Norfolk Southern James River Bridge

Triple Crossing in Richmond, Virginia is one of two places in North America where three Class I railroads cross at different levels at the same spot, the other being Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City. At the lowest (ground) level, the original Richmond and York River Railroad was extended after the American Civil War to connect with the Richmond and Danville Railroad, later part of the Southern Railway System, currently part of Norfolk Southern. The line runs east to West Point, Virginia. The middle level was the main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, now part of CSX Transportation known as the "S" line, just south of Main Street Station. It is planned to become part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. At the top level is the Peninsula Subdivision Trestle, a 3-mile-long (4.8 km) viaduct parallel to the north bank of the James River built by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1901 to link the former Richmond and Allegheny Railroad with C&O's Peninsula Subdivision to Newport News and export coal piers. The viaduct, now owned by CSX Transportation, provided an alternate path to the notoriously unstable Church Hill Tunnel which buried a work train with fatalities on October 2, 1925. A locomotive and ten flat cars remain entombed with at least one rail worker, killing several others whose bodies were eventually recovered. The triple crossing has been a Richmond attraction for railfans for over 100 years, although the number of photographic angles decreased in the 1990s due to a new flood wall.

The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a rail line following the same course. Encouraged by George Washington, the canal project was begun in 1785 as the James River Company, and later restarted under the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. It was an expensive project which failed several times financially and was frequently damaged by floods. Though largely financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia Board of Public Works, it was only half completed by 1851, reaching Buchanan, in Botetourt County. When work to extend it further west stopped permanently, railroads were overtaking the canal as a far more productive mode of transportation. After the American Civil War funds for resuming construction were unavailable from either the war-torn Commonwealth or private sources and the project did poorly against railroad competition, finally succumbing to damage done by massive flooding in 1877. In the end its right-of-way was bought and the canal was largely dismantled by the new Richmond and Alleghany Railroad, which laid tracks on the former towpath. The R&A became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in the 1890s, which developed much of the former canal route into an important line for West Virginia bituminous coal headed eastbound for the Peninsula Extension to reach the Hampton Roads coal piers at Newport News for worldwide export aboard large colliers.

The Southern Railway Depot on 14th Street in Richmond, Virginia, was a passenger station for the Southern Railway that operated from 1900 to 1914. Another name of this depot was Mill Street Station. Previously, the Southern had operated its Richmond passenger service out of an old Richmond and Danville Railroad wooden frame depot that laid about 600 feet south of the 14th Street Depot. This depot had been constructed around 1865–1866 to replace the one built in the early 1850s and burnt in the Fall of Richmond in April 1865. The original R&D depot had been the departure station for the train carrying Confederacy Jefferson Davis and his cabinet to Danville immediately before Richmond fell to the Union Army during the Civil War. Around the turn of century, the railroad initialized plans to replace the old R&D depot with a new one constructed of brick and granite. They hired architect Frank Pierce Milburn to design it and awarded the contract to Frederick "Fritz" Sitterding. In the railroad journal, The Railway Surgeon, an intricate description is given of the depot: "The building will be of granite and gray pressed brick, with a green slate roof. it will have a 70-foot frontage on Mill street and 175 feet on Fourteenth street, with a 100-foot tower on the corner. The arrangement of the interior will be simple and convenient, with an entrance through a vestibule on Mill street, and beneath the tower. Ticket offices will be located at the right of the entrance, and at the north end of the waiting room and adjoining the vestibule will be situated the ladies' parlor. At the extreme south end of the waiting room will be a room for colored people, with a hallway between connecting with the baggage and express rooms. The waiting room will be 40 by 50 feet, finished in chestnut, with frescoed walls and ceilings and marble tiling floor."Construction was finished in 1900. In 1914, the Southern decided to split its passenger services into two stations: one at Main Street Station (owned by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway), a couple blocks away from the 14th Street depot, and another at a new station on Hull Street, appropriately named Hull Street Station. As a result of this split, the 14th Street Depot was demolished and replaced by a freight depot with combined offices. The new freight depot was 40 feet wide and 480 feet long and had offices on the first floor for the first 40 feet and on the second floor for 150 feet. The remaining 440 feet on the first floor was devoted to freight warehouse space. The reason for the demolishment of the 14th Street Passenger depot was that the Southern Railway needed the additional space for freight.The new 14th Street freight depot continued to serve the Southern until the 1980s when the railroad merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway to create the Norfolk Southern Railway. At this point, most of the freight depot was demolished except for a 166-foot section fronting on what is now Canal Street. This was redeveloped as the Southern Railway Taphouse and is a popular bar and brewery in the present day.

Mayo's Bridge (also known as Richmond's 14th St. Bridge) is located in Richmond, Virginia. A four lane structure, it transports U.S. Route 360 across the James River. Signage identifies the bridge as "Mayo's Bridge". The bridge is in two sections, separated near the middle by Mayo's Island. The total length is 1,374 feet (north and south sections combined). The current structure was built in 1913, and accommodated heavy streetcar traffic. It is Richmond's oldest highway bridge across the James River. Prior to the construction of Mayo's Bridge, travelers had to utilize Coutts' Ferry, run by Patrick Coutts until his death in 1776 and later by his brother Rev. William Coutts until his death in 1787. The ferry landing was at a place called the "Sandy Bar" at the end of 18th Street. The ferry was kept up for many years after the bridge was built as the 6.25¢ toll was impressive and the bridge was often broken, thus necessitating the ferry. Patrick Coutts was something of a legend in old Richmond. This stemmed from the story that he had crossed the river not by ferry or bridge, but by sturgeon.Many people petitioned the Virginia Assembly for the right to build a bridge, but none were successful in receiving permission. Around the mid-1780s, John Mayo, son of William Mayo (the man who had laid out the plan for Richmond), was given the opportunity to build a toll bridge but died soon after. His son, John Mayo Jr., inherited his estate and finally completed the first bridge across the James in 1788. This bridge was very rudimentary and consisted of “large logs, raft-like, spiked to the rocks, with rough floor laid on the logs” on the north side of Mayo's Island and of a pontoon bridge that had planks laid on top of a series of boats on the south side. This bridge was destroyed the winter after its completion by ice floes dragging the bridge away. It was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt in 1814, 1816, 1823, 1865, 1870, 1877, 1882, and 1899. It was built on the site of the city's first bridge completed in 1788 by John Mayo Jr., the grandson of the man who first laid out Richmond's grid pattern. During the American Civil War the bridge was burned by retreating Confederate soldiers on April 8, 1865.In 1882, the a portion of the bridge collapsed with nine people on it; however, no one was killed or badly hurt in the incident.Rising just 30 feet above the water line, Mayo's Bridge is currently Richmond's only bridge subject to flooding. Large floodgates in Richmond's flood wall protect the surrounding areas on each side during James River flooding. The bridge's closeness to the river surface has made the sidewalks on either side of it popular fishing locations.

Richmond Tobacco Exchange was a commodities exchange in Richmond, Virginia, where tobacco was traded. It was established in 1858. Tobacco farmers opposed its creation, because the exchange was controlled by merchants.The Richmond Chamber of Commerce reported sales of leaf tobacco through the exchange for the year ended September 30, 1873 were 45,595 hogsheads, 11,415 tierces and 1,814 boxes. In the year ended September 30, 1872, 2,593,110 pounds (1,176,210 kg) of loose tobacco was weighed at warehouses in Richmond, most at the Shockoe Warehouse.

Castle Thunder, located between what is now 17th Street and 18th Street on northern side of E Cary Street in Richmond, Virginia, was a former tobacco warehouse, located on Tobacco Row, converted into a prison used by the Confederacy to house civilian prisoners, including captured Union spies, political prisoners and those charged with treason during the American Civil War. A large number of its inmates were sentenced to death. Even though the inmates were sometimes allowed boxes of medicine and other supplies, the prison guards had a reputation for brutality.The prison's most notorious commandant was Captain George W. Alexander. As a Confederate soldier fighting in Maryland, Alexander was captured in 1861. While awaiting execution by the Union Army, he escaped and fled to Richmond. Once in Richmond, Alexander took command of the Castle Thunder Prison. Security at the prison was intense under Alexander. Prisoners are said to have complained of Alexander's brutality. Those held in the prison as spies, criminals, or charged with treason were said to have been treated with unnecessary brutality by the guards. The unsavory reputation of the prison obliged the Confederate House of Representatives in 1863 to order an investigation of the commandant, Capt. George W. Alexander, who had been accused of "harshness, inhumanity, tyranny, and dishonesty". Alexander was eventually cleared of the charges, partially by citing the hard-bitten character of the inmates as justification for his behavior.Among its many notable occupants was Union officer William Jackson Palmer (1836–1909). In 1862, he was captured while scouting after the Battle of Antietam within Confederate lines in civilian clothes while gathering information for General George McClellan. When questioned he gave his name as W.J. Peters, and claimed to be a mine owner on an inspection trip. While the Confederates did not know he was a spy, his circumstances were suspicious and he was detained and sent to Richmond, Virginia, for detention at Castle Thunder. He was set free in a prisoner exchange and rejoined his regiment in February, 1863. Another held for a time in this prison was Dr. Mary E. Walker, the only woman who ever received the Medal of Honor.After the Union forces captured Richmond, they used the prison for similar purposes. Among those known to have been incarcerated there in this later period was Mollie Bean, a woman who had served for two years in the 47th North Carolina and was twice wounded in action. She had pretended to be a man simply in order to join the Confederate Army, but her Union captors suspected her of being a spy. President Jefferson Davis is reported to have said for every Confederate sailor hanged he would hang a Union soldier of corresponding rank, chosen by lot from among the thousands of prisoners in the Richmond tobacco warehouse. A fire in 1879 destroyed the Civil War–era prison Castle Thunder in its entirety.

Shockoe Slip is a district in the downtown area of Richmond, Virginia. The name "slip" referred to a narrow passageway leading from Main Street to where goods were loaded and unloaded from the former James River and Kanawha Canal. The rough boundaries of Shockoe Slip include 14th Street, Main Street, Canal Street and 12th Street.Architecturally, many of the buildings in Shockoe Slip were constructed during the rebuilding following the Evacuation Fire of 1865, especially in a commercial variant of the Italianate style. It is centered on a 1909 fountain, dedicated to "one who loved animals." The buildings in the district, which historically housed a variety of offices, wholesale and retail establishments, are now primarily restaurants, shops, offices, and apartments.

The Gallego Flour Mills was a flour mill located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Founded by Joseph Gallego in the 1790s, the mill gained international reputation for the superior type of flour that was shipped from there to Europe and South America. Further, the mills became iconic image of the defeated south after Matthew Brady shot a photo of the Mills after much of the city burned in 1865.At the time of their destruction, they were the largest of their kind in the world.

The James River Bridge carries Interstate 95 across the James River in Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond Main Street Station, officially the Main Street Station and Trainshed, is a historic railroad station and office building in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1901, and is served by Amtrak. It is also an intermodal station with Richmond's city transit bus services, which are performed by Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). It is colloquially known by people from the city as The Clock Tower. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Main Street Station serves as a secondary train station for Richmond providing limited Amtrak service directly to downtown Richmond. Several Amtrak trains serving the Richmond metropolitan area only stop at the area's primary rail station, Staples Mill Road which is located five miles to the north in Henrico County. Since 2018, the station has also been a stop along the GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit line.

The First Freedom Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Richmond, Virginia. Its mission is to commemorate and educate about freedom of religion and conscience as proclaimed in Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Located in the Shockoe Slip district of downtown Richmond, the Center sits on the site where Jefferson's statute was enacted into law by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786. Championed through the Virginia General Assembly by James Madison, the statute was the first law of absolute religious freedom enacted in the young nation and served as a template for the religion clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would be ratified five years later (1791).

The Peninsula Subdivision Trestle is a railroad trestle in Richmond, Virginia on the Peninsula Subdivision of CSX Transportation.