City on the brink: Petersburg can’t pay its bills and time is running out

WaPo ^ | 09-05-2016 | Gregory S. Schneider

[NRx]

...This city of 32,000 just south of Richmond is facing a financial crisis unusual for fiscally conservative Virginia — or any state. In at least the past four years, the city had spent all of its reserves and then kept spending money it didn’t have. It took out short-term loans based on anticipated tax revenue to keep paying bills.

When the loans ran out, it stopped paying. Some fire and rescue equipment has been repossessed. The city trash hauler is threatening to stop pickup. And lenders will not give Petersburg any more loans.

In his 46 years minding state ledgers in various roles, Virginia Finance Secretary Ric Brown has never seen anything like it. “As a rule, most Virginia localities are in pretty good shape,” Brown said.

What’s more, there is no mechanism in state law to help Petersburg — no provision for bankruptcy, no set way for the General Assembly to step in.

[riverdawg]

Thanks for the info. My great grandfather fought in most of the battles in mid- and late-1864 east/northeast of Richmond and around Petersburg (Haw’s Shop, etc.) so, I’m planing a pilgrimage to that area next year.

[sphinx]

Do go to Blandford Church. You won't regret it. I suppose you will spend most of your time on the battlefields, as would I, but Hollywood Cemetery is also a great side visit. Be sure to find Presidents Circle up on the bluff overlooking the falls of the James.

The Confederate White House is also unique. Given that the military situation was clearly untenable, the Confederates had done remarkably little to prepare for an evacuation of Richmond. The upshot was that Jeff Davis had packed nothing beforehand. When the lines collapsed and the order was given to skedaddle, Davis put his family on an early train with nothing more than a couple of suitcases. He himself followed on a late train, also with suitcases. Everything else stayed in the house.

The Federals entered Richmond, now an open city, the next morning at the request of the Richmond authorities, who wanted troops to put down rioting and put out the fires. (The destruction of the warehouse district in Richmond was done in the course of the withdrawal and subsequent looting, not by the federals.) The Federals moved in, restored order, and immediately occupied key official locations, including the Confederate White House.

All of Davis' household furnishings and personal articles other than what he got in a suitcase went into storage. There were interesting twists and turns, but most of it ended up back in the house when the museum was created. It is a rare example of an historic house in which virtually everything in it is, in fact, part of the occupant's personal property. Frederick Douglas' house in Washington is the only other example that I know of.