relating to Whitmell P. Tunstall: Whitmell P. Tunstall (L-48) marker is located about one mile south of Chatham in Pittsylvania County. It is on the east side of U.S. Highway 29 at Tightsqueeze just south of the Fairview Road intersection. The marker text reads "One mile east stands Belle Grove, the home of Whitmell Pugh Tunstall (1810-1854). Educated at Danville Academy and the University of North Carolina, Tunstall was admitted to the bar in 1832. He served in the House of Delegates (1836-1841; 1845-1848) and the Senate of Virginia (1841-1842). As a delegate representing Pittsylvania County, he fought for a decade to charter the Richmond and Danville Railroad (part of the present-day Norfolk Southern Railway). He served as the company's first president from 1847 until his death. Tunstall is buried at Belle Grove. Department of Historic Resources, 1993" Whitmell School (U-38) marker reads "Founded in 1878 as a two-room school and named for state senator Whitmell P. Tunstall, in 1918 the Whitmell Farm-Life School became the first rural consolidated school in Pittsylvania County. Sarah Archie Swanson Beverly, who between 1916 and 1951 taught there and served as principal, believed that "the country school must be the center of community life." Under her leadership, Whitmell School attained that goal as a model progressive school. In 1920, the National Conference on Rural Education and Country Life was held here, followed in 1923 by the Virginia Rural Life Conference, which Gov. E. Lee Trinkle and U.S. Sen. Carter Glass addressed." See also Richmond and Danville Railroad Algernon S. Buford References Victorian Villa Whitmell P. Tunstall: Railroad Creator Retrieved on June 28, 2007 Victorian Villa Virginia Highway Marker: Whitmell P. Tunstall Retrieved on June 28, 2007 External links Tunstall High School Whitmell School The Richmond and Danville Rail Trail 1810 births 1854 deaths People from Pittsylvania County, Virginia 19th-century American railroad executives Virginia state senators Virginia lawyers 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers