"Duly Appreciated"

— Confederate Lifeline —

The Roanoke Navigation Company - a collaboration among North Carolina, Virginia, and private shareholders - began building the Roanoke Canal in 1819. The company created an inland navigation system from the upper Staunton and Dan Rivers in Virginia, down the Roanoke River through North Carolina, and then via the Dismal Swamp Canal to Norfolk. Construction of the 8.5-mile-long canal around the Great Falls of the Roanoke to the terminus of the project in present-day Weldon, using mostly slave labor, took several years to complete. Locks were built in three locations and an aqueduct was constructed over Chokoyotte Creek in Weldon. The canal boats, or batteaux, were about 60 feet long with an 8-foot-beam. Often, free blacks and slaves were engaged to pole them; each vessel transported 10-12 hogsheads (5-8 tons) of cargo. The canal operated until the railroads, providing more efficient transportation, forced its closure in 1859.

Four major railroads served Weldon, making the town a major transportation center by 1861. Because of the movement of troops and supplies was such a critical component of the Southern war effort, the Roanoke Navigation Company experienced a resurgence. The canal was once again used to carry regional farm products to the rail junctions at Weldon for Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although Union forces destroyed ports, railroads, and bridge throughout the South, the Roanoke Canal remained in service until the end of the war. The navigation company function through Reconstruction era until it ceased operations in 1875.

"The importance of the Roanoke River is apparent. [It is] navigable ... to Weldon, the importance of which place, both on account of its railway connections and communications with the rebel army in Virginia and its water connection with the North Carolina sounds, is evident. ... The fertililty of the Roanoke Valley is well known and duly appreciated by rebel authorities, who depend on it for large supplies for their armies, and who are now making strenuous efforts to provide against its being taken, by fortifications and concentration of troops." - Col. Jones Frankle, 2nd Mass. Artillery, Nov. 24, 1864

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Show me all markers in:  Roanoke Rapids, NC  |  Halifax County  |  27870  |  North Carolina  |  United States of America

Roanoke Canal
First Kraft Pulp in United States
Allen Jones
Benjamin S. Turner
Weldon Railroads
Rockfish Capital of the World
Wilmington and Weldon Railroad
Roanoke Canal
Wilmington & Weldon RR Trestle
First Railroad

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