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banked at First National Trust and Savings (later SunTrust) in its recently completed building on Main Street, downtown’s first modern building in the 60s, or at old standards like Lynchburg National Bank (now Wachovia) or Lynchburg Federal Savings and Loan. Pittman Plaza, completed in 1961 on Memorial Avenue, presented a clear challenge to downtown and over the course of the decade attracted Leggett, Sears and Roebuck, and J.C. Penney to the mid-town site. Even smaller retailers like S.O. Fisher responded with branch stores in the new shopping center, weakening downtown in the process.
The boom created by GE, B&W,
and others caused home builders
and developers to quickly create new housing and the city annexed ten additional square miles of adjoining county land in 1958 to provide room. By the 1960s, however, the expansion had cooled and from 1960 to 1969 only 3,600 new residents were added to the community. Shoemaker Craddock-Terry completed new headquarters on the Lynchburg Expressway in 1962, a new Fine Arts Center opened in 1963, heavy electrical manufacturer H.K. Porter
and clothing maker Imperial Reading opened new facilities in 1965, and Lynchburg cut the ribbon on its first publicly-funded library in 1966. Central Virginia Community College was dedicated in 1968 and new branch
The 1960s witnessed fundamental changes in Lynchburg as a result of industrial development, racial integration and a social revolution
that challenged this city’s low-key, conservative past.
TOP TO BOTTOM: Carter Glass Bridge, aerial view of GE plant, Pittman Plaza opening day.
SPRING/SUMMER 2006 7
COURTESY OF THE NEWS & ADVANCE
COURTESY OF THE NEWS & ADVANCE COURTESY OF THE NEWS & ADVANCE


































































































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