Try to identify a different piece of Lynchburg-area history every week. If you have any mystery pictures of your own (or any old photos of Lynchburg and the surrounding area) please contact Nancy Marion at Nancy@LynchburgHistory.com or at 847-0939. For more old photos visit www.LynchburgHistory.com.
Nov. 23, 2020: A School for Young Ladies
Hint: Long ago there were few schools in the city. One of them was this. Do you know where it was?
Nov. 23, 2020: A School for Young Ladies
Answer: The Lynchburg Female Seminary was built in 1854 at the north corner of Court and Main Streets, where the Bragassa toy store was later built, after the building burned in 1870. The school was run by Mrs J. M. Gordon and her three daughters “to prepare young ladies for usefulness in future life...”
Nov. 16, 2020: Fast Food is Here to Stay
Hint: Not too much has changed on this strip since this photo was taken forty or fifty years ago. Do you recognize the place?
Nov. 16, 2020: Fast Food is Here to Stay
Answer: The major changes in this photo are the logos on the signs. The Arby’s building has a new profile as well. But all three restaurant chains have lasted for decades on this strip of Memorial Avenue between Wadsworth and Bay Streets.
Nov. 9, 2020: A Little Hole in the Wall
Hint: This photo from the late 1940s shows a common sight of the times—a small, independent auto repair shop. Do you know where this was?
Nov. 9, 2020: A Little Hole in the Wall
Answer: Kelleys Garage was at 617 Oakley Avenue, and the building is still there today, used as an upholstery business. The building is exactly the same as it was 75 years ago, though with a different paint job. Even the electrical pole is the same.
Nov. 2, 2020: Fashion Forward
Hint: This photo is fascinating on many levels—not only because of the fashions it shows, but because the newspaper used to cover these events at all. Do you remember this one?
Nov. 2, 2020: Fashion Forward
Answer: This is an Elks Club fashion show from the 1960s. In those days, the paper covered a great deal of social news—out-of-town visitors, pageants, minstrel shows, and miscellaneous other happy events. Social events taking place within the Black community were generally not covered during this period.
Oct. 26, 2020: Not in the Boonies
Hint: This place was pretty sparsely populated in 1953 when this photo was shot. But not anymore. Do you know where it was?
Oct. 26, 2020: Not in the Boonies
Answer: The easiest way to tell you where this is is that it is now the entrance to Walmart in Madison Heights. The road in the foreground going off to the right is Woodys Lake Road, and BUS 29 leads north on the left. The field beyond the gas station is now a strip mall and gas station in front of Walmart.
Oct. 19, 2020: Standing Watch
Hint: Only one of these structures remains in its location today, but one has been moved. Do you recognize this?
Oct. 19, 2020: Standing Watch
Answer: The Firemen’s Fountain stood for only a few years at the base of what is now Monument Terrace. It replaced a dolphin fountain, and it was, in turn, replaced by “The Doughboy,” the statue honoring the men who served in World War I. The only building in the picture that remains is the Krise building at Ninth and Main.
Oct. 12, 2020: Off to Work We Go
Hint: Here’s an industry we don’t see anymore in Lynchburg, or even much at all in the country. Remember this one?
Oct. 12, 2020: Off to Work We Go
Answer: Blue Buckle Overall Company was one of many textile-related businesses in town. This particular building on Kemper Street was probably built as a suspender factory, according to a postcard showing four other buildings in the area that were part of the complex. The card boasted of producing over six million pairs of overalls annually. The building is still there, though camouflaged by bright paint.
Oct. 5, 2020: End of an Era?
Hint: This advertising postcard for the local Thornhill Wagon illustrates the end of an era for this mode of transportation.
Oct. 5, 2020: End of an Era?
Answer: At the same time wagons were hauling people to the fairground, the trolley company was trying hard to take all of their business away. The trolley company cut its fares to 5 cents but people still preferred the 10-cent wagon ride over the unfamiliar and potentially dangerous trolley.
Sept. 28, 2020: Downtown Cloverleaf?
Hint: Many plans have been proposed, but most don’t make it to reality. This one got a lot of traction before it was retired.
Sept. 28, 2020: Downtown Cloverleaf?
Answer: This 1968 proposal to speed traffic through downtown would have either gone through the Academy Theater or taken a lower (and steeper) route below the Elks Club. Either way it would have funneled traffic onto Fourth Street (Lucado Place), splitting apart an historic neighborhood, though it was not yet established as an historic district. The buildings in the block most affected by this plan—between Main and Church and Lucado and Fifth—has now been demolished anyway.
Sept. 21, 2020: A Hidden Tunnel
Hint: Most people cross this tunnel without ever knowing there may be a train under them. In this photo you can see both ends of it.
Sept. 21, 2020: A Hidden Tunnel
Answer: If you’ve ever taken the train north from Lynchburg, you probably remember going through a tunnel and then across a trestle soon after your departure. This 1923 aerial of Rivermont Avenue and Garland-Rodes School (now apartments) shows the tunnel under Columbia Avenue and the trestle over the James River.
Sept. 14, 2020: Hostelry on the Turnpike
Hint: At the time of the photo this was an Odd Fellows Hall. It has since been restored to its original exterior appearance. Do you know where it is?
Sept. 14, 2020: Hostelry on the Turnpike
Answer: This photo from 1962 shows a rather forlorn version of the old Kentucky Hotel. It was built ca. 1800 along the Salem Turnpike (now Fifth Street). It was one of several hotels that served travelers between Lynchburg and points west.
Sept. 7, 2020: A Garden Spot
Hint: Tulips were in bloom for this old photo. Do you know where it was?
Sept. 7, 2020: A Garden Spot
Answer: The 1930 Lynchburg Annual Report highlighted the “Old Fashioned Garden” in Miller Park. Thousands of tulips were planted along rock-lined roadways and paths. Tulip festivals were sometimes held in the spring.
Aug. 31, 2020: A Budding Neighborhood
Hint: If you saw last week’s Mystery Picture, this one continues the trend. But this time what was missing is there, and what was there is not
Aug. 31, 2020: A Budding Neighborhood
Answer: This circa 1900 view of lower Rivermont and Daniels Hill shows a busy industrial area by the canal, with Point of Honor barely visible in the trees near the center right. The spindly new Rivermont Bridge connects downtown to sparsely populated Rivermont Avenue. At the end of the bridge you can see the trolley barn sitting alone, and beyond it there is no Jones Memorial Library on the hill yet.
Aug. 24, 2020: What's Not There?
Hint: This photo from 1924 will probably confuse most of you. Though everything in it is still there, one landmark is missing and another has changed a lot.
Aug. 24, 2020: What's Not There?
Answer: Looking at lower Rivermont from the intersection of Victoria Avenue, something is The old Reggie Phelps Auto building isn’t there, even though it purportedly was the old car barn for the trolley system. Apparently only the basement of the car barn remains in the building that is there today. At the time of the photo, the building on the left was Piedmont Business College, but was soon converted to Fauber’s Funeral Home and large columns were added. The construction in the foreground was the wall at the lower end of the Jones Memorial Library.
Aug. 17, 2020: Believe It or Not
Hint: Once you figure out that almost everything in the photo is flipped, you may be able to figure out where it is.
Aug. 17, 2020: Believe It or Not
Answer: This photo ran in The News on July 9, 1965, with this caption: “SELF-MADE PHOTO —Photographer Jimmy Ripley directed his camera toward one of those giant circular mirrors at exit of parking garage on Eighth Street and got his own picture—along with wide segment of surrounding downtown area. ‘Label it,’ he suggested to an editor, ‘By Ripley—Believe-It-Or-Not.’” On the far right you can see part of the Allied Arts Building at Eighth and Church Streets as well as part of the Virginian Hotel sign. In the mirror is visible the side of the Virginian and the building behind it that fronted on Main Street. That buiding has been replaced by a two-level parking deck.
Aug. 10, 2020: Gone but not Forgotten
Hint: Two out of three buildings here are gone. The one that’s left is impossible to identify. Do you remember this?
Aug. 10, 2020: Gone but not Forgotten
Answer: The two buildings to its right were either demolished or completely altered to make room for The Galleria. About the only part of Buckingham & Flippin that’s still visible today is its name etched in the marble sidewalk of the boutique that now occupies the building.
Aug. 3, 2020: The Friendly Pepper-Upper
Hint: Lynchburg used to bottle many beverages. Do you remember where this one was?
Aug. 3, 2020: The Friendly Pepper-Upper
Answer: In 1939 this Dr. Pepper factory was at 919 Madison Street, at the corner of Tenth Street. It later moved to 2204 Bedford Avenue. This Madison Street location is now part of a housing complex.
The big hint on this photo is the date: Nov. 11, 1918. You can probably recognize the location.
This photo was taken the day of the armistice, perhaps at 11:00 a.m. on the day the allied powers and German officers signed the arnistice that ended World War I. College students from Randolph-Macon Woman's College gathered at the fireman's fountain at the base of what is now Monument Terrace.
July 20, 2020: Where Was Oakland?
Hint: This club was in Lynchburg, but I’m not sure they got the name right. Do you know where it was?
July 20, 2020: Where Was Oakland?
Answer: The Lynchburg Gun Club was a predecessor of the Oakwood Club and encompassed 15 acres of land off of Rivermont Avenue behind and to the southeast of Villa Maria. Another photo of this building calls it the Lynchburg Gun Club.
July 13, 2020: A Mushroom or Windmill?
Hint: Is this building something that you remember? It was certainly in a public place.
July 13, 2020: A Mushroom or Windmill?
Answer: This photo from 1959 shows three children waiting to get into the bathroom at Miller Park. For yeasr the park had held tulip festivals and had outfitted the park with a large windmill and smaller similar buildings in the Dutch style.
July 6, 2020: Houses on the Edge
Hint: Where were these tiny houses? They look like they might fall into a gorge. Do you remember them?
July 6, 2020: Houses on the Edge
Answer: Though an odd word for a girls’ school, frat houses stood on the edge of a ravine at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. The college had several fraternities (or sororities) on campus.
June 29, 2020: A Little Help, Please
Hint: This photo was one in a batch of loose, unidentified negatives of this same site. I have a hunch where it is or was, but need help from our readers.
June 29, 2020: A Little Help, Please
Answer: Note the archery range on the far right. There also were a golf course, lake, and riding facilities here, according to the other negatives. Please call or email me if you know about this place. Was this perhaps at Timberlake?
June 22, 2020: Dressed for Church
Hint: These boys (and man) are all dressed up on a Sunday morning. Do you know who they were?
June 22, 2020: Dressed for Church
Answer: This group of boys worked at the Lynchburg Cotton Mill in 1911 when photographer Lewis Hine visited Lynchburg. Hine was the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, which was trying to expose the exploitation of children. The boys could make between three and four dollars a week at the mill.
June 15, 2020: Raking in a Graveyard?
Hint: These girls seems to be cleaning up around a grave. Do you know where it was? Hint: It has moved.
June 15, 2020: Raking in a Graveyard?
Answer: The grave of Samuel Miller used to be on the land near the Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, later known as the Miller Home. The orphanage was where The Plaza is now, and the grave was on the current grounds of E. C. Glass H. S. It was moved to Spring Hill Cemetery before the school was built. In addition to founding the orphanage, Miller donated the land for Miller Park.
June 8, 2020: A Whole Block Gone
Hint: In the mid-1970s nearly this whole block was transformed from residential to another use. Do you know where this is?
June 8, 2020: A Whole Block Gone
Answer: The Salvation Army bought up most of the land in the 2200 block of Park Avenue across from the entrance to Miller Park. The houses were demolished to eventually build a multi-million-dollar complex of buildings to further its mission.
June 1, 2020: Trains Coming & Going
Hint: This picture-perfect scene looks almost unreal—maybe because it is. But do you recognize it?
June 1, 2020: Trains Coming & Going
Answer: This scale model of the Kemper Street Station was made by Oma Tolley. Tolley ran Tolley’s Garage on Fort Avenue for many years and made model railroad layouts as a hobby.
May 25, 2020: Assets and Liabilities
Hint: What had once been great assets to the city became liabilities — in more ways than one. Do you know where this is?
May 25, 2020: Assets and Liabilities
Answer: The buildings that had once graced the corner of Ninth and Main Streets became fill for the old greenstone quarry in Fort Hill in June 1970. The buildings, including the old Lynch building, were torn down to make room for the new 18-story Fidelity National Bank (now Bank of the James building). The quarry itself was one of the city’s great assets.
May 18, 2020: A Growing Business
Hint: This little flower shop used to be quite popular and was in a very convenient location. Do you know where it was?
May 18, 2020: A Growing Business
Answer: Emmet Harris Florist was at 1605 Bedford Avenue. This location was quite convenient for Rivermont customers. The little building is still there, but it is not in good repair.
May 11, 2020: A Rite of Spring
Hint: Nothing like a beautiful spring (or fall) day for a tragedy. Do you know what’s going on here?
May 11, 2020: A Rite of Spring
Answer: For many years, Randolph College (formerly Randolph-Macon Woman’s College) has performed a Greek play in the Dell in the fall or spring. This photo shows its 1947 performance of Hecuba by Euripides.
May 4, 2020: Leave No Neighbor Behind.
Hint: The stewards of this building have long had a mission of faith and charity. The same mission continues today.
April 27, 2020: Last of the Lunch Counters
Hint: Many who worked downtown in the 1970s and ’80s will remember this popular lunch spot. It closed at the end of 1984.
April 27, 2020: Last of the Lunch Counters
Answer: This photo from December 1984 shows Clette Holmes preparing a sandwich at Revco lunch counter on Main Street, Lynchburg, during its last days of operation.
April 20, 2020: Give Me That Old-time Religion
Hint: This was not an uncommon sight in the old days. Do you know what this is?
April 20, 2020: Give Me That Old-time Religion
Answer: This photo shows a baptism taking place in the James River at Salt Creek, not far from Elon. This is probably from the turn of the century.
April 13, 2020: Everybody Knows its Name
Hint: The land grant of King George III that contained this property also included Natural Bridge. Can you guess where this was?
April 13, 2020: Everybody Knows its Name
Answer: Nicholas Davies named his portion of the land grant “Eagle’s Eyrie” (Thomas Jefferson got the Natural Bridge portion). Baron Q. Quarles von Ufford bought the property in 1915 and built the white mansion house. In 1950 the Virginia Baptist General Board bought the land and in 1979 demolished the house and developed the site into the Eagle Eyrie conference center.
April 6, 2020: A Bridge into the Wild
Hint: This bridge was the second of four different crossings for this steep ravine. It was also the site of two tragic accidents. Do you know where it was?
April 6, 2020: A Bridge into the Wild
Answer: This 1917 bridge leading to the Virginia Episcopal School campus replaced a low culvert crossing Pigeon Creek. Twice in the 1920s there were fatal wrecks when cars plunged off the bridge. In 1931 a new two-lane bridge was completed by the city to replace the old one. That bridge was supplanted in 1985 when the city graded the ravine and added a culvert again on the road leading to Westminster Canterbury and VES.
March 30, 2020: Fun with a Purpose
Hint: These guys have a pretty comfy ride. Can you tell who they are and where they are?
March 30, 2020: Fun with a Purpose
Answer: These men are Shriners—a subgroup of master Masons dedicated to having fun and doing good. Shriners are known as much for their children’s hospitals as they are for their fezzes and exotic Moroccan dress. Here their parade float pauses at Twelfth and Church Streets.
March 23, 2020: A Nursery for Greatness
Hint: This house is no longer there, but it was for a short time the home of a prominent family whose sons became famous.
March 23, 2020: A Nursery for Greatness
Answer: Young Douglas Southall Freeman (editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author) and his older brother, Allen Weir Freeman (physician, professor and dean at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health), lived in this house beginning in 1889. The house stood at 414 Harrison Street (now part of a tire company on Fifth Street.
March 16, 2020: Slow Change in Small Town
Hint: This aerial from about 50 years ago is very similar to one that could be taken today. Do you recognize this town?
March 16, 2020: Slow Change in Small Town
Answer: This aerial photo of the town of Amherst is little changed fifty years later. At that US 29 still passed through the town, and there was not yet a stoplight.
March 9, 2020: Little House on a Hill
Hint: This little house once overlooked a busy entrance to the city. Do you know where it was?
March 9, 2020: Little House on a Hill
Answer: This house at 2560 Fort Avenue used to be one of a pair of homes facing each other across Fort Avenue. Its near twin still stands high above Fort Avenue. Both houses were built in the 1820s in the Watering Branch area.
March 2, 2020: Waiting for What?
Hint: Do you wonder what those guys sitting on the sidewalk are waiting for? I think I know, and it probably wasn’t particularly fun.
March 2, 2020: Waiting for What?
Answer: My guess is that this mid-1940s photo shows young men awaiting their induction into the armed forces. They sit facing Monument Terrace, with the old Marshall Lodge Building, which burned about 20 years ago, in the background.
Feb. 24, 2020: Knee Deep in Trash
Hint: Where can you find a huge dump right beside the train track? This landfill is no longer there, but the trains are. Do you know where this is?
Feb. 24, 2020: Knee Deep in Trash
Answer: This landfill was used by the city in the 1940s and early 1950s. It was not unusual for the city to fill its deep ravines with refuse to make more usable land for the future. This one was near Chambers Street in the Dearington neighborhood.
Feb. 17, 2020: Tennis Anyone?
Hint: Here’s a popular annual tennis tournament put on by the city parks department. Can you tell where it was? (Hint: The building in the background is still there.)
Feb. 17, 2020: Tennis Anyone?
Answer: The old Guggenheimer-Milliken playground included tennis courts and was the scene of this tennis tournament. It used to be on the hillside behind what is now Guggenheimer Nursing Home. The church in the background is now Amazing Grace Baptist Church, across the expressway from the tennis court hillside.
Feb. 10, 2020: A Gaping Hole
Hint: This photo from the fifties shows a big cut in the side of a hill where something used to be. It’s not that much different today. Do you know where this is?
Feb. 10, 2020: A Gaping Hole
Answer: In 1950 a Trailways bus station, along with an eight-story office tower, was proposed for the corner of Sixth and Church Streets. While that never happened, the houses along Church Street were demolished, except for the one at the corner of Seventh, which shows in this photo. It was soon to be demolished to build Lynchburg Federal Savings, as the sign proclaims. That newer building still stands.
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Feb. 3, 2020: To Market, to Market...
Hint: We’ve had a farmers’ market in Lynchburg since 1783 when it was in the middle of Ninth Street above Main Street. But it has gone through many changes since then. Remember this one?
Feb. 3, 2020: To Market, to Market...
Answer: This version of the Community Market opened in 1932 in the 1200 block of Main Street. In 1987 the front walls and several surrounding buildings were removed, offering more open space for stalls and for parking.
Jan. 27, 2020: A Bird’s-eye View
Hint: Lots of curlicues in this picture. Do you know where and what this is?
Jan. 27, 2020: A Bird’s-eye View
Answer: For all the rigid rectangular “streets” in this picture, you’d think it was a wooded neighborhood, but it’s not. This is the area where River Ridge Mall was built about 20 years later. The new Lynchburg expressway was just being graded when this photo was taken. Fort Hill Cemetery and surrounding Fort Hill neighborhoods are visible near the top.
Jan. 20, 2020: Making Tracks
Hint: Several train lines cross here, as well as roads. Do you know what kind of tracks are here now?
Jan. 20, 2020: Making Tracks
Answer: The rocky road at right is now the ramp of the Blackwater Creek bike trail leading up to Eighth and Jefferson Streets. The skateboard park is in the area at the far left. Beyond the Union Station in the foreground can be seen the building that is now Amazement Square.
Jan. 13, 2020: A School Favorite
Hint: For many who attended this school, the fire escape was the best part. Do you know where this was?
Jan. 13, 2020: A School Favorite
Answer: This postcard was labeled “Amherst High School,” which it was when it was built in the early twentieth century. When Amherst County High School was built in the 1950s, this became Amherst Elementary School. We always looked forward to fire drills if it meant we could go down the twisty fire escape.
Jan. 6, 2020: Now Hidden From View
Hint: Not only is this water supply hidden from view, there’s a lot more of it. Do you recognize this?
Jan. 6, 2020: Now Hidden From View
Answer: The College Hill Reservoir was built in 1878 to augment the Clay Street basins. The Lynchburg High School beyond it on Park Avenue was built in 1910. The entire basin is now enclosed in a huge water tank.
