Belle and Mayo Islands in Richmond, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Ironworks Oil House
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 31, 2013
1. Ironworks Oil House Marker
This stone storage shed was built to hold flammable lubricants and dangerous acids. The hand-cut stone likely was quarried here on Belle Isle. The shed served the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Company, which expanded from this area eastward, behind you, late in the 19th Century. An 1886 fire insurance map identified the shed as an oil house and showed a laboratory next to it. The oil house may have been constructed by 1876, when another map showed a similar building in about this location.
Notice the earth piled around the sheds side walls. The earth once reached to within two feet of the roof. The thick stone walls, reinforced by the heaped earth, would have helped direct any explosion and fire upward rather than outward, to protect other buildings as well as the workers here.
When the 1934 Robert E. Lee Bridge was demolished after the new bridge was completed in 1988, the sheds heavy slate roof was removed. The walls were temporarily buried under thirty feet of sand to protect them from any falling debris.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1886.
Location. 37° 31.767′ N,
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Regionally, this marker is in Central Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in 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.
Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Civil War at Belle Isle (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); James River Fall Line (about 700 feet away); Belle Isle Prison Camp Monument (about 700 feet away); Welcome to Belle Isle (about 700
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 31, 2013
2. Ironworks Oil House
Other markers no longer nearby. Cannon over the Camp (was a few steps from this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Canons & Corpses (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed); Belle Isle Rolling Milling and Slitting Manufactory (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Native American Fishing (was about 600 feet away but has been confirmed missing); Historic Belle Isle (was about 600 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Hollywood Rapids (was about 600 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); The Power of Moving Water (was about 700 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Civil War POW Camp (was about 700 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); a different marker also named Historic Belle Isle (was about 800 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Old Dominion Iron & Steel Company (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
More about this marker. (caption)
Sanborn Insurance Company map, 1886, showing the oil house. Courtesy Library of Virginia.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 1, 2013, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,028 times since then and 21 times this year. Last updated on April 13, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 1, 2013, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
