Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and along the James River, the City of Lynchburg is often called the “city of seven hills” or the “hill city.” The city consists of 49.6 square miles – 49.1 square miles in land and 0.5 square miles in water. Lynchburg is home to 79,047 people (according to the 2014 
census estimate); the population density is 594 people per square mile. The City is surrounded by Amherst County to the northeast, Bedford County to the west and northwest, and Campbell County to the south and southeast.
The first neighborhoods that grew on the City’s seven hills, in the area were in close proximity to the ferry landing. These “first neighborhoods” are: College Hill, Daniel’s Hill, Diamond Hill, Tinbridge Hill, Franklin Hill, Garland Hill, and White Rock Hill. Other main neighborhoods in Lynchburg include: Boonsboro, Rivermont, Fairview Heights, Fort Hill, Forest Hill, Timberlake, Windsor Hills, Sandusky, Linkhorne, and Wyndhurst.
The City of Lynchburg has a Council-Manager form of government. The resident demographics are not surprising in a “College Town.” Based on the 2010 census, 22.1 percent of the population was under the age of 18. The college aged demographic (typically defined at those between the ages of 18 and 24, included 15.5 percent of the population.
Transportation
Local public transportation by bus service is provided by the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company. Intercity transportation is provided by Greyhound Lines bus service.
Rail service, by Amtrak, provides long distance travel on the Crescent and a Northeast Regional. The Northeast Regional line was created in 2009 to connect with Washington, D.C. Two major freight lines pass through Lynchburg. The city is, in fact, the crossroads of two Norfolk Southern Lines. CSX Transportation also has a line that transports freight through the City.
Lynchburg Regional Airport is served exclusively by American Eagle airline, a subsidiary of American Airlines. There are seven daily arrivals and departures.
The primary highways passing through the City are U.S. Routes 29, 501, and 221 (north-south) and Route 460 (east-west).
Collisions happen often. When they occur within city limits they are often not as serious as those that occur on major highways. Yet people can become distracted while driving, often resulting in crashes. Distracted drivers are a danger everywhere, to drivers, passengers, and even pedestrians. People driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are another danger on any roadway. If you, or a loved one, are injured in a car crash or other traffic incident, call Altizer Law, P.C. Our legal team has the knowledge, experience, and determination to obtain justice for our clients and demand top financial settlements for the medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering and other harms and losses they have suffered as a result of injuries sustained. We listen, we care about you and your family, we answer questions, and when there is a case to pursue, we negotiate or litigate on your behalf. If you have been injured through no fault of your own, call us.
History
When English settlers arrived in the area now known as Lynchburg, it was occupied by Siouan Tutelo- speaking tribes. They had driven the Virginia Algonquians to the east. The Siouans occupied the area until about 1702, when it was conquered by the Seneca Iroquois. The Iroquois ceded control of the area to the Virginia Colony in 1718. This was later formally accomplished at the Treaty of Albany in 1721.
Lynchburg was originally settled in 1757. It was named for John Lynch, the City’s founder, who had started a ferry service across the James River at the age of 17. The ferry transported people to and from New London. Lynch also built the first bridge across the river in 1812. Thomas Jefferson maintained a home, Poplar Forest, nearby. He visited Lynchburg frequently, and once remarked, “Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be useful to the town of Lynchburg. I consider it as the most interesting spot in the state.”
Lynchburg was chartered in 1786, at the site of the ferry. This system of transportation routed a good bit of traffic through Lynchburg. This, in turn, made Lynchburg to become the center of commerce for tobacco trading. Also in the 19th century, Lynchburg rose to prominence in manufacturing. It was one of the richest towns per capita in the nation. The main industries at the time were tobacco, iron, and steel.
Transportation facilities in Lynchburg included the James River Bateau, and later the James River and Kanawha Canal. Later, four railroads, including the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad passed through the town.
In 1805, Lynchburg became an incorporated city.
During the Civil War, Lynchburg was an important supply base for the Confederate Army. The City escaped destruction when General David Hunter and his troops were driving south through the Shenandoah Valley. Through a clever ruse and the assistance of the citizens of the City, General Jubal Early and his inferior numbers of troops were able to repel the Union troops on June 18, 1864. From April 6 – 10, 1865, Lynchburg served as the Capital of Virginia when executive and legislative branches of the Commonwealth escaped the fall of Richmond. It was merely 20 miles from Lynchburg that General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.
Inventions further supported the manufacturing economy. During the latter years of the 19th century, Lynchburg evolved a manufacturing-based economy. Per capita, the City became the wealthiest in the Nation. In 1880, James Albert Bonsack invented the first cigarette rolling machine. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Charles Browne Fleet introduced the first mass marketed over-the-counter enema.
As transportation began to shift to automobile and trucking, Lynchburg fought for a different route for Interstate Highway 64 during the 1950s. However, the Secretary of Commerce decided to build the highway along the originally planned route. As a result, Lynchburg became the only city with a population of more than 50,000 that was not served by an Interstate Highway.
Since 2002 there has been significant revitalization of Lynchburg’s downtown area. A number of historic warehouses and mills have been converted to loft apartments. Business activity has increased by more than 200 percent. More than 40 sites in the city of Lynchburg are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2015 a pedestrian street zone was opened in the downtown area, called Lower Bluffwalk.
Economy
Lynchburg boasts a strong skilled labor force, low unemployment, and a cost of living that is below average Industries represented in the City include nuclear technology, material handling, and pharmaceuticals. Small business diversity has helped the City to maintain a stable economy in times of downturns in the national economy. The News and Advance reported, however, that despite more people working, wages have not kept up with inflation since 1990.
According to the Virginia Employment Commission’s 2010 report, the top industries (in terms of people employed) were:
- Health Care and Social Assistance
- Manufacturing
- Government (primarily local government)
- Retail Trade
- Accommodation and Food Services
The top employers in Lynchburg were:
- Centra Health
- Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear – BWXT NOG facilities in Lynchburg, Va., and Euclid, Ohio, design and supply components for United States government programs. The Lynchburg facility is one of only two private U.S. facilities licensed to possess and process highly enriched uranium. Along with its government work, the Lynchburg site is also home to Nuclear Operations Group’s Uranium Processing and Research Reactors group (UPRR), which is skilled in both uranium downblending applications and plate-type reactor design and production for research purposes.
- Lynchburg City Schools
- Wal Mart
- Bedford County School Board
- Campbell County Schools
- City of Lynchburg,
- Crew Outfitters – Clothes and Accessories for Men, Women and Children, as well as retail stores.
- Areva NP Inc. — As the leading supplier of nuclear products and services to the largest nuclear power market in the world
- GNA Corporation – GNA Corporation is a U.S.A. company, located in Lynchburg, Lynchburg (City) Virginia. It belongs to Insurance and Financial Services industry.
- Amherst County School Board
- Central Virginia Training Center – now closed
- Food Lion
- Central Virginia Community Services
- Startek – We make it easy for IT professionals to identify, find and get the hard-to-find connectivity parts they need to enable their business solutions
- Lynchburg College
- Kroger
- Sodexho – Sodexo is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux.
- County of Bedford
- BGF Industries, Inc. – BGF Industries is a leading US manufacturer of high performance fabrics and materials serving the Aerospace, Marine, Filtration, Insulation, Automotive, Electrical, Protection and Construction industries.
In addition to Centra Health, Lynchburg General Hospital and Virginia Baptist Hospital, there are many 
medical practitioners in the City, as well as a large number of assisted living, rehabilitation and nursing facilities. We know that these facilities are committed to providing the highest quality of care to their patients. Sometimes, however, hiring mistakes are made, as are mistakes in treatment due. When mistakes are made by medical practitioners and caregivers, harm occurs to their patients. When this happens, those patients have the right to seek justice by filing a claim with insurance companies, the employers, and the individuals themselves. They also have a right to recover a financial settlement for their medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Altizer Law, P.C., handles medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and nursing home neglect cases daily. Bettina Altizer has the knowledge, experience, skills, and aggressive determination to protect your interests and to obtain the maximum possible settlement under Virginia law. If you, or a loved one, are harmed due to medical malpractice or nursing home neglect or abuse, call us. We are here to help you, and only you.
Higher Education
The City of Lynchburg is home to a number of institutions of higher learning. These include:
- Lynchburg College
- Central Virginia Community College
- Randolph College (formerly Randolph-Macon Women’s College)
- Sweet Briar College
- Virginia University of Lynchburg
- Liberty University
Arts and Culture
The Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, created in 1983, provides a range of music from classical to popular and patriotic. The Academy of Fine Arts is a place that stimulates creativity and imagination. The Academy is a place for education and entertainment for all ages. It features dance, theatre, music, and the visual arts. The Renaissance Theatre offers live theatrical performances. The Lynchburg Art Club, formed in 1895, promotes and advances art in the community. Opera on the James offers performances by national and regional artists that spans the history of operatic writing and performance.
What to Do in Lynchburg
Lynchburg and the surrounding counties offer a range of entertainment venues. Among the most popular activities are:
- Amazement Square: a hands-on children’s museum
- Appomattox Courthouse: site of the surrender by Robert E. Lee that ended the Civil War.
- Crabtree Falls: the longest waterfall east of the Mississippi River
- James River Heritage Trail
- Lynchburg Museum
- Miller-Claytor House: a pre-19th Century townhouse. It was dismantled and moved to Riverside Park and the garden was restored.
- The National D-Day Memorial
- Nature Zone: a division of Lynchburg Parks and Recreation
- Old City Cemetery Museums and Arboretum – Lynchburg’s only public cemetery and one of the oldest cemeteries in the City.
- Old Court House: the City’s most famous landmark. It was built in 1855 and designed in the style of a Greek Temple overlooking the James River. Today it is home to Central Virginia’s best collection of memorabilia, furniture, period clothing, and industrial history.
- Peaks of Otter: three mountain peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountains that overlook the town of Bedford. It can be seen from most places in the City of Lynchburg.
- Point of Honor: a Federal-era mansion.
- Poplar Forest: Thomas Jefferson’s retreat home.
- Smith Mountain Lake: the largest lake entirely within the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Hiking areas that include the Appalachian Trail, Apple Orchard Trail, Blackwater Creek Natural Area, Candlers Mountain to Camp Hydaway, Crabtree Falls, Flat Top, Holliday Lake, Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area, and Otter Creek Trail.
Call Altizer Law, P. C.
At Altizer Law, P.C., we have a deep commitment to helping people when they have been injured due to the actions of others. As a Personal Injury Firm, we help people who have been injured through the negligence or wrongdoing of individuals, institutions, medical facilities, dangerous premises, or dangerous or defective products. When you need help, we are ready to help you understand your rights, and to pursue justice and appropriate compensation for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. We do not serve special interests, big business, insurance companies, or anyone else. We are here for you, and only for you. We will fight for you with tenacity and aggressiveness to obtain a settlement that returns you and your family to wholeness.