Cooperative Living August 2019 - 33

For 34 years, the James River Batteau Festival has
celebrated their legacy with an eight-day event
featuring batteau replicas. Beginning in Lynchburg,
replica boats move along 120 miles of the James
River, including a stop in Scottsville, each June.
Incorporated in 1818, many of Scottsville's
buildings, canal locks and bridges were destroyed
in March 1865 by Union forces shortly before the
end of the Civil War. With the demise of the canal,
it would take decades for the town to recover. By
the end of the 19th century a rail line lay on top of
the old canal towpath, before passenger trains
through town also disappeared.
Homes and historic structures dot hillsides
overlooking the low-lying town. Reminders are
everywhere of life before the A. Raymon Thacker
Levee was completed in 1989. From 1870-1972, the
town experienced 21 floods, the highest during
Hurricane Agnes in July 1972 (34.02 feet; normal
river height is 4.6 feet).
Among his many accomplishments, Thacker, who
served as mayor for over 30 years and died in 2016
at 106, spearheaded a tireless effort to complete
Mink Creek Dam to stop water from backing up into
the town, along with a levee to protect Scottsville
from future flood destruction.
" The levee keeps out the water but it also makes
a bathtub, " Lawless explains. " So we have pumps
that can pump 50,000 gallons a minute. "
Post-levee, there have been no devastating floods,
but Lawless says, " We had so much rain in 2018
that we had some flash floods, and some basements
and a parking lot flooded. "
Ron Smith, a writer for The Scottsville Monthly and
a funeral director at Thacker Brothers Funeral Home,
moved with his wife from Newport News to Scottsville
in 2007. He's a member of the town planning
commission and active with the Scottsville
Museum. He admits to missing some things about
life in " the big city " but notes, " They have a
homicide there almost daily and we haven't had one
here since we moved here. "
He adds, " I like the pace of life here. Everybody is
extremely friendly. When we moved here, there were
a lot of 'hobby' businesses, and that has improved. "
Master barber Rodney Harris commutes from
Richmond to operate All Star Barbers #2 (he also
owns All Star Barbers #1 in Charlottesville), opened
in 2006 on Valley Street.
Originally from Nelson County, Harris noticed
there was no barber shop in Scottsville and decided
to open one.
" I'm the only black entrepreneur in Scottsville, "
he says. " Business has been great. There are more
people and more restaurants now. "
He downplays his commute, explaining, " I hope to
move closer within the next two years. I tell people,
come to the area, try some of the good food ...
there's money to be made here. "
Down the street at Baines Books & Coffee, which
opened in 2012, customers work on laptops while
co-opliving.com
August 2019 | Cooperative Living | 31
Clockwise: The Canal Basin Square
showcases transportation items like
this batteau, a French word for boat.
Hogsheads, the large barrels shown
here, were filled with as much as 1,000
pounds when fully loaded with tobacco.
A sign in town marking the water levels
of several floods the community
endured. Master barber Rodney Harris
operates All Star Barbers #2 in town
after noticing the lack of a barber
shop in town. Ron Smith, writer for The
Scottsville Monthly and funeral director
at Thacker Brothers Funeral Home,
moved to Scottsville from Newport
News. A. Raymon Thacker served as
mayor for over 30 years and worked on
many improvements for Scottsville
including building a levee to stop the
multiple floods that the town had
endured over the years.
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Cooperative Living August 2019

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