The rich and vibrant history of Chase City, originally called Raine's Tavern, dates back to the mid-1700s. With its mineral springs and fertile farm and timberlands, Chase City, named for former Supreme Court justice Salmon P. Chase, has been a tourist destination since 1733 when surveyor William Byrd II dubbed the area the "Land of Eden." Depicted in this volume are the prosperous days of Thoroughbred racehorses and plantations in the 1850s to Reconstruction from 1866 to 1877. The rise, fall, and rebound of the town are traced through vintage photographs, as is the city's current status as the center for commerce and culture, and as a leader in Southside's tobacco market.
Author John Caknipe Jr. is a third-generation Chase City resident; his family moved from the mountains of North Carolina in the early 1900s in response to the advertisement of rich and fertile lands. His extended family members date back to the early 1800s and have participated in every military need from the Civil War to the present. As local merchants, Caknipe and his wife have invested their lives into Chase City and are parents of a son and daughter.