Manchester Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company, Southern Bank of James River at Mayo Bridge, Richmond, Independent City, Virginia

Significance: The Manchester Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company was among the first textile mills to operate in the Richmond area and represented one of the early efforts to diversify the predominately agrarian economy of antebellum Virginia. The Manchester company was the first to use the water power developed by the Manchester Canal, which later supplied power for grain, paper, sumac, and wood-working facilities. The original building, operated as a cotton mill at this site from ca. 1837 until the early 1890s. The Standard Paper Company purchased the property in 1901. The original portion of the mill remained in use as a warehouse from 1901 until 1976. Today, the well-preserved exterior of the original mill, the canal, and the remnants of the water delivery system and the wheel housings are tangible evidence of pioneering efforts by southern industrialists to enter a market dominated by northern companies.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-14
Survey number: HAER VA-44
Building/structure dates: after 1840 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1976