Petersburg: The gentrification of a historic district

On our way to Williamsburg from Durham we really needed to eat. We found a yelp review for a restaurant in Petersburg that seemed like it was a good bet. We had no idea what to expect of Petersburg when we rolled in. We discovered that at one time this now run down town had been a major hub of the tobacco industry. We passed by the Kool factory and other industrial looking places before finally landing in the historic downtown district. A lot of the towns we have been visiting have fully developed tourist trades going on. Petersburg is an example of the historic sites all over the country that have fallen into disuse. Most of the viable restaurants and businesses in the district have appeared in the last couple of years. Many parts of the historical walk we were given a map of at the local visitors center are either only just being rebuilt, have empty or junk strewn store front windows, or house older businesses that service the neighborhood locals who include all of the very friendly very poor old man and women who were sitting out on the sidewalks in the hot evening and greeted us with joy as the kids walked by. One house on the end of a street, near the restaurant we were there to visit, was a tidy and beautifully restored building. It turned out that its a movie star, having been used in the recent Spielberg film about Abraham Lincoln. Looking around again Petersburg is a great location for a film. You could probably get the place for a good price, but there's a lot of restoration that would need to be done. I will be interested to see if they succeed at transforming the place. Perhaps we will visit again in ten years and see how they are doing.

The Brickhouse Restaurant that was the reason for our visit. It was very good and incredibly friendly.

This is a press from inside the bank where they used to print money. Every bank had one. The building is now the local visitor center. I was told I wasn't allowed to take this picture. Too late!

This was once a large tobacco processing house. It is now clearly affordable housing apartments. Just next door is a park that is bordered by Appomattox river. There are signs and plaques everywhere describing the power that Petersburg held in the tobacco trade as a major hub.

This house has been in four movies in the last two years.