The first Great Ship Lock was built in 1816. It connected the navigable part of the James River with the Richmond city dock, which extended for 10 blocks to the west. The lock raised sailing ships and steamboats approximately 13 feet above the tidewater of the river into the harbor, safe from the river current, for loading and unloading cargo. In 1854, the James River and Kanawha Company constructed the present Great Ship Lock to accommodate ships as large as 180 feet long by 35 feet wide. It opened the city to transatlantic trade and made Richmond a world port.

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Richmond Trade in 1860

After the Great Ship Lock opened in 1854, trade increased steadily, with packets arriving from New York, Baltimore and Boston. Great Ship Lock traffic nearly doubled before the Civil War limited trade activity.

What were they carrying?

The numbers below show typical cargoes transported in and out of Richmond in 1860, the height of its trade activity.

Incoming vessels

Coal: 29,897 tons

Iron: 13,333 tons

Fish: 25,470 barrels

Oats: 27,035 bushels

Lime: 48,491 casks

Salt: 73,177 sacks

Shingles: 3,116,600

Outgoing vessels

Flour: 423,194 barrels

Wheat: 143,000 bushels

Tobacco: 56,367 packages

[graph]Traffic through the Great Ship Lock

Source: History of the James River and Kanawha Company; Wayne F Dunaway, Columbia University, 1922

Marker can be reached from the intersection of Dock Street and Pear Street, on the right when traveling east.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: