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James River and the Kanawha Canal
Locks Link to Past
There are two things you should know
about the James River and Kanawha Canal. It was the first canal
system built in America,
and it is one of the coolest spots in Richmond on a hot summer afternoon.
Beneath the 13th Street arched overpass, built in 1860, there is a picnic
pavilion shaded from the sun and cooled by the canal. Display cases in the
pavilion provide the history on this significant canal.
It was George Washington’s dream to
have a “Great Central American Waterway” linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio River.
In order to realize that dream the
James River had to be made navigable
for carrying tobacco and other goods. From the earliest days, settlers had
encountered the obstacle of seven miles of rapids at the falls. On May 24,
1607, ten days after landing at Jamestown, a party of 21 explorers including
Captain John Smith, sailed up the James River only to be halted by these
falls. The falls broke the connection between the Atlantic Ocean some 125
miles down the river and the 200 miles of navigable river extending into the
Alleghenies.
Land along the falls was sold in a
lottery by Colonel William Byrd II in 1737, and again by his son, William
Byrd III, in 1768. This settlement formed the nucleus of the city of
Richmond. Although early lot purchasers hoped the James River would be
cleared for navigation, it was not until George Washington became president
that the work was actually started. In January 1785, the Virginia Assembly
established the James River Company, with Washington serving as its first
president, with the object of “clearing and improving the navigation of the
James River.”
By the end of 1789 large boulders were
removed from the James River and two short canals were built around the
falls. In 1800 an eastern terminus called the “Great Basin” was built in
Richmond between the area that is now 8th, 12th, Canal and Cary streets.
The next step needed to complete the canal system was to connect the Great Basin
in the town of Richmond with the docks located in the Tidewater below
Shockoe Creek---the Tidewater Connection. Between 1810 and 1812, 13 wooden
locks were built by Ariel Cooley.
In 1826, Charles Crozet, Chief Engineer for
the canal, proposed that Cooley’s decaying wooden locks be replaced with
stone locks. He estimated the cost at $350,000. By 1854 when the five
stone locks and two basins Crozet recommended were finally open to commerce,
the price tag was $850,000.
The canal has not been used since the
end of 1870, but you can still visit restored locks number 4 and 5 of the
Tidewater Connection at the Canal Locks park. Each of these large
granite-blocked locks is 100 feet long and 15 feet wide. The Canal has now
been completely restored from 5th to 17th streets.
This National Historic Landmark is open at no charge from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00
P.M. daily. The Tidewater Connection and the surrounding park was preserved
by the Reynolds Metals Company incorporating the canal path and lock system
into the design of the Reynolds Wrap
Distribution Center.
Directions:
The James River and Kanawha Canal Locks can be seen in downtown Richmond at
14th Street and Canal-turning basin. Parking is available alongside the canal.
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