Lynchburg, Virginia

Industrial buildings along the James River in Lynchburg can be seen in this daguerreotype taken sometime between 1848 and 1852. At left, the James River and Kanawha Canal, an important conduit for transporting goods, parallels the river; in the middle distance, a covered bridge traverses the river. Lynchburg was a major manufacturer of plug tobacco and, by the 1850s, the second wealthiest city per capita in the United States.