History of the Railroad

The charter to build the Southside Railroad, which ran from Lynchburg to Farmville, was signed by the state of Virginia in 1846 and the first tracks were laid in 1849. The initial plan was to make the railroad run through a series of county courthouses that would provide business and income for counties in the area. The original plan of the railroad was not to run through Farmville but to skirt around the town altogether and run through what was once the village of Prince Edward Court House and what is now called Worsham, which would have left Farmville void of any of the economic benefits that the railroad was intended to bring. The town of Farmville and its citizens protested the railroad's route and agreed to purchase $100,000 worth of stocks in the Southside Railroad, in exchange for the railroad rerouting to where it came right through the middle of the town. This change of route resulted in track engineers designing a half-mile long railroad trestle that crossed the Appomattox River and the surrounding valley, about 4 miles outside the town of Farmville.

The plan was approved and construction for the bridge began in the 1850s. Spanning across the river valley, several large stone pillars were laid by at least 1,000 hired railroad workers. In addition to these people, slave labor was also used in the construction of the bridge in the form of southside railroad workers. In reference to the 1857 painting that depicts the bridge after its completion, trees within the area were cut down to supply the bridge of timber and wood. The chimney of a kiln can also be seen, which would have been used to bake clay into bricks that made the pillars that supported the bridge. Below the railroad bridge was a small wagon bridge that was used for foot traffic and wagons.

Image: The completed High Bridge spans across the Appomattox River Valley in 1857. The surrounding vegetation was cut down to provide wood for the bridge and the kiln that made the bricks can also be seen. At the foot of the bridge, a simple wooden bridge was constructed for foot traffic and horses and wagons. The painting was done in 1857 upon completion of the bridge.

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References

Text:

Bisbee, James Michael. The History of the Southside Railroad 1846-1870. University of Richmond. 1994.

High Bridge. DHR: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Accessed Dec 1, 2019. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/024-0056/

Vail, Willis W. High Bridge: “The End of Our Fifteen Months’ Labor” The story of building the Norfolk Western viaduct near Farmville, Virginia. (2014. Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park. United States of America.) Page 13.

Image:

Completed High Bridge. 1857. Unknown artist. Sailors Creek State Park.