The son of a tobacco farmer in Virginia, R. J. Reynolds sold his shares of his father's company in Patrick County, Virginia, and ventured to the nearest town with a railroad connection, Winston-Salem, to start his own tobacco company.  He bought his first factory building from the Moravian Church and established the "little red factory" with seasonal workers. The first year, he produced 150,000 pounds of tobacco; by the 1890s, production had increased to several million pounds a year. The company's factory buildings were the largest buildings in Winston-Salem, with new technologies such as steam power and electric lights.   The second primary factory building was the oldest Reynolds factory still standing and was sold to Forsyth County in 1990.

Tobacco King

At the beginning of the 1900s, Reynolds bought most of the competing tobacco factories in Winston-Salem.  The company produced 25% of America's chewing tobacco.   1907's Prince Albert smoking tobacco became the company's national showcase product, which led to high-profile advertising in New York City's Union Square.

Camel Cigarettes

The Camel cigarette  became the most popular cigarette in the country. The Reynolds company imported so much French cigarette paper and Turkish tobacco for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the  United States federal government as an official port of entry for the United States, despite the city being 200 miles (320 km) inland.  Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916

R. J. Reynolds

Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry College from 1868 to 1870, eventually graduating from Bryant & Stratton Business College in Baltimore.