New Canton, Virginia
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New Canton is an
unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in northeastern Buckingham County,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It lies along
U.S. Route 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Caro ...
below the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, northeast of the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
. It has a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
with the ZIP code 23123.


History

In November, 1793, the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...
decreed that a town to be named "New Canton" was to be established in Buckingham County on the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, near the mouth of Bear Garden Creek. The twenty five acres of land were located on the bluff above Cannon's Ferry, which had been in operation for many years. This land was to be laid out into lots of one half acre each, with "convenient cross streets running throughout". The main street and one angled cross street were the existing roads that served the ferry. The land was part of an original colonial land grant made to William Cannon on March 1, 1743. The land for the town was donated by Cannon's grandson, also named William, who hoped that the town would grow and prosper, causing his surrounding property to increase in value. The original 45 lots were to be sold at
public auction In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
. Each purchaser was given seven years to build a "habitable dwelling house" on the lot. The dwelling was to be at least sixteen feet square and have either a brick or stone chimney. In addition, a
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
warehouse was to be constructed and named "Cannon's Warehouse". Initial sales were slow and nine years later, in 1802, the General Assembly adopted legislation to provide an additional five years for purchasers to build on their lots. The tobacco warehouse had been constructed by January, 1804, on the only one acre lot in town. This warehouse later became known as the "Public" or "Publik" Warehouse and existed well into the 19th century. In its early years, New Canton was known as a rowdy place, with as many as three saloons in a town of less than 40 houses. Iron and gold mines were in operation all around New Canton from the mid-18th until the mid-19th century. The remains of the iron foundry and several mines still exist today. The only church ever built in New Canton wa
Trinity Presbyterian
which was constructed in 1840. It still exists in the original building as a functioning church. A private one room Catholic chapel was constructed by local merchant John Thomas McKenna in the mid-1880s. It later served as the New Canton post office until the mid-1960s and it also still exists to this day. In 1840, the
James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a ...
was constructed adjacent to the north bank of the river (opposite New Canton) and opened to traffic. The canal was used by packet and freight boats which replaced the earlier shallow-draft
batteau A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...
boats used before the canal for commerce. These boats brought goods and passengers to and from Richmond and points beyond. A bridge was built to connect the canal to the New Canton side. Long a dream of early Virginians such as
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, who was a surveyor early in his career, the canal was never completed as envisioned. However, the canal in the area of New Canton was used until both it and the bridge were destroyed by
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
forces during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(1861–1865). The canal was repaired after the war, but traffic never returned to pre-war levels as
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s were becoming more numerous and popular. After many years of attempts to compete successfully with the ever-expanding network of railroads, the James River and Kanawha Canal was conveyed to a new railroad company by a deed dated March 4, 1880. Railroad construction workers promptly started laying tracks on the
towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...
. The new
Richmond and Allegheny Railroad The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond on the Fall Line at the head of navigation to a point west of Lynchburg near Buchanan, Virginia, and combined ...
offered a water-level route from the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
just east of
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
near Jackson's River Station (now Clifton Forge) through the
Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
at Balcony Falls to Richmond. In 1888 the railroad was leased, and later purchased, by
Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...
's
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...
. In the mid-1880s major change came to New Canton when a railroad bridge was constructed over the James River, connecting the Bremo Bluff side to the New Canton side. A new road was constructed a few hundred feet to the west of the old ferry road to service the new bridge. Planks were laid on the bridge which allowed wagon and foot traffic as well as rail traffic. The locals named the bridge the "Combination Bridge" because of this. The old ferry and its connecting road fell into disuse and were gradually abandoned. New Canton never became a "boom town" but it did have considerable commerce and enterprise in the 19th and early 20th centuries. There was a tan yard, a grist mill, a tobacco warehouse, a saw mill, several bars, a hotel, several general stores and a post office. In the early 20th century, there were gas pumps, a
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
automobile dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and service (motor vehic ...
and an orchard as well. As motorcars became popular early in the 20th century, they too began using the bridge and the road down to the river became a highway for the ever-increasing motor vehicle traffic. The main highway that was to become
U.S. Route 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Caro ...
actually ran right through New Canton. This brought a boom in commerce to New Canton but it was to be short lived. In 1934, a new highway bridge opened a few hundred feet to the west of the town, effectively a bypass isolating New Canton from through traffic. Commerce gradually wound down in the latter half of the 20th century. The village now has no commercial establishments and there are less than 10 occupied houses on the original 45 lots. The most active part of town is the
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
which has remained in continuous operation, in several different buildings, since the early 19th century. This post office serves a wide area around the village itself.
Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...
(1875–1950) was an
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
who was born and raised in the New Canton area of Buckingham County. He became a noted teacher,
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
, and
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
. He is best known for establishing Black History Week, which has evolved into
Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...
. Dr. Woodson is known as the Father of Black History.


References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Virginia Unincorporated communities in Buckingham County, Virginia Populated places on the James River (Virginia) Populated places established in 1793 1793 establishments in Virginia