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Gallego Mills
Richmond's Gallego Mills were a major 19th century industry. In 1834, Joseph Gallego built a mill on the Great Basin at the northwest corner of 12th & Canal Streets. The mill used Basin water to turn its waterwheels. After an 1848 fire, Messrs. Warwick & Barksdale, who had taken over Gallego Mills, rebuilt a 7-story mill on the same spot.
In 1860, they built an even larger 12-story mill on the southwest corner of 12th & Canal Streets. It reused water from the original upper mill. Both mills burned in the 1865 Evacuation Fire, but the upper building was rebuilt and operated until it burned in 1903. |