James River
James River | |
---|---|
Etymology | King James VI and I |
Native name | Powhatan (Powhatan) |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Virginia |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Confluence of Cowpasture River and Jackson River |
• location | Iron Gate, Allegheny Mountains, Virginia |
• coordinates | 37°47′4″N 79°46′33″W / 37.78444°N 79.77583°W[1] |
Mouth | Hampton Roads |
• location | Chesapeake Bay, Virginia |
• coordinates | 36°56′30″N 76°26′37″W / 36.94167°N 76.44361°W[1] |
Length | 348 mi (560 km) |
Basin size | 10,432 sq mi (27,020 km2) |
Discharge | |
• average | 6,835 cu ft/s (193.5 m3/s)[2] |
• minimum | 10 cu ft/s (0.28 m3/s) |
• maximum | 313,000 cu ft/s (8,900 m3/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Chickahominy River |
• right | Appomattox River |
The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County 348 miles (560 km)[3] to the Chesapeake Bay.[4] The river length extends to 444 miles (715 km) if the Jackson River is included, the longer of its two headwaters.[3] It is the longest river in Virginia. Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia's first colonial capitals, and Richmond, Virginia's current capital, lie on the James River.
History
The Native Americans who populated the area east of the Fall Line in the late 16th and early 17th centuries called the James River the Powhatan River, named for the Powhatans who occupied the area. The Jamestown colonists who arrived in 1607 named it "James" after King James I of England[5] as they constructed the first permanent English settlement in the Americas along the banks of the river about 35 miles (56 km) upstream from the Chesapeake Bay.[6]
The navigable portion of the river was the major highway of
Navigation of the James River played an important role in early Virginia commerce and in the settlement of the interior, although growth of the
Although ocean-going ships[
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River was considered[
Kepone contamination
During the 1960s and 1970s, mishandling and dumping of the insecticide
Clean-up
Since the 1970s, the health of the James River has improved substantially. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983, signed by the governors of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the mayor of the District of Columbia, and the EPA, established baseline environmental protections and promoted regional cooperation conducive to river clean-up. This original agreement has evolved as the Chesapeake Bay Program. The James River Association (JRA), founded in 1976, began publishing State of the James reports in 2016. In their 2023 report, JRA concluded that the "overall grade of the State of the James has improved to a B with a score of 66% from its failing health decades ago."[12]
Watershed and course
The James River drains a catchment comprising 10,432 square miles (27,020 km2). The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million people (2000). The James River forms near Iron Gate on the border between Alleghany and Botetourt counties, from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson rivers in the Appalachian Mountains. It flows into the Chesapeake Bay at Hampton Roads. Tidal waters extend west to Richmond at the river's fall line (the head of navigation). Larger tributaries draining to the tidal portion include the Appomattox River, Chickahominy River, Warwick River, Pagan River, and the Nansemond River.
At its mouth near Newport News Point, the Elizabeth River and the Nansemond River join the James River to form the harbor area known as Hampton Roads. Between the tip of the Virginia Peninsula near Old Point Comfort and the Willoughby Spit area of Norfolk in South Hampton Roads, a channel leads from Hampton Roads into the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay and out to the Atlantic Ocean a few miles further east. Many boats pass through this river to import and export Virginia products.
Major tributaries
Recreation
The James River contains many 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 river's start in the
Dams
Due to its potential for generating mechanical power for rotating machinery such as grist mills, hydroelectric power, and as a water route for trade, many dams have been built across the James River since the time of European settlement of the region. While most of these dams have been removed or failed, several dams still exist along the upper course of the river. From the head of the river downstream to Richmond are found the following dams as identified by the current US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams:[14]
- The Cushaw Hydroelectric Project near Glasgow and Big Island.
- The Bedford Hydropower Project near Big Island.
- The Big Island Dam near Big Island.
- The Coleman Falls Dam in Coleman Falls
- The Holcomb Rock Dam near Lynchburg.
- The Reusens Damnear Lynchburg.
- The Scotts Mill Dam in Lynchburg.
- The Bosher Dam in Richmond.
The tallest dam is the Reusens Dam, which also has the greatest hydroelectric nameplate capacity and the greatest reservoir capacity. At 1,617 feet, the longest dam is the Cushaw Hydroelectric Project due to the highly angled path the dam takes across the river.
While not identified in the National Inventory of Dams, a very low head weir structure is found below Bosher Dam in Richmond on either side of Williams Island. Known as the "Z-Dam" for its zigzag course on the south side of the island, the current structure was built in 1932 and serves to direct water into Richmond's water treatment facility on the north bank. The less than 5 feet tall dam does not serve any power or navigation purpose.[15][16]
Bridges
Highway bridges below Richmond
In the
- The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (I-64)
- The Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (I-664)
- The US 258/ VA 32)
- The Jamestown Ferry (VA 31) (toll-free)
- The Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge near Hopewell. This is a drawbridge on VA 106 / VA 156 which replaced ferry service in 1966. It was the site of a major collision of a ship in 1977.
- The Varina-Enon Bridge is a high cable-stayed bridge carrying I-295 which was the second of its type in the U.S. when it was completed.
- The State Route 150 at Interstate 95.
The SR 895 high-level crossing is the last bridge east of the Deepwater 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.
Highway bridges at Richmond
The following is a list of extant highway bridges across the James River with one or both ends within the City of Richmond.
- Interstate 95 James River Bridge (I-95)
- Mayo Bridge (US-360)
- Manchester Bridge (US-60)
- Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge (US-1, US-301 and U.S. Bicycle Route 1)
- Boulevard Bridge (VA-161) (toll bridge, restricted weights)
- Powhite Parkway and VA-76) (toll bridge)
- Huguenot Memorial Bridge (VA-147)
- Edward E. Willey Bridge (VA-150)
Highway bridges west of Richmond
The following is a partial, incomplete list of extant highway bridges across the James River west of Richmond.
- World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge (SR 288)
- U.S. Route 522 near Maidens
- State Route 45 near Cartersville
- Columbia Road (Route 690) near Columbia
- U.S. Route 15 near Bremo Bluff
- State Route 602 at Howardsville
- State Route 20 near Scottsville
- State Route 56 near Wingina
- U.S. Route 60 at Bent Creek
- U.S. Route 29 east of Lynchburg)
- U.S. Route 29 Businessat Lynchburg)
- John Lynch Memorial Bridge (Lynchburg)
- Blue Ridge Parkway near Big Island
- U.S. Route 501 at Snowden
- State Route 759 at Natural Bridge Station
- State Route 614 at Arcadia
- Interstate 81at Buchanan
- State Route 630 at Springwood
- James Street at U.S. Route 220 and State Route 43
- U.S. Route 220near Eagle Rock
- Bridge Street at Glen Wilton
- U.S. Route 220 near Iron Gate
Bicycles
The
James River Reserve Fleet
The
See also
- List of rivers of Virginia
- James River bateau
- James River Squadron
- Army of the James
- Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk
References
- ^ a b "James River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ USGS data, accessed February 14, 2011
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
- ^ "James River | Virginia, Map, History, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. March 5, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 168.
- ^ Yorktown, Mailing Address: P. O. Box 210; Us, VA 23690 Phone: 757 898-2410 Contact. "A Short History of Jamestown - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Salmon, Emily Jones. "Tobacco in Colonial Virginia". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Andrea (2010). Touring the Shenandoah Valley backroads (2nd ed.). Winston-Salem, N.C.: John F. Blair Publishers. p. 257. ISBN 9780895873934. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ Holst, Arthur M. "The Kepone Environmental Disaster". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ Jack Cooksey, "What's in the Water?", Richmond Magazine, June 2007, accessed 13 June 2012.
- ^ "State of the James | James River Association". thejamesriver.org. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ Karl Blankenship, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, "Bay Journal", September 2007, p. 7
- ^ US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams; http://nid.usace.army.mil/
- ^ Williams Island Now Part of James River Park; www.richmond.com/outdoors/james-river/article_129b5338-486d-11e2-84d8-0019bb30f31a.html; retrieved August 29, 2015
- ^ Riggan, Philip (December 27, 2011). "Where am I RVA? Z-Dam on the James". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- ^ "Crossing the Waters". Virginia Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- ^ "Future of the James River "Ghost Fleet": Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, July 7, 2003".
- ^ "James River Reserve Fleet | MARAD". www.maritime.dot.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
External links
- Online exhibition of the James River & Kanawha Canal
- Heritage of the James River, talk by Ann Woodlief at James River Symposium, 1995
- James River Association
- James River During the Civil War in Encyclopedia Virginia