North Carolina, Halifax County, Roanoke Rapids
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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
(War, US Civil • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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
(War, US Civil • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Canal and locks completed around river rapids, 1834. Highway crosses canal route here. A lock is 200 feet south.
[Left-Side of Text]: Mountain Cliffs
American Beach was established in 1935 under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, one of seven co-founders of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, and one of Florida’s first black millionaires. His vision was to create a beach resort as a benefit for company executives and as an incentive for employees to exceed in sales. Florida’s beaches were racially segregated until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Because of this, American Beach became regionally popular since it was one of the few beaches in the Southeast open to African Americans. Other sites in American Beach trace their history to the Civil War era. Amelia Island was home to several Sea Island cotton plantations, including the Harrison Plantation. In 1862 Union Forces captured Amelia Island and the freed slaves founded Franklin Town at the south end of this island. The Franklin Town cemetery, which had been given by the Harrison family to their slaves as a burial place for their families, still exists today on the west side of Highway A1A. In 1972, encroaching development forced Franklin Town residents to move north to American Beach. Their Methodist Church, built in 1949, was also moved here where it now serves as the church’s fellowship hall.
David Solomon Hill Miller, Englishman, first settled near here in 1799 and married Anna Hogans Bagley, widow, owner of a Spanish land grant of 300 acres west of this creek. D.S.H. Miller served Spain as Capt. Rural Militia of the St. Johns River, San Nicolas District and as Deputy Surveyor. He surveyed the streets of Jacksonville when it was founded in June 1822.
Fort Jackson Elementary School 
Erected 1803-04, this is the only office standing used by Clay; he occupied it from 1804 until ca. 1810. During these significant years in his career, Clay was elected to successive terms in legislature and to unexpired terms in the United States Senate. Builders Stephens and Winslow used their characteristic brick basement. Original floorboards remain.
The Reverend W. R. Gardner founded the Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity in 1882 to serve the Canadian Anglicans who had relocated to the area after the Civil War to cut and haul timber. Services were held once a month at the village schoolhouse. Later, $100 was raised to purchase 60 acres, sufficient for buildings and farmable land for a clergyman. The church cornerstone was laid September 24, 1885, and the first service was held July 25, 1886. While the church's original form is intact, the exterior was remodeled in 1962, when the brick base was replaced with horizontal wood boards, providing a more rustic appearance. The interior of the church retains most of its earlier finishes and furniture. The original grounds included a vicarage and parish hall, both destroyed by fire in 1936. A historic cemetery is maintained north of the church.
Presented to
Most popular and widely accepted Christian hymn "The Old Rugged Cross" completed by Rev. George Bennard during Evangelistic meetings here Dec. 29, 1912 - Jan. 12, 1913
The Opera House served as the cultural center of the community from 1875 until the 1930s. The original "T" shaped building seated 300 persons. A mechanically adjustable sloping floor afforded an excellent view of the stage.
The Santa Clara Tithing Granary was built in 1902-1903 by the Santa Clara First Ward of the St. George Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tithing granaries were used throughout Utah during pioneer times as a depository for Church members' tithing. Where modern-day Church members pay 10 percent of their income to the Church, pioneer Church members often paid in kind with a 10 percent equivalent of their new crops or livestock to the Church.
