The Dan River

The Dan River. . , In 1728, Col. William Byrd II, founder of Richmond and builder of Westover on the James, led a party of surveyors from Norfolk westward into the frontier to determine the dividing line between the colonies of Virginia and North Carolina. In October 1728, he reached the lower branch of the Roanoke River (a few miles southeast near Cane Creek) of which his diary records “We call’d this South Branch of Roanoke the Dan…,” probably a reference to Biblical imagery from “Dan to Beersheeba,” which were the metes and bounds of Canaan. It must have seemed obvious to Byrd that since the northern limit of North Carolina was in dispute, “Dan”--the northern boundary of the Promised Land--would be an appropriate name for the river which, so to speak, fixed the boundary up to that time. A few days later, Byrd’s History of the Dividing Line recounts the discussion of religion with the Native American guide Ned Bearskin while the party camped near the present day intersection of Rts. 29 and 265 on October 12 – 15. The expedition continued “beyond Christendom” ending in present day Patrick County., Outcroppings of rock visible in the riverbed below Union Street Dam, part of a horseshoe bend in the Dan River which in the mid-18th century came to be known as Wynn’s Falls, are part of a rock bed of some 500 million years old -- dating geologically from the Cambrian period. The consolidated ancient volcanic and sedimentary rock supports a variety of plant life, including black willow and birch trees, as well as several species of ducks, Canada geese, wading birds such as herons and egrets, and the occasional seagull. The view west is renowned for its majestic sunsets reflected in the reservoir formed behind the Union Street Dam. (Gary Grant, 1994)