The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal was built by a corporation in 1856-1860 to afford inland navigation between the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 and the Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located,...

. It is really two canals, thirty miles (50 km) apart, one eight and one-half miles (13.7 km) long, connecting the Elizabeth River

Elizabeth River (Virginia)

The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk...

 with the North Landing River

North Landing River

The North Landing River is a river in the United States state of Virginia.-References:**USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Virginia...

 in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, and the other five and one-half miles (8.9 km) long, connecting the Currituck Sound

Currituck Sound

Currituck Sound is a protected inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern part of North Carolina. Thirty miles N-S and 3–8 miles wide, this shallow, island-filled sound is separated from the ocean by Bodie Island, part of the Outer Banks...

 with the North River

North River (North Carolina)

The North River is a tidal river, approximately 18 miles long, in eastern North Carolina, the United States. It forms the boundary between Currituck and Camden counties....

 in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

.

Source

• Dictionary of American History, by James Truslow Adams
  James Truslow Adams
  James Truslow Adams was an American writer and historian. He was not related to the famous Adams family...
  
  , New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940