Transportation In Virginia
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Transportation In Virginia
Transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia is by land, sea and air. Virginia's extensive network of highways and railroads were developed and built over a period almost 400 years, beginning almost immediately after the founding of Jamestown in 1607, and often incorporating old established trails of the Native Americans. History Colonial period, 19th century During the colonial period, the Virginia Colony was dependent upon the waterways as avenues of commerce, and James River Plantations such as John Rolfe's Varina Farms with their own wharfs on the rivers of the Fall Line (at present-day Richmond were soon shipping tobacco and other export crops abroad. Other important navigable rivers in this period were the Elizabeth, York, and Potomac. By the 19th century, the Virginia Board of Public Works was funding transportation infrastructure improvements, stimulating such private enterprises as the James River and Kanawha Canal, the Chesterfield Railroad, and the Valle ...
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Elizabeth River (Virginia)
The Elizabeth River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Chesapeake. Forming the core of the Hampton Roads harbor, it is heavily supported by its tributaries which depend upon it. Through its Southern Branch and the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, the Elizabeth River also is a gateway to points to the south for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, an inland path from the ocean providing a more sheltered navigable waterway to Florida for commercial and recreational boating. History The Elizabeth River was named by the Jamestown colonists in the early 17th century for Princess Elizabeth Stuart, She was the daughter of King James I of Engl ...
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Norfolk And Western
The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precision Transportation"; it had a variety of nicknames, including "King Coal" and "British Railway of America". In 1986, N&W merged with Southern Railway to form today's Norfolk Southern Railway. The N&W was famous for manufacturing its own steam locomotives, which were built at the Roanoke Shops, as well as its own hopper cars. After 1960, N&W was the last major Class I railroad using steam locomotives; the last remaining Y class 2-8-8-2s would eventually be retired in 1961. In December 1959, the N&W merged with the Virginian Railway (reporting mark VGN), a longtime rival in the Pocahontas coal region. By 1970, other mergers with the Nickel Plate Road and Wabash formed a system that operated of road on of track from North Carolina to New ...
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Chesapeake And Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to the Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town (and later city) of Huntington, West Virginia, was named for him. History 19th century The C&O traces its origins to the Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, begun in 1836. By 1850, the Louisa was built east to Richmond and west to Charlottesville, and in keeping with its new and larger vision, was renamed the Virginia Central Railroad. The Commonwealth of Virginia owned a portion of Virginia Central stock and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the task of crossing the first mountain barrier to the west. During the American Civil War, the Virginia Central played a key role in several battles but was a target for Federal armies. By 1865, it only had five mile ...
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Bituminous Coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, seams. It is typically hard but friable. Its quality is Coal analysis#Coal classification by rank, ranked higher than lignite and sub-bituminous coal, but lesser than anthracite. It is the most abundant rank of coal, with deposits found around the world, often in rocks of Carboniferous age. Bituminous coal is formed from sub-bituminous coal that is buried deeply enough to be heated to or higher. Bituminous coal is used primarily for electrical power generation and in the steel industry. Bituminous coal suitable for smelting iron (''coking coal'' or ''metallurgical coal'') must be low in sulfur and phosphorus. It commands a higher price than other grades of bituminous coal (thermal coal) used for heating and power generation. Within the ...
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Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, Illinois, Cairo, Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi River. It is also the sixth oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the border of six U.S. state, states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern United States. It is the source of drinking water for five million people. The river became a primary transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U.S. The lower Ohio River just below Louisville was obstructed by rapids known as the Falls of the Oh ...
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Collis P
Collis may refer to: People * Collis (surname) * Collis (given name) Other uses * Collis (planetary geology), a term used in planetary geology for a small hill or knob * Collis, Minnesota, an unincorporated community, United States * Collis, former name of Kerman, California, United States *'' Collis'', a genus of Asian funnel weavers *'' Collis'', a genus of trilobites See also * Collis Mill, Great Thurlow, Suffolk, England, a Grade II* listed smock mill {{disambiguation, geo ...
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Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range. The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere. This contributes to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their perceived color. Within the Blue Ridg ...
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Claudius Crozet
Claude "Claudius" Crozet (December 31, 1789 – January 29, 1864) was a soldier, educator, and civil engineer. Crozet was born in France and trained as an artillery officer and civil engineer. After the defeat of Napoleon's army, he emigrated to the United States in 1816 and joined the United States Army, U.S. Army to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, West Point. After resigning his commission in 1823, he took a job with the Virginia Board of Public Works and oversaw the planning and construction of canals, Toll roads in the United States#History, funding through toll, turnpikes, bridges and railroads in Virginia, including the area which became West Virginia during the American Civil War (during which Crozet sided with the Confederate States of America). Crozet also helped found the Virginia Military Institute in 1839 and earned a nickname as the "Pathfinder of the Blue Ridge." Early life, family Claudius Crozet was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, A ...
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Valley Turnpike
Valley Pike or Valley Turnpike is the traditional name given for the Indian trail and roadway which is now approximated by U.S. Route 11 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Long before the arrival of English colonists, Native Americans of the Delaware and Catawba tribes used this well-watered path as a migratory route and hunting grounds, moving between what is now Georgia and Canada. Beginning in the 1730s, Scots-Irish and German immigrants coming from Pennsylvania began to move up the valley and establish settlements (“Up the Valley” in this context refers to movement to higher elevation and indicates a southward direction). As a result of the Treaty of Lancaster, the Iroquois were promised a marked path up the Valley which was laid out in 1745 by James Patton and John Buchanan. Initially called the "Indian Road", it was later known as the "Great Wagon Road." On March 3, 1834, The Valley Turnpike Company was incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, a ...
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Chesterfield Railroad
The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below the Fall Line at Manchester (on the south bank directly across from Richmond). It began operating in 1831 as Virginia's first common carrier railroad. Although it was dismantled before the American Civil War after being supplanted by the steam-powered Richmond and Danville Railroad, several portions of the embankments for the roadbed are extant in Chesterfield County near present-day Midlothian Turnpike. History Coal mining in the Midlothian area of Chesterfield County began in the 18th century. Around 1701, French Huguenot settlers to the area discovered the existence of the coalfield. The coalfield was part of the Richmond Basin which is one of the Eastern North America Rift Basins which contains some sedimentary rock and bituminous co ...
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James River And Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a rail line following the same course. Encouraged by George Washington, the canal project was begun in 1785 as the James River Company, and later restarted under the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. It was an expensive project which failed several times financially and was frequently damaged by floods. Though largely financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia Board of Public Works, it was only half completed by 1851, reaching Buchanan, Virginia, Buchanan, in Botetourt County, Virginia, Botetourt County. When work to extend it further west stopped permanently, railroads were overtaking the canal as a far more productive mode of transportation. After the American Civil War funds for resuming construction were unav ...
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