1700s
Richmond develops as a center of tobacco inspection and trade, fueled by the labor of indentured servants, who were soon replaced by enslaved Africans.
1850s
At least 17 major factories sell and ship tobacco from Richmond by rail, wagon and barge. (University of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab)
Image courtesy The Valentine
1874
P.H. Mayo & Bros. is the first business to make cigarettes in Richmond.
1880s
Philanthropist and businessman Lewis Ginter introduces a machine to mechanize cigarette rolling, which was done by hand, but he sells the technology and others capitalize on it.
1890
Ginter’s company, Allen & Ginter, becomes part of the American Tobacco Co., which at one point produced 90 percent of all American cigarettes. Anti-trust regulators break the company into several components in 1913.
Image courtesy The Valentine, Richmond Times-Dispatch Collection
1916
Richmond tobacco interests generate $6.5 million in federal tax revenues, about $158.5 million in 2019 dollars. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
1918
Universal Leaf Tobacco Co. is founded and generates $1.3 million in net income. Over the century, the Richmond-based company, a global leader in leaf tobacco, also diversifies, generating a net income of about $120.5 million in 2015.
1929
Philip Morris & Co. buys a factory in Richmond, begins manufacturing its own cigarettes.
Photo courtesy The Valentine
1930s
Lucky Strike becomes the nation’s most popular cigarette. Richmonder R.A. Patterson had introduced the brand as chewing tobacco in 1871, inspired by the gold rush. American Tobacco Co. acquires it in 1905.
1949
The National Tobacco Festival begins its long run in Richmond. The event, which ran into the 1980s, attracts national celebrities such as Frank Sinatra in 1949 and James Arness of the TV show “Gunsmoke” in 1958.
Billie Jean King
1970
Philip Morris’ Virginia Slims brand sponsors the first women-only pro tennis tournament, then a women’s pro circuit in 1971 that makes Billie Jean King the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in prize money in one year.
1973
Philip Morris opens a cigarette factory on Commerce Road. The plant encompasses six buildings, with 1.6 million square feet. It becomes the last survivor of Richmond’s cigarette manufacturing facilities.
1994
American Tobacco is bought by British American Tobacco Industries of London, leading to the elimination of 350 jobs early the next year at its research and administrative facility in Chesterfield County. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
American Tobacco Facility (Photo courtesy The Valentine)
2003
Philip Morris Cos. begin trading as Altria Group Inc., and the business moves its corporate headquarters from New York to Richmond.
2009
Philip Morris USA consolidates manufacturing operations in its South Richmond facility, which churns out 125 billion cigarettes each year. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
2018
Altria ranks No. 154 on the Fortune 500 list, with revenues of $19.5 billion. The company acquires a 35 percent stake in Juul Labs, and announces an agreement to buy a 45 percent stake in Cronos, a Canadian cannabis company.
