| James River | |
|---|---|
 James River at the crossing of theBlue Ridge Parkway | |
 A map of the James River drainage basin | |
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| Etymology | King James VI and I |
| Native name | Powhatan (Powhatan) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence ofCowpasture River andJackson River |
| • location | Iron Gate,Allegheny Mountains,Virginia |
| • coordinates | 37°47′4″N79°46′33″W / 37.78444°N 79.77583°W /37.78444; -79.77583[2] |
| Mouth | Hampton Roads |
• location | Chesapeake Bay,Virginia |
• coordinates | 36°56′30″N76°26′37″W / 36.94167°N 76.44361°W /36.94167; -76.44361[2] |
| 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)[1] |
| • 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 |
TheJames River is a river inVirginia that begins in theAppalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers inBotetourt County 348 miles (560 km)[3] to theChesapeake Bay.[4] The river length extends to 444 miles (715 km) if theJackson River, the longer of its two headwaters, is included.[3] It is the longest river in Virginia.Jamestown andWilliamsburg, Virginia's first colonial capitals, andRichmond, Virginia's current capital, lie on the James River.
TheNative Americans who populated the area east of theFall Line in the late 16th and early 17th centuries called the James River thePowhatan River, named for thePowhatans who occupied the area. TheJamestown colonists who arrived in 1607 named it "James" afterKing James I of England[5] as they constructed the first permanentEnglish settlement in the Americas along the banks of the river about 35 miles (56 km) upstream from theChesapeake Bay.[6]
The navigable portion of the river was the major highway ofcolonial Virginia during its first 15 years, facilitating supply ships delivering supplies and more emigrants from England. However, for the first five years, despite hopes of discovering gold ores, these ships sent little of monetary value back to the sponsors. In 1612, businessmanJohn Rolfe successfully cultivated a non-native strain oftobacco which proved popular in England.[7] Soon, the river became the primary means of exporting the largehogsheads of thiscash crop from an ever-growing number ofplantations with wharfs along its banks. This development made the proprietary efforts of theVirginia Company of London successful financially, spurring even more development, investments and immigration. Below the falls at Richmond, manyJames River plantations had their own wharves, and additional ports and/or early railheads were located atWarwick,Bermuda Hundred,City Point,Claremont,Scotland, andSmithfield, and, during the 17th century, the capital of the colony at Jamestown.[citation needed]
Navigation of the James River played an important role in early Virginia commerce and in the settlement of the interior, although growth of thecolony was primarily in theTidewater region during the first 75 years. The upper reaches of the river above the head of navigation at the fall line were explored byfur-trading parties sent out byAbraham Wood during the late 17th century.[citation needed]
Although ocean-going ships[specify] were unable to navigate beyond present-day Richmond, portage of products and navigation with smaller craft to transport crops other than tobacco was feasible. Produce from thePiedmont andGreat Valley regions descended the river to seaports at Richmond andManchester through such port towns asLynchburg,Scottsville,Columbia andBuchanan.[citation needed]
The James River was considered[when?] a route for transport of produce from theOhio Valley. TheJames River and Kanawha Canal was built for this purpose, to provide a navigable portion of theKanawha River, a tributary of theOhio River. For the most mountainous section between the two points, theJames River and Kanawha Turnpike was built to provide a portage link for wagons and stagecoaches. However, before the canal could be fully completed, in the mid-19th century, railroads emerged as a more practical technology and eclipsed canals for economical transportation, ending the canal's progress atEagle Rock.[8] TheChesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was completed between Richmond and the Ohio River at the new city ofHuntington, West Virginia by 1873, dooming the canal's economic prospects. In the late-19th century, theRichmond and Alleghany Railroad was laid along the eastern portion of the canal's towpath, and became part of the C&O within 10 years. In modern times, this rail line is used primarily in transportingWest Virginia coal to exportcoal piers atNewport News.[citation needed]
During the 1960s and 1970s, mishandling and dumping of theinsecticideKepone, the brand name forchlordecone, resulted in the contamination of large stretches of the James River estuary downstream of theAllied Signal Company andLifeSciences Product Company plants inHopewell, Virginia.[9] Because of the pollution, sections of the river were considered "dead" and unfit for human use, and many businesses and restaurants along the river suffered economic losses. In December 1975 Virginia GovernorMills Godwin Jr. shut down the James River to fishing for 100 miles, fromRichmond to theChesapeake Bay.[10] This ban remained in effect for 13 years, until efforts to clean up the river began to show results. A decade of accumulated silt, lying above the contaminated riverbed, helped to reduce levels of the chemical.[11]
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 theChesapeake Bay Program.
The James River drains acatchment 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 nearIron Gate on the border betweenAlleghany andBotetourt counties, from theconfluence of theCowpasture andJackson rivers in theAppalachian Mountains. It flows into theChesapeake Bay atHampton Roads. Tidal waters extend west to Richmond at the river'sfall line (thehead of navigation).
Larger tributaries draining to the tidal portion include theAppomattox River,Chickahominy River,Warwick River,Pagan River, and theNansemond River.
At its mouth near Newport News Point, theElizabeth River and theNansemond River join the James River to form the harbor area known asHampton Roads. Between the tip of theVirginia Peninsula nearOld Point Comfort and theWilloughby Spit area ofNorfolk inSouth Hampton Roads, a channel leads from Hampton Roads into the southern portion of theChesapeake Bay and out to the Atlantic Ocean a few miles further east. Many boats pass through this river to import and export Virginia products.
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 theBlue Ridge Mountains toRichmond, numerous rapids and pools offer fishing and whitewater rafting. The most intense whitewater stretch is a 2-mile (3 km) segment that ends in downtown Richmond where the river goes over thefall line. This is the only place in the country where extensive class III (class IV with above average river levels) whitewater conditions exist within sight of skyscrapers. Below the fall line east of Richmond, the river is better suited for water skiing and other large boat recreation. Here the river is known for itsblue catfish, reaching average sizes of 20 to 30 pounds (9.1 to 13.6 kg), with frequent catches exceeding 50 pounds (23 kg). In the Chesapeake watershed, the James River is the last confirmed holdout for the nearly extirpatedAtlantic sturgeon. In May 2007 a survey identified 175 sturgeon remaining in the entire river, with 15 specimens exceeding 5 feet (1.5 m).[12]
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:[13]
The tallest dam is the Reusens Dam, which also has the greatest hydroelectric nameplate capacity and the greatestreservoir 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.[14][15]
In theHampton Roads area, the river is as much as 5 miles (8.0 km) wide at points. Due to ocean-going shipping upriver as far as thePort of Richmond, a combination offerryboats, high bridges andbridge-tunnels are used for highway traffic. Crossings east to west include:
The SR 895 high-level crossing is the last bridge east of the Deepwater Port of Richmond and head of ocean-going navigation at thefall line of the James River. West of this point, potential flooding is more of an engineering concern than clearance for watercraft.
The following is a list of extant highway bridges across the James River with one or both ends within the City of Richmond.
The following is a partial, incomplete list of extant highway bridges across the James River west of Richmond.
TheMonitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel prohibits bicycles, but bicyclists may take theJamestown Ferry.[16] After a fatal accident on theBoulevard Bridge[citation needed], the City of Richmond requires bicycles to travel on the sidewalk for the length of the bridge.
TheJames River Reserve Fleet is the anchorage (37°07′13″N76°38′47″W / 37.120393°N 76.646469°W /37.120393; -76.646469) for a large portion of theNational Defense Reserve Fleet, called the "James River fleet" or the "ghost fleet", consisting of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.[17] The fleet is managed by theU.S. Department of Transportation'sMaritime Administration and is based in Fort Eustis, Virginia.[18] It is a different entity from theUnited States Navy reserve fleets, which consist largely of warships.
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