Series I: City Point on the James and Appomattox Rivers, Virginia

Series I holds twenty-seven photographs of administrative buildings, barracks, warehouses, and other structures created to provide logistical support for the Union Army during the Siege of Petersburg. The photographer is unknown, but as the images are uniform, lightly peopled, and distinctly documentary, they were probably commissioned by the Quartermaster Corps to record their installation. Each photograph was captioned after being mounted. They date between November 1864 and January 1865, during which time Colonel Bradley was commander of the depot.

The scenes of the City Point compound include a photograph of Appomattox Manor, the home of local doctor Richard Epps, which became the headquarters of Union General Rufus Ingalls. General Ingalls (1818-1893) was Chief Quartermaster for all Union armies operating around Richmond from 1864 through the war's end; he had selected City Point as a depot venue and oversaw the construction of the installation. There is one photograph of the office of Assistant Quarter Master E. J. Strang, the commander of the City Point repair operations. Other images in this series document the wharves, lumberyard, stables, and repair workshops, as well as the office of Colonel Bradley. There are several views of the General Hospital, and two views of the Government Bakery, which produced over 100,000 loaves of bread a day. Photographs of depot housing include the living quarters for carpenters and other workers, as well as the barracks that were home to the three thousand wharf hands employed to unload the boats. Riverside photographs show some of the transport steamers and ships that supplied the depot. In addition, there is one non-City Point image of the Hide and Fat Building at Cedar Level, which was located halfway to Petersburg on the City Point Railroad.

Photographs are arranged alphabetically by the area of the complex. The titles are contemporary and are affixed to the verso of the mounts.