Pat Preston

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Point of Honor Lynchburg Va

08-29-09

Point of Honor Lynchburg Va

112 Cabell Street • Lynchburg, VA 24504

Daily Tours

Monday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m.

(434)455-6226 or(434)847-1867

Legends of duels fought for honor long ago probably gave this remarkable Virginia landmark its name. Completed in 1815 by Dr. George Cabell, Sr., his sophisticated Federal style mansion features matched polygonal bays, seven rooms, and a Flemish-bond brick construction. (pic right from 1950)

Point of Honor stands on a tract cleared from the wilderness where Monacan Indians once camped, and has been home to some of 19th century Virginia’s most remarkable citizens. Born in 1776, Dr. George Cabell, Sr. attended Hampden-Sydney Academy and completed his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a friend and physician to the patriot, Patrick Henry and a frequent correspondent with his neighbor, Thomas Jefferson.

Point of Honor passed from the Cabell family when Dr. Cabell’s son William Lewis Cabell and his bride Eliza Daniel Cabell both died in 1830. Her father, Judge William Daniel, Sr. inherited the mansion and left it to his son Judge William Daniel, Jr. in 1839. Judge Daniel, Jr. served on the Virginia Court of Appeals from 1846 through the end of the Civil War.

His son was United States Senator John Warwick Daniel, the famous “Lame Lion” of Lynchburg. Judge Daniel, Jr.’s sister Elvira Daniel married pioneer American civil engineer and Civil War hero Charles Ellet, Jr. Their daughter, Mary Virginia married William D. Cabell and was a founding member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Point of Honor was the antebellum home of Col. John S. Langhorne whose daughter Elizabeth Langhorne Lewis led the fight for women’s suffrage. His granddaughters include Mrs. Charles Dana Gibson, the original “Gibson Girl” and Nancy, Lady Astor, the first woman elected to the British Parliament. Nancy Perkins Lancaster, the famed interior designer, was his great granddaughter.

During the Civil War, Point of Honor was the home of Robert Latham Owen, president of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, and his wife Narcissa Chisholm, daughter of the Cherokee Chief, Thomas Chisholm. Their son, Robert L. Owen, Jr., was Oklahoma’s first United States senator.

Grounds Restoration

In the late 1970s as Point of Honor was completing the restoration of the house, the Board made a request of The Garden Club of Virginia's Restoration Committee to restore the grounds. The Garden Club of Virginia agreed to restore the front grounds of Point of Honor with Meade Palmer as landscape architect.

The design included a long circular drive set with large stones and cobblestones leading from the front gate to the steps of the house. Matching stone was used for a walk leading to the parking lot. Massive English boxwood were transported from a nearby site and served as the foundation planting for the front and the drive circle.

Several years later, Rudy Favretti, landscape architect for The GCV, drew a plan for perennial beds in the rear of the house which was implemented. Another gift by The GCV several years later provided trees and shrubs to landscape the parking lot. In the 1990s Point of Honor raised funds to build the Bertha Green Webster Carriage House and a recreated kitchen.

The GCV landscaped the Carriage House and planted a miniature apple orchard with the advice of Tom Burford, an orchardist of note. In 2006 a stone walk was donated to Point of Honor by The Garden Club to aid in the visitor traffic from the Carriage House to the rear grounds.

Point of Honor’s carefully restored interiors preserve the classical designs popularized in early 19th century America by Owen Biddle and England’s William Paine. Remarkably vivid colors and rich, stylish furnishings echo the builder’s affection for entertaining in the manner which defines our own notion of Southern hospitality. Guests enjoy a vista of the James River from the parlor windows where Dufour’s “Monuments of Paris” mural paper adorns the walls.

After visiting Point of Honor, stop by the gift shop for a variety of specialty items that range from books on local history and acid-free archival supplies to T shirts, post cards, and unique souvenirs.

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IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL A HOME IN THE LYNCHBURG OR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE FOR ALL THE CURRENT LISTINGS OR GIVE ME A CALL AT

(434)832-1100X320

MY WEBSITE

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO FEED A HUNGRY FURBABY

CLICK ON THE BREAST CANCER SITE TO DONATE A MAMMOGRAM

Proud supporter of

CMN and Susan G. Komen as well as the SPCA.

A portion of every one of my real estate transactions goes to CMN

PROUD MEMBER OF THE LYNCHBURG MLS, DANVILLE MLS & CREA

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Open House August 30-1-3 p.m. 201 Blumont Dr. $219,900

08-29-09

Open House August 30-1-3 p.m. 201 Blumont Dr. $219,900

3BR*2.5 BA Main photo Back view/deck

14x10 Deck Shed

Patio Garden space

28x17 Den 19x14 Living Room

MBR MBA

VIRTUAL TOUR

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IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL A HOME IN THE LYNCHBURG OR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE FOR ALL THE CURRENT LISTINGS OR GIVE ME A CALL AT

(434)832-1100X320

MY WEBSITE

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO FEED A HUNGRY FURBABY

CLICK ON THE BREAST CANCER SITE TO DONATE A MAMMOGRAM

Proud supporter of

CMN and Susan G. Komen as well as the SPCA.

A portion of every one of my real estate transactions goes to CMN

PROUD MEMBER OF THE LYNCHBURG MLS, DANVILLE MLS & CREA

6 Comments

History of Lynchburg Part 7-Battle of Lynchburg during the Civil War

08-26-09

History of Lynchburg Part 7-Battle of Lynchburg during the Civil War

Here are the first 6 parts of this series

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6

Lynchburg, Virginia, is located just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the banks of the James River, where its founder, John Lynch, established a ferry service in 1757. On the eve of the American Civil War (1861–1865), Lynchburg was Virginia's sixth-largest city and a major transportation center, with access to the James River and Kanawha Canal, as well as the Virginia and Tennessee, the Southside, and the Orange and Alexandria railroads.

During the war, Lynchburg women established the Ladies' Relief Hospital, and the Confederate military made the city a major hub of supplies and transport, which Union troops attempted to disrupt at the Battle of Lynchburg in June 1864. During the early months of the war, the city's men joined the Confederate army or the newly formed Home Guard, while its women created a variety of support organizations, most notably the Ladies' Relief Society and the Ladies' Relief Hospital.

The latter became one of the largest women-run hospitals in the Confederacy, a place where Lynchburg's most prominent women assumed the role of matrons and supervised a legion of hired nurses and slaves. The Confederate military, meanwhile, quickly realized that Lynchburg's location—close to major theaters of battle but still out of harm's way—and access to major transportation routes made it an ideal spot for hospitals and supplies. Eventually, however, the city's strategic usefulness became a burden, severely taxing its resources and leading to controversy, conflict, and disillusionment.

Enthusiasm for war withered as citizens came to believe that they were being asked to sacrifice too much. Civic leaders hoped that crisis might galvanize their authority while uniting the city against a common enemy. Neither occurred. Instead, the city's elected officials proved themselves to be incompetent, and the community began to disintegrate in ways typical of other cities in the South. For instance, residents—echoing claims to personal liberty that were important to the Confederacy's founding ideology of states' rights—complained that the state and national governments made too many demands on their persons and their property.

In April 1862, Confederate president Jefferson Davis(PIC LEFT) authorized a military draft, and resistance to this and the impressment of resources became not only common but also accepted practices. In addition, city residents came to resent the many soldiers who congregated in Lynchburg, blaming them for the rising crime rate and acts of public disorder. Inflation and supply shortages caused claims and counterclaims of speculating, price gouging, and hoarding. The poor suffered miserably, and bread riots that plagued other Southern cities were avoided only because civic leaders donated enough food to maintain some semblance of order.

The Battle of Lynchburg on June 17, 1864, briefly restored the city's unity as residents prepared to fend off the forces of Union general David Hunter, who had been charged by Ulysses S. Grant to destroy the canal and railroads at Lynchburg. Confederate troops under the command of Jubal A. Early(Fort Early) pic (L) drove Hunter off, and while his attack had momentarily distracted Lee from his defense of Richmond, his retreat ceded control of the Shenandoah Valley back to the Confederates.

With Hunter gone, however, internal conflict returned. By late in 1864, most residents were ready to give up the fight in hopes that peace would mean a return to prosperity. The state government relocated to Lynchburg April 6–10, 1865, but by then it was unclear whether the Confederate government would have been welcome.

When Union forces chased renegade remnants of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia into the town shortly after the Confederate surrender on April 9, they found a city on the verge of chaos and civic leaders who were eager to make peace. Initially, many residents joined African Americans in welcoming the defeat of the Confederacy. In time, however, Reconstruction (1865–1877) would further divide the town along lines of race and class.

Richmond, Virginia, was the capital of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865). It also served as the capital of Virginia, although when the city was about to fall to Union armies in April 1865, the governor and General Assembly moved their offices to Lynchburg for five days. After the fall of Richmond in April 1865, the state government relocated to Lynchburg briefly, only to return after Robert E. Lee's surrender a few miles to the east at Appomattox.

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History of Lynchburg Part 6-Federal Hill-History of a Neighborhood

08-24-09

History of Lynchburg Part 6-Federal Hill-History of a Neighborhood

"Lynchburg is growing more rapidly than any town I have ever known in any country." So Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1817. He might have added that much of that growth was occurring on a certain hill just to the southwest of the original town limits. In fact, Federal Hill, as it soon came to be called, was Lynchburg's first residential suburb.

Two annexations, one in 1814, just prior to Jefferson's observation, the second following in 1819, brought Federal Hill within the town's jurisdiction. The wording of deeds transferring property from the town's founder, John Lynch, to others indicates that annexation of the area had always been intended. Lots had been surveyed "in conformity with the plan of the said town of Lynchburg with the privilege of streets and alleys as if it were within the actual limits of the town."

Because of the topography (Federal Hill, after all, is first and foremost a hill), some of those streets have never been opened, and still exist primarily on paper plats. Today's visitor will notice, perhaps with surprise, that a number of Federal Hill's streets dead-end at a bluff or cliff, only to pick up a block or so later, at a higher or - depending on your point of view - lower elevation.

The many Federal-style houses built during Lynchburg's early nineteenth-century era of prosperity still define the neighborhood. When Federal Hill was studied in 1974, preparatory to being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, the Virginia Landmarks Commission declared that few Piedmont cities of the South can boast of such a distinguished grouping of Federal dwellings."

Throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, Federal Hill continued as a "good address." In fact, it was one of Lynchburg's best. It was on Federal Hill in 1855 that gas was first introduced into a private house in Lynchburg, and soon after the Civil War ended, Lynchburg's first millionaire (having gotten rich on tobacco) elected to build his fashionable Second Empire mansion on the slopes of Federal Hill

Architecturally, this continued growth throughout the 19th century meant that flat Greek Revival lintels soon began to appear alongside the splayed jack-arches of the Federal houses. Here and there, beginning around the time of Civil War, Italianate brackets began to embellish cornices, some of them on new houses, some of them on older ones whose owners wanted to be architecturally up-to-date. John W. Carroll, that first millionaire, introduced Lynchburg to the Second Empire style, both in his own house and in those he soon provided for his progeny nearby.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Lynchburg prospered anew as it sought to forget the war to become a leading player in the progressive drama of development called the "New South." Though new suburbs were laid out and soon built upon, stretching the city limits ever farther in all directions, Federal Hill continued as a prime residential venue. Houses built during these years were generally in the ornate Queen Anne style, often in striking architectural contrast with the earlier, more sedate neighbors

At the turn of the century, the hill's centrality and prominence were acknowledged when the Lynchburg High School - Queen Anne writ large - went up on Federal Street. By this time, though, Federal Hill was largely built up, and construction of the school resulted in the demolition of one of the best of the early houses.

Similarly, the 1909 construction of "Federal Crest (pic right") the last of the large-scale houses on the hill, and the sole example of the newly popular Georgian Revival style, was accomplished only by the destruction of one of the city's most important ante-bellum Italian villas.

Through all periods of growth, Federal Hill never abandoned its residential role. It was close enough to downtown Lynchburg for its residents to shop there, and even closer to the nearby churches on Court Street for Sunday worship.

As the wide-awake twentieth century progressed elsewhere, Federal Hill was seldom disturbed by the sounds of new construction. The high school moved away fairly early, leaving the building to become a local elementary school.

The neighborhood began to nod off a bit, then dozed, took a nap, and almost went into a deep sleep. Definitely isolated from the surrounding urban areas by its topography, and blessedly still not bisected by any "through streets" with their attendant traffic, or worse - pressures to demolish for commercial enterprises - Federal Hill became a quiet backwater, its houses still lived in and loved, but hardly the center of activity and prosperity they once had been.

Since there was little pressure for change, wonderful amenities such as flagstone sidewalks, cast-iron fences - things that some preservationists call "street furniture" - remained in place, and still do. As time went on, though, many single-family dwellings were converted into rooming houses, paint was applied less and less frequently, and an unmistakable air of decline set it.

Fortunately, within the last several decades, that direction not only been arrested, it has been reversed. The acceptance of the district into the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 was a step in the right direction, as was its designation as a locally zoned historic district 1978.

The school took a new lease on life when it was converted into apartments, an adaptive use that was lauded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Federal Hill can now even boast a preservation "first"

The Gordon House(pic right) 1023 Jackson Street was the first house in the Commonwealth to be advertised and sold through the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation, the state-wide revolving fund established in 1988 to promote the sale and protection of historic properties.

The Federal Hill Historical Association, established in 1993,is doing its part to insure that the neighborhood will remain an attractive, convenient, residential area for Lynchburg, and that its notable houses will remain a major component of Lynchburg's - and Virginia's - historic patrimony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL A HOME IN THE LYNCHBURG OR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE FOR ALL THE CURRENT LISTINGS OR GIVE ME A CALL AT

(434)832-1100X320

MY WEBSITE

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO FEED A HUNGRY FURBABY

CLICK ON THE BREAST CANCER SITE TO DONATE A MAMMOGRAM