Tredegar Iron Works

Today we went to Richmond to Tredegar Iron Works which (according to the brochure they handed me) "geared quickly into the industrial engine that sustained the Confederate war machine." Now it is a Civil War Museum. Tredegar opened in 1837 and ceased operations in 1957. I wish the museum had focused on Tredegar's history instead of the Civil War- especially considering the fact that another Civil War museum opened next door a few years ago.

The National Park Service runs Tredegar- I am not sure who runs the American Civil War Museum but I think it is owned by a private company- or maybe the state, I don't know. What's the deal with competing historic sites? This is the third such site we have visited in NIAHD. There are two sites at Yorktown, Jamestown, and now these 2 Civil War Museums at Tredegar- all of them have one site run by the National Park Service. Do these places really need two museums? I don't get it.

I only took pictures outside- because frankly that was the part that interested me the most.

You have to walk up some stairs from the parking lot area to get into the museum run by the National Park Service- and the first thing you see when you get to the top of the stairs is this statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting with a child.



For a moment I thought we had driven too far north- there can't be a statue of Lincoln south of the Mason Dixon- can there? And in the capitol of the Confederacy no less! Seriously- I thought the heat must have finally gotten to me- either that or I had never noticed how much Jefferson Davis looked like Lincoln. Turns out it really is Lincoln. It is a very controversial statute (big surprise). The Sons of the Confederates (the Sons of the Confederacy?) were all up in arms about it. The people who were in favor of the statue (you know- those people who were putting the statue in and no one else in Richmond) felt that it was appropriate considering that Lincoln had actually been to Richmond, after the city fell, and they felt that it would be a sign that the nation had really gotten over that whole Civil War thing. Turns out we weren't over it- 2003 was just too soon. I did kind of wonder if the child was supposed to symbolize the South- which would be upsetting to me too if I were a Southerner- I mean was it like they were saying the South was a naughty kid but no worries daddy (aka Lincoln) still loves you!









I thought it was cool that these plants were growing out of a brick wall...



And that these plants were taking over the iron works...











I really thought the coke machine added to the authenticity.







I thought this view was cool because of the contrast between the modern city and the 200 year old iron works buildings.