Reedville, Virginia
If you travel to the very end of U.S. Route 360 east, you will end up in the middle of a seemingly average small town. The mile-long main street is flanked with antique homes, endlessly running off into the water. The small point of Reedville is nestled in the Northern Neck of Virginia, which some consider the perfect piece of undiscovered paradise. Although its seasonal waters and close-knit community make for a perfect summer getaway, there is much more to Reedville than its million-dollar waterfront properties.
Hindsight
The year is 1867 and Captain Elijah W. Reed of Brooklin, Maine is loading his two small boats for a journey south, to the promising waters of the Chesapeake Bay. His dreams of taking New England’s booming menhaden business to a new region was coming true, but what transpired was far more than he had ever imagined.
(Atlantic Menhaden, or “bunkers,” are small, filter-feeding fish that can be found as far north as Canada all the way to northern Florida. They are primarily located in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. Over the years, menhaden have served many purposes. Their uses range from a meal for predators like Rockfish or Osprey, bait for catching crabs and lobster, or turned into omega-3 supplements for your heart health. Even though their oil is healthy for human consumption, they are not a “food fish” such as Salmon or Halibut.)
After a few years of inhabiting the area, Reed built Virginia’s first menhaden fish factory. After the factory burned in 1873, he acquired the land known as Windmill Point from A.H. Evans for a total of $1,000 dollars. At the time there was only one small home near the land, which was occupied by the Toulson family after the Civil War. Now, the majority of this land is speckled with million-dollar properties.
In 1874, Reed began building a fish factory on the point of his new land, where the windmill of which it got its name once stood. Soon after he built his home, he sold land to William Walker, G.T. Robinson, and John Neal to build their own homes and expand the village.
It wasn’t until 1888 that the point adopted the name Reedville, following the grant of its own post office where Capt. Reed’s son, George, was named the first Postmaster. He selected the name Reedville in memory of his father, who died that same year. You can visit Captain Reed and his wife’s burial site in Roseland Cemetery today, upon the entrance of Reedville.
Reedville continued to grow, developing two church buildings, two hotels, a bank, department stores, and much more by 1903. The surrounding points, known as Fleeton and Fairport, are also lined with attractive homes. The three main fish factories, Morris Fisher Co., John A. Haynie, Co., and Megill-McNeal Co., supplied the area with plenty revenue and jobs.
It is in this early time that Reedville gained the title of “richest town in the country”, having the highest income per capita. Main Street was nicknamed “Millionaire’s Row” because of the elaborate Victorian-style mansions, owned by the wealthy sea captains of the fisheries. Many of the homes still stand today, post-renovations.
Reedville, Virginia was the number one port for commercial fishing in the United States for over 125 years, only falling short to towns in Alaska a few years ago.
Nowadays
Today, Reedville is the fifth port in the United States, putting the state of Virginia in the number three spot in the nation. It remains the head of Atlantic menhaden harvest, with John A. Haynie Co. turning over to Zapata Haynie Corporation in 1972, later forming the subsidiary of Omega Protein Corporation in 1998. Omega Protein, whose headquarters are located in Houston, Texas, is the current leading fish factory in Reedville today. With a fish factory of that size, comes the infamous fish smell (which locals like myself refer to as the “smell of money”) that fills Reedville’s streets throughout the summer season.
In 1984, Reedville was placed on the Virginia’s Landmark Register. A few years later, the Greater Reedville Association formed the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, where I had the privilege of interning at in 2011. The museum does more than just provide a haven of history for incoming tourists; they also host a wide range of events throughout the year, including the annual Independence Day celebration.
Also, thanks to the combined efforts of the museum, community, and Omega Protein, Inc., the famous remnant of the Morris Fisher Co., known as “the stack”, got a facelift a few years ago after being left crippled by Mother Nature. It remains a landmark in the wake of the historical town. You can view this landmark, as you taste some of the famous local seafood at one of Reedville’s local restaurants, and afterward ride off into one of the Chesapeake Bay’s priceless sunsets.
The Controversy
Over the years, Reedville’s menhaden industry has been severely accused of overfishing the menhaden and ultimately destroying the Chesapeake Bay. In 2006, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) put a limit on the amount of metric tons of menhaden that could be annually harvested in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2012, they increased the allowable cap after conducting more research. Last year, the latest menhaden stock assessment proved that the stock was healthy and allowed a 10% increase for this season. Governor Terry McAuliffe paid a visit to Reedville June 4th (last week) to sign this proclamation into place.
It’s typical to read the average environmentalist’s concerns about the fishing industry in Reedville, but a while back I came across this blogger’s post advocating for the boycott of Reedville, Virginia altogether. It may be because I’m a local. It may be because I’ve lived here since birth, along with generations upon generations of my family. Whatever the predisposed reason, it lit a fire in me.
My family has lived and breathed the Chesapeake Bay for years, among many others. Without this industry, we wouldn’t exist. Without this industry, Reedville wouldn’t exist. Without this industry in Reedville, almost $90 million dollars in Virginia’s bank account wouldn’t exist. The list goes on. So whether you’re reading this from California or Maine, think about the impact your hometowns have made on this nation and what you would do if that hometown was Reedville, Virginia.
To learn more about my family’s role in the industry, stay tuned for my next post.
To learn more about the history of Reedville, check out this book by Miriam Haynie.
