After touring the Capitol, we walked down to the waterfront to find lunch and then we walked along the waterfront and found gobs of fascinating stuff!
Of course, the first thing we read is how John Smith and Christopher Newport tried to navigate the James River, at least until they dead ended at the falls…a situation they would also find at the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers.
At the Fall Line which runs north to south, the rapids transition the end of the Piedmont and the beginning of the Tidewater.
Because of the inability to navigate Virginia rivers, George Washington envisioned canals as early as his surveying days.
After the American Revolution, Washington influenced the building of two canals, one on the James River, and another on the Potomac River.
Here in Richmond, the General Assembly created the James River Company in 1784, for which Washington was elected the first president.
For his leadership, George Washington was granted 100 shares in the company…eventually benefitting Washington and Lee University.
This graphic shows the route of the proposed James River and Kanawha Canal, elevation changes in the river, and how it would look.
And here is how it looked in Richmond!
Soooo….speaking of railroads, they were noisily moving over our heads!
This is a model of a canal, that wasn’t working on the day we were there.
A remnant of the old canal in Richmond.
While walking through all the fascinating exhibits, we saw a boat ride on the James River, set up to replicate a canal ride, albeit without a canal.
We simply rode on the river.
Although I’ve previously toured the Virginia capitol several years ago and walked on nearby streets, discovering the Confederate White House, I had no idea this canal existed.
How interesting!
