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Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882 [Ruins of mill and water wheel at Richmond, VA]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05111.01.0134 Author/Creator: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882 Place Written: Richmond, Virginia Type: Photograph Date: circa 1861-1865 Pagination: 1 albumen print Height: 22.6 cm, Width: 17.9 cm Order a Copy

A print of a photograph of a water wheel with debris from burned out building on top. Water still cascades down the wheel. Wheel is from the Gallego Flour Mill in Richmond, VA, the largest of its kind in the world before its destruction during the war. Inscription on verso: "Fred. or clean." Additional inscription: "Ordway-Gardner Coll. VI 177." Century Co. stamp # 129. Photo appears in the Photographic History of the Civil War, Vol. II, p. 1186: "Though water still flowed over the mill wheel, the machinery no longer turned. Like the Confederacy, it had ground to a halt."

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