Lynchburg in 1816

Lynchburg City Market

By the year 1816, Lynchburg’s population had risen to 3,087 people (1,765 were white, 1,322 blacks). Of that 3,087, there were:

674 white males over 16
343 white males under 16
379 white females over 16
369 white females under 16
256 free persons of color, and
1,066 slaves.

By this year Lynchburg had:

34 dry good stores
22 groceries
3 cabinetmakers shops
3 coach makers shops
5 blacksmith shops
4 silversmith shops
1 post office
2 printing presses
2 Newspapers
2 bookstores, and
16 inns and taverns.

In 1816 the price for:

breakfast was 75 cents
dinner was 1 dollar 10 cents
horse feed for 24 hours was 1 dollar and 50 cents, and
lodging was 35 cents.

Peter C. Nelson opened the first classical school in Lynchburg offering English, Latin, and Greek.

Lynchburg was thriving off the success of its tobacco warehouses as roughly 16,000 hogsheads of tobacco were sent to Richmond in 1816.

Lynchburg had grown immensely in the first 30 years and with the success of the tobacco trade it would add 2,000 new citizens in only two more years.

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This information is provided thanks to a partnership
with the Center for the History and Culture of
Central Virginia at Lynchburg College.