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Why Bowmans?
We have been providing Lockmsith services to the Lynchburg area for over a century. Starting in 1918, our company has built a profound clientele based in Lynchburg and stretching from the Roanoke Valley to the Hills of Albemarle.
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See why people love working with us;
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Time Efficiancy; We value your time just as much as you value ours. It is our duty to not only get the job done right, but to get it done promptly.
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Customer Value; We view each of our customers as family and strive to build a lasting community with all those we service.
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Variety; As locksmiths we do not only cut keys and unlock customers each day. In addition we offer a wide variety of security and lock services. Whether it is Automotive, Commercial, or Residential, we are here for you.
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Shop Hours; A good amount of our work is done on the site the customer needs work done. However many of our customers enjoy our shop, it provides them a place to bring projects to us and a space we can share and display our work for all those who walk through our doors. We are open Monday thru Friday 8AM to 5PM. You do not need an appointment just walk on in! If you stop by and pay with cash you can get in on our 5% cash discount :)
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Experience; With being one of the oldest Locksmith shops in the nation, we lead our area with experience in locksmith services. On our team we have technicians that have worked for almost thirty years in the industry and are ready to service when you need us.
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Local; As a small family owned business, we truly value our local business owners and residents. We love our Lynchburg community!
OUR
STORY
Top to Bottom: Looking across the intersection of Eighth and Main, The second location of the company and first under Clayton Bowman's ownership can be seen, 210 Eighth Street, the first floor of the Carroll Hotel. Cutting a Key, Clayton Bowman works during his final days as a locksmith. Picking a lock, Claude T. Bryant, the first generation of Bryant ownership, is seen in the storefront of the current shop location on Church Street. Holding a tear gas container which was used to route burgalers at The Hollins Mill Drive-In, Gwendolyn Bryant, wife of Claude works on-site of a job. The third generation of Bryant ownership, Stephen Bryant looks through a catalog for ordering inventory in the shop's current storefront.
Our story begins right whithin the same community we reside in today, in Downtown Lynchburg 1918. Our Founders and two business partners, John and Dan Guilfoyle started the key making business in a storefront along Main Street. In 1919, Clayton M. Bowman, a lifetime resident of Lynchburg took over the business and made its name to match with his, Bowmans Locksmith Company. Clayton Bowman moved the shop to a small rented space underneath the no longer existant Carroll Hotel which stood on the corner of Main and Eighth streets. Mr. Bowman ran the company for 33 years while also holding office as the City of Lynchburg's registrar Part-Time. Our company has moved to several locations across Downtown Lynchburg including locations on 5th street, 11th street, and at one time was ran from The Miller-Claytor House which is now accessible in Riverside Park. Mr. Bowman retired from locksmithing in the summer of 1951 to pursue The City Registrar position full-time, the first ever time someone held the position full-time. Bowman handed the business down to a treasured and loyal employee of 16 years, Claude T. Bryant. Claude took over the business with the help of his wife, Gwendolyn Bryant and later their two sons, Richard and Preston.
In August of 1952, Bowman’s Lockmsith moved to its current spot it is ran from today, 1104 Church Street. The building was used as a Cities Service conveincince store and gas station for the downtown community. Once we acquired the building, the carport out front and two bay garage that once serviced vehicles was transformed into the headquarters for servicing The Hill City’s locks and keys. The store front which may have then sold motor oil and perhaps sodas for customers is now decorated in the shining metal of thousands of keys and used as our workshop for cutting, re-keying, unlocking, and servicing your security hardware. The Cities Service gas stations that were once recognized across America for its iconic green and white striped look has now been evolved and preserved into our iconic presence upon Church Street.
In the late 1990’s Claude and Gwendolyn Bryant handed the keys of their locksmith legacy over to their two sons, Richard and Preston Bryant. Richard and Preston ran the company together until Richard’s death in February of 2013. From then on, Preston and his son, Stephen Bryant continued the now ‘family tradition’ of unlocking and servicing the area. Preston died in Spetember of 2016 and with that, the business was taken over by Stephen. In Janurary of 2018, Stephen's wife, Jaime, joined him in the locksmithing world after leaving a nursing career of almost two decades. Stephen and Jamie continue to run the company today with their full-time technician, Adrian Bucham.
The company celebrated 100 years of service in 2018. Today, Bowmans Locksmith is operated as the oldest Locksmith company in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the third oldest in The United States followed by Edward C. Mangione Lockmsiths (Albany, NY) and The Saucedo Company (El Paso, TX). Our company is the very definition of ‘The American Dream’ and with our community we serve, we will continue to place each and every customer we serve as part of our story and growth for the next 100 years!
Meet the Team
