Tredegar Iron Works 1865
Tredegar Iron Works 2015
Site Name: Tredegar Iron Works
Date of Construction: Construction finished in 1841
Reason for Construction:
In 1836, Richmond businessmen wanted to capitalize on the Railroad boom in the U.S. and Rhys Davies was put in charge of construction of the furnaces and rolling mills that later became the Tredegar Iron Works.
Site History:
Rhys Davies, the man originally in charge of building Tredegar Iron works, died in 1838. In 1841, the owners of the site made Joseph Reid Anderson the manager. Anderson proved to be an able manager and owned the foundry by 1848. Through the introduction skilled and unskilled slave labor, Anderson was able to cut production costs. Tredegar Iron Works made just about everything for the railroad industry from spikes to locomotives and by 1860, Tredegar became the leading iron producer in the Country. Anderson also established the Crenshaw Woolen Mill, which lies adjacent to to the Tredegar Iron Works. .
During the Civil War, the Tredegar Iron Works played an integral role in the Confederacy. Tredegar Iron Works supplied high-quality munitions, and railroad steam locomotives to the South during the war. Furthermore, the Iron Works also made iron plating for the CSS Virginia, and 1,100 artillery pieces, or half of South’s total production, during the war. Meanwhile, the adjacent Crenshaw Woolen Mill became the principal source of supply for the Confederate Army's requirements of uniform material. It was because of Tredegar and Crenshaw Woolen Mill’s industrial power, Richmond was selected as the capital of the confederacy. The site proved its importance by providing the confederacy with a relatively large amount of war supplies. Despite of the initial output, as the war wore on, the quality and quantity of Tredegar’s goods deteriorated due to low supply of metal as well as skilled laborers. During the evacuation of Richmond by the Confederates, Anderson saved Tredegar by paying over 50 guards to prevent confederate troops from burning the valuable site.
Anderson had been wise and had secured Tredegar assets overseas and thus was not affected by the collapse of the Confederate currency. Anderson regained ownership of Tredegar in 1867, and by 1873, Tredegar Iron Works was employing 1,200 workers and was again a profitable business. Tredegar finally faded after it was unable to transition to the production of steel due to financial difficulties in the company caused by the Panic of 1873.
Area History:
Tredegar Iron Works was, and is to this day, situated between Belle Isle and Brown’s Island. During the 1860’s, Brown’s Island was home to a building where workers packed gunpowder into cartridges, and was nicknamed the “Confederate Laboratory”. It blew up on Friday, March 13, 1863, but was up and running again by May, to further the war effort. Later, in 1894, a coal plant was opened on the island, followed by a hydroelectric plant in 1893. These plants declined in the 50’s and 60’s and were closed by 1969, due to damage caused by a hurricane. Meanwhile, Belle Isle was in a similar predicament. In the early 19th century, it had many mining operations, as well as small manufacturing. Later, during the Civil War, a Confederate Prison was constructed there, which like other camps, suffered from overcrowding
What about the site has changed?
Tredegar Iron Works hosted the "Valentine on the James" extension of the Valentine Richmond History Center in the 1990’s. This project soon ended and the need for a museum on the site was realized. The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar thus opened in 2006 and currently serves to educate people about the roles the Union, the Confederacy, and African Americans played in shaping the nation. Other additions to the site include the main Visitor's Center of the Richmond National Battlefield Park as well as a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Although there is no industrial use of the site today, it still plays a big role in educating the public about the Civil War.
What about the surrounding area has changed?
In the years following its construction, the impact of industrialization has left the area surrounding Tredegar Ironworks and it has become more appealing towards the average sightseer, especially Brown's Island
Reflection:
Through all of the research that we have conducted, we've not only learned about what Tredegar was and is, including it's impact in the Civil war and the use it has in educating about the war, we've also learned about the surroundings of the site, and what role they played in the Civil war, as also on their use today
Sources:
Bibliography
"Industry and Commerce." Richmond Tours. Last modified 2012. Accessed March 20, 2015. http://www.civilwartraveler.com/RichmondTours/Industry.html.
Hallerman, Dennis Maher. "The Tredegar Iron Works : 1865-1876." Master's thesis, University of Richmond, 1978. Accessed February 23, 2015. http://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1427&context=masters-theses.
"Tredegar Iron Works." National Park Service U.S Department of the Interior. Accessed February 17, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/richmond/tredegar.html.
Post by Abhishek and Joe
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