Download or read book Southwest Virginia s Railroad written by Kenneth W. Noe and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A close study of one region of Appalachia that experienced economic vitality and strong sectionalism before the Civil War This book examines the construction of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad through southwest Virginia in the 1850s, before the Civil War began. The building and operation of the railroad reoriented the economy of the region toward staple crops and slave labor. Thus, during the secession crisis, southwest Virginia broke with northwestern Virginia and embraced the Confederacy. Ironically, however, it was the railroad that brought waves of Union raiders to the area during the war

Download or read book Southwest Virginia written by Kenneth W. Noe and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Henry Ambler's thesis of antebellum western Virginia depicted the state as divided into two antagonistic geographic sections, with the creation of West Virginia the inevitable result. Ambler did not take into account southwest Virginia, that part of the "West" that aligned itself with eastern Virginia during the sectional crisis. This study attempts to demonstrate that slave-intensive staple agriculture, made more possible by the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, created economic and ideological ties that resulted in an east-southwest alliance in the 1850s. While the ideological rapproachement collapsed during the Civil War, the economic ties survived, setting the stage for rapid industrial development in the Southern Appalachain Mountains. By 1850, southwest Virginia differed from the northwestern region of the state. Slavery, while small scale in comparison to the cotton states, supported both a mountain elite and vigorous regional economy. Religious and commercial ties, notably the marketing of agricultural and industrial products, negated the isolation the mountainous topography threatened to create. Southwest Virginians desired a railroad to open up the region further to capitalist development, and bitterly opposed their anti-improvement state government. A small, influential group of eastern Virginians joined southwest Virginians in lobbying for a railroad. Their goal was political. Men like Henry A. Wise believed a railroad would unify the fractious state in time for the expected national slavery crisis. During the gubernatorial administration of southwesterner John B. Floyd, the boosters succeeded in chartering and funding the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. To safeguard their gains, they joined with others in obtaining the reform Constitution of 1851, which gave the mountaineers more power in return for greater protection of slavery. The railroad fulfilled the hopes of its supporters. In the 1850s, capitalist slave-based tobacco agriculture significantly displaced subsistence farming. As a result, southwest Virginians strongly endorsed secession and the Confederacy until war-weariness late in the war eroded support.

Download or read book Virginia State Rail Plan Update written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Annual Report written by Virginia. State Corporation Commission and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 1224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Railroads in the Old South written by Aaron W. Marrs and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2009-04-13 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An original history of the railroad in the Old South that challenges the accepted understanding of economic and industrial growth in antebellum America. Drawing from both familiar and overlooked sources, such as the personal diaries of Southern travelers, papers and letters from civil engineers, corporate records, and contemporary newspaper accounts, Aaron W. Marrs skillfully expands on the conventional business histories that have characterized scholarship in this field. He situates railroads in the fullness of antebellum life, examining how slavery, technology, labor, social convention, and the environment shaped their evolution. Far from seeing the Old South as backward and premodern, Marrs finds evidence of urban life, industry, and entrepreneurship throughout the region. But these signs of progress existed alongside efforts to preserve traditional ways of life. Railroads exemplified Southerners’ pursuit of progress on their own terms: developing modern transportation while retaining a conservative social order. Railroads in the Old South demonstrates that a simple approach to the Old South fails to do justice to its complexity and contradictions. “The time is right to bring the South into the story of the economic transformation of antebellum America. Aaron Marrs does this with force and grace in Railroads in the Old South.” —John L. Larson, Purdue University “I am hard pressed to think of another volume that better catches the overall effect railroads had on the Old South.” —Kenneth W. Noe, Auburn University “Interesting regional history . . . It is a thoughtful and instructive study that examines not only the pervasiveness of transportation but also some of the social, political, and economic consequences associated with the evolution of southern railroads.” —Choice

Download or read book Virginia Rail Trails written by Joe Tennis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virginia's rail trails range from the popular path of the Washington and Old Dominion Trail to wilderness walks with wispy waterfalls. These lines pass scenes once viewed only by the eyes of train engineers or a few lucky passengers. Now those trails can be enjoyed by anyone looking for a scenic hike or relaxing bike ride or even those saddling up horses. From the sunrise side of the Eastern Shore to the setting sun at the Cumberland Gap, each trail, like the "Virginia Creeper" or the "Dick & Willie," has a personality and grandeur all its own. Join author Joe Tennis as he explores restored train stations, discovers a railroad's lost island graveyard and crosses the commonwealth on its idyllic paths.

Download or read book Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia written by Virginia. State Corporation Commission and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 1234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Train written by Tom Zoellner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-01-30 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An epic and revelatory narrative of the most important transportation technology of the modern world In his wide-ranging and entertaining new book, Tom Zoellner—coauthor of the New York Times–bestselling An Ordinary Man—travels the globe to tell the story of the sociological and economic impact of the railway technology that transformed the world—and could very well change it again. From the frigid trans-Siberian railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the Japanese-style bullet trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of this most indispensable form of travel. A masterful narrative history, Train also explores the sleek elegance of railroads and their hypnotizing rhythms, and explains how locomotives became living symbols of sex, death, power, and romance.

Download or read book The Virginian Railway written by William R. Archer and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Virginian Railway existed as a separate entity for only a half century, but that period of American history witnessed two world wars and the emergence of the United States as a global superpower. Henry Huddleston Rogers, who marshaled the development of the U.S. oil industry through his leadership of Standard Oil, invested $30 million of his personal wealth into the making of the Virginian. He speculated that south-central West Virginia coal would fuel America's Industrial Revolution. Although Rogers died before his railroading dream could realize its full potential, the Virginian Railway continued on from 1909 until its merger in 1959 with the Norfolk and Western Railway (now Norfolk Southern). During that time, the Virginian grew to a point that it was originating from 1,200 to 1,500 hundred-ton carloads of coal per day and serving 60 active coal mines. It earned a reputation for power, service, and efficiency that placed it among the great railroads of America.

Download or read book Virginia Blue Ridge Railroad The written by Mary E. Lyons and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1849, Virginia began a bold railroad expansion toward the Ohio River and its lucrative trade connections. The project's plan covered 423 miles and called for piercing two mountain chains with three railroads. The Blue Ridge Railroad was the shortest of these but crossed the most mountainous terrain. At times, hired slaves, who prepared the tracks, and Irish immigrants, who blasted the tunnels, faced challenges that seemed almost insurmountable. Many were killed by explosions and falling rock. Those deaths often resulted in labor strikes. The unrest slowed progress and haunted chief engineer Claudius Crozet for seven years. In this first full-length history of the Blue Ridge Railroad, award-winning author Mary E. Lyons uses a wealth of historical documents to describe construction on what Crozet called "dangerous ground."

Download or read book The Virginia and Truckee Railroad Directory 1873 74 written by and published by . This book was released on 1873 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia written by Virginia. Railroad Commissioner and published by . This book was released on 1883 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Tennessee Virginia Tri cities written by Tom Lee and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Atlantic and Danville Railway Company written by William E Griffin Jr and published by TLC Publishing. This book was released on 2007-05-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Out of print since 1987, William E. Griffin, Jr. has updated and expanded his popular history of this colorful Virginia shortline railroad with a new layout and extensive new photographic coverage. Here is the complete history of the railroad that was originally built with a large investment of British capital to transport cotton from the farms of Southside Virginia to the port of Norfolk. It operated a steam powered narrow gauge branch line and Southern Railway steam locomotives during its 50-year lease to that road, then favored Alco diesels during its period of independent operation and subsequent operation by the Norfolk and Western Railway as the Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railroad. The book has also been updated to cover the history of the railroad since the creation of the Norfolk Southern Corporation and provides a new color section that will be of interest to modelers and historians. Extended photo captions also provide details on the railroad's locomotives, Norfolk naval operations, stations and rolling stock. In addition to fans of the A&D, the book will be of interest to fans of the Southern Railway, Norfolk and Western Railroad, Norfolk Southern Corporation, shortlines and narrow gauge railroads.

Download or read book U S Steel and Gary West Virginia written by Ronald G. Garay and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2011-02-28 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This book is well written and meticulously documented; it will add significantly to the available literature on West Virginia’s industrial and community history. It should find a receptive audience among college and post- graduate scholars of industrial and labor history, West Virginia history, and Appalachian studies.” —John Lilly, editor, Goldenseal The company owned the houses. It owned the stores. It provided medical and governmental services. It provided practically all the jobs. Gary, West Virginia, a coal mining town in the southern part of the state, was a creation of U.S. Steel. And while the workers were not formally bound to the company, their fortunes—like that of their community—were inextricably tied to the success of U.S. Steel. Gary developed in the early twentieth century as U.S. Steel sought a new supply of raw material for its industrial operations. The rich Pocahontas coal field in remote southern West Virginia provided the carbon-rich, low-sulfur coal the company required. To house the thousands of workers it would import to mine that coal bed, U.S. Steel carved a town out of the mountain wilderness. The company was the sole reason for its existence. In this fascinating book, Ronald Garay tells the story of how industry-altering decisions made by U.S. Steel executives reverberated in the hollows of Appalachia. From the area’s industrial revolution in the early twentieth century to the peak of steel-making activity in the 1940s to the industry’s decline in the 1970s, U.S. Steel and Gary, West Virginia offers an illuminating example of how coal and steel paternalism shaped the eastern mountain region and the limited ways communities and their economies evolve. In telling the story of Gary, this volume freshly illuminates the stories of other mining towns throughout Appalachia. At once a work of passionate journalism and a cogent analysis of economic development in Appalachia, this work is a significant contribution to the scholarship on U.S. business history, labor history, and Appalachian studies. Ronald Garay, a professor emeritus of mass communication at Louisiana State University, is the author of Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio and The Manship School: A History of Journalism Education at LSU.

Download or read book Bulletin of the Virginia State Library written by Virginia State Library and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia written by Virginia and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: