Lunenburg County History

Geographically, Lunenburg County is located in Southside Virginia or the lower Piedmont region which is bounded by the James River on the north and the Virginia-North Carolina line to the south. When Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County in 1746, there were 338 “tithes” or people who owned land or worked the land in the area known as Lunenburg County [see 1746 map]. This was considered densely populated for that time period.

A “tithe” was defined by an Act in 1705 as:

"That all male persons, of the age of sixteen years, and upwards, and all Negro, mulatto, and Indian women, of the age of sixteen years, and upwards, not being free, shall be, and are hereby declared to be tithable, or chargeable, for defraying the public, county, and parish charges, in this her majesty's colony and dominion; excepting such only, as the county court, and vestry, for reasons, in charity, made to appear to them, shall think fit to excuse." (Bell, Sunlight, 1931: 42)

Between 1746 and 1751, the tithable population in Lunenburg nearly doubled a trend that continued for the next twenty years. Further, the population growth in south side Virginia was substantial enough that between 1752 and 1765, four counties were formed from Lunenburg; Halifax 1752, Bedford (part from Albemarle) 1754, Charlotte 1765 and Mecklenburg 1765. This reduced the county to its present 443 square miles.

By 1770, the tithable population of Lunenburg had increased to 1,683. This also increased the percentage of slaves and changed farming economy to a single cash crop – tobacco. By 1790; the southside area of Virginia, including Lunenburg County, produced forty percent of the total tobacco crop, and by 1840, that number had risen to sixty-two percent.

By the time of the Revolution, Lunenburg’s population and its economy thrived on the cultivation of tobacco and slave labor. Only one war event took place in Lunenburg County on 23 July 1781 when British Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s cavalry swept through and burned Craig’s Mill. Lunenburg’s militias fighting for the Virginia military did sustain a high rate of casualties during the war, “… it is known the county militia was 573 strong in 1776 and reduced to 382 by 1781”. Three Lunenburg companies were present at Valley Forge, one of which had already suffered staggering 45 percent fatalities. A second company had lost 44 percent of its original 68 men before Valley Forge, 25 of those dying in a 3-week period during the winter of 1776-77. The third company consisted of 7 survivors by March 1778.” (Mouer, Kiser and Boyd, 1992: 15)

After several moves, in 1782, the final location for the courthouse was established and a frame building erected. Taverns and residences sprang up around the new courthouse and in 1816; the place became an incorporated village named Lewiston. In 1827, when the present courthouse was completed, the village included twenty dwellings, two general stores, two taverns, and a resident population of seventy-five. Between 1789 and 1830, in addition to the Courthouse, eight post offices were established, which serve as further evidence of the stabilization of the county’s population.

On 11 March 1861, citizens gathered at the courthouse to take into consideration the looming crisis. Those gathered unanimously passed a secessionist set of resolutions two months before Virginia joined the Confederacy, thus giving rise to Lunenburg’s nickname, “The Old Free State.” As soon as the vote for secession was called, Lunenburg began to reorganize its militia units for war. The first of many units to depart the county were Company B, the Pryor Rifles, and Company C, the Flat Rock Riflemen of the 20th Virginia Infantry Regiment.

In total more than 1,000 men from Lunenburg would leave to fight in every major engagement of the war. It was not until June of 1864 that fighting would actually take place on county soil. On 22 June 1864, Brigadier-General James H. Wilson and Brigadier-General August V. Kautz set out with 7,000 men to destroy the Southside and the Danville railroads to cut off supplies coming into Richmond. On June 24, the Union troops entered Lunenburg. burning the tracks and depot at Meherrin. Foraging parties were also sent out in search of horses and food. The Union troops continued down the tracks toward the Roanoke River, burning and looting as they went. When they reached the Roanoke, they were confronted by the small garrison under the command of Colonel B. F. Farinholt. The garrison had been reinforced by the home guard, troops from Danville, and boys and men from the surrounding counties, including Lunenburg. A force of 800 had been assembled to defend the bridge. Four separate charges were attempted but each time they were turned back by Confederate fire. In the meantime, General W. H. F. Lee and his cavalry had closed in behind Wilson’s forces. Wilson found himself positioned between a bridge he could not cross and the Confederate cavalry, so under cover of darkness the Union troops made a forced march to Wylliesburg. On 27 June 1864, Union troops crossed the Meherrin into Lunenburg County on their way to the Boydton Plank Road. The events of Wilson’s raid have given rise to many tales throughout the county of marauding Union troops carrying off the silver, slaves, food and horses.

While the first years after the Civil War were difficult ones, this period also saw the introduction of public education, the construction of railroads and the establishment of the counties two largest towns – Kenbridge and Victoria. The winter of 1865 was harsh, because fields had not been planted in four years, the livestock and labor required to cultivate the fields was scarce, and the currency to purchase provisions was worthless. The 1870 census illustrates the impact of the Civil War on Lunenburg County. The white population declined by only seventy-seven persons but the African American population declined by 1,503 between 1860 and 1870. The production of all crops was down by over fifty percent, and the number of pigs, cattle, and sheep were down by nearly sixty percent. The most dramatic decline was in the production of tobacco from over 4,000,000 pounds to less than 1,000,000 pounds. It would not be until 1900 that tobacco production in Lunenburg County exceeded pre-war levels. The county’s population grew by approximately 2,400 persons between 1870 and 1910 with African American population always exceeding white population.

In 1902, Colonel William N. Page and Henry Huttleston Rogers had the idea for a railroad that would connect the coalfields of West Virginia with the port at Norfolk. To keep their competitors from discovering the plan they began construction on two in-state lines – the Deepwater Railroad in West Virginia and the Tidewater Railroad in Virginia. These two lines meet at the Virginia-West Virginia border in 1907 and became the Virginian Railroad. The entire 446 miles of track were completed in 1909. The shortest and most easily graded line passed through the northeast corner of Lunenburg County, giving rise to the towns of Kenbridge and Victoria and the community of Dundas.

In 1920, the population of Lunenburg County stood at 15,260 persons. There were a total of 2,108 farms and 9,633 acres dedicated to the cultivation of tobacco. In that year, nearly five million pounds of tobacco were produced.

The single largest change in Lunenburg County between 1917 and 1945 was the loss of the Virginian Line Railroad. The first major change to the Virginian Line came in 1954 when the steam locomotives were discontinued and replaced with diesel engines. The argument was that diesel engines were cleaner and easier to operate. In 1959, the Virginian merged with the Norfolk & Western, later renamed Norfolk Southern.

In 2000, the county’s population had grown to 13,146 and the 2003 estimated population of 13,167 shows continued moderate growth. The 1,100 inmates at the Lunenburg Correctional Center account for the majority of the county’s population growth between 1990 and 2000. The Lunenburg Correctional Center, the Virginia Marble Corporation, and the Kenbridge Construction Company are the largest employers in the county. Barnes Manufacturing Company, a lumber processing concern, is representative of the growing forestry industry in the area. The operation of the tobacco markets is still an important fixture in the local economy and two companies, Imperial Processing and S&M Brands, are engaged in the processing of tobacco and the manufacture of cigarettes.

Source: Kimberly M. Chen & Associates, Inc. An Architectural Survey of Lunenburg County, Virgina, 2005. Accession 42277. Business records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.