Surry in Surry County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Steam: The Great Connector
Chippokes State Park
Photographed by Brandon D Cross
1. Steam: The Great Connector Marker
Heat is power, and when used to generate steam, it can create something even more useful: mechanical energy. A steam engine heats water into steam which then pushes a piston, contained in a metal cylinder, upwards. The movement of the piston then drives gears into motion. The first steam engines were patented in the 18th Century in Britain and were used to pump water from mines.
Steam powered trains connected people across the American continent, and made travel and commerce quicker and more efficient. Steam engines were also used to power farm machinery and mills. A steam-powered sawmill owned by Albert Carroll Jones' son-in-law, Charles Sutton, may have been used at Chippokes during the late 1800's. The new technology made the farmer's job easier and the farming operation more productive.
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Steam powered sawmill. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
A steam engine being used to plow a field. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Erected by Chippokes State Park.
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Location. 37° 8.375′ N, 76° 43.67′ W. Marker is in Surry, Virginia, in Surry County. It can be reached from Chippokes Park Road 0.1 miles south of Plantation Road, on the left when traveling north. The marker is located on the grounds of Chippokes State Park at the Saw Mill Exhibit. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 695 Chippokes Park Road, Surry VA 23883, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Coastal Virginia and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Tidewater, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Brandon D Cross
2. Steam: The Great Connector Marker
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The River House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Chippokes Plantation (approx. 0.2 miles away); A History of Silence (approx. 0.2 miles away); An Agricultural Legacy (approx. Ό mile away); A Mansion of Many Colors (approx. 0.4 miles away); Packard Garage (approx. 0.4 miles away); Paradise Garden (approx. 0.4 miles away); Albert Carroll Jones (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Surry.
Also see . . .
1. Draft Horses to Diesel Engines: Chippokes Steam and Gas Engine Show. (Submitted on December 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
2. Surry County: Chippokes Plantation. (Submitted on December 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
3. Chippokes State Park. (Submitted on December 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
Photographed by Brandon D Cross
3. Steam Powered 1800s tractor
Photographed by Brandon D Cross
4. Steam Powered Saw Mill
Photographed by Brandon D Cross
5. Entrance to the Saw Mill Exhibit
Credits. This page was last revised on December 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 142 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
