James River (Virginia)

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Image:James River.jpg The James River in the U.S. state of Virginia is 547.160 km (340 miles) long and drains a watershed comprising 26,000 km² (10,000 square miles), an area with a population of 2.6 million people (2000). It is the largest of the rivers which have their course wholly within Virginia.

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).

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. The James River was considered as a route for transport of produce from the Ohio Valley, and the James River and Kanawha Canal was built for this purpose.

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.

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.

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. The Pocahontas Parkway (VA-895) uses a high-level bridge to connect to VA-150 at I-95. 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 Benjamin Harrison Bridge is a drawbridge on VA-156 which replaced ferry service in 1966.

In the Hampton Roads area, the river is as much as 5 miles wide at points. Vehicles cross on the Jamestown Ferry, the James River Bridge, and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.

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Trivia

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

The College of William and Mary and State of Virginia's program for peregrine falcons uses the high towers of several James River bridges as breeding and nesting sites.