Scottsville Postcards

Before 1907, the U.S. Post Office did not permit writing a message on the address side of postcards. For that reason, many U.S. picture postcards mailed before then had messages written across their fronts. Postcards with a divided back finally were permitted in the U.S. in March 1907; addresses were to be written on the postcard's right side, and messages on the left. At that point in American history, the postcard hobby quickly became a public addiction, and publishers produced millions of cards in this era. Photographers like Scottsville's William Burgess earned a good living by photographing local scenes and people to be printed as postcards via a lithographic process. Burgess traveled all over Central Virginia to take such photographs and to sell his postcards to local stores. When Burgess died in 1935, his estate contained over 485,000 postcards of various Virginia scenes and people. Some of these extant Burgess postcards are shown below and can be distinguished from other photographers' work on this webpage by the 'W.E. Burgess' or 'Idylwood Studio' markings that Burgess usually put on the front of his postcards.

Please click on each image for a larger view.

Idylwood

Image Number: B53acdB16

Scottsville Bridge

Image Number: B53bcdB16

Hatton Ferry, Est. 1870

Image Number: RM09cdRM08

Horse Shoe Bend, Scottsville

Image Number: WP03cdWP01

Valley Street in Scottsville, 1907

Image Number: H136cdME04

Scottsville High School on West Main

Image Number: B53ccdB16

Horseshoe Bend and Valley Street, Scottsville

Image Number: B53dcdB16

Valley Street in Scottsville

Image Number: B111cdB17

Valley Street, Scottsville

Image Number: Roll8Neg24A

Scottsville's 'School on the Hill'

Image Number: B54bcdB16

Scottsville Flour Mills and C&O Depot

Image Number: B54dcdB16

Birdseye View of Scottsville

Image Number: B56dcdB16

A View of Scottsville from Drever's Hill

Image Number: WP05cdWP01

Birdseye View of Scottsville Over a Mammoth Potato Patch

Image Number: B57acdB16

Pine Knot, Hunting Lodge of Theodore Roosevelt

Image Number: B68acdB16

Moore's Pond

Image Number: Roll8Neg4

Confederate Reunion in Scottsville, 1908

Image Number: B73cdB17

Confederate Reunion in Scottsville, 1908

Image Number: J87cdE6

Horse Shoe Bend of the James River, Scottsville

Image Number: B112cdB17

Cars on Parade

Image Number: B51bcdB16

Crossing of C&O Seaboard and Southern Railways, Richmond

Image Number: WP09cdWP01

C&O Railway Bridge, Bremo, VA

Image Number: WP07cdWP01

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Scottsville Museum · 290 Main Street · Scottsville, Virginia 24590 · 434-286-2247