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Lamberts Point is a point of land on the south shore of the Elizabeth River near the downtown area of the independent city of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, United States. It includes a large coal exporting facility, a residential area, and a golf course. The area is south of Old Dominion University == History == Lamberts Point was named for Thomas Lambert, who patented 100 acres (400,000 m²) there on the east side of the bay of the Elizabeth River on June 1, 1635, when the territory was still a part of Elizabeth River Shire in colonial Virginia. Lambert was an ensign in the Lower Norfolk County Militia by 1640 and was later a major in the same outfit. He was later a member of the Assembly at Jamestown for Lower Norfolk County in 1652, and by the time of his death in 1671 he was the proud bearer of the title Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lambert. Lambert's Point was located in Norfolk County when that county was formed from Lower Norfolk County in 1691. The Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P) was built under the oversight of William Mahone, young civil engineer from Southampton County, Virginia who had been educated in the first graduating class of Virginia Military Institute (VMI). A rail link to the west had long been a dream of Norfolk citizens led by Dr. Francis Mallory. Despite delays, financial constraints, and the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1855, by 1858, young Mahone and his N&P workforce had bridged both the Eastern and Southern Branches of the Elizabeth River, deployed a corduroy roadbed across the northern portion of the Great Dismal Swamp and completed the line west to Petersburg. At the Cockade City, connections could be made with a north-south railroad to Richmond or North Carolina, as well as more importantly, the South Side Railroad to Lynchburg which itself connected with the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (V&T). Eventually, a rail link all the way to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans was thus seen as possible. Things were looking very favorable for both Norfolk and the new enterprise when operations were completely disrupted by the American Civil War, which was to last 5 years and do great damage to the railroads. Although the Confederacy lost the war, Mahone emerged as the so-called hero of the Battle of the Crater. He promptly set about leading the efforts to rebuild the N&P and its connecting railroads, funded with money from British bondholders. By 1870, he controlled all three, renamed jointly as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O). There is ample evidence that Mahone had become aware of the potential wealth represented by untapped bituminous coal coal reserves in southern West Virginia, and had planned a fourth railroad and acquired land to capitalize upon them. However, the Financial Panic of 1873 forced the AM&O into defaulting on its bonds and delaying any thoughts of expansion. After several years of receivership, the bondholders lost confidence in Mahone and he lost control of the AM&O. It operated under receivership for a number of years and Mahone struggled to obtain adequate financing to regain control. Finally, in 1881, it was sold at auction, but Mahone was outbid. Instead, Philadelphia interests won and renamed as the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). (Mahone went on to a career in Virginia and national politics and saw to it that some of the proceeds from the sale of the state's portion of the investment in what had been "his" railroad went to build a school for blacks which ultimately became Virginia State University (VSU), near Petersburg). The new Philadelphia owners were also keenly aware of the opportunities represented by southern West Virginia coal, where they owned much land. Soon, under the leadership of Frederick J. Kimball, they set about extending their lines west from the New River Valley to reach them. The first carload of coal arrived in Norfolk and Western's Eastern Branch Terminal in 1883. Many more were to follow, and soon it was apparent that a larger facility for loading the coal onto ships would be needed. Land was acquired in Norfolk County just outside the City of Norfolk on the harbor. Facilities were developed there, and the first of many coal piers to come opened at Lambert's Point in 1886. Norfolk and Western expanded exponentially, and in the 1980s, the class 1 railroad became part of Norfolk Southern Corporation, a Fortune 500 Company headquartered in Norfolk. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lambert's Point」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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