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The James River in the U.S. state of Virginia is 547.160 km (340 miles) long and drains a watershed comprising 27,019 km² (10,432 square miles), including about 4% open water, an area with a population of 2.5 million people (2000). It is the largest of the rivers which have their course wholly within Virginia, and its watershed covers 25% of the area of the state.

Geography, watershed

The James River forms in the Allegheny Mountains, near Iron Gate on the border between Alleghany and Botetourt counties. from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Tidal waters extend west to Richmond, the capital of Virginia, at its fall line, (the head of navigation). Larger tributaries draining to the tidal portion include the Appomattox River, Chickahominy River, Pagan River, Warwick River, Nansemond River, and Elizabeth River.

History

The Native Americans called the James River the Powhatan River. The English colonists named it "James" after King James I of England, as they also did their first permanent English settlement in the Americas in 1607 at Jamestown, along the banks of the James River.

Navigation of the river played an important role in early Virginia commerce and the settlement of the interior. Produce from the Piedmont and Great Valley regions traveled down the river to seaports at Richmond through such port towns as Lynchburg, Scottsville, Columbia and Buchanan. Below the falls at Richmond, many James River plantations had their own wharfs, and additional ports and early railheads were located at City Point, Claremont, Scotland, and Smithfield.

James River and Kanawha Canal

The James River was also considered as a route for transport of produce from the Ohio Valley. The James River and Kanawha Canal was built for this purpose, to provide a link between the James and the Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River. However, before it could be fully completed, in the mid-19th century, railroads emerged as a more practical technology and eclipsed canals for economical transportation. In the 1880s, the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad was laid along the eastern portion of the canal's towpath. In modern times, this rail line serves as a water-level route of CSX Transportation, used primarily in transporting West Virginia coal to export coal piers at Newport News.

American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the XVIII Corps and X Corps of the Union Army merged to form the Army of the James, named after the river. During the war the army took part in many battles and military operations along the river. Confederate defenses at Drewry's Bluff, about 8 miles below Richmond at a major bend in the river, were key to defending the Confederate Capital against the powerful Union Navy. These defenses were a subtantial obstacle to Union leaders, and held from 1862-1865, and were only abandoned after the fall of Petersburg on April 5, 1865.

Recreation

The James River also contains numerous parks and other recreational attractions. Canoeing, fishing, kayaking, hiking, and swimming are some of the activities that people enjoy along the river during the summer. From the rivers start in the Blue Ridge mountains to Richmond, Virginia, numerous rapids and pools offer fishing and white water rafting. After the fall line and continuing east of Richmond, the river is better suited for water skiing and other large boat recreation.

Bridges below Richmond

In the Hampton Roads area, the river is as much as 5-mile (8 km) wide at points. Due to ocean-going shipping upriver as far as the Port of Richmond, a combination of ferryboats, high bridges and bridge-tunnels are used for highway traffic. Crossings east to west include:

The VA-895 high level crossing is the last bridge east of the Port of Richmond and head of ocean-going navigation at the fall line of the James River. West of this point, potential flooding is more of an engineering concern than clearance for watercraft.

Bridges at and above Richmond

The river quite literally divides since it merged with its smaller sister city of Manchester in 1910.

Major highway bridges above the fall line at Richmond (head of navigation) include (east to west)

Some of the additional bridges located upstream of the Richmond area are located at:

Much like Richmond, the river divides the city of Lynchburg, and there are several crossings, including one for major north-south route US 29.

Above Lynchburg, US 501 crosses near Balcony Falls (where the river passes through the Blue Ridge Mountains through a water gap). Further upstream, near its head, the river passes under Interstate 81 near Buchanan on an unnamed bridge.

Bicycles

The James River Bridge and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel prohibit bicycles, but bicyclists may take the Jamestown Ferry. * After a fatal accident on the Boulevard Bridge, the City of Richmond passed a local ordinance that bicyclists on bridges across the river within the city limits, where permitted, must dismount and walk using sidewalks while crossing. Bicycles and pedestrians are not permitted at all on the Powhite Parkway and I-95 bridges in the city. The Manchester Bridge has provision for bicycles and pedestrians between its traffic lanes, and the Mayo Bridge and the Huguenot Bridge have walkways on each side.

Trivia

  • The James River is the longest waterway that is wholly contained in one state (Virginia) in the United States.

  • The James River Reserve Fleet, part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, known locally as the "Ghost Fleet", is anchored in James River at Mulberry Island and Fort Eustis near Newport News.

See also

References

Further reading

Chesapeake Bay Watershed | James River Watershed | Richmond, Virginia | Rivers of Virginia | Cities on the James River | James River (Virginia)

James River (Virginia) | Río James | James River (Virginie) | James-elven | Rio James (Virgínia)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "James River (Virginia)".

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