Thomas Jefferson Boyd, known as the Father of Wytheville, was born on June 15, 1804, in Albemarle County and, after graduating in the first class of the University of Virginia Law School, moved to Wytheville to establish a law practice with Judge David McComas. He also established the Boyd Hotel, for years the tallest building in Virginia, and ran it from 1858 until 1893. Boyd served as trustee of the town from 1839 to his death in 1893, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1848 to 1853, and served as a State Commissioner of Public Works from 1853 to 1859. After retiring from law, he focused on planning and surveying the streets of Wytheville, intentionally making them wider than normal, and is estimated to have donated roughly $20,000 to the town in land, services, and taxes. The Thomas J. Boyd Museum, open since 1983, bears his name. Also associated with the museum are the 1895 cast-cement cornerstone of the Wytheville Opera House, which stood at Church and Spring Street as a venue for entertainment, films, meetings, and E. Lee Trinkle's gubernatorial campaign before fire destroyed the three-story building in 1946, a horse drinking fountain that once stood outside the Wytheville Courthouse and served townspeople and travelers, and a stone stile used for mounting carriages and horses, now located in front of the museum after formerly standing on Withers Road.