Lynchburg Campbell County Bedford County Nannette Saunders ASSOCIATE BROKER

Elias Schewel was a deeply religious man, but also a practical one.

When he first came to Lynchburg he had no intention of going into the furniture business. He came to be a rabbi, to teach the young, hold services and kill animals in the kosher manner.

Unfortunately Lynchburg's tiny Jewish community could not muster the resources to support a rabbi, so to sustain himself, Elias Schewel was force to peddle small items from a horse-drawn cart.

He started out with cane-bottom chairs and picture frames and just kept prospering. He is remembered by his grandson as somber, bearded and an impeccable dresser. He always wore three piece suites with a vest.

A native of Riga, Russia, Elias Schewel adapted well to America. He had an accent, nonetheless he was an educated man.

In 1897, Elias Schewel moved his business into a building at 12th and Main. Originally, he had called it "The Chicago Furniture Bargain House" - another indication of his business savvy.

In those days, Chicago was the furniture capital of America. After moving to Main Street, however, Elias Schewel gave his own name to the firm and coined the slogan "Let Schewels Feather Your Nest."

The company now has about 35 Virginia locations, including Lynchburg, and other surrounding areas, as well as stores in North Carolina and West Virginia.

The legend of Thomas Jefferson eating the city's first tomato outside the Miller-Claytor house is ballyhooed in Lynchburg, but its validity is uncertain.

The event probably did take place, but that is was Jefferson's first tomato or the city's first is doubtful.

In "The Saga of the City," the history of Lynchburg from 1736 to 1936, brief mention is made of Jefferson's famous bite into the "love apple," as tomatoes, thought to be aphrodisiacs, were then called.

It's said that Jefferson's act "would seem to deserve immortality from this scene alone, even if all its other historical significance were lacking."

Many states have similar stores of famous statesmen eating tomatoes on courthouse steps.

But Lynchburg claims to have the most famous tomato eater of all, Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson is credited with introducing a great many things, some of them are true, some of them not. These are all sorts of traditions about Jefferson and his starting things. They always say it was Jefferson because he was the sort of man that started things.

One of those things when a tradition gets started it is accepted as truth.

Whether Jefferson or any other brave American was the first to eat a tomato can only be speculated. But Jefferson's detailed Garden Book does record that tomatoes were grown at Monticello from 1809 to 1824.

Americans had previously thought tomato was poisonous. Its flower resembled the deadly nightshade, which was common in American and Europe. Wild tomatoes tasted sour and the leaves had a disagreeable smell, which discouraged early settlers from eating them.

The Miller-Claytor House built in 1791, originally stood at the corner of Eighth and Church Streets but in 1936, was saved from demolition by the Lynchburg Historical Society, which moved it to its present site in Riverside Park.
It is famous for the legend that Thomas Jefferson ate a tomato from its garden to prove to an owner's child "love apples" were not poisonous; hence the house aquired the nickname "Tomato House."

Lynchburg has no cobblestone streets. Surprised?

Around 1892, the city began to lay stonework on the trodden pathways. Some of those earliest efforts are still visible on Kemper and 10th Streets. But while even city natives often mistakenly refer to the stonework as cobblestone, Belgian blocks is the correct term. True cobbles, better known as river-jacks, are round and water worn smooth, usually six inches or more in diameter.

Cobblestones were considered the Cadillac of paving. They were rarely used before the advent of railroads because transportation was too expensive. A true cobblestone is just a random-sized stone. There are no really true cobble streets in Lynchburg.

Belgian blocks, however, are trimmed to a brick-like shape. Trained masons laid the block in crushed stone, similar to building a wall. Laying the streets was not a highly technical trade.

Most of the stones used on Lynchburg Streets came from Mount Airy, N.C. and Petersburg. The blocks were all granite and fairly easy to transport.

Although laying and transporting the blocks was simple, covering even small portions of road was often a full days work. A 10 to 12 foot portion of road with a 50 foot right of way could take two or three men as long as a day to block.

In a town often referred to as "red clay country," every foot of pavement was a precious commodity to early residents.

Before the stonework was laid, the city council hired men to cover roadways with top soil. The city's hills required special care to prevent the steep streets from eroding into gullies. The rich, black field dirt remained firmly packed longer.

Much of the Hill City's history manifests itself in the heart of downtown. One landmark the Old Court House on Court Street, is an outstanding example of Greek architecture. The first Court House on this site was built in 1813, but torn down in 1852 to build the present structure, completed in 1855.

The exterior and interior has recently been restored to its original appearance. The Hustings Courtroom has been restored to its original 1885 appearance and is presently being used to house the Lynchburg Museum.

Point of Honor at 112 Cabell Street is another interesting architectural part of Lynchburg's History. The 19th century mansion was build by Dr. George Cabell Sr., Patricks Henry's persona physician. An example of federal residential Style architecture, well known for its octagonal by facade and finely crafted interior woodwork. Located on Daniel's Hill above the James River, Point of Honor derived its name for being a dueling ground site.

The home of internationally acclaimed poet Anne Spencer is located at 1313 Pierce St. "EdanKraal" the studio where she composed most of their poems, is located directly behind the house. Spencer a black woman, is the only Virginian whose poems are included in the Norton Anthology of Modern American and British Poetry.