Ice skaters glide on the frozen Jackson River at Covington [VA] in 1897
No wonder these skaters look so carefree! The 1890’s brought economic boom to Covington, VA. Population jumped from 704 in 1890 to 2,950 at the turn of the century. The railroad ran fourteen passenger trains daily through Covington and the city was the fourth largest freight paying station on the entire C&O Railroad after Chicago, Cincinnati and Richmond.
The first industries included the Covington Iron Furnace in 1891 (in Sunnymeade) which produced 110 tons of pig iron daily, the steam powered Deford Tannery (near present Superior Concrete Plant) in 1892, the E.M. Nettleton planing mill, and the Covington Machine Shops, which produced coke extractors for use in furnace cleaning in the steel making process. The town also boasted two flour mills, two brick yards and the Alleghany Pin and Bracket Company.
source: www.allhighlands.org/area_history.htm
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