Calloway Store

Historic Restoration at 1301 Pierce Street

Follow the restoration of the Calloway Store. See how we are building a multi-functional visitor center to drive Lynchburg tourism.

The revitalization of 1301 Pierce Street is a multi-stage commitment. We began with a rigorous Study of its historical footprint, followed by a critical Stabilization phase to protect the timber and masonry. We are now entering the Preservation phase, ensuring the Calloway Store remains a permanent fixture of Lynchburg’s heritage.

The ‘Old Store’

The Calloway Store is designed to be a catalyst for economic growth. As a multi-functional nonprofit facility, it will:

Promote tourism within the City of Lynchburg and across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Provide the necessary facilities to manage the high volume of tourists attracted to the PSRHD.

Serve as a model for how historic preservation can drive modern neighborhood renewal.

Fund the Building & Grounds Restoration

Your donation directly supports the stabilization and preservation of 1301 Pierce Street.

Inside the Calloway Store, five children hold canvas tote bags while interacting with long, built-in wooden shelving units. The shelves are mostly empty except for a few vintage bottles and crates. The room features bright orange beadboard walls and a dark wooden floor.

A view looking past a dark doorway into a sunlit room filled with stored wood planks and building materials.

In 1877 William J. Calloway purchased the land formerly occupied by Confederate Camp Davis from William and Fannie Ford. Calloway built a neighborhood general store with living quarters for his wife, Rebecca Pride Calloway, and himself. The owners of the store and occupants of the apartments have changed through the ensuing 150 years.
The store was one of the first black-owned-and-operated neighborhood grocery stores in Lynchburg.

Names of the store and historical timeline:

1877 - Calloway Store

1900 - Calloway and Spencer, “Dealers in Plain and Fancy Groceries, Country Produce, Tobacco and Cigars”

1907 - William Jacob Calloway died and deeded the property to his business partners, Edward and Warwick Spencer.

1912 - Spencer’s Grocery

1940 - Hamilton’s Cash Store

1968 - Pierce Street Grocery Store

1982 - “Old Store” was purchased by Chauncey E. Spencer Sr. from his cousin Robert Crisp, the grandson of Warwick Spencer Jr. Chauncey stabilized the building and drafted architectural plans.

2009 - Shaun Spencer-Hester, the daughter of Chauncey E. Spencer Sr., began work to re-stabilize and restore the “Old Store,” which had been condemned.

2018 - “Old Store” sold by Chauncey’s wife, Anne (Anna Mae Spencer), to Pierce Street Gateway.

2021 - Pierce Street Gateway in collaboration with Team Big Hearts of Leadership Lynchburg 45 opened the Pierce Street Community Garden

A low-angle view looking up a narrow set of worn, painted wooden stairs enclosed by light-colored, rustic wooden plank walls. The stairs lead to a bright opening at the top under an exposed wooden ceiling.

Interior wall with original boards exposed

An old, tall commercial "Dairy Mart" glass-door cooler standing in an empty room with white wooden walls and dark flooring inside the Calloway Store.

A dusty storage room inside the Calloway Store packed with stacks of old wooden planks, salvaged doors, and construction materials leaning against the walls. Sunlight streams in from a large window on the left, illuminating the wooden floorboards and exposed ceiling joists..

Interior view of a room under renovation in the Calloway Store, showing exposed wooden studs, ceiling joists, and a green appliance.

An unfinished room framed with new wooden studs, featuring a standalone white bathtub on a dark wood floor.

A close-up shot of a narrow wooden ladder leaning against a wall of dark, horizontal wood slats inside the Calloway Store. The space is surrounded by raw, unpainted wooden structural framing studs on both sides.

All photos by Ashlee Glen Photo

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