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Historical Highway MarkersJames River BateaumenSA-120
The James River bateau, first used in the 1770s, was the primary means of transporting goods up and down the river between Richmond and points west until 1840, when the James River and Kanawha Canal was completed to Lynchburg. Crews of three men, often free or enslaved African Americans, performed the difficult and sometimes dangerous work of poling and steering the long, narrow boats. Largely unsupervised, bateaumen were entrusted with great responsibilities. They carried tobacco, grains, iron ore, coal, and other commodities to Richmond, helping to make the city a hub for industry and commerce. Traffic typically terminated at the Great Basin, built in 1800 1/5 mile northwest of here.
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References/Bibliographic Citation: Bruce G. Terrell, “The James River Bateau: Nautical Commerce in Piedmont Virginia,” Virginia Cavalcade, vol. 38 (Spring 1989): 180-191. Bruce G. Terrell, “The James River Bateau: Tobacco Transport in Upland Virginia, 1745-1840” (M.A. Thesis, East Carolina University, 1988). Plan of the City of Richmond (Micajah Bates, 1835). Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals (Washington, 1816). Richmond Daily Dispatch, 1 Sept. 1854. T. Gibson Hobbs Jr., The Canal on the James: An Illustrated Guide to the James River and Kanawha Canal (Lynchburg: Blackwell Press, 2009). Langhorne Gibson Jr., Cabell’s Canal: The Story of the James River and Kanawha (Richmond: Commodore Press, 2000). Melvin Patrick Ely, Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). Wayland Fuller Dunaway, History of the James River and Kanawha Company (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1922). Governor’s Message (Richmond, 1852). Paul Murphy, “Richmond and its Historic Canals,” Reynolds Metals Company, 1971. Myrtle Elizabeth Callahan, “History of Richmond as a Port City,” (MA Thesis, University of Richmond, 1952). Harry Kollatz Jr., “Mud Brothers,” Richmond Magazine, 31 March 2014. George W. Bagby, The Old Virginia Gentleman and Other Sketches (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911). |