Raphine | |
|---|---|
 A picturesque scene in Raphine, Virginia | |
  Raphine Location within the state of Virginia  Raphine Raphine (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 37°56′14″N79°13′58″W / 37.93722°N 79.23278°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Rockbridge |
| Elevation | 1,503 ft (458 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 24472 [1] |
| Area code | 540 |
Raphine is an unincorporated community in Rockbridge County in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S. state of Virginia. [2]
The name "Raphine" was chosen in honor of James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829-1902), a local farmer who patented a novel single-thread chain-stitch sewing machine on June 2, 1857. Gibbs had named his home in the area ("Raphine Hall"), and the new railroad station ("Raphine"), after the ancient Greek word "rhaphis", meaning "needle.". [3] [4] In partnership with James Willcox, Gibbs formed the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Willcox & Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still made and used in the 21st century.
Nearby, the McCormick plantation [5] Walnut Grove, was the home of Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884)'s family, including parents and brothers. His father owned more than 500 acres.
McCormick became famous as the inventor of the mechanical reaper in 1831. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1847, and was the founder, with his brother Leander, of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. It became part of International Harvester Corporation in 1902. Donated to the state of Virginia in the 1960s, the McCormick property was used as a test farm for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as "Virginia Tech").
Surviving as important structures of their historic period, Walnut Grove, the Kennedy-Lunsford Farm, and Kennedy-Wade Mill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [6]
Cyrus Hall McCormick was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of the McCormick family became prominent residents of Chicago. McCormick has been simplistically credited as the single inventor of the mechanical reaper.
Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the independent cities of Buena Vista and Lexington. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the independent cities of Buena Vista and Lexington with Rockbridge County for statistical purposes.
Lexington is an independent city in Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions, and is combined with it for statistical purposes by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Lexington is about 57 miles (92 km) east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles (80 km) north of Roanoke, Virginia. First settled in 1778, Lexington is best known as the home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roman times in what would become modern-day France. The Gallic reaper involved a comb which collected the heads, with an operator knocking the grain into a box for later threshing.
Walnut Grove may refer to:
James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829–1902) was a farmer, inventor, and businessman from Rockbridge County in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. On June 2, 1857, he was awarded a patent for the first twisted chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine using a rotating hook. In partnership with James Willcox, Gibbs became a principal in the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company.
The Leander McCormick Observatory is one of the astronomical observatories operated by the Department of Astronomy of the University of Virginia, and is situated just outside Charlottesville, Virginia (US) in Albemarle County on the summit of Mount Jefferson. It is named for Leander J. McCormick (1819–1900), who provided the funds for the telescope and observatory.
Leander James McCormick was an American inventor, manufacturer, philanthropist, and businessman and a member of the McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia. Along with his elder brothers Cyrus and William, he is regarded as one of the fathers of modern agriculture due to his part in the development of the McCormick Reaper and what became the International Harvester Company. He also owned and developed vast amounts of real estate in downtown Chicago and Lake Forest, Illinois. In 1885, he donated one of the world's largest telescopes to the University of Virginia.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
Robert Hall McCormick was an American inventor who invented numerous devices including a version of the reaper which his eldest son Cyrus McCormick patented in 1834 and became the foundation of the International Harvester Company. Although he lived his life in rural Virginia, he was patriarch of the McCormick family that became influential throughout the world, especially in large cities such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
William Sanderson McCormick was an American businessman who developed the company that became the major producer of agricultural equipment in the 19th century. The business became the International Harvester corporation after his death. Although he died relatively young with most of the fame going to his brothers, his extended McCormick family continued to be influential in the politics and business of Chicago.
Robert Sanderson McCormick was an American diplomat. Born in rural Virginia, he was part of the extended McCormick family that became influential in Chicago.
The Cyrus McCormick Farm and Workshop is on the family farm of inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick known as Walnut Grove. Cyrus Hall McCormick improved and patented the mechanical reaper, which eventually led to the creation of the combine harvester.
State Route 56 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 60.87 miles (97.96 km) from U.S. Route 11 at Steeles Tavern east to US 60 near Buckingham. SR 56 is the main east–west highway of Nelson County. The state highway connects the county seat of Lovingston with Buckingham to the east and the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley to the west.
The McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia is an American family of Scottish and Scotch-Irish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick Reaper, a machine that revolutionized agriculture and established the modern grain trade by beginning the mechanization of the harvesting of grain. Through the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and later, the International Harvester Company and other investments, the McCormicks became one of the wealthiest families in America. The name became ubiquitous in agriculture starting in the 19th century and the press dubbed the McCormicks the "Reaper Kings". Later generations expanded into media and publishing, finance, and real estate. Various family members were well known as civic leaders. They are descended from an influential leader of modern agriculture, inventor Robert McCormick Jr. (1780–1846), and Mary Ann "Polly" Hall of Steeles Tavern, Virginia. The family is Presbyterian.
Steeles Tavern is an unincorporated community in Augusta County and Rockbridge County, Virginia. It lies at an elevation of 1683 feet.
Old Providence Stone Church is a historic church in Spottswood, Virginia in Augusta County, Virginia.
Hickory Hill is a historic estate in Rockbridge County, Virginia.
The McCormick–International Harvester Company Branch House was built in 1898 in Madison, Wisconsin as a distribution center for farm implements of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. After McCormick merged into the International Harvester Company in 1902, the building was expanded and served the same function for the new company. In 2010 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Municipalities and communities of Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Towns |  | |
| CDPs | ||
| Other communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
 | This Rockbridge County, Virginia state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |