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Reedville is an unincorporated town in Northumberland County in the Northern Neck region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located at the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 360 (the Northumberland Highway) east of Heathsville, at the head of Cockrell's Creek on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Reedville is home to the fishing industry for Atlantic menhaden, a small oily fish found in great abundance in mid-Atlantic coastal waters. More pounds of commercial fish are landed in Reedville than in any other eastern seaboard port and is number five in the country, though the overall value of the landings is much lower.〔()〕 A popular place to begin fishing charters and trips to Tangier Island in the Bay, Reedville is a destination itself, steeped in the history of the menhaden fishing industry. Its Millionaire's Row of Victorian-era mansions in the Reedville Historic District and two of the Fishermen's Museum's watercraft are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. == History == Reedville was named for Captain Elijah W. Reed (1827-1888). In 1874, Reed, a sea captain from Maine, came south to the Chesapeake Bay and recognized the potential of the menhaden fishing industry. As early as the 1620s, in the area which became New England, the Native Americans had taught the Plymouth Colony's settlers the value of burying menhaden in each hill of corn, as fertilizer. Captain Reed moved his business from Brooklin, Maine, to the Northern Neck, and brought to the established community of watermen a method of extracting large quantities of oil from the fish, by rendering them by the millions. Their oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting, as whale oil was; and the leftover bones and carcasses were valuable as fertilizer. He opened the first processing plant. By 1885, Reedville was heavily engaged in the menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden processing factories on Cockrell Creek produced fish oil, meal, and fertilizer from menhaden. The menhaden fishing industry brought tremendous wealth to Reedville and to Northumberland County. Reedville, a town of approximately 500, was once known as the wealthiest town in the United States, due to its large income produced by the menhaden industry.〔(''The Daily Star'', March 28, 1911, vol XVIII, no 218 )〕 Fishing boat captains and factory owners, who made their fortunes from menhaden, built homes along what is now Main Street. Dozens of fish processing factories, most recently Omega Protein Corporation (successor to Zapata Haynie, Reedville Oil and Guano Company, and Haynie Products Company) and Standard Products Company, have dotted the Northumberland coastline near Reedville and other fishing communities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reedville, Virginia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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