Editing Farmville, Virginia (section)

====Coal to ship over rails====
{{Infobox company
|website     = 
|name        = Farmville Coal and Iron Company
|logo        = 
|caption     = 
|type        = Private
|foundation  = ({{Start date|1881|||df=yes}})
|defunct     = 
<ref name="Farmville Herald"/>
|location    = Farmville, [[Virginia]]
|area_served = Farmville
|industry    = Coal
}}

It was rumored that the coal near Farmville would draw the Orange & Keysville Railway which was chartered, graded and the right of way was purchased, between Farmville and Hampden Sydney.  However, the rails were never laid down.  The coal field was idle until 1891 when the Farmville Coal and Iron Company began leasing land, selling stock and reopened the Piedmont mines. The company built a one and a half mile spur rail line from the [[Farmville and Powhatan Railroad]] to the mine. This railroad provided transport from the mine to the docks at [[Bermuda Hundred]] in the [[Tidewater region]]. On Jan. 24, 1891, an editor of “The Financial Mining Record” suggested that the Farmville Coal & Iron Company, did not have enough coal production to justify a fraction of its stock price.  The [[Norfolk and Western Railway]], since 1883, had been bringing in coal from a new coal mine.  The [[Pocahontas Coalfield]] which could provide coal more cheaply and ship the coal on a larger standard gauge, class one railroad.  This decreased to the economic viability of mining coal in the [[Richmond Basin|Richmond]] and [[Farmville Basin]]s.<ref name=Miller2011>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/11-r18.pdf |title="Backsights" Essays in Virginia Transportation History Volume One: Reprints of Series One (1972-1985) |website=Virginia DOT |author=Ann B. Miller |date=June 2011 |access-date=April 26, 2016 |publisher=Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223612/http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/11-r18.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref> The Farmville Coal and Iron Company went bankrupt a few years later, possibly before any coal was mined.

The Farmville Coal & Iron Company did bring positive change.  They requested that the town build an [[electric power plant]] and a [[waterworks]].  Designation of the power plant was established in 1890 and the water works were designated in 1893.<ref name="Farmville Herald"/>