Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

Farm Wharves Steamboat stops were the hub of business for small communities, bringing the mail, lumber, farm products, oysters, cattle, and passengers several times a week. By the 1870s, Rocketts, Harrison’s Bar, Bermuda Hundred, City Point, Jordan Point, Clermont (Claremont), Ferguson’s Wharf, Scotland Wharf, Swan Point, Smithfield on the Pagan River, King’s Mill, Warwick, Wilcox Wharf, Sturgeon Point, and Dillard Wharf were just a few of the plantation and farm wharves that were stops between Richmond and Norfolk. 49 James River Steamboats Operated by the Virginia Steamboat Company, Ariel was a very popular boat on the James from 1878 to 1893. Ariel was a day boat, meaning that it stopped at many river landings during the day. The Pocahontas , known as “Queen of the River,” was on the James from 1893 to 1920. It debuted with ceremony on July 1, 1893, and ran from Norfolk to Richmond for the next 28 years. Pocahontas , nicknamed “Poly-hontas,” or “Poky,” was a palace steamer with a large, 34-by-34-foot social hall and a 29-by-11-foot dining room. One-way fare was $1.50 plus 50¢ for meals. Hampton Roads was another, later, steamboat on the James. The Old Dominion Line acquired the steamer in 1896 and put it into service between Smithfield, Norfolk, and Newport News. The steamer carried passengers, peanuts, and hams on that route until about 1933. 50 The Nansemond River Line ran passengers and freight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Suffolk to Norfolk, returning to Suffolk every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, calling at all the intermediate landings. The steamers enabled connections with the Suffolk & Carolina Railroads and Suffolk Lumber Company’s railroads. The

daily boats on all principal rivers of Virginia and North Carolina while the Baltimore Steam Packet Company (Old Bay Line) was running steamers north and south on the bay. Steamboat traffic was nearing its peak, and all aids to navigation were critical for safe passage on rivers, creeks, and the bay.

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