Richard Joshua Reynolds

American businessman

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July 13, 2026

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Richard Joshua Reynolds was an American businessman who founded the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. He began trading tobacco in Virginia after the Civil War and established his first plug factory in Winston, North Carolina, in 1875. The company was incorporated in 1899, and Reynolds served as its president.

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company introduced popular brands like Prince Albert pipe tobacco in 1906 and Camel cigarettes in 1913. Later innovations included Winston filter tips in 1954 and Salem, the first filter-tipped menthol cigarette, in 1956. The company also diversified into food and oil concerns in the 1960s.1

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
…the post-Civil War era, when Richard Joshua Reynolds (1850–1918) began trading in tobacco, first in his native Virginia and then in Winston, N.C., where in 1875 he established his first plug factory. In 1899 the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was incorporated, with Reynolds as president. The following year it entered…
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…the post-Civil War era, when Richard Joshua Reynolds (1850–1918) began trading in tobacco, first in his native Virginia and then in Winston, N.C., where in 1875 he established his first plug factory. In 1899 the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was incorporated, with Reynolds as president. The following year it entered…
Read More

Winston-Salem
Richard Joshua Reynolds founded his tobacco company there in 1875, and tobacco still dominates the city’s diversified industry, which includes the manufacture of textiles, beer, food products, apparel, batteries, and swimming pool filters and pumps. In addition to manufacturing, Winston-Salem is a large financial centre…
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Richard Joshua Reynolds founded his tobacco company there in 1875, and tobacco still dominates the city’s diversified industry, which includes the manufacture of textiles, beer, food products, apparel, batteries, and swimming pool filters and pumps. In addition to manufacturing, Winston-Salem is a large financial centre…
Read More