Raphine, Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raphine
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A picturesque scene in Raphine, Virginia
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 Raphine
Location in Virginia
Raphine
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Rockbridge |
| Elevation | 1,503 ft (458 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code |
24472
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| Area code(s) | 540 |
Raphine is a small, unincorporated community located in Rockbridge County, Virginia. It sits in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley region of the U.S. state of Virginia. An "unincorporated community" means it's a group of homes and businesses that doesn't have its own local government like a city or town.
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History of Raphine
Raphine has an interesting past, especially because of two famous inventors who lived there. The community is named after one of them!
The Name Raphine: A Nod to Invention
The name "Raphine" was chosen to honor James Edward Allen Gibbs. He was a local farmer who became a clever inventor. In 1857, he received a special patent for his new single-thread chain-stitch sewing machine.
Gibbs named his home "Raphine Hall." He also named the new railroad station in the area "Raphine." The word "Raphine" comes from the ancient Greek word "rhaphis," which means "needle." This was a perfect name for the home of a sewing machine inventor! Gibbs later teamed up with James Willcox to create the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Amazingly, their commercial sewing machines are still made and used today.
Cyrus McCormick and the Mechanical Reaper
Not far from Raphine was the Walnut Grove plantation. This was the family home of another important inventor, Cyrus McCormick. His family, including his parents and brothers, lived there. His father owned a large farm of over 500 acres.
Cyrus McCormick became famous for inventing the mechanical reaper in 1831. This machine was a huge step forward for farming. It made harvesting crops much faster and easier than doing it by hand. In 1847, McCormick moved to Chicago, Illinois. There, he and his brother Leander started the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. This company later became part of the large International Harvester Corporation in 1902.
In the 1960s, the McCormick property was given to the state of Virginia. It was then used as a test farm for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which is better known as "Virginia Tech."
Historic Landmarks in Raphine
Several important old buildings in the Raphine area are still standing today. These structures show us what life was like in the past. Walnut Grove, the Kennedy-Lunsford Farm, and Kennedy-Wade Mill are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are recognized as important historical sites.
