Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

James River Navigation Improvements The upper James River, from City Point to Richmond, offers navigational challenges like no other river. Earlier in the book, we documented difficulties that 19th-century mariners faced when piloting the lower James from Newport News to Harrison’s Landing. The upper James River had its own unique demands on river captains. The natural channel had many turns and narrow points that would barely allow two ships to pass. Combine those conditions with fast currents, changing tides, and winds, and you have a long, slow ride for a ship captain. The 1888 chart was developed from 1852 to 1887. The main improvement is the addition of the Dutch Gap Canal and Lights. The canal, begun in 1864 during the Civil War, reduced the route to Richmond by seven miles by cutting off the trip around Farrar’s Island. Buoys were added during the period, but there are no range lights shown. Range lights ease navigation by allowing a mariner to set a course on line with a pair of markers. This is especially helpful when there is a difficult turn or a narrow spot in the river.

The adjacent 1912 chart shows the addition of buoys and range lights.

The river channel generally carries at least 15 feet all the way to Richmond, with many areas 35 to 40 feet deep. The width of the channel in some areas is difficult. At City Point, the channel is about 200 yards wide, a comfortable distance, but at the Woodson Rock range light, west of Jones Neck, the channel is just 50 yards wide. The approach to Richmond, a welcome, nearly straight line, is just 50 to 100 yards wide, barely enough for two ships to pass.

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