Eden in Rockingham County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Dan River
Vital Supply Line
— Confederate Lifeline —
The Roanoke Navigation Company opened the upper Dan River here for batteau traffic in the 1820s, and the towns of Leaksville (present-day Eden) and Madison became river ports. During the antebellum era, farmers shipped their produce downstream to markets in eastern North Carolina and Virginia. On the return trip, the bateaux carried goods bound for the town merchants. When the Richmond and Danville Railroad reached Danville, Virginia in 1856, batteau traffic decreased below that point.
After the Civil War began in 1861, batteau owners continued to ship goods up and down the river. In Danville, Confederate authorities soon established hospitals, prisons for captured Union soldiers, and a large quartermaster commissary. Early in 1863, the Confederates commandeered Dan River batteau to transport iron and large quantities of grain and other foodstuffs from Madison and Leaksville to the Danville commissary. From there, the railroad transported supplies to Confederate forces in Virginia.
In the summer of 1863, the Danville firm of Jones, Neal, and Farrar contracted with the quartermaster in Danville to furnish coal to heat the prisons and hospitals there. Because coal was in short supply in the South, the company reopened the Wade Coal Mines two miles west of Leaksville. In 1863-1864, Union prisoners from Danville dug a large quantity of coal there; it was loaded on the bateaux nearby and shipped downstream to Danville. Leaksville Landing, one of the batteau docks, was located a short distance upstream from here.
Erected by North Carolina Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1856.
Location. 36° 29.15′ N, 79° 45.841′ W. Marker is in Eden, North Carolina, in Rockingham County. Marker is on S Hamilton Street near North Carolina Highway Old 87, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located in the Leaksville Landing parking area on the north side of the Dan River. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Eden NC 27289, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Leaksville Landing (within shouting distance of this marker); “River boat Men: Dan River, 1792 – 1892” (approx. 0.3 miles away); “Land of Eden” (approx. 0.4 miles away); Annie Eliza Johns (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named “Land of Eden” (approx. 0.8 miles away); a different marker also named Land of Eden (approx. 0.8 miles away); Luther H. Hodges (approx. 0.8 miles away); Leaksville Cotton Mill (approx. 1.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Eden.
More about this marker. The lower right of the marker contains a photograph with a caption of “Batteaux, such as this one photographed on the New River in West Virginia in 1872, plied the Dan River during the Civil War. - Courtesy Library of Congress.”
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 6, 2013, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 641 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on February 6, 2013, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.