 story, three bay concrete commercial building It has a granite base with double
height engaged Ionic columns, bracketed window hoods, coursed ashlar, a full entablature below
a denti!led cornice that separates the upper from the lower facade. The upper facade is separated
into two parts; the lower portion defined by three groupings of two sash windows. The upper
portion, separated from the lower by a cornice with a central cartouche and <lentils, is defined by
double height engaged Corinthian columns and Corinthian pilasters supporting a full entablature
and molded metal cornice with modillions and <lentils.
The Eighth Street facade has double height engaged Doric columns defining the nine bays.
There are sunburst screens on the windows in the first floor, metal balustrades, and grills on the
basement windows.
I.D Number: ! 18-5163-009!
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No, 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _J_ Page _5_1_
Date: 1885-1897
Name: Lewis, John H., Law Office
Commercial Building, 813 Main Street
Contributing
This two story, one bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with parapet above a deeply
projecting stepped eave. The lower facade has been altered with an aluminum roll-up garage door
below an applied signboard. The upper facade has two louvered windows each with an arched
hood; there is corbelled brick detail below the eave. The whole facade has been stuccoed.
{1D Number: 118-5163-0092
Date: 1880s
Name: Bigie Bros. & Co., Inc.
Jackson Drug Store
Commercial Building, 815 Main Street
Contributing
Although the cornice of the building has been removed and replaced with an aluminum strip, the
recessed, segmental arch 1/1 windows and the incised lancet brick piers with terra cotta rosettes
still survive from the original construction. The 1950s storefront is capped by a large plastic sign.
l.D Number: l 18-5163-0093
Date: 1885 ca
Name: Robinson & Tate, Grocers
Kastan's
Sil-0-ette
More Fresh Air/Mr; John's
817 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev.10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department oC the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No, 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page _fil_
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with a decorative cornice
with brackets and shell detail on the corner brackets. There are two discreet storefronts below a
corbelled store cornice which divides the upper and lower facades. The left storefront has two
fixed plate glass windows framing a single leaf aluminum door. There is a single light transom
below a separate multi-light carrara glass transom. The right store front is wider than the left and
has been veneered. In it, there are fixed, curved plate glass windows on marble half walls
framing a single leaf, aluminum door with terrazo inlay on the entry floor.
Three arched windows span the second and third floors in the upper facade; the windows have
been boarded up. There is reeding in the piers between the windows, and corbelling above the
arches.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0094
Date: 1890s
Name: Building, 819 Main Street
Non-Contributing
Four-story, brick veneer. Replacement windows and new storefront along with brick veneer have
altered this 1890s structure to a modern appearance.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0095
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Singer Building
Wrenn's
Wills-Camp/Depot, The
821 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story, three-bay facade with an elaborate bracketed cornice with dentil moldings
and embellished comer brackets. The lower facade has been altered with plate glass two-light
windows flanking a single light door with transom below a stamped metal store cornice. There
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-90-0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
windows flanking a single light door with transom below a stamped metal store cornice. There
are three window openings with rectangular hood molds in both the second and third stories;
there is no glass in these windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0096
Date: 1885 ca
Name: Lynchburg Trust & Savings Bank
Pencil Inc.
Davenport
823 Main Street
Contributing
This is a two story brick commercial building with three fixed, single light windows on the first
floor below a stuccoed sign tablet, and two double hung sash 1/1 windows on the second floor.
The lower facade is stuccoed below the brick upper facade with elaborate corbelled brickwork:
an entablature and cornice with dentil moldings set on a corbelled base; above that is an incised
square pattern below another, less-deep, denticulated cornice and parapet.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0097
Date: 1910 ca
Name: The Belvedere
Oppleman, L., Pawn Broker
Davenport and Company
825 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building with an altered storefront: the stuccoed storefront
has, on either side of the central door with arched surround, one fixed, single light window. In the
upper facade, there are two sets of paired, double hung sash windows below a ribbon of three
arched windows with corbelled surrounds; the center window has a metal louver. There is a
bracketed cornice with dentil moldings below the parapet which has a three-part incised square
pattern of three squares wide by two high.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section ___J_ Page _M_
I.D Number: 118-5163-0098
Date: 1905
Name: Krise Building/American National Bank
Bowen Jewelers
827-829 Main Street
Contributing
This seven story masonry bank and office building was one of Lynchburg's earliest skyscrapers.
Its design adheres to the standard early 20th century skyscraper design with a distinct base, shaft,
and capital components. The rusticated base has a central entrance on the Ninth Street facade
and a new, comer entrance on the Main Street facade. The Ninth Street entrance, with its broken
pediment surround, was the original entrance to the American National Bank on the first floor of
the building. The entrance on Main Street has been altered from a central arched opening to the
new comer entrance. The shaft of the building, separated from the base and capital by belt
courses, consists of five stories. The Ninth Street side has a central bay flanked by two
projecting bays; the Main Street facade has three pairs of six windows on each floor. The capital
consists of one story with quoined window openings separated by terra cotta cartouches. There is
deep overhanging bracketed cornice with modillions. Built in 1905 for the Krise Banking
Company, this early skyscraper building was the tallest structure in Lynchburg and was marketed
as being a fire-proof structure, utilizing the latest developments in construction and design.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0099
Date: 1915-1916
Name: Old Fidelity National Bank
Lynchburg National Bank
VA Legal Aid Society
The Greenwood Partnership
901 Main Street
Contributing
This is a two story, three bay bank building with its front on Main Street; it extends five bays
(Rev. 10-9-0)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7_ Page~
along Ninth Street. The street facades are faced with coursed stone and the whole is capped with
an elaborately detailed copper cornice with modillions, incised <lentils and heavy paired brackets;
the seventh story also is elaborately detailed with cast window surrounds and cartouches on both
facades. In both facades, the upper and lower facades are separated by an egg and dart and Greek
key course; the upper facade has comer quoins, paired sash windows with keystones; the
lower facades are stone veneer and have an arcade of cast concrete window and door surrounds.
The upper facade, on Ninth Street, has two projecting bays that extend from the second floor to
the sixth and are topped by metal balustrades. There are two entries: a comer entry at the
intersection of Ninth and Main with a quoined concrete corner pier, and a central entry on the
Ninth Street facade with an ornately detailed cast concrete surround with a broken pediment.
Constructed by the well-known architect Alfred C. Bossom, this bank stands at the most
prominent corner of the commercial district.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0100
Date: 1895
Name: Williams News Company
Tyree News Company
Peters News Company
Alper's Men's Wear
Main Street Eatery
907 Main Street
Contributing
This commercial structure was refaced with scored stucco ca. 1950 on the second and third levels
(or it could be enameled aluminum panels). There are flush individual letters at stringcourse level
which spell out the name of the shop.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0101
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Coleman's Shoes
L. Oppleman
Designer Labels for Less
909 Main Street
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page~
Contributing
Highly decorative brick commercial building, have triple arcading articulating its 8/1 & l/1
windows, 3rd story windows are semicircular arch, 2nd story gauged brick jack arches, both with
keystones and quoining. The cornice is of corbelled brick with three oculii on corbelled brick
panels. The shopfront was remodelled in 1979 as above described.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0102
Date: 1890 ca
Name: Ainslie and Martin
Baldwin's
911 Main Street
Contributing
This building was covered over ca. 1950-1960 with horizontal aluminum siding on the second
and third stories. Although the original facade is not now visible, the siding could easily be
removed. The remodeled shopfront appears to date from 1970-1979, and is described above.
l.D Number: 118-5163-0103
Date: 1905
Name: National Exchange Bank
Buckingham-Flippen
919 Main Street
Contributing
The facade of the building was covered with aluminum siding 1950-1960 ca, obliterating the
original facade; however, the siding can be easily removed. The fascia is covered with 1940s
carrara-like substance, has a 1940s flush script sign above the aforementioned shopfront.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0104
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10.900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1.. Page _fil._
Date: 1895 ca
Name: Franklin, S.H., Inc.
Hooks Associates
921 Main Street
Contributing
The facade of the building is embellished by stucco panels, corbelled brick piers, 9/9 windows on
the third floor and a three part picture window on the second floor.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0105
Date: 1980 ca
Name: One Valley Bank
925 Main Street
Non-contributing
Two-story brick veneer bank building with flat roof and central arch.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0106
Date: 1970 ca
Name: Lynchburg Camera
1009 Main Street
Non-contributing
One story brick, two bay commercial block building with one single leaf vinyl door and one
fixed, vinyl window. Sloped roof. Five course American bond on side and rear.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0107
Date: 1935 ca
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Fonn 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-00IS
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _7 Page _g_
Name: Leggetts
Roberts Piano
1011-1017 Main Street
Contributing
This large, three story brick structure is covered with marble veneer that obscures the original
windows of the upper two stories. There is a metal marquis that extends across the remodeled
aluminum and plate glass store front. The rear of the building has five course American bond
brickwork.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0108
Date: 1900-1910
Name: Webb-Whitaker Company
Maloney, Webb, & Whitaker, Clothiers
Famous Inc.
1019 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building with a parapet, deep bracketed metal cornice
above geometric marble inlay of diamonds and rectangles. The upper facade is defined by
corbelled brick quoining; the central portion of the upper facade has eight fixed windows. There
is an applied sign panel and awning separating the storefront and the upper facade. The
storefront has a recessed entry framed by plate glass windows on quarter walls; the entry floor
has parquet tile.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0109
Date: 1887
Name: Lynchburg Furniture Co.
Reliable/Schewe! 's Colonial Comer
1021-1023 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev. 10·90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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This is a four story, seven bay brick commercial building with an ornate cast iron facade. The
facade is divided into two unequal parts of four bays and three bays. The bays are defined by
Egyptian-style columns supporting a cornice at each floor. The bracketed cornice at the roofline
is larger and deeper than those below and the entablature below it has recessed panels. The
roofline of the three bay addition has a parapet with recessed panels and urns.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0110
Date: 1900
Name: Guggenheimer's Big Store
Schewel's Furniture Store
1027-1031 Main Street
Contributing
Originally the building had a corbelled and scalloped brick cornice as is evidenced along the side
elevation. The main facade was covered with blocked aluminum siding ca. 1950-1960 with no
openings except for the street level entrance. A flush metal sign is affixed to the facade. The
storefront appears to date from the late 1940s to early 1950s. The storefront has plate glass
display windows.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0111
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Sheard's Beauty Shop
Kunz Jewelers
Won's Wig Center
1101-1103 1/2 Main Street
Contributing
Plain stucco facade ca. 1950 with flush signs. Each of the storefronts is different, dating from the
l 950s- l 960s. Carrara like glass surrounds two of the shopfronts, the third is brick. A large plate
glass window on the north (11th street) elevation has been covered up.
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I.D Number: 118-5163-0112
Date: 1900 ca
Name: J.F. Wood and Brothers
St. Clair, Optician
Chicago Hi-Fashions
Brown's Salon
1105-1105 1/2 Main Street
Non-contributing
Devoid of any ornamentation due to the permastone siding applied ca. 1940-1960. The parapet
was filled with permastone. There is a single opening, now boarded, in the center of the facade
and a flat topped entrance bay on street level.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0113
Date: 1880-1890
Name: Ehrich's
1107 Main Street
Contributing
The building has a bracketed Italianate wood cornice with scrolled end pieces. The boarded up
windows have segmental arches with flat wood window caps. The shopfront is compatible in
design to the building and appears to date from the 1940s.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0114
Date: 1950
Name: Kresge Department Store
Vogue Ready-to-Wear
J.C. Bradford and Company
900-904 Main Street
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Contributing
This two story, one bay brick commercial building has a fixed, plate glass storefront with two
windows framing a recessed double leaf, single light aluminum and plate glass door. Above the
aluminum canopy/marquis separating the first and second floors, the facade is covered with
aluminum panels that have been added and could be removed. The roof is sloped; along the side
elevation is deco patterned brickwork.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0115
Date: 1880s
Name: A. Accorsini
Revco Drug Center
CVS
902 Main Street
Contributing
This building is quite decorative with modillion/denticular cornice, full entablature with terracotta embellishments, supported by brick pilasters with terracotta cartouches. The 1/1 windows
are slightly recessed with brick and terracotta panels. The first floor was remodeled ca. 1960 to a
three-part glass window with stucco base and fascia.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0116
Date: 1895
Name: F.M. Kirby and Company
Woolworth
Strother Drug Co.
Kresge Building
Revco Drug Center
CVS Drug Store
904 Main Street
Contributing
(Rev. J0.90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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The building has as its most prominent feature a two-level oriel with flared hip roof in the center
of the facade. It has a scrolled bracket cornice, full entablature with terracotta swags & garlands,
on the fascia, semi-circular arch windows on the third level with fluted impost block sand
incised, enlarged, keystones, 9/9 windows on the second floor. The first floor was altered.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0117
Date: 1895
Name: Guggenheimers, Strother Drug Co.
Jewel Box
Carlyle & Co.
Fashion Plus
906 Main Street
Contributing
This building is very decorative with an Eastlake style modillion cornice with incised scroll style
brackets and stops, corbelled brick and terra cotta embellishments above the recessed segmental
arch windows. A corbelled stringcourse with terracotta rosettes divides the 2nd and 3rd stories.
The segmental and semicircular arch second story windows have stepped brick lintels. The 19601970 storefront has three part plate glass shop window.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0118
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Neisner Brothers Department Store
RDR Discount City
Spanky's Restaurant
908-912 Main Street
Contributing
Vertical metal facade covering the second floor with flush plastic signs advertising the name of
the store. It appears to have been built in the mid-20th century.
I.D Number: I 18-5163-0119
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Date: 1880 ca
Name: Kinckle, F.A., Shoes
D. Moses and Company
Coleman Shoes
First Union
916-918 Main Street
Contributing
This double brick building has an ornate brick facade with ornamental terra cotta panels at
cornice level, corbelled brick quoining, incised and terra-cotta embellished pilasters dividing the
paired and single windows; terra cotta garlonad and rosette panels embellished the spandrels.
The ca. 1960-1975 shopfront is made up of plate glass windows and stucco end piers.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0120
Date: 1900 ca
Name: Shearer Brothers
McGehee Furniture Company
920-922 Main Street
Contributing
In 1955 ca. the building was covered with vertical/corrugated aluminum siding on the second
through fourth stories. A script letter sign is flush with the building. The shopfront also appears
to date from the late 1950s or early 1960s.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0121
Date: 1880-1900
Name: Union Trust and Deposit Company
Lynchburg Manufacturing Company
Wilkens Printing Company
S.V. Fisher Sporting Goods
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Gills & Anderson, Shoes
Haley's Antiques
1024 Main Street
Contributing
This four-story brick structure has an elaborate Eastlake/Italianate cornice with incised brackets,
flared gable roof marking the center of the facade, terra cotta banding, terra-cotta panels above
the side windows, stone banded pilasters, segmental arch and semi-circular arch stone window
hoods on the second and third stories, multi-paned transom on center window and corbelled brick
string courses. Shopfront was recently altered.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0122
Date: 1930 ca
Name: Sears
Grand Piano Furniture Clearance Center
Scarlett's Antique Store
1026 Main Street
Contributing
This brick building was sheathed with vertical aluminum siding across the entire facade ca. 195565, leaving only the cornice visible from the original facade. The cornice has a full entablature.
Flush metal letters advertising the store are affixed to the siding. The shopfront also appears to
date from the remodeling.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0123
Date: 1908-1909
Name: Mutual Savings Bank & Trust
Pepper's Restaurant
The Bank
1030 Main Street
This small, one-bay Neoclassical-style bank is designed in the "vault" genre of banks with its
(Rev. 10-90)
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National Park Service
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large, central-arched opening.
Contributing
LD Number: 118-5163-0124
Date: 1910
Name: Old City Auditorium/Market
Advance Auto Store
Vacant Building, 1112-1116 Main Street
Contributing
This three story, 7-bay brick commercial building in the Italian Palazzo Revival style has at the
first floor level a four part arcade; behind the first floor arcade, a double leaf plate glass and
aluminum door and storefront windows have been added. The piano nobile and the attic story are
still as they originally appeared. There are, at the piano nobile, five arched bays of corbelled brick
each with a pair of double hung 9/9 sash windows, each with an arched marble details above.
The brick bays at each comer enframe the central grouping of windows, there is one double hung
12/12 sash window in each bay at the piano nobile. In the attic level, there are 7 square fixed
windows below the deep, bracketed eave and the flat roof parapet. Inset in the attic story,
between the square windows are marble diamonds.
LD Number: 118-5163-0125
Date: 1895 ca
Name: A&P
Grampa's Paperback Books
Treasure Chest
1120 Main Street
Contributing
This is a three story brick commercial building. The first floor has two fixed aluminum and plate
(Rev. 10-90)
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glass windows, one central single-leaf plate glass and aluminum door and one single-leaf wood
side door. The transom above the wood side door has been filled with plywood and the transom
above the metal door is single light. There are three 1/1 double hung sash windows on each floor
in the upper facade and each is defined by a brick soldier course above and below the sills. There
is a brick soldier course below the projecting wood cornice. The flat roof has a stepped parapet.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0126
Date: 1910 ca
Name: Piggly Wiggly/Fauber and Graves
Kulman 's, David, Clothing
The Right Barber Shop
The Wig Center
1122-1124 Main Street
Contributing
The brick double building has twin facades which are identical. The brick parapets project
slightly above the corbelled brick and stucco cornice strips. The window bays are slightly
recessed, and 3rd story windows are 1/1, second story windows are picture windows with 5-Iight
transoms.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0127
Date: 1940 ca
Name: Stone and Ragland Filling Station
First Virginia Bank
1115 Commerce Street
Contributing
This one and one-half story, stucco building has exterior-end chimney on either gable-end. There
is a porte cochere supported by two square piers projecting from the asphalt shingled roof. On
the rear, there are two gable dormers with 4/4 single sash windows.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0128
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Date: 1870-1880
Name: Herbert & Taylor Attoumey
310 Fifth Street
Contributing
This is a two story, ell-shaped residential building with a flat roof; it has a cornice with
modilions. The window openings are segmental arched openings with 1/1 double hung sash
windows. The single leaf door has a I-light segmental arched transom.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0129
Date: 1890 ca
Name: The Garrett
307 Seventh Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has a flat roof with parapet and a projecting two story
bay. The bracketed cornice has a decorative entablature with louvered panels. The arched
window openings, on both floors, have 1/1 sash windows and jack arches. There is a two story
wrought iron porch with wrought iron steps, and fence, as well. There is a basement door with
pedimented portico.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0130
Date: 1895 ca
Name: House, 309 Seventh Street
Contributing
This two story brick residential building has flat roof, parapet, and deeply projecting cornice with
large modillions and an entablature with scroll brackets and terra cotta detail. The windows on
both the first and second floors have jack arches, multi-pane upper sashes over two vertical panes
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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in the lower sash; there are four in the second floor and four in the first. The off-center door has
a pedimented portico supported on square columns, sheltering a single leaf door.
I.D Number: l 18-5163-0131
Date: 1890 ca
Name: St. Paul's Vestry House
Episcopal Chapel
308 Seventh Street
Contributing
308 Seventh Street is a single-story Federal style building, with a simple low-pitched gable roof
and a rectangular plan with regular bays of four windows on each side elevation. The front
elevation features a simple pedimented porch cover supported by two scrolled wood brackets.
The front entrance has a symmetrically-placed single, recessed panel wood door with divided
sidelights and transoms. The facade is painted brick, running bond. The windows are 6/6 wood
double hung, with wood sills and louvered wood shutters with metal scroll holdbacks. The roof
is standing seam metal with integral gutters at the cornice- a simple extended overhang with
wood crown trim. It is individually listed on the National Register.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0132
Date: 1925-1926
Name: First Unitarian Church
313 Ninth Street
Contributing
This Gothic-Revival style church was designed by Aubrey Chesterman in 1925-1926. It has a
steeply pitched gable roof, a low belfry tower with steeple, a crenelated parapet, pointed arched
windows and a pointed arched double leaf wood door. There is a fixed pointed arched window
on the gable front. The church extends five bays to the rear with each bay defined by a buttress.
The first bay, closest to the facade has only one pointed arched window while the other four each
have a pair of pointed arched windows.
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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I.D Number: 118-5163-0133
Date: 1940
Name: Grey Top Cab Co.
Landrum's Automotive Service
Lynchburg Visitor's Information Center
216 Twelfth Street
Contributing
Triangular in shape with a curved Art Modeme facade, the building is set back into the southeast
corner of the Jot, has a brick and concrete foundation and a partial basement along the alley side.
The floor is concrete and the walls are brick. The facade consists of a series of convex curves
along the outer edges. The center portion of the facade is a concave curve delineated by fluted
concrete pilasters.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0134
Date: 1923
Name: Salvation Army (former)
300 Twelfth Street
Contributing
This three story, three bay brick commercial building has a flat roof with crenellated parapet.
The facade is divided in to three bays by the projecting end bays which flank the central recessed
bay. On the third story, there is one 9/9 double hung sash window in the end bays and three in the
central bay. Each has a decorative hood molding. On the second story, there is one window in
the left end bay, but not in the right. There is a ribbon of three narrow 9/9 double hung sash
windows on the second story above the entry; it is unified with the entry by a cast concrete
surround. The double leaf door is set within a pointed arch. The building extends eight bays to
the rear and there are buttress separating the pairs of windows in each bay.
I.D Number: 118-5163-0135
Date: 1875
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Name: Bragassa Toy Store
Lynchburg Historical Society
323-325 Twelfth Street
Contributing
The Bragassa Toy Store is an example of a commercial building in the Italianate style built in 1875
during the reconstruction period. The building is a two-story rectangular massed plan 33' x 43' of
brick and stone on a stone foundation. The first floor of the Twelfth Street elevation has a wood and
glass storefront which extends one-bay on Court Street. Although Main Street was the central
business thoroughfare, Mr. Bragassa selected the site because he thought 12th Street would become
a major commercial street of Lynchburg. Adjoining the store on 12th Street was a row of stores of
similar scale and material. These adjoining buildings were demolished and the space is now used
for parking for an ABC store. On Court Street the Bragassa property abuts the First Baptist Church.
Both the toy store and the church are listed individually on the National Register and Virginia
Landmarks Register. The Court Street area was declared a local historic district by the Lynchburg
City Council.
I.D. Number: 118-5163-0136
Date:
1900
ca
Name: Hundley, Wilkens & Bowles, Insurance
212 Eleventh Street
Contributing
This three-story, three-bay brick commercial building features a flat roof with a molded cornice and
paneled entablature. The upper windows are segmental arched with 2/2 lights. The storefront has
been altered with plate-glass-and-aluminum windows and single-leaf door.
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'' nited States Department of the Interior
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8. Statement of Significance
Significant Dates
Court House 1851
Holy Cross Catholic Church 1878-79
Court Street Baptist Church 1879
Lynchburg National Bank 1885
First Baptist Church ) 886
St. Paul's Episcopal Church )889-95
First Presbyterian Church 1899-1902
Court Street United Me1hodist 1899-1902
Krise Building I905
Old City Auditorium and Market 1910
People's National Bank 1912-1914
United States Post Office/Courthouse I919
Monument Terrace 1924-)925
First Unitarian Church 1925-26
AUjed Arts Bujlding 1929- I931
City Armory 1931-)932
United States Post Office 1933
Statement of Significance
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District is located in the historic center of Lynchburg, a
tobacco, manufacturing, and transportation center on the south bank of the James River in the
southern Piedmont region of Virginia. Situated on the steep terrain of the city, the district lies
directly south of the industrial Lower Basin Historic District along the river with residential
neighborhoods on the surrounding hills. With the James River, and later the railroads, providing a
direct link to Richmond and the ports of the Chesapeake Bay, Lynchburg served as a primary
transportation center for tobacco products as well as manufactured goods and supplies from its
founding in the late 181h century through the mid-201h century. Beginning with the establishment of
the town of Lynchburg in 1786 on 45 acres centering on present-day Ninth and Main streets and John
Lynch's deed for a courthouse at Ninth and Court streets in 1805, the area has continuously served
as the governmental, financial, commercial, and religious center of the city. The district extends
along Main, Church, Court, and Clay streets between Fifth and Twelfth streets and consists of
relatively-intact blocks of governmental, commercial, religious, and early residential buildings
ranging in date from the early 191h century to the present. These buildings, with their wide range of
18th, 19th and 20th century styles, including a number of notable high-style examples by well-known
architects, reflect the prosperity of the city throughout this period. The Court House Hill/Downtown
Historic District qualifies for listing on the National Register under Criteria A and C with local
(Rev. 10-90)
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significance in the areas of architecture, commerce, industry, politics/government, and religion, from
the early l 9'h century through the mid-20'h century.
Historical Background
Colony to Nation (1750-1789)
The area of Lynchburg was first settled by Quakers from the Tidewater area and Pennsylvania in the
1750s. John Lynch, the Quaker merchant for whom the city is named, helped to establish the
settlement along the James River with the construction of Lynch's Ferry in 1757. The area served
as a port for the nearby town of New London, which had been established as the Bedford county seat
in 1751, and for the surrounding agricultural region, which was rich in tobacco production. During
the Revolutionary War, Lynch's Ferry served as a shipping point for lead from the mines of western
Virginia (Chambers 1981:6). By the 1780s, bateaux were transporting tobacco down the James
River to Richmond and Lynch's Ferry had expanded to include a tobacco warehouse, a tavern, and
a mill, as well as Lynch's dwelling. In 1785, Lynch established one of the first tobacco inspection
stations west of the Tidewater and the production and manufacturing of tobacco in the Piedmont
region began to surpass that of the Tidewater (Chambers 1981 :7).
After a failed petition in 1784, the town of Lynchburg was established in 1786 as testament to the
continued growth and prosperity of the river settlement. The Act of the General Assembly called
for "forty-five acres of land, the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's ferry" to
be laid out in half-acre lots "with convenient streets and established as a town by the name of
Lynchburg" (Chambers 1981: 10). Robert Stith, surveyor of Bedford and Campbell counties, laid
out the original town into 72 lots bounded by present-day Commerce, Clay, 6th. and l2'h streets. In
June 1787, 22 of the 72 lots were sold at public auction with John Lynch reserving the block at the
center of town between Commerce, Main, 8'\ and 9th streets as well as 14 other lots (Chambers
1981: l 3). It is interesting to note that although Lynchburg was definitely established as a river
settlement, the town did not originally include the land along the river. In giving the land for the
town, Lynch did not include his riverfront property, thereby excluding his valuable ferry, tavern,
warehouse, and mill from any town taxes or regulations. The establishment of three new retailers
in 1788 at Lynch's Ferry instead of Lynchburg illustrates the continued dominance of the riverfront
even after the establishment of the town.
Early National Period (1789-1830)
Although industry continued to focus on the inspection, packing and shipping of tobacco along the
(Rev. 10-90)
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riverfront during the late l8'h and early l 9'h century, the town of Lynchburg slowly began to grow
and diversify. By March 1791, all of the town lots were sold and Richard Venable reported in his
diary that "now there are numbers of small houses and about twenty very good houses" (Chambers
1981: 15). There were also at least 14 stores in Lynchburg by this time as noted in a letter by
Jefferson supporting a petition to relocate the postal route from New London to Lynchburg
(Chambers l 981 :38). By 1816, the population of the settlement had increased dramatically from 500
in 1800 to 3,087 and the town began to outgrow its boundaries. In 1805, the town was incorporated
and the boundaries extended to include additional lots as well as land on the south side of Court
Street which Lynch donated for a courthouse (Greenhorne O'Mara 1994:20). The first courthouse
was built on the site of the present 1851 Lynchburg Court House (118-5163-0018) on Court Street
on axis with Ninth Street on Court House Hill, then known as Lynchburg Hill, in 1813. Despite
this generosity, Lynch objected to petitions in 1816 to extend the town limits north and encompass
his business interests along the river. After additional annexations in 1814 and 1819, the town
finally extended to the James River in 1826 (after Lynch's death in 1820) to include the valuable
industrial section now known as the Lower Basin Historic District.
As the town developed and the population increased, the industry began to diversify. Tobacco
continued to be the primary industry and advances were made with the first permit to process
chewing tobacco granted in 1800 and the development in 1810 of the "breaks" system of inspecting
and auctioning tobacco on site rather than shipping it to Richmond (Chambers 1981:31). By 1827,
there were at least 12 stemmeries and tobacco manufacturers located in town (Chambers 1981:86).
Mills such as the 1828 Lynchburg Manufacturing Company and the 1829 Langhorne Mills also
established along the river to take advantage of the waterpower. Industries related to the building
of the town included Samuel Scott's 1791 sawmill near the center of town and Christopher Lynch's
nearby brick yard in the early 1800s. Other improvements to the city included the replacement of
Lynch's Ferry with the first of many bridges in 1813 and the construction of a water reservoir at
Church and Ninth streets in 1815, followed by the Lynchburg Water Works designed by Albert Stein
in 1828 with the reservoir at Clay and Sixth streets. The center of the city continued to be Ninth
Street, on axis with the 1813 courthouse and with Lynch's Bridge. The first public building, the
1795 Mason's Hall, was located on this axis on Church and the 1814 Market House was on Ninth
between Main and Church streets. By 1817, the commercial trade of the town must have been
thriving as the citizens petitioned to establish a branch of the Bank of the United States. In his letter
of support, Jefferson noted that Lynchburg was "growing more rapidly than any (town) I have ever
know in any country, " calling it "the most interesting spot in the state and the one most entitled to
general patronage for its industry, enterprise and correct course" (Chamber 1981 :39;
Scruggs 1973:33).
Further evidence of the town's development is seen in the establishment of a number of churches
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during this period. Prior to the l 9m century, the only churches in the area were the 17 57 South River
Quaker Meeting House, south of town, and the 1765 Anglican Church between Clay and Court and
Eleventh and Twelfth streets. By the early 1800s, with the Freedom of Religion Act and the
expansion of slavery, the Quakers moved further west and the Anglican Church fell out of favor.
The establishment of churches in the district by the Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Baptist
denominations along Church and Main streets in the first three decades of the 19m century prove the
steady development of the town as well as the diversity of its population. Although none of these
original church buildings survive, many of their congregations still worship in the Court House Hill
area in newer and grander structures. As noted by Richard Venable, there were a number of urban
residences in the early 19m century. While many of the first dwellings were modest, frame structures
with gable ends to the street, several examples of the "very good houses" Venable described still
exist. These larger dwellings typically occupied a large lot surrounded by gardens and dependencies.
The earliest surviving domestic building is the early 19m century Leftwich-Brown House, 713·715
Main Street (118-5163-0089), which was converted to a commercial building at an early date and
gives little evidence of its domestic nature. The Price-Turner House, 523 Clay Street (118-51630001) was constructed in 1814 as a three-bay Federal-style dwelling that was later enlarged in 1834
and remodeled in 1857 with the Greek-Revival porch. This property is unusual in that it retains one
of its dependencies and its rear yard. The 1826 Warwick House, 720 Court Street (118-5163·
0033) and the 1827 Carter Glass House, 605 Clay Street (118-5163-0002} also survive from this
period as examples of large, early l9'h·century houses that illustrate the transition from the Federal
to the Greek-Revival style. Although few buildings from this prosperous period remain today, the
pattern of development that they established, centering along Water Street (Ninth Street), continues
to exist and characterize the district.
Antebellum Period (1830-1860)
The period prior to the Civil War marked a time of tremendous growth and prosperity for Lynchburg
as the tum-of-the-century riverfront settlement expanded with the development of a transportation
network of improved roads, canals, and railroads. Lynchburg became a major commercial and
industrial center. The Salem Turnpike (Fifth Street) connecting Charlottesville to Salem, Virginia
as well as roads east to Richmond, west to Liberty (Bedford}, and northwest to Lexington were all
improved by the time Joseph Martin reported in 1835 that "one of the richest sections of the Union
will find this its most direct route to Atlantic markets" (Martin 1835: 140). In addition to the road,
river traffic was also improved. The James River and Kanawha Canal Company was organized in
1835 with the "First Grand Division" from Richmond to Lynchburg completed in I 840. The
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad began construction in 1840 with Lynchburg serving as the eastern
terminus and center of operations. This line connected eastward to Petersburg in 1854 with the
construction of the Southside Railroad. By 1856, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 Page ----2,L_
completed to Bristol and the 1860 Orange & Alexandria Railroad provided a north-south connection.
By the mid-19th century, Lynchburg was truly "the hub of the Virginia system of railroads" as a
Richmond newspaper reported in 1859 (Lower Basin NR 8:8.1). The canal remained busy as well
with record profits posted in 1853 as it utilized 195 packet and freight boats, 865 men, and 423
horses (Chambers 1981:131).
While the canal and railroad operations were located along the river in the Lower Basin area, the
commercial trade and workers they generated had a far-reaching impact on Lynchburg. The
population increased by 74% from 4,628 in 1830 to 8,071 in 1850 due to the influx of workers
building and operating the canal and railroads as well as the many industries they supported. By
1845, the town boasted three flour mills, one cotton mill, iron foundries, 50 dry good and grocery
stores, and approximately 30 tobacco factories and stemmeries employing nearly 1000 men
(Chambers 1981: 112) As Joseph Martin noted in 1835, Main Street was the principal commercial
street with "almost all of the shops and stores of the town ... situated on this street." (Martin
1835:138). By 1850, the increased population was evident as Richard Edwards reported in his
Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia there were 13 hotels, 15 doctors, 23 lawyers, five
tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and eight stemmeries. In addition to the commercial and
industrial activity, the number of people employed in the construction industry was impressive with
29 house joiners, ten stonecutters, nine bricklayers, eleven plasterers, and six painters employing a
total of 280 men. It has been estimated that "Lynchburg grew and built more in the 1850s than
during all the previous decades combined" (Chambers 1981:130). Lynchburg became incorporated
· in 1848 and received its municipal charter in 1852. In 1851, the Lynchburg Court House (118·
5163-0018) was constructed on the site of the 1813 courthouse on Court and Ninth Street at the crest
of Court House Hill. Designed by W.S. Ellison, chief engineer of the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad, the impressive Greek-Revival style structure with its temple front maintains today that
important axis along Ninth Street that was first established by John Lynch with his ferry.
The prosperity of the period was also reflected in the construction of a number of churches, both for
new denominations as well as established ones that had outgrown their original structures. The first
Catholic parish was organized in 1841 as a result of the many Irish Catholics working to build the
canal (Chambers 1981, 122). In 1842, the Universalist Church formed and constructed a GreekRevival style church on Twelfth Street between Main and Church streets. First Baptist Church and
St. Paul's Episcopal Church both constructed new, larger structures in the 1850s along Church
Street. All that remains of these mid-l 91h century ecclesiastical buildings is the ca. 1850 St. Paul's
Vestry House, 308 Seventh Street (118-5163-0131). This small, one-story brick building with
gable front stands directly behind the greatly-remodeled Gothic-Revival style St. Paul's
Churchffhe Tompkins Apartments (118-5163-0050) designed in 1850 by William S. Ellison on
the site of a former church.
(Rev. l0-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House H.ilL'Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 P a g e ~
As the town grew, the number of domestic dwellings increased as well. In 1835, Martin estimated
between 800 and 900 houses in the area (Martin 1835: 138). By the mid-1800s, many of the modest,
gable-end dwellings of the original town had been replaced and Main Street was almost entirely
commercial. Houses continued to occupy Church, Court, and Clay streets, with many of the newer
residential development occurring outside the city limits on College Hill, Diamond Hill, Garland
Hill, and Daniel's Hill. Within the district, the 1842 Elizabeth Yancey House, 707 Clay Street
(118-5163-0005) and the 1845 Ann Wright House, 701 Clay Street (118-5163-0004) continue to
illustrate the transition from the Federal to the Greek-Revival style.
The Civil War (1860-1865)
Due to the extensive transportation network of the railroads and the canal, Lynchburg served as a
major military and hospital encampment during the Civil War. The large tobacco warehouses,
including Friend's on Church and Tenth streets, served as either indoor training facilities or as
hospitals. Troops encamped on Diamond Hill at Fort Davis, the Fair Grounds, and the campus of
Lynchburg College on College Hill. On June 18, 1864, the General Jubal Early and the local troops
successfully defended the city against Union General David Hunter in the Battle of Lynchburg. In
1865, however, Lynchburg surrendered to Union forces and remained under military rule until 1870.
Reconstruction and Growth (1865-1914)
Lynchburg recovered fairly quickly after the Civil War. As one Richmond journalist reported in
1866, "the old place looks much as it did in the old days, with new buildings and improvements of
various kinds progressing rapidly" (Chambers 1981 :208). After a slight decline in population before
the war due to the development of suburbs outside the city limits, the city annexed five hill
neighborhoods in 1870 and the population increased to 12,010. The city continued to grow and
expand with annexations again in 1900 and 1908 and the population increased steadily, reaching
nearly 30,000 in 1910. During this period, the Court House Hill and Downtown areas developed for
the most part as the district that stands today. In 1872, the city changed the street names from the
original numbered streets and alleys of Richard Stith's 1786 plan to Main, Church, Court, and Clay
with numbered cross streets. Lynchburg also hired its first City Engineer, August Forsberg, who
would be responsible for many civic improvements in the growing city. In 1881, Main Street was
paved with Belgiam stone with other streets, including Court Street, being paved in brick before the
end of the century. By Lynchburg's centennial, Forsberg had constructed the new Clay Street
Reservoir (118-5163-0009), as a larger replacement to the 1829 reservoir, and formalized the Ninth
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department or the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-00\S
Court Hou.se Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8_ Page _J1_
Street approach to the courthouse with the design of formal steps and a fountain at Church and Ninth
streets. Also embellishing this important intersection was the 1891 Romanesque-Revival style
United States Post Office and Court House. This was replaced in 1912 with a new United States
Post Office and Court House (118-5163-0060) in the Neoclassical style. The Confederate
Monument (118-5163-0059) was dedicated in 1900 and established the upper end of the Court
House approach at Court and Ninth streets. During the 1880s and 1890s, horse-drawn trolleys
provided public transportation in the downtown area and the Lynchburg and Rivermont Street
Railway Company began service in 1890 from the northwest end of Main Street out Rivermont
Avenue to the newly-developed residential suburbs.
The period of reconstruction was also a period of redefinition for Lynchburg's industries and
transportation facilities. Most notable was the merger of the various railroads in the 1870s and the
closing of the James River and Kanawha Canal in 1880. ·With the consolidation of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the Southside, and the Norfolk and Petersburg that led to the eventual merger
with the Shenandoah Railroad that created the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1873, Lynchburg was
no longer the headquarters for a railroad. However, Lynchburg remained an important intersection
of three railroad lines and continued as an important shipping center. After a peak in tobacco
production in the 1880s, when Harper's Weekly declared in 1886 that Lynchburg "was still the
largest dealer in loose tobacco in the world," the market for its dark chewing tobacco began to
decline with the popularity of cigarettes that used the "bright leaf' tobacco (Chambers 1981 :267)
Although a number of tobacco warehouses, factories and other related industries continued to exist,
tobacco no longer completely dominated. As Lynchburg shifted away from the tobacco industry and
river transportation that established it in the late 18th century, the city took advantage of its location
midway between the manufacturers of the North and the Southern markets to became a major
wholesale distribution and jobbing center for the South. A number of warehouses and jobbing
houses as well as mills and foundries were constructed along the railroad and the river during this
period.
The commercial area along Commerce and Main streets prospered with the development of the new
industries. Not only did a number of stores line these streets to sell the manufactured goods, large
financial institutions were established as well to handle the banking needs of such prosperity. In
1873, a new and expanded city market building was designed by Forsberg on Main Street, which was
replaced in 1910 with an even larger City Auditorium and Market Building, 1110-1118 Main
Street (118-5163-0124) designed by Frye and Chesterman. In 1883, the Witt & Watkins Store at
808 Main Street was the first of many to distribute wholesale shoes The Lynchburg Furniture
Company, 1021 Main Street) 118-5163-0109), with its impressive cast-iron fa~ade, illustrated the
strength of the furniture industry in the area in 1887. A number of larger office buildings were
constructed as well along Main Street, including the 1873 Lynch House and the 1891 Law Building.
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024·0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 Page ----ZL_
The l90S Krise Building/American National Bank, 829 Main Street (118-5163-0098), a
combination bank and office building built at the prominent comer of Main and Ninth streets,
introduced the "tall building" to Lynchburg with its seven stories of classical tripartite composition
of base, shaft, and capital. The Mutual Savings Bank & Trust, 1030 Main Street (118-51630123), constructed in 1908, was the more traditional one-story Neoclassical building with central
arch in the "vault" genre of bank design. By the end of the period the prosperity continued and the
Krise Building was superceded by the ten-story People's National Bank, 801 Main Street (1185163-0090), which stood as the tallest building after its completion in 1914.
As the businesses prospered, so did the strength of their community leadership with a number of
civic and fraternal organizations active in promoting the city. The Masons had been active in
Lynchburg since the 1790s supporting two lodges in the city. As a transition between the private
commercial and business district of Main Street and Court Street with the 1851 Lynchburg Court
House, Church Street became a thoroughfare of public buildings such as the United States Post
Office and Court House and social institutions. The l 848 Marshall Masonic Lodge, the 1886
Y.M.C.A., and the Hill City Masonic Lodge, 1021 Church Street (118-5163-0066) designed by
Edward G. Frye in 1897 all stood on Church Street. This period of great growth and expansion also
included the religious institutions of the city. With the increased population, many new churches
were formed and already existing churches had to build larger new facilities. Many of the earlier
churches, which were originally located on Church Street thereby giving it its name, began to locate
along Court and Clay streets as the downtown area became more developed. Holy Cross Catholic
Church (118-5163-0010) was constructed by August Forsberg at the corner of Clay and Seventh
streets in l879 across from his l883-l88S Clay Street Reservoir. Also in 1879, the Court Street
Methodist Church (118-5163-0011), which had organized as an African-American congregation
prior to the Civil War, conunissioned well-known architect Robert C. Burkholder to design their new
church on Court and Sixth streets. Another African-American congregation constructed the Central
Presbyterian Church, 721 Clay Street (118-5163-0008) around the tum of the century. Two
churches that were designed by nationally-known architects included the 1884 First Baptist
Church, 1100 Court Street (118-5163-40), designed in the High-Victorian Gothic style by New
York architect John R. Thomas, and the Romanesque-Revival style St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
Clay and Seventh streets (118-5163-0003), designed in 1889 by Frank Miles Day of Philadelphia.
St. Paul's Church has the distinction as the first Lynchburg building illustrated in a national
architectural publication as it appeared in January 189 l issue of American Architect and Building
News (Chambers 1981 :281-283). The local architect Edward G. Frye also contributed to the
religious architecture of the city with his designs in l 899 for First Presbyterian Church at Court
and Ninth streets (118-5163-0017) and Court Street Methodist Church, Court and Seventh
streets (118-5163-0012). Two schools, which are no longer standing, were also constructed on Clay
and Court streets in the late 1900s. The Court Street School, by William Burnham, was constructed
(Rev. 10-90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. IOH-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 Page -12-
in 1871 at Court and Eleventh streets and Forsberg designed the Biggers School at Clay and Fifth
streets in 188 l.
The domestic architecture during the period reflected the prosperity and growth of the city as well.
In spite of the competition of the suburbs developed by land companies at the tum of the century,
the Court House Hill area of Clay and Court streets remained a popular residential neighborhood
through the early 20'h century. An 1893 ordinance prohibiting cows and other livestock in town
prompted a shift in the residential development from large tracts of land that included outbuildings,
gardens, and stables to the more urban pattern of more dense settlement on smaller lots. This created
a number of new building lots in the Court House Hill area as the earlier tracts were subdivided. The
row houses in the 700 block of Court Street, including the 188 l Edward Schaefer House, 714
Court Street (118-5163-0031) designed by Burkholder, as well as the 1884 Edward Brown House,
818 Court Street (118-5163-0035) illustrate this new pattern of development. Leading citizens of
Lynchburg took advantage of the prosperous times and the talented local architects to construct
impressive residences in a variety of styles. The James W. Watts House, 1007 Court Street (1185163-0020), built in 1880 by the secretary-treasurer of the Lynchburg Cotton Mill, is one of the few
surviving examples of the Italian Villa style with its central rooftop tower. The La Tour House,
1022 Court Street (118-5163-0039), designed by Edward G. Frye in 1897, stands as an excellent
example of the Queen Anne style from the period. By the end of the period, the Georgian-Revival
style became popular as large homes such as the Fanny Hughes House, 1000 Court Street (1185163.0037) and the D.M. Penick House, 1004 Court Street (118-5163-0038) continued to be built
in the area. A number of the houses feature impressive stone retaining walls that distinguish the
properties. Most notable are elaborate wrought-iron porches and fences throughout the area that
remind us today of the successful iron foundry industry in Lynchburg during the late l 9'h and early
20'h century. The construction of the first apartment building in the downtown area in 1910, the
Courtland Apartments, Court and Sixth streets (118-5163-0027), indicated that the residential
demand was not declining in the area.
World War I and World War II (1914-1945)
As did much of the country, Lynchburg continued to grow during the period immediately before,
during, and after the two World Wars. The 1920 population 30,000 quickly increased by 8,493 after
the 1926 annexation and reached 44,541 by 1940 within its 13.64 square miles; a 48% increase in
population over the two decades. While most of the new development was residential and occurred
in the suburbs, the businesses and government of the city continued to be located in the Court House
Hill and Downtown area. Illustrating the optimism and prosperity of the city as well as the influence
of the City Beautiful Movement, a number of public buildings were constructed during this period.
(Rc'V. l0.90)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 102~·0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 Page __.ffi_
These projects, which included the 1925 Monument Terrace, Church and Ninth streets (1185163-0059) and the 1933United States Post Office and Court House, 900 Church Street (1185163-079), continued to celebrate the original central axis of the city along Ninth Street and the
prominence of the 1851 Lynchburg Court House. The Monument Terrace. provided a site for
local pride and patriotism to be celebrated over the next decades as a number of war memorials
adorn the terraces. The City Auditorium and Armory Building, 1200 Church Street (118-51630087) was constructed in 1931 near the comer of Church and Twelfth streets. Although the
Depression slowed the city's progress temporarily, it had recovered by the 1936 sesquicentennial to
celebrate its heritage and promising future.
The commercial district of the city continued to be located along Main Street where a number of new
office buildings and department stores were constructed. The Neoclassical Lynchburg National
Bank (118-5163-0099) was constructed in 1915-1916 and took full advantage of its prominent
location at Main and Ninth streets with its classical design that complemented the Monument
Terrace in the distance. In contrast to the classical design of the Lynchburg National Bank and
its adherence to the City Beautiful Movement, the 1929- 193 l Allied Arts Building, 725 Church
Street (118-5163-0053) introduced the Art-Deco style to Lynchburg. Designed by Stanhope
Johnson and Ray Brannan, its soaring 17 stories stood as the first true skyscraper in the city and
remained the tallest building for forty years. The intricate Art-Deco detailing in the brickwork and
metal grillwork contributed to the verticality of the building. This new style also made a presence
on the historic center of the city with the Lynchburg News and Daily Advance Building, 863
Church Street (118-5163-0058) designed in the Art Deco style by Richard Allen to stand adjacent
to the Monument Terrace. As Main Street was almost completely developed by the second decade
of the 20'h century, a number of office buildings were constructed along Church Street during this
period. Examples include the Younger Building, 1019 Church Street (118-5163-0065)and the
Clark Building, 1100 Church Street (118-5163-0083), both built in 1915. The 1925 Odd Fellows
Hall, 1112 Church Street (118-5163-0085) was also constructed on Church Street during this
period. These buildings were more traditional in their designs utilizing elements such as arched
openings, modillioned cornices, and pedimented entrances.
Religious and domestic building activity was limited in the Court House Hill and Downtown area
after the building boom at the turn of the century. The only church dating to this period was the
19225-1926 First Unitarian Church, Monument Terrace (118-5163-0132) designed by Aubrey
Chesterman and Bryant Heard in the English Gothic style to contrast to the Beaux Arts style of the
terrace. While few houses were built in the area during the period, the Classical-Revival style
Y.W.C.A., 626 Church Street (118-5163-0073) and the more modem 1930s Arlington Hotel, 700
Court Street (ll8-5163-0028) represent mixed-use and multiple dwelling buildings in the area. At
the southeast end of the district, the John Wyatt School, 1101 Court Street (116-5163-0024) was
(Rev. 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024,0018
Court House HiWDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8 Page _8_1_
constructed in 1915 to replace the Court Street School.
The New Dominion (1945-present)
Although Lynchburg remains a major city in the southern Piedmont region, by the mid-201h century,
many of the factors that helped to establish it as a transportation, shipping, and manufacturing center
became obsolete. Just as the James River, which was the genesis for the original settlement in the
late l 81h century, was superceded by the railroads in the late 191h century, the highway would become
the dominant mode of transportation after the l 950s. The Lynchburg Expressway was constructed
in the l 950s as well as a new industrial park that lured many of the manufacturers and distributors
away from the Lower Basin area. In addition to the shift to the highway, the ongoing suburban
development, which began at the turn of the century, was accelerated by the Civil Rights movement
as public schools and other facilities became integrated in the 1960s. Many of the larger homes in
the historic neighborhoods of the city, such as the Court House Hill area, were subdivided into
apartments or boarding houses. As the residents moved to the suburbs, many of the retail stores
along Main Street moved to the suburban shopping centers as well.
The Court House Hill and Downtown areas, however, continued to be the governmental, religious,
and financial center of Lynchburg. The Lynchburg Circuit Court Building, 900 Court Street
(118-5163·0036) was constructed in 1954-1955 diagonally across from the Lynchburg Court
House as an annex. Designed by Everette Fauber, this monumental building of limestone and
granite with a bronze sculpture of "Justice" over the entrance maintains the traditional Ninth Street
axis on Court Street. This building became the main circuit court building when the Lynchburg
Court House was restored to be the headquarters of the city's museum system in 1976. Court Street
continues to be the governmental center of the city as other public buildings, including the Public
Safety Building and the School Administration Building, have been constructed in the area. In
keeping with the court activities, many of the larger houses along Court Street have been converted
to offices for lawyers and other professionals. The churches along Clay and Court Street have also
continued in use. Evidence of their vitality was the 1942 addition to the First Presbyterian
Church, 805 Court Street (118-5163-0017) designed by Everette Fauber to include a chapel and
educational wing connected by an arcade. Stanhope Johnson also made an addition in l 941 to the
First Baptist Church, 1100 Court Street (118-5163-0040) that extended the chancel and added a
Sunday School wing. In June 1990, Court House Hill was designated a local historic district by the
City of Lynchburg.
Although many of the retail stores along Main Street moved to the suburbs during this period,
downtown continued to be the financial and business center of the city. Several new banks were
(Rev. 10·90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department or the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HiU/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _8_ Page ---ll.......
constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and the City constructed a large addition to City Hall that
extended the building from Church to Main Street. Recent efforts to rehabilitate some of the
downtown commercial buildings, including the Shearer Brothers/McGehee Furniture Company
Building, 920-922 Main Street (118-5163-0120) as High Peak Sportswear, indicate that retailers,
manufacturers, and businesses are beginning to return to Main Street.
(Rev. I0,90)
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section _9 Page _§J_
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville, VA: University of
Virginia Press, 1981.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General Directory of the
Citizens of Lynchburg and Danville and Town of Liberty. Richmond, VA: JP Bell & Co.,
1874.
Chataigne, J.H. Chataigne's Lynchburg City Directory. Containing a General and Business
Directory of the Citizens of Lynchburg. Richmond, VA: JH Chataigne, 1881.
Greenhome & O'Mara. Final Report Historic Architectural Survey: Diamond Hill South,
Lynchburg Virginia. Greenbelt, MD: 1994.
Virginia Business Directory & Gazetteer. 1910-1950. Lynchburg, VA: Hill's Directory Co.,
1910-1950.
Lynchburg City Directory, 1885. Lynchburg, VA: JP Bell & Co., 1885.
Martin, Joseph. A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Charlottesville, VA: Moseley & Tompkins, 1836.
Ryan, Richard Hunt. Robert C. Burkholder of Lynchburg, Virginia. Thesis presented to the
faculty of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, May, 1981. Copies
available at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia and the University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia.
Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia. 1885-1951.
Scruggs, Phillip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA: JP
Bell & Co., 1971.
Walsh's Lynchburg Virginia City Directory for 1900. Lynchburg, VA: JPBell & Co., 1900
(Rev, 10-90)
NPS Form 10-900
United Slates Department of the Interior
National Park Service
0MB No. 1024-0018
Court House HilVDowntown Historic District
Lynchburg, Virginia
Section -1JL Page -M.-
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The solid black line on the accompanying City of Lynchburg tax parcel map indicates the
boundaries of the Court House Hill/ Downtown Historic District.
Boundary Justification
The boundaries of the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District encompasses all those
contiguous areas of the early commercial, governmental, and residential core of the City of
Lynchburg. It reflects the historic character of the city as established during the period of
significance, 1786-1950. The district includes the area of Court House Hill and Downtown from
Church, Clay, Court, Main Streets, roughly bounded by 5th through 13th Streets.
Lynchburg Court House Hill / Downtown Historic District
Historic Architectural Survey and National Register Nomination
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Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. Aug. 2002)
0MB No 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form 1s for use in nominating or requesling determinations for individual properties and distncls. See instructions in How to Complete /he National Re gister of
Histo ric P la ces Reg1sfration Fo rm (Na tional Regis ler Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriale box or by entermg the informauon
requested If any item does not apply to th e property being documented . enler '"NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural class,fic.at1on. materials, and
areas o f significance. enler only categories and subcategories from lhe 1nstruct1ons. Place add1t1onal enlnes and na rralive 11eins on con(inuat,on sheets (NPS
Form 10-900a) Use a typewriler. word processor, or computer , to complete all items
===============================================================================-===-====--==-1. Name of Property
historic name
Pyramid Motors
other names/site number _V..:....::;D.c...H-'-'-R---'--'-N.:. o
.: :..:........:1... :1. .: c8.. . :-5=-=2::. : 3:. .:._
7 _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __
======-===-================-========-===================================================--===-
2. Location
street & number
c ity or town
405-407 Federal Street
------..c.-~-~--------------
Lynchburg
state _ _ V-'-i'rg""'
-' i"""
n-'
ia'--- - --
code VA
not for publication N/A
vicinity_
county Independent City code 680 zip code 24504
-===-===--===-===-===-========-===-===========================================================
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
==--==--==--===--==-====-=======-===-=========================================================
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended , ! hereby certi fy that this _x_ nomination __ request
for determmatio n of elig 1b1lity meets the documentatio n stan dards for registering proper1ies in the Natio nal Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the prope rly __X_ meets _ _ does not meet
the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant _
nationally
_
statewide L locally. L_See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying official
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal Agency or Tribal government
In my op in io n. the property __ meets _ _ does not meet the Na tional Register criteria _( _
comments.)
Signatu re of commenting official/T itl e
See continuation sheet for additional
Date
State o r Federa l agency and bureau
--=---=---==--==---=---==--==--==--==--===-===-===============================================
4. National Park Service Certification
I, h ereby certify that th is property 1s:
_ _ entered in i he National Register
See contlnuat1on shee t.
___ determ ined elig ible for \h e N a tion al Register
See con t1nual1on sl,eet
__
dele rrn 1ned no t el1g 1ble for the N a tional R egister
_ _ removed from the National Register
_ _ o ther (expla in}- _ _ __ _ _
Signature of the Keeper____ _
OcJte of Action
==============================================================================================
5. Classification
==============================================================================================
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
_X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
__1__
__ 0__ buildings
__0___
__0___ sites
__0___
__0___ structures
__0___
__0___ objects
__1___
__0___ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) _N/A_______
==============================================================================================
6. Function or Use
==============================================================================================
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Specialty Store____________ Sub: _Auto Showroom_____________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Specialty Store____________ Sub: ___Bookbinder_______________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
==============================================================================================
7. Description
==============================================================================================
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_Modern Movement/Art Deco/Art Moderne________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _Brick_______________________________
roof _____Asphalt______________________________
walls ____Brick________________________________
other _________________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
==============================================================================================
8. Statement of Significance
==============================================================================================
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
____ A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
__X_ C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
__Architecture__________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Period of Significance __1937___________________
Significant Dates _1937_____________________________
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)____N/A_______________________
Cultural Affiliation __N/A_____________________________________________________
Architect/Builder __Unknown_________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
==============================================================================================
9. Major Bibliographical References
==============================================================================================
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources
==============================================================================================
10. Geographical Data
==============================================================================================
Acreage of Property _about 0.7 acres (less than one acre)_______
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663567E 4142360N
Zone Easting Northing
2 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
3 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
4 __ ______ _______
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
==============================================================================================
11. Form Prepared By
==============================================================================================
name/title__Ashley Neville & John Salmon_________________________________________
organization_Ashley Neville, LLC________________________ date__6/1/2007____________
street & number__112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1 _________ telephone_804-798-2124____
city or town_Ashland_________________________ state_VA_ zip code _23005___________
==============================================================================================
Additional Documentation
==============================================================================================
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
==============================================================================================
Property Owner
==============================================================================================
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name __Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation_________________________
street & number_927 Church Street__________________ telephone_434-846-6964______
city or town___Lynchburg__________________________ state_VA__ zip code _24504___
==============================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for
listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section __7___
Page _1__
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Pyramid Motor Corporation constructed its showroom in 1937 in an area that became something of Lynchburg’s
“motor mile” in the 1930s, with several car dealerships and automobile related business located on Fifth Street. A long,
one-story, streamlined brick building with contrasting bands of red and yellow bricks, its modernistic form and detailing
created a thoroughly modern showroom that reflected the cars it was selling. The building stands on Federal Street just off
Fifth Street and occupies the entire lot. There are no other buildings or land associated with it.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Pyramid Motors is located on Federal Street just off Fifth Street, which at one time was an automobile dealership corridor
in Lynchburg. Fifth Street is a heavily traveled commercial thoroughfare that leads southwest from the river through the
city on the east end of the downtown commercial and governmental center of the city. The Pyramid building sits just off
the corner of Federal and Fifth Streets and occupies the entire lot. A mid-1950s gas station is located on the corner of Fifth
and Federal and Adams Motors, an older car dealership, is located northwest of Pyramid and abuts it at the rear. Open
paved lots where the cars for sale were parked are located to the rear of Pyramid, in front of Adams Motors, and across
Fifth Street, giving an open appearance to the corner of Fifth and Federal Streets. Beyond the Fifth Street corridor, the
areas on both sides of Fifth are mostly residential.
Pyramid Motors is a one-story building with a yellow brick façade with contrasting red-brick details. The sides and rear
are a combination of the yellow brick, concrete block, and parged masonry. A semi-circular entry tower of corbelled
yellow brick dominates the center of the façade and rises above the building’s flat roof. The entrance retains the original
circular metal canopy suspended by chains. Alternating horizontal bands of red and yellow brick on the upper portion of
the façade contribute to its streamlined appearance. The former showroom was located south of the entrance, with the
service department occupying the northern half of the building. The service end is divided into window bays by brick
pilasters with large multiple-light steel windows with moveable center sections. The windows on each end are also
multiple-light steel windows. A substantial chimney is located on the north end of the building. Two loading bays were
added to the north end of the building about 1971 and are set back from the façade.
The interior of the building remains relatively intact. Customers entered a spacious lobby area with the large open
showroom on the left (south) and the service department to the right (north). Both the lobby and showroom floor are
paved with Bavarian brick, an oversized red brick. The original small offices where salesmen met with customers to
hammer out deals line the south wall of the showroom with a larger office with large glass windows at the end of the row.
To the rear of the showroom are two large rooms that may have been one room originally. A narrow corridor at the rear of
the showroom connected it with the service section and provided access to restrooms. The service department consists of
two large rooms with a concrete-block walls and exposed ceiling with steel joists and two rows of skylights. The floor is
concrete with the original work bays outlined on the floor with brick at the front of the building. Behind this large room is
a room of similar size and construction. The room where cars were painted is still extant in the rear north corner, as
depicted on the 1955 Sanborn map.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _7___
Page _2__
Only a few changes have been made to the seventy-year-old building and it maintains good integrity. The major change to
the building was the shortening of the showroom windows in the 1980s. During the crack-cocaine epidemic of that decade
in Lynchburg, this area was a gathering place for drug dealers and eventually all the showroom windows were shot out.
Instead of replacing the large plate glass showroom windows, the owner elected for the safety of his employees to infill the
lower portion of the window with brick. This was a very successful adaptation and brick was used that was the same
color, size, and texture as the brick found on the upper portion of the building. Other changes include the installation of a
long counter/desk near the entrance of the showroom, paneling in the sales offices, and a dropped ceiling in the showroom.
The Pyramid Motors building was constructed a year after Lynchburg celebrated its sesquicentennial and just as the
country was beginning to recover from the Great Depression. Its design in a consciously modern style indicates it was
conceived as a forward-looking building that would attract customers who would buy their modern automobiles. Studies
of Lynchburg architecture note that few other buildings were constructed in Lynchburg using the Art Deco idiom.1 The
Lynchburg News and Advance Building and the Allied Arts Building are the best examples of the Art Deco style in
Lynchburg and both are large commercial buildings. The News and Advance Building, constructed in 1931 for the city
newspaper owned by the Carter Glass family, is located on Church Street at Monument Terrace. It is a solid four-story
building sheathed in stone with stylized Art Deco ornamentation. The Allied Arts Building, located at Eighth and Church
Streets and built 1929-31, was the tallest commercial building in the city until 1972. It was constructed of yellow brick
with contrasting greenstone trim on the first several floors.2
Pyramid Motors was a much more modest building but nevertheless incorporated the latest style of the time. Before
moving to its new site on Federal Street, the company was located on Church Street not far from the News and Advance
and Allied Arts buildings. These buildings possibly could have influenced the choice of design for the new automobile
showroom. Unfortunately, no architect has been identified for the Pyramid Motors building. The Pyramid Motor Corp.
consciously designed a building using a style that reflected the snazzy “modern” streamlined styling of the Lincoln
Zephyr, the upscale automobile that it sold – streamlined car, streamlined dealership.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _3__
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Pyramid Motor Corporation building, located at 405-407 Federal Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, was constructed
in 1937 for Robert J. Keller, Jr. His automobile dealership sold not only Fords but Lincoln Zephyrs, which were
streamlined entry-level luxury cars that bridged the gap between Fords and the high-end, aging Lincoln K series. In
its use of the architectural motifs of the Art Deco/Art Moderne style, examples of which are rare in Lynchburg, the
building reflects the streamlined styling of the Zephyr.
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
The Pyramid Motor Corporation building is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as locally
significant under Criterion C as a good example of an Art Deco/Art Moderne–style automobile showroom and service
facility. Significant portions of the building’s historic fabric remain largely intact and retain integrity of location,
association, setting, feeling, design, and materials. The period of significance is 1937, the year the building was
constructed.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The automobile dealership building at 405-407 Federal Street was constructed for the Pyramid Motor Corporation in
1937. Robert John Keller, Jr., founded the company in 1936, a year after he first appeared in the Lynchburg business
directory as employed in the insurance industry. Keller was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 8, 1887. His
father, Robert J. Keller, Sr., was president of Geigy-ter Meer Company, the American branch of the Swiss dye and
chemical company Geigy, with offices located at 89 Barclay Street in New York City. The parent company had
organized the Geigy Aniline and Extract Company (GAE) in 1903 as a wholly owned subsidiary to market and sell its
products in the United States. In 1909, Geigy-ter Meer Company, later Geigy Company, Inc., was established in New
York to succeed GAE. The young Keller’s World War I draft registration card, dated June 5, 1917, described him as
manager of the “Canadian Dept.” at Geigy-ter Meer. At that time, he lived at 525 West End Avenue in New York
City. He married before January 5, 1922, when his son, Robert John Keller III, was born in New York City. At some
point, Robert J. Keller, Jr., and his family left New York. Keller’s whereabouts until he took up residence in
Lynchburg about 1935 are not known.3
Keller, presumably either a widower or divorcé by the time he moved to Lynchburg, married Grace Stone Loyd, an
Illinois native and the widow of Sidney Miller Loyd, Sr., about 1935. Sidney M. Loyd, a wealthy attorney and trustee
for the family estate, was chairman of the board of Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company when he died on May 8,
1931, “suddenly . . . at his home.” The Lynchburg foundry manufactured water pipes and fire hydrants. The Loyds,
with their two sons, Frank S. Loyd and Sidney M. Loyd, Jr., lived first on Rivermont Avenue and then on Langhorne
Road in the prosperous northwestern streetcar suburbs of Lynchburg. When Loyd died at the age of fifty-three, his
high social status was indicated by the appearance of his obituary in the Washington Post.4
After Grace Stone Loyd married Robert J. Keller, Jr., she purchased three parcels of land on Federal Street near Fifth
Street in the commercial center of Lynchburg in December 1936 and January 1937. The heirs of Thomas O’Brien
sold two of the parcels to her and Kate A. Mallan sold her the third one. Federal Street was primarily residential in
the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as was Fifth Street, although a large tobacco stemmery stood a block from
Fifth on Federal Street. As in other Virginia cities, some tobacco factories or manufacturing plants were located in
Lynchburg’s older residential areas. Robert Keller at first located Pyramid Motor Corporation close by at 523-525
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _4__
Church Street near the intersection with Fifth Street, then moved into the Federal Street building in 1937. Pyramid
sold Ford and Lincoln Zephyr automobiles. The company’s advertisements employed the slogan, “You Can Af-Ford
a Ford.” Keller was the company’s president and general manager, but the property was listed in his wife’s name in
the city land tax books.5
By the time Keller opened Pyramid Motor Corporation, the automobile was well established in America. The first
vehicles with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were invented in the 1880s in Germany. In the United
States, the Duryea brothers became the first automobile manufacturers with the founding of their company in 1895.
The following year, Henry Ford, Charles Brady King, Ransom Eli Olds, and Alexander Winton introduced their
gasoline cars. Oldsmobile had a large-scale production line running by 1902 and Ford introduced the Model T in
1908. World War I demonstrated the value of automobiles and trucks and proved the importance of the auto
industry’s mass production methods. By 1919, the auto industry was only twenty years old but it was the third most
important industry in the value of its products.
Many small automobile manufacturers produced cars during the first three decades of the twentieth century, and
Lynchburg was no exception. The Piedmont Motor Car Company was founded there in 1915, and by December 1916
it was advertising the Piedmont 30, its principal product. The plant was located on Hollins Mill Road near Bedford
Avenue. The frames, wheels, engines, and other parts were manufactured elsewhere, shipped by rail to Lynchburg,
and assembled at the plant. Once the autos were put together except for the bodies and doors, they were driven over
Lynchburg’s unpaved streets at breakneck speeds (forty-five to fifty-five miles an hour) to test them. “Rough testing”
involved driving them up and down the stone outdoor steps in Rivermont Park. The cars were sold first directly from
the factory and then after 1919 at Leftwich Motor Company on Main Street. The plant also sold the automobiles
under other names (Bush Automobile Company in Chicago and Lone Star Company in Texas). The Piedmont 30 was
marketed successfully in Europe as the Alsace. Increasing competition, however, forced the company into bankruptcy
in 1921.6
Automobile production increased significantly during the 1920s, when jobs were plentiful and many people could
afford to purchase a car. The Great Depression, which began in 1929, significantly slowed the production of the
number of automobiles and many of the smaller manufacturers went out of business. Although the depression
continued even as Keller established the Pyramid Motor Corporation, automobile sales remained lucrative enough that
Pyramid competed effectively with Lynchburg’s other dealers and prospered.
The company’s move to new quarters in 1937 coincided with the introduction of the Lincoln Zephyr, an entry-level
luxury car that bridged the gap between Fords and the high-end, aging Lincoln K series. Introduced in 1935 as a 1936
model, the Zephyr was a very “modern” automobile, sporting a low raked windscreen, integrated fenders, and a
streamlined design—the most successful sleek design since the revolutionary Chrysler Airflow. Despite the hardships
of the Great Depression, the Zephyr ignited sales at Lincoln dealerships such as Pyramid Auto Corporation late in the
1930s. By 1941, Lincoln dealers offered only Zephyrs, Continentals, and the Zephyr-based Custom models. The
production of American cars was stopped in 1942 for the duration of the war, and afterward, when production
resumed, the Zephyr name was discontinued. It reemerged briefly in 2006, but the 2007 model was renamed the
MKZ.7
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _5__
The Pyramid Motors Corporation building presented, like the Zephyr, a streamlined, “modern” appearance in the Art
Deco/Art Moderne style, which is rare in Lynchburg. The Modern Movement, which incorporated and was variously
known as Art Deco, Art Moderne, Streamlined Moderne, and Modernistic, was the first popular style in the United
States to break with the revivalist tradition embodied by the Beaux-Arts and period homes. The Modern styles
became popular in the early 1920s and persisted until about 1940. Smooth surfaces of concrete, stone, and metal were
characteristic of this period. Polychromy, often with vivid colors, was frequently used. Both the Pyramid Motors
building and the Allied Arts Building in Lynchburg used polychromy with great success. The use of simplified and
streamlined forms created a futuristic appearance that consciously rejected historical styles. The style strove for
modernity and an appearance associated with the machine age. Manufacturers designed streamlined cars, trains,
ships, and kitchen appliances that both influenced and were influenced by these popular modernistic architectural
styles.
The Pyramid building was not, however, the only automobile sales showroom or automobile-related business that
moved to the Fifth Street corridor during the same period. Adams Motor Company, which sold DeSotos and
Plymouths, was one of the earliest car dealers on Fifth Street. Located around the corner from Pyramid, the red-brick,
solidly Georgian Revival–style building was occupied as early as 1932. It has only recently been vacated, and the
fanlights that topped the large plate-glass windows on the façade have been covered with Drivit on the exterior. One
other automobile-related business was located on Fifth Street early in the 1930s: Miller Tire at Fifth and Court streets,
near the original location of Pyramid Motor Corporation. By 1936, three businesses in the automobile field were
located on Fifth Street: Adams Motors, Wellford-Gerhart Company, which sold Packards, and Goodyear Tire. In
1937, when Pyramid moved to Federal Street, six automobile businesses were located nearby, including a tire store
and an auto supply store. Most of the buildings in which these businesses were located are no longer standing or were
not built specifically for an automobile-related business. These one- and two-story masonry buildings are more
characteristic of warehouse architecture. One automobile-related building is located at the corner of Fifth and Court
Streets. Now a auto-repair shop, it was constructed in the International style that was popular shortly after Pyramid
Motors was built.8
By 1942, perhaps due to poor health, Keller had withdrawn from active participation in Pyramid Motor Corporation,
as he had written “not employed” on his World War II registration card. Two years later, Grace Stone Keller leased
the building to Virginian Motors, Inc., and in 1945 she transferred the property to her husband for $48,195. Robert J.
Keller, Jr., died on October 6, 1946, in Lynchburg’s Virginia Baptist Hospital, “where he was undergoing treatment
for a stroke of paralysis” he had suffered late the previous week. Funeral services were conducted on October 8 at
Saint John’s Episcopal Church, where Keller had been a member, and he was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery.9
Grace Stone Keller and Robert J. Keller III, who had inherited the Pyramid property from Robert J. Keller, Jr., sold it
to Landon R. Wyatt and Frank W. Turner in 1948. The name of the dealership was changed to Turner Buick
Corporation, reflecting the change in ownership as well as in the product sold. The company changed its name twice
more, to Dickerson Buick Corporation in 1955 and then to Hemphill Buick-Opel, Inc., in 1970. Five years later,
Hemphill Buick-Opel sold the building to Sheltered Workshop of Lynchburg, Inc. Harold and Sandra Brooks bought
the building from Sheltered Workshop in 1989, and are presently selling it to the Lynchburg Neighborhood
Development Foundation.10
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _9____
Page _6__
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancestry.com. Accessed May 30, 2007.
Auditor of Public Accounts. Land Tax Books. 1937–1938. Library of Virginia (LVA). Richmond, Va.
Bonsall, Thomas. The Lincoln Motorcar: Sixty Years of Excellence. Baltimore, Md.: Bookman Pub., 1981.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986. Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004.
Geigy Company History. www.transferpricing.com, accessed May 30, 2007.
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1937. Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1932–
1937.
Lewis, David L. 100 Years of Ford. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International, 2003.
Lynchburg. Deed Books 202, 239, 257, 262, and 397. Lynchburg Courthouse Clerk’s Office. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg. Charter Books 12 and 20. Lynchburg Courthouse Clerk’s Office. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. October 7 and 9, 1946.
Richmond Times-Dispatch. March 19, 1995.
Trow General Directory of New York City, 1917. New York: H. Wilson, 1917.
U.S. Census. Schedule of Inhabitants. 1930. Virginia. Lynchburg. Microfilm. LVA.
Washington Post. May 9, 1931.
Wikipedia. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln-Zephyr. Accessed May 30, 2007.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _10, Photo List___
Page _7_
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
This property consists of Lynchburg tax parcel ID 02409002. This is the same parcel referenced in the City of
Lynchburg Deed Book 743, Page 549 in February 1999.
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
This parcel is all the land that historically has been associated with the Pyramid Motors building. This is the same
parcel referenced in the City of Lynchburg Deed Book 743, Page 549 in February 1999.
PHOTO LIST
Pyramid Motors, Lynchburg, Virginia. All photographs were taken by Ashley Neville, March 2007. The negatives are on
file at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia. The negative number for all photographs is
23470.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Façade, view to the northwest
Façade with service area on right, view to the south
Entry, view to the southwest
Former showroom looking to the rear, view to the southwest
Sales offices, view to the east
Service area looking to the front and north end, view to the north
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _End Notes___
Page _8__
ENDNOTES
1
S. Allen Chambers, Lynchburg, An architectural History, (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981), 442.
Ibid, 459.
3
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1935 (Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1935), 237; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory,
1936, p. 254; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1937, p. 632; Geigy company history found at www.transferpricing.com, accessed May 30, 2007;
Trow General Directory of New York City, 1917 (New York: H. Wilson, 1917), 1126; Robert J. Keller, Jr., WWI draft registration card,
Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; obituary, Robert J. Keller III, Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 19, 1995.
4
Sidney M. Loyd, WWI draft registration card, September 12, 1918, Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; obituary, Sidney M. Loyd,
Washington Post, May 9, 1931, p. 3; U.S. Census, Schedule of Inhabitants, 1930, Virginia, Lynchburg, Enumeration District 110-1, p. 121;
Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1932, p. 248.
5
Lynchburg, Deed Book 202, pp. 252, 260, 366, Lynchburg City Courthouse, Lynchburg, Va.; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1937, pp. 632–
633; Auditor of Public Accounts, Land Tax Books, 1937, 1938, Library of Virginia (LVA), Richmond, Va.
6
James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House Publishers, 2004), 296–
298.
7
Information on Lincoln Zephyr from Wikipedia, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln-Zephyr, accessed May 30, 2007.
8
DHR’s Data Sharing System (DSS) identifies only 7 Art Deco and 8 Art Moderne resources among the 2,310 buildings surveyed in
Lynchburg; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1934–1937.
9
Robert J. Keller, Jr., WWII draft registration card, Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; Lynchburg, Deed Book 239, p. 298, Lynchburg
City Courthouse, Clerk’s Office, Lynchburg, Va.; Robert J. Keller, Jr., obituary and funeral notice, Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 7,
1946, p. 8, col. 1, and October 9, 1946, p. 9, col. 3, respectively.
10
Lynchburg, Deed Book 257, p. 131, Lynchburg City Courthouse, Clerk’s Office, Lynchburg, Va.; ibid., Deed Book 262, p. 492; ibid.,
Charter Book 12, p. 305; ibid., Charter Book 20, 492; ibid., Deed Book 497, p. 648.
2
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102
http://www.lynchburgva.gov/Property_Sketches/00000005/00000687.bmp
7/2/2007
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
o m No. 1024-0018
(Expires 1-31-2009)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property
County and State
Section number
Page
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
SUPPLEMENTARY LISTING RECORD
NRIS Reference Number:
07001140
Property Name: Pyramid Motors
Date Listed: 11/1/2007
County: Lynchburg State: VA
Multiple Name
This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the attached
nomination documentation subject to the following exceptions, exclusions, or amendments,
notwithstanding the National Park Service certification included in the nomination
documentation.
1607
Signature of the Keeper
D ate of Action
Amended Items in Nomination:
The nomination does not include an acreage figure in Section 10 of the form. The VA SHPO has
confirmed that the nominated area includes less than one acre. The form is amended to add this
information.
DISTRIBUTION:
Nationai Register property file
Nominating Authority (without nomination attachment)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
NRHP Approved: 7/27/2020
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
_Pyramid Motors_ (2020 _Update) ___________________ _
Name of Property
_City of Lynchburg,_ VA----------------------------------------County and State
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
07001140
NR Reference Number
Page
1
State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _X additional documentation _
_ name change (additional documentation)_ other
move _
removal
meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
7 -
I - Z1J;2,LJ
Date of Action
National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
_
entered in the National Register
_
determined eligible for the National Register
_
determined not eligible for the National Register
_
removed from the National Register
_ additional documentation accepted
_
other (explain:) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
2
Pyramid Motors, located in the City of Lynchburg, Virginia, was listed in the Virginia Landmarks
Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The property was listed under Criterion C
in the area of Architecture with a period of significance of 1937, coinciding with completion of the
building’s construction.
In the original nomination’s Section 8, no architect is identified for the building. Research conducted by
Carolyn Gills Frazier, author of Stanhope, Chronologically: The Work of Stanhope Spencer Johnson,
AIA, 1881-1973 (privately published, 2018), has identified Stanhope S. Johnson as the architect. For the
project, Frazier consulted the Lynchburg Architectural Archive at Jones Memorial Library in
Lynchburg, where most of Johnson’s plans and papers are held.
Among the Lynchburg Architectural Archive holdings, Frazier identified blueprints, an invoice,
miscellaneous documents, and correspondence related to Johnson’s design and the construction of
Pyramid Motors (Figures 1-2). These are cataloged under the call number Box 19, MS1236.
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
3
Figure 1. Architectural drawing by Stanhope Johnson of Floor Plan for Pyramid Motors (original drawing held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
4
Figure 2. Architectural drawing by Stanhope Johnson of Elevation for Pyramid Motors (original drawing held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
Figure 3. Copy of Invoice for Pyramid Motors Project from Vendor to Stanhope S. Johnson (original document held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
5
Figure 4. Copy of Receipt for Stanhope S. Johnson’s Services for the Pyramid Motors Project (original document held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
(Rev. Aug. 2002)
0MB No 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
REGISTRATION FORM
This form 1s for use in nominating or requesling determinations for individual properties and distncls. See instructions in How to Complete /he National Re gister of
Histo ric P la ces Reg1sfration Fo rm (Na tional Regis ler Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriale box or by entermg the informauon
requested If any item does not apply to th e property being documented . enler '"NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural class,fic.at1on. materials, and
areas o f significance. enler only categories and subcategories from lhe 1nstruct1ons. Place add1t1onal enlnes and na rralive 11eins on con(inuat,on sheets (NPS
Form 10-900a) Use a typewriler. word processor, or computer , to complete all items
===============================================================================-===-====--==-1. Name of Property
historic name
Pyramid Motors
other names/site number _V..:....::;D.c...H-'-'-R---'--'-N.:. o
.: :..:........:1... :1. .: c8.. . :-5=-=2::. : 3:. .:._
7 _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __
======-===-================-========-===================================================--===-
2. Location
street & number
c ity or town
405-407 Federal Street
------..c.-~-~--------------
Lynchburg
state _ _ V-'-i'rg""'
-' i"""
n-'
ia'--- - --
code VA
not for publication N/A
vicinity_
county Independent City code 680 zip code 24504
-===-===--===-===-===-========-===-===========================================================
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
==--==--==--===--==-====-=======-===-=========================================================
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended , ! hereby certi fy that this _x_ nomination __ request
for determmatio n of elig 1b1lity meets the documentatio n stan dards for registering proper1ies in the Natio nal Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the prope rly __X_ meets _ _ does not meet
the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant _
nationally
_
statewide L locally. L_See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying official
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal Agency or Tribal government
In my op in io n. the property __ meets _ _ does not meet the Na tional Register criteria _( _
comments.)
Signatu re of commenting official/T itl e
See continuation sheet for additional
Date
State o r Federa l agency and bureau
--=---=---==--==---=---==--==--==--==--===-===-===============================================
4. National Park Service Certification
I, h ereby certify that th is property 1s:
_ _ entered in i he National Register
See contlnuat1on shee t.
___ determ ined elig ible for \h e N a tion al Register
See con t1nual1on sl,eet
__
dele rrn 1ned no t el1g 1ble for the N a tional R egister
_ _ removed from the National Register
_ _ o ther (expla in}- _ _ __ _ _
Signature of the Keeper____ _
OcJte of Action
==============================================================================================
5. Classification
==============================================================================================
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
_X_ private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
_X_ building(s)
___ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
__1__
__ 0__ buildings
__0___
__0___ sites
__0___
__0___ structures
__0___
__0___ objects
__1___
__0___ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0___
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) _N/A_______
==============================================================================================
6. Function or Use
==============================================================================================
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Specialty Store____________ Sub: _Auto Showroom_____________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat: __Specialty Store____________ Sub: ___Bookbinder_______________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
==============================================================================================
7. Description
==============================================================================================
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
_Modern Movement/Art Deco/Art Moderne________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation _Brick_______________________________
roof _____Asphalt______________________________
walls ____Brick________________________________
other _________________________________________
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
==============================================================================================
8. Statement of Significance
==============================================================================================
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
____ A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
__X_ C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
__Architecture__________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Period of Significance __1937___________________
Significant Dates _1937_____________________________
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)____N/A_______________________
Cultural Affiliation __N/A_____________________________________________________
Architect/Builder __Unknown_________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
==============================================================================================
9. Major Bibliographical References
==============================================================================================
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Primary Location of Additional Data
_X_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: _Virginia Department of Historic Resources
==============================================================================================
10. Geographical Data
==============================================================================================
Acreage of Property _about 0.7 acres (less than one acre)_______
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 663567E 4142360N
Zone Easting Northing
2 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
3 __ ______ _______
Zone Easting Northing
4 __ ______ _______
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
==============================================================================================
11. Form Prepared By
==============================================================================================
name/title__Ashley Neville & John Salmon_________________________________________
organization_Ashley Neville, LLC________________________ date__6/1/2007____________
street & number__112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1 _________ telephone_804-798-2124____
city or town_Ashland_________________________ state_VA_ zip code _23005___________
==============================================================================================
Additional Documentation
==============================================================================================
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
==============================================================================================
Property Owner
==============================================================================================
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name __Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation_________________________
street & number_927 Church Street__________________ telephone_434-846-6964______
city or town___Lynchburg__________________________ state_VA__ zip code _24504___
==============================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for
listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section __7___
Page _1__
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Pyramid Motor Corporation constructed its showroom in 1937 in an area that became something of Lynchburg’s
“motor mile” in the 1930s, with several car dealerships and automobile related business located on Fifth Street. A long,
one-story, streamlined brick building with contrasting bands of red and yellow bricks, its modernistic form and detailing
created a thoroughly modern showroom that reflected the cars it was selling. The building stands on Federal Street just off
Fifth Street and occupies the entire lot. There are no other buildings or land associated with it.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Pyramid Motors is located on Federal Street just off Fifth Street, which at one time was an automobile dealership corridor
in Lynchburg. Fifth Street is a heavily traveled commercial thoroughfare that leads southwest from the river through the
city on the east end of the downtown commercial and governmental center of the city. The Pyramid building sits just off
the corner of Federal and Fifth Streets and occupies the entire lot. A mid-1950s gas station is located on the corner of Fifth
and Federal and Adams Motors, an older car dealership, is located northwest of Pyramid and abuts it at the rear. Open
paved lots where the cars for sale were parked are located to the rear of Pyramid, in front of Adams Motors, and across
Fifth Street, giving an open appearance to the corner of Fifth and Federal Streets. Beyond the Fifth Street corridor, the
areas on both sides of Fifth are mostly residential.
Pyramid Motors is a one-story building with a yellow brick façade with contrasting red-brick details. The sides and rear
are a combination of the yellow brick, concrete block, and parged masonry. A semi-circular entry tower of corbelled
yellow brick dominates the center of the façade and rises above the building’s flat roof. The entrance retains the original
circular metal canopy suspended by chains. Alternating horizontal bands of red and yellow brick on the upper portion of
the façade contribute to its streamlined appearance. The former showroom was located south of the entrance, with the
service department occupying the northern half of the building. The service end is divided into window bays by brick
pilasters with large multiple-light steel windows with moveable center sections. The windows on each end are also
multiple-light steel windows. A substantial chimney is located on the north end of the building. Two loading bays were
added to the north end of the building about 1971 and are set back from the façade.
The interior of the building remains relatively intact. Customers entered a spacious lobby area with the large open
showroom on the left (south) and the service department to the right (north). Both the lobby and showroom floor are
paved with Bavarian brick, an oversized red brick. The original small offices where salesmen met with customers to
hammer out deals line the south wall of the showroom with a larger office with large glass windows at the end of the row.
To the rear of the showroom are two large rooms that may have been one room originally. A narrow corridor at the rear of
the showroom connected it with the service section and provided access to restrooms. The service department consists of
two large rooms with a concrete-block walls and exposed ceiling with steel joists and two rows of skylights. The floor is
concrete with the original work bays outlined on the floor with brick at the front of the building. Behind this large room is
a room of similar size and construction. The room where cars were painted is still extant in the rear north corner, as
depicted on the 1955 Sanborn map.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _7___
Page _2__
Only a few changes have been made to the seventy-year-old building and it maintains good integrity. The major change to
the building was the shortening of the showroom windows in the 1980s. During the crack-cocaine epidemic of that decade
in Lynchburg, this area was a gathering place for drug dealers and eventually all the showroom windows were shot out.
Instead of replacing the large plate glass showroom windows, the owner elected for the safety of his employees to infill the
lower portion of the window with brick. This was a very successful adaptation and brick was used that was the same
color, size, and texture as the brick found on the upper portion of the building. Other changes include the installation of a
long counter/desk near the entrance of the showroom, paneling in the sales offices, and a dropped ceiling in the showroom.
The Pyramid Motors building was constructed a year after Lynchburg celebrated its sesquicentennial and just as the
country was beginning to recover from the Great Depression. Its design in a consciously modern style indicates it was
conceived as a forward-looking building that would attract customers who would buy their modern automobiles. Studies
of Lynchburg architecture note that few other buildings were constructed in Lynchburg using the Art Deco idiom.1 The
Lynchburg News and Advance Building and the Allied Arts Building are the best examples of the Art Deco style in
Lynchburg and both are large commercial buildings. The News and Advance Building, constructed in 1931 for the city
newspaper owned by the Carter Glass family, is located on Church Street at Monument Terrace. It is a solid four-story
building sheathed in stone with stylized Art Deco ornamentation. The Allied Arts Building, located at Eighth and Church
Streets and built 1929-31, was the tallest commercial building in the city until 1972. It was constructed of yellow brick
with contrasting greenstone trim on the first several floors.2
Pyramid Motors was a much more modest building but nevertheless incorporated the latest style of the time. Before
moving to its new site on Federal Street, the company was located on Church Street not far from the News and Advance
and Allied Arts buildings. These buildings possibly could have influenced the choice of design for the new automobile
showroom. Unfortunately, no architect has been identified for the Pyramid Motors building. The Pyramid Motor Corp.
consciously designed a building using a style that reflected the snazzy “modern” streamlined styling of the Lincoln
Zephyr, the upscale automobile that it sold – streamlined car, streamlined dealership.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _3__
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Pyramid Motor Corporation building, located at 405-407 Federal Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, was constructed
in 1937 for Robert J. Keller, Jr. His automobile dealership sold not only Fords but Lincoln Zephyrs, which were
streamlined entry-level luxury cars that bridged the gap between Fords and the high-end, aging Lincoln K series. In
its use of the architectural motifs of the Art Deco/Art Moderne style, examples of which are rare in Lynchburg, the
building reflects the streamlined styling of the Zephyr.
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
The Pyramid Motor Corporation building is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as locally
significant under Criterion C as a good example of an Art Deco/Art Moderne–style automobile showroom and service
facility. Significant portions of the building’s historic fabric remain largely intact and retain integrity of location,
association, setting, feeling, design, and materials. The period of significance is 1937, the year the building was
constructed.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The automobile dealership building at 405-407 Federal Street was constructed for the Pyramid Motor Corporation in
1937. Robert John Keller, Jr., founded the company in 1936, a year after he first appeared in the Lynchburg business
directory as employed in the insurance industry. Keller was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 8, 1887. His
father, Robert J. Keller, Sr., was president of Geigy-ter Meer Company, the American branch of the Swiss dye and
chemical company Geigy, with offices located at 89 Barclay Street in New York City. The parent company had
organized the Geigy Aniline and Extract Company (GAE) in 1903 as a wholly owned subsidiary to market and sell its
products in the United States. In 1909, Geigy-ter Meer Company, later Geigy Company, Inc., was established in New
York to succeed GAE. The young Keller’s World War I draft registration card, dated June 5, 1917, described him as
manager of the “Canadian Dept.” at Geigy-ter Meer. At that time, he lived at 525 West End Avenue in New York
City. He married before January 5, 1922, when his son, Robert John Keller III, was born in New York City. At some
point, Robert J. Keller, Jr., and his family left New York. Keller’s whereabouts until he took up residence in
Lynchburg about 1935 are not known.3
Keller, presumably either a widower or divorcé by the time he moved to Lynchburg, married Grace Stone Loyd, an
Illinois native and the widow of Sidney Miller Loyd, Sr., about 1935. Sidney M. Loyd, a wealthy attorney and trustee
for the family estate, was chairman of the board of Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry Company when he died on May 8,
1931, “suddenly . . . at his home.” The Lynchburg foundry manufactured water pipes and fire hydrants. The Loyds,
with their two sons, Frank S. Loyd and Sidney M. Loyd, Jr., lived first on Rivermont Avenue and then on Langhorne
Road in the prosperous northwestern streetcar suburbs of Lynchburg. When Loyd died at the age of fifty-three, his
high social status was indicated by the appearance of his obituary in the Washington Post.4
After Grace Stone Loyd married Robert J. Keller, Jr., she purchased three parcels of land on Federal Street near Fifth
Street in the commercial center of Lynchburg in December 1936 and January 1937. The heirs of Thomas O’Brien
sold two of the parcels to her and Kate A. Mallan sold her the third one. Federal Street was primarily residential in
the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as was Fifth Street, although a large tobacco stemmery stood a block from
Fifth on Federal Street. As in other Virginia cities, some tobacco factories or manufacturing plants were located in
Lynchburg’s older residential areas. Robert Keller at first located Pyramid Motor Corporation close by at 523-525
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _4__
Church Street near the intersection with Fifth Street, then moved into the Federal Street building in 1937. Pyramid
sold Ford and Lincoln Zephyr automobiles. The company’s advertisements employed the slogan, “You Can Af-Ford
a Ford.” Keller was the company’s president and general manager, but the property was listed in his wife’s name in
the city land tax books.5
By the time Keller opened Pyramid Motor Corporation, the automobile was well established in America. The first
vehicles with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were invented in the 1880s in Germany. In the United
States, the Duryea brothers became the first automobile manufacturers with the founding of their company in 1895.
The following year, Henry Ford, Charles Brady King, Ransom Eli Olds, and Alexander Winton introduced their
gasoline cars. Oldsmobile had a large-scale production line running by 1902 and Ford introduced the Model T in
1908. World War I demonstrated the value of automobiles and trucks and proved the importance of the auto
industry’s mass production methods. By 1919, the auto industry was only twenty years old but it was the third most
important industry in the value of its products.
Many small automobile manufacturers produced cars during the first three decades of the twentieth century, and
Lynchburg was no exception. The Piedmont Motor Car Company was founded there in 1915, and by December 1916
it was advertising the Piedmont 30, its principal product. The plant was located on Hollins Mill Road near Bedford
Avenue. The frames, wheels, engines, and other parts were manufactured elsewhere, shipped by rail to Lynchburg,
and assembled at the plant. Once the autos were put together except for the bodies and doors, they were driven over
Lynchburg’s unpaved streets at breakneck speeds (forty-five to fifty-five miles an hour) to test them. “Rough testing”
involved driving them up and down the stone outdoor steps in Rivermont Park. The cars were sold first directly from
the factory and then after 1919 at Leftwich Motor Company on Main Street. The plant also sold the automobiles
under other names (Bush Automobile Company in Chicago and Lone Star Company in Texas). The Piedmont 30 was
marketed successfully in Europe as the Alsace. Increasing competition, however, forced the company into bankruptcy
in 1921.6
Automobile production increased significantly during the 1920s, when jobs were plentiful and many people could
afford to purchase a car. The Great Depression, which began in 1929, significantly slowed the production of the
number of automobiles and many of the smaller manufacturers went out of business. Although the depression
continued even as Keller established the Pyramid Motor Corporation, automobile sales remained lucrative enough that
Pyramid competed effectively with Lynchburg’s other dealers and prospered.
The company’s move to new quarters in 1937 coincided with the introduction of the Lincoln Zephyr, an entry-level
luxury car that bridged the gap between Fords and the high-end, aging Lincoln K series. Introduced in 1935 as a 1936
model, the Zephyr was a very “modern” automobile, sporting a low raked windscreen, integrated fenders, and a
streamlined design—the most successful sleek design since the revolutionary Chrysler Airflow. Despite the hardships
of the Great Depression, the Zephyr ignited sales at Lincoln dealerships such as Pyramid Auto Corporation late in the
1930s. By 1941, Lincoln dealers offered only Zephyrs, Continentals, and the Zephyr-based Custom models. The
production of American cars was stopped in 1942 for the duration of the war, and afterward, when production
resumed, the Zephyr name was discontinued. It reemerged briefly in 2006, but the 2007 model was renamed the
MKZ.7
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _8____
Page _5__
The Pyramid Motors Corporation building presented, like the Zephyr, a streamlined, “modern” appearance in the Art
Deco/Art Moderne style, which is rare in Lynchburg. The Modern Movement, which incorporated and was variously
known as Art Deco, Art Moderne, Streamlined Moderne, and Modernistic, was the first popular style in the United
States to break with the revivalist tradition embodied by the Beaux-Arts and period homes. The Modern styles
became popular in the early 1920s and persisted until about 1940. Smooth surfaces of concrete, stone, and metal were
characteristic of this period. Polychromy, often with vivid colors, was frequently used. Both the Pyramid Motors
building and the Allied Arts Building in Lynchburg used polychromy with great success. The use of simplified and
streamlined forms created a futuristic appearance that consciously rejected historical styles. The style strove for
modernity and an appearance associated with the machine age. Manufacturers designed streamlined cars, trains,
ships, and kitchen appliances that both influenced and were influenced by these popular modernistic architectural
styles.
The Pyramid building was not, however, the only automobile sales showroom or automobile-related business that
moved to the Fifth Street corridor during the same period. Adams Motor Company, which sold DeSotos and
Plymouths, was one of the earliest car dealers on Fifth Street. Located around the corner from Pyramid, the red-brick,
solidly Georgian Revival–style building was occupied as early as 1932. It has only recently been vacated, and the
fanlights that topped the large plate-glass windows on the façade have been covered with Drivit on the exterior. One
other automobile-related business was located on Fifth Street early in the 1930s: Miller Tire at Fifth and Court streets,
near the original location of Pyramid Motor Corporation. By 1936, three businesses in the automobile field were
located on Fifth Street: Adams Motors, Wellford-Gerhart Company, which sold Packards, and Goodyear Tire. In
1937, when Pyramid moved to Federal Street, six automobile businesses were located nearby, including a tire store
and an auto supply store. Most of the buildings in which these businesses were located are no longer standing or were
not built specifically for an automobile-related business. These one- and two-story masonry buildings are more
characteristic of warehouse architecture. One automobile-related building is located at the corner of Fifth and Court
Streets. Now a auto-repair shop, it was constructed in the International style that was popular shortly after Pyramid
Motors was built.8
By 1942, perhaps due to poor health, Keller had withdrawn from active participation in Pyramid Motor Corporation,
as he had written “not employed” on his World War II registration card. Two years later, Grace Stone Keller leased
the building to Virginian Motors, Inc., and in 1945 she transferred the property to her husband for $48,195. Robert J.
Keller, Jr., died on October 6, 1946, in Lynchburg’s Virginia Baptist Hospital, “where he was undergoing treatment
for a stroke of paralysis” he had suffered late the previous week. Funeral services were conducted on October 8 at
Saint John’s Episcopal Church, where Keller had been a member, and he was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery.9
Grace Stone Keller and Robert J. Keller III, who had inherited the Pyramid property from Robert J. Keller, Jr., sold it
to Landon R. Wyatt and Frank W. Turner in 1948. The name of the dealership was changed to Turner Buick
Corporation, reflecting the change in ownership as well as in the product sold. The company changed its name twice
more, to Dickerson Buick Corporation in 1955 and then to Hemphill Buick-Opel, Inc., in 1970. Five years later,
Hemphill Buick-Opel sold the building to Sheltered Workshop of Lynchburg, Inc. Harold and Sandra Brooks bought
the building from Sheltered Workshop in 1989, and are presently selling it to the Lynchburg Neighborhood
Development Foundation.10
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _9____
Page _6__
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancestry.com. Accessed May 30, 2007.
Auditor of Public Accounts. Land Tax Books. 1937–1938. Library of Virginia (LVA). Richmond, Va.
Bonsall, Thomas. The Lincoln Motorcar: Sixty Years of Excellence. Baltimore, Md.: Bookman Pub., 1981.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986. Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House
Publishers, 2004.
Geigy Company History. www.transferpricing.com, accessed May 30, 2007.
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1937. Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1932–
1937.
Lewis, David L. 100 Years of Ford. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International, 2003.
Lynchburg. Deed Books 202, 239, 257, 262, and 397. Lynchburg Courthouse Clerk’s Office. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg. Charter Books 12 and 20. Lynchburg Courthouse Clerk’s Office. Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. October 7 and 9, 1946.
Richmond Times-Dispatch. March 19, 1995.
Trow General Directory of New York City, 1917. New York: H. Wilson, 1917.
U.S. Census. Schedule of Inhabitants. 1930. Virginia. Lynchburg. Microfilm. LVA.
Washington Post. May 9, 1931.
Wikipedia. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln-Zephyr. Accessed May 30, 2007.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _10, Photo List___
Page _7_
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION
This property consists of Lynchburg tax parcel ID 02409002. This is the same parcel referenced in the City of
Lynchburg Deed Book 743, Page 549 in February 1999.
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
This parcel is all the land that historically has been associated with the Pyramid Motors building. This is the same
parcel referenced in the City of Lynchburg Deed Book 743, Page 549 in February 1999.
PHOTO LIST
Pyramid Motors, Lynchburg, Virginia. All photographs were taken by Ashley Neville, March 2007. The negatives are on
file at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia. The negative number for all photographs is
23470.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Façade, view to the northwest
Façade with service area on right, view to the south
Entry, view to the southwest
Former showroom looking to the rear, view to the southwest
Sales offices, view to the east
Service area looking to the front and north end, view to the north
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Pyramid Motors
Lynchburg, VA
Section _End Notes___
Page _8__
ENDNOTES
1
S. Allen Chambers, Lynchburg, An architectural History, (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981), 442.
Ibid, 459.
3
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1935 (Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1935), 237; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory,
1936, p. 254; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1937, p. 632; Geigy company history found at www.transferpricing.com, accessed May 30, 2007;
Trow General Directory of New York City, 1917 (New York: H. Wilson, 1917), 1126; Robert J. Keller, Jr., WWI draft registration card,
Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; obituary, Robert J. Keller III, Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 19, 1995.
4
Sidney M. Loyd, WWI draft registration card, September 12, 1918, Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; obituary, Sidney M. Loyd,
Washington Post, May 9, 1931, p. 3; U.S. Census, Schedule of Inhabitants, 1930, Virginia, Lynchburg, Enumeration District 110-1, p. 121;
Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1932, p. 248.
5
Lynchburg, Deed Book 202, pp. 252, 260, 366, Lynchburg City Courthouse, Lynchburg, Va.; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1937, pp. 632–
633; Auditor of Public Accounts, Land Tax Books, 1937, 1938, Library of Virginia (LVA), Richmond, Va.
6
James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House Publishers, 2004), 296–
298.
7
Information on Lincoln Zephyr from Wikipedia, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln-Zephyr, accessed May 30, 2007.
8
DHR’s Data Sharing System (DSS) identifies only 7 Art Deco and 8 Art Moderne resources among the 2,310 buildings surveyed in
Lynchburg; Hill’s Lynchburg Directory, 1934–1937.
9
Robert J. Keller, Jr., WWII draft registration card, Ancestry.com, accessed May 30, 2007; Lynchburg, Deed Book 239, p. 298, Lynchburg
City Courthouse, Clerk’s Office, Lynchburg, Va.; Robert J. Keller, Jr., obituary and funeral notice, Lynchburg Daily Advance, October 7,
1946, p. 8, col. 1, and October 9, 1946, p. 9, col. 3, respectively.
10
Lynchburg, Deed Book 257, p. 131, Lynchburg City Courthouse, Clerk’s Office, Lynchburg, Va.; ibid., Deed Book 262, p. 492; ibid.,
Charter Book 12, p. 305; ibid., Charter Book 20, 492; ibid., Deed Book 497, p. 648.
2
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7/2/2007
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
o m No. 1024-0018
(Expires 1-31-2009)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property
County and State
Section number
Page
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
SUPPLEMENTARY LISTING RECORD
NRIS Reference Number:
07001140
Property Name: Pyramid Motors
Date Listed: 11/1/2007
County: Lynchburg State: VA
Multiple Name
This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the attached
nomination documentation subject to the following exceptions, exclusions, or amendments,
notwithstanding the National Park Service certification included in the nomination
documentation.
1607
Signature of the Keeper
D ate of Action
Amended Items in Nomination:
The nomination does not include an acreage figure in Section 10 of the form. The VA SHPO has
confirmed that the nominated area includes less than one acre. The form is amended to add this
information.
DISTRIBUTION:
Nationai Register property file
Nominating Authority (without nomination attachment)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
NRHP Approved: 7/27/2020
0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
_Pyramid Motors_ (2020 _Update) ___________________ _
Name of Property
_City of Lynchburg,_ VA----------------------------------------County and State
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
07001140
NR Reference Number
Page
1
State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this _X additional documentation _
_ name change (additional documentation)_ other
move _
removal
meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
7 -
I - Z1J;2,LJ
Date of Action
National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
_
entered in the National Register
_
determined eligible for the National Register
_
determined not eligible for the National Register
_
removed from the National Register
_ additional documentation accepted
_
other (explain:) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
2
Pyramid Motors, located in the City of Lynchburg, Virginia, was listed in the Virginia Landmarks
Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The property was listed under Criterion C
in the area of Architecture with a period of significance of 1937, coinciding with completion of the
building’s construction.
In the original nomination’s Section 8, no architect is identified for the building. Research conducted by
Carolyn Gills Frazier, author of Stanhope, Chronologically: The Work of Stanhope Spencer Johnson,
AIA, 1881-1973 (privately published, 2018), has identified Stanhope S. Johnson as the architect. For the
project, Frazier consulted the Lynchburg Architectural Archive at Jones Memorial Library in
Lynchburg, where most of Johnson’s plans and papers are held.
Among the Lynchburg Architectural Archive holdings, Frazier identified blueprints, an invoice,
miscellaneous documents, and correspondence related to Johnson’s design and the construction of
Pyramid Motors (Figures 1-2). These are cataloged under the call number Box 19, MS1236.
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
3
Figure 1. Architectural drawing by Stanhope Johnson of Floor Plan for Pyramid Motors (original drawing held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
4
Figure 2. Architectural drawing by Stanhope Johnson of Elevation for Pyramid Motors (original drawing held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
Figure 3. Copy of Invoice for Pyramid Motors Project from Vendor to Stanhope S. Johnson (original document held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
NPS Form 10-900-a (Rev. 8/2002)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Put Here
Pyramid Motors (2020 Update)
Name of Property
City of Lynchburg, VA
County and State
07001140
NR Reference Number
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Additional Documentation
Page
5
Figure 4. Copy of Receipt for Stanhope S. Johnson’s Services for the Pyramid Motors Project (original document held at the
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia)
Text
LISTED ON:
VLR: 06/19/2014
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NRHP:
08/25/2014
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories fiom the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Pierce Street Historic District
Other nameslsite number: Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, VDHR # 118-5238
Name of related multiple property listing:
n/a
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 1300-1400 Blocks of Pierce Street, 1300 Block (odd numbers) Fillmore Street, 1300 Block
Buchanan (even numbers)
City or town:
Lynchburg
State: Virginia
County: Independent City
Vicinity:
Not For Publication:
N/A
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the
procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that
this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
-statewide
national
~ x l i c a b l eNational Register Criteria:
X local
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau
or Tribal Government
Sections 1-6 page 1
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Pierce Street Historic District
Other names/site number: Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, VDHR # 118-5238
Name of related multiple property listing:
n/a
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1300-1400 Blocks of Pierce Street, 1300 Block (odd numbers) Fillmore Street, 1300 Block
Buchanan (even numbers)
City or town:
Lynchburg
State: Virginia
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the
procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that
this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_x__A
___B
__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Sections 1-6 page 1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
x
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
26
6
buildings
2
0
sites
0
0
structures
0
0
objects
28
6
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
6
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
COMMERCE/department store = General Store
RELIGION/religious facility = Church
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
RELIGION/religious facility = Church
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE VICTORIAN: Queen Anne
LATE VICTORIAN: Shingle Style
LATE VICTORIAN: Italianate
LATE 19TH & 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property:
WOOD; BRICK; METAL; STUCCO
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and
noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general
characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and
significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Pierce Street Historic District includes approximately five acres of urban residential neighborhood
between Lynchburg’s College Hill and Kemper Street areas. Most buildings within the district are sited on small
lots and have shallow setbacks. Architectural styles within the neighborhood vary, but the Folk Victorian and
Craftsman styles tend to dominate the streetscape. Some of the buildings are quiet modest and display no
discernible architectural style. The district’s buildings are primarily single-family residential, although two
churches along with two combination store/dwellings also exist. Primary resources within the district were
generally constructed between 1877 and 2009, and the average date of construction is 1914. Within the historic
district, the Anne Spencer House was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and
the Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court was individually listed in 2002; each property has three
contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The greater neighborhood is bounded on the northwest by Twelfth Street, on the southeast by the
Lynchburg Expressway (U.S. 29 Business), and on the southwest by Kemper Street. R.S. Payne Elementary
School lies approximately 600 feet to the north of the district’s center, and Dunbar Middle School (formerly
Dunbar High School) lies 1,800 feet to the northeast. The center of the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
(118-5292) is 1,000 feet to the southwest. Kemper and Twelfth Streets are lined with light commercial and
industrial buildings.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Sidewalks and deciduous shade trees line most of the neighborhood’s streets. Because of their small lot
sizes, most properties contain minimal landscape features. Notable exceptions are the Anne Spencer House at
1313 Pierce Street, which has a long, narrow garden that extends the full depth of the block to Buchanan Street,
and the C.W. Seay House at 1300 Pierce Street, which boasts large trees in its front and side yards.
Notable examples of Folk Victorian dwellings include the pair of two-story gable-fronted homes at 1314
and 1316 Pierce Street (both built circa 1900), which feature turned wood porch posts and lozenge-shaped wood
shingles in their gable ends. Several homes exhibit influences of the Craftsman style, including the American
Foursquare plan house at 1306 Pierce (built in 1924), which is marked by its stuccoed exterior and deep
overhanging eaves (some might classify this house as a Prairie Box). The neighborhood is home to three other
American Foursquare houses, including the fully-shingled dwelling at 1311 Pierce Street and the half-shingled
Walter Johnson House at 1422 Pierce (built in 1919 and 1911, respectively). The diminutive shingle-covered
home at 1309 Fillmore Street (circa 1933) features a second (garret) level (cantilevered over the front porch) with
a small balcony facing the street. Cedar shingles as an exterior siding material are not uncommon in the
neighborhood, and can be found on a number of residences along with the church at 1309 Pierce Street.
Built circa 1900, the Anne Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street is the district’s best, but not only,
example of a variant of Queen Anne architecture. While its façade is virtually identical to the neighboring
Warwick Spencer, Jr. house at 1317 Pierce (built in 1904), the Anne Spencer house has been bestowed with
numerous architectural refinements and details including glazed arch-topped doorways and a wrap-around porch
with pergola.
The Colonial Revival style is best-represented by the circa 1950 Seay House at 1300 Pierce Street (one of
only three brick buildings in the district), which features a pair of gabled dormers, an entry covered by a small
portico with an arched pediment, and a water table with basket-weave brick. Other homes exhibit select Colonial
Revival details, including the American Foursquare house at 1311 Pierce Street (built in 1919), which has a onestory, hipped-roof front porch with a modillioned cornice and Tuscan columns on brick piers.
Most resources in the district are devoid of outbuildings or notable site features with the exception of the
Walter Johnson and Anne Spencer houses on Pierce Street. To the rear of the Walter Johnson House at 1422
Pierce Street is a small, weatherboard-sided shed with a gable roof that it set on a high concrete foundation at the
lot’s back corner with Fifteenth Street. In the side yard, two short metal posts (which supported the net) serve as
the only visible reminders of Dr. Johnson’s clay tennis court (currently overgrown with grass) that was the
training ground for many African American athletes To the rear of the Anne Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street
is a delightful garden space featuring an extensive pergola. A small concrete fishpond is located in the
southwestern end of the garden, and features a cast iron African head (called “Prince Ebo” by Anne Spencer),
which was a gift from W.E.B. DuBois. The jewel of the garden is Spencer’s small cottage called “Edankraal”
where Anne conducted much of her writing. The name Edankraal is derived from the first two letters of Anne and
her husband Edward’s names, combined with kraal (an Afrikaans word for a southern African village or
community). The shingled cottage has a small shed porch and an external greenstone chimney and
fireplace/barbeque.
Inventory of Resources
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the Pierce Street Historic District. The
resources are listed alphabetically by roadway and numerically by street address. Virginia Department of
Historic Resources identification numbers are also listed. All resources, both primary and secondary, have been
evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the areas of significance identified under Criteria
A for African American History; and based upon the period of significance spanning the period 1862 to 1964.
All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being built later than 1964 or for having been significantly
altered so that they no longer reflect their historic appearance or character. Construction dates were derived from
a combination of sources, including Sanborn Insurance maps, historic City of Lynchburg land tax records, and
current City of Lynchburg property assessment records.
Buchanan Street
1306 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0019
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This diminutive dwelling has a side gable roof of standing seam metal, is clad in vinyl siding, and rests on
a brick foundation. A small shed-roofed porch is attached to the facade, and a long shed-roofed addition is
in the rear.
1308 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0020
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story house presents its gable end to Buchanan Street, and has a one-story shed- roofed porch that
has been partially enclosed. Visible portions of the foundation consist of dry-laid stone.Windows include 6/1
and 2/2 wood double-hung sashThe front of the house is clad in vinyl siding, but the east side is clad in wood
shingles.
1316 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0021
Other DHR Id#: Primary
Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Colonial Revival, 1910
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, three-bay house features a hipped roof with smaller cross gable on the left side and a
hipped dormer (enclosed). The roof is constructed of standing seam metal and the exterior walls of the
house are clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are 1/1 vinyl replacements, and a one-story, hippedroof porch supported by Tuscan columns dominates the facade. The foundation of the house is likely
brick covered by plastic faux stone panels.
1322 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0022
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This small, one-story house features a gabled ell on the right side of the facade and a two-bay porch on
the facade's left side. The central bay contains a single-leaf entry door with a glass transom, and
windows throughout the home are 6/6 replacement units. The house is clad in vinyl siding, and the roof
is covered with asphalt shingles. The foundation consists of parged brick.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Fillmore Street
1301 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0023
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1905
Contributing
Total: 1
This small two-story, two-bay house has a side-gable roof with Greek cornice returns. A one-story
hipped roof porch shelters the front entry, and a two-story addition is on the rear of the house. The roof
is of standing seam metal, the house is clad in vinyl siding, and the window are 1/1 vinyl replacement
units. The foundation consists of a combination of brick and concrete masonry units.
1307 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0024
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Church/Chapel (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1877
Contributing
Total: 1
The main block of this church consists of a rectangular building with a hipped roof. A tall, square
tower is attached to the front (narrow) end of the building, and is topped by a pyramidal roof. The
tower has a double-leaf entry, and first floor windows are 2/2 double-hung replacement units. The
building is clad in smooth wood weatherboard siding. The foundation is constructed of brick coated
with parging.
1309 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0025
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Craftsman, 1933
Contributing
Total: 1
The diminutive shingle-covered home at 1309 Fillmore Street features a second (garret) level
(cantilevered over the front porch) with a small balcony facing the street. The side-gable roof is
covered with asphalt shingles, and the first floor exterior is clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are
1/1 double-hung sash units. The foundation is parged masonry (probably brick).
Fourteenth Street
1518 Fourteenth Street
118-5238-0018
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, two-bay house is covered by a low-pitched side-gable roof of standing seam metal,
and rests on a brick foundation. The dwelling is clad in aluminum siding, and typical windows are 1/1/
double-hung replacements. A small hipped-roof front porch is located on the facade of the house, and
a small one- story addition is on the rear elevation.
Pierce Street
1300 Pierce Street
118-5238-0001
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Colonial Revival, Ca 1950
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, three-bay house has a side-gable roof covered with asphalt three-tab shingles. Its
exterior consists of brick laid in a running bond, features a basket-weave brick water table, and rests
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
on a foundation of poured concrete. Fenestration includes 8/8 double-hung sash windows on the first
floor and 6/6 double-hung sash windows on the second floor. The central entry is surrounded by an
elliptical fanlight with sidelights, and a rounded pediment supported by thin columns shelters the
doorway.
1301 Pierce Street
118-5238-0002
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Mixed:Commerce/Domestic (Other), Stories , Style: Italianate, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story frame building is covered by a hipped roof of standing seam metal, and is clad in wood
weatherboard siding. The deeply-overhanging cornice is supported by wood brackets, and most
windows consist of 2/2 double-hung wood sash. The left bay projects from the facade toward the
street, and contains a single-leaf doorway. The two right-hand bays are recessed and contain
polygonal storefront windows that flank the main entry to the building. The oldest portion of the
building rests on a foundation of brick laid in three-course common bond, while newer sections are
supported by brick piers with concrete masonry unit infill.
1306 Pierce Street
118-5238-0003
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Craftsman, 1924
Contributing
Total: 1
The two-and-a-half story house is covered by a hipped roof of slate with a pair of hipped dormers. The
exterior is clad in stucco, and typical windows consist of 8/1 double-hung sash. The entry is surrounded
by sidelights and topped with a fanlight, and a one-story, one-bay porch with square posts and Tuscan
columns occupies the central (entry bay). Two pairs of glazed French doors flank the central bay, and
open onto a small concrete patio.
1309 Pierce Street
118-5238-0004
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Church/Chapel (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
This gable-front building is clad in stained wood shingles and is fenestrated by 1/1 arch-topped
windows. A small addition on the front of the building contains a double-leaf entry and a small tower
on the right side. The foundation consists of brick piers with concrete masonry unit infill.
1310 Pierce Street
118-5238-0005
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 2009
Non-contributing Total: 1
This two-bay, two-story house has a side gable roof of standing seam metal, is clad in Hardiplank
siding, and has a concrete foundation. A full-width, shed-roofed porch shelters its single-leaf entry
door. Fenestration includes 1/1 double-hung sash windows.
1311 Pierce Street
118-5238-0007
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: No Discernible Style, 1919
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This 2.5 story house is covered by a hipped roof of standing seam metal, is clad in stained wood
shingles, and rests on a parged masonry foundation. A one-story, full-width porch on the front features
a modillioned cornice and Tuscan columns supported by piers. Typical windows are 1/1 double-hung
sash units.
1312 Pierce Street
118-5238-0006
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1929
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a hipped roof covered by asphalt shingles with a hipped dormer. Clad in vinyl siding,
the house is fenestrated by 1/1 double-hung sash windows. A one-story porch with hipped roof is
supported by brick columns. The house rests on a brick foundation.
1313 Pierce Street
118-0061
Other DHR Id#: 118-5238-0008
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, Ca 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
Architecture Summary: The Anne Spencer House (NRHP 1976) at 1313 Pierce Street is a mediumsized, modified Queen Anne style dwelling located in a block of dwellings of similar size and age. Set
on a relatively narrow lot with little space between it and the adjacent buildings, the house blends with
its neighbors and makes no special visual or architectural statement. It is a comfortable, commodious
structure, well maintained, and in a good state of preservation. It has remained virtually unchanged,
inside and out, since it was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's exterior walls are sheathed in shingles which vary in length from course to course. The
roof is of standing seam sheet metal. Typical of its ilk, the house has an irregular plan, hence an
irregular facade. The two bay façade is dominated by a slightly projecting gabled pavilion. The
entrance, a round headed door, is in the single bay to the left of the pavilion. The first floor of the
facade is shaded by a porch, supported on square wooden posts, extending the length of the facade and
around the southeast corner. The porch connects at the northeast corner with a one story pergola which
extends along the house's north side to the dining room projection. The concrete porch and pergola floor
is given distinction by being scored in squares with the squares painted alternately black and light gray
forming a checkered pattern. Except for the gabled pavilion the house is covered by a hipped roof. A
single dormer is located on the rear slope. An interior end chimney stack serving the fireplaces in the
parlor and dining room extends from the edge of the roof's north slope.
The side elevations of the Spencer house have few distinctive features except for the pergola. The
west or rear elevation is dominated by a rectangular projection containing an informal sitting room or
sun room on the first floor and a sleeping porch above. The sun room is lighted by five closely spaced
windows that are shaded by a metal awning with scalloped eaves. The sleeping porch has a long, threeunit window. An exterior stair ascends from a door in the south side of the sun room.
The interior of the house is architecturally unpretentious; what little trim exists is primarily stock
woodwork of the period, such as symmetrically molded architraves with turned corner blocks. The
house is entered through the stair hall. The stairs ascend immediately to the left of the front door (in the
southeast corner of the house). Behind the stair hall is an alcove used primarily for the storage of books.
The north side of the house contains the parlor, dining room and sun room. All the rooms are connected
by wide, double doorways. The kitchen is located in the southwest corner. A back stair ascends from
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the sun room, between the kitchen and dining room. The second floor has four bedrooms (including the
sleeping porch), a bath, and laundry. The attic, historically a playroom, contains a model railroad layout
and dormitory-style beds.
The primary interest of the interior is not its architecture but the fact that it contains all the decorations,
furnishings, and other appointments precisely as they were in Mrs. Spencer's lifetime. Most of the items
are of pre-World War II vintage, a few of the furnishings are Victorian. The interest Mrs. Spencer took
in her possessions and immediate surroundings is reflected in numerous mementoes and items of
personal or sentimental significance scattered about the house. The rather crowded rooms with their
colorful appointments have a comfortable dignity combined with a nostalgic hominess.
The area immediately behind the house was once occupied by a garage. The building has since been
demolished but its concrete flooring remains intact. A lattice fence separates the garage area from the
garden proper. At the east end of the garden is the small, one room, shingled cottage used by Mrs.
Spencer as her study. The front of the cottage is sheltered by a porch supported on turned posts salvaged
from another house. A stone chimney with an exterior fireplace is on the front of the cottage. The
cottage interior has a locally-quarried greenstone floor and walls sheathed in natural-finished plywood.
The walls are virtually covered with documents and photographs of Mrs. Spencer's friends, family and
associates. A simple desk is placed in front of the pair of windows overlooking the garden.
Today, the house and secondary resources are well-kept and in good repair.
Secondary Resource : Garden (Site)
Contributing
Total: 1
Secondary Resource : Secondary Dwelling
Contributing
Total: 1
1314 Pierce Street
118-5238-0009
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a front gable roof with lozenge-shaped wood shingles in the gable. A one-story hippedroof porch spans the width of the house, and is supported by turned wood posts.
Typical fenestration includes 2/1 double-hung sash windows. The house has a brick foundation.
1316 Pierce Street
118-5238-0010
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a front gable roof with lozenge-shaped wood shingles in the gable. A one-story hippedroof porch spans the width of the house, and is supported by turned wood posts.
Typical fenestration includes 2/1 double-hung sash windows. The house rests on a brick foundation.
1317 Pierce Street
118-5238-0011
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, 1904
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This house has a hipped roof of standing seam metal and is clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are
2/2 double-hung vinyl replacement units. The front porch is covered by a hipped roof and is supported
by turned wooden posts.
1321 Pierce Street
118-5238-0012
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
The structure of this house is that of a typical Lynchburg Italianate gabled-ell dwelling, however its
coating of faux stone material somewhat disguises its history. The roof is of asphalt shingles, and a onestory porch with standing seam metal shed roof wraps around the front and left sides of the building.
Numerous additions on the rear are also encapsulated in faux stone (likely a mid-20th century
modification)
1322 Pierce Street
118-5238-0013
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Ranch, 1968
Non-Contributing
Total: 1
This one-story ranch house is constructed of brick laid in running bond atop a parged masonry
foundation, and has a side gable roof with cross gable on the left end. Windows are 2/2
(horizontal) double-hung sash units or variants thereof. A flat-roofed carport projects from the
rear of the house.
1408 Pierce Street
118-5238-0014
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1969
Non-Contributing
Total: 1
This low, one-story brick house has a front-gable roof covered in asphalt shingles. Typical
windows include 2/2 (horizontal) double-hung sash units, and the facade is dominated by a
hipped-roof porch with aluminum awning. The house is supported by a parged masonry
foundation.
1410 Pierce Street
118-5238-0015
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1920
Contributing
Total: 1
This low, wide gable-fronted house is clad in vinyl siding and has a hipped-roof porch
supported by welded metal posts. Windows are 1/1 double-hung vinyl sash units, and the
houses rests on a brick foundation.
1422 Pierce Street
118-0225-0077
Other DHR Id#: 118-5238-0016
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Craftsman, 1911
Contributing
Total: 1
The Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court (NRHP 2002) stands as a good example of
the American Foursquare style with its two-story, two-bay form with hipped roof and fullwidth porch, the frame building sits on a raised concrete basement and features a combination
of weatherboard siding and wood shingles.
See nomination for additional architectural information. There have been no notable changes
have been made to the property since the NRHP nomination. The first floor windows and
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
doors have been covered by painted plywood. The physical condition is poor due to further
deterioration of the slate roof.
To the rear of the house is a small, weatherboard-sided shed with a gable roof that it set on a
high concrete foundation at the lot’s back corner with Fifteenth Street. In the side yard, two
short metal posts (which supported the net) serve as the only visible reminders of Dr.
Johnson’s clay tennis court (currently overgrown with grass) that was the training ground for
many African American athletes.
Secondary Resource : Garage (Building)
Secondary Resource : Tennis Court (Structure)
1423 Pierce Street
118-5238-0017
Contributing
Contributing
Total: 1
Total: 1
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Mixed: Commerce/Domestic (Other), Stories , Style: Victorian, Folk,
1910
Total: 1
This building features a projecting gabled-ell on the left side of the facade, and has a one-story
porch across the entire front. Lozenge-shaped wood shingles trim the tympanum of the frontfacing gable, and the building is clad in smooth weatherboard. The building rests on a parged
masonry foundation.
Secondary Resource : Mixed: Domestic/Industrial (Other)
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
x
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ETHNIC HERITAGE: Black
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1862-1964
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1873, 1877, 1913
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
McLaughlin, James T.
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Pierce Street Historic District encompasses approximately 5 acres of urban residential
neighborhood to the south of Lynchburg’s central business district and just north of the Kemper
Street Industrial Historic District. The district includes 26 contributing resources and 6 noncontributing resources. Two properties within the historic district, the Anne Spencer House and
the Dr. Walter John House and Tennis Court, are individually listed in the NRHP. The district
has a period of significance beginning in 1862 with the creation of Camp Davis, which after the
Civil War served as a safe haven for formerly enslaved African Americans under the auspices of
the Freedmen’s Bureau. The period of significance ends in 1964.1 Following its use as a military
camp and hospital during the Civil War and Reconstruction, the district began developing as a
residential neighborhood. By the 1870s, property in the district was being purchased by African
Americans who established homes, businesses, and places of worship in a small, two-block
cloister surrounded by predominately white neighbors. Over time, an environment developed
that fostered the creation or support of notable African American figures in education, literature,
aviation, sports, and medicine over multiple generations, making it locally significant under
Criterion A in the area of Ethnic Heritage for its role as a micro-neighborhood that celebrated
African American growth and culture from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth
century. The district displays substantial integrity of location, material, association, design, and
workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Civil War and Reconstruction
During the mid-19th century, the future Pierce Street neighborhood was part of the
“Spring Valley” estate of William Davis, Jr. (1770-1853).2 By the early1860s, Lynchburg
residential neighborhoods had expanded far beyond Diamond Hill, Federal Hill, Garland Hill,
and other neighborhoods adjacent to the city’s commercial center on the James River. Twelfth
Street doubled as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, and designated streets extended southward
at least to Floyd Street.
By May of 1861, the area roughly bounded by 12th, 16th, Pierce, and Kemper Streets
was known as “Camp Davis,” and served as a mustering ground for Confederate troops and
home to the Pratt Hospital. By overlaying the Civil War-era map of Lynchburg on a current map,
it appears that the bulk of the structures (buildings or tents arranged in rows) lay within the block
bounded by 13th, 14th, Pierce, and Buchanan with a single building on the southeast side of
Thirteenth Street between Pierce and Fillmore. A circa 1900 description of the site noted that
there were “a number of one-story frame houses, which were built in rows, where the officers
stayed, one or two of which are now standing.”3 As the military presence in Lynchburg grew,
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
camps spilled out of Camp Davis and skirted the southern and western edges of the city,
including the fairgrounds near present-day E.C. Glass High School.
Camp Davis served as a muster ground and encampment for newly-recruited troops from
throughout the Southern states, including local soldiers entering the 2d Virginia Cavalry and 11th
Virginia Infantry Regiments. In May 1861, Capt. William Crawford of the 1st Arkansas Infantry
Regiment wrote home from Camp Davis, reporting that, among others, two Tennessee regiments
had also arrived, and that his men would remain in Lynchburg for two weeks while they
conducted drill exercises.4 In all, over 4,000 soldiers were present at Camp Davis and its
environs in the late spring of 1861. Like all mustering facilities, Camp Davis’ purpose was to
process units of state troops in order to ready them for service under the Confederate States of
America. However, not all soldiers at the camp were as disciplined as their commanders might
have wished. In June 1861, three soldiers of the Floyd Guard deserted from Camp Davis. A few
weeks earlier, a fight broke out amongst some of the Tennessee troops at the camp. Lieutenant
Joseph Davidson of the 1st Tennessee Regiment attempted to diffuse the row, but was fatally shot
in the chest by Joseph Taylor, a private soldier.5
A medical facility, called Pratt Hospital, was established at Camp Davis by April of 1863
as a response to the increasing number of sick soldiers in the city.6 By the war’s end in 1865,
more than 130 Confederate soldiers had died there, although thousands had been treated and
released from the facility. In May 1864 alone, over 3,000 soldiers were sent to Pratt as
Lynchburg’s other hospitals reached capacity.7 In the spring of 1864, W.C. Nicholson of the 2d
Virginia Artillery wrote to his sister Cate, reporting that he had been wounded and was at Pratt
Hospital. He was recovering well, but complained of the meals, saying that he “would not mind
staying here so bad if they would give me enough to eat. I have just eat dinner & I just had
enough to give me an apetite [sic].”8
At the close of the Civil War, the Federal Army assumed control of Camp Davis, which
was alternately referred to as Camp Schofield by the Federal government. The 29th United States
Infantry Regiment was stationed to post-war duty at Lynchburg, with Brevet Major General
Orlando Wilcox as commander of the regiment and of the “District of Lynchburg.” Officers
specifically assigned to Camp Schofield included Brevet Colonel George P. Buell (post
commandant) and Lieutenant Ogden B. Read (post adjutant). Late in 1867, Colonel Thomas E.
Rose assumed command of the camp.9 As the citizens of Lynchburg began the process of
resuming their pre-war livelihoods, commercial and industrial buildings that had served as
makeshift hospitals during the war were returned to their original functions, and the Federal
army continued operation of the former Pratt Hospital at Camp Davis for military purposes.
Between 1865 and 1869, more than a dozen soldiers and civilians (including the child of
Caroline, a former slave) died at the facility, but many more were successfully treated, including
Private John Holden (29th Infantry), who was injured in a train accident near Keswick, Virginia,
in the fall of 1868. Following a two-month treatment for head injuries, he was discharged and
returned to his company.10 Activities at Camp Schofield were not limited to those of a martial
nature, however. In January of 1868, newspapers reported that the soldiers had organized a
“dramatic association” and performed plays in the camp.11
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
As the seat of the Federal presence in the Lynchburg area under Reconstruction, Camp
Davis/Schofield also served as the headquarters for District 7 of the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau), which covered nine counties in southern
Virginia.12 Captain Robert Stinson Lacey (1832-1915), Assistant Quartermaster, U.S. Army, was
assigned to the post of superintendent of District 7 for four years following the war.
Among other services, the Freedmen’s Bureau offered government rations to former
slaves and their families, and the black population of Camp Davis rose significantly as refugees
established makeshift dwellings in the area. The Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association
sent Jacob W. Shoemaker and Jacob E. Yoder (1838-1905) to operate a school at Camp Davis,
which by May of 1866 had 322 students enrolled. Two years later, in 1868, a group of African
American residents requested permission to transfer the school to a larger barracks building at
Camp Davis. This effort led to the formation of the Educational Association of Lynchburg,
which was also known as the Howard Educational Association (likely named for Freedmen’s
Bureau chief Oliver Howard). Ultimately, the association succeeded in raising funds for the
construction of a purpose-built school on Polk Street in 1870. Following the departure of the
Freedmen’s school from Camp Davis, Yoder ultimately became first superintendent of African
American schools in Lynchburg.13
As early as 1867, John T. Davis and Isaac Hartshorne, heirs of William Davis, Jr. (owner
of the Camp Davis land), began the process of reclaiming their family’s property following what
would become a decade of occupation by two armies. Captain Lacey, who was responsible for
administering “abandoned lands” on behalf of the Freedmen’s Bureau, instructed them that in
order to obtain title to the land, they would need to, among other tasks, prove their loyalty to the
United States. Following Virginia’s re-admittance to the Union in 1870, the United States Army
withdrew its presence from Camp Davis, and the land was returned to William Davis’ heirs.14
By the mid-1870s, the Camp Davis area had been annexed by the City of Lynchburg, and
development pushed farther south to a small stream known as “Boundary Brook.” Five
additional streets (Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Kemper, and Holliday) had been added, although
they had been temporarily designated by the letters A through E, respectively. Like the older
portion of Lynchburg, the neighborhood was divided into two-acre blocks, each divided into four
half-acre lots. The named streets ran generally parallel to the James River, while the more
narrow numbered streets ran perpendicular to the river.15
A Safe Haven for African American Families
The neighborhood quickly became a destination for former slaves seeking employment in
the city. In 1874, two small lots along Buchanan Street were purchased by two African
Americans: Wilson J. Brown, a tobacco factory worker, and Daniel Goggin, who worked as a
gardener. These men, along with several white landlords, constructed a row of houses in the
1300 block of Buchanan Street by 1875 (1306 and 1308 Buchanan remain today). In 1873,
tobacco factory worker Winston Calloway (c. 1825-1887), also an African American, purchased
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
a quarter-acre lot along Pierce Street and promptly began improving the property. By 1875, a
building valued at $300.00, likely the facility known as “Calloway Hall,” had been constructed
on the lot. According to oral tradition, this building served as a neighborhood gathering place
and market where local farmers would sell eggs, produce, and other goods.
In 1877, William Ford sold a quarter-acre lot at the corner of Thirteenth and Pierce
Streets to William Jacob Calloway (1854-1907).16 The 1880 census indicates that W.J. Calloway
was working at a tobacco factory and living with his aunt and uncle, Winston and Ann Calloway.
However, William had plans to improve his situation, and the same year, he took out a deed of
trust for $309.30 on his lot at the corner of Thirteenth and Pierce. This loan likely funded the
construction of a building on the site, as the 1881 land tax records indicate that improvements
valued at $600.00 had been added to the property. By 1885, the value of improvements on the lot
rose significantly to $2,000.00, which represents the bulk (if not all) of the building that is extant
on the site today at 1301 Pierce Street.17 Calloway began operating a grocery store at his large,
newly-constructed building, which became one of the neighborhood’s first African Americanowned businesses. He and his wife, Rebecca Lucinda Pride (1855-1900), lived above the store
for a number of years. Rebecca attended Hampton Institute in 1882 and hailed from one of
Lynchburg’s most revered black families, which had been free since the early nineteenth
century.18
As early as 1902, Edward Spencer (husband of poet Anne Spencer) had become a
business partner with William J. Calloway, and the store at 1301 Pierce operated as “Calloway &
Spencer.” Calloway died in 1907 and left the store and his personal property to Edward and
Warwick Spencer, Jr., who he called his “dear friends.” The Spencer brothers continued to
operate the store until 1913, when they leased it to white grocer Harry D. Logwood, who ran the
business through 1920.19
By the mid-1880s, the 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street were quickly becoming a
neighborhood of choice for African Americans. In 1887, 80% of the occupied houses in those
two blocks had black residents. This is remarkable when compared to the remaining twelve
blocks of Pierce Street which, combined, only contained 32% African American occupants.20 In
1900, the 800 through 1200 blocks of Pierce Street were completely occupied by white families,
as were the 1500 and 1600 blocks of the street. In the 1300 and 1400 blocks, 9 out of 13, or 69%
of the homes were occupied by African Americans.21
In 1904, Warwick Spencer (1847-1927), along with his sons Warwick, Jr. and Edward,
purchased approximately three-quarters of an acre in the southeastern half of the 1300 block of
Pierce Street.22 Warwick and his wife Mary Susan Payne (1848-1936) were both born into
slavery. Following the Civil War, they lived on a farm in Appomattox County and purchased
property in Lynchburg (at what would become known as 1800 Holliday Street) in 1872.23
Warwick, a foreman at the J.H. Heald & Co. bark mill, had acquired several additional properties
near his Holliday Street home and Fishing Creek during the 1880s. Most of these acquisitions,
including the lot on Pierce Street, involved trustee or commissioner sales, which probably placed
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Warwick on a “level playing field” with other buyers and helped him gain real estate at
reasonable prices.
Warwick and Mary were active supporters of their community. In 1895, they donated
$10.00 to a fundraising campaign of the Virginia Seminary (now Virginia University of
Lynchburg), and Warwick was a trustee of the Eighth Street Baptist Church in the late 1890s.24
At the time of the Spencers’ purchase on Pierce Street, the lot contained a “five room
house” at the western corner of Pierce and Fourteenth Streets (1321 Pierce) along with a small
store building, which had been demolished by 1907. Warwick and Mary moved into the existing
house at 1321 Pierce Street and immediately enlarged it. Warwick Spencer, Jr. constructed a
house at 1317 Pierce, and his brother Edward built the house at 1313 Pierce Street.25 Edward
Spencer followed his father’s practice of real estate acquisition and development, buying small
lots at the rate of “two for a quarter,” or two lots for twenty five dollars. He built a cluster of
houses (known as “Spencer Place”) in the neighborhood, most of which followed the plan of the
homes at 1314 and 1316 Pierce Street.26
The 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street remained an enclave for African Americans in
1910, with 72% of the households occupied by blacks. The 1200 and 1300 blocks of Fillmore
Street were also heavily African American, as were the 1300 through 1500 blocks of Buchanan
Street. These few blocks were largely surrounded by white residents for a considerable
distance.27
During the early 20th century, the notable Humbles family occupied the small residence at
1301 Fillmore Street. In 1910, retail grocer Alphonza Humbles, wife Celinda, and four children
were living in the house along with Marcellus Nowlin, their 13-year-old mulatto servant. Also in
the home was 63-year-old Adolphus Humbles (Alphonza’s father). Adolphus Humbles (18451926) was a successful merchant in Campbell County, and operated the toll road between
Lynchburg and Rustburg (the seat of Campbell County). He served as the Treasurer of both the
Virginia State Baptist Convention and the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now
known as the Virginia University of Lynchburg), where the school’s main building bears his
name. Also active in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive
Committee for the Republican Party for thirteen years. In 1915, he constructed the large, threestory Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street. The home was later occupied by Clara and T.P.
Smith, who operated Smith’s Business College on Fifth Street.28
In 1940, the 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street remained a bastion of Lynchburg’s
African American neighborhoods, with 84% of the households containing black families. As in
previous decades, self-segregation seemed to occur on a block-by-block basis rather than across
entire neighborhoods. While the 600, 700, and 1700 blocks of Pierce Street were heavily African
American, the 800-1200 and 1500-1600 blocks were almost all comprised of white households.
The former Calloway-Spencer Store at 1301 Pierce was operated as Hamilton’s Cash Store, and
the combination dwelling/store at 1423 Pierce was operated as a grocery by Charles Simmons
(both Hamilton and Simmons were white businessmen).29
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Religious and Benevolent Institutions
In 1881, Irish-born grocer and barkeeper Richard Matthews and his wife Annie sold (for
one dollar) to trustees of the “African Church in Lynchburg” a quarter-acre lot on Fillmore Street
where a congregation had “recently erected a house of public worship.”30 This church, which
would later be known as Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, is located at 1307 Fillmore Street.
Among those who built the church was William Taylor, a 37-year-old African American
brickmason.31 The first minister assigned to the congregation was Richard J. Gassaway (18251891), who was followed by Rev. John Edward Cooke (b. 1836), Rev. John H. Brown, and Rev.
Jordan Gordon.
Richard and Annie Matthews’ 1881 deed placed several restrictions upon the
congregation, which limited its ability to encumber the church property with debt or to use it for
purposes other than worship. At some point during the 1880s, the trustees of the church rented
the building to the City of Lynchburg for use as a school, which displeased Matthews and led to
a legal battle. In 1894, the congregation received permission from the courts to take out a loan to
purchase the lot adjacent to the church for the purpose of erecting a parsonage, which was built
during the tenure of Rev. Henry Standup Roberts, the church’s pastor from 1900 to 1905.32
Between August of 1907 and June of 1909, the congregation rented space from the estate
of William J. Calloway on Pierce Street so that they could conduct services during a renovation
of Marshall Chapel. Among other things, this expansion added the front tower with pyramidal
roof that defines the church today.33 In the early 1930s, the parsonage at 1309 Fillmore was
either replaced or renovated to its current appearance, although the construction may have been
more costly than the congregation could bear, as the dwelling was auctioned in 1936 and
purchased by Maud H. Robertson, a white retail grocer who lived in the neighborhood.
Robertson likely rented the house to Marshall Chapel for some time, as the 1930 City Directory
lists Rev. David R. Washington living there. Marshall Chapel continues to be owned by the
trustees of the church, although it is no longer home to an active congregation.34
Around 1912, African American tobacco factory worker-turned-minister Richard Buster
(a former slave) encouraged his prayer group to relocate to an unidentified two-story house near
the intersection of Thirteenth and Pierce Streets, calling the new gathering the “Peaceful
Mission.” Rev. William H. Johnson facilitated the merger of the group with the Salem Street
“prayer band,” and in June of 1912, the newly-energized group became Peaceful Baptist
Church.35 In 1914, the Lynchburg Corporation Court appointed trustees for Peaceful Baptist
Church, including A.T. Worthy, George Jones, Woodson Tweedy, William Dickey, and
Washington Dillard. Several of these individuals had purchased a small lot at 1309 Pierce Street
the prior year, and in November of 1914, the membership of the church met and agreed to allow
the trustees to borrow money to secure a debt of $1629.25 to local contractor R. G. Shelton &
Co., which funded the construction of the Peaceful Baptist Church located today at 1309 Pierce
Street.36
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The church paid off its construction loan in 1919, and the congregation met that spring to
endorse taking out another loan, which it apparently did in January of 1922 to make payment of
$1968.58 to R.G. Shelton & Co.37 A 1923 aerial photograph by Underwood and Underwood
shows the church with white weatherboard siding (which can still be seen beneath the current
shingle cladding) and a single steeple on the gable roof.38 This additional loan may have funded
a remodeling and expansion of the church in the mid-1920s.
A 1921 edition of the New York Age newspaper reported that Lynchburg was “witnessing
one of the greatest spiritual revivals ever known in the history of the city.” Several churches
were highlighted, including Peaceful Baptist, which was “in full swing” under the leadership of
Rev. Sandy A. Garland.39 Garland was a former pastor of White Rock Baptist Church, and led
the congregation of Peaceful Baptist from its inception through 1930. Subsequent pastors
included Rev. A. F. Brown and Rev. F. P. Lewis, who served the church for over three decades.
In 1983, the trustees of Peaceful Baptist purchased a former Seventh Day Adventist Church at
the intersection of Park Avenue and Langhorne Road and relocated the congregation to the new
site. The same year, trustees of Wayside Gospel Mission purchased the church building at 1309
Pierce Street, and continue to operate the church today.40
In the winter of 1897, notable black teacher Amelia Perry Pride (1857-1932) spearheaded
the creation of an “old folks home” at Winston Calloway’s former residence (demolished) at
1311 Pierce Street. This facility was called the “Dorchester Home,” in tribute to a resident of
Dorchester, Massachusetts, who donated funds for its creation. A contemporary publication
stated that Pride had enlisted the support of over one hundred area ladies to provide fuel, food,
and clothing for the elderly women (mostly former slaves) who resided there.41 This, in fact, was
one of three neighborhood locations operated by the Dorchester Home Association, which was
founded for the “maintenance of aged and indigent colored people.”42 The other Dorchester
Home locations were Calloway Hall and 1609 Thirteenth Street (both demolished), but
photographs in Amelia Pride’s papers at Hampton Institute (see additional information section)
depict the 1311 Pierce Street home, which suggests that this was the first, or primary, location.
In 1900, two older African American women were residing at William J. Calloway’s
store at 1301 Pierce, which had been outfitted with multiple apartments on the second floor.
These women were 50-year-old Rebecca Murphy and 65-year-old Adeline Charlton. Three
additional women between 82 and 89 years of age were living at 1609 Thirteenth Street. A 1904
publication by Hampton Institute (Amelia’s alma mater), reported that Pride,
…seeing the neglected condition of the old colored women of Lynchburg, asked the cooperation of a few other women in comfortable circumstances and started, in the winter
of '97, an Old Folk's Home. As many as one hundred women finally became interested in
the project and committees were formed to provide fuel, food, clothing, and rent, for the
inmates of the Home. Through the assistance of Northern friends a building was finally
purchased and named the Dorchester Home. Here destitute old women were taken and
tenderly cared for as long as they lived. The Home is now in other hands, and Mrs. Pride
is in charge of an industrial school in the same city.43
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The home on Thirteenth Street was sold in 1903, and William J. Calloway assumed (or
resumed) responsibility for the remaining residents of the Dorchester Home, as his will (probated
in 1907) called for his friends Edward and Warwick Spencer, Jr. to “support for the rest of their
lives my old friends Rebecca Murphy, Lizzie Clark, and Eliza Cousins.” Indeed, the 1910
Census lists these three women residing as “inmates” at 1309 Pierce Street (presumably
Calloway Hall).
Home to Leaders in Literature and Education
Born in Henry County, Virginia, Anne Bethel Bannister (1882-1975) attended the nearby
Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg) from 1893
to 1899. There, she met fellow student Edward Alexander Spencer, who helped her with
mathematics and science while she tutored him in languages. Anne and Edward married in 1901
and a few years later, moved into the home at 1313 Pierce Street that Edward designed and built.
The couple had three children: Bethel Calloway, Alroy Sarah, and Chauncey Edward Spencer.
From 1912 to 1924, Edward Spencer served as the first African American parcel postman in
Lynchburg. In addition, he was a notary public and was involved in local real estate
development.
As their children grew, Anne became interested in literature, and began writing poems
focusing on nature, her garden, biblical themes, and mythology. Her talents were discovered by
James Weldon Johnson in 1919, and she became a key individual in the Harlem Renaissance
movement of the 1920s. With over thirty poems published during her lifetime, she was the first
Virginian and second African American to be included in the “Norton Anthology of Modern
Poetry.”
Of her home at 1313 Pierce, Anne wrote:
We have a lovely home - one that
money did not buy - it was born and evolved
slowly out of our passionate, povertystricken agony to own our own home.
happiness.
Many notable figures of the twentieth century were guests at the Spencer Home,
including Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, and Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Langston Hughes stayed with the Spencers in 1927, when he became the first
non-white lecturer at Lynchburg College. Three years later, he published a poem entitled “Anne
Spencer’s Table” in an effort to encourage her to keep writing.44 In addition to her poetic
pursuits, Anne served as the librarian at Dunbar High School for over two decades, and helped
form the Lynchburg Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.
In the early 1930s, Professor Frank Trigg (1850-1933) and his wife Ellen Preston Taylor
(1858-1936) resided at 1422 Pierce Street, which had been constructed twenty years earlier by
notable white architect James T. McLaughlin (partner with Stanhope S. Johnson). Trigg was
born into slavery at the Executive Mansion in Richmond, as his parents were servants of
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Governor John B. Floyd. He attended Hampton Institute and became the first black male teacher
and first black high school principal in the Lynchburg school system. In 1890, he founded the
Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute (a branch of Morgan State College in Baltimore),
which was located off of Campbell Avenue in Lynchburg. He later served as Principal of
Princess Anne Academy in Maryland and President of Bennett College in North Carolina. Ellen
Preston Taylor also graduated from Hampton Institute and served as a public school teacher in
Lynchburg. After Professor Trigg’s death, their son, Frank R. Trigg (a physician whose office
was on Fifth Street) lived with his mother at 1422 Pierce until her death in 1936.
By 1940, African American dentist Henry P. Weeden and his wife Margaret Pauline
Fletcher had moved from Fifth Street to the home at 1316 Buchanan Street. Pauline, or “Polly”
as she was commonly known, received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and
her Masters of Arts from Columbia University. She worked at Dunbar High School for forty
years, where she was a teacher, guidance counselor, and administrative principal. Later known as
Pauline Weeden Maloney, she served on the board of the Central Virginia Planning District
Commission, was the first black woman appointed to the Lynchburg City School Board, and was
the first black elected President of the Southern Regional School Boards Association. Polly was
the first female Rector of the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors, and from 1957 to 1961,
served as the third National President of The Links, Incorporated. She died in Lynchburg in
1987.45
In 1951, Clarence William Seay (1900-1982) and his wife Clara Majors (1901-1978)
began living in the brick home at 1300 Pierce Street. Seay served as the Principal of Dunbar
High School from 1938-1968, and led the school through the years of the Civil Rights Movement
and integration. After retiring from the Lynchburg City School System, he was a member of the
faculty at Lynchburg College, and became Lynchburg’s first modern-day black City Council
member (he was also the first black Vice Mayor of the City). Seay was the President of the
Virginia State Teachers Association and was the first high school principal to be President of the
Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.46
Pioneers in Aviation, Medicine and Sports
The only son of Anne and Edward Spencer, Chauncey Edward Spencer (1906-2002) saw
his first aircraft in the skies over Lynchburg in 1917, and his lifelong fascination with aviation
began. After graduating from the all-black Dunbar High School, he attended college at the
Virginia Theological Seminary and College. Prompted by an invitation by Congressman Oscar
DePriest (who was visiting his parents) to move to Chicago in order to study aviation, he took a
part-time job and began flying lessons. Spencer, along with other aviators, founded the National
Airmen Association of America (NAAA).
In 1939, Spencer and fellow NAAA member Dale Lawrence White rented a biplane and
conducted a tour of ten cities that ended in Washington, D.C. Their goal was to showcase the
skills of African American pilots and to advocate the inclusion of people of color in the Army
Air Corps’ Civilian Pilot Training Program. In Washington, they met with Harry Truman and
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
other members of Congress to plead their cause. He was hired by the U.S. Army and became the
Civilian Personnel Employee Relations Officer at what would become the Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, where he continued efforts to integrate the military.
In 1948, he received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World
War II (the highest honor the U.S. Air Force could award a civilian) in 1948. He continued
advocating civil rights within the Air Force, which caused considerable resentment among
upper-level officials who were opposed to the concept. In 1953, Spencer was accused of being a
Communist, charged with disloyalty, and was expelled from the Air Force. The next year, he was
cleared of charges by the Air Force, and was reinstated, taking a position at Norton Air Force
Base in California. In 1977, he retired to 1307 Pierce Street, where he lived until his death in
2002.47
In 1937, Dr. Robert Walter “Whirlwind” Johnson (1899-1971) purchased the house at
1422 Pierce Street. He attended Meharry Medical School and had a practice on Fifth Street
(Lynchburg’s African American commercial center) for many years. Dr. Johnson was the first
black physician to earn staff privileges at Lynchburg General Hospital, and the Johnson Health
Center on Federal Street is named in his honor. While his medical career was notable, Johnson is
also known for his active involvement in youth athletics. He founded the Junior Development
Program with the cooperation of the American Tennis Association, and hosted summer tennis
clinics at his home on Pierce Street, which boasted a clay tennis court on an adjacent lot. Two of
the many young African Americans who trained at Johnson’s residence were Wimbledon
champions Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. Non-tennis players also frequented the Johnson
home, including Duke Ellington, Count Baise, Lionel Hampton, and Jackie Robinson. Johnson
was posthumously inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972, the Mid-Atlantic
Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.
Celebrating Pierce Street’s Legacy
The last quarter of the 20th century ushered the passing of many of the district’s great
African American educators, physicians, writers, and businesspeople with Edward Spencer in
1964, Walter Johnson in 1971, Anne Spencer in 1975, Clarence W. Seay in 1982, and Pauline
Weeden Maloney in 1987. Pioneer aviator Chauncey Spencer died in 2002. In 1976, the Anne
Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
followed by the Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court at 1422 Pierce Street in 2002.
Since Anne Spencer’s death, the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, Inc., has
been working to restore and maintain the Spencer property, beginning with a restoration of the
gardens to their 1930s appearance in 1984. In 2005, Lynchburg City Council adopted a zoning
ordinance creating the Pierce Street Renaissance (local) Historic District. Several Virginia
Historical Markers highlighting the area's history have been installed, and community festivals
have increased in popularity. The residents of the neighborhood are still predominately African
American, but the district is no longer distinctive in this regard, as the surrounding College Hill
neighborhood has become increasingly African American in the past half century.
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Aerial Photo of Lynchburg, Underwood & Underwood, 1923, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, Virginia.
Alexandria Gazette newspaper
Army and Navy Journal, 27 April 1867, p. 570
Ashhurst, John. The International Encyclopedia of Surgery: a Systematic Treatise on the
Theory and Practice of Surgery, Volume 4. New York: William Wood & Company. 1888.
Baist Map of Lynchburg, 1891
“Chauncey Spencer Fact Sheet,” Hill Air Force Base,
http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5942
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and its People. Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell, 1900.
City of Lynchburg Chancery Causes, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Chancery Index, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Deed Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Fiduciary Account Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Geographic Information System, www.lynchburgva.gov
City of Lynchburg Land Tax Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Will Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
“Clarence W. Seay: Man of Principles,” http://legacymuseum.org/newsletters/clarence-seayman-of-principles
Crawford, Capt. William A., “Letter to Sarah Henslee Crawford,” 19 May 1861. Arkansas
History Commission, web site: http://www.ark-ives.com/doc-a-day/?date=5/19/2011
Daily National Intelligencer newspaper
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“Davidson-Davison, Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee,” web site:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genea/Dmilcvtn.html
Delaney, Ted. “Pierce Street Personae.” Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.”
Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
Diuguid Burial Records, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia
Gilmer, J.F. “Lynchburg and Vicinity, Confederate Engineer Bureau, Richmond, 1864.”
Library of Congress, American Memory Collection.
Gray’s Map of Lynchburg, 1877.
Henry, Guy Verner. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army,
Volume 1. New York: Carleton. 1869.
History of African Methodism in Virginia: Or, Four Decades in the Old Dominion. Hampton,
Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1908.
“History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site: http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/,
accessed 11 January 2014.
Horst, Samuel L., ed. The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts: The Diary of Jacob E. Yoder of the
Freedmen’s Bureau School, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1866-1870. Richmond, Virginia: The
Library of Virginia, 1996.
Houck, Peter W. A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. 1986.
Lacey, Capt. R.S. “Letter to John T. Davis, Lynchburg, Virginia,” 3 February 1867, Letter
sold on eBay 4 July 2011. Link to partial transcription: http://www.ebay.es/itm/CIVILWAR-VIRGINIA-FREEDMANS-BUREAU-1867-CAMP-DAVIS-/200618611567
Lynchburg City Directories, 1875-1960, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg Daily Virginian newspaper
Kerr-Ritchie, Jeffrey R. Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860-1900. University
of North Carolina Press, 1999.
New York Age newspaper
Sections 9-end page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Nicholson, W.C., “Letter from Pratt Hospital, Lynchburg, Virginia,” 23 May 1864, Virginia
Memory Collection, Library of Virginia.
“Past National President Pauline Weeden Maloney.” http://www.linksinc.org/maloney.shtml
“Religious Leaders Buried in the Old City Cemetery,”
http://www.gravegarden.org/ministers.htm
Richmond Planet newspaper
Richmond Whig newspaper
Sanborn Insurance Company maps of Lynchburg, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951
Smith, W. Scott. “Fifth Street Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination.” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
The Southern Workman, June 1900, Volume 9.
Spencer, Chauncey E. Who is Chauncey Spencer? Detroit, Michigan: Broadside Press, 1975.
Tripp, Steven Elliott. Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Civil War
Lynchburg. New York: New York University Press, 1997.
United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930,
1940.
What Hampton graduates are doing in land-buying, in home-making, in business, in
teaching, in agriculture, in establishing schools, in the trades, in church and missionary
work, in the professions, 1868-1904. Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press. 1904.
White, Jane B. “Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia” (brochure).
Lynchburg, Virginia: Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum. 2012.
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X
State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 118-5238
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
5.06
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:_
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude:
Longitude:
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
__
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
X
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone: 17S
Easting:
0663595
Northing: 4141034
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries of the 5-acre district are shown on the scale map that accompanies the
nomination, entitled “Pierce Street Historic District 118-5238.”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the proposed district include all properties fronting on the 1300 block of
Pierce Street, the even-numbered side of the 1400 block of Pierce (along with 1423 Pierce),
1306 to 1322 (even) Buchanan Street, 1301-1309 (odd) Fillmore, and 1518 Fourteenth Street.
These boundaries are similar, but not identical, to the boundaries of the locally-designated
Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District. Additions to the local district include the
resources on Buchanan and Fillmore Street and several vacant lots on Buchanan, Thirteenth,
and Fourteenth Streets that are associated with other included primary resources. Properties
included in the local district that are omitted from the proposed State and National Register
district boundaries include five vacant lots on the southwest (odd-numbered) side of the 1400
block of Pierce Street along with the dwelling at 1409 Pierce, which was constructed in 1997.
The proposed boundaries include the bulk of the extant resources associated with the
primarily African American cluster of homes, businesses, and civic buildings in the 1300
blocks of Buchanan, Pierce, and Fillmore Streets along with the 1400 block of Pierce Street
dating from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. The boundaries were devised
through a study of area maps, Census records, and city directories.48 For example, to ensure
that the constrained district boundary along Fillmore Street was justified, six decades of
Lynchburg City Directories between 1890 and 1940 were studied. During this period, all
homes on the northeast (even-numbered) side of Fillmore Street were consistently occupied
by whites. Homes on the southwest (odd-numbered) side of Fillmore between 1301 and 1309
were consistently occupied by blacks, while the remainder of the homes on that side of the
block (1321-1323) were consistently occupied by whites. Local records and organizations
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
(including the Anne Spencer House Museum & Garden and the Old City Cemetery) were
then consulted to establish that the included resources were not simply occupied by one
particular racial group, but that the occupants, in general, contributed to the advancement of
the African American community (on a local, statewide, or national level) or the Lynchburg
community as a whole.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Breckinridge Smith, Principal
organization:
HistoryTech, LLC
street & number: Post Office Box 75
city or town: Lynchburg
state: Virginia
e-mail:
scott@historytech.com
telephone:
434-401-3995
date: 5 January 2014
zip code: 24505
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels (minimum),
3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each
photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log.
For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and
doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
Pierce Street Historic District
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
County: City of Lynchburg
State: Virginia
Photographer:
W. Scott Smith
Date Photographed:
March 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0001
Anne Spencer House, 1313 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 2 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0002
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to west)
Photo 3 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0003
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 4 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0004
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0005
William J. Calloway Store, 1301 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 6 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0006
Chauncey Spencer House, 1306 Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 7 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0007
Peaceful Baptist Church, 1309 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 8 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0008
Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1307 Fillmore Street (camera pointed to
southeast)
Photo 9 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0009
1410 Pierce Street (camera pointed to east)
Photo 10 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0010
1423 Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Endnotes
1
When the Anne Spencer House was listed in the NRHP in 1976, Periods of Significance were not
determined, but the 2002 NRHP nomination for the Walter Johnson property includes an extended POS
to 1971, the year of his death.
2
“Spring Valley” was a two-story, double-pile brick dwelling which lay just south of the intersection of
present-day Twelfth and Kemper Streets (the current location of the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company
garage).
3
1923 Underwood & Underwood Aerial Photo, Jones Memorial Library; 1907 Sanborn Insurance
th
Company Map; Alexandria Gazette, 20 May 1861, a soldier of the 11 Mississippi Regiment wrote a letter
from “Camp Davis, near Lynchburg, Va.;” Gilmer, J.F. “Lynchburg and Vicinity, Confederate Engineer
Bureau, Richmond, 1864.” Library of Congress, American Memory Collection; Christian, W. Asbury.
“Lynchburg and its People.” Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell, 1900. Pp. 198-199.
4
Letter, Capt. William A. Crawford to Sarah Henslee Crawford, 19 May 1861. Arkansas History
Commission, web site: http://www.ark-ives.com/doc-a-day/?date=5/19/2011
5
Lynchburg Daily Virginian, 20 June 1861; Daily National Intelligencer, 24 May 1861; “Davidson-Davison,
Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee,” web site:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genea/Dmilcvtn.html
6
th
“Army of Confederate States, Report of Soldiers Death.” J.M. Bailey, Company C, 49 Georgia
Regiment, died of pneumonia on 25 April 1863. The report contained blanks that could be filled-in with
specifics relating to the death, but “Pratt Hospital” was pre-printed, which suggests that it was well
underway by this time. This is the earliest death record relating to Pratt Hospital that has been located to
date by Ted Delaney, Assistant Director, Southern Memorial Association/Old City Cemetery Museums
and Arboretum.
7
Houck, Peter W. A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg,
Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. 1986. p. 37. Note: some historians have stated that Pratt Hospital
th
was located on 12 Street near the “Union Train Station.” This information is often paired with a
photograph (housed at Jones Memorial Library) of Federal soldiers in front of a frame building with
railroad tracks in the foreground that is often identified as a scene from Camp Davis. However, no railroad
tracks were laid in the vicinity of Camp Davis until the late 1880s, when the Lynchburg & Durham line was
established, with a station on Twelfth Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue. The
statement regarding the “Union Train Station” is likely a misinterpretation of a recollection of Civil War
physician Dr. John Jay Terrell, who wrote about hospitals in Lynchburg in the December 1931 issue of
th
Confederate Veteran magazine. He stated that at “Platt [sic] hospital, near [today’s] 12 Street Station,
was Dr. Murray, a Maryland man.”
8
Letter, 23 May 1864, from W.C. Nicholson, Pratt Hospital, Lynchburg, Virginia, Virginia Memory
Collection, Library of Virginia
9
Army and Navy Journal, 27 April 1867, p. 570; Henry, Guy Verner. Military Record of Civilian
Appointments in the United States Army, Volume 1. New York: Carleton. 1869. p. 436.
10
Diuguid Burial Records, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia; Ashhurst, John. The International
Encyclopedia of Surgery: a Systematic Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Surgery, Volume 4. New
York: William Wood & Company. 1888. p. 271.
11
Richmond Whig, 28 January 1868.
12
Kerr-Ritchie, Jeffrey R. Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860-1900. University of North
Carolina Press, 1999. p. 34.
13
Horst, 142
14
Capt. R.S. Lacey to John T. Davis, 3 February 1867, Lynchburg, Virginia. Letter sold on eBay 4 July
2011. Link to partial transcription: http://www.ebay.es/itm/CIVIL-WAR-VIRGINIA-FREEDMANS-BUREAU1867-CAMP-DAVIS-/200618611567
15
Gray’s Map of Lynchburg, 1877
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
16
Deed Book DD, page 115; Deed Book DD, page 174, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
Deed Book EE, page 639; Deed Book JJ, page 332, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg;
1878, 1879, 1881, 1885 Land Books, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
18
1880 United States Census, Population Schedule; 1880, 1885 Lynchburg City Directories; “The
Southern Workman,” June 1900, Volume 9, page 377.
19
Delaney, Ted. “Pierce Street Personae.” Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
20
1887 Lynchburg City Directory
21
1900 Lynchburg City Directory
22
Deed Book 69, page 520, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 7/26/1904. J.E. Edmunds, Comr. To Warwick
Spencer, Edward Spencer, and Warwick Spencer, Jr. Purchased at auction for $2,500.
23
Deed Book AA, page 222, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 11/16/1872. Thomas J. North to Warwick Spencer
(colored). Consideration: $400. House and lot North bought in 1867 adjoining Samuel A. Boyd and
th
Charles Green. The deed erroneously states that the lot was on 20 Street (using the old system of street
th
th
names in Lynchburg, Holliday Street might have been described as 19 Street [the 19 Street from what
st
was 1 , or Commerce Street]). The 1881 Lynchburg City Directory lists both Warwick Spencer and
th
Charles Green residing in the vicinity of 18 & E Streets (what would become Holliday Street was shown
as “E” Street on Gray’s 1877 map, and extended from its present location (off of Campbell Avenue)
th
westward to 13 Street. The 1890 City Directory lists Charles Green living at 1716 Holliday Street and
Warwick Spencer at 1800 Holliday Street (the same address listed for Warwick in the 1900 Census).
These houses were demolished prior to the construction of the Lynchburg Expressway in 1966.
24
Richmond Planet, 3 August 1895; “Religious Leaders Buried in the Old City Cemetery,”
http://www.gravegarden.org/ministers.htm
25
Deed Book 85, page 366, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 9/21/1909. Edward & Anne Spencer and Warwick
& Carrie Spencer to Warwick Spencer. Lot purchased in 1904 was divided between the three parties.
26
Spencer, Chauncey E. Who is Chauncey Spencer? Detroit, Michigan: Broadside Press, 1975. p. 13.
27
1910 Lynchburg City Directory
28
Smith, W. Scott. “Fifth Street Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination.”
Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011. Page 22; 1910 United States Federal Census, Population
Schedule; Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.”
Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
29
1940 Lynchburg City Directory
30
Deed Book FF, page 514, Lynchburg Clerk of Court
31
Lynchburg Chancery Case 1883-048, Library of Virginia
32
Lynchburg Deed Book XX, page 387; Deed Book XX, page 389; Deed Book 77, page 28; Deed Book
82, page 195; Butt, Israel Lafayette. History of African Methodism in Virginia: Or, Four Decades in the Old
Dominion. Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1908. pp. 72, 229.
33
Fiduciary Account Book 13, page 17, 481, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg; 1907, 1951
Sanborn Insurance Company Maps; Cornerstone on church reads “erected 1877” on one side and
“remodeled 1909” on the other.
34
Lynchburg Deed Book 184, page 80; Deed Book 184, page 81; Deed Book 189, page 82; 1930
Lynchburg City Directory
35
“History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site: http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/ , accessed 11
January 2014.
36
Chancery Order Book 14, page 333; Deed Book 104, page 578, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of
Lynchburg; Since the lot was then owned by a church, it was no longer taxable, and thus did not appear
in the land tax records for several decades.
37
Chancery Order Book 15, page 244, 595; Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
38
Aerial photographs by Underwood & Underwood, 1923, Jones Memorial Library. Viewable online at
http://www.lynchburghistory.com/zoom/Aerials/1923_underwood_aerials_1/seadragonajax.html (upper
left photo)
39
New York Age, 5 November 1921.
17
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
40
City of Lynchburg Geographic Information System; “History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site:
http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/ , accessed 11 January 2014.
41
“What Hampton Graduates Are Doing.” Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press. 1904. Pp. 26-27;
Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.” Unpublished
manuscript. Revised 2013.
42
In November of 1896, the Dorchester Home Association acquired the house and lot at 1609 13th
Street, although the years that the association actually occupied the house are not indicated by city
directories. The 1902 Sanborn Insurance map labels both the Calloway Hall building (demolished) and
1609 13th Street as “Old Folks Homes,” while the 1907 map only uses this designation for Calloway Hall
on Pierce Street. In October of 1903, the trustees of the Dorchester Home Association sold the 1609 13th
Street property to Page Lynch. The deed noted that the proceeds from the sale would fund the alreadyoperating industrial school at 904 Madison Street. Deed Book 69, page 1, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office,
City of Lynchburg; Application for a Charter for the Dorchester Home Association, Lynchburg Chancery
Cause 1899-028, Library of Virginia, Richmond.
43
“What Hampton graduates are doing in land-buying, in home-making, in business, in teaching, in
agriculture, in establishing schools, in the trades, in church and missionary work, in the professions,
1868-1904.” Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1904. Pp. 26-27.
44
“On Anne Spencer's table
There lies an unsharpened pencil —
As though she has left unwritten
Many things she knows to write.”
45
“Past National President Pauline Weeden Maloney.” http://www.linksinc.org/maloney.shtml
46
White, Jane B. “Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia” (brochure). Lynchburg,
Virginia: Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum. 2012; “Clarence W. Seay: Man of Principles,”
http://legacymuseum.org/newsletters/clarence-seay-man-of-principles
47
“Chauncey Spencer Fact Sheet,” Hill Air Force Base,
http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5942
48
1877 Gray’s Map of Lynchburg; 1891 Baist Map of Lynchburg; 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951 Sanborn Fire Insurance
Company Maps.
Sections 9-end page 34
LEGEND
Photograph Locations Key
Contributing Building
Contributing Site
Non-Contributing Building
13
01
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or
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l
Fi
Street Edge
13
Sidewalk
1
06
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a
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Bu
1
8
30
13
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P
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09
ier
13
P
11
13
16
13
0
an
an
h
c
Bu
1
2
32
09
F
e
or
m
l
il
ce
er
i
6P
ce
ier
P
10
ce
13
ier
P
12
13
ce
ier
P
14
ce
13
ier
P
16
13
ce
er
i
P
13
ce
13
ier
P
17
13
n
na
a
ch
Bu
13
ce
er
i
0P
13
an
an
h
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Bu
13
2
ce
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P
1
2
15
CITY OF LYNCHBURG, VA
13
30
ce
er
i
1P
0
07
ce
ier
P
2
1
18
4th
14
0
ce
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P
8
14
1
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0P
14
14
P.O. Box 75 Lynchburg, VA 24505
www.HistoryTech.com
View: Anne Spencer House, 1313 Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: William J. Calloway Store, 1301 Pierce Street
View: Chauncey Spencer House, 1306 Pierce Street
View: Peaceful Baptist Church, 1309 Pierce Street
View: Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1307 Fillmore Street
View: 1400 Block Pierce Street
View: 1400 Block Pierce Street
2
ce
er
i
3P
2
ce
er
i
2P
Pierce Street Historic District 118-5238
13
District Boundary
e
or
lm
l
i
F
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District
Topographic Map
Lynchburg Quadrangle
VDHR # 118-5238
City of Lynchburg, VA
I
VLR: 06/19/2014
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NRHP:
08/25/2014
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories fiom the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Pierce Street Historic District
Other nameslsite number: Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, VDHR # 118-5238
Name of related multiple property listing:
n/a
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 1300-1400 Blocks of Pierce Street, 1300 Block (odd numbers) Fillmore Street, 1300 Block
Buchanan (even numbers)
City or town:
Lynchburg
State: Virginia
County: Independent City
Vicinity:
Not For Publication:
N/A
3. Statemederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the
procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that
this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
-statewide
national
~ x l i c a b l eNational Register Criteria:
X local
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau
or Tribal Government
Sections 1-6 page 1
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions,
architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Pierce Street Historic District
Other names/site number: Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, VDHR # 118-5238
Name of related multiple property listing:
n/a
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 1300-1400 Blocks of Pierce Street, 1300 Block (odd numbers) Fillmore Street, 1300 Block
Buchanan (even numbers)
City or town:
Lynchburg
State: Virginia
County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the
procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that
this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_x__A
___B
__C
_X_local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources__________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Sections 1-6 page 1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
x
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
26
6
buildings
2
0
sites
0
0
structures
0
0
objects
28
6
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
6
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
COMMERCE/department store = General Store
RELIGION/religious facility = Church
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
RELIGION/religious facility = Church
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE VICTORIAN: Queen Anne
LATE VICTORIAN: Shingle Style
LATE VICTORIAN: Italianate
LATE 19TH & 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property:
WOOD; BRICK; METAL; STUCCO
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and
noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general
characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and
significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Pierce Street Historic District includes approximately five acres of urban residential neighborhood
between Lynchburg’s College Hill and Kemper Street areas. Most buildings within the district are sited on small
lots and have shallow setbacks. Architectural styles within the neighborhood vary, but the Folk Victorian and
Craftsman styles tend to dominate the streetscape. Some of the buildings are quiet modest and display no
discernible architectural style. The district’s buildings are primarily single-family residential, although two
churches along with two combination store/dwellings also exist. Primary resources within the district were
generally constructed between 1877 and 2009, and the average date of construction is 1914. Within the historic
district, the Anne Spencer House was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and
the Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court was individually listed in 2002; each property has three
contributing resources.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
The greater neighborhood is bounded on the northwest by Twelfth Street, on the southeast by the
Lynchburg Expressway (U.S. 29 Business), and on the southwest by Kemper Street. R.S. Payne Elementary
School lies approximately 600 feet to the north of the district’s center, and Dunbar Middle School (formerly
Dunbar High School) lies 1,800 feet to the northeast. The center of the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
(118-5292) is 1,000 feet to the southwest. Kemper and Twelfth Streets are lined with light commercial and
industrial buildings.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Sidewalks and deciduous shade trees line most of the neighborhood’s streets. Because of their small lot
sizes, most properties contain minimal landscape features. Notable exceptions are the Anne Spencer House at
1313 Pierce Street, which has a long, narrow garden that extends the full depth of the block to Buchanan Street,
and the C.W. Seay House at 1300 Pierce Street, which boasts large trees in its front and side yards.
Notable examples of Folk Victorian dwellings include the pair of two-story gable-fronted homes at 1314
and 1316 Pierce Street (both built circa 1900), which feature turned wood porch posts and lozenge-shaped wood
shingles in their gable ends. Several homes exhibit influences of the Craftsman style, including the American
Foursquare plan house at 1306 Pierce (built in 1924), which is marked by its stuccoed exterior and deep
overhanging eaves (some might classify this house as a Prairie Box). The neighborhood is home to three other
American Foursquare houses, including the fully-shingled dwelling at 1311 Pierce Street and the half-shingled
Walter Johnson House at 1422 Pierce (built in 1919 and 1911, respectively). The diminutive shingle-covered
home at 1309 Fillmore Street (circa 1933) features a second (garret) level (cantilevered over the front porch) with
a small balcony facing the street. Cedar shingles as an exterior siding material are not uncommon in the
neighborhood, and can be found on a number of residences along with the church at 1309 Pierce Street.
Built circa 1900, the Anne Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street is the district’s best, but not only,
example of a variant of Queen Anne architecture. While its façade is virtually identical to the neighboring
Warwick Spencer, Jr. house at 1317 Pierce (built in 1904), the Anne Spencer house has been bestowed with
numerous architectural refinements and details including glazed arch-topped doorways and a wrap-around porch
with pergola.
The Colonial Revival style is best-represented by the circa 1950 Seay House at 1300 Pierce Street (one of
only three brick buildings in the district), which features a pair of gabled dormers, an entry covered by a small
portico with an arched pediment, and a water table with basket-weave brick. Other homes exhibit select Colonial
Revival details, including the American Foursquare house at 1311 Pierce Street (built in 1919), which has a onestory, hipped-roof front porch with a modillioned cornice and Tuscan columns on brick piers.
Most resources in the district are devoid of outbuildings or notable site features with the exception of the
Walter Johnson and Anne Spencer houses on Pierce Street. To the rear of the Walter Johnson House at 1422
Pierce Street is a small, weatherboard-sided shed with a gable roof that it set on a high concrete foundation at the
lot’s back corner with Fifteenth Street. In the side yard, two short metal posts (which supported the net) serve as
the only visible reminders of Dr. Johnson’s clay tennis court (currently overgrown with grass) that was the
training ground for many African American athletes To the rear of the Anne Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street
is a delightful garden space featuring an extensive pergola. A small concrete fishpond is located in the
southwestern end of the garden, and features a cast iron African head (called “Prince Ebo” by Anne Spencer),
which was a gift from W.E.B. DuBois. The jewel of the garden is Spencer’s small cottage called “Edankraal”
where Anne conducted much of her writing. The name Edankraal is derived from the first two letters of Anne and
her husband Edward’s names, combined with kraal (an Afrikaans word for a southern African village or
community). The shingled cottage has a small shed porch and an external greenstone chimney and
fireplace/barbeque.
Inventory of Resources
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the Pierce Street Historic District. The
resources are listed alphabetically by roadway and numerically by street address. Virginia Department of
Historic Resources identification numbers are also listed. All resources, both primary and secondary, have been
evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the areas of significance identified under Criteria
A for African American History; and based upon the period of significance spanning the period 1862 to 1964.
All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being built later than 1964 or for having been significantly
altered so that they no longer reflect their historic appearance or character. Construction dates were derived from
a combination of sources, including Sanborn Insurance maps, historic City of Lynchburg land tax records, and
current City of Lynchburg property assessment records.
Buchanan Street
1306 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0019
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This diminutive dwelling has a side gable roof of standing seam metal, is clad in vinyl siding, and rests on
a brick foundation. A small shed-roofed porch is attached to the facade, and a long shed-roofed addition is
in the rear.
1308 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0020
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story house presents its gable end to Buchanan Street, and has a one-story shed- roofed porch that
has been partially enclosed. Visible portions of the foundation consist of dry-laid stone.Windows include 6/1
and 2/2 wood double-hung sashThe front of the house is clad in vinyl siding, but the east side is clad in wood
shingles.
1316 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0021
Other DHR Id#: Primary
Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Colonial Revival, 1910
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, three-bay house features a hipped roof with smaller cross gable on the left side and a
hipped dormer (enclosed). The roof is constructed of standing seam metal and the exterior walls of the
house are clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are 1/1 vinyl replacements, and a one-story, hippedroof porch supported by Tuscan columns dominates the facade. The foundation of the house is likely
brick covered by plastic faux stone panels.
1322 Buchanan Street
118-5238-0022
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This small, one-story house features a gabled ell on the right side of the facade and a two-bay porch on
the facade's left side. The central bay contains a single-leaf entry door with a glass transom, and
windows throughout the home are 6/6 replacement units. The house is clad in vinyl siding, and the roof
is covered with asphalt shingles. The foundation consists of parged brick.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Fillmore Street
1301 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0023
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1905
Contributing
Total: 1
This small two-story, two-bay house has a side-gable roof with Greek cornice returns. A one-story
hipped roof porch shelters the front entry, and a two-story addition is on the rear of the house. The roof
is of standing seam metal, the house is clad in vinyl siding, and the window are 1/1 vinyl replacement
units. The foundation consists of a combination of brick and concrete masonry units.
1307 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0024
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Church/Chapel (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1877
Contributing
Total: 1
The main block of this church consists of a rectangular building with a hipped roof. A tall, square
tower is attached to the front (narrow) end of the building, and is topped by a pyramidal roof. The
tower has a double-leaf entry, and first floor windows are 2/2 double-hung replacement units. The
building is clad in smooth wood weatherboard siding. The foundation is constructed of brick coated
with parging.
1309 Fillmore Street
118-5238-0025
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Craftsman, 1933
Contributing
Total: 1
The diminutive shingle-covered home at 1309 Fillmore Street features a second (garret) level
(cantilevered over the front porch) with a small balcony facing the street. The side-gable roof is
covered with asphalt shingles, and the first floor exterior is clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are
1/1 double-hung sash units. The foundation is parged masonry (probably brick).
Fourteenth Street
1518 Fourteenth Street
118-5238-0018
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, two-bay house is covered by a low-pitched side-gable roof of standing seam metal,
and rests on a brick foundation. The dwelling is clad in aluminum siding, and typical windows are 1/1/
double-hung replacements. A small hipped-roof front porch is located on the facade of the house, and
a small one- story addition is on the rear elevation.
Pierce Street
1300 Pierce Street
118-5238-0001
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Colonial Revival, Ca 1950
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story, three-bay house has a side-gable roof covered with asphalt three-tab shingles. Its
exterior consists of brick laid in a running bond, features a basket-weave brick water table, and rests
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
on a foundation of poured concrete. Fenestration includes 8/8 double-hung sash windows on the first
floor and 6/6 double-hung sash windows on the second floor. The central entry is surrounded by an
elliptical fanlight with sidelights, and a rounded pediment supported by thin columns shelters the
doorway.
1301 Pierce Street
118-5238-0002
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Mixed:Commerce/Domestic (Other), Stories , Style: Italianate, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
This two-story frame building is covered by a hipped roof of standing seam metal, and is clad in wood
weatherboard siding. The deeply-overhanging cornice is supported by wood brackets, and most
windows consist of 2/2 double-hung wood sash. The left bay projects from the facade toward the
street, and contains a single-leaf doorway. The two right-hand bays are recessed and contain
polygonal storefront windows that flank the main entry to the building. The oldest portion of the
building rests on a foundation of brick laid in three-course common bond, while newer sections are
supported by brick piers with concrete masonry unit infill.
1306 Pierce Street
118-5238-0003
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Craftsman, 1924
Contributing
Total: 1
The two-and-a-half story house is covered by a hipped roof of slate with a pair of hipped dormers. The
exterior is clad in stucco, and typical windows consist of 8/1 double-hung sash. The entry is surrounded
by sidelights and topped with a fanlight, and a one-story, one-bay porch with square posts and Tuscan
columns occupies the central (entry bay). Two pairs of glazed French doors flank the central bay, and
open onto a small concrete patio.
1309 Pierce Street
118-5238-0004
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Church/Chapel (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
This gable-front building is clad in stained wood shingles and is fenestrated by 1/1 arch-topped
windows. A small addition on the front of the building contains a double-leaf entry and a small tower
on the right side. The foundation consists of brick piers with concrete masonry unit infill.
1310 Pierce Street
118-5238-0005
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 2009
Non-contributing Total: 1
This two-bay, two-story house has a side gable roof of standing seam metal, is clad in Hardiplank
siding, and has a concrete foundation. A full-width, shed-roofed porch shelters its single-leaf entry
door. Fenestration includes 1/1 double-hung sash windows.
1311 Pierce Street
118-5238-0007
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: No Discernible Style, 1919
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This 2.5 story house is covered by a hipped roof of standing seam metal, is clad in stained wood
shingles, and rests on a parged masonry foundation. A one-story, full-width porch on the front features
a modillioned cornice and Tuscan columns supported by piers. Typical windows are 1/1 double-hung
sash units.
1312 Pierce Street
118-5238-0006
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, 1929
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a hipped roof covered by asphalt shingles with a hipped dormer. Clad in vinyl siding,
the house is fenestrated by 1/1 double-hung sash windows. A one-story porch with hipped roof is
supported by brick columns. The house rests on a brick foundation.
1313 Pierce Street
118-0061
Other DHR Id#: 118-5238-0008
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, Ca 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
Architecture Summary: The Anne Spencer House (NRHP 1976) at 1313 Pierce Street is a mediumsized, modified Queen Anne style dwelling located in a block of dwellings of similar size and age. Set
on a relatively narrow lot with little space between it and the adjacent buildings, the house blends with
its neighbors and makes no special visual or architectural statement. It is a comfortable, commodious
structure, well maintained, and in a good state of preservation. It has remained virtually unchanged,
inside and out, since it was occupied by Mrs. Spencer.
The house's exterior walls are sheathed in shingles which vary in length from course to course. The
roof is of standing seam sheet metal. Typical of its ilk, the house has an irregular plan, hence an
irregular facade. The two bay façade is dominated by a slightly projecting gabled pavilion. The
entrance, a round headed door, is in the single bay to the left of the pavilion. The first floor of the
facade is shaded by a porch, supported on square wooden posts, extending the length of the facade and
around the southeast corner. The porch connects at the northeast corner with a one story pergola which
extends along the house's north side to the dining room projection. The concrete porch and pergola floor
is given distinction by being scored in squares with the squares painted alternately black and light gray
forming a checkered pattern. Except for the gabled pavilion the house is covered by a hipped roof. A
single dormer is located on the rear slope. An interior end chimney stack serving the fireplaces in the
parlor and dining room extends from the edge of the roof's north slope.
The side elevations of the Spencer house have few distinctive features except for the pergola. The
west or rear elevation is dominated by a rectangular projection containing an informal sitting room or
sun room on the first floor and a sleeping porch above. The sun room is lighted by five closely spaced
windows that are shaded by a metal awning with scalloped eaves. The sleeping porch has a long, threeunit window. An exterior stair ascends from a door in the south side of the sun room.
The interior of the house is architecturally unpretentious; what little trim exists is primarily stock
woodwork of the period, such as symmetrically molded architraves with turned corner blocks. The
house is entered through the stair hall. The stairs ascend immediately to the left of the front door (in the
southeast corner of the house). Behind the stair hall is an alcove used primarily for the storage of books.
The north side of the house contains the parlor, dining room and sun room. All the rooms are connected
by wide, double doorways. The kitchen is located in the southwest corner. A back stair ascends from
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the sun room, between the kitchen and dining room. The second floor has four bedrooms (including the
sleeping porch), a bath, and laundry. The attic, historically a playroom, contains a model railroad layout
and dormitory-style beds.
The primary interest of the interior is not its architecture but the fact that it contains all the decorations,
furnishings, and other appointments precisely as they were in Mrs. Spencer's lifetime. Most of the items
are of pre-World War II vintage, a few of the furnishings are Victorian. The interest Mrs. Spencer took
in her possessions and immediate surroundings is reflected in numerous mementoes and items of
personal or sentimental significance scattered about the house. The rather crowded rooms with their
colorful appointments have a comfortable dignity combined with a nostalgic hominess.
The area immediately behind the house was once occupied by a garage. The building has since been
demolished but its concrete flooring remains intact. A lattice fence separates the garage area from the
garden proper. At the east end of the garden is the small, one room, shingled cottage used by Mrs.
Spencer as her study. The front of the cottage is sheltered by a porch supported on turned posts salvaged
from another house. A stone chimney with an exterior fireplace is on the front of the cottage. The
cottage interior has a locally-quarried greenstone floor and walls sheathed in natural-finished plywood.
The walls are virtually covered with documents and photographs of Mrs. Spencer's friends, family and
associates. A simple desk is placed in front of the pair of windows overlooking the garden.
Today, the house and secondary resources are well-kept and in good repair.
Secondary Resource : Garden (Site)
Contributing
Total: 1
Secondary Resource : Secondary Dwelling
Contributing
Total: 1
1314 Pierce Street
118-5238-0009
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a front gable roof with lozenge-shaped wood shingles in the gable. A one-story hippedroof porch spans the width of the house, and is supported by turned wood posts.
Typical fenestration includes 2/1 double-hung sash windows. The house has a brick foundation.
1316 Pierce Street
118-5238-0010
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Contributing
Total: 1
This house has a front gable roof with lozenge-shaped wood shingles in the gable. A one-story hippedroof porch spans the width of the house, and is supported by turned wood posts.
Typical fenestration includes 2/1 double-hung sash windows. The house rests on a brick foundation.
1317 Pierce Street
118-5238-0011
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2.5, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, 1904
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This house has a hipped roof of standing seam metal and is clad in vinyl siding. Typical windows are
2/2 double-hung vinyl replacement units. The front porch is covered by a hipped roof and is supported
by turned wooden posts.
1321 Pierce Street
118-5238-0012
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernible Style, Ca 1875
Contributing
Total: 1
The structure of this house is that of a typical Lynchburg Italianate gabled-ell dwelling, however its
coating of faux stone material somewhat disguises its history. The roof is of asphalt shingles, and a onestory porch with standing seam metal shed roof wraps around the front and left sides of the building.
Numerous additions on the rear are also encapsulated in faux stone (likely a mid-20th century
modification)
1322 Pierce Street
118-5238-0013
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Ranch, 1968
Non-Contributing
Total: 1
This one-story ranch house is constructed of brick laid in running bond atop a parged masonry
foundation, and has a side gable roof with cross gable on the left end. Windows are 2/2
(horizontal) double-hung sash units or variants thereof. A flat-roofed carport projects from the
rear of the house.
1408 Pierce Street
118-5238-0014
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1969
Non-Contributing
Total: 1
This low, one-story brick house has a front-gable roof covered in asphalt shingles. Typical
windows include 2/2 (horizontal) double-hung sash units, and the facade is dominated by a
hipped-roof porch with aluminum awning. The house is supported by a parged masonry
foundation.
1410 Pierce Street
118-5238-0015
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: No Discernible Style, 1920
Contributing
Total: 1
This low, wide gable-fronted house is clad in vinyl siding and has a hipped-roof porch
supported by welded metal posts. Windows are 1/1 double-hung vinyl sash units, and the
houses rests on a brick foundation.
1422 Pierce Street
118-0225-0077
Other DHR Id#: 118-5238-0016
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Craftsman, 1911
Contributing
Total: 1
The Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court (NRHP 2002) stands as a good example of
the American Foursquare style with its two-story, two-bay form with hipped roof and fullwidth porch, the frame building sits on a raised concrete basement and features a combination
of weatherboard siding and wood shingles.
See nomination for additional architectural information. There have been no notable changes
have been made to the property since the NRHP nomination. The first floor windows and
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
doors have been covered by painted plywood. The physical condition is poor due to further
deterioration of the slate roof.
To the rear of the house is a small, weatherboard-sided shed with a gable roof that it set on a
high concrete foundation at the lot’s back corner with Fifteenth Street. In the side yard, two
short metal posts (which supported the net) serve as the only visible reminders of Dr.
Johnson’s clay tennis court (currently overgrown with grass) that was the training ground for
many African American athletes.
Secondary Resource : Garage (Building)
Secondary Resource : Tennis Court (Structure)
1423 Pierce Street
118-5238-0017
Contributing
Contributing
Total: 1
Total: 1
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Mixed: Commerce/Domestic (Other), Stories , Style: Victorian, Folk,
1910
Total: 1
This building features a projecting gabled-ell on the left side of the facade, and has a one-story
porch across the entire front. Lozenge-shaped wood shingles trim the tympanum of the frontfacing gable, and the building is clad in smooth weatherboard. The building rests on a parged
masonry foundation.
Secondary Resource : Mixed: Domestic/Industrial (Other)
Contributing
Total: 1
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
x
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ETHNIC HERITAGE: Black
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1862-1964
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1873, 1877, 1913
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
McLaughlin, James T.
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Pierce Street Historic District encompasses approximately 5 acres of urban residential
neighborhood to the south of Lynchburg’s central business district and just north of the Kemper
Street Industrial Historic District. The district includes 26 contributing resources and 6 noncontributing resources. Two properties within the historic district, the Anne Spencer House and
the Dr. Walter John House and Tennis Court, are individually listed in the NRHP. The district
has a period of significance beginning in 1862 with the creation of Camp Davis, which after the
Civil War served as a safe haven for formerly enslaved African Americans under the auspices of
the Freedmen’s Bureau. The period of significance ends in 1964.1 Following its use as a military
camp and hospital during the Civil War and Reconstruction, the district began developing as a
residential neighborhood. By the 1870s, property in the district was being purchased by African
Americans who established homes, businesses, and places of worship in a small, two-block
cloister surrounded by predominately white neighbors. Over time, an environment developed
that fostered the creation or support of notable African American figures in education, literature,
aviation, sports, and medicine over multiple generations, making it locally significant under
Criterion A in the area of Ethnic Heritage for its role as a micro-neighborhood that celebrated
African American growth and culture from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth
century. The district displays substantial integrity of location, material, association, design, and
workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Civil War and Reconstruction
During the mid-19th century, the future Pierce Street neighborhood was part of the
“Spring Valley” estate of William Davis, Jr. (1770-1853).2 By the early1860s, Lynchburg
residential neighborhoods had expanded far beyond Diamond Hill, Federal Hill, Garland Hill,
and other neighborhoods adjacent to the city’s commercial center on the James River. Twelfth
Street doubled as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, and designated streets extended southward
at least to Floyd Street.
By May of 1861, the area roughly bounded by 12th, 16th, Pierce, and Kemper Streets
was known as “Camp Davis,” and served as a mustering ground for Confederate troops and
home to the Pratt Hospital. By overlaying the Civil War-era map of Lynchburg on a current map,
it appears that the bulk of the structures (buildings or tents arranged in rows) lay within the block
bounded by 13th, 14th, Pierce, and Buchanan with a single building on the southeast side of
Thirteenth Street between Pierce and Fillmore. A circa 1900 description of the site noted that
there were “a number of one-story frame houses, which were built in rows, where the officers
stayed, one or two of which are now standing.”3 As the military presence in Lynchburg grew,
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
camps spilled out of Camp Davis and skirted the southern and western edges of the city,
including the fairgrounds near present-day E.C. Glass High School.
Camp Davis served as a muster ground and encampment for newly-recruited troops from
throughout the Southern states, including local soldiers entering the 2d Virginia Cavalry and 11th
Virginia Infantry Regiments. In May 1861, Capt. William Crawford of the 1st Arkansas Infantry
Regiment wrote home from Camp Davis, reporting that, among others, two Tennessee regiments
had also arrived, and that his men would remain in Lynchburg for two weeks while they
conducted drill exercises.4 In all, over 4,000 soldiers were present at Camp Davis and its
environs in the late spring of 1861. Like all mustering facilities, Camp Davis’ purpose was to
process units of state troops in order to ready them for service under the Confederate States of
America. However, not all soldiers at the camp were as disciplined as their commanders might
have wished. In June 1861, three soldiers of the Floyd Guard deserted from Camp Davis. A few
weeks earlier, a fight broke out amongst some of the Tennessee troops at the camp. Lieutenant
Joseph Davidson of the 1st Tennessee Regiment attempted to diffuse the row, but was fatally shot
in the chest by Joseph Taylor, a private soldier.5
A medical facility, called Pratt Hospital, was established at Camp Davis by April of 1863
as a response to the increasing number of sick soldiers in the city.6 By the war’s end in 1865,
more than 130 Confederate soldiers had died there, although thousands had been treated and
released from the facility. In May 1864 alone, over 3,000 soldiers were sent to Pratt as
Lynchburg’s other hospitals reached capacity.7 In the spring of 1864, W.C. Nicholson of the 2d
Virginia Artillery wrote to his sister Cate, reporting that he had been wounded and was at Pratt
Hospital. He was recovering well, but complained of the meals, saying that he “would not mind
staying here so bad if they would give me enough to eat. I have just eat dinner & I just had
enough to give me an apetite [sic].”8
At the close of the Civil War, the Federal Army assumed control of Camp Davis, which
was alternately referred to as Camp Schofield by the Federal government. The 29th United States
Infantry Regiment was stationed to post-war duty at Lynchburg, with Brevet Major General
Orlando Wilcox as commander of the regiment and of the “District of Lynchburg.” Officers
specifically assigned to Camp Schofield included Brevet Colonel George P. Buell (post
commandant) and Lieutenant Ogden B. Read (post adjutant). Late in 1867, Colonel Thomas E.
Rose assumed command of the camp.9 As the citizens of Lynchburg began the process of
resuming their pre-war livelihoods, commercial and industrial buildings that had served as
makeshift hospitals during the war were returned to their original functions, and the Federal
army continued operation of the former Pratt Hospital at Camp Davis for military purposes.
Between 1865 and 1869, more than a dozen soldiers and civilians (including the child of
Caroline, a former slave) died at the facility, but many more were successfully treated, including
Private John Holden (29th Infantry), who was injured in a train accident near Keswick, Virginia,
in the fall of 1868. Following a two-month treatment for head injuries, he was discharged and
returned to his company.10 Activities at Camp Schofield were not limited to those of a martial
nature, however. In January of 1868, newspapers reported that the soldiers had organized a
“dramatic association” and performed plays in the camp.11
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
As the seat of the Federal presence in the Lynchburg area under Reconstruction, Camp
Davis/Schofield also served as the headquarters for District 7 of the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau), which covered nine counties in southern
Virginia.12 Captain Robert Stinson Lacey (1832-1915), Assistant Quartermaster, U.S. Army, was
assigned to the post of superintendent of District 7 for four years following the war.
Among other services, the Freedmen’s Bureau offered government rations to former
slaves and their families, and the black population of Camp Davis rose significantly as refugees
established makeshift dwellings in the area. The Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association
sent Jacob W. Shoemaker and Jacob E. Yoder (1838-1905) to operate a school at Camp Davis,
which by May of 1866 had 322 students enrolled. Two years later, in 1868, a group of African
American residents requested permission to transfer the school to a larger barracks building at
Camp Davis. This effort led to the formation of the Educational Association of Lynchburg,
which was also known as the Howard Educational Association (likely named for Freedmen’s
Bureau chief Oliver Howard). Ultimately, the association succeeded in raising funds for the
construction of a purpose-built school on Polk Street in 1870. Following the departure of the
Freedmen’s school from Camp Davis, Yoder ultimately became first superintendent of African
American schools in Lynchburg.13
As early as 1867, John T. Davis and Isaac Hartshorne, heirs of William Davis, Jr. (owner
of the Camp Davis land), began the process of reclaiming their family’s property following what
would become a decade of occupation by two armies. Captain Lacey, who was responsible for
administering “abandoned lands” on behalf of the Freedmen’s Bureau, instructed them that in
order to obtain title to the land, they would need to, among other tasks, prove their loyalty to the
United States. Following Virginia’s re-admittance to the Union in 1870, the United States Army
withdrew its presence from Camp Davis, and the land was returned to William Davis’ heirs.14
By the mid-1870s, the Camp Davis area had been annexed by the City of Lynchburg, and
development pushed farther south to a small stream known as “Boundary Brook.” Five
additional streets (Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Kemper, and Holliday) had been added, although
they had been temporarily designated by the letters A through E, respectively. Like the older
portion of Lynchburg, the neighborhood was divided into two-acre blocks, each divided into four
half-acre lots. The named streets ran generally parallel to the James River, while the more
narrow numbered streets ran perpendicular to the river.15
A Safe Haven for African American Families
The neighborhood quickly became a destination for former slaves seeking employment in
the city. In 1874, two small lots along Buchanan Street were purchased by two African
Americans: Wilson J. Brown, a tobacco factory worker, and Daniel Goggin, who worked as a
gardener. These men, along with several white landlords, constructed a row of houses in the
1300 block of Buchanan Street by 1875 (1306 and 1308 Buchanan remain today). In 1873,
tobacco factory worker Winston Calloway (c. 1825-1887), also an African American, purchased
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a quarter-acre lot along Pierce Street and promptly began improving the property. By 1875, a
building valued at $300.00, likely the facility known as “Calloway Hall,” had been constructed
on the lot. According to oral tradition, this building served as a neighborhood gathering place
and market where local farmers would sell eggs, produce, and other goods.
In 1877, William Ford sold a quarter-acre lot at the corner of Thirteenth and Pierce
Streets to William Jacob Calloway (1854-1907).16 The 1880 census indicates that W.J. Calloway
was working at a tobacco factory and living with his aunt and uncle, Winston and Ann Calloway.
However, William had plans to improve his situation, and the same year, he took out a deed of
trust for $309.30 on his lot at the corner of Thirteenth and Pierce. This loan likely funded the
construction of a building on the site, as the 1881 land tax records indicate that improvements
valued at $600.00 had been added to the property. By 1885, the value of improvements on the lot
rose significantly to $2,000.00, which represents the bulk (if not all) of the building that is extant
on the site today at 1301 Pierce Street.17 Calloway began operating a grocery store at his large,
newly-constructed building, which became one of the neighborhood’s first African Americanowned businesses. He and his wife, Rebecca Lucinda Pride (1855-1900), lived above the store
for a number of years. Rebecca attended Hampton Institute in 1882 and hailed from one of
Lynchburg’s most revered black families, which had been free since the early nineteenth
century.18
As early as 1902, Edward Spencer (husband of poet Anne Spencer) had become a
business partner with William J. Calloway, and the store at 1301 Pierce operated as “Calloway &
Spencer.” Calloway died in 1907 and left the store and his personal property to Edward and
Warwick Spencer, Jr., who he called his “dear friends.” The Spencer brothers continued to
operate the store until 1913, when they leased it to white grocer Harry D. Logwood, who ran the
business through 1920.19
By the mid-1880s, the 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street were quickly becoming a
neighborhood of choice for African Americans. In 1887, 80% of the occupied houses in those
two blocks had black residents. This is remarkable when compared to the remaining twelve
blocks of Pierce Street which, combined, only contained 32% African American occupants.20 In
1900, the 800 through 1200 blocks of Pierce Street were completely occupied by white families,
as were the 1500 and 1600 blocks of the street. In the 1300 and 1400 blocks, 9 out of 13, or 69%
of the homes were occupied by African Americans.21
In 1904, Warwick Spencer (1847-1927), along with his sons Warwick, Jr. and Edward,
purchased approximately three-quarters of an acre in the southeastern half of the 1300 block of
Pierce Street.22 Warwick and his wife Mary Susan Payne (1848-1936) were both born into
slavery. Following the Civil War, they lived on a farm in Appomattox County and purchased
property in Lynchburg (at what would become known as 1800 Holliday Street) in 1872.23
Warwick, a foreman at the J.H. Heald & Co. bark mill, had acquired several additional properties
near his Holliday Street home and Fishing Creek during the 1880s. Most of these acquisitions,
including the lot on Pierce Street, involved trustee or commissioner sales, which probably placed
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Warwick on a “level playing field” with other buyers and helped him gain real estate at
reasonable prices.
Warwick and Mary were active supporters of their community. In 1895, they donated
$10.00 to a fundraising campaign of the Virginia Seminary (now Virginia University of
Lynchburg), and Warwick was a trustee of the Eighth Street Baptist Church in the late 1890s.24
At the time of the Spencers’ purchase on Pierce Street, the lot contained a “five room
house” at the western corner of Pierce and Fourteenth Streets (1321 Pierce) along with a small
store building, which had been demolished by 1907. Warwick and Mary moved into the existing
house at 1321 Pierce Street and immediately enlarged it. Warwick Spencer, Jr. constructed a
house at 1317 Pierce, and his brother Edward built the house at 1313 Pierce Street.25 Edward
Spencer followed his father’s practice of real estate acquisition and development, buying small
lots at the rate of “two for a quarter,” or two lots for twenty five dollars. He built a cluster of
houses (known as “Spencer Place”) in the neighborhood, most of which followed the plan of the
homes at 1314 and 1316 Pierce Street.26
The 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street remained an enclave for African Americans in
1910, with 72% of the households occupied by blacks. The 1200 and 1300 blocks of Fillmore
Street were also heavily African American, as were the 1300 through 1500 blocks of Buchanan
Street. These few blocks were largely surrounded by white residents for a considerable
distance.27
During the early 20th century, the notable Humbles family occupied the small residence at
1301 Fillmore Street. In 1910, retail grocer Alphonza Humbles, wife Celinda, and four children
were living in the house along with Marcellus Nowlin, their 13-year-old mulatto servant. Also in
the home was 63-year-old Adolphus Humbles (Alphonza’s father). Adolphus Humbles (18451926) was a successful merchant in Campbell County, and operated the toll road between
Lynchburg and Rustburg (the seat of Campbell County). He served as the Treasurer of both the
Virginia State Baptist Convention and the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now
known as the Virginia University of Lynchburg), where the school’s main building bears his
name. Also active in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive
Committee for the Republican Party for thirteen years. In 1915, he constructed the large, threestory Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street. The home was later occupied by Clara and T.P.
Smith, who operated Smith’s Business College on Fifth Street.28
In 1940, the 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pierce Street remained a bastion of Lynchburg’s
African American neighborhoods, with 84% of the households containing black families. As in
previous decades, self-segregation seemed to occur on a block-by-block basis rather than across
entire neighborhoods. While the 600, 700, and 1700 blocks of Pierce Street were heavily African
American, the 800-1200 and 1500-1600 blocks were almost all comprised of white households.
The former Calloway-Spencer Store at 1301 Pierce was operated as Hamilton’s Cash Store, and
the combination dwelling/store at 1423 Pierce was operated as a grocery by Charles Simmons
(both Hamilton and Simmons were white businessmen).29
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Religious and Benevolent Institutions
In 1881, Irish-born grocer and barkeeper Richard Matthews and his wife Annie sold (for
one dollar) to trustees of the “African Church in Lynchburg” a quarter-acre lot on Fillmore Street
where a congregation had “recently erected a house of public worship.”30 This church, which
would later be known as Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, is located at 1307 Fillmore Street.
Among those who built the church was William Taylor, a 37-year-old African American
brickmason.31 The first minister assigned to the congregation was Richard J. Gassaway (18251891), who was followed by Rev. John Edward Cooke (b. 1836), Rev. John H. Brown, and Rev.
Jordan Gordon.
Richard and Annie Matthews’ 1881 deed placed several restrictions upon the
congregation, which limited its ability to encumber the church property with debt or to use it for
purposes other than worship. At some point during the 1880s, the trustees of the church rented
the building to the City of Lynchburg for use as a school, which displeased Matthews and led to
a legal battle. In 1894, the congregation received permission from the courts to take out a loan to
purchase the lot adjacent to the church for the purpose of erecting a parsonage, which was built
during the tenure of Rev. Henry Standup Roberts, the church’s pastor from 1900 to 1905.32
Between August of 1907 and June of 1909, the congregation rented space from the estate
of William J. Calloway on Pierce Street so that they could conduct services during a renovation
of Marshall Chapel. Among other things, this expansion added the front tower with pyramidal
roof that defines the church today.33 In the early 1930s, the parsonage at 1309 Fillmore was
either replaced or renovated to its current appearance, although the construction may have been
more costly than the congregation could bear, as the dwelling was auctioned in 1936 and
purchased by Maud H. Robertson, a white retail grocer who lived in the neighborhood.
Robertson likely rented the house to Marshall Chapel for some time, as the 1930 City Directory
lists Rev. David R. Washington living there. Marshall Chapel continues to be owned by the
trustees of the church, although it is no longer home to an active congregation.34
Around 1912, African American tobacco factory worker-turned-minister Richard Buster
(a former slave) encouraged his prayer group to relocate to an unidentified two-story house near
the intersection of Thirteenth and Pierce Streets, calling the new gathering the “Peaceful
Mission.” Rev. William H. Johnson facilitated the merger of the group with the Salem Street
“prayer band,” and in June of 1912, the newly-energized group became Peaceful Baptist
Church.35 In 1914, the Lynchburg Corporation Court appointed trustees for Peaceful Baptist
Church, including A.T. Worthy, George Jones, Woodson Tweedy, William Dickey, and
Washington Dillard. Several of these individuals had purchased a small lot at 1309 Pierce Street
the prior year, and in November of 1914, the membership of the church met and agreed to allow
the trustees to borrow money to secure a debt of $1629.25 to local contractor R. G. Shelton &
Co., which funded the construction of the Peaceful Baptist Church located today at 1309 Pierce
Street.36
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The church paid off its construction loan in 1919, and the congregation met that spring to
endorse taking out another loan, which it apparently did in January of 1922 to make payment of
$1968.58 to R.G. Shelton & Co.37 A 1923 aerial photograph by Underwood and Underwood
shows the church with white weatherboard siding (which can still be seen beneath the current
shingle cladding) and a single steeple on the gable roof.38 This additional loan may have funded
a remodeling and expansion of the church in the mid-1920s.
A 1921 edition of the New York Age newspaper reported that Lynchburg was “witnessing
one of the greatest spiritual revivals ever known in the history of the city.” Several churches
were highlighted, including Peaceful Baptist, which was “in full swing” under the leadership of
Rev. Sandy A. Garland.39 Garland was a former pastor of White Rock Baptist Church, and led
the congregation of Peaceful Baptist from its inception through 1930. Subsequent pastors
included Rev. A. F. Brown and Rev. F. P. Lewis, who served the church for over three decades.
In 1983, the trustees of Peaceful Baptist purchased a former Seventh Day Adventist Church at
the intersection of Park Avenue and Langhorne Road and relocated the congregation to the new
site. The same year, trustees of Wayside Gospel Mission purchased the church building at 1309
Pierce Street, and continue to operate the church today.40
In the winter of 1897, notable black teacher Amelia Perry Pride (1857-1932) spearheaded
the creation of an “old folks home” at Winston Calloway’s former residence (demolished) at
1311 Pierce Street. This facility was called the “Dorchester Home,” in tribute to a resident of
Dorchester, Massachusetts, who donated funds for its creation. A contemporary publication
stated that Pride had enlisted the support of over one hundred area ladies to provide fuel, food,
and clothing for the elderly women (mostly former slaves) who resided there.41 This, in fact, was
one of three neighborhood locations operated by the Dorchester Home Association, which was
founded for the “maintenance of aged and indigent colored people.”42 The other Dorchester
Home locations were Calloway Hall and 1609 Thirteenth Street (both demolished), but
photographs in Amelia Pride’s papers at Hampton Institute (see additional information section)
depict the 1311 Pierce Street home, which suggests that this was the first, or primary, location.
In 1900, two older African American women were residing at William J. Calloway’s
store at 1301 Pierce, which had been outfitted with multiple apartments on the second floor.
These women were 50-year-old Rebecca Murphy and 65-year-old Adeline Charlton. Three
additional women between 82 and 89 years of age were living at 1609 Thirteenth Street. A 1904
publication by Hampton Institute (Amelia’s alma mater), reported that Pride,
…seeing the neglected condition of the old colored women of Lynchburg, asked the cooperation of a few other women in comfortable circumstances and started, in the winter
of '97, an Old Folk's Home. As many as one hundred women finally became interested in
the project and committees were formed to provide fuel, food, clothing, and rent, for the
inmates of the Home. Through the assistance of Northern friends a building was finally
purchased and named the Dorchester Home. Here destitute old women were taken and
tenderly cared for as long as they lived. The Home is now in other hands, and Mrs. Pride
is in charge of an industrial school in the same city.43
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The home on Thirteenth Street was sold in 1903, and William J. Calloway assumed (or
resumed) responsibility for the remaining residents of the Dorchester Home, as his will (probated
in 1907) called for his friends Edward and Warwick Spencer, Jr. to “support for the rest of their
lives my old friends Rebecca Murphy, Lizzie Clark, and Eliza Cousins.” Indeed, the 1910
Census lists these three women residing as “inmates” at 1309 Pierce Street (presumably
Calloway Hall).
Home to Leaders in Literature and Education
Born in Henry County, Virginia, Anne Bethel Bannister (1882-1975) attended the nearby
Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg) from 1893
to 1899. There, she met fellow student Edward Alexander Spencer, who helped her with
mathematics and science while she tutored him in languages. Anne and Edward married in 1901
and a few years later, moved into the home at 1313 Pierce Street that Edward designed and built.
The couple had three children: Bethel Calloway, Alroy Sarah, and Chauncey Edward Spencer.
From 1912 to 1924, Edward Spencer served as the first African American parcel postman in
Lynchburg. In addition, he was a notary public and was involved in local real estate
development.
As their children grew, Anne became interested in literature, and began writing poems
focusing on nature, her garden, biblical themes, and mythology. Her talents were discovered by
James Weldon Johnson in 1919, and she became a key individual in the Harlem Renaissance
movement of the 1920s. With over thirty poems published during her lifetime, she was the first
Virginian and second African American to be included in the “Norton Anthology of Modern
Poetry.”
Of her home at 1313 Pierce, Anne wrote:
We have a lovely home - one that
money did not buy - it was born and evolved
slowly out of our passionate, povertystricken agony to own our own home.
happiness.
Many notable figures of the twentieth century were guests at the Spencer Home,
including Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, and Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Langston Hughes stayed with the Spencers in 1927, when he became the first
non-white lecturer at Lynchburg College. Three years later, he published a poem entitled “Anne
Spencer’s Table” in an effort to encourage her to keep writing.44 In addition to her poetic
pursuits, Anne served as the librarian at Dunbar High School for over two decades, and helped
form the Lynchburg Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.
In the early 1930s, Professor Frank Trigg (1850-1933) and his wife Ellen Preston Taylor
(1858-1936) resided at 1422 Pierce Street, which had been constructed twenty years earlier by
notable white architect James T. McLaughlin (partner with Stanhope S. Johnson). Trigg was
born into slavery at the Executive Mansion in Richmond, as his parents were servants of
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Governor John B. Floyd. He attended Hampton Institute and became the first black male teacher
and first black high school principal in the Lynchburg school system. In 1890, he founded the
Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute (a branch of Morgan State College in Baltimore),
which was located off of Campbell Avenue in Lynchburg. He later served as Principal of
Princess Anne Academy in Maryland and President of Bennett College in North Carolina. Ellen
Preston Taylor also graduated from Hampton Institute and served as a public school teacher in
Lynchburg. After Professor Trigg’s death, their son, Frank R. Trigg (a physician whose office
was on Fifth Street) lived with his mother at 1422 Pierce until her death in 1936.
By 1940, African American dentist Henry P. Weeden and his wife Margaret Pauline
Fletcher had moved from Fifth Street to the home at 1316 Buchanan Street. Pauline, or “Polly”
as she was commonly known, received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and
her Masters of Arts from Columbia University. She worked at Dunbar High School for forty
years, where she was a teacher, guidance counselor, and administrative principal. Later known as
Pauline Weeden Maloney, she served on the board of the Central Virginia Planning District
Commission, was the first black woman appointed to the Lynchburg City School Board, and was
the first black elected President of the Southern Regional School Boards Association. Polly was
the first female Rector of the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors, and from 1957 to 1961,
served as the third National President of The Links, Incorporated. She died in Lynchburg in
1987.45
In 1951, Clarence William Seay (1900-1982) and his wife Clara Majors (1901-1978)
began living in the brick home at 1300 Pierce Street. Seay served as the Principal of Dunbar
High School from 1938-1968, and led the school through the years of the Civil Rights Movement
and integration. After retiring from the Lynchburg City School System, he was a member of the
faculty at Lynchburg College, and became Lynchburg’s first modern-day black City Council
member (he was also the first black Vice Mayor of the City). Seay was the President of the
Virginia State Teachers Association and was the first high school principal to be President of the
Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.46
Pioneers in Aviation, Medicine and Sports
The only son of Anne and Edward Spencer, Chauncey Edward Spencer (1906-2002) saw
his first aircraft in the skies over Lynchburg in 1917, and his lifelong fascination with aviation
began. After graduating from the all-black Dunbar High School, he attended college at the
Virginia Theological Seminary and College. Prompted by an invitation by Congressman Oscar
DePriest (who was visiting his parents) to move to Chicago in order to study aviation, he took a
part-time job and began flying lessons. Spencer, along with other aviators, founded the National
Airmen Association of America (NAAA).
In 1939, Spencer and fellow NAAA member Dale Lawrence White rented a biplane and
conducted a tour of ten cities that ended in Washington, D.C. Their goal was to showcase the
skills of African American pilots and to advocate the inclusion of people of color in the Army
Air Corps’ Civilian Pilot Training Program. In Washington, they met with Harry Truman and
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other members of Congress to plead their cause. He was hired by the U.S. Army and became the
Civilian Personnel Employee Relations Officer at what would become the Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, where he continued efforts to integrate the military.
In 1948, he received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World
War II (the highest honor the U.S. Air Force could award a civilian) in 1948. He continued
advocating civil rights within the Air Force, which caused considerable resentment among
upper-level officials who were opposed to the concept. In 1953, Spencer was accused of being a
Communist, charged with disloyalty, and was expelled from the Air Force. The next year, he was
cleared of charges by the Air Force, and was reinstated, taking a position at Norton Air Force
Base in California. In 1977, he retired to 1307 Pierce Street, where he lived until his death in
2002.47
In 1937, Dr. Robert Walter “Whirlwind” Johnson (1899-1971) purchased the house at
1422 Pierce Street. He attended Meharry Medical School and had a practice on Fifth Street
(Lynchburg’s African American commercial center) for many years. Dr. Johnson was the first
black physician to earn staff privileges at Lynchburg General Hospital, and the Johnson Health
Center on Federal Street is named in his honor. While his medical career was notable, Johnson is
also known for his active involvement in youth athletics. He founded the Junior Development
Program with the cooperation of the American Tennis Association, and hosted summer tennis
clinics at his home on Pierce Street, which boasted a clay tennis court on an adjacent lot. Two of
the many young African Americans who trained at Johnson’s residence were Wimbledon
champions Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. Non-tennis players also frequented the Johnson
home, including Duke Ellington, Count Baise, Lionel Hampton, and Jackie Robinson. Johnson
was posthumously inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972, the Mid-Atlantic
Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.
Celebrating Pierce Street’s Legacy
The last quarter of the 20th century ushered the passing of many of the district’s great
African American educators, physicians, writers, and businesspeople with Edward Spencer in
1964, Walter Johnson in 1971, Anne Spencer in 1975, Clarence W. Seay in 1982, and Pauline
Weeden Maloney in 1987. Pioneer aviator Chauncey Spencer died in 2002. In 1976, the Anne
Spencer House at 1313 Pierce Street was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
followed by the Dr. Walter Johnson House and Tennis Court at 1422 Pierce Street in 2002.
Since Anne Spencer’s death, the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, Inc., has
been working to restore and maintain the Spencer property, beginning with a restoration of the
gardens to their 1930s appearance in 1984. In 2005, Lynchburg City Council adopted a zoning
ordinance creating the Pierce Street Renaissance (local) Historic District. Several Virginia
Historical Markers highlighting the area's history have been installed, and community festivals
have increased in popularity. The residents of the neighborhood are still predominately African
American, but the district is no longer distinctive in this regard, as the surrounding College Hill
neighborhood has become increasingly African American in the past half century.
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______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Aerial Photo of Lynchburg, Underwood & Underwood, 1923, Jones Memorial Library,
Lynchburg, Virginia.
Alexandria Gazette newspaper
Army and Navy Journal, 27 April 1867, p. 570
Ashhurst, John. The International Encyclopedia of Surgery: a Systematic Treatise on the
Theory and Practice of Surgery, Volume 4. New York: William Wood & Company. 1888.
Baist Map of Lynchburg, 1891
“Chauncey Spencer Fact Sheet,” Hill Air Force Base,
http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5942
Christian, W. Asbury. Lynchburg and its People. Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell, 1900.
City of Lynchburg Chancery Causes, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Chancery Index, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Deed Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Fiduciary Account Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Geographic Information System, www.lynchburgva.gov
City of Lynchburg Land Tax Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
City of Lynchburg Will Books, Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia
“Clarence W. Seay: Man of Principles,” http://legacymuseum.org/newsletters/clarence-seayman-of-principles
Crawford, Capt. William A., “Letter to Sarah Henslee Crawford,” 19 May 1861. Arkansas
History Commission, web site: http://www.ark-ives.com/doc-a-day/?date=5/19/2011
Daily National Intelligencer newspaper
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
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City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“Davidson-Davison, Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee,” web site:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genea/Dmilcvtn.html
Delaney, Ted. “Pierce Street Personae.” Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.”
Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
Diuguid Burial Records, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia
Gilmer, J.F. “Lynchburg and Vicinity, Confederate Engineer Bureau, Richmond, 1864.”
Library of Congress, American Memory Collection.
Gray’s Map of Lynchburg, 1877.
Henry, Guy Verner. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army,
Volume 1. New York: Carleton. 1869.
History of African Methodism in Virginia: Or, Four Decades in the Old Dominion. Hampton,
Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1908.
“History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site: http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/,
accessed 11 January 2014.
Horst, Samuel L., ed. The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts: The Diary of Jacob E. Yoder of the
Freedmen’s Bureau School, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1866-1870. Richmond, Virginia: The
Library of Virginia, 1996.
Houck, Peter W. A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. 1986.
Lacey, Capt. R.S. “Letter to John T. Davis, Lynchburg, Virginia,” 3 February 1867, Letter
sold on eBay 4 July 2011. Link to partial transcription: http://www.ebay.es/itm/CIVILWAR-VIRGINIA-FREEDMANS-BUREAU-1867-CAMP-DAVIS-/200618611567
Lynchburg City Directories, 1875-1960, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg Daily Virginian newspaper
Kerr-Ritchie, Jeffrey R. Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860-1900. University
of North Carolina Press, 1999.
New York Age newspaper
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Nicholson, W.C., “Letter from Pratt Hospital, Lynchburg, Virginia,” 23 May 1864, Virginia
Memory Collection, Library of Virginia.
“Past National President Pauline Weeden Maloney.” http://www.linksinc.org/maloney.shtml
“Religious Leaders Buried in the Old City Cemetery,”
http://www.gravegarden.org/ministers.htm
Richmond Planet newspaper
Richmond Whig newspaper
Sanborn Insurance Company maps of Lynchburg, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951
Smith, W. Scott. “Fifth Street Historic District National Register of Historic Places
Nomination.” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
The Southern Workman, June 1900, Volume 9.
Spencer, Chauncey E. Who is Chauncey Spencer? Detroit, Michigan: Broadside Press, 1975.
Tripp, Steven Elliott. Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Civil War
Lynchburg. New York: New York University Press, 1997.
United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930,
1940.
What Hampton graduates are doing in land-buying, in home-making, in business, in
teaching, in agriculture, in establishing schools, in the trades, in church and missionary
work, in the professions, 1868-1904. Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press. 1904.
White, Jane B. “Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia” (brochure).
Lynchburg, Virginia: Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum. 2012.
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X
State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 118-5238
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
5.06
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:_
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude:
Longitude:
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
__
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
X
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone: 17S
Easting:
0663595
Northing: 4141034
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries of the 5-acre district are shown on the scale map that accompanies the
nomination, entitled “Pierce Street Historic District 118-5238.”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the proposed district include all properties fronting on the 1300 block of
Pierce Street, the even-numbered side of the 1400 block of Pierce (along with 1423 Pierce),
1306 to 1322 (even) Buchanan Street, 1301-1309 (odd) Fillmore, and 1518 Fourteenth Street.
These boundaries are similar, but not identical, to the boundaries of the locally-designated
Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District. Additions to the local district include the
resources on Buchanan and Fillmore Street and several vacant lots on Buchanan, Thirteenth,
and Fourteenth Streets that are associated with other included primary resources. Properties
included in the local district that are omitted from the proposed State and National Register
district boundaries include five vacant lots on the southwest (odd-numbered) side of the 1400
block of Pierce Street along with the dwelling at 1409 Pierce, which was constructed in 1997.
The proposed boundaries include the bulk of the extant resources associated with the
primarily African American cluster of homes, businesses, and civic buildings in the 1300
blocks of Buchanan, Pierce, and Fillmore Streets along with the 1400 block of Pierce Street
dating from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. The boundaries were devised
through a study of area maps, Census records, and city directories.48 For example, to ensure
that the constrained district boundary along Fillmore Street was justified, six decades of
Lynchburg City Directories between 1890 and 1940 were studied. During this period, all
homes on the northeast (even-numbered) side of Fillmore Street were consistently occupied
by whites. Homes on the southwest (odd-numbered) side of Fillmore between 1301 and 1309
were consistently occupied by blacks, while the remainder of the homes on that side of the
block (1321-1323) were consistently occupied by whites. Local records and organizations
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
(including the Anne Spencer House Museum & Garden and the Old City Cemetery) were
then consulted to establish that the included resources were not simply occupied by one
particular racial group, but that the occupants, in general, contributed to the advancement of
the African American community (on a local, statewide, or national level) or the Lynchburg
community as a whole.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Breckinridge Smith, Principal
organization:
HistoryTech, LLC
street & number: Post Office Box 75
city or town: Lynchburg
state: Virginia
e-mail:
scott@historytech.com
telephone:
434-401-3995
date: 5 January 2014
zip code: 24505
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels (minimum),
3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each
photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log.
For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and
doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property:
Pierce Street Historic District
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
County: City of Lynchburg
State: Virginia
Photographer:
W. Scott Smith
Date Photographed:
March 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0001
Anne Spencer House, 1313 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southwest)
Photo 2 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0002
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to west)
Photo 3 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0003
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 4 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0004
1300 Block Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0005
William J. Calloway Store, 1301 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 6 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0006
Chauncey Spencer House, 1306 Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 7 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0007
Peaceful Baptist Church, 1309 Pierce Street (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 8 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0008
Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1307 Fillmore Street (camera pointed to
southeast)
Photo 9 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0009
1410 Pierce Street (camera pointed to east)
Photo 10 of 10:
View:
VA_LynchburgCity_PierceStreetHistoricDistrict_0010
1423 Pierce Street (camera pointed to northwest)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Endnotes
1
When the Anne Spencer House was listed in the NRHP in 1976, Periods of Significance were not
determined, but the 2002 NRHP nomination for the Walter Johnson property includes an extended POS
to 1971, the year of his death.
2
“Spring Valley” was a two-story, double-pile brick dwelling which lay just south of the intersection of
present-day Twelfth and Kemper Streets (the current location of the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company
garage).
3
1923 Underwood & Underwood Aerial Photo, Jones Memorial Library; 1907 Sanborn Insurance
th
Company Map; Alexandria Gazette, 20 May 1861, a soldier of the 11 Mississippi Regiment wrote a letter
from “Camp Davis, near Lynchburg, Va.;” Gilmer, J.F. “Lynchburg and Vicinity, Confederate Engineer
Bureau, Richmond, 1864.” Library of Congress, American Memory Collection; Christian, W. Asbury.
“Lynchburg and its People.” Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell, 1900. Pp. 198-199.
4
Letter, Capt. William A. Crawford to Sarah Henslee Crawford, 19 May 1861. Arkansas History
Commission, web site: http://www.ark-ives.com/doc-a-day/?date=5/19/2011
5
Lynchburg Daily Virginian, 20 June 1861; Daily National Intelligencer, 24 May 1861; “Davidson-Davison,
Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee,” web site:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genea/Dmilcvtn.html
6
th
“Army of Confederate States, Report of Soldiers Death.” J.M. Bailey, Company C, 49 Georgia
Regiment, died of pneumonia on 25 April 1863. The report contained blanks that could be filled-in with
specifics relating to the death, but “Pratt Hospital” was pre-printed, which suggests that it was well
underway by this time. This is the earliest death record relating to Pratt Hospital that has been located to
date by Ted Delaney, Assistant Director, Southern Memorial Association/Old City Cemetery Museums
and Arboretum.
7
Houck, Peter W. A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg,
Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. 1986. p. 37. Note: some historians have stated that Pratt Hospital
th
was located on 12 Street near the “Union Train Station.” This information is often paired with a
photograph (housed at Jones Memorial Library) of Federal soldiers in front of a frame building with
railroad tracks in the foreground that is often identified as a scene from Camp Davis. However, no railroad
tracks were laid in the vicinity of Camp Davis until the late 1880s, when the Lynchburg & Durham line was
established, with a station on Twelfth Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue. The
statement regarding the “Union Train Station” is likely a misinterpretation of a recollection of Civil War
physician Dr. John Jay Terrell, who wrote about hospitals in Lynchburg in the December 1931 issue of
th
Confederate Veteran magazine. He stated that at “Platt [sic] hospital, near [today’s] 12 Street Station,
was Dr. Murray, a Maryland man.”
8
Letter, 23 May 1864, from W.C. Nicholson, Pratt Hospital, Lynchburg, Virginia, Virginia Memory
Collection, Library of Virginia
9
Army and Navy Journal, 27 April 1867, p. 570; Henry, Guy Verner. Military Record of Civilian
Appointments in the United States Army, Volume 1. New York: Carleton. 1869. p. 436.
10
Diuguid Burial Records, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia; Ashhurst, John. The International
Encyclopedia of Surgery: a Systematic Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Surgery, Volume 4. New
York: William Wood & Company. 1888. p. 271.
11
Richmond Whig, 28 January 1868.
12
Kerr-Ritchie, Jeffrey R. Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860-1900. University of North
Carolina Press, 1999. p. 34.
13
Horst, 142
14
Capt. R.S. Lacey to John T. Davis, 3 February 1867, Lynchburg, Virginia. Letter sold on eBay 4 July
2011. Link to partial transcription: http://www.ebay.es/itm/CIVIL-WAR-VIRGINIA-FREEDMANS-BUREAU1867-CAMP-DAVIS-/200618611567
15
Gray’s Map of Lynchburg, 1877
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
16
Deed Book DD, page 115; Deed Book DD, page 174, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
Deed Book EE, page 639; Deed Book JJ, page 332, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg;
1878, 1879, 1881, 1885 Land Books, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
18
1880 United States Census, Population Schedule; 1880, 1885 Lynchburg City Directories; “The
Southern Workman,” June 1900, Volume 9, page 377.
19
Delaney, Ted. “Pierce Street Personae.” Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
20
1887 Lynchburg City Directory
21
1900 Lynchburg City Directory
22
Deed Book 69, page 520, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 7/26/1904. J.E. Edmunds, Comr. To Warwick
Spencer, Edward Spencer, and Warwick Spencer, Jr. Purchased at auction for $2,500.
23
Deed Book AA, page 222, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 11/16/1872. Thomas J. North to Warwick Spencer
(colored). Consideration: $400. House and lot North bought in 1867 adjoining Samuel A. Boyd and
th
Charles Green. The deed erroneously states that the lot was on 20 Street (using the old system of street
th
th
names in Lynchburg, Holliday Street might have been described as 19 Street [the 19 Street from what
st
was 1 , or Commerce Street]). The 1881 Lynchburg City Directory lists both Warwick Spencer and
th
Charles Green residing in the vicinity of 18 & E Streets (what would become Holliday Street was shown
as “E” Street on Gray’s 1877 map, and extended from its present location (off of Campbell Avenue)
th
westward to 13 Street. The 1890 City Directory lists Charles Green living at 1716 Holliday Street and
Warwick Spencer at 1800 Holliday Street (the same address listed for Warwick in the 1900 Census).
These houses were demolished prior to the construction of the Lynchburg Expressway in 1966.
24
Richmond Planet, 3 August 1895; “Religious Leaders Buried in the Old City Cemetery,”
http://www.gravegarden.org/ministers.htm
25
Deed Book 85, page 366, Lynchburg Clerk of Court. 9/21/1909. Edward & Anne Spencer and Warwick
& Carrie Spencer to Warwick Spencer. Lot purchased in 1904 was divided between the three parties.
26
Spencer, Chauncey E. Who is Chauncey Spencer? Detroit, Michigan: Broadside Press, 1975. p. 13.
27
1910 Lynchburg City Directory
28
Smith, W. Scott. “Fifth Street Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination.”
Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011. Page 22; 1910 United States Federal Census, Population
Schedule; Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.”
Unpublished manuscript. Revised 2013.
29
1940 Lynchburg City Directory
30
Deed Book FF, page 514, Lynchburg Clerk of Court
31
Lynchburg Chancery Case 1883-048, Library of Virginia
32
Lynchburg Deed Book XX, page 387; Deed Book XX, page 389; Deed Book 77, page 28; Deed Book
82, page 195; Butt, Israel Lafayette. History of African Methodism in Virginia: Or, Four Decades in the Old
Dominion. Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1908. pp. 72, 229.
33
Fiduciary Account Book 13, page 17, 481, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg; 1907, 1951
Sanborn Insurance Company Maps; Cornerstone on church reads “erected 1877” on one side and
“remodeled 1909” on the other.
34
Lynchburg Deed Book 184, page 80; Deed Book 184, page 81; Deed Book 189, page 82; 1930
Lynchburg City Directory
35
“History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site: http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/ , accessed 11
January 2014.
36
Chancery Order Book 14, page 333; Deed Book 104, page 578, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of
Lynchburg; Since the lot was then owned by a church, it was no longer taxable, and thus did not appear
in the land tax records for several decades.
37
Chancery Order Book 15, page 244, 595; Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, City of Lynchburg
38
Aerial photographs by Underwood & Underwood, 1923, Jones Memorial Library. Viewable online at
http://www.lynchburghistory.com/zoom/Aerials/1923_underwood_aerials_1/seadragonajax.html (upper
left photo)
39
New York Age, 5 November 1921.
17
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Pierce Street Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
40
City of Lynchburg Geographic Information System; “History of Peaceful Baptist Church,” web site:
http://peacefulbaptist.com/about-us/ , accessed 11 January 2014.
41
“What Hampton Graduates Are Doing.” Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press. 1904. Pp. 26-27;
Delaney, Ted. “Significant People and Places in the Greater Pierce Street Neighborhood.” Unpublished
manuscript. Revised 2013.
42
In November of 1896, the Dorchester Home Association acquired the house and lot at 1609 13th
Street, although the years that the association actually occupied the house are not indicated by city
directories. The 1902 Sanborn Insurance map labels both the Calloway Hall building (demolished) and
1609 13th Street as “Old Folks Homes,” while the 1907 map only uses this designation for Calloway Hall
on Pierce Street. In October of 1903, the trustees of the Dorchester Home Association sold the 1609 13th
Street property to Page Lynch. The deed noted that the proceeds from the sale would fund the alreadyoperating industrial school at 904 Madison Street. Deed Book 69, page 1, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office,
City of Lynchburg; Application for a Charter for the Dorchester Home Association, Lynchburg Chancery
Cause 1899-028, Library of Virginia, Richmond.
43
“What Hampton graduates are doing in land-buying, in home-making, in business, in teaching, in
agriculture, in establishing schools, in the trades, in church and missionary work, in the professions,
1868-1904.” Hampton, Virginia: Hampton Institute Press, 1904. Pp. 26-27.
44
“On Anne Spencer's table
There lies an unsharpened pencil —
As though she has left unwritten
Many things she knows to write.”
45
“Past National President Pauline Weeden Maloney.” http://www.linksinc.org/maloney.shtml
46
White, Jane B. “Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District, Lynchburg, Virginia” (brochure). Lynchburg,
Virginia: Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum. 2012; “Clarence W. Seay: Man of Principles,”
http://legacymuseum.org/newsletters/clarence-seay-man-of-principles
47
“Chauncey Spencer Fact Sheet,” Hill Air Force Base,
http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5942
48
1877 Gray’s Map of Lynchburg; 1891 Baist Map of Lynchburg; 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951 Sanborn Fire Insurance
Company Maps.
Sections 9-end page 34
LEGEND
Photograph Locations Key
Contributing Building
Contributing Site
Non-Contributing Building
13
01
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or
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l
Fi
Street Edge
13
Sidewalk
1
06
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na
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Bu
1
8
30
13
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P
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09
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13
P
11
13
16
13
0
an
an
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c
Bu
1
2
32
09
F
e
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il
ce
er
i
6P
ce
ier
P
10
ce
13
ier
P
12
13
ce
ier
P
14
ce
13
ier
P
16
13
ce
er
i
P
13
ce
13
ier
P
17
13
n
na
a
ch
Bu
13
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er
i
0P
13
an
an
h
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Bu
13
2
ce
ier
P
1
2
15
CITY OF LYNCHBURG, VA
13
30
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i
1P
0
07
ce
ier
P
2
1
18
4th
14
0
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P
8
14
1
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14
14
P.O. Box 75 Lynchburg, VA 24505
www.HistoryTech.com
View: Anne Spencer House, 1313 Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: 1300 Block Pierce Street
View: William J. Calloway Store, 1301 Pierce Street
View: Chauncey Spencer House, 1306 Pierce Street
View: Peaceful Baptist Church, 1309 Pierce Street
View: Marshall Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1307 Fillmore Street
View: 1400 Block Pierce Street
View: 1400 Block Pierce Street
2
ce
er
i
3P
2
ce
er
i
2P
Pierce Street Historic District 118-5238
13
District Boundary
e
or
lm
l
i
F
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District
Topographic Map
Lynchburg Quadrangle
VDHR # 118-5238
City of Lynchburg, VA
I
Text
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X
private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
___ building(s)
_x_ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__5__
__0__
__1__
__0__
__6__
Noncontributing
__0__ buildings
__0__ sites
__0__ structures
__0__ objects
__0__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0__
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) ___n/a____
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:
INDUSTRY
Sub:
INDUSTRY
DOMESTIC
TRANSPORTATION
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:
INDUSTRY
Sub:
TRADE
WORK IN PROGESS
VACANT
TRANSPORTATION
Manufacturing Facility
Industrial Storage
Institutional Housing
Rail-related
Industrial Storage
Specialty Store
Rail-related
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Georgian Revival
20th Century Industrial Vernacular
Art Deco
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Foundation
Concrete
roof
Built-up
walls
Brick, Concrete/Stucco
other
n/a
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
C
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
SOCIAL
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
1916-1958
1918-1920, 1925, 1936, 1956
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
N/A
Stanhope S. Johnson, Johnson & Brannan, Pendleton S. Clark, Clark & Crowe,
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Primary Location of Additional Data
_x_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: __Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
16.88 acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 0663390 4140968
5 17 0663201 4140752
Zone Easting Northing
2 17 0663493 4140827
6 17 0663077 4140915
Zone Easting Northing
3 17 0663346 4140712
7 17 0663248 4141043
Zone Easting Northing
4 17 0663273 4140807
8 17 0663320 4140917
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Emmett W. Lifsey, AIA, Principal
W. Scott Smith, Consultant
date 8 June 2008
Organization Calloway, Johnson, Moore & West, PA
telephone
434-847-6564
street & number
1030 Main Street
state Virginia
zip code
24504
city or town Lynchburg
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name ____________________________________________________________
street & number___________________________________ telephone_________________
city or town____________________________________ state_____ zip code __________
==============================================================================================
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for
listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
1
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
The proposed district encompasses approximately seventeen acres within the City of Lynchburg between Kemper Street,
Campbell Avenue, Twelfth Street, and Fifteenth Street. Today, the proposed district consists of two primary clusters of
light industrial buildings, which are bisected by a Norfolk Southern rail line. The building cluster that exists on the north
side of the rail line includes the Loft Building, Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory, and the Blue Buckle Overall
Company building. These structures are surrounded by asphalt parking lots. On the southeast side of the buildings, a
wooded area buffers the district from the Lynchburg Expressway (U.S. 29 Business). Kemper Street serves as the district’s
northeast boundary, across which can be found a number of commercial, residential, and religious uses which primarily
date to the second and third quarters of the twentieth century.
Twelfth Street, along with the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company (formerly Lynchburg Traction & Light Company)
compound, serves as the district’s northwestern border. The Norfolk Southern rail line, which runs through the district, is
partially sunken beneath the grade of the rest of the district, and is surrounded by thick vegetation.
The second cluster of buildings (including the Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant along with the Jobbers Overall
Company Dormitory) is located on the southwestern side of the rail line. These buildings are also primarily surrounded by
asphalt parking lots. Campbell Avenue is the southwestern boundary of the district, and a series of late nineteenth and
early twentieth century dwellings line the opposite side of the street. A modern retail grocery store as well as a wholesale
and retail electric supply company delineate the southeastern boundary.
Development of industrial infrastructure in the area took place in two primary phases. The first spanned from 1916
through 1925, and most of the buildings in the area were constructed during this time, including the Jobbers Overall
Company Main Plant (118-0094), Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory (118-0082), Jobbers Overall Company Suspender
Factory (118-0246), and the Loft Building (118-5290). The second major building phase occurred during the 1930s and
1950s, when the bulk of the Blue Buckle Overall Company facility at 1415 Kemper (118-0247) was constructed.
Today, the proposed district looks very similar to its appearance circa 1950, save the deterioration of some buildings,
removal of railroad sidings, and the growth of trees along the rail line.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
2
Inventory Summary
1. Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant. 1918, 1919. (DHR #118-0094, DHR #118-5292-0001). Contributing Building
2. Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory. c. 1919. (DHR #118-0082 DHR #118-5292-0002). Contributing Building
3. Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory. c. 1920. (DHR #118-0246, DHR #118-5292-0003). Contributing
Building
4. The Loft Building. 1925. (DHR #118-5290, DHR #118-5292-0004). Contributing Building
5. Blue Buckle Overall Factory. 1936. (DHR #118-0247, DHR #118-5292-0005). Contributing Building
6. Norfolk & Southern Rail Line. (DHR#118-5292-0006). Contributing Structure.
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant
1900 Twelfth Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663131
N 4140911
Early 20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRIAL: Manufacturing Facility (current: INDUSTRY: Storage)
circa 1918, 1919
unknown
Also known as the Craddock-Terry Company Fort Hill Plant, the first two blocks of this massive, three-block structure
were constructed in 1918, with the remaining block (closest to the railroad) built in 1919. Constructed wholly of concrete,
the building rises three stories above Campbell Avenue, and has at least one basement level below. The structure consists
of three blocks measuring approximately 190’ by 60’ connected by 60’ by 60’ hyphens. The entire building measures
approximately 190’ by 290’.
The Twelfth Street facades of the three main blocks are each three bays wide, with a primary entrance located in the center
bay of the southernmost block (at the corner of Twelfth and Campbell). Nine bays of large multi-paned steel windows run
the length of the building along Campbell Avenue. Originally, many of these windows were shaded by fabric awnings. The
interior spaces of the structure are supported with round reinforced concrete columns with conical capitals. Identified by
the Sanborn Insurance Company as one of the few “fireproof” buildings in the area, the structure featured a 20,000 gallon
water tower elevated 30 feet above the roof. In case of fire, the water, with considerable head pressure, would charge the
building’s sprinkler system. The all-concrete construction ensured that if the building were to catch fire, the only items that
would burn would be the inventory, equipment, and furniture, leaving the structure sound.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
3
The first floor corner of the building closest to the intersection of Twelfth Street and Campbell Avenue served as the
Central Plant Office. The corner of the building opposite this, adjacent to the Lynchburg & Durham Railroad facilities,
housed the heater room and coal room. A concrete masonry unit building to the rear (southeast) of the main structure was
built before 1950, and served as the factory’s finishing and packing facility. This structure is connected to the main factory
by a hyphen. A frame garage, which held eight automobiles (presumably for upper level management) was also located to
the rear of the building, but was demolished after 1950. In 1971, two major additions were constructed that filled the two
courtyard-like spaces on the rear (southeast) façade of the building.
DHR ID#:
118-0094, 118-5292-0001
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory
1300 Campbell Avenue
UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663175
N 4140798
Georgian Revival
DOMESTIC: Institutional Housing (current: COMMERCE: Specialty Store)
circa 1919
unknown
This building is currently occupied by the Barker-Jennings Corporation, but was built between 1918 and 1920 as the
“Martha Washington Dormitory” for the employees of Jobbers Overall Company.1 The front (south) façade of the brick
(five course common bond) Georgian Revival structure runs approximately 300’ along Campbell Avenue between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, and consists of a twenty seven bay façade. Each end of the front façade is marked by a
projection that is one bay deep and three bays in width. The central seven bays of the front façade project by
approximately two feet (a later, architecturally sympathetic, addition of a stair tower to this center section adds an
additional projection that is three bays wide and two bays deep). Most windows on the front façade are six over six sash,
but the height of the windows diminishes with each story of the building. The three projecting sections feature eight over
eight sash, which also diminish in height. A large, concave cornice caps the building. The brick structure consists of a
concrete foundation, full basement, and pine and maple flooring over steel beams. In 1970, 1975, and 1981 the BarkerJennings Corporation made several metal-clad additions to the rear of the building.
DHR ID#:
118-0082, 118-5292-0002
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
4
Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory
1417 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663460
N 4140827
th
20 Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: COMMERCE: Specialty Store)
circa 1920, Additions 1953
Pendleton S. Clark (1953 addition)
This complex was constructed circa 1920 as two separate buildings, which were later joined via two brick hyphens. Both
buildings are constructed of brick, and the easternmost structure features a four bay façade on the front (Kemper Street)
façade, while the westernmost building displays a six bay façade. Each building rises two stories above Kemper Street, with
two basement levels below. The easternmost building is covered by a pair of hipped roofs, and the other a long gable roof.
Both roofs are obscured from view by parapet walls, which are capped by terra cotta tiles. A later (1953) four story
addition (concrete masonry units faced in brick) projects from the southeastern end of the westernmost building, and
wraps around the rear of the other structure. The workspaces within the building are well-lit by large steel windows.
DHR ID#:
118-0246, 118-5292-0003
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
The Loft Building
1401 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663337
20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: Vacant)
1925
Stanhope Johnson & Ray Brannan
N 4140893
The Loft Building, located at what is now designated as 1401 Kemper Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, is an excellent
example of industrial architecture of the third decade of the twentieth century.
Rising four stories above grade, the L-shaped building measures approximately 90 by 200 feet, and displays many
characteristics that are typical of “loft” buildings of the period. These structures, as opposed to mills, are typically
multistory, urban industrial buildings with open expanses of generic (non function-specific) space. Staircases, elevators,
and service rooms were generally located in adjoining towers, so that the actual workspace of the building would not be
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
5
compromised by clutter, circulating workers, or even fire. 2 The exterior shell of the building consists of regular, extruded
brick laid in five course common bond pattern, and rests on a poured concrete foundation. A partial basement, containing
remnants of a boiler, occupies the southwestern corner of the building.
The south façade, which faces the railroad and presents the most uniform appearance, displays seven bays consisting of
two pairs of 24-pane steel windows on each level, separated by brick pilasters. The symmetry of the façade is only
interrupted by the presence of a chimney on the building’s southwest corner, which necessitated the installation of a 36pane window instead of the last pair of 24-pane sash. The headers above the fourth floor windows are of brick, and
feature a three-step corbel. Headers above the windows of the lower three stories consist of bricks arranged in a soldier
course. The northern façade faces Kemper Street, and is the most irregular of the four faces of the building. The western
side of this façade is broken by an ell that projects towards Kemper Street, which contains the elevator and stair shafts.
Thus, this section has few windows.
The Loft Building’s office lies at the eastern end of the structure. Like other manufacturing offices of the period, it adds to
the architectural refinement of the industrial building.3 The office was probably built in the 1930s after the City of
Lynchburg abandoned a portion of what would have been Fourteenth Street, thus creating room for the addition of the
one story brick structure. The front façade of the office utilizes elements found on the rest of the building, including brick
pilasters and a heavy cement water table, but joins them with a stepped parapet wall along the roofline to create an Art
Deco feel to the building. The three bay façade consists of a pair of 21-pane windows on each bay, and wooden double
entry doors in the center. These doors are each pierced by a four pane window, and additional light is brought into the
interior hallway via a refined transom.
The roof of the building is somewhat unusual for Lynchburg industrial buildings of this period. It has a very shallow pitch,
with an off-center gable. The roof structure itself consists of the same thick tongue-and-grooved boards that make up the
floor structures below. The ceiling beams, which are visible from the interior, project outside and act as purlins. These
heavy purlins present a simple but tasteful chamfered end, which gives character to the otherwise simple roof.
DHR ID#:
118-5290, 118-5292-0004
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
6
Blue Buckle Overall Factory
1415 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663409
N 4140885
Art Deco, 20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: Work in Progress)
1936, 1956
Pendleton S. Clark (1936 construction)
This sprawling complex covers almost 1.5 acres of land, and consists of multiple building phases. The oldest, and most
architecturally significant, section probably dates to approximately 1936. The 280’ by 90’ manufacturing area is noted on a
Sanborn Insurance map as being the “Shipping Room” and “Overall Factory” of the Blue Buckle Overall Company. This
one story structure is illuminated by a long rectangular clerestory, which runs the length of the building’s roof. Two
smaller clerestories provide light and ventilation to the additions of the building.
A smaller two story structure attached to the eastern side of the shipping room has one basement level below, and is
constructed of brick laid in the five course common bond pattern. This is identified on the Sanborn Map as being the
office, and it features a stylistic art deco entry, with two columns flanking a pair of partially glazed doors.
A major 125’ by 200’ addition was added to the western side of the main building circa 1956, and another multi-story
addition was added to the southeastern side of the office at about the same time.
DHR ID#:
118-0247, 118-5292-0005
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
7
Lynchburg & Durham (Norfolk & Southern) Rail Line
12th Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue
UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663304
N 4140888
n/a
Transportation: Rail-related
Before 1887
n/a
In May of 1887, construction began on the Lynchburg & Durham Railroad, which spanned the 115 miles between the two
cities by September of 1890. This line bisects the proposed Kemper Street Industrial Historic District. The first station
built on this rail line was the Twelfth Street Station, a small board and batten-clad structure located on Twelfth Street
between Campbell Avenue and Kemper Street. By 1898, the Norfolk & Western Railroad acquired the assets of the
Lynchburg & Durham Line. A photo taken during a 1917 railroad valuation survey shows that the station was a combined
freight and passenger facility, and that it possessed a cattle pen. The area surrounding the station was full of multiple track
sidings (which were undoubtedly used by the Jobbers Overall Company and other area industries). An early deed involving
the Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant building even mentions a rail siding entering the building on its northeast
corner, permitting rail cars to be easily loaded with goods and shipped to distant customers. The station closed and was
demolished shortly after a 1958 photo was taken.4 The Southern Railway line that serves the Kemper Street Station still
operates as a double track today, but the Norfolk & Western line was removed sometime after a U.S. Geologic Survey
topographic map was produced in the 1960s.
DHR ID#:
118-5292-0006
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
8
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Following Reconstruction, Lynchburg, unlike other Southside towns and cities, began to diversify its economy with the aid
of local money as well as investors from other regions of the country. The last two decades of the nineteenth century
brought major manufacturers of iron products, cloth, clothing, and shoes. The Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
encompasses the core of a manufacturing area devoted primarily to clothing and shoes that developed in the early
twentieth century as Lynchburg’s initial commercial and industrial districts (downtown and the lower basin) reached
capacity. The proposed district covers approximately seventeen acres, and consists of five building complexes bisected by
an active Norfolk & Southern rail line. Architectural styles range from industrial vernacular of the early twentieth century
to high order Georgian Revival, and construction techniques include modern “fireproofing” that was coming into vogue
in the first quarter of the century. A unique component of the development of the land included in the district boundaries
is the activity of the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation, a private organization dedicated to selling land to
“start up” businesses, and the spawning of the Lynchburg Manufacturers Building Corporation, which constructed a
generic “loft” building speculatively. The Kemper Street Industrial Historic District represents a significant part of
Lynchburg’s commercial, industrial, and social past (Criterion A), and is an excellent example of the development of
modern light industrial architecture in the region (Criterion C).
The period of significance (1916-1958) includes all major phases of development and construction within the district. The
majority of property acquisition for the purpose of industrial development began in 1916 and halted by 1918. By 1918, the
first major buildings had been constructed, and the building campaign in the district continued through 1956 (when a
major addition to the Blue Buckle Overall Company was made). While additions to contributing structures continued in to
the 1980s, they have not achieved historical significance, and are not architecturally significant under current guidelines.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
9
Historical Context
By the second decade of the twentieth century, Lynchburg was well on its way to becoming a diversified manufacturing
city. Lynchburg’s manufacturing industries produced more than $15,000,000 in finished products each year, employed
approximately 7,000 workmen, and was home to about 650 travelling salesmen employed by the community’s booming
jobbing industry. The Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce proudly announced that, among other things, Lynchburg
produced more shoes than the rest of the South combined.5
As the City’s manufacturing base expanded, the downtown and lower basin districts could no longer contain the buildings
necessary to support the rapidly growing economy. Real estate development for industrial purposes had already moved up
the James River to buildable areas along the railroad, mainly at Reusens. Of course, industry preferred to locate along rail
lines, and developers began to eye property to the south of downtown, along the former Southern Railway line. With the
development of the West Lynchburg Land Company property in the 1890s, this area was growing quickly, creating need
for two train depots to be built. Southern Railway’s Kemper Street Station was built in 1912, which complemented a small
Lynchburg & Durham Railroad6 Station on Twelfth Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue (demolished)
that was built before 1889.7
The Campbell Avenue Buildings
In December of 1916, the Jobbers Overall Company purchased most of blocks 1 and 2 of J.P. Shaner’s estate, which was a
section of what was known as the “Fair Grounds Addition” to the City of Lynchburg. These lots occupied the north side
of Campbell Avenue, between Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets.8 Shortly thereafter, Jobbers Overall Company, which
touted itself as the “largest manufacturers of overalls in the world,” constructed the massive “Main Plant” at the corner of
Twelfth and Campbell (118-0094), followed by the Dormitory (118-0082) for workers, which fronted Campbell Avenue.
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. began as Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company, Inc. in 1909. In 1911, company
officers Alfred C. Barrow (President & Treasurer) of Lynchburg, H.C. Barrow (Vice President) of Blackstone, and H.O.
Brightwell (Secretary) also of Blackstone, removed the word “manufacturing” from the company’s name, and, more
significantly, moved the company’s office to Lynchburg.9 The next year, they proudly advertised their presence in
Lynchburg by purchasing a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory, showing a photograph of their first
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
10
facility at the corner of Twelfth Street and Buchanan Street (this building is near, but not included in the proposed
district).
Of all of the buildings in the immediate vicinity of the proposed district, the Main Plant is the only one identified by the
Sanborn Insurance Company as “fireproof.” While the designers of this (and the Dormitory building) are unknown at this
time, they utilized state of the art reinforced concrete construction to create a building that would be designated by
insurance companies as “fireproof.” The non-flammable building materials combined with metal clad doors that could
slide closed at a moments notice and a sprinkler system that was charged by a water tower on the structure’s roof created a
low-risk environment for the production of goods.
The ornate Georgian Revival architecture of the adjacent Martha Washington Dormitory building presents a sharp
contrast to the austere façade of the Main Plant. Because the Dormitory served in its intended role for such a short period
of time (perhaps five years at the most), little is known about how the building operated. It is clear that the structure was
designed with a residential feel…reminiscent of large apartment buildings of the period. While other large industries, such
as the nearby Lynchburg Cotton Mill constructed single family houses or duplexes for workers, this is the only known
high-density facility for housing factory employees to be constructed in Lynchburg.
In addition to providing short-term lodging for its workers who travelled into Lynchburg from the surrounding
countryside, Jobbers Overall Company participated in other trend-setting labor practices. Beginning in 1919, the company
advertised in the Machinists’ Monthly Journal (the “official organ” of the International Association of Machinists) stating the
expected claims about product quality, including slogans such as “strong-for-work” and “the Blue Buckle label spells more
wear-service and more comfort through big, generous roominess!” However, what my not be expected in this period is the
company’s explicit connection between the quality of its products and the manner in which it treated its employees. A
December, 1919 advertisement exclaims that “You get the finest workmanship in Blue Buckles because we engage only
skilled Union workers on a 44-hour week under ideal working conditions.” A few months later, a similar display
advertisement suggests that customers who purchase Blue Buckle Overalls buy into more than just a garment…they buy
into an ideal: “A 44-hour week, ideal working conditions, and square dealing with employees guarantee loyalty to the Blue
Buckle ideal—the finest work-rig in America!”
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
11
In 1920, the National Civic Federation made a report on profit sharing by American employers. In it, company President
A.C. Barrow reported that,
"Under our profit sharing plan we do not distribute any money among our employees until the last of the year;
therefore it is too early to tell you what our results will be for this year. We have changed our plan somewhat, and
during the past year gave our employees life insurance policies and weekly sick benefits, but still expect to
distribute a part of our earnings among our employees on a payroll basis. For instance, the employee whose pay
has been highest during the year will receive a larger percentage of the profits, owing to the fact that this employee
has produced more work, and our profit on her production being greater she is therefore entitled to a higher
rate."10
Interestingly, Barrow makes specific reference to his employees being women. The garment industry is one of the first
where women were encouraged to work. Even if jobs were not intended for women, they probably took them over during
World War I. Historian Philip Lightfoot Scruggs noted that “…in Lynchburg there were no true war boom industries.
Existing ones operated full time and overtime and many women were employed to replace men. A truly conservative
urban community does not let anything destroy its conservatism.”11 In June of 1918, The News announced that
“Lynchburg banks have been forced to employ women to take the place of men who have gone to war.” A few days later,
it reported that twenty girls between the ages of seventeen and twenty had volunteered to work at the Jobbers Overall
Factory.12
While the life insurance plans, sick benefits, and cost sharing plans may have been good for the employees, the company
may have suffered because of it. In May of 1921, Jobbers Overall Company was bankrupt, and at a public auction held in
October of that year, the Old Dominion Garment Company purchased the “factory and dormitory buildings” along with
the “plumbing, heating, ventilation, communicating, and automatic sprinkler” equipment.13 Old Dominion Garment
Company was led by R.H. Pritchett (President), P.S. Adkerson (Vice President & Treasurer), and M.E. Hickey (Secretary).
In 1922, the Old Dominion Garment Company, Inc. is listed as occupying these two buildings. Beginning in 1923,
Craddock & Terry Shoe Corporation took over the building at Twelfth Street and Campbell Avenue, which it bought for
$350,000 in July 14, designating Jobbers’ “Main Plant” as their “Fort Hill Plant” and the “Dormitory” as their “Central
Cutting Plant.”15 Two years later, the Lynchburg City Directory indicated that Craddock & Terry had, in addition to its
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
12
Campbell Avenue facilities, locations at Ninth & Jefferson Streets, Commerce Street, and off of Park Avenue at Craddock
Street (its “West End” Plant). By the 1920s, Craddock & Terry was known as the largest shoe manufacturer in the South,
and the fourth largest in the United States. 16
John W. Craddock’s December 1920 Annual Report gives a glimpse into progressive human resources policies that were
being explored by Craddock & Terry. Craddock noted that “practically every employee at that time [the company’s
incorporation in 1898] was given an opportunity to buy stock in the company,… …This policy of stock ownership by
employees has been continued and extended from time to time, with the result that at this time something over 200
employees of the company are common stock holders.” Earlier in the document, he noted that the company employed
about 2,500 people, with all but about 500 being engaged in the production of shoes.
Craddock then stated that it was impractical for the company to extend the privilege of buying common stock to the
“factory productive employees” to any considerable extent, and that Craddock & Terry had recently provided a means by
which its factory employees could purchase shares of preferred stock on an “easy payment plan” and that over 140
employees had taken advantage of the opportunity the previous year.
Employees who had worked for the company for six months or more were given group insurance (with coverage between
$600 and $1,500) at the expense of the company. An “Employees Co-operative Association” had been formed,
and the corporation matched employee contributions to its fund. Amongst other activities, the Association had a “Shop
Committee” which served as a communication connection between the management and the factory employees. In the
1919 and 1920 fiscal years, the company “agreed to try out a Profit-Sharing Plan…” which distributed approximately
$150,000 to 860 of Craddock & Terry’s productive factory employees. The company also contributed a similar amount
which was divided amongst the superintendents and foremen in the factories and all of the employees in the three jobbing
houses. Craddock noted that the results of the “experiment” were mixed, and that “in view of the unfavorable and
uncertain business conditions now prevailing, the Company will reach no definite decision as to its future policy…” until
after the beginning of the next business year.
A 1925 publication of the Campbell County School Board reported that the Craddock & Terry Company operated two
distributing houses, four factories, and a central fitting plant in Lynchburg; one distributing house, two factories, and a
leather plant at St. Louis, Missouri; a distributing house, factory, and tannery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and a factory at
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
13
the town of Louisiana, Missouri. It had recently taken over the George D. Witt Shoe Company, and the company
manufactured shoes worth $12,300,000 in Virginia alone.
In 1930, Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation reported that it had seen a profitable year in 1929, employing 3,494 men and
women. In its annual report, the company surmised that if each employee had two dependents, more than a quarter of
Lynchburg’s population was directly dependent on Craddock-Terry for their livelihood.17 However, as the Great
Depression began to settle over Lynchburg, the corporation announced a ten percent reduction in workers’ wages, a
fifteen percent reduction in middle management salaries, and a twenty percent reduction in the compensation for its
officers and directors.18
By 1937, the outlook for Craddock-Terry Corporation had improved somewhat, and the company presented its employees
with ten percent raises, and reported earnings of $260,000 for the previous year. In August, the company, in a celebratory
spirit, sent 4,000 of its employees and their families on a train excursion to Lakeside Amusement Park in Salem. In 1939,
company President John A. Faulkner reported that “one-third of the city lives on Craddock-Terry wages,” which was an
increase from the previous decade’s already impressive numbers.19
During World War II, many of Lynchburg’s factories operated around the clock, and local products such as clothing and
Craddock-Terry shoes were used by the United States military. 20 By October of 1941, Craddock-Terry was producing
26,000 boots and shoes per day, and most of them went to the military. By the 1950s, the company began suffering the
impacts of inexpensive foreign imports. Also experiencing trouble was nearby Consolidated Textiles, which closed in
1957, after being in business for seventy three years. However, the decade brought major employers of skilled laborers and
professionals: the Babcock & Wilcox Company (a nuclear power plant manufacturer), and General Electric’s mobile
communications division21. Lynchburg worked to diversify its economy while changes in world economics continued to
hurt old-line industries like Craddock-Terry. In the late 1980s, the company went into bankruptcy, but was reorganized
due to the involvement of community leaders such as Progress Printing’s Thomas D. Thornton, II, who purchased
Craddock & Terry’s assets. 22 Today, Craddock & Terry’s Fort Hill Plant is owned by Liberty University, and is used for
storage.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
14
The Old Dominion Garment Company continued its overall manufacturing operations in the former “Dormitory”
building at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Thirteenth Street through 1925. By 1930, the facility was occupied by the
Bedford-Johnson Company and the Cleveland & Whitehall Company23, both clothing manufacturers. Bedford-Johnson
was led by Harry S. Johnson (President) of New York, Andrew S. Webb (Vice President) of Philadelphia, Oliver R. Kreutz
(Treasurer) of New York, and Robert C. Atherholt (General Manager) of Lynchburg. The firm defaulted on a deed of
trust, and the property was transferred to Claude B. Wagoner (President of Bellefonte Central Railroad in Pennsylvania) to
hold in trust for Charles J. Webb & Sons Co., Inc. In the meantime, the building was occupied from 1933 through 1950 by
the Art Nitewear Company (operated by Frank and Jack Feldman).
After a default on a United States Small Business Administration loan, the property was transferred to the ownership of
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration in 1965, and then to Imperial Realty Corporation the following
year.24 In 1966, the downtown headquarters of the Barker-Jennings Corporation burned, and the firm, under the
presidency of O.B. Barker, Jr., purchased the building on 1 January, 1967. Today, The Dormitory is still owned by the
Barker-Jennings Corporation, and houses their wholesale and retail hardware business, which, at one time, was the largest
in the United States.25
The Kemper Street Buildings
On 18 June 1917, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation was formed to create opportunities for local
manufacturing interests. The initial officers of the Corporation were wholesale dry goods jobber William J. D. Bell
(President), Real Estate Agent Alexander W. Mosby (Vice President), and Chamber of Commerce Secretary Thomas A.
Scott (Secretary-Treasurer).26 On 6 July, the Corporation purchased approximately 5 acres from J. Braxton Jennings (a
tobacconist) for $15,000.27 This land was bordered on the northeast by Kemper Street and on the southwest by the
Southern Railway main line, and was a portion of the nineteenth century estate of Henry Davis (called “Spring Valley”).
In addition to its acquisition in the Kemper Street area, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation purchased a
smaller tract of land on Hudson Street, which is located on Fishing Creek, approximately one mile northeast of the
Kemper Street site. The Hudson Street tract was also situated on a rail line, and the Industrial Development Corporation
fostered the growth of several businesses in three primary buildings, which now house Tri-Tech Laboratories, a fragrance
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
15
and cosmetic manufacturer. The Corporation did not develop any additional land in Lynchburg, and this is the only
known industrial development organization that operated during the proposed district’s period of significance in
Lynchburg.
The Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation almost immediately began selling parcels to area companies,
including two small tracts at the intersection of Kemper and Fifteenth Streets. In 1920, city tax records indicate that
buildings at Kemper and Fifteenth Streets were valued at $15,000, but that activity was “suspended.”28 The 1920-21 City
Directory lists Fritz-Richards Co. Inc. (a shoe manufacturer) and Overall Suspender Co. (part of Jobbers Overall
Company) as being the only commercial operations in the immediate area. These businesses occupied the building
complex identified as DHR# 118-0246. The Beasley Shoe Company, Lynchburg’s second largest shoe manufacturer, took
over Fritz-Richards’ operation in 1921.29
In January of 1925, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation sold a portion of their remaining Kemper Street
land to Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation, Inc. for the consideration of 74 shares of stock in the latter.30 The
Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation, which was formed in June of 1924, had an initial board of directors that
consisted of State Senator A.F. Thomas (President), Chemical and Mechanical Engineer William D. Mount (Vice
President) and Real Estate Agent Hamner E. Steptoe (Secretary-Treasurer).31 The Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce’s
Publication and Advertising Committee’s 1925 report entitled, “Lynchburg in Old Virginia: The City of Industry and
Opportunity” sheds much light on the Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation. The organization’s first meeting
was held at the Chamber of Commerce office, and its mission was to enact the work that the Chamber had been
undertaking for “several years for the erection of an industrial or manufacturers Loft Building.”
The board secured the services of prominent area architects Stanhope Johnson and Ray Brannan to design the structure.
Johnson had participated in the design of Court Street Methodist Church, and began his career with noted architect
Edward Frye. Johnson’s next firm, McLaughlin, Pettit, & Johnson, designed Averett College in Danvile, and Johnson soon
became one of Lynchburg’s “most accomplished Georgian Revival architects,” according to S. Allen Chambers, Jr.,
although he branched out into other styles as well, including the modernist of the twenties and thirties. Johnson and
Brannan would go on to design Lynchburg’s first true skyscraper, the Allied Arts Building on Church Street, in 1929.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
16
Johnson and Brannan designed a four story brick building that was proposed to be the first of three units, although the
two additional units were never built (this does, however, help explain the building’s placement along the railroad tracks,
but at considerable distance from Kemper Street, as if the other two buildings would fill the space between the first and
Kemper Street). The building was intended to be rented out, either in whole or in sections. Temporary partitions could be
erected if a tenant only needed a portion of a particular floor, while still giving access to elevator and toilet facilities.
The Chamber of Commerce description of the Loft Building concluded by stating that, “No pains have been spared to
make the design of the building thoroughly modern in every respect and fully equal in point of equipment and
convenience to the best and most modern buildings of this type.” According to present staff of the Greater Lynchburg
Chamber of Commerce, this is the only such project that the organization has undertaken in its one hundred and twenty
five year history.
An October 1924 aerial photo of the area shows that construction had not yet begun on this tract32, but the 1926 land tax
record indicates that a building valued at $66,700 had been constructed.33 The 1925 plat created by DeMott & Magruder
Engineers made reference to the “Loft Building Co.”, and all subsequent references to the building at 1415 Kemper Street
(now designated as 1401 Kemper) identify the structure as the “Loft Building.”
The N&W Overall Company began manufacturing overalls (probably in Roanoke) for the Norfolk & Western Railroad in
1900 (hence the name34). Isadore Sachs, a Russian-born clothing manufacturer, appears in the 1900 census for Roanoke,
Virginia. However, the Jewish Publication Society’s “American Jewish Yearbook” for 1904-1905 lists him in Lynchburg,
care of the N & W Overall Factory. The 1910 census indicates that Sachs was the president of the overall factory, and that
his twenty-six year old son Joseph was a cutter there. By 1920, the census shows that Sachs was no longer the head of the
N & W Overall Company, but was a retail merchant, which is confirmed in the 1925 city directory, which lists him as
owning “Sach’s Sample Store, General Merchandise.”
The same 1925 Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce report that described the Loft Building in detail also exposed class and
race issues that were prevalent in Lynchburg industry during the time. The publication touted that, “practically all of these
[Lynchburg workers] are native born whites or Negroes, for labor in Lynchburg is almost 100% American, there being
only a small fraction of one percent foreign-born in the city, all of which has been easily assimilated.” Even though the
city’s African-American population was lumped together with its whites in the above statement, the distinction was
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
17
clarified by stating that the “negro population of Lynchburg has been on the wane during the last decade, and the growth
of the city during that time has been almost altogether in whites, so the large bulk of the labor supply in Lynchburg is
skilled.” Furthermore, the Chamber classified the area’s labor supply as being higher in character and intelligence than that
of other areas. It said that “so called ‘cheaper’ labor may abound in many other cities, consisting of the raw, unintelligent,
and inexperienced foreigners who cannot be assimilated or the shiftless, irresponsible negroes.” It is not unthinkable that
Russian Jew Isadore Sachs fell from his position as president of N & W Overall Company because of attitudes such as the
ones expressed by the Chamber of Commerce’s Publicity and Advertising Committee.
This group also made its feelings known about organized labor in Lynchburg by stating that, “the walking delegate, the
labor agitator, the wild eyed bolshevik [sic] and radical have no place in this city for Lynchburg labor is too busy with
giving a dollar’s worth of service for a dollar of wage to worry about unions and organizations. There has always existed
the most splendid feeling between employers and employees. Lynchburg manufacturers have made this a good place for
the factory operatives to live. Lynchburg factories are of modern construction, well lighted and heated and supplied with
all conveniences for comfort necessary to modern factory operation.” Certainly, Jobbers Overall Company (which had
gone bankrupt by the time of this booklet’s publication) felt otherwise, touting that it’s union workers were the key to
quality workmanship.
The N & W Overall Company occupied the Loft Building from 1926 until about 1940, when the Blue Buckle Overall
Company took over operations at the Loft Building.35 A 1927 map indicates that the United Cigarette Machine Company
occupied the Loft Building36, but no additional historical evidence has been found to corroborate this.
The Loft Building maintained its tax value through 1929, but after the stock market crash that year, the Nation’s economy
went into depression, and values began to decline steadily through the 1930s, reaching a low of $33,000 in 1940. It would
be more than a decade after the end of World War II before the value of the structure began to again resemble its preDepression amount.37
In 1936, the City of Lynchburg marked its sesquicentennial, and published a book touting its past and recent history. It
mentioned that the N&W Overall Company had “grown to the point it could establish a branch plant in Jackson,
Mississippi, and this year began construction of a new Lynchburg building.”38 This building is the core of what is referred
to in this application as the Blue Buckle Overall Factory, and the previous statement is corroborated by an aerial
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
18
photograph in the book which shows site work being done in that location (between the Loft Building and the Suspender
Factory).
The 1936 Lynchburg building was designed by prolific Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark. Clark had previously been
involved in construction at Sweet Briar College, and designed portions of Lynchburg’s Presbyterian Orphans Home,
Washington & Lee, Lynchburg College, and Mary Baldwin College. Clark was one of the first two registered architects in
Lynchburg (following a new law passed in 1920), and was the first chairman of Lynchburg’s Planning Commission, which
formed in 1926. N & W Overall Company’s Jackson, Mississippi facility was built in 1928, and was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Blue Buckle Overall Company was a major employer in Lynchburg during the twentieth century, and was one of the
few businesses that consistently sought out female employees. Blue Buckle Overall Company was advertising in
communities up to sixty miles away promising good jobs for women. A 1945 Halifax Gazette newspaper advertisement
made a call for “women to operate sewing machines.” The company boasted that it offered excellent working conditions
with steady employment.39 A Lynchburg & Durham Railroad timetable from 1893 stated that the 61 mile trip from South
Boston to Lynchburg’s Twelfth Street Depot was one hour and twenty minutes40, which would be a convenient trip for
women from the surrounding region to travel into Lynchburg to work for the week while staying with relatives or in
boarding houses. Also in 1945, Blue Buckle, along with six other area industries, banded together to form Central Virginia
Industries, a non-profit corporation, to “to defend, promote and publicize the principles and objectives of the free
enterprise system.”41
Two years after World War II ended, Russian-born denim clothing tycoon Solomon Rosenbloom purchased Blue Buckle
Overall Company, which employed 800 people at plants in Marshall, Texas and Lynchburg, Virginia. Blue Buckle was one
of the largest producers of sportswear and work clothes in the country, and Rosenbloom’s acquisition merged the three
major brand names in overalls: Blue Ridge, Blue Buckle, and Blue Jay.42 In June of 1947, Lynchburg Manufacturers
Building, Inc. sold its property to Lynchburg Garment Company, Inc. for $100,00043, which was probably a result of the
Rosenbloom purchase.
The 1950 City Directory lists Blue Buckle Overall Company and Blue Ridge Manufacturers at 1415 Kemper Street. The
year before, Blue Ridge moved its executive offices from Roanoke to Lynchburg. 44 In 1952, Bibee Grocery Company,
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
19
Inc. purchased the building from the Lynchburg Garment Company.45 Samuel H. Bibee was the President of Bibee
Grocery Company, and also worked in the Advertising Department at Craddock-Terry, Lynchburg’s premier shoe
manufacturer.46 Bibee owned (under his corporation’s name) more than a dozen properties in Lynchburg, and it is likely
that 1415 Kemper (now 1401 Kemper) was an investment, rather than a building used by Bibee’s grocery business.
Blue Buckle Overall Company continued its presence at the Loft Building through 1960. In 1965, Imperial Reading
Corporation, a men’s clothing manufacturer, was chartered,47 and it likely took over Blue Buckle’s operations, as Imperial
Reading was listed as the tenant at 1415 Kemper Street in 1970.48
Bibee Grocery Company sold the Loft Building to David and Shirley Levin in 197749, and by 1980, the building had been
re-designated as 1401 Kemper Street and was listed as vacant50, which has continued to this day. In 1984, Health-Tex
announced that it would acquire Imperial Reading for $4.85 million51, and in February of 1986, Health-Tex announced the
closure of its 100,000 square foot Lynchburg plant, which was described as being about 50 years old. This is referring to
the Blue Buckle Overall Company facility (118-0247), which dates to 1936.52
This complex of early to mid twentieth century manufacturing buildings stands as a reminder of the boom and bust of
textile and clothing manufacturing of the upper South in the last century, and as a microcosm if the evolution of
Lynchburg’s economy from one of trade and tobacco to iron, textile, and shoe manufacturing, to the high technology
sectors of electronics, nuclear, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and finance found in the area today. While other areas of
Southside Virginia held onto tobacco and textiles past their peak, Lynchburg was able to diversify its economy to meet an
ever-changing local workforce and global market.
The factories of the Kemper Street Industrial District played a significant role in building Lynchburg’s economy and
workforce. What was rolling pastureland (only bisected by a railroad) less than one hundred years ago was developed to
near its maximum usable capacity within about a quarter of a century, and the district boasted some of the largest, most
modern industrial buildings seen in the region. The area along Kemper Street is an early example of the work of industrial
development corporations that constructed “shell buildings” to house manufacturing tenants (a concept that is generally
thought of as a modern one, and is practiced heavily today by local governments and economic developers).
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
20
While poor factory conditions were probably extant (noted photographer of child labor abuses Lewis Hine visited the
nearby Lynchburg Cotton Mills [Consolidated Textiles] in 1911), workers on Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue also
experienced profit-sharing, employee stock ownership, medical benefits, and sick leave benefits. They produced clothing
and footwear to protect those who built and defended the Nation. Women (many for the first time) entered the workforce
within this district…first to help save their country, then to help save their households. Indeed, the story of manufacturing
and life in Lynchburg, as well as the New South, can be told by examining the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Jensen, Lisa K. Historic American Engineering Record Inventory: Barker Jennings Corp. Headquarters (118-0082).
Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 1977.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York, Oxford University
Press, 1999. pp. 30-31
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York, Oxford University
Press, 1999. p. 36
Web site: http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/rails.html. Accessed 8 June 2008.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History, Charlottesville, VA, The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
pp 409-410
The Lynchburg & Durham Railroad became the Lynchburg & Durham Division of the Norfolk & Western Railroad
in 1898. Norfolk & Southern Railroad was formed after Norfolk & Western acquired the Southern Railroad in 1982.
Web site: http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/rails.html
Deed Book 109, page 308. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
1911 Charter Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
Easley, Gertrude Beeks, ed.. Profit Sharing by American Employers. New York: The National Civic Federation, 1920.
page 127.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc. 1946.
page 200.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 288.
Deed Book 125, page 434. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
Deed Book 132, page 176. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
1920-21, 1921-22, 1923, 1925 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
pages 327-328.
Ibid., page 355
Ibid. page 361
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc. 1946.
pages 259-260
20. Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 390.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
21
21. Web site- http://www.progprint.com/about/founder.html
22. No further information has been located concerning the Cleveland & Whitehall Company
23. Deed Book 405, page 49. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA., Deed Book 410, page 141. Lynchburg
Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
24. Web Site: http://www.swanngroup.com/viusinlyva.html
25. 1917 Charter Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA; 1920 United States Census, Population
Schedule, Lynchburg
26. Deed Book 111, page 54. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
27. 1920 Land Tax Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
28. Gilliam, Rosa. The County of Campbell, Charlottesville, VA, Campbell County School Board, University of Virginia.
1925. p. 10.
29. Deed Book 139, page 275. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
30. Charter Book 7, page 475. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA; 1920 United States Census, Population
Schedule, Lynchburg
31. “Aerial Views of Lynchburg & Vicinity made for Lynchburg Traction & Light Co.,” Underwood & Underwood. 1924.
32. 1926 Land Tax Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
33. Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 258.
34. 1926, 1930, 1940 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
35. Wells, John E. Crosstown Connector Phase II Architectural Evaluation, Letter to Kathleen Kilpatrick, Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 13 March 2007, page 7.
36. 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1945, 1950, 1955 Land Tax Books. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
37. Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City. Lynchburg: Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association, Inc.
1936. page 130.
38. Halifax Gazette, South Boston, VA. September 6, 1945. page 2, columns 3-6.
39. Web site: www.centralvirginiaindustries.org , accessed 13 March 2008
40. Web site, http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg28040.html, accessed 8 March 2008
41. Deed Book 251, page 219. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
42. Web site, http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg28040.html, accessed 8 March 2008
43. Deed Book 282, page 364. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
44. 1960 Lynchburg City Directory, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
45. Web site, http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/state/recordgroups/findingaids/rg281g-n.pdf, accessed 13 March
2008
46. 1970 Lynchburg City Directory, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
47. Deed Book 535, page 670. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
48. 1980 and 1990 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
9, Historic Photos
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
22
Major Bibliographical References
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press,
1999.
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1981.
Easley, Gertrude Beeks, editor. Profit Sharing by American Employers. New York: The National Civic Federation, 1920.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Gilliam, Rosa. The County of Campbell, Charlottesville, VA, Campbell County School Board, University of Virginia. 1925.
Jensen, Lisa K. Historic American Engineering Record Inventory: Barker Jennings Corp. Headquarters (118-0082).
Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 1977.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Co., Inc, 1946.
Attached Historic Photos
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant & Dormitory, pre-1925 (2 pictures)
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Jobbers Overall Company Trade Card, pre-1925
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Aerial Photo by Underwood & Underwood, 1924
DHR# 118_0000
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Twelfth Street Station from the north, 1917
DHR# 118_0000
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Twelfth Street Station from the north, 1958
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
10
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
23
Verbal Boundary Description
See attached sketch and USGS Topographic Maps for additional detail. The proposed district includes the following tax
map parcels within the City of Lynchburg, Virginia: 02707001, 02706001, 02701003, 02701010, and portions of parcels
02701005, 02702003, and 02702002.
This area is bounded by Campbell Avenue on the southwest (the even numbered addresses in the 1200 and 1300 blocks
included), Kemper Street on the northeast (the odd numbered addresses in the 1400 and 1500 blocks included), Twelfth
Street on the northwest (the even numbered addresses between the Norfolk & Western Railway and Campbell Avenue
included), and an imaginary line following the lines of Fourteenth Street in a northeasterly direction until it strikes the
property of the Norfolk & Western Railroad, thence following said railroad’s line in a southwesterly direction
approximately 400 feet, thence in a northeasterly direction along the contemplated lines (sections that were never built) of
Fifteenth Street, until said line strikes Kemper Street.
Boundary Justification
The proposed boundaries form the core of what was the Kemper Street/Campbell Avenue manufacturing district of the
early twentieth century. Other related buildings remain, including an N&W Overall/C.B. Cones & Son Manufacturing
building at the corner of Twelfth and Buchanan Streets, and the Virginia Department of Highways maintenance complex
(now Glenn A. Trent, Inc.) and Lynchburg Traction & Light Company shops and offices (now Greater Lynchburg Transit
Company), both at the corner of Kemper Street and Twelfth Street. However, these buildings either have compromised
historic fabric, or cannot be included in the boundaries of the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District without also
including a large number of non-contributing properties.
Other historic properties are adjacent to the proposed district, including a number of late nineteenth and early twentieth
Century dwellings. However, these properties were generally built before the industrial buildings that are included in the
proposed district, and are not directly related to the industrial theme of the district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Photos
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
24
Photo Captions
Information Common to All Images
Property Name: Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
Town, County, State: City of Lynchburg, VA
Date: All photographs taken March / April 2008
Photographer: Jim Dumminger, Amanda Adams, W. Scott Smith (unless noted otherwise)
Photo Captions:
Photo 1 of 7
DHR# 118_0082
Dormitory, South Elevation
Photo 2 of 7
DHR# 118_0094
Main Plant, South / West Elevation
Photo 3 of 7
DHR# 118_0246
Suspender Factory, North Elevation
Photo 4 of 7
DHR# 118_0247
Blue Buckle Overall Factory, North Elevation
Photo 5 of 7
DHR# 118_5290
Loft Building, View from Railway
Photo 6 of 7
DHR# 118_5290
Loft Building, One-Story Office
Photo 7 of 7
DHR# 118_0246
Suspender Factory, Streetscape of Kemper Street looking west
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply)
Category of Property (Check only one box)
X
private
___ public-local
___ public-State
___ public-Federal
___ building(s)
_x_ district
___ site
___ structure
___ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
__5__
__0__
__1__
__0__
__6__
Noncontributing
__0__ buildings
__0__ sites
__0__ structures
__0__ objects
__0__ Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0__
Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) ___n/a____
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:
INDUSTRY
Sub:
INDUSTRY
DOMESTIC
TRANSPORTATION
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
Cat:
INDUSTRY
Sub:
TRADE
WORK IN PROGESS
VACANT
TRANSPORTATION
Manufacturing Facility
Industrial Storage
Institutional Housing
Rail-related
Industrial Storage
Specialty Store
Rail-related
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions)
Georgian Revival
20th Century Industrial Vernacular
Art Deco
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Foundation
Concrete
roof
Built-up
walls
Brick, Concrete/Stucco
other
n/a
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing)
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
____ B
Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
C
____ D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
____ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
____ B removed from its original location.
____ C a birthplace or a grave.
____ D a cemetery.
____ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
____ F a commemorative property.
____ G
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)
ARCHITECTURE
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
SOCIAL
Period of Significance
Significant Dates
1916-1958
1918-1920, 1925, 1936, 1956
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
N/A
N/A
Stanhope S. Johnson, Johnson & Brannan, Pendleton S. Clark, Clark & Crowe,
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested.
___ previously listed in the National Register
___ previously determined eligible by the National Register
___ designated a National Historic Landmark
___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __________
___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Primary Location of Additional Data
_x_ State Historic Preservation Office
___ Other State agency
___ Federal agency
___ Local government
___ University
___ Other
Name of repository: __Virginia Department of Historic Resources_________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
16.88 acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing
1 17 0663390 4140968
5 17 0663201 4140752
Zone Easting Northing
2 17 0663493 4140827
6 17 0663077 4140915
Zone Easting Northing
3 17 0663346 4140712
7 17 0663248 4141043
Zone Easting Northing
4 17 0663273 4140807
8 17 0663320 4140917
___ See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Emmett W. Lifsey, AIA, Principal
W. Scott Smith, Consultant
date 8 June 2008
Organization Calloway, Johnson, Moore & West, PA
telephone
434-847-6564
street & number
1030 Main Street
state Virginia
zip code
24504
city or town Lynchburg
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name ____________________________________________________________
street & number___________________________________ telephone_________________
city or town____________________________________ state_____ zip code __________
==============================================================================================
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listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
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Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 36 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the
National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
1
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Summary
The proposed district encompasses approximately seventeen acres within the City of Lynchburg between Kemper Street,
Campbell Avenue, Twelfth Street, and Fifteenth Street. Today, the proposed district consists of two primary clusters of
light industrial buildings, which are bisected by a Norfolk Southern rail line. The building cluster that exists on the north
side of the rail line includes the Loft Building, Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory, and the Blue Buckle Overall
Company building. These structures are surrounded by asphalt parking lots. On the southeast side of the buildings, a
wooded area buffers the district from the Lynchburg Expressway (U.S. 29 Business). Kemper Street serves as the district’s
northeast boundary, across which can be found a number of commercial, residential, and religious uses which primarily
date to the second and third quarters of the twentieth century.
Twelfth Street, along with the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company (formerly Lynchburg Traction & Light Company)
compound, serves as the district’s northwestern border. The Norfolk Southern rail line, which runs through the district, is
partially sunken beneath the grade of the rest of the district, and is surrounded by thick vegetation.
The second cluster of buildings (including the Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant along with the Jobbers Overall
Company Dormitory) is located on the southwestern side of the rail line. These buildings are also primarily surrounded by
asphalt parking lots. Campbell Avenue is the southwestern boundary of the district, and a series of late nineteenth and
early twentieth century dwellings line the opposite side of the street. A modern retail grocery store as well as a wholesale
and retail electric supply company delineate the southeastern boundary.
Development of industrial infrastructure in the area took place in two primary phases. The first spanned from 1916
through 1925, and most of the buildings in the area were constructed during this time, including the Jobbers Overall
Company Main Plant (118-0094), Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory (118-0082), Jobbers Overall Company Suspender
Factory (118-0246), and the Loft Building (118-5290). The second major building phase occurred during the 1930s and
1950s, when the bulk of the Blue Buckle Overall Company facility at 1415 Kemper (118-0247) was constructed.
Today, the proposed district looks very similar to its appearance circa 1950, save the deterioration of some buildings,
removal of railroad sidings, and the growth of trees along the rail line.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
2
Inventory Summary
1. Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant. 1918, 1919. (DHR #118-0094, DHR #118-5292-0001). Contributing Building
2. Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory. c. 1919. (DHR #118-0082 DHR #118-5292-0002). Contributing Building
3. Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory. c. 1920. (DHR #118-0246, DHR #118-5292-0003). Contributing
Building
4. The Loft Building. 1925. (DHR #118-5290, DHR #118-5292-0004). Contributing Building
5. Blue Buckle Overall Factory. 1936. (DHR #118-0247, DHR #118-5292-0005). Contributing Building
6. Norfolk & Southern Rail Line. (DHR#118-5292-0006). Contributing Structure.
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant
1900 Twelfth Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663131
N 4140911
Early 20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRIAL: Manufacturing Facility (current: INDUSTRY: Storage)
circa 1918, 1919
unknown
Also known as the Craddock-Terry Company Fort Hill Plant, the first two blocks of this massive, three-block structure
were constructed in 1918, with the remaining block (closest to the railroad) built in 1919. Constructed wholly of concrete,
the building rises three stories above Campbell Avenue, and has at least one basement level below. The structure consists
of three blocks measuring approximately 190’ by 60’ connected by 60’ by 60’ hyphens. The entire building measures
approximately 190’ by 290’.
The Twelfth Street facades of the three main blocks are each three bays wide, with a primary entrance located in the center
bay of the southernmost block (at the corner of Twelfth and Campbell). Nine bays of large multi-paned steel windows run
the length of the building along Campbell Avenue. Originally, many of these windows were shaded by fabric awnings. The
interior spaces of the structure are supported with round reinforced concrete columns with conical capitals. Identified by
the Sanborn Insurance Company as one of the few “fireproof” buildings in the area, the structure featured a 20,000 gallon
water tower elevated 30 feet above the roof. In case of fire, the water, with considerable head pressure, would charge the
building’s sprinkler system. The all-concrete construction ensured that if the building were to catch fire, the only items that
would burn would be the inventory, equipment, and furniture, leaving the structure sound.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
3
The first floor corner of the building closest to the intersection of Twelfth Street and Campbell Avenue served as the
Central Plant Office. The corner of the building opposite this, adjacent to the Lynchburg & Durham Railroad facilities,
housed the heater room and coal room. A concrete masonry unit building to the rear (southeast) of the main structure was
built before 1950, and served as the factory’s finishing and packing facility. This structure is connected to the main factory
by a hyphen. A frame garage, which held eight automobiles (presumably for upper level management) was also located to
the rear of the building, but was demolished after 1950. In 1971, two major additions were constructed that filled the two
courtyard-like spaces on the rear (southeast) façade of the building.
DHR ID#:
118-0094, 118-5292-0001
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Jobbers Overall Company Dormitory
1300 Campbell Avenue
UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663175
N 4140798
Georgian Revival
DOMESTIC: Institutional Housing (current: COMMERCE: Specialty Store)
circa 1919
unknown
This building is currently occupied by the Barker-Jennings Corporation, but was built between 1918 and 1920 as the
“Martha Washington Dormitory” for the employees of Jobbers Overall Company.1 The front (south) façade of the brick
(five course common bond) Georgian Revival structure runs approximately 300’ along Campbell Avenue between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, and consists of a twenty seven bay façade. Each end of the front façade is marked by a
projection that is one bay deep and three bays in width. The central seven bays of the front façade project by
approximately two feet (a later, architecturally sympathetic, addition of a stair tower to this center section adds an
additional projection that is three bays wide and two bays deep). Most windows on the front façade are six over six sash,
but the height of the windows diminishes with each story of the building. The three projecting sections feature eight over
eight sash, which also diminish in height. A large, concave cornice caps the building. The brick structure consists of a
concrete foundation, full basement, and pine and maple flooring over steel beams. In 1970, 1975, and 1981 the BarkerJennings Corporation made several metal-clad additions to the rear of the building.
DHR ID#:
118-0082, 118-5292-0002
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
4
Jobbers Overall Company Suspender Factory
1417 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663460
N 4140827
th
20 Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: COMMERCE: Specialty Store)
circa 1920, Additions 1953
Pendleton S. Clark (1953 addition)
This complex was constructed circa 1920 as two separate buildings, which were later joined via two brick hyphens. Both
buildings are constructed of brick, and the easternmost structure features a four bay façade on the front (Kemper Street)
façade, while the westernmost building displays a six bay façade. Each building rises two stories above Kemper Street, with
two basement levels below. The easternmost building is covered by a pair of hipped roofs, and the other a long gable roof.
Both roofs are obscured from view by parapet walls, which are capped by terra cotta tiles. A later (1953) four story
addition (concrete masonry units faced in brick) projects from the southeastern end of the westernmost building, and
wraps around the rear of the other structure. The workspaces within the building are well-lit by large steel windows.
DHR ID#:
118-0246, 118-5292-0003
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
The Loft Building
1401 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663337
20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: Vacant)
1925
Stanhope Johnson & Ray Brannan
N 4140893
The Loft Building, located at what is now designated as 1401 Kemper Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, is an excellent
example of industrial architecture of the third decade of the twentieth century.
Rising four stories above grade, the L-shaped building measures approximately 90 by 200 feet, and displays many
characteristics that are typical of “loft” buildings of the period. These structures, as opposed to mills, are typically
multistory, urban industrial buildings with open expanses of generic (non function-specific) space. Staircases, elevators,
and service rooms were generally located in adjoining towers, so that the actual workspace of the building would not be
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
5
compromised by clutter, circulating workers, or even fire. 2 The exterior shell of the building consists of regular, extruded
brick laid in five course common bond pattern, and rests on a poured concrete foundation. A partial basement, containing
remnants of a boiler, occupies the southwestern corner of the building.
The south façade, which faces the railroad and presents the most uniform appearance, displays seven bays consisting of
two pairs of 24-pane steel windows on each level, separated by brick pilasters. The symmetry of the façade is only
interrupted by the presence of a chimney on the building’s southwest corner, which necessitated the installation of a 36pane window instead of the last pair of 24-pane sash. The headers above the fourth floor windows are of brick, and
feature a three-step corbel. Headers above the windows of the lower three stories consist of bricks arranged in a soldier
course. The northern façade faces Kemper Street, and is the most irregular of the four faces of the building. The western
side of this façade is broken by an ell that projects towards Kemper Street, which contains the elevator and stair shafts.
Thus, this section has few windows.
The Loft Building’s office lies at the eastern end of the structure. Like other manufacturing offices of the period, it adds to
the architectural refinement of the industrial building.3 The office was probably built in the 1930s after the City of
Lynchburg abandoned a portion of what would have been Fourteenth Street, thus creating room for the addition of the
one story brick structure. The front façade of the office utilizes elements found on the rest of the building, including brick
pilasters and a heavy cement water table, but joins them with a stepped parapet wall along the roofline to create an Art
Deco feel to the building. The three bay façade consists of a pair of 21-pane windows on each bay, and wooden double
entry doors in the center. These doors are each pierced by a four pane window, and additional light is brought into the
interior hallway via a refined transom.
The roof of the building is somewhat unusual for Lynchburg industrial buildings of this period. It has a very shallow pitch,
with an off-center gable. The roof structure itself consists of the same thick tongue-and-grooved boards that make up the
floor structures below. The ceiling beams, which are visible from the interior, project outside and act as purlins. These
heavy purlins present a simple but tasteful chamfered end, which gives character to the otherwise simple roof.
DHR ID#:
118-5290, 118-5292-0004
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
6
Blue Buckle Overall Factory
1415 Kemper Street UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663409
N 4140885
Art Deco, 20th Century Industrial Vernacular
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing Facility (current: Work in Progress)
1936, 1956
Pendleton S. Clark (1936 construction)
This sprawling complex covers almost 1.5 acres of land, and consists of multiple building phases. The oldest, and most
architecturally significant, section probably dates to approximately 1936. The 280’ by 90’ manufacturing area is noted on a
Sanborn Insurance map as being the “Shipping Room” and “Overall Factory” of the Blue Buckle Overall Company. This
one story structure is illuminated by a long rectangular clerestory, which runs the length of the building’s roof. Two
smaller clerestories provide light and ventilation to the additions of the building.
A smaller two story structure attached to the eastern side of the shipping room has one basement level below, and is
constructed of brick laid in the five course common bond pattern. This is identified on the Sanborn Map as being the
office, and it features a stylistic art deco entry, with two columns flanking a pair of partially glazed doors.
A major 125’ by 200’ addition was added to the western side of the main building circa 1956, and another multi-story
addition was added to the southeastern side of the office at about the same time.
DHR ID#:
118-0247, 118-5292-0005
1 CONTRIBUTING BUILDING
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
7
Page
RESOURCE NAME:
LOCATION INFORMATION:
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:
FUNCTION:
ESTIMATED DATE:
ARCHITECT:
DESCRIPTION:
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
7
Lynchburg & Durham (Norfolk & Southern) Rail Line
12th Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue
UTM Zone: 17S
E 0663304
N 4140888
n/a
Transportation: Rail-related
Before 1887
n/a
In May of 1887, construction began on the Lynchburg & Durham Railroad, which spanned the 115 miles between the two
cities by September of 1890. This line bisects the proposed Kemper Street Industrial Historic District. The first station
built on this rail line was the Twelfth Street Station, a small board and batten-clad structure located on Twelfth Street
between Campbell Avenue and Kemper Street. By 1898, the Norfolk & Western Railroad acquired the assets of the
Lynchburg & Durham Line. A photo taken during a 1917 railroad valuation survey shows that the station was a combined
freight and passenger facility, and that it possessed a cattle pen. The area surrounding the station was full of multiple track
sidings (which were undoubtedly used by the Jobbers Overall Company and other area industries). An early deed involving
the Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant building even mentions a rail siding entering the building on its northeast
corner, permitting rail cars to be easily loaded with goods and shipped to distant customers. The station closed and was
demolished shortly after a 1958 photo was taken.4 The Southern Railway line that serves the Kemper Street Station still
operates as a double track today, but the Norfolk & Western line was removed sometime after a U.S. Geologic Survey
topographic map was produced in the 1960s.
DHR ID#:
118-5292-0006
1 CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURE
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
8
NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
Following Reconstruction, Lynchburg, unlike other Southside towns and cities, began to diversify its economy with the aid
of local money as well as investors from other regions of the country. The last two decades of the nineteenth century
brought major manufacturers of iron products, cloth, clothing, and shoes. The Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
encompasses the core of a manufacturing area devoted primarily to clothing and shoes that developed in the early
twentieth century as Lynchburg’s initial commercial and industrial districts (downtown and the lower basin) reached
capacity. The proposed district covers approximately seventeen acres, and consists of five building complexes bisected by
an active Norfolk & Southern rail line. Architectural styles range from industrial vernacular of the early twentieth century
to high order Georgian Revival, and construction techniques include modern “fireproofing” that was coming into vogue
in the first quarter of the century. A unique component of the development of the land included in the district boundaries
is the activity of the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation, a private organization dedicated to selling land to
“start up” businesses, and the spawning of the Lynchburg Manufacturers Building Corporation, which constructed a
generic “loft” building speculatively. The Kemper Street Industrial Historic District represents a significant part of
Lynchburg’s commercial, industrial, and social past (Criterion A), and is an excellent example of the development of
modern light industrial architecture in the region (Criterion C).
The period of significance (1916-1958) includes all major phases of development and construction within the district. The
majority of property acquisition for the purpose of industrial development began in 1916 and halted by 1918. By 1918, the
first major buildings had been constructed, and the building campaign in the district continued through 1956 (when a
major addition to the Blue Buckle Overall Company was made). While additions to contributing structures continued in to
the 1980s, they have not achieved historical significance, and are not architecturally significant under current guidelines.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
9
Historical Context
By the second decade of the twentieth century, Lynchburg was well on its way to becoming a diversified manufacturing
city. Lynchburg’s manufacturing industries produced more than $15,000,000 in finished products each year, employed
approximately 7,000 workmen, and was home to about 650 travelling salesmen employed by the community’s booming
jobbing industry. The Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce proudly announced that, among other things, Lynchburg
produced more shoes than the rest of the South combined.5
As the City’s manufacturing base expanded, the downtown and lower basin districts could no longer contain the buildings
necessary to support the rapidly growing economy. Real estate development for industrial purposes had already moved up
the James River to buildable areas along the railroad, mainly at Reusens. Of course, industry preferred to locate along rail
lines, and developers began to eye property to the south of downtown, along the former Southern Railway line. With the
development of the West Lynchburg Land Company property in the 1890s, this area was growing quickly, creating need
for two train depots to be built. Southern Railway’s Kemper Street Station was built in 1912, which complemented a small
Lynchburg & Durham Railroad6 Station on Twelfth Street between Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue (demolished)
that was built before 1889.7
The Campbell Avenue Buildings
In December of 1916, the Jobbers Overall Company purchased most of blocks 1 and 2 of J.P. Shaner’s estate, which was a
section of what was known as the “Fair Grounds Addition” to the City of Lynchburg. These lots occupied the north side
of Campbell Avenue, between Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets.8 Shortly thereafter, Jobbers Overall Company, which
touted itself as the “largest manufacturers of overalls in the world,” constructed the massive “Main Plant” at the corner of
Twelfth and Campbell (118-0094), followed by the Dormitory (118-0082) for workers, which fronted Campbell Avenue.
Jobbers Overall Company, Inc. began as Jobbers Overall Manufacturing Company, Inc. in 1909. In 1911, company
officers Alfred C. Barrow (President & Treasurer) of Lynchburg, H.C. Barrow (Vice President) of Blackstone, and H.O.
Brightwell (Secretary) also of Blackstone, removed the word “manufacturing” from the company’s name, and, more
significantly, moved the company’s office to Lynchburg.9 The next year, they proudly advertised their presence in
Lynchburg by purchasing a full-page advertisement in the Lynchburg City Directory, showing a photograph of their first
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
10
facility at the corner of Twelfth Street and Buchanan Street (this building is near, but not included in the proposed
district).
Of all of the buildings in the immediate vicinity of the proposed district, the Main Plant is the only one identified by the
Sanborn Insurance Company as “fireproof.” While the designers of this (and the Dormitory building) are unknown at this
time, they utilized state of the art reinforced concrete construction to create a building that would be designated by
insurance companies as “fireproof.” The non-flammable building materials combined with metal clad doors that could
slide closed at a moments notice and a sprinkler system that was charged by a water tower on the structure’s roof created a
low-risk environment for the production of goods.
The ornate Georgian Revival architecture of the adjacent Martha Washington Dormitory building presents a sharp
contrast to the austere façade of the Main Plant. Because the Dormitory served in its intended role for such a short period
of time (perhaps five years at the most), little is known about how the building operated. It is clear that the structure was
designed with a residential feel…reminiscent of large apartment buildings of the period. While other large industries, such
as the nearby Lynchburg Cotton Mill constructed single family houses or duplexes for workers, this is the only known
high-density facility for housing factory employees to be constructed in Lynchburg.
In addition to providing short-term lodging for its workers who travelled into Lynchburg from the surrounding
countryside, Jobbers Overall Company participated in other trend-setting labor practices. Beginning in 1919, the company
advertised in the Machinists’ Monthly Journal (the “official organ” of the International Association of Machinists) stating the
expected claims about product quality, including slogans such as “strong-for-work” and “the Blue Buckle label spells more
wear-service and more comfort through big, generous roominess!” However, what my not be expected in this period is the
company’s explicit connection between the quality of its products and the manner in which it treated its employees. A
December, 1919 advertisement exclaims that “You get the finest workmanship in Blue Buckles because we engage only
skilled Union workers on a 44-hour week under ideal working conditions.” A few months later, a similar display
advertisement suggests that customers who purchase Blue Buckle Overalls buy into more than just a garment…they buy
into an ideal: “A 44-hour week, ideal working conditions, and square dealing with employees guarantee loyalty to the Blue
Buckle ideal—the finest work-rig in America!”
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
11
In 1920, the National Civic Federation made a report on profit sharing by American employers. In it, company President
A.C. Barrow reported that,
"Under our profit sharing plan we do not distribute any money among our employees until the last of the year;
therefore it is too early to tell you what our results will be for this year. We have changed our plan somewhat, and
during the past year gave our employees life insurance policies and weekly sick benefits, but still expect to
distribute a part of our earnings among our employees on a payroll basis. For instance, the employee whose pay
has been highest during the year will receive a larger percentage of the profits, owing to the fact that this employee
has produced more work, and our profit on her production being greater she is therefore entitled to a higher
rate."10
Interestingly, Barrow makes specific reference to his employees being women. The garment industry is one of the first
where women were encouraged to work. Even if jobs were not intended for women, they probably took them over during
World War I. Historian Philip Lightfoot Scruggs noted that “…in Lynchburg there were no true war boom industries.
Existing ones operated full time and overtime and many women were employed to replace men. A truly conservative
urban community does not let anything destroy its conservatism.”11 In June of 1918, The News announced that
“Lynchburg banks have been forced to employ women to take the place of men who have gone to war.” A few days later,
it reported that twenty girls between the ages of seventeen and twenty had volunteered to work at the Jobbers Overall
Factory.12
While the life insurance plans, sick benefits, and cost sharing plans may have been good for the employees, the company
may have suffered because of it. In May of 1921, Jobbers Overall Company was bankrupt, and at a public auction held in
October of that year, the Old Dominion Garment Company purchased the “factory and dormitory buildings” along with
the “plumbing, heating, ventilation, communicating, and automatic sprinkler” equipment.13 Old Dominion Garment
Company was led by R.H. Pritchett (President), P.S. Adkerson (Vice President & Treasurer), and M.E. Hickey (Secretary).
In 1922, the Old Dominion Garment Company, Inc. is listed as occupying these two buildings. Beginning in 1923,
Craddock & Terry Shoe Corporation took over the building at Twelfth Street and Campbell Avenue, which it bought for
$350,000 in July 14, designating Jobbers’ “Main Plant” as their “Fort Hill Plant” and the “Dormitory” as their “Central
Cutting Plant.”15 Two years later, the Lynchburg City Directory indicated that Craddock & Terry had, in addition to its
NPS Form 10-900-a
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CONTINUATION SHEET
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Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
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Campbell Avenue facilities, locations at Ninth & Jefferson Streets, Commerce Street, and off of Park Avenue at Craddock
Street (its “West End” Plant). By the 1920s, Craddock & Terry was known as the largest shoe manufacturer in the South,
and the fourth largest in the United States. 16
John W. Craddock’s December 1920 Annual Report gives a glimpse into progressive human resources policies that were
being explored by Craddock & Terry. Craddock noted that “practically every employee at that time [the company’s
incorporation in 1898] was given an opportunity to buy stock in the company,… …This policy of stock ownership by
employees has been continued and extended from time to time, with the result that at this time something over 200
employees of the company are common stock holders.” Earlier in the document, he noted that the company employed
about 2,500 people, with all but about 500 being engaged in the production of shoes.
Craddock then stated that it was impractical for the company to extend the privilege of buying common stock to the
“factory productive employees” to any considerable extent, and that Craddock & Terry had recently provided a means by
which its factory employees could purchase shares of preferred stock on an “easy payment plan” and that over 140
employees had taken advantage of the opportunity the previous year.
Employees who had worked for the company for six months or more were given group insurance (with coverage between
$600 and $1,500) at the expense of the company. An “Employees Co-operative Association” had been formed,
and the corporation matched employee contributions to its fund. Amongst other activities, the Association had a “Shop
Committee” which served as a communication connection between the management and the factory employees. In the
1919 and 1920 fiscal years, the company “agreed to try out a Profit-Sharing Plan…” which distributed approximately
$150,000 to 860 of Craddock & Terry’s productive factory employees. The company also contributed a similar amount
which was divided amongst the superintendents and foremen in the factories and all of the employees in the three jobbing
houses. Craddock noted that the results of the “experiment” were mixed, and that “in view of the unfavorable and
uncertain business conditions now prevailing, the Company will reach no definite decision as to its future policy…” until
after the beginning of the next business year.
A 1925 publication of the Campbell County School Board reported that the Craddock & Terry Company operated two
distributing houses, four factories, and a central fitting plant in Lynchburg; one distributing house, two factories, and a
leather plant at St. Louis, Missouri; a distributing house, factory, and tannery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and a factory at
NPS Form 10-900-a
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
8
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Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
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the town of Louisiana, Missouri. It had recently taken over the George D. Witt Shoe Company, and the company
manufactured shoes worth $12,300,000 in Virginia alone.
In 1930, Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation reported that it had seen a profitable year in 1929, employing 3,494 men and
women. In its annual report, the company surmised that if each employee had two dependents, more than a quarter of
Lynchburg’s population was directly dependent on Craddock-Terry for their livelihood.17 However, as the Great
Depression began to settle over Lynchburg, the corporation announced a ten percent reduction in workers’ wages, a
fifteen percent reduction in middle management salaries, and a twenty percent reduction in the compensation for its
officers and directors.18
By 1937, the outlook for Craddock-Terry Corporation had improved somewhat, and the company presented its employees
with ten percent raises, and reported earnings of $260,000 for the previous year. In August, the company, in a celebratory
spirit, sent 4,000 of its employees and their families on a train excursion to Lakeside Amusement Park in Salem. In 1939,
company President John A. Faulkner reported that “one-third of the city lives on Craddock-Terry wages,” which was an
increase from the previous decade’s already impressive numbers.19
During World War II, many of Lynchburg’s factories operated around the clock, and local products such as clothing and
Craddock-Terry shoes were used by the United States military. 20 By October of 1941, Craddock-Terry was producing
26,000 boots and shoes per day, and most of them went to the military. By the 1950s, the company began suffering the
impacts of inexpensive foreign imports. Also experiencing trouble was nearby Consolidated Textiles, which closed in
1957, after being in business for seventy three years. However, the decade brought major employers of skilled laborers and
professionals: the Babcock & Wilcox Company (a nuclear power plant manufacturer), and General Electric’s mobile
communications division21. Lynchburg worked to diversify its economy while changes in world economics continued to
hurt old-line industries like Craddock-Terry. In the late 1980s, the company went into bankruptcy, but was reorganized
due to the involvement of community leaders such as Progress Printing’s Thomas D. Thornton, II, who purchased
Craddock & Terry’s assets. 22 Today, Craddock & Terry’s Fort Hill Plant is owned by Liberty University, and is used for
storage.
NPS Form 10-900-a
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The Old Dominion Garment Company continued its overall manufacturing operations in the former “Dormitory”
building at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Thirteenth Street through 1925. By 1930, the facility was occupied by the
Bedford-Johnson Company and the Cleveland & Whitehall Company23, both clothing manufacturers. Bedford-Johnson
was led by Harry S. Johnson (President) of New York, Andrew S. Webb (Vice President) of Philadelphia, Oliver R. Kreutz
(Treasurer) of New York, and Robert C. Atherholt (General Manager) of Lynchburg. The firm defaulted on a deed of
trust, and the property was transferred to Claude B. Wagoner (President of Bellefonte Central Railroad in Pennsylvania) to
hold in trust for Charles J. Webb & Sons Co., Inc. In the meantime, the building was occupied from 1933 through 1950 by
the Art Nitewear Company (operated by Frank and Jack Feldman).
After a default on a United States Small Business Administration loan, the property was transferred to the ownership of
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration in 1965, and then to Imperial Realty Corporation the following
year.24 In 1966, the downtown headquarters of the Barker-Jennings Corporation burned, and the firm, under the
presidency of O.B. Barker, Jr., purchased the building on 1 January, 1967. Today, The Dormitory is still owned by the
Barker-Jennings Corporation, and houses their wholesale and retail hardware business, which, at one time, was the largest
in the United States.25
The Kemper Street Buildings
On 18 June 1917, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation was formed to create opportunities for local
manufacturing interests. The initial officers of the Corporation were wholesale dry goods jobber William J. D. Bell
(President), Real Estate Agent Alexander W. Mosby (Vice President), and Chamber of Commerce Secretary Thomas A.
Scott (Secretary-Treasurer).26 On 6 July, the Corporation purchased approximately 5 acres from J. Braxton Jennings (a
tobacconist) for $15,000.27 This land was bordered on the northeast by Kemper Street and on the southwest by the
Southern Railway main line, and was a portion of the nineteenth century estate of Henry Davis (called “Spring Valley”).
In addition to its acquisition in the Kemper Street area, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation purchased a
smaller tract of land on Hudson Street, which is located on Fishing Creek, approximately one mile northeast of the
Kemper Street site. The Hudson Street tract was also situated on a rail line, and the Industrial Development Corporation
fostered the growth of several businesses in three primary buildings, which now house Tri-Tech Laboratories, a fragrance
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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CONTINUATION SHEET
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and cosmetic manufacturer. The Corporation did not develop any additional land in Lynchburg, and this is the only
known industrial development organization that operated during the proposed district’s period of significance in
Lynchburg.
The Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation almost immediately began selling parcels to area companies,
including two small tracts at the intersection of Kemper and Fifteenth Streets. In 1920, city tax records indicate that
buildings at Kemper and Fifteenth Streets were valued at $15,000, but that activity was “suspended.”28 The 1920-21 City
Directory lists Fritz-Richards Co. Inc. (a shoe manufacturer) and Overall Suspender Co. (part of Jobbers Overall
Company) as being the only commercial operations in the immediate area. These businesses occupied the building
complex identified as DHR# 118-0246. The Beasley Shoe Company, Lynchburg’s second largest shoe manufacturer, took
over Fritz-Richards’ operation in 1921.29
In January of 1925, the Lynchburg Industrial Development Corporation sold a portion of their remaining Kemper Street
land to Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation, Inc. for the consideration of 74 shares of stock in the latter.30 The
Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation, which was formed in June of 1924, had an initial board of directors that
consisted of State Senator A.F. Thomas (President), Chemical and Mechanical Engineer William D. Mount (Vice
President) and Real Estate Agent Hamner E. Steptoe (Secretary-Treasurer).31 The Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce’s
Publication and Advertising Committee’s 1925 report entitled, “Lynchburg in Old Virginia: The City of Industry and
Opportunity” sheds much light on the Lynchburg Manufactures Building Corporation. The organization’s first meeting
was held at the Chamber of Commerce office, and its mission was to enact the work that the Chamber had been
undertaking for “several years for the erection of an industrial or manufacturers Loft Building.”
The board secured the services of prominent area architects Stanhope Johnson and Ray Brannan to design the structure.
Johnson had participated in the design of Court Street Methodist Church, and began his career with noted architect
Edward Frye. Johnson’s next firm, McLaughlin, Pettit, & Johnson, designed Averett College in Danvile, and Johnson soon
became one of Lynchburg’s “most accomplished Georgian Revival architects,” according to S. Allen Chambers, Jr.,
although he branched out into other styles as well, including the modernist of the twenties and thirties. Johnson and
Brannan would go on to design Lynchburg’s first true skyscraper, the Allied Arts Building on Church Street, in 1929.
NPS Form 10-900-a
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Johnson and Brannan designed a four story brick building that was proposed to be the first of three units, although the
two additional units were never built (this does, however, help explain the building’s placement along the railroad tracks,
but at considerable distance from Kemper Street, as if the other two buildings would fill the space between the first and
Kemper Street). The building was intended to be rented out, either in whole or in sections. Temporary partitions could be
erected if a tenant only needed a portion of a particular floor, while still giving access to elevator and toilet facilities.
The Chamber of Commerce description of the Loft Building concluded by stating that, “No pains have been spared to
make the design of the building thoroughly modern in every respect and fully equal in point of equipment and
convenience to the best and most modern buildings of this type.” According to present staff of the Greater Lynchburg
Chamber of Commerce, this is the only such project that the organization has undertaken in its one hundred and twenty
five year history.
An October 1924 aerial photo of the area shows that construction had not yet begun on this tract32, but the 1926 land tax
record indicates that a building valued at $66,700 had been constructed.33 The 1925 plat created by DeMott & Magruder
Engineers made reference to the “Loft Building Co.”, and all subsequent references to the building at 1415 Kemper Street
(now designated as 1401 Kemper) identify the structure as the “Loft Building.”
The N&W Overall Company began manufacturing overalls (probably in Roanoke) for the Norfolk & Western Railroad in
1900 (hence the name34). Isadore Sachs, a Russian-born clothing manufacturer, appears in the 1900 census for Roanoke,
Virginia. However, the Jewish Publication Society’s “American Jewish Yearbook” for 1904-1905 lists him in Lynchburg,
care of the N & W Overall Factory. The 1910 census indicates that Sachs was the president of the overall factory, and that
his twenty-six year old son Joseph was a cutter there. By 1920, the census shows that Sachs was no longer the head of the
N & W Overall Company, but was a retail merchant, which is confirmed in the 1925 city directory, which lists him as
owning “Sach’s Sample Store, General Merchandise.”
The same 1925 Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce report that described the Loft Building in detail also exposed class and
race issues that were prevalent in Lynchburg industry during the time. The publication touted that, “practically all of these
[Lynchburg workers] are native born whites or Negroes, for labor in Lynchburg is almost 100% American, there being
only a small fraction of one percent foreign-born in the city, all of which has been easily assimilated.” Even though the
city’s African-American population was lumped together with its whites in the above statement, the distinction was
NPS Form 10-900-a
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clarified by stating that the “negro population of Lynchburg has been on the wane during the last decade, and the growth
of the city during that time has been almost altogether in whites, so the large bulk of the labor supply in Lynchburg is
skilled.” Furthermore, the Chamber classified the area’s labor supply as being higher in character and intelligence than that
of other areas. It said that “so called ‘cheaper’ labor may abound in many other cities, consisting of the raw, unintelligent,
and inexperienced foreigners who cannot be assimilated or the shiftless, irresponsible negroes.” It is not unthinkable that
Russian Jew Isadore Sachs fell from his position as president of N & W Overall Company because of attitudes such as the
ones expressed by the Chamber of Commerce’s Publicity and Advertising Committee.
This group also made its feelings known about organized labor in Lynchburg by stating that, “the walking delegate, the
labor agitator, the wild eyed bolshevik [sic] and radical have no place in this city for Lynchburg labor is too busy with
giving a dollar’s worth of service for a dollar of wage to worry about unions and organizations. There has always existed
the most splendid feeling between employers and employees. Lynchburg manufacturers have made this a good place for
the factory operatives to live. Lynchburg factories are of modern construction, well lighted and heated and supplied with
all conveniences for comfort necessary to modern factory operation.” Certainly, Jobbers Overall Company (which had
gone bankrupt by the time of this booklet’s publication) felt otherwise, touting that it’s union workers were the key to
quality workmanship.
The N & W Overall Company occupied the Loft Building from 1926 until about 1940, when the Blue Buckle Overall
Company took over operations at the Loft Building.35 A 1927 map indicates that the United Cigarette Machine Company
occupied the Loft Building36, but no additional historical evidence has been found to corroborate this.
The Loft Building maintained its tax value through 1929, but after the stock market crash that year, the Nation’s economy
went into depression, and values began to decline steadily through the 1930s, reaching a low of $33,000 in 1940. It would
be more than a decade after the end of World War II before the value of the structure began to again resemble its preDepression amount.37
In 1936, the City of Lynchburg marked its sesquicentennial, and published a book touting its past and recent history. It
mentioned that the N&W Overall Company had “grown to the point it could establish a branch plant in Jackson,
Mississippi, and this year began construction of a new Lynchburg building.”38 This building is the core of what is referred
to in this application as the Blue Buckle Overall Factory, and the previous statement is corroborated by an aerial
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photograph in the book which shows site work being done in that location (between the Loft Building and the Suspender
Factory).
The 1936 Lynchburg building was designed by prolific Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark. Clark had previously been
involved in construction at Sweet Briar College, and designed portions of Lynchburg’s Presbyterian Orphans Home,
Washington & Lee, Lynchburg College, and Mary Baldwin College. Clark was one of the first two registered architects in
Lynchburg (following a new law passed in 1920), and was the first chairman of Lynchburg’s Planning Commission, which
formed in 1926. N & W Overall Company’s Jackson, Mississippi facility was built in 1928, and was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Blue Buckle Overall Company was a major employer in Lynchburg during the twentieth century, and was one of the
few businesses that consistently sought out female employees. Blue Buckle Overall Company was advertising in
communities up to sixty miles away promising good jobs for women. A 1945 Halifax Gazette newspaper advertisement
made a call for “women to operate sewing machines.” The company boasted that it offered excellent working conditions
with steady employment.39 A Lynchburg & Durham Railroad timetable from 1893 stated that the 61 mile trip from South
Boston to Lynchburg’s Twelfth Street Depot was one hour and twenty minutes40, which would be a convenient trip for
women from the surrounding region to travel into Lynchburg to work for the week while staying with relatives or in
boarding houses. Also in 1945, Blue Buckle, along with six other area industries, banded together to form Central Virginia
Industries, a non-profit corporation, to “to defend, promote and publicize the principles and objectives of the free
enterprise system.”41
Two years after World War II ended, Russian-born denim clothing tycoon Solomon Rosenbloom purchased Blue Buckle
Overall Company, which employed 800 people at plants in Marshall, Texas and Lynchburg, Virginia. Blue Buckle was one
of the largest producers of sportswear and work clothes in the country, and Rosenbloom’s acquisition merged the three
major brand names in overalls: Blue Ridge, Blue Buckle, and Blue Jay.42 In June of 1947, Lynchburg Manufacturers
Building, Inc. sold its property to Lynchburg Garment Company, Inc. for $100,00043, which was probably a result of the
Rosenbloom purchase.
The 1950 City Directory lists Blue Buckle Overall Company and Blue Ridge Manufacturers at 1415 Kemper Street. The
year before, Blue Ridge moved its executive offices from Roanoke to Lynchburg. 44 In 1952, Bibee Grocery Company,
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Inc. purchased the building from the Lynchburg Garment Company.45 Samuel H. Bibee was the President of Bibee
Grocery Company, and also worked in the Advertising Department at Craddock-Terry, Lynchburg’s premier shoe
manufacturer.46 Bibee owned (under his corporation’s name) more than a dozen properties in Lynchburg, and it is likely
that 1415 Kemper (now 1401 Kemper) was an investment, rather than a building used by Bibee’s grocery business.
Blue Buckle Overall Company continued its presence at the Loft Building through 1960. In 1965, Imperial Reading
Corporation, a men’s clothing manufacturer, was chartered,47 and it likely took over Blue Buckle’s operations, as Imperial
Reading was listed as the tenant at 1415 Kemper Street in 1970.48
Bibee Grocery Company sold the Loft Building to David and Shirley Levin in 197749, and by 1980, the building had been
re-designated as 1401 Kemper Street and was listed as vacant50, which has continued to this day. In 1984, Health-Tex
announced that it would acquire Imperial Reading for $4.85 million51, and in February of 1986, Health-Tex announced the
closure of its 100,000 square foot Lynchburg plant, which was described as being about 50 years old. This is referring to
the Blue Buckle Overall Company facility (118-0247), which dates to 1936.52
This complex of early to mid twentieth century manufacturing buildings stands as a reminder of the boom and bust of
textile and clothing manufacturing of the upper South in the last century, and as a microcosm if the evolution of
Lynchburg’s economy from one of trade and tobacco to iron, textile, and shoe manufacturing, to the high technology
sectors of electronics, nuclear, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and finance found in the area today. While other areas of
Southside Virginia held onto tobacco and textiles past their peak, Lynchburg was able to diversify its economy to meet an
ever-changing local workforce and global market.
The factories of the Kemper Street Industrial District played a significant role in building Lynchburg’s economy and
workforce. What was rolling pastureland (only bisected by a railroad) less than one hundred years ago was developed to
near its maximum usable capacity within about a quarter of a century, and the district boasted some of the largest, most
modern industrial buildings seen in the region. The area along Kemper Street is an early example of the work of industrial
development corporations that constructed “shell buildings” to house manufacturing tenants (a concept that is generally
thought of as a modern one, and is practiced heavily today by local governments and economic developers).
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While poor factory conditions were probably extant (noted photographer of child labor abuses Lewis Hine visited the
nearby Lynchburg Cotton Mills [Consolidated Textiles] in 1911), workers on Kemper Street and Campbell Avenue also
experienced profit-sharing, employee stock ownership, medical benefits, and sick leave benefits. They produced clothing
and footwear to protect those who built and defended the Nation. Women (many for the first time) entered the workforce
within this district…first to help save their country, then to help save their households. Indeed, the story of manufacturing
and life in Lynchburg, as well as the New South, can be told by examining the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Jensen, Lisa K. Historic American Engineering Record Inventory: Barker Jennings Corp. Headquarters (118-0082).
Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 1977.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York, Oxford University
Press, 1999. pp. 30-31
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States, New York, Oxford University
Press, 1999. p. 36
Web site: http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/rails.html. Accessed 8 June 2008.
Chambers, S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History, Charlottesville, VA, The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
pp 409-410
The Lynchburg & Durham Railroad became the Lynchburg & Durham Division of the Norfolk & Western Railroad
in 1898. Norfolk & Southern Railroad was formed after Norfolk & Western acquired the Southern Railroad in 1982.
Web site: http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/rails.html
Deed Book 109, page 308. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
1911 Charter Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
Easley, Gertrude Beeks, ed.. Profit Sharing by American Employers. New York: The National Civic Federation, 1920.
page 127.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc. 1946.
page 200.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 288.
Deed Book 125, page 434. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
Deed Book 132, page 176. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
1920-21, 1921-22, 1923, 1925 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
pages 327-328.
Ibid., page 355
Ibid. page 361
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia: 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc. 1946.
pages 259-260
20. Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 390.
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21. Web site- http://www.progprint.com/about/founder.html
22. No further information has been located concerning the Cleveland & Whitehall Company
23. Deed Book 405, page 49. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA., Deed Book 410, page 141. Lynchburg
Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
24. Web Site: http://www.swanngroup.com/viusinlyva.html
25. 1917 Charter Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA; 1920 United States Census, Population
Schedule, Lynchburg
26. Deed Book 111, page 54. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
27. 1920 Land Tax Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
28. Gilliam, Rosa. The County of Campbell, Charlottesville, VA, Campbell County School Board, University of Virginia.
1925. p. 10.
29. Deed Book 139, page 275. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
30. Charter Book 7, page 475. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA; 1920 United States Census, Population
Schedule, Lynchburg
31. “Aerial Views of Lynchburg & Vicinity made for Lynchburg Traction & Light Co.,” Underwood & Underwood. 1924.
32. 1926 Land Tax Book. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
33. Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
page 258.
34. 1926, 1930, 1940 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
35. Wells, John E. Crosstown Connector Phase II Architectural Evaluation, Letter to Kathleen Kilpatrick, Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 13 March 2007, page 7.
36. 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1945, 1950, 1955 Land Tax Books. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA
37. Horner, John V. & Winfree, P.B., Jr. The Saga of a City. Lynchburg: Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Association, Inc.
1936. page 130.
38. Halifax Gazette, South Boston, VA. September 6, 1945. page 2, columns 3-6.
39. Web site: www.centralvirginiaindustries.org , accessed 13 March 2008
40. Web site, http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg28040.html, accessed 8 March 2008
41. Deed Book 251, page 219. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
42. Web site, http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg28040.html, accessed 8 March 2008
43. Deed Book 282, page 364. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
44. 1960 Lynchburg City Directory, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
45. Web site, http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/state/recordgroups/findingaids/rg281g-n.pdf, accessed 13 March
2008
46. 1970 Lynchburg City Directory, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
47. Deed Book 535, page 670. Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
48. 1980 and 1990 Lynchburg City Directories, Lynchburg Clerk of Circuit Court, Lynchburg, VA.
NPS Form 10-900-a
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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CONTINUATION SHEET
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Major Bibliographical References
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press,
1999.
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. Lynchburg: An Architectural History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1981.
Easley, Gertrude Beeks, editor. Profit Sharing by American Employers. New York: The National Civic Federation, 1920.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Gilliam, Rosa. The County of Campbell, Charlottesville, VA, Campbell County School Board, University of Virginia. 1925.
Jensen, Lisa K. Historic American Engineering Record Inventory: Barker Jennings Corp. Headquarters (118-0082).
Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 1977.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia 1786-1946. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Co., Inc, 1946.
Attached Historic Photos
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Jobbers Overall Company Main Plant & Dormitory, pre-1925 (2 pictures)
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Jobbers Overall Company Trade Card, pre-1925
DHR# 118_0094
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Aerial Photo by Underwood & Underwood, 1924
DHR# 118_0000
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Twelfth Street Station from the north, 1917
DHR# 118_0000
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District, City of Lynchburg, VA
Twelfth Street Station from the north, 1958
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
10
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
23
Verbal Boundary Description
See attached sketch and USGS Topographic Maps for additional detail. The proposed district includes the following tax
map parcels within the City of Lynchburg, Virginia: 02707001, 02706001, 02701003, 02701010, and portions of parcels
02701005, 02702003, and 02702002.
This area is bounded by Campbell Avenue on the southwest (the even numbered addresses in the 1200 and 1300 blocks
included), Kemper Street on the northeast (the odd numbered addresses in the 1400 and 1500 blocks included), Twelfth
Street on the northwest (the even numbered addresses between the Norfolk & Western Railway and Campbell Avenue
included), and an imaginary line following the lines of Fourteenth Street in a northeasterly direction until it strikes the
property of the Norfolk & Western Railroad, thence following said railroad’s line in a southwesterly direction
approximately 400 feet, thence in a northeasterly direction along the contemplated lines (sections that were never built) of
Fifteenth Street, until said line strikes Kemper Street.
Boundary Justification
The proposed boundaries form the core of what was the Kemper Street/Campbell Avenue manufacturing district of the
early twentieth century. Other related buildings remain, including an N&W Overall/C.B. Cones & Son Manufacturing
building at the corner of Twelfth and Buchanan Streets, and the Virginia Department of Highways maintenance complex
(now Glenn A. Trent, Inc.) and Lynchburg Traction & Light Company shops and offices (now Greater Lynchburg Transit
Company), both at the corner of Kemper Street and Twelfth Street. However, these buildings either have compromised
historic fabric, or cannot be included in the boundaries of the Kemper Street Industrial Historic District without also
including a large number of non-contributing properties.
Other historic properties are adjacent to the proposed district, including a number of late nineteenth and early twentieth
Century dwellings. However, these properties were generally built before the industrial buildings that are included in the
proposed district, and are not directly related to the industrial theme of the district.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section
Photos
Page
Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
24
Photo Captions
Information Common to All Images
Property Name: Kemper Street Industrial Historic District
Town, County, State: City of Lynchburg, VA
Date: All photographs taken March / April 2008
Photographer: Jim Dumminger, Amanda Adams, W. Scott Smith (unless noted otherwise)
Photo Captions:
Photo 1 of 7
DHR# 118_0082
Dormitory, South Elevation
Photo 2 of 7
DHR# 118_0094
Main Plant, South / West Elevation
Photo 3 of 7
DHR# 118_0246
Suspender Factory, North Elevation
Photo 4 of 7
DHR# 118_0247
Blue Buckle Overall Factory, North Elevation
Photo 5 of 7
DHR# 118_5290
Loft Building, View from Railway
Photo 6 of 7
DHR# 118_5290
Loft Building, One-Story Office
Photo 7 of 7
DHR# 118_0246
Suspender Factory, Streetscape of Kemper Street looking west
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, Ifoow to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials. and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Doyle Florist Inc. / H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range
Other nameslsite number: Lynchburg Grows; DHR File No. 118-5294
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/AUif property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number:
1339 Englewood Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
County:
Listed On
VLR: 9/18/2014
NRHP:11/19/2014
Independent City
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
statewide
~ x l i c a b l eNational ~ e ~ Criteria:
K r
X
local
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____9________
_____4______
buildings
_____0_______
_____0________
sites
___ _ 2________
_____0________
structures
_____0________
_____0________
objects
____11________
_____4________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Horticultural Facility: Greenhouse
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/ SUBSISTENCE: Horticultural Facility: Greenhouse
SOCIAL: Civic: Vocational Training
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER: Commercial Greenhouse
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS:
Bungalow/Craftsman
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: CONCRETE; WOOD; GLASS; METAL/ Iron,
Aluminum
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range functioned as the production
center for a significant proportion of Virginia's flower industry from 1920 until its closing in
1999. This property now stands much as it did during its participation in the historic period of the
cut-flower market. Set on 6.8 open acres in the historic Fort Hill neighborhood of Lynchburg,
Virginia, it includes nine, 200-foot-long greenhouses. Five of the nine extant greenhouses were
designed and built in 1920 by Lord & Burnham or John C. Moninger Co. Only a few parts on
these greenhouses have been replaced due to weather damage. They are built of heart-of-cypress
wood frame and plate glass on a concrete foundation. The other four greenhouses stand as they
were built in ca. 1955, the late 1960s, and the mid-1980s; each has a glass exterior framed with
metal and a concrete foundation. The property also includes an original root cellar for flower
storage; the original packing shed for grading and packaging of cut flowers; the original
farmhouse housing the site foreman; as well as the original brick power plant used to heat the
greenhouses. All of these buildings were in operation until the business closed in 1999.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Contributing resources consist of the five extant greenhouses built in 1920 (Greenhouses 3-7);
the greenhouse built c. 1955 (Greenhouse 8); the root cellar; the packing shed; the original
farmhouse; and the original power plant. Three of the greenhouses (1,2, and 9) postdate the
property’s period of significance and therefore are non-contributing buildings.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range occupies 6.8 acres of open and
cultivated fields in southeastern Lynchburg. It is surrounded by medium- to high-density
development and the Norfolk & Western Railroad line is a short distance southeast of the
property. Rutherford Street defines the property’s southwest boundary and Naval Reserve Street
defines the southeast boundary. The greenhouse complex, consisting of nine greenhouses, a root
cellar, packing shed, power plant, and farmhouse, is clustered roughly in the center of the
property. A fence along the property’s northwest boundary separates the fields from a parking
lot. Another parking lot is at the property’s southeast end. The open spaces surrounding the built
environment include livestock pens, vermiculture sites, composting site, and an outdoor
classroom.
Architectural Resources
The original greenhouse complex was commissioned by William M. Doyle Jr. for the purpose of
expanding his cut-flower business. Originally, the complex featured seven greenhouses all
designed and built by Lord & Burnham or John C. Moninger, prominent greenhouse
manufacturers of the period.1 Completed in 1920, the greenhouses were fabricated on the north
side of Lynchburg, disassembled, and moved piece by piece to their current location. At that
time, the 6.8-acre site was a part of Campbell County, but it was annexed by the City of
Lynchburg in 1926. Each greenhouse was set on a poured concrete foundation, built with a heartof-cypress wood frame and plate glass exterior and internally supported with iron posts. At that
time Doyle also built the root cellar, farmhouse and power plant, of which the chimney bears his
name.
In 1952, Doyle sold the property to Herman R. Schenkel Sr., who then converted greenhouse
production to entirely long stemmed roses, marketing his product as “Blueridge Roses.”
Schenkel built a Metropolitan brand greenhouse in 1955, bringing the total number of
greenhouses at the property to eight. His son, Herman R. Schenkel Jr., who took over the
business in 1957, built a ninth greenhouse in the late 1960s and replaced two of the original 1920
greenhouses in the mid-1980s with Ludy brand greenhouses, building around the still-extant
original greenhouse foundations. Replacement of two 1920 greenhouses with two in the mid1980s left the total number of greenhouses on the property at nine.
All of the greenhouses have rectangular footprints, gabled roofs, top, side, front and rear air
vents, and front and back doors placed in the end walls. With regard to spatial arrangement, one
of the 1920 greenhouses stands alone, three stand in a triplex arrangement, and one is in a
duplex, paired with the ca. 1955 greenhouse. All of the greenhouses are approximately 200 feet
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
long, and have varying widths ranging from 15 to 50 feet. The greenhouses built in 1920, 1955,
and the late 1960s all have a hand crank system to open the vents. An automatic climate
controlled opening system was installed in the mid-1980s when the two most recent greenhouses
were constructed. This system is still present in every greenhouse, although not in working
condition. The two mid-1980s greenhouses use an electric swamp-cooling system. The hand
cranks also remain and are functional. The original raised beds are present in all greenhouses.
Due to weather damage, parts of the greenhouses were replaced, with all replacement material
pre-dating 1999. Four of the greenhouses still have rose bushes from the Schenkel business. The
greenhouses are now used for vegetable and rose production.
Also on the property is the original farmhouse built by the Doyle family in 1920. The one-story,
three-bay, frame dwelling is a vernacular interpretation of Colonial Revival style. It has a
pyramidal roof sheathed with standing seam metal. Rising from a brick foundation, the walls are
clad with weatherboard siding. A porch with a low-hipped roof spans the façade, and features
slender colonettes accented with scroll sawn brackets. The centered entry contains a storm door
and flush panel door. The flanking windows have two-over-two sash. A gabled dormer is
centered above the porch and features returned eaves and a two-over-two sash. An external brick
flue is along one side wall. This dwelling was initially used to house the site foreman, who was
on call round the clock to run the power plant in case of emergency. When the property was
purchased by the Schenkels, Herman Schenkel Jr. temporarily moved into the farmhouse with
his family. The farmhouse is now the caretaker residence.
Next to the greenhouses is the original 1920 power plant that was used for heat in the winter. It is
a brick building with a prominent 50-foot tall chimney. The chimney still has 'DOYLE' signage
on it, though the “D” on the top of the chimney was removed in 1989 as a result of Hurricane
Hugo damage. Originally the plant housed a train engine that was used to produce steam. The
engine was fueled by coal and produced steam which was sent and distributed in the greenhouses
through underground pipes. These pipes still run underground from the power plant to the first
greenhouse. A lean-to in the back of the plant stored coal and was torn down in 2005. In the midtwentieth century, the steam engine was replaced by a gas boiler system. Around the same time,
a wooden lean-to was added to the plant’s north side to house worker restrooms, a function it
retains today. On the west side of the plant is a ca. 1985 metal storage shed built of windows
salvaged from one of the 1920 greenhouses that was removed.2 In front of this shed is a large
(approximately 13,000 gallon) concrete water cistern. Hog manure was mixed together with
water here and pumped through the watering pipes to fertilize the flowers.3
Behind the greenhouses lies a 40-foot by 13-foot underground root cellar that is made of poured
concrete with an arched concrete ceiling. Approximately 10 inches of soil cover the roof. The ca.
1920 root cellar was built by the Doyles during the early years of operation as a primitive
refrigeration system. It was used to keep the cut flowers cool in the summer and to prevent the
flower bulbs from freezing in the winter.4 The root cellar is now used for storage.
The packing shed originally on site was a large building used to grade and package the cut
flowers. Schenkel Sr. tore down the original shed in 1952 and built a cinder block building to
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
5
County and State
replace it. It contained a walk-in cooler and an office, along with space to process the flowers.
During the late 1950s, Schenkel added another walk-in cooler and more packing space, bringing
the building to its current dimensions of 67 feet by 24 feet. The two large walk-in coolers each
measure 300 square feet and originally were used to store the cut roses. The packing shed has
been painted since the rose growing operation, but otherwise remains in its original form.
All of these buildings are original to the site and were constructed in support of the site's historic
cut-flower business. There were a few storage sheds that have been torn down since 1999. The
property is now owned and operated by Lynchburg Grows, a not-for-profit organization which
provides training in historic and current horticultural practices to persons with disabilities, at-risk
youth, and other community members.
Inventory
The following inventory lists all of the contributing and non-contributing resources associated
with the property. Contributing resources date from the period of significance and retain integrity
to convey their historic and architectural significance. Non-contributing resources postdate the
period of significance.
Contributing Resources
Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger Co. greenhouses, 1920, 5 buildings (Greenhouses 3-7)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Heart-of-cypress wood, plate glass
Roof: Heart-of-cypress wood, plate glass
Metropolitan greenhouse, ca. 1955, 1 building (Greenhouse 8)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Galvanized steel, tempered glass
Roof: Galvanized steel, tempered glass
Farmhouse, ca. 1920, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: wood siding
Roof: metal
Power Plant, 1920, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: brick, wood
Roof: metal
Other: brick chimney, wood and metal sheds attached
Water cistern, ca. 1955, 1 structure:
Foundation: Poured concrete
Walls: concrete
Roof: NA
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Root Cellar, 1920, 1 structure:
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: concrete
Roof: arched concrete with earth on top
Packing Shed, 1952 with late 1950s additions, 1 building:
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: cinder block
Roof: built-up tar and paper
Non-contributing Resources
Greenhouse (unknown manufacturer), late 1960s, 1 building (Greenhouse 9)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Aluminum, corrugated polycarbonate
Roof: Aluminum, plate glass
Ludy greenhouses, mid-1980s, 2 buildings (Greenhouses 1 and 2)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: aluminum, tempered glass
Roof: aluminum, tempered glass
Metal storage shed, ca. 1985, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: cypress; iron; plate glass
Roof: Corrugated steel
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1920-1964
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1920
1952_______________
1955
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
N/A
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range is locally significant under
Criterion A in the areas of Commerce and Agriculture. The property represents 80 years of
successful contribution to the United States cut flower industry. This domestic agricultural
industry originated in the 17th century and had become a major national commercial contributor
by the 20th century. After its peak in 1990, the industry almost collapsed due to competition from
international markets. It is now unlikely that this industry will recover to the previous scale and
success of production that took place earlier in the 20th century. The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse
Range is the perfect model of the industry’s modern period of expansion, success, and decline.
This property was also the location of two successful Lynchburg businesses owned by two
prominent and well-respected families in the community. The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse
Range is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The property’s original
greenhouses, power plant, root cellar, and farmhouse were built by the Doyle family and typify
the historical production process and culture of this national industry. The 1950s resources are
demonstrative of the property’s growth during the post-World War II period and operation by the
Schenkel family. Later resources from the 1960s and 1980s were added to continue operations.
The property, now open to the public, was purchased in 2004 by Lynchburg Grows in order to
preserve its historical significance and to provide the nation, state and community with
horticultural educational opportunities and products year round. The period of significance for
the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range begins in 1920 with the establishment of the business and
ends in 1964, the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties where activities begun historically
continued to have importance into the more recent past. The property retains a high level of
integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A – Commerce and Agriculture
In the United States, floriculture commerce began soon after the European colonization of North
America in the 17th century. By the 20th century, floriculture was a well established division of
agriculture in the United States. In 1920, William Doyle, having just purchased a cut flower
business, had seven greenhouses built on 6.8 acres just outside the Lynchburg city limits. These
greenhouses were manufactured by Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger, which are some of
the oldest greenhouse manufacturers in the United States. Five of the 1920 greenhouses are still
standing and in good condition and the foundations of the two removed are still present. Also in
1920, Doyle built on the property a concrete root cellar, brick boiler plant, frame farmhouse, and
packing shed. All but the original packing shed still stand in good condition and look mainly as
they did in 1920.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
William Doyle, of Lynchburg, was of Irish heritage and a second generation American who
fought in World War I. An enterprising young man, at the age of 24, he bought J.J. Fallon’s
flower business in 1919 and built the greenhouses one year later. This was a family business, as
his wife and three children helped run the operation, which consisted of the wholesale production
as well as Doyle Florist, a retail operation located in mid-town Lynchburg. Doyle Florist is still a
successful business in Lynchburg to this day. Doyle began his cut flower production at the end of
a period known as the “Second Industrial Revolution,” when modern electrical, plumbing, and
mechanical systems and manufacturing processes had become commonplace. He maximized on
the period’s engineering innovations by heating his greenhouses year round with steam produced
in the power plant and sent to the greenhouses through underground pipes, always keeping the
greenhouse temperature above 60° Fahrenheit. The boiler was fueled by coal, which was
supplied by freight carload directly to the company’s private railroad siding next to the power
plant, which is now a parking lot owned by the City of Lynchburg. The root cellar was used to
force the cool weather flowers into bloom during the summer and as a simple form of
refrigeration to preserve cut flowers once harvested. The farmhouse housed the site foreman,
who was on call at all times for boiler emergencies. These were practices typical for cut flower
production in this period. Flowers produced during this period included lilies, roses, daisies,
carnations, and poinsettias, among others.6
Doyle’s cut flowers were shipped by railway express from Lynchburg to retail stores all along
the eastern seaboard from 1920 to 1951. During this time the U.S. floriculture industry expanded
from $62 million in wholesale sales in 1919 to $236 million in 1949. On the state level,
Virginia’s industry expanded from $616,000 in wholesale sales in 1919 to over $3 million in
sales by 1949.7 Doyle patented a peach-colored rose he developed and which he named “Mrs.
Carter Glass.”8 During the Great Depression, Doyle earned a good name because he did not lay
off any of his workers, but instead he curtailed their work week from six to four days a week.9
Also during this difficult time, the Doyles bartered business in Lynchburg, often receiving food
or other furniture in exchange for their flowers.10 In his life, Doyle was president of the
Lynchburg Rotary Club, Grand Exalted Ruler of the Elks, and Grand Knight in the Knights of
Columbus. The Doyles were well known and respected in Lynchburg for their positive
involvement in the community.
By 1951, Doyle’s children were uninterested in taking over the wholesale part of their father’s
business. The 1950s coal strikes by the United Mine Workers had significantly driven up the cost
of coal, making it an impractical way to fuel the power plant’s boiler to heat the greenhouses.
For these reasons, Doyle sold the wholesale business and greenhouse operations to Herman R.
Schenkel Sr. in 1952. The same year, Schenkel founded H.R. Schenkel Inc., naming his product
“Blue Ridge Roses,” while Doyle shifted his focus to his retail business, Lynchburg Wholesale
Floral Corporation, founded in 1949 and located at 2004 Memorial Ave, Lynchburg ,Virginia.
Herman Schenkel earned a BS degree in Horticulture in 1927 from Cornell University. He was
an accomplished rosarian from New England, where he earned an industry-wide reputation as an
outstanding rose grower and manager. Schenkel converted all of the 1920 greenhouses to cut
rose production. He purchased rose bushes from a grower in California and had them shipped to
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
him by railway express. In 1952, Schenkel owned 400,000 rose bushes, including 13 varieties,
and was producing approximately one million rose stems per year.11 His contributions to rose
cultivation included patenting a sweetheart rose called “Rosemary.”Also in the 1950s, Schenkel
built the packing shed that now stands on the property as well as another greenhouse. The
packing shed contained innovative walk-in refrigerators to preserve the cut roses and equipment
to bundle the roses. Schenkel employed many common rose-growing practices of the day, from
fertilizing with peat moss and cow manure to whitewashing the greenhouses in the summer to
keep the heat down. He also replaced the coal boiler with a more modern and efficient gas boiler.
Herman Schenkel Jr. joined the business in 1956, fresh out of the U.S. Navy. He lived in the
farmhouse on site with his young family and helped his father with production. Schenkel Jr. took
over ownership in the 1960s and continued to grow the business. A ninth greenhouse was built in
the late 1960s and, in the early 1980s, two of the 1920 greenhouses were torn down and a new
greenhouse duplex was built over the original greenhouse foundations and flower beds.
For decades, H.R. Schenkel Inc. sold approximately 1 million roses per year internationally and
its roses comprised approximately 23% of Virginia's cut-flower industry.12 Both Herman
Schenkel Sr. and his son were proud rosarians, growing, as Tommy Doyle put it, “the best roses
east of the Mississippi.”13
He also improved many of the growing practices of his business, including adding electronic
climate controlled ventilation systems to all nine of his greenhouses. The 1980s greenhouses
have an automatic electric swamp cooler system for internal climate control. In 1986, to honor
his father, Herman Schenkel Jr. set up a floriculture scholarship at Cornell University, which is
still awarded today to floriculture student showing superior academic excellence. Both Herman
Schenkel Sr., and his son were heavily involved in community business organizations, and were
prominent commerce leaders in Lynchburg. They were also involved in local social service
organizations. Herman Schenkel Jr. was a board member of several national and international
flower growers associations such as FTDA (Florist Telegraph Delivery Association). The rose
growing practices of both Schenkels exemplify the leading trend in this national industry over
the second half of the 20th century.
By 1990, the U.S. floral wholesale market was amassing over $500 million in sales and found
itself at the climax of its production.14 The U.S. Agricultural Census reports that there were well
over 300 rose growers in the United States and it was a booming area of domestic commerce. In
the early 1990s U.S. markets were opened to South American imports through decisions made by
the International Trade Commission (ITC), such as the Andean Trade Preference Act in 1991.15
The U. S. Congress did not impose tariffs on South American imports and U.S. producers were
unable to compete with the low cost cut flowers coming out of Colombia and Ecuador. By 1993,
cut-flower producers were in serious trouble. Herman Schenkel Jr, along with many prominent
floriculturists, presented his situation and expertise before the ITC on January 1, 1994.16 Their
industry was heading toward extinction, with lower profits, increased costs, productivity decline,
smaller markets, and an inability to expand their business. Schenkel and his colleagues warned
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
that, unless the ITC regulated the flower market, the U.S. industry would soon be unable to
compete.
Congress did not act in favor of the U.S. floriculturists, and the national industry took a nose
dive. Most cut-flower growers went out of business, including H.R. Schenkel Inc., which was
forced to close its doors in 1999. As of 2012, there are only 28 commercial rose growers in the
US, down over 90% from 1990, when there were over 300 rose growers.17 This U.S. industry no
longer exists in a large scale due to international competition. This is specifically true for the east
coast of the U.S., as well as the state of Virginia.
In 2002, Lynchburg City considered turning the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Rang property into
a parking lot for the city’s baseball stadium, but nothing came of the proposal. Lynchburg
Grows, a local non-profit organization, bought the property in 2004 in order to preserve the
historical complex and to promote local food production in Lynchburg. This property now
operates year round as an urban vegetable and flower farm, providing fresh produce to the
community and job training for people with disabilities. Lynchburg Grows has received
thousands of visitors since opening its doors in 2004 and partners with state and local schools to
promote agricultural education. It provides a unique cultural experience to this urban population
and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come.
Criterion C – Architecture
The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range is a well-preserved, evolved 20th century cut-flower
production complex, ranging from primitive root cellars to electronic climate control, and
represents almost a century of this lost industry’s operation. The intact 1920 complex includes
the production and support facilities that were necessary for a cut-flower wholesale operation of
the period, while the later twentieth century resources represent updates and innovations in
operations.
The five extant 1920 greenhouses were designed and built by well-known greenhouse
manufacturers Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger. Each features original wood, metal, and
plate glass materials constructed in a manner and configuration to provide appropriate growing
conditions for mass-produced plants. The buildings retain their original form, finishes, and
fixtures, and have served the same production use since their construction. The 1920 power plant
was purpose-built to provide steam heat to the greenhouses to allow for plant propagation during
cold winter months, while the 1920 root cellar provided a cool place to force bulbs during hot
summer months and to store cut flowers prior to processing and shipping. Finally, the 1920
dwelling was a necessary feature to allow on-site residency by an employee responsible for the
power plant’s equipment. Alterations to the buildings are few, but for typical updates to improve
the heating, electrical, and mechanical systems where needed. This self-contained complex
illustrates a complete commercial grower’s operation during the 1920s. Given the steep decline
in the U.S. floriculture industry since the 1990s, the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range is an
increasingly rare example of a niche industry that once contributed significantly to Virginia’s
commercial and agricultural base.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
By the mid-1950s, technological innovations led to changes in production and construction
methods for commercial growers. The original packing shed was replaced by a new cinder block
that featured a walk-in cooler – technology that did not exist during the 1920s. Electrical
refrigeration improved the commercial concern’s storage and processing capacity. Meanwhile, a
greenhouse erected during c. 1955 has a poured concrete foundation, galvanized steel frame, and
tempered glass, representing both an evolution in greenhouse design and the types of
construction materials that were readily available at the time.
Resources constructed after 1964 are non-contributing as they postdate the property’s period of
significance. All were designed, however, to continue the floriculture’s operation and to expand
business operations. Of particular note, in addition to tempered glass, the greenhouses built
during the late 1960s and mid-1980s have aluminum frames. Aluminum is a much lighter and
less expensive material than the galvanized steel used on the c. 1955 greenhouse.
Currently, there are no other commercial greenhouse complexes in Virginia that are individually
listed in the National Register. In Loudoun County, the Goose Creek Historic District (DHR
#053-0002; NRHP 1982) includes a 1930s greenhouse complex that housed the Hilltop Floral
and Garden Center at the time of designation. The Blandy Experimental Farm Historic District
(DHR #021-0550; NRHP 1992) includes a 1941 research greenhouse with a concrete block
foundation and constructed of an iron frame with glass panels. A large exterior, gable end
concrete block chimney heated the space. It was used for growing and propagating plants for
agricultural research. Other institutional facilities, such as the DC Workhouse and Reformatory
Historic District (DHR #029-0547; NRHP 2012) also had greenhouses to support their
agricultural operations. The Roanoke Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District (DHR
#129-0038; NRHP 2012) has three greenhouses constructed in 1943, 1956, and 1999. The older
greenhouses have been renovated to include Plexiglass while the 1999 greenhouse utilizes clear
plastic frames. These greenhouses were used for therapeutic activities for veterans and provided
a steady supply of ornamental fresh flowers for the hospital. In a somewhat similar vein, the
Hotel Roanoke (DHR #128-0025; NRHP 1996) had its own greenhouse by 1893, and used it to
supply ornamental floral arrangements for its commercial operation.
The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range, therefore, represents a vanishing resource type in
Virginia. Its high level of integrity of design, workmanship, materials, and association make it
especially illustrative of a historic agricultural and commercial enterprise in the floriculture
industry, which has dwindled steeply from its height during the 1990s.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
“Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA).” Office of the United States Trade Representative.
N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept 2013.
Brooks, Dorothy S. “New Firm Here will Harvest Million Buds.” The News [Lynchburg, VA]
23 May 1952: n. pag. Print.
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
“Floriculture Crops.” National Agricultural Statistic Service, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.
“Frank Weiland.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 30 Oct. 2009.
“Here are Important Tips on Rose Culture.” The News [Lynchburg, VA] 3 Mar. 1954: n. pag.
Print.
“Herman Robert Schenkel Jr.” Tharp Funeral Home. N.p., n.d. Web. Aug. 2013.
“Herman Schenkel Jr.” Interview by Michael Van Ness. Sept. 2007.
Hewlett, Michael. “City Looking to Build New Athletic Fields.” The News and Advance
[Lynchburg, VA] 9 Jan. 2002: n. pag. Print.
Hobbs, T. Gibson, Jr. “Chapter 2: 1927-1936.” History of the Lynchburg Rotary Club. Central
Virginia Community College, n.d. Web. Aug. 2013.
“Over 150 Years of History.” Lord and Burnham. Under Glass, n.d. Web. July 2013.
“Richard Mosby.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 14 Jan. 2010.
“Schenkel Buys Doyle Greenhouse.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg, VA] 11 Jan. 1952: n.
pag. Print.
Schenkel, H. R., Jr. “Fresh Cut Roses from Columbia and Ecuador.” Speech. Before the
United States International Trade Commission. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Invs. 731-TA-684685.
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers.
By Joanna Bonarriva. Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003.
Web. Aug. 2013.
Von Kleist, Ric. “Isaacs Fools His Flowers Into Growing.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg,
VA] 4 Mar. 1949: n. pag. Print.
“W. M. Doyle Dies After Long Illness.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg, VA] 19 Jan. 1970:
20. Print.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_x__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-5294
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _6.8 acres_
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Latitude: 37.390570
Longitude: -79.165720
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary encompasses the extent of the property’s original acreage and is
shown on the attached map entitled, “Location Map – Aerial View.” It is bounded by 300 and
500 Rutherford Street to the southwest, 1310 Rutherford St. and Naval Reserve St. to the
southeast, Lynchburg City Stadium to the northeast, and 1350 and 1335 Englewood to the
northeast. The property’s City tax parcel number is 02807004.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundary was drawn to include all of the resources associated with the
property’s historic use as a greenhouse complex and coincides with the original boundaries
of the land purchased and used by the property’s original owners for its historic purpose.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Caroline Lucas
organization: Lynchburg Grows___________
street & number: 1339 Englewood Street______
city or town: Lynchburg_________ state: VA__________ zip code: 24501______
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
e-mail: info@lynchburggroww.org____
telephone: 434-846-5665___________
date: September 21, 2013___________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Grows
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
State: Virginia
Photographer: Caroline Lucas
Date Photographed: September 19, 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 14. Front of Greenhouses 1 and 2, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0001.
Photo 2 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 3, facing northwest
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0002.
Photo 3 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 4, facing southeast
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0003.
Photo 4 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 5, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0004.
Photo 5 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 6, facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0005.
Photo 6 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 7, facing northwest
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0006.
Photo 7 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 8, facing west
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0007.
Photo 8 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 9, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0008.
Photo 9 of 14. Farmhouse, facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0009.
Photo 10 of 14. Packing Shed, facing north
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0010.
Photo 11 of 14. Root Cellar, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0011.
Photo 12 of 14. Power plant, water cistern, and metal shed, facing south
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0012.
Photo 13 of 14. Vent crank in Greenhouse 3 listing John C. Moninger as manufacturer,
facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0013.
Photo 14 of 14. Vent crank in greenhouse #7 listing Lord & Burnham as manufacturer,
facing east
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0014.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings.
Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended
(16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments
regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept.
of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
1
“Over 150 Years of History.” Lord and Burnham. Under Glass, n.d. Web. July 2013.
“Frank Weiland.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 30 Oct. 2009.
3
“Richard Mosby.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 14 Jan. 2010.
4
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
5
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
6
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
7
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
8
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
9
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
10
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
11
Brooks, Dorothy S. “New Firm Here will Harvest Million Buds.” The News [Lynchburg, VA] 23 May 1952: n.
pag. Print.
12
“Herman Schenkel Jr.” Interview by Michael Van Ness. Sept. 2007.
13
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
14
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
15
“Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA).” Office of the United States Trade Representative. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Sept 2013.
16
Schenkel, H. R., Jr. “Fresh Cut Roses from Columbia and Ecuador.” Speech. Before the United States
International Trade Commission. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Invs. 731-TA-684-685.
17
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
2
Sections 9-end page 21
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
Architecture Resources
USGS GIS Place names
County Boundaries
Title: Doyle Florist Inc./H.R. Schenkel Inc.
Date: 8/13/2014
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
USGS GIS Place names
County Boundaries
Title: Doyle Florist Inc./H.R. Schenkel Inc.
Date: 8/13/2014
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Sketch Map and Photo Key
Doyle Florist Inc./H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR #118-5294
Historic Boundary
11
9
2
13
1
6
7
10
3
4
5
122
14
8
Contributing Resources
Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger Co.
greenhouses, (Greenhouses 3-7)
Metropolitan greenhouse, (Greenhouse 8)
Farmhouse
Power Plant
Water cistern
Root Cellar Site Sketch
Packing Shed
Non-contributing Resources
Greenhouse 9
Ludy greenhouses (Greenhouses 1 and 2)
Metal storage shed
metal shed
1
Photo
Locations
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, Ifoow to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials. and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Doyle Florist Inc. / H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range
Other nameslsite number: Lynchburg Grows; DHR File No. 118-5294
Name of related multiple property listing:
N/A
(Enter "N/AUif property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number:
1339 Englewood Street
City or town: Lynchburg
State: VA
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
County:
Listed On
VLR: 9/18/2014
NRHP:11/19/2014
Independent City
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
national
statewide
~ x l i c a b l eNational ~ e ~ Criteria:
K r
X
local
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____9________
_____4______
buildings
_____0_______
_____0________
sites
___ _ 2________
_____0________
structures
_____0________
_____0________
objects
____11________
_____4________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0______
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: Horticultural Facility: Greenhouse
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE/ SUBSISTENCE: Horticultural Facility: Greenhouse
SOCIAL: Civic: Vocational Training
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
OTHER: Commercial Greenhouse
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS:
Bungalow/Craftsman
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: CONCRETE; WOOD; GLASS; METAL/ Iron,
Aluminum
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range functioned as the production
center for a significant proportion of Virginia's flower industry from 1920 until its closing in
1999. This property now stands much as it did during its participation in the historic period of the
cut-flower market. Set on 6.8 open acres in the historic Fort Hill neighborhood of Lynchburg,
Virginia, it includes nine, 200-foot-long greenhouses. Five of the nine extant greenhouses were
designed and built in 1920 by Lord & Burnham or John C. Moninger Co. Only a few parts on
these greenhouses have been replaced due to weather damage. They are built of heart-of-cypress
wood frame and plate glass on a concrete foundation. The other four greenhouses stand as they
were built in ca. 1955, the late 1960s, and the mid-1980s; each has a glass exterior framed with
metal and a concrete foundation. The property also includes an original root cellar for flower
storage; the original packing shed for grading and packaging of cut flowers; the original
farmhouse housing the site foreman; as well as the original brick power plant used to heat the
greenhouses. All of these buildings were in operation until the business closed in 1999.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Contributing resources consist of the five extant greenhouses built in 1920 (Greenhouses 3-7);
the greenhouse built c. 1955 (Greenhouse 8); the root cellar; the packing shed; the original
farmhouse; and the original power plant. Three of the greenhouses (1,2, and 9) postdate the
property’s period of significance and therefore are non-contributing buildings.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range occupies 6.8 acres of open and
cultivated fields in southeastern Lynchburg. It is surrounded by medium- to high-density
development and the Norfolk & Western Railroad line is a short distance southeast of the
property. Rutherford Street defines the property’s southwest boundary and Naval Reserve Street
defines the southeast boundary. The greenhouse complex, consisting of nine greenhouses, a root
cellar, packing shed, power plant, and farmhouse, is clustered roughly in the center of the
property. A fence along the property’s northwest boundary separates the fields from a parking
lot. Another parking lot is at the property’s southeast end. The open spaces surrounding the built
environment include livestock pens, vermiculture sites, composting site, and an outdoor
classroom.
Architectural Resources
The original greenhouse complex was commissioned by William M. Doyle Jr. for the purpose of
expanding his cut-flower business. Originally, the complex featured seven greenhouses all
designed and built by Lord & Burnham or John C. Moninger, prominent greenhouse
manufacturers of the period.1 Completed in 1920, the greenhouses were fabricated on the north
side of Lynchburg, disassembled, and moved piece by piece to their current location. At that
time, the 6.8-acre site was a part of Campbell County, but it was annexed by the City of
Lynchburg in 1926. Each greenhouse was set on a poured concrete foundation, built with a heartof-cypress wood frame and plate glass exterior and internally supported with iron posts. At that
time Doyle also built the root cellar, farmhouse and power plant, of which the chimney bears his
name.
In 1952, Doyle sold the property to Herman R. Schenkel Sr., who then converted greenhouse
production to entirely long stemmed roses, marketing his product as “Blueridge Roses.”
Schenkel built a Metropolitan brand greenhouse in 1955, bringing the total number of
greenhouses at the property to eight. His son, Herman R. Schenkel Jr., who took over the
business in 1957, built a ninth greenhouse in the late 1960s and replaced two of the original 1920
greenhouses in the mid-1980s with Ludy brand greenhouses, building around the still-extant
original greenhouse foundations. Replacement of two 1920 greenhouses with two in the mid1980s left the total number of greenhouses on the property at nine.
All of the greenhouses have rectangular footprints, gabled roofs, top, side, front and rear air
vents, and front and back doors placed in the end walls. With regard to spatial arrangement, one
of the 1920 greenhouses stands alone, three stand in a triplex arrangement, and one is in a
duplex, paired with the ca. 1955 greenhouse. All of the greenhouses are approximately 200 feet
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
long, and have varying widths ranging from 15 to 50 feet. The greenhouses built in 1920, 1955,
and the late 1960s all have a hand crank system to open the vents. An automatic climate
controlled opening system was installed in the mid-1980s when the two most recent greenhouses
were constructed. This system is still present in every greenhouse, although not in working
condition. The two mid-1980s greenhouses use an electric swamp-cooling system. The hand
cranks also remain and are functional. The original raised beds are present in all greenhouses.
Due to weather damage, parts of the greenhouses were replaced, with all replacement material
pre-dating 1999. Four of the greenhouses still have rose bushes from the Schenkel business. The
greenhouses are now used for vegetable and rose production.
Also on the property is the original farmhouse built by the Doyle family in 1920. The one-story,
three-bay, frame dwelling is a vernacular interpretation of Colonial Revival style. It has a
pyramidal roof sheathed with standing seam metal. Rising from a brick foundation, the walls are
clad with weatherboard siding. A porch with a low-hipped roof spans the façade, and features
slender colonettes accented with scroll sawn brackets. The centered entry contains a storm door
and flush panel door. The flanking windows have two-over-two sash. A gabled dormer is
centered above the porch and features returned eaves and a two-over-two sash. An external brick
flue is along one side wall. This dwelling was initially used to house the site foreman, who was
on call round the clock to run the power plant in case of emergency. When the property was
purchased by the Schenkels, Herman Schenkel Jr. temporarily moved into the farmhouse with
his family. The farmhouse is now the caretaker residence.
Next to the greenhouses is the original 1920 power plant that was used for heat in the winter. It is
a brick building with a prominent 50-foot tall chimney. The chimney still has 'DOYLE' signage
on it, though the “D” on the top of the chimney was removed in 1989 as a result of Hurricane
Hugo damage. Originally the plant housed a train engine that was used to produce steam. The
engine was fueled by coal and produced steam which was sent and distributed in the greenhouses
through underground pipes. These pipes still run underground from the power plant to the first
greenhouse. A lean-to in the back of the plant stored coal and was torn down in 2005. In the midtwentieth century, the steam engine was replaced by a gas boiler system. Around the same time,
a wooden lean-to was added to the plant’s north side to house worker restrooms, a function it
retains today. On the west side of the plant is a ca. 1985 metal storage shed built of windows
salvaged from one of the 1920 greenhouses that was removed.2 In front of this shed is a large
(approximately 13,000 gallon) concrete water cistern. Hog manure was mixed together with
water here and pumped through the watering pipes to fertilize the flowers.3
Behind the greenhouses lies a 40-foot by 13-foot underground root cellar that is made of poured
concrete with an arched concrete ceiling. Approximately 10 inches of soil cover the roof. The ca.
1920 root cellar was built by the Doyles during the early years of operation as a primitive
refrigeration system. It was used to keep the cut flowers cool in the summer and to prevent the
flower bulbs from freezing in the winter.4 The root cellar is now used for storage.
The packing shed originally on site was a large building used to grade and package the cut
flowers. Schenkel Sr. tore down the original shed in 1952 and built a cinder block building to
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
5
County and State
replace it. It contained a walk-in cooler and an office, along with space to process the flowers.
During the late 1950s, Schenkel added another walk-in cooler and more packing space, bringing
the building to its current dimensions of 67 feet by 24 feet. The two large walk-in coolers each
measure 300 square feet and originally were used to store the cut roses. The packing shed has
been painted since the rose growing operation, but otherwise remains in its original form.
All of these buildings are original to the site and were constructed in support of the site's historic
cut-flower business. There were a few storage sheds that have been torn down since 1999. The
property is now owned and operated by Lynchburg Grows, a not-for-profit organization which
provides training in historic and current horticultural practices to persons with disabilities, at-risk
youth, and other community members.
Inventory
The following inventory lists all of the contributing and non-contributing resources associated
with the property. Contributing resources date from the period of significance and retain integrity
to convey their historic and architectural significance. Non-contributing resources postdate the
period of significance.
Contributing Resources
Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger Co. greenhouses, 1920, 5 buildings (Greenhouses 3-7)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Heart-of-cypress wood, plate glass
Roof: Heart-of-cypress wood, plate glass
Metropolitan greenhouse, ca. 1955, 1 building (Greenhouse 8)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Galvanized steel, tempered glass
Roof: Galvanized steel, tempered glass
Farmhouse, ca. 1920, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: wood siding
Roof: metal
Power Plant, 1920, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: brick, wood
Roof: metal
Other: brick chimney, wood and metal sheds attached
Water cistern, ca. 1955, 1 structure:
Foundation: Poured concrete
Walls: concrete
Roof: NA
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Root Cellar, 1920, 1 structure:
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: concrete
Roof: arched concrete with earth on top
Packing Shed, 1952 with late 1950s additions, 1 building:
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: cinder block
Roof: built-up tar and paper
Non-contributing Resources
Greenhouse (unknown manufacturer), late 1960s, 1 building (Greenhouse 9)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: Aluminum, corrugated polycarbonate
Roof: Aluminum, plate glass
Ludy greenhouses, mid-1980s, 2 buildings (Greenhouses 1 and 2)
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: aluminum, tempered glass
Roof: aluminum, tempered glass
Metal storage shed, ca. 1985, 1 building
Foundation: poured concrete
Walls: cypress; iron; plate glass
Roof: Corrugated steel
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
AGRICULTURE
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1920-1964
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1920
1952_______________
1955
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
N/A
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range is locally significant under
Criterion A in the areas of Commerce and Agriculture. The property represents 80 years of
successful contribution to the United States cut flower industry. This domestic agricultural
industry originated in the 17th century and had become a major national commercial contributor
by the 20th century. After its peak in 1990, the industry almost collapsed due to competition from
international markets. It is now unlikely that this industry will recover to the previous scale and
success of production that took place earlier in the 20th century. The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse
Range is the perfect model of the industry’s modern period of expansion, success, and decline.
This property was also the location of two successful Lynchburg businesses owned by two
prominent and well-respected families in the community. The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse
Range is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The property’s original
greenhouses, power plant, root cellar, and farmhouse were built by the Doyle family and typify
the historical production process and culture of this national industry. The 1950s resources are
demonstrative of the property’s growth during the post-World War II period and operation by the
Schenkel family. Later resources from the 1960s and 1980s were added to continue operations.
The property, now open to the public, was purchased in 2004 by Lynchburg Grows in order to
preserve its historical significance and to provide the nation, state and community with
horticultural educational opportunities and products year round. The period of significance for
the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range begins in 1920 with the establishment of the business and
ends in 1964, the traditional fifty-year cutoff for properties where activities begun historically
continued to have importance into the more recent past. The property retains a high level of
integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A – Commerce and Agriculture
In the United States, floriculture commerce began soon after the European colonization of North
America in the 17th century. By the 20th century, floriculture was a well established division of
agriculture in the United States. In 1920, William Doyle, having just purchased a cut flower
business, had seven greenhouses built on 6.8 acres just outside the Lynchburg city limits. These
greenhouses were manufactured by Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger, which are some of
the oldest greenhouse manufacturers in the United States. Five of the 1920 greenhouses are still
standing and in good condition and the foundations of the two removed are still present. Also in
1920, Doyle built on the property a concrete root cellar, brick boiler plant, frame farmhouse, and
packing shed. All but the original packing shed still stand in good condition and look mainly as
they did in 1920.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
William Doyle, of Lynchburg, was of Irish heritage and a second generation American who
fought in World War I. An enterprising young man, at the age of 24, he bought J.J. Fallon’s
flower business in 1919 and built the greenhouses one year later. This was a family business, as
his wife and three children helped run the operation, which consisted of the wholesale production
as well as Doyle Florist, a retail operation located in mid-town Lynchburg. Doyle Florist is still a
successful business in Lynchburg to this day. Doyle began his cut flower production at the end of
a period known as the “Second Industrial Revolution,” when modern electrical, plumbing, and
mechanical systems and manufacturing processes had become commonplace. He maximized on
the period’s engineering innovations by heating his greenhouses year round with steam produced
in the power plant and sent to the greenhouses through underground pipes, always keeping the
greenhouse temperature above 60° Fahrenheit. The boiler was fueled by coal, which was
supplied by freight carload directly to the company’s private railroad siding next to the power
plant, which is now a parking lot owned by the City of Lynchburg. The root cellar was used to
force the cool weather flowers into bloom during the summer and as a simple form of
refrigeration to preserve cut flowers once harvested. The farmhouse housed the site foreman,
who was on call at all times for boiler emergencies. These were practices typical for cut flower
production in this period. Flowers produced during this period included lilies, roses, daisies,
carnations, and poinsettias, among others.6
Doyle’s cut flowers were shipped by railway express from Lynchburg to retail stores all along
the eastern seaboard from 1920 to 1951. During this time the U.S. floriculture industry expanded
from $62 million in wholesale sales in 1919 to $236 million in 1949. On the state level,
Virginia’s industry expanded from $616,000 in wholesale sales in 1919 to over $3 million in
sales by 1949.7 Doyle patented a peach-colored rose he developed and which he named “Mrs.
Carter Glass.”8 During the Great Depression, Doyle earned a good name because he did not lay
off any of his workers, but instead he curtailed their work week from six to four days a week.9
Also during this difficult time, the Doyles bartered business in Lynchburg, often receiving food
or other furniture in exchange for their flowers.10 In his life, Doyle was president of the
Lynchburg Rotary Club, Grand Exalted Ruler of the Elks, and Grand Knight in the Knights of
Columbus. The Doyles were well known and respected in Lynchburg for their positive
involvement in the community.
By 1951, Doyle’s children were uninterested in taking over the wholesale part of their father’s
business. The 1950s coal strikes by the United Mine Workers had significantly driven up the cost
of coal, making it an impractical way to fuel the power plant’s boiler to heat the greenhouses.
For these reasons, Doyle sold the wholesale business and greenhouse operations to Herman R.
Schenkel Sr. in 1952. The same year, Schenkel founded H.R. Schenkel Inc., naming his product
“Blue Ridge Roses,” while Doyle shifted his focus to his retail business, Lynchburg Wholesale
Floral Corporation, founded in 1949 and located at 2004 Memorial Ave, Lynchburg ,Virginia.
Herman Schenkel earned a BS degree in Horticulture in 1927 from Cornell University. He was
an accomplished rosarian from New England, where he earned an industry-wide reputation as an
outstanding rose grower and manager. Schenkel converted all of the 1920 greenhouses to cut
rose production. He purchased rose bushes from a grower in California and had them shipped to
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
him by railway express. In 1952, Schenkel owned 400,000 rose bushes, including 13 varieties,
and was producing approximately one million rose stems per year.11 His contributions to rose
cultivation included patenting a sweetheart rose called “Rosemary.”Also in the 1950s, Schenkel
built the packing shed that now stands on the property as well as another greenhouse. The
packing shed contained innovative walk-in refrigerators to preserve the cut roses and equipment
to bundle the roses. Schenkel employed many common rose-growing practices of the day, from
fertilizing with peat moss and cow manure to whitewashing the greenhouses in the summer to
keep the heat down. He also replaced the coal boiler with a more modern and efficient gas boiler.
Herman Schenkel Jr. joined the business in 1956, fresh out of the U.S. Navy. He lived in the
farmhouse on site with his young family and helped his father with production. Schenkel Jr. took
over ownership in the 1960s and continued to grow the business. A ninth greenhouse was built in
the late 1960s and, in the early 1980s, two of the 1920 greenhouses were torn down and a new
greenhouse duplex was built over the original greenhouse foundations and flower beds.
For decades, H.R. Schenkel Inc. sold approximately 1 million roses per year internationally and
its roses comprised approximately 23% of Virginia's cut-flower industry.12 Both Herman
Schenkel Sr. and his son were proud rosarians, growing, as Tommy Doyle put it, “the best roses
east of the Mississippi.”13
He also improved many of the growing practices of his business, including adding electronic
climate controlled ventilation systems to all nine of his greenhouses. The 1980s greenhouses
have an automatic electric swamp cooler system for internal climate control. In 1986, to honor
his father, Herman Schenkel Jr. set up a floriculture scholarship at Cornell University, which is
still awarded today to floriculture student showing superior academic excellence. Both Herman
Schenkel Sr., and his son were heavily involved in community business organizations, and were
prominent commerce leaders in Lynchburg. They were also involved in local social service
organizations. Herman Schenkel Jr. was a board member of several national and international
flower growers associations such as FTDA (Florist Telegraph Delivery Association). The rose
growing practices of both Schenkels exemplify the leading trend in this national industry over
the second half of the 20th century.
By 1990, the U.S. floral wholesale market was amassing over $500 million in sales and found
itself at the climax of its production.14 The U.S. Agricultural Census reports that there were well
over 300 rose growers in the United States and it was a booming area of domestic commerce. In
the early 1990s U.S. markets were opened to South American imports through decisions made by
the International Trade Commission (ITC), such as the Andean Trade Preference Act in 1991.15
The U. S. Congress did not impose tariffs on South American imports and U.S. producers were
unable to compete with the low cost cut flowers coming out of Colombia and Ecuador. By 1993,
cut-flower producers were in serious trouble. Herman Schenkel Jr, along with many prominent
floriculturists, presented his situation and expertise before the ITC on January 1, 1994.16 Their
industry was heading toward extinction, with lower profits, increased costs, productivity decline,
smaller markets, and an inability to expand their business. Schenkel and his colleagues warned
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
that, unless the ITC regulated the flower market, the U.S. industry would soon be unable to
compete.
Congress did not act in favor of the U.S. floriculturists, and the national industry took a nose
dive. Most cut-flower growers went out of business, including H.R. Schenkel Inc., which was
forced to close its doors in 1999. As of 2012, there are only 28 commercial rose growers in the
US, down over 90% from 1990, when there were over 300 rose growers.17 This U.S. industry no
longer exists in a large scale due to international competition. This is specifically true for the east
coast of the U.S., as well as the state of Virginia.
In 2002, Lynchburg City considered turning the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Rang property into
a parking lot for the city’s baseball stadium, but nothing came of the proposal. Lynchburg
Grows, a local non-profit organization, bought the property in 2004 in order to preserve the
historical complex and to promote local food production in Lynchburg. This property now
operates year round as an urban vegetable and flower farm, providing fresh produce to the
community and job training for people with disabilities. Lynchburg Grows has received
thousands of visitors since opening its doors in 2004 and partners with state and local schools to
promote agricultural education. It provides a unique cultural experience to this urban population
and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come.
Criterion C – Architecture
The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range is a well-preserved, evolved 20th century cut-flower
production complex, ranging from primitive root cellars to electronic climate control, and
represents almost a century of this lost industry’s operation. The intact 1920 complex includes
the production and support facilities that were necessary for a cut-flower wholesale operation of
the period, while the later twentieth century resources represent updates and innovations in
operations.
The five extant 1920 greenhouses were designed and built by well-known greenhouse
manufacturers Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger. Each features original wood, metal, and
plate glass materials constructed in a manner and configuration to provide appropriate growing
conditions for mass-produced plants. The buildings retain their original form, finishes, and
fixtures, and have served the same production use since their construction. The 1920 power plant
was purpose-built to provide steam heat to the greenhouses to allow for plant propagation during
cold winter months, while the 1920 root cellar provided a cool place to force bulbs during hot
summer months and to store cut flowers prior to processing and shipping. Finally, the 1920
dwelling was a necessary feature to allow on-site residency by an employee responsible for the
power plant’s equipment. Alterations to the buildings are few, but for typical updates to improve
the heating, electrical, and mechanical systems where needed. This self-contained complex
illustrates a complete commercial grower’s operation during the 1920s. Given the steep decline
in the U.S. floriculture industry since the 1990s, the Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range is an
increasingly rare example of a niche industry that once contributed significantly to Virginia’s
commercial and agricultural base.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
By the mid-1950s, technological innovations led to changes in production and construction
methods for commercial growers. The original packing shed was replaced by a new cinder block
that featured a walk-in cooler – technology that did not exist during the 1920s. Electrical
refrigeration improved the commercial concern’s storage and processing capacity. Meanwhile, a
greenhouse erected during c. 1955 has a poured concrete foundation, galvanized steel frame, and
tempered glass, representing both an evolution in greenhouse design and the types of
construction materials that were readily available at the time.
Resources constructed after 1964 are non-contributing as they postdate the property’s period of
significance. All were designed, however, to continue the floriculture’s operation and to expand
business operations. Of particular note, in addition to tempered glass, the greenhouses built
during the late 1960s and mid-1980s have aluminum frames. Aluminum is a much lighter and
less expensive material than the galvanized steel used on the c. 1955 greenhouse.
Currently, there are no other commercial greenhouse complexes in Virginia that are individually
listed in the National Register. In Loudoun County, the Goose Creek Historic District (DHR
#053-0002; NRHP 1982) includes a 1930s greenhouse complex that housed the Hilltop Floral
and Garden Center at the time of designation. The Blandy Experimental Farm Historic District
(DHR #021-0550; NRHP 1992) includes a 1941 research greenhouse with a concrete block
foundation and constructed of an iron frame with glass panels. A large exterior, gable end
concrete block chimney heated the space. It was used for growing and propagating plants for
agricultural research. Other institutional facilities, such as the DC Workhouse and Reformatory
Historic District (DHR #029-0547; NRHP 2012) also had greenhouses to support their
agricultural operations. The Roanoke Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District (DHR
#129-0038; NRHP 2012) has three greenhouses constructed in 1943, 1956, and 1999. The older
greenhouses have been renovated to include Plexiglass while the 1999 greenhouse utilizes clear
plastic frames. These greenhouses were used for therapeutic activities for veterans and provided
a steady supply of ornamental fresh flowers for the hospital. In a somewhat similar vein, the
Hotel Roanoke (DHR #128-0025; NRHP 1996) had its own greenhouse by 1893, and used it to
supply ornamental floral arrangements for its commercial operation.
The Doyle/Schenkel Greenhouse Range, therefore, represents a vanishing resource type in
Virginia. Its high level of integrity of design, workmanship, materials, and association make it
especially illustrative of a historic agricultural and commercial enterprise in the floriculture
industry, which has dwindled steeply from its height during the 1990s.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
“Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA).” Office of the United States Trade Representative.
N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept 2013.
Brooks, Dorothy S. “New Firm Here will Harvest Million Buds.” The News [Lynchburg, VA]
23 May 1952: n. pag. Print.
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
“Floriculture Crops.” National Agricultural Statistic Service, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.
“Frank Weiland.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 30 Oct. 2009.
“Here are Important Tips on Rose Culture.” The News [Lynchburg, VA] 3 Mar. 1954: n. pag.
Print.
“Herman Robert Schenkel Jr.” Tharp Funeral Home. N.p., n.d. Web. Aug. 2013.
“Herman Schenkel Jr.” Interview by Michael Van Ness. Sept. 2007.
Hewlett, Michael. “City Looking to Build New Athletic Fields.” The News and Advance
[Lynchburg, VA] 9 Jan. 2002: n. pag. Print.
Hobbs, T. Gibson, Jr. “Chapter 2: 1927-1936.” History of the Lynchburg Rotary Club. Central
Virginia Community College, n.d. Web. Aug. 2013.
“Over 150 Years of History.” Lord and Burnham. Under Glass, n.d. Web. July 2013.
“Richard Mosby.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 14 Jan. 2010.
“Schenkel Buys Doyle Greenhouse.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg, VA] 11 Jan. 1952: n.
pag. Print.
Schenkel, H. R., Jr. “Fresh Cut Roses from Columbia and Ecuador.” Speech. Before the
United States International Trade Commission. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Invs. 731-TA-684685.
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
Sections 9-end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers.
By Joanna Bonarriva. Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003.
Web. Aug. 2013.
Von Kleist, Ric. “Isaacs Fools His Flowers Into Growing.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg,
VA] 4 Mar. 1949: n. pag. Print.
“W. M. Doyle Dies After Long Illness.” The Daily Advance [Lynchburg, VA] 19 Jan. 1970:
20. Print.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_x__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR No. 118-5294
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _6.8 acres_
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1. Latitude: 37.390570
Longitude: -79.165720
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary encompasses the extent of the property’s original acreage and is
shown on the attached map entitled, “Location Map – Aerial View.” It is bounded by 300 and
500 Rutherford Street to the southwest, 1310 Rutherford St. and Naval Reserve St. to the
southeast, Lynchburg City Stadium to the northeast, and 1350 and 1335 Englewood to the
northeast. The property’s City tax parcel number is 02807004.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundary was drawn to include all of the resources associated with the
property’s historic use as a greenhouse complex and coincides with the original boundaries
of the land purchased and used by the property’s original owners for its historic purpose.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Caroline Lucas
organization: Lynchburg Grows___________
street & number: 1339 Englewood Street______
city or town: Lynchburg_________ state: VA__________ zip code: 24501______
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
e-mail: info@lynchburggroww.org____
telephone: 434-846-5665___________
date: September 21, 2013___________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Lynchburg Grows
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: Independent City
State: Virginia
Photographer: Caroline Lucas
Date Photographed: September 19, 2013
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 14. Front of Greenhouses 1 and 2, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0001.
Photo 2 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 3, facing northwest
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0002.
Photo 3 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 4, facing southeast
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0003.
Photo 4 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 5, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0004.
Photo 5 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 6, facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0005.
Photo 6 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 7, facing northwest
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0006.
Photo 7 of 14. Back of Greenhouse 8, facing west
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0007.
Photo 8 of 14. Front of Greenhouse 9, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0008.
Photo 9 of 14. Farmhouse, facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0009.
Photo 10 of 14. Packing Shed, facing north
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0010.
Photo 11 of 14. Root Cellar, facing southeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0011.
Photo 12 of 14. Power plant, water cistern, and metal shed, facing south
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0012.
Photo 13 of 14. Vent crank in Greenhouse 3 listing John C. Moninger as manufacturer,
facing northeast
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0013.
Photo 14 of 14. Vent crank in greenhouse #7 listing Lord & Burnham as manufacturer,
facing east
VA_LynchburgCity_DoyleFloristInc_0014.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings.
Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended
(16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments
regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept.
of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Doyle Florist Inc./ H. R. Schenkel Inc.
Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
ENDNOTES
1
“Over 150 Years of History.” Lord and Burnham. Under Glass, n.d. Web. July 2013.
“Frank Weiland.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 30 Oct. 2009.
3
“Richard Mosby.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 14 Jan. 2010.
4
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
5
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
6
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
7
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
8
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
9
“Celia Doyle.” Interview by Aaron Lee. 22 Jan. 2010.
10
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
11
Brooks, Dorothy S. “New Firm Here will Harvest Million Buds.” The News [Lynchburg, VA] 23 May 1952: n.
pag. Print.
12
“Herman Schenkel Jr.” Interview by Michael Van Ness. Sept. 2007.
13
“Tommy Doyle.” Interview by Scott Lowman. Oct. 2008.
14
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
15
“Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA).” Office of the United States Trade Representative. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Sept 2013.
16
Schenkel, H. R., Jr. “Fresh Cut Roses from Columbia and Ecuador.” Speech. Before the United States
International Trade Commission. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Invs. 731-TA-684-685.
17
United States International Trade Commission. Industry and Trade Summary: Cut Flowers. By Joanna Bonarriva.
Vol. 3580. Washington, D.C.: Office of Industries, n.d. Feb. 2003. Web. Aug. 2013.
2
Sections 9-end page 21
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
Architecture Resources
USGS GIS Place names
County Boundaries
Title: Doyle Florist Inc./H.R. Schenkel Inc.
Date: 8/13/2014
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
USGS GIS Place names
County Boundaries
Title: Doyle Florist Inc./H.R. Schenkel Inc.
Date: 8/13/2014
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Sketch Map and Photo Key
Doyle Florist Inc./H. R. Schenkel Inc. Greenhouse Range
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR #118-5294
Historic Boundary
11
9
2
13
1
6
7
10
3
4
5
122
14
8
Contributing Resources
Lord & Burnham and John C. Moninger Co.
greenhouses, (Greenhouses 3-7)
Metropolitan greenhouse, (Greenhouse 8)
Farmhouse
Power Plant
Water cistern
Root Cellar Site Sketch
Packing Shed
Non-contributing Resources
Greenhouse 9
Ludy greenhouses (Greenhouses 1 and 2)
Metal storage shed
metal shed
1
Photo
Locations
Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Expires513112012)
OM6 No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
12/16/2010
02/22/2011
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin. How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification com ments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Virginia University of Lynchburg
other nameslsite number
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, Virginia Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary & College,
Virginia Seminary & College, VDHR 118-5297
2. Location
street & number 2058 Garfield Avenue
not for publication
city or town
vicinity
state
Lynchburg
Virginia
code
VA
county Independent City code
zip code 24501
3. StatelFederal Mency Certification
1 As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certrfy that this X nomination r e q u e s t for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I
I
I
In my opinion, the property
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
I
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
I
Sig&recf
certifJ;ng official
Date
1 Title
State or Federal agenc ylbureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets
-does
1
not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official
1
1
Tile
Date
State or Federal agenc ylbureau or Tribal Government
I
I
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this properly is:
1
I
1
entered in the National Register
-determ ined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
-rem oved from the National Register
other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Ac tion
I
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X private
public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
building(s)
X district
Site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
Contributing
3
0
0
1
4
Noncontributing
3
0
0
2
5
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION: College
EDUCATION: College
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Beaux Arts
foundation:
Colonial Revival
walls:
Brick
roof:
Metal
other:
Terra-cotta
Brick
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing
resources if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the
property, such as its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
See Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ETHNIC HERITAGE: BLACK
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1888-1960
Significant Dates
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Romulus C. Archer, Jr.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Period of Significance (justification)
See Continuation Sheets
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
See Continuation Sheets
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
See Continuation Sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ____ VDHR 118-5297__________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
6.82
Acreage of Property
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17
Zone
663532
Easting
4140284
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
2
3
Zone
Easting
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
4
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
The nominated property includes the following City of Lynchburg contiguous tax parcels: 05010008,
05010009, 05011014, 05016001, and 05017001.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The nominated property includes the land historically associated with the Virginia University of Lynchburg on
which the campus buildings stand and provides an appropriate setting.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Ashley Neville & John Salmon
organization Ashley Neville LLC
date 9/3/2010
street & number 112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1
telephone 804-798-2124
city or town Ashland
state
e-mail
VA
zip code 23005
ashleyneville@comcast.net
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
•
Continuation Sheets
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property:
Virginia University of Lynchburg
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
County:
Independent City
sdfsdf
Photographer: Ashley Neville
State: Virginia
Date Photographed: July 14, 2010
Description of Photograph(s) and number:
1 of _9_.
2 of 9.
3 of 9.
4 of 9
5 of 9
6 of 9
7 of 9
8 of 9
9 of 9
Humbles Hall, façade (west elevation), view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, façade and south elevation, view to the north
Humbles Hall, center tower, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, first floor corridor, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, auditorium, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, stairs, view to the north
Graham Hall, Façade (east elevation), view to the southwest
Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building, façade (north elevation), view to the
southeast
Hayes Monument, view to the southeast
Additional Documentation
Site Plan and Boundary, Virginia University of Lynchburg
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Virginia University of Lynchburg, established in 1888, is located in the southern part of the city of
Lynchburg, about one-and-a-half miles southwest of the downtown commercial and governmental district.
Today the campus consists of three historic academic buildings on 6.82 acres: Graham Hall (1917), Humbles
Hall (1920-21) and the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and Library Building (1946). Also located on
the campus are two dormitories built in the mid-1970s, and a shop building constructed about 1965. The main
portion of the campus is a 5.68-acre grass-covered, triangular-shaped lot where Graham Hall and the Mary Jane
Cachelin building are located and on which the original college buildings once stood. A limestone bust of
Gregory W. Hayes, the second president of the college, stands on this open green across from Humbles Hall.
The bell from the demolished Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall in front of the dormitories.
Each of the three buildings is stylistically different but their red brick construction ties them together. Humbles
Hall, a tall, two-story, red brick building with projecting center tower is the most imposing of the three and
overlooks the open green and the other two historic buildings. There are three contributing buildings, three
noncontributing buildings, one contributing object and one noncontributing object in this complex. All the
contributing buildings retain their architectural integrity with very few changes to either the decorative
architectural features or the original floor plan.
INVENTORY
Graham Hall
1917
Contributing Building
Humbles Hall
1920-1921
Contributing Building
Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building 1946 Contributing Building
Dormitory
ca. 1975
Noncontributing Building
Dormitory
ca. 1975
Noncontributing Building
Shop
ca. 1965
Noncontributing Building
Hayes Monument
ca. 1906
Contributing Object
Hayes Bell
post 1988
Noncontributing Object
Virginia University of Lynburg Entrance Sign ca. 1995 Noncontributing Object
DESCRIPTION
Campus
The Virginia University of Lynchburg is located in a residential area of southern Lynchburg known as
Seminary Hill after one of the college’s early names. It is set on the northwestern edge of this traditionally
African American neighborhood that is bounded on three sides by railroad tracks and on the east by Kemper
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street and Campbell Avenue. The brick campus buildings, especially Humbles Hall, stand in sharp contrast to
the one- and two-story mostly frame homes. Modest homes stand on the same block as Humbles Hall.
The main part of the campus today is an open grassy triangular-shaped plot that slopes down to the railroad
tracks of the Norfolk Southern Corp., which curve around the northwestern edge of the property. This was the
historic core of the campus where its first buildings were erected. Historic photographs and maps show the
early college buildings aligned along the western side of Garfield Avenue, one of the two public streets that run
through the campus. Hayes Hall, built between 1888 and 1911 and named for the second president of the
college, was an imposing three-and-a-half-story, brick, Second Empire-style building with a five-story central
tower that was reminiscent of collegiate architecture at the historically black colleges of Virginia State
University in Ettrick and Hampton Institute. 1 To the north of Hayes Hall stood Fox Hall, a women’s dormitory.
Built in 1913, it was also three stories tall but had a hipped roof instead of a mansard roof like Hayes Hall.
Both of these buildings were demolished in 1988.
Graham Hall, built in 1917 to serve as the dining hall, was sited between Hayes Hall and the woman’s
dormitory but at a distance to their rear. Facing east like the early campus buildings, Graham Hall is only one
story in height. Humbles Hall, built in 1921, was located across the street from Hayes Hall and its monumental
size and red brick construction, if not its Beaux Arts style, was comparable to Hayes Hall. In 1946 when the
new science building was constructed, it was sited to the rear of Hayes Hall on an axis with and facing Graham
Hall.
Early photographs of the campus show it to be quite open; however, by the late 1970s large trees lined Garfield
Avenue in front of Hayes Hall. The replacement of these trees along the street with younger, smaller trees has
returned the campus closer to its original appearance. The bust of the second president of the college, Gregory
W. Hayes, which once stood in a garden at the northern end of Hayes Hall, is now prominently located where
Hayes Hall once stood. Concrete sidewalks connect the statue with the three main buildings and two cedar
trees have been planted behind the statue. Sidewalks are also found along both sides of Garfield Avenue.
Semicircular brick walls with concrete finials flank the sidewalk entrance to the Hayes monument and the area
in front of the walls is landscaped with small trees and other plantings. A modern brick entrance sign is located
on the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street. Across Dewitt Street from the entrance sign, the
bell from Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall in front of the dormitories.
Buildings
Humbles Hall. Humbles Hall is the largest and most elaborate building on the campus of the Virginia
University of Lynchburg. The architect was Romulus C. Archer, Jr., an African American who largely practiced
in Washington, D.C. 2 Built in 1920-1921, it is a two-story building on a tall raised basement with a modified
flat/hipped roof that is not visible. The building is constructed of red brick of various hues laid in seven-course
bond with a Flemish-bond course between each of the seven courses of stretcher bricks on the façade and where
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the façade brick wraps around the corner. The sides and rear are laid in five-course American bond. The façade
has a deep, rich, red-brown color with a rusticated brick and raked joints below the cornice while the bricks
above are a lighter color. The sides and rear are also of a lighter color. Most of the trim is terra-cotta in a tan
color although the window and door surrounds have now been painted a contrasting white color. A decorative
brick watertable carries around the entire building and the bottom of the roof parapet is delineated on the sides
and rear by a soldier course of brick between two raised brick bands.
The building is a three-part composition with one-bay deep front and rear sections and an inset five-bay-deep
center section that contains the auditorium. Both the front and rear elevations are five bays wide and there are
projecting towers at each corner. The façade is composed of a projecting three-story center tower that contains
the main entrance and flanking two-story corner towers that also have entrances. The center tower is
accentuated by a one-story porch executed in terra-cotta with Ionic columns supporting a segmental pediment
with denticulated cornice and the words Humbles Hall incised into the architrave. Above the porch, paired
brick pilasters with terra-cotta trim define the tower on the second and third floors and support the heavy
cornice. The tower culminates with a roof balustrade of turned balusters between piers topped with urns. A
circular window decorates the third floor of the tower.
Each of the towers at the four corners is articulated with quoins. The three façade towers contain an entrance
inset into the face of the building that is reached by a set of monumental steps. The center opening has a plain,
wide, arched surround while the side doorways feature arched surrounds with corner blocks and a keystone. All
the surrounds are terra-cotta. The end entrances have double-leaf, paneled doors with a large single light while
the center door is a replacement glass-and-aluminum door. A fanlight tops each door. There is a recessed panel
above each of the corner tower doorways. The façade windows, like the doors, are inset into the building’s face
and are set off with brick soldier-course semicircular surrounds. The second floor corner and center windows
have keystones. The face of the facade features large tripartite windows with a paired window in each corner
tower. Multiple-light elliptical fanlights top all but the basement façade windows. A heavy stone cornice with
denticulated band tops the façade and wraps around the corner towers with triangular-shaped parapets above
each corner tower. Each of the tower parapets has a centered stone medallion with the date 1920 while the
cornerstone has a date of 1921.
The main level and basement windows on the sides are paired rectangular sash windows while the auditorium
features semicircular-arch stained-glass windows. Both the second-floor and auditorium windows have raised
brick surrounds, and recessed panels are found above the auditorium windows. The rear features paired
windows in the center bay and corner towers, which, like the front towers, are delineated with quoins and have
a pedimented roof parapet. The second and fourth bays have arched windows with sidelights and fanlights. All
rear windows have the same surrounds as the sides. The center rear entrance into the basement features a
semicircular-arched opening with fanlight and raised brick surround. Brick pilasters flank the doorway and
support a projecting cornice. A brick elevator shaft has been added to the south side of the southeast tower.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interior of Humbles Hall features a double-loaded corridor plan on the first floor and an imposing
auditorium on the second floor. The basement, accessed through separate exterior entrances, contains a large
space that was once used as a gymnasium and assembly space. The one-bay-deep front section houses the
entrances and stair halls of the upper floors. The main entrance accesses a vestibule with engaged columns
flanking a replacement door that is topped by a five-pane transom. The vestibule also features a pressed-metal
cove cornice and ceiling. The open-well, half-turn stairs rise on both sides of the vestibule to the auditorium
and balcony lobbies. The stairs feature square paneled newels, wooden molded handrail, and a paneled stringer
that is echoed in the paneled balustrade. The wide central corridor on the main floor terminates at a lateral
corridor in the last bay that provides access to the rear rooms. The doorway into the rear corridor has the same
transom as the front door. Corridor doors are topped with transoms. Chair rail is found throughout the building.
The upper floors feature a 900-seat auditorium accessed through a lobby on both the main auditorium level and
the balcony level. The lobbies have arched openings that echo the arched façade windows that flood each lobby
with light. The auditorium has a plain proscenium with paneled pilasters at each side. The most dramatic
feature of the auditorium is its ceiling, which is composed of a series of parallel barrel vaults that span the width
of the building. Pressed tin in a coffered pattern covers the ceiling and pendant lights are suspended from it.
The balcony is supported by paneled columns with inverted triangular-shaped capitals and has a paneled
balustrade. The auditorium seats have decorative metal end panels with an ecclesiastical motif.
Graham Hall. Graham Hall, built in 1917, is the smallest of the three buildings and originally served as the
dining hall but is currently used for storage. It faces east towards Garfield Avenue but is sited well back from
the street. Hayes Hall and Fox Hall originally stood to the front of Graham Hall. It is a one-story, five-bay
building constructed of brick laid in five-course American bond. It has a hipped roof of standing-seam metal
with deep eaves that conceal the gutters. A three-bay, pedimented porch supported by Tuscan columns is
centered on the facade. The entrance has double-leaf, seven-panel doors with transom and sidelights. Windows
are six-over-six-light double-hung, wooden sash windows and most openings are topped by a three-course
segmental arch. The window sills are cast stone and are aligned with a continuous stone beltcourse around the
main block of the building; however, the sills have been painted white to match the windows. There is also a
three-course raised watertable along the north side and rear.
The interior of the rectangular-shaped building is one large room with a narrower section across the rear that
housed the dining hall kitchen. A 1970s brick addition at the front of the north elevation contained an office
and two restrooms.
The front door opens immediately into the large former dining room. Straight ahead on the rear wall are two
doors into the former kitchen area. The center door has plain board trim while the southern door has Colonial
Revival-style trim and a transom suggesting that the center door may not be original. There is chair rail around
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the entire perimeter of the room. Both the cove cornice and ceiling are covered with decorative pressed metal.
Pendant lights are suspended from the ceiling. There are two shallow interior chimneys on each side wall with
a firebox opening but no mantel and no exterior stack.
The Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building. The Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial
Science & Library Building was built in 1946 as the library and science building. The building faces north
towards Graham Hall and the interior of the green. The rectangular-shaped, almost flat-roof building is nine
bays long by six bays wide. The building has brick, load-bearing walls on the lower level while the upper level
is of light-weight steel column-and-beam construction. The lower level is parged while the upper level is brick
laid in a bond like the façade of Humbles Hall. A course of Flemish bond separates five rows of stretchers.
This bond is used on all sides of the building. A raised watertable separates the upper and lower floors and
there is a corresponding band between the upper floor and roof parapet.
Decoration on the building is focused on the center three bays of the façade, which has been parged in its
entirety. Pilasters divide the center section into three window bays with the name of the building on the frieze.
The entrance into the building is on the lower level and the replacement door has a shouldered architrave
surround topped by a broken pediment. A paired four-over-four-light window is located above the entrance
with elongated triple-hung sash windows in the flanking upper level bays. The lower- level bays have smaller
six-over-six-light windows. The remaining façade windows are all six-over-six-light double-hung sash
windows although the upper-level windows are larger than the lower-level windows. The sides have paired sixover-six-light windows, except for the end bays, which are single windows or a door. The rear also has single
windows.
The entrance opens into a landing between floors of a double-return stair with wrought-iron railings. A hallway
extends across the front, the length of the building on the upper level with the library occupying the space to the
rear (south) and east side, and classrooms on the west side and lower level. A double-leaf door with shouldered
architrave trim provided access into the library. Other doorways have plain trim.
Hayes Monument. The Hayes Monument is a limestone bust of Gregory W. Hayes on a marble base. Hayes
was the college’s second president and the bust was erected shortly after his sudden death in 1906. It stands on
the site of Hayes Hall although it originally stood in a landscaped garden at the north end of building. The
monument is flanked by two urns and the entire compositions stands on a concrete paving. The sidewalk that
connects the three main campus buildings encircles the monument. The cedar trees stand to the rear of the
monument. The Hayes Monument is a contributing object.
Dormitories (2). There are two identical noncontributing dormitories located on the southwest corner of
Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street and face Garfield Avenue. The buildings are two-story, brick veneer,
rectangular blocks with shallow-slope gable roofs. Each side has a two-story, two-level metal porch that
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
provides access to each room. Each room has a modern paneled door and sliding windows. Noncontributing
(2) Buildings
Shop. The shop is a long, one-story, two-bay, concrete-block building with a gable roof. The gable-end entry
is sheltered by a one-bay gable-roof porch. There is a large fixed window on the façade and several smaller
windows down the side. There is a small addition to the rear. Noncontributing Building
Hayes Bell. The bell from the demolished Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall that is located on
the southwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street in the block with the dormitories. Noncontributing
Object
Virginia University of Lynchburg Entrance Sign. Located on the east corner of the intersection of Garfield
Avenue and Dewitt Street, the sign was constructed about 1995. The brick sign features a panel between two
taller pillars each topped with a concrete ball finial. Raised white lettering is centered on the panel.
Noncontributing Object
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Virginia University of Lynchburg, located at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street, is the oldest
institution of higher education in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the first associated with African American
education. It was incorporated in 1888 as Lynchburg Baptist Seminary and the cornerstone of the first building,
Hayes Hall, was laid in that year. Hayes Hall served as the main classroom building; it was demolished in
1988. A limestone monument to the hall’s namesake, Gregory W. Hayes, the institution’s second president,
was erected soon after his death in 1906. It stands on the Hayes Hall site. Three historic buildings survive
today: Graham Hall (ca.1917), Humbles Hall (ca. 1921), and the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and
Library Building (1946).
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
Virginia University of Lynchburg meets National Register of Historic Places Criterion A (Education/Ethnic
Heritage) for its association with the self-help movement that African Americans initiated in the decades
following the Civil War. It also meets Criterion C (Architecture) for its examples of the collegiate architecture
in a variety of styles. The school retains the integrity of its historic location, association, setting, feeling,
design, materials, and workmanship. The period of significance begins with the school’s incorporation in 1888
and ends in 1960 (fifty years ago) because the college continued to function as an important institution of
African American higher education through the end of the period of significance.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In May 1886, the Virginia Baptist State Convention, an association of African American Baptist churches, met
at the First Baptist Church in Lexington, Virginia. The Convention had been organized at Zion Baptist Church
in Portsmouth, Virginia, on May 9, 1866; the meeting in Lexington was the nineteenth annual session. The
higher education of African Americans, which had been the subject of extensive debate in the black community
since the end of the Civil War, was on the minds of those attending the session. The Rev. Phillip F. Morris,
pastor of Court Street Baptist Church in Lynchburg, offered a resolution to establish a seminary; the convention
approved it. In June and August 1886, during the Education Committee’s planning meetings, bids from
Liberty, Lexington, and Lynchburg were considered. The committee approved Lynchburg because of the city’s
central location, the large black community there, the fact that three railroads served the city, and the
opportunities for black employment with the rail lines. In addition, the African American attorney James H.
Hayes, an educator and politician who served briefly on Richmond City Council, agreed to pursue a charter for
the school from the Virginia General Assembly. A six-acre lot was purchased for $1,800 in Lynchburg at the
corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street. At Danville in May 1887, during the Convention’s twentieth
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
annual session, the membership approved the Lynchburg location, the plans for the school, the design of the
first building, and the acquisition of a charter. The cornerstone of the first permanent building, later named
Hayes Hall, was laid in 1888. The school thus became the earliest institution of higher education in or near
Lynchburg, predating Randolph-Macon Women’s College (1893), Sweet Briar College (1901), and Lynchburg
College (1903). When the school opened in 1890, its first classes were held in a dilapidated one-story frame
structure, little more than a shed, that stood near the bluff overlooking the railroad. 3
During the last three-and-a-half decades of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, newly
liberated people struggled for a share of the American dream in the face of Jim Crow laws and abandonment by
the government that during the first few years after the Civil War had espoused freedom and equal treatment
under the law. Although many whites supported black aspirations, many did not. To what degree could
African Americans rely on the powerful white establishment for support, and to what degree should blacks
move toward near-total self-reliance? Should African Americans press aggressively for immediate access to
their rights or take a more gradual approach so as to calm white fears? Should higher education for blacks
focus on the trades that were accessible to them, or on the professions that were generally closed or restricted?
These and other questions were fiercely debated, with great African American spokesmen taking every
available position: Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and others
dominated the debate.
These disagreements influenced the founding, administration, and development of schools of higher education
for African Americans in postwar Virginia. The most eminent such institution, present-day Hampton
University, was founded in 1868 and was the epitome of the cooperationist and trade-school precepts of Booker
T. Washington. He graduated from the school and founded Tuskegee University. Many whites taught at
Hampton as well as blacks. In Richmond, Virginia Union University evolved from humble origins in
Lumpkin’s Jail in 1867 to the present spacious campus with a collection of handsome late-Victorian buildings
constructed between 1899 and 1901. Founded primarily as a Baptist seminary, the school became noted for its
educators and other professionals—the counterpoint to Hampton University. Like Hampton, however, Virginia
Union employed white academics and administrators as well as blacks. Then, between 1886 and 1890, Virginia
Baptist Seminary, “the other prominent Negro theological institution in this State,” came into being and took
African American higher education in a new direction. 4
A historian writing in 1914 described Virginia Baptist Seminary this way:
This institution is now a school “of the Negroes, by the Negroes and for the
Negroes.” Its alumni have done meritorious service in the ministry and have
reflected credit on their alma mater. The fact that its faculty is made up of
Negroes entirely is very interesting. Is the time ripe for Negroes to assume control
of the education of their own race, or has the white man work to do yet in aiding
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
this racial uplift? Virginia Theological Seminary and College [the name was
changed twice before 1914] has answered the question in one way, and Virginia
Union University and Hampton have answered it in the other. 5
The Virginia General Assembly chartered Lynchburg Baptist Seminary on February 24, 1888. On March 20,
1895, the institution changed its name to Virginia Seminary; on August 1, 1900, it was changed again, to
Virginia Theological Seminary and College. The changes of the name reflected the changes in function and
purpose that the school underwent in the first two decades of its existence. 6 Virginia’s other historically black
institutions of higher education established during the same period include Virginia State University (1882)
near Petersburg in Ettrick, and Saint Paul’s College (1885) in Lawrenceville. Norfolk State University was
created in 1935.
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, under the guidance of its founding president, the Rev. Phillip F. Morris, at first
was primarily a seminary for the education of ministers, with coeducational secondary classes taught as well. It
was also intended from the start to be independent of white control and white funding. Morris soon understood,
however, that the school could not survive without white financial assistance. He therefore entered into an
affiliation with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, an organization that whites had founded in 1832
in New York City, and the Society gave the new institution matching grants to pay the teachers. Morris
resigned in 1891, probably to devote himself to fundraising. Gregory W. Hayes, who taught history and
mathematics at state-funded Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (present-day Virginia State University) in
Petersburg, became president. Having experienced an academic environment supported by both whites and
blacks through tax revenues, Hayes was determined that his new school would become a college as well as a
seminary. Under his guidance, it also became largely independent of white control and white funding—of, by,
and for African Americans—the black-controlled academic institution described in 1914. 7
Given the financial challenges facing African Americans, Hayes realized that it would be years if ever before
blacks alone could provide the funding that Virginia Seminary needed to grow and survive. He strove,
however, to make it as independent of white control as possible and was an assertive advocate of self-help
rather than a cooperationist. Although Hayes would accept money for the school from white donors, he would
not let them dictate policy. In 1899, a major battle occurred within the Virginia Baptist State Convention at
Lexington during its thirty-second annual session between cooperationists and Hayes and his fellow self-help
advocates. The cooperationists wished to remove Hayes from the presidency. The self-help supporters wished
to end the school’s affiliation with the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Hayes and the self-help
advocates prevailed, so angering the cooperationists that they left the Convention, organized the General
Association of Virginia (Colored) and shifted their support to Virginia Union University. Once the ties to the
Society were cut, African American monetary contributions to the school increased. 8
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hayes did not decline all financial assistance from white organizations, however. The American Baptist
Convention, the dominant northern white Baptist organization, had been contributing to Virginia Seminary’s
financial support and continued to do so after the schism but demanded that the school follow the HamptonTuskegee model and cease teaching academic courses. Hayes refused to do so. Allegedly, when inspectors
from the Convention visited Virginia Seminary while classes were in progress, Hayes made sure that they only
saw the trade and sewing classes, not the rooms where Greek and literature were taught. The courses of study
under Hayes included college preparatory classes, collegiate classes, a theological course, and teacher-training
classes. 9
Besides fighting for financial independence and an academic course of study, Hayes also struggled with the
seemingly endless effort to complete the main building. Although the cornerstone of the building, later named
Hayes Hall, had been laid in 1888, the construction process continued for years even as classes were conducted
there. In 1891–1892, a three-story, forty-by-eighty-foot rear wing was built, with the first level being
completed then for use as a dining area. In 1893, fundraising was under way to put a roof on the main building
(whether over just the dining hall or the entire main building was not stated). Not until about 1911 was Hayes
Hall finally completed. 10
President Hayes died suddenly in 1906 at the age of forty-four; some years later, he was honored with a
monument—his bust atop a tall pedestal—that stands today on the site of Hayes Hall. His wife, Mary Rice
Hayes, took charge as acting president for two years. James R. L. Diggs succeeded her and remained in office
until 1911, when Robert C. Woods assumed the presidency. He served until 1926, and during his term in office
three buildings were constructed: Fox Hall (women’s dormitory, ca. 1913; later demolished), Graham Hall
(dining room and kitchen; ca. 1917; still standing), and Humbles Hall (administration building; ca. 1921; still
standing). Woods purchased adjoining lots and cottages to expand the campus. During Woods’s tenure, the
school also became renowned for its men’s football and basketball teams. 11
Of these buildings, Humbles Hall is the largest and most important. Romulus C. Archer, Jr., an African
American architect whose office was in Washington, D.C., designed the building. Archer was born in Norfolk,
Virginia in 1890 and his father was a plastering contractor. Archer finished high school in Norfolk and
attended Mission College there for two years.
He studied architecture through the International
Correspondence School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a path taken by other African American architects at the
time. His final year of formal architecture training was undertaken at Columbia University in 1913. He
enlisted in the Army during World War I but did not see combat. He was employed for several months in 1921
as one of the few black architects in the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Supervising Architect, in
Washington, D.C. In December 1921, he opened his own practice from his home in Washington but two years
later moved to an office in the bustling African American business center on Florida Avenue NW near U Street.
In January 1926, the D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects issued Archer an architecture
license; he became the second African American architect in the city. The Young Men’s Christian Association
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
named him “Citizen of the Year” in 1964 for apprenticing so many young architects. Archer’s career largely
was centered in the northeast Brookland neighborhood of Washington where he designed houses, apartment
buildings, churches, and medium-sized commercial buildings. His practice also included ecclesiastical
architecture. He executed designs for five churches in Washington, as well as churches in Norfolk and
Danville. Archer died in 1968. 12
Humbles Hall is named in honor of Adolphus Humbles (1845–1926), an African American Lynchburg native
who was one of the school’s chief benefactors during the first four decades. After the Civil War, possessed of a
keen mind for business despite his lack of an education, Humbles became a merchant, the owner and operator
of a toll road from Lynchburg to the Campbell County seat of Rustburg, and a real estate investor. He was
alleged to be the wealthiest black man in Virginia, and he held the mortgage on Hayes Hall in 1900. When the
dining hall addition to Hayes Hall was constructed in 1891–1892, Humbles was the contractor for the
brickwork. Although some of the funding Humbles provided to the institution from its inception was in the
form of gifts, he more commonly made loans and was not reluctant to press for repayment. 13
The school’s financial stability continued to deteriorate, despite continuing pleas for support and the efforts of
men like Humbles and the president from 1926 to 1929, the Rev. William H. R. Powell. To augment the
school’s income and lower the cost of feeding the students, Powell purchased a farm in nearby Campbell
County and donated it to the seminary. During the years of the Great Depression especially, meat and produce
from the farm helped the school survive. Powell also devoted himself to fundraising with some success, and
substantially if temporarily reduced the school’s outstanding debt. In short order, however, the school once
more was in financial trouble, and rumors floated that it either would close or would merge with other
institutions and cease operations in Lynchburg. 14
Into the breach stepped Vernon Johns, the fiery preacher and early civil rights leader. Johns had attended the
school, and since leaving had acquired a reputation as a speaker and motivator. In June 1929, the school’s
directors chose him for president, a position he held until 1934. Despite possessing a difficult and abrasive
personality and little talent as a businessman, Johns not only continued the trend of recruiting renowned black
teachers to the school, but he also succeeded in putting the school on a better financial footing during the
darkest years of the Depression. Perhaps most remarkably, in 1930, the white Baptists of Lynchburg
cooperated with Johns and contributed very large sums to the school’s support. By December 1933, however,
there were accusations of financial irregularities, the school had lost part of its accreditation, and students were
threatening to strike over perceived abuses of power by Johns. The president’s relations with the school had so
soured that Johns submitted his resignation at a special meeting of the directors. The board accepted the
resignation in January 1934 and again chose William H. R. Powell as president. 15
For the next fifteen years, Powell commuted weekly by train to Lynchburg from Philadelphia, where he was
pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. He arrived in Lynchburg on Mondays, remained until Fridays, and then
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
returned to Philadelphia, where he ministered to his congregation and preached on Sundays. While in
Lynchburg, Powell not only tended to the usual duties of a school president (especially fundraising), but also
was frequently seen on campus in old clothes painting woodwork and otherwise laboring to keep up the
buildings. Powell enlisted students to assist him, and later he wrote,
Virginia Seminary has always been an apostle of ‘self-help.’ In keeping with this,
my policy has been to illustrate self-help in the management of the institution, as
well as to preach it to others. Thus through the years, I have asked no one for
anything that we could do for ourselves. We needed mattresses, we made them.
We needed a cellar, we dug it. Walks were needed on the campus, we laid them.
A library was needed, we built it. A heating plant was needed, we erected it.
Bread, vegetables, fruit and fowl, meat, butter, milk and eggs were needed, we
raised and provided them. The policy of the administration is self-help. I beg from
others only that which I cannot do for myself and guide the students in doing. 16
The library—known as the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and Library Building—was completed just
before Powell left office in 1946. It was constructed in stages by a local contractor, Powell having conceived
the project, drawn the plans, and arranged the financing. As each stage was completed and approved, Powell
paid the contractor. Despite Powell’s efforts to control expenses and increase revenues, however, the financial
condition of the school continued to be tenuous. Factions developed among the directors, and in 1946 Powell
resigned. 17
The board selected Madison C. Allen to replace Powell. During Allen’s long tenure the name of the institution
was changed on May 15, 1962, to Virginia Seminary and College. Allen’s term in office coincided with the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Several Virginia Seminary and College students were arrested
in 1961 for participating in a Lynchburg lunch-counter sit-in and some were sentenced to brief jail terms. The
financial situation did not improve and the infrastructure deteriorated over the years. Allen died in 1966 and
MacCarthy C. Southerland was chosen to be president (1966–1980). The college and the seminary became
separate entities in 1972 but remained under the same administration. 18
On October 15, 1979, arsonists broke into the Cachelin science and library building and started a fire that
caused $75,000 in damage, primarily furniture and equipment. Four students were arrested, convicted of
burglary and arson, and sentenced to prison. During the investigation, local and federal officials uncovered
evidence that led them to suspect that federally sponsored student loans had been misused. On February 13,
1980, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Treasury Department raided the president’s office
and seized financial records. The school was briefly closed and the students attended other institutions
temporarily. The seminary reopened in April, but the college remained closed for the rest of the session.
Southerland resigned at the end of May. 19
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Subsequent presidents include Benjamin W. Robertson (1980), Leroy Fitts (1980–1981), Thomas E. Parker
(1982–1987), Melvin R. Boone (1988–1990), Ada M. Parker (1990–1992), Elisha G. Hall (1992–1999), and
Ralph Reavis (2000–present). During Boone’s tenure as president, Hayes Hall, the first building erected at the
school, was demolished despite efforts to raise funds for its preservation and restoration. The school’s name
was changed on December 16, 1966, to Virginia University of Lynchburg. 20
Campus design in the period after the Civil War changed to accommodate entirely new types of schools to serve
students for whom a college education had not traditionally been available. The new schools included land
grant colleges, technical and professional schools, and schools for women and African Americans as well as
special-needs students, greatly expanding the types of buildings that were constructed. College architects and
designers sought to convey a new democratic philosophy in their designs for college campuses and their
buildings. College design during this period exhibited simplicity and a modest scale both because of necessity
and a desire for less ostentatious architecture. It was heavily influenced by the design of Frederick Law
Olmstead who designed the campuses of several land-grant colleges and universities during the late nineteenth
century. 21
In the early twentieth century, the Beaux Arts system of architectural planning and design heavily influenced
campus design. Beaux Arts design promoted planning on a monumental scale and emphasized symmetry,
order, and formality through the use of axial design and focal points. This concept was also used to bring order
to campuses that had evolved without formal plan.
While these philosophies were the ideal, not all colleges and universities had the resources or the foresight to
plan in this manner. After the construction of the first cluster of buildings when a college was established,
many of the state-owned colleges and universities in the state of Virginia developed only as money became
available and according to no master plan. Those colleges with public streets running through the campus were
at a distinct disadvantage when trying to create a cohesive campus. Examples of state colleges and universities
that developed in this fashion include Longwood, Radford University, Virginia State University, Norfolk State
University, and especially the urban institutions: Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion
University. The placement of the early buildings of Hampton Institute, a National Historic Landmark, shows no
overarching plan. On many of these campuses, the element that tied the campus together is the consistent use of
the same material for all the buildings while the same architectural style was not necessarily used. Red brick
was frequently the material chosen that brought some cohesion to the campus. Buildings at Longwood,
Radford, and Virginia State were predominantly constructed using red brick. Building styles on these campuses
can vary widely, especially in the post-1960 period. It is only on the campuses of the University of Virginia,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Virginia Military Institute that there is a definable
campus plan and architectural style to its individual buildings.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The campus of the Virginia University of Lynchburg has evolved over time according to no discernable plan or
unified style. The loss of two of its early buildings in the 1980s considerably changed the campus. The original
campus building, Hayes Hall (1881-1911), was of monumental proportions in the Second Empire style. It was
follow by a similar-sized building in a similar style in 1913 when Fox Hall was built adjacent to Hays Hall,
with both facing Garfield Avenue. The third campus building, a Colonial Revival-style dining hall built in
1917, was sited to the rear of the first two buildings and was clearly subservient to them. Humbles Hall, (19201921) built in the Beaux Arts Classicism tradition, was placed across the public street from Hayes Hall. The
fourth building, a science and library building constructed in 1946 also in the Beaux Arts tradition, was located
southwest of Hayes and Humbles Hall. Unlike the three earlier buildings, with the exception of the dining hall,
the science building faced away from the public street and instead faced the interior of the campus. This
arrangement had three of the five buildings facing the center of the main part of the campus with Hayes and Fox
halls in the center. In the 1970s, two small dormitories were constructed in the next block and again faced the
street, returning to the original idea of building placement. The loss of both Hayes and Fox Hall in the 1980s
created a wide-open appearance for the university. The placement of the Hayes monument across from
Humbles Hall and the use of landscaping and sidewalks has created a focal point on the main part of the campus
and has united the major buildings in a manner reminiscent of the Beaux Arts tradition but this is a later effort
to unite the main part of the campus that was not historically employed on this or many other college campuses
in the state.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 9
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Baptist Year-Book, 1888. Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society, 1888.
Baltimore Afro-American. August 7, 1982.
Belsches, Elvatrice Parker. Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing,
2002.
Caldwell, A. B. History of the American Negro, Virginia Edition. Atlanta, Ga.: A. B. Caldwell Publishing Co.,
1921.
Cote, Richard C., and Margaret T. Peters. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Hayes Hall.
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary. Lynchburg, Va. 1979. File No. 118-59. Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond, Va. (DHR).
Earnest, Joseph B., Jr. The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia. Charlottesville, Va.: The Michie
Co., 1914.
Fifteenth Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia for the Year Ending December 31,
1917. Richmond, Va.: Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1918.
Hayes Hall Survey File. No. 118-59. DHR.
Iowa State Bystander. March 30, 1900.
Land and Community Associates. Survey of State-Owned Properties: Institutions of Higher Education. Draft.
May 1991. DHR.
Laslett, William L. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Draft. Lynchburg Baptist Seminary.
March 5, 2010. DHR.
Legacy Museum Web site. www.legacymuseum.org. Accessed August 30, 2010.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. May 8, 1980.
Powell, Henry W. Witness to Civil Rights History. Hasting, N.Y.: Patrick Cooney, 2000. On The Vernon
Johns Society Web site. www.vernonjohns.org. Accessed August 18, 2010.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number End Notes
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Endnotes
1
Hayes Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 but was delisted when it was demolished in 1988.
Wells & Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955, (Richmond: New South Architectural Press, 1997) p. 10.
3
Baltimore Afro-American, August 7, 1982, p. 6, “Noted Clergyman named Virginia Seminary and College president”; Ralph
Reavis, Virginia Seminary: A Journey of Black Independence (Bedford, Va.: The Print Shop, 1990), 41–44; Joseph B. Earnest, Jr.,
The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.: The Michie Co., 1914), 110; Elvatrice Parker Belsches,
Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 91; American Baptist Year-Book, 1888
(Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society, 1888), 67; Richard C. Cote and Margaret T. Peters, National Register of
Historic Places Nomination, Hayes Hall, Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, Lynchburg, Va., 1979, File No. 118-59, Virginia Department
of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va. (DHR); William L. Laslett, National Register of Historic Places draft, “Lynchburg Baptist
Seminary,” March 5, 2010, DHR; Legacy Museum Web site, www.legacymuseum.org, accessed August 30, 2010.
4
Earnest, Religious Development, 114–117.
5
Ibid., 117–118.
6
Fifteenth Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia for the Year Ending December 31, 1917 (Richmond, Va.:
Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1918), 155.
7
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 58–59, 61–62.
8
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 113–120.
9
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 123.
10
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 74, 80, 123.
11
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010; Virginia University of Lynchburg Web site,
www.vul.edu, accessed August 28, 2010; Washington Bee, December 6, 1913, reported that the women’s dormitory was under
construction; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 123.
12
Romulus Cornelius Archer, Jr., Book Rags, http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/romulus-cornelius-archer-jr-tf/. accessed August 30,
2010.
13
Laslett, “Lynchburg Baptist Seminary,” DHR; A. B. Caldwell, History of the American Negro, Virginia Edition (Atlanta, Ga.: A. B.
Caldwell Publishing Co., 1921), 61–63; Iowa State Bystander, March 30, 1900; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 74, 121.
14
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010. The farm has since been sold.
15
Ibid.
16
Henry W. Powell, Witness to Civil Rights History (Hasting, N.Y.: Patrick Cooney, 2000), on The Vernon Johns Society Web site,
www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.; Washington Post, February 12, 1961.
19
Washington Post, February 14, 1980; ibid., April 18, 1980; Lynchburg Daily Advance, May 8, 1980.
20
Laslett, “Lynchburg Baptist Seminary,” DHR; Powell, Witness, www.vernonjohns.org; Virginia University of Lynchburg Web site,
www.vul.edu, accessed Aug. 30, 2010; Hayes Hall Survey File, No. 118-59, DHR.
21
Land and Community Associates, Survey of State-Owned Properties: Institutions of High Education (Draft), prepared for Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA., Revised 1991, p. 24.
2
City Hall, 900 Church Street
Lynchburg, Virginia 24504 (434) 455-3894
FAX (434) 845-7630
Community Development Department
Planning Division
November 15, 2010
Mr. Marc Christian Wagner
State and National Registers Manager
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23221
RE: Virginia University of Lynchburg
- National Register Nomination
Dear Mr. Wagner:
The National Register Nomination of Virginia University of Lynchburg has been carefully reviewed by the City's
Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) as requested.
After discussion October 18, 2010, the HPC voted 6-0 with 1member absent to support the National Register
Nomination. I n recommending support the HPC recommends that the propetty be included on the National
Register for its ethnic significance and, for its variety of collegiate architecture.
I f you have further questions, please contact me at (434) 455-3915.
Sincerely,
Kevin T. Henry
Planner I1 / Secretary Historic Preservation Commission
(Expires513112012)
OM6 No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
12/16/2010
02/22/2011
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin. How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification com ments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Virginia University of Lynchburg
other nameslsite number
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, Virginia Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary & College,
Virginia Seminary & College, VDHR 118-5297
2. Location
street & number 2058 Garfield Avenue
not for publication
city or town
vicinity
state
Lynchburg
Virginia
code
VA
county Independent City code
zip code 24501
3. StatelFederal Mency Certification
1 As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certrfy that this X nomination r e q u e s t for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I
I
I
In my opinion, the property
meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
I
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
I
Sig&recf
certifJ;ng official
Date
1 Title
State or Federal agenc ylbureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property -meets
-does
1
not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official
1
1
Tile
Date
State or Federal agenc ylbureau or Tribal Government
I
I
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this properly is:
1
I
1
entered in the National Register
-determ ined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
-rem oved from the National Register
other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Ac tion
I
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X private
public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
building(s)
X district
Site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
Contributing
3
0
0
1
4
Noncontributing
3
0
0
2
5
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION: College
EDUCATION: College
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Beaux Arts
foundation:
Colonial Revival
walls:
Brick
roof:
Metal
other:
Terra-cotta
Brick
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing
resources if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the
property, such as its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
See Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ETHNIC HERITAGE: BLACK
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1888-1960
Significant Dates
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Romulus C. Archer, Jr.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Period of Significance (justification)
See Continuation Sheets
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
See Continuation Sheets
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
See Continuation Sheet
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
See Continuation Sheet
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ____ VDHR 118-5297__________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
6.82
Acreage of Property
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17
Zone
663532
Easting
4140284
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
2
3
Zone
Easting
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
4
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
The nominated property includes the following City of Lynchburg contiguous tax parcels: 05010008,
05010009, 05011014, 05016001, and 05017001.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The nominated property includes the land historically associated with the Virginia University of Lynchburg on
which the campus buildings stand and provides an appropriate setting.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Ashley Neville & John Salmon
organization Ashley Neville LLC
date 9/3/2010
street & number 112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1
telephone 804-798-2124
city or town Ashland
state
VA
zip code 23005
ashleyneville@comcast.net
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
•
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
•
Continuation Sheets
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property:
Virginia University of Lynchburg
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
County:
Independent City
sdfsdf
Photographer: Ashley Neville
State: Virginia
Date Photographed: July 14, 2010
Description of Photograph(s) and number:
1 of _9_.
2 of 9.
3 of 9.
4 of 9
5 of 9
6 of 9
7 of 9
8 of 9
9 of 9
Humbles Hall, façade (west elevation), view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, façade and south elevation, view to the north
Humbles Hall, center tower, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, first floor corridor, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, auditorium, view to the northeast
Humbles Hall, stairs, view to the north
Graham Hall, Façade (east elevation), view to the southwest
Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building, façade (north elevation), view to the
southeast
Hayes Monument, view to the southeast
Additional Documentation
Site Plan and Boundary, Virginia University of Lynchburg
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Virginia University of Lynchburg, established in 1888, is located in the southern part of the city of
Lynchburg, about one-and-a-half miles southwest of the downtown commercial and governmental district.
Today the campus consists of three historic academic buildings on 6.82 acres: Graham Hall (1917), Humbles
Hall (1920-21) and the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and Library Building (1946). Also located on
the campus are two dormitories built in the mid-1970s, and a shop building constructed about 1965. The main
portion of the campus is a 5.68-acre grass-covered, triangular-shaped lot where Graham Hall and the Mary Jane
Cachelin building are located and on which the original college buildings once stood. A limestone bust of
Gregory W. Hayes, the second president of the college, stands on this open green across from Humbles Hall.
The bell from the demolished Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall in front of the dormitories.
Each of the three buildings is stylistically different but their red brick construction ties them together. Humbles
Hall, a tall, two-story, red brick building with projecting center tower is the most imposing of the three and
overlooks the open green and the other two historic buildings. There are three contributing buildings, three
noncontributing buildings, one contributing object and one noncontributing object in this complex. All the
contributing buildings retain their architectural integrity with very few changes to either the decorative
architectural features or the original floor plan.
INVENTORY
Graham Hall
1917
Contributing Building
Humbles Hall
1920-1921
Contributing Building
Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building 1946 Contributing Building
Dormitory
ca. 1975
Noncontributing Building
Dormitory
ca. 1975
Noncontributing Building
Shop
ca. 1965
Noncontributing Building
Hayes Monument
ca. 1906
Contributing Object
Hayes Bell
post 1988
Noncontributing Object
Virginia University of Lynburg Entrance Sign ca. 1995 Noncontributing Object
DESCRIPTION
Campus
The Virginia University of Lynchburg is located in a residential area of southern Lynchburg known as
Seminary Hill after one of the college’s early names. It is set on the northwestern edge of this traditionally
African American neighborhood that is bounded on three sides by railroad tracks and on the east by Kemper
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street and Campbell Avenue. The brick campus buildings, especially Humbles Hall, stand in sharp contrast to
the one- and two-story mostly frame homes. Modest homes stand on the same block as Humbles Hall.
The main part of the campus today is an open grassy triangular-shaped plot that slopes down to the railroad
tracks of the Norfolk Southern Corp., which curve around the northwestern edge of the property. This was the
historic core of the campus where its first buildings were erected. Historic photographs and maps show the
early college buildings aligned along the western side of Garfield Avenue, one of the two public streets that run
through the campus. Hayes Hall, built between 1888 and 1911 and named for the second president of the
college, was an imposing three-and-a-half-story, brick, Second Empire-style building with a five-story central
tower that was reminiscent of collegiate architecture at the historically black colleges of Virginia State
University in Ettrick and Hampton Institute. 1 To the north of Hayes Hall stood Fox Hall, a women’s dormitory.
Built in 1913, it was also three stories tall but had a hipped roof instead of a mansard roof like Hayes Hall.
Both of these buildings were demolished in 1988.
Graham Hall, built in 1917 to serve as the dining hall, was sited between Hayes Hall and the woman’s
dormitory but at a distance to their rear. Facing east like the early campus buildings, Graham Hall is only one
story in height. Humbles Hall, built in 1921, was located across the street from Hayes Hall and its monumental
size and red brick construction, if not its Beaux Arts style, was comparable to Hayes Hall. In 1946 when the
new science building was constructed, it was sited to the rear of Hayes Hall on an axis with and facing Graham
Hall.
Early photographs of the campus show it to be quite open; however, by the late 1970s large trees lined Garfield
Avenue in front of Hayes Hall. The replacement of these trees along the street with younger, smaller trees has
returned the campus closer to its original appearance. The bust of the second president of the college, Gregory
W. Hayes, which once stood in a garden at the northern end of Hayes Hall, is now prominently located where
Hayes Hall once stood. Concrete sidewalks connect the statue with the three main buildings and two cedar
trees have been planted behind the statue. Sidewalks are also found along both sides of Garfield Avenue.
Semicircular brick walls with concrete finials flank the sidewalk entrance to the Hayes monument and the area
in front of the walls is landscaped with small trees and other plantings. A modern brick entrance sign is located
on the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street. Across Dewitt Street from the entrance sign, the
bell from Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall in front of the dormitories.
Buildings
Humbles Hall. Humbles Hall is the largest and most elaborate building on the campus of the Virginia
University of Lynchburg. The architect was Romulus C. Archer, Jr., an African American who largely practiced
in Washington, D.C. 2 Built in 1920-1921, it is a two-story building on a tall raised basement with a modified
flat/hipped roof that is not visible. The building is constructed of red brick of various hues laid in seven-course
bond with a Flemish-bond course between each of the seven courses of stretcher bricks on the façade and where
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the façade brick wraps around the corner. The sides and rear are laid in five-course American bond. The façade
has a deep, rich, red-brown color with a rusticated brick and raked joints below the cornice while the bricks
above are a lighter color. The sides and rear are also of a lighter color. Most of the trim is terra-cotta in a tan
color although the window and door surrounds have now been painted a contrasting white color. A decorative
brick watertable carries around the entire building and the bottom of the roof parapet is delineated on the sides
and rear by a soldier course of brick between two raised brick bands.
The building is a three-part composition with one-bay deep front and rear sections and an inset five-bay-deep
center section that contains the auditorium. Both the front and rear elevations are five bays wide and there are
projecting towers at each corner. The façade is composed of a projecting three-story center tower that contains
the main entrance and flanking two-story corner towers that also have entrances. The center tower is
accentuated by a one-story porch executed in terra-cotta with Ionic columns supporting a segmental pediment
with denticulated cornice and the words Humbles Hall incised into the architrave. Above the porch, paired
brick pilasters with terra-cotta trim define the tower on the second and third floors and support the heavy
cornice. The tower culminates with a roof balustrade of turned balusters between piers topped with urns. A
circular window decorates the third floor of the tower.
Each of the towers at the four corners is articulated with quoins. The three façade towers contain an entrance
inset into the face of the building that is reached by a set of monumental steps. The center opening has a plain,
wide, arched surround while the side doorways feature arched surrounds with corner blocks and a keystone. All
the surrounds are terra-cotta. The end entrances have double-leaf, paneled doors with a large single light while
the center door is a replacement glass-and-aluminum door. A fanlight tops each door. There is a recessed panel
above each of the corner tower doorways. The façade windows, like the doors, are inset into the building’s face
and are set off with brick soldier-course semicircular surrounds. The second floor corner and center windows
have keystones. The face of the facade features large tripartite windows with a paired window in each corner
tower. Multiple-light elliptical fanlights top all but the basement façade windows. A heavy stone cornice with
denticulated band tops the façade and wraps around the corner towers with triangular-shaped parapets above
each corner tower. Each of the tower parapets has a centered stone medallion with the date 1920 while the
cornerstone has a date of 1921.
The main level and basement windows on the sides are paired rectangular sash windows while the auditorium
features semicircular-arch stained-glass windows. Both the second-floor and auditorium windows have raised
brick surrounds, and recessed panels are found above the auditorium windows. The rear features paired
windows in the center bay and corner towers, which, like the front towers, are delineated with quoins and have
a pedimented roof parapet. The second and fourth bays have arched windows with sidelights and fanlights. All
rear windows have the same surrounds as the sides. The center rear entrance into the basement features a
semicircular-arched opening with fanlight and raised brick surround. Brick pilasters flank the doorway and
support a projecting cornice. A brick elevator shaft has been added to the south side of the southeast tower.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interior of Humbles Hall features a double-loaded corridor plan on the first floor and an imposing
auditorium on the second floor. The basement, accessed through separate exterior entrances, contains a large
space that was once used as a gymnasium and assembly space. The one-bay-deep front section houses the
entrances and stair halls of the upper floors. The main entrance accesses a vestibule with engaged columns
flanking a replacement door that is topped by a five-pane transom. The vestibule also features a pressed-metal
cove cornice and ceiling. The open-well, half-turn stairs rise on both sides of the vestibule to the auditorium
and balcony lobbies. The stairs feature square paneled newels, wooden molded handrail, and a paneled stringer
that is echoed in the paneled balustrade. The wide central corridor on the main floor terminates at a lateral
corridor in the last bay that provides access to the rear rooms. The doorway into the rear corridor has the same
transom as the front door. Corridor doors are topped with transoms. Chair rail is found throughout the building.
The upper floors feature a 900-seat auditorium accessed through a lobby on both the main auditorium level and
the balcony level. The lobbies have arched openings that echo the arched façade windows that flood each lobby
with light. The auditorium has a plain proscenium with paneled pilasters at each side. The most dramatic
feature of the auditorium is its ceiling, which is composed of a series of parallel barrel vaults that span the width
of the building. Pressed tin in a coffered pattern covers the ceiling and pendant lights are suspended from it.
The balcony is supported by paneled columns with inverted triangular-shaped capitals and has a paneled
balustrade. The auditorium seats have decorative metal end panels with an ecclesiastical motif.
Graham Hall. Graham Hall, built in 1917, is the smallest of the three buildings and originally served as the
dining hall but is currently used for storage. It faces east towards Garfield Avenue but is sited well back from
the street. Hayes Hall and Fox Hall originally stood to the front of Graham Hall. It is a one-story, five-bay
building constructed of brick laid in five-course American bond. It has a hipped roof of standing-seam metal
with deep eaves that conceal the gutters. A three-bay, pedimented porch supported by Tuscan columns is
centered on the facade. The entrance has double-leaf, seven-panel doors with transom and sidelights. Windows
are six-over-six-light double-hung, wooden sash windows and most openings are topped by a three-course
segmental arch. The window sills are cast stone and are aligned with a continuous stone beltcourse around the
main block of the building; however, the sills have been painted white to match the windows. There is also a
three-course raised watertable along the north side and rear.
The interior of the rectangular-shaped building is one large room with a narrower section across the rear that
housed the dining hall kitchen. A 1970s brick addition at the front of the north elevation contained an office
and two restrooms.
The front door opens immediately into the large former dining room. Straight ahead on the rear wall are two
doors into the former kitchen area. The center door has plain board trim while the southern door has Colonial
Revival-style trim and a transom suggesting that the center door may not be original. There is chair rail around
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the entire perimeter of the room. Both the cove cornice and ceiling are covered with decorative pressed metal.
Pendant lights are suspended from the ceiling. There are two shallow interior chimneys on each side wall with
a firebox opening but no mantel and no exterior stack.
The Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science & Library Building. The Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial
Science & Library Building was built in 1946 as the library and science building. The building faces north
towards Graham Hall and the interior of the green. The rectangular-shaped, almost flat-roof building is nine
bays long by six bays wide. The building has brick, load-bearing walls on the lower level while the upper level
is of light-weight steel column-and-beam construction. The lower level is parged while the upper level is brick
laid in a bond like the façade of Humbles Hall. A course of Flemish bond separates five rows of stretchers.
This bond is used on all sides of the building. A raised watertable separates the upper and lower floors and
there is a corresponding band between the upper floor and roof parapet.
Decoration on the building is focused on the center three bays of the façade, which has been parged in its
entirety. Pilasters divide the center section into three window bays with the name of the building on the frieze.
The entrance into the building is on the lower level and the replacement door has a shouldered architrave
surround topped by a broken pediment. A paired four-over-four-light window is located above the entrance
with elongated triple-hung sash windows in the flanking upper level bays. The lower- level bays have smaller
six-over-six-light windows. The remaining façade windows are all six-over-six-light double-hung sash
windows although the upper-level windows are larger than the lower-level windows. The sides have paired sixover-six-light windows, except for the end bays, which are single windows or a door. The rear also has single
windows.
The entrance opens into a landing between floors of a double-return stair with wrought-iron railings. A hallway
extends across the front, the length of the building on the upper level with the library occupying the space to the
rear (south) and east side, and classrooms on the west side and lower level. A double-leaf door with shouldered
architrave trim provided access into the library. Other doorways have plain trim.
Hayes Monument. The Hayes Monument is a limestone bust of Gregory W. Hayes on a marble base. Hayes
was the college’s second president and the bust was erected shortly after his sudden death in 1906. It stands on
the site of Hayes Hall although it originally stood in a landscaped garden at the north end of building. The
monument is flanked by two urns and the entire compositions stands on a concrete paving. The sidewalk that
connects the three main campus buildings encircles the monument. The cedar trees stand to the rear of the
monument. The Hayes Monument is a contributing object.
Dormitories (2). There are two identical noncontributing dormitories located on the southwest corner of
Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street and face Garfield Avenue. The buildings are two-story, brick veneer,
rectangular blocks with shallow-slope gable roofs. Each side has a two-story, two-level metal porch that
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
provides access to each room. Each room has a modern paneled door and sliding windows. Noncontributing
(2) Buildings
Shop. The shop is a long, one-story, two-bay, concrete-block building with a gable roof. The gable-end entry
is sheltered by a one-bay gable-roof porch. There is a large fixed window on the façade and several smaller
windows down the side. There is a small addition to the rear. Noncontributing Building
Hayes Bell. The bell from the demolished Hayes Hall has been mounted on a low brick wall that is located on
the southwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street in the block with the dormitories. Noncontributing
Object
Virginia University of Lynchburg Entrance Sign. Located on the east corner of the intersection of Garfield
Avenue and Dewitt Street, the sign was constructed about 1995. The brick sign features a panel between two
taller pillars each topped with a concrete ball finial. Raised white lettering is centered on the panel.
Noncontributing Object
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Virginia University of Lynchburg, located at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street, is the oldest
institution of higher education in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the first associated with African American
education. It was incorporated in 1888 as Lynchburg Baptist Seminary and the cornerstone of the first building,
Hayes Hall, was laid in that year. Hayes Hall served as the main classroom building; it was demolished in
1988. A limestone monument to the hall’s namesake, Gregory W. Hayes, the institution’s second president,
was erected soon after his death in 1906. It stands on the Hayes Hall site. Three historic buildings survive
today: Graham Hall (ca.1917), Humbles Hall (ca. 1921), and the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and
Library Building (1946).
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
Virginia University of Lynchburg meets National Register of Historic Places Criterion A (Education/Ethnic
Heritage) for its association with the self-help movement that African Americans initiated in the decades
following the Civil War. It also meets Criterion C (Architecture) for its examples of the collegiate architecture
in a variety of styles. The school retains the integrity of its historic location, association, setting, feeling,
design, materials, and workmanship. The period of significance begins with the school’s incorporation in 1888
and ends in 1960 (fifty years ago) because the college continued to function as an important institution of
African American higher education through the end of the period of significance.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In May 1886, the Virginia Baptist State Convention, an association of African American Baptist churches, met
at the First Baptist Church in Lexington, Virginia. The Convention had been organized at Zion Baptist Church
in Portsmouth, Virginia, on May 9, 1866; the meeting in Lexington was the nineteenth annual session. The
higher education of African Americans, which had been the subject of extensive debate in the black community
since the end of the Civil War, was on the minds of those attending the session. The Rev. Phillip F. Morris,
pastor of Court Street Baptist Church in Lynchburg, offered a resolution to establish a seminary; the convention
approved it. In June and August 1886, during the Education Committee’s planning meetings, bids from
Liberty, Lexington, and Lynchburg were considered. The committee approved Lynchburg because of the city’s
central location, the large black community there, the fact that three railroads served the city, and the
opportunities for black employment with the rail lines. In addition, the African American attorney James H.
Hayes, an educator and politician who served briefly on Richmond City Council, agreed to pursue a charter for
the school from the Virginia General Assembly. A six-acre lot was purchased for $1,800 in Lynchburg at the
corner of Garfield Avenue and Dewitt Street. At Danville in May 1887, during the Convention’s twentieth
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
annual session, the membership approved the Lynchburg location, the plans for the school, the design of the
first building, and the acquisition of a charter. The cornerstone of the first permanent building, later named
Hayes Hall, was laid in 1888. The school thus became the earliest institution of higher education in or near
Lynchburg, predating Randolph-Macon Women’s College (1893), Sweet Briar College (1901), and Lynchburg
College (1903). When the school opened in 1890, its first classes were held in a dilapidated one-story frame
structure, little more than a shed, that stood near the bluff overlooking the railroad. 3
During the last three-and-a-half decades of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, newly
liberated people struggled for a share of the American dream in the face of Jim Crow laws and abandonment by
the government that during the first few years after the Civil War had espoused freedom and equal treatment
under the law. Although many whites supported black aspirations, many did not. To what degree could
African Americans rely on the powerful white establishment for support, and to what degree should blacks
move toward near-total self-reliance? Should African Americans press aggressively for immediate access to
their rights or take a more gradual approach so as to calm white fears? Should higher education for blacks
focus on the trades that were accessible to them, or on the professions that were generally closed or restricted?
These and other questions were fiercely debated, with great African American spokesmen taking every
available position: Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and others
dominated the debate.
These disagreements influenced the founding, administration, and development of schools of higher education
for African Americans in postwar Virginia. The most eminent such institution, present-day Hampton
University, was founded in 1868 and was the epitome of the cooperationist and trade-school precepts of Booker
T. Washington. He graduated from the school and founded Tuskegee University. Many whites taught at
Hampton as well as blacks. In Richmond, Virginia Union University evolved from humble origins in
Lumpkin’s Jail in 1867 to the present spacious campus with a collection of handsome late-Victorian buildings
constructed between 1899 and 1901. Founded primarily as a Baptist seminary, the school became noted for its
educators and other professionals—the counterpoint to Hampton University. Like Hampton, however, Virginia
Union employed white academics and administrators as well as blacks. Then, between 1886 and 1890, Virginia
Baptist Seminary, “the other prominent Negro theological institution in this State,” came into being and took
African American higher education in a new direction. 4
A historian writing in 1914 described Virginia Baptist Seminary this way:
This institution is now a school “of the Negroes, by the Negroes and for the
Negroes.” Its alumni have done meritorious service in the ministry and have
reflected credit on their alma mater. The fact that its faculty is made up of
Negroes entirely is very interesting. Is the time ripe for Negroes to assume control
of the education of their own race, or has the white man work to do yet in aiding
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
this racial uplift? Virginia Theological Seminary and College [the name was
changed twice before 1914] has answered the question in one way, and Virginia
Union University and Hampton have answered it in the other. 5
The Virginia General Assembly chartered Lynchburg Baptist Seminary on February 24, 1888. On March 20,
1895, the institution changed its name to Virginia Seminary; on August 1, 1900, it was changed again, to
Virginia Theological Seminary and College. The changes of the name reflected the changes in function and
purpose that the school underwent in the first two decades of its existence. 6 Virginia’s other historically black
institutions of higher education established during the same period include Virginia State University (1882)
near Petersburg in Ettrick, and Saint Paul’s College (1885) in Lawrenceville. Norfolk State University was
created in 1935.
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, under the guidance of its founding president, the Rev. Phillip F. Morris, at first
was primarily a seminary for the education of ministers, with coeducational secondary classes taught as well. It
was also intended from the start to be independent of white control and white funding. Morris soon understood,
however, that the school could not survive without white financial assistance. He therefore entered into an
affiliation with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, an organization that whites had founded in 1832
in New York City, and the Society gave the new institution matching grants to pay the teachers. Morris
resigned in 1891, probably to devote himself to fundraising. Gregory W. Hayes, who taught history and
mathematics at state-funded Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (present-day Virginia State University) in
Petersburg, became president. Having experienced an academic environment supported by both whites and
blacks through tax revenues, Hayes was determined that his new school would become a college as well as a
seminary. Under his guidance, it also became largely independent of white control and white funding—of, by,
and for African Americans—the black-controlled academic institution described in 1914. 7
Given the financial challenges facing African Americans, Hayes realized that it would be years if ever before
blacks alone could provide the funding that Virginia Seminary needed to grow and survive. He strove,
however, to make it as independent of white control as possible and was an assertive advocate of self-help
rather than a cooperationist. Although Hayes would accept money for the school from white donors, he would
not let them dictate policy. In 1899, a major battle occurred within the Virginia Baptist State Convention at
Lexington during its thirty-second annual session between cooperationists and Hayes and his fellow self-help
advocates. The cooperationists wished to remove Hayes from the presidency. The self-help supporters wished
to end the school’s affiliation with the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Hayes and the self-help
advocates prevailed, so angering the cooperationists that they left the Convention, organized the General
Association of Virginia (Colored) and shifted their support to Virginia Union University. Once the ties to the
Society were cut, African American monetary contributions to the school increased. 8
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hayes did not decline all financial assistance from white organizations, however. The American Baptist
Convention, the dominant northern white Baptist organization, had been contributing to Virginia Seminary’s
financial support and continued to do so after the schism but demanded that the school follow the HamptonTuskegee model and cease teaching academic courses. Hayes refused to do so. Allegedly, when inspectors
from the Convention visited Virginia Seminary while classes were in progress, Hayes made sure that they only
saw the trade and sewing classes, not the rooms where Greek and literature were taught. The courses of study
under Hayes included college preparatory classes, collegiate classes, a theological course, and teacher-training
classes. 9
Besides fighting for financial independence and an academic course of study, Hayes also struggled with the
seemingly endless effort to complete the main building. Although the cornerstone of the building, later named
Hayes Hall, had been laid in 1888, the construction process continued for years even as classes were conducted
there. In 1891–1892, a three-story, forty-by-eighty-foot rear wing was built, with the first level being
completed then for use as a dining area. In 1893, fundraising was under way to put a roof on the main building
(whether over just the dining hall or the entire main building was not stated). Not until about 1911 was Hayes
Hall finally completed. 10
President Hayes died suddenly in 1906 at the age of forty-four; some years later, he was honored with a
monument—his bust atop a tall pedestal—that stands today on the site of Hayes Hall. His wife, Mary Rice
Hayes, took charge as acting president for two years. James R. L. Diggs succeeded her and remained in office
until 1911, when Robert C. Woods assumed the presidency. He served until 1926, and during his term in office
three buildings were constructed: Fox Hall (women’s dormitory, ca. 1913; later demolished), Graham Hall
(dining room and kitchen; ca. 1917; still standing), and Humbles Hall (administration building; ca. 1921; still
standing). Woods purchased adjoining lots and cottages to expand the campus. During Woods’s tenure, the
school also became renowned for its men’s football and basketball teams. 11
Of these buildings, Humbles Hall is the largest and most important. Romulus C. Archer, Jr., an African
American architect whose office was in Washington, D.C., designed the building. Archer was born in Norfolk,
Virginia in 1890 and his father was a plastering contractor. Archer finished high school in Norfolk and
attended Mission College there for two years.
He studied architecture through the International
Correspondence School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a path taken by other African American architects at the
time. His final year of formal architecture training was undertaken at Columbia University in 1913. He
enlisted in the Army during World War I but did not see combat. He was employed for several months in 1921
as one of the few black architects in the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Supervising Architect, in
Washington, D.C. In December 1921, he opened his own practice from his home in Washington but two years
later moved to an office in the bustling African American business center on Florida Avenue NW near U Street.
In January 1926, the D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects issued Archer an architecture
license; he became the second African American architect in the city. The Young Men’s Christian Association
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
named him “Citizen of the Year” in 1964 for apprenticing so many young architects. Archer’s career largely
was centered in the northeast Brookland neighborhood of Washington where he designed houses, apartment
buildings, churches, and medium-sized commercial buildings. His practice also included ecclesiastical
architecture. He executed designs for five churches in Washington, as well as churches in Norfolk and
Danville. Archer died in 1968. 12
Humbles Hall is named in honor of Adolphus Humbles (1845–1926), an African American Lynchburg native
who was one of the school’s chief benefactors during the first four decades. After the Civil War, possessed of a
keen mind for business despite his lack of an education, Humbles became a merchant, the owner and operator
of a toll road from Lynchburg to the Campbell County seat of Rustburg, and a real estate investor. He was
alleged to be the wealthiest black man in Virginia, and he held the mortgage on Hayes Hall in 1900. When the
dining hall addition to Hayes Hall was constructed in 1891–1892, Humbles was the contractor for the
brickwork. Although some of the funding Humbles provided to the institution from its inception was in the
form of gifts, he more commonly made loans and was not reluctant to press for repayment. 13
The school’s financial stability continued to deteriorate, despite continuing pleas for support and the efforts of
men like Humbles and the president from 1926 to 1929, the Rev. William H. R. Powell. To augment the
school’s income and lower the cost of feeding the students, Powell purchased a farm in nearby Campbell
County and donated it to the seminary. During the years of the Great Depression especially, meat and produce
from the farm helped the school survive. Powell also devoted himself to fundraising with some success, and
substantially if temporarily reduced the school’s outstanding debt. In short order, however, the school once
more was in financial trouble, and rumors floated that it either would close or would merge with other
institutions and cease operations in Lynchburg. 14
Into the breach stepped Vernon Johns, the fiery preacher and early civil rights leader. Johns had attended the
school, and since leaving had acquired a reputation as a speaker and motivator. In June 1929, the school’s
directors chose him for president, a position he held until 1934. Despite possessing a difficult and abrasive
personality and little talent as a businessman, Johns not only continued the trend of recruiting renowned black
teachers to the school, but he also succeeded in putting the school on a better financial footing during the
darkest years of the Depression. Perhaps most remarkably, in 1930, the white Baptists of Lynchburg
cooperated with Johns and contributed very large sums to the school’s support. By December 1933, however,
there were accusations of financial irregularities, the school had lost part of its accreditation, and students were
threatening to strike over perceived abuses of power by Johns. The president’s relations with the school had so
soured that Johns submitted his resignation at a special meeting of the directors. The board accepted the
resignation in January 1934 and again chose William H. R. Powell as president. 15
For the next fifteen years, Powell commuted weekly by train to Lynchburg from Philadelphia, where he was
pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. He arrived in Lynchburg on Mondays, remained until Fridays, and then
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
returned to Philadelphia, where he ministered to his congregation and preached on Sundays. While in
Lynchburg, Powell not only tended to the usual duties of a school president (especially fundraising), but also
was frequently seen on campus in old clothes painting woodwork and otherwise laboring to keep up the
buildings. Powell enlisted students to assist him, and later he wrote,
Virginia Seminary has always been an apostle of ‘self-help.’ In keeping with this,
my policy has been to illustrate self-help in the management of the institution, as
well as to preach it to others. Thus through the years, I have asked no one for
anything that we could do for ourselves. We needed mattresses, we made them.
We needed a cellar, we dug it. Walks were needed on the campus, we laid them.
A library was needed, we built it. A heating plant was needed, we erected it.
Bread, vegetables, fruit and fowl, meat, butter, milk and eggs were needed, we
raised and provided them. The policy of the administration is self-help. I beg from
others only that which I cannot do for myself and guide the students in doing. 16
The library—known as the Mary Jane Cachelin Memorial Science and Library Building—was completed just
before Powell left office in 1946. It was constructed in stages by a local contractor, Powell having conceived
the project, drawn the plans, and arranged the financing. As each stage was completed and approved, Powell
paid the contractor. Despite Powell’s efforts to control expenses and increase revenues, however, the financial
condition of the school continued to be tenuous. Factions developed among the directors, and in 1946 Powell
resigned. 17
The board selected Madison C. Allen to replace Powell. During Allen’s long tenure the name of the institution
was changed on May 15, 1962, to Virginia Seminary and College. Allen’s term in office coincided with the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Several Virginia Seminary and College students were arrested
in 1961 for participating in a Lynchburg lunch-counter sit-in and some were sentenced to brief jail terms. The
financial situation did not improve and the infrastructure deteriorated over the years. Allen died in 1966 and
MacCarthy C. Southerland was chosen to be president (1966–1980). The college and the seminary became
separate entities in 1972 but remained under the same administration. 18
On October 15, 1979, arsonists broke into the Cachelin science and library building and started a fire that
caused $75,000 in damage, primarily furniture and equipment. Four students were arrested, convicted of
burglary and arson, and sentenced to prison. During the investigation, local and federal officials uncovered
evidence that led them to suspect that federally sponsored student loans had been misused. On February 13,
1980, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Treasury Department raided the president’s office
and seized financial records. The school was briefly closed and the students attended other institutions
temporarily. The seminary reopened in April, but the college remained closed for the rest of the session.
Southerland resigned at the end of May. 19
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Subsequent presidents include Benjamin W. Robertson (1980), Leroy Fitts (1980–1981), Thomas E. Parker
(1982–1987), Melvin R. Boone (1988–1990), Ada M. Parker (1990–1992), Elisha G. Hall (1992–1999), and
Ralph Reavis (2000–present). During Boone’s tenure as president, Hayes Hall, the first building erected at the
school, was demolished despite efforts to raise funds for its preservation and restoration. The school’s name
was changed on December 16, 1966, to Virginia University of Lynchburg. 20
Campus design in the period after the Civil War changed to accommodate entirely new types of schools to serve
students for whom a college education had not traditionally been available. The new schools included land
grant colleges, technical and professional schools, and schools for women and African Americans as well as
special-needs students, greatly expanding the types of buildings that were constructed. College architects and
designers sought to convey a new democratic philosophy in their designs for college campuses and their
buildings. College design during this period exhibited simplicity and a modest scale both because of necessity
and a desire for less ostentatious architecture. It was heavily influenced by the design of Frederick Law
Olmstead who designed the campuses of several land-grant colleges and universities during the late nineteenth
century. 21
In the early twentieth century, the Beaux Arts system of architectural planning and design heavily influenced
campus design. Beaux Arts design promoted planning on a monumental scale and emphasized symmetry,
order, and formality through the use of axial design and focal points. This concept was also used to bring order
to campuses that had evolved without formal plan.
While these philosophies were the ideal, not all colleges and universities had the resources or the foresight to
plan in this manner. After the construction of the first cluster of buildings when a college was established,
many of the state-owned colleges and universities in the state of Virginia developed only as money became
available and according to no master plan. Those colleges with public streets running through the campus were
at a distinct disadvantage when trying to create a cohesive campus. Examples of state colleges and universities
that developed in this fashion include Longwood, Radford University, Virginia State University, Norfolk State
University, and especially the urban institutions: Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion
University. The placement of the early buildings of Hampton Institute, a National Historic Landmark, shows no
overarching plan. On many of these campuses, the element that tied the campus together is the consistent use of
the same material for all the buildings while the same architectural style was not necessarily used. Red brick
was frequently the material chosen that brought some cohesion to the campus. Buildings at Longwood,
Radford, and Virginia State were predominantly constructed using red brick. Building styles on these campuses
can vary widely, especially in the post-1960 period. It is only on the campuses of the University of Virginia,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Virginia Military Institute that there is a definable
campus plan and architectural style to its individual buildings.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The campus of the Virginia University of Lynchburg has evolved over time according to no discernable plan or
unified style. The loss of two of its early buildings in the 1980s considerably changed the campus. The original
campus building, Hayes Hall (1881-1911), was of monumental proportions in the Second Empire style. It was
follow by a similar-sized building in a similar style in 1913 when Fox Hall was built adjacent to Hays Hall,
with both facing Garfield Avenue. The third campus building, a Colonial Revival-style dining hall built in
1917, was sited to the rear of the first two buildings and was clearly subservient to them. Humbles Hall, (19201921) built in the Beaux Arts Classicism tradition, was placed across the public street from Hayes Hall. The
fourth building, a science and library building constructed in 1946 also in the Beaux Arts tradition, was located
southwest of Hayes and Humbles Hall. Unlike the three earlier buildings, with the exception of the dining hall,
the science building faced away from the public street and instead faced the interior of the campus. This
arrangement had three of the five buildings facing the center of the main part of the campus with Hayes and Fox
halls in the center. In the 1970s, two small dormitories were constructed in the next block and again faced the
street, returning to the original idea of building placement. The loss of both Hayes and Fox Hall in the 1980s
created a wide-open appearance for the university. The placement of the Hayes monument across from
Humbles Hall and the use of landscaping and sidewalks has created a focal point on the main part of the campus
and has united the major buildings in a manner reminiscent of the Beaux Arts tradition but this is a later effort
to unite the main part of the campus that was not historically employed on this or many other college campuses
in the state.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 9
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Baptist Year-Book, 1888. Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society, 1888.
Baltimore Afro-American. August 7, 1982.
Belsches, Elvatrice Parker. Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing,
2002.
Caldwell, A. B. History of the American Negro, Virginia Edition. Atlanta, Ga.: A. B. Caldwell Publishing Co.,
1921.
Cote, Richard C., and Margaret T. Peters. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Hayes Hall.
Lynchburg Baptist Seminary. Lynchburg, Va. 1979. File No. 118-59. Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond, Va. (DHR).
Earnest, Joseph B., Jr. The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia. Charlottesville, Va.: The Michie
Co., 1914.
Fifteenth Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia for the Year Ending December 31,
1917. Richmond, Va.: Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1918.
Hayes Hall Survey File. No. 118-59. DHR.
Iowa State Bystander. March 30, 1900.
Land and Community Associates. Survey of State-Owned Properties: Institutions of Higher Education. Draft.
May 1991. DHR.
Laslett, William L. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Draft. Lynchburg Baptist Seminary.
March 5, 2010. DHR.
Legacy Museum Web site. www.legacymuseum.org. Accessed August 30, 2010.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. May 8, 1980.
Powell, Henry W. Witness to Civil Rights History. Hasting, N.Y.: Patrick Cooney, 2000. On The Vernon
Johns Society Web site. www.vernonjohns.org. Accessed August 18, 2010.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Virginia University of Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number End Notes
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Endnotes
1
Hayes Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 but was delisted when it was demolished in 1988.
Wells & Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955, (Richmond: New South Architectural Press, 1997) p. 10.
3
Baltimore Afro-American, August 7, 1982, p. 6, “Noted Clergyman named Virginia Seminary and College president”; Ralph
Reavis, Virginia Seminary: A Journey of Black Independence (Bedford, Va.: The Print Shop, 1990), 41–44; Joseph B. Earnest, Jr.,
The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.: The Michie Co., 1914), 110; Elvatrice Parker Belsches,
Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 91; American Baptist Year-Book, 1888
(Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society, 1888), 67; Richard C. Cote and Margaret T. Peters, National Register of
Historic Places Nomination, Hayes Hall, Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, Lynchburg, Va., 1979, File No. 118-59, Virginia Department
of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va. (DHR); William L. Laslett, National Register of Historic Places draft, “Lynchburg Baptist
Seminary,” March 5, 2010, DHR; Legacy Museum Web site, www.legacymuseum.org, accessed August 30, 2010.
4
Earnest, Religious Development, 114–117.
5
Ibid., 117–118.
6
Fifteenth Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia for the Year Ending December 31, 1917 (Richmond, Va.:
Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1918), 155.
7
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 58–59, 61–62.
8
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 113–120.
9
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 123.
10
Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 74, 80, 123.
11
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010; Virginia University of Lynchburg Web site,
www.vul.edu, accessed August 28, 2010; Washington Bee, December 6, 1913, reported that the women’s dormitory was under
construction; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 123.
12
Romulus Cornelius Archer, Jr., Book Rags, http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/romulus-cornelius-archer-jr-tf/. accessed August 30,
2010.
13
Laslett, “Lynchburg Baptist Seminary,” DHR; A. B. Caldwell, History of the American Negro, Virginia Edition (Atlanta, Ga.: A. B.
Caldwell Publishing Co., 1921), 61–63; Iowa State Bystander, March 30, 1900; Reavis, Virginia Seminary, 74, 121.
14
The Vernon Johns Society Web site, www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010. The farm has since been sold.
15
Ibid.
16
Henry W. Powell, Witness to Civil Rights History (Hasting, N.Y.: Patrick Cooney, 2000), on The Vernon Johns Society Web site,
www.vernonjohns.org, accessed August 18, 2010.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.; Washington Post, February 12, 1961.
19
Washington Post, February 14, 1980; ibid., April 18, 1980; Lynchburg Daily Advance, May 8, 1980.
20
Laslett, “Lynchburg Baptist Seminary,” DHR; Powell, Witness, www.vernonjohns.org; Virginia University of Lynchburg Web site,
www.vul.edu, accessed Aug. 30, 2010; Hayes Hall Survey File, No. 118-59, DHR.
21
Land and Community Associates, Survey of State-Owned Properties: Institutions of High Education (Draft), prepared for Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA., Revised 1991, p. 24.
2
City Hall, 900 Church Street
Lynchburg, Virginia 24504 (434) 455-3894
FAX (434) 845-7630
Community Development Department
Planning Division
November 15, 2010
Mr. Marc Christian Wagner
State and National Registers Manager
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23221
RE: Virginia University of Lynchburg
- National Register Nomination
Dear Mr. Wagner:
The National Register Nomination of Virginia University of Lynchburg has been carefully reviewed by the City's
Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) as requested.
After discussion October 18, 2010, the HPC voted 6-0 with 1member absent to support the National Register
Nomination. I n recommending support the HPC recommends that the propetty be included on the National
Register for its ethnic significance and, for its variety of collegiate architecture.
I f you have further questions, please contact me at (434) 455-3915.
Sincerely,
Kevin T. Henry
Planner I1 / Secretary Historic Preservation Commission
Text
NPS Form 1C-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 513112012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
12/15/2011
02/08/2012
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registmtion Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items o n continuation sheets i f needed (NPS Fonn 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Fifth Street Historic District
other nameslsite number
VDHR No. 118-5318
2.
-. Location
-- ---- - ..
Fifth St., Sixth St., Court St., Clay St., Madison St., Harrison St., Federal
street & number St., Jackson St., Polk St., Monroe St.
NIA not for publication
city or town
NIA vicinity
state
Lynchburg (Independent City)
Virginia
code
VA
county nla
code
680
zip code 24504
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
-
I hereby certify that this
nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
In my opinion, the property X meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
-n a t i o n c
statewide
X local
Sighture of ce*fying official
Date
Title
Viminia DeDartment of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria,
Signature of commenting official
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X private
X public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
Contributing
57
0
0
1
58
building(s)
X district
site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
Noncontributing
8
0
0
0
8
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
4
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling
DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling
DOMESTIC/institutional housing
DOMESTIC/secondary structure
DOMESTIC/secondary structure
COMMERCE/specialty store
DOMESTIC/hotel and COMMERCE/restaurant
COMMERCE/restaurant
COMMERCE/specialty store
COMMERCE/business
COMMERCE/warehouse
SOCIAL/meeting hall
SOCIAL/meeting hall
RELIGION/religious facility
GOVERNMENT/fire station
FUNERARY/mortuary
RELIGION/religious facility
HEALTH CARE/ medical office
FUNERARY/mortuary
TRANSPORTATION/road-related
CULTURE/auditorium
AGRICULTURE/processing
INDUSTRY/factory
HEALTH CARE/medical office
TRANSPORTATION/road-related
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC: Federal, Other
th
foundation: STONE; CONCRETE; BRICK
th
LATE 19 and EARLY 20 CENTURY REVIVALS:
BRICK; CINDERBLOCK; WOOD: weatherboard,
Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival
th
th
LATE 19 and EARLY 20 CENTURY AMERICAN
MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
walls:
SYNTHETICS: vinyl, aluminum
roof:
ASPHALT; SLATE; METAL; OTHER
MODERN MOVEMENT: Art Deco, Moderne
other:
STUCCO; GLASS
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
ETHNIC HERITAGE: Black
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
TRANSPORTATION
Period of Significance
1800-1964
Significant Dates
1806, 1885, 1937
Significant Person
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
N/A
D
a cemetery.
Architect/Builder
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Cultural Affiliation
Johnson, Stanhope S.
Brannan, R.O. (Ray)
Craighill, Samuel Preston
Cardwell, Bennett B.
Fauber, J. Everette, Jr.
Clark, Pendleton S.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # VA-1089, VA-1088, VAx 1101
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
X Local government
University
Other
Name of
repository:
Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _____N/A________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 23
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
A 17S
Zone
0663928
Easting
4142655
Northing
C 17S
Zone
0663800
Easting
4142159
Northing
B 17S
Zone
0663983
Easting
4142489
Northing
D 17S
Zone
0663471
Easting
4141946
Northing
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
W. Scott Breckinridge Smith & Emily Patton Smith, Principals
organization HistoryTech, LLC
date September 2, 2011
street & number Post Office Box 75
telephone 434-401-3995
city or town Lynchburg
state VA
e-mail
zip code 24505
scott@historytech.com
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to
this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for l isting or determine eligibility for listing, to
list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing instructi ons, gathering and maintaining data, and
completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C.
Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary Narrative Description
The Fifth Street Historic District encompasses approximately 23 acres along the Fifth Street corridor, which adjoins the
northwest side of Lynchburg‘s Central Business District. Character-defining features of the district include intact
commercial architecture dating from the early nineteenth century through the third quarter of the twentieth century.
Lynchburg, an independent city, is situated in Virginia‘s southern Piedmont province with the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
west, the James River to the north, and the rolling hills of the Piedmont to the east. Amherst County is located just across
the James River (two-thirds of a mile to the northeast), and the city is bordered on the west by Bedford County, and on the
south and east by Campbell County.
The majority of the buildings in the district are commercial in nature. Approximately half of the buildings date to the period
spanning from 1875 to 1940, although a grouping of eight significant resources dating to the early nineteenth century also
exists. Non-contributing resources in the district are either those that were constructed after the district‘s period of
significance or are historic resources that have received non-historic alterations that permanently compromise their
architectural character and integrity.
The six and seven hundred blocks of Fifth Street contain the district‘s densest streetscape, which is marked by one-tothree story buildings of masonry (typically brick) construction that front closely on the street with no setbacks. Most
buildings in this area exhibit characteristics of the early twentieth century Commercial style that is found (on a larger scale)
in Lynchburg‘s adjacent downtown district. Notable variations from this theme include buildings that are executed in the
Federal, Art Deco, and Modern styles.
The boundaries of the historic district encompass Fifth Street‘s commercial core that contains extant historic resources
with architectural integrity. The Fifth Street Historic District is bounded on the northeast by the Court House Hill /
Downtown Historic District (118-5163), on the north by the Garland Hill Historic District (118-0026), and on the west by the
Old City Cemetery (118-0027), a 26-acre NRHP-listed property. The residential neighborhoods of Tinbridge Hill and
College Hill adjoin the Fifth Street District on the northwest and southeast, respectively. NRHP-listed resources within the
Fifth Street Historic District include the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177), the Western Hotel (118-0020), the William Phaup
House (118-0226-0246), and the Pyramid Motors building (118-5237).
Narrative Description
The Fifth Street Historic District is located within the urban core of the City of Lynchburg, and adjoins the City‘s downtown
commercial district, which lies to the north and east. The district runs 2,500 feet along eight blocks of the Fifth Street
corridor. In total, Fifth Street stretches approximately one mile (fifteen blocks) along a southwest-to-northeast axis between
the John Lynch Bridge (crossing the James River) to the northeast and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge to the
southwest, which spans a valley containing the Norfolk Southern Railroad main line.
Fifth Street is currently designated as State Route 163, although it served as U.S. Route 170 from 1926 to 1931. From
1931 until 2005, Fifth Street was part of U.S. 29, which connects Maryland to Florida. In October of 2005, a new bypass
that circumnavigated the eastern edge of Lynchburg and Madison Heights (Amherst County) was completed and Fifth
Street (the U.S. 29 Business) was re-designated as State Route 163. As Fifth Street crosses the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memorial Bridge to the southwest, the name of the street changes to Memorial Avenue. On the northeast, the name of the
route changes to South Amherst Highway as it crosses the John Lynch Bridge and enters Amherst County. Fifth Street
and Memorial Avenue have been given the honorary designation as Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The primary cross street within the district is Federal Street, which intersects Fifth Street at its 700-800 block transition.
Like all streets crossing Fifth (except Park Avenue), Federal Street intersects at a right angle, and runs in a southeast-tonorthwest direction. On its southeastern end, Federal Street terminates in its 1100 block due to a steep cliff that overlooks
Twelfth Street. On its northwestern end, Federal Street transitions into Hollins Mill Road, a winding route that crosses
Blackwater Creek and terminates at its intersection with Bedford Avenue. The intersection of Fifth and Federal is marked
by a single-lane, four-way roundabout and adjoining pedestrian plazas, which were completed in 2010.
At Fifth Street‘s transition between the 1000 and 1100 blocks, it intersects with Monroe Street as well as Park Avenue.
Park Avenue departs Fifth Street at a 90-degree angle, and runs due south as it climbs College Hill before turning
southwest toward the Kemper Street train station, which is served by four daily Amtrak trains.
Just northeast of the Fifth Street Historic District is the intersection of Fifth Street, Church Street (one-way southeastbound) and Main Street (one-way northwest-bound). Just northwest of Fifth Street, Main and Church converge and form
Rivermont Avenue at the Rivermont Bridge, which spans a deep gorge formed by Blackwater Creek.
Other streets (all neighborhood-serving) that intersect Fifth Street in the district are Court, Clay, Madison, Harrison,
Jackson, and Polk Streets.
An unnamed tributary of Blackwater Creek drains the Tinbridge Hill neighborhood to the northwest, and the headwaters of
Horseford Creek (now underground in pipes) runs in a southeasterly direction from the east side of the district, and
eventually enters the James River via a culvert at the bottom of Washington Street.
The district‘s topography is largely flat, particularly between the 600 and 900 blocks of the route. Northeast of the 600
block, Fifth Street begins a precipitous 12 percent grade that carries the roadway downward towards the James River. The
highest elevation within the district along Fifth Street is 765 feet above sea level in the 1100 block, and its lowest elevation
is 710 feet above sea level in the 700 block.
Seven years after Charles Lynch‘s 1750 patent of 1,590 acres on both sides of the Fluvanna (James) River in what was
then Albemarle County, his son Edward was granted permission to establish a ferry across the river at its confluence with
1
Blackwater Creek. Edward‘s brother John, then seventeen years of age, is credited with operating the ferry from the
beginning. Following the ferry‘s establishment, John Lynch constructed a tavern known as the ―Ferry House‖ at the base of
what would become known as Ninth Street in order to accommodate travelers who might need to halt at the south side of
the river to wait for the appropriate time of day or weather conditions to utilize the ferry. Prior to the development of the
ferry, the river was crossed via a ford (the ―Horse Ford‖) at the head of what is now known as Percival‘s Island, which, of
course, was reached by roads from the north and south. In 1781, Thomas Jefferson noted that recently-mined lead and
other goods could be brought from the southwest along this ―good road… [which led] through the peaks of Otter to Lynch's
2
ferry, or Winston's, on James river [sic].‖ As it neared Lynch‘s Ferry on the south side of the river, this road established
the path that would become the Fifth Street corridor. The ―Ferry Road‖ was later described as a ―well-shaded road [that]
led from the ferry, …coming up Seventh Street to Main, passing through the square [block] between Seventh and Sixth to
3
Church, …and obliquely thence into what is now Fifth Street, on its way to New London.‖
In 1786, the General Assembly adopted an act to establish a town called ―Lynchburg‖ on the land of John Lynch. Initially
containing 45 acres, it would be divided into two-acre blocks, each with four half-acre lots with 165‘ frontages on the 60‘
wide streets (the roads that paralleled the James River) and 132‘ frontages on the 30‘ wide alleys (those roads that ran
perpendicular to the river). In its beginning, there were only four alleys in the town, the westernmost one being designated
4
as ―Third Alley‖ (now Seventh Street).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By 1796, Lynchburg contained approximately one hundred houses and was ―rapidly increasing, from its advantageous
5
situation for carrying on trade with the adjacent country‖ according to Isaac Weld‘s travelogue. In 1805, Lynchburg was
officially incorporated, and the town was expanded to the northwest and southeast, although this expansion simply made
formal what John Lynch had already accomplished three years earlier; in 1802, he sold thirty half-acre lots in this soon-tobe-annexed area, which meant that the formal plan of the annexed area was already in place by the time of its expansion
in 1805. Seventh Alley (later known as Fifth Street) and Sixth Alley (later known as Twelfth Street) became the primary
routes of access into the town.
In March of 1806, John and Mary Lynch gave the Town of Lynchburg a one acre lot ―on a hill on the west side of the Main
6
Road leading from the upper side of Lynchburg toward New London‖ for use as a public burying ground. The ―Main Road‖
that Lynch described was a combination of Fifth Street (then designated as Seventh Alley) and what is now known as Park
Avenue. The burying ground, now known as the Old City Cemetery, was sited on the outskirts of town, but not so distant
as to be inconvenient to residents. With Lynchburg‘s primary business district along Second Street (now Main) at its north
end, and the town‘s public cemetery at its south end, what is now recognized as the Fifth Street Corridor was in place by
1806.
By this time, Fifth Street also became known alternately as Cocke Street or West Street. The name ―Cocke‖ likely
th
th
7
originated with merchant Thomas W. Cocke, who owned property along the route in the late 18 and early 19 centuries.
During the following two decades, the corporate limits of Lynchburg would expand several times, increasing the number of
lots along the Fifth Street corridor that were included in the town. In 1814, the town limits were expanded to Seventh Street
(now known as Harrison Street). Following the 1826 annexation, the majority of the Fifth Street corridor was within the
8
town limits.
As the town expanded, the established design of lots, streets, and alleys also expanded. Typically, the half-acre lots were
already in private hands (i.e. sold by John Lynch to other individuals) by the time they were incorporated into the town, and
the future streets and alleys were accounted for in the deed. An 1805 deed between John Lynch and Peter Detto for a half
acre lot at the corner of Fourth Street (now Court) and Seventh Alley (now Fifth) ordered Detto to reserve a thirty-foot alley,
while an 1812 deed between Lynch and his niece Agatha Terrell Dicks described the lot as being located at the corner of
9
the ―contemplated Seventh [Harrison] Street and Third Alley [Seventh Street].‖
As in many Virginia towns of the period, Lynchburg residents were required to construct on each lot a ―dwelling house
sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney.‖ Unlike other towns, however, Lynchburgers were not directed
to construct their homes of any particular material, and thus, many chose wood, which was the least expensive and most
readily available material. Frame dwellings were typical in Virginia, much to the consternation of Thomas Jefferson, who
10
noted that it was ―impossible to devise things more ugly, uncomfortable, and happily more perishable.‖
While the majority of the first dwellings constructed in Lynchburg were frame, most are no longer extant, which seems to
correlate to Jefferson‘s comment concerning the perishability of frame buildings in Virginia. By the second decade of the
th
19 century, Lynchburg was experiencing its first building boom, and many of the city‘s buildings began to be constructed
of brick.
Two of Lynchburg‘s three extant taverns from the early nineteenth century are located in the Fifth Street Historic District.
The left-hand three-bay section of the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) at 900 Fifth Street may have been built as early as 1800,
11
while the two right-hand bays were added circa 1814. Typical for Lynchburg residential architecture of the period, the
Kentucky Hotel presents a five-bay façade built of brick laid in Flemish bond. The façade is fenestrated by 6/9 double-hung
sash on the first floor and 6/6 double-hung sash on the second floor. A single-leaf entry door topped by a graceful fanlight
is located in the central bay of the first floor, and the single-pile, side-gable building is flanked by a pair of singleshouldered corbeled chimneys (the corbeling is a recent addition or reconstruction). While the majority of Lynchburg‘s
buildings of this period feature a wooden box cornice, the Kentucky Hotel (along with other Fifth Street buildings) has a
cornice of corbeled brick.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The second tavern along the corridor is known alternately as Nichols‘ Tavern or the Western Hotel (118-0020) and is sited
at 600 Fifth Street. Built in 1815, the tavern is a replacement of Nichols‘ previous building that burned on April 14, 1815.
The building‘s orientation toward the street is somewhat complex, as it may have begun its life with its asymmetrical fivebay elevation along Madison Street serving as the primary entrance. This elevation is now fenestrated by large-paned 6/6
double-hung sash on the first floor (these likely began as 9/9 sash) and 6/9 double-hung sash on the second floor. A
double-leaf entry door with a fanlight similar to that found at the Kentucky Hotel occupies the central bay on the first floor,
th
and is sheltered by a small, hipped-roof porch, which is a late 20 century addition. However, this section of the building
also would have presented a much denser three-bay façade along Fifth Street. This elevation is also fenestrated by largepaned 6/6 sash on the first floor and 6/9 double-hung sash on the second floor. The left-hand window on the first floor
rests above a wooden panel, and may have once served as a doorway. Another apparent doorway in the central bay has
been bricked-in. In all likelihood, the original section of the tavern had entrances on both street elevations in order to best
accommodate the traveling public. This original section of the building is constructed of brick laid in four-course American
bond and is covered by a hipped roof of standing-seam metal. The building was expanded in the 1830s or 1840s, and the
remainder of the Fifth Street elevation took shape at that time with the addition of two bays to the south along with a
12
columned portico.
Two smaller resources from the early nineteenth century are also found along the 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street. The
frame building at 708 Fifth Street (118-5318-0027) was likely built by prominent Lynchburg merchant Archibald Robertson
13
(1783-1835) circa 1820. Perhaps the only intact example of frame commercial architecture from the period remaining in
Lynchburg, the building presents a tight, three-bay façade along Fifth Street (while most of the façade is currently covered
by T-111 siding and a later brick storefront, interior investigation reveals the building‘s true nature). The two-story, doublepile (the rear chimney has been removed below the roofline) building is of timber frame construction, and is covered by a
side gable roof of standing-seam metal with a simple boxed cornice. While the first floor storefront has been remodeled by
the addition of a brick façade and aluminum and glass commercial door, the second floor (underneath the T-111 siding)
retains its original fenestration with a single-leaf doorway with a four-pane transom, which once opened onto an
overhanging balcony, flanked by a pair of 6/6 double-hung sash.
th
The building‘s balcony was likely in place through the first quarter of the 20 century, and is a reminder of a once-common
architectural feature on Fifth Street that has completely disappeared from the district. The 1895 Sanborn Insurance
Company map of the area shows that at least 13 buildings along the 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street had some sort of
balcony, porch, or awning that overhung Fifth Street. This scene may have been captured by German-born artist Bernhard
Gutmann (1869-1936), who, in 1895, sketched what he called ―Negro Street‖ in Lynchburg. This image shows more than
half a dozen two- or two-and–a-half-story buildings with steeply-pitched side-gable roofs, end chimneys, narrow two- and
three-bay facades, and shallow two-story covered porches. While not definitively a sketch of Fifth Street, it is highly likely
14
that Gutmann was depicting a streetscape along the 600 or 700 block of the corridor.
th
The two-and-a-half-story building at 612 Fifth Street (118-5318-0018) is another rare surviving example of early 19
century residential or commercial architecture (during this period, there is little stylistic distinction between buildings for
residential use versus commercial use) in Lynchburg. While not the first building to stand on the site, the present building
15
was likely built in 1827 by Lilbourn Johnson. A three-bay, double pile building (the rear interior end chimney has been
removed), 612 Fifth Street is of brick construction with kneelered (parapeted) gables capped by half-round brick coping, a
feature rarely found in Lynchburg. While the façade has been covered by a modern layer of running bond brick, the
th
building‘s early 19 century roots can be clearly discerned.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lastly, a cluster of Federal period dwellings is located just off of the main thoroughfare near Sixth Street‘s intersections
with Federal, Jackson, and Polk Streets. Perhaps the largest extant frame house of the period in Lynchburg, the c. 1817
Augustine Leftwich House (118-5318-0062) is a five-bay, double-pile L-shaped dwelling covered by a hipped roof with
dormers. Altered over time, the façade is fenestrated by 2/2 double-hung sash, and a second floor doorway opens onto a
balcony created by a three-bay porch that shelters the entry door on the first floor. The house retains what appears to be
an original outbuilding that is covered by a hipped roof with a dentiled cornice. The house at 523 Jackson Street (1185318-0037) is a now-rare Lynchburg example of a three-bay frame house of the Federal period. Probably built by James
Mallory (owner of the nearby Kentucky Hotel) in 1814, the house is one of five remaining three-bay frame houses dating to
the second decade of the 19th century in Lynchburg (the other four may be found nearby, but outside of the Fifth Street
district, in the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Jackson Street, 1100 block of Polk Street, and on Lucado Place). The two-story,
side-hall plan house rests on a high stone English basement, and features an original shed-roofed, one-story back porch
16
of a type known to locals of the period as a ―shelving porch.‖
Directly across the street at 522 Jackson (118-5318-0036) is a somewhat unusual four-bay, two-and-a-half story house.
Constructed in 1817, the brick building is laid in three-course American bond, which is not often found as a bond on
primary elevations of Lynchburg houses (the nearby c. 1813 Dicks-Elliott House [118-5063] also features this bond
throughout), and is atypically fenestrated by 6/6 double-hung sash on the first floor with 9/9 double-hung sash on the
second floor. Nearby at 911 Sixth Street is a mirror image of the house at 522 Jackson. Also constructed in 1817, the
William Phaup House (118-0226-0246) also displays a four-bay façade, but the entry door is located in the left center bay
instead of the right center bay. The brick dwelling is laid in Flemish bond on the façade, with variable three and four-course
American bond on the gable ends. Like 522 Jackson, the Phaup House exhibits the stylistic faux-pas (in Adamesque
terms) of not diminishing the size of the windows on upper floors. The facade is fenestrated by 6/9 double-hung sash on
both the first and second levels, and as late as the 1980s, contained a second floor entry door as well (now replaced by a
window) and a small two-story porch (this may not have been an original feature).
Rounding out the Fifth Street Historic District‘s collection of early buildings is the two-and-a-half-story brick house at 514
Polk Street (118-5318-0046), which, like 911 Sixth Street, was likely built as a speculative investment by William Phaup as
17
early as 1817. However, this is where the similarities between the two Phaup houses end. The house at 514 Polk Street
began as a two-bay building, and the right bay was added soon after to create the present widely-spaced three-bay façade,
which is laid in Flemish bond. As a cost-saving measure, secondary elevations are laid in five-course American bond. Like
the building at 612 Fifth Street, this house features a kneelered (parapeted) gable roof. The left (original) kneeler is capped
by coping of half-round bricks, while the right kneeler is flat. Windows on the first floor are 9/1 double-hung sash, and are
6/1 double-hung sash on the second floor.
The next significant cluster of buildings in the district can be found in the 400 block of Court Street, and are representative
th
of the tobacco factories that were ubiquitous in Lynchburg throughout the 19 century. Both constructed between 1877 and
1885, the tobacco factories at 409 Court Street (118-5318-0001) and 410 Court Street (118-0075) are the largest
contributing buildings within the Fifth Street Historic District. The gable front of the two-and-a-half-story building at 409
Court Street is built of oiled brick laid in running bond, while the sides of the factory are laid with a more rustic brick in the
five-course American bond pattern. The building at 410 Court Street, which also presents its gable end on Court Street as
the primary elevation, is a three-and-a-half-story building that rests on a high basement. The entire factory is built of brick,
and the original portion is largely five-course American bond. On both buildings, virtually all ornamentation is reserved for
the upper portions of the gable ends that front onto Court Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Around 1900, many frame buildings along Fifth Street, both residential and commercial, began to be replaced with more
substantial brick commercial buildings. Constructed in 1906, the one-story building at 500 Fifth Street (118-5318-0007)
featured two storefronts, each framed by vertical brick quoining and horizontal brick panels. One of the first two-story brick
commercial buildings to be constructed along Fifth Street during this period, the right-hand section of 701-703 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0024) was in place by 1907. The three-bay, two-part commercial block building has a storefront that wraps
around the corner onto Harrison Street, and is topped by a corbeled brick cornice with a moulded tin cap. The left-hand
portion (numbered 703 Fifth Street), also a three-bay building, was added soon after 1907, and mimics the design of its
mate. Also a two-story, two-part commercial block building, 606 Fifth Street (118-5318-0016) consists of two halves, each
of which are three bays wide. The building‘s brickwork is somewhat unique for the area, as the six-course American bond
is separated by rowlock, rather than header, brick.
Built in 1915, the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street (118-5318-0039) is an impressive three-story, two-part commercial
block edifice faced with yellow brick laid in a running bond on the Fifth and Jackson Street elevations. The upper windows
are capped by a row of soldier bricks, and the storefront area is framed by a series of soldier and rowlock bricks. The M.R.
Scott Meat Market (118-5318-0023) at 700 Fifth Street is one of the most architecturally refined buildings along Fifth
Street. Designed by Lynchburg architects Samuel Preston Craighill and Bennett Cardwell in 1919, the one-story building
features the name ―M.R. Scott‖ engraved on a panel of Vermont white marble, and squares of ―antique verde marble‖
accent the area above the storefront. The storefront is dominated by brick pilasters with cement caps, and a recessed
panel of basket-woven brick spans the top of the façade.The three-story, three-bay, two-part commercial block building at
709 Fifth Street (118-5318-0028) features brick quoining on the upper two stories, which are visually separated by a series
of three stuccoed diamond panels. The windows on the upper two levels of the circa 1936 building are capped by brick
splayed jackarches with cement keystones.
One of the first automobile-oriented buildings in the district was built in 1927 for the Miller Tire and Battery Company (1185317) at 400 Fifth Street. The original portion (first floor) of the building is constructed of hard-fired rusticated brick. The
most unusual feature of the building was a diagonal porte-cochere on its north corner that allowed drivers to stop at the
building, visit the business office, and perhaps check their tire pressure without being exposed to the elements. This passthrough was supported on its extreme northern corner by a single brick pillar. In the 1940s, the porte-cochere was infilled,
and a second story was added to the building.
The Adams Motor Company building at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034) was also built in 1927 and spans half of the
block; it has one of the largest footprints of any building in the district. Originally constructed to house showrooms for three
separate car retailers, the Flemish bond brick façade is divided into three sections, each containing three large storefront
windows (except for the central bay of the right-hand section, which contains a garage door). The façade is dominated by
large arched glazed fanlights with tracery (now covered with a dryvit-like material), which top each of the nine windows or
garage doors. The district‘s second mammoth automobile showroom, Pyramid Motors (118-5237), was built in 1937 and is
located at 407 Federal Street. The one-story Art Deco-style building features a yellow brick façade with contrasting red
brick details. A semi-circular entry tower of corbelled yellow brick dominates the center of the façade and rises above the
18
building‘s flat roof.
The district also features two smaller, later automobile or auto parts retail buildings. Built in 1951 for Hoskins Pontiac, the
building at 1018 Fifth Street (118-5318-0050) features a polygonal façade that is dominated by an angular metal canopy,
yellow brick laid in a running bond, and polished aluminum doorframes. A service area along the Polk Street elevation is
fenestrated by a short row of steel hopper windows topped by large vertical panels of thick green corrugated glass. The
Burnett Tire Company building at 403 Fifth Street (118-5318-0004) was likely designed by the Lynchburg architectural firm
of Cress & Johnson (Carl Cress and Stanhope S. Johnson) in 1956, and features a striking angular glass storefront that
19
conveys a modern sense of upward movement and speed.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
th
Several early to mid-20 century service stations are also located along Fifth Street, the most notable being the eclectic
Spanish Revival-style filling station at 1100 Fifth Street (118-5318-0051) at Fifth Street‘s key intersection with Monroe
Street and Park Avenue. Built in 1927, the building follows the box-and-canopy form. Identical to the station at 1201
Rivermont Avenue (118-0334-0112), the building features a gable-front porte-cochere covered with green terra cotta tiles.
A pair of globe light fixtures tops the porte-cochere‘s two end supporting columns.
A departure from other commercial buildings in the district, the Moser Furniture Company building at 409 Fifth Street (1185318-0005) appears more domestic than commercial. The one-and-a-half story, single-pile Colonial Revival style building
was built in 1936. A scaled-down version of a previous concept, the current building was designed in 1933 by Stanhope S.
20
Johnson and R.O. Brannan. Displaying all of the elements of a ―proper‖ building of the style and period, the brick store is
laid in Flemish bond, features a steeply-pitched side gable roof covered with Buckingham slate with three dormers and a
modillioned cornice, and two corbeled interior end chimneys flank the main building. A pair of smaller wings is set back
from the primary plane of the façade, and a pair of large bay windows flanks the single-leaf entry door, which is surrounded
by a pedimented frontispiece. A long, two-story warehouse and furniture factory constructed of concrete masonry units
projects from the rear of the main building.
The only example of ecclesiastical architecture in the district is the Fifth Street Baptist Church at 1007-1013 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0053). Built in 1929 to replace an earlier building, the church displays elements of the Gothic Revival style. The
building‘s gable end fronts Fifth Street, and is anchored by a pair of staggered height crenelated towers (the taller, righthand tower features a stuccoed round recessed panel at the top). The three-bay façade is built of brick laid in a running
bond, and is fenestrated by arched stained glass windows. A later parish house addition is attached to the south side of
the church, and was designed sympathetically to the architecture of the nave.
What appears to be the district‘s most recent building, the Community Funeral Home at 909 Fifth Street (118-5318-0040)
is actually an historic building with a modern shell. The right-hand portion of the building was constructed in 1922 as a twostory, two-part commercial block brick building with two storefronts separated by a doorway that led to a stairway to the
second floor. The second floor façade contained an unusual central space that may have been a large window or perhaps
a recessed balcony (period photographs do not clearly show this space due to shadows created by a cloth awning
overhead). In 1976, Lynchburg architect J. Everette Fauber, Jr. created two design options for an upgrade and expansion
of the building. The first option involved reconfiguring the left storefront of the building to include Gothic-style arched
chapel windows, with a modern addition to the left (south) of the building. The second option, which is what was chosen,
covered the entire façade of the historic building with a blank canvas of running bond brick, and joined to it a one-story
addition with a striking, recessed angular entry. While obscuring the historic façade, Fauber‘s second design achieved its
purpose of marrying the two buildings and creating a cohesive architectural statement.
th
Lastly, two residential buildings from the mid-20 century are worthy of mention. Somewhat unusual for multifamily
dwellings of the period and area, the duplex at 411-413 Polk Street is a one-story building constructed of brick laid in fivecourse American bond. Built in 1940, the duplex‘s spartan four-bay façade contains a pair of single-leaf entry doors in the
two central bays, and each outer bay contains a 1/1 double-hung sash window. The doors and windows are capped by flat
jackarches of soldier bricks, and a band of soldier bricks encircles the building at the water table. The building is covered
by a flat roof that is obscured from view by a parapet wall that features shallow corbelling near the top. The large brick
building at 600 Monroe Street, originally known as the Tal-Fred Apartments (118-5318-0059), rises two stories above
Monroe Street, although the Sixth Street elevation contains three stories over a basement. Built circa 1940, the building
apparently contained six relatively large apartment units. Covered by a hipped roof with vented dormer, the building‘s
primary entrance features a single-leaf entry door flanked by sidelights and topped by a semi-elliptical fanlight. The
doorway is sheltered by a wooden canopy suspended by chains. In 1949, architect Pendleton S. Clark designed interior
and exterior modifications, which likely included a greenstone patio enclosed by a low brick wall with greenstone coping
that is located between the building and Monroe Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIFTH STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT INVENTORY
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the Fifth Street Historic District. The resources are listed
alphabetically by roadway and numerically by street address. Virginia Department of Historic Resources identification numbers are
also listed. All resources, both primary and secondary, have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the
areas of significance identified under Criteria A and C as: Architecture, Commerce, Transportation, and African American History; and
based upon the period of significance spanning the period 1800 to 1964. All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being
built later than 1964 or for having been significantly altered so that they no longer reflect their historic appearance or character.
Clay Street
500 Clay Street
118-5318-0009
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Warehouse, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1971
Individual Resource Status: Warehouse
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
503 Clay Street
118-5318-0008
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Italianate, 1906
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Court Street
409 Court Street
118-5318-0001
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Warehouse, Stories 2.50, Style: Vernacular, 1885
Individual Resource Status: Warehouse
Contributing
410 Court Street
118-0075
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0002
Primary Resource Information: Factory, Stories 3.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Factory
Contributing
Total:
1
Federal Street
407 Federal Street
118-5237
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0031
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Art Deco, 1937
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
512 Federal Street
118-5318-0030
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, 1893
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
600 Federal Street
118-5318-0062
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Colonial Revival, 1908
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
614 Federal Street
118-5318-0063
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Individual Resource Status: Shed
Contributing
Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
1
Fifth Street
400 Fifth Street
118-5317
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0003
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
403 Fifth Street
118-5318-0004
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1956
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
409 Fifth Street
118-5318-0005
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Store, Stories 2.00, Style: Colonial Revival, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
417 Fifth Street
118-5318-0006
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
500 Fifth Street
118-5318-0007
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1906
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
512 Fifth Street
118-5318-0010
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Bus Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1953
Individual Resource Status: Bus Station
Contributing
514 Fifth Street
118-5318-0011
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Fire Station, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Fire Station
Contributing
520 Fifth Street
118-5318-0012
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
521 Fifth Street
118-5318-0013
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: International Style, 1954
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
600 Fifth Street
118-0020
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0015
Primary Resource Information: Tavern/Ordinary, Stories 2.00, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1815
Individual Resource Status: Tavern/Ordinary
Individual Resource Status: Trough
Contributing
Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
1
601 Fifth Street
118-5318-0050
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Shelter, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 2010
Individual Resource Status: Shelter
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
606 Fifth Street
118-5318-0016
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1911
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
610 Fifth Street
118-5318-0017
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
612 Fifth Street
118-5318-0018
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1827
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
614 Fifth Street
118-5318-0019
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
619 Fifth Street
118-5318-0020
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1959
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
620 Fifth Street
118-5318-0021
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1850
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
700 Fifth Street
118-5318-0023
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1919
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
701 Fifth Street
118-5318-0024
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1907
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
702 Fifth Street
118-5318-0025
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1926
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
706 Fifth Street
118-5318-0026
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1964
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
708 Fifth Street
118-5318-0027
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.50, Style: Vernacular, 1820
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
709 Fifth Street
118-5318-0028
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
710 Fifth Street
118-5318-0029
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1955
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
801 Fifth Street
118-5318-0032
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Service Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1950
Individual Resource Status: Service Station
Contributing
811 Fifth Street
118-5318-0034
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Automobile Showroom, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Automobile Showroom
Contributing
Total:
1
900 Fifth Street
118-0177
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0038
Primary Resource Information: Tavern/Ordinary, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1800
Individual Resource Status: Tavern/Ordinary
Contributing
Total:
1
901 Fifth Street
118-5318-0039
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1915
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
909 Fifth Street
118-5318-0040
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Funeral Home, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1922
Individual Resource Status: Funeral Home
Non-Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
910 Fifth Street
118-5318-0041
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1949
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
Total:
1
1
Total:
1
918 Fifth Street
118-5318-0042
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Funeral Home, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1963
Individual Resource Status: Funeral Home
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Contributing
1000 Fifth Street
118-5318-0059
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Shelter, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 2010
Individual Resource Status: Shelter
Non-Contributing
1001 Fifth Street
118-5318-0047
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
Total:
1
1
Total:
1
1005 Fifth Street
118-5318-0048
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Contributing
1007 Fifth Street
118-5318-0053
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Church/Chapel, Stories 1.00, Style: Gothic Revival, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Church/Chapel
Contributing
1014 Fifth Street
118-5318-0049
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Meeting/Fellowship Hall, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1907
Individual Resource Status: Meeting/Fellowship Hall
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
1018 Fifth Street
118-5318-0050
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
1100 Fifth Street
118-5318-0051
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Service Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Colonial Revival, Spanish/Mission, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Service Station
Individual Resource Status: Shed
Contributing
Non-Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
2
1101 Fifth Street
118-5318-0052
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Automobile Showroom, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1949
Individual Resource Status: Automobile Showroom
Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harrison Street
507 Harrison Street
118-5318-0022
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1962
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Jackson Street
413 Jackson Street
118-5318-0033
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: Vernacular, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Other DHR Id #:
Contributing
515 Jackson Street
118-5318-0035
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1875
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
522 Jackson Street
118-5318-0036
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
523 Jackson Street
118-5318-0037
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1814
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Madison Street
506 Madison Street
118-5318-0014
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monroe Street
420 Monroe Street
118-5318-0056
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
600 Monroe Street
118-5318-0060
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Apartment Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Colonial Revival, 1940
Individual Resource Status: Apartment Building
Contributing
613 Monroe Street
118-5318-0061
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Polk Street
411 Polk Street
118-5318-0043
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Double House, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1940
Individual Resource Status: Double House
Contributing
512 Polk Street
118-5318-0044
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
513 Polk Street
118-5318-0045
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1964
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
514 Polk Street
118-5318-0046
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
516 Polk Street
118-5318-0057
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1889
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sixth Street
815 Sixth Street
118-5318-0054
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
911 Sixth Street
118-0226-0246
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0055
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary Statement of Significance
The Fifth Street Historic District includes approximately 23 acres of commercial district and residential clusters to the
southwest of Lynchburg‘s central business district. The district includes more than 55 contributing resources and less than
10 non-contributing resources.
The Fifth Street Corridor began its development in the early nineteenth century as a gateway to Lynchburg, connecting the
booming town with points westward as evidenced by transportation-oriented businesses of the period with names like the
Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) and the Western Hotel (118-0020). During the late nineteenth century, Fifth Street (also known
variably as Seventh Alley, Cocke Street, or West Street) served as the site of uses that would seem to be incompatible; it
hosted high-end residential areas for Lynchburg‘s white population while at the same time serving as the principal scene of
commerce for the area‘s African American community. ―The Negro in Virginia,‖ a milestone report published by the Virginia
Writers‘ Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1940, described Lynchburg‘s Fifth Street along with Roanoke‘s
Henry Street, South Avenue in Petersburg, and Second Street in Richmond, as a place where ―the ‗crowd‘ may be found
almost every evening… here is a little oasis – ‗our street.‘ Race pride is triumphant; here one need bow and scrape to no
one. Drug stores, cafes, barbershops, pool halls, grocery and clothing stores, news-stands and theaters…are operated for
Negroes by Negroes.‖ In addition to serving as the center of African American business in the twentieth century, the
corridor developed as a major automobile sales and service district, serving as host to filling and service stations, tire and
auto parts stores, and automobile showrooms.
The Fifth Street Historic District has a period of significance ranging from 1800 to 1964, beginning with the date of
construction for the oldest standing resource in the district and concluding with the end of significant commercial
21
expansion within the boundaries of the district . It is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of commerce and
transportation for its role in the commercial and physical development of the City of Lynchburg. The Fifth Street Historic
District is also locally significant under Criterion A for its role as a center of African American commerce and culture from
the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Also locally significant under Criterion C for its important
collection of domestic and commercial architecture, the district boasts examples of the the Federal (and early nineteenth
century Virginia vernacular), early twentieth century commercial, Art Deco, Colonial Revival, and modern styles. The
district displays substantial integrity of location, material, association, design, and workmanship.
Fifth Street’s Architectural Significance
The Fifth Street Historic District is Lynchburg‘s fourth historic district with a commercial or industrial theme, and exhibits an
unprecedented diversity of architectural styles that provides evidence of the corridor‘s role as an important commercial
th
th
center from the 19 through the 20 centuries. The district‘s collection of residential and commercial architecture dating to
the Early National Period (1790-1829) is second (in Lynchburg) only to the Federal Hill Historic District (118-0056). Two of
the city‘s three remaining taverns of the period, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) and Nichols Tavern (118-0020), are located
on Fifth Street. Perhaps the last two of Lynchburg‘s early double-pile town houses (or stores) are located at 612 and 708
Fifth Street (118-5318-0018 and 118-5318-0027, respectively). In addition, the district boasts five additional dwellings that
were constructed before 1820. These five houses, located just off of Fifth Street on Polk, Sixth, and Federal Streets, were
th
constructed during Fifth Street‘s rise as a commercial and transportation center in the early 19 century, and are
representative of similar known resources along the 300 and 900 blocks of Fifth Street that have been demolished. A
sampling of the area‘s most progressive automobile-oriented architecture can also be found along Fifth Street, including
the Colonial Revival style Adams Motor Company building at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034), the Art Deco style Pyramid
Motors Company building at 407 Federal Street (118-5237), and the modern style showrooms at 403 and 1101 Fifth (1185318-0004 and 118-5318-0052, respectively).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 17
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fifth Street’s Significance as a Commercial and Transportation Corridor
In January of 1805, the Virginia General Assembly adopted an act that incorporated the town of Lynchburg, thus allowing
the mayor and common councilmen to become a ―body corporate‖ which was authorized to erect public works and
buildings. In addition, the act provided for the expansion of the original 1786 limits of the town, and new thoroughfares,
including Seventh Alley (alleys ran perpendicular to the James River) were formalized. As the system of two-acre blocks,
each containing four half-acre lots, spread westward, the winding old Ferry Road, which had provided access to Lynch‘s
Ferry at least since 1757, was merged with Seventh Alley. Thus, travelers heading westward to the communities of New
London, Liberty (now Bedford), Salem, and the Cumberland Gap would cross the James River via Lynch‘s Ferry (this ferry
would be replaced by a toll bridge in 1812), proceed up Water Street (now Ninth Street), turn right on Second Street (now
Main), and then left onto Seventh Alley (now Fifth Street). Seventh Alley headed up the long incline from the James River,
crested what is now known as Court House Hill, and proceeded in a southwesterly direction, ultimately connecting with the
22
New London Road (later designated as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike,or Fort Avenue).
Due to the volume of traffic coming from and going to the western parts of Virginia, Seventh Alley (now known as Fifth
Street) was in a prime position for commercial growth. Until circa 1805, virtually all commercial activity in Lynchburg took
place along what is now known as Main Street, as well as at the bottom of what is now known as Ninth Street where the
ferry (and later toll bridge) crossed the James River. Between 1797 and 1805, 13 out of 14 non-residential Lynchburg
properties insured by the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia were located on Main Street. Around this time, Seventh
Alley also became known as Cocke Street, probably because merchant and civic leader Thomas W. Cocke owned at least
two lots along the corridor prior to 1805. Another alternate name for the route was ―West Street,‖ which may have
originated from the surname of West, but more likely because the street was the route taken to proceed in a westerly
direction.
Not surprisingly,the popularity of the route as a transportation corridor also led to the construction of several taverns along
th
Fifth Street in the second decade of the 19 century, which marked Lynchburg‘s first building boom (which was tempered
only by the financial panic of 1819). In 1814, James Mallory purchased lot number 395 (at the corner of what is now known
as Jackson and Fifth Streets) from Israel Snead. The original three-bay section of the house at 900 Fifth Street (118-0177)
may have been standing at this time, and Mallory likely expanded the house to its present five-bay configuration soon after
23
he purchased the property. Mallory‘s tavern would soon be known as the Kentucky Hotel, an obvious reference to the
ultimate destination of many Fifth Street travelers, and was the primary landmark in the area, as an 1817 appointment of
24
road surveyors refers to the ―road leading by James Mallory‘s (called West Street).‖ Jacob Feazle purchased the tavern
from Mallory in 1826 and then married Ann Cobbs, owner of 514 Polk Street (118-5318-0046), in 1829. Two years later,
Jacob and Ann sold the tavern to Pleasant Partin for the respectable amount of $3,100. The Kentucky Hotel was listed in
the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Joseph Nichols‘ Tavern (118-0020) was built in 1815 and almost immediately burned due to sparks emanating from a
blacksmith shop across Fifth Street. It was rebuilt in the same year due to an outpouring of support from the community,
who raised more than $1,300 to assist Mr. Nichols and his family. Joseph Nichols was an experienced tavern keeper, as
he was issued his first license in 1799, although the location of his previous tavern is unknown. Joseph and Lewis Nichols
operated the tavern at 600 Fifth Street through 1822. John F. Johnson operated the business from 1824 until his death in
1843, when his widow, Mary, took over. She served as the tavern keeper until 1850, when she was listed as a resident in
25
the household of Allen J. Black, a tavern keeper. During the Johnsons‘ ownership, the tavern became known as the
26
Western Hotel. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 18
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1818, William Shaw began operating a tavern at his house (already well-known as ―Travelers Rest‖) at the southeast
corner of what is now Court and Fifth Street. In particular, Shaw catered to children, as he noted that the property was
convenient to three schools. Fisher‘s Auto Parts Warehouse (118-5317) now occupies the site of Travelers Rest.
th
The presence of two extant taverns dating to the early 19 century is significant, as it is thought that only three taverns
from the period remain in Lynchburg (the third being Major Oliver Towles‘ tavern [also known as Cross Keys] at 1200-1204
Main Street). In 1816, at least 16 taverns operated in the town.
Naturally, retailers began to establish themselves along Fifth Street during the same period. Peter Detto may have
operated a store (or perhaps even a tavern) soon after his 1805 purchase of a lot on the southwest corner of what is now
Clay and Fifth Streets. In 1818, merchant Benjamin Perkins acquired the lot at the southeast corner of Fifth and Harrison
Streets and promptly sold it to Archibald Robertson, surviving partner of Brown Robertson & Co. Scottish-born merchant
William Brown, who died in the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811, had numerous mercantile connections throughout Virginia,
including at Otter Bridge in Bedford County, Milton in Albemarle County, and Manchester opposite Richmond. Following
Brown‘s death, Archibald Robertson took over a great deal of the business operation. Robertson operated several stores
(including one at what is now Seventh and Main Street), and many of Lynchburg‘s leading citizens were his customers.
Thomas Jefferson was a longstanding customer of the firm, and at the time of his death in 1826, Jefferson owed $6,000,
27
or 6% of his total debt, to Robertson. Robertson constructed at least two buildings on the lot, and merchant Lindsay B.
Padgett purchased the lot from Robertson‘s estate in 1844. Specializing in ready-made clothing and dry goods, Padgett
operated stores on both Main Street and Cocke (Fifth Street). He owed substantial debts to many individuals and
companies, and mortgaged his real and personal properties in order to secure the debts. Padgett apparently defaulted on
the note, and an October 1847 Lynchburg Virginian advertisement announced the public sale of his property, including ―all
ready made clothing now in his store on Cocke Street.‖ Retail grocer James M. Cochran purchased the store building,
28
then referred to as the ―Red House,‖ at 708 Fifth Street (118-5318-0027) in 1849.
Another early store is located at 612 Fifth Street (118-5318-0018), and was probably built by Lilbourn Johnson in 1827.
The previously-mentioned merchant Lindsay Padgett purchased the building around 1839. Like Federal period taverns of
Lynchburg, store buildings of the period are very rare in the city, and these two buildings are part of a group of less than
half a dozen extant and recognizable pre-1830 commercial buildings in Lynchburg.
In his 1835 gazetteer of Virginia, Joseph Martin noted that the ―Lynchburg and eastern turnpike, running S.W. through New
London and Liberty, is now completed half the distance.‖ The macadamized road ―enters Lynchburg at the lower [eastern,
or downriver] end of town. To accommodate the wants of the other end, an arm has been constructed from Cocke, or
29
West Street (the northernmost alley) intersecting the turnpike a mile and a half from town.‖ The turnpike mentioned was
also known as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, and entered Lynchburg by the route of current Fort Avenue, which turned
th
into Twelfth Street. An 1825 map submitted to the General Assembly shows that ―7 Alley or Cocke or West Street‖ turned
into the ―Road to Bedford,‖ and that a road that ―connects with [the] Turnpike‖ veered off of it well after it left the town of
30
Lynchburg (the outer limits were marked by what is now Taylor Street). Using this map and Martin‘s description, it can be
ascertained that the ―Road to Bedford‖ followed what is now Fifth Street along its present course southwest of College Hill,
then followed Memorial Avenue to the vicinity of the present E.C. Glass High School, where it turned to the west and
followed the course of Lakeside Drive and Forest Road. The road that, in 1825, connected Fifth Street with the turnpike,
followed the course of modern Memorial Avenue, and intersected the turnpike at what would later become the site of Fort
Early. Fifth Street businesses likely fought for more convenient access to the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, as this route
required two miles of travel between the edge of Lynchburg along Fifth Street before one intersected with the turnpike
road. The ―arm‖ that Martin described as accommodating the ―wants of the other end‖ of town would have departed Fifth
Street at its intersection with Monroe Street, and intersected the turnpike at the place called ―Watering Branch,‖ exactly
one and a half miles from downtown. This route, followed today by a portion of Park and Fort Avenues, only required Fifth
Street residents to travel one mile before they reached the turnpike. This simple roadway improvement guaranteed Fifth
th
Street‘s continuance as a commercial center into the second half of the 19 century.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 19
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By the time of the Civil War, the Fifth Street corridor was home to a number of tobacco warehouses and factories. As
casualties from the field began to pour into Lynchburg, which was quickly becoming a major hospital center, all large
buildings in the city were appropriated for use as hospitals. By 1862, Reid‘s and Booker‘s warehouses, near the
intersection of Fifth, Church, and Court Streets, comprised Division 1 of General Hospital Number 1, and Division 3
consisted of Burton‘s Warehouse (on the west side of Fifth between Harrison and Federal) and Candler‘s Warehouse,
31
which was on the east side of Fifth near Polk. Many casualties from the hospitals throughout town were sent to what is
now known as the Old City Cemetery (118-0027) at Fourth and Monroe Street for burial.
In June of 1864, Fifth Street played a supporting role in the defense of the city against an attack by Federal General David
Hunter. Susan Leigh Blackford recounted that ―General Breckinridge, with some troops, got here on Wednesday night, and
as we saw them passing out West [Fifth] Street…the streets were lined with women, waving their handkerchiefs and
32
cheering them on as they moved out onto a line on the hills west of the city.‖ Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute
th
arrived on June 16 , and were ordered to dig defensive lines in the area of Fifth Street as it crested College Hill. That
night, the cadets slept amongst the gravestones at the Old City Cemetery. The fighting on June 17 and 18 was primarily
limited to the outer defenses, and Lynchburg‘s inner defenses that stretched from the Old City Cemetery across Fifth
33
Street, and along the ridge of College Hill, were not tested in battle.
After the Civil War, tobacco manufacturing continued along the Fifth Street corridor. An 1877 map of Lynchburg shows
S.P. Halsey‘s Prizery at the south corner of Fifth and Clay Streets. The Myers factory was located between Harrison and
Federal near Fourth Street, and an unnamed factory was at the north corner of Fifth and Federal. A major complex of
tobacco manufacturing buildings was next to the Kentucky Hotel (these were likely built by Pleasant Partin), while
Hatcher‘s factory was across Fifth Street on the north corner of Fifth and Polk. Lastly, a second facility owned by S.P.
34
Halsey was on the south side of the intersection of Fifth Street and Park Avenue. Two examples of tobacco warehouses
th
from the 19 century remain in the district. R.E. Gist‘s Plug and Twist Tobacco Factory (118-0075) and A.M. Bruce‘s Plug
and Smoking Tobacco Factory (118-5318-0001) are both located in the 400 block of Court Street, and were constructed
35
between 1877 and 1885.
In 1883, a new city fire station was constructed at 514 Fifth Street (118-5318-0011). ―Fire Station No. 1,‖ which boasted 15
men, 1 steam engine (pulled by 4 horses), 1 hose wagon (pulled by 2 horses), and 1 hook and ladder (pulled by 4 horses),
served for more than four decades before being supplanted by a new Art Deco style facility designed by Clark and Crowe
36
at the intersection of Fifth and Church Streets (demolished). Biggers School (called the ―Fifth Avenue Public School‖ in
1890), located at the west corner of Clay and Fifth Streets, opened in 1881 with a capacity of 305 students. The large
37
building was designed by August Forsberg, and was demolished in 1967. Except for the school and the Gist, Bruce, and
Halsey tobacco facilities, the ―lower‖ end of Fifth Street (the 200-400 blocks) was primarily residential in nature during the
last quarter of the nineteenth century. The 500 block contained a bakery & confectionary, two grocery stores, an ice cream
parlor and dairy, a drug store, the Lynchburg Steam Laundry, and the newly-constructed Fifth Street Fire Station (1185318-0011), which was labeled ―Fire Station No. 1.‖ The 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street boasted 18 stores, a
restaurant, wood working shop, and the former Phoenix Carriage Works at Fifth and Federal. Three of these stores
th
remain, including the early 19 century buildings at 612 and 708 Fifth (118-5318-0018 and 118-5318-0027, respectively)
and the circa 1850 brick building at 620 Fifth Street (118-5318-0021). The 900 and 1000 blocks of Fifth Street contained
six grocery stores (including R.H. Padgett‘s store, which occupied an ancient c. 1800 store at the corner of Polk and Fifth
th
that was demolished in the mid-20 century), two shoe stores, a candy store, a barber, and two tobacco factories (J.B.
38
Evans & Son and Loyd Phelps & Co.).
th
By the end of the first quarter of the 20 century, the automobile had firmly taken hold in Lynchburg, and the burgeoning
city was even home to the Piedmont Motor Car Company, one of only two companies in Virginia that actually
manufactured automobiles (this factory was located just over a mile northwest of Fifth Street). New businesses were
needed to serve the needs of the now-ubiquitous machines, and gas stations, tire stores, and other establishments began
to spring up all over town. Some of the first auto-oriented development that took place along Fifth Street occurred in the
previously-residential 400 block. In 1928, the city directory announced that 400 Fifth Street was occupied by the Miller Tire
& Battery Company, while the Lynchburg Battery & Ignition Company was located at 406 Fifth Street (both buildings are
now joined, and are designated as 118-5317). Ferdinand D. Miller was the proprietor of Miller Tire & Battery at 406 Fifth
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 20
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street, which sold Hood Tires and Willard Batteries. By 1935, the building was home to Goodyear Service Automobile
Tires under the management of Oliver E. Miles. By 1940, the business was being operated under the name of ―New Tread
Company Vulcanizing‖ by D. Earl Burnett. The business specialized in recapping, retreading, and vulcanizing tires, and
was a distributor for the U.S. Tire Company. Burnett purchased the building from E.H. Hancock in 1943, and was operating
the Burnett-Benson Tire Company on the site by 1945. In addition to U.S. Tires, the business sold Seiberling Tires, radios,
sporting goods, and home appliances. A 1945 advertisement boasted that they were the ―most comprehensive tire service
39
in Lynchburg.‖ By 1955, Burnett-Benson Tire Company had been renamed to simply Burnett Tire Company, and the firm
was selling aircraft parts in addition to their automotive parts and accessories. The next year, the company commissioned
the architectural firm of Cress & Johnson to design a modern, streamlined facility across the street at what would become
40
403 Fifth Street (118-5318-0004).
Also in 1927, the automobile showroom at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034) was constructed to house three separate
motor companies owned by Myers, Beasley, and Phil Payne. In the 1930s, the building was acquired by Adams Motor
th
Company, which sold cars at the location through the end of the 20 century. The automobile dealership at 407 Federal
Street (118-5237) was constructed in 1937 for the Pyramid Motor Corporation, which sold Ford and Lincoln Zephyr
automobiles. After 1948, the business changed hands and was called Turner Buick Corporation. The name then changed
to Dickerson Buick Corporation in 1955 and to Hemphill Buick-Opel, Inc. in 1970. The building was acquired by the
41
Sheltered Workshop of Lynchburg in 1975, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Other purpose-built automobile-oriented commercial buildings in the district include filling stations at 1100 Fifth (118-53180051) and 801 Fifth (118-5318-0032), the Hoskins Pontiac Company showroom at 1101 Fifth (118-5318-0052), and the
garages at 619 Fifth (118-5318-0020), 420 Monroe (118-5318-0056), and 507 Harrison Street (118-5318-0022).
In 1930, the Lynchburg firm of Johnson and Brannan designed a new bus terminal at the intersection of Fifth and Church
Streets for A.F. Young, operator of the nearby Virginian Hotel at 726 Church Street (118-5163-0076). This Greyhound
depot (demolished) was the first of two such facilities constructed along Fifth Street, which was part of Lynchburg‘s primary
north-south transportation network. In 1953, a Trailways bus station was constructed at 512 Fifth Street (118-5318-0010).
Several residential and commercial buildings along Fifth Street were demolished to make room for the station, and in
1962, the building became known as the Union Bus Station, serving both Trailways and Greyhound passengers. At this
time, additional houses along Clay and Madison Streets were demolished to provide larger parking areas. According to
Greyhound officials, this instance was the first time (in company history) that the two bus lines had shared a single
42
facility.
In 1931, Fifth Street was designated as U.S. Highway 29, which connected Maryland to Florida. Following the construction
of the Lynchburg Expressway, Fifth Street was redesignated as U.S. 29‘s business route. While long-distance traffic may
have decreased, local traffic was on the rise as Lynchburg grew and the Fifth Street corridor found itself between
downtown and the midtown area, which contained Pittman Plaza (Lynchburg‘s first shopping center), which was completed
in 1960. To increase traffic flow, on-street parking was removed from Fifth Street in order to create two lanes of
southbound traffic. In the early 1970s, the Virginia Department of Transportation developed a plan to further increase
traffic flow through the area by turning Fourth Street (a narrow residential neighborhood-serving roadway) into a one-way
thoroughfare for vehicular traffic, while converting Fifth Street to all one-way in the opposite direction. This plan, along with
the assumed significant right-of-way acquisitions that would need to be made in order to enact it, had a chilling effect on
any reinvestment that might have otherwise occurred along Fifth Street. Like downtown Lynchburg (and most other
downtowns during the 1970s), the Fifth Street commercial district suffered a decline due to large shopping areas including
43
Pittman Plaza and River Ridge Mall, which opened in the early 1980s.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 21
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fifth Street as an African American Cultural and Commercial Center
Following the Civil War, African Americans realized new opportunities as well as limitations. While amendments to the
United States Constitution abolished slavery and granted citizenship to African Americans, a new system of racial
discrimination, known as ―Jim Crow,‖ soon emerged. The majority-controlled society denied African Americans access to
respectable jobs and many commercial services, and African Americans formed parallel economies in their own
communities.
During the late 1880s, most of Fifth Street was predominately occupied by white residents or business owners. The 400,
600, and 900 blocks had close to twenty percent African American occupancy, while the 1000 block and beyond was
generally occupied by a black majority. By 1900, the percentage of African American residents began to increase
somewhat, particularly along the 900 block of Fifth Street. By 1910, an African American-dominated business district had
44
evolved in the three block area between Federal and Monroe Streets. Black business owners may have obtained a
foothold in the district due to opportunities created by a weak economy in the early years of reconstruction, but the African
American business community‘s rise to prominence was not simply due to passive acceptance of what may have been
considered undesirable property by the white business community. Rather, several successful black business leaders,
along with newly-formed fraternal and social organizations, made significant investments in the corridor by constructing a
th
th
number of large commercial buildings in the late 19 and early 20 centuries. The vanguard of these black business
owners included boot and shoe makers Pitman Walker and James Ross, grocer Nelson James, and barber J.O. Ross,
45
who were all operating in the 1000 block of Fifth Street as early as 1881.
During this time, many black fraternal organizations were formed, ―creating social outlets for those seeking camaraderie as
well as a sense of belonging in the face of a larger society that neglected them.‖ These groups promoted the concept of
46
―self-help,‖ and played a key role in development of a black middle class in southern cities like Lynchburg.
By 1872, African American men in Lynchburg formed a local chapter of the Order of True Reformers, a fraternal
organization. In 1893, they constructed the landmark building known as the True Reformers Hall (later known as the
Harrison Theatre) in the 900 block of Fifth Street on the site of Pleasant Partin‘s tobacco factory. Perhaps the first ―mixed
use‖ building on Fifth Street, the massive three-story edifice contained a large auditorium, offices, a lodge hall for the True
Reformers, and several storefronts at street level. Perhaps as important for its cultural, social, and commercial contribution
47
to the district as its architecture, the True Reformers Hall was demolished in 1985.
th
The African American population in Lynchburg was on the decline by the late 19 century, largely due to the reduction of
employees needed in the various tobacco warehouses and factories in the city, which were major employers of blacks.
Newer industries in the area, including cotton mills and shoe factories, only employed white laborers (due to necessity if for
no other reason, many of these companies would later employ blacks). Despite the reduced role that tobacco played in
Lynchburg‘s economy, the Stalling & Company tobacco factory, which occupied the former Myers building at Fourth and
th
Federal Streets, employed area residents well into the 20 century. James B. Harvey (1928-1984) worked at the Stallings
Factory in the 1950s. His son, Richard, later wrote that he ―went to visit my father once at the Tobacco Factory on Fourth
Street…His boss cursed and talked to him as if he was less than a dog. I swore, not one time in my life, would I be
subjected to this bigotry.‖ Dubois Miller worked at the factory one summer, and he later recounted that he would ―come
home smelling like tobacco, and I didn‘t smoke, so I didn‘t appreciate it. But I needed the money for school, and it was
48
seasonal work.‖ The G. Stalling & Co. Factory was destroyed by fire in 1976.
As educational and economic opportunities for African Americans increased, entrepreneurism also increased. In 1904,
Lynchburg‘s black population operated 2 billiard saloons, 2 theatres, and 2 livery stables. There were 3 African American
physicians or veterinary surgeons, 3 undertakers, 2 attorneys, 5 hucksters (street vendors), 1 plumber, 1 electrical
contractor, 1 chiropodist, 23 barbers, 27 merchants, and 32 houses of private entertainment (private lodging facilities that
did not serve alcohol) .. Thus, to some extent, the black community began to mitigate the effects of segregation in the
industrial workplace with their own business opportunities, many of which operated on Fifth Street (or Fifth Avenue, as it
49
was sometimes called during this period).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 22
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By 1900, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177), a former tavern and residence, was the home to Smith‘s Business College, which
provided educational opportunities to African Americans. Its students included Rev. George Robert Jones of Suffolk, who
50
graduated in 1897. An 1899 advertisement in the Richmond Planet announced that the school offered courses in
―phonographic, penning, commercial, English…‖, and a 1908 publication lauded T. Parker Smith, the school‘s director, as
51
―one of the pioneers‖ in the work of training African Americans in the principles of business. Smith, a Missouri native who
graduated from Lincoln University in 1888, married Clara Alexander of Lynchburg. By 1911, they had moved to Durham,
North Carolina, where he was the Dean of the Commercial Department at the National Religious Training School, and
52
Clara served as the head of the Teacher‘s Department. By 1934, Smith was operating a new Smith‘s Business College in
Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1915, local African American businessman Adolphus Humbles (1845-1926) built what is known as the Humbles Building
(118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth Street. Like the True Reformers Hall, the Humbles Building is a large, three-story, mixed use
facility that contained two storefronts on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor. Humbles was a successful
merchant in Campbell County, and operated the toll road between Lynchburg and Rustburg (the seat of Campbell County).
He served as the Treasurer of both the Virginia State Baptist Convention and the Virginia Theological Seminary and
College (now known as the Virginia University of Lynchburg), where the school‘s main building bears his name. Also active
in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive Committee for the Republican Party for thirteen
53
years.
In 1919, the former Gist Tobacco Factory at 410 Court Street (118-0075) was converted into Mill No. 2 of the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills Company (Mill No. 1 [118-0126] was on Fort Avenue), which had the specific purpose of employing African
American women. At the time, it was said that no other business or industry in Lynchburg had hired black women, who, up
until this point, were limited to performing domestic work in white households. Mill No. 2 operated until 1971, and generally
employed between 150 and 200 black women at any given time. As at Mill No. 1, the segregated employees of Mill No. 2
formed a ―Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association,‖ which provided benefits including an early form of medical insurance,
disability benefits, unemployment benefits, and savings plans. When the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, the two
separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Associations were merged, and both black and white employees then belonged to the
54
same association.
As previously mentioned, three African American undertakers were in business in Lynchburg at the turn of the century.
John Shuemaker & Co. operated at 417 Monroe Street, and was a former partner with Squire Higginbotham. Their funeral
home, established in 1868, is thought to be the oldest black business of the type in Lynchburg. Squire‘s son, McGustavus
(1868-1934), owned the firm of Strange & Higginbotham, which was located at 909 Fifth Street (118-5318-0040). This
business was the predecessor to the current Community Funeral Home, which was established by M.W. ―Teedy‖ Thornhill,
Jr. Thornhill served on Lynchburg City Council from 1976 to 1992, and in 1990, was elected as Lynchburg‘s first African
American mayor. C.V. Wilson‘s Funeral Home was located at 810 Fifth Street, but was demolished in 1968 to make
additional car lot space for Adams Motor Company. Carl Hutcherson, Sr. erected a new funeral home at 918 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0042) in 1963. Hutcherson was the first African American to serve on the Lynchburg School Board, and his son,
the Rev. Carl B. Hutcherson, Jr., took over the mortuary business, served on Lynchburg City Council from 1996 to 2006
55
(he was Mayor from 2000 to 2006).
On March 5, 1918, a group of African American women rented the house at 613 Monroe Street (118-5318-0061) in order
to begin Y.W.C.A. programs for women of color. Soon after, Adela Ruffin, Field Secretary for all black Y.W.C.A.
participants in the South, came to Lynchburg to encourage local leadership to create a separate chapter, but her
suggestion was tabled. In 1919, however, an official Phyllis Wheatley Branch was formed in Lynchburg, and 15 African
American women established a Committee of Management. The Central Association (white-controlled organization),
located on Church Street, offered to help the Phyllis Wheatley Branch in ―any way that it could, but was unable to assist
financially.‖ In 1924, the trustees of the Old Dominion Elks Lodge #181, who had purchased 613 Monroe from the
56
Merchants National Bank of Raleigh in 1919, sold the house to the Y.W.C.A. for $4,000.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 23
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1937, it was reported that the branch had outgrown their building at 613 Monroe, and that a committee had been formed
to evaluate their options. While the branch had saved money for renovations through the years, they would also need to
obtain support from the community. Amy Jordan, a teacher at a ―colored college‖ (Virginia Theological Seminary) was the
chairman of the Committee of Management, and Grace Booker, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was Executive Secretary of
57
the branch. Later, Booker became the first African American Director of the Metropolitan Y.W.C.A. in Baltimore.
An undated brochure produced by the Phyllis Wheatley Y.W.C.A. sought to raise $45,000 for the purpose of moving the
branch from its house at 613 Monroe Street, which was labeled as ―Old—Outgrown‖ to a larger building at 600 Monroe
Street, which was labeled ―Modern—Adequate.‖ 600 Monroe Street was known as the ―Tal-Fred Apartments‖ (118-53180060), and was built circa 1940 on property formerly occupied by the Independent Order of St. Luke. The newlyconstructed apartment building appears to have contained six spacious units, all of which were occupied by African
Americans. The Phyllis Wheatley Branch apparently raised the necessary funds to acquire the property, and hired
prominent Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark to plan modifications to the building‘s interior. The Y.W.C.A. branch
moved into the building by 1950, and it is still owned by the organization today. The Y.W.C.A. program in Lynchburg was
58
integrated in the early 1970s.
In 1924, the house at 1014 Fifth Street (118-5318-0049) was occupied by the Elks Rest, a facility for African Americans. In
1936, Willis Sandidge was the manager of the Elks Rest, and Old Dominion Lodge #181, IBPOE (Elks) used the building
as its principal office and meeting location. In need of additional assembly space, the organization added a large concrete
masonry unit addition to the rear of the building by 1951, and the grocery store operated by James Harper and later Robert
59
Miller at 1016 Fifth Street was incorporated into the Elks Lodge complex.
th
For most of the first half of the 20 century, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) at 900 Fifth Street served as the Odd Fellows
Hall, with rental office space on the first floor and the second floor contained the lodge hall itself. In 1954, the building
housed the Grand Order of the Odd Fellows, Odd Fellows Lodge No. 1475, St. Luke‘s Lodge No. 1475, Sons of Zion
60
Lodge No. 1446, and West Hill Lodge No. 1704.
By 1962, the Augustine Leftwich House at 614 Federal Street (118-5318-0063) began a new life as the ―Masonic Home.‖
Joseph C. Watson resided at the house (perhaps as a manager or caretaker) and the building housed the Star of the West
Lodge No. 24 (AF&AM), Order of the Eastern Star Lynchburg Chapter No. 40, and Order of the Eastern Star Goodwill
Chapter No. 125 (all of these were African American organizations). The building at 614 Federal Street continues to serve
61
the Star of the West Lodge today.
In addition to serving as the ―Main Street‖ of Lynchburg‘s African American community, the corridor served as the
community‘s health and medicine center. By 1940, all but one of Lynchburg‘s black physicians as well as all four black
dentists had offices on Fifth Street. Perhaps Lynchburg‘s best-known African American physician, Dr. R. Walter Johnson
(1889-1971) attended Lincoln University and Meharry Medical College. His Lynchburg practice began in the mid-1930s,
and was first located in the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street (118-5318-0039). In 1951, he constructed the office
building at 1001 Fifth Street (118-5318-0047), which still bears his name in large aluminum letters along the façade. He
was the first African American to be allowed to practice at Lynchburg General Hospital, and became a well-known tennis
coach for young African American players, including Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. He founded the American Tennis
Association Junior Development Program for African American youth as well as an all-expenses paid tennis camp. His
home and tennis court at 1422 Pierce Street (118-0225-0077) were individually listed in the National Register of Historic
Places in 2002, and Centra Health‘s outpatient clinic at 320 Federal Street is named in his honor. His sister, Dr. Eileen ElDorado Johnson, was educated in Switzerland and worked in New York before moving to Lynchburg in 1967, where she
established a practice on Fifth Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 24
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Fred L. Lander, Jr. (1898-1941) a veteran of World War I, had an office at the corner of Fifth and Polk Streets
(demolished in 1992). He was one of the first African American physicians to use sulfa drugs to treat venereal diseases, a
serious health problem during the 1930s, when three times as many Virginia blacks as whites died of syphilis. Dr. Leon
Braswell‘s (1904-1958) office was located at 808 Fifth Street (demolished); he practiced from 1937 to 1958. In 1949, he
was named state Vice President of the National Medical Association. Dr. Clarissa Wimbush (d. 1986) was the first black
female dentist in Virginia, and earned her D.D.S. degree from Howard University. She opened an office at 911-913 Fifth
(demolished 1979) in 1926, and practiced more than fifty years.
Dr. Augustus Nathaniel Lushington (1869-1939) was born on Trinidad in the West Indies and is believed to be one of the
first African Americans in the country to receive a degree in veterinary medicine, which he earned at the University of
Pennsylvania in 1897. His home and practice was located in the house at 1005 Fifth Street (118-5318-0048). From 1959
until he retired, Dr. Kyle M. Pettus (1881-1967) occupied Lushington‘s house.
In all, more than twenty physicians practiced on Fifth Street, primarily in the 800-1000 blocks. The Humbles Building
hosted at least nine doctors and dentists over the years. In support of the many physicians along the corridor was
pharmacists Harry W. Reid (1892-1969). Reid opened his pharmacy, first called Bacchus & Reid, in 1919 at the Humbles
Building. By 1930, there were twenty-one black-owned drugstores in the State of Virginia. The 1940 Lincoln Memorial Book
of Lynchburg (a locally-produced African American business and cultural directory) stated that Reid‘s ―place of business is
thoroughly modern, in appearance and in every other respect. It is the only drug store in the city owned and operated by
colored people and it is a real credit to Lynchburg.‖ In 1936, Reid moved his business to the New Era building, a large
mixed-use facility (similar to the Humbles Building and the True Reformers Hall) located at 919 Fifth Street (it was
demolished in 1992).
African Americans with medical training were not the only benefactors of Lynchburg‘s health care community. Whit N.
Brown (1895-1946) was a New York native and enjoyed success as a ―real estate proprietor‖ in Lynchburg. Locally, he was
known as the ―King of Fifth Street.‖ His lifelong friend, Harry Reid, later recounted that Brown ―was very honest in his
thoughts. The Negroes have been working since 1925 to get a hospital of their own, but Whit wouldn‘t agree. ‗Lynchburg
Hospital belongs to the whole city,‘ he told them, ‗us as much as anybody, and we don‘t want to improve and pay for what
we get over there.‘‖ When Brown died in 1946, he donated his entire estate to Lynchburg General Hospital, including the
brick duplex at 411-413 Polk Street (118-5318-0043) that he had constructed as rental property only six years earlier.
62
Lynchburg General Hospital kept the building (likely earning income from residential rentals) until 1971.
The Lynchburg Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) sponsored the
Legacy Project to provide educational exhibits and programs on the history and culture of African Americans in the area.
The Legacy Project received 501(c)3 nonprofit status in 1995 and acquired a dilapidated house at 403 Monroe Street two
years later. Lynchburg architect Kelvin Moore was engaged to help transform the 100-year-old house into a modern
museum. A Capital Fundraising Committee was formed to raise $300,000, and a Collections Committee was formed to
solicit and archive artifacts for the permanent collection. On June 25, 2000 a celebratory dedication and grand opening
was held, and the Legacy Museum of African American History hosts a number of changing exhibits about black culture in
the region.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 25
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion
For more than two centuries, Fifth Street has served as a major commercial and transportation artery for Lynchburg, and
served as the heart of the region‘s African American community for over 100 years. Like many urban neighborhoods, the
Fifth Street Historic District has suffered architectural losses over the years, but still retains the feeling and character of an
st
urban business district. The first decade of the 21 century has been witness to renewed community interest in the
corridor, which has been championed by organizations including the Fifth Street Community Development Corporation (the
CDC) and the Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation (LNDF). LNDF was instrumental in expanding the
boundaries of the Downtown / Court House Hill Historic District (118-5163), rehabilitating a number of homes in the 500700 blocks of Madison and Harrison Streets, and served as the developer for Centra Health‘s P.A.C.E. Center, which is
located in the Pyramid Motors Building (118-5237). The CDC, along with the City of Lynchburg, spearheaded the
development of the 2006 Fifth Street Master Plan. The CDC and LNDF are currently collaborating to rehabilitate four
buildings in the 700 block of Fifth Street (two of which were slated for demolition by their former owner in early 2011).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 9 & 10
Page 26
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Mindin‘ Our Own Business: African American Business Enterprise in Central Virginia, 1820-1970.‖
Lynchburg, Virginia: Legacy Museum of African American History, 2005.
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Remembering Tinbridge Hill in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1920-1970.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Southern Memorial
Association, 2011.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981.
Lynchburg City Deed Books, 1805-2011. Clerk of the Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg City Directories, 1875-1970. Accessed at the following locations: Clerk of the Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia, Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia, online at www.ancestry.com
Lynchburg City Land Tax Records, 1805-2011. Clerk of the Circuit Court and City Assessor‘s Office, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951 (updated).
Swann-Wright, Dianne. Carolyn Wilkerson Bell, ed. ―For Our Own Good: African American Civic and Social Groups in Central Virginia.‖
Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local History. Spring/Summer 2009. Lynchburg, Virginia: Blackwell Press.
10. UTM References
E. 17S 0663325 4142151
F. 17S 0663564 4142388
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries of the 23 acre historic district are shown on the 1:75-scale map that accompanies the nomination.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The district‘s boundaries are tightly drawn to encompass the resources within the Fifth Street corridor that are associated
th
with the area‘s evolution from a largely residential transportation corridor in the early 19 century to a center of commerce
th
th
from the late 19 through the mid-20 century with a particular emphasis on the significance of the area as the hub of
Lynchburg‘s African-American business, professional and social life.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Photographs
Page..27
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name of Property:
Fifth Street Historic District
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: n/a
State: Virginia
Photographer: Emily Patton Smith
Date Photographed: August 2011
View: Looking southwest toward 600 block of Fifth St.
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District_0001.tif
View: Northeast & northwest elevations, Joseph
Nichols‘ Tavern (118-0020), 600 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0002.tif
View: Southwest elevation, Gist Tobacco Factory (1180075), 410 Court Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0003.tif
View: Looking northeast along 600 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0004.tif
View: Looking northeast along 500 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0005.tif
View: Looking southwest along 700 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0006.tif
View: Northeast elevation, Pyramid Motors (118-5237),
407 Federal Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0007.tif
View: Looking northeast along 900 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0008.tif
View: Southeast elevation, Dr. Walter Johnson Medical
Office (118-5318-0047), 1001 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0009.tif
View: Southeast elevation, Humbles Building (1185318-0039), 901 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0010.tif
View: Northwest & northeast elevations, Commercial
Building, 1100 Fifth Street (118-5318-0051)
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0011.tif
View: Northwest elevation, Kentucky Hotel (118-0177),
900 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0012.tif
View: Northeast elevation, Fifth Street Baptist Church
(118-5318-0053), 1007-1013 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0013.tif
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 28
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ENDNOTES (Sections 7 and 8)
1
Virginia Patent Book 30, page 156, Virginia Land Office Records, Library of Virginia; Hening, William Waller, ed., ―Hening's Statutes
at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the first session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619.‖ Volume VII, 17561763. Richmond, Virginia: Franklin Press, 1820. Page 125.
2
Jefferson, Thomas. ―Notes on the State of Virginia.‖ New York: Library of America, Literary Classics of the United States. 1984
(originally published in 1781), pages 150-151.
3
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Page 28.
4
Ibid., pages 10-13
5
Weld, Isaac. ―Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795,
th
1796, and 1797.‖ London: John Stockdale, 1800 (4 edition), pages 155-156.
6
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 44.
7
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 46. In 1805, John Lynch sold Thomas W. Cocke a lot that adjoined lot #88 (at the north corner of what
is now Court and Fifth Streets), which Cocke already owned. A 1795 newspaper announcement mentioned that Thomas W. Cocke, of
―Thomas W. Cocke & Co.,‖ intended to move to Kentucky. If he did go to Kentucky, he returned by 1805, as the aforementioned deed
described him as being a resident of Lynchburg.
8
Lynchburg Deed Book B, page 196.
9
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 14, Deed Book A, page 343.
10
Jefferson, Thomas. ―Notes on the State of Virginia.‖ New York: Library of America, Literary Classics of the United States. 1984
(originally published in 1781), page 278.
11
Crowther, Douglas and Sandra. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177).‖ October, 1985.
12
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Pages 4546.
13
Smith, W. Scott. ―Research Brief: 708 Fifth Street, Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
14
North, Percy. ―Bernhard Gutmann: An American Impressionist.‖ New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. Page unknown (scanned image of
page provided by Nancy Blackwell Marion).
15
Lynchburg Deed Book H, page 227. John Hancock to Lilbourne H. Johnson, 26 April 1826. A building valued at $300 in 1823 and
1824 may have been demolished by 1825. The 1828 Lynchburg Land Tax Book notes that $1,500 was ―added for buildings‖ on the
24‘-wide lot. An 1835 deed mentions the house then ―occupied by Edward Price‖ (DB M/161).
16
In her 1858 Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest Inhabitant, Margaret Anthony Cabell described the dwelling of a
Mr. Miller, which had shelving porches. When describing the Miller-Claytor House (118-0012), architectural historian S. Allen
Chambers defined the building‘s shed-roofed, one-story rear porch as a ―shelving porch.‖ Cabell, Margaret Anthony, Sketches and
Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest Inhabitant. Richmond, Virginia: C.H. Wynne. 1858. Page 242.
17
William Phaup purchased lots 386 and 396 in February of 1817 from John Lynch (he paid $300 for the two). He sold lot 396 to noted
brickmason Matthew Brown, and the lot 386 at the corner of what is now Sixth and Polk Streets was valued at $3,900 in 1818. By
1820, buildings alone on the lot were valued at $2,250, and in 1828, he split the lot and sold the halves to Ann Cobbs and Jo hn
Fowler. The 1831 land tax records indicate that buildings on both Ann Feazel (nee Cobbs) and John Fowler‘s lots were valued at
$1,500 each.
18
Neville, Ashley and John Salmon. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Pyramid Motor Company building (1185237), June 2007.
19
Cress and Johnson designed a building for Burnett Tire Company at this location. Although the present building does not match the
plans, it is in keeping with the design philosophy displayed in the original plans, and is likely a modification by Carl Cress.
20
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. ―The Lynchburg that never was.‖ Lynch‘s Ferry Magazine, Spring/Summer 2001. Lynchburg, Virginia:
Warwick House Publishing. Pages 9-10.
21
Only three resources within the district were constructed after 1964 (the Coiner Parts Company Warehouse [118-5318-0009] in
1971, and two bus shelters [118-5318-0058 & 118-5318-0059] installed in 2010). Commercial and residential development effectively
ceased in the mid-1960s, primarily due to Desegregation (the need and demand for an African-American business district declined)
and VDOT‘s plan to reorganize traffic patterns along the corridor (many property owners were hesitant to invest or re-invest in the
district with the knowledge that VDOT may be seeking right-of-way for its project).
22
Manuscript map of the Lynchburg area, including the James River, Fishing Creek, and Blackwater Creek. Undated (probably drawn
prior to 1815). ―Tate vs. Lynch‖ bound volume at Lynchburg Clerk‘s Office (this is probably a chancery case, appears to be the only
original chancery papers remaining at the Lynchburg Clerk‘s Office [the others are at the Library of Virginia], and does not seem to
appear in the Library of Virginia‘s Chancery Case Index.
23
th
th
Gish, Agnes Evans. ―Virginia Taverns, Ordinaries and Coffee Houses: 18 – Early 19 Century Entertainment Along the
Buckingham Road.‖ Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 2005. Page 433.
24
Lynchburg Deed Book D, page 158
25
1850 United States Census, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 29
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26
th
th
Gish, Agnes Evans. ―Virginia Taverns, Ordinaries and Coffee Houses: 18 – Early 19 Century Entertainment Along the
Buckingham Road.‖ Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 2005. Pages 432-433.
27
Winner, Mildred D. ―Mr. Jefferson‘s Delinquent Account at Lynchburg‘s First Dry Goods Store,‖ Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local
History, Fall/Winter 1992/1993. Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. Pages 37-39. N.B. While the Brown-Robertson store
was an early Lynchburg retail operation, it was not the town‘s ―first dry goods store.‖
28
Smith, W. Scott. ―Research Brief: 708 Fifth Street, Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
29
Martin, Joseph. ―A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: Joseph
Martin, 1835. Page 128.
30
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Pages 8283.
31
Houck, Peter W. ―A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing, 1986. Pages 1739.
32
Blackford, Charles M. Peter Houck, ed. ―Campaign and Battle of Lynchburg, Virginia‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House
Publishing, 1994. Page 71.
33
Naisawald, L. VanLoan. ―The Battle for Lynchburg: Seize Lynchburg, if Only for a Single Day.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House
Publishing, 2004. Page 53.
34
Gray‘s Map of Lynchburg, 1877.
35
1885 Sanborn Insurance Company Map.
36
1890, 1902 Sanborn Insurance Company Map. Jones Memorial Library Architectural Database.
37
Laurant, Darrell. ―Biggers School Alumni Honor Early City Educator.‖ News & Advance, January 28, 2010. N.B. The front yard of the
former school building is within the bounds of the Fifth Street Historic District, but the site of the building itself is within the boundaries
of the adjacent Garland Hill Historic District.
38
1885, 1895 Sanborn Insurance Company Map. Identified as the store of R.H. Padgett, a retail grocer, on the 1877 Grays Map of
Lynchburg, this was a story and a half frame building that rested on a high brick English basement. The basement level was almost a
full story high, and contained the store, while the upper full floor was lit by 6/9 windows, and 6/6 dormer windows illuminated the garret.
39
1935, 1940, 1945 Lynchburg City Directories. Deed Book 231, page 290. 31 August 1943. Clerk‘s Office, City of Lynchburg Circuit
Court.
40
Smith, W. Scott. ―Preliminary Information Form for the Fisher Auto Parts Warehouse (118-5317)‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech,
LLC. 2001.
41
Neville, Ashley and John Salmon. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Pyramid Motor Company building (1185237), June 2007.
42
Jones Memorial Library Architectural Archives Database. 5 November 1962 Lynchburg News & Advance article.
43
―Fifth Street Corridor Master Plan,‖ created in 2006 by Sympoetica Planners & Designers, Woodstock, Virginia for the City of
Lynchburg and the Fifth Street Community Development Corporation.
44
Delaney, Ted. ―Racial Composition of Fifth Street.‖ Research report compiled on 12 February 2011.
45
1881-1882 Lynchburg City Directory.
46
Obrochta, William B. and others, ―Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers,‖ Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society.
Online article accessed 2 September 2011 at http://www.vahistorical.org/tah/truereformers.htm
47
Swann-Wright, Dianne. Carolyn Wilkerson Bell, ed. ―For Our Own Good: African American Civic and Social Groups in Central
Virginia.‖ Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local History. Spring/Summer 2009. Lynchburg, Virginia: Blackwell Press. Pages 13-15.
48
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Remembering Tinbridge Hill in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1920-1970.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Southern
Memorial Association, 2011. Pages 10-11.
49
Arnold, B.W., Jr. ―Concerning the Negroes of the City of Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Publications of the Southern History Association,
Volume X (1906). Pages 19-30.
50
Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan. ―History of the American Negro and his institutions; (Volume 5)‖ pages 32-33.
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-bunyan-caldwell/history-of-the-american-negro-and-his-institutions-volume-5-dla/page33-history-of-the-american-negro-and-his-institutions-volume-5-dla.shtml
51
Jackson, Giles B. and Daniel Webster Davis. ―The Industrial History of the Negro Race of the United States.‖ Richmond, Virginia:
Negro Educational Association,1908, 1911. Page 96.
52
The Washington Bee., October 14, 1911, page 1, column 1.
53
Caldwell, pages 61-63.
54
Pou, Enoch, Jr. ―Preliminary Information Form for Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Mill No. 1 (118-0126),‖ 2011, pages 10-12.
55
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Mindin‘ Our Own Business: African American Business Enterprise in Central Virginia, 1820-1970.‖
Lynchburg, Virginia: Legacy Museum of African American History, 2005. Pages 6-7.
56
Lynchburg Deed Book 135, page 359.
57
Y.W.C.A. of Central Virginia Archives. 1930 United States Census, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Virginia (Amy Jordan). April 24,
1992 Obituary for Grace Booker Hunt, Baltimore Sun.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 30
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
58
1935-1950 Lynchburg City Directories. Lynchburg Architectural Archives, Jones Memorial Library. Fundraising Brochure in collection
of the Legacy Museum of African American History.
59
1924, 1936, 1950 Lynchburg City Directory. 1907, 1951 Sanborn Insurance Company Maps.
60
1954 Lynchburg City Directory, 1907, 1951 Sandborn Insurance Company Maps
61
1962 Lynchburg City Directory.
62
Monograph on Fifth Street business created by Carolyn Bell in 2011. Lynchburg City building inspection and assessment card for
411-413 Polk Street. Lynchburg Deed Book 228, page 554, Deed Book 458, page 104.
INDEX OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1.
Sketch of ―Negro Street, Lynchburg, Va. [18]‘95 May‖ Bernhard Gutmann. This image is thought to be of Fifth Street.
FIGURE 2.
Turn of the century image of the Fifth Street Fire Station (118-5318-0011) at 512 Fifth Street. Joseph Nichols‘ Tavern
(118-0020) at 600 Fifth Street can be seen in the right background.
FIGURE 3.
Circa 1940s image of the 1000 block of Fifth Street looking northeast towards the 900 block. The unique cornice of
the Humbles Building (118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth can be seen on the left side of the street in the center of the
image. The large brick building with pilasters on the left is the New Era Hall (demolished).
FIGURE 4.
Mid 20 century image of the east side of the 600 block of Fifth Street. Buildings shown are (left to right): 606 Fifth
(118-5318-0016), 610 Fifth (118-5318-0017), 612 Fifth (118-5318-0018), and 614 Fifth (118-5318-0019).
FIGURE 5.
Circa 1960s image of the 600 block of Fifth Street taken from the 700 block. Portions of 701-703 (118-5318-0024)
and 700 (118-5318-0023) can be seen on the left and right of the frame, respectively. The white building on the left is
what is now Shenandoah Tire Company at 619 Fifth Street (118-5318-0020) and the brick building on the right is 620
Fifth Street (118-5318-0021).
FIGURE 6.
Circa 1940s image of pharmacist Harry Reid preparing to make prescription deliveries on his motorcycle. The large
buildings in the background are the True Reformers Hall (left) and the Southern Aid Building (right) (both were
demolished).
th
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 31
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIGURE 1.
Sketch of ―Negro Street, Lynchburg, Va. [18]‘95 May‖ Bernhard Gutmann. This image is thought to be of Fifth Street.
(North, Percy. ―Bernhard Gutmann: An American Impressionist.‖ New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. Page unknown)
FIGURE 2.
Turn-of-the-century image of the Fifth Street Fire Station (118-5318-0011) at 512 Fifth Street. Joseph Nichols‘
Tavern (118-0020) at 600 Fifth Street can be seen in the right background. (Image courtesy:
www.lynchburghistory.com)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 32
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIGURE 3.
Circa 1940s image of the 1000 block of Fifth Street looking northeast toward the 900 block. The unique cornice of
the Humbles Building (118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth can be seen on the left side of the street in the center of the
image. The large brick building with pilasters on the left is the New Era Hall (demolished). (Image courtesy:
www.lynchburgmuseum.org).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 33
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
th
FIGURE 4.
Mid-20 century image of the east side of the 600 block of Fifth Street. Buildings shown are (left to right): 606 Fifth
(118-5318-0016), 610 Fifth (118-5318-0017), 612 Fifth (118-5318-0018), and 614 Fifth (118-5318-0019). (Image
courtesy: www.lynchburghistory.com)
FIGURE 5.
Circa 1960s image of the 600 block of Fifth Street taken from the 700 block. Portions of 701-703 (118-5318-0024)
and 700 (118-5318-0023) can be seen on the left and right of the frame, respectively. The white building on the left is
what is now Shenandoah Tire Company at 619 Fifth Street (118-5318-0020) and the brick building on the right is 620
Fifth Street (118-5318-0021). (Image courtesy: www.lynchburghistory.com)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 513112012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
VLR
NRHP
12/15/2011
02/08/2012
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registmtion Fonn. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items o n continuation sheets i f needed (NPS Fonn 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Fifth Street Historic District
other nameslsite number
VDHR No. 118-5318
2.
-. Location
-- ---- - ..
Fifth St., Sixth St., Court St., Clay St., Madison St., Harrison St., Federal
street & number St., Jackson St., Polk St., Monroe St.
NIA not for publication
city or town
NIA vicinity
state
Lynchburg (Independent City)
Virginia
code
VA
county nla
code
680
zip code 24504
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
-
I hereby certify that this
nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
In my opinion, the property X meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
-n a t i o n c
statewide
X local
Sighture of ce*fying official
Date
Title
Viminia DeDartment of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria,
Signature of commenting official
Date
State or Federal agencyhureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined not eligible for the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Register
-removed from the National Register
other (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X private
X public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
Contributing
57
0
0
1
58
building(s)
X district
site
structure
object
Name of related multiple property listing
Noncontributing
8
0
0
0
8
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
4
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
DOMESTIC/single dwelling
DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling
DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling
DOMESTIC/institutional housing
DOMESTIC/secondary structure
DOMESTIC/secondary structure
COMMERCE/specialty store
DOMESTIC/hotel and COMMERCE/restaurant
COMMERCE/restaurant
COMMERCE/specialty store
COMMERCE/business
COMMERCE/warehouse
SOCIAL/meeting hall
SOCIAL/meeting hall
RELIGION/religious facility
GOVERNMENT/fire station
FUNERARY/mortuary
RELIGION/religious facility
HEALTH CARE/ medical office
FUNERARY/mortuary
TRANSPORTATION/road-related
CULTURE/auditorium
AGRICULTURE/processing
INDUSTRY/factory
HEALTH CARE/medical office
TRANSPORTATION/road-related
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EARLY REPUBLIC: Federal, Other
th
foundation: STONE; CONCRETE; BRICK
th
LATE 19 and EARLY 20 CENTURY REVIVALS:
BRICK; CINDERBLOCK; WOOD: weatherboard,
Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival
th
th
LATE 19 and EARLY 20 CENTURY AMERICAN
MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
walls:
SYNTHETICS: vinyl, aluminum
roof:
ASPHALT; SLATE; METAL; OTHER
MODERN MOVEMENT: Art Deco, Moderne
other:
STUCCO; GLASS
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
ETHNIC HERITAGE: Black
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
TRANSPORTATION
Period of Significance
1800-1964
Significant Dates
1806, 1885, 1937
Significant Person
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
N/A
D
a cemetery.
Architect/Builder
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Cultural Affiliation
Johnson, Stanhope S.
Brannan, R.O. (Ray)
Craighill, Samuel Preston
Cardwell, Bennett B.
Fauber, J. Everette, Jr.
Clark, Pendleton S.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Fifth Street Historic District (VDHR# 118-5318
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # VA-1089, VA-1088, VAx 1101
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
X Local government
University
Other
Name of
repository:
Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _____N/A________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 23
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
A 17S
Zone
0663928
Easting
4142655
Northing
C 17S
Zone
0663800
Easting
4142159
Northing
B 17S
Zone
0663983
Easting
4142489
Northing
D 17S
Zone
0663471
Easting
4141946
Northing
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
W. Scott Breckinridge Smith & Emily Patton Smith, Principals
organization HistoryTech, LLC
date September 2, 2011
street & number Post Office Box 75
telephone 434-401-3995
city or town Lynchburg
state VA
zip code 24505
scott@historytech.com
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to
this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
SEE CONTINUATION SHEET
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for l isting or determine eligibility for listing, to
list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing instructi ons, gathering and maintaining data, and
completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C.
Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary Narrative Description
The Fifth Street Historic District encompasses approximately 23 acres along the Fifth Street corridor, which adjoins the
northwest side of Lynchburg‘s Central Business District. Character-defining features of the district include intact
commercial architecture dating from the early nineteenth century through the third quarter of the twentieth century.
Lynchburg, an independent city, is situated in Virginia‘s southern Piedmont province with the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
west, the James River to the north, and the rolling hills of the Piedmont to the east. Amherst County is located just across
the James River (two-thirds of a mile to the northeast), and the city is bordered on the west by Bedford County, and on the
south and east by Campbell County.
The majority of the buildings in the district are commercial in nature. Approximately half of the buildings date to the period
spanning from 1875 to 1940, although a grouping of eight significant resources dating to the early nineteenth century also
exists. Non-contributing resources in the district are either those that were constructed after the district‘s period of
significance or are historic resources that have received non-historic alterations that permanently compromise their
architectural character and integrity.
The six and seven hundred blocks of Fifth Street contain the district‘s densest streetscape, which is marked by one-tothree story buildings of masonry (typically brick) construction that front closely on the street with no setbacks. Most
buildings in this area exhibit characteristics of the early twentieth century Commercial style that is found (on a larger scale)
in Lynchburg‘s adjacent downtown district. Notable variations from this theme include buildings that are executed in the
Federal, Art Deco, and Modern styles.
The boundaries of the historic district encompass Fifth Street‘s commercial core that contains extant historic resources
with architectural integrity. The Fifth Street Historic District is bounded on the northeast by the Court House Hill /
Downtown Historic District (118-5163), on the north by the Garland Hill Historic District (118-0026), and on the west by the
Old City Cemetery (118-0027), a 26-acre NRHP-listed property. The residential neighborhoods of Tinbridge Hill and
College Hill adjoin the Fifth Street District on the northwest and southeast, respectively. NRHP-listed resources within the
Fifth Street Historic District include the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177), the Western Hotel (118-0020), the William Phaup
House (118-0226-0246), and the Pyramid Motors building (118-5237).
Narrative Description
The Fifth Street Historic District is located within the urban core of the City of Lynchburg, and adjoins the City‘s downtown
commercial district, which lies to the north and east. The district runs 2,500 feet along eight blocks of the Fifth Street
corridor. In total, Fifth Street stretches approximately one mile (fifteen blocks) along a southwest-to-northeast axis between
the John Lynch Bridge (crossing the James River) to the northeast and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge to the
southwest, which spans a valley containing the Norfolk Southern Railroad main line.
Fifth Street is currently designated as State Route 163, although it served as U.S. Route 170 from 1926 to 1931. From
1931 until 2005, Fifth Street was part of U.S. 29, which connects Maryland to Florida. In October of 2005, a new bypass
that circumnavigated the eastern edge of Lynchburg and Madison Heights (Amherst County) was completed and Fifth
Street (the U.S. 29 Business) was re-designated as State Route 163. As Fifth Street crosses the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memorial Bridge to the southwest, the name of the street changes to Memorial Avenue. On the northeast, the name of the
route changes to South Amherst Highway as it crosses the John Lynch Bridge and enters Amherst County. Fifth Street
and Memorial Avenue have been given the honorary designation as Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The primary cross street within the district is Federal Street, which intersects Fifth Street at its 700-800 block transition.
Like all streets crossing Fifth (except Park Avenue), Federal Street intersects at a right angle, and runs in a southeast-tonorthwest direction. On its southeastern end, Federal Street terminates in its 1100 block due to a steep cliff that overlooks
Twelfth Street. On its northwestern end, Federal Street transitions into Hollins Mill Road, a winding route that crosses
Blackwater Creek and terminates at its intersection with Bedford Avenue. The intersection of Fifth and Federal is marked
by a single-lane, four-way roundabout and adjoining pedestrian plazas, which were completed in 2010.
At Fifth Street‘s transition between the 1000 and 1100 blocks, it intersects with Monroe Street as well as Park Avenue.
Park Avenue departs Fifth Street at a 90-degree angle, and runs due south as it climbs College Hill before turning
southwest toward the Kemper Street train station, which is served by four daily Amtrak trains.
Just northeast of the Fifth Street Historic District is the intersection of Fifth Street, Church Street (one-way southeastbound) and Main Street (one-way northwest-bound). Just northwest of Fifth Street, Main and Church converge and form
Rivermont Avenue at the Rivermont Bridge, which spans a deep gorge formed by Blackwater Creek.
Other streets (all neighborhood-serving) that intersect Fifth Street in the district are Court, Clay, Madison, Harrison,
Jackson, and Polk Streets.
An unnamed tributary of Blackwater Creek drains the Tinbridge Hill neighborhood to the northwest, and the headwaters of
Horseford Creek (now underground in pipes) runs in a southeasterly direction from the east side of the district, and
eventually enters the James River via a culvert at the bottom of Washington Street.
The district‘s topography is largely flat, particularly between the 600 and 900 blocks of the route. Northeast of the 600
block, Fifth Street begins a precipitous 12 percent grade that carries the roadway downward towards the James River. The
highest elevation within the district along Fifth Street is 765 feet above sea level in the 1100 block, and its lowest elevation
is 710 feet above sea level in the 700 block.
Seven years after Charles Lynch‘s 1750 patent of 1,590 acres on both sides of the Fluvanna (James) River in what was
then Albemarle County, his son Edward was granted permission to establish a ferry across the river at its confluence with
1
Blackwater Creek. Edward‘s brother John, then seventeen years of age, is credited with operating the ferry from the
beginning. Following the ferry‘s establishment, John Lynch constructed a tavern known as the ―Ferry House‖ at the base of
what would become known as Ninth Street in order to accommodate travelers who might need to halt at the south side of
the river to wait for the appropriate time of day or weather conditions to utilize the ferry. Prior to the development of the
ferry, the river was crossed via a ford (the ―Horse Ford‖) at the head of what is now known as Percival‘s Island, which, of
course, was reached by roads from the north and south. In 1781, Thomas Jefferson noted that recently-mined lead and
other goods could be brought from the southwest along this ―good road… [which led] through the peaks of Otter to Lynch's
2
ferry, or Winston's, on James river [sic].‖ As it neared Lynch‘s Ferry on the south side of the river, this road established
the path that would become the Fifth Street corridor. The ―Ferry Road‖ was later described as a ―well-shaded road [that]
led from the ferry, …coming up Seventh Street to Main, passing through the square [block] between Seventh and Sixth to
3
Church, …and obliquely thence into what is now Fifth Street, on its way to New London.‖
In 1786, the General Assembly adopted an act to establish a town called ―Lynchburg‖ on the land of John Lynch. Initially
containing 45 acres, it would be divided into two-acre blocks, each with four half-acre lots with 165‘ frontages on the 60‘
wide streets (the roads that paralleled the James River) and 132‘ frontages on the 30‘ wide alleys (those roads that ran
perpendicular to the river). In its beginning, there were only four alleys in the town, the westernmost one being designated
4
as ―Third Alley‖ (now Seventh Street).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By 1796, Lynchburg contained approximately one hundred houses and was ―rapidly increasing, from its advantageous
5
situation for carrying on trade with the adjacent country‖ according to Isaac Weld‘s travelogue. In 1805, Lynchburg was
officially incorporated, and the town was expanded to the northwest and southeast, although this expansion simply made
formal what John Lynch had already accomplished three years earlier; in 1802, he sold thirty half-acre lots in this soon-tobe-annexed area, which meant that the formal plan of the annexed area was already in place by the time of its expansion
in 1805. Seventh Alley (later known as Fifth Street) and Sixth Alley (later known as Twelfth Street) became the primary
routes of access into the town.
In March of 1806, John and Mary Lynch gave the Town of Lynchburg a one acre lot ―on a hill on the west side of the Main
6
Road leading from the upper side of Lynchburg toward New London‖ for use as a public burying ground. The ―Main Road‖
that Lynch described was a combination of Fifth Street (then designated as Seventh Alley) and what is now known as Park
Avenue. The burying ground, now known as the Old City Cemetery, was sited on the outskirts of town, but not so distant
as to be inconvenient to residents. With Lynchburg‘s primary business district along Second Street (now Main) at its north
end, and the town‘s public cemetery at its south end, what is now recognized as the Fifth Street Corridor was in place by
1806.
By this time, Fifth Street also became known alternately as Cocke Street or West Street. The name ―Cocke‖ likely
th
th
7
originated with merchant Thomas W. Cocke, who owned property along the route in the late 18 and early 19 centuries.
During the following two decades, the corporate limits of Lynchburg would expand several times, increasing the number of
lots along the Fifth Street corridor that were included in the town. In 1814, the town limits were expanded to Seventh Street
(now known as Harrison Street). Following the 1826 annexation, the majority of the Fifth Street corridor was within the
8
town limits.
As the town expanded, the established design of lots, streets, and alleys also expanded. Typically, the half-acre lots were
already in private hands (i.e. sold by John Lynch to other individuals) by the time they were incorporated into the town, and
the future streets and alleys were accounted for in the deed. An 1805 deed between John Lynch and Peter Detto for a half
acre lot at the corner of Fourth Street (now Court) and Seventh Alley (now Fifth) ordered Detto to reserve a thirty-foot alley,
while an 1812 deed between Lynch and his niece Agatha Terrell Dicks described the lot as being located at the corner of
9
the ―contemplated Seventh [Harrison] Street and Third Alley [Seventh Street].‖
As in many Virginia towns of the period, Lynchburg residents were required to construct on each lot a ―dwelling house
sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney.‖ Unlike other towns, however, Lynchburgers were not directed
to construct their homes of any particular material, and thus, many chose wood, which was the least expensive and most
readily available material. Frame dwellings were typical in Virginia, much to the consternation of Thomas Jefferson, who
10
noted that it was ―impossible to devise things more ugly, uncomfortable, and happily more perishable.‖
While the majority of the first dwellings constructed in Lynchburg were frame, most are no longer extant, which seems to
correlate to Jefferson‘s comment concerning the perishability of frame buildings in Virginia. By the second decade of the
th
19 century, Lynchburg was experiencing its first building boom, and many of the city‘s buildings began to be constructed
of brick.
Two of Lynchburg‘s three extant taverns from the early nineteenth century are located in the Fifth Street Historic District.
The left-hand three-bay section of the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) at 900 Fifth Street may have been built as early as 1800,
11
while the two right-hand bays were added circa 1814. Typical for Lynchburg residential architecture of the period, the
Kentucky Hotel presents a five-bay façade built of brick laid in Flemish bond. The façade is fenestrated by 6/9 double-hung
sash on the first floor and 6/6 double-hung sash on the second floor. A single-leaf entry door topped by a graceful fanlight
is located in the central bay of the first floor, and the single-pile, side-gable building is flanked by a pair of singleshouldered corbeled chimneys (the corbeling is a recent addition or reconstruction). While the majority of Lynchburg‘s
buildings of this period feature a wooden box cornice, the Kentucky Hotel (along with other Fifth Street buildings) has a
cornice of corbeled brick.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The second tavern along the corridor is known alternately as Nichols‘ Tavern or the Western Hotel (118-0020) and is sited
at 600 Fifth Street. Built in 1815, the tavern is a replacement of Nichols‘ previous building that burned on April 14, 1815.
The building‘s orientation toward the street is somewhat complex, as it may have begun its life with its asymmetrical fivebay elevation along Madison Street serving as the primary entrance. This elevation is now fenestrated by large-paned 6/6
double-hung sash on the first floor (these likely began as 9/9 sash) and 6/9 double-hung sash on the second floor. A
double-leaf entry door with a fanlight similar to that found at the Kentucky Hotel occupies the central bay on the first floor,
th
and is sheltered by a small, hipped-roof porch, which is a late 20 century addition. However, this section of the building
also would have presented a much denser three-bay façade along Fifth Street. This elevation is also fenestrated by largepaned 6/6 sash on the first floor and 6/9 double-hung sash on the second floor. The left-hand window on the first floor
rests above a wooden panel, and may have once served as a doorway. Another apparent doorway in the central bay has
been bricked-in. In all likelihood, the original section of the tavern had entrances on both street elevations in order to best
accommodate the traveling public. This original section of the building is constructed of brick laid in four-course American
bond and is covered by a hipped roof of standing-seam metal. The building was expanded in the 1830s or 1840s, and the
remainder of the Fifth Street elevation took shape at that time with the addition of two bays to the south along with a
12
columned portico.
Two smaller resources from the early nineteenth century are also found along the 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street. The
frame building at 708 Fifth Street (118-5318-0027) was likely built by prominent Lynchburg merchant Archibald Robertson
13
(1783-1835) circa 1820. Perhaps the only intact example of frame commercial architecture from the period remaining in
Lynchburg, the building presents a tight, three-bay façade along Fifth Street (while most of the façade is currently covered
by T-111 siding and a later brick storefront, interior investigation reveals the building‘s true nature). The two-story, doublepile (the rear chimney has been removed below the roofline) building is of timber frame construction, and is covered by a
side gable roof of standing-seam metal with a simple boxed cornice. While the first floor storefront has been remodeled by
the addition of a brick façade and aluminum and glass commercial door, the second floor (underneath the T-111 siding)
retains its original fenestration with a single-leaf doorway with a four-pane transom, which once opened onto an
overhanging balcony, flanked by a pair of 6/6 double-hung sash.
th
The building‘s balcony was likely in place through the first quarter of the 20 century, and is a reminder of a once-common
architectural feature on Fifth Street that has completely disappeared from the district. The 1895 Sanborn Insurance
Company map of the area shows that at least 13 buildings along the 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street had some sort of
balcony, porch, or awning that overhung Fifth Street. This scene may have been captured by German-born artist Bernhard
Gutmann (1869-1936), who, in 1895, sketched what he called ―Negro Street‖ in Lynchburg. This image shows more than
half a dozen two- or two-and–a-half-story buildings with steeply-pitched side-gable roofs, end chimneys, narrow two- and
three-bay facades, and shallow two-story covered porches. While not definitively a sketch of Fifth Street, it is highly likely
14
that Gutmann was depicting a streetscape along the 600 or 700 block of the corridor.
th
The two-and-a-half-story building at 612 Fifth Street (118-5318-0018) is another rare surviving example of early 19
century residential or commercial architecture (during this period, there is little stylistic distinction between buildings for
residential use versus commercial use) in Lynchburg. While not the first building to stand on the site, the present building
15
was likely built in 1827 by Lilbourn Johnson. A three-bay, double pile building (the rear interior end chimney has been
removed), 612 Fifth Street is of brick construction with kneelered (parapeted) gables capped by half-round brick coping, a
feature rarely found in Lynchburg. While the façade has been covered by a modern layer of running bond brick, the
th
building‘s early 19 century roots can be clearly discerned.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lastly, a cluster of Federal period dwellings is located just off of the main thoroughfare near Sixth Street‘s intersections
with Federal, Jackson, and Polk Streets. Perhaps the largest extant frame house of the period in Lynchburg, the c. 1817
Augustine Leftwich House (118-5318-0062) is a five-bay, double-pile L-shaped dwelling covered by a hipped roof with
dormers. Altered over time, the façade is fenestrated by 2/2 double-hung sash, and a second floor doorway opens onto a
balcony created by a three-bay porch that shelters the entry door on the first floor. The house retains what appears to be
an original outbuilding that is covered by a hipped roof with a dentiled cornice. The house at 523 Jackson Street (1185318-0037) is a now-rare Lynchburg example of a three-bay frame house of the Federal period. Probably built by James
Mallory (owner of the nearby Kentucky Hotel) in 1814, the house is one of five remaining three-bay frame houses dating to
the second decade of the 19th century in Lynchburg (the other four may be found nearby, but outside of the Fifth Street
district, in the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Jackson Street, 1100 block of Polk Street, and on Lucado Place). The two-story,
side-hall plan house rests on a high stone English basement, and features an original shed-roofed, one-story back porch
16
of a type known to locals of the period as a ―shelving porch.‖
Directly across the street at 522 Jackson (118-5318-0036) is a somewhat unusual four-bay, two-and-a-half story house.
Constructed in 1817, the brick building is laid in three-course American bond, which is not often found as a bond on
primary elevations of Lynchburg houses (the nearby c. 1813 Dicks-Elliott House [118-5063] also features this bond
throughout), and is atypically fenestrated by 6/6 double-hung sash on the first floor with 9/9 double-hung sash on the
second floor. Nearby at 911 Sixth Street is a mirror image of the house at 522 Jackson. Also constructed in 1817, the
William Phaup House (118-0226-0246) also displays a four-bay façade, but the entry door is located in the left center bay
instead of the right center bay. The brick dwelling is laid in Flemish bond on the façade, with variable three and four-course
American bond on the gable ends. Like 522 Jackson, the Phaup House exhibits the stylistic faux-pas (in Adamesque
terms) of not diminishing the size of the windows on upper floors. The facade is fenestrated by 6/9 double-hung sash on
both the first and second levels, and as late as the 1980s, contained a second floor entry door as well (now replaced by a
window) and a small two-story porch (this may not have been an original feature).
Rounding out the Fifth Street Historic District‘s collection of early buildings is the two-and-a-half-story brick house at 514
Polk Street (118-5318-0046), which, like 911 Sixth Street, was likely built as a speculative investment by William Phaup as
17
early as 1817. However, this is where the similarities between the two Phaup houses end. The house at 514 Polk Street
began as a two-bay building, and the right bay was added soon after to create the present widely-spaced three-bay façade,
which is laid in Flemish bond. As a cost-saving measure, secondary elevations are laid in five-course American bond. Like
the building at 612 Fifth Street, this house features a kneelered (parapeted) gable roof. The left (original) kneeler is capped
by coping of half-round bricks, while the right kneeler is flat. Windows on the first floor are 9/1 double-hung sash, and are
6/1 double-hung sash on the second floor.
The next significant cluster of buildings in the district can be found in the 400 block of Court Street, and are representative
th
of the tobacco factories that were ubiquitous in Lynchburg throughout the 19 century. Both constructed between 1877 and
1885, the tobacco factories at 409 Court Street (118-5318-0001) and 410 Court Street (118-0075) are the largest
contributing buildings within the Fifth Street Historic District. The gable front of the two-and-a-half-story building at 409
Court Street is built of oiled brick laid in running bond, while the sides of the factory are laid with a more rustic brick in the
five-course American bond pattern. The building at 410 Court Street, which also presents its gable end on Court Street as
the primary elevation, is a three-and-a-half-story building that rests on a high basement. The entire factory is built of brick,
and the original portion is largely five-course American bond. On both buildings, virtually all ornamentation is reserved for
the upper portions of the gable ends that front onto Court Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Around 1900, many frame buildings along Fifth Street, both residential and commercial, began to be replaced with more
substantial brick commercial buildings. Constructed in 1906, the one-story building at 500 Fifth Street (118-5318-0007)
featured two storefronts, each framed by vertical brick quoining and horizontal brick panels. One of the first two-story brick
commercial buildings to be constructed along Fifth Street during this period, the right-hand section of 701-703 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0024) was in place by 1907. The three-bay, two-part commercial block building has a storefront that wraps
around the corner onto Harrison Street, and is topped by a corbeled brick cornice with a moulded tin cap. The left-hand
portion (numbered 703 Fifth Street), also a three-bay building, was added soon after 1907, and mimics the design of its
mate. Also a two-story, two-part commercial block building, 606 Fifth Street (118-5318-0016) consists of two halves, each
of which are three bays wide. The building‘s brickwork is somewhat unique for the area, as the six-course American bond
is separated by rowlock, rather than header, brick.
Built in 1915, the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street (118-5318-0039) is an impressive three-story, two-part commercial
block edifice faced with yellow brick laid in a running bond on the Fifth and Jackson Street elevations. The upper windows
are capped by a row of soldier bricks, and the storefront area is framed by a series of soldier and rowlock bricks. The M.R.
Scott Meat Market (118-5318-0023) at 700 Fifth Street is one of the most architecturally refined buildings along Fifth
Street. Designed by Lynchburg architects Samuel Preston Craighill and Bennett Cardwell in 1919, the one-story building
features the name ―M.R. Scott‖ engraved on a panel of Vermont white marble, and squares of ―antique verde marble‖
accent the area above the storefront. The storefront is dominated by brick pilasters with cement caps, and a recessed
panel of basket-woven brick spans the top of the façade.The three-story, three-bay, two-part commercial block building at
709 Fifth Street (118-5318-0028) features brick quoining on the upper two stories, which are visually separated by a series
of three stuccoed diamond panels. The windows on the upper two levels of the circa 1936 building are capped by brick
splayed jackarches with cement keystones.
One of the first automobile-oriented buildings in the district was built in 1927 for the Miller Tire and Battery Company (1185317) at 400 Fifth Street. The original portion (first floor) of the building is constructed of hard-fired rusticated brick. The
most unusual feature of the building was a diagonal porte-cochere on its north corner that allowed drivers to stop at the
building, visit the business office, and perhaps check their tire pressure without being exposed to the elements. This passthrough was supported on its extreme northern corner by a single brick pillar. In the 1940s, the porte-cochere was infilled,
and a second story was added to the building.
The Adams Motor Company building at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034) was also built in 1927 and spans half of the
block; it has one of the largest footprints of any building in the district. Originally constructed to house showrooms for three
separate car retailers, the Flemish bond brick façade is divided into three sections, each containing three large storefront
windows (except for the central bay of the right-hand section, which contains a garage door). The façade is dominated by
large arched glazed fanlights with tracery (now covered with a dryvit-like material), which top each of the nine windows or
garage doors. The district‘s second mammoth automobile showroom, Pyramid Motors (118-5237), was built in 1937 and is
located at 407 Federal Street. The one-story Art Deco-style building features a yellow brick façade with contrasting red
brick details. A semi-circular entry tower of corbelled yellow brick dominates the center of the façade and rises above the
18
building‘s flat roof.
The district also features two smaller, later automobile or auto parts retail buildings. Built in 1951 for Hoskins Pontiac, the
building at 1018 Fifth Street (118-5318-0050) features a polygonal façade that is dominated by an angular metal canopy,
yellow brick laid in a running bond, and polished aluminum doorframes. A service area along the Polk Street elevation is
fenestrated by a short row of steel hopper windows topped by large vertical panels of thick green corrugated glass. The
Burnett Tire Company building at 403 Fifth Street (118-5318-0004) was likely designed by the Lynchburg architectural firm
of Cress & Johnson (Carl Cress and Stanhope S. Johnson) in 1956, and features a striking angular glass storefront that
19
conveys a modern sense of upward movement and speed.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
th
Several early to mid-20 century service stations are also located along Fifth Street, the most notable being the eclectic
Spanish Revival-style filling station at 1100 Fifth Street (118-5318-0051) at Fifth Street‘s key intersection with Monroe
Street and Park Avenue. Built in 1927, the building follows the box-and-canopy form. Identical to the station at 1201
Rivermont Avenue (118-0334-0112), the building features a gable-front porte-cochere covered with green terra cotta tiles.
A pair of globe light fixtures tops the porte-cochere‘s two end supporting columns.
A departure from other commercial buildings in the district, the Moser Furniture Company building at 409 Fifth Street (1185318-0005) appears more domestic than commercial. The one-and-a-half story, single-pile Colonial Revival style building
was built in 1936. A scaled-down version of a previous concept, the current building was designed in 1933 by Stanhope S.
20
Johnson and R.O. Brannan. Displaying all of the elements of a ―proper‖ building of the style and period, the brick store is
laid in Flemish bond, features a steeply-pitched side gable roof covered with Buckingham slate with three dormers and a
modillioned cornice, and two corbeled interior end chimneys flank the main building. A pair of smaller wings is set back
from the primary plane of the façade, and a pair of large bay windows flanks the single-leaf entry door, which is surrounded
by a pedimented frontispiece. A long, two-story warehouse and furniture factory constructed of concrete masonry units
projects from the rear of the main building.
The only example of ecclesiastical architecture in the district is the Fifth Street Baptist Church at 1007-1013 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0053). Built in 1929 to replace an earlier building, the church displays elements of the Gothic Revival style. The
building‘s gable end fronts Fifth Street, and is anchored by a pair of staggered height crenelated towers (the taller, righthand tower features a stuccoed round recessed panel at the top). The three-bay façade is built of brick laid in a running
bond, and is fenestrated by arched stained glass windows. A later parish house addition is attached to the south side of
the church, and was designed sympathetically to the architecture of the nave.
What appears to be the district‘s most recent building, the Community Funeral Home at 909 Fifth Street (118-5318-0040)
is actually an historic building with a modern shell. The right-hand portion of the building was constructed in 1922 as a twostory, two-part commercial block brick building with two storefronts separated by a doorway that led to a stairway to the
second floor. The second floor façade contained an unusual central space that may have been a large window or perhaps
a recessed balcony (period photographs do not clearly show this space due to shadows created by a cloth awning
overhead). In 1976, Lynchburg architect J. Everette Fauber, Jr. created two design options for an upgrade and expansion
of the building. The first option involved reconfiguring the left storefront of the building to include Gothic-style arched
chapel windows, with a modern addition to the left (south) of the building. The second option, which is what was chosen,
covered the entire façade of the historic building with a blank canvas of running bond brick, and joined to it a one-story
addition with a striking, recessed angular entry. While obscuring the historic façade, Fauber‘s second design achieved its
purpose of marrying the two buildings and creating a cohesive architectural statement.
th
Lastly, two residential buildings from the mid-20 century are worthy of mention. Somewhat unusual for multifamily
dwellings of the period and area, the duplex at 411-413 Polk Street is a one-story building constructed of brick laid in fivecourse American bond. Built in 1940, the duplex‘s spartan four-bay façade contains a pair of single-leaf entry doors in the
two central bays, and each outer bay contains a 1/1 double-hung sash window. The doors and windows are capped by flat
jackarches of soldier bricks, and a band of soldier bricks encircles the building at the water table. The building is covered
by a flat roof that is obscured from view by a parapet wall that features shallow corbelling near the top. The large brick
building at 600 Monroe Street, originally known as the Tal-Fred Apartments (118-5318-0059), rises two stories above
Monroe Street, although the Sixth Street elevation contains three stories over a basement. Built circa 1940, the building
apparently contained six relatively large apartment units. Covered by a hipped roof with vented dormer, the building‘s
primary entrance features a single-leaf entry door flanked by sidelights and topped by a semi-elliptical fanlight. The
doorway is sheltered by a wooden canopy suspended by chains. In 1949, architect Pendleton S. Clark designed interior
and exterior modifications, which likely included a greenstone patio enclosed by a low brick wall with greenstone coping
that is located between the building and Monroe Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIFTH STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT INVENTORY
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the Fifth Street Historic District. The resources are listed
alphabetically by roadway and numerically by street address. Virginia Department of Historic Resources identification numbers are
also listed. All resources, both primary and secondary, have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the
areas of significance identified under Criteria A and C as: Architecture, Commerce, Transportation, and African American History; and
based upon the period of significance spanning the period 1800 to 1964. All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being
built later than 1964 or for having been significantly altered so that they no longer reflect their historic appearance or character.
Clay Street
500 Clay Street
118-5318-0009
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Warehouse, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1971
Individual Resource Status: Warehouse
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
503 Clay Street
118-5318-0008
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Italianate, 1906
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Court Street
409 Court Street
118-5318-0001
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Warehouse, Stories 2.50, Style: Vernacular, 1885
Individual Resource Status: Warehouse
Contributing
410 Court Street
118-0075
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0002
Primary Resource Information: Factory, Stories 3.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Factory
Contributing
Total:
1
Federal Street
407 Federal Street
118-5237
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0031
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Art Deco, 1937
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
512 Federal Street
118-5318-0030
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Queen Anne, 1893
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
600 Federal Street
118-5318-0062
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Colonial Revival, 1908
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
614 Federal Street
118-5318-0063
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Individual Resource Status: Shed
Contributing
Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
1
Fifth Street
400 Fifth Street
118-5317
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0003
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
403 Fifth Street
118-5318-0004
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1956
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
409 Fifth Street
118-5318-0005
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Store, Stories 2.00, Style: Colonial Revival, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
417 Fifth Street
118-5318-0006
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
500 Fifth Street
118-5318-0007
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1906
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
512 Fifth Street
118-5318-0010
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Bus Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1953
Individual Resource Status: Bus Station
Contributing
514 Fifth Street
118-5318-0011
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Fire Station, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Fire Station
Contributing
520 Fifth Street
118-5318-0012
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
521 Fifth Street
118-5318-0013
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: International Style, 1954
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
600 Fifth Street
118-0020
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0015
Primary Resource Information: Tavern/Ordinary, Stories 2.00, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1815
Individual Resource Status: Tavern/Ordinary
Individual Resource Status: Trough
Contributing
Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
1
601 Fifth Street
118-5318-0050
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Shelter, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 2010
Individual Resource Status: Shelter
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
606 Fifth Street
118-5318-0016
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1911
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
610 Fifth Street
118-5318-0017
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
612 Fifth Street
118-5318-0018
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1827
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
614 Fifth Street
118-5318-0019
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
619 Fifth Street
118-5318-0020
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1959
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
620 Fifth Street
118-5318-0021
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1850
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Non-Contributing
Total:
1
700 Fifth Street
118-5318-0023
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1919
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
701 Fifth Street
118-5318-0024
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Vernacular, 1907
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
702 Fifth Street
118-5318-0025
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1926
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
706 Fifth Street
118-5318-0026
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1964
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
708 Fifth Street
118-5318-0027
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.50, Style: Vernacular, 1820
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
709 Fifth Street
118-5318-0028
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
710 Fifth Street
118-5318-0029
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1955
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
801 Fifth Street
118-5318-0032
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Service Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Moderne, 1950
Individual Resource Status: Service Station
Contributing
811 Fifth Street
118-5318-0034
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Automobile Showroom, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Automobile Showroom
Contributing
Total:
1
900 Fifth Street
118-0177
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0038
Primary Resource Information: Tavern/Ordinary, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1800
Individual Resource Status: Tavern/Ordinary
Contributing
Total:
1
901 Fifth Street
118-5318-0039
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1915
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
909 Fifth Street
118-5318-0040
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Funeral Home, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1922
Individual Resource Status: Funeral Home
Non-Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
910 Fifth Street
118-5318-0041
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1949
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
Total:
1
1
Total:
1
918 Fifth Street
118-5318-0042
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Funeral Home, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1963
Individual Resource Status: Funeral Home
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Contributing
1000 Fifth Street
118-5318-0059
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Shelter, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 2010
Individual Resource Status: Shelter
Non-Contributing
1001 Fifth Street
118-5318-0047
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Commercial Building, Stories 2.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Commercial Building
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
Total:
1
1
Total:
1
1005 Fifth Street
118-5318-0048
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Contributing
1007 Fifth Street
118-5318-0053
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Church/Chapel, Stories 1.00, Style: Gothic Revival, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Church/Chapel
Contributing
1014 Fifth Street
118-5318-0049
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Meeting/Fellowship Hall, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1907
Individual Resource Status: Meeting/Fellowship Hall
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
1018 Fifth Street
118-5318-0050
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
1100 Fifth Street
118-5318-0051
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Service Station, Stories 1.00, Style: Colonial Revival, Spanish/Mission, 1927
Individual Resource Status: Service Station
Individual Resource Status: Shed
Contributing
Non-Contributing
Total:
Total:
1
2
1101 Fifth Street
118-5318-0052
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Automobile Showroom, Stories 1.00, Style: Commercial Style, 1949
Individual Resource Status: Automobile Showroom
Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harrison Street
507 Harrison Street
118-5318-0022
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1962
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Jackson Street
413 Jackson Street
118-5318-0033
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: Vernacular, 1936
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Other DHR Id #:
Contributing
515 Jackson Street
118-5318-0035
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1875
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
522 Jackson Street
118-5318-0036
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
523 Jackson Street
118-5318-0037
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1814
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Madison Street
506 Madison Street
118-5318-0014
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1929
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monroe Street
420 Monroe Street
118-5318-0056
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1951
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
Total:
1
600 Monroe Street
118-5318-0060
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Apartment Building, Stories 3.00, Style: Colonial Revival, 1940
Individual Resource Status: Apartment Building
Contributing
613 Monroe Street
118-5318-0061
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1895
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Polk Street
411 Polk Street
118-5318-0043
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Double House, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1940
Individual Resource Status: Double House
Contributing
512 Polk Street
118-5318-0044
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1883
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
513 Polk Street
118-5318-0045
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.00, Style: No Discernable Style, 1964
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
514 Polk Street
118-5318-0046
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
516 Polk Street
118-5318-0057
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.00, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1889
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 7
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sixth Street
815 Sixth Street
118-5318-0054
Other DHR Id #:
Primary Resource Information: Garage, Stories 1.50, Style: Victorian, Folk, 1900
Individual Resource Status: Garage
Contributing
Total:
1
911 Sixth Street
118-0226-0246
Other DHR Id #: 118-5318-0055
Primary Resource Information: Single Dwelling, Stories 2.50, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1817
Individual Resource Status: Single Dwelling
Contributing
Total:
1
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary Statement of Significance
The Fifth Street Historic District includes approximately 23 acres of commercial district and residential clusters to the
southwest of Lynchburg‘s central business district. The district includes more than 55 contributing resources and less than
10 non-contributing resources.
The Fifth Street Corridor began its development in the early nineteenth century as a gateway to Lynchburg, connecting the
booming town with points westward as evidenced by transportation-oriented businesses of the period with names like the
Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) and the Western Hotel (118-0020). During the late nineteenth century, Fifth Street (also known
variably as Seventh Alley, Cocke Street, or West Street) served as the site of uses that would seem to be incompatible; it
hosted high-end residential areas for Lynchburg‘s white population while at the same time serving as the principal scene of
commerce for the area‘s African American community. ―The Negro in Virginia,‖ a milestone report published by the Virginia
Writers‘ Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1940, described Lynchburg‘s Fifth Street along with Roanoke‘s
Henry Street, South Avenue in Petersburg, and Second Street in Richmond, as a place where ―the ‗crowd‘ may be found
almost every evening… here is a little oasis – ‗our street.‘ Race pride is triumphant; here one need bow and scrape to no
one. Drug stores, cafes, barbershops, pool halls, grocery and clothing stores, news-stands and theaters…are operated for
Negroes by Negroes.‖ In addition to serving as the center of African American business in the twentieth century, the
corridor developed as a major automobile sales and service district, serving as host to filling and service stations, tire and
auto parts stores, and automobile showrooms.
The Fifth Street Historic District has a period of significance ranging from 1800 to 1964, beginning with the date of
construction for the oldest standing resource in the district and concluding with the end of significant commercial
21
expansion within the boundaries of the district . It is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of commerce and
transportation for its role in the commercial and physical development of the City of Lynchburg. The Fifth Street Historic
District is also locally significant under Criterion A for its role as a center of African American commerce and culture from
the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Also locally significant under Criterion C for its important
collection of domestic and commercial architecture, the district boasts examples of the the Federal (and early nineteenth
century Virginia vernacular), early twentieth century commercial, Art Deco, Colonial Revival, and modern styles. The
district displays substantial integrity of location, material, association, design, and workmanship.
Fifth Street’s Architectural Significance
The Fifth Street Historic District is Lynchburg‘s fourth historic district with a commercial or industrial theme, and exhibits an
unprecedented diversity of architectural styles that provides evidence of the corridor‘s role as an important commercial
th
th
center from the 19 through the 20 centuries. The district‘s collection of residential and commercial architecture dating to
the Early National Period (1790-1829) is second (in Lynchburg) only to the Federal Hill Historic District (118-0056). Two of
the city‘s three remaining taverns of the period, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) and Nichols Tavern (118-0020), are located
on Fifth Street. Perhaps the last two of Lynchburg‘s early double-pile town houses (or stores) are located at 612 and 708
Fifth Street (118-5318-0018 and 118-5318-0027, respectively). In addition, the district boasts five additional dwellings that
were constructed before 1820. These five houses, located just off of Fifth Street on Polk, Sixth, and Federal Streets, were
th
constructed during Fifth Street‘s rise as a commercial and transportation center in the early 19 century, and are
representative of similar known resources along the 300 and 900 blocks of Fifth Street that have been demolished. A
sampling of the area‘s most progressive automobile-oriented architecture can also be found along Fifth Street, including
the Colonial Revival style Adams Motor Company building at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034), the Art Deco style Pyramid
Motors Company building at 407 Federal Street (118-5237), and the modern style showrooms at 403 and 1101 Fifth (1185318-0004 and 118-5318-0052, respectively).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 17
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fifth Street’s Significance as a Commercial and Transportation Corridor
In January of 1805, the Virginia General Assembly adopted an act that incorporated the town of Lynchburg, thus allowing
the mayor and common councilmen to become a ―body corporate‖ which was authorized to erect public works and
buildings. In addition, the act provided for the expansion of the original 1786 limits of the town, and new thoroughfares,
including Seventh Alley (alleys ran perpendicular to the James River) were formalized. As the system of two-acre blocks,
each containing four half-acre lots, spread westward, the winding old Ferry Road, which had provided access to Lynch‘s
Ferry at least since 1757, was merged with Seventh Alley. Thus, travelers heading westward to the communities of New
London, Liberty (now Bedford), Salem, and the Cumberland Gap would cross the James River via Lynch‘s Ferry (this ferry
would be replaced by a toll bridge in 1812), proceed up Water Street (now Ninth Street), turn right on Second Street (now
Main), and then left onto Seventh Alley (now Fifth Street). Seventh Alley headed up the long incline from the James River,
crested what is now known as Court House Hill, and proceeded in a southwesterly direction, ultimately connecting with the
22
New London Road (later designated as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike,or Fort Avenue).
Due to the volume of traffic coming from and going to the western parts of Virginia, Seventh Alley (now known as Fifth
Street) was in a prime position for commercial growth. Until circa 1805, virtually all commercial activity in Lynchburg took
place along what is now known as Main Street, as well as at the bottom of what is now known as Ninth Street where the
ferry (and later toll bridge) crossed the James River. Between 1797 and 1805, 13 out of 14 non-residential Lynchburg
properties insured by the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia were located on Main Street. Around this time, Seventh
Alley also became known as Cocke Street, probably because merchant and civic leader Thomas W. Cocke owned at least
two lots along the corridor prior to 1805. Another alternate name for the route was ―West Street,‖ which may have
originated from the surname of West, but more likely because the street was the route taken to proceed in a westerly
direction.
Not surprisingly,the popularity of the route as a transportation corridor also led to the construction of several taverns along
th
Fifth Street in the second decade of the 19 century, which marked Lynchburg‘s first building boom (which was tempered
only by the financial panic of 1819). In 1814, James Mallory purchased lot number 395 (at the corner of what is now known
as Jackson and Fifth Streets) from Israel Snead. The original three-bay section of the house at 900 Fifth Street (118-0177)
may have been standing at this time, and Mallory likely expanded the house to its present five-bay configuration soon after
23
he purchased the property. Mallory‘s tavern would soon be known as the Kentucky Hotel, an obvious reference to the
ultimate destination of many Fifth Street travelers, and was the primary landmark in the area, as an 1817 appointment of
24
road surveyors refers to the ―road leading by James Mallory‘s (called West Street).‖ Jacob Feazle purchased the tavern
from Mallory in 1826 and then married Ann Cobbs, owner of 514 Polk Street (118-5318-0046), in 1829. Two years later,
Jacob and Ann sold the tavern to Pleasant Partin for the respectable amount of $3,100. The Kentucky Hotel was listed in
the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Joseph Nichols‘ Tavern (118-0020) was built in 1815 and almost immediately burned due to sparks emanating from a
blacksmith shop across Fifth Street. It was rebuilt in the same year due to an outpouring of support from the community,
who raised more than $1,300 to assist Mr. Nichols and his family. Joseph Nichols was an experienced tavern keeper, as
he was issued his first license in 1799, although the location of his previous tavern is unknown. Joseph and Lewis Nichols
operated the tavern at 600 Fifth Street through 1822. John F. Johnson operated the business from 1824 until his death in
1843, when his widow, Mary, took over. She served as the tavern keeper until 1850, when she was listed as a resident in
25
the household of Allen J. Black, a tavern keeper. During the Johnsons‘ ownership, the tavern became known as the
26
Western Hotel. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 18
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1818, William Shaw began operating a tavern at his house (already well-known as ―Travelers Rest‖) at the southeast
corner of what is now Court and Fifth Street. In particular, Shaw catered to children, as he noted that the property was
convenient to three schools. Fisher‘s Auto Parts Warehouse (118-5317) now occupies the site of Travelers Rest.
th
The presence of two extant taverns dating to the early 19 century is significant, as it is thought that only three taverns
from the period remain in Lynchburg (the third being Major Oliver Towles‘ tavern [also known as Cross Keys] at 1200-1204
Main Street). In 1816, at least 16 taverns operated in the town.
Naturally, retailers began to establish themselves along Fifth Street during the same period. Peter Detto may have
operated a store (or perhaps even a tavern) soon after his 1805 purchase of a lot on the southwest corner of what is now
Clay and Fifth Streets. In 1818, merchant Benjamin Perkins acquired the lot at the southeast corner of Fifth and Harrison
Streets and promptly sold it to Archibald Robertson, surviving partner of Brown Robertson & Co. Scottish-born merchant
William Brown, who died in the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811, had numerous mercantile connections throughout Virginia,
including at Otter Bridge in Bedford County, Milton in Albemarle County, and Manchester opposite Richmond. Following
Brown‘s death, Archibald Robertson took over a great deal of the business operation. Robertson operated several stores
(including one at what is now Seventh and Main Street), and many of Lynchburg‘s leading citizens were his customers.
Thomas Jefferson was a longstanding customer of the firm, and at the time of his death in 1826, Jefferson owed $6,000,
27
or 6% of his total debt, to Robertson. Robertson constructed at least two buildings on the lot, and merchant Lindsay B.
Padgett purchased the lot from Robertson‘s estate in 1844. Specializing in ready-made clothing and dry goods, Padgett
operated stores on both Main Street and Cocke (Fifth Street). He owed substantial debts to many individuals and
companies, and mortgaged his real and personal properties in order to secure the debts. Padgett apparently defaulted on
the note, and an October 1847 Lynchburg Virginian advertisement announced the public sale of his property, including ―all
ready made clothing now in his store on Cocke Street.‖ Retail grocer James M. Cochran purchased the store building,
28
then referred to as the ―Red House,‖ at 708 Fifth Street (118-5318-0027) in 1849.
Another early store is located at 612 Fifth Street (118-5318-0018), and was probably built by Lilbourn Johnson in 1827.
The previously-mentioned merchant Lindsay Padgett purchased the building around 1839. Like Federal period taverns of
Lynchburg, store buildings of the period are very rare in the city, and these two buildings are part of a group of less than
half a dozen extant and recognizable pre-1830 commercial buildings in Lynchburg.
In his 1835 gazetteer of Virginia, Joseph Martin noted that the ―Lynchburg and eastern turnpike, running S.W. through New
London and Liberty, is now completed half the distance.‖ The macadamized road ―enters Lynchburg at the lower [eastern,
or downriver] end of town. To accommodate the wants of the other end, an arm has been constructed from Cocke, or
29
West Street (the northernmost alley) intersecting the turnpike a mile and a half from town.‖ The turnpike mentioned was
also known as the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, and entered Lynchburg by the route of current Fort Avenue, which turned
th
into Twelfth Street. An 1825 map submitted to the General Assembly shows that ―7 Alley or Cocke or West Street‖ turned
into the ―Road to Bedford,‖ and that a road that ―connects with [the] Turnpike‖ veered off of it well after it left the town of
30
Lynchburg (the outer limits were marked by what is now Taylor Street). Using this map and Martin‘s description, it can be
ascertained that the ―Road to Bedford‖ followed what is now Fifth Street along its present course southwest of College Hill,
then followed Memorial Avenue to the vicinity of the present E.C. Glass High School, where it turned to the west and
followed the course of Lakeside Drive and Forest Road. The road that, in 1825, connected Fifth Street with the turnpike,
followed the course of modern Memorial Avenue, and intersected the turnpike at what would later become the site of Fort
Early. Fifth Street businesses likely fought for more convenient access to the Lynchburg & Salem Turnpike, as this route
required two miles of travel between the edge of Lynchburg along Fifth Street before one intersected with the turnpike
road. The ―arm‖ that Martin described as accommodating the ―wants of the other end‖ of town would have departed Fifth
Street at its intersection with Monroe Street, and intersected the turnpike at the place called ―Watering Branch,‖ exactly
one and a half miles from downtown. This route, followed today by a portion of Park and Fort Avenues, only required Fifth
Street residents to travel one mile before they reached the turnpike. This simple roadway improvement guaranteed Fifth
th
Street‘s continuance as a commercial center into the second half of the 19 century.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 19
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By the time of the Civil War, the Fifth Street corridor was home to a number of tobacco warehouses and factories. As
casualties from the field began to pour into Lynchburg, which was quickly becoming a major hospital center, all large
buildings in the city were appropriated for use as hospitals. By 1862, Reid‘s and Booker‘s warehouses, near the
intersection of Fifth, Church, and Court Streets, comprised Division 1 of General Hospital Number 1, and Division 3
consisted of Burton‘s Warehouse (on the west side of Fifth between Harrison and Federal) and Candler‘s Warehouse,
31
which was on the east side of Fifth near Polk. Many casualties from the hospitals throughout town were sent to what is
now known as the Old City Cemetery (118-0027) at Fourth and Monroe Street for burial.
In June of 1864, Fifth Street played a supporting role in the defense of the city against an attack by Federal General David
Hunter. Susan Leigh Blackford recounted that ―General Breckinridge, with some troops, got here on Wednesday night, and
as we saw them passing out West [Fifth] Street…the streets were lined with women, waving their handkerchiefs and
32
cheering them on as they moved out onto a line on the hills west of the city.‖ Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute
th
arrived on June 16 , and were ordered to dig defensive lines in the area of Fifth Street as it crested College Hill. That
night, the cadets slept amongst the gravestones at the Old City Cemetery. The fighting on June 17 and 18 was primarily
limited to the outer defenses, and Lynchburg‘s inner defenses that stretched from the Old City Cemetery across Fifth
33
Street, and along the ridge of College Hill, were not tested in battle.
After the Civil War, tobacco manufacturing continued along the Fifth Street corridor. An 1877 map of Lynchburg shows
S.P. Halsey‘s Prizery at the south corner of Fifth and Clay Streets. The Myers factory was located between Harrison and
Federal near Fourth Street, and an unnamed factory was at the north corner of Fifth and Federal. A major complex of
tobacco manufacturing buildings was next to the Kentucky Hotel (these were likely built by Pleasant Partin), while
Hatcher‘s factory was across Fifth Street on the north corner of Fifth and Polk. Lastly, a second facility owned by S.P.
34
Halsey was on the south side of the intersection of Fifth Street and Park Avenue. Two examples of tobacco warehouses
th
from the 19 century remain in the district. R.E. Gist‘s Plug and Twist Tobacco Factory (118-0075) and A.M. Bruce‘s Plug
and Smoking Tobacco Factory (118-5318-0001) are both located in the 400 block of Court Street, and were constructed
35
between 1877 and 1885.
In 1883, a new city fire station was constructed at 514 Fifth Street (118-5318-0011). ―Fire Station No. 1,‖ which boasted 15
men, 1 steam engine (pulled by 4 horses), 1 hose wagon (pulled by 2 horses), and 1 hook and ladder (pulled by 4 horses),
served for more than four decades before being supplanted by a new Art Deco style facility designed by Clark and Crowe
36
at the intersection of Fifth and Church Streets (demolished). Biggers School (called the ―Fifth Avenue Public School‖ in
1890), located at the west corner of Clay and Fifth Streets, opened in 1881 with a capacity of 305 students. The large
37
building was designed by August Forsberg, and was demolished in 1967. Except for the school and the Gist, Bruce, and
Halsey tobacco facilities, the ―lower‖ end of Fifth Street (the 200-400 blocks) was primarily residential in nature during the
last quarter of the nineteenth century. The 500 block contained a bakery & confectionary, two grocery stores, an ice cream
parlor and dairy, a drug store, the Lynchburg Steam Laundry, and the newly-constructed Fifth Street Fire Station (1185318-0011), which was labeled ―Fire Station No. 1.‖ The 600 and 700 blocks of Fifth Street boasted 18 stores, a
restaurant, wood working shop, and the former Phoenix Carriage Works at Fifth and Federal. Three of these stores
th
remain, including the early 19 century buildings at 612 and 708 Fifth (118-5318-0018 and 118-5318-0027, respectively)
and the circa 1850 brick building at 620 Fifth Street (118-5318-0021). The 900 and 1000 blocks of Fifth Street contained
six grocery stores (including R.H. Padgett‘s store, which occupied an ancient c. 1800 store at the corner of Polk and Fifth
th
that was demolished in the mid-20 century), two shoe stores, a candy store, a barber, and two tobacco factories (J.B.
38
Evans & Son and Loyd Phelps & Co.).
th
By the end of the first quarter of the 20 century, the automobile had firmly taken hold in Lynchburg, and the burgeoning
city was even home to the Piedmont Motor Car Company, one of only two companies in Virginia that actually
manufactured automobiles (this factory was located just over a mile northwest of Fifth Street). New businesses were
needed to serve the needs of the now-ubiquitous machines, and gas stations, tire stores, and other establishments began
to spring up all over town. Some of the first auto-oriented development that took place along Fifth Street occurred in the
previously-residential 400 block. In 1928, the city directory announced that 400 Fifth Street was occupied by the Miller Tire
& Battery Company, while the Lynchburg Battery & Ignition Company was located at 406 Fifth Street (both buildings are
now joined, and are designated as 118-5317). Ferdinand D. Miller was the proprietor of Miller Tire & Battery at 406 Fifth
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 20
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street, which sold Hood Tires and Willard Batteries. By 1935, the building was home to Goodyear Service Automobile
Tires under the management of Oliver E. Miles. By 1940, the business was being operated under the name of ―New Tread
Company Vulcanizing‖ by D. Earl Burnett. The business specialized in recapping, retreading, and vulcanizing tires, and
was a distributor for the U.S. Tire Company. Burnett purchased the building from E.H. Hancock in 1943, and was operating
the Burnett-Benson Tire Company on the site by 1945. In addition to U.S. Tires, the business sold Seiberling Tires, radios,
sporting goods, and home appliances. A 1945 advertisement boasted that they were the ―most comprehensive tire service
39
in Lynchburg.‖ By 1955, Burnett-Benson Tire Company had been renamed to simply Burnett Tire Company, and the firm
was selling aircraft parts in addition to their automotive parts and accessories. The next year, the company commissioned
the architectural firm of Cress & Johnson to design a modern, streamlined facility across the street at what would become
40
403 Fifth Street (118-5318-0004).
Also in 1927, the automobile showroom at 811 Fifth Street (118-5318-0034) was constructed to house three separate
motor companies owned by Myers, Beasley, and Phil Payne. In the 1930s, the building was acquired by Adams Motor
th
Company, which sold cars at the location through the end of the 20 century. The automobile dealership at 407 Federal
Street (118-5237) was constructed in 1937 for the Pyramid Motor Corporation, which sold Ford and Lincoln Zephyr
automobiles. After 1948, the business changed hands and was called Turner Buick Corporation. The name then changed
to Dickerson Buick Corporation in 1955 and to Hemphill Buick-Opel, Inc. in 1970. The building was acquired by the
41
Sheltered Workshop of Lynchburg in 1975, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Other purpose-built automobile-oriented commercial buildings in the district include filling stations at 1100 Fifth (118-53180051) and 801 Fifth (118-5318-0032), the Hoskins Pontiac Company showroom at 1101 Fifth (118-5318-0052), and the
garages at 619 Fifth (118-5318-0020), 420 Monroe (118-5318-0056), and 507 Harrison Street (118-5318-0022).
In 1930, the Lynchburg firm of Johnson and Brannan designed a new bus terminal at the intersection of Fifth and Church
Streets for A.F. Young, operator of the nearby Virginian Hotel at 726 Church Street (118-5163-0076). This Greyhound
depot (demolished) was the first of two such facilities constructed along Fifth Street, which was part of Lynchburg‘s primary
north-south transportation network. In 1953, a Trailways bus station was constructed at 512 Fifth Street (118-5318-0010).
Several residential and commercial buildings along Fifth Street were demolished to make room for the station, and in
1962, the building became known as the Union Bus Station, serving both Trailways and Greyhound passengers. At this
time, additional houses along Clay and Madison Streets were demolished to provide larger parking areas. According to
Greyhound officials, this instance was the first time (in company history) that the two bus lines had shared a single
42
facility.
In 1931, Fifth Street was designated as U.S. Highway 29, which connected Maryland to Florida. Following the construction
of the Lynchburg Expressway, Fifth Street was redesignated as U.S. 29‘s business route. While long-distance traffic may
have decreased, local traffic was on the rise as Lynchburg grew and the Fifth Street corridor found itself between
downtown and the midtown area, which contained Pittman Plaza (Lynchburg‘s first shopping center), which was completed
in 1960. To increase traffic flow, on-street parking was removed from Fifth Street in order to create two lanes of
southbound traffic. In the early 1970s, the Virginia Department of Transportation developed a plan to further increase
traffic flow through the area by turning Fourth Street (a narrow residential neighborhood-serving roadway) into a one-way
thoroughfare for vehicular traffic, while converting Fifth Street to all one-way in the opposite direction. This plan, along with
the assumed significant right-of-way acquisitions that would need to be made in order to enact it, had a chilling effect on
any reinvestment that might have otherwise occurred along Fifth Street. Like downtown Lynchburg (and most other
downtowns during the 1970s), the Fifth Street commercial district suffered a decline due to large shopping areas including
43
Pittman Plaza and River Ridge Mall, which opened in the early 1980s.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 21
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fifth Street as an African American Cultural and Commercial Center
Following the Civil War, African Americans realized new opportunities as well as limitations. While amendments to the
United States Constitution abolished slavery and granted citizenship to African Americans, a new system of racial
discrimination, known as ―Jim Crow,‖ soon emerged. The majority-controlled society denied African Americans access to
respectable jobs and many commercial services, and African Americans formed parallel economies in their own
communities.
During the late 1880s, most of Fifth Street was predominately occupied by white residents or business owners. The 400,
600, and 900 blocks had close to twenty percent African American occupancy, while the 1000 block and beyond was
generally occupied by a black majority. By 1900, the percentage of African American residents began to increase
somewhat, particularly along the 900 block of Fifth Street. By 1910, an African American-dominated business district had
44
evolved in the three block area between Federal and Monroe Streets. Black business owners may have obtained a
foothold in the district due to opportunities created by a weak economy in the early years of reconstruction, but the African
American business community‘s rise to prominence was not simply due to passive acceptance of what may have been
considered undesirable property by the white business community. Rather, several successful black business leaders,
along with newly-formed fraternal and social organizations, made significant investments in the corridor by constructing a
th
th
number of large commercial buildings in the late 19 and early 20 centuries. The vanguard of these black business
owners included boot and shoe makers Pitman Walker and James Ross, grocer Nelson James, and barber J.O. Ross,
45
who were all operating in the 1000 block of Fifth Street as early as 1881.
During this time, many black fraternal organizations were formed, ―creating social outlets for those seeking camaraderie as
well as a sense of belonging in the face of a larger society that neglected them.‖ These groups promoted the concept of
46
―self-help,‖ and played a key role in development of a black middle class in southern cities like Lynchburg.
By 1872, African American men in Lynchburg formed a local chapter of the Order of True Reformers, a fraternal
organization. In 1893, they constructed the landmark building known as the True Reformers Hall (later known as the
Harrison Theatre) in the 900 block of Fifth Street on the site of Pleasant Partin‘s tobacco factory. Perhaps the first ―mixed
use‖ building on Fifth Street, the massive three-story edifice contained a large auditorium, offices, a lodge hall for the True
Reformers, and several storefronts at street level. Perhaps as important for its cultural, social, and commercial contribution
47
to the district as its architecture, the True Reformers Hall was demolished in 1985.
th
The African American population in Lynchburg was on the decline by the late 19 century, largely due to the reduction of
employees needed in the various tobacco warehouses and factories in the city, which were major employers of blacks.
Newer industries in the area, including cotton mills and shoe factories, only employed white laborers (due to necessity if for
no other reason, many of these companies would later employ blacks). Despite the reduced role that tobacco played in
Lynchburg‘s economy, the Stalling & Company tobacco factory, which occupied the former Myers building at Fourth and
th
Federal Streets, employed area residents well into the 20 century. James B. Harvey (1928-1984) worked at the Stallings
Factory in the 1950s. His son, Richard, later wrote that he ―went to visit my father once at the Tobacco Factory on Fourth
Street…His boss cursed and talked to him as if he was less than a dog. I swore, not one time in my life, would I be
subjected to this bigotry.‖ Dubois Miller worked at the factory one summer, and he later recounted that he would ―come
home smelling like tobacco, and I didn‘t smoke, so I didn‘t appreciate it. But I needed the money for school, and it was
48
seasonal work.‖ The G. Stalling & Co. Factory was destroyed by fire in 1976.
As educational and economic opportunities for African Americans increased, entrepreneurism also increased. In 1904,
Lynchburg‘s black population operated 2 billiard saloons, 2 theatres, and 2 livery stables. There were 3 African American
physicians or veterinary surgeons, 3 undertakers, 2 attorneys, 5 hucksters (street vendors), 1 plumber, 1 electrical
contractor, 1 chiropodist, 23 barbers, 27 merchants, and 32 houses of private entertainment (private lodging facilities that
did not serve alcohol) .. Thus, to some extent, the black community began to mitigate the effects of segregation in the
industrial workplace with their own business opportunities, many of which operated on Fifth Street (or Fifth Avenue, as it
49
was sometimes called during this period).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 22
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By 1900, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177), a former tavern and residence, was the home to Smith‘s Business College, which
provided educational opportunities to African Americans. Its students included Rev. George Robert Jones of Suffolk, who
50
graduated in 1897. An 1899 advertisement in the Richmond Planet announced that the school offered courses in
―phonographic, penning, commercial, English…‖, and a 1908 publication lauded T. Parker Smith, the school‘s director, as
51
―one of the pioneers‖ in the work of training African Americans in the principles of business. Smith, a Missouri native who
graduated from Lincoln University in 1888, married Clara Alexander of Lynchburg. By 1911, they had moved to Durham,
North Carolina, where he was the Dean of the Commercial Department at the National Religious Training School, and
52
Clara served as the head of the Teacher‘s Department. By 1934, Smith was operating a new Smith‘s Business College in
Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1915, local African American businessman Adolphus Humbles (1845-1926) built what is known as the Humbles Building
(118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth Street. Like the True Reformers Hall, the Humbles Building is a large, three-story, mixed use
facility that contained two storefronts on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor. Humbles was a successful
merchant in Campbell County, and operated the toll road between Lynchburg and Rustburg (the seat of Campbell County).
He served as the Treasurer of both the Virginia State Baptist Convention and the Virginia Theological Seminary and
College (now known as the Virginia University of Lynchburg), where the school‘s main building bears his name. Also active
in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive Committee for the Republican Party for thirteen
53
years.
In 1919, the former Gist Tobacco Factory at 410 Court Street (118-0075) was converted into Mill No. 2 of the Lynchburg
Hosiery Mills Company (Mill No. 1 [118-0126] was on Fort Avenue), which had the specific purpose of employing African
American women. At the time, it was said that no other business or industry in Lynchburg had hired black women, who, up
until this point, were limited to performing domestic work in white households. Mill No. 2 operated until 1971, and generally
employed between 150 and 200 black women at any given time. As at Mill No. 1, the segregated employees of Mill No. 2
formed a ―Lynchburg Hosiery Mills Association,‖ which provided benefits including an early form of medical insurance,
disability benefits, unemployment benefits, and savings plans. When the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, the two
separate Lynchburg Hosiery Mill Associations were merged, and both black and white employees then belonged to the
54
same association.
As previously mentioned, three African American undertakers were in business in Lynchburg at the turn of the century.
John Shuemaker & Co. operated at 417 Monroe Street, and was a former partner with Squire Higginbotham. Their funeral
home, established in 1868, is thought to be the oldest black business of the type in Lynchburg. Squire‘s son, McGustavus
(1868-1934), owned the firm of Strange & Higginbotham, which was located at 909 Fifth Street (118-5318-0040). This
business was the predecessor to the current Community Funeral Home, which was established by M.W. ―Teedy‖ Thornhill,
Jr. Thornhill served on Lynchburg City Council from 1976 to 1992, and in 1990, was elected as Lynchburg‘s first African
American mayor. C.V. Wilson‘s Funeral Home was located at 810 Fifth Street, but was demolished in 1968 to make
additional car lot space for Adams Motor Company. Carl Hutcherson, Sr. erected a new funeral home at 918 Fifth Street
(118-5318-0042) in 1963. Hutcherson was the first African American to serve on the Lynchburg School Board, and his son,
the Rev. Carl B. Hutcherson, Jr., took over the mortuary business, served on Lynchburg City Council from 1996 to 2006
55
(he was Mayor from 2000 to 2006).
On March 5, 1918, a group of African American women rented the house at 613 Monroe Street (118-5318-0061) in order
to begin Y.W.C.A. programs for women of color. Soon after, Adela Ruffin, Field Secretary for all black Y.W.C.A.
participants in the South, came to Lynchburg to encourage local leadership to create a separate chapter, but her
suggestion was tabled. In 1919, however, an official Phyllis Wheatley Branch was formed in Lynchburg, and 15 African
American women established a Committee of Management. The Central Association (white-controlled organization),
located on Church Street, offered to help the Phyllis Wheatley Branch in ―any way that it could, but was unable to assist
financially.‖ In 1924, the trustees of the Old Dominion Elks Lodge #181, who had purchased 613 Monroe from the
56
Merchants National Bank of Raleigh in 1919, sold the house to the Y.W.C.A. for $4,000.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 23
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1937, it was reported that the branch had outgrown their building at 613 Monroe, and that a committee had been formed
to evaluate their options. While the branch had saved money for renovations through the years, they would also need to
obtain support from the community. Amy Jordan, a teacher at a ―colored college‖ (Virginia Theological Seminary) was the
chairman of the Committee of Management, and Grace Booker, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was Executive Secretary of
57
the branch. Later, Booker became the first African American Director of the Metropolitan Y.W.C.A. in Baltimore.
An undated brochure produced by the Phyllis Wheatley Y.W.C.A. sought to raise $45,000 for the purpose of moving the
branch from its house at 613 Monroe Street, which was labeled as ―Old—Outgrown‖ to a larger building at 600 Monroe
Street, which was labeled ―Modern—Adequate.‖ 600 Monroe Street was known as the ―Tal-Fred Apartments‖ (118-53180060), and was built circa 1940 on property formerly occupied by the Independent Order of St. Luke. The newlyconstructed apartment building appears to have contained six spacious units, all of which were occupied by African
Americans. The Phyllis Wheatley Branch apparently raised the necessary funds to acquire the property, and hired
prominent Lynchburg architect Pendleton S. Clark to plan modifications to the building‘s interior. The Y.W.C.A. branch
moved into the building by 1950, and it is still owned by the organization today. The Y.W.C.A. program in Lynchburg was
58
integrated in the early 1970s.
In 1924, the house at 1014 Fifth Street (118-5318-0049) was occupied by the Elks Rest, a facility for African Americans. In
1936, Willis Sandidge was the manager of the Elks Rest, and Old Dominion Lodge #181, IBPOE (Elks) used the building
as its principal office and meeting location. In need of additional assembly space, the organization added a large concrete
masonry unit addition to the rear of the building by 1951, and the grocery store operated by James Harper and later Robert
59
Miller at 1016 Fifth Street was incorporated into the Elks Lodge complex.
th
For most of the first half of the 20 century, the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177) at 900 Fifth Street served as the Odd Fellows
Hall, with rental office space on the first floor and the second floor contained the lodge hall itself. In 1954, the building
housed the Grand Order of the Odd Fellows, Odd Fellows Lodge No. 1475, St. Luke‘s Lodge No. 1475, Sons of Zion
60
Lodge No. 1446, and West Hill Lodge No. 1704.
By 1962, the Augustine Leftwich House at 614 Federal Street (118-5318-0063) began a new life as the ―Masonic Home.‖
Joseph C. Watson resided at the house (perhaps as a manager or caretaker) and the building housed the Star of the West
Lodge No. 24 (AF&AM), Order of the Eastern Star Lynchburg Chapter No. 40, and Order of the Eastern Star Goodwill
Chapter No. 125 (all of these were African American organizations). The building at 614 Federal Street continues to serve
61
the Star of the West Lodge today.
In addition to serving as the ―Main Street‖ of Lynchburg‘s African American community, the corridor served as the
community‘s health and medicine center. By 1940, all but one of Lynchburg‘s black physicians as well as all four black
dentists had offices on Fifth Street. Perhaps Lynchburg‘s best-known African American physician, Dr. R. Walter Johnson
(1889-1971) attended Lincoln University and Meharry Medical College. His Lynchburg practice began in the mid-1930s,
and was first located in the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street (118-5318-0039). In 1951, he constructed the office
building at 1001 Fifth Street (118-5318-0047), which still bears his name in large aluminum letters along the façade. He
was the first African American to be allowed to practice at Lynchburg General Hospital, and became a well-known tennis
coach for young African American players, including Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. He founded the American Tennis
Association Junior Development Program for African American youth as well as an all-expenses paid tennis camp. His
home and tennis court at 1422 Pierce Street (118-0225-0077) were individually listed in the National Register of Historic
Places in 2002, and Centra Health‘s outpatient clinic at 320 Federal Street is named in his honor. His sister, Dr. Eileen ElDorado Johnson, was educated in Switzerland and worked in New York before moving to Lynchburg in 1967, where she
established a practice on Fifth Street.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 24
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Fred L. Lander, Jr. (1898-1941) a veteran of World War I, had an office at the corner of Fifth and Polk Streets
(demolished in 1992). He was one of the first African American physicians to use sulfa drugs to treat venereal diseases, a
serious health problem during the 1930s, when three times as many Virginia blacks as whites died of syphilis. Dr. Leon
Braswell‘s (1904-1958) office was located at 808 Fifth Street (demolished); he practiced from 1937 to 1958. In 1949, he
was named state Vice President of the National Medical Association. Dr. Clarissa Wimbush (d. 1986) was the first black
female dentist in Virginia, and earned her D.D.S. degree from Howard University. She opened an office at 911-913 Fifth
(demolished 1979) in 1926, and practiced more than fifty years.
Dr. Augustus Nathaniel Lushington (1869-1939) was born on Trinidad in the West Indies and is believed to be one of the
first African Americans in the country to receive a degree in veterinary medicine, which he earned at the University of
Pennsylvania in 1897. His home and practice was located in the house at 1005 Fifth Street (118-5318-0048). From 1959
until he retired, Dr. Kyle M. Pettus (1881-1967) occupied Lushington‘s house.
In all, more than twenty physicians practiced on Fifth Street, primarily in the 800-1000 blocks. The Humbles Building
hosted at least nine doctors and dentists over the years. In support of the many physicians along the corridor was
pharmacists Harry W. Reid (1892-1969). Reid opened his pharmacy, first called Bacchus & Reid, in 1919 at the Humbles
Building. By 1930, there were twenty-one black-owned drugstores in the State of Virginia. The 1940 Lincoln Memorial Book
of Lynchburg (a locally-produced African American business and cultural directory) stated that Reid‘s ―place of business is
thoroughly modern, in appearance and in every other respect. It is the only drug store in the city owned and operated by
colored people and it is a real credit to Lynchburg.‖ In 1936, Reid moved his business to the New Era building, a large
mixed-use facility (similar to the Humbles Building and the True Reformers Hall) located at 919 Fifth Street (it was
demolished in 1992).
African Americans with medical training were not the only benefactors of Lynchburg‘s health care community. Whit N.
Brown (1895-1946) was a New York native and enjoyed success as a ―real estate proprietor‖ in Lynchburg. Locally, he was
known as the ―King of Fifth Street.‖ His lifelong friend, Harry Reid, later recounted that Brown ―was very honest in his
thoughts. The Negroes have been working since 1925 to get a hospital of their own, but Whit wouldn‘t agree. ‗Lynchburg
Hospital belongs to the whole city,‘ he told them, ‗us as much as anybody, and we don‘t want to improve and pay for what
we get over there.‘‖ When Brown died in 1946, he donated his entire estate to Lynchburg General Hospital, including the
brick duplex at 411-413 Polk Street (118-5318-0043) that he had constructed as rental property only six years earlier.
62
Lynchburg General Hospital kept the building (likely earning income from residential rentals) until 1971.
The Lynchburg Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) sponsored the
Legacy Project to provide educational exhibits and programs on the history and culture of African Americans in the area.
The Legacy Project received 501(c)3 nonprofit status in 1995 and acquired a dilapidated house at 403 Monroe Street two
years later. Lynchburg architect Kelvin Moore was engaged to help transform the 100-year-old house into a modern
museum. A Capital Fundraising Committee was formed to raise $300,000, and a Collections Committee was formed to
solicit and archive artifacts for the permanent collection. On June 25, 2000 a celebratory dedication and grand opening
was held, and the Legacy Museum of African American History hosts a number of changing exhibits about black culture in
the region.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 8
Page 25
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion
For more than two centuries, Fifth Street has served as a major commercial and transportation artery for Lynchburg, and
served as the heart of the region‘s African American community for over 100 years. Like many urban neighborhoods, the
Fifth Street Historic District has suffered architectural losses over the years, but still retains the feeling and character of an
st
urban business district. The first decade of the 21 century has been witness to renewed community interest in the
corridor, which has been championed by organizations including the Fifth Street Community Development Corporation (the
CDC) and the Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation (LNDF). LNDF was instrumental in expanding the
boundaries of the Downtown / Court House Hill Historic District (118-5163), rehabilitating a number of homes in the 500700 blocks of Madison and Harrison Streets, and served as the developer for Centra Health‘s P.A.C.E. Center, which is
located in the Pyramid Motors Building (118-5237). The CDC, along with the City of Lynchburg, spearheaded the
development of the 2006 Fifth Street Master Plan. The CDC and LNDF are currently collaborating to rehabilitate four
buildings in the 700 block of Fifth Street (two of which were slated for demolition by their former owner in early 2011).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number 9 & 10
Page 26
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Mindin‘ Our Own Business: African American Business Enterprise in Central Virginia, 1820-1970.‖
Lynchburg, Virginia: Legacy Museum of African American History, 2005.
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Remembering Tinbridge Hill in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1920-1970.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Southern Memorial
Association, 2011.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981.
Lynchburg City Deed Books, 1805-2011. Clerk of the Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lynchburg City Directories, 1875-1970. Accessed at the following locations: Clerk of the Circuit Court, Lynchburg, Virginia, Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia, online at www.ancestry.com
Lynchburg City Land Tax Records, 1805-2011. Clerk of the Circuit Court and City Assessor‘s Office, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951 (updated).
Swann-Wright, Dianne. Carolyn Wilkerson Bell, ed. ―For Our Own Good: African American Civic and Social Groups in Central Virginia.‖
Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local History. Spring/Summer 2009. Lynchburg, Virginia: Blackwell Press.
10. UTM References
E. 17S 0663325 4142151
F. 17S 0663564 4142388
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries of the 23 acre historic district are shown on the 1:75-scale map that accompanies the nomination.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The district‘s boundaries are tightly drawn to encompass the resources within the Fifth Street corridor that are associated
th
with the area‘s evolution from a largely residential transportation corridor in the early 19 century to a center of commerce
th
th
from the late 19 through the mid-20 century with a particular emphasis on the significance of the area as the hub of
Lynchburg‘s African-American business, professional and social life.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Photographs
Page..27
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name of Property:
Fifth Street Historic District
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg
County: n/a
State: Virginia
Photographer: Emily Patton Smith
Date Photographed: August 2011
View: Looking southwest toward 600 block of Fifth St.
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District_0001.tif
View: Northeast & northwest elevations, Joseph
Nichols‘ Tavern (118-0020), 600 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0002.tif
View: Southwest elevation, Gist Tobacco Factory (1180075), 410 Court Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0003.tif
View: Looking northeast along 600 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0004.tif
View: Looking northeast along 500 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0005.tif
View: Looking southwest along 700 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0006.tif
View: Northeast elevation, Pyramid Motors (118-5237),
407 Federal Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0007.tif
View: Looking northeast along 900 block of Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0008.tif
View: Southeast elevation, Dr. Walter Johnson Medical
Office (118-5318-0047), 1001 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0009.tif
View: Southeast elevation, Humbles Building (1185318-0039), 901 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0010.tif
View: Northwest & northeast elevations, Commercial
Building, 1100 Fifth Street (118-5318-0051)
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0011.tif
View: Northwest elevation, Kentucky Hotel (118-0177),
900 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0012.tif
View: Northeast elevation, Fifth Street Baptist Church
(118-5318-0053), 1007-1013 Fifth Street
VA_Lynchburg City_Fifth Street Historic District _0013.tif
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 28
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ENDNOTES (Sections 7 and 8)
1
Virginia Patent Book 30, page 156, Virginia Land Office Records, Library of Virginia; Hening, William Waller, ed., ―Hening's Statutes
at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the first session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619.‖ Volume VII, 17561763. Richmond, Virginia: Franklin Press, 1820. Page 125.
2
Jefferson, Thomas. ―Notes on the State of Virginia.‖ New York: Library of America, Literary Classics of the United States. 1984
(originally published in 1781), pages 150-151.
3
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Page 28.
4
Ibid., pages 10-13
5
Weld, Isaac. ―Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795,
th
1796, and 1797.‖ London: John Stockdale, 1800 (4 edition), pages 155-156.
6
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 44.
7
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 46. In 1805, John Lynch sold Thomas W. Cocke a lot that adjoined lot #88 (at the north corner of what
is now Court and Fifth Streets), which Cocke already owned. A 1795 newspaper announcement mentioned that Thomas W. Cocke, of
―Thomas W. Cocke & Co.,‖ intended to move to Kentucky. If he did go to Kentucky, he returned by 1805, as the aforementioned deed
described him as being a resident of Lynchburg.
8
Lynchburg Deed Book B, page 196.
9
Lynchburg Deed Book A, page 14, Deed Book A, page 343.
10
Jefferson, Thomas. ―Notes on the State of Virginia.‖ New York: Library of America, Literary Classics of the United States. 1984
(originally published in 1781), page 278.
11
Crowther, Douglas and Sandra. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Kentucky Hotel (118-0177).‖ October, 1985.
12
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Pages 4546.
13
Smith, W. Scott. ―Research Brief: 708 Fifth Street, Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
14
North, Percy. ―Bernhard Gutmann: An American Impressionist.‖ New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. Page unknown (scanned image of
page provided by Nancy Blackwell Marion).
15
Lynchburg Deed Book H, page 227. John Hancock to Lilbourne H. Johnson, 26 April 1826. A building valued at $300 in 1823 and
1824 may have been demolished by 1825. The 1828 Lynchburg Land Tax Book notes that $1,500 was ―added for buildings‖ on the
24‘-wide lot. An 1835 deed mentions the house then ―occupied by Edward Price‖ (DB M/161).
16
In her 1858 Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest Inhabitant, Margaret Anthony Cabell described the dwelling of a
Mr. Miller, which had shelving porches. When describing the Miller-Claytor House (118-0012), architectural historian S. Allen
Chambers defined the building‘s shed-roofed, one-story rear porch as a ―shelving porch.‖ Cabell, Margaret Anthony, Sketches and
Recollections of Lynchburg, by the Oldest Inhabitant. Richmond, Virginia: C.H. Wynne. 1858. Page 242.
17
William Phaup purchased lots 386 and 396 in February of 1817 from John Lynch (he paid $300 for the two). He sold lot 396 to noted
brickmason Matthew Brown, and the lot 386 at the corner of what is now Sixth and Polk Streets was valued at $3,900 in 1818. By
1820, buildings alone on the lot were valued at $2,250, and in 1828, he split the lot and sold the halves to Ann Cobbs and Jo hn
Fowler. The 1831 land tax records indicate that buildings on both Ann Feazel (nee Cobbs) and John Fowler‘s lots were valued at
$1,500 each.
18
Neville, Ashley and John Salmon. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Pyramid Motor Company building (1185237), June 2007.
19
Cress and Johnson designed a building for Burnett Tire Company at this location. Although the present building does not match the
plans, it is in keeping with the design philosophy displayed in the original plans, and is likely a modification by Carl Cress.
20
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. ―The Lynchburg that never was.‖ Lynch‘s Ferry Magazine, Spring/Summer 2001. Lynchburg, Virginia:
Warwick House Publishing. Pages 9-10.
21
Only three resources within the district were constructed after 1964 (the Coiner Parts Company Warehouse [118-5318-0009] in
1971, and two bus shelters [118-5318-0058 & 118-5318-0059] installed in 2010). Commercial and residential development effectively
ceased in the mid-1960s, primarily due to Desegregation (the need and demand for an African-American business district declined)
and VDOT‘s plan to reorganize traffic patterns along the corridor (many property owners were hesitant to invest or re-invest in the
district with the knowledge that VDOT may be seeking right-of-way for its project).
22
Manuscript map of the Lynchburg area, including the James River, Fishing Creek, and Blackwater Creek. Undated (probably drawn
prior to 1815). ―Tate vs. Lynch‖ bound volume at Lynchburg Clerk‘s Office (this is probably a chancery case, appears to be the only
original chancery papers remaining at the Lynchburg Clerk‘s Office [the others are at the Library of Virginia], and does not seem to
appear in the Library of Virginia‘s Chancery Case Index.
23
th
th
Gish, Agnes Evans. ―Virginia Taverns, Ordinaries and Coffee Houses: 18 – Early 19 Century Entertainment Along the
Buckingham Road.‖ Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 2005. Page 433.
24
Lynchburg Deed Book D, page 158
25
1850 United States Census, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 29
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26
th
th
Gish, Agnes Evans. ―Virginia Taverns, Ordinaries and Coffee Houses: 18 – Early 19 Century Entertainment Along the
Buckingham Road.‖ Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 2005. Pages 432-433.
27
Winner, Mildred D. ―Mr. Jefferson‘s Delinquent Account at Lynchburg‘s First Dry Goods Store,‖ Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local
History, Fall/Winter 1992/1993. Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing. Pages 37-39. N.B. While the Brown-Robertson store
was an early Lynchburg retail operation, it was not the town‘s ―first dry goods store.‖
28
Smith, W. Scott. ―Research Brief: 708 Fifth Street, Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2011.
29
Martin, Joseph. ―A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: Joseph
Martin, 1835. Page 128.
30
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., ―Lynchburg: An Architectural History.‖ Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1981. Pages 8283.
31
Houck, Peter W. ―A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House Publishing, 1986. Pages 1739.
32
Blackford, Charles M. Peter Houck, ed. ―Campaign and Battle of Lynchburg, Virginia‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House
Publishing, 1994. Page 71.
33
Naisawald, L. VanLoan. ―The Battle for Lynchburg: Seize Lynchburg, if Only for a Single Day.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Warwick House
Publishing, 2004. Page 53.
34
Gray‘s Map of Lynchburg, 1877.
35
1885 Sanborn Insurance Company Map.
36
1890, 1902 Sanborn Insurance Company Map. Jones Memorial Library Architectural Database.
37
Laurant, Darrell. ―Biggers School Alumni Honor Early City Educator.‖ News & Advance, January 28, 2010. N.B. The front yard of the
former school building is within the bounds of the Fifth Street Historic District, but the site of the building itself is within the boundaries
of the adjacent Garland Hill Historic District.
38
1885, 1895 Sanborn Insurance Company Map. Identified as the store of R.H. Padgett, a retail grocer, on the 1877 Grays Map of
Lynchburg, this was a story and a half frame building that rested on a high brick English basement. The basement level was almost a
full story high, and contained the store, while the upper full floor was lit by 6/9 windows, and 6/6 dormer windows illuminated the garret.
39
1935, 1940, 1945 Lynchburg City Directories. Deed Book 231, page 290. 31 August 1943. Clerk‘s Office, City of Lynchburg Circuit
Court.
40
Smith, W. Scott. ―Preliminary Information Form for the Fisher Auto Parts Warehouse (118-5317)‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech,
LLC. 2001.
41
Neville, Ashley and John Salmon. ―National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Pyramid Motor Company building (1185237), June 2007.
42
Jones Memorial Library Architectural Archives Database. 5 November 1962 Lynchburg News & Advance article.
43
―Fifth Street Corridor Master Plan,‖ created in 2006 by Sympoetica Planners & Designers, Woodstock, Virginia for the City of
Lynchburg and the Fifth Street Community Development Corporation.
44
Delaney, Ted. ―Racial Composition of Fifth Street.‖ Research report compiled on 12 February 2011.
45
1881-1882 Lynchburg City Directory.
46
Obrochta, William B. and others, ―Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers,‖ Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society.
Online article accessed 2 September 2011 at http://www.vahistorical.org/tah/truereformers.htm
47
Swann-Wright, Dianne. Carolyn Wilkerson Bell, ed. ―For Our Own Good: African American Civic and Social Groups in Central
Virginia.‖ Lynch‘s Ferry: A Journal of Local History. Spring/Summer 2009. Lynchburg, Virginia: Blackwell Press. Pages 13-15.
48
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Remembering Tinbridge Hill in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1920-1970.‖ Lynchburg, Virginia: Southern
Memorial Association, 2011. Pages 10-11.
49
Arnold, B.W., Jr. ―Concerning the Negroes of the City of Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Publications of the Southern History Association,
Volume X (1906). Pages 19-30.
50
Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan. ―History of the American Negro and his institutions; (Volume 5)‖ pages 32-33.
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-bunyan-caldwell/history-of-the-american-negro-and-his-institutions-volume-5-dla/page33-history-of-the-american-negro-and-his-institutions-volume-5-dla.shtml
51
Jackson, Giles B. and Daniel Webster Davis. ―The Industrial History of the Negro Race of the United States.‖ Richmond, Virginia:
Negro Educational Association,1908, 1911. Page 96.
52
The Washington Bee., October 14, 1911, page 1, column 1.
53
Caldwell, pages 61-63.
54
Pou, Enoch, Jr. ―Preliminary Information Form for Lynchburg Hosiery Mills, Mill No. 1 (118-0126),‖ 2011, pages 10-12.
55
Bell, Carolyn Wilkerson, ed. ―Mindin‘ Our Own Business: African American Business Enterprise in Central Virginia, 1820-1970.‖
Lynchburg, Virginia: Legacy Museum of African American History, 2005. Pages 6-7.
56
Lynchburg Deed Book 135, page 359.
57
Y.W.C.A. of Central Virginia Archives. 1930 United States Census, Population Schedule, Lynchburg, Virginia (Amy Jordan). April 24,
1992 Obituary for Grace Booker Hunt, Baltimore Sun.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 30
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
58
1935-1950 Lynchburg City Directories. Lynchburg Architectural Archives, Jones Memorial Library. Fundraising Brochure in collection
of the Legacy Museum of African American History.
59
1924, 1936, 1950 Lynchburg City Directory. 1907, 1951 Sanborn Insurance Company Maps.
60
1954 Lynchburg City Directory, 1907, 1951 Sandborn Insurance Company Maps
61
1962 Lynchburg City Directory.
62
Monograph on Fifth Street business created by Carolyn Bell in 2011. Lynchburg City building inspection and assessment card for
411-413 Polk Street. Lynchburg Deed Book 228, page 554, Deed Book 458, page 104.
INDEX OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1.
Sketch of ―Negro Street, Lynchburg, Va. [18]‘95 May‖ Bernhard Gutmann. This image is thought to be of Fifth Street.
FIGURE 2.
Turn of the century image of the Fifth Street Fire Station (118-5318-0011) at 512 Fifth Street. Joseph Nichols‘ Tavern
(118-0020) at 600 Fifth Street can be seen in the right background.
FIGURE 3.
Circa 1940s image of the 1000 block of Fifth Street looking northeast towards the 900 block. The unique cornice of
the Humbles Building (118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth can be seen on the left side of the street in the center of the
image. The large brick building with pilasters on the left is the New Era Hall (demolished).
FIGURE 4.
Mid 20 century image of the east side of the 600 block of Fifth Street. Buildings shown are (left to right): 606 Fifth
(118-5318-0016), 610 Fifth (118-5318-0017), 612 Fifth (118-5318-0018), and 614 Fifth (118-5318-0019).
FIGURE 5.
Circa 1960s image of the 600 block of Fifth Street taken from the 700 block. Portions of 701-703 (118-5318-0024)
and 700 (118-5318-0023) can be seen on the left and right of the frame, respectively. The white building on the left is
what is now Shenandoah Tire Company at 619 Fifth Street (118-5318-0020) and the brick building on the right is 620
Fifth Street (118-5318-0021).
FIGURE 6.
Circa 1940s image of pharmacist Harry Reid preparing to make prescription deliveries on his motorcycle. The large
buildings in the background are the True Reformers Hall (left) and the Southern Aid Building (right) (both were
demolished).
th
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 31
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIGURE 1.
Sketch of ―Negro Street, Lynchburg, Va. [18]‘95 May‖ Bernhard Gutmann. This image is thought to be of Fifth Street.
(North, Percy. ―Bernhard Gutmann: An American Impressionist.‖ New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. Page unknown)
FIGURE 2.
Turn-of-the-century image of the Fifth Street Fire Station (118-5318-0011) at 512 Fifth Street. Joseph Nichols‘
Tavern (118-0020) at 600 Fifth Street can be seen in the right background. (Image courtesy:
www.lynchburghistory.com)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 32
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FIGURE 3.
Circa 1940s image of the 1000 block of Fifth Street looking northeast toward the 900 block. The unique cornice of
the Humbles Building (118-5318-0039) at 901 Fifth can be seen on the left side of the street in the center of the
image. The large brick building with pilasters on the left is the New Era Hall (demolished). (Image courtesy:
www.lynchburgmuseum.org).
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Fifth Street Historic District (118-5318)
County and State City of Lynchburg, Virginia
Section number Additional Documentation
Page 33
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
th
FIGURE 4.
Mid-20 century image of the east side of the 600 block of Fifth Street. Buildings shown are (left to right): 606 Fifth
(118-5318-0016), 610 Fifth (118-5318-0017), 612 Fifth (118-5318-0018), and 614 Fifth (118-5318-0019). (Image
courtesy: www.lynchburghistory.com)
FIGURE 5.
Circa 1960s image of the 600 block of Fifth Street taken from the 700 block. Portions of 701-703 (118-5318-0024)
and 700 (118-5318-0023) can be seen on the left and right of the frame, respectively. The white building on the left is
what is now Shenandoah Tire Company at 619 Fifth Street (118-5318-0020) and the brick building on the right is 620
Fifth Street (118-5318-0021). (Image courtesy: www.lynchburghistory.com)
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
~ e ~ i s t r a tForm
io~
VLR
06/21/2012
NRHP 08/22/2012
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin. How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classificat~on,materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Armstrong Elementary School
other nameslsite number
VDHR No. 118-5320
street & number 1721 Monsview Place
NIA not for publication
city or town
NIA vicinity
state
Lynchburg
Virginia
code
.
VA
county
Independent City code
680
zip code 24504
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
I
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
In my opinion, the property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
-national
1
/
statewide
X local
Viminia De~artment
of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
Tile
In my opinion, the property
I
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official
Title
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property Is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Registel
-
-removed from the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
i
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
private
X public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
X
building(s)
district
site
structure
building(s)
Contributing
1
0
0
0
Noncontributing
0
0
0
0
1
0
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
buildings
sites
structures
objects
buildings
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION: School
OTHER: Storage
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne
foundation:
Concrete
walls:
Brick
roof:
Asphalt
other:
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
See Continuation Sheets
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ETHNIC HERITAGE: African American
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1954-1962
Significant Dates
1954
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Wickline, David Porter, Jr.
Period of Significance (justification)
The period of significance begins in 1954, the year that Armstrong Elementary School opened, and ends fifty
years ago in 1962 when Armstrong Elementary still functioned as a segregated school.
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
N/A
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
See Continuation Sheets
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
Primary location of additional data:
x State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Name of repository: I Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): __VDHR no. 118-5320___________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
About 2 acres
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17
Zone
662748
Easting
4143893
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
2
3
Zone
Easting
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
4
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
The boundary for the nominated property is the southern portion of Lynchburg tax parcel 02130002. The
property is shown on the attached Lynchburg tax parcel map.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The nominated property contains the existing school and the site of the original school that was demolished in
1959. It does not include the open land northwest of the school where the playground is thought to have been
located. That land is the northern half of tax parcel 02130002 and parcel 02130001 on the Lynchburg tax parcel
map. The playground apparently was located across Grayson Street, which ran in front of both the existing and
original school and no longer exists. There is no physical evidence of the playground and none of the
playground equipment survives. The land has been graded and today is an open grass-covered field. The field
lacks integrity as a playground associated with the Armstrong School.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
Ashley Neville & John Salmon
Ashley Neville, LLC.
street & number
112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1
city or town
Ashland
e-mail
ashleyneville@comcast.net
date March 9, 2012
telephone 804-798-2124
state
VA
zip code 23059
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property:
Armstrong Elementary School
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
County: Independent City
State: Virginia
Photographer: Ashley Neville
Date Photographed: November 2011 and January 2012
Description of Photograph(s) and number:
1 of 10.
2 of 10.
3 of 10.
4 of 10.
5 of 10.
6 of 10.
7 of 10.
8 of 10.
9 of 10.
10 of 10
Façade, view to the east
Main entrances, view to the south
Façade, view to the east
Rear and gymnasium, view to the northeast
Lobby stairs, view to the southeast
Second floor corridor, view to the northeast
Second floor lobby-corridor, view to the northwest
Typical classroom, view to the northeast
Stage in Cafetorium, view to the south
Gymnasium interior, view to the west
Property Owner:
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
Name
City of Lynchburg
street & number 900 Church Street
telephone 434-455-3990
city or town Lynchburg
state VA
zip code
24504
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properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
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this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Armstrong Elementary School stands on a mostly open lot in a residential neighborhood in northeast
Lynchburg. Opened in 1954 as an equalization school for African American children, it is a long, two-story,
brick-veneer building with a concrete porch on the façade and paired multiple-light aluminum windows
providing ample light for each classroom. The building footprint is divided into five sections: the twelve-baylong classroom block that gives the school its horizontal massing, the shorter, rectangular-shaped cafetorium
(combination cafeteria and auditorium) on the northeast end of the classroom block with a smaller kitchen wing,
a large rectangular gymnasium on the rear, and the adjacent small boiler room. The building faces an open
grassy area where the playground was once located but all evidence of the playground is now gone. The school
was designed by David Wickline of Lynchburg in the streamlined Moderne style popular at the time and shares
characteristics of many equalization schools built throughout the South prior to the Brown v Board of Education
of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court decision that struck down racial segregation in public schools.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
The Armstrong School faces northwest on a mostly open lot and is oriented to an expansive grassy field where
the playground was originally located. The former playground area is not a part of the nominated area because it
has been graded and lost its ability to convey its use as a school playground. The land is open to the front with
several dogwood trees near the entrance and mature white pine trees toward the southwestern end of the front. A
hedge flanks the northeastern end of the concrete sidewalk that extends across the front of the school connecting
each entrance. An aluminum canopy shelters the end of the sidewalk between the street and the main school
entrance. Concrete sidewalks also form a square at the northeastern end of the front. The area inside the square
is partially paved with bricks and was landscaped but is now overgrown. The lot slopes down to the rear where
an asphalt-paved parking lot is located. A chain link fence extends along the southwestern property line and
encloses a yard on that end of the school.
Most schools are oriented to a street and the original Armstrong School, built in 1917, faced Grayson Street that
extended from Monsview Place on the east to Boston Avenue on the west. Houses stood across Grayson Street
from the school and along the west side of Monsview Place as late as 1955. Some time after 1955, Grayson
Street was closed and the land incorporated into the school grounds leaving the existing school facing an open
field instead of a street. The original school stood in front of the new Armstrong School, completed in 1954, and
was used as an annex for five years until it was demolished in 1959.
The school is a long, two-story concrete-block building with a brick veneer laid in five-course American bond.
It has a cast-concrete foundation on the façade and sides and a cast-in-place concrete foundation visible on the
banked rear. The roof is flat with cast-concrete coping and is covered with a built-up material. The building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
footprint has three main components: the twelve-bay-long classroom block that gives the school its horizontal
massing, the shorter, rectangular-shaped cafetorium on the northeast end of the classroom block, and a large
rectangular gymnasium on the rear. A smaller kitchen wing is located on the east side of the cafetorium and a
small boiler room is located on the west side of the gymnasium.
There are three entrances on the front, two into the classroom block and one into the cafetorium. The main
entrance is recessed and is sheltered by a one-story, two-bay concrete structure onto which has been added a
long, corrugated aluminum canopy that extends to the street. This entrance consists of three half-light doors
topped by a transom with one large side-light on the northeastern side. The entire composition is surrounded by
wooden molding. A large window wraps around the southwest side of the recessed area and onto the façade.
All windows and doors are covered with plywood on the first floor. The secondary façade entrance into the
classroom block is located at the southwestern end and is housed in a projecting one-bay tower. The entrance
tower contains a double-leaf, half-light door sheltered by a canopy. A tall single multiple-light window lights
the stairwell.
The southwestern end of the classroom block is blank except for an entrance and window above. The doubleleaf, half-light doors are sheltered by a canopy and projecting brick wing walls. The window above is a short,
paired aluminum multiple-light window with slightly projecting lintel and sill. The wall beneath the window is
stuccoed – the only example of this treatment on the school.
Windows in the classroom block are paired, multiple-light, aluminum windows with an operable center section.
All windows have cast-concrete lintels and sills. On the façade, continuous concrete lintels and sills group sets
of three and five paired windows together giving the illusion of larger windows. On the rear, the windows on
the southwestern half of the building are likewise grouped together.
The third facade doorway enters directly into the cafetorium: a multipurpose room that served as both a cafeteria
and auditorium. The three-bay cafetorium projects beyond both the classroom block on one side and its kitchen
wing on the other side. The entrance and flanking windows are placed within a section that projects from the
face of the cafetorium. The entrance consists of a double-leaf door with a single upper light topped with a tall
multiple-light transom. Tall multiple-light windows flank the entrance, creating the impression of three tall
windows. A cast-concrete cornice, the lower portion painted white, caps the window-and-door section. A wing
attached to the northeastern end of the cafetorium was the kitchen. On the side of the kitchen wing is a concrete
loading dock for the delivery of supplies to the school. A concrete retaining wall on the eastern side of the
loading dock mediates the change in grade of the land as it slopes to the rear of the lot on this side of the school.
The windows on the side of the wing are smaller but also have cast-concrete lintels and sills.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A large gymnasium block is located immediately to the rear of the cafetorium. Due to the topography of the site,
the gymnasium sits at a lower level than the cafetorium so that the roofs of the two blocks are at the same
height. The gymnasium consists of two blocks: the tall six-bay gym itself and a shorter, seven-bay section across
the rear or southeastern side that houses the exterior entrance and locker rooms on either side of the entrance.
The gymnasium connects to the classroom block at the main stair in the classroom block, providing access
directly from the classrooms to the gym; however, the main public entrance was at the rear of the gym. The
windows on the gymnasium section are paired two-over-two horizontal-lights with cast-concrete lintels and
sills. The lower section has single one-over-one-light windows with cast-concrete sills. Like the front entrance,
the exterior gymnasium entrance is recessed with double-leaf doors with an upper light in each leaf.
Adjacent to the gymnasium on the southwestern end is the boiler room. Like the rest of the building, it is brick
veneer with a cast-in-place concrete foundation and flat roof. All windows and doors are covered with plywood.
There is a tall chimney toward the northwest end of the block.
The interior of the entire school is well preserved and retains its historic finishes and character-defining features.
The first floor is now used for storage by the city. The main entrance opens into a lobby with the main stairs
rising directly ahead on the rear wall of the classroom block. The interior entrance into the cafetorium opens on
the northeastern side of the lobby and a long corridor on the southwestern side. The classroom block has a
double-loaded corridor plan on both floors with stairs at each end. On the northeastern end, the stairs are
located at the rear of the building while the stairs at the southwestern end are located on the front of the
building. The corridor, lobby, and stair walls have a tall wainscot of glazed block with plain painted concrete
block above. The ceilings are sheathed with acoustical tile with surface-mounted fluorescent light fixtures. The
stairs have a solid balustrade with wooden handrails mounted on the inside of the balustrade and the walls. The
floors are tile. The classrooms feature painted block walls, tile floors, and acoustical-tile ceilings with surfacemounted lights. In some classrooms, a blackboard is located along the short end wall with a bulletin board on
the long wall. Some classrooms have a painted wainscot. There is plain trim around the doors and blackboards.
Corridor doors are flush with a single light towards the top of the door.
The cafetorium was one large room with a raised stage at the rear but has since been subdivided into several
rooms with less than full-height modern partition walls. A modern wall has also been built across the stage.
The finishes in the cafetorium are similar to the rest of the school: painted block walls, tile floors, and
acoustical-tile ceiling with surface-mounted light fixtures.
The gymnasium block consists of a full-size gym, two locker rooms that flank the short entrance hall, and a
third room between the gym and the cafetorium. The gymnasium is outfitted as a typical basketball court with
backboards and hoops at each end, a hardwood floor with typical markings, and an exposed bar joist ceiling
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
with lights among the joists. The walls are painted block above a wainscot of brick laid in five-course bond
with the sixth course laid in Flemish bond.
Armstrong school is in good condition and is little changed except for modern partition walls in the cafetorium
and some classrooms. Most of the plumbing fixtures have been removed from the gang toilets in the classroom
block. On the exterior, the only change is the addition of the metal canopy that extends from the front entrance
to the street. Overall, Armstrong School exhibits a high degree of architectural integrity.
The Modern Movement in architectural design, which encompassed Art Deco, Art Moderne, and the
International style, was first popularized in Europe and spread to the United States in the 1920s. Many of the
schools built in the 1950s incorporated a stripped down version of Art Moderne. The height, massing, and
length of the classroom block at Armstrong, with a regular pattern of fenestration and its placement relative to
the cafetorium and gymnasium, create a composition with strong horizontal lines reminiscent of Art Modernestyle influences. The continuous cast-concrete lintels and sills over groups of windows continue the horizontal
character of the school. Although now somewhat obscured by the later metal canopy, the original low, flat-roof
concrete entrance canopy that sheltered the recessed entrance further reinforces the horizontal feeling of the
school. Armstrong School is a good example of mid-1950s scholastic architecture that was used when school
design shifted to smaller schools.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph
Armstrong School is significant because it is a rare example in Lynchburg of an elementary school constructed
for African American students just before the 1954 United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas that struck down racial segregation in public schools. The school is eligible for
listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the doctrine of
―separate but equal‖ that Brown overturned. It was a so-called ―equalization school,‖ intended by racial
segregationists to stave off integration by offering modern amenities approximately equal to those of white
elementary schools of the same era. Armstrong School is also eligible for listing under Criterion C as an
example of a vernacular interpretation of the Art Moderne style that reflects the school design trends typical of
the era. The school has intact exterior and interior architectural features and retains a high degree of integrity of
its historic location, association, setting, feeling, design, materials, and workmanship.
Narrative Statement of Significance
In 1869, during the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War, Virginia adopted a new state constitution
that mandated public education throughout the Commonwealth. Conservative elitists, whose children typically
were either tutored at home or attended private-subscription schools, vigorously opposed the concept of public
education and the funding of public schools with tax dollars. The advocates of the new system gradually
defeated the conservatives by acknowledging local control over each jurisdiction’s schools. As a result, the
quality of both public education itself and the infrastructure that supported it—the buildings in which children
were taught—varied widely from one county and city to another, depending on local customs, revenues, and
preferences. By the end of the century, well-organized school systems functioned in Virginia’s cities, including
Lynchburg.1
Like most urban areas in the state, Lynchburg’s antebellum schools consisted of private and church-affiliated
academies and seminaries. The students were all white, because the education of free blacks and slaves was
outlawed. After the war, free schools for blacks were created in and around the city under the auspices of
church groups and the Freedman’s Bureau; the largest was located on Polk Street. As the city’s schools evolved
during the next two decades, the new system absorbed these Reconstruction-era schools. Separate elementary
facilities for whites (six) and blacks (three) were created at first in existing houses and other buildings in 1871.
In 1872, the city council appropriated $30,000 for three purpose-built elementary school buildings: Monroe
Street and Court Street for whites, and Jackson Street for blacks. Biggers School for whites followed in 1881,
and Payne School for blacks in 1885. The Frank Roane School for whites (1899) was the last public elementary
school constructed in the city before the turn of the century.2
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The first school for black students built in Lynchburg in the twentieth century was the first Armstrong School,
completed in 1917 at a cost of $13,922. The land—4.463 acres—cost $41,845. The elementary school was
named for Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder and first principal of Hampton Institute. Armstrong School
had a capacity of 120 students. The one-story building was constructed of brick in the Colonial Revival style; it
had a slate roof, four classrooms, a basement playroom, and a basement crafts room. The lot it occupied was
bounded by Monsview Place on the northeast, houses on lots to the southeast and southwest, and Grayson Street
(no longer extant) on the northwest.3
During the next ten years, four other new elementary schools were constructed in Lynchburg for African
American students: the new Payne school (1925); Yoder (1927); South Lynchburg (1927); and Dearington
(1927). The 1872 Jackson Street School, the 1885 Payne School, and the Yoder School no longer stand.4
After World War II, African Americans intensified their efforts to end racial segregation in the United States.
President Harry S Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948—a vitally important step.
Also during the postwar years, black parents began filing lawsuits to end racial segregation in public education,
or at least to enforce the concept of ―separate but equal‖ by compelling the construction of new, modern schools
that were as up-to-date as white schools. In 1947, for example, black parents in Surry County, Virginia, sued
the school board in federal district court over discrimination, in particular the fact that there was no accredited
high school in the county for blacks. The next year, the court ordered the county either to admit blacks to the
white high school or to build a separate high school for them. A simultaneous lawsuit in neighboring Prince
George County pointed out that although there was a separate high school there for black students, the
curriculum was far short of equal to that of the white high school. For instance, no courses were available at the
black school in chemistry, physics, biology, and geometry. Remarkably, the school board discontinued those
courses at the white school rather than offer them to blacks.5
Public education in Virginia, especially at the secondary school level, was in disarray during the postwar years.
The state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, G. Tyler Miller, called the situation ―acute and serious‖ in his
1948–1949 annual report. More than 1,700 elementary schools were at least twenty years old and more than
500 were at least forty years old. In addition, overcrowding and double shifts were becoming increasingly
common, which discouraged prospective candidates for elementary-school teaching from entering the
profession. With regard to African American schools, Miller noted ―the court cases brought by Negro citizens
against local school officials for equal educational opportunities.‖ In April 1948, an editorial in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch had warned that racial segregation in the schools might fall to federal court rulings unless steps
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
were taken: ―Either schools for the two races will be made substantially equal, or the State may be ordered by
the Federal courts to operate a single system, and to admit all children, irrespective of race.‖6
By late in the 1940s, the old 1917 Armstrong School had become overcrowded and inadequate, with 171
students instead of the 120 for which it had been constructed. The Lynchburg School Board met on November
8, 1949, discussed the need for an addition to the existing building, and hired local architect David Porter
Wickline, Jr., to design it. Over the next few months, the school board began acquiring additional land for the
expansion, proposed closing Grayson Street, which ran just in front of the old school, and reviewed Wickline’s
plans. The cost of the addition, however, was considered high. The Lynchburg Daily Advance reported on
April 28, 1950, that the city council had ―postponed action on a school board request for $428,000 to enlarge
Armstrong school.‖ In addition to the four regular classrooms, overcrowding meant that one of the basement
rooms in the old school—either the playroom or the crafts room—had been converted to classroom use. The
enlarged building, the newspaper stated, ―would include new classrooms, auditorium, gymnasium and
cafeteria.‖7
Fortunately, school construction funds were about to become available from the state government. Governor
John S. Battle, who took office in January 1950, responded to the poor condition of the public schools by
announcing in his inaugural address that he intended to dedicate a $45 million state surplus to new school
construction over the next two years. The so-called ―Battle Fund‖ required no matching funds from local
governments, and it provided segregationists with the financial ammunition to create ―equalization schools.‖
Ironically, in 1929 the Richmond News Leader—which later in the 1950s would be a primary advocate of
Massive Resistance—had espoused the creation of an ―equalization‖ fund, but only in regard to the disparities
between urban and rural (presumably white) schools.8
Battle did not specifically address the equalization issue in his 1950 inaugural address, but he did spend about
half of his speech lamenting the sorry state of educational facilities in Virginia and his efforts to find ways to
pay for improvements. When he addressed the next session of the biennial General Assembly on January 9,
1952, however, Battle spoke directly about equalization:
I would not be frank if I did not refer to the Constitutional requirement of
segregation in the public free schools. If we are to continue separate school
facilities for the white and negro races, as I hope and believe that we shall, we
must equalize the educational opportunities. . . . We must do this because it is
right. This, I am sure, is sufficient reason for the members of the General
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assembly; but if others should wish additional reasons, we must do it in order to
comply with the law of the land as laid down by the decisions of the Supreme
Court of the United States which for some years have required comparable and
equal opportunities for members of both races. . . . [I]n the negro schools, as in
many of our white schools, much remains to be done in providing adequate
buildings.9
The equalization movement swept through the South at about the same time that the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had been supporting equalization lawsuits such as those
discussed above, moved toward abandoning the practice in favor of directly attacking racial segregation in the
public schools. Unaware of or choosing to ignore this tactical change, the Southern states advanced their
equalization plans during the decade of the 1950s to preserve racial separation, as Battle noted. South Carolina
and Georgia, for example, imposed new sales taxes to fund the schools and undertook sweeping programs to
replace antiquated white and black schools despite considerable local opposition to spending state funds on the
latter. Architects seized on the availability of steel, glass, and other materials that had been difficult or
impossible to acquire during World War II. Typically, they designed both white and black schools as singlestory, steel-framed, brick-veneered, well-lighted facilities in the Art Moderne or International style or some
variation thereof. Most black parents and students were delighted with the new facilities, which were vast
improvements over the old, rundown, overcrowded, unsanitary buildings that they replaced. Parents, teachers,
and pupils in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia were under no illusions, however, that the new schools for
blacks were really ―equal‖ to those constructed for white students. The buildings quickly became overcrowded,
combination ―cafetoriums‖ rather than separate cafeterias and auditoriums were the norm, equipment and
furnishings that were standard in white schools were absent, sports and playground facilities were inadequate,
and public transportation to the new schools was frequently nonexistent.10
By October 1950, meanwhile, the Lynchburg school board was negotiating a new contract with Wickline, and
on December 11 he presented plans for an entirely new Armstrong Elementary School instead of an addition.
The board approved the contract with Wickline on December 29.11
Wickline had been born in the city on December 17, 1906. In about 1925, he began apprenticing as a draftsman
with Lynchburg architectural firms including Stanhope S. Johnson, Aubrey Chesterman, and Craighill and
Cardwell. The 1930 census listed him as an architect. He worked for Robert Allen, a Roanoke architect, in a
Lynchburg office. Allen was a son-in-law of U.S. Senator Carter Glass, who took an interest in young Wickline
and engaged him to design the Art Deco facade of the building housing the Glass-owned newspaper, the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lynchburg News and Daily Advance. Glass also partly funded a year’s education for Wickline at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology architecture school. Wickline entered in September 1931; he received a
scholarship for a second year, but left in May 1933 when the money ran out and did not receive a degree. He
returned to practice in Lynchburg, where he received his license in 1934 and by 1946 had joined Clarence H.
Hinnant in offices at 822 1/2 Main Street, Rooms 301–302. The partnership dissolved in 1950 or 1951 and
Wickline opened his own firm in Room 301. Over the next few years he designed several houses in Lynchburg
(including a house at 3516 Sunset Drive for the parents of the eminent architectural historian S. Allen
Chambers, Jr.) as well as Armstrong School. In 1954, Wickline joined Wiley and Wilson, Consulting
Engineers, in the firm’s office on the second floor at 620 Court Street. The association lasted until 1959, and
then Wickline practiced a year by himself until joining Stanhope S. Johnson, a noted Lynchburg architect, as a
draftsman in 1961. Wickline’s association with Johnson lasted until 1967, after which Wickline moved from
Lynchburg and practiced in Roanoke, Richmond, and Charlottesville. While in Richmond, Ballou and Justice
employed him to help design the Richmond Coliseum. In Charlottesville, where the firm of Johnson, Craven,
and Gibson employed him, he assisted in the restoration of Patrick Henry’s Red Hill and also worked on several
courthouse renovations. Wickline retired in 1984 and returned to Lynchburg in 1986. He died on August 27,
1987, in Lynchburg.12
The school board submitted Wickline’s plans for Armstrong School to the state’s School Building Service,
which by statute and regulation approved all plans for new school construction as well as alterations. Wickline
reported to the board on July 10, 1951, that he had received preliminary approval, with some changes requested.
―Armstrong Negro Elementary,‖ as the Service called it, was to have seven classrooms, a library, one laboratory
or special classroom (a science laboratory, an elementary playroom, etc.), five auxiliary rooms (offices,
storerooms, conference rooms, etc.), a gymnasium, and a combination cafeteria and auditorium, or cafetorium.13
Lynchburg received $489,180.17 in Battle Fund appropriations for school construction in 1952, and
$139,427.02 in 1953. Wickline continued to work on the plans for the new school, noting that a shortage of
steel might delay construction past the proposed opening date of September 1, 1953. He presented final plans to
the school board for approval (pending approval by the School Building Service) on February 27, 1952. On
October 3, the school board awarded the firm of C. W. Hancock and Sons the construction contract, and site
work was underway by October 14. The construction of the new Armstrong School was nearly completed by
September 8, 1953, when the city council voted to spend $4,300 for a new sidewalk along Monsview Place to
serve the school, which was ―expected to be ready for use by the February term next year.‖ The school board
inspected and accepted the new school on December 16.14
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School was dedicated on Sunday, March 14, 1954. More than five hundred persons
attended the ceremony, at which Dr. Paul M. Monro, the city school superintendent, spoke on the subject of the
―good school system.‖ The Rev. John L. Suttenfield, mayor of Lynchburg, city council members, and school
board members also attended, as well as principals and city school system supervisors. Mrs. Alice W. Lewis,
Armstrong’s principal, introduced the school faculty and noted that ―in this building we have not only new
equipment but new teachers. . . . All of us should help in developing the total personality of our children.‖
Tours of the new building were offered after the ceremony.15
When the new building opened, it had a capacity of 220 students in kindergarten through the seventh grade.
Situated just behind the 1917 building, it cost $312,500—almost one-quarter less than the 1950 proposal for
enlarging the old school. The new school was constructed of brick with a built-up roof and had fluorescent
lighting, steam heat produced by an oil-fired boiler, floors of asphalt tile over concrete, acoustical tile ceilings,
and plaster and block walls. It had seven classrooms, a gymnasium, dressing rooms, an office, a clinic, a
teachers’ lounge, a conference room, an electric kitchen, a multipurpose room, and a combination cafeteria and
auditorium (―cafetorium‖). Together, both the new building and the 1917 building, in which improved lighting
had been installed, had a capacity of 340 students. The playground, which included some rudimentary
equipment, was located across the now-vanished segment of Grayson Street, just northwest of the 1917
Armstrong School. The old school was demolished in 1959 when the ―playground‖ area in front of the 1954
school was expanded northwest to Holly Street and graded.16
Besides Wickline’s Armstrong School, only one other black elementary school was the subject of construction
activity in Lynchburg between 1950 and 1960. A large two-story addition was attached in 1960 to Dearington
School, built for African American students in 1927 and located at 210 Smyth Street. In recent years
Dearington’s principal entrance has been reoriented from the street to the rear parking lot and a new facade
constructed. The 1927 building was constructed for $14,634 with a student capacity of 120; the 1960 addition
cost $287,000 and provided room for another 180 students, for a total of 300.17
The new construction campaign did have the ―equalization‖ effect over time of reducing the ratio of
Lynchburg’s elementary school teachers to students to approximately the same level for both white and black
schools. In 1953, for example, there was one white teacher for every twenty-nine elementary school students;
there was one teacher for every thirty-three students in the black elementary schools. By 1956, the ratio for
whites was one teacher for every twenty-eight students and for blacks it was one teacher for every twenty-nine
students. The next year, the ratio was one teacher for every twenty-eight students in both white and black
elementary schools.18
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In sharp contrast to Armstrong School, however, the new white schools built during the 1950s were much
larger, more expensive, and better equipped, undermining the segregationists’ ―separate but equal‖ approach to
educational facilities. The William M. Bass School on Seabury Avenue was constructed in 1951 at a cost of
$759,452 and with a capacity of 480 students. The facade is Art Deco in style. The Perrymont Avenue School,
located at 409 Perrymont Avenue, was completed in 1955 for $303,000, with an addition completed in 1957 for
$112,550, and the total capacity was 690. The Bedford Hills School at 4330 Morningside Drive was built in
1958 for $388,865, and had a capacity of 450. The Carl B. Hutcherson School, located at Harvey and High
Streets, was built in 1960 for $449,441, and a capacity of 360. The Sheffield School, located at 115 Kenwood
Place, was constructed for $405,522 in 1960, with a capacity of 480. Except for the Bass School, all of the
white schools were of the plain brick construction typical of the era. All of them still stand and all are presently
in use as schools except for the Hutcherson building.19
Although Armstrong School was constructed as an equalization school, the differences between it and its allwhite near-contemporary, Perrymont, demonstrate the inequalities that racial segregation engendered, and that
the U.S. Supreme Court would note in its Brown decision a few months after Armstrong opened. Perrymont,
for example, had a purpose-built library and a librarian. Despite Wickline having designed a library for
Armstrong, in fact there was no library in the school as it was constructed. Instead, the ―library‖ consisted of a
handful of books shelved in a corner of the kindergarten room. After the kindergartners went home (they only
attended for half a day), the so-called ―library‖ was then open to other students for use. In addition,
Armstrong’s teachers had to purchase their own supplies, and the stage in the cafetorium had no curtain—the
parents of Armstrong’s students raised the funds to buy one. Also, the school’s playground was a ―paved area
with B.B. [basketball] goals; football and baseball facilities as needed, swings, etc.‖20
The Lynchburg School Board first discussed building a new elementary school for white pupils on Perrymont
Avenue at its meeting on March 10, 1953, as the construction of Armstrong was underway. The board pondered
whether to adapt a standard plan offered by the State Building Service or have a new building designed from
scratch. On June 16, the board approved a contract with Hinnant, Hinnant, and Harper, a Lynchburg
architectural firm, and on July 14 the architects reported that the standard plans were unsuitable for the facility
that the board wanted built. Construction soon began, and the building was 50 percent complete by March 9,
1954. On June 9, 1955, the architects reported that a strike at the company that was supplying tile for the
bathrooms was delaying completion. At a board meeting on July 12, local parents complained that the school
was far too small, and persuaded the school board to construct an addition. The main school was completed and
dedicated on November 10, 1955, and on April 9, 1957, the board inspected and accepted the addition. In
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
contrast to Armstrong’s limited playground facilities, Perrymont had a ―large paved area with B.B. goals;
swings and climbing rigs; football and baseball facilities; tennis courts planned by City.‖21
After the Brown decision, efforts to desegregate Lynchburg’s schools gained momentum and fully replaced
equalization as a strategy. To counter the effort, Southern states including Virginia adopted a policy of Massive
Resistance to integration. In 1956, the General Assembly created the Pupil Placement Board, which took over
from localities the assignment of students to schools and routinely denied applications by black students to
transfer to white schools. African American parents and attorneys pressed on, however, and decided to focus
first on integrating the city’s two segregated high schools, then on the all-white junior high school, and finally
on the elementary schools. Dunbar, the African American high school, consisted of several buildings
constructed between 1923 and 1957, with a total capacity of 840 students and 42 course offerings. It included
grades 8 through 12 because there was no junior high school for blacks; R. E. Lee Junior High School was
reserved for white students. E. C. Glass High School, which opened in 1953 on a 54-acre tract and cost
$3,855,068, had a capacity of 1,850 white students and 121 course offerings, three times the number at Dunbar.
The disparities and inequalities between the two high schools, therefore, were obvious both in terms of physical
plant and the number and quality of courses. At a time when many white and black students entered the work
force from high school rather than going on to college, those inequalities had a clearer and more imminent effect
on future employment and earning capabilities than the inequalities at the elementary or junior high school
levels, hence the importance of equalizing or desegregating the high school first.22
Before the Supreme Court’s Brown decision, Lynchburg’s black residents had aimed for equalization at the high
school level. On July 8, 1952, when the school board held its evening meeting in the white John Wyatt School
auditorium, more than fifty African American residents attended to discuss the ―Negro school situation of
Lynchburg.‖ According to the minutes of the meeting,
Herman L. Taylor, Attorney at Law, from Raleigh, North Carolina, representing
the Citizenship Committee, Parent-Teacher Association Council, spoke for
about thirty-five minutes, climaxing his remarks by delivering to the Board an
ultimatum: either provide educational facilities for Negro Secondary education
equal to those of the new E. C. Glass High School, or face Federal court action.
A formal reply was requested by those represented, by August 15, 1952.
Mr. [Harry G.] Green [school board chairman] gave opportunity for any present
to speak, also for Board members to ask questions. No one responded, so the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
meeting adjourned, the School Board repairing to the office of the Supervisor
and Clerk.23
Subsequent Board minutes do not indicate whether the desired ―formal reply‖ was ever given. Rather than
construct a new, ―equal‖ high school for black students, the school board made improvements to Dunbar High
School in the years that followed.
In 1961, at a mass meeting of Lynchburg’s African Americans at Diamond Hill Baptist Church, the Rev. Virgil
Wood called for student volunteers to apply for transfer from Dunbar to Glass. A dozen young people
volunteered, but only two were admitted to Glass: thirteen-year-old Owen Cardwell, Jr., who had attended
Payne, and fourteen-year-old Lynda Woodruff, who was a graduate of Armstrong School. They attended their
first day of classes on January 29, 1962. Although they were not subjected to overt acts of hostility, Cardwell
and Woodruff endured verbal insults and the silent treatment, despite occasional words of friendliness from
Glass students and faculty members. They also discovered that the comparable classes that they had attended at
Dunbar were far behind Glass’s academic level. From this beginning, the desegregation of Lynchburg’s schools
proceeded. Within a decade, integration led to the consolidation of several schools, including the merger of
Dunbar’s and Glass’s student bodies at the latter high school. Dunbar was converted to a middle school.24
The integration of elementary schools came later. In the spring of 1962, an Armstrong fifth-grader, Ashby F.
―Buddy‖ Morris, requested transfer to the previously all-white Garland-Rodes Elementary School. The Pupil
Placement Board, perhaps yielding to the inevitable since E. C. Glass High School had been integrated,
approved his request on June 11. This and similar integration efforts largely flowed one way, however, from
black schools to white ones, and previously all-black schools such as Armstrong tended to remain all-black for
years to come. In 1977, school consolidation resulted in the closure of Armstrong School. The student body
was merged with two other schools, Garland-Rodes and Linkhorne, beginning with the autumn session. The
Lynchburg Daily Advance reported on May 18, 1977, that ―Armstrong currently houses grades four through six
and Garland-Rodes, grades kindergarten through three. Armstrong’s sixth grade will be moved to Linkhorne
Middle School next fall as part of an overall city middle school plan.‖ After the closure, the LAARC School, a
private day school for children with learning disabilities, occupied the building until relocating to another
facility in 2002. Armstrong School has been empty ever since, except for the occasional use of the gymnasium
to accommodate the city’s youth programs.25
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Architecture Context
The surviving Lynchburg public elementary schools can be divided into three groups: early twentieth century
up to World War II, mid-twentieth century or the ―separate but equal‖ period, and the post-1954 Brown
Supreme Court decision. The architecture of the schools during these periods follows national trends of
scholastic architecture with a Lynchburg spin on stylistic preferences, especially during the first half of the
twentieth century.
Standards for school buildings in this country were advocated as early as 1832 when William A. Alcott wrote
that fresh air, light, and space were essential in school design to promote a learning environment. Large
windows, classrooms with separate desks for pupils, and enough open land for recreation became the standard
for schools across the country.26 The schools built in Lynchburg were no exception to these standards. The
design for nineteenth-century schools used a domestic architectural vocabulary but as the century progressed
and public education became more important and widespread, school buildings became more standardized with
large banks of windows in each classroom, tall ceilings, formal entrances, and interior corridors. In urban areas
with larger populations of students, schools were frequently built of monumental proportions that epitomized
the importance of education.
Nine elementary schools built in Lynchburg prior to World War II survive. One of the nine, Robert S. Payne
Elementary School, was built in 1925 as the Robert E. Lee Junior High School and later was converted to an
elementary school for African American students. The three schools built in the teens were all built for white
students. Of the four schools built during the 1920s, one was built for white students, two for African American
students, and one was converted from a white school to an African American school. The two schools built in
the 1930s were both for white students.
While the commercial architecture of Lynchburg incorporated modern styles such as Art Deco in the 1920s and
1930s, the preferred styles for domestic, religious, and scholastic architecture was firmly rooted in traditional
patterns of the revival styles so popular in Lynchburg.27 It was only after World War II that design influences of
the Modern Movement, Art Deco, Art Moderne, and International, began to surface in the new schools built in
the 1950s in Lynchburg. The majority of the schools constructed during the pre-World War II period were of
monumental proportions of two, two-and-a-half, and three stories with a massing that conveyed a sense of
permanence and importance. The earlier schools were a mixture of neoclassical or Craftsman styles while the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
later schools built in the 1920s and 1930s tended to have Colonial Revival-style details. R. S. Payne Elementary
School (built as a junior high school in 1925) and Thomas C. Miller Elementary School (1932), both in the
Colonial Revival idiom, are two-and-a-half or three stories tall and have recessed arched entrances on the
façade. In contrast, the original 1927 Dearington Elementary School, which was built for African American
students, is a one-story brick building with a center entrance flanked by banks of windows typical of many small
consolidated schools of this period. The South Lynchburg School, also for African Americans, is an even
smaller one-story brick building with a hipped roof that has more in common with the earlier Craftsman-style
schools such as the first Armstrong School, which was demolished in 1959. Dearington was significantly
enlarged in 1960 with a massive addition built onto one end of the school that also reoriented the school to face
the parking lot.
Few schools were built during World War II as construction materials were diverted to the war effort. The end
of the war meant that construction materials were once again available and coincided with the increased demand
for schools as returning soldiers married and started families. Educators, architects, and designers published
guidance for the new schools that was considerably different from pre-World War II school design. It was felt
that the earlier schools were inflexible and not conducive to learning. One architect wrote,
We want buildings which are friendly to children. We believe that the low-lying, sprawled-out type of
building, close to the ground, one story high, straight in its lines, honestly functional, is less aweinspiring and more friendly in the eyes of the child, thought it may not look as grand to adults as some of
our multi-storied Roman efforts.28
The long low form of the school reflected the streamlined Moderne architecture popular after World War II.
The need for lighting and ventilation led to walls of windows in the classroom. Metal windows, usually
aluminum, were used for the windows and reflected technological advancements in building materials.29
Three elementary schools were built in Lynchburg during the 1950s as well an addition to the 1919 Fort Hill
School. All were built or were planned and under construction prior to the Brown Supreme Court decision
during the equalization period. They include the William Bass School (1951), Armstrong (1954), and Perrymont
(1954-55). Armstrong was built for African American students; Bass and Perrymont for white students. The
Fort Hill School was also for white students. The mid-twentieth-century Lynchburg schools for the most part
followed the new tenets of school design outlined above. Bass, built in 1951, in scale and massing is more akin
to the earlier pre-World War II schools. The school, two stories on a raised basement, has its decorative features
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
concentrated at the entrance with the same triple entrance as its earlier predecessors, Miller and Payne, albeit in
the Art Deco style instead of the Colonial Revival style.
Both Perrymont and Armstrong were clearly built during the ―separate but equal‖ scramble to upgrade school
facilities state wide. Both are two-story, flat-roof brick buildings with the streamlined Art Moderne appearance
popular at the time. The spare architectural detailing is concentrated at the entrance. Both schools had
aluminum windows arranged in columns of six lights. At Perrymont, the windows varied from paired columns
to seven-column-wide windows while at Armstrong the windows are mostly paired columns of six lights. At
Armstrong the entrance is recessed and sheltered by a two-bay, flat-roof porch. The adjacent cafetorium
(combination cafeteria and auditorium) steps forward slightly from the classroom block, forming one wall of the
recessed area where the entrance is located. Perrymont’s entrance was also recessed with a vertical chimneylike element forming one side of the recess and vertical elements partially screening the entrance on the other
side. The adjacent cafeteria/auditorium block of the school steps back from the entrance block. From the
exterior, the two schools appeared to be very similar, seemingly fulfilling the ―separate but equal‖ doctrine
although the facilities on the interior may not have been equal.
Perrymont has been significantly altered and lacks architectural integrity. Several additions have been made to
the original school buillding including a two-story, gable-and-shed-roof addition to the end of the rear wing.
The most striking change, however, is the alteration to the windows. The current windows form a continuous
band of individual windows. Each window has a large upper light and a smaller lower light with infill across
the top of the wall.
Armstrong was only used as a city public school for twenty-three years, from 1954 to 1977. It was then used by
a private school until 2002 and since its departure the building has been used for storage. Because it was used
for such a short period of time as a city school, it remains virtually unaltered and retains a high degree of
integrity. All the original interior finishes are intact and, with the exception of modern partitions in the
cafetorium, the plan is unchanged.
Lynchburg built two public schools soon after the Brown decision, both in 1960: the Carl B. Hutcherson School
and the Sheffield School. Although different from the styles previously used in Lynchburg for elementary
schools, they each continued to follow the tenets expressed by the architect who described the new trend is
school architecture of low, one-story buildings. Both consist of a series of blocks with flat roofs and have small
single or double windows instead of the large banks of windows historically seen on schools. The Hutcherson
School is a combination of brick and frame while the Sheffield School is brick.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 17
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School is the best surviving example of an equalization school built in Lynchburg during
the 1950s. The school exhibits a high degree of architectural integrity with few changes to the exterior and
interior. Its design also incorporated the latest styles and published guidance popular at the time it was built.
Endnotes
1
William A. Link, A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870–1920 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1986), 7–23, 74–75.
2
Gene W. Tomlin, The First Decade of the Lynchburg, Virginia, Free Public Schools, 1871–1882 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House
Publishing, 2011), 9–15, 95, 100–102.
3
Ibid., 100; ―Public Schools of Lynchburg, Virginia,‖ Lynchburg Public Schools [Property] Data, ca. 1960, typescript, 3 binders,
Lynchburg Museum System, Old Court House, 901 Court Street, Lynchburg, Va.; ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg,
1907–1951, p. 80, LVA, on Web site http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm, accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
4
Tomlin, First Decade, 100–103.
5
Scot A. French, Craig Barton, and Peter Flora, Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Segregated Education in Virginia:
Historic Resource Study, Booker T. Washington National Monument (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 2007), 38–39; Henry F.
Heil, ―’No Matter How Long’: The Struggle to Integrate the Public Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1954–1970,‖ M.A. Thesis
(University of South Carolina, 2001), 4.
6
Ibid., 40–41 .
7
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 159–161, 168, 177, 179, 188, Administration Building,
Lynchburg, Va.; Lynchburg Daily Advance, Apr. 28, 1950, ―Action Postponed on Enlarging School,‖ on LynchburgHistory.com Web
site, http://www.lynchburghistory.com/details.php?gid=184&pid=7334, accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
8
French, Barton, and Flora, Segregated Education, 41; A School Equalization Fund, Being a Series of Articles Appearing in The
Richmond News Leader October 7–10, 1929 (Richmond, Va.: The Richmond News Leader, 1930).
9
John S. Battle, Inaugural Address of John S. Battle to the General Assembly and People of Virginia, Wednesday, January 18, 1950
(Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1950), 4–9; John S. Battle, Address of John S. Battle, Governor, to the General
Assembly, Wednesday, January 9, 1952 (Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952), 14.
10
Rebekah Dobrasko, ―Equalization Schools in South Carolina, 1951–1960,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form, 2009, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia, S.C.; Steven Moffson, ―Equalization
Schools in Georgia’s African-American Communities, 1951–1970,‖ 2010, Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of
Natural Resources, Atlanta, Ga.
11
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 225, 234, 240.
12
Frances A. Deyerle and Janet Shaffer, A Legacy of Learning: The Lynchburg Public Schools, 1871–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.:
Lynchburg School Board, 1987), 62; McCarty Wickline and Branches, Tribalpages.com, accessed Nov. 23, 2011,
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribe/familytree?uid=bobcharles47&surname=Wickline:;
U.S. Census, Schedule of Inhabitants, 1930, Virginia, Lynchburg, Microfilm, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. (LVA); Hill’s
Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1987 (Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1932–1987); John E. Wells and
Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835–1955: A Biographical Dictionary (Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press,
1997), 198–199; personal communication, S. Allen Chambers, Jr., to Ashley Neville, Jan. 2, 2012; personal communication, David P.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 18
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wickline III to Ashley Neville, Jan. 3, 2012; personal communication, Jessie Combs, Office of the Registrar, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, to John S. Salmon, Jan. 3, 2012.
13
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 225, 234, 240; Annual Report of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Year 1951–1952 (Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952),
115, 120.
14
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27), Superintendent of Public Instruction, Annual School Reports of Division
Superintendents, Lynchburg, June 30, 1952, and June 30, 1953, LVA; Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12,
1955, pp. 16, 35–36, 97, 101, 196, 202; Lynchburg News, Sept. 9, 1953.
15
Lynchburg Daily Advance, March 15, 1954.
16
Tomlin, First Decade, 100; ―Public Schools‖; Lynchburg Museum System, Historic Photograph Collection, photographs of
Armstrong site, on Web site
http://www.lynchburgmuseum.org/photostore/search.php?gid_search=57&search=Armstrong&match_type=any, accessed Dec. 7,
2011; ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg, 1907–1955, Vol. 2, p. 220, LVA, on Web site
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm, accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
17
Tomlin, First Decade, 100.
18
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27), Superintendent of Public Instruction, Annual School Reports of Division
Superintendents, Lynchburg, June 30, 1953, June 30, 1956, and June 30, 1957, LVA. In 1953, there were 4,624 white elementary
school students and 159 teachers, and 1,605 black students and 48 teachers. In 1956, there were 4,899 white students and 174
teachers, and 1,808 black students and 63 teachers. In 1957, there were 4,859 white students and 175 teachers, and 1,871 black
students and 67 teachers. In other words, probably because of the availability of funds not otherwise needed for school construction,
between 1953 and 1957 the number of white students increased by 5 percent and the number of white teachers by 9 percent, while the
number of black students increased by 14 percent and the number of black teachers by 28 percent.
19
Tomlin, 100–102. Tomlin (p.102) gives 1954 as construction date for Perrymont, but the Annual Report of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Year 1955–1956 (Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1956),
123, states that the plans for both the new school and the addition were approved between July 1, 1955, and June 30, 1956; ProQuest
Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg, 1907–1955, Vol. 1, p. 81, LVA, on Web site http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm,
accessed Jan. 12, 2012, published on Sept. 1, 1955, shows the 1955 date next to the school’s footprint (Reel 4, LVA).
20
Personal communication, Lynda Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Jan. 7, 2012; Lynchburg School Board, Public Schools of Lynchburg,
3 binders, Armstrong Elementary School, Administration Building, Lynchburg, Va.
21
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12, 1955, pp. 132, 138, 141, 150, 157, 161, 286, 297; ibid., August 9,
1955–October 20, 1959, 1, 3–4, 12, 99; Lynchburg School Board, Public Schools of Lynchburg, 3 binders, Perrymont Avenue School.
22
Tomlin, 100–101; Heil, ―’No Matter How Long,’‖ 33; James H. Hershman, Jr., ―Massive Resistance,‖ on Encyclopedia Virginia
Web site, http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Massive_Resistance, accessed Mar. 28, 2012; personal communications, Lynda
Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Dec. 12, 2011, and Jan. 6 & 7, 2012.
23
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12, 1955, p. 80.
24
James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House Publishers,
2004), 413–414, 425.
25
Personal communication, Lynda Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Jan. 6, 2012 ; Pupil Placement Board, Special Applications,
Lynchburg, 1961–1963, LVA; Lynchburg News and Advance, ‖Old Armstrong School Awaits Its new Role in Life,‖ May 5, 2009, on
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 19
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News and Advance Web site, http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/05/old_armstrong_school_awaits_its_new_role_in_lifear-222472/, accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
26
Paul L. Weaver, III, ―Public Schools of Richmond, Virginia, 1869-1930,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form, 1992, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va.
27
S. Allen Chambers, Jr., Lynchburg, An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1981) p. 466.
28
Rebekah Dobrasko, ―Equalizations Schools in South Carolina,1951-1960,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple
Documentation Form, 2009, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia, SC, August 2009, Sec. E, p 6.
29
Ibid, Sec. F, p 8.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Years
1951–1956. Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952–1956.
A School Equalization Fund, Being a Series of Articles Appearing in The Richmond News Leader October 7–
10, 1929. Richmond, Va.: The Richmond News Leader, 1930.
Battle, John S. Address of John S. Battle, Governor, to the General Assembly, Wednesday, January 9, 1952.
Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952.
—————. Inaugural Address of John S. Battle to the General Assembly and People of Virginia, Wednesday,
January 18, 1950. Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1950.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville: The University Press of
Virginia, 1981.
—————. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to Ashley Neville. Jan. 2, 2012.
Combs, Jessie. Cambridge, Mass. Personal communication to John S. Salmon. Jan. 3, 2012.
Deyerle, Frances A., and Janet Shaffer. A Legacy of Learning: The Lynchburg Public Schools, 1871–1986.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg School Board, 1987.
Dobrasko, Rebekah. ―Equalization Schools in South Carolina, 1951-1960.‖ National Register of Historic Places
Multiple Property Documentation form. 2009. South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia,
South Carolina.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986. Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick
House Publishers, 2004.
French, Scot A., Craig Barton, and Peter Flora. Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Segregated
Education in Virginia: Historic Resource Study, Booker T. Washington National Monument. Washington, DC:
National Park Service, 2007.
Heil, Henry F. ―’No Matter How Long’: The Struggle to Integrate the Public Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia,
1954–1970.‖ M.A. Thesis. University of South Carolina. 2001.
Hershman, James H., Jr. ―Massive Resistance.‖ Encyclopedia Virginia Web site,
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Massive_Resistance. Accessed Mar. 28, 2012.
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1987. Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co.,
1932–1987.
Laurant, Darrell. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 20th Century. Lynchburg, Va.: Darrell Laurant
and The News and Advance, 1997.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Link, William A. A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia,
1870–1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. May 18, 1977.
Lynchburg News. Sept. 9, 1953.
Lynchburg News and Advance. ‖Old Armstrong School Awaits Its new Role in Life.‖ May 5, 2009. News and
Advance Web site.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/05/old_armstrong_school_awaits_its_new_role_in_life-ar222472/. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
Lynchburg Museum System. Historic Photograph Collection. Photographs of Armstrong site. Web site
http://www.lynchburgmuseum.org/photostore/search.php?gid_search=57&search=Armstrong&match_type=any.
Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
Lynchburg School Board. Minutes. April 15, 1947–October 20, 1959. Administration Building. Lynchburg,
Va.
Lynchburg School Board. Public Schools of Lynchburg. 3 binders. Administration Building. Lynchburg, Va.
McCarty Wickline and Branches. Tribalpages Web site
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribe/familytree?uid=bobcharles47&surname=Wickline. Accessed Nov. 23, 2011.
Moffson, Steven. ―Equalization Schools in Georgia’s African-American Communities, 1951-1970.‖ National
Register of Historic Places Multiple Documentation Form. 2010. Historic Preservation Division, Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, Altanta, Georgia.
ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition. Lynchburg. 1907–1951; 1907–1955. Library of Virginia Web site
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm. Accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
―Public Schools of Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg Public Schools [Property] Data. Ca. 1960. Typescript, 3
binders. Lynchburg Museum System. Old Court House. 901 Court Street. Lynchburg, Va.
Pupil Placement Board. Special Applications. Lynchburg. 1961–1963. Library of Virginia (LVA).
Richmond, Va.
Scruggs, Philip L. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, 1786–1946. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Co., 1972.
Tomlin, Gene W. The First Decade of the Lynchburg, Virginia, Free Public Schools, 1871–1882. Lynchburg,
Va.: Warwick House Publishing, 2011.
Tripp, Steven E. Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Civil War Lynchburg. New York:
New York University Press, 1997.
U.S. Census. Schedule of Inhabitants. 1930. Virginia. Lynchburg. Microfilm. Library of Virginia,
Richmond.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27). Superintendent of Public Instruction. Annual School
Reports of Division Superintendents. Lynchburg. June 30, 1952–June 30, 1957. LVA.
Weaver, Paul L., III. ―Public Schools of Richmond, Virginia, 1869-1930.‖ National Register of Historic Places
Multiple Property Documentation Form. 1992. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va.
Wells, John E., and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary.
Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Wickline, David P., III. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to Ashley Neville. Jan. 3, 2012.
Woodruff, Lynda. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to John S. Salmon. Dec. 12, 2011; Jan. 6 & 7,
2012.
WWWOlIY I
1334 0 0 0 L
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6161 30
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1333 1
-
-
0009
OMS
O[
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
LISTED ON:
National Register of Historic Places
~ e ~ i s t r a tForm
io~
VLR
06/21/2012
NRHP 08/22/2012
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin. How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for
"not applicable." For functions, architectural classificat~on,materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the
instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).
1. Name of Property
historic name
Armstrong Elementary School
other nameslsite number
VDHR No. 118-5320
street & number 1721 Monsview Place
NIA not for publication
city or town
NIA vicinity
state
Lynchburg
Virginia
code
.
VA
county
Independent City code
680
zip code 24504
3. StatelFederal Agency Certification
I
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards
for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional
requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
-
meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property
In my opinion, the property
be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance:
-national
1
/
statewide
X local
Viminia De~artment
of Historic Resources
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
Tile
In my opinion, the property
I
-meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official
Title
Date
State or Federal agencylbureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property Is:
-entered in the National Register
-determined eligible for the National Registel
-
-removed from the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
i
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
private
X public - Local
public - State
public - Federal
X
building(s)
district
site
structure
building(s)
Contributing
1
0
0
0
Noncontributing
0
0
0
0
1
0
object
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
N/A
buildings
sites
structures
objects
buildings
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
listed in the National Register
N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION: School
OTHER: Storage
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne
foundation:
Concrete
walls:
Brick
roof:
Asphalt
other:
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources
if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as
its location, setting, size, and significant features.)
Summary Paragraph
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
See Continuation Sheets
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing)
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
EDUCATION
X
X
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
C
Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D
Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history.
ETHNIC HERITAGE: African American
ARCHITECTURE
Period of Significance
1954-1962
Significant Dates
1954
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply)
Property is:
A
owed by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
B
removed from its original location.
C
a birthplace or grave.
D
a cemetery.
E
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F
a commemorative property.
G
less than 50 years old or achieving significance
within the past 50 years.
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Wickline, David Porter, Jr.
Period of Significance (justification)
The period of significance begins in 1954, the year that Armstrong Elementary School opened, and ends fifty
years ago in 1962 when Armstrong Elementary still functioned as a segregated school.
Criteria Consideratons (explanation, if necessary)
N/A
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (provide a summary paragraph that includes level of signficance and
applicable criteria)
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance)
See Continuation Sheets
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate)
See Continuation Sheets
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been
requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ____________
Primary location of additional data:
x State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
Other
Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Name of repository: I Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): __VDHR no. 118-5320___________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
About 2 acres
(Do not include previously listed resource acreage)
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1
17
Zone
662748
Easting
4143893
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
2
3
Zone
Easting
Northing
Zone
Easting
Northing
4
Verbal Boundary Description (describe the boundaries of the property)
The boundary for the nominated property is the southern portion of Lynchburg tax parcel 02130002. The
property is shown on the attached Lynchburg tax parcel map.
Boundary Justification (explain why the boundaries were selected)
The nominated property contains the existing school and the site of the original school that was demolished in
1959. It does not include the open land northwest of the school where the playground is thought to have been
located. That land is the northern half of tax parcel 02130002 and parcel 02130001 on the Lynchburg tax parcel
map. The playground apparently was located across Grayson Street, which ran in front of both the existing and
original school and no longer exists. There is no physical evidence of the playground and none of the
playground equipment survives. The land has been graded and today is an open grass-covered field. The field
lacks integrity as a playground associated with the Armstrong School.
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
Ashley Neville & John Salmon
Ashley Neville, LLC.
street & number
112 Thompson Street, Suite B-1
city or town
Ashland
ashleyneville@comcast.net
date March 9, 2012
telephone 804-798-2124
state
VA
zip code 23059
Armstrong Elementary School
Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all
photographs to this map.
Continuation Sheets
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Photographs:
Submit clear and descriptive black and white photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi
(pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.
Name of Property:
Armstrong Elementary School
City or Vicinity:
Lynchburg
County: Independent City
State: Virginia
Photographer: Ashley Neville
Date Photographed: November 2011 and January 2012
Description of Photograph(s) and number:
1 of 10.
2 of 10.
3 of 10.
4 of 10.
5 of 10.
6 of 10.
7 of 10.
8 of 10.
9 of 10.
10 of 10
Façade, view to the east
Main entrances, view to the south
Façade, view to the east
Rear and gymnasium, view to the northeast
Lobby stairs, view to the southeast
Second floor corridor, view to the northeast
Second floor lobby-corridor, view to the northwest
Typical classroom, view to the northeast
Stage in Cafetorium, view to the south
Gymnasium interior, view to the west
Property Owner:
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
Name
City of Lynchburg
street & number 900 Church Street
telephone 434-455-3990
city or town Lynchburg
state VA
zip code
24504
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. fo the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Armstrong Elementary School stands on a mostly open lot in a residential neighborhood in northeast
Lynchburg. Opened in 1954 as an equalization school for African American children, it is a long, two-story,
brick-veneer building with a concrete porch on the façade and paired multiple-light aluminum windows
providing ample light for each classroom. The building footprint is divided into five sections: the twelve-baylong classroom block that gives the school its horizontal massing, the shorter, rectangular-shaped cafetorium
(combination cafeteria and auditorium) on the northeast end of the classroom block with a smaller kitchen wing,
a large rectangular gymnasium on the rear, and the adjacent small boiler room. The building faces an open
grassy area where the playground was once located but all evidence of the playground is now gone. The school
was designed by David Wickline of Lynchburg in the streamlined Moderne style popular at the time and shares
characteristics of many equalization schools built throughout the South prior to the Brown v Board of Education
of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court decision that struck down racial segregation in public schools.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
The Armstrong School faces northwest on a mostly open lot and is oriented to an expansive grassy field where
the playground was originally located. The former playground area is not a part of the nominated area because it
has been graded and lost its ability to convey its use as a school playground. The land is open to the front with
several dogwood trees near the entrance and mature white pine trees toward the southwestern end of the front. A
hedge flanks the northeastern end of the concrete sidewalk that extends across the front of the school connecting
each entrance. An aluminum canopy shelters the end of the sidewalk between the street and the main school
entrance. Concrete sidewalks also form a square at the northeastern end of the front. The area inside the square
is partially paved with bricks and was landscaped but is now overgrown. The lot slopes down to the rear where
an asphalt-paved parking lot is located. A chain link fence extends along the southwestern property line and
encloses a yard on that end of the school.
Most schools are oriented to a street and the original Armstrong School, built in 1917, faced Grayson Street that
extended from Monsview Place on the east to Boston Avenue on the west. Houses stood across Grayson Street
from the school and along the west side of Monsview Place as late as 1955. Some time after 1955, Grayson
Street was closed and the land incorporated into the school grounds leaving the existing school facing an open
field instead of a street. The original school stood in front of the new Armstrong School, completed in 1954, and
was used as an annex for five years until it was demolished in 1959.
The school is a long, two-story concrete-block building with a brick veneer laid in five-course American bond.
It has a cast-concrete foundation on the façade and sides and a cast-in-place concrete foundation visible on the
banked rear. The roof is flat with cast-concrete coping and is covered with a built-up material. The building
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
footprint has three main components: the twelve-bay-long classroom block that gives the school its horizontal
massing, the shorter, rectangular-shaped cafetorium on the northeast end of the classroom block, and a large
rectangular gymnasium on the rear. A smaller kitchen wing is located on the east side of the cafetorium and a
small boiler room is located on the west side of the gymnasium.
There are three entrances on the front, two into the classroom block and one into the cafetorium. The main
entrance is recessed and is sheltered by a one-story, two-bay concrete structure onto which has been added a
long, corrugated aluminum canopy that extends to the street. This entrance consists of three half-light doors
topped by a transom with one large side-light on the northeastern side. The entire composition is surrounded by
wooden molding. A large window wraps around the southwest side of the recessed area and onto the façade.
All windows and doors are covered with plywood on the first floor. The secondary façade entrance into the
classroom block is located at the southwestern end and is housed in a projecting one-bay tower. The entrance
tower contains a double-leaf, half-light door sheltered by a canopy. A tall single multiple-light window lights
the stairwell.
The southwestern end of the classroom block is blank except for an entrance and window above. The doubleleaf, half-light doors are sheltered by a canopy and projecting brick wing walls. The window above is a short,
paired aluminum multiple-light window with slightly projecting lintel and sill. The wall beneath the window is
stuccoed – the only example of this treatment on the school.
Windows in the classroom block are paired, multiple-light, aluminum windows with an operable center section.
All windows have cast-concrete lintels and sills. On the façade, continuous concrete lintels and sills group sets
of three and five paired windows together giving the illusion of larger windows. On the rear, the windows on
the southwestern half of the building are likewise grouped together.
The third facade doorway enters directly into the cafetorium: a multipurpose room that served as both a cafeteria
and auditorium. The three-bay cafetorium projects beyond both the classroom block on one side and its kitchen
wing on the other side. The entrance and flanking windows are placed within a section that projects from the
face of the cafetorium. The entrance consists of a double-leaf door with a single upper light topped with a tall
multiple-light transom. Tall multiple-light windows flank the entrance, creating the impression of three tall
windows. A cast-concrete cornice, the lower portion painted white, caps the window-and-door section. A wing
attached to the northeastern end of the cafetorium was the kitchen. On the side of the kitchen wing is a concrete
loading dock for the delivery of supplies to the school. A concrete retaining wall on the eastern side of the
loading dock mediates the change in grade of the land as it slopes to the rear of the lot on this side of the school.
The windows on the side of the wing are smaller but also have cast-concrete lintels and sills.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A large gymnasium block is located immediately to the rear of the cafetorium. Due to the topography of the site,
the gymnasium sits at a lower level than the cafetorium so that the roofs of the two blocks are at the same
height. The gymnasium consists of two blocks: the tall six-bay gym itself and a shorter, seven-bay section across
the rear or southeastern side that houses the exterior entrance and locker rooms on either side of the entrance.
The gymnasium connects to the classroom block at the main stair in the classroom block, providing access
directly from the classrooms to the gym; however, the main public entrance was at the rear of the gym. The
windows on the gymnasium section are paired two-over-two horizontal-lights with cast-concrete lintels and
sills. The lower section has single one-over-one-light windows with cast-concrete sills. Like the front entrance,
the exterior gymnasium entrance is recessed with double-leaf doors with an upper light in each leaf.
Adjacent to the gymnasium on the southwestern end is the boiler room. Like the rest of the building, it is brick
veneer with a cast-in-place concrete foundation and flat roof. All windows and doors are covered with plywood.
There is a tall chimney toward the northwest end of the block.
The interior of the entire school is well preserved and retains its historic finishes and character-defining features.
The first floor is now used for storage by the city. The main entrance opens into a lobby with the main stairs
rising directly ahead on the rear wall of the classroom block. The interior entrance into the cafetorium opens on
the northeastern side of the lobby and a long corridor on the southwestern side. The classroom block has a
double-loaded corridor plan on both floors with stairs at each end. On the northeastern end, the stairs are
located at the rear of the building while the stairs at the southwestern end are located on the front of the
building. The corridor, lobby, and stair walls have a tall wainscot of glazed block with plain painted concrete
block above. The ceilings are sheathed with acoustical tile with surface-mounted fluorescent light fixtures. The
stairs have a solid balustrade with wooden handrails mounted on the inside of the balustrade and the walls. The
floors are tile. The classrooms feature painted block walls, tile floors, and acoustical-tile ceilings with surfacemounted lights. In some classrooms, a blackboard is located along the short end wall with a bulletin board on
the long wall. Some classrooms have a painted wainscot. There is plain trim around the doors and blackboards.
Corridor doors are flush with a single light towards the top of the door.
The cafetorium was one large room with a raised stage at the rear but has since been subdivided into several
rooms with less than full-height modern partition walls. A modern wall has also been built across the stage.
The finishes in the cafetorium are similar to the rest of the school: painted block walls, tile floors, and
acoustical-tile ceiling with surface-mounted light fixtures.
The gymnasium block consists of a full-size gym, two locker rooms that flank the short entrance hall, and a
third room between the gym and the cafetorium. The gymnasium is outfitted as a typical basketball court with
backboards and hoops at each end, a hardwood floor with typical markings, and an exposed bar joist ceiling
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 7
Page 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
with lights among the joists. The walls are painted block above a wainscot of brick laid in five-course bond
with the sixth course laid in Flemish bond.
Armstrong school is in good condition and is little changed except for modern partition walls in the cafetorium
and some classrooms. Most of the plumbing fixtures have been removed from the gang toilets in the classroom
block. On the exterior, the only change is the addition of the metal canopy that extends from the front entrance
to the street. Overall, Armstrong School exhibits a high degree of architectural integrity.
The Modern Movement in architectural design, which encompassed Art Deco, Art Moderne, and the
International style, was first popularized in Europe and spread to the United States in the 1920s. Many of the
schools built in the 1950s incorporated a stripped down version of Art Moderne. The height, massing, and
length of the classroom block at Armstrong, with a regular pattern of fenestration and its placement relative to
the cafetorium and gymnasium, create a composition with strong horizontal lines reminiscent of Art Modernestyle influences. The continuous cast-concrete lintels and sills over groups of windows continue the horizontal
character of the school. Although now somewhat obscured by the later metal canopy, the original low, flat-roof
concrete entrance canopy that sheltered the recessed entrance further reinforces the horizontal feeling of the
school. Armstrong School is a good example of mid-1950s scholastic architecture that was used when school
design shifted to smaller schools.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph
Armstrong School is significant because it is a rare example in Lynchburg of an elementary school constructed
for African American students just before the 1954 United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas that struck down racial segregation in public schools. The school is eligible for
listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the doctrine of
―separate but equal‖ that Brown overturned. It was a so-called ―equalization school,‖ intended by racial
segregationists to stave off integration by offering modern amenities approximately equal to those of white
elementary schools of the same era. Armstrong School is also eligible for listing under Criterion C as an
example of a vernacular interpretation of the Art Moderne style that reflects the school design trends typical of
the era. The school has intact exterior and interior architectural features and retains a high degree of integrity of
its historic location, association, setting, feeling, design, materials, and workmanship.
Narrative Statement of Significance
In 1869, during the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War, Virginia adopted a new state constitution
that mandated public education throughout the Commonwealth. Conservative elitists, whose children typically
were either tutored at home or attended private-subscription schools, vigorously opposed the concept of public
education and the funding of public schools with tax dollars. The advocates of the new system gradually
defeated the conservatives by acknowledging local control over each jurisdiction’s schools. As a result, the
quality of both public education itself and the infrastructure that supported it—the buildings in which children
were taught—varied widely from one county and city to another, depending on local customs, revenues, and
preferences. By the end of the century, well-organized school systems functioned in Virginia’s cities, including
Lynchburg.1
Like most urban areas in the state, Lynchburg’s antebellum schools consisted of private and church-affiliated
academies and seminaries. The students were all white, because the education of free blacks and slaves was
outlawed. After the war, free schools for blacks were created in and around the city under the auspices of
church groups and the Freedman’s Bureau; the largest was located on Polk Street. As the city’s schools evolved
during the next two decades, the new system absorbed these Reconstruction-era schools. Separate elementary
facilities for whites (six) and blacks (three) were created at first in existing houses and other buildings in 1871.
In 1872, the city council appropriated $30,000 for three purpose-built elementary school buildings: Monroe
Street and Court Street for whites, and Jackson Street for blacks. Biggers School for whites followed in 1881,
and Payne School for blacks in 1885. The Frank Roane School for whites (1899) was the last public elementary
school constructed in the city before the turn of the century.2
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 6
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The first school for black students built in Lynchburg in the twentieth century was the first Armstrong School,
completed in 1917 at a cost of $13,922. The land—4.463 acres—cost $41,845. The elementary school was
named for Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder and first principal of Hampton Institute. Armstrong School
had a capacity of 120 students. The one-story building was constructed of brick in the Colonial Revival style; it
had a slate roof, four classrooms, a basement playroom, and a basement crafts room. The lot it occupied was
bounded by Monsview Place on the northeast, houses on lots to the southeast and southwest, and Grayson Street
(no longer extant) on the northwest.3
During the next ten years, four other new elementary schools were constructed in Lynchburg for African
American students: the new Payne school (1925); Yoder (1927); South Lynchburg (1927); and Dearington
(1927). The 1872 Jackson Street School, the 1885 Payne School, and the Yoder School no longer stand.4
After World War II, African Americans intensified their efforts to end racial segregation in the United States.
President Harry S Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948—a vitally important step.
Also during the postwar years, black parents began filing lawsuits to end racial segregation in public education,
or at least to enforce the concept of ―separate but equal‖ by compelling the construction of new, modern schools
that were as up-to-date as white schools. In 1947, for example, black parents in Surry County, Virginia, sued
the school board in federal district court over discrimination, in particular the fact that there was no accredited
high school in the county for blacks. The next year, the court ordered the county either to admit blacks to the
white high school or to build a separate high school for them. A simultaneous lawsuit in neighboring Prince
George County pointed out that although there was a separate high school there for black students, the
curriculum was far short of equal to that of the white high school. For instance, no courses were available at the
black school in chemistry, physics, biology, and geometry. Remarkably, the school board discontinued those
courses at the white school rather than offer them to blacks.5
Public education in Virginia, especially at the secondary school level, was in disarray during the postwar years.
The state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, G. Tyler Miller, called the situation ―acute and serious‖ in his
1948–1949 annual report. More than 1,700 elementary schools were at least twenty years old and more than
500 were at least forty years old. In addition, overcrowding and double shifts were becoming increasingly
common, which discouraged prospective candidates for elementary-school teaching from entering the
profession. With regard to African American schools, Miller noted ―the court cases brought by Negro citizens
against local school officials for equal educational opportunities.‖ In April 1948, an editorial in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch had warned that racial segregation in the schools might fall to federal court rulings unless steps
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
were taken: ―Either schools for the two races will be made substantially equal, or the State may be ordered by
the Federal courts to operate a single system, and to admit all children, irrespective of race.‖6
By late in the 1940s, the old 1917 Armstrong School had become overcrowded and inadequate, with 171
students instead of the 120 for which it had been constructed. The Lynchburg School Board met on November
8, 1949, discussed the need for an addition to the existing building, and hired local architect David Porter
Wickline, Jr., to design it. Over the next few months, the school board began acquiring additional land for the
expansion, proposed closing Grayson Street, which ran just in front of the old school, and reviewed Wickline’s
plans. The cost of the addition, however, was considered high. The Lynchburg Daily Advance reported on
April 28, 1950, that the city council had ―postponed action on a school board request for $428,000 to enlarge
Armstrong school.‖ In addition to the four regular classrooms, overcrowding meant that one of the basement
rooms in the old school—either the playroom or the crafts room—had been converted to classroom use. The
enlarged building, the newspaper stated, ―would include new classrooms, auditorium, gymnasium and
cafeteria.‖7
Fortunately, school construction funds were about to become available from the state government. Governor
John S. Battle, who took office in January 1950, responded to the poor condition of the public schools by
announcing in his inaugural address that he intended to dedicate a $45 million state surplus to new school
construction over the next two years. The so-called ―Battle Fund‖ required no matching funds from local
governments, and it provided segregationists with the financial ammunition to create ―equalization schools.‖
Ironically, in 1929 the Richmond News Leader—which later in the 1950s would be a primary advocate of
Massive Resistance—had espoused the creation of an ―equalization‖ fund, but only in regard to the disparities
between urban and rural (presumably white) schools.8
Battle did not specifically address the equalization issue in his 1950 inaugural address, but he did spend about
half of his speech lamenting the sorry state of educational facilities in Virginia and his efforts to find ways to
pay for improvements. When he addressed the next session of the biennial General Assembly on January 9,
1952, however, Battle spoke directly about equalization:
I would not be frank if I did not refer to the Constitutional requirement of
segregation in the public free schools. If we are to continue separate school
facilities for the white and negro races, as I hope and believe that we shall, we
must equalize the educational opportunities. . . . We must do this because it is
right. This, I am sure, is sufficient reason for the members of the General
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 8
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assembly; but if others should wish additional reasons, we must do it in order to
comply with the law of the land as laid down by the decisions of the Supreme
Court of the United States which for some years have required comparable and
equal opportunities for members of both races. . . . [I]n the negro schools, as in
many of our white schools, much remains to be done in providing adequate
buildings.9
The equalization movement swept through the South at about the same time that the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had been supporting equalization lawsuits such as those
discussed above, moved toward abandoning the practice in favor of directly attacking racial segregation in the
public schools. Unaware of or choosing to ignore this tactical change, the Southern states advanced their
equalization plans during the decade of the 1950s to preserve racial separation, as Battle noted. South Carolina
and Georgia, for example, imposed new sales taxes to fund the schools and undertook sweeping programs to
replace antiquated white and black schools despite considerable local opposition to spending state funds on the
latter. Architects seized on the availability of steel, glass, and other materials that had been difficult or
impossible to acquire during World War II. Typically, they designed both white and black schools as singlestory, steel-framed, brick-veneered, well-lighted facilities in the Art Moderne or International style or some
variation thereof. Most black parents and students were delighted with the new facilities, which were vast
improvements over the old, rundown, overcrowded, unsanitary buildings that they replaced. Parents, teachers,
and pupils in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia were under no illusions, however, that the new schools for
blacks were really ―equal‖ to those constructed for white students. The buildings quickly became overcrowded,
combination ―cafetoriums‖ rather than separate cafeterias and auditoriums were the norm, equipment and
furnishings that were standard in white schools were absent, sports and playground facilities were inadequate,
and public transportation to the new schools was frequently nonexistent.10
By October 1950, meanwhile, the Lynchburg school board was negotiating a new contract with Wickline, and
on December 11 he presented plans for an entirely new Armstrong Elementary School instead of an addition.
The board approved the contract with Wickline on December 29.11
Wickline had been born in the city on December 17, 1906. In about 1925, he began apprenticing as a draftsman
with Lynchburg architectural firms including Stanhope S. Johnson, Aubrey Chesterman, and Craighill and
Cardwell. The 1930 census listed him as an architect. He worked for Robert Allen, a Roanoke architect, in a
Lynchburg office. Allen was a son-in-law of U.S. Senator Carter Glass, who took an interest in young Wickline
and engaged him to design the Art Deco facade of the building housing the Glass-owned newspaper, the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lynchburg News and Daily Advance. Glass also partly funded a year’s education for Wickline at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology architecture school. Wickline entered in September 1931; he received a
scholarship for a second year, but left in May 1933 when the money ran out and did not receive a degree. He
returned to practice in Lynchburg, where he received his license in 1934 and by 1946 had joined Clarence H.
Hinnant in offices at 822 1/2 Main Street, Rooms 301–302. The partnership dissolved in 1950 or 1951 and
Wickline opened his own firm in Room 301. Over the next few years he designed several houses in Lynchburg
(including a house at 3516 Sunset Drive for the parents of the eminent architectural historian S. Allen
Chambers, Jr.) as well as Armstrong School. In 1954, Wickline joined Wiley and Wilson, Consulting
Engineers, in the firm’s office on the second floor at 620 Court Street. The association lasted until 1959, and
then Wickline practiced a year by himself until joining Stanhope S. Johnson, a noted Lynchburg architect, as a
draftsman in 1961. Wickline’s association with Johnson lasted until 1967, after which Wickline moved from
Lynchburg and practiced in Roanoke, Richmond, and Charlottesville. While in Richmond, Ballou and Justice
employed him to help design the Richmond Coliseum. In Charlottesville, where the firm of Johnson, Craven,
and Gibson employed him, he assisted in the restoration of Patrick Henry’s Red Hill and also worked on several
courthouse renovations. Wickline retired in 1984 and returned to Lynchburg in 1986. He died on August 27,
1987, in Lynchburg.12
The school board submitted Wickline’s plans for Armstrong School to the state’s School Building Service,
which by statute and regulation approved all plans for new school construction as well as alterations. Wickline
reported to the board on July 10, 1951, that he had received preliminary approval, with some changes requested.
―Armstrong Negro Elementary,‖ as the Service called it, was to have seven classrooms, a library, one laboratory
or special classroom (a science laboratory, an elementary playroom, etc.), five auxiliary rooms (offices,
storerooms, conference rooms, etc.), a gymnasium, and a combination cafeteria and auditorium, or cafetorium.13
Lynchburg received $489,180.17 in Battle Fund appropriations for school construction in 1952, and
$139,427.02 in 1953. Wickline continued to work on the plans for the new school, noting that a shortage of
steel might delay construction past the proposed opening date of September 1, 1953. He presented final plans to
the school board for approval (pending approval by the School Building Service) on February 27, 1952. On
October 3, the school board awarded the firm of C. W. Hancock and Sons the construction contract, and site
work was underway by October 14. The construction of the new Armstrong School was nearly completed by
September 8, 1953, when the city council voted to spend $4,300 for a new sidewalk along Monsview Place to
serve the school, which was ―expected to be ready for use by the February term next year.‖ The school board
inspected and accepted the new school on December 16.14
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School was dedicated on Sunday, March 14, 1954. More than five hundred persons
attended the ceremony, at which Dr. Paul M. Monro, the city school superintendent, spoke on the subject of the
―good school system.‖ The Rev. John L. Suttenfield, mayor of Lynchburg, city council members, and school
board members also attended, as well as principals and city school system supervisors. Mrs. Alice W. Lewis,
Armstrong’s principal, introduced the school faculty and noted that ―in this building we have not only new
equipment but new teachers. . . . All of us should help in developing the total personality of our children.‖
Tours of the new building were offered after the ceremony.15
When the new building opened, it had a capacity of 220 students in kindergarten through the seventh grade.
Situated just behind the 1917 building, it cost $312,500—almost one-quarter less than the 1950 proposal for
enlarging the old school. The new school was constructed of brick with a built-up roof and had fluorescent
lighting, steam heat produced by an oil-fired boiler, floors of asphalt tile over concrete, acoustical tile ceilings,
and plaster and block walls. It had seven classrooms, a gymnasium, dressing rooms, an office, a clinic, a
teachers’ lounge, a conference room, an electric kitchen, a multipurpose room, and a combination cafeteria and
auditorium (―cafetorium‖). Together, both the new building and the 1917 building, in which improved lighting
had been installed, had a capacity of 340 students. The playground, which included some rudimentary
equipment, was located across the now-vanished segment of Grayson Street, just northwest of the 1917
Armstrong School. The old school was demolished in 1959 when the ―playground‖ area in front of the 1954
school was expanded northwest to Holly Street and graded.16
Besides Wickline’s Armstrong School, only one other black elementary school was the subject of construction
activity in Lynchburg between 1950 and 1960. A large two-story addition was attached in 1960 to Dearington
School, built for African American students in 1927 and located at 210 Smyth Street. In recent years
Dearington’s principal entrance has been reoriented from the street to the rear parking lot and a new facade
constructed. The 1927 building was constructed for $14,634 with a student capacity of 120; the 1960 addition
cost $287,000 and provided room for another 180 students, for a total of 300.17
The new construction campaign did have the ―equalization‖ effect over time of reducing the ratio of
Lynchburg’s elementary school teachers to students to approximately the same level for both white and black
schools. In 1953, for example, there was one white teacher for every twenty-nine elementary school students;
there was one teacher for every thirty-three students in the black elementary schools. By 1956, the ratio for
whites was one teacher for every twenty-eight students and for blacks it was one teacher for every twenty-nine
students. The next year, the ratio was one teacher for every twenty-eight students in both white and black
elementary schools.18
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In sharp contrast to Armstrong School, however, the new white schools built during the 1950s were much
larger, more expensive, and better equipped, undermining the segregationists’ ―separate but equal‖ approach to
educational facilities. The William M. Bass School on Seabury Avenue was constructed in 1951 at a cost of
$759,452 and with a capacity of 480 students. The facade is Art Deco in style. The Perrymont Avenue School,
located at 409 Perrymont Avenue, was completed in 1955 for $303,000, with an addition completed in 1957 for
$112,550, and the total capacity was 690. The Bedford Hills School at 4330 Morningside Drive was built in
1958 for $388,865, and had a capacity of 450. The Carl B. Hutcherson School, located at Harvey and High
Streets, was built in 1960 for $449,441, and a capacity of 360. The Sheffield School, located at 115 Kenwood
Place, was constructed for $405,522 in 1960, with a capacity of 480. Except for the Bass School, all of the
white schools were of the plain brick construction typical of the era. All of them still stand and all are presently
in use as schools except for the Hutcherson building.19
Although Armstrong School was constructed as an equalization school, the differences between it and its allwhite near-contemporary, Perrymont, demonstrate the inequalities that racial segregation engendered, and that
the U.S. Supreme Court would note in its Brown decision a few months after Armstrong opened. Perrymont,
for example, had a purpose-built library and a librarian. Despite Wickline having designed a library for
Armstrong, in fact there was no library in the school as it was constructed. Instead, the ―library‖ consisted of a
handful of books shelved in a corner of the kindergarten room. After the kindergartners went home (they only
attended for half a day), the so-called ―library‖ was then open to other students for use. In addition,
Armstrong’s teachers had to purchase their own supplies, and the stage in the cafetorium had no curtain—the
parents of Armstrong’s students raised the funds to buy one. Also, the school’s playground was a ―paved area
with B.B. [basketball] goals; football and baseball facilities as needed, swings, etc.‖20
The Lynchburg School Board first discussed building a new elementary school for white pupils on Perrymont
Avenue at its meeting on March 10, 1953, as the construction of Armstrong was underway. The board pondered
whether to adapt a standard plan offered by the State Building Service or have a new building designed from
scratch. On June 16, the board approved a contract with Hinnant, Hinnant, and Harper, a Lynchburg
architectural firm, and on July 14 the architects reported that the standard plans were unsuitable for the facility
that the board wanted built. Construction soon began, and the building was 50 percent complete by March 9,
1954. On June 9, 1955, the architects reported that a strike at the company that was supplying tile for the
bathrooms was delaying completion. At a board meeting on July 12, local parents complained that the school
was far too small, and persuaded the school board to construct an addition. The main school was completed and
dedicated on November 10, 1955, and on April 9, 1957, the board inspected and accepted the addition. In
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 12
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
contrast to Armstrong’s limited playground facilities, Perrymont had a ―large paved area with B.B. goals;
swings and climbing rigs; football and baseball facilities; tennis courts planned by City.‖21
After the Brown decision, efforts to desegregate Lynchburg’s schools gained momentum and fully replaced
equalization as a strategy. To counter the effort, Southern states including Virginia adopted a policy of Massive
Resistance to integration. In 1956, the General Assembly created the Pupil Placement Board, which took over
from localities the assignment of students to schools and routinely denied applications by black students to
transfer to white schools. African American parents and attorneys pressed on, however, and decided to focus
first on integrating the city’s two segregated high schools, then on the all-white junior high school, and finally
on the elementary schools. Dunbar, the African American high school, consisted of several buildings
constructed between 1923 and 1957, with a total capacity of 840 students and 42 course offerings. It included
grades 8 through 12 because there was no junior high school for blacks; R. E. Lee Junior High School was
reserved for white students. E. C. Glass High School, which opened in 1953 on a 54-acre tract and cost
$3,855,068, had a capacity of 1,850 white students and 121 course offerings, three times the number at Dunbar.
The disparities and inequalities between the two high schools, therefore, were obvious both in terms of physical
plant and the number and quality of courses. At a time when many white and black students entered the work
force from high school rather than going on to college, those inequalities had a clearer and more imminent effect
on future employment and earning capabilities than the inequalities at the elementary or junior high school
levels, hence the importance of equalizing or desegregating the high school first.22
Before the Supreme Court’s Brown decision, Lynchburg’s black residents had aimed for equalization at the high
school level. On July 8, 1952, when the school board held its evening meeting in the white John Wyatt School
auditorium, more than fifty African American residents attended to discuss the ―Negro school situation of
Lynchburg.‖ According to the minutes of the meeting,
Herman L. Taylor, Attorney at Law, from Raleigh, North Carolina, representing
the Citizenship Committee, Parent-Teacher Association Council, spoke for
about thirty-five minutes, climaxing his remarks by delivering to the Board an
ultimatum: either provide educational facilities for Negro Secondary education
equal to those of the new E. C. Glass High School, or face Federal court action.
A formal reply was requested by those represented, by August 15, 1952.
Mr. [Harry G.] Green [school board chairman] gave opportunity for any present
to speak, also for Board members to ask questions. No one responded, so the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
meeting adjourned, the School Board repairing to the office of the Supervisor
and Clerk.23
Subsequent Board minutes do not indicate whether the desired ―formal reply‖ was ever given. Rather than
construct a new, ―equal‖ high school for black students, the school board made improvements to Dunbar High
School in the years that followed.
In 1961, at a mass meeting of Lynchburg’s African Americans at Diamond Hill Baptist Church, the Rev. Virgil
Wood called for student volunteers to apply for transfer from Dunbar to Glass. A dozen young people
volunteered, but only two were admitted to Glass: thirteen-year-old Owen Cardwell, Jr., who had attended
Payne, and fourteen-year-old Lynda Woodruff, who was a graduate of Armstrong School. They attended their
first day of classes on January 29, 1962. Although they were not subjected to overt acts of hostility, Cardwell
and Woodruff endured verbal insults and the silent treatment, despite occasional words of friendliness from
Glass students and faculty members. They also discovered that the comparable classes that they had attended at
Dunbar were far behind Glass’s academic level. From this beginning, the desegregation of Lynchburg’s schools
proceeded. Within a decade, integration led to the consolidation of several schools, including the merger of
Dunbar’s and Glass’s student bodies at the latter high school. Dunbar was converted to a middle school.24
The integration of elementary schools came later. In the spring of 1962, an Armstrong fifth-grader, Ashby F.
―Buddy‖ Morris, requested transfer to the previously all-white Garland-Rodes Elementary School. The Pupil
Placement Board, perhaps yielding to the inevitable since E. C. Glass High School had been integrated,
approved his request on June 11. This and similar integration efforts largely flowed one way, however, from
black schools to white ones, and previously all-black schools such as Armstrong tended to remain all-black for
years to come. In 1977, school consolidation resulted in the closure of Armstrong School. The student body
was merged with two other schools, Garland-Rodes and Linkhorne, beginning with the autumn session. The
Lynchburg Daily Advance reported on May 18, 1977, that ―Armstrong currently houses grades four through six
and Garland-Rodes, grades kindergarten through three. Armstrong’s sixth grade will be moved to Linkhorne
Middle School next fall as part of an overall city middle school plan.‖ After the closure, the LAARC School, a
private day school for children with learning disabilities, occupied the building until relocating to another
facility in 2002. Armstrong School has been empty ever since, except for the occasional use of the gymnasium
to accommodate the city’s youth programs.25
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Architecture Context
The surviving Lynchburg public elementary schools can be divided into three groups: early twentieth century
up to World War II, mid-twentieth century or the ―separate but equal‖ period, and the post-1954 Brown
Supreme Court decision. The architecture of the schools during these periods follows national trends of
scholastic architecture with a Lynchburg spin on stylistic preferences, especially during the first half of the
twentieth century.
Standards for school buildings in this country were advocated as early as 1832 when William A. Alcott wrote
that fresh air, light, and space were essential in school design to promote a learning environment. Large
windows, classrooms with separate desks for pupils, and enough open land for recreation became the standard
for schools across the country.26 The schools built in Lynchburg were no exception to these standards. The
design for nineteenth-century schools used a domestic architectural vocabulary but as the century progressed
and public education became more important and widespread, school buildings became more standardized with
large banks of windows in each classroom, tall ceilings, formal entrances, and interior corridors. In urban areas
with larger populations of students, schools were frequently built of monumental proportions that epitomized
the importance of education.
Nine elementary schools built in Lynchburg prior to World War II survive. One of the nine, Robert S. Payne
Elementary School, was built in 1925 as the Robert E. Lee Junior High School and later was converted to an
elementary school for African American students. The three schools built in the teens were all built for white
students. Of the four schools built during the 1920s, one was built for white students, two for African American
students, and one was converted from a white school to an African American school. The two schools built in
the 1930s were both for white students.
While the commercial architecture of Lynchburg incorporated modern styles such as Art Deco in the 1920s and
1930s, the preferred styles for domestic, religious, and scholastic architecture was firmly rooted in traditional
patterns of the revival styles so popular in Lynchburg.27 It was only after World War II that design influences of
the Modern Movement, Art Deco, Art Moderne, and International, began to surface in the new schools built in
the 1950s in Lynchburg. The majority of the schools constructed during the pre-World War II period were of
monumental proportions of two, two-and-a-half, and three stories with a massing that conveyed a sense of
permanence and importance. The earlier schools were a mixture of neoclassical or Craftsman styles while the
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
later schools built in the 1920s and 1930s tended to have Colonial Revival-style details. R. S. Payne Elementary
School (built as a junior high school in 1925) and Thomas C. Miller Elementary School (1932), both in the
Colonial Revival idiom, are two-and-a-half or three stories tall and have recessed arched entrances on the
façade. In contrast, the original 1927 Dearington Elementary School, which was built for African American
students, is a one-story brick building with a center entrance flanked by banks of windows typical of many small
consolidated schools of this period. The South Lynchburg School, also for African Americans, is an even
smaller one-story brick building with a hipped roof that has more in common with the earlier Craftsman-style
schools such as the first Armstrong School, which was demolished in 1959. Dearington was significantly
enlarged in 1960 with a massive addition built onto one end of the school that also reoriented the school to face
the parking lot.
Few schools were built during World War II as construction materials were diverted to the war effort. The end
of the war meant that construction materials were once again available and coincided with the increased demand
for schools as returning soldiers married and started families. Educators, architects, and designers published
guidance for the new schools that was considerably different from pre-World War II school design. It was felt
that the earlier schools were inflexible and not conducive to learning. One architect wrote,
We want buildings which are friendly to children. We believe that the low-lying, sprawled-out type of
building, close to the ground, one story high, straight in its lines, honestly functional, is less aweinspiring and more friendly in the eyes of the child, thought it may not look as grand to adults as some of
our multi-storied Roman efforts.28
The long low form of the school reflected the streamlined Moderne architecture popular after World War II.
The need for lighting and ventilation led to walls of windows in the classroom. Metal windows, usually
aluminum, were used for the windows and reflected technological advancements in building materials.29
Three elementary schools were built in Lynchburg during the 1950s as well an addition to the 1919 Fort Hill
School. All were built or were planned and under construction prior to the Brown Supreme Court decision
during the equalization period. They include the William Bass School (1951), Armstrong (1954), and Perrymont
(1954-55). Armstrong was built for African American students; Bass and Perrymont for white students. The
Fort Hill School was also for white students. The mid-twentieth-century Lynchburg schools for the most part
followed the new tenets of school design outlined above. Bass, built in 1951, in scale and massing is more akin
to the earlier pre-World War II schools. The school, two stories on a raised basement, has its decorative features
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
concentrated at the entrance with the same triple entrance as its earlier predecessors, Miller and Payne, albeit in
the Art Deco style instead of the Colonial Revival style.
Both Perrymont and Armstrong were clearly built during the ―separate but equal‖ scramble to upgrade school
facilities state wide. Both are two-story, flat-roof brick buildings with the streamlined Art Moderne appearance
popular at the time. The spare architectural detailing is concentrated at the entrance. Both schools had
aluminum windows arranged in columns of six lights. At Perrymont, the windows varied from paired columns
to seven-column-wide windows while at Armstrong the windows are mostly paired columns of six lights. At
Armstrong the entrance is recessed and sheltered by a two-bay, flat-roof porch. The adjacent cafetorium
(combination cafeteria and auditorium) steps forward slightly from the classroom block, forming one wall of the
recessed area where the entrance is located. Perrymont’s entrance was also recessed with a vertical chimneylike element forming one side of the recess and vertical elements partially screening the entrance on the other
side. The adjacent cafeteria/auditorium block of the school steps back from the entrance block. From the
exterior, the two schools appeared to be very similar, seemingly fulfilling the ―separate but equal‖ doctrine
although the facilities on the interior may not have been equal.
Perrymont has been significantly altered and lacks architectural integrity. Several additions have been made to
the original school buillding including a two-story, gable-and-shed-roof addition to the end of the rear wing.
The most striking change, however, is the alteration to the windows. The current windows form a continuous
band of individual windows. Each window has a large upper light and a smaller lower light with infill across
the top of the wall.
Armstrong was only used as a city public school for twenty-three years, from 1954 to 1977. It was then used by
a private school until 2002 and since its departure the building has been used for storage. Because it was used
for such a short period of time as a city school, it remains virtually unaltered and retains a high degree of
integrity. All the original interior finishes are intact and, with the exception of modern partitions in the
cafetorium, the plan is unchanged.
Lynchburg built two public schools soon after the Brown decision, both in 1960: the Carl B. Hutcherson School
and the Sheffield School. Although different from the styles previously used in Lynchburg for elementary
schools, they each continued to follow the tenets expressed by the architect who described the new trend is
school architecture of low, one-story buildings. Both consist of a series of blocks with flat roofs and have small
single or double windows instead of the large banks of windows historically seen on schools. The Hutcherson
School is a combination of brick and frame while the Sheffield School is brick.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 17
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Armstrong Elementary School is the best surviving example of an equalization school built in Lynchburg during
the 1950s. The school exhibits a high degree of architectural integrity with few changes to the exterior and
interior. Its design also incorporated the latest styles and published guidance popular at the time it was built.
Endnotes
1
William A. Link, A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870–1920 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1986), 7–23, 74–75.
2
Gene W. Tomlin, The First Decade of the Lynchburg, Virginia, Free Public Schools, 1871–1882 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House
Publishing, 2011), 9–15, 95, 100–102.
3
Ibid., 100; ―Public Schools of Lynchburg, Virginia,‖ Lynchburg Public Schools [Property] Data, ca. 1960, typescript, 3 binders,
Lynchburg Museum System, Old Court House, 901 Court Street, Lynchburg, Va.; ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg,
1907–1951, p. 80, LVA, on Web site http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm, accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
4
Tomlin, First Decade, 100–103.
5
Scot A. French, Craig Barton, and Peter Flora, Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Segregated Education in Virginia:
Historic Resource Study, Booker T. Washington National Monument (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 2007), 38–39; Henry F.
Heil, ―’No Matter How Long’: The Struggle to Integrate the Public Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1954–1970,‖ M.A. Thesis
(University of South Carolina, 2001), 4.
6
Ibid., 40–41 .
7
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 159–161, 168, 177, 179, 188, Administration Building,
Lynchburg, Va.; Lynchburg Daily Advance, Apr. 28, 1950, ―Action Postponed on Enlarging School,‖ on LynchburgHistory.com Web
site, http://www.lynchburghistory.com/details.php?gid=184&pid=7334, accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
8
French, Barton, and Flora, Segregated Education, 41; A School Equalization Fund, Being a Series of Articles Appearing in The
Richmond News Leader October 7–10, 1929 (Richmond, Va.: The Richmond News Leader, 1930).
9
John S. Battle, Inaugural Address of John S. Battle to the General Assembly and People of Virginia, Wednesday, January 18, 1950
(Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1950), 4–9; John S. Battle, Address of John S. Battle, Governor, to the General
Assembly, Wednesday, January 9, 1952 (Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952), 14.
10
Rebekah Dobrasko, ―Equalization Schools in South Carolina, 1951–1960,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form, 2009, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia, S.C.; Steven Moffson, ―Equalization
Schools in Georgia’s African-American Communities, 1951–1970,‖ 2010, Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of
Natural Resources, Atlanta, Ga.
11
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 225, 234, 240.
12
Frances A. Deyerle and Janet Shaffer, A Legacy of Learning: The Lynchburg Public Schools, 1871–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.:
Lynchburg School Board, 1987), 62; McCarty Wickline and Branches, Tribalpages.com, accessed Nov. 23, 2011,
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribe/familytree?uid=bobcharles47&surname=Wickline:;
U.S. Census, Schedule of Inhabitants, 1930, Virginia, Lynchburg, Microfilm, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. (LVA); Hill’s
Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1987 (Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co., 1932–1987); John E. Wells and
Robert E. Dalton, The Virginia Architects, 1835–1955: A Biographical Dictionary (Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press,
1997), 198–199; personal communication, S. Allen Chambers, Jr., to Ashley Neville, Jan. 2, 2012; personal communication, David P.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 18
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wickline III to Ashley Neville, Jan. 3, 2012; personal communication, Jessie Combs, Office of the Registrar, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, to John S. Salmon, Jan. 3, 2012.
13
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, April 15, 1947–September 11, 1951, pp. 225, 234, 240; Annual Report of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Year 1951–1952 (Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952),
115, 120.
14
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27), Superintendent of Public Instruction, Annual School Reports of Division
Superintendents, Lynchburg, June 30, 1952, and June 30, 1953, LVA; Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12,
1955, pp. 16, 35–36, 97, 101, 196, 202; Lynchburg News, Sept. 9, 1953.
15
Lynchburg Daily Advance, March 15, 1954.
16
Tomlin, First Decade, 100; ―Public Schools‖; Lynchburg Museum System, Historic Photograph Collection, photographs of
Armstrong site, on Web site
http://www.lynchburgmuseum.org/photostore/search.php?gid_search=57&search=Armstrong&match_type=any, accessed Dec. 7,
2011; ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg, 1907–1955, Vol. 2, p. 220, LVA, on Web site
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm, accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
17
Tomlin, First Decade, 100.
18
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27), Superintendent of Public Instruction, Annual School Reports of Division
Superintendents, Lynchburg, June 30, 1953, June 30, 1956, and June 30, 1957, LVA. In 1953, there were 4,624 white elementary
school students and 159 teachers, and 1,605 black students and 48 teachers. In 1956, there were 4,899 white students and 174
teachers, and 1,808 black students and 63 teachers. In 1957, there were 4,859 white students and 175 teachers, and 1,871 black
students and 67 teachers. In other words, probably because of the availability of funds not otherwise needed for school construction,
between 1953 and 1957 the number of white students increased by 5 percent and the number of white teachers by 9 percent, while the
number of black students increased by 14 percent and the number of black teachers by 28 percent.
19
Tomlin, 100–102. Tomlin (p.102) gives 1954 as construction date for Perrymont, but the Annual Report of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Year 1955–1956 (Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1956),
123, states that the plans for both the new school and the addition were approved between July 1, 1955, and June 30, 1956; ProQuest
Sanborn Maps Geo Edition, Lynchburg, 1907–1955, Vol. 1, p. 81, LVA, on Web site http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm,
accessed Jan. 12, 2012, published on Sept. 1, 1955, shows the 1955 date next to the school’s footprint (Reel 4, LVA).
20
Personal communication, Lynda Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Jan. 7, 2012; Lynchburg School Board, Public Schools of Lynchburg,
3 binders, Armstrong Elementary School, Administration Building, Lynchburg, Va.
21
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12, 1955, pp. 132, 138, 141, 150, 157, 161, 286, 297; ibid., August 9,
1955–October 20, 1959, 1, 3–4, 12, 99; Lynchburg School Board, Public Schools of Lynchburg, 3 binders, Perrymont Avenue School.
22
Tomlin, 100–101; Heil, ―’No Matter How Long,’‖ 33; James H. Hershman, Jr., ―Massive Resistance,‖ on Encyclopedia Virginia
Web site, http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Massive_Resistance, accessed Mar. 28, 2012; personal communications, Lynda
Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Dec. 12, 2011, and Jan. 6 & 7, 2012.
23
Lynchburg School Board, Minutes, October 4, 1951–July 12, 1955, p. 80.
24
James M. Elson, Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986 (Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick House Publishers,
2004), 413–414, 425.
25
Personal communication, Lynda Woodruff to John S. Salmon, Jan. 6, 2012 ; Pupil Placement Board, Special Applications,
Lynchburg, 1961–1963, LVA; Lynchburg News and Advance, ‖Old Armstrong School Awaits Its new Role in Life,‖ May 5, 2009, on
NPS Form 10-900-a
(Rev. 01/2009)
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Expires 5/31/2012)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Name of Property Armstrong Elementary School
County and State Lynchburg, Virginia
Name of multiple property listing (if applicable)
Section number 8
Page 19
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News and Advance Web site, http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/05/old_armstrong_school_awaits_its_new_role_in_lifear-222472/, accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
26
Paul L. Weaver, III, ―Public Schools of Richmond, Virginia, 1869-1930,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form, 1992, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va.
27
S. Allen Chambers, Jr., Lynchburg, An Architectural History, (Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1981) p. 466.
28
Rebekah Dobrasko, ―Equalizations Schools in South Carolina,1951-1960,‖ National Register of Historic Places Multiple
Documentation Form, 2009, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia, SC, August 2009, Sec. E, p 6.
29
Ibid, Sec. F, p 8.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Years
1951–1956. Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952–1956.
A School Equalization Fund, Being a Series of Articles Appearing in The Richmond News Leader October 7–
10, 1929. Richmond, Va.: The Richmond News Leader, 1930.
Battle, John S. Address of John S. Battle, Governor, to the General Assembly, Wednesday, January 9, 1952.
Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1952.
—————. Inaugural Address of John S. Battle to the General Assembly and People of Virginia, Wednesday,
January 18, 1950. Richmond, Va.: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1950.
Chambers, S. Allen, Jr. Lynchburg, An Architectural History. Charlottesville: The University Press of
Virginia, 1981.
—————. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to Ashley Neville. Jan. 2, 2012.
Combs, Jessie. Cambridge, Mass. Personal communication to John S. Salmon. Jan. 3, 2012.
Deyerle, Frances A., and Janet Shaffer. A Legacy of Learning: The Lynchburg Public Schools, 1871–1986.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg School Board, 1987.
Dobrasko, Rebekah. ―Equalization Schools in South Carolina, 1951-1960.‖ National Register of Historic Places
Multiple Property Documentation form. 2009. South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia,
South Carolina.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786–1986. Lynchburg, Va.: Warwick
House Publishers, 2004.
French, Scot A., Craig Barton, and Peter Flora. Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Segregated
Education in Virginia: Historic Resource Study, Booker T. Washington National Monument. Washington, DC:
National Park Service, 2007.
Heil, Henry F. ―’No Matter How Long’: The Struggle to Integrate the Public Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia,
1954–1970.‖ M.A. Thesis. University of South Carolina. 2001.
Hershman, James H., Jr. ―Massive Resistance.‖ Encyclopedia Virginia Web site,
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Massive_Resistance. Accessed Mar. 28, 2012.
Hill’s Lynchburg (Campbell County, Va.) City Directory, 1932–1987. Richmond, Va.: Hill Directory Co.,
1932–1987.
Laurant, Darrell. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 20th Century. Lynchburg, Va.: Darrell Laurant
and The News and Advance, 1997.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Link, William A. A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia,
1870–1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986.
Lynchburg Daily Advance. May 18, 1977.
Lynchburg News. Sept. 9, 1953.
Lynchburg News and Advance. ‖Old Armstrong School Awaits Its new Role in Life.‖ May 5, 2009. News and
Advance Web site.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/05/old_armstrong_school_awaits_its_new_role_in_life-ar222472/. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
Lynchburg Museum System. Historic Photograph Collection. Photographs of Armstrong site. Web site
http://www.lynchburgmuseum.org/photostore/search.php?gid_search=57&search=Armstrong&match_type=any.
Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
Lynchburg School Board. Minutes. April 15, 1947–October 20, 1959. Administration Building. Lynchburg,
Va.
Lynchburg School Board. Public Schools of Lynchburg. 3 binders. Administration Building. Lynchburg, Va.
McCarty Wickline and Branches. Tribalpages Web site
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribe/familytree?uid=bobcharles47&surname=Wickline. Accessed Nov. 23, 2011.
Moffson, Steven. ―Equalization Schools in Georgia’s African-American Communities, 1951-1970.‖ National
Register of Historic Places Multiple Documentation Form. 2010. Historic Preservation Division, Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, Altanta, Georgia.
ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition. Lynchburg. 1907–1951; 1907–1955. Library of Virginia Web site
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/sanborn.htm. Accessed Jan. 12, 2012.
―Public Schools of Lynchburg, Virginia.‖ Lynchburg Public Schools [Property] Data. Ca. 1960. Typescript, 3
binders. Lynchburg Museum System. Old Court House. 901 Court Street. Lynchburg, Va.
Pupil Placement Board. Special Applications. Lynchburg. 1961–1963. Library of Virginia (LVA).
Richmond, Va.
Scruggs, Philip L. The History of Lynchburg, Virginia, 1786–1946. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Co., 1972.
Tomlin, Gene W. The First Decade of the Lynchburg, Virginia, Free Public Schools, 1871–1882. Lynchburg,
Va.: Warwick House Publishing, 2011.
Tripp, Steven E. Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Civil War Lynchburg. New York:
New York University Press, 1997.
U.S. Census. Schedule of Inhabitants. 1930. Virginia. Lynchburg. Microfilm. Library of Virginia,
Richmond.
Armstrong Elementary School
Name of Property
Lynchburg, Virginia
County and State
Virginia Department of Education (Record Group 27). Superintendent of Public Instruction. Annual School
Reports of Division Superintendents. Lynchburg. June 30, 1952–June 30, 1957. LVA.
Weaver, Paul L., III. ―Public Schools of Richmond, Virginia, 1869-1930.‖ National Register of Historic Places
Multiple Property Documentation Form. 1992. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Va.
Wells, John E., and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary.
Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Wickline, David P., III. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to Ashley Neville. Jan. 3, 2012.
Woodruff, Lynda. Lynchburg, Va. Personal communication to John S. Salmon. Dec. 12, 2011; Jan. 6 & 7,
2012.
WWWOlIY I
1334 0 0 0 L
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6161 30
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1333 1
-
-
0009
OMS
O[
Text
OMB No.1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the lnterior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the Nationdl Register oJ Historic Plqces Registrcttion Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, ând areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
VLR Listed: 6/18/2020
NRHP Listed: 8/17/2020
1. Name of Properfy
Historic name Cnrneoie FIall
',tR-5470-000?
Other names/site number VDI{R 1
Name of related multiple property listing:
A
(Enter "N/4" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2.
Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA
Vicinity:
Not For Publication: N/A
3.
: Independent
City
N/A
StateÆederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority undcr thc National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
this X
nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I hereby certify that
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
In my opinion, the property X meets
recommend that this property be considered significant atthe following level(ç) of
significance:
X
statewide
_national
local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_x_A
B
XC
_D
Date
ture of certifying officiaUTitle:
of Historic Resource
Virsinia
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
x
meets
_
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Date
Signature of commenting official:
Title:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0_____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: Education-related: College Dormitory
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: Education-related: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
__________________
___________________
__________________
__________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; WOOD
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Colonial Revival style and completed in 1909, Carnegie Hall is the second oldest
extant academic building at the University of Lynchburg. Built on a raised basement, this
freestanding rectangular, three-story building, constructed of brick in five-course Flemish variant
bond, is situated on the western edge of the main campus on a site that slopes to the west and the
north. The hip-roofed building has three separate entrances, each reached by a short flight of
concrete steps. Each of the entrances has a portico covered by a low-pitched roof, supported by
four Tuscan columns in pairs supporting the roof near the stairs, while single Tuscan pilasters
flank each entrance. A plain square balustrade connects the pilasters and columns. Each portico
features a modillion cornice above a wide, plain frieze. The architraves on the east and west
porticos are unadorned, while the center one bears the words CARNEGIE HALL. Each entry
features an original transom and sidelights and is surmounted by a splayed jack arch and
keystone. A keystone and jack arch is centered above each window opening. Multiple-light
window sashes light the basement, which is accessed via poured concrete steps at multiple points
of entry on the south façade and north (rear) elevation. The building’s hipped roof has a
modillion course and symmetrically spaced dormer windows, also featuring modillions, on the
north and south slopes. Save for the replacement of the original sash windows, the building’s
exterior has seen few changes. The interior has been remodeled several times, most notably when
the building’s function changed from student housing to office space, but the interior floor plan
remains largely unaltered. The building’s integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association
are very high, while the integrity of design, workmanship, and materials are slightly diminished
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
by loss of the original window sash and interior alterations to finishes and space usages.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Exterior Description
Carnegie Hall is the second oldest extant academic building at the University of Lynchburg.
Designed by Edward Graham Frye in the Colonial Revival style, construction began in 1908, and
the building was completed in 1909. It is located on the western edge of the main campus. This
three-story, hipped-roofed building, constructed of load-bearing brick in five-course Flemish
variant bond, occupies a site that slopes to the west and north. The asbestos tiles that historically
covered the roof have been replaced with tiles of a composition considered to be more
environmentally friendly. The raised basement is a continuation of the concrete foundation, and
it has always been painted grey. It is surrounded by a concrete walkway, although the areas
closest to the south and north fronts of the building are planted with grass and shrubbery.
On the south façade, there are three separate main entrances to Carnegie Hall, each reached by a
short flight of seven concrete steps, ending at a concrete slab. A metal safety rail, painted black,
is anchored to the first and seventh steps. Each of the concrete slabs forms the base of a portico,
which is protected by a low-pitched roof covered with composition shingles. Four wooden
Tuscan columns placed in pairs on the right and left front corners of the bases support the roof.
There are single Tuscan pilasters joined to the brick wall at the outer edges of the concrete slabs.
Between the columns and pilasters on each portico are plain wooden handrails, each covering
seventeen plain box balusters. A keystone above each entrance is framed by jack arches. The
tympanum on each portico pediment is unadorned except for eight modillions, four each on the
legs of the triangle. Under the fascia board a modillion course extends along each side of the
three porticoes. The architraves on the east and west sections are blank, but that on the second
section bears the words CARNEGIE HALL in black capital letters. The asbestos tiles that
historically covered the roofs of the three porticos have been replaced with tiles of a composition
considered to be more environmentally friendly. A fourth entry is located under the central
portico. It gives access to the basement and is reached by two eight-step concrete staircases on
either side of the portico. There are metal handrails painted black on either side of each staircase.
The sidelights on either side of each of the main entrances as well as the transoms above each
door date from 1909. Both the sidelights and transoms contain eight panes of glass. The original
doors, which were not secure, have been replaced with metal security doors, each with a window
of double-glazed safety glass fitted with false muntins to create the appearance of six separate
panes.
There are fifty-five windows on Carnegie Hall’s south facade. During the 1980s, all of the
building’s original window sashes were replaced with new window sashes that contain storm
windows. The window openings were not altered, with concrete sills and splayed jack arches
with keystones retained. On the basement level, there are six windows piercing the concrete
raised foundation; five of them are within window wells due to the site’s sloping character. The
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
first window on the eastern end of the building has opaque glass because it gives light to the
women’s lavatory. The sixth window on the western end of the building is at ground level. The
tops of the six basement-level windows abut the first story’s lowest course of bricks. The fortytwo window openings on the first, second, and third stories all have keystones flanked by jack
arches, which terminate at the outer edge of each window. There are two single windows above
each portico, making a total of six, and there are eighteen sets of paired windows, making for
thirty-six double-hung sashes
Above the third story, there is a garret under the hipped roof, which is pierced by seven dormers.
Two dormers are over the east and west sections and three over the central section. Each dormer
has a double-hung sash with 12-over-12 lights and a modillion course that matches those on the
porticos and the main roof. An interior chimney rises from the east and west ends of the roof, but
they are purely decorative. There is a drainpipe between the first and second sections, and
another between the second and third sections.
The east side of Carnegie Hall has eight windows. The two on the basement level are above
ground and contain louvers on their upper portions to provide ventilation to a storage room. They
are set in the concrete raised foundation and the tops of the windows abut the first-story’s lowest
course of bricks. The six windows of the first, second, and third stories have splayed jack arches
and keystones above the midpoint of each sash. Drainpipes are at the north and south corners.
On the north (rear) elevation, there are two entrances to Carnegie Hall on the basement level.
The entry to the building’s east section has a metal door with a narrow panel of security glass in
its upper half, and it is covered with a metal-roofed canopy. The entry to the central section has a
cased opening with a double door and an oversized paneled sidelight with three large rectangular
lights. A 6-light transom tops the entry. The door has a single light with false muntins to create
the appearance of six separate lights. A braced metal canopy is above this entrance.
Within the concrete raised foundation, the easternmost basement window on the rear elevation is
fitted with opaque glass because it provides light to the men’s lavatory. Also on this level there is
a single double-hung window in the center of the middle section, and another one in the center of
the west section. A window with paired sash is at the east end of the middle section, while the
west section has two paired windows flanking the central window.
Each section of Carnegie Hall’s upper stories has three single windows flanked by paired
windows, for a total of five windows on each floor and fifteen windows on each section, for a
total of forty-five windows. All these windows have keystones flanked by jack arches.. The
keystones of the nine single double-hung windows are above the midpoint of the window sash,
while the keystones of the eighteen sets of double windows are located at the midpoint of the two
sashes.
Above the third story is a garret under the hipped roof and fenestration identical with that on the
building’s façade. The seven dormers piercing the roof have double-hung sashes, each with 12over-12 lights, and a modillion course that matches those on the porticos and the main roof. A
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
drainpipe is located between the east and central sections, and another between the central and
west sections.
The west side of Carnegie Hall has ten window openings. The four on the basement level are
above ground, and because they are set in the concrete portion of the building, the tops of the
windows abut the lowest course of bricks on the first story. The six windows on the first, second,
and third stories have keystones above the midpoint of each sash and splayed jack arches. There
are two drainpipes, one on the south corner of the west side, and one on the north side
Interior Description
Basement
The basement of Carnegie Hall currently is the location of Information Technologies and
Resources, the computer center of the University of Lynchburg. It has three doors that can be
secured against unauthorized entry during the hours when personnel are not on duty. One door is
on the south façade under the central portico. It is windowless and features a sign with the words
Information Technologies and Resources. It opens into a short hall and to the right are two small
offices, and to the left is a large service area. A central corridor traverses the length of the
basement on an east-west axis. At the eastern end are two lavatories with a large storage area
between them. The corridor on its western end terminates at an office, and there is also a short
hall that leads to a storage area on the south side of Carnegie Hall. On the north side are offices,
while on the south side are a workshop, a storage area, and the executive secretary’s office.
Today there is no access to the upper floors from the basement. On the north (rear) elevation, the
two entries give access to different parts of the computer center, which is divided by non-historic
partition walls. The metal door in the middle of the east section has a narrow window, while the
large windows in the double doors on the north (rear) side of the central section provide
abundant light to the interior.
First Floor
The first floor’s interior layout has changed since Carnegie Hall was constructed in 1909, as
shown on the attached floor plans. Of the three sections, the east is the least altered, retaining
original partition walls and door openings. The east section contains four offices to accommodate
eight faculty members. Each office has two recessed bookcases made from converted closets.
The offices have replacement security doors, each with a small window on the upper third of the
door. The central staircase and a unisex lavatory are in the center hall.
The central section contains two offices on the right side of the entrance to house four faculty
members and three offices are to the left of the entrance. The left front and rear offices are for
faculty members, while the windowless central office houses the departmental secretary. A door
connects the front office and the secretary’s office. The offices have recessed bookcases and
security doors identical to those in the east section. A central staircase and a unisex lavatory are
in the center hall.
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Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The west section is devoted to administration functions. The entrance opens to the center hall,
which has the original staircase and unisex lavatory. The room to the right of the entrance is
subdivided into a mailroom with a printer/copier and a space used for storing office supplies. The
two offices on the left side of the entrance are joined by a narrow internal corridor, with the
larger rear office allocated to a divisional administrator and the front office to the secretary of
that faculty member. In the right rear is a divisional conference room. The closets in the
secretary’s office, that of the administrator, and the conference room have folding louvered
doors.
Interior finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade carpeting, dropped
ceilings with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
Second and Third Floors
The second and third floors largely retain their original layouts, except in the west section. Each
section retains its original central hall with staircase. In the central section, the third-floor
staircase has been closed and no longer leads up to the attic. On the second floor, the lavatories
on the north (rear) wall have been converted to house mechanical equipment, while the third
floor retains a unisex lavatory in each section. Combined, the three sections on the two floors
contain office space for up to forty-eight persons. Departmental chairs are given private offices,
thus lowering the total number of available spaces, but some offices house three junior faculty
members or adjuncts. In the west section, offices to the left of the central hall are subdivided to
create private rooms for senior faculty members.
On the south (front) side of the building in the center of each section is an enclosed space with a
single front-facing window; some of these are fitted with a partition wall and a door that can be
locked. These compact rooms are used for a departmental student secretary or a copier.
As on the first floor, interior finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade
carpeting, dropped ceilings with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
Garret
In 1966, the fourth floor of Carnegie Hall was altered with removal of the non-load-bearing walls
that historically divided the east, central, and west sections. A central, east-west corridor now
traverses this floor on an east-west axis. The interior space has been divided with drywall
partitions into thirteen small offices for faculty members and space has been provided for a
printer/copier. Each office has a security door with window. A storage area in the east section is
next to the staircase that leads down to the third floor. There is no lavatory on the fourth floor;
faculty members must use the facility on the third floor of either the east section or west section,
as there is no longer stair access from the attic’s central section down to the third floor. Interior
finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade carpeting, dropped ceilings
with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_______________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1967________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909_______________
1966–1967__________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
___N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
___N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
__________________
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The University of Lynchburg is the second oldest co-educational institution in Virginia, and the
construction of Carnegie Hall was an important step in the founders’ realization of creating
separate spheres for men and women students. Designed in the Colonial Revival style and
completed in 1909, Carnegie Hall is the second-oldest extant academic building at the University
of Lynchburg. The construction of a dormitory for men with its own dining room was meant to
limit further the contact between the sexes to the chapel, the classroom, and carefully chaperoned
social events. The unusual design of the building with its three separate sections was supposed to
limit communication among the men, but the removal of the separate dining room, which was
expensive and impractical, provided space for the Men’s Dormitory Government, which was
created in 1918 to seek consensus from their entire constituency. Over the next half-century, the
student experience at Carnegie Hall evolved along with modernization of the college experience.
For its association with the school’s early- to mid-twentieth century educational practices,
Carnegie Hall is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Education. As a fine example
of the Colonial Revival style, featuring character-defining features such as red brick walls, white
trim, classically-inspired ornamentation, and symmetrical fenestration, the building is locally
significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The property’s period of significance
begins with its completion in 1909 and ends in 1967 when its original function as a men’s
dormitory ended.
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Carnegie Hall is locally significant in the area of Education for its association with coeducational
practices developed at Virginia Christian College during the early twentieth century and with the
modernization of the college experience between 1909 and 1967. Coeducation was still
considered experimental by many educators and the general public when, in 1909, Carnegie Hall
became the first dormitory built on the campus of the then-Virginia Christian College (later
Lynchburg College from 1919-2018 and now the University of Lynchburg). The building’s
completion shifted the axis of the college from Westover Hall on the eastern edge of campus to
the western edge where Carnegie Hall stood within a few yards of the main academic building,
Hopwood Hall (118-0152; NRHP 2017). Thus, the physical separation of male and female
students was increased; their contacts were limited to the classroom, the chapel, and carefully
chaperoned social events. By removing male students from Westover Hall, a former hotel that
was the college’s first building, the college’s founders, Dr. Josephus Hopwood and his wife,
Sarah La Rue Hopwood, sought to create a safe and productive living environment for the varied
activities of the men.
During the Civil War, Josephus Hopwood served as a private in Company L of the 7th Illinois
Cavalry and perhaps consciously or unconsciously, he drew on his military experience for the
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
design that emerged from his consultation with the architect, Edward Graham Frye. With its
interior spatial arrangement, the dormitory might well have been described as a barracks for
three platoons of a cavalry troop.
In the June 1909 issue of The Light, the Virginia Christian College magazine, President
Hopwood described Carnegie Hall in glowing terms: “…The dormitory is especially designed to
be most convenient to prevent crowds from massing in one hall, to lessen noise and be safe from
fire. Two solid brick walls cross the building from basement to roof, hence there are three
distinct sections.” 1 Each section was designed to house approximately twenty-eight men (or, to
continue the analogy, one platoon).
In his final design, architect Edward Graham Frye incorporated President Hopwood’s ideas for
subtly managing the behavior of the male residents. Behind its Colonial Revival brick façade
was a building whose simplicity and creative use of space was devoid of waste. Each dormitory
room had essentially the same floor plan, the only difference being the number and placement of
windows. This economy of space extended to the common areas, like the shower room and
lavatories, giving the building an air of military order and efficiency. Twice the building actually
served as an army barracks. From October 1918 until December 1919, members of the Student
Army Training Corps occupied it, 2 and from March 1943 until May 1944, it served the needs of
the Army Air Force Training Corps. 3
The only other contemporary dormitory space on the campus of Virginia Christian College was
in Westover Hall, which served as a residence until it was razed in 1970. With Carnegie Hall’s
completion, Westover became a women’s dormitory. The two-story former hotel’s floor plan
was such that a housemother could have a view of all the rooms from a central point. 4 Built in
the Queen Anne style, however, the building had rooms of different shapes and sizes, depending
on their location within the building, including bathrooms on each floor. Westover Hall
resembled Main Hall at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, as both were Queen Anne
buildings, with Westover constructed in 1890 and Main in 1892. Thus, Westover Hall’s
architectural character and interior spatial arrangements was quite unlike Carnegie Hall’s, where
students had uniformly sized and arranged rooms.
The sense of community students experienced at Carnegie Hall during its fifty-seven years as a
men’s dormitory is worthy of note. The spirit of being part of an extended family is confirmed by
former residents of Carnegie Hall, the youngest of whom are now in their early seventies. Their
sense of cohesion and sharing involved creating an important learning environment on campus.
Students studied together, played together, and helped each other reach their individual potential.
Although rivalry existed among residents of the dorm’s three sections, this friendly competition
The Light. Lynchburg, Virginia: Virginia Christian College, June 1909, p. 3.
This was during the administration of Dr. John T.T. Hundley (1915-1936).
3
The Argonaut (yearbook of Lynchburg College), Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1919, pp. 71-73; Wake, p.
271.This was during the administration of D. Riley B. Montgomery (1936-1949).
4
Edmund D. Potter. “From Resort to College Building: The Functions and Meaning of Westover Hall,” M.A.,
Thesis, Architectural History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1995, p. 34.
1
2
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Carnegie Hall
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Name of Property
County and State
only strengthened the cohesion that made them the men of Carnegie Hall. Likewise, from 1909
until 1966, Carnegie Hall played a role in the expansion and modernization of the college
experience for the hundreds of young men who lived there. From this environment emerged
hundreds of teachers on all levels, including at least three college presidents. 5 Alumni also
included ministers serving all the major Protestant denominations as parish clergymen as well as
military chaplains. 6 Future lawyers, judges, and public servants, both elected and appointed,
spent their college years as residents of Carnegie Hall. 7
Criterion C: Architecture
Carnegie Hall is locally significant in the area of Architecture as a fine example of Colonial
Revival design. It is among the many creative works of architect Edward Graham Frye (18701942). A native of Bristol, Tennessee, Frye moved to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1886 where he
worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892 Frye established his own office
in Lynchburg. In 1901 Frye formed a partnership with architectural draftsman Aubrey
Chesterman (1874-1937); in 1913, the pair relocated from Lynchburg to Roanoke Most of their
early commissions were for private residences. In 1905 they had a chance to design their first
public building—Lynchburg’s Jones Memorial Library (118-0153; NRHP 1980), which was
completed in 1908. That same year Frye used a similar, but more space-efficient plan of the
library for Hopwood Hall (118-0152; NRHP 2017), the first academic building at Virginia
Christian College. The Board of Trustees were so pleased with it that they awarded Frye the
contract for “The Boys’ Home,” later designated as Carnegie Hall.
In addition to the two campus buildings and the city’s library, the prolific and successful Frye
and his partner, Chesterman, were responsible for the designs of the Academy of Music (1180001; NRHP 1969); the Aviary (118-0155; NRHP 1980) in Lynchburg’s Miller Park, three
Queen Anne dwellings in Lynchburg’s Garland Hill Historic District (118-0026; NRHP 1972);
the Roanoke (Virginia) City Hall and Jail; the W. W. Boxley Office Building (128-0047; NRHP
1984) in Roanoke; the Arts-and-Crafts influenced Pen-Y-Bryn, the first mansion built within
Alleghany County’s Luke Mountain Historic District (003-5006; NRHP 1998); three buildings,
the Masonic Theatre, Alleghany Building, and Carpenter & Boxley Building, in the Clifton
Forge Commercial Historic District (105-0017; NRHP 1992); and assorted residences and
churches in the Lynchburg and Roanoke regions. In 1908, Frye and Chesterman designed the
Charles Cocke Memorial Library Building at Hollins College (080-0055; NRHP 1984). Located
at the south end of the college’s quadrangle, the two-story, brick, Neo-Classical building features
a full-height, centered Ionic portico on both its façade and rear elevation and a shallow-hipped
roof with full entablature. The diversity of architectural styles employed by Frye’s projects
5
Riley B. Montgomery, 1919 (Lynchburg College, 1936-1949); Orville W. Wake , 1932 (Lynchburg College, 19491964); Fred Helsabeck, 1929 (Culver Stockton College, 1956-1973).
6
The Rev. Dr. Howard Kester, 1925, was an early leader in the movement to end segregation. Col. Maury Hundley,
1938, served his whole career as a chaplain in the United States Army.
7
Ralph B. Shank, 1927, practiced law in Texas, and while a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Christian
University led the successful effort to integrate that university.
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Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
demonstrate his skill as a designer and his thorough understanding of classically-derived design
principles.
Colonial Revival design has been immensely popular in Virginia since the 1890s. Informed by
the preceding Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles, Colonial Revival also was based on
academic studies of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The balance and symmetry that
characterized Colonial Revival style was a counterpoint to the exuberant styles of the Victorian
era, such as Second Empire, Queen Anne, Eastlake, and Italianate. In Virginia, other characterdefining features such as red brick walls, white trim, classically-inspired ornamentation,
multiple-pane window sash, and symmetrical fenestration, are found on countless buildings
throughout the Commonwealth. 8 The primary entrance typically is highlighted with columned
entrance porticoes, pilasters, sidelights and transoms, and pediments. Most of these
characteristics are present on Carnegie Hall, the exterior of which has changed little since its
completion in 1909.
Figure 1. Postcard View of Lynchburg College, 1915-1930, with Carnegie Hall at Left.
Chris Novelli et al., Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940 (Richmond:
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015), 88-91.
8
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Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 2. Carnegie Hall in 1958 (Image Courtesy of University of Lynchburg Archives).
Carnegie Hall is contemporary to four Colonial Revival dormitories located in the Sweet Briar
College Historic District (005-0219; NRHP 1995) in Amherst County, Carson Resident Hall was
completed in 1906. Three stories high, it contains single, double, and triple rooms. Gray Hall
also was completed in 1906; it, like Carnegie, has been converted into faculty offices. Completed
in 1908, Randolph Residence Hall has four stories, and contains single and double rooms.
Manson Residence Hall was completed in 1910, is four stories high, and contains single, double,
triple, and quad rooms. Each dormitory has rooms of varying sizes. The amenities provided for
women were more accessible and less spartan than those that served the needs of the men in
Carnegie Hall.
During the 1980s, Carnegie’s Hall original window sash were gradually replaced with the extant
multiple-light sash with storm windows. A 1980 photograph of the building shows the original
sash.
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 3. Carnegie Hall in 1980 (Image courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources)
Historical Background
Carnegie Hall, 1909-1967
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard, who was one of his former students, Dr. Josephus
Hopwood and four associates 9 purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits
of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College, 10 the second oldest
co-educational senior college founded as such in the Commonwealth. 11 During his tenure as
president, which lasted until 1911, Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a
classroom building that would, in 1953, be named in his and his wife’s honor, and a men’s
dormitory named for the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who donated money
9 Josephus Hopwood, A Journey Through the Years, St. Louis, Missouri, 1932, p. 97. Frank F. Bullard, Charles
Givens, J.W. Giles, and Irvin Miller were leaders in the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
10
Ibid, p.v96.
11
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.v10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.v302.
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for it. 12 Dr. Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field on level
ground that would become a construction site in 1908. The funds raised from the sale of the
wood were used to grade the cleared land and purchase uniforms and equipment. 13 When
construction was begun on Hopwood Hall and Carnegie Hall, another field was cleared to the
west of the new dormitory for use by the baseball team. The oldest extant picture of Carnegie
Hall shows the building under construction early in 1909 with the baseball team in the
foreground. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed structure, which was built for $20,000.00, as
the “Boys’ Home.” 14 Since 1911 it has been known officially as Carnegie Hall in recognition of
Andrew Carnegie, whose gift made its construction possible.
Carnegie was noted for building libraries; in fact, their construction was the central focus of his
philanthropy. When Dr. Hopwood applied to him for financial support, Carnegie offered to
construct a library for Virginia Christian College, until Hopwood informed him that the college
already had one. What was needed was a men’s dormitory. It required some persuasion, but
Carnegie finally agreed to grant Hopwood’s request, on the condition that the debt of the College
be retired. That was done quickly. The only collections of books in Carnegie Hall were those in
the rooms of the men who lived there from 1909 until 1966, and those belonging to the faculty
members who still inhabit this building that Andrew Carnegie financed.
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), G.O Davis
(1912-1914), George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T. T.
Hundley, whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college. 15 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919 Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and with the endorsement of the Board of Trustees he
transformed the college from a seminary into a liberal arts institution. 16 In 1923 Memorial
Gymnasium was given to Lynchburg College by the city in memory of local servicemen who
died in World War I. 17
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II, most of the male students joined the armed services, and with a
shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available to
the armed services as a training facility. 18 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.v24; Chambers, pp.v366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
13
Hopwood, pp. 99-100.
14
Ibid, p. 107.
15
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978,
p.11.
16
Ibid.
17
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
18
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
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City of Lynchburg, VA
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County and State
implementation of the G.I. Bill, 19 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948 the student body
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936, 20 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from 1946
to 1948. 21 .
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building, which was completed
in 1960. 22
Dr. Carey Brewer, another alumnus, became the seventh president of Lynchburg College in 1964.
During his nineteen-year presidency a new building was constructed, renovated, or repurposed
on an average every eighteen months. The completion of McWane Hall in the summer of 1966,
allowed the conversion of Carnegie Hall from a dormitory into a faculty office building to begin.
During the first six years of its existence, all functions connected with the operation of Virginia
Christian College were contained in Westover Hall. 23 The sexes were separated, except for close
relatives, in the dining hall and in classes, and their dormitory rooms were on different floors
reached by separate staircases. On June 20, 1905, President Josephus Hopwood made a case to
the Board of Trustees for the necessity of building a residence hall for male students, which
would also contain dining and bathing facilities. 24 With the completion of the “Boys’ Home,” the
main dining room could be reserved for the exclusive use of female students and faculty
members, while the male students would take their meals in the basement of the new dormitory.
After the Hopwoods’ departure in 1911, this arrangement was abandoned, having proven both
logistically impractical and too expensive.
The shower area on the basement floor of the first section of Carnegie Hall was in use from 1909
until 1966, but the rest of the basement floor was divided into offices and meeting rooms, which
were in use until 1954, when the first floor of the second section was remodeled to create an
apartment for the College dietician and her family. At that time the staircase that led from the
first floor of the second section to the basement floor was removed.
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
20
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
21
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
22
Ibid. pp.25-26.
23
Chambers, pp.299-301. Built in 1890 as the Intermont Hotel, the building was renamed the Westover Hotel to
recognize its importance as the central structure in the suburban development known as the Westover Land
Company.
24
Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Virginia Christian College.MS, Knight-Capron Library, University of
Lynchburg, vol. I, p. 27.
19
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
A window on the western end of the third section was replaced with a door that gave access to
the College Business Office, which was moved into Carnegie Hall that same year. This
department could be secured after hours by a newly installed security door. Students living in the
first and third sections could access the shower room by inside staircases, but the residents of the
second section could do so only by using the stairs in the first and third sections, or by means of
the door on the rear of the building, which gave direct access to the shower room.
When Carnegie Hall was converted into faculty offices in 1966-1967, the basement floor was
completely reconfigured. The shower room was converted into two restrooms, while the internal
non-weightbearing walls were moved to accommodate the print shop and the expanded Business
Office. The print shop relocated to the newly constructed Maintenance Building in 1972, while
the Business Office moved to the Hall Campus Center in 1981. The door in the western end of
Carnegie Hall’s third section was restored again to a window, while the basement level was used
for classes in computer science. By the early 1990s the entire computer program was housed on
this level of Carnegie Hall. Once again, non-load bearing walls were moved to create offices and
a computer service center.
From 1909 until 1954, each of the three sections of the first floor of Carnegie Hall contained
accommodations for eight men. Each section had a lavatory, and a staircase facing and to the left
of the lavatory gave access to the ground floor shower room. The staircase facing the main
entrance continued to the three upper floors. Each of the rooms has a set of double sash
windows, except those on the east and west ends of the building. These rooms have three
windows: a set of double sash windows facing either north or south, and a single window on
either the east or the west wall. Each sash had eighteen panes of glass, nine up and nine down.
There was a closet against the inner wall for each dorm resident, thus two closets per room.
In the summer of 1954, the entire first floor of the second section of Carnegie Hall and the two
rooms on the left side of the entrance of the first section were converted to an apartment for the
College dietician and her family. The non-weight bearing wall that separated the two rooms on
the left side of the entrance of second section was removed to create a living room/dining room
and a small kitchen. The end of the hall was blocked by a temporary wall. The staircase that led
to the ground floor was removed, and a closet was created under the staircase that still gave
access to the upper floors. The lavatory was converted to a full bathroom. The closets in the two
rooms on the right side of the main entrance were removed. A door was created in the wall of the
rear right side room, which gave access to the rear room on the left side of the hall of the first
section. The closets were retained in the rooms in the first section, and a door was created,
allowing passage from one room to the other.
These changes reduced the number of students on the first floor of Carnegie by half. There were
eight students living in third section, none in second section, and only four in first section. (The
numbers of students on the other floors were unchanged). During the fifty-seven years that
Carnegie Hall served as a men’s dormitory, the second and third floors were not altered. Each
section of those two floors provided housing for eight students, making a total of forty-eight.
Students living on the upper floors of center section could only reach the shower room by using
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the stairs in sections one and three, or by using the rear outside entrance of the shower room.
Also in 1954, a new dormitory, Hundley Hall, opened for women. The third floor of Westover
Hall was reconverted into a dormitory for men.
The garret of the first section of Carnegie Hall contained a storage area for luggage and a large
dormitory room that could accommodate up to four students, but there were only three closets. A
lavatory faced the staircase. The garret of the second section of Carnegie Hall contained two
large dormitory rooms, one for three students with three closets. The second room could
accommodate four men, but it only had three closets. The residents of these two rooms shared a
lavatory. The garret of the third section of Carnegie Hall had two dormitory rooms. One was
large enough to house three students, each having a closet. The second room was only large
enough for two men, and there was no closet. These two rooms shared a lavatory.
In the summer of 1966, the conversion of Carnegie Hall into faculty offices began, and the work
was completed in 1967. The faculty moved into the former men’s dormitory in the fall of that
year. Because the building was usually empty in the evenings, the fire escapes that had been
installed in 1909 on the rear of the building were removed. The benches that had been placed
against the railings on either side of the three main entrances were not replaced.
In 1966-1967 when Carnegie Hall was converted to faculty offices, most of the changes were
cosmetic. Closets became recessed bookcases, security doors were substituted for the worn and
damaged originals, new lighting fixtures replaced low level ceiling lights, and carpeting was
installed throughout each of the sections. However, there were other changes that would prove
costly and time-consuming. From 1909 to 1966, radiators provided heating for each room; these
were replaced by a forced air system supplying heat as well as air conditioning to all sections.
The basement level was completely reconfigured to create a secure environment for the business
office, print shop, and later, information technology services. When the fourth floor was
converted into faculty offices, the replacement of weight-bearing supports was necessary to
permit continuous access from the first section to third section. To keep costs for this renovation
within budget it was decided to leave the original window sashes in place for the time being,
after replacing all cracked or broken panes. Over time this decision proved not to be cost
effective, because the windows leaked heat in cold months and cooled air on hot days, causing
the forced air system to work overtime. This proved very expensive to maintain. Therefore, by
the mid-1980s, all the original window sashes had been replaced with new sashes with storm
windows, which have proven efficient, creating a more comfortable workplace while conserving
energy.
Today, the southern front of Carnegie Hall faces the northern facade of Dillard Fine Arts Center
across an oval lawn planted with trees and shrubbery native to Virginia. To alumni it appears as
it did twenty-five, fifty, or seventy-five years ago. Visitors still ask why there are three identical
entrances, and some student guides know why, while others do not. The seasons come and go,
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
but the bond shared by generations of Carnegie Men remains part of the core values that earned
for the University of Lynchburg a place among Colleges that Change Lives. 25
25
Hillary Masell Oswald, ed. Colleges that Change Lives. 4th ed. New York: Penguin, 2012, pp.79-85.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Novelli, Chris, et al. Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to
1940. Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Oswald, Hillary Masell, ed. Colleges that Change Lives. 4th ed., New York: Penguin, 2012.
Potter, Edmund D. “From Resort to College Building: The Functions and Meanings of
Westover Hall,” M.A., Thesis, Architectural History, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia, 1995.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College. Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_University
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; University of
Lynchburg, Lynchburg, VA; Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ___DHR No. 118-5470-0002______
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _Approximately .35 acre _
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398893
Longitude: 79.182489
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 198
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary has been drawn to encompass only Carnegie Hall itself as well as a
narrow landscaped area that extends to the surrounding sidewalks. The true and correct
historic boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key. The nominated parcel
boundary coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
Carnegie Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks that give access to every entrance of the
building and provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus of the
University of Lynchburg.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter____________________
organization: University of Lynchburg________________________
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive________________________
city or town: Lynchburg _______state: VA__ zip code: 24501-3113______
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 384-8347__
date: February 2020_
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5- or 15-minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered, and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo Log
Name of Property: Carnegie Hall, University of Lynchburg
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County: N/A
State: Virginia
Photographers: Dorothy Potter and Michael Pulice
Date Photographed: March 2017 and September 23, 2019
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 7. Carnegie Hall front (south) elevation, looking north-northwest.
2 of 7. Carnegie Hall, looking north.
3 of 7. Carnegie Hall, side elevation, looking east-northeast.
4 of 7. Carnegie Hall, rear (west) elevation, looking south-southeast.
5 of 7. Carnegie Hall, first floor of east section, interior of center hall with original staircase
at left, looking south.
6 of 7. Carnegie Hall, second floor of west section, interior of central hall with original
staircase at left, looking south.
7 of 10. Carnegie Hall, typical enclosed staircase with handrail and carpeting.
8 of 10. Carnegie Hall, typical refinished interior corridor with carpeting, lighting, and
partially dropped ceiling.
9 of 7. Carnegie Hall, basement of central section, interior of central hall looking north
toward rear entry.
10 of 10. Carnegie Hall, basement level, refinished interior with linoleum flooring, nonhistoric partition walls, and dropped ceiling with fluorescent lighting.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time
for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this
burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849
C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 25
LOCATION MAP
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118‐5470‐0002
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Latitude: 37.398893
Longitude: 79.182489
A – Carnegie Hall, contributing building
4
Historic
Boundary
A
3
1
SKETCH MAP/ PHOTO KEY
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR No. 118‐5470‐0002
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
AERIAL
LegendVIEW OF CARNEGIE
HALL AND UNIVERSITY QUAD
DHR Easements
Carnegie
Hall
County
Boundaries
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
Carnegie Hall
Title:
Date: 2/19/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA; DHR No. 118-5470-0002
TH O
MA
SR
D
MCCAUSLAND ST
CAMPUS MAP 2019-20
LAKEWOOD ST
WESTWO
ST
HOBBSSIGLER
DILLARD
FINE ARTS
CENTER
PSYCHOLOGY
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IEW
SV
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BE
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DR
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DRYSDALE
STUDENT CENTER
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MON
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COLLEGE LAKE
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LAKESIDE DR (RT 221)
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Ground Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - First Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Second and Third Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
West Section
Central Section
Central Section
East Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Attic Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the lnterior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the Nationdl Register oJ Historic Plqces Registrcttion Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, ând areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
VLR Listed: 6/18/2020
NRHP Listed: 8/17/2020
1. Name of Properfy
Historic name Cnrneoie FIall
',tR-5470-000?
Other names/site number VDI{R 1
Name of related multiple property listing:
A
(Enter "N/4" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2.
Location
Street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA
Vicinity:
Not For Publication: N/A
3.
: Independent
City
N/A
StateÆederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority undcr thc National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
this X
nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
I hereby certify that
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
In my opinion, the property X meets
recommend that this property be considered significant atthe following level(ç) of
significance:
X
statewide
_national
local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_x_A
B
XC
_D
Date
ture of certifying officiaUTitle:
of Historic Resource
Virsinia
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
x
meets
_
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Date
Signature of commenting official:
Title:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
______1_______
______0_______
buildings
______0_______
______0_______
sites
______0_______
______0_______
structures
______0_______
______0_______
objects
______1_______
______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0_____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: Education-related: College Dormitory
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: Education-related: Academic Building
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
__________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
__________________
___________________
__________________
__________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK; CONCRETE; WOOD
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Designed in the Colonial Revival style and completed in 1909, Carnegie Hall is the second oldest
extant academic building at the University of Lynchburg. Built on a raised basement, this
freestanding rectangular, three-story building, constructed of brick in five-course Flemish variant
bond, is situated on the western edge of the main campus on a site that slopes to the west and the
north. The hip-roofed building has three separate entrances, each reached by a short flight of
concrete steps. Each of the entrances has a portico covered by a low-pitched roof, supported by
four Tuscan columns in pairs supporting the roof near the stairs, while single Tuscan pilasters
flank each entrance. A plain square balustrade connects the pilasters and columns. Each portico
features a modillion cornice above a wide, plain frieze. The architraves on the east and west
porticos are unadorned, while the center one bears the words CARNEGIE HALL. Each entry
features an original transom and sidelights and is surmounted by a splayed jack arch and
keystone. A keystone and jack arch is centered above each window opening. Multiple-light
window sashes light the basement, which is accessed via poured concrete steps at multiple points
of entry on the south façade and north (rear) elevation. The building’s hipped roof has a
modillion course and symmetrically spaced dormer windows, also featuring modillions, on the
north and south slopes. Save for the replacement of the original sash windows, the building’s
exterior has seen few changes. The interior has been remodeled several times, most notably when
the building’s function changed from student housing to office space, but the interior floor plan
remains largely unaltered. The building’s integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association
are very high, while the integrity of design, workmanship, and materials are slightly diminished
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
by loss of the original window sash and interior alterations to finishes and space usages.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Exterior Description
Carnegie Hall is the second oldest extant academic building at the University of Lynchburg.
Designed by Edward Graham Frye in the Colonial Revival style, construction began in 1908, and
the building was completed in 1909. It is located on the western edge of the main campus. This
three-story, hipped-roofed building, constructed of load-bearing brick in five-course Flemish
variant bond, occupies a site that slopes to the west and north. The asbestos tiles that historically
covered the roof have been replaced with tiles of a composition considered to be more
environmentally friendly. The raised basement is a continuation of the concrete foundation, and
it has always been painted grey. It is surrounded by a concrete walkway, although the areas
closest to the south and north fronts of the building are planted with grass and shrubbery.
On the south façade, there are three separate main entrances to Carnegie Hall, each reached by a
short flight of seven concrete steps, ending at a concrete slab. A metal safety rail, painted black,
is anchored to the first and seventh steps. Each of the concrete slabs forms the base of a portico,
which is protected by a low-pitched roof covered with composition shingles. Four wooden
Tuscan columns placed in pairs on the right and left front corners of the bases support the roof.
There are single Tuscan pilasters joined to the brick wall at the outer edges of the concrete slabs.
Between the columns and pilasters on each portico are plain wooden handrails, each covering
seventeen plain box balusters. A keystone above each entrance is framed by jack arches. The
tympanum on each portico pediment is unadorned except for eight modillions, four each on the
legs of the triangle. Under the fascia board a modillion course extends along each side of the
three porticoes. The architraves on the east and west sections are blank, but that on the second
section bears the words CARNEGIE HALL in black capital letters. The asbestos tiles that
historically covered the roofs of the three porticos have been replaced with tiles of a composition
considered to be more environmentally friendly. A fourth entry is located under the central
portico. It gives access to the basement and is reached by two eight-step concrete staircases on
either side of the portico. There are metal handrails painted black on either side of each staircase.
The sidelights on either side of each of the main entrances as well as the transoms above each
door date from 1909. Both the sidelights and transoms contain eight panes of glass. The original
doors, which were not secure, have been replaced with metal security doors, each with a window
of double-glazed safety glass fitted with false muntins to create the appearance of six separate
panes.
There are fifty-five windows on Carnegie Hall’s south facade. During the 1980s, all of the
building’s original window sashes were replaced with new window sashes that contain storm
windows. The window openings were not altered, with concrete sills and splayed jack arches
with keystones retained. On the basement level, there are six windows piercing the concrete
raised foundation; five of them are within window wells due to the site’s sloping character. The
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
first window on the eastern end of the building has opaque glass because it gives light to the
women’s lavatory. The sixth window on the western end of the building is at ground level. The
tops of the six basement-level windows abut the first story’s lowest course of bricks. The fortytwo window openings on the first, second, and third stories all have keystones flanked by jack
arches, which terminate at the outer edge of each window. There are two single windows above
each portico, making a total of six, and there are eighteen sets of paired windows, making for
thirty-six double-hung sashes
Above the third story, there is a garret under the hipped roof, which is pierced by seven dormers.
Two dormers are over the east and west sections and three over the central section. Each dormer
has a double-hung sash with 12-over-12 lights and a modillion course that matches those on the
porticos and the main roof. An interior chimney rises from the east and west ends of the roof, but
they are purely decorative. There is a drainpipe between the first and second sections, and
another between the second and third sections.
The east side of Carnegie Hall has eight windows. The two on the basement level are above
ground and contain louvers on their upper portions to provide ventilation to a storage room. They
are set in the concrete raised foundation and the tops of the windows abut the first-story’s lowest
course of bricks. The six windows of the first, second, and third stories have splayed jack arches
and keystones above the midpoint of each sash. Drainpipes are at the north and south corners.
On the north (rear) elevation, there are two entrances to Carnegie Hall on the basement level.
The entry to the building’s east section has a metal door with a narrow panel of security glass in
its upper half, and it is covered with a metal-roofed canopy. The entry to the central section has a
cased opening with a double door and an oversized paneled sidelight with three large rectangular
lights. A 6-light transom tops the entry. The door has a single light with false muntins to create
the appearance of six separate lights. A braced metal canopy is above this entrance.
Within the concrete raised foundation, the easternmost basement window on the rear elevation is
fitted with opaque glass because it provides light to the men’s lavatory. Also on this level there is
a single double-hung window in the center of the middle section, and another one in the center of
the west section. A window with paired sash is at the east end of the middle section, while the
west section has two paired windows flanking the central window.
Each section of Carnegie Hall’s upper stories has three single windows flanked by paired
windows, for a total of five windows on each floor and fifteen windows on each section, for a
total of forty-five windows. All these windows have keystones flanked by jack arches.. The
keystones of the nine single double-hung windows are above the midpoint of the window sash,
while the keystones of the eighteen sets of double windows are located at the midpoint of the two
sashes.
Above the third story is a garret under the hipped roof and fenestration identical with that on the
building’s façade. The seven dormers piercing the roof have double-hung sashes, each with 12over-12 lights, and a modillion course that matches those on the porticos and the main roof. A
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
drainpipe is located between the east and central sections, and another between the central and
west sections.
The west side of Carnegie Hall has ten window openings. The four on the basement level are
above ground, and because they are set in the concrete portion of the building, the tops of the
windows abut the lowest course of bricks on the first story. The six windows on the first, second,
and third stories have keystones above the midpoint of each sash and splayed jack arches. There
are two drainpipes, one on the south corner of the west side, and one on the north side
Interior Description
Basement
The basement of Carnegie Hall currently is the location of Information Technologies and
Resources, the computer center of the University of Lynchburg. It has three doors that can be
secured against unauthorized entry during the hours when personnel are not on duty. One door is
on the south façade under the central portico. It is windowless and features a sign with the words
Information Technologies and Resources. It opens into a short hall and to the right are two small
offices, and to the left is a large service area. A central corridor traverses the length of the
basement on an east-west axis. At the eastern end are two lavatories with a large storage area
between them. The corridor on its western end terminates at an office, and there is also a short
hall that leads to a storage area on the south side of Carnegie Hall. On the north side are offices,
while on the south side are a workshop, a storage area, and the executive secretary’s office.
Today there is no access to the upper floors from the basement. On the north (rear) elevation, the
two entries give access to different parts of the computer center, which is divided by non-historic
partition walls. The metal door in the middle of the east section has a narrow window, while the
large windows in the double doors on the north (rear) side of the central section provide
abundant light to the interior.
First Floor
The first floor’s interior layout has changed since Carnegie Hall was constructed in 1909, as
shown on the attached floor plans. Of the three sections, the east is the least altered, retaining
original partition walls and door openings. The east section contains four offices to accommodate
eight faculty members. Each office has two recessed bookcases made from converted closets.
The offices have replacement security doors, each with a small window on the upper third of the
door. The central staircase and a unisex lavatory are in the center hall.
The central section contains two offices on the right side of the entrance to house four faculty
members and three offices are to the left of the entrance. The left front and rear offices are for
faculty members, while the windowless central office houses the departmental secretary. A door
connects the front office and the secretary’s office. The offices have recessed bookcases and
security doors identical to those in the east section. A central staircase and a unisex lavatory are
in the center hall.
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The west section is devoted to administration functions. The entrance opens to the center hall,
which has the original staircase and unisex lavatory. The room to the right of the entrance is
subdivided into a mailroom with a printer/copier and a space used for storing office supplies. The
two offices on the left side of the entrance are joined by a narrow internal corridor, with the
larger rear office allocated to a divisional administrator and the front office to the secretary of
that faculty member. In the right rear is a divisional conference room. The closets in the
secretary’s office, that of the administrator, and the conference room have folding louvered
doors.
Interior finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade carpeting, dropped
ceilings with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
Second and Third Floors
The second and third floors largely retain their original layouts, except in the west section. Each
section retains its original central hall with staircase. In the central section, the third-floor
staircase has been closed and no longer leads up to the attic. On the second floor, the lavatories
on the north (rear) wall have been converted to house mechanical equipment, while the third
floor retains a unisex lavatory in each section. Combined, the three sections on the two floors
contain office space for up to forty-eight persons. Departmental chairs are given private offices,
thus lowering the total number of available spaces, but some offices house three junior faculty
members or adjuncts. In the west section, offices to the left of the central hall are subdivided to
create private rooms for senior faculty members.
On the south (front) side of the building in the center of each section is an enclosed space with a
single front-facing window; some of these are fitted with a partition wall and a door that can be
locked. These compact rooms are used for a departmental student secretary or a copier.
As on the first floor, interior finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade
carpeting, dropped ceilings with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
Garret
In 1966, the fourth floor of Carnegie Hall was altered with removal of the non-load-bearing walls
that historically divided the east, central, and west sections. A central, east-west corridor now
traverses this floor on an east-west axis. The interior space has been divided with drywall
partitions into thirteen small offices for faculty members and space has been provided for a
printer/copier. Each office has a security door with window. A storage area in the east section is
next to the staircase that leads down to the third floor. There is no lavatory on the fourth floor;
faculty members must use the facility on the third floor of either the east section or west section,
as there is no longer stair access from the attic’s central section down to the third floor. Interior
finishes are typical of modern office spaces, with commercial grade carpeting, dropped ceilings
with fluorescent light fixtures, and painted walls.
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_______________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909–1967________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1909_______________
1966–1967__________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.
___N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
___N/A____________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Frye, Edward Graham
Jones and Adams
__________________
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The University of Lynchburg is the second oldest co-educational institution in Virginia, and the
construction of Carnegie Hall was an important step in the founders’ realization of creating
separate spheres for men and women students. Designed in the Colonial Revival style and
completed in 1909, Carnegie Hall is the second-oldest extant academic building at the University
of Lynchburg. The construction of a dormitory for men with its own dining room was meant to
limit further the contact between the sexes to the chapel, the classroom, and carefully chaperoned
social events. The unusual design of the building with its three separate sections was supposed to
limit communication among the men, but the removal of the separate dining room, which was
expensive and impractical, provided space for the Men’s Dormitory Government, which was
created in 1918 to seek consensus from their entire constituency. Over the next half-century, the
student experience at Carnegie Hall evolved along with modernization of the college experience.
For its association with the school’s early- to mid-twentieth century educational practices,
Carnegie Hall is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Education. As a fine example
of the Colonial Revival style, featuring character-defining features such as red brick walls, white
trim, classically-inspired ornamentation, and symmetrical fenestration, the building is locally
significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The property’s period of significance
begins with its completion in 1909 and ends in 1967 when its original function as a men’s
dormitory ended.
____________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education
Carnegie Hall is locally significant in the area of Education for its association with coeducational
practices developed at Virginia Christian College during the early twentieth century and with the
modernization of the college experience between 1909 and 1967. Coeducation was still
considered experimental by many educators and the general public when, in 1909, Carnegie Hall
became the first dormitory built on the campus of the then-Virginia Christian College (later
Lynchburg College from 1919-2018 and now the University of Lynchburg). The building’s
completion shifted the axis of the college from Westover Hall on the eastern edge of campus to
the western edge where Carnegie Hall stood within a few yards of the main academic building,
Hopwood Hall (118-0152; NRHP 2017). Thus, the physical separation of male and female
students was increased; their contacts were limited to the classroom, the chapel, and carefully
chaperoned social events. By removing male students from Westover Hall, a former hotel that
was the college’s first building, the college’s founders, Dr. Josephus Hopwood and his wife,
Sarah La Rue Hopwood, sought to create a safe and productive living environment for the varied
activities of the men.
During the Civil War, Josephus Hopwood served as a private in Company L of the 7th Illinois
Cavalry and perhaps consciously or unconsciously, he drew on his military experience for the
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
design that emerged from his consultation with the architect, Edward Graham Frye. With its
interior spatial arrangement, the dormitory might well have been described as a barracks for
three platoons of a cavalry troop.
In the June 1909 issue of The Light, the Virginia Christian College magazine, President
Hopwood described Carnegie Hall in glowing terms: “…The dormitory is especially designed to
be most convenient to prevent crowds from massing in one hall, to lessen noise and be safe from
fire. Two solid brick walls cross the building from basement to roof, hence there are three
distinct sections.” 1 Each section was designed to house approximately twenty-eight men (or, to
continue the analogy, one platoon).
In his final design, architect Edward Graham Frye incorporated President Hopwood’s ideas for
subtly managing the behavior of the male residents. Behind its Colonial Revival brick façade
was a building whose simplicity and creative use of space was devoid of waste. Each dormitory
room had essentially the same floor plan, the only difference being the number and placement of
windows. This economy of space extended to the common areas, like the shower room and
lavatories, giving the building an air of military order and efficiency. Twice the building actually
served as an army barracks. From October 1918 until December 1919, members of the Student
Army Training Corps occupied it, 2 and from March 1943 until May 1944, it served the needs of
the Army Air Force Training Corps. 3
The only other contemporary dormitory space on the campus of Virginia Christian College was
in Westover Hall, which served as a residence until it was razed in 1970. With Carnegie Hall’s
completion, Westover became a women’s dormitory. The two-story former hotel’s floor plan
was such that a housemother could have a view of all the rooms from a central point. 4 Built in
the Queen Anne style, however, the building had rooms of different shapes and sizes, depending
on their location within the building, including bathrooms on each floor. Westover Hall
resembled Main Hall at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, as both were Queen Anne
buildings, with Westover constructed in 1890 and Main in 1892. Thus, Westover Hall’s
architectural character and interior spatial arrangements was quite unlike Carnegie Hall’s, where
students had uniformly sized and arranged rooms.
The sense of community students experienced at Carnegie Hall during its fifty-seven years as a
men’s dormitory is worthy of note. The spirit of being part of an extended family is confirmed by
former residents of Carnegie Hall, the youngest of whom are now in their early seventies. Their
sense of cohesion and sharing involved creating an important learning environment on campus.
Students studied together, played together, and helped each other reach their individual potential.
Although rivalry existed among residents of the dorm’s three sections, this friendly competition
The Light. Lynchburg, Virginia: Virginia Christian College, June 1909, p. 3.
This was during the administration of Dr. John T.T. Hundley (1915-1936).
3
The Argonaut (yearbook of Lynchburg College), Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1919, pp. 71-73; Wake, p.
271.This was during the administration of D. Riley B. Montgomery (1936-1949).
4
Edmund D. Potter. “From Resort to College Building: The Functions and Meaning of Westover Hall,” M.A.,
Thesis, Architectural History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1995, p. 34.
1
2
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
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OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
only strengthened the cohesion that made them the men of Carnegie Hall. Likewise, from 1909
until 1966, Carnegie Hall played a role in the expansion and modernization of the college
experience for the hundreds of young men who lived there. From this environment emerged
hundreds of teachers on all levels, including at least three college presidents. 5 Alumni also
included ministers serving all the major Protestant denominations as parish clergymen as well as
military chaplains. 6 Future lawyers, judges, and public servants, both elected and appointed,
spent their college years as residents of Carnegie Hall. 7
Criterion C: Architecture
Carnegie Hall is locally significant in the area of Architecture as a fine example of Colonial
Revival design. It is among the many creative works of architect Edward Graham Frye (18701942). A native of Bristol, Tennessee, Frye moved to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1886 where he
worked as a draftsman for architect George Moser. Around 1892 Frye established his own office
in Lynchburg. In 1901 Frye formed a partnership with architectural draftsman Aubrey
Chesterman (1874-1937); in 1913, the pair relocated from Lynchburg to Roanoke Most of their
early commissions were for private residences. In 1905 they had a chance to design their first
public building—Lynchburg’s Jones Memorial Library (118-0153; NRHP 1980), which was
completed in 1908. That same year Frye used a similar, but more space-efficient plan of the
library for Hopwood Hall (118-0152; NRHP 2017), the first academic building at Virginia
Christian College. The Board of Trustees were so pleased with it that they awarded Frye the
contract for “The Boys’ Home,” later designated as Carnegie Hall.
In addition to the two campus buildings and the city’s library, the prolific and successful Frye
and his partner, Chesterman, were responsible for the designs of the Academy of Music (1180001; NRHP 1969); the Aviary (118-0155; NRHP 1980) in Lynchburg’s Miller Park, three
Queen Anne dwellings in Lynchburg’s Garland Hill Historic District (118-0026; NRHP 1972);
the Roanoke (Virginia) City Hall and Jail; the W. W. Boxley Office Building (128-0047; NRHP
1984) in Roanoke; the Arts-and-Crafts influenced Pen-Y-Bryn, the first mansion built within
Alleghany County’s Luke Mountain Historic District (003-5006; NRHP 1998); three buildings,
the Masonic Theatre, Alleghany Building, and Carpenter & Boxley Building, in the Clifton
Forge Commercial Historic District (105-0017; NRHP 1992); and assorted residences and
churches in the Lynchburg and Roanoke regions. In 1908, Frye and Chesterman designed the
Charles Cocke Memorial Library Building at Hollins College (080-0055; NRHP 1984). Located
at the south end of the college’s quadrangle, the two-story, brick, Neo-Classical building features
a full-height, centered Ionic portico on both its façade and rear elevation and a shallow-hipped
roof with full entablature. The diversity of architectural styles employed by Frye’s projects
5
Riley B. Montgomery, 1919 (Lynchburg College, 1936-1949); Orville W. Wake , 1932 (Lynchburg College, 19491964); Fred Helsabeck, 1929 (Culver Stockton College, 1956-1973).
6
The Rev. Dr. Howard Kester, 1925, was an early leader in the movement to end segregation. Col. Maury Hundley,
1938, served his whole career as a chaplain in the United States Army.
7
Ralph B. Shank, 1927, practiced law in Texas, and while a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Christian
University led the successful effort to integrate that university.
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
demonstrate his skill as a designer and his thorough understanding of classically-derived design
principles.
Colonial Revival design has been immensely popular in Virginia since the 1890s. Informed by
the preceding Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles, Colonial Revival also was based on
academic studies of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The balance and symmetry that
characterized Colonial Revival style was a counterpoint to the exuberant styles of the Victorian
era, such as Second Empire, Queen Anne, Eastlake, and Italianate. In Virginia, other characterdefining features such as red brick walls, white trim, classically-inspired ornamentation,
multiple-pane window sash, and symmetrical fenestration, are found on countless buildings
throughout the Commonwealth. 8 The primary entrance typically is highlighted with columned
entrance porticoes, pilasters, sidelights and transoms, and pediments. Most of these
characteristics are present on Carnegie Hall, the exterior of which has changed little since its
completion in 1909.
Figure 1. Postcard View of Lynchburg College, 1915-1930, with Carnegie Hall at Left.
Chris Novelli et al., Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940 (Richmond:
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015), 88-91.
8
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OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 2. Carnegie Hall in 1958 (Image Courtesy of University of Lynchburg Archives).
Carnegie Hall is contemporary to four Colonial Revival dormitories located in the Sweet Briar
College Historic District (005-0219; NRHP 1995) in Amherst County, Carson Resident Hall was
completed in 1906. Three stories high, it contains single, double, and triple rooms. Gray Hall
also was completed in 1906; it, like Carnegie, has been converted into faculty offices. Completed
in 1908, Randolph Residence Hall has four stories, and contains single and double rooms.
Manson Residence Hall was completed in 1910, is four stories high, and contains single, double,
triple, and quad rooms. Each dormitory has rooms of varying sizes. The amenities provided for
women were more accessible and less spartan than those that served the needs of the men in
Carnegie Hall.
During the 1980s, Carnegie’s Hall original window sash were gradually replaced with the extant
multiple-light sash with storm windows. A 1980 photograph of the building shows the original
sash.
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 3. Carnegie Hall in 1980 (Image courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources)
Historical Background
Carnegie Hall, 1909-1967
At the urging of the Rev. Frank Bullard, who was one of his former students, Dr. Josephus
Hopwood and four associates 9 purchased the vacant Westover Hotel just outside the city limits
of Lynchburg, Virginia, and in April 1903 opened Virginia Christian College, 10 the second oldest
co-educational senior college founded as such in the Commonwealth. 11 During his tenure as
president, which lasted until 1911, Dr. Hopwood secured funding for the construction of a
classroom building that would, in 1953, be named in his and his wife’s honor, and a men’s
dormitory named for the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who donated money
9 Josephus Hopwood, A Journey Through the Years, St. Louis, Missouri, 1932, p. 97. Frank F. Bullard, Charles
Givens, J.W. Giles, and Irvin Miller were leaders in the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
10
Ibid, p.v96.
11
Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, was founded in 1880 as the first co-educational senior college in
Virginia. Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, VA: Bridgewater College, 2016, p.v10; S. Allen Chambers
Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The University Press of Virginia, 1981, p.v302.
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Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
for it. 12 Dr. Hopwood permitted the male students to clear the area for a baseball field on level
ground that would become a construction site in 1908. The funds raised from the sale of the
wood were used to grade the cleared land and purchase uniforms and equipment. 13 When
construction was begun on Hopwood Hall and Carnegie Hall, another field was cleared to the
west of the new dormitory for use by the baseball team. The oldest extant picture of Carnegie
Hall shows the building under construction early in 1909 with the baseball team in the
foreground. Dr. Hopwood referred to the completed structure, which was built for $20,000.00, as
the “Boys’ Home.” 14 Since 1911 it has been known officially as Carnegie Hall in recognition of
Andrew Carnegie, whose gift made its construction possible.
Carnegie was noted for building libraries; in fact, their construction was the central focus of his
philanthropy. When Dr. Hopwood applied to him for financial support, Carnegie offered to
construct a library for Virginia Christian College, until Hopwood informed him that the college
already had one. What was needed was a men’s dormitory. It required some persuasion, but
Carnegie finally agreed to grant Hopwood’s request, on the condition that the debt of the College
be retired. That was done quickly. The only collections of books in Carnegie Hall were those in
the rooms of the men who lived there from 1909 until 1966, and those belonging to the faculty
members who still inhabit this building that Andrew Carnegie financed.
Between 1911 and 1915, the college had four presidents, Dr. S.T. Willis (1911-1912), G.O Davis
(1912-1914), George P. Coler (1914-1915) who died suddenly, and finally Dr. John T. T.
Hundley, whose term would prove to be the longest in the history of the college. 15 Before his
retirement in 1936, Dr. Hundley changed the focus of the college. In 1919 Virginia Christian
College became Lynchburg College, and with the endorsement of the Board of Trustees he
transformed the college from a seminary into a liberal arts institution. 16 In 1923 Memorial
Gymnasium was given to Lynchburg College by the city in memory of local servicemen who
died in World War I. 17
Dr. Hundley’s successor was Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, an alumnus of the college. With the
beginning of World War II, most of the male students joined the armed services, and with a
shrinking student body, Lynchburg College faced the possibility of closure. However, Dr.
Montgomery prevented that from happening by making the college and its resources available to
the armed services as a training facility. 18 With the end of the war in 1945 and the
Dorothy T. Potter. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
College, 1978, p.v24; Chambers, pp.v366-367; Orville W. Wake, The First Fifty Years, A History of Lynchburg
College, 1903-1953, (doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1957), p.91.
13
Hopwood, pp. 99-100.
14
Ibid, p. 107.
15
Mervyn W. Williamson. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg College, 1978,
p.11.
16
Ibid.
17
Potter, Jubilee, p.24.
18
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
12
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Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
implementation of the G.I. Bill, 19 the enrollment crisis was at an end. By 1948 the student body
had reached 400, eight times its size in 1936, 20 and in order to gain classroom space the library
was moved from Hopwood Hall to one of four Quonset Huts constructed on campus from 1946
to 1948. 21 .
Dr. Orville W. Wake, another alumnus, led the college from 1949 until 1964. During his tenure
President Wake oversaw the construction of the Knight Library (1954), a new women’s
dormitory, Hundley Hall (1954), Hobbs Hall (1959), and two men’s dormitories, Freer Hall
(1963) and Shackelford Hall (1963). With the completion of Hobbs Hall in the spring of 1959,
the biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics departments vacated the ground floor of
Hopwood Hall, and thus began the first refurbishing of the entire building, which was completed
in 1960. 22
Dr. Carey Brewer, another alumnus, became the seventh president of Lynchburg College in 1964.
During his nineteen-year presidency a new building was constructed, renovated, or repurposed
on an average every eighteen months. The completion of McWane Hall in the summer of 1966,
allowed the conversion of Carnegie Hall from a dormitory into a faculty office building to begin.
During the first six years of its existence, all functions connected with the operation of Virginia
Christian College were contained in Westover Hall. 23 The sexes were separated, except for close
relatives, in the dining hall and in classes, and their dormitory rooms were on different floors
reached by separate staircases. On June 20, 1905, President Josephus Hopwood made a case to
the Board of Trustees for the necessity of building a residence hall for male students, which
would also contain dining and bathing facilities. 24 With the completion of the “Boys’ Home,” the
main dining room could be reserved for the exclusive use of female students and faculty
members, while the male students would take their meals in the basement of the new dormitory.
After the Hopwoods’ departure in 1911, this arrangement was abandoned, having proven both
logistically impractical and too expensive.
The shower area on the basement floor of the first section of Carnegie Hall was in use from 1909
until 1966, but the rest of the basement floor was divided into offices and meeting rooms, which
were in use until 1954, when the first floor of the second section was remodeled to create an
apartment for the College dietician and her family. At that time the staircase that led from the
first floor of the second section to the basement floor was removed.
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the last major New Deal piece of legislation, and it is usually
known as the GI Bill.
20
Williamson, Jubilee, p.13.
21
Potter, Jubilee, p.25.
22
Ibid. pp.25-26.
23
Chambers, pp.299-301. Built in 1890 as the Intermont Hotel, the building was renamed the Westover Hotel to
recognize its importance as the central structure in the suburban development known as the Westover Land
Company.
24
Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Virginia Christian College.MS, Knight-Capron Library, University of
Lynchburg, vol. I, p. 27.
19
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
A window on the western end of the third section was replaced with a door that gave access to
the College Business Office, which was moved into Carnegie Hall that same year. This
department could be secured after hours by a newly installed security door. Students living in the
first and third sections could access the shower room by inside staircases, but the residents of the
second section could do so only by using the stairs in the first and third sections, or by means of
the door on the rear of the building, which gave direct access to the shower room.
When Carnegie Hall was converted into faculty offices in 1966-1967, the basement floor was
completely reconfigured. The shower room was converted into two restrooms, while the internal
non-weightbearing walls were moved to accommodate the print shop and the expanded Business
Office. The print shop relocated to the newly constructed Maintenance Building in 1972, while
the Business Office moved to the Hall Campus Center in 1981. The door in the western end of
Carnegie Hall’s third section was restored again to a window, while the basement level was used
for classes in computer science. By the early 1990s the entire computer program was housed on
this level of Carnegie Hall. Once again, non-load bearing walls were moved to create offices and
a computer service center.
From 1909 until 1954, each of the three sections of the first floor of Carnegie Hall contained
accommodations for eight men. Each section had a lavatory, and a staircase facing and to the left
of the lavatory gave access to the ground floor shower room. The staircase facing the main
entrance continued to the three upper floors. Each of the rooms has a set of double sash
windows, except those on the east and west ends of the building. These rooms have three
windows: a set of double sash windows facing either north or south, and a single window on
either the east or the west wall. Each sash had eighteen panes of glass, nine up and nine down.
There was a closet against the inner wall for each dorm resident, thus two closets per room.
In the summer of 1954, the entire first floor of the second section of Carnegie Hall and the two
rooms on the left side of the entrance of the first section were converted to an apartment for the
College dietician and her family. The non-weight bearing wall that separated the two rooms on
the left side of the entrance of second section was removed to create a living room/dining room
and a small kitchen. The end of the hall was blocked by a temporary wall. The staircase that led
to the ground floor was removed, and a closet was created under the staircase that still gave
access to the upper floors. The lavatory was converted to a full bathroom. The closets in the two
rooms on the right side of the main entrance were removed. A door was created in the wall of the
rear right side room, which gave access to the rear room on the left side of the hall of the first
section. The closets were retained in the rooms in the first section, and a door was created,
allowing passage from one room to the other.
These changes reduced the number of students on the first floor of Carnegie by half. There were
eight students living in third section, none in second section, and only four in first section. (The
numbers of students on the other floors were unchanged). During the fifty-seven years that
Carnegie Hall served as a men’s dormitory, the second and third floors were not altered. Each
section of those two floors provided housing for eight students, making a total of forty-eight.
Students living on the upper floors of center section could only reach the shower room by using
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the stairs in sections one and three, or by using the rear outside entrance of the shower room.
Also in 1954, a new dormitory, Hundley Hall, opened for women. The third floor of Westover
Hall was reconverted into a dormitory for men.
The garret of the first section of Carnegie Hall contained a storage area for luggage and a large
dormitory room that could accommodate up to four students, but there were only three closets. A
lavatory faced the staircase. The garret of the second section of Carnegie Hall contained two
large dormitory rooms, one for three students with three closets. The second room could
accommodate four men, but it only had three closets. The residents of these two rooms shared a
lavatory. The garret of the third section of Carnegie Hall had two dormitory rooms. One was
large enough to house three students, each having a closet. The second room was only large
enough for two men, and there was no closet. These two rooms shared a lavatory.
In the summer of 1966, the conversion of Carnegie Hall into faculty offices began, and the work
was completed in 1967. The faculty moved into the former men’s dormitory in the fall of that
year. Because the building was usually empty in the evenings, the fire escapes that had been
installed in 1909 on the rear of the building were removed. The benches that had been placed
against the railings on either side of the three main entrances were not replaced.
In 1966-1967 when Carnegie Hall was converted to faculty offices, most of the changes were
cosmetic. Closets became recessed bookcases, security doors were substituted for the worn and
damaged originals, new lighting fixtures replaced low level ceiling lights, and carpeting was
installed throughout each of the sections. However, there were other changes that would prove
costly and time-consuming. From 1909 to 1966, radiators provided heating for each room; these
were replaced by a forced air system supplying heat as well as air conditioning to all sections.
The basement level was completely reconfigured to create a secure environment for the business
office, print shop, and later, information technology services. When the fourth floor was
converted into faculty offices, the replacement of weight-bearing supports was necessary to
permit continuous access from the first section to third section. To keep costs for this renovation
within budget it was decided to leave the original window sashes in place for the time being,
after replacing all cracked or broken panes. Over time this decision proved not to be cost
effective, because the windows leaked heat in cold months and cooled air on hot days, causing
the forced air system to work overtime. This proved very expensive to maintain. Therefore, by
the mid-1980s, all the original window sashes had been replaced with new sashes with storm
windows, which have proven efficient, creating a more comfortable workplace while conserving
energy.
Today, the southern front of Carnegie Hall faces the northern facade of Dillard Fine Arts Center
across an oval lawn planted with trees and shrubbery native to Virginia. To alumni it appears as
it did twenty-five, fifty, or seventy-five years ago. Visitors still ask why there are three identical
entrances, and some student guides know why, while others do not. The seasons come and go,
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
but the bond shared by generations of Carnegie Men remains part of the core values that earned
for the University of Lynchburg a place among Colleges that Change Lives. 25
25
Hillary Masell Oswald, ed. Colleges that Change Lives. 4th ed. New York: Penguin, 2012, pp.79-85.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Bridgewater College Catalogue. Bridgewater, Va.: Bridgewater College, 2016.
Chambers, S. Allen Jr. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville, Va.: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
The Critograph. Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1915-. (The college newspaper).
Eubank, Carolyn A. and Betty C. McKinney. Lynchburg College: More Than Books and
Bricks. Virginia Beach, Va.: The Dowling Company, Publishers, 2006.
Hopwood, Josephus. A Journey Through the Years. St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, 1932.
Novelli, Chris, et al. Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to
1940. Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Oswald, Hillary Masell, ed. Colleges that Change Lives. 4th ed., New York: Penguin, 2012.
Potter, Edmund D. “From Resort to College Building: The Functions and Meanings of
Westover Hall,” M.A., Thesis, Architectural History, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia, 1995.
Potter, Dorothy T. “Walls and Halls, An Architectural Study,” Jubilee, 1903-1978.
Lynchburg, Va.: Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.23-46.
Wake, Orville W. The First Fifty Years: A History of Lynchburg College. Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Virginia, 1957.
Wells, John E. & Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical
Dictionary. Richmond, Virginia: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Williamson, Mervyn W. “Begin the Jubilee,” Jubilee, 1903-1978. Lynchburg, VA:
Lynchburg College, 1978, pp.6-19.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
__X_University
__X_ Other
Name of repository: Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA; University of
Lynchburg, Lynchburg, VA; Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ___DHR No. 118-5470-0002______
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property _Approximately .35 acre _
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates (decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.398893
Longitude: 79.182489
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 198
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary has been drawn to encompass only Carnegie Hall itself as well as a
narrow landscaped area that extends to the surrounding sidewalks. The true and correct
historic boundary is shown on the attached Sketch Map/Photo Key. The nominated parcel
boundary coincides precisely with the main sidewalk around the building.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
Carnegie Hall is surrounded by a series of sidewalks that give access to every entrance of the
building and provide a visible boundary between it and the rest of the main campus of the
University of Lynchburg.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Drs. Clifton and Dorothy Potter____________________
organization: University of Lynchburg________________________
street & number: 1501 Lakeside Drive________________________
city or town: Lynchburg _______state: VA__ zip code: 24501-3113______
e-mail: Potter.C@lynchburg.edu
telephone: (434) 384-8347__
date: February 2020_
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5- or 15-minute series) indicating the property's
location.
•
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
•
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered, and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo Log
Name of Property: Carnegie Hall, University of Lynchburg
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County: N/A
State: Virginia
Photographers: Dorothy Potter and Michael Pulice
Date Photographed: March 2017 and September 23, 2019
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 7. Carnegie Hall front (south) elevation, looking north-northwest.
2 of 7. Carnegie Hall, looking north.
3 of 7. Carnegie Hall, side elevation, looking east-northeast.
4 of 7. Carnegie Hall, rear (west) elevation, looking south-southeast.
5 of 7. Carnegie Hall, first floor of east section, interior of center hall with original staircase
at left, looking south.
6 of 7. Carnegie Hall, second floor of west section, interior of central hall with original
staircase at left, looking south.
7 of 10. Carnegie Hall, typical enclosed staircase with handrail and carpeting.
8 of 10. Carnegie Hall, typical refinished interior corridor with carpeting, lighting, and
partially dropped ceiling.
9 of 7. Carnegie Hall, basement of central section, interior of central hall looking north
toward rear entry.
10 of 10. Carnegie Hall, basement level, refinished interior with linoleum flooring, nonhistoric partition walls, and dropped ceiling with fluorescent lighting.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time
for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this
burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849
C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 25
LOCATION MAP
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118‐5470‐0002
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Latitude: 37.398893
Longitude: 79.182489
A – Carnegie Hall, contributing building
4
Historic
Boundary
A
3
1
SKETCH MAP/ PHOTO KEY
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, Virginia
DHR No. 118‐5470‐0002
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
AERIAL
LegendVIEW OF CARNEGIE
HALL AND UNIVERSITY QUAD
DHR Easements
Carnegie
Hall
County
Boundaries
University of Lynchburg
City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
Carnegie Hall
Title:
Date: 2/19/2020
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Carnegie Hall
City of Lynchburg, VA; DHR No. 118-5470-0002
TH O
MA
SR
D
MCCAUSLAND ST
CAMPUS MAP 2019-20
LAKEWOOD ST
WESTWO
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HOBBSSIGLER
DILLARD
FINE ARTS
CENTER
PSYCHOLOGY
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IEW
SV
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DR
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MON
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COLLEGE LAKE
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PLANT
LAKESIDE DR (RT 221)
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Ground Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - First Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Second and Third Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
West Section
Central Section
Central Section
East Section
East Section
N
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION - Attic Floor Plan Changes, 1909-Present
Carnegie Hall
University of Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, VA
DHR No. 118-5470-0002
West Section
Central Section
East Section
N
Text
VLR Listing - 3/17/2016
NRHP Listing - 5/16/2016
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Other names/site number: VDHR# 118-5495
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 12th Street (300 & 400 blocks), Church Street (1200 block), 1001 Commerce
Street, 1300 Court Street, Main Street (1000 block)
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA County: Independent City
Not For Publication:
N/A
Vicinity:
N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this x nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property x meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend
that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
x local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
x A
___B
x C
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
____11____
____7____
buildings
____0_____
____0____
sites
____0_____
____0____
structures
____0_____
____0____
objects
____11____
____7____
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE: financial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE: specialty store
TRANSPORTATION: road-related (vehicular)
Current Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE: financial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE: specialty store
HEALTH CARE: clinic
TRANSPORTATION: road-related (vehicular)
VACANT/NOT IN USE
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
NO STYLE
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne, New Formalism
Materials
FOUNDATION: BRICK, CONCRETE
WALLS: BRICK, STUCCO, CONCRETE, STONE (Granite)
ROOF: SYNTHETICS (Rubber), METAL (Tin)
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method
of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic
integrity.)
__________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District is located in the heart of the City of Lynchburg,
situated on a promontory overlooking the south bank of the James River. A dramatic grade change
separates Court House Hill from downtown. Listed in the NRHP in 2000, the original historic
district boundaries encompass 25 blocks along Clay, Court, Church, and Main streets between the
cross streets of 5th and 13th streets. In 2002, the boundaries were expanded to include a residential
area between Madison and Federal streets. The district includes commercial, religious, institutional,
governmental, and residential buildings dating from the early nineteenth century to the midtwentieth century. Historically and today, Court House Hill was the location of government
buildings, religious institutions, and residences, while downtown was the center of commerce and
finance. The boundary expansion that is the subject of this nomination includes 20 commercial
resources on Main, Commerce, Church, Court, and 12th streets within two areas – one on the east of
the original district and one southwest of the original district. Although discontiguous from one
another, each expansion area is historically and architecturally related to each other and to the
original district. Of the 18 resources, 11 are contributing. Ranging in date from 1850 to 1961, the
buildings are contiguous to the original historic district along the east and southwest boundaries and
relate to the historic functions and architectural character of downtown Lynchburg.
__________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Dating from 1850 to 1961, the 20 resources within the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
boundary expansion are commercial in function and relate well to the commercial enterprises and
financial institutions found in the downtown section of the original district. The expansion area
buildings range from small commercial shops, to a former automobile showroom and former grocery
store, to a multiple-story office building and parking garage. Generally, the buildings are one-to-two
stories and are of brick or concrete construction. While the Commercial style of the late nineteenth
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
and early twentieth centuries is predominant, several buildings reflect architectural trends
popularized after World War II, particularly Moderne and New Formalism.
The oldest resource in the expansion area is the former tobacco factory at 320 12th Street (118-54950005), which dates to the 1850s. Tobacco manufacturing was a major component of the Lynchburg
economy prior to the Civil War.1 In the late 1800s, more than nine tobacco factories lined the south
side of 12th Street, from Madison to Court Street. Today, 320 12th Street is one of two that remain
on the street. The two-story, three-bay building is an example of the Industrial Commercial style. As
the production of goods was the primary focus of this particular style, the building is utilitarian in
appearance with its plan shaped by the machinery and processes of the commercial enterprise. 2 The
building stands on a stacked stone foundation and features brick walls laid in five-course American
bond. A stepped brick parapet rises above the roof. After the tobacco factory closed in 1890, the
building was used as a feed store, a steam laundry, and a furniture store. The storefront windows
were likely added by one of these later users to display their goods to consumers.
The Main Street Commercial style—the dominant architectural style in downtown Lynchburg—is
represented in the boundary expansion, along 12th Street. Popular in Virginia from 1875 to 1940,
this style proliferated along major commercial routes across the nation. Designed to display and
provide goods directly to consumers, the facades of these buildings are characterized by large
storefront windows used to entice customers. The second or third floors often contained living
spaces for shop owners.3
The ca. 1925 Lynchburg Steam Bakery (118-5495-0009) at 422 12th Street is an example of the
Main Street Commercial style in the boundary expansion. Designed by Stanhope Johnson, this twostory commercial building stands on a concrete foundation and features brick walls laid in stretcher
bond. A stepped parapet with concrete coping borders the flat roof. Brick pilasters with concrete
caps divide the bays. A modillioned metal cornice crowns the building and a simpler cornice
surmounts the storefront. The storefront has been modified, with contemporary brick infill and an
aluminum storefront system in the space between the pilasters. Industrial steel windows are in each
second story bay. On the west side elevation, concrete panels separate the second-story windows
from the first-story steel clerestory windows. A canopy shelters the west side entrance with
“Lynchburg Steam Bakery, Inc.” on the sign above it.
Another example of the Main Street Commercial style in the boundary expansion area is the ca.
1910 building at 418 12th Street (118-5495-0008). This two-story building with a flat roof stands on
a brick foundation. The stuccoed front elevation features two commercial storefronts with recessed
central entrances flanked by canted display windows in wood frames. The storefront windows are
surmounted by spoked transoms. A simple wood cornice spans the top of the storefronts. Windows
with concrete sills line the second story.
After World War II, new trends in architectural design emerged, which impacted commercial
architecture throughout the nation. Both commercial and residential construction activity boomed
after the war due to pent up consumer demand, coupled by widespread economic prosperity.
Modernism came to the forefront during this period, with the transition to simpler forms and the
elimination of unnecessary ornament. The era gave rise to Modern styles, including Moderne,
International, Brutalism, and New Formalism. In addition, the widespread adoption of automobiles
for personal transportation led to auto-centric design to accommodate the car. Auto-related
businesses, such as auto dealerships and service stations, also proliferated.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Several resources within the boundary expansion were built between 1946 and 1961 and reflect these
design trends of the post-World War II era. The former Virginian Motors (118-5495-0010) at 1300
Court Street was built ca. 1946 in the Moderne style. The one-story building is covered by a flat roof
and features concrete block walls faced with light-colored brick. A projecting central tower with an
attached antenna punctuates its low rectangular mass. The Googie-style glass projection at the
northeast corner of the building was likely the automobile showroom. Steel industrial windows
provide light to the interior. Differentiated brickwork between the windows visually unifies the
fenestration and reinforces a sense of horizontality. The complex also includes a ca. 1955 filling
station.
The 1949 parking deck (118-5495-0011) at 1001 Commerce Street is a representative example of an
open-air concrete parking structure built in the mid-twentieth century. It appears to be one of the
earliest parking structures in downtown Lynchburg. The parking structure was designed by architect
David P. Wickline, Jr., and built by Fred B. Fuqua.
New Formalism, which combines classical elements with modern innovations, is a Modern style
found in the boundary expansion. It was a popular choice for banking institutions and small-scale
public and commercial buildings.4 The ca. 1960 building at 1016 Main Street (118-5011) is a smallscale commercial example of the style. The angular brick colonnade across its front elevation
embraces classical precedents. Another example is the ca. 1961 former First National Trust &
Savings Bank (118-5008) at 1010 Main Street, designed by Clark, Nexen & Owen. The building’s
blocky form and symmetrical elevations, dominated by thin pilasters separating narrow, recessed
windows, draws from classical elements to achieve a sense of modern monumentality. Its smooth
marble and granite surfaces also provide a luxurious quality. Projecting canopies shelter the front
and rear entrances, as well as the large windows along the base of the side elevations. The north side
elevation canopy extends out to create an overhang for the bank drive thru. In addition to embracing
the classical precedents found elsewhere in the district, these buildings also maintain the setback
established by surrounding buildings, continuing the rhythm of the street.
A row of four commercial buildings dating between 1913 and 1946 line the west side of Church
Street. A simple, contemporary façade of brick and metal spans the front elevations of all four
buildings. The façade was likely added shortly after the Mid-State Electrical Supply Company
acquired the buildings in 1969. In the decades after World War II, downtown business owners
nationwide added similar façade “slipcovers” to their historic buildings to create a more modern
appearance that would compete with new development in the suburbs. The contemporary façade
spanning the Church Street buildings likely served to unify the buildings under one business while
refreshing their appearance.
Historic photographs of this block of Church Street show four, two-story brick Commercial style
buildings with brick parapets. Visual evidence indicates that the parapets are intact behind the nonhistoric metal cladding. Visual evidence also indicates that the current brick veneer was laid in front
of the original brick. The side and rear elevations of the buildings remain exposed and intact. The
brick south wall of 1225 Church Street features arched window openings, square clerestory window
openings, and intact brick chimneys. The brick north wall of 1209 Church Street, which features
courses of corbelled brick above its second story window openings, also remains visible. While the
four buildings were given non-contributing statuses due to their non-historic façade covers, they are
included in the historic district boundary expansion due to the presence of extensive intact historic
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
fabric on the side and rear elevations—and possibly behind the non-historic façade veneers—and
due to their historic commercial functions, which relate to the rest of the district. Their inclusion will
also encourage rehabilitation and revitalization efforts in the immediate vicinity.
Statement of Integrity
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion) retains a relatively
high level of integrity as a collection of mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century commercial
buildings that continue the character of the original district. Of the 15 primary resources, 8 are
contributing and 7 are non-contributing. The non-contributing status of one building is based on a
post-1961 construction date, while the non-contributing statuses of the six other buildings are based
on alterations made to the historic facades, which may be reversible. All three of the secondary
resources are assigned contributing status. The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016
Boundary Expansion) as a whole retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association.
INVENTORY
The following inventory lists the resources within the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
(2016 Boundary Expansion). It is organized alphabetically by street name and then numerically by street
number. Each entry provides the address, building name (if applicable), date of construction, architectural
style, current building use, VDHR File number, and the contributing status within the district. Whether a
building is considered contributing or non-contributing was determined based on its integrity as it
supports the historic district’s significance under Criterion A (Commerce) and Criterion C (Architecture)
during the Period of Significance (1786 - 1961). Resources are keyed to the Sketch Map/Photo Key by
their numerical street address.
12TH STREET
306 12th Street 118-5495-0004 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1913
Non-contributing Total: 1
320 12th Street 118-5495-0005 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1850
Contributing Total: 1
400 12th Street 118-5495-0006 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Store/Market (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1946
Contributing Total: 1
414 12th Street 118-5495-0007 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1910
Non-contributing Total: 1
418 12th Street 118-5495-0008 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1910
Contributing Total: 1
422 12th Street 118-5495-0009 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1925
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
CHURCH STREET
1209 Church Street 118-5495-0012 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1913
Non-contributing Total: 1
1213-1215 Church Street 118-5495-0013 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1946
Non-contributing Total: 1
1217 Church Street 118-5495-0014 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1928
Non-contributing Total: 1
1225 Church Street 118-5495-0015 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1915
Non-contributing Total: 1
COMMERCE STREET
1001 Commerce Street 118-5495-0011 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Parking Garage (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1949
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Toll House/Booth (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
COURT STREET
1300 Court Street 118-5495-0010 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Automobile Showroom (Building), Stories 1, Style: Moderne, Ca 1946
Parking Garage Wing, Ca 1950
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Service Station (Building) Ca 1955
Contributing Total: 1
MAIN STREET
1000 Main Street 118-5495-0016 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1985
Non-contributing Total: 1
1010 Main Street 118-5008 Other DHR Id#: 118-5495-0001
Primary Resource: Bank (Building), Stories 4, Style: Modernist, Ca 1961
Contributing Total: 1
1016 Main Street 118-5011 Other DHR Id#: 118-5495-0002
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Modernist, Ca 1960
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or
represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual
distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
Period of Significance
1786 – 1961
Significant Dates
1961
Significant Person
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Wickline, Jr., David P. (architect)
Johnson, Stanhope S. (architect)
Clark, Nexen & Owen (architects)
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable
criteria considerations.)
The 2016 Boundary Expansion incorporates 20 additional resources into the Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District. The expansion area is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Commerce, as it represents the continuation of downtown commercial and financial functions;
and Criterion C in the area of Architecture, as it contains a range of traditional and modern
commercial styles popular in Lynchburg from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth
century. The period of significance for both the original district and the expansion area begins in 1786,
when the General Assembly established the town of Lynchburg and the initial segments of the existing
street grid system were laid, and ends in 1961, with the construction of the First National Trust &
Savings Bank, the last major office building to be built downtown prior to the 1970s. The year also
marks the opening of Pittman Plaza, the first of many suburban shopping centers that would
eventually lead to the decline of downtown.
___________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance)
Criteria Justification
Criterion A: Commerce
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion) is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Commerce as its resources represent the continuation of downtown
commercial and financial functions beyond the original historic district boundaries. The expansion
areas are contiguous to the original historic district along the east and southwest boundaries and
encompass 20 commercial resources on Main, Commerce, Church, Court, and 12th streets. These
commercial resources were historically associated with downtown and developed alongside the
original historic district. The resources in the boundary expansion area contribute to the significance
of the original historic district as they represent of the growth and prosperity of Lynchburg as it
developed as a major transportation, industrial, and commercial hub of the Lower Piedmont Region
of Virginia from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
Criterion C: Architecture
Dating between 1850 and 1961, the resources associated with the boundary expansion continue the
architectural character of the historic district, as they relate to the commercial enterprises and
financial institutions of downtown. The Commercial style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries is common, especially along 12th Street. Several resources reflect Modern architectural
trends that were popularized after World War II.
Historical Background
Antebellum Period (1830-1860)
The boundary expansion area includes one resource that dates to the Antebellum Period. The building
at 320 12th Street (118-5495-0005) is an example of the Industrial Commercial style, constructed ca.
1850 for tobacco manufacturing. The 1877 Gray’s New Map of Lynchburg shows the building as
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
owned by Ford and Winfree. The 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows the building as Ford,
Hatcher & Gentry Plug & Twist Tobacco.
Tobacco continued to be the dominant industry in Lynchburg in the years prior to the Civil War. By
1850, Richard Edwards reported in his Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia that there were
five tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and eight stemmeries in Lynchburg. Historically,
buildings associated with the inspection, packing and shipping of tobacco were concentrated along
the James River in the Lower Basin. The expansion of canal and railroad operations along the river in
the 1840s and 1850s generated unprecedented industrial growth. It is possible that Lynchburg grew
and built more in the 1850s than during all previous decades combined. 5 New industrial enterprises,
such as Ford, Hatcher & Gentry Plug & Twist Tobacco, developed to the west of the Lower Basin as
demand for the riverfront grew. In the late 1800s, more than nine tobacco factories lined the south
side of 12th Street, from Madison to Court Street.
Reconstruction and Growth (1865-1914)
As tobacco sales declined after the Civil War, Lynchburg took advantage of its location between
northern and southern manufacturing markets to become a major wholesale distribution and jobbing
hub. The city emerged as a center for the production of iron products, textiles, shoes, boxes and
wagons. Warehouses and jobbing houses, as well as mills and foundries, were constructed in the
Lower Basin to support the new industries. 6
During the Reconstruction and Growth period, downtown continued to develop as the financial and
commercial center of the city. Main and Commerce streets prospered with the development of the
new industries. Stores opened to sell the manufactured goods and financial institutions were
established to handle the banking needs of prosperous new industries. 7
Although Main Street was already well established as the principal commercial street by the late
1880s, many commercial enterprises also emerged along 12th Street during this period. Bragassa Toy
Store (118-5163-0135)—part of the original historic district, adjacent to the boundary expansion
area—opened at 323-325 12th Street in 1875. The owner selected this location because he believed
12th Street would become a major commercial street of Lynchburg.8
Commercial activity expanded west along 12th Street into the early twentieth century. The ca. 1910
commercial buildings at 414 and 418 12th Street (118-5495-0007 & 118-5495-0008) continued the
commercial character established by Bragassa Toy Store and other early businesses on the street.
These two buildings housed a number of diverse businesses over the years, including a pool and
billiard hall, a fish company, a sheet metal worker, and a restaurant. The White Star Steam Laundry
was established on the 300 block of 12th Street in the first decade of the twentieth century. As the
business grew, the building expanded to include a side addition at 1209 Church Street (118-54950012). The steam laundry remained in business for decades until the property was sold in the late
1960s. Today, the side addition and the rear section of the original building at 306 12th Street (1185495-0004) are the only remnants of the former business.
The tobacco factory at 320 12th Street had closed by 1890, due to the decline of the tobacco industry
in Lynchburg. The building continued in use as a feed store, a steam laundry, and a furniture store.
The conversion to commercial use represents 12th Street’s transition from a tobacco-manufacturing
center to a vibrant commercial corridor.
World War I and World War II (1914-1945)
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Downtown commercial development expanded and prospered as Lynchburg continued to grow in the
period between the two World Wars. This era was especially noted for the proliferation of new
technologies and consumer goods that created rising standards of living as well as new business
opportunities. The Lynchburg Steam Bakery (118-5495-0009) at 422 12th Street was built ca. 1925.
Designed by Stanhope Johnson, the brick building with its stepped parapet, modillioned cornice, and
brick pilasters is one of the best examples of the Main Street Commercial style in the boundary
expansion area. The new municipal stadium opened in 1926, behind the Lynchburg Steam Bakery
and other 12th Street commercial enterprises. Located at Court and 13th Street, the stadium was built
on the site of the former Court Street dump. The stadium hosted collegiate football games and
contributed to the vibrancy of the commercial corridor until its demolition in the 1940s. The
nationwide Great Depression caused construction and business activity to stall through most of the
1930s, but established commercial areas such as Lynchburg’s downtown district managed to survive
the economic straits, in part because no competition from other quarters presented itself.
Commercial development also occurred on the 1200 block of Church Street, across from the City
Armory. In 1915, the Hancock Motor Car Company constructed its building at 1225 Church Street
(118-5495-0015) and remained in this location until at least 1925. The motor car company had
vacated the building by 1930, making way for the Mavis Bottling Co. of Virginia, which bottled and
sold Nu-Icy drinks. Mid-State Electrical Supply Company occupied the building by 1940.9 The
company would eventually purchase the entire block of commercial buildings in 1969 and install the
existing non-historic façade veneer.
The buildings at 1217 Church Street and 1213-1215 Church Street were occupied by businesses that
were consistent with the other commercial enterprises in the district boundary expansion. In 1940, the
ca. 1928 building at 1217 Church Street (118-5495-0014) was occupied by Mosby Motors,
Incorporated. A refrigerator sales and service company occupied the building by 1951. The ca. 1946
building at 1213-1215 Church Street (118-5495-0013) was occupied by a farm machinery and sales
shop into the 1950s.10 These commercial buildings represent the continued commercial growth in the
boundary expansion area during the World War I to World War II period.
The New Dominion (1945-present)
The United States entered a period of renewed growth and economic prosperity after World War II.
The post-war population growth, accompanied by housing shortages and new mortgage lending
practices, stimulated a residential building boom. The advent of the automobile and construction of
efficient road networks allowed new homes to be built outside of the city limits. Retail stores, bank
branches, and offices soon followed the population to the suburbs. This national trend of
decentralization, beginning in the late 1940s, fueled the decline of downtowns across the country.
As former city dwellers moved to the suburbs, downtown Lynchburg remained as the center for
commercial, governmental, financial, and institutional activity. Even with the trend toward
decentralization, downtown persisted as a thriving commercial district for several decades. New
construction within the district and changes to older buildings, however, illustrated the efforts of
downtown business owners to remain competitive and to modernize to woo consumers. The
southwest boundary expansion area, which includes 12th Street, added two new businesses in the late
1940s. An A&P supermarket was built at 400 12th Street ca. 1946 (118-5495-0006). The same year,
Virginian Motors—an auto sales and service shop—was built at 1300 Court Street (118-5495-0010)
on the site of the Old City Stadium. A Virginian Motors filling station was constructed on the same
parcel ca. 1955. Similar auto-oriented businesses proliferated across the nation during this period, due
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
to the widespread adoption of automobiles for personal transportation. Auto-oriented buildings were
constructed elsewhere in the downtown, including within the bounds of the original historic district.
In the mid-twentieth century, parking garages emerged in downtowns as central businesses districts
tried to compete with suburban shopping malls and office parks. The 1949 parking garage at 1001
Commerce Street is perhaps the earliest parking structure in downtown Lynchburg (118-5495-0011).
Architect David P. Wickline, Jr., was commissioned to design the multi-level concrete structure. A
small building located at the garage entrance with a sign that reads “Key Building” was probably
where the keys of valeted vehicles were stored. The valet feature was likely intended to improve the
downtown parking experience.
The former First National Trust & Savings Bank (118-5008) was built at 1010 Main Street in 1961.
The four-story building is of a Modern design typical to commercial banks of the era as the Modern
style evoked a sense of prosperity, modernity, and ability to keep pace with the rapid changes of postWWII America. In the same year, Pittman Plaza—a suburban shopping center well removed from
Lynchburg’s traditional commercial core—was completed, posing direct competition to downtown
retail stores. Plans for the shopping center were announced in 1956. Sears Roebuck was the first store
to open in April 1958. Over 24 stores had committed to the shopping center by the end of 1960. 11
Pittman Plaza was dedicated on April 20, 1961. The new shopping center challenged downtown
retail, but it did not immediately surpass it.12 On the first anniversary of Pittman Plaza, John Wranek,
manager of the Main Street Miller & Rhoads store, told John Lair, business writer for the Lynchburg
News & Advance that “downtown can never be displaced because it will always remain the major
commercial and business hub of the city.”13 Despite this optimism, the central location, convenient
parking, and general novelty offered by Pittman Plaza did eventually impact downtown retailers.14
Over a decade later, the City of Lynchburg annexed land that doubled the size of the city and led to
the further decline of the central business district. The success of Pittman Plaza led to additional
shopping centers within the ever-expanding city limits.15 During this period, many downtown retailers
added “slipcovers” to the facades of their historic buildings to create a more modern appearance that
be evocative of new development in the suburbs. Often these new materials were installed onto the
existing facades, leaving the earlier materials intact but hidden from view. The contemporary façade
spanning the row of buildings on the 1200 block of Church Street is likely a product of this era. As
with preceding efforts from the 1920s through 1950s to modernize storefronts, these later updates are
reflective of the larger demographic trends associated with suburbanization, sprawl development, and
attempts to retain shoppers in traditional downtown areas.
Even as retail stores moved to the suburbs during this period, downtown Lynchburg strengthened its
role as the financial and governmental center of the city. Several new banks were constructed
downtown in the 1970s and 1980s. Fidelity National Bank was built in 1970-1972 at the corner of
Main and 9th streets. The chairman of the bank’s board of directors stated that the new location was
chosen based on their confidence that future commercial growth in the city would take place
downtown. He also expressed the hope that the downtown location of the landmark building would
spark reinvestment in the central business district.16 The City of Lynchburg reaffirmed its
commitment to downtown when it constructed a large addition to City Hall in 1984. The addition
extended the building to from Church to Main Street. 17
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Concerted efforts have been made over the past few decades to revitalize the downtown commercial
district. The listing of the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District in the state and national
registers in 2000 made historic rehabilitation tax credits available to property owners. Since 2000,
major investments have occurred downtown based on rehabilitating the district’s historic building
stock. The east and southwest boundary increase areas discussed herein also are associated with this
trend, with local revitalization efforts now focusing here as well.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Blanton, Alison S. (Hill Studio) Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District, National
Register nomination 118-5163. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia, 2001.
Chambers, S. Allen, and Richard Cheek. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville:
Published for the Sarah Winston Henry Branch of the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities by the University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940. Richmond, VA:
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: the First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986. Lynchburg,
Va.: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Hall, Cline and Louis Booth (Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Inc.) Bragassa Toy Store,
National Register nomination 118-1760. Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond, Virginia, 1990.
Hill Directory Company’s Lynchburg, Virginia City Directory. Richmond, Virginia: Hill
Directory Company, Inc., 1915-1960.
Laurant, Daniel. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia in the 20th Century. Lynchburg, Va.:
The News and Advance, 1997.
Lyod, Richard B. and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach,
Va.: Donning, 1975.
New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide. Richmond, VA: The Virginia Department
of Historic Resources, 2015.
Potter, Clifton W, and Dorothy Bundy Turner Potter. Lynchburg: a City Set On Seven Hills.
Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publ, 2004.
Sanborn Insurance Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907,
1951, 1955. New York, NY: Sanborn Insurance Company.
Sections 9-11 end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 118-5495
Sections 9-11 end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 7 acres (approx.)
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
East Expansion Area
1. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.413958°
Longitude: -79.141574°
2. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.414457°
Longitude: -79.140697°
3. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.413881°
Longitude: -79.140179°
4. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.413427°
Longitude: -79.141096°
Southwest Expansion Area
5. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.410842°
Longitude: -79.142723°
6. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.411698°
Longitude: -79.141212°
7. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.410847°
Longitude: -79.140237°
8. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.410050°
Longitude: -79.141283°
Sections 9-11 end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary expansion includes all tax parcels indicated within the boundary lines on the
attached tax parcel map entitled “Tax Parcel Map, Court House Hill/Downtown Historic
District 2016 Boundary Expansion (118-5495).”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass a collection of resources that relate to the contiguous Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District. The original district comprises 25 blocks along Clay, Court,
Church, and Main streets between the cross streets of 5 th and 13th streets. In 2002, the
boundaries were expanded to include a residential area between Madison and Federal streets.
The 2016 expansion extends the district boundaries east and southwest, to include
commercial resources on the 1000 blocks of Main and Commerce streets, the 300 and 400
blocks of 12th Street, the 1200 block of Church Street, and the 1300 block of Court Street.
Inclusion of these contiguous areas strengthens the boundaries of the historic district. The
edges of the original historic district were examined during the boundary determination
process. Buildings not included in the boundary expansion either had not reached the 50-year
threshold, were insensitive altered, had a historic function more consistent with another
contiguous district, and/or lacked physical continuity with the district. The Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District and Expansion Area are bordered to the east by the Lower
Basin Historic District (118-0211) and to the south by the Diamond Hill Historic District
(118-0060).
________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Katherine C. Gutshall & Alison S. Blanton
organization: Hill Studio, PC
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: Virginia zip code: 24011
e-mail: ablanton@hillstudio.com
telephone: 540-342-5263
date: November 2015
Sections 9-11 end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Photo Log
Name of Property: Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Increase)
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg (City)
State: Virginia
Photographer: Katie C. Gutshall
Date Photographed: October 2015
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 9:
Photo 2 of 9:
Photo 3 of 9:
Photo 4 of 9:
Photo 5 of 9:
Photo 6 of 9:
Photo 7 of 9:
Photo 8 of 9:
Photo 9 of 9:
12th Street, 400 block, view E
Former Lynchburg Steam Bakery, view SE
12th Street, 300 & 400 block, view E
320 12th Street, view SE
Former Virginian Motors, Inc., view S
Main Street, 900 & 1000 blocks, view S
Former First National Trust & Savings Bank, Main Street, view S
Parking Deck, 1000 Commerce Street, view N
Church Street, 1200 block, view NW
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of
Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing
listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act,
as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response
including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance
Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-11 end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
Endnotes
1
Blanton
Classic Commonwealth, 84-85
3
Ibid, 80-81
4
New Dominion, 50
5
Chambers 198 1: 130
6
Blanton
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Hill Directory
10
Ibid.
11
Elson, 396
12
Chambers, 479
13
Laurant, 157
14
Chambers, 479
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid, 480
17
Blanton
2
Sections 9-11 end page 21
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2015
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Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
2015 Boundary Expansion (118-5495)
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Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District 2015 Expansion
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
Court House Hill/Downtown
Historic District
East Expansion Area
2015 Boundary Expansion Areas
NW Corner
Latitude: 37.413958° Longitude: -79.141574°
NE
NE Corner
Latitude: 37.414457° Longitude: -79.140697°
NW
SE
SE Corner
Latitude: 37.413881° Longitude: -79.140179°
SW
%
&
$
+
!
*
)
(
'
Southwest Expansion Area
!
%
"
#
SW Corner
Latitude: 37.413427° Longitude: -79.141096°
NE
NW Corner
Latitude: 37.410842° Longitude: -79.142723°
NE Corner
Latitude: 37.411698° Longitude: -79.141212°
SE
NW
SE Corner
Latitude: 37.410847° Longitude: -79.140237°
SW
SW Corner
Title: Location Map
Latitude: 37.410050° Longitude: -79.141283°
Date: 11/25/2015
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
NRHP Listing - 5/16/2016
NPS Form 10-900
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-0018
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Other names/site number: VDHR# 118-5495
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 12th Street (300 & 400 blocks), Church Street (1200 block), 1001 Commerce
Street, 1300 Court Street, Main Street (1000 block)
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA County: Independent City
Not For Publication:
N/A
Vicinity:
N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this x nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and
meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property x meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend
that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
x local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
x A
___B
x C
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
____11____
____7____
buildings
____0_____
____0____
sites
____0_____
____0____
structures
____0_____
____0____
objects
____11____
____7____
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE: financial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE: specialty store
TRANSPORTATION: road-related (vehicular)
Current Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE: financial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE: specialty store
HEALTH CARE: clinic
TRANSPORTATION: road-related (vehicular)
VACANT/NOT IN USE
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
NO STYLE
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne, New Formalism
Materials
FOUNDATION: BRICK, CONCRETE
WALLS: BRICK, STUCCO, CONCRETE, STONE (Granite)
ROOF: SYNTHETICS (Rubber), METAL (Tin)
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method
of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic
integrity.)
__________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District is located in the heart of the City of Lynchburg,
situated on a promontory overlooking the south bank of the James River. A dramatic grade change
separates Court House Hill from downtown. Listed in the NRHP in 2000, the original historic
district boundaries encompass 25 blocks along Clay, Court, Church, and Main streets between the
cross streets of 5th and 13th streets. In 2002, the boundaries were expanded to include a residential
area between Madison and Federal streets. The district includes commercial, religious, institutional,
governmental, and residential buildings dating from the early nineteenth century to the midtwentieth century. Historically and today, Court House Hill was the location of government
buildings, religious institutions, and residences, while downtown was the center of commerce and
finance. The boundary expansion that is the subject of this nomination includes 20 commercial
resources on Main, Commerce, Church, Court, and 12th streets within two areas – one on the east of
the original district and one southwest of the original district. Although discontiguous from one
another, each expansion area is historically and architecturally related to each other and to the
original district. Of the 18 resources, 11 are contributing. Ranging in date from 1850 to 1961, the
buildings are contiguous to the original historic district along the east and southwest boundaries and
relate to the historic functions and architectural character of downtown Lynchburg.
__________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Dating from 1850 to 1961, the 20 resources within the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
boundary expansion are commercial in function and relate well to the commercial enterprises and
financial institutions found in the downtown section of the original district. The expansion area
buildings range from small commercial shops, to a former automobile showroom and former grocery
store, to a multiple-story office building and parking garage. Generally, the buildings are one-to-two
stories and are of brick or concrete construction. While the Commercial style of the late nineteenth
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
and early twentieth centuries is predominant, several buildings reflect architectural trends
popularized after World War II, particularly Moderne and New Formalism.
The oldest resource in the expansion area is the former tobacco factory at 320 12th Street (118-54950005), which dates to the 1850s. Tobacco manufacturing was a major component of the Lynchburg
economy prior to the Civil War.1 In the late 1800s, more than nine tobacco factories lined the south
side of 12th Street, from Madison to Court Street. Today, 320 12th Street is one of two that remain
on the street. The two-story, three-bay building is an example of the Industrial Commercial style. As
the production of goods was the primary focus of this particular style, the building is utilitarian in
appearance with its plan shaped by the machinery and processes of the commercial enterprise. 2 The
building stands on a stacked stone foundation and features brick walls laid in five-course American
bond. A stepped brick parapet rises above the roof. After the tobacco factory closed in 1890, the
building was used as a feed store, a steam laundry, and a furniture store. The storefront windows
were likely added by one of these later users to display their goods to consumers.
The Main Street Commercial style—the dominant architectural style in downtown Lynchburg—is
represented in the boundary expansion, along 12th Street. Popular in Virginia from 1875 to 1940,
this style proliferated along major commercial routes across the nation. Designed to display and
provide goods directly to consumers, the facades of these buildings are characterized by large
storefront windows used to entice customers. The second or third floors often contained living
spaces for shop owners.3
The ca. 1925 Lynchburg Steam Bakery (118-5495-0009) at 422 12th Street is an example of the
Main Street Commercial style in the boundary expansion. Designed by Stanhope Johnson, this twostory commercial building stands on a concrete foundation and features brick walls laid in stretcher
bond. A stepped parapet with concrete coping borders the flat roof. Brick pilasters with concrete
caps divide the bays. A modillioned metal cornice crowns the building and a simpler cornice
surmounts the storefront. The storefront has been modified, with contemporary brick infill and an
aluminum storefront system in the space between the pilasters. Industrial steel windows are in each
second story bay. On the west side elevation, concrete panels separate the second-story windows
from the first-story steel clerestory windows. A canopy shelters the west side entrance with
“Lynchburg Steam Bakery, Inc.” on the sign above it.
Another example of the Main Street Commercial style in the boundary expansion area is the ca.
1910 building at 418 12th Street (118-5495-0008). This two-story building with a flat roof stands on
a brick foundation. The stuccoed front elevation features two commercial storefronts with recessed
central entrances flanked by canted display windows in wood frames. The storefront windows are
surmounted by spoked transoms. A simple wood cornice spans the top of the storefronts. Windows
with concrete sills line the second story.
After World War II, new trends in architectural design emerged, which impacted commercial
architecture throughout the nation. Both commercial and residential construction activity boomed
after the war due to pent up consumer demand, coupled by widespread economic prosperity.
Modernism came to the forefront during this period, with the transition to simpler forms and the
elimination of unnecessary ornament. The era gave rise to Modern styles, including Moderne,
International, Brutalism, and New Formalism. In addition, the widespread adoption of automobiles
for personal transportation led to auto-centric design to accommodate the car. Auto-related
businesses, such as auto dealerships and service stations, also proliferated.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Several resources within the boundary expansion were built between 1946 and 1961 and reflect these
design trends of the post-World War II era. The former Virginian Motors (118-5495-0010) at 1300
Court Street was built ca. 1946 in the Moderne style. The one-story building is covered by a flat roof
and features concrete block walls faced with light-colored brick. A projecting central tower with an
attached antenna punctuates its low rectangular mass. The Googie-style glass projection at the
northeast corner of the building was likely the automobile showroom. Steel industrial windows
provide light to the interior. Differentiated brickwork between the windows visually unifies the
fenestration and reinforces a sense of horizontality. The complex also includes a ca. 1955 filling
station.
The 1949 parking deck (118-5495-0011) at 1001 Commerce Street is a representative example of an
open-air concrete parking structure built in the mid-twentieth century. It appears to be one of the
earliest parking structures in downtown Lynchburg. The parking structure was designed by architect
David P. Wickline, Jr., and built by Fred B. Fuqua.
New Formalism, which combines classical elements with modern innovations, is a Modern style
found in the boundary expansion. It was a popular choice for banking institutions and small-scale
public and commercial buildings.4 The ca. 1960 building at 1016 Main Street (118-5011) is a smallscale commercial example of the style. The angular brick colonnade across its front elevation
embraces classical precedents. Another example is the ca. 1961 former First National Trust &
Savings Bank (118-5008) at 1010 Main Street, designed by Clark, Nexen & Owen. The building’s
blocky form and symmetrical elevations, dominated by thin pilasters separating narrow, recessed
windows, draws from classical elements to achieve a sense of modern monumentality. Its smooth
marble and granite surfaces also provide a luxurious quality. Projecting canopies shelter the front
and rear entrances, as well as the large windows along the base of the side elevations. The north side
elevation canopy extends out to create an overhang for the bank drive thru. In addition to embracing
the classical precedents found elsewhere in the district, these buildings also maintain the setback
established by surrounding buildings, continuing the rhythm of the street.
A row of four commercial buildings dating between 1913 and 1946 line the west side of Church
Street. A simple, contemporary façade of brick and metal spans the front elevations of all four
buildings. The façade was likely added shortly after the Mid-State Electrical Supply Company
acquired the buildings in 1969. In the decades after World War II, downtown business owners
nationwide added similar façade “slipcovers” to their historic buildings to create a more modern
appearance that would compete with new development in the suburbs. The contemporary façade
spanning the Church Street buildings likely served to unify the buildings under one business while
refreshing their appearance.
Historic photographs of this block of Church Street show four, two-story brick Commercial style
buildings with brick parapets. Visual evidence indicates that the parapets are intact behind the nonhistoric metal cladding. Visual evidence also indicates that the current brick veneer was laid in front
of the original brick. The side and rear elevations of the buildings remain exposed and intact. The
brick south wall of 1225 Church Street features arched window openings, square clerestory window
openings, and intact brick chimneys. The brick north wall of 1209 Church Street, which features
courses of corbelled brick above its second story window openings, also remains visible. While the
four buildings were given non-contributing statuses due to their non-historic façade covers, they are
included in the historic district boundary expansion due to the presence of extensive intact historic
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
fabric on the side and rear elevations—and possibly behind the non-historic façade veneers—and
due to their historic commercial functions, which relate to the rest of the district. Their inclusion will
also encourage rehabilitation and revitalization efforts in the immediate vicinity.
Statement of Integrity
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion) retains a relatively
high level of integrity as a collection of mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century commercial
buildings that continue the character of the original district. Of the 15 primary resources, 8 are
contributing and 7 are non-contributing. The non-contributing status of one building is based on a
post-1961 construction date, while the non-contributing statuses of the six other buildings are based
on alterations made to the historic facades, which may be reversible. All three of the secondary
resources are assigned contributing status. The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016
Boundary Expansion) as a whole retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association.
INVENTORY
The following inventory lists the resources within the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District
(2016 Boundary Expansion). It is organized alphabetically by street name and then numerically by street
number. Each entry provides the address, building name (if applicable), date of construction, architectural
style, current building use, VDHR File number, and the contributing status within the district. Whether a
building is considered contributing or non-contributing was determined based on its integrity as it
supports the historic district’s significance under Criterion A (Commerce) and Criterion C (Architecture)
during the Period of Significance (1786 - 1961). Resources are keyed to the Sketch Map/Photo Key by
their numerical street address.
12TH STREET
306 12th Street 118-5495-0004 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1913
Non-contributing Total: 1
320 12th Street 118-5495-0005 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1850
Contributing Total: 1
400 12th Street 118-5495-0006 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Store/Market (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1946
Contributing Total: 1
414 12th Street 118-5495-0007 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1910
Non-contributing Total: 1
418 12th Street 118-5495-0008 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1910
Contributing Total: 1
422 12th Street 118-5495-0009 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, Ca 1925
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
CHURCH STREET
1209 Church Street 118-5495-0012 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1913
Non-contributing Total: 1
1213-1215 Church Street 118-5495-0013 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1946
Non-contributing Total: 1
1217 Church Street 118-5495-0014 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1928
Non-contributing Total: 1
1225 Church Street 118-5495-0015 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1915
Non-contributing Total: 1
COMMERCE STREET
1001 Commerce Street 118-5495-0011 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Parking Garage (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1949
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Toll House/Booth (Building)
Contributing Total: 2
COURT STREET
1300 Court Street 118-5495-0010 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Automobile Showroom (Building), Stories 1, Style: Moderne, Ca 1946
Parking Garage Wing, Ca 1950
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Service Station (Building) Ca 1955
Contributing Total: 1
MAIN STREET
1000 Main Street 118-5495-0016 Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1985
Non-contributing Total: 1
1010 Main Street 118-5008 Other DHR Id#: 118-5495-0001
Primary Resource: Bank (Building), Stories 4, Style: Modernist, Ca 1961
Contributing Total: 1
1016 Main Street 118-5011 Other DHR Id#: 118-5495-0002
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Modernist, Ca 1960
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or
represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual
distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
Period of Significance
1786 – 1961
Significant Dates
1961
Significant Person
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Wickline, Jr., David P. (architect)
Johnson, Stanhope S. (architect)
Clark, Nexen & Owen (architects)
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable
criteria considerations.)
The 2016 Boundary Expansion incorporates 20 additional resources into the Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District. The expansion area is locally significant under Criterion A in the
area of Commerce, as it represents the continuation of downtown commercial and financial functions;
and Criterion C in the area of Architecture, as it contains a range of traditional and modern
commercial styles popular in Lynchburg from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth
century. The period of significance for both the original district and the expansion area begins in 1786,
when the General Assembly established the town of Lynchburg and the initial segments of the existing
street grid system were laid, and ends in 1961, with the construction of the First National Trust &
Savings Bank, the last major office building to be built downtown prior to the 1970s. The year also
marks the opening of Pittman Plaza, the first of many suburban shopping centers that would
eventually lead to the decline of downtown.
___________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance)
Criteria Justification
Criterion A: Commerce
The Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion) is locally significant
under Criterion A in the area of Commerce as its resources represent the continuation of downtown
commercial and financial functions beyond the original historic district boundaries. The expansion
areas are contiguous to the original historic district along the east and southwest boundaries and
encompass 20 commercial resources on Main, Commerce, Church, Court, and 12th streets. These
commercial resources were historically associated with downtown and developed alongside the
original historic district. The resources in the boundary expansion area contribute to the significance
of the original historic district as they represent of the growth and prosperity of Lynchburg as it
developed as a major transportation, industrial, and commercial hub of the Lower Piedmont Region
of Virginia from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
Criterion C: Architecture
Dating between 1850 and 1961, the resources associated with the boundary expansion continue the
architectural character of the historic district, as they relate to the commercial enterprises and
financial institutions of downtown. The Commercial style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries is common, especially along 12th Street. Several resources reflect Modern architectural
trends that were popularized after World War II.
Historical Background
Antebellum Period (1830-1860)
The boundary expansion area includes one resource that dates to the Antebellum Period. The building
at 320 12th Street (118-5495-0005) is an example of the Industrial Commercial style, constructed ca.
1850 for tobacco manufacturing. The 1877 Gray’s New Map of Lynchburg shows the building as
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
owned by Ford and Winfree. The 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows the building as Ford,
Hatcher & Gentry Plug & Twist Tobacco.
Tobacco continued to be the dominant industry in Lynchburg in the years prior to the Civil War. By
1850, Richard Edwards reported in his Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia that there were
five tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and eight stemmeries in Lynchburg. Historically,
buildings associated with the inspection, packing and shipping of tobacco were concentrated along
the James River in the Lower Basin. The expansion of canal and railroad operations along the river in
the 1840s and 1850s generated unprecedented industrial growth. It is possible that Lynchburg grew
and built more in the 1850s than during all previous decades combined. 5 New industrial enterprises,
such as Ford, Hatcher & Gentry Plug & Twist Tobacco, developed to the west of the Lower Basin as
demand for the riverfront grew. In the late 1800s, more than nine tobacco factories lined the south
side of 12th Street, from Madison to Court Street.
Reconstruction and Growth (1865-1914)
As tobacco sales declined after the Civil War, Lynchburg took advantage of its location between
northern and southern manufacturing markets to become a major wholesale distribution and jobbing
hub. The city emerged as a center for the production of iron products, textiles, shoes, boxes and
wagons. Warehouses and jobbing houses, as well as mills and foundries, were constructed in the
Lower Basin to support the new industries. 6
During the Reconstruction and Growth period, downtown continued to develop as the financial and
commercial center of the city. Main and Commerce streets prospered with the development of the
new industries. Stores opened to sell the manufactured goods and financial institutions were
established to handle the banking needs of prosperous new industries. 7
Although Main Street was already well established as the principal commercial street by the late
1880s, many commercial enterprises also emerged along 12th Street during this period. Bragassa Toy
Store (118-5163-0135)—part of the original historic district, adjacent to the boundary expansion
area—opened at 323-325 12th Street in 1875. The owner selected this location because he believed
12th Street would become a major commercial street of Lynchburg.8
Commercial activity expanded west along 12th Street into the early twentieth century. The ca. 1910
commercial buildings at 414 and 418 12th Street (118-5495-0007 & 118-5495-0008) continued the
commercial character established by Bragassa Toy Store and other early businesses on the street.
These two buildings housed a number of diverse businesses over the years, including a pool and
billiard hall, a fish company, a sheet metal worker, and a restaurant. The White Star Steam Laundry
was established on the 300 block of 12th Street in the first decade of the twentieth century. As the
business grew, the building expanded to include a side addition at 1209 Church Street (118-54950012). The steam laundry remained in business for decades until the property was sold in the late
1960s. Today, the side addition and the rear section of the original building at 306 12th Street (1185495-0004) are the only remnants of the former business.
The tobacco factory at 320 12th Street had closed by 1890, due to the decline of the tobacco industry
in Lynchburg. The building continued in use as a feed store, a steam laundry, and a furniture store.
The conversion to commercial use represents 12th Street’s transition from a tobacco-manufacturing
center to a vibrant commercial corridor.
World War I and World War II (1914-1945)
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Downtown commercial development expanded and prospered as Lynchburg continued to grow in the
period between the two World Wars. This era was especially noted for the proliferation of new
technologies and consumer goods that created rising standards of living as well as new business
opportunities. The Lynchburg Steam Bakery (118-5495-0009) at 422 12th Street was built ca. 1925.
Designed by Stanhope Johnson, the brick building with its stepped parapet, modillioned cornice, and
brick pilasters is one of the best examples of the Main Street Commercial style in the boundary
expansion area. The new municipal stadium opened in 1926, behind the Lynchburg Steam Bakery
and other 12th Street commercial enterprises. Located at Court and 13th Street, the stadium was built
on the site of the former Court Street dump. The stadium hosted collegiate football games and
contributed to the vibrancy of the commercial corridor until its demolition in the 1940s. The
nationwide Great Depression caused construction and business activity to stall through most of the
1930s, but established commercial areas such as Lynchburg’s downtown district managed to survive
the economic straits, in part because no competition from other quarters presented itself.
Commercial development also occurred on the 1200 block of Church Street, across from the City
Armory. In 1915, the Hancock Motor Car Company constructed its building at 1225 Church Street
(118-5495-0015) and remained in this location until at least 1925. The motor car company had
vacated the building by 1930, making way for the Mavis Bottling Co. of Virginia, which bottled and
sold Nu-Icy drinks. Mid-State Electrical Supply Company occupied the building by 1940.9 The
company would eventually purchase the entire block of commercial buildings in 1969 and install the
existing non-historic façade veneer.
The buildings at 1217 Church Street and 1213-1215 Church Street were occupied by businesses that
were consistent with the other commercial enterprises in the district boundary expansion. In 1940, the
ca. 1928 building at 1217 Church Street (118-5495-0014) was occupied by Mosby Motors,
Incorporated. A refrigerator sales and service company occupied the building by 1951. The ca. 1946
building at 1213-1215 Church Street (118-5495-0013) was occupied by a farm machinery and sales
shop into the 1950s.10 These commercial buildings represent the continued commercial growth in the
boundary expansion area during the World War I to World War II period.
The New Dominion (1945-present)
The United States entered a period of renewed growth and economic prosperity after World War II.
The post-war population growth, accompanied by housing shortages and new mortgage lending
practices, stimulated a residential building boom. The advent of the automobile and construction of
efficient road networks allowed new homes to be built outside of the city limits. Retail stores, bank
branches, and offices soon followed the population to the suburbs. This national trend of
decentralization, beginning in the late 1940s, fueled the decline of downtowns across the country.
As former city dwellers moved to the suburbs, downtown Lynchburg remained as the center for
commercial, governmental, financial, and institutional activity. Even with the trend toward
decentralization, downtown persisted as a thriving commercial district for several decades. New
construction within the district and changes to older buildings, however, illustrated the efforts of
downtown business owners to remain competitive and to modernize to woo consumers. The
southwest boundary expansion area, which includes 12th Street, added two new businesses in the late
1940s. An A&P supermarket was built at 400 12th Street ca. 1946 (118-5495-0006). The same year,
Virginian Motors—an auto sales and service shop—was built at 1300 Court Street (118-5495-0010)
on the site of the Old City Stadium. A Virginian Motors filling station was constructed on the same
parcel ca. 1955. Similar auto-oriented businesses proliferated across the nation during this period, due
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
to the widespread adoption of automobiles for personal transportation. Auto-oriented buildings were
constructed elsewhere in the downtown, including within the bounds of the original historic district.
In the mid-twentieth century, parking garages emerged in downtowns as central businesses districts
tried to compete with suburban shopping malls and office parks. The 1949 parking garage at 1001
Commerce Street is perhaps the earliest parking structure in downtown Lynchburg (118-5495-0011).
Architect David P. Wickline, Jr., was commissioned to design the multi-level concrete structure. A
small building located at the garage entrance with a sign that reads “Key Building” was probably
where the keys of valeted vehicles were stored. The valet feature was likely intended to improve the
downtown parking experience.
The former First National Trust & Savings Bank (118-5008) was built at 1010 Main Street in 1961.
The four-story building is of a Modern design typical to commercial banks of the era as the Modern
style evoked a sense of prosperity, modernity, and ability to keep pace with the rapid changes of postWWII America. In the same year, Pittman Plaza—a suburban shopping center well removed from
Lynchburg’s traditional commercial core—was completed, posing direct competition to downtown
retail stores. Plans for the shopping center were announced in 1956. Sears Roebuck was the first store
to open in April 1958. Over 24 stores had committed to the shopping center by the end of 1960. 11
Pittman Plaza was dedicated on April 20, 1961. The new shopping center challenged downtown
retail, but it did not immediately surpass it.12 On the first anniversary of Pittman Plaza, John Wranek,
manager of the Main Street Miller & Rhoads store, told John Lair, business writer for the Lynchburg
News & Advance that “downtown can never be displaced because it will always remain the major
commercial and business hub of the city.”13 Despite this optimism, the central location, convenient
parking, and general novelty offered by Pittman Plaza did eventually impact downtown retailers.14
Over a decade later, the City of Lynchburg annexed land that doubled the size of the city and led to
the further decline of the central business district. The success of Pittman Plaza led to additional
shopping centers within the ever-expanding city limits.15 During this period, many downtown retailers
added “slipcovers” to the facades of their historic buildings to create a more modern appearance that
be evocative of new development in the suburbs. Often these new materials were installed onto the
existing facades, leaving the earlier materials intact but hidden from view. The contemporary façade
spanning the row of buildings on the 1200 block of Church Street is likely a product of this era. As
with preceding efforts from the 1920s through 1950s to modernize storefronts, these later updates are
reflective of the larger demographic trends associated with suburbanization, sprawl development, and
attempts to retain shoppers in traditional downtown areas.
Even as retail stores moved to the suburbs during this period, downtown Lynchburg strengthened its
role as the financial and governmental center of the city. Several new banks were constructed
downtown in the 1970s and 1980s. Fidelity National Bank was built in 1970-1972 at the corner of
Main and 9th streets. The chairman of the bank’s board of directors stated that the new location was
chosen based on their confidence that future commercial growth in the city would take place
downtown. He also expressed the hope that the downtown location of the landmark building would
spark reinvestment in the central business district.16 The City of Lynchburg reaffirmed its
commitment to downtown when it constructed a large addition to City Hall in 1984. The addition
extended the building to from Church to Main Street. 17
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Concerted efforts have been made over the past few decades to revitalize the downtown commercial
district. The listing of the Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District in the state and national
registers in 2000 made historic rehabilitation tax credits available to property owners. Since 2000,
major investments have occurred downtown based on rehabilitating the district’s historic building
stock. The east and southwest boundary increase areas discussed herein also are associated with this
trend, with local revitalization efforts now focusing here as well.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Blanton, Alison S. (Hill Studio) Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District, National
Register nomination 118-5163. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia, 2001.
Chambers, S. Allen, and Richard Cheek. Lynchburg, an Architectural History. Charlottesville:
Published for the Sarah Winston Henry Branch of the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities by the University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940. Richmond, VA:
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Elson, James M. Lynchburg, Virginia: the First Two Hundred Years 1786-1986. Lynchburg,
Va.: Warwick House Publishers, 2004.
Hall, Cline and Louis Booth (Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Inc.) Bragassa Toy Store,
National Register nomination 118-1760. Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, Richmond, Virginia, 1990.
Hill Directory Company’s Lynchburg, Virginia City Directory. Richmond, Virginia: Hill
Directory Company, Inc., 1915-1960.
Laurant, Daniel. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia in the 20th Century. Lynchburg, Va.:
The News and Advance, 1997.
Lyod, Richard B. and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach,
Va.: Donning, 1975.
New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide. Richmond, VA: The Virginia Department
of Historic Resources, 2015.
Potter, Clifton W, and Dorothy Bundy Turner Potter. Lynchburg: a City Set On Seven Hills.
Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publ, 2004.
Sanborn Insurance Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907,
1951, 1955. New York, NY: Sanborn Insurance Company.
Sections 9-11 end page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 118-5495
Sections 9-11 end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 7 acres (approx.)
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
East Expansion Area
1. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.413958°
Longitude: -79.141574°
2. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.414457°
Longitude: -79.140697°
3. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.413881°
Longitude: -79.140179°
4. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.413427°
Longitude: -79.141096°
Southwest Expansion Area
5. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.410842°
Longitude: -79.142723°
6. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.411698°
Longitude: -79.141212°
7. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.410847°
Longitude: -79.140237°
8. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.410050°
Longitude: -79.141283°
Sections 9-11 end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary expansion includes all tax parcels indicated within the boundary lines on the
attached tax parcel map entitled “Tax Parcel Map, Court House Hill/Downtown Historic
District 2016 Boundary Expansion (118-5495).”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass a collection of resources that relate to the contiguous Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District. The original district comprises 25 blocks along Clay, Court,
Church, and Main streets between the cross streets of 5 th and 13th streets. In 2002, the
boundaries were expanded to include a residential area between Madison and Federal streets.
The 2016 expansion extends the district boundaries east and southwest, to include
commercial resources on the 1000 blocks of Main and Commerce streets, the 300 and 400
blocks of 12th Street, the 1200 block of Church Street, and the 1300 block of Court Street.
Inclusion of these contiguous areas strengthens the boundaries of the historic district. The
edges of the original historic district were examined during the boundary determination
process. Buildings not included in the boundary expansion either had not reached the 50-year
threshold, were insensitive altered, had a historic function more consistent with another
contiguous district, and/or lacked physical continuity with the district. The Court House
Hill/Downtown Historic District and Expansion Area are bordered to the east by the Lower
Basin Historic District (118-0211) and to the south by the Diamond Hill Historic District
(118-0060).
________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Katherine C. Gutshall & Alison S. Blanton
organization: Hill Studio, PC
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: Virginia zip code: 24011
e-mail: ablanton@hillstudio.com
telephone: 540-342-5263
date: November 2015
Sections 9-11 end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Photo Log
Name of Property: Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Increase)
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg (City)
State: Virginia
Photographer: Katie C. Gutshall
Date Photographed: October 2015
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 9:
Photo 2 of 9:
Photo 3 of 9:
Photo 4 of 9:
Photo 5 of 9:
Photo 6 of 9:
Photo 7 of 9:
Photo 8 of 9:
Photo 9 of 9:
12th Street, 400 block, view E
Former Lynchburg Steam Bakery, view SE
12th Street, 300 & 400 block, view E
320 12th Street, view SE
Former Virginian Motors, Inc., view S
Main Street, 900 & 1000 blocks, view S
Former First National Trust & Savings Bank, Main Street, view S
Parking Deck, 1000 Commerce Street, view N
Church Street, 1200 block, view NW
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of
Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing
listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act,
as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response
including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance
Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-11 end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District (2016 Boundary Expansion)
Name of Property
Lynchburg, VA
County and State
Endnotes
1
Blanton
Classic Commonwealth, 84-85
3
Ibid, 80-81
4
New Dominion, 50
5
Chambers 198 1: 130
6
Blanton
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Hill Directory
10
Ibid.
11
Elson, 396
12
Chambers, 479
13
Laurant, 157
14
Chambers, 479
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid, 480
17
Blanton
2
Sections 9-11 end page 21
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2015 Boundary Expansion (118-5495)
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
Legend
Court House Hill/Downtown
Historic District
East Expansion Area
2015 Boundary Expansion Areas
NW Corner
Latitude: 37.413958° Longitude: -79.141574°
NE
NE Corner
Latitude: 37.414457° Longitude: -79.140697°
NW
SE
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Latitude: 37.413881° Longitude: -79.140179°
SW
%
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Latitude: 37.413427° Longitude: -79.141096°
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Latitude: 37.410842° Longitude: -79.142723°
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Latitude: 37.411698° Longitude: -79.141212°
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Latitude: 37.410847° Longitude: -79.140237°
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Title: Location Map
Latitude: 37.410050° Longitude: -79.141283°
Date: 11/25/2015
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed On:
1. Name of Property
VLR: 3/15/2018
th
Historic name: 12 Street Industrial Historic District
NRHP: 5/31/2018
Other names/site number: VDHR# 118-5498
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 12th Street (600 & 700 block), Dunbar Drive (700 block), 603 Grace Street
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
x local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
___B
X C
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____6____
____0____
buildings
____0_____
____0____
sites
____0_____
____0____
structures
____0_____
____0____
objects
____6____
____0____
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____1____
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: business, warehouse
HEALTHCARE: hospital
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: manufacturing facility
SOCIAL: meeting hall
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
VACANT/NOT IN USE
COMMERCE/TRADE: business
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, METAL (Tin), STONE
(Slate), ASPHALT, SYNTHETICS (Rubber)
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District, located between Diamond Hill and Federal Hill,
several blocks west of downtown, defines a commercial and industrial warehouse area in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia. The district encompasses approximately 2.5 acres, bounded by 12th
Street to the north, Grace Street to the south, Madison Street to the east, and Federal Street to the
west. Dunbar Drive converges with 12th Street at Madison Street to run through the center of the
district, following the original alignment of the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike. This early
nineteenth-century route connected Lynchburg and the James River to the agricultural regions of
Central and Southwest Virginia. With the completion of the Turnpike in 1836, the 12th Street
corridor emerged as a gateway from the west to the commercial center of the city. In the midnineteenth century, 12th Street developed as a tobacco center, as industrial enterprises expanded
west from the James River and Kanawha Canal and railroad operations in the Lower Basin.
During this period, the district emerged as an important processing and transportation point for
tobacco and other industries. The district includes six large-scale, brick Industrial Commercialstyle buildings with construction dates ranging from ca. 1858 to 1915. Four buildings were
originally tobacco prizeries and two were commercial laundry plants. Their simple, functional
designs reflect their respective industrial and commercial processes. All six resources contribute
to the significance of the historic district. This intact collection of industrial buildings represents
the construction techniques and functional designs used for industrial buildings of the era, as
well as the role of 12th Street as an important transportation route and a center for tobacco and
other industries in Lynchburg. The property at 603 Grace Street also is listed as a contributing
resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (NRHP 1983; 118-0060).
______________________________________________________________________________
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District encompasses 2.5 acres between Diamond Hill and
Federal Hill in the City of Lynchburg. Located several blocks west of downtown, the district is
bounded by 12th Street to the north, Grace Street to the south, Madison Street to the east, and
Federal Street to the west. Dunbar Drive converges with 12th Street at Madison Street and runs
through the center of the district. Harrison Street, which connects 12th Street and Dunbar Drive,
features historic Belgian block paving. The district includes six resources, most of which are
concentrated in the triangle between 12th Street and Dunbar Drive. The earliest buildings in the
district are tobacco prizeries and warehouses built in the mid- to late nineteenth century. In the
early twentieth century, two buildings were constructed as commercial laundries. Generally, the
buildings are one-to-four stories and are of brick construction. The buildings all represent the
Industrial Commercial style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Functional in
design, ornamentation is limited, however, several buildings feature corbelled brickwork and
stepped parapets.
The oldest surviving resource in the district is the Knight Building (118-5498-0001) at 612 12th
Street, a former tobacco prizery that dates to ca. 1858. Tobacco manufacturing was a major
component of the Lynchburg economy, especially prior to the Civil War. In 1860, there were an
estimated forty-seven tobacco factories in Campbell County. The majority of them were located
in Lynchburg.1 The Knight Building is one of the few remaining antebellum vestiges of the
tobacco industry left in the city. It was one of nineteen tobacco factories used as hospitals during
the Civil War and stands today as the last extant example.2 The three-story masonry building is
red brick, of common bond construction, with a stacked stone foundation and a front gable roof.
Its functional design includes no superfluous ornament, with its simple rectangular plan informed
by the needs of tobacco storage and production. The building is representative of standard
tobacco prizeries of this era. Masonry construction was standard for tobacco warehouses due to a
Virginia General Assembly requirement that they be fireproof. Tobacco warehouses were to be
built of brick or stone and covered with slate or tile roofs or a portion of the storage charge per
hogshead went to the state, as the Commonwealth was liable in case of fire.3
There are three other buildings related to the development of the tobacco industry in the district.
These buildings date to after the Civil War, between 1878 and 1890. The buildings reflect the
same general characteristics as the antebellum tobacco prizery in the district. The ca. 1878
tobacco factory at 609 Dunbar Drive (118-5498-0004) is a three-story masonry building of red
brick, common bond construction that stands on a stacked stone foundation. Slate covers its side
gable roof. A stepped brick parapet extends above the roof on the building’s west side. Regularly
spaced double-hung wood window sash provide light to the interior. The hyphen that connects
this building to the adjacent building at 612 12th Street was added in the 1960s when Lynchburg
Plate Glass owned both properties.
The ca. 1887 tobacco prizery at 603 Grace Street (118-5498-0006) is a long and low rectangular
building. Only one story in height, the red brick building stands on a continuous, brick
foundation. A stepped brick parapet dominates the front elevation. Standing-seam metal covers
the front gable roof. Regularly spaced double-hung wood windows provide light to the interior.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This building is also listed as a contributing resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (1180060-0048).
The ca. 1890 tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive (118-5498-0005) is a four-story masonry
building with two additional stories below the primary entry level. The building is constructed of
red brick laid in a common bond and stands on a stacked stone foundation. Stepped parapets
extend above the flat roof on the primary and rear elevations with an elevator shaft extending
from the roof in the northwest corner. The building features wood freight doors, as well as wood
double-hung and casement windows. Architectural embellishment is limited to the corbelled
brick parapet and pilasters on the front elevation.
The two commercial laundries on the 700 block of 12th Street reflect early twentieth-century
construction practices for industrial buildings, shaped by the introduction of steel and reinforced
concrete framing. These large buildings comprise multiple sections, ranging from one to two
stories. A veneer of common bond brick covers their concrete masonry construction. Flat roofs
with brick parapets further characterize the buildings. Architectural embellishment is limited to
the front elevations, at cornices and parapets.
The ca. 1912 building at 700 12th Street (118-5498-0002) is the former Crutchfield’s Dry
Cleaners and Dyers. The street elevation features a Mission-style parapet with decorative
brickwork. Terracotta coping covers the top of the parapet. Two large multi-light storefront
windows flank the main entrance and a third storefront window is located on the east side
elevation. The window openings throughout the building are rectangular with brick sills, but
there are some segmental arched openings. A painted sign for Crutchfield’s Dry Cleaners and
Dyers remains visible on the east side elevation. On the far west side of the building are two
additions added in the 1940s, which contained cold storage vaults.
The ca. 1915 building at 712 12th Street is the former Virginia Laundry Company. The front
elevation features a stepped parapet with an ornamental terracotta crest and lettering that reads
“Virginia Laundry Company Inc.” Simple concrete coping covers the top of the parapet. Painted
signs remain visible on the east side elevation. The building maximizes natural light and
ventilation with clerestory windows above the roof and bands of steel sash windows, the use of
which became widespread in the early twentieth century. Concrete lintels and brick sills define
the window openings. At the rear of the building is a tall brick smokestack, marking the location
of the boiler room. On the west side of the building is one-story addition, built in the 1920s.
Designed by Clark & Crowe Architects of Lynchburg, the addition matches the original building
in its materials and design.
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District retains a relatively high level of integrity. The
buildings remain intact with minimal alterations and are in relatively good condition overall. The
most common alteration in the district is the covering or replacement of original windows, but
even this is limited in its occurrence. All six buildings in the district are contributing resources.
As a whole, the buildings that comprise the district retain their integrity of form, location, design,
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
setting, materials, and association and continue to relate to the development of tobacco and other
industries in Lynchburg.
INVENTORY
The following inventory lists the resources within the 12th Street Industrial Historic District. It is
organized alphabetically by street name and then numerically by street number. Each entry
provides the address, date of construction, architectural style, current building use, VDHR File
number, and the contributing status within the district. Whether a building is considered
contributing or non-contributing was determined based on its integrity as it supports the historic
district’s significance under Criterion A (Commerce and Industry) and Criterion C (Architecture)
during the Period of Significance (ca. 1858 - 1968). Resources are keyed to the Sketch
Map/Photo Key by the last four digits of their DHR ID number.
12TH STREET
612 12th Street
118-5098
Other DHR ID#: 118-5239, 1185498-0001
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 3, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1858
Contributing Total: 1
700 12th Street
118-5498-0002
Other DHR ID#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Commercial Style, ca.
1912
Contributing Total: 1
712 12th Street
118-0225-0671
Other DHR ID#: 118-54980003
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, ca.
1915
Contributing Total: 1
DUNBAR DRIVE
609 Dunbar Drive
118-5498-0004
Other DHR ID#:
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 3, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1878
Contributing Total: 1
700 Dunbar Drive
118-0225-0672
Other DHR ID#: 118-5498-0005
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 4, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1890
Contributing Total: 1
GRACE STREET
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
603 Grace Street
118-0060-0048
Other DHR ID#: 118-54980006
Also listed as a contributing resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (118-0060)
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 1, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1887
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
INDUSTRY
ETHNIC HERITAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN
Period of Significance
ca. 1858 - 1968
Significant Dates
N/A
Significant Person
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that
includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance,
and any applicable criteria considerations.)
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District includes a collection of tobacco prizeries,
warehouses, and commercial laundry plants that represents Lynchburg’s history as a major
processing and transportation point for tobacco, as well as its development as a city with
commercial businesses requiring the support of large commercial laundry facilities.
Lynchburg served as the transportation, industrial, and commercial hub of the Lower
Piedmont Region of Virginia from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century
due to its prominent location on the James River. With the completion of the Lynchburg and
Salem Turnpike in 1836, the 12th Street corridor emerged as a gateway from western regions
to the commercial center of the city. In the mid-nineteenth century, 12th Street developed as
a significant tobacco center, with industrial enterprises expanding west from the James River
and Kanawha Canal and railroad operations in the Lower Basin. Following the Civil War, the
corridor continued to develop in the late nineteenth century with new tobacco factories and
warehouses. While most of the buildings in the district were built for the purpose of
processing and storing tobacco, some would accommodate a variety of other uses, including
a Civil War hospital, an African American school, and an African American lodge. After the
decline of Lynchburg’s tobacco industry in the early twentieth century, other industries,
including commercial laundries, established in the district as the local economy diversified.
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion A in the areas of Commerce and Industry for its role as a
center for tobacco and other industries that developed along an important transportation
route. In addition, it is eligible under Criterion A in the area of Ethnic Heritage: African
American, as the industries employed a large workforce of African Americans and two of the
buildings in the district served as educational and social institutions for African Americans.
The district is also eligible under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an intact
collection of mid-nineteenth and early twentieth-century industrial buildings that is
representative of construction techniques and functional designs used for industrial buildings
of the era. The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is significant on the local level for the
period spanning from ca. 1858, the construction date of the oldest standing tobacco prizery in
the district, to 1968, as the district continued to make contributions and achieve the character
on which significance is based into the more recent past.
___________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance)
CRITERION A: COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
In 1805, the Virginia General Assembly adopted an act to incorporate the town of
Lynchburg. Three years prior to incorporation, John Lynch effectively expanded the original
1786 town limits by making additional half-acre lots available for purchase to the northwest
and southeast of town. The lots were reached by extending the already established system of
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
streets and alleys, which ran parallel and perpendicular to the James River, respectively.
Seventh Alley, today 5th Street, was created to reach the lots in the northwest section, while
Sixth and Eighth alleys, today 12th and 13th streets, were established to serve the southeast
section. The alley that would become 12th Street brought traffic from New London and
points southwest to the lower end of town. As 12th and 5th streets were the major
transportation corridors at either end of town, they more than likely existed in some form
before 1802.4 The act of incorporation in 1805 by the General Assembly formalized the
expanded town limits, as well as the new thoroughfares.
In 1818, the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike Company formed and completed the
macadamized road west to Salem in 1836. The Salem and Lynchburg Turnpike was part of
the system of turnpikes constructed in central and western Virginia between the 1830s and
1850s. The turnpikes in this network not only allowed farmers to transport crops to towns,
but also created a more accessible path for travelers to enjoy Virginia’s western landscape.5
Fort Avenue, Dunbar Drive, and 12th Street follow the original alignment of the Lynchburg
and Salem Turnpike, which connected Lynchburg and the James River with the agricultural
regions of Central and Southwest Virginia. Along with 5th Street, which connected the Ferry
Road to the turnpike, 12th Street served as a major route from the west to the early
commercial center of Lynchburg along Main Street and 9th Street. The location of Jackson
Tavern, operated by Major Oliver Towles, at the intersection of Main and 12th streets circa
1815 demonstrates the prominence of 12th Street as a main transportation route into
Lynchburg. In addition, historic photographs from the mid-twentieth century depict signs at
the intersection of 12th and Main streets, as well as 12th and Federal streets with the
greeting, “Welcome to Lynchburg,” illustrating the role of 12th Street as a gateway to the
city.
As Lynchburg continued to grow and thrive in the early nineteenth century, tobacco emerged
as its primary industry and basis of its economy. Situated on the James River, Lynchburg
served as the shipping point for tobacco and other agricultural products from the western
farms to the markets of Richmond and Petersburg. By 1827, there were at least a dozen
stemmers and manufacturers operating in Lynchburg.6 The wealth and size of the town
continued to grow with the construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal and several
years later, the arrival of the railroads. The James River and Kanawha Canal Company
completed the canal to Lynchburg by 1840, linking the town to eastern markets. The canal
was extended west to Buchannan by 1851. The Virginia & Tennessee Railroad broke ground
in 1850, transporting goods from the southwest to its eastern terminus in Lynchburg. The line
was completed to Bristol by 1856. The Southside Railroad arrived soon after, bolstering
commercial development and earning Lynchburg status as “the hub in the Virginia system of
railroads,” as reported by a Richmond newspaper in 1855.7 It was during this period of
growth and prosperity that Lynchburg received its municipal charter in 1852.
The canal and railroad operations along the James River generated commercial trade that
spread beyond the Lower Basin. Between 1830 and 1850, the population of Lynchburg
increased 74 percent, from 4,628 to 8,071. The influx of workers building and operating the
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
canal and railroads, as well as the many industries they supported fueled the population
boom.8 Although the types of industries in Lynchburg began to diversify during this period,
tobacco continued to dominate.9 According to the 1848 census sponsored by Lynchburg’s
common council, the city claimed 5 tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and 8
stemmeries, which together employed more than 1,195 hands.10 According to Lynchburg, an
Architectural History by Allen S. Chambers and Richard Cheek, the largest concentration of
tobacco factories was located on 12th Street, between Court and Harrison streets, and as it
continued up the side of Federal Hill, merging into the Salem Turnpike, which is now
Dunbar Drive.11 Ford’s, Claytor’s, Miller’s, Crumpton’s, Carroll’s, and Langhorne’s were all
early tobacco factories in this area.12
The ca. 1858 Knight Building, located at 612 12th Street, is the only antebellum tobacco
factory or warehouse that survives today in the district. Tobacconist James Vernon Knight
purchased the land on which the building would eventually be constructed in 1846. Records
show that he had improved the property by 1847. Around 1850, the Lynchburg & Salem
Turnpike was rerouted with a new arm (now Dunbar Drive) which diagonally bisected
Knight’s land, creating a triangular parcel north of the arm and a larger polygonal parcel
south of the arm. In 1851, James Knight and his wife, Mahala, sold the triangular lot to their
son John P. Knight. The deed noted that the parcel included a factory and a dwelling. In
January 1858, a fire devastated the property. The same year, John and Mahala Knight also
sold the larger parcel south of the arm to their son-in-law, William D. Miller. By spring of
1852, Miller had built a four-story, brick tobacco factory on his land. In 1858, a fire
destroyed Miller’s factory and affected two frame tobacco factories owned by James and
John Knight. According to a newspaper account, one was destroyed and one was damaged.
Miller rebuilt his brick tobacco factory by 1859. The brick tobacco factory at 612 12th Street,
belonging to the Knights, was built soon after the fire, between 1858 and 1862.13
Both the Knight and Miller buildings served as hospitals for Confederate wounded soldiers
during the Civil War along with most other large tobacco warehouses in the city.14 Beginning
in 1862, due to an overpowering need for hospitals, approximately nineteen of Lynchburg’s
tobacco warehouses were converted into Confederate hospitals. Typically, one surgeon
would oversee a general hospital, made up of multiple buildings, known as “divisions.” One
or two assistant surgeons would serve in each division. Each general hospital had about 100
to 150 attendants, most of whom were African Americans.15 Both the Knight and Miller
buildings served as a division of General Hospital No. 2. According to Peter Houck’s book, A
Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Knight and Miller
buildings were the only two remaining buildings in Lynchburg once used as Civil War
hospitals as of 1986.16 The Miller building was demolished in 2012 because of a partial
structural failure. Therefore, the Knight Building is believed to be the only surviving tobacco
factory to have served as a Civil War hospital in Lynchburg.
The tobacco industry remained strong in Lynchburg after the Civil War. In 1886, Harper’s
Weekly declared that Lynchburg “was still the largest dealer in loose tobacco in the world.”17
The other three tobacco factories and warehouses that survive in the district date to the
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1870s, 1880s, and 1890s. Tobacconist John W. Carroll had constructed the tobacco factory at
609 Dunbar Drive by the spring of 1878.18 Land tax records and the 1877 Gray Map of
Lynchburg show the parcel without buildings in 1877. The building appears on the 1885
Sanborn Map with a notation, “To be occupied by Smyth, Woodson & Co. Smoking Tobacco
Factory,” indicating that the property had changed hands by 1885. The building housed a
number of other tobacco-related businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, including Woodson & Hughes Smoking Tobacco and Cigarette Factory, Wm. S.
Carroll Smoking Tobacco & Cigarette Factory Cutting & Drying, and Dunnington & Co.
Tobacco Prizery. Hatcher’s Tobacco Prizery operated in the ca. 1887 building at 603 Grace
Street. Ford, Moorman and Co. operated in the ca. 1890 tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar
Drive. From 1892 to the turn of the century, city directories listed the building as Moorman
School, an African-American public school. African Americans made up a significant
portion of Lynchburg’s labor force before and after the Civil War, particularly in the tobacco
industry. Based on its name, the school was likely related to the Ford, Moorman & Co.
tobacconists. Sanborn Maps indicate that other tobacco warehouses and factories, which no
longer survive, were also located in the area at various points, including: Ford, Moorman &
Co. Plug, Twist & Smoking Tobacco Factory; G.W. Smith’s Tobacco Factory; E.A. Allen’s
Plug & Twist Tobacco Factory; Edmunds, Suhling & Co. Leaf Tobacco Factory; W.A. Ford
& Co. Plug, Twist and Smoking Tobacco Factory; Lone Jack Tobacco Works; Allen Bros.
Tobacco Co.; and J.R. Kyle and Co. Leaf Tobacco. Tenement houses were also abundant in
the area, presumably providing housing to workers in the tobacco factories. Based on late
nineteenth-century listings in city directories, many residents of the area were African
Americans.
The market for Lynchburg’s dark chewing tobacco peaked in the 1880s, and began to decline
with the popularity of cigarettes that used bright leaf tobacco. Although a number of tobacco
factories and warehouses still existed into the early twentieth century, the industrial economy
of the city had grown significantly diversified.19 While most of the buildings in the district
continued to serve tobacco-related functions, some were adapted for other uses. After
functioning briefly as a tobacco prizery, the building at 603 Grace Street was converted into a
chewing gum factory for the Dental Chewing Gum Company in the mid-1890s. Several years
later, around the turn of the twentieth century, the building became Good Samaritan Hall, an
African-American lodge. The lodge continued to occupy the building through the end of the
period of significance, in 1968. By 1907, the N & W Manufacturing Company Overall
Factory occupied the former tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive. A painted sign with
the company name remains visible on the side of the building. Sanborn Maps show that the
building also continued to be used intermittently for leaf tobacco storage through the 1950s.
A variety of industrial uses also occupied the adjacent buildings at 609 Dunbar Drive and
612 12th Street after the turn of the twentieth century through the end of the period of
significance, including the Chap Stick Company, Morton Manufacturing Corporation,
Whitehouse Chemical Company, and Lynchburg Plate Glass.
The construction of the Crutchfield Dry Cleaning and Dye Company in 1912 at 700 12th
Street and the Virginia Laundry Company in 1915 at 712 12th Street illustrates the continued
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
role of 12th Street as an industrial center for the city. The Virginia Laundry Company likely
provided linen service to the Virginian Hotel, which opened in downtown Lynchburg in
1913. The Virginian Hotel was the premier hotel in downtown Lynchburg during a period
when the city was the third wealthiest per capita in the United States. Both the Virginia
Laundry Company and Crutchfield Dry Cleaning and Dyers occupied retail spaces on the
ground floor of the hotel. The Virginia Laundry Company expanded its building with an
addition in the 1920s, reflecting the continued growth of Lynchburg during this period.
Crutchfield would also expand its building with additions to accommodate cold storage
vaults in 1940 and 1945. Lynchburg resident James Kyle operated both businesses. These
two dry cleaning plants would continue to operate under the same names through the end of
the period of significance in 1968, according to city directories. Although no businesses
original to the buildings in the district survive today, its industrial and commercial character
lives on through the light industrial and commercial uses that continue to occupy the
buildings.
CRITERION A: ETHNIC HERITAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN
African Americans lived and worked in and around the 12th Street Industrial Historic District
from before the Civil War through the twentieth century. The city directories from the 1890s
list many African American residents along Grace Street, Salem Avenue (today Dunbar
Drive), and 12th Street. Free and enslaved African Americans provided a significant portion
of Lynchburg’s labor force before the Civil War, particularly in the tobacco industry. During
the Civil War, when most of the area’s tobacco factories were converted into Confederate
hospitals, the African Americans who worked in those buildings switched from industrial
jobs to hospital jobs such as cooks and laundresses.20 Even after Emancipation, African
Americans continued working in the tobacco factories and warehouses. Other freedpeople
found work in these factories after the Civil War as well, significantly increasing the African
American population both in this industry and in Lynchburg as a whole. By 1880, 3,353
African Americans lived in Lynchburg, representing over 53 percent of the population.21
In the 1890s, according to Sanborn Maps and city directories, the Moorman School, a public
school for African Americans, operated in the tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive. The
Moorman family was a prominent Quaker family and the Moorman Brothers were leaders in
Lynchburg’s tobacco industry. It is likely that their Quaker faith influenced their decision to
open an African American school in their warehouse during Reconstruction. From the
eighteenth century through the twentieth century, Quakers were known for their
philanthropic commitment to providing African Americans with free education, especially to
improve their literacy.
Due to the large African American population in Lynchburg in the late-nineteenth century,
many African American fraternal organizations were founded in response to racial
segregation and discrimination. These fraternal organizations provided social, educational,
and leadership opportunities for members, as well as charitable support to impoverished and
isolated African Americans within the broader community. African American civic and
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
social organizations first formed in large Northern cities, then in large Southern cities, and
finally in smaller Southern towns and cities such as Lynchburg. These groups met in a
variety of places, such as private homes, churches and rented lodges and halls. From the midnineteenth century to the 1980s, African Americans in Lynchburg and surrounding areas
founded around 150 civic and social groups, with some established as early as the 1850s.22
In the district, the building at 603 Grace Street was utilized as a Good Samaritan Lodge from
the turn of the twentieth century through at least the late 1960s. The location of this lodge is
likely for the convenience of members that worked in the nearby factories. These
organizations typically aligned themselves to churches in the area and supported local
African-American businesses. The clubs also practiced cultural activities influenced by their
African heritage, such as the Good Samaritans participating in African ceremonial dances.
These organizations provided for those in need in their community, often stepping in when
the government chose not to help African American citizens. These groups also provided
leadership training for black men to help advance their place in society. These organizations
were especially valuable during the Great Depression as they provided outlets for AfricanAmerican creativity and entertainment during a time of racial oppression and segregation.23
CRITERION C: ARCHITECTURE
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is one of several historic districts in Lynchburg
with a collection of commercial or industrial buildings. The district boasts two intact
examples of commercial steam laundries and one of the oldest remaining tobacco factories in
the city. With the presence of these early commercial laundries at 700 and 712 12th Street,
this district is unique in exhibiting the type of industrial architecture associated with
laundries: one or two stories constructed of concrete and brick with strong floors to endure
the heavy machinery, as well as the water and steam associated with the laundry process.24
Bands of steel sash windows and clerestories maximized natural light and ventilation, which
was important due to the heat and steam associated with industrial laundries. The four other
buildings, originally constructed for tobacco manufacturing and storage, are typical of
buildings associated with the industry with their open rectilinear plan and brick construction
on stone foundations. The simple utilitarian designs of the industrial and commercial
buildings in the district—characterized by their sturdy masonry, non-combustible
construction, ample fenestration providing natural light, and accessible freight entrances—
continue to reflect their original function and illustrate the basic premises of this building
type from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
9.
Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Blanton, Alison S. (Hill Studio) Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District, National
Register nomination 118-5163. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia, 2001.
Chambers, S. Allen, and Richard Cheek. Lynchburg, an Architectural
History. Charlottesville: Published for the Sarah Winston Henry Branch of the
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities by the University Press of
Virginia, 1981.
Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940.
Richmond, VA: The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Division of Historic Landmarks Staff. Lower Basin Historic District, National Register
nomination 118-0211. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond,
Virginia, 1987.
Fitzgerald, Kimberli. Yale Union Laundry Building, National Register nomination 10230018. Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, Portland, Oregon, 2007.
Hill Directory Company’s Lynchburg, Virginia City Directory. Richmond, Virginia: Hill
Directory Company, Inc., 1915-1960.
Houck, Peter W, and Lynchburg Historical Foundation. A Prototype of a Confederate
Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warwick House Pub, 1986.
Koerting, Katrina. “The state of slavery in Lynchburg.” Lynchburg News and Advance.
15 June 2014.
Sanborn Map and Publishing Company: 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951,
1955. New York, NY: Sanborn Map and Publishing Company.
Sarvis, Will. “Turnpike Tourism in Western Virginia, 1830-1860.” Virginia Cavalcade,
1999 14. http://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://search-proquestcom.proxygw.wrlc.org/docview/217299680?accountid=11243 (accessed October
27, 2017).
Schewel, Michael J. “Local Politics in Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 1880s.” The Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 89, no. 2, 1981, pp. 170–180. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/4248478.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge and Emily Patton Smith. Fifth Street Historic District,
National Register Nomination. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, VA: December 2011.
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge. Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study and Draft
Preliminary Information Form, 2012. History Tech, LLC. Lynchburg, VA. Copies
in DHR Archives, Richmond.
Swann-Wright, Dianne. “For Our Own Good.” Lynch’s Ferry: A Journal of Local
History. Lynchburg, VA 2009: 5-20. Print.
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 118-5498
_____________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 2.5 acres (approx.)
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.409317°
Longitude: -79.145501°
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
2. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.410330°
Longitude: -79.143795°
3. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.409778°
Longitude: -79.143326°
4. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.408774°
Longitude: -79.145037°
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries include all tax parcels indicated within the boundary lines on the
attached tax parcel map entitled “Tax Parcel Map, 12th Street Industrial Historic
District.”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the 12th Street Industrial Historic District encompass a cohesive
collection of industrial resources on 12th Street, Dunbar Drive, and Grace Street,
between Madison and Federal streets in Lynchburg, Virginia. The boundaries include
two tobacco prizeries in the 600 block of 12th Street, two commercial laundry plants
in the 700 block of 12th Street, one tobacco prizery on Grace Street, and one tobacco
warehouse on Dunbar Drive. The residential historic districts of Diamond Hill (1180060) and Federal Hill (118-0056) are located to the south and north and the
Courthouse Hill/Downtown Historic District (118-5163) is located to the east.
__________________________________________________________________________
11.
Form Prepared By
name/title: Katherine Gutshall, Alison Blanton, Kate Kronau
organization: Hill Studio, PC
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: Virginia zip code: 24011
e-mail: kgutshall@hillstudio.com
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
telephone: 540-342-5263
date: October 2017
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the
property's location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional
items.)
Photographs
Photo Log
Name of Property: 12th Street Industrial Historic District
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg (City)
State: Virginia
Photographer: Kate Kronau
Date Photographed: September 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating
direction of camera:
Photo 1 of 9: Intersection of 12th Street, Dunbar Drive & Madison Street, view SW
Photo 2 of 9: Intersection of 12th Street & Dunbar Drive, view SW
Photo 3 of 9: 12th Street, 600 & 700 blocks, view SW
Photo 4 of 9: Former Tobacco Prizeries, 12th Street, 600 block, view SE
Photo 5 of 9: Commercial Laundries, 12th Street, 700 block, view SW
Photo 6 of 9: 12th Street, 600 & 700 blocks, view SE
Photo 7 of 9: Dunbar Drive, view NE
Photo 8 of 9: Dunbar Drive, view NW
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 9 of 9: Front Elevation, Tobacco Prizery & Samaritan Hall, 603 Grace Street, view
NW
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of
Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing
listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act,
as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response
including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance
Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
ENDNOTES
Chambers, 154
Houck, 33
3
Chambers 7-8
4
Chambers, 28-29
5
Sarvis, 15
6
Chambers, 86.
7
Lower Basin Historic District, 8:8.1
8
Court House Hill & Downtown Historic District, 8:8.75
9
Chambers, 131
10
Chambers, 129
11
Chambers, 155
12
Chambers, 155
13
Smith, Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study
14
Houck, 33
15
Houck, 17
16
Houck, 33
17
Chambers, 267
18
Smith, Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study
19
Chambers, 409
20
Koerting
21
Schewel, 177
22
Swann-Wright, 18
23
Swann-Wright 6-17
24
Yale Union Laundry Building NRHP Nomination
1
2
Sections 9-end page 21
LOCATION MAP
12th Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA; DHR # 118-5498
+LVWRULF%RXQGDU\
NWCorner
Latitude:37.409317°
Longitude:-79.145501°
NECorner
Latitude:37.410330°
Longitude:-79.143795°
SECorner
Latitude:37.409778°
Longitude: -79.143326°
SWCorner
Latitude:37.408774°
Longitude: -79.145037°
WGS84
1101
1112
1101
Sketch Map/Photo Key
1105
12th
1100Street Industrial Historic District
&LW\RILynchburg,VA '+51R
1
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605
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02504002
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02471004
Tax Parcel No.
02471010
02506001
02470008
02470010
100
150
02507010
02507008
02506003
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02506004
02505003
02471005
0 25 50
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AY
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Contributing
02457003
02471003
02471001
Resource
TH
12
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SO
DI
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12th Street Industrial Historic District
02507001
02470011
ON
IS
RR
HA
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02457002
02471002
02469001
02470002
02470001
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02458008
02458006
Tax Parcel Map
12th Street Industrial Historic District
02457001
02458007
&LW\RILynchburg,
VA '+5
02471009
200
Feet
02506005
02505013
02505002
02505012
02506007
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02471006
02471008
02505001
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TH
13
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02505005
02471007
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02505006
02511005
02511010
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02472008
02511004
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02504002
02472009
02505007
02512002
02505008
02472006
02512003
02505016
02504001
TH
13
02504003
02472005
02512004
02504004
01007005
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02512001
02504008
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N
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02514001
02513009
02513010
02513008
02513006
02513007
02523001
N
TO
02522003
02522002
02522001
02522005
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Listed On:
1. Name of Property
VLR: 3/15/2018
th
Historic name: 12 Street Industrial Historic District
NRHP: 5/31/2018
Other names/site number: VDHR# 118-5498
Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: 12th Street (600 & 700 block), Dunbar Drive (700 block), 603 Grace Street
City or town: Lynchburg State: VA County: Independent City
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets
does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___national
___statewide
x local
Applicable National Register Criteria:
X A
___B
X C
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____6____
____0____
buildings
____0_____
____0____
sites
____0_____
____0____
structures
____0_____
____0____
objects
____6____
____0____
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____1____
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE: business, warehouse
HEALTHCARE: hospital
INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION: manufacturing facility
SOCIAL: meeting hall
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
VACANT/NOT IN USE
COMMERCE/TRADE: business
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Commercial Style
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: BRICK, CONCRETE, METAL (Tin), STONE
(Slate), ASPHALT, SYNTHETICS (Rubber)
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District, located between Diamond Hill and Federal Hill,
several blocks west of downtown, defines a commercial and industrial warehouse area in the
City of Lynchburg, Virginia. The district encompasses approximately 2.5 acres, bounded by 12th
Street to the north, Grace Street to the south, Madison Street to the east, and Federal Street to the
west. Dunbar Drive converges with 12th Street at Madison Street to run through the center of the
district, following the original alignment of the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike. This early
nineteenth-century route connected Lynchburg and the James River to the agricultural regions of
Central and Southwest Virginia. With the completion of the Turnpike in 1836, the 12th Street
corridor emerged as a gateway from the west to the commercial center of the city. In the midnineteenth century, 12th Street developed as a tobacco center, as industrial enterprises expanded
west from the James River and Kanawha Canal and railroad operations in the Lower Basin.
During this period, the district emerged as an important processing and transportation point for
tobacco and other industries. The district includes six large-scale, brick Industrial Commercialstyle buildings with construction dates ranging from ca. 1858 to 1915. Four buildings were
originally tobacco prizeries and two were commercial laundry plants. Their simple, functional
designs reflect their respective industrial and commercial processes. All six resources contribute
to the significance of the historic district. This intact collection of industrial buildings represents
the construction techniques and functional designs used for industrial buildings of the era, as
well as the role of 12th Street as an important transportation route and a center for tobacco and
other industries in Lynchburg. The property at 603 Grace Street also is listed as a contributing
resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (NRHP 1983; 118-0060).
______________________________________________________________________________
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Narrative Description
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District encompasses 2.5 acres between Diamond Hill and
Federal Hill in the City of Lynchburg. Located several blocks west of downtown, the district is
bounded by 12th Street to the north, Grace Street to the south, Madison Street to the east, and
Federal Street to the west. Dunbar Drive converges with 12th Street at Madison Street and runs
through the center of the district. Harrison Street, which connects 12th Street and Dunbar Drive,
features historic Belgian block paving. The district includes six resources, most of which are
concentrated in the triangle between 12th Street and Dunbar Drive. The earliest buildings in the
district are tobacco prizeries and warehouses built in the mid- to late nineteenth century. In the
early twentieth century, two buildings were constructed as commercial laundries. Generally, the
buildings are one-to-four stories and are of brick construction. The buildings all represent the
Industrial Commercial style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Functional in
design, ornamentation is limited, however, several buildings feature corbelled brickwork and
stepped parapets.
The oldest surviving resource in the district is the Knight Building (118-5498-0001) at 612 12th
Street, a former tobacco prizery that dates to ca. 1858. Tobacco manufacturing was a major
component of the Lynchburg economy, especially prior to the Civil War. In 1860, there were an
estimated forty-seven tobacco factories in Campbell County. The majority of them were located
in Lynchburg.1 The Knight Building is one of the few remaining antebellum vestiges of the
tobacco industry left in the city. It was one of nineteen tobacco factories used as hospitals during
the Civil War and stands today as the last extant example.2 The three-story masonry building is
red brick, of common bond construction, with a stacked stone foundation and a front gable roof.
Its functional design includes no superfluous ornament, with its simple rectangular plan informed
by the needs of tobacco storage and production. The building is representative of standard
tobacco prizeries of this era. Masonry construction was standard for tobacco warehouses due to a
Virginia General Assembly requirement that they be fireproof. Tobacco warehouses were to be
built of brick or stone and covered with slate or tile roofs or a portion of the storage charge per
hogshead went to the state, as the Commonwealth was liable in case of fire.3
There are three other buildings related to the development of the tobacco industry in the district.
These buildings date to after the Civil War, between 1878 and 1890. The buildings reflect the
same general characteristics as the antebellum tobacco prizery in the district. The ca. 1878
tobacco factory at 609 Dunbar Drive (118-5498-0004) is a three-story masonry building of red
brick, common bond construction that stands on a stacked stone foundation. Slate covers its side
gable roof. A stepped brick parapet extends above the roof on the building’s west side. Regularly
spaced double-hung wood window sash provide light to the interior. The hyphen that connects
this building to the adjacent building at 612 12th Street was added in the 1960s when Lynchburg
Plate Glass owned both properties.
The ca. 1887 tobacco prizery at 603 Grace Street (118-5498-0006) is a long and low rectangular
building. Only one story in height, the red brick building stands on a continuous, brick
foundation. A stepped brick parapet dominates the front elevation. Standing-seam metal covers
the front gable roof. Regularly spaced double-hung wood windows provide light to the interior.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
This building is also listed as a contributing resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (1180060-0048).
The ca. 1890 tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive (118-5498-0005) is a four-story masonry
building with two additional stories below the primary entry level. The building is constructed of
red brick laid in a common bond and stands on a stacked stone foundation. Stepped parapets
extend above the flat roof on the primary and rear elevations with an elevator shaft extending
from the roof in the northwest corner. The building features wood freight doors, as well as wood
double-hung and casement windows. Architectural embellishment is limited to the corbelled
brick parapet and pilasters on the front elevation.
The two commercial laundries on the 700 block of 12th Street reflect early twentieth-century
construction practices for industrial buildings, shaped by the introduction of steel and reinforced
concrete framing. These large buildings comprise multiple sections, ranging from one to two
stories. A veneer of common bond brick covers their concrete masonry construction. Flat roofs
with brick parapets further characterize the buildings. Architectural embellishment is limited to
the front elevations, at cornices and parapets.
The ca. 1912 building at 700 12th Street (118-5498-0002) is the former Crutchfield’s Dry
Cleaners and Dyers. The street elevation features a Mission-style parapet with decorative
brickwork. Terracotta coping covers the top of the parapet. Two large multi-light storefront
windows flank the main entrance and a third storefront window is located on the east side
elevation. The window openings throughout the building are rectangular with brick sills, but
there are some segmental arched openings. A painted sign for Crutchfield’s Dry Cleaners and
Dyers remains visible on the east side elevation. On the far west side of the building are two
additions added in the 1940s, which contained cold storage vaults.
The ca. 1915 building at 712 12th Street is the former Virginia Laundry Company. The front
elevation features a stepped parapet with an ornamental terracotta crest and lettering that reads
“Virginia Laundry Company Inc.” Simple concrete coping covers the top of the parapet. Painted
signs remain visible on the east side elevation. The building maximizes natural light and
ventilation with clerestory windows above the roof and bands of steel sash windows, the use of
which became widespread in the early twentieth century. Concrete lintels and brick sills define
the window openings. At the rear of the building is a tall brick smokestack, marking the location
of the boiler room. On the west side of the building is one-story addition, built in the 1920s.
Designed by Clark & Crowe Architects of Lynchburg, the addition matches the original building
in its materials and design.
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District retains a relatively high level of integrity. The
buildings remain intact with minimal alterations and are in relatively good condition overall. The
most common alteration in the district is the covering or replacement of original windows, but
even this is limited in its occurrence. All six buildings in the district are contributing resources.
As a whole, the buildings that comprise the district retain their integrity of form, location, design,
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
setting, materials, and association and continue to relate to the development of tobacco and other
industries in Lynchburg.
INVENTORY
The following inventory lists the resources within the 12th Street Industrial Historic District. It is
organized alphabetically by street name and then numerically by street number. Each entry
provides the address, date of construction, architectural style, current building use, VDHR File
number, and the contributing status within the district. Whether a building is considered
contributing or non-contributing was determined based on its integrity as it supports the historic
district’s significance under Criterion A (Commerce and Industry) and Criterion C (Architecture)
during the Period of Significance (ca. 1858 - 1968). Resources are keyed to the Sketch
Map/Photo Key by the last four digits of their DHR ID number.
12TH STREET
612 12th Street
118-5098
Other DHR ID#: 118-5239, 1185498-0001
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 3, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1858
Contributing Total: 1
700 12th Street
118-5498-0002
Other DHR ID#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Commercial Style, ca.
1912
Contributing Total: 1
712 12th Street
118-0225-0671
Other DHR ID#: 118-54980003
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 2, Style: Commercial Style, ca.
1915
Contributing Total: 1
DUNBAR DRIVE
609 Dunbar Drive
118-5498-0004
Other DHR ID#:
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 3, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1878
Contributing Total: 1
700 Dunbar Drive
118-0225-0672
Other DHR ID#: 118-5498-0005
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 4, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1890
Contributing Total: 1
GRACE STREET
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
603 Grace Street
118-0060-0048
Other DHR ID#: 118-54980006
Also listed as a contributing resource in the Diamond Hill Historic District (118-0060)
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 1, Style: Commercial Style, ca. 1887
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
COMMERCE
INDUSTRY
ETHNIC HERITAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN
Period of Significance
ca. 1858 - 1968
Significant Dates
N/A
Significant Person
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
N/A
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that
includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance,
and any applicable criteria considerations.)
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District includes a collection of tobacco prizeries,
warehouses, and commercial laundry plants that represents Lynchburg’s history as a major
processing and transportation point for tobacco, as well as its development as a city with
commercial businesses requiring the support of large commercial laundry facilities.
Lynchburg served as the transportation, industrial, and commercial hub of the Lower
Piedmont Region of Virginia from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century
due to its prominent location on the James River. With the completion of the Lynchburg and
Salem Turnpike in 1836, the 12th Street corridor emerged as a gateway from western regions
to the commercial center of the city. In the mid-nineteenth century, 12th Street developed as
a significant tobacco center, with industrial enterprises expanding west from the James River
and Kanawha Canal and railroad operations in the Lower Basin. Following the Civil War, the
corridor continued to develop in the late nineteenth century with new tobacco factories and
warehouses. While most of the buildings in the district were built for the purpose of
processing and storing tobacco, some would accommodate a variety of other uses, including
a Civil War hospital, an African American school, and an African American lodge. After the
decline of Lynchburg’s tobacco industry in the early twentieth century, other industries,
including commercial laundries, established in the district as the local economy diversified.
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of
Historic Places under Criterion A in the areas of Commerce and Industry for its role as a
center for tobacco and other industries that developed along an important transportation
route. In addition, it is eligible under Criterion A in the area of Ethnic Heritage: African
American, as the industries employed a large workforce of African Americans and two of the
buildings in the district served as educational and social institutions for African Americans.
The district is also eligible under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an intact
collection of mid-nineteenth and early twentieth-century industrial buildings that is
representative of construction techniques and functional designs used for industrial buildings
of the era. The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is significant on the local level for the
period spanning from ca. 1858, the construction date of the oldest standing tobacco prizery in
the district, to 1968, as the district continued to make contributions and achieve the character
on which significance is based into the more recent past.
___________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance)
CRITERION A: COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
In 1805, the Virginia General Assembly adopted an act to incorporate the town of
Lynchburg. Three years prior to incorporation, John Lynch effectively expanded the original
1786 town limits by making additional half-acre lots available for purchase to the northwest
and southeast of town. The lots were reached by extending the already established system of
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
streets and alleys, which ran parallel and perpendicular to the James River, respectively.
Seventh Alley, today 5th Street, was created to reach the lots in the northwest section, while
Sixth and Eighth alleys, today 12th and 13th streets, were established to serve the southeast
section. The alley that would become 12th Street brought traffic from New London and
points southwest to the lower end of town. As 12th and 5th streets were the major
transportation corridors at either end of town, they more than likely existed in some form
before 1802.4 The act of incorporation in 1805 by the General Assembly formalized the
expanded town limits, as well as the new thoroughfares.
In 1818, the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike Company formed and completed the
macadamized road west to Salem in 1836. The Salem and Lynchburg Turnpike was part of
the system of turnpikes constructed in central and western Virginia between the 1830s and
1850s. The turnpikes in this network not only allowed farmers to transport crops to towns,
but also created a more accessible path for travelers to enjoy Virginia’s western landscape.5
Fort Avenue, Dunbar Drive, and 12th Street follow the original alignment of the Lynchburg
and Salem Turnpike, which connected Lynchburg and the James River with the agricultural
regions of Central and Southwest Virginia. Along with 5th Street, which connected the Ferry
Road to the turnpike, 12th Street served as a major route from the west to the early
commercial center of Lynchburg along Main Street and 9th Street. The location of Jackson
Tavern, operated by Major Oliver Towles, at the intersection of Main and 12th streets circa
1815 demonstrates the prominence of 12th Street as a main transportation route into
Lynchburg. In addition, historic photographs from the mid-twentieth century depict signs at
the intersection of 12th and Main streets, as well as 12th and Federal streets with the
greeting, “Welcome to Lynchburg,” illustrating the role of 12th Street as a gateway to the
city.
As Lynchburg continued to grow and thrive in the early nineteenth century, tobacco emerged
as its primary industry and basis of its economy. Situated on the James River, Lynchburg
served as the shipping point for tobacco and other agricultural products from the western
farms to the markets of Richmond and Petersburg. By 1827, there were at least a dozen
stemmers and manufacturers operating in Lynchburg.6 The wealth and size of the town
continued to grow with the construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal and several
years later, the arrival of the railroads. The James River and Kanawha Canal Company
completed the canal to Lynchburg by 1840, linking the town to eastern markets. The canal
was extended west to Buchannan by 1851. The Virginia & Tennessee Railroad broke ground
in 1850, transporting goods from the southwest to its eastern terminus in Lynchburg. The line
was completed to Bristol by 1856. The Southside Railroad arrived soon after, bolstering
commercial development and earning Lynchburg status as “the hub in the Virginia system of
railroads,” as reported by a Richmond newspaper in 1855.7 It was during this period of
growth and prosperity that Lynchburg received its municipal charter in 1852.
The canal and railroad operations along the James River generated commercial trade that
spread beyond the Lower Basin. Between 1830 and 1850, the population of Lynchburg
increased 74 percent, from 4,628 to 8,071. The influx of workers building and operating the
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
canal and railroads, as well as the many industries they supported fueled the population
boom.8 Although the types of industries in Lynchburg began to diversify during this period,
tobacco continued to dominate.9 According to the 1848 census sponsored by Lynchburg’s
common council, the city claimed 5 tobacco warehouses, 36 tobacco factories, and 8
stemmeries, which together employed more than 1,195 hands.10 According to Lynchburg, an
Architectural History by Allen S. Chambers and Richard Cheek, the largest concentration of
tobacco factories was located on 12th Street, between Court and Harrison streets, and as it
continued up the side of Federal Hill, merging into the Salem Turnpike, which is now
Dunbar Drive.11 Ford’s, Claytor’s, Miller’s, Crumpton’s, Carroll’s, and Langhorne’s were all
early tobacco factories in this area.12
The ca. 1858 Knight Building, located at 612 12th Street, is the only antebellum tobacco
factory or warehouse that survives today in the district. Tobacconist James Vernon Knight
purchased the land on which the building would eventually be constructed in 1846. Records
show that he had improved the property by 1847. Around 1850, the Lynchburg & Salem
Turnpike was rerouted with a new arm (now Dunbar Drive) which diagonally bisected
Knight’s land, creating a triangular parcel north of the arm and a larger polygonal parcel
south of the arm. In 1851, James Knight and his wife, Mahala, sold the triangular lot to their
son John P. Knight. The deed noted that the parcel included a factory and a dwelling. In
January 1858, a fire devastated the property. The same year, John and Mahala Knight also
sold the larger parcel south of the arm to their son-in-law, William D. Miller. By spring of
1852, Miller had built a four-story, brick tobacco factory on his land. In 1858, a fire
destroyed Miller’s factory and affected two frame tobacco factories owned by James and
John Knight. According to a newspaper account, one was destroyed and one was damaged.
Miller rebuilt his brick tobacco factory by 1859. The brick tobacco factory at 612 12th Street,
belonging to the Knights, was built soon after the fire, between 1858 and 1862.13
Both the Knight and Miller buildings served as hospitals for Confederate wounded soldiers
during the Civil War along with most other large tobacco warehouses in the city.14 Beginning
in 1862, due to an overpowering need for hospitals, approximately nineteen of Lynchburg’s
tobacco warehouses were converted into Confederate hospitals. Typically, one surgeon
would oversee a general hospital, made up of multiple buildings, known as “divisions.” One
or two assistant surgeons would serve in each division. Each general hospital had about 100
to 150 attendants, most of whom were African Americans.15 Both the Knight and Miller
buildings served as a division of General Hospital No. 2. According to Peter Houck’s book, A
Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Knight and Miller
buildings were the only two remaining buildings in Lynchburg once used as Civil War
hospitals as of 1986.16 The Miller building was demolished in 2012 because of a partial
structural failure. Therefore, the Knight Building is believed to be the only surviving tobacco
factory to have served as a Civil War hospital in Lynchburg.
The tobacco industry remained strong in Lynchburg after the Civil War. In 1886, Harper’s
Weekly declared that Lynchburg “was still the largest dealer in loose tobacco in the world.”17
The other three tobacco factories and warehouses that survive in the district date to the
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
1870s, 1880s, and 1890s. Tobacconist John W. Carroll had constructed the tobacco factory at
609 Dunbar Drive by the spring of 1878.18 Land tax records and the 1877 Gray Map of
Lynchburg show the parcel without buildings in 1877. The building appears on the 1885
Sanborn Map with a notation, “To be occupied by Smyth, Woodson & Co. Smoking Tobacco
Factory,” indicating that the property had changed hands by 1885. The building housed a
number of other tobacco-related businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, including Woodson & Hughes Smoking Tobacco and Cigarette Factory, Wm. S.
Carroll Smoking Tobacco & Cigarette Factory Cutting & Drying, and Dunnington & Co.
Tobacco Prizery. Hatcher’s Tobacco Prizery operated in the ca. 1887 building at 603 Grace
Street. Ford, Moorman and Co. operated in the ca. 1890 tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar
Drive. From 1892 to the turn of the century, city directories listed the building as Moorman
School, an African-American public school. African Americans made up a significant
portion of Lynchburg’s labor force before and after the Civil War, particularly in the tobacco
industry. Based on its name, the school was likely related to the Ford, Moorman & Co.
tobacconists. Sanborn Maps indicate that other tobacco warehouses and factories, which no
longer survive, were also located in the area at various points, including: Ford, Moorman &
Co. Plug, Twist & Smoking Tobacco Factory; G.W. Smith’s Tobacco Factory; E.A. Allen’s
Plug & Twist Tobacco Factory; Edmunds, Suhling & Co. Leaf Tobacco Factory; W.A. Ford
& Co. Plug, Twist and Smoking Tobacco Factory; Lone Jack Tobacco Works; Allen Bros.
Tobacco Co.; and J.R. Kyle and Co. Leaf Tobacco. Tenement houses were also abundant in
the area, presumably providing housing to workers in the tobacco factories. Based on late
nineteenth-century listings in city directories, many residents of the area were African
Americans.
The market for Lynchburg’s dark chewing tobacco peaked in the 1880s, and began to decline
with the popularity of cigarettes that used bright leaf tobacco. Although a number of tobacco
factories and warehouses still existed into the early twentieth century, the industrial economy
of the city had grown significantly diversified.19 While most of the buildings in the district
continued to serve tobacco-related functions, some were adapted for other uses. After
functioning briefly as a tobacco prizery, the building at 603 Grace Street was converted into a
chewing gum factory for the Dental Chewing Gum Company in the mid-1890s. Several years
later, around the turn of the twentieth century, the building became Good Samaritan Hall, an
African-American lodge. The lodge continued to occupy the building through the end of the
period of significance, in 1968. By 1907, the N & W Manufacturing Company Overall
Factory occupied the former tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive. A painted sign with
the company name remains visible on the side of the building. Sanborn Maps show that the
building also continued to be used intermittently for leaf tobacco storage through the 1950s.
A variety of industrial uses also occupied the adjacent buildings at 609 Dunbar Drive and
612 12th Street after the turn of the twentieth century through the end of the period of
significance, including the Chap Stick Company, Morton Manufacturing Corporation,
Whitehouse Chemical Company, and Lynchburg Plate Glass.
The construction of the Crutchfield Dry Cleaning and Dye Company in 1912 at 700 12th
Street and the Virginia Laundry Company in 1915 at 712 12th Street illustrates the continued
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
role of 12th Street as an industrial center for the city. The Virginia Laundry Company likely
provided linen service to the Virginian Hotel, which opened in downtown Lynchburg in
1913. The Virginian Hotel was the premier hotel in downtown Lynchburg during a period
when the city was the third wealthiest per capita in the United States. Both the Virginia
Laundry Company and Crutchfield Dry Cleaning and Dyers occupied retail spaces on the
ground floor of the hotel. The Virginia Laundry Company expanded its building with an
addition in the 1920s, reflecting the continued growth of Lynchburg during this period.
Crutchfield would also expand its building with additions to accommodate cold storage
vaults in 1940 and 1945. Lynchburg resident James Kyle operated both businesses. These
two dry cleaning plants would continue to operate under the same names through the end of
the period of significance in 1968, according to city directories. Although no businesses
original to the buildings in the district survive today, its industrial and commercial character
lives on through the light industrial and commercial uses that continue to occupy the
buildings.
CRITERION A: ETHNIC HERITAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN
African Americans lived and worked in and around the 12th Street Industrial Historic District
from before the Civil War through the twentieth century. The city directories from the 1890s
list many African American residents along Grace Street, Salem Avenue (today Dunbar
Drive), and 12th Street. Free and enslaved African Americans provided a significant portion
of Lynchburg’s labor force before the Civil War, particularly in the tobacco industry. During
the Civil War, when most of the area’s tobacco factories were converted into Confederate
hospitals, the African Americans who worked in those buildings switched from industrial
jobs to hospital jobs such as cooks and laundresses.20 Even after Emancipation, African
Americans continued working in the tobacco factories and warehouses. Other freedpeople
found work in these factories after the Civil War as well, significantly increasing the African
American population both in this industry and in Lynchburg as a whole. By 1880, 3,353
African Americans lived in Lynchburg, representing over 53 percent of the population.21
In the 1890s, according to Sanborn Maps and city directories, the Moorman School, a public
school for African Americans, operated in the tobacco warehouse at 700 Dunbar Drive. The
Moorman family was a prominent Quaker family and the Moorman Brothers were leaders in
Lynchburg’s tobacco industry. It is likely that their Quaker faith influenced their decision to
open an African American school in their warehouse during Reconstruction. From the
eighteenth century through the twentieth century, Quakers were known for their
philanthropic commitment to providing African Americans with free education, especially to
improve their literacy.
Due to the large African American population in Lynchburg in the late-nineteenth century,
many African American fraternal organizations were founded in response to racial
segregation and discrimination. These fraternal organizations provided social, educational,
and leadership opportunities for members, as well as charitable support to impoverished and
isolated African Americans within the broader community. African American civic and
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
social organizations first formed in large Northern cities, then in large Southern cities, and
finally in smaller Southern towns and cities such as Lynchburg. These groups met in a
variety of places, such as private homes, churches and rented lodges and halls. From the midnineteenth century to the 1980s, African Americans in Lynchburg and surrounding areas
founded around 150 civic and social groups, with some established as early as the 1850s.22
In the district, the building at 603 Grace Street was utilized as a Good Samaritan Lodge from
the turn of the twentieth century through at least the late 1960s. The location of this lodge is
likely for the convenience of members that worked in the nearby factories. These
organizations typically aligned themselves to churches in the area and supported local
African-American businesses. The clubs also practiced cultural activities influenced by their
African heritage, such as the Good Samaritans participating in African ceremonial dances.
These organizations provided for those in need in their community, often stepping in when
the government chose not to help African American citizens. These groups also provided
leadership training for black men to help advance their place in society. These organizations
were especially valuable during the Great Depression as they provided outlets for AfricanAmerican creativity and entertainment during a time of racial oppression and segregation.23
CRITERION C: ARCHITECTURE
The 12th Street Industrial Historic District is one of several historic districts in Lynchburg
with a collection of commercial or industrial buildings. The district boasts two intact
examples of commercial steam laundries and one of the oldest remaining tobacco factories in
the city. With the presence of these early commercial laundries at 700 and 712 12th Street,
this district is unique in exhibiting the type of industrial architecture associated with
laundries: one or two stories constructed of concrete and brick with strong floors to endure
the heavy machinery, as well as the water and steam associated with the laundry process.24
Bands of steel sash windows and clerestories maximized natural light and ventilation, which
was important due to the heat and steam associated with industrial laundries. The four other
buildings, originally constructed for tobacco manufacturing and storage, are typical of
buildings associated with the industry with their open rectilinear plan and brick construction
on stone foundations. The simple utilitarian designs of the industrial and commercial
buildings in the district—characterized by their sturdy masonry, non-combustible
construction, ample fenestration providing natural light, and accessible freight entrances—
continue to reflect their original function and illustrate the basic premises of this building
type from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
9.
Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Blanton, Alison S. (Hill Studio) Court House Hill/Downtown Historic District, National
Register nomination 118-5163. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, Virginia, 2001.
Chambers, S. Allen, and Richard Cheek. Lynchburg, an Architectural
History. Charlottesville: Published for the Sarah Winston Henry Branch of the
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities by the University Press of
Virginia, 1981.
Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940.
Richmond, VA: The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2015.
Division of Historic Landmarks Staff. Lower Basin Historic District, National Register
nomination 118-0211. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond,
Virginia, 1987.
Fitzgerald, Kimberli. Yale Union Laundry Building, National Register nomination 10230018. Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, Portland, Oregon, 2007.
Hill Directory Company’s Lynchburg, Virginia City Directory. Richmond, Virginia: Hill
Directory Company, Inc., 1915-1960.
Houck, Peter W, and Lynchburg Historical Foundation. A Prototype of a Confederate
Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warwick House Pub, 1986.
Koerting, Katrina. “The state of slavery in Lynchburg.” Lynchburg News and Advance.
15 June 2014.
Sanborn Map and Publishing Company: 1885, 1890, 1895, 1902, 1907, 1951,
1955. New York, NY: Sanborn Map and Publishing Company.
Sarvis, Will. “Turnpike Tourism in Western Virginia, 1830-1860.” Virginia Cavalcade,
1999 14. http://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://search-proquestcom.proxygw.wrlc.org/docview/217299680?accountid=11243 (accessed October
27, 2017).
Schewel, Michael J. “Local Politics in Lynchburg, Virginia, in the 1880s.” The Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 89, no. 2, 1981, pp. 170–180. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/4248478.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge and Emily Patton Smith. Fifth Street Historic District,
National Register Nomination. Virginia Department of Historic Resources,
Richmond, VA: December 2011.
Smith, W. Scott Breckinridge. Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study and Draft
Preliminary Information Form, 2012. History Tech, LLC. Lynchburg, VA. Copies
in DHR Archives, Richmond.
Swann-Wright, Dianne. “For Our Own Good.” Lynch’s Ferry: A Journal of Local
History. Lynchburg, VA 2009: 5-20. Print.
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
X_ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR File No. 118-5498
_____________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 2.5 acres (approx.)
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. NW Corner
Latitude: 37.409317°
Longitude: -79.145501°
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
2. NE Corner
Latitude: 37.410330°
Longitude: -79.143795°
3. SE Corner
Latitude: 37.409778°
Longitude: -79.143326°
4. SW Corner
Latitude: 37.408774°
Longitude: -79.145037°
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries include all tax parcels indicated within the boundary lines on the
attached tax parcel map entitled “Tax Parcel Map, 12th Street Industrial Historic
District.”
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries of the 12th Street Industrial Historic District encompass a cohesive
collection of industrial resources on 12th Street, Dunbar Drive, and Grace Street,
between Madison and Federal streets in Lynchburg, Virginia. The boundaries include
two tobacco prizeries in the 600 block of 12th Street, two commercial laundry plants
in the 700 block of 12th Street, one tobacco prizery on Grace Street, and one tobacco
warehouse on Dunbar Drive. The residential historic districts of Diamond Hill (1180060) and Federal Hill (118-0056) are located to the south and north and the
Courthouse Hill/Downtown Historic District (118-5163) is located to the east.
__________________________________________________________________________
11.
Form Prepared By
name/title: Katherine Gutshall, Alison Blanton, Kate Kronau
organization: Hill Studio, PC
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: Virginia zip code: 24011
e-mail: kgutshall@hillstudio.com
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
telephone: 540-342-5263
date: October 2017
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the
property's location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional
items.)
Photographs
Photo Log
Name of Property: 12th Street Industrial Historic District
City or Vicinity: Lynchburg (City)
State: Virginia
Photographer: Kate Kronau
Date Photographed: September 2017
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating
direction of camera:
Photo 1 of 9: Intersection of 12th Street, Dunbar Drive & Madison Street, view SW
Photo 2 of 9: Intersection of 12th Street & Dunbar Drive, view SW
Photo 3 of 9: 12th Street, 600 & 700 blocks, view SW
Photo 4 of 9: Former Tobacco Prizeries, 12th Street, 600 block, view SE
Photo 5 of 9: Commercial Laundries, 12th Street, 700 block, view SW
Photo 6 of 9: 12th Street, 600 & 700 blocks, view SE
Photo 7 of 9: Dunbar Drive, view NE
Photo 8 of 9: Dunbar Drive, view NW
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
12th Street Industrial Historic District
Lynchburg, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 9 of 9: Front Elevation, Tobacco Prizery & Samaritan Hall, 603 Grace Street, view
NW
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of
Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing
listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act,
as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response
including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct
comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance
Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
ENDNOTES
Chambers, 154
Houck, 33
3
Chambers 7-8
4
Chambers, 28-29
5
Sarvis, 15
6
Chambers, 86.
7
Lower Basin Historic District, 8:8.1
8
Court House Hill & Downtown Historic District, 8:8.75
9
Chambers, 131
10
Chambers, 129
11
Chambers, 155
12
Chambers, 155
13
Smith, Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study
14
Houck, 33
15
Houck, 17
16
Houck, 33
17
Chambers, 267
18
Smith, Salem Turnpike Tobacco Factories Land Study
19
Chambers, 409
20
Koerting
21
Schewel, 177
22
Swann-Wright, 18
23
Swann-Wright 6-17
24
Yale Union Laundry Building NRHP Nomination
1
2
Sections 9-end page 21
LOCATION MAP
12th Street Industrial Historic District
City of Lynchburg, VA; DHR # 118-5498
+LVWRULF%RXQGDU\
NWCorner
Latitude:37.409317°
Longitude:-79.145501°
NECorner
Latitude:37.410330°
Longitude:-79.143795°
SECorner
Latitude:37.409778°
Longitude: -79.143326°
SWCorner
Latitude:37.408774°
Longitude: -79.145037°
WGS84
1101
1112
1101
Sketch Map/Photo Key
1105
12th
1100Street Industrial Historic District
&LW\RILynchburg,VA '+51R
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Tax Parcel No.
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Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
expiration date 03/31/2022
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin,
How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter
"N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: _Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase___________
Other names/site number: ___VDHR 118-5507___________________________________
Name of related multiple property listing:
___________________________________________________________
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: _Concord Turnpike, Main Street, Lynch Street, ____________________
City or town: _Lynchburg________ State: _VA___________ County: _Campbell______
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___ national
___ statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X_A
___B
_X_C
_X_ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____30_______
____13_______
buildings
____0________
____1________
sites
____1________
____3________
structures
____0_________
____0_________
objects
____31_______
____17________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/Manufacturing Facility
INDUSTRY/Industrial Storage
COMMERCE/TRADE/Specialty Store
DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/Manufacturing Facility
INDUSTRY/Industrial Storage
COMMERCE/TRADE/Specialty Store
DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling
VACANT
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
NO STYLE__________________
MODERN MOVEMENT: Art Deco
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK, WOOD, METAL, CONCRETE_____
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lower Basin Historic District was originally listed in the NRHP in 1987 as an intact and
representative collection of warehouses, commercial buildings, and other industrial resources that
convey the commercial and industrial prominence of Lynchburg, particularly as it relates to
development that occurred in proximity to the James River, James River and Kanawha Canal
(Kanawha Canal), and Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) and Norfolk and Western Railroads. While the
river played the primary role of transportation for goods and products in the eighteenth and earlynineteenth century, it was soon supplemented and replaced by the Kanawha Canal and the C&O
Railroad as the primary shipment corridors. At the time of its listing, the district contained 74 total
properties on portions of 23 blocks bordered generally by Commerce Street, 7th Street, Blackwater
Creek, the James River, Washington Street, and Main Street. The district was subsequently
expanded in 2002 and 2018 to include 2 additional properties that reflect architectural trends and
Lynchburg’s history of commercial and industrial development.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase incorporates twenty (20) additional
contributing primary resources built between 1850 and 1959 and one (1) noncontributing resource
built in 1963. Contributing primary resources include twenty-one (21) buildings. Contributing
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
secondary resources include nine (9) buildings and one (1) structure. Noncontributing primary
resources include one (1) building. Noncontributing secondary resources include twelve (12)
buildings, three (3) structures, and one (1) site. This area is south of the existing district boundaries,
generally along Main Street and Concord Turnpike, in the narrow terrace bordering the south bank
of the James River. The expansion area and resources within it generally adhere to the same
development pattern and architectural character as those in the original historic district.
Development consists of mostly late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century commercial and
industrial buildings and warehouses that were developed to take advantage of the commerce
brought by the railroads and Kanawha Canal for the shipment and delivery of goods and products.
The primary resources within the expansion area were used for manufacturing, industry, and
tobacco storage from the late-nineteenth century through the present-day, as well as general
commercial buildings from the same time period.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase conveys a rich history of the evolution
of commerce, manufacturing, and transportation in Lynchburg, Virginia from the late-nineteenth
century through the present-day. The expansion area retains a high degree of historical integrity
and character from the period of significance as conveyed through the extant building stock, canal
and railroad corridors, and road network that are still evident today. The commercial, industry, and
manufacturing complexes that flourished during that time due to the regional transportation
networks brought about by the canal, railroad, and roads allowed for the City of Lynchburg to
prosper and expand where other mountain cities fell behind. Even as industry has declined, and
portions of the historic building stock in the expansion area have been lost to deterioration and
demolition, the buildings and complexes that remain convey the historic character of the area and
continue to reflect the commercial and industrial heritage of the region. Together, with the
resources and properties in the existing boundaries, the Lower Basin Historic District and
Expansion are a significant aspect of Lynchburg’s history and architectural character.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Lower Basin Expansion area is located on the low terrace that extends between the south bank
of the James River and a parallel ridge, as well as just uphill to Main Street. It is located to the
south and east of the existing historic district, delineated generally by the existing southern
boundary of the district to the north, Main Street, and the ridgeline to the west, James River to the
East, and Concord Turnpike to the south. It is bisected near the northern end by the elevated Route
29 bridge that crosses over the river and beneath Main Street. The lower portion of the expansion
area is generally an open and grassy floodplain with woods and treelines along the riverbank and
ridge. Much of the area has been cleared for industrial use and is now occupied by a mix of open
field, gravel surface, and paved roadway. Some areas that were formerly occupied by additional
buildings or open manufacturing space are now grassy fields. Many of the industrial properties are
enclosed with chain link or barbed wire fence. The upper portions of the expansion area along
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Main Street are characterized by the urban street grid pattern of Lynchburg with a gently rolling
topography.
Extending through the expansion area, paralleling the river and the ridge are several historic
transportation corridors including the former Kanawha Canal alignment, the C&O Railroad
corridor, the Norfolk and Western Railroad corridor, Concord Turnpike, and Main Street. The
Kanawha Canal was finished at the end of 1840 with the first packet boat to leave Lynchburg en
route to Richmond on December 3rd, 1840. It brought great wealth and expansion to the city
throughout the 1840’s until the railroad became the chosen method of travel due to the quicker
transportation time and lesser cost due to decreased need for less man-power. The portion of the
Kanawha Canal that historically extended through the expansion area is no longer present as
construction of the railroad led to its grading and filling. The portion of the C&O Railroad within
the expansion area is a wide corridor with triple tracks on a raised gravel berm running between
Concord Turnpike and the Norfolk and Western Railroad corridor. The Norfolk and Western
Railroad corridor consists of a single-track rail line located on a slight grade, running nearly
parallel to the C&O corridor. These railways separate the industrial sector of the expansion area
from the commercial sector.
The Concord Turnpike is the primary road through the industrial area and extends from
Washington Street in the original historic district through the expansion area, paralleling the James
River. It is immediately adjacent to the C&O Railroad in the existing historic district but separates
from the rail line in the expansion area and in between the two corridors is where the majority of
development is located. The Concord Turnpike dates to the late-nineteenth century and first
appears as a public transportation route in the 1895 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. It appears in
earlier records as an unimproved access road used by the various industries along the river, but
after further development including the Helme Tobacco, Ferebee-Johnson, and Heald Company,
the road was improved and named.
Within the expansion area, Concord Turnpike is a two-lane paved road with side streets and
driveways that branch off to each of the industrial properties and their associated paved or gravel
loading docks and yards. There are very wide paved shoulders on each side of Concord, but no
curb between the road and each of the properties. Power lines run along the edge of Concord
Turnpike with lights on every other pole. Fire hydrants are placed periodically between the
properties on the west side of Concord Turnpike. The warehouse and industrial complex on the
southern end of the expansion area, 1631 Concord Turnpike, is fenced off with a chain-link fence
topped with barbed wire. Beyond the expansion area, Concord Turnpike extends to Pleasant Valley
Road along Route 460 to the east.
Main Street also extends through the expansion area, extending from within the existing historic
boundaries through a commercial and industrial area in the expansion. Bordering the street within
the expansion area are a total of twelve commercial and industrial buildings, mostly built in the
first-half of the twentieth century. Four of the properties, including those at 1344, 1405, 1408, and
1612 Main Street historically served as auto garages and/or sales centers and now serve as a
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
restaurant, a cleaning company, a plumbing repair company, and a farm equipment complex,
respectively. The Myers & Rhodes Farm Equipment Company, the original and current owners of
1616 Main Street, now own and operate two neighboring buildings – 1612, a former auto sales
building, and 1606, which was originally a wine warehouse. The building at 1400 Main Street was
historically a dry cleaner, and next door at 1404 was a veterinarian clinic. Both are vacant
commercial properties now. The property at 1450 Main Street was built in 1963 as a motor lodge
and currently operates as a condominium complex, although it has undergone extensive modern
alteration that has obscured its historic character. Located next door at 1520 Main Street is a large
warehouse constructed in the early-twentieth century that historically functioned as the Virginia
Dark Fired Tobacco Growers warehouse and shipping center. It currently functions as a general
wholesale warehouse. There is also one mid-nineteenth century home along Main Street that was
later converted to commercial use. Main Street continues south beyond the expansion area into a
primarily residential area.
East Lynch Street extends from Main Street in the expansion area down the ridge to Concord
Turnpike and is bordered by three small frame dwellings, built in the late-nineteenth to earlytwentieth century. Sanborn maps reveal the street was historically densely lined with similar
homes, many of which likely served as worker housing for the adjacent railroad or warehouse
complexes just downhill. Few of these homes remain extant, and the rest have likely been moved
or demolished.
Architectural Analysis
Large warehouses and industrial buildings include the Ferebee-Johnson, Inc. complex (VDHR#
118-0092), the Helme Tobacco Company Complex (VDHR# 118-0108), Woodward Iron
Company complex (VDHR# 118-5507-0017), Lynchburg Plow and Foundry Company Building
(VDHR# 118-5181), the Mead Corporation/Rock-Tenn Company Complex (VDHR# 118-0119),
and the Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Warehouse (VDHR# 118-5507-0009). Other
resources associated with the railroad include a former C&O Railroad support building (VDHR#
118-5507-0014) as well as three small, frame, single dwellings (VDHR# 118-5507-0013 and 1185507-0015/0016) located adjacent to the corridor that were likely built as workers housing.
General commercial buildings along Main Street include four properties that historically served as
auto garages and/or sales centers, a farm equipment wholesaler, a dry cleaner, a veterinarian clinic,
a wine warehouse, and a motor lodge (VDHR# 118-5507-0001/0005, 118-5507-0007, and 1185507-0010/0012). There is also one mid-nineteenth century home along Main Street that was later
converted to commercial use (VDHR# 118-5507-0008). This home is the earliest recorded
resource in the expansion area.
The general architectural character of the expansion area and the buildings within it is large
masonry structures with vernacular commercial and industrial designs. Industrial complexes line
Concord Turnpike, adjacent to the James River and somewhat removed from the denser areas of
the city, while commercial buildings are generally clustered centrally along Main Street. The
industrial buildings exhibit large bay openings for loading and unloading goods, large windows to
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
allow for excess light on the work floor, and minimal ornamentation. The tobacco warehouse
feature large vents near their roofline to allow for air circulation. These industrial buildings are
typically of grand proportions and composed of multiple different blocks, each with a unique
historic function. In addition to the large, primary buildings, there are also outbuildings used for
storage of vehicles and materials, traces of railroad spurs, and other structures and features related
to their historical operation. Industrial lots tend to be more expansive than commercial ones, which
in many cases within the district extend only a short distance beyond the buildings they hold. The
commercial buildings are mostly masonry or wood frame structures built using simple forms and
modest proportions and ornamentation, representing a vernacular style of architecture typical of
contemporary commercial buildings. Some reflect Art Deco and Moderne stylistic influences,
however, as most of the commercial buildings were built between the 1920s and 1940s, when those
styles were most prominent.
The expansion area remained an active and dense commercial and industrial corridor until the
downturn of manufacturing and tobacco in the late 1980’s that led to the current decline and
vacancy of the area. This is particularly evident along the industrial corridor of Concord Turnpike.
Several buildings have since been demolished or razed due to neglect and deterioration, including
the majority of the Lynchburg Plow Foundry and John H. Heald Company complex; however,
remnants of both of these complexes remain, and the rest of the extant buildings have been
minimally altered since that time. Only one industrial complex, the Rock-Tenn Paper Factory,
formerly the Mead Corporation/Heald Company, remains active under new ownership.
Additionally, the Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Warehouse has been converted into a
warehouse for L. Oppleman, a pawn shop in downtown Lynchburg. The rest of the complexes,
along with two of the neighboring dwellings, are vacant or no longer in use. Meanwhile, the
commercial buildings on Main Street have mostly been converted to different uses than their
original occupants, but remain in commercial use.
Integrity
Overall, the boundary increase and extant buildings within it retain a moderate- to high degree of
historical integrity, and still convey their historic functions, even if they are no longer used in their
original functions. All but one of the primary resources within the increase area were built during
the period of significance 1850-1959. Demolition throughout the second-half of the twentieth
century has reduced the density of the area, although much of this has been focused on smaller or
secondary structures, while many of the large, primary buildings remain and continue to provide
a regular and defined spacing of properties that convey the historic industrial and commercial
character of the area.
While many of the buildings and properties are no longer occupied by the specific businesses and
industries that occupied them historically, the industrial properties generally still function in
similar roles and the commercial properties continue to be used commercially. As such, the
boundary increase retains integrity of association. None of the buildings within the increase have
been relocation within or out of the area and thus it retains integrity of location. As discussed
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
above, the overall setting of the increase area has been impacted by demolition and the resulting
lower density of development, although still generally conveys its historic layout and therefore
integrity of setting. While many of the buildings have been subject to neglect and vacancy, most
have not undergone significant alteration or addition and therefore continue to convey and retain
integrity of design and materials. Likewise, many of the specialized features and elements
important to their roles as commercial and industrial buildings remain therefore maintaining
integrity of workmanship. Finally, the area continues to retain its sense of history and industrial
past, even if no longer bustling with activity and production, and therefore retains integrity of
feeling.
Historic District Inventory
In the following inventory, which is listed numerically by street address, all resources, both
primary and secondary, have been considered either contributing or non-contributing based upon
the areas of significance as listed under Criterion A as Commerce, Community Planning and
Development, and Industry and under Criterion C for Architecture and based upon the period of
significance of 1850-1959. Due to the generally intact degree of historical integrity throughout the
district, the majority of noncontributing resources are considered as such due to their construction
that post-dates the period of significance. The resources are keyed to the accompanying sketch
map by street address and are marked as Contributing (C) or Noncontributing (NC).
Concord Turnpike
1610 Concord Turnpike
118-5507-0014
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1950
Contributing Total: 1
1611 Concord Turnpike
118-0092
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0018
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, Ca
1899
Contributing Total: 1
1612 Concord Turnpike
118-0108
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0019
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, 1899
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, Ca
1899
Non-contributing Total: 2
1631 Concord Turnpike
118-5507-0017
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, 1955
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed - Vehicle (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1805 Concord Turnpike
118-0119
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0020
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, 1928
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Carport (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Other (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Pump House (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed - Vehicle (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Warehouse (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Water Tank/Tower (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Elm Street
1700 Elm Street
118-5507-0013
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, 1899
Contributing Total: 1
Garnet Street
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1800 Garnet Street
118-5181
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0021
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 4, Style: Vernacular, 1920
Contributing Total: 1
East Lynch Street
1808 East Lynch Street
118-5507-0015
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Multiple Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1959
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Well House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
1814 East Lynch Street
118-5507-0016
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Minimal Traditional,
1875
Contributing Total: 1
Main Street
1344 Main Street
118-5507-0001
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Restaurant (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1942
Contributing Total: 1
1400 Main Street
118-5507-0002
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1927
Contributing Total: 1
1404 Main Street
118-5507-0004
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca
1940
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
1405 Main Street
118-5507-0003
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Meeting/Fellowship Hall (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular,
Ca 1930
Contributing Total: 1
1408 Main Street
118-5507-0005
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca
1940
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1415 Main Street
118-5507-0007
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1940
Contributing Total: 1
1421 Main Street
118-5507-0008
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Store (Building), Stories 3, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1850
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chimney (Site)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1450 Main Street
118-5507-0006
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Motel/Motel Court (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style,
1963
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Non-contributing Total:v 1
Secondary Resource: Motel/Motel Court (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pool/Swimming Pool (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1520 Main Street
118-5507-0009
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1947
Contributing Total: 1
1606 Main Street
118-5507-0010
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1945
Contributing Total: 1
1612 Main Street
118-5507-0011
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1947
Contributing Total: 1
1616 Main Street
118-5507-0012
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1945
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
TRANSPORTATION
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1850-1959 __________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1850_____________
1870_____________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A__________________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A__________________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown___________
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lower Basin Historic District in Lynchburg, Virginia, was listed in the NHRP in 1987, at
which time the district was centered in downtown Lynchburg extending, generally, from the James
River on the east, to Washington Street on the south, to Main Street on the west, and to the
Williams Viaduct on the north. This district encompassed the largest concentration of commercial
and warehouse buildings in the downtown area of the city. The majority of buildings in the existing
district date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Lower Basin Historic District
has been expanded twice, in 2002 and 2008. This Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase
acknowledges the important role of industry along the canal and rail lines south of the downtown
area played in the history of the city.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase shares much of the same history and
development pattern as the original district and represents additional industrial and commercial
growth along the James River waterfront of Lynchburg. The boundary increase is locally
significant under Criterion A in the areas of Commerce, Industry, and Transportation, and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The majority of the buildings within the expansion area
were between 1800-1950, however, additional improvements and industrial expansion took place
up to 1959 and, therefore, the period of significance is extended to that date. As with many
properties in the original district, the expansion area’s development is intrinsically related to the
railroad and the advantages to commerce it offered. The Lynchburg riverfront had historically been
industrially focused, with businesses using first the river and then the James River-Kanawha Canal
to ship materials and products east. However, the coming of the railroad in the mid-nineteenth
century allowed for larger business and companies such as Helme Tobacco, a national company,
to open businesses in Lynchburg. The Heald and Mead Companies also greatly benefitted from
the railroad by allowing much faster shipping of raw materials, faster transportation times, and s
cheaper way of getting products to market without the extra manpower needed for packet boats.
Besides quicker and more efficient travel on the railroad, it was also not as affected by natural
conditions such as common river floods that prevented boat travel.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
As noted in the 1987 nomination for the Lower Basin Historic District, the Lower Basin area
witnessed European occupation in 1756 with John Lynch who found a portion of his father’s land
to be suitable for a ferry crossing the James River. Over the next few decades the area began to
grow not only in popularity but as a major trading post connecting the open farm lands and forests
to the west to the markets in Charlottesville and Richmond to the east. The town of Lynchburg
was founded in 1786 on a large portion of his land including the area around the ferry service.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Within a few decades, the town grew to be a major market place for tobacco that was grown in the
Piedmont and brought to Lynchburg to be sold and transported to markets in the east. The bateau
was created and used to ship hogsheads of tobacco from Lynchburg to Richmond and thus began
the connection between Lynchburg’s industrial and commercial industries to the James River. This
was spurred on by James River-Kanawha Canal reaching Lynchburg in 1840 (Thomas 1978:1).
South of Water Street (now 9th Street) the canal was widened forming the Lower Basin, the Upper
Basin being north of Orange Street (Hobbs and Chambers 1984). Prior to the arrival of the canal
and railroad during the mid-nineteenth century, the Lower Basin of Lynchburg was largely
agricultural in nature. 1 As the region’s production of tobacco increased, the town’s waterfront
became a busy commercial space. In addition to the canal, roads connected markets in the region.
The Concord Turnpike extended between the canal and river southeast to the town of Concord.
The area to the south of Lynchburg’s core, however, remained largely undeveloped. There is one
residence (VDHR #118-5507-0008, 1421 Main Street) within the expansion area that dates to circa
1850 indicating the rural nature of the outskirts of the town.
Additional catalysts of change reached Lynchburg during the 1840s in the form of rail lines. This
newer, faster form of transportation took considerable traffic from the canal leading to its demise.
Railroads that would extend through the expansion area include the Virginia Midland of the
Richmond & Danville Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. 2 At the meeting point of the
Virginia Midland, the Norfolk and Western, and the Richmond and Alleghany railways,
“Factories, mills, foundries, railway shops, lumber and coal yards, saw and planning mills, are all
piled together in a narrow area”. 3
The success of Lynchburg is reflected in its annexation of a large area in 1870, including the Lower
Basin Historic District Boundary Increase. The industries there would have been an important part
of the town’s economy and a narrow spur of the annexed land extended southeast between the
river and the bluffs of White Rock Hill. This spur held the Lynchburg Iron Works and reached the
southern end of the Boundary Increase which, in the late nineteenth century, was home to J.H.
Heald & Co.
A large number of dwellings and commercial buildings were constructed along these streets within
the first few years after the annexation. One such dwelling built on the annexed land is the house
at 1814 East Lynch Street (VDHR #118-5507-0016) which was constructed circa 1875. Historic
mapping indicates that additional houses were built along the street. Suggested by their proximity
to the railroad and canal, the houses on East Lynch Street likely served as worker’s housing for
industries establishing themselves along that narrow strip of land. 4
For the city of Lynchburg, the late 1890s were defined by a period of rapid industrial growth. The
Richmond Dispatch reported that in a matter of only three years, Lynchburg had become a major
manufacturing center. Sixteen new manufacturing plants were constructed in the city during that
time. 5 Many existing plants in the Lower Basin were expanded. The year 1899, in particular, was
a “record breaker” for the city. The newspaper estimated that “$15,000,000 worth of goods” were
produced in 1899 alone. 6 The historic economy of tobacco, however, declined; the city had 33
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
tobacco related firms in 1900 and only 4 by 1920. The waning of tobacco allowed the city’s
industrial base to diversify on a larger scale. 7 Prior to World War II, the manufacturing plants in
this city made cast iron pipe and pipe fittings; plows and plow parts; barrels of bark extract; candy;
shoes; fiber board paper; and work garments. This does not even account for the flouring mills,
corn and feedstuff mills, fertilizer factories, silk factory, hosiery mills, textile mills, mattress
factory, paper box plants, furniture factories, drug-manufacturing establishments, among many
other establishments. Lynchburg would also see the growth of a bark-extract plant into the largest
plant of its kind in the world. 8
When the United States entered World War II in December of 1941, demands were much greater
on Lynchburg than during the previous war. Roughly 5,000 men and women left the city to serve
in the armed forces. 9 Many women also took men’s places in factories. The city’s industries turned
their attention to military productivity during the war. The Lynchburg Foundry produced castings
for Liberty ships and mobile power plants. The company also produced over 10 million pounds of
materials under secrecy for the development of the atomic bomb. 10 The city’s textile industry
similarly shifted production based on wartime needs. The Craddock-Terry shoe factory produced
military shoes, while the Lynchburg Hosiery Company made socks, parachutes, and powder bags.
Other factories produced uniforms, blankets, and tents. 11
Citizens of Lynchburg worked together to ration goods and raw materials. Local farmers grew
food that was sent overseas to feed American soldiers. Those who remained in Lynchburg
competed with other cities to collect raw materials for the war effort. In September of 1942,
Lynchburg led all Virginia cities by collecting 1,357,500 pounds of metal. In a two-day drive, the
city collected 100,000 pounds of paper. The city also raised more than $38 million in war bonds
between 1942 and 1945. 12
After World War II, Lynchburg, along with many other American cities, experienced a period of
rapid growth and suburbanization. In 1955, Lynchburg had 96 manufacturing plants employing
16,000 individuals. 13 The city’s healthy economy centered on industries in shoes and leather
goods, foundries, textiles and garments, drugs, and pulp and paper. 14 It was written in Lynchburg’s
1961 that the “Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls has made Lynchburg’s factories and
mills the very life-blood of the city’s business”. 15 This certainly would have included those
businesses within the Boundary Increase.
As the automobile became more ubiquitous, highways and expressways opened and new industries
opened farther afield. This in combination with changes in companies and flooding of the James
River would lead to the demolition and abandonment of portions of the Boundary Increase, the
existing buildings, however, continue to convey the important industrial landscape that stretched
south of downtown Lynchburg.
Criterion A: Industry; Commerce; Transportation
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The industrial and commercial buildings existing within the Lower Basin Historic District
Boundary Increase provide good examples of how the city’s industrial capabilities transitioned
during the first half of the twentieth century. Extant industrial and industrial related buildings are
generally located along Concord Turnpike, along the spur that was annexed to the city in 1870,
and have been related to transportation, the city’s textile and tobacco industry, industrial supply,
metal manufacturing, and tannin and paper industries.
1611-1612 Concord Turnpike, 1520 Main Street – Virginia Textile Company, Hughes Buggy Co.,
American Snuff Co. (tobacco), George W. Helme Co., Ferebee-Johnson Co., Virginia Dark Fired
Tobacco Growers Marketing Association
The textile industry also took off in Lynchburg at the end of the nineteenth century. On July 19,
1899, the Virginian-Pilot announced that an underwear factory was moving from New York to
Lynchburg. The new business was named the Virginia Textile Company. The Lynchburg Building
Company was established to construct its new building at 1611 Concord Turnpike (VDHR #1180092) “on the canal front, where a number of manufacturing industries are already in operation”. 16
The company would also lease buildings in the vicinity owned by the Lynchburg Hardware
Company. 17 Based on the 1902 Sanborn, two large buildings, one of brick construction and one of
frame construction, were built between the railroad and Concord Turnpike. The northern building
handled production while the southern building was used for storage.
The Virginia Textile Company was forced out of business and in 1905 the company closed its
Lynchburg factory due to its failure to pay off debts to the People’s National Bank. 18 By 1907,
Hughes Buggy Co. occupied of the building.19 The company produced high-quality buggies, which
were the most common form of personal transportation at the time and the company shifted its
woodworking and painting operations to the former Virginia Textile building while continuing to
use its original building to the north for its blacksmith operations.
In the early twentieth century, however, the Hughes Buggy Company, was facing severe financial
problems. The company could not compete with the increasing popularity of automobiles. Personal
car ownership had spiked during the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1900, only 4,192 cars
were sold in the United States. By 1912, however, the number had risen to 356,000. 20 Possibly due
to a drop in demand, the Hughes Buggy Company had acquired a debt of over $200,000. In 1913,
the company sold its machinery, tools, and appliances to pay off some of its debt. 21 An appointed
trustee oversaw operations of the factory for a year as a means of paying off the remaining debt.
Fortunes continued to turn against the Hughes Buggy Company as the days of horse-and-buggy
transportation had come to an end. The company’s owner filed for bankruptcy in 1917. 22 However,
buggies continued to be constructed in Lynchburg as late as 1919. 23
To the south of this establishment, tobacco would begin to occupy the buildings along Concord
Turnpike near the northern end of the Boundary Increase. The tobacco industry dominated the
industry of Lynchburg up until the Civil War with as many as 45 tobacco warehouses in Lynchburg
proper. At the turn of the century, local producers of tobacco began to lose out to larger
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
corporations. In 1902, one such corporation, the American Snuff Company, moved into Lynchburg
and took over production of the region’s dark fired tobacco. In 1902, the company purchased the
Lynchburg Hardware Company property south of Hughes Buggy Company to house the new
operation. The building (VDHR #118-0108, 1612 Concord Turnpike) was used to handle and ship
tobacco to the company’s various factories and was operated by R.C. Stokes, a local tobacconist. 24
American Snuff had acquired the assets of George W. Helme Company in 1900 (US v American
Tobacco 1911). However, in 1912, the American Snuff Company was divided into three smaller
companies, the George W. Helme Company, the Weyman & Bruton Company, and the American
Snuff Company. 25 Ownership of the American Snuff Company plant on Concord Turnpike shifted
to the George W. Helme Company at this time. The new company began making plans for
expansion of the existing facility. The company took over the Hughes Buggy Company building
and in October of 1919, announced plans to build a tobacco storage warehouse in Lynchburg. The
company purchased land, formerly occupied by J.H. Kinnier & Company and J.T. Cooperage,
immediately south of its existing factory. 26 Though no longer standing due to flooding in the
1980s, the warehouse greatly increased the facility’s storage capacity. As a result, the factory had
become one of the largest in the Lower Basin Boundary Increase area, along with the John H.
Heald factory and the Lynchburg Foundry.
By 1951, Ferebee-Johnson Company was using the Helme Company’s building at 1611 Concord
Turnpike while the remainder of Helme’s buildings were used by the Lynchburg Leaf Department
of the George W. Helme Company. 27 While not originally located in the Lower Basin, the FerebeeJohnson Company was established in 1934 as an industrial supply company. Based on a 1939
listing, the company opened at the northwest corner of Jefferson and Commerce Streets in
Lynchburg. The company later moved to Concord Turnpike within the Lower Basin Boundary
Increase.
A herald to Lynchburg’s historic tobacco industry is also present with the warehouses at 1520
Main Street (#118-5507-0009). The Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Marketing Association
organized in 1932 to devise a more satisfactory way of grading and selling tobacco by public
auction at a time when a drought had reduced production and the Great Depression threatened
tobacco growers with financial ruin.28 The Association was headquartered in Farmville. 29 In 1947,
what was “termed the ‘largest and finest’ tobacco sales warehouse in the dark fired belt” was built
in Lynchburg in 1947 at 1520 Main Street. 30 The location of the warehouse was key, at Main Street
and the U.S. Route 29, and could easily be served by trucks. By 1969, the Association was
operating four warehouses: the Old and Middle warehouses in Farmville, the Iron warehouse in
Blackstone, and the New Farmers Warehouse in Lynchburg. 31
1631 Concord, 1800 Garnet – Lynchburg Foundry
Farther south along Concord Turnpike, a foundry was established. As Lynchburg was transitioning
into other industries in the second half of the nineteenth century, Henry McWane relocated to the
city in 1887 to work at the Glamorgan Company, a plow manufacturer. He transitioned the
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
company to produce cast-iron pipes. In 1896, brothers Henry and James McWane organized the
Lynchburg Plow Company. Within the company charter, it was authorized to “buy, own and work
mines of iron,” to “build, own and work furnaces and foundries for the manufacture of iron,” and
to manufacture “ploughs, wagons, carriages, and all species of agricultural implements.” 32 Three
large, brick buildings were constructed on the property of R.W. Crenshaw on the narrow strip of
land between the canal and the James River (Figure 1). Close proximity to the river was essential,
because Lower Basin plants needed large amounts of water in their processes. 33 The buildings
consisted of a foundry, a warehouse, and a wood and paint shop. A penstock was also constructed
on the property to draw water from the canal to a wheel which powered the plant. Two years after
operations began, the company began producing a plow of their own design, the Lynchburg
Chilled Plow. 34 Based on a 1902 advertisement, the company produced chilled and cast plows,
and boasted that it was the “largest manufacturers of plows in Virginia.” 35
In that same year, with the Lynchburg Plow Works becoming successful, McWane left Glamorgan.
His company became Lynch Plow and Foundry Co. and, later, Lynchburg Foundry Company. The
company underwent rapid growth in the twentieth century, spurred on by demands associated first
with World War I and then World War II. 36 Prior to the war, the majority of the foundry’s products
went into municipal water systems and gas pipe lines. However, World War I expanded its
operations for castings essential to the war effort which resulted in the formation of its major
Castings Division. The ability of the Lynchburg Foundry Company to produce a wide variety of
castings to rigid specifications was given its supreme test during World War II which led to
recognition for its war-time work by the federal government. 37
The company continued to grow following the war, occupying land north of Garnet Street formerly
held by Standard Oil Co. 38 In 1961, Woodward Iron Co. purchased Lynchburg Foundry. 39 The
company retained ownership of their property in the Lower Basin Historic District Boundary
Increase into the late twentieth century. The majority of buildings associated with the foundry are
no longer standing, save a warehouse west of the canal (VDHR #118-5181) and buildings north
of Garnet Street (VDHR #118-5507-0017).
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1: Lynchburg Plow Company, 1906. Source: Lynchburg Photos
1801 Concord Turnpike – J.H. Heald & Co., Mead Corporation
At the far southern end of the expansion area is the Mead Corporation (VDHR #118-0119). This
location had historically been occupied by the John H. Heald Company, manufacturer of dyestuffs
and tanning extracts. The company formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1849 in the business of
tanning leather. Because of the presence of the James River and Kanawha Canal, a plant opened
in Lynchburg in 1869 in order to make oak bark extracts. 40 The bark mills were situated alongside
the James River in order to harness waterpower for the machinery. Using the canals as easy access
to raw materials such as the wood chips used to extract the tannins the company greatly relied on
this to help expand. Once the product was made it would them be loaded onto boats headed to
Richmond.
At the John H. Heald plant, the company continued to grow and expand even after surviving a fire
that destroyed the original buildings and equipment. 41 In the early twentieth century, the company
had contracts with the United States and British governments. 42 In 1916, a second factory was
opened in Radford, Virginia and there were branch offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, and
San Francisco. 43 The company became the world’s largest producer of tannin extract. 44 Though
fires destroyed the plant, all or portions thereof, in the late nineteenth and earliest twentieth
centuries, the company was able to rebuild. Like other manufactories in the city, the First World
War led to an increase in productivity and “practically all of the output of the big plant is a war
necessity”. 45 The 1920s would see its consolidation with the Mead Company.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The Ohio-based Mead Company was originally founded in 1846 by D.E. Mead and expanded into
new areas during the late nineteenth century. By 1891, it was one of the largest paper producers in
the country. 46 During the late 1920s, the company’s owner, George Mead, had developed a process
to make paper from byproducts of the manufacture of tanning extracts. Following this
development, the company bought five mills, including the John H. Heald plant, with the intention
of using waste chips in the manufacture of paper. 47 After its consolidation with the John H. Heald
Company, the Lynchburg facility became known as the Heald Division of the Mead Corporation
(Figure 2). Under the Mead Corporation, the facility on Concord Turnpike continued to grow,
though according to city tax records, the majority of additions were built by 1960. The Mead
Corporation complex is now operated by the Rock-Tenn Company and still manufactures paper
products.
Figure 2: John H. Heald & Co. Facility, 1935. Source: Lynchburg Photos.
Even as industrial buildings lined the canal and river in the Lower Basin Boundary Increase, the
northwestern portion of the expansion area reflects the commercial expansion of Lynchburg as
well as the city’s reliance of its street rail system and growing popularity of the automobile.
Between 1902 and 1938 a trolley line extended south along Main Street into the Boundary Increase
area to the White Rock Hill neighborhood. 48 The early-twentieth century saw the construction of
the majority of commercial properties along Main Street in the expansion area. These businesses
provided the local population ordinary necessities such as dry cleaners, veterinarians, clothing
retail, and auto mechanics (City Directory 1930). 49
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The earliest of these buildings within the Boundary Increase were built in the 1920s and include
1400 Main Street which historically was a dry cleaners, but now houses a veterinarian clinic, as
well as across the street at 1415 Main Street which was an auto paint shop and now general storage.
Just one building was constructed in the 1930s, 1405 Main Street, which was an auto tire sales
business and now houses a plumbing repair company. The majority of the commercial buildings
in the expansion area along Main Street were built in the 1940s and include 1344 Main Street
which was an auto sales business and now a restaurant, 1404 Main Street which was a veterinarian
clinic and now general commercial, 1408 Main Street which was an auto shop and now general
commercial, and 1606, 1612, and 1616 Main Street which were historically a wine warehouse,
auto sales, and farm equipment complex respectively, and now all part of the farm equipment
business. The large warehouse at 1520 Main Street was also built in the 1940s to serve as a tobacco
warehouse and shipping center, and now serves as a general wholesale warehouse. The last
property built in the expansion area along Main Street was a motel at 1500 Main Street, constructed
in 1963. This complex continues to serve as a motel.
Criterion C: Architecture
Like the majority of buildings within the original Lower Basin Historic District and the 2002 and
2008 expansions of the district, the buildings within this Boundary Increase are utilitarian in
nature, and represent an array of mostly vernacular residential, commercial, industrial architecture.
The vast majority of primary resources were built during the period of significance from 18501959 and therefore represent the construction forms, techniques, and stylistic influences of that
period.
Wood and brick are the most common materials for nineteenth century resources which tend to
have smaller relative massing while steel and concrete introduced in the twentieth century allowed
larger buildings. Stylistically, the commercial resources fronting Main Street tend to have more
intentional architectural detailing although still tend to be fairly mundane with just minimal applied
ornamentation or embellishment. Commercial Vernacular with flat facades and roofs, set behind
stepped parapets are the most common while several building s exhibit some stripped interpretation
of the Art Deco and Moderne influences. Larger industrial buildings along Concord Turnpike
from this period are likewise subtly embellished with detailing focused on arched fenestration and
decorative brickwork at the rooflines. Twentieth century development throughout the increase area
is further minimal in applied ornamentation, with embellishment generally limited to decorative
brickwork around openings and other structural features including pilasters and parapets.
While the architecture of the Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase is a significant
representation of contemporary Vernacular commercial and industrial architecture, it is
noteworthy more for the cohesive collection and repetition of buildings along the streetscapes it
retains than for their stylistic features. Still, the buildings and their architecture represent and
convey the evolution of commerce and industry in the region and as such are significance under
Criterion C in the area of architecture.
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1
Christopher Stevens, “From Ashes to Dust, Can the Phoenix Rise Again? The Deane Foundry Site in
Flux, Lynchburg Lower Basin, 1846-1999,” Community History Workshop, December 12, 1999, article on file at
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
2
G. William Baise, Map of Lynchburg & Vicinity, Map, (Philadelphia, PA: G. William Baist, 1891).
Accessed April 2022. Lynchburg History. http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Baist_whole.htm.
3
The Virginia Midland Railway, Excursion Guide of the Virginia Midland Railway, the Short-Line
Through-Car Route Between the North and South (New York, NY: The Aldine Press, 1882), 29.
4
Sanborn Map Company, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, Sheets 9-12, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
5
“New Enterprises—The Year a Record Breaker,” Richmond Dispatch, December 31, 1899, 16, accessed
April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress; “Lynchburg Plow Works,” Roanoke Daily Times, July 5,
1896, 5, accessed April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress; “Industrial Enterprises,” Richmond
Dispatch, November 10, 1896, 1, accessed April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
6
Richmond Dispatch, December 31, 1899.
7
James M. Elson, Lynchburg: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. (Lynchburg, VA: Warwick
House, 2004), 157.
8
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1950. (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc. 1950).
9
Richard B. Lloyd and Bernard K. Mundy, Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. (Virginia Beach, VA: The
Donning Co., 1975), 22.
10
Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg at War, 1941-1945 (Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg Museum
System, 1994), 4.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1955 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1955).
14
Jon Hiratsuka, “City industry has adapted,” Tales of the Hill City. (Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc., 1985),
15
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1960 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1960).
16
“Underwear Manufactory to be Located Here,” Norfolk Virginian, July 19, 1899, 10.
17
“American Snuff Company’s Purchase,” The Daily Dispatch, May 29, 1902, 8.
56.
18
Martin P. Burks, Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Vol. 104 (Richmond,
VA: Davis Bottom, 1906), 34-38, accessed April 2022, Google Books.
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
19
County and State
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
20
“The Horse and Buggy: A Brief (But Fascinating) History,” Charleston Carriage Works, accessed April
2022, https://mycharlestoncarriage.com/blog/the-horse-and-buggy-a-brief-but-fascinating-history/.
21
“Hughes Buggy Co. Makes Assignment,” The Richmond Virginian, June 12, 1913, 4, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
22
“Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 2, 1917, 2, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
23
“Buggies Still Made in Lynchburg” Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 9, 1919, 50.
24
Elson, 256.
25
“The Snuff Company,” The Mathews Journal (Mathews Court House), February 29, 1912, 1, accessed
April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
26
“Late News Bulletins,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 10, 1919, 2, accessed April 2022,
Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
27
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1951, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
28
Emily J. Salmon, “Nicholas Baker Davidson (1867-1936),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of
Virginia. 2016. https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Davidson_Nicholas_Baker. Accessed 16 May
2022.
29
“Tobacco Industry Begins Unusual Growth In 1870,” The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader.
October 22, 1948, 5. Virginia Chronicle. Library of Virginia.
30
“125,000 Warehouse Set for Lynchburg,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 4, 1947, 9.
31
Advertisement, The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader, February 12, 1969, 3.
32
Henry Dart Reck, The History of the Lynchburg Foundry Company, 1896-1930, (Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms International, 1979), 49, 56-57.
33
Darrell Laurant, A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia In The 20th Century, (Darrell Laurant and The
News & Advance, 1997), 171.
34
Reck, 56, 63, 73.
35
“Lynchburg Plow Company,” Richmond Dispatch, May 2, 1902, 6, accessed April 2022, Chronicling
America, Library of Congress.
36
James W. Wright, “Place, Pride, and Public Relations: The Lynchburg Foundry’s Unlikely History
Magazine,” Lynch’s Ferry, Fall 2013, accessed May 2022, http://www.lynchsferry.com/fall-2013/place-pride-andpublic-relations-the-lynchburg-foundry-s-unlikely-history-magazine.htm.
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
37
Lynchburg Foundry Company, Since 1896: The Story of Lynchburg Foundry Company in Virginia from
horse-drawn plows for southern farmers to precision parts for American industry, (Lynchburg, VA, 1950).
38
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia; Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1955, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
39
“Woodward Iron Ratified Merger, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 13, 1961, 19.
40
“John H. Heald Company Has Meteoric Rise,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 29, 1929, 81.
41
“Bark Extract Works Burned,” Roanoke Times, 31 October 1891, accessed April 2022, Chronicling
America, Library of Congress.
42
“Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 2, 1917, 2, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
43
Chemical Engineering Catalog, (New York: Chemical Catalog Company, 1920), 1272.
44
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs. The History of Lynchburg Virginia 17896-1946. (Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell
Co., Inc., 1972), 219.
45
“Fire in Lynchburg Does $75,000 Damage,” The Richmond Virginian, July 11, 1918, 1, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
46
“Mead Corporation,” Ohio History Central, accessed April 2022,
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mead_Corporation.
47
H.E. Whitaker, Humane Enterprise: An Account of the Mead Corporation, 1846-1963. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1963), 17-18.
48
Harold E. Cox, Hill City Trolleys: Street Railways of Lynchburg, Va., (Forty Fort, PA: Harold E. Cox,
1977), 82.
49
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1930, vol. XLIX, (Richmond, VA, Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1930).
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Baist, G. William. Map of Lynchburg & Vicinity. Map. Philadelphia, PA: G. William Baist,
1891. Accessed April 2022. Lynchburg History.
http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Baist_whole.htm.
Blanton, Alison Stone, and Nancy Kraus. “Lower Basin Historic District (Boundary Increase,”
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by Hill Studio, PC and
Commonwealth Architects, PC. November 2000. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources.
Burks, Martin P. Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals in Virginia. Vol. 104.
Richmond, VA: Davis Bottom, 1906. Accessed April 2022. Google Books.
Chace, Jacob, George Chace, and O.W. Gray & Son. Gray’s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell
County, Virginia. Map. Philadelphia, PA: O.W. Gray & Son, 1877. Accessed April 2022.
Lynchburg History. http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Grays_Map.htm.
Chemical Engineering Catalog. New York: Chemical Catalog Company, 1920. Accessed April
2022. Google Books.
Compton, Lauren. “Lynchburg Residents Recall the Massive Flood of 1985.” ABC 13 News.
November 4, 2010. Accessed April 2022. https://wset.com/archive/lynchburg-residentsrecall-the-massive-flood-of-1985.
Cox, Harold E. Hill City Trolleys: Street Railways of Lynchburg, Va. Harold E. Cox, Forty Fort,
PA. 1977.
The Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA). “American Snuff Company’s Purchase,” 29 May 1902.
Vol. 1902, p. 8, col. 5.
Division of Historic Landmarks. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination
Form. “Lower Basin Historic District.” 1986. Manuscript on file at Virginia Department
of Historic Resources.
Dutton + Associates, LLC. “Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2018.”
Preliminary Information Form: Historic District. 2018. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources.
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Elson, James M. Lynchburg: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA:
Warwick House, 2004.
The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader. “Tobacco Industry Begins Unusual Growth In 1870.”
22 October 1948. Vol. 58, No. 5, p. 5. Virginia Chronicle. Library of Virginia.
_____. Advertisement. 12 February 1969, ed. 2, p. 3.
Gilmer, J.F. Lynchburg and Vicinity. Map. Richmond, VA: Confederate Engineer Bureau.
Accessed May 2022. Lynchburg History.
http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Gilmer.htm.
Healds Bark Mill. 1935. Lynchburg Photos. https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Mills/HealdsBark-Mill/i-LCSPWkh. Accessed 24 May 2022.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1930. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1930.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1950. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1955. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1960. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hiratsuka, Jon. “City industry has adapted,” Tales of the Hill City. Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc.
1985.
“The Horse and Buggy: A Brief (But Fascinating) History.” Charleston Carriage Works.
Accessed April 2022. https://mycharlestoncarriage.com/blog/the-horse-and-buggy-abrief-but-fascinating-history/.
The Iron Trade Review. Vol. 66. Cleveland, OH: Penton Publishing Co., 1920. Accessed April
2022. Google Books.
Jaisinghani, Sagarika. “Rock-Tenn, MeadWestvaco to merge, create packaging giant.” Reuters.
January 26, 2015. Accessed April 2022. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rocktenn-ma-meadwestvaco/rock-tenn-meadwestvaco-to-merge-create-packaging-giantidUSKBN0KZ13P20150126.
Laurant, Darrell. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia In The 20th Century. Darrell Laurant
and The News & Advance, 1997.
Lloyd, Richard B., and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA:
The Donning Co., 1975.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Foundry Company. Since 1896: The Story of Lynchburg Foundry Company in
Virginia from horse-drawn plows for southern farmers to precision parts for American
industry. Lynchburg, VA. 1950.
Lynchburg Museum System. Lynchburg at War, 1941-1945. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
Museum System, 1994.
Lynchburg Plow Company from White Rock Hill. 1906. Lynchburg Photos.
https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/PlowCompany/i-sMd4Nr6. Accessed 24
May 2022.
The Mathews Journal (Mathews Court House). “The Snuff Company.” February 29, 1912.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
McRae, Jean. “Lower Basin Historic District (addition of two resources,” National Register of
Historic Places Registration Form. April 2008. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Preservation.
“Mead Corporation.” Ohio History Central. Accessed April 2022.
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mead_Corporation.
Norfolk Virginian. “Underwear Manufactory to be Located Here,” 19 July 1899, vol. 3, p. 10,
col. 2.
Reck, Henry Dart. The History of the Lynchburg Foundry Company, 1896-1930. Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms International, 1979.
Richmond Dispatch. “New Enterprises—The Year a Record Breaker.” December 31, 1899.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Industrial Enterprises.” November 10, 1896. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling
America. Library of Congress.
______. “Lynchburg Plow Company.” May 2, 1902. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America.
Library of Congress.
______. “Plow and Foundry Company.’ July 15, 1902. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling
America. Library of Congress.
______. “American Snuff Company’s Purchase.” May 29, 1902. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Late News Bulletins.” October 10, 1919. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” September 2, 1917. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “$125,000 Warehouse Set for Lynchburg,” 4 August 1947, p. 9, col. 4.
______. “John H. Heald Company Has Meteoric Rise,” 29 December 1929, p. 81, col. 1.
______. “Buggies Still Made in Lynchburg,” 9 March 1919, p. 50, col. 4.
______. “Woodward Iron Ratified Merger,” 13 October 1961, p. 19, col. 4.
The Richmond Virginian. “Fire in Lynchburg Does $75,000 Damage.” July 11, 1918. Accessed
April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Hughes Buggy Co. Makes Assignment.” June 12, 1913. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Roanoke Daily Times. “Lynchburg Plow Works.” July 5, 1896. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Roanoke Times. “Bark Extract Works Burned.” October 31, 1891. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Salmon, Emily J. “Nicholas Baker Davidson (1867-1936),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography,
Library of Virginia. 2016.
https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Davidson_Nicholas_Baker. Accessed
16 May 2022.
Sanborn Map Company. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1885. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of
Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1890. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1895. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1902. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907; Republished 1955. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of
Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg Virginia 17896-1946. J.P. Bell Co., Inc.,
Lynchburg, VA. 1972.
Stevens, Christopher. “From Ashes to Dust, Can the Phoenix Rise Again? The Deane Foundry
Site in Flux, Lynchburg Lower Basin, 1846-1999.” Community History Workshop,
December 12, 1999. Article on file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
The Virginia Midland Railway. Excursion Guide of the Virginia Midland Railway, the ShortLine Through-Car Route Between the North and South. New York, NY: The Aldine
Press. 1882.
Virginia-Pilot (Norfolk, VA). “Underwear Manufactory to Be Located Here.” July 19, 1899.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Whitaker, H.E. Humane Enterprise: An Account of the Mead Corporation, 1846-1963.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
Wright, James W. “Place, Pride, and Public Relations: The Lynchburg Foundry’s Unlikely
History Magazine,” Lynch’s Ferry. Fall 2013. http://www.lynchsferry.com/fall2013/place-pride-and-public-relations-the-lynchburg-foundry-s-unlikely-historymagazine.htm. Accessed 16 May 2022.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 118-5507_
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
±66 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.410013°
Longitude: -79.138718°
2. Latitude: 37.410276°
Longitude: -79.138155°
3. Latitude: 37.410534°
Longitude: -79.138326°
4. Latitude: 37.410694°
Longitude: -79.137906°
5. Latitude: 37.410377°
Longitude: -79.137702°
6. Latitude: 37.410815°
Longitude: -79.136576°
7. Latitude: 37.410162°
Longitude: -79.136007°
8. Latitude: 37.410431°
Longitude: -79.135482°
9. Latitude: 37.409612°
Longitude: -79.135016°
10. Latitude: 37.409701°
Longitude: -79.134001°
11. Latitude: 37.399437°
Longitude: -79.122497°
12. Latitude: 37.398697°
Longitude: -79.122904°
13. Latitude: 37.405996°
Longitude: -79.131916°
14. Latitude: 37.405820°
Longitude: -79.132182°
15. Latitude: 37.407871°
Longitude: -79.134890°
16. Latitude: 37.407454°
Longitude: -79.135670°
17. Latitude: 37.409462°
Longitude: -79.137426°
18. Latitude: 37.409242°
Longitude: -79.138064°
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
1. Zone:
or
NAD 1983
Easting:
Sections 9-end page 32
Northing:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The expansion area incorporated roughly 66 acres of development at the southern end of the
existing Lower Basin Historic District. The boundary begins at the southwestern border of the
existing district boundaries at Main Street north of Washington Street. It follows the existing
district boundaries east to Concord Turnpike at which point it veers southeast to the James
River, crossing the U.S. Route 29. The expanded boundary parallels Concord Turnpike and
the James River to its southeastern end at Winston Ridge Street at which point it turns west to
the bottom of the bluffs overlooking the river. The new boundary continues northwest along
this line roughly paralleling the rail line on its west side and including existing industrial
buildings located on the west side of the rail line. The new boundary then continues northwest
along E. Lynch Street before turning west at Elm Street. The western boundary then follows
Main Street northwest to the beginning, extending beyond the street line north of Pearl Street
to include the existing commercial buildings there.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The Lower Basin Expansion area is located on the low terrace that extends between the south
bank of the James River and a parallel ridge, as well as just uphill to Main Street. It is located
to the south and east of the existing historic district, delineated generally by the existing
southern boundary of the district to the north, Main Street and the ridgeline to the west, James
River to the East, and Concord Turnpike to the south. The history of the Boundary Increase is
tied to the historic development of the original Lower Basin Historic District and Lynchburg
as a whole. The new boundaries incorporates existing historic industrial and commercial
buildings which contributed to the success and growth of Lynchburg.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Robert J. Taylor, Jr., Dara Friedberg, Anna White, and Madelyn Shiflett _____
organization: __Dutton & Associates, LLC
_____________________________________
street & number: _1115 Crowder Drive ________________________________________
city or town: _Midlothian_________________ state: _VA___ _ zip code:_23113 _______
e-mail: ________________________________
telephone: __(804) 897-1960_______________________
date: _January 2023____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
x
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
x
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
x
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase, 2022
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County: Campbell
State: Virginia
Photographer: Madelyn Shiflett (unless otherwise noted)
Date Photographed: 3/8/2022 (unless otherwise noted)
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0001
View: Northeastern end of Boundary Increase, view southeast on Concord Turnpike towards
Ferebee-Johnson Co., Inc. (#118-0092), C&O Support Building (#118-5507-0014), and
General Cigar Company (#118-0108).
Photo 2 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0002
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Garnet Street towards Woodward Iron
Company (#118-5507-0017) and General Cigar Company (#118-5507-0019).
Photo 3 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0003
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Heald
Company/Mead Corporation (#118-0119).
Photo 4 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0004
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Heald
Company/Mead Corporation (#118-0119).
Photo 5 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0005
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Lynch Street towards a house (#118-55070016) and Lynchburg Plow & Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 6 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0006
View: Birds eye in Boundary Increase looking southeast.
Photographer: Kiernan Ziletti
Date: 5/18/2018
Photo 7 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0007
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Garnet Street towards Lynchburg Plow &
Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 8 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0008
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings.
Photo 9 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0009
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street toward commercial buildings.
Photo 10 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0010
View: View south in Boundary Increase from Main Street toward commercial buildings.
Photo 11 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0011
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards General Cigar
Company (#118-0108).
Photo 12 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0012
View: View south in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Ferebee-Johnson
Co., Inc. (#118-0092).
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 13 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0013
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Garnett Street towards Lynchburg Plow &
Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 14 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0014
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards Harvest Worship
Center (#118-5507-0003).
Photo 15 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0015
View: View north in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards RA Bistro (#1180-55070001).
Photo 16 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0016
View: View northeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings.
Photo 17 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0017
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings
(#118-5507-0005).
Photo 18 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0018
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards Federal House
Antiques (#118-5507-0008).
Photo 19 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0019
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards The Wayne (#1185507-0006).
Photo 20 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0020
View: View northeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards L. Oppleman
Warehouse (#118-5507-0009).
Photo 21 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0022
Sections 9-end page 36
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Woodward
Iron Company (#118-5507-0017) and Lynchburg Plow & Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Historic Images
Lynchburg Plow Company from White Rock Hill. 1906. Lynchburg Photos.
https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/PlowCompany/i-sMd4Nr6. Accessed 24
May 2022.
Healds Bark Mill. 1935. Lynchburg Photos. https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Mills/HealdsBark-Mill/i-LCSPWkh.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for nominations to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.). We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for each response using this form is estimated to be between the Tier 1
and Tier 4 levels with the estimate of the time for each tier as follows:
Tier 1 – 60-100 hours
Tier 2 – 120 hours
Tier 3 – 230 hours
Tier 4 – 280 hours
The above estimates include time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and preparing and transmitting
nominations. Send comments regarding these estimates or any other aspect of the requirement(s) to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525.
Sections 9-end page 37
LOCATION MAP
Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase, 2022
VDHR# 118-5507
Lynchburg, VA
City of Lynchburg Parcel Mapper (9/12/22)
6
4
3
1. Latitude: 37.410013°
2. Latitude: 37.410276°
3. Latitude: 37.410534°
4. Latitude: 37.410694°
5. Latitude: 37.410377°
6. Latitude: 37.410815°
7. Latitude: 37.410162°
8. Latitude: 37.410431°
9. Latitude: 37.409612°
10. Latitude: 37.409701°
11. Latitude: 37.399437°
12. Latitude: 37.398697°
13. Latitude: 37.405996°
14. Latitude: 37.405820°
15. Latitude: 37.407871°
16. Latitude: 37.407454°
17. Latitude: 37.409462°
18. Latitude: 37.409242°
8
5
7
2
9
1
10
17
18
15
16
14
13
11
12
Longitude: -79.138718°
Longitude: -79.138155°
Longitude: -79.138326°
Longitude: -79.137906°
Longitude: -79.137702°
Longitude: -79.136576°
Longitude: -79.136007°
Longitude: -79.135482°
Longitude: -79.135016°
Longitude: -79.134001°
Longitude: -79.122497°
Longitude: -79.122904°
Longitude: -79.131916°
Longitude: -79.132182°
Longitude: -79.134890°
Longitude: -79.135670°
Longitude: -79.137426°
Longitude: -79.138064°
TAX PARCEL MAP
Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase, 2022
VDHR# 118-5507
Lynchburg, VA
City of Lynchburg Parcel Mapper (9/12/22)
8
160 A 70
-0001
-0002
-0004
-0005
-0003
-0007
-0008
-0006
-0014
118-0092
-0009
-0010
-0011
-0012
118-0108
-0013
-0015
-0017
-0016
118-5181
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (North)
118-0119
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (South)
-0001
-0002
-0004
-0005
-0003
-0007
-0008
-0006
-0014
118-0092
-0009
-0010
-0011
-0012
118-0108
-0013
-0015
-0017
-0016
118-5181
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (North)
118-0119
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (South)
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
expiration date 03/31/2022
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin,
How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter
"N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: _Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase___________
Other names/site number: ___VDHR 118-5507___________________________________
Name of related multiple property listing:
___________________________________________________________
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Location
Street & number: _Concord Turnpike, Main Street, Lynch Street, ____________________
City or town: _Lynchburg________ State: _VA___________ County: _Campbell______
Not For Publication: N/A
Vicinity: N/A
____________________________________________________________________________
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of significance:
___ national
___ statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_X_A
___B
_X_C
_X_ local
___D
Signature of certifying official/Title:
Date
_Virginia Department of Historic Resources________________________
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title :
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
X
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
____30_______
____13_______
buildings
____0________
____1________
sites
____1________
____3________
structures
____0_________
____0_________
objects
____31_______
____17________
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ___0____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/Manufacturing Facility
INDUSTRY/Industrial Storage
COMMERCE/TRADE/Specialty Store
DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling
___________________
___________________
___________________
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY/Manufacturing Facility
INDUSTRY/Industrial Storage
COMMERCE/TRADE/Specialty Store
DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling
VACANT
___________________
___________________
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
NO STYLE__________________
MODERN MOVEMENT: Art Deco
MODERN MOVEMENT: Moderne
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: _BRICK, WOOD, METAL, CONCRETE_____
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The Lower Basin Historic District was originally listed in the NRHP in 1987 as an intact and
representative collection of warehouses, commercial buildings, and other industrial resources that
convey the commercial and industrial prominence of Lynchburg, particularly as it relates to
development that occurred in proximity to the James River, James River and Kanawha Canal
(Kanawha Canal), and Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) and Norfolk and Western Railroads. While the
river played the primary role of transportation for goods and products in the eighteenth and earlynineteenth century, it was soon supplemented and replaced by the Kanawha Canal and the C&O
Railroad as the primary shipment corridors. At the time of its listing, the district contained 74 total
properties on portions of 23 blocks bordered generally by Commerce Street, 7th Street, Blackwater
Creek, the James River, Washington Street, and Main Street. The district was subsequently
expanded in 2002 and 2018 to include 2 additional properties that reflect architectural trends and
Lynchburg’s history of commercial and industrial development.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase incorporates twenty (20) additional
contributing primary resources built between 1850 and 1959 and one (1) noncontributing resource
built in 1963. Contributing primary resources include twenty-one (21) buildings. Contributing
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
secondary resources include nine (9) buildings and one (1) structure. Noncontributing primary
resources include one (1) building. Noncontributing secondary resources include twelve (12)
buildings, three (3) structures, and one (1) site. This area is south of the existing district boundaries,
generally along Main Street and Concord Turnpike, in the narrow terrace bordering the south bank
of the James River. The expansion area and resources within it generally adhere to the same
development pattern and architectural character as those in the original historic district.
Development consists of mostly late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century commercial and
industrial buildings and warehouses that were developed to take advantage of the commerce
brought by the railroads and Kanawha Canal for the shipment and delivery of goods and products.
The primary resources within the expansion area were used for manufacturing, industry, and
tobacco storage from the late-nineteenth century through the present-day, as well as general
commercial buildings from the same time period.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase conveys a rich history of the evolution
of commerce, manufacturing, and transportation in Lynchburg, Virginia from the late-nineteenth
century through the present-day. The expansion area retains a high degree of historical integrity
and character from the period of significance as conveyed through the extant building stock, canal
and railroad corridors, and road network that are still evident today. The commercial, industry, and
manufacturing complexes that flourished during that time due to the regional transportation
networks brought about by the canal, railroad, and roads allowed for the City of Lynchburg to
prosper and expand where other mountain cities fell behind. Even as industry has declined, and
portions of the historic building stock in the expansion area have been lost to deterioration and
demolition, the buildings and complexes that remain convey the historic character of the area and
continue to reflect the commercial and industrial heritage of the region. Together, with the
resources and properties in the existing boundaries, the Lower Basin Historic District and
Expansion are a significant aspect of Lynchburg’s history and architectural character.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Setting
The Lower Basin Expansion area is located on the low terrace that extends between the south bank
of the James River and a parallel ridge, as well as just uphill to Main Street. It is located to the
south and east of the existing historic district, delineated generally by the existing southern
boundary of the district to the north, Main Street, and the ridgeline to the west, James River to the
East, and Concord Turnpike to the south. It is bisected near the northern end by the elevated Route
29 bridge that crosses over the river and beneath Main Street. The lower portion of the expansion
area is generally an open and grassy floodplain with woods and treelines along the riverbank and
ridge. Much of the area has been cleared for industrial use and is now occupied by a mix of open
field, gravel surface, and paved roadway. Some areas that were formerly occupied by additional
buildings or open manufacturing space are now grassy fields. Many of the industrial properties are
enclosed with chain link or barbed wire fence. The upper portions of the expansion area along
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Main Street are characterized by the urban street grid pattern of Lynchburg with a gently rolling
topography.
Extending through the expansion area, paralleling the river and the ridge are several historic
transportation corridors including the former Kanawha Canal alignment, the C&O Railroad
corridor, the Norfolk and Western Railroad corridor, Concord Turnpike, and Main Street. The
Kanawha Canal was finished at the end of 1840 with the first packet boat to leave Lynchburg en
route to Richmond on December 3rd, 1840. It brought great wealth and expansion to the city
throughout the 1840’s until the railroad became the chosen method of travel due to the quicker
transportation time and lesser cost due to decreased need for less man-power. The portion of the
Kanawha Canal that historically extended through the expansion area is no longer present as
construction of the railroad led to its grading and filling. The portion of the C&O Railroad within
the expansion area is a wide corridor with triple tracks on a raised gravel berm running between
Concord Turnpike and the Norfolk and Western Railroad corridor. The Norfolk and Western
Railroad corridor consists of a single-track rail line located on a slight grade, running nearly
parallel to the C&O corridor. These railways separate the industrial sector of the expansion area
from the commercial sector.
The Concord Turnpike is the primary road through the industrial area and extends from
Washington Street in the original historic district through the expansion area, paralleling the James
River. It is immediately adjacent to the C&O Railroad in the existing historic district but separates
from the rail line in the expansion area and in between the two corridors is where the majority of
development is located. The Concord Turnpike dates to the late-nineteenth century and first
appears as a public transportation route in the 1895 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. It appears in
earlier records as an unimproved access road used by the various industries along the river, but
after further development including the Helme Tobacco, Ferebee-Johnson, and Heald Company,
the road was improved and named.
Within the expansion area, Concord Turnpike is a two-lane paved road with side streets and
driveways that branch off to each of the industrial properties and their associated paved or gravel
loading docks and yards. There are very wide paved shoulders on each side of Concord, but no
curb between the road and each of the properties. Power lines run along the edge of Concord
Turnpike with lights on every other pole. Fire hydrants are placed periodically between the
properties on the west side of Concord Turnpike. The warehouse and industrial complex on the
southern end of the expansion area, 1631 Concord Turnpike, is fenced off with a chain-link fence
topped with barbed wire. Beyond the expansion area, Concord Turnpike extends to Pleasant Valley
Road along Route 460 to the east.
Main Street also extends through the expansion area, extending from within the existing historic
boundaries through a commercial and industrial area in the expansion. Bordering the street within
the expansion area are a total of twelve commercial and industrial buildings, mostly built in the
first-half of the twentieth century. Four of the properties, including those at 1344, 1405, 1408, and
1612 Main Street historically served as auto garages and/or sales centers and now serve as a
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
restaurant, a cleaning company, a plumbing repair company, and a farm equipment complex,
respectively. The Myers & Rhodes Farm Equipment Company, the original and current owners of
1616 Main Street, now own and operate two neighboring buildings – 1612, a former auto sales
building, and 1606, which was originally a wine warehouse. The building at 1400 Main Street was
historically a dry cleaner, and next door at 1404 was a veterinarian clinic. Both are vacant
commercial properties now. The property at 1450 Main Street was built in 1963 as a motor lodge
and currently operates as a condominium complex, although it has undergone extensive modern
alteration that has obscured its historic character. Located next door at 1520 Main Street is a large
warehouse constructed in the early-twentieth century that historically functioned as the Virginia
Dark Fired Tobacco Growers warehouse and shipping center. It currently functions as a general
wholesale warehouse. There is also one mid-nineteenth century home along Main Street that was
later converted to commercial use. Main Street continues south beyond the expansion area into a
primarily residential area.
East Lynch Street extends from Main Street in the expansion area down the ridge to Concord
Turnpike and is bordered by three small frame dwellings, built in the late-nineteenth to earlytwentieth century. Sanborn maps reveal the street was historically densely lined with similar
homes, many of which likely served as worker housing for the adjacent railroad or warehouse
complexes just downhill. Few of these homes remain extant, and the rest have likely been moved
or demolished.
Architectural Analysis
Large warehouses and industrial buildings include the Ferebee-Johnson, Inc. complex (VDHR#
118-0092), the Helme Tobacco Company Complex (VDHR# 118-0108), Woodward Iron
Company complex (VDHR# 118-5507-0017), Lynchburg Plow and Foundry Company Building
(VDHR# 118-5181), the Mead Corporation/Rock-Tenn Company Complex (VDHR# 118-0119),
and the Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Warehouse (VDHR# 118-5507-0009). Other
resources associated with the railroad include a former C&O Railroad support building (VDHR#
118-5507-0014) as well as three small, frame, single dwellings (VDHR# 118-5507-0013 and 1185507-0015/0016) located adjacent to the corridor that were likely built as workers housing.
General commercial buildings along Main Street include four properties that historically served as
auto garages and/or sales centers, a farm equipment wholesaler, a dry cleaner, a veterinarian clinic,
a wine warehouse, and a motor lodge (VDHR# 118-5507-0001/0005, 118-5507-0007, and 1185507-0010/0012). There is also one mid-nineteenth century home along Main Street that was later
converted to commercial use (VDHR# 118-5507-0008). This home is the earliest recorded
resource in the expansion area.
The general architectural character of the expansion area and the buildings within it is large
masonry structures with vernacular commercial and industrial designs. Industrial complexes line
Concord Turnpike, adjacent to the James River and somewhat removed from the denser areas of
the city, while commercial buildings are generally clustered centrally along Main Street. The
industrial buildings exhibit large bay openings for loading and unloading goods, large windows to
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
allow for excess light on the work floor, and minimal ornamentation. The tobacco warehouse
feature large vents near their roofline to allow for air circulation. These industrial buildings are
typically of grand proportions and composed of multiple different blocks, each with a unique
historic function. In addition to the large, primary buildings, there are also outbuildings used for
storage of vehicles and materials, traces of railroad spurs, and other structures and features related
to their historical operation. Industrial lots tend to be more expansive than commercial ones, which
in many cases within the district extend only a short distance beyond the buildings they hold. The
commercial buildings are mostly masonry or wood frame structures built using simple forms and
modest proportions and ornamentation, representing a vernacular style of architecture typical of
contemporary commercial buildings. Some reflect Art Deco and Moderne stylistic influences,
however, as most of the commercial buildings were built between the 1920s and 1940s, when those
styles were most prominent.
The expansion area remained an active and dense commercial and industrial corridor until the
downturn of manufacturing and tobacco in the late 1980’s that led to the current decline and
vacancy of the area. This is particularly evident along the industrial corridor of Concord Turnpike.
Several buildings have since been demolished or razed due to neglect and deterioration, including
the majority of the Lynchburg Plow Foundry and John H. Heald Company complex; however,
remnants of both of these complexes remain, and the rest of the extant buildings have been
minimally altered since that time. Only one industrial complex, the Rock-Tenn Paper Factory,
formerly the Mead Corporation/Heald Company, remains active under new ownership.
Additionally, the Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Warehouse has been converted into a
warehouse for L. Oppleman, a pawn shop in downtown Lynchburg. The rest of the complexes,
along with two of the neighboring dwellings, are vacant or no longer in use. Meanwhile, the
commercial buildings on Main Street have mostly been converted to different uses than their
original occupants, but remain in commercial use.
Integrity
Overall, the boundary increase and extant buildings within it retain a moderate- to high degree of
historical integrity, and still convey their historic functions, even if they are no longer used in their
original functions. All but one of the primary resources within the increase area were built during
the period of significance 1850-1959. Demolition throughout the second-half of the twentieth
century has reduced the density of the area, although much of this has been focused on smaller or
secondary structures, while many of the large, primary buildings remain and continue to provide
a regular and defined spacing of properties that convey the historic industrial and commercial
character of the area.
While many of the buildings and properties are no longer occupied by the specific businesses and
industries that occupied them historically, the industrial properties generally still function in
similar roles and the commercial properties continue to be used commercially. As such, the
boundary increase retains integrity of association. None of the buildings within the increase have
been relocation within or out of the area and thus it retains integrity of location. As discussed
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
above, the overall setting of the increase area has been impacted by demolition and the resulting
lower density of development, although still generally conveys its historic layout and therefore
integrity of setting. While many of the buildings have been subject to neglect and vacancy, most
have not undergone significant alteration or addition and therefore continue to convey and retain
integrity of design and materials. Likewise, many of the specialized features and elements
important to their roles as commercial and industrial buildings remain therefore maintaining
integrity of workmanship. Finally, the area continues to retain its sense of history and industrial
past, even if no longer bustling with activity and production, and therefore retains integrity of
feeling.
Historic District Inventory
In the following inventory, which is listed numerically by street address, all resources, both
primary and secondary, have been considered either contributing or non-contributing based upon
the areas of significance as listed under Criterion A as Commerce, Community Planning and
Development, and Industry and under Criterion C for Architecture and based upon the period of
significance of 1850-1959. Due to the generally intact degree of historical integrity throughout the
district, the majority of noncontributing resources are considered as such due to their construction
that post-dates the period of significance. The resources are keyed to the accompanying sketch
map by street address and are marked as Contributing (C) or Noncontributing (NC).
Concord Turnpike
1610 Concord Turnpike
118-5507-0014
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1950
Contributing Total: 1
1611 Concord Turnpike
118-0092
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0018
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, Ca
1899
Contributing Total: 1
1612 Concord Turnpike
118-0108
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0019
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, 1899
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : Warehouse (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, Ca
1899
Non-contributing Total: 2
1631 Concord Turnpike
118-5507-0017
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 1, Style: No discernible style, 1955
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed - Vehicle (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1805 Concord Turnpike
118-0119
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0020
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 2, Style: No Discernable Style, 1928
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Carport (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Factory (Building)
Contributing Total: 3
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Garage (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Other (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Pump House (Structure)
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Shed - Vehicle (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Warehouse (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource : : Water Tank/Tower (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Elm Street
1700 Elm Street
118-5507-0013
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, 1899
Contributing Total: 1
Garnet Street
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1800 Garnet Street
118-5181
Other DHR Id#: 118-5507-0021
Primary Resource: Factory (Building), Stories 4, Style: Vernacular, 1920
Contributing Total: 1
East Lynch Street
1808 East Lynch Street
118-5507-0015
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Multiple Dwelling (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1959
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Well House (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
1814 East Lynch Street
118-5507-0016
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Minimal Traditional,
1875
Contributing Total: 1
Main Street
1344 Main Street
118-5507-0001
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Restaurant (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1942
Contributing Total: 1
1400 Main Street
118-5507-0002
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1927
Contributing Total: 1
1404 Main Street
118-5507-0004
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca
1940
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Contributing Total: 1
1405 Main Street
118-5507-0003
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Meeting/Fellowship Hall (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular,
Ca 1930
Contributing Total: 1
1408 Main Street
118-5507-0005
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, Ca
1940
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1415 Main Street
118-5507-0007
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1940
Contributing Total: 1
1421 Main Street
118-5507-0008
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Store (Building), Stories 3, Style: Federal/Adamesque, 1850
Contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Chimney (Site)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1450 Main Street
118-5507-0006
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Motel/Motel Court (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style,
1963
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Commercial Building (Building)
Non-contributing Total:v 1
Secondary Resource: Motel/Motel Court (Building)
Non-contributing Total: 1
Secondary Resource: Pool/Swimming Pool (Structure)
Non-contributing Total: 1
1520 Main Street
118-5507-0009
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Warehouse (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1947
Contributing Total: 1
1606 Main Street
118-5507-0010
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1945
Contributing Total: 1
1612 Main Street
118-5507-0011
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1947
Contributing Total: 1
1616 Main Street
118-5507-0012
Other DHR Id#:
Primary Resource: Commercial Building (Building), Stories 1, Style: Vernacular, 1945
Contributing Total: 1
Section 7 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
INDUSTRY
COMMERCE
ARCHITECTURE
TRANSPORTATION
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1850-1959 __________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
1850_____________
1870_____________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A__________________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
N/A__________________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Unknown___________
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The Lower Basin Historic District in Lynchburg, Virginia, was listed in the NHRP in 1987, at
which time the district was centered in downtown Lynchburg extending, generally, from the James
River on the east, to Washington Street on the south, to Main Street on the west, and to the
Williams Viaduct on the north. This district encompassed the largest concentration of commercial
and warehouse buildings in the downtown area of the city. The majority of buildings in the existing
district date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Lower Basin Historic District
has been expanded twice, in 2002 and 2008. This Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase
acknowledges the important role of industry along the canal and rail lines south of the downtown
area played in the history of the city.
The Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase shares much of the same history and
development pattern as the original district and represents additional industrial and commercial
growth along the James River waterfront of Lynchburg. The boundary increase is locally
significant under Criterion A in the areas of Commerce, Industry, and Transportation, and under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The majority of the buildings within the expansion area
were between 1800-1950, however, additional improvements and industrial expansion took place
up to 1959 and, therefore, the period of significance is extended to that date. As with many
properties in the original district, the expansion area’s development is intrinsically related to the
railroad and the advantages to commerce it offered. The Lynchburg riverfront had historically been
industrially focused, with businesses using first the river and then the James River-Kanawha Canal
to ship materials and products east. However, the coming of the railroad in the mid-nineteenth
century allowed for larger business and companies such as Helme Tobacco, a national company,
to open businesses in Lynchburg. The Heald and Mead Companies also greatly benefitted from
the railroad by allowing much faster shipping of raw materials, faster transportation times, and s
cheaper way of getting products to market without the extra manpower needed for packet boats.
Besides quicker and more efficient travel on the railroad, it was also not as affected by natural
conditions such as common river floods that prevented boat travel.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
As noted in the 1987 nomination for the Lower Basin Historic District, the Lower Basin area
witnessed European occupation in 1756 with John Lynch who found a portion of his father’s land
to be suitable for a ferry crossing the James River. Over the next few decades the area began to
grow not only in popularity but as a major trading post connecting the open farm lands and forests
to the west to the markets in Charlottesville and Richmond to the east. The town of Lynchburg
was founded in 1786 on a large portion of his land including the area around the ferry service.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Within a few decades, the town grew to be a major market place for tobacco that was grown in the
Piedmont and brought to Lynchburg to be sold and transported to markets in the east. The bateau
was created and used to ship hogsheads of tobacco from Lynchburg to Richmond and thus began
the connection between Lynchburg’s industrial and commercial industries to the James River. This
was spurred on by James River-Kanawha Canal reaching Lynchburg in 1840 (Thomas 1978:1).
South of Water Street (now 9th Street) the canal was widened forming the Lower Basin, the Upper
Basin being north of Orange Street (Hobbs and Chambers 1984). Prior to the arrival of the canal
and railroad during the mid-nineteenth century, the Lower Basin of Lynchburg was largely
agricultural in nature. 1 As the region’s production of tobacco increased, the town’s waterfront
became a busy commercial space. In addition to the canal, roads connected markets in the region.
The Concord Turnpike extended between the canal and river southeast to the town of Concord.
The area to the south of Lynchburg’s core, however, remained largely undeveloped. There is one
residence (VDHR #118-5507-0008, 1421 Main Street) within the expansion area that dates to circa
1850 indicating the rural nature of the outskirts of the town.
Additional catalysts of change reached Lynchburg during the 1840s in the form of rail lines. This
newer, faster form of transportation took considerable traffic from the canal leading to its demise.
Railroads that would extend through the expansion area include the Virginia Midland of the
Richmond & Danville Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. 2 At the meeting point of the
Virginia Midland, the Norfolk and Western, and the Richmond and Alleghany railways,
“Factories, mills, foundries, railway shops, lumber and coal yards, saw and planning mills, are all
piled together in a narrow area”. 3
The success of Lynchburg is reflected in its annexation of a large area in 1870, including the Lower
Basin Historic District Boundary Increase. The industries there would have been an important part
of the town’s economy and a narrow spur of the annexed land extended southeast between the
river and the bluffs of White Rock Hill. This spur held the Lynchburg Iron Works and reached the
southern end of the Boundary Increase which, in the late nineteenth century, was home to J.H.
Heald & Co.
A large number of dwellings and commercial buildings were constructed along these streets within
the first few years after the annexation. One such dwelling built on the annexed land is the house
at 1814 East Lynch Street (VDHR #118-5507-0016) which was constructed circa 1875. Historic
mapping indicates that additional houses were built along the street. Suggested by their proximity
to the railroad and canal, the houses on East Lynch Street likely served as worker’s housing for
industries establishing themselves along that narrow strip of land. 4
For the city of Lynchburg, the late 1890s were defined by a period of rapid industrial growth. The
Richmond Dispatch reported that in a matter of only three years, Lynchburg had become a major
manufacturing center. Sixteen new manufacturing plants were constructed in the city during that
time. 5 Many existing plants in the Lower Basin were expanded. The year 1899, in particular, was
a “record breaker” for the city. The newspaper estimated that “$15,000,000 worth of goods” were
produced in 1899 alone. 6 The historic economy of tobacco, however, declined; the city had 33
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
tobacco related firms in 1900 and only 4 by 1920. The waning of tobacco allowed the city’s
industrial base to diversify on a larger scale. 7 Prior to World War II, the manufacturing plants in
this city made cast iron pipe and pipe fittings; plows and plow parts; barrels of bark extract; candy;
shoes; fiber board paper; and work garments. This does not even account for the flouring mills,
corn and feedstuff mills, fertilizer factories, silk factory, hosiery mills, textile mills, mattress
factory, paper box plants, furniture factories, drug-manufacturing establishments, among many
other establishments. Lynchburg would also see the growth of a bark-extract plant into the largest
plant of its kind in the world. 8
When the United States entered World War II in December of 1941, demands were much greater
on Lynchburg than during the previous war. Roughly 5,000 men and women left the city to serve
in the armed forces. 9 Many women also took men’s places in factories. The city’s industries turned
their attention to military productivity during the war. The Lynchburg Foundry produced castings
for Liberty ships and mobile power plants. The company also produced over 10 million pounds of
materials under secrecy for the development of the atomic bomb. 10 The city’s textile industry
similarly shifted production based on wartime needs. The Craddock-Terry shoe factory produced
military shoes, while the Lynchburg Hosiery Company made socks, parachutes, and powder bags.
Other factories produced uniforms, blankets, and tents. 11
Citizens of Lynchburg worked together to ration goods and raw materials. Local farmers grew
food that was sent overseas to feed American soldiers. Those who remained in Lynchburg
competed with other cities to collect raw materials for the war effort. In September of 1942,
Lynchburg led all Virginia cities by collecting 1,357,500 pounds of metal. In a two-day drive, the
city collected 100,000 pounds of paper. The city also raised more than $38 million in war bonds
between 1942 and 1945. 12
After World War II, Lynchburg, along with many other American cities, experienced a period of
rapid growth and suburbanization. In 1955, Lynchburg had 96 manufacturing plants employing
16,000 individuals. 13 The city’s healthy economy centered on industries in shoes and leather
goods, foundries, textiles and garments, drugs, and pulp and paper. 14 It was written in Lynchburg’s
1961 that the “Phenomenal growth of manufacturing payrolls has made Lynchburg’s factories and
mills the very life-blood of the city’s business”. 15 This certainly would have included those
businesses within the Boundary Increase.
As the automobile became more ubiquitous, highways and expressways opened and new industries
opened farther afield. This in combination with changes in companies and flooding of the James
River would lead to the demolition and abandonment of portions of the Boundary Increase, the
existing buildings, however, continue to convey the important industrial landscape that stretched
south of downtown Lynchburg.
Criterion A: Industry; Commerce; Transportation
Section 8 page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The industrial and commercial buildings existing within the Lower Basin Historic District
Boundary Increase provide good examples of how the city’s industrial capabilities transitioned
during the first half of the twentieth century. Extant industrial and industrial related buildings are
generally located along Concord Turnpike, along the spur that was annexed to the city in 1870,
and have been related to transportation, the city’s textile and tobacco industry, industrial supply,
metal manufacturing, and tannin and paper industries.
1611-1612 Concord Turnpike, 1520 Main Street – Virginia Textile Company, Hughes Buggy Co.,
American Snuff Co. (tobacco), George W. Helme Co., Ferebee-Johnson Co., Virginia Dark Fired
Tobacco Growers Marketing Association
The textile industry also took off in Lynchburg at the end of the nineteenth century. On July 19,
1899, the Virginian-Pilot announced that an underwear factory was moving from New York to
Lynchburg. The new business was named the Virginia Textile Company. The Lynchburg Building
Company was established to construct its new building at 1611 Concord Turnpike (VDHR #1180092) “on the canal front, where a number of manufacturing industries are already in operation”. 16
The company would also lease buildings in the vicinity owned by the Lynchburg Hardware
Company. 17 Based on the 1902 Sanborn, two large buildings, one of brick construction and one of
frame construction, were built between the railroad and Concord Turnpike. The northern building
handled production while the southern building was used for storage.
The Virginia Textile Company was forced out of business and in 1905 the company closed its
Lynchburg factory due to its failure to pay off debts to the People’s National Bank. 18 By 1907,
Hughes Buggy Co. occupied of the building.19 The company produced high-quality buggies, which
were the most common form of personal transportation at the time and the company shifted its
woodworking and painting operations to the former Virginia Textile building while continuing to
use its original building to the north for its blacksmith operations.
In the early twentieth century, however, the Hughes Buggy Company, was facing severe financial
problems. The company could not compete with the increasing popularity of automobiles. Personal
car ownership had spiked during the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1900, only 4,192 cars
were sold in the United States. By 1912, however, the number had risen to 356,000. 20 Possibly due
to a drop in demand, the Hughes Buggy Company had acquired a debt of over $200,000. In 1913,
the company sold its machinery, tools, and appliances to pay off some of its debt. 21 An appointed
trustee oversaw operations of the factory for a year as a means of paying off the remaining debt.
Fortunes continued to turn against the Hughes Buggy Company as the days of horse-and-buggy
transportation had come to an end. The company’s owner filed for bankruptcy in 1917. 22 However,
buggies continued to be constructed in Lynchburg as late as 1919. 23
To the south of this establishment, tobacco would begin to occupy the buildings along Concord
Turnpike near the northern end of the Boundary Increase. The tobacco industry dominated the
industry of Lynchburg up until the Civil War with as many as 45 tobacco warehouses in Lynchburg
proper. At the turn of the century, local producers of tobacco began to lose out to larger
Section 8 page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
corporations. In 1902, one such corporation, the American Snuff Company, moved into Lynchburg
and took over production of the region’s dark fired tobacco. In 1902, the company purchased the
Lynchburg Hardware Company property south of Hughes Buggy Company to house the new
operation. The building (VDHR #118-0108, 1612 Concord Turnpike) was used to handle and ship
tobacco to the company’s various factories and was operated by R.C. Stokes, a local tobacconist. 24
American Snuff had acquired the assets of George W. Helme Company in 1900 (US v American
Tobacco 1911). However, in 1912, the American Snuff Company was divided into three smaller
companies, the George W. Helme Company, the Weyman & Bruton Company, and the American
Snuff Company. 25 Ownership of the American Snuff Company plant on Concord Turnpike shifted
to the George W. Helme Company at this time. The new company began making plans for
expansion of the existing facility. The company took over the Hughes Buggy Company building
and in October of 1919, announced plans to build a tobacco storage warehouse in Lynchburg. The
company purchased land, formerly occupied by J.H. Kinnier & Company and J.T. Cooperage,
immediately south of its existing factory. 26 Though no longer standing due to flooding in the
1980s, the warehouse greatly increased the facility’s storage capacity. As a result, the factory had
become one of the largest in the Lower Basin Boundary Increase area, along with the John H.
Heald factory and the Lynchburg Foundry.
By 1951, Ferebee-Johnson Company was using the Helme Company’s building at 1611 Concord
Turnpike while the remainder of Helme’s buildings were used by the Lynchburg Leaf Department
of the George W. Helme Company. 27 While not originally located in the Lower Basin, the FerebeeJohnson Company was established in 1934 as an industrial supply company. Based on a 1939
listing, the company opened at the northwest corner of Jefferson and Commerce Streets in
Lynchburg. The company later moved to Concord Turnpike within the Lower Basin Boundary
Increase.
A herald to Lynchburg’s historic tobacco industry is also present with the warehouses at 1520
Main Street (#118-5507-0009). The Virginia Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Marketing Association
organized in 1932 to devise a more satisfactory way of grading and selling tobacco by public
auction at a time when a drought had reduced production and the Great Depression threatened
tobacco growers with financial ruin.28 The Association was headquartered in Farmville. 29 In 1947,
what was “termed the ‘largest and finest’ tobacco sales warehouse in the dark fired belt” was built
in Lynchburg in 1947 at 1520 Main Street. 30 The location of the warehouse was key, at Main Street
and the U.S. Route 29, and could easily be served by trucks. By 1969, the Association was
operating four warehouses: the Old and Middle warehouses in Farmville, the Iron warehouse in
Blackstone, and the New Farmers Warehouse in Lynchburg. 31
1631 Concord, 1800 Garnet – Lynchburg Foundry
Farther south along Concord Turnpike, a foundry was established. As Lynchburg was transitioning
into other industries in the second half of the nineteenth century, Henry McWane relocated to the
city in 1887 to work at the Glamorgan Company, a plow manufacturer. He transitioned the
Section 8 page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
company to produce cast-iron pipes. In 1896, brothers Henry and James McWane organized the
Lynchburg Plow Company. Within the company charter, it was authorized to “buy, own and work
mines of iron,” to “build, own and work furnaces and foundries for the manufacture of iron,” and
to manufacture “ploughs, wagons, carriages, and all species of agricultural implements.” 32 Three
large, brick buildings were constructed on the property of R.W. Crenshaw on the narrow strip of
land between the canal and the James River (Figure 1). Close proximity to the river was essential,
because Lower Basin plants needed large amounts of water in their processes. 33 The buildings
consisted of a foundry, a warehouse, and a wood and paint shop. A penstock was also constructed
on the property to draw water from the canal to a wheel which powered the plant. Two years after
operations began, the company began producing a plow of their own design, the Lynchburg
Chilled Plow. 34 Based on a 1902 advertisement, the company produced chilled and cast plows,
and boasted that it was the “largest manufacturers of plows in Virginia.” 35
In that same year, with the Lynchburg Plow Works becoming successful, McWane left Glamorgan.
His company became Lynch Plow and Foundry Co. and, later, Lynchburg Foundry Company. The
company underwent rapid growth in the twentieth century, spurred on by demands associated first
with World War I and then World War II. 36 Prior to the war, the majority of the foundry’s products
went into municipal water systems and gas pipe lines. However, World War I expanded its
operations for castings essential to the war effort which resulted in the formation of its major
Castings Division. The ability of the Lynchburg Foundry Company to produce a wide variety of
castings to rigid specifications was given its supreme test during World War II which led to
recognition for its war-time work by the federal government. 37
The company continued to grow following the war, occupying land north of Garnet Street formerly
held by Standard Oil Co. 38 In 1961, Woodward Iron Co. purchased Lynchburg Foundry. 39 The
company retained ownership of their property in the Lower Basin Historic District Boundary
Increase into the late twentieth century. The majority of buildings associated with the foundry are
no longer standing, save a warehouse west of the canal (VDHR #118-5181) and buildings north
of Garnet Street (VDHR #118-5507-0017).
Section 8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Figure 1: Lynchburg Plow Company, 1906. Source: Lynchburg Photos
1801 Concord Turnpike – J.H. Heald & Co., Mead Corporation
At the far southern end of the expansion area is the Mead Corporation (VDHR #118-0119). This
location had historically been occupied by the John H. Heald Company, manufacturer of dyestuffs
and tanning extracts. The company formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1849 in the business of
tanning leather. Because of the presence of the James River and Kanawha Canal, a plant opened
in Lynchburg in 1869 in order to make oak bark extracts. 40 The bark mills were situated alongside
the James River in order to harness waterpower for the machinery. Using the canals as easy access
to raw materials such as the wood chips used to extract the tannins the company greatly relied on
this to help expand. Once the product was made it would them be loaded onto boats headed to
Richmond.
At the John H. Heald plant, the company continued to grow and expand even after surviving a fire
that destroyed the original buildings and equipment. 41 In the early twentieth century, the company
had contracts with the United States and British governments. 42 In 1916, a second factory was
opened in Radford, Virginia and there were branch offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, and
San Francisco. 43 The company became the world’s largest producer of tannin extract. 44 Though
fires destroyed the plant, all or portions thereof, in the late nineteenth and earliest twentieth
centuries, the company was able to rebuild. Like other manufactories in the city, the First World
War led to an increase in productivity and “practically all of the output of the big plant is a war
necessity”. 45 The 1920s would see its consolidation with the Mead Company.
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The Ohio-based Mead Company was originally founded in 1846 by D.E. Mead and expanded into
new areas during the late nineteenth century. By 1891, it was one of the largest paper producers in
the country. 46 During the late 1920s, the company’s owner, George Mead, had developed a process
to make paper from byproducts of the manufacture of tanning extracts. Following this
development, the company bought five mills, including the John H. Heald plant, with the intention
of using waste chips in the manufacture of paper. 47 After its consolidation with the John H. Heald
Company, the Lynchburg facility became known as the Heald Division of the Mead Corporation
(Figure 2). Under the Mead Corporation, the facility on Concord Turnpike continued to grow,
though according to city tax records, the majority of additions were built by 1960. The Mead
Corporation complex is now operated by the Rock-Tenn Company and still manufactures paper
products.
Figure 2: John H. Heald & Co. Facility, 1935. Source: Lynchburg Photos.
Even as industrial buildings lined the canal and river in the Lower Basin Boundary Increase, the
northwestern portion of the expansion area reflects the commercial expansion of Lynchburg as
well as the city’s reliance of its street rail system and growing popularity of the automobile.
Between 1902 and 1938 a trolley line extended south along Main Street into the Boundary Increase
area to the White Rock Hill neighborhood. 48 The early-twentieth century saw the construction of
the majority of commercial properties along Main Street in the expansion area. These businesses
provided the local population ordinary necessities such as dry cleaners, veterinarians, clothing
retail, and auto mechanics (City Directory 1930). 49
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The earliest of these buildings within the Boundary Increase were built in the 1920s and include
1400 Main Street which historically was a dry cleaners, but now houses a veterinarian clinic, as
well as across the street at 1415 Main Street which was an auto paint shop and now general storage.
Just one building was constructed in the 1930s, 1405 Main Street, which was an auto tire sales
business and now houses a plumbing repair company. The majority of the commercial buildings
in the expansion area along Main Street were built in the 1940s and include 1344 Main Street
which was an auto sales business and now a restaurant, 1404 Main Street which was a veterinarian
clinic and now general commercial, 1408 Main Street which was an auto shop and now general
commercial, and 1606, 1612, and 1616 Main Street which were historically a wine warehouse,
auto sales, and farm equipment complex respectively, and now all part of the farm equipment
business. The large warehouse at 1520 Main Street was also built in the 1940s to serve as a tobacco
warehouse and shipping center, and now serves as a general wholesale warehouse. The last
property built in the expansion area along Main Street was a motel at 1500 Main Street, constructed
in 1963. This complex continues to serve as a motel.
Criterion C: Architecture
Like the majority of buildings within the original Lower Basin Historic District and the 2002 and
2008 expansions of the district, the buildings within this Boundary Increase are utilitarian in
nature, and represent an array of mostly vernacular residential, commercial, industrial architecture.
The vast majority of primary resources were built during the period of significance from 18501959 and therefore represent the construction forms, techniques, and stylistic influences of that
period.
Wood and brick are the most common materials for nineteenth century resources which tend to
have smaller relative massing while steel and concrete introduced in the twentieth century allowed
larger buildings. Stylistically, the commercial resources fronting Main Street tend to have more
intentional architectural detailing although still tend to be fairly mundane with just minimal applied
ornamentation or embellishment. Commercial Vernacular with flat facades and roofs, set behind
stepped parapets are the most common while several building s exhibit some stripped interpretation
of the Art Deco and Moderne influences. Larger industrial buildings along Concord Turnpike
from this period are likewise subtly embellished with detailing focused on arched fenestration and
decorative brickwork at the rooflines. Twentieth century development throughout the increase area
is further minimal in applied ornamentation, with embellishment generally limited to decorative
brickwork around openings and other structural features including pilasters and parapets.
While the architecture of the Lower Basin Historic District 2023 Boundary Increase is a significant
representation of contemporary Vernacular commercial and industrial architecture, it is
noteworthy more for the cohesive collection and repetition of buildings along the streetscapes it
retains than for their stylistic features. Still, the buildings and their architecture represent and
convey the evolution of commerce and industry in the region and as such are significance under
Criterion C in the area of architecture.
Section 8 page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
1
Christopher Stevens, “From Ashes to Dust, Can the Phoenix Rise Again? The Deane Foundry Site in
Flux, Lynchburg Lower Basin, 1846-1999,” Community History Workshop, December 12, 1999, article on file at
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
2
G. William Baise, Map of Lynchburg & Vicinity, Map, (Philadelphia, PA: G. William Baist, 1891).
Accessed April 2022. Lynchburg History. http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Baist_whole.htm.
3
The Virginia Midland Railway, Excursion Guide of the Virginia Midland Railway, the Short-Line
Through-Car Route Between the North and South (New York, NY: The Aldine Press, 1882), 29.
4
Sanborn Map Company, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, Sheets 9-12, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
5
“New Enterprises—The Year a Record Breaker,” Richmond Dispatch, December 31, 1899, 16, accessed
April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress; “Lynchburg Plow Works,” Roanoke Daily Times, July 5,
1896, 5, accessed April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress; “Industrial Enterprises,” Richmond
Dispatch, November 10, 1896, 1, accessed April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
6
Richmond Dispatch, December 31, 1899.
7
James M. Elson, Lynchburg: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. (Lynchburg, VA: Warwick
House, 2004), 157.
8
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1950. (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc. 1950).
9
Richard B. Lloyd and Bernard K. Mundy, Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. (Virginia Beach, VA: The
Donning Co., 1975), 22.
10
Lynchburg Museum System, Lynchburg at War, 1941-1945 (Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg Museum
System, 1994), 4.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1955 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1955).
14
Jon Hiratsuka, “City industry has adapted,” Tales of the Hill City. (Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc., 1985),
15
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1960 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1960).
16
“Underwear Manufactory to be Located Here,” Norfolk Virginian, July 19, 1899, 10.
17
“American Snuff Company’s Purchase,” The Daily Dispatch, May 29, 1902, 8.
56.
18
Martin P. Burks, Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Vol. 104 (Richmond,
VA: Davis Bottom, 1906), 34-38, accessed April 2022, Google Books.
Section 8 page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
19
County and State
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
20
“The Horse and Buggy: A Brief (But Fascinating) History,” Charleston Carriage Works, accessed April
2022, https://mycharlestoncarriage.com/blog/the-horse-and-buggy-a-brief-but-fascinating-history/.
21
“Hughes Buggy Co. Makes Assignment,” The Richmond Virginian, June 12, 1913, 4, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
22
“Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 2, 1917, 2, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
23
“Buggies Still Made in Lynchburg” Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 9, 1919, 50.
24
Elson, 256.
25
“The Snuff Company,” The Mathews Journal (Mathews Court House), February 29, 1912, 1, accessed
April 2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
26
“Late News Bulletins,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 10, 1919, 2, accessed April 2022,
Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
27
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1951, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
28
Emily J. Salmon, “Nicholas Baker Davidson (1867-1936),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of
Virginia. 2016. https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Davidson_Nicholas_Baker. Accessed 16 May
2022.
29
“Tobacco Industry Begins Unusual Growth In 1870,” The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader.
October 22, 1948, 5. Virginia Chronicle. Library of Virginia.
30
“125,000 Warehouse Set for Lynchburg,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 4, 1947, 9.
31
Advertisement, The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader, February 12, 1969, 3.
32
Henry Dart Reck, The History of the Lynchburg Foundry Company, 1896-1930, (Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms International, 1979), 49, 56-57.
33
Darrell Laurant, A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia In The 20th Century, (Darrell Laurant and The
News & Advance, 1997), 171.
34
Reck, 56, 63, 73.
35
“Lynchburg Plow Company,” Richmond Dispatch, May 2, 1902, 6, accessed April 2022, Chronicling
America, Library of Congress.
36
James W. Wright, “Place, Pride, and Public Relations: The Lynchburg Foundry’s Unlikely History
Magazine,” Lynch’s Ferry, Fall 2013, accessed May 2022, http://www.lynchsferry.com/fall-2013/place-pride-andpublic-relations-the-lynchburg-foundry-s-unlikely-history-magazine.htm.
Section 8 page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
37
Lynchburg Foundry Company, Since 1896: The Story of Lynchburg Foundry Company in Virginia from
horse-drawn plows for southern farmers to precision parts for American industry, (Lynchburg, VA, 1950).
38
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia; Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps Lynchburg, Virginia, 1955, accessed April 2022, Library of
Virginia.
39
“Woodward Iron Ratified Merger, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 13, 1961, 19.
40
“John H. Heald Company Has Meteoric Rise,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 29, 1929, 81.
41
“Bark Extract Works Burned,” Roanoke Times, 31 October 1891, accessed April 2022, Chronicling
America, Library of Congress.
42
“Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 2, 1917, 2, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
43
Chemical Engineering Catalog, (New York: Chemical Catalog Company, 1920), 1272.
44
Philip Lightfoot Scruggs. The History of Lynchburg Virginia 17896-1946. (Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell
Co., Inc., 1972), 219.
45
“Fire in Lynchburg Does $75,000 Damage,” The Richmond Virginian, July 11, 1918, 1, accessed April
2022, Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
46
“Mead Corporation,” Ohio History Central, accessed April 2022,
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mead_Corporation.
47
H.E. Whitaker, Humane Enterprise: An Account of the Mead Corporation, 1846-1963. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1963), 17-18.
48
Harold E. Cox, Hill City Trolleys: Street Railways of Lynchburg, Va., (Forty Fort, PA: Harold E. Cox,
1977), 82.
49
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1930, vol. XLIX, (Richmond, VA, Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1930).
Section 8 page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Baist, G. William. Map of Lynchburg & Vicinity. Map. Philadelphia, PA: G. William Baist,
1891. Accessed April 2022. Lynchburg History.
http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Baist_whole.htm.
Blanton, Alison Stone, and Nancy Kraus. “Lower Basin Historic District (Boundary Increase,”
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by Hill Studio, PC and
Commonwealth Architects, PC. November 2000. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources.
Burks, Martin P. Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals in Virginia. Vol. 104.
Richmond, VA: Davis Bottom, 1906. Accessed April 2022. Google Books.
Chace, Jacob, George Chace, and O.W. Gray & Son. Gray’s New Map of Lynchburg, Campbell
County, Virginia. Map. Philadelphia, PA: O.W. Gray & Son, 1877. Accessed April 2022.
Lynchburg History. http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Grays_Map.htm.
Chemical Engineering Catalog. New York: Chemical Catalog Company, 1920. Accessed April
2022. Google Books.
Compton, Lauren. “Lynchburg Residents Recall the Massive Flood of 1985.” ABC 13 News.
November 4, 2010. Accessed April 2022. https://wset.com/archive/lynchburg-residentsrecall-the-massive-flood-of-1985.
Cox, Harold E. Hill City Trolleys: Street Railways of Lynchburg, Va. Harold E. Cox, Forty Fort,
PA. 1977.
The Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA). “American Snuff Company’s Purchase,” 29 May 1902.
Vol. 1902, p. 8, col. 5.
Division of Historic Landmarks. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination
Form. “Lower Basin Historic District.” 1986. Manuscript on file at Virginia Department
of Historic Resources.
Dutton + Associates, LLC. “Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2018.”
Preliminary Information Form: Historic District. 2018. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources.
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Elson, James M. Lynchburg: The First Two Hundred Years, 1786-1986. Lynchburg, VA:
Warwick House, 2004.
The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader. “Tobacco Industry Begins Unusual Growth In 1870.”
22 October 1948. Vol. 58, No. 5, p. 5. Virginia Chronicle. Library of Virginia.
_____. Advertisement. 12 February 1969, ed. 2, p. 3.
Gilmer, J.F. Lynchburg and Vicinity. Map. Richmond, VA: Confederate Engineer Bureau.
Accessed May 2022. Lynchburg History.
http://lynchburghistory.com/zoomify/Gilmer.htm.
Healds Bark Mill. 1935. Lynchburg Photos. https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Mills/HealdsBark-Mill/i-LCSPWkh. Accessed 24 May 2022.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1930. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1930.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1950. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1955. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hill’s Lynchburg City Directory 1960. Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1950.
Hiratsuka, Jon. “City industry has adapted,” Tales of the Hill City. Carter Glass Newspapers, Inc.
1985.
“The Horse and Buggy: A Brief (But Fascinating) History.” Charleston Carriage Works.
Accessed April 2022. https://mycharlestoncarriage.com/blog/the-horse-and-buggy-abrief-but-fascinating-history/.
The Iron Trade Review. Vol. 66. Cleveland, OH: Penton Publishing Co., 1920. Accessed April
2022. Google Books.
Jaisinghani, Sagarika. “Rock-Tenn, MeadWestvaco to merge, create packaging giant.” Reuters.
January 26, 2015. Accessed April 2022. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rocktenn-ma-meadwestvaco/rock-tenn-meadwestvaco-to-merge-create-packaging-giantidUSKBN0KZ13P20150126.
Laurant, Darrell. A City Unto Itself: Lynchburg, Virginia In The 20th Century. Darrell Laurant
and The News & Advance, 1997.
Lloyd, Richard B., and Bernard K. Mundy. Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA:
The Donning Co., 1975.
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Lynchburg Foundry Company. Since 1896: The Story of Lynchburg Foundry Company in
Virginia from horse-drawn plows for southern farmers to precision parts for American
industry. Lynchburg, VA. 1950.
Lynchburg Museum System. Lynchburg at War, 1941-1945. Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg
Museum System, 1994.
Lynchburg Plow Company from White Rock Hill. 1906. Lynchburg Photos.
https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/PlowCompany/i-sMd4Nr6. Accessed 24
May 2022.
The Mathews Journal (Mathews Court House). “The Snuff Company.” February 29, 1912.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
McRae, Jean. “Lower Basin Historic District (addition of two resources,” National Register of
Historic Places Registration Form. April 2008. Manuscript on file at the Virginia
Department of Historic Preservation.
“Mead Corporation.” Ohio History Central. Accessed April 2022.
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mead_Corporation.
Norfolk Virginian. “Underwear Manufactory to be Located Here,” 19 July 1899, vol. 3, p. 10,
col. 2.
Reck, Henry Dart. The History of the Lynchburg Foundry Company, 1896-1930. Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms International, 1979.
Richmond Dispatch. “New Enterprises—The Year a Record Breaker.” December 31, 1899.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Industrial Enterprises.” November 10, 1896. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling
America. Library of Congress.
______. “Lynchburg Plow Company.” May 2, 1902. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America.
Library of Congress.
______. “Plow and Foundry Company.’ July 15, 1902. Accessed April 2022. Chronicling
America. Library of Congress.
______. “American Snuff Company’s Purchase.” May 29, 1902. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Late News Bulletins.” October 10, 1919. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Liabilities, $146,003; Assets, $50,” September 2, 1917. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “$125,000 Warehouse Set for Lynchburg,” 4 August 1947, p. 9, col. 4.
______. “John H. Heald Company Has Meteoric Rise,” 29 December 1929, p. 81, col. 1.
______. “Buggies Still Made in Lynchburg,” 9 March 1919, p. 50, col. 4.
______. “Woodward Iron Ratified Merger,” 13 October 1961, p. 19, col. 4.
The Richmond Virginian. “Fire in Lynchburg Does $75,000 Damage.” July 11, 1918. Accessed
April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
______. “Hughes Buggy Co. Makes Assignment.” June 12, 1913. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Roanoke Daily Times. “Lynchburg Plow Works.” July 5, 1896. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Roanoke Times. “Bark Extract Works Burned.” October 31, 1891. Accessed April 2022.
Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Salmon, Emily J. “Nicholas Baker Davidson (1867-1936),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography,
Library of Virginia. 2016.
https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Davidson_Nicholas_Baker. Accessed
16 May 2022.
Sanborn Map Company. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1885. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of
Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1890. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1895. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1902. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of Virginia.
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907; Republished 1955. Map. Accessed April 2022. Library of
Virginia.
Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot. The History of Lynchburg Virginia 17896-1946. J.P. Bell Co., Inc.,
Lynchburg, VA. 1972.
Stevens, Christopher. “From Ashes to Dust, Can the Phoenix Rise Again? The Deane Foundry
Site in Flux, Lynchburg Lower Basin, 1846-1999.” Community History Workshop,
December 12, 1999. Article on file at Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.
The Virginia Midland Railway. Excursion Guide of the Virginia Midland Railway, the ShortLine Through-Car Route Between the North and South. New York, NY: The Aldine
Press. 1882.
Virginia-Pilot (Norfolk, VA). “Underwear Manufactory to Be Located Here.” July 19, 1899.
Accessed April 2022. Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
Whitaker, H.E. Humane Enterprise: An Account of the Mead Corporation, 1846-1963.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
Wright, James W. “Place, Pride, and Public Relations: The Lynchburg Foundry’s Unlikely
History Magazine,” Lynch’s Ferry. Fall 2013. http://www.lynchsferry.com/fall2013/place-pride-and-public-relations-the-lynchburg-foundry-s-unlikely-historymagazine.htm. Accessed 16 May 2022.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 118-5507_
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
±66 acres
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.410013°
Longitude: -79.138718°
2. Latitude: 37.410276°
Longitude: -79.138155°
3. Latitude: 37.410534°
Longitude: -79.138326°
4. Latitude: 37.410694°
Longitude: -79.137906°
5. Latitude: 37.410377°
Longitude: -79.137702°
6. Latitude: 37.410815°
Longitude: -79.136576°
7. Latitude: 37.410162°
Longitude: -79.136007°
8. Latitude: 37.410431°
Longitude: -79.135482°
9. Latitude: 37.409612°
Longitude: -79.135016°
10. Latitude: 37.409701°
Longitude: -79.134001°
11. Latitude: 37.399437°
Longitude: -79.122497°
12. Latitude: 37.398697°
Longitude: -79.122904°
13. Latitude: 37.405996°
Longitude: -79.131916°
14. Latitude: 37.405820°
Longitude: -79.132182°
15. Latitude: 37.407871°
Longitude: -79.134890°
16. Latitude: 37.407454°
Longitude: -79.135670°
17. Latitude: 37.409462°
Longitude: -79.137426°
18. Latitude: 37.409242°
Longitude: -79.138064°
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
1. Zone:
or
NAD 1983
Easting:
Sections 9-end page 32
Northing:
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The expansion area incorporated roughly 66 acres of development at the southern end of the
existing Lower Basin Historic District. The boundary begins at the southwestern border of the
existing district boundaries at Main Street north of Washington Street. It follows the existing
district boundaries east to Concord Turnpike at which point it veers southeast to the James
River, crossing the U.S. Route 29. The expanded boundary parallels Concord Turnpike and
the James River to its southeastern end at Winston Ridge Street at which point it turns west to
the bottom of the bluffs overlooking the river. The new boundary continues northwest along
this line roughly paralleling the rail line on its west side and including existing industrial
buildings located on the west side of the rail line. The new boundary then continues northwest
along E. Lynch Street before turning west at Elm Street. The western boundary then follows
Main Street northwest to the beginning, extending beyond the street line north of Pearl Street
to include the existing commercial buildings there.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The Lower Basin Expansion area is located on the low terrace that extends between the south
bank of the James River and a parallel ridge, as well as just uphill to Main Street. It is located
to the south and east of the existing historic district, delineated generally by the existing
southern boundary of the district to the north, Main Street and the ridgeline to the west, James
River to the East, and Concord Turnpike to the south. The history of the Boundary Increase is
tied to the historic development of the original Lower Basin Historic District and Lynchburg
as a whole. The new boundaries incorporates existing historic industrial and commercial
buildings which contributed to the success and growth of Lynchburg.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _Robert J. Taylor, Jr., Dara Friedberg, Anna White, and Madelyn Shiflett _____
organization: __Dutton & Associates, LLC
_____________________________________
street & number: _1115 Crowder Drive ________________________________________
city or town: _Midlothian_________________ state: _VA___ _ zip code:_23113 _______
e-mail: ________________________________
telephone: __(804) 897-1960_______________________
date: _January 2023____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
x
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
x
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
x
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase, 2022
City or Vicinity: City of Lynchburg
County: Campbell
State: Virginia
Photographer: Madelyn Shiflett (unless otherwise noted)
Date Photographed: 3/8/2022 (unless otherwise noted)
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0001
View: Northeastern end of Boundary Increase, view southeast on Concord Turnpike towards
Ferebee-Johnson Co., Inc. (#118-0092), C&O Support Building (#118-5507-0014), and
General Cigar Company (#118-0108).
Photo 2 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0002
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Garnet Street towards Woodward Iron
Company (#118-5507-0017) and General Cigar Company (#118-5507-0019).
Photo 3 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0003
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Heald
Company/Mead Corporation (#118-0119).
Photo 4 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0004
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Heald
Company/Mead Corporation (#118-0119).
Photo 5 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0005
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Lynch Street towards a house (#118-55070016) and Lynchburg Plow & Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 6 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0006
View: Birds eye in Boundary Increase looking southeast.
Photographer: Kiernan Ziletti
Date: 5/18/2018
Photo 7 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0007
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Garnet Street towards Lynchburg Plow &
Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 8 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0008
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings.
Photo 9 of 21: VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0009
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street toward commercial buildings.
Photo 10 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0010
View: View south in Boundary Increase from Main Street toward commercial buildings.
Photo 11 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0011
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards General Cigar
Company (#118-0108).
Photo 12 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0012
View: View south in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Ferebee-Johnson
Co., Inc. (#118-0092).
Sections 9-end page 35
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Photo 13 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0013
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Garnett Street towards Lynchburg Plow &
Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Photo 14 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0014
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards Harvest Worship
Center (#118-5507-0003).
Photo 15 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0015
View: View north in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards RA Bistro (#1180-55070001).
Photo 16 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0016
View: View northeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings.
Photo 17 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0017
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards commercial buildings
(#118-5507-0005).
Photo 18 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0018
View: View southwest in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards Federal House
Antiques (#118-5507-0008).
Photo 19 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0019
View: View southeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards The Wayne (#1185507-0006).
Photo 20 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0020
View: View northeast in Boundary Increase from Main Street towards L. Oppleman
Warehouse (#118-5507-0009).
Photo 21 of 21:
VA_LynchburgCity_LowerBasinHistoricDistrictBoundaryIncrease2022_0022
Sections 9-end page 36
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB Control No. 1024-0018
Lower Basin Historic District
2023 Boundary Increase
City of Lynchburg,
Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: View northwest in Boundary Increase from Concord Turnpike towards Woodward
Iron Company (#118-5507-0017) and Lynchburg Plow & Foundry Company (#118-5181).
Historic Images
Lynchburg Plow Company from White Rock Hill. 1906. Lynchburg Photos.
https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Businesses/PlowCompany/i-sMd4Nr6. Accessed 24
May 2022.
Healds Bark Mill. 1935. Lynchburg Photos. https://www.lynchburgphotos.org/Mills/HealdsBark-Mill/i-LCSPWkh.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for nominations to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.). We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for each response using this form is estimated to be between the Tier 1
and Tier 4 levels with the estimate of the time for each tier as follows:
Tier 1 – 60-100 hours
Tier 2 – 120 hours
Tier 3 – 230 hours
Tier 4 – 280 hours
The above estimates include time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and preparing and transmitting
nominations. Send comments regarding these estimates or any other aspect of the requirement(s) to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525.
Sections 9-end page 37
LOCATION MAP
Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase, 2022
VDHR# 118-5507
Lynchburg, VA
City of Lynchburg Parcel Mapper (9/12/22)
6
4
3
1. Latitude: 37.410013°
2. Latitude: 37.410276°
3. Latitude: 37.410534°
4. Latitude: 37.410694°
5. Latitude: 37.410377°
6. Latitude: 37.410815°
7. Latitude: 37.410162°
8. Latitude: 37.410431°
9. Latitude: 37.409612°
10. Latitude: 37.409701°
11. Latitude: 37.399437°
12. Latitude: 37.398697°
13. Latitude: 37.405996°
14. Latitude: 37.405820°
15. Latitude: 37.407871°
16. Latitude: 37.407454°
17. Latitude: 37.409462°
18. Latitude: 37.409242°
8
5
7
2
9
1
10
17
18
15
16
14
13
11
12
Longitude: -79.138718°
Longitude: -79.138155°
Longitude: -79.138326°
Longitude: -79.137906°
Longitude: -79.137702°
Longitude: -79.136576°
Longitude: -79.136007°
Longitude: -79.135482°
Longitude: -79.135016°
Longitude: -79.134001°
Longitude: -79.122497°
Longitude: -79.122904°
Longitude: -79.131916°
Longitude: -79.132182°
Longitude: -79.134890°
Longitude: -79.135670°
Longitude: -79.137426°
Longitude: -79.138064°
TAX PARCEL MAP
Lower Basin Historic District Boundary Increase, 2022
VDHR# 118-5507
Lynchburg, VA
City of Lynchburg Parcel Mapper (9/12/22)
8
160 A 70
-0001
-0002
-0004
-0005
-0003
-0007
-0008
-0006
-0014
118-0092
-0009
-0010
-0011
-0012
118-0108
-0013
-0015
-0017
-0016
118-5181
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (North)
118-0119
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (South)
-0001
-0002
-0004
-0005
-0003
-0007
-0008
-0006
-0014
118-0092
-0009
-0010
-0011
-0012
118-0108
-0013
-0015
-0017
-0016
118-5181
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (North)
118-0119
Esri, HERE, Garmin, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Lower_Basin_Boundary_Increase
Resource Status
Lower_Basin_Historic_District_Existing_Boundary
Contributing
Parcels
Noncontributing
0 0.025 0.05
0.1 Miles
¹
Lower Basin Historic District, Boundary Increase 2022 - Sketch Map (South)
Text
United State8 Dei@Mmmenf-of-tfisXnWrioi-National Park Service
--
--
-
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is tor use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual pmpmes or districts. See iruhuctions in QuMeHnes
for Compbting Nethiel Register Foms (National Reglster Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the requested infametlon. If an item does not apply to the pmperly being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For fundions, styles, materials,
and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets
(Form lG900a). Type dl mtriea.
1. Name of Prooertv
historic name
other nameslsite number
no1
~ u r w e l l ,William M.
, House, DHR
F i l e No. 1 4 14
2. Location
street & number
city, town
Virginia
state
413 Avenel Avenue
N/A U not for publication
Bedford
N/A U vicinity
code V 4
county Bedford
code 515
zipcode 7 4 5 7 3
( I n d e ~ e n d e n tC i t v )
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property
building(s)
district
site
structure
object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
4
1
buildings
sites
structures
n objects
L
g
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
n
listed in the National Register
CJ
Name of related multiple property listing:
'
O
n
n
4. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this
nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the
National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
s
does not meet the National Register criteria.
See continuation sheet.
5
12- 2 3 . L j /
Signature of &rfifying official
Date
. . .
ire-4, Vlr-~nt
of
m
i
r
Resources.
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property
meets n d o e s not meet the National Register criteria.
[7See continuation Sheet.
/
I
Date
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal a g m and bureau
-- -
- -
-
5. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
menrered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet. - adetermined eligible for the National
Register.
See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Register.
removed from the National Register.
D._other, (explain:)
-. -
-
-.
-
-
-.
-
.
Signature of the Keeper
~
.-
-
-
"-
Date of Action
67Fu-%r
HMO& F
U r
u
m t k :
~(enter
i m~ogorier
fmn 1 w t r ~ C i M 8 )
--
~
W
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n
Current Functms (enter categwles from ~nstruamns)
a
ess
Secondary s ~ r u c t u r e
7. Descrlptlon
Materials (enter categor~esirom instructions)
Architectural Classifi~ation
(enter categories from instructions)
foundation Brir k
walls
Erick~
FPTJPTRI
Greek Upviva1
roof
other
Amha1 t
Wood
Describe present and historic physical appearance
Summary D e s c r i p t i o n
Avenel, b u i l t around 1836, i s a generously p r o p o r t i o n e d twos t o r y b r i c k d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d on a r i s e t h a t once w e r l o o k e d t h e
town of L i b e r t y .
The house is now surrounded by a t u r n - o f - t h e c e n t u r y r e s i d e n t i a l neighborhood i n t h e C i t y of Bedford.
A-venel
i s imposing i n s c a l e , p l a n , and d e t a i l i n g f o r v e r n a c u l a r
a r c h i t e c t u r e i n r u r a l c e n t r a l V i r g i n i a d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f of
the nineteenth century.
A c o m p a r a t i v e l y a r t i c u l a t e b l e d of
Greek R e v i v a l and F e d e r a l s t y l i n g , t h e main house is
e x t r a o r d i n a r y f o r i t s h i g h d e g r e e of a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y .
Three frame dependent b u i l d i n g s which have s u r v i v e d and t h e r u i n s
of a b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e of t h e complex of
i n t e r d e p e n d e n t b u i l d i n g s t h a t made up a r e s i d e n t i a l p r o p e r t y i n
the nineteenth century.
Setting
Avenel i s l o c a t e d on a r i s e n o r t h of t h e c e n t e r of t h e
community now c a l l e d Eedf o r d .
When t h e house was b u i l t arounc:
1 8 3 6 , A v e n e l ' s s i t e was r u r a l , though i t was o n l y a s h o r t
d i s t a n c e from t h e d e n s e r g r i d p a t t e r n of developed and d e v e l o p i n g
l o t s t h a t formed t h e town of L i b e r t y .
Subsequent e x p a n s l o p of
L i b e r t y from a o n e - s t r e e t county s e a t d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f of
t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y i n t o a town of 2 , 0 0 0 by t h e t u r n of t h e
c e n t u r y r e s u l t e d i n t h e development of r e s i d e n t l a l neighborhoods
on t h e l a n d t h a t once comprised A v e n e l ' s farmland.
Consequently,
t h e g e n e r o u s l y p r o p o r t i o n e d p l a n t a t i o n s e a t now o c c u p i e s a t h r e e a c r e l o t on a t r e e - l l n e d s t r e e t of s i n g l e - f a m i l y frame homes.
O r i e n t e d southward, t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n f a c e s a c i r c u l a r d r i v e
and a s m a l l y a r d w h i l e t h e e a s t s i d e of t h e house f a c e s t h e
s t r e e t t h a t w a s c u t through t h e p r o p e r t y c l o s e t o t h e house.
-
8. statmorn ot- S
Cendying omclal h a camidmd
- the slgn)Rana,
ot thm FWWIY
i n - e h , other
u a
Applicable National Register Criteria
OA 0
0
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
OA
8
m a
0
DCOD
c
Areas of S~gnthcance(enter categories from lnst~dKnr8J
Arch-
m:
E
F
1835 - 1900
G
Period of SigniRcana,
San~ficantDates
I835
Cunural Affiliation
NIA
Significant Person
ArchlectlBuilder
N/ A
State significance of propany, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and anwr and perodo of signlficllnce noted above.
Statement of S i g n i f i c a n c e
Avenel, t h e home of William M. B u r w e l l , i s i m p o r t a n t f o r i t s
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of c l a s s i c a l a r c h i t e c t u r a l i d e a s i n Piedmont
V i r g i n i a d u r i n g t h e second q u a r t e r of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . n'
a r t i c u l a t e b l e n d of b o t h F e d e r a l and Greek Revival i d i o m s , t h e
house e x e m p l i f i e s how s k i l l e d l o c a l m a s t e r - c r a f t s m e n , u s i n g
p a t t e r n books and i n g e n u i t y , i n t e r p r e t e d t h e high s t y l e
a r c h i t e c t u r a l i d e a s of t h e p e r i o d t o produce s o p h i s t i c a t e d
v e r n a c u l a r r e s i d e n c e s f o r t h e p l a n t e r c l a s s of mid-nineteenthc e n t u r y Piedmont V i r g i n i a .
Avenel i s an e x c e p t i o n a l r e s o u r c e n o t
o n l y b e c a u s e of i t s s o p h i s t i c a t i o n and q u a l i t y , b u t a l s o b e c a u s e
of i t s unusual d e g r e e of i n t e g r i t y , which e x t e n d s even t o d e t a i l s
such a s l o c k s and g l a s s .
S. Malor BIMkpraphlcal References
Avenel Foundattor, 'Pk;
-
P h m u g r a p i r c o ~ l e c t i o n . Bfxlforck, Ya. -
.
Burwell, L e t i t i a M. A G i r l ' s L i f e i n V i r g i n i a B e f o r e the War. 2nd edition.
F r e d e r i c k A. S t o k e s Co., 1895. Excerpted i n Gereau, "Avenel Landscape.''
New York:
Campbell, T. Bowyer. "Our Gentle B i l l s . " Unpublished manuscript, n.d. Bedford H i s t o r i c a l
Society. E x c e r p t e d i n Gereau, "Avenel Landscape.''
"Avenel Landscape."
Unpublished manuscript developed f o r Landscape
Gereau, B e t t y Lambeth.
A r c h i t e c t u r e 517, U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a , May 1981. The Avenel Foundation, Bedford, Va.
Lahendro, Joseph Dye, ( A r c h i t e c t ] . "Prospectus f o r t h e P r e s e r v a t i o n and Adaptive Reuse of
Avenel, Bedford, V i r g i n i a . " Unpublished r e p o r t , 31 March 1986. The Avenel Foundation,
Bedford, Va.
rnSee continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination ot indivlduai listing (36 CFR 67)
has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
Ddesignated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings
Survey #
Orecorded by Histor~cAmerlcan Englneerlng
Record #
5
Primary location of additional data:
rnState historic preservation office
m o t h e r State agency
Federal agency
j?Local government
University
mother
Specify repository:
T h e Av-nnl F o n n r l l t i n n
118 E . Main S t r e e t . Bedford. VA 7452.3-
10. Geogra~hlcalData
Acreage of property -3
acres
UTM References
A L l d /5/3101710101
Zone
Eastma
1 4 1 11 3 1 3 11I 6 , ai
Northlna
~
Zone
Eastlna
L
I
NoRhrna
~
See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Descnptron
The p r o p e r t y i s d e s c r i b e d a s t h e ,IDwelling Lot" and ULot 9" on t h e northwest s i d e of
Avenel Avenue ( a t 413 Avenel Avenue) i n t h e C i t y of ~ e d f o r d ,V i r g i n i a , a s recorded i n
Bedford County Deed Book 91, p. 562. The enclosed map ( s c a l e 1" = 100') i s a copy of t h e
p l a t accompanying t h e deed a s recorded.
(The p l a t shows t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e main house
on t h e "Dwelling Lot.")
See conttnuatlon sheet
Boundary Justification
The boundary i n c l u d e s a l l of t h e land a t t h e c o r e of t h e Avenel p l a n t a t i o n t h a t remains
a s t h e s e t t i n g f o r t h e complex of e x t a n t b u i l d i n g s . Owing t o s u b d i v i s i o n of t h e p l a n t a t i o n
i n t h e l a t e n i n e t e e n t h and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s when t h e c i t y expanded, t h e remainder
of t h e p l a n t a t i o n land was developed a s a r e s i d e n t i a l neighborhood.
The l a r g e l o t on which
f o r t h e h i s t o r i c complex.
. t h e b u i l d i n g s a r e s i t u a t e d provides adequate s e t t i
see Continuation sheet
ne]
11. Form Prepared By
name/titie+
Apehe Tnmhpth anrl Asttv Lamhpth G-reatl
7 . 1991
organization Tt ~ v e n e l ~ o u n d a e i o n a t November
e
street & number 1 18 Ea& e-tlphone
703 586 8621
zip code 24521
city or town B
e
d
f
o
r
dstate _Vireinia
-
-
United States Dqmment ot the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Avenel
Section number
Page
I
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, Virginia
Architectural Analysis
The Flemish-bond b r i c k w a l l s of t h e r e c t a n g u l a r main house
a t Avenel s t a n d upon a f o u n d a t i o n of b r i c k .
The house i s two
s t o r i e s h i g h on a r a i s e d basement, and i s surmounted by a hipped
roof t h a t now i s s h e a t h e d w i t h a s p h a l t s h i n g l e s .
An i n t e r i o r end
chimney s e r v e s t h e s t r u c t u r e a t t h e e a s t s i d e of t h e house,
a n o t h e r on t h e w e s t s i d e , and two on t h e n o r t h s i d e .
(Another
chimney a p p e a r s t o have been added n e a r t h e n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of
t h e house. )
The o n l y p r o j e c t i o n beyond t h e d w e l l i n g ' s
r e c t a n g u l a r c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s a o n e - s t o r y p o r c h which e x t e n d s
a c r o s s t w o b a y s of t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n , a c r o s s t h e f u l l l e n g t h of
t h e e a s t s i d e , and wraps around t h e c o r n e r t o encompass one bay
of t h e b a c k o r n o r t h e l e v a t i o n .
T h i s p o r c h , which was b u i l t
e a r l y i n t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , p r w i d e s c o n n e c t i o n between t h e
two main e n t r a n c e s of t h e house.
An e a r l y photograph i n d i c a t e s
t h a t p r i o r t o 1900 t h e main e n t r a n c e on t h e f r o n t of t h e house
was s h e l t e r e d by a o n e - s t o r y columned p o r c h t h a t was t h r e e b a y s
wide and one-bay deep, and t h a t t h e e a s t e n t r a n c e was s i m i l a r l y
sheltered.
The p r e s e n t porch i s b u i l t of wood, w i t h a g e n t l y
s l o p i n g , m e t a l - s h e a t h e d roof t h a t i s s u p p o r t e d by a s e r i e s of
Doric columns.
The p a t t e r n of f e n e s t r a t i o n v a r i e s :
the f r o n t
e l e v a t i o n c o n s i s t s of t h r e e b a y s , w h i l e t h e rear o r n o r t h
e l e v a t i o n i n c l u d e s f i v e b a y s , and t h e two s i d e s f e a t u r e f o u r b a y s
each.
The s o p h i s t i c a t i o n which d i s t i n g u i s h e s Avenel from t h e
m a j o r i t y of i t s c o n t e m p o r a r i e s is a p p a r e n t on t h e e x t e r i o r i n t h e
d e t a i l i n g and p r o p o r t i o n of t h e d e c o r a t i v e woodwork and i n t h e
v a r i a t i o n of p l a n p r o v i d e d by t h e r e c e s s e d l o g g i a a t t h e
n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of t h e house.
A l l four elevations a r e
ornamented by a series of r e c e s s e d wood p a n e l s s e t between t h e
windows of t h e f i r s t and second s t o r i e s .
The e l a b o r a t e Doric
c o r n i c e i n c l u d e s m u t u l e s and d e n t i l s .
A l l windows a r e d e c o r a t e d
by a f l a t l i n t e l t e r m i n a t i n g i n c o r n e r b l o c k s .
The s h u t t e r s a t
t h e windows may be o r i g i n a l .
The two p r i n c i p a l doorways, a t t h e
main e n t r a n c e of t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n and a t t h e secondary
e n t r a n c e on t h e e a s t s i d e , a r e u n u s u a l i n t h e i r generous
proportions.
A t e a c h doorway t h e e i g h t - p a n e l ctoor i s s e t w i t h i n
a d e c o r a t e d enframement of s i d e l i g h t s and transom which, l i k e t h e
windows, i s surmounted by a f l a t l i n t e l w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s .
United Statea Department of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
*
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
B e d f o r d , Virginia
S e t w i t h i n t h e r e c t a n g u l a r c o n f i g u r a t i o n of t h e house i s a
r e c e s s e d l o g g i a , o r i g i n a l l y a t b o t h f i r s t - and s e c o n d - s t o r y
levels.
The b r i c k w a l l s of t h e l o g g i a , a t l e a s t a t t h e secondf l o o r l e v e l , a r e l a i d i n American bond.
Although i t h a s been
somewhat a l t e r e d by a p a r t i a l e n c l o s u r e , t h e l o g g i a remains a n
a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y a r t i c u l a t e and s o p h i s t i c a t e d f e a t u r e of t h e
house.
The l o g g i a o r i g i n a l l y extended t h e l e n g t h of a wide bay
on t h e r e a r e l e v a t i o n , and t h e l e n g t h of two wide b a y s on t h e
west side.
The b r i c k w a l l s of t h e ground f l o o r themselves s e r v e d
a s b r i c k p i e r s framing segmentally arched openings.
Above, t h e
s e c o n d - s t o r y of t h e l o g g i a was s u p p o r t e d by p a i r s of s o l i d wood
Doric columns r i s i n g t o t h e d w e l l i n g ' s e n t a b l a t u r e .
The l o g g i a
h a s been p a r t i a l l y e n c l o s e d on t h e f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l i n o r d e r t o
c r e a t e a k i t c h e n and bathroom.
That e n c l o s u r e was accomplished
by b r i c k i n g i n h a l f of t h e n o r t h bay, t h e r e b y r e d u c i n g t h e
l o g g i a ' s f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l t o a mere passageway.
The secondf l o o r l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a , however, i s s t i l l i n t a c t e x c e p t f o r an
e x t r u s i o n i n t o t h e s p a c e t o c r e a t e a l a t e r bathroom.
A v e n e l ' s p l a n i s one of i t s most d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e s .
The house i s t r a v e r s e d by a p e r p e n d i c u l a r p a t t e r n of e n t r a n c e
h a l l s , both with s t a i r s .
The main a x i s c o n s i s t s of a c e n t r a l
h a l l running s o u t h - n o r t h from t h e main or s o u t h d o o r t o t h e
secondary a x i s , c o n s i s t i n g of a h a l l , t h a t e x t e n d s t h e f u l l w i d t h
of t h e house from t h e east door a c r o s s t o t h e r e c e s s e d l o g g i a on
t h e w e s t s i d e of t h e house.
The main h a l l c o n t a i n s a formal
t h r e e - r u n s t a i r and c a n b e c l o s e d o f f from t h e r e a r h a l l by a
double door.
The l o n g e r r e a r h a l l i s a l s o ample i n p r o p o r t i o n
and h i g h l y d e t a i l e d i n i t s ornamental woodwork.
It contains a
substantial s t a i r c a s e t h a t divides i n t o t w o runs a t the s t a i r
l a n d i n g and p r w i d e s d i r e c t a c c e s s t o t h e rooms on t h e back of
t h e house and t o t h e upper l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a .
The two
s t a i r w e l l s a r e d i v i d e d by a p a r t i t i o n w a l l b u t s h a r e t h e n a t u r a l
l i g h t and v e n t i l a t i o n from t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e house by means
of a l a r g e - s c a l e , i n t e r i o r , double-hung s a s h window a t t h e l e v e l
of t h e s t a i r l a n d i n g s .
Unlted Statw Department of the Intellor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Section number
7
Page
3
Bedford, Virginia
On t h e f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l t h e main c e n t r a l h a l l d i v i d e s t h e
f r o n t p a r t of t h e house i n t o two amply p r o p o r t i o n e d formal rooms.
t h e p a r l o r and t h e d i n i n g room.
The r e a r p a r t of t h e house
c o n t a i n s two a d d i t i o n a l rooms t h a t open o f f t h e r e a r h a l l w a y ,
p l u s t h e space a t t h e b u i l d i n g ' s northwest corner t h a t formerly
comprised t h e lower l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a .
U p s t a i r s , t h e two l a r g e
bedrooms on t h e f r o n t oE t h e house open o f f a wide c e n t r a l h a l l
t h a t f o r m e r l y p r o v i d e d a c c e s s t o t h e open upper l e v e l of t h e
s o u t h e n t r a n c e porch.
The ornamental doorway t o t h a t p o r c h , w i t h
i t s s i d e l i g h t s and transom, remains.
A t t h e second-floor l e v e l
of t h e house t h e r e i s no a c c e s s between t h e p e r p e n d i c u l a r
hallways.
There i s , however, d i r e c t a c c e s s from t h e w e s t bedroom
t o t h e l o g g i a , and t h e r e i s a c c e s s from t h e e a s t bedroom t o t h e
r e a r hallway and from t h e r e t o t h e n o r t h e a s t room.
The s p a c e a t
t h e e a s t e r n m o s t end of t h e r e a r h a l l w a y a t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l
may have been a l t e r e d , though p o s s i b l y n o t l o n g a f t e r t h e
b u i l d i n g of t h e house.
The s p a c e i s s e p a r a t e d from t h e hallway
by a t h i n p a r t i t i o n w a l l and d i v i d e d i n t o two c l o s e t a r e a s f o r
t h e two e a s t bedrooms.
The p l a n s u g g e s t s s e p a r a t i o n of t h e house i n t o two h a l v e s - t h e f r o n t and t h e back-- and y e t both a r e n e a r l y equal i n t h e
f o r m a l i t y and p r o p o r t i o n of s p a c e s .
Another i n s t a n c e of
s e p a r a t i o n of s p a c e i s t h e a b s e n c e of any i n t e r n a l a c c e s s between
t h e basement and t h e main f l o o r .
The basement i s a c c e s s i b l e o n l y
from t h e e x t e r i o r , from doorways on t h e n o r t h and w e s t s i d e s of
t h e house.
The basement l e v e l i s u n f i n i s h e d and d i v i d e d
e x c l u s i v e l y by b e a r i n g w a l l s .
There i s n o a r c h i t e c t u r a l e v i d e n c e
of use o t h e r t h a n f o r r u d i m e n t a r y f u n c t i o n s s u p p o r t i v e of t h e
l i f e s t y l e of t h e household above.
The rooms of t h e f i r s t - and s e c o n d - f l o o r s a r e c h a r a c t e r i z e d
by ample p r o p o r t i o n s and o r n a t e d e c o r a t i o n .
Both s t a i r w e l l s a r e
p a n e l e d and d e c o r a t e d w i t h s c r o l l e d o r n a m e n t a t i o n .
Doorways and
windows t h r o u g h o u t t h e f i r s t - f l o o r a r e enframed by f l u t e d
s u r r o u n d s marked by c o r n e r b l o c k s .
The most formal s p a c e s , t h e
p a r l o r and t h e d i n i n g room, a r e noteworthy f o r t h e i r ornamental
plaster ceilings.
In t h e p a r l o r t h e elaborate plasterwork
i n c l u d e s a symmetrical p a t t e r n r a d i a t i n g from a c e n t r a l
m e d a l l i o n , and a l o n g t h e p e r i m e t e r t h e r e i s a g r a p e v i n e p a t t e r n .
Unlted States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
4
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf o r d , Virginia
The windows of t h e two formal rooms a r e double-hung s a s h , w i t h
wood p a n e l i n g b e n e a t h t h e windows a s w e l l a s on t h e s o f f i t s of
t h e window o p e n i n g s . The m a n t e l s of t h e s e formal rooms a r e t h e
most d e t a i l e d .
The most e l a b o r a t e i s t h e Creek Revival mantel of
b l a c k marble l o c a t e d i n the p a r l o r .
The wood mantel i n t h e
d i n i n g room i s s u p p o r t e d by columns, w h i l e t h e ones i n t h e r e s t
of t h e house a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h f l u t e d p i l a s t e r s , f r e t w o r k c o r n e r
u i e c e s , and k e y s t o n e s .
The wood m a n t e l s throughout t h e house a r e
c o p i e d from ~ s h e rBenjamin's The P r a c t i c a l House C a r p e n t e r , as are
the transoms and sidelights.
O t h e r B u i l d i n g s and F e a t u r e s
Near t h e main house i s t h e e v i d e n c e of f o u r d e p e n d e n c i e s
t h a t were once p a r t of t h e complex of i n t e r d e p e n d e n t b u i l d i n g s a t
t h e h e a r t of t h e Avenel p l a n t a t i o n .
A one-s t o r y , r e c t a n g u l a r ,
b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g , s i t u a t e d j u s t n o r t h of t h e main house, i s
now i n r u i n s .
An o l d photograph, a p p a r e n t l y t a k e n e a r l y i n t h e
t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , shows t h a t t h e b r i c k w a l l s were w h i t e a t t h a t
time and c o v e r e d by a g a b l e r o o f .
Two frame b u i l d i n g s s t i l l s t a n d i n t h e same a r e a n e a r t h e
n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of t h e house.
The h i p - r o o f e d , s q u a r e b u i l d i n g
t h a t i s c a l l e d t h e smokehouse i s s h e a t h e d i n beaded c l a p b o a r d s
and a p p e a r s t o be o r i g i n a l .
The b u i l d i n g s t a n d s j u s t n o r t h w e s t
of t h e main house, f a c i n g t h e s i t e of t h e b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g .
A l e a n - t o a d d i t i o n , e n t e r e d by a p a n e l e d d o o r , i s a t t a c h e d t o t h e
w e s t o r r e a r of t h i s dependency.
On t h e s o u t h s i d e of t h e
b u i l d i n g i s a s q u a r e , o n e - s t o r y frame b u i l d i n g w i t h a s h a l l o w
hipped roof.
T h i s s t r u c t u r e m a y d a t e from t h e t u r n of t h e
century.
A t l e a s t a t one p o i n t , i t s e r v e d a s a hen house.
S i t u a t e d f u r t h e r w e s t of t h i s g r o u p i n g i s a o n e - a n d - a - h a l f - s t o r y ,
g a b l e - r o o f e d , frame n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y b a r n .
The s o u t h p o r t i o n
of t h e g a b l e roof i s e x t e n d e d downward t o s h e l t e r a l e a n - t o
addition along the b u i l d i n g ' s south side.
The main p o r t i o n of
t h e b a r n is d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r s t a l l s .
Unit4 State# Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
5
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf o r d , V i r g i n i a
R e c o l l e c t i o n s by a t u r n - o f - t h e - c e n t u r y r e s i d e n t of Avenel
i n d i c a t e t h a t a t l e a s t a t t h a t time t h e p r o p e r t y c o n t a i n e d t h e
k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g ( t h e n j o i n e d t o t h e house by a c w e r e d walkway),
an i c e h o u s e , smokehouse, o u t h o u s e , cow b a r n , hen house, c a r r i a g e
house. g r e e n h o u s e , and a shed f o r wood and c o a l .
According t o
t h e same s o u r c e t h e l a n d s c a p e l a t e i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y
i n c l u d e d lawns, g a r d e n s , hay l o t s , o r c h a r d s , a c e d a r - l i n e d
e n t r a n c e l a n e t h r o u g h t h e fore-lawn e a s t of t h e house, and a
b r i c k p a t h t o t h e e a s t o r s i d e e n t r a n c e t o t h e house.
Beyond t h e
formal g a r d e n , which c o n s i s t e d of s i x s q u a r e s j u s t w e s t of t h e
house, t h e grounds t o t h e west i n c l u d e d a w e s t e r n l a n e w i t h a
g a t e , a g r a p e a r b o r , h e r b garden, f o r c i n g b e d s , a p e t cemetery,
and on t h e w e s t s i d e of t h e p r o p e r t y a s l a v e cemetery.
The w e s t and e a s t p o r t i o n s of t h e p r o p e r t y - - c o n t a i n i n g t h e
s l a v e cemetery and t h e v i n e y a r d on t h e w e s t , and t h e c e d a r - l i n e d
e n t r a n c e l a n e through t h e fore-lawn on t h e e a s t - - were s e p a r a t e d
o r s o l d o f f between t h e 1860s and 1 9 0 6 .
The s m a l l t r a c t t h a t
remains may i n c l u d e s i t e s of some of t h e o t h e r f e a t u r e s l i s t e d
above, p o s s i b l y i n c l u d i n g t h e s i t e of p a r t of t h e formal garden
and t h e lawn.
A boxwood hedge t h a t i s p r e s e n t w e s t of t h e main
house may be a remnant of t h e o l d f o r m a l garden.
United Statw Department ot the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
I
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
Historical Background
When i n 1835 W i l l i a m M. Burwell (1809-1888) began
c o n s t r u c t i o n of h i s new house on t h e o u t s k i r t s of t h e town of
L i b e r t y , t h e community had been i n e x i s t e n c e f o r a b o u t f i f t y
y e a r s and was s t i l l p r i m a r i l y a s i n g l e - s t r e e t c o u n t y s e a t .
Burwell had a c q u i r e d t h e l a n d through h i s m a r r i a g e i n 1831 t o
F r a n c e s S t e p t o e , d a u g h t e r of James C. S t e p t o e , of Bedford County.
A f t e r r e s i d i n g i n F r a n k l i n County f o r a b r i e f p e r i o d , t h e
Burwells r e t u r n e d t o L i b e r t y and a r e b e l i e v e d t o have l i v e d a t a
r e n t e d farmhouse n e a r b y w h i l e t h e new house was b e i n g b u i l t .
The
m a s t e r b u i l d e r i s b e l i e v e d t o have been a M r . Shurnaker.
C o n s t r u c t i o n i s t h o u g h t t o have begun by 1835 and complet-ed by
1836.
Recent e x a m i n a t i o n of t h e s t r u c t u r e r e v e a l e d t h e words
"John Dickinson J u l y 3, 1837" i n s c r i b e d on a r a f t e r i n t h e a t t i c .
No i n £o r m a t i o n i s c u r r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e a b o u t John Dickinson o r t h e
r o l e he ~ l a y e da t Avenel.
I n terms of a r c h i t e c t u r a l c r a f t s m a n s h i p Avenel h a s few
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s t h a t compare.
The nearby Three O t t e r s i s s i m i l a r
i n s t y l i n g , and t h e e a r l i e r Fancy Farm e x h i b i t s a h i g h d e g r e e of
t e c h n i c a l s o p h i s t i c a t i o n i n i t s woodwork.
The u s e of Asher
B e n j a m i n ' s p a t t e r n book, The P r a c t i c a l House C a r p e n t e r ( 1 8 3 0 ) , i s
a p p a r e n t a t Three O t t e r s and i n a few b u i l d i n a s i n n e i s-h b o r i n aLynchburg.
However, Avenel is d i s t i n g u i s h e d &ong i t s
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s f o r i t s p r e t e n t i o u s s c a l e and i t s a r c h i t e c t u r a l
s o p h i s t i c a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g t h e c r a f t s m a n s h i p of i t s i n t e r i o r
p l a s t e r and wood d e t a i l i n g .
The f a m i l y t h a t moved i n t o Avenel c o n s i s t e d of William and
F r a n c e s B u r w e l l , p l u s B u r w e l l ' s widowed mother-in-law, Nrs. James
C. S t e p t o e , and h e r s o n , Edward S t e p t o e .
The p r e s e n c e of t h i s
extended f a m i l y may h a v e been t h e r e a s o n f o r t h e unusual f l o o r
p l a n of t h e house.
The d i v i s i o n of t h e house i n t o two d i s t i n c t
h a l v e s , e a c h w i t h l a r g e - s c a l e , a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y prominent
e n t r a n c e s , h a l l w a y s , and s t a i r c a s e s , c o u l d accommodate two f a m i l y
u n i t s and p r o v i d e a s e n s e of s e p a r a t i o n between t h e two.
United States Department ot the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
2
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf ord, Virginia
W i l l i a m M. Burwell was t h e son of William A . Burwell.
s e c r e t a r y t o Thomas J e f f e r s o n and congressman from F r a n k l i n
County.
W i l l i a m EI. Burwell was a c t i v e i n t h e p o l i t i c a l and
s o c i a l l i f e of Bedford County b e f o r e t h e C i v i l War.
I n 1838 he
was e l e c t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e from Bedford t o t h e V i r g i n i a House of
3 e l e g a t e s . During h i s s e r v i c e i n t h e l e g i s l a t u r e h e s e c u r e d t h e
c h a r t e r t o t h e f i r s t r a i l r o a d i n Piedmont V i r g i n i a , t h e V i r g i n i a
and Tennessee.
'?he second phase of c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e r a i l r o a d
b r o u g h t i t through B e d f o r d , c u t t i n g a c r o s s t h e s o u t h s i d e of
Burwell's plantation.
During t h e 1840s and 1850s Burwell w r o t e
e x t e n s i v e l y , p r o d u c i n g a r t i c l e s on i n t e r n a l improvements i n
V i r g i n i a f o r newspapers and magazines.
I n 1850 h e was s e n t a s a n
e m i s s a r y from t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Government t o Mexico.
After the
C i v i l War he s p e n t a p e r i o d of t i m e i n New O r l e a n s c o n t i n u i n g t o
f o c u s h i s a t t e n t i o n on economic improvement.
W i l l i a m M. B u r w e l l ' s prominence i n t h e l o c a l p o l i t i c a l s c e n e
and b o t h h i s and h i s w i f e ' s economic and s o c i a l s t a n d i n g ,
e x p r e s s e d i n t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l s c a l e and s o p h i s t i c a t i o n of h i s
home, made A-venel i n e v i t a b l y a f o c a l p o i n t i n t h e community of
Liberty.
A memoir w r i t t e n by B u r w e l l ' s d a u g h t e r , L e t i t i a , A
G i r l ' s L i f e i n V i r g i n i a B e f o r e t h e War ( 1 9 0 7 ) . p r o v i d e s
i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e s o c i a l h i s t o r y a t Avenel d u r i n g t h e 1840s
and 18SOs, b o t h a b o u t t h e f a m i l y ' s i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h t h e community
and a b o u t t h e i n t e r n a l s o c i a l f a b r i c of p l a n t a t i o n owner and
slaves.
L e t i t i a B u r w e l l ' s u n p u b l i s h e d j o u r n a l of 1861-1862 i s
one of s e v e r a l s o u r c e s t h a t a l s o p r o v i d e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e s o c i a l
h i s t o r y a t Avenel d u r i n g t h e C i v i l War, when t h e m i l i t i a d r i l l e d
on A v e n e l ' s lawn and t h e l o c a l community a d j u s t e d t o t h e impact
of t h e war.
During t h e second h a l f of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e
p r o p e r t y a t Avenel underwent g r a d u a l change b e c a u s e of b c t h t h e
m a t u r i n g of t h e Burwell f a m i l y and t h e e c o n o ~ . i cchanges d u r i n g
t h e post-war p e r i o d i n Bedford County.
E i g h t a c r e s n o r t h w e s t of
t h e main house, i n c l u d i n g t h e v i n e y a r d , were d i v i d e d from t h e
main t r a c t f o r t h e B u r w e l l s ' d a u g h t e r , Kate Burwell Bowyer.
Then, i n 1883, Mrs. Burwell s o l d 10 1 / 4 a c r e s on t h e s o u t h edge
of t h e p r o p e r t y t o t h e L i b e r t y Improvement Company, which
s u b d i v i d e d t h e l a n d i n t o a g r i d and began b u i l d i n g a r e s i d e n t i a l
neighborhood a l o n g newly c r e a t e d Bedford Avenue.
This
s u b d i v i s i o n , and t h e f u r t h e r development of t h e Bowyer p o r t i o n of
t h e p r o p e r t y , were o n l y a p a r t of t h e 1880s/1890s l a n d boom
e x p e r i e n c e d i n t h e town of L i b e r t y , which was renamed Bedford
C i t y d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d of e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l e x p a n s i o n .
Y(1Fm10001
lul
Unlted States Department of the lnterlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
3
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
BY 1899 M r s . B u r w e l l , who had o u t l i v e d h e r husband, d i e d .
Avenel t h e n became t h e p r o p e r t y of h e r e l d e s t d a u g h t e r L e t i t i a
B u r w e l l , who c o n t i n u e d l i v i n g t h e r e a l o n g w i t h a r e l a t i v e Bowyer
Campbell.
A t t h i s s t a g e , i n s p i t e of t h e encroachment of
development on t h e n o r t h w e s t and s o u t h , most of t h e Avenel
l a n d s c a p e was s t i l l i r t a c t , a l t h o u g h t h e o r c h a r d and s l a v e
cemetery were no l o n g e r t e n d e e .
The p r i m a r y l a n d s c a p e a c t i v i t y
a t t h i s p e r i o d was L e t i t i a E u r w e l l 1 s g a r d e n i n g .
With t h e d e a t h of L e t i t i a Burwell i n 1 9 0 5 , t h e Avenel
p l a n t a t i o n l e f t t h e Burwell f a m i l y .
The p r o p e r t y had been w i l l e d
t o 'osa Burwell Todd, h e r c h i l d r e n , and Kate Burwell Bowyer's
grandchildren.
However, i n t h e a f t e r m a t h of a lawsuit. t h e
p r o p e r t y was s o l d i n 1906 a t p u b l i c a u c t i o n . Although a
c o m p a r a t i v e l y l a r g e l o t was l e f t w i t h t h e main house, i t was
l a r g e o n l y i n compzrison w i t h t h e p a t t e r n of s m a l l b u i l d i n g l o t s
t h a t were l a i d o u t t o accommodate expansion of t h e r e s i d e n t i a l
neighborhood t h a t had developed a s t h e town c e n t e r expanded
northward.
The fore-lawn e a s t of t h e main house was s e p a r a t e d
from t h e p r o p e r t y by c u t t i n g t h r o u g h a new r o a d , Avenel Avenue,
and t h e w e s t e r n h a y f i e l d s and o r c h a r d were s e p a r a t e d by c u t t i n g
a n o t h e r s t r e e t through t h e p r o p e r t y j u s t west of t h e house.
With
t h e c r e a t i o n of Avenel Avenue, t h e main house, which f a c e s s o u t h ,
was now s i t u a t e d w i t h i t s e a s t o r s i d e e n t r a n c e f a c i n g t h e
suburban s t r e e t .
A v e n e l ' s l a r g e l o t p r o v i d e s an a d e q u a t e s e t t i n g
f o r t h e b u i l d i n g s t h a t remain a t t h e c o r e of t h e former
p l a n t a t i o n , though t h e p r o x i m i t y of t h e houses t h a t s u r r o u n d i t
t e s t i f y t o the evolution i n land use t h a t characterized the postC i v i l War economic h i s t o r y of Bedford C i t y .
No l o n g e r a f a m i l y p l a n t a t i o n , Avenel was purchased i n 1906
B a l l a r d f a m i l y , which owned t h e p r o p e r t y u n t i l 1985.
The c u r r e n t owner, t h e n o n - p r o f i t Avenel Foundation, i s
s t a b i l i z i n g t h e house and d e p e n d e n c i e s i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r
p r e s e r v i n g Avenel f o r p u b l i c u s @ .
by t h e J. W.
AVENEL
U e d f o r d , Virginia
Existing - - .
- -
6ite Plan
AVENEL
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
Elevation
First Floor P f a ~
AVENGL
B e d f o r d , Virginia
South
Elevati
--
&us
East
Elevation
Second Floor Pian
4
North
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs are of:
AVENEL
City of Bedford, Virginia
DHR File No. 141-01
DATE: 1991
Photographer: Lynn A. Beebe
Negatives are filed at the Virginia State Library and Archives
Negative No. 10912
VIEW OF: South elevation of main house; view facing northwest
PHOTO 1 of 8
VIEW OF: South and east elevations of main house; facing northwest
PHOTO 2 of 8
VIEW OF: West and south elevations of main house; view facing northeast
PHOTO 3 of 8
VIEW OF: West elevation of main house; view facing northeast
PHOTO 4 of 8
VIEW OF: East elevation of main house; view facing southeast
PHOTO 5 of 8
VIEW OF: Interior, main entrance hall; view facing north from the east entrance
PHOTO 6 of 8
VIEW OF: Interior, southwest room, first floor, ceiling.
PHOTO 7 of 8
VIEW OF: East and north elevations of original dependency, barn to the right and
another dependency to the left; view facing southwest
PHOTO 8 of 8
--
--
-
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is tor use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual pmpmes or districts. See iruhuctions in QuMeHnes
for Compbting Nethiel Register Foms (National Reglster Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the requested infametlon. If an item does not apply to the pmperly being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For fundions, styles, materials,
and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets
(Form lG900a). Type dl mtriea.
1. Name of Prooertv
historic name
other nameslsite number
no1
~ u r w e l l ,William M.
, House, DHR
F i l e No. 1 4 14
2. Location
street & number
city, town
Virginia
state
413 Avenel Avenue
N/A U not for publication
Bedford
N/A U vicinity
code V 4
county Bedford
code 515
zipcode 7 4 5 7 3
( I n d e ~ e n d e n tC i t v )
3. Classification
Ownership of Property
private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
Category of Property
building(s)
district
site
structure
object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing
Noncontributing
4
1
buildings
sites
structures
n objects
L
g
Total
Number of contributing resources previously
n
listed in the National Register
CJ
Name of related multiple property listing:
'
O
n
n
4. StatelFederal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this
nomination
request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the
National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
s
does not meet the National Register criteria.
See continuation sheet.
5
12- 2 3 . L j /
Signature of &rfifying official
Date
. . .
ire-4, Vlr-~nt
of
m
i
r
Resources.
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property
meets n d o e s not meet the National Register criteria.
[7See continuation Sheet.
/
I
Date
Signature of commenting or other official
State or Federal a g m and bureau
-- -
- -
-
5. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby, certify that this property is:
menrered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet. - adetermined eligible for the National
Register.
See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Register.
removed from the National Register.
D._other, (explain:)
-. -
-
-.
-
-
-.
-
.
Signature of the Keeper
~
.-
-
-
"-
Date of Action
67Fu-%r
HMO& F
U r
u
m t k :
~(enter
i m~ogorier
fmn 1 w t r ~ C i M 8 )
--
~
W
l
n
Current Functms (enter categwles from ~nstruamns)
a
ess
Secondary s ~ r u c t u r e
7. Descrlptlon
Materials (enter categor~esirom instructions)
Architectural Classifi~ation
(enter categories from instructions)
foundation Brir k
walls
Erick~
FPTJPTRI
Greek Upviva1
roof
other
Amha1 t
Wood
Describe present and historic physical appearance
Summary D e s c r i p t i o n
Avenel, b u i l t around 1836, i s a generously p r o p o r t i o n e d twos t o r y b r i c k d w e l l i n g l o c a t e d on a r i s e t h a t once w e r l o o k e d t h e
town of L i b e r t y .
The house is now surrounded by a t u r n - o f - t h e c e n t u r y r e s i d e n t i a l neighborhood i n t h e C i t y of Bedford.
A-venel
i s imposing i n s c a l e , p l a n , and d e t a i l i n g f o r v e r n a c u l a r
a r c h i t e c t u r e i n r u r a l c e n t r a l V i r g i n i a d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f of
the nineteenth century.
A c o m p a r a t i v e l y a r t i c u l a t e b l e d of
Greek R e v i v a l and F e d e r a l s t y l i n g , t h e main house is
e x t r a o r d i n a r y f o r i t s h i g h d e g r e e of a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y .
Three frame dependent b u i l d i n g s which have s u r v i v e d and t h e r u i n s
of a b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e of t h e complex of
i n t e r d e p e n d e n t b u i l d i n g s t h a t made up a r e s i d e n t i a l p r o p e r t y i n
the nineteenth century.
Setting
Avenel i s l o c a t e d on a r i s e n o r t h of t h e c e n t e r of t h e
community now c a l l e d Eedf o r d .
When t h e house was b u i l t arounc:
1 8 3 6 , A v e n e l ' s s i t e was r u r a l , though i t was o n l y a s h o r t
d i s t a n c e from t h e d e n s e r g r i d p a t t e r n of developed and d e v e l o p i n g
l o t s t h a t formed t h e town of L i b e r t y .
Subsequent e x p a n s l o p of
L i b e r t y from a o n e - s t r e e t county s e a t d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f of
t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y i n t o a town of 2 , 0 0 0 by t h e t u r n of t h e
c e n t u r y r e s u l t e d i n t h e development of r e s i d e n t l a l neighborhoods
on t h e l a n d t h a t once comprised A v e n e l ' s farmland.
Consequently,
t h e g e n e r o u s l y p r o p o r t i o n e d p l a n t a t i o n s e a t now o c c u p i e s a t h r e e a c r e l o t on a t r e e - l l n e d s t r e e t of s i n g l e - f a m i l y frame homes.
O r i e n t e d southward, t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n f a c e s a c i r c u l a r d r i v e
and a s m a l l y a r d w h i l e t h e e a s t s i d e of t h e house f a c e s t h e
s t r e e t t h a t w a s c u t through t h e p r o p e r t y c l o s e t o t h e house.
-
8. statmorn ot- S
Cendying omclal h a camidmd
- the slgn)Rana,
ot thm FWWIY
i n - e h , other
u a
Applicable National Register Criteria
OA 0
0
Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)
OA
8
m a
0
DCOD
c
Areas of S~gnthcance(enter categories from lnst~dKnr8J
Arch-
m:
E
F
1835 - 1900
G
Period of SigniRcana,
San~ficantDates
I835
Cunural Affiliation
NIA
Significant Person
ArchlectlBuilder
N/ A
State significance of propany, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and anwr and perodo of signlficllnce noted above.
Statement of S i g n i f i c a n c e
Avenel, t h e home of William M. B u r w e l l , i s i m p o r t a n t f o r i t s
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of c l a s s i c a l a r c h i t e c t u r a l i d e a s i n Piedmont
V i r g i n i a d u r i n g t h e second q u a r t e r of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . n'
a r t i c u l a t e b l e n d of b o t h F e d e r a l and Greek Revival i d i o m s , t h e
house e x e m p l i f i e s how s k i l l e d l o c a l m a s t e r - c r a f t s m e n , u s i n g
p a t t e r n books and i n g e n u i t y , i n t e r p r e t e d t h e high s t y l e
a r c h i t e c t u r a l i d e a s of t h e p e r i o d t o produce s o p h i s t i c a t e d
v e r n a c u l a r r e s i d e n c e s f o r t h e p l a n t e r c l a s s of mid-nineteenthc e n t u r y Piedmont V i r g i n i a .
Avenel i s an e x c e p t i o n a l r e s o u r c e n o t
o n l y b e c a u s e of i t s s o p h i s t i c a t i o n and q u a l i t y , b u t a l s o b e c a u s e
of i t s unusual d e g r e e of i n t e g r i t y , which e x t e n d s even t o d e t a i l s
such a s l o c k s and g l a s s .
S. Malor BIMkpraphlcal References
Avenel Foundattor, 'Pk;
-
P h m u g r a p i r c o ~ l e c t i o n . Bfxlforck, Ya. -
.
Burwell, L e t i t i a M. A G i r l ' s L i f e i n V i r g i n i a B e f o r e the War. 2nd edition.
F r e d e r i c k A. S t o k e s Co., 1895. Excerpted i n Gereau, "Avenel Landscape.''
New York:
Campbell, T. Bowyer. "Our Gentle B i l l s . " Unpublished manuscript, n.d. Bedford H i s t o r i c a l
Society. E x c e r p t e d i n Gereau, "Avenel Landscape.''
"Avenel Landscape."
Unpublished manuscript developed f o r Landscape
Gereau, B e t t y Lambeth.
A r c h i t e c t u r e 517, U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a , May 1981. The Avenel Foundation, Bedford, Va.
Lahendro, Joseph Dye, ( A r c h i t e c t ] . "Prospectus f o r t h e P r e s e r v a t i o n and Adaptive Reuse of
Avenel, Bedford, V i r g i n i a . " Unpublished r e p o r t , 31 March 1986. The Avenel Foundation,
Bedford, Va.
rnSee continuation sheet
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination ot indivlduai listing (36 CFR 67)
has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National Register
Ddesignated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings
Survey #
Orecorded by Histor~cAmerlcan Englneerlng
Record #
5
Primary location of additional data:
rnState historic preservation office
m o t h e r State agency
Federal agency
j?Local government
University
mother
Specify repository:
T h e Av-nnl F o n n r l l t i n n
118 E . Main S t r e e t . Bedford. VA 7452.3-
10. Geogra~hlcalData
Acreage of property -3
acres
UTM References
A L l d /5/3101710101
Zone
Eastma
1 4 1 11 3 1 3 11I 6 , ai
Northlna
~
Zone
Eastlna
L
I
NoRhrna
~
See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Descnptron
The p r o p e r t y i s d e s c r i b e d a s t h e ,IDwelling Lot" and ULot 9" on t h e northwest s i d e of
Avenel Avenue ( a t 413 Avenel Avenue) i n t h e C i t y of ~ e d f o r d ,V i r g i n i a , a s recorded i n
Bedford County Deed Book 91, p. 562. The enclosed map ( s c a l e 1" = 100') i s a copy of t h e
p l a t accompanying t h e deed a s recorded.
(The p l a t shows t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e main house
on t h e "Dwelling Lot.")
See conttnuatlon sheet
Boundary Justification
The boundary i n c l u d e s a l l of t h e land a t t h e c o r e of t h e Avenel p l a n t a t i o n t h a t remains
a s t h e s e t t i n g f o r t h e complex of e x t a n t b u i l d i n g s . Owing t o s u b d i v i s i o n of t h e p l a n t a t i o n
i n t h e l a t e n i n e t e e n t h and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s when t h e c i t y expanded, t h e remainder
of t h e p l a n t a t i o n land was developed a s a r e s i d e n t i a l neighborhood.
The l a r g e l o t on which
f o r t h e h i s t o r i c complex.
. t h e b u i l d i n g s a r e s i t u a t e d provides adequate s e t t i
see Continuation sheet
ne]
11. Form Prepared By
name/titie+
Apehe Tnmhpth anrl Asttv Lamhpth G-reatl
7 . 1991
organization Tt ~ v e n e l ~ o u n d a e i o n a t November
e
street & number 1 18 Ea& e-tlphone
703 586 8621
zip code 24521
city or town B
e
d
f
o
r
dstate _Vireinia
-
-
United States Dqmment ot the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Avenel
Section number
Page
I
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, Virginia
Architectural Analysis
The Flemish-bond b r i c k w a l l s of t h e r e c t a n g u l a r main house
a t Avenel s t a n d upon a f o u n d a t i o n of b r i c k .
The house i s two
s t o r i e s h i g h on a r a i s e d basement, and i s surmounted by a hipped
roof t h a t now i s s h e a t h e d w i t h a s p h a l t s h i n g l e s .
An i n t e r i o r end
chimney s e r v e s t h e s t r u c t u r e a t t h e e a s t s i d e of t h e house,
a n o t h e r on t h e w e s t s i d e , and two on t h e n o r t h s i d e .
(Another
chimney a p p e a r s t o have been added n e a r t h e n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of
t h e house. )
The o n l y p r o j e c t i o n beyond t h e d w e l l i n g ' s
r e c t a n g u l a r c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s a o n e - s t o r y p o r c h which e x t e n d s
a c r o s s t w o b a y s of t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n , a c r o s s t h e f u l l l e n g t h of
t h e e a s t s i d e , and wraps around t h e c o r n e r t o encompass one bay
of t h e b a c k o r n o r t h e l e v a t i o n .
T h i s p o r c h , which was b u i l t
e a r l y i n t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , p r w i d e s c o n n e c t i o n between t h e
two main e n t r a n c e s of t h e house.
An e a r l y photograph i n d i c a t e s
t h a t p r i o r t o 1900 t h e main e n t r a n c e on t h e f r o n t of t h e house
was s h e l t e r e d by a o n e - s t o r y columned p o r c h t h a t was t h r e e b a y s
wide and one-bay deep, and t h a t t h e e a s t e n t r a n c e was s i m i l a r l y
sheltered.
The p r e s e n t porch i s b u i l t of wood, w i t h a g e n t l y
s l o p i n g , m e t a l - s h e a t h e d roof t h a t i s s u p p o r t e d by a s e r i e s of
Doric columns.
The p a t t e r n of f e n e s t r a t i o n v a r i e s :
the f r o n t
e l e v a t i o n c o n s i s t s of t h r e e b a y s , w h i l e t h e rear o r n o r t h
e l e v a t i o n i n c l u d e s f i v e b a y s , and t h e two s i d e s f e a t u r e f o u r b a y s
each.
The s o p h i s t i c a t i o n which d i s t i n g u i s h e s Avenel from t h e
m a j o r i t y of i t s c o n t e m p o r a r i e s is a p p a r e n t on t h e e x t e r i o r i n t h e
d e t a i l i n g and p r o p o r t i o n of t h e d e c o r a t i v e woodwork and i n t h e
v a r i a t i o n of p l a n p r o v i d e d by t h e r e c e s s e d l o g g i a a t t h e
n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of t h e house.
A l l four elevations a r e
ornamented by a series of r e c e s s e d wood p a n e l s s e t between t h e
windows of t h e f i r s t and second s t o r i e s .
The e l a b o r a t e Doric
c o r n i c e i n c l u d e s m u t u l e s and d e n t i l s .
A l l windows a r e d e c o r a t e d
by a f l a t l i n t e l t e r m i n a t i n g i n c o r n e r b l o c k s .
The s h u t t e r s a t
t h e windows may be o r i g i n a l .
The two p r i n c i p a l doorways, a t t h e
main e n t r a n c e of t h e f r o n t e l e v a t i o n and a t t h e secondary
e n t r a n c e on t h e e a s t s i d e , a r e u n u s u a l i n t h e i r generous
proportions.
A t e a c h doorway t h e e i g h t - p a n e l ctoor i s s e t w i t h i n
a d e c o r a t e d enframement of s i d e l i g h t s and transom which, l i k e t h e
windows, i s surmounted by a f l a t l i n t e l w i t h c o r n e r b l o c k s .
United Statea Department of the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
*
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
B e d f o r d , Virginia
S e t w i t h i n t h e r e c t a n g u l a r c o n f i g u r a t i o n of t h e house i s a
r e c e s s e d l o g g i a , o r i g i n a l l y a t b o t h f i r s t - and s e c o n d - s t o r y
levels.
The b r i c k w a l l s of t h e l o g g i a , a t l e a s t a t t h e secondf l o o r l e v e l , a r e l a i d i n American bond.
Although i t h a s been
somewhat a l t e r e d by a p a r t i a l e n c l o s u r e , t h e l o g g i a remains a n
a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y a r t i c u l a t e and s o p h i s t i c a t e d f e a t u r e of t h e
house.
The l o g g i a o r i g i n a l l y extended t h e l e n g t h of a wide bay
on t h e r e a r e l e v a t i o n , and t h e l e n g t h of two wide b a y s on t h e
west side.
The b r i c k w a l l s of t h e ground f l o o r themselves s e r v e d
a s b r i c k p i e r s framing segmentally arched openings.
Above, t h e
s e c o n d - s t o r y of t h e l o g g i a was s u p p o r t e d by p a i r s of s o l i d wood
Doric columns r i s i n g t o t h e d w e l l i n g ' s e n t a b l a t u r e .
The l o g g i a
h a s been p a r t i a l l y e n c l o s e d on t h e f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l i n o r d e r t o
c r e a t e a k i t c h e n and bathroom.
That e n c l o s u r e was accomplished
by b r i c k i n g i n h a l f of t h e n o r t h bay, t h e r e b y r e d u c i n g t h e
l o g g i a ' s f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l t o a mere passageway.
The secondf l o o r l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a , however, i s s t i l l i n t a c t e x c e p t f o r an
e x t r u s i o n i n t o t h e s p a c e t o c r e a t e a l a t e r bathroom.
A v e n e l ' s p l a n i s one of i t s most d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e s .
The house i s t r a v e r s e d by a p e r p e n d i c u l a r p a t t e r n of e n t r a n c e
h a l l s , both with s t a i r s .
The main a x i s c o n s i s t s of a c e n t r a l
h a l l running s o u t h - n o r t h from t h e main or s o u t h d o o r t o t h e
secondary a x i s , c o n s i s t i n g of a h a l l , t h a t e x t e n d s t h e f u l l w i d t h
of t h e house from t h e east door a c r o s s t o t h e r e c e s s e d l o g g i a on
t h e w e s t s i d e of t h e house.
The main h a l l c o n t a i n s a formal
t h r e e - r u n s t a i r and c a n b e c l o s e d o f f from t h e r e a r h a l l by a
double door.
The l o n g e r r e a r h a l l i s a l s o ample i n p r o p o r t i o n
and h i g h l y d e t a i l e d i n i t s ornamental woodwork.
It contains a
substantial s t a i r c a s e t h a t divides i n t o t w o runs a t the s t a i r
l a n d i n g and p r w i d e s d i r e c t a c c e s s t o t h e rooms on t h e back of
t h e house and t o t h e upper l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a .
The two
s t a i r w e l l s a r e d i v i d e d by a p a r t i t i o n w a l l b u t s h a r e t h e n a t u r a l
l i g h t and v e n t i l a t i o n from t h e s o u t h s i d e o f t h e house by means
of a l a r g e - s c a l e , i n t e r i o r , double-hung s a s h window a t t h e l e v e l
of t h e s t a i r l a n d i n g s .
Unlted Statw Department of the Intellor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Section number
7
Page
3
Bedford, Virginia
On t h e f i r s t - f l o o r l e v e l t h e main c e n t r a l h a l l d i v i d e s t h e
f r o n t p a r t of t h e house i n t o two amply p r o p o r t i o n e d formal rooms.
t h e p a r l o r and t h e d i n i n g room.
The r e a r p a r t of t h e house
c o n t a i n s two a d d i t i o n a l rooms t h a t open o f f t h e r e a r h a l l w a y ,
p l u s t h e space a t t h e b u i l d i n g ' s northwest corner t h a t formerly
comprised t h e lower l e v e l of t h e l o g g i a .
U p s t a i r s , t h e two l a r g e
bedrooms on t h e f r o n t oE t h e house open o f f a wide c e n t r a l h a l l
t h a t f o r m e r l y p r o v i d e d a c c e s s t o t h e open upper l e v e l of t h e
s o u t h e n t r a n c e porch.
The ornamental doorway t o t h a t p o r c h , w i t h
i t s s i d e l i g h t s and transom, remains.
A t t h e second-floor l e v e l
of t h e house t h e r e i s no a c c e s s between t h e p e r p e n d i c u l a r
hallways.
There i s , however, d i r e c t a c c e s s from t h e w e s t bedroom
t o t h e l o g g i a , and t h e r e i s a c c e s s from t h e e a s t bedroom t o t h e
r e a r hallway and from t h e r e t o t h e n o r t h e a s t room.
The s p a c e a t
t h e e a s t e r n m o s t end of t h e r e a r h a l l w a y a t t h e s e c o n d - f l o o r l e v e l
may have been a l t e r e d , though p o s s i b l y n o t l o n g a f t e r t h e
b u i l d i n g of t h e house.
The s p a c e i s s e p a r a t e d from t h e hallway
by a t h i n p a r t i t i o n w a l l and d i v i d e d i n t o two c l o s e t a r e a s f o r
t h e two e a s t bedrooms.
The p l a n s u g g e s t s s e p a r a t i o n of t h e house i n t o two h a l v e s - t h e f r o n t and t h e back-- and y e t both a r e n e a r l y equal i n t h e
f o r m a l i t y and p r o p o r t i o n of s p a c e s .
Another i n s t a n c e of
s e p a r a t i o n of s p a c e i s t h e a b s e n c e of any i n t e r n a l a c c e s s between
t h e basement and t h e main f l o o r .
The basement i s a c c e s s i b l e o n l y
from t h e e x t e r i o r , from doorways on t h e n o r t h and w e s t s i d e s of
t h e house.
The basement l e v e l i s u n f i n i s h e d and d i v i d e d
e x c l u s i v e l y by b e a r i n g w a l l s .
There i s n o a r c h i t e c t u r a l e v i d e n c e
of use o t h e r t h a n f o r r u d i m e n t a r y f u n c t i o n s s u p p o r t i v e of t h e
l i f e s t y l e of t h e household above.
The rooms of t h e f i r s t - and s e c o n d - f l o o r s a r e c h a r a c t e r i z e d
by ample p r o p o r t i o n s and o r n a t e d e c o r a t i o n .
Both s t a i r w e l l s a r e
p a n e l e d and d e c o r a t e d w i t h s c r o l l e d o r n a m e n t a t i o n .
Doorways and
windows t h r o u g h o u t t h e f i r s t - f l o o r a r e enframed by f l u t e d
s u r r o u n d s marked by c o r n e r b l o c k s .
The most formal s p a c e s , t h e
p a r l o r and t h e d i n i n g room, a r e noteworthy f o r t h e i r ornamental
plaster ceilings.
In t h e p a r l o r t h e elaborate plasterwork
i n c l u d e s a symmetrical p a t t e r n r a d i a t i n g from a c e n t r a l
m e d a l l i o n , and a l o n g t h e p e r i m e t e r t h e r e i s a g r a p e v i n e p a t t e r n .
Unlted States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
4
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf o r d , Virginia
The windows of t h e two formal rooms a r e double-hung s a s h , w i t h
wood p a n e l i n g b e n e a t h t h e windows a s w e l l a s on t h e s o f f i t s of
t h e window o p e n i n g s . The m a n t e l s of t h e s e formal rooms a r e t h e
most d e t a i l e d .
The most e l a b o r a t e i s t h e Creek Revival mantel of
b l a c k marble l o c a t e d i n the p a r l o r .
The wood mantel i n t h e
d i n i n g room i s s u p p o r t e d by columns, w h i l e t h e ones i n t h e r e s t
of t h e house a r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h f l u t e d p i l a s t e r s , f r e t w o r k c o r n e r
u i e c e s , and k e y s t o n e s .
The wood m a n t e l s throughout t h e house a r e
c o p i e d from ~ s h e rBenjamin's The P r a c t i c a l House C a r p e n t e r , as are
the transoms and sidelights.
O t h e r B u i l d i n g s and F e a t u r e s
Near t h e main house i s t h e e v i d e n c e of f o u r d e p e n d e n c i e s
t h a t were once p a r t of t h e complex of i n t e r d e p e n d e n t b u i l d i n g s a t
t h e h e a r t of t h e Avenel p l a n t a t i o n .
A one-s t o r y , r e c t a n g u l a r ,
b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g , s i t u a t e d j u s t n o r t h of t h e main house, i s
now i n r u i n s .
An o l d photograph, a p p a r e n t l y t a k e n e a r l y i n t h e
t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , shows t h a t t h e b r i c k w a l l s were w h i t e a t t h a t
time and c o v e r e d by a g a b l e r o o f .
Two frame b u i l d i n g s s t i l l s t a n d i n t h e same a r e a n e a r t h e
n o r t h w e s t c o r n e r of t h e house.
The h i p - r o o f e d , s q u a r e b u i l d i n g
t h a t i s c a l l e d t h e smokehouse i s s h e a t h e d i n beaded c l a p b o a r d s
and a p p e a r s t o be o r i g i n a l .
The b u i l d i n g s t a n d s j u s t n o r t h w e s t
of t h e main house, f a c i n g t h e s i t e of t h e b r i c k k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g .
A l e a n - t o a d d i t i o n , e n t e r e d by a p a n e l e d d o o r , i s a t t a c h e d t o t h e
w e s t o r r e a r of t h i s dependency.
On t h e s o u t h s i d e of t h e
b u i l d i n g i s a s q u a r e , o n e - s t o r y frame b u i l d i n g w i t h a s h a l l o w
hipped roof.
T h i s s t r u c t u r e m a y d a t e from t h e t u r n of t h e
century.
A t l e a s t a t one p o i n t , i t s e r v e d a s a hen house.
S i t u a t e d f u r t h e r w e s t of t h i s g r o u p i n g i s a o n e - a n d - a - h a l f - s t o r y ,
g a b l e - r o o f e d , frame n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y b a r n .
The s o u t h p o r t i o n
of t h e g a b l e roof i s e x t e n d e d downward t o s h e l t e r a l e a n - t o
addition along the b u i l d i n g ' s south side.
The main p o r t i o n of
t h e b a r n is d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r s t a l l s .
Unit4 State# Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
continuation Sheet
Section number
7
Page
5
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf o r d , V i r g i n i a
R e c o l l e c t i o n s by a t u r n - o f - t h e - c e n t u r y r e s i d e n t of Avenel
i n d i c a t e t h a t a t l e a s t a t t h a t time t h e p r o p e r t y c o n t a i n e d t h e
k i t c h e n b u i l d i n g ( t h e n j o i n e d t o t h e house by a c w e r e d walkway),
an i c e h o u s e , smokehouse, o u t h o u s e , cow b a r n , hen house, c a r r i a g e
house. g r e e n h o u s e , and a shed f o r wood and c o a l .
According t o
t h e same s o u r c e t h e l a n d s c a p e l a t e i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y
i n c l u d e d lawns, g a r d e n s , hay l o t s , o r c h a r d s , a c e d a r - l i n e d
e n t r a n c e l a n e t h r o u g h t h e fore-lawn e a s t of t h e house, and a
b r i c k p a t h t o t h e e a s t o r s i d e e n t r a n c e t o t h e house.
Beyond t h e
formal g a r d e n , which c o n s i s t e d of s i x s q u a r e s j u s t w e s t of t h e
house, t h e grounds t o t h e west i n c l u d e d a w e s t e r n l a n e w i t h a
g a t e , a g r a p e a r b o r , h e r b garden, f o r c i n g b e d s , a p e t cemetery,
and on t h e w e s t s i d e of t h e p r o p e r t y a s l a v e cemetery.
The w e s t and e a s t p o r t i o n s of t h e p r o p e r t y - - c o n t a i n i n g t h e
s l a v e cemetery and t h e v i n e y a r d on t h e w e s t , and t h e c e d a r - l i n e d
e n t r a n c e l a n e through t h e fore-lawn on t h e e a s t - - were s e p a r a t e d
o r s o l d o f f between t h e 1860s and 1 9 0 6 .
The s m a l l t r a c t t h a t
remains may i n c l u d e s i t e s of some of t h e o t h e r f e a t u r e s l i s t e d
above, p o s s i b l y i n c l u d i n g t h e s i t e of p a r t of t h e formal garden
and t h e lawn.
A boxwood hedge t h a t i s p r e s e n t w e s t of t h e main
house may be a remnant of t h e o l d f o r m a l garden.
United Statw Department ot the Interlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
I
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
Historical Background
When i n 1835 W i l l i a m M. Burwell (1809-1888) began
c o n s t r u c t i o n of h i s new house on t h e o u t s k i r t s of t h e town of
L i b e r t y , t h e community had been i n e x i s t e n c e f o r a b o u t f i f t y
y e a r s and was s t i l l p r i m a r i l y a s i n g l e - s t r e e t c o u n t y s e a t .
Burwell had a c q u i r e d t h e l a n d through h i s m a r r i a g e i n 1831 t o
F r a n c e s S t e p t o e , d a u g h t e r of James C. S t e p t o e , of Bedford County.
A f t e r r e s i d i n g i n F r a n k l i n County f o r a b r i e f p e r i o d , t h e
Burwells r e t u r n e d t o L i b e r t y and a r e b e l i e v e d t o have l i v e d a t a
r e n t e d farmhouse n e a r b y w h i l e t h e new house was b e i n g b u i l t .
The
m a s t e r b u i l d e r i s b e l i e v e d t o have been a M r . Shurnaker.
C o n s t r u c t i o n i s t h o u g h t t o have begun by 1835 and complet-ed by
1836.
Recent e x a m i n a t i o n of t h e s t r u c t u r e r e v e a l e d t h e words
"John Dickinson J u l y 3, 1837" i n s c r i b e d on a r a f t e r i n t h e a t t i c .
No i n £o r m a t i o n i s c u r r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e a b o u t John Dickinson o r t h e
r o l e he ~ l a y e da t Avenel.
I n terms of a r c h i t e c t u r a l c r a f t s m a n s h i p Avenel h a s few
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s t h a t compare.
The nearby Three O t t e r s i s s i m i l a r
i n s t y l i n g , and t h e e a r l i e r Fancy Farm e x h i b i t s a h i g h d e g r e e of
t e c h n i c a l s o p h i s t i c a t i o n i n i t s woodwork.
The u s e of Asher
B e n j a m i n ' s p a t t e r n book, The P r a c t i c a l House C a r p e n t e r ( 1 8 3 0 ) , i s
a p p a r e n t a t Three O t t e r s and i n a few b u i l d i n a s i n n e i s-h b o r i n aLynchburg.
However, Avenel is d i s t i n g u i s h e d &ong i t s
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s f o r i t s p r e t e n t i o u s s c a l e and i t s a r c h i t e c t u r a l
s o p h i s t i c a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g t h e c r a f t s m a n s h i p of i t s i n t e r i o r
p l a s t e r and wood d e t a i l i n g .
The f a m i l y t h a t moved i n t o Avenel c o n s i s t e d of William and
F r a n c e s B u r w e l l , p l u s B u r w e l l ' s widowed mother-in-law, Nrs. James
C. S t e p t o e , and h e r s o n , Edward S t e p t o e .
The p r e s e n c e of t h i s
extended f a m i l y may h a v e been t h e r e a s o n f o r t h e unusual f l o o r
p l a n of t h e house.
The d i v i s i o n of t h e house i n t o two d i s t i n c t
h a l v e s , e a c h w i t h l a r g e - s c a l e , a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y prominent
e n t r a n c e s , h a l l w a y s , and s t a i r c a s e s , c o u l d accommodate two f a m i l y
u n i t s and p r o v i d e a s e n s e of s e p a r a t i o n between t h e two.
United States Department ot the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
2
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedf ord, Virginia
W i l l i a m M. Burwell was t h e son of William A . Burwell.
s e c r e t a r y t o Thomas J e f f e r s o n and congressman from F r a n k l i n
County.
W i l l i a m EI. Burwell was a c t i v e i n t h e p o l i t i c a l and
s o c i a l l i f e of Bedford County b e f o r e t h e C i v i l War.
I n 1838 he
was e l e c t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e from Bedford t o t h e V i r g i n i a House of
3 e l e g a t e s . During h i s s e r v i c e i n t h e l e g i s l a t u r e h e s e c u r e d t h e
c h a r t e r t o t h e f i r s t r a i l r o a d i n Piedmont V i r g i n i a , t h e V i r g i n i a
and Tennessee.
'?he second phase of c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e r a i l r o a d
b r o u g h t i t through B e d f o r d , c u t t i n g a c r o s s t h e s o u t h s i d e of
Burwell's plantation.
During t h e 1840s and 1850s Burwell w r o t e
e x t e n s i v e l y , p r o d u c i n g a r t i c l e s on i n t e r n a l improvements i n
V i r g i n i a f o r newspapers and magazines.
I n 1850 h e was s e n t a s a n
e m i s s a r y from t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Government t o Mexico.
After the
C i v i l War he s p e n t a p e r i o d of t i m e i n New O r l e a n s c o n t i n u i n g t o
f o c u s h i s a t t e n t i o n on economic improvement.
W i l l i a m M. B u r w e l l ' s prominence i n t h e l o c a l p o l i t i c a l s c e n e
and b o t h h i s and h i s w i f e ' s economic and s o c i a l s t a n d i n g ,
e x p r e s s e d i n t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l s c a l e and s o p h i s t i c a t i o n of h i s
home, made A-venel i n e v i t a b l y a f o c a l p o i n t i n t h e community of
Liberty.
A memoir w r i t t e n by B u r w e l l ' s d a u g h t e r , L e t i t i a , A
G i r l ' s L i f e i n V i r g i n i a B e f o r e t h e War ( 1 9 0 7 ) . p r o v i d e s
i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e s o c i a l h i s t o r y a t Avenel d u r i n g t h e 1840s
and 18SOs, b o t h a b o u t t h e f a m i l y ' s i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h t h e community
and a b o u t t h e i n t e r n a l s o c i a l f a b r i c of p l a n t a t i o n owner and
slaves.
L e t i t i a B u r w e l l ' s u n p u b l i s h e d j o u r n a l of 1861-1862 i s
one of s e v e r a l s o u r c e s t h a t a l s o p r o v i d e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e s o c i a l
h i s t o r y a t Avenel d u r i n g t h e C i v i l War, when t h e m i l i t i a d r i l l e d
on A v e n e l ' s lawn and t h e l o c a l community a d j u s t e d t o t h e impact
of t h e war.
During t h e second h a l f of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e
p r o p e r t y a t Avenel underwent g r a d u a l change b e c a u s e of b c t h t h e
m a t u r i n g of t h e Burwell f a m i l y and t h e e c o n o ~ . i cchanges d u r i n g
t h e post-war p e r i o d i n Bedford County.
E i g h t a c r e s n o r t h w e s t of
t h e main house, i n c l u d i n g t h e v i n e y a r d , were d i v i d e d from t h e
main t r a c t f o r t h e B u r w e l l s ' d a u g h t e r , Kate Burwell Bowyer.
Then, i n 1883, Mrs. Burwell s o l d 10 1 / 4 a c r e s on t h e s o u t h edge
of t h e p r o p e r t y t o t h e L i b e r t y Improvement Company, which
s u b d i v i d e d t h e l a n d i n t o a g r i d and began b u i l d i n g a r e s i d e n t i a l
neighborhood a l o n g newly c r e a t e d Bedford Avenue.
This
s u b d i v i s i o n , and t h e f u r t h e r development of t h e Bowyer p o r t i o n of
t h e p r o p e r t y , were o n l y a p a r t of t h e 1880s/1890s l a n d boom
e x p e r i e n c e d i n t h e town of L i b e r t y , which was renamed Bedford
C i t y d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d of e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l e x p a n s i o n .
Y(1Fm10001
lul
Unlted States Department of the lnterlor
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Page
3
Avenel
413 Avenel Avenue
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
BY 1899 M r s . B u r w e l l , who had o u t l i v e d h e r husband, d i e d .
Avenel t h e n became t h e p r o p e r t y of h e r e l d e s t d a u g h t e r L e t i t i a
B u r w e l l , who c o n t i n u e d l i v i n g t h e r e a l o n g w i t h a r e l a t i v e Bowyer
Campbell.
A t t h i s s t a g e , i n s p i t e of t h e encroachment of
development on t h e n o r t h w e s t and s o u t h , most of t h e Avenel
l a n d s c a p e was s t i l l i r t a c t , a l t h o u g h t h e o r c h a r d and s l a v e
cemetery were no l o n g e r t e n d e e .
The p r i m a r y l a n d s c a p e a c t i v i t y
a t t h i s p e r i o d was L e t i t i a E u r w e l l 1 s g a r d e n i n g .
With t h e d e a t h of L e t i t i a Burwell i n 1 9 0 5 , t h e Avenel
p l a n t a t i o n l e f t t h e Burwell f a m i l y .
The p r o p e r t y had been w i l l e d
t o 'osa Burwell Todd, h e r c h i l d r e n , and Kate Burwell Bowyer's
grandchildren.
However, i n t h e a f t e r m a t h of a lawsuit. t h e
p r o p e r t y was s o l d i n 1906 a t p u b l i c a u c t i o n . Although a
c o m p a r a t i v e l y l a r g e l o t was l e f t w i t h t h e main house, i t was
l a r g e o n l y i n compzrison w i t h t h e p a t t e r n of s m a l l b u i l d i n g l o t s
t h a t were l a i d o u t t o accommodate expansion of t h e r e s i d e n t i a l
neighborhood t h a t had developed a s t h e town c e n t e r expanded
northward.
The fore-lawn e a s t of t h e main house was s e p a r a t e d
from t h e p r o p e r t y by c u t t i n g t h r o u g h a new r o a d , Avenel Avenue,
and t h e w e s t e r n h a y f i e l d s and o r c h a r d were s e p a r a t e d by c u t t i n g
a n o t h e r s t r e e t through t h e p r o p e r t y j u s t west of t h e house.
With
t h e c r e a t i o n of Avenel Avenue, t h e main house, which f a c e s s o u t h ,
was now s i t u a t e d w i t h i t s e a s t o r s i d e e n t r a n c e f a c i n g t h e
suburban s t r e e t .
A v e n e l ' s l a r g e l o t p r o v i d e s an a d e q u a t e s e t t i n g
f o r t h e b u i l d i n g s t h a t remain a t t h e c o r e of t h e former
p l a n t a t i o n , though t h e p r o x i m i t y of t h e houses t h a t s u r r o u n d i t
t e s t i f y t o the evolution i n land use t h a t characterized the postC i v i l War economic h i s t o r y of Bedford C i t y .
No l o n g e r a f a m i l y p l a n t a t i o n , Avenel was purchased i n 1906
B a l l a r d f a m i l y , which owned t h e p r o p e r t y u n t i l 1985.
The c u r r e n t owner, t h e n o n - p r o f i t Avenel Foundation, i s
s t a b i l i z i n g t h e house and d e p e n d e n c i e s i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r
p r e s e r v i n g Avenel f o r p u b l i c u s @ .
by t h e J. W.
AVENEL
U e d f o r d , Virginia
Existing - - .
- -
6ite Plan
AVENEL
Bedford, V i r g i n i a
Elevation
First Floor P f a ~
AVENGL
B e d f o r d , Virginia
South
Elevati
--
&us
East
Elevation
Second Floor Pian
4
North
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs are of:
AVENEL
City of Bedford, Virginia
DHR File No. 141-01
DATE: 1991
Photographer: Lynn A. Beebe
Negatives are filed at the Virginia State Library and Archives
Negative No. 10912
VIEW OF: South elevation of main house; view facing northwest
PHOTO 1 of 8
VIEW OF: South and east elevations of main house; facing northwest
PHOTO 2 of 8
VIEW OF: West and south elevations of main house; view facing northeast
PHOTO 3 of 8
VIEW OF: West elevation of main house; view facing northeast
PHOTO 4 of 8
VIEW OF: East elevation of main house; view facing southeast
PHOTO 5 of 8
VIEW OF: Interior, main entrance hall; view facing north from the east entrance
PHOTO 6 of 8
VIEW OF: Interior, southwest room, first floor, ceiling.
PHOTO 7 of 8
VIEW OF: East and north elevations of original dependency, barn to the right and
another dependency to the left; view facing southwest
PHOTO 8 of 8
Text
Form No. 10-300 (Rev. 10-74)
UNITED STATES'DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR N P S U S E ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
RECEIVEQ
NOV
2 3
1977
DATEENTERED
JAN 3 I
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOWTO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
QNAME
HISTORIC
Methodist Meeting House; St. Philip's Episcopal Church
AND/OR COMMON
Bedford Historic Meeting )touse (Preferred)
LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
153 West Main Street
—NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY, TOWN
Bedford
STATE
Sixth (M. Caldwell Butler)
VICINITY OF
CODE
COUNTY
Virginia
(In
City)
CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
PRESENT USE
—DISTRICT
—PUBLIC
—OCCUPIED
—AGRICULTURE
X_MUSEUM
KBUILOINGli)
XpRiVATE
—UNOCCUPIED
—COMMERCIAL
—PARK
—STRUCTURE
—BOTH
—EDUCAnONAL
—PRIVATE RESIDENCE
—ENTERTAINMENT
—RELIGIOUS
X _ W O R K IN PROGRESS
P U B U C ACQUISITION
—SITE
—OBJECT
—IN PROCESS
ACCESSIBLE
X _ Y E S : RESTRICTED
—BEING CONSIDERED
—GOVERNMENT
—SCIENTIFIC
— YES: UNRESTRICTED
—INDUSTRIAL
—TRANSPORTAnON
—NO
—MILITARY
MOTHER:
^ggJl^S
QOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Bedford H i s t o r i c a l Society
c/o
Mr. B a s i l D. Murray, President
STREETS NUMBER
406 Avenel Avenue
STATE
CITY, T O W N
Bedford
Virginia
VICINITY OF
24523
QLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE,
REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC.
Bedford County Courthouse
S T R E E T & NUMBER
STATE
CITY, TOWN
Virginia
Bedford
QREPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
(See
Continuation Sheet
TITLE
(1)
H i s t o r i c American Buildings Survey Inventory
DATE
1958
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS L i b r a r y o f
,
X_FE[jE„;^L —STATE
—COUNTY
—LOCAL
Congress
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Washington
D. C.
#1)
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
-EXCELLENT
JiOETERIORATED
JkjNALTERED
-GOOD
—RUINS
—ALTERED
-FAIR
—UNEXPOSED
CHECK ONE
X
ORIGINAL SITE
MOVED
DATE-
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
B u i l t as Bedford's f i r s t Methodist Church, the Bedfiard H i s t o r i c Meeting House i s a
diminutive, temple-form s t r u c t u r e measuring 30 feet wide by 58 feet deep. Flemish
bond i s employed on a l l but the rear w a l l , which i s l a i d i n American bond. The
base of the b u i l d i n g has been stuccoed i n recent decades i n a crude attempt to
counteract a problem of r i s i n g damp. I n the center of the rear w a l l i s a small
appendage which houses a large niche serving as the church's apse. Covering the
building i s a shallow, pedimented gable roof ornamented w i t h shallow Greek moldings.
The roof i s supported by a king-post truss system and o r i g i n a l l y was covered w i t h
wood s h i n g l e s . Sections of these shingles were preserved under the l a t e r sheetmetal roof. D i r e c t l y above the pediment i s a square b e l f r y w i t h p i l a s t e r e d corners
and a louvred rectangular opening on each face. A stubby, tapered s p i r e , formerly
topped by a b a l l f i n i a l , r i s e s from the b e l f r y roof.
The church's facade i s d i v i d e d into three bays w i t h twelve-over-twelve windows hung
w i t h louvred b l i n d s f l a n k i n g the center doorway. The doorway has double doors, each
w i t h f i v e h o r i z o n t a l panels. Above the f i r s t - f l o o r openings are three t w e l v e - l i g h t
windows; the end ones are pivoted and the center one has h o r i z o n t a l l y s l i d i n g sash.
On each side of the church are two t r i p l e - h u n g windows w i t h s i x panes per sash.
On the south w a l l i s a small door b u i l t as a s l a v e s ' entrance. A l l the openings
are topped by rectangular l i n t e l s w i t h turned corner blocks. A modern chimney i s
also on the south w a l l . The rear w a l l was formerly hidden by a l a t e nineteenthcentury, two-story frame annex, but t h i s was destroyed by f i r e i n 1977; the f i r e
also damaged, but d i d not destroy, the church's roof.
The i n t e r i o r of the church i s p l a i n . I t s main e l a b o r a t i o n i s the apse enframed by
an e l l i p t i c a l a r c h i t r a v e supported on paneled Tuscan p i l a s t e r s . Opposite the apse
i s a simple g a l l e r y reached by a narrow winding s t a i r i n the southwest corner.
Most of the o r i g i n a l boxed wooden benches remain, but they were scarred when the
c e i l i n g f e l l during the f i r e . The church i s c u r r e n t l y undergoing r e s t o r a t i o n .
CL
Form No. 10-300a
(Hev. 10-74)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
FOR NPS USE ONLY
RECEIVE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
„ NOV 2 31977
DATE ENTERED
B e d f o r d H i s t o r i c Meeting House, B e d f o r d , V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET
6,
(2)
#1
ITEM NUMBER
REPKESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1968, 1971, 1973, 1974
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Richmond, Virginia
6
PAGE
JAN 3 1 1978
SIGNIFICANCE
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
PERIOD
—COMMUNITY PLANNING
— L A N D S C A P E ARCHITECTURE
—1400-1499
—ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
—CONSERVATION
—LAW
—SCIENCE
—1500-1599
—AGRICULTURE
—ECONOMICS
—LITERATURE
—SCULPTURE
—1600-1699
X-ARCHITECTURE
—EDUCATION
—MILITARY
—SOCIAIVHUMANITARIAN
—1700-1799
—ART
—ENGINEERING
—MUSIC
—THEATER
X.1800-1899
—COMMERCE
—EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
—PHILOSOPHY
—TRANSPORTATION
—1900-
—COMMUNICATIONS
—INDUSTRY
—POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
—OTHER (SPECIFY)
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
—PREHISTORIC
X-RELIGION
—INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1838
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House was erected i n 1838 as the community's f i r s t
Methodist church. Now the headquarters of the Bedford H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , the simple
but handsomely proportioned Greek Revival structure survives as the oldest
r e l i g i o u s e d i f i c e i n the town.
Methodism arose i n the Bedford area i n the l a t e eighteenth century. Bishop Asbury,
founder of American Methodism, preached i n the Bedford courthouse i n 1794 and
again i n 1800. By 1838 the l o c a l congregation had prospered s u f f i c i e n t l y to have
i t s own meeting house. The structure i t erected is inthe temple-form, Greek
Revival s t y l e which was popular among Protestant denominations i n the region.
With i t s pedimented roof and square, p i l a s t e r e d b e l f r y the Church i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y akin to antebellum churches i n F i n c a s t l e , Christiansburg, F l o y d , as w e l l
as Bedford. The Bedford church i s i n t e r e s t i n g because i t s side door, used by
slaves to reach the g a l l e r y , i s preserved.
By 1886 the congregation had outgrown the l i t t l e church and l e f t i t f o r a larger
one. Leading Bedford c i t i z e n s , interested i n the welfare of former s l a v e s , were
instrvimental i n having the b u i l d i n g purchased by the Episcopalians to be used as
a house of worship f o r the Negroes of that f a i t h . Accordingly, i n 1886, the
b u i l d i n g was reconsecrated as St. P h i l i p ' s Episcopal Church. As there were no
schools provided f o r Negroes at the time,a frame annex was placed on the rear
of the b u i l d i n g to serve as a day school f o r the c h i l d r e n of the congregation.
This remained i n use u n t i l segregated public schools were established i n the s t a t e .
Scott Wood, the r e c t o r responsible f o r the founding of the s c h o o l , l a t e r became a
p r i n c i p a l of St. Paul's Polytechnic I n s t i t u t e , a t r a i n i n g school f o r Negroes i n
Lawrenceville, V i r g i n i a .
St. P h i l i p ' s congregation merged with Bedford's white Episcopalians i n 1968 and
the church was acquired by a group of i n d i v i d u a l s interested i n the building's prese r v a t i o n . This group became the nucleus of the Bedford H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , formed
i n 1969. Renamed the Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House, the b u i l d i n g has since been
used as the society's meeting place and f o r s p e c i a l community events. In 1977 a
f i r e destroyed the frame annex and damaged the church roof. R e s t o r a t i o n i s underwaji
CL
QMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Parker, L u l a Jeter.
The History of Bedford County, V i r g i n i a .
W.P.A. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Building
Inventory.
V i r g i n i a State
Bedford, V i r g i n i a , 1954.
Library.
IGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
A C R E A G E OF N O M I N A T E D P R O P E R T Y .
UTM
less than one acre
REFERENCES
A L i i U 1613.016,1.01 14,113.218.1.0 1
ZONE
EASTING
ZONE
NORTHING
I I •I • •I I •I . I • •I
cLJ
DLJ
V E R B A L B O U N D A R Y DESCRIPTION
J LNORTHING
I I , I , , I I •I •I . .I
EASTING
The Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House i s located on the S side of West Main Street at
number 153; between Bridge Street on the E and Crenshaw Street on the W.
LIST A L L STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY B O U N D A R I E S
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME/TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
August 1977
STREET & N U M B E R
TELEPHONE
221 Governor Street
(804)
CITY OR T O W N
786-3144
STATE
23219
Richmond
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS,
NATIONAL
STATE X
LOCAL
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for Jhe National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
hereby nomin^t^'tnis property for inclusion in t|iey«JationalJ1egister and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria a n d ^ a M f l f l r e s sm fortbrnfthe NatioolBrBBrk ;
FEDERAL R
TITLE
Tucker H i l l , Executive D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
f O n N f S USEONLY
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS
wmroTBriiBrjiit
ATTEST:
tuLuurwiptiijitjw
DATE SEP 2 0. 1977,
IN T H E ^ T i O N A L REGISTER
DATE
/
^S-
? y
UNITED STATES'DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FOR N P S U S E ONLY
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
RECEIVEQ
NOV
2 3
1977
DATEENTERED
JAN 3 I
SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOWTO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
QNAME
HISTORIC
Methodist Meeting House; St. Philip's Episcopal Church
AND/OR COMMON
Bedford Historic Meeting )touse (Preferred)
LOCATION
STREET & NUMBER
153 West Main Street
—NOT FOR PUBLICATION
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CITY, TOWN
Bedford
STATE
Sixth (M. Caldwell Butler)
VICINITY OF
CODE
COUNTY
Virginia
(In
City)
CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY
OWNERSHIP
STATUS
PRESENT USE
—DISTRICT
—PUBLIC
—OCCUPIED
—AGRICULTURE
X_MUSEUM
KBUILOINGli)
XpRiVATE
—UNOCCUPIED
—COMMERCIAL
—PARK
—STRUCTURE
—BOTH
—EDUCAnONAL
—PRIVATE RESIDENCE
—ENTERTAINMENT
—RELIGIOUS
X _ W O R K IN PROGRESS
P U B U C ACQUISITION
—SITE
—OBJECT
—IN PROCESS
ACCESSIBLE
X _ Y E S : RESTRICTED
—BEING CONSIDERED
—GOVERNMENT
—SCIENTIFIC
— YES: UNRESTRICTED
—INDUSTRIAL
—TRANSPORTAnON
—NO
—MILITARY
MOTHER:
^ggJl^S
QOWNER OF PROPERTY
NAME
Bedford H i s t o r i c a l Society
c/o
Mr. B a s i l D. Murray, President
STREETS NUMBER
406 Avenel Avenue
STATE
CITY, T O W N
Bedford
Virginia
VICINITY OF
24523
QLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE,
REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC.
Bedford County Courthouse
S T R E E T & NUMBER
STATE
CITY, TOWN
Virginia
Bedford
QREPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
(2)
(See
Continuation Sheet
TITLE
(1)
H i s t o r i c American Buildings Survey Inventory
DATE
1958
DEPOSITORY FOR
SURVEY RECORDS L i b r a r y o f
,
X_FE[jE„;^L —STATE
—COUNTY
—LOCAL
Congress
STATE
CITY. TOWN
Washington
D. C.
#1)
DESCRIPTION
CONDITION
CHECK ONE
-EXCELLENT
JiOETERIORATED
JkjNALTERED
-GOOD
—RUINS
—ALTERED
-FAIR
—UNEXPOSED
CHECK ONE
X
ORIGINAL SITE
MOVED
DATE-
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
B u i l t as Bedford's f i r s t Methodist Church, the Bedfiard H i s t o r i c Meeting House i s a
diminutive, temple-form s t r u c t u r e measuring 30 feet wide by 58 feet deep. Flemish
bond i s employed on a l l but the rear w a l l , which i s l a i d i n American bond. The
base of the b u i l d i n g has been stuccoed i n recent decades i n a crude attempt to
counteract a problem of r i s i n g damp. I n the center of the rear w a l l i s a small
appendage which houses a large niche serving as the church's apse. Covering the
building i s a shallow, pedimented gable roof ornamented w i t h shallow Greek moldings.
The roof i s supported by a king-post truss system and o r i g i n a l l y was covered w i t h
wood s h i n g l e s . Sections of these shingles were preserved under the l a t e r sheetmetal roof. D i r e c t l y above the pediment i s a square b e l f r y w i t h p i l a s t e r e d corners
and a louvred rectangular opening on each face. A stubby, tapered s p i r e , formerly
topped by a b a l l f i n i a l , r i s e s from the b e l f r y roof.
The church's facade i s d i v i d e d into three bays w i t h twelve-over-twelve windows hung
w i t h louvred b l i n d s f l a n k i n g the center doorway. The doorway has double doors, each
w i t h f i v e h o r i z o n t a l panels. Above the f i r s t - f l o o r openings are three t w e l v e - l i g h t
windows; the end ones are pivoted and the center one has h o r i z o n t a l l y s l i d i n g sash.
On each side of the church are two t r i p l e - h u n g windows w i t h s i x panes per sash.
On the south w a l l i s a small door b u i l t as a s l a v e s ' entrance. A l l the openings
are topped by rectangular l i n t e l s w i t h turned corner blocks. A modern chimney i s
also on the south w a l l . The rear w a l l was formerly hidden by a l a t e nineteenthcentury, two-story frame annex, but t h i s was destroyed by f i r e i n 1977; the f i r e
also damaged, but d i d not destroy, the church's roof.
The i n t e r i o r of the church i s p l a i n . I t s main e l a b o r a t i o n i s the apse enframed by
an e l l i p t i c a l a r c h i t r a v e supported on paneled Tuscan p i l a s t e r s . Opposite the apse
i s a simple g a l l e r y reached by a narrow winding s t a i r i n the southwest corner.
Most of the o r i g i n a l boxed wooden benches remain, but they were scarred when the
c e i l i n g f e l l during the f i r e . The church i s c u r r e n t l y undergoing r e s t o r a t i o n .
CL
Form No. 10-300a
(Hev. 10-74)
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF T H E INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
FOR NPS USE ONLY
RECEIVE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
„ NOV 2 31977
DATE ENTERED
B e d f o r d H i s t o r i c Meeting House, B e d f o r d , V i r g i n i a
CONTINUATION SHEET
6,
(2)
#1
ITEM NUMBER
REPKESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Survey
1968, 1971, 1973, 1974
State
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Richmond, Virginia
6
PAGE
JAN 3 1 1978
SIGNIFICANCE
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
PERIOD
—COMMUNITY PLANNING
— L A N D S C A P E ARCHITECTURE
—1400-1499
—ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
—CONSERVATION
—LAW
—SCIENCE
—1500-1599
—AGRICULTURE
—ECONOMICS
—LITERATURE
—SCULPTURE
—1600-1699
X-ARCHITECTURE
—EDUCATION
—MILITARY
—SOCIAIVHUMANITARIAN
—1700-1799
—ART
—ENGINEERING
—MUSIC
—THEATER
X.1800-1899
—COMMERCE
—EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
—PHILOSOPHY
—TRANSPORTATION
—1900-
—COMMUNICATIONS
—INDUSTRY
—POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
—OTHER (SPECIFY)
ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC
—PREHISTORIC
X-RELIGION
—INVENTION
SPECIFIC DATES
1838
BUILDER/ARCHITECT
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House was erected i n 1838 as the community's f i r s t
Methodist church. Now the headquarters of the Bedford H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , the simple
but handsomely proportioned Greek Revival structure survives as the oldest
r e l i g i o u s e d i f i c e i n the town.
Methodism arose i n the Bedford area i n the l a t e eighteenth century. Bishop Asbury,
founder of American Methodism, preached i n the Bedford courthouse i n 1794 and
again i n 1800. By 1838 the l o c a l congregation had prospered s u f f i c i e n t l y to have
i t s own meeting house. The structure i t erected is inthe temple-form, Greek
Revival s t y l e which was popular among Protestant denominations i n the region.
With i t s pedimented roof and square, p i l a s t e r e d b e l f r y the Church i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y akin to antebellum churches i n F i n c a s t l e , Christiansburg, F l o y d , as w e l l
as Bedford. The Bedford church i s i n t e r e s t i n g because i t s side door, used by
slaves to reach the g a l l e r y , i s preserved.
By 1886 the congregation had outgrown the l i t t l e church and l e f t i t f o r a larger
one. Leading Bedford c i t i z e n s , interested i n the welfare of former s l a v e s , were
instrvimental i n having the b u i l d i n g purchased by the Episcopalians to be used as
a house of worship f o r the Negroes of that f a i t h . Accordingly, i n 1886, the
b u i l d i n g was reconsecrated as St. P h i l i p ' s Episcopal Church. As there were no
schools provided f o r Negroes at the time,a frame annex was placed on the rear
of the b u i l d i n g to serve as a day school f o r the c h i l d r e n of the congregation.
This remained i n use u n t i l segregated public schools were established i n the s t a t e .
Scott Wood, the r e c t o r responsible f o r the founding of the s c h o o l , l a t e r became a
p r i n c i p a l of St. Paul's Polytechnic I n s t i t u t e , a t r a i n i n g school f o r Negroes i n
Lawrenceville, V i r g i n i a .
St. P h i l i p ' s congregation merged with Bedford's white Episcopalians i n 1968 and
the church was acquired by a group of i n d i v i d u a l s interested i n the building's prese r v a t i o n . This group became the nucleus of the Bedford H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , formed
i n 1969. Renamed the Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House, the b u i l d i n g has since been
used as the society's meeting place and f o r s p e c i a l community events. In 1977 a
f i r e destroyed the frame annex and damaged the church roof. R e s t o r a t i o n i s underwaji
CL
QMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Parker, L u l a Jeter.
The History of Bedford County, V i r g i n i a .
W.P.A. V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Building
Inventory.
V i r g i n i a State
Bedford, V i r g i n i a , 1954.
Library.
IGEOGRAPHICAL DATA
A C R E A G E OF N O M I N A T E D P R O P E R T Y .
UTM
less than one acre
REFERENCES
A L i i U 1613.016,1.01 14,113.218.1.0 1
ZONE
EASTING
ZONE
NORTHING
I I •I • •I I •I . I • •I
cLJ
DLJ
V E R B A L B O U N D A R Y DESCRIPTION
J LNORTHING
I I , I , , I I •I •I . .I
EASTING
The Bedford H i s t o r i c Meeting House i s located on the S side of West Main Street at
number 153; between Bridge Street on the E and Crenshaw Street on the W.
LIST A L L STATES A N D COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY B O U N D A R I E S
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
STATE
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
FORM PREPARED BY
NAME/TITLE
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission S t a f f
DATE
ORGANIZATION
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
August 1977
STREET & N U M B E R
TELEPHONE
221 Governor Street
(804)
CITY OR T O W N
786-3144
STATE
23219
Richmond
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION
THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS,
NATIONAL
STATE X
LOCAL
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for Jhe National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).
hereby nomin^t^'tnis property for inclusion in t|iey«JationalJ1egister and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
criteria a n d ^ a M f l f l r e s sm fortbrnfthe NatioolBrBBrk ;
FEDERAL R
TITLE
Tucker H i l l , Executive D i r e c t o r
V i r g i n i a H i s t o r i c Landmarks Commission
f O n N f S USEONLY
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS
wmroTBriiBrjiit
ATTEST:
tuLuurwiptiijitjw
DATE SEP 2 0. 1977,
IN T H E ^ T i O N A L REGISTER
DATE
/
^S-
? y
Text
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024--0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This fonn is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How lo umplete /ht National &tfster of His/om Plaas &gjst,uli;,11 Form
(National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/ A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Fonn 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
other names/ site number
John D. Ballard House
Ballard-Worsham House (preferred); OHR file no. 141-14
2. Locanon
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford
code VA
county Bedford (city)
N/A not for publication
code
515
_vicinity
zip code 24523
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination
_
request for determination of eligibility meets t:h.e documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ..X..
meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant __ nationally __
statewide X locally. ( _ See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
4«~
Signature of certifying official/Title
/o/zo/rz
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property _ _ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( __ See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official/Title
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
_ _ entered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
_ _ determined eligible for the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
_ _ determined not eligible for the National Register.
_ _ removed from the National Register.
_ _ other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford Ondeperuient City). Ya.
Name of Property
County and Sr.arc
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
.X
.x.. building(s)
_
_
_
private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
0
Noncontributing
2
buildings
sites
0
1
structures
()
objects
2
3
Contributing
2
district
site
0
structure
0
_object
Total
Name of related multiple property listing
Number of contributing resources previously listed
(Enter "N/.\" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
in the National Register
Bedford Historic District (DHR file no. 141-73)
2
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
Category
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
DOMESTIC
secondary structure
RECREATION/CULTURE
sports facility
Subcategory
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Colonial Revival
foundation
walls
roof
other
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
concrete
brick
wood
terracotta
wood
marble
vinyl
Bedford (Independent Cit)'.). Va.
Ballard-Worsham House
County and State
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying
the property for National Register listing.)
(Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contti.bution to the broad patterns of our
A
history.
B
B
C
D
E
F
G
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past
__x_ C Property embodies the distinctive charu:teristics of
a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
infonnation important in prehistory or history.
owned by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within
the past fifty years.
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
1915
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
1915
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion Bis marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Johnson, Stanhope S.
(McLaughlin & Johnson)
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9, Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docwnentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
_
_x_ State Historic Preservation Office
_
_
_
_
_
preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously detennined eligible by the National
Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
# _ _ _ __
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
# _ _ _ __
_ Other State agency ·
_ Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
]LOther
Name of repository:
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg
Bedford (Independent Cif;J(), Va,,
Ballard-Worsham House
County and Sate
Name of Property
10. Geographical Data
1181 acres
Acreage of Property
UTM References
(Place additional UTh1 references on a continuation sheet)
1
Zone Easting Northing
17
631080 4133330
Zone Easting Northing
3
4
2
_
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundati.es were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
Leslie A. Giles and J. Daniel Pezzoni, Architectural Historians
July 24, 1997
Landmark Preservation Associates date
telephone
(540) 366-0787
PO Box 7825
state VA
zip code
24019-0825
Roanoke
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (1.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
street & number
city or town
Kathleen Bonnie Worsham
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford
telephone (540) 586-9493
state VA
zip code 24523
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: 1bis infonnation is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties
for listing or determine eligibility for listing. to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation .A.ct, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this fonn is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this fonn
to the Chief, ,\dministrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget,
Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), \'\'ashington, DC 20503.
0MB Appro..,J No. IOU0018
NPS Form 10-900-2
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 1
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
DESCRIPTION
Swnmary
Located in Bedford, Virginia, at 525 Longwood Avenue, the Ballard-Worsham House is an
imposing brick dwelling in the Colonial Revival style, situated on one of the city's most prestigious
residential streets. The house, a 1915 design of Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, occupies
a residential lot of over one acre at the northwest comer of Longwood and Westview avenues. The
prominent site, slightly elevated above the street level, features an expansive front lawn, boxwoods
lining a poured concrete front walk, several mature deciduous and evergreen trees, and distant views
of the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially the reknowned Peaks of Otter. One historic outbuilding, a
nineteenth-century meat house associated with a previous dwelling, is located at the property's
northeast comer. Modem outbuildings and structures on the grounds include a three-bay brickveneered garage/workshop, a classically designed garden pavilion, and a small rectangular pool.
Inventory
1. House (1915, 1991). Contributing building.
2. Meat house/tool shed (19th c.). Contributing building.
3. Garage/workshop (1991). Noncontributing building.
4. Pavilion (1996-1997). Noncontributing building.
5. Pool (1996). Noncontributing structure.
House: Exterior
The Ballard-Worsham House is a two-story brick dwelling designed in a freely interpreted version of
the Colonial Revival style with Georgian overtones and Spanish Mission accents. The dominant,
symmetrical central block, facing south on Longwood Avenue, is three bays wide focused on a
centered entry. Three tall interior end brick chimneys, along with a steep deck-on-hip roof covered
in tena cotta Spanish roofing tiles, create a vertical emphasis in tension with the house's overall
horizontality as expressed by wide overhanging eaves and a tripartite form. All brickwork is laid in
stretcher bond, and a plain wooden frieze defines the junction of roof and wall. On the first floor
level, door and window openings invariably incorporate eared architrave surrounds. Windows
throughout the house retain louvered and paneled shutters hung on Lull and Porter blind hinges.
The formal front facade is enlivened by segmentally arched windows with marble lintels and twelve-
0MB Ai,proval No. IOU-0018
!',!PS Form I0-900-a
(B--86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 2
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
over-one sash. The central entrance is similarly detailed and incorporates an oversized six-panel
door with a multi-pane transom and operable six-over-one sidelights. A one-story front portico, with
grouped Doric columns, paneled pilasters, a triglyph-and-patera frieze, and a geometric balustrade
with paneled end piers, shelters and draws attention to the main entry. A wraparound terrace, paved
with bluestone, with paneled wooden piers and a simple balustrade, links the front entry to flanking
one-story side porches. The second story features an engaged central sleeping porch with multipane casements, framed by an eared surround. Original wooden flower boxes supported by
ornamental brackets adorn the other two windows on the second story. A pair of hipped dormers
with six-over-one sash light the attic level on this side.
The house's west elevation, facing Westview Avenue, features two double-leaf French doors and a
twelve-over-one window sheltered below the roof of a hip-roofed porte-rochere. Fluted Doric
columns, matching those of the front portico, support the porte-rochere and shelter stairs that lead
from ground level to the first-story terrace. Near the northwest comer of the house, an original
plate glass picture window provides an unobstructed view of the Peaks of Otter. A large bay
window on the adjacent north elevation frames a similar scene. The north elevation is dominated by
a two-story ell with a shallow hipped roof. Eight pair of multi-pane casement windows ventilate the
ell's second-story sleeping porch; a small balcony, supported by wooden brackets, extemally links
the northwest comer bedroom to the sleeping porch. At the northeast comer of the ell, a first-story
engaged porch with brick piers and a simple balustrade provide a service entrance to the kitchen. A
shed dormer pierces the hipped roof plane on this side of the main part of the house, and a small
one-story projection fills the northeastern re-entrant comer between the main block and the ell The
building's east side has a two-story, hip-roofed bay that also projects beyond the main block of the
house, and a one-story porch, matching the porte-cochere on the opposite side of the house, that
shelters a single-leaf door linking the house and side yard.
House: Interior
The interior of the Ballard-Worsham House features two main living levels, plus a full-height
basement and attic. Finishes throughout the house are of plaster on wooden lath or plaster on brick,
excepting the basement level, where exposed poured concrete has been painted. White oak strip
flooring surfaces the principal first and second floor rooms and stair landings, while pine is used for
utilitarian spaces. According to the architect's specifications, mantels throughout the house were to
be provided by the Ballards; these exhibit a wide range of styles, and may have been salvaged from
other houses or obtained from mail-order sources. Original woodwork in the house includes the
0MB Approval No. 10U-00l8
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page ...J....
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
baseboards, chair rails, door and window surrounds, transoms, sliding pocket doors, and other items
as noted below. During the 1991 restoration of the house, the Worshams installed crown moldings,
ceiling medallions, and crystal chandelier fixtures in the building's principal first floor rooms.
The first floor plan has a wide central reception hall and rear stairhall flanked by two rooms on each
side. An unfluted Doric column screen (decoratively painted in the 1990s to resemble polished
marble) marks the opening between the entry hall and the adjoining library. The library fireplace
features a tripartite Federal-style mantelpiece with gougework, beading, paired colonettes and a
convex-oval central plaque. Two pair of French doors with operable transoms flank the room's
fireplace and open onto the adjac~nt terrace. Across the entry hall from the library, a pair of tall
sliding pocket doors screens the music room, which also features a Federal-style mantelpiece with
reeded panels, pilasters, and gougework below a stacked-molding mantelshelf. A double-leaf French
door with transom is centered on the room's north wall. The stairhall is dominated by a grand
open-well staircase that ascends three levels. Attenuated, closely spaced (four per tread) turned
balusters, square newels, and curved handrails define the stairwell and such unusual details as the
apsidal projection on the first floor landing (perhaps meant to hold a plant stand?). The dining
room, just west of the staircase, is the largest ground-level room; it communicates with the adjoining
library via a pair of large sliding pocket doors, and to the stairhall and kitchen through single-leaf
doors. Dominant features in the room are the bow window and window seat on the north wall and
the picture window on the west wall, which affords views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Across the
stairhall from the dining room is a first-floor bedroom (now used as the family room) with an eared
fireplace surround and bracketed mantelshelf. A partition wall, defining a transverse passage from
the stairhall to the east porch, was removed in 1991 to enlarge the space. A small modernized
bathroom is located on the north side of the family room, in a projecting bay that links to the rear
ell. A passageway through a former storage pantry leads from the family room into the kitchen ell.
The original narrow servants' stair remains intact between the family room and the main stair. In
the ell behind the main stair, the modernized kitchen (occupying space that historically
accommodated both the original kitchen and a large butler's pantry) retains original doors and
windows.
The second floor employs a modified center-hall, double-pile plan, with four bedrooms, two full
baths with their original fittings, and front and rear sleeping porches. Several original ceiling light
fixtures, rewired and moved from their first-floor locations, are located in the hallway and bedrooms
of this level. Doorways retain operable transoms, original hardware, and simple architrave-like
surrounds; the doorway to the front sleeping porch features a double-leaf French door with crackleglazed panes. Only the southwest corner room has a fireplace; of an ornate Rococo style, the
0MB Approval No. 102+00!8
~PS l'orm 10-900-.1
(H·86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Seivice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 4
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
painted wooden mantel and mirrored overmantel feature carved floral and shell motifs. The two
bathrooms--each situated between and accessed by two bedrooms--retain original hexagon mosaic
tile floors and white tile wainscoting, built-in mirrored medicine cabinets, light fixtures, plumbing
fixtures, and nickel-plated solid brass hardware and accessories. Small closets fit into spaces
between bedrooms on each side of the hall. The rear sleeping porch, now used as an office and
music room, remains unpartitioned, and includes along its south wall a row of low crackle-glazed
windows that help light the adjacent stairwell.
The attic, which has not been modernized and is presently being used as a storage area, is a large
open space lit by two south-facing .dormers and one interior north-facing window that borrows light
from the dormer-lit stairwell. Small original closets along the perimeters of the room provide closed
storage spaces and access to mechanical areas. A stair leads from the kitchen down to the basement,
which includes mechanical rooms, a full bath, exposed poured concrete piers, and modem finishes
that render most of the space suitable for casual living. Direct exterior access is available through a
below-grade door beneath the kitchen area.
Outbuildings and Landscape Features
Outbuildings on the property include a small gable-front frame meat house, dating to the nineteenth
century and associated with an earlier house formerly located on the property. Although it is clad in
composition weatherboards (over the original weatherboards), the original hewn wall studs and roof
framing remain exposed on the interior, and early standing-seam-metal roofing remains intact. A
shed addition to the west side of the meat house includes a one-bay garage door; the building is used
principally today as a tool shed. Modem buildings constructed since 1991 on the property include a
Doric-columned, hip-roofed open-air pavilion with terra cotta Spanish roofing tiles; and a brickveneered, hip-roofed three-bay detached garage with a gabled front dormer facing Westview
Avenue. A small rectangular pooL completed in 1996, adjoins the pavilion and is integrated with the
landscaping of the rear yard.
The landscape around the house is dominated by an expansive front lawn; on center with the front
entry is a wide poured-concrete walk that connects to the public sidewalk along Longwood Avenue.
Bordered on each side by large boxwoods, the front walk connects to the entry portico via a short
flight of steps. On the west side of the property, a curved crushed-brick entry drive links Westview
Avenue to the porte-cochere and an adjacent parking area. Brick-faced retaining walls define the
parking area and driveway, while brick-faced piers mark two access points of the drive into the
grounds. A scalloped wooden privacy fence screens a portion of the rear yard from the street. On
··.-.-. ..-----.~----.----~
-
. .
'
~
;;-;-;:-.·,.
0MB Appn:md No. 1024-00\8
NI'S Fonn t0-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page -2._
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
the east side of the house, a new brick and wrought iron fence encloses but does not obstruct the
side and rear yards. A new poured concrete and brick patio occupies the yard area closest to the
northeast comer of the house, and links to the nearby open-air pavilion and the pool.
Integrity Statement
Exterior alterations to the Ballard House are minor and reversible: vinyl siding has been installed on
the soffits of the wide overhanging eaves; and second-generation wooden porch decking has been
replaced with 18" x 18" squares c;,f bluestone that recall the original tertazzo flooring. Exterior
woodwork has been repaired where necessary and has been repainted in appropriate colors. Interior
alterations to the house also have been minor and are basically reversible: repair and repainting of
plaster walls and ceilings and woodwork throughout; replacement of outdated electrical, HVAC, and
other mechanical systems; installation of new light fixtures and low-profile ceiling medallions in the
main public rooms downstairs; removal of a partition wall; and rehabilitation of service areas,
including the kitchen and basement. In all areas, care has been taken to retain the original materials
and fixtures, including push-button light switches; as previously mentioned, reuseable ceiling fixtures
have been retained; and those not reused remain in storage on the premises for potential future
installation.
0MB Apt,roval Na. 102~18
NPS Form 10-900-a
('-")
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 6
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
The Ballard-Worsham House, located at 525 Longwood Avenue in Bedford, Virginia, is a
sophisticated Colonial Revival-style residence, one of the more impressive homes in the National
Register-listed Bedford Historic District. Designed in 1915 by the Lynchburg architectural firm of
McLaughlin & Johnson (a work of one of the firm's principals, Stanhope S. Johnson), the two-story
brick dwelling was built for the family of John D. Ballard, a prominent Bedford businessman and
civic leader. Built in 1915-1916 on the sire of a previous house on Bedford's prestigious Longwood
Avenue, the Ballard-Worsham House was occupied by members of the Ballard family for most of
the twentieth century. As a result,, few changes or modernizations were undertaken over the years,
until the Worshams purchased the property in 1990 and began to restore and rehabilitate the house
for modem use.
Justification ofCriteria
The Ballard-Worsham House is eligible for the state and federal registers under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture as one of Bedford's chief domestic examples of early-twentieth-century
Colonial Revival architecture, and as a prominent local example of the early residential work of
Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson. The house is eligible at the local level of significance. At
present, only two properties in the City of Bedford are individually designated: the Bedford Meeting
House and Avenel, neither of which represents the same historic context as the Ballard-Worsham
House. A contributing resource in the Bedford Historic District, the Ballard-Worsham House was
highlighted throughout the nomination report as one of the district's most significant residential
properties. 1
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their assistance with research or for reviewing
the nomination report: .\nne Beckett, Suzanne Durham, John Kem, and Marc Wagner of the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources; property owners Bonnie and Raleigh Worsham; Ellen Wandrei and
volunteers at the Bedford City/County Museum; Al Chambers, for valuable insights on the career of
Stanhope S. Johnson; local informants Peggy Ballard Maupin and Ruth (Mrs. Claiborne) Ballard; staff
of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Llbrary; and staff of the Bedford Public Library.
1
VHLC, "Bedford Historic District," continuation sheets 7:3, 8:7; and photo documentation.
- --------------
0MB Appronl No. 1024-0018
NPS Form to-900-a
(11-116)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 7
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historical Background
The Ballard-Worsham House was built in 1915-1916 for John D. Ballard (b. ca. 1868-d. 1932) and his
wife Virginia Uennie] L. Wyatt Ballard (b. ca. 1861-d. after 1945). John Ballard, a Bedford County
native &om the Centerville area, was a prominent local business and civic leader during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among his earliest enterprises was the J. D. Ballard & Co.
livery stable, which operated on North Bridge Street in Bedford in 1897. For locals and out-of-town
businessmen, and for excursionists to the nearby tourist attraction Peaks of Otter, Ballard's livery
service advertised ''handsome rigs, both double and singles, fine saddle horses, [and] coach and four''
guided by "polite, careful and attentive drivers."2
By 1910--a year he served as city councilman--Ballard had branched into the railroad construction
business, working at times with his brother James W. Ballard, then owner of Bedford's historic Avenel
house. During the 1910s, John Ballard's reputation as a responsible businessman was reflected in his
appointment as a Director of the Citizens' National Bank of Bedford. In 1912, Ballard and two others
formed Ballard, Herring & Severs, Inc., listing as its purpose the building of railroads, tunnels, roads,
sewer, waterworks, houses, and "all such other works as are generally within the scope of the business
of a general contractor for the construction of railroads or other works." This business, in which
Ballard served as president, was later renamed Ballard-Herring Company, Inc., and operated until 1930.
At the time of his death due to complications of stroke in late 1932 or early 1933, Ballard also owned a
farm near Bedford known as Otterbum, the Heller's Drugstore property in downtown Bedford, and
other property. 3
In 1914, Alleghany County native Jennie Ballard (married to John Ballard since 1893) purchased the
14.19-acre Smith Homeplace in the prestigious Longwood Improvement Company neighborhood
developing north of downtown Bedford, and immediately began planning with her husband to replace
the aging mid-nineteenth century dwelling on the site with a new, modem residence. To that end, the
Ballards engaged the services of Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, of McLaughlin &
Johnson, Architects. By 1916 John and Jennie Ballard's house, a stately Colonial Revival residence
that presently stands on the property, was completed.
2
U.S. census; Bedford Democrat.
3
Pollard's 1910 Directory, pp. 2 and 123; Bedford County Charter Book 2, pp. 4 and 66; and Bedford
County Will Book 41, p. 221.
0MB Approval No. IOU-0018
NP$ Form 10·900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 8
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Lynchburg native Stanhope S. Johnson (1882-1973) attended the Scranton School of Architecture,
receivmg his diploma in 1906; and undertook additional training in Paris at the DeHoultlieu School
of Architecture and in London in the atelier of H.C.L. Smith. A sketching tour of Europe filled out
his foreign educational experience.• At age seventeen he began his architectural career in the office
of Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye. For two years beginning in 1909,Johnson was a partner in
the firm of McLaughlin, Pettit & Johnson, and for five years afterwards continued to work with
McLaughlin. 5 In April 1915, while still in partnership with McLaughlin,Johnson prepared plans and
specifications for the John D. Ballard Residence. Johnson is regarded as one of Lynchburg's most
active architects of the 1910s, with commissions extending beyond Lynchburg to such distant
locales as Georgia and Florida. Bedford, less than thirty miles southwest of Lynchburg, was
certainly within Johnson's sphere of influence. Al Chambers notes in his architectural history of
Lynchburg that, in the decade of 1910-1919, "Johnson's output was stylistically quite diverse, and
began to show a marked originality . . . In his residential work in the city, Johnson combined a
number of seemingly disparate elements into surprisingly harmonious compositions."6 The BallardWorsham House illustrates an eclectic "Spanish Georgian" design formula of Johnson's, most
grandly executed in 1912-1914 at the James R. Gilliam, Sr. House on Lynchburg's Madison and
Fourth streets and repeated in modified fashion several times in that city. Elements of the formula
that found regional favor included the following features: a two-story, three-bay central block of
brick or stucco; a rear ell service area; an academic center-hall, double-pile plan; a central entry
portico flanked by a side portico and a porte-cochere-, a hipped roof with Spanish tile roofing and broad
overhanging eaves; tall interior end chimneys; and Georgian-influenced classical columns, doors, and
windows. 7
In Bedford, the Ballard-Worsham House is the only example of Johnson's eclectic early work; more
conservative than eccentric, perhaps in keeping with Bedford traditionalism, the house has only a
few Spanish touches and is predominantly Georgian in character. The house is not the first or only
building in Bedford to incorporate Spanish influence; just down the street, at the intersection of
4
Glass and Glass, Jr., Vi1J!,inia Democrary, pp. 562-565.
5
Wells and Dalton, VifJ!,inia Architects, pp. 227-230, 287-290.
6
Chambers, Lynchb11r;g, p.412.
7
Ibid., p. 426-427.
0MB Appro'IW No. 1024--0018
NPS Ponn 10-900-a
(""6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 9
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street, the 1912 Spanish Colonial Revival Bedford Elementary
School, a work of Heard & Cardwell, Architects, features a stucco exterior, Spanish tile roofing,
decorative tile accents, and ornamental oculus windows. Only one other Johnson design has been
identified in Bedford: a 1920 brick bungalow and garage designed for Mrs. Dean Stark and built on
the comer of Avenel and Bedford avenues. 8 The Stark House is a rather reserved example of Arts
and Crafts style, without the grand scale and eclecticism so evident in the Ballard-Worsham House.
The Stark House does exhibit similar brickwork and window surround detailing to that seen at the
Ballard-Worsham House, and may have been directly influenced by the earlier building.
In 1920, according to the federal census of that year, the Ballard household included John and Jennie,
their adult children Mary M. and ). Claiborne (another son, Garrett G., had moved out of the
household already), and relatives Lelia W. Wyatt and Susan James. The census did not list servants in
the household, an absence reflected in the architecture of the home, which has only a nominal
servant's room (with a toilet room but no bathing facilities) in the basement Work often took John
Ballard out of town to oversee construction projects, but the family nonetheless regularly entertained
guests in their commodious Longwood Avenue dwelling. Following John's death, in 1937 Jennie
subdivided and began selling off portions of the fourteen-acre tract. She reserved the largest parcel for
her house and created an additional twenty-two town lots that extended north from Longwood
Avenue along the east side of Westview Avenue. In 1945, more than a decade after the death of her
husband, Jennie transferred her home to daughter Mary and son Garrett In 1948, Mary Ballard
conveyed her interest in the property to Garrett, but continued to live in the house until shortly before
her death in 1990. "Miss Mary" selectively accommodated roomers in the house, including such
diverse individuals as a group of engineers working on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the period prior to
World War 11, and respected local author and clergyman T. Bowyer Campbell (after 1963). Mary also
regularly hosted social events in the house, especially parties and dances for the children of her friends
and neighbors. At some point during the late twentieth century, Mary created two apartments, each
with their own kitchen and bathroom facilities, within the house. Garrett's widow Mabel Wright
Ballard, who lived with Mary in the house after her husband's death in 1975, sold the property out of
the family in July 1990, and the present owner, K. Bonnie Worsham, purchased it the same year.9
8
9
Wells and Dalton, Vi7,inia Arr:hitects, pp. 186-187, 229.
U.S. census; Bedford County Deed Book 110, p. 363; 209, p. 264; 222, p. 446; 772, p. 186; and 779,
p. 665; Bedford County Will Book 92, p. 542; and Maupin interview.
0MB Approval No. IOU-OOIB
~PS Funn 10-900-a
(A-8<,)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 10
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Since their purchase of the property in 1990, the Worshams have steadily undertaken necessary
restoration and rehabilitation of the house and grounds. Raleigh Worsham, a retired electrical
engineer, designed and executed much of the work, which included removal of the inappropriate
apartment facilities and finishes, rewiring of the electrical system and historic light fixtures, repair and
replacement of plumbing fixtures, and design and installation of a new oil-fired boiler. Raleigh also
undertook substantial repairs to the Spanish tile roofing and underlayment and replaced deteriorated
tin linings of hidden gutters. Raleigh replaced the deteriorated porch decking with bluestone squares
on a poured concrete slab supported by steel framing and decking, and had brick infill added between
the extant brick piers. Bonnie Worsham assisted with paint removal, preparation, and refinishing of
exterior and interior woodwork. Contractors who helped the Worshams with the rehabilitation
included plasterer Robert Lovelace 'of Long Island, Virginia, and brick mason Charles Comer and
carpenter Randy Tomlin of Bedford. Considering themselves as stewards of the property, the
Worshams have taken great care to preserve original materials throughout the house wherever possible,
and new work has been inserted with minimal disturbance to the building's historic fabric and
architectural character.
0MB Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Page 11
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ballard, Ruth [Mrs. J. Claiborne]. Telephone interview, (540) 586-9252, 22 July 1997.
Bedford City and County charter, deed, tax, and will records. Bedford County Courthouse, Bedford,
Va.
Bedford City/County Museum Collections. Bedford, Va.
Bedford Bulletin (December 3, 1914). Microfilm. Bedford Public Library, Bedford, Va.
Bedford Democrat (Thursday, August 19, 1897). In Peter Viemeister, ed. Historical Diary
Virginia, U.SA. Bedford, Va.: Hamilton's, 1986, p.40.
of Bedford,
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. 1=Jnchbll1l,: An Architectural History. Published for the Sarah Winston Henry
Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. · Charlottesville: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Glass, Robert C. and Carter Glass Jr. Virginia Democraf)': A History of the Achievements of the Parry and
Its Leaders in the Mother of Commonwealths, the Old Dominion. Volume II. Democratic Historical
Association, Inc., 1937.
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Maupin, Peggy Ballard. Interview, Bedford, Va., 23 July 1997.
McKinney, David D. Stanhope S. Johnson and the Allied Arls Building. Unpublished manuscript, 11
December 1982 [copy in possession of Bonnie Worsham].
McLaughlin & Johnson, Architects. "Residence for Mr. John D. Ballard, Bedford City, Va." April
1915. Original blueprints in possession of Bonnie Worsham, Bedford, Va.
----------. "Specifications: for a Brick Veneer Residence, with a Slate Roof: to be built for Mr. J. D.
Ballard, Bedford City, Va." April 1915. Original copy in possession of Bonnie Worsham,
Bedford, Va.
Po/Jard's 1910 Directory and Commercial Guide of Bedford County, Virginia. Roanoke, Va.: Virginia Directory
and Printing Co., 1910.
0MB Approval No. 1024-0018
NI'S Fonn 10·900-.1
(8-R6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Page 12
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)
Railroad Age Gazette. Microfilm. Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Library, Roanoke, Va.
United States Census, Population Schedule, 1920. Microfilm. Virginia Room, Roanoke Public
Library, Roanoke, Va.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff. ''Bedford Historic District." National Register of
Historic Places Nomination Form. Richmond, Va.: VHLC, 1984.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary.
Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Worsham, K Bonnie. Personal communications, Bedford, Va. and Key West, Fl., 1997.
oJll(B Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Ponn 10·900-a
(B-&)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 10
Page 13
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA (continued)
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated parcel includes the entire 1.181-acre tract, known as tax parcel 194-11-23, which is
depicted on the enclosed sketch map of the property, drawn at a scale of 1" = 50'. The sketch map is
derived from a survey map prepared June 11, 1991 by Donnie W. Slusher of Slusher, Simkins, Loyd
and Associates, P.C.
. ; ·.
·r.,
Boundary Justification
The area nominated for listing encompasses the present legal boundaries of the property associated
with the historic dwelling.
0MB Approval No. 10l4..o0!8
NPS Form I 0.900-a
(11-'6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Photos Page 14
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs ate of: Ballard-Worsham House, 525 Longwood Avenue, Bedford, Virginia.
DHR File No. 141-14
DHR Negative no. 15828
All negatives filed at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
1.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: General view of property, facing northeast
PHOTO 1 of6
2.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: View of side and reat of house, and showing patt of pool; facing southwest
PHOT02of6
3.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: View of entry hall, with front door at left
PHOT03of6
4.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE:January 1997
VIEW OF: View of stair hall
PHOT04of6
5.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: Detail view of Library mantelpiece
PHOTO 5 of6
6.
CREDIT:LeslieA.Giles
DATE:January1997
VIEW OF: View of meat house/tool shed
PHOT06of6
o:,.rn ,\Pf!m,~ l'.'o. 11r.u:-001s
NI'S Ffflffl 10.i"Jtl..-A
(IH!4)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Section number Exhibit Page ...15....
Sketch map of nominated property, prepared by Leslie A. Giles and derived from survey map
prepared June 11, 1991 by Donnie W. Slusher of Slusher, Simkins, Loyd and Associates, P.C.
CTI]
Meat house/tool shed
----- - -----
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford, Virginia
Tax parcel no. 194-11-23
Longwood Avenue
Scale: 1"
so·
O'
50'
50'
100'
Numbered arrows indicate location and direction of view of accompanying photographs
,<l~=W~ali.u«mw.).
&d/'iv-;l(iYtii),. v,i;-:;;
=""·
-VIM
v_dcfi_c"~ /72:_: ::
/Y _'/./:l :, 3 ~ 0
(Rev. 10-90)
0MB No. 1024--0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This fonn is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How lo umplete /ht National &tfster of His/om Plaas &gjst,uli;,11 Form
(National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/ A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place
additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Fonn 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
other names/ site number
John D. Ballard House
Ballard-Worsham House (preferred); OHR file no. 141-14
2. Locanon
street & number
city or town
state Virginia
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford
code VA
county Bedford (city)
N/A not for publication
code
515
_vicinity
zip code 24523
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination
_
request for determination of eligibility meets t:h.e documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ..X..
meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant __ nationally __
statewide X locally. ( _ See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
4«~
Signature of certifying official/Title
/o/zo/rz
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property _ _ meets _ _ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( __ See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official/Title
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
_ _ entered in the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
_ _ determined eligible for the National Register.
See continuation sheet.
_ _ determined not eligible for the National Register.
_ _ removed from the National Register.
_ _ other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford Ondeperuient City). Ya.
Name of Property
County and Sr.arc
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
.X
.x.. building(s)
_
_
_
private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
0
Noncontributing
2
buildings
sites
0
1
structures
()
objects
2
3
Contributing
2
district
site
0
structure
0
_object
Total
Name of related multiple property listing
Number of contributing resources previously listed
(Enter "N/.\" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
in the National Register
Bedford Historic District (DHR file no. 141-73)
2
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Category
Subcategory
Category
DOMESTIC
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
secondary structure
DOMESTIC
single dwelling
DOMESTIC
secondary structure
RECREATION/CULTURE
sports facility
Subcategory
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Colonial Revival
foundation
walls
roof
other
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
concrete
brick
wood
terracotta
wood
marble
vinyl
Bedford (Independent Cit)'.). Va.
Ballard-Worsham House
County and State
Name of Property
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying
the property for National Register listing.)
(Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
A
Property is associated with events that have made a
significant contti.bution to the broad patterns of our
A
history.
B
B
C
D
E
F
G
Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past
__x_ C Property embodies the distinctive charu:teristics of
a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high
artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
infonnation important in prehistory or history.
owned by a religious institution or used for religious
purposes.
removed from its original location.
a birthplace or a grave.
a cemetery.
a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
a commemorative property.
less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within
the past fifty years.
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
1915
ARCHITECTURE
Significant Dates
1915
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion Bis marked above)
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Johnson, Stanhope S.
(McLaughlin & Johnson)
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9, Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous docwnentation on file (NPS):
Primary location of additional data:
_
_x_ State Historic Preservation Office
_
_
_
_
_
preliminary determination of individual listing
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously detennined eligible by the National
Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
# _ _ _ __
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record
# _ _ _ __
_ Other State agency ·
_ Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
]LOther
Name of repository:
Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg
Bedford (Independent Cif;J(), Va,,
Ballard-Worsham House
County and Sate
Name of Property
10. Geographical Data
1181 acres
Acreage of Property
UTM References
(Place additional UTh1 references on a continuation sheet)
1
Zone Easting Northing
17
631080 4133330
Zone Easting Northing
3
4
2
_
See continuation sheet.
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundati.es were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
organization
street & number
city or town
Leslie A. Giles and J. Daniel Pezzoni, Architectural Historians
July 24, 1997
Landmark Preservation Associates date
telephone
(540) 366-0787
PO Box 7825
state VA
zip code
24019-0825
Roanoke
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (1.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
street & number
city or town
Kathleen Bonnie Worsham
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford
telephone (540) 586-9493
state VA
zip code 24523
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: 1bis infonnation is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties
for listing or determine eligibility for listing. to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance
with the National Historic Preservation .A.ct, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this fonn is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this fonn
to the Chief, ,\dministrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget,
Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), \'\'ashington, DC 20503.
0MB Appro..,J No. IOU0018
NPS Form 10-900-2
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 1
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
DESCRIPTION
Swnmary
Located in Bedford, Virginia, at 525 Longwood Avenue, the Ballard-Worsham House is an
imposing brick dwelling in the Colonial Revival style, situated on one of the city's most prestigious
residential streets. The house, a 1915 design of Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, occupies
a residential lot of over one acre at the northwest comer of Longwood and Westview avenues. The
prominent site, slightly elevated above the street level, features an expansive front lawn, boxwoods
lining a poured concrete front walk, several mature deciduous and evergreen trees, and distant views
of the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially the reknowned Peaks of Otter. One historic outbuilding, a
nineteenth-century meat house associated with a previous dwelling, is located at the property's
northeast comer. Modem outbuildings and structures on the grounds include a three-bay brickveneered garage/workshop, a classically designed garden pavilion, and a small rectangular pool.
Inventory
1. House (1915, 1991). Contributing building.
2. Meat house/tool shed (19th c.). Contributing building.
3. Garage/workshop (1991). Noncontributing building.
4. Pavilion (1996-1997). Noncontributing building.
5. Pool (1996). Noncontributing structure.
House: Exterior
The Ballard-Worsham House is a two-story brick dwelling designed in a freely interpreted version of
the Colonial Revival style with Georgian overtones and Spanish Mission accents. The dominant,
symmetrical central block, facing south on Longwood Avenue, is three bays wide focused on a
centered entry. Three tall interior end brick chimneys, along with a steep deck-on-hip roof covered
in tena cotta Spanish roofing tiles, create a vertical emphasis in tension with the house's overall
horizontality as expressed by wide overhanging eaves and a tripartite form. All brickwork is laid in
stretcher bond, and a plain wooden frieze defines the junction of roof and wall. On the first floor
level, door and window openings invariably incorporate eared architrave surrounds. Windows
throughout the house retain louvered and paneled shutters hung on Lull and Porter blind hinges.
The formal front facade is enlivened by segmentally arched windows with marble lintels and twelve-
0MB Ai,proval No. IOU-0018
!',!PS Form I0-900-a
(B--86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 2
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
over-one sash. The central entrance is similarly detailed and incorporates an oversized six-panel
door with a multi-pane transom and operable six-over-one sidelights. A one-story front portico, with
grouped Doric columns, paneled pilasters, a triglyph-and-patera frieze, and a geometric balustrade
with paneled end piers, shelters and draws attention to the main entry. A wraparound terrace, paved
with bluestone, with paneled wooden piers and a simple balustrade, links the front entry to flanking
one-story side porches. The second story features an engaged central sleeping porch with multipane casements, framed by an eared surround. Original wooden flower boxes supported by
ornamental brackets adorn the other two windows on the second story. A pair of hipped dormers
with six-over-one sash light the attic level on this side.
The house's west elevation, facing Westview Avenue, features two double-leaf French doors and a
twelve-over-one window sheltered below the roof of a hip-roofed porte-rochere. Fluted Doric
columns, matching those of the front portico, support the porte-rochere and shelter stairs that lead
from ground level to the first-story terrace. Near the northwest comer of the house, an original
plate glass picture window provides an unobstructed view of the Peaks of Otter. A large bay
window on the adjacent north elevation frames a similar scene. The north elevation is dominated by
a two-story ell with a shallow hipped roof. Eight pair of multi-pane casement windows ventilate the
ell's second-story sleeping porch; a small balcony, supported by wooden brackets, extemally links
the northwest comer bedroom to the sleeping porch. At the northeast comer of the ell, a first-story
engaged porch with brick piers and a simple balustrade provide a service entrance to the kitchen. A
shed dormer pierces the hipped roof plane on this side of the main part of the house, and a small
one-story projection fills the northeastern re-entrant comer between the main block and the ell The
building's east side has a two-story, hip-roofed bay that also projects beyond the main block of the
house, and a one-story porch, matching the porte-cochere on the opposite side of the house, that
shelters a single-leaf door linking the house and side yard.
House: Interior
The interior of the Ballard-Worsham House features two main living levels, plus a full-height
basement and attic. Finishes throughout the house are of plaster on wooden lath or plaster on brick,
excepting the basement level, where exposed poured concrete has been painted. White oak strip
flooring surfaces the principal first and second floor rooms and stair landings, while pine is used for
utilitarian spaces. According to the architect's specifications, mantels throughout the house were to
be provided by the Ballards; these exhibit a wide range of styles, and may have been salvaged from
other houses or obtained from mail-order sources. Original woodwork in the house includes the
0MB Approval No. 10U-00l8
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page ...J....
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
baseboards, chair rails, door and window surrounds, transoms, sliding pocket doors, and other items
as noted below. During the 1991 restoration of the house, the Worshams installed crown moldings,
ceiling medallions, and crystal chandelier fixtures in the building's principal first floor rooms.
The first floor plan has a wide central reception hall and rear stairhall flanked by two rooms on each
side. An unfluted Doric column screen (decoratively painted in the 1990s to resemble polished
marble) marks the opening between the entry hall and the adjoining library. The library fireplace
features a tripartite Federal-style mantelpiece with gougework, beading, paired colonettes and a
convex-oval central plaque. Two pair of French doors with operable transoms flank the room's
fireplace and open onto the adjac~nt terrace. Across the entry hall from the library, a pair of tall
sliding pocket doors screens the music room, which also features a Federal-style mantelpiece with
reeded panels, pilasters, and gougework below a stacked-molding mantelshelf. A double-leaf French
door with transom is centered on the room's north wall. The stairhall is dominated by a grand
open-well staircase that ascends three levels. Attenuated, closely spaced (four per tread) turned
balusters, square newels, and curved handrails define the stairwell and such unusual details as the
apsidal projection on the first floor landing (perhaps meant to hold a plant stand?). The dining
room, just west of the staircase, is the largest ground-level room; it communicates with the adjoining
library via a pair of large sliding pocket doors, and to the stairhall and kitchen through single-leaf
doors. Dominant features in the room are the bow window and window seat on the north wall and
the picture window on the west wall, which affords views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Across the
stairhall from the dining room is a first-floor bedroom (now used as the family room) with an eared
fireplace surround and bracketed mantelshelf. A partition wall, defining a transverse passage from
the stairhall to the east porch, was removed in 1991 to enlarge the space. A small modernized
bathroom is located on the north side of the family room, in a projecting bay that links to the rear
ell. A passageway through a former storage pantry leads from the family room into the kitchen ell.
The original narrow servants' stair remains intact between the family room and the main stair. In
the ell behind the main stair, the modernized kitchen (occupying space that historically
accommodated both the original kitchen and a large butler's pantry) retains original doors and
windows.
The second floor employs a modified center-hall, double-pile plan, with four bedrooms, two full
baths with their original fittings, and front and rear sleeping porches. Several original ceiling light
fixtures, rewired and moved from their first-floor locations, are located in the hallway and bedrooms
of this level. Doorways retain operable transoms, original hardware, and simple architrave-like
surrounds; the doorway to the front sleeping porch features a double-leaf French door with crackleglazed panes. Only the southwest corner room has a fireplace; of an ornate Rococo style, the
0MB Approval No. 102+00!8
~PS l'orm 10-900-.1
(H·86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Seivice
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page 4
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
painted wooden mantel and mirrored overmantel feature carved floral and shell motifs. The two
bathrooms--each situated between and accessed by two bedrooms--retain original hexagon mosaic
tile floors and white tile wainscoting, built-in mirrored medicine cabinets, light fixtures, plumbing
fixtures, and nickel-plated solid brass hardware and accessories. Small closets fit into spaces
between bedrooms on each side of the hall. The rear sleeping porch, now used as an office and
music room, remains unpartitioned, and includes along its south wall a row of low crackle-glazed
windows that help light the adjacent stairwell.
The attic, which has not been modernized and is presently being used as a storage area, is a large
open space lit by two south-facing .dormers and one interior north-facing window that borrows light
from the dormer-lit stairwell. Small original closets along the perimeters of the room provide closed
storage spaces and access to mechanical areas. A stair leads from the kitchen down to the basement,
which includes mechanical rooms, a full bath, exposed poured concrete piers, and modem finishes
that render most of the space suitable for casual living. Direct exterior access is available through a
below-grade door beneath the kitchen area.
Outbuildings and Landscape Features
Outbuildings on the property include a small gable-front frame meat house, dating to the nineteenth
century and associated with an earlier house formerly located on the property. Although it is clad in
composition weatherboards (over the original weatherboards), the original hewn wall studs and roof
framing remain exposed on the interior, and early standing-seam-metal roofing remains intact. A
shed addition to the west side of the meat house includes a one-bay garage door; the building is used
principally today as a tool shed. Modem buildings constructed since 1991 on the property include a
Doric-columned, hip-roofed open-air pavilion with terra cotta Spanish roofing tiles; and a brickveneered, hip-roofed three-bay detached garage with a gabled front dormer facing Westview
Avenue. A small rectangular pooL completed in 1996, adjoins the pavilion and is integrated with the
landscaping of the rear yard.
The landscape around the house is dominated by an expansive front lawn; on center with the front
entry is a wide poured-concrete walk that connects to the public sidewalk along Longwood Avenue.
Bordered on each side by large boxwoods, the front walk connects to the entry portico via a short
flight of steps. On the west side of the property, a curved crushed-brick entry drive links Westview
Avenue to the porte-cochere and an adjacent parking area. Brick-faced retaining walls define the
parking area and driveway, while brick-faced piers mark two access points of the drive into the
grounds. A scalloped wooden privacy fence screens a portion of the rear yard from the street. On
··.-.-. ..-----.~----.----~
-
. .
'
~
;;-;-;:-.·,.
0MB Appn:md No. 1024-00\8
NI'S Fonn t0-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Page -2._
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Description (continued)
the east side of the house, a new brick and wrought iron fence encloses but does not obstruct the
side and rear yards. A new poured concrete and brick patio occupies the yard area closest to the
northeast comer of the house, and links to the nearby open-air pavilion and the pool.
Integrity Statement
Exterior alterations to the Ballard House are minor and reversible: vinyl siding has been installed on
the soffits of the wide overhanging eaves; and second-generation wooden porch decking has been
replaced with 18" x 18" squares c;,f bluestone that recall the original tertazzo flooring. Exterior
woodwork has been repaired where necessary and has been repainted in appropriate colors. Interior
alterations to the house also have been minor and are basically reversible: repair and repainting of
plaster walls and ceilings and woodwork throughout; replacement of outdated electrical, HVAC, and
other mechanical systems; installation of new light fixtures and low-profile ceiling medallions in the
main public rooms downstairs; removal of a partition wall; and rehabilitation of service areas,
including the kitchen and basement. In all areas, care has been taken to retain the original materials
and fixtures, including push-button light switches; as previously mentioned, reuseable ceiling fixtures
have been retained; and those not reused remain in storage on the premises for potential future
installation.
0MB Apt,roval Na. 102~18
NPS Form 10-900-a
('-")
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 6
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Summary
The Ballard-Worsham House, located at 525 Longwood Avenue in Bedford, Virginia, is a
sophisticated Colonial Revival-style residence, one of the more impressive homes in the National
Register-listed Bedford Historic District. Designed in 1915 by the Lynchburg architectural firm of
McLaughlin & Johnson (a work of one of the firm's principals, Stanhope S. Johnson), the two-story
brick dwelling was built for the family of John D. Ballard, a prominent Bedford businessman and
civic leader. Built in 1915-1916 on the sire of a previous house on Bedford's prestigious Longwood
Avenue, the Ballard-Worsham House was occupied by members of the Ballard family for most of
the twentieth century. As a result,, few changes or modernizations were undertaken over the years,
until the Worshams purchased the property in 1990 and began to restore and rehabilitate the house
for modem use.
Justification ofCriteria
The Ballard-Worsham House is eligible for the state and federal registers under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture as one of Bedford's chief domestic examples of early-twentieth-century
Colonial Revival architecture, and as a prominent local example of the early residential work of
Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson. The house is eligible at the local level of significance. At
present, only two properties in the City of Bedford are individually designated: the Bedford Meeting
House and Avenel, neither of which represents the same historic context as the Ballard-Worsham
House. A contributing resource in the Bedford Historic District, the Ballard-Worsham House was
highlighted throughout the nomination report as one of the district's most significant residential
properties. 1
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their assistance with research or for reviewing
the nomination report: .\nne Beckett, Suzanne Durham, John Kem, and Marc Wagner of the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources; property owners Bonnie and Raleigh Worsham; Ellen Wandrei and
volunteers at the Bedford City/County Museum; Al Chambers, for valuable insights on the career of
Stanhope S. Johnson; local informants Peggy Ballard Maupin and Ruth (Mrs. Claiborne) Ballard; staff
of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Llbrary; and staff of the Bedford Public Library.
1
VHLC, "Bedford Historic District," continuation sheets 7:3, 8:7; and photo documentation.
- --------------
0MB Appronl No. 1024-0018
NPS Form to-900-a
(11-116)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 7
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Historical Background
The Ballard-Worsham House was built in 1915-1916 for John D. Ballard (b. ca. 1868-d. 1932) and his
wife Virginia Uennie] L. Wyatt Ballard (b. ca. 1861-d. after 1945). John Ballard, a Bedford County
native &om the Centerville area, was a prominent local business and civic leader during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among his earliest enterprises was the J. D. Ballard & Co.
livery stable, which operated on North Bridge Street in Bedford in 1897. For locals and out-of-town
businessmen, and for excursionists to the nearby tourist attraction Peaks of Otter, Ballard's livery
service advertised ''handsome rigs, both double and singles, fine saddle horses, [and] coach and four''
guided by "polite, careful and attentive drivers."2
By 1910--a year he served as city councilman--Ballard had branched into the railroad construction
business, working at times with his brother James W. Ballard, then owner of Bedford's historic Avenel
house. During the 1910s, John Ballard's reputation as a responsible businessman was reflected in his
appointment as a Director of the Citizens' National Bank of Bedford. In 1912, Ballard and two others
formed Ballard, Herring & Severs, Inc., listing as its purpose the building of railroads, tunnels, roads,
sewer, waterworks, houses, and "all such other works as are generally within the scope of the business
of a general contractor for the construction of railroads or other works." This business, in which
Ballard served as president, was later renamed Ballard-Herring Company, Inc., and operated until 1930.
At the time of his death due to complications of stroke in late 1932 or early 1933, Ballard also owned a
farm near Bedford known as Otterbum, the Heller's Drugstore property in downtown Bedford, and
other property. 3
In 1914, Alleghany County native Jennie Ballard (married to John Ballard since 1893) purchased the
14.19-acre Smith Homeplace in the prestigious Longwood Improvement Company neighborhood
developing north of downtown Bedford, and immediately began planning with her husband to replace
the aging mid-nineteenth century dwelling on the site with a new, modem residence. To that end, the
Ballards engaged the services of Lynchburg architect Stanhope S. Johnson, of McLaughlin &
Johnson, Architects. By 1916 John and Jennie Ballard's house, a stately Colonial Revival residence
that presently stands on the property, was completed.
2
U.S. census; Bedford Democrat.
3
Pollard's 1910 Directory, pp. 2 and 123; Bedford County Charter Book 2, pp. 4 and 66; and Bedford
County Will Book 41, p. 221.
0MB Approval No. IOU-0018
NP$ Form 10·900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 8
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Lynchburg native Stanhope S. Johnson (1882-1973) attended the Scranton School of Architecture,
receivmg his diploma in 1906; and undertook additional training in Paris at the DeHoultlieu School
of Architecture and in London in the atelier of H.C.L. Smith. A sketching tour of Europe filled out
his foreign educational experience.• At age seventeen he began his architectural career in the office
of Lynchburg architect Edward G. Frye. For two years beginning in 1909,Johnson was a partner in
the firm of McLaughlin, Pettit & Johnson, and for five years afterwards continued to work with
McLaughlin. 5 In April 1915, while still in partnership with McLaughlin,Johnson prepared plans and
specifications for the John D. Ballard Residence. Johnson is regarded as one of Lynchburg's most
active architects of the 1910s, with commissions extending beyond Lynchburg to such distant
locales as Georgia and Florida. Bedford, less than thirty miles southwest of Lynchburg, was
certainly within Johnson's sphere of influence. Al Chambers notes in his architectural history of
Lynchburg that, in the decade of 1910-1919, "Johnson's output was stylistically quite diverse, and
began to show a marked originality . . . In his residential work in the city, Johnson combined a
number of seemingly disparate elements into surprisingly harmonious compositions."6 The BallardWorsham House illustrates an eclectic "Spanish Georgian" design formula of Johnson's, most
grandly executed in 1912-1914 at the James R. Gilliam, Sr. House on Lynchburg's Madison and
Fourth streets and repeated in modified fashion several times in that city. Elements of the formula
that found regional favor included the following features: a two-story, three-bay central block of
brick or stucco; a rear ell service area; an academic center-hall, double-pile plan; a central entry
portico flanked by a side portico and a porte-cochere-, a hipped roof with Spanish tile roofing and broad
overhanging eaves; tall interior end chimneys; and Georgian-influenced classical columns, doors, and
windows. 7
In Bedford, the Ballard-Worsham House is the only example of Johnson's eclectic early work; more
conservative than eccentric, perhaps in keeping with Bedford traditionalism, the house has only a
few Spanish touches and is predominantly Georgian in character. The house is not the first or only
building in Bedford to incorporate Spanish influence; just down the street, at the intersection of
4
Glass and Glass, Jr., Vi1J!,inia Democrary, pp. 562-565.
5
Wells and Dalton, VifJ!,inia Architects, pp. 227-230, 287-290.
6
Chambers, Lynchb11r;g, p.412.
7
Ibid., p. 426-427.
0MB Appro'IW No. 1024--0018
NPS Ponn 10-900-a
(""6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 9
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street, the 1912 Spanish Colonial Revival Bedford Elementary
School, a work of Heard & Cardwell, Architects, features a stucco exterior, Spanish tile roofing,
decorative tile accents, and ornamental oculus windows. Only one other Johnson design has been
identified in Bedford: a 1920 brick bungalow and garage designed for Mrs. Dean Stark and built on
the comer of Avenel and Bedford avenues. 8 The Stark House is a rather reserved example of Arts
and Crafts style, without the grand scale and eclecticism so evident in the Ballard-Worsham House.
The Stark House does exhibit similar brickwork and window surround detailing to that seen at the
Ballard-Worsham House, and may have been directly influenced by the earlier building.
In 1920, according to the federal census of that year, the Ballard household included John and Jennie,
their adult children Mary M. and ). Claiborne (another son, Garrett G., had moved out of the
household already), and relatives Lelia W. Wyatt and Susan James. The census did not list servants in
the household, an absence reflected in the architecture of the home, which has only a nominal
servant's room (with a toilet room but no bathing facilities) in the basement Work often took John
Ballard out of town to oversee construction projects, but the family nonetheless regularly entertained
guests in their commodious Longwood Avenue dwelling. Following John's death, in 1937 Jennie
subdivided and began selling off portions of the fourteen-acre tract. She reserved the largest parcel for
her house and created an additional twenty-two town lots that extended north from Longwood
Avenue along the east side of Westview Avenue. In 1945, more than a decade after the death of her
husband, Jennie transferred her home to daughter Mary and son Garrett In 1948, Mary Ballard
conveyed her interest in the property to Garrett, but continued to live in the house until shortly before
her death in 1990. "Miss Mary" selectively accommodated roomers in the house, including such
diverse individuals as a group of engineers working on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the period prior to
World War 11, and respected local author and clergyman T. Bowyer Campbell (after 1963). Mary also
regularly hosted social events in the house, especially parties and dances for the children of her friends
and neighbors. At some point during the late twentieth century, Mary created two apartments, each
with their own kitchen and bathroom facilities, within the house. Garrett's widow Mabel Wright
Ballard, who lived with Mary in the house after her husband's death in 1975, sold the property out of
the family in July 1990, and the present owner, K. Bonnie Worsham, purchased it the same year.9
8
9
Wells and Dalton, Vi7,inia Arr:hitects, pp. 186-187, 229.
U.S. census; Bedford County Deed Book 110, p. 363; 209, p. 264; 222, p. 446; 772, p. 186; and 779,
p. 665; Bedford County Will Book 92, p. 542; and Maupin interview.
0MB Approval No. IOU-OOIB
~PS Funn 10-900-a
(A-8<,)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Page 10
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Statement of Significance (continued)
Since their purchase of the property in 1990, the Worshams have steadily undertaken necessary
restoration and rehabilitation of the house and grounds. Raleigh Worsham, a retired electrical
engineer, designed and executed much of the work, which included removal of the inappropriate
apartment facilities and finishes, rewiring of the electrical system and historic light fixtures, repair and
replacement of plumbing fixtures, and design and installation of a new oil-fired boiler. Raleigh also
undertook substantial repairs to the Spanish tile roofing and underlayment and replaced deteriorated
tin linings of hidden gutters. Raleigh replaced the deteriorated porch decking with bluestone squares
on a poured concrete slab supported by steel framing and decking, and had brick infill added between
the extant brick piers. Bonnie Worsham assisted with paint removal, preparation, and refinishing of
exterior and interior woodwork. Contractors who helped the Worshams with the rehabilitation
included plasterer Robert Lovelace 'of Long Island, Virginia, and brick mason Charles Comer and
carpenter Randy Tomlin of Bedford. Considering themselves as stewards of the property, the
Worshams have taken great care to preserve original materials throughout the house wherever possible,
and new work has been inserted with minimal disturbance to the building's historic fabric and
architectural character.
0MB Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Page 11
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ballard, Ruth [Mrs. J. Claiborne]. Telephone interview, (540) 586-9252, 22 July 1997.
Bedford City and County charter, deed, tax, and will records. Bedford County Courthouse, Bedford,
Va.
Bedford City/County Museum Collections. Bedford, Va.
Bedford Bulletin (December 3, 1914). Microfilm. Bedford Public Library, Bedford, Va.
Bedford Democrat (Thursday, August 19, 1897). In Peter Viemeister, ed. Historical Diary
Virginia, U.SA. Bedford, Va.: Hamilton's, 1986, p.40.
of Bedford,
Chambers, Jr., S. Allen. 1=Jnchbll1l,: An Architectural History. Published for the Sarah Winston Henry
Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. · Charlottesville: The
University Press of Virginia, 1981.
Glass, Robert C. and Carter Glass Jr. Virginia Democraf)': A History of the Achievements of the Parry and
Its Leaders in the Mother of Commonwealths, the Old Dominion. Volume II. Democratic Historical
Association, Inc., 1937.
Lynchburg Architectural Archive, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
Maupin, Peggy Ballard. Interview, Bedford, Va., 23 July 1997.
McKinney, David D. Stanhope S. Johnson and the Allied Arls Building. Unpublished manuscript, 11
December 1982 [copy in possession of Bonnie Worsham].
McLaughlin & Johnson, Architects. "Residence for Mr. John D. Ballard, Bedford City, Va." April
1915. Original blueprints in possession of Bonnie Worsham, Bedford, Va.
----------. "Specifications: for a Brick Veneer Residence, with a Slate Roof: to be built for Mr. J. D.
Ballard, Bedford City, Va." April 1915. Original copy in possession of Bonnie Worsham,
Bedford, Va.
Po/Jard's 1910 Directory and Commercial Guide of Bedford County, Virginia. Roanoke, Va.: Virginia Directory
and Printing Co., 1910.
0MB Approval No. 1024-0018
NI'S Fonn 10·900-.1
(8-R6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Page 12
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)
Railroad Age Gazette. Microfilm. Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Library, Roanoke, Va.
United States Census, Population Schedule, 1920. Microfilm. Virginia Room, Roanoke Public
Library, Roanoke, Va.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff. ''Bedford Historic District." National Register of
Historic Places Nomination Form. Richmond, Va.: VHLC, 1984.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary.
Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Worsham, K Bonnie. Personal communications, Bedford, Va. and Key West, Fl., 1997.
oJll(B Approval No. 1024-0018
NPS Ponn 10·900-a
(B-&)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 10
Page 13
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA (continued)
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated parcel includes the entire 1.181-acre tract, known as tax parcel 194-11-23, which is
depicted on the enclosed sketch map of the property, drawn at a scale of 1" = 50'. The sketch map is
derived from a survey map prepared June 11, 1991 by Donnie W. Slusher of Slusher, Simkins, Loyd
and Associates, P.C.
. ; ·.
·r.,
Boundary Justification
The area nominated for listing encompasses the present legal boundaries of the property associated
with the historic dwelling.
0MB Approval No. 10l4..o0!8
NPS Form I 0.900-a
(11-'6)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number Photos Page 14
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs ate of: Ballard-Worsham House, 525 Longwood Avenue, Bedford, Virginia.
DHR File No. 141-14
DHR Negative no. 15828
All negatives filed at the Library of Virginia, Richmond.
1.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: General view of property, facing northeast
PHOTO 1 of6
2.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: View of side and reat of house, and showing patt of pool; facing southwest
PHOT02of6
3.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: View of entry hall, with front door at left
PHOT03of6
4.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE:January 1997
VIEW OF: View of stair hall
PHOT04of6
5.
CREDIT: Leslie A. Giles
DATE: January 1997
VIEW OF: Detail view of Library mantelpiece
PHOTO 5 of6
6.
CREDIT:LeslieA.Giles
DATE:January1997
VIEW OF: View of meat house/tool shed
PHOT06of6
o:,.rn ,\Pf!m,~ l'.'o. 11r.u:-001s
NI'S Ffflffl 10.i"Jtl..-A
(IH!4)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Ballard-Worsham House
Bedford, Va.
Section number Exhibit Page ...15....
Sketch map of nominated property, prepared by Leslie A. Giles and derived from survey map
prepared June 11, 1991 by Donnie W. Slusher of Slusher, Simkins, Loyd and Associates, P.C.
CTI]
Meat house/tool shed
----- - -----
525 Longwood Avenue
Bedford, Virginia
Tax parcel no. 194-11-23
Longwood Avenue
Scale: 1"
so·
O'
50'
50'
100'
Numbered arrows indicate location and direction of view of accompanying photographs
,<l~=W~ali.u«mw.).
&d/'iv-;l(iYtii),. v,i;-:;;
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Text
NPS Form 10-900
OM6 NO. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
'
0821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
received
date entered
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type a i l entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
BEDFORD HISTORIC
historic
and,or common
(VHLC F I L E #141-73)
DISTRICT
-
N/A
-.-.i
-.
2. Location
street
(i
number I n t e r ~ e c t i o no f
city-town
state
U. S.
R o u t e 460, VA R o u t e s 43 a n. d. 1 2 2
N/AnOt for publication
N , h vicinity of
Bedford
Virginia
code
51
county
(city)
code
515
3. Classification
Category
district
-building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
_X-
Status
Ownership
-public
-private
Present Use
-agriculture
_X_ occupied
1L both
Public Acquisition
in process
-being considered
N/A
-
-& unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
X yes: restricted
2-yes: unrestricted
-no
-museum
-park
L commercial
nprivate residence
-&educational
-entertainment
-& government
X industrial
-military
Lreligious
-scientific
?-!
transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
ea,,
M u l t i p l e Owners
N/A
street & number
city, town
K/a vicinity of
Bedford
state
Virginia
24523
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
-
city, town
Bedford Municipal B u i l d i n g
East Main S t r e e t
. .. -
.. .. ,.
Virginia
Bedford
24523
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
title S u r v e y ( F i l e A141-73)
.date
1972-74;
1984
depository for survey records
city, town ~ i c h m o n d
\
-......
...
has this property been determined eligible?
-federal -- 1L-state
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION,
----
-yes
-county
L no
----local
221 G o v e r n o r S t r e e t
state V i r g i n i a
23219
7 . Description
Condition
3 excellent
3good
2fair
Check one
a deteriorated -unaltered
-ruins
-unexposed
-alXtered
Check one
-X original site
-_moved
date
!%LAA
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The city of Bedford is centrally located in Bedford County surrounded by the
foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Piedmont region of Virginia. With a
population of about 6,000 residents, Bedford is a small city situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 460 and VA Routes 43 and 122. The Norfolk and Southern
Railroad divides the city into two distinct regions, the commercial downtown area,
known locally as Centertown, which extends basically along North and South Bridge
streets and East and West Main streets to the south and the primary residential and
industrial area to the north. The district includes two residential neighborhoods,
known locally as the Old Avenel area and the Longwood Avenue area. The former
centers on Bedford and Avenel avenues and on Peaks and College streets; the latter
on Longwood Avenue and Lee, North, Grove, Baltimore, and Oak streets. Lyingimmediately north of the railroad in the northeastern section of the city, industrial buildings
are located along Jackson and Grove streets and Railroad Avenue. Particularly
interesting is the variety of 19th- and early 20th-century architectural styles that
contribute to the picturesque nature of the city. The two hundred and forty buildings
within the district exhibit such styles as the Greek Revival. Italianate, Carpenter
Gothic, Gothic Revival, Stick Style, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, Romanesque
Revival, Bungalow, and Spanish Colonial Revival. Only thirty-two buildings withip
the district are considered noncontributing structGres.
1
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Although Bedford, originally known as Liberty, was founded in the mid-18th
century, few buildings from the town's early development years have survived. The
oldest extant structures within the historic district are mid-19th-century residences
that reflect the general prosperity of the town during the antebellum years.
Several similar Greek Revival brick houses are located on North Bridge Street, Peaks
Street, and College Street. The earliest documented house in the district is a
sophisticated brick dwelling known as Avenel. Built in 1836 for William H. Burwell,
this Greek Revival house originally served as a country house outside the town
limits, however, the land surrounding it was subsequently divided into small residential lots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and came to be known locally
as the Old Avenel area. Outstanding features of the house include a classical
cornice embellished with guttae and a delicate rope molding and a double-story
veranda with paired Tuscan columns and a delicate turned balustrade.
Other refined Greek Revival houses of the mid-19th century include Chestnut
Hill on Peaks Street, Winthrop on College Street, and rhe Thomas L. Leftwich House
on North Bridge Street.
All three houses were built during the 1840s and are
similar in design. They are two-story, central-passage-plan. Flemish bond-brick
structures with shallow-pitched hipped roofs and broad window and door lintels.
The finest Greek Revival structure in Bedford, however. is Liberty Presbyterian
Church built in 1844 at the corner of West Main and South Bridge streets in Centertown.
A superb example of its style, the temple-front brick church features a Doric
portico in antis with a well-proportioned entablature and pediment, a square louvered
belfry adorned with paired Doric pilasters and surmounted by a thin spire, and an
entrance frontispiece composed of details derived from plates in carpentetr handbooks
of the period.
~.
~.
I
_
^
-
-----..-
(See Continuation Sheet 81)
~
.----
.~.~..
- - -
Period
Areas ofSignificance--Checkand justifybelow
-prehistoric
archeology-prehistoric .- community planning .-landscape architecture.-. religion
-1400-1 499 .- archeology-historic .-conservation
law
science
-1500-1 599 -_ agriculture
--- economics
-- literature
.-sculpture
--education
military
-1600-1699 & architecture
-- social1
2 1700-1799 -- art
.
engineering
-music
humanitarian
_X 1800-1899
-theater
commerce
expiorationisettlement -_ philosophy
-. c~mmunication~
..X..industry
1L. politicsigovernment 2-transportation
--X 1900invention
-other (specity)
specific dates
k:EE
-
.--p.-..-.....-....
~
~
lath centuryBuilder!Architect
ent
..
IiLA
statement of Significance(in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
.
.
The City of Bedford, originally called Liberty, has served as the courthouse seat
and economic hub of Bedford County since 1782. Situated in the foothills of the Blue
Ridge on an early turnpike highway between Lynchburg and Salem and on the principal
line of the old Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, Bedford prospered throughout most of
the 19th century as a major Piedmont center of tobacco manufacturing, ranking in 1881
as the fifth largest producer of tobacco in the state. In the wake of a disasterous
fire which ravaged the commercial area of the town in 1884, Bedford experienced a boom
in commercial and residential construction that issued in a major rebuilding of its
historic core as well as the subdivision of vacant town lots and surrounding farm
tracts for residential development. During the first three decades of the 20th
century, as Bedford gradually recovered from the loss of its local tobacco industry,
the built environment of the city came to assume much of its general appearance today.
The Bedford Historic District includes two hundred and forty buildings which, taken as
a whole, reflect the major events and developments that have shaped Bedford's social,
economic, political, and cultural life over two centuries. Distributed over the
city's primary commercial, residential, and industrial areas , the structures exhibit
a rich diversity of 19th- and 20th-century architectural styles and building practices.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Like many other counties Bedford County was formed out of necessity. The immense
county of Lunenburg, formed in 1746, was rapidly bein populated and the western
settlements needed a closer seat of government. In November 1753 the Coloniallegislature created a new county by dividing Lunenburg County and part of Albemarle County.
The name chosen was Bedford, in honor of John Russell, Fourth Duke of Bedford and
Secretary of State of Great Britain.
The new county held court at a series of temporary seats before establishing a
permanent one. The first court was held on May 17, 1754 in the home of Mathew Talbot.
On November 25, 1754 the county court was moved to a crudely built courthouse on the
property of William Callaway that served Bedford until 1766, when a new courthouse was
erected in the new town of New London. In 1782, however. Bedford County was divided
to form Campbell County, placing New London outside limits of the county. Once again
Bedford was in search of a new county seat.
- . To
deal with this situation, the Bedford County Court commissioned William Callaway
to survey the county in order to establish its new geographical center, and a committee
was created to view and select a site suitable for a courthouse and public buildings.
On July 22, 1782 the committee chose a tract of land of one hundred acres located on
(See Continuation Sheet #5)
9. Major Bibliographtcal Referencewee Continuation Sheet i/41)
Arnold, B.W., Jr. History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia: 1860-1894. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1897).
Bedford County Bicentennial, IPC.
Bedford County Bicentennial:
1754-1954.
Bedford, VA: Bedford County Bicentennial, Inc., 1954.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property Approx.
Quadrangle name Bedford, VA
UTM References (See Continuation
A
105 acres
Easting
--
Sheet #41)
Bm~6(613111517101
(4,1[3131213101
l
71 1614
[ 1 41 8[
[ 41 11 31 31 bi 11
Zone
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Beginning at a point (A) located on the N side
of Washington St.; thence approximately 700' N to a point (B) on the N side of
W. Depot St.; thence approximately 100' W along N side of Depot St. to a point (C);
(See Continuation Sheet #42)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N&
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
1
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION STAFF
--
nameltitle
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
organization
. . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . .
street II number
city or town
August 1984
date
-
221 Governor Street
telephone
Richmond
state
-
--
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
state
-local
As the designated Slate Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8%
s been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion i
according to the criteria and procedures set forth b
State Hlstoric Preservation Officer signature
n
/
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive Director
title VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
date
~ugust21, 1984
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property Is Included in the National Register
date
Keeper of the National Register
Attests
Chief of Registration
.
........
- .........*.....
.-
;,-,-
date
-.--. .
*,--,. ~~i~y-.-Y-,.. ...... -
-. .
. - . ~ ...
. .
- ..................................
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.,,*
. \>,,.,
...
,
.
--..LC
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP . 1013 1 /84
National Register of Historic
Inventory-Nomination Form
BELlFORLl HISTORIC DEIRIa, BEDRXD, VA
Continuation sheet
7. DESCRIPTION
Item number 7
--
Page 1
Architectural Analysis
- Among the more eclectic houses built during the mid-19th century, the J.M.
Plunkett House on Plunkett Street is one of the best examples. This brick house
combines Greek Revival with Italianate details. Buildings exhibiting elements of
such romantic styles as the Carpenter Gothic style are rare in western Virginia,
however, the John Wharton House at 309 North Bridge Street is a representatiieexample of the style. Built around 1848, the 1%-story frame structure possesses a
cross gable roof with an ornamental bargeboard and a porch with curvilinear brackets
and decorative sawnwork.
The Italianate style in Bedford is best represented by four dwellings built
during the last decades of the 19th century: the Orville P. Bell House at 206 East
Main Street, the Charles W. Wharton House (now the Bedford Children's Library) at
319 North Bridge Street, Kingston at 512 Peaks Street, and the Martin P. Burks House
(Guy House) in the 500 block of Peaks Street. The Bell House, built in the 186Os,
is a distinctive brick house with segmental-arched windows and an unusually decorative
corbeled brick cornice. A fanciful wrought-iron porch accents the facade. The
Wharton House, built in 1883, is a much simpler brick house with a projecting front
ell and segmental-arched windows, but with no exterior ornamentation. Kingston.
built soon after 1865, is a frame structure which features such typical Italianate
features as a shallow-pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging bracketed eaves, and
heavy window molds. The Burks-Guy House, however, built in 1884, represents the
height of maturity in the Italianate style with such features as the projecting
front ell, gables partially supported by curvilinear brackets, heavy stone window
molds, wide overhanging eaves, a wide front porch, and a three-story entrance tower
capped by a hipped roof with flared eaves.
The Italianate style is also evident in several late 19th-century commercial
properties along Main and North Bridge streets in Centertown. Due to a disasterous
fire that destroyed much of the commercial area in 1884, most downtown buildings
date from the late 19th century with the Italianate style in commercial architecture
was most popular. The best example in Bedford is a group of three stores at 112
through 116 North Bridge Street.
Built as a single building around 1887, the
structure is divided into three equal sections. Heavy window molds supported by
ancons or embellished with raised swags top the second-floor fenestration of each
section while a heavy cast-iron bracketed modillion cornice extends across the entire
facade.
Other notable late 19th-century commercial structures with Italianate influenced
details include several brick buildings with decorative corbeled brick cornices,
blind arcades, and upper story segmental-arched windows with raised brick molds.
Examples include the Harrison Building, originally built in 1878 as E.H. Myler's
Store, at 118 East Main Street and two structures at 119 and 121 North Bridge
Street.
The majority of late 19th-century residences in Bedford are vernacular frame
dwellings ranging from simple company houses located near the industrial area to
stylish upper middle class houses situated along Peaks Street, Longwood Avenue, and
Bedford Avenue. Houses built for employees of the various manufactories were located
along the blocks of North and Grove streets nearest the factories. The lowest income
(See C n n t i m ~ s t i o nS h e e t 6 3 1
Continuation sheet #2
7. DESCRIPTION
Item number 7
--
Page 2
Architectural Analysis
workers apparently lived in a row of simple frame houses in the 800 block of Grove
Street, whereas more skilled workers or foremen lived in larger and more stylish
house-s built in a row along the 700 block of North Street. A certain hierarchical
social order is apparent in the location and size of these houses. Whereas- the.^^
factories and the railroad lay at the bottom of a slightly rising hill, company worker
houses were, located along the first blocks of North and Grove streets as they extend
up the hill. More stylish houses, however, were situated further north along these^
streets until reaching the summit of the hill where the owners of many of the factories
built their fashionable houses.
Rows of handsome frame houses situated along both sides of Bedford Avenue reflect
the development boom of 1890 in Bedford and present an array of various house designs
indicative of the tastes of Bedford's upper middle class.
These houses feature
asymmetrical facades, wraparound porches, a multiplicity of gables, projections, ells.
bays, shingled pediments, and decorative sawnwork.
Two large frame houses on Peaks Street, both built in the 1880s. are interesting
examples of the Stick Style. The Bowyer House and the Campbell House have lost some
of their original Stick Style details, however, they have retained their picturesque
character with their wraparound porches, irregular roof lines, shingled gables, and
turrets. Sweeping lawns extending to the street also enhance their picturesque settings.
The George L. Colgate House at 704 Baltimore Avenue is representative of yet another
late 19th-century architectural style: the Shingles Style. Built in 1892, it is a
2%-story frame house clad in wooden shingles and features rounded building corners, a
number of steeply-pitched gables, and 16/1 sash double-hung windows. A wrought-iron
fence encloses the front lawn.
The majority of houses built in Bedford during the 1890s tend to be small- to
medium-sized frame houses with a minimum of fanciful exterior trim. The poor economic
climate in the region after the boom of 1890 helps to explain the peculiar absence of
fashionable Queen Anne-style houses in the city during this period.
Undoubtedly, one of the most distinguished late 19th-century buildings in Bedford
is the handsome Bedford Masonic Hall at the corner of East Main and North Court
streets. Built in 1895, the three-story brick structure is an excellent example of
the Romanesque Revival style. The rectangular building is highlighted by pyramidalroofed corner towers that rise the height of the building. A triple-arched arcade
serves as the entrance to the building flanked by paired flat-arched windows with
stone label molds. A pair of oriel windows project from the second floor above the
entrance, while single and paired round-arched windows are seen stucco plaques bearing
Masonic emblems, a decorative wood cornice and a frieze with carved swags at each
corner tower, the Masonic Hall is a richly decorative public building, now serving as
the Bedford CityICounty Museum.
The first decades of the 20th century saw the dominance of the Colonial Revival
style in institutional and public buildings in Bedford. Beginning with the Norfolk
and Western train depot on Bedford Avenue, which was built in 1905 and moved to its
(See Continuation Sheet 8 3 )
I
I
I
I
NPS F o n r0.w-•
Da2,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet 113
Item number
7
Page 3
7. DESCRIPTION -- Architectural Analysis
present location in 1907, the Colonial Revival captured the aesthetic approval of the
general public.
The depot is a long stone structure capped by a steeply-pitched
gambrel roof with shingled upper gable ends. Both gable ends are highlighted by the
suggestion of a multipaned Palladian window complete with simulated hand-blown glass.
An oval bulls-eye attic window and a modillion cornice further enhance the Colonial
..
Revival character of the building.
- .
The Citizens Bank Building on East Main Street'is a representative example of the
Colonial Revival style in commercial architecture. It is a two-story brick building
surrounded by a paneled parapet above a full classical entablature. A row of four
freestanding Tuscan columns rises the height of the building and extends across the
facade.
Tripartite and paired 111 sash windows below flat arches with keystones
accent the front and east sides of the building.
Bedford High School is another distinctive Colonial Revival-style public building
constructed in 1928 at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street. Until
recently serving as the Bedford Elementary School, the large two-story brick structure
is composed of a central block with flanking wings. A portico in antis with stylized
Corinthian columns supporting a full entablature and pediment is the building's central
feature. An octagonal cupola with a domed roof rises above the hip-roofed central
block, while the flat-roofed wings are surrounded by parapets. Pedimented entrances
and 919 sash double-hung windows further characterize the Colonial Revival.
By the 1930s the Colonial Revival was chosen as the most appropriate style for
the new Bedford County Courthouse.
The most monumental example of the style in
Bedford. the Courthouse is a two-story brick structure composed of a central block
with recessed flanking wings. Built in 1930, it contains a handsome Ionic hexastyle
stone portico with a full entablature and a pediment containing a modillion raking
cornice and a carved emblem in the tympanum. A circular domed cupola with an open
belfry adorned with fluted Corinthian columns and decorative urns rises above a square
base centrally positioned above the portico. The flanking wings, however, are simpler
in design with plain brick pilasters and a dentil cornice and frieze extending across
the front.
The Burks-Scott County Office Building adjacent to the courthouse on East Main
Street is also a fine Colonial Revival building that was originally built as the
Bedford Post Office. Constructed in the 1930s, this brick building is especially
noted for its stone segmental-arched frontispiece entrance and its first-floor windows
recessed in round-arched brick panels. A brick stringcourse, brick quoins, brick
parapet, and a heavy wooden modillion cornice also adorn the building.
Besides public and municipal buildings, the Colonial Revival pervaded residential
architecture of the early 20th century as well. Two of the best examples in Bedford
are located at 724 College Street and 525 Longwood Avenue. The two-story frame house
on College Street was built in 1912. It features a modillion cornice, a row of
(See Continuation Sheet 14)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet 1/4
Item number
Page 4
7. DESCRIPTION -- Architectural Analysis
pedimented dormers, interior end brick chimneys, and a broken-pedimented entrance
portico. A variation in the style is seen at 525 Longwood Avenue. This two-story
brick house possesses a red tile hipped roof, tall interior end brick chimneys, an
entrance portico with paired Doric columns and a balusrraded deck, and an entrance
flanked by sidelights with an elliptical fanlight above.
- -
..
Other early 20th-century architectural styles were also popular with Bedford
contractors and residents. The Spanish Colonial Revival Bedford Elementary School was
built in 1912 at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street. The Public
School, as it was originally called, is a two-story stucco building with projecting
end pavilions, red tile roof supported by angular brackets, and a tall stucco parapet
decorated with raised plaster panels and crenellation. Inlaid tiles in decorative
patterns adorn the stucco walls between floors. Due to the school's high degree of
architectural quality and the rarity of its style, the Bedford Elementary School is
one of the finest of its type in Virginia.
The Tudor Revival house at 803 College Street is also representative of the
eclectic architectural taste of at least one wealthy resident of Bedford. The only
example of the style in the city, it is a large Flemish-bond brick house featuring
half-timbered gables, projecting gable ells, projecting wall dormers, a steep slate
gable roof, and a massive brick chimney with a corbeled cap.
Two Gothic Revival brick churches, Main Street Methodist Church built in the
1880s. and St. John's Episcopal Church built in 1923 on North Bridge Street, are
surprisingly similar structures despite the difference in age. Each church has a
steeply-pitched gable roof, a three-story corner entrance tower toppedwithcrenellation,
brick buttresses, and pointed-arched stained-glass windows with Gothic tracery.
As popular as the colonial Revival seemed to be in upper middle class residential
architecture of the early 20th century, the Bungalow style enjoyed an equal popularity
especially among members of the middle class. Houses located at 312, 314, 403, and
405 Bedford Avenue are representative examples of variations in the bungalow mode.
All of these houses are 1%-story structures with wide front porches, however, each is
constructed in a different building material:
frame with weatherboard, brick, and
half timbering. Two of the houses have slightly pitched gable roofs with shed-roofed
dormers. Porches are either supported by massive stuccoed Doric columns or square
wooden posts on brick piers.
One of the most unusual but distinctive early 20th-century residences in Bedford
is the bungalow-influenced stucco house at 612 Longwood Avenue. Probably built in the
1920s, this 1%-story house has a slate hipped roof interrupted by flanking front
gables that face the street and provide shelter for recessed side porches with massive
Doric columns. Paired and tripled 611 sash double-hung windows and shed-roofed dormers
are typical bungalow features used in this house.
(See Continuation Sheet 8 5 )
NPS F m 1C-WO.
OM8 No. 1m4-Wl8
gaz,
Exp. 1051-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #5
7. DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7 8
Architectural Analysis
are typical bungalow features used in this house.
The buildings of Bedford's industrial.areci are
zenerally located north of the railroad
along Jackson Street, Grove Street, and Railroad Avenue. Although most of the factories
date from the early 20th century, the oldest surviving factory is a three-story,
five-course American-bond brick structure that originally houses Graves and Sale Tobacco
Manufactory as early as the 1870s. Located on Jackson Street, the building is a
representative example of the industrial buildings that lined the railroad during the
1870s and 1880s when Bedford experienced a boom in the tobacco industry. As for the
early 20th-century factories, Rubatex Company occupies the original Clark's Tobacco
Company, a three-story brick factory located on Railroad Avenue. The building features
stepped gable ends and pairs of segmental-arched windows. Hampton Looms of Virginia,
Inc., located on Grove Street, is a three-story brick factory with large multipaned
windows on each floor. A monitor roof caps this large 18-bay structure. In addition,
a four-story brick industrial building on Jackson Street features stepped gable ends
and a mansard roof.
DE
(INVENTORY BEGINS ON CONTINUATION SHEET #6)
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical ~ack~round
Bramblett's Road (now Main Street), the major route from Lynchburg to points west.
The owners, William Downey and Joseph Fuqua, donated the land to the county and each
received a lot of one-half acre in the new county seat. In October 1782 the Virginia
General Assembly established the town of Liberty on the Downey-Fuqua tract, autho izing
f
trustees to lay out streets as well as lots of one-half acre for immediate sale. The
town was the first of many communitie2 to be called by the name of Liberty in the wake
of Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown.
The Bedford County Deed Book3 provides a detailed illustration of the measured
lots and streets of the new town, laid out in a grid plan formed by the intersection
of North Bridge and Market (now Court and South) streets with Main Street. On the
southeast corner of Main and Market streets (the present site of the Bedford Bulletin
4
Building) stood the town's first courthouse, a crude log structure erected in 1782.
The original plan reserved two acres for a new courthouse to be erected on the site of
the present 1930 courthouse at what was then the northwest corner of Main and Market
streets. The first courthouse on the site was built in 1789 and stood so close to the
street that the noise of passing traffic came to interfere with the business of the
court. It was torn down in 1833 and replaced by another brick courthouse on the same
site but set back thirty feet from the street. This second courthouse, designed in
the Roman Revival style as popularized by Thomas Jefferson, was demolished in 1930
after serving as the town's most distinguished public building for nearly a century.
According to an early newspaper article, Liberty in the 1830s contained, in
addition to its courthouse, seventy dwellings, two Baptist churches and one Free5
church, two taverns, five mer nti e s ores
toba
fgee EontEnuatio:nEheet
FT2)manufactory, and two tanyards.
NPS Fom $0.-
Wa
Uniaed States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Contihuation sheet /\6
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7
Inventory:
-
.
.
.
AVENEL AVENUE
400 BLOCK
406:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond);
14 stories; gable roof (tile); 1 dormer; 3 bays.
1
'
-7
407:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1900s. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 hipped dormers; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch.
-3
410:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910s. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
%
i
-3
412:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing Seam metal); 1 gable dormer;
3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
413:
Detached house. Greek ~evival. 1836. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 6-bay porch.
-b
.-
7
-8
414:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1920s. Wood frame
(aluminum siding) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1
hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
416:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1920s. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate) ; 3 dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch.
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (pressed tin) ; 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
-9
420:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
-
421:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. ca.1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 2 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
( S e e C o n t i n t l a t i o n Sheet / f 7 )
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT.
-. BEDFORD. VA
Cantinuationsheet #7
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Inventory:
AVENEL AVENUE (continued)
- -
400 BLOCK
'I
422:
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. c a . 1910. Wood frame (weather- .
board) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 g a b l e dormer; 3 bays ; l-bay
(center1 porch.
BALTIMORE AVENUE
600 BLOCK
,(>
'-
5
631:
Detached house. Dutch Colonial. Ca. 1920. Wooa frame (weatherb o a r d ) ; 1%s t o r i e s ; gambrel roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
l-bay ( c e n t e r ) porch w i t h segmental arched r o o f , Tuscan columns.
E l l i p t i c a l f a n l i g h t and s i d e l i g h t s ; p a i r e d 1/1 double-sash>.windows.
'?
*633:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1960.
bond) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof (composition) ; 4 bays.
Brick ( s t r e t c h e r
Noncontributing.
640:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2$ s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns, t u r n e d b a l u s t r a d e .
\
700 BLOCK
~4
>((p
702:
Detached house. Modified Queen Anne. C a . 1900. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns, simple b a l u s t r a d e . Staggered
but shingled f r o n t gable, projecting f r o n t e l l .
704:
Detached house. Shingle. 1892. Wood frame (weatherboard,
s h i n g l e ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch,
t u r n e d p o s t s on p i e r s , pedimented e n t r a n c e bay. 16/1 d . s . windows,
rounded c o r n e r window on 2nd f l o o r , end b r i c k chimneys, shingled g a b l e s ,
wrought i r o n fence.
706:
Detached house. Vernacular, Ca, 1890. Wood ftame (aluminum
s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
4-bay porch w i t h t u r n e d p o s t s , sawnwork. C e n t r a l b r i c k chimney,
projecting front e l l .
(See Continuation Sheet 88)
No.10)4-W(B
h p . 10-3l-84
OM8
NPS F o n I D S *
Dau
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet # g
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
Page 8
7
Inventory
BEDFORD AVENUE
300 BLOCK
-1
'
lo'
/Ifi
vacant Lot.
*311:
Ambulance Center. Contemporary. 1965. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories ; gable roof; 7 bays. Noncontributing.
312:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1930. Wood frame (shingle); 1 story;
gable roof (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
:,
314:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1930. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Z p *315:
Fire station. Contemporary. 1970. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Noncontributing.
400 BLOCK
1
k
401:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (shingle) and
brick (stretcher bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
2
402 (L.D. Haymond House):
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 2-story, 1-bay (center)porch.
403:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame and brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch.
2
''
z1
,f
405:
Detached house. Tudor/Bungalow. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond)
and stucco; 2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
406:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard
and aluminum); 2 stories; galbe roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
407: Detached house. Vernacular. 1880. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet U 9 )
OM6 NO. 1024-W18
E X ~10-3l-84
.
NPS Form 1DOOD.
gsn
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet {{g
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 9
Inventory:
BEDFORD AVENUE (continued)
400 BLOCK (continued)
zq
-
409 (Hall-McGhee House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890-1900.
Wood frame (shiplap); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. 1887. Wood
410 (L. Saunders House):
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
31
Detached house. Vernacular. 1887.
412 (William S. McKenney House):
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
3'
413:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-stody, 3-bay
porch.
53
414 (J.E. McGrath House): Detached house. Vernacular. 1887. Wood
frame (novelty); 1+ stories; gable roof (slate); 1 dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
ju/
415:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
f
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch.
500 BLOCK
501 (Graham Claytor House):
Detached house.
Vernacular.
1900.
Wood
3@ frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; 2-story, 6-bay porch.
3.l
502:
Detached house. Modified Queen Anne. 1910. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch.
7'
506 (Dr. R.G. O'Hara House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca.1890.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet
#lo)
--
NPS F o n IC-OOb.
091
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet //lo
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 10
Inventory:
BEDFORD AVENUE (continued)
500 BLOCK (continued)
36,
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
"
510 (James M. Berry House): Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch.
L\(
4
514:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1910. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
516:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1930. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2 stories; gambrel roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-svry, 1-bay
(center) porch.
i
Bedford Train Depot. Colonial Revival. Wood frame (shingle) and
stone (coursed ashlar); 1 story; gambrel roof (composition); 13 bays;
2 1-story porches with 1 bay (center) each. Built in 1905, moved to
present site in 1907.
('
NORTH BRIDGE STREET
100 BLOCK
''
*101:
Commercial (office). Contemporary. 1970s.
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
Concrete panel;
102:
Commercial (store). Romanesque Revival. 1890s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 5 bays. Semicircular, brick arches; castiron cornice with decorative frieze; remodeled storefront.
rl (b
107:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 3 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Castellated parapet;
recessed vertical window panels with stucco spandrels; remodeled storefront
.
47
108:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (cast iron
facade); 2 stories; parapet roof. Remodeled first floor, notable
cast iron front.
(see Continuation Sheet tll)
NPS Form 109001
09)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet /I11
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Paae
11
Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
- -
.
l/g
*lo9 :
Commercial (store) Contemporary. Ca. 1960s. Stucco with
ceramic tile; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
'44
110:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (cast
iron facade); 3 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Notable cast iron
front, remodeled 1st story store front.
59
111-113:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (irregular
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 7 bays. Cast-iron decorative cornice;
segmental arched windows; retained storefront cornices; remodeled
storefronts.
.
112-114-116:
Commercial (store). Italianate. 1880s. Wood frame
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 9 bays. Large casC;iron
bracketed modillion cornice spans; 2/2 double sash 2nd floor windows
with decorative and bracket window cornices; remodeled storefronts;
remodeled facades.
Ct
115-117:
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. Early 20th century.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 7 bays. Bracketed
modillion cornice; brick pilasters across second story; brick jack
arches and keystone over 1/1 double-sash windows on end second floor;
remodeled storefront.
$5
118:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. late 19th century. Brick
(irregular American bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Blocked in
2nd floor windows; remodeled storefront.
i'Y
f3/
119:
bond);
brick,
mental
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
2 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice with
recessed, paneled parapet above and recessed panels below; segarched windows; remodeled storefront.
121:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. late 19th century. Brick
(irregular bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice;
recessed brick panels; blind brick arcade; segmental arched windows;
remodeled storefront.
(See Continuation Sheet #12)
NPS F O m 1C-WD.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
InveaPoay-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continoat~onsheet #12
7. DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
12
Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-
'b
122:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(9-course American bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Glass block
second-floor windows; retains original storefront transam.
57
124:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Segmental arched
windows on second floor; remodeled storefront.
200 BLOCK
201-203:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick; 2 stories;
flat roof; 7 bays. Cast-iron cornice with brackets; recessed brick
panels; 2/2 double-sash windows on second floor; retains cornice over
remodeled storefront.
%
f;f
/
$7
202:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Shingled false
front; retains original storefront transom.
b0
205:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond) ;
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice; recessed brick
panel; 6/6 double-sash windows on second story; retains first-story
cornice over remodeled storefront.
'
*206-208:
Commercial (office/store). Contemporary. 1960s. Brick
(stretcher bond) ; 1 story; flat roof; 5 bays. Noncontributing.
(39,
207 (Bedford Theatre):
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th
century. Brick (stretcher bond); 1 story; flat roof; 3 bays. Retains
bracketed first-story cornice over remodeled storefront.
b?J
210-212:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood
frame (shingle); 2 story; parapet roof; 5 bays. Shingled false front;
bracketed cornice; retains original storefront, fenestration and cornice.
IPL(
Parking Lot.
I
(
Bridge. 1906. Stone-arched railroad overpass; solid bridge railings;
eatures pinnacles with lanterns at both ends.
(See Continuation Sheet #13)
--
.
NPS Form 1DRIO.
W)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORC HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD, VA
continuation sheet 1/13
Item number
Page 1 3
7
7. _DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
300 BLOCK
)
blp
-
-
305:
Church. Greek Revival/Modern. 1847/1952. Brick (stretcher
and Flemish variant); 3 stories; gable roof (composition); 4 bays.
Originally St. John's Episcopal Church (ca. 1847); now remodeled as
Christian Church.
*306:
Gas Station. Contemporary.
1970s.
Brick (stretcher bond);
(0/1 1 story; mansard roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
1
b[
309 (John Wharton Residence): Detached house. Carpenter Gothic. 1848.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 2-story, 3-bay porch. John A. Wharton was an Episcopal clergyman. lawyer, mayor of Liberty 1840-49, judge of county court 1870-80.
bJ'
314:
Church. Gothic Revival. 1923.
story; gable roof (slate); 4 bays.
8)
[&r,ql-h)
1I
Brick (4-course Amgrican); I
319:
Library. Italianate. Ca. 1883. Brick (stretcher bond) ; 2
stories; gable root (composition); 3 bays; 1 - s t , 3-bay porch.
320:
Detached house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1840. Brick (Flemish
variant bond) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays;
2-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Once the home of VA Senator Hunter Miller.
*321:
Library. Colonial Revival. 1942. Brick (Flemish bond);
1 story; hipped roof (slate); 5 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
'?"'
Non-contributing.
400 BLOCK
13
14
$
,
403:
Commercial (store/duplex). Vernacular. 1890. Wood frame
(clapboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 4 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch.
404:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910s. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2% stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 gable dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
*407:
Gas Station. Contemporary. 1950s.
flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
Concrete block; 1 story;
(See Continuation Sheet # 1 4 )
NPS Fonn 10000.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet
#14
7.
Item number
7
Page 14
- DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
400 BLOCK (continued)
>
I'
.
*412:
Commercial (office/store). Ranch. 1960s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 1 story; gable roof (composition); 6 bays. Noncontributing.
SOUTH BRIDGE STREET
100 BLOCK
17
13
101
107:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Bracketed modillion cornice
above second floor; box cornice above first floor; partially remodeled
storefront.
109:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 1 story; flat roof; 3 bays. BOX cornice above lead$$-glass
transom; partially remo'deled storefront.
*Ill:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Brick (false stone
veneer); 1 story; flat roof; 4 bays. Box cornice retained; totally
remodeled storefront (1950s).
30
112:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1920. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; parapet roof; 8 bays. Paneled parapet; corbeled brick cornice;
brick pilasters divide facade; remodeled windows and doors.
$1
116:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental
brick window arches; original storefront.
{'
117:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher/irregular-course American bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Corbeled
brick cornice with parapet above; 212 double-sash windows on second
floor; 10-light transom above remodeled storefront.
65
117A:
Commercial(store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (irregular-course
American bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 2 bays. Corbeled brick cornice;
second-floor windows blocked; 8-light transom over remodeled storefront.
&'/
118:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental brick window arches; remodeled storefront.
(See Continuation Sheet #15)
--
NPS F
Da2)
m
OM8 NO.1024-0018
EXP. 10-n-e4
1C-90C-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #15
7. DESCRIPTION -
-
Item number
Page 15
7
Inventory:
SOUTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-- -. . .
%
119:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 2 bays. Corbeled brick cornice; blocked
second-story windows over remodeled storefront.
$b
120:
Vacant Lot.
121:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Flared jack arches over
second-floor windows; cast-iron, bracketed cornice; remodeled storefront.
f'1
122:
Commercial (store). Vernacular, 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental
brick arches over blocked windows on second floor; 5-light transom over
storefront; storefront cornice retained.
j'J
1
r
123:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
3 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Brick pilasters supporting full entablature; paneled parapet above; paried 1/1 double-sash windows with
flared brick jack arches and keystones.
I
(
qc
5
\
q
124:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Iron bracketed cornice with
decorative frieze; 2/2 double-sash windows with segmental brick arches;
8-light transom over storefront.
126:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond); 2 stories; shed roof ; 4 bays. Box cornice; 2/2 double-sash
windows with segmental brick arches; storefront cornice retained with
( .-light transom; remodeled storefront.
700 BLOCK
7%
705: Detached house. Cottage. 1930s. Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
gable roof (slate); 1 shed dormer; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side) porch.
708:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet # 1 6 )
NPS Form 10.900.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of 'Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet /I16
7.
- DESCRIPTION --
Item number
Page 16
7
InVentOTy:
COLLEGE STREET (continued
-~
-~- ..
-
700 BLOCK (continued)
~
4q
709:
Detached house. Shingle. 1890s. Wood frame (shingle) and stone
(random rubble) ; 2% stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
qq
710:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
1% stories; gable roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
2-bay porch.
j
L
\v qb
qq
714:
Detached house. Greek Revival. 1843. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays.
715 (Liberty Sanitarium): Apartment building. Vernacular. 1887.
Wood frame (shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 7
bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Built in 1887 for indigent women
and children of the town and county, used as hospital only 3 years,
later used as boarding house, apartments, etc.
q]
720:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910s. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 2 dormers; 5 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
94
721 (Mrs. Frederick Nichol House): Detached house. Verancular. 1890s.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
1 bay; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
/ Oi'
722:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (shingle); 14
stories; gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay
porch.
IF)
724:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1912. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-stoq, 1-bay
"1912".
(center) porch. Date on gutter down spout
-
732 (William McGhee House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch.
800 BLOCK
10.'
803:
Detached house. Tudor Revival. 1930s. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
(See Continuation Sheet 117)
--
NPS Fom 1 D W l
em
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet !I17
7.
Item number
7
Page 1 7
- DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
COLLEGE STREET (continued)
800 BLOCK (continued)
l b
806:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910s. Wood frame (weathey-.
board) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped dormer;
2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
NORTH COURT STREET
200 BLOCK
210:
Church. Vernacular. 1907. Wood frame (bricktex); 1 story;
gable roof (composition); 5 bays. Stained glass windows; pointed arch
paneled transom over door.
216:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story;, 1-bay
(side) porch with tapering wood posts on brick piers.
300 BLOCK
302:
Commercial (store).
Vernacular.
Late 19th century. Brick
(composition);
Stepped gable end; original storefront.
,u
(Flemish-American
I
variant) ; 2 stories; gable stepped roof
3 bays.
WEST DEPOT STREET
200 BLOCK
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (5-course
206:
American bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Segmental-arched windows
on second floor; storefront columns retained.
208-210: Warehouse. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
lo 1 2 stories; flat roof; 7 bays. Recessed brick panels across facade;
segmental-arche& windows and doors.
GROVE STREET
700 BLOCK
*704:
Apartment Building. Contemporary. 1960s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) on 2nd floor and brick (stretcher bond) on 1st floor; 2 stories;
110 gable roof (composition); 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with recessed,
square posts. Noncontributing.
(See Continuation Sheet #18)
NPS F o n 10-WD.
DM
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
Pdational Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/18
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 18
Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
I((
,z,
I
*706:
Apartment Building. Contemporary. 1960s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) on 2nd floor and brick (stretcher bond) on 1st floor; 2 stories;
gable roof (composition); 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with recessed,
square posts. Noncontributing.
707:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square wooden columns on brick piers. 2/2 double-sash windows;
exposed rafter ends; interior end chimney.
708:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch with square posts, simple balustrade. Door with
transom and sidelights.
1
709:
Detached house. Vernacular. Mid to late 19th century. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3
I I ~
bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with square columns, simple balustrade.
Interior end brick chimneys; paired bracketed cornice; door with transom
and sidelights.
710:
Detached house. Verancular. Mid- to late 19th century. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
I-story, 1-bay (center) porch with paired square posts, scalloped
bargeboard. Central brick chimney.
*711:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
14
stories;
gable roof (composition); 2 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
,[q
1-bay (center) porch with square posts, broken pediment. Non-contributing.
(17
714:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2% stories; gable roof (pressed tin) ; 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square posts, cutout-pattern balustrade. Staggered butt-shingled gable in projecting front ell; transom over door.
'
715:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard]; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch, square posts with brackets. Rectangular
bay window; projecting front ell; transom and sidelights at entrance.
(See Continuation Sheet #19)
OMS Na 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10.900..
Dp,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Cont~nuationsheet
!I19
Item number
7
Page
19
7. -DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
114
1.10
-
.
716:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story
3-bay porch with square posts, simple balustrade. Bay window; projecting
front ell; door with sidelights and tansom.
721 (Robert T. Aunspaugh House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Late
19th century. Wood frame (aluminum siding); 2 stories; gable roof (slate);
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with slender columns. 2 projecting front
ells; rectangular projecting bay window; used as Liberty Female Institute
before 1890.
800 BLOCK
(i!l
801:
Detached house. , Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frameL(aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with wrought-iron support.
lzZ
803:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square post. 2-light transom over door.
l3
*804:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1950s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square post, simple balustrade. Noncontributing.
805:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
1 2 ~(side) porch with square post. Decorative filigree around attic vent.
IZ
(
807:
Detached house. verancular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square post. 2-light transom over door; decorative filigree attic vent.
809:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch.
,2:
811:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch
with square posts, simple balustrade. Frame store on Church St. attached.
(See Continuation Sheet #20)
NPS Frim * O W .
04
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet #20
Item number
Page
7
20
7. -DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
8
Industrial Building.
roof; 7 bays.
1920s.
Brick (stretcher bond) ; 1 story; flat
Industrial Building (Hampton Looms of Virginia, Inc.)
(stretcher bond); 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays.
1"'
.
1930s.
- -
Brick
Industrial Building and Office (Hampton Looms of Virginia, Inc.).
1 5 0 1920/1950 office. Brick (6-course American bond); 2 stories; monitor
roof; 10 bays.
JACKSON STREET
Industrial Building. Industrial. 1900.
gable roof (corrugated iron); 18 bays.
Corrugated iron; 4 Stories;
$.
\ 3 t (Ansbach Cemetery):
133
Cemetery.
1814-present.
Industrial Building. Ca. 1910. Brick (stretcher bond); 4 stories;
mansard roof (pressed tin); 10 bays.
400 BLOCK
414:
Industrial (Graves and Sale Tobacco Manufactory). 1870s with
additions. Brick (5-course American) ; 3 stories; gable roof; 8 bays.
f
\3
Railroad Building. Industrial. Ca. 1910s. Wood Frame (corrugated
iron) ; 2 stories; shed roof (corrugated iron); 10 bays.
500 BLOCK
1
' '1
503:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 5 bays. ~esidence
attached at rear; barred double-sash windows; paneled double-door entry;
shed lateral addition.
507:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (center) porch with square posts. 2 interior brick
chimneys; 6/6 double-sash windows.
(See Continuation Sheet 821)
-.
OMB NaiOZ4-W18
Exp. 1011-84
NPS Form lC-9W4
P;2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Pllational Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet 1/21
Item number
7
7. _DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
JACKSON STREET (continued)
500 BLOCK
(continued)
- -
(9'
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with turned posts, brackets. Interior end brick stacks.
\)74
510:
Detached house. Vernacular. Mid-19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 14 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
enclosed porch. Large central brick chimney; scalloped bargeboard on
gable end and rear.
.
LEE STREET
400 BLOCK
'-.
415:
Detached house. ' Bungalow. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14
stories;
gable roof '(composition); 1 gable dormer; 2 bays, 1-story,
(q0
2-bay porch with tapered, square columns on piers, shingled balustrade.
d(
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); l'r stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with tall square posts, bracketed cornice, triangular pediment.
Bracketed cornice; possibly former school.
500 BLOCK
,q,z
3
,
505:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(side) porch.
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1970.
*506:
bond) ; 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays.
Brick (stretcher
Noncontributing.
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Brick (stretcher bond);
14 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with square posts on brick piers.
/ 509:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
1 story, gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays. Exposed rafters;
raised basement; 6/1 double-sash windows.
(See Continuation Sheet 1\22)
I
OMB Na1024-0018
E x p 10-31-84
NPS Form 10000.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 822
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
I
Page 2 2
Inventory:
LEE STREET (continued)
500 BLOCK (continued)
\dld
--
512 (Clinkinbeard House):
Detached house. Vernacular., Mid- to late
19th century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch with square posts,
lattice frieze. 6/6 double-sash windows; exterior end brick chimneys;
door with sidelights.
, d ~ *516
:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1950. Wood frame (weatherboard); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch with paired posts supporting a broken pediment. Noncontributing.
600 BLOCK
604:
Detached house. vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame vinyl siding) ;
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-stofy, enclosed
porch. Central brick chimney.
~ q f2
\44
*606:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1970. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays. Non-contributing.
@
607:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (weatherboard);
1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal); 4 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with paired, slender posts on brick piers, simple balustrade.
,<
609:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch with paired, slender posts on brick piers, simple
balustrade.
,
612:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(Shingle); 2$ stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer;
2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with square columns on brick piers, simple
balustrade.
).I)
613:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Wood frame (shingle); 1#
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square posts, simple balustrade. Gable end faces street; paired
first-floor windows.
I<q
*621:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1955. Wood frame (shingle);
I# stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, screened porch. -Non-contributing.
(See Continuation Sheet 123)
OM8 No. 1D14-Mn8
h p . 10-31-84
NPS F o n 1DOW.
0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD H I S T O R I C DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet # 2 3
7.
- DESCRIPTION --
7
Page
23
Inventory:
LONGWOOD AVENUE
500 BLOCK
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1900s. Wood frame (weatherEE::d);
2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 dormers; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
3-bay porch.
\"
-
<
> 503
1.
,
@
'
(Bedford High School) : School. Colonial Revival. 1928. Brick
(5-course American v a r i a n t ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 12 bays;
2 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
School. Spanish Colonial Revival. 1912. Stucco; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t
r o o f ; 7 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay ( c e n t e r ) porch.
@
510:
Detached house. American Foursquare.
1910s. Wood frame (weatherb o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 1 hipped dormer;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
I<?
516:
Detached house. Vernacular.
1880s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay
porch. O r i g i n a l l y l o c a t e d on s i t e of p r e s e n t Bedford Elementary School,
moved a c r o s s s t r e e t on Longwood Avenue.
&\,\
<7 517:
i*o
b
lb7
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. 1910. Wood frame (aluminum
s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
5-bay porch.
524:
Detached house. Vernacular.
1880s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay
( c e n t e r ) porch.
525:
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. 1920s. Brick ( s t r e t c h e r bond);
24 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( t i l e ) ; 2 hipped dormers; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay
( c e n t e r ) porch, c l a s s i c a l l y pure.
600 BLOCK
,
,(,?
607 ( D r . J . I . Smith House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood
frame; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
5-bay porch.
*610:
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick ( s t r e t c h e r bond);
s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof (composition) ; 2 dormers; 3 bays. Iioncontributing.
I b q 14
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 4 )
OMB NO. 1024-Mn8
NPS F e n 1O.W.
Op)
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
1/24
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
24
Inventory:
LONGWOOD AVENUE (continued)
?
600 BLOCK (continued)
(&
.
611 (Lauriston A. Sale House) :
Detached house. Second ~ i ~ i r e .
1870s.
wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
\
612:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Stucco; 24 stories; hipped
roof (slate); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center), 2-bay (side)
porch.
1
700 BLOCK
n
IlJi
702:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square posts, sawnwork.
1
r
704:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square posts, sawnwork.
*705:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1970s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14
stories;
gable roof (wood shingle); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with
)bq
slender square posts, simple balustrade. Non-contributing.
706 :
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (bricktex); 24
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square wood posts.
710:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay
porch with square wood posts.
Detached house. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Wood frame (weather24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch with Tuscan columns; turned balustrade.
714:
11%'
board) ;
715:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard,
shingle); 24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
wlth turned posts, sawnwork, spindle frieze, turned balustrade.
,
(See Continuation Sheet #25)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Cont~nuationsheet 1/25
7.
-
DESCRIPTION
MN&OOD
7
Page 25
'Inventory:
AVENUE (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
-
)01
\
.
719:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2b stories; gable roof (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with
, Tuscan columns, turned balustrade.
) 725 :
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with Tuscan
176
*726:
Detached house. Neo-Colonial. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch with paired Tuscan columns, balustraded deck. Non-contributing.
117
729:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1920s. Wood frame (aluminum siding) ;
24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays.
,l d
730:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1930s. Brick (stretcher bond);
2% stories; hipped roof; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with square wood posts on brick piers.
5
733:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with Tuscan columns.
800 BLOCK
kLl;4\,q~)
801:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay
0 porch with turned posts, scroll brackets, turned balustrade.
lb
,I,
I
802:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2% stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch with Tuscan columns.
805:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story.
,aw5-bay porch with square wood posts with brackets, plain balustrade.
\
EAST MAIN STREET
100 BLOCK
\'
100 (Hopkins and St. Clair): Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late
19th century. Brick (irregular bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays.
Decorative cast-iron cornice with cresting; corbeled brick below;
segmental-arched windows; remodeled storefront. (See Continuation Sheet { j 2 , j )
NPS Form 10-WD.
OMB Na lm4-CQ18
Eap. 10-31-84
Ow
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/26
7.
DESCRPTION
Item number
--
7
Page 26
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
103: Commercial s o r e . Romanesque Revival. 1890s. Brick (stretche;
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 2 bays. Blind arcade on second floor;
cast-iron bracketed cornice with paneled frieze and central triangular
pediment topped by finial; remodeled storefront on first floor.
,$Y
104:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(irregular bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Cast-iron cornice
with cresting; corbeled brick below; segmental-arched, second-floor
windows; remodeled storefront.
(
[
(\1 1 '
187
-~ ..
1
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. 1914. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories, parapet roof; 5 bays. Tuscan columns on stone piers across
front supporting full entsblature and parapet; 1/1 double-sash windows
)with flared brick jack arches and keystones; transoms overi2 doorways
wlth geometric tracery,'
EASEMENT
106:
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. Early 20th century.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Modillion
cornice with brick parapet above; brick pilasters across second floor;
rusticated pilasters on first floor; dentil cornice between first and
second floors; remodeled storefront.
108:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays. Stepped brick parapet;
611 windows; remodeled storefront.
1'4
190
141
114:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays. Segmental-arched
windows; original storefront and oornice; box cornice above second
dloor; parapet above.
*116:
Commercial (office), Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Remodeled facade.
Non-contributing.
118:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1878. Brick (stretcher bond);
3 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Decorative brick cornice; decorative brick
window molds; 2/1 double-sash windows; remodeled storefront
.
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 7 )
- .-.
.
-
-.
- --
NPS F m I D W *
ExP. (0-31-84
pa,
I
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet #27
- -
-
7.
-
DESCRIPTION
--
Item n u m k
7
Page 27
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-
119 (Bedford U.S. Post Office):
Government Building. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1930. Brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays.
Stone frontispiece doorway with Jonie pilasters and segmental pediment,
broken by stone cartouche; windows highlighted by recessed brick arched
panels, flared brick jack arches; brick belt course, brick quoins;
bracketed modillion cornice.
IqZ.
Bedford County Court House. Colonial Revival. 1930. Brick (Flemish
bond); 2 stories; 13 bays; 2-story, 5-bay porch with ionic columns,
modillion cornice triangular pediment, carved tymparum. Central block
with flanking wings; brick pilasters and stone entablature and stone
watertable at wings; circular cupola with decorative urns and fluted
corinthian columns and open belfry.
?''*:)q?
(qq
1
L
*124: Commercial (store),
Contemporary. 1960s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 6 bays. Non-contributing.
.
,Clf
*124A:
Commercial (store)
Contemporary. 1960. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing. (ANNEX)
*130:
Commercial (office). Contemporary. 1970s. Stone (random
1 story; flat roof; 1 bay. Noncontributing.
lqb rubble);
200 B M C K
Bedford Masonic Hall. Romanesque Revival. 1895. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 3 stories; hipped roof (slate); 5 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with Romanesque Revival stone arch. Pyramidal roofed corner
pavilions; decorative wooden cornice; central, triple Romanesque
arcade; egg and dart terra cotta belt course between 2nd and 3rd story;
rectangular projecting oriel windows on 2nd floor.
lq7
.
202 :
Commercial (office) Vernacular. Late 19th century. Stucco;
2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Wide overhanging eaves with brackets;
parapet above; clipped corner entrance.
~
~
d
206 (Orville P. Bell House):
Detached house. Italianate. 1860s.
Brlck (stretcher bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
I bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with ornamental iron work. Corbeled
brick cornice; segmental arched brick window molds; transom and
sidelights.
\
,
~
~
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
-
NPS Form 1C-WD.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
InvenPory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet ij28
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
200 BLOCK (continued)
- -
210 (Mary F. Fisher House):
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Ca. 1885.
Brick (stretcher bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, b a y porch, posts with s a w n o r k Segmental-arched, secondfloor windows; projecting front ell; rectangular bay window.
,31)
pLm\&'
f1°
['
-
'
212:
Main Street United Methodist Church.
Gothic Revival.
1880s.
;@ 14I 329 Brick (5-course American bond); 1 story; gable roof (slate); 3 bays.
8
Corner brick belltower with castellation; pointed-arch
windows.
stained glass
WEST MAIN STREET
100 BLOCK
?j.
105 :
Liberty ~resb~teiian
Church. Greek Revival. 1844. Brick
(Flemish bond), front- (stretcher bond); 1 story; gable roof
sides
(standing seam metal); 1 bay; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch, doric
7,-portico in antis. Square, louvred belfry with paneled pilasters,
surmounted by spire; full entablature and triangular pediment; castiron fence.
-
2
MOUNTAIN AVENUE
600 BLOCK
7
Zb/
634:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 hipped dormers; 3 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch.
NORTH STREET
600 BLOCK
(BLN
k"'
p?
601:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); I bays; I-Story.
6-bay porch, Tuscan columns, simple balustrade.
n$'
*604:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1960s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
Z' b
607 (Episcopal Rectory):
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th Century.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metalrf
3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch with Tuscan columns, turned balustrade. Door
with transom and sidelights; one interior end brick chimney; 6/6 double(See Continuation Sheet a291
sash windows.
- ..
NPS Form 1 0 W D O
Dtr)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 8 2 9
7.
DESCRIPTION
Item number
--
7
Page
29
Inventory:
NORTH STREET (continued)
600 BLOCK (continued)
?a/?
2''
-
-
608:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays;
l-story, 3-bay porch with wrought-iron supports. Projecting front ell;
door with transom and sidelights.
609 (James A. Logwood House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Prior to 1887.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch, cutout pattern balustrade, missing elements of
original porch frieze. Projecting gabled front ell with rectangular bay
window; double sash windows with stained glass borders in upper sash;
round attic vents.
612:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-stpry, 2-bay
ZdC1 porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Projecting front ell
with shingled gable.
3'
613:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
l-story, 5-bay porch with square posts, spindle brackets, turned balustrade.
211
615:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories, gable roof (composition); 3 bays; l-story,
5-bay porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Projecting front
ell, paired 1/1 double-sash windows; transom over door.
616:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
stories;
gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; l-story,
212'
2-bay porch with square columns, simple balustrade.
d3
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th
617 (J.W. Johnston House):
century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 2 l-story, l-bay (side) porches, central projecting
front bay flanked by l-bay porches. Interior end brick chimneys;
gabled front projecting ell; door with elliptical fanlight and sidelights; segmental hood supported by Doric columns at door.
(See Continuation Sheet #30)
- .
NPS Form ( O W *
OM8 Nal024-0m8
Exp. tO-3l-84
08)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/30
7. DESCRIPTION
--
--
Item number
7
page 30
Inventory:
NORTH STREET (continued)
--
600 BLOCK (continued)
zjL/
2'
(
618 (Presbyterian Church Parsonage): Detached house. Vernacular. Late
19th century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with square posts, decorative
frieze. Bay window at projecting front ell; door with transom and
sidelights; service addition to north.
701:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(aluminum siding) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay (original) porch with paired Tuscan columns, plain posts on addition
porch bays. Projecting front ell with bay window on first floor.
*703:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1970s. Brick (str%tcher bond);
1 story, gable roof (cdmposition); 4 bays. ~oncontributing:
2~~
707:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with turned posts, sawnwork. Shingled gable on
projecting front ell.
718
709:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Central
brick chimney; projecting front ell.
711:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with turned posts, sawnwork. Shingled gable on
projecting front ell.
OAK STREET
800 BLOCK
7-2*
'
809:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1920. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays. Paired 6/1 double-sash windows.
*810-812:
Double-house. Vernacular. Ca. 1940. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 14 stories; gable roof (composition); 2 gable dormers; 4 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch with square posts, gable. Noncontributing.--
.
(See Continuation Sheet 831)
- .
OMB No.1024-W(8
Eip. 1031-84
NPS F m IC-WO?
pa)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDMRD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet 831
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page 31
Inventory:
OAK STREET (continued)
-.
800 BLOCK (continued)
,73*
811:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1920. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with Tuscan columns, simple balustrade. Massive interior brick chimneys with corbeled caps; transom
over door.
IZ 9
813:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with Tuscan columns, simple balustrade. Massive interior brick chimneys with corbeled caps.
2 %
817:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with Tuscan columns, simple balustrades. Decorative gable.? treatment.
f *818: Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1980. Wood frame (aluminum
'ZZ siding); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 5 bays. Noncontributing.
PEAKS STREET
500 BLOCK
7a6
507:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1920s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch.
,&? *509:
L
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1% stories; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
?J
*511:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1940. Brick (Flemish bond); 14
stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch. Noncontributing.
( d f i141-b>
512 ("Kingston"): Detached house. Italianate. 1870s. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
2, z'i
zj0
*515:
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1% stories; gable roof (wood shingle); 3 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch. Noncontributing.
(See Continuation Sheet a 3 2 )
.
. -~
..
OM8 Na1024-0018
Ex. 204-ed
NPS F m 1DW.
Op)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
W32
Item number
7
Page 32
7. .DESCRIPTION-Inventory:
PEAKS STREET (continued)
-. -
500 BLOCK (continued)
2%
520 (Martin P. Burks House):
Detached house. Italianate.. 1884.
Brlck (stretcher bond); 2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; l-story,
2-bay porch.
600 BLOCK
602: Detached house, Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 1 story; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays. (reportedly
used as a schoolhouse.)
2?''
$v)
604 ("Chestnut Hill") : Detached house. Greek Revival. 1845. Brick
(Flemish bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
ZT? l-story, l-bay (center) porch.
1
L
606:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1840. Brick (Flemish bond); 1 story;
gable roof; 3 bays. (Originally an outbuilding for "Chestnut Hill".)
'"
23(*608: Detached house. Ranch. 1960s. Brick (stretcher bond) ; 1 story;
hipped roof (composition); 3 bays. Noncontributing.
(1 613
(Dr. Bowyer House):
Detached house. Stick style. 1880s. Wood
frame (weatherboard and shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam
metal); 4 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
q37
616 (Aunspaugh-Boan House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
621 (Judge Campbell House):
Detached house. Stick Style. 1880s.
Wood frame (weatherboard/shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam
g metal); 4 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
.
/
'25
624:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; l-story, 3-bay porch.
700 BLOCK
,$@
702:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-story, l-bay
-(center) porch.
(See Continuation Sheet #33)
- ..
OMB No.lCQ4-W(8
Exp. X)-%-M
NPS Fonn 1D.WD.
ga)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #33
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
33
Inventory:
PLUNKETT STREET
(J.M. Plunkett House):
Detached house. Greek Revival. 1860s.
Brick (5-course American bond); 3 stories; hipped roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Rail (supports
porch) dated 1877.
fq(
QUARLES STREET
1000 BLOCK
1007:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch, simple balustrade, simple posts.
Zq'
RAILROAD AVENUE
.Zq3
Industrial Building (Clark's Tobacco Co.). 1910s. Brick @tretcher
bond); 34 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 11 bays.
SOUTH STREET
200 BLOCK
201-207:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Late 19th century.
(Glemish-American variant); 2 stories; parapet roof; 10 bays.
Corbeled brick cornice; altered fenestration; remodeled office fronts.
z C I ~ Brick
7'1
( 209:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond) ; 1 story; parapet roof; 3 bays. Stepped parapet with
stucoo brock panel; plate-glass windows.
-
. ..
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet a34
Item number 8
Page
2
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
Among its 350 inhabitants were three house carpenters, one wheelwright, two turners,
nine attorneys and four physicians. The older of the Baptist meeting houses stood on
the present site of the Exxon station on North Bridge Street from 1804 until 1850.
The Masonic Hall, erected by Liberty Lodge AF & AM !I95 as a lodge, school, and meeting-.
house for various denominations in 1828, stood at 309 East Main Street. The two
taverns which stood in the town in 1830--the Bell Tavern, built in 1787 by John Otey
at East Main and Market streets as Liberty's first tavern, and the Eagle Tavern, built
in 1819 on the northeast corner of East Main and Court streets--catered to tr velers
on the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike, construction of which had begun in 1818!
The
tobacco factory mentioned in the newspaper article was the first such establishment in
Liberty and a major influence in its future. The firm of Campbells-Holts opened the
factory in 1830 for the production of chewing, or plug, tobacco from locally grown
tobacco leaves.
In Liberty, as in Virginia generally, the manufacture of tobacco became the
principal industry of the town between 1830 and 1860. During the antebellum period
the number of local tobacco manufacturing firms grew from one to five, producing a
combined output of 600,000 pounds .of chewing tobacco per year. While representing
only a fraction of the total number of tobacco manufacturers in the state, the Liberty
firms competed successfully with large companies in Lynchburg and 7Richmond, and far
surpassed in production their counterparts in Farmville and Halifax. In the beginning
of the period the local product was shipped by turnpike to Lynchburg and from there
eastward by canal. By 1856, however, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad had completed
a line from Lynchburg to Bristol which made regular stops at Liberty.
Although no tobacco-related industrial or commercial buildings survive in Bedford
from the antebellum period, the historic district does preserve a number of houses and
several churches that reflect t_he town's economic growth and cultural maturity in the
decades prior to the Civil War:
The most notable antebellum residence in the district is Avenel, built in the
Greek Revival style for William H. Burwell by Samuel H. McGhee in 1836 and named for
the protective spirit in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Monastery. With William L.
Goggin, John Goode, Jr., and James F. Johnsv, Burwell ranked in this period among
Liberty's outstanding orators and politicians.
He was the son of a U.S. Representative fran
Virginia, a distinguished lawyer in his own right, and frequent member of the Virginia
House of Delegates during the 1840s and 1850s. His house exemplifies the social
ascendancy of the bar and bench in antebellum Liberty as well as the perennial interest
of Virginia's courthouse villages in law and politics. In a later period Avenel sog
inspired George W. Bagby that he immortalized the mansion in his"~he0ldVirginia,Gentl-."
Other antebellum homes included in the district are the Thomas L. ~eftwich House,
built ca. 1840 at 320 North Bridge Street (later the home of Virginia state senator
Hunter Miller); Winthrop, built by William C. Campbell, the tobacco manufacturer, on
College Street in 1843; Chestnut Hill, built for Judge Mica9 Davis in 1845 at 604
(See Continuation Sheet #35)
NPS Form 10WO.m
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 835
Item number 8
page 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Back
Peak-s Street; and the Carpenter Gothic residence at 309 North Bridge Street built in
1847 for John A. Wharton, an Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, first mayor of Liberty
(1840-1849) and later judge of the county court.
- ..
W e e of four churches standing in Liberty in 1860 survive. St. John's on ~o%th
Bridge Street, consecrated as an Episcopal church in 1847, now houses the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).
Liberty Presbyterian Church, dedicated in 1844, is
still in use and remains the finest Greek Revival structure in the city. The former
Episcopal church on West Main Street was originally built as a Methodist Meeting House
in 1838. The oldest standing church in the city, it is listed individually on the
Virginia Landmarks Register (1977) and the National Register of Historic Places (1978),
but lies outside the district boundaries.
..
The growing cultural sophistication of antebellum Liberty was also demonstrated
by the establishment of hotels and schools in this period. Across the tracks from
Liberty's first railroad station (built in 1852 and located east of the north bridge
and south of the tracks) stood a large and elegant hotel originally called the Hopkins
House but later known as Liberty House or Beechenbrook. The Bedford Hotel, built on
the site of the old Bell Tavern,,continued in operation until the early 20th century
under various owners and names. 'Of the many private schools supported by the town in
this period, the most notable were the Bedford Female Institute, opened in 1849 by
Mrs. V. Smith and later removed to 320 North Bridge Street; and the Piedmont Institute.
a boys' academy located east of the town which continued in operation until 1861.10
In the recollections of Joseph Graves, Liberty on the eve of the Civil War was a
quiet and unpretentious town of six hundred inhabitants:
The streets were paved with p r material and only for a short
distance. 'Ihe storehouses in which the uerchants did business
wre inconvenient wooden buildings, but they kept a full line of
almst every kind of nerchandise. mere was only one drugstore in
the place and it did a very slrall hiness. 'Ihere was no soda
fmtain nor hardware stores, nor tobacco warehouses. W e was
no livery stable in town. Our people owned but few carriages; the
citizens walked to their places of
iness and no one rode in the
evenings for health or pleasure...
?'i
The outbreak of war did little to alter this picture, for no battles were fought nor
blood shed in the town's during the period 1861-1865. Liberty did, however, suffer
one raid, known as Hunter's Raid, on June 16. 1864. Union General David Hunter,
hoping to capture the industrial city of Lynchburg, passed through the town, burned
the depot, destroyed miles of railroad tracks. looted many of the homes, but failed'in
Liberty also saw service in caring for the wounded
his attempt to capture Lynchhrg.
of nearby battles; seven hospitals were located in the town at various times, the
largest being Piedmont Institute.
(See Continuation Sheet 836)
NPS Fonn 10900.
Wa
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/36
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Item number 8
Page 4
-- Historical Background
After the war Liberty suffered, as did the rest of Virginia, from a severe
economic depression in which nearly all of its planufacturers went out of business. In
addition to such hardships as labor loss and shortage of money and credit, taxes
placed an unusually heavy burden on tobacco manufacturers for they were high and
inconstant, fluctuating from two to forty cents a pound. l2 This depression did nat
prevail for long, however. With increased capital investment in new machinery and a
dramatic increase in the consumption of chewing tobacco, the period 1871 to 1885
witnessed exceptional growth in the number of tobacco factories in Virginia, far
exceeding the antebellum peak. l3 By 1881 eleven tobacco manufacturers listed Liberty
as their post office, and the town ranked as the fifth largest tobacco manufacturing
center in Virginia. A list of Liberty's postbellum tobacco firms includes W.K. Andrews
and Company, the Chambers Company, Curtis and Hatcher, William Graves and Company,
Graves and Sales, C.H. Hall and Company, Mathews and Wright, J.M. Peters and Brother,
Reyland and Reynolds, and K.F. ~0bertson.l~
Representative of the scale of tobacco manufacturing in Liberty in the post-war
period were the operations of William Graves and Company. According to the 1880
industrial census, the company was capitalized at $25,000, taking in raw material
valued at $17,000 and producing finished goods valued at $35,000.'~
The company
employed eighty-two people, of whom thirty-five were males over the age of sixteen;
sixteen females; and thirty-one children under the age sixteen. The average employee
worked ten hours a day, with skilled workers receiving one dollar per day and unskilled
workers, fifty cents. The social hierarchy of the Piedmont tobacco manufacturing town
was tangibly embodied in the distribution and scale of its housing. The William
Graves mansion, for example, overlooked his factory from the apex of a hill to the
west. The quality and comfort of lesser residences declined visibly as one descended
North and Grove streets to the workers' housing, situated on the blocks nearest the
tobacco operations on Jackson Street and along the railroad tracks.16
Tobacco manufacturing was not the only industry in Liberty after the war. The
emergence of wool manufacturing in the post-war South as a consequence of industrialization and the introduction of superior merino wool, had its local manifestation in the
formation in 1883 of the Liberty Wool Company, which produced men's clothing from
local wool, and later, under government contract, supplied soldiers and marines with
wool vests, jackets, and pants. The original plant produced two hundred yards of
material a week and employed fifty people.
The revival of commerce -in Liberty in the 1870s is best represented in the
district by the Italianate store at 118 East Main Street erected in 1878 by E.H. ~ y 1 e r . l ~
The building was later purchased by M.T. Harrison, publisher of the Bedford Democrat,
and is familiarly known as the Democrat building. A related period structure is the
Italianate residence erected for Orville P. Bell at 206 East Main Street. Bell, one
of the town's leading merchants from the mid- to the late 19th century, owned several
commercial establishments on Main Street in the 1870s.18
(See Continuation Sheet C37)
NPS F m 1 D W O
g8)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
EDFORDHISTORIC DISITUm, BDFCfUl, VA
Continuation sheet 837
Item number
Page 5
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
-During the 1870s and early 1880s. members of the bar and bench, who had figured
prominently in town affairs from Liberty's beginnings as a courthousevillage, reasserted
their traditional social leadership by constructing fashionable residences along Peaks
Street and Longwood Avenue.
The most distinguished examples of these are the
Lauriston A. Sale House (ca. 1872) on Longwood Avenue, the Judge James Lawrence Campbell
House (ca. 1880) on Peaks Street, and the ca. 1884 Peaks Street residence of Judge
Martin P. Burks, later dean of the Law School at Washington and Lee. Burks practiced
law, as did many other members of
e local legal fraternity, out of an office on
Lawyer's Row at 201-207 South Street.
'rhs
The ttown's remrkahle post-war recovery suffered a major reverse on October 12, 1884
when a fire ravaged the center of Liberty's commercial district. The fire destroyed
every structure but two on North Bridge Street from the railroad tracks southward to
Main Street, resulting in property damage estimated at nearly one million dollars.
With every structure in the commercial area built of wood and no water works available
to combat the fire, nothing impeded its path. To decrease the likelihood of such an
incident happening again, the town created a municipal water supply by tapping the
natural springs in the nearby mountains and piping the spring water to a reservoir
just outside the town.
/
The most important consequence of the fire was a major rebuilding of the commercial
district. The revival of the tobacco industry afforded the town the opportunity to
erect the variety of substantial commercial structures that form the historic core of
present-day Bedford's Centertown area. As a measure of fire prevention, the new commercial
buildings were all constructed of brick, and some with cast-iron facades, such as the
building at 110
North Bridge Street. Equally impressive as an example of a
late 19th-century commercial complex is 112-114-116 North Bridge Street, which originally
housed the establishments of Fitzpatrick, Abbot, and Thurman. Dating to the same
period is the imposing Romanesque Masonic Hall erected in 1895 which now serves as a
historical museum for both Bedford County and the city.
The prosperity which supported the late 19th-century building campaign did not
extend exclusively to the commercial area but affected the entire town. Between 1885
and 1890 Liberty experienced a phase change of economic and social development commonly
known as the Boom, out of which the town hoped to emerge as an industrial city
comparable to Roanoke. Emblematic of this hope which never materialized, was the
town's adoption of the more descriptive and progressive-sounding name of Bedford City,
in place of Liberty, in 1890.
One dynamic factor in the Bedford City boom of the late 19th century was land
speculation. Large vacant city lots and surrounding farm tracts were quickly bought
up by newly formed land companies and subdivided into lots and streets for rapid
residential development. Some of Bedford's more stately homes date to the period of
the land companies whose ranks included the Liberty Perpetual Building and Loan Company,
Liberty Improvement Company, Central Land Company, Bedford Real Estate Company, and
(See Continuation Sheet W38)
-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Iternnumber 8
Continuation sheet /I38
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Page 6
-- Historical Background
the Bedford City Land and Improvement Company. One of the most ambitious and productive
was the Liberty Improvement Company, formed in 1884, the year of the great fire. This
company bought the large tract of land north of the railroad and west of North Bridge
Street in the vicinity of Avenel. Then considered the most attractive and picturesque
residential section of the ciig, the new residential area became known alternatelx as.
Bedford Avenue or Dude Avenue.
The houses at 402, 409, 410, 412, 414, 501, 506, and
510 Bedford Avenue were all built by the company in the boom years.
Also typical of the speculative development of the era was the construction of
the magnificent Hotel Bedford by the Bedford Land and Improvement Company in the last
decade of the 19th century. The brownstone and wood-shingle structure, constructed at
a cost of twelve thousand dollars, served as a hotel for less than ten years and was
razed within twenty years to make way for the present Elks Home (which lies outside
the district to the northwest).
Among the private schools which flourished in Bedford during the boom period was
the Liberty Female Institute, opened in 1885 by David Wade in the Robert T. Aunspaugh
House at the northwest corner of Grove and Lee streets. In 1890 the Institute merged
with newly formed Belmont Seminary, erected by the local Presbyterian church on the
property of Dr. John W. Sale. Although the school closed in 1898 and was subsequently
an opera house before being razed to make way for the present elementary school on the
site, the principal's home is preserved at Kingston, a distinguished Italianate dwelling
located at 512 Peaks Street. The most notable private school in Bedford at the turn
of the century was the Randolph-Macon Academy, a military preparatory school for
Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, which remained an important social and
cultural influence upon the town for more than forty years. In 1892, Jeter Female
Institute opened but was forced to close the next year.
The speculative bubble of the late 1880s was suddenly broken by the nationwide
depression of 1893. The land companies all went into debt and Bedford's two banks
both closed their doors. The sudden decline of Bedford's economy also reflected a
major crisis in the tobacco industry, which saw the number of tobacco factories in the
state dwindle from one hundred and forty in 1880 to ninety-three in 1890.
The
formation of the American Tobacco Company in 1890 hastened the process of con olidation
After
and monopoly control that drove the smaller manufacturers out of business.
1889 Bedford had only one plug manufacturer and one smoking tobacco manufacturer.
When T.W. Richardson arrived in town in 1895 to publish the Bedford Bulletin, he found
a city of two thousand inhabitants, less than a dozen of whom had assets exceeding
twenty-five thousand dollars.
Boardwalks lined the principal streets, which were
frequently impassable due to mud and slime. Residences on Longwood Avenue were few,
and only one dwelling stood on Avenel Street.23
"
Despite the demise of the local tobacco industry Bedford entered the 20th century
in a mood of optimism, inspired by several new enterprises then coming to the fore and
sustained by several decades of prosperity.
In 1902 the Elks National Convention,
(See Continuation Sheet ft39)
OM6 Na 1024-0018
WPS Form 1OQWm
(+sq
Exp. X)-in-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
/I39
Continuation sheet
Item number
-
8. SIGNIFICANCE
--
'
~aae
Historical Background
after inspecting resorts throughout the nation for a possible home for its aged or
infirm members, purchased the Hotel Bedford to serve as the National Elks Home. When
the building proved unsatisfactory to the Elks ten years later, the city offered them
the use of the abandoned Jeter Institute until a new Home could be built on the site - -.
of the hotel. President-elect Warren G. Harding visited Bedford and the Home in 1920:
Another sign of progress was the construction of a new depot by the Norfolk and
Western in 1905. In 1907 the laying of double tracks by the railroad company necessitated
both the removal of the brownstone station with its platform to its present site in
the district and the replacement of the stone bridge which historically had linked the
commercial district of Bedford by North Bridge Street to the residential and industrial
areas of the city to the north.
The community also built a new public elementary school in this period, erecting
a Spanish Colonial Revival stucco building on a prominent site on Peaks Street in
1912. It replaced the Old Bedford Graded School, which had been erected in 1875 in
the center of the lot between Longwood Avenue and Lee Streets. All that remains today
of the Graded School are the additional rooms constructed for the school on Lee Street
in the late 19th century.
./
Other notable early 20th-century buildings in the district include the Citizens
Bank Building on East Main Street; the Colonial Revival dwellings at 724 College
Street and 525 Longwood Avenue; the Bungalow houses at 312, 314, 403, and 405 Bedford
Avenue and at 612 Longwood Avenue; the Tudor Revival house at 803 College Street; the
1928 Colonial Revival Bedford High School; and the Colonial Revival Bedford County
Courthouse of 1930.
By the 1920s concrete sidewalks lined all of Bedford's principal streets, one
mile of which was paved in brick and several miles in macadam. On the eve of the
Great Depression, the neat and flourishing antebellum village which Henry Howe had
described in 1856 and which Edward Beyer had recorded on canvas, had become the City
of Bedford in fact. 24
Since World War I Bedford's economy has become increasingly diversified and less
dependent on tobacco. The Piedmont Label Company, opening a small factory in 1914,
established itself by producing lithographic labels for use on cans. The Liberty Wool
Company, which responded successfully to the sudden demand for military uniforms,
merged in 1930 with Hampton Looms of Virginia to the benefit of the local factory's
expansion and modernization. The demise of the J.A. Clark Tobacco Company in 1929
marked the end of the era of plug manufacturing in Bedford; however, the town continued
to maintain several tobacco warehouses such as those of Clark Brothers and the Albert
Company. Among the more important new industries established in Bedford after World
War 11 were Sam Moore Chair, Rubatex, the Bedford Dress Manufacturing Company, Belding
Heninway Corticelli, and the Virginia Tire and Rubber Company.
(See FOOTNOTES on Continuation Sheet #40)
OM8 No. 1024-W18
Ex+ ma-84
NPS fm 10000.
DPI
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
8. SIGNIFICANCE
--
page
Item number
a
Footnotes
!Edward Pollock, Sketch Book of Liberty, Virginia:
(Bedford, VA: Bedford Index, 1887), p. 35.
'J.P. Bell, Historical Sketch of Bedford County:
Bell, 1907). p. 19.
Its People and Its Trade
1753-1907 (Lynchburg, VA:
f
.c
3Bedford County, Deed Book W, p. 116.
4~ila Jeter Parker, The History of Bedford County, Virginia (Bedford, VA:
Bedford Democrat, 1954), p. 16, 17.
The
6Bedford County Bicentennial, Inc., Bedford County Bicentennial: 1754-1954 (Bedford
County Bicentennial, Inc., 1954). p. 25.
7~osephClarke Robert, The Tobacco Kingdom: 1800-1860 (Durham, NC: Duke University
Press, 19381, pp. 183, 230.
;
%he Peaks of Otter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Echoes of Olde
Liberty (Lynchburg, VA: Progress Publishing Corp., 1976). p. 7.
''Joseph
City, VA:
Armstrong Graves, The History of the Bedford Light Artiller~ (Bedford
The Bedford Democrat, 1903). p. 7.
'*B.N.
more:
Arnold, Jr., History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia:
Johns Hopkins Press, 1897), p. 61.
1860-1894 (Balti-
l31bid., p. 64.
14Nannie May Tilley, The Bright - Tobacco Industry:
University of North Carolina Press, 1948), p. 685.
1860-1929 (Chapel Hill, NC:
15virginia Census, Bedford County Industrial Census, 1880.
16peaks of Otter Chapter, D.A.R., Echoes, pp. 3-4
181bid., pp. 3-4, 7.
191bid., pp. 3-4, 37
20p0110ck9 Sketch Book' P'(&k~'~ontinuationSheet 841)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet 1/41
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Ll
--
Item number 8, 9
10
Page 9. 1, 1
Footnotes
Tilley, Bright - Tobacco, p. 596.
22 ~rnold,Tobacco Industry, p. 67.
23 peaks of Otter Chapter, D.A.R., Echoes, p. 7.
24 1bid. , pp. 6-7.
9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Bedford County. Deed Book W.
Bell, J.P.
Historical Sketches of Bedford County:
1753-1907.
Lynchburg, VA:
J.P. Bell. 1907.
Campbell, Kenna. Bedford: The Richest in Natural Resources of Counties in Piedmont
Virginia. Bedford, VA: Bedford Index Print. ND.
Bedford
Graves, Joseph Armstrong.
The History of the Bedford Light Artillery.
City.
VA:
The
Bedford
Democrat.
1903.
-.
Morris, James A. Woolen and Worsted Manufacturing. Columbia, SC: University of
South Carolina Press, 1952.
Parker, Lila Jeter. The History of Bedford County, Virginia. Bedford, VA: Bedford
Democrat, 1954.
Peaks of Otter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Echoes of Olde Liberty.
Lynchburg. VA: Proeress Publishine Cor~.. 1976.
~ollock, ~dw&d.
Sketch Book of Liberty, Virginia:
Its People and Its Trade.
Bedford, VA: Bedford Index, 1887.
Randolph-Macon Academy.
Randolph-Macon Academy Decennial.
Lynchburg, VA:
J.P.
Bell Co., Printers. 1900.
Robert, ~ o s e p hClarke. The Tobacco Kingdom: 1800-1860. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press. 1938.
Tilley, Nannie May. The Bright - Tobacco Industry: 1860-1929. Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina Press, 1948.
Virginia State Census, Bedford County Industrial Census: 1880.
-
.
- .
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
(See Continuation Sheet f42)
d States Department of the Interior
nal Perk Service
iional Register of Historic Places
entory-Nomination Form
DFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Item number 10
~uationsheet #42
1.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
-- Verbal
Page 2
Boundary Description/Boundary Justification
hence approximately 250' N to a point (D) on the Norfolk and Southern Railroad;
hence approximately 1360' W to a point (E); thence approximately 550' N to a point
F); thence approximately 550' E to a point (G) located on the S side of 3rd St.;
hence approximately 600' NE extending along the E side of 2nd St. to a point CH);
:hence approximately 1600' NW to a point (I); thence approximately 200' N to a point
(J); thence approximately 900' E to a point (K) located on the W side of Peaks Sf.;
thence appproximately 100' SE along W side of Peaks St. to a point (L); thence approximately 150' NE to a point (M); thence approximately 1450' SE and E to a point (N)
on the W side of Westview Ave.; thence approximately 50' S to a point (0) on the
W side of Westview Ave.; thence approximately 1450' NE to a point (P) located on
the W side of Elm St.; thence approximately 150' S to a point (Q) on the N side
of Longwood Ave.; thence approximately 1000' SSE to a point (R); thence approximately
400' SW to a point (S); thence approximately 325' N to a point (T) located on the
N side of Baltimore Ave.; thence approximately 450' SW along N side of Baltimore
Ave. to a point (U); thence approximately 150' SE to apoint (V) on the S side of
Quarles St.; thence approximately 300' SW to a point (W); thence approximately 300' SE
to a point (XI; thence approximately 200' WSW to a point (Y) on the N side of Grove
St.; thence approximately 1000' SE along the N side of Grove St. and Railroad Ave.
to a point ( 2 ) ; thence approximately 200' S to a point (AA) on the Norfolk and
Southern Railroad; thence approximately 500' W to a point (BB); thence approximately
100' S to a point (CC); thence approximately 100' W to a point (DD); thence approximately 100' N to a point (EE) located on the railroad; thence approximately 700' W
to a point (FF); thence approximately 700' NNW to a point (GG) on the S side of
Lee St.; thence approximately 500' W along S side of Lee St. to a point (HH); thence
approximately 1100' SSW to a point (11); thence approximately 300' SE to a point
(JJ) on the E side of N. Court St.; thence approximately 200' N to a point (KK);
thence approximately 100' E to a point (LL); thence approximately 400' SW to a point
(MM) on the S side of E. Main St.; thence approximately 150' E to a point (NN) on
the W side of Otey St.; thence approximately 200' S along W side of Otey St. to
a point (00); thence approximately 300' W to a point (PP) on the E side of South
St.; thence approximately 75' N to a point (QQ) on the E side of South St.; thence
approximately 300' W to a point (RR); thence approximately 150' SW to a point (SS)
on the N side of Washington St.; thence approximately 225' W along N side of Washington St. to point of origin.
Boundary Justification: The Bedford Historic District contains most of the downtown
commercial area excluding those areas east of the district boundaries on East Main
Street and East Depot Street, west of the district boundaries on West Main Street
and West Depot Street, and south of the district boundaries on South Street and
South Bridge Street primarily due to the high number of noncontributing structures,
modern structures, and parking lots in these areas.
The railroad divides the commercial area from the oldest residential areas
of the town; however, North Bridge Street with its mixture of commercial, civic,
and residential use, serves as a significant and physical link between these areas.
(See Continuation Sheet 843)
OMB M.1021-0018
NPS Form lO.WD*
Exp. M - 8 4
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
#43
Continuation sheet
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
--
Item number
Page 3
Boundary Justification
The first block of Jackson Street east of North Bridge Street was excluded from
the district because of modern development. The town's industrial area along the
400 block of Jackson Street, the 900 block of Grove Street, and a small part of
Railroad Avenue was included in the district; however, much of Railroad Avenue east
of the district boundary was excluded because of the area's devotion to modern
industrial development.
Residences dating mostly from the 1940s to the present are predominant in the
600 block of Jackson Street, most of Quarles Street, and Baltimore Avenue east of
Oak Street, therefore these areas were excluded from the district. Whereas a modern
shopping complex is located on the south side of Longwood Avenue east of Elm Street,
the residences on the north side are mostly noncontributing structures. Structures
that are less than fifty years old are predominant in areas beyond the district
boundaries on Peaks Street, College Street, and Mountain Avenue. Modern development
and open space exist west of the district boundary on Bedford Avenue.
- -
EDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT
edford ( c i t y ) , VA
oundary Map 1 o f 3
ource: C i t y o f Bedford
a t e : October 1976
c a l e : 1"=800'
II
,
I
.cmro.s
mv~.~,
T
\ ".\
!
i
i
\
" 8 4'0
OM6 NO. 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
'
0821
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
For NPS use only
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
received
date entered
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type a i l entries-complete applicable sections
1. Name
BEDFORD HISTORIC
historic
and,or common
(VHLC F I L E #141-73)
DISTRICT
-
N/A
-.-.i
-.
2. Location
street
(i
number I n t e r ~ e c t i o no f
city-town
state
U. S.
R o u t e 460, VA R o u t e s 43 a n. d. 1 2 2
N/AnOt for publication
N , h vicinity of
Bedford
Virginia
code
51
county
(city)
code
515
3. Classification
Category
district
-building(s)
-structure
-site
-object
_X-
Status
Ownership
-public
-private
Present Use
-agriculture
_X_ occupied
1L both
Public Acquisition
in process
-being considered
N/A
-
-& unoccupied
-work in progress
Accessible
X yes: restricted
2-yes: unrestricted
-no
-museum
-park
L commercial
nprivate residence
-&educational
-entertainment
-& government
X industrial
-military
Lreligious
-scientific
?-!
transportation
-other:
4. Owner of Property
ea,,
M u l t i p l e Owners
N/A
street & number
city, town
K/a vicinity of
Bedford
state
Virginia
24523
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.
street & number
-
city, town
Bedford Municipal B u i l d i n g
East Main S t r e e t
. .. -
.. .. ,.
Virginia
Bedford
24523
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
title S u r v e y ( F i l e A141-73)
.date
1972-74;
1984
depository for survey records
city, town ~ i c h m o n d
\
-......
...
has this property been determined eligible?
-federal -- 1L-state
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION,
----
-yes
-county
L no
----local
221 G o v e r n o r S t r e e t
state V i r g i n i a
23219
7 . Description
Condition
3 excellent
3good
2fair
Check one
a deteriorated -unaltered
-ruins
-unexposed
-alXtered
Check one
-X original site
-_moved
date
!%LAA
Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The city of Bedford is centrally located in Bedford County surrounded by the
foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Piedmont region of Virginia. With a
population of about 6,000 residents, Bedford is a small city situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 460 and VA Routes 43 and 122. The Norfolk and Southern
Railroad divides the city into two distinct regions, the commercial downtown area,
known locally as Centertown, which extends basically along North and South Bridge
streets and East and West Main streets to the south and the primary residential and
industrial area to the north. The district includes two residential neighborhoods,
known locally as the Old Avenel area and the Longwood Avenue area. The former
centers on Bedford and Avenel avenues and on Peaks and College streets; the latter
on Longwood Avenue and Lee, North, Grove, Baltimore, and Oak streets. Lyingimmediately north of the railroad in the northeastern section of the city, industrial buildings
are located along Jackson and Grove streets and Railroad Avenue. Particularly
interesting is the variety of 19th- and early 20th-century architectural styles that
contribute to the picturesque nature of the city. The two hundred and forty buildings
within the district exhibit such styles as the Greek Revival. Italianate, Carpenter
Gothic, Gothic Revival, Stick Style, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, Romanesque
Revival, Bungalow, and Spanish Colonial Revival. Only thirty-two buildings withip
the district are considered noncontributing structGres.
1
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
Although Bedford, originally known as Liberty, was founded in the mid-18th
century, few buildings from the town's early development years have survived. The
oldest extant structures within the historic district are mid-19th-century residences
that reflect the general prosperity of the town during the antebellum years.
Several similar Greek Revival brick houses are located on North Bridge Street, Peaks
Street, and College Street. The earliest documented house in the district is a
sophisticated brick dwelling known as Avenel. Built in 1836 for William H. Burwell,
this Greek Revival house originally served as a country house outside the town
limits, however, the land surrounding it was subsequently divided into small residential lots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and came to be known locally
as the Old Avenel area. Outstanding features of the house include a classical
cornice embellished with guttae and a delicate rope molding and a double-story
veranda with paired Tuscan columns and a delicate turned balustrade.
Other refined Greek Revival houses of the mid-19th century include Chestnut
Hill on Peaks Street, Winthrop on College Street, and rhe Thomas L. Leftwich House
on North Bridge Street.
All three houses were built during the 1840s and are
similar in design. They are two-story, central-passage-plan. Flemish bond-brick
structures with shallow-pitched hipped roofs and broad window and door lintels.
The finest Greek Revival structure in Bedford, however. is Liberty Presbyterian
Church built in 1844 at the corner of West Main and South Bridge streets in Centertown.
A superb example of its style, the temple-front brick church features a Doric
portico in antis with a well-proportioned entablature and pediment, a square louvered
belfry adorned with paired Doric pilasters and surmounted by a thin spire, and an
entrance frontispiece composed of details derived from plates in carpentetr handbooks
of the period.
~.
~.
I
_
^
-
-----..-
(See Continuation Sheet 81)
~
.----
.~.~..
- - -
Period
Areas ofSignificance--Checkand justifybelow
-prehistoric
archeology-prehistoric .- community planning .-landscape architecture.-. religion
-1400-1 499 .- archeology-historic .-conservation
law
science
-1500-1 599 -_ agriculture
--- economics
-- literature
.-sculpture
--education
military
-1600-1699 & architecture
-- social1
2 1700-1799 -- art
.
engineering
-music
humanitarian
_X 1800-1899
-theater
commerce
expiorationisettlement -_ philosophy
-. c~mmunication~
..X..industry
1L. politicsigovernment 2-transportation
--X 1900invention
-other (specity)
specific dates
k:EE
-
.--p.-..-.....-....
~
~
lath centuryBuilder!Architect
ent
..
IiLA
statement of Significance(in one paragraph)
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
.
.
The City of Bedford, originally called Liberty, has served as the courthouse seat
and economic hub of Bedford County since 1782. Situated in the foothills of the Blue
Ridge on an early turnpike highway between Lynchburg and Salem and on the principal
line of the old Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, Bedford prospered throughout most of
the 19th century as a major Piedmont center of tobacco manufacturing, ranking in 1881
as the fifth largest producer of tobacco in the state. In the wake of a disasterous
fire which ravaged the commercial area of the town in 1884, Bedford experienced a boom
in commercial and residential construction that issued in a major rebuilding of its
historic core as well as the subdivision of vacant town lots and surrounding farm
tracts for residential development. During the first three decades of the 20th
century, as Bedford gradually recovered from the loss of its local tobacco industry,
the built environment of the city came to assume much of its general appearance today.
The Bedford Historic District includes two hundred and forty buildings which, taken as
a whole, reflect the major events and developments that have shaped Bedford's social,
economic, political, and cultural life over two centuries. Distributed over the
city's primary commercial, residential, and industrial areas , the structures exhibit
a rich diversity of 19th- and 20th-century architectural styles and building practices.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Like many other counties Bedford County was formed out of necessity. The immense
county of Lunenburg, formed in 1746, was rapidly bein populated and the western
settlements needed a closer seat of government. In November 1753 the Coloniallegislature created a new county by dividing Lunenburg County and part of Albemarle County.
The name chosen was Bedford, in honor of John Russell, Fourth Duke of Bedford and
Secretary of State of Great Britain.
The new county held court at a series of temporary seats before establishing a
permanent one. The first court was held on May 17, 1754 in the home of Mathew Talbot.
On November 25, 1754 the county court was moved to a crudely built courthouse on the
property of William Callaway that served Bedford until 1766, when a new courthouse was
erected in the new town of New London. In 1782, however. Bedford County was divided
to form Campbell County, placing New London outside limits of the county. Once again
Bedford was in search of a new county seat.
- . To
deal with this situation, the Bedford County Court commissioned William Callaway
to survey the county in order to establish its new geographical center, and a committee
was created to view and select a site suitable for a courthouse and public buildings.
On July 22, 1782 the committee chose a tract of land of one hundred acres located on
(See Continuation Sheet #5)
9. Major Bibliographtcal Referencewee Continuation Sheet i/41)
Arnold, B.W., Jr. History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia: 1860-1894. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1897).
Bedford County Bicentennial, IPC.
Bedford County Bicentennial:
1754-1954.
Bedford, VA: Bedford County Bicentennial, Inc., 1954.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property Approx.
Quadrangle name Bedford, VA
UTM References (See Continuation
A
105 acres
Easting
--
Sheet #41)
Bm~6(613111517101
(4,1[3131213101
l
71 1614
[ 1 41 8[
[ 41 11 31 31 bi 11
Zone
1:24000
Quadrangle scale
Zone
Northing
Easting
Northing
Beginning at a point (A) located on the N side
of Washington St.; thence approximately 700' N to a point (B) on the N side of
W. Depot St.; thence approximately 100' W along N side of Depot St. to a point (C);
(See Continuation Sheet #42)
Verbal boundary d e s c r i p t i o n a n d justification
L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e o r county boundaries
state
N/A
code
county
N&
code
state
N/A
code
county
N/A
code
Form Prepared By
1
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION STAFF
--
nameltitle
VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
organization
. . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . .
street II number
city or town
August 1984
date
-
221 Governor Street
telephone
Richmond
state
-
--
(804) 786-3144
Virginia
23219
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
-national
state
-local
As the designated Slate Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 8%
s been evaluated
665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion i
according to the criteria and procedures set forth b
State Hlstoric Preservation Officer signature
n
/
H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive Director
title VIRGINIA HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
date
~ugust21, 1984
For NPS use only
I hereby certify that this property Is Included in the National Register
date
Keeper of the National Register
Attests
Chief of Registration
.
........
- .........*.....
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date
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
EXP . 1013 1 /84
National Register of Historic
Inventory-Nomination Form
BELlFORLl HISTORIC DEIRIa, BEDRXD, VA
Continuation sheet
7. DESCRIPTION
Item number 7
--
Page 1
Architectural Analysis
- Among the more eclectic houses built during the mid-19th century, the J.M.
Plunkett House on Plunkett Street is one of the best examples. This brick house
combines Greek Revival with Italianate details. Buildings exhibiting elements of
such romantic styles as the Carpenter Gothic style are rare in western Virginia,
however, the John Wharton House at 309 North Bridge Street is a representatiieexample of the style. Built around 1848, the 1%-story frame structure possesses a
cross gable roof with an ornamental bargeboard and a porch with curvilinear brackets
and decorative sawnwork.
The Italianate style in Bedford is best represented by four dwellings built
during the last decades of the 19th century: the Orville P. Bell House at 206 East
Main Street, the Charles W. Wharton House (now the Bedford Children's Library) at
319 North Bridge Street, Kingston at 512 Peaks Street, and the Martin P. Burks House
(Guy House) in the 500 block of Peaks Street. The Bell House, built in the 186Os,
is a distinctive brick house with segmental-arched windows and an unusually decorative
corbeled brick cornice. A fanciful wrought-iron porch accents the facade. The
Wharton House, built in 1883, is a much simpler brick house with a projecting front
ell and segmental-arched windows, but with no exterior ornamentation. Kingston.
built soon after 1865, is a frame structure which features such typical Italianate
features as a shallow-pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging bracketed eaves, and
heavy window molds. The Burks-Guy House, however, built in 1884, represents the
height of maturity in the Italianate style with such features as the projecting
front ell, gables partially supported by curvilinear brackets, heavy stone window
molds, wide overhanging eaves, a wide front porch, and a three-story entrance tower
capped by a hipped roof with flared eaves.
The Italianate style is also evident in several late 19th-century commercial
properties along Main and North Bridge streets in Centertown. Due to a disasterous
fire that destroyed much of the commercial area in 1884, most downtown buildings
date from the late 19th century with the Italianate style in commercial architecture
was most popular. The best example in Bedford is a group of three stores at 112
through 116 North Bridge Street.
Built as a single building around 1887, the
structure is divided into three equal sections. Heavy window molds supported by
ancons or embellished with raised swags top the second-floor fenestration of each
section while a heavy cast-iron bracketed modillion cornice extends across the entire
facade.
Other notable late 19th-century commercial structures with Italianate influenced
details include several brick buildings with decorative corbeled brick cornices,
blind arcades, and upper story segmental-arched windows with raised brick molds.
Examples include the Harrison Building, originally built in 1878 as E.H. Myler's
Store, at 118 East Main Street and two structures at 119 and 121 North Bridge
Street.
The majority of late 19th-century residences in Bedford are vernacular frame
dwellings ranging from simple company houses located near the industrial area to
stylish upper middle class houses situated along Peaks Street, Longwood Avenue, and
Bedford Avenue. Houses built for employees of the various manufactories were located
along the blocks of North and Grove streets nearest the factories. The lowest income
(See C n n t i m ~ s t i o nS h e e t 6 3 1
Continuation sheet #2
7. DESCRIPTION
Item number 7
--
Page 2
Architectural Analysis
workers apparently lived in a row of simple frame houses in the 800 block of Grove
Street, whereas more skilled workers or foremen lived in larger and more stylish
house-s built in a row along the 700 block of North Street. A certain hierarchical
social order is apparent in the location and size of these houses. Whereas- the.^^
factories and the railroad lay at the bottom of a slightly rising hill, company worker
houses were, located along the first blocks of North and Grove streets as they extend
up the hill. More stylish houses, however, were situated further north along these^
streets until reaching the summit of the hill where the owners of many of the factories
built their fashionable houses.
Rows of handsome frame houses situated along both sides of Bedford Avenue reflect
the development boom of 1890 in Bedford and present an array of various house designs
indicative of the tastes of Bedford's upper middle class.
These houses feature
asymmetrical facades, wraparound porches, a multiplicity of gables, projections, ells.
bays, shingled pediments, and decorative sawnwork.
Two large frame houses on Peaks Street, both built in the 1880s. are interesting
examples of the Stick Style. The Bowyer House and the Campbell House have lost some
of their original Stick Style details, however, they have retained their picturesque
character with their wraparound porches, irregular roof lines, shingled gables, and
turrets. Sweeping lawns extending to the street also enhance their picturesque settings.
The George L. Colgate House at 704 Baltimore Avenue is representative of yet another
late 19th-century architectural style: the Shingles Style. Built in 1892, it is a
2%-story frame house clad in wooden shingles and features rounded building corners, a
number of steeply-pitched gables, and 16/1 sash double-hung windows. A wrought-iron
fence encloses the front lawn.
The majority of houses built in Bedford during the 1890s tend to be small- to
medium-sized frame houses with a minimum of fanciful exterior trim. The poor economic
climate in the region after the boom of 1890 helps to explain the peculiar absence of
fashionable Queen Anne-style houses in the city during this period.
Undoubtedly, one of the most distinguished late 19th-century buildings in Bedford
is the handsome Bedford Masonic Hall at the corner of East Main and North Court
streets. Built in 1895, the three-story brick structure is an excellent example of
the Romanesque Revival style. The rectangular building is highlighted by pyramidalroofed corner towers that rise the height of the building. A triple-arched arcade
serves as the entrance to the building flanked by paired flat-arched windows with
stone label molds. A pair of oriel windows project from the second floor above the
entrance, while single and paired round-arched windows are seen stucco plaques bearing
Masonic emblems, a decorative wood cornice and a frieze with carved swags at each
corner tower, the Masonic Hall is a richly decorative public building, now serving as
the Bedford CityICounty Museum.
The first decades of the 20th century saw the dominance of the Colonial Revival
style in institutional and public buildings in Bedford. Beginning with the Norfolk
and Western train depot on Bedford Avenue, which was built in 1905 and moved to its
(See Continuation Sheet 8 3 )
I
I
I
I
NPS F o n r0.w-•
Da2,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet 113
Item number
7
Page 3
7. DESCRIPTION -- Architectural Analysis
present location in 1907, the Colonial Revival captured the aesthetic approval of the
general public.
The depot is a long stone structure capped by a steeply-pitched
gambrel roof with shingled upper gable ends. Both gable ends are highlighted by the
suggestion of a multipaned Palladian window complete with simulated hand-blown glass.
An oval bulls-eye attic window and a modillion cornice further enhance the Colonial
..
Revival character of the building.
- .
The Citizens Bank Building on East Main Street'is a representative example of the
Colonial Revival style in commercial architecture. It is a two-story brick building
surrounded by a paneled parapet above a full classical entablature. A row of four
freestanding Tuscan columns rises the height of the building and extends across the
facade.
Tripartite and paired 111 sash windows below flat arches with keystones
accent the front and east sides of the building.
Bedford High School is another distinctive Colonial Revival-style public building
constructed in 1928 at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street. Until
recently serving as the Bedford Elementary School, the large two-story brick structure
is composed of a central block with flanking wings. A portico in antis with stylized
Corinthian columns supporting a full entablature and pediment is the building's central
feature. An octagonal cupola with a domed roof rises above the hip-roofed central
block, while the flat-roofed wings are surrounded by parapets. Pedimented entrances
and 919 sash double-hung windows further characterize the Colonial Revival.
By the 1930s the Colonial Revival was chosen as the most appropriate style for
the new Bedford County Courthouse.
The most monumental example of the style in
Bedford. the Courthouse is a two-story brick structure composed of a central block
with recessed flanking wings. Built in 1930, it contains a handsome Ionic hexastyle
stone portico with a full entablature and a pediment containing a modillion raking
cornice and a carved emblem in the tympanum. A circular domed cupola with an open
belfry adorned with fluted Corinthian columns and decorative urns rises above a square
base centrally positioned above the portico. The flanking wings, however, are simpler
in design with plain brick pilasters and a dentil cornice and frieze extending across
the front.
The Burks-Scott County Office Building adjacent to the courthouse on East Main
Street is also a fine Colonial Revival building that was originally built as the
Bedford Post Office. Constructed in the 1930s, this brick building is especially
noted for its stone segmental-arched frontispiece entrance and its first-floor windows
recessed in round-arched brick panels. A brick stringcourse, brick quoins, brick
parapet, and a heavy wooden modillion cornice also adorn the building.
Besides public and municipal buildings, the Colonial Revival pervaded residential
architecture of the early 20th century as well. Two of the best examples in Bedford
are located at 724 College Street and 525 Longwood Avenue. The two-story frame house
on College Street was built in 1912. It features a modillion cornice, a row of
(See Continuation Sheet 14)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet 1/4
Item number
Page 4
7. DESCRIPTION -- Architectural Analysis
pedimented dormers, interior end brick chimneys, and a broken-pedimented entrance
portico. A variation in the style is seen at 525 Longwood Avenue. This two-story
brick house possesses a red tile hipped roof, tall interior end brick chimneys, an
entrance portico with paired Doric columns and a balusrraded deck, and an entrance
flanked by sidelights with an elliptical fanlight above.
- -
..
Other early 20th-century architectural styles were also popular with Bedford
contractors and residents. The Spanish Colonial Revival Bedford Elementary School was
built in 1912 at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Peaks Street. The Public
School, as it was originally called, is a two-story stucco building with projecting
end pavilions, red tile roof supported by angular brackets, and a tall stucco parapet
decorated with raised plaster panels and crenellation. Inlaid tiles in decorative
patterns adorn the stucco walls between floors. Due to the school's high degree of
architectural quality and the rarity of its style, the Bedford Elementary School is
one of the finest of its type in Virginia.
The Tudor Revival house at 803 College Street is also representative of the
eclectic architectural taste of at least one wealthy resident of Bedford. The only
example of the style in the city, it is a large Flemish-bond brick house featuring
half-timbered gables, projecting gable ells, projecting wall dormers, a steep slate
gable roof, and a massive brick chimney with a corbeled cap.
Two Gothic Revival brick churches, Main Street Methodist Church built in the
1880s. and St. John's Episcopal Church built in 1923 on North Bridge Street, are
surprisingly similar structures despite the difference in age. Each church has a
steeply-pitched gable roof, a three-story corner entrance tower toppedwithcrenellation,
brick buttresses, and pointed-arched stained-glass windows with Gothic tracery.
As popular as the colonial Revival seemed to be in upper middle class residential
architecture of the early 20th century, the Bungalow style enjoyed an equal popularity
especially among members of the middle class. Houses located at 312, 314, 403, and
405 Bedford Avenue are representative examples of variations in the bungalow mode.
All of these houses are 1%-story structures with wide front porches, however, each is
constructed in a different building material:
frame with weatherboard, brick, and
half timbering. Two of the houses have slightly pitched gable roofs with shed-roofed
dormers. Porches are either supported by massive stuccoed Doric columns or square
wooden posts on brick piers.
One of the most unusual but distinctive early 20th-century residences in Bedford
is the bungalow-influenced stucco house at 612 Longwood Avenue. Probably built in the
1920s, this 1%-story house has a slate hipped roof interrupted by flanking front
gables that face the street and provide shelter for recessed side porches with massive
Doric columns. Paired and tripled 611 sash double-hung windows and shed-roofed dormers
are typical bungalow features used in this house.
(See Continuation Sheet 8 5 )
NPS F m 1C-WO.
OM8 No. 1m4-Wl8
gaz,
Exp. 1051-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #5
7. DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7 8
Architectural Analysis
are typical bungalow features used in this house.
The buildings of Bedford's industrial.areci are
zenerally located north of the railroad
along Jackson Street, Grove Street, and Railroad Avenue. Although most of the factories
date from the early 20th century, the oldest surviving factory is a three-story,
five-course American-bond brick structure that originally houses Graves and Sale Tobacco
Manufactory as early as the 1870s. Located on Jackson Street, the building is a
representative example of the industrial buildings that lined the railroad during the
1870s and 1880s when Bedford experienced a boom in the tobacco industry. As for the
early 20th-century factories, Rubatex Company occupies the original Clark's Tobacco
Company, a three-story brick factory located on Railroad Avenue. The building features
stepped gable ends and pairs of segmental-arched windows. Hampton Looms of Virginia,
Inc., located on Grove Street, is a three-story brick factory with large multipaned
windows on each floor. A monitor roof caps this large 18-bay structure. In addition,
a four-story brick industrial building on Jackson Street features stepped gable ends
and a mansard roof.
DE
(INVENTORY BEGINS ON CONTINUATION SHEET #6)
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical ~ack~round
Bramblett's Road (now Main Street), the major route from Lynchburg to points west.
The owners, William Downey and Joseph Fuqua, donated the land to the county and each
received a lot of one-half acre in the new county seat. In October 1782 the Virginia
General Assembly established the town of Liberty on the Downey-Fuqua tract, autho izing
f
trustees to lay out streets as well as lots of one-half acre for immediate sale. The
town was the first of many communitie2 to be called by the name of Liberty in the wake
of Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown.
The Bedford County Deed Book3 provides a detailed illustration of the measured
lots and streets of the new town, laid out in a grid plan formed by the intersection
of North Bridge and Market (now Court and South) streets with Main Street. On the
southeast corner of Main and Market streets (the present site of the Bedford Bulletin
4
Building) stood the town's first courthouse, a crude log structure erected in 1782.
The original plan reserved two acres for a new courthouse to be erected on the site of
the present 1930 courthouse at what was then the northwest corner of Main and Market
streets. The first courthouse on the site was built in 1789 and stood so close to the
street that the noise of passing traffic came to interfere with the business of the
court. It was torn down in 1833 and replaced by another brick courthouse on the same
site but set back thirty feet from the street. This second courthouse, designed in
the Roman Revival style as popularized by Thomas Jefferson, was demolished in 1930
after serving as the town's most distinguished public building for nearly a century.
According to an early newspaper article, Liberty in the 1830s contained, in
addition to its courthouse, seventy dwellings, two Baptist churches and one Free5
church, two taverns, five mer nti e s ores
toba
fgee EontEnuatio:nEheet
FT2)manufactory, and two tanyards.
NPS Fom $0.-
Wa
Uniaed States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Contihuation sheet /\6
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number 7
Inventory:
-
.
.
.
AVENEL AVENUE
400 BLOCK
406:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond);
14 stories; gable roof (tile); 1 dormer; 3 bays.
1
'
-7
407:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1900s. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 hipped dormers; 3 bays; 1story, 3-bay porch.
-3
410:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910s. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
%
i
-3
412:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing Seam metal); 1 gable dormer;
3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
413:
Detached house. Greek ~evival. 1836. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 6-bay porch.
-b
.-
7
-8
414:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1920s. Wood frame
(aluminum siding) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1
hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
416:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1920s. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate) ; 3 dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch.
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (pressed tin) ; 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
-9
420:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 4 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
-
421:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. ca.1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 2 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
( S e e C o n t i n t l a t i o n Sheet / f 7 )
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT.
-. BEDFORD. VA
Cantinuationsheet #7
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Inventory:
AVENEL AVENUE (continued)
- -
400 BLOCK
'I
422:
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. c a . 1910. Wood frame (weather- .
board) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 g a b l e dormer; 3 bays ; l-bay
(center1 porch.
BALTIMORE AVENUE
600 BLOCK
,(>
'-
5
631:
Detached house. Dutch Colonial. Ca. 1920. Wooa frame (weatherb o a r d ) ; 1%s t o r i e s ; gambrel roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; l - s t o r y ,
l-bay ( c e n t e r ) porch w i t h segmental arched r o o f , Tuscan columns.
E l l i p t i c a l f a n l i g h t and s i d e l i g h t s ; p a i r e d 1/1 double-sash>.windows.
'?
*633:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1960.
bond) ; 1 s t o r y ; g a b l e roof (composition) ; 4 bays.
Brick ( s t r e t c h e r
Noncontributing.
640:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2$ s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays; l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns, t u r n e d b a l u s t r a d e .
\
700 BLOCK
~4
>((p
702:
Detached house. Modified Queen Anne. C a . 1900. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays;
l - s t o r y , 3-bay porch w i t h Tuscan columns, simple b a l u s t r a d e . Staggered
but shingled f r o n t gable, projecting f r o n t e l l .
704:
Detached house. Shingle. 1892. Wood frame (weatherboard,
s h i n g l e ) ; 2% s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s l a t e ) ; 4 bays; l - s t o r y , 2-bay porch,
t u r n e d p o s t s on p i e r s , pedimented e n t r a n c e bay. 16/1 d . s . windows,
rounded c o r n e r window on 2nd f l o o r , end b r i c k chimneys, shingled g a b l e s ,
wrought i r o n fence.
706:
Detached house. Vernacular, Ca, 1890. Wood ftame (aluminum
s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 2 bays; l - s t o r y ,
4-bay porch w i t h t u r n e d p o s t s , sawnwork. C e n t r a l b r i c k chimney,
projecting front e l l .
(See Continuation Sheet 88)
No.10)4-W(B
h p . 10-3l-84
OM8
NPS F o n I D S *
Dau
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet # g
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
Page 8
7
Inventory
BEDFORD AVENUE
300 BLOCK
-1
'
lo'
/Ifi
vacant Lot.
*311:
Ambulance Center. Contemporary. 1965. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories ; gable roof; 7 bays. Noncontributing.
312:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1930. Wood frame (shingle); 1 story;
gable roof (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
:,
314:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1930. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
Z p *315:
Fire station. Contemporary. 1970. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Noncontributing.
400 BLOCK
1
k
401:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (shingle) and
brick (stretcher bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
2
402 (L.D. Haymond House):
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 2-story, 1-bay (center)porch.
403:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame and brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch.
2
''
z1
,f
405:
Detached house. Tudor/Bungalow. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond)
and stucco; 2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
406:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard
and aluminum); 2 stories; galbe roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
407: Detached house. Vernacular. 1880. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet U 9 )
OM6 NO. 1024-W18
E X ~10-3l-84
.
NPS Form 1DOOD.
gsn
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet {{g
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 9
Inventory:
BEDFORD AVENUE (continued)
400 BLOCK (continued)
zq
-
409 (Hall-McGhee House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890-1900.
Wood frame (shiplap); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
Detached house. Vernacular. 1887. Wood
410 (L. Saunders House):
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
31
Detached house. Vernacular. 1887.
412 (William S. McKenney House):
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
3'
413:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-stody, 3-bay
porch.
53
414 (J.E. McGrath House): Detached house. Vernacular. 1887. Wood
frame (novelty); 1+ stories; gable roof (slate); 1 dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
ju/
415:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
f
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch.
500 BLOCK
501 (Graham Claytor House):
Detached house.
Vernacular.
1900.
Wood
3@ frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; 2-story, 6-bay porch.
3.l
502:
Detached house. Modified Queen Anne. 1910. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch.
7'
506 (Dr. R.G. O'Hara House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca.1890.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet
#lo)
--
NPS F o n IC-OOb.
091
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet //lo
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 10
Inventory:
BEDFORD AVENUE (continued)
500 BLOCK (continued)
36,
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
"
510 (James M. Berry House): Detached house. Vernacular. 1900. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch.
L\(
4
514:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1910. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay
porch.
516:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1930. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2 stories; gambrel roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-svry, 1-bay
(center) porch.
i
Bedford Train Depot. Colonial Revival. Wood frame (shingle) and
stone (coursed ashlar); 1 story; gambrel roof (composition); 13 bays;
2 1-story porches with 1 bay (center) each. Built in 1905, moved to
present site in 1907.
('
NORTH BRIDGE STREET
100 BLOCK
''
*101:
Commercial (office). Contemporary. 1970s.
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
Concrete panel;
102:
Commercial (store). Romanesque Revival. 1890s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 5 bays. Semicircular, brick arches; castiron cornice with decorative frieze; remodeled storefront.
rl (b
107:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 3 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Castellated parapet;
recessed vertical window panels with stucco spandrels; remodeled storefront
.
47
108:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (cast iron
facade); 2 stories; parapet roof. Remodeled first floor, notable
cast iron front.
(see Continuation Sheet tll)
NPS Form 109001
09)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet /I11
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Paae
11
Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
- -
.
l/g
*lo9 :
Commercial (store) Contemporary. Ca. 1960s. Stucco with
ceramic tile; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
'44
110:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (cast
iron facade); 3 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Notable cast iron
front, remodeled 1st story store front.
59
111-113:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (irregular
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 7 bays. Cast-iron decorative cornice;
segmental arched windows; retained storefront cornices; remodeled
storefronts.
.
112-114-116:
Commercial (store). Italianate. 1880s. Wood frame
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 9 bays. Large casC;iron
bracketed modillion cornice spans; 2/2 double sash 2nd floor windows
with decorative and bracket window cornices; remodeled storefronts;
remodeled facades.
Ct
115-117:
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. Early 20th century.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 7 bays. Bracketed
modillion cornice; brick pilasters across second story; brick jack
arches and keystone over 1/1 double-sash windows on end second floor;
remodeled storefront.
$5
118:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. late 19th century. Brick
(irregular American bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Blocked in
2nd floor windows; remodeled storefront.
i'Y
f3/
119:
bond);
brick,
mental
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
2 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice with
recessed, paneled parapet above and recessed panels below; segarched windows; remodeled storefront.
121:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. late 19th century. Brick
(irregular bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice;
recessed brick panels; blind brick arcade; segmental arched windows;
remodeled storefront.
(See Continuation Sheet #12)
NPS F O m 1C-WD.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
InveaPoay-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continoat~onsheet #12
7. DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
12
Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-
'b
122:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(9-course American bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Glass block
second-floor windows; retains original storefront transam.
57
124:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Segmental arched
windows on second floor; remodeled storefront.
200 BLOCK
201-203:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick; 2 stories;
flat roof; 7 bays. Cast-iron cornice with brackets; recessed brick
panels; 2/2 double-sash windows on second floor; retains cornice over
remodeled storefront.
%
f;f
/
$7
202:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Shingled false
front; retains original storefront transom.
b0
205:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond) ;
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Corbeled brick cornice; recessed brick
panel; 6/6 double-sash windows on second story; retains first-story
cornice over remodeled storefront.
'
*206-208:
Commercial (office/store). Contemporary. 1960s. Brick
(stretcher bond) ; 1 story; flat roof; 5 bays. Noncontributing.
(39,
207 (Bedford Theatre):
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th
century. Brick (stretcher bond); 1 story; flat roof; 3 bays. Retains
bracketed first-story cornice over remodeled storefront.
b?J
210-212:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood
frame (shingle); 2 story; parapet roof; 5 bays. Shingled false front;
bracketed cornice; retains original storefront, fenestration and cornice.
IPL(
Parking Lot.
I
(
Bridge. 1906. Stone-arched railroad overpass; solid bridge railings;
eatures pinnacles with lanterns at both ends.
(See Continuation Sheet #13)
--
.
NPS Form 1DRIO.
W)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORC HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD, VA
continuation sheet 1/13
Item number
Page 1 3
7
7. _DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
300 BLOCK
)
blp
-
-
305:
Church. Greek Revival/Modern. 1847/1952. Brick (stretcher
and Flemish variant); 3 stories; gable roof (composition); 4 bays.
Originally St. John's Episcopal Church (ca. 1847); now remodeled as
Christian Church.
*306:
Gas Station. Contemporary.
1970s.
Brick (stretcher bond);
(0/1 1 story; mansard roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
1
b[
309 (John Wharton Residence): Detached house. Carpenter Gothic. 1848.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ;
3 bays; 2-story, 3-bay porch. John A. Wharton was an Episcopal clergyman. lawyer, mayor of Liberty 1840-49, judge of county court 1870-80.
bJ'
314:
Church. Gothic Revival. 1923.
story; gable roof (slate); 4 bays.
8)
[&r,ql-h)
1I
Brick (4-course Amgrican); I
319:
Library. Italianate. Ca. 1883. Brick (stretcher bond) ; 2
stories; gable root (composition); 3 bays; 1 - s t , 3-bay porch.
320:
Detached house. Greek Revival. Ca. 1840. Brick (Flemish
variant bond) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays;
2-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Once the home of VA Senator Hunter Miller.
*321:
Library. Colonial Revival. 1942. Brick (Flemish bond);
1 story; hipped roof (slate); 5 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
'?"'
Non-contributing.
400 BLOCK
13
14
$
,
403:
Commercial (store/duplex). Vernacular. 1890. Wood frame
(clapboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 4 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch.
404:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910s. Wood frame (weatherboard) ; 2% stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 gable dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
*407:
Gas Station. Contemporary. 1950s.
flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing.
Concrete block; 1 story;
(See Continuation Sheet # 1 4 )
NPS Fonn 10000.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet
#14
7.
Item number
7
Page 14
- DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
NORTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
400 BLOCK (continued)
>
I'
.
*412:
Commercial (office/store). Ranch. 1960s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 1 story; gable roof (composition); 6 bays. Noncontributing.
SOUTH BRIDGE STREET
100 BLOCK
17
13
101
107:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Bracketed modillion cornice
above second floor; box cornice above first floor; partially remodeled
storefront.
109:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 1 story; flat roof; 3 bays. BOX cornice above lead$$-glass
transom; partially remo'deled storefront.
*Ill:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Brick (false stone
veneer); 1 story; flat roof; 4 bays. Box cornice retained; totally
remodeled storefront (1950s).
30
112:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1920. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; parapet roof; 8 bays. Paneled parapet; corbeled brick cornice;
brick pilasters divide facade; remodeled windows and doors.
$1
116:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental
brick window arches; original storefront.
{'
117:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher/irregular-course American bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Corbeled
brick cornice with parapet above; 212 double-sash windows on second
floor; 10-light transom above remodeled storefront.
65
117A:
Commercial(store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (irregular-course
American bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 2 bays. Corbeled brick cornice;
second-floor windows blocked; 8-light transom over remodeled storefront.
&'/
118:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental brick window arches; remodeled storefront.
(See Continuation Sheet #15)
--
NPS F
Da2)
m
OM8 NO.1024-0018
EXP. 10-n-e4
1C-90C-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #15
7. DESCRIPTION -
-
Item number
Page 15
7
Inventory:
SOUTH BRIDGE STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-- -. . .
%
119:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 2 bays. Corbeled brick cornice; blocked
second-story windows over remodeled storefront.
$b
120:
Vacant Lot.
121:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Flared jack arches over
second-floor windows; cast-iron, bracketed cornice; remodeled storefront.
f'1
122:
Commercial (store). Vernacular, 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Hounds tooth brick cornice; segmental
brick arches over blocked windows on second floor; 5-light transom over
storefront; storefront cornice retained.
j'J
1
r
123:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
3 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Brick pilasters supporting full entablature; paneled parapet above; paried 1/1 double-sash windows with
flared brick jack arches and keystones.
I
(
qc
5
\
q
124:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 3 bays. Iron bracketed cornice with
decorative frieze; 2/2 double-sash windows with segmental brick arches;
8-light transom over storefront.
126:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1900. Brick (5-course American
bond); 2 stories; shed roof ; 4 bays. Box cornice; 2/2 double-sash
windows with segmental brick arches; storefront cornice retained with
( .-light transom; remodeled storefront.
700 BLOCK
7%
705: Detached house. Cottage. 1930s. Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories;
gable roof (slate); 1 shed dormer; 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side) porch.
708:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
(See Continuation Sheet # 1 6 )
NPS Form 10.900.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of 'Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet /I16
7.
- DESCRIPTION --
Item number
Page 16
7
InVentOTy:
COLLEGE STREET (continued
-~
-~- ..
-
700 BLOCK (continued)
~
4q
709:
Detached house. Shingle. 1890s. Wood frame (shingle) and stone
(random rubble) ; 2% stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
4-bay porch.
710:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
1% stories; gable roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
2-bay porch.
j
L
\v qb
714:
Detached house. Greek Revival. 1843. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays.
715 (Liberty Sanitarium): Apartment building. Vernacular. 1887.
Wood frame (shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 7
bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Built in 1887 for indigent women
and children of the town and county, used as hospital only 3 years,
later used as boarding house, apartments, etc.
q]
720:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1910s. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 2 dormers; 5 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
94
721 (Mrs. Frederick Nichol House): Detached house. Verancular. 1890s.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
1 bay; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
/ Oi'
722:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (shingle); 14
stories; gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay
porch.
IF)
724:
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1912. Wood frame (clapboard);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-stoq, 1-bay
"1912".
(center) porch. Date on gutter down spout
-
732 (William McGhee House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch.
800 BLOCK
10.'
803:
Detached house. Tudor Revival. 1930s. Brick (Flemish bond);
2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch.
(See Continuation Sheet 117)
--
NPS Fom 1 D W l
em
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet !I17
7.
Item number
7
Page 1 7
- DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
COLLEGE STREET (continued)
800 BLOCK (continued)
l b
806:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1910s. Wood frame (weathey-.
board) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped dormer;
2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch.
NORTH COURT STREET
200 BLOCK
210:
Church. Vernacular. 1907. Wood frame (bricktex); 1 story;
gable roof (composition); 5 bays. Stained glass windows; pointed arch
paneled transom over door.
216:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1920s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story;, 1-bay
(side) porch with tapering wood posts on brick piers.
300 BLOCK
302:
Commercial (store).
Vernacular.
Late 19th century. Brick
(composition);
Stepped gable end; original storefront.
,u
(Flemish-American
I
variant) ; 2 stories; gable stepped roof
3 bays.
WEST DEPOT STREET
200 BLOCK
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (5-course
206:
American bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Segmental-arched windows
on second floor; storefront columns retained.
208-210: Warehouse. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Brick (stretcher bond);
lo 1 2 stories; flat roof; 7 bays. Recessed brick panels across facade;
segmental-arche& windows and doors.
GROVE STREET
700 BLOCK
*704:
Apartment Building. Contemporary. 1960s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) on 2nd floor and brick (stretcher bond) on 1st floor; 2 stories;
110 gable roof (composition); 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with recessed,
square posts. Noncontributing.
(See Continuation Sheet #18)
NPS F o n 10-WD.
DM
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
Pdational Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/18
7.
DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page 18
Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
I((
,z,
I
*706:
Apartment Building. Contemporary. 1960s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) on 2nd floor and brick (stretcher bond) on 1st floor; 2 stories;
gable roof (composition); 4 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with recessed,
square posts. Noncontributing.
707:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square wooden columns on brick piers. 2/2 double-sash windows;
exposed rafter ends; interior end chimney.
708:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch with square posts, simple balustrade. Door with
transom and sidelights.
1
709:
Detached house. Vernacular. Mid to late 19th century. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3
I I ~
bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with square columns, simple balustrade.
Interior end brick chimneys; paired bracketed cornice; door with transom
and sidelights.
710:
Detached house. Verancular. Mid- to late 19th century. Wood
frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
I-story, 1-bay (center) porch with paired square posts, scalloped
bargeboard. Central brick chimney.
*711:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
14
stories;
gable roof (composition); 2 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
,[q
1-bay (center) porch with square posts, broken pediment. Non-contributing.
(17
714:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2% stories; gable roof (pressed tin) ; 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square posts, cutout-pattern balustrade. Staggered butt-shingled gable in projecting front ell; transom over door.
'
715:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard]; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch, square posts with brackets. Rectangular
bay window; projecting front ell; transom and sidelights at entrance.
(See Continuation Sheet #19)
OMS Na 1024-0018
Exp. 10-31-84
NPS Form 10.900..
Dp,
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Cont~nuationsheet
!I19
Item number
7
Page
19
7. -DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
114
1.10
-
.
716:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story
3-bay porch with square posts, simple balustrade. Bay window; projecting
front ell; door with sidelights and tansom.
721 (Robert T. Aunspaugh House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Late
19th century. Wood frame (aluminum siding); 2 stories; gable roof (slate);
3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with slender columns. 2 projecting front
ells; rectangular projecting bay window; used as Liberty Female Institute
before 1890.
800 BLOCK
(i!l
801:
Detached house. , Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frameL(aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with wrought-iron support.
lzZ
803:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square post. 2-light transom over door.
l3
*804:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1950s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square post, simple balustrade. Noncontributing.
805:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
1 2 ~(side) porch with square post. Decorative filigree around attic vent.
IZ
(
807:
Detached house. verancular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch with square post. 2-light transom over door; decorative filigree attic vent.
809:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (side) porch.
,2:
811:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch
with square posts, simple balustrade. Frame store on Church St. attached.
(See Continuation Sheet #20)
NPS Frim * O W .
04
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet #20
Item number
Page
7
20
7. -DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
GROVE STREET (continued)
8
Industrial Building.
roof; 7 bays.
1920s.
Brick (stretcher bond) ; 1 story; flat
Industrial Building (Hampton Looms of Virginia, Inc.)
(stretcher bond); 3 stories; flat roof; 19 bays.
1"'
.
1930s.
- -
Brick
Industrial Building and Office (Hampton Looms of Virginia, Inc.).
1 5 0 1920/1950 office. Brick (6-course American bond); 2 stories; monitor
roof; 10 bays.
JACKSON STREET
Industrial Building. Industrial. 1900.
gable roof (corrugated iron); 18 bays.
Corrugated iron; 4 Stories;
$.
\ 3 t (Ansbach Cemetery):
133
Cemetery.
1814-present.
Industrial Building. Ca. 1910. Brick (stretcher bond); 4 stories;
mansard roof (pressed tin); 10 bays.
400 BLOCK
414:
Industrial (Graves and Sale Tobacco Manufactory). 1870s with
additions. Brick (5-course American) ; 3 stories; gable roof; 8 bays.
f
\3
Railroad Building. Industrial. Ca. 1910s. Wood Frame (corrugated
iron) ; 2 stories; shed roof (corrugated iron); 10 bays.
500 BLOCK
1
' '1
503:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 5 bays. ~esidence
attached at rear; barred double-sash windows; paneled double-door entry;
shed lateral addition.
507:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (center) porch with square posts. 2 interior brick
chimneys; 6/6 double-sash windows.
(See Continuation Sheet 821)
-.
OMB NaiOZ4-W18
Exp. 1011-84
NPS Form lC-9W4
P;2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Pllational Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuat~onsheet 1/21
Item number
7
7. _DESCRIPTION -- Inventory:
JACKSON STREET (continued)
500 BLOCK
(continued)
- -
(9'
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with turned posts, brackets. Interior end brick stacks.
\)74
510:
Detached house. Vernacular. Mid-19th century. Wood frame
(shingle); 14 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
enclosed porch. Large central brick chimney; scalloped bargeboard on
gable end and rear.
.
LEE STREET
400 BLOCK
'-.
415:
Detached house. ' Bungalow. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14
stories;
gable roof '(composition); 1 gable dormer; 2 bays, 1-story,
(q0
2-bay porch with tapered, square columns on piers, shingled balustrade.
d(
417:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); l'r stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with tall square posts, bracketed cornice, triangular pediment.
Bracketed cornice; possibly former school.
500 BLOCK
,q,z
3
,
505:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(side) porch.
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1970.
*506:
bond) ; 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays.
Brick (stretcher
Noncontributing.
508:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Brick (stretcher bond);
14 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with square posts on brick piers.
/ 509:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
1 story, gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays. Exposed rafters;
raised basement; 6/1 double-sash windows.
(See Continuation Sheet 1\22)
I
OMB Na1024-0018
E x p 10-31-84
NPS Form 10000.
Da2)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 822
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
I
Page 2 2
Inventory:
LEE STREET (continued)
500 BLOCK (continued)
\dld
--
512 (Clinkinbeard House):
Detached house. Vernacular., Mid- to late
19th century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch with square posts,
lattice frieze. 6/6 double-sash windows; exterior end brick chimneys;
door with sidelights.
, d ~ *516
:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1950. Wood frame (weatherboard); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch with paired posts supporting a broken pediment. Noncontributing.
600 BLOCK
604:
Detached house. vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame vinyl siding) ;
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-stofy, enclosed
porch. Central brick chimney.
~ q f2
\44
*606:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1970. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 3 bays. Non-contributing.
@
607:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (weatherboard);
1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal); 4 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with paired, slender posts on brick piers, simple balustrade.
,<
609:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1920. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 1 story; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch with paired, slender posts on brick piers, simple
balustrade.
,
612:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(Shingle); 2$ stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer;
2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay porch with square columns on brick piers, simple
balustrade.
).I)
613:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1910. Wood frame (shingle); 1#
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square posts, simple balustrade. Gable end faces street; paired
first-floor windows.
I<q
*621:
Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1955. Wood frame (shingle);
I# stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story, screened porch. -Non-contributing.
(See Continuation Sheet 123)
OM8 No. 1D14-Mn8
h p . 10-31-84
NPS F o n 1DOW.
0
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD H I S T O R I C DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet # 2 3
7.
- DESCRIPTION --
7
Page
23
Inventory:
LONGWOOD AVENUE
500 BLOCK
Detached house. Colonial Revival. 1900s. Wood frame (weatherEE::d);
2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 3 dormers; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
3-bay porch.
\"
-
<
> 503
1.
,
@
'
(Bedford High School) : School. Colonial Revival. 1928. Brick
(5-course American v a r i a n t ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 12 bays;
2 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
School. Spanish Colonial Revival. 1912. Stucco; 2 s t o r i e s ; f l a t
r o o f ; 7 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay ( c e n t e r ) porch.
@
510:
Detached house. American Foursquare.
1910s. Wood frame (weatherb o a r d ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 1 hipped dormer;
4 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay porch.
I<?
516:
Detached house. Vernacular.
1880s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam m e t a l ) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 3-bay
porch. O r i g i n a l l y l o c a t e d on s i t e of p r e s e n t Bedford Elementary School,
moved a c r o s s s t r e e t on Longwood Avenue.
&\,\
<7 517:
i*o
b
lb7
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. 1910. Wood frame (aluminum
s i d i n g ) ; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s l a t e ) ; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
5-bay porch.
524:
Detached house. Vernacular.
1880s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay
( c e n t e r ) porch.
525:
Detached house. C o l o n i a l Revival. 1920s. Brick ( s t r e t c h e r bond);
24 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( t i l e ) ; 2 hipped dormers; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y , 1-bay
( c e n t e r ) porch, c l a s s i c a l l y pure.
600 BLOCK
,
,(,?
607 ( D r . J . I . Smith House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood
frame; 2 s t o r i e s ; hipped roof ( s t a n d i n g seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1 - s t o r y ,
5-bay porch.
*610:
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick ( s t r e t c h e r bond);
s t o r i e s ; g a b l e roof (composition) ; 2 dormers; 3 bays. Iioncontributing.
I b q 14
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 4 )
OMB NO. 1024-Mn8
NPS F e n 1O.W.
Op)
Eip. 10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
1/24
7. -DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
24
Inventory:
LONGWOOD AVENUE (continued)
?
600 BLOCK (continued)
(&
.
611 (Lauriston A. Sale House) :
Detached house. Second ~ i ~ i r e .
1870s.
wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 4-bay porch.
\
612:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Stucco; 24 stories; hipped
roof (slate); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center), 2-bay (side)
porch.
1
700 BLOCK
n
IlJi
702:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square posts, sawnwork.
1
r
704:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 2-bay
porch with square posts, sawnwork.
*705:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1970s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14
stories;
gable roof (wood shingle); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with
)bq
slender square posts, simple balustrade. Non-contributing.
706 :
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (bricktex); 24
stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with square wood posts.
710:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay
porch with square wood posts.
Detached house. Colonial Revival. Ca. 1910. Wood frame (weather24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch with Tuscan columns; turned balustrade.
714:
11%'
board) ;
715:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard,
shingle); 24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch
wlth turned posts, sawnwork, spindle frieze, turned balustrade.
,
(See Continuation Sheet #25)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Senrice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Cont~nuationsheet 1/25
7.
-
DESCRIPTION
MN&OOD
7
Page 25
'Inventory:
AVENUE (continued)
700 BLOCK (continued)
-
)01
\
.
719:
Detached house. Queen Anne. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2b stories; gable roof (composition); 2 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with
, Tuscan columns, turned balustrade.
) 725 :
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
14 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with Tuscan
176
*726:
Detached house. Neo-Colonial. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay
(center) porch with paired Tuscan columns, balustraded deck. Non-contributing.
117
729:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1920s. Wood frame (aluminum siding) ;
24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays.
,l d
730:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1930s. Brick (stretcher bond);
2% stories; hipped roof; 1 hipped dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with square wood posts on brick piers.
5
733:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900s. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch with Tuscan columns.
800 BLOCK
kLl;4\,q~)
801:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay
0 porch with turned posts, scroll brackets, turned balustrade.
lb
,I,
I
802:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2% stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 4 bays; 1-story,
1-bay (center) porch with Tuscan columns.
805:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story.
,aw5-bay porch with square wood posts with brackets, plain balustrade.
\
EAST MAIN STREET
100 BLOCK
\'
100 (Hopkins and St. Clair): Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late
19th century. Brick (irregular bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays.
Decorative cast-iron cornice with cresting; corbeled brick below;
segmental-arched windows; remodeled storefront. (See Continuation Sheet { j 2 , j )
NPS Form 10-WD.
OMB Na lm4-CQ18
Eap. 10-31-84
Ow
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/26
7.
DESCRPTION
Item number
--
7
Page 26
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
103: Commercial s o r e . Romanesque Revival. 1890s. Brick (stretche;
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 2 bays. Blind arcade on second floor;
cast-iron bracketed cornice with paneled frieze and central triangular
pediment topped by finial; remodeled storefront on first floor.
,$Y
104:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(irregular bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Cast-iron cornice
with cresting; corbeled brick below; segmental-arched, second-floor
windows; remodeled storefront.
(
[
(\1 1 '
187
-~ ..
1
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. 1914. Brick (stretcher bond);
2 stories, parapet roof; 5 bays. Tuscan columns on stone piers across
front supporting full entsblature and parapet; 1/1 double-sash windows
)with flared brick jack arches and keystones; transoms overi2 doorways
wlth geometric tracery,'
EASEMENT
106:
Commercial (store). Colonial Revival. Early 20th century.
Brick (stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Modillion
cornice with brick parapet above; brick pilasters across second floor;
rusticated pilasters on first floor; dentil cornice between first and
second floors; remodeled storefront.
108:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays. Stepped brick parapet;
611 windows; remodeled storefront.
1'4
190
141
114:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays. Segmental-arched
windows; original storefront and oornice; box cornice above second
dloor; parapet above.
*116:
Commercial (office), Vernacular. Late 19th century. Brick
(stretcher bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 4 bays. Remodeled facade.
Non-contributing.
118:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. 1878. Brick (stretcher bond);
3 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Decorative brick cornice; decorative brick
window molds; 2/1 double-sash windows; remodeled storefront
.
(See Continuation Sheet # 2 7 )
- .-.
.
-
-.
- --
NPS F m I D W *
ExP. (0-31-84
pa,
I
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet #27
- -
-
7.
-
DESCRIPTION
--
Item n u m k
7
Page 27
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
100 BLOCK (continued)
-
119 (Bedford U.S. Post Office):
Government Building. Georgian Revival.
Ca. 1930. Brick (Flemish bond); 2 stories; parapet roof; 5 bays.
Stone frontispiece doorway with Jonie pilasters and segmental pediment,
broken by stone cartouche; windows highlighted by recessed brick arched
panels, flared brick jack arches; brick belt course, brick quoins;
bracketed modillion cornice.
IqZ.
Bedford County Court House. Colonial Revival. 1930. Brick (Flemish
bond); 2 stories; 13 bays; 2-story, 5-bay porch with ionic columns,
modillion cornice triangular pediment, carved tymparum. Central block
with flanking wings; brick pilasters and stone entablature and stone
watertable at wings; circular cupola with decorative urns and fluted
corinthian columns and open belfry.
?''*:)q?
1
L
*124: Commercial (store),
Contemporary. 1960s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; flat roof; 6 bays. Non-contributing.
.
,Clf
*124A:
Commercial (store)
Contemporary. 1960. Brick (stretcher
bond); 2 stories; flat roof; 3 bays. Noncontributing. (ANNEX)
*130:
Commercial (office). Contemporary. 1970s. Stone (random
1 story; flat roof; 1 bay. Noncontributing.
lqb rubble);
200 B M C K
Bedford Masonic Hall. Romanesque Revival. 1895. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 3 stories; hipped roof (slate); 5 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (side)
porch with Romanesque Revival stone arch. Pyramidal roofed corner
pavilions; decorative wooden cornice; central, triple Romanesque
arcade; egg and dart terra cotta belt course between 2nd and 3rd story;
rectangular projecting oriel windows on 2nd floor.
lq7
.
202 :
Commercial (office) Vernacular. Late 19th century. Stucco;
2 stories; parapet roof; 4 bays. Wide overhanging eaves with brackets;
parapet above; clipped corner entrance.
~
~
d
206 (Orville P. Bell House):
Detached house. Italianate. 1860s.
Brlck (stretcher bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal);
I bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with ornamental iron work. Corbeled
brick cornice; segmental arched brick window molds; transom and
sidelights.
\
,
~
~
(See Continuation Sheet 828)
-
NPS Form 1C-WD.
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
InvenPory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet ij28
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Inventory:
EAST MAIN STREET (continued)
200 BLOCK (continued)
- -
210 (Mary F. Fisher House):
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Ca. 1885.
Brick (stretcher bond) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, b a y porch, posts with s a w n o r k Segmental-arched, secondfloor windows; projecting front ell; rectangular bay window.
,31)
pLm\&'
f1°
['
-
'
212:
Main Street United Methodist Church.
Gothic Revival.
1880s.
;@ 14I 329 Brick (5-course American bond); 1 story; gable roof (slate); 3 bays.
8
Corner brick belltower with castellation; pointed-arch
windows.
stained glass
WEST MAIN STREET
100 BLOCK
?j.
105 :
Liberty ~resb~teiian
Church. Greek Revival. 1844. Brick
(Flemish bond), front- (stretcher bond); 1 story; gable roof
sides
(standing seam metal); 1 bay; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch, doric
7,-portico in antis. Square, louvred belfry with paneled pilasters,
surmounted by spire; full entablature and triangular pediment; castiron fence.
-
2
MOUNTAIN AVENUE
600 BLOCK
7
Zb/
634:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Wood frame (weatherboard);
2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 hipped dormers; 3 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch.
NORTH STREET
600 BLOCK
(BLN
k"'
p?
601:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (composition); I bays; I-Story.
6-bay porch, Tuscan columns, simple balustrade.
n$'
*604:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1960s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1 story; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
Z' b
607 (Episcopal Rectory):
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th Century.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metalrf
3 bays; 1-story, 5-bay porch with Tuscan columns, turned balustrade. Door
with transom and sidelights; one interior end brick chimney; 6/6 double(See Continuation Sheet a291
sash windows.
- ..
NPS Form 1 0 W D O
Dtr)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 8 2 9
7.
DESCRIPTION
Item number
--
7
Page
29
Inventory:
NORTH STREET (continued)
600 BLOCK (continued)
?a/?
2''
-
-
608:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal) ; 3 bays;
l-story, 3-bay porch with wrought-iron supports. Projecting front ell;
door with transom and sidelights.
609 (James A. Logwood House):
Detached house. Vernacular. Prior to 1887.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch, cutout pattern balustrade, missing elements of
original porch frieze. Projecting gabled front ell with rectangular bay
window; double sash windows with stained glass borders in upper sash;
round attic vents.
612:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard);
24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-stpry, 2-bay
ZdC1 porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Projecting front ell
with shingled gable.
3'
613:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
l-story, 5-bay porch with square posts, spindle brackets, turned balustrade.
211
615:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories, gable roof (composition); 3 bays; l-story,
5-bay porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Projecting front
ell, paired 1/1 double-sash windows; transom over door.
616:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1920s. Wood frame (weatherboard);
stories;
gable roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; l-story,
212'
2-bay porch with square columns, simple balustrade.
d3
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th
617 (J.W. Johnston House):
century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 2 l-story, l-bay (side) porches, central projecting
front bay flanked by l-bay porches. Interior end brick chimneys;
gabled front projecting ell; door with elliptical fanlight and sidelights; segmental hood supported by Doric columns at door.
(See Continuation Sheet #30)
- .
NPS Form ( O W *
OM8 Nal024-0m8
Exp. tO-3l-84
08)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/30
7. DESCRIPTION
--
--
Item number
7
page 30
Inventory:
NORTH STREET (continued)
--
600 BLOCK (continued)
zjL/
2'
(
618 (Presbyterian Church Parsonage): Detached house. Vernacular. Late
19th century. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with square posts, decorative
frieze. Bay window at projecting front ell; door with transom and
sidelights; service addition to north.
701:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(aluminum siding) ; 2 stories; gable roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay (original) porch with paired Tuscan columns, plain posts on addition
porch bays. Projecting front ell with bay window on first floor.
*703:
Detached house. Contemporary. 1970s. Brick (str%tcher bond);
1 story, gable roof (cdmposition); 4 bays. ~oncontributing:
2~~
707:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with turned posts, sawnwork. Shingled gable on
projecting front ell.
718
709:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with wrought-iron supports and railing. Central
brick chimney; projecting front ell.
711:
Detached house. Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays;
1-story, 3-bay porch with turned posts, sawnwork. Shingled gable on
projecting front ell.
OAK STREET
800 BLOCK
7-2*
'
809:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1920. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped dormer;
3 bays. Paired 6/1 double-sash windows.
*810-812:
Double-house. Vernacular. Ca. 1940. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 14 stories; gable roof (composition); 2 gable dormers; 4 bays;
1-story, 1-bay (side) porch with square posts, gable. Noncontributing.--
.
(See Continuation Sheet 831)
- .
OMB No.1024-W(8
Eip. 1031-84
NPS F m IC-WO?
pa)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDMRD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Item number
Continuation sheet 831
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
7
Page 31
Inventory:
OAK STREET (continued)
-.
800 BLOCK (continued)
,73*
811:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1920. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch with Tuscan columns, simple balustrade. Massive interior brick chimneys with corbeled caps; transom
over door.
IZ 9
813:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 24 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal) ; 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; 1-story, 4-bay porch with Tuscan columns, simple balustrade. Massive interior brick chimneys with corbeled caps.
2 %
817:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (aluminum
siding) ; 24 stories; hipped roof (slate); 3 bays; 1-story, 3-bay porch
with Tuscan columns, simple balustrades. Decorative gable.? treatment.
f *818: Detached house. Contemporary. Ca. 1980. Wood frame (aluminum
'ZZ siding); 1 story; gable roof (composition); 5 bays. Noncontributing.
PEAKS STREET
500 BLOCK
7a6
507:
Detached house. American Foursquare. 1920s. Brick (stretcher
bond) ; 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 hipped dormer; 2 bays;
1-story, 2-bay porch.
,&? *509:
L
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1% stories; gable roof (composition); 4 bays. Noncontributing.
?J
*511:
Detached house. Bungalow. 1940. Brick (Flemish bond); 14
stories; hipped roof (composition); 1 shed dormer; 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch. Noncontributing.
( d f i141-b>
512 ("Kingston"): Detached house. Italianate. 1870s. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch.
2, z'i
zj0
*515:
Detached house. Cape Cod. 1950s. Brick (stretcher bond);
1% stories; gable roof (wood shingle); 3 gable dormers; 3 bays; 1-story,
5-bay porch. Noncontributing.
(See Continuation Sheet a 3 2 )
.
. -~
..
OM8 Na1024-0018
Ex. 204-ed
NPS F m 1DW.
Op)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
W32
Item number
7
Page 32
7. .DESCRIPTION-Inventory:
PEAKS STREET (continued)
-. -
500 BLOCK (continued)
2%
520 (Martin P. Burks House):
Detached house. Italianate.. 1884.
Brlck (stretcher bond); 2 stories; gable roof (slate); 3 bays; l-story,
2-bay porch.
600 BLOCK
602: Detached house, Vernacular. Late 19th century. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 1 story; hipped roof (composition); 3 bays. (reportedly
used as a schoolhouse.)
2?''
$v)
604 ("Chestnut Hill") : Detached house. Greek Revival. 1845. Brick
(Flemish bond); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays;
ZT? l-story, l-bay (center) porch.
1
L
606:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1840. Brick (Flemish bond); 1 story;
gable roof; 3 bays. (Originally an outbuilding for "Chestnut Hill".)
'"
23(*608: Detached house. Ranch. 1960s. Brick (stretcher bond) ; 1 story;
hipped roof (composition); 3 bays. Noncontributing.
(1 613
(Dr. Bowyer House):
Detached house. Stick style. 1880s. Wood
frame (weatherboard and shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam
metal); 4 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
q37
616 (Aunspaugh-Boan House):
Detached house. Vernacular. 1890s.
Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal);
3 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
621 (Judge Campbell House):
Detached house. Stick Style. 1880s.
Wood frame (weatherboard/shingle); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam
g metal); 4 bays; l-story, 4-bay porch.
.
/
'25
624:
Detached house. American Foursquare. Ca. 1910. Wood frame
(weatherboard); 2 stories; hipped roof (standing seam metal); 1 hipped
dormer; 3 bays; l-story, 3-bay porch.
700 BLOCK
,$@
702:
Detached house. Vernacular. 1880s. Wood frame (aluminum siding);
2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 3 bays; l-story, l-bay
-(center) porch.
(See Continuation Sheet #33)
- ..
OMB No.lCQ4-W(8
Exp. X)-%-M
NPS Fonn 1D.WD.
ga)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet #33
7. - DESCRIPTION
--
Item number
7
Page
33
Inventory:
PLUNKETT STREET
(J.M. Plunkett House):
Detached house. Greek Revival. 1860s.
Brick (5-course American bond); 3 stories; hipped roof (standing
seam metal); 3 bays; 1-story, 1-bay (center) porch. Rail (supports
porch) dated 1877.
fq(
QUARLES STREET
1000 BLOCK
1007:
Detached house. Vernacular. Ca. 1900. Wood frame (weatherboard); 2 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 2 bays; 1-story,
3-bay porch, simple balustrade, simple posts.
Zq'
RAILROAD AVENUE
.Zq3
Industrial Building (Clark's Tobacco Co.). 1910s. Brick @tretcher
bond); 34 stories; gable roof (standing seam metal); 11 bays.
SOUTH STREET
200 BLOCK
201-207:
Commercial (office). Vernacular. Late 19th century.
(Glemish-American variant); 2 stories; parapet roof; 10 bays.
Corbeled brick cornice; altered fenestration; remodeled office fronts.
z C I ~ Brick
7'1
( 209:
Commercial (store). Vernacular. Early 20th century. Brick
(stretcher bond) ; 1 story; parapet roof; 3 bays. Stepped parapet with
stucoo brock panel; plate-glass windows.
-
. ..
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet a34
Item number 8
Page
2
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
Among its 350 inhabitants were three house carpenters, one wheelwright, two turners,
nine attorneys and four physicians. The older of the Baptist meeting houses stood on
the present site of the Exxon station on North Bridge Street from 1804 until 1850.
The Masonic Hall, erected by Liberty Lodge AF & AM !I95 as a lodge, school, and meeting-.
house for various denominations in 1828, stood at 309 East Main Street. The two
taverns which stood in the town in 1830--the Bell Tavern, built in 1787 by John Otey
at East Main and Market streets as Liberty's first tavern, and the Eagle Tavern, built
in 1819 on the northeast corner of East Main and Court streets--catered to tr velers
on the Lynchburg and Salem Turnpike, construction of which had begun in 1818!
The
tobacco factory mentioned in the newspaper article was the first such establishment in
Liberty and a major influence in its future. The firm of Campbells-Holts opened the
factory in 1830 for the production of chewing, or plug, tobacco from locally grown
tobacco leaves.
In Liberty, as in Virginia generally, the manufacture of tobacco became the
principal industry of the town between 1830 and 1860. During the antebellum period
the number of local tobacco manufacturing firms grew from one to five, producing a
combined output of 600,000 pounds .of chewing tobacco per year. While representing
only a fraction of the total number of tobacco manufacturers in the state, the Liberty
firms competed successfully with large companies in Lynchburg and 7Richmond, and far
surpassed in production their counterparts in Farmville and Halifax. In the beginning
of the period the local product was shipped by turnpike to Lynchburg and from there
eastward by canal. By 1856, however, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad had completed
a line from Lynchburg to Bristol which made regular stops at Liberty.
Although no tobacco-related industrial or commercial buildings survive in Bedford
from the antebellum period, the historic district does preserve a number of houses and
several churches that reflect t_he town's economic growth and cultural maturity in the
decades prior to the Civil War:
The most notable antebellum residence in the district is Avenel, built in the
Greek Revival style for William H. Burwell by Samuel H. McGhee in 1836 and named for
the protective spirit in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Monastery. With William L.
Goggin, John Goode, Jr., and James F. Johnsv, Burwell ranked in this period among
Liberty's outstanding orators and politicians.
He was the son of a U.S. Representative fran
Virginia, a distinguished lawyer in his own right, and frequent member of the Virginia
House of Delegates during the 1840s and 1850s. His house exemplifies the social
ascendancy of the bar and bench in antebellum Liberty as well as the perennial interest
of Virginia's courthouse villages in law and politics. In a later period Avenel sog
inspired George W. Bagby that he immortalized the mansion in his"~he0ldVirginia,Gentl-."
Other antebellum homes included in the district are the Thomas L. ~eftwich House,
built ca. 1840 at 320 North Bridge Street (later the home of Virginia state senator
Hunter Miller); Winthrop, built by William C. Campbell, the tobacco manufacturer, on
College Street in 1843; Chestnut Hill, built for Judge Mica9 Davis in 1845 at 604
(See Continuation Sheet #35)
NPS Form 10WO.m
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 835
Item number 8
page 3
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Back
Peak-s Street; and the Carpenter Gothic residence at 309 North Bridge Street built in
1847 for John A. Wharton, an Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, first mayor of Liberty
(1840-1849) and later judge of the county court.
- ..
W e e of four churches standing in Liberty in 1860 survive. St. John's on ~o%th
Bridge Street, consecrated as an Episcopal church in 1847, now houses the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).
Liberty Presbyterian Church, dedicated in 1844, is
still in use and remains the finest Greek Revival structure in the city. The former
Episcopal church on West Main Street was originally built as a Methodist Meeting House
in 1838. The oldest standing church in the city, it is listed individually on the
Virginia Landmarks Register (1977) and the National Register of Historic Places (1978),
but lies outside the district boundaries.
..
The growing cultural sophistication of antebellum Liberty was also demonstrated
by the establishment of hotels and schools in this period. Across the tracks from
Liberty's first railroad station (built in 1852 and located east of the north bridge
and south of the tracks) stood a large and elegant hotel originally called the Hopkins
House but later known as Liberty House or Beechenbrook. The Bedford Hotel, built on
the site of the old Bell Tavern,,continued in operation until the early 20th century
under various owners and names. 'Of the many private schools supported by the town in
this period, the most notable were the Bedford Female Institute, opened in 1849 by
Mrs. V. Smith and later removed to 320 North Bridge Street; and the Piedmont Institute.
a boys' academy located east of the town which continued in operation until 1861.10
In the recollections of Joseph Graves, Liberty on the eve of the Civil War was a
quiet and unpretentious town of six hundred inhabitants:
The streets were paved with p r material and only for a short
distance. 'Ihe storehouses in which the uerchants did business
wre inconvenient wooden buildings, but they kept a full line of
almst every kind of nerchandise. mere was only one drugstore in
the place and it did a very slrall hiness. 'Ihere was no soda
fmtain nor hardware stores, nor tobacco warehouses. W e was
no livery stable in town. Our people owned but few carriages; the
citizens walked to their places of
iness and no one rode in the
evenings for health or pleasure...
?'i
The outbreak of war did little to alter this picture, for no battles were fought nor
blood shed in the town's during the period 1861-1865. Liberty did, however, suffer
one raid, known as Hunter's Raid, on June 16. 1864. Union General David Hunter,
hoping to capture the industrial city of Lynchburg, passed through the town, burned
the depot, destroyed miles of railroad tracks. looted many of the homes, but failed'in
Liberty also saw service in caring for the wounded
his attempt to capture Lynchhrg.
of nearby battles; seven hospitals were located in the town at various times, the
largest being Piedmont Institute.
(See Continuation Sheet 836)
NPS Fonn 10900.
Wa
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet 1/36
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Item number 8
Page 4
-- Historical Background
After the war Liberty suffered, as did the rest of Virginia, from a severe
economic depression in which nearly all of its planufacturers went out of business. In
addition to such hardships as labor loss and shortage of money and credit, taxes
placed an unusually heavy burden on tobacco manufacturers for they were high and
inconstant, fluctuating from two to forty cents a pound. l2 This depression did nat
prevail for long, however. With increased capital investment in new machinery and a
dramatic increase in the consumption of chewing tobacco, the period 1871 to 1885
witnessed exceptional growth in the number of tobacco factories in Virginia, far
exceeding the antebellum peak. l3 By 1881 eleven tobacco manufacturers listed Liberty
as their post office, and the town ranked as the fifth largest tobacco manufacturing
center in Virginia. A list of Liberty's postbellum tobacco firms includes W.K. Andrews
and Company, the Chambers Company, Curtis and Hatcher, William Graves and Company,
Graves and Sales, C.H. Hall and Company, Mathews and Wright, J.M. Peters and Brother,
Reyland and Reynolds, and K.F. ~0bertson.l~
Representative of the scale of tobacco manufacturing in Liberty in the post-war
period were the operations of William Graves and Company. According to the 1880
industrial census, the company was capitalized at $25,000, taking in raw material
valued at $17,000 and producing finished goods valued at $35,000.'~
The company
employed eighty-two people, of whom thirty-five were males over the age of sixteen;
sixteen females; and thirty-one children under the age sixteen. The average employee
worked ten hours a day, with skilled workers receiving one dollar per day and unskilled
workers, fifty cents. The social hierarchy of the Piedmont tobacco manufacturing town
was tangibly embodied in the distribution and scale of its housing. The William
Graves mansion, for example, overlooked his factory from the apex of a hill to the
west. The quality and comfort of lesser residences declined visibly as one descended
North and Grove streets to the workers' housing, situated on the blocks nearest the
tobacco operations on Jackson Street and along the railroad tracks.16
Tobacco manufacturing was not the only industry in Liberty after the war. The
emergence of wool manufacturing in the post-war South as a consequence of industrialization and the introduction of superior merino wool, had its local manifestation in the
formation in 1883 of the Liberty Wool Company, which produced men's clothing from
local wool, and later, under government contract, supplied soldiers and marines with
wool vests, jackets, and pants. The original plant produced two hundred yards of
material a week and employed fifty people.
The revival of commerce -in Liberty in the 1870s is best represented in the
district by the Italianate store at 118 East Main Street erected in 1878 by E.H. ~ y 1 e r . l ~
The building was later purchased by M.T. Harrison, publisher of the Bedford Democrat,
and is familiarly known as the Democrat building. A related period structure is the
Italianate residence erected for Orville P. Bell at 206 East Main Street. Bell, one
of the town's leading merchants from the mid- to the late 19th century, owned several
commercial establishments on Main Street in the 1870s.18
(See Continuation Sheet C37)
NPS F m 1 D W O
g8)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
EDFORDHISTORIC DISITUm, BDFCfUl, VA
Continuation sheet 837
Item number
Page 5
8. SIGNIFICANCE -- Historical Background
-During the 1870s and early 1880s. members of the bar and bench, who had figured
prominently in town affairs from Liberty's beginnings as a courthousevillage, reasserted
their traditional social leadership by constructing fashionable residences along Peaks
Street and Longwood Avenue.
The most distinguished examples of these are the
Lauriston A. Sale House (ca. 1872) on Longwood Avenue, the Judge James Lawrence Campbell
House (ca. 1880) on Peaks Street, and the ca. 1884 Peaks Street residence of Judge
Martin P. Burks, later dean of the Law School at Washington and Lee. Burks practiced
law, as did many other members of
e local legal fraternity, out of an office on
Lawyer's Row at 201-207 South Street.
'rhs
The ttown's remrkahle post-war recovery suffered a major reverse on October 12, 1884
when a fire ravaged the center of Liberty's commercial district. The fire destroyed
every structure but two on North Bridge Street from the railroad tracks southward to
Main Street, resulting in property damage estimated at nearly one million dollars.
With every structure in the commercial area built of wood and no water works available
to combat the fire, nothing impeded its path. To decrease the likelihood of such an
incident happening again, the town created a municipal water supply by tapping the
natural springs in the nearby mountains and piping the spring water to a reservoir
just outside the town.
/
The most important consequence of the fire was a major rebuilding of the commercial
district. The revival of the tobacco industry afforded the town the opportunity to
erect the variety of substantial commercial structures that form the historic core of
present-day Bedford's Centertown area. As a measure of fire prevention, the new commercial
buildings were all constructed of brick, and some with cast-iron facades, such as the
building at 110
North Bridge Street. Equally impressive as an example of a
late 19th-century commercial complex is 112-114-116 North Bridge Street, which originally
housed the establishments of Fitzpatrick, Abbot, and Thurman. Dating to the same
period is the imposing Romanesque Masonic Hall erected in 1895 which now serves as a
historical museum for both Bedford County and the city.
The prosperity which supported the late 19th-century building campaign did not
extend exclusively to the commercial area but affected the entire town. Between 1885
and 1890 Liberty experienced a phase change of economic and social development commonly
known as the Boom, out of which the town hoped to emerge as an industrial city
comparable to Roanoke. Emblematic of this hope which never materialized, was the
town's adoption of the more descriptive and progressive-sounding name of Bedford City,
in place of Liberty, in 1890.
One dynamic factor in the Bedford City boom of the late 19th century was land
speculation. Large vacant city lots and surrounding farm tracts were quickly bought
up by newly formed land companies and subdivided into lots and streets for rapid
residential development. Some of Bedford's more stately homes date to the period of
the land companies whose ranks included the Liberty Perpetual Building and Loan Company,
Liberty Improvement Company, Central Land Company, Bedford Real Estate Company, and
(See Continuation Sheet W38)
-
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Iternnumber 8
Continuation sheet /I38
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Page 6
-- Historical Background
the Bedford City Land and Improvement Company. One of the most ambitious and productive
was the Liberty Improvement Company, formed in 1884, the year of the great fire. This
company bought the large tract of land north of the railroad and west of North Bridge
Street in the vicinity of Avenel. Then considered the most attractive and picturesque
residential section of the ciig, the new residential area became known alternatelx as.
Bedford Avenue or Dude Avenue.
The houses at 402, 409, 410, 412, 414, 501, 506, and
510 Bedford Avenue were all built by the company in the boom years.
Also typical of the speculative development of the era was the construction of
the magnificent Hotel Bedford by the Bedford Land and Improvement Company in the last
decade of the 19th century. The brownstone and wood-shingle structure, constructed at
a cost of twelve thousand dollars, served as a hotel for less than ten years and was
razed within twenty years to make way for the present Elks Home (which lies outside
the district to the northwest).
Among the private schools which flourished in Bedford during the boom period was
the Liberty Female Institute, opened in 1885 by David Wade in the Robert T. Aunspaugh
House at the northwest corner of Grove and Lee streets. In 1890 the Institute merged
with newly formed Belmont Seminary, erected by the local Presbyterian church on the
property of Dr. John W. Sale. Although the school closed in 1898 and was subsequently
an opera house before being razed to make way for the present elementary school on the
site, the principal's home is preserved at Kingston, a distinguished Italianate dwelling
located at 512 Peaks Street. The most notable private school in Bedford at the turn
of the century was the Randolph-Macon Academy, a military preparatory school for
Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, which remained an important social and
cultural influence upon the town for more than forty years. In 1892, Jeter Female
Institute opened but was forced to close the next year.
The speculative bubble of the late 1880s was suddenly broken by the nationwide
depression of 1893. The land companies all went into debt and Bedford's two banks
both closed their doors. The sudden decline of Bedford's economy also reflected a
major crisis in the tobacco industry, which saw the number of tobacco factories in the
state dwindle from one hundred and forty in 1880 to ninety-three in 1890.
The
formation of the American Tobacco Company in 1890 hastened the process of con olidation
After
and monopoly control that drove the smaller manufacturers out of business.
1889 Bedford had only one plug manufacturer and one smoking tobacco manufacturer.
When T.W. Richardson arrived in town in 1895 to publish the Bedford Bulletin, he found
a city of two thousand inhabitants, less than a dozen of whom had assets exceeding
twenty-five thousand dollars.
Boardwalks lined the principal streets, which were
frequently impassable due to mud and slime. Residences on Longwood Avenue were few,
and only one dwelling stood on Avenel Street.23
"
Despite the demise of the local tobacco industry Bedford entered the 20th century
in a mood of optimism, inspired by several new enterprises then coming to the fore and
sustained by several decades of prosperity.
In 1902 the Elks National Convention,
(See Continuation Sheet ft39)
OM6 Na 1024-0018
WPS Form 1OQWm
(+sq
Exp. X)-in-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
/I39
Continuation sheet
Item number
-
8. SIGNIFICANCE
--
'
~aae
Historical Background
after inspecting resorts throughout the nation for a possible home for its aged or
infirm members, purchased the Hotel Bedford to serve as the National Elks Home. When
the building proved unsatisfactory to the Elks ten years later, the city offered them
the use of the abandoned Jeter Institute until a new Home could be built on the site - -.
of the hotel. President-elect Warren G. Harding visited Bedford and the Home in 1920:
Another sign of progress was the construction of a new depot by the Norfolk and
Western in 1905. In 1907 the laying of double tracks by the railroad company necessitated
both the removal of the brownstone station with its platform to its present site in
the district and the replacement of the stone bridge which historically had linked the
commercial district of Bedford by North Bridge Street to the residential and industrial
areas of the city to the north.
The community also built a new public elementary school in this period, erecting
a Spanish Colonial Revival stucco building on a prominent site on Peaks Street in
1912. It replaced the Old Bedford Graded School, which had been erected in 1875 in
the center of the lot between Longwood Avenue and Lee Streets. All that remains today
of the Graded School are the additional rooms constructed for the school on Lee Street
in the late 19th century.
./
Other notable early 20th-century buildings in the district include the Citizens
Bank Building on East Main Street; the Colonial Revival dwellings at 724 College
Street and 525 Longwood Avenue; the Bungalow houses at 312, 314, 403, and 405 Bedford
Avenue and at 612 Longwood Avenue; the Tudor Revival house at 803 College Street; the
1928 Colonial Revival Bedford High School; and the Colonial Revival Bedford County
Courthouse of 1930.
By the 1920s concrete sidewalks lined all of Bedford's principal streets, one
mile of which was paved in brick and several miles in macadam. On the eve of the
Great Depression, the neat and flourishing antebellum village which Henry Howe had
described in 1856 and which Edward Beyer had recorded on canvas, had become the City
of Bedford in fact. 24
Since World War I Bedford's economy has become increasingly diversified and less
dependent on tobacco. The Piedmont Label Company, opening a small factory in 1914,
established itself by producing lithographic labels for use on cans. The Liberty Wool
Company, which responded successfully to the sudden demand for military uniforms,
merged in 1930 with Hampton Looms of Virginia to the benefit of the local factory's
expansion and modernization. The demise of the J.A. Clark Tobacco Company in 1929
marked the end of the era of plug manufacturing in Bedford; however, the town continued
to maintain several tobacco warehouses such as those of Clark Brothers and the Albert
Company. Among the more important new industries established in Bedford after World
War 11 were Sam Moore Chair, Rubatex, the Bedford Dress Manufacturing Company, Belding
Heninway Corticelli, and the Virginia Tire and Rubber Company.
(See FOOTNOTES on Continuation Sheet #40)
OM8 No. 1024-W18
Ex+ ma-84
NPS fm 10000.
DPI
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
Continuation sheet
8. SIGNIFICANCE
--
page
Item number
a
Footnotes
!Edward Pollock, Sketch Book of Liberty, Virginia:
(Bedford, VA: Bedford Index, 1887), p. 35.
'J.P. Bell, Historical Sketch of Bedford County:
Bell, 1907). p. 19.
Its People and Its Trade
1753-1907 (Lynchburg, VA:
f
.c
3Bedford County, Deed Book W, p. 116.
4~ila Jeter Parker, The History of Bedford County, Virginia (Bedford, VA:
Bedford Democrat, 1954), p. 16, 17.
The
6Bedford County Bicentennial, Inc., Bedford County Bicentennial: 1754-1954 (Bedford
County Bicentennial, Inc., 1954). p. 25.
7~osephClarke Robert, The Tobacco Kingdom: 1800-1860 (Durham, NC: Duke University
Press, 19381, pp. 183, 230.
;
%he Peaks of Otter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Echoes of Olde
Liberty (Lynchburg, VA: Progress Publishing Corp., 1976). p. 7.
''Joseph
City, VA:
Armstrong Graves, The History of the Bedford Light Artiller~ (Bedford
The Bedford Democrat, 1903). p. 7.
'*B.N.
more:
Arnold, Jr., History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia:
Johns Hopkins Press, 1897), p. 61.
1860-1894 (Balti-
l31bid., p. 64.
14Nannie May Tilley, The Bright - Tobacco Industry:
University of North Carolina Press, 1948), p. 685.
1860-1929 (Chapel Hill, NC:
15virginia Census, Bedford County Industrial Census, 1880.
16peaks of Otter Chapter, D.A.R., Echoes, pp. 3-4
181bid., pp. 3-4, 7.
191bid., pp. 3-4, 37
20p0110ck9 Sketch Book' P'(&k~'~ontinuationSheet 841)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Sewice
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Continuation sheet 1/41
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Ll
--
Item number 8, 9
10
Page 9. 1, 1
Footnotes
Tilley, Bright - Tobacco, p. 596.
22 ~rnold,Tobacco Industry, p. 67.
23 peaks of Otter Chapter, D.A.R., Echoes, p. 7.
24 1bid. , pp. 6-7.
9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Bedford County. Deed Book W.
Bell, J.P.
Historical Sketches of Bedford County:
1753-1907.
Lynchburg, VA:
J.P. Bell. 1907.
Campbell, Kenna. Bedford: The Richest in Natural Resources of Counties in Piedmont
Virginia. Bedford, VA: Bedford Index Print. ND.
Bedford
Graves, Joseph Armstrong.
The History of the Bedford Light Artillery.
City.
VA:
The
Bedford
Democrat.
1903.
-.
Morris, James A. Woolen and Worsted Manufacturing. Columbia, SC: University of
South Carolina Press, 1952.
Parker, Lila Jeter. The History of Bedford County, Virginia. Bedford, VA: Bedford
Democrat, 1954.
Peaks of Otter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Echoes of Olde Liberty.
Lynchburg. VA: Proeress Publishine Cor~.. 1976.
~ollock, ~dw&d.
Sketch Book of Liberty, Virginia:
Its People and Its Trade.
Bedford, VA: Bedford Index, 1887.
Randolph-Macon Academy.
Randolph-Macon Academy Decennial.
Lynchburg, VA:
J.P.
Bell Co., Printers. 1900.
Robert, ~ o s e p hClarke. The Tobacco Kingdom: 1800-1860. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press. 1938.
Tilley, Nannie May. The Bright - Tobacco Industry: 1860-1929. Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina Press, 1948.
Virginia State Census, Bedford County Industrial Census: 1880.
-
.
- .
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA - UTM References
(See Continuation Sheet f42)
d States Department of the Interior
nal Perk Service
iional Register of Historic Places
entory-Nomination Form
DFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT. BEDFORD. VA
Item number 10
~uationsheet #42
1.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
-- Verbal
Page 2
Boundary Description/Boundary Justification
hence approximately 250' N to a point (D) on the Norfolk and Southern Railroad;
hence approximately 1360' W to a point (E); thence approximately 550' N to a point
F); thence approximately 550' E to a point (G) located on the S side of 3rd St.;
hence approximately 600' NE extending along the E side of 2nd St. to a point CH);
:hence approximately 1600' NW to a point (I); thence approximately 200' N to a point
(J); thence approximately 900' E to a point (K) located on the W side of Peaks Sf.;
thence appproximately 100' SE along W side of Peaks St. to a point (L); thence approximately 150' NE to a point (M); thence approximately 1450' SE and E to a point (N)
on the W side of Westview Ave.; thence approximately 50' S to a point (0) on the
W side of Westview Ave.; thence approximately 1450' NE to a point (P) located on
the W side of Elm St.; thence approximately 150' S to a point (Q) on the N side
of Longwood Ave.; thence approximately 1000' SSE to a point (R); thence approximately
400' SW to a point (S); thence approximately 325' N to a point (T) located on the
N side of Baltimore Ave.; thence approximately 450' SW along N side of Baltimore
Ave. to a point (U); thence approximately 150' SE to apoint (V) on the S side of
Quarles St.; thence approximately 300' SW to a point (W); thence approximately 300' SE
to a point (XI; thence approximately 200' WSW to a point (Y) on the N side of Grove
St.; thence approximately 1000' SE along the N side of Grove St. and Railroad Ave.
to a point ( 2 ) ; thence approximately 200' S to a point (AA) on the Norfolk and
Southern Railroad; thence approximately 500' W to a point (BB); thence approximately
100' S to a point (CC); thence approximately 100' W to a point (DD); thence approximately 100' N to a point (EE) located on the railroad; thence approximately 700' W
to a point (FF); thence approximately 700' NNW to a point (GG) on the S side of
Lee St.; thence approximately 500' W along S side of Lee St. to a point (HH); thence
approximately 1100' SSW to a point (11); thence approximately 300' SE to a point
(JJ) on the E side of N. Court St.; thence approximately 200' N to a point (KK);
thence approximately 100' E to a point (LL); thence approximately 400' SW to a point
(MM) on the S side of E. Main St.; thence approximately 150' E to a point (NN) on
the W side of Otey St.; thence approximately 200' S along W side of Otey St. to
a point (00); thence approximately 300' W to a point (PP) on the E side of South
St.; thence approximately 75' N to a point (QQ) on the E side of South St.; thence
approximately 300' W to a point (RR); thence approximately 150' SW to a point (SS)
on the N side of Washington St.; thence approximately 225' W along N side of Washington St. to point of origin.
Boundary Justification: The Bedford Historic District contains most of the downtown
commercial area excluding those areas east of the district boundaries on East Main
Street and East Depot Street, west of the district boundaries on West Main Street
and West Depot Street, and south of the district boundaries on South Street and
South Bridge Street primarily due to the high number of noncontributing structures,
modern structures, and parking lots in these areas.
The railroad divides the commercial area from the oldest residential areas
of the town; however, North Bridge Street with its mixture of commercial, civic,
and residential use, serves as a significant and physical link between these areas.
(See Continuation Sheet 843)
OMB M.1021-0018
NPS Form lO.WD*
Exp. M - 8 4
w
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
BEDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT, BEDFORD, VA
#43
Continuation sheet
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
--
Item number
Page 3
Boundary Justification
The first block of Jackson Street east of North Bridge Street was excluded from
the district because of modern development. The town's industrial area along the
400 block of Jackson Street, the 900 block of Grove Street, and a small part of
Railroad Avenue was included in the district; however, much of Railroad Avenue east
of the district boundary was excluded because of the area's devotion to modern
industrial development.
Residences dating mostly from the 1940s to the present are predominant in the
600 block of Jackson Street, most of Quarles Street, and Baltimore Avenue east of
Oak Street, therefore these areas were excluded from the district. Whereas a modern
shopping complex is located on the south side of Longwood Avenue east of Elm Street,
the residences on the north side are mostly noncontributing structures. Structures
that are less than fifty years old are predominant in areas beyond the district
boundaries on Peaks Street, College Street, and Mountain Avenue. Modern development
and open space exist west of the district boundary on Bedford Avenue.
- -
EDFORD HISTORIC DISTRICT
edford ( c i t y ) , VA
oundary Map 1 o f 3
ource: C i t y o f Bedford
a t e : October 1976
c a l e : 1"=800'
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Text
VLR Listed: 6/17/2021
NRHP Listed: 8/17/2021
NPS Fonn 1~900
United States Department of the Interior
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How 10 Co mplele the Na1io11al Register of Historic Places R,:gistratiotj Forni. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A• for "not applicable. " For functions, architectural class1ficallon, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Bedford Training School
Other names/site number: Bridge Street Elementary School:
Bedford County School Board Office: OHR #141-5018
Name of related multiple property listing: NIA
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 310 S. Bridge Street
City or town: Bedford State: VA County: Bedford
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:~
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this ....X... nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property ....X... meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of sign•ficance:
l
_national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
..X..A
_B
...X..C
local
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Date
Signature of commenting official:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1_______
______1______
buildings
_____0_______
______0______
sites
_____0_______
______0______
structures
_____0_______
______0______
objects
_____1_______
______1 ______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0_
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: school
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: education-related
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: CONCRETE; BRICK; SYNTEHTICS: Rubber
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Bedford Training School is in the town of Bedford, in Bedford County, Virginia. It opened in
1930 as the first public school in Bedford County built specifically to provide secondary
education for black students during the segregation era. The school stands at the southwest
corner of the intersection of S. Bridge and W. Franklin streets and faces east to S. Bridge Street.
The school was originally a one-story brick building with four classrooms over a basement. The
State Department of Education’s Division of School Buildings provided the plans and
specifications. The school was enlarged in 1939-40 with a two-story perpendicular brick addition
at the rear composed of additional classrooms. The school educated both high school and
elementary school students after its expansion. In 1954, Bedford Training School was renovated
to become a consolidated elementary school for black students in Bedford County,
corresponding with the completion of Susie G. Gibson High School. The original school and its
addition are flat-roofed, linear masses faced in brick veneer laid in Flemish variant bond. Its
balanced façade reflects the Colonial Revival style, featuring a center pavilion with a roundarched recessed entrance flanked by large banks of double-hung windows and projecting end
pavilions with diapered brick panels. The interior design and details are functional and
demonstrate how the building was adapted over time to meet the community’s changing needs.
The Bedford County School Board Office has occupied the building since 1970. The one-acre
site includes a rear parking area and a 1985 ancillary building, which is non-contributing.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Bedford Training School is located in Bedford, an incorporated town in Bedford County,
Virginia. Situated two blocks south of Main Street, it is surrounded by a mainly residential
neighborhood. The school stands at the southwest corner of the intersection of S. Bridge and W.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Franklin streets and faces east to S. Bridge Street. The 1.19-acre lot includes the school at the
east end, a paved parking lot along the north and west sides, and a 1985 ancillary office building
at the west end. The front of the school is set back no more than 20 feet from Bridge Street, with
a narrow front lawn planted with grass, shrubs, and crepe myrtle trees, which obscure the façade.
A paved path leads south from the parking lot to the main entrance. A fence borders the north,
west, and south sides of the lot.
Bedford Training School was built in 1929-30 in the Colonial Revival style as a one-story, brick
building with a flat roof. The original linear mass measures 117 x 33 feet and runs parallel to
Bridge Street. A two-story rear wing built in 1939-40 more than doubled the size of the school.
The addition runs perpendicular to the original building, measuring 108 x 35 feet. Because the
school is built into a sloping grade, it appears to be only one story at the front, but two stories at
the rear.
The Colonial Revival style is reflected in the balanced front elevation with a central entrance
pavilion skirted by banks of windows and two slightly projecting end pavilions. The end
pavilions feature diapered, or diamond-patterned, brick panels defined by dark-colored bricks set
against a matrix of red bricks, framed by stacked dark bricks with cast-concrete corner blocks.
The exterior brick walls are laid in a fanciful bond of three Flemish courses with darkened
header bricks to every three courses of red stretcher bricks. A brick soldier-course water table
wraps around the building to become a belt course on the rear elevation. Another soldier course
appears immediately below the roofline. The round arch of the main entrance is composed of
both header and stretcher bricks and cast-concrete keystone and impost blocks. The wood
cornice at the roofline projects below the concrete-coped brick parapet wall, which features a
stepped gable over the entrance; the cornice is clad in aluminum. Within the gable field is a
decorative motif of bricks in a chevron pattern within a circle of sailor bricks.
Recessed within the arch of the main entrance are replacement flush metal security double doors
capped by an original twelve-light transom. The original double doors featured four panes over
one horizontal and two vertical panels. Five brick steps approach the entrance. There are four
banks of five windows—two on the front elevation and one on the north and south ends of the
original school—with concrete sills, double-hung vinyl replacement sashes and snap-in muntins.
Above the double-hung sashes are square fixed-sash windows. The arrangement of the
fenestration is formal and symmetrical, and the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of the
original openings have not been modified, only the window fixtures themselves. The original
double-hung wood sashes were rectangular with six panes to each sash. Centered on the rear
elevation is a vinyl-siding-clad section with a triangular gable-like feature that contains the stairs
to the basement of the original 1929-30 school.
The design of the 1939-40 addition blends seamlessly with that of the original school, with its
linear form, flat roof, and red brick walls. The addition incorporates the same three-course
Flemish variant bond as the 1929-30 school, as well as brick belt courses, and a cornice. The
ordered arrangement of the fenestration is also maintained, particularly on the south side where
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
there are banks of five double-hung windows. The addition retains its original multi-light over
panel wood doors capped with multi-light transoms. A simple overhang supported by large wood
brackets shelters the north elevation door.
The original 1929-30 school and 1939-40 addition have single-loaded corridor plans. The central
main entrance hall contains a short run of three steps and opens through a cased opening into the
north-south corridor of the original school. Four classrooms line this corridor, their doorways
surmounted by transoms. A stair shaft, which contains two sets of stairs to the basement, is
entered through a cased opening on the west side of the corridor. These stairs access storage
space and a classroom contained within the basement of the 1929-30 school. The remainder of
the basement in the original school is unexcavated.
The east-west corridors of the 1939-40 addition’s main and ground floors are separated from the
original school by cased openings. Three classrooms, girls’ toilets, and a small office are
arranged along the main floor corridor. A flight of stairs at the corridor’s west end leads to the
addition’s ground floor, which contains three classrooms and the boys’ toilets.
The corridors are characterized by plaster walls, a simple wood chair rail, and wood baseboards.
The doorways along the corridors contain glazed wood doors, with nine panes over two vertical
panels, surmounted by transoms. The transoms on the ground floor contain eight lights but the
main floor transoms are obscured by wood panels. Water fountain niches can be found in the
main and ground floor corridors of the addition. Pendant light fixtures with milk glass globes
hang in the ground floor corridor. The former classrooms feature plaster perimeter walls and
wood window trim. Quarry tile floors are in the former girls’ and boys’ toilets. The original
basement stairs are wood with beadboard wainscoting on the wall of the stair shaft. The addition
stair features steel newel posts, handrails, and balusters. Radiators remain throughout the school.
Bedford Training School was renovated to become a consolidated elementary school in 1954.
Some existing features and finishes date to that period including the glazed doors in the 1929-30
section of the school, which were replaced during the renovation to match those in the addition.
Low lavatory fixtures and radiator shields, still present in the school, were also installed to
accommodate elementary school children. Finishes and features that date to this renovation,
though not original, were added while the building continued to function as a school and,
therefore, contribute to its historic character.
Interior modifications that postdate the school’s 1970 conversion to the Bedford County School
Board Office do not contribute to the significance of the building as a school and are not
considered to be historic. These modifications include contemporary acoustical tile ceilings,
carpeted and laminate floors, and new partition walls in the classrooms and north corridor to
create offices. These changes are minimal and reversible and do not diminish the historic or
architectural significance of the school, which continues to retain its historic corridor
configuration, classroom walls, and vertical circulation patterns as well as its historic exterior
appearance.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
There are no contributing secondary resources associated with the school. The brick, front-gable
ancillary building behind the school was constructed in 1985 and postdates the property’s period
of significance. It serves as the Bedford County Public Schools Instructional Building.
Statement of Integrity
Bedford Training School possesses integrity of location, setting, feeling, association, design,
materials, and workmanship. With its relatively unaltered exterior and overall intact interior plan
and finishes that clearly reflect its original function, the school retains the physical integrity
necessary to convey its architectural and historic significance as a consolidated public school for
black students in Bedford County during the Jim Crow era of segregation. The school retains its
integrity of location and setting as it still occupies its original site and acreage in a historically
black neighborhood a few blocks south of Main Street in the town of Bedford. The school retains
its narrow setback along S. Bridge Street and continues to be surrounded by primarily residential
land uses.
The 1929-30 brick building and 1939-40 addition also retain their overall design, materials, and
workmanship. The restrained Colonial Revival features of the school remain intact with its red
brick walls, symmetrical facade, arched entryway, simple cornice, and balanced fenestration
pattern. Although the original window sashes have been replaced, the size, shape, and spatial
arrangement of the school’s original openings have not been modified. The addition is in keeping
with the character of the original building.
The interior plan and finishes also remain intact overall and clearly reflect the historic function,
materials, and aesthetics of an early-20th century school. The materials and workmanship reflect
the evolution of school construction practices as the building was adapted to continue to serve
that use over time. With these elements intact, Bedford Training School retains its attributes of
feeling and association as it continues to convey its historic function as an early-20th century
school constructed to provide public educational opportunities to black students in Bedford
County during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Inventory of Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources
1. Bedford Training School, 1929-30, contributing building
2. BCPS Instructional Building, ca. 1985, non-contributing building
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
EDUCATION
ETHNIC HERITAGE: African American
Period of Significance
1929-1970
Significant Dates
1939-40
1954
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Division of School Buildings, Virginia Department of Education (architect)
Overstreet, E.A. (contractor)
Gay, Garland M. (architect - 1954 renovation)
Overstreet, George M. (contractor - 1954 renovation)
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Built in 1929-30 as the first public school in Bedford County constructed specifically to provide
secondary education for black students, Bedford Training School is eligible for listing on the
National Register under Criteria A and C with significance on the local level in the areas of
Education, Ethnic Heritage (African American), and Architecture. Under Criterion A, Bedford
Training School is significant as it illustrates the development of education and school
construction in rural Virginia following the 1870 establishment of the public school system,
consisting primarily of geographically scattered one- and two-room schools, to the 1920s
progressive-era movement to consolidate and standardize schools, with plans provided by the
newly established Division of School Buildings, to improve facilities and expand curricula. The
school is also eligible under Criterion A for its significance in African American Ethnic Heritage
in Bedford County as it represents the efforts of the black community to provide secondary
education to its students. The 1929-30 construction of Bedford Training School as well as the
subsequent additions and improvements made in 1939-40 and 1954 also represent the “separate
but equal” rationale used in Virginia to justify segregated schools during the Jim Crow era of the
first half of the 20th century and Massive Resistance efforts to avoid school desegregation
between 1954 and 1970. Bedford Training School is also locally significant under Criterion C in
the area of Architecture as a good example of a one-story consolidated school built during the
1920s in rural Virginia according to plans provided by the Board of Education’s Division of
School Buildings. Designed in the Colonial Revival style, the school illustrates the preference in
Virginia to utilize this traditional style for educational buildings during the first half of the 20th
century. The period of significance for Bedford Training School begins in 1929, with the
commencement of its initial construction, and ends in 1970 when the Bedford County school
system became fully integrated, and the school building became offices for the Bedford County
School Board.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education and African American Ethnic Heritage
Early Black Education in Virginia and Bedford County
Before the Civil War, Virginia laws prohibited the education of both free and enslaved blacks.
However, some white citizens, such as Pleasant Reeves Saunders of Bedford County, ignored
these laws and taught black students how to read and write with instruction given in their homes
and churches.1 The first school for free blacks in Virginia was formed near Hampton in 1861,
towards the beginning of the Civil War.2 After the war, Congress established the Freedman’s
Bureau in 1865 to aid the South in the shift from slavery to freedom for black people. Operating
until 1872, part of the bureau’s responsibility was to oversee approximately 3,000 schools across
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the South for those freed from enslavement. One such school, the Varner School, was established
in 1866 by the Freedmen’s Bureau in Liberty (now the town of Bedford), near present-day
Orange Street. Northerners Alvin Varner and I.W. Shoemaker came to Liberty and acquired
thirteen acres of land on which they built a school for black students. This school was operated
under the oversight of the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association, a group that supported
northern beneficence in the Reconstruction South. Mr. Varner was the teacher for the school, and
therefore, the first professional teacher of black students in Bedford County.3 Varner and
Shoemaker also subdivided their thirteen acres of land into smaller lots and sold them to freed
black citizens at a profit. Most of the black landowners spent the rest of their lives attempting to
pay off these purchases. Local white citizens were disdainful of Varner and Shoemaker and their
“carpetbagging” endeavors and the school was eventually closed.4
The establishment of a publicly funded statewide school system for all students regardless of
race, gender, or income did not occur until the passing of the Virginia Constitution of 1870. It
tasked the General Assembly of Virginia with the formation of a state public school system and
created the State Superintendent of Public Instruction position as well as the State Board of
Education. It also made future provision for compulsory school attendance.5 In spite of the
radical Republican leadership during Reconstruction, the public schools were segregated from
the beginning on the prevalent theory that this arrangement would diminish racial tension.6 In
1896, segregation of schools and all other public accommodations were legally sanctioned by the
U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson based on the justification that they could be
“separate but equal.” Generally, however, black public schools received less funding than their
white counterparts as many white citizens feared the education of black citizens would lead to
discontent with the limited and inferior range of jobs deemed appropriate for them, such as
fieldhands or domestic workers.7 The funding disparity, including substandard black school
facilities and second-hand teaching materials, served to perpetuate the myth of white superiority
and, without basis, often “marked black Virginians with a stigma of inferiority and the status of
second-class citizenship that they would have to endure throughout their lives.”8
In addition to the establishment of Varner School by the Freedmen’s Bureau, other schools for
blacks began to operate in Bedford County in the 1870s. The first of these was established in the
Forest District in 1873 on land donated by Thomas and Emma Munford. The school was named
for the Munfords, who were distinguished white residents in the area.9 A black school in the
Otter district of the county was established in 1875 and was soon followed by the opening of the
Promise Land school in the Staunton district in 1876. About 60 students attended the school and
a black teacher known as Hines was the first teacher at this school. The curriculum comprised
reading, spelling, and limited instruction in arithmetic. It was a one-room log structure with a
fireplace and no windows. In 1880, a white Methodist minister, James Compton, taught at a
black school located in the Emmaus district. Many of his white congregants left his church
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NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
because of this school. Over the next five years, three more schools opened in the county,
including Oak Grove and Otter Branch schools and another school in the Forest district.10
In 1883, the Bedford Municipal School Board purchased the Piedmont Institute building to be
used as the first public black school in Bedford. Originally constructed as a private boys’ school
for white students in 1847, this building functioned as a hospital for Confederate and Union
soldiers during the Civil War, and then operated as the Liberty Female Institute following the
war.11 With African Americans representing approximately 29 percent of the county’s population
in 1910, the county recognized the need for a new school for black students.12 The school board
sold (or traded) the former Piedmont Institute building to Dr. W.L. Lyle and built a new
elementary school, the Piedmont School, for black students on the corner of South Bridge and
West Franklin streets.13 This new school, a frame two-story building, appears on the 1913
Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Bedford. Built during the Jim Crow era of segregation, this
school was located in the part of town where the majority of the black residents lived, worked,
and socialized.14
During the first two decades of the 20th century, educational reform in the South focused on
extending instruction to the high school level, particularly in rural areas. Throughout the South,
however, this reform effort was generally limited to white students, with only 21 black high
schools in the South by 1916.15 The white-run Municipal School Board’s construction of a new
school for black elementary students without any regard for the secondary education of black
pupils alerted black citizens that “the responsibility of getting the educational opportunity
extended beyond the elementary level rested upon their shoulders.”16 The president of the Senior
League, a black citizens group, organized a meeting for black citizens in Bedford County to
consider the organization of secondary education for black students in the area.17
By 1920, the population of Bedford County totaled 30,661 including 7,983 (26 percent) black
residents.18 Around this time, there were over sixty black schools scattered throughout Bedford
County and the town of Bedford, many of which were small one-, two-, or three-classroom
buildings. In 1922, the County Unit Act went into effect for Virginia schools. Thus, the multiple
school districts operating in Bedford County were merged into a singular district and schools
were consolidated. Changes that came about from the unit plan included the consolidation of
existing schools into larger, centrally-located schools with improved plans based on standardized
designs from the School Building Service, transportation systems, and expanded, institutional
programs as well as the uniformity of school terms.19 As with most reforms of that era,
improvements were aimed toward white schools and only trickled down to black schools; the
segregated and unequal status quo of the Jim Crow era persisted.20
Bedford County Training School Provides Secondary Education for Blacks
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Senior League, the local black citizens group, was restructured in 1923 as the Citizen’s Club
with the chief purpose to explore the option of acquiring a high school for black children. Due to
their efforts, secondary black education commenced in the fall of 1923.21 The Piedmont School
became known as the Bedford County Training School, the first and only school in Bedford
County to instruct black students at the secondary level. Unlike fully accredited high schools,
County Training Schools were secondary schools for black students supported by the John F.
Slater Fund for the purposes of offering academic coursework as well as industrialized training
in the fields of farming, home economics, and teaching. The John F. Slater Fund was one of the
first educational foundations in the United States exclusively devoted to black education.22 The
fund was established in 1882 with an endowment of $1,000,000 for “the general purpose of
uplifting the largely emancipated population of the southern states and their posterity by
conferring on them the blessings of a Christian education.”23 However, it was not until 1911 that
the fund began concentrating on the establishment and development of public secondary school
facilities.24 The Slater Fund sponsored black secondary schools on the accord that funding would
be discontinued once the school became organized and public school boards could fully sustain
them.25
High school students utilized the second story of the existing school building, while elementary
students occupied the first story.26 Joseph D. Jordan served as the principal and sole teacher at
the high school.27 Students at the Bedford County Training School came from 28 elementary
schools and over 25 communities throughout Bedford County.28 Soon after it opened, the school
quickly became overcrowded with elementary school students and high school students
occupying the same building. It did not take long for both the Bedford County School Board and
the Municipal School Board to recognize the need for a larger school building. On September 9,
1927, each school board arranged to cover half of the cost of constructing a new school building
for the high school. The estimated cost of the new high school totaled $12,000, with the
Municipal Board borrowing $8,000 from the Literary Fund, each jurisdiction paying $3,000, and
the patrons of the school contributing $1,000.29 The Literary Fund was established by the
General Assembly in 1810 to support free public schools around the state. The Literary Fund is
important to the history of public education in Virginia as “it established the principle of public
money for public schools, provided a rudimentary public school system, and aided in developing
the concept of education as a state responsibility.”30 In 1929, all the construction bids for the new
Bedford Training School building came in over budget. The Bedford County School Board
Building Committee thus sent the drawings to the state supervisor of school buildings to revise
the drawings to get the building design closer to the appropriated budget. Ultimately, E.A.
Overstreet was awarded the construction contract for $12,200 and the county and municipal
boards split the $200 cost that exceeded the previously determined budget.31
Bedford Training School Opens as First Black High School
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1930, the same year that the black population of Bedford County reached a peak of 32
percent, Bedford Training School opened its new building.32 Based on plans for a one-story
consolidated school from the State Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings, there
were four classrooms arranged around the central entrance and a rear corridor running northsouth on the first floor and one unfinished future classroom and two bathrooms on the basement
level.33 The basement was partially exposed on the rear and south side elevations due to the
grade of the site. The black high school students moved into this building while the elementary
students remained in the frame building.
Immediately after its initial construction, improvements began to be made to the new school. In
1931, W.D. Gresham, State Supervisor of Negro Education, awarded $40 from Rosenwald Funds
to fund library-related needs.34 Rosenwald endowments were conditional on public matching
funds.35 Therefore, the county and municipal boards each donated $20 to the school’s library as
well.36 Meanwhile, the early-20th century elementary school was quickly deteriorating and
considered a firetrap due to its frame construction and lack of finances to make fireproofing
improvements.37 The Citizens Club again became involved by advocating for the improvement
of the existing facilities for black pupils.38 The school boards determined to expand Bedford
Training School with a two-story addition to accommodate elementary pupils at the fireproofed
brick building. Construction of the addition began in 1939 and was completed in 1940 and the
frame building was demolished. High school students occupied the upper floor, while elementary
students occupied the lower floor.39 In spite of these improvements, Bedford Training School
continued to illustrate the disparity between facilities for white and black students as it only
comprised classrooms and corridors, notably lacking a gymnasium, auditorium, and cafeteria as
well as ample outdoor playground space.40 The Bedford County School Board reportedly
furnished all schools in the county, regardless of race, with basic materials including desks,
blackboards and chalk, fuel, water containers, and janitorial supplies, however, the facilities
themselves were not equal. Oscar Trent Bonner, a (white) master’s student in the education
department at the University of Virginia, conducted a survey of black education facilities in
Bedford County in 1939. After visiting black schools around Virginia, Bonner observed that the
black schools in Bedford County, including Bedford Training School, were above average
regarding facilities although the county expenditures for black students equaled only 57 percent
of that spent on white students.41
In 1939, there were 34 black schools around Bedford County controlled by the County School
Board, all of which were elementary schools, except for Bedford Training School.42 In the 1930s,
the school board began to consider the further consolidation of schools to establish “schools of
sufficient size to offer comprehensive educational programs at reasonable per capita cost.”43
During the late 1930s, the State Superintendent of Education recommended, through his annual
reports, the consolidation of schools where the conditions of roadways allowed it.44 On the local
level, this option of larger, centrally located schools began to be explored with the improvement
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of roads and therefore the bus transportation system, which enabled both black and white
children to attend schools at a farther distance from their homes. A distribution map created in
1939 by Oscar Trent Bonner for his master’s thesis demonstrated that many black homes were
located near a highway and that transporting black children to consolidated schools would be
relatively easy. However, as Bedford was one of the largest counties in Virginia, it was noted
that transporting students throughout the county would still be challenging. Nevertheless,
Bonner, and many others, still believed that the advantages of consolidation outweighed the
challenges.45 These advantages included reduced teaching loads, access to more efficient health
service, greater variation in course offerings, prospect of having electrical equipment at each
school, and better organized adult education programs.46 Following the established precedent at
the time, white schools in Bedford County were consolidated first and the school board
discovered that although the larger schools were marginally costlier, they were significantly
more effective than the smaller, decentralized schools.47 While the concern for the consolidation
of schools, specifically white schools, began in the mid-1930s, consideration for the
consolidation of black schools in Bedford County lagged 20 years behind.
In the 1930s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began
a legal strategy to end racial discrimination in the South, particularly in education, by exposing
the inherent inequality in the “separate but equal” rationale for segregated schools.48 Between
1933 and 1950, the NAACP focused their efforts on desegregating higher education and
professional schools, fighting for equal pay for black teachers, and demanding equalization in
school facilities.49 While there were no specific court cases in Bedford County, the inequality
between white and black school facilities was clearly evident. In addition to overcrowded
schools, lower-paid teachers, and inadequate teaching materials, the provisions (or lack thereof)
for recreational and athletic programs at Bedford Training School were especially noticeable.
The school’s basketball team held practices on-site on the gravel parking lot. The team had to
travel nearly thirty miles to Lynchburg for home games, which were played at the Lynchburg
Armory. The football team played at Pogue’s Field, located downhill from the school, and the
team sported castoff uniforms, helmets, and other protective equipment from the white Bedford
High School.50
While the facilities were not equal to those for white students, Bedford Training School
benefitted from dedicated and well-qualified leadership within its African American staff. From
1939-1949, John Edmund Harrell came to Bedford Training School, first serving as a teacher,
then as the principal. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Harrell graduated from Swift M. Junior
College in Tennessee and Bluefield State Teachers College in West Virginia. Harrell would go
on to become the Jeanes supervisor for Bedford County.51 The Jeanes Supervisor was a position
funded by the “Negro Rural School Fund,” a one-million-dollar trust endowed by Anna T. Jeans,
a wealthy Philadelphian Quaker. This fund was established in 1907 to enhance black education,
both academic and vocational, in the rural South through the sponsorship of black teachers and
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
supervisors.52 Harrell was paid a salary of $3,800 with an additional $250 travel allowance as a
supervisor.53 By 1951, Harrell reported in his master’s thesis that Bedford Training School
curriculum comprised courses in the areas of academics, practical arts, and the fine arts.
Academic offerings included English, mathematics, natural science, social science, and French.
Practical arts offerings included home economics, which was taught to girls in grades nine
through eleven. Fine arts included music appreciation and selected musical activities. In 1949,
8th grade exploratory experiences began to be offered; this encompassed music, science, art,
drama, and home mechanics. Extra-curricular clubs were popular at the school as well, including
the health club, library club, new homemakers club, and athletic club. The athletic club was
affiliated with the Western District Athletic Association and the Virginia State Interscholastic
Association.54 In 1945, John I. Jones came to teach at Bedford Training School, following
military service in World War II. Born in Bedford County, Jones grew up and was educated in
West Virginia. He attended Bluefield State College under the GI Bill and earned a bachelor’s
degree before completing his master’s degree in education from West Virginia University. Jones
became a teacher at Bedford Training School in 1945, and in 1949, he was promoted to assistant
principal. From 1951-1954, he served as principal of Bedford Training School before
transferring to Susie G. Gibson High School.55
Changes During the Mid-20th Century
The early 1950s marked a critical transition in the fight to end racial discrimination in education
as the NAACP began a legal campaign to desegregate schools rather than just arguing for the
equalization of facilities and teachers’ salaries.56 In Virginia, this new strategy began with the
student walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School (NHL, 1998) in Farmville. This protest led
to the Davis v. Prince Edward County, Virginia case which would become part of Brown v.
Board of Education argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1952. In the years leading up to the
1954 Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision which struck down the “separate but
equal” rationale as unconstitutional, localities across Virginia attempted to avoid desegregation
by making improvements to black schools. Referred to as “equalization schools,” new schools
were constructed, and existing schools improved as a last-ditch effort to justify the segregated
schools as equal.
In 1951, two officials from the State Department of Education came to Bedford County to
informally examine a consolidation plan for the 27 black elementary schools with the school
board.57 Made at the formal request of Superintendent A.G. Cummings and the School Board of
Bedford County in April 1950 to State Superintendent Dr. Dowell J. Howard, this survey was
necessary as the buildings had come to the end of their useful lives. Educational programs had
changed since their construction and these one-, two- and three-room schools could not be
adapted to modern elementary school requirements.58 Bedford Training School, in particular,
was congested and overcrowded, due to the fact that it housed elementary and high school
students in the same building.59 By the end of 1952, a survey committee formally recommended
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the consolidation of black elementary schools in Bedford County into larger, centralized schools
and that “the children be transported to and from these centers at public expense.” Public support
for the plan, which would terminate the use of the derelict one- and two-room elementary
schools scattered throughout the county, was unanimous.60
A foundational element of the plan was the construction of a new high school building for black
pupils. Bedford Training School would then be converted to an elementary school to
accommodate more primary-level students from Oakmulgee, Montvale, Longwood, Western
Light, Bunker Hill, and Antioch schools. The survey found that Bedford Training School would
have about 12 teachers and a total enrollment of 381 pupils if it were converted to an elementary
school. According to the survey committee, a good elementary school served both the children
educated at the school and the adults in the community. In order to support these functions, the
committee concluded that “adequate buildings and facilities could only be obtained through
consolidation of the present elementary schools into centers that have enough children to justify
offering them a broad education program.”61 In May 1953, a consolidation plan was presented to
Bedford County School Board, which was estimated to cost $682,000 for the building of the six
new centers.62 The issue was debated among the Bedford County Board of Supervisors, who
withheld approval of a loan application of $193,000 for the consolidation of the elementary
schools. They generally agreed that the equalization of standards for black elementary schools
was necessary, considering that 20 of the black schools did not have access to water and none of
the schools had modern sanitary facilities. Some members felt it would be better to add rooms to
the “good” schools around the county, while others were concerned that the approval of a loan
for one part of the county would raise issues with other parts of the county. The board chose to
continue studying the consolidation issue.63
Following the construction of the new Susie G. Gibson High School for blacks in 1954, the
Municipal School Board transferred the town’s interest in Bedford Training School to the
County School Board along with $15,000 of Battle School Construction Funds to convert it to an
elementary school and make necessary upgrades to the school.64 In 1950, newly elected
Governor John S. Battle set up a fund of $7,000,000 in state aid that would be given to localities
for school construction to address the backlog of school building needs after World War II as
well as the disparities in black schools.65 The transfer of the town’s interest in the school and the
approval of funding to make improvements to the school made possible the renovation of
Bedford Training School into a consolidated elementary school for black students for the 19541955 school year.66 Serving the town and Central district, it was the only consolidated
elementary school for black students in Bedford County at that time.67 George M. Overstreet
worked as the contractor for renovations to the building to convert it to an elementary school and
had 60 days to complete the work in order for the school to open in early September 1954.
Garland Gay, an architect from Lynchburg, defined the work as adding three new rooms on the
ground floor, converting a classroom to a lunchroom on the first floor, installing new floors and
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
drinking fountains, and lowering blackboards. Gay estimated the work to cost approximately
$17,000.68 The walls were painted the same color as those at Susie G. Gibson, a soft green
chosen by architect Stanhope Johnson. Further work included the lowering of drinking fountains
and lavatory facilities to accommodate children, the shielding of radiators, the purchase of new,
appropriately sized desks, improved overhead lighting, and the installation of a new loud-speaker
system.69
Bedford Training School reopened as an elementary school in September 1954 with an
enrollment of approximately 300 pupils. John E. Harrell, Jeanes supervisor, was the supervisor
for all black schools in the town of Bedford and Bedford County, including the elementary
school.70 Grace B. Terry served as the elementary school principal. Terry attended the Piedmont
School for her elementary education and Virginia Collegiate Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia, for
her high school education. Highly educated, Terry went on to graduate from Morgan State
University and Virginia State College and took individual courses at both Temple University and
Columbia University. She taught at several segregated black schools throughout Bedford County
before being appointed principal at the consolidated elementary school. She retired in 1966 after
a 48-year career as an educator.71
Throughout its lifespan, Bedford Training School not only served as an education center for
black pupils, but also as a community center for Bedford’s black community. According to
various newspaper articles and announcements in The Bedford Bulletin and The Bedford
Democrat, events, such as a United Nations program, musical programs, talent shows, art
exhibits, plays, field days, and the popular May Day celebrations, were held at Bedford Training
School. In the mid-20th century, a dental clinic operated out of the school, making at least 1,800
improvements among black students.72 An “Institutional On-Farm Training” course for black
veterans was taught out of the school as well.73 This class was funded by the GI Bill of Rights
and was taught weekly by Sam Hughes, Jr., a vocational-agriculture instructor.74
The 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregated schools were
inherently unequal and, therefore, violated the 14th Amendment. The court, however, did not
provide a means to achieve school integration, instead instructing the localities to provide a plan
“with all deliberate speed.” With no specific deadline for a plan, Virginia continued to allow
segregated schools over the next decade during the period of Massive Resistance. It was not until
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that any progress was made in the desegregation of schools in
Virginia and other southern states. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act gave the federal government
the power to bring lawsuits against the localities and school boards as well as withhold funding
when they did not have a plan to integrate their school system. On August 22, 1964, the Rev.
W.L. Johns and John H. Durham presented the Bedford County Board of Supervisors with a
letter on behalf of the NAACP Bedford Chapter stating that …We come to ask that a system of
integration of schools be immediately put in practice in Bedford County…We are asking that
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
you will give us your plans for integrating the schools of Bedford County.”75 The Board of
Supervisors formed a committee to develop such a plan and the School Board signed an
assurance of compliance with Title VI in February 1965.76 However, the Board of Supervisors
voted in August of that same year to reject federal education funds rather than implement a plan
for full integration of the county schools.77 Public support from the white residents of the county
for this position was expressed in a Ku Klux Klan rally attended by over 300 people, in which
the Grand Klaliff Charles Elder criticized any white parents who allowed their children to attend
school with black children. The Ku Klux Klan had a strong presence in Bedford County as the
state headquarters were in the southern section of the county at this time. White citizens also
objected to the interference of the federal government at a joint meeting of the Board of
Supervisors and the School Board in October 1965.78 After submitting a plan for integration to
the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) in May 1965, and revising the
plan in May 1966, the Bedford County schools began operating under the Freedom of Choice
Plan during the 1965-1966 school year.79 This plan made a minimal effort to desegregate by
allowing students to choose the school they wanted to attend, but not mandating it.80 In 1968, the
Supreme Court decision in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County required school
systems to demonstrate concrete progress in desegregating public schools.81 However, it was not
until HEW declared in January 1970 that all schools in the county must be fully integrated by the
following August that schools in Bedford County became integrated.82 Bedford Training School
remained an elementary school for black students until 1970, when it became the administration
building for the Bedford County School Board.83
Criterion C: Architecture
Bedford Training School was completed in 1930 and is a good example of a one-story
consolidated school built in rural Virginia according to plans provided by the State Board of
Education’s Division of School Buildings. The need for a new school arose from overcrowded
conditions at the original Bedford Training School, a two-story, six-room frame building built in
1912 for black students, which housed high school students on the second floor and elementary
students on the first floor. The 1912 school was located at the corner of S. Bridge and W.
Franklin streets, facing W. Franklin, about sixty feet behind the existing school building.
The Bedford County School Board and the Municipal School Board each arranged to cover half
of the cost of a new school for all black high school students in Bedford County in September
1927. The State Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings supplied plans for the new
school in December 1927. The Division of School Buildings was established in 1920 to assist
local school boards and superintendents with plans, specifications, and site selection for new
buildings. This service allowed school boards to save on architects’ fees and resulted in the
relative standardization of construction and design of school buildings across the state,
particularly in rural communities and small towns.84 The plans for Bedford Training School are
“Design 14-F” and appear to be custom rather than standard plans, although standard drawings
were used for window details. After construction bids came in over budget in 1929, the Bedford
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
County School Board Committee sent the plans back to the State for revisions. The final set of
drawings is dated July 1929.
The State’s Division of School Buildings design for the Bedford Training School reflects the
Colonial Revival style, which was often used for consolidated schools in Virginia in the first half
of the 20th century. The style emerged in the late 19th century from a renewed interest in
America’s colonial past, sparked by the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, which
celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation’s independence. The 1893 World’s Columbian
Exposition and the 1920s restoration of Colonial Williamsburg by John D. Rockefeller further
intensified national interest in the Colonial Revival movement, making the Colonial Revival
style one of the most prevalent and enduring in America’s history. The style was, and continues
to be, particularly popular in Virginia with its rich tradition of colonial architecture.
The Colonial Revival style was applied to nearly all building types in Virginia during the first
half of the 20th century. Communicating a sense of permanence and importance, the style was a
natural choice for public buildings, such as schools. The hybrid style draws from Georgian,
Federal, and Greek Revival styles, which all share a common classical vocabulary. Identifying
characteristics include a balanced composition, red bricks in a Flemish or English bond, white
trim, multi-pane double-hung sash windows, embellished entrances, and classical ornament.
Bedford Training School—with its symmetrical facade of red brick with a central arched
entrance pavilion, multi-pane double-hung sash windows, and restrained classical detailing at the
cornice—incorporates many defining characteristics of the style. Stylistic influence is further
noted in its Flemish bond brickwork, diapered brick panels, brick soldier courses, and decorative
brick motif in the gable field.
Several other schools were built in Bedford County during the same period as Bedford Training
School, including Forest School (1920), Brookhill School (1925), Stewartsville School (1925),
Bedford High School (1928), Big Island School (1929), and Montvale High School (1930). All
six of these schools were built for white students. The schools reflect the Colonial Revival style
in their brickwork, as well as their overall symmetry and massing. Stewartsville School and
Montvale High School are somewhat distinguished from the others as they also incorporate
characteristics of the Collegiate Gothic style with buttressed main entrance towers. Big Island
School, now demolished, bore the closest resemblance to Bedford Training School with its
symmetrical façade of red brick with a central arched entrance pavilion and recessed door
flanked by banks of multi-pane windows and two projecting end pavilions. Its detailing was also
similar to that of Bedford Training School, with a simple cornice, diapered brick panels, solider
courses, and cast-concrete blocks. Montvale High School and Stewartsville School share
significant design similarities with Bedford Training School as well with their Flemish variant
bonds with contrasting darkened headers, soldier brick courses, and diapered panels in their end
pavilions. With Big Island School and Brookhill School no longer extant, Bedford Training
School remains as one of only five consolidated schools in Bedford County from the period of
1920 to 1950. Of these schools, it is significant as the only one built for black students and is
representative of the efforts to present the “separate but equal” doctrine as valid during the Jim
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Crow era. Each of these schools have been adapted and changed in some respect over time, most
commonly with replacement windows and/or additions; however, they retain the characterdefining elements of the Colonial Revival style and demonstrate its dominance in school design
in Virginia during the first half of the 20th century.
On the interior, the plan and finishes exhibit typical school design as promoted by the state
Division of School Building during the period. The 1929 interior plan for Bedford Training
School shows a central entrance hall and four classrooms connected by a north-south corridor on
the main floor, a configuration that remains intact. Cloakrooms line the back walls of each
classroom. Behind the corridor, a stair shaft with two sets of stairs is shown to provide access to
the girls’ and boys’ toilets in the basement. A room in the basement is shown as “unfinished
future classroom” space. The plans suggest intentions of future expansion with a note about a
“temporary rear wall” near the stairs and a dashed line around a “future building” at the rear.
Specified corridor and classroom finishes were typical of Division of School Buildings schools
designed in the 1920s and included plaster walls with wood wainscot and metal ceilings with
cove mold. Doors were shown with five solid panels, surmounted by three-light transoms along
the corridors. Blackboards and display boards are shown on classroom walls.
E.A. Overstreet was awarded the construction contract. Work commenced in 1929 and the school
was dedicated in 1930. For many years, it was the only brick school building in Bedford County
attended by black students.85 Improvements were made to the new school soon after its initial
construction, including the creation of a school library.
Plans soon materialized to expand Bedford Training School with a two-story addition due to
deteriorating conditions at the old 1912 frame building, which was being used as an elementary
school for black students. Construction of the addition began in 1939 and was completed in
1940. The frame building was demolished. The addition is in keeping with the style and design
of the original school with its red brick walls, flat roof, large banks of windows, and simple
cornice. The interior plan included additional classrooms arranged along a corridor on both the
main and ground floors. High school students occupied the main floor, while elementary students
occupied the ground floor. Despite these improvements, Bedford Training School illustrated the
disparity between facilities for white and black students as it notably lacked a gymnasium,
auditorium, cafeteria, and adequate outdoor playground space.86
With the completion of Susie G. Gibson High School in 1954, Bedford Training School became
a consolidated elementary school for black students. The school was renovated at that time, with
George M. Overstreet serving as contractor. Renovation plans by Garland Gay, an architect from
Lynchburg, show nine classrooms, a library, a kitchen, a small office, boys’ and girls’ toilets,
and a teachers’ lounge. Specified finishes included new composition tile floors and acoustical tile
ceilings. New, lowered blackboards were installed. The walls were painted the same color as
those at Susie G. Gibson, a soft green chosen by architect Stanhope Johnson. Classroom doors in
the 1930 section of the school were to be replaced with glazed doors to match those in the 1939
addition. Further work included the lowering of drinking fountains and lavatory facilities to
Section 8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
accommodate children, the shielding of radiators, improved overhead lighting, and the
installation of a new loud-speaker system.87 These modifications reflect an attempt to modernize
this early 20th century school by introducing more resilient surfaces, a popular trend in mid-20th
century design, and by converting classrooms to more specialized spaces like a kitchen and a
library.
Bedford Training School operated as Bridge Street Elementary until integration of Bedford
County schools in 1970. While serving as an elementary school, plans were drawn by Stanhope
Johnson in 1960 and Garland Gay in 1964 for additions to the building. These additions were
never constructed. Since integration, the building has served as administrative offices for the
Bedford County School Board.
Bedford Training School survives as a good example of an early 20th century consolidated
school from the segregation era constructed in rural Virginia after the establishment of the State
Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings in 1920. Although built according to plans
from the Division of School Buildings, it was continuously adapted over time to meet changing
needs of the community. During its 40 years in operation as a school, it served as a high school, a
combined high school and elementary school, and an elementary school for black students in
Bedford County. The Colonial Revival-style school exhibits a high degree of architectural
integrity with its exterior features and interior plan substantially intact.
Section 8 page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Acknowledgement
Hill Studio would like to thank Michael Pulice, Western Region Architectural Historian for the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, for his support of the nomination; Betty Gereau and
Michael Pulice for assembling research materials and writing a thorough Preliminary
Information Form that laid the groundwork for the nomination and informed the Section 7
architectural description; Jennifer Thomson of the Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library for
research assistance; Harriett Hurt of Susie G. Gibson Legacy, Inc. for providing alumni surveys
that gave first-hand information on the history of the school; and Charles Santore, Clerk of the
Works for Bedford County Public Schools, for locating historic school plans.
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
“Approve Loan for Susie Gibson, but Withhold Another.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 25, 1953.
“Beginnings of Black Education.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical
Society. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-andresources/virginia-history-explorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/beginnings-black.
Buck, J.L. Blair. The Development of Public Schools in Virginia, 1607-1952. Richmond, VA:
State Board of Education, 1952.
Bonner, Oscar Trent. “A Survey of Negro Education in Bedford County.” Master’s Thesis,
University of Virginia, 1939.
Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker. “Closing the gap? The effect of private
philanthropy on the provision of African-American schooling in the U.S. South,” Journal
of Public Economics vol. 101 (May 2013). Accessed February 16, 2021.
http://web.utk.edu/~mwanamak/Rosenwald.pdf.
Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed.” The Bedford Democrat. June 10,
1954.
“County Makes Good Progress in Improving Public Health.” The Bedford Democrat. February 1,
1951.
Division of School Buildings, Bedford Training School, Bedford County (Richmond, VA: State
Department of Education, 1927-1929), Drawings: 1A, 1-6, 1X-2X. Bedford County
School Board Office Archive, Bedford, VA.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“Education in Virginia.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society.
Accessed February 12, 2021. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-andresources/virginia-history-explorer/education-virginia.
Gay, Garland M. Renovation Bedford Training School. Drawings: 1-4. July 8, 1954. Bedford
County School Board Office Archive, Bedford, VA.
Gunter, Margaret B. and Margaret L. Watson, “A History of Public Education in Virginia.”
Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education, 2003.
Harrell, John Edmund. “A General Survey of Public Education for Negroes in Bedford County.”
Master’s Thesis, Hampton Institute, 1951.
“Learning About Farm Forests.” The Bedford Democrat. March 29, 1951.
Leftwich, Florence L. “New School Interests Pupils; Holiday Visiting is Reported,” The Bedford
Democrat, September 16, 1954.
“Negro School Survey Given.” The Bedford Bulletin. November 20, 1952.
“Old Faces, Old Places.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 10, 2020.
Overstreet, Adrian, S.C.S. Plat of Property of Bedford County Schools Bedford – VA [Map],
1:20. September 28, 1968.
Pollard, Annie S. Bedford Black History, 250 Years 2nd ed. Bedford, VA: The Bedford Museum
& Genealogical Library, 2015.
Redcay, Edward E. County Training Schools and Public Secondary Education for Negroes in the
South. Washington, DC: The John F. Slater Fund, 1935.
Richardson, Tracy Bryant. “Susie G. Gibson High School: A History of the Last Segregated
School in Bedford County, Virginia.” PhD Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, 2012.
Salvatore, Susan Cianci, Waldo E. Martin, Jr., Vicki L. Ruiz, Patricia Sullivan, and Harvard
Sitkoff, “Racial Desegregation in Public Education in the United States Theme Study."
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2000.
Sanborn Map and Publishing Company. Bedford, VA, 1927, 1948. New York, NY: Sanborn
Map and Publishing Company, 1927, 1948. “Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.”
“School Board Has Long Session Thursday.” The Bedford Bulletin. May 21, 1953.
“School Board Names Clerk, Oks Bus Loan.” The Bedford Democrat. July 15, 1954.
“School Board Selects Personnel for next Year.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 4, 1953.
Sections 9-end page 24
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“State Officials Here to Talk with School Board.” The Bedford Democrat. January 11, 1951.
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens.” The Bedford Democrat.
September 9, 1954.
U.S. Census Bureau. “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of
the Population by States.” Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922. Accessed
March 1, 2021. https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume3/41084484v3ch09.pdf.
U.S. Census Bureau. “1930 Census: Volume 3. Population, Reports by States.” Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1932. Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume3/10612982v3p2ch10.pdf.
Viemeister, Peter. Historical Diary of Bedford, Virginia, U.S.A. from Ancient Times to U.S.
Bicentennial, Bedford, VA: Hamilton’s, 1993.
Virginia Department of Education, School Buildings Service. Photograph Collection. Library of
Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Digitized images of 3,100 school building photographs.
Williams, Wiley J. “Jeanes Fund.” Encyclopedia of North Carolina, North Carolina Press, 2006.
Accessed February 17, 2021. https://www.ncpedia.org/jeanes-fund.
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR #141-5018
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 1.19
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.331660
Longitude: -79.525030
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The true and correct historic boundary for the nominated property is coterminous with the
1.19-acre parcel shown on the attached map entitled “Tax Parcel Map,” corresponding with
Bedford County tax parcel number 80500199. (Obtained February 12, 2021 from Bedford
County GIS).
Sections 9-end page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundary for the nominated property corresponds with the plat map dated September 28,
1968. The property’s historic setting and all known associated historic resources have been
included within the historic boundary.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Katie Gutshall, Kate Kronau, and Alison Blanton
organization: Hill Studio
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: VA zip code: 24011
e-mail: kgutshall@hillstudio.com
telephone: (540) 342-5263
date: March 2021
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Bedford Training School
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: Bedford
County: Bedford
State: Virginia
Photographer: Kate Kronau, Katie Gutshall, Mary Zirkle
Date Photographed: December 2020 and October 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 18. Front (east) and west side elevations, view southwest
2 of 18. Front entrance, view west
3 of 18. Front (east) and south side elevations, view northwest
4 of 18. Rear (west) and south side elevations, view northeast
5 of 18. Rear (west) and north side elevations, view southeast
6 of 18. Corridor in 1929 school, view north
7 of 18. Stair in 1929 school, view south
8 of 18. Classroom in 1929 school, view east
9 of 18. Classroom in 1939 addition, view southeast
10 of 18. Corridor and stair in 1939 addition, view southwest
11 of 18. Corridor and stair in basement of 1939 addition, view east
12 of 18. Door with transom in basement of 1939 addition, view west
13 of 18. Corridor in basement of 1939 addition, view west
14 of 18. Corridor in basement of 1929 school, view north
15 of 18. Non-contributing secondary resource, view southwest
16 of 18. Detail of diapered brick panel
17 of 18. Detail of bricks in chevron pattern within a circle of sailor bricks
18 of 18. Detail of Flemish variant bond and solider-course water table
Historic Images Log
1 of 5. Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service
Photographs
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
2 of 5. Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service
Photographs
3 of 5. Elementary School Pupils, 1946, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library
Archives
4 of 5. Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, date unknown, Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library Archives
5 of 5. Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, date unknown, Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library Archives
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Images
Image 1: Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service Photographs
Image 2: Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service Photographs
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Image 3: Elementary School Pupils, 1946, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
Image 4: Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Image 5: Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
ENDNOTES
1
Annie S. Pollard, Bedford Black History, 250 Years, 2nd ed. (Bedford, VA: The Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library, 2015), 133.
2
Oscar Trent Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education in Bedford County” (Master’s Thesis, University of
Virginia, 1939), 6.
3
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 133.
4
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 13.
5
Tracy Bryant Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School: A History of the Last Segregated School in
Bedford County, Virginia,” (PhD Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2012),
22; “Education in Virginia,” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society, accessed
February 12, 2021, https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-historyexplorer/education-virginia.
6
“Beginnings of Black Education,” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society,
accessed February 12, 2021, https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-historyexplorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/beginnings-black.
7
Susan Cianci Salvatore, Waldo E. Martin, Jr, Vicki L. Ruiz, Patricia Sullivan, and Harvard Sitkoff,
“Racial Desegregation in Public Education in the United States Theme Study," (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2000), 27.
8
“Beginnings of Black Education.”
9
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 134.
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
10
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 18-20.
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 175.
12
U.S. Census Bureau, “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of the
Population by States,” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922). Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-3/41084484v3ch09.pdf
13
John Edmund Harrell, “A General Survey of Public Education for Negroes in Bedford County”
(Master’s Thesis, Hampton Institute, 1951), 1.
14
Ibid, 2.
15
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 39.
16
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 1.
17
Ibid, 1.
18
U.S. Census Bureau, “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of the
Population by States,” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922). Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-3/41084484v3ch09.pdf
19
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 136.
20
“Education in Virginia.”
21
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 1-2.
22
Edward E. Redcay, County Training Schools and Public Secondary Education for Negroes in the South
(Washington, DC: The John F. Slater Fund, 1935), vii-viii.
23
Redcay, County Training Schools, 25.
24
Ibid, 4-5.
25
Ibid, 31.
26
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 207.
27
“Old Faces, Old Places,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 10, 2020, 7A.
28
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 3.
29
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 208.
30
Margaret B. Gunter and Margaret L. Watson, “A History of Public Education in Virginia”
(Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education, 2003), 4.
31
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 208.
32
U.S. Census Bureau, “1930 Census: Volume 3. Population, Reports by States,” (Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1932). Accessed March 1, 2021.
(https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume3/10612982v3p2ch10.pdf
33
Division of School Buildings, Bedford Training School, Bedford County (Richmond, VA: State
Department of Education, 1929), drawing, 1-2.
34
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
35
Celeste K. Carruthers and Marianne H. Wanamaker, “Closing the gap? The effect of private
philanthropy on the provision of African-American schooling in the U.S. South,” Journal of Public
Economics vol. 101 (May 2013), 59.
36
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
37
Ibid, 209.
38
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 2.
39
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
40
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 88.
41
Ibid, 85.
42
Ibid, 83.
11
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
43
Gunter and Watson, “A History of Public Education,” 20.
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 149.
45
Ibid, 34-35.
46
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 92-93.
47
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 149.
48
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 57.
49
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 59.
50
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 211.
51
Ibid, 249.
52
Wiley J. Williams, “Jeanes Fund,” Encyclopedia of North Carolina, North Carolina Press, 2006,
accessed February 17, 2021, https://www.ncpedia.org/jeanes-fund.
53
“School Board Selects Personnel for next Year,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 4, 1953 ,1.
54
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 3-5.
55
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 261.
56
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 75.
57
“State Officials Here to Talk with School Board,” The Bedford Democrat, January 11, 1951, 8.
58
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 58.
59
Ibid, 17-18.
60
“Negro School Survey Given,” The Bedford Bulletin, November 20, 1952, 1.
61
Ibid, 1.
62
“School Board Has Long Session Thursday,” The Bedford Bulletin, May 21, 1953, 1.
63
“Approve Loan for Susie Gibson, but Withhold Another,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 25, 1953, 1.
64
“Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed,” The Bedford Democrat, June 10, 1954,
1.
65
Gunter and Watson, “A History of Public Education,” 19-20.
66
“Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed,” The Bedford Democrat, June 10, 1954,
1.
67
Leftwich, Florence L. “New School Interests Pupils; Holiday Visiting is Reported,” The Bedford
Democrat, September 16, 1954.
68
“School Board Names Clerk, Oks Bus Loan,” The Bedford Democrat, July 15, 1954, 1 & 11.
69
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens,” The Bedford Democrat, September 9,
1954, 1.
70
“Ibid, 1.
71
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 259.
72
“County Makes Good Progress in Improving Public Health,” The Bedford Democrat, February 1, 1951,
1.
73
“Learning About Farm Forests,” The Bedford Democrat, March 29, 1951, 6.
74
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 271.
75
Bedford County School Board Minutes, August 26, 1964, quoted in Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High
School,” 77-78.
76
Bedford County School Board Minutes, February 10, 1965, quoted in Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson
High School,” 77-78.
77
Peter Viemeister, Historical Diary of Bedford, Virginia, U.S.A. from Ancient Times to U.S.
Bicentennial, (Bedford, VA: Hamilton’s, 1993), 101.
78
Viemeister, Historical Diary of Bedford, 101; Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 8.
79
Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 80.
44
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
80
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 284.
“Education in Virginia.”
82
Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 85.
83
“Old Faces, Old Places,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 10, 2020, 7A.
84
Buck, J.L. Blair. The Development of Public Schools in Virginia, 1607-1952. Richmond, VA: State
Board of Education, 1952, 347-48.
85
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education”, 97.
86
Ibid, 88.
87
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens,” 1.
81
Sections 9-end page 35
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Bedford
Training School
County Boundaries
Bedford County, VA
DHR No. 141-5019
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 7/8/2021
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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238
ST
316
S BR
IDG
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308
312
310
Historic Boundary
W FRANKLIN
306
244
ST
311
15
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16
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310A
S BR
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non
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310
17
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4
2
18
3
317
414
SketchMap
Map& Photo Key
Sketch
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
310 S. Bridge Street
W
Bedford, VA 24523
DHR File Number: 141-5018
Date Obtained: 2-15-2021
0
50
100
41125
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409
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322
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W FRANKLIN
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Tax Parcel Map
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
DHR File Number: 141-5018
Date Obtained: 2-15-2021
https://webgis.bedfordcounty
va.gov/Bedford/
0
25
50
W KING ST
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100
Feet
E KING ST
NRHP Listed: 8/17/2021
NPS Fonn 1~900
United States Department of the Interior
0MB No. 1024-0018
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register
Bulletin, How 10 Co mplele the Na1io11al Register of Historic Places R,:gistratiotj Forni. If any item does not apply to the property being
documented, enter "N/A• for "not applicable. " For functions, architectural class1ficallon, materials, and areas of significance, enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name: Bedford Training School
Other names/site number: Bridge Street Elementary School:
Bedford County School Board Office: OHR #141-5018
Name of related multiple property listing: NIA
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 310 S. Bridge Street
City or town: Bedford State: VA County: Bedford
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:~
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this ....X... nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property ....X... meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level(s) of sign•ficance:
l
_national
_statewide
Applicable National Register Criteria:
..X..A
_B
...X..C
local
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _
meets _
does not meet the National Register criteria.
Date
Signature of commenting official:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
Title:
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____1_______
______1______
buildings
_____0_______
______0______
sites
_____0_______
______0______
structures
_____0_______
______0______
objects
_____1_______
______1 ______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register _0_
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: school
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
EDUCATION: education-related
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: CONCRETE; BRICK; SYNTEHTICS: Rubber
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Bedford Training School is in the town of Bedford, in Bedford County, Virginia. It opened in
1930 as the first public school in Bedford County built specifically to provide secondary
education for black students during the segregation era. The school stands at the southwest
corner of the intersection of S. Bridge and W. Franklin streets and faces east to S. Bridge Street.
The school was originally a one-story brick building with four classrooms over a basement. The
State Department of Education’s Division of School Buildings provided the plans and
specifications. The school was enlarged in 1939-40 with a two-story perpendicular brick addition
at the rear composed of additional classrooms. The school educated both high school and
elementary school students after its expansion. In 1954, Bedford Training School was renovated
to become a consolidated elementary school for black students in Bedford County,
corresponding with the completion of Susie G. Gibson High School. The original school and its
addition are flat-roofed, linear masses faced in brick veneer laid in Flemish variant bond. Its
balanced façade reflects the Colonial Revival style, featuring a center pavilion with a roundarched recessed entrance flanked by large banks of double-hung windows and projecting end
pavilions with diapered brick panels. The interior design and details are functional and
demonstrate how the building was adapted over time to meet the community’s changing needs.
The Bedford County School Board Office has occupied the building since 1970. The one-acre
site includes a rear parking area and a 1985 ancillary building, which is non-contributing.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Bedford Training School is located in Bedford, an incorporated town in Bedford County,
Virginia. Situated two blocks south of Main Street, it is surrounded by a mainly residential
neighborhood. The school stands at the southwest corner of the intersection of S. Bridge and W.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Franklin streets and faces east to S. Bridge Street. The 1.19-acre lot includes the school at the
east end, a paved parking lot along the north and west sides, and a 1985 ancillary office building
at the west end. The front of the school is set back no more than 20 feet from Bridge Street, with
a narrow front lawn planted with grass, shrubs, and crepe myrtle trees, which obscure the façade.
A paved path leads south from the parking lot to the main entrance. A fence borders the north,
west, and south sides of the lot.
Bedford Training School was built in 1929-30 in the Colonial Revival style as a one-story, brick
building with a flat roof. The original linear mass measures 117 x 33 feet and runs parallel to
Bridge Street. A two-story rear wing built in 1939-40 more than doubled the size of the school.
The addition runs perpendicular to the original building, measuring 108 x 35 feet. Because the
school is built into a sloping grade, it appears to be only one story at the front, but two stories at
the rear.
The Colonial Revival style is reflected in the balanced front elevation with a central entrance
pavilion skirted by banks of windows and two slightly projecting end pavilions. The end
pavilions feature diapered, or diamond-patterned, brick panels defined by dark-colored bricks set
against a matrix of red bricks, framed by stacked dark bricks with cast-concrete corner blocks.
The exterior brick walls are laid in a fanciful bond of three Flemish courses with darkened
header bricks to every three courses of red stretcher bricks. A brick soldier-course water table
wraps around the building to become a belt course on the rear elevation. Another soldier course
appears immediately below the roofline. The round arch of the main entrance is composed of
both header and stretcher bricks and cast-concrete keystone and impost blocks. The wood
cornice at the roofline projects below the concrete-coped brick parapet wall, which features a
stepped gable over the entrance; the cornice is clad in aluminum. Within the gable field is a
decorative motif of bricks in a chevron pattern within a circle of sailor bricks.
Recessed within the arch of the main entrance are replacement flush metal security double doors
capped by an original twelve-light transom. The original double doors featured four panes over
one horizontal and two vertical panels. Five brick steps approach the entrance. There are four
banks of five windows—two on the front elevation and one on the north and south ends of the
original school—with concrete sills, double-hung vinyl replacement sashes and snap-in muntins.
Above the double-hung sashes are square fixed-sash windows. The arrangement of the
fenestration is formal and symmetrical, and the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of the
original openings have not been modified, only the window fixtures themselves. The original
double-hung wood sashes were rectangular with six panes to each sash. Centered on the rear
elevation is a vinyl-siding-clad section with a triangular gable-like feature that contains the stairs
to the basement of the original 1929-30 school.
The design of the 1939-40 addition blends seamlessly with that of the original school, with its
linear form, flat roof, and red brick walls. The addition incorporates the same three-course
Flemish variant bond as the 1929-30 school, as well as brick belt courses, and a cornice. The
ordered arrangement of the fenestration is also maintained, particularly on the south side where
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
there are banks of five double-hung windows. The addition retains its original multi-light over
panel wood doors capped with multi-light transoms. A simple overhang supported by large wood
brackets shelters the north elevation door.
The original 1929-30 school and 1939-40 addition have single-loaded corridor plans. The central
main entrance hall contains a short run of three steps and opens through a cased opening into the
north-south corridor of the original school. Four classrooms line this corridor, their doorways
surmounted by transoms. A stair shaft, which contains two sets of stairs to the basement, is
entered through a cased opening on the west side of the corridor. These stairs access storage
space and a classroom contained within the basement of the 1929-30 school. The remainder of
the basement in the original school is unexcavated.
The east-west corridors of the 1939-40 addition’s main and ground floors are separated from the
original school by cased openings. Three classrooms, girls’ toilets, and a small office are
arranged along the main floor corridor. A flight of stairs at the corridor’s west end leads to the
addition’s ground floor, which contains three classrooms and the boys’ toilets.
The corridors are characterized by plaster walls, a simple wood chair rail, and wood baseboards.
The doorways along the corridors contain glazed wood doors, with nine panes over two vertical
panels, surmounted by transoms. The transoms on the ground floor contain eight lights but the
main floor transoms are obscured by wood panels. Water fountain niches can be found in the
main and ground floor corridors of the addition. Pendant light fixtures with milk glass globes
hang in the ground floor corridor. The former classrooms feature plaster perimeter walls and
wood window trim. Quarry tile floors are in the former girls’ and boys’ toilets. The original
basement stairs are wood with beadboard wainscoting on the wall of the stair shaft. The addition
stair features steel newel posts, handrails, and balusters. Radiators remain throughout the school.
Bedford Training School was renovated to become a consolidated elementary school in 1954.
Some existing features and finishes date to that period including the glazed doors in the 1929-30
section of the school, which were replaced during the renovation to match those in the addition.
Low lavatory fixtures and radiator shields, still present in the school, were also installed to
accommodate elementary school children. Finishes and features that date to this renovation,
though not original, were added while the building continued to function as a school and,
therefore, contribute to its historic character.
Interior modifications that postdate the school’s 1970 conversion to the Bedford County School
Board Office do not contribute to the significance of the building as a school and are not
considered to be historic. These modifications include contemporary acoustical tile ceilings,
carpeted and laminate floors, and new partition walls in the classrooms and north corridor to
create offices. These changes are minimal and reversible and do not diminish the historic or
architectural significance of the school, which continues to retain its historic corridor
configuration, classroom walls, and vertical circulation patterns as well as its historic exterior
appearance.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
There are no contributing secondary resources associated with the school. The brick, front-gable
ancillary building behind the school was constructed in 1985 and postdates the property’s period
of significance. It serves as the Bedford County Public Schools Instructional Building.
Statement of Integrity
Bedford Training School possesses integrity of location, setting, feeling, association, design,
materials, and workmanship. With its relatively unaltered exterior and overall intact interior plan
and finishes that clearly reflect its original function, the school retains the physical integrity
necessary to convey its architectural and historic significance as a consolidated public school for
black students in Bedford County during the Jim Crow era of segregation. The school retains its
integrity of location and setting as it still occupies its original site and acreage in a historically
black neighborhood a few blocks south of Main Street in the town of Bedford. The school retains
its narrow setback along S. Bridge Street and continues to be surrounded by primarily residential
land uses.
The 1929-30 brick building and 1939-40 addition also retain their overall design, materials, and
workmanship. The restrained Colonial Revival features of the school remain intact with its red
brick walls, symmetrical facade, arched entryway, simple cornice, and balanced fenestration
pattern. Although the original window sashes have been replaced, the size, shape, and spatial
arrangement of the school’s original openings have not been modified. The addition is in keeping
with the character of the original building.
The interior plan and finishes also remain intact overall and clearly reflect the historic function,
materials, and aesthetics of an early-20th century school. The materials and workmanship reflect
the evolution of school construction practices as the building was adapted to continue to serve
that use over time. With these elements intact, Bedford Training School retains its attributes of
feeling and association as it continues to convey its historic function as an early-20th century
school constructed to provide public educational opportunities to black students in Bedford
County during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Inventory of Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources
1. Bedford Training School, 1929-30, contributing building
2. BCPS Instructional Building, ca. 1985, non-contributing building
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
X
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
EDUCATION
ETHNIC HERITAGE: African American
Period of Significance
1929-1970
Significant Dates
1939-40
1954
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
N/A
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
Architect/Builder
Division of School Buildings, Virginia Department of Education (architect)
Overstreet, E.A. (contractor)
Gay, Garland M. (architect - 1954 renovation)
Overstreet, George M. (contractor - 1954 renovation)
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Built in 1929-30 as the first public school in Bedford County constructed specifically to provide
secondary education for black students, Bedford Training School is eligible for listing on the
National Register under Criteria A and C with significance on the local level in the areas of
Education, Ethnic Heritage (African American), and Architecture. Under Criterion A, Bedford
Training School is significant as it illustrates the development of education and school
construction in rural Virginia following the 1870 establishment of the public school system,
consisting primarily of geographically scattered one- and two-room schools, to the 1920s
progressive-era movement to consolidate and standardize schools, with plans provided by the
newly established Division of School Buildings, to improve facilities and expand curricula. The
school is also eligible under Criterion A for its significance in African American Ethnic Heritage
in Bedford County as it represents the efforts of the black community to provide secondary
education to its students. The 1929-30 construction of Bedford Training School as well as the
subsequent additions and improvements made in 1939-40 and 1954 also represent the “separate
but equal” rationale used in Virginia to justify segregated schools during the Jim Crow era of the
first half of the 20th century and Massive Resistance efforts to avoid school desegregation
between 1954 and 1970. Bedford Training School is also locally significant under Criterion C in
the area of Architecture as a good example of a one-story consolidated school built during the
1920s in rural Virginia according to plans provided by the Board of Education’s Division of
School Buildings. Designed in the Colonial Revival style, the school illustrates the preference in
Virginia to utilize this traditional style for educational buildings during the first half of the 20th
century. The period of significance for Bedford Training School begins in 1929, with the
commencement of its initial construction, and ends in 1970 when the Bedford County school
system became fully integrated, and the school building became offices for the Bedford County
School Board.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion A: Education and African American Ethnic Heritage
Early Black Education in Virginia and Bedford County
Before the Civil War, Virginia laws prohibited the education of both free and enslaved blacks.
However, some white citizens, such as Pleasant Reeves Saunders of Bedford County, ignored
these laws and taught black students how to read and write with instruction given in their homes
and churches.1 The first school for free blacks in Virginia was formed near Hampton in 1861,
towards the beginning of the Civil War.2 After the war, Congress established the Freedman’s
Bureau in 1865 to aid the South in the shift from slavery to freedom for black people. Operating
until 1872, part of the bureau’s responsibility was to oversee approximately 3,000 schools across
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
the South for those freed from enslavement. One such school, the Varner School, was established
in 1866 by the Freedmen’s Bureau in Liberty (now the town of Bedford), near present-day
Orange Street. Northerners Alvin Varner and I.W. Shoemaker came to Liberty and acquired
thirteen acres of land on which they built a school for black students. This school was operated
under the oversight of the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association, a group that supported
northern beneficence in the Reconstruction South. Mr. Varner was the teacher for the school, and
therefore, the first professional teacher of black students in Bedford County.3 Varner and
Shoemaker also subdivided their thirteen acres of land into smaller lots and sold them to freed
black citizens at a profit. Most of the black landowners spent the rest of their lives attempting to
pay off these purchases. Local white citizens were disdainful of Varner and Shoemaker and their
“carpetbagging” endeavors and the school was eventually closed.4
The establishment of a publicly funded statewide school system for all students regardless of
race, gender, or income did not occur until the passing of the Virginia Constitution of 1870. It
tasked the General Assembly of Virginia with the formation of a state public school system and
created the State Superintendent of Public Instruction position as well as the State Board of
Education. It also made future provision for compulsory school attendance.5 In spite of the
radical Republican leadership during Reconstruction, the public schools were segregated from
the beginning on the prevalent theory that this arrangement would diminish racial tension.6 In
1896, segregation of schools and all other public accommodations were legally sanctioned by the
U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson based on the justification that they could be
“separate but equal.” Generally, however, black public schools received less funding than their
white counterparts as many white citizens feared the education of black citizens would lead to
discontent with the limited and inferior range of jobs deemed appropriate for them, such as
fieldhands or domestic workers.7 The funding disparity, including substandard black school
facilities and second-hand teaching materials, served to perpetuate the myth of white superiority
and, without basis, often “marked black Virginians with a stigma of inferiority and the status of
second-class citizenship that they would have to endure throughout their lives.”8
In addition to the establishment of Varner School by the Freedmen’s Bureau, other schools for
blacks began to operate in Bedford County in the 1870s. The first of these was established in the
Forest District in 1873 on land donated by Thomas and Emma Munford. The school was named
for the Munfords, who were distinguished white residents in the area.9 A black school in the
Otter district of the county was established in 1875 and was soon followed by the opening of the
Promise Land school in the Staunton district in 1876. About 60 students attended the school and
a black teacher known as Hines was the first teacher at this school. The curriculum comprised
reading, spelling, and limited instruction in arithmetic. It was a one-room log structure with a
fireplace and no windows. In 1880, a white Methodist minister, James Compton, taught at a
black school located in the Emmaus district. Many of his white congregants left his church
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
because of this school. Over the next five years, three more schools opened in the county,
including Oak Grove and Otter Branch schools and another school in the Forest district.10
In 1883, the Bedford Municipal School Board purchased the Piedmont Institute building to be
used as the first public black school in Bedford. Originally constructed as a private boys’ school
for white students in 1847, this building functioned as a hospital for Confederate and Union
soldiers during the Civil War, and then operated as the Liberty Female Institute following the
war.11 With African Americans representing approximately 29 percent of the county’s population
in 1910, the county recognized the need for a new school for black students.12 The school board
sold (or traded) the former Piedmont Institute building to Dr. W.L. Lyle and built a new
elementary school, the Piedmont School, for black students on the corner of South Bridge and
West Franklin streets.13 This new school, a frame two-story building, appears on the 1913
Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Bedford. Built during the Jim Crow era of segregation, this
school was located in the part of town where the majority of the black residents lived, worked,
and socialized.14
During the first two decades of the 20th century, educational reform in the South focused on
extending instruction to the high school level, particularly in rural areas. Throughout the South,
however, this reform effort was generally limited to white students, with only 21 black high
schools in the South by 1916.15 The white-run Municipal School Board’s construction of a new
school for black elementary students without any regard for the secondary education of black
pupils alerted black citizens that “the responsibility of getting the educational opportunity
extended beyond the elementary level rested upon their shoulders.”16 The president of the Senior
League, a black citizens group, organized a meeting for black citizens in Bedford County to
consider the organization of secondary education for black students in the area.17
By 1920, the population of Bedford County totaled 30,661 including 7,983 (26 percent) black
residents.18 Around this time, there were over sixty black schools scattered throughout Bedford
County and the town of Bedford, many of which were small one-, two-, or three-classroom
buildings. In 1922, the County Unit Act went into effect for Virginia schools. Thus, the multiple
school districts operating in Bedford County were merged into a singular district and schools
were consolidated. Changes that came about from the unit plan included the consolidation of
existing schools into larger, centrally-located schools with improved plans based on standardized
designs from the School Building Service, transportation systems, and expanded, institutional
programs as well as the uniformity of school terms.19 As with most reforms of that era,
improvements were aimed toward white schools and only trickled down to black schools; the
segregated and unequal status quo of the Jim Crow era persisted.20
Bedford County Training School Provides Secondary Education for Blacks
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
The Senior League, the local black citizens group, was restructured in 1923 as the Citizen’s Club
with the chief purpose to explore the option of acquiring a high school for black children. Due to
their efforts, secondary black education commenced in the fall of 1923.21 The Piedmont School
became known as the Bedford County Training School, the first and only school in Bedford
County to instruct black students at the secondary level. Unlike fully accredited high schools,
County Training Schools were secondary schools for black students supported by the John F.
Slater Fund for the purposes of offering academic coursework as well as industrialized training
in the fields of farming, home economics, and teaching. The John F. Slater Fund was one of the
first educational foundations in the United States exclusively devoted to black education.22 The
fund was established in 1882 with an endowment of $1,000,000 for “the general purpose of
uplifting the largely emancipated population of the southern states and their posterity by
conferring on them the blessings of a Christian education.”23 However, it was not until 1911 that
the fund began concentrating on the establishment and development of public secondary school
facilities.24 The Slater Fund sponsored black secondary schools on the accord that funding would
be discontinued once the school became organized and public school boards could fully sustain
them.25
High school students utilized the second story of the existing school building, while elementary
students occupied the first story.26 Joseph D. Jordan served as the principal and sole teacher at
the high school.27 Students at the Bedford County Training School came from 28 elementary
schools and over 25 communities throughout Bedford County.28 Soon after it opened, the school
quickly became overcrowded with elementary school students and high school students
occupying the same building. It did not take long for both the Bedford County School Board and
the Municipal School Board to recognize the need for a larger school building. On September 9,
1927, each school board arranged to cover half of the cost of constructing a new school building
for the high school. The estimated cost of the new high school totaled $12,000, with the
Municipal Board borrowing $8,000 from the Literary Fund, each jurisdiction paying $3,000, and
the patrons of the school contributing $1,000.29 The Literary Fund was established by the
General Assembly in 1810 to support free public schools around the state. The Literary Fund is
important to the history of public education in Virginia as “it established the principle of public
money for public schools, provided a rudimentary public school system, and aided in developing
the concept of education as a state responsibility.”30 In 1929, all the construction bids for the new
Bedford Training School building came in over budget. The Bedford County School Board
Building Committee thus sent the drawings to the state supervisor of school buildings to revise
the drawings to get the building design closer to the appropriated budget. Ultimately, E.A.
Overstreet was awarded the construction contract for $12,200 and the county and municipal
boards split the $200 cost that exceeded the previously determined budget.31
Bedford Training School Opens as First Black High School
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In 1930, the same year that the black population of Bedford County reached a peak of 32
percent, Bedford Training School opened its new building.32 Based on plans for a one-story
consolidated school from the State Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings, there
were four classrooms arranged around the central entrance and a rear corridor running northsouth on the first floor and one unfinished future classroom and two bathrooms on the basement
level.33 The basement was partially exposed on the rear and south side elevations due to the
grade of the site. The black high school students moved into this building while the elementary
students remained in the frame building.
Immediately after its initial construction, improvements began to be made to the new school. In
1931, W.D. Gresham, State Supervisor of Negro Education, awarded $40 from Rosenwald Funds
to fund library-related needs.34 Rosenwald endowments were conditional on public matching
funds.35 Therefore, the county and municipal boards each donated $20 to the school’s library as
well.36 Meanwhile, the early-20th century elementary school was quickly deteriorating and
considered a firetrap due to its frame construction and lack of finances to make fireproofing
improvements.37 The Citizens Club again became involved by advocating for the improvement
of the existing facilities for black pupils.38 The school boards determined to expand Bedford
Training School with a two-story addition to accommodate elementary pupils at the fireproofed
brick building. Construction of the addition began in 1939 and was completed in 1940 and the
frame building was demolished. High school students occupied the upper floor, while elementary
students occupied the lower floor.39 In spite of these improvements, Bedford Training School
continued to illustrate the disparity between facilities for white and black students as it only
comprised classrooms and corridors, notably lacking a gymnasium, auditorium, and cafeteria as
well as ample outdoor playground space.40 The Bedford County School Board reportedly
furnished all schools in the county, regardless of race, with basic materials including desks,
blackboards and chalk, fuel, water containers, and janitorial supplies, however, the facilities
themselves were not equal. Oscar Trent Bonner, a (white) master’s student in the education
department at the University of Virginia, conducted a survey of black education facilities in
Bedford County in 1939. After visiting black schools around Virginia, Bonner observed that the
black schools in Bedford County, including Bedford Training School, were above average
regarding facilities although the county expenditures for black students equaled only 57 percent
of that spent on white students.41
In 1939, there were 34 black schools around Bedford County controlled by the County School
Board, all of which were elementary schools, except for Bedford Training School.42 In the 1930s,
the school board began to consider the further consolidation of schools to establish “schools of
sufficient size to offer comprehensive educational programs at reasonable per capita cost.”43
During the late 1930s, the State Superintendent of Education recommended, through his annual
reports, the consolidation of schools where the conditions of roadways allowed it.44 On the local
level, this option of larger, centrally located schools began to be explored with the improvement
Section 8 page 14
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Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
of roads and therefore the bus transportation system, which enabled both black and white
children to attend schools at a farther distance from their homes. A distribution map created in
1939 by Oscar Trent Bonner for his master’s thesis demonstrated that many black homes were
located near a highway and that transporting black children to consolidated schools would be
relatively easy. However, as Bedford was one of the largest counties in Virginia, it was noted
that transporting students throughout the county would still be challenging. Nevertheless,
Bonner, and many others, still believed that the advantages of consolidation outweighed the
challenges.45 These advantages included reduced teaching loads, access to more efficient health
service, greater variation in course offerings, prospect of having electrical equipment at each
school, and better organized adult education programs.46 Following the established precedent at
the time, white schools in Bedford County were consolidated first and the school board
discovered that although the larger schools were marginally costlier, they were significantly
more effective than the smaller, decentralized schools.47 While the concern for the consolidation
of schools, specifically white schools, began in the mid-1930s, consideration for the
consolidation of black schools in Bedford County lagged 20 years behind.
In the 1930s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began
a legal strategy to end racial discrimination in the South, particularly in education, by exposing
the inherent inequality in the “separate but equal” rationale for segregated schools.48 Between
1933 and 1950, the NAACP focused their efforts on desegregating higher education and
professional schools, fighting for equal pay for black teachers, and demanding equalization in
school facilities.49 While there were no specific court cases in Bedford County, the inequality
between white and black school facilities was clearly evident. In addition to overcrowded
schools, lower-paid teachers, and inadequate teaching materials, the provisions (or lack thereof)
for recreational and athletic programs at Bedford Training School were especially noticeable.
The school’s basketball team held practices on-site on the gravel parking lot. The team had to
travel nearly thirty miles to Lynchburg for home games, which were played at the Lynchburg
Armory. The football team played at Pogue’s Field, located downhill from the school, and the
team sported castoff uniforms, helmets, and other protective equipment from the white Bedford
High School.50
While the facilities were not equal to those for white students, Bedford Training School
benefitted from dedicated and well-qualified leadership within its African American staff. From
1939-1949, John Edmund Harrell came to Bedford Training School, first serving as a teacher,
then as the principal. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Harrell graduated from Swift M. Junior
College in Tennessee and Bluefield State Teachers College in West Virginia. Harrell would go
on to become the Jeanes supervisor for Bedford County.51 The Jeanes Supervisor was a position
funded by the “Negro Rural School Fund,” a one-million-dollar trust endowed by Anna T. Jeans,
a wealthy Philadelphian Quaker. This fund was established in 1907 to enhance black education,
both academic and vocational, in the rural South through the sponsorship of black teachers and
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supervisors.52 Harrell was paid a salary of $3,800 with an additional $250 travel allowance as a
supervisor.53 By 1951, Harrell reported in his master’s thesis that Bedford Training School
curriculum comprised courses in the areas of academics, practical arts, and the fine arts.
Academic offerings included English, mathematics, natural science, social science, and French.
Practical arts offerings included home economics, which was taught to girls in grades nine
through eleven. Fine arts included music appreciation and selected musical activities. In 1949,
8th grade exploratory experiences began to be offered; this encompassed music, science, art,
drama, and home mechanics. Extra-curricular clubs were popular at the school as well, including
the health club, library club, new homemakers club, and athletic club. The athletic club was
affiliated with the Western District Athletic Association and the Virginia State Interscholastic
Association.54 In 1945, John I. Jones came to teach at Bedford Training School, following
military service in World War II. Born in Bedford County, Jones grew up and was educated in
West Virginia. He attended Bluefield State College under the GI Bill and earned a bachelor’s
degree before completing his master’s degree in education from West Virginia University. Jones
became a teacher at Bedford Training School in 1945, and in 1949, he was promoted to assistant
principal. From 1951-1954, he served as principal of Bedford Training School before
transferring to Susie G. Gibson High School.55
Changes During the Mid-20th Century
The early 1950s marked a critical transition in the fight to end racial discrimination in education
as the NAACP began a legal campaign to desegregate schools rather than just arguing for the
equalization of facilities and teachers’ salaries.56 In Virginia, this new strategy began with the
student walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School (NHL, 1998) in Farmville. This protest led
to the Davis v. Prince Edward County, Virginia case which would become part of Brown v.
Board of Education argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1952. In the years leading up to the
1954 Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision which struck down the “separate but
equal” rationale as unconstitutional, localities across Virginia attempted to avoid desegregation
by making improvements to black schools. Referred to as “equalization schools,” new schools
were constructed, and existing schools improved as a last-ditch effort to justify the segregated
schools as equal.
In 1951, two officials from the State Department of Education came to Bedford County to
informally examine a consolidation plan for the 27 black elementary schools with the school
board.57 Made at the formal request of Superintendent A.G. Cummings and the School Board of
Bedford County in April 1950 to State Superintendent Dr. Dowell J. Howard, this survey was
necessary as the buildings had come to the end of their useful lives. Educational programs had
changed since their construction and these one-, two- and three-room schools could not be
adapted to modern elementary school requirements.58 Bedford Training School, in particular,
was congested and overcrowded, due to the fact that it housed elementary and high school
students in the same building.59 By the end of 1952, a survey committee formally recommended
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the consolidation of black elementary schools in Bedford County into larger, centralized schools
and that “the children be transported to and from these centers at public expense.” Public support
for the plan, which would terminate the use of the derelict one- and two-room elementary
schools scattered throughout the county, was unanimous.60
A foundational element of the plan was the construction of a new high school building for black
pupils. Bedford Training School would then be converted to an elementary school to
accommodate more primary-level students from Oakmulgee, Montvale, Longwood, Western
Light, Bunker Hill, and Antioch schools. The survey found that Bedford Training School would
have about 12 teachers and a total enrollment of 381 pupils if it were converted to an elementary
school. According to the survey committee, a good elementary school served both the children
educated at the school and the adults in the community. In order to support these functions, the
committee concluded that “adequate buildings and facilities could only be obtained through
consolidation of the present elementary schools into centers that have enough children to justify
offering them a broad education program.”61 In May 1953, a consolidation plan was presented to
Bedford County School Board, which was estimated to cost $682,000 for the building of the six
new centers.62 The issue was debated among the Bedford County Board of Supervisors, who
withheld approval of a loan application of $193,000 for the consolidation of the elementary
schools. They generally agreed that the equalization of standards for black elementary schools
was necessary, considering that 20 of the black schools did not have access to water and none of
the schools had modern sanitary facilities. Some members felt it would be better to add rooms to
the “good” schools around the county, while others were concerned that the approval of a loan
for one part of the county would raise issues with other parts of the county. The board chose to
continue studying the consolidation issue.63
Following the construction of the new Susie G. Gibson High School for blacks in 1954, the
Municipal School Board transferred the town’s interest in Bedford Training School to the
County School Board along with $15,000 of Battle School Construction Funds to convert it to an
elementary school and make necessary upgrades to the school.64 In 1950, newly elected
Governor John S. Battle set up a fund of $7,000,000 in state aid that would be given to localities
for school construction to address the backlog of school building needs after World War II as
well as the disparities in black schools.65 The transfer of the town’s interest in the school and the
approval of funding to make improvements to the school made possible the renovation of
Bedford Training School into a consolidated elementary school for black students for the 19541955 school year.66 Serving the town and Central district, it was the only consolidated
elementary school for black students in Bedford County at that time.67 George M. Overstreet
worked as the contractor for renovations to the building to convert it to an elementary school and
had 60 days to complete the work in order for the school to open in early September 1954.
Garland Gay, an architect from Lynchburg, defined the work as adding three new rooms on the
ground floor, converting a classroom to a lunchroom on the first floor, installing new floors and
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Bedford County, VA
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County and State
drinking fountains, and lowering blackboards. Gay estimated the work to cost approximately
$17,000.68 The walls were painted the same color as those at Susie G. Gibson, a soft green
chosen by architect Stanhope Johnson. Further work included the lowering of drinking fountains
and lavatory facilities to accommodate children, the shielding of radiators, the purchase of new,
appropriately sized desks, improved overhead lighting, and the installation of a new loud-speaker
system.69
Bedford Training School reopened as an elementary school in September 1954 with an
enrollment of approximately 300 pupils. John E. Harrell, Jeanes supervisor, was the supervisor
for all black schools in the town of Bedford and Bedford County, including the elementary
school.70 Grace B. Terry served as the elementary school principal. Terry attended the Piedmont
School for her elementary education and Virginia Collegiate Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia, for
her high school education. Highly educated, Terry went on to graduate from Morgan State
University and Virginia State College and took individual courses at both Temple University and
Columbia University. She taught at several segregated black schools throughout Bedford County
before being appointed principal at the consolidated elementary school. She retired in 1966 after
a 48-year career as an educator.71
Throughout its lifespan, Bedford Training School not only served as an education center for
black pupils, but also as a community center for Bedford’s black community. According to
various newspaper articles and announcements in The Bedford Bulletin and The Bedford
Democrat, events, such as a United Nations program, musical programs, talent shows, art
exhibits, plays, field days, and the popular May Day celebrations, were held at Bedford Training
School. In the mid-20th century, a dental clinic operated out of the school, making at least 1,800
improvements among black students.72 An “Institutional On-Farm Training” course for black
veterans was taught out of the school as well.73 This class was funded by the GI Bill of Rights
and was taught weekly by Sam Hughes, Jr., a vocational-agriculture instructor.74
The 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregated schools were
inherently unequal and, therefore, violated the 14th Amendment. The court, however, did not
provide a means to achieve school integration, instead instructing the localities to provide a plan
“with all deliberate speed.” With no specific deadline for a plan, Virginia continued to allow
segregated schools over the next decade during the period of Massive Resistance. It was not until
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that any progress was made in the desegregation of schools in
Virginia and other southern states. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act gave the federal government
the power to bring lawsuits against the localities and school boards as well as withhold funding
when they did not have a plan to integrate their school system. On August 22, 1964, the Rev.
W.L. Johns and John H. Durham presented the Bedford County Board of Supervisors with a
letter on behalf of the NAACP Bedford Chapter stating that …We come to ask that a system of
integration of schools be immediately put in practice in Bedford County…We are asking that
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you will give us your plans for integrating the schools of Bedford County.”75 The Board of
Supervisors formed a committee to develop such a plan and the School Board signed an
assurance of compliance with Title VI in February 1965.76 However, the Board of Supervisors
voted in August of that same year to reject federal education funds rather than implement a plan
for full integration of the county schools.77 Public support from the white residents of the county
for this position was expressed in a Ku Klux Klan rally attended by over 300 people, in which
the Grand Klaliff Charles Elder criticized any white parents who allowed their children to attend
school with black children. The Ku Klux Klan had a strong presence in Bedford County as the
state headquarters were in the southern section of the county at this time. White citizens also
objected to the interference of the federal government at a joint meeting of the Board of
Supervisors and the School Board in October 1965.78 After submitting a plan for integration to
the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) in May 1965, and revising the
plan in May 1966, the Bedford County schools began operating under the Freedom of Choice
Plan during the 1965-1966 school year.79 This plan made a minimal effort to desegregate by
allowing students to choose the school they wanted to attend, but not mandating it.80 In 1968, the
Supreme Court decision in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County required school
systems to demonstrate concrete progress in desegregating public schools.81 However, it was not
until HEW declared in January 1970 that all schools in the county must be fully integrated by the
following August that schools in Bedford County became integrated.82 Bedford Training School
remained an elementary school for black students until 1970, when it became the administration
building for the Bedford County School Board.83
Criterion C: Architecture
Bedford Training School was completed in 1930 and is a good example of a one-story
consolidated school built in rural Virginia according to plans provided by the State Board of
Education’s Division of School Buildings. The need for a new school arose from overcrowded
conditions at the original Bedford Training School, a two-story, six-room frame building built in
1912 for black students, which housed high school students on the second floor and elementary
students on the first floor. The 1912 school was located at the corner of S. Bridge and W.
Franklin streets, facing W. Franklin, about sixty feet behind the existing school building.
The Bedford County School Board and the Municipal School Board each arranged to cover half
of the cost of a new school for all black high school students in Bedford County in September
1927. The State Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings supplied plans for the new
school in December 1927. The Division of School Buildings was established in 1920 to assist
local school boards and superintendents with plans, specifications, and site selection for new
buildings. This service allowed school boards to save on architects’ fees and resulted in the
relative standardization of construction and design of school buildings across the state,
particularly in rural communities and small towns.84 The plans for Bedford Training School are
“Design 14-F” and appear to be custom rather than standard plans, although standard drawings
were used for window details. After construction bids came in over budget in 1929, the Bedford
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County and State
County School Board Committee sent the plans back to the State for revisions. The final set of
drawings is dated July 1929.
The State’s Division of School Buildings design for the Bedford Training School reflects the
Colonial Revival style, which was often used for consolidated schools in Virginia in the first half
of the 20th century. The style emerged in the late 19th century from a renewed interest in
America’s colonial past, sparked by the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, which
celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation’s independence. The 1893 World’s Columbian
Exposition and the 1920s restoration of Colonial Williamsburg by John D. Rockefeller further
intensified national interest in the Colonial Revival movement, making the Colonial Revival
style one of the most prevalent and enduring in America’s history. The style was, and continues
to be, particularly popular in Virginia with its rich tradition of colonial architecture.
The Colonial Revival style was applied to nearly all building types in Virginia during the first
half of the 20th century. Communicating a sense of permanence and importance, the style was a
natural choice for public buildings, such as schools. The hybrid style draws from Georgian,
Federal, and Greek Revival styles, which all share a common classical vocabulary. Identifying
characteristics include a balanced composition, red bricks in a Flemish or English bond, white
trim, multi-pane double-hung sash windows, embellished entrances, and classical ornament.
Bedford Training School—with its symmetrical facade of red brick with a central arched
entrance pavilion, multi-pane double-hung sash windows, and restrained classical detailing at the
cornice—incorporates many defining characteristics of the style. Stylistic influence is further
noted in its Flemish bond brickwork, diapered brick panels, brick soldier courses, and decorative
brick motif in the gable field.
Several other schools were built in Bedford County during the same period as Bedford Training
School, including Forest School (1920), Brookhill School (1925), Stewartsville School (1925),
Bedford High School (1928), Big Island School (1929), and Montvale High School (1930). All
six of these schools were built for white students. The schools reflect the Colonial Revival style
in their brickwork, as well as their overall symmetry and massing. Stewartsville School and
Montvale High School are somewhat distinguished from the others as they also incorporate
characteristics of the Collegiate Gothic style with buttressed main entrance towers. Big Island
School, now demolished, bore the closest resemblance to Bedford Training School with its
symmetrical façade of red brick with a central arched entrance pavilion and recessed door
flanked by banks of multi-pane windows and two projecting end pavilions. Its detailing was also
similar to that of Bedford Training School, with a simple cornice, diapered brick panels, solider
courses, and cast-concrete blocks. Montvale High School and Stewartsville School share
significant design similarities with Bedford Training School as well with their Flemish variant
bonds with contrasting darkened headers, soldier brick courses, and diapered panels in their end
pavilions. With Big Island School and Brookhill School no longer extant, Bedford Training
School remains as one of only five consolidated schools in Bedford County from the period of
1920 to 1950. Of these schools, it is significant as the only one built for black students and is
representative of the efforts to present the “separate but equal” doctrine as valid during the Jim
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Crow era. Each of these schools have been adapted and changed in some respect over time, most
commonly with replacement windows and/or additions; however, they retain the characterdefining elements of the Colonial Revival style and demonstrate its dominance in school design
in Virginia during the first half of the 20th century.
On the interior, the plan and finishes exhibit typical school design as promoted by the state
Division of School Building during the period. The 1929 interior plan for Bedford Training
School shows a central entrance hall and four classrooms connected by a north-south corridor on
the main floor, a configuration that remains intact. Cloakrooms line the back walls of each
classroom. Behind the corridor, a stair shaft with two sets of stairs is shown to provide access to
the girls’ and boys’ toilets in the basement. A room in the basement is shown as “unfinished
future classroom” space. The plans suggest intentions of future expansion with a note about a
“temporary rear wall” near the stairs and a dashed line around a “future building” at the rear.
Specified corridor and classroom finishes were typical of Division of School Buildings schools
designed in the 1920s and included plaster walls with wood wainscot and metal ceilings with
cove mold. Doors were shown with five solid panels, surmounted by three-light transoms along
the corridors. Blackboards and display boards are shown on classroom walls.
E.A. Overstreet was awarded the construction contract. Work commenced in 1929 and the school
was dedicated in 1930. For many years, it was the only brick school building in Bedford County
attended by black students.85 Improvements were made to the new school soon after its initial
construction, including the creation of a school library.
Plans soon materialized to expand Bedford Training School with a two-story addition due to
deteriorating conditions at the old 1912 frame building, which was being used as an elementary
school for black students. Construction of the addition began in 1939 and was completed in
1940. The frame building was demolished. The addition is in keeping with the style and design
of the original school with its red brick walls, flat roof, large banks of windows, and simple
cornice. The interior plan included additional classrooms arranged along a corridor on both the
main and ground floors. High school students occupied the main floor, while elementary students
occupied the ground floor. Despite these improvements, Bedford Training School illustrated the
disparity between facilities for white and black students as it notably lacked a gymnasium,
auditorium, cafeteria, and adequate outdoor playground space.86
With the completion of Susie G. Gibson High School in 1954, Bedford Training School became
a consolidated elementary school for black students. The school was renovated at that time, with
George M. Overstreet serving as contractor. Renovation plans by Garland Gay, an architect from
Lynchburg, show nine classrooms, a library, a kitchen, a small office, boys’ and girls’ toilets,
and a teachers’ lounge. Specified finishes included new composition tile floors and acoustical tile
ceilings. New, lowered blackboards were installed. The walls were painted the same color as
those at Susie G. Gibson, a soft green chosen by architect Stanhope Johnson. Classroom doors in
the 1930 section of the school were to be replaced with glazed doors to match those in the 1939
addition. Further work included the lowering of drinking fountains and lavatory facilities to
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Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
accommodate children, the shielding of radiators, improved overhead lighting, and the
installation of a new loud-speaker system.87 These modifications reflect an attempt to modernize
this early 20th century school by introducing more resilient surfaces, a popular trend in mid-20th
century design, and by converting classrooms to more specialized spaces like a kitchen and a
library.
Bedford Training School operated as Bridge Street Elementary until integration of Bedford
County schools in 1970. While serving as an elementary school, plans were drawn by Stanhope
Johnson in 1960 and Garland Gay in 1964 for additions to the building. These additions were
never constructed. Since integration, the building has served as administrative offices for the
Bedford County School Board.
Bedford Training School survives as a good example of an early 20th century consolidated
school from the segregation era constructed in rural Virginia after the establishment of the State
Board of Education’s Division of School Buildings in 1920. Although built according to plans
from the Division of School Buildings, it was continuously adapted over time to meet changing
needs of the community. During its 40 years in operation as a school, it served as a high school, a
combined high school and elementary school, and an elementary school for black students in
Bedford County. The Colonial Revival-style school exhibits a high degree of architectural
integrity with its exterior features and interior plan substantially intact.
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Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Acknowledgement
Hill Studio would like to thank Michael Pulice, Western Region Architectural Historian for the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, for his support of the nomination; Betty Gereau and
Michael Pulice for assembling research materials and writing a thorough Preliminary
Information Form that laid the groundwork for the nomination and informed the Section 7
architectural description; Jennifer Thomson of the Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library for
research assistance; Harriett Hurt of Susie G. Gibson Legacy, Inc. for providing alumni surveys
that gave first-hand information on the history of the school; and Charles Santore, Clerk of the
Works for Bedford County Public Schools, for locating historic school plans.
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
“Approve Loan for Susie Gibson, but Withhold Another.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 25, 1953.
“Beginnings of Black Education.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical
Society. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-andresources/virginia-history-explorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/beginnings-black.
Buck, J.L. Blair. The Development of Public Schools in Virginia, 1607-1952. Richmond, VA:
State Board of Education, 1952.
Bonner, Oscar Trent. “A Survey of Negro Education in Bedford County.” Master’s Thesis,
University of Virginia, 1939.
Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker. “Closing the gap? The effect of private
philanthropy on the provision of African-American schooling in the U.S. South,” Journal
of Public Economics vol. 101 (May 2013). Accessed February 16, 2021.
http://web.utk.edu/~mwanamak/Rosenwald.pdf.
Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed.” The Bedford Democrat. June 10,
1954.
“County Makes Good Progress in Improving Public Health.” The Bedford Democrat. February 1,
1951.
Division of School Buildings, Bedford Training School, Bedford County (Richmond, VA: State
Department of Education, 1927-1929), Drawings: 1A, 1-6, 1X-2X. Bedford County
School Board Office Archive, Bedford, VA.
Sections 9-end page 23
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“Education in Virginia.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society.
Accessed February 12, 2021. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-andresources/virginia-history-explorer/education-virginia.
Gay, Garland M. Renovation Bedford Training School. Drawings: 1-4. July 8, 1954. Bedford
County School Board Office Archive, Bedford, VA.
Gunter, Margaret B. and Margaret L. Watson, “A History of Public Education in Virginia.”
Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education, 2003.
Harrell, John Edmund. “A General Survey of Public Education for Negroes in Bedford County.”
Master’s Thesis, Hampton Institute, 1951.
“Learning About Farm Forests.” The Bedford Democrat. March 29, 1951.
Leftwich, Florence L. “New School Interests Pupils; Holiday Visiting is Reported,” The Bedford
Democrat, September 16, 1954.
“Negro School Survey Given.” The Bedford Bulletin. November 20, 1952.
“Old Faces, Old Places.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 10, 2020.
Overstreet, Adrian, S.C.S. Plat of Property of Bedford County Schools Bedford – VA [Map],
1:20. September 28, 1968.
Pollard, Annie S. Bedford Black History, 250 Years 2nd ed. Bedford, VA: The Bedford Museum
& Genealogical Library, 2015.
Redcay, Edward E. County Training Schools and Public Secondary Education for Negroes in the
South. Washington, DC: The John F. Slater Fund, 1935.
Richardson, Tracy Bryant. “Susie G. Gibson High School: A History of the Last Segregated
School in Bedford County, Virginia.” PhD Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, 2012.
Salvatore, Susan Cianci, Waldo E. Martin, Jr., Vicki L. Ruiz, Patricia Sullivan, and Harvard
Sitkoff, “Racial Desegregation in Public Education in the United States Theme Study."
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2000.
Sanborn Map and Publishing Company. Bedford, VA, 1927, 1948. New York, NY: Sanborn
Map and Publishing Company, 1927, 1948. “Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.”
“School Board Has Long Session Thursday.” The Bedford Bulletin. May 21, 1953.
“School Board Names Clerk, Oks Bus Loan.” The Bedford Democrat. July 15, 1954.
“School Board Selects Personnel for next Year.” The Bedford Bulletin. June 4, 1953.
Sections 9-end page 24
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National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
“State Officials Here to Talk with School Board.” The Bedford Democrat. January 11, 1951.
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens.” The Bedford Democrat.
September 9, 1954.
U.S. Census Bureau. “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of
the Population by States.” Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922. Accessed
March 1, 2021. https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume3/41084484v3ch09.pdf.
U.S. Census Bureau. “1930 Census: Volume 3. Population, Reports by States.” Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1932. Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume3/10612982v3p2ch10.pdf.
Viemeister, Peter. Historical Diary of Bedford, Virginia, U.S.A. from Ancient Times to U.S.
Bicentennial, Bedford, VA: Hamilton’s, 1993.
Virginia Department of Education, School Buildings Service. Photograph Collection. Library of
Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Digitized images of 3,100 school building photographs.
Williams, Wiley J. “Jeanes Fund.” Encyclopedia of North Carolina, North Carolina Press, 2006.
Accessed February 17, 2021. https://www.ncpedia.org/jeanes-fund.
____________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
____ Other
Sections 9-end page 25
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): DHR #141-5018
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 1.19
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.331660
Longitude: -79.525030
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The true and correct historic boundary for the nominated property is coterminous with the
1.19-acre parcel shown on the attached map entitled “Tax Parcel Map,” corresponding with
Bedford County tax parcel number 80500199. (Obtained February 12, 2021 from Bedford
County GIS).
Sections 9-end page 26
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundary for the nominated property corresponds with the plat map dated September 28,
1968. The property’s historic setting and all known associated historic resources have been
included within the historic boundary.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Katie Gutshall, Kate Kronau, and Alison Blanton
organization: Hill Studio
street & number: 120 Campbell Avenue SW
city or town: Roanoke state: VA zip code: 24011
e-mail: kgutshall@hillstudio.com
telephone: (540) 342-5263
date: March 2021
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Bedford Training School
Sections 9-end page 27
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
City or Vicinity: Bedford
County: Bedford
State: Virginia
Photographer: Kate Kronau, Katie Gutshall, Mary Zirkle
Date Photographed: December 2020 and October 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 18. Front (east) and west side elevations, view southwest
2 of 18. Front entrance, view west
3 of 18. Front (east) and south side elevations, view northwest
4 of 18. Rear (west) and south side elevations, view northeast
5 of 18. Rear (west) and north side elevations, view southeast
6 of 18. Corridor in 1929 school, view north
7 of 18. Stair in 1929 school, view south
8 of 18. Classroom in 1929 school, view east
9 of 18. Classroom in 1939 addition, view southeast
10 of 18. Corridor and stair in 1939 addition, view southwest
11 of 18. Corridor and stair in basement of 1939 addition, view east
12 of 18. Door with transom in basement of 1939 addition, view west
13 of 18. Corridor in basement of 1939 addition, view west
14 of 18. Corridor in basement of 1929 school, view north
15 of 18. Non-contributing secondary resource, view southwest
16 of 18. Detail of diapered brick panel
17 of 18. Detail of bricks in chevron pattern within a circle of sailor bricks
18 of 18. Detail of Flemish variant bond and solider-course water table
Historic Images Log
1 of 5. Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service
Photographs
Sections 9-end page 28
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
2 of 5. Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service
Photographs
3 of 5. Elementary School Pupils, 1946, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library
Archives
4 of 5. Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, date unknown, Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library Archives
5 of 5. Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, date unknown, Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library Archives
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 29
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Historic Images
Image 1: Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service Photographs
Image 2: Bedford Training School, Feb. 1930, Library of Virginia: School Buildings Service Photographs
Sections 9-end page 30
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Image 3: Elementary School Pupils, 1946, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
Image 4: Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
Sections 9-end page 31
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Image 5: Sixth and Seventh Grade Classroom, Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library Archives
ENDNOTES
1
Annie S. Pollard, Bedford Black History, 250 Years, 2nd ed. (Bedford, VA: The Bedford Museum &
Genealogical Library, 2015), 133.
2
Oscar Trent Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education in Bedford County” (Master’s Thesis, University of
Virginia, 1939), 6.
3
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 133.
4
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 13.
5
Tracy Bryant Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School: A History of the Last Segregated School in
Bedford County, Virginia,” (PhD Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2012),
22; “Education in Virginia,” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society, accessed
February 12, 2021, https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-historyexplorer/education-virginia.
6
“Beginnings of Black Education,” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society,
accessed February 12, 2021, https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-historyexplorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/beginnings-black.
7
Susan Cianci Salvatore, Waldo E. Martin, Jr, Vicki L. Ruiz, Patricia Sullivan, and Harvard Sitkoff,
“Racial Desegregation in Public Education in the United States Theme Study," (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2000), 27.
8
“Beginnings of Black Education.”
9
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 134.
Sections 9-end page 32
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
10
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 18-20.
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 175.
12
U.S. Census Bureau, “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of the
Population by States,” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922). Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-3/41084484v3ch09.pdf
13
John Edmund Harrell, “A General Survey of Public Education for Negroes in Bedford County”
(Master’s Thesis, Hampton Institute, 1951), 1.
14
Ibid, 2.
15
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 39.
16
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 1.
17
Ibid, 1.
18
U.S. Census Bureau, “1920 Census: Volume 3. Population, Composition and Characteristics of the
Population by States,” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922). Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-3/41084484v3ch09.pdf
19
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 136.
20
“Education in Virginia.”
21
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 1-2.
22
Edward E. Redcay, County Training Schools and Public Secondary Education for Negroes in the South
(Washington, DC: The John F. Slater Fund, 1935), vii-viii.
23
Redcay, County Training Schools, 25.
24
Ibid, 4-5.
25
Ibid, 31.
26
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 207.
27
“Old Faces, Old Places,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 10, 2020, 7A.
28
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 3.
29
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 208.
30
Margaret B. Gunter and Margaret L. Watson, “A History of Public Education in Virginia”
(Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education, 2003), 4.
31
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 208.
32
U.S. Census Bureau, “1930 Census: Volume 3. Population, Reports by States,” (Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1932). Accessed March 1, 2021.
(https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume3/10612982v3p2ch10.pdf
33
Division of School Buildings, Bedford Training School, Bedford County (Richmond, VA: State
Department of Education, 1929), drawing, 1-2.
34
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
35
Celeste K. Carruthers and Marianne H. Wanamaker, “Closing the gap? The effect of private
philanthropy on the provision of African-American schooling in the U.S. South,” Journal of Public
Economics vol. 101 (May 2013), 59.
36
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
37
Ibid, 209.
38
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 2.
39
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 209.
40
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 88.
41
Ibid, 85.
42
Ibid, 83.
11
Sections 9-end page 33
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
43
Gunter and Watson, “A History of Public Education,” 20.
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 149.
45
Ibid, 34-35.
46
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 92-93.
47
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education,” 149.
48
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 57.
49
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 59.
50
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 211.
51
Ibid, 249.
52
Wiley J. Williams, “Jeanes Fund,” Encyclopedia of North Carolina, North Carolina Press, 2006,
accessed February 17, 2021, https://www.ncpedia.org/jeanes-fund.
53
“School Board Selects Personnel for next Year,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 4, 1953 ,1.
54
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 3-5.
55
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 261.
56
Salvatore et al, “Racial Desegregation,” 75.
57
“State Officials Here to Talk with School Board,” The Bedford Democrat, January 11, 1951, 8.
58
Harrell, “A General Survey,” 58.
59
Ibid, 17-18.
60
“Negro School Survey Given,” The Bedford Bulletin, November 20, 1952, 1.
61
Ibid, 1.
62
“School Board Has Long Session Thursday,” The Bedford Bulletin, May 21, 1953, 1.
63
“Approve Loan for Susie Gibson, but Withhold Another,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 25, 1953, 1.
64
“Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed,” The Bedford Democrat, June 10, 1954,
1.
65
Gunter and Watson, “A History of Public Education,” 19-20.
66
“Council Oks School Board’s Proposals; Hicks Reappointed,” The Bedford Democrat, June 10, 1954,
1.
67
Leftwich, Florence L. “New School Interests Pupils; Holiday Visiting is Reported,” The Bedford
Democrat, September 16, 1954.
68
“School Board Names Clerk, Oks Bus Loan,” The Bedford Democrat, July 15, 1954, 1 & 11.
69
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens,” The Bedford Democrat, September 9,
1954, 1.
70
“Ibid, 1.
71
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 259.
72
“County Makes Good Progress in Improving Public Health,” The Bedford Democrat, February 1, 1951,
1.
73
“Learning About Farm Forests,” The Bedford Democrat, March 29, 1951, 6.
74
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 271.
75
Bedford County School Board Minutes, August 26, 1964, quoted in Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High
School,” 77-78.
76
Bedford County School Board Minutes, February 10, 1965, quoted in Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson
High School,” 77-78.
77
Peter Viemeister, Historical Diary of Bedford, Virginia, U.S.A. from Ancient Times to U.S.
Bicentennial, (Bedford, VA: Hamilton’s, 1993), 101.
78
Viemeister, Historical Diary of Bedford, 101; Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 8.
79
Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 80.
44
Sections 9-end page 34
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
80
Pollard, Bedford Black History, 284.
“Education in Virginia.”
82
Richardson, “Susie G. Gibson High School,” 85.
83
“Old Faces, Old Places,” The Bedford Bulletin, June 10, 2020, 7A.
84
Buck, J.L. Blair. The Development of Public Schools in Virginia, 1607-1952. Richmond, VA: State
Board of Education, 1952, 347-48.
85
Bonner, “A Survey of Negro Education”, 97.
86
Ibid, 88.
87
“Susie G. Gibson High School Among Finest in South, Opens,” 1.
81
Sections 9-end page 35
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Bedford
Training School
County Boundaries
Bedford County, VA
DHR No. 141-5019
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 7/8/2021
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
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NRHP Boundary
VGIN Most Recent Aerials
Map created in V-CRIS
NRHP Location Map
238
ST
316
S BR
IDG
E
308
312
310
Historic Boundary
W FRANKLIN
306
244
ST
311
15
5
1
16
ST
310A
S BR
IDG
E
non
contributing
310
17
contributing
4
2
18
3
317
414
SketchMap
Map& Photo Key
Sketch
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
310 S. Bridge Street
W
Bedford, VA 24523
DHR File Number: 141-5018
Date Obtained: 2-15-2021
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50
100
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W FRANKLIN
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IDG
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Tax Parcel Map
Bedford Training School
Bedford County, VA
DHR File Number: 141-5018
Date Obtained: 2-15-2021
https://webgis.bedfordcounty
va.gov/Bedford/
0
25
50
W KING ST
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100
Feet
E KING ST
Text
NPS Form 10-900
1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
VLR Listed: 3/18/2021
NRHP Listed: 5/27/2021
0MB No.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin,
How to Complete the National Register a/Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter
"NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Amherst Baptist Church
Other names/site number:
Second Stage Amherst; DHR # 163-0022
Name ofrelated multiple property listing:
NIA
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 190-194 Second St
VA
City or town: --"-'A=m=h=e';::r=st===----State:
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:~
County:
Amherst
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this -X_nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level( s) of significance:
__statewide
national
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_B
_A
_LC
___x__tocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _meets_ does not meet the National Register
criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____3________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
_______0______
sites
_____0_______
_______0_____
structures
_____0_______
_______0______
objects
_____3________
_______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0_____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION/religious facility_
RELIGION/church-related residence
DOMESTIC/ secondary structure/ garage
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE/business_
COMMERCE/TRADE/professional
COMMERCE/TRADE/restaurant_
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store_
RECREATION&CULTURE/auditorium_
RECREATION&CULTURE/theater_
RECREATION&CULTURE/music facility_
RECREATION&CULTURE/museum_
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_LATE VICTORIAN/ Italianate________
_LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS/ Late Gothic Revival__
_LATE VICTORIAN/ Romanesque______
_LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS/ Colonial Revival___
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: __BRICK; STONE/slate; WOOD
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The evolved building historically known as Amherst Baptist Church stands in the Town of
Amherst on the southwest corner at the intersection of Second and Washington Streets. The Town
of Amherst is the county seat of Amherst County and the intersection is east of the county
courthouse complex. Amherst County is in the Piedmont area of the state and is north of the City
of Lynchburg. The former church building stands on a knoll which is a 1.14-acre lot. It is separated
from Second Street by a sidewalk and small lawn on the north; there is a lawn separating the church
from the paved parking lot on the west. On the south is a larger lawn containing two contributing
buildings: a 1949 brick, two-story, Colonial Revival style parsonage and a 1949 brick, single-car
garage. To the east, there is a gravel parking area on Washington Street. In 2006, the entire lot was
sold to Amherst County. In 2015, Second Stage Amherst, a non-profit organization, requested to
use the building for community service as an event site and a place for small businesses to operate.
The parsonage serves as additional county office space and the garage is used by Second Stage for
storage. Significant features of the church building include tall, segmental-arch windows with
Gothic tracery, Romanesque Revival brick corbelling in the front gable, the 1908 tower containing
both Romanesque Revival and Italianate elements, the Colonial Revival style entry with fan light,
and the 1925 Gothic Revival addition with polygonal facade. The property has no non-contributing
resources. The property has very good integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship,
materials, feeling, and association as a small church first erected in 1882 and added on to as the
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
congregation grew during the early to mid-twentieth century. Although modest in size and
architectural detailing, the parsonage and garage are in keeping with the former church’s design,
scale, and materials.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Former Church, contributing building, 1882 with later additions
Exterior Description
The brick building historically known as Amherst Baptist Church stands on the northern
edge of the southwest corner of Second and Washington streets in the Town of Amherst. This
building is today a multi-purpose community building known as Second Stage Amherst. The
building is oriented toward the parking lot located north of the building, rather than toward the
adjacent Second Street. The west side of the building is the main elevation. It is separated from a
paved parking area by a lawn. A sidewalk from Second Street intersects the sidewalk from the
parking lot; in the parking lot there is a mature oak tree. The sidewalk runs to the entry on the
south side of the building. There is a small garden south of the building’s corner polygonal bay
containing small boxwoods. Mature boxwoods are planted along the west and south sides of the
1925 addition between the building and the sidewalk. In the south yard there is a mature Magnolia.
The parsonage and garage stand to the south and southwest of the church building. There are
mature shrubs at the eastern side of the building.
The church building was constructed in four phases between 1882 and 1955. The main
block was constructed in 1882, the Romanesque Revival entry tower on the west facade in 1908,
the Gothic Revival south addition in 1925, and the east (rear) addition in 1955. The original block’s
west facade is laid in running bond and its north elevation (parallel to Second Street) was
constructed in 4:1 common bond, except for the single-bay extension on the eastern end, seen as
the fifth (easternmost) bay on the north elevation, with slightly different brickwork laid in fivecourse rather than four-course common bond. The 1925 and 1955 sections were constructed in 5:1
common bond. The main block of the building has an east-west axis with a gable end on the
western side of the building which is where the main entry is located. The exposed foundation of
the main block is stuccoed to about a foot above the ground. The gable roof and pyramid roof of
the tower are sheathed in slate. The remaining additions have flat roofs. There are a total of four
brick chimney flues on the south side of the building. Italianate eave brackets remain on the tower,
but the decorative eave brackets of the building, as seen in 1979 survey photos, were removed
when the church put vinyl around the exposed wooden details of the building sometime during the
1980s.
The 1882 building and 1925 south addition exhibit multiple elements of various architectural
styles, including Italianate, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Colonial Revival styles.
This building is one of four churches in Amherst County that contain similar elements and were
built around the same period. They are the Amherst Baptist Church, differentiated by its tower, the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
nearby Amherst Presbyterian Church (1881, DHR# 163-5008), the original Central Baptist Church
(1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy Hill Methodist Church (1885).1
The original 1882 rectangular building has the aforementioned extension on the eastern
end, the fifth (easternmost) bay. The five-bay north exterior wall has buttresses, and most of the
windows are tall nine-over-nine double-hung sash windows with a fixed-sash segmented arch and
gothic tracery atop each window. The windows have yellow tint glass. Every window is decorated
with Italianate brick segmental arches and brick corbeling over each window. The vinyl-clad frieze
extends beneath the eaves. The west or main elevation has decorative Romanesque Revival
corbeling in the gable end and gable end returns.2
In 1908, the church erected an Italianate-style brick tower in running bond at the west entry.
This tower has a pyramid roof with brackets at the eaves. The main entry on the front (west
elevation) of the tower has narrow, paneled double-leaf doors with a fanlight transom above the
doors. The north and south sides of the lower portion of the tower both have a single one-over-one
double-hung sash window. The central section of the tower has a fixed pane single-light sash on
all three exposed sides. All of the tower windows are spanned by splayed jack arches. The upper
portion of the tower has brick corbeling on three sides, and below the eaves are double arched,
louvered vents.3
The third phase of construction was the 1925 Gothic Revival-style wing onto the entire
south side of the 1882 building. The two-story wing has a flat roof and three brick chimney flues.
There is a decorative cast concrete band around the top portion of the wall. The western façade has
a polygonal bay with decorative brickwork, and the bricks are laid in running bond, like the original
portion of the church. The center windows of the bay are 8/8 double-hung sash windows. On the
outer sides there are three 6/6 double-hung sash windows. There is a single-leaf entry having a
large single light located in the lower north side of the bay. The south elevation of this addition is
1
Ivy Hill Methodist Church is located at 1143 Indian Creek Road (Tax Map Parcel 28 A 18). The current brick
edifice replaced the 1832 frame church built by William Waller (1789-1849) of Forest Hill (DHR #005-0108). This
was built by two local men: Charles H. Tucker (1838-1910), a brick mason and Samuel C. Kirkpatrick (1839-1901),
carpenter. In 1890, the roof was blown off and soon replaced. In 1933, the north wall collapsed due to a storm and
was rebuilt. Today, the building is privately owned and used for special events. Holly Mills, “Scrapbooks reveal rich
Amherst County history,” News and Advance (Lynchburg), March 23, 2011, updated July 2, 2020, accessed
September 19, 2020, https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherstcounty-history/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm; “Highlights of 2006 Home
Tour,” accessed September 19, 2020, amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html.
2
The original church appears in an aerial photo of the Town of Amherst taken prior to 1925 that is part of the Jones
Memorial Library collection. The original wall decoration is preserved behind the tower. The men who constructed
the building are unknown but they could be the same men who are mentioned in an 1885 newspaper article about the
construction of Central Baptist Church. One of them, S.C. Kirkpatrick, was also the contractor responsible for the
1873 Amherst Courthouse. Valley Virginian, February 19, 1885, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
3
Bernice L. Hunt, and Roy E, Hunt, History of the Amherst Baptist Church:1882-1982, 1982, 6.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
laid in 5:1 common bond. There are five bays on each story. The lower windows are 6/6 doublehung sashes, and the upper story has 1/1 double-hung sash windows.4
The last addition to the building was the large three-story c. 1955 addition built across the
entire rear (west) elevations of both the 1882 and 1925 additions. Largely devoid of ornamentation,
the walls are laid in 5:1 common bond. This addition resulted in renovations to both the exterior
and interior of the building. The windows on the first and second stories are all 6/6 double-hung
sashes topped with flat arches of soldier bricks. The basement level has 3/3 double-hung sashes.
This section has a flat roof that adjoins the 1925 addition except where a gable was created and
sheathed in slate to match the original building. This addition caused the church to enlarge the area
where the apse existed, creating the fifth (easternmost) bay with slightly different brickwork. On
the north and south elevations are two stacked single-leaf entries allowing access to the main floor
and the basement. These doors have nine lights in the upper portion of the door. There is a brick
exterior staircase with concrete risers leading to the main story and another set of concrete risers
to the basement. The south elevation has an asymmetrical arrangement of bays. A cast concrete
stringcourse extends above the second-story windows, similar to the string course on the 1925
addition’s south wall. The west (rear) elevation has four bays at each story. The north elevation
exhibits the extension to the original building with different colored bricks from the original wall.
This extension creates a fifth bay along the original north elevation of the church. The 1955
addition section has engaged buttresses like the 1882 building and has three bays across both
stories. The current building with all additions measures 50 x 100 feet.
Interior Description
Ante-room and Sanctuary/ Main Hall
Inside the entry tower on the west façade is an anteroom. The floor consists of slate tile.
The wall has wooden raised panel wainscot with a chair rail and wooden walls above the chair rail
to the ceiling and a narrow crown molding at the junction of the ceiling and wall. The paneling
and tile were later installations, possibly around 1950. On the east wall there is a double-leaf
swinging door into the sanctuary/main hall. Each leaf has a single light in the top third of the door
and a raised wooden panel in the bottom. The molding around the doors contain turned corner
blocks.
The sanctuary, now the main hall, has undergone periodic renovations beginning in 1885
to 1955.The earliest layout of the nave and apse area is unknown. There are two photos of the
interior in the 1940s featured in a book on the Town of Amherst. The interior in the 1940s had a
center aisle down the nave with rows of wooden pews on each side. The north end of the nave, at
the apse wall, had risers and pews and was used as the choir loft. The apse wall had a rounded arch
opening, and the apse area was accessed by three risers from the nave floor. The rear wall of the
apse featured a tripartite stained-glass window. The window opened; it was used to hide the
4
Hunt, 9; and Times Dispatch, August 1, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, November
17, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; and Times Dispatch, June 6, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
baptistery when it was not in use. The pulpit was set in the archway. The 1908 pressed tin ceiling
was present as were c. 1930 pendant lights. The wooden pews featured a trefoil cutout and a carved
top.5
1925 Addition
This addition to the south wall of the nave is two stories high. The purpose was to increase
the nave when necessary and to add classrooms along the rear of the church. Access to the second
story is provided by a stair added to the west wall, attached to a balcony that ran along the south
wall. The intact banister and railing have square posts with square balusters and newel post. The
pastor’s office was located in the southwest corner at the top of the stairs. There were wooden
folding panels that divided the rooms on both floors. The panels were replaced with a solid wall,
probably in 1950, on the second floor. At the same time, the wooden dividers on the first floor
were replaced with cloth-covered accordion doors. The last wood panel divider, centered in the
first-floor room, was removed when the coffee shop was installed. The first floor retains its earlyperiod pressed-tin ceiling.
1955 Addition and Later Renovations
In 1955, renovations took place in the main room of the original building and in the 1925
wing. Black and white checked linoleum was placed over the wooden floors of the nave and the
ground floor of the 1925 wing. The apse area was enlarged and redecorated in the Neo-Classical
Revival style, which was a popular style used for Baptist Churches of that era. The floor was raised
and extended into the nave from the apse wall. This created a stage-like area and contained the
pulpit, and three tiered rows of risers for the choir loft. The apse wall was opened and framed by
fluted pilasters with composite capitals supporting an entablature. A new, copper-lined baptistery
pool was installed behind the rear wall of the apse and the pool area is part of the rear apse wall.
It is framed by pilasters and engaged columns like those of the apse wall supporting an entablature.
In the 1960s, much of the sanctuary and 1925 addition were carpeted including the apse area, stairs
and balcony. New, simple, wooden pews replaced those of the 1940s photographs. There were
twelve pews placed on each side of the center aisle. The c. 1930 interior pendant lights were
replaced with the existing pendant lights.
1955 Classroom Addition
This addition has three stories. The basement is an open room with exterior access. It has
a linoleum tile floor, exposed concrete block walls, and a dropped ceiling. There are two small
bathrooms with original fixtures on the west wall. In the southwest corner there is a kitchen. This
kitchen was renovated as part of a Boy Scout Eagle project around 2017. The main stair hall for
this area is in the southwest corner. The upper floors have a hall running west from the stair and a
hall running north from the stair. On both stories of the west hall, there are two classrooms on each
floor. These rooms are on the south side of the hall and have partial glass walls. The north hall has
5
Robert C. Wimer, Leah Settle Gibbs, Patty Walton Turpin, Thurman B. Davis, and James D. Settle, Amherst: from
Tavern to a Town (Lynchburg, VA: Blackwell Press, 2010), 61 and 103.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
three rooms on the east side, on both floors. The main floor has two large restrooms and access to
the baptistery on the west side of the wall. This area retains its original fixtures. There is another
hall running west along the north wall that leads to the apse. The second floor had one small
restroom on the west wall with original fixtures and another classroom which was used for a church
library.
Second Stage Amherst
Second Stage Amherst took possession of the building in 2015, and there were alterations
to renovate and rehabilitate the building for its new uses. Handicapped bathrooms were created
from two classrooms on the first floor. In the sanctuary, the risers and choir loft dividers were
removed to create a stage. The pews and carpeting were removed around 2016-2017, and the black
and white linoleum was exposed in the nave and 1925 addition. In 2019, a coffee bar was installed
in the eastern end of the 1925 addition. Many of the classrooms have been renovated and
rehabilitated to fit the needs of those businesses using the rooms.6
Outbuildings
Parsonage, Contributing Building, 1949
The parsonage, built in 1949, is a running bond brick, two-story house with a basement,
designed in the Colonial Revival style with minimal ornamentation. The house is located to the
southwest of the church. Its position creates a courtyard at the front yard of the church property
between the church and the parking lot. The exposed foundation of the house is stuccoed. It has a
side-gable roof sheathed in asphalt shingles. The windows are varied sizes of six-over-six
double-hung sash windows at all levels except the basement, where there are two-light louvered
windows. There is an exterior brick chimney on the east gable end. The building is currently
used for office space and has been altered to accommodate these offices.
The main elevation faces north. It has three symmetrical bays across the first and second
stories. The single-leaf entry is centered between the windows of the first story. The entry is
accessed by an open concrete stoop. The door surround has an arched molding with dentils over
the door, spanning fluted pilasters flanking the door. The windows have attached decorative
louvered shutters. The east elevation has a one story, two-bay, concrete, shed-roofed porch with
access to the porch from the north by means of a concrete stair of four risers. There is a single-leaf
entry on the northeast corner of the house. The rear or south elevation has asymmetrical
fenestration. There is a single-bay stoop with a stair to the main floor and a single-leaf entry. The
entry to the basement is beneath the stoop. The west elevation has a gable window.
Garage, Contributing Building, 1949
The single-car garage, built in 1949, is located to the southeast of the parsonage. An access
road from the front parking lot to the rear parking lot separates the garage from the house and
6
A local artisan created the meeting table in the first floor meeting room. It was made from pews that were removed
from the main hall.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
church yard. It is built of brick in the running bond pattern. It is built at grade without a foundation,
and has a gable roof with asphalt shingles. The gable end entry faces east and has a solid doubleleaf entry. The north and south elevations are devoid of fenestration. The west elevation has a
single window with a two-light fixed sash.
Integrity Assessment
The Amherst Baptist Church possesses integrity of location and setting as all three contributing
buildings are at their original locations and there are no non-contributing resources on the property.
A historic-era residential neighborhood is west of the church, while newer commercial and
government buildings are north of Second Street (behind plantings of mature trees) and east of
Washington Street. The property’s integrity of design, workmanship and materials are also very
good. The original 1882 church building evolved over time as the congregation grew, but the
additions were designed to harmonize with the original building, as exemplified by the buttresses
with sloped weatherings on the north wall of the 1955 addition and the cast concrete string course
on the 1955 addition’s south wall, as well as consistent use of red brick walls and large windows
with white wooden trim. The character-defining west entry tower is largely unaltered, retaining
the original tall, paneled double-leaf doors topped with a fanlight, decorative brickwork, arched
louvers, brackets, and pyramid roof clad with slate. Adaptive reuse of the former church building
as a community theater space and venue for small businesses has not resulted in substantial
alterations to character-defining exterior and interior features. The church building’s historic
floorplan has not been altered. Some secondary spaces, such as two classrooms that were converted
to restrooms and a coffee shop in the 1925 addition, have new uses but these do not detract from
the historic design as each was placed within an existing space. The 1955 addition now hosts
several small businesses in former classrooms. Historic flooring, trim, and ceiling finishes have
been retained. The former parsonage and garage, both contributing buildings, have had few
alterations since their construction in 1949. Both buildings retain their original massing and
exterior materials. Collectively, the three buildings create a small campus interspersed with modest
plantings and flanked by parking lots to the north and south of the buildings. The property retains
integrity of feeling as a church dating to the late 19th century with appropriately scaled and
designed updates through the first half of the twentieth century. As an example of ecclesiastical
design in the Town of Amherst, the property has integrity of association even though it no longer
is used as a church.
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_ARCHITECTURE___
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
_1882–1955_________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
__1908____________
__1925____________
__________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A______________
__________________
__________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_____________
__________________
__________________
Architect/Builder
_Unknown_________
__________________
__________________
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The former church building known historically as Amherst Baptist Church is locally
significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. Criteria Consideration A for religious
buildings does not apply because the property is no longer owned by a church or used for religious
purposes. The edifice exhibits many details of the Italianate style as well as elements borrowed
from other period styles including Late Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival, and the early
20th century Colonial Revival. The picturesque qualities of these styles were popular for
ecclesiastical properties throughout rural Virginia and elsewhere during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. The late nineteenth century also was the height of Victorian-era
architecture, which was characterized by extensive ornamentation, asymmetrical massing that
included towers, polygonal bays, and multiple-gable roofs, and prominently featured primary
entries. As its name suggests, the Colonial Revival referenced motifs of Virginia’s late colonial
and early republic periods, such as classically-inspired columns and pediments, symmetrical
facades with centered entries, and molded door and window surrounds on exteriors and interiors.
With additions to its original 1882 block spanning from 1908 to 1955, Amherst Baptist Church
illustrates these architectural trends as applied to a religious building. The more modestly designed
garage and parsonage, both dating to 1949, retain the Colonial Revival style but also exemplify
the streamlining and minimal ornamentation that came to characterize post-World War II
architecture in Virginia. Significant dates for the property are 1908 and 1925, each coinciding with
construction of a significant addition to the 1882 block. Five other extant buildings in Amherst
County are documented examples of the Italianate style: two are residential, Sweet Briar House
(1825, 1851, DHR# 005-0018) and Fairview (1867, DHR# 005-0006), and three are churches,
Amherst Presbyterian (1881, DHR# 163-5008), Central Baptist (1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy
Hill Methodist (1885). The houses are truer in their representation of the Italianate style, but
Amherst Baptist Church and the other three churches, all constructed in the 1880s, feature the
Italianate style with elements borrowed from other styles. These shared elements and design
perhaps suggest construction by the same workers and craftsmen. The former Amherst Baptist
Church’s period of significance spans from 1882 to 1955, beginning with the original church’s
construction and ending with the 1955 rear addition. During its period of significance, the building
was used as an auditorium for Amherst High School and for community gatherings in addition to
its religious use. It is a town landmark and is easily identified by its tall entry tower.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion C Justification
The former Amherst Baptist Church building is locally significant under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. It is an excellent example of vernacular interpretations of multiple nationally
popular styles in the 1882–1908 phases of work, including the 1908 tower that combines
Romanesque Revival and Italianate elements with a Colonial Revival style entry. Hence the church
reflects the typically eclectic mix of styles and emphasis on ornamentation during the Victorian
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
period, supplanted by the more popular Classical/Colonial styles in the early 20th century. The
property is one of six known buildings of the style in Amherst County. Two are residential: Sweet
Briar House (1825, 1851, DHR# 005-0018) and Fairview (1867, DHR# 005-0006), and four are
churches: Amherst Baptist (1882, DHR# 165-0022), Amherst Presbyterian (1881, DHR# 1635008); Central Baptist (1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy Hill Methodist (1885). The churches share
similar traits between them, but are each distinctive in their combinations of stylistic features.
Exceptionally popular at the national level beginning around 1835, the Italianate style became
fairly popular in some parts of west-central Virginia beginning in the 1850s and waned during the
1880s as Late Victorian styles such as Queen Anne became more predominate. The most iconic
hallmarks of the Italianate style were deep eaves with cornices supported by large, decorative
brackets as seen on Amherst Baptist Church’s entry tower.
The architects/builders of both the Amherst Presbyterian and Amherst Baptist churches remain
unknown because both congregations have lost their early records for various reasons. Through
observation it is possible to link these two buildings to Charles H. Tucker (1838–1910), a brick
mason, and Samuel C. Kirkpatrick (1839–1901), a contractor and carpenter. They are documented
as the builders for Central Baptist and Ivy Hill Methodist. Kirkpatrick was also the contractor for
the construction of the 1873 Greek Revival-style Amherst Courthouse. Some of the shared traits
between the various buildings include the brick corbelling on the primary elevations, segmental
arches over the windows, buttresses on Amherst Presbyterian, Amherst Baptist, and Central
Baptist, and the rounded arch windows with double-arched sashes of Amherst Presbyterian,
Central Baptist, and Ivy Hill. All have the same stuccoed foundations. Ivy Hill is the least
decorated building of the four designed in the Italianate style. It is not known whether or not all of
the churches had brackets supporting the cornices. Amherst Baptist Church is the only building
where brackets were documented. It also is the only building of the four to have a tower, which
was typical of the style, and which retains its original cornice brackets; yet Amherst Baptist is the
only one of the churches to have flat arch windows instead of round-arch windows. All four of the
buildings have undergone changes and remodeling since their construction. For example, the
Amherst Presbyterian church now has stained-glass windows instead of clear glass as a result of a
renovation to the building in 1918. Amherst Baptist differs from the others by the use of the tall
segmental arch windows with Gothic tracery in the upper portion of the windows above the double
sash. This is the only building of the four with a slate roof and a tower. The 1908 tower is
sympathetic to the original Italianate design of the 1882 building. The 1908 tower and its further
additions also distinguish this building from the other churches.7
7
Ivy Hill Methodist Church is located at 1143 Indian Creek Road (Tax Map Parcel 28 A 18). The current brick
edifice replaced the 1832 frame church built by William Waller (1789-1849) of Forest Hill (DHR #005-0108). In
1890, the tin roof was blown off and was soon replaced. In 1933, the north wall collapsed due to a storm and was
rebuilt. Today, the building is privately owned and used for special events. Holly Mills,
https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherst-countyhistory/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm; “Highlights of 2006 Home Tour,”
accessed September 19, 2020, amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html: and Valley Virginian, February 19, 1885,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The church is a prominent landmark in the town and has been important as a community
building. It was used by Amherst High School as an auditorium, because the church was
conveniently located across Washington Street from the school. The church was the sponsor for a
multi-day event on the courthouse green in 1906. It gained a new life in 2015, hence the name
Second Stage, when it became a multi-purpose community center for events, meetings, businesses,
shops, studios, and a coffee shop.8
Church History
According to oral history and local lore, the Baptist congregation at Amherst Courthouse
(the present Town of Amherst) formed about 1830. The early church records were lost. The small
group of congregants likely met in homes, schools, or an available church building. An 1876 deed
suggests that there was a frame meetinghouse near the brick house tavern. This tavern was on Main
Street at the site of the Kearfott-Wood House (DHR #163-0018), currently the home for the
Amherst County Museum.9
By 1875, the congregation was large enough and wealthy enough to support a permanent
minister. The congregation called Amherst native Rev. William Allen Tyree (1824–1884). Tyree
returned from Halifax County in the hopes that the mountain air would improve his health. He
came to shepherd this group and also assisted the minister at Mount Moriah. Tyree purchased land
just west of Amherst Court House village. His home was called Tyreanna (or Locust Grove, DHR
#005-0124). He oversaw the construction of the existing brick church in 1882; it was completed
not long before his death. His son, Rev. William C. Tyree (1860–1928), took over his duties at
Amherst Baptist Church just before his death. Various newspapers described Tyree’s illness as
dyspepsia, consumption, or some form of heart and lung disease.10
The site for the 1882 church was purchased in 1875 from John Thompson, Jr. (1789–1879),
a local attorney and landowner. Church lore states the transaction took place in the memory of his
wife, Caroline (1802–1853), who was a Baptist. They obtained a corner lot located to the east of
the courthouse. This lot was part of an area that the Amherst Development Corporation planned to
develop into a residential area. Amherst County built a school on the opposite corner from the
church. The idea of a grand neighborhood development failed due to a bad economy in the early
part of the twentieth century.11
8
Times Dispatch, June 6, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, June 3, 1928, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com; Amherst County Board of Supervisors Minutes, Vol. 1, 602; and “Large Attendance at Association Meeting,”
Times Dispatch, August 16, 1906, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
9
Amherst County Deed Book KK, 240; Amherst County Deed Book OO, 390; Amherst County Deed Book TT, 144; and Rose K.
Bruner, ed., A History of the Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association of Virginia (Lynchburg, VA: CRI-Mutual Press,
1976), 9-14.
10
Amherst County Deed Book KK,137; Bruner, 9-14; Hunt, 5; George Braxton; Taylor, Virginia Baptist Men, Third Series
(Richmond, VA: JP Bell Co., 1912), 379-380, accessed April 25, 2020, books.google.com; Richmond Dispatch, June 11, 1875,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; “W. A. Tyree,” Richmond Dispatch, December 17, 1884, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com; and “W. A. Tyree,” Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1884, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
11 Amherst County Deed Book KK, 240; Amherst County Deed Book OO, 390; Amherst County Deed Book TT, 144 Bruner, 9-14;
and Amherst County Deed Book TT, 930.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1885, another minister was called to the pulpit, and the newspaper reported that there
were updates to the building in preparation for this event. The Amherst congregation was wealthy
enough to support a full-time minister and hold weekly services. The membership of the church
continued to grow. In 1925, a new two-story addition to the south side of the building was
constructed at the cost of $4,500. This addition increased the size of the sanctuary and added
classroom space. During the Great Depression, the church suffered financially and was no longer
able to support a full-time minister. They would share a minister with several other Baptist
churches in the county and only met for Sunday services once or twice a month. This shared
arrangement lasted until the end of World War II.12
In 1949, the church constructed a new two-story parsonage and single-car garage on the
church property. This house served as the pastor’s home until 1982. At this time, the parsonage
became an annex building and the church purchased the adjoining property and a c.1873 house for
use as the new parsonage. Around 2000, the congregation had outgrown the existing church and
there was no room available to expand either the building or the property. The church chose to
move to a new site, ironically the property chosen once belonged to Rev. William A. Tyree and
was part of the Tyreanna farm.13
In 2004, the church moved to the new building and put their old church on the market. It
was empty for a several years, and in 2006 the county acquired the building. The original idea was
to use the building as additional office space. In 2015, a nonprofit group, Second Stage Amherst,
approached the county government requesting to use the building as a new community center. The
building is in constant use for special events, gatherings, meetings and small businesses including
a coffee shop. The former Amherst Baptist Church building serves the community and remains a
landmark in the Town of Amherst.14
12
Hunt, 6-11; Times Dispatch, August 1, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, November 17, 1924,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 28, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com;
and Daily Press, January 29, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
13 Hunt 11-13; Amherst County Deed Book 140, 73; Amherst County Deed Book 1016, 579; Amherst County Deed Book 846, 544;
and Amherst County Deed Book 1064, 388.
14 Amherst County Deed Book 1088, 511.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Board of Supervisors Minutes. Vol. 1, 602.
Amherst County Deed Books. Various.
Amherst, Virginia: From Amherst Courthouse to Town of Amherst: A Pictorial History.
Amherst, VA: Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Central Virginia Printing,
2010.
Bruner, Rose K., ed. A History of the Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association of Virginia.
Lynchburg, VA: CRI-Mutual Press, 1976.
“Highlights of 2006 Home Tour.” accessed September 19, 2020,
amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html.
Hunt, Bernice L., and Roy E. Hunt. History of the Amherst Baptist Church: 1882-1982, 1982.
Mills, Holly. “Scrapbooks reveal rich Amherst County history.” News and Advance
(Lynchburg), March 23, 2011, updated July 2, 2020. Accessed September 19, 2020.
https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherstcounty-history/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm.
Taylor, George Braxton. Virginia Baptist Men, Third Series. Richmond, VA: JP Bell Co., 1912.
books.google.com.
Wimer, Robert C., Leah Settle Gibbs, Patty Walton Turpin, Thurman B. Davis, and James D.
Settle. Amherst: from Tavern to a Town. Lynchburg, VA: Blackwell Press, 2010.
Newspaper Articles
Alexandria Gazette, November 25, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com
Daily Press. January 29, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, June 11, 1875. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, August 5, 1876. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, November 24, 1881. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, November 19, 1882. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1889. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 28, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. August 1, 1924. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. November 17, 1924. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. June 6, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. June 3, 1928. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Valley Virginian. February 19, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Valley Virginian. September 3, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
“Large Attendance at Association Meeting.” Times Dispatch. August 16, 1906. Accessed April
25, 2020. newspapers.com.
“W. A. Tyree.” Richmond Dispatch, December 17, 1884. Accessed April 25, 2020.
newspapers.com.
“W. A. Tyree.” Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1884. Accessed April 25, 2020.
newspapers.com.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__x__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
__x__ Other
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: _Amherst County Museum & Historical Society; Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_____________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ___DHR #163-0022____________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property ___1.14 ___________
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.582956 N
Longitude: 79.048556 W
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary coincides with the perimeter lines of the property recorded by Amherst
County as Tax Map #96A4 A 125. The true and correct historic boundary is shown on the
attached Tax Parcel Map. This map is available from the Amherst County government and
online at countyofamherst.com, and is the same parcel as described in Amherst County Deed
Book KK, p. 137.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundary encompasses the three contributing buildings and the extent of the
parcel that has been associated with the Amherst Baptist Church throughout its history. The
historic setting also is included within the boundary.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _____Sandra F. Esposito__________________________________________
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number: ___140 Cradon Hill Ln_______________________________________
city or town: Amherst___________ state: _VA___________ zip code: 24521__________
e-mail: __sandiesposito@icloud.com______________________________
telephone: _540-529-0205________________________
date: _January 2021____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Amherst Baptist Church
City or Vicinity: Amherst
County: Amherst County
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: May 2020
State: VA
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0001
View: Site, facing SE
2 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0002
View: West/Main elevation, facing E
3 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0003
View: West elevation, window detail, facing E
4 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0004
View: West elevation, door detail, facing E
5 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0005
View: West & South elevations, facing NE
6 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0006
View: South & East elevations, facing NW
7 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0007
View: East church elevation & Parsonage, facing W
8 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0008
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: East & North elevations, facing W
9 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0009
View: North elevation, facing SW
10 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0010
View: Interior, Main hall, facing W
11 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0011
View: Interior, Main hall, facing E
12 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0012
View: Interior, Main hall, facing W
13 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0013
View: Interior, Main hall, facing S
14 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0014
View: Interior, Main hall detail, facing SE
15 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0015
View: Interior, 1925 addition, facing SE
16 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0016
View: Interior, 1925 addition, facing NW
17 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0017
View: Interior, Stair, facing S
18 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0018
View: Interior, Fellowship hall/Community room, facing SW
19 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0019
View: Parsonage, North elevation, facing S
20 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0020
View: Parsonage, East & North elevations, facing SW
21 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0021
View: Parsonage, South & East elevations, facing NW
22 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0022
View: Parsonage, West & South elevations, facing NE
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
23 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0023
View: Garage, East & North elevations, facing W
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 22
$%&#& %& '$
Historic Boundary
N
&"$
Amherst Baptist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR# 163-0022
Location Map
Lat 37.582956N Long -79.048556W
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!& "'!&*
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Amherst
Baptist
Church
County Boundaries
Town of Amherst
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 163-0022
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 2/12/2021
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
1
= Photo Location
Contributing Resources:
-Church
-Parsonage
-Garage
Amherst Baptist Church
Town of Amherst, Amherst
County, VA
DHR File No. 163-0022
5"91"3$&-."1
"NIFSTU#BQUJTU$IVSDI
"NIFSTU$PVOUZ
7" %)3
Historic Boundary
""
January 19, 2021
"NIFSTU$PVOUZ
7"
IUUQTBNIFSTUHJTUJNNPOTDPNNXM
[PPN MPDBUJPO @
1:2,257
0
0.0175
0
0.03
0.035
0.06
0.07 mi
0.12 km
The GIS data is proprietary to the County, and title to this information remains
in the County. All applicable common law and statutory rights in the GIS data
including, but not limited to, rights in copyright, shall and will remain the
property of the County. Information shown on these maps are derived from
public records that are constantly undergoing change and do not replace a
site survey, and is not warranted for content or accuracy.
/
SUPPLEMENTARY LISTING RECORD
NRIS Reference Number: 100006575
Date Listed:
5/27/2021
Property Name: Amherst Baptist Church
County: Amherst
State: VA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the attached
nomination documentation subject to the following exceptions, exclusions, or amendments,
notwithstanding the National Park Service certification included in the nomination
documentation.
_______________________________
Signature of the Keeper
5/27/2021
__________
Date of Action
=====================================================================
Amended Items in Nomination:
Section 8: Criteria Consideration
Criteria Consideration “A” is hereby checked
The nomination form claims that Criteria Consideration A does not apply because the property is
no longer owned by a church or used for religious purposes. This is contradicted by guidance in
Bulletin 15 which states that the consideration applies “if the resource was constructed by a
religious institution” and “if the resource was owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes during its Period of Significance.”
Since both conditions apply, the Consideration must be met. Since the area of significance is
related to the design of the buildings, the Consideration has been met.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Virginia State Historic Preservation Office was notified of this amendment.
__________________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTION:
National Register property file
Nominating Authority (without nomination attachment)
1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
VLR Listed: 3/18/2021
NRHP Listed: 5/27/2021
0MB No.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin,
How to Complete the National Register a/Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter
"NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions.
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Amherst Baptist Church
Other names/site number:
Second Stage Amherst; DHR # 163-0022
Name ofrelated multiple property listing:
NIA
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
2. Location
Street & number: 190-194 Second St
VA
City or town: --"-'A=m=h=e';::r=st===----State:
Not For Publication:~
Vicinity:~
County:
Amherst
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this -X_nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property _X__ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level( s) of significance:
__statewide
national
Applicable National Register Criteria:
_B
_A
_LC
___x__tocal
_D
Date
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property _meets_ does not meet the National Register
criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Date
Title:
State or Federal agency/bureau
or Tribal Government
1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
Public – Local
X
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
_____3________
______0_______
buildings
_____0________
_______0______
sites
_____0_______
_______0_____
structures
_____0_______
_______0______
objects
_____3________
_______0_______
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0_____
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
RELIGION/religious facility_
RELIGION/church-related residence
DOMESTIC/ secondary structure/ garage
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
COMMERCE/TRADE/business_
COMMERCE/TRADE/professional
COMMERCE/TRADE/restaurant_
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store_
RECREATION&CULTURE/auditorium_
RECREATION&CULTURE/theater_
RECREATION&CULTURE/music facility_
RECREATION&CULTURE/museum_
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_LATE VICTORIAN/ Italianate________
_LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS/ Late Gothic Revival__
_LATE VICTORIAN/ Romanesque______
_LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS/ Colonial Revival___
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property: __BRICK; STONE/slate; WOOD
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
The evolved building historically known as Amherst Baptist Church stands in the Town of
Amherst on the southwest corner at the intersection of Second and Washington Streets. The Town
of Amherst is the county seat of Amherst County and the intersection is east of the county
courthouse complex. Amherst County is in the Piedmont area of the state and is north of the City
of Lynchburg. The former church building stands on a knoll which is a 1.14-acre lot. It is separated
from Second Street by a sidewalk and small lawn on the north; there is a lawn separating the church
from the paved parking lot on the west. On the south is a larger lawn containing two contributing
buildings: a 1949 brick, two-story, Colonial Revival style parsonage and a 1949 brick, single-car
garage. To the east, there is a gravel parking area on Washington Street. In 2006, the entire lot was
sold to Amherst County. In 2015, Second Stage Amherst, a non-profit organization, requested to
use the building for community service as an event site and a place for small businesses to operate.
The parsonage serves as additional county office space and the garage is used by Second Stage for
storage. Significant features of the church building include tall, segmental-arch windows with
Gothic tracery, Romanesque Revival brick corbelling in the front gable, the 1908 tower containing
both Romanesque Revival and Italianate elements, the Colonial Revival style entry with fan light,
and the 1925 Gothic Revival addition with polygonal facade. The property has no non-contributing
resources. The property has very good integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship,
materials, feeling, and association as a small church first erected in 1882 and added on to as the
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
congregation grew during the early to mid-twentieth century. Although modest in size and
architectural detailing, the parsonage and garage are in keeping with the former church’s design,
scale, and materials.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Former Church, contributing building, 1882 with later additions
Exterior Description
The brick building historically known as Amherst Baptist Church stands on the northern
edge of the southwest corner of Second and Washington streets in the Town of Amherst. This
building is today a multi-purpose community building known as Second Stage Amherst. The
building is oriented toward the parking lot located north of the building, rather than toward the
adjacent Second Street. The west side of the building is the main elevation. It is separated from a
paved parking area by a lawn. A sidewalk from Second Street intersects the sidewalk from the
parking lot; in the parking lot there is a mature oak tree. The sidewalk runs to the entry on the
south side of the building. There is a small garden south of the building’s corner polygonal bay
containing small boxwoods. Mature boxwoods are planted along the west and south sides of the
1925 addition between the building and the sidewalk. In the south yard there is a mature Magnolia.
The parsonage and garage stand to the south and southwest of the church building. There are
mature shrubs at the eastern side of the building.
The church building was constructed in four phases between 1882 and 1955. The main
block was constructed in 1882, the Romanesque Revival entry tower on the west facade in 1908,
the Gothic Revival south addition in 1925, and the east (rear) addition in 1955. The original block’s
west facade is laid in running bond and its north elevation (parallel to Second Street) was
constructed in 4:1 common bond, except for the single-bay extension on the eastern end, seen as
the fifth (easternmost) bay on the north elevation, with slightly different brickwork laid in fivecourse rather than four-course common bond. The 1925 and 1955 sections were constructed in 5:1
common bond. The main block of the building has an east-west axis with a gable end on the
western side of the building which is where the main entry is located. The exposed foundation of
the main block is stuccoed to about a foot above the ground. The gable roof and pyramid roof of
the tower are sheathed in slate. The remaining additions have flat roofs. There are a total of four
brick chimney flues on the south side of the building. Italianate eave brackets remain on the tower,
but the decorative eave brackets of the building, as seen in 1979 survey photos, were removed
when the church put vinyl around the exposed wooden details of the building sometime during the
1980s.
The 1882 building and 1925 south addition exhibit multiple elements of various architectural
styles, including Italianate, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Colonial Revival styles.
This building is one of four churches in Amherst County that contain similar elements and were
built around the same period. They are the Amherst Baptist Church, differentiated by its tower, the
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
nearby Amherst Presbyterian Church (1881, DHR# 163-5008), the original Central Baptist Church
(1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy Hill Methodist Church (1885).1
The original 1882 rectangular building has the aforementioned extension on the eastern
end, the fifth (easternmost) bay. The five-bay north exterior wall has buttresses, and most of the
windows are tall nine-over-nine double-hung sash windows with a fixed-sash segmented arch and
gothic tracery atop each window. The windows have yellow tint glass. Every window is decorated
with Italianate brick segmental arches and brick corbeling over each window. The vinyl-clad frieze
extends beneath the eaves. The west or main elevation has decorative Romanesque Revival
corbeling in the gable end and gable end returns.2
In 1908, the church erected an Italianate-style brick tower in running bond at the west entry.
This tower has a pyramid roof with brackets at the eaves. The main entry on the front (west
elevation) of the tower has narrow, paneled double-leaf doors with a fanlight transom above the
doors. The north and south sides of the lower portion of the tower both have a single one-over-one
double-hung sash window. The central section of the tower has a fixed pane single-light sash on
all three exposed sides. All of the tower windows are spanned by splayed jack arches. The upper
portion of the tower has brick corbeling on three sides, and below the eaves are double arched,
louvered vents.3
The third phase of construction was the 1925 Gothic Revival-style wing onto the entire
south side of the 1882 building. The two-story wing has a flat roof and three brick chimney flues.
There is a decorative cast concrete band around the top portion of the wall. The western façade has
a polygonal bay with decorative brickwork, and the bricks are laid in running bond, like the original
portion of the church. The center windows of the bay are 8/8 double-hung sash windows. On the
outer sides there are three 6/6 double-hung sash windows. There is a single-leaf entry having a
large single light located in the lower north side of the bay. The south elevation of this addition is
1
Ivy Hill Methodist Church is located at 1143 Indian Creek Road (Tax Map Parcel 28 A 18). The current brick
edifice replaced the 1832 frame church built by William Waller (1789-1849) of Forest Hill (DHR #005-0108). This
was built by two local men: Charles H. Tucker (1838-1910), a brick mason and Samuel C. Kirkpatrick (1839-1901),
carpenter. In 1890, the roof was blown off and soon replaced. In 1933, the north wall collapsed due to a storm and
was rebuilt. Today, the building is privately owned and used for special events. Holly Mills, “Scrapbooks reveal rich
Amherst County history,” News and Advance (Lynchburg), March 23, 2011, updated July 2, 2020, accessed
September 19, 2020, https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherstcounty-history/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm; “Highlights of 2006 Home
Tour,” accessed September 19, 2020, amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html.
2
The original church appears in an aerial photo of the Town of Amherst taken prior to 1925 that is part of the Jones
Memorial Library collection. The original wall decoration is preserved behind the tower. The men who constructed
the building are unknown but they could be the same men who are mentioned in an 1885 newspaper article about the
construction of Central Baptist Church. One of them, S.C. Kirkpatrick, was also the contractor responsible for the
1873 Amherst Courthouse. Valley Virginian, February 19, 1885, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
3
Bernice L. Hunt, and Roy E, Hunt, History of the Amherst Baptist Church:1882-1982, 1982, 6.
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
laid in 5:1 common bond. There are five bays on each story. The lower windows are 6/6 doublehung sashes, and the upper story has 1/1 double-hung sash windows.4
The last addition to the building was the large three-story c. 1955 addition built across the
entire rear (west) elevations of both the 1882 and 1925 additions. Largely devoid of ornamentation,
the walls are laid in 5:1 common bond. This addition resulted in renovations to both the exterior
and interior of the building. The windows on the first and second stories are all 6/6 double-hung
sashes topped with flat arches of soldier bricks. The basement level has 3/3 double-hung sashes.
This section has a flat roof that adjoins the 1925 addition except where a gable was created and
sheathed in slate to match the original building. This addition caused the church to enlarge the area
where the apse existed, creating the fifth (easternmost) bay with slightly different brickwork. On
the north and south elevations are two stacked single-leaf entries allowing access to the main floor
and the basement. These doors have nine lights in the upper portion of the door. There is a brick
exterior staircase with concrete risers leading to the main story and another set of concrete risers
to the basement. The south elevation has an asymmetrical arrangement of bays. A cast concrete
stringcourse extends above the second-story windows, similar to the string course on the 1925
addition’s south wall. The west (rear) elevation has four bays at each story. The north elevation
exhibits the extension to the original building with different colored bricks from the original wall.
This extension creates a fifth bay along the original north elevation of the church. The 1955
addition section has engaged buttresses like the 1882 building and has three bays across both
stories. The current building with all additions measures 50 x 100 feet.
Interior Description
Ante-room and Sanctuary/ Main Hall
Inside the entry tower on the west façade is an anteroom. The floor consists of slate tile.
The wall has wooden raised panel wainscot with a chair rail and wooden walls above the chair rail
to the ceiling and a narrow crown molding at the junction of the ceiling and wall. The paneling
and tile were later installations, possibly around 1950. On the east wall there is a double-leaf
swinging door into the sanctuary/main hall. Each leaf has a single light in the top third of the door
and a raised wooden panel in the bottom. The molding around the doors contain turned corner
blocks.
The sanctuary, now the main hall, has undergone periodic renovations beginning in 1885
to 1955.The earliest layout of the nave and apse area is unknown. There are two photos of the
interior in the 1940s featured in a book on the Town of Amherst. The interior in the 1940s had a
center aisle down the nave with rows of wooden pews on each side. The north end of the nave, at
the apse wall, had risers and pews and was used as the choir loft. The apse wall had a rounded arch
opening, and the apse area was accessed by three risers from the nave floor. The rear wall of the
apse featured a tripartite stained-glass window. The window opened; it was used to hide the
4
Hunt, 9; and Times Dispatch, August 1, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, November
17, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; and Times Dispatch, June 6, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
baptistery when it was not in use. The pulpit was set in the archway. The 1908 pressed tin ceiling
was present as were c. 1930 pendant lights. The wooden pews featured a trefoil cutout and a carved
top.5
1925 Addition
This addition to the south wall of the nave is two stories high. The purpose was to increase
the nave when necessary and to add classrooms along the rear of the church. Access to the second
story is provided by a stair added to the west wall, attached to a balcony that ran along the south
wall. The intact banister and railing have square posts with square balusters and newel post. The
pastor’s office was located in the southwest corner at the top of the stairs. There were wooden
folding panels that divided the rooms on both floors. The panels were replaced with a solid wall,
probably in 1950, on the second floor. At the same time, the wooden dividers on the first floor
were replaced with cloth-covered accordion doors. The last wood panel divider, centered in the
first-floor room, was removed when the coffee shop was installed. The first floor retains its earlyperiod pressed-tin ceiling.
1955 Addition and Later Renovations
In 1955, renovations took place in the main room of the original building and in the 1925
wing. Black and white checked linoleum was placed over the wooden floors of the nave and the
ground floor of the 1925 wing. The apse area was enlarged and redecorated in the Neo-Classical
Revival style, which was a popular style used for Baptist Churches of that era. The floor was raised
and extended into the nave from the apse wall. This created a stage-like area and contained the
pulpit, and three tiered rows of risers for the choir loft. The apse wall was opened and framed by
fluted pilasters with composite capitals supporting an entablature. A new, copper-lined baptistery
pool was installed behind the rear wall of the apse and the pool area is part of the rear apse wall.
It is framed by pilasters and engaged columns like those of the apse wall supporting an entablature.
In the 1960s, much of the sanctuary and 1925 addition were carpeted including the apse area, stairs
and balcony. New, simple, wooden pews replaced those of the 1940s photographs. There were
twelve pews placed on each side of the center aisle. The c. 1930 interior pendant lights were
replaced with the existing pendant lights.
1955 Classroom Addition
This addition has three stories. The basement is an open room with exterior access. It has
a linoleum tile floor, exposed concrete block walls, and a dropped ceiling. There are two small
bathrooms with original fixtures on the west wall. In the southwest corner there is a kitchen. This
kitchen was renovated as part of a Boy Scout Eagle project around 2017. The main stair hall for
this area is in the southwest corner. The upper floors have a hall running west from the stair and a
hall running north from the stair. On both stories of the west hall, there are two classrooms on each
floor. These rooms are on the south side of the hall and have partial glass walls. The north hall has
5
Robert C. Wimer, Leah Settle Gibbs, Patty Walton Turpin, Thurman B. Davis, and James D. Settle, Amherst: from
Tavern to a Town (Lynchburg, VA: Blackwell Press, 2010), 61 and 103.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
three rooms on the east side, on both floors. The main floor has two large restrooms and access to
the baptistery on the west side of the wall. This area retains its original fixtures. There is another
hall running west along the north wall that leads to the apse. The second floor had one small
restroom on the west wall with original fixtures and another classroom which was used for a church
library.
Second Stage Amherst
Second Stage Amherst took possession of the building in 2015, and there were alterations
to renovate and rehabilitate the building for its new uses. Handicapped bathrooms were created
from two classrooms on the first floor. In the sanctuary, the risers and choir loft dividers were
removed to create a stage. The pews and carpeting were removed around 2016-2017, and the black
and white linoleum was exposed in the nave and 1925 addition. In 2019, a coffee bar was installed
in the eastern end of the 1925 addition. Many of the classrooms have been renovated and
rehabilitated to fit the needs of those businesses using the rooms.6
Outbuildings
Parsonage, Contributing Building, 1949
The parsonage, built in 1949, is a running bond brick, two-story house with a basement,
designed in the Colonial Revival style with minimal ornamentation. The house is located to the
southwest of the church. Its position creates a courtyard at the front yard of the church property
between the church and the parking lot. The exposed foundation of the house is stuccoed. It has a
side-gable roof sheathed in asphalt shingles. The windows are varied sizes of six-over-six
double-hung sash windows at all levels except the basement, where there are two-light louvered
windows. There is an exterior brick chimney on the east gable end. The building is currently
used for office space and has been altered to accommodate these offices.
The main elevation faces north. It has three symmetrical bays across the first and second
stories. The single-leaf entry is centered between the windows of the first story. The entry is
accessed by an open concrete stoop. The door surround has an arched molding with dentils over
the door, spanning fluted pilasters flanking the door. The windows have attached decorative
louvered shutters. The east elevation has a one story, two-bay, concrete, shed-roofed porch with
access to the porch from the north by means of a concrete stair of four risers. There is a single-leaf
entry on the northeast corner of the house. The rear or south elevation has asymmetrical
fenestration. There is a single-bay stoop with a stair to the main floor and a single-leaf entry. The
entry to the basement is beneath the stoop. The west elevation has a gable window.
Garage, Contributing Building, 1949
The single-car garage, built in 1949, is located to the southeast of the parsonage. An access
road from the front parking lot to the rear parking lot separates the garage from the house and
6
A local artisan created the meeting table in the first floor meeting room. It was made from pews that were removed
from the main hall.
Section 7 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
church yard. It is built of brick in the running bond pattern. It is built at grade without a foundation,
and has a gable roof with asphalt shingles. The gable end entry faces east and has a solid doubleleaf entry. The north and south elevations are devoid of fenestration. The west elevation has a
single window with a two-light fixed sash.
Integrity Assessment
The Amherst Baptist Church possesses integrity of location and setting as all three contributing
buildings are at their original locations and there are no non-contributing resources on the property.
A historic-era residential neighborhood is west of the church, while newer commercial and
government buildings are north of Second Street (behind plantings of mature trees) and east of
Washington Street. The property’s integrity of design, workmanship and materials are also very
good. The original 1882 church building evolved over time as the congregation grew, but the
additions were designed to harmonize with the original building, as exemplified by the buttresses
with sloped weatherings on the north wall of the 1955 addition and the cast concrete string course
on the 1955 addition’s south wall, as well as consistent use of red brick walls and large windows
with white wooden trim. The character-defining west entry tower is largely unaltered, retaining
the original tall, paneled double-leaf doors topped with a fanlight, decorative brickwork, arched
louvers, brackets, and pyramid roof clad with slate. Adaptive reuse of the former church building
as a community theater space and venue for small businesses has not resulted in substantial
alterations to character-defining exterior and interior features. The church building’s historic
floorplan has not been altered. Some secondary spaces, such as two classrooms that were converted
to restrooms and a coffee shop in the 1925 addition, have new uses but these do not detract from
the historic design as each was placed within an existing space. The 1955 addition now hosts
several small businesses in former classrooms. Historic flooring, trim, and ceiling finishes have
been retained. The former parsonage and garage, both contributing buildings, have had few
alterations since their construction in 1949. Both buildings retain their original massing and
exterior materials. Collectively, the three buildings create a small campus interspersed with modest
plantings and flanked by parking lots to the north and south of the buildings. The property retains
integrity of feeling as a church dating to the late 19th century with appropriately scaled and
designed updates through the first half of the twentieth century. As an example of ecclesiastical
design in the Town of Amherst, the property has integrity of association even though it no longer
is used as a church.
Section 7 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years.
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
_ARCHITECTURE___
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
_1882–1955_________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
__1908____________
__1925____________
__________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A______________
__________________
__________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_____________
__________________
__________________
Architect/Builder
_Unknown_________
__________________
__________________
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
The former church building known historically as Amherst Baptist Church is locally
significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. Criteria Consideration A for religious
buildings does not apply because the property is no longer owned by a church or used for religious
purposes. The edifice exhibits many details of the Italianate style as well as elements borrowed
from other period styles including Late Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival, and the early
20th century Colonial Revival. The picturesque qualities of these styles were popular for
ecclesiastical properties throughout rural Virginia and elsewhere during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. The late nineteenth century also was the height of Victorian-era
architecture, which was characterized by extensive ornamentation, asymmetrical massing that
included towers, polygonal bays, and multiple-gable roofs, and prominently featured primary
entries. As its name suggests, the Colonial Revival referenced motifs of Virginia’s late colonial
and early republic periods, such as classically-inspired columns and pediments, symmetrical
facades with centered entries, and molded door and window surrounds on exteriors and interiors.
With additions to its original 1882 block spanning from 1908 to 1955, Amherst Baptist Church
illustrates these architectural trends as applied to a religious building. The more modestly designed
garage and parsonage, both dating to 1949, retain the Colonial Revival style but also exemplify
the streamlining and minimal ornamentation that came to characterize post-World War II
architecture in Virginia. Significant dates for the property are 1908 and 1925, each coinciding with
construction of a significant addition to the 1882 block. Five other extant buildings in Amherst
County are documented examples of the Italianate style: two are residential, Sweet Briar House
(1825, 1851, DHR# 005-0018) and Fairview (1867, DHR# 005-0006), and three are churches,
Amherst Presbyterian (1881, DHR# 163-5008), Central Baptist (1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy
Hill Methodist (1885). The houses are truer in their representation of the Italianate style, but
Amherst Baptist Church and the other three churches, all constructed in the 1880s, feature the
Italianate style with elements borrowed from other styles. These shared elements and design
perhaps suggest construction by the same workers and craftsmen. The former Amherst Baptist
Church’s period of significance spans from 1882 to 1955, beginning with the original church’s
construction and ending with the 1955 rear addition. During its period of significance, the building
was used as an auditorium for Amherst High School and for community gatherings in addition to
its religious use. It is a town landmark and is easily identified by its tall entry tower.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
Criterion C Justification
The former Amherst Baptist Church building is locally significant under Criterion C in the
area of Architecture. It is an excellent example of vernacular interpretations of multiple nationally
popular styles in the 1882–1908 phases of work, including the 1908 tower that combines
Romanesque Revival and Italianate elements with a Colonial Revival style entry. Hence the church
reflects the typically eclectic mix of styles and emphasis on ornamentation during the Victorian
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
period, supplanted by the more popular Classical/Colonial styles in the early 20th century. The
property is one of six known buildings of the style in Amherst County. Two are residential: Sweet
Briar House (1825, 1851, DHR# 005-0018) and Fairview (1867, DHR# 005-0006), and four are
churches: Amherst Baptist (1882, DHR# 165-0022), Amherst Presbyterian (1881, DHR# 1635008); Central Baptist (1885, DHR# 005-5179), and Ivy Hill Methodist (1885). The churches share
similar traits between them, but are each distinctive in their combinations of stylistic features.
Exceptionally popular at the national level beginning around 1835, the Italianate style became
fairly popular in some parts of west-central Virginia beginning in the 1850s and waned during the
1880s as Late Victorian styles such as Queen Anne became more predominate. The most iconic
hallmarks of the Italianate style were deep eaves with cornices supported by large, decorative
brackets as seen on Amherst Baptist Church’s entry tower.
The architects/builders of both the Amherst Presbyterian and Amherst Baptist churches remain
unknown because both congregations have lost their early records for various reasons. Through
observation it is possible to link these two buildings to Charles H. Tucker (1838–1910), a brick
mason, and Samuel C. Kirkpatrick (1839–1901), a contractor and carpenter. They are documented
as the builders for Central Baptist and Ivy Hill Methodist. Kirkpatrick was also the contractor for
the construction of the 1873 Greek Revival-style Amherst Courthouse. Some of the shared traits
between the various buildings include the brick corbelling on the primary elevations, segmental
arches over the windows, buttresses on Amherst Presbyterian, Amherst Baptist, and Central
Baptist, and the rounded arch windows with double-arched sashes of Amherst Presbyterian,
Central Baptist, and Ivy Hill. All have the same stuccoed foundations. Ivy Hill is the least
decorated building of the four designed in the Italianate style. It is not known whether or not all of
the churches had brackets supporting the cornices. Amherst Baptist Church is the only building
where brackets were documented. It also is the only building of the four to have a tower, which
was typical of the style, and which retains its original cornice brackets; yet Amherst Baptist is the
only one of the churches to have flat arch windows instead of round-arch windows. All four of the
buildings have undergone changes and remodeling since their construction. For example, the
Amherst Presbyterian church now has stained-glass windows instead of clear glass as a result of a
renovation to the building in 1918. Amherst Baptist differs from the others by the use of the tall
segmental arch windows with Gothic tracery in the upper portion of the windows above the double
sash. This is the only building of the four with a slate roof and a tower. The 1908 tower is
sympathetic to the original Italianate design of the 1882 building. The 1908 tower and its further
additions also distinguish this building from the other churches.7
7
Ivy Hill Methodist Church is located at 1143 Indian Creek Road (Tax Map Parcel 28 A 18). The current brick
edifice replaced the 1832 frame church built by William Waller (1789-1849) of Forest Hill (DHR #005-0108). In
1890, the tin roof was blown off and was soon replaced. In 1933, the north wall collapsed due to a storm and was
rebuilt. Today, the building is privately owned and used for special events. Holly Mills,
https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherst-countyhistory/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm; “Highlights of 2006 Home Tour,”
accessed September 19, 2020, amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html: and Valley Virginian, February 19, 1885,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
The church is a prominent landmark in the town and has been important as a community
building. It was used by Amherst High School as an auditorium, because the church was
conveniently located across Washington Street from the school. The church was the sponsor for a
multi-day event on the courthouse green in 1906. It gained a new life in 2015, hence the name
Second Stage, when it became a multi-purpose community center for events, meetings, businesses,
shops, studios, and a coffee shop.8
Church History
According to oral history and local lore, the Baptist congregation at Amherst Courthouse
(the present Town of Amherst) formed about 1830. The early church records were lost. The small
group of congregants likely met in homes, schools, or an available church building. An 1876 deed
suggests that there was a frame meetinghouse near the brick house tavern. This tavern was on Main
Street at the site of the Kearfott-Wood House (DHR #163-0018), currently the home for the
Amherst County Museum.9
By 1875, the congregation was large enough and wealthy enough to support a permanent
minister. The congregation called Amherst native Rev. William Allen Tyree (1824–1884). Tyree
returned from Halifax County in the hopes that the mountain air would improve his health. He
came to shepherd this group and also assisted the minister at Mount Moriah. Tyree purchased land
just west of Amherst Court House village. His home was called Tyreanna (or Locust Grove, DHR
#005-0124). He oversaw the construction of the existing brick church in 1882; it was completed
not long before his death. His son, Rev. William C. Tyree (1860–1928), took over his duties at
Amherst Baptist Church just before his death. Various newspapers described Tyree’s illness as
dyspepsia, consumption, or some form of heart and lung disease.10
The site for the 1882 church was purchased in 1875 from John Thompson, Jr. (1789–1879),
a local attorney and landowner. Church lore states the transaction took place in the memory of his
wife, Caroline (1802–1853), who was a Baptist. They obtained a corner lot located to the east of
the courthouse. This lot was part of an area that the Amherst Development Corporation planned to
develop into a residential area. Amherst County built a school on the opposite corner from the
church. The idea of a grand neighborhood development failed due to a bad economy in the early
part of the twentieth century.11
8
Times Dispatch, June 6, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, June 3, 1928, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com; Amherst County Board of Supervisors Minutes, Vol. 1, 602; and “Large Attendance at Association Meeting,”
Times Dispatch, August 16, 1906, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
9
Amherst County Deed Book KK, 240; Amherst County Deed Book OO, 390; Amherst County Deed Book TT, 144; and Rose K.
Bruner, ed., A History of the Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association of Virginia (Lynchburg, VA: CRI-Mutual Press,
1976), 9-14.
10
Amherst County Deed Book KK,137; Bruner, 9-14; Hunt, 5; George Braxton; Taylor, Virginia Baptist Men, Third Series
(Richmond, VA: JP Bell Co., 1912), 379-380, accessed April 25, 2020, books.google.com; Richmond Dispatch, June 11, 1875,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; “W. A. Tyree,” Richmond Dispatch, December 17, 1884, accessed April 25, 2020,
newspapers.com; and “W. A. Tyree,” Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1884, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
11 Amherst County Deed Book KK, 240; Amherst County Deed Book OO, 390; Amherst County Deed Book TT, 144 Bruner, 9-14;
and Amherst County Deed Book TT, 930.
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
In 1885, another minister was called to the pulpit, and the newspaper reported that there
were updates to the building in preparation for this event. The Amherst congregation was wealthy
enough to support a full-time minister and hold weekly services. The membership of the church
continued to grow. In 1925, a new two-story addition to the south side of the building was
constructed at the cost of $4,500. This addition increased the size of the sanctuary and added
classroom space. During the Great Depression, the church suffered financially and was no longer
able to support a full-time minister. They would share a minister with several other Baptist
churches in the county and only met for Sunday services once or twice a month. This shared
arrangement lasted until the end of World War II.12
In 1949, the church constructed a new two-story parsonage and single-car garage on the
church property. This house served as the pastor’s home until 1982. At this time, the parsonage
became an annex building and the church purchased the adjoining property and a c.1873 house for
use as the new parsonage. Around 2000, the congregation had outgrown the existing church and
there was no room available to expand either the building or the property. The church chose to
move to a new site, ironically the property chosen once belonged to Rev. William A. Tyree and
was part of the Tyreanna farm.13
In 2004, the church moved to the new building and put their old church on the market. It
was empty for a several years, and in 2006 the county acquired the building. The original idea was
to use the building as additional office space. In 2015, a nonprofit group, Second Stage Amherst,
approached the county government requesting to use the building as a new community center. The
building is in constant use for special events, gatherings, meetings and small businesses including
a coffee shop. The former Amherst Baptist Church building serves the community and remains a
landmark in the Town of Amherst.14
12
Hunt, 6-11; Times Dispatch, August 1, 1924, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Times Dispatch, November 17, 1924,
accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com; Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 28, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com;
and Daily Press, January 29, 1925, accessed April 25, 2020, newspapers.com.
13 Hunt 11-13; Amherst County Deed Book 140, 73; Amherst County Deed Book 1016, 579; Amherst County Deed Book 846, 544;
and Amherst County Deed Book 1064, 388.
14 Amherst County Deed Book 1088, 511.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Amherst County Board of Supervisors Minutes. Vol. 1, 602.
Amherst County Deed Books. Various.
Amherst, Virginia: From Amherst Courthouse to Town of Amherst: A Pictorial History.
Amherst, VA: Amherst County Museum and Historical Society, Central Virginia Printing,
2010.
Bruner, Rose K., ed. A History of the Churches in the Piedmont Baptist Association of Virginia.
Lynchburg, VA: CRI-Mutual Press, 1976.
“Highlights of 2006 Home Tour.” accessed September 19, 2020,
amherstcountymusuem.org/tour2006.html.
Hunt, Bernice L., and Roy E. Hunt. History of the Amherst Baptist Church: 1882-1982, 1982.
Mills, Holly. “Scrapbooks reveal rich Amherst County history.” News and Advance
(Lynchburg), March 23, 2011, updated July 2, 2020. Accessed September 19, 2020.
https://newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/local/scrapbooks-reveal-rich-amherstcounty-history/article_c445ba17-540c-5884-a98d-19e39bf1ae38.html?mode=jqm.
Taylor, George Braxton. Virginia Baptist Men, Third Series. Richmond, VA: JP Bell Co., 1912.
books.google.com.
Wimer, Robert C., Leah Settle Gibbs, Patty Walton Turpin, Thurman B. Davis, and James D.
Settle. Amherst: from Tavern to a Town. Lynchburg, VA: Blackwell Press, 2010.
Newspaper Articles
Alexandria Gazette, November 25, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com
Daily Press. January 29, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, June 11, 1875. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, August 5, 1876. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, November 24, 1881. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Dispatch, November 19, 1882. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1889. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 28, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. August 1, 1924. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. November 17, 1924. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. June 6, 1925. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Times Dispatch. June 3, 1928. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Valley Virginian. February 19, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
Valley Virginian. September 3, 1885. Accessed April 25, 2020. newspapers.com.
“Large Attendance at Association Meeting.” Times Dispatch. August 16, 1906. Accessed April
25, 2020. newspapers.com.
“W. A. Tyree.” Richmond Dispatch, December 17, 1884. Accessed April 25, 2020.
newspapers.com.
“W. A. Tyree.” Richmond Dispatch, December 9, 1884. Accessed April 25, 2020.
newspapers.com.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
__x__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
__x__ Other
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Name of repository: _Amherst County Museum & Historical Society; Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, Richmond_____________
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ___DHR #163-0022____________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property ___1.14 ___________
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude: 37.582956 N
Longitude: 79.048556 W
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The historic boundary coincides with the perimeter lines of the property recorded by Amherst
County as Tax Map #96A4 A 125. The true and correct historic boundary is shown on the
attached Tax Parcel Map. This map is available from the Amherst County government and
online at countyofamherst.com, and is the same parcel as described in Amherst County Deed
Book KK, p. 137.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The historic boundary encompasses the three contributing buildings and the extent of the
parcel that has been associated with the Amherst Baptist Church throughout its history. The
historic setting also is included within the boundary.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: _____Sandra F. Esposito__________________________________________
organization: ________________________________________________________
street & number: ___140 Cradon Hill Ln_______________________________________
city or town: Amherst___________ state: _VA___________ zip code: 24521__________
e-mail: __sandiesposito@icloud.com______________________________
telephone: _540-529-0205________________________
date: _January 2021____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sections 9-end page 19
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo
date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every
photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: Amherst Baptist Church
City or Vicinity: Amherst
County: Amherst County
Photographer: Sandra F. Esposito
Date Photographed: May 2020
State: VA
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0001
View: Site, facing SE
2 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0002
View: West/Main elevation, facing E
3 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0003
View: West elevation, window detail, facing E
4 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0004
View: West elevation, door detail, facing E
5 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0005
View: West & South elevations, facing NE
6 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0006
View: South & East elevations, facing NW
7 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0007
View: East church elevation & Parsonage, facing W
8 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0008
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
View: East & North elevations, facing W
9 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0009
View: North elevation, facing SW
10 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0010
View: Interior, Main hall, facing W
11 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0011
View: Interior, Main hall, facing E
12 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0012
View: Interior, Main hall, facing W
13 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0013
View: Interior, Main hall, facing S
14 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0014
View: Interior, Main hall detail, facing SE
15 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0015
View: Interior, 1925 addition, facing SE
16 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0016
View: Interior, 1925 addition, facing NW
17 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0017
View: Interior, Stair, facing S
18 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0018
View: Interior, Fellowship hall/Community room, facing SW
19 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0019
View: Parsonage, North elevation, facing S
20 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0020
View: Parsonage, East & North elevations, facing SW
21 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0021
View: Parsonage, South & East elevations, facing NW
22 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0022
View: Parsonage, West & South elevations, facing NE
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Amherst Baptist Church (DHR # 163-0022)
Amherst County, Virginia
Name of Property
County and State
23 of 23: VA_AmherstCounty_AmherstBaptistChurch_0023
View: Garage, East & North elevations, facing W
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 22
$%&#& %& '$
Historic Boundary
N
&"$
Amherst Baptist Church
Amherst County, VA
DHR# 163-0022
Location Map
Lat 37.582956N Long -79.048556W
& %#$"#$ &$*&"& "'!&*!& & &"& % !"$ & "!$ !%
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Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources
TOPOGRAPHIC
MAP
Legend
Amherst
Baptist
Church
County Boundaries
Town of Amherst
Amherst County, VA
DHR No. 163-0022
Historic Boundary
Title:
Date: 2/12/2021
DISCLAIMER:Records of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) have been gathered over many years from a variety of sources and the representation
depicted is a cumulative view of field observations over time and may not reflect current ground conditions.The map is for general information purposes and is not
intended for engineering, legal or other site-specific uses. Map may contain errors and is provided "as-is". More information is available in the DHR Archives located at
DHR’s Richmond office.
Notice if AE sites:Locations of archaeological sites may be sensitive the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) and Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7 (10). Release of precise locations may threaten archaeological sites and historic resources.
1
= Photo Location
Contributing Resources:
-Church
-Parsonage
-Garage
Amherst Baptist Church
Town of Amherst, Amherst
County, VA
DHR File No. 163-0022
5"91"3$&-."1
"NIFSTU#BQUJTU$IVSDI
"NIFSTU$PVOUZ
7" %)3
Historic Boundary
""
January 19, 2021
"NIFSTU$PVOUZ
7"
IUUQTBNIFSTUHJTUJNNPOTDPNNXM
[PPN MPDBUJPO @
1:2,257
0
0.0175
0
0.03
0.035
0.06
0.07 mi
0.12 km
The GIS data is proprietary to the County, and title to this information remains
in the County. All applicable common law and statutory rights in the GIS data
including, but not limited to, rights in copyright, shall and will remain the
property of the County. Information shown on these maps are derived from
public records that are constantly undergoing change and do not replace a
site survey, and is not warranted for content or accuracy.
/
SUPPLEMENTARY LISTING RECORD
NRIS Reference Number: 100006575
Date Listed:
5/27/2021
Property Name: Amherst Baptist Church
County: Amherst
State: VA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the attached
nomination documentation subject to the following exceptions, exclusions, or amendments,
notwithstanding the National Park Service certification included in the nomination
documentation.
_______________________________
Signature of the Keeper
5/27/2021
__________
Date of Action
=====================================================================
Amended Items in Nomination:
Section 8: Criteria Consideration
Criteria Consideration “A” is hereby checked
The nomination form claims that Criteria Consideration A does not apply because the property is
no longer owned by a church or used for religious purposes. This is contradicted by guidance in
Bulletin 15 which states that the consideration applies “if the resource was constructed by a
religious institution” and “if the resource was owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes during its Period of Significance.”
Since both conditions apply, the Consideration must be met. Since the area of significance is
related to the design of the buildings, the Consideration has been met.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Virginia State Historic Preservation Office was notified of this amendment.
__________________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTION:
National Register property file
Nominating Authority (without nomination attachment)
Text
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual pmpenies and districts. See instmclions in National Register
Bulletin. How to Complete the National Rejiisler of Historic Places Registration Form If any item does not apply to the propeny being
documented, enter "NIA for "not applicable." For functions. architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance. enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
LISTED:
VLR
03/21/2013
NRHP
05/28/2013
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Dulwich Manor
Other namestsite number: Dulwich Farm. Dulwich House. Arnherst Academy, VDHR # 1635020
Name of related multiple property listing:
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
Street & number: 550 Richmond Highwav
City or town: Amherst
State: Virginia
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
County:
N
a
l
/F
l
Amherst
3. Statfledera1 Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level@) of significance:
national
statewide
X local
~ G l i c a b l National
e
~ e ~ i s tCriteria:
er
-
Vir~iniaDepartment of Historic Resources
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencytbureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
2
2
buildings
0
0
sites
0
0
structures
2
0
objects
4
2
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Shed
LANDSCAPE/street furniture = Gateposts
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Shed
LANDSCAPE/street furniture = Gateposts
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Gazebo
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH & 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Neo-Classical Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property:
BRICK; WOOD; STONE
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Dulwich Manor occupies a 5-acre parcel on a slight knoll between U.S. Route 60 (Richmond
Highway) to the north, State Route 659 (Union Hill Road) to the south, and State Route 606
(Dulwich Drive) to the east. The façade of the brick Neoclassical mansion is dominated by a
two-story portico supported by Doric columns, and several secondary resources, including a
small brick shed, stone gateposts, and two non-historic buildings also occupy the site. Dulwich
Manor retains integrity in the areas of location, setting, design, materials, and workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Site Description
While Dulwich Manor lies within the corporate limits of the Town of Amherst, the home‟s
setting is rural, and the property is surrounded by dense second-growth forest. The former site of
the Amherst Train Depot is 2,600 feet to the northwest, and the Amherst County Courthouse (in
the center of the Town of Amherst) is 4,800 feet to the northwest. Both Rutledge Creek and the
main line of the Norfolk Southern Railroad lie just to the west of the property.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
To the north of the house, across U.S. 60 (a two-lane highway), is the Brockman Business Park,
which contains two corporate office facilities. To the east lie two small apartment complexes
along with “Hunting Tower,” (005-0141) an early-mid-19th century frame dwelling. Across
Dulwich Drive from these buildings are Central Elementary School and a complex of sports
fields. Non-historic age homes line both sides of Union Hill Road to the south of Dulwich Manor
along with the Bonney House (005-0122), which was constructed circa 1910 for H.L. Page‟s
daughter Hulda and her husband Jesse T. Bonney. To the west, clustered around the intersection
of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks, Union Hill Road, and Rutledge Creek, are the remnants
of the hamlet known as Dearborn. Despite the development encircling Dulwich Manor, the house
is largely buffered by its surrounding woodland, and is barely visible from any surrounding
roads.
Two pairs of stone gateposts, one 2,000 feet to the northwest and the other 1,600 feet to the
southeast of the house, mark Dulwich‟s former main and service entrances, respectively. The
main entrance gateposts are on the north side of Union Hill Road, while the service entrance
gateposts are on the west side of Dulwich Drive. Both pairs of gateposts now lie on separate
parcels from today‟s Dulwich Manor tract.
A third pair of gateposts separated the manor house‟s domestic curtilage from the surrounding
farm fields, and indicated to visitors approaching the house via the main entrance road that they
were about to arrive at the house. These quartz gateposts are approximately 270 feet southwest of
the house, and are on the parcel being nominated.
Today, Dulwich Manor is accessed via a winding gravel driveway on the south side of U.S. 60
(Richmond Highway). This section of U.S. 60, which spans between Dulwich Drive and the
Traffic Circle in the Town of Amherst, was constructed in the mid-1930s.
Most of the 5-acre property consists of grassy yard surrounded by patches of transitional tall
grass at the edges of the woodland that encircles the house. The remains of a formal garden with
boxwoods, other shrubs, and specimen trees can be found on the south side (front) of the house.
A concrete foundation marking the location of a small classroom building associated with
Amherst Academy (which used the property in the 1970s) is approximately 100 feet west of the
house, while a simple pole barn that housed canoes during the property‟s tenure as a bed and
breakfast inn lies 140 feet to the north of the house. A small brick shed is sited approximately 35
feet north of the house, while a non-historic gazebo lies 60 feet to the east.
Inventory of Resources
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the nominated property. All
resources have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the area of
significance identified under Criterion C: Architecture, and based upon the period of significance
spanning the period 1909 to 1915. All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being
less than fifty years old or for having been significantly altered so that they no longer reflect their
historic appearance or character.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Dulwich Manor
Shed
Stone Gateposts (one pair)
Gazebo
Pole Barn
1909
1909
1909
ca. 1995
ca. 1995
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Objects
Non-Contributing Building
Non-Contributing Building
Dulwich Manor
Facing south, Dulwich Manor is a large two-and-a-half-story house constructed of brick laid in
Flemish bond. The five-bay façade is fenestrated by four nine-over-one double-hung sash
windows on the second floor in the outer bays, with a tripartite nine-over-one double-hung sash
window assembly in the central bay. On the first floor, the double-leaf entry is flanked by a pair
of glazed sidelights and capped by an arched glazed transom with tracery. Above the transom is
an arch of simulated rubbed brick with diorite (similar to granite) keystones. Immediately inside
the entry is a second entryway with a single-leaf door, which is surrounded by diamond-pane
sidelights topped by a rectangular transom. This “air lock” feature is not typically found on rural
houses in Amherst County, and is more common in urban areas like Lynchburg and Richmond.
The left and right-most two bays on the first floor of the façade are each occupied by a doublewidth window capped by an arched fanlight and brick arch similar to that of the doorway.
Currently, these windows are glazed with a single, large pane of glass, but were likely originally
tripartite windows like the set found in the central bay of the second floor. All windows on the
façade have diorite stone sills, and the corners of the house are trimmed by brick quoining.
The façade is dominated by a large, two-story portico capped by a pediment formed by a crossgable roof with a small tripartite Palladian window in the tympanum, which is clad in slate
shingles. The one-bay portico is supported by a pair of wooden Ionic columns with a pair of
Doric pilasters against the house. The central bay of the house, which is sheltered by the portico,
projects out from the plane of the façade by approximately one foot. The roof of the portico
features an ornately-modillioned cornice, and a set of wide stone steps lead from grade onto the
surface of the porch. While only covered by a roof in the central bay, the porch floor itself
extends the full width of the house, and is constructed of poured concrete (originally, the porch
had a wooden floor). A wooden balustrade, which was added in the 1990s to replace an earlier
faux wrought iron rail, skirts the perimeter of the porch. The appearance of the original
balustrade (if any) is not known.
The house is covered by a steeply-pitched hipped roof of slate shingles, and has numerous gablefront dormers with six-over-one double-hung sash windows. A narrow stairway leads from the
third level of the house to a flat platform on the roof, which, according to local oral history, was
used as a cooling location by individuals attending dances in the “ballroom” immediately below.
The right, or east, elevation faces the historic service entrance to the property (accessed from
Dulwich Drive) as well as the current primary entrance. The primary features of this elevation
are a two-story polygonal bay that is topped by a gabled pediment roof along with a small
second-story frame oriel window that forms a reading nook in the interior of the house. A singleleaf glazed service entrance flanked by a pair of fluted pilasters and topped with a pediment with
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
slate shingles in the tympanum provides access to the rear ell of the house. A one-story porch,
which appears to have stretched along the entire side of the house, is no longer present, and has
been replaced by a small, low deck.
The left, or west, elevation is similar to the east side, except that the polygonal bay is instead a
simple rectangular projection. A one-story brick addition (laid in Flemish bond) occupies the rear
corner of the house, and is covered by a very shallow shed roof. This area of the home features a
walk-out basement due to a lower grade than what is found in the front of the house. On the rear
elevation, a metal fire escape provides ingress and egress to the main level of the one-story
addition. The cellar of the original portion of the house is also accessed from the rear elevation
via a single-leaf door constructed of vertical boards.
The main entrance of the house provides access to a large central hall, which features a wide
double dog-leg staircase with an unusual built-in bench at its base. Pairs of glazed pocket doors
lead to parlors on both the left and right sides of the hallway. The left-hand parlor features a
carved mantel with a built-in mirror that exhibits French stylistic influences. The fireplace
surround is tiled. The fireplace in the right parlor is un-tiled, and is trimmed with a simple mantel
of Federal or Georgian style with dentil moulding. Another pair of glazed pocket doors leads
from this parlor into a dining room, which contains the added space created by the polygonal bay
on the house‟s east elevation. The dining room is connected to the kitchen in the rear ell and the
central hallway by two single-leaf doorways. A fourth space in the main house, a small parlor,
was formerly accessed via a doorway leading to the west from the main hall, but this access has
been reconfigured and is now gained through the one-story addition in the rear of the house.
The second floor contains five bedrooms, and a narrow servants‟ staircase leads from the rear of
the hallway down to the kitchen on the first floor. Next to this staircase is a fine built-in linen
cabinet with glazed double doors atop a pair of paneled doors. A number of bathrooms have been
added to this floor level to accommodate the home‟s function as a bed and breakfast inn in the
late 20th and early 21st centuries, but the modifications were performed in a manner so as not to
significantly impede with the open spaces of the bedrooms.
A handsome staircase with stained balusters and handrail provides access to the third level.
Three small rooms (two illuminated by dormer windows and the third by the Palladian window
in the front portico) are accessed from the stair hall. A small, narrow door provides access to the
rooftop, and an additional doorway enters into a large, open space that, according to local oral
history, was used as a ballroom by the Page family when they hosted parties. (It is likely,
however, that dancing occurred on the first floor rather than the third, as the third floor would
likely become quite hot during the summer months. In addition, this third floor room does not
display evidence that it ever possessed the ornamentation common to other known ballrooms of
the period.) The rectangular ballroom covers the floor area of the right half of the main block of
the house as well as the space over the rear ell, and is illuminated by six dormer windows.
The house rests atop a basement that includes several rooms used as classrooms during the 1970s
as well as a boiler room and several storage areas. A massive steel oil tank provided fuel with
which to heat the home.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In June 2012, a derecho-style windstorm caused an oak tree on the west side of the house to
break, which subsequently damaged the southwestern corner of the building. Damaged elements
include a chimney, roof, cornice, porch balustrade, and the portico. Measures have been taken to
stabilize the damaged areas (as seen in several photos of the property included with this
nomination), and a restoration plan is under development.
Shed (c. 1909, Contributing)
Just to the rear of the house is a small gable-roofed shed constructed of brick laid in Flemish
bond. The gable-fronted roof is covered in slate shingles and is trimmed by a simple cornice with
Greek returns. A wooden board-and-batten door provides access to the shed from the south end,
and the interior has a concrete floor.
Gateposts (c. 1909, Contributing)
At the southwest corner of the yard is a pair of quartz gateposts that served to delineate the
domestic curtilage (yard) from the surrounding pastureland. These gateposts flanked the main
entrance road that led from the east side of Rutledge Creek near the Amherst Depot up to the
house.
Pole Barn (c. 1990, Non-Contributing)
Just north of the house is a simple shed with a low-pitched gable roof that is supported by square
wooden posts.
Gazebo (c. 1990, Non-Contributing)
A small hexagonal gazebo covered with wooden shingles and a diminutive hexagonal cupola is
located just southeast of the house.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
x
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Gregory, Leslie C., Carpenter
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Constructed in 1909 for Norfolk, Virginia, real estate mogul Herman Lawrence Page, Dulwich
Manor (also known as Dulwich Farm or Dulwich House)1 is one of the largest and most ornate
houses constructed in Amherst County during the first half of the 20th century, and is, by far, the
most significant example of a purpose-built summer house in the county. The Neoclassical
mansion features Flemish bond brickwork with brick quoins, diorite stone window sills and
keystones, a steeply-pitched hipped roof covered with slate, and a massive two-story portico
supported by Ionic columns. Used for recreation and entertainment by the Page family for more
than four decades, the house boasts large and open public spaces on the first floor.
Dulwich Manor has a period of significance of 1909, signifying the year that the house was
constructed. It is locally significant under Criterion C as the largest and most ornate example of
an extant Neoclassical home constructed in Amherst County during the first half of the twentieth
century.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
In December 1906, Herman L. Page purchased three tracts of land totaling 271 acres from the
Amherst Development Company.2 This land, which was all a portion of the former farm of M.B.
Coffey, was located just to the east of the Southern Railway‟s Amherst Depot and north of the
road that led from the depot eastward to Poplar Grove Church (now known as Union Hill Road
or State Route 659). An extant early-mid-19th century house known as “Hunting Tower” (0050141) was situated on the eastern end of the tract.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1860 to Alfred H. Page and Lenora Webb, Herman Lawrence Page
immigrated with his family to the United States in 1876, arriving in Baltimore aboard the ship
Nova Scotia.3 He lived on a farm in Princess Anne County, Virginia, with his family for a few
years, and by 1880, he had settled in the nearby city of Norfolk, where he worked as a retail
grocer.4 In 1883, he married Adella H. Penzold of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was also living
in Norfolk. At the age of 21, Page launched H.L. Page & Co., a real estate firm.
By the end of the 19th century, Page had become interested in local affairs in Amherst County,
which lay 160 miles northwest of Norfolk. Perhaps excited by the prospects of the Town of
Amherst further developing as a bedroom community for Lynchburg just ten miles to the south
via the Southern Railway, Page took a particular interest in land to the south and east of Amherst
Court House, which had easy access to the train depot. Page subsequently became involved with
the Amherst Development Company, which was a major landholder in the vicinity (when Page
purchased the 271-acre tract from the company in 1906, he abstained from the company‟s vote to
sell the property in order to reduce the appearance of a conflict of interest).
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Page‟s selection of land close to the train depot was not accidental. He constructed two entrances
to what would become known as Dulwich Farm: a service entrance flanked by gateposts made of
quartz rubble was located on the east side of what is now known as Dulwich Drive (formerly a
section of Braxton Ridge Road) and immediately south of the house known as Hunting Tower.
The main entrance to the farm was just 575 feet southwest of the Amherst Depot on what is now
designated as Union Hill Road. In the early 20th century, this was the main road leading eastward
towards the James River from Amherst (it was, for a brief time, designated as U.S. Highway 60).
The main entrance was also adorned by a pair of quartz gateposts which were flanked by
pedestrian gates and quartz wing walls. The main entrance to Dulwich Farm was easily visible
from the depot, and Page would often refer to the farm as being “at the depot.”
The trip between Norfolk and Page‟s property at Amherst could be achieved almost exclusively
by train. The Page family would take the Norfolk & Western line from Norfolk westward to
Lynchburg‟s Union Station (roughly 175 miles). Then, changing tracks, they would finish their
journey with a quick (10 miles or so) trip northward to Amherst via the Southern Railway.
The 1906 Norfolk City Directory listed Page‟s many business interests. He served as president of
the Bay Shore Terminal Co., Elizabeth River & Hampton Roads Ferry Co., Consolidated
Turnpike Co., and Dulwich Place Co. In addition, he was the secretary-treasurer of the Amherst
Development Co., West Portsmouth Land Co., and the Norfolk Installment Land Co. He also
served as the secretary of the Chautauqua-by-the-Sea Assembly & Improvement Co., South
Ghent Land Co., and the Southern Branch Drawbridge Co.5 Page also founded the first real
estate exchange in the United States.6
In 1907, Page formed the Amherst Electric Light & Power Company, and three years later, was
the president of the Lynchburg and Northern Railway, which proposed a trolley car line that
would connect Lynchburg, Sweet Briar, Amherst, and the Crabtree Valley in Nelson County. 7
After being involved in business and land development matters in Amherst for over a decade, it
is not surprising that Page ultimately decided to construct a home there. A December 1909 issue
of the Richmond Times Dispatch announced that H.L. Page, “formerly of Norfolk, but now of
Amherst, has completed a handsome residence on his farm near this place [Amherst], and
expects to move into it very soon.” The article noted that the house was “fitted up with all the
modern conveniences” and cost approximately $20,000.8 Indeed, the family soon took residence
in the impressive home, and was listed in the 1910 Census at their farm on Braxton Ridge Road
(during this period, today‟s Braxton Ridge Road included what is now called Dulwich Drive on
the east side of the property). Along with Herman and Adella were their two youngest children
(also named Adella and Herman) and Jennie Walker, a 17-year-old African American cook.
Their two oldest sons, Percy and Lawrence, had both reached adulthood and resided in Norfolk,
while their oldest daughter Huldah Page Bonney lived with her family across what is now known
as Union Hill Road. 9
The design of Dulwich Manor is said to have been inspired by the Dulwich, England, home of
one of H.L. Page‟s uncles. The most likely candidate for the uncle whose home inspired Herman
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
is Lt. Col. Charles Harrison Page (1826-1897) who, like Herman‟s father, was born in Dulwich,
Surrey, England. However, Charles spent most of his adult life in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
(Herman‟s birthplace) rather than Dulwich. Interestingly, Charles Page‟s Cardiff home was
known as “Dulwich House,” and while Dulwich Manor in Amherst County is by no means a
replica of the Cardiff home, it is possible that certain design elements, including steeply-pitched
gabled and hipped slate roofs and dormer windows, were carried over into Herman Page‟s homes
in Virginia.10
Dulwich Manor possesses a number of architectural similarities with H.L. Page‟s primary
residence at 323 Fairfax Avenue (122-0232) in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk, which is
currently being operated as a bed and breakfast called the “Page House Inn.” Constructed in
1899 at a cost of $11,350, the architect of the Georgian Revival house is not known. Architects
who were prolific in the Ghent area during this period included John Kevan Peebles, J. E. R.
Carpenter, H. Irving Dwyer, Cassell & Cassell and Arnold Eberhard. Like Dulwich Manor, the
Fairfax Avenue home is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story building with a steeply-pitched hipped
roof covered with slate (both roofs have a flat platform on top). Both houses are constructed of
brick laid in Flemish bond, have similar configurations of corbeled chimneys, and have similar
ells projecting from the right rear of the building. In addition, both houses feature similar
polygonal projections capped by a cross-gable roof on the right side, and both have slightly
projecting central bays on the façade capped by a cross-gable roof (although Dulwich displays a
one-bay, two-story portico and the Norfolk house has a one-story full-length porch). The
similarities between the two properties suggest that the same architect was involved in both
projects.11
Dulwich Manor was likely built (at least partially) by Amherst contractor Leslie C. Gregory,
with help from Silas McDaniel, J.P. Beard, and Walter E. Robinson (or Robeson). Gregory was
capable of working on large brick homes, as he was involved in the construction of the Georgian
Revival (American foursquare plan) home of Dr. Kearfott (163-0018) on Main Street in Amherst
in 1907 (this home now serves as the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society).12
Herman L. Page certainly wasn‟t the only wealthy non-resident to construct a summer home in
Amherst County. In 1925, Mary Leigh Suhling constructed a summer cottage near Winesap
called “Hanshill” (005-5329), which was designed by Pendleton Clark and Walter Crowe. In
1933, George C. Stevens built the “Rock Cottage” (designed by an unknown New York
architect) at “Speed the Plough” (005-0040) near Elon. Most Amherst County buildings used as
summer homes, whether purpose-built or converted cabins and farm houses, were relatively
modest, and focused on the ideals of a simple, rustic country life. In keeping with this theme,
most were of stone, log, or frame construction, but Page‟s massive brick Neoclassical mansion
was one of the largest and most ornate country homes (either primary residences or summer
homes) to be built in Amherst County during the first half of the 20th century.13
Despite the family‟s presence at the farm for the enumeration of the 1910 Census, all accounts
indicate that Dulwich Manor was built to serve as a summer residence for the Page Family.
While the 1910-1913 Norfolk City Directories list H.L. Page‟s residence at his Amherst home,
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
he successfully argued to the Amherst Court in 1911 that he was not a resident of the county that
year, and that his personal property taxes should be reduced.14
Published accounts suggest that the Pages used Dulwich as one would expect for a summer
house in the country: as a seasonal social hub as well as a place for Page to play the role of a
country gentleman and livestock breeder. In September 1910, 8-year-old “Master” Herman
Leigh Page hosted a party at Dulwich Manor for some of his young friends. During the
Christmas holidays of that year, Herman‟s 20-year-old sister, Della (or Adella), hosted a
“delightful dance” at the house.15
Indeed, dances became a popular activity at Dulwich Manor. In the summer of 1911, Miss
Adella Page hosted a dance at her “beautiful colonial home, „Dulwich House,‟” in honor of her
guest Miss Marguerite Garrett of Norfolk, which included more than twenty guests from as far
away as Norfolk, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio, Texas. The Page Family continued to use
the property as a social hub almost a decade later, when, in August 1920, it was reported that the
family was returning to Norfolk after having a “stag house party at „Dulwich Farm.‟”16 Around
1925, Herman and Adella Page established a winter residence in St. Petersburg, Florida, and
spent the warmer months in Amherst.
Unable to raise livestock on his urban property in Norfolk, Page began raising pure-bred animals
at Dulwich Farm soon after constructing the manor house. In 1911, Page advertised in the
Southern Planter that he was selling a “fine registered French Coach Stallion” in addition to
French Coach mares and colts, an Aberdeen-Angus bull, and several calves at Dulwich Farm,
Dearborn, Amherst County (Dearborn was the name of the community surrounding the Amherst
rail depot and grist mill). In the summer of 1914, Page purchased several head of cattle from the
celebrated Red Poll herd of Curles Neck Farm in Henrico County, including one of the herd‟s
nine bulls, which was known as “Curles 18.” Page was particularly proud of this bull, which
became a productive part of his herd. In 1922, he announced that he was selling several
registered calves “sired by my celebrated Bull Curles 18th Big George,” which weighed an
impressive 2,563 pounds. Names of some of Page‟s Red Poll cattle included “Dulwich King,”
“Dulwich Lee,” and “Dulwich Ada.”17
Page also raised registered swine (primarily Berkshire hogs) at Dulwich Farm with names such
as “Queen of Dulwich,” “Dulwich Revelation,” “Dulwich Girl,” and “Dulwich Robinhood.” In
addition to French Coach horses, Aberdeen-Angus and Red Poll cattle, and Berkshire Hogs,
Dulwich Farm also produced Percheron horses, Shetland ponies, Toulouse geese, Partridge
Wyandottes, and Partridge Plymouth Rocks (both types of chickens).18
Continuing the country life theme embodied at Dulwich, the Page family and their guests were
known to have conducted hunts on the property. An undated remnant of a letter reads:
“Dear Sweetheart,
We hunted yesterday but only killed ten birds and 16 rabbits. The weather is very
warm…” [remainder of page torn.]
The stationery upon which this letter was written featured a photograph of Page‟s favorite bull,
“Big George,” and listed H.L. Page as the owner of Dulwich Farm (boasting 1,256 acres at the
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
time) with his middle son Percy A. Page (1886-1946) as the manager. In the fall of 1916, H.L.
Page, along with his sons Lawrence and Percy and Messer‟s Face and Nichols of Nichols of
Norfolk enjoyed a week-long hunt on the property.19
The Page family continued to visit Dulwich during the summers through the 1930s and into the
1940s. The 1940 Census listed Percy A. Page and his wife Vera likely residing at Dulwich
Manor along with their adult children, Percy (a horse trainer) and Virginia. Percy and his family
had recently returned to Amherst, having resided in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1935. Just a few
houses away (likely at Hunting Tower on the Dulwich property) was Percy‟s younger brother,
Herman Leigh Page, whose household contained his wife Helen, son Herman, and daughters
Jane and Betty.20
Adella Penzold Page died at the age of 80 in St. Petersburg, Florida, in April 1942, and she was
buried at the Amherst Cemetery. While the Pages had a great deal of involvement in the
communities of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, their affection for Amherst is signified by their
selection of the community as their final resting place. In February 1946, 85-year-old Herman
Lawrence Page died at his winter home in St. Petersburg. A funeral was held at the Amherst
Presbyterian Church and he was buried next to his wife at the Amherst Cemetery. Death seemed
to dominate the 1940s for the Page family. Percy A. Page, only 59 years old, died in August
1946, and Herman Leigh Page, Jr. (grandson of H.L. Page) died at the age of 18 in August 1947.
A student at the Virginia Military Institute, Herman Leigh Page, Jr. (also known as “Sonny”) was
killed in an accident while on summer furlough.21
In his last will and testament, Herman Lawrence Page offered Dulwich Manor to his son Herman
Leigh Page, Sr., for the sum of $15,000. In November 1946, Herman Leigh Page, Sr., purchased
the property and owned it until 1962, when he and his wife Helen sold it to Layward and Helen
Cash. Five years later, the Cashes conveyed the house, surrounded by 130 acres, to J.B.
McDearmon and Keene C. Brown.22 McDearmon was the publisher of the Nelson County Times
and Amherst New Era Progress newspapers, and Brown was a Columbia University graduate
who settled in Amherst County in the mid-1960s and lived at Buffalo Ranch. A part-owner in the
previously mentioned newspapers, he was very active in the community, served on the boards of
trustees of Sweet Briar and Lynchburg Colleges, and is perhaps best known for anonymously
purchasing and subsequently donating Winton in nearby Clifford to serve as a country club and
golf course. During Brown‟s ownership of Dulwich Manor during the 1970s, the property was
used as Amherst Academy, which was one of Amherst County‟s first private elementary schools.
A small building (no longer extant) was constructed just west of the main house and served as
additional classrooms, and a one-story brick addition (which contained a school library and
several classrooms) was added to the rear of the house.
In 1980, Jimmy and Polly McBride purchased the property from Keene, and began the
painstaking process of reverting the building back to a residential use. The McBrides removed
chalkboards, fluorescent lighting, and commercial carpeting from each room. In 1988, Bob and
Judy Reilly of New Jersey purchased the property and converted it into a six-room bed and
breakfast inn, which opened in 1990. Mike and Georgene Farmer acquired Dulwich Manor in the
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
late 1990s, and continued its operation as a bed and breakfast until 2010, when it was under the
ownership of Dennis Gibbs of Castro Valley, California.23
On 29 June 2012, Dulwich Manor, then vacant, was damaged by the derecho storm that swept
across Virginia. A major portion of the centuries-old oak tree that stands just to the west of the
house succumbed to the high winds of the storm, and caused significant damage to the southwest
corner of the house, including a chimney, the cornice, and the portico. Dulwich Manor rests on a
slight knoll, and is susceptible to wind gusts(in March 1929, a windstorm uprooted fifteen shade
trees in the yard of the house).24
Later in 2012, the property was acquired by Frank Martos of Bigwig Services, Inc., who plans to
repair and restore the property.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Account and time books of Leslie Clark Gregory, Accession #2012.25, Amherst County Historical
Society and Museum.
American Berkshire Association. “American Berkshire Record, Volume 56.” Springfield, Illinois:
American Berkshire Association. 1920.
American Chester-White Record Association. “The American Chester-White Record.” Huntington,
Indiana: The Whitelock Press. 1912.
Amherst County Deed Books (1890-2012), Land Tax Records (1925-1940), Law Order Books (19061915). Clerk of the Circuit Court, Amherst, Virginia.
“Amherst County Historic Resources Survey Report,” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2010.
Amherst New-Era Progress.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC; Records of the US
Customs Service, RG36, Series: M255, Roll: 26 (accessed via www.ancestry.com).
Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Berkley City Directory, 1906.
Page House Inn web site (http://www.pagehouseinn.com/photo-gallery.htm).
Richmond Times Dispatch (accessed via www.genealogybank.com and
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov).
Scene Magazine.
Smith, W. Scott, Oral interview with William Inge, Sargent Memorial Room, Norfolk Public Library,
6 December 2012.
“The Southern Planter”, Volume 72, Volume 75.
St. Petersburg Times.
Undated letterhead for “Dulwich Farm, Dearborn, Amherst County, VA” accessed via the Internet on
www.ancestry.com
(http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/49432463/person/20213658218/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid|p
gNum).
United States Census, Population Schedule, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 (accessed via
www.ancestry.com).
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Virginian Pilot.
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Immigration. Yearbook 1922, Bulletin 177.
Richmond, Virginia. 1922.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Amherst County Museum & Historical Society, Amherst, Virginia; Sargent Memorial Room,
Norfolk City Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 163-5020
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
5
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude:
Longitude:
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
X
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone: 17S
Easting:
0672921
Northing: 4160130
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries of the nominated property are those identified as being the boundaries of tax
parcel 96-A-22A by the County of Amherst. See attached parcel map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass the historic domestic curtilage (yard) surrounding the nominated
property, and represent the entirety of the acreage currently associated with Dulwich Manor
and its outbuildings.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Breckinridge Smith, Principal
organization:
HistoryTech, LLC
street & number: Post Office Box 75
city or town: Lynchburg
state: Virginia
e-mail
scott@historytech.com
telephone:
434-401-3995
date: 14 December 2012
Sections 9-end page 19
zip code: 24505
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn‟t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
The following information is common to all photographs:
Name of Property:
Dulwich Manor
City or Vicinity:
Town of Amherst
County: Amherst
State: Virginia
Photographer:
W. Scott Smith
Date Photographed:
30 November 2012
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_001
Façade (south elevation) (camera pointed to north)
Photo 2 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_002
East elevation (camera pointed to west)
Photo 3 of 13:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_003
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
View:
West elevation (camera pointed to east)
Photo 4 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_004
North and east elevations (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_005
Interior central hall, first floor (camera pointed to south)
Photo 6 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_006
Interior central hall, first floor, stair detail (camera pointed to north)
Photo 7 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_007
West parlor, mantel detail (camera pointed to west)
Photo 8 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_008
East parlor, first floor (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 9 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_009
Southwest bed chamber, second floor (camera pointed to west)
Photo 10 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_010
Large Room, third floor (camera pointed to north)
Photo 11 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_011
Garden shed (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 12 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_012
Pole barn (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 13 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_013
Gateposts (camera pointed to southwest)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Endnotes
1
Most early (1910-1930) newspaper accounts and advertisements refer to the
property as “Dulwich Farm,” except for an article in the August 3, 1911
Richmond Times Dispatch which mentions “Dulwich House.” One of the first
instances of the property being referred to as “Dulwich Manor” is a 1934 plat
of Page’s property by Amherst County Surveyor J.S. Glunt.
2
Deed Book 58, page 150, Amherst County Clerk of Court
3
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC; Records of the US Customs
Service, RG36, Series: M255, Roll: 26
4
Year: 1880; Census Place: Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Roll: 1381; Family History Film: 1255381; Page:
372A; Enumeration District: 071
5
1906 Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Berkley City Directory.
6
St. Petersburg Times, 14 February 1946
7
Richmond Times Dispatch, 25 April 1910
8
Richmond Times Dispatch, 6 December 1909
9
Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Amherst, Virginia; Roll: T624_1621; Page: 11A; Enumeration
District: 0009; ; FHL microfilm: 1375634
10
Charles Harrison Page’s home, “Dulwich House,” is located at 4 Pencisely Road, Canton, Cardiff, CF5
1DG (Cardiff Unique Property Reference Number [UPRN]: 10002527533), Google Maps URL:
http://goo.gl/maps/z93jt
11
Virginian Pilot, 29 June 1899; Smith, W. Scott, Oral interview with William Inge, Sargent Memorial
Room, Norfolk Public Library, 6 December 2012; 323 Fairfax Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia Google Maps
URL: http://goo.gl/maps/O5DDL; “Photo Gallery,” Page House Inn web site:
http://www.pagehouseinn.com/photo-gallery.htm
12
Account and time books of Leslie Clark Gregory, Accession #2012.25, Amherst County Historical
Society and Museum.
13
“Amherst County Historic Resources Survey Report,” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2010.
14
The first known written instance of the Page family specifically using Dulwich Manor as a summer
house is in 1916, when the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that “Mr. & Mrs. H.L. Page, of Larchmont,
left today to spend the summer at their home in Amherst” (11 June 1916). A 1924 announcement in the
same newspaper stated that Herman Page “is now at Dulwich Farm for the summer.” (6 July 1924). Law
Order Book 12, page 332, Amherst County Clerk of Court.
15
Richmond Times Dispatch, 25 September 1910; Richmond Times Dispatch, 8 January 1911
16
Richmond Times Dispatch, 3 August 1910, Richmond Times Dispatch, 22 August 1920
17
“The Southern Planter”, Volume 72, page 640; “The Southern Planter”, Volume 75, page 662; Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Immigration, “Yearbook: 1922, Bulletin 177.” Richmond, Virginia. 1922.
Page 15
18
American Berkshire Association, “American Berkshire Record, Volume 56.” Springfield, Illinois:
American Berkshire Association. 1920. Pp. 56,209-56,210; American Chester-White Record Association,
“The American Chester-White Record.” Huntington, Indiana: The Whitelock Press. 1912. page 313;
Undated letterhead for “Dulwich Farm, Dearborn, Amherst County, VA” accessed via the Internet on
www.ancestry.com;
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/49432463/person/20213658218/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid|pgNu
m
19
Richmond Times Dispatch, 19 November 1915
20
Year: 1940; Census Place: Court House, Amherst, Virginia; Roll: T627_4244; Page: 17B; Enumeration
District: 5-2; Herman Leigh Page acquired Hunting Tower from his father Herman Lawrence Page in
1942, Deed Book 121, page 589, Amherst County Clerk of Court
21
Richmond Times Dispatch, 28 April 1942; Richmond Times Dispatch, 10 May 1946; Class of 1948
Yearbook, Virginia Military Institute, page 387.
22
Deed Book 131, page 194, Amherst County Clerk of Court; Deed Book 218, page 457, Amherst County
Clerk of Court; Deed Book 263, page 315, Amherst County Clerk of Court
23
Amherst New-Era Progress, 17 July 1986; Scene Magazine, May 1993.
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
24
Richmond Times Dispatch, 12 March 1929
Sections 9-end page 23
OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual pmpenies and districts. See instmclions in National Register
Bulletin. How to Complete the National Rejiisler of Historic Places Registration Form If any item does not apply to the propeny being
documented, enter "NIA for "not applicable." For functions. architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance. enter only
categories and subcategories from the instructions.
LISTED:
VLR
03/21/2013
NRHP
05/28/2013
1. Name of Property
Historic name:
Dulwich Manor
Other namestsite number: Dulwich Farm. Dulwich House. Arnherst Academy, VDHR # 1635020
Name of related multiple property listing:
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing
Street & number: 550 Richmond Highwav
City or town: Amherst
State: Virginia
Not For Publication:
Vicinity:
County:
N
a
l
/F
l
Amherst
3. Statfledera1 Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,
I hereby certify that this X nomination -request for determination of eligibility meets
the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic
Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property X meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following
level@) of significance:
national
statewide
X local
~ G l i c a b l National
e
~ e ~ i s tCriteria:
er
-
Vir~iniaDepartment of Historic Resources
In my opinion, the property -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official:
Title :
Date
State or Federal agencytbureau
or Tribal Government
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
determined eligible for the National Register
determined not eligible for the National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain:) _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply.)
Private:
X
Public – Local
Public – State
Public – Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
X
District
Site
Structure
Object
Sections 1-6 page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing
Noncontributing
2
2
buildings
0
0
sites
0
0
structures
2
0
objects
4
2
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Shed
LANDSCAPE/street furniture = Gateposts
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions.)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling = House
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Shed
LANDSCAPE/street furniture = Gateposts
DOMESTIC/secondary structure = Gazebo
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions.)
LATE 19TH & 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS: Neo-Classical Revival
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.)
Principal exterior materials of the property:
BRICK; WOOD; STONE
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that
briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Summary Paragraph
Dulwich Manor occupies a 5-acre parcel on a slight knoll between U.S. Route 60 (Richmond
Highway) to the north, State Route 659 (Union Hill Road) to the south, and State Route 606
(Dulwich Drive) to the east. The façade of the brick Neoclassical mansion is dominated by a
two-story portico supported by Doric columns, and several secondary resources, including a
small brick shed, stone gateposts, and two non-historic buildings also occupy the site. Dulwich
Manor retains integrity in the areas of location, setting, design, materials, and workmanship.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Description
Site Description
While Dulwich Manor lies within the corporate limits of the Town of Amherst, the home‟s
setting is rural, and the property is surrounded by dense second-growth forest. The former site of
the Amherst Train Depot is 2,600 feet to the northwest, and the Amherst County Courthouse (in
the center of the Town of Amherst) is 4,800 feet to the northwest. Both Rutledge Creek and the
main line of the Norfolk Southern Railroad lie just to the west of the property.
Section 7 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
To the north of the house, across U.S. 60 (a two-lane highway), is the Brockman Business Park,
which contains two corporate office facilities. To the east lie two small apartment complexes
along with “Hunting Tower,” (005-0141) an early-mid-19th century frame dwelling. Across
Dulwich Drive from these buildings are Central Elementary School and a complex of sports
fields. Non-historic age homes line both sides of Union Hill Road to the south of Dulwich Manor
along with the Bonney House (005-0122), which was constructed circa 1910 for H.L. Page‟s
daughter Hulda and her husband Jesse T. Bonney. To the west, clustered around the intersection
of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks, Union Hill Road, and Rutledge Creek, are the remnants
of the hamlet known as Dearborn. Despite the development encircling Dulwich Manor, the house
is largely buffered by its surrounding woodland, and is barely visible from any surrounding
roads.
Two pairs of stone gateposts, one 2,000 feet to the northwest and the other 1,600 feet to the
southeast of the house, mark Dulwich‟s former main and service entrances, respectively. The
main entrance gateposts are on the north side of Union Hill Road, while the service entrance
gateposts are on the west side of Dulwich Drive. Both pairs of gateposts now lie on separate
parcels from today‟s Dulwich Manor tract.
A third pair of gateposts separated the manor house‟s domestic curtilage from the surrounding
farm fields, and indicated to visitors approaching the house via the main entrance road that they
were about to arrive at the house. These quartz gateposts are approximately 270 feet southwest of
the house, and are on the parcel being nominated.
Today, Dulwich Manor is accessed via a winding gravel driveway on the south side of U.S. 60
(Richmond Highway). This section of U.S. 60, which spans between Dulwich Drive and the
Traffic Circle in the Town of Amherst, was constructed in the mid-1930s.
Most of the 5-acre property consists of grassy yard surrounded by patches of transitional tall
grass at the edges of the woodland that encircles the house. The remains of a formal garden with
boxwoods, other shrubs, and specimen trees can be found on the south side (front) of the house.
A concrete foundation marking the location of a small classroom building associated with
Amherst Academy (which used the property in the 1970s) is approximately 100 feet west of the
house, while a simple pole barn that housed canoes during the property‟s tenure as a bed and
breakfast inn lies 140 feet to the north of the house. A small brick shed is sited approximately 35
feet north of the house, while a non-historic gazebo lies 60 feet to the east.
Inventory of Resources
The following is a list of resources located within the boundaries of the nominated property. All
resources have been evaluated as either contributing or non-contributing based upon the area of
significance identified under Criterion C: Architecture, and based upon the period of significance
spanning the period 1909 to 1915. All non-contributing resources have been so noted for being
less than fifty years old or for having been significantly altered so that they no longer reflect their
historic appearance or character.
Section 7 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Dulwich Manor
Shed
Stone Gateposts (one pair)
Gazebo
Pole Barn
1909
1909
1909
ca. 1995
ca. 1995
Contributing Building
Contributing Building
Contributing Objects
Non-Contributing Building
Non-Contributing Building
Dulwich Manor
Facing south, Dulwich Manor is a large two-and-a-half-story house constructed of brick laid in
Flemish bond. The five-bay façade is fenestrated by four nine-over-one double-hung sash
windows on the second floor in the outer bays, with a tripartite nine-over-one double-hung sash
window assembly in the central bay. On the first floor, the double-leaf entry is flanked by a pair
of glazed sidelights and capped by an arched glazed transom with tracery. Above the transom is
an arch of simulated rubbed brick with diorite (similar to granite) keystones. Immediately inside
the entry is a second entryway with a single-leaf door, which is surrounded by diamond-pane
sidelights topped by a rectangular transom. This “air lock” feature is not typically found on rural
houses in Amherst County, and is more common in urban areas like Lynchburg and Richmond.
The left and right-most two bays on the first floor of the façade are each occupied by a doublewidth window capped by an arched fanlight and brick arch similar to that of the doorway.
Currently, these windows are glazed with a single, large pane of glass, but were likely originally
tripartite windows like the set found in the central bay of the second floor. All windows on the
façade have diorite stone sills, and the corners of the house are trimmed by brick quoining.
The façade is dominated by a large, two-story portico capped by a pediment formed by a crossgable roof with a small tripartite Palladian window in the tympanum, which is clad in slate
shingles. The one-bay portico is supported by a pair of wooden Ionic columns with a pair of
Doric pilasters against the house. The central bay of the house, which is sheltered by the portico,
projects out from the plane of the façade by approximately one foot. The roof of the portico
features an ornately-modillioned cornice, and a set of wide stone steps lead from grade onto the
surface of the porch. While only covered by a roof in the central bay, the porch floor itself
extends the full width of the house, and is constructed of poured concrete (originally, the porch
had a wooden floor). A wooden balustrade, which was added in the 1990s to replace an earlier
faux wrought iron rail, skirts the perimeter of the porch. The appearance of the original
balustrade (if any) is not known.
The house is covered by a steeply-pitched hipped roof of slate shingles, and has numerous gablefront dormers with six-over-one double-hung sash windows. A narrow stairway leads from the
third level of the house to a flat platform on the roof, which, according to local oral history, was
used as a cooling location by individuals attending dances in the “ballroom” immediately below.
The right, or east, elevation faces the historic service entrance to the property (accessed from
Dulwich Drive) as well as the current primary entrance. The primary features of this elevation
are a two-story polygonal bay that is topped by a gabled pediment roof along with a small
second-story frame oriel window that forms a reading nook in the interior of the house. A singleleaf glazed service entrance flanked by a pair of fluted pilasters and topped with a pediment with
Section 7 page 6
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
slate shingles in the tympanum provides access to the rear ell of the house. A one-story porch,
which appears to have stretched along the entire side of the house, is no longer present, and has
been replaced by a small, low deck.
The left, or west, elevation is similar to the east side, except that the polygonal bay is instead a
simple rectangular projection. A one-story brick addition (laid in Flemish bond) occupies the rear
corner of the house, and is covered by a very shallow shed roof. This area of the home features a
walk-out basement due to a lower grade than what is found in the front of the house. On the rear
elevation, a metal fire escape provides ingress and egress to the main level of the one-story
addition. The cellar of the original portion of the house is also accessed from the rear elevation
via a single-leaf door constructed of vertical boards.
The main entrance of the house provides access to a large central hall, which features a wide
double dog-leg staircase with an unusual built-in bench at its base. Pairs of glazed pocket doors
lead to parlors on both the left and right sides of the hallway. The left-hand parlor features a
carved mantel with a built-in mirror that exhibits French stylistic influences. The fireplace
surround is tiled. The fireplace in the right parlor is un-tiled, and is trimmed with a simple mantel
of Federal or Georgian style with dentil moulding. Another pair of glazed pocket doors leads
from this parlor into a dining room, which contains the added space created by the polygonal bay
on the house‟s east elevation. The dining room is connected to the kitchen in the rear ell and the
central hallway by two single-leaf doorways. A fourth space in the main house, a small parlor,
was formerly accessed via a doorway leading to the west from the main hall, but this access has
been reconfigured and is now gained through the one-story addition in the rear of the house.
The second floor contains five bedrooms, and a narrow servants‟ staircase leads from the rear of
the hallway down to the kitchen on the first floor. Next to this staircase is a fine built-in linen
cabinet with glazed double doors atop a pair of paneled doors. A number of bathrooms have been
added to this floor level to accommodate the home‟s function as a bed and breakfast inn in the
late 20th and early 21st centuries, but the modifications were performed in a manner so as not to
significantly impede with the open spaces of the bedrooms.
A handsome staircase with stained balusters and handrail provides access to the third level.
Three small rooms (two illuminated by dormer windows and the third by the Palladian window
in the front portico) are accessed from the stair hall. A small, narrow door provides access to the
rooftop, and an additional doorway enters into a large, open space that, according to local oral
history, was used as a ballroom by the Page family when they hosted parties. (It is likely,
however, that dancing occurred on the first floor rather than the third, as the third floor would
likely become quite hot during the summer months. In addition, this third floor room does not
display evidence that it ever possessed the ornamentation common to other known ballrooms of
the period.) The rectangular ballroom covers the floor area of the right half of the main block of
the house as well as the space over the rear ell, and is illuminated by six dormer windows.
The house rests atop a basement that includes several rooms used as classrooms during the 1970s
as well as a boiler room and several storage areas. A massive steel oil tank provided fuel with
which to heat the home.
Section 7 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
In June 2012, a derecho-style windstorm caused an oak tree on the west side of the house to
break, which subsequently damaged the southwestern corner of the building. Damaged elements
include a chimney, roof, cornice, porch balustrade, and the portico. Measures have been taken to
stabilize the damaged areas (as seen in several photos of the property included with this
nomination), and a restoration plan is under development.
Shed (c. 1909, Contributing)
Just to the rear of the house is a small gable-roofed shed constructed of brick laid in Flemish
bond. The gable-fronted roof is covered in slate shingles and is trimmed by a simple cornice with
Greek returns. A wooden board-and-batten door provides access to the shed from the south end,
and the interior has a concrete floor.
Gateposts (c. 1909, Contributing)
At the southwest corner of the yard is a pair of quartz gateposts that served to delineate the
domestic curtilage (yard) from the surrounding pastureland. These gateposts flanked the main
entrance road that led from the east side of Rutledge Creek near the Amherst Depot up to the
house.
Pole Barn (c. 1990, Non-Contributing)
Just north of the house is a simple shed with a low-pitched gable roof that is supported by square
wooden posts.
Gazebo (c. 1990, Non-Contributing)
A small hexagonal gazebo covered with wooden shingles and a diminutive hexagonal cupola is
located just southeast of the house.
Section 7 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
_________________________________________________________________
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
x
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Section 8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions.)
ARCHITECTURE
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Period of Significance
1909_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Dates
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Cultural Affiliation
_N/A_______________
___________________
___________________
Architect/Builder
Gregory, Leslie C., Carpenter
___________________
___________________
Section 8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations.)
Constructed in 1909 for Norfolk, Virginia, real estate mogul Herman Lawrence Page, Dulwich
Manor (also known as Dulwich Farm or Dulwich House)1 is one of the largest and most ornate
houses constructed in Amherst County during the first half of the 20th century, and is, by far, the
most significant example of a purpose-built summer house in the county. The Neoclassical
mansion features Flemish bond brickwork with brick quoins, diorite stone window sills and
keystones, a steeply-pitched hipped roof covered with slate, and a massive two-story portico
supported by Ionic columns. Used for recreation and entertainment by the Page family for more
than four decades, the house boasts large and open public spaces on the first floor.
Dulwich Manor has a period of significance of 1909, signifying the year that the house was
constructed. It is locally significant under Criterion C as the largest and most ornate example of
an extant Neoclassical home constructed in Amherst County during the first half of the twentieth
century.
______________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance.)
In December 1906, Herman L. Page purchased three tracts of land totaling 271 acres from the
Amherst Development Company.2 This land, which was all a portion of the former farm of M.B.
Coffey, was located just to the east of the Southern Railway‟s Amherst Depot and north of the
road that led from the depot eastward to Poplar Grove Church (now known as Union Hill Road
or State Route 659). An extant early-mid-19th century house known as “Hunting Tower” (0050141) was situated on the eastern end of the tract.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1860 to Alfred H. Page and Lenora Webb, Herman Lawrence Page
immigrated with his family to the United States in 1876, arriving in Baltimore aboard the ship
Nova Scotia.3 He lived on a farm in Princess Anne County, Virginia, with his family for a few
years, and by 1880, he had settled in the nearby city of Norfolk, where he worked as a retail
grocer.4 In 1883, he married Adella H. Penzold of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was also living
in Norfolk. At the age of 21, Page launched H.L. Page & Co., a real estate firm.
By the end of the 19th century, Page had become interested in local affairs in Amherst County,
which lay 160 miles northwest of Norfolk. Perhaps excited by the prospects of the Town of
Amherst further developing as a bedroom community for Lynchburg just ten miles to the south
via the Southern Railway, Page took a particular interest in land to the south and east of Amherst
Court House, which had easy access to the train depot. Page subsequently became involved with
the Amherst Development Company, which was a major landholder in the vicinity (when Page
purchased the 271-acre tract from the company in 1906, he abstained from the company‟s vote to
sell the property in order to reduce the appearance of a conflict of interest).
Section 8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Page‟s selection of land close to the train depot was not accidental. He constructed two entrances
to what would become known as Dulwich Farm: a service entrance flanked by gateposts made of
quartz rubble was located on the east side of what is now known as Dulwich Drive (formerly a
section of Braxton Ridge Road) and immediately south of the house known as Hunting Tower.
The main entrance to the farm was just 575 feet southwest of the Amherst Depot on what is now
designated as Union Hill Road. In the early 20th century, this was the main road leading eastward
towards the James River from Amherst (it was, for a brief time, designated as U.S. Highway 60).
The main entrance was also adorned by a pair of quartz gateposts which were flanked by
pedestrian gates and quartz wing walls. The main entrance to Dulwich Farm was easily visible
from the depot, and Page would often refer to the farm as being “at the depot.”
The trip between Norfolk and Page‟s property at Amherst could be achieved almost exclusively
by train. The Page family would take the Norfolk & Western line from Norfolk westward to
Lynchburg‟s Union Station (roughly 175 miles). Then, changing tracks, they would finish their
journey with a quick (10 miles or so) trip northward to Amherst via the Southern Railway.
The 1906 Norfolk City Directory listed Page‟s many business interests. He served as president of
the Bay Shore Terminal Co., Elizabeth River & Hampton Roads Ferry Co., Consolidated
Turnpike Co., and Dulwich Place Co. In addition, he was the secretary-treasurer of the Amherst
Development Co., West Portsmouth Land Co., and the Norfolk Installment Land Co. He also
served as the secretary of the Chautauqua-by-the-Sea Assembly & Improvement Co., South
Ghent Land Co., and the Southern Branch Drawbridge Co.5 Page also founded the first real
estate exchange in the United States.6
In 1907, Page formed the Amherst Electric Light & Power Company, and three years later, was
the president of the Lynchburg and Northern Railway, which proposed a trolley car line that
would connect Lynchburg, Sweet Briar, Amherst, and the Crabtree Valley in Nelson County. 7
After being involved in business and land development matters in Amherst for over a decade, it
is not surprising that Page ultimately decided to construct a home there. A December 1909 issue
of the Richmond Times Dispatch announced that H.L. Page, “formerly of Norfolk, but now of
Amherst, has completed a handsome residence on his farm near this place [Amherst], and
expects to move into it very soon.” The article noted that the house was “fitted up with all the
modern conveniences” and cost approximately $20,000.8 Indeed, the family soon took residence
in the impressive home, and was listed in the 1910 Census at their farm on Braxton Ridge Road
(during this period, today‟s Braxton Ridge Road included what is now called Dulwich Drive on
the east side of the property). Along with Herman and Adella were their two youngest children
(also named Adella and Herman) and Jennie Walker, a 17-year-old African American cook.
Their two oldest sons, Percy and Lawrence, had both reached adulthood and resided in Norfolk,
while their oldest daughter Huldah Page Bonney lived with her family across what is now known
as Union Hill Road. 9
The design of Dulwich Manor is said to have been inspired by the Dulwich, England, home of
one of H.L. Page‟s uncles. The most likely candidate for the uncle whose home inspired Herman
Section 8 page 12
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
is Lt. Col. Charles Harrison Page (1826-1897) who, like Herman‟s father, was born in Dulwich,
Surrey, England. However, Charles spent most of his adult life in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
(Herman‟s birthplace) rather than Dulwich. Interestingly, Charles Page‟s Cardiff home was
known as “Dulwich House,” and while Dulwich Manor in Amherst County is by no means a
replica of the Cardiff home, it is possible that certain design elements, including steeply-pitched
gabled and hipped slate roofs and dormer windows, were carried over into Herman Page‟s homes
in Virginia.10
Dulwich Manor possesses a number of architectural similarities with H.L. Page‟s primary
residence at 323 Fairfax Avenue (122-0232) in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk, which is
currently being operated as a bed and breakfast called the “Page House Inn.” Constructed in
1899 at a cost of $11,350, the architect of the Georgian Revival house is not known. Architects
who were prolific in the Ghent area during this period included John Kevan Peebles, J. E. R.
Carpenter, H. Irving Dwyer, Cassell & Cassell and Arnold Eberhard. Like Dulwich Manor, the
Fairfax Avenue home is a five-bay, two-and-a-half-story building with a steeply-pitched hipped
roof covered with slate (both roofs have a flat platform on top). Both houses are constructed of
brick laid in Flemish bond, have similar configurations of corbeled chimneys, and have similar
ells projecting from the right rear of the building. In addition, both houses feature similar
polygonal projections capped by a cross-gable roof on the right side, and both have slightly
projecting central bays on the façade capped by a cross-gable roof (although Dulwich displays a
one-bay, two-story portico and the Norfolk house has a one-story full-length porch). The
similarities between the two properties suggest that the same architect was involved in both
projects.11
Dulwich Manor was likely built (at least partially) by Amherst contractor Leslie C. Gregory,
with help from Silas McDaniel, J.P. Beard, and Walter E. Robinson (or Robeson). Gregory was
capable of working on large brick homes, as he was involved in the construction of the Georgian
Revival (American foursquare plan) home of Dr. Kearfott (163-0018) on Main Street in Amherst
in 1907 (this home now serves as the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society).12
Herman L. Page certainly wasn‟t the only wealthy non-resident to construct a summer home in
Amherst County. In 1925, Mary Leigh Suhling constructed a summer cottage near Winesap
called “Hanshill” (005-5329), which was designed by Pendleton Clark and Walter Crowe. In
1933, George C. Stevens built the “Rock Cottage” (designed by an unknown New York
architect) at “Speed the Plough” (005-0040) near Elon. Most Amherst County buildings used as
summer homes, whether purpose-built or converted cabins and farm houses, were relatively
modest, and focused on the ideals of a simple, rustic country life. In keeping with this theme,
most were of stone, log, or frame construction, but Page‟s massive brick Neoclassical mansion
was one of the largest and most ornate country homes (either primary residences or summer
homes) to be built in Amherst County during the first half of the 20th century.13
Despite the family‟s presence at the farm for the enumeration of the 1910 Census, all accounts
indicate that Dulwich Manor was built to serve as a summer residence for the Page Family.
While the 1910-1913 Norfolk City Directories list H.L. Page‟s residence at his Amherst home,
Section 8 page 13
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
he successfully argued to the Amherst Court in 1911 that he was not a resident of the county that
year, and that his personal property taxes should be reduced.14
Published accounts suggest that the Pages used Dulwich as one would expect for a summer
house in the country: as a seasonal social hub as well as a place for Page to play the role of a
country gentleman and livestock breeder. In September 1910, 8-year-old “Master” Herman
Leigh Page hosted a party at Dulwich Manor for some of his young friends. During the
Christmas holidays of that year, Herman‟s 20-year-old sister, Della (or Adella), hosted a
“delightful dance” at the house.15
Indeed, dances became a popular activity at Dulwich Manor. In the summer of 1911, Miss
Adella Page hosted a dance at her “beautiful colonial home, „Dulwich House,‟” in honor of her
guest Miss Marguerite Garrett of Norfolk, which included more than twenty guests from as far
away as Norfolk, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio, Texas. The Page Family continued to use
the property as a social hub almost a decade later, when, in August 1920, it was reported that the
family was returning to Norfolk after having a “stag house party at „Dulwich Farm.‟”16 Around
1925, Herman and Adella Page established a winter residence in St. Petersburg, Florida, and
spent the warmer months in Amherst.
Unable to raise livestock on his urban property in Norfolk, Page began raising pure-bred animals
at Dulwich Farm soon after constructing the manor house. In 1911, Page advertised in the
Southern Planter that he was selling a “fine registered French Coach Stallion” in addition to
French Coach mares and colts, an Aberdeen-Angus bull, and several calves at Dulwich Farm,
Dearborn, Amherst County (Dearborn was the name of the community surrounding the Amherst
rail depot and grist mill). In the summer of 1914, Page purchased several head of cattle from the
celebrated Red Poll herd of Curles Neck Farm in Henrico County, including one of the herd‟s
nine bulls, which was known as “Curles 18.” Page was particularly proud of this bull, which
became a productive part of his herd. In 1922, he announced that he was selling several
registered calves “sired by my celebrated Bull Curles 18th Big George,” which weighed an
impressive 2,563 pounds. Names of some of Page‟s Red Poll cattle included “Dulwich King,”
“Dulwich Lee,” and “Dulwich Ada.”17
Page also raised registered swine (primarily Berkshire hogs) at Dulwich Farm with names such
as “Queen of Dulwich,” “Dulwich Revelation,” “Dulwich Girl,” and “Dulwich Robinhood.” In
addition to French Coach horses, Aberdeen-Angus and Red Poll cattle, and Berkshire Hogs,
Dulwich Farm also produced Percheron horses, Shetland ponies, Toulouse geese, Partridge
Wyandottes, and Partridge Plymouth Rocks (both types of chickens).18
Continuing the country life theme embodied at Dulwich, the Page family and their guests were
known to have conducted hunts on the property. An undated remnant of a letter reads:
“Dear Sweetheart,
We hunted yesterday but only killed ten birds and 16 rabbits. The weather is very
warm…” [remainder of page torn.]
The stationery upon which this letter was written featured a photograph of Page‟s favorite bull,
“Big George,” and listed H.L. Page as the owner of Dulwich Farm (boasting 1,256 acres at the
Section 8 page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
time) with his middle son Percy A. Page (1886-1946) as the manager. In the fall of 1916, H.L.
Page, along with his sons Lawrence and Percy and Messer‟s Face and Nichols of Nichols of
Norfolk enjoyed a week-long hunt on the property.19
The Page family continued to visit Dulwich during the summers through the 1930s and into the
1940s. The 1940 Census listed Percy A. Page and his wife Vera likely residing at Dulwich
Manor along with their adult children, Percy (a horse trainer) and Virginia. Percy and his family
had recently returned to Amherst, having resided in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1935. Just a few
houses away (likely at Hunting Tower on the Dulwich property) was Percy‟s younger brother,
Herman Leigh Page, whose household contained his wife Helen, son Herman, and daughters
Jane and Betty.20
Adella Penzold Page died at the age of 80 in St. Petersburg, Florida, in April 1942, and she was
buried at the Amherst Cemetery. While the Pages had a great deal of involvement in the
communities of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, their affection for Amherst is signified by their
selection of the community as their final resting place. In February 1946, 85-year-old Herman
Lawrence Page died at his winter home in St. Petersburg. A funeral was held at the Amherst
Presbyterian Church and he was buried next to his wife at the Amherst Cemetery. Death seemed
to dominate the 1940s for the Page family. Percy A. Page, only 59 years old, died in August
1946, and Herman Leigh Page, Jr. (grandson of H.L. Page) died at the age of 18 in August 1947.
A student at the Virginia Military Institute, Herman Leigh Page, Jr. (also known as “Sonny”) was
killed in an accident while on summer furlough.21
In his last will and testament, Herman Lawrence Page offered Dulwich Manor to his son Herman
Leigh Page, Sr., for the sum of $15,000. In November 1946, Herman Leigh Page, Sr., purchased
the property and owned it until 1962, when he and his wife Helen sold it to Layward and Helen
Cash. Five years later, the Cashes conveyed the house, surrounded by 130 acres, to J.B.
McDearmon and Keene C. Brown.22 McDearmon was the publisher of the Nelson County Times
and Amherst New Era Progress newspapers, and Brown was a Columbia University graduate
who settled in Amherst County in the mid-1960s and lived at Buffalo Ranch. A part-owner in the
previously mentioned newspapers, he was very active in the community, served on the boards of
trustees of Sweet Briar and Lynchburg Colleges, and is perhaps best known for anonymously
purchasing and subsequently donating Winton in nearby Clifford to serve as a country club and
golf course. During Brown‟s ownership of Dulwich Manor during the 1970s, the property was
used as Amherst Academy, which was one of Amherst County‟s first private elementary schools.
A small building (no longer extant) was constructed just west of the main house and served as
additional classrooms, and a one-story brick addition (which contained a school library and
several classrooms) was added to the rear of the house.
In 1980, Jimmy and Polly McBride purchased the property from Keene, and began the
painstaking process of reverting the building back to a residential use. The McBrides removed
chalkboards, fluorescent lighting, and commercial carpeting from each room. In 1988, Bob and
Judy Reilly of New Jersey purchased the property and converted it into a six-room bed and
breakfast inn, which opened in 1990. Mike and Georgene Farmer acquired Dulwich Manor in the
Section 8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
late 1990s, and continued its operation as a bed and breakfast until 2010, when it was under the
ownership of Dennis Gibbs of Castro Valley, California.23
On 29 June 2012, Dulwich Manor, then vacant, was damaged by the derecho storm that swept
across Virginia. A major portion of the centuries-old oak tree that stands just to the west of the
house succumbed to the high winds of the storm, and caused significant damage to the southwest
corner of the house, including a chimney, the cornice, and the portico. Dulwich Manor rests on a
slight knoll, and is susceptible to wind gusts(in March 1929, a windstorm uprooted fifteen shade
trees in the yard of the house).24
Later in 2012, the property was acquired by Frank Martos of Bigwig Services, Inc., who plans to
repair and restore the property.
Section 8 page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
Account and time books of Leslie Clark Gregory, Accession #2012.25, Amherst County Historical
Society and Museum.
American Berkshire Association. “American Berkshire Record, Volume 56.” Springfield, Illinois:
American Berkshire Association. 1920.
American Chester-White Record Association. “The American Chester-White Record.” Huntington,
Indiana: The Whitelock Press. 1912.
Amherst County Deed Books (1890-2012), Land Tax Records (1925-1940), Law Order Books (19061915). Clerk of the Circuit Court, Amherst, Virginia.
“Amherst County Historic Resources Survey Report,” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2010.
Amherst New-Era Progress.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC; Records of the US
Customs Service, RG36, Series: M255, Roll: 26 (accessed via www.ancestry.com).
Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Berkley City Directory, 1906.
Page House Inn web site (http://www.pagehouseinn.com/photo-gallery.htm).
Richmond Times Dispatch (accessed via www.genealogybank.com and
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov).
Scene Magazine.
Smith, W. Scott, Oral interview with William Inge, Sargent Memorial Room, Norfolk Public Library,
6 December 2012.
“The Southern Planter”, Volume 72, Volume 75.
St. Petersburg Times.
Undated letterhead for “Dulwich Farm, Dearborn, Amherst County, VA” accessed via the Internet on
www.ancestry.com
(http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/49432463/person/20213658218/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid|p
gNum).
United States Census, Population Schedule, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 (accessed via
www.ancestry.com).
Sections 9-end page 17
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Virginian Pilot.
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Immigration. Yearbook 1922, Bulletin 177.
Richmond, Virginia. 1922.
___________________________________________________________________________
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
____ previously listed in the National Register
____ previously determined eligible by the National Register
____ designated a National Historic Landmark
____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________
____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________
____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________
Primary location of additional data:
_X__ State Historic Preservation Office
____ Other State agency
____ Federal agency
____ Local government
____ University
_X__ Other
Name of repository: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia;
Amherst County Museum & Historical Society, Amherst, Virginia; Sargent Memorial Room,
Norfolk City Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): VDHR# 163-5020
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
5
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84:__________
(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude:
Longitude:
2. Latitude:
Longitude:
Sections 9-end page 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
3. Latitude:
Longitude:
4. Latitude:
Longitude:
Or
UTM References
Datum (indicated on USGS map):
X
NAD 1927
or
NAD 1983
1. Zone: 17S
Easting:
0672921
Northing: 4160130
2. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
3. Zone:
Easting:
Northing:
4. Zone:
Easting :
Northing:
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundaries of the nominated property are those identified as being the boundaries of tax
parcel 96-A-22A by the County of Amherst. See attached parcel map.
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
The boundaries encompass the historic domestic curtilage (yard) surrounding the nominated
property, and represent the entirety of the acreage currently associated with Dulwich Manor
and its outbuildings.
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Form Prepared By
name/title: W. Scott Breckinridge Smith, Principal
organization:
HistoryTech, LLC
street & number: Post Office Box 75
city or town: Lynchburg
state: Virginia
scott@historytech.com
telephone:
434-401-3995
date: 14 December 2012
Sections 9-end page 19
zip code: 24505
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
___________________________________________________________________________
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location.
Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources. Key all photographs to this map.
Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs
Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs
to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to
the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,
photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn‟t need to be labeled on
every photograph.
Photo Log
The following information is common to all photographs:
Name of Property:
Dulwich Manor
City or Vicinity:
Town of Amherst
County: Amherst
State: Virginia
Photographer:
W. Scott Smith
Date Photographed:
30 November 2012
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
Photo 1 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_001
Façade (south elevation) (camera pointed to north)
Photo 2 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_002
East elevation (camera pointed to west)
Photo 3 of 13:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_003
Sections 9-end page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
View:
West elevation (camera pointed to east)
Photo 4 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_004
North and east elevations (camera pointed to southeast)
Photo 5 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_005
Interior central hall, first floor (camera pointed to south)
Photo 6 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_006
Interior central hall, first floor, stair detail (camera pointed to north)
Photo 7 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_007
West parlor, mantel detail (camera pointed to west)
Photo 8 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_008
East parlor, first floor (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 9 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_009
Southwest bed chamber, second floor (camera pointed to west)
Photo 10 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_010
Large Room, third floor (camera pointed to north)
Photo 11 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_011
Garden shed (camera pointed to northeast)
Photo 12 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_012
Pole barn (camera pointed to northwest)
Photo 13 of 13:
View:
VA_AmherstCounty_DulwichManor_013
Gateposts (camera pointed to southwest)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic
Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response
to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460
et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding
this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior,
1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Sections 9-end page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
Endnotes
1
Most early (1910-1930) newspaper accounts and advertisements refer to the
property as “Dulwich Farm,” except for an article in the August 3, 1911
Richmond Times Dispatch which mentions “Dulwich House.” One of the first
instances of the property being referred to as “Dulwich Manor” is a 1934 plat
of Page’s property by Amherst County Surveyor J.S. Glunt.
2
Deed Book 58, page 150, Amherst County Clerk of Court
3
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC; Records of the US Customs
Service, RG36, Series: M255, Roll: 26
4
Year: 1880; Census Place: Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Roll: 1381; Family History Film: 1255381; Page:
372A; Enumeration District: 071
5
1906 Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Berkley City Directory.
6
St. Petersburg Times, 14 February 1946
7
Richmond Times Dispatch, 25 April 1910
8
Richmond Times Dispatch, 6 December 1909
9
Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Amherst, Virginia; Roll: T624_1621; Page: 11A; Enumeration
District: 0009; ; FHL microfilm: 1375634
10
Charles Harrison Page’s home, “Dulwich House,” is located at 4 Pencisely Road, Canton, Cardiff, CF5
1DG (Cardiff Unique Property Reference Number [UPRN]: 10002527533), Google Maps URL:
http://goo.gl/maps/z93jt
11
Virginian Pilot, 29 June 1899; Smith, W. Scott, Oral interview with William Inge, Sargent Memorial
Room, Norfolk Public Library, 6 December 2012; 323 Fairfax Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia Google Maps
URL: http://goo.gl/maps/O5DDL; “Photo Gallery,” Page House Inn web site:
http://www.pagehouseinn.com/photo-gallery.htm
12
Account and time books of Leslie Clark Gregory, Accession #2012.25, Amherst County Historical
Society and Museum.
13
“Amherst County Historic Resources Survey Report,” Lynchburg, Virginia: HistoryTech, LLC. 2010.
14
The first known written instance of the Page family specifically using Dulwich Manor as a summer
house is in 1916, when the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that “Mr. & Mrs. H.L. Page, of Larchmont,
left today to spend the summer at their home in Amherst” (11 June 1916). A 1924 announcement in the
same newspaper stated that Herman Page “is now at Dulwich Farm for the summer.” (6 July 1924). Law
Order Book 12, page 332, Amherst County Clerk of Court.
15
Richmond Times Dispatch, 25 September 1910; Richmond Times Dispatch, 8 January 1911
16
Richmond Times Dispatch, 3 August 1910, Richmond Times Dispatch, 22 August 1920
17
“The Southern Planter”, Volume 72, page 640; “The Southern Planter”, Volume 75, page 662; Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Immigration, “Yearbook: 1922, Bulletin 177.” Richmond, Virginia. 1922.
Page 15
18
American Berkshire Association, “American Berkshire Record, Volume 56.” Springfield, Illinois:
American Berkshire Association. 1920. Pp. 56,209-56,210; American Chester-White Record Association,
“The American Chester-White Record.” Huntington, Indiana: The Whitelock Press. 1912. page 313;
Undated letterhead for “Dulwich Farm, Dearborn, Amherst County, VA” accessed via the Internet on
www.ancestry.com;
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/49432463/person/20213658218/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid|pgNu
m
19
Richmond Times Dispatch, 19 November 1915
20
Year: 1940; Census Place: Court House, Amherst, Virginia; Roll: T627_4244; Page: 17B; Enumeration
District: 5-2; Herman Leigh Page acquired Hunting Tower from his father Herman Lawrence Page in
1942, Deed Book 121, page 589, Amherst County Clerk of Court
21
Richmond Times Dispatch, 28 April 1942; Richmond Times Dispatch, 10 May 1946; Class of 1948
Yearbook, Virginia Military Institute, page 387.
22
Deed Book 131, page 194, Amherst County Clerk of Court; Deed Book 218, page 457, Amherst County
Clerk of Court; Deed Book 263, page 315, Amherst County Clerk of Court
23
Amherst New-Era Progress, 17 July 1986; Scene Magazine, May 1993.
Sections 9-end page 22
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
Dulwich Manor
Amherst County, VA
Name of Property
County and State
24
Richmond Times Dispatch, 12 March 1929
Sections 9-end page 23
Dublin Core
Title
Historic Buildings Lynchburg Area surveys
Subject
Lynchburg--Architecture
National Register of Historic Places
Description
Images of registration forms for Lynchburg area properties listed with the National Register of Historic Places.
Creator
United States Department of the Interior
Publisher
National Park Service
Date
1900s-2000s
Rights
No known restrictions
Format
pdf
Language
English
Identifier
JML.Historic_Buildings_Lynchburg_Area.005-163
Collection
Citation
United States Department of the Interior, “Historic Buildings Lynchburg Area surveys,” Digital Collections, accessed April 27, 2024, https://digitaljones.omeka.net/items/show/577.