Truckin' on the Western Branch

Image by Sheally

Truckin’ on the Western Branch Cover Jimmy (on right) and Jesse Lilley, both from the almost 100-year-old Lilley Farm, load produce at the edge of the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River. In the early 1900s local farmers built a rock causeway to a small island next to a deep channel in the river. Barges collected the “truck” or produce to take to the Norfolk and Portsmouth waterfronts. There steamships awaited to carry the goods to cities in the North. Farmers packed produce in baskets and crates, many from Planters Manufacturing with an outlet in Churchland. Some of the original baskets are shown on the truck on the cover.

Our thanks to Jimmy and Jesse Lilley, Ashton Lewis, Louis Latham, Brad Cherry, Bill Quinn, Billy Hargroves, and Jodie Matthews who all worked with us to make this cover possible.

In the Battle of Craney Island in 1813, American forces, outnumbered three to one, defeated the British troops. In 2013 Chesapeake artist Sam Welty created a mural at Cedar Grove Cemetery commemorating the battle. The cemetery, in downtown Portsmouth, is the resting place of at least 47 veterans of the War of 1812. A portion of his mural circles the cover of Truckin’ on the Western Branch .

The greater Churchland area was the “Charlotte of Powerboat Racing,” and the rear cover depicts driver/enthusiast Chris Hall with the unique two-seater hydroplane he had built by Larry Lauterbach (top) and (bottom) The Legend , built by master hydroplane builder and driver Henry Lauterbach and named in his honor by the owner Terry Browning.

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