History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 44

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900 > Part 44

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(4). A depth of water sufficient to float the largest class of vessels afloat in the world's commerce.

(5). The natural and only outport for the finest steaming coal in the world.

(6). The logical outport of the greater bulk of Southern lumber, iron, cotton, tobacco and corn.

(7). Its contiguity to the sources of ship- builder's supplies, repair stock and naval stores is unsurpassed.

(8). It is the key to the system of inland navigation of the coast and a headquarters for the mosquito fleet.

(9). Its commanding position forces a recognition by the government as a great naval base.

These are the principal natural reasons, though there are others which in this story it is intended to bring out. How well or how ill success attends the efforts made, the facts themselves are apparent to any who will calm- ly investigate and personally examine this port.

Of the artificial reasons only a few need be mentioned here. These are principally :

(1). The seeking of the cheapest route for the import and export trade of the country by railroad and steamship lines.

(2). The gradual acceptance of Pocahon- tas coal as the premium steam coal of the world and the putting of Norfolk on the coal- ing-station tables of all lines coming within reasonable distance of this port, outward or homeward bound.

(3). The attraction for vast sums of money in investment offered by this still but partially developed section, in electric and steam railways, manufacturing industries and rapid awakening of the people to a sense of

their opportunities and the taking advantage of them.

Let us take a look at the port of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Berkley, or if you will that of the greater port of Hampton Roads, geo- graphically, topographically and meteorologi- cally :

Almost midway between Maine and Flor- ida, and directly opposite the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, 100 miles north of Cape Hatteras,-the storm breeder of the Southern Atlantic,-Hampton Roads lies, an inland sea, and the entrance to the three rivers, famed his- torically, scientifically and romantically.

Crossing the upper and weaker flow of the Gulf Stream, the European vessel strikes the Arctic current and follows naturally on its narrowing current to the mouth of the Chesa- peake. If in spring or summer or fall, its cool current is a pleasant voyage-mate and the port stops short of the enervating heat of the semi- tropics. If in winter, the same traffic follows the western edge of the great ocean river, and and is but a few hours from freedom from ice and snow until it reaches haven here, without encountering the perils of the Hatteras pas- sage.

South of New York the port has no great natural rival, for Philadelphia and Baltimore are both inland cities and, until the short cut canals are built to connect them with the sea, must remain so, besides which even the con- struction of those canals will not prevent their harbors from freezing or the winter storms from hindering outdoor employment,-a con- dition from which Norfolk is singularly free.

To the south, this port has no rival until Savannah and Charleston are reached and be- tween her and them stretches Hatteras and Frying Pan Shoals, two notable ship grave- yards.

Again, the great cold waves that sweep down from the Dakotas rarely reach as far south as Hampton Roads and even if they come are robbed of their strength by the

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mountain ridges, separated by valleys open- ing to the south, they must traverse.

So arranged by nature are the passes through the mountains separating from the Eastern Coast the bread and fertile West, and in such direction trend the valleys leading coastward that it is as if the Divine Architect stood at the passes and said to the West, "There where the waters mingle as in the palm of a mighty hand stretching inland from the sea, there shall ye find readiest outlet and there shall ye find the fleets of the world await- ing you and thence shall ye bring back the golden store of those who wait your fruits and your harvests.

And in and around those giant passe- through the mountains; in the valleys, along the ridges and on the heights the richest mines of utilitarian wealth have lain buried as if but waiting the travel that was bound to come and that has come and is coming, with wood and steel and steam to meet the ocean tide of wood and steel and steam waiting at this port to greet it.

When in 1607 the first English vessel sailed into the broad month of Chesapeake Bay and cast anchor in the shadow of Cape Henry's huge sand dunes, to the voyagers that lined her bulwarks and stood upon her curious high-peaked forecastle and poop deck. the shores wooded to the beach, must have fur- nished a view as soothing in its sunny, langh- ing charm as the stern ice-bound shores of Massachusetts Bay did in 1620 to the hunted colonists of the "Mayflower." a secure one.

But the cance of the red men preceded both over the local water courses and on each the cance, in modified form, is still known.

Steadily the size in tonnage displacement has grown from the advent of that first ship with the white sails till now the craft that an- chored under Cape Henry's friendly shelter in 1607 could easily be stowed forward on some of the big liners that anchor in nearly the same spot, without danger or discomfort. Then as now the next flight of sail was for

pushing on to Old Point Comfort and thence to Hampton Roads,

Then wooded beach, swamp and ridge cov- cred the expanse from the Elizabeth to Cape llenry. Now-

The beach has given way to wharf and dock and pier, and each year sees the meta- morphosis grow; new docks'and wharves are built and others projected, until today as far as Willoughby Spit the water-front is held with the idea of its soon being needed for fur- ther commercial development, and even the bay front, down as far as the cape, has the oye of the speculator upon it and is even now net beyond the hearing of axe, adze, saw and hammer, telling of the march of a great city.

Norfolk's exact position may be stated briefly as follows: It lies in Latitude 36 de- grces, 51 minutes north, Longitude 76 de- grees, 17 minutes west from Greenwich. On one side is the Chesapeake Bay, on the other the Elizabeth River and Hampton Roads, while at her back is the Atlantic Ocean. The city rests at the confluence of the Eastern, Southern and Western branches of the Eliza- beth River, about eight miles from Hampton Roads and 23 miles from Capes Henry and Charles, on the Atlantic Coast. The altitude ranges from 10 to 20 feet above the average high-water mark. The river's channel is be- twcen 1,000 and 1,200 feet wide at the city.

But Norfolk is connected by electric rail- way and ferry .- as New York is with Brook- lyn and Hoboken, and Boston with East Bos- ton and Chelsea,-with Portsmouth, Berkley, Newport News, Hampton and Old Point, so that the greater port also should be described and its size appreciated :

The size of the Roads is as follows: From the Rip-Raps on the east to Ragged Island or Barrel Point on the west is fully io miles, while the average width is between five and six miles. So Hampton Roads embraces an area of 50 to 60 square miles, or nearly 40,000 acres, and is 50 feet deep.

So well protected is this basin from the

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storms that lash and beat old ocean into fury, that on the approach of such storms all vessels out in the bay or beyond the capes make haste to pass through the gate that leads into the haven of security, and there abide until the sea has quieted.

This immense body of water, in the cold- est of weather, never suffers from ice, and thus it remains open from the beginning to the end of the year.

The Elizabeth River, which forms the in- ner harbor of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Berk- ley, is 8.400 feet wide at its mouth on the Roads, with a minimum depth of 28 feet from the Roads to the Navy Yard, on the Southern Branch, to the Norfolk & Western bridge, on the Eastern Branch, and to the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk terminus, on the Western Branch. It is nearly a mile wide at the junction of the Eastern and Southern branches, between the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth and opposite Berkley, and is at its narrowest part 1,000 feet, while the branches are from 1,000 to 2,200 feet wide, and its depth is such that the largest and deep- est draught freighters in the world have no trouble in navigating it, the "Maroa." "Samoa," "Pinedene" and other like steam- ships loading at will on the Eastern Branch and steaming from there to sea. The area for deep anchorage is fully 1,000 acres, and this is constantly being increased, and of late the sight of 100 to 150 vessels, steamers, schoon- ers and huge coal barges, lying at anchor in this harbor, has been nothing unusual, while the sea room for small craft is practically un- limited.

Another thing in physical formation which gives the mariner pleasure is the fact that Nor- folk harbor has no bar to hinder entrance from the sea. The harbor entrance is from the northwest, the only one on the Southern At- lantic Coast, and inasmuch as it opens in the opposite direction from the southwestern sub- tropic cyclones, it is best protected.

The river affords about 30 miles of wharf front and when the large creeks which make

into the city territory from the channel shall have been dredged out and made available, this area will be practically doubled.

In speaking of the city territory thus it is but fair to state that the corporate limits of the city are not intended to be understood as the boundary, for, though Smith Creek is now the only one of size that thus impinges, yet in the future development, already assured by continuously built up territory, Ohio Creek, Tanner's Creek. Bush and Mason Creeks are within the already pre-empted lines of the next enlargement, and the rapid stride during the past five years proves conclusively by its direc- tion that the next five will see the actual boundaries marked by the Chesapeake and. Hampton Roads in addition to the Elizabeth River.

A brief survey of the location is here per- missible.

The Chesapeake Bay, which has its base eight miles north of Norfolk, air-line, and is distant only 12 miles by water through the Elizabeth River and Hampton Roads, has been described by Commodore Maury as a "King's Chamber" in the bosom of Virginia which no belligerent may enter with other than good in- tent. It is 180 miles long and from 10 to 25 miles wide.

It is Virginia water, for it passes through her borders to the sea, and enters it between her own capes. Just between these capes, and under their shelter, lie Hampton Roads and Lynnhaven Bay-the "Spit Head" and the "Downs" of America.

To the south, all the seaport towns as far as the reefs of Florida have their harbors ob- structed by bars, over which the larger vessels of commerce can never pass ; and the extent of back country naturally tributary to them is, in comparison with that which is tributary to the seaport towns of Chesapeake Bay, very small. It does not extend beyond the drainage of these rivers.

The harbors that lie north of the Chesa- peake are not only liable to obstructions by ice every winter, but their approaches are often

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endangered by the fogs which prevail in their offings.

This noble sheet of water, with its spacious harbors, is large enough to accommodate ship- ping sufficient to afford transportation for all the products and merchandise of the West. were they a thousand-fold more abundant than they are : and it is the most convenient point on the entire coast for distributing them north and south along the Atlantic seaboard, or for sending them to markets beyond the sea.

The important rivers which empty into the Chesapeake are the Elizabeth, James, Po- tomac. Rappahannock. York, Nansemond and Patapsco.

Just south of Norfolk are three sounds. Formed by the banks enclosing them on the ocean side. they are securely land-locked : while shallow, they are broad and peaceful avenues of trade. They begin about 20 miles Southeast in an air-line from Norfolk. The way into them is through the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth and the canals connecting them with this harbor.

In their order they are Currituck, the most northerly, then Albemarle, then Pamlico, this last the largest. Large rivers, navigable for many miles inland, empty into them ; the Pas- quotank. Perquimans and Chowan into Albe- marle Sound; the Pamlico and Neuse into Pamlico Sound. There are numerous rapidly- growing cities upon these rivers .- Elizabeth City, Edenton, Washington, New Berne and Beaufort chief among them.

The "banks" which enclose these sounds begin just below the Virginia line. Stormy Cape Hatteras is on these banks and Cape Lookout is at their southern extremity. Roa- noke Island, on which the very first Anglo- Saxon attempt at settlement in America,-23 years before Jamestown .- was made. is at the junction of Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

INLAND WATER-ROUTES.

The port of Norfolk and Portsmouth is the center of a vast system of inland water-routes, extending from New York on the north to

the southern part of North Carolina. The natural water-ways are so numerous and in stich close proximity throughout this section that a series of artificial highways have been constructed connecting the bays, sounds and navigable streams along the Atlantic Coast, so as to make one complete and almost wholly land-locked passage from New York to Florida.

They make available to New York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore and Norfolk, which lie directly on their line, over 1,800 miles of North Carolina river navigation.

These highways in their order, going south, are the Delaware & Raritan, the Chesa- peake & Delaware, the Albemarle & Chesa- peake, the New Berne & Beaufort, the last two the property of the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal Company, of Norfolk, and the Dismal Swamp Canal, the property of the Lake Drum- mond Canal & Water Company. This latter canal has the past year been reopened as a ship canal, having been deepened to accommodate vessels of eight feet draught, and when its ap- proaches shall have been dredged to proper depth will pass vessels of 10 feet, thus making not only a valuable feeder to Norfolk's com- merce but a line of strategic value in coast de- fense, admitting of any of the smaller vessels of the navy passing as far south as Charles- ton, South Carolina, without danger.

The Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal. con- necting with Albemarle Sound, and the Dismal Swamp Canal, each reaching from the South- ern Branch of the Elizabeth River, the latter to a more western point on the same sound. thus offer a double opportunity for the mos- quito fleet of the navy to protect the coast line and make Norfolk the strongest strategic point on the coast south of New York and equal to, if not surpassing, even the Empire City, for with Norfolk and its fortified en- virons intact, the National Capital. Baltimore. Richmond and Annapolis are secure, while no city at the south along the inland water-way but might be strengthened almost at a day's notice from this point.

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By means of these canals light draft steam- ers bound for Charleston, Savannah, Florida and the West Indies, yachts and other small craft, can avoid the worst perils of old ocean, especially those of storm-beaten Hatteras.

Following are the dimensions of these canals : Delaware & Raritan, 43 miles long, locks 220 by 24 by 9: Chesapeake & Delaware, 14 miles, locks 220 by 24 by 9; Albemarle & Chesapeake, 14 miles, locks 220 by 40 by 27 ; New Berne & Beaufort, three miles, no locks.

These canals connect such important bodies of water as Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound and Pam- lico Sound, and the innumerable tributaries of these bays and sounds, penetrating every coun- ty in the rich and fertile tidewater sections of six States. Thus a great inland shipping busi- ness is carried on by hundreds of vessels and sailing craft of every description that could not go to sea or stand the storms of Hatteras.

No other Southern city, except New Or- leans, with its great river business, at all ap- proaches Norfolk in the magnitude and variety of its coastwise traffic and inland boat- ing trade. There are a dozen or more steam- boat lines which ply regularly between Norfolk and the cities and towns in every direction connected by these inland water-routes, and the aggregate of this local shipping business is enormous.

The Elizabeth River divides at Norfolk into two branches, which are known as the Eastern and Southern, both of which are navi- gable streams. The Southern Branch. as has been shown, affords the means of approach to the Albemarle & Chesapeake and the Dismal Swamp canals, which penetrate Eastern North Carolina. and thus sail and steam vessels are permitted to enter that section of country. On the left of this stream lies Berkley, and on the right Portsmouth. Just above Portsmouth, on this branch or arm of the Elizabeth, is the United States Navy Yard, to which the largest ships of the navy can approach.

The Eastern Branch gives access to the fertile lands of Princess Anne County, and

during the trucking season the stream is cov- ered with small craft loaded with the products of the soil and of the waters, bound to this and other markets. Norfolk is on the left of this branch and Berkley on the right.

Just below Portsmouth the Western Branch makes into the river. This branch penetrates another rich trucking section and is navigable for all manner of small craft. In addition to the main branches of the river in- numerable creeks, some of them very imposing . bodies of water, stretch their arms around the cities on the harbor and into the fertile truck- ing sections, and form a pathway for sailing craft and vessels of every description to the wharves of our great transportation lines along our river front.

The fact is, there are nearly 1,500,000 acres of salt water here directly tributary to this port, much of which area is paved with oysters, and all these waters are literally filled with bountiful supplies of fish and crabs. It was on the banks of these beautiful waters that the Indians had their homes and hunting grounds,-the finest in the world.

With nearly or quite 100 miles of deep- water frontage capable of allowing the largest freight, passenger and naval vessels of the world to lie at dock or wharf along and within the port warden's line, it would be but natural that this greater port of Hampton Roads and its sub-ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth and Newport News, should be the Mecca of for- eign, coastwise and inland trade. The nat- ural law is the easier to follow. How is it proven ?

Half way between Maine and Florida, be- tween the white pine, spruce, hemlock, white birch, maple, oak, tamarack, ash, chestnut, hickory, elm, butternut and other North-tem- perate growths of lumber and the palm, orange, long-leaf pine, blue gum, palmetto, lancewood, black walnut and other semi-tropi- cal timber, and on the line of the Southern pine, cypress, juniper, live oak, of the South- | ern temperate zone. the natural meeting point for contribution and distribution is Norfolk-

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and lumber is one of the greatest industries of | Cairo will give the southern boundary in the the port, both in its coastwise and foreign trade.

Half way between Europe and South America on a line bisecting the distance be- tween Norway and Cape Town, it would need but an unlimited supply of superior coal to make it the greatest coaling port of the At- lantic Coast for long-voyage steamships, and even greater as a cargo station for the world's shipping supply. Is it? It has the only out- port of the Pocahontas Flat Top coal fields unlimited and unsurpassed-ay, unequaled --- steam coal, and the nations of the world are sending here for coal. It is nearer to Europe in a direct line than any other cotton port, and the world's wearing staple is one of the port's great shipping industries. And so one might go on almost indefinitely, but enough at pres- ent. Having seen from its geographical posi- tion its relation to the rest of the world, a glance at its position in relation to the in- terior of the United States should be taken, and to do this an excellent idea has been given :

Take a map of the United States, stick a pin at Norfolk, another at New York, and a third at New Orleans. Let the arc of the circle, of which Norfolk is the center, cut New York and vice versa; stick a pin where these arcs intersect. Now divide the distance on a straight line between Norfolk and New York, and through that point and the inter- section draw a straight line from southeast to northwest. You have then the northern boun- dary of Norfolk's natural freight and the traffic territory approximately.

With New Orleans as the center, draw an arc of a circle cutting Tampa on the west coast of Florida, and it will be found to cut the Mississippi half way between Cairo and St. Louis. From this point draw a straight line to Tampa and an intersecting line from Nor- folk to New Orleans, which will bisect this line near Montgomery, Alabama. This latter line gives the southeastern and the line it bi- sects the southwestern boundary of Norfolk's contributing territory; a line due west from

West, and the frozen North and the Rocky Mountains will furnish the western and north- ern boundaries. This is pre-eminently her own territory, as transportation rates and dis- tances in direct line give her the preference for export trade over all competitors.

In all this territory ( and it is a big one,- 1,000 by 2,000 miles, roughly stated ), Nor- folk is the nearest Atlantic port and natural export base. But much that is outside this territory naturally drifts in her direction, and even the Pacific Coast sends its products for transportation to Europe via Norfolk.

Let us see by what means all these varied products of the fields, the forests, the mines. the manufactories and the shops are centercd at this, port for export, and how the imports are redistributed. How the carrying trade is accomplished, and what comprises Norfolk's greatest proof of present greatness and prom- ise of future predominance.

RAILROAD LINES.

At Norfolk center fourteen railway sys- tems, steam and electric, some of old growth and far-extended ramifications and connec- nections : others of later date, and only rapid- ly pushing out their feeders to new territory and new alliances. Norfolk is the center from which they radiate, and as the sun's widely diffused rays draw toward a common center, so these radiating lines of steel draw commerce and trade to this city.

It would be difficult, even if one wished to make comparison, to say which of these lines is greatest and which least. . All in their vari- ous ways benefit the city. These lines are-to commence at the northeast and name them in rotation from north to west-the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk; the Chesapeake & Ohio: the Newport News. Pig Point & Nor- folk (begun) ; the Southern: the Atlantic Coast Line: the Norfolk & Carolina : the Sea- board Air Line; the Norfolk & Southern; the Norfolk & Western; the Norfolk, Sewell's

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Point & Hampton: the Chesapeake Transit Line (projected ) : the Belt Line Railroad, and the Norfolk. Ocean View, Willoughby Spit & Old Point railroads and railways.

The territory covered by these various lines of steel will give an idea of their value to Norfolk. Take them again in rotation, but commence at the reverse end.

The Norfolk, Ocean View, Willoughby Spit & Old Point railway is an electric road of standard gauge, running, as its name shows. from Norfolk through a fine trucking and suburban residence section to that Coney Island of Virginia .- Ocean View,-and thence through a seaside residence and club section ; through the national reservation for the forti- fied protection of the coast from Cape Henry. to Old Point, thence through Willoughby Spit, the finest of all sea-coast summer resi- dence sections in America, between the won- derful fishing grounds of Chesapeake Bay, Little Bay and Hampton Roads, the most notable watering place and the oldest of America. Here it connects with all bay steam- ers. with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, and with the Hampton & Newport News electric road.

This is the road at present. It will, how- ever. naturally be continued south to Lynn- haven Bay, or further to Cape Henry. Being of standard gauge and connected by switch with the Norfolk & Western Railway. its products are easily transported to all parts of the continent, and through its connection with the Norfolk street railway, it has become the popular resort for a day's outing to city pleas- ure seekers.

The Norfolk, Sewell's Point & Hampton is another electric road now almost completed and running a double track from Norfolk's City Hall avenue to the northward cut through the suburbs and through a stretch of wonderfully fertile trucking country to Sew- ell's Point, one of the oldest and most beautiful of Hampton Roads summer resorts, and thence by ferry to Hampton, where it will con-

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History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 44

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054