Digital Resources

Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Divorce, and Death)

• Ancestry.com (subscription may be required)

• FamilySearch.org (registration may be required)

  • FREE Virginia death certificate images (free account required)

Census Records and City Directories

• Ancestry.com U.S. Federal Census Collection (subscription may be required)

• Ancestry.com U.S. City Directories Collection (subscription may be required)

Newspapers

• Local newspaper obituary index (Jones Memorial Library)

• Chronicling America (Library of Congress)

• Virginia Chronicle (Library of Virginia) - available Lynchburg newspapers include the following:

  • Lynchburg Weekly Gazette (1799–1805)

  • Lynchburg Press (1809–1818)

  • Lynchburg Press and Public Advertiser (1818–1820)

  • Lynchburg Press (1821–1822)

  • Lynchburg Jeffersonian Republican (1828–1829)

  • Lynchburg Virginian (1822–1852)

  • Lynchburg Daily Virginian (1852–1860)

  • Lynchburg Republican (1841–1856)

  • Lynchburg Daily Advance (1881–1883)

  • Lynchburg Tri-Weekly Virginian (1885)

• Newspapers.com (subscription required)

  • Lynchburg News (1866–1979)

  • Lynchburg Daily Advance (1951–1986)

  • Lynchburg News & Daily Advance (1979–1991)

  • Lynchburg News & Advance (1991–2024)

• Newspaper Archive (Library of Virginia) - must be Virginia resident with valid LVA account

• ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers (Library of Virginia) - must be Virginia resident with valid LVA account

• Elephind (thousands of historical newspapers)

• New York Times “TimesMachine” (subscription may be required)

• New York Times Article Archive (subscription may be required)

• The Lynchburg Counselor (University of Minnesota) - local African American newspaper, 1891–1892 (University of Minnesota)

Court Records

• Chancery Court Records, 1805–1945 (Library of Virginia) - digital images available for the years 1805-1829, indexed information available through 1945

• Lynchburg Wills and Probate Records, 1809-1924 (Ancestry.com, subscription may be required)

Virginia State Law, Elections, General Assembly, and Local Government Leaders

• Virginia Historical Elections Database

• Legislative Petitions, 1774–1865 (Library of Virginia)

• Revised Code of Virginia, 1819 (University of Virginia/HathiTrust)

• Database of House Members (DOME)

• Lynchburg Mayors, City Council Members, Aldermen, and City Managers

African American Records

• Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative (Library of Virginia)

• WPA Life Histories (including slave narratives) (Library of Virginia)

• Slave Narratives (WPA Federal Writers’ Project) (Library of Congress)

LGBTQ+ History

• Positive Alternative Life Styles (PALS) Newsletter, 1980–1983 (Roanoke College/JSTOR)

• Blue Ridge Lambda Alliance (BRLA) Newsletter, 1981-1982 (Roanoke College/JSTOR)

• Blue Ridge Lambda Press, 1983–2008 (Roanoke College/JSTOR)

Military Service Records

• Fold3.com (subscription may be required)

• DAR Genealogical Research Database for Revolutionary War-era individuals

Photographs and Portraits

• Lynchburg Museum System Collection

• LynchburgHistory.com Galleries

• Kipp Teague’s Retronaut Flickr Collections

Maps and Aerial Photographs

• LynchburgHistory.com

• Lynchburg History Map Project (Historic Sandusky/University of Lynchburg)

• Lynchburg GIS Parcel Viewer

• Fire Insurance Maps Online (Library of Virginia) - must be Virginia resident with valid LVA account

Cemetery and Grave Marker Records

• FindaGrave.com

• Old City Cemetery, established 1806

• Presbyterian Cemetery, established 1823

• Spring Hill Cemetery, opened 1855

• White Rock Cemetery, opened 1882

Undertakers/Funeral Home Records

• Diuguid Funeral Home, 1820-1950 (Old City Cemetery)

• Hughes, Fauber, and Other Funeral Homes, 1915-1985 (Jones Memorial Library)

Historical Books and Publications

• The Cabells and Their Kin by Alexander Brown, 1895 (University of California/HathiTrust)

• Campbell Chronicles and Family Sketches, Embracing the History of Campbell County, Virginia, 1782–1926, by Ruth Hairston Early, 1927 (University of Virginia/HathiTrust)

• Letters from Lee's Army; or, Memoirs of Life in and out of the Army in Virginia During the War Between the States, by Susan Leigh Blackford and Charles Minor Blackford, 1947 (University of Michigan/HathiTrust)

• Lynchburg and Its Neighbors, by Rosa Faulkner Yancey, 1935 (University of Virginia/HathiTrust)

• Lynchburg and Its People, by W. Asbury Christian, 1900 (Library of Congress/HathiTrust)

• Lynchburg's Pioneer Quakers and Their Meeting House, 1754–1936, by Douglas Summers Brown, 1936 (University of Michigan/HathiTrust)

• Memoirs of Narcissa Owen, 1831-1907, by Narcissa Chisholm Owen, 1907 (University of Virginia/HathiTrust)

• Mrs. Royall’s Southern Tour by Anne Royall, 1830 (New York Public Library/Hathi Trust)

• The Saga of a City, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1786-1936, 1936 (University of Virginia/HathiTrust)

• Sketch Book of Lynchburg, Va. Its People and Its Trade. Illustrated, by Edward Pollock and S. C. Judson, 1887 (Library of Congress/HathiTrust)

• Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg by the Oldest Inhabitant, by Margaret Anthony Cabell, 1858 (Library of Congress/HathiTrust)

• Virginia Historical Inventory, 1930’s Virginia Writers’ Project/WPA Reports (Library of Virginia)

Video

• WSLS Television Archives (University of Virginia)

School Yearbooks

• Virginia Yearbooks Digital Collection (Library of Virginia)

• Ancestry.com U.S. School Yearbooks Collection, 1900-1999 (subscription may be required)

Other Useful Resources

• Virginia Heritage (database of manuscripts and archival materials in Virginia)

• Digital Public Library of America

• HathiTrust Digital Library

• Google Books

• Internet Archive and Wayback Machine

• Library of Virginia