CENTURIES OF BUSINESS IN VIRGINIA HISTORY
Once Upon a Business Dreary West Point dropout Edgar Allan Poe returned to Richmond, his boyhood home, in 1835 to join the staff of The Southern Literary Messenger. During the time that Poe wrote for and edited the Messenger, its circulation increased from 700 to 5,000. Despite his stellar performance, Thomas White, owner of the Messenger, never raised Poe’s pay. The now world-renowned poet, fiction writer, and editor left Richmond seeking more opportunity in 1837. Had Thomas White known about profit-sharing or pay for performance, Virginia might never have lost this literary giant to the 12 years he spent in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Ye Olde Factory A glass-blowing production shop in 1608 Jamestown is generally accepted to be the first manufacturing industry in the New World.
Reynolds Rocks Reynolds Aluminum in Richmond, now Aloca, produced the first aluminum siding in 1945 and aluminum foil in 1947 (“Reynolds Wrap”). In 1975, they would produce the first aluminum can with a “stay-on” tab. A brief history of Reynolds by BAW Breakfast speaker Paul Levengood can be found here.
Best Products It’s hard to imagine now, but Best Products Company, founded in Richmond in 1957, had a revolutionary retail concept—the catalog showroom. They would achieve over $2 billion in sales. By the early 1990’s, however, other retail innovations had surpassed them and they disappeared from the business scene.
News to Go USA Today was founded in Arlington in 1982. It is now the number one daily newspaper in the US with a circulation of 2.3 million.
Ice Cream Firsts Doumar’s in Norfolk boasts the oldest continuously used ice cream maker in the world—heck, Abe Doumar brought the cone to America and served it at the 300 year anniversary of the Jamestown landing! First in Banking Virginia’s most famous businesswoman is Maggie L. Walker. Her achievements, including the founding of the first bank in America chartered by a woman—an African-American woman-- led the National Park Service to designate her home a National Historic Site.
Maggie Walker was born to humble circumstances in Richmond in 1867. At the age of 14, she joined a fraternal burial society (similar to an insurance company) called The Order of St. Luke. Eventually, she became its leader in 1899, a post she held until her death in 1934. She founded the Penny Savings Bank in 1903 based on a vision she laid out in this 1901 letter:
What do we need to still further develop and prosper us, numerically and financially? First we need a savings bank, chartered, officered and run by the men and women of this Order. Let us put our moneys together; let us use our moneys; let us put our money out at usury among ourselves, and reap the benefit ourselves. Shall we no longer continue to bury our talent, which the Lord has given us, wrapped in a napkin and hidden away, where it ought to be gaining us still other talents?
R.W.G. Chief, brethren and sisters, let us awake. Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars. Then, as our patron saint went about doing good, how easily can this great organization now start and do good in our ranks. Who is so helpless as the Negro woman? Who is so circumscribed and hemmed in, in the race of life, in the struggle for bread, meat and clothing as the Negro woman? They are even being denied the work of teaching Negro children. Can't this great Order, in which there are so many good women, willing women, hard-working women, noble women, whose money is here, whose interests are here, whose hearts and souls are here, do something towards giving employment to those who have made it what it is? Brethren and sisters, we need to start and operate a factory for the making of clothing for women and children, men's underwear and a millinery store.
Ms. Walker founded a newspaper and the retail store suggested above. She ran for Governor of Virginia in 1921. Penny Savings Bank merged with two other banks and is now Consolidated Bank and Trust, with branch offices in Richmond and Hampton.
First Barn Sir Thomas Dale is credited with constructing the first barn in Virginia in 1611. Dale, who was twice a Colonial Governor, had the barn constructed in the town he founded, Henricus in Chesterfield County.
The Good Reaper Cyrus McCormack helped end much of the back-breaking work of farming when he invented the mechanical reaper at this Virginia farm in 1831. Visitors are welcome to marvel at his agricultural ingenuity at the McCormick Farm in Steele’s Tavern.
Lunchtime Innovator Eli Janney, a dry goods clerk from Alexandria, used his lunch hours to whittle a wooden model of a new type of railroad coupler. The Janney Coupler was patented in 1873 and first tested in Alexandria. It is the standard for freight car couplers used today.
A Business Tradition Lands The first generation of African-Americans landed in Jamestown in 1619. They were descended from a culture of traders and merchants. They immediately began to accumulate capital. A notable example was Anthony Johnson, who arrived in 1621. He worked off his servitude and within a few years had accumulated enough money to import five indentured servants. On their “headrights” he was given 250 acres on the Pungoteague River in Northampton County in 1651.
Hallowed Freedman’s Ground Much of the first battle of the Civil War—First Manassas--took place around the grounds of the Robinson House. During the battle of Second Manassas, in 1862, the Robinson House served as a shelter for wounded Union soldiers. There is a great irony there. The Robinson House was owned by James Robinson, a free African-American. Robinson, born free in 1799, served a short stint as an indentured servant until he began work at a tavern. He earned enough money to buy 170 acres near Bull Run in Prince William County. Through hard work and perseverance, he turned the land into a prosperous farm and was one of the wealthiest African-Americans in the area.
During an oral history interview in 1982, Oswald Robinson, James Robinson’s great grandson, noted that Robinson operated a tavern on the farm. Located near the busy Warrenton Turnpike, his tavern did a thriving business providing lodging and a good meal to stagecoach drivers, livestock drovers, and farmers taking products to market.
Accept No Imitations: Brunswick Stew was invented in Brunswick County, on the shores of the Nottoway River, in 1828. Georgia and North Carolina have tried to claim this culinary breakthrough, but Virginia’s birthright is the most plausible. Don’t be fooled by imitators—here’s some real Virginia Brunswick Stew.
TJ Goes Underground: "In the lime-stone country, there are many caverns of very considerable extent," wrote Thomas Jefferson. Virginia's caves became big business in the nineteenth century. Weyer's Cave (now Grand Caverns), discovered in 1804, was one of the region's earliest show caves, opening in 1806. Luray Caverns, uncovered in 1878, remains the largest cavern tourist attraction
George Washington, Back in Business In 1797, George Washington erected a 2,250 square foot distillery on his property at Mount Vernon. At that time, it was one of the largest distilleries in America. In 1799, the year of his death, it produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey, worth $7500. That was a princely sum in early America.
George Washington’s Distillery has been reconstructed and on March 19, 2007, Governor Kaine signed legislation allowing Mount Vernon to receive a special Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control store designation. On July 1, visitors will be able to purchase samples of Washington’s Straight Rye Whiskey and other historic products at Mount Vernon gift shops.
First in Coal Commercial coal mining, which was underway in Chesterfield County by 1730, comprised not only the county’s first true industrial development but also the first such operations undertaken in North America. Coal was first discovered in Chesterfield during the early 1700’s near Manakin Town, a French Huguenot settlement. Later, several French Huguenot families such as the Trabues, Salles, Ammonettes and DuVals operated coal pits near Falling Creek and the James River. Thomas Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, stated that the quality of Chesterfield’s coal was excellent.
One customer for Chesterfield coal was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. Tour guides at the John Marshall House in Richmond include this fact in their tour.
First in Obstetrics The first successful c-section in America occurred in Rockingham County on January 14, 1794. It was performed by Dr. Jesse Bennett on his wife, Elizabeth Hogg, after her attending physician refused to perform the dangerous procedure. Both Elizabeth and her baby girl survived. Dr. Bennett did not report the operation, doubting that anyone would believe a woman could survive such a procedure “in the backwoods of Virginia.”
First Lady of Economic Development Smyth County’s Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (1868-1940) has been selected as one of eight Women in Virginia History 2007 honorees. She was the driving force behind the creation of the Konnarock Training School, a center for educating Smyth County children who did not have access to public schools. As Director of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, she advocated strategies for developing the local agricultural community. She founded Rosemont Industries, a textile company that became Laura Copenhaver Industries, Inc. in 1960 and continues to operate. Ms. Copenhaver was also the mother-in-law and confidante of Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), a noted American writer who built a home in Grayson County and owned/operated the Marion Publishing Company.
Good Trades The internationally known Barter Theatre in Abingdon opened in 1933:
During the Depression, Robert Porterfield, an enterprising young actor, returned to his native Southwest Virginia with an extraordinary proposition: Bartering produce from the farms and gardens of the region to gain admission to see a play.
So on June 10, 1933, Barter Theatre opened its doors, making Barter Theatre one of the oldest professional theatres in the nation. Proclaiming "With vegetables you cannot sell, you can buy a good laugh." The price of admission was 40 cents or the equivalent of produce. About 80 percent of the Depression-era audience paid their way with vegetables, dairy products and livestock.
The concept of trading "ham for Hamlet" caught on quickly. At the end of the first season, the Barter Company cleared $4.35 in cash, two barrels of jelly, and a collective weight gain of over 300 pounds.
Take a Bow The first Galax Old Time Fiddler Convention was held in 1935. Year after year, the convention brings national exposure to Southwest Virginia as an irresistible story for print and TV media.
Luckily, No Checked Baggage The first passenger on an airplane was Lt. Frank P. Lahm. Lahm took off from Ft. Myer in Arlington with Orville Wright at the controls on September 10, 1908. Wright was trying to convince the Army to buy his plane by demonstrating it could carry passengers. Unfortunately, on the third Ft. Myer flight with a passenger, Wright’s plane crashed, killing Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge and badly injuring Wright.
Aircraft Carrier History On November 14, 1910, Eugene Ely made the first aircraft flight from a ship. He took off in a Curtiss plane from the deck of the cruiser Birmingham in Hampton Roads and flew to Norfolk. He would later reverse this route, flying from ground to a cruiser while on the West Coast. His exploits led directly to the first US aircraft carrier. The USS Jupiter was converted into the carrier USS Langley and placed in commission in Norfolk on March 20, 1922.
Ground to Air The first radio transmission from the ground to an aircraft in flight occurred on July 2, 1917, at Langley Field in Virginia. By August 20th, engineers from Western Electric had developed two-way communication between planes in flight.
Car Talk In the early years of the 20th century, automobile manufacturing was the “hot” business opportunity in the US. Two major attempts were made to bring the economic benefits of auto plants to Virginia, but both failed.
Kline Kars were manufactured in Richmond beginning in 1912, when the Kline Kar Sales Company moved to Virginia from York, PA. About 2500 Klines had been manufactured by 1923, when the company ceased production.
Kline’s plant was a $100,000, 15 acre facility off North Boulevard, near Broad Street. It was demolished in 1980. Today, it is a parking lot. In 1918, the company donated its facility to the government for war production and moved to smaller plants on East Cary Street. Paradoxically, Kline’s emphasis on handmade quality limited its sales and companies that utilized better mass production techniques overwhelmed it. Klines ranged in price from $1400 to $3500, while a Model T retailed for $300-$600. More information on Kline Kars can be found in Larry Hall’s Time Capsule.
In Lynchburg, at the site of the current Flowers Bakery on Hollins Mill Road, the Piedmont Motor Car Company was formed in late 1915. Piedmont products included a four-cylinder “touring car,” a six-cylinder “speedster touring car,” and a light truck. In 1917, the “touring car” retailed for $695. By 1920, the price had risen to $1485. Piedmonts were sold in Europe under the “Alsace” brand.
Piedmont’s plant was said to be a 40,000 square foot building. It was less a manufacturing operation than an assembly plant. Parts—frame, engine, transmission, and tires—arrived by rail car to a siding at the plant. Lynchburg’s excellent transportation system was one reason for locating the plant. Most of the body work was done at the Hollins Mill Road plant. Piedmonts garnered favorable publicity at auto shows and through dramatic test drives, such as a 424 mile trip with three passengers spanning Richmond, Charlottesville, Staunton, Lexington, and Roanoke.
By 1921, however, the Piedmont Motor Car Company filed for bankruptcy. Reasons for its demise included the failure of a “buy local” strategy, a recession in 1920, inability to compete on price with larger manufacturers, and lack of management skills. One management skill lacking was any sense of “Just in Time” supply control. When the plant closed, it had an on-hand inventory of almost $250,000 in parts. (Thanks to James M. Elson, author of “When They Made Automobile in Lynchburg” and Warwick House Publishing).
Foundation of Space Exploration: In 1920, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) established its first research and testing laboratory, the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton Roads. The lab started with 15 employees; by 1925, it had 100 employees. The lab pioneered wind tunnel testing and transitioned from basic aircraft testing to supersonic flight and then all the way to missile technology. After the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch in October of 1957, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (NASA). NACA officially turned over operations to NASA on October 1, 1958.
Take It Away, Jacques Cousteau: The first undersea photos were taken in the Chesapeake Bay by John Ernest Williamson of Norfolk in 1913.
We Didn’t Start the Fire: Alanson Crane of “Fortress Monroe,” VA, was granted the first patent for a fire extinguisher in 1863.
The Missing Link: In 1881, the Norfolk & Western Railroad consolidated with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and Big Lick, VA, now known as Roanoke, was chosen as its junction.
Big First: The first “super giant” locomotive was placed in service on Roanoke track in 1948.
Fab at 50: Jamestown is not the only place commemorating an anniversary in 2007. The Historical Society of Western Virginia is celebrating 50 years of preservation and education with special events, exhibits, and activities.
She’s Back! Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamestown in 1957 for the 350th Jamestown Anniversary. Her Majesty returns on May 4, 2007 and information about her visit and the 400th Anniversary Celebration can be found here and here.
Sorry, Kentucky: The Reverend Elijah Craig, born in Orange County, Virginia in 1738, is credited by the State of Kentucky for distilling the first bourbon whiskey in the United States. Well. Some reliable sources claim he actually distilled the first batch in Orange County as early as 1786. Even if he did first distill bourbon in 1789 in what is now Georgetown, Kentucky, back then it was known as Royal Spring , Virginia. So there.
First in Business, First in Golf: The first golf course at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, was established in 1892 and its first tee is the oldest in continuous use in the United States.
Before Golf: The Homestead was opened in 1766 as a wooden lodge.
All in the Family: The oldest family business in America is Shirley Plantation in Charles City County. Since 1638, this plantation has been operated by the direct descendents of Edward Hill. The most recent family business venture, Shirley Plantation LLC, was established in 2003.
Ahead of Her Time: In 1868, Ellen G. Kidd started making pickles in her family’s Richmond home kitchen. She was just 16 years old. After many blue ribbons from the state fair and what she described as “pin money” collected from selling her pickles to friends and neighbors, she defied the conventional wisdom of the day about women in commerce by founding Pin Money Pickles in 1873. She would go on to gain contracts with the Pullman Railroad Company, see her pickles served in the White House, and ship her products internationally. In 1910, she built a five story factory that could produce 1,000 barrels per day. In 1925 she sold the business, but pickles using her recipe continued to be turned out until 1950. The site of her plant is now a parking lot on West Marshall Street in Richmond.
Lots More Followed: The first coal mined from Southwest Virginia arrived in Norfolk in 1883.
Early Guide to Doing Business in Virginia: In 1863, George P. Evans & Co., Book & Job Printers, published a guide to the Confederate government in Richmond with this preface:
TO THE READER.
The object of this publication is to supply a want which has been long felt, not only by strangers arriving in the city, but by numbers of our own citizens. The immense amount of business arising from the prosecution of the war has been distributed among a large number of departments, bureaux, etc., which are located in so many different places that persons having business at some of them are unable to find them, except by persistent inquiry. This little book will tell them where the various offices are situated.
No Smart Tag: In 1785, Little River Turnpike in Fairfax County became the nation’s first toll road.
Thriving Business District: Despite the abhorrent Jim Crow law environment at the turn of the century, African-Americans managed to build successful business areas around the state. Elizabeth Wright described one such area in Portsmouth:
A feature article in the March 4, 1916 Journal and Guide, ostensibly seeking support for the newly opened Mutual Savings Bank in Portsmouth, Virginia, explained the need for blacks to form their own banks. "Occasions have arisen very frequently in the City of Portsmouth, where, because of inability to get assistance, colored people have lost their property, the new owners obtaining it for oftimes less than one-half of the real value. . . . It is the intention of the officials of the bank, wherever possible, to see that the colored people do not lose their property, and if it must be sold to see that it brings a fair price."
What is special about this article is its impressive listing of black businesses then in existence in Portsmouth. In stressing the convenient location of the bank, the writer informs, "The Mutual Savings Bank is situated in the heart of the Negro business section, across from the Pharmaceutical Establishment of Dr. Eugene J. Bass, one of the pioneers of Negro business in Portsmouth. Situated on the same street are the offices of the Tidewater Building & Loan Association, the Southern Aid Insurance Company, the Virginia Beneficial Insurance Company, the American Beneficial Insurance Company, the Dental Parlors of Drs. J.L. McGriff and W.B. Anderson, the offices of Drs. F.G. Elliott and J.D. Barnes and the Undertaking Establishments of Mr. W.M. Grogans and Mr. Hamilton Jackson. . . . the offices of Drs. J.J. France and W.E. Reid, the Undertaking Establishment of Mr. J.T. Fisher and the Tonsorial Establishments of Mr. Forrest Walke, Mr. James Choate and Mr. John White. The building in which the bank is located is owned by the Portsmouth Cooperative Investment Corporation, some of the directors of the same being also directors of the bank."
The article then gives profiles of some of the bank's officers. "Mr. J. Frank Proctor, president, has large real estate holdings and is a strict business man and because of his strictness in business matters, has won for himself the sobriquet of 'Watch Dog of the Treasury.' Mr. Geo. W. Brandon, vice president, has a large and valuable farm to which he has a dairy attached." Among the board of directors, "Mr. James Terry, one of the largest truck farmers of the Western branch section of Norfolk County, Mr. Julius Mason, a truck farmer in the same section, Mr. J.A. Felton, a successful contractor and builder, Mr. Solomon Vann, a stevedore and contractor for waterway hauling." And last, but by no means considered least, the young novice of the group, "Mr. Malcolm Holmes, clerk in charge of the Christmas Saving Department is a graduate of Norfolk Mission College and a young man of fine qualities and very promising."
William M. Rich, who was then cashier of the successful black-owned Brown's Savings Bank of Norfolk, was credited with offering his valuable expertise to help establish the new Mutual Savings. He was described as having "rendered great assistance in personally conducting the opening of the bank. After completion of duties at his bank, regardless of weather conditions, he could be found at this bank giving the officers the assistance needed."