Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System

Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System
The Abutment Dam, the Appomattox Canal Dam, brought water to the Upper Appomattox Canal.
Specifications
Locks	17 Locks (Staircase fashion around the fall line and along the river.)
Status	No longer in use since 1890
Navigation authority	Virginia General Assembly
History
Original owner	Upper Appomattox Canal company
Principal engineer	John Couty (1830)
Date of act	1796
Construction began	1809
Date completed	1816
Date closed	1890
Geography
Start point	Farmville, Virginia
End point	Petersburg, Virginia
Branch(es)	Appomattox River
Branch of	James River

The Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation system allowed farmers who took their wheat and corn to mills on the Appomattox River, as far way as Farmville, Virginia, to ship the flour all the way to Petersburg from 1745 to 1891. The system included a navigation, modifications on the Appomattox River, a Canal around the falls Petersburg, and a turning basin in Petersburg to turn their narrow long boats around, unload the farm products from upstream and load up with manufactured goods from Petersburg. In Petersburg, workers could put goods on ships bound for the Chesapeake Bay and load goods from far away for Farmville and plantations upstream. Canal boats would return up river with manufactured goods. People who could afford it, rode in boats on the canal as the fastest and most comfortable ride. The river was used for transportation and shipping goods for over 100 years.

The River was modified for transportation around 1745 and further modified over its years of use. Much of the canal system was built by slaves. Freed Blacks of Israel Hill worked as Boatman. The Canal took damage in the Civil War and was used until faster rail transportation was available.

The Appomattox River was cleared for bateau by 1745. These boats were the same dimensions as the James River bateau, sixty feet long, six feet wide and two feet deep. It was also designed to carry the largest load through the smallest parts of the river system. Unlike the James River bateau, the Appomattox trips went up and down river so they were not designed to be sold as lumber at the end of the voyage.

The Virginia General Assembly passed laws to protect navigation on the James River and Appomattox. By statute, a dam could not be built unless it had locks for boat passage.

The Virginia General Assembly incorporated the Upper Appomattox Company in 1795. The state had bought 125 shares by 1801 to support the growth of transportation. In 1807, the company is allowed to sell bonds for one fourth of the expense of building the canal. A 335 foot long dam in the Appomattox diverted water to the canal. The canal was built entirely by enslaved Africans owned by the company.

The Appomattox Canal, built in 1816, connected 5.5 miles from the head of the falls at the Fall Line on the Appomattox River to the Turning basin in Petersburg, Virginia. Built for $60,000, the canal was big enough to carry the bateau, six feet wide and three feet deep. With another $10,000 it could carry all river traffic. Slaves enhanced the Appomattox River from Farmville over 100 miles to Petersburg with numerous wing dams to keep the flow high. The river also had four stone staircase locks. Four watermills along the river had locks in their dams. Two of these watermills had stone locks.