The James River In Richmond

The James River is the centerpiece of Richmond, but by the mid-twentieth century it had been abused and neglected. Eagles and sturgeon had nearly disappeared, water-powered industry was abandoning it and the river was a sewer. Today, the river draws visitors to its wooded shorelines, restored canal and feisty rapids. At the local level, this transformation was the result of citizen action, public-private partnerships, difficult decisions by governmental leaders and the hard work of thousands of passionate advocates and volunteers. Local author and lifelong river watcher Ralph Hambrick chronicles the events, projects and controversies that brought about the dramatic change and lends a critical eye to the results.

Celebrate one of the most beloved park systems in the nation, the James River Park System.

From its beginnings as a trickle of icy water in Virginia's northwest corner to its miles-wide mouth at Hampton Roads, the James River has witnessed more recorded history than any other feature of the American landscape -- as home to the continent's first successful English settlement, highway for Native Americans and early colonists, battleground in the Revolution and the Civil War, and birthplace of America's twentieth-century navy. In 1998, restless in his job as a reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Earl Swift landed an assignment traveling the entire length of the James. He hadn't been in a canoe since his days as a Boy Scout, and he knew that the river boasts whitewater, not to mention man-made obstacles, to challenge even experienced paddlers. But reinforced by Pilot photographer Ian Martin and a lot of freeze-dried food and beer, Swift set out to immerse himself -- he hoped not literally -- in the river and its history. What Swift survived to bring us is this engrossing chronicle of three weeks in a fourteen-foot plastic canoe and four hundred years in the life of Virginia. Fueled by humor and a dauntless curiosity about the land, buildings, and people on the banks, and anchored by his sidekick Martin -- whose photographs accompany the text -- Swift points his bow through the ghosts of a frontier past, past Confederate forts and POW camps, antebellum mills, ruined canals, vanished towns, and effluent-spewing industry. Along the banks, lonely meadowlands alternate with suburbs and power plants, marinas and the gleaming skyscrapers of Richmond's New South downtown. Enduring dunkings, wolf spiders, near-arrest, channel fever, and twenty-knot winds, Swift makes it to the Chesapeake Bay. Readers who accompany him through his Journey on the James will come away with the accumulated pleasure, if not the bruises and mud, of four hundred miles of adventure and history in the life of one of America's great watersheds.

The James River is the centerpiece of Richmond, but by the mid-twentieth century it had been abused and neglected. Eagles and sturgeon had nearly disappeared, water-powered industry was abandoning it and the river was a sewer. Today, the river draws visitors to its wooded shorelines, restored canal and feisty rapids. At the local level, this transformation was the result of citizen action, public-private partnerships, difficult decisions by governmental leaders and the hard work of thousands of passionate advocates and volunteers. Local author and lifelong river watcher Ralph Hambrick chronicles the events, projects and controversies that brought about the dramatic change and lends a critical eye to the results.

Bruce Roberts takes us on a photographic tour of fourteen of the famous colonial Virginia plantation houses nestled along the shores of the Lower James River from Richmond east to Jamestown and Williamsburg. Now carefully restored, often with the original furnishings, these houses are glorious monuments to a bygone era. If you have never visited the James River plantations, this book will inspire you to plan a trip there. If you have, you will find this book a wonderful memento of a special place. Robert's 141 color photographs capture the magnificent exteriors of the houses, as well as their gardens and grounds, and offer rare and intimate glimpses of their interiors and furnishings. The plantations portrayed include Shirley Plantation, one of the oldest in America; Belle Air Plantation, with its unique seventeenth-century frame house containing America's finest Jacobean staircase; and Westover Plantation, site of the elegant Georgian home built by William Byrd II. The text provides histories of the plantations, presenting them as places where real people lived and worked -- and still do, in many cases. While the plantations share some common history, each reflects the individual characteristics of the men, women, and children who lived there. In the dining room at Berkeley Hundred, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and eight other presidents enjoyed meals and discussed affairs of state. At Carter's Grove, Roberts photographed the "Refusal Room," where, according to local history, both Washington and Jefferson were refused in marriage by Virginia belles. Today many of the plantation homes have been designated state and national historic sites, and with this book you can visit them and relive four hundred years of history.

From the establishment of the first permanent English colony at Jamestown in 1607 to the fall of Richmond in 1865, the James River has been instrumental in the formation of modern America. It was along the James that British and Native American cultures collided and, in a twisted paradox, the seeds of democracy and slavery were sown side by side. The culture crafted by Virginia's learned aristocrats, merchants, farmers, and frontiersmen gave voice to the cause of the American Revolution and provided a vision for the fledgling independent nation's future. Over the course of the United States' first century, the James River bore witness to the irreconcilable contradiction of a slave-holding nation dedicated to liberty and equality for all. When that intractable conflict ignited civil war, the James River served as a critical backdrop for the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. As he guides readers through this exciting historical narrative, Deans gives life to a dynamic cast of characters including the familiar Powhatan, John Smith, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold, and Robert E. Lee, as well as those who have largely escaped historical notoriety. The River Where America Began takes readers on a journey along the James River from the earliest days of civilization nearly 15,000 years ago through the troubled English settlement at Jamestown and finishes with Lincoln's tour of the defeated capital of Richmond in 1865. Deans traces the historical course of a river whose contributions to American life are both immeasurable and unique. This innovative history invites us all to look into these restless waters in a way that connects us to our past and reminds us of who we are as Americans.

Intentionally built on the fall line where the Piedmont uplands meet the Tidewater region, Richmond has always been a city defined by the land. From the time settlers built a city on rugged terrain overlooking the James River, the people have changed the land and been changed by it. Few know this better than T. Tyler Potterfield, a planner with the City of Richmond Department of Community Development. Whether considering the many roles of the "romantic, wild and beautiful" James River through the centuries, describing the rationale for the location of the Virginia State Capitol on Shockoe Hill or relating the struggle to reclaim green space as industrialization and urban growth threatened to remove nature from the city, Potterfield weaves a tale as ordered as the gridded streets of Richmond and just as rich in history.

The James River is Virginia's premier river for recreation and The James River Guide is the key to enjoying it, whether you are an angler, kayaker, rafter or bird watcher. 29 locator maps provide vital information on the river, all the way from its headwaters near Iron Gate to the dramatic fall line at Richmond. The longest river in the Old Dominion, the James offers the best smallmouth bass fishing in the state. Muskies and flathead catfish also abound, giving the recreational fisherman many exciting choices. Spring blossoms, fall color, and the fascinating history of the bateaux eras canals lend the James a unique charm. This new edition for 2015 includes updated and expanded information on favorite float trips, including new coverage of the marvelous Maury River, the main tributary of the Upper James; favorite fishing spots; updated access points; classic fishing lures; and directories of river guides and other resources.