Gallego Mills Marker

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Richmond, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Gallego Mills

By Bernard Fisher, October 25, 2009

1. Gallego Mills Marker

Inscription. Richmond's Gallego Mills were a major 19th century industry. In 1834, Joseph Gallego built a mill on the Great Basin at the northwest corner of 12th & Canal Streets. The mill used Basin water to turn its waterwheels. After an 1848 fire, Messrs. Warwick & Barksdale, who had taken over Gallego Mills, rebuilt a 7-story mill on the same spot.

In 1860, they built an even larger 12-story mill on the southwest corner of 12th & Canal Streets. It reused water from the original upper mill. Both mills burned in the 1865 Evacuation Fire, but the upper building was rebuilt and operated until it burned in 1903.

Location. 37° 32.096′ N, 77° 26.125′ W. Marker is in Richmond, Virginia. Marker is at the intersection of South 12th Street and East Canal Street, on the right when traveling north on South 12th Street. Click for map. Marker is in this post office area: Richmond VA 23219, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Inside A Flour Mill (here, next to this marker); The Flour Trade (a few steps from this marker); Tidewater Connection Locks (about 300 feet away, in a direct line); James River & Kanawha Canal (about 300 feet away); Gallego Mill Flume (about 400 feet away); The Center of Industry in 18th and 19th Century Richmond (about 500 feet away); Christopher Newport Cross / Canal Walk (about 500 feet away); Christopher Newport Monument (about 500 feet away). Click for a list of all markers in Richmond.

Flour Mill Markers Photo, Click for full size

By Bernard Fisher, October 25, 2009

2. Flour Mill Markers

More about this marker. On the upper left is a sketch carrying the caption, "Gallego Mills. View across the Great Basin. (Courtesy of Valentine Museum)

On the lower right is a photograph carrying the caption, "Gallego Ruins, 1865. Left, the 1848 upper mill; right, the new 1860 mill; foreground, the Kanawha Canal. (Photo by A. Russell, Courtesy of National Archives)

Also see . . . Gallego Mills. Lost Virginia - Vanished Architecture of the Old Dominion (Submitted on October 30, 2009, by Bernard Fisher of Mechanicsville, Virginia.)