Finding aid to the James River and Kanawha Company Papers

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA COMPANY PAPERS
The collection includes a photostatic copy of bonds, several copies of printed "Tariff
of Tolls," "Check roll of Mechanics and Laborers," printed freight tariff of the Richmond
and Alleghany Railroad, and miscellaneous newspaper and magazine articles about the
James River and Kanawha Canal.
FOLDER 1 Miscellaneous Newspaper/Magazine Articles
FOLDER 2 "Tariff of Tolls" (1868, 1871, 1877, 1878)
"Check Roll of Mechanics and Laborers" (1881)
Freight Tariff (Richmond & Alleghany Railroad - 1881)
Photostatic copy - $5.00 Bonds (1839)

JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA COMPANY
The James River and Kanawha Company was incorporated in 1832. The main focus
of the company was to connect the James River "with navigable waters of the Ohio
[River]." Work was begun in 1835, and by 1840, the canal had been completed to
Lynchburg, Virginia. By 1851, the canal to Buchanan, Virginia, had been completed.
The canal was never completed to the "waters of the Ohio."
The height of activity on the canal occurred between 1850 and 1860, with increased
freight traffic and increased revenue. In 1853, maximum net revenue totaled
$170,368.81, and in 1860, maximum tonnage totaled 244,273 tons.
The growth of the railroad industry interfered with the business of the canal.
Following the Civil War, the canal continued to decline under depressed business
conditions and the competition of the railroads. On 5 March 1880, the company
conveyed its assets to the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Company.
[James River & Kanawha Company Papers, Mss., MS1217, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA;
Wayland Fuller Dunaway, "History of the James River and Kanawha Company," Studies in History,
Economics and Public Law, Vol. CIV, No. 2 (New York: Columbia University, 1922), pp. 92ff.]

MS1217