Raphine, VA
I visited Lynn two weeks ago and we drove to Raphine to eat lunch at the truck stop, which has greatly modernized and expanded since the last time I was there. It has a food court and a small department store, among other things. I stopped briefly at nearby McCormicks Farm. I’ve been there before, and posted photos back in 2011.
It was here that Cyrus McCormick first built his successful version of the reaper. Actually, his father had been working on it for 28 years before Cyrus took over and built a marketable version, with the assistance of Jo Anderson, an enslaved man.
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| Sunday Best |
In 1847, Cyrus and his brother moved to Chicago to establish a factory. He had realized that farmers in midwestern and western states were highly interested in his reaper because they had vast spreads of flat land, which is better suited for growing wheat than the rocky hills of Virginia.
I hope the enslaved man benefitted in at least some measure from his work on the machine.
ReplyDelete...I love the mill.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos from the farm! Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week ahead.
ReplyDelete1 day we need to meet up some where ...we travel through here all the time. that would be awesome to finally meet some1 from VA ... that would be a blast. just for a minute or 2. gorgeous area. i love VA. thank you for your comments. we sing that song all the time. have a great rest of your Sept. i can't figure why it is flying by so quickly. u take care. big big hugs. ( ;
ReplyDeleteWonderful historic farm -- that is such a perfect and fun way to learn history. Thanks for sharing. ... And wow that truck stop sounds amazing! Back when we were RVing full time it would have been a wonderful stop!
ReplyDeleteVery nice photographs.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Great photos and I thoroughly enjoyed the history. Thanks for sharing that Linda.
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool factoid. I've heard about him my whole life but never gave a thought to where the invention happend.
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