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Race Day at the James River Valley Fair – 1890
Shown here is a Burgess panorama and the earliest photo in this collection. The James River Valley Fair grounds were located just west of Scottsville along the James River bottomland near the present Uniroyal Plant. First launched in 1883, the James River Valley Fair ran three days of horse racing with purses, jockey colors, and…
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Arson Suspected in Two Destructive Fires on Main Street in 1976
Two Large Fires Raged On Scottsville’s Main Street in February 1976, destroying a church and four businesses at the center of town. They appeared to be the work of an arsonist who was never found. The photo above of the intersection of Valley Street (left) and Main Street (right) shows the Esso Station, run by…
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Life of a James River Batteauman
Text and photos by Barry Long The James River has been a watery highway of boat transportation since before John Smith sailed into its mouth in 1607, whereupon he was greeted by people traveling in dugout canoes. It remained the single most important avenue of transportation in the Colonies for hundreds of years, not only…
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Laying Cornerstone of Scottsville Plant
Date: May 24, 1944 Image Number: RT01cdRT02 Scottsville Plant was built in 1944 by the Defense Plant Corporation to help the nation’s war effort. It was designed and constructed to provide tire fabric and was operated by the Textile Division of the U.S. Rubber Company. The cornerstone-laying ceremony for this plant was sponsored by the…
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The Harris Sisters
The Harris Sisters – Florence, Nannie, and Etta – were the daughters of Martha J. (Minor) Harris and Lafayette Harris. After Lafayette died in 1856, Martha supported the family by operating a millinery and dry-goods shop in what is now known as the Harris Building, at 474–476 Valley Street. The building, constructed about 1840 with commercial…
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The Harris Building
The Harris Building, located at 474-476 Valley Street, was built circa 1840 as a commercial building with living quarters on the second floor. When her husband, Lafayette Harris, died in 1856, Martha J. (Minor) Harris began a millinery and dry goods store here to support herself and her three daughters, Florence, Nannie, and Etta. The…
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William ‘Billy’ Samuel Beal
William ‘Billy’ Samuel Beal was born in 1846 in Scottsville and was the son of Joseph R. and Mary E. (Flannagan) Beal. Growing up in Scottsville, Billy worked as a clerk in his father’s general store, located in the Beal Building at the south corner of Bird and Valley Streets. When his father died in…
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Colonel Henry Gantt of Valmont
by Richard Ludlam Nicholas “On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, Henry Gantt bravely led the regiment assigned to Garnett’s Brigade of Pickett’s Division up Cemetery Ridge in the battle of Gettysburg – arguably the most famous charge in American history.” Perhaps the most overlooked and forgotten man in Scottsville’s history is Colonel Henry Gantt,…
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Buckingham Lining Bar Gang
In a rich baritone voice, John Laury chanted these words during his June 4th visit to Scottsville Museum with the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang: “I got a gal who’s long and tall Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall.” Mr. Laury served as the “caller” for this African-American work song during an…
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Let’s Roll a Hogshead!
by William E. Trout, III,Virginia Canal Museum, Madison Heights, VA A picturesque phase of tobacco marketing in the Colonial and Early National period in Virginia was the practice of rolling the hogshead of tobacco from the plantation to the place of inspection and sale. Transportation of tobacco in this manner was considered by William Tatham…
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