Clover Hill Railroad

Clover Hill Railroad
Locale Chesterfield, Virginia
Dates of operation 1841–1877
Successor Brighthope Railway
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Richmond, Virginia

The Clover Hill Railroad was created to carry coal most efficiently from the Clover Hill Pitts in Winterpock, Virginia to further transportation points in Chester, Virginia where it could sold for a better price than on the Appomattox River in the Piedmont. This made the railroad important to the Confederacy in the Civil War to ensure a supply of coal for munitions and iron working. The mines were dangerous for the miners and many accidents occurred. The Railroad had to be sold when coal mining declined so that new owners could find other uses for the railroad.

Founding of the Railroad

In 1837, coal was found after a heavy rain at Clover Hill Plantation, possibly by a slave.[1] After mining began, mules carried the coal four miles to Epps Falls on the Appomattox River to be loaded onto boats.[2] The Clover Hill Railroad Company was chartered in 1841 by the Virginia General Assembly to do business with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad but was not allowed to charge more than 2 cents per bushel of coal shipped over the railroad.[3] In 1845 Clover Hill Railroad replaced the mules that brought coal from the Clover Hill Pitts to the Appomattox in western Chesterfield County. In 1847, October 1, the Clover Mining Company built 18 miles of railroad from the coal mines at Winterpock to the town of Chester to make a spur of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. By 1848 the Railroad spur had hauled 56 tons of coal for export and 22 tons for use in Richmond and Petersburg.[4]

The Clover Hill Struggled with increases charged on prices for transporting coal to Richmond, Petersburg and Port Walthall by the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad in 1854. The Clover Hill also found it necessary to ask the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to fulfill their agreements and maintain the Clover Hill Railroad tracks.[5] In 1866 Clover Hill Mining Company built a wharf at Osborne's Landing in order to load the coal on to ships to the coast. The line was extended to Osborne's Landing in 1867.[2]

American Civil War and the Clover Hill Railroad

During the American Civil War, the Confederate States needed coal because they could not get it from Pennsylvania. They turned to mines in Midlothian, Virginia and Clover Hill.[6] DS Woolridge, a Confederate government coal agent in Richmond writes, 1862, that he has received, by way of the Clover Hill Railroad, over 1320 bushels of coal for delivery to Manassas, Virginia.[7] The Clover Hill Coal Mines were one of the main suppliers of coal to the Tredegar Iron Works for Confederate arms.[8] Coke, a very pure coal based fuel, was also made at Winterpock from 1865 to 1870 for use in Tredegar.[4] Clover Hill, in turn, bought bars and spikes from Tredegar Iron Works.[7]

Miners

Slaves did some of the mining in the Clover Hill Pits. Slaveholders bought insurance policies for enslaved Africans working in the Clover Hill Pits, coal mines in Chesterfield County, Virginia. This was done to insure that Slaveholders would be compensated for loss if the slaves died in the dangerous mines. Some policies were written for slaves as young as 12 years of age. Sam Jones, Harry Montague, Phil, Robert, Henry, and Joe all had policies taken out by the heirs of James Moody, a slaveholder. The heirs would receive pay for the work of the slaves under lease agreements.[9] [10] [11] [12] The mining company also hired White People and hired Free people of color.[13] The work was dangerous. In 1867, an explosion closed mine pits temporarily and Cholera Epidemic slowed work. Methane Explosions killed 17 and then 69 miners in 1859 and 1873 respectively.[14]

Many of the miners lived in town named Winterpock was named after the old name of the plantation, named after Winterpock Creek, possibly named by Native Americans as "Win-to-poa-ke".[1]

Bankruptcy

The Mining town for the Clover Hill Pits, Winterpock, had over 1000 residents in 1870, but a mining dwindled the community of miners became smaller.[1] The demand fro coal from the mine declined after the Civil War.[13] In 1876, Bituminous Coal from the Clover Hill Railroad Company was advertized in the Coal and Coal Trade Journal from a sales Office in New York.[15] The railroad lost money and in 1877 the Railroad and Mines were sold to the Brighthope Mining Company.[4]

Swift Creek Bridge

The eastern abutment of the no longer used Clover Hill Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek
The western abutment of the no longer used Clover Hill Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek which was repaired and later used for the Bright Hope Railway.

The Clover Hill Railroad included a bridge over Swift Creek. The State of Virginia declared this bridge sound in 1878. Pictures of the structure found at the location show granite stonework of the era.[16][17]

Stations

The Clover Hill Railroad was granted a charter in 1841 and in 1846 tracks were built 18 miles from the Clover Hill coal mines at Winterpock to the town of Chester.

The line was extended to Osborne's Landing in 1867.[2]

Chesterfield Historic Courthouse

Main Line

Spur South from Clover Hill

Location

The Clover Hill Railroad is shown in Chesterfield County, Virginia in 1873.

The Clover Hill Railroad, from Winterpock to the middle of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, shown in southern Chesterfield, Virginia on a map drawn by Jedediah Hotchkiss in 1873.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dallmeyer, Diane (2008-04-09). "A short history lesson on Winterpock and Clover Hill". Chesterfield Observer (Chesterfield County, Virginia: Observer, Inc.). Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Virginia. State Corporation Commission (1915). Annual Report. p. 747.
  3. ↑ Acts Passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 1843. p. 75.
  4. 1 2 3 Gerald P. Wilkes (1988). MINING HISTORY OF THE RICHMOND COALFIELD OF VIRGINIA (PDF) (Report). VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 85. p. 10,29–30. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  5. ↑ Virginia (1854). Governor's Message and Reports of the Public Officers of the State, of the Boards of Directors, and of the Visitors, Superintendents, and Other Agents of Public Institutions Or Interests of Virginia. William F. Ritchie, public printer. p. 618.
  6. ↑ Sean Patrick Adams (29 December 2010). Old Dominion, Industrial Commonwealth: Coal, Politics, and Economy in Antebellum America. JHU Press. pp. 28–. ISBN 978-1-4214-0051-8.
  7. 1 2 "Clover Hill". Confederate Railroads. David L. Bright. 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  8. ↑ Harrison, Richard (2010). "Clover Hill Mining District,M-6". Marker History. David L. Bright. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  9. ↑ "(still image) Insurance policy for Robert Moody., (1845 - 1888)".
  10. ↑ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Insurance policy for Robert Moody., (1845 - 1888)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  11. ↑ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Insurance policy for slave, Warwick., (1845 - 1888)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ Aaron Dorsey (2010-03-15). "Slave Era Insurance Policy". In Honor of my Ancestors. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Historical Overview of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company Tract Chesterfield County, Virginia". Historic Mid-Lothian Mines Park. Mid-Lothian Mines & Rail Roads Foundation. 2010-03-15. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  14. ↑ GeraldP.Wilkes (1988). MINING HISTORY OF THE RICHMOND COALFIELD OF VIRGINIA (PDF) (Report). VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 85. pp. 29–31. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  15. ↑ Frederick Edward Saward (1876). Coal and Coal Trade Journal. Brattleboro, Vt. p. 254.
  16. ↑ Virginia. Railroad Commissioner (1878). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia. R.F. Walker, superintendent public printing. p. 70.
  17. ↑ Virginia. State Corporation Commission (1917). Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia: Compilations from Returns of Railroads, Canals, Electric Railways and Other Corporate Companies. J.H. O'Bannon, Superintendent of Public Printing. p. 973.
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