page_title: Danville, Virginia
section_title: Post-Reconstruction era to early 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Danville, Virginia / History / Post-Reconstruction era to early 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: View of shuttered plant of Dan River Mills on the Dan River, Danville, Virginia.
context_page_description: Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a major center of Confederate activity during the Civil War, due to its strategic location on the Richmond and Danville Railroad, and today is principal city of the Danville, Virginia Micropolitan Statistical Area.
  As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,055. It is bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina to the south. It hosts the Danville Braves baseball club of the Appalachian League.
context_section_description: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tobacco processing was a major source of wealth for business owners in the city, in addition to the textile mills. Wealthy planters and owners built fine houses, some of which have been preserved.
  Given the falls on the river, the area was prime for industrial development based on water power. On July 22, 1882, six of Danville's residents(Thomas Benton Fitzgerald, Dr. H.W. Cole, Benjamin F. Jefferson and three brothers: Robert A., John H., and James E. Schoolfield) founded the Riverside Cotton Mills, making use of cotton produced throughout the South. In its day it was known nationally as Dan River Inc., the largest single-unit textile mill in the world.
  The Southern Railway constructed a railroad line to the city in the late 19th century and had facilities here, which contributed to the growing economy. In 1899 the company completed a grand passenger station, designed by its noted architect Frank Pierce Milburn. For many years, passenger traffic was strong on the railroad; it also operated freight trains.
  A serious train wreck occurred in Danville one September 27, 1903. "Old 97", the Southern Railway's crack express mail train, was running behind schedule. Its engineer "gave her full throttle", but the speed of the train caused it to jump the tracks while on a high trestle crossing the valley of the Dan River. The engine and five cars plunged into the ravine below, killing nine and injuring seven. The locomotive and its engineer, Joseph A. ("Steve") Broadey, were memorialized in song. A historic marker at the train crash site is located on U.S. 58 between Locust Lane and North Main Street. A mural of the Wreck of the Old 97 has been painted on a downtown Danville building to commemorate the incident.
caption: Abandoned Dan River Mills on the Dan River
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