Tobacco Row is a collection of tobacco warehouses and cigarette factories in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

adjacent to the

James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a ...

near its eastern terminus at the

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship be ...

of the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

History

Beginning in the 18th century, many growers and shippers of Virginia's major cash-crop of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

maintained facilities there, as well as directly across the river at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Substantial multi-story brick buildings were constructed to protect the contents from loss due to fire. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(1861–1865), Tobacco Row was the site of infamous

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Prison ...

and nearby Castle Thunder, detention facilities of the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

government. In 1925, WRVA radio, owned by

Larus and Brother Company Larus and Brother Company (1877–1968) was a diversified tobacco company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company manufactured pipe tobacco, cigarettes, and charcoal. It also operated local radio and television stations. History Charles ...

, went on the air, broadcasting from a studio located in a corner of their House of Edgeworth warehouse, with a tower mounted on the roof of the building.

Adaptive Reuse

The area was vacated by the tobacco companies by the late 1980s. Following completion of Richmond's James River Flood Wall in 1995, led by Richmond developer William H. Abeloff, many of the old warehouses of Tobacco Row were modernized and converted into developments of

loft apartment A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

s, condominiums, offices, and retail space along part of the restored canal system. One of the warehouses is home to the

Virginia Holocaust Museum The Virginia Holocaust Museum (VHM) is a public history museum located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The museum is dedicated to depicting the Holocaust through the personal stories of its victims. History The VHM first opened in 1997, fou ...

. In the mid 2010s, the neighborhood was introduced to the extreme western portion of the

Virginia Capital Trail The Virginia Capital Trail (VCT) (informally, the ''Cap Trail'', or simply ''the Cap'') is a dedicated, paved bicycle and pedestrian trail crossing four counties and between Jamestown and Richmond, Virginia — that is, between the Colony ...

References

External links

Historic Richmond Foundation - Historic Areas: Tobacco Row

River District News

River Lofts at Tobacco Row
{{Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia James River (Virginia) Warehouse districts of the United States Economy of Richmond, Virginia History of Richmond, Virginia Tobacco buildings in the United States

History

Adaptive Reuse

See also

References

External links