Brooklyn Tobacco Factory
Brooklyn Tobacco Factory | |
Front and eastern side | |
| Location | Northern side of River Road, 0.25 mile east of the Jeremy Creek Road junction, at Brooklyn, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°40′46″N 79°8′43″W / 36.67944°N 79.14528°W |
| Area | 3.9 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | c. 1855 |
| Architect | Dabney M. Crosby, Jr. |
| NRHP reference No. | 95001559[1] |
| VLR No. | 041-0259 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 22, 1996 |
| Designated VLR | October 18, 1995[2] |
Brooklyn Tobacco Factory, also known as the Hightower & Barksdale Tobacco Factory, is a historic tobacco factory located at Brooklyn, Halifax County, Virginia. It was built about 1855, and is a two-story, brick building with a gable roof. It features brick chimney flues projecting above the metal sheathed roof. Also on the property are two contributing pack houses (c. 1880) and the ruins of a log house (c. 1855). The factory was designed and built by Dabney Cosby, Jr., son of the Jeffersonian workman, Dabney Cosby, Sr. The factory remained in operation until 1881.[3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.[1]
History
The firm of Hightower & Barksdale began manufacturing plug chewing tobacco in 1855. The workforce was originally composed of slaves either belonging to the factory owners or hired from local planters. Hightower & Barksdale closed its operations in 1860, later to be briefly reopened in the early 1880s by Beverly Barksdale III and William Haymes.[4]
In 1994 Virginia "Ginger" Gentry acquired the long-abandoned factory and with her husband Mack set about saving the factory from further deterioration. They have carefully preserved the graffiti and stenciling as a record of the factory's fascinating history.[4]
The factory is listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and in the National Register of Historic Places.[4]
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ J. Daniel Pezzoni (August 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Brooklyn Tobacco Factory" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
- ^ a b c "Brooklyn Tobacco Factory". www.gohalifaxva.com. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
External links
- Brooklyn Tobacco Factory, 16040 River Road, Brooklyn, Halifax County, VA at the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)