Northern Neck Now

Reedville, a picturesque maritime village on a narrow peninsula at the end of the Northern Neck, arose after the Civil War through the development of the menhaden industry by Elijah Reed. Menhaden, small bony fish, were especially abundant in summer and replaced the whale as America’s primary source of fish oil. Reed established the first menhaden factory here in 1875, which effort led to the establishment of fifteen menhaden factories at Reedville by 1885. The Northumberland County village preserves a number of modest 1870s frame dwellings erected after New England prototypes by the Reed family for factory workmen and relatives. Reedville’s impressive larger houses reflect the village’s prosperity in its heyday at the turn-of-the-20th-century. Dominating the scene is an unusually fine and well-preserved collection of late Victorian and early-20th-century residences built for local industrialists, sea captains, and merchants, including Elijah Reed.

Reedville Historic District