Lynchburg, Virginia is nicknamed the Hill City due to its piedmont location proximate to the Blue Ridge Mountains bordering the Shenandoah Valley.  Founded by Quakers, namely the John Lynch family, the city had the highest percentage of freed slaves in the South at the commencement of the Civil War and at that time also enjoyed the second highest per capital income in the United States.  Thomas Jefferson after his presidency made Poplar Forest outside Lynchburg his retirement home and called Lynchburg “the most interesting spot in Virginia.”  Today, except for Richmond, Lynchburg has the largest treasure trove of historic and architecturally significant buildings in the Commonwealth.

In the 2004 edition of the prestigious City’s Ranked and Rated, Lynchburg was awarded a ranking of 15th best city in America.  For metropolitan areas over 100,000 population, Justice Department statistics rank the city eighth safest in America and EPA ranks the city environmentally as having the second cleanest air and water quality. Money Magazine ranked Lynchburg as the second best small city in the South.

DISTANCES TO SELECTED SITES
Blue Ridge Mountains: 30 minutes
Smith Mountain Lake: 45 minutes
Roanoke: 50 minutes
Charlottesville: 75 minutes
Richmond: 2 hours
Washington D.C.: 3.5 hours