Overshot Waterwheel

An overshot waterwheel was one of many waterwheels used at this site, where water flowed over the top to power industrial work. The Tredegar Iron Works used waterwheels from its founding in 1836 until the 1870s, when turbines were installed. Two different wheels stood here, powering foundry blowers and an early machine shop. Because no photographs of these waterwheels survive, their reconstruction drew on maps, insurance policies, company records, and photographs of wheels from the same era. After the James River and Kanawha canal was constructed in the 1780s, industries began using its water for power. Thomas Rutherfoord’s flour mill was the first to do so, and later the Tredegar Iron Works built a spike mill in the same location.

Richmond, Virginia · United States