To spot the Dicks-Elliott House, look to your left for a sturdy, two-and-a-half-story brick building with a slate roof and green shutters, set right up against the sidewalk on a slight rise-its small porch and unique mid-bay front door set it apart from neighboring homes.
Welcome! As you stand here, imagine the year is 1813. The air smells of wood smoke and fresh brick, and right before you, Agatha Terrell Dicks-widow and daughter of respected Quakers-oversees the final touches on her new Federal-style home. She bought this very plot from her uncle John Lynch, the man who founded the city, for the grand sum of one dollar. Now, I know property values have gone up a bit since then-today, you’d be lucky to get a parking space for that price!
This house was special from day one. Built from brick laid three courses deep, it has a side-gabled slate roof that’s weathered over two centuries of Virginia sun and rain. Step closer, and you’ll see tall, double-hung windows and a doorway-smack in the middle, which was quite the fashion risk for Lynchburg in the 1810s. If you listen for a moment, you might catch the echo of shoes climbing up the wooden steps--and the creak of the small porch as Agatha welcomes guests.
Inside, history breathes through a layout borrowed from Quaker homes in North Carolina. Instead of a formal hallway, visitors step directly into the main room-a warm, bright space where friends and family would share news and laughter. A mysterious winding stair snakes up through all three floors, bypassing the need for grand foyers in favor of practical, cozy living. For a while, there was a brick wing on the northwest side, but that was lost to time, and a tiny outbuilding now stands guard in the corner.
Agatha didn’t live here long. Just a year after building, she sold the house to Peter Elliott, a builder and part-time blacksmith with a knack for adventure-and apparently for moving, because he traveled from Richmond to Lynchburg, then to Kentucky, and finally all the way to Indiana! After Agatha left, seeking freedom from Virginia’s slaveholding laws with her children, the house began its journey through many hands: Irish tobacconist James V. Knight, merchant John T. Murrill, and countless renters who called these brick walls home for over a century.
And this place isn’t short on secrets. During a five-year renovation in the 21st century, new owners found marbles, carpenter tools, old wedding rings-even a bullet mold from the 1800s-tucked away behind floors and fireplaces. Some even say they spotted curious good luck symbols engraved into the hearth, left by owners hoping to ward off bad spirits or, perhaps, to keep the house in their favor.
With a Merit Award from the Lynchburg Historical Foundation and guest appearances on TV shows, the Dicks-Elliott House has become a true local star
