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Virginia · Southside Virginia · #780
Danville City, Virginia
On the Dan River at the North Carolina border, Danville carries two defining historical distinctions: it was the last capital of the Confederacy - Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled here after Richmond fell and governed from the Sutherlin Mansion for eight days in April 1865 - and its tobacco auction warehouses made it the world's largest loose-leaf tobacco market for much of the twentieth century.
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Danville’s eight days as the Confederate capital – April 3 to April 10, 1865, between Richmond’s fall and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox – are genuinely significant in Civil War history rather than merely local lore. Jefferson Davis issued his final presidential proclamation from Danville, calling on Confederates to continue resistance in a guerrilla war that never materialized. The Sutherlin Mansion where Davis stayed is preserved as the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. Danville is also the site of the Danville Riot of 1883, a post-Reconstruction political violence event that helped establish Democratic white supremacist control of Virginia politics for decades.
The tobacco auction tradition – leaf tobacco brought by farmers to Danville’s warehouses for competitive bidding by buyers – sustained Danville’s economy from the 1870s through the late twentieth century, when the industry’s decline and consolidation eliminated the auction system. Dan River Mills, once one of the largest textile producers in the South, closed in 2006. Danville is now investing in cannabis business development, data centers, and Caesars Virginia (a casino resort under construction in recent years) as economic anchors.
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Virginia assesses property at 100% of fair market value annually. Property owners may appeal to the Board of Equalization approximately April 1. Virginia offers annual relief for elderly and disabled residents. Virginia has no estate or inheritance tax.
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