Browse Items (12 total)

The Seaboard Air Line (SAL) Railway was chartered from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it was merged with another railroad line, Atlantic Coast Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The SAL Railway originated from several…

From the time the earliest English settlers arrived in 1607 to today, corn has been a staple crop in Virginia. Farmers across the state grew vegetables like corn to eat and to feed their farm animals. As America's population increased, the demand for…

In earlier eras, books were expensive luxury items only owned by those who could afford to purchase them. The advent of the printing press made it easier to produce books; however, it was far easier to mass produce newspapers, pamphlets, and other…

Trolleys were a very popular way for people to travel across cities or towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Earlier versions of the trolley, or tram, were drawn by horses. By the late 1800s, however, people began riding in trolleys that…

By the 1870s, bicycles and tricycles using wire-spoked wheels were common, particularly in England. Albert A. Pope became the first American bicycle manufacturer under the trade name “Columbia” in Connecticut in 1878.The popularity of bicycles in…

This broadside advertises an excursion by train from Lawrenceville to Norfolk as a fundraiser for St. Paul Normal and Industrial Institute. James Solomon Russell (1857–1935) founded St. Paul Normal and Industrial School in Lawrenceville to serve the…

Washington County is one of the first known localities in the United States to be named for George Washington. He had been commander in chief of the Continental army for little more than a year when Washington was created from Fincastle County in…

Tobacco has been a major part of Virginia commerce for more than four centuries. Early tobacco art usually took the form of the planters' brand that makers used to distinguish their crop. Most planters used a form of their initials to distinguish…

Long associated with coal mining, southwest Virginia has an impressive list of other industries including farming, salt production, timber, and the mining of lead, copper, gypsum, and iron. These industries helped the region become known as the…

In rural areas across the state local stores, such as the Pocahontas Colliery Store in Tazewell County, were often the centers of commerce and provided gathering places for community residents. In the 19th century stores in these rural communities…