CITIES, AMERICAN. (POTTSVILLE, ROANOKE, SHENANDOAH.) 



cellent harbor, admitting the largest vessels. 

 Immediately south of the city is the United 

 States Navy Yard, the site of which was pur- 

 chased by the Government from the State in 

 1801. The yard is finely equipped for iron ship- 

 building, and has 2 dry docks capable of hold- 

 ing the largest ships. About 1,300 men are em- 

 ployed. North of the city is the United States 

 Naval Hospital. The site of the city is level, and 

 has an altitude of only 6 feet above the sea. The 

 streets are regularly laid out and wide, crossing 

 each other at right angles. Nearly all are graded 

 and paved. The water supply is excellent ; there 

 are 3 fire companies, and gas and electric light- 

 ing are in use. Three lines of street railway 

 aggregate over 15 miles, one line going beyond 

 the Naval Hospital to Scottsville, a thriving 

 suburb. In 1888-'89 the assessed valuation of 

 the city was $4,000,000, and its public-school 

 property was valued at $52,450. There are 3 

 brick public-school buildings. Seven of the 25 

 teachers employed are colored, and 1,500 pupils 

 are enrolled in the public and 500 in private 

 schools. There are 4 Baptist, 4 Methodist, 1 

 Roman Catholic, 1 Presbyterian, and 2 Episcopal 

 churches, besides 2 large Baptist and Methodist 

 churches, and several smaller ones, for colored 

 people. There are also a city hall, a courthouse, 

 a post office, and a fine opera house. Two banks 

 have a joint capital of $151,500. One daily and 

 2 weekly newspapers are published. Truck farm- 

 ing is carried on extensively in the surrounding 

 country, and 2,789,557 packages of fruits and 

 vegetables were shipped from the port in 1890. 

 The principal industries are basket and crate 

 works, employing 175 men, chemical works, saw- 

 mills, iron works, and a stove factory. Two large 

 oyster-packing houses have been established. 



Pottsville, a borough of Pennsylvania, the 

 county seat of Schuylkill County, in the great 

 anthracite coal region, at the headwaters of the 

 Schuylkill river, 93 miles from Philadelphia, 35 

 from Reading, and 150 from New York. It is 

 beautifully located on the sides of several steep 

 hills, and on the northwestern base of Sharp 

 mountain. Norwegian creek, along which ex- 

 tends Center Street, on which the greater number 

 of the business houses are built, here flows into the 

 river. Four railroads enter the city the Phila- 

 delphia and Reading, the Pennsylvania, the 

 Lehigh Valley, and the Jersey Central. In 1880 

 the population of Pottsville was 13,253, and in 

 1890 14,117. The borough is substantially built, 

 and contains many elegant residences and 21 

 churches. The drainage is excellent, and the 

 water supply is abundant, being brought from 

 the summit of Broad mountain, 7 miles distant. 

 <>nc gas ;uid 4 electric light plants are employed ; 

 the fire department is equipped with electric 

 alarm ; there are 46 miles of horse and 7 miles 

 of electric street railway ; 3 daily newspapers are 

 published, as well as 7 weeklies, 2 of which are 

 (jf-nnan : and there are 5 banks, 3 of which are 

 national, with a joint capital of $800,000, and 2 

 safe-deposit hanks. There are several handsome 

 school buildings. A new courthouse has been 

 erected at a cost of $250,000, occupying an ele- 

 vated site, with a soldiers' monument in its cen- 

 tral square built by public subscription, which 

 cost $25,000. In and near the borough are sev- 

 eral large industrial establishments, including 



the immense machine shops of the Pennsylvania 

 and Reading Coal and Iron Company, the fur- 

 naces and mills of a steel company, and a very 

 large silk mill operated by the Phoenix Silk 

 Company of Paterson, N. J. The surrounding 

 country 'is densely populated. Although the 

 coal interests of the county are immense, and 

 local tracks bring vast quantities to Pottsville 

 for shipment, but little coal is mined in the im- 

 mediate vicinity. 



Roanoke, a city of Virginia, in the southwest- 

 ern part of the State, in that portion known as 

 Roanoke valley, between the Blue Ridge and the 

 Allegheny mountains, which at this point are 

 only a few miles apart. It is 53 miles from 

 Lynchburg, 199 from Richmond. It has an alti- 

 tude of 907 feet above sea level. In 1882 it was 

 a village of GOO inhabitants, called Big Lick, 

 which had grown up from the opening of the 

 Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in 1852. In 

 1874 it was incorporated as a town, and in 1884 

 as the city of Roanoke, the name having been 

 changed by act of Feb. 3, 1882. In 1884 the 

 population had increased to 5,000, and there 

 were 1,170 buildings ; in 1890 it had a popula- 

 tion of 16,490. It has 3 railroads the Norfolk 

 and Western, which has expended $2,000,000 in 

 the city, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Roanoke 

 and Southern employing 800 men in their 

 offices and yards. There are also dummy lines 

 to Salem and Vinton. In 1882 the assessed 

 valuation of property was $353,364, in 1892 it 

 was $12,645,425. On the gas and water works 

 $600,000 have been expended. The latter draw 

 their supply from a spring that gushes out from 

 the foot of Mill mountain at the rate of 6,000,000 

 gallons a day. The water is pumped to a reservoir 

 on a spur of the mountain, which forces it into the 

 highest buildings. Electricity is employed in 

 illumination, and there are electric stree't cars, 

 giving, with the dummy lines, 15 miles of street 

 railway. The city contains a courthouse, a jail, 

 and an opera house, and Congress has appro- 

 priated $75,000 for a Federal building. A large 

 7-story brick and stone structure, for banking and 

 office purposes, has been recently completed at a 

 cost of $175,000. Church property is valued at 

 $400,000, and there are 14 church buildings. 

 The public-school property is valued at $85,000, 

 and that of private schools at $50,000 ; 31 teach- 

 ers are employed in the public schools, and the 

 enrollment is*2,805. There are 3 fire companies 

 and 2 military organizations. Eight building 

 and loan associations have a subscribed capital 

 of $3,000,000. and there are 5 banks, 3 national, 

 with joint capital of $300,000, and 1 savings 

 bank. Four daily newspapers are published. In 

 manufactures $8,125,000 are invested, and $4,- 

 000,000 are paid yearly in wages. The Roanoke 

 Machine Works employ 1,200 hands, and cover 

 60 acres. They have a capacity of 10 cars and 

 200 car wheels a day, and 4 locomotives a month. 

 There are also 3 large iron furnaces, 2 rolling 

 mills, iron-bridge works, engine, iron hardware, 

 and carriage works, a brewery, mineral-wool 

 works, 3 ice factories, and 3 brick works. 



Shenandoah, a borough of Pennsylvania, in 

 Mahanoy Township, Schuylkill County, in the 

 east central part of the State, 2 miles from Ma- 

 hanoy City, and 12 miles north of Pottsville, the 

 county seat. It is on the Lehigh Valley and 



