The story
Read it all →How Lynchburg came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lynchburg.
Lynchburg Presbyterian Church and Tanglewood Plantation are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Lynchburg
Lynchburg was first counted by the census in 1910
Most of Lynchburg was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1910.
1910first census
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Lynchburg began
When was Lynchburg founded?
1910
Lynchburg first appears in the census in 1910. Another post office, Magnolia (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 466 in 19102020 census: 318116 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
What stands out about Lynchburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Lynchburg’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lynchburg’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Lynchburg, census by census
Peaked at 588 in 2000; 318 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lynchburg’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Lynchburg, 1864 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1864
Born hereEllison D. Smith is born here - 1868
Born hereThomas Gordon McLeod is born here - 1878Post officeThe Magnolia post office opens
- 20th century
- 1905Post officeThe Magnolia post office closes
- 1986
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 588
By decade
Lynchburg, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2020On the map
Lynchburg on the map in 1986
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lynchburg.
1986Camden South sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lynchburg.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Lynchburg
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Another post office, Magnolia, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lynchburg’s history
What year was Lynchburg founded?
The Lynchburg post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.