For nearly 15 years, Randy Lichtenberger has been shedding light on the long-buried secrets of the Lynchburg region’s history. Lichtenberger, an archaeologist, has helped unearth the pasts of historical treasure troves like Old City Cemetery, Historic Sandusky, and Cabellsville in Nelson County. “There’s a sense of discovery to it, I think, figuring out what was there and the meaning behind it,” said the Upstate New York native.
“Not everybody wants to be out digging all day, but it’s fun to see what comes out of it.”
Lichtenberger, 46, first arrived in Central Virginia in 2000 as a field director for Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. Today, he is a regional archaeologist for the Virginia Department of Transportation and director of cultural resources for Hurt & Proffitt Inc.
His work has given him a hand in countless projects throughout the region. In January, he was named Preservationist of the Year by the Lynchburg Historical Foundation.
“It’s so wonderful to have a local person to work on all of these historic sites instead of hiring a big contractor from out of the city or even out of the state,” foundation director Sally Schneider said.
“He’s just a really great man who has given so much back to the community. He is a local person, and his passion is for the history of Lynchburg and its surrounding areas.”
Lichtenberger’s interest in archeology was first sparked in college by a chance sighting of a poster advertising an archeology field program.
“It was 10 weeks for one summer,” he said. “And after that, I was hooked on archeology.”
Since then, elbow-deep in dirt is Lichtenberger’s ideal day at the office. The painstaking work requires patience and fortitude.
“You have to be willing to do a lot of work without finding much, if you’re talking about field work,” he said.
“But I just enjoy it so much. I wish I had more time in the day to do more.”
Last year, Lichtenberger led the most extensive excavation to date at Old City Cemetery, a popular Lynchburg historical site and Virginia’s oldest public burial ground.
The project helped pinpoint the location of more than 40 unmarked graves belonging to Confederate soldiers. Old City Cemetery curator Ted Delaney said they hope to get Lichtenberger back this year to continue the work.
“He has been great to work with, no question,” Delaney said. “He’s really passionate about history and archeology. He does it as a day job, but also spends a lot of his weekends and free time volunteering and doing these kinds of things.”
Over the years, Lichtenberger has lead educational workshops and was part of creating Sweet Briar College’s archaeology lab, which opened in 2011 and works closely with Hurt & Proffitt to give students hands-on experience.
Delaney, who wrote one of the letters nominating Lichtenberger for Preservationist of the Year, said he brings a wide range of expertise to each project.
“Because I’ve worked with him for so many years and because I know how much he cares about local history, it seemed very fitting to me that he should get this award,” Delaney said.
This year, Lichtenberger’s projects will include monitoring the City of Lynchburg’s combined sewer overflow construction along the downtown riverfront to ensure it doesn’t disrupt the historical remnants of the old canal. He also has been pursuing his doctorate at the University of Virginia, and is weighing his choices of dissertation topics.
Lichtenberger, who lives in Campbell County, said he felt this region was more preservation minded than many other places he’s hailed from.
“It’s something apparent in just the number of people involved in historical and preservation organizations in the area,” he said. “There are hundreds of people involved in those groups, and it’s really impressive.”
When asked for his favorite historical period, Lichtenberger heaved the sigh of someone who’s been presented with too many choices.
He finally settled on the nation’s early history leading up to the Revolutionary War.
“I think partly it’s just how things were so unsettled at that time in terms of what we were going to look like as a nation,” he said.
“And the artifact assemblage is really interesting. There is a huge variety of artifacts that come out of that period, particularly a nice variety of ceramics. You get attached to certain kinds of ceramics, I think, when you’re an archaeologist.” .
Contact Alicia Petska at (434) 385-5542 or apetska@newsadvance.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AliciaPetska. Courtesy of The News & Advance.
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