Category: People
People of interest or influence in the town and surrounding region. Family histories, notable individuals, and historic figures.
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Robert Lee Bryan ~ Printer and Newspaper Man
Robert Lee Bryan was born on 21 January 1909 in Charlottesville, VA, and was the son of William Whitaker Bryan (1880-1930) and Addye (Beattie) Bryan (1886-1955). William Bryan ran a print shop called the Virginia Printing Company, and his son, Robert, started helping his father by running printing errands for him when he was only…
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James Franklin Dorrier ~ Scottsville National Bank
James Franklin Dorrier began his banking career as a cashier at the Scottsville National Bank, an independent organization, when it was started in 1901. In 1919, he left banking for 15 years and engaged in the construction business with Lane Brothers Construction Company in Esmont, and also on his own in West Virginia, Kentucky, and…
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Thomas Ellison Bruce ~ Community Leader
Thomas Ellison Bruce, Sr., owner of Bruce’s Drug Store in Scottsville, was a popular and successful community leader. He served four terms as Mayor of Scottsville (1935-1943) and played an important role in attracting new business to an economically disadvantaged community with a declining population. When more rayon cord was needed for military tires during…
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Private Samuel Moon ~ Twilight Tours 2017
Less than a week to the 2026 Twilight Tours! We’re posting highlights from past Tours to put you in the mood for this season of spooks and spirits. Get details and tickets here: The Moon family’s history in Scottsville is broad and deep, dating all the way back to the colonial era. Descendants of Littleberry…
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Pitts Market on Main Street
Shown above in this 2026 photo is the former Pitts Market (operated on the first floor at the left of this building from 1937-1962) and home of the William Robert and Ruth (Kent) Pitts family at right behind the porch and in rooms behind the store. In the 1950’s, Scottsville had four grocery stores. One…
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The Old Apothecary Shop
The Old Apothecary Shop, located at 510 Valley Street, was built ca. 1832. The two-story brick building served as an apothecary where town doctors prepared drugs and medicinal compounds for their patients from 1876 – 1908. As business grew, Dr. Luther R. Stinson and Dr. Benjamin L. Dillard, two practicing physicians in Scottsville, found it…
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The Beal Building
The Beal Building, located at 380-398 Valley Street, was built circa 1841-1850 on Lot 148. In 1850, Joseph Beal purchased the east half of this lot on which this large brick building with a slate roof stands. Mr. Beal began his mercantile business in this building, and many Beal businesses were housed here over the…
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Miss Hannah Moore’s Boarding House
Miss Hannah Moore built her Boarding House (the brick house at the right of this photo) in 1910 on the east side of Valley St. She opened it as a boarding house in 1911, and for years, Miss Willie Hitchcock lived there. Miss Willie, cousin to Wild Bill Hitchcock, taught the Lewis children in the…
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Hatton Post Office
The Hatton Post Office began operation at Brown’s Landing (now called Hatton) in late 1883. The postal facility sat just inside the front door of Brown’s Store and contained walnut mail boxes (shown above) for its customers and a wooden window through which mail and stamps were dispensed. Although a post office most often assumes…
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Scottsville Volunteer Fire Department’s 75th Anniversary
by Marianne Ramsden Scottsville made a concerted effort to keep the town safe from fires since the beginning of the 1900’s. A bucket brigade formed in 1905, and the town fire hydrants were installed in 1916. That same year, the volunteer fire fighters raised enough money to buy two fire hose reel carts. These carts…
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