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At the 24 February 1910, meeting of the Manchester Ordinance Committee, committee member W. W. Workman moved that the city auditor be requested to advertise for bids for tin wagon license plates.  J. H. Gallagher, house and sign painter, submitted his bid for the job by letter declaring he would do the job at 5 cents per license for the year 1910.  Included with his letter were two identical samples of his work.  Measuring 2 x 7 inches, the tin signs are painted a dark yellow with black numbers and red letters.  The initials l.H.W. possibly mean licensed hack wagon, while C.M. surely stands for the City of Manchester.

A tin wagon license plate submitted by J.H. Gallagher as part of his bid for a contract to make the plates of the City of Manchester

The following meeting of the Ordinance Committee was held on 23 March 1910, when Mr. Broaddus moved that the bids for the license plates be laid on the table until the next meeting.  Unfortunately for Mr. Gallagher and any other bidders, no one was to receive the job.  The City of Manchester was annexed to the City of Richmond in April 1910.

The original licenses and the Ordinance Committee Minute Book, 1904-1910, are available on microfilm.

-Sarah Nerney, Senior Local Records Archivist

Sarah Nerney

Former Senior Local Records Archivist

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