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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/advantagesofrich01rich_0 
 
THE ADVANTAGES 
 
 OF 
 
 RICHMOND, 
 
 VIRGINIA, 
 
 AS A 
 
 Manufacturing # Trading 
 CENTRE, 
 
 WITH NOTES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF TOURISTS 
 ON THE LINES OF TRANSPORTATION 
 RUNNING FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 RICHMOND; 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE TRADE COMMITTEES OF 
 THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL CLUB. 
 
WM. ELLIS JONES, 
 PRINTER, 
 RICHMOND, VA. 
 
< 775 '. W 3 
 
 if? ■ 6 3 ' 3 K — 
 
 To The Reader: 
 
 The wonderful development of the great West 
 is very largely due to the aid afforded by the men and money 
 of New England and the East. It is believed that the time 
 has come when the men and money of New England and the 
 East can find as rich returns in Southern development. In 
 this view the good people of Richmond present this little book, 
 and they ask for its contents a patient consideration. 
 
 P33482 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. — Richmond , Virginia: Page. 
 
 Settlement — Topography — Health — Public Grounds and 
 Parks — Inter-Communication — Churches — Schools and 
 Colleges — Temper of People, &c 5-10 
 
 Chapter II. — Means of Transportation: 
 
 The Past and the Present — The Various Railroad Sys- 
 tems — The Country Drained by Them — Water Com- 
 munication 1 1-2 1 
 
 Chapter III. — General Manufacturing Exhibit: 
 
 Capital Invested — Hands Employed — Aggregate Sales — 
 
 Special Advantages — Water and Steam Power — Labor 
 Supply — Raw Material Available — Fostering Auxilia- 
 ries 22-29 
 
 Chapter IV. — Manufactures in Detail: 
 
 The Banking Basis — The Coal Movement — The Iron 
 Interest — Milling — A Comprehensive Range of Indus- 
 tries 3°~45 
 
 Chapter V. — The fobbing Trade: 
 
 How It Plas Been Built Up — Richmond the Closest, 
 Cheapest, and Most Natural Market for the South — 
 
 List of Jobbing Enterprises — Some Potent Reasons 
 Why the Trade Will Continue to Increase 46-49 
 
 Chapter VI. — Of Interest to Tourists : 
 
 Historic — Points of Interest in the City — As a Home for 
 Invalids — The Scenery on the Railroad Lines and the 
 Summer Resorts 50-64 
 
Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SETTLEMENT— TOPOGRAPHY— HEALTH— PUBLIC GROUNDS 
 AND PARKS — INTER-COMMUNICATION — CHURCHES— 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES— TEMPER OF PEOPLE, &c. 
 
 Richmond, the capital city of Virginia, was settled in 1609 by 
 a small body of colonists sent out from Jamestown, but for a long 
 period it was little more than an outpost on the then frontier. In 
 1737 it was laid off in streets and lots by Colonel William Byrd, 
 was duly incorporated in 1742, and became the seat of govern- 
 ment in 1779. It is situated at the head of navigation and tide- 
 water, on James river, 74 miles in an air line from the sea; 150 
 miles by the river. Latitude 30°, 32', 17", N. ; longitude 77 0 , 
 27', 28", W. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. 
 
 Topographically considered, the city is built upon two undu- 
 lating plateaux, resting on granite, divided by the valley of 
 Shockoe creek, and again subdivided by smaller valleys and 
 ravines, through one of which flows Gillie’s creek. This latter 
 stream may be said tc divide the eastern plateau proper from 
 another plateau extending into the country. The general ap- 
 pearance of the city, particularly from the river front, which is 
 2.06 miles in length between the eastern and western corporation 
 limits, is hilly. The principal streets are laid off from east to 
 west, parallel with the river; the cross streets from north to south, 
 the blocks being rectangular and for the most part of uniform 
 area. The lowest sections of the city range from 15 to 40 feet, 
 and the highest from 150 to 200 feet, above tide level. The cor- 
 poration area, as at present bounded, embraces 6.12 square miles. 
 
 P33462 
 
6 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 Its greatest length from east to west is 3.50 miles; from north to 
 south, 1.75 miles. The pavements are from 10 to 12 feet in 
 width. 
 
 HEALTH AND DRAINAGE. 
 
 In point of health Richmond has every natural advantage. 
 The mean temperature for the year 1881 was 6i°, and its eleva- 
 tion above the sea secures it a constancy of pure air. Total rain- 
 fall (1881), 38.64 inches ; average for eleven years 37.37 inches. 
 Even at the highest range of the thermometer sunstroke is very 
 rare, and seldom fatal. The undulating and rolling character of 
 the surface, producing short divides between the valleys of the 
 creeks and the ravines, render it easily drained by its 18.35 miles 
 of main sewerage already completed. As building extends the 
 drainage and grading extends with it. 
 
 PUBLIC GROUNDS AND PARKS. 
 
 The total area of the public grounds and parks in the city 
 proper is above 40 acres — divided into five principal parks and 
 a number of smaller open spaces. Chimborazo Park, 29, and 
 Libby Hill Park, 3.50 acres, are located in the eastern portion 
 of the city, 150 feet above tide level. They command a view 
 of the city of Manchester on the opposite side of the river, to- 
 gether with the bridges connecting it and Richmond; the lower 
 James and its tortuous and picturesque windings for miles; the 
 falls above the city, the docks and wharves, and the rich low- 
 grounds of Chesterfield county. The Capitol Park, 13 acres, 
 with its ancient State-house, its statuary, its parade ground, 
 and beautiful foliage, is like Boston Common, the centre of 
 the city, and promises to continue the point from which exten- 
 sions will be made in all available directions. Gamble’s Hill 
 Park, 8.50 acres, is on the south and river front of the city, over- 
 looking many of the principal manufacturing establishments, and 
 also commanding a view of Manchester, the lower James, Belle 
 Isle, and the smaller islands that stud the river at and above the 
 falls. Monroe Park, 8.875 acres, is in the western extension of 
 the city — -a level plat, well shaded and beautifully ornamented 
 with beds of shrubs and flowers. Just on the western edge of 
 the city are the Old Reservoir grounds — a most attractive place, 
 — and a mile further west is the New Reservoir Park. This latter 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 7 
 
 embraces 160 acres, bordering on the upper reach of the James, 
 and is the driving park of the Richmond people. Here are located 
 the New Reservoir and the New Pump Houses. The drives are 
 kept in fine condition, and in the course of a few years the entire 
 area will be thoroughly shaded. One of its present principal 
 attractions is a large lake, used for boating in the summer and 
 skating in the winter. It is also used as a fish-hatchery, and is 
 one of a projected cordon of lakes to be extended to the river, 
 the last of which will, in certain seasons, be at the service of 
 anglers. 
 
 INTER-COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Communication between the different parts ot the city is easy 
 and convenient. A double-street railway track traverses the two 
 principal thoroughfares — Main and Broad streets — from east to 
 west, with the prospect of several cross lines, and a further ex- 
 tension west, as improvements may demand. With the street- 
 car facilities now afforded, access from the line to most any part 
 ol the city requires only a few minutes walk. 
 
 GAS AND WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 The city is well lighted by gas, of its own manufacture, and is 
 now abundantly supplied with water from James river, the purity 
 of which is well attested both by the experience of the people 
 and chemical analysis. The water is pumped from several sta- 
 tions along the upper river front, or falls, above navigation, 
 which renders it free from pollution of any character whatever, 
 and into reservoirs, dividing the distribution into two services. 
 The maximum pumping capacity is 24,000,000 of gallons per 
 day, and the total storage capacity of the reservoirs 52,000,000 
 of gallons. The city authorities, realizing that rapid growth in 
 population and manufactures could not be assured except with 
 an ample supply of water, made the splendid provision for it 
 above described. The fire department is paid by the city, and 
 is efficient both as to apparatus and the men composing it. 
 
 CHURCH EDIFICES AND MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 It has been frequently remarked, with a great deal of truth, by 
 strangers visiting the city, that it is the “greatest church-going 
 
 / 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 place of its size in the United States.” The church statistics for 
 1881 make the following exhibit. Number of edifices 55, di- 
 vided as follows: Baptist, white, 9, colored, 10; Catholic, 3; Dis ■ 
 ciples or Christians, 2; Episcopal, white, 9, colored, 1 ; Friends, 1 ; 
 German Evangelical, 1; Hebrew, 3; Lutheran, 2; Methodist, 
 white, 8, colored, 2; Presbyterian, 4; total membership 30,146, or 
 but a fraction less than one-half of the entire population, which, 
 according to the census of 1880, was 63,600. The total number 
 of children in Sunday schools was 14,893. Since these figures 
 were compiled several new congregations have been organized. 
 Some of the church edifices are exceedingly handsome, and 
 connected with all the denominations are working and effective 
 benevolent organizations. 
 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 The educational facilities are unsurpassed. The free schools 
 are thirteen in number, grading from the high school to the pri- 
 mary, and in accommodations, teaching ability, and the general 
 supervision given them, compare most favorably with any free 
 schools in any city North or South — a fact fully attested by lead- 
 ing educators from other States. In 1881 the total number 
 of teachers in service was 146; — scholars, 5,995. The private 
 schools of all grades are abundant. Richmond College, and the 
 Virginia Medical College, together with several large female in- 
 stitutes are also located here. Besides this the city is within a 
 days’ ride of all the leading institutions of learning in the State. 
 The Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee Uni- 
 versity at Lexington ; the University of Virginia, near Charlottes- 
 ville ; William and Mary College at Williamsburg ; Hampden 
 Sidney College, and Union Theological Seminary, near Farm- 
 ville ; Roanoke College, at Salem ; Randolph Macon College, at 
 Ashland, and the several female seminaries and male academies 
 at Petersburg, Staunton, Danville and other points. 
 
 AS A HOME FOR ARTIZANS. 
 
 Few cities can offer greater inducements than Richmond as a 
 home for artizans. In addition to its school and church privi- 
 leges and its healthy location, it presents unusual facilities for 
 enabling the thrifty to buy their own houses. In nearly every 
 
LOIlRlIlIll* 
 
 
 
 HMUjV 
 
 
 
 Gnnecti 0 ^ 
 
 [NEWPORT NEW4 
 A violmty. >• 
 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 9 
 
 direction in which the city is extending there are desirable build- 
 ing lots which can be bought cheap, and are convenient to the 
 manufacturing plants that have been or may be made. The 
 means of enjoyment in the city are ample — all the respectable 
 benevolent orders are in good condition, and wages in proportion 
 to the cost of living are higher than in many northern cities. 
 The tenement-house system, with the stifling atmosphere of nar- 
 row streets and cramped courts is practically unknown and un- 
 necessary. Besides having the parks as “breathing places” in 
 warm weather, it is hardly possible to walk a half dozen blocks 
 in any direction in the city without coming in sight of running 
 water and green fields. The city is beautifully shaded with lin- 
 den, maple, and other choice trees. 
 
 COST OF LIVING. 
 
 During the present year there has been a slight advance in 
 rents, owing to the unusual demand for houses. But this is com- 
 pensated for in the low price of necessary articles of living. All 
 the railroads leading into the city run through thickly wooded 
 sections of the State, and all save one have coal fields on their 
 line. In the matter of fuel alone it is safe to assert there is a 
 difference of fifty cents per ton in coal at retail in favor of Rich- 
 mond consumers the year round, as compared with northern 
 trade centres. In wood there is about four times this margin. 
 Live stock raising is a large industry in the western and south- 
 western portions of the State particularly, and the price of meats 
 averages much below the cost in cities north of us. In vegeta- 
 bles, owing to the fact that the surrounding country is one vast 
 market garden, the price is reduced almost to a minimum. The 
 fish and oyster supply is unlimited, and is accessible by both the 
 York and the James rivers. Shad run to our very wharves, and 
 the river above the city is well stocked with game fishes. From 
 the mountains, in season, is brought a plentiful supply of venison. 
 To revert to the matter of rents, however, as before indicated, on 
 all the suburbs there are most advantageous building sites to be 
 purchased cheaply, and which, it may be added, offer induce- 
 ments to build, not only for individual occupancy, but for rental. 
 In view of the abundance of brick-clay, granite, timber and 
 other material used in building, contiguous to the city, capital 
 could find no better investment than in small houses for artizans 
 
10 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 and others in moderate circumstances. It is demonstrable, con- 
 sidering the low price of ground, that a given number of such 
 houses, which in Philadelphia, for instance, would yield from 
 three to four per cent, upon the investment, would in Richmond 
 yield six or seven per cent. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The people of Richmond are notably law-abiding and hospi- 
 table. To strangers they show every courtesy, business and 
 social, and are ever ready to extend a warm welcome to any who 
 may desire to settle in their midst. There are three large clubs, 
 the Commercial, the Richmond and the Westmoreland, and 
 several minor clubs, the doors of which are open to all visitors 
 who may be properly introduced, and where the best elements of 
 business and society circles are met with. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS AND LIBRARY FACILITIES. 
 
 There are five daily papers in Richmond — the Dispatch , the 
 Whig , the Siaats- Gazette, the Zietung , (the two latter German), 
 morning, and the State , evening. The religious papers are, the 
 Central Presbyterian , the Southern Churchman t. Episcopal), the 
 Catholic Visitor, the Christian Advocate (Methodist), and the 
 Religious Herald (Baptist). The periodicals are the Virginia 
 Medical Monthly, the Southern Clinic, the Southern Planter, 
 the Souther n Pulpit, the Southern Historical Society Papers, 
 and the Virginia Educatio7ial Journal. There are also sev- 
 eral literary, news and trade weeklies, including the Indus- 
 trial South, the Commercial and Tobacco Leaf, Every Satur- 
 day, the Star, and the Trade Journal and Hotel Reporter. 
 The library facilities are the State, the Court of Appeals, the 
 Young Men’s Christian Association, the Richmond College, and 
 several smaller libraries. The principal places of amusement 
 are the Richmond Theatre and Mozart Hall, and a joint stock 
 company is being formed to erect a handsome Opera House. 
 The Mozart Association was organized as a glee club several 
 years ago, and now has five hundred contributing members. 
 Concerts or parlor operas, in which are engaged the best amateur 
 and professional musical talent in the city, are given weekly. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 THE PAST AND THE PRESENT— THE VARIOUS RAILROAD 
 SYSTEMS— THE COUNTRY DRAINED BY THEM— WATER 
 COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Before presenting the claims and advantages of Richmond as 
 a commercial and manufacturing centre, there are several points 
 to be submitted in anticipation of the obvious question, “ Why 
 has not progress in these directions been more rapid ?” This 
 is easily accounted for. When the facts are weighed, it will, we 
 are confident, be admitted that under the circumstances the city’s 
 recuperation and development have been unprecedented. Vir- 
 ginia, in common with the South in general, was, prior to the 
 war, an agricultural country by distinction. The comfort of the 
 people was so universal, that there was little disposition to em- 
 bark much in manufactures, or any business conducted on a 
 large scale, except as hereinafter noted. With the abolition of 
 slavery, bearing as it did so severely upon the farming in- 
 terest, the Energies of the people had to be directed to new call- 
 ings. The accommodation to this state of things was necessarily 
 gradual, yet our men are now found in every line of business ; 
 and it is not too much to assert that what has already been 
 accomplished gives promise of a splendid future. As for Rich- 
 mond itself, seventeen years ago the whole business portion 
 was in ashes and without insurance. The principle streets 
 were impassable for vehicles, and the people were without 
 a medium of exchange. Utter ruin, financially, was the rule. 
 What capital could be borrowed, or in any way realized from 
 the wreck, had to be invested in rebuilding, or in business 
 ventures, which, through immediate demand, would insure the 
 quickest profit. Business men had literally to begin at the 
 
12 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 bottom, and, what is more, become used to a manner of doing 
 business which was entirely new to their experience. Fur- 
 ther, until within the last few years, railroad connections were 
 incomplete, as far as any extended territory for profitable distri- 
 bution was concerned, and what territory was accessible was barred 
 against Richmond trade by the railroad discriminations in favor 
 of other points. Every influence that could be exerted, was ex- 
 erted to the utmost to drive the Southern trade to cities further 
 north. The task of overcoming these obstacles was a herculean 
 one, but will and energy have accomplished it. Steadily and con- 
 servatively business has been pushed until, against the condition 
 of affairs above cited, Richmond shows to-day, a business quarter 
 handsomely and substantially rebuilt, a credit that would be an 
 honor to any community, an immense and constantly increasing 
 wholesale trade, and a manufacturing interest which, in 1881, was 
 represented by nearly $33,000,000 of sales. The enterprise, bus- 
 iness tact, and public spirit of the people have finally compelled, 
 a recognition of the importance of the city as a distributing centre 
 for the South and West, and the result is that it is the point of 
 radiation for six railroads, which separately or as parts of great 
 trunk lines or systems, bring it in connection with and ramify every 
 portion of the Union. From the wharves in Rocketts, and from’ 
 Newports News, and West Point — deep water outlets for and 
 tributaries to Richmond commerce, — there are also facilities for 
 reaching by both sailing vessels and steamers all the important 
 home and foreign ports. In order to convey an adequate idea 
 of the relations of Richmond to the fields of trade demand and 
 supply, let us take a brief glance at the railroad systems and other 
 lines of transportion centering here. 
 
 RICHMOND AND DANVILLE RAILROAD SYSTEM. 
 
 This system (see accompanying map) controls through owner- 
 ship and lease 2,006.50 miles of trackage, as follows : Richmond 
 and * Danville Railroad, main line and branches, Richmond to 
 Danville, Va., 152 miles; Piedmont Railroad, Danville, Va., to 
 Greensboro, N. C., 49 miles; North Carolina Railroad, Golds- 
 boro to Charlotte, N. C., 223 miles; North Western North Caro- 
 lina Railroad, Greensboro to Salem, N. C., 25 miles; Charlotte, 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 13 
 
 'Columbia and Augusta Railroad, Charlotte, N. C., to Augusta, 
 Ga., 191 miles; Western North Carolina Railroad, Salisbury, N. 
 C., to Paint Rock, Tenn., 186 miles; Columbia and Greensville 
 Railroad and branches, Columbia, S. C., to Greensville, S. C., 
 296 miles; Knoxville and Augusta Railroad, Knoxville, Tenn., 
 to Maysville, Tenn., 16 miles; Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line 
 Railway, Charlotte, N. C., to Atlanta, Ga., 288 miles; North 
 Eastern Railroad of Georgia, Lulu, Ga., to Athens, Ga., 40 miles ; 
 Elberton Air- Line Railway, Elberton, Ga., to Toccoa, Ga., 51 
 miles; Spartansburg and Ashville Railroad, Spartansburg, S. 
 C., to Henderson, N. C., 50 miles; Richmond, York River 
 and Chesapeake Railroad, Richmond to West Point, Va., 39 
 miles; Virginia Midland Railway, Danville, Va., to Alexandria, 
 Va., 400.50 miles. From Richmond the line passes through 
 the coalfields and granite formations of Chesterfield, crossing the 
 Norfolk and Western (from Norfolk via Farmville and Lynch- 
 burg, and onward through southwestern Virginia) at Burke- 
 ville. Thence almost in a direct line through the grain and 
 tobacco districts to Danville — the terminus of the old main 
 line. At Danville it connects with the Virginia Midland north. 
 Southwardly the system extends over the North Carolina Rail- 
 road to Charlotte, N. C., thence dividing, with one line to Au- 
 gusta, Ga., and the other to Atlanta, Ga. From Atlanta, Ga., 
 the line under construction is projected through Birmingham 
 and the Black Warrier coal-fields of North Alabama, across the 
 Mississippi river to Texarcana, Texas, to connect at that point 
 with the Texas, Mexican and California Railroad lines. 
 
 In North Carolina and South Carolina the system intersects 
 the leading lines, finished and projected, from east to west, its cross 
 lines and feeders draining the entire Piedmont sections, not only 
 of Virginia, but of North Carolina and South Carolina, bringing 
 the principal towns and cities in these sections some two hundred 
 miles nearer to Richmond than to any Northern city seeking 
 Southern trade. The system runs, also in the most direct route 
 through the fine tobacco district of North Carolina, and the 
 great cotton belts of South Carolina and Georgia, and has under 
 natural tribute for outlet the inexhaustible mineral deposits of the 
 three latter States, together with the products of their forests. 
 The Western North Carolina railroad from Salisbury, on the 
 
14 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 main stem to Paint Rock, Tennessee, from which point it is. 
 projected to Morristown, in that State, is an especially important 
 feeder, opening up, not only the most picturesque portion of 
 North Carolina, but a most valuable country both in point of 
 agricultural and mineral products. It is especially a region of 
 marbles of all shades. At Richmond and West Point the system 
 has water connection with all the principal Northern ports, and 
 wharfage capacity and depth of water sufficient for direct ship- 
 ment to all foreign countries. 
 
 CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY SYSTEM. 
 
 The Chesapeake and Ohio system proper (see map) has under 
 trackage 1,121 miles — Chesapeake and Ohio railway, Richmond, 
 Va., to Huntington, West Va , 420 miles ; Newports News line, 
 Richmond to Newports News, 75 miles; Elizabethtown, Lexing- 
 ton and Big Sandy railway, Huntington, West Va., to Lexington, 
 Ky., 140 miles; Louisville and Nashville railroad, Lexington, 
 Ky., to Louisville, Ky., 94 miles ; Chesapeake and Ohio and 
 Southwest railway, Louisville, Ky , to Memphis, Tenn.,392 miles. 
 At Memphis it connects with the Memphis and Little Rock rail- 
 road to Little Rock, where connection is made with Gould’s sys- 
 tem to El Paso, on the Southern Pacific, running through to San 
 Lrancisco, Cal., and giving the most direct route to the Golden 
 Gate, as attested by the shipments via Richmond from New 
 York. In addition to what has been denominated as the Chesa- 
 peake and Ohio railway system proper, the Northwestern system 
 runs from Lexington, Ky., to Covington, Ky., (Cincinnati), 99 
 miles; from Cincinnati over the C. I., St. L. and C. line to 
 Kankakee, 253 miles, connecting with the Illinois Central, 56 
 miles, to Chicago — making the comparative distances between 
 Atlantic ports and principal Western railroad centres by the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio system and its projected connections, and 
 by other trunk lines, as follows : 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 15 
 
 MILES FROM PORT OF— 
 
 Richmond, via Ches. and Ohio.... 
 
 Baltimore, via Balt, and Ohio 
 
 Philadelphia, via Penn, railroad... 
 
 New York, via Erie railway 
 
 New York, via N. Y. Central 
 
 Boston, via N. Y. Central 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The line runs in Virginia and West Virginia from Richmond 
 via Gordonsville, Charlottesville and Staunton to the Ohio river. 
 It drains the upland tobacco, corn and wheat sections of Eastern 
 Virginia, the great granaries of “ the great Valley,” bisecting the 
 vast coal basins of West Virginia, and pierces the very heart of 
 some of the most extensive beds of iron and other ores in the 
 whole southern country. The coal supply, contiguous to the 
 road, is practically beyond computation, and the expense of 
 mining is reduced to a minimum compared with the cost in many 
 other fields. Shaft work, usually such a heavy charge, is un- 
 known, except for air holes, which can be sunk for a trifling sum. 
 The character of the coals are bituminous, and semi-bituminous 
 viz : Cannel, splint, gas, and pure bituminous steam coals — the 
 superior quality of which, for domestic use and the various me- 
 chanic arts for which they are severally adapted, having been 
 well established. The iron ores comprise nearly all the va- 
 rieties used in the manufacture of iron and steel Along the 
 line of the road are also immense stretches of virgin forest, the 
 timber consisting of oak, yellow poplar, black walnut, hickory, 
 cherry, sycamore, pine, and other varieties in demand for manu- 
 facturing purposes. It has been proven by actual working, and is 
 
16 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 now not disputed, that iron can be manufactured from the ore 
 along the Chesapeake and Ohio railway at a lower cost than in 
 any other portion of the country — a fact that has already led to 
 numerous plants being made by Northern and English capital- 
 ists, and created a valuable source of demand upon Richmond, 
 as well as a source of supply for her manufactures. Near Char- 
 lottesville the road crosses the Virginia Midland from Danville 
 to Alexandria; at Waynesboro’, just west of the Blue Ridge, 
 the Shenandoah Valley from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Roan- 
 oke, Virginia, on the Norfolk and Western railroad; and at 
 Staunton the Valley railroad from Harper’s Ferry to Lexington, 
 Virginia, all of which traverse rich and populous sections of coun- 
 try. In a picturesque point of view the country from the eastern 
 slope of the Blue Ridge to Huntington is nowhere excelled. 
 Westward and south-westward from Huntington the line passes 
 through Blue Grass country, and lays under tribute an immense 
 grain and tobacco growing area. The wheat of this section is 
 particularly suited to the needs of the large milling interest of 
 the city, in the manufacture of the celebrated Richmond brands 
 of flour which have held for nearly a century the chief place 
 in the South American trade. By its northwestern connec- 
 tions, as shown in the comparative table of distances, it also 
 reaches by short and direct route and low grades the great north- 
 western grain centres. The Newports News extension, though but 
 recently completed, is the realization of the dream of years of 
 those who have studied the interests of Richmond and Virginia. 
 Here the system has immense wharves and warehouses, and owns 
 a water front capable of accommodating any conceivable demand 
 of shipping. The depth of water is sufficient to float the largest 
 vessels. The line drains a country hitherto cut off from railroad 
 communication with any point. 
 
 RICHMOND AND ALLEGHANY RAILROAD. 
 
 The Richmond and Alleghany railroad follows the line of the 
 old James River and Kanawha canal — the initial link of Washing- 
 ton’s favorite scheme for mingling the waters of the James and 
 Ohio rivers — from Richmond through Scottsville, Columbia and 
 Lynchburg, to Buchanan, thence to Williamson’s, on the Ches- 
 apeake and Ohio railway, 230.31 miles, with branch line to 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 17 
 
 Balcony Falls, 174.50 miles west of Richmond, to Lexington, 
 Rockbridge county, Virginia, 19.38 miles. It also has under 
 lease the Henrico railroad, which connects with its main line a 
 short distance above Richmond, and passes through the Henrico 
 coal-fields to Hungary station on the Richmond, Fredericksburg 
 and Potomac railroad. The total trackage finished and operated 
 is 260.09 miles. The road was chartered February 27, 1879, and 
 drains the beautiful James River Valley — the garden spot of 
 Virginia — which, prior to its completion, was off the line of 
 any railway. The agricultural districts contiguous to the road 
 are unsurpassed for richness and variety of product by any 
 section of the whole country, while the mineral deposits along 
 the road, and demanding an outlet by it, are exceptionally ex- 
 tensive. In iron ores the Janies River Valley especially empha- 
 sises the statement of Wiley, that “ Pennsylvania, rich as she is, 
 is poor in iron ores compared with Virginia ” Some years ago 
 Professor Rogers, late Emeritus Professor in the Massachusetts 
 Institute of Technology, published a most valuable and a stand- 
 ard series of reports on the Geological Formations of Virginia, 
 in which the inexhaustible mineral wealth of the State was 
 fully classified and demonstrated, but it has been left for John L. 
 Campbell, A. M., LL. D., Professor of Geology and Mineral- 
 ogy, at Washington and Lee University, to illustrate the prepon- 
 derating mineral wealth of the James River Valley. Professor 
 Campbell’s explorations represent months of patient mental toil 
 and physical exertion, and his opinions have been formed, as he 
 states, without reference to the interests of any individual or com- 
 pany, but solely in the interests of science, and of the State of 
 Virginia. He may be said to have literally investigated the 
 mineral deposits accessible by the road, step by step The work 
 was accomplished before the road was completed, and in his 
 report Professor Campbell says : 
 
 “ My leading purpose is to elucidate and enforce the following 
 two or three fundamental facts: (1) The canal and its railway 
 connection traverse every one of the five great ore-bearing geo- 
 logical formations of Virginia, and one of the finest limestone 
 regions in America. (2) In these formations, or belts, we find 
 in great abundance and of superior quality, every variety of ore 
 that is profitably worked for iron anywhere in the world, with the 
 
18 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 exception of the carbonates, like the “clay iron-stones” and 
 “ black band’ ores of England, which are impure carbonates 
 found in the coal regions. (3) Other minerals, besides iron ores, 
 that promise to become sources of revenue to the State as well 
 as to the Company, abound in this valley.” 
 
 This he does in the clearest and most satisfactory manner 
 dividing the ores into five belts, giving assays of specimens from 
 each belt, and showing that limestones hitherto employed so 
 successfully for fluxing, are found in close proximity to all the 
 deposits. Fuel is the only thing to be transported any distance 
 in order to reduce these ores and that is accessible in any quan- 
 tity, through the connection of the line at Williamson’s with the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Besides this the Richmond and 
 Alleghany is already projected to Pittsburg, Pa., through other 
 extensive coal deposits. In addition to iron ores, there are near 
 to the line or immediately upon it, kaolin, sand of a superior 
 quality for making glass, the manganese and copper ores of Nel- 
 son and Amherst counties, the barytes of Botetourt and Rock- 
 bridge counties, the partially worked gold mines of Fluvanna, 
 Buckingham and Appomattox, the granite quarries above Rich- 
 mond, and the slate quarries of Buckingham. Since the road 
 has been in operation there has been quite an influx of settlers 
 to some of the counties through which it passes — which has made 
 itself most perceptibly felt upon Richmond trade. Among the 
 property acquired by the railroad company in the transfer of the 
 franchises of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company were 
 6,800 feet of available dockage on the river front of the lower 
 portion of the city, together with one of the most valuable water 
 powers in the Union. The connection with the Norfolk and 
 Western system at Fynchburg, is also a great acquisition to Rich- 
 mond. This line runs through Liberty, Salem, the iron, lead and 
 zinc formations, and the rich pasture lands and forests of south- 
 western Virginia, into East Tennessee, giving another great sys- 
 tem to the West, and with the Chesapeake and Ohio, and the 
 Alleghany connection with that road at Williamson’s, an advan- 
 tage in the matter of grades that is beyond dispute. This single 
 item is of incalculable value and importance to Richmond. The 
 grades of the Richmond and Alleghany between Lynchburg and 
 Richmond average but four feet to the mile. 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 19 
 
 THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE. 
 
 The Atlantic Coast Line system (see map) is the second 
 great trunk line connecting Richmond with the South. The 
 total trackage from Richmond south controlled by the system 
 is 566 miles, as follows : Richmond and Petersburg railroad, 
 Richmond, Va., to Petersburg, Va., 25 miles; Petersburg rail- 
 road, Petersburg to Weldon, N. C., 65 miles ; Wilmington and 
 Weldon railroad and Tarboro’ Branch, Weldon, N. C., to 
 Wilmington, N. C., 182 miles; Wilmington, Columbia and 
 Augusta railroad, Wilmington, N. C., to Columbia, S. C., 
 192 miles; Northeastern railroad, Florence, S. C., to Charles- 
 ton, S. C., 102 miles. At Charleston the system connects 
 with the Charleston and Savannah railroad, from Charleston, S. 
 C., to Savannah, Ga., 115 miles; thence over the Savannah, 
 Florida and Western railroad to Jacksonville, Fla., 172 miles. 
 The line crosses the Norfolk and Western system at Petersburg, 
 the Seaboard and Roanoke railroad at Weldon, and passes via 
 Goldsboro’, on the Richmond and Danville system, through the 
 immense pine stretches of North Carolina and the lower cotton 
 belts of South Carolina and Georgia. Through its cross lines and 
 connections it must draw the entire traffic to the east in the three 
 last named States ; while to the west it drains the whole country 
 between it and the Danville system not tributary to the latter. 
 In the logic of trade and traffic these two systems must make 
 Richmond their natural base of supply, and reciprocally the 
 depot of concentration, for the shipment or distribution else- 
 where, in manufactured or crude form, of their overplus of raw 
 material. At Chester, Va., on the Richmond and Petersburg 
 railroad, the system crosses the Brighthope railroad, extending 
 from Bermuda Hundreds, on James river, to the Brighthope coal 
 district, in Chesterfield county. The country along the line of the 
 road depends altogether upon Richmond for its supplies. The 
 lands in this region, having a triassic basis, are admirably adapted 
 to the production of cigar (“Seed leaf”) tobacco, when the pro- 
 duction of that special type shall be added to those which have 
 already made Virginia famous as a tobacco State. 
 
20 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 RICHMOND, FREDERICKSBURG AND POTOMAC RAILROAD. 
 
 This is the great short line from Richmond via Fredericks- 
 burg to Ouantico, on the Potomac river, 82 miles from Rich- 
 mond, connecting at Quantico with the Pennsylvania system to 
 Washington, 34 miles, thence to New York, Boston, and the New 
 England manufacturing centres. It passes in Virginia through 
 many of the important battle-fields of the late war, and connects 
 at Richmond with the short line south and southwest for pas- 
 senger traffic. By it our jobbers have the most direct and 
 quickest route for obtaining, by fast freight and express, from the 
 North what is not supplied by the Richmond manufactories. 
 There are three through passenger trains over it each way daily, 
 and it is one of the best equipped and safest roads in the Union. 
 Over this line the tobacco manufacturers of Richmond receive 
 the bulk of the famous leaf, known as the “ Caroline Sun-cured,” 
 which leaf furnishes the stock for the finest grades of plug to- 
 bacco made in the world. 
 
 WATER COMMUNICATION. 
 
 The wharf frontage improved at Rocketts, the lower end 
 of the city, is 3,000 feet on the north side, and 1,500 feet on the 
 south side of James river. That of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
 Railroad Company just below the city is 1,000 feet, add to this 
 the 6,800 feet of dockage controlled by the Richmond and Alle- 
 ghany Railroad Company, and we have a grand total of 12,300 
 feet. This wharfage capacity can be extended indefinitely. The 
 depth of water in the dock is fourteen feet, sufficient to float the 
 majority of coasting vessels. The depth in the river over the 
 bar is eighteen feet. In this connection, however, it should be 
 noted that Congress authorized a special commission of army 
 engineer-officers to make a survey of the James river, with a 
 view to the increase of its depth to twenty-four feet. They have 
 made their report, and declare it entirely feasible. Such depth 
 of water is desired not only for our export trade, but for the 
 entrance of raw material by sail vessels for use in our manufac- 
 tories. This work of improvement has been pushed forward with 
 energy, each year showing a greater depth of water. The regu- 
 lar lines of steamers from Richmond, exclusive of the river line 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 21 
 
 to Norfolk, are the Old Dominion for New York, the Powhatan 
 for Baltimore, and the Clyde line for Philadelphia. From West 
 Point, the Old Dominion for New York, the Boston and Provi- 
 dence for Boston, and the York River line for Baltimore. From 
 Newports News the Brazilian and United States mail steamship 
 line. In order to give a fair idea, however, of the facilities af- 
 forded Richmond, in the way of water transportation, we have 
 recourse to the Report of the Harbor Master for the year 1881. 
 Number of vessels arriving at Port of Richmond: steamers 560, 
 capacity 490,000 tons; sailing vessels, 861, tonnage 205,000; 
 class: barks, 48; brigs, 35; schooners, 778. This does not in- 
 clude river steamers, tug-boats or small sailing vessels. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GENERAL MANUFACTURING EXHIBIT. 
 
 CAPITAL INVESTED, HANDS EMPLOYED, AGGREGATE 
 SALES, SPECIAL ADVANTAGES, WATER AND STEAM 
 POWER, LABOR SUPPLY, RAW MATERIAL AVAILABLE, 
 FOSTERING AUXILIARIES. 
 
 The manufacturing labored, if possible, under greater disad- 
 vantages, after the war, than any other Richmond interest. 
 Nevertheless, its progress has been most rapid and successful. 
 Taking the statistics for 1881 as compiled for the annual trade 
 edition of the Richmond Dispatch, we have the following showing 
 as regards kinds of manufactories in operation, capital in busi- 
 ness, and annual sales : 
 
 Kind of Manufactories. 
 
 Agricultural implements, machinery, &c... 
 
 Ale, beer and mineral waters 
 
 Bags and cotton bagging 
 
 Bakers 
 
 Bark and sumac 
 
 Barrels and hogsheads 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 
 
 Blank-books, paper-boxes and paper-bags. 
 Boots, shoes, leather, and leather goods.... 
 
 Boxes, cigar, tobacco and packing 
 
 Brand and stencil cutters 
 
 Bricks 
 
 Brooms, wood and willow-ware 
 
 Burial-caskets 
 
 Candy and confections 
 
 Carriages, wagons, carts, &c .... 
 
 
 U 
 
 $ 186,500 
 
 27.500 
 60,000 
 
 75, 100 
 
 153.000 
 32,840 
 
 9,800 
 
 1 15.000 
 195,210 
 
 164.000 
 700 
 
 105.000 
 142,500 
 
 5,000 
 
 77.500 
 122,425 
 
 ju 
 
 in 
 
 < 
 
 $ 510,000 
 
 39.000 
 94,980 
 
 241,200 
 
 242,300 
 
 461.800 
 95400 
 
 395,7oo 
 
 916.800 
 338,400 
 
 3,3oo 
 
 160,000 
 
 400,250 
 
 15.000 
 39 6 >5°° 
 201,450 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 23 
 
 TABLE — Continued. 
 
 Kind of Manufactories. 
 
 Capital in Business. 
 
 Annual Sales. 
 
 Carpenters and builders 
 
 $ 50,500 
 
 $ 324,900 
 
 Cigars and cigarettes 
 
 324,915 
 
 1,346,025 
 
 Coffee, spice and flavoring mills 
 
 48,000 
 
 235,000 
 
 Clothing, and merchant-tailors 
 
 203,300 
 
 490,500 
 
 Cotton factories 
 
 280,000 
 
 410,000 
 
 Drugs, medicines, meat-juice and bitters 
 
 298,200 
 
 982,300 
 
 Dveing and bleaching 
 
 8,000 
 
 23,500 
 
 Earthen and stone-ware 
 
 5 , 5 oo 
 
 12,000 
 
 Engraving on wood and lithographing 
 
 29,000 
 
 64,000 
 
 Fertilizers 
 
 690,000 
 
 1,150,000 
 
 Flour and corn-meal 
 
 L 33 L 5 oo 
 
 3,148,661 
 
 Furniture, mattresses, &c 
 
 III ,000 
 
 306,000 
 
 Granite-works 
 
 395 ,ooo 
 
 301,500 
 
 Gunsmiths and sporting apparatus 
 
 12,100 
 
 20,500 
 
 Hair-workers 
 
 1 1 ,500 
 
 37,000 
 
 Iron and nail works, machine works, foun- 
 
 dries, stove works, architectural iron works, 
 tobacco fixtures, &c 
 
 1,642,000 
 
 5,337,590 
 
 Lubricators, oil and grease 
 
 28,000 
 
 82,000 
 
 Marble and stone works 
 
 23,000 
 
 74,000 
 
 Nets and seines 
 
 6,000 
 
 7,000 
 
 Newspapers and job printers..... 
 
 181,300 
 
 392,500 
 
 Paper mills 
 
 125,000 
 
 190,000 
 
 Picture frames and ornamental wood-work... 
 
 67,000 
 
 176,500 
 
 Pork packing 
 
 115,000 
 
 1,300,000 
 
 Rectifiers 
 
 40,000 
 
 218,000 
 
 Saddles, harness and horse collars 
 
 73,350 
 
 iS2,6oo 
 
 Sash, blinds, doors, &c 
 
 112,000 
 
 449,900 
 
 Saw, wire and mill-fixture works 
 
 17,000 
 
 51.50° 
 
 Slate works 
 
 40,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 Soap and candles 
 
 40,000 
 
 65,500 
 
 Sulphuric acid and sulphate ot ammonia 
 
 20,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 Tanners 
 
 30,000 
 
 70,500 
 
 Tin-ware, gas-fittings and plumbing 
 
 140,975 
 
 446,700 
 
 Tobacco — chewing and smoking 
 
 Tobacco — stemmeries and reprizers 
 
 2,831,000 
 
 9,071,000 
 
 420,000 
 
 825,000 
 
 Trunks and valises 
 
 10,000 
 
 46,000 
 
 Type foundry... 
 
 10,000 
 
 41,500 
 
 Lmderwear — ladies and gentlemen 
 
 78,500 
 
 351,000 
 
 Totals 
 
 $11,320,815 
 
 $32,802,756 
 
24 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 The total number of manufactories was 675. Total number 
 of hands permanently employed 17,648 — an increase in opera- 
 tives over the year 1880 of 716. The increase of annual sales 
 over 1880 was $8,097,864, or about 33 per cent., and increase of 
 capital invested $2,628,198. These figures do not include a 
 number of minor establishments. That this, however, is only an 
 earnest of Richmond’s possibilities as a manufacturing centre, 
 let us present seriatim a few points which must strike every 
 practical mind. 
 
 FIRST— WATER POWER ADVANTAGES. 
 
 * From the three-mile lock, on the line of the Richmond and 
 Alleghany railroad to tide-water, there is a fall of 84 feet. With 
 the lowest flow of the river to be expected, in a long series of 
 years, viz: i,oco cubic feet per second, this fall produces 9,500 
 horse-power theoretically, of which 7,600 can be made available 
 by the employment of the best turbine wheels. The total amount 
 of this theoretical power, now appropriated and put to use by 
 various manufactories in Richmond and Manchester, is 4,200; the 
 remainder 5,300 horse-power theoretically, or 4,160 actual, can 
 be readily and economically made available. From Bosher’s 
 Dam to tide-water is a fall of 116 feet, over which the above flow 
 of the river would produce 13,500 theoretical horse-power, or 
 10,000 actual. The water shed of the James river above Rich- 
 mond is about 8,000 square miles. The lowest flow given above 
 is therefore a yield of 0.125 cubic feet per second from each 
 square mile. The Connecticut river, with about the same water 
 shed, yields at Flolyoke, Massachusetts, about 0.30 cubic feet per 
 second per square mile, as the lowest flow, and the Merrimac 
 river at Lowell is relied upon for more than double this rate per 
 square mile. A large part of this difference, however, is, of 
 course, due to the different character of the water sheds, but still 
 a large part to the fact that these two New England rivers, and 
 especially the Merrimac, are used extensively for power along- 
 their entire length, and each little mill acts, to some extent, as a 
 regulator. The James river with its thirteen large dams, and 
 eleven minor ones, built by the James river and Kanawha 
 
 * These facts were expressly compiled for this publication by a com- 
 petent hydrostatic engineer. 
 

 J >: R. J 
 
 
 *)fK 
 
 
* re * Ear * r | n mm i 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 25 
 
 Canal Company, and the ten dams on the Rivanna river, one 
 of its largest tributaries, possesses great facilities for the in- 
 crease of the lowest flow, which, although not now available, 
 could be readily made so. These dams form a series of 
 ponds, with a total surface area of 291,200,000 square feet. 
 If one foot of depth were available for storage, this would 
 yield 16S cubic feet per second for a period of twenty days, 
 to help out in the dry season. If two feet were available, 
 the quantity would be doubled, or the same amount spread 
 over twice as long a time. In addition to this, which can 
 be immediately and cheaply taken advantage of, the natural 
 growth ot small industries along the Valley, which the mineral 
 and agricultural wealth of the country must foster, will con- 
 tinually tend to average the yearly flow of the river. Again — 
 the character of the upper water shed of the river, with its 
 numerous tributaries, flowing long distances through immense 
 furrows, between parallel ridges, now approaching so closely as 
 to almost bar the passage of the stream, and at other points form- 
 ing wide valleys, makes it possible, at warrantable expense, to 
 form large basins for storage. 
 
 In view of all these considerations, it is a low estimate to say that 
 the James river can be made to yield, as it can be put to use, a 
 total of 20,000 effective horse- power over the Falls between 
 Bosher’s Dam and tide-water. The amount of power now put 
 to use at Holyoke, Mass., which is rated as the largest developed 
 water-power in the country, may be estimated as between 8,000 
 and 9,000 horse-power. The Hudson River Water-Power and 
 Paper Manufacturing Company estimate their available power at 
 6,000 horse-power, and claim to be the second largest. By prop- 
 erly planning the improvements necessary to make the large 
 reserve of power available — improvements which the south side 
 of James river are admirably adapted to allow — the whole Falls 
 plantation, opposite Rocketts, could be converted into a manu- 
 facturing plant — a plant virtually on the seaboard, and the centre 
 of railroad facilities. 
 
 SECOND— STEAM-POWER FACILITIES. 
 
 It is only necessary to glance at the country through which the 
 various railroad lines that centre at Richmond pass to see that 
 
26 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 steam-power can also be employed at the minimum cost. The 
 steam coals of the various basins are, it has been practically 
 demonstrated, of the best and most economical quality; easily 
 mined and cheaply transported. 
 
 THIRD— LABOR SUPPLY. 
 
 The labor supply of Richmond is equal to any demand and of 
 a character easily adapted to the requirements of most any in- 
 dustry. In fact nothing has more clearly and satisfactorily 
 demonstrated the resources of our population — the white popu- 
 lation particularly — than its accommodation to the exigencies of 
 the new regime. The negro in the heavier work of rolling mills, 
 and as a stevedore, &c., is a most valuable hand, while in the 
 manufacture of plug tobacco he practically enjoys a labor mo- 
 nopoly. In temper he is tractable, and can be easily taught. 
 The white artizan class has of late years absorbed elements from 
 nearly every walk in life — disposition as well as necessity leading 
 many to embrace mechanical pursuits, who under the old system 
 in the South would not have had either the stimulus or the incli- 
 nation to do so. The prejudice in favor of a profession is fast 
 becoming a thing of the past. Many of the owners of manu- 
 facturing establishments have served their time during the last 
 seventeen years. Prior to the war the employment of fe- 
 male operatives in manufacturing establishments was the ex- 
 ception — in fact there were few callings in which they could 
 have been employed — even had it been customary or profitable. 
 Now, however, the industrial element among white women and 
 girls is very large and is constantly increasing, and daily new 
 industries are being developed which are open to them In the 
 manufacture of cotton goods paper, cigarettes, tobacco bags, 
 paper bags, underwear, clothing, paper boxes, and in other light 
 employments they are able to meet the most exacting demands 
 for celerity and neatness of work. For the most part these ope- 
 ratives are reasonably well educated, are thoroughly reliable, 
 and are not only contented but happy in their occupations. 
 Moreover, they are naturally refined and art loving, a gift that 
 could be utilized to great advantage in the manufacture of fine 
 pottery, or any other industry requiring an art perception. It is 
 a source of peculiar gratification to note in this connection the 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 27 
 
 fact that our employers of female labor throw every safeguard 
 possible around their employees, thus protecting them against 
 temptations to which they are at many other manufacturing 
 centres too often exposed. 
 
 FOURTH— RAW MATERIALS IN PART AVAILABLE FOR 
 MANUFACTURING PURPOSES. 
 
 By Richmond and Danville System. — Wheat, corn, to- 
 bacco, cotton, kaolin, feldspar, mica, barytes, clays for building- 
 brick and fire-brick, graphite, gold, iron and copper ores in great 
 variety; ochre, granite, coal, limestone, quick-lime, lead, man- 
 ganese, carbonate magnesia, soapstone, asbestos, hornblende, 
 nickel, slate, sandstone, brownstone, buhrstone, marbles, white 
 and variegated; glass sands, agate, jasper, silver, sulphur, turpen- 
 tine, tar, rosin, asphalt, sumac, various minerals for ground 
 paints ; oak, pine, walnut, poplar, maple, willow, locust, plum, 
 hickory, gum, dogwood, birch, cherry, persimmon, and some 
 forty other varieties of wood of commercial value. 
 
 By Chesapeake and Ohio System. — Wheat, corn, wool, to- 
 bacco, coal, iron, gold ores, copper, and iron pyrites, lead, anti- 
 mony, manganese, salt, kaolin, fire clay, hoop-poles, cement, 
 limestone, sandstone, hides, staves, leather, lime, bark, pig-iron, 
 plaster, sumac, petroleum, and numerous varieties of woods for 
 cabinet and machinery purposes and building. 
 
 By Atlantic Coast Line. — Cotton, corn, wheat, sumac, rice, 
 deer tongue, jute, tobacco, tar, pitch, rosin, turpentine, coal, 
 sumac, lumber for building, and nearly all the woods available by 
 the Richmond and Danville system. 
 
 By Richmond and Alleghany Railroad. — Coal, copper, 
 wool, oats, gold ores, limestone, cement, manganese, barytes, fire 
 clay, kaolin, staves and hoop-poles, granite, leather, sumac, glass 
 sand, hides, plaster, wheat, corn, tobacco, sandstone, mica, slate, 
 and the .woods found along the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
 .system. 
 
 By Norfolk and Western System. — Through the Alle- 
 ghany connection with this road there are available to Rich- 
 mond, among other articles, corn, wheat, oats, iron, lead, zinc and 
 copper ores, salt, plaster, hides, cattle, wool, cotton, and numerous 
 •commercial woods. 
 
28 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 These lists only embrace leading and the more bulky articles. 
 The materials used, in whole or part, for many industries — and 
 which the statement of the general sub-division of Richmond 
 manufactories shows are essential — are very numerous By water 
 there is also available a large variety of raw material for the 
 manufacture of fertilizers, wooden-ware, &c. A detailed exhibit 
 from at least two of the railroad systems — the Richmond and 
 Danville and Chesapeake and Ohio — is now in the Exhibition 
 building at Boston. 
 
 FIFTH— FOSTERING AUXILIARIES. 
 
 Richmond, as the capital of the State, is the point for all State 
 gatherings of any importance, and the scene of the meeting of 
 many inter-State conventions. The historic interest attaching to 
 it alone has made it very popular for such purposes. Further, 
 it is the headquarters of the State Agricultural Society, which 
 holds annual exhibitions near the city for the display not only of 
 agricultural products and machinery, but all classes of machinery 
 and manufactured goods These fairs bring together people 
 from all parts of the country. The merchants from Virginia and 
 the South avail themselves of the opportunity to replenish their 
 stocks. The subject of rebuilding the Mechanics’ Institute, de- 
 stroyed by fire, is being agitated by the public-spirited business 
 men, and it is only a question of a short time when the matter 
 will take practical shape. Another organization which promises 
 to exercise a decided influence in the advancement of the indus- 
 trial arts is the Richmond Art Association, now in its sixth year. 
 Already it has opened a new field for the employment of ladies, 
 in stimulating the work of porcelain decoration. 
 
 SIXTH— PRESENT AND FUTURE DEMANDS. 
 
 There is now a pressing call for every class of article of 
 Richmond manufacture, but this is little more than the sugges- 
 tion of what may be reasonably expected for the future. The 
 west and northwest are being rapidly filled up, and the tide of 
 immigration must inevitably seek the fruitful fields of the South. 
 In fact it has already turned in this direction. Whether this new 
 population engage in agriculture — as a large percentage of it 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 29 
 
 will — in mining, or in the ruder manufacturing pursuits, there 
 is virtually no end to the demand that must be created for the 
 production of skilled labor in the mechanic arts. The manifest 
 destiny of the southern and southwestern country, still in the 
 infancy of its development in many respects, reached by the rail- 
 road lines diverging from Richmond, is such as will compel the 
 use of an interminable variety of manufactured articles, for labor- 
 saving, comfort and convenience. With Richmond nearly two 
 hundred miles nearer the supply of raw material, and the same 
 distance nearer the fields of demand — practically four hundred 
 miles saved as a question of freights — than any northern manu- 
 facturing centre, and with the other advantages heretofore set 
 forth, it would be against the natural order of things if it should 
 fail to influence this entire trade. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MANUFACTURES IN DETAIL. 
 
 THE BANKING BASIS— THE COAL MOVEMENT— THE IRON 
 
 INTEREST— MILLING— A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF IN- 
 DUSTRIES. 
 
 It has been shown that Richmond is the concentering point of 
 a number of railroad lines — three of which, at least, constitute 
 great trunk systems, opening up to it a territory unsurpassed in 
 richness and variety of natural resources. That this territory 
 can fail of development, to its fullest, is contrary to the law of 
 capital and of progress. To the south, southwest, and west, the 
 attractions of climate and soil, are the prophecy of a teeming 
 population, which will require a basis of distribution of the largest 
 capacity. It is only necessary to glance at the map, to be im- 
 pressed not only with the distance saved as before stated, but the 
 time as well, from this territory in favor of Richmond as against 
 the more northern markets. It is only necessary to bear in mind 
 the city’s connections by rail and by water with the North, to be 
 convinced of the ability of our business men to place in the depots 
 and on the wharves, at bottom freight rates, all the necessary 
 articles that may be demanded by the Southern trade, which are 
 not at present manufactured in the city. The Richmond mer- 
 chants in buying North, buy on an equality with the Northern 
 jobbers, and the superadded freight rates from Richmond to the 
 northern points of supply count as nothing to the consumer 
 or merchant South, by reason of the greatly reduced cost of 
 doing business in Richmond. In fact, the trade south has on all 
 northern articles bought in Richmond, the difference in the cost 
 of transportation between Richmond and the North, in its favor> 
 to say nothing of what may be conceded, through the decreased 
 expense of handling alluded to ; while on articles of Richmond 
 manufacture still greater advantages are a natural sequence. 
 These facts, it must be apparent to every clear-headed business 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 0 T 
 
 01 
 
 man, claim the consideration, not only of the southern buyer, 
 but of capital seeking investment. It has also been demonstrated 
 that Richmond possesses every other advantage regarded by 
 capitalists as essential to the building up of a great city, and a 
 great centre of supply and distribution — such as water power, 
 healthy location, security in time of war, tractable labor, &c., — 
 but in presenting the most forcible and conclusive argument in 
 support of the claims advanced we have again to revert to “ what 
 has been done by the people with the limited means at their dis- 
 posal and the drawbacks that beset them.” This it is true has 
 been outlined in general terms, but in order to convey its full 
 significance, it is competent to show the status of the various 
 interests more in detail 
 
 FINANCE AND BANKING. 
 
 In April, 1865, Richmond as a corporation was bankrupt. 
 One-half of the taxable realty had been swept away, and the peo- 
 ple were without a currency — without even the means of barter. 
 To day City bonds are above par — 8’s 128, 6’s 112 5’s 103 
 bid — and are counted as among the best securities in the market. 
 The banks of the city are eleven in number— four of them Na- 
 tional banks The total banking capital is $2,200,000, with a 
 surplus of $555,000. Besides, all the local insurance compa- 
 nies are lenders of money, and much is secured through re -dis- 
 counts by banks North. During the panic of 1873 the solidity of 
 these institutions was most satisfactorily demonstrated in that 
 they weathered the storm, when banks were failing all around 
 them. There is also a regular stock board in the city, which is 
 most conservatively conducted — no “wild cat” securities of any 
 sort being allowed upon the call. The members are all brokers 
 of well known integrity. The local insurance companies are all 
 safe institutions 
 
 THE COAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 The coal movement is a most important factor in its relations 
 to the manufacturing interests of Richmond. The supply is 
 obtained over five lines of transportation, and from four fields, 
 the West Virginia, the Midlothian, the Bright Hope, and the 
 Henrico mines. The three latter are within a few miles of the 
 
32 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 city. For steaming, heating, puddling and smelting, and all 
 other purposes for which coals can be used, they are held to be 
 as valuable and economical as any coals mined anywhere in 
 America, and the deposits are as yet but partially devel- 
 oped. It is estimated that in the immediate neighborhood 
 of Richmond there is enough coal to meet the demand of hun- 
 dreds of years. As an article of shipment it also occupies a 
 prominent place in the trade of Richmond. During the year 
 1881, there were shipped from the Chesapeake and Ohio wharves 
 alone 213,907 tons. 
 
 IRON-WORKS AND MACHINE-SHOPS. 
 
 The iron interest has made steady and successful progress in 
 all departments for a series of years. The ore beds of Virginia 
 are in such close proximity to coal and fluxing supplies, labor is 
 so plentiful and transportation so convenient, that pig-iron for 
 conversion into castings, wrought iron and steel, and forged iron, 
 can be placed in the mills, shops and foundries at bottom figures. 
 There are now over 4,000 men engaged in the several iron- 
 working establishments in Richmond, and their productions 
 represent nearly every article for which iron can be utilized. 
 The amount of sales of this interest for 1881, was $5,337,590. 
 
 Railroad Materials and Wrought Iron Specialties. 
 — Rails, spikes, fish-bars, bolts, freight cars, car wheels, axles, 
 bridge iron, bridge bolts, railroad chairs. In addition to this, 
 ground has been broken and shops are in process of erection for 
 the building of freight and passenger locomotives and cars on an 
 extensive scale, and the city does a large jobbing trade in loco- 
 motive head-lights, steam-cocks and gauges, lanterns, brasses 
 and railroad supplies generally. This business has been rendered 
 necessary and lucrative by the railroad interests centering at 
 Richmond. In the establishments manufacturing the railroad 
 material indicated, are also turned out bar-iron for general use, 
 horse and mule shoes, nails, gratings, nuts and screws in great 
 variety. The nail industry is the largest of any city in the South, 
 and the mills are now greatly increasing their capacity. 
 
 Engine Building. — The engine builders were, during last 
 year, and are now, pressed to the utmost building capacity of 
 their shops. During 1881, there were over 600 engines turned 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 33 
 
 out in Richmond, a single concern shipping, during the busy 
 season, an average of two engines a day. Among the specialties 
 of the engine and machine shops, are portable engines, station- 
 ary engines, agricultural engines, locomotive boilers, plain cylin- 
 der, return tubular, return flue, and upright boilers, smoke-stacks, 
 tanks and general boiler work, pumps and fittings for engines 
 and boilers, steam fire-engines, mill machinery, hydraulic presses 
 and pumps, shafting and pulleys, and saw-mills. The greater 
 part of the engines manufactured are sold south and southwest. 
 
 Castings. — dn this department the stove business deserves a 
 prominent place, Richmond supplying an immense trade south, 
 west and southwest. We also mention turbine water wheels, 
 mill gearing, plow points, verandas and railings, ornamental iron 
 work, piping, and an endless number of smaller articles ; in fact 
 it is unnecessary to go out of Richmond for any piece of casting. 
 
 Miscellaneous. — Tobacconists’ fixtures,— such as presses, 
 shapes, pumps, tobacco knives, steam drying apparatus — saws, 
 files, edge tools, fire grates and builders’ materials. 
 
 TOBACCO MACHINERY. 
 
 Besides the "tobacconists’ fixtures,” mentioned under the gen- 
 eral head of “ Iron Works and Machine Shops,” the manufacture 
 of “ Tobacco Machinery ” merits a distinct classification, as fol- 
 lows: — Elevators, leaf tobacco trucks, lump boxes, tobacco box 
 groovers, flattening mills, blocks, billets, cutters for smoking to- 
 bacco bags, pot or finishing mills, power cutters, smoking tobacco 
 cutters, tobacco stem-grinders, tobacco fans, lump machines, and 
 granulators. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. 
 
 The manufacture of agricultural implements is hardly second 
 to any business of the city, in the different implements manu- 
 factured, and in adding to the general business revenue. In 
 considering this interest it should be noticed that the woods 
 used are all right at the doors of the city. The list is too nu- 
 merous to detail, but we give the leading articles, exclusive 
 of agricultural engines : — threshing machines, horse powers, 
 plows, harrows, corn planters, separators, cultivators, fertilizer 
 distributers, horse rakes, gleaners, garden and field rollers, grind- 
 
34 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 stone fixtures, cider mills, hand and power corn shellers, road 
 scrapers, peanut pickers, shellers and separators, barrows, sausage 
 machines and stuffers, gardening tools, straw and feed cutters, 
 lifts, suction pumps and well fixtures, farm carts and wagons, and 
 cotton presses. Agencies are established in Richmond for all the 
 patent agricultural machines of recognized value, as well as for 
 such domestic labor-saving machinery as are not manufactured in 
 the city. 
 
 THE MILLING INTEREST. 
 
 The capacity of the Richmond flour mills, with the improved 
 processes, is about 4,000 barrels of flour daily, and the Rich- 
 mond brands have always held first rank in the South American 
 market— in fact, as before noted, their superiority has been con- 
 ceded from the first decade of the present century. Prior to the 
 late civil war, the flour trade was a double source of revenue. 
 A regular line of barks sailed between Richmond and the South 
 American ports — carrying out flour, and returning laden with 
 Brazilian coffees, and West Indian sugars and molasses, thus 
 making the city one of the largest markets for these articles in 
 the Union. The interruption of the war of course weaned much 
 of this trade from us, but it has been gradually reviving, and, 
 now that our railroad connections are so complete, it is confi- 
 dently predicted that we will again become large direct import- 
 ers. The statistics of the trade of Richmond with Brazil for the 
 year 1881 show: value of coffee imported, $59,230; value of 
 flour exported, $1,650,622; number of barrels of flour exported, 
 223,496. In addition to this there were also shipped to Brazil 
 from West Point (port of Richmond), 76,777 barrels — making 
 a grand total of 300,273. Number of vessels engaged in the 
 trade, seventy-five sailing vessels, and nine steamships — total, 
 eighty-six; the mills also produce a good deal of fine family 
 flour for home trade, together with large quantities of meal — the 
 greater proportion of which latter article is shipped to the south. 
 Nearly all, if not all, of the wheat ground for the Brazilian mar- 
 ket is from Virginia or Western States in the same parallel of 
 latitude. 
 
 THE FLOUR AND GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 The flour and grain trade of Richmond, independent of what is 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 35 
 
 known and termed the “ milling interest," has received an immense 
 impulse in late years, and the city is fast becoming one of the most 
 prominent grain markets on the Atlantic coast. Flour is received 
 for distribution, not only from the Virginia mills, but from the 
 west, in large quantities, and the grain supply is drawn over 
 three lines of road, reaching the west and northwest. During the 
 year a grain elevator has been erected near the Chesapeake and 
 Ohio railway depot, and from the first month of its completion 
 has been pressed to its full capacity — over 450,000 bushels. 
 To facilitate transactions in grain there is a regular “Corn 
 and Flour Exchange.” The overplus above mill consumption 
 is shipped north and south or exported. Richmond enjoys a 
 fine trade in wheat with both Spain and Portugal. 
 
 THE TOBACCO INTEREST. 
 
 By reason of seniority as a Virginia staple, and the amount of 
 manipulation it requires from first to last, tobacco should prob- 
 ably be placed first on the list of Richmond industries. It has 
 in time been the source of more large fortunes, and the cause of 
 more legislation, than anything produced in this State. During 
 the year 1881, the total tax paid the government, on tobacco, 
 cigars and cigarettes, was $2,282,239.53. Number of hands em- 
 ployed on plug and smoking tobacco, 4,821; on cigars and 
 cigarettes, 775; in stemming and re prizing, 579; total, 6,175. 
 Amount of tobacco manufactured, 17,500,000 pounds. The total 
 amount of internal revenue paid the government by the Rich- 
 mond district from the close of the war to June 30, 1882, was 
 $37,612,601. 
 
 Leaf Tobacco. — Most of the leaf tobacco is sold by certified 
 sample of inspectors, at auction on the Tobacco Exchange. 
 The leaf tobacco year ends October 30th, but as a basis for cal- 
 culation we give the statistics from October, 1880, to December 
 1, 1881, as far as they could be gathered : 
 
 Inspections . — From October, 1880, to October, 1881, 30,921 
 hogsheads, 5,084 tierces; from October, 1881, to December 1, 
 1881, 4,184 hogsheads, 333 tierces. Total, 35,105 hogsheads and 
 5,417 tierces. 
 
 Deliveries — From October, 1880, to October, 1881, 32,615 
 hogsheads, 4,963 tierces; from October, 1881, to December 1, 
 
36 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 1881, 5,003 hogsheads 450 tierces. Total, 37,618 hogsheads and 
 5,413 tierces. 
 
 Foreign Shipments Direct. — From October, 1881, to Decem- 
 ber 1, 1881, 867 hogsheads, 73 tierces. 
 
 Coastwise Shipments. — From October, 1881, to December 1, 
 1881, 1,242 hogsheads, 176 tierces. 
 
 Stock on Hand. — December 1, 1881: Inspected, 10,011 hogs- 
 heads, 314 tierces ; uninspected, 755 hogsheads, 21 tierces. Total, 
 10,766 hogsheads and 335 tierces. 
 
 Loose Tobacco Receipts — From October, 1880, to October, 
 1881, 2,823,770 pounds; from October, 1880, to December 1, 
 1880, 53,510 pounds; from October, 1881, to December 1, 1881, 
 332,405. Excess for 1881, 278,895 pounds. 
 
 Between private individuals and the buyers for foreign govern- 
 ments, most of the stemmed and re-prized tobaccos are exported. 
 
 Plug and Smoking Tobacco. — This branch of the tobacco 
 industry, of course, employs the largest number of hands and the 
 largest amount of capital. The tobaccos used are Virginia, North 
 Carolina and Western, and the trade extends all over the world. 
 The Western, Southern and Australian trade is particularly heavy. 
 In the commoner grades of tobacco nearly any sound leaf can be 
 worked up, whether Virginia, North Carolina or Western; but 
 tobaccos from certain sections of Virginia and North Carolina, 
 are used almost exclusively in the highest grades, and Richmond 
 brands, by reason of our proximity to the source of supply, enjoy 
 a position of the first importance. The manufactured tobacco 
 exported in 1881 was 3,566,698)4 pounds. The total number of 
 tobacco factories in 1881 was 55. This is exclusive of stem- 
 meries, reprizing establishments, and cigarette and cigar fac- 
 tories. 
 
 Cigars and Cigarettes. — Cigars are manufactured largely 
 for the Southern and Western trade, and some few for export. 
 The tobaccos used are principally Connecticut, Havana and Penn- 
 sylvania, which are bought in large quantities. The brands stand 
 high, both at home and in the South, and the trade is rapidly in- 
 creasing. The Richmond cigar-makers have fully demonstrated, 
 as the demand upon them shows, that they can in every way 
 compete with northern markets. The climate of Richmond is 
 especially well adapted to the manipulation of cigar tobaccos. 
 The manufacture of cigarettes is a comparatively new industry in 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 37 
 
 Richmond, but one that has grown beyond all precedent, as the 
 following comparative table of the productions of the last seven 
 years will show : 
 
 Date. No. of Cigarettes . 
 
 1S75 3,116,000 
 
 1876 13,887,000 
 
 1877 17,146,800 
 
 1878 19,293,000 
 
 1S79 32,570,000 
 
 18S0 52,259,440 
 
 1881 65,000,000 
 
 Of the total number manufactured in 1881, 24,154,000 were 
 exported. The tobaccos worked up are the bright, aromatic 
 smokers of southern Virginia and northern and western North 
 Carolina, which, owing to the small percentage of nicotine and 
 nitrates they contain, give the Richmond cigarette the prefer- 
 ence in all markets where pure tobaccos are appreciated. The 
 bulk of the cigarettes used in the London clubs are made in 
 Richmond. In rolling the cigarettes, labeling them, and putting 
 them in packages, white girls are employed exclusively. 
 
 SUMAC AND BARK. 
 
 Sumac and bark mills may also be classed as recent features 
 of Richmond industry. The gathering of sumac gives employ- 
 ment to a great number of the poorer classes in the country, and 
 the ground article stands high in the Northern market. Bark 
 for tanning and other purposes is accessible on all the railroads. 
 
 LEATHER, LEATHER FINDINGS, HARNESS, &c. 
 
 Tanning is carried on in the city quite extensively, and in 
 leather, leather findings, harness, &c., the business is steadily in- 
 creasing. It would surprise many of our own citizens to know 
 how many hands are engaged in this business and the amount 
 of improved machinery employed. Richmond harness and sad- 
 dle work enjoys a reputation in the South second to that of 
 no city in the country for excellence in quality and reasonable 
 prices. All classes of the best work are made, and the demand 
 is constant. The wholesale manufacture of shoes is also rapidly 
 increasing, the capacity of the various factories being estimated 
 at 2,500 pairs per day. 
 
38 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 CARRIAGES, WAGONS, &c. 
 
 Richmond manufactures the best quality of carriages, wagons, 
 carts and vehicles generally. The number of hands engaged in 
 this industry including blacksmiths and wheelwrights is over 500. 
 And the wood and iron findings are to hand, and enable the trade 
 to confidently enter the field of competition for all reliable work. 
 
 In the last few years the success of the business has justified a 
 decided expansion in manufacturing facilities. 
 
 FURNITURE. 
 
 The furniture trade is assuming most important proportions, 
 and our cabinet makers are manufacturing every grade of furni- 
 ture from the finest to the most ordinary. Nearly every kind of 
 wood now used in this industry is easily available to Richmond, 
 even to the finest necessary for inlaid work. The woods in the 
 railway displays at the Boston Exhibition will show the range. 
 Richmond furniture is not only shipped south and west, but is 
 sent abroad. 
 
 COOPERING AND BOX-MAKING. 
 
 The demand from the Richmond mills, the pork-packing 
 establishments, the nail factories, the tobacco and cigar facto- 
 ries and jobbers, alone makes these industries count as a large 
 factor in the city’s manufactures. Hoop-poles and staves for 
 coopering, and lumber for the box factories, form a large item of 
 transportation over all the railroads. The demand for such pro- 
 ductions also extends outside of the city. 
 
 SASH, BLINDS AND DOORS. 
 
 In the sash, blind and door factories, about two hundred hands 4 
 are employed, and the trade extends as far south as Georgia. 
 All classes of fine and medium goods are produced. The mate- 
 rial reaches Richmond over all the lines of railroad, to be sent 
 back in manufactured form. Fine mouldings and stair-work 
 are a specialty with some of the factories. 
 
 COTTON FACTORIES. 
 
 The cotton factories employ about 400 hands, mostly women, 
 and the industry is annually becoming more important, owing to 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 39 
 
 the accessibility of raw material. Cotton is now one of the chief 
 articles of transportation over the southern roads, and the city is 
 taking position as a cotton market. A feature of the trade 
 is the barter of fertilizers for cotton. In the cotton factories 
 water-power is used exclusively. The materials turned out are 
 cotton cloths and yarns, and the coarser fabrics, but there is 
 every promise of the manufacture of prints in the near future. 
 The woolen mill interest has not revived in Richmond since the 
 war, but there is the best sort of opening, not only for the man- 
 ufacture of woolen cloths, but such specialties as hosiery, &c. 
 The city has a large trade in wool, drawing it from every direc- 
 tion, but especially from Piedmont and Southwestern Virginia, 
 where particular attention is given to sheep-breeding, and the 
 female labor is plentiful and well adapted for such an enterprise. 
 
 EARTHEN AND STONE-WARE. 
 
 Potters’ clay of the best quality is abundant in the vicinity of 
 Richmond, and has stimulated a profitable business in earthen 
 ware ; and the manufacture of fine china, &c., is only a question 
 of a short time. In fact, a joint stock company for the manufac- 
 ture of porcelain ware was formed last year, and a factory with 
 all the improved machinery erected. This building was burned 
 last spring, however, just as operations were about to be com- 
 menced. All the material for the finest classes of this ware, such 
 as kaolin, flint and feldspar, is found in abundance in various por- 
 tions of the State, and at other points easily accessible from 
 Richmond. One immense bed of kaolin, of exceptional rare 
 quality, is located only eight miles from the city, immediately on 
 the line of the Richmond and Danville railroad, and goods manu- 
 factured entirely from Virginia material have been proven equal to 
 any made in the United States. As before intimated, decorative 
 art has received a great impetus lately, and the skilled labor for 
 this department of porcelain manufacture is already at hand and 
 anxious for employment. 
 
 BAGS AND BAGGING. 
 
 The wheat, flour, grain, smoking tobacco, and cotton trade 
 makes this interest a necessity, which capital has not been slow 
 to take advantage of. The manufacture of bags for flour for 
 
40 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 home consumption, and of smoking tobacco bags, is another 
 interest nearly monopolized by women. The material for the 
 manufacture of gunny bags is imported from India, but efforts 
 are being made to raise it in Eastern North Carolina, with every 
 prospect of success. 
 
 PORK PACKING. 
 
 Pork packing for the southern trade is carried on extensively,, 
 the meat being bought in bulk and on the hoof not only from 
 Virginia, but Irom the great western centres. It is distributed to 
 the extreme limits of southern railroad connections. The manu- 
 facture of sausage for the southern trade is an especially large 
 interest. 
 
 CLOTHING AND UNDERWEAR. 
 
 In clothing and underwear Richmond is also able to compete 
 with the northern manufacturing centres, buying what material not 
 manufactured at home to the best advantage, and utilizing female 
 labor. The shirt factories here turn out as fine work as can be 
 produced anywhere, and many of the finer cloths for suitings are 
 imported directly. 
 
 WOODEN-WARE, BROOMS AND WILLOW-WARE. 
 
 These industries employ as many as 200 hands, many of them 
 skilled, and for the production of all the articles embraced 
 under this heading the material is not only plentiful but most 
 convenient. Among the articles manufactured of cedar are tubs 
 of all sizes, pails, cans, field cans, staff churns, cylinder churns, 
 well and horse buckets, and ice-pails, measures and keelers, 
 the finish and thoroughness of work on which is not excelled 
 anywhere, as the showing at the Exhibition will demonstrate. 
 The lumber is brought for the most part from the great swamps 
 of Virginia and North Carolina. In the wooden-ware business 
 there is a fine opening for the investment of capital, in the 
 manufacture of the smaller articles, such as spools, trays, spoons, 
 trenchers, rolling-pins, clothes-pins, &c. 
 
 PAPER, BLANK BOOKS, PAPER BOXES, AND PAPER BAGS. 
 
 The paper mills turn out all grades of news, book and wrapping 
 papers and paper twines — a large quantity of the wrapping paper 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 41 
 
 being consumed in the manufacture of paper bags. In book- 
 binding and blank-book making, Richmond establishments cannot 
 be excelled, either in low prices or good work. The manufacture 
 of paper boxes is a prominent and increasing industry, and all 
 the establishments are worked to their full capacity. Among the 
 articles manufactured we mention smoking tobacco boxes, pill 
 boxes in endless variety, powder boxes, confectioners’ boxes and 
 toilet boxes. These latter are of every design, and have given 
 Richmond a reputation all over the country. In neatness of 
 work, beauty of finish and general ornamentation they are not 
 excelled by the finest French products. This industry gives 
 employment to about 600 hands, most of them women and girls. 
 
 GRANITE AND MARBLE CUTTING. 
 
 Granite and marble cutting is a lucrative occupation in the 
 items of preparing building material and in monumental work 
 for home trade, but this is a small part of the industry. Rich- 
 mond granite is known and in demand all over the country for 
 street paving, and some of the finest work on several of the pub- 
 lic buildings at Washington was executed here. The supply is 
 practically inexhaustible, and for toughness and power of resist- 
 ance to the action of fire and the weather it has no superior.. 
 The Richmond custom-house, which is built of this granite, was, 
 at the great fire of the evacuation of the city by the Confederate 
 troops, the centre of the “burnt district,” and suffered no damage. 
 Marble of a superior quality is, as before indicated, found on the 
 line of several of the railroads leading into the city. Some of 
 the varieties are beautifully adapted for the manufacture of soda 
 fountains, mantels and furniture tops. 
 
 WOOD ENGRAVING, LITHOGRAPHING AND PRINTING. 
 
 These kindred occupations give employment to over 300 hands, 
 exclusive of the printers engaged on newspaper work. One of 
 the greatest sources of revenue to all of them is the demand for 
 labels for tobacco boxes, cigar boxes, general ornamentation for 
 fancy paper boxes, and railroad work, though the finest work is 
 also turned out in the way of check and draft books, bonds, 
 stocks, show cards, &c. 
 
42 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 CARPENTERING AND BUILDING. 
 
 The number of men engaged in this business may be fairly 
 estimated at 1,000, and the building operations going on at pres- 
 ent give them all employment. The Richmond builders are a 
 superior class of men, and trouble between them and their em- 
 ployees rarely, if ever, occurs. In truth, it may be said that 
 nowhere is community of interest between employer and em- 
 ployee in all industries more generally recognized than in 
 Richmond. Distinct from carpentering and building are the 
 industries of slating, tinning and plumbing, in which about 350 
 hands are employed. 
 
 BRICK MAKING. 
 
 The clays about Richmond are of a superior quality for brick 
 making, and the industry is a source of revenue for a large ele- 
 ment of population. 
 
 SOAP AND CANDLES. 
 
 The Richmond factories turn out the best qualities of laundry 
 and toilet soap in great variety, which, with their candle produc- 
 tion, find a ready market at home, south and west. 
 
 RECTIFIERS. 
 
 This business involves a large amount of capital, and supplies 
 a very large territory in the South. The spirits employed are 
 chiefly from the Valley of Virginia and the West. 
 
 CANNED GOODS. 
 
 The adaptability of the country circumjacent to Richmond 
 to the raising of all sorts of fruits and vegetables, has made the 
 canning industry one of very considerable magnitude. A special 
 feature of the canneries in and around Richmond is that the 
 materials are either raised especially for the purpose, on the 
 farms of the proprietors, or are the overplus , never the refase 
 of the market-garden production. The area under cultivation 
 directly attached to the canneries, is about 1,500 acres. During 
 the busy season about 700 hands are employed, and the total 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 43 
 
 packing capacity of the industry is 70,000 cases of 25 cans each. 
 A large quantity of the goods put up is exported, and there 
 is no reason why the canning business should not be greatly 
 increased. 
 
 CANDY AND CONFECTIONERY AND BAKING. 
 
 The candy factories do a thriving business in both plain and 
 fancy candies. Even before the war our candies had a reputation 
 in the country accessible to Richmond, which reputation has 
 been more than sustained in late years. The baking of cakes 
 and fancy crackers for shipment is also an important item. The 
 business gives employment to over 200 hands ; and the facilities 
 of our flour market give it advantages that must be evident to 
 buyers. 
 
 FERTILIZERS 
 
 The means of distribution for such goods, especially south- 
 ward, being so exceptionally good at Richmond, induced the 
 erection here of not less than five factories for the preparation of 
 chemical manures, and they all do a large business. Their trade 
 covers six States and is continually expanding. Richmond has 
 two acid chambers and one factory for the production of sulphate 
 of ammonia, erected during the past two years. With the ability 
 to secure the bulk of the raw material used by sail-ship, no point 
 can produce such goods to greater advantage, certainly, as stated, 
 for the very large consuming region south of us. 
 
 LUBRICATORS, AXLE GREASE, &c. 
 
 The railroad interest and machine shops of the city have fos- 
 tered a great expansion in the manufacture of these articles, and 
 year by year both the capital and number of hands engaged in 
 the business have steadily increased. The overplus above home 
 consumption is large, but finds ready sale. 
 
 TIN-WARE. 
 
 The manufacture of tin-ware is a specialty with a number of 
 establishments, and the articles turned out embrace everything 
 for which tin can be used. The large negro population in the 
 ■South creates a good demand for tin utensils alone. 
 
44 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 COFFEE AND SPICE MILLS. 
 
 The coffee and spice and flavoring mills manufacture full lines 
 of all articles known to the trade as belonging under this head. 
 
 TRUNKS AND VALISES. 
 
 The manufacture of trunks and valises is a comparative new 
 industry, but the results have fully justified the investment of 
 capital in this direction. 
 
 SULPHURIC ACID, MEAT JUICE, &c. 
 
 The production of sulphuric acid, meat juice, bitters, and pro- 
 prietary articles of various kinds, is an important consideration, 
 both in the matter of capital and labor employed. 
 
 TYPE AND ELECTROTYPING. 
 
 The making of type and electrotypes is a successful and in- 
 creasing business, and complete outfits can be supplied for the 
 largest job, book and newspaper establishments. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Under the head of “ Miscellaneous ” we include a large variety 
 of industries; among them gun-smithing, hair-working, net and 
 seine making, brand cutting, dyeing and bleaching, ale, beer 
 and mineral water bottling, scroll sawing, &c., which afford sup- 
 port to a large number of people. Every day new enterprises 
 are springing up, and it is safe to say that there are hidden away 
 from general observation hundreds of little shops not included in 
 the table of manufactories given elsewhere, the aggregate of 
 whose production is far from trifling. 
 
 SHIP BUILDING, &c. 
 
 In closing this chapter, there are two other points we deem 
 especially worthy of consideration : ist. The war demonstrated 
 that Richmond was impregnable in time of war, and it is a fact 
 that nearly all cities of any size in the world are inland. 2d. 
 While our capitalists are already large owners in sailing vessels. 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 45 
 
 with sufficient depth of water — which, it is beyond question, can 
 be obtained — there is no reason why the city should not become 
 a most desirable place for ship building. Operatives can work 
 the year round with comfort, and all the materials needed for 
 such an enterprise are readily available. The real estate busi- 
 ness is in the hands of a superior class of men, and capitalists 
 wishing to invest will be afforded every accommodation in ex- 
 amining such property as may be on the market. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE JOBBING TRADE. 
 
 HOW IT HAS BEEN BUILT UP— RICHMOND THE CLOSEST,. 
 CHEAPEST, AND MOST NATURAL MARKET FOR THE 
 SOUTH— LIST OF JOBBING ENTERPRISES— SOME POTENT 
 REASONS WHY THE TRADE WILL CONTINUE TO IN- 
 CREASE. 
 
 The jobbing trade — the principal distributing channel of all 
 manufactures and commerce— has, in attaining its present pro- 
 portions, had multitudinous difficulties to overcome, but has 
 finally secured for Richmond a name as a base of supply second 
 to that of no city on the Atlantic Seaboard. The accomplish- 
 ment of such a result is not only indicative of the energy, enter- 
 prise and public spirit of our merchants, but evidence per se of the 
 city’s natural advantages. At the close of the war Richmond 
 had, we reiterate, everything to contend with. The South was 
 drained, and it was compelled to have supplies. The city had 
 neither the capital nor transportation facilities to furnish them. 
 The northern markets were not slow to appreciate their opportu- 
 nity, and before Richmond had regained the local trade enjoyed 
 prior to the war, they had virtually occupied the whole Southern 
 field. The lines of transportation naturally discriminated in their 
 favor, and their ability to give better accommodations was a the- 
 ory, if not a fact, that militated against any representation that 
 Richmond could make, even in the territory immediately accessi- 
 ble. Nevertheless, step by step, the Richmond salesmen followed 
 the extension of the railroad lines, slowly but steadily introducing 
 their samples, until not only the people, but the railroad corpora- 
 tions, alive to self-interest, began to take cognizance of their 
 claims. It was a fact apparent, that wherever Richmond got a 
 foot-hold it was able to remain ; and when once the tide of trade 
 set in this direction, the flow was continuous and increasing. 
 How far the railroads were impressed with this is told by the 
 most cursory examination of the maps accompanying this publi- 
 cation. Richmond, with its lines of local railway, extending south 
 only to Greensboro, N. C., 186 miles, and west to Covington, 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 47 
 
 Va., 205 miles, is a thing of the past, and in its stead we have 
 Richmond, the focus 01 a system, or systems, of transportation, 
 that, by reason of no diverting points south of us, drains more area 
 of country, and richer country at that, than any city in the Union. 
 The jobbing trade was literally nothing to begin with. To-day 
 we know of houses which, starting on a borrowed capital of a 
 few thousand dollars, do a business of nearly a half million dol- 
 lars annually. And it is no idle boast that we can and do com- 
 pete with any city, north or south, in supplying any line of goods 
 for the consumer or merchant. 
 
 THE REASONS. 
 
 This latter assertion is justified by every fact and argument we 
 have heretofore advanced in advocacy of Richmond’s claims as 
 a manufacturing centre. But in order to enforce their relations 
 to the specialty under consideration let us briefly re-state some of 
 them in connection with other points that must strike the ob- 
 server's mind : 
 
 First. Richmond is nearly two hundred miles nearer the southern, 
 western and southwestern fields of demand than any city north of it, 
 and from the west particularly is approached by easier grades than any 
 other Atlantic port. 
 
 Second. A large line of goods are manufactured in Richmond and 
 our jobbers can buy what is not manufactured here on exactly the same 
 terms that the Northern jobbers can. 
 
 Third. The cost of doing business in Richmond is, by reason of the 
 reduced cost of living so much below northern cities that our jobbers 
 are enabled to ignore the difference in freights between Richmond and 
 the Northern trade centres, which difference the Southern merchant 
 would have to pay in buying North. 
 
 Fourth. Richmond can give shipments twelve hours in advance, and 
 deliver goods twenty-four hours earlier from time of shipment than any 
 Northern city, with much lower freight rates on account of distance. 
 
 Fifth. Tickets from any point South to Richmond and return, are 
 cheaper than to any northern trade centre and return — a consideration 
 of some importance to the merchant buying directly from the house 
 in preference to buying from the salesman. 
 
 Sixth. Richmond has every advantage of competition in freights 
 from, western cities by rail, and from eastern cities by both rail and 
 water, and has a fair and just tariff to the South, not inimical to the city. 
 
 Seventh. Situated at the head of tidewater where vessels drawing 
 eighteen feet of water can come to the wharves, with rail connections to 
 
48 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 West Point and Newports News (ports of Richmond), where the depth of 
 water is sufficient for the largest vessels, the city has every facility for 
 its import and export trade. 
 
 PASSENGER TRAFFIC. 
 
 That these conditions are favorable to a continued increase of 
 the jobbing trade does not admit of argument, much less of dis- 
 pute. The reasoning they convey in their bearing upon the 
 future can bring us to but one conclusion; yet there are other 
 reasons equally as potent in the premises, one of which is espe- 
 cially worthy of consideration. Richmond is on the great high- 
 way of passenger traffic from all points South to the North, and 
 this service is as cheap and comfortable, as quick and as varied, 
 as over any other line, having the advantage of both rail and 
 water connection from here to the North. The northern bound 
 traveller has the choice of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and 
 Potomac line, the fast mail, passenger and express line north, or 
 any of the several boat lines. Tickets via Richmond are sold at 
 all stations and ticket offices at the same prices as via any other 
 route. This is and must remain the popular route; and to the 
 Southern merchant common sense and common business princi- 
 ples would dictate a trial of the Richmond market, before going 
 further north, in order that he may institute a comparison of 
 prices, freight rates, quantity of stock carried in his line, and post 
 himself regarding such other matters as influence trade. If he 
 goes direct to some northern point he loses the benefit of com- 
 petition, not knowing the prices and advantages of Richmond. 
 Such trial is all the Richmond merchants have ever asked in the 
 past, or will ask in the future, to vindicate their assertion that 
 this is the best, cheapest, closest, and most natural market for the 
 southern trade. The test has been applied with the opening of 
 every new feeder to the southern and southwestern railroad sys- 
 tems and with invariable success. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 The jobbing trade of Richmond now covers four entire 
 States, and extends into portions of four others. A list of 
 the articles sold by the jobbing houses would be intermina 
 ble, but we mention the leading trade classifications with the 
 simple assurance that all of the lines are complete : 
 
 Agricultural Implements — -Agencies for all the leading man- 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 49 
 
 ^factories. Bakers and Confectioners. Booksellers and Sta- 
 tioners. Boot and Shoe Dealers — Handling every variety of 
 home-made work and the products of all the leading New England 
 manufactories. Boot and Shoe Findings. Builders’ Hardware. 
 Cabinet-Makers’ Wares. Canned Goods. Carpets and Oil 
 Cloths. Cattle. China, Glass and Crockery-Ware — Including 
 bric-a-brac. Cigars — Domestic and imported. Clothing. Coal 
 and Wood. Cotton — Raw. Cotton and Woolen Mill Supplies. 
 Cutlery. Drugs and Medicines — Including, paints, oils, dye-stuffs, 
 surgical instruments and appliances, soaps, perfumes, and toilet ar- 
 ticles. *Dry Goods — Embracing all standard fabrics. Electrical 
 Supplies. Fancy Goods and Notions. Fancy Groceries— In- 
 cluding imported delicacies and condiments. Frames — Looking-glass 
 and picture. Fertilizers. Furniture. Groceries — Under this head 
 is embraced everything in the grocery line ; many articles, such as coffees, 
 sugars, and molasses being of direct importation. Ground Glue, Var- 
 nish, Turpentine, &c. Guns and Sporting Material. Hardware 
 — Even- class. Hides and Leather. House Furnishing Goods. 
 Harness. Hats, Caps, Furs and Straw Goods. Ice, Iron and 
 Steel, Lead and Copper. Ladies’ and Gents’ Underwear. Lime, 
 Plaster and Cement. Lubricators — For factories and mills, &e. 
 Lumber. Machinist and Gas-fitters’ Supplies. Marbles. Milli- 
 nery. Musical Instruments — Pianos and organs of all the best man- 
 ufactories — and all smaller instruments. Notions and Hos t ery — 
 general assortments. Nurseries. Papers — Including book, job, 
 writing, news, card board, &c. Pictures. Pig-Iron. Plows. Pork. 
 Pottery. Produce. Railroad and Miner’s Supplies. Regalia. 
 Roofing. Saddlery. Sash, Blinds and Doors. Sewing Machines 
 - — All of the best machines are represented. Silver-ware. Stoves 
 and Tin-ware. Tobacco — Plug and smoking and snuff. Tobacco- 
 nists’ Supplies — Including flavorings. Trunks and Valises. Toys. 
 Wall Papers and Upholstering Material. Watches. |Wines 
 and Liquors. Wood and Willow- Ware. Wool. 
 
 It will be seen from a careful examination of the range of 
 material covered by the foregoing exhibits (manufacturing and 
 jobbing) that it is possible for a merchant to secure in Richmond 
 an assorted car load of goods, and this all merchants who 
 know their business desire to do. The reasons are too obvious 
 to need presentation here. 
 
 * It is a notable fact that southern fabrics, especially plaids and osna- 
 burgs, are competing on the counters of our wholesale dry goods 
 houses, with the products of the New England mills, 
 f High grades of direct importation. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF INTEREST TO TOURISTS. 
 
 HISTORIC— POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE CITY— AS A HOME 
 FOR INVALIDS— THE SCENERY ON THE RAILROAD LINES 
 AND THE SUMMER RESORTS. 
 
 Richmond must always possess a fascination for the tourist. 
 As an incorporated place it antedates the Revolutionary period 
 by many years, and has been the scene of many stirring incidents 
 connected with the Colonial period, the Revolution, and the late 
 civil war. Its record is full of historic memories, many of them 
 of the most dramatic character. Its very site was consecrated in 
 blood in the first half of the first century of the Colonial settle- 
 ment. In 1656, Bloody Run, which marks one of the divides in 
 the eastern plateau of the city, was the scene of a sanguinary 
 engagement between a large force of Richahicrian Indians, and 
 the Border Rangers under Colonel Hill and a band of friendly 
 Indians under Totopotomoi, in which the latter forces were 
 defeated. Shockoe creek, Gillie’s creek and Bacon’s Quarter 
 Branch are associated with important events of the “ Bacon’s 
 Rebellion” period in 1676, and in 1781 the city was visited by 
 the British expeditionary force under Arnold and Simcoe, and 
 burned. During the civil war, as the capital of the Confederate 
 Government, it was the great strategic point of attack and 
 defence, the headquarters for the manufacture of all heavy war 
 munitions, and was more than once girdled with fire. 
 
 POINTS OF INTEREST. 
 
 St. John’s Church is situated on what is known as Church 
 Hill — a fact which gives the name to that elevation — in the 
 eastern portion of the city, and was built in 1740. It is a quaint, 
 old-fashioned structure, and within its walls Patrick Henry, 
 speaking to the Virginia Convention in 1775, gave utterance to 
 those memorable words: “ Give me liberty , or give me death !" 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 51 
 
 The graveyard around it is the resting place of the remains of 
 the older members of many of Richmond’s most noted families, 
 and is so filled up that interments cannot now be made without 
 special permission of the City Council. 
 
 The Old Stone House is the oldest building of its char- 
 acter in Richmond, dating back to the original settlement. 
 During the revolutionary war it was for a time the headquarters 
 of Washington, and has also been the scene of entertainment of 
 Jefferson, Madison, Lafayette, and other distinguished persons. 
 
 The Capitol Building is situated in the Capitol park, or 
 square as it is called by Richmond people, in the centre of the 
 city, and from the top commands a view of the city and sur- 
 rounding country for miles, in every direction. The corner-stone 
 of the building was laid August the 18th, 1785, and it is the re- 
 pository of many of Virginia’s most valuable relics— Colonial, 
 Revolutionary and Confederate. Among the Colonial relics may 
 be mentioned the records of the Land Office which are continuous 
 from 1620, the chair of the Speaker of the House of Burgesses 
 and the old stove made in England in 1770 by Buzaglo, and pre- 
 sented to .the Colony of Virginia by the Duke of Beaufort. 
 This relic is seven feet high, is elaborately ornamented, and up to 
 a few years ago did excellent service in heating the rotunda of 
 the Capitol. In the rotunda is the Houdon statue of Washing- 
 ton — the only authentic statue of Washington in existence, hav- 
 ing been modeled from his person — a bust of Lafayette, by the 
 same artist, and a statue of Henry Clay, by Joel T. Hart, which 
 was presented to the State by the ladies of Virginia. In the State 
 Library there are over thirty-five thousand volumes, numerous 
 Colonial manuscripts, and a valuable collection of portraits and 
 busts of distinguished Virginians. The sessions of the conven- 
 tion which passed the ordinance of secession were held in this 
 building, as were also the sessions of the Confederate Congress. 
 The walls of the House of Delegates are ornamented by pictures 
 of Chatham and Jefferson, and those of the Senate chamber by 
 Lami’s Storming of a Redoubt at Yorktovvn and Elder’s General 
 R. E. Lee. 
 
 The Capitol Square is one of the most beautiful spots in 
 the city. At the highest point in the enclosure is the Washing- 
 ton monument, universally conceded to be the finest monumental 
 
52 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 group in the country, and one of the finest in the world. The 
 figure of Washington on horseback overlooks and is surrounded 
 by statues of Lewis, Henry, Mason, Jefferson, Marshall and Nel- 
 son, which in turn overlook allegorical figures, typifying “ Colo- 
 nial times,” “Revolution,” “Bill of Rights,” “Independence,” 
 “ Justice,” and “ Finance,” and the historic events that made these 
 men famous. The figures are of bronze, and the entire cost of 
 the monument was $259,913.61. All of the figures, except those 
 of Lewis, Nelson and Marshall, and the allegorical figures, were 
 designed and executed by Crawford. At his death, the contract 
 for the unfinished work was awarded to Randolph Rogers. Near 
 the Washington monument is the Foley statue of Stonewall 
 Jackson, presented to the State of Virginia by the Right Hon- 
 orable A. J. Beresford-Hope, and other English gentlemen. 
 A pretty incident connected with this work of art is, that the 
 Boston Knights Templar, during a recent visit to Richmond, 
 marched alone, and unknown to their hosts, from their hotel to 
 the Capitol grounds, and while their band discoursed appropriate 
 music, formed around the statue and decorated it with a wreath 
 of flowers. Within the Capitol enclosure are also the guber- 
 natorial mansion and the old bell-house, which latter, up to 
 the days of reconstruction, served as a guard-house for the State 
 Guard, the standing army of Virginia. This guard did police 
 duty in and about the public buildings. The bell in the tower 
 was used to strike the time, to sound fire-alarms and call out the 
 other military. 
 
 The Monumental Church is built on the site of the old 
 Richmond Theatre, which was burned December 26, 1811. One 
 hundred and twenty people, including the Governor of the Com- 
 monwealth, George W. Smith, perished in the flames. In the 
 portico of the church is a monument on which are recorded the 
 names of the victims. 
 
 St. Paul’s, the largest Episcopal church in the city, is the 
 edifice in which President Jefferson Davis was seated on Sunday, 
 April 2d, 1865, when the news was received from General Lee 
 sounding the death-knell of the Confederacy. 
 
 Libby Prison, now a fertilizer mill, is a plain brick building, 
 situated in the lower part of the city, and was used as a Federal 
 prison during the war. 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 53 
 
 On Belle Isle, a large island in James river, an extensive 
 prison camp was located, and it was this point Dahlgren was 
 endeavoring to reach when he made his celebrated raid. 
 
 Hollywood Cemetery is on the extreme western edge of 
 the city, and is a place of exceptional natural beauty. Here are 
 buried twelve thousand Confederate soldiers, and here also are 
 located the Monroe monument, and the monument to the Con- 
 federate dead, erected by the ladies of the Hollywood Memorial 
 Association. This latter is a granite pyramid 90 feet high. 
 Among other distinguished men buried in Hollywood are John 
 Randolph of Roanoke, Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill, Major- 
 General Geo. Pickett, of Gettysburg fame; Commodore Mathew 
 F. Maury, Governor Henry A. Wise, General J. E. B. Stuart, the 
 cavalry leader, President John Tyler, and others. 
 
 Oakwood Cemetery, another beautiful spot, is on the eastern 
 corporation boundary, and the National Cemetery is situated 
 j ust below the city. 
 
 The Finest Public Buildings are the Custom-House and 
 Post-Office, the Medical College, and the Almshouse. The City 
 Hall, a striking Doric structure, was condemned and pulled down 
 as insecure, but the people of the city have voted to erect a new 
 one at a cost of $300,000. The Medical College is a State insti- 
 tution of the highest repute at home and abroad. The faculty 
 embraces some of the most eminent physicians in Richmond, and 
 its clinical advantages are very superior. 
 
 The Confederate White House. — The mansion occupied 
 by President Davis during the war is a substantial building 
 erected by an opulent gentleman for a private residence. It is 
 now used as a public school. The Lee House is on the most 
 fashionable thoroughfare and is a commodious but unpretentious 
 building. 
 
 Valentine’s Studio attracts a large number of visitors. 
 Here, in addition to the original casts of the artist’s own works 
 - — -prominent among them the recumbent figure of General R. 
 E. Lee — are numerous examples of the plastic art from abroad. 
 In the neighborhood of Valentine’s studio is the residence of 
 Chief Justice John Marshall. 
 
 The Richmond College grounds and buildings are situated 
 
54 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 near the western boundary of the city at the head of one of the 
 most fashionable avenues. The institution is in a flourishing con- 
 dition, and is accumulating a valuable museum. 
 
 The Battle-fields around Richmond are objects of inter- 
 est to tourists from all parts of the country, and many of the 
 earthworks thrown up on them are still standing. They are ap- 
 proached from the city by good roads. The more generally 
 visited points are Seven Pines, Cold Harbor, Mechanicsville, Fort 
 Harrison, Malvern Hill, Savage’s Station and Drewry’s Bluff. 
 Savage Station can also be reached by the Richmond, York 
 River and Chesapeake Railroad, and Drewry’s Bluff by the river. 
 This latter stronghold was the scene of the unsuccessful attack, 
 made May 16, 1862, by the Union fleet, consisting of the Moni- 
 tor, Galena, Aroostook, Naugatuck, Port Royal and other vessels. 
 
 FOR INVALIDS. 
 
 Richmond is the great intermediate stopping-place for travel- 
 lers between Florida and the North, and is highly commended 
 as a winter residence for those fleeing the more rigorous climate 
 of the latter section. The winters are mild, and in the late spring 
 the city is truly a city of foliage and flowers. So much of the 
 travel alluded to passes through here that it is in contemplation 
 to erect a handsome hotel in the fashionable part of the city for 
 its especial accommodation. Regardless of this improvement, 
 however, there is room for the profitable investment of capital in 
 another hotel. As before stated, the people extend the warmest 
 welcome to strangers, and already there is a large resident north- 
 ern element. As a diverging point for tourists it also possesses 
 great advantages. A few hours’ ride by any line of transporta- 
 tion brings complete change of scenery, and on every route, 
 water or rail, there are points of interest worth especial trips. 
 
 JAMES RIVER ROUTE. 
 
 The banks of the river from Richmond to Norfolk are studded 
 ■on both sides with historical localities. Powhatan, in sight of 
 the city, is the site of one of the residences of the Indian king by 
 that name, whose daughter saved the life of Captain John Smith. 
 She stands in Virginia’s history as an Indian princess and the 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 55 
 
 maternal ancestor of some of the most prominent people in 
 the State. Whitby was settled as early as 1620, only thirteen 
 years after Jamestown, and Warwick, only four miles below 
 Richmond, was before the Revolution the shipping point for the 
 city. Passing Ampthill, the residence of a celebrated Colonial 
 patriot, Falling Creek, on which is the site of the first iron 
 furnace erected in the Colony, Drewry's and Chaffin’s 
 Bluffs, we come to Dutch Gap. Here the river makes a 
 long sweep around a narrow neck of land, known as Farrar’s 
 Island, and here General B. F. Butler in 1864 undertook to 
 cut his canal, with a view of protecting the Federal gunboats 
 from the heavy fire of the Confederate batteries. After the 
 war the work was completed by the United States govern- 
 ment, in the interest of commerce, and has proved a great 
 advantage to the city, as it cuts off seven miles of very 
 tedious navigation. Between Dutch Gap and Fort Pow- 
 hatan, built during the Revolution by order of Baron Steuben, 
 may be noted Varina and Curl’s Neck, Colonial resi- 
 dences; Turkey Bend, where General McClellan took refuge 
 under cover of his gunboats after the seven days’ fight; Mal- 
 vern Hill, Shirley and Berkeley, fine old Colonial home- 
 steads — the latter the birthplace of President Harrison; West- 
 over, the seat of William Byrd, the founder of Richmond and 
 Petersburg; Wilcox’s, where General Grant crossed the James 
 on his movement from Spotsylvania Courthouse to Petersburg, 
 and Weyanoke, another Colonial homestead, and the scene 
 of a massacre of the settlers by the Indians. Upper Bran- 
 don, Lower Brandon and Sandy Point, Colonial resi- 
 dences, follow next, and then comes Jamestown, or “James 
 Cittie,” the first capital of the Colony, and the seat of the 
 residences of the Royal Governors of Virginia. In 1619 the 
 first legislative assembly in America met at Jamestown and until 
 1676 it continued to be the scene of all the pomp and ceremony 
 of a court in minature. In that year, however — during Bacon’s 
 Rebellion — it was burned, and began to decline, and now all that 
 marks the spot is the tower of the old church in which Poca- 
 hontas was baptized and married, and the graveyard surrounding 
 it. Just below Jamestown is King’s Mill Wharf, the landing 
 for Williamsburg, four miles distant, to which the capital of the 
 
56 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 Colony was removed in 1698, and where Spotswood and his suc- 
 cessors reigned in vice-regal splendor until the voice of Henry 
 sounded the key-note of revolution. Williamsburg was settled 
 in 1632 and is the seat of the venerable College of Wil- 
 liam and Mary, founded in 1692, and the oldest seat of learning 
 in the United States except Harvard. Among the other re- 
 minders of the Colonial period yet to be seen are the remains of 
 the Governor’s palace, the Powder-horn, and the House of Bur- 
 gesses, where Henry made his great speech ending, “ If this be 
 treason make the most of it .” The parish church, one of the 
 oldest church edifices in Virginia, is in an excellent state of pre- 
 servation. Williamsburg can also be reached by the Newports 
 News branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway. Off New- 
 ports News, the next point of interest, the naval engagement 
 between the Confederate ram Virginia (or Merrimac) and the 
 steamers Patrick Henry and Jamestown and two or three small 
 gunboats, and the United States fleet of wooden vessels took 
 place March 8, 1862, and the following day in the same waters 
 occurred the fight between the Virginia and the Monitor. At 
 Old Point Comfort are the Hygeia hotel, a favorite summer 
 resort and winter sanitarium, and Fortress Monroe, the largest 
 and strongest fortress in this country. Near Fortress Monroe is the 
 town of Hampton, famous in Colonial, Revolutionary and Con- 
 federate history. It is the seat of the Hampton Normal and Agri- 
 cultural Institute, and the location of one of the oldest churches 
 in the United States. The marshes and reaches of James river 
 abound in water fowl, affording excellent sport and are much 
 frequented by Northern sportsmen. 
 
 THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO ROUTE. 
 
 Hanover courthouse is the first place of note after^ leaving 
 Richmond on the road going west. The old courthouse was 
 erected in 1735, of imported brick, and is memorable for its 
 colonial and revolutionary reminiscences. Gordonsville is the 
 first large town, but before reaching it Trevillian’s station is 
 passed, and near this point is the Military Road cut by Lafay- 
 ette when in pursuit of the British in 1781. Shadwell, 93 miles 
 from Richmond, is the site of the old mill property of Thomas 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 57 
 
 Jefferson (the ruins are still standing), and two miles further west 
 the traveller comes in sight of Monticello, the famous retreat 
 and burial-place of the great commoner. Charlottesville is next, 
 and a mile beyond is the University of Virginia, the beautiful 
 grounds and buildings of which are in full view of the railroad. 
 This institution, the “child of Mr. Jefferson’s old age,” was 
 founded in 1819, in pursuance of a long cherished idea, and for- 
 mally opened March 7, 1825. Mr. Jefferson superintended every 
 detail of the construction of the buildings, importing artizans to 
 do some of the finer work. It is liberally endowed by the State 
 of Virginia, and has always stood in the front rank of the edu- 
 cational institutions of the country. Among its post bellurn 
 benefactors may be mentioned the Honorable W. W. Corcoran, 
 of Washington, W. H. Vanderbilt, of New York city, and the 
 late Lewis Brooks, of Rochester. To Mr. Brooks it owes its 
 handsome museum building and the splendid collectiop it con- 
 tains Through the liberality of Mr. Leander McCormick, of 
 Chicago, it also possesses a magnificent observatory. The Uni- 
 versity draws its patronage from all parts of the country, and its 
 alumni have distinguished themselves in all walks of life. It may 
 be mentioned here, as an evidence of the abatement of sectional 
 feeling, that not only are the Llniversity and other educational 
 institutions receiving students from the North, but that boys 
 are being prepared in our private schools for these institu- 
 tions. From Medium’s river, ten miles west of the Univer- 
 sity, the road begins the ascent of the eastern slope of the Blue 
 Ridge, tunnelling the mountains at Rockfish gap. This point is 
 1,500 above tide-level and the windings of the road before reach- 
 ing the tunnel command a view of one of the most picturesque 
 landscapes in this country. From the western mouth of the tun- 
 nel, the road descends into the Valley of Virginia, connecting at 
 Waynesboro with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad for Luray 
 Caverns — conceded to be among the most remarkable cave- 
 formations in the world. Staunton, 136 miles from Richmond, 
 is the seat of four of the largest female educational institutions in 
 the South — the Augusta Female Seminary (Presbyterian), the 
 Virginia Female Institute (Episcopal), the Wesleyan Female In- 
 stitute (Methodist), and Staunton Female Seminary (Lutheran). 
 
 It is a place remarkable for its health, and is the junction of the 
 5 
 
58 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 Valley and the Chesapeake and Ohio railroads. At this point 
 the traveller makes railroad or stage connection for Stribling 
 Springs, Weyer’s Cave, the Cave of the Fountains, and Rawley, 
 Orkney, and Capon Springs. A few miles west of Staunton the 
 road enters what is termed the great mineral spring basin of Vir- 
 ginia and West Virginia, jn which are situated the following well 
 known summer resorts: Variety Springs, Crawford Springs, Cold 
 Sulphur Springs, Rockbridge Baths, Rockbridge Alum and Jor- 
 dan Alum Springs, Millboro’ Springs, Wallawhatoola Springs, 
 the Warm, Hot and Healing Springs, Dagger’s Springs, the Old 
 Sweet and the Sweet Chalybeate Springs, the Salt Sulphur, the 
 Red Sulphur, and the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs. The 
 distance from Staunton to the White Sulphur is 91 miles, and the 
 distance from the White Sulphur to Huntington is 194 miles,, 
 mudi of the road being through a country unequalled for wild- 
 ness and grandeur of scenery, and involving feats of engineering 
 as difficult as any ever attempted on this continent. The Rev.. 
 John Hall, D. D , in a letter to a New York paper describing his 
 trip over the road, says : 
 
 “ My way lay along the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, and 
 he who can travel by it unmoved ought to be placed permanently oil 
 the Jersey flats, and forbidden the sight of anything more picturesque 
 than a machine shop. There is a famous road in Italy which attracts 
 by its rapid alternations of dark tunnel and picturesque valley; but it 
 is no exaggeration to say that as much could be abstracted from the 
 Virginia line without being missed. Every one who ever crossed the 
 Alps into Italy remembers the zigzags from which he looks down on 
 the valley he is reaching. But the hills around are bare and hard. The 
 generous Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge are richly wooded to their 
 tops, and look as soft and green as the hill-sides around Lake Maggiore. 
 All travellers by the Pennsylvania Central remember that attractive 
 piece of fancy engineering known as the Horse-Shoe, and nobody has 
 gone to California without recalling the doubling of Cape Horn — where 
 your train winds round the high brow of a mountain, as if it had 
 climbed up to give you a look at the valleys below. The traveller 
 across the Virginias can have delights like these again and again re- 
 peated. The Rhine owes no little of its attractiveness to the battle- 
 ments on its steeps. The New river is not, indeed, like the Rhine in 
 depth or breadth, but it has features of its own. Now it is a broad 
 stream, leisurely chattering to the woods that overhang it; anon it is in 
 a narrower bed scolding the rocks as large as houses, that have intruded 
 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 65 
 
 land is also the residence of numbers of Richmond business men. 
 The Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal), organized in 
 1827, is located at Al^andria, Virginia, on the line of this sys- 
 tem, between Richmond and Washington. There has been only 
 one fatal accident on this road — the Eldest road in the State — 
 and that was not the fault of the company. 
 
 THE COAST-LINE ROUTE. 
 
 Twenty-two miles from Richmond the Coast- line route passes 
 through Petersburg, thence on to the Seaside resorts of North 
 Carolina and the orange groves of Florida. Petersburg is a 
 city of 22,000 inhabitants. The country around it was the 
 scene of some of the most desperate fighting of the war, and 
 many of the houses in the city bear the marks of Federal shells 
 to this day. The “ Crater ” battle-field is one of the objects of 
 especial interest connected with those dark days, and the colonial 
 period is represented in the picturesque ruins of old Biandford 
 church. From Petersburg it is but a short ride by rail over the 
 Norfolk and Western road to the edge of the famous Dismal 
 Swamp. 
 
 THE NORFOLK AND WESTERN ROUTE. 
 
 Connection is made with the Norfolk and Western route by 
 either the Petersburg, the Danville, or the Richmond and 
 Alleghany. From Burkeville, the point of connection with the 
 Danville road to Lynchburg, the route passes through much of 
 the territory over which General Lee’s army made its retreat to 
 Appomattox Courthouse, the scene of the surrender. Farm- 
 ville, in Prince Edward county, is the depot for Hampden Sid- 
 ney, the seat of Hampden Sidney College and Union Theological 
 Seminary. The former was organized in 1775 under Presbyte- 
 rian auspices, the latter in 1824. Both schools have a widespread 
 and enviable reputation. West of Lynchburg the objects of in- 
 terests for tourists, pleasure and health seekers reached by the 
 road are Blue Ridge Springs, Coyner’s Springs, the Peaks of 
 Otter, Salt Pond, Bedford Alum Springs, Bald Knob, the Natu- 
 ral Tunnel, Botetourt Springs (the seat of Hollins (Female) In- 
 stitute), Roanoke Red Sulphur Springs, Montgomery White 
 Sulphur Springs, the Yellow Sulphur Springs, Pulaski Alum 
 
64 
 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 Springs, New River White Sulphur Springs, Sharon Springs, 
 and Alleghany Springs. At Salem is located Roanoke College, 
 organized under Lutheran patronage in 1853; and at Emory, 
 Emory and Henry College, organized in 1837. The Virginia 
 Agricultural and Mechanical .College, a State institution, is situ- 
 ated at Blacksburg, on this route. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In conclusion and apropos of summer resorts and excursions let 
 us again say a word to artizans and others whose means will not 
 allow them to avail themselves of the fashionable places of recre- 
 ation. The heated term in Richmond does not necessitate a gen- 
 eral exodus, and eveh when it becomes desirable to have a change 
 of air, going into the country does not involve a long and expen- 
 sive trip. The gates of the city literally open out upon pastures 
 green and running streams — a buggy ride of a couple of miles 
 in any direction from the corporation line and the country is 
 spread before us in all of its freshness. The towns and villages of 
 the State are far between, and on all the railroad routes we have 
 described there are numerous farm houses where good board 
 can be obtained at reasonable rates, and every necessary accom- 
 modation is found. The country folk of Virginia, while they 
 cannot, as a rule, afford to keep open houses, as they did before 
 the war, have lost none of their hospitality or faculty for making 
 strangers feel at home, and for this reason many families of abun- 
 dant means prefer the quiet farm-house, for spending the summer, 
 to the public resorts. 
 

Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Library Bureau Cat. no. |I37 
 
 L 
 
I 
 
 975.553 R533A 
 
 P33462