Truckin' on the Western Branch

Craney Island Artillery included Jno. H. Bidgood, John Stringer, Nathaniel Bidgood, Joseph S. Wright, John H. Wright, Jas. C. Bidgood, Tully W. Bidgood, Willis D. Bidgood, William S. Wright, and Richard R. Carney.

The Jackson Light Infantry, Company D, 61st Virginia Regiment included William T. Jordan. James Taylor served in the Norfolk Light Infantry while Andrew J. Wilson and Maurice W. Dennis joined the Randolph Dragoons, Company C, and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. John T. Griffin served as a captain and civil engineer for Petersburg fortifications. John W. Wilder worked with volunteers building the “Virginia” Merrimack. The Churchland Baptist Church roster listed other men who served: Alex Higginbotham, Joseph F. Deans, Benjamin F. Hays, Richard R. Hays, John R. Dixon, Patrick H. Arthur, James E. Boyd, Richard H. Gwinn, George W. L. Gwinn, Duke, Wise, and Crocker. West Norfolk— the Southern Newport In the 1880s several local landowners and entrepreneurs attempted to develop the village of West Norfolk into a commercial center and resort destination. Love’s (Lovett’s) Point near the confluence of the Western Branch and the main stem of the Elizabeth River was adjacent to a deep-water channel and in the heart of truck farm country. During the nineteenth century, the point was the site of a busy lumber mill, iron smelting factory, and cotton steam press. Atlantic & Danville Railroad built a terminal there to connect farms from the interior to the port. Six miles of track were built from Churchland to West Norfolk, and the train whistle tooted for the first time on November 1, 1887. S. B. Carney, William F. Wise, Joseph Duke, Thomas M. Hodges, Maurice W. Dennis, and several investors from Delaware, New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Florida obtained a charter from the Virginia General Assembly to establish the West Norfolk Land and Improvement Company.

The group planned to lay out a town that would rival Newport, Rhode Island. They pitched the deep harbor, shorter routes out of the area by rail, a rich oyster and fishing industry, safe beaches, and fresh water from the main of the Suffolk and Portsmouth Water Company (Lake Kilby) in Suffolk.

Their sales brochure read:

The town is beautifully laid off, streets running north and south are parallel to the Elizabeth River and numbered in avenues 1st, 2nd, etc. Those running east and west are parallel to the Western Branch and named after our Presidents in the order of their election beginning with Washington.

Their “Southern Newport” failed to develop as envisioned, but West Norfolk became a family-friendly community for local businesses and farmers supported by two churches and a school.

The Atlantic & Danville Railroad line ran from Danville to the port at West Norfolk and, in 1895, included a car transfer bridge and trestle that was used to transfer trains across the river on barges or steamers.

River to Rails Steam power transformed the age of sail to the age of steamboats and trains. Railroads competed for the shipping trade overland as the ports of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News were connected with inland coal, cotton, and truck farm operations. From 1834 railroad tracks crisscrossed the Churchland-Western Branch area. The Norfolk & Western line near Bowers Hill was a critical supply connection during the Civil War. The Atlantic Coastline, Norfolk Franklin & Danville, and the Seaboard Air Line were

Clockwise: Shipyard Burning, Farm Wagon, and Georgia Militia. By Charlotte White

48