August 2014 Article

This Month's Article: August 2014

Tales of Schuyler, Virginia

The area now known as Nelson County, Virginia was settled by people either making their way up the James River in search of large spreads of land for farming or coming down through the valley into the western part of the county, many of whom were looking for religious freedoms. Farming and Timber were the main occupations with ancillary jobs such as general store, hardware store, or professional positions such as dentist or doctor opening up in small urban areas. If you were in the western part of Nelson County, you might have planted an apple orchard in the fertile land there. Or if you were near running streams or rivers you might have founded a mill. Such was the area where Schuyler George Walker set up his mill. The settlement around his property became known as Walker's Mill but by 1882 was formally named Schuyler after it's founder. Industry in the area, outside of the small villages and towns was limited until Soapstone was discovered around Schuyler by Captain James Foster.

This led to the first quarries and subsequently to the soapstone mill being founded to support the mining operations and production of finished goods. By the turn of that century, the Virginia Soapstone Company was a primary employer of the area. Much like the Albemarle Soapstone Company, Virginia Soapstone hauled it's products by horse or mule team to the closest mainline rail junction. Closest to Schuyler was the Southern Railway coming through the village of Rockfish on the rail line between Charlottesville and Lynchburg, Virginia. Those early years were very good and employment grew and the competition was strong between the two main soapstone companies in the region. Competition soon turned to 'coopetition' as those two main companies found reasons to join forces. That merger led to the creation of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway to serve the combined soapstone industrial complex and ferry employees between homes in Alberene and the mill at Schuyler or delivery of finished goods to either Rockfish or Warren for shipments out to customers. By 1916 the quarries at Alberene were little used as the good quality, easily quarried stone had dwindled out. People looking for employment in the area sought out jobs at the soapstone company and while many took up jobs there, many others, wanting to avoid the hard conditions of working with quarrying and milling the stone, would leave the area seeking positions in large cities like Lynchburg or Roanoke or Richmond. The outflow of youth from the county was a fact of life and the influx of industry may have stayed the tide but could not support the number of people looking for jobs.