Historically, the area containing the Virginia Trunk & Bag Company was industrial in character. Today, it features a mix of industrial, commercial, educational, and residential uses. The buildings within the Virginia Trunk & Bag Company complex are located on the north and west portions of the parcel. There is open land to the south and east of the buildings creating a large loading area for trucks to park and load. For many years, raw lumber was also stacked in open areas. The open space is enclosed with a chain link fence running along Guarantee and Brown Streets. Railroad spurs served the manufacturing facility next to the ca. 1903, 3-and 4-story storage and shipping building and the 4-story storage and shipping building. Little remains of the rail spurs today. The current complex consists of 2 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, 1 non-contributing building and 1 non-contributing structure. All of the buildings within the complex are connected to each other by way of shared walls with openings and doors or by enclosed pedestrian bridges. The original ca.1903 complex featured several of the buildings still extant today including the trunk factory, the 3-story storage and shipping building, the box shop, the planing mill and the boiler house. Each building had its own function lending to the overall operation of the manufacturing facility. Originally, the trunk factory, box shop and planing mill created an “L” shaped building in the middle of the complex. As the complex evolved and the trunk manufacturing business grew, the company added on the necessary manufacturing buildings to the original two buildings. By 1908, the complex had almost doubled in size with the addition of the stock room, the veneer room, the lumber storage area, and the tool room. Additionally, the box shop and planing mill were expanded to the west. Later contributing additions which were added after 1915 but before 1950, include the Independent Electric Plant addition, the veneer mill addition, the office and machine shop addition, the 4-story warehouse addition, and the 4-story shipping and storage addition.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 23:07:31 +0000