Truckin' on the Western Branch

George Washington In the 1760s George Washington, a partner in the Dismal Swamp Company, served as one of three managers who secured the title, surveyed the area, and assembled a labor force of 60 slaves. They made the lumber-shingle operation self-sustaining and profitable. In 1763 he made his first of six visits to the swamp, often traveling along “The Road.” He later sold his shares in the company at a loss. The Mill on Jolliff Road Gristmills were critical to local farmers to produce corn meal and flour from their grain harvests. Often the mill served as a gathering place and general store. The mills were located on creeks and streams, about every three to five miles, or a comfortable half-day journey, apart. In the low-lying tidewater of the Western Branch, the miller’s timetable depended on the rise and fall of the tide that powered the mill. Gates opened as the incoming tide filled a pond or reservoir. At full tide the gates closed and water was released through sluice gates on the ebb tide.

Colonial maps showed a mill on “The Road” near the headwaters of the Western Branch. The mill, named Spring’s Mill in 1695, Brickels Mill in 1780, Hall’s Mill in 1779, and Wright’s Mill during the Civil War, was located at the present-day junction of Jolliff Road with Dock Landing Road.

British General Cornwallis considered mills strategic targets in his 1780 campaign to take over Portsmouth and Norfolk. His invasion plan included Hall’s Mill, conveniently located on The Road, the only overland approach to Portsmouth from the south side of the Nansemond River. Revolutionary War From May 1779, when British Admiral Sir George Collier sailed into Norfolk and destroyed Fort Nelson on the Elizabeth River, the farms and plantations of Western Branch and Churchland were subject to British raids. The British destroyed the Gosport Shipyard and, with it, ships and naval supplies, and captured or destroyed 140 American vessels in the harbor. Shipbuilding in the area came to a halt.

Images by Sheally

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