Editing Richmond, Virginia (section)

===Postbellum===
[[File:Freedmen registering to vote in 1870 in the first municipal election in Richmond, Virginia, held after the end of the Civil War.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Freedmen registering to vote in 1870 in the first municipal election in Richmond held after the end of the Civil War]]

[[File:Lewis Ginter.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lewis Ginter]] was the founder of [[Allen & Ginter]] which was at the time the world's largest tobacco company]]
A decade after the Civil War, Richmond resumed its position as a major urban center of economic productivity with iron front buildings and massive brick factories. Canal traffic peaked in the 1860s, with railroads becoming the dominant shipping method. Richmond became a major railroad crossroads,<ref name="JR&kanawha">Dunaway, Wayland F. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=eRAAgfbWT2IC&q=james+river+and+kanawha+canal History of the James River and Kanawha Company] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115183832/https://books.google.com/books?id=eRAAgfbWT2IC&dq=james+river+and+kanawha+canal |date=January 15, 2016 }}." Published 1922, Columbia University. Retrieved on July 11, 2007.</ref> showcasing the world's first triple railroad crossing. Tobacco warehousing and processing continued to play a central economic role, advanced by the world's first cigarette-rolling machine that [[James Albert Bonsack]] of [[Roanoke, Virginia|Roanoke]] invented between 1880 and 1881.

[[Lewis Ginter]] was the founder of [[Allen & Ginter]] which was at the time one of the world's largest tobacco companies. He would devote his philanthropy to Richmond and was quoted saying "I am for Richmond, first and last." He built the [[Jefferson Hotel (Richmond, Virginia)|Jefferson Hotel]] and suburbs north of Richmond which would go on to be the model for much of the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Major Lewis Ginter - Namesake of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden |url=https://www.lewisginter.org/visit/about/history/major-lewis-ginter/ |access-date=January 28, 2025 |website=Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden |language=en-US}}</ref>

Another important contributor to Richmond's resurgence was the [[Richmond Union Passenger Railway]], a [[tram|trolley system]] developed by electric power pioneer [[Frank J. Sprague]]. The system opened its first Richmond line in 1888, using an overhead wire and a trolley pole to connect to the current and electric motors on the car's trucks.<ref name="streetcar_2">Harwood, Jr., Herbert H. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KwtfsspuhKoC&dq=%22Frank+J.+Sprague%22%2B%22richmond%22%2B%22electric+streetcar%22&pg=PT11 Baltimore Streetcars: The Postwar Years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115152859/https://books.google.com/books?id=KwtfsspuhKoC&pg=PT11&ots=BSv9Gjt-BO&dq=%22Frank+J.+Sprague%22%2B%22richmond%22%2B%22electric+streetcar%22&sig=iY0ftMhGUpXBcloLV89Q1VW7YqY|date=January 15, 2016}}.'' Published 2003, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. vii. {{ISBN|978-0-8018-7190-0}}</ref> The success led to electric streetcar lines rapidly spreading to other cities.<ref name="streetcar_1">Smil, Vaclav. ''[[iarchive:creatingtwentiet0000smil/page/94|<!-- quote="Frank J. Sprague"+"richmond"+"electric streetcar". --> Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact]] {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3Mh7qQRM-IC&dq=%22Frank+J.+Sprague%22%2B%22richmond%22%2B%22electric+streetcar%22&pg=PA94 |title=Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact |isbn=978-0-19-803774-3 |access-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-date=January 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115043658/https://books.google.com/books?id=w3Mh7qQRM-IC&pg=PA94&ots=HQHiiFD9mC&dq=%22Frank+J.+Sprague%22%2B%22richmond%22%2B%22electric+streetcar%22&sig=5HVXW6OygFef41F5HJ0Pe2H0BiY |url-status=bot: unknown |last1=Smil |first1=Vaclav |date=August 25, 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.'' Published 2005, Oxford University Press, p. 94. {{ISBN|978-0-19-516874-7}}</ref> A post-World War II transition to buses from streetcars began in May 1947 and was completed on November 25, 1949.<ref>"Transit Topics." Published November 27, 1949, and November 30, 1957, Virginia Transit Company, Richmond, Virginia.</ref>