Crittenden and Eclipse

K-155

The villages of Crittenden and Eclipse emerged here just as Virginia's commercial oyster industry was expanding in the latter part of the 19th century. Early residents included watermen and boatbuilders from the North who were attracted by the rich oyster beds of the lower James River. In the 1890s, Lepron Johnson established Johnson Marine Railway, one of many boatbuilding yards employing local skilled craftsmen. Watermen harvested oysters, fish, crabs, and clams. Oysters, sold directly to “buyboats,” were transported to processing houses and marketed across North America. The oyster trade began to decline in the 1950s, but the tradition of oystering and crabbing survives.

Department of Historic Resources, 2020

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Historic and Architectural Resources of Hobson Village, Suffolk, Virginia, 1865-1928, Multiple Property Documentation (2010). Roland Anderton, Charles G. Adams Jr., and Clinton “Bingo” Carson, “Crittenden, Eclipse, Hobson and its People” (handwritten memoirs). Minnie Moger Corson, Living Memories of Crittenden and Eclipse (self-published, 1984). Karla Smith et al., The River Binds Us (Gloucester Point, VA: Hallmark Publishing Co., 2007). Kermit Hobbs and William A. Paquette, Suffolk: A Pictorial History (Norfolk: The Donning Company, 1987). Edward Pollock, Sketch Book of Suffolk, VA its People and Its Trade (Portsmouth, VA: Fiske & Purdie. 1886) “Bucket Trade” Oysters shucked and shipped in One Gallon, Five Gallon, Ten Gallon cans. “Barrel Trade” Oysters in shells shipped in Wooden Barrels by Railroad