Virginia Time Travel: Richmond 1865

The Custom House, the first Federal building ever built in Richmond is seen below. This building provided offices for Confederate President Jefferson Davis and other executive staff, including the Confederate Treasury Department. At the end of the Civil War, the Richmond evacuation fire of 1865 left much of Richmond in ruins.

The view from the south side of Canal Basin is seen below, showing the Capitol, the Custom House and other structures after the fire of April, 1865.

The Custom House is seen below. With its stout granite walls and inflammable roof, the building survived the fire. In 1866, the Grand Jury of the United States District Court met on the third floor and indicted Jefferson Davis for treason. Davis was granted amnesty and never stood trial.

The Civil War Wedding

Civil War Humor 1861-1865

Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the South’s second largest city with a population of 40,000 (this tripled in the war years). The move served to solidify the state of Virginia’s position in the Confederacy. Virginia’s hundreds of factories, whose output nearly equaled that of the rest of the Confederacy, were vital to the new nation.

Richmond 1861-1865

Richmond was the iron and coal center of the South. The Tredegar Iron works manufactured a diverse array of products, including cannon and ordnance for the Confederate government. Tredegar produced more than 1,000 cannons for the Confederacy. It also made armor plating for use on Confederate ironclad warships.