2214 Rivermont Ave

2214

W. K. Barger House

1926

Stanhope Johnson

W. K. Barger

Single Family

Craftsman. 2 1/2-story, 2-bay hip-roofed, American Foursquare-style house with hip-roofed front dormer. Porch has clustered piers and brick base. Windows are Craftsman-style. 1-story addition is on east side.

It is believed that 2010, 2212, and 2214 Rivermont were all built on speculation by W. K. Barger. During the 1929 Great Depression, Barger could not sell them. He rented the houses until he could find buyers. Interview with Louise & Michael Dodgion June 15, 2011: In March of 1968, Louise Dodgion and her husband, Waverly, moved into 2214 Rivermont Avenue (built in 1926) and she has lived there ever since. On Sunday drives with her husband, Louise admired the 2 ½ story American Foursquare-style house designed by Stanhope Johnson. They originally thought of making the house into an apartment building, but they decided against any alterations because they liked the house’s appearance so much. Throughout the years, the Dodgions and their son, Michael, established many friendly relationships with their neighbors, especially the McDaniels who formerly resided at 2216 Rivermont. Louise and Michael praised the positive quality of living, as well as access to local shops on the Avenue and downtown. They both clearly love living on Rivermont and cannot imagine a better place to live in the Hill city. Louise remembered that when she moved into 2214 downtown Lynchburg was a true destination in the 1960s, as was Rivermont Avenue. The Jones Library was still at its original location on Lower Rivermont, or, as it was called in earlier times, Library Hill. Louise also recalled a humorous anecdote of being designated as a child in the Jones Library records because of her height even though she was already a grown (and married!) adult. Michael reminisced about his time at Garland-Rodes, located so close to his home that he easily could go home for lunch as well as having recess in Riverside Park. Though it has since been revitalized, downtown was greatly affected by the mass exodus of venerable department stores, shoe stores, furniture stores, movie theaters, and so on to Pittman Plaza, then River Ridge Mall and still later to Wards Road. Closer to home, the Dodgions spoke highly of the establishments that had previously lined Rivermont, such as Pearson’s Drug Store (now Magnolia Foods) or Katie Mundy’s Columns restaurant (now the Randolph College Admissions Office). The Dodgions will always think fondly about the family friendliness of local ice cream shops and toy stores as well. Rivermont Avenue has surely changed over the years, but the Dodgion family does not plan to leave any time soon. Their dedication to life on the Avenue and their historical knowledge of their neighborhood is nothing short of remarkable.