Sincerely,

Recreation Manager, History Programs | Henrico Recreation and Parks

“I’ve Been Working On The Railroad” isn’t just a catchy tune that many children learn in kindergarten, it was a way of life for many in the Henrico area before, during, and after the American Civil War. The railroad connected towns once considered on the frontier to cities on major rivers. Trips which once took days now could be completed in hours, and goods and services were moved from one place to another much easier and quicker. Virginia’s very first operating railroad was chartered in 1828. The Chesterfield Railroad Company was created to move coal from the small coal mining community of Midlothian to the James River in Richmond. The small coal cars were not pulled by locomotive but by horses and mules over wooden rails covered with strap iron.

The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Company (RF&P) was founded in 1834 as the sixth chartered railroad in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Upon this charter, the RF&P received exclusive rights to create a route between Richmond and Fredericksburg, then on to the Potomac River where steamboat traffic would carry passengers and freight to Washington, D.C. from Aquia Creek. The company’s headquarters was established at 8th and Broad Street in Richmond and construction of the tracks began to expand northward. On January 23, 1837, the line between Richmond and Fredericksburg was completed, with the final leg between Fredericksburg and Aquia Creek being completed on November 1, 1842.

Construction for the railway was supplied by white and enslaved men from the Richmond area. On October 12, 1854, the RF&P’s superintendent, William N. Bragg, posted a ten-dollar reward in the Richmond Dispatch for a runaway slave named George Gaines. But the railroad was also seeking employment from freed Blacks. Superintendent Bragg posted another advertisement in April 1859 wanting to hire “colored hands to work on Material Train, on this Road, by month or balance of the year.

Construction for the railway was supplied by white and enslaved men from the Richmond area. On October 12, 1854, the RF&P’s superintendent, William N. Bragg, posted a ten-dollar reward in the Richmond Dispatch for a runaway slave named George Gaines. But the railroad was also seeking employment from freed Blacks. Superintendent Bragg posted another advertisement in April 1859 wanting to hire “colored hands to work on Material Train, on this Road, by month or balance of the year.”

It was quite dangerous work linking one city to another. In 1860, an enslaved man from Meadow Farm named Campbell was hurt badly while working on the Richmond & Danville Railroad in Midlothian. Campbell’s hand was caught between the bumpers of two cars and mashed severely. Dr. John Mosby Sheppard of Meadow Farm paid Dr. F.W. Hancock to treat Campbell’s debilitating hand injury (handwritten record below). Campbell was treated again in 1861 for his hand and died a few days later. Enslaved men like Campbell were hired out by their masters to work for an entire year. Each day medical treatment was received, those expenses were deducted from the amount their owners would receive from the railroad. The census of 1860 gives us an idea of a few of the positions associated with all of the workers on the railroad: Railroad Hand, Clerk, Fireman, Superintendent, Manager, Conductor, and Journeyman

The Civil War brought some drastic changes to the railroad’s operations. After the Virginia legislature decided to secede from the United States, the link between Richmond and Washington, D.C. was cut when the United States Government seized four steamboats, and Virginia seized railroad property and the wharf at Aquia Creek for military purposes. The RF&P Railroad pledged its support to Confederate forces. All rails, bridges and wharves between Fredericksburg and Washington, D.C. were destroyed, effectively giving control of all roads north of Fredericksburg to Federal forces, while the rails South of Fredericksburg went to the Confederacy. Railway lines would prove to be crucial to the war effort, on both sides.

In his book, "Virginia Railroads in the Civil War," Angus James Johnston, II asserted that the Civil War was the first war of the railroads. The Northern strategy was to control the railroads and cut off supplies to the Confederacy. A great illustration of this point is in a comparison of two events at different ends of the war. In 1862, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was able to move his forces from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas which turned the tide of battle to victory for Confederate Forces. The loss of rail lines contributed to General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. The end of the war also brought a realization that Samuel Ruth, Superintendent of the RF&P, was a spy for the United States. In the Fall of 1864, in collaboration with a saloonkeeper and an African American courier, Mr. Ruth was able to sell information to the Union about Confederate troop movements, the condition of Virginia’s railroads, and Confederate war plans.

The ending of the war and the rebuilding of the railroad created opportunities of employment for the formerly enslaved. A quick search of the 1870 census reveals a plethora of names from Henrico County and the City of Richmond, all associated with the railroad. All of the men listed as Black or Mulatto were working on the railroad as railroad hands or laborers. But there also seems to be some lingering effects of slavery. C.S. Sloan, a 46-year-old white man living in the Madison Ward of Richmond, is listed as a “Whipping Master” for the railroad on the 1870 census, five years after the ending of slavery.

As the RF&P continued to operate and expand, more opportunities would arise. The Pullman Company developed an improved passenger car which contained sleeper berths for all its passengers. Accompanying the newly upgraded cars were men hired to work as porters, known as “Pullman Porters.” Former slaves were sought out for this work of carrying passenger’s bags, shining shoes, setting up and maintaining sleeping berths, and serving passengers. According to the Museum of the American Railroad, “Pullman was essentially a chain of hotels on wheels… Pullman provided a Porter that prepared beds in the evening and made them in the morning. Porters attended to additional needs such as room services from the dining car, sending and receiving telegrams, shining shoes, and valet service.”

Porters were not paid a living wage and relied heavily on tips to make a living, but being a Pullman porter was considered one of the best jobs available for an African American man in an era of racial segregation. From their travels across the country, these men were able to share stories and information with family and community members who would remain excluded from Jim Crow society for decades to come. Many passengers referred to each porter as “George,” referring to the time of slavery where the enslaved were named after their masters (George Pullman). The Pullman porter is considered by many historians as contributing to the development of the African American middle class in America. Combining tips with their salaries, porters saved enough money to put their children and grandchildren through college, and their early unionizing efforts laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.

In Glen Allen, a former Confederate soldier named John Cussons developed a resort of almost 1,000 acres along the railroad tracks. Mr. Cussons’ plan was to create a grand hotel, known as the Forest Lodge, as a summer and winter stop along the RF&P railroad line. Although it would boast over 100 rooms, a ballroom, auditorium, and hand painted murals, Forest Lodge never attracted a steady patronage to keep the resort operating.

The Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac Railroad adopted the slogan of “Linking North & South” on a system that stretched about 113 miles, but in many ways, it was linking Virginia’s past to its future. Although RF&P would cease operations in 1991, its legacy remains intact along its former tracks. The Henrico station at Taylor’s Crossing was renamed Hunton after Eppa Hunton, Jr., RF&P’s General Counsel (1900-1920), and its President (1920-1932) after his death in 1932. Subsequently, the area around that former station is called Hunton, along with a community center and park. Land formerly owned by the railroad has been reused as an athletic facility which continues to bear its name in Glen Allen, complete with four restored RF&P train cars.

Cheswick is a neighborhood park serving the surrounding residential area and the nearby Forest Office Park. Located at 1700 Forest Avenue, amenities include picnic shelters, a playground, an exercise trail, and restrooms. Most of the park is in a wooded setting with bridges over Upham Creek for access to the natural area. The 24-acre park, purchased in 1978, would be the first new park in the County with several soon to follow, a result of the 1977 Bond Referendum. Henrico County dedicated Cheswick Park in June 1980.

Visitors to the park may not realize this land was once part of a 130-acre working farm. The Cheswick farmhouse was built circa 1796 by John Barrett (pictured below). In the early to mid-1800s, local minister George G. Exall ran a boarding school in his home. Classical and English lessons were offered to prepare his pupils for business and college. The school advertised itself as being in a “dry healthful climate,” as malaria was a widespread concern at the time.

In 1883, the property was purchased by Joseph Pascal Badenoch, Sr. His family left Scotland in 1870 and first settled in New Jersey. Their search for a warmer climate brought them to Virginia. The family first lived at Dumbarton where J. P. Badenoch, Sr., managed the Putney Farm until he bought Cheswick. The family started a large farming operation that included a cannery under the name of J. P. Badenoch & Sons. They provided canned goods such as tomatoes, corn, and pickles for Thistle Brand Canned Goods. An old timekeeper book showed that on one day, a crew of eleven men shucked 47 dozen ears of sweet corn, and total wages for the whole crew added up to $3.53. The cannery address was Rio Vista, VA. Rio Vista was the name of the first post office in the area. It stood at Three Chopt and Cary Street Roads, near where the Country Club of Virginia is now located.

The daughter of J. P. Badenock, Sr., Isabella, married Alfred B. Franklin, and the property became known as the Franklin Farm. Isabella once worked in the cannery as a bookkeeper. When the cannery closed, the family operated “Franklin Chicken Farm,” a state-certified hatchery as of 1940.

Keeping two-plus acres for their own residence, the Franklin family lease optioned the remaining 127-acre farm in 1963, and again in 1965, to Tower Construction Company. The plans were to build a residential, commercial, and shopping complex. Due to opposition from the Tuckahoe Homeowners Association and area landowners, as well as rezoning issues, several years of political and legal tactics ensued. When the proposed rezoning plans were defeated, developer Aubrey L. Lawrence picked up the option in 1968. A compromise was finally reached in 1972 that addressed the issues regarding the rezoning of the land, neighborhood concerns of traffic, overdevelopment, and open space for recreation. A final settlement was worked out with residential developer, A. L. Lawrence and the office complex portion was to be developed by Koger Properties, Inc. Work began on the first phase of the 60-acre office park, formerly known as the Koger Center Office Park and now Forest Office Park. The remaining 67 acres would be used for the development of apartments and a hospital-related facility. An extension of Forest Avenue from Three Chopt Road through the farm was provided in the plan of development. Henrico County purchased some of the land originally slated for apartments and established Cheswick Park in 1980.

In 1973, Reverend Fred Thomas Laughon, Jr., and his wife Helen saved the farmhouse from demolition by moving and restoring the house as their residence. Mrs. Laughon (formerly Martin) grew up on Three Chopt Road, near the location of the house. Her father was Dr. B. H. Martin, one of the first physicians in the Westhampton area of the city and the Franklin family doctor. Franklin family members recall Dr. Martin stopping at Cheswick, where the westernmost telephone was located, to call his office and find out where he was needed next. The Laughons sold their private property in 2018.

Though most of the property has given away to modern development, a portion of the original Cheswick property can be enjoyed by Henrico residents.

For those of us of a certain age who grew up before commerce was overtaken by Silicon Valley and the advent of the pocket computer, you probably have fond memories of the excitement of reaching into the mailbox and finding the latest issue of your favorite mail-order catalog. There were the standards, the Sears and the Montgomery Wards, but if you were from these parts there is little doubt that the Best Catalog was at the top of your list.

Sydney and Frances Lewis founded Best Products in Richmond in 1957. The company grew over the coming years, opening showrooms across the nation and reaching over two billion dollars in sales by 1983. In the 1970s, Lewis contracted the SITE (Sculpture In The Environment) architecture firm to design a series of iconic, quirky, post-modern showrooms. While earning mixed reviews in their time, the structures would become the epitome of the Lewis’ sense of style as well as a visual reminder of their affinity for modern art. Best began to feel financial woes in the early 1990s, closing stores and filing for bankruptcy protection. In 1997, after several restructuring attempts, Best Products closed its doors for good.

While their business venture was spread across the United States, the Lewis’ remained loyal to Richmond, living on Monument Avenue; and in 1975, began construction on the Best corporate headquarters in Henrico’s Fairfield District. Completed in 1980, the 286,000 square foot complex was built in a similar style of the SITE showrooms. Designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, the layout mirrored the contours of the land as well as the cloverleaf exit off Interstate 95 upon which it was perched. Greeting guests in front of the turquoise glass block exterior at the building’s main entrance, there were two twenty-foot-tall limestone eagles. At first glance, the art-deco eagles created an unusual juxtaposition against the post-modern architectural style of the building. So where did these behemoth raptors come from?

The eagles began their lives some forty years earlier when architect John Peterkin released his plans for the 42nd Street Airlines Terminal Building in New York City (pictured below, c. 1940s). Peterkin commissioned New Jersey-born artist Rene Paul Chambellan (1893-1955) to create the eagles and beacons which would crown the building. The beacons would flash alternating colors of light on Grand Central Station below. Opened in January of 1941, across from Grand Central Station, the terminal building served American, Eastern, Trans World Airlines, United, and Pan American Airways. The facility provided ticketing, baggage handling, parking, a restaurant, stores, and a 600-seat newsreel theater. From the terminal, private busses shuttled passengers to and from local airports.

While Chambellan worked mainly in architectural art, with contributions to the Chanin Building in New York City, Buffalo City Hall, and the Chicago Tribune building, some of his most well-known pieces were created as public art. Anyone familiar with Rockefeller Center will recognize his Nereids and Tritons, which adorn the nearby fountains, as well as Atlas, which was a collaboration with fellow artist Lee Lawrie. Another recognizable piece by Chambellan is Spirit of the Wheel, which was featured at the 1930 World’s Fair in New York. Also known for his work in medals, he was the artist behind the Newbery Medal for Children’s Literature.

The opulence and grandeur of the building echoed the sentiments of the “golden age” of flying, at a time when air travel was a luxury only afforded by the most well-to-do segments of society. By the early 1970s, when commercial air travel had become more available to the public and larger terminals opened around the New York area, the 42nd Street building had become obsolete. With the construction of newer terminals closer to the airports, the building closed and by 1978 was slated for demolition.

With the impending destruction of the terminal building, it seemed that the eagles were destined for the scrap pile. Fortunately for the eagles, Sydney Lewis was about to intervene. After years of collecting, Lewis was no stranger to the New York art world and upon hearing of the fate of the terminal building, he started to make some calls. Lewis was known for his wheeling and dealing, gaining much of his art collection by bartering directly with artists, trading Best merchandise for original works. He once received a portrait of his wife, Frances, from famous pop-art icon Andy Warhol in exchange for a vacuum cleaner. Through his connections, Lewis convinced the owners of the 42nd Street building to donate the eagles to his alma mater, Washington and Lee. He then arranged for Best Products to “purchase” the eagles from Washington and Lee, in the form of a donation to the school. Not only did he get the eagles, but the company was eligible for a tax write off.

With the eagles finally finding a new owner, it was time for them to make the 340-mile trip to their new home. The eagles are not monolithic sculptures, but rather several separate, interlocking pieces of carved limestone. Each statue had to be painstakingly disassembled, labeled, transported, and reassembled once they reached the Parham Road location.

The eagles are still perched where they landed in Henrico back in the 1980s and at this point, have been residents of Virginia as long as they were New Yorkers. While the future of the eagles is uncertain at this point, their traveled history and connection to colorful characters are the stuff of Henrico legend.

I found this plucky phrase buried within a box of documents dating back more than 100 years ago – and it was intriguing. Seven Pines? Oh, you mean the Civil War battle from 1862 or the National Cemetery, right? But just a moment, this phrase hints at a female presence, so perhaps not.

The land which Richmond International Airport now occupies was once connected to not just one war, but three – the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. While fighting between Union and Confederate forces engulfed the entire area of what is now Sandston during the summer of 1862, a different type of war machine occupied the site 56 years later.

It is an obscure story of the thousands of hard-working and patriotic women and men who eagerly enrolled to support the war effort. A state marker is the sole public recognition these people received. There are no master’s theses or books published about it. For decades, the basic facts of the workers and what happened on the site were known to only a few people. This is the story of those workers at the Seven Pines Bag Loading Plant #3 - as best as the documentary trail can be uncovered. As with much of our collected memory related to World War I, what happened “Over Here” to support the American Expeditionary Forces “Over There” gradually became overshadowed by the Great Depression, followed by the Second World War, and the passing of those who lived it.

The United States officially entered World War I on April 6, 1917. American companies produced and sold a variety of items necessary for the war effort – from cotton cloth and shoes to oil and steel – to the Allied Powers. By February 1918, the U.S. government announced more than $265,000,000 to build hospitals, port terminals, munition plants, and much more to support the American Expeditionary Forces abroad. It included plans to build three powder bag loading plants, but officials had not yet selected the locations at the time of the announcement.

In late April 1918, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported several prominent local businessmen were persuading federal officials to choose eastern Henrico County as one of the sites for a bag loading plant. These men included the presidents of the First National Bank and the Retails Merchants Association as well as Oliver J. Sands, president of the American National Bank. The federal government selected and purchased a large tract of land to construct a new powder bag packing plant and contracted the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company (hereafter noted as Du Pont) to operate the factory.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch article announcing the new facility, the government planned to fairly compensate approximately 60 landowners for the 1,750 acres. Officials noted the site’s location had the advantage of lying between two railroads – the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Southern Railway lines. Moreover, with its location about 6 miles from Richmond, it provided convenient access to the city using the electric trolley car line, yet far enough away to provide safety in the event of an explosion or fire. While the plan included for the construction of factory buildings, with the passage of a federal wartime housing act in May 1918, the plan expanded to resemble a more self-sustaining community. To accommodate an anticipated workforce of 5,000-7,000 women and men, the plan included homes, dormitories, cafeterias, and more to be built. Construction workers quickly built new infrastructure such as electric lighting, a 150,000-gallon water tank, sewers, and sidewalks. Though officials had planned to build 2,000 homes, the Armistice halted construction, resulting in an estimated 200 houses completed.

While the U.S. government and Du Pont planned for several thousand workers, they observed that the two other bag loading facilities in Tullytown, Pennsylvania and Woodbury, New Jersey, which had already begun operations, experienced difficulties securing a large enough workforce. Recruitment by the traditional route of “help wanted” ads placed in local newspapers did not secure enough workers for the two plants.

By summer 1918, Du Pont officials needed a different approach to workforce recruitment. They contacted Miss Winifred Crenshaw (pictured right), who worked as a vocational secretary for the Richmond YWCA, seeking for a solution to the problem. She created the Women’s Munition Reserve (W.M.R.) for women 18 years and older who were not already working in essential war occupations. Crenshaw drew inspiration from the British Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (a.k.a. “Waacs”).

Virginia Harvie Cannon, wife of Virginia state Senator James Cannon, assisted with the enrollment efforts. “This is the first organization of its kind in the country,” declared Mrs. Cannon. Miss Crenshaw and the executive committee of the W.M.R. planned for nearly every detail - from how the enrollment and training process would proceed, to the design of the uniforms, and what amenities DuPont & Company should provide to encourage women to come work at the bag loading plant.

Miss Crenshaw demonstrated an aptitude for promoting the W.M.R., whether it was displaying a huge white flag with W.M.R. in bold red letters from the 4th floor of their headquarters at the Central National Bank Building at 3rd and Broad streets, to creating smaller service banners for the members to display in the windows of their homes. By connecting service in the W.M.R. with patriotism, Miss Crenshaw created ways to advertise this new group to potential recruits as well as to promote the organization to potentially reluctant husbands or fathers.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch printed a teaser advertisement for the W.M.R. on August 18 – the day before enrollment started – followed by a more detailed ad the next day. Despite her incredibly busy schedule overseeing enrollment and implementing other details of a new organization, she worked constantly with local newspapers to provide interviews and photographs. Nearly every local newspaper carried a daily story for the first two weeks of the W.M.R.’s enrollment campaign. This stream of information introduced and normalized this novel concept of a uniformed, military-like women’s organization, which stepped outside of traditional societal expectations.

As the daughter of a family that helped establish Richmond as the largest flour milling industry in the world by 1860, Miss Crenshaw likely utilized her family’s business and societal connections with other well-to-do ladies of Richmond. A reporter with the Journal noted on August 21 that “[i]nterest in the women’s munition reserve went to a new high pitch today when it became known that Mrs. Westmoreland Davis, wife of the governor, would head this patriotic organization of Richmond women and girls.” Mrs. Davis not only served as the president of the W.M.R., she decided to train alongside the workers. Despite being rather private by nature, the first lady did provide a couple of photo ops as the press followed her on her visit to the bag loading plant. It made sense that becoming familiar with the daily duties of a munitioneer would help Mrs. Davis promote the organization beyond central Virginia – at least enough to capture a letter of recognition and appreciation from the U.S. War Department.

From the outset, Winifred Crenshaw knew she would need to carefully balance recruiting women from varying socio-economic backgrounds. She made a point to emphasize that the recruits “…include women from all walks of life. Among them are girls who have always had to earn their living. Some of those now enlisted are well-known society women of this city.” Patriotic war work allowed women to step outside of their traditional roles in the home and society’s expectations. Mrs. Cannon, assisting with the enrollment efforts, declared to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “[w]omen will be impelled to enlist for one reason if not for another… that by her active service… she will be giving her personal touch to war work… When a girl understands that she is filling a bag which may next be touched by a brother who is in the Richmond Blues, a sweetheart who went with the Howitzers, or any one of our dear, brave Richmond boys… she is bound to enroll…” The Virginian reported that after speaking with enrollees that “…all seemed carried away with the idea that they were not only doing essential work for the ordnance department, but at the same time were receiving attractive wages for labor performed with their own hands. Most of them regarded it, however, as a labor of love for dear ones who are now serving with the Stars and Stripes on land and sea.”

While staff continue research to discover details about the lives of individual women and girls who joined, certainly quite a few from the first class of munitioneers had immediate family members serving in the American Expeditionary Forces. The desire to make a direct and tangible contribution beyond supporting individual soldiers and sailors was strong for some women. Certainly, supporting a family member serving “Over There” was important but these women found supporting the larger war effort to end the war sooner was just as critical. Aside from nursing and a few other limited jobs open to women, the W.M.R. provided a very direct way to contribute to the war effort that didn’t involve more traditional support roles, such as knitting, letter writing, or entertaining soldiers while on leave.

Mr. E. S. Higgins, plant superintendent, explained to the press: “This is a women’s plant. They will operate it… My job is open to a woman.” Higgins submitted a short article to the W.M.R.’s newsletter, The Reservist, stating that “[t]here is no room on this plant for a discourteous man…. [the women] deserve – and we demand – the utmost respect and courtesy. Infraction of this rule will mean immediate discharge,” wrote Higgins. The company worked closely with the W.M.R. to create a welcoming atmosphere for women. This was a job designed for women and to some extent, by women.

So, what exactly would the munitioneer do at her job? Miss Crenshaw created a demonstration room at the W.M.R. headquarters to show the basic concepts, introduce the equipment, and calm fears about working with smokeless powder to prospective enrollees. [insert photo of Mrs. David and others demo work – from Newlsetter #3, p5] The Virginian printed a basic job description on the first day of enrollment (August 19th): “Work which the reservists will be called upon to perform is peculiarly fitted to women. It consists of sewing and filling silk bags with smokeless powder. No heavy lifting is attached to any of the duties. The heaviest bag weighs fourteen pounds, about twice the weight of a flat-iron.”

Several days later, reporters from the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Virginian newspapers included an interview with Miss Crenshaw. “‘One of the first questions asked by almost all the women and girls who apply for enrollment is just what is smokeless powder. I wasn’t very familiar with the product myself and had to send to Fort Lee for a sample.’ Here she exhibited a small jar filled with a substance which resembled amber pipe stems…Without hesitation she emptied a portion of the jar on her desk and seems as much at home with the explosive as if it had been merely macaroni. ‘They tell me that smokeless powder is perfectly harmless when handled judiciously and that there is no danger of an explosion if there is no detonating force. In fact,…[it’s] composed of exactly the same ingredients as the celluloid combs, hair brushes and motor car windows of everyday use.’”

Though to a certain degree verbiage coming from plant officials and other male leaders may seem slightly pandering and sexist to our modern sensibilities, it is important to recognize that quite a few of the women who enrolled in the W.M.R. had never held a job outside the home. Coming from middle and upper-class backgrounds, these women and girls had no idea what to expect from their work environment. Yet, the W.M.R. designed by Miss Crenshaw offered a unique and fulfilling experience for women from all walks of life.

Part 2 will be featured in a future newsletter. Join us as we follow in the footsteps of these women as they enlisted, shared their experiences of their first days on the job, and what awaited them at the Seven Pines Bag Loading Plant #3. So, stay tuned for the rest of the story about these local women from the metro Richmond area, whose contribution to World War I is being rediscovered.