Chesterfield Railroad
| Chesterfield Railroad | |
|---|---|
1856 map of the line.
note: labeled as Coal Brook RR |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | long mule-and-gravity powered |
| Status | Closed |
| Locale | Chesterfield County, Virginia |
| Termini |
Midlothian coal mines James River |
| Operation | |
| Opened | July 1, 1831 |
| Closed | 1851 |
| Owner | Chesterfield Railroad Company |
| Operator(s) | Chesterfield Railroad Company |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 13 mi (21 km) |
| Number of tracks | 1 |
The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a 13-mile (21-kilometer) 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.
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 coal. In a 1709 diary entry William Byrd II, who is credited as the founder of Richmond, and had purchased 344 acres (139 ha) of land in the area where coal was found, noted that "the coaler found the coal mine very good and sufficient to furnish several generations." It was first commercially mined in the 1730s, and was used to make cannon at Westham (near the present Huguenot Memorial Bridge) during the American Revolutionary War.
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