February 18, 2019 / Joanne Yeck

Buckingham County Business: Prosperity, 1920

Buckingham Courthouse, 1914, before the concrete fence was proposed.

Courtesy Small Special Collections, University of Virginia.

In January of 1920, cash was flowing into and around Buckingham County. Prosperous times resulted in a new concrete fence around Courthouse Square. According to Charlottesville’s Daily Progress, the new fence added greatly to “the looks of things.”

There had been a cold spell and, as a result, much harvesting of ice while the temperatures were low. Thrifty farmers were already plowing for spring crops, even before the year-end holidays.

The newspaper went on to report new costs to the county: “Immense qualities of lumber have been hauled on the new sand-clay roads in auto trucks, and the roads have been much injured by the running of these immense machines heavily loaded.” One price of progress!

All in all, Buckingham County was beginning the new decade on a high note. Mr. Thomas D. Eason, state inspector of agricultural schools, had recently visited and commented positively on advancements being made in Buckingham County’s high school’s agricultural department.

Thanks, as always, to Phil James for sharing gleanings from the Daily Progress.