Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach Nannette Turner Saunders

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.

Could Thomas Jefferson have stopped for a mug of beer at Joseph Nichols Tavern when he traveled through Lynchburg during the early 1800's?

Margaret Byrd Adams, who has been researching the tavern's history, thinks the country's second president did visit the tavern, which still stands on the corner of Fifth and Madison Streets.

Nichols rented the land from John Lynch and built a tavern - also known as an ordinary - in 1814 on Fifth and Madison streets.

Nichols' first establishment, was made of wood, went up in flames the night of April 14, 1815, when sparks from a blacksmith's shop set the tavern ablaze.

The residents of Lynchburg, thought the entire town was going to burn. The citizens raised $1,500 for Nichols. He bought the land from John Lynch for $500, rebuilt the tavern and was soon back in business.

In 1818 Nichols divided his property and sold one part to Louis Nichols and the other to John F. Johnson. Between 1818 and 1823 Louis Nichols made several additions to the tavern and ran into financial problems. When he died in 1824, a carpenter to whom he owed money inherited the tavern.

Sometime in 1824 Johnson bought the carpenter out and doubled the size of the tavern according to the tax record of 1827. From the deed in Campbell County came a glimpse of how the tavern was furnished in 1824.

Wanderers traveling the dusty stagecoach trails probably pulled up their windsor chairs to a walnut dinning table and ate off earthenware dishes.

The tavern stayed in The Johnson family until 1892 when it was sold to T.R. Twyman. Joseph Nichols Tavern passed hands five times between 1892 and 1976 when it was finally bought by the Restoration and Housing Corp.

Since its restoration in 1976, the tavern has regained its function as a place where people can meet to relax, eat, drink and be merry.

Some of Lynchburg's streets were name for homes and farms in the area, others got their names from presidents, and the source of some street names is unknown.

And some streets, obviously, were name for their destinations: Old Forest Road went from Lynchburg to Forest.

Although Church Street today has no churches, it had plenty when the street was named, including Wesleyan, Centenary and First Methodist.

The sections of todays' Link Road near Boonsboro Road was called Grove Avenue. Link Road was so named because it connected Boonsboro and Old Forest roads.

Court Street has been the seat of the local courts since the early 1800's.

Boonsboro Road and Hollins Mill Road were once parts of the Lexington Turnpike, which went ot Lexington. Hollins Mill Road was named for a mill on the road near the dam on Blackwater Creek.

Boonsboro Road led to the village of Boonsboro in Bedford County. The village may have been named for Daniel Boone.

Grace Street was once known as the Campbell County Courthouse Turnpike,and a portion was known as South Street in the 1870's.

The origin of the name of Grace is unknown.

Federal Street and Federal Hill were probably named for the once powerful Federalist Party.

Memorial Avenue was named for the Confederate dead of the Civil War. The 42 commemorative trees planted along it honored the dead of World War I.

Fort Avenue takes its name from Fort Early, a Civil War fort named for Gen. Jubal A. Early.

A number of Lynchburg's streets carry the names of counties - Amherst, Dinwiddie, Essex, Campbell, Fauquier, Sussex, Nottoway, Page and Grasyon.

Rivermont Avenue was named for the old Rivermont Land Co., once the larges land surveying firm in Lynchburg. The same is true of Westover Boulevard, named for the old Westover Land Co., another of the land surveying firms.

The name Rivermont comes from its heights above the river, or "mountain above the river." Riverside Drive leads from Rivermont Avenue in the general direction of the James River.

The Sandusky neighborhood of Fort Hill was named for an old home, a Federal-style farmhouse build in 1808 for Charles Johnston.

Many of the streets in the inner city are named for presidents: Jefferson, Clay, Madison, Polk, Harrison, Jackson, Monroe, Fillmore, Taylor, Pierce and Buchanan.

Some streets intersecting Fort and Campbell avenues were name for states by the developers.

They included Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island, Georgia, Kentucky, Connecticut, Texas, Tennessee, Idaho and Iowa.

Downtown's Ninth Street was once the major north-south street in the business district. It was once known as Water Street because it lead to the James River.

Commerce Street was once called Lynch Street after John Lynch, the city's founder.

Cabel Street was named for Dr. George Cabell, who once lived at Point of Honor. Cable Street was once the farm road of Judge William Daniel, who gave his name to Daniel's Hill.

Langhorne Road was named ror George W. Langhorne, a large property owner here.

Many of the major roads in the early 1800's were known as "pikes" or "turnpikes," often paved with rough-hewn logs.

The Salem Turnpike led to Salem, and is now knows as Timberlake Road, for Timber Lake, which was developed as a vacation community.

McCausland Street was named for Gen. John McCausland, one of the city's defenderes in the Civil War. Munford and Dearing streets were also named for Confederate generals.

Park Avenue got its name from Miller Park, which it parallels.

In the year 1908 when the town of Altavista, Virginia was in its infancy, a group of local business realized that the town, being located at the junction of two railroads, The Southern and the Virginian (soon to be completed) and the Staunton River, had prospects of great potential, but in order to grow and attract business, a bank was a necessity.

Mr. Henry L. Lane of the Lane Brothers Company, founders of the town, a local physician, Dr. W.O. Smith and Mr. W.S. Frazier, a lumber mill owner and operator, proceeded with the organization of a bank and mad application to the Treasure Department in Washington. D. C. for a charter, which was granted on December 17, 1908 to "The First National Bank of Altavista.", Altavista, Virginia with a capitalization of $25,000. Mr. Lane was elected President, Dr. Smith, Vice President and E.T. Yeaman, Cashier, and banking was begun in a portion of a newly erected building of the Lane Brothers Company at the corner of Broad and Seventh Streets. Mr. Yeaman, the Cashier, operated the bank alone for some time and as business increased, the Board of Directors employed a bookkeeper, Miss Douglas Snow, in August 1909.

In 1917, First National Bank purchased the building from Lane Brothers utilizing the same space in which it began and rented the space it did not use to several local businesses.\With the confidence and cooperation of its depositors, the bank continued to grow through the challenging years of the depression.

Through its ninety-nine years of business, The First National Bank of Altavista has operated under six presidents, Henry L. Lane, Dr. W.O. Smith, W. S. Frazier, Paul W. Tyree, S. Thomas Cox, and Robert H. Gilliam, Jr. The bank is unique in that it has maintained the same name and has been headquartered on the same corner at Broad and Seventh in Altavista as when the bank opened in 1908.

From humble beginnings in 1908, the bank has grown in assets to $268,000,000 as of June 2007 with capital of $25,000,000. The First National Bank of Altavista currently maintains eight offices. The Main Office and Vista Branch are located in the town of Altavista, the Airport Branch and Timberlake Branch in Campbell County, the Old Forest Road Branch in the City of Lynchburg, the Forest Branch in Bedford County, the Amherst Branch in the Town of Amherst and a Loan Production Office in Franklin County at Smith Mountain Lake.