Editing Lynchburg, Virginia (section)

== History ==
[[Monacan Indian Nation]] and other [[Siouan languages|Siouan]] [[Tutelo language|Tutelo]]-speaking tribes had lived in the area for over 10,000 years, driving the [[Powhatan|Virginia Algonquians]] eastward to the coastal areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.monacannation.com/our-history.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=MONACAN INDIAN NATION |language=en}}</ref> Explorer [[John Lederer]] visited one of the Siouan villages ([[Saponi]]) in 1670, on the Staunton River at Otter Creek, southwest of the present-day city, as did the [[Thomas Batts]] and Robert Fallam expedition in 1671.

Siouan peoples occupied this area until about 1702; they had become weakened because of high mortality from infectious diseases. The [[Seneca people]], who were part of the ''[[Haudenosaunee]]'', or Iroquois Confederacy based in New York, defeated them. The Seneca had ranged south while seeking new hunting grounds through the [[Shenandoah Valley]] to the West. At the Treaty of Albany in 1718, the [[Five Nations of the Iroquois|Iroquois Five Nations]] ceded control of their land east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, including Lynchburg, to the [[Colony of Virginia]]; they confirmed this in 1721.

=== Founding and early growth ===
First settled by Anglo-Americans in 1757, Lynchburg was named for its founder, [[John Lynch (1740–1820)|John Lynch]].<ref name="lynch burg museum">{{cite web |last1=lynch burg museum |first1=lynch burg museum |title=lynch burg museum |url=https://www.lynchburgmuseum.org/hill-city-roots |website=lynchburgmuseum.org |publisher=lynch burg museum}}</ref> When about 17 years old, Lynch started a ferry service at a [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] across the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] to carry traffic to and from [[New London, Virginia|New London]], where his parents had settled. The "City of Seven Hills" quickly developed along the hills surrounding Lynch's Ferry.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |first2= |date=2020-05-22 |title=Lynchburg History: John Lynch |url=https://www.lynchburgvirginia.org/lynchburg-history-john-lynch/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405201156/https://www.lynchburgvirginia.org/lynchburg-history-john-lynch/ |archive-date=5 April 2024 |access-date=15 May 2025 |website=Lynchburg Tourism |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1786, Virginia's General Assembly recognized Lynchburg, the settlement by Lynch's Ferry on the James River. The [[James River Company]] had been incorporated the previous year (and President [[George Washington]] was given stock, which he donated to charity) in order to "improve" the river down to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], which was growing and was named as the new Commonwealth's capital. Shallow-draft [[James River bateau]] provided a relatively easy means of transportation through Lynchburg down to Richmond and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Rocks, downed trees, and flood debris were constant hazards, so their removal became expensive ongoing maintenance. Lynchburg became a tobacco trading, then commercial, and much later an industrial center.

Eventually the state built a canal and towpath along the river to make transportation by the waterway easier, and especially to provide a water route around the falls at Richmond, which prevented through navigation by boat. By 1812, U.S. Chief Justice [[John Marshall]], who lived in Richmond, reported on the navigation difficulties and construction problems on the canal and towpath.
[[File:South River Friends (Quakers) Meeting House 2.jpg|thumb|274x274px|The restored [[South River Friends Meetinghouse]], April 2024]]
The General Assembly recognized the settlement's growth by incorporating Lynchburg as a town in 1805; it was not incorporated as a city until 1852. In between, Lynch built Lynchburg's first bridge across the James River, a toll structure that replaced his ferry in 1812. A toll turnpike to [[Salem, Virginia]] was begun in 1817. Lynch died in 1820 and was buried in the burial ground of the [[South River Friends Meetinghouse]]. Quakers later abandoned the town because of their moral opposition to [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], which the cities economy had begun to rely upon.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Slavery in Lynchburg |url=https://lynchburgmuseum.org/slavery-in-lynchburg |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=Lynchburg Museum System |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|Presbyterians]] took over the grounds of the meetinghouse in 1899, and adapted it as a church, later building a new church adjacent to the site, and restoring the Quaker meetinghouse to the buildings historical appearance.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=South River Meeting House |url=https://www.qmpc.org/south-river-meeting-house.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615234327/https://www.qmpc.org/south-river-meeting-house.html |archive-date=15 June 2020 |access-date=7 July 2024 |website=www.qmpc.org}}</ref> The meeting house and burial ground are now preserved as a [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Lynchburg, Virginia|historic site]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2024 |title=South River Friends Meetinghouse |url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/118-0015/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240707233821/https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/118-0015/ |archive-date=7 July 2024 |access-date=7 July 2024 |website=The Virginia Department of Historic Resources}}</ref>

To avoid the many visitors at [[Monticello]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] in 1806 developed a plantation and house near Lynchburg, called [[Poplar Forest]]. He often visited the town, noting, "Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be useful to the town of Lynchburg. I consider it as the most interesting spot in the state." In 1810, Jefferson wrote, "Lynchburg is perhaps the most rising place in the U.S.... It ranks now next to Richmond in importance...."<ref>{{Citation|title=Jefferson Chronology|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv301fsm.8|work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 3|pages=2|publisher=Princeton University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctv301fsm.8|access-date=2021-12-02}}</ref>

Early Lynchburg residents were not known for their religious enthusiasm. The established Church of England supposedly built a log church in 1765. In 1804, evangelist [[Lorenzo Dow]] wrote: "...where I spoke in the open air in what I conceived to be the seat of Satan's Kingdom. Lynchburg was a deadly place for the worship of God'." That referred to the lack of churches, which was corrected the following year. Itinerant [[Methodist]] [[Francis Asbury]] visited the town; Methodists built its first church in 1805. Lynchburg hosted the last Virginia Methodist Conference that bishop Asbury attended (February 20, 1815).<ref>William Warren Sweet, ''Virginia Methodism: A History'' (Richmond: Whitten & Shepparson, 1950) p. 151</ref> As Lynchburg grew, prostitution and other "rowdy" activities became part of the urban mix of the river town. They were often ignored, if not accepted, particularly in a downtown area referred to as the "Buzzard's Roost."<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2014-05-13 |title=Agnes and Lizzie Langley: The Madams of Buzzard’s Roost |url=https://thedeadbelldotcom1.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/agnes-and-lizzie-langley-the-madams-of-buzzards-roost/ |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=Wordpress |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:Wordpress is normally not a reliable source, but there's no other online-published information regarding this claim]]).|date=May 2025}} Methodist preacher and later bishop [[John Early (bishop)|John Early]] became one of Lynchburg's civic leaders; unlike early Methodist preachers who had urged abolition of slavery during the [[Great Awakening]]; Early was of a later generation that had accommodated to this institution in the slave societies of the South.

On December 3, 1840, the [[James River and Kanawha Canal]] from Richmond reached Lynchburg. It was extended as far as [[Buchanan, Virginia]] in 1851, but never reached a tributary of the Ohio River as originally planned.<ref>{{cite book | last=Dorin | first=Patrick C. | title=The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | date=1981 | publisher=Superior Publishing | location=Burbank, California | isbn=978-0-87564-704-3 | page=10}}</ref> Lynchburg's population exceeded 6,000 by 1840, and a water works system was built. Floods in 1842 and 1847 wreaked havoc with the canal and towpath. Both were repaired. Town businessmen began to lobby for a railroad, but Virginia's General Assembly refused to fund such construction. In 1848 civic boosters began selling subscriptions for the [[Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad]].

By the 1850s, Lynchburg (along with [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]]) was among the richest towns per capita in the US.<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Clifton |last1=Potter |name-list-style=amp |first2=Dorothy |last2=Potter |title=Lynchburg: A City Set on Seven Hills |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2004 |page=39 |isbn=0-7385-2461-1}}</ref> Tobacco (including the manufacture of plug tobacco in factories using rented slave labor), slave-trading, general commerce, and iron and steel manufacturing powered the economy.<ref>Steven Eliott Tripp, ''Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Lynchburg, Virginia'' (NYU Press 1997 {{ISBN|9780814782057}}) pp. 10-12</ref><ref>[https://networks.h-net.org/node/4113/reviews/4485/shifflett-tripp-yankee-town-southern-city-race-and-class-relations-civil Shifflet, Review: Steven Elliott Tripp, ''Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in Lynchburg, Virginia''], H-net</ref>

Railroads had become the wave of the future. Construction on the new Lynchburg and Tennessee railroad had begun in 1850 and a locomotive tested the track in 1852. A locomotive called the "Lynchburg" blew up in [[Forest, Virginia]] (near Poplar Forest) later that year, showing the new technology's dangers.{{Failed verification|date=May 2025}} By the Civil War, two more railroads had been built, including the [[Southside Railroad (Virginia)|South Side Railroad]] from [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]]. It became known as the [[Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad]] in 1870, then a line in the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]], and last as part of the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]].<ref name=Bright2015>{{cite web |url=http://www.csa-railroads.com/South_Side.htm |title=Confederate Railroads – South Side |last=Bright |first=David L. |year=2015 |website=Confederate Railroads |access-date=January 25, 2018}}</ref> The [[Orange and Alexandria Railroad]] stopped in Lynchburg.

=== American Civil War ===
During the [[American Civil War]], Lynchburg served as a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] transportation hub and supply depot. It had 30 hospitals, often placed in churches, hotels, and private homes.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Confederate Hospitals in Lynchburg |url=https://www.gravegarden.org/confederate-hospitals-in-lynchburg/ |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=Old City Cemetery |language=en-US}}</ref>

In June 1864, [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces of General [[David Hunter]] approached within {{convert|1|mi|km|adj=on}} as they drove south from the [[Shenandoah Valley]]. Confederate troops under General [[John McCausland]] harassed them. Meanwhile, the city's defenders hastily erected breastworks on Amherst Heights. Defenders were led by General [[John C. Breckinridge]], who was an invalid from wounds received at the [[Battle of Cold Harbor]]. Union General [[Philip Sheridan]] appeared headed for Lynchburg on June 10, as he crossed the [[Chickahominy River]] and cut the [[Virginia Central Railroad]]. However, Confederate cavalry under General [[Wade Hampton III|Wade Hampton]], including the [[2nd Virginia Cavalry]] from Lynchburg under General [[Thomas T. Munford]], defeated his forces at the two-day [[Battle of Trevilian Station]] in Louisa County, and they withdrew. This permitted fast-marching troops under Confederate General [[Jubal Anderson Early|Jubal Early]] to reach within four miles of Lynchburg on June 16 and tear up the tracks of the [[Orange and Alexandria Railroad]] to inhibit travel by Union reinforcements, while Confederate reinforcements straggled in from Charlottesville.

On June 18, 1864, in the [[Battle of Lynchburg]], Early's combined forces, though outnumbered, repelled Union General Hunter's troops. Lynchburg's defenders had taken pains to create an impression that the Confederate forces within the city were much larger than they were in fact. For example, a train was continuously run up and down the tracks while drummers played and Lynchburg citizens cheered as if reinforcements were disembarking. Local prostitutes took part in the deception, misleading their Union clients about the large number of Confederate reinforcements. [[Narcissa Chisholm Owen|Narcissa Owen]] ([[Cherokee]]), wife of the president of the [[Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad]], later wrote about her similar deception of Union spies.<ref>''A Cherokee Woman's America: Memoirs of Narcissa Owen, 1831–1907''. Edited by Karen L. Kilcup. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2005. p.</ref>

From April 6 to 10, 1865, Lynchburg served as the capital of Virginia after the Confederate government fled from Richmond. Governor [[William Smith (Virginia governor)|William Smith]] and the Commonwealth's executive and legislative branches escaped to Lynchburg as Richmond surrendered on April 3. [[Gen. Robert E. Lee]] surrendered to Gen. [[Ulysses S. Grant]] at [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Courthouse]], roughly {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=on}} east of Lynchburg, ending the Civil War. Lynchburg surrendered on April 12, to Union General [[Ranald S. Mackenzie]].<ref name="scruggs"/>

Ten days later, Confederate Brigadier General [[James Dearing]] died. He was a native of nearby Campbell County and descendant of John Lynch; he had been wounded on April 6 at [[Battle of High Bridge|High Bridge]] during that Appomattox campaign. Mackenzie had visited his wounded friend and former West Point classmate, easing the transition of power.<ref name="scruggs">Philip Lightfoot Scruggs, ''The History of Lynchburg Virginia 1786–1946'' (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Co., Inc.), pp. 103–114</ref>

=== Post-Civil War recovery ===
The railroads that had driven Lynchburg's economy were destroyed by the war's end. The residents of the city deeply resented occupying forces under General [[John Irvin Gregg]], and worked more readily with his affable successor General [[Newton Martin Curtis]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} [[Thomas J. Kirkpatrick]] became superintendent for the public education established under Virginia's Reconstruction-era legislature and Constitution of 1869, and built four new public schools. Previously, the only education for students from poor families was provided through [[St. Paul's Church (Lynchburg, Virginia)|St. Paul's Episcopal Church]].

Floods in 1870 and 1877 destroyed the city's bridges (which were rebuilt) and the James River and Kanahwa Canal (which was not rebuilt). The towpath was used as the bed for laying the rails of the [[Richmond and Allegheny Railroad]], a project conceived five decades earlier.

The city limits expanded in 1874. In 1881 that railroad was completed to Lynchburg, and another railroad reached it through the [[Shenandoah Valley]]. Lynchburg had a telegraph, about 15,000 residents, and the beginnings of a streetcar system. Many citizens, believing their city crowded enough, did not join the boosters who wanted Lynchburg to become the junction of that valley line and what became the [[Norfolk and Western Railroad]], so the junction was moved to Big Lick. This later developed as the City of [[Roanoke, Virginia|Roanoke]].
{{wide image|Lynchburg Virginia c1919 LOC cph 3c22241u.jpg|1000px|Lynchburg, c. 1919}}

In the latter 19th century, Lynchburg embraced manufacturing (the city being sometimes referred to as the "Pittsburgh of the South").{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} On a per capita basis, it became one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. In 1880, Lynchburg resident [[James Albert Bonsack]] invented the first cigarette-rolling machine. Shortly thereafter Dr. [[Charles Browne Fleet]], a physician and pharmacological tinkerer, introduced the first [[Enema#Micro-enemas|micro-enema]] to be mass marketed over the counter. By the city's centennial in 1886, banking activity had increased sixfold over the 1860 level, which some attributed to slavery's demise. The Lynchburg Cotton Mill and Craddock-Terry Shoe Co. (which would become the largest shoe manufacturer in the South) were founded in 1888. The [[Reusens Dam|Reusens hydroelectric dam]] began operating in 1903 and soon delivered more power.<ref name="lynchburgva.gov">{{Cite web|url=http://lynchburgva.gov/history|title=History &#124; City of Lynchburg, Virginia}}</ref>

In 1886, Virginia Baptists founded a training school, the Lynchburg Baptist Seminary. It began to offer a college-level program to African-American students in 1900. Now named the [[Virginia University of Lynchburg]], it is the city's oldest institution of higher learning. Not far outside town, [[Randolph College|Randolph-Macon Woman's College]] and [[Sweet Briar College]] were founded as women's colleges in 1893 and 1901, respectively. In 1903, the [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)]] founded [[Lynchburg College|Lynchburg Christian College]] (later [[Lynchburg College]]) in what had been the Westover Hotel resort, which went bankrupt in the [[Panic of 1901]]. During the 2018–19 school year, the college's name was changed to the [[University of Lynchburg]], reflecting its expansion of graduate-level programs and research. Lynchburg's first public library, the [[Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia)|Jones Memorial Library]], opened in 1907.<ref name="lynchburgva.gov" />

[[File:World War I Memorial, Lynchburg, VA IMG 4108.JPG|thumb|right|[[World War I]] Memorial in downtown Lynchburg]]

During World War I, the city's factories supported the war effort, and the area also supplied troops. The city powered through the Roaring Twenties and survived the [[Great Depression]]. Its first radio station, WLVA, began in 1930, and its airport opened in 1931. In 1938, the former fairgrounds were redeveloped as side-by-side baseball and football stadiums.
<ref name="lynchburgva.gov" />

=== World War II and after ===
Lynchburg's factories again worked 24 hours daily during [[World War II]]. In 1955, both [[General Electric]] and [[Babcock & Wilcox]] built high technology factories in the area.<ref name="lynchburgva.gov" />

Lynchburg lost its bid to gain access to an interstate highway. In the late 1950s, interested citizens, including Virginia Senator [[Mosby Perrow Jr.|Mosby G. Perrow Jr.]], asked the federal government to change its long-planned route for the interstate highway, now known as I-64, between [[Clifton Forge, Virginia|Clifton Forge]] and Richmond.<ref>"Additional Interstate Road Systems Approved," ''Petersburg-Colonial Heights Progress-Index,'' April 27, 1958, p. 20.</ref>

Since the 1940s, maps of the federal interstate highway system showed a proposed northern route, bypassing the manufacturing centers at Lynchburg and Roanoke. But federal officials assured Virginia that the state would decide the route.<ref>Routes of the Recommended Interregional Highway System, ca. 1943.</ref> Although initially favoring that northern route, Virginia's State Highway Commission eventually supported a southern route from Richmond via US-360 and US-460, which connected Lynchburg and Roanoke via US-220 from Roanoke to Clifton Forge, then continued west following US-60 into West Virginia.<ref>''Minutes of the Meeting of the State Highway Commission of Virginia, Held in Richmond September 11, 1945,'' page 12.</ref> However, in July 1961, Governor [[J. Lindsay Almond]] and US Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges announced that the route would not be changed.<ref>"Opposition to Northern Route Dropped," ''Danville Bee,'' July 6, 1961, p. 3</ref> Lynchburg was left as the only city with a population in excess of 50,000 (at the time) that was not served by an interstate.<ref>''Richmond Times-Dispatch,'' June 13, 1999.</ref>

The [[Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded]] (now known as the Central Virginia Training School), was established outside Lynchburg in [[Madison Heights, Virginia|Madison Heights]]. For several decades throughout the mid-20th century, the state of Virginia authorized compulsory sterilization of the mentally retarded for the purpose of [[eugenics]]. The operations were carried out at the institution. An estimated 8,300 Virginians were relocated to Lynchburg and sterilized there, making the city a "dumping ground" of sorts for the feeble-minded, poor, blind, epileptic, and those otherwise seen as genetically "unfit".<ref>[http://www.poormagazine.com/public_html/columns/column_91.html "A Simple Act of Mothering"], ''Poor Magazine/PNN'' {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822122024/http://www.poormagazine.com/public_html/columns/column_91.html |date=August 22, 2009 }}</ref> [[Carrie Buck]] challenged the state sterilization, but it was finally upheld by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in ''[[Buck v. Bell]]''. She was classified as "feeble-minded" and sterilized while a patient at the Virginia State Colony.

Sterilizations were carried out for 35 years until 1972, when the operations were halted. Later in the late 1970s, the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] filed a [[class-action lawsuit]] against the state of Virginia on behalf of the sterilization victims. In the settlement, victims received formal apologies from the state and counseling if they chose, but the judiciary denied requests for the state to pay for reverse sterilization operations. In 1994, Buck's sterilization and litigation were featured as a television drama, ''Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} The [[Manic Street Preachers]] address the issue in their song "Virginia State Epileptic Colony" on their 2009 album ''[[Journal for Plague Lovers]]''.

=== Modern revitalization ===
[[Liberty University]], founded in 1971 as Lynchburg Baptist College and renamed in 1985, is one of the country's largest institutions of higher education and the largest employer in the Lynchburg region. The university states that it generates over $1 billion in [[Economic impact analysis|economic impact]] to the Lynchburg area annually.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tyree|first=Elizabeth|date=2018-09-24|title=Study: LU's local, state impact is more than $1 billion annually|url=https://wset.com/news/local/study-lus-local-state-impact-is-more-than-1-billion-annually|access-date=2021-09-14|website=WSET}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Moody|first=Josh|title=Liberty University passes $3B in gross assets, report says it generates more than $1B annually in economic activity|url=https://newsadvance.com/news/local/liberty-university-passes-3b-in-gross-assets-report-says-it-generates-more-than-1b-annually/article_f381c060-c659-11e8-95f3-9f603d2fc836.html|access-date=2021-09-14|website=NewsAdvance.com|date=October 2, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Study--494174351.html|title = Study: Liberty University's local and state impact tops $1 billion annually| date=September 24, 2018 }}</ref>

Lynchburg has ten recognized historic districts, four of them in the downtown residential area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/tax_credits/Historic_District_Maps/Lynchburg_20120927.pdf |title=Lynchburg's Listed Historic Districts |publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources |access-date=January 23, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223234206/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/tax_credits/Historic_District_Maps/Lynchburg_20120927.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lynchburg's Downtown Residential Historic Districts&mdash;Virginia Main Street Communities: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/vamainstreet/lyn.htm|access-date=2021-09-14|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> Since 1971, 40 buildings have been individually listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Lynchburg, Virginia|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>

Downtown Lynchburg has undergone significant revitalization, with hundreds of new loft apartments created through adaptive reuse of historic warehouses and mills. Since 2000, downtown has attracted private investments of more than $110&nbsp;million, and business activity increased by 205% from 2004 to 2014.<ref name="Downtown Lynchburg Our Story">{{cite web |title=About Downtown Lynchburg |url=http://www.downtownlynchburg.com/our-story/ |website=www.downtownlynchburg.com |access-date=December 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223105722/http://www.downtownlynchburg.com/our-story/ |archive-date=December 23, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, 75 new apartment units were added to downtown Lynchburg, with 155 further units under construction, increasing the number of housing units downtown by 48% from 2010 to 2014.<ref name="Downtown Lynchburg Our Story" />

In 2015, the $5.8-million Lower Bluffwalk pedestrian street zone opened.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lower Bluffwalk Grand Opening Article |url=http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/recreated-water-bearer-statue-unveiled-in-downtown-lynchburg/article_169254cd-e180-5d19-b46f-c950ebd21517.html |access-date=December 22, 2015 |publisher=News and Advance |date=August 12, 2015}}</ref> Notable projects underway in downtown by the end of 2015 include the $25-million Virginian Hotel restoration project, a $16.6-million restoration of the Academy Center of the Arts, and $4.6-million expansion of Amazement Square Children's Museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Greater Downtown Lynchburg Projects |website=Google Maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zNzRFEH1zBJc.kp9ZCr_fTePI}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Academy Center of the Arts Article |url=http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/lynchburg-city-council-approves-million-for-academy-theatre-restoration/article_9fa5f760-71ff-11e5-a225-fb5d159cc9f2.html |access-date=December 22, 2015 |publisher=News and Advance |date=October 13, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Announcement of Hilton Curio Branded Virginian Hotel |url=http://www.newsadvance.com/news/business/the-virginian-lynchburg-will-be-part-of-hilton-boutique-hotel/article_db103cfc-8fa5-11e5-a291-2f246703226d.html |access-date=December 22, 2015 |publisher=News and Advance |date=November 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Amazement Square Education Center Expansion |url=http://www.amazementsquare.com/education-center/ |access-date=December 22, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219021714/http://www.amazementsquare.com/education-center/ |archive-date=December 19, 2015}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{hidden begin
| title = Timeline of Lynchburg, Virginia
| titlestyle = background:#F8F8FF;width:90%
}}
* 1786 – Lynchburg founded.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1791 – Tobacco warehouse built.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1798 – [[South River Friends Meetinghouse]] built.
* 1805 – Town of Lynchburg incorporated.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1806
** [[Old City Cemetery (Lynchburg, Virginia)|City Cemetery]] established.
** Construction of Thomas Jefferson's [[Poplar Forest]] begins near Lynchburg.{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1830
** [[Elijah Fletcher]] becomes mayor.
** [[1830 United States census#City rankings|Population]]: 4,630.<ref name=census1998>{{citation |title=Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 |year=1998 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/1998/demo/POP-twps0027.html |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref>
* 1840
** [[James River and Kanawha Canal]] to Richmond opens.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
** [[1840 United States census#City rankings|Population]]: 6,395.<ref name=census1998 />
* 1850 – [[1850 United States census#City rankings|Population]]: 8,071.<ref name=census1998 />
* 1852
** [[Virginia & Tennessee Railroad]] begins operating.{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
** City of Lynchburg incorporated.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
** ''Lynchburg Daily Virginian'' newspaper begins publication.<ref name=LOC>{{cite web |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/results/?state=Virginia&city=Lynchburg&rows=50&sort=date |title=US Newspaper Directory |location=Washington DC |work=[[Chronicling America]] |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=March 17, 2017}}</ref>
* 1855 – [[Lynchburg Courthouse]] built.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1856 – Methodist Protestant Lynchburg College established.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1864 – June 17–18: [[Battle of Lynchburg]] fought near city during the [[American Civil War]].{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1866 – Southern Memorial Association founded.<ref name=aaslh2002>{{cite book |title=Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada |year=2002 |edition=15th |isbn=0-7591-0002-0 |author=American Association for State and Local History |chapter=Virginia: Lynchburg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LY0Q5Rv4O3YC |pages=824+|publisher=Rowman Altamira |author-link=American Association for State and Local History }}</ref>
* 1870 – September: Flood.<ref name=CityHistory>{{cite web |url=http://lynchburgva.gov/history |title=History of Lynchburg, Virginia |publisher=City of Lynchburg |access-date=March 17, 2017}}</ref>
* 1879 – George D. Witt Shoe Corporation in business.
* 1880 – [[James Albert Bonsack]] invents [[cigarette]] rolling machine.
* 1886 – [[First Baptist Church (Lynchburg, Virginia)|First Baptist Church]] built.
* 1888 – [[Virginia University of Lynchburg|Virginia Theological Seminary]] founded.{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1893 – [[Randolph-Macon Woman's College]] opens.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1895 – [[St. Paul's Church (Lynchburg, Virginia)|St. Paul's Church]] built.
* 1898 – "Confederate Infantryman" monument erected.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1900 – Population: 18,891.
* 1903 – [[Lynchburg College|Virginia Christian College]] founded.{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1908 – [[Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia)|Jones Memorial Library]] opens.<ref name=Jones>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmlibrary.org/history-of-the-library/ |title=History of the Library |publisher=Jones Memorial Library |access-date=March 18, 2017}}</ref>
* 1912 – Equal Suffrage League formed.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1913 – Statue of [[John Warwick Daniel]] erected.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1920 – Little Theater established.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1928 – Monument Terrace built.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1930
** WLVA [[List of radio stations in Virginia|radio]] begins broadcasting.<ref name=Alicoate1939>{{Cite book|title=Radio Annual |oclc=2459636 |year=1939 |editor=Jack Alicoate |location=New York |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/radioannual193900radi#page/396/mode/2up |chapter=Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: Virginia|publisher=Radio Daily }} {{free access}}</ref>
** Population: 40,661.
* 1932 – Civic Art League founded.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1941}}
* 1940 – [[Calvin Falwell Field|City Stadium]] opens.{{sfn|Nagy|1995}}
* 1953 – WLVA-TV ([[List of television stations in Virginia|television]]) begins broadcasting.<ref name=Alicoate1960>{{citation |title=Radio Annual and Television Year Book |oclc=10512206 |year=1960 |editor=Charles A. Alicoate |publisher=Radio Daily Corp. |location=New York |chapter=Television Stations: Virginia |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/radio00radi#page/858/mode/2up}} {{free access}}</ref>
* 1954 – [[Carter Glass Memorial Bridge]] opens.
* 1959 – Pittman Plaza shopping centre in business.{{sfn|Nagy|1995}}
* 1966
** Lynchburg Public Library opens.<ref name=Jones />
** [[Central Virginia Community College]]{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}} and Lynchburg Baseball Corporation established.{{sfn|Nagy|1995}}
* 1971 – [[Liberty University|Lynchburg Baptist College]] (later Liberty University) founded.{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1978 – [[Point of Honor]] house museum opens.
* 1980 – Population: 66,743.
* 1990 – President [[George H. W. Bush]] gives commencement speech at Liberty University.<ref name=wapo2017 />
* 1993 – [[Bob Goodlatte]] becomes [[U.S. representative]] for [[Virginia's 6th congressional district]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Official Congressional Directory |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1993 |chapter=Virginia |chapter-url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.l0072691827?urlappend=%3Bseq=350 |via=[[HathiTrust]]|title-link=Official Congressional Directory |series=1991/1992- : S. Pub. |hdl=2027/uc1.l0072691827?urlappend=%3Bseq=350 }}</ref>
* 1995 – [[Lynchburg Hillcats]] baseball team active.
* 2000 – City website online (approximate date).<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000618015931/http://www.ci.lynchburg.va.us/main.htm |url=http://www.ci.lynchburg.va.us/main.htm |archive-date=June 18, 2000 |title=City of Lynchburg, Virginia |via=Internet Archive, [[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000824034922/http://officialcitysites.org/Virginia/Cities/L/ |url=http://officialcitysites.org/WestVirginia/Cities/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2000 |title=United States of America: Virginia |work=Official City Sites |editor1=Kevin Hyde |editor2=Tamie Hyde |location=Utah |oclc=40169021}}</ref>
* 2010 – Population: 75,568.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/51680 |title=Lynchburg city, Virginia |work=QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=March 17, 2017}}</ref>
* 2016 – Joan Foster becomes mayor.
* 2017 – President [[Donald Trump]] gives commencement speech at Liberty University.<ref name=wapo2017>{{citation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/13/trump-at-liberty-university-commencement-in-america-we-dont-worship-government-we-worship-god |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 13, 2017 |title=Trump at Liberty University commencement: 'In America, we don't worship government; we worship God'}}</ref>
* 2023 - Stephanie Reed becomes mayor.
{{hidden end}}