[DOC. No. XXXIV.]
9
PETITION
or
CERTAIN CITIZENS OF YORK COUNTY,
FOR A
RAILROAD FROM RICHMOND TO YORKTOWN
1852.
[Doc. No. 34.]
PETITION.
3
To the Senate and House of Delegates of Virginia,
in General Assembly convened.
The undersigned, appointed by the railroad convention held at Yorktown on
Monday, the 15th day of November, A. D., 1852, a committee to petition the
general assembly of Virginia to incorporate a company to construct a railroad
from the city of Richmond to Yorktown, respectfully represent:
That in the year 1832 a charter was granted by the legislature, authorizing the
company created by it to construct a railroad from Richmond to Yorktown; that
the proposed route was surveyed by authority of the state, and the,distance as¬
certained to be less than sixty miles; that the ridge of land dividing the waters
of the York and James rivers ran in an easterly direction, and almost at a mean
distance from them, until it approached Yorktown, at which place it terminated;
that, consequently, the cost of grading a railroad from Richmond to Yorktown
would be merely nominal; and it is believed tfypt the estimate for the road was
only six thousand dollars per mile, making the aggregate cost of the railroad less
than three hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
The undersigned respectfully call the attention of the general assembly to the
fact, that when this survey was made, improvement by railroad was just begin¬
ning to be introduced, and before the funds necessary for the construction of this
railroad could be raised the time limited by the charter expired.
The friends of this improvement have never, however, despaired; they have
been sanguine of its final success when other sections of the state became in¬
terested in its construction to complete the great lines in progress. Recent events
have satisfied them that an effort should now be made, and that the legislature
will not disregard their appeal. A desire pervades the whole commonwealth to
free ourselves from the commercial shackles which each succeeding year is
4 [Doc. No. 34.]
f
binding more firmly; and we can easily do it, if the general assembly will open
for us a direct route with Europe.
To the consideration of this question we wish to call their attention, and point
out very briefly the importance of a railroad from Richmond to Yorktown in
accomplishing this end so generally desired by our citizens.
The production of the state will be concentrated by means of the canal, the
Richmond and Danville, the Tennessee and Central railroads, in the city of
Richmond. The shortest, safest and cheapest route for this trade is through
Yorktown. By railroad to Yorktown, the distance is less than sixty miles—
thence to the Capes of Virginia about forty miles.
The average speed of the English rail cars is forty miles per hour; and over
the level country from Richmond to Yorktown a speed equally as great could be
attained ; but assuming it to be thirty, in two hours the cars from Richmond to
Yorktown would be at the depot, and excluding the time of loading the ships,
five hours would only be required to place the produce centering in Richmond on
the ocean.
\
But we desire to induce across the state of Virginia the trade of the Southern
and Western states. From the center of the Valley of the Mississippi to the
Capes of Virginia, the distance is hundreds of miles shorter than either the route
by New York or New Orleans: safer, because the mild climate of Virginia, free
from the snows of the North and the intense heat of the South, would enable
produce to be transported at all seasons of the year.
•
Possessing the shortest, safest and cheapest route, we would become the
carriers of this immense trade; and we need not stop to urge upon the general
assembly the benefits it would confer upon the state at large.
But throwing these considerations out of view, surely this work ought to be
constructed if it will afford an outlet for the trade even of Virginia. That this
will be its sure operation we cannot for a moment doubt. A direct trade will be
established between Richmond and Europe, and Virginia, freed from the annual
tax of five millions of dollars which she now pays the North, will spring forward
in a new career, and successfully compete with the Northern states for commercial
greatness. ^
It is mortifying to every Virginian to see the commonwealth at every decade
shorn of a portion of her political strength and gradually yielding her position in
[Doc. No. 34.]
our confederacy. But the fact is easily explained when we compare her com¬
mercial facilities with those of other states, and the immense tax she annually
pays them.
Give us a direct trade—a new path will be opened to Virginia enterprise, and
we will soon recover our former wealth and power.
Your petitioners respectfully request the general assembly to incorporate a
company to construct a railroad from Richmond to Yorktown—with a capital of
$500,000—the state subscribing three-fifths thereof, when the residue ($200,000N*
shall be raised by private subscription.
And your petitioners will ever pray, dec.
A. C.« GARRETT,
PEYTON A. SOUTHALL
RO. ANDERSON,
FRED. W. POWER,
WM. E. WYNNE.
/