Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia)

Jones Memorial Library is a specialized genealogy and history research library currently located at 2311 Memorial Avenue in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Former Jones Memorial Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Landmarks Register
Former Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
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Location	434 Rivermont Ave., Lynchburg, Virginia
Coordinates	37°25′20″N 79°9′40″W
Area	1.8 acres (0.73 ha)
Built	1906 (1906)
Architect	Frye & Chesterman
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	80004311[1]
VLR No.	118-0153
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 30, 1980
Designated VLR	July 31, 1980[2]

The library was founded by Mary Frances Watts Jones in memory of her husband George Morgan Jones. The library opened in June 1908 as the second oldest public library in Virginia, however, people of color and non-residents were denied entry.[3] The Library had been the dream of George Morgan Jones, philanthropist and industrialist of Lynchburg, but the dream was never realized in his lifetime.

As a memorial to her husband, Mary Frances Watts Jones financed the construction and equipping of the library.[4] Jones stipulated that the library was "wholly for the use of white people without respect for religious distinction," a rule which was enforced until desegregation until the 1960s.[3]

The original George M. Jones Memorial Library historic library building is located at 434 Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was designed by the local architectural firm of Frye & Chesterman. It was erected in 1906–07 in the Neo-Classical Revival style.[5] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

In 1966, the Lynchburg Public Library opened and Jones Memorial Library moved to concentrate its collection efforts on genealogical and historical holdings. As a result, the Jones Memorial Library collections in this area of research are one of the largest in the state. Although the library's primary focus is on the central Virginia area, collections include a wide variety of materials covering the State of Virginia as well as the surrounding states, including county histories and court records, family histories and genealogies, general works on the Civil War, county land tax and personal property tax records, and census records.[6]

In July 1987, Jones Memorial Library moved from the 434 Rivermont Avenue building to its current location at 2311 Memorial Avenue. The library sold the building at 434 Rivermont Avenue in the 1990s. The building was renamed Bahnsen Hall and housed Christ College and the Patrick Henry Institute.[7][8] After the college closed, the building sat vacant for several years. It is planned to be redeveloped into a hotel.[9]

The library is currently located at 2311 Memorial Avenue on the second floor of the former Sears building at The Plaza, above the Lynchburg Public Library's main branch. The library is open Tuesday-Saturday for genealogical and archival research.