National Park Service's Capital History Series Features Guided Tour of the Industrial Heart of the Confederacy

Date: August 4, 2008
Contact: Mike Andrus, 804 226-1981 x. 30

The National Park Service continues its weekly series of downtown talks, tours, and tales highlighting Richmond’s Civil War history on August 9, 2008, with a guided tour highlighting the industrial workforce of the Confederacy. The tour will begin at 2 p.m. at the National Park Service visitor center at the historic Tredegar Iron Works, located at 470 Tredegar Street. It is expected to last one hour and will make stops along Richmond’s riverfront at the Tredegar Iron Works, Browns’ Island and sites related to the James River and Kanawha Canal and the former Armory complex. Prior to the walking tour, a presentation on womens’ roles in the Civil War will be offered by the American Civil War Center at 1 p.m. There is no charge for the walking tour by the National Park Service; the womens’ roles presentation is free with admission to the American Civil War Center. Parking is available on site for $3 per hour.

During the Civil War, Richmond’s industrial economy grew dependent on women, African Americans and the foreign-born. These civilians contributed to the Confederate war effort on the home front by casting cannons and small arms, transporting supplies from the west on the canal and handling munitions at the Confederate States Laboratory.

Please join the National Park Service and its partner, the American Civil War Center, for these upcoming Capital History talks and tours:

· August 16—Talk on Richmond’s Civil War prisons followed by a ranger-guided walking tour of Belle Isle (begins at 1 p.m. at the Tredegar Iron Works)

· August 23—Ranger-guided walking tour of the historic Tredegar Iron Works emphasizing the men and machines that armed the Confederacy (begins at 2 p.m. at the Tredegar Iron Works)