James River

James River

Indians knew this as the Powhatan River, the colonists renamed it in honor of their sovereign, James 1. It is one of Virginia’s longest and broadest rivers. Rising in the Appalachians it flows eastward, often soil laden, 340 ...

James River and Kanawha Canal Historic District

The James River and Kanawha Canal Historic District illustrates the relationship between Richmond’s early inhabitants and the James River. Following settlement by English colonists, the construction of millraces parallel to the banks of the river provided water to power mills ...

Buchanan and The James River and Kanawha Canal

Celebrating more than two centuries of history

Buchanan, Virginia is the western terminus of the James River & Kanawha Canal. Considered one of Virginia’s most remarkable engineering feats ever attempted, the Canal’s beginnings stretch back to 1785, when George Washington ...

The Jamestown Riverfront 1630-1690

Jamestown provided the colonists with a deep-water port in a defensible location. Because shoreline settlements and camps allowed for easier transportation and a ready source of food, the colonists and Virginia Indians both lived on or near major waterways.

The James ...

James River Batteau

Near here lived Anthony and Benjamin Rucker,

inventors of the James River batteau, which

superseded the double dugout canoe and rolling

road for transporting tobacco hogsheads. These

long (about 50 or 60 feet), double-ended vessels

dominated the commercial traffic on the James

River and other Southern ...

James River & Kanawha Canal

The James River and Kanawha Canal was completed as far as Buchanan in 1854. The canal provided a continuous navigable waterway from Tidewater to Buchanan, a distance of 197 miles. Consisting of ninety lift locks and a total lift of ...

James River & Kanawha Canal

In its peak years the canal employed 75 deck boats, 66 open boats, 54 batteaux, 6 passenger or packet boats, 425 horses, and 900 men.

"The batteaux...charmed my young eyes more than all the gondolas of Venice." George William Bagby, ...

James River

The James River flows about 340 miles from the junction of the Jackson and Cowpasture rivers in Botetourt County to Hampton Roads at the Chesapeake Bay. In 1607 the first permanent English settlement in the New World was established on ...

Staunton and James River Turnpike

The Staunton and James River Turnpike ran

through here at Batesville and stretched for

43½ miles from Staunton to Scottsville.

Construction began in 1826 and was completed

by 1830. The turnpike provided a direct

route for Shenandoah Valley farmers to

transport agricultural products to Scottsville,

then to ...

James River

Indians knew this as the Powhatan River, the colonists renamed it in honor of their sovereign, James I. It is one of Virginia's longest and broadest rivers. Rising in the Appalachians it flows eastward, often soil laden, 340 miles to ...