Reedville, Virginia

Reedville is an unincorporated town in Northumberland County in the Northern Neck region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located at the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 360 (the Northumberland Highway) east of Heathsville at the head of Cockrell's Creek on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Reedville is home to the fishing industry for Atlantic menhaden, a small oily fish found in great abundance in Mid-Atlantic coastal waters. By some accounts, it is second only to Kodiak, Alaska for the annual quantity of fish brought to port in the United States. A popular place to begin fishing charters and trips to Tangier Island in the Bay, Reedville is a destination itself, steeped in the history of the menhaden fishing industry, with its Millionaire's Row of Victorian-era mansions and several watercraft of the Fishermen's Museum each listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Reedville was named for Captain Elijah W. Reed (1827-1888). In 1874, Reed, a sea captain from Maine, came south to the Chesapeake Bay and recognized the potential of the menhaden fishing industry. In what became New England, as early as the 1620s, the Native Americans had taught the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts the value of burying menhaden in each hill of corn for fertilizer.

Captain Reed moved his business from Brooklin, Maine to the Northern Neck, and brought to the established community of watermen a method of extracting large quantities of oil from the fish by rendering them by the millions. Their oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting, as whale oil was, and the leftover bones and carcasses were valuable as fertilizer. He opened the first processing plant. By 1885, Reedville was heavily engaged in the menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden factories on Cockrell Creek produced fish oil, meal and fertilizer from menhaden. The menhaden fishing industry brought tremendous wealth to Reedville and to Northumberland County. Reedville, a town of approximately 500, was once known as the wealthiest town in the United States due to the large sums of money produced by the menhaden industry. ^{[needs citation]}

Fishing boat captains and factory owners and who made their fortunes from menhaden built homes along what is now Main Street.

Years ago, dozens of fish processing factories, most recently Omega Protein Corporation (successor to Zapata Haynie, Reedville Oil and Guano Company and Haynie Products Company) and Standard Products Company, dotted the Northumberland coastline near Reedville and adjacent fishing communities.

Modern times: fishing, tourism

Today, Omega Protein remains as the largest industrial organization in the area. Omega, with a fleet of large ocean-going fish harvesting vessels, supported by a number of spotter aircraft, is a major industry in the area and on the eastern seaboard. Menhaden, once caught, are cooked in large mass and processed for further use in various applications including as a protein additive for poultry feed.

Businesses in Reedville also offer sport fishing charters and regularly scheduled cruises to Tangier Island, which is located in the Chesapeake Bay. Lodging in the small community is offered in Bed and Breakfast establishments.

The Reedville Fisherman's Museum has restored some of the oldest homes on the community's "Millionaire's Row", whose mansions are now on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum also has two vessels, the skipjack "Claud W. Somers" and the deck boat "Elva C." which were entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The museum, which dedicates itself to preserving the watermen's heritage, also has historical information about the menhaden fishing industry and the history of Reedville.

External links

* [http://www.rfmuseum.org/ Reedville Fisherman's Museum]
* [http://www.folklife.si.edu/explore/Education/Waterways/Ports_of_Call/northern_neck.html Smithsonian Ports of Call: Reedville, Virginia]