The Age of Steam
(Franklin, Virginia)
The conjunction of the Portsmouth &
Roanoke Railroad and the Blackwater River
in 1835 made this site, then a swampy
wilderness, a natural link between the
towns of the Chowan and Albemarle Sound
and points to the northeast. The railroad,
later known as the Seaboard & Roanoke and
the Seaboard Line, transported people and
goods between Norfolk and Blackwater
Depot, then on the east bank of the River.
Beginning in 1836, steamboats, including
the Bravo, the Fox, the Stag, and the Curlew,
carried them between Blackwater Depot
and Edenton on the Blackwater and
Chowan rivers.This commerce encouraged
the growth of a village, known by 1838 as
Franklin Depot, on the Southampton side of
the Blackwater. By the early 1860s Franklin
had a depot, a warehouse, a steamboat
landing, steamboat lines, a sawmill, a
general store, churches and a
popular hotel owned by Richard and Mary
Rebecca Murfee Barrett.
"On approaching ... [the Blackwater]
station ... one looks in vain for the
promised steamboat that is to convey
him to Edenton. ... Anon, a blowing
and fizzing draws his attention to... a
white column of steam rising from the
midst of the forest, and [he] follows a
narrow path... [to] a very promising
steamboat. Then, looking over her
stern, he sees the Blackwater River, a
narrow, black ditch, embarked with
tangled bushes and cypress knees, and
over-arched completely with trees
clothed in vines and hanging moss. The
stream being barely wide enough to
float the boat, she is obliged to crab her
way ... [backwards] for a considerable
distance, her ... sides butting the cypress
knees, and her wheel-houses raked by
the overhanging boughs."
David H. Strother ("Porte Crayon"), 1856
(Included Time Line: 1835 - 1861)
1835 - The Portsmouth & Roanoke Railroad Crosses the Blackwater
1836 - Steamboats begin making regular trips on the Blackwater
1847 - Richard & Mary Murfee Barrett complete their home and open it to boarders.
1848 - William Murfee builds "River Lawn," the first large house in the village.
1850 - The Clyde Line, a steamboat company, is established.
1856 - John Frisbee Starts a sawmill across the river.
1857 - The Portsmouth & Roanoke Railroad moves the depot to Franklin. The Barretts open a larger hotel.
1858 - The Masonic Lodge - often referred to as "the Academy" and used as community hall, school, and church -
is built
1860 - The Albemarle Steam Packet Company is chartered.
1861 - Virginia secedes from the Union as the War Between the States begins.
Marker is on S Main Street (U.S. 258) near South Street, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
