Peninsula Extension
Encyclopedia
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...
from Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
to southeastern Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
. Its principal purpose was to provide an important new pathway for coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mined in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
to reach the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
for coastal and export shipping on collier ship
Collier
-Coal industry:*Collier, a person in the business or occupation of producing coal or making charcoal or in its transporting or commerce*Colliery, coal mining and selling*Collier , a bulk cargo ship which carried coal...
s.
Completed on October 16, 1881, the new double-tracked railroad and the other development visions of industrialist Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
resulted in a 15-year transition of the rural farm village of Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
into a new independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
which also became home to the world's largest shipyard. The railroad, one of the later developed in Virginia, became important to many communities, opening transportation option and stimulating commerce and military operations on the Peninsula throughout the 20th century.
Over 125 years after it opened, many of the stations are gone. Spur lines have both come and gone. Even some of the communities along the route have joined the lost counties, cities and towns of Virginia. Also gone are the steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s, save one on display at Huntington Park
Huntington Park (Newport News, Virginia)
Huntington Park is a park located in Newport News, Virginia, USA. It offers a beach, two fishing piers, gardens, tennis, and museums. It is run by the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.- Location :...
in Newport News, another at the Science Museum of Virginia
Science Museum of Virginia
The Science Museum of Virginia is a science museum located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:In 1906, the Virginia General Assembly approved funds for the construction of a simple "exhibits center" to display mineral and timber exhibits being assembled for the Jamestown Exposition of 1907. After the...
in Richmond, and a third which was left buried in Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway tunnel extending for approximately 4,000 feet under the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia. Built in the early 1870s, in 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a work train killing four and trapping a steam locomotive and some flat cars...
.
Despite the changes, in the early 21st century, the rails of the Peninsula Subdivision continue to form an important link for Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
service from Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
and Newport News, and bring the circus to town each year. High quality bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
was the motivation for originally building the line, and current owner CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
continues day and night to deliver massive amounts of it to be loaded onto ships destined for points worldwide.
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Opening at the outset of the final quarter of the 19th century, the Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) was the fulfillment of a long-held goal of Virginians.
Many years before the American Revolution, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, a Virginian licensed as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
by the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
during the colonial era, identified the importance of a transportation link between the navigable waters flowing to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and those across the Eastern Continental Divide
Eastern Continental Divide
The Eastern Continental Divide, in conjunction with other continental divides of North America, demarcates two watersheds of the Atlantic Ocean: the Gulf of Mexico watershed and the Atlantic Seaboard watershed. Prior to 1760, the divide represented the boundary between British and French colonial...
in the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
which lead to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. He had mapped out several potential routes, and in 1785, he been an early investor in a canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
venture.
The James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
was navigable east from fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
at Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
and Manchester
Manchester, Virginia
Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...
to Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
, 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 Atlantic Ocean. However, from these sister cities at the head of navigation, seven miles (11 km) of rapids marked the transition to the Piedmont Region, and only very shallow craft such as bateau boats
James River Bateau
The James River Bateau was a shallow draft river craft used during the period from 1775 to 1840 to transport tobacco and other cargo on the James river and its tributaries in the state of Virginia. It was flat bottomed and pointed at both ends. The length of the bateau varied greatly, 58 feet ...
could navigate portions of the river from that point west. Over 250 miles (402.3 km) from Richmond, across the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley, and what was called the "Transmountaine" region in old Virginia, better known in modern times as the Alleghany Mountains, were the falls of the Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
. They similarly marked the head of navigation, but from the west. From the falls of the Kanawha, ships could follow the river to its confluence with the Ohio River, which in turn, flowed west to the Mississippi River. In the earlier periods during which a transportation link was contemplated, the Colony of Virginia (according to the British and its own calculations) extended all the way to west to what is now Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers join. Of course, transportation was the only obstacle to developing these western regions, as both the French and the Indians did not see it the same way.
In any event, that 250 miles (402.3 km) gap in the navigable waters became a major focus for Virginians. By the end of the 18th century, efforts to link these heads of navigation were underway with building of turnpikes
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
and canals. Work on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike
James River and Kanawha Turnpike
The James River and Kanawha Turnpike was built to facilitate portage of shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western reaches of the James River via the James River and Kanawha Canal and the eastern reaches of the Kanawha River....
and the James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
, prominent infrastructure improvements, was partially funded by the Virginia General Assembly through the Virginia Board of Public Works
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...
, although the canal was never completed. By the 1830s, railroads were an emerging as a favorable technology for such purposes, and Virginia's network of turnpikes, canals and railroads grew, substantially guided by the civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
skills of Claudius Crozet
Claudius Crozet
Benoit Claudius Crozet was an educator and civil engineer.Crozet was born in France. After serving in the French military, in 1816, he immigrated to the United States. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington,...
. Both railroads and canals had conquered the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
and entered the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
region when the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
broke out in 1861, bringing new work to a virtual halt. By the end of the War in 1865, many of Virginia's railroads, turnpikes and canals lay in ruins, although the related debt which had helped fund building them was still outstanding.
After the War, part of Virginia had been subdivided to form the new state of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. Both states were heavily in debt, but wanted to encourage completion of a rail link to the Ohio River, which they saw as vital to rebuilding and expanding commerce. To do without government funding, the state legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia tried to attract investors several times in 1866 and 1867. Finally, under a plan offered by the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
, in 1868, the new project was merged with the extant Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue...
, connected Richmond with the westernmost point at the time. The new enterprise was to be known as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O).
The head of the Virginia Central Railroad was former Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General Williams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham was a lawyer, judge, politician, and an important Confederate cavalry general who fought in the Virginia campaigns during the American Civil War...
of Hanover County, Virginia
Hanover County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 86,320 people, 31,121 households, and 24,461 families residing in the county. The population density was 183 people per square mile . There were 32,196 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...
. He was a descendant of several former Virginia governors and the grandson of constitutional lawyer John Wickham, who had set up shop in Richmond after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and served as a respected agent of financial interests in England and Scotland. However, in the volatile period of the late 1860s, General Wickham failed in his efforts to secure either southern or British financing as had been hoped. Finally, he journeyed to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he successfully attracted the interest of industrialist Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
and gained access to the new financing needed.
Huntington had been one of the "Big Four", the men involved in building the Central Pacific
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
portion of the Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
, which was at that time just reaching completion.
Under the new leadership and financing, during 1869-1873 the hard work of building through West Virginia was done with large crews working from both ends, much in the manner the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
and the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
had been built to complete their transcontinental rails.
The final spike ceremony for the 428 miles (688.8 km) long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on January 29, 1873 at Hawk's Nest railroad bridge in the New River Valley
New River Valley
The New River Valley is a region in the eastern United States along the New River in the Commonwealth of Virginia . The valley comprises the counties of Montgomery , Pulaski, Floyd, Giles and the independent City of Radford...
, near the town of Ansted
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Highway 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawk's Nest overlooking the New River far below....
in Fayette County, West Virginia
Fayette County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,579 people, 18,945 households, and 13,128 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 21,616 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
.
Huntington's vision for the Peninsula
Virginia's long dream for the C&O had been trade with the west, and Huntington's work accomplished that by 1873. However, he and others also realized that the new railroads for the first time offered a practical way to ship coal. The region's high quality bituminous coalBituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
had been known to be among West Virginia's vast natural resources, but until now, there had been no way to transport it to markets. The new C&O railroad provided a method of transporting this valuable product out of the mountains and east to Richmond, where ocean-going shipping called. However, one problem they faced was that depth of the channels of the tidal portion of the river to reach Richmond was insufficient to accommodate the draft required by the large colliers.
As a young man in 1837, Collis P. Huntington had visited the rural village known as Newport News Point in Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
at the mouth of the James River on the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
. It later became clear that Huntington had never forgotten his 1837 visit to Newport News Point. By the early 1870s, he and his associates began buying up land on the Peninsula, nowhere more intensely than in Warwick County, where their Old Dominion Land Company soon owned enough for a railroad line, a coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
and even more. In 1873, Major Robert H. Temple surveyed a railway line from Richmond to the mouth of the James River.
Building the Peninsula Extension
To extend the line east to Hampton Roads from the end of the former Virginia Central RailroadVirginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue...
at Richmond in the Shockhoe Valley, there was only a single major obstacle: Richmond's Church Hill
Church Hill
Church Hill, also known as the St. John's Church Historic District, is an Old and Historic District in Richmond, Virginia. This district encompasses the original land plat of the city of Richmond. Church Hill is the eastern terminus of Broad Street, a major east-west thoroughfare in the Richmond...
, occupied by some of older and nicer of the city's buildings. From there east, the only significant obstacles across the gentle coastal plains a distance of about 75 miles (120.7 km) were several rivers and some wetlands down the Peninsula to reach Newport News.
The initial solution to overcoming that major obstacle in Richmond was the Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway tunnel extending for approximately 4,000 feet under the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia. Built in the early 1870s, in 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a work train killing four and trapping a steam locomotive and some flat cars...
. The tracks to the new tunnel left the old Virginia Central line west of 17th street and curved southeasterly to enter the tunnel east of N. 18th Street and north of E. Marshall Street under Cedar Street. The east end of the 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) long tunnel appeared just north of today's Williamsburg Road near 31st Street below Libby Terrace Park.
The construction of the Church Hill Tunnel was problematic. Unlike the bedrock through which the C&O carved its western tunnels, in Richmond, the blue marl clay shrink-swell soil
Shrink-swell capacity
The Shrink-swell capacity of clay refers to the extent to which a clay will expand when wet and retract when dry. Soil that is problematic due to high capacity is known as shrink-swell soil, or expansive soil.-Description:...
tended to change with rainfall and groundwater. There were cave-ins during the construction. Ten workers were reportedly killed. The tunnel was completed and opened in 1875. East of the tunnel, the C&O established its Fulton Yard
Fulton Yard
Fulton Yard is a rail yard on CSX Transportation's Peninsula Subdivision in Richmond, Virginia. It has 13 tracks....
, with a capacity of thousands of rail cars, a roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
to service the steam locomotives, and other support facilities. Planning and right-of-way acquisition for the Peninsula Extension took another 5 years.
From Fulton Yard, after climbing out of the James River Valley, the surveyors generally followed the high ground of the Peninsula between the rivers which border it. As a result, the route selected faced faced only gentle grades through coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
s of the Tidewater region of Virginia
Tidewater region of Virginia
The Tidewater region of Virginia is the eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia formally known as Hampton Roads. The term tidewater may be correctly applied to all portions of any area, including Virginia, where the water level is affected by the tides...
, dropping only about 30 feet (9.1 m) in elevation, from Richmond (54 feet above sea-level) to Newport News (at 15 feet (4.6 m) above sea-level). The new C&O line ran through several American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battlefield areas in eastern Henrico County
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and then through Charles City County
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
, New Kent County
New Kent County, Virginia
At the 2000 census, there were 13,462 people, 4,925 households and 3,895 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 per square mile . There were 5,203 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...
, James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
, York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...
and Warwick County. It crossed the Chickahominy River
Chickahominy River
The Chickahominy is an river in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. The river rises about northwest of Richmond and flows southeast and south to the James River...
south of Bottoms Bridge and the Warwick River
Warwick River (Virginia)
The Warwick River is a tidal estuary which empties into the James River a few miles from Hampton Roads at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States...
east of Lee Hall.
Construction on the tracks between Richmond and Newport News began in Newport News in December, 1880. In a method used before by Huntington, work also began from Richmond the following February, and crews at each end worked toward each other. The crews met and completed the line 1.25 miles (2 km) west of Williamsburg on October 16, 1881 although temporary tracks had been installed in some areas to speed completion. This was just in the nick of time because Huntington and his associates had promised they would provide rail service to Yorktown, where the United States was celebrating the centennial of the surrender of the British troops under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. (That event was considered most symbolic of the end of the conflict, which was later formalized by the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
in 1783). Only 3 days after the last spike ceremony, on October 19, the first passenger train from Newport News took local residents and national officials to the Cornwallis Surrender Centennial Celebration at Yorktown
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
on temporary tracks which were laid from the main line at the new Lee Hall Depot
Lee Hall, Virginia
Lee Hall is a former unincorporated town long located in the former Warwick County. Since 1958, Lee Hall has been a suburban community in the extreme western portion of the independent city of Newport News in the Commonwealth of Virginia....
to Yorktown, and then removed afterward.
New railroad line's impact on the Peninsula
The Peninsula Extension ran directly through Williamsburg, a city whose site had been selected in 1632 for the very reason that it was on the center ridge, or spine, of the land between the adjacent rivers. After the capital of Virginia had moved to Richmond in 1780, Williamsburg had been reduced in prominence. It was not sited on a major water route and in the 18th and early 19th century, transportation Virginia was largely by navigable rivers and in some cases, canals. In fact, a canal project linking the colonial capital city to the James and York rivers had been planned and begun for Williamsburg. However, it was never was completed due to the Revolutionary War. Although new railroads seem to be springing up in many places after 1830, until now, none had come to Williamsburg or the lower Peninsula. Until the coming of the railroad, the areas furthest from the rivers were generally the least-populated, excepting the old colonial capital of Williamsburg.The Peninsula Extension was good news for the farmers and merchants of the Virginia Peninsula, and they generally welcomed the railroad. Williamsburg allowed tracks to be placed down the main street of town, Duke of Gloucester Street, and even directly through the ruins of the historic capitol building. The leaders of Elizabeth City County
Elizabeth City County, Virginia
Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...
and Warwick County even adjusted their mutual boundary slightly to allow the railroad to be completely within Warwick County at one location.
Although the main business purpose was unquestionably shipping eastbound coal to Newport News, the C&O dutifully established freight and passenger stations at frequent intervals along the way. In addition to many small depots, larger facilities were located at Providence Forge
Providence Forge, Virginia
Providence Forge is an unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, United States. It was one of the earliest settlements in the county and the site of a colonial iron forge that was destroyed by British General Banastre Tarleton during the American Revolutionary War.Nearby, the...
, Williamsburg, and at Lee Hall. At Newport News, an ornate Victorian style passenger station was built right on the waterfront.
Hampton Branch: east to Phoebus, Fort Monroe
No sooner had the tracks to the coal pier at Newport News been completed in late 1881 than the same construction crews were put to work on what would later be called the Peninsula Subdivision's Hampton Branch. From a junction with the main line a few miles west of the coal pier which was named Old Point Junction, work began easterly a distance of about 10 miles (16.1 km) into Elizabeth City CountyElizabeth City County, Virginia
Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...
toward Hampton
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
and Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton. It lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States....
, where the U.S. Army base at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
was a fortress situated to guard the entrance to the harbor of Hampton Roads from the Chesapeake Bay (and the Atlantic Ocean).
The tracks were completed about 9 miles (14.5 km) to the town which became Phoebus
Phoebus, Virginia
Phoebus was an incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia. Upon incorporation in 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus , who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway to extend its tracks to the...
in December 1882. A passenger and freight station was opened. When the town was incorporated as a political subdivision of Virginia in 1900, it was named Phoebus in honor of its leading citizen, Harrison Phoebus
Harrison Phoebus
Harrison Phoebus was an American 19th century entrepreneur and hotelier who became the leading citizen and namesake of the town of Phoebus in Elizabeth City County, near Fort Monroe, which is now part of the independent city of Hampton, Virginia....
, who is largely credited with prevailing upon the railroad to build the branch line to Old Point Comfort.
From Phoebus, an extension across Mill Creek to reach Fort Monroe required a 2800 feet (853.4 m) long trestle and was not completed until 1890. At that time, a passenger and freight facilities were also added. On the base, the U.S. Army built connecting tracks and operated its own locomotive for a number of years.
At Old Point Comfort, in addition to the Army base at Fort Monroe, the Hampton Branch served both the older Hygeia Hotel and the new Hotel Chamberlain, popular destinations for civilians. During the first half of the 20th century, excursion trains were operated to reach nearby Buckroe Beach, where an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
was among the attractions that brought church groups and vacationers.
Newport News
No place on the Peninsula benefited more from the completion of the C&O's Peninsula Subdivision than southeastern Warwick County, soon to become better known as Newport News. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway became one of the country's wealthiest as West Virginia coal moved eastward to the coal pierCoal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
s. The coal volume of the C&O, combined with that of the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
(N&W) shipping from Lambert's Point
Lambert's Point
Lamberts Point is a point of land on the south shore of the Elizabeth River near the downtown area of the independent city of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, United States...
and that of the later-completed Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
(VGN) at Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point
Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to the north, Hampton Roads to the west, and the Lafayette...
turned the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
, the East Coast of the United State's largest ice-free port, into the largest coal export point in the world by 1915.
Collis P. Huntington and his associates set developing the tiny unincorporated community at Newport New Point. His Old Dominion Land Company built the landmark Hotel Warwick, opened in 1883, which played a significant role in the development of the city. The hotel dominated the landscape, and was the civic and commercial center of the area during its early years. The first bank at Newport News, the first newspaper, the U.S. post office, the federal customs office, and even the municipal government of Warwick County were each located within the Hotel Warwick, at least for a time. It was also the site in 1886 of the organizational meeting for the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company. The latter evolved into the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.
For a brief time, Warwick County shifted the location of its county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
to Newport News from the historic location at Denbigh
Denbigh, Virginia
Denbigh was a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia, and was long the county seat. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.-History:...
, where it had been situated since colonial times. However, the growth at Newport News was such that, in 1896, it became one of only two Virginia localities to ever become an independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
from Warwick County without the additional stepping-stone of first becoming an incorporated town
Incorporated town
-Canada:Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.-United States:...
. (In the aftermath of that event, the county seat was returned to Denbigh. However, in 1958, voters of both communities chose to reunite, consolidating Newport News with the rest of the former county into an even bigger single independent city, one of the largest in Virginia in land area.)
Communities, locations over the years
During its more than 125 year existence, the Peninsula Subdivision has continued to serve coal and passenger traffic, now operated by CSX TransportationCSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
. In earlier times, it was an important factor in commerce and growth of some of the communities it has served, as well as for the United States military, particularly during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when the C&O was invaluable to the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation.
Richmond
In the 1890s, the C&O acquired the Richmond and Allegheny RailroadRichmond and Allegheny Railroad
The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond on the fall line at the head of navigation to a point west of Lynchburg near Buchanan, Virginia, and combined with the Buchanan and Clifton Forge Railway Company to...
(R&A) which had been built east from the Blue Ridge Mountains along the towpath of the James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
, proving an alternate "water level" route to Richmond following the north bank of the James River.
To create a good connection to the existing line at Fulton yard, and as an added benefit, avoid the troublesome Church Hill tunnel, the C&O constructed a 3 mile-long double track elevated viaduct along the riverfront extending between the area of Hollywood Cemetery east past downtown Richmond, the Shockoe Valley, and Church Hill to join the Peninsula Subdivision at Fulton Yard (east of the tunnel). At the same time, a new Main Street Station was built for passenger services adjacent to the viaduct. Both the landmark Main Street Station and the viaduct, believed to be the longest in the United States, were still in use as of 2008.
After completion of the riverfront viaduct in 1901, the Church Hill Tunnel fell into disuse for over 20 years. Then in 1925, to add capacity, the railroad began efforts to restore it to usable condition. On October 2, while repairs were under way, a work train was trapped by a collapse near the western end. Two workmen crawled under flat cars and escaped out the eastern end of the tunnel, and two bodies including the engineer's were recovered, but two other workers were unaccounted for. During the next week, the community anxiously watched rescue efforts, but each time progress was made, further cave-ins occurred. Eventually, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), which regulated railroads in Virginia, ordered the tunnel sealed for safety reasons. Left inside was the work train complete with a 4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
Over the years, portions of the tunnel have collapsed, once claiming several houses.
The circa-1901 Main Street Station was reopened to Amtrak passenger service in 2004. Expanded use as an intermodal facility for additional passenger trains and local transit bus
Transit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...
service is planned.
Penniman
In 1916, the E.I. DuPont NemoursDuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
company announced that it would develop a large black powder and shell-loading plant facility six miles northeast of Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
in York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...
. The plant as built was large enough to have ten thousand employees.
The new plant and the new town for the workers and families were named Penniman
Penniman, Virginia
Penniman was an unincorporated town in northwestern York County, on the south bank of the York River six miles northeast of Williamsburg in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...
. At its peak, Penniman had housing for 15,000, and included dormitories, a store, a post office, bank, police station, church, YWCA, YMCA, Mess Halls canteen, and a hospital.
The C&O built a spur track on the Peninsula Subdivision from a point about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
(mp 33) to Penniman. The C&O depot at Penniman opened on June 1, 1916. By the fall of 1918, Penniman was a town of about fifteen thousand inhabitants, and there were three passenger trains a day each way between Williamsburg and Penniman.
After World War I, the area was largely abandoned, and then placed into use again in World War II under the name Cheatham Annex as a supply depot for the U.S. Navy. Rail service became inactive, and grade crossings along the spur line at the State Route 143 (Merrimack Trail) and several other points were removed in 2008.
Camp Peary
During World War II, beginning in 1942, the U.S. Navy took over a large area on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in York County which became known as Camp PearyCamp Peary
Camp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known...
, initially for use as a Seabee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
training base. The C&O extended a spur track from its main line tracks to the site and established Magruder Station near the former unincorporated town of Magruder
Magruder, Virginia
Magruder was a small unincorporated town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County. Now extinct, it once had its own church, post office, cemetery, lodge, and homes. Magruder is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The land on which it stood is now part of the US military...
.
The spur tracks were later removed. A portion of the old right-of-way which is not located on federal property now forms a rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
in Waller Mill Park.
Fort Eustis
The Fort Eustis Military RailroadFort Eustis Military Railroad
The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis , Fort Eustis, Virginia...
is a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
rail transport
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
ation system existing entirely within the post
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It has served to provide railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
operation and maintenance training to the US Army and to carry out selected materiel movement missions both within the post and in interchange with the Peninsula Subsdivision via a junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
at Lee Hall. It consists of 31 miles (49.9 km) of track
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
broken into three subdivisions with numerous sidings
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
, spurs
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
, stations and facilities.
Oyster Point
The station at Oyster Point in Warwick County became a shipping point for the area's watermen during the years of extensive oysterOyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
harvesting. Although oystering has dwindled greatly in the years since, Oyster Point, now within the City of Newport News, became the site for a new city center development. The Oyster Point City Center
Oyster Point City Center
City Center at Oyster Point is a business district in the Oyster Point section of Newport News, Virginia. It is a high density mixed-use development that has . of Retail Shops and Restaurants and . of Class A office space...
, developed as a New Urbanism
New urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
project, has been touted as the new "downtown" because of its new geographic centrality in the area.
Norge
Norge, Virginia
Norge is an unincorporated community in James City County, Virginia, United States.-Location:Norge was located on the old Richmond-Williamsburg Stage Road, which is U.S. Route 60 in modern times. Interstate 64 was built through the area in the 1970s, and passes nearby...
. These citizens and their descendants found the area conditions favorable as described by Bergh, and many became leading merchants, tradespersons, and farmers in the community. These transplanted Americans brought some new blood and enthusiasm to the old colonial capitol area.
The railroad has such community significance to Norge many generations later that, in February, 2006, the historic Norge railroad station building (circa 1908) of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was relocated about 1 miles (1.6 km) to a site adjacent to the James City County Branch of the Williamsburg Regional Library on Croaker Road. Community volunteers set to work providing a new foundation and restoring the exterior, with additional improvements set for the future. A community project, the local Virginia Gazette newspaper reported that in January 2009, following historical research, the Norge Station had been repainted in its original livery, featuring a bright orange as the primary color.
The former C&O station from Ewell
Ewell, Virginia
Ewell was an unincorporated town in James City County west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia.Ewell was named for Benjamin Stoddard Ewell who was a U.S. and Confederate army officer, and civil engineer...
also survives, and is in an adaptive reuse. However, the other James City County stations which were located at Diascund, Toano
Toano, Virginia
Toano is an unincorporated town in James City County, Virginia, United States.-History:Toano was established in the late 19th century in western James City County at the former site of Burnt Ordinary, which was named in the 18th century for a roadside tavern that had burned down...
, Kelton (Lightfoot)
Lightfoot, Virginia
Lightfoot is an unincorporated community which straddles the James City–York county border, west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia....
and Grove
Grove, Virginia
Grove is an unincorporated community in the southeastern portion of James City County in the Peninsula subregion of Virginia in the United States. It is located in the center of the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, communities linked by the Colonial Parkway; the area is one of the busiest...
are all gone without a trace.
Williamsburg
In Williamsburg, a number of years before the Restoration, the C&O tracks initially ran down Duke of Gloucester Street and through the grounds of the former Capitol at the eastern end. In 1907, the C&O replaced its passenger station with a fine brick colonial style structure to accommodate the patrons of the tercentennial (300th anniversary) of the founding of JamestownJamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
in 1607. Around this time, the ladies of Williamsburg who were among the early organizers of the group which became Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) successfully prevailed upon the Old Dominion Land Company to turn over ownership of the capital historic site.
Beginning in 1926, Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin led a campaign to preserve and restore Williamsburg's colonial-era properties. He was successful in gaining the interest and financial support of philanthropists Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, , was a prominent socialite and philanthropist and the second-generation matriarch of the renowned Rockefeller family...
and her husband, Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
heir John D. Rockefeller Jr.. The Rockefellers made historic Bassett hall at Williamsburg their second home for several months each year, and took substantial interest in details of "The Restoration" which created Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
. Partially on the key property donated to the APVA by Dominion Land Company, a major centerpiece, the brick Capitol
Capitol (Williamsburg, Virginia)
The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia was the first Capitol building in America in 1705. A reconstructed version is a centerpiece of Colonial Williamsburg.-Original building 1705-1780:...
was recreated, as well as dozens of other buildings.
As part of the project to recreate the Governor's Palace, in 1935, the 1907 C&O station was replaced with an even finer one located about a half mile west of the original site. Later owned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the 1935 structure itself has been carefully maintained and modernized and serves as the intermodal Williamsburg Transportation Center, offering one of the more complete range of services of its type in the country.
Lee Hall
Lee Hall, the westernmost station in Warwick County, was named for the nearby mansion of Richard Decatur Lee. During the 1862 Peninsula CampaignPeninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...
of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, it served as the headquarters of Confederate General John B. Magruder
John B. Magruder
John Bankhead Magruder was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and a postbellum general in the Imperial Mexican Army...
. A tiny village which came to be known as Lee Hall, Virginia
Lee Hall, Virginia
Lee Hall is a former unincorporated town long located in the former Warwick County. Since 1958, Lee Hall has been a suburban community in the extreme western portion of the independent city of Newport News in the Commonwealth of Virginia....
developed after the railroad opened and built the Lee Hall Depot.
Lee Hall Depot became a very busy railroad station after the 1918 establishment nearby of Camp Abraham Eustis, later renamed Fort Eustis at Mulberry Island. The depot was strategically located along the main line midway between Skiffe's Creek
Skiffe's Creek
Skiffe's Creek is located in James City County and the independent city of Newport News in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...
and the Warwick River, and was close to the access point to the base. Lee Hall Depot handled heavy troop movements during both World Wars.
Although Warwick County became a city in 1952 and then was consolidated with Newport News in 1958, in the half century since, the Lee Hall area has retained a rural atmosphere. There are plans to relocate the historic 2-story depot slightly to the north of the busy CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
railroad tracks.
As of 2008, the Lee Hall Depot is the only surviving C&O structure of its type on the Peninsula and the only survivor among five stations which were located in Warwick County, the others formerly located at Oriana, Oyster Point, Morrison
Morrison, Virginia
Morrison was a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.-History:...
, and Newport News.