Tredegar Iron Works

Tredegar Iron Works

500 Tredegar Street

Richmond, Virginia
23219

Tredegar Iron Works is one of the most historically significant sites on the James River; the establishment of which catalyzed Richmond into one of the most extensive commercial manufacturing locals in the antebellum South.  Tredegar Iron Works was founded in 1836 by Francis B. Deane, Jr.  Along the falls of the James River.   This location provided endless opportunity for economic expansion for local markets, as this area sat between water and coal resources via the Kanawha Canal and the James.[i] Originally running as a milling operation, Tredegar ran on the water power derived from the canal.  In the 1840’s, Joseph R. Anderson became involved with leading Tredegar, adapting the site into an iron manufacturing gold-mine. [ii]Tredegar Iron Company provided iron material used in locomotives, cannons, and armor throughout the nineteenth century, changing Richmond into one of the most immense and prosperous economic systems in the South.[iii]  This expansion of the canal expedited immense social, economic, and political change in Virginia.  As Tredegar launched Richmond into a huge player in manufacturing, the railroads, bridges, and canals which connected the city with the rest of the South became the pillars of Richmond antebellum civilization.[iv] Hundreds of white and African American free and enslaved, laborers poured into the city to work within these blossoming industries. [v]Richmond’s population growth grew in conjunction with the economy; a result of a radically more connected culture.[vi] This period also solidified slavery as one of the key components of Virginia societal success and progress. [vii] During this period prior to the civil war, Tredegar became a key player in Richmond’s “seventy-seven iron making establishments and among the largest flour mills in the United States”.[viii]  During the Civil War, Tredegar Iron Works   operated on five acres of the James and manufactured war-materials like iron and ordnance to the Confederate forces.[ix]  Tredegar also created spikes, cables, ships, cannons, machinery, and locomotives.  This business was one of the most significant in Virginia’s history.  Tredegar was built on the James where it was able to harbor power from the region’s natural resources to launch Richmond to becoming the center of American iron manufacturing prior to the Civil War, as well as The Capital of the Confederacy as of 1861. The land where Tredegar Iron Works sat during antebellum times is now home to The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar.  This organization is a great site to visit to learn more about the extensive history of Tredegar Iron Works and the unquestionable role it played in the expansion and success of Richmond’s economy and culture.

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[i] “National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, Tredegar Iron Works,”  Virginia Historical Landmarks Commission Staff, United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service, Richmond, Virginia, 1971, 5.

[ii] “National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, Tredegar Iron Works,” Virginia Historical Landmarks Commission Staff, United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service, Richmond, Virginia, 1971, 5.

[iii] “Tredegar Iron Works Records, 1801-1957,” Business Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Accession 23881, 24808.

[iv] Gregg, Kimball D., American City, Southern Place: A Cultural History of Antebellum Richmond, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000 , 5.

[v] Link, William A., Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, 2003, 29.

[vi] Link, William A., Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, 2003), 29.

[vii] Link, William A., Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, 2003 , 6.

[viii] Link, William A., Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, 2003, 81.

[ix] National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, Tredegar Iron Works,” Virginia Historical Landmarks Commission Staff, United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service, Richmond, Virginia, 1971, 5.