Project: Bethel: Restoring the Remnants of a Historic Town
Along a bend in the James River once stood the village of Bethel—home to ferrymen, millers, stonecutters, and shopkeepers who helped shape Lynchburg’s beginnings. In its heyday, Bethel bustled with taverns, a post office, warehouses, and a ferry crossing that tied into the James River & Kanawha Canal.
Floods and the decline of the canal eventually erased most of the village. Today, only fragments remain—stone foundations and gravestones on Vault Hill. Our work focused on carefully rebuilding and stabilizing some of these early foundations. Each stone was reset by hand, strengthening walls that had stood for centuries and ensuring their stories remain part of the landscape.
