Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Divorce, and Death)
Census Records and City Directories
Newspapers
- 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) Jan 2019–Apr 2022 missing
- America’s News (Library of Virginia) – must be Virginia resident with valid LVA account
- Lynchburg News & Advance (2018–2024)
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers (Library of Virginia) – must be Virginia resident with valid LVA account
- 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)
- Harper’s Weekly (Library of Virginia) – 1857–1912
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
African American Records
LGBTQ+ History
Photographs and Portraits
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
Undertakers/Funeral Home Records
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 Negro in Virginia by the WPA Writers’ Program, 1940 (University of Michigan/HathiTrust)
- 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)
School Yearbooks
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
