Editing R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Richard Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[R. J. Reynolds]], founder]]
[[File:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company 1906.jpg|thumb|Share of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, issued 15 March 1906]]
The son of a tobacco farmer in Virginia, [[R. J. Reynolds|Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds]] sold his shares of his father's company in [[Patrick County, Virginia]], and ventured to the nearest town with a railroad connection, Winston-Salem, to start his own tobacco company.<ref name="winston-salem">{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQTmb8DBvIMC| publisher=John F. Blair, publisher| year=1994|pages=110–11, 184, 196–197| title=Winston-Salem: A History |first=Frank |last=Tursi| isbn=9780895871152}}</ref> He bought his first [[factory]] building from the [[Moravian Church]] and established the "little red factory" with seasonal workers. The first year, he produced {{Convert|150,000|lb}} of tobacco; by the 1890s, production had increased to several million pounds per year.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The company's factory buildings were the largest buildings in Winston-Salem, with new technologies such as [[steam power]] and electric lights.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The second primary factory building was the oldest Reynolds factory still standing and was sold to [[Forsyth County, North Carolina|Forsyth County]] in 1990.<ref name="winston-salem" />

[[File:George Washington Cut Plug Tobacco.jpeg|thumb|280px|''George Washington'', early cut plug tobacco brand manufactured by Reynolds, {{Circa|1910}}]]
At the beginning of the 1900s, Reynolds bought most of the competing tobacco factories in Winston-Salem.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The company produced 25% of America's [[chewing tobacco]].<ref name="winston-salem" /> 1907's [[Prince Albert tobacco|Prince Albert smoking tobacco]] became the company's national showcase product, which led to high-profile advertising in [[New York City]]'s [[Union Square (New York City)|Union Square]].<ref name="winston-salem" /> The [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel cigarette]] became the most popular cigarette in the country. The Reynolds company imported so much [[French people|French]] [[cigarette paper]] and [[Turkish tobacco]] for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the [[United States federal government]] as an official [[port of entry]] for the United States, despite the city being {{convert|200|mi|km}} inland.<ref name="winston-salem" /> Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.<ref name="winston-salem" />

In 1917, the company bought 84 acres (34&nbsp;ha) of property in Winston-Salem and built 180 houses that it sold at cost to workers, to form a development called "Reynoldstown".<ref name="winston-salem" />

At the time Reynolds died in 1918 (of [[pancreatic cancer]]), his company owned 121 buildings in Winston-Salem.<ref name="winston-salem" /> He was so integral to company operations that executives did not hang another chief executive's [[portrait]] next to Reynolds's in the company board room until 41 years later.<ref name="winston-salem" /> Reynolds's brother [[William Neal Reynolds]] took over following Reynolds's death, and six years later [[Bowman Gray]] became the chief executive. By that time, Reynolds Co. was the top [[taxpayer]] in the state of North Carolina, paying $1 out of every $2.50 paid in [[income tax]]es in the state, and was one of the most profitable corporations in the world.<ref name="winston-salem" /> It made two-thirds of the cigarettes in the state.<ref name="winston-salem" />

[[File:RJ Reynold's Building (31350553230).jpg|thumb|170px|The [[Reynolds Building]], built in 1929 in [[Art Deco]] style, served as RJR headquarters until 2008]]
Reynolds Co.'s success during this period can also be measured by the concurrent success of many Winston-Salem companies that received large amounts of business from Reynolds: [[Wachovia]] National Bank became one of the largest banks in the Southeast, and the company's law firm [[Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice]] became the largest law firm in North Carolina.<ref name="barbarians">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rVQ6wKWdaYC | publisher=[[HarperCollins]] | year=2003 | pages=40 | title=Barbarians at the Gate | first=Bryan | last=Burrough| isbn=9780060536350 }}</ref>

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco diversified into other areas, buying Pacific Hawaiian Products, the makers of [[Hawaiian Punch]], in 1962, [[Sea-Land Service]] in 1969, and [[Del Monte Foods]] in 1979. Sea-Land was spun off in 1984.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19840222&id=PEhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4837,6105106|title= Reynolds to spin off Sea-Land|author= Debbie Norton|newspaper= [[Star-News]] |date = February 22, 1984}}</ref>

Because of the company's diversification, the company changed its name to R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. in 1970. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was a subsidiary.<ref name=Sequence>{{cite web|url=http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/RAI/774487414x5356905x279278/335b63c9-8094-4559-a378-0dd439f13e98/securities.pdf|title=A Stock History – Sequence of Events|access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref>