A Book Review: The James River is a divider, a uniter, a generator of life, a creator of wealth and a source of great chaos. Ms. Woodlief does a masterful job weaving its history, characteristics and personalities into a powerful identity. Anyone with an interest in “Our James” should read her book.

In River Time:  The Way of the James

By

Ann Woodlief 

This is not just a book about a river, Ann Woodlief goes much beyond a simple description.  Using multiple lens, she characterizes the meaning of the James River.

For the Indians living around the James, there was a mode of transportation, a water supply, a source of food and an attractor of Indian villages, or, a uniter.  The James River is a physical piece of topography helping define social order, which has gone on for centuries.

 

When the colonists arrived, the James attracted the first English settlement, Jamestown.  The colonists enjoyed many of the same advantages as the Indians and, while the population remained low, the James continued to renew itself and be “a creator of life”.

 

As the population increased, the river became a “generator of wealth”.  John Rolfe began this with his popular strain of tobacco that became so much in demand in England.  The tobacco created commerce, more traffic on the river and plantations, which created a new gentry.  Plantation laborers began to quit the plantations moving inland to become farmers. 

 

The farmers did not necessarily become wealthy, however, did raise their standard of living which caused higher labor costs for the plantation owners.  A move to help with this by the plantation owners, was to import the first slaves to Jamestown in 1619.  This brought its own long-term social implications.

 

The James River can be thought of as a great physical barrier, however, that has been defeated in many ways over the years using canoes, ferries and bridges.  It also has a status that is as a social barrier and divider.  Jamestown became the capitol which was moved to Williamsburg with no apparent thought of going to the south side of the James.  The greatest political influence and wealth developed over the years on the north side and that social status remains to this day.

 

Man has done it’s best to manipulate, control and use the river with hydroelectric plants and their turbines, canals, seawalls and chemical plants.  Factories churning out ironworks and chemicals have contributed to the pollution.  All of these have had their impacts.

 

The constant increase in population put strains on the James and it lost its ability to renew itself.  No longer could it flush out the human waste it received daily, resulting in losses of wildlife and habitat.  It got so bad, that Governor Mills Godwin shut down the James for fishing from Richmond to the Chesapeake Bay for 13 years, a distance of 100 miles.  Fortunately, this, along with a national environmental movement, spurred efforts to focus on the health of the James River which has had significant results.  We still have a way to go.

 

Ms. Woodlief also focuses on the power and chaos the river can generate, talking about Camille of 1969, Agnes of 1972 and its other storms.  Storms that caused even more attempts to exert control over the mighty James.

 

The James River is a divider, a uniter, a generator of life, a creator of wealth and a source of great chaos.  Ms. Woodlief does a masterful job weaving its history, characteristics and personalities into a powerful identity.  Anyone with an interest in “Our James” should read her book.