The Age of Steam

The Age of Steam. (Franklin, Virginia). , The conjunction of the Portsmouth and 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 and 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 and Roanoke Railroad Crosses the Blackwater , 1836 - Steamboats begin making regular trips on the Blackwater , 1847 - Richard and 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 and 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.