Raphine is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Rockbridge County in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

History

The name "Raphine" was chosen in honor of

James Edward Allen Gibbs James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829–1902) was a farmer, inventor, and businessman from Rockbridge County, Virginia, Rockbridge County in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. On June 2, 1857, he was awarded a patent for the first twisted Chain stitch, c ...

(1829-1902), a local farmer who patented a novel single-thread chain-stitch

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

on June 2, 1857. Gibbs had named his home in the area ("Raphine Hall"), and the new railroad station ("Raphine"), after the ancient Greek word "rhaphis", meaning "needle". In partnership with James Willcox, Gibbs formed the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Willcox & Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still made and used in the 21st century. Nearby, the McCormick plantation Walnut Grove, was the home of

Cyrus McCormick Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the Blue ...

(1809-1884)'s family, including parents and brothers. His father owned more than 500 acres. McCormick became famous as the inventor of the mechanical

reaper A reaper is a farm implement that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass, especially wheat. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used ...

in 1831. He moved to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1847, and was the founder, with his brother Leander, of the

McCormick Harvesting Machine Company The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

. It became part of

International Harvester Corporation The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

in 1902. Donated to the state of Virginia in the 1960s, the McCormick property was used as a test farm for

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

(better known as "Virginia Tech"). Surviving as important structures of their historic period, Walnut Grove, the Kennedy-Lunsford Farm, and Kennedy-Wade Mill are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Publications

* ''The Rockbridge Advocate''''The Rockbridge Advocate''
/ref> (monthly magazine) * ''The News-Gazette'' (weekly newspaper) * ''Rockbridge Weekly'' (weekly newspaper)

References

Unincorporated communities in Rockbridge County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{RockbridgeCountyVA-geo-stub