Reynolds Homestead

Last updated

Reynolds Homestead
Reynolds Homestead historic marker Patrick County Virginia.JPG
Historic marker for Reynolds Homestead
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationN of Critz on SR 798
Coordinates 36°38′39″N80°8′55″W / 36.64417°N 80.14861°W / 36.64417; -80.14861
Area6.99 acres (2.83 ha) [1]
Built1850
ArchitectReynolds, Hardin W.
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No. 71000987
VLR No.070-0005
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 22, 1971 [2]
Designated NHLDecember 22, 1977 [3]
Designated VLRNovember 3, 1970 [4]

The Reynolds Homestead, also known as Rock Spring Plantation, is a slave plantation turned historical site on Homestead Lane in Critz, Virginia. First developed in 1814 by slaveowner Abram Reynolds, it was the primary home of R. J. Reynolds (1850-1918), founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and the first major marketer of the cigarette. Upon liberation of the plantation in 1863, 88 people were freed from captivity and enslavement. [5] It was later designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. [1] [3] [6] The homestead is currently an outreach facility of Virginia Tech, serving as a regional cultural center. The house is open for tours.

Contents

Description and history

The Reynolds Homestead is located in a rural area of eastern Patrick County, Virginia, about one mile north of the village of Critz. The estate house is a two-story brick building with a hip roof, from which an older two-story ell extends. Outbuildings of the plantation complex include a large corn crib, a brick kitchen, milkhouse, and icehouse. The Reynolds family cemetery is located near the house and across a field is the slave cemetery. The house has been restored to its nineteenth century state and includes many of the original family furnishings. [1]

The property was first developed by Abram Reynolds, who built a log cabin near where the main house stands. His son, Hardin W. Reynolds, developed the estate in the mid-19th century, and it here that his son, R. J. Reynolds was born and lived for the first 24 years of his life. Reynolds achieved early economic success selling plug tobacco, but made an instant success out of the introduction of the Camel cigarette brand, which he marketed and advertised widely. [1]

Reynolds moved out of the family homestead in 1874. It remained within the family, but in declining condition, into the mid-20th century. In 1968, Nancy Susan Reynolds, R.J.'s only surviving child, purchased over 700 acres (280 ha) of the original plantation, most of which she gave to Virginia Tech, retaining life interest in the homestead, which was carefully restored. [1] The property is now managed by Virginia Tech, and includes a continuing education center managed by its Department of Outreach and International Affairs. It hosts educational and cultural events, and the house is open for tours for both individuals and groups.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick County, Virginia</span> County in Virginia, United States

Patrick County is a county located on the central southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,608. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Piedmont Region and the more mountainous Southwest Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company</span> American tobacco manufacturing company

The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Plantation</span> Historical site

Shirley Plantation is an estate on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. It is located on scenic byway State Route 5, between Richmond and Williamsburg. It is the oldest active plantation in Virginia and the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1614, with operations starting in 1648. It used about 70 to 90 slaves at a time for plowing the fields, cleaning, childcare, and cooking. It was added to the National Register in 1969 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westover Plantation</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Westover Plantation is a historic colonial tidewater plantation located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. Established in c. 1730–1750, it is the homestead of the Byrd family of Virginia. State Route 5, a scenic byway, runs east–west to the north of the plantation, connecting the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Reynolds</span> American businessman

Richard JoshuaReynolds was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Spring Plantation</span> 17th century plantation of the governor of Colonial Virginia in North America

Green Spring Plantation in James City County about five miles (8.0 km) west of Williamsburg, was the 17th century plantation of one of the most unpopular governors of Colonial Virginia in North America, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances Culpeper Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial</span> 1000 acres in Virginia (US), affiliated area of the National Park Service

Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial, also known as Patrick Henry's Red Hill, in Charlotte County, Virginia, near the Town of Brookneal, is the final home and burial place of Founding Father Patrick Henry, the fiery legislator and orator of the American Revolution. Henry bought Red Hill Plantation at his retirement in 1794 and occupied it until 1799, the year of his death. In addition to the main house, Henry used another building as his law office. There were also dependencies and slave quarters on the working 2,930-acre tobacco plantation. The plantation was located on the Staunton River for transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlawn (Alexandria, Virginia)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Woodlawn is a historic house located in Fairfax County, Virginia. Originally a part of Mount Vernon, George Washington's historic plantation estate, it was subdivided in the 19th century by abolitionists to demonstrate the viability of a free labor system. The address is now 9000 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, Virginia, but due to expansion of Fort Belvoir and reconstruction of historic Route 1, access is via Woodlawn Road slightly south of Jeff Todd Way/State Route 235. The house is a designated National Historic Landmark, primarily for its association with the Washington family, but also for the role it played in the historic preservation movement. It is now a museum property owned and managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory</span> United States historic place

Duke Homestead State Historic Site is a state historic site and National Historic Landmark in Durham, North Carolina. The site belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural resources and commemorates the place where Washington Duke founded the nation's largest early-20th-century tobacco firm, the American Tobacco Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Brandon Plantation</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Lower Brandon Plantation is located on the south shore of the James River in present-day Prince George County, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotchtown (plantation)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Scotchtown is a plantation located in Hanover County, Virginia, that from 1771 to 1778 was owned and used as a residence by U.S. Founding Father Patrick Henry, his wife Sarah and their children. He was a revolutionary and elected in 1778 as the first Governor of Virginia. The house is located in Beaverdam, Virginia, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Ashland, Virginia on VA 685. The house, at 93 feet (28 m) by 35 feet (11 m), is one of the largest 18th-century homes to survive in the Americas. In its present configuration, it has eight substantial rooms on the first floor surrounding a central passage, with a full attic above and English basement with windows below. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Kenmore, also known as Kenmore Plantation, is a plantation house at 1201 Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Built in the 1770s, it was the home of Fielding and Betty Washington Lewis and is the only surviving structure from the 1,300-acre (530 ha) Kenmore plantation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry Hill Plantation</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Berry Hill Plantation, also known simply as Berry Hill, is a historic plantation located on the west side of South Boston in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The main house, transformed c. 1839 into one of Virginia's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969. The surviving portion of the plantation, which was once one of the largest in the state, is now a conference and event center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver Creek Plantation</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Beaver Creek Plantation, under the ownership of George Hairston, was a large slave-holding tobacco plantation and the center of an empire in tobacco-growing and slave-trading built by the Hairston family, Scottish emigrants to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century. Located just outside today's Martinsville, Virginia, the plantation thrived in tobacco production and textile manufacturing, as well as producing household goods and raising livestock. At one point the enslaved blacks of Beaver Creek were tending a thousand yam plants; in one day they made 660 candles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer, Virginia</span> Unincorporated community in Virginia, United States

Spencer is an unincorporated community in Henry County, Virginia, United States. It takes its name from its earliest settler, James Spencer Sr., who moved from Loudoun County to Henry County with his sons in the eighteenth century. Spencer's son ensign James Spencer, Jr. died of wounds suffered during the Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prestwould</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Prestwould is a historic house near Clarksville, Virginia. It is the most intact and best documented plantation surviving in Southside Virginia. The house was built by Sir Peyton Skipwith, 7th Baronet Skipwith, who moved his family from his Elm Hill Plantation to Prestwould in 1797. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003. It is located on the north side of the Roanoke River, 1-mile (1.6 km) inland, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of the intersection of Route 15 and Route 701, and approximately one mile north of Clarksville's town limits. Now a museum property, it is open for tours from April to October, or by appointment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotterley (Hollywood, Maryland)</span> Historic house in Maryland, United States

Sotterley Plantation is a historic landmark plantation house located at 44300 Sotterley Lane in Hollywood, St. Mary's County, Maryland, USA. It is a long 1+12-story, nine-bay frame building, covered with wide, beaded clapboard siding and wood shingle roof, overlooking the Patuxent River. Also on the property are a sawn-log slave quarters of c. 1830, an 18th-century brick warehouse, and an early-19th-century brick meat house. Farm buildings include an early-19th-century corn crib and an array of barns and work buildings from the early 20th century. Opened to the public in 1961, it was once the home of George Plater (1735–1792), the sixth Governor of Maryland, and Herbert L. Satterlee (1863–1947), a New York business lawyer and son-in-law of J.P. Morgan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Bank (Lunenburg Courthouse, Virginia)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Spring Bank, also known as Ravenscroft and Magnolia Grove, is a historic plantation house located near Lunenburg, Lunenburg County, Virginia. It was built about 1793, and is a five-part Palladian plan frame dwelling in the Late Georgian style. It is composed of a two-story, three-bay center block flanked by one-story, one-bay, hipped roof wings with one-story, one-bay shed-roofed wings at the ends. Also on the property are the contributing smokehouse, a log slave quarter, and frame tobacco barn, and the remains of late-18th or early-19th century dependencies, including a kitchen/laundry, ice house, spring house, and a dam. Also located on the property are a family cemetery and two other burial grounds. It was built by John Stark Ravenscroft (1772–1830), who became the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, serving from 1823 to 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentland Farm Historic and Archeological District</span> Archaeological site in Virginia, United States

Kentland Farm Historic and Archeological District is a historic home, archaeological site, and national historic district located near Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. The district encompasses a complex of 19th century agricultural outbuildings associated with a Federal and Greek Revival style brick dwelling built 1834–1835. Located in the district are significant archaeological resources that include a complex of Late Woodland village or camp sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurora (Spencer, Virginia)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Aurora, also known as the Pink House, Boxwood, and the Penn Homestead, is a historic home located at Penn's Store near Spencer, Patrick County, Virginia. It was built between 1853 and 1856, and is a two-story, three-bay, hipped-roof frame house in the Italian Villa style. It features one-story porches on the east and west facades, round-arched windows, clustered chimneys, and low pitched roofs. Also on the property is a contributing small one-story frame building once used as an office. It was built by Thomas Jefferson Penn (1810-1888), whose son, Frank Reid Penn founded the company F.R & G. Penn Co. that was eventually acquired by tobacco magnate James Duke to form the American Tobacco Company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ralph J. Christian (December 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Reynolds Homestead / Rock Spring Plantation" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying four photos, exterior and interior, from 1976  (32 KB)
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Reynolds Homestead". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
  4. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  5. "Kitty Reynolds · Southwest Virginia Digital Archive". di.lib.vt.edu. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  6. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff, James W. Moody, Jr., Director (October 21, 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Reynolds Homestead / Rock Spring Plantation" (PDF). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)